* 


UN/VERSITY  OF 


HISTOET 


OF 


SAINT  LOUIS  CITY 


AND 


COUNTY, 


FROM   THE   EARLIEST   PERIODS   TO   THE   PRESENT   DAY 


INCLUDING 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES  OF  REPRESENTATIVE  MEN. 


BY 


J.  THOMAS   SCHARF, 


AUTHOR  OF  "CHRONICLES  OP  BALTIMORE;"  "HISTORY  OP  MARYLAND;"  "HISTORY  OF  BALTIMORE  CITY  AND  COUNTY;"  MEMBER  OF 
THE  MARYLAND  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  AND  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES;    MEMBER  OP  THE   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY   OP    PENN- 
SYLVANIA; HONORARY  MEMBER  OF  THE  GEORGIA  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY;  CORRESPONDING  MEMBER  OF  THE 
HISTORICAL    SOCIETIES    OP    NEW    YORK,    WISCONSIN,    MINNESOTA,    SOUTH    CAROLINA,   AND 
VIRGINIA;   OF  THE  HISTORICAL  AND   PHILOSOPHICAL  SOCIETY  OF  OHIO;   OP 
THE  NEW  ENGLAND  HISTORIC-GENEALOGICAL  SOCIETY,  ETC.,  ETC. 


IN  TWO  VOLUMES,  ILLUSTRATED. 


.  II. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
LOUIS    H.    EVERTS    &    GO. 

1883. 


Copyright,  1883,  by  Louis  H.  EVERTS  &  Co. 


PRESS  OF 

J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  &  CO., 
PHILADELPHIA. 


1 1 


; 


v-/ 


CONTENTS  OF  VOLUME  II. 


CHAPTER    XXV.  PAGE 

St.  Louis  as  a  Centre  of  Trade 989 

CHAPTER    XXVI. 

The  Mississippi  River  and  its  Tributaries 1037 


CHAPTER     XXXV.  PAGE 

The  Medical  Profession 1515 

CHAPTER    XXXVI. 

Culture  and  Literary  Growth  in  St.  Louis 1587 


CHAPTER    XXXVII. 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 

Navigation  on  the  Mississippi  River 1087       Aft  ftnd  Artigtg 1617 

CHAPTER    XXVIII. 
River  Commerce  of  St.  Louis 1123 


CHAPTER    XXXVIII. 
Music  and  Musicians I'i'-'S 


CHAPTER    XXIX. 

Railroad* 1139  CHAPTER    XXXIX. 

CHAPTER    XXX.  Religious  Denominations 1635 

Trade.  Commerce,  and  Manufactures 1213 

CHAPTER    XXXI. 

Commercial  Exchanges 1340 

CHAPTER    XXXII. 


Banks,  and  other  Financial  Institutions,  and  Bankers...     1367 

CHAPTER    XXXIII. 
Insurance — Telegraph — Postal  Service — Gas — Hotels....     1414 

CHAPTER   XXXIV. 

Bench  and  Bar....  1449 


CHAPTER    XL. 

Religious,  Benevolent,  Social,  Secret,  and  other  Organi- 
zations      1752 

CHAPTER    XL  I. 
Prominent  Events — Mobs    and  Riots — Duels — Military 
— The  Towns  of  Carondelet,  Herculaneum,  and  East 
St.  Louis 1820 

CHAPTER    XLII. 
County  of  St.  Louis 1870 


I  Hi  L  TJ  S  T  IR,  .A.  T  I  O  :ET  S     OIF 


II. 


PAGE 

Alkire,  Josiah  facing  1239 

American  Baptist  Publication  Society 1673 

Bailey,  G.  W facing  1506 

Barclay,  Shepard "  1510 

Barnes,  Robert  A "  1388 

Barnett,  George  1 1435 

Barr,  William,  Dry-Goods  Company 1296 

Barret,  R.  A facing  1508 

Bates,  Edward 1464 

Belcher  Sugar  Refinery 1243 

Bent,  Joseph  K facing  1366 

Billon,  F.  L 1593 

Bissell,  Daniel facing  1856 

Black,  William  S.,  Residence  of. "  1880 

Blewett,  B.  T "  1878 

Bofinger,  J.  N "  1120 

Bogy,  L.  V 1492 

Boyd,  Rev.  W.  W facing  1678 

Branch,  J.  W "  1270 

Brookmire,  J.  H "  1240 

Brown,  A.  D "  1318 

Brown.  J.  C "  1178 

Buck,  M.  M "  1274 


PAGE 

Byrne,  John,  vlr facing  1036 

Cahokiain  1840 1072 

Carondelet,  Plat  of facing  1864 

Carondelet  in  1840. ..\ 1865 

Castello,  Charles fiicing  1888 

Chamber  of  Commerce.'. 1359 

Charless,  Joseph facing  1390 

Christy,  A "        1070 

Clark,  W.  G "        1326 

Comstock,  T.  Griswold "        1561 

County  Court-House 1876 

Cummings,  J.  K facing    1282 

Custom- House  and  Post-Offiee 1437 

Davis,  Samuel  C.  &  Co 1297 

Day,  F.  0 facing  1298 

Dodd,  Brown  A  Co 1302 

Dorriss,  G.  P facing  1862 

Dousman,  H.  L "       1620 

Dozier,  James '         1236 

Dyer,  D.  P "       1505 

Eads,  J.B 1051 

Easton,  A.  R facing  1456 

Easton,  Rufus "        I''1' 


IV 


ILLUSTRATIONS   OF   VOLUME   II. 


PAGE 

Famous  Shoe  and  Clothing  Company 1317 

Farrar,  B.  G 1519 

First  Baptist  Church  Building  in  Missouri 1670 

First  Presbyterian  Church 1703 

Forsyth,  Robert facing  1294 

Gale,  D.  B "        1238 

Garrison,  D.  R "        1170 

Gast,  August "        1335 

German  Protestant  Orphans'  Home 1916 

Geyer,  Henry  S 1462 

Good  Samaritan  Hospital 1565 

Goodell,  Rev.  C.  L facing  1746 

Gould,  D.  B "       1616 

Green,  Charles "       1816 

Green,  William  W "       1104 

Hackemeier,  Franz 1917 

Haggerty,  W.  H facing  1306 

Harrison,  Edwin "        1266 

Harrison,  James "        1264 

Hill,  B.  A "        1502 

Hodgen,  John  T "        1534 

Humphrey,  F.  W.  &  Co 1307 

Jaccard,  D.  C facing  1320 

Jaccard,  E.,  Jewelry  Company 1319 

Jackson,  John facing  1227 

James,  Samuel "       1889 

January,  D.  A "       1351 

Johnson,  John  B 1532 

Kennard,  J facing  1304 

Kenrick,  Archbishop 1644 

Kingsland,  Philip facing  1262 

Kirkwood  Seminary,  View  of "        1908 

Kline,  Lewis  E "        1673 

Lackland,  R.  J "        1402 

Larimore,  J.  W "        1230 

Larimore,  N.  G "        1229 

Leeds,  E.  N "        1418 

Liggett  &  Myers  Tobacco  Company 1248 

Lindell  Hotel 1444 

Lionberger,  John  R facing  1086 

Lucas,  J.  B.  C "        1408 

Lucas,  James  H "        1410 

Lucas,  James  H.,  Residence  of •...     "        1412 

Marquette  on  the  Mississippi  River 1636 

Martin,  Edward facing  1307 

McKendree,  Bishop 1685 

McPheeters,  W.  M facing  1528 

Merrell,  J.  S "        1288 


PAGE 

Meyer,  C.  F.  G facing   1290 

Moses,  S.  Gratz "        1531 

Nicholson,  David "        1242 

Nidelet.J.  C '•        1540 

Paramore.  J.  W "        1198 

Parsons.  Charles "        1398 

Peters,  Joseph "        1328 

Plant,  George  P '. "        1232 

Pope,  Charles  A "       1530 

Post,  Rev.  T.  M 1745 

Powell,  R.  W facing  1419 

Pratt,  Thomas "        1439 

Primm,  Wilson 1488 

Rayburn,  French facing  1260 

Robertson,  Right  Rev.  C.  F "       1717 

Rubelmann,  George  A "       1280 

Ryan,  P.  J.,  Right  Rev 1645 

Samuel,  E.  M facing  1396 

Schnaider,  Joseph "       1333 

Scholten,  John "       1334 

Schotten,  William "       1246 

Schulenburg,  R "       1 324 

Scruggs,  R.  M . "       1299 

Scudder,  John  A "       1118 

Second  Baptist  Church 1677 

Section  of  Pier  St.  Louis  Bridge 1077 

Senter,  W.  M facing  1362 

Shapleigh,  A.  F "       1278 

Simmons  Hardware  Company 1276 

Sire,  Joseph  A facing  1250 

Smith,  E.  B "        1523 

Southern  Hotel 1448 

Stevens,  Charles  W 1529 

St.  Louis  Bridge facing  1074 

St.  Louis  Cotton  Exchange 1362 

St.  Louis  Grain  Elevator 1227 

Swon,  J.  C facing  1102 

Talmage,  A.  A "        1166 

Vail  6,  Jules "        1268 

Van  Studdiford,  Henry "        1525 

Walker,  G.  S "        1562 

Walsh,  Edward "        1162 

Walsh,  Julius "        1208 

Watson,  James  S 1394 

Wear,  J.  H.,  Boogher  &  Co 1300 

Westermann,  H 1285 

Wolff,  M.  A facing  1037 


HISTORY 


OF   THE 


CITY  AND  COUNTY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

ST.    LOUIS   AS  A   CENTRE  OF  TRADE. 

ST.  Louis  being  located  in  the  heart  of  the  Missis- 
sippi valley,  in  which  are  produced  immense  supplies  of 
breadstuff's,  meats,  fruits,  and  vegetables,  accessible  by 
fifteen  thousand  miles  of  navigable  rivers,  with  her 
grand  network  of  railroads  penetrating  all  portions  of 
this  vast  valley,  furnishing  quick  and  cheap  transpor- 
tation for  all  the  products  of  the  soil,  it  must  be  ap- 
parent that  at  no  other  place  in  the  world  where  labor 
is  remunerative  can  staple  provisions  of  the  same 
quality  be  furnished  cheaper  than  at  St.  Louis. 

Next  to  provisions  in  the  cost  of  family  expenses  is 
that  of  house-rent,  or,  differently  stated,  the  expense 
of  living  in  one's  own  house.  The  house  represents 
capital,  and  it  costs  the  owner  as  much  to  live  in  it  as 
it  does  the  lessee,  in  either  case  the  net  rental  being 
measured  by  the  net  interest  the  money  would  produce. 

In  furnishing  cheap,  comfortable,  and  healthy  houses 
St.  Louis  offers  rare  inducements.  There  was  a  time 
when  this  was  not  the  case,  and  rival  cities  offering 
greater  inducements  in  this  regard  were  largely  bene- 
fited thereby.  When  the  heavy  business  was  transacted 
chiefly  on  the  Levee  and  Main  Street,  the  choice  resi- 
dence property  was  drawn  within  narrow  bounds  and 
held  at  high  prices ;  and  before  sewerage  and  drainage 
had  transformed  vast  acres  into  choice  building  sites, 
before  railroad  transportation,  steam  and  horse,  had 
equalized  values  at  remote  points  from  business  cen- 
tres by  furnishing  cheap  conveyance  to  and  from  all 
points  within  the  city  limits,  cheap  homes  were  not 
easily  obtained  in  St.  Louis.  But  a  new  and  brighter 
era  has  dawned  upon  her.  Cheap  homes  can  now  be 
furnished  within  easy  access  of  business,  shop,  and 
foundry,  on  finished  streets,  with  gas  and  water,  on  or 

ivenient  to  street  cars.  Building  lots  thus  situated 
63 


can  be  bought  and  comfortable  dwellings  erected 
thereon  cheaper  in  St.  Louis  than  in  any  city  in  the 
United  States  having  a  population  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand. 

To  this  fact  more  than  any  other  may  be  attributed 
the  rapid  growth  of  St.  Louis  during  the  last  few  years, 
and  it  is  also  the  best  guarantee  of  her  future  pros- 
perity. Cheap  homes  are  the  want  of  the  million  ; 
they  not  only  reduce  the  expenses  of  living,  but  the 
people  become  owners  of  their  own  homesteads,  and 
once  having  an  interest  in  the  soil  their  local  and 
business  interests  become  more  closely  identified  with 
the  city's  welfare,  making  her  population  more  per- 
manent and  at  the  same  time  contributing  to  her 
revenue. 

Persons  of  limited  means,  mechanics  and  laborers  of 
industrious  and  saving  habits,  can  by  small  monthly  or 
quarterly  payments  in  a  comparatively  short  period  be- 
come owners  of  their  own  homes  without  waiting  to 
provide  all  the  money  before  purchasing.  The  making 
of  debts  is  not  generally  to  be  commended ;  but  to  a 
moderate  extent  in  the  purchase  of  a  home,  where 
full  consideration  is  received,  they  are  not  only  com- 
mendable but  tend  to  stimulate  energy,  and  the  money 
thus  paid  is  better  secured  against  loss  than  if  invested 
in  any  other  manner.  In  addressing  the  Social  Science 
Association  of  Philadelphia,  Mr.  Cochran  truthfully 
said, — 

"  People  who  own  the  soil  naturally  feel  that  they 
have  a  greater  interest  in  the  community,  in  its  wel- 
fare, peace,  and  good  order,  and  they  are  fixed  more 
permanently  to  it  as  a  place  of  abode ;  and  the  laborer 
or  mechanic  who  is  working  to  secure  or  pay  for  a 
home  is  inspired  with  more  ambition  than  one  whose 
abode  is  in  tenement-houses,  which  can  have  no  attrac- 
tion to  any  man  or  his  family.  The  system  of  separate 
dwelling-houses  for  every  family  is  in  itself  promotive 
of  greater  morality  and  comfort,  but  the  opportunity 

989 


990 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


of  poor  men  to  secure  the  ownership  is  an  honorable 
incentive  to  industry  and  frugality." 

The  means  of  locomotion  within  the  city,  the  ac- 
commodations for  visitors,  the  capital  of  banks,  and 


the  transportation  facilities  other  than  rail  and  river, 
as  collected  in  1882  for  the  board  of  equalization, 
present  the  St.  Louis  of  to-day  as  being  in  the  follow- 
ing condition  : 


STREET   RAILWAYS. 


NAME  OF  COMPANY. 

Numher  of  Horses. 

Value  per  Head. 

Number  of  Mules. 

Value  per  Head. 

Miles  of  Track. 

Value  per  Mile. 

Number  of  Cars. 

Total  Value  of  Cars. 

Other  Personal 
Property. 

Value  of  Real 
Estate. 

!' 
1 

Baden  and  St.  Louis     

17 

$35 

3i 

$1500 

8 

$1,200 

$140 

$6  820 

Benton  and  Bellefontaine  

106 

50 

26 

$30 

(L 

3000) 

4? 

8,800 

750 

$22,760 

48,720 

193 

45 

1  44 

{5 

1000  j 
3500) 

9  000 

6720 

32  850 

83  810 

Citizens',  Fair  Grounds  and  Suburban. 
Lindell  

251 
361 

45 
45 

75 
40 

50 
50 

1  3  62-100 
f« 

i 

10  25-66 

2500  }• 
3500  J 
2500) 
1500  f 
3500 

56 
70 

19,200 
17,900 

2980 
2600 

22,800 
79  440 

94,520 
159  430 

277 

45 

18 

50 

3500 

19,600 

3000 

57  240 

122  960 

65 

45 

28 

50 

6 

2500 

22 

2,750 

800 

22  880 

238 

45 

12 

50 

8 

3500 

SO 

10,500 

9300 

59  110 

268 

45 

174 

60 

3000 

66 

16,700 

4460 

38,100 

125,860 

65 

40 

10 

45 

(I 

2200) 

4,740 

320 

32,510 

(5 

1800  j 
2000 

2  000 

Tower  Grove  and  Lafayette  

53 

45 

40 

50 

3  1-5 

2500 

?0 

5,000 

270 

7,390 

25,050 

Union  

203 

45 

7 

50 

8 

3500 

?4 

7,200 

2940 

16,030 

63,660  / 

157 

45 

209 

50 

10 

2500 

68 

14,600 

4360 

41,390 

75,870 

Name. 

Atlantic 

Barnum's 

Beaumont 

City 

Commercial 

Hotel  Barnum .. 

Belvedere 

Hotel  Hunt , 

Hotel  Moser.... 

Hurst's 

Ives  House 

Koetter's 

Laclede 

Lafayette  Park. 

Lindell 

Mona  House.... 

Planters' , 

St.  James 

The  Southern- 
Western  

Windsor 

Everett  House. 
Grand  Pacific.. 


HOTELS. 

Assessed  Value 

Proprietors.  of  Personal 

Property. 

....F.F.  Burt $1,670 

....L.  A.  Pratt U0,200 

Hallie  D.  Pittman 1,890 

....George  Spilling il^OO 

....James  H.  Morris x  1,600 

....Mrs.  M.  L.  Barnum 16,110 

....Shickle,  Harrison  &  Co 17,000 

...Mrs.  E.  J.  Polk 1,560 

....Leo  Moser 1,730 

....James  H.  Hurst 3,220 

...James  0.  Ives x  6,800 

...G.  Koetter 2,3«0 

....Griswold  &  Sperry 30,600 

....Nelson  Yocum 1,140 

....Charles  Scudder  &  Co 40,360 

,...J.  H.  Tomb 1 1,800 

...J.  &  J.  Gerardi 15,440 

...Thomas  P.  Miller 3,430 

...The  Southern  Hotel  Company 61,170 

....M.  C.  Irish ^,000 

...Windsor  Hotel  Company 6,000 

...J.  H.  Hawley 3,250 

...J.  &  J.  Robertson 4,100 


Name. 


Value  of 
Real  Estate. 

International $12,820 

Laclede 

Lafayette 2,200 

Mullanphy  Savings 2,300 

Northwestern  Savings 

Provident  Savings 76,290 

State  Savings 54,660 

Tenth  Ward  Savings 11,090 

Union  Savings 10,570 

Merchant  National 1,530 

Valley  National 

Third  National 112,130 

Fourth  National 

St.  Louis  National 13,710 


Total  Value  of 
Assessment. 

$91.650 

250,000 

50,000 

128,060 

55,390 

100,000 

1,251,640 

46,590 

128,130 

805,000 

272.500 

1,161,030 

584,000 

569,140 


Total $739,650         $10,040,550 

EXPRESS  COMPANIES,  LIVERY-STABLES,  ETC. 


Total $230,760 

BANKS. 

Value  of  Total  Value  of 

JSame<                              Real  Estate.  Assessment. 

Bank  of  Commerce $185,890  $1,136,150 

Boatmen's  Savings 67,940  2,174,f>:',o 

Bremen  Savings 1,600  76,050 

Citizen's  Savings 23,400  139,930 

Commercial '    310,000 

Continental 60,640  116,070 

Franklin 38,250  224,221 

German  American 112. ,,0 

German  "Savings 63,630  .  267,700 

1  Assessed  by  assessor,  no  return  being  made  by  owner. 


Number 

Name.  of 

Horses. 

Adams  Express  Co 36 

American  Express  Co 42 

United  States  Express  Co 35 

St.  Louis  Transfer  Co 206 

Hazard  Coal  Co 40 

Schuremann  Bros.  &  Co 84 

Eau  Claire  Lumber  Co 59 

Mount  Cabann6  Milk  Co 24 

St.  Louis  Street  Sprinkling  Co.  28 

Arnot,  Jesse 55 

Bensick,  John  C 20 

Bohle,  Louis  C 

Brockmann,  ]> 35 

Sherrick,  L.  P 20 

Cullen  &  Kelly 22 

CK-nicnt.  N.  S 24 

Comfort,  C.  D.  &  Co 21 

Crnm,  C.  N 22 

Ganger,  Jacob 25 

Heitz,  Christ 20 

Herman,  Fred 60 


Value    Number     Total 

per  of        Value  of 

Head.  Vehicles.  Vehicles. 


$100 

100 
50 
75 
55 
60 
50 
50 
60 
40 
40 
40 
65 
40 

100 
50 

100 
75 

100 
50 

100 


IS 
23 
17 
99 
10 
55 
30 
11 
15 
49 
10 
32 
16 
15 
15 
16 
14 
14 
10 
7 
25 


S-'MlOll 

2,950 

1.700 

14,750 

500 

2,235 

750 

550 

1,400 

5.300 

2,000 

5,000 

1,500 
6,000 
2,000 
1.120 

2.250 

4,000 

210 

2.500 


SAINT  LOUIS  AS  A  CENTRE   OF  TRADE. 


991 


Number     Value    Number     Total 

Name.  of  per  of        Value  of 

Horses.      Head.  Vehicles.  Vehicles. 

Kron,  Aug 20  !?65  10  $1,000 

Lawrence  &  Spelbrink 25  40  23  2,500 

Maxwell,  T.  A  J 33  70  3  150 

Meyer,  Adolph 30  40  17  3,600 

Mueller,  Henry 60  100  10  1,000 

Keilly  &  Walfort 161  64  4  200 

Scheele,  H.  &  Son 20  80  10  5,000 

Scott  &  Lynch 30  60  20  4,000 

Wright,  George  C 20  100  9  3,600 

Sloan  &  Ellis 80  37  4  250 

Wolfinger,  John  &  Co 22  75  14  500 

The  territory  of  which  St.  Louis  is  recognized  as 
the  natural  commercial  and  business  metropolis  is 
indicated  in  the  following  table,  with  the  miles  of  rail- 
road they  had  in  the  years  1870  and  1879,  respec- 
tively : 


States. 


Miles 
in  1870. 

558 
746 
495 
225 


Kentucky  (one-half) 

Tennessee  (one-half) 

Mississippi  (one-half) 

Louisiana  (one-half) 

Illinois  (one-half) 2411 

Missouri 2000 

Arkansas 256 

Texas 711 

Kansas  (one-half) 750 


Miles 
in  1879. 

797 

850 

670 

272 

3,789 

3,740 

804 

2,591 

1,052 


Total  8052         14,465 

In  the  ten  years  from  1870  to  1879  there  was  con- 
structed in  the  territory  we  have  set  down  as  tribu- 
tary to  St.  Louis  six  thousand  four  hundred  and  thir- 
teen miles  of  railroad. 

The  increase  of  population  in  the  territory  of  which 
St.  Louis  is  the  natural  commercial  metropolis  in  the 
ten  years  from  1870  to  1880  was  as  follows,  the  fig- 
ures in  all  instances  being  from  the  United  States 
census : 


States. 

Kentucky  (one-half) 

Tennessee  (one-half) 

Mississippi  (one-half).... 

Louisiana  (one-half) 

Illinois  (one-half) 

Missouri 

Arkansas 

Texas 

Kansas  (one-half) 


1870. 

660,505 

629,260 

413,961 

368,957 

1,269,945 

1,721,295 

484,471 

818,579 

182,199 


1880. 

824,354 

776,231 

565,796 

470,051 

1,539,384 

2,168,804 

802,564 

1,592,574 

497,983 


Total 6,549,192         9,237,741 

All  this  territory,  with  New  Mexico  and  Indian 
Territory  still  farther  south,  constitute  a  part  of  the 
vast  back  country  of  St.  Louis.  When  it  is  consid- 
ered, therefore,  that  this  city  has  such  surroundings  as 
have  been  here  described ;  that  she  is  the  very  centre 
of  the  most  productive  agricultural  region  of  the 
whole  earth  ;  that  she  is  in  immediate  proximity  and 
of  convenient  access  to  an  inexhaustible  deposit  of 
the  purest  iron  ore  in  the  world ;  that  she  is  at  the 
head  of  navigation  from  the  south,  and  at  the  foot  of 
navigation  from  the  north  ;  that  she  is  sustained  and 
impelled  forward  by  the  immense,  illimitable  trade  of 


the  great  Father  of  Waters  and  his  tributaries ;  that  she 
has  the  material  around  her  for  building  up  the  most 
extensive  and  most  profitable  manufacturing  establish- 
ments that  the  world  has  ever  known ;  that  all  the 
necessaries  of  life,  the  cereal  grains  and  pork  particu- 
larly, are  produced  in  all  the  region  roundabout  in 
such  profusion  that  living  must  be  always  cheap,  and 
that  consequently  she  can  support  her  population 
though  it  should  increase  to  almost  indefinite  limits, 
when  all  these  facts  are  considered,  who  can  feel  dis- 
posed to  set  boundaries  to  her  future  progress  t 

It  will  be  seen  in  view  of  the  territory  thus  tributary 
to  St.  Louis  that  she  draws  from  a  greater  variety  of 
resources,  from  a  greater  extent  of  country,  that  she 
is  the  centre  of  more  mineral  wealth,  more  agricultural 
resources,  and  that  she  has  the  opportunity  and  is  fast 
endowing  herself  with  the  instrumentalities  for  obtain- 
ing a  vaster  internal  commerce  than  any  other  city  in 
the  Union.    Her  manufactures  are  varied  in  kind  and 
character,  and  conducted  with  less  expense  than  those 
of  any  of  her  sister  cities.     Her  population  has  been 
steadily  swelled  by  the  influx  of   emigration  ;   her 
wares  and  merchandise  find   their  market  in  every 
hamlet  of  the  country,  and  compete  in  Europe  with 
those  of  older  countries.     Her  credit,  whether  munic- 
ipal,  individual,   or  corporate,  is   unimpeached   and 
treasured  as  the  most  valuable  of  her  jewels.      It 
should  be  borne  in  mind  in  estimating  St.  Louis'  po- 
sition among  the  great  centres  of  trade  in  this  country 
that  the  territory  strictly  belonging  to  the  system  of 
rivers  which  empty  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  has  an 
area  of  1,683,000  square  miles,  including   eighteen 
States  and  two  Territories,  with  a  population  of  22,- 
000,000,  which   is  increasing  at   the  rate  of  about 
thirty-two  per  cent,  every  ten  years ;  and  that  this  great 
region  produced  300,000,000  out  of  the  450,000,000 
bushels  of  wheat  grown  in  the  whole  country  in  1880, 
besides  1,200,000,000  bushels  of  corn  out  of  a  total 
produce  for  the  same  year  of  1,500,000,000  bushels. 
The   collection    of   this  grain   into  the  granaries  of 
St.    Louis    is   being   carried    on    by    the   energetic 
men  who  have  banded  together  to  accomplish  the 
great  object  of  improving  the  trade  and  importance 
of  their  city.       Elsewhere    the  transportation  facili- 
ties and  the  storage  capacity  of  the  city  have  been 
fully  described.     This  business,  for  which  rail  and 
river  are  competing,  is  vast  enough  for  the  capacity 
of  both,  and  must  in  a  short  time  be  greatly  iu  excess 
of  the  terminal  facilities  afforded  by  existing  lines  of 
communication.     But  St.  Louis  has  also  determined 
to  become  the  leading  cotton  market,  and  in  view  of 
the  railroad  development  ministering  directly  to  her, 
it  is  certainly  no  vain  assertion  to  say  that  her  posi- 


992 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


tion  is  now  first  among  the  cotton  markets  of  the 
world.  The  opening  of  Northern  Texas  and  the 
whole  of  Arkansas  to  immediate  connection  by 
rail  with  the  Missouri  commercial  metropolis,  and 
the  probable  increase  of  cotton  culture  in  the 
Indian  Territory,  will  give  a  back  country  capable 
of  producing  millions  of  bales  annually  for  St.  Louis 
to  draw  upon.  She  has  already  become  the  successful 
competitor  with  Houston,  Galveston,  and  New  Or- 
leans for  the  distribution  of  the  crop  of  the  Southwest, 
and  the  encouragement  received  has  justified  her  en- 
terprising citizens  in  constructing  the  most  complete 
and  extensive  warehouses  for  cotton  storage  in  the 
world.  The  trade  of  St.  Louis  now  controls  the  cot- 
ton trade  in  certain  sections  of  Arkansas  and  the 
southern  portion  of  Missouri,  and  has  made  such  se- 
ductive bids  for  the  crop  of  Texas  that  many  counties 
in  that  State  regard  St.  Louis  as  their  most  remuner- 
ative market. 

It  was  said  of  St.  Louis  in  1849  that  "her  com- 
mercial prosperity  is  founded  very  largely,  if  not 
chiefly,  upon  what  is  called  the  '  produce  trade,'  "  and 
the  territorial  limits  of  this  trade  were  Illinois,  Iowa, 
and  Missouri.1  Thirty  years  afterwards  St.  Louis 
competed,  as  we  have  seen,  sharply  with  Chicago  for 
the  trade  of  Northern  Missouri,  Kansas,  Southern 
Nebraska,  Colorado,  the  Territories  tributary  to  the 
traffic  of  the  Union  and  Central  Pacific  Railroads,  and 
for  the  transcontinental  trade  towards  the  Southwest, 
embraced  in  the  southern  and  central  portions  of  Mis- 
souri, the  State  of  Arkansas,  the  larger  part  of  the 
State  of  Texas,  and  the  northwestern  section  of 
Louisiana,  with  the  Indian  Territory,  and  with  Cali- 
fornia by  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad.  New  Or- 
leans finds  in  St.  Louis  a  rival  for  the  trade  of  West- 
ern and  Northern  Louisiana.  The  trade  of  the  States 
east  of  the  Mississippi  and  south  of  the  Ohio  finds 
competition  at  St.  Louis  with  New  Orleans,  Louisville, 
Cincinnati,  and  Chicago,  as  well  as  the  principal  cities 
of  the  Atlantic  seaboard.  The  trade  limits  of  St. 
Louis  east  of  the  Mississippi  and  north  of  the  Ohio 
cover  Illinois,  Indiana,  and  Ohio,  and  include  the 
through  traffic  with  the  States  of  the  Atlantic  sea- 
board and  with  foreign  countries.  It  is  within  these 
vast  territorial  limits  that  St.  Louis  gathers  the  sur- 
plus products  of  the  people,  and  distributes  to  them 
the  supplies  and  general  merchandise  of  her  energetic 
tradesmen,  merchants,  and  manufacturers. 

The  railroads  which  converge  upon  and  centre  at 
St.  Louis  are  the  following; : 


1  Governor  Allen's  address  to  the  directors  of  the  Pacific 
Railroad. 


West  Roads. 

Chicago,  Alton  and  St.  Louis  Railroad  (Missouri  Division). 

Missouri  Pacific  Railroad. 

St.  Louis  and  San  Francisco  Railroad. 

St.  Louis,  Wabash  and  Pacific  Railway  (West  Branch). 

South  Roads. 

St.  Louis,  Iron  Mountain  and  Southern  Railroad. 
Missouri,  Kansas  and  Texas  Railroad. 
Belleville  and  Southern  Illinois  Railroad. 
Louisville  and  Nashville  Railroad. 
Cairo  and  St.  Louis  Railroad. 

East  Roads. 

Ohio  and  Mississippi  Railroad. 
Chicago,  Alton  and  St.  Louis  Railroad  (main  line). 
Indianapolis  and  St.  Louis  Railroad. 

St.  Louis,  Vandalia,  Terre  Haute  and  Indianapolis  Railroad. 
St.  Louis,  Wabash  and  Pacific  Railway. 
Illinois  and  St.  Louis  Railroad. 

North  Roads. 

St.  Louis,  Wabash  and  Pacific  Railroad  (Iowa  Division). 
Chicago,  Burlington  and  Quincy  Railroad  (St.  Louis  Division). 
St.  Louis,  Keokuk  and  Northwestern  Railroad. 

The  variations  of  the  receipts  and  shipments  of  the 
commerce  of  St.  Louis  with  the  north  are  shown  in 
the  following  table : 

Year.  Beceived.  Shipped. 

Tons.  Tout. 

1871 297,680  93,842 

1872 363,006  79,200 

1873 353,206  80,806 

1874 368,076  116,267 

1875 286,318  122,751 

1876 324,947  128,629 

1877 233,158  114,827 

1878 382,628  126,601 

1879 445,621  132,760 

1880 604,173  157,803 

Turning  to  the  east,  we  find  a  larger  commerce 
even  than  that  with  the  north.  The  total  receipts 
from  and  shipments  to  the  east  were  for  the  last 
decade : 

Year.  Received.  Shipped. 

Tons.  Tons. 

1871 1,219,245  545,636 

1872 1,341,545  688,264 

1873 1,568,719  699,048 

1874 1,540,632  746,037 

1875 1,542,866  750,527 

1876 1,510,527  1,026,291 

1877 1,634.860  927,448 

1878 1,770,548  1,119,406 

1879 2,041,440  1,225,895 

1880 2,508,704  1,325,004 

From  the  south  St.  Louis  received  as  well  as 
shipped  the  following  commerce : 

Year.                                             Beceived.  Shipped. 

Tons.  Tons. 

1871 1,109,801  695,531 

1872 1,392.080  836,089 

1873 1,339,688  838,123 

1874 1,196,534  767,819 

1875 1,371,670  738,632 

1876 1,310,534  696,577 

1877 1,339,649  798,802 

1878 1,290,606  832,018 

1879 1,649,272  995,346 

1880 1,853,577  1,492,216 


SAINT  LOUIS  AS  A  CENTRE   OF   TRADE. 


993 


The  western  commerce  of  St.  Louis  is  exhibited 
for  ten  years  in  the  following  table  : 

v                                               Received.              Shipped. 
Tear-                                               Ton*.                      Ton>. 

1871  555,996             395,371 

Mississippi  River,  the  values  standing  for  eastward 
or  via  Atlantic  ports  at  $17,000,000,  and  southward 
or  via  New  Orleans  at  $10,000,"000. 
As  illustrating  the  course  of  the  internal  commerce 
from  St.  Louis,  the  following  movements  of  cotton, 
grain,  flour,  provisions,  and  live-stock  will  be  found 
instructive  : 

Articles.                         Direction.                    1880.            1879. 
Cotton,  bales  Shipped  south  5.417              7,208 

1872  605,652            406,393 

1873  784,620             320,695 

1874  793,216            307,878 

1875  595,441             328,635 

1876  974,467             408,678 

1877  901,206             409,443 

1878  1,056,225             417,209 

1879  1,215,715             608,860 
1880  2,023,930             818,182 

"          "    "        elsewhere  5,827              1,289 

For  the  better  comparison   of  the   extraordinary 
growth  of  the  commerce  of  St.  Louis  during  the'  last 
decade,  the  following  table  groups  the  tonnage  of  all 
the  sections  : 

Year.          North.            East.            South.              West.              Total. 
1871....  391,552     1,764,887     1,805,332        951,367       4,913,102 
1872....  442,206     2,029,809     2,228,169     1,012,045       5,712,229 
1873....  434,012     2,267,767     2,177,811     1,105,315       5,984,905 
1874....  484,343     2,286,069     1,964,353     1,101,094       5,835,859 
1875....  409,069     2,293,393     2,110,302     1,024,076       5,836.840 
1876....  453,576     2,536,318     2,007,111     1,383,145       6,380,150 
1877....  347,985     2,562,308     2,138,451     1,310,649       6,359,393 
1878....  509,229     2,889,954     2,122,624     1,473,434       6,995,241 
1879....  578,381     3,267,335     2,644,618     1,824,575       8,314,909 
1880....  761,976     3,833,708     3,345,793     2,842,112     10,783,589 

In  these  ten  years  the  commerce  of  St.  Louis  in- 
creased  northward   from  391,522   tons  in  1871  to 
761.976    tons    in    1880;    towards   the    east    from 
1,764,881  tons  in  1871  to  3,833,708  tons  in  1880  ; 
towards  the  south  from  1,805,332  tons  in  1871  to 
3,345,793  tons   in    1880  ;    towards  the    west  from 
951,367  tons  in  1871  to  2,842,112  tons  in  1880; 
and  the  total  grew  from  4,913,102  tons  in  1871  to 
10,783,589  tons  in  1880. 
The  rapidity  of  the  growth  of  this  commerce  will 
be  more  easily  comprehended  by  considering  the  pro- 
portion of  tonnage  for  the  years   1880,  1879,  and 
1878: 

"        "        east  4  927  389        4  C84  09'i 

"            "         "        elsewhere                  183  904             99  4'J6 

Corn,  bushels  "        south                     12962076        5287394 

"      "        east  4'  591*944        3*009*776 

"            "      "        elsewhere                     17  302             13  836 

Flour,  barrels  "        south...                   1350*442        1049*504 

"     "        east  1  912'l71        1*927490 

"            "      "        elsewhere                    30090             68041 

Flour  and  grain1  "        south  28,377271      15134163 

«'        "        "     "         east         ...            19555975      17952999 

"        "        "     "        elsewhere  388737           589262 

Hog  products,  pounds...      "        south  150,94^,883    158,639570 

"          "              "       ...       "        east  45388116      63669511 

"          "              "       ...       "        elsewhere  3,913,027        3,892,698 
Cattle,  number  "        east,  by  rail  1,774              2,041 

"            "       "        south,  by  rail..         219350           219416 

rail  5474              4,798 

directions                 2,281 

Sheep   number  "        south,  by  rail...            6,690              2,441 

"           «       "        east,  by  rail  72,384            76,286 

"            "       "        elsewhere,    by 

rail  12,421              9,374 

"           "       "        by  river  in  all 

directions                 3  027            

Hogs,  number  "        south,  by  rail..            4,323              5,401 

»           "       "        east,  by  rail  759,323          679,513 

rail  6,642              1,815 

"            "       "        by  river  in  all 

directions....            1,481            

The  percentage  of  the  shipments  of  cotton  towards 
the  south  in  1880  was   1.13,  and  towards  the  east 
97.65,  and  1.22  in  other  directions;  of  iclicat,  54.82 
per  cent,  went  south,  and  43.55  per  cent,  went  east, 
1.63  per  cent,  in  other  directions;   of  corn,  73.77 
per  cent,  went  south,  26.13  per  cent,  went  east,  0.10 
per  cent,  in  other  directions  ;  of  flour,  41.01  per  cent, 
went  south,  58.07  per  cent,  east,  and  0.92  per  cent, 
in  other  directions;  of  grain,  etc.,  58.45  per  cent, 
went  south,  40.47  east,  and  1.08  in  other  directions; 
of  hog  products,  75.38  per  cent,  went  south,  22.67 
per  cent,  east,  and  1.95  per  cent,  in  other  directions; 
of  cattle,  0.77  per  cent,  went  south,  95.84  per  cent, 
east,  and  3.39  per  cent,  in  other  directions  ;  of  sheep, 
6.38  per  cent,  went  south,  77.40  east,  and  16.22  in 
other  directions  ;  of  hogs,  0.56  per  cent,  went  south, 
98.52  per  cent,  east,  and  0.92  in  other  directions. 
The   steady    expansion    of  the    commerce   of   St. 
Louis  is  shown  by  the  increase  during  1880  over 
1879  of  the  shipments  of  flour  and  grain  from  St. 
Louis  to  the  east   and  to  the  south,  the  former  of 
which  increased  1,602,976  bushels,  or  8.9  per  cent., 
and  the  latter  13,243,108  bushels,  or  87.05  per  cent.  ; 
in  1879  the  shipments  to  the  east  exceeded  those  to 

1880.                            1879.                           1878. 

DIREC- 
TION.                                   Par                                    Par                                    Par 
Tons-         Cent.         T°n8'         Cent.         T°n8-         Cent. 

North  761,976           7.07         578,381           6.95        509,229            7.28 
West  2,842,112        20:55      1824575         ''I  95     14734:54          21.06 

South  3,345,793        31.03      2,644,61  S         :;l.-n     2,122.t)24          30.35 
East  3,833,708        35.55     3,267  ,33f>        :','.!  :;o     2,889,951          41.31 

Total  10,783,589      100.00      8,314,909      100.00     6,995,241        100.00 

It  will  be  observed  from  these  tables  that  the  com- 
merce of  St.  Louis  towards  the  east  was  larger  in 
1880  than  in  any  other  direction,  and  a  much  larger 
traffic  passes  over  the  great  bridge  than  is  transported 
on  the  river.     In  direct  trade  with  foreign  countries 
in   1880,  the    value  of  eastward   shipments  by  rail 
via    Atlantic  ports    was   seventy    per    cent,    greater 
than  the  value  of  the  shipments  southward  via  the 

1  Including  wheat,  corn,  rye,  oats,  barley,  and  flour,  at  five 
bushels  to  the  barrel. 

994 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


the  south  by  2,818,836  bushels,  but  in  1880  the 
shipments  to  the  south  exceeded  those  to  the  east  by 
8,821,296  bushels;  in  1879  about  53  per  cent,  of  the 
shipments  was  to  the  east,  but  in  1880  nearly  59 
per  cent,  of  the  total  shipments  was  to  the  south ; 
the  total  shipments  for  1880  exceeded  those  for  1879 
by  14,645,559  bushels.  The  receipts  of  flour  at  St. 
Louis  in  1880  exceeded  those  for  1879  by  100,000 
barrels;  those  of  wheat  increased  4,000,000  bushels; 
of  corn,  9,000,000  bushels;  of  oats,  600,000  bushels; 
and  of  barley,  730,000  bushels ;  while  the  receipts  of 
rye  decreased  250,000  bushels  as  compared  with 
1879. 

There  is  a  wide  disparity  of  opinion  in  regard  to 
the  limits  of  the  territory  actually  tributary  to  St. 
Louis,  and  consequently  the  extent  of  the  products 
controlled  by  that  city.  We  wish  to  present  both 
views,  that  which  is  less  favorable  to  the  pretensions 
of  St.  Louis  and  that  which  is  more  favorable.  We 
will  state  in  advance  that  we  incline  to  accept  the 
claim  for  the  wider  horizon  and  the  broader  destiny. 
No  city  has  a  grander  geographical  site,  and  none  a 
more  generous  and  nobler  population.  If  these  two, 
working  together  in  steadfast  co-operation, — intelli- 
gence reverently  and  diligently  utilizing  and  applying 
the  gifts  and  largess  of  nature,  the  stored-up  forces 
and  conservated  energies  of  immemorial  ages, — cannot 
make  a  great  city  and  a  great  centre  of  trade,  then 
nothing  can.  Anyhow,  it  is  proper  that  a  city  should 
have  implicit  confidence  in  its  resources.  As  Col. 
George  E.  Leighton,  president  of  the  Missouri  His- 
torical Society,  said,  in  his  very  intelligent  and  thought- 
ful address  at  the  last  annual  meeting,  Jan.  16,  1883, 
"  A  living  interest  and  belief  in  the  real  greatness  of  a 
city  will  alone  make  it  great.  Such  a  feeling  is  con- 
tagious, and  if  we  but  do  our  part,  we  can  impress 
ourselves  and  others  with  the  belief  that  we 'have  in 
St.  Louis  a  city  worthy  of  our  interest,  and  of  our 
labors  to  make  it  attractive  in  all  those  directions 
which  ennoble,  dignify,  and  refine  our  lives,  as  well  as 
in  those  which  minister  to  its  material  progress." 

Mr.  Joseph  Niramo,  Jr.,  chief  of  the  Bureau  of 
Statistics  of  the  Treasury  Department,  Washington, 
in  his  very  comprehensive  and  suggestive  report  on 
the  "  Internal  Commerce  of  the  United  States,"  sub- 
mitted to  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  Windom,  July  1, 
1881,  attempts  to  define  the  "  territorial  limits  of  the 
commerce  of  St.  Louis."  What  he  says  is  as  fol- 
lows : 

"  It  is  deemed  proper  in  this  connection  to  present  a  general 
description  of  the  range  of  the  commercial  activities  of  St.  Louis, 
such  as  was  presented  in  a  preceding  report  on  the  internal  com- 
merce of  the  United  States,  with  such  modifications  as  the 


changed  conditions  of  trade  and  of  transportation  have  rendered 
necessary. 

"  The  limits  of  the  trade  of  St.  Louis  cannot  be  precisely  de- 
fined, nor  can  the  limits  of  the  trade  of  any  other  great  commer- 
cial city,  as  each  city  is  either  directly  or  indirectly  the  compet- 
itor of  every  other  commercial  city.  St.  Louis  has  direct  trade 
with  San  Francisco,  with  St.  Paul,  Minn.,  with  Chicago,  with 
New  Orleans,  with  the  principal  Atlantic  seaports,  and  with 
many  of  the  principal  ports  of  Europe.  This  is  also  true  of 
other  great  commercial  cities,  both  at  the  West  and  on  the  sea- 
board. But  in  the  sense  of  being  the  principal  market  for  the 
sale  of  general  merchandise,  and  for  the  purchase  of  surplus 
agricultural  products  of  the  surrounding  country,  the  terri- 
torial extent  of  the  commerce  of  St.  Louis  may  be  described  as 
folldws : 

"  The  commerce  of  St.  Louis  west  of  the  Mississippi  River 
and  north  of  the  State  of  Missouri  is  quite  small,  the  city  of 
Chicago  having  secured  the  principal  control  of  that  trade  by 
means  of  the  system  of  east  and  west  roads  centring  in  that 
city. 

"St.  Louis  competes  sharply  with  Chicago  for  the  trade  of 
Northern  Missouri,  Kansas,  Southern  Nebraska,  Colorado,  the 
Territories  tributary  to  the  traffic  of  the  Union  and  Central  Pa- 
cific Railroads,  and  for  the  transcontinental  trade  with  the 
States  of  the  Pacific  coast,  and  mainly  controls  so  much  of  the 
trade  towards  the  Southwest  as  is  embraced  in  the  southern  and 
central  portion  of  Missouri,  the  State  of  Arkansas,  the  larger 
part  of  the  State  of  Texas,  and  the  northwestern  section  of  Lou- 
isiana. For  the  trade  of  Kansas,  the  northern  part  of  Texas, 
and  the  Indian  Territory,  St.  Louis  meets  an  active  competition 
in  the  commercial  enterprises  of  Chicago. 

"The  advent  of  railroads  as  highways  of  commerce  has  led  to 
many  changes,  not  only  in  the  limits  of  the  commerce  of  cities, 
but  also  in  their  relation  to  each  other.  This  fact  is  strikingly 
illustrated  with  respect  to  the  commerce  of  St.  Louis  and  of  New 
Orleans.  Twenty  years  ago  almost  all  the  commercial  interests 
of  these  two  cities  were  mutual  and  reciprocal,  but  to-day,  with 
respect  to  the  large  and  rapidly-growing  southwestern  com- 
merce, St.  Louis  is  a  formidable  rival  of  New  Orleans.  This 
new  condition  of  affairs  has  resulted  mainly  from  the  construc- 
tion of  the  St.  Louis,  Iron  Mountain  and  Southern  Railroad  and 
connections,  and  the  Missouri,  Kansas  and  Texas  Railroad.  These 
lines,  by  their  extension  into  Arkansas,  Western  and  Northern 
Louisiana,  and  Texas,  have  not  only  invaded  a  section  formerly 
embraced  within  the  trade  limits  of  New  Orleans,  but  they  have 
been  the  instrumentalities  through  which  a  very  large  commer- 
cial development  has  taken  place  within  this  highly  productive 
section.  The  railroads  referred  to  have  invited  a  large  immigra- 
tion into  these  States,  and  trade  and  industry  have  thus  been 
greatly  promoted.  Not  only  are  the  surplus  products  of  a  large 
part  of  the  State  of  Arkansas,  as  well  as  of  parts  of  Louisiana 
and  Texas,  shipped  to  St.  Louis  and  other  northern  cities  for  a 
market,  but,  in  return,  general  merchandise  is  shipped  to  those 
States. 

"  By  the  completion  of  the  railroad  line  from  New  Orleans  to 
Houston,  the  former  city  has  become  a  direct  competitor  with 
St.  Louis  for  a  large  part  of  the  traffic  of  the  railroads  of  Texas. 
The  competition  of  New  Orleans  for  the  trade  of  Texas  will  un- 
doubtedly become  sharper  upon  the  completion  of  the  railway 
line  designed  to  connect  that  city  with  Shreveport,  La.,  at 
which  point  connection  will  be  made  with  the  Texas  Pacific 
Railroad  and  its  connecting  lines. 

"  For  the  trade  of  the  States  east  of  the  Mississippi  River 
and  south  of  the  Ohio  River,  St.  Louis  meets  the  active  compe- 
tition of  the  trade  of  New  Orleans,  Louisville,  Cincinnati,  and 
Chicago,  and  of  the  principal  cities  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard. 


SAINT  LOUIS  AS  A  CENTRE  OF  TRADE. 


995 


The  trade  of  St.  Louis  with  those  States  has  exhibited  no  ma- 
terial increase  for  several  years. 

"  The  trade  limits  of  St.  Louis  east  of  the  Mississippi  River 
and  north  of  the  Ohio  River,  not  including  the  through  traffic 
with  the  States  of  the  Atlantic  seaboard  and  with  foreign  coun- 
tries, embrace  a  considerable  portion  of  the  State  of  Illinois 
and  extend  into  Indiana  and  Ohio.  This  is  a  commerce  almost 
entirely  by  rail,  only  a  very  small  percentage  of  it  being  carried 
on  by  means  of  boats  plying  on  the  Mississippi  and  Illinois 
Rivers.  All  this  trade,  with  the  exception  of  that  in  the  im- 
mediate vicinity  of  St.  Louis,  is  highly  competitive  as  between 
Chicago,  Toledo,  and  St.  Louis.  This  applies  both  to  the  pur- 
chase of  agricultural  products  and  to  the  sale  of  supplies  and 
general  merchandise.  The  state  of  the  markets  at  these  rival 
cities  determines  the  course  of  trade  of  this  section  at  all  times. 

"  The  commerce  of  St.  Louis  with  the  States  and  Territories 
already  referred  to  has  as  its  distinguishing  characteristics  the 
purchase  of  the  surplus  products  of  those  States  and  Territories 
and  the  sale  of  merchandise  for  consumption  within  such  terri- 
torial limits.  But  the  commerce  of  St.  Louis  with  the  Atlantic 
seaboard  States  and  with  foreign  countries  presents  itself  under 
an  entirely  different  aspect." 

Mr.  Nimmo  at  this  point  speaks  of  the  railroads 
which  centre  at  St.  Louis  and  the  sharp  competition 
of  the  east-bound  trunk  lines,  a  matter  which  it  is 
not  necessary  to  discuss  now  or  here.  There  are  two 
reasons  for  this :  in  the  first  place,  the  rates  of  com- 
petition are  so  fluctuating  and  uncertain  that  there  is 


no  standard,  as  there  is  also  neither  good  policy,  es- 
tablished policy,  honor  nor  honesty  in  the  competition 
for  freight  from  the  west  to  the  Atlantic  seaboard 
cities.  These  things  will  finally  adjust  themselves, 
and  in  the  final  adjustment  it  will  be  "  devil  take  the 
hindmost."  But  in  the  mean  time,  so  long  as  "  pool- 
ing" corrects  distance,  no  scale  of  rates  can  be  per- 
manently laid  down.  We  have  nothing  but  expedients, 
and  very  temporary  ones  at  that,  and  St.  Louis  can 
afford  to  wait  until  time,  which  adjusts  everything 
else,  has  adjusted  this  also.  In  the  second  place,  St. 
Louis  possesses  a  regulator  of  freight  rates  to  eastern 
seaports  which,  she  is  fain  to  believe,  will  finally  re- 
construct everything,  and  especially  readjust  the  "  dif- 
ferential rates"  entirely  in  her  favor.  This  regulator 
is  the  Mississippi  River,  which,  no  matter  what  rail- 
road managers  may  say,  intends  to  have  a  potential 
voice  in  the  final  adjustment  of  freight  rates  from 
western  trade  centres  to  European  markets,  and  will 
not  be  ignored,  belittled,  or  frightened  by  any  of  their 
"  statements." 

The  area  of  country  really  and  actually  tributary 
to  St.  Louis,  the  more  sanguine  friends  of  its  com- 
merce in  the  future  claim,  is  as  follows : 


STATES   AND  PARTS  OF  STATES  TRIBUTAEY  TO  ST.  LOUIS,  THEIE  POPULATION,  RAILROADS,  AND   PRODUCTS,  1879-80. 


STATES. 

Population. 

Miles  of 
Railroad. 

Wheat. 

Corn. 

Oats. 

Rye. 

Barley. 

Number  of 
Live-Stock. 

Missouri  

2,168,804 
802,564 
995,966 
152,433 
1,539,384 
812,310 
771,287 
824,354 

4434 
620 
1957 
3083 
5645 
1539 
34001 
1065 

24,966,627 
1,269,730 
17,324,141 
13,847,007 
25,555,251 
15,577,102 
1,283,880 
5,678,056 

202,485,723 
24,156,417 
105,729,325 
65,150,435 
162,896,240 
137,512,123 
14,532,586 
36,426,131 

20,670,958 
2,219,822 
8,180,385 
6,555,875 
36,594,600 
25,305,295 
2,446,679 
2,290,369 

535,426 
22,387 
413,181 
424,348 
1,591,897 
759,302 
12,699 
334,025 

123,631 
1,952 
300,273 
1,744,686 
614,761 
2,011,294 
36,393 
243,163 

7,611,671 

Arkansas           ...             .. 

Kansas  

2,814,383 
1,836,286 

Nebraska  

Iowa  (i)  

2,408,071 
8,665,221 

Texas  (£)  

771,231 
194,649 
118,430 
470,051 
1,131,592 

792 
727 
715 
681 
1448 

3,665,676 
1,425,014 
706,641 
2,517 
218,890 

31,382,214 
455,968 
633,786 
4,953,094 
21,340,800 

2,361,095 
640,900 
156,527 
114,920 
1,959,620 

78,209 
19,465 
240 
506 
5,134 

15,009 
107,116 
25,026 

Colorado  

1,985,119 

174 

1  AU  the  Texas  railroads  are  tributary  to  St.  Louis,  so  also  are  the  Texas  cattle  and  other  live-stock. 


Cotton  and  other  products  are  given  in  other  tables. 
The  above  table  is  supposed  to  represent  the  States 
which  send  or  are  to  send  their  products  to  St.  Louis. 
The  States  and  Territories  which  St.  Louis  supplies 
more  or  less  with  goods,  either  of  her  own  manufac- 
ture or  through  the  jobbing  trade,  are  exemplified  in 
a  statement  of  Mr.  E.  C.  Simmons,  president  of  the 
Simmons  Hardware  Company  of  St.  Louis  : 

"  We  purchase  goods  at  many  points  throughout  the  North- 
ern as  well  as  Eastern  States,  from  the  Mississippi  River  east  to 
Providence  and  Boston.  There  are  also  many  manufacturers 
of  goods  in  our  line  here  in  St.  Louis  from  whom  we  draw  sup- 
plies. We  have  goods  manufactured  at  several  of  the  principal 
penitentiaries  of  the  country.  We  also  still  import  largely  of 


certain  lines  of  goods  chiefly  from  England  and  Germany,  and 
some  from  France  and  Switzerland.  All  of  our  goods,  both  do- 
mestic and  foreign,  are  shipped  to  us  direct  on  through  bills  of 
lading. 

"  The  range  of  our  sales  is  very  wide  indeed.  We  sell  goods 
as  far  east  as  Indiana,  north  as  far  as  Wisconsin  and  Minne- 
sota, Dakota,  Idaho,  and  Wyoming,  west  as  far  as  Colorado, 
Utah,  Montana,  Nevada,  Arizona,  New  Mexico,  and  California, 
and  south  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  We  also  have  trade  in  Ala- 
bama and  Georgia,  Tennessee  and  Kentucky,  with  some  scatter- 
ing trade  in  North  Carolina  and  Virginia,  Ohio  and  Michigan. 

"This  widely  extended  business  is  chiefly  done  through  com- 
mercial travelers  or  agents  employed  by  our  house.  The  whole 
territory  is  divided  up  into  districts,  each  district  being  in  the 
particular  charge  of  one  of  our  commercial  travelers,  who  is  held 
responsible  for  the  maintenance  and  extension  of  trade  within 
his  district.  He  is  also  expected  to  keep  the  house  informed  in 


996 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


regard  to  the  competition  which  he  meets  from  every  point, 
from  other  business  houses  in  this  city  and  in  other  cities,  also 
as  to  crops  and  facts  of  interest  touching  the  influence  of  com- 
peting rail  rates.  The  limits  of  our  trade  depend  very  largely 
upon  the  rates  for  transportation  which  we  have  to  meet  from 
competing  business  houses  in  other  cities. 

"  At  present  we  have  thirty-one  commercial  agents  employed. 

"  Nineteen-twentieths  of  our  trade  is  by  rail.  The  great  ad- 
vantage afforded  by  rail  transportation  is  the  readiness  and 
quickness  with  which  goods  can  be  distributed.  All  we  have  to 
do  is  to  ship  goods  by  rail  on  a  through  bill  of  lading  to  a  re- 
mote point.  They  may  pass  over  three  or  four  different  rail- 
roads, but  the  railroad  companies  attend  to  transshipment  from 
the  line  of  one  company  to  that  of  another. 

"  Insurance  is  a  thing  that  bears  heavily  against  water  ship- 
ments. Merchants  will  buy  goods  from  points  where  they  will 
reach  them  quickest.  Take,  for  instance,  Corsicana,  Texas. 
The  all-rail  rate  from  St.  Louis  is  $1.25  to  $1.50  per  one  hun- 
dred pounds,  and  from  New  York  by  Morgan  line  it  is  but  fifty 
to  seventy-five  cents  per  one  hundred  pounds;  still,  on  account 
of  the  quicker  transportation,  the  merchants  buy  most  of  their 
goods  in  St.  Louis,  and  ship  by  rail.  In  our  trade  east  of  this 
point  we  find  a  very  sharp  competition  from  Chicago,  but  we  do 
not  meet  much  competion  from  Chicago  in  Missouri  south  of 
this  point,  or  in  the  Indian  Territory,  Arkansas,  or  Texas.  All 
that  we  regard  as  especially  our  territory. 

"  Throughout  the  States  south  of  the  Ohio  and  east  of  the 
Mississippi  Eiver,  viz. :  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Mississippi,  Ala- 
bama, Georgia,  and  Louisiana,  and  some  little  in  North  Caro- 
lina, we  meet  the  competition  of  Louisville  and  Cincinnati 
merchants,  and  also  a  very  vigorous  competition  from  New 
York.  Our  best  trade  may  be  said  to  be  in  Iowa,  Illinois,  Mis- 
souri, Kansas,  Arkansas,  and  Texas." 

The  foregoing  statement  in  regard  to  the  range  of 
the  business  of  a  single  house,  both  in  its  territorial 
extent  and  in  the  degree  to  which  its  management 
involves  the  exercise  of  executive  and  administrative 
ability,  affords  a  striking  illustration  of  the  manner  in 
which  the  wholesale  or  jobbing  trade  is  carried  on  at 
the  present  time.  In  the  range  of  its  activities  and 
in  the  methods  employed,  the  commerce  of  the  present 
day  is  widely  at  variance  with  all  ideas  of  trade  which 
prevailed  even  thirty  years  ago.  At  all  the  points 
where  purchases  are  made  by  the  business  house 
above  referred  to,  purchases  are  also  made  by  mer- 
chants doing  business  in  a  hundred  rival  towns  and 
cities.  Throughout  almost  the  entire  area  in  which 
the  sales  of  this  business  house  are  made,  competition 
is  also  met  from  business  houses  in  Chicago,  Louis- 
ville, Cincinnati,  New  York,  Boston,  Philadelphia, 
Baltimore,  and  many  other  towns  of  lesser  magnitude. 

St.  Louis  competes  with  Louisville  and  other  cities 
in  the  manufacture  of  tobacco,  selling  all  the  Missouri 
product.  In  the  sale  of  dry-goods,  clothing,  and 
groceries,  she  competes,  on  their  own  territory,  with 
Galveston,  New  Orleans,  Mobile,  Nashville,  Louisville, 
Cincinnati,  and  Chicago ;  New  York,  Philadelphia, 
Boston,  and  Baltimore  sometimes  invading  her  terri- 
tory. In  the  distribution  of  corn  whiskey,  as  well  as 


in  its  manufacture,  she  competes  with  Cincinnati  and 
Louisville,  Indianapolis  and  Peoria.  In  the  manufac- 
ture and  distribution  of  malt  liquors,  St.  Louis  controls 
the  whele  Southern  and  Western  trade,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  Cincinnati  and  Milwaukee.  The  drug  trade 
of  the  lower  Mississippi,  Texas,  Arkansas,  Kansas, 
etc.,  is  controlled  by  St.  Louis.  In  wood  and  willow- 
ware,  St.  Louis  has  all  the  South  and  West,  even 
Tennessee.  One  house  in  this  city  is  known  to  be 
the  largest  distributing  house  in  the  United  States. 
In  queensware,  St.  Louis  supplies  the  Southwest.  In 
stoves  its  only  rivals  are  Cincinnati  and  Pittsburgh. 

It  is  thus  apparent  that  St.  Louis  has  a  productive 
commerce  as  well  as  a  distributive  one.  This  is 
greatly  in  her  favor,  as  the  productive  trade  is  more 
profitable  as  well  as  more  durable  and  certain.  Prop- 
erly defined,  distributive  commerce  includes  all  trade 
which  is  accompanied  by  a  movement  to  or  from  the 
city,  considered  of  commodities  that  are  neither  altered 
nor  produced  within  its  limits.  With  relation  to  this 
form  of  commerce  a  city  is  a  point  of  exchange.  Pro- 
ductive commerce  includes  all  trade  which  exists  or 
arises  between  a  city  and  its  markets  as  a  result  of 
manufacturing  or  altering  commodities  within  ite 
boundaries.  With  relation  to  this  form  of  commerce 
a  city  becomes  a  manufacturing  centre. 

Now,  since  the  influences  which  are  favorable  to 
the  distributive  trade  of  a  city  form  only  one  set  of 
advantages  necessary  to  make  that  city  a  desirable 
manufacturing  centre,  and  since  it  is  possible  that  a 
city  may  be  very  desirable  as  a  point  of  production 
without  having  any  of  the  elements  to  make  it  a  suc- 
cessful point  of  exchange,  it  follows  that  a  city  may 
have  at  least  two  well-defined  areas  of  trade,  one  for 
its  productive  and  the  other  for  its  distributive  com- 
merce. And  it  will,  therefore,  be  desirable  to  learn 
the  position  occupied  by  each  of  these  elements  in 
order  to  arrive  at  the  commercial  situation  and  pros- 
pects of  the  city  under  consideration. 

In  a  given  area  the  relations  of  commerce  to 
avenues  of  transportation  are  so  intimate  and  so  recip- 
rocal, either  capable  of  acting  towards  the  other  as 
cause  or  effect,  that  an  understanding  of  the  one  not 
only  involves  a  knowledge  of  the  other,  but  an  intel- 
ligent consideration  of  either  is  best  promoted  by 
making  it  an  exponent  of  the  other,  and  dividing  the 
former  into  such  areas  or  epochs  as  naturally  pertain 
to  its  correlative. 

The  history  of  railroad  progress  in  the  territory  south 
of  the  Ohio  River  and  south  of  the  State  of  Missouri 
shows  that  prior  to  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1860 
there  were  no  through  rail  trunk  lines  running  north 
and  south  in  any  part  of  said  territory. 


SAINT   LOUIS   AS  A  CENTRE   OF  TRADE. 


997 


The  trunk  lines  of  transportation  in  this  section 
were  water  highways,  and  while  the  railroad  interests 
of  the  whole  country  were  rapidly  developing  during 
the  twenty  years  previous  to  that  date,  yet  they  had 
not  become  the  leading  commercial  highways.  Hence 
in  the  following  remarks  on  commercial  influences  we 
designate  the  period  prior  to  1860  as  the  era  of  water 
transportation,  or  the  era  of  western  development. 

For  a  like  reason,  since  the  year  1860,  as  the  ten- 
dency of  railroads  in  this  southern  territory  has  been 
so  largely  towards  the  formation  of  through  trunk 
lines,  both  by  the  construction  of  missing  links  and 
by  the  consolidation  of  local  roads,  and  as  the  move- 
ments of  commerce  since  that  date  have  taken  place 
so  essentially  over  railroad  highways  that  water  ave- 
nues have  assumed  a  secondary  position  and  influence, 
the  period  covered  by  the  last  twenty  years  may  be 
commercially  termed  an  era  of  railway  transportation. 

During  the  era  of  western  development  the  com- 
merce of  the  entire  United  States  followed  essentially 
an  east  and  west  movement,  and  this  movement  still, 
as  applied  to  the  total  commerce  of  our  country,  is 
probably  the  largest  one. 

During  the  era  of  railroad  transportation,  most  of 
the  changes  in  the  commercial  highways  of  the  inte- 
rior have  tended  to  foster  a  north  and  south  move- 
ment of  commerce,  and  the  development  of  that  move- 
ment has  been  so  rapid  that  it  promises  to  become  a 
formidable  rival  to  the  ancient  monopoly. 

It  is  a  universal  accompaniment  of  distributive  com- 
merce that  as  railroads  extend  facilities  for  its  move- 
ment, they  are  liable  at  the  same  time  to  give  like 
facilities  to  smaller  as  well  as  larger  centres.  Hence 
the  very  instrument  which  tends  to  develop  a  city's 
distributing  powers  places  the  means  at  the  disposal 
of  its  tributaries  to  make  of  themselves  active  com- 
petitors. In  other  words,  an  extension  of  railway 
facilities  in  a  country  tends  to  increase  the  number 
and  decrease  or  rather  equalize  the  size  of  distributive 
centres.  This  tendency  is  mostly  a  subordinate  one. 
but  it  is  not  on  that  account  to  be  lost  sight  of. 

Furthermore,  in  a  distributive  commerce  ave- 
nues of  transportation  are  always  the  elements  of 
primary  importance  in  marking  out  its  course  and  de- 
fining its  limits,  while  with  productive  commerce  trans- 
portation avenues  may  be  secondary  considerations. 

A  town  may  be  a  very  active  distributing  centre, 
and  all  of  the  elements  of  its  prosperity  appear  to  be 
permanent,  but  every  change  in  its  railway  outlets 
and  avenues  must  vitally  affect  its  welfare  for  better 
or  worse,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  change. 

Examples  of  towns  almost  annihilated  by  changes 
in  transportation  facilities  are  frequently  to  be  found 


in  the  South,  because  in  the  South  commerce  has  been 
almost  wholly  distributive.  The  town  of  Jefferson, 
Texas,  furnishes  a  notable  example.  From  1865  to 
1870,  when  she  formed  the  terminus  of  navigation  on 
Red  River,  and  supplied  with  merchandise  a  section 
through  Texas,  Arkansas,  and  the  Indian  Territory, 
extending  northwest,  west,  and  southwest  for  two  or 
three  hundred  miles,  she  had  ten  thousand  people, 
and  every  prospect  seemed  to  promise  her  lasting 
prosperity.  The  Texas  and  Pacific  Railroad  with  its 
through  connections  was  formed,  passing  through  the 
town  itself,  while  already  to  the  west  the  Houston 
and  Texas  Central,  with  its  supplementary  connection, 
the  Missouri,  Kansas  and  Texas  Railroad,  had  cut  off 
its  far  western  trade,  so  that  to-day  Jefferson  is  a  way 
station,  with  deserted  wharves,  and  her  population  of 
barely  two  thousand  people  are  selling  whole  blocks 
(whose  stores  used  to  rent  for  one  hundred  and  fifty 
and  two  hundred  dollars  per  month)  for  the  bare 
bricks  which  their  walls  contain. 

It  is  true,  therefore,  that  centres  of  distributive 
commerce  are  built  upon  foundations  of  sand,  whilst 
a  city  grown  great  through  a  productive  commerce 
will  always  possess  a  material  element  of  prosperity  ; 
also  that  the  trade  limits  of  a  distributing  centre 
more  nearly  correspond  with  the  area  whose  crops  it 
markets  than  do  such  limits  of  a  productive  commerce, 
the  latter  being  almost  wholly  independent  of  that  area 
as  defining  its  extent  and  location. 

Again,  the  distributive  commerce  of  the  interior 
consists  most  largely  of  an  east  and  west  movement, — 
i.e.,  exchanges  between  points  east  of  the  western 
boundary  of  Pennsylvania  and  north  of  Mason  and 
Dixon's  line,  and  points  west  of  the  western  boundary 
of  Pennsylvania  and  south  of  the  Ohio  River  and 
State  of  Missouri. 

The  era  of  railway  transportation  has  been  also  one 
essentially  of  the  building  up  in  the  West  of  manu- 
facturing industries,  giving  to  small  towns  a  commer- 
cial significance  which  makes  them  important  compet- 
itors for  trade  in  the  South. 

A  single  accompaniment  of  productive  commerce 
may  here  be  mentioned,  which  will  show  how  largely 
the  fostering  of  such  commerce  adds  to  the  wealth  of 
a  city.  The  figures  given  are  underestimates  rather 
than  overestimates,  and  they  embody  the  principle : 


A  ton  of  cast  iron  is  worth,  say $35 

If  made  into  wrought  iron  it  may  have  a  value  of....  **80 

If  the  wrought  iron  be  converted  into  steel  it  is  worth  1 20  to  200 
If  the  steel  be  manufactured  into  agricultural  tools 

it  is  capable  of  bringing,  say 400 

If,  instead,  it  be  converted  into  knife-blades,  they 

will  sell  for 30,000 

Or,  finally,  if  it  be  made  up  into  the  balance-springs 

of  watches  its  value  may  become  over 100,000 


998 


HISTORY   OP  SAINT  LOUIS. 


The  factor  of  profit  which  is  thus  under  proper 
circumstances  capable  of  converting  thirty-five  dollars' 
worth  of  cast  iron  into  one  hundred  thousand  dollars' 
worth  of  watch-springs  is  LABOR  ;  and  it  is  evident 
that,  if  these  operations  were  carried  on  in  a  single 
town,  the  added  wealth  which  would  result  to  that 
town  from  the  entering  of  a  single  ton  of  metal  into 
its  productive  commerce  would  be  many  thousand  per 
cent,  of  the  original  value  of  the  material.  The  mere 
handling  of  this  ton  of  metal,  or  the  result  of  its 
entering  into  the  distributive  commerce  of  the  city 
interested,  could  hardly  under  any  circumstances 
amount  to  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  its  original  value. 

And  while  the  above  may  be,  and  undoubtedly  is, 
an  extreme  case,  it  is  nevertheless  a  possible  and  an 
actual  case  in  some  localities ;  and  the  principle  em- 
bodied in  this  single  instance  is  true  of  by  far  the 
largest  proportion  of  manufactured  articles,  viz. :  that 
the  labor  entering  into  their  production  bears  a  larger 
ratio  to  their  value  than  the  actual  cost  of  material. 

This  is  the  sort  of  trade  which  has  made  Boston 
and  Philadelphia  so  rich,  and  contributes  annually 
such  vast  sums  to  the  grand  resources  of  Great  Brit- 
ain. It  is  the  sort  of  trade  which  St.  Louis  expects 
to  control  when  her  resources  are  more  fully  in  play. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  actual  movements  of  pro- 
duce and  merchandise  at  St.  Louis,  as  distinguished 
from  the  possible  and  prospective,  have  been  as  fol- 
lows, taking  the  census  year  for  convenience  of  com- 
parison : 

STATEMENT  stowing  Amount  of  Freight,  in  Tons,  received 


GRAIN  SHIPMENTS  from  St.  Louis  towards  the  east  by  rail,  and  towards  the 
south  by  river  and  by  rail,  each  year,  from  1871  to  1880,  inclusive. 

TEAK. 

East  by  Rail. 

South. 

By  River.             By  Rail. 

1871  

Bushels. 
2,154,065 
3,456,409 
2,065,660 
2,318,350 
2,658,478 
12,434,296 
6,570,529 
7,561,475 
8,227,465 
8,790,059 

Bushels.               Bushels. 
4,565,973          1,322,457 
6,618,757          2,194,019 
5,920,687          1,874,386 
5,344,534          1,683,478 
3,260,035    '       1,871,022 
4,212,435    |         995,540 
5,691,493          1,373,982 
7,230,422          1,054,221 
8,596,952          1,360,036 
18,978,347          2,646,714 

1872  

1873  

1874  

1875  

1876  

1877  

1878  

1879  

1880  

STATEMENT  showing  the  increase  in  the  commerce,  population,  and  value  of 
property  of  St.  Louis  from  1865  to  1880. 

1865. 

1880. 

Increase. 

Per  Cent, 
of 
Increase. 

Arrivals  of  boats...  No. 
Arrivals  of  barges..    " 
Receipts  of  wheat, 
and  flour  reduced 

2,767 
1,141 

17,657,252 

13,427,052 

743,281 
1  19,838 
66,822 

34,781,570 
6,391,030 
94,307 
52,133 
99,663 
3  204,327 

$87,625,534 

2,360 
1,471 

46,037,578 

33,676,424 

2,142,949 
472,436 
32,113 

92,983,380 
8,415,176 
420,654 
182,648 
1,762,724 
400,000 

$163,813,920 

2407 
330 

28,380,326 

20,249,372 

1,399,668 
452,598 
234,709 

58,201,810 
2,024,146 
326,347 
130,515 
1,663,061 
195,673 

$76,188,386 



28.92 

160.73 

150.81 

188.31 
2281.47 

Shipments  of  wheat, 
and  flour  reduced 

Manufactures       of 

Receipts  of  cotton,  bales 
Receipts  of  pork...bbis. 
Receipts   of    hams 

167.34 
31.67 
34605 
250.35 
1668.68 
95.76 

86.95 

Receipts  of  lard....    " 
Receipts  of  cattle...  No. 
1    Receipts  of  sheep...    " 
Receipts  of  hogs.  ...    " 

Value  of  real  and  per- 
sonal property  

1  1867.                   8  Decrease.                   3  1866. 

at  St.  Louis  by  each  Bailroad  and  River  for  Ten  Years. 


BOUTE. 

1882. 

1881. 

1880. 

1879. 

1878. 

1877. 

1876. 

1875. 

1874. 

1873. 

Missouri  Pacific  R.R.  (Main  Line)  

962,517 
339,243 
319,905 
92,088 
730,705 
154,243 
634,987 
493,310 
212,267 
395,122 
288,271 
32,285 
346,857 
739,081 
717,935 
289,386 
19,889 
280,710 
51,821 
135,540 
275,175 
168,410 
34,900 
164,625 
23,430 

907,467 
335,847 
447,449 
154,248 
768,652 
114,211 
488,615 
330,907 
251,915 
406,217 
298,276 
45,120 
370,610 
640,764 
530,745 
253,784 
40,062 
285,516 
80,170 
190,815 
273,110 
160,555 
39,385 
165,825 
22,720 

850,434 
404,172 
530,527 
179,772 
536,488 
95,176 
477,608 
304,369 
200,996 
389,779 
264,679 

425,840 
245,965 
366,797 
143,313 
536,318 
108,078 
446,764 
276,436 
88,196 
359,534 
207,985 

413,302 
191,834 
395,049 

354,513 
178,280 
318,768 

416,415 
173,950 
333,757 

229,447 
196,968 
238,866 

328,201 
196,891 
223,294 

344,375 
149,007 
252,608 

St.  Louis  &  San  Francisco  Ry  

Wabaah,  St.  Louis  &  Pacific  R.R.  (West  Brch.) 
Chicago,  Alton  &  St.  Louis  R.R.  (Mo.  Div.)... 
St.  Louis,  Iron  Mountain  &  Southern  R.R  
Missouri  Pacific  R.R.  (Texas  Div.)  

353,172 
78,652 
383,739 
223,248 
63,885 
262,952 
191,020 

340,740 
109,864 
380,204 
257,536 
89,435 
243,496 
136,977 

325,097 
110,773 
37C,,4S8 
230,707 
107,984 
268,073 
167,525 

451,225 
53,885 
406,653 
221,634 
103,808 
280,557 
184,834 

292,842 
65,734 
362,470 
216,898 
82,470 
319,217 
195,691 

392,634 
73,291 
445,765 
177,611 
17,927 
337,074 
203,765 

Cairo  Short  Line  R  R  

Louisville  &  Nashville  R.R  
St.  Louis  &  Cairo  R  R    

Chicago,  Alton  &  St.  Louis  R.K.  (Main  Line) 
Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  R.R.  (east)  

264,541 
609,594 
358,928 
251,383 
31,328 
275,715 
71,035 
226,095 
223,925 
155,605 
59,025 
214,195 
15,015 

171,216 
493,787 
333,433 
235,080 
31.178 
172,103 
21,055 
221,285 
17U.400 
10!»,620 
33,800 
130,785 
14,080 

128,568 
402,252 
264,831 
224,240 
65,727 
142,836 

135,487 
392,185 
169,930 
260,530 
31,345 
65,098 

128,208 
372,314 
104,319 
215,523 
42,533 
57,554 

134.634 
319,658 
108,940 
213,443 
27  .2  25 
60,993 

134,498 
276,138 
118,481 
215,252 
29,865 
107,151 

139,484 
294,445 
142,232 
202,929 
25,727 
46,304 

St.  Louis,  Vandalia,  Terre  Haute  &  Ind.  R.R. 
Wabash,  St.  Louis  <fe  Pacific  R.R.  (East'n  Div.) 
•Illinois  &  St.  Louis  R.R  

Wabash.  St.  Louis  &  Pacific  R.R.  (Iowa  Brch.) 
Chicago,  Bur.  &  Quincy  R.R.  (N.  &  N.  W.  Div.) 
St.  Louis,  Keokuk  &  Northwestern  R.R  

174,065 
174,180 
124,785 
56,040 
171,900 
13,730 

136,715 
149,825 
104,200 
49,645 
192,055 
12,045 

224,860 
147,185 
129,940 
50,345 
124,125 
12,200 
100 

198,100 
128,020 
153,995 
30,100 
146,805 
6,345 
100 

231,060 
169,780 
192,770 
44,830 
87,985 
6,000 
340 

281,176 
226,535 
125,715 
38,630 
123,075 
4,850 
1,075 

Illinois  River  

Ohio  River               

7,702,702 

7,602,985 

6,990,384 

5,352,048 

4,500,007  4,108,873  4,119,975  3,896,295 

3,897,858 

4,046,233 

Total  by  rail  

6,900,622  6,750,575  6,096,524  4,663,078 
802,080      852,410      893,860      688,970 

3,785,307  3,464,388  3,431,220  3,232,770 
714,700      644,485      688,755      663,525 

3,165,093  3,245,178 
732,765      801,055 

Total  by  river  

In  addition  to  the  receipts  of  1880  by  upper  Mississippi  River  by  boats,  there  was  received  198,315  tons  of  lumber,  logs,  and  shingles  by  rafts. 
"  "  1881          "  "  "  "          "  "          356,020     "  "  "  " 

«  «  1882          "  "  "  "          "  "          271,490     "  •'  "  " 


SAINT   LOUIS   AS  A  CENTRE   OF  TRADE. 


999 


Showiiig  the  Amount  of  Freight,  in  Tons,  shipped  from  St.  Louis  by  each  BaUroml  and  Rioer  for  ten  years. 


L 

v_ 

ROUTE. 

1882. 

1881. 

1880. 

1879. 

1878. 

1877. 

1876. 

1875. 

1874. 

1873. 

678,706 
180,927 
246,049 
90,990 
549,991 
24^,998 
139,339 
81,164 
23,356 
195,717 
293,830 
32,808 
296,209 
265,981 
239,352 
9,001 
16,713 
139,925 
20,104 
71,325 
610,205 
4,690 
11,980 
66,010 
1,150 
4,545 

709,814 
185,147 
254,902 
72,393 
600,929 
79,866 
135,393 
64,199 
22,862 
204,006 
252,465 
25,098 
246,169 
281,299 
192,109 
9,930 
13,520 
85,455 
27,356 
54,295 
730,185 
5,175 
13,720 
77,600 
1,100 
1,950 

407,030      272,250 
122,787        78,755 
209,604      197,219 
62,346        45,596 
390,069      288,768 
66,555        61,226 
111,609        91,428 
87,037        41,586 
16,391        13,298 
184,975      141,182 
268,309      318,754 

196,955 
44,495 
153,294 

202.966 
45,898 
137,394 

203,169 
51,150 
134,999 

151,980 
34,881 
116,674 

171,987 
30,133 
85,368 

162,435 
39,962 
90,488 

Wabasli,  St.  Louis  <fc  Pac.  R.R.  (West  Brch.)... 
Chicago,  Alton  &  St.  Louts  R.R.  (Mo.  Div.).... 
St.  Louis,  Iron  Mountain  &  Southern  R.R.  ... 
Missouri  Pacific  Railroad  (Texas  Division)  

222,641 
45,039 
68,027 
49,416 
12,405 
136,677 
256,444 

215,731 
47,523 
66,992 
29,350 
11,806 
144,065 
174,454 

193,833 
45,131 
38,909 
30,249 
4,970 
207,905 
149,285 

211,726 

40,635 
76,092 
25,944 
13,961 
108,998 
135,647 

155,181 
39,337 
37,753 
44,845 
13,968 
145,914 
97,885 

122,605 
54,956 
39,917 
53,000 
5,520 
158,523 
81,158 

Chicago,  Alton  &  St.  Louis  R.  R.  (Main  Line). 
_CJ»icago,  Burlington  &  Quiwcy  R.  R.  (east).... 

218,859 
247,656 
246,337 
13,573 
9,923 
69,678 
22.942 
55,260 
813,080 
9,935 
16,415 
135,360 
1,315 
6,160 

152,955 
272,579 
233,070 
11,280 
18,665 
41,197 
5,908 
66,990 
499,040 
9,140 
15,040 
86,935 

157,644 
190,685 
279,753 
7,803 
13,452 
45,829 

183,817 
142,713 
199,242 
4,637 
15,672 
30,590 

217,786 
140,178 
201,580 
5,537 
13,846 
•21,4-.'3 

138,307 
137,884 
74,837 
7,359 
13,772 
12,754 

175,389 
139,831 
62,618 
10,000 
8,921 
11,546 

«52,669 
100,544 
68,204 
6,595 
9,289 
9,551 

St.  Louis,  Vandalia,  Tern>  Haute  &  In«l.  R.R. 
Wabash,  St.  Louis  &  Pacific  Ry.  (East'n  Div.) 

Wabash,  St.  Louis  &  Pacific  R  R.  (Iowa  Brch.) 
Chicago,  Bur.  &  Quincy  R.R.  (N.  &  N.  \V.  Div.) 
•-Sf.  Louis,  Keokuk  &  Northwestern  Railroad.. 

67,320 
434,490 
18,300 
22,465 
72,100 

68,565 
426,725 
16,420 
23,185 
62,100 
10 
665 

93,360 
379,970 
20,560 
19,360 
83,460 
3,515 

96,225 
367,235 
18,470 
25,100 
129,025 
1,560 
1,480 

95,800 
469,065 
13,640 
20,390 
100,660 
2,225 
5,445 

61,966 
525,445 
11,695 
27,810 
119,660 
2,040 
34,640 

Ohio  River  

Red,  Ouachita,  Arkansas,  and  White  Rivers.. 

4,519,065 

4,346,937 

3,793,205 

2,962,861 

2,495,234 

2,250,520 

2,260,175 

1,940,545 

1,938,001 

1,938,672 

Total  by  rail  

3,749,160 
769,905 

3,462,912  12,755,680 
884,025  [1,037,525 

1 

2,285,716 
677,145 

1,880,559 
614,675 

1,652,850 
597,670 

1,659,950 
600,225 

1,301,450  1,230,676   1,155.416 
639,095      707,325  j    783,256 

.    '                  i 

Total  by  river  

The  total  tonnage  of  freights  received  at  and 
shipped  from  St.  Louis  each  year  from  1871  to 
1880,  inclusive,  is  indicated  in  the  following  table: 


Calendar  Tons  Received 

Year.  and  Shipped. 

1871 4,913,102 

1872 5,712,229 

1873 5,984,905 

1874 5,835,859 

1875 5,836,840 


Calendar 
Tear. 


Tons  Received 
and  Shipped. 

1876 6,380,150 

1877 6,359,393 

1878 6,995,241 

1879 8,314,909 

1880 10,783,589 


But  St.  Louis  is  not  content  with  these  results,  gi- 
gantic as  they  are,  and  rapid  as  has  been  the  growth 
and  development  of  the  trade  of  which  they  are  the 
indices.  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson,  when  he  was  witness- 
ing the  sale  of  the  plant  and  effects  of  Thrale's 
brewery,  was  asked  what  he  could  find  in  such  a 
scene  to  interest  him.  "  I  see  all  around  me,  sir,"  he 
answered,  ;<  the  potentiality  of  great  riches."  That 
is  what  St.  Louis  beholds  in  her  exceptionally  great 
resources  and  favorable  site,  and  her  people  will  never 
rest  while  these  things,  possessions  and  promises,  re- 
main undeveloped  and  unutilized. 

All  the  cotton  received  at  St.  Louis,  no  matter 
what  its  destination,  and  no  matter  how  consigned, 
Ireaks  bulk  there,  is  handled,  compressed,  and  re- 
shipped.  Thus  St.  Louis  makes  some  profit  out  of 
every  bale  received.  Before  Chicago,  by  means  of  her 
railroad,  lake,  and  canal  facilities,  secured  the  lion's 
share  of  the  east-bound  carrying  trade  in  breadstuffs 
and  provisions,  and  so  had  her  fortune  made,  every 
pound  of  Western  produce  and  Western  merchandise, 
destined  no  matter  where,  up  the  river  or  down,  broke 


bulk  at  St.  Louis,  and  that  city  made  a  profit  in  it. 
This  trade,  this  control  of  trade,  St.  Louis  seeks  once 
more  to  restore  by  renewing  the  supremacy  of  what 
was  its  source  and  medium,  the  Mississippi  River. 

This  is  not  a  dream.  It  is  not  one  of  Governor 
Allen's  "  barren  idealities."  On  the  contrary,  it  is  a 
legitimate  trade  expectation,  which  may  be  realized  at 
almost  any  moment.  St.  Louis  had  this  control  of 
trade  once  through  superior  facilities  and  unrivaled 
cheapness  of  transportation.  The  same  facilities  exist 
now  in  a  much  greater  degree,  and  the  cheapness  also. 
The  opportunity  to  make  full  use  of  them  has  not 
quite  arrived,  on  account  of  various  causes  and  ob- 
structions. 

But  in  the  mean  time  certain  facts  stand  out  in 
alto  relievo,  and  none  of  the  commercial  rivals  and 
competitors  of  St.  Louis  can  deny  them. 

1st.  Chicago  and  New  York  dread  the  completion 
of  the  Welland  Canal,  because  by  that  route  grain 
from  the  former  city  can  be  delivered  in  Liverpool 
via  the  Strait  of  Belle  Isle  at  rates  with  which  New 
York  cannot  compete.  In  other  words,  Chicago,  to 
maintain  her  grain  trade,  must  transfer  it  from  New 
York  to  Montreal. 

2d.  But  that  route  is  closed  five  months  in  every 
year  by  ice. 

3d.  St.  Louis  is  not  afraid  of  the  competition  of 
Montreal  and  the  Welland  Canal,  because  she  can  de- 
liver grain  in  Liverpool  cheaper  by  the  Mississippi 
River  route  than  it  can  possibly  be  delivered  by  any 
other  route.  This  has  been  proved,  and  will  be 


1000 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


demonstrated  again  still  more  conclusively.  At 
present  all  that  need  be  shown  in  this  connection  is 
results,  accomplished  facts. 

SHIPMENTS  OF  BULK  GRAIN  BY  RIVER  FROM  ST.  LOUIS  TO 
NEW  ORLEANS  FOR  ELEVEN  YEARS,  FOR  EXPORT. 


YEAR. 

Wheat. 

Corn. 

Rye. 

Oats. 

Totals. 

1880  

Bushel*. 
5  913  272 

Buthelt. 
9  804  392 

r,n-<ii,-i.*. 

45  000 

Butheh. 

ButJtel*. 
15  769  664 

1879  

2,390,897 

3,585  589 

157424 

30928 

6  164  838 

1878  

1  S7«,(i3!» 

2,857,056 

609041 

108  867 

5  451  603 

1877  

351,453 

3  578  057 

171  843 

4*101  353 

1876  

37,142 

1  737  237 

l'774*379 

1875  

13.r>,9fil 

172,617 

308  578 

1874  

365252 

1  047  794 

10000 

1  403  o46 

1873  

1  373  969 

1  373  96'J 

1872  

1,711,039 

1  711  039 

1871  
1870  

66000 

309,077 



3,000 

312,077 
66000 



Mr.  Joseph  Nimmo,  Jr.,  in  his  notable  report  of 
1881  on  the  internal  commerce  of  the  country,  says 
that 

"The  regulating  influence  of  the  interior  water  lines  is 
limited  and  conditioned  by  the  fact  that  it  is  operative  with 
respect  to  the  internal  commerce  of  the  country  mainly  through 
the  great  interior  markets,  and  notably  those  of  Milwaukee, 
Chicago,  St.  Louis,  Peoria,  Toledo,  Detroit,  Louisville,  and 
Cincinnati.  This  results  from  the  fact  that  the  movements  of 
commerce  are  directed  by  the  trade  forces  rather  than  by  the 
transportation  forces  of  the  country.  In  the  transportation  of 
the  surplus  products  of  the  Western  and  Northwestern  States 
to  the  seaboard  and  to  foreign  countries,  the  regulating  influ- 
ence of  the  Mississippi  River  is  rendered  effective  mainly 
through  the  markets  of  St.  Louis,  and  the  regulating  influence 
of  the  northern  water  line  is  rendered  effective  mainly  through 
the  markets  of  Milwaukee  and  Chicago,  but  also  to  a  consider- 
able extent  through  the  markets  of  Duluth,  Detroit,  and 
Toledo. 

"  The  competition  of  commercial  forces  exerts  an  important 
influence  in  determining  the  relative  magnitude  of  the  various 
trade  currents  of  the  country.  The  constituent  elements  of  the 
trade  forces  of  cities  are,  first,  a  large  community  of  intelligent 
and  enterprising  merchants  having  an  extensive  knowledge  of 
commercial  affairs;  and,  second,  the  requisite  capital  in  the 
hands  of  these  men  available  in  the  pursuits  of  trade.  These 
forces  at  Chicago,  at  Milwaukee,  at  St.  Louis,  and  at  other  com- 
mercial cities  of  the  interior  arrest  the  surplus  products  of  the 
West  in  their  eastward  or  southward  movement,  such  products 
usually  reaching  those  cities  by  rail.  At  these  points  the  option 
is  first  presented  of  transportation  by  water  or  by  rail.  A  thou- 
sand trains  a  day  may  pass  through  towns  situated  on  the  lakes 
or  on  the  rivers  where  these  agencies  and  facilities  for  carrying 
on  a  large  commerce  do  not  exist,  and  yet  the  water  lines  will 
exercise  no  perceptible  influence  over  the  rates  charged  on  the 
railroads.  This  is  strikingly  illustrated  in  the  case  of  the  rail- 
roads which  cross  the  Mississippi  River  over  bridges  at  thirteen 
different  points  between  St.  Paul  and  St.  Louis.  The  river 
rates  exert  no  marked  influence  over  the  rail  rates  from  the  fact 
that  at  very  few  of  those  points  is  there  the  controlling  influ- 
ence of  a  market  for  Western  products  with  its  constituent 
elements,  viz.,  a  body  of  men  educated  in  the  mercantile  pro- 
fession and  controlling  the  requisite  amount  of  capital  actually 
employed  in  trade  or  invested  in  warehouses  and  other  instru- 
mentalities for  the  successful  prosecution  of  trade.  The  rail- 


roads are  not  at  those  points,  in  a  commercial  sense,  tributary 
to  the  river,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  to  the  extent  to  which  the 
river  towns  are  local  markets  for  the  purchase  of  surplus  pro- 
ducts of  the  trans-Mississippi  States,  the  river  becomes  tribu- 
tary to  the  railroads. 

"  It  is  only  at  Chicago,  Milwaukee,  and  a  few  other  lake 
ports,  and  at  St.  Louis  that  direct  competition  between  rail  and 
water  transportation  presents  itself  to  any  considerable  extent, 
in  so  far  as  relates  to  the  regulating  influence  exerted  by  the 
two  great  water  lines  over  the  rates  which  may  be  charged  on 
railroads.  The  extent  to  which  the  regulating  influence  of  the 
two  great  interior  water  lines  is  rendered  operative  through  the 
principal  primary  grain  markets  of  the  country  is  illustrated 
by  the  fact  that  of  the  total  eastern  and  southern  movement  of 
grain,  amounting  during  the  year  1880  to  400,000,000  bushels, 
about  320,000,000  bushels,  or  80  per  cent.,  was  marketed  at  the 
seven  primary  markets  of  the  West,  viz.,  Milwaukee,  Chicago, 
Duluth,  St.  Louis,  Peoria,  Toledo,  and  Detroit ;  and  that  only 
about  80,000,000  bushels  were  shipped  direct  from  the  Western 
and  Northwestern  States  to  the  Atlantic  seaboard. 

"  Of  the  total  grain  receipts  at  St.  Louis  during  the  year 
1880,  amounting  to  47,697,066  bushels,  40,121,783  bushels,  or 
84  per  cent.,  was  received  by  railroads,  and  only  7,575,283 
bushels,  or  16  per  cent.,  by  river;  and  of  the  total  grain  re- 
ceipts at  Chicago  during  the  year  1880,  amounting  to  165,- 
855,370  bushels,  it  appears  that  159,129,984  bushels,  or  96  per 
cent.,  was  received  by  railroads,  and  that  6,725,386  bushels,  or 
only  4  per  cent.,  was  received  by  lake  and  the  Illinois  Canal. 

"About  90  per  cent,  of  the  grain,  85  per  cent,  of  the  pro- 
visions, and  8  per  cent,  of  the  cattle  which  reached  Chicago 
during  the  year  1880  were  actually  marketed  at  that  point; 
and  of  the  shipment  of  those  commodities  from  Chicago,  61  per 
cent,  of  the  flour  and  grain  and  only  10  per  cent,  of  the  pro- 
visions were  shipped  by  lake.  No  live-stock  was  shipped  by 
lake. 

"About  95  per  cent,  of  the  grain,  97i  per  cent,  of  the  pro- 
visions, and  all  of  the  live-stock  which  reached  St.  Louis  during 
the  year  1880  were  actually  marketed  at  that  point;  and  of  the 
shipments  of  those  commodities  from  that  city,  49  per  cent,  of 
the  flour  and  grain,  38  per  cent,  of  the  provisions,  and  1.28  per 
cent,  of  the  cattle  were  shipped  by  river. 

"The  foregoing  facts  indicate  that  almost  the  entire  work  of 
gathering  up  the  surplus  products  of  the  Western  and  North- 
western States  is  done  by  railroads,  and  that  the  option  of 
transportation  by  water  or  by  rail  is  almost  entirely  confined  to 
shipments  from  Milwaukee,  Chicago,  and  St.  Louis. 

"The  following  table  serves  to  illustrate  the  comparative 
magnitude  of  the  grain  traffic  of  St.  Louis  which  is  diverted  to 
the  Mississippi  River  from  the  railroads  extending  east  from 
that  city  : 

Bushels. 

Total  grain  crop  of  the  United  States  during  the 
year  1879 2,704,484,762 

Total  grain  product  of  the  States  of  Illinois,  Wis- 
consin, Minnesota,  Iowa,  Nebraska.  Missouri, 
Kansas,  and  Arkansas,  and  the  Territory  of 
Dakota  during  the  year  1879 1,493,246,213 

Shipments  of  grain  and  flour  during  the  year  1880  at 

Bushels. 

Duluth 6,511,100 

Milwaukee 29,691,524 

Chicago 154.377,115 

Peoria 20,544,508 

Detroit 10,366,491 

Toledo 53,372,739 

.St.  Louis 46,675,581 


Total 321,539,058 


SAINT  LOUIS   AS  A   CENTRE   OF  TRADE. 


1001 


St.  Louis  shipments  of  grain  and  flour  :                       Bushels.  "The  merchants  of  St.  Louis,  and  her  citizens  generally, 

Eastward 18,599,889  never  ]ost  faith  in  the  po88ibility  of  developing  a  large  com- 

Bv  river                                                                          20  901,515  merce  by  river  via  New  Orleans,  especially  in  the  exportation 

By  rail 5,800,535  to  foreign  countries  of  the  surplus  products  of  the.  Western  and 

In  other  directions. 373,642  Northwestern  States.      It  has  always  been  believed  that  the 

river  route  not  only  afforded  a  cheaper  avenue  of  transportation 

Total  St.  Louis  shipments 46,675,581 

ic  wcc  n.i  for  8ucn  traffic  than  the  east  and  west  trunk  railroad  lines,  but 

Gram  and  flour  exported  from  New  Orleans 15,750,041 

that  the  increase  of  traffic  upon  the  river  would  so  much  reduce 

SHIPMENTS  IN   TONS  FROM  ST.  LOUIS  DURING  1880.  the  cost  of  transportation  as  greatly  to  increase  the  regulating 

Tons.                 Total.  influence  exerted  by  the  river  rates  over  rail  rates.    Results  al- 

North  :  ready  attained  seem  to  prove  the  correctness  of  this  view." 

By  river 55,260)          157803 

By /ail 102,543  j  In  regard  to  the  transportation  facts  upon  which 

fiV  river                                            145295)  some  of  these  great  expectations  have  been  founded, 

By  rail..'.'".'"!'.!'.!!;;;!;;;.'.".'.'.'."."".'"!'.'.'.  M7VWJ     1>325>00'  We  have  the  following: 

West:  "ST.  Louis  AND 

By  nver .1W15)         818,182  NEW  ORLEANS  TRANSPORTATION  COMPANY. 

By  rail 801,76/1  llo      T 

'  "ST.  Louis,  Feb.  2,  1881. 

By  river                                                       820  555  )  "DEAR  SIR, — As  requested  in  your  note  of  24th  instant,  I 

By  rail 671,661  }      l>WJ,~li  make  reply  to  the  two  inquiries  propounded  by  Mr.  Nimmo,  of 

the  Bureau  of  Statistics  (in  letter  of  January  20th),  as  follows: 

Total  shipments 3,793,20!  „  lgt    j  certainly  do  not  believe  that  a  ^g.  of  m  to  15 

Total  shipments  by  rail 2,755,680  cents  per  100  pounds  between  Mississippi  River  points  and  the 

Total  shipments  by  river MUM!!  ports  of  the  Atlantic  seaboard  could  be  maintained  by  any  of 

Total  shipments  toward  the  South 1,492,216  r 

Shipment  by  river  toward  the  South 820,555  the  railway  lines  without  losing  money. 

Tonnage  of  New  Orleans  exports,  the  product  of  the  "2d.  I  say  without  hesitation,  that  with  a  rate  of  five  cents  per 

Western  and  Northwestern  States,  about 317,000  bushel  on  grain  from  St.  Louis  to  New  Orleans  via  river, 

Mr  Nimmo  adds  that there  being  at  the  same  time  an  average  difference  of  four  cents  in 

ocean  freights  against  New  Orleans  as  compared  with  the  North 
"  From  the  time  of  the  first  settlement  of  St.  Louis  until  ; 

.    ..                  ,.     ,     ,          ,                   ..i  Atlantic  ports,  there  would  be  a  most  decided  diversion  of  gram 
about  the  year  1855,  that  city  was  entirely  dependent  upon  the 

,  i  in  the  direction  of  New  Orleans. 
Mississippi  River  and  its  navigable  tributaries  for  the  means  of 

,  Let  me  add,  however,  that  in  the  uncertain  condition  of  the 
transportation.    During  that  period  it  had  no  competitor  for  the 

,.    e  LI.    »»•    •    •      •  T>-          '  river  (as  regards  depth  of  water)  during  the  period  of  naviga- 
trade  of  the  States  and  Territories  west  of  the  Mississippi  River. 

,  T...     .          ,  ,„.          .                ,  tion,thelownessof  the  rate  of  five  cents  per  bushel  cannot  always 
A  large  part  of  the  States  of  Illinois  and  Wisconsin  was  also  ! 

....     A,                 ,  A.                      .   .                          .  ,,.     j  be  depended  on,  but  with  the  depth  of  water  which  the  contem- 
embraced  within  the  area  of  the  commercial  supremacy  of  St. 

T  plated    improvements   between    Cairo  and  St.  Louis  will  un- 
Louis.     But  during  the  last  twenty-five  years  a  great  change 

.  .  doubtedly  give,  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  the  rate  named, 
has  taken  place  in  the  conditions  governing  the  commercial 

five  cents  per  bushel,  may  be  continuously  counted  on. 
situation  and  relations  of  that  city,  as  the  result  of  the  exten- 

.,                          ,A,                        „  "Very  truly  yours,                  H.  LOUREY,  President. 
sion  westward  of  the  railroad  system  of  the  country.    By  means 

*  "GEORGE  H.  MORGAN,  ESQ., 
of  this  extension  of  railroads  all  the  Western  and  Northwestern 

"secretary  Merchants   Exchange. 

States  and  Territories  have  been  brought  into  intimate  commer- 
cial relationships  with  the  lake  ports,  with  the  Atlantic  sea-  "ST.  Louis,  Mo.,  Jan.  26,  1881. 
ports,  and  with  hundreds  of  interior  manufacturing  and  trading  "  DEAR  SIR, — Referring  to  letter  to  you  from  chief  of  Bureau 
points  throughout  the  States  both  east  and  west  of  the  Allegheny   |  of  Statistics,  dated  Washington,  D.  C.,  Jan.  20,  1881,  which 
Mountains.     This  development  of  traffic  over  the  east  and  west  j  letter  you  refer  to  me,  I  give  it  as  my  opinion  that  a  tariff  of 
trunk  railroads  is  unparalleled  in  the  history  of  commerce.  15  cents  per  100  pounds  on  grain  from  St.  Louis  to  the  Atlan- 
"  For  several  years  the  traffic  passing  over  each  one  of  the  tic  seaboard  could  not  be  maintained  by  railway  without  loss  to 
thirteen  railroad  bridges  across  the  Mississippi  River  between  the  companies  carrying  at  such  rate. 

St.  Paul  and  St.  Louis  has  greatly  exceeded  in  magnitude  and  "The  cost  per  ton  per  mile  for  movement  of  freight  over  the 

in  value  the  traffic  upon  the  river   beneath    them.     Through  Pennsylvania  Railroad  and  its  connecting  lines  in  the  year  1879 

these  facilities  of  transportation  tributary  to  Chicago  and  other  was  as  follows,  viz. :  Over  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  proper, 

lake  ports,  and  also  to  Atlantic  seaports,  St.  Louis  was  for  sev-  4.27  mills  per  ton  per  mile;  over  the  New  Jersey  Division,  1.012 

eral  years  practically  cut  off,  even  from  the  trade  of  important  cents  per  ton  per  mile;  over  its  lines  west  of  Pittsburgh,  4.48 

surplus  grain  and  provision  producing  areas  nearer  to  her  mar-  mills  per  ton  per  mile.     Taking  the  average  distances  on  the 

kets  than  to  those  of  the  lake  ports.     It  was  clearly  foreseen,  different  divisions  gives  4.S9  mills  per  ton  per  mile,  or  $5.20 

therefore,  that  the  growth  of  St.  Louis,  as  a  market  for  the  per  ton,   or  26  cents  per  100  pounds  from   East  St.  Louis  to 

purchase   of  grain    and   other  products   of  the  Western    and  New  York,  reckoning  by  the  shortest  route,  sny  1063  miles. 

Northwestern    States,   was    dependent   upon   the    securing    of  "  These  figures,  I  am  sure,  are  lower  than  the  cost  per  mile 

direct  and  independent  railroad  connections   with  all  parts  of  of  any  other  line  between  St.   Louis  and  the  seaboard,  saying 

those  States ;  for  since  railroads  had  become  the  chief  instru-  nothing  about  the  longer  distance  to  New  York  or  Philadelphia 

ment  of  transportation  in  the  gathering  up  of  these  products,  by  every  other  line.     It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  if  it  costs  26 

it  was  evident  that  only  a  very  small  proportion  of  such  pro-  cents  per  100  pounds  to  transport  property  any  given  distance, 

ducts  could  find  their  way  to  the  St.  Louis  markets  by  river.  a  tariff  of  15  cents  for  the  same  distance  would  be  a  losing  one, 

Such  facilities  for  transportation  by  rail  have  within  the  last  as   Bardwell  Slote  would  say,  'by  a  large  majority:'  or  if  it 

ten  years  been  secured,  a  fact  clearly  developed  by  the  statistics  costs  4.89  mills  to  transport  one  ton  one  mile,  a  tariff  of  2.8  mills 

showing  the  rapid  growth  of  the  commerce  of  that  city.  will  be  a  losing  one. 


1002 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


"As  to  the  other  question,  viz.,  whether  a  tariff  by  river  of 
five  cents  per  bushel,  St.  Louis  to  New  Orleans,  and  an  average 
difference  of  four  cents  in  ocean  rates  against  New  Orleans,  any 
tariff  above  15  cents  per  100  pounds   from  St.    Louis   to    the 
Atlantic  cities  will  turn  grain  in  the  direction  of  New  Orleans, 
I  do  not  feel  competent  to  answer.     I  should  say,  all  other 
things  being  equal,  it  would.     If  the  same  time  can  be  made  or  j 
nearly  so,  the  same  regularity  in   delivery  be  guaranteed,  the  | 
condition  of  grain  on  delivery  be  as  absolutely  depended  upon,   ' 
and  the  facilities  for  handling,  transferring,  etc.,  be  equally   j 
good  by  river  as  by  rail,  I  do  not  see  why,  at  a  greatly  reduced 
tariff,  the  river  should  not  command  the  business. 

"  Yours  truly,          N.  STEVENS." 

These  facts  were  first  fully  brought  to  the  front  in 
1872  by  the  investigations  of  the  Senate  Committee 
on  Transportation  Routes  to  the  Seaboard,  of  which 
Senator  (afterwards  Secretary)  Windom  was  chairman. 
It  was  shown  to  this  committee  that,  with  a  properly 
regulated  and  normal  commerce,  it  was  simply  impos- 
sible for  railroads,  or  a  combination  of  lakes,  canals, 
and  railroads,  to  compete  in  cheap  transportation  with 
the  Mississippi  River  and  the  ocean  navigation  from 
its  mouth.  It  was  shown  that  the  actual  cost  of  moving 
a  bushel  of  wheat  from  St.  Louis  to  New  Orleans, 
twelve  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  was  only  five  and  a 
quarter  mills,  .00525  of  one  cent. 

It  was  also  shown  that  in  the  final  analysis  freights 
by  rail  could  never  compete  with  water-borne  freights. 
The  following  tables  illustrate  this  conclusively.  Rates 
vary  and  have  changed  materially,  but  ratios  remain 
the  same,  or  very  nearly  the  same : 

STATEMENT  thawing  the  value  of  a  ton  of  wheat  and  one  of  corn  at  a  given 
distance  from  market,  as  affected  by  cost  of  transportation  respectively 
by  canal,  by  railroad,  and  over  the  ordinary  highway. 


COMPARATIVE  COST  AND   RECEIPTS    OF    TRANSPORTATION. 


CLASSIFICATION. 


Per  Ton  per    Per  Ton  per 
Mile,  Cost.  lMile,Receipti 


Transportation  by  railroads 

Transportation  by  canals,  including  deduc- 
tion, lockage,  etc 

Transportation  by  Erie  Canal,  including  de- 
duction, lockage,  etc 

Transportation  by  rivers,  steam-towage 

Transportation  by  bays 

Transportation  by  ocean 


Mills. 
17.90 

6.40 

4.05 
2.26 
2.27 
1.26 


mi*. 

29.80 


11.40 


2.90 
3.73 
2.50 


If  the  cost  of  transportation  be  thus  proportioned, 
17.90  by  rail  to  2.26  by  river  and  1.26  by  ocean, 
she  is  confident  that  she  controls  the  lowest  rates 
by  the  surest  routes.  With  a  perfected  barge  sys- 
tem, the  forwarding  of  the  Mississippi  River  im- 
provements, and  the  construction  of  the  Florida  ship 
canal,  the  great  trade  centre  on  the  Father  of  Waters 
will  return  to  its  old-time  supremacy  in  transportation 
and  deliver  grain  and  other  produce  in  Liverpool  five 
cents  per  bushel,  forty  cents  per  quarter,  cheaper  than 
it  can  be  done  from  any  other  centre  of  distribution. 

The  consequence  will  be  all  grain  and  provisions 
will  go  to  St.  Louis  for  shipment.  But  another  effect 
will  be  that  the  United  States  will  succeed  in  driving 
all  other  competitors  out  of  the  grain  and  provision 
markets,  and  our  sales  on  foreign  account  will  be  en- 
hanced to  that  extent.  Already,  as  the  following 
table  shows,  we  supply  Great  Britain  with  65.4  per 
cent,  of  her  total  purchases  of  wheat  and  flour,  against 
only  3.4  per  cent,  in  1866.  With  this  new  channel 
of  trade  adequately  developed,  we  will  supply  the  re- 
maining 34.6  per  cent.,  and  all  that  will  be  an  incre- 


Canal 
Carriage. 

Railway 
Carriage. 

Common 
Road 
Carriage. 

merit  of  the  trade  of  St.  Louis  : 

STATEMENT  showing  the  quantity  of  wheat  and  wheat  flour  imported  into 
the  United  Kingdom  from  I860  to  1880,  inclusive,  with  the  quantity 
of  the  same  imported  from  the  United  States. 
[Compiled  from  the  Reports  of  the  British  Board  of  Trade.] 

i 

J3 
£ 

a 

Wheat. 

B 

a 

Wheat. 

S 

a 

YEABS. 

Wheat  and  Wheat  Flour 
Imported. 

Per  Cent,  from  the 
United  States. 

Average  Value  of 
the  total  Wheat 
Imported. 

Average  Value  of 
Wheat  Imported 
from  the  United 

States. 

$49.50 
49.45 
49.40 
49.35 
49.30 
49.25 
49.20 
49.15 
49.10 
48.05 
48.00 
47.95 
47.90 
47.86 
47.8(1 
47.75 
47.70 
VIM 
46.90 
4685 

4(>.M 

46.75 

44.5( 
41.2.- 

24  T: 
19.81 

$24.75 
24.70 
24.65 
24.60 
24.55 
24.50 
24.45 
24.40 
24.35 
24.3(1 
24.25 
24.20 
24.15 
24.10 
24.i  [ 
24.00 
23.96 
E&W 
23.20 
23.1« 
28.K 

19.71! 

!<•>,->( 
14.85 
8.2t 

$49.50  $24.75 
49.35    24.60 
49.20;  24.45 
49.05    24.30 
48.90    24.15 
48.75    24.00 
48.60    23.85 
48.45    23.70 
48.30    23.55 
48.15;  23.30 
48.00    23.25 
47.85    23.10 
47.70    22.95 
47.55    'J'.'.sn 
47411    22.i;.". 
47.25    22.5(1 
47.1" 
46.96    22.2" 
44.7(1 
44.55     111.  MI 

44.411   r.u;:. 

41.25    1  !».5i  i 
:  it.  50      9.75 
2475     
19.SU     

$49.50 
48.00 
46.50 
45.00 
43.50 
42.00 
40.50 
89.00 
37.50 
36.00 
34.50 
83.00 
81.60 
80.00 
28.50 
27.00 
25.50 
24.00 
1.50 

$24.75 
23.25' 
21.75 
20.25 
18.75 
17.25 
15.75 
14.75 
14.25 
11.25 
9.75 
8.25 
0.75 
5.25 

2.25 
.75 


"         10  miles  from  market... 
«         20          "               " 
«         30          "               " 
««         40 
«         50          "               " 
«          60           "                  ' 
"          70           "                  ' 
«          80           "                "       .. 
90           "                "        .. 
"        100           "                " 
"        110           "                "       - 
«        120           "                 '       - 
«        130           "                 ' 
»       140          "                '       .. 
"        150           «                 '       .. 
160           "                 '        .. 
»        170           "                 '      ... 
"        320           "                 '      ... 
330           "                 '      ... 
«        340           "                 '      ... 
"        350           "                 '      ... 
"      1000           "                 '      ... 
"      1650           "                 '      ... 
"      1980           "                 '      .- 
"      3300           "                "      ... 
"      4950           "                "      ... 
44      5940           "                "      - 
u      9900           "                 *' 

Total. 

From  the 
United  States. 

I860  

Bushels. 
59,438,262 
70.273,849 
93,412,469 
57,657,398 
53,829,445 
48,241,297 
54,827,134 
73,066,323 
68,144,017 
S2,9f.9,174 
68,891,415 
-i,490 
88,877,4(  ui 
96,378,234 
92,089,027 
111,16 
8,276 
118,611 
111,4. 

127,71 

Bushels. 
17,388,233 
29,139,548 
40,628,162 
22,155,801 
18,811,206 
2,797.317 
1,840,961 
9,504,5(i8 
I2,60(i,::2(i 
28,597,813 
28,106,841 

17,984,118 

Hi,872 

49,228.015 
41.483,685 
44,042,143 
G2.(i97,899 
83,2«9,955 
83,487,243 

29.3 
41.5 
43.5 
38.4 
34.9 
5.8 
3.4 
13.0 
18.5 
34.5 
40.8 
35.2 
20.2 
42.2 
55.2 
44.3 
42.8 
37.2 
56.3 
Cl.l 
65.4 

Per  Bush. 
$1.71 
1.66 
1.49 
1.31 
1.22 
1.25 
1.48 
1.90 
1.79 
1.37 
1.39 
1.58 
1.66 
1.74 
1.63 
1.42 
1.40 
1.07 
1.50 
1.43 
1.50 

Per  Bush. 
$1.721 
1.661 
1.512 
1.316 
1.221 
1.265 
1.546 
2.039 
1.929 
1.379 
1.388 
1.587 
1.704 
1.714 
1.641 
1.405 
1.409 
1.672 
1.505 

1861  

1862  

1863  

1864  

1865  

1866  

1867  

1868  

1869  
1870  
1871  
1*72  
1873  
1874  

ls7f,  
1*77  
1>-7S       
IST'.I  
1880  

SAINT  LOUIS   AS  A  CENTRE   OF  TRADE. 


1003 


We  are  free  to  admit  that  there  are  serious  draw- 
backs to  the  immediate  realization  of  all  these  pleasant 
prospects,  but  none  of  them  seem  to  belong  to  the 
^class  of  any  but  the  preventable  diseases.  Prudence, 
forethought,  wise  management  in  respect  of  legislation, 
economy  of  resources,  careful  selection  of  representa- 
tives, and  liberal  expenditure  when  great  ends  are  to 
be  accomplished  will  bring  to  pass  every  desirable  re- 
sult for  a  city  possessing  already  such  incomparable 
resources.  But  it  will  be  wisest  to  consider  these 
drawbacks  and  obstructions  first,  as  the  presentation 
of  them  may  suggest  the  remedies  which  should  be 
applied.  The  construction  of  the  Eads  jetties  has 
already  taken  away  one  of  these  hindrances  to  com- 
merce. The  cutting  of  the  Florida  ship  canal  and 
the  construction  of  the  Tehuantepec  ship  canal  or 
railway  will  remove  others.  The  benefits  derived 
from  the  jetties  are  very  conspicuous.  It  was  diffi- 
cult to  get  sixteen  feet  of  water  on  the  bar  in  any 
of  the  passes  in  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  Now 
there  is  twenty-six  feet  regularly  maintained.  The 
charge  for  towage  has  in  consequence  been  reduced 
from  a  dollar  and  a  half  per  ton  to  one-third  that 
figure,  and  there  is  a  material  reduction  on  account  of 
insurance. 

But  there  are  other  hindrances  and  obstructions 
not  yet  removed.  The  ice  is  often  troublesome,  not 
below  Cairo,  but  between  that  city  and  St.  Louis. 
The*interruption  to  navigation  from  this  cause,  which 
at  Chicago  gives  the  railroads  a  monopoly  of  traffic 
for  a  hundred  and  forty  days  in  each  year,  occurs 
nearly  every  winter.  During  the  last  seventeen  years 
navigation  has  been  suspended  at  St.  Louis  on  account 
of  ice  as  follows  : 

Days 
Suspended. 

Winter  of  1865-66,  navigation  suspended 27 

1866—67, 
1867-68, 
1869-70, 
1870-71, 
1871-72, 
1872-73, 
1874-75, 
1876-77, 
1878-79, 
1879-80, 
1880-81, 
1881-82, 

During  the  winters  of  1868-69,  1873-74,  1875-76,  and  1877- 
78,  the  river  was  open,  and  navigation  was  not  suspended. 

The  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  River  is  at  times 
affected  also  by  low  water,  especially  in  that  part  of 
the  river  between  St.  Louis  and  Cairo.  The  enjoy- 
ment to  the  full  extent  of  the  advantages  afforded  by 
the  Mississippi  River  requires  the  employment  of 
steamboats  and  barges  of  large  size  and  drawing 
when  loaded  about  eight  feet  of  water.  At  times, 
however,  the  river  falls  so  as  to  admit  only  of  the  em- 


ployment of  boats  and  barges  loaded  to  draw  not 
more  than  four  feet.  This  greatly  increases  the  cost 
of  transportation.  The  actual  cost  of  transportation 
in  vessels  drawing  only  four  feet  is  said  to  be  nearly 
twice  as  great  as  when  loaded  to  eight  feet. 

This  subject  was  carefully  considered  by  a  select 
Committee  of  the  Senate  on  Transportation  Routes 
to  the  Seaboard  in  their  report  submitted  April  24, 
1874. 

It  was  found  that  during  the  nine  years  from  1865 
to  1873  the  condition  of  river  navigation  below  the 
city  of  St.  Louis  was  as  follows : 

Average  number  of  days  less  than  4  feet 3$ 

"          over  4  and  less  than  6  feet 52§ 

"  "          over  6  and  less  than  8  feet 103$ 

"  "          over  8  and  less  than  10  feet 694 

"  "          over  10  feet 136§ 

It  appears  from  the  foregoing  table  that  during 
nearly  one-half  of  the  year  the  commerce  of  St. 
Louis  was  more -or  less  affected  by  low  water. 

The  average  stage  of  the  river  below  St.  Louis 
during  the  years  from  1874  to  1880,  inclusive,  was  as 
follows : 


YEAR. 


1874 

1875 

1876 

18771 

18782 , 

1879s , 

1880*.... 


• 

• 

£ 

8" 

*O  +1 

•0*5 

'O'g 

c  <o 

C    (D 

_ 

08  (2 

*•£ 

ce  «S 

•* 

•  .u 

d 

• 

I: 

•goo 
^2  a 

1! 

5 

d 

tl 

•1 

6 

ai  — 

>• 

E 

A 

O 

O 

O 

Days. 

Days. 

Daj^». 

Days. 

146 

30 

175 

No  record. 

No  record. 

64 

80 

59 

51 

92 

87 

4 

81 

79 

55 

20 

66 

73 

46 

Dayt. 
14 


126 
119 
105 
156 


The  interruption  to  the  navigation  of  the  Missis- 
sippi River  at  St.  Louis  on  account  of  ice  and  low 
water  is  of  course  detrimental  to  commerce.  The 
average  annual  duration  of  the  efficient  commercial 
usefulness  of  the  Mississippi  River  is,  however,  con- 
siderably greater  than  is  that  of  the  northern  water 
line.  The  average  time  during  which  navigation  is 
suspended  by  ice  each  year  on  the  Erie  Canal  and  on 
the  Canadian  canal  is  about  five  months.  The  aver- 
age time  each  year  during  which  navigation  has  been 
entirely  suspended  on  the  Mississippi  River  at  St. 
Louis  in  consequence  of  ice  during  the  last  ten  sea- 
sons was  only  thirty-five  days,  and  the  average  time 
each  year  during  which  steamboats  and  barges  could 

1  Closed  for  thirty-six  days  on  account  of  low  water. 
J  Closed  for  sixteen  days  on  account  of  low  water. 
8  Closed  for  forty-one  days  on  account  of  low  water. 
*  Closed  for  four  days  on  account  of  low  water. 


1004 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


not  be  loaded  to  eight  feet,  in  consequence  of  ice  and 
low  water,  during  the  seven  years  from  1874  to  1880, 
inclusive,  was  only  about  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
six  days,  or  about  three  and  one-fifth  mouths. 

The  suspension  of  navigation  at  St.  Louis  does  not, 
however,  at  any  time  cause  an  entire  suspension  of 
the  river  traffic,  as  during  such  periods  shipments  are 
made  by  rail  from  St.  Louis  to  Cairo,  111.,  and  to  Bel- 
mont,  Mo.,  at  which  points  merchandise  is  trans- 
shipped to  steamers  and  to  barges.  Navigation  is 
seldom,  if  ever,  obstructed  below  Cairo  or  Belmont, 
either  on  account  of  ice  or  low  water. 

The  supposed  injury  to  grain  from  the  heat  and 
humidity  of  the  tropical  belt  between  New  Orleans 
and  the  Florida  capes  has  been  proved  to  be  a  fallacy, 
and  prices  are  not  affected  by  it.  But  the  existence 
of  yellow  fever  more  or  less  nearly  every  season  in  the 
lower  Mississippi  is  an  admitted  hindrance. 

Improvements  in  sanitary  measures  and  precautions 
are  necessary  to  remove  these  obstructions.  They 
are  necessary  equally  to  the  commercial  existence  of 
the  towns  and  cities  which  are  exposed  to  these  as- 
saults of  pestilence,  and  within  two  years  very  great 
improvements  have  been  effected,  especially  in  sewer- 
age and  drainage,  at  New  Orleans  and  Memphis. 
Much  still  remains  to  be  done,  of  course,  but  a 
good  beginning  has  been  made,  and  the  work  will  go 
on. 

The  improvement  of  the  Mississippi  River  has  also 
been  undertaken  upon  an  expensive  and  comprehen- 
sive system,  which,  when  it  is  completed,  is  expected 
to  make  this  noble  river  safely  and  easily  navigable  at 
nearly  all  seasons.  If  that  should  be  accomplished, 
it  is  hoped  that  a  reciprocity  treaty  with  Mexico,  and 
an  equitable  trade  treaty  with  Spain,  in  respect  of  our 
commodities  in  the  ports  of  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico,  will 
give  St.  Louis,  through  her  combinations  of  railroads 
and  water  routes,  a  most  extensive  and  valuable  trade 
in  tropical  products.  Hon.  W.  M.  Burwell,  of  New 
Orleans,  in  a  communication  made  to  the  Windom 
Congressional  Committee  on  Transportation  Routes  in 
1873,  said,— 

"  The  subject  upon  which  I  am  specially  requested  to  report 
is  in  regard  to  the  state  of  commerce  between  the  valley  of  the 
,  Mississippi  and  the  Spanish-American  States.  There  are  many 
of  us  who  believe  that  the  trade  lines  of  latitude  cross  above  us, 
and  that  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  western  productions 
will  move  directly  to  Atlantic  ports  for  exportation,  as  they  will 
and  have  received  the  foreign  importations  through  the  same 
ports.  I  would  say  that  in  the  estimation  of  many  in  this  city, 
merchants  and  others,  the  most  important  object  of  improving 
the  Mississippi  River  will  be  to  establish  a  direct  line  of  com- 
munication between  the  immense  productive  interior  of  the 
West  and  the  consuming  markets  of  and  beyond  the  tropics. 
There  is  a  physical  impediment  in  the  way  which  we  ask  Con- 


gress to  remove;  but  there  are  diplomatic  impediments  also 
which  are  even  greater,  as  far  as  that  line  of  trade  is  concerned, 
than  the  physical  impediments  to  which  I  referred.  The  diplo- 
matic impediments  consist  in  the  want  of  reciprocal  trade- 
treaties  between  the  United  States  and  the  Spanish-American 
States  that  are  adjacent  to  or  lie  south  of  us.  Gentlemen  know, 
and  especially  members  of  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  bet- 
ter than  we  do,  the  precise  state  of  the  treaties  between  the 
United  States  and  the  Spanish-American  powers,  and  they  will 
remember  that,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  special  conventions, 
there  have  been  scarcely  any  changes  made  in  the  treaty  rela- 
tions of  those  two  great  interests  since  almost  the  origin  of  the 
government.  Almost  all  our  trade-treaties,  as  I  understand,  are 
based  on  the  phrase  of  'the  most  favored  nations;'  and  while 
such  are  the  terms  of  our  commercial  treaties  with  Spain,  and 
while  it  is  true  that  we  can  carry  American  provisions  or  Amer- 
ican manufactures  into  Spanish  possessions  on  the  same  terms 
with  any  other  power,  yet  when  the  fact  is  that  we  are  the 
only  people  producing  corn  and  grain  and  hog  products,  that 
we  do  send  to  the  Spanish-American  possessions,  it  is  perfectly 
plain  that  that  which  is  a  tax  on  the  trade  of  the  most  favored 
nations  is  practically  an  oppressive  tax  upon  the  trade  of  the 
United  States.  The  Spanish  tax  in  Cuba  is  40  cents  on  the 
bushel  of  corn,  which  is  altogether  equivalent  to  the  entire  cost 
of  transportation  from  Iowa  to  New  York.  The  tax  there  is 
$55  on  an  American  horse,  $19  on  a  mule,  $8  on  a  barrel  of 
flour,  and  3J  cents  on  lard;  and  it  is  plain  that  a  tax  of  80  per 
cent.,  which  is  the  average  upon  the  products  almost  exclu- 
sively marketed  by  Americans,  is  an  excessive  tax  when  con- 
trasted with  the  American  tax  upon  the  products  of  Cuba.  We, 
as  I  understand,  only  tax  two  of  the  principal  products  of  Cuba. 
We  admit  her  coffee  duty  free,  and  we  impose  a  tax  of  some- 
thing upwards  of  two  cents  on  sugar,  and  a  tax  of  some  75  per 
cent,  on  tobacco  manufactured  and  not  manufactured." 

Ex-President  Grant  has  some  very  "advanced" 
and  decided  views  upon  this  subject,  and  it  is  be- 
lieved that,  with  a  reciprocity  treaty  with  Mexico  and 
the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  properly  improved, 
St.  Louis  could  control  the  entire  grocery  trade  of  the 
Mississippi  valley,  and  refine  all  the  sugar  consumed 
by  thirty  million  people.  The  vessels  taking  corn, 
cotton,  and  grain  and  provisions  to  Europe  could 
return  via  Trinidad  and  the  Caribbean  Sea,  picking 
up  cargoes  of  raw  sugar  on  their  way  around  the 
Gulf,  and  thus  freight  would  be  saved  on  both  out- 
ward and  inward  cargoes.  These  countries,  together 
with  South  America,  have  a  commerce  the  total 
annual  value  of  which  exceeds  eight  hundred  million 
dollars. 

But  it  is  imperative  to  improve  the  channel  of  the 
river  before  this  commerce  can  be  invited  in.  The 
general  plan  of  the  improvements  which  are  now  in 
process  was  succinctly  sketched  in  a  letter  from  Col. 
J.  H.  Simpson,  United  States  engineer,  to  Hon.  E. 
0.  Stanard,  of  the  Union  Merchants'  Exchange,  St. 
Louis,  on  Oct.  29,  1873. 

But  a  much  more  comprehensive  plan  is  under 
consideration,  involving  the  expenditure,  probably,  of 
more  than  a  hundred  millions  before  the  improvements 


SAINT  LOUIS  AS   A   CENTRE   OF   TRADE. 


1005 


are  completed  for  the  whole  river  upon  a  scale  com- 
mensurate with  the  commerce  involved. 

'•  Xo  adequate  estimate  can  be  formed  of  the  value  of  the  com- 
merce on  the  Mississippi  River,  nor  of  the  value  of  the  total 
commerce  of  the  towns  situated  upon  it.  An  idea  of  the  magni- 
tude of  this  commerce  may,  however,  be  formed  when  it  is  con- 
sidered that  the  value  of  the  commerce  of  the  cities  and  towns 
on  the  Ohio  Iliver  amounted  to  the  enormous  sum  of  one  billion 
six 'hundred  and  twenty-three  million  dollars  in  1873.  The 
national  government  has  provided  no  means  of  arriving  at  a 
knowledge  of  such  important  facts  as  this  in  regard  to  the  in- 
ternal commerce  of  the  country.  The  collection  of  the  necessary 
data  from  private  sources,  and  from  data  prepared  by  boards  of 
trade,  State  and  city  governments,  would  alone  require  the 
constant  labor  of  one  person  for  a  year. 

"Not  only  has  the  commerce  of  the  Mississippi  River  been 
crippled  by  the  existence  of  the  bar  at  its  mouth,  but  the  value 
of  the  river  above  is  greatly  depreciated  by  obstructions  which 
may  be  overcome  very  readily  by  engineering  skill,  and  at  an 
expense  quite  insignificant  in  comparison  either  with  the  present 
value  of  its  commerce,  or  with  the  increase  of  trade  which  may 
be  expected  as  the  natural  result  of  such  improvements. 
Hitherto  the  improvement  of  the  Mississippi  has  been  carried 
on  merely  by  sporadic  efforts.  Appropriations  have  from  time 
to  time  been  made  and  money  expended,  without  any  general 
plan  as  to  the  ultimate  results  which  were  to  be  attained.  The 
committee  recommend  that  the  necessary  surveys  and  estimates 
be  made  at  the  earliest  practicable  moment,  in  order  to  mature 
a  plan  for  the  radical  improvement  of  the  river,  and  of  all  its 
navigable  tributaries. 

"  Such  a  plan  should  comprehend  the  establishment  of  a  given 
depth  of  water  on  the  Mississippi  River  in  some  such  manner  as 
the  following  : 

"  1st.  Improvements  designed  to  secure  a  depth  of  from  eight 
to  ten  feet  from  St.  Louis  to  New  Orleans  at  the  lowest  stages 
of  the  river. 

"  2d.  Improvements  designed  to  secure  a  depth  of  five  feet  at 
the  lowest  stages  between  St.  Louis  and  St.  Paul. 

"  3d.  Improvements  designed  to  secure  a  depth  of  four  and 
one-half  feet  in  the  river  above  St.  Anthony's  Falls. 

"  Having  adopted  a  plan  of  this  kind  for  the  radical  improve- 
ment of  the  river,  all  works  should  be  carried  out  with  this 
general  object  in  view. 

"  It  is  much  more  practicable  to  establish  such  a  plan  now  than 
it  was  a  few  years  ago,  for  the  reasons  that  the  successes  and 
failures  of  past  efforts  have  enabled  engineers  to  discover  the 
nature  of  the  difficulties  which  will  be  met,  and  to  adopt  the 
best  methods  of  improvement.  Diverse  opinions  still  exist 
among  some  of  our  ablest  engineers  as  to  the  best  means  to  be 
adopted  in  specific  cases,  but  it  is  believed  that  sufficient  practical 
knowledge  has  already  been  gained  to  determine  a  general  plan 
of  future  operations,  both  in  regard  to  the  Mississippi  River  and 
its  principal  navigable  tributaries.  The  time  has  arrived  for 
orough  measures,  and  the  necessary  plans  and  estimates  upon 
ich  such  measures  must  be  based  should  be  prepared  at  once. 
•'  It  is  impossible  to  overestimate  the  commercial  results  likely 
to  follow  such  improvements.  With  the  well-established  facts 
before  us  in  regard  to  the  much  greater  cheapness  of  transport 
by  navigable  rivers  than  by  railways,  it  cannot  be  doubted  that 
Etich  improvements  would  increase  the  commerce  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi very  greatly,  and  at  the  same  time  afford  relief  to  a 
large  area  in  the  Western  States  now  fettered  in  its  growth  and 
prosperity  by  the  cost  of  transporting  agricultural  products  to 
both  home  and  foreign  markets."  l 


Such  is  the  noble  perspective  of  the  aspirations  of 
St.  Louis  for  the  commerce  of  the  future  :  the  centre 
of  a  valley  of  magnificent,  continental  proportions, 
gathering  up  the  products  of  hundreds  of  millions  of 
intelligent  people,  cultivating  the  soil  of  the  most  fer- 
tile of  regions,  supplying  the  world  with  their  pro- 
ducts, and  supplying  the  producers  in  return  with  all 
the  merchandise  which  enters  into  their  consumption. 
These  hundreds  of  millions  of  people  will  be  brain- 
workers  and  machine-workers,  and  the  volume  of  their 
products  will  be  stimulated  and  augmented  in  propor- 
tion to  the  grand  culmination  of  their  intelligence, 
until  human  force  will  find  itself  the  conductor  of  a 
grand  and  perfected  mechanism  of  subsidiary  forces 
such  as  the  world  never  before  saw  at  play. 

Confidence  of  the  Citizens  of  St.  Louis  in  the 
Natural  Advantages  and  Future  Destiny  of  their 
City. — We  may  now  proceed  to  consider  how  and  how 
greatly  the  several  constituents  of  a  great  and  permanent 
volume  of  trade,  production,  conversion,  and  exchange 
have  each  in  their  turn,  by  the  force  of  natural  and 
acquired  advantages,  contributed  to  make  St.  Louis  a 
trade  centre.  It  is  first  to  be  noted,  however,  that 
from  the  very  beginning  the  people  of  St.  Louis  have 
been  conscious  of  its  transcendent  natural  advantages 
and  confident  of  its  destinies  as  the  trade  centre  of  the 
America  of  the  future.  This  has  been  the  case  from 
the  time  of  Henry  M.  Brackenridge's  first  remark- 
able horoscope  of  the  infant  town's  destiny  down  to 
the  day  of  the  abortive  "  convention"  to  make  St. 
Louis  the  capital  of  the  United  States.2 


1  Such  was  the  view  of  theWiudom  Committee  in  1873. 
64 


2  The  enterprise  was  premature,  and  therefore  not  so  wise  as 
it  might  have  been,  but  it  has  been  laughed  at  probably  more 
than  it  deserved.  At  present  it  may  be  said  to  sleep,  for  no  one 
can  pronounce  it  dead  while  the  power,  population,  and  wealth 
of  the  United  States  continue  to  gravitate  so  strongly  towards 
the  heart  and  centre  of  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  The 
centre  of  population,  which  is  now  in  Kentucky,  just  west  of 
Cincinnati,  is  moving  upon  a  parallel  of  latitude  that  will  take 
it  to  St.  Louis  before  A.D.  1900,  and  at  that  date  more  than 
two-thirds  of  the  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives  will 
be  elected  from  districts  west  of  the  meridian  of  Pittsburgh, 
which  was  a  far  western  frontier  town  at  the  day  when  the  site 
of  the  Federal  city  was  chosen  upon  the  Potomac.  As  a  matter 
of  record,  some  of  the  proceedings  of  the  "  Capital  Convention" 
are  worth  preserving.  It  assembled  in  the  hall  of  the  Mercantile 
Library  on  the  afternoon  of  Oct.  20, 1869,  and  was  called  to  order 
by  L.  R.  Shryock,  who  was  followed  in  prayer  by  Rev.  R. 
G.  Bransk,  of  the  Central  Presbyterian  Church.  The  States 
and  Territories  which  were  represented  were  Alabama,  Illinois, 
Indiana,  Iowa,  Kentucky,  Kansas,  Louisiana,  Colorado,  Alaska, 
Montana,  Nebraska,  New  Mexico,  Oregon,  Pennsylvania,  Ten- 
nessee, Utah,  :ind  .Missouri, — 17.  The  delegate's  from  the  last- 
named  State  wero  Governor  J.  W .  McClurg,  John  Hogan, 
E.  0.  Stanard,  Enos  Clark,  B.  Poepping,  G.  A.  Mozier,  George 
Thelenius,  T.  T.  Tracy,  M.  L.  DeMotte,  James  H.  Birch,  A.  J. 
HarJan,  H.  J.  Drumond,  F.  Muench,  G.  R.  Smith,  W.  Galland. 


1006 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


We  could  produce,  if  it  were  necessary  and  we  had 
the  space,  a  long  chain  of  testimony  from  the  earliest 
period  down  to  the  present  day  to  show  how  confident 
the  thinking  people  of  St.  Louis  have  always  been  in 


John  D.  Caton,  of  Illinois,  was  made  president,  with  a  vice- 
president  for  each  State  and  Territory,  and  a  staff  of  secretaries. 

Mr.  Medill,  of  Illinois,  read  the  following  as  the  report  of  the 
committee  on  resolutions  : 

"WHEREAS,  The  present  site  of  the  national  capital  was  se- 
lected as  the  most  central  point  when  the  people  of  this  repub- 
lic, only  a  few  millions  in  number,  inhabited  only  a  narrow 
strip  of  country  along  the  Atlantic  coast;  and, 

"  WHEREAS,  The  population  of  this  republic  has  increased 
thirteen-fold  since  then,  and  spread  over  a  vast  continent  of 
which  the  States  in  existence  when  the  seat  of  government  was 
located  formed  only  the  eastern  edge;  and, 

"  WHEREAS,  The  present  location  of  the  national  capital  is 
notoriously  inconvenient  in  times  of  peace,  and,  as  the  darkest 
pages  of  our  national  history  demonstrate,  in  times  of  war  or 
domestic  turbulence  is  so  dangerously  exposed  as  to  require 
vast  armaments  and  untold  millions  of  money  for  its  especial 
defense;  and, 

"  WHEREAS,  All  the  reasons  which  caused  the  location  of  the 
seat  of  government  where  it  now  is  have  by  the  enormous  de- 
velopment of  the  country  and  a  corresponding  change  in  the 
wants  of  the  people  become  utterly  obsolete;  therefore, 

"  Resolved,  1.  That  it  is  absurd  to  suppose  that  the  handful 
of  inhabitants  in  1789,  just  emerging  from  colonial  vassalage, 
before  steamboats,  railways,  telegraphs,  or  power-presses  were 
dreamed  of,  or  a  mile  of  turnpike  or  canal  constructed,  pos- 
sessed the  authority  or  desired  to  exercise  the  power  of  fix- 
ing the  site  of  the  capital  forever  on  the  banks  of  the  Potomac, 
against  the  will  and  the  interest  of  the  hundreds  of  millions  who 
might  come  after  them. 

"  2.  That  the  people  have  endured  the  present  illy-located 
capital  for  three-quarters  of  a  century,  patiently  waiting  for 
the  vast  territory  of  the  Union  to  be  peopled  and  organized 
into  States,  and  until  the  centre  of  population,  area,  and 
wealth  could  be  determined,  when  a  permanent  place  of  resi- 
dence for  the  government  could  be  selected.  That  time  has 
now  come;  all  sectional  issues  are  settled,  all  dangerous  domes- 
tic variances  are  disposed  of,  a  new  era  has  been  entered  upon, 
and  a  new  departure  taken. 

"  3.  That  in  the  language  of  James  Madison,  in  the  Congress 
of  1789,  '  an  equal  attention  to  the  rights  of  the  community  is 
the  basis  of  republics.  If  we  consider  the  effects  of  legisla- 
tive power  on  the  aggregnte  community,  we  must  feel  equal  in- 
ducements to  look  to  the  centre  in  order  to  find  the  proper  seat 
of  government.'  This  equal  attention  has  not  and  cannot  be 
given  to  the  interests  and  rights  of  the  people  so  long  as  the 
capital  is  located  in  an  obscure  corner  of  the  Union. 

"  4.  That  the  vast  and  fertile  region  known  as  the  Mississippi 
valley  must  for  all  time  be  the  seat  of  empire  for  this  continent 
and  exert  the  controlling  influence  in  the  nation,  because  it  is 
homogeneous  in  its  interests  and  too  powerful  ever  to  permit 
the  outlying  States  to  sever  their  connection  with  the  Union. 
This  vast  plain  will  always  be  the  surplus  food-  and  fibre-pro- 
ducing portion  of  the  continent,  and  the  great  market  for  the 
fine  fabrics  and  tropical  productions  of  other  sections  of  the 
republic.  .  .  .'  This  immense  basin  must  have  numerous  out- 
lets and  channels  of  cheap  and  swift  communication  by  water 
and  rail  with  the  seaboard  for  the  egress  of  its  products  and 
ingress  of  its  exchanges.  Therefore  whatever  policy  the  gov- 
ernment may  pursue  that  tends  to  multiply,  improve,  or  enlarge 


the  city's  future  and  its  destinies.  This  has  made 
them  calm  even  to  the  appearance  of  apathy,  equally 
in  times  of  high  tide  and  times  of  low,  when  pros- 
perity was  at  its  flush  and  when  evil  fortune  and  dis- 
aster were  being  drained  down  to  the  very  dregs. 
They  have  never  been  in  a  fever  uor  in  a  collapse, 
because  they  have  always  felt  secure.  A  few  ex- 

these  arteries  of  commerce  must  result  in  common  advantage 
to  the  whole  Union,  to  the  seaboard  States  equally  with  those 
of  the  centre. 

"5.  That  the  natural,  convenient,  and  inevitable  place  for 
the  capital  of  the  republic  is  in  the  heart  of  the  valley,  where 
the  centre  of  population,  wealth,  and  power  is  irresistibly  grav- 
itating, where  the  government,  surrounded  by  numerous  mil- 
lions of  brave  and  Union-loving  citizens,  would  be  forever  safe 
against  foreign  foes  or  sectional  seditions,  and  where  it  would 
neither  require  armaments  nor  standing  armies  for  its  protection. 

"6.  That  while  advocating  the  removal  of  the  seat  of  gov- 
ernment to  the  Mississippi  valley,  we  do  not  mean  to  serve  the 
interests  of  any  particular  locality,  but  that  we  urge  Congress 
to  appoint  a  commission  for  the  purpose  of  selecting  a  conve- 
nient site  for  the  national  capital  in  the  great  valley  of  the 
Mississippi,  pledging  ourselves  to  be  satisfied  with  and  to  abide 
by  the  decision  to  be  arrived  at  by  the  National  Legislature. 

"7.  That  in  urging  the  removal  of  the  national  capital  from 
its  present  inconvenient,  out-of-the-way,  and  exposed  location 
in  the  far  East  we  are  in  earnest,  and  that  we  shall  not  cease 
in  our  efforts  until  that  end  is  accomplished,  firmly  believing 
that  the  absolute  necessity  of  the  removal  will  become  more 
apparent  every  day,  and  the  majority  of  the  American  people 
will  not  long  permit  their  interests  and  conveniences  to  be  dis- 
regarded. 

''  8.  That  the  removal  of  the  national  capital  being  only  a 
question  of  time,  we  emphatically  oppose  and  condemn  all  ex- 
penditures of  m'oney  for  enlargement  of  old  government  build- 
ings and  the  erection  of  new  ones  at  the  present  seat  of  the 
national  government  as  a  useless  and  wanton  waste  of  the  prop- 
erty of  the  people." 

Mr.  Clark,  of  Kansas,  offered  the  following  resolution  : 

"  Resolved,  That  this  convention  do  recommend  and  request 
all  congressional  nominating  conventions  in  the  various  States, 
without  distinction  of  party,  to  incorporate  in  their  platform  a 
demand  for  the  removal  of  the  national  capital  to  a  more  cen- 
tral and  convenient  locality." 

Mr.  Jones,  of  Illinois,  moved  to  strike  out  "without  distinc- 
tion of  party."  Adopted. 

On  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Hogan,  of  Missouri,  the  following 
was  added  to  the  resolution  : 

"And  that  the  State  Legislatures  instruct  their  senators  in 
Congress  to  advocate  and  vote  for  such  a  proposition." 

Mr.  Carr,  of  Illinois,  offered  the  following  resolution : 

"  Resolved,  That  a  standing  committee  of  one  from  each  State 
here  represented  be  appointed  by  this  convention,  to  which  the 
president  of  this  convention  shall  be  added,  to  act  as  a  '  per- 
manent committee  upon  the  subject  of  capital  removal,'  with 
power  to  act  on  behalf  of  this  convention,  and  to  publish  an 
address  to  the  people  of  this  country,  with  power  to  call  an- 
other convention  at  such  time  in  the  future  as  they  may  deem 
expedient  and  proper." 

An  executive  committee  was  appointed,  of  which  the  chair- 
man of  the  convention  was  made  president  and  L.  U.  Reavis 
secretary,  and  after  a  harmonious  interchange  of  views  and  a 
good  many  speeches  the  convention  adjourned. 


SAINT  LOUIS   AS  A  CENTRE   OF  TRADE. 


1007 


amples,  taken  hap-hazard,  will  suffice  to  illustrate 
this  equanimity  and  this  unvarying  confidence  in  their 
own  resources. 

From  the  Missouri  Gazette,  June  20,  1811 : 

"We  are  happy  to  find  that  a  spirit  of  enterprise  and  indus- 
try is  every  day  manifesting  itself  among  the  people  of  this  Ter- 
ritory. They  begin  to  be  convinced  that  the  peltry  and  fur 
trade  is  diminishing  in  value,  and  that  it  is  necessary  to  give 
up  in  part  the  old  staple,  and  turn  their  attention  to  the  more 
important  one  of  lead.  During  the  last  two  weeks  several 
boats  have  left  this  place  in  order  to  enlarge  the  mineral  estab- 
lishments made  many  years  ngo  by  Julien  Dubuque  at  a  place 
called  the  '  Spanish  Mines,'  on  the  Mississippi. 

"  The  present  adventurers  have  become  the  purchasers  of  a 
part  of  these  mines  under  an  order  of  the  General  Court  of  this 
Territory,  and  have  taken  with  them  near  one  hundred  hands, 
provided  with  all  the  implements  necessary  for  mining  and  car- 
rying on  the  lead  business." 

The  same,  March  1,  1809 : 

"The  culture  of  hemp  has  occupied  the  attention  of  our 
farmers,  and  a  rope-walk  will  shortly  be  erected  in  this  town. 
Thus  we  have  commenced  the  manufacturing  of  such  articles  as 
will  attract  thousands  of  dollars  to  our  Territory  ;  thus  we  will 
progress  in  freeing  John  Bull  or  Jack  Ass  of  the  trouble  of 
manufacturing  for  us." 

The  same,  July  17,  1813: 

"In  despite  of  the  savages,  Indians  and  British,  this  country 
is  progressing  in  improvements.  A  red  and  white  lead  manufac- 
tory has  been  established  in  this  place  by  a  citizen  of  Philadel- 
phia by  the  name  of  Hartshog.  This  enterprising  citizen  has 
caused  extensive  works  to  be  erected,  to  which  he  has  added  a 
handsome  brick  house  in  our  principal  street  for  retailing 
merchandise.  We  understand  that  his  agents  here  have  already 
sent  several  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  manufactured  lead  to 
the  Atlantic  States." 

In  1816  a  bank  was  found  to  be  necessary.  The 
citizens  at  once  subscribed  the  stock  and  started  one. 
It  fell  soon  into  financial  straits.  The  citizens  re- 
newed its  capital,  doubled  it,  and  started  another  bank 
with  three  times  as  much  capital.  The  confidence 
with  which  J.  B.  C.  Lucas  and  Auguste  Chouteau 
kept  themselves  poor,  almost  penniless,  by  investing 
all  their  money  in  lands  and  never  selling  was 
matched  by  the  composure  of  Manuel  Lisa  in  risking 
all  the  profits  of  his  fur-trade  adventure  in  a  water- 
front merchant's  mill,  an  experiment  as  yet  untried. 
We  have  elsewhere  quoted  from  Paxton's  first  St. 
Louis  directory,  1821.  In  concluding  his  summary 
of  beings  and  havings  Paxton  said,  "  St.  Louis  has 
grown  very  rapidly.  There  is  not,  however,  so  much 
improvement  going  on  at  this  time,  owing  to  the 
check  caused  by  the  general  and  universal  pressure 
that  pervades  the  country.  This  state  of  things  can 
only  be  temporary  here,  for  it  possesses  such  perma- 
nent advantages  from  its  local  and  geographical  situa- 
tion that  it  must  ere  some  distant  day  become  a  place 
of  great  importance,  being  more  central  with  regard 


to  the  whole  territory  of  the  United  States  than  any 
other  considerable  town,  and  uniting  the  advantage 
of  the  three  great  rivers,  Mississippi,  Missouri,  and 
Illinois,  of  the  trade  of  which  it  is  the  emporium." 
In  1831  the  press  said  the  same  thing.  The  city 
was  growing  rapidly.  Fine,  substantial  houses  were 
being  built.  The  arts  and  useful  manufactures  were 
multiplying  and  improving ;  "  mills,  breweries,  me- 
chanical establishments,  all  seem  to  be  advancing 
successfully  for  the  good  of  the  country,  and,  we  hope, 
for  the  great  profit  of  our  enterprising  and  industrious 
fellow-citizens.  The  trade  and  navigation  of  this 
port  are  becoming  immense.  Steamboats  are  daily 
arriving  and  departing  from  east,  west,  north,  and 
south,  and  as  this  place  has  decided  advantages  over 
all  the  ports  on  the  Ohio  River  for  laying  up  and 
repairing,  we  have  no  doubt  that  in  a  few  years  the 
building  and  repairing  of  steam-engines  and  boats 
will  become  one  of  the  most  important  branches  of 
St.  Louis  business.  We  have  all  the  materials,  wood 
and  metal,  in  abundance  and  of  the  best  quality. 
Already  we  have  a  foundry,  which,  it  is  hoped,  will 
soon  rival  the  best  in  Cincinnati  and  Pittsburgh,  and 
many  skilled  and  enterprising  mechanics.  A  bright 
prospect  is  before  us,  and  we  look  confidently  to  the 
day,  and  that  a  not  distant  one,  when  no  town  on  the 
western  waters  will  rank  above  St.  Louis  for  industry, 
wealth,  and  enterprise."  In  1835  again :  "  The 
prosperity  of  our  city  is  laid  broad  and  deep.  Much 
as  we  repudiate  the  lavish  praises  which  teem  from 
the  press,  and  little  as  we  have  heretofore  said,  we 
cannot  suffer  the  occasion  to  pass  without  a  few  re- 
marks on  the  changes  which  are  going  on  around 
us.  ...  A  tract  of  land  was  purchased  by  a  gentle- 
man now  living,  as  we  have  understood,  for  two  bar- 
rels of  whiskey,  which  is  now  worth  half  a  million  of 
dollars.  ...  No  one  who  consults  the  map  can  fail 
to  perceive  the  foresight  which  induced  the  selection 
of  the  site  on  which  the  city  is  founded.  She  al- 
ready commands  the  trade  of  a  larger  section  of  terri- 
tory, with  a  few  exceptions,  than  any  other  city  in 
the  Union.  With  a  steamboat  navigation  more  than 
equal  to  the  whole  Atlantic  seaboard,  with  internal 
improvements  projected  and  in  progress,  with  thou- 
sands of  immigrants  spreading  their  habitations  over 
the  fertile  plains  which  everywhere  meet  the  eye,  who 
can  deny  that  we  are  fast  verging  to  the  time  when 
it  will  be  admitted  that  this  city  is  the  (  Lion  of  the 
West.1  " 

In  1839,  Rev.  Dr.  Humphrey  wrote  some  "  Letters 
by  the  Way,"  in  one  of  which  we  find  St.  Louis  de- 
scribed and  its  future  once  more  prognosticated. 
Says  the  learned  divine, — 


1008 


HISTORY   OF  SALNT  LOUIS. 


"St.  Louis  is  larger  than  I  had  supposed,  and  appears  to  be 
advancing  more  rapidly  than  any  other  town  that  I  have  seen 
in  the  West.  The  city  proper  now  contains  about  fifteen  thou- 
sand inhabitants,  and  there  are  nearly  as  many  more  without 
the  limits  in  the  immediate  neighborhood.  Many  hundreds  of 
houses  were  built  last  year,  notwithstanding  the  pressure  of  the 
times,  and  many  more  are  going  up  this  year.  Rents  are 
enormously  high,  higher  than  in  any  eastern  city,  not  except- 
ing New  York  itself,  and  I  believe  higher  than  anywhere  else  on 
the  continent  of  America.  For  a  handsome  two-story  brick 
house,  with  one  parlor  in  front,  you  would  have  to  pay  seven 
or  eight  hundred  dollars  per  annum.  St.  Louis  must,  from  its 
position,  become  a  very  large  commercial  city,  and  there  is  no 
prospect  that  any  other  town  on  the  Mississippi  above  New 
Orleans  will  be  able  to  compete  with  it.  Already  the  landing, 
covered  with  iron  and  lead  and  all  kinds  of  heavy  goods,  re- 
minds you  of  one  of  the  front  streets  of  New  York  or  Phila- 
delphia. But  why  don't  they  build  wharves  here? 

"  In  the  lower  and  much  the  oldest  part  of  the  town,  where 
the  French  chiefly  reside,  the  streets  are  narrow  and  filthy. 
The  buildings  are  for  the  most  part  small,  and  constructed 
with  the  least  possible  regard  either  to  elegance  or  comfort. 
Hogs  and  dogs  seemed,  the  morning  I  passed  through  it,  to 
have  undisputed  possession  of  the  ground,  and  the  latter  had 
many  a  comfortable  wallowing-place  in  front  of  the  houses. 

"  St.  Louis,"  says  the  reverend  doctor,  "  like  most  of  our 
young  and  rising  towns,  especially  where  there  are  oceans  of 
territory,  is  without  any  public  parks  or  promenades.  A  vacant 
square,  however,  was  pointed  out  to  me,  in  the  heart  of  the 
city,  which  may  be  had  at  a  fair  price,  though  it  will  now  cost 
much  more  that  it  was  offered  for  two  years  ago.  Surely 
nothing  should  prevent  the  corporation  from  purchasing  it. 
Let  it  be  handsomely  laid  out  in  graveled  walks,  and  planted 
with  shade-trees  and  shrubbery,  and  it  would  be  worth  more  to 
St.  Louis  than  if  it  were  all  covered  over  with  gold.  But  even 
this  would  be  inadequate  to  the  rapid  extension  and  growing 
wants  of  the  place.  It  is  a  bad  maxim,  '  Let  posterity  take 
care  of  themselves.'  Now  is  the  time  to  secure  fifty  or  a  hun- 
dred acres  for  a  grand  park,  as  a  place  of  common  resort  for 
relaxation,  health,  and  pleasure.  This  might  now  be  done 
within  two  miles  of  the  heart  of  the  city  for  a  small  sum.  In 
riding  out  with  a  friend  I  saw  three  or  four  fine  locations,  cov- 
ered with  a  thrifty  growth  of  young  trees,  offering  the  city  the 
strongest  inducements  to  be  beforehand  with  private  pur- 
chasers. It  would  not  be  necessary  to  lay  out  a  dollar  in  pre- 
paring and  ornamenting  the  grounds  for  the  present.  But  I 
repeat  it,  at  the  hazard  of  being  set  down  as  an  enthusiast  in 
matters  of  this  sort,  the  purchase  ought  forthwith  be  made,  and 
whatever  the  present  generation  of  utilitarians  may  think,  I 
pledge  the  little  credit  I  have  for  forecast  that  a  hundred  years 
hence  St.  Louis  will  be  prouder  of  her  great  park  than  of  any 
thing  else  she  will  have  to  boast  of." 

What  would  the  learned  gentleman  say  to-day  if  he 
could  visit  St.  Louis,  and  learn  that  the  city  has  well- 
nigh  on  to  an  acre  of  park  for  each  head  of  a  family  ? 
Dr.  Humphrey  adds, — 

"  As  a  proof  of  the  rapid  increase  of  business  and  population 
in  St.  Louis,  I  may  mention  that  one  of  the  largest  hotels  I  have 
ever  seen  is  now  going  up.  It  appears  to  me  to  be  quite  as 
large  as  the  Astor  House  in  New  York,  and  although  it  will 
cost  a  very  large  sum,  I  believe  everybody  regards  it  as  a  good 
investment.  Certainly  such  a  '  strangers'  home'  in  this  great 
thoroughfare  of  western  travel  will  be  highly  appreciated  by 
thousands.  But  where  is  St.  Louis,  in  the  west  or  the  east 
or  somewhere  near  the  centre  of  the  United  States  ?  I  confess 


I  do  not  know.  But  my  impression  is  that,  making  an  allow- 
ance of  one  or  two  thousand  miles,  which  cannot  be  of  much 
consequence  one  way  or  the  other,  St.  Louis  will  be  found 
somewhere  in  the  great  West. 

"  Let  St.  Louis  go  on  and  lay  all  her  foundations  broad  and 
deep.  She  has  most  unquestionably  a  high  destiny  before  her, 
and  who  can  tell  how  much  the  present  generation  may  do  in 
making  it?" 

In  1846  the  St.  Louis  Prices  Current  thus  esti- 
mated the  general  progress  of  the  community : 

"  St.  Louis  seems  to  continue  to  be  a  favorite  point  for  the 
location  of  the  merchant,  the  tradesman,  and  others  who,  hav- 
ing left  the  home  of  their  fathers,  resolve  to  settle  at  some 
point  in  the  '  Great  West,'  if  we  may  judge  from  the  great  in- 
flux of  inhabitants  which  pour  into  it  and  fix  their  residence 
here  from  year  to  year.  The  official  statistics,  in  part  reported 
to  the  City  Council  during  the  past  year,  warrant  us  in  saying 
that  the  number  of  houses,  factories,  etc.,  which  have  been 
erected  during  the  past  year  within  the  corporate  limits  is  not 
less  than  seventeen  hundred,  and  that  its  population  has  aug- 
mented full  four  thousand.  We  estimate  its  present  population 
to  exceed  forty  thousand,  and  augmenting  with  a  rapidity  un- 
exampled in  the  annals  of  any  city  either  east  or  west;  and  its 
trade  and  commerce  keep  pace  with  its  influx  of  population,  as 
will  be  shown  by  some  few  statistics  annexed. 

"  The  assumed  value  of  real  estate  the  past  year  is  more  than 
thirteen  million  dollars,  being  an  increase  over  the  value  in 
1830  of  more  than  twelve  millions  ;  and  the  current  city  revenue 
of  1845  is  estimated,  per  official  data,  at  two  hundred  and 
twenty-seven  thousand  dollars,  twenty  thousand  of  which  are 
received  from  our  steamboat  tonnage,  and  seventeen  thousand 
from  water  revenues.  These  are  some  data  on  which  the  re- 
flecting mind  may  estimate  our  progress  and  prosperity. 

"  During  the  past  year  the  mercantile  and  trading  interests 
have  had  no  cause  to  complain.  The  merchant  has  found  ready 
sale  for  his  goods,  the  tradesman  and  mechanic  have  been  fully 
employed,  and  the  laboring  classes  who  were  not  indisposed  to 
work  have  had  the  opportunity  to  lay  up  ample  stores  to  serve 
them  during  the  inclement  season  now  upon  us.  Our  city  has 
enjoyed  during  the  past  year  its  usual  health,  and  while  we 
acknowledge  our  dependence  upon  the  Author  of  all  our  bless- 
ings, we  should  not  be  unmindful  of  the  debt  of  gratitude  we 
owe  to  Him  from  whom  cometh  every  blessing." 

In  1848  it  was  said  that  "the  natural  advantages  of  St.  Louis, 
in  a  commercial  and  manufacturing  point  of  view,  are  greater 
than  those  of  any  city  in  the  West ;  and  it  is  only  necessary  for 
the  general  government  to  pursue  a  liberal  and  equitable  course 
towards  her,  and  for  her  citizens  to  strengthen  these  advantages 
by  their  enterprise  and  public  spirit,  to  make  her  (and  that,  too, 
in  a  very  short  time)  the  largest  and  most  important  inland  city 
in  the  Union.  Her  immense  resources  are  being  daily  developed 
and  turned  to  advantage;  her  population  and  business  are  in- 
crrasing  beyond  a  precedent  in  the  history  of  this  country  :  her 
wealth  and  prosperity  are  exciting  wonder  and  admiration,  and 
coiuinanding  respect  and  attention  from  every  portion  of  the 
United  States,  and  wherever  else  her  commerce  and  name  has 
j  extended.  Situated  as  she  is,  on  the  great  Mississippi,  in  the 
i  centre  of  a  fertile  and  healthy  region  of  country,  with  the 
waters  of  four  navigable  streams  sweeping  her  shores,  and 
bearing  the  mineral  and  agricultural  products  of  four  large 
and  populous  States,  which  must  necessarily  pass  through  the 
hands  of  her  merchants,  in  direct  communication  with  all  the 
important  towns  and  cities  in  the  West,  enjoying  also  manu- 
facturing facilities  of  the  highest  order,  and  hoMing  in  her 
natural  grasp  the  commercial  operations  of  several  millions 


SAINT   LOUIS  AS  A  CENTRE   OF   TRADE. 


1009 


of  people, —  these  are  resources  of  which  but  few  cities  in  the 
Union,  or  perhaps  in  the  world,  can  boast. 

"Our  city  is  rapidly  improving  in  wealth  and  importance, 
even  beyond  the  expectations  of  the  most  sanguine.  Manufac- 
tories and  machine-shops  are  daily  springing  up  in  our  midst, 
and  many  articles  hitherto  imported  for  domestic  purposes  have 
now  become  important  items  of  export.  The  value  and  quantity 
of  manufactured  articles  annually  imported  from  the  Ohio  are 
rapidly  diminishing,  and  we  look  forward  with  a  great  degree 
of  certainty  to  the  time,  and  that  at  no  very  distant  day,  when 
St.  Louis  will  not  only  prove  the  great  commercial  emporium  of 
the  Mississippi  valley,  but  also  the  machine-shop  of  the  entire 
West.  Her  facilities  for  the  manufacture  of  many  imported 
articles  are  even  now  greater  than  the  cities  from  whence  they 
come,  and  it  is  only  necessary  for  our  manufacturing  resources 
to  be  properly  developed  to  bring  capitalists  and  mechanics 
hither,  where  their  money  and  labor  can  be  employed  with  cer- 
tainty and  profit. 

"In  1840,  with  the  exception  of  several  flouring-  and  saw- 
mills of  inconsiderable  note,  we  were  entirely  destitute  of 
manufactories,  and  even  at  a  later  date  our  establishments  in 
this  respect  were  scarcely  worthy  of  attention.  Since,  however, 
cotton,  woolen,  soap,  candle,  starch,  and  various  other  manufac- 
tories have  sprung  into  existence,  and  are  now  driving  a  lucra- 
tive and  extensive  business,  to  say  nothing  of  the  foundries 
(about  eighteen  in  number),  flouring-fcills,  machine-shops,  etc., 
with  which  the  city  abounds.  Our  population  in  1830  was  esti- 
mated at  six  thousand  six  hundred  and  ninety-four,  in  1840  at 
sixteen  thousand  four  hundred  and  sixty-nine,  and  by  the  late 
State  census  at  fifty-six  thousand,  showing  that  it  has  more  than 
trebled  in  eight  years." 

In  1849,  the  year  of  cholera  and  fire  and  financial 
depression,  the  voice  of  trade  was  as  follows  : 

"  We  have  repeatedly  spoken  of  the  great  manufacturing  and 
commercial  facilities  of  St.  Louis,  and  notwithstanding  the  mis- 
fortunes and  afflictions  of  the  past  season,  all  that  has  been  said 
of  her  Wealth  and  constantly  increasing  commerce  is  being 
daily  confirmed.  Not  a  year  passes  but  we  are  called  upon  to 
note  new  discoveries  of  mineral  deposits,  the  increase  or  exten- 
sion of  manufactures,  or  marked  changes  in  her  extensive  inter- 
course with  different  portions  of  the  country;  and  by  means  of 
a  wide-spread  navigation,  distant  points,  hitherto  inaccessible, 
are  being  brought  within  the  boundaries  of  her  trade,  and  new 
commodities,  either  for  consumption  or  export,  are  constantly 
arriving  at  her  wharf.  Her  manufacturing  interests,  too,  are 
not  neglected,  and  there  is  a  steady  and  uninterrupted  increase 
of  mills,  foundries,  machine-shops,  and  various  minor  mechani- 
cal works,  for  the  consumption  of  coal,  iron,  lead,  grain,  etc., 
which  bid  fair  to  become  permanent  and  profitable  invest- 
ments. As  a  commercial  city,  St.  Louis  ranks  second  in  the 
West, — a  distinction  attained  within  the  past  ten  years, — and  if 
her  progress  is  onward,  as  is  generally  conceded,  ten  years  more 
will  scarcely  transpire  before,  in  many  of  the  most  important 
branches  of  commerce  and  manufactures,  she  will  be  classed  as 
the  first.  With  a  population  of  seventy  thousand,  she  has  con- 
tinued to  increase  in  strength  and  improve  in  size  down  to  the 
present  period,  and  in  commencing  the  last  half  of  the  present 
century  it  may  not  be  thought  visionary  to  predict  that  before 
it  expires  she  will  be  in  direct  communication  with  the  lakes, 
the  Eastern  seaboard,  and  the  Pacific,  and  thus  become  the  cen- 
tral depot  for  the  vast  commerce  of  the  two  hemispheres." 

In  1858,  upon  occasion  of  the  establishment  of  the 
overland  mail  to  California,  we  read  the  following  in 
the  current  news  notes  of  the  day  : 


"Arrival  of  the  Overland  Mail. — What  has  hitherto  been  re- 
garded as  a  visionary  and  speculative  enterprise  has  been  estab- 
lished beyond  all  doubt,  and  St.  Louis  and  San  Francisco  have 
been  brought  within  twenty-four  days'  travel  of  each  other,  on 
a  stage  line,  and  a  route  which  will  admit  of  easier  and  safer 
travel  than  did  the  trip  from  St.  Louis  to  Philadelphia  thirty 
years  ago. 

"  When    the    Atlantic    cable  was   laid    it    was    hoped    that 

daily  communication  had  thus  been  established  between  Europe 

and  America.     In  our  opinion  a  greater  enterprise  has  been 

accomplished   in   the  establishment  of  an  overland  mail  con- 

i   necting  the  Atlantic  with   the   Pacific,  passing  over  our  own 

soil,  and  affording  a  semi-weekly,  soon  to  be  converted  into  a 

I  daily,  communication  between  the  extremes  of   the  republic. 

I   Nine  years  ago,  when  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California  led 

to  the  immense  emigration  to  that  State,  it  was  regarded  as  an 

I   expeditious  trip  if  made  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Pacific  in 

j  eighty  to  one  hundred  days.    Thousands  were  occupied  a  much 

[   longer  time,   and    hundreds  perished  by  the  wayside.       The 

;   establishment  of  this  mail  route,  and  of  the  route  from  St. 

|   Joseph  to  Utah,  and  thence  to  Sacramento,  has  changed  the 

)   whole  current  of  things;  and  it  is  now  demonstrated,  on  a  first 

trial  and  under  adverse  circumstances-,  that  it  is  practicable  to 

i   carry  the  mail  to  San  Francisco  in  twenty-four  days,  and  this 

|   will  be  reduced,  if  necessary,  below  twenty  days." 

I 

In   1854  the  city's  condition  and  prospects  were 
described  as  follows : 

"  Here  stands  a  city,  enjoying  far  beyond  any  other  city  of 
the  same  magnitude  or  pretensions  the  advantages  of  that 
inland  navigation,  compared  with  which  even  our  vast  foreign 
commerce  is  sinking  into  insignificance.  It  has  five  thousand 
miles  of  that  navigation  belonging  peculiarly  to  its  own 
water*,  with  ten  thousand  miles  of  coast,  yielding  up  the 
|  products  of  an  immense  and  fertile  region,  for  which  it  fur- 
nishes a  thousand  outlets.  To  these  may  be  added  the  forty 
thousand  miles  more  of  navigable  rivers  which  connect  with 
St.  Louis.  Soon  the  vast  means  of  communication  furnished 
in  this  way  to  our  city  will  be  enlarged  by  the  completion  of 
twelve  hundred  miles  of  railroad  already  begun  or  projected 
within  the  borders  of  the  State,  and  connected  with  a  network 
of  similar  roads  stretching  to  every  point  of  the  Union,  in  one 
direction  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  in  another  to  the  head-waters 
of  the  Mississippi,  and  in  a  third  to  Labrador  in  the  far  east 
and  to  San  Francisco  in  the  far  west.  Through  her  gates  will 
pour  the  commerce  of  the  Pacific,  of  India,  and  of  the  isles  of 
the  ocean  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  commerce  of  the  Atlantic 
and  of  Europe  on  the  other.  Stripping  from  her  all  which 
may  be  considered  as  accidental  or  adventitious, — all  of  which 
jealous  and  more  fortunate  rivals  may  by  possibility  deprive 
her, — still  she  is  left  the  commercial  centre,  the  natural  mart  of 
seven  hundred  thousand  square  miles  of  territory,  full  of  min- 
eral and  agricultural  resources,  and  capable  of  sustaining  in 
vigorous  life  a  population  of  a  hundred  millions.  .  .  .  What 
shall  forbid  an  accumulation  here  of  inhabitants  beyond  any- 
thing of  which  we  have  authentic  records,  millions  upon 
millions,  until  there  shall  have  sprung  up  here  a  city  contain- 
ing hundreds  of  square  miles,  with  an  area  even  then  affording 
i  but  reasonable  accommodations  for  the  vast  multitudes  col- 
I  lected  within  it, — a  city  with  quays  and  warehouses  stretching 
1  interminably  in  lines  which,  still  unbroken,  fade  out  of  sight 
in  the  dim  distance  ?  Of  course,  such  visions  relate  to  the 
future ;  but  that  future,  midst  the  growth  of  such  a  nation  as 
ours,  cannot  be  long  postponed.  Meanwhile  the  present  gen- 
oration  will  witness  a  progress  with  which  it  may  well  be  con- 
1  tent.  That  progress,  it  is  true,  will  depend  much  upon  the 


1010 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


enterprise  and  energies  of  our  citizens.  We  are  fully  aware  of 
this  truth,  while  we  repeat  the  expressions  of  our  confidence  in 
that  progress.  For  we  fully  rely  on  it  that  its  citizens  will  be 
true  to  their  city  and  themselves,  alike  the  thousands  who  are 
now  here  and  the  hundreds  of  thousands  still  to  come  higher. 
That  may  be  no  idle  dream  which  conceives  for  St.  Louis  the 
most  exalted  destiny,  which,  with  a  just,  prophetic  forecast, 
transforms  the  humble  hamlet  of  Laclede  into  the  future  me- 
tropolis of  the  New  World." 

In  1857  one  of  the  "  manifest  destiny"  writers  of 
St.  Louis  (the  greater  part  of  them  are  of  that  order) 
wrote  as  follows: 

"  This  city  is  beginning  to  receive  the  attention  from  abroad 
which  her  rapid  growth,  her  extraordinary  natural  advantages, 
and  her  approaching  dentiny  demand. 

"  Her  present  commercial  importance,  which  is  unsurpassed 
by  any  city  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  is  derived  from 
river  navigation  alone ;  and  her  commerce  from  this  source  is 
drawn  from  the  most  extensive  and  the  richest  agricultural  and 
mineral  region  in  the  world,  scarcely  one-tenth  of  whose  wealth 
and  latent  resources  are  yet  developed. 

"  There  is  nothing  problematical  therefore  in  this  statement, 
the  geographical  fact  speaks  for  itself.  The  commerce  of  St. 
Louis  will  be  increased  ten  times  its  magnitude  in  less  than 
twenty-five  years  from  the  one  source  which  has  made  her  now 
all  that  she  is,  from  river  navigation  alone. 

"To  this  advantage  of  river  navigation,  which  is  unequaled 
by  any  city  in  the  world,  and  which  must  ever  continue  to  be 
her  most  important  and  cherished  source  of  wealth,  is  now  being 
superadded  that  of  railroad  facilities.  The  commercial  import- 
ance given  to  St.  Louis  by  her  river  navigation  will  eventually 
insure  to  her  an  equal  supremacy  as  the  emporium  of  railroad 
intercommunication.  The  great  lines  of  railway  from  the  At- 
lantic border  are  all  pointing  to  this  city  as  a  common  centre, 
and  she  is  sending  out  and  receiving  branches  from  the  rich 
agricultural  and  mineral  regions  of  the  'Great  West.' 

"St.  Louis,  from  her  unrivaled  facilities  for  trade  and  manu- 
factures, will  occupy  in  the  Mississippi  valley  as  decided  a  pre- 
eminence in  commercial  importance  as  the  city  of  New  York 
now  commands  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard.  The  main  current  of 
trade  on  this  continent  must  forever  set  in  the  direction  of  east 
and  west.  St.  Louis  is  the  heart  of  this  great  current,  while 
commanding  a  controlling  point  on  the  grand  highway  of  com- 
merce between  the  upper  Mississippi  and  the  great  lakes  and 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  She  is  in  the  latitude  of  thirty-eight  and 


a  half,  the  most  beautiful  climate  of  the  temperate  zone,  a 
her  navigable  waters  are  open  to  the  commerce  of  the  world 
during  many  weeks,  and  not  unfrequently  months,  while  more 
northern  marts  are  bound  in  fetters  of  ice. 

"To  her  well-known  and  pre-eminent  advantages  as  the 
centre  of  commerce  for  the  Mississippi  valley,  which  is  forever 
assured  by  geographical  position,  St.  Louis  is  the  emporium  of 
one  of  the  best  agricultural  and  mineral  regions  in  the  world, 
which  immediately  surrounds  her.  Southern  and  Central  Illi- 
nois and  the  rich  mineral  region  of  Missouri  pour  their  undi- 
vided wealth  of  trade  upon  this  city. 

"There  are  other  cities  in  the  Mississippi  valley  which  are 
distinguished  by  a  commanding  position  for  extended  and 
lucrative  commerce,  and  by  the  indomitable  energy  and  admi- 
rable enterprise  of  their  inhabitants.  St.  Louis,  from  her  cen- 
tral position  and  extraordinary  facilities  of  approach,  is  especi- 
ally aided  and  strengthened  by  the  prosperity  of  each  one  and 
all  of  these  cities,  while  imparting  to  them  a  reciprocal  benefit 
in  the  general  increase  of  commercial  facilities." 

Yet,  in  1881,  Mr.  Nimmo,  of  the  Bureau  of  Statis- 
tics, while  fully  admitting  the  transcendent  past,  pres- 
ent, and  future  importance  of  the  river  navigation  to 
the  trade  of  St.  Louis,  could  show  that  the  railroads, 
for  the  time  being  at  least,  had  carried  off  nine-tenths 
of  this  vaunted  inalienable  possession,  the  river  trade. 
Note  his  figures:  "A  radical  change,"  he  remarks, 
"  has  taken  place  in  the  conditions  governing  the  move- 
ments of  commerce  at  St.  Louis.  Twenty-five  years 
ago  that  commerce  was  almost  exclusively  confined  to 
the  Mississippi  River  and  its  tributaries,  but  at  the 
present  time  railroads  extend  from  the  city  in  all  di- 
rections. Each  one  of  these  railroads  has  become  an 
important  avenue  of  commerce."  In  proof  of  this, 
we  find  that  of  the  total  tonnage  transferred  during 
1880  there  was  moved  by  river  1,981,385  tons; 
moved  by  rail,  8,852,204  tons. 

These  facts,  as  Mr.  Nimmo  truly  says,  indicate  that 
the  commerce  of  St.  Louis  has  largely  accommodated 
itself  to  the  facilities  afforded  by  railroad  transporta- 
tion. This  he  shows  by  the  following  table : 


TONS  OF  FREIGHT  received  at  St.  Louis  from  the  north,  and  of  freight  shipped  from  that  city  to  the  north,   by  river  and  by 

rail,  from  1871  to  1880,  inclusive. 


CALENDAR  TEAR. 

RECEIVED. 

SHIPPED. 

TOTAL  RECEIPTS  AND  SHIP- 
MENTS. 

TOTAL. 

By  River. 

By  Rail. 

By  River. 

By  Rail. 

By  River. 

By  Rail. 

1871  

Ton*. 
236,887 
242,584 
281,175 
231,060 
198,100 
224,860 
136,715 
174,065 
221,285 
226,095 

Tons. 
60,793 
120,422 
72,031 
137,016 
88,218 
100,087 
96,443 
208,563 
224,336 
378,078 

Tons. 
78,967 
55,235 
fil,966 
95,800 
96,225 
93,360 
68,565 
67,320 
66,990 
55,260 

Tons. 
14,875 
23,965 
18,840 
20,467 
26,526 
35,269 
46,262 
59,281 
65,770 
102,543 

Tons. 
315,854 
297,819 
343,141 
326,860 
294,325 
318,220 
205,280 
241,385 
288,275 
281,355 

Tons. 
75,668 
144,387 
90,871 
157,483 
114,744 
135,356 
142,705 
267,844 
290,106 
480,621 

Tons. 
391,522 
442,206 
434,012 
484,343 
409,069 
453,576 
,",47,985 
509,229 
578,381 
761,976 

1872           

1873  

1874  

1875  

1876  

1877  

1878  

1879  

1880  

SAINT   LOUIS   AS  A  CENTRE   OF  TRADE. 


1011 


It  appears  that  the  tonnage  to  and  from  the  north 
by  river  fell  from  315,854  tons  in  1871  to  281,355 
tons  in  1880,  and  that  the  tonnage  by  rail  increased 
from  75,668  in  1871  to  480,621  tons  in  1880.  The 


river  traffic  constituted  about  37  per  cent,  of  the  total 
northern  traffic  during  the  year  1880. 

The    following    table    illustrates    the    point    still 
further : 


TONS  OF  FREIGHT  received  at  St.  Louis  from  the  south,  and  of  freight  shipped  from  that  city  to  the  south,  by  river  and  by 

rail,  from  1871  to  1880,  inclusive. 


CALENDAR  YEAR. 

RECEIVED. 

SHIPPED. 

TOTAL  RECEIPTS  AND  SHIP- 
MENTS. 

TOTAL. 

By  Eiver. 

By  Rail. 

By  River. 

By  Rail. 

By  River.               By  Rail. 

i 

1871  

Ton*. 
327,262 
308,480 
232,460 
176,120 
134,465 
159,485 
161,870 
187,910 
293,480 
238,940 

Ton*. 
782,539 
1,083,600 
1,107,228 
1,020,414 
1,237,205 
1,151,049 
1,177,779 
1,102,696 
1,455,792 
1,614,637 

Ton*. 
523,505 
578,596 
562,125 
476,735 
370,275 
383,485 
427,400 
434,490 
499,040 
820,555 

Ton*. 
172,026 
257,493 
275,998 
291,084 
368,357 
313,092 
371,402 
397,528 
496,306 
671,661 

Ton*. 
850,767 
887,076 
794,585 
652,855 
504,740 
542,970 
589,270 
622,400 
692,520 
1,059,495 

Ton*. 
954,565 
1,341,093 
1,383,226 
1,311,498    ' 
1,605,562 
1,464,141 
1.549,181 
1,500,124 
1,952,098 
2,286,298 

Ton*. 
1,805,332 
2,228,169 
2,177,811 
1,964,353 
2,110,302 
2,007,111 
2,138,451 
2,122,624 
2,644,618 
3,345,793 

1872  

1873  

1874  

1875  

1876  

1877  

1878  

1879    

1880  

And  the  summary  completes  the  illustration  and  emphasizes  it : 

ACTUAL  TONNAGE  OF  ALL  CLASSES  OF  FREIGHT  SHIPPED   FROM   ST.  LOUIS  DURING  THE   YEARS  1878;  1879,  AND   1880. 
,  SHIPPED  BY  RAIL. 


• 

1878. 

1879. 

1880. 

Tons. 

Per  Cent, 
of  Total. 

Tons. 

Per  Cent, 
of  Total. 

Tons. 

Per  Cent, 
of  Total. 

To  the  north  

59,281 
397,528 
1,029,006 
394,744 

3.15 
21.14 
54.22 
20.99 

65,770 
496,306 
1,129,820 
593,820 

2.88 
21.71 
49.43 
25.98 

102,543 
671,661 
1,179,709 
801,767 

3.72 
24.37 
42.81 
29.10 

To  the  east  

Total  by  rail  

1,880,559 

100.00 

2,285,716 

100.00 

2,755,680 

100.00 

SHIPPED  BY  RIVER. 

To  the  north  

67,320 
434,490 
90,400 
22,465 

10.95 
70.70 
14.70 
3.65 

66,990 
499,040 
96,075 
15,040 

9.80 
73.70 
14.19 
2.22 

55,260 
820,555 
145,295 
16,415 

5.33 

79.09 
14.00 
1.58 

To  the  east  

To  the  west  

Total  by  river  

614,675 

100.00 

677,145 

100.00 

1,037,525 

100.00 

TOTAL  SHIPMENTS  BY  BOTH  RIVER  AND  RAIL. 

To  the  north  

126,601 
832,018 
1,119,406 
417,209 

5.07 
33.35 
44.86 
16.72 

132,760 
995,346 
1,225,895 
608,860 

'      4.48 
33.59 
41.38 
20.55 

157,803 
1,492,216 
1,325,004 
818,182 

4.16 
39.34 
34.93 
21.57 

To  the  south  

To  the  east  

Total  shipments  

2,495,234 

100.00 

2,962,861 

100.00 

3,793,205 

100.00 

And  yet  the  river  is  ten  times  more  valuable  and 
more  important  to  the  trade  of  St.  Louis,  and  especially 
to  the  city's  position  as  a  trade  centre,  than  it  was  in 
1857.  It  is  needless  to  pursue  this  branch  of  the 
subject  any  further.  The  people  of  St.  Louis  have  a 


perfect  confidence  in  their  resources  and  in  their  abil- 
ity to  develop  them.  As  they  contend,  in  speaking 
of  their  ability  to  utilize  their  stores  of  fuel,  for  ex- 
ample :  The  output  of  coal  in  England  to-day  will  load 
a  railroad  train  sixty  miles  long.  The  coal  basins  of 


1012 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


the  British  Isles,  when  compared  to  the  basins  of  this 
valley,  are  as  one  to  twenty,  or  even  fifty.  The  output 
here  daily  in  the  coining  times  will  be  simply  enormous. 
The  same  remarks  apply  to  the  iron  mountains  and 
iron  fields,  lead,  zinc,  and  copper  fields.  They  are  as 
fifty  to  one,  compared  to  the  mineral  fields  of  the  Brit- 
ish Isles.  The  agricultural  resources  of  this  basin 
hold  the  same  position.  The  railroad  system  of  the 
British  Isles  has  about  reached  its  culminating  point, 
as  have  all  the  developments  of  the  mineral  and  agri- 
cultural resources  of  the  island. 

England  has  heretofore  manufactured  all  the  hard- 
ware and  heavy  goods  for  the  nations  of  the  world. 
Now,  as  these  people  will  be  large  consumers  in  the 
future,  and  the  great  supplies  of  raw  material,  as  cot- 
ton, iron,  lead,  zinc,  copper,  and  other  elements,  are  in 
this  basin,  it  does  not  require  the  vision  of  a  prophet 
to  foresee  that  in  the  coming  times  the  iron  industries, 
tanneries,  potteries,  smelting-works,  and  a  hundred 
other  industries  will  grow  up  here  and  supply  these 
foreign  markets,  and  that  St.  Louis  will  be  the  im- 
porting, exporting,  wholesale  mart,  general  distribu- 
ting point,  and  railroad  centre  of  this  great  valley  of 
the  Mississippi,  or  basin  of  the  continent. 

And  they  meet  the  suspicion  of  indifference  and 
lack  of  energy  in  this  wise,  to  quote  from  a  St.  Louis 
newspaper  of  the  day  after  Christmas,  1878, — 

"Are  St.  Louis  men  un  progressive?  Some  of  our  contempo-  | 
raries  out  West  are  disposed  to  'poke  fun'  at  St.  Louis  because  j 
of  the  apparently  unprogressive  and  unenterprising  character  of 
those  who  are  rulers  in  her  marts  of  trade  and  banks.  Well, 
perhaps  it  is  a  truth  that  St.  Louis  is  provokingly  slow,  but  it 
would  be  well  to  remember  that  St.  Louis  is  exceedingly  sure, 
that  she  does  not  act  for  to-day  only,  but  for  all  time.  The 
truth  is  St.  Louis  is  a  very  solid  city,  that  the  actual  financial 
condition  of  her  business  men  is  a  little  too  good  for  a  very  ag- 
gressive campaign  for  traffic.  We  do  not  say  that  the  city  is 
in  danger  of  permanent  injury  from  the  too  prosperous  condi- 
tion of  her  citizens  engaged  in  the  business  of  merchandising, 
manufacturing,  banking,  building,  and  other  industries.  St. 
Louis  is  a  conservative  city,  that  we  readily  admit,  but  the  con- 
servatism of  our  citizens  does  not  lead  them  to  neglect  the  great 
interests  which  centre  here,  and  which  have  thus  far  led  to  a 
great  and  substantial  development.  It  is  true,  and  we  readily 
admit  it,  that  the  rather  ultra-conservatism  which  prevails  here 
sometimes  delays  the  consummation  of  designs  necessary  to  the 
continued  prosperity  of  the  city,  and,  to  the  extent  of  such  de- 
lays, retards  and  injures  its  commerce.  But  the  good  people 
of  St.  Louis  are  neither  blind  nor  destitute  of  ordinary  intelli- 
gence. They  know  their  interests,  and  will  be  very  certain  to 
guard  them  with  jealous  care." 

We  have  spoken  of  the  population  of  St.  Louis,  and 
the  people  and  natives  who  compose  it,  more  than 
once  in  the  course  of  these  volumes,  but  the  subject 
will  admit  of  further  discussion.  The  figures  of  the 
census  representing  the  city's  growth  have  been  given 
above,  but  a  word  or  two  of  explanation  is  needed  to> 


make  them  clear  in  their  full  exponential  value.  The 
returns  of  the  census  of  1880  were  a  source  of  disap- 
pointment approaching  dismay.  But  this  was  because 
the  census  of  1870  was  a  fraud  and  delusion.  This 
fact  is  now  conceded  upon  all  hands,  and  indeed  has 
been  conclusively  demonstrated.  There  is  no  reason 
to  doubt  or  question  the  substantial  fidelity  of  the 
census  of  1880.  As  Mr.  Charles  W.  Knapp  says,  in 
the  paper  elsewhere  quoted, — 

"  Look  where  you  may  for  disproof  of  the  census  figures,  you 
will  find  nothing  to  indicate  St.  Louis  had  much  more  than  the 
350,000  the  census  gives  it.  Inquire  of  the  postal  business  and 
you  will  find  that  the  Chicago  office  collected  9,000,000  pounds 
of  mail  matter  and  sold  $1,114,000  worth  of  stamps,  while  the 
St.  Louis  figures  were  only  4,250,000  pounds  of  mail  matter 
and  $600,000  worth  of  stamps  in  the  year  ending  with  June, 
1880.  Count  the  names  in  the  Chicago  directory  of  1880  and 
you  will  find  170,388,  while  the  St.  Louis  directory  had  only 
120,517.  The  Chicago  directory  contained  33.87  per  cent,  of 
its  whole  population,  and  the  St.  Louis  directory  would  indicate, 
according  to  that  percentage,  a  population  of  355,822  for  this 
city.  Come  nearer  to  the  present  and  you  will  find  that  a 
school  census  taken  in  Chicago  last  July  showed  a  population 
of  562,693,  while  the  directory  of  this  year  shows  192,567  names, 
or  33.78  of  the  whole  number  reported  by  th,e  school  census, 
while  the  St.  Louis  directory  contains  only  139,151  names,  in- 
dicating a  population  of  412,000  on  the  basis  of  the  Chicago 
percentage.  Doubtless  this  is  a  larger  population  than  Boston 
can  show,  but  it  is  not  enough  to  advance  St.  Louis  above  the 
fifth  place,  nor  are  there  any  other  collateral  statistics  that  can 
be  depended  on  which  indicate  that  the  Chicago  figures  are  too 
high  or  the  St.  Louis  too  low.  The  relative  number  of  pupils 
enrolled  in  the  public  schools  of  the  two  cities  may  seem  to  in- 
dicate a  small  difference  in  population,  when  it  is  found  that 
the  enrollment  reported  in  Chicago  in  June,  1880,  was  59,562,  or 
11.84  per  cent,  of  its  reported  population,  while  the  St.  Louis 
enrollment  was  51,241,  which,  on  the  basis  of  the  Chicago  per- 
centage, would  indicate  a  population  of  431,934  for  St.  Louis. 
I  warn  you  that  only  the  most  short-lived  joy  is  to  be  got  of 
such  a  calculation,  however,  for  in  June,  1882,  Chicago  had 
68,266,  or  12.21  per  cent,  of  the  population  reported  by  the 
school  census,  while  St.  Louis  had  only  53,050,  indicating  only 
437,820  population  on  the  Chicago  basis.  It  is  so  absurd  to  say 
that  St.  Louis  has  only  increased  5886  in  the  past  two  years 
that  you  must  see  there  are  reasons  why  the  school  statistics 
are  unavailable  as  an  index  to  population.  I  was  told  at  the 
office  of  the  superintendent  of  schools  that  there  is  really  no 
class  of  statistics  more  inaccurate,  because  of  the  manifest  care- 
lessness of  the  principals  in  their  preparation,  while,  aside  from 
that  fact,  the  adequacy  of  the  school  accommodation  influences 
the  school  enrollment  even  more  than  the  increase  of  population, 
which  cannot  swell  the  school  attendance  if  the  school?  are 
already  filled  to  their  full  capacity.  It  is  of  no  avail,  therefore, 
to  appeal  to  the  school  statistics  to  impeach  the  census,  and  we 
must  let  the  figures  of  1880  stand."' 

In  spite,  however,  of  the  fact  that  St.  Louis 
falls  one  hundred  and  filly-three  thousand  below 
Chicago  in  population,  and  still  more  in  manufac- 
tures and  some  branches  of  trade,  as  pork-packing 
and  grain  shipments,  St.  Louis  shows  more  wealth, 
by  nearly  ninety  millions  of  dollars,  than  the  rival 


SAINT   LOUIS   AS  A  CENTRE   OF   TRADE. 


1013 


city.  This  may  be,  and  is  in  great  part,  from  lower 
assessments,  but  that  lower  assessment  simply  means 
that  people  in  St.  Louis  own  their  property  while 
Chicago  is  owned  by  money-lenders  in  New  York,  Bos- 
ton, and  elsewhere  in  the  East,  who  have  mortgages 
upon  all  the  land  and  improvements,  railroads,  mills, 
stocks,  and  bonds  in  Chicago,  and  get  their  percentage 
out  of  every  man's  earnings  and  income.  St.  Louis, 
moreover,  is  a  larger  produce  market  than  Chicago, 
as  the  following  table  shows : 

MONEY  VALUE  OF  PRODUCE  RECEIPTS,  1881. 


Chicago. 

Flour $4,780,285 

Wheat 13,669,903 

Corn 30,732,449 

Oats 5,780,597 

Rye 837,779 

Barley 4,244,893 

Cotton 

Tobacco 

Hay 1,000,000 

Potatoes 1,900,000 


St.  Louis. 

$9,412,800 

15,230,106 

10,629,655 

2,527,020 

469,769 

2,411,723 

20,000,000 

3,000,000 

1,600,000 

1,100,000 


Total $62,945,886         $66,381,073 

It  is  the  largest  wheat  market  in  the  country,  and 
the  largest  flour  market  in  the  world.  It  is,  more- 
over, as  already  shown,  the  largest  interior  cotton 
market  in  the  country.  These  are  consolations  for 
the  less  accelerated  growth  of  population  ;  but,  the 
fraud  of  1870  eliminated,  Mr.  Knapp  believes  St. 
Louis  to  have  grown  more  rapidly  during  the  past 
decade  than  ever  before.  Thus,  while  St.  Louis  in 
1800  had  957  people,  in  1820  only  4598,  in  1830 
5852,  the  range  with  Chicago  from  that  time  forward 
was  as  follows : 

1840.  1850.         1860.  1870.  1880. 

St.  Louis 16,469       77,860     160,773     213,301     350,522 

Chicago 4,479       29,963     109,260     298,977     503,053 

(The  population  in  1S70  is  reduced  100,000  below  census 
figures.) 

On  this  basis  the  relative  percentages  of  growth  were  as  fol- 
lows: 

Chicago.      St.  Louis.     Difference, 

18411  to  1850 569.00         373.00         196.00 

1850  to  I860 261.00         106.00         155.00 

1860  to  1870 173.0U  32.67         140.33 

1870  to  1880 68.61  66.82  1.79 

1880  to  1882 11.85  18.81  6.96 

In  other  words,  it  took  the  population  of  St.  Louis 
ten  years  to  recover  from  the  effects  of  the  civil  war, 
during  all  which  period  Chicago  was  expanding  and 
developing  with  acceleration.  Nevertheless,  St.  Louis 
has  entirely  recovered  from  that  period  of  bouleverse- 
ment  as  respects  population,  and  in  another  decade 
will  have  completely  recovered  as  respects  industrial 
growth  and  development  of  transportation  facilities. 

Mr.  Knapp,  however,  who  is  as  frank  and  candid 
in  his  statements  as  he  is  keen  and  searching  in  his 
analyses,  warns  his  fellow-citizens  that  there  are  still 
some  hindrances  to  progress,  which  must  be  removed 


if  they  desire  to  see  the  city  of  their  hopes  grow 
and  expand  vigorously  and  equably.  Prices  are  too 
high,  he  says. 

"  It  is  the  same  unvarying  story,  from  the  bootblacks  and 
newsboys  up  to  the  merchant  princes  nnd  millionaire  bankers. 
We  are  overloaded  with  high  taxes,  high  money,  high  freights, 
and  high  labor.  Rents  are  higher,  food  is  higher,  clothing  is 
higher,  and  even  fuel  is  higher  than  in  either  Chicago  or  Cin- 
cinnati, and  so  handicapped  we  cannot  make  a  fair  race.  I 
know  your  eyes  are  tired  of  figures,  but  pardon  me  just  onoe 
more,  for  I  think  in  the  following  table  there  is  the  suggestion 
of  one  of  the  first  of  the  dead  weights  we  must  strive  to  remove. 

"Tax  rate  on  $100  of  assessed  valuation,  all  taxes  aggregated. 


New  York $2.47* 

Philadelphia 1.90 

St.  Louis...  ..  2.58" 


Boston $1.51 

Brooklyn 2.57$ 

Chicago 6.48 

Cincinnati 2.22 

Interest  rates  are  too  high  also,  he  says,  higher 
than  in  any  other  city  of  the  first  class ;  and  where 
interest  is  high,  either  the  security  is  not  good  or 
money  is  not  plenty. 

"  High  freights  we  must  also  make  war  against,  and  the  rail- 
ways be  forced  to  remove  the  onerous  and  unjust  bridge  arbi- 
trary charge,  which,  ranging  from  two  to  five  cents  per  one 
hundred  pounds,  adds  fifty-five  to  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
nine  miles  to  the  actual  mileage  distance  of  St.  Louis  from 
eastern  points.  It  may  be  we  shall  get  relief  from  this  only 
when  a  new  bridge  is  built,  but  that  may  come  at  no  distant 
day,  for  the  Indiana,  Bloomington  and  Western  Railway,  which 
is  now  locating  an  extension  line  to  St.  Louis,  has  under  con- 
templation the  construction  of  a  bridge  at  Chain  of  Rocks,  with 
a  view  to  making  its  terminus  on  this  side  of  the  river,  and 
billing  freight  to  and  from  St.  Louis,  instead  of  East  St.  Louis, 
as  all  the  other  roads  do.  There  is  equally  as  .much  need  for 
competition  on  the  river  ,•  the  barge  rates  especially  having  been 
maintained  during  the  pnst  summer  at  a  mark  which  made  the 
river  route  steadily  more  expensive  than  the  lake  and  canal 
route  from  Chicago. 

"I  must  stop  here,"  says  Mr.  Knapp,  in  conclusion,  "for, 
though  I  have  named  but  a  few  of  the  forces  operating  to 
retard  and  limit  the  city's  growth,  these  are  fair  examples. 
Such  hindering  obstructions  as  we  may  not  hope  to  remove 
are,  after  all,  of  the  kind  that  all  other  cities  find  in  their  way ; 
and  we  must  remember  that  the  struggle  for  commercial  su- 
premacy is  always  a  hot  contest,  in  which  victory  belongs 
where  energy  and  enterprise  are  most  vigorously  developed, 
so  we  need  not  despond  because  we  cannot  find  an  exclusive  and 
easy  path  to  metropolitan  greatness  devoted  to  our  sole  use.  All 
progress  is  a  battle  with  adverse  influences,  and  we  have  the 
encouragement  of  past  successes  to  persevere,  bearing  con- 
stantly in  mind  that  the  struggle  will  cease  only  when  progress 
ends.  Let,  therefore,  no  faint-hearted  yearnings  for  peace  and 
quiet  tempt  us  from  the  strife,  but  let  us  build  up  a  sensible 
self-respect,  encourage  reasonable  and  intelligent  confidence  in 
our  future,  and  stimulate  a  bold  and  aggressive  policy,  forcing 
competition  at  every  point,  with  a  fearless  determination  to 
grasp  all  that  is  possible.  Remember  that  we  have  one  great 
advantage  in  that  there  is  no  rival  market  as  near  to  St.  Louis 
as  there  is  to  every  other  leading  city, — Milwaukee  sitting  almost 
in  the  doorway  of  Chicago,  and  Louisville  in  the  back  yard  of 
Cincinnati,  while  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Brooklyn,  and  Bal- 
timore crowd  under  each  other's  noses.  Chance  having  thus 
kindly  seconded  the  favors  of  nature  in  our  geographical  situa- 
tion, we  have  a  better  opportunity  to  combat  the  opposing 


1014 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


forces  than  most  other  cities,  and  it  is  only  for  us  to  make  the 
most  of  it,  to  keep  a  sleepless  watch  ahead,  and  attack  with 
united  earnestness  every  impediment  rising  in  the  city's  path." 

The  Growth  and  Population  of  St.  Louis. — 
This  history  of  St.  Louis  has  been  written  in  vain  if 
the  readers  do  not  rise  from  its  perusal  firm  in  the 
conviction  that  the  population  of  the  city  is  stronger 
in  character,  energy,  and  social  and  civic  virtues  of 
every  sort  than  it  is  in  numbers.  This  point  has  been 
clearly  and  beautifully  illustrated  by  Col.  George  E.  1 
Leighton,  in  his  recent  annual  address  as  president  of 
the  Missouri  Historical  Society, — the  address  being 
a  plea  for  more  earnest  support  for  the  society  and 
greater  attention  to  and  veneration  for  the  memories 
and  records  of  the  men  who  founded  St.  Louis.  A 
philosophical  history  of  the  place,  he  said,  was  needed : 

"It  is  a  work  yet  to  do,  to  analyze  the  operating  causes  of 
our  development.     How  the  French  trading  post  became  the 
village ;  why  the  settlement  of  Laclede  at  St.  Louis  was  more 
prosperous  than  that  of  Blanchette  Chasseur  at  St.  Charles,  of  , 
Beaurosier  Dunegant  at  Florissant,  or  that  of  Delor  de  Tregette 
at  Carondelet,  or  that  of  George  Morgan  at  New  Madrid;  how 
the  village  was  socially  and  politically  affected  by  the  succes- 
sive dominion  of  France,  Spain,  and  the  United  States,  or  by 
the  personal  influence  of  the  successive  Governors  of  Upper 
Louisiana;  how  the  first  couriers  from  the  Eastern  States,  like  ' 
Easton  and  Bent  and  Clark,  weak  in  numbers  but  strong  in  in- 
dividuality, sowed  the  seeds  of  American  manners  and  methods, 
and  awakened  the  spirit  of  commercial  life:  how  the  succeed-   ; 
ing  emigration  from  the  States,  of  which  Benton,  Hempstead,   , 
Barton,  Riddick,  Bates,  and  Charless  were  the  representatives, 
impressed  its  social  and  political  character ;  haw  the  later  eini- 
gration  from  New  England,  with  its  exalted  appreciation  of  the 
value  of  educational  and  associated  benevolent  work,  affected 
its  development;  how  the  German   emigration,  following  the 
revolutionary  movement  of  1848,  full  of  grand  ideas  of  politi- 
cal and  religious  freedom,  impressed  its  influence  upon  it;  how 
this  city  aflFected  and  was  affected  by  the  civil  war;  the  history 
of  the  development  of  our  public  works ;  the  effect  of  the  in-   ; 
stitution  of  slavery  on  the  growth  and  development  of  the  city,   ! 
and  many  others  which  might  be  stated,  are  questions  for  ex-  ! 
haustive  study,  not  to  be  solved  by  the  mere  compilation  of 
commercial  and  manufacturing  statistics  or  the  mere  narrative 
of  concrete  events. 

"  The  colonists  were  represented  by  such  names  as  the  Chou-  ; 
teaus,  Gratiots,   Soulards,  Valle"s,  Sarpy,  Chenies;    later,  the 
Morrisons,  who  came  from  the  French  settlements;  still  later  . 
Irish  enterprise  was  represented  by  the  Mullanphys,  Runkens, 
Dillon,  the  Campbells,  the  Walshes,  Whittaker;  Scotch  thrift 
by  McKenzie  and  Nicholson;  German  intelligence  and  mercan-   • 
tile  sagacity  by  Palm,  Kayser,  Barth,  Kirn,  Steitz,  Angelrodt, 
Anheuser,  Lemp ;    the   Southern    States   by   Benton,    Gamble,   i 
Geyer,  Polk,  Charless,  the  Blows,  Kennetts,  and  Blairs,  Harri-   i 
son,  Lucas.  Beverly,  Allen,  Hunt,  McPherson,  the  Carrs,  Von   i 
Phuls,   Chambers,   Paschal,   Farrar;    the   Northern    States  by 
Bent,    Easton,    Carr    Lane,    Filley,  Smith,  Cavender,  Rhodes, 
Blood,  Field,  Spaulding,  Collier,  Bridge,  Dickson,  Gale,  Davis, 
the  Lindells,  Ames,  Thomas  Allen. 

"  Other  names  will  readily  occur  to  you,  and  if  it  were  proper   , 
to  allude  to  living  men,  the  list  could  be  indefinitely  extended. 
Some  men  count  for  nothing  in  human  progress;    some  men 
count  for  one,  some  for  ten,  some  for  one  hundred.     There  will  . 


be  no  dissent  when  I  say  that  each  of  those  I  have  named,  and 
many  others  that  could  be  named,  counted  for  more  than  one 
in  the  forces  which  mark  the  progress  and  development  of  our 
commercial,  industrial,  and  intellectual  interests.  Is  it  to  be 
said  of  us  that  we  will  allow  the  record  made  by  these  men  to 
pass  into  oblivion  as  those  who  knew  them  pass  away?  An 
hundred  men  fill  their  places  to-day, — themselves  to  pass,  by 
the  same  neglect,  into  the  same  oblivion.  Is  it  of  no  impor- 
tance to  us  that  some  permanent  record  should  be  made  of  their 
place  in  our  local  history  ?  It  is  no  record  of  such  men  that 
they  lived  and  died.  Municipal  history,  or  State  history,  or 
national  history  is  in  its  last  analysis  but  the  record  of  the  men 
who  have  conceived  and  executed  projects  that  lift  the  city,  or 
State,  or  nation  over  the  years  and  push  it  forward  in  the 
march  of  civilization." 

All  this  is  profoundly  true,  and  it  is  the  sort  of 
truth  which  we  should  welcome,  for  it  bears  fruit 
when  we  act  upon  it  as  a  guiding  principle.  Men  are 
the  authors  of  institutions,  and  these  again  reflect 
men.  Growth,  decay,  birth,  death,  prosperity,  and 
decline  of  cities,  all  are  summed  up  in  the  character 
and  qualities  of  the  men  who  inhabit  countries  and 
the  institutions  they  construct.  St.  Louis,  Chicago, 
New  York,  San  Francisco,  all  were  inhabited  by  other 
races  before  the  white  man  came  to  occupy  them. 
But  scarcely  a  trace  remains  of  that  former  inhabit- 
ancy. Nature  and  natural  forces  were  the  same,  cli- 
mate and  advantages  of  site  were  the  same,  man  only 
was  different.  We  must  not  forget  this  when  we 
hasten  to  ascribe  all  things  to  nature,  and  are  willing 
to  leave  all  things  with  nature. 

The  population  of  St.  Louis,  as  has  been  shown 
elsewhere,  has  always  been  curiously  mixed.  In 
1800,  French  was  the  predominant,  Spanish  the  offi- 
cial language,  and  French  was  still  the  common 
speech  in  1818.  In  1883,  German  is  taught  in  all 
the  schools  alongside  English,  and  in  some  quarters 
of  the  city  it  is  the  most  familiar  tongue  and  the  one 
heard  most  often. 

The  following  are  the  first  American  censuses  of 
St.  Louis: 

1810.  Third  United  States  Census,  Missouri  Territory. — Dis- 
trict of  St.  Charles,  3505;  St.  Louis,  5667;  Ste.  Genevieve, 
4620;  Cape  Girardeau,  3888;  New  Madrid,  2103;  Hope  and 
St.  Francis,  188;  Arkansas,  874;  total  in  Territory,  20,845. 

1815.  December  9th,  by  John  W.  Thompson,  Sheriff. — Town 
of  St.  Louis,  2000 ;  whole  county,  7395 ;  gain  in  two  years, 
1200. 

1820.  August  1st,  United  States  Census.— Town,  about  4000; 
whole  county,  9732. 

White  male  population  in  Missouri  as  reported  to 
the  Governor  under  the  acts  of  Assembly  of  Jan.  18, 
1814,  and  Feb.  1,  1817;  also  showing  number  of 
votes  taken  for  members  of  the  State  Convention  from 
the  counties  from  which  returns  were  received  in 
May,  1820: 


SAINT  LOUIS  AS  A  CENTRE   OF  TRADE. 


1015 


COUNTIES. 

Number  of  Free  White 
Mules  in  1814. 

J3 

3 

1 
»-^ 

~°° 

£ 

• 

2 

m 

a 

| 
1 
.1 

+-QO 

•-   PH 

I 

K 

Number  of  Votes  for 
Members  of  Conven- 
tion in  May,  18^0. 

Boone  7,890 

Ste.  Genevieve  1,705 
Washington  6236 

Wayne  3,009 

Cole  .2  478 

Cape  Girardeau  6,507 

Gallaway.            .                4  517 

Jackson  2,029 

Ray  1  843 

Pike  4,763 
St.  Louis  11,980 

Soott  1,610 

Lincoln  2,826 
Rails  2,450 

Gasconade  2,199 
Lafayette  2  203 

New  Madrid  1,893 

Clay  4376 

Perry  2,743 

Chariton  3,263 

New  Madrid  

1548 
2062 
1701 
1010 
3149 
1696 

669 
2593 
2205 
1245 
4725 
2866 
3386 

No  return. 
No  return. 
No  return. 
No  return. 

314 

837 

453 

In  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  — 

2,179 

Cape  Girardeau  

Ste.  Genevieve  

1  589 

Slaves,  free  persons  of  colo 
In  St.  Louis  township,  out  of  t 

r,  etc  1,232 

5  000 

St.  Charles  

1664 
3862 
2688 
1090 
772 
1229 

628 
1735 
796 
359 
248 
492 
265 

ic  city,  — 
1,009 

Howard  

Cooper  

839 

Slaves,  free  persons  of  colo 
In  Bonhomme  township,  — 

r  etc             359 

.... 

-    •     •      2,207 

Pike  

976 

Franklin  

1227 
674 

906 

Slaves,  persons  of  color,  et( 
In  St.  Ferdinand  township,  — 

,                352 

.      2,231 

• 

1529 

1,024 

827 

919 

Of  the  character  of  the   immigration   about  this 
period,  the  Missouri  Gazette  remarks  under  date  of 
Oct.  26,  1816,— 

Slaves,  persons  of  color,  et 
Total  

3  496 

o  439 

11,880 

i                               /»  ii    a.    j 

"  Missouri  and  Illinois  exhibit  an  interesting  spectacle  at  this 
time.  A  stranger  to  witness  the  scene  would  imagine  that  Vir- 
ginia, Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and  the  Carolinas  had  made  an 
agreement  to  introduce  us  as  soon  as  possible  to  the  bosom  of 
the  American  family.  Every  ferry  on  the  river  is  daily  occu- 
pied in  passing  families,  carriages,  wagons,  negroes,  carts,  etc. 
Respectable  people,  apparently  able  to  purchase  large  tracts  of 
land,  come  on.  We  have  millions  of  acres  to  occupy,  provisions 
are  cheap  and  in  abundance." 

In  1819  the  Irish  were  strong  enough  in  St.  Louis 
to  meet  in  October  of  that  year,  organize  a  Hibernian 
or  Erin  Benevolent  Society,  and  make  arrangements 
for  celebrating  the  next  St.  Patrick's  day.  The  or- 
ganization of  that  society  was  as  follows :  Jeremiah 
Connor,  president ;  Thomas  Hanly,  vice-president ; 
Hugh  Rankin,  treasurer;  Lawrence  Ryan,  secretary; 
Robert  H.  Catherwood,  Thomas  English,  Hugh 
O'Neal,  Joseph  Charless,  Sr.,  and  Thomas  Porsythe, 
standing  committee. 

In  1828  there  was  another  State  census,  with  the 
results  stated  below,  as  given  in  a  contemporary  ac- 
count : 

"  According  to  the  returns  made  to  the  secretary's  office  by  the 
sheriffs  of  the  different  counties,  the  whole  number  of  inhabi- 
tants in  the  State  on  the  1st  of  November  amounted  to  one 
hundred  and  twelve  thousand  four  hundred  and  nine.  Under 
the  next  general  census,  even  should  the  ratio  of  representation 
be  increased  to  sixty  thousand,  the  State  will  then  be  entitled 
to  two  representatives  in  Congress.  AVe  give  below  the  aggre- 
gate number  in  each  county  of  the  State : 

Jefferson 2,367  Franklin 2,852 

Madison 2,276  Marion 2,409 

Saline 1,659  St.  Francois 2,030 

St.  Charles 3,514  Howard 9,730 


rate  of  growth  exhibited  by  the  above  figures,  said, — 

"After  the  cession  of  Louisiana  to  the  United  States,  that 
part  of  the  ceded  territory  north  of  the  Missouri  River  was 
designated  and  known  as  the  St.  Charles  district.  This  appella- 
tion it  retained  for  several  years,  the  body  of  country  now  the 
most  flourishing  part  of  the  State  forming  but  one  county. 
Among  the  papers  of  the  sheriff  of  1805  is  found  a  census  of 
the  inhabitants  of  the  county,  taken  in  that  year,  from  which  it 
appears  that  the  total  number  then  in  that  district  was  fifteen 
hundred  and  sixty-four  whites,  fourteen  slaves,  and  seven  free 
blacks.  We  have  had  the  curiosity  to  contrast  this  census  with 
that  taken  in  1828,  and  find  that  the  same  district  of  country 
now  embraces  seventeen  counties,  and  is  inhabited  by  a  popula- 
tion of  near  seventy  thousand  persons." 

In  1836  the  sheriff  took  a  county  census,  and  the 
population  returned  was, — 

St.    Louis    City  and  ]  Maramec  township 692 

suburbs 10,486   j  Carondelet  township 1,854 

Bonhomme  township....  2,271  St.  Louis  township 1,127 

St.  Ferdinand  township  3,139   ! 

The  preliminary  report  upon  the  census  of  1840 
was  the  following : 

"  GRAVOIS,  ST.  LODIS  Co.,  Oct.  30,  1840. 
"A.  B.  CHAMBERS,  ESQ.: 

"  Dear  Sir, — Agreeable  to  request,  I  herewith  furnish  you 
with  a  copy  of  schedule  of  mines,  agriculture,  commerce,  manu- 
factures, etc.,  exhibiting  a  full  view  of  the  pursuits,  industry, 
and  resources  of  the  county  of  St.  Louis,  excluding  the  city 
and  township  of  St.  Louis,  taken  by  me  for  the  United  States, 
as  deputy,  under  the  marshal  of  the  Missouri  district.  I  found 
but  little  difficulty  in  exacting  answers  to  the  many  inquiries 
enjoined  upon  me  by  law  to  propound  during  the  course  of 
my  avocations.  You  may,  therefore,  depend  upon  this  state- 
ment being  as  near  correct  as  was  in  my  power  to  arrive  at. 


1016 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


"  The  population  of  the  county,  excluding  the  city  of  St.  Louis 
and  township,  is  11,380. 

Value  of  the  products  of  the  dairy $12,283 

"  "  "         "       orchard 18,465 

•'          home-made  or  family  goods 13,495 

produce  of  market  gardeners 20,331 

"  "       "   nurseries  and  florists 2,025 

LIVE-STOCK. 

Number  of  horses  and  mules 3,740 

"  "  neat  cattle 13,193 

"  "sheep 8,478 

"  "swine 22,649 

Estimated  value  of  other  property  of  all  kinds $11,233 

GRAIN. 

Number  of  bushel."  of  wheat 58,677 

'  barley 1,865 

'  oats 91,956 

rye 5,638 

'  buckwheat 1,908 

'  Indian  corn 451,144 

VARIOUS  CROPS. 

Pounds  of  wool 8,651 

"         "hops 435 

"         "wax 1,758 

Bushels  of  potatoes 81,310 

Tons  of  hay 4,147 

"     '•   hemp  and  flax 9,905 

Pounds  of  tobacco  gathered. 197,045 

The  number  of  bushels  of  bituminous  coal  raised 

is  233,000,  capital  invested $11,600 

There  are  four  tanneries,  capital  invested 2,500 

Thirteen  grist-  and  seven  saw-mills,  capital 12,050 

Three  distilleries. 

"  Respectfully, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"  JOHN  C.  DENT." 

These  figures  caused  some  dissatisfaction,  and  led 
to  the  following  in  a  contemporary  journal : 

"There  are  many  causes  that  retard  the  growth  and  pros- 
perity of  towns  and  cities  which  might  be  removed  by  the  ju- 
dicious management  of  its  citizens.  One  great  barrier  to  the 
rapid  growth  of  St.  Louis  and  many  other  towns  is  the  fact 
that  many  fine  squares  and  lots  of  ground  lie  unimproved  and 
unproductive.  By  reason  of  this  much  of  the  real  capital  of 
our  citizens  lies  dead,  and  contributes  nothing  to  the  general 
prosperity  of  the  community.  Within  the  corporate  limits  of 
St.  Louis  there  are  unimproved  lots  and  squares  worth  several 
millions  of  dollars,  and  which  would  sell  for  that  money. 
This  is  so  much  dead  capital,  so  far  as  the  business  of  the  com- 
munity is  concerned." 

In  1845  another  census  was  taken  by  the  assessors 
of  the  wards.  From  this  census  it  appears  that  the 
total  number  of  inhabitants  fell  a  fraction  short  of 
thirty-six  thousand,  divided  among  the  several  wards 
as  follows : 

First  Ward 6,900  i  Fifth  Ward 6,260 

Second  Ward 6,566     Sixth  AVard 6,200 

Third  Ward 4,683 

Fourth  Ward 5,321  ;  35,930 

It  was  about  this  time  that  James  Gordon  Bennett, 
in  the  flippant  vein  which  he  so  much  affected,  and 
which  he  seems  to  have  mistaken  for  wit,  wrote  the 
following  sketch  of  his  visit  to  St.  Louis : 


"ST.  Louis,  Nov.  20,  1846. 

"  St.  Louis,  regarded  as  a  business  place,  may  present  in- 
ducements almost  unparalleled  to  business  men.  Its  advantages 
and  its  situation  render  it  so.  Planted  on  a  rocky  foundation, 
the  Mississippi  passes  by  it  quietly,  while  above  and  below  this 
strange  stream  cuts  a  channel  where  it  pleases.  It  is  a  city 
destined  to  command  an  influential  place  in  the  mercantile  and 
manufacturing  interest,  while  its  growing  morality  will  give  it 
a  high  rank  in  the  religious  world.  But  of  what  a  mixture  is 
its  population  composed  !  And  to  what  growth  do  mushrooms 
attain  !  I  have  spent  much  time  in  Gotham,  in  Philadelphia, 
and  in  Washington,  where  this  vegetable  is  to  be  found  of  a 
pretty  good  quality,  but  I  must  confess,  with  all  my  Eastern 
predilections,  that  I  am  forced  to  give  this  Western  city  the 
credit  of  producing  it  in  perfection.  There  are  forty  thousand 
people  living  here,  and  about  four-fifths  of  them  are  descend- 
ants of  the  best  families,  and  can  trace  their  ancestry  back  to 
— Adam ! 

"Korponay  is  here,  endeavoring  to  impress  the  public  mind 
with  the  importance  of  the  polka,  bolero,  mazourka,  and  other 
fancy  dances.  And  he  takes  wonderfully,  for  I  am  told  he 
had  a  juvenile  pupil  the  other  vening,  learning  the  first  prin- 
ciples of  the  former,  and  she  was  only  turned  five-and-iorty. 
Her  agility  was  regarded  as  something  extraordinary,  even 
here. 

"  The  taste  for  literature  is  increasing  vastly.  The  first  of  a 
series  of  lectures  before  the  Mercantile  Library  Association  was 
to  be  delivered  a  few  evenings  since.  Present,  twenty-five  per- 
sons. It  was  postponed.  Two  squares  below  some  sable  min- 
strels were  giving  a  concert  to  an  audience  of  several  hundreds 
of  the  elite.  Serenades  are  popular,  and  in  Fourth  Street  so- 
journers  are  greeted  nightly  with  heavenly  strains  from  violins 
and  flutes. 

"  On  the  score  of  economy  the  fathers  of  the  city  cannot  be 
excelled.  Such  a  thing  as  lighting  the  streets  at  night,  except 
by  the  moon,  is  considered  a  work  of  supererogation.  And 
then  it  helps  trade,  for  each  citizen  is  provided  with  a  lantern 
to  thread  the  streets  when  the  '  moon's  in  her  shroud.'  There 
was  a  man  killed  a  night  or  two  ago  by  falling  into  a  quarry  in 
the  upper  end  of  the  city.  That's  nothing,  however:  he  was  a 
stranger,  and  might  have  made  inquiry.  The  city  authorities 
are  old  residents, — what  need  have  they  for  light?  Street 
crossings  are  too  much  of  a  novelty,  and  none  but  old  persons 
and  crippled  ones  get  more  than  ankle-deep  in  mud  when  that 
commodity  abounds,  as  it  does  always  after  a  little  rain. 

"  The  summer  season,  as  elsewhere,  is  the  best  time,  fh  the 
surrounding  country,  to  see  and  appreciate  the  beauties  of 
nature.  Naturalists  have  a  great  field  for  research.  Mos- 
quitoes, ranging  in  size  from  a  pin's  head  to  a  large  pea,  can 
be  taken  in  coveys  without  difficulty.  Their  music  at  night  is 
a  most  excellent  imitation  of  the  sounds  produced  by  pumping 
an  accordeon  without  touching  the  keys,  and  if  one  is  unpro- 
vided with  a  bar — an  article  of  bed-furniture  indigenous  to 
the  West — there  is  little  work  left  for  '  cuppers,  leechers,  and 
bleeders'  in  the  morning.  Another  of  the  'beauties'  is  that 
pendulum  of  nature,  vibrating  between  heat  and  cold,  the 
ague.  But,  as  in  other  cases,  its  familiarity  has  bred  con- 
tempt, and  it  is  considered  beneath  the  notice  of  the  people. 
In  my  travels,  a  short  time  ago,  I  stopped  to  refresh  at  a  public- 
house.  The  landlord  was  sitting  over  the  fire  with  a  blanket 
over  his  shoulders.  '  How  are  you?'  '  Very  well,  sir.'  '  Is  it 
sickly  about  here  ?'  'Oh,  no,  nothing  of  the  kind.'  'What  ails 
you  ?'  '  I  have  a  touch  of  the  ague.'  '  How  long  have  you 
had  it?'  'Thirteen  months.'  'Can  I  get  something  to  eat?' 
'Not  now,  stranger;  this  is  shake  day,  and  the  whole  family  is 
taking  turns.'  I  mounted  my  horse  and  departed." 


SAINT   LOUIS   AS  A  CENTRE   OF  TRADE. 


1017 


The  corporation  census  of  1847  was  a  very  grati- 
fying one, — 


First  Ward 9,970 

Second  Ward 7,645 

Third  Ward 5,744 

Fourth  Ward 6,354 


Fifth  Ward 6,667 

Sixth  Ward 11,453 


47,833 


Increase  from  1845 11,903 

This  was  a  visible  growth.  It  could  be  felt  as  well 
as  seen,  and  a  journal  of  the  day  said, — 

"In  a  city  like  St.  Louis,  where  the  community  is  composed 
of  the  most  heterogeneous  materials,  gathered  literally  from 
the  four  quarters  of  the  globe,  it  takes  some  little  time  for  people 
to  find  out  '  who's  who'  and  '  what's  what.'  The  man  born  in 
St.  Louis,  perhaps  when  it  was  a  small  town  of  a  few  hundred 
inhabitants,  now  finds  himself  in  the  midst  of  a  great  city, 
surrounded  by  thousands  of  strangers,  and  knows  not  whence 
they  came,  what  their  character  may  be,  or  whither  they  are 
going.  And  the  people  from  other  countries,  other  States,  and 
other  cities,  who  now  mostly  compose  this  vast  community,  are 
alike  strangers  to  each  other.  It  follows,  therefore,  as  a  neces- 
sary consequence,  that  society  here  is  somewhat  mixed,  that  it 
is  in  a  sort  of  chrysalis  state,  that  an  elevated  standard  of 
morals  and  customs  is  yet  to  be  formed." 

This  shows  that  the  great  immediate  increase  of 
population  was  apparent  to  the  people  themselves,  and 
that  the  ancient  ease  and  familiar  acquaintanceship 
were  disturbed  by  the  great  and  sudden  influx  of 
strangers  and  aliens.  The  Republican  of  Nov.  30, 
1848,  says  of  the  enumeration  of  the  people  made 
that  year  that, — 

"according  to  the  census  recently  taken  by  the  sheriff  of  the 
county,  the  total  number  of  free  white  males  it  contains  is  37,045 ; 
free  white  females,  31,222;  number  of  free;  white  persons  who 
have  been  taught  to  read  and  write,  42,469;  deaf  and  dumb 
persons,  23;  blind,  18;  free  persons  of  color, — males,  382;  fe- 
males, 486 ;  slaves, — males,  1981 ;  females,  2346 ;  and  the  grand 
total  is  73,364. 

"  The  city  of  St.  Louis  contains  a  population  of  55,952,  of 
whom  28,779  are  free  white  males,  and  24,490  free  white 
females;  there  are  10,435  male  children  under  eighteen  years 
of  age,  and  10,434  females  under  the  same  age;  of  free  negroes 
there  are  367  males  and  472  females,  and  of  slaves,  698  males 
and  1146  females. 

"  Carondelet  contains  a  population  of  523,  Bridgeton  405,  and 
Florissant  423  souls. 

"  The  State  census  was  taken  in  1844  by  the  sheriff,  and  the 
county  then  contained  a  population  of  47,668  souls.  Of  this 
number  the  city  of  St.  Louis  had  34,140,  leaving  for  the  re- 
mainder of  the  county  13,^28  souls,  the  balance  of  the  increase 
in  the  four  years  being  all  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis.  The  total 
increase  in  the  four  years  is  25,696,  of  which  21,812  is  the  in- 
crease in  the  city  of  St.  Louis. 

"We  observe,  on  a  comparison  of  the  census  of  1844  with 
that  of  1848,  that  the  number  of  free  negroes  has  increased, 
while  that  of  the  slaves  has  diminished.  In  1844  there  were 
673  free  negroes,  while  the  census  now  completed  makes  the 
number  868.  In  1844  the  number  of  slaves  was  4512,  now 
there  are  4327,  a  decrease  in  the  slave  population  of  nearly 
200. 

"  There  is  a  slight  increase  of  population  in  the  several 
incorporated  towns  outside  of  St.  Louis.  In  1844  Carondelet 
contained  468  souls;  now  it  has  529." 


In  this  year  of  1848  the  great  German  immigra- 
tion began  to  flow  into  St.  Louis.  The  revolution 
begun  in  Paris  with  the  dethronement  of  Louis 
Philippe,  and  continued  in  Italy  by  Garibaldi,  in  Ger- 
many by  all  the  forces  of  society  except  the  nobles, 
the  army,  and  the  bureaucracy,  and  broken  in  Hun- 
gary by  the  active  interposition  of  Russian  armies, 
had  failed  also  in  Germany,  but  not  until  it  had 
shaken  the  thrones  of  the  Hapsburgs  and  the  Hohen- 
zollerns.  The  revolutionists  were  forced  to  fly  and 
expatriate  themselves ;  Illinois  was  enriched  with 
men  like  Gustav  Koerner,  and  St.  Louis  reinforced 
by  a  Schurz  and  a  Sigel. 

The  German  immigration  to  the  State  began  sooner 
than  that  to  the  city.  Flint  mentions  a  German  col- 
ony to  which  he  preached  in  the  interior  of  Missouri 
between  1812  and  1820.  Indeed,  there  was  a  very 
large  plantation  of  Germans  on  the  Red  River,  in 
Arkansas,  in  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Regent  Duke  of  Orleans, 
and  the  descendants  of  some  of  these  must  have  pene- 
trated into  Upper  Louisiana.  The  first  vineyards  at 
Hermann,  in  Gasconade  County,  according  to  Michael 
Poeschal,  were  begun  in  1841.  In  1845,  fifty  thou- 
sand vines  were  planted ;  in  1849  there  were  over 
seven  hundred  thousand. 

In  St.  Louis  there  were  many  intelligent  and  en- 
terprising Germans  prior  to  the  great  influx  which 
began  in  1848.  The  greater  part  of  these  were  in 
trade,  though  many  prosecuted  intellectual  pursuits 
with  characteristic  vigor  and  success.  Charles  Mu- 
egge's  oil-cloth  factory  was  started  in  1841 ;  Thomas 
J.  Meier's  cotton -factory — a  pioneer  enterprise  of 
great  value  and  importance — in  1839.  But  1848  is 
the  year  in  which  the  tide  set  in.  The  soil  and  cli- 
mate of  Missouri  suited  the  Germans,  always  inhabi- 
tants of  the  interior  ;  they  found  themselves  heartily 
welcome,  protected  and  befriended,  and  abundant 
labor  waiting  for  them.  They  did  not  fear  the  com- 
petition of  slavery,  and  the  "peculiar  institution" 
never  interfered  with  them,  reduced  the  value  of  their 
work,  or  traversed  their  opinions.  The  arrivals  of 
Germans  at  the  port  of  St.  Louis  were : 

March  18,  1848,  to  same  day  1849 9,000 

"        "   1849,     "         "        1850 14,403 

"         "  1850,     "         "         1851 10,815 


Total  in  three  years 34,218 

Of  these  about  two-thirds  found  employment  in  St. 
Louis.  In  1851  this  city  was  counted  as  the  prin- 
cipal port  for  the  debarkation  of  Germans  to  the  val- 
ley of  the  Mississippi,  great  numbers  coming  by  way 
of  New  Orleans.  It  was  at  this  time  that  the  well- 
known  and  most  useful  German  Society  of  St.  Louis 


1018 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


was  incorporated,  its  objects  being  to  protect  and  de- 
fend the  immigrants  from  Germany,  provide  them 
employment  when  needed,  and  care  for  the  sick  and 
destitute.  Nobly  has  it  done  its  work,  burying  the 
dead,  finding  homes  for  the  orphan,  and  securing 
medical  attendance,  medicine,  and  hospital  room  for 
indigent  invalids.  The  trustees  named  in  the  orig- 
inal act  of  incorporation  of  this  society  were  John 
Wolff,  Adolph  Abeles,  Thomas  J.  Meier,  Edward 
Eggers,  Henry  W.  Gempp,  Andrew  Krug,  Charles 
Muegge,  Louis  Speck,  and  John  C.  Meyer  ;  J.  Reich- 
ard,  secretary  and  agent.  The  Germans  in  St.  Louis 
to-day,  forming  a  large  proportion  of  the  population, 
and  including  many  of  the  best  and  most  wealthy  citi- 
zens, do  not  need  an  association  of  this  sort  to  protect 
them.  They  constitute  a  potent  and  fully  recognized 
industrial,  mercantile,  social,  and  intellectual  force  in 
the  community.  They  are  leaders  in  opinion  and 
leaders  of  men.  The  German  press  of  St.  Louis  is  a 
power  throughout  the  country.  It  has  contributed 
state-.  ~en,  soldiers,  and  scholars  to  reinforce  the 
national  wealth.  A  German  of  St.  Louis  has  been 
mayor  of  the  city,  another  senator  in  Congress,  am- 
bassador to  foreign  lands,  member  of  the  cabinet, 
moulder  of  parties,  and  leader  of  men.  The  St.  Louis 
Journal  of  Speculative  Science,  the  only  periodical  in 
the  country  devoted  exclusively  to  the  exploitation  of 
metaphysics,  is  a  direct  product  of  German  thought 
and  German  culture,  and  it  is  claimed  that  St.  Louis 
is  the  only  place  on  this  continent  where  the  philoso- 
phy and  the  comprehensive  philosophical  system  of 
George  Wilhelm  Friedrich  Hegel  is  read,  understood, 
and  appreciated. 

At  the  same  time  as  this  German  immigration,  St. 
Louis  received  an  accession  of  population  from  the 
French  West  Indies,  as  is  told  in  a  paper  read  before 
the  Missouri  Historical  Society  in  1878  by  Mr.  Col- 
let, the  author  being  Mr.  Edward  De  Laureal.  This 
paper  is  in  substance  as  follows : 

"  Guadeloupe  had  scarcely  recovered  from  a  terrible  disaster 
which  had  covered  the  entire  colony  with  ruins. 

"On  Feb.  8,  1843,  about  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  Pointe- 
a-Pitre,  the  capital  of  the  colony,  was  destroyed  by  an  earth- 
quake more  violent  than  previously  known.  What  the  reeling 
earth  spared  the  fire  seized  upon.  The  number  of  dead  crushed 
beneath  the  ruins  or  calcined  by  the  flames  was  so  great  that 
there  were  not  sufficient  persons  to  bury  them,  and  as  a  matter 
of  necessity  the  remains  were  transported  to  the  open  sea  and 
entombed  in  the  deep. 

"  Their  wounds  scarcely  healed,  they  began  to  breathe,  when 
of  a  sudden  they  found  themselves  menaced  with  ruin  from 
another  cause.  A  political  upheaving  threatened  to  destroy  in 
their  hands  the  very  instruments  of  all  prosperity. 

"In  the  month  of  March,  1848,  a  sinister  rumor  spread  like 
a  pall  over  the  country,  and  caused  a  thrill  of  terror  through- 


out. A  war-vessel  appeared  on  the  horizon.  It  came  to  an- 
nounce to  the  country  momentous  news.  A  revolution  had 
broken  out  in  France,  the  king,  Louis  Philippe,  driven  from  his 
throne,  and  been  obliged  to  take  refuge  in  England.  The 
people,  sovereign  by  revolt,  had  proclained  the  republic,  and 
constituted  a  republican  government  in  the  Hotel  de  Ville  at 
Paris.  The  authorities  of  Guadeloupe,  as  well  as  those  of  all 
the  other  French  colonies,  were  enjoined  for  the  future  to  obey 
no  other  orders  than  such  as  emanated  from  the  republic,  one 
and  indivisible. 

"These  news,  however  we  may  look  at  them  at  a  distance 
and  after  a  lapse  of  twenty-nine  years,  when  received  in  the 
colony  were  of  a  nature  to  trouble  the  country  and  to  excite  the 
population  to  deplorable  excesses. 

"Many  colonists  yet  living  who  had  passed  through  the  or- 
deal of  the  first  French  republic  felt  the  presentiment  of  what 
was  to  be  dreaded  from  another,  the  outcome  of  the  barricades. 
If  the  colony  were  not  as  completely  upturned  during  the  short 
duration  of  the  second  essay  at  republicanism,  it  was  not  the 
fault  of  those  who  made  it  their  business  to  persuade  the  blacks 
that  the  supreme  object  of  liberty  was  not  only  enfranchise- 
ment from  all  labor,  but  to  trample  in  the  dust  that  which  they 
had  heretofore  respected. 

"The  new  agents  of  power  in  the  colony,  doubtless  to  give 
proof  of  their  zeal,  casting  aside  every  precaution  so  indispen- 
sable nevertheless  in  such  grave  circumstances,  suddenly  pro- 
claimed the  abolition  of  slavery.  This  precipitation  was  most 
ruinous  to  the  country.  Of  a  sudden  the  master  and  the  slave 
found  themselves  face  to  face  in  a  position  embarrassing  to  both 
parties,  impossible  yet  to  define  distinctly,  and  which  created  a 
real  social  peril. 

"After  the  first  moments  of  astonishment  at  their  new  re- 
spective situation  there  were  compromises  between  the  newly 
enfranchised  and  the  proprietors,  who  had  at  heart  the  con- 
tinuation of  work,  compromises  which,  without  satisfying  the 
laborers,  were  initiative  to  the  ruin  of  the  proprietors. 

"  In  presence  of  this  state  of  things,  which  could  not  last 
long,  in  presence  of  the  alarming  rumors  which  night  and  day 
kept  the  population  on  the  alert,  a  common  thought  came  at  the 
same  time  to  the  heads  of  families,  who,  without  exchanging 
views,  felt  the  urgency  to  fly  from  a  coming  danger. 

"This  unanimous  thought  had  America  for  its  olgect.  By  a 
singular  chance  St.  Louis,  in  Missouri,  was  the  converging 
point  of  all  projects  of  emigration.  Consequently,  in  the  month 
of  July,  1848,  there  were  seen  disembarking  on  the  Levee  of 
St.  Louis  the  first  families  wandering  in  search  of  a  security 
which  their  native  country  no  longer  offered  them. 

"  Soon  these  families  were  followed  by  a  great  number  of  other 
emigrants,  so  that  in  1849  an  agglomeration  of  French  from 
Guadeloupe  formed  almost  a  little  colony.  They  had  just  rea- 
son to  congratulate  themselves  on  their  reception  on  American 
soil. 

"But  almost  immediately  after  their  arrival  the  emigrants 
were  doomed  to  undergo  a  rude  trial.  The  cholera,  which 
during  the  spring  and  the  summer  of  1849  desolated  the  city  of 
St.  Louis,  did  not  spare  them.  Their  numbers  were  sadly 
diminished. 

"But  this  time  again  courage  was  not  wanting  in  the  colo- 
nists from  Guadeloupe.  Then  were  these  people,  accustomed  to 
the  elegance  of  luxury,  the  comforts  of  an  easy  life,  seen  to 
make  courageously  the  sacrifice  of  their  past  in  burying  the 
souvenir  in  the  depths  of  their  hearts,  to  begin  a  life  of  fatigues, 
of  rude  occupation  to  which  they  were  far  from  having  been 
accustomed.  More  than  one  mother  of  a  family,  thrown  entirely 
upon  her  own  efforts,  by  a  prodigy  of  economy  and  courageous 
patience,  was  enabled  to  bring  up  her  family  and  to  place  her 


SAINT  LOUIS   AS  A  CENTRE   OF   TRADE. 


1019 


children  in  a  position  to  contract  alliances  with  honorable  fami- 
lies of  her  adopted  city. 

"  To-day  the  fusion  is  complete,  and  the  descendants  of  the 
French  colonists  coming  from  the  West  Indies,  strangers  to  their 
maternal  tongue,  no  longer  make  use  of  any  other  language 
than  that  of  the  country  of  which  they  are  citizens,  or  are  in 
any  respect  distinguishable  from  those  around  them." 

The  numbers  of  this  immigration  have  been  left 
to  conjecture  or  the  imagination.  The  allusion 
to  the  cholera  year  of  1849,  however,  recalls  a 
period  of  great  suffering  to  St.  Louis,  and  great 
afflictions,  under  which  its  people  bore  up  as  if 
conscious  of  their  destiny.  The  pestilence  was  fol- 
lowed by  the  most  destructive  fire  which  ever  raged 
in  St.  Louis,  and  the  press  of  the  period,  in  comment- 
ing upon  it,  said,  "  Emerging  as  we  are  from  two 
calamities  which  have  no  parallel  in  this  country, 
suffering  alike  in  the  destruction  of  property  and  the 
still  greater  destruction  of  life,  having  lost  in  a  single 
night  houses  and  goods  enough  to  constitute  a  town 
of  very  considerable  size  and  commerce,  and  in  two 
months  buried  five  or  six  thousand  human  beings, 
it  may  be  pardoned  those  who  have  so  far  survived 
these  calamities  to  look  around  and  ahead  at  their 
condition." 

That  condition  was  »not  pleasant  to  contemplate. 
Just  before  the  outbreak  of  cholera  a  corporation 
census  had  been  taken,  yielding  the  following  statistics 
of  the  population  in  February,  1849 : 


Ward  1 9,972 

"      2 10,193 

"      3 10,233 

"      4 9,221 


Ward  5 10,933 

"      6 12,930 

Total 63,482 


In  1850  the  regular  government  census  showed  a 
falling  off  of  6668,  chiefly  in  consequence  of  the 
epidemic.  The  figures  are, — 

"  White  males  in  St.  Louis  County,  Missouri : 


30 

40  

11,413 

40 

50  

4,573 

50 

60  

1,804 

60 

70  

624 

70 

80  

160 

80 

90  

32 

90 

100  

6 

100  and  upward. 

2 

Aee  unknown... 

15 

35,816 
Females 20,987 

Total 56,803 

"Suppose  the  number  of  males  between  twenty  and  twenty- 
one  to  be  equal  to  one-tenth  of  the  number  between  twenty  and 
thirty,  and  that  number  will  be  1718,  which  taken  from  the 
whole  male  population  over  twenty-one  will  leave  34,088  over 
twenty-one. 

"  Assuming  that  there  were  34,088  over  twenty-one  years  of 
age,  calculate  from  census  returns  of  1850  the  number  under 
that  age,  so  as  to  get  a  proportion  upon  which  to  proceed  in  the 
calculation  at  this  time. 


"White  females  in  St.  Louis  County,  Mo.,  according  to  cen- 
sus (U.  S.)  1850  : 

20  years  and  under    30 10,189 


30  ' 
40 
50 
60 
70 
80 
90 
100  an 
Age  u 

i       it 
« 
a 

a 
ii 
« 
14 

40  

5,917 

50  

2,785 

60  

1,346 

70  

572 

80  

142 

90  

27  ' 

100  

3 

0 

aknown..., 

6 

Total 20,987 

"These  figures  include  foreigners  not  naturalized,  but  as  the 
census  referred  to  is  that  of  1850,  all  not  naturalized  at  that 
time  have  since  taken  out  their  papers." 

The  excess  of  males  over  females  revealed  the  re- 
cency of  a  large  proportion  of  the  city's  population. 
In  spite  of  losses  by  the  cholera,  however,  the  St. 
Louis  press  was  not  afraid  to  make  comparisons,  and 
this  is  the  way  it  was  done : 


Cities. 


1830. 


Ratio  for  last 

1840. 

1850.    ton  years. 

Per  cent. 

102,193 

119,461 

17 

46,338 

115,436 

149 

16,469 

77,860 

373 

21,210 

43,196 

104 

21,115 

46,601 

130 

New  Orleans 49,826 

Cincinnati 24,831 

St.  Louis 4,977 

Louisville 10,341 

Pittsburgh 12,568 

"Alike  ratio  of  increase  between  1850  and  1860  as  there 
was  between  1840  and  1850  would  produce  the  following  re- 
sults in  1860 : 

Ratio  of  increase  from 
Cities.  1840  to  1850.  Results. 

New  Orleans 17  per  cent.  190,769 

Cincinnati 149  per  cent.  .  287,433 

St.  Louis 373  per  cent.  368,271 

Louisville 104  per  cent.  88,119 

Pittsburgh 130  per  cent.  107,182 

"  It  is  hardly  right  to  suppose  that  the  ratio  of  increase  will 
continue  as  large  as  the  cities  grow  in  size,  but  it  is  altogether 
reasonable  to  believe  that  their  relative  ratio  will  be  nearly 
preserved,  which  is  sufficient  to  show  that  St.  Louis  is  destined 
to  be  the  largest  city  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  in  1860, 
if  she  be  not  now,  upon  two  years'  increase. 

"  It  is  to  bo  remembered  that  in  the  census  of  1850,  St.  Louis 
lost  souie  eight  or  nine  thousand  population  from  the  fact  of 
her  outgrowing  her  chartered  limits.  All  north  of  Rocky 
Branch,  including  Bremen  and  Lowell  additions,  were  left  out, 
and  on  the  west  all  beyond  Eighteenth  Street  and  Second  Ca- 
rondelet  Avenue,  which,  if  included,  would  swell  her  popula- 
tion more  than  a  tenth,  and  also  her  percentage  of  increase. 

"  It  is  also  well  to  remember  that  her  census  was  taken  the 
year  immediately  following  the  two  greatest  calamities  that  ever 
befell  her, — the  cholera  and  the  great  fire  of  1849, — and  before 
she  had  time  to  recover  from  their  effects. 

"If  her  chartered  limits  embraced  the  whole  city,  she  is  now 
probably  the  largest  city  in  the  great  valley. 

"This  is  no  sudden  or  impulsive  start  in  her  growth,  for  she 
held  nearly  the  same  relative  position  towards  her  sister  cities 
of  the  valley  between  1830  and  1840,  as  the  following  will  show  : 

"New  Orleans  increased  from  1830  to  1840,  105  per  cent. 
Cincinnati  "        "  "        86  per  cent. 

St.  Louis  "  "        "  "      231  per  cent. 

Louisville  "  "        "  "      105  per  cent. 

Pittsburgh  "  "        "  "        68  per  cent." 


1020 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


The  city  census  of  1851  is  very  interesting  as  show- 
ing the  nationality  of  the  inhabitants  and  the  rapid 
accession  of  immigrants  from  foreign  countries. 

"  The  population  of  the  city  proper  is  77,716.  We  now  give  the 
divisions  of  that  population  as  ascertained  by  the  census.  It 
will  be  seen  by  the  following  summary  that  more  than  one-half 
of  the  population  is  of  foreign  extraction  : 

Other        Free 
German. 

First  Ward 8,792 

Second  Ward 3,124 

Third  Ward 2,147 

Fourth  Ward 1,528 

Fifth  Ward 3,858 

Sixth  Ward 4,385 


Irish. 

English 

Nations. 

Negroes. 

699 

202 

276 

13 

1,151 

277 

489 

352 

1,732 

536 

656 

227 

3,330 

528 

310 

464 

1,948 

481 

277 

96 

2,417 

897 

451 

107 

23,814       11,277      2,921      2,459      1,259 

"  The  whole  number  of  foreigners  is  40,471 ;  the  number  of  free 
negroes,  1259.  It  appears  from  the  records  of  the  county  courts 
that  the  whole  number  of  free  negroes  licensed  to  remain  in  this 
county  from  September,  1841,  to  December,  1850,  amounts  to 
575,  leaving  684  in  the  city  and  county  without  license  and  in 
violation  of  law." 

To  the  77,716  people  in  the  city  proper  were  to  be 
added  the  residents  of  "  Bremen"  and  other  suburbs, 
5028,  making  a  total  population  for  the  city  of  82,744, 
and  yielding  an  aggregate  for  city  and  county  of  104,- 
834. 

Sheriff  Wilmer's  census,  completed  on  Dec.  17, 
1852,  resulted  in : 

Population  of  the  city 94,819 

"  "       county 29,034 

Total  population  of  the  city  and  county 123,853 

White  males  in  the  city 51,251 

"      females         "        40,791 

"      males  in  the  county 14,843 

"      females         "            11,500 

Free  persons  of  color,  male  and  female,  in  the  city 

and  county 1,341 

Slaves,  male  and  female,  in  the  city  and  county...  4,069 

Comparative  tables  showing  the  increase  from  the  month  of 
June,  1850,  when  the  United  States  census  was  taken  : 

In  1850.       In  1852.  Increase. 

Total  city  population 77,465         94,819  17,354 

"      county      "         27,369         29,034  1,665 

Decrease. 
Slaves  in  city  and  county.     5,914  4,069  1,845 

At  that  time  the  California  gold  fever  was  raging 
and  diverting  population  from  all  its  ancient  channels, 
but  it  did  not  long  affect  Missouri  and  St.  Louis.  In 
April,  1855,  the  newspapers  of  the  day  reported  the 
subsidence  of  the  wave  and  the  beginning  of  a  reac- 
tion. Said  they, — 

"The  first  effect  of  the  gold  discoveries  in  California  seven 
years  since  was  to  attract  a  large  emigration  from  the  Western 
States.  For  some  years  previously  we  had  lost  many  citizens, 
who  thought  they  could  see  in  the  wilds  of  Oregon  better  oppor- 
tunities to  improve  their  condition  than  they  could  find  ou  our 
own  teeming  soil.  But  the  Oregon  emigrants  comprised  among 
their  numbers  a  good  many  whose  exit  from  among  us  was  not 
a  very  serious  loss,  thriftless  men,  who  did  well  if  they  pro- 
duced as  much  as  they  consumed,  and  whose  reluctant  labor 
yielded  but  little  for  export.  A  large  proportion  of  the  emigra- 


tion to  California  was  of  a  different  character.  Men  of  sub- 
stance, activity,  industry,  and  energy,  some  of  our  best 
farmers,  our  best  mechanics,  our  ablest  merchants,  sought  the 
land  of  gold.  This  drain  on  the  population  of  the  West  could 
not  but  be  seriously  felt  in  many  localities,  and  though  many 
went  intending  to  return,  and  though  many  have  since  gotten 
home  again,  it  is  unquestionable  that  the  population  of  Missouri 
did  not  increase  so  rapidly  from  1848  to  1854  as  it  would  have 
done  had  gold  never  been  discovered  in  California. 

"  We  are  happy  to  record,  however,  that  this  great  exodus 
seems  to  be  over  almost  if  not  entirely.  We  hear  no  more  the 
notes  of  preparation  for  the  great  journey  over  the  plains,  of 
caravans  of  hundreds  and  thousands  leaving  homes  and  friends 
for  new  and  untried  scenes.  On  the  contrary,  we  find  that  emi- 
grants to  Western  Missouri  and  Kansas  and  Nebraska  are 
coming  in,  as  they  used  to  do  in  the  days  of  the  '  Platte  Pur- 
chase,' fifteen  years  ago,  and  our  western  borders  are  now  fast 
making  up  the  losses  incurred  by  the  '  California  fever.' " 

In  1860  the  Federal  census  was  as  follows  for  St. 
Louis  County : 

Townships. 


Bonhomme 3,131 

Central 5,272 

Carondelet 3,827 

Marainec 2,060 

St.  Ferdinand 3,926 

St.  Louis, — 

First  Ward 21,750 

Second  Ward 13,686 

Third  Ward 10.185 

Fourth  Ward 14,616 

Fifth  Ward : 12,172 

Sixth  Ward 7,664 

Seventh  Ward 12,731 

Eighth  Ward 22,451 

Ninth  Ward 19,705 

Tenth  Ward 22,516 

Eleventh  Ward 

Twelfth  Ward.... 


1860. 
White.         Colored. 

498 
576 
166 
408 
863 


95 
110 
337 
837 
517 
394 
374 
312 
115 
206 


Total 175,692          5808 

The  falsification  of  returns  in  1870  makes  that 
census  worthless,  except  for  classes  of  comparison  and 
ratios.  Its  results  are  given  herewith  : 

TABLE  SHOWING  THE  WHITE  AND    COLOBED  POPULATION 
OF  ST.  LOUIS  COUNTY. 


ST.  Louis  CotJNTY. 

1 

Colored. 

Indian. 

1 

1 

1 

1 

9 

6  304 

858 

47A4 

1  458 

6162 

803 

6  017 

0  'KM5 

8  923 

297 

3  009 

1  778 

5387 

2  853 

583 

2  705 

3436 

St  Ferdinand 

952 

-,  v.jr. 

7214 

St  Louis                 

8  395 

805    a 

5817 

3386 

9  203 

St.  Louis. 

First  Ward  

32,099 

1,607 

2 

23,389 

10,319 

33,708 

Second  Ward  

21,295 

680 

12,106 

21,855 

Third  Ward  

23  109 

754 

V, 

13,341 

10537 

Fourth  Ward 

36  O'Vi 

2  538 

0 

20  363 

12  810 

30  173 

Fifth  Ward            

3  510 

- 

1  '.)  6-'4 

10  loll 

•JH  774 

Sixth  Ward  

2n,4i  is 

1,104 

16,118 

(i,:i'JO 

21,618 

Seventh  Ward  

3 

12,003 

5,1  05 

Eighth  Ward  

19,659 

7,(  01 

18,600 

8,110 

20,710 

Ninth  Ward  

29  268 

649 

1 

4 

13368 

9,574 

Tenth  Ward  

19,430 

1,173 

12,288 

8,325 

20,623 

Eleventh  \\ard  

31  885 

687 

V 

19018 

13  .102 

Twelfth  Ward  

18  787 

834 

6,699 

19,621 

324,729 

26,415 

41 

4 

124,383351,189 

SAINT  LOUIS   AS  A  CENTRE   OF   TRADE. 


1021 


TABLE  SHOWING  THE  CENSUS  OF  THE   CITY  OF   ST.   LOUIS   ACCORDING  TO  NATIONALITY  AND  COLOR. 


BORN  IN  UNITED  STATES. 

BOBN  IN  FOREIGN  COUNTRIES. 

STATES. 

£ 
!S 

5 

I 

§ 

4 
\ 

"2 

M 

COUNTRIES. 

| 

P 

1 

0 

§ 

a 

s 
•a 

£ 
t-t 

0) 

1 

_C 

5 

Alabama  

-    426 
246 
123 
625 
231 
56 
340 
6,720 
2,439 
1,424 
278 
3,706 
1,882 
712 
1,502 
2,542 
746 
145 
554 
121,931 
58 
1 
343 
955 
9,250 
190 
6,880 
2 
5,878 
150 
150 
1,439 
129 
578 
2,235 
45 
660 
251 

559 
274 
1 
6 
11 
28 
205 
174 
32 
26 
9 
2,010 
611 

"l74 

27 
66 
8 
911 
12,281 
1 
1 
3 
8 
38 
243 
362 

"210 
3 
148 
1,764 
89 
4 
1,647 
9 
8 
30 

Africa  

7 
27 
3 
27 
751 
254 
2  652 

8 
1 

... 

Arkansas  

1 

Delaware  

Austria  

Florida  

7 

British  America  : 
Canada  
New  Brunswick  

1,841 

58 

4 
74 
9 

16 

6 

... 

Indiana  

Kentucky  

Louisiana  

Total  British  America  

Central  America  

4 

1 

"i 

Cuba  

17 
178 
5,366 

1 

... 

1 
2 
9 

2 

Denmark  

Missouri  

94 

2,788 

8 

France  

Germany  : 

5  881 

New  Hampshire  

New  Jersey  

6,430 
269 
310 

New  York  

Brunswick  

Ohio  

8  858 

Oregon  

4  849 

9 
186 
482 
220 
24,269 
1,775 

Tennessee  

Texas  

i 

3 

2  566 

... 

... 

West  Virginia  

Germany,  not  specified  

2,933 

District  of  Columbia  

59,040 

TERRITORIES. 
Alaska  

5 
2 
643 
126 
32,239 
985 
25 
76 
1 
292 
14 
86 
1 
1 
1,202 

5 

2 

... 

20 
5 

1 
1 

i 

4 

Italy  

5 
9 
27 
18 
4 
1 
1 
625 

""9 

Norway  

Montana  

Poland  

Utah  

Portugal  

Washington  

Wyomin"  

At  sea  under  United  States  flag  

Not  stated  

53 

2 

South  America  

15 

45 

237 

2 

... 

176,540 

22,045 

30 

2,949 

2 
147 
74 
45 

1 

... 

RECAPITULATION. 
Total  Whites  28! 
'      Colored                                                             2' 

i,737 
',088 
38 
1 
198,615 
112,249 

Wales         

West  Indies  
At  sea  

Not  stated  

112,197 

43 

8 

Grand  total                      . 

..    31  f 

,864  310,864 

65 


1022 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


The  above  exhibition  of  nationalities  was  thus 
commented  upon  and  analyzed  by  an  intelligent  jour- 
nalist at  the  time  the  statistics  were  made  public, — 

"  St.  Louis  is  indeed  a  cosmopolitan  city,  if  there  is  any  on 
earth.  There  is  still  a  preponderance  of  about  85,000  natives 
over  those  born  in  other  countries,  of  whom,  however,  22,000 
are  negroes;  but  if  the  children  born  in  St.  Louis  of  foreign 
parents  and  who  still  speak  foreign  idioms  were  counted  among 
the  foreigners,  the  two  categories  would  stand  in  a  much  closer 
proportion.  At  the  time  the  last  census  was  taken  there  were 
198,615  natives  and  112,249  foreigners  in  this  city,  the  census- 
takers  having,  with  propriety,  classed  as  foreigners  only  those 
who  were  born  abroad. 

"  Now,  according  to  nativity,  there  are  176,570  whites  and 
22,045  colored  Americans  against  59,040  Germans,  32,239  Irish, 
and  6568  English  and  Scotch,  the  balance  hailing  from  almost  all 
countries  on  earth,  even  Australia,  the  Sandwich  Islands,  and 
China  not  excluded.  A  glance  over  the  statistics  of  our  school 
population  proves  the  fallacy  of  these  figures,  so  far  as  the  ethno- 
logical character  of  the  city  is  concerned.  Of  the  24,347  pupils 
enrolled  in  1870  in  our  public  schools,  10,600,  or  a  little  over  two- 
fifths  of  the  whole  number,  were  children  of  German  parents, 
while  only  512,  or  one  out  of  forty-eight,  were  born  in  Germany. 
Doubtless,  therefore,  the  new  arrivals  are  mostly  adults ;  but 
inasmuch  as  the 'first  generation  born  of  foreign  parents  in  this 
country  retain  more  of  the  peculiarities  of  their  ancestors  than 
they  get  from  the  people  into  which  they  will  be  fused  in  the 
end,  the  ethnological  character  of  St.  Louis  at  present  is  not 
exactly  determined  by  the  statics  of  the  places  of  nativity. 

"  Considering,  therefore,  the  above-stated  school  statistics, 
and  taking  into  account  the  fact  that  about  twice  as  many  of 
the  children  in  the  city  of  German  parentage  attend  no  school 
at  all,  or  are  enrolled  in  the  various  parochial  schools,  the 
German  population,  according  to  the  standard  of  language  and 
habits,  amounts  at  least  to  90,000. 

'•  It  is  evidently  more  difficult  to  find  the  elements  for  a  simi- 
lar calculation  in  regard  to  the  immigrant  Irish,  English,  and 
Scotch  population,  and  those  smaller  numbers  from  various 
other  countries.  A  large  majority  of  these  speak  English, 
which  enables  them  to  amalgamate  sooner  with  the  American 
nationality.  But  even  of  these  a  sufficient  number  retain  their 
native  peculiarities  in  such  a  degree  as  to  warrant  the  belief 
that,  ethnologically  speaking,  the  population  of  St.  Louis  is 
very  nearly  equally  divided  between  natives  and  foreign- 
en. 

"  No  doubt  this  proportion  will  increase  somewhat  in  favor 
of  the  foreign  population  during  the  next  ten  years,  the  amal- 
gamating power  of  the  native  inhabitants  notwithstanding. 
Not  only  that  the  native  population  has  no  means  to  make  up 
for  the  regular  influx  from  abroad,  even  if,  as  it  is  supposed,  it 
will  be  smaller  than  previously,  but  during  the  first  generation 
the  foreigners  increased  in  a  larger  ratio  by  births  than  the 
natives. 

"  The  increase  of  our  population,  however,  has  its  rational 
limit,  and  the  moment  the  limit  is  approached,  the  ethno- 
logical character  of  St.  Louis  will  become  more  stationary 
and  uniform. 

"After  the  second  generation  people  of  every  extraction  ac- 
quire many  of  the  physical  and  moral  characteristics  of  the 
predominant  race.  The  ratio  of  births  gets  to  un  equilibrium  ; 
the  large  proportion  of  German  children  visiting  the  public 
schools  gives  predominance  to  the  English  language;  the  accu- 
mulation of  wealth  in  tne  hands  of  families  of  foreign  extrac- 
tion makes  them  build  larger  houses  and  in  a  style  which  is 


more  in  harmony  with  the  tastes  and  wants  of  the  older  in- 
habitants. 

"  The  increase  of  the  colored  population  from  about  5000, 
which  it  was  previous  to  the  war,  to  upwards  of  22,000  went 
on  without  much  disturbance  in  regard  to  the  economical  fea- 
tures of  our  population  as  a  whole.  The  growth  of  the  city 
has  been  so  wonderful  during  the  last  ten  years  that  this  great 
influx  of  colored  people,  which  otherwise  might  have  been  a 
source  of  annoyance,  remained  almost  entirely  unobserved.  It 
is  probable  that  if  the  statistics  had  not  authoritatively  given 
the  number  of  negroes  in  St.  Louis  at  22,045,  very  few  of  our 
citizens  wouM  have  believed  that  more  than  about  one-half  of 
that  number  were  living  among  us.  The  cosmopolitan  char- 
acter of  St.  Louis  is  evidently  a  source  of  much  good  to  the 
country.  It  shows  in  a  microcosmos  the  manner  in  which  peo- 
ple, composed  of  every  nationality,  may  profit  from  each  other'a 
peculiarities,  bear  their  idiosyncrasies,  and  bring  them  down  to- 
a  common  level  upon  which  ay  may  safely  stand  and  mutually 
support  themselves.  People  learn  to  respect  the  qualities  and 
honest  habits  of  others,  and  to  emulate  each  other  in  energy  and 
in  their  desire  to  promote  the  welfare  of  the  whole.  The  natives 
learn  how  to  embellish  their  family  life  by  the  introduction  of 
fine  arts,  and  the  foreigners  how  to  give  up  personal  and  na- 
tional whims  for  the  public  good  and  mutual  good  understand- 
ing." 

The  census  of  1880  yielded  the  figures  given  below : 


MINOR  CIVIL  DIVISIONS. 


1880. 


187U. 


Bonhomme  township,  including  Eirkwood 
village  

7  043 

6  162 

1,280 

5,691 

5  387 

Central  township  *...  

7  485 

8  923 

3,746 

3  43ft 

St.  Ferdinand  township,  including  the  fol- 
lowing villages:  

7,923 

7  214 

197 

817 

350,518 

310  864 

Ward  1  

17,434 

"      2  

13  997 

"      3  

14  494 

"      4  

24,502 

"      5  

19,445 

"      6  

9,949 

"      7  

13,143 

"      8  

6  657 

"      9  

10  812 

"    10  

26  904 

"    11  

5,584 

"    12  

28,536 

"    13  

8  773 

'    14  

20,333 

'    15  

13,562 

<    16  

11,699 

'    17  

17,227 

'    18  

24  673 

'    19  

7,229 

"    20  

12,246 

"    21  

4  187 

'    22  

3  294 

'    23  

<    24  

12,256 

'    25  

1,015 

'    26.... 

2,594 

••    27  

4  824 

"    28  , 

9.412 

In  1876  formed  as  a  separate  municipality  and  increased  by 
parts  of  Carondelet  and  Central  and  all  of  St.  Louis  townships, 
St.  Louis  Co. 


1  In  1876  part  to  St.  Louis  City. 


SAINT   LOUIS   AS  A  CENTRE   OF   TRADE. 


1023 


COUNTY. 
Total  population  31,888 

NATIVITY  —  City. 

Native.                                                Foreign. 
State  Born  in.          White.  Col'd.         Country  Born  in. 
Alabama  451       440     Africa  16 

Males       16,988 

Females  14,900 

Arkansas  447       238  '  Asia.  N.  S  4 

White  28,008 

California  210         10 

Atlantic  Island  5 

Colored  3,880 

CITY. 
Total  population  350,518 

Connecticut  639           6 
Dakota  12           4 

Austria,  N.  S  755 
Baden  3,230  a 

Bavaria                             2  848  a 

Delaware  129           1 

Bohemia  2,456 

Males  179,520 

Dist.  Columbia..        291         45 
Florida  64         18 

British  America,  N.  S.           76 
Brunswick  .        124  a 

Females         ...          .      ..     .        170,998 

Native  245,505 

Georgia  364       250 

Belgium  217 

Foreign  born  105,013 

Central  America  7 

White      328,191 

Illinois                    13  487       448 

Canada....                        .     1.935  ft 

Colored           22,256 

Indiana  2,793         76     China  71 

Indian  Territory          14           9 
Iowa  1,638         37 

Cuba  33 

Denmark  300 

NATIVITY 

Native. 
State  Born  in.          White.  Col'd. 

Arkansas  30         13 
Arizona  1     
California  12     

Kansas  478         29 

England  ..    6  212  c 

Kentucky  4,306    1,686 

Europe,  N.  S  72 

—  County. 

Foreign. 
Country  Born  in. 
Asia,  N.S  2 
Australia  2 
Austria,  N.  S  19 
Baden  321  a 

Louisiana  1,884    1,015 

France  2,138 

Maine  412           5 

Great  Britain,  N.  S....         11  o 
Greece  8 

Maryland  1,461       234 

Massachusetts...     1,780         25 
Mississippi  688    1,140 
Michigan  549         21 

Hamburg  170  a 
Hanover  3,928  a 
Hessen  1,958  a 
Holland  '  588 

Colorado  2     
Connecticut  50     
Dakota  6     
Delaware  13           1 
Dist.  Columbia..          15           1 
i.'i,  ,,.;,;>,                             13            1 

Bavaria  236  a 
Bohemia  18 
British  America,  N.  S.           16 

Belgium  27 

Montana  13           3 
Nebraska  103           8 
Nevada  8     
New  Hampshire        335     
New  Jersey  1,046           8 
New  Mexico  25           3 
New  York  8,412         41 

India  11 
Italy  879 

Luxemburg  60 
Malta  6 

Canada                                111  b 

Georgia  19         20 
Illinois                       548           8 

Cuba  1 

Mexico  46 

Indiana  167           4 
Indian  Territory            3           1 
Iowa  78     

England  265  c 

North  Carolina..        282       185 
Ohio  7,152      279 

Nassau  149  a 
New  Brunswick  39  b 

France  278 

Oregon  7     

Newfoundland  126 

Kansas  27           3 
Kentucky                   348       257 

Hamburg  4  a 

Rhode  Island...        205           3 
South  Carolina..        182       171 
Tennessee  2,008    1,607 

Norway  109 

Maine  33     

Hessen  212  a 
Holland  49 

Pacific  Islands  18 

Maryland  103         43 
Massachusetts...          89     

Hungary  8 
India  -3 

Utah  44     
Vermont  476           5 

Prince  Edward's  Isl...         15  b 
Prussia  13,612  a 

Virginia  2,305    1,574 

Poland  389 

Washington  Ter.            1     
West  Virginia...        160         34 
Wisconsin  862         18 

Russia  136 

Missouri     18,110     2885 

Mecklenburg  11  a 

Sandwich  Islands  6 
Saxony  909  a 

Nevada  1     

Nassau  58  a 

Wyoming,  9     

Scotland  1,309  c 

New  Hampshire          13     
New  Jersey  48           2 
New  Mexico..!....            4     

New  Brunswick  3  b 

At  sea,  U.  S  1     

When  added,  items  marked  a 
her  born  in  German  Empire. 
Those  marked  b  make  2091 
America. 
Those  marked  e  make  36,31 
Britain  and  Ireland, 
Native  white 

Spain  58 

Norway  2 

Sweden  551 

New  York       ,           241           3 
North  Carolina..          24         32 
Ohio  313           5 

Switzerland  2,385 
Turkey  7 

Poland  6 

Wales  241  c 

Pennsylvania...        325           6 
Rhode  Island....            8           1 
South  Carolina..          13         22 
Tennessee  151       111 
Texas    14           4 

Russia  2 
Saxony  107  a 

Weimar  7  a 
West  Indies  71 

Scotland  59  c 
Sweden  28 
Switzerland  181 

Germany,  N.  S  26,643  a 

Vermont  38           2 
Virginia  289       260 

Wales  9c 
Weimar  3  a 

Ireland  28,536  c 
make  54,901,  which  is  the  num- 

,  the   number  born   in  British 
9,  the  number   born   in    Great 
223.305 

West  Virginia  ..          11           2 
Wisconsin  38           2 

West  Indies  1 

At  sea,  foreign  1 
Germany,  N.  S  1305  a 

Ireland...                                 992  c 

When  added,  items  marked  a  make  4382,  which  is  the  num- 
ber born  in  German  Empire. 
Those   marked    b    make    116,  the    number   born   in   British 
America. 
Those  marked  c  make  1325,  the  number  born  in  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland. 
Native  white         ...         21423 

Native  colored  22,200 

Foreign  -  1  0S.  01  3 

Total  population 

350.518 

Increase  in  the  Value  of  Real  Estate.  —  The 
history  of  the  rapid  increase  of  values  of  real  estate  in 
St.  Louis  is  worth  writing,  for  two  reasons.     In  the 
first  place,  it  is  almost  as  full  of  wonders  as  the  tale  of 

Native  colored  3,876 

Foreign  6.589 

Total  population.  . 

,     31,888 

1024 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


the  building  of  Aladdin's  palace,  in  respect  to  the 
sudden  and  almost  miraculously  rapid  advances  in 
values.  In  the  second  place,  it  helps  to  prove  the 
point  we  have  been  contending  for  throughout  this 
entire  chapter, — that  the  people  of  St.  Louis  have 
from  the  beginning  almost  been  conscious  of  the  city's 
great  destinies.  Mrs.  Hunt,  the  daughter  of  Judge 
J.  B.  C.  Lucas,  was  fond  of  telling  how  her  father 
used  to  point  to  a  piece  of  real  estate  at  Pittsburgh 
which  he  could  have  bought  for  a  song,  and  which 
sold  for  over  a  million.  The  incident  simply  illus- 
trates that  confident  belief  entertained  by  Judge 
Lucas  in  the  future  of  St.  Louis  which  kept  him  a 
poor  man  all  his  life,  and  reduced  him,  while  the 
owner  of  millions  in  land,  to  an  income  of  less  than 
two  thousand  dollars  a  year  even  at  the  day  of  his 
death.  Henry  W.  Williams,  who  knows  as  much, 
probably,  about  real  estate  as  any  single  person  in  St. 
Louis,  prepared  a  very  curious  paper  in  1860  for  Mr. 
Edwards'  "  Great  West"  about  "  the  advance  of  real 
estate  in  St.  Louis,"  an  article  from  which  we  borrow 
largely.  Mr.  Williams  says, — 

"  The  rise  of  real  estate  in  St.  Louis  has  been  so 
fabulous  that  it  has  become  a  theme  of  wonder  and 
interest.  We  could  not  make  this  history  complete 
did  we  not  give  some  account  of  the  progressions,  and 
to  make  the  relation  more  varied,  more  extensive, 
more  authentic  and  interesting,  we  have  solicited  the 
aid  of  those  gentlemen  that  are  known  to  the  com- 
munity as  most  conversant  with  all  of  its  features,  and, 
without  comment  or  alteration,  we  give  to  our  readers 
the  communications  which  have  been  addressed  to  us 
relative  to  our  inquiries." 

And  here  is  one  of  his  examples, — 

"Sr.  Louis,  March  24,  1860. 

"  DEAR  SIR, — In  compliance  with  your  request,  I  have  tried 
to  bring  to  mind  as  far  as  I  could  the  value  of  real  estate  in  this 
city  during  the  past  forty-two  years.  I  have  not  been  a  specu- 
lator in  lands,  but  have  bought  for  my  own  use.  In  the  year 
1822  I  purchased  a  lot  on  Third  Street,  between  Plum  and 
Cedar  Streets,  75  feet  front  by  150  in  depth,  for  the  sum  of  $225 
the  lot.  In  the  year  1846  I  sold  the  same  lot  for  $3000,  and  it  is 
now  held  at  a  bid  of  $17,000.  In  1834  I  bought  a  lot  on  Main 
Street,  between  Spruce  and  Myrtle  Streets,  40  feet  front,  run- 
ning to  the  river-bank,  for  $350,  and  in  1852  I  sold  it,  with  a 
two-story  house  on  it,  for  $10,000.  The  same  property  is  now 
worth  $35,000.  In  1845  I  bought  a  lot  on  Second  Street,  be- 
tween Lombard  and  Hazel  Streets,  150  feet  front,  running  to 
the  river,  for  $800,  and  in  1855  I  sold  one-third  of  it  for  $42,- 
000,  and  held  the  balance  at  $100,000.  In  1849  I  bought  a 
house  and  lot  on  Walnut  Street,  between  Sixth  and  Seventh 
Streets,  for  $6000.  In  1856  I  was  offered  $15,000  for  it.  I 
have  known  similar  sales. 

"Yours  truly,  W.  RISLEY." 

Here  follows  another, — 


"Sr.  Louis  GAS-LIGHT  COMPANY, 
"ST.  Louis,  Feb.  9,  1860. 

"DEAR  SIR, — At  your  request  I  refresh  my  memory  to  give 
you,  as  far  as  I  can  in  my  opinion,  the  value  of  property  in  St. 
Louis  for  some  twenty-five  to  thirty-five  years  back.  The  first 
sale  which  I  can  recollect  was  made  by  grandmother  Dubruil, 
of  a  lot  on  the  corner  of  Second  and  Pine  Streets,  70  feet  front 
by  150  deep,  to  M.  Papin,  for  §700.  This  was,  I  think,  in  1822 
or  1823.  My  mother  bought,  in  1822  or  1823,  a  lot  70  feet  front 
by  150  in  depth,  corner  of  Second  and  Olive  Streets,  southwest 
corner,  with  good  stone  house,  log  kitchen,  barn,  and  good  fences, 
all  for  $1500.  The  above  are  now  worth  from  $1500  to  $2000 
per  foot. 

"  In  1826  my  grandmother's  property  on  Second  Street,  block 
61,  I  believe  between  Chestnut  and  Pine  Streets,  was  sold  by 
the  administrator,  50  feet,  corner  Second  and  Chestnut,  by  150, 
for  $10  per  foot.  The  remainder,  about  18  feet,  with  a  first- 
rate  stone  house  and  kitchen,  was  bought  in  by  my  mother  for 
benefit  of  estate  for  $3000,  and  sold  by  her  to  Mr.  Gay  in  1830 
or  1831  for  the  same  price,  so  that  property  had  not  risen  in 
that  locality  from  1826  to  1831.  Property  even  in  the  business 
parts  of  the  city  had  but  a  nominal  value  till  about  1832  to 
1833.  It  may  have  commenced  rising  a  little  in  1831,  but  so 
slightly  that  it  was  not  noticeable,  and  did  not  really  seem  to 
rise  till  1835.  From  this  period  it  went  up  in  the  business  parts 
of  the  town  pretty  rapidly  till  1838  or  1839,  the  commencement 
of  bank  disasters.  From  that  period  to  1842-43,  though  there 
may  have  been  no  fall,  there  was  no  demand,  and,  to  my  knowl- 
edge, no  sales. 

"In  1836  or  1837  I  heard  Mr.  Lucas  offer  land  about  Lucas 
Place  for  two  hundred  dollars  an  acre.  He  sold  lots  to  Benoist, 
Bogy,  and  others  on  Eighth  Street,  between  Pine  and  Locust 
Streets,  for  ten  dollars  per  foot. 

"After  the  crash  of  the  banks,  from  1837  to  1841,  property 
had  but  a  nominal  value;  it  commenced  rising  about  1842  or 
1843,  and  went  up  gradually  till  1845,  from  which  time  it  im- 
proved more  rapidly  till  the  great  fire  in  1849.  From  the  latter 
date  it  rose  very  fast  to  the  present  time,  and  still  continues 
rising,  notwithstanding  the  cry  of  croakers  to  the  contrary, 
and,  in  my  humble  judgment,  will  continue  onward  till  the 
great  valley  of  the  Mississippi  is  filled  up  and  densely  popu- 
lated. Country  property  rose  but  little  until  the  building  of 
plank  and  macadamized  roads,  but  went  up  magically  after  the 
commencement  of  our  railroads. 

"To  resume,  in  my  opinion  there  was  but  an  imperceptible, 
if  any,  rise  in  property  in  the  city  till  1834  or  1835,  when  it 
continued  to  rise  slowly  till  the  great  crash  in  1838  or  1839.  It 
went  up  again  about  1842  or  1843,  slowly  till  1849,  and  from 
that  period  to  date  very  rapidly. 

"Hoping  the  above  may  add  a  little  light  to  your  valuable 
researches,  I  remain,  dear  sir,  yours  truly  and  respectfully, 

"Louis  A.  LABAUMK." 

"ST.  Locis,  March  9,  1860. 

"  DEAR  SIR, — I  will  try  to  comply  with  your  request  in  rela- 
tion to  the  relative  value  of  property  in  St.  Louis  during  the 
last  few  years. 

"I  will  give  you  the  facts' of  a  few  prominent  points,  by 
which  you  will  be  able  to  judge  of  intermediate  points. 

"  Early  in  1840  property  on  the  corner  of  Fifth  and  Market 
Streets  sold  for  $100  per  foot;  the  same  will  now  readily  sell 
for  $1000  per  foot. 

"In  1340  I  bought  lots  on  Olive  Street,  between  Seventh  and 
Eighth  Streets,  at  $40  per  foot,  which  would  now  sell  for  $350 
per  foot.  About  this  time  I  could  have  bought  of  Judge  J.  B. 
C.  Lucas  property  on  Olive  Street,  between  Eleventh  and 


SAINT  LOUIS   AS  A  CENTRE   OF  TRADE. 


1025 


Twelfth  Streets,  for  $10  per  foot,  which  is  now  worth  $300  per 
foot.  And  on  the  same  street,  between  Fifteenth  and  Sixteenth 
Streets,  $5  per  foot  is  now  worth  $200  per  foot. 

"In  1842-43  property  sold  in  Christy's  addition,  west  of  the 
St.  Louis  University,  between  Twelfth  and  Sixteenth  Streets 
and  Christy  Avenue,  at  from  $4  to  $10  per  foot.  The  same 
would  sell  to-day  for  from  $125  to  $200  per  foot. 

"  In  1843-44,  on  Franklin  Avenue,  and  south  of  it,  in  Mills' 
addition,  property  sold  about  Twenty -third  Street  at  from  §3 
to  $5  per  foot  is  now  worth  from  $50  to  $75  per  foot. 

"  In  the  neighborhood  of  the  market  on  Seventh  Street  prop- 
erty could  have  been  bought  in  1844  at  from  $10  to  $20  per 
foot.  The  same  will  now  sell  for  from  $250  to  $300  per  foot. 
Looking  southwardly,  property  sold  about  this  time  at  a  very 
low  figure,  but  has  rapidly  risen  to  figures  quite  as  high  as  in 
any  other  direction. 

"  From  1840  to  1850  the  tendency  was  north.  About  1850  a 
very  rapid  advance  took  place  to  the  south  and  southwest.  From 
about  1854  to  1860  a  great  rush  took  place  to  the  northwest,  in 
the  direction  of  fair  grounds. 

"  North  St.  Louis,  about  Bremen,  toward  1850  began  to  make 
rapid  strides. 

"  In  1849  Lowell  was  first  offered.  It  had  been  bought  only 
one  year  before  for  about  $200  per  acre.  In  May,  1849,  it  sold 
for  from  $5  to  $10  per  foot  on  Bellefontaine  road.  It  is  now 
selling  at  from  $20  to  $30  per  foot,  or  about  $4000  to  $5000 
per  acre. 

"  Thus  if  you  take  a  stand-point  about  the  court-house  you 
will  find  the  progress  resulting  about  the  same,  though  some- 
thing in  favor  of  the  northward.  Westwardly  you  will  find  quite 
an  equal  advance. 

"In  Stoddard's  addition,  which  is  only  about  ten  years  old, 
property  sold  at  from  $5  to  $20  per  foot.  It  will  now  sell  at 
from  $50  to  $125  per  foot. 

"  As  you  will  observe,  the  wave  of  progress  has  fluctuated  in 
every  direction,  first  in  one  and  then  in  another,  but  finally  it 
gains  an  equilibrium,  as  things  have  become  established. 

"  Thus  you  will  see  that  those  who  invest  money  in  St.  Louis 
have  only  to  wait  a  little  and  a  short  time  brings  about  vast 
results.  And  the  only  way  to  judge  .of  the  future  is  to  look  at 
the  past;  according  to  this  rule,  the  destiny  of  St.  Louis  is 
bound  to  be  the  great  central  city  of  the  United  States. 
"Truly  yours, 

"W.  HALL." 

"  Many  other  instances  might  be  cited,"  Mr.  Wil- 
liams adds,  "  showing  an  increase  in  the  value  of  the 
real  estate  of  the  city  of  from  thirty  to  fifty  per  cent, 
per  annum  ;  but  I  have  already  wearied  your  patience, 
and  close,  regretting  that  the  pressure  of  business 
has  prevented  my  giving  you  a  more  connected  and 
coherent  statement  of  my  recollections." 

The  history  of  real  estate  movements  and  opera- 
tions, in  the  early  periods  of  the  city  especially,  has 
been  given  pretty  fully  in  preceding  chapters,  and  there 
is  no  occasion  to  do  more  than  supplement  these  facts 
in  the  present  chapter  with  illustrative  cases.  The 
system  of  bringing  land  into  market  under  advan- 
tageous and  attractive  bids,  matured  by  Chouteau  and 
Lucas,  was  speedily  copied  by  their  enterprising  rivals 
in  business.  The  following  is  from  an  advertisement 
of  Louis  Labaume's  in  1812,  15th  of  June  : 


"  L.  Labaume,  Real  Estate  Agent.  To  the  Public:  The  sub- 
scriber has  laid  off  in  town  lots  part  of  the  plantation  on  which 
he  resides,  situated  on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi,  about  a  mile 
north  of  St.  Louis;  each  square  is  three  hundred  and  sixty  feet 
in  front  by  three  hundred  feet  back,  being  sub-divided  into 
six  lots,  each  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  in  front  by  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  in  back.  The  streets  running  parallel  with  tho 
Mississippi  are  sixty  feet  wide,  and  the  cross  streets  forty-five. 
One  square  is  reserved  for  public  use,  and  another  for  schools, 
etc.  He  will  dispose  of  the  rest  on  the  most  reasonable  terms 
for  cash  and  property,  and  will  give  some  credit  on  giving  good 
security.  The  beauty  and  conveniences  of  the  place  is  inferior 
to  none  in  the  country.  Those  inclined  to  purchase  will  please 
apply  to  L.  LABATJMK.'' 

This  is  cleverly  done,  and  proves  that  Mr.  Labaume 
was  an  apt  pupil  in  the  methods  for  disposing  of  real 
estate  at  good  figures.  His  heirs,  however,  will  scarcely 
forgive  him  for  selling  when  he  did.  A  corner  lot  of 
that  estate  will  now  sell  for  three  times  as  much  as 
Mr.  Labaume  was  offered  for  the  entire  property. 

Auguste  Chouteau,  unlike  Judge  Lucas,  was  always 
ready  to  sell  his  lots  in  St.  Louis  at  an  advance,  and 
when  he  saw  the  chance  to  buy  others.  He  liked  to 
turn  over  property  frequently,  "  to  realize  on  it"  now 
and  then,  as  the  phrase  goes,  showing  that  he  was  a 
person  of  less  faith  than  John  B.  C.  Lucas,  but  per- 
haps a  more  useful  man  to  have  about  a  growing  and 
ambitious  town  ;  for,  much  as  such  places  need  buy- 
ers, they  need  sellers  still  more,  people  who  are  willing 
to  let  their  real  property  change  hands  at  reasonable 
current  figures,  and  without  nursing  it  for  their  grand- 
children. Chouteau  built,  traded,  developed  indus- 
tries, turned  his  money  over  and  over  again,  and  waa 
not  afraid  of  taxes.  For  years  he  was  the  largest  tax- 
payer in  St.  Louis.  Lucas,  on  the  contrary,  was  always 
on  the  lookout  for  cheap  lots,  bought  to  hold,  and  did 
not  improve.  Cheap  lots  could  be  got  without  much 
trouble.  The  Missouri  Gazette,  of  Oct.  9,  1819, 


"  At  the  March  sale  of  public  lands  in  this  district,  one  hun- 
dred and  seven  thousand  acres  were  disposed  of  at  the  average 
price  of  two  dollars  and  ninety-one  cents  per  acre." 

At  this  time  the  values  of  land  everywhere  in  Mis- 
souri, and  not  excepting  St.  Louis,  were  greatly  unset- 
tled by  frauds  and  fraudulent  claims  and  the  long  and 
costly  processes  of  litigation.  The  liberal  land  grants 
under  the  Spanish  regime  in  its  last  year  had  opened 
the  way  to  this,  and  the  trouble  was  aggravated  by 
speculators  who  were  seeking  to  locate  New  Madrid 
lots  (land  granted  by  the  United  States  in  cases  where 
property  was  injured  by  the  earthquakes  of  1811-13) 
even  upon  the  very  boundaries  of  St.  Louis.  The 
landshark  of  that  day,  rapacious  monster,  stopped  at 
nothing  to  insure  his  claim.  Theft,  perjury,  forgery, 
murder,  all  the  crimes  in  the  statute-book  were  com- 


1026 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


mitted  to  get  property  for  nothing,  and  to  dispossess 
rightful  owners  ot  their  estates  and  improvements. 
The  simple  French  habit  ans,  the  land  commissioners, 
and  the  courts  were  no  match  for  these  confederated 
thieves,  with  their  wholesale  forgeries  and  their  gangs 
of  hirelings  ready  to  swear  to  anything.  Bryan  and 
Rose,  in  their  interesting  "  Pioneer  Families  of  Mis- 
souri," have  preserved  the  affidavit  of  one  of  these 
suborned  perjurers,  given  at  Kaskaskia  in  August, 
1807: 

"  I,  Simon  Toiton,  being  in  my  sober  senses,  having  taken  no 
drink,  and  after  mature  deliberation,  having  been  apprised 
that  I  had  given  a  great  number  of  depositions  relating  to  land 
titles,  as  well  those  derived  from  donations  as  from  improve- 
ments ;  that  by  means  of  these  depositions  great  quantities  of 
land  have  been  confirmed  to  different  persons  in  whose  favor  I 
have  given  these  depositions,  I  do  consequently  declare,  as  I 
have  already  declared  to  several  persons,  that  I  am  ignorant 
of  the  number  I  may  have  given,  since  I  was  drunk  when  I 
gave  them,  a  failing  to  which  I  am  unfortunately  addicted ; 
and  that  when  I  am  in  that  state  any  one,  by  complying 
with  my  demands,  may  do  what  they  please  with  me.  If  this 
work  had  been  proposed  to  me  when  in  my  senses  [hiatus  in 
manutcripi].  I  declare  that  I  recollect  that  on  the  last  day  of 
November,  1806,  I  was  sent  for.  Before  setting  out  I  drank  a 
quart  of  liquor;  and  that  there  might  be  no  want  of  it,  I  took 
it  again  on  my  arrival ;  before  beginning  the  certificates  I  took 
another  quart,  and  this  continued  until  midnight  nearly.  I 
recollect  at  that  time  to  have  given  twenty-two  or  twenty-three 
depositions  ;  that  is  to  say,  I  copied  them  from  models,  to  which 
I  made  them  conform,  observing  to  these  persons  that  what  I 
did  could  have  no  validity.  They  told  me  not  to  -mind  that, 
that  it  would  be  of  service  to  those  for  whom  I  made  them,  and 
that  I  ought  not  to  fear  anything  or  make  myself  uneasy.  I 
declare  solemnly  that  all  these  last  depositions  are  false,  as  well 
as  those  I  had  given  previously  to  that  time,  no  matter  in  whose 
favor  I  may  have  given  them;  because,  to  my  knowledge,  I 
have  never  given  any  except  when  I  was  in  liquor,  and  not  in 
my  sober  .senses.  I  furthermore  declare  that  I  am  not  acquainted 
with  any  improvements  in  this  country." 

It  was  by  this  sort  of  fraud  and  villany  that  land 
titles  were  confused  in  Missouri,  and  many  honest  and 
deserving  proprietors  swindled  out  of  their  property. 
Here  is  an  instance  in  point : 

"  In  the  year  178ft  the  government  of  Spain  granted  to  An- 
gelica Chauvin  a  concession  of  forty  by  forty  arpens  of  land 
near  the  then  post  of  St.  Louis,  bounded  by  land  granted  to  one 
Louis  Robert  on  one  side,  and  the  king's  domain  lengthwise 
the  river  Des  Peres.  The  concession  was  sold  by  the  grantee 
to  Jean  F.  Perry,  a  meritorious  citizen.  "The  government  of 
the  United  States  came,  under  treaty  obligations  to  the  Spanish 
government,  to  respect  all  concessions  of  land  similar  to  the  one 
to  Madame  Chauvin,  and  to  fully  and  faithfully  discharge  that 
obligation  Congress  in  1805  created  a  board  of  commissioners 
charged  with  that  duty.  This  board  of  commissioners  was  com- 
posed of  eminent  men  of  the  highest  integrity,  but  they  were  by 
law  restricted  to  the  consideration  only  of  concessions  accom- 
panied by  specific  and  authentic  plats  showing  the  corners  and 
locations  of  grants  presented  for  confirmation. 

"In  the  year  1811  the  board  met  and  confirmed  to  Jean  F. 
Perry,  assignee  of  Angelica  Chauvin,  forly  by  forty  arpens  of 
land,  the  concession  being  first  presented  and  then  the  plat,  and 


ordered  the  same  surveyed  according  to  possession  (the  pos- 
session of  the  grantee).  In  the  year  1812,  being  one  year  after 
the  confirmation  of  the  claim,  Perry  died,  leaving  four  orphan 
children,  all  girls  ;  and  in  the  language  of  Mr.  Griswold,  '  here 
the  monster  slept !'  Yes,  slept  for  twenty  years,  until  the  chil- 
dren grew  up  to  be  women  and  were  married.  During  this 
lapse  of  time  the  cormorants  were  busy  with  their  New  Madrid 
'  floats,'  and  before  the  children  grew  to  be  women  had  succeeded 
in  spreading  them  all  over  their  land,  although  that  land  never 
belonged  to  the  United  States." 

This  piece  of  property  was  so  long  in  dispute  that 
immense  values  and  interests  became  involved  in  its 
settlement ;  the  interposition  of  Congress  was  sought, 
and  finally  the  claimants  were  thrown  out  in  favor  of 
the  possessors.  This  instance  is  not  adduced  by  way 
of  pointing  an  injustice  or  a  grievance, — we  have 
nothing  to  do  with  the  merits  of  any  particular  claim, 
— but  to  show  how  delays  and  litigation  affected  the 
titles  and  values  of  property.  No  one  buys  a  lawsuit 
if  he  can  help  it,  and  when  he  does  buy  one  he  always 
insists  upon  its  cost  being  counted  in  the  bill.  It  is 
beyond  a  doubt  that  disputed  and  defective  titles  had 
a  very  depressing  effect  on  the  values  of  real  estate  in 
St.  Louis  for  many  years,  and  interfered  materially 
with  the  extent  and  rapidity  of  transfers.1 


1  It  is  only  proper  to  give  the  other  side  of  this  Chauvin 
claim, — the  side  of  the  occupants  whom  it  was  sought  to  oust. 
The  following  statement  of  the  case  was  published  in  1853  : 

"A  grant  was  made  to  Madame  Chauvin  in  May,  1784,  of 
sixteen  hundred  arpens  of  land,  about  six  miles  west  of  St. 
Louis,  on  both  sides  of  the  River  des  Peres,  or,  in  the  words  of 
the  grant,  'said  river  running  through  it  from  north  to  south, 
to  be  improved  within  a  year  and  a  day.'  In  June,  1785,  her 
grant  was  canceled  for  non  user,  and  the  land  specifically 
granted  to  one  Tayon.  Tayon  went  to  St.  Charles,  and  Gov- 
ernor Trudeau  granted  to  Madame  Papin  three  thousand  two 
hundred  arpens,  including  the  above  sixteen  hundred  arpens. 
Tayon  came  back,  told  the  Governor  his  grant  had  been  invaded, 
but  as  he  did  not  wish  to  disturb  the  occupant,  would  be  satis- 
fied with  a  floating  right  for  the  sixteen  hundred  arpens;  he 
got  this,  and  sold  it  to  Mr.  Chouteau,  the  brother  of  Mrs.  Papin, 
and  this  float  was  afterwards  located. 

"  J.  F.  Perry  bought  of  Mrs.  Chauvin,  in  Illinois,  her  right, 
and  presented  it  to  the  old  board  of  commissioners  for  confirma- 
tion. They  rejected  the  claim.  Subsequently  it  was  presented 
again  and  confirmed, '  to  be  surveyed  conformably  to  possession, 
and  at  the  expense  of  the  claimant.'  This  was  in  1811;  the 
survey  was  made  and  approved  in  1832,  and  the  very  place  of 
Madame  Chauvin's  possession  pointed  out  to  the  surveyor  and 
marked  on  the  plat,  and  this  survey  took  the  eastern  half  of  the 
Papin  tract,  showing  that  Tayon  knew  what  he  stated  when  he 
got  his  float.  But  the  Papin  survey  was  before  this,  confirmed 
earlier,  and  hence  the  Chauvin  survey  could  not  hold,  although 
Gen.  Ashley,  then  in  Congress,  tried  to  get  it  patented. 

"  It  has  slept  since,  sometimes  in  the  hands  of  Elliott  Lee, 
Jesse  G.  Lindell,  Daniel  D.  Page,  and  others,  until  it  turns  up 
to  belong  to  Joshua  R.  Stanford,  of  Illinois,  who  appointed 
A.  II.  Evans  his  agent  to  locate  the  claim. 

"  This  ingenious  man  fixes  his  corner  for  the  sixteen  hundred 
arpens  of  land  on  the  River  des  Peres,  and  there  turns  the 
claim  upon  it-  <i. /•/-•,  and  rolls  it  round  ao  that  its  southeast 


SAINT   LOUIS   AS  A  CENTRE   OF   TRADE. 


1027 


The  holder  of  a  New  Madrid  certificate  having 
got  an  act  of  Congress  passed  authorizing  him  to  locate 
it,  actually  attempted  for  that  purpose  to  take  posses- 
sion under  this  warrant  of  Duncan's  Island  and  the 
water-front  of  St.  Louis.  Much  of  the  city  prop- 
erty and  school  property  was  squatted  upon  in  the 
same  way,  with  a  network  of  claims  and  a  regiment 
of  claimants,  so  that  in  most  cases,  after  years  of 
costly  litigation  and  delay,  the  authorities  found  it 
cheaper  to  compromise  than  to  make  good  their  com- 
plete title.  The  schools  in  this  way,  as  fully  described 
elsewhere,  lost  a  great  amount  of  valuable  property. 

Another  thing  which  had  an  injurious  effect  on  the 
value  of  property  was  the  unsettled  condition  of  the 
city's  estate  in  the  commons  and  common  fields.  It 
would  be  mere  repetition  to  state  here  what  has  been 
so  fully  set  forth  in  other  chapters  about  these  tracts 
of  land  and  the  disposition  made  of  them.  But  the 
fact  that  the  city  held  all  this  land,  and  would  of 
course  some  day  sell  it,  put  St.  Louis  in  the  position 
of  a  powerful  and  favored  competitor  with  every 
dealer  in  real  estate  in  the  community.  The  city 
could  sell  on  terms  which  no  ordinary  operator  was 
able  to  offer.  It  could  hold  on  as  long  as  it  pleased, 
sell  all  or  as  much  as  it  pleased,  give  what  times  of 
payment  it  pleased,  in  short,  could  bull  or  bear  the 
market  at  its  option.  No  operator  in  real  estate  was 
either  able  or  willing  to  lock  horns  with  such  a  gigan- 
tic and  powerful  opponent,  and  as  long  as  the  city  held 
the  commons  it  had  the  speculation  in  real  property 
at  its  mercy. 

corner  shall  settle  in  the  Chouteau  mill  tract,  just  across  the 
Widow  Camp's  lot,  and  then  run  off  north  and  west  for  quan- 
tity, running  over  the  Grand  Prairie  common  field  lots  to 
a  little  north  of  the  St.  Charles  road,  and  going  west  from 
about  the  Prairie  House  so  as  to  overlay  John  Lay,  and  just 
escape  the  Cftte  Brilliant*  tract,  and  so  avoid  the  place  where 
Tayon  said  the  land  was,  and  where  Jean  F.  Perry  had  it  sur- 
veyed. 

"  This  claim  has  been  rejected  in  every  court  where  they  have 
tried  to  introduce  it,  rejected  by  the  surveyor-general  here, 
rejected  by  the  commissioner  of  the  general  land  office  at 
Washington,  and  is  now  tried  to  be  pressed  upon  the  Secretary 
of  the  Interior  by  the  employment  of  Col.  Benton  as  its  advo- 
cate. .  Col.  Benton  is  the  member  of  Congress  from  this  district, 
and  we  should  like  to  know  how  much  he  is  to  receive  for  the 
effort  to  divest  hundreds  of  owners  of  lands  in  the  Grand 
Prairie. 

"  Mr.  Geyer,  in  the  performance  of  his  duties  as  a  lawyer,  we 
have  understood,  was  offered  one-half  of  this  claim  if  he  would 
make  it  stick  anywhere  save  where  Perry  had  located  it,  but 
he  could  not  do  it.     The  influence  of  Col.  Benton,  representa- 
tive in  Congress  from  this  district,  is  invoked  in  the  hope  of 
getting  a  different  decision  from  that  which  has  been  rendered 
by  the  courts  and  the  commissioner  of  the  general  land  office  ' 
in  the  case.     We  shall   see  how  it  work?  upon  the  secretary  of  [ 
the  interior." 


The  commons  embraced  under  various  surveys 
about  three  thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty-seven 
acres  of  land,  lying  (as  described  in  1859) 

"  south  and  southwest  of  the  city,  and  embraces  such  locali- 
ties as  the  House  of  Refuge,  the  Lafayette  Park,  etc.,  but  a 
more  accurate  recital  of  its  boundary  lines  may  not  be  without 
interest.  The  southeastern  boundary,  then,  begins  on  the  river- 
bank,  about  a  half-mile  below  the  'Sugar  Lonf,'  or,  to  be  more 
precise,  at  a  point  three  to  four  hundred  feet  below  the  residence 
of  Charles  L.  Tucker,  Esq. ;  thence  it  follows  the  river-bank  to 
a  point  nearly  opposite  the  Workhouse;  thence,  leaving  the 
river,  and  being  bounded  on  the  east  by  lands  of  Messrs.  Kay- 
ser,  Kennett,  and  others,  it  proceeds  northerly  into  the  present 
First  Ward  of  the  city,  following  a  straight  line,  through  the 
property  of  Thomas  Allen,  Esq.,  Henry  G.  Soulard,  Esq.,  and 
others,  between  Eighth  and  Ninth  Streets,  to  its  intersection 
with  Hickory  Street ;  thence  westwardly  along  Hickory  Street 
to  a  point  between  Morton  Street  and  St.  Ange  Avenue,  about 
opposite  the  terminus  of  Fourteenth  Street ;  thence  northwardly 
again  to  Chouteau  Avenue;  thence  westwardly  with  Chouteau 
Avenue  to  its  intersection  with  Grand  Avenue;  thence  with 
Grand  Avenue  southwardly  to  the  Stringtown  road,  and  with 
the  Stringtown  road  southwardly  again  to  the  vicinity  of  tracts 
held  by  Messrs.  Chartrand  and  Delore,  a  little  below  the  house 
formerly  kept  by  Peter  Delore;  and  thence  finally  in  an  east- 
erly direction  to  the  point  of  beginning  on  the  river.  These 
limits,  it  will  be  perceived,  embrace  many  of  the  most  elevated 
plateaus,  and  withal  one  of  the  most  charming  districts  in  the 
suburbs  of  the  city  proper." 

The  common  fields  are  described  at  the  same  date : 

"There  were  a  number  of  these  common  fields  about  St. 
Louis, — the  Prairie  des  Noyer  fields  in  the  south,  beginning  at 
or  near  the  present  Grand  Avenue,  running  westwardly  for 
depth,  and  (by  way  of  some  sort  of  definite  location)  intersect- 
ing what  are  now  the  suburban  grounds  of  Henry  Shaw,  Esq. ; 
the  Cul  de  Sac  common  fields,  a  little  north  of  Prairie  des 
Noyer,  and  embracing  and  extending  north  and  south  of  the 
grounds  of  John  S.  McCune,  Esq.,  Dr.  Barret,  the  Rock  Spring 
Cemetery,  etc. ;  then  the  St.  Louis  common  fields,  beginning 
eastwardly  at  Third  Street,  and  extending  from  say  the  St. 
Charles  roaS  to  a  distance  below  Olive  Street;  and  finally  the 
Grand  Prairie  fields  still  farther  west." 

Successive  acts  of  Congress  of  June  13,  1812,  and 
May,  1824,  and  of  the  Missouri  Assembly  in  March, 
1835,  authorized  their  sale,  with  reservations  for 
schools.  It  was  put  to  vote  at  the  latter  date  whether 
the  commons  should  be  sold,  and  whether  a  half, 
fourth,  or  tenth  of  the  proceeds  should  go  to  schools. 
The  ballot  decided  in  favor  of  sale,  and  of  appropri- 
ating one-tenth  to  the  school  fund. 

The  act  provided  a  sub-division  of  the  common  into 
parcels  of  not  less  than  one  nor  more  than  forty  acres, 
besides  which  the  buyers  of  common  lots  were  not  to 
pay  the  amounts  which  they  had  bid  on  the  respective 
lots,  but  to  pay  an  interest  or  rent  of  five  per  cent,  a 
year  on  the  amount  of  purchase-money  for  the  period 
of  ten  years,  after  which,  on  paying  the  full  amount 
bid,  the  purchasers  were  to  receive  their  deeds. 
Buyers  who  preferred  it  were  permitted  to  continue 


1028 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


the  payment  of  such  rent  for  the  space  of  fifty  years, 
after  which,  and  every  fifty  years  thereafter,  their  lots 
would  be  revalued,  and  a  rent  of  five  per  centum  per 
annum  paid  on  these  revaluations.  It  will  be  con- 
ceded that  the  terms  of  payment  under  this  rule  were 
liberal  and  accommodating  enough  to  the  speculators 
in  common  grounds.  Accordingly,  under  these  terms, 
the  common  was  advertised  for  sale  in  1836,  and  very 
nearly  all,  if  not  quite  all,  the  lots  sold.  It  appears  ; 
that  the  affair  went  off  spiritedly,  and  the  prices  ranged 
from  fifty  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  per  acre, 
the  average  being  about  one  hundred  dollars.  On 
reflection,  the  buyers,  with  few  exceptions,  seemed  to 
unite  in  the  opinion  that  these  prices  were  excessive, 
and  that  their  common  purchases  were  a  common 
grand  "  take  in."  From  the  date  of  sale  the  Board 
of  Aldermen  was  flooded  with  the  petitions  of  the 
buyers  for  release  from  their  purchases,  and  for  a 
long  while,  and  until  the  city  had  again  secured  the 
title  to  nearly  the  entire  common,  the  authorities 
were  engaged  in  forfeiting  these  first  sales  of  1836. 

The  question  of  selling  the  common  was  then 
allowed  to  sleep  until  about  1842,  when  only  a  few  of 
the  forfeited  lots  were  resold.  In  1854  the  City 
Council,  under  further  authority  of  the  Legislature, 
passed  another  ordinance  making  new  and  different 
arrangements  for  the  sale  of  the  common.  The  ordi- 
nance appointed  a  "  Board  of  City  Common,"  with 
authority  to  sub-divide  the  common  into  lots  twenty- 
five  feet  front  by  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet 
deep ;  to  intersect  it  with  streets  and  avenues  of  no 
less  width  than  sixty  feet,  and  alleys  of  twenty  feet, 
and  with  power  to  sell  from  time  to  time  at  auction 
sale,  on  terms  of  one-sixth  cash  and  the  remainder  in 
equal  annual  installments  of  one,  two,  three",  four,  and 
five  years,  the  interest  on  the  deferred  payments  to  be 
six  per  centum  per  annum.  Under  this  ordinance 
five  sales  took  place,  the  first  being  in  June,  1854, 
and  the  last  in  July,  1859.  The  amounts  realized  in 
these  sales  sum  up  as  follows : 

First     sale,  June,  1854,  aggregate  proceeds,  $210,000 
Second    "      Oct.     1854,         "  "  160,000 

Third      "     May,  1855,         "  "  145,000 

Fourth    "     Oct.     1856,         "  "  100,000 

Fifth       "     July,  1858,         "  "  55,000 

making  a  total  of  $670,000.  Of  this  amount  one-  J 
tenth,  or  867,000,  was  paid  to  the  public  schools,  who 
in  some  instances  took  land  instead  of  money,  and 
from  what  remained,  8453,000  went  to  the  sinking 
fund,  and  $150,000  to  the  purchase  or  the  improve- 
ment of  public  parks;  this  disposition  of  the  pro- 
ceeds being  directed  by  the  ordinance  which  authorized 
the  sales.  To  show  how  "  circumstances  alter  cases," 


and  how  opinions  and  values  change  with  time,  in 
these  latter  sales  of  1854,  1856,  and  1858  there  were 
sums  paid  for  the  purchase  of  single  lots  25  feet  front 
by  125  feet  in  depth  which  at  the  first  sale  of  1836 
would  have  purchased  twenty-seven  and  a  half  acres, 
or  more  than  one  acre  to  every  foot  front.  Or,  to 
change  the  comparison,  if  the  sum  of  $1375  invested 
in  1856  for  a  single  lot  of  25  feet  front  had  been 
judiciously  invested  at  the  sale  of  1836,  as  it  might 
have  been  in  numerous  parts  of  the  common,  it  would 
in  1859  have  been  worth  to  the  party  investing 
from  $144,000  to  $150,000,  but  it  was  the  good  for- 
tune of  the  city,  and  the  evil  fortune  of  the  buyers, 
that,  as  stated  above,  the  original  sales  were  nearly  all 
forfeited. 

The  last  sale  took  place  Oct.  4,  1859,  and  a  con- 
temporary report  of  it  said  that, — 

"  The  sale  of  common  lots  by  the  city,  effected  by  Messrs. 
Papin  &  Brother  last  Tuesday,  was  a  complete  success.  The 
lots  advertised  were  all,  or  nearly  all,  sold,  and  the  prices  real- 
ized were  satisfactory.  Lots  on  Maramec  Street,  opposite  Mr. 
John  Withnell's,  brought  from  $14  to  $21  per  foot,  averaging 
over  $17  per  foot.  On  Kansas,  Michigan,  and  other  avenues 
which  intersect  block  80  the  average  was  about  $10  per  foot. 
Block  80  itself  realized  about  $48,000.  Afterwards  on  Caron- 
delet  road  the  lots  brought  from  $12  to  $16.50  per  foot,  on 
Michigan  Avenue  $8  to  815  per  foot,  and  on  the  various  other 
thoroughfares  from  $5  to  $16  per  foot.  In  all  306  lots  were 
sold.  The  attendance  was  large,  numbering  from  250  to  300 
bidders.  The  sale  was  prolonged  until  eight  o'clock  in  the 
night,  at  which  hour  three  lots  were  sold  on  Lafayette  Avenue, 
opposite  Chris.  Stechlin's  brewery,  for  $77.50  per  foot.  The 
aggregate  amount  of  sales  was  7684  feet  front,  producing 
$80,601." 

It  was  after  these  sales  had  gotten  under  way  that 
real  estate  values  in  St.  Louis  began  to  "jump."  as 
will  be  seen  by  the  following  table : 

ASSESSED  VALUE  OF  BEAL  ESTATE  IN  ST.  LOUIS. 

For  the  year  1842 $12,101,018 

1850 29,676,649 

1852 38,281,668 

1853 39,3(.tr,isr> 

1854 41.104,921 

1855 42,456,757 

1856 60,689,625 

1857 73,662.043 

1858 82,160,449 

1859 92,340,870 

^Ye  do  not,  however,  by  any  means  wish  to  imply 
that  the  real  estate  interest  was  stagnant  previous  to 
this.  On  the  contrary,  there  had  been,  as  has  already 
been  shown,  a  steady  and  rapid  rise  in  values  all  along. 
It  has  been  satisfactory  as  regards  St.  Louis ;  it 
would  be  enormous  in  respect  to  any  other  commu- 
nity, Chicago  excepted.  A  few  salient  facts  culled 
from  various  sources  will  illustrate  this. 

Augustin  Langlois  conveyed  to  Albert  Tison,  Nov. 
29,  1804,  in  the  Carondelet  portion  of  St.  Louis,  two 


SAINT   LOUIS   AS  A  CENTRE   OF  TRADE. 


1029 


hundred  arpens,  "just  as  it  is  from  top  to  bottom," 
for  fifty-five  dollars. 

The  first  recorded  conveyance  of  a  lot  within  the 
limits  of  the  old  French  village  of  St.  Louis  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  United  States  government  was  on 
Jan.  15,  1805,  when  Francis  Liberge,  Jr.,  sold  to 
Dominick  Huge  a  lot  two  hundred  and  forty  feet  front 
on  Second  Street,  between  Market  and  Chestnut 
Streets,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  deep  westward. 
The  price  for  this  piece  was  stated  in  the  deed  to  be 
four  hundred  dollars. 

A  tract  of  fifteen  or  sixteen  acres  a  little  northwest 
of  the  old  City  Hotel,  corner  of  Third  and  Vine 
Streets,  was  bought  at  an  early  day  by  a  Mr.  Earl,  of 
Baltimore,  for  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  He  did 
not  consider  it  worth  the  taxes,  and  let  it  go. 

In  1805,  Joseph  Lacroix  sold  to  Louis  Lemonde, 
for  forty  dollars,  forty  arpens,  or  nearly  thirty-five 
acres,  situated  in  the  vicinity  of  the  present  Lindell 
and  Laclede  Hotels. 

The  first  acquirement  of  the  well-known  Lucas 
estate  was  recorded  on  Dec.  14,  1807.  The  deed 
shows  that  Pre.  Duchouquette  sold  "  to  John  B.  C. 
Lucas,  first  judge  of  the  Territory  of  Louisiana,  resid- 
ing in  this  town  of  St.  Louis,  a  house  built  of  logs 
stuck  into  ground,  a  barn  built  of  cedar  wood,  the 
house  being  underwalled  and  covered  with  shingles, 
the  whole  lying  and  being  situated  on  two  sites  of  the 
ordinary  size  and  dimensions  in  this  town."  The 
deed  further  recites  the  location,  which  was  on  the 
north  side  of  Chestnut  Street,  from  Second  to  Third 
Street.  The  sale  was  "  in  consideration  of  six  hun- 
dred dollars'  worth  of  peltry,  that  is  to  say,  two  pounds 
and  a  half  of  shaved  deerskin  and  marketable  per  dol- 
lar." Judge  Lucas  paid  one-third  of  the  six  hundred 
dollars  in  cash,  and  gave  a  note  for  the  balance.  Judge 
Lucas  died  in  1843,  owning,  according  to  inventory 
in  the  Probate  Court,  $5*7,688  of  personal  estate,  five 
lots  in  the  old  town  of  St.  Louis,  all  that  portion  of 
the  then  city  from  Fourth  to  Eighth  Street,  between 
Walnut  and  Market,  fifty  acres  from  Eleventh  to 
Seventeenth  Street,  between  Market  and  St.  Charles 
Streets,  and  four  hundred  and  eighty-eight  acres  in 
other  parts  of  St.  Louis  County.  The  assessed  value 
of  the  entire  real  estate  in  1842  was  $136,890  for  city 
and  $150,000  for  country  property. 

The  first  assessment  of  property  for  taxation  in  the 
town  of  St.  Louis  of  which  there  is  any  record  was 
in  1811.  The  total  assessed  value  of  real  and  per- 
sonal property  was  $134,516;  the  rate  of  taxation 
was  one-half  of  one  per  cent.,  and  the  amount  of 
taxes  paid  was  $672.58.  The  heaviest  tax-payer 
within  the  town  was  Auguste  Chouteau,  and  his 


property  was  valued  at  $15,664.  This  Chouteau  also 
owned  about  $61,000  worth  of  property  in  the  county 
outside  of  the  then  town,  but  which  in  latter  years 
became  a  part  of  the  present  city.  Other  large  prop- 
i  erty-owners  of  that  time,  whose  estates  were  not  then 
in  the  city,  but  subsequently  added,  were  Judge  J.  B. 
C.  Lucas,  valued  at  $10,555  ;  John  O'Fallon,  $2450  ; 
William  Clark,  $19,930;  William  Christy,  $16,000; 
and  Henry  Von  Phul,  $8175. 

In  1816  a  lot  sixty-five  feet  front  on  Main  Street, 
between  Locust  and  Vine,  and  running  through  to 
Second  Street,  was  bought  for  $1200.  In  December, 
1850,  a  little  more  than  one-third  of  the  same  lot  sold 
for  $56,000.  Prior  to  this  time  it  had  yielded  an  im- 
mense rent  for  many  years. 

In  other  parts  of  the  town  of  St.  Louis  at  that  time 
(1816)  property  was  sold  at  merely  a  nominal  figure, 
by  the  arpent  or  lot.  There  was  scarcely  any  en- 
hancement in  the  value  of  property  from  that  time 
until  the  years  1829  and  1830. 

In  the  year  1829  we  find  that  a  lot  on  the  corner 
of  Morgan  and  Fifth  was  sold  for  three  dollars  and 
fifty  cents  per  foot.  In  the  year  1832  property  on 
the  corner  of  Fifth  and  Cerre  Streets  was  sold  for 
two  dollars  and  fifty  cents  per  foot.  In  the  same  year 
ninety-five  feet  on  the  northeast  corner  of  Seventh  and 
Spruce  Streets  was  sold  for  one  dollar  and  eighty 
cents  per  foot.  It  was  worth  from  three  hundred  to 
four  hundred  dollars  per  foot  in  1859.  In  the  same 
year  (1832)  property  on  the  corner  of  Fifth  and  Gra- 
tiot  Streets  was  sold  for  two  dollars  per  foot. 

In  the  year  1835  property  on  the  corner  of  Wash 
and  Sixth  Streets  was  sold  for  the  sum  of  seven  dol- 
lars and  fifty  cents  per  foot.  In  the  same  year  a  lot 
at  the  corner  of  Hickory  and  Seventh  Streets  was  sold 
for  one  dollar  per  foot,  and  the  whole  of  block  157 
was  sold  for  the  sum  of  three  hundred  dollars.  In 
the  same  year  the  lot  on  Broadway  opposite  Franklin 
Avenue,  upon  which  Wimer's  new  building  is  now 
situated,  was  sold  for  ten  dollars  per  foot. 

In  the  year  1836  property  on  Seventh  Street,  be- 
tween Wash  and  Carr,  was  sold  for  six  dollars  per 
foot. 

In  the  same  year,  property  on  Green  Street,  be- 
tween Tenth  and  Eleventh,  sold  for  three  dollars  per 
foot;  on  Eleventh,  between  Green  and  Morgan  Streets, 
for  three  dollars  per  foot ;  on  Austin  Street,  between 
Twelfth  and  Fourteenth,  for  about  sixty  cents  average 
per  foot ;  on  Market  Street,  between  Third  and  Fourth 
Streets,  at  twenty  dollars  per  foot;  and  on  the  corner 
of  Clark  Avenue  and  Seventh  Street,  for  six  dollars 
per  foot. 

In    1837    property   on    Twelfth    Street,    between 


1030 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Brooklyn  and  Howard  Streets,  was  sold  for  five  dol- 
lars per  foot. 

In  1841,  at  the  northwest  corner  of  Broadway  and 
Jefferson  Streets,  at  eight  dollars  per  foot. 

In  the  same  year,  on  the  corner  of  Chambers  and 
Ninth  Streets,  for  five  dollars  per  foot. 

Property  on  Olive  Street,  in  the  vicinity  of  Twelfth 
and  Thirteenth  Streets,  sold  as  late  as  1844  for  from 
twelve  to  thirteen  dollars  per  foot. 

Take  Stoddard's  addition,  for  instance,  which  was 
sold  in  the  fall  of  1851.  Property  on  the  corner  of 
Locust  and  Beaumont  Streets  was  then  sold  for  fifteen 
dollars  per  foot;  on  the  corner  of  Washington  Av- 
enue and  Garrison  Avenue  for  five  dollars  and  sev- 
enty-four cents  per  foot ;  on  the  corner  of  Franklin 
Avenue  and  Ewing  Avenue  for  fifteen  dollars  per  foot ; 
on  the  corner  of  Lucas  Avenue  and  Ewing  Avenue 
for  ten  dollars ;  on  the  corner  of  Lucas  and  Leffing- 
well  Avenues  for  the  same  price,  and  at  the  same  ratio 
throughout  the  whole  addition. 

Eight  years  later  this  property  was  held  at  sixty 
to  one  hundred  dollars  per  foot.  On  Chouteau  Av- 
enue land  worth  twenty  dollars  in  1851  was  held  at 
above  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  in  1859.  It  was 
noted  this  latter  year  that  there  was  a  regular  and 
systematic  ratio  of  property  value  enhancement,  and 
the  reason  assigned  for  this — undoubtedly  the  true 
reason,  too — was  that,  unlike  many  cities,  St.  Louis 
had  not  grown  to  her  proud  position  in  a  day  or  a 
year.  Nor  will  she,  like  many  of  them,  cease  to  en- 
large and  prosper  at  the  option  of  speculators.  Man- 
ufactories and  business  of  every  kind  and  character 
have  steadily  increased  and  kept  pace  with  this  im- 
mense enhancement  in  the  value  of  property.  Build- 
ings have  been  constantly  going  up,  yet  not  fast 
enough  to  accommodate  the  immense  emigration  con- 
stantly swelling  the  population.  In  fact,  the  city  has 
never  been  so  prosperous,  and  the  future  is  even  more 
promising  than  the  past  has  been  satisfactory.  There 
is  to-day  more  foreign  capital  in  the  city  and  State 
seeking  investment  in  real  estate,  business,  and  manu- 
factories than  there  has  ever  been  in  any  previous 
three  years  together.  There  is  a  larger  margin  for 
speculation  in  real  property  in  St.  Louis  than  there 
has  ever  been. 

Real  estate  is  enhancing  in  value  more  and  more 
rapidly  every  year,  and  it  must  continue  to  do  so  until 
the  vast  territory  stretching  as  far  west  as  the  Rocky 
Mountains  shall  be  densely  populated  and  pours  its 
immense  harvests  annually  into  our  markets.  It  is 
true  that  it  requires  more  money  to  invest  largely  than 
it  did  a  few  years  ago,  but  the  profits  are  greater  in 
proportion  to  the  investment  than  they  ever  were. 


There  is  not  a  single  city  in  the  Union  where  rents 
yield  such  a  percentage  on  the  value  of  the  property, 
and  yet  any  number  of  houses  in  any  locality  could 
readily  be  rented,  if  they  were  finished,  at  the  same 
profits. 

Continuing  these  illustrations,  we  find  it  noted  that 
"  when  Mr.  Cozens  made  the  survey,  property  on  Lin- 
dell  Avenue,  west  of  Grand,  could  have  been  bought 
at  from  three  to  five  dollars  per  front  foot ;  it  is  now 
worth  in  many  places  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars. 
He  has  seen  property  on  Fifth  Street  sell  for  two  dol- 
lars and  fifty  cents  and  three  dollars  per  foot, — two 
hundred  and  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  a  lot  were 
high  prices ;  now  the  same  property  is  valued  at  over 
fifteen  hundred  dollars  per  front  foot.  In  the  early 
'40's  Henry  Chouteau  sold  at  auction  two  hundred 
feet  front  on  Seventh  Street,  corner  of  Spruce,  at  fifty 
cents  per  front  foot.  In  Stoddard's  addition,  along  in 
the  middle  '50's,  property  sold  at  six  and  twelve  dol- 
lars per  front  foot ;  to-day  the  same  property  is  worth 
from  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  two  hundred  dollars. 
Mr.  Cozens  laid  out  in  1861-62  the  Camp  Jackson 
tract,  which  took  in  from  Garrison  Avenue,  or  Thir- 
tieth Street  to  King's  Highway,  south  of  Olive, 
through  which  Pine  and  Chestnut  Streets  were  pro- 
jected. At  the  first  sale,  about  1863,  property  in  that 
tract  brought  from  ten  to  fifteen  dollars  per  front  foot ; 
to-day  it  is  worth  from  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  two 
hundred  dollars. 

"  In  1841,  with  Mr.  Brown,  Mr.  Cozens  laid  out 
William  Christy's  western  addition,  from  Fourteenth 
Street  west  to  Jefferson  Avenue,  and  between  St. 
Charles  Street  and  Cass  Avenue ;  John  Mullanphy's 
estate,  north  of  Cass  Avenue,  from  Broadway  west  to 
Jefferson  Avenue ;  a  sub-division  for  L.  A.  Benoist, 
W.  G.  and  G.  W.  Ewing,  on  the  south  side  of  Cass 
and  east  of  Jefferson  Avenue,  property  in  which  sold 
for  from  one  to  five  dollars  per  front  foot." 

Here  follow  some  newspaper  clippings : 

1843. — "The  value  of  the  real  and  personal  property  ju  the 
city  of  St.  Louis  reported  by  the  late  assessment  is  $11,721,- 
425.91.  The  reports  from  the  treasurer  say  it  will  be  necessary 
to  levy  a  tax  of  one  per  cent,  on  the  assessment  to  meet  the  de- 
mands of  the  current  year." 

1844.— "The  total  value  of  the  taxable  property  of  this  city 
as  assessed  during  the  present  year,  and  just  approved  by  the 
board  of  aldermen,  is  $14,843,700.  Last  year  the  assessed 
value  was  about  $1 1,000,000. 

'•  It  will  be  seen  by  an  advertisement  in  this  paper  that  Mr. 
Lucas  designs  to  offer  at  public  sale  a  large  number  of  his  lots, 
situated  in  the  rear  of  the  Planters'  House,  and  in  what  must 
be  the  most  fashionable  and  agreeable  part  of  the  city.  The 
location  is  between  Market  and  Olive  Streets,  and  extending 
from  Thirteenth  to  Sixteenth  Streets." 

1845. — "  Add  the  three  districts  together,  and  the  total  num- 
ber of  houses  erected  in  1844  in  the  corporate  limits  of  St. Louis 


SAINT   LOUIS   AS  A  CENTRE   OF   TRADE. 


1031 


may  be  set  down  at  eleven  hundred  and  forty-six.  Of  these 
many  were  churches,  public  edifices,  and  costly  private  resi- 
dences. But  great  as  the  improvement  was  in  1844,  unless 
some  very  unexpected  reverse  comes  upon  us,  the  amount  to 
be  expended  in  building  in  1845  will  quite  equal  it. 

"Mr.  Lucas  intends,  we  understand,  this  season  to  make  an 
improvement  which  will  add  greatly  to  the  value  of  the  prop- 
erty in  that  quarter,  and  increase  the  population  west  of  the 
proposed  improvement. 

"We  understand  that  he  will  open  Twelfth  Street,  one  hun- 
dred and  forty  or  sixty  feet  wide,  from  Market  to  St.  Charles 
Street,  the  breadth  of  five  blocks.  Fifty  feet  or  so  in  the  centre 
of  the  street  will  be  reserved  for  a  market-house  which  he  will 
erect  this  season  at  his  own  cost,  leaving  a  wide  street  on  each 
Bide  of  the  market." 

1849. — ''  The  assessment  of  the  real  estate  in  the  city  of  St. 
Louis  for  the  year  1849,  as  appears  from  the  assessor's  books,  is 
as  follows : 

Old  Limits. 


Total. 


First  Ward 

Second  Ward 

Third  Ward 

Fourth  Ward.... 

Fifth  Ward 

Sixth  Ward  ... 


New  Limits. 
$404,024.61     $2,651,677.96     $3,065,702.57   j 
2,729,208.92          660,539.47       3,389,948.39 

2,063,716.70 

1,516,578.44 

2,075,483.15 

6,995,988.62 


4,726,991.43 

4,035,483.83 

1,192.470.69 

323,388.66 


6,790,708.13 
5,552,062.27 
3,267,953.84 
7,319,377.28 


$13,421,568.14  $15,963,984.34  $29,385,552.48 

lNr>0. — "We  have  said  that  we  reckon  the  buildings  erected 
this  year  by  the  thousand.  By  reference  to  the  published  tables 
it  will  be  seen  that  their  number  reaches  two  thousand  four 
hundred  and  fifty.  The  money  expended  on  their  construction 
amounts  to  the  sum  of  £7,173,155." 

1851. — "Large  Sale  of  Land. — The  large  sale  of  land  which' 
has  been  going  on  for  two  days  past  in  the  '  Union  Addition'  to 
St.  Louis,  or  '  Capitol  Hill,'  was  closed  yesterday.  One  hundred 
and  sixty  lots  were  sold,  and  the  aggregate  of  the  sales  is 
$88,063.44.  This  addition  is  situated  near  the  new  reservoir  of 
the  city  water-works,  in  the  most  elevated  part  of  the  city,  and 
full  two  miles  from  the  court-house. 

"The  Stoddard  sale,  conducted  by  Leffingwell  &  Elliott,  was 
closed  yesterday,  the  gross  amount  being  $701,676.  The  whole 
tract  is  now  disposed  of,  and  we  learn  that  many  persons  who 
had  gone  to  the  ground  to  bid  failed  to  secure  any  lots.  So 
great  an  amount  of  property  has  never  been  offered  or  sold  in 
this  city  at  one  time,  and  the  aggregate  returns  of  purchasers 
evince  the  confidence  of  strangers  as  well  as  our  own  citizens 
in  the  stability  and  prospects  of  our  city." 

1855. — "The  sale  of  the  Centre  Market  property,  owned  by 
the  city,  took  place  yesterda}*,  and  was  attended  by  a  great 
number  of  persons.  The  whole  property  produced  over 
$174,000." 

It  was  about  this  period  that  the  citizens  of  St. 
Louis  began  to  turn  their  attention  to  suburban  prop- 
erties and  the  construction  of  suburban  villas  and 
cottages.  The  country  in  the  vicinity  of  the  city 
has  long  been  noted  for  its  beauty  and  its  adaptedness 
to  the  elegant  ease  of  country-seats  owned  by  the 
wealthy  and  the  luxurious. 

The  whole  territory  environing  St.  Louis  is  very 
elevated,  undulating  gently  and  gracefully,  in  such 
manner  that  there  is  no  road  leading  from  the  city 
which  docs  not  for  many  miles  reveal  an  innumerable 
succession  of  beautiful  building  eminences.  The 


valleys  which  intervene,  the  vigorous  and  stately  oak 
groves  decking  the  hill-tops  occasionally  or  lining 
the  margin  of  chance  brooks,  the  rich  rolling 
meadows,  the  extensive  and  trim  gardens,  atoning 
by  their  careful  cultivation  and  their  freshness  for 
the  disorder  of  the  gardener's  hut  attached  to  them, 
with  here  and  there  at  rare  intervals  the  elegant 
cottage  and  finely-embellished  grounds  of  some 
wealthy  merchant  from  the  city, — all  combine  to 
make  a  picturesque  and  attractive  landscape.  An 
afternoon  ride  over  the  Bellefontaine  road,  the  Caron- 
deletroad,  the  Manchester  road,  or  over  Grand  Avenue 
sustains  the  assumption  that  there  is  no  city  of  the 
West,  at  any  rate,  whose  suburbs  reveal  greater  nat- 
ural beauties  than  those  of  St.  Louis. 

But  until  the  periods  referred  to,  these  beauties  had 
been  lost  upon  the  wealthy,  since  they  had  developed  no 
fondness  for  suburban  or  country  life.  Now,  however, 
this  began,  and  elegant  mansions  and  villas  began  to 
spring  up  about  Compton  Hill,  Cote  Brilliante,  and 
the  Carondelet  road,  and  later  along  the  railroads 
leading  into  the  city. 

About  this  time,  also,  the  people  began  to  take 
note  of  the  pace  at  which  real  estate  values  were 
being  accelerated,  and  to  look  upon  holdings  of  city 
lots  as  about  as  rapid  a  means  of  getting  rich  as  any 
one  need  employ.  They  recalled,  for  example,  that 

"in  the  year  1840,  St.  Louis,  although  a  place  of  importance, 
evinced  nothing  foreshadowing  her  present  prosperity.  Manu- 
factories of  all  kinds  were  few,  her  mercantile  operations  limited, 
and  real  estate  was  held  at  merely  a  nominal  figure.  She  was, 
in  fact,  dependent  entirely  upon  other  places  for  almost  every 
article  for  home  consumption.  In  1836,  only  four  years  pre- 
vious to  the  time  of  which  we  speak,  property  was  offered  on 
the  corner  of  Eighth  and  Pine  Streets  for  ten  dollars  per  foot, 
and  could  not  be  sold  from  the  fact  that  every  one  regarded  the 
price  as  enormously  fictitious.  The  whole  western  part  of  the 
city,  say  from  Eighth  Street  westwardly,  was  then  a  common, 
and  few  imagined  that  it  would  ever  be  used  for  anything  else. 
In  1839  the  eastern  half  of  the  block  where  the  Planters'  House 
is  now  was  sold  for  the  sum  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  per 
foot.  Every  one  regarded  the  purchaser  as  'done  for'  in  that 
speculation.  The  property  would  to-day  (the  year  1859)  sell 
for  fifteen  hundred  dollars  per  foot.  The  best  property  on 
Main  Street  would  not  sell  for  more  than  three  hundred  dollars 
prior  to  the  great  fire  of  1849. 

"In  the  years  1839  and  1840  property  on  Lucas  Place  could 
not  have  been  sold  for  three  dollars  per  foot,  and  a  sale  was  ef- 
fected by  Messrs.  Belt  A  Priest  a  few  days  since  at  the  round 
sum  of  two  hundred  and  fifty-one  dollars  per  foot.  But  we  are 
asked  the  question,  How  do  you  account  for  this  rapid  enhance- 
ment in  the  value  of  real  estate  ?  Is  it  permanent,  and  will  not 
this  state  of  things  terminate  in  total  bankruptcy  if  it  continues  ? 
They  who  propound  such  questions  know  little  of  the  illimit- 
able and  inexhaustible  resources  of  our  great  city.  St.  Louis, 
although  in  its  infancy,  possesses  the  power  of  a  giant.  The 
history  of  the  world  fails  to  present  a  single  example  of  a  city 
growing  to  such  greatness  when  fostered  by  its  commercial  posi- 
tion alone.  It  cannot  be  claimed  that  the  country  back  of  St. 


1032 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Louis  has  aided  her  much,  for  by  far  the  greatest  portion  of  it 
is  an  unbroken  wilderness. 

"The  maximum  value  of  real  estate  in  St.  Louis  has  not  been 
attained.  There  is  to-day  a  larger  margin  for  speculation  and 
an  inevitable  certainty  of  a  more  rapid  increase  than  there  was 
ten  or  twenty  years  ago.  We  are  gratified  that  Eastern  capi- 
talists have  become  awake  to  this  fact,  and  are  investing  largely 
in  real  estate  in  our  city.  We  invite  more  capital ;  there  is  room 
for  immense  amounts  to  be  lucratively  invested.  We  invite  emi- 
gration ;  we  invite  labor.  Come  one,  come  all,  there  is  bread 
and  work  for  us  all." 

And  all  this  is  just  as  true  of  1883  as  it  was  of 
1859.  The  maximum  value  of  real  estate  in  St.  Louis 
is  still  to  be  attained,  and  the  increase  to-day  is  more 
rapid  than  it  was  twenty-five  years  ago. 

The  civil  war  set  things  back  a  whole  lustrum,  but 
did  not  destroy  nor  even  injure  the  roots  of  progress 
and  development.  These,  indeed,  seemed  to  strengthen 
and  pierce  deeper  and  take  firmer  grip  of  the  soil 
during  the  period  when  they  were  prevented  from 
sending  shoots  upwards.  By  1870  all  activities  had 
been  resumed,  as  the  following  record  of  building  in 
that  year  shows : 


Brick. 

Frame. 

Stone. 

Iron. 

Total. 

January  ... 
February- 
March  
April  

$170,700 
495,900 
565,000 
604,775 
46,496 
401,175 
727,330 
346,434 
408,250 
521,400 
217,625 
130,000 

$1,200 
5,500 
2,700 
10,600 
13,500 

"2,250 
100 
850 
1,200 
625 

$171,900 
501,400 
657,700 
665,375 
59,996 
456,175 
729,580 
346,534 
417,100 
523,600 
228,350 
130,000 

$90,000 

$50,000 

June  

55,000 



July 

August  
September. 
October  
November. 
December.. 

8,000 
1,000 
10,000 

Total  $4,636,085 

$38,525 

$133,000 

$90,000 

$4,887,710 

The  total  number  of  building  permits  granted  during  the 
year  was  1228.  From  this  amount  there  should  be  deducted 
200  for  small  additions  not  properly  classed  as  buildings.  This 
leases  1028  buildings.  To  this  add  500  buildings  erected  aside 
from  permits  granted,  and  also  including  cases  where  permits 
cover  more  than  one  building,  and  there  is  an  approximate 
number  of  buildings  erected  during  the  year  of  1528.  The 
total  estimated  building  outlay  was  equivalent  to  $5,687,710, 
expended  in  buildings  during  the  year. 

Operations  so  extensive  and  so  costly  as  this  re- 
quired, of  course,  great  economy  in  the  regulation  of 
expenditures  and  the  selection  of  materials.  Fortu- 
nately, St.  Louis  is  very  rich  in  cheap  and  handsome 
building  materials  of  every  sort.  Nowhere  can  better 
lime,  sand,  and  bricks  be  found,  taken  right  out  of  the 
soil  on  which  the  city  is  built.  As  early  as  1839, 
Samuel  Head  began  to  quarry  and  manufacture  marble 
from  a  quarry  under  the  city,  as  is  recounted  in  the 
following  letter  from  Mr.  Garesche  : 


"On  my  arrival  in  this  city,  I  was  struck  with  the  marble 
appearance  of  the  stone,  but  was  unable  to  procure  a  person 
who  understoq^  polishing  it;  in  the  mean  time,  Mr.  Samuel 
Head,  a  young  man  lately  come  to  this  place,  whose  business  it 
was,  worked  this  stone,  and  demonstrated  to  the  inhabitants  of 
St.  Louis  how  useless  it  was  to  send  to  the  eastward  for  mantel- 
pieces or  other  marble  monuments  when  they  were  treading 
over  a  soil  so  rich  in  that  species  of  mineral.  This  marble  vies 
with  the  most  beautiful  for  the  fineness  of  its  polish,  nor  are  its 
variegated  accidents  or  color  inferior  to  any.  It  contains  abun- 
dance of  calcareous  spar,  and  some,  probably,  oxide  of  iron,  which 
shows  itself  in  scarlet  spots  of  the  most  gaudy  hue.  This  ledge, 
about  four  feet  in  thickness,  stands  between  two  strata  of  lime- 
stone. The  undermost  has  been  used  to  this  day  as  a  fine  build- 
ing material.  It  is  that  of  which  our  curbstones  are  made  and 
our  streets  are  macadamized.  It  receives  also  a  very  fine  polish ; 
it  is  then  of  a  cream  color,  with  light  gray  veins.  Under  this 
stratum  is  one  of  silex.  Mr.  Head  has  also  discovered  in  the 
same  quarry  another  kind  of  marble  of  a  nankeen  hue,  with 
black  veins  running  through,  pretty  much  in  imitation  of  scales 
of  a  fish.  The  last  specimen  has,  however,  been  found  in  but 
small  detached  pieces.  There  is  scarcely  any  doubt  when  the 
subject  is  further  investigated  but  what  some  new  discoveries 
will  be  made.  The  banks  of  the  river  for  some  considerable 
distance  appear  to  be  of  the  same  nature,  and  must  contain  the 
same  or  some  other  mineral  wealth,  which  may  become  a  source 
of  profitable  exportation  to  the  community  at  large.'' 

St.  Louis  possesses  the  advantage  of  being  built  in 
a  location  and  upon  ground  where  the  best  of  bricks 
are  easily  attainable  at  low  prices.  It  is  worthy  of 
note  that  the  appearance  presented  by  the  walls  of  the 
many  thousands  of  fine  residences  and  business  houses 
attracts  the  attention  of  every  visitor  to  the  city.  To 
build  up  a  city  like  St.  Louis,  almost  entirely  of  brick, 
requires  a  large  supply  of  suitable  clay  for  their  man- 
ufacture, but,  as  great  as  the  draft  has  been,  the  supply 
is  as  yet  comparatively  untouched,  and  as  demands  are 
made  and  investigations  prosecuted,  the  quality  in- 
creases in  value  and  importance,  and  foreign  markets, 
that  but  a  few  years  ago  furnished  clay  for  crucibles 
used  in  smelting  furnaces,  fire-brick,  etc.,  now  use 
that  of  St.  Louis  for  their  supplies,  thereby  acknowl- 
edging the  superiority  of  the  clay  found  in  St.  Louis 
over  that  of  other  sections.  So  important  is  this 
branch  of  trade  becoming,  that  several  firms  make 
this  traffic  an  especial  business,  and  are  almost  daily 
filling  orders  for  Cincinnati,  Louisville,  Boston,  New 
York,  Philadelphia,  Pittsburgh,  and  other  large  man- 
ufacturing cities  in  our  own  country,  while  orders  have 
also  come  from  Stourbridge,  England,  from  whence 
clay  used  to  be  shipped  to  different  cities  of  this 
country. 

The  manufacture  of  brick  enters  very  largely  into 
the  active  use  of  capital,  and,  like  every  other  branch 
of  industrial  manufacture,  has  undergone  many 
changes  and  has  been  attended  with  many  improve- 
ments within  the  period  of  time  that  has  passed 
since  the  St.  Louis  trading-post  began  to  give  way  be- 


SAINT   LOUIS   AS  A  CENTRE   OF  TRADE. 


1033 


fore  the  march  of  progress,  and  the  manufacturers  of 
the  rude  pieces  of  tempered  earthen  mortar  they  called 
brick — some  of  which  may  still  be  seen  in  some  of 
the  pioneer  brick  houses  of  St.  Louis — would  look 
with  wonder  upon  the  almost  scientific  nicety  and 
difference  in  shape  of  the  brick  now  made  as  com- 
pared with  those  they  fashioned,  if  it  were  possible 
for  them  to  be  raised  from  their  sleep  of  death  and 
shown  through  some  of  the  St.  Louis  brick-yards. 
But,  notwithstanding  the  many  different  kinds  of 
brick-making  machines  that  have  been  invented,  the 
old  hand  process  seems  to  be  regarded  with  a  very 
great  degree  of  partiality,  as  affording  a  better  and 
more  perfect  brick  for  building  purposes  than  any 
machine  ever  yet  introduced,  although  some  of  the 
machines  turn  out  an  excellent  quality.  With  ma- 
chinery, brick  can  be  made  much  faster  than  by  hand, 
but  it  is  maintained  by  many  builders  and  owners  of 
houses  that  the  rapidity  with  which  they  are  made 
renders  it  impossible  for  them  to  be  made  perfect  and 
solid  in  every  respect,  and  particularly  so  with  those 
made  from  dry  clay.  A  smooth,  even  surface  and  solid 
formation  are  the  qualities  requisite  to  a  good  brick, 
and  in  many  localities  clay  from  which  such  bricks 
can  be  made  is  scarcely  attainable.  Its  absence  ac- 
counts for  the  rough,  cracked,  and  almost  shale-like 
appearance  of  many  of  the  walls  of  brick  houses  to  be 
seen  in  many  sections  of  the  country. 

In  some  places  it  is  impossible  to  find  a  clay  that 
will  not  crack  either  in  sun-drying  or  burning,  how- 
ever well-tempered  the  mortar  may  have  been,  and 
instances  have  been  known  where  kilns,  in  which  a 
hundred  thousand  had  been  set,  would  not  turn  out 
more  than  twenty-five  to  fifty  thousand  merchantable 
brick.  In  such  cases  heavy  pecuniary  loss  was  un- 
avoidable, and  hence  the  importance  to  brick-moulders 
of  finding  clay  that  would  withstand  the  action  of  the 
sun  when  turned  out  in  the  yard  to  dry,  or  of  the  fire 
while  kiln-burning.  In  the  earlier  times  slop  brick 
— that  is,  brick  made  by  rolling  the  mortar  in  water 
and  casting  it  in  wet  moulds — were  more  generally 
made  than  any  other  kind,  but  the  difficulty  of  obtaining 
a  smooth  surface,  a  very  desirable  consideration,  was  a 
great  objection  to  that  style  of  brick,  and  it  gradually 
gave  way  to  other  methods,  as  did  also  the  old  way  of 
preparing  the  mortar  by  tramping  it  with  horses,  oxen, 
or  even,  in  some  instances,  by  men  and  horses.  But 
these  methods  of  brick-making  gave  way  to  sand 
brick.  These  are  made  by  rolling  the  mortar  in 
sand  on  the  moulding-table  and  casting  it  into 
moulds,  which  are  also  well  sanded  by  being  dipped 
in  a  box  of  sand  by  the  off-bearers  after  every  turn- 
ing out  on  the  yard.  It  is  very  justly  maintained  that 


this  process  secures  more  smoothly-surfaced,  nicely- 
cornered,  and  more  solid  brick  than  those  moulded 
in  slop  or  water,  and  that  it  also  secures  a  brighter, 
better  color  in  burning.  This  process  of  brick-mould- 
ing is  universally  followed  by  the  different  hand  brick- 
yards of  St.  Louis. 

White  Brick. — A  great  part  of  this  brick  formerly 
used  was  brought  from  other  sections,  Milwau- 
kee, Wis.,  being  the  most  noted  place  of  the  man- 
ufacture of  that  variety.  Within  the  last  twenty 
years,  however,  it  has  been  satisfactorily  settled  that 
in  St.  Louis  there  is  even  a  better  quality  of  clay  for 
their  manufacture  than  that  used  at  Milwaukee,  and 
their  manufacture  has  begun  on  a  large  scale.  The 
bed  of  clay  from  which  they  are  made  is  supposed  to 
be  inexhaustible. 

This  clay  burns  to  a  beautiful  white,  producing  a 
brick  every  way  equal  to,  and  in  certain  respects  su- 
perior to,  those  made  at  Milwaukee.  Their  color 
when  properly  made  is  lighter  and  more  uniform, 
while  the  shrinkage  is  uniform,  far  more  so  than  in 
the  Milwaukee  brick.  From  tests  made  by  the  engi- 
neers of  the  water-works  and  others,  their  tenacity 
is  shown  to  be  equal  to  any  in  government  reports, 
sustaining  flatways  two  thousand  pounds  on  supports 
six  inches  apart  with  a  fulcrum  in  the  centre.  Their 
manufacture  was  attempted  before  the  late  war,  and 
about  one  hundred  thousand  made  and  burnt,  but  on 
account  of  the  war  the  enterprise  was  abandoned 
until  1867.  Pressed  white  brick,  it  is  said,  are 
much  less  expensive  than  stone  fronts  and  look 
nearly  as  well,  and  it  is  therefore  a  source  of  con- 
gratulation that  they  are  manufactured  in  St.  Louis 
instead  of  imported  from  Milwaukee. 

Fire-Clay. — The  increase  in  the  establishment  of 
furnaces  requiring  the  use  of  fire-brick,  crucibles, 
retorts,  etc.,  has  necessarily  increased  the  demand 
for  these  articles.  In  the  earlier  periods  of  the 
manufacturing  interests  of  our  country,  clay  for  the 
manufacture  of  crucibles,  retorts,  etc.,  as  well  as  some 
of  the  manufactured  articles,  were  brought  from 
Stourbridge,  England,  and  Germany.  The  cost  of 
either  the  clay  or  the  manufactured  article  was  a 
matter  of  no  little  moment,  and  hence  the  discovery 
of  fire-clay  in  this  country  became  a  matter  of  con- 
gratulation to  manufacturers,  and  as  investigations 
and  discoveries  have  been  extended,  beds  of  the 
purest  and  best  of  this  material  have  been  found, 
and  now,  instead  of  importing  it  either  from  Ger- 
many or  England,  it  is  exported*  from  America  to  all 
the  manufacturing  points  of  Europe;  but  while  it  is 
found  in  many  sections  of  our  country,  none  rank 
higher  among  manufacturers  than  that  found  at 


1034 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Cheltenham  and  vicinity,  four  miles  from  St.  Louis. 
The  properties  of  the  best  pot-  and  fire-clay  consists 
of  the  following  percentage  of  component  parts  : 

Silica 64.05 

Alumina 23.15 

Oxide  of  iron 1.85 

Carbonate  of  magnesia 95 

Water...  ..   10.00 


100.00 

An  analysis  of  the  Stourbridge  clay  (for  a  long 
period  of  years  regarded  as  the  most  nearly  perfect  of 
any  offered  to  the  trade),  made  by  Willis  (see  Watt's 
Diet.  Chem.,  Eng.  Ed.,  vol.  ii.  p.  653),  showed  the 
following  proportion  of  ingredients  : 

Silica 67.34 

Alumina 21.01 

Oxide  of  iron 2.03 

Alkalies 1.38 

Water 8.24 


100.00 

An  analysis  of  the  Cheltenham  clay,  by  Profes-  | 
sor  A.  Litton,  shows  that  it  is  much  nearer  a  perfect 
article,  taking  the  analysis  of  the  best  pot-clay,  as 
submitted   by  Richardson,  as   authority,  than    that  I 
known  as  Homer's  best   pot-clay  from  Stourbridge,  j 
England.    The  analysis  of  both  the  crude  and  washed 
clay  is  as  follows : 

Crude  Clay. 

Silica 61.02 

Alumina 25.64 

Oxide  of  iron 1.70 

Lime 70 

Magnesia .08 

Potassa .48 

Soda 25 

Sulphur 45 

Water 9.68 


100.00 
W linked  Clay. 

Silica 59.60 

Alumina 26.41 

Oxide  of  iron 1.61 


1.00 

07 

29 

16 

, 38 

Water 10.48 


Lime 

Magnesia 
Potassa... 

Soda 

Sulphur 


100.00 

Of  the  exact  date  of  the  finding  of  the  clay  at  Chel- 
tenham we  are  not  fully  advised,  but  Paul  M.  Gratiot 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  fire-brick  in  a  small 
way  as  early  as  1837-38.     His  works  were  situated 
on  what  is  now  known  as  the  Glassby  heirs'  farm,  on  j 
King's  Highway,  and  near  the  residence  of  Hon.  John  \ 
S.  McClure.     Since  then,  however,  the  discovery  of  j 
immense  beds  of  the^clay  have  been  made,  and  several 
large  fire-brick  manufactories   erected,  employing  a 
large  capital  and  several  hundred  mechanics,  laborers, 
etc. 


No  substance  has  ever  been  found  anywhere  that 
approaches  the  Cheltenham  clay.  This  clay  on  being 
first  brought  to  the  surface  and  exposed  to  the  light 
has  an  appearance  similar  to  that  of  stone,  but  after 
being  exposed  to  the  weather  for  a  few  days  it  disin- 
tegrates and  falls  to  pieces.  One-third  of  the  mate- 
rial thus  unearthed  is  preserved  from  exposure  to  the 
weather,  and  this  portion  of  it  is  burned  or  calcined, 
this  process  being  necessary  to  the  proper  working  up 
of  the  material.  After  being  burned  it  is  passed 
through  a  process  of  grinding  or  reduction  from  its 
large  lumps  to  a  certain  degree  of  pulverization  neces- 
sary to  the  manufacture  of  fire-brick  or  whatever  else 
may  be  intended,  and  from  the  Iron  Age  we  extract 
the  following  description  of  the  process  to  which  the 
clay  is  submitted.  This  description  relates  to  other 
works,  but  embraces  the  same  principles  and  ma- 
chinery as  that  used  in  St.  Louis.  It  says, — 

"  Much  care  has  to  be  exerdised  in  the  selection  of  the  clay 
and  its  combinations  in  proper  proportions.  The  brick  are  to 
resist  the  intense  heat  of  the  puddling  furnace,  the  iron  cupola, 
the  locomotive  and  boiler  grate,  as  well  as  the  continuous  heat 
in  other  places  where  the  action  of  fire  is  to  be  resisted.  The 
brick  made  directly  from  the  clay  is  found  to  be  too  solid  and 
too  liable  to  fracture  from  the  heat.  To  remedy  this  and  secure 
a  porous  article  the  pure  and  best  fire-clays  are  calcined,  then 
it  is  taken  and  crushed  by  means  of  large  iron  rollers.  By  this 
process  it  is  reduced  to  a  mass  of  small  particles  ready  for  mix- 
ing with  the  pure  clays.  When  the  proper  ingredients  are  thus 
combined,  the  mixture  is  put  into  a  large  box  or  vat  and  let 
soak  about  a  day.  Then  it  goes  through  the  pug-mill,  by  which 
it  is  ground  fine.  It  is  then  ready  to  be  modeled  into  any  of 
the  required  shapes,  and  they  are  legion.  After  this  has  been 
done  the  bricks  are  placed  on  the  drying  floor,  where  they 
remain  from  six  to  ten  hours.  They  are  then  pressed,  to  give 
them  their  regular  shape.  After  pressing  they  are  again  placed 
upon  a  drying  floor,  where  they  remain  until  dry  enough  to  be 
set  in  the  kilns  for  burning.  The  brick  from  the  modelers  will 
have  to  be  handled  five  times  before  they  are  ready  for  use. 
The  two  defects  that  have  heretofore  existed  in  pressing  blocks 
flatwise  and  by  hand  are  said  to  be,  1st,  the  blocks  were  not 
pressed  hard  enough;  2d,  they  came  out  of  the  mould  of  an  un- 
even thickness.  To  remedy  these  evils  machinery  has  been  in- 
vented within  a  few  years  for  pressing  the  blocks  edgewise,  so 
that  they  come  out  fully  pressed  and  with  a  perfect  uniform 
thickness.  This  make  of  blocks,  therefore,  has  the  advantngo 
that  they  require  no  chipping  or  dressing  in  laying  them  up. 
This  saves  a  great  amount  of  labor  in  lining  or  relining  furnaces. 
It  also  makes  a  much  better  job  than  when  laid  with  uneven 
blocks. 

"Next  comes  the  baking  process.  Here  the  round  kilns  are 
used,  which  is  the  form  preferred  by  the  English  and  other 
foreign  makers.  These  improved,  circular,  high-coned  kilns 
are  fired  with  anthracite  coal,  and  have  a  large  number  of  fire- 
chambers  around,  and  the  heat  is  drawn  to  the  centre  of  the 
kiln.  This  arrangement  makes  the  heat  equal  throughout  the 
whole  kiln,  burning  top  and  bottom  brick  alike.  Between  the 
fire-chambers  and  the  bricks,  after  they  are  set  in  the  kiln,  are 
protection-walls  that  prevent  the  heat  from  striking  them, 
carry  it  up  to  the  top  of  the  kiln,  and  then  down  through  its 
centre,  enabling  it  to  escape  through  a  flue  or  pipe  leading 


SAINT  LOUIS   AS  A  CENTRE   OF  TRADE. 


1035 


from  the  bottom  underground  to  the  smokestack  of  the  manu- 
facturing machinery.  It  makes  heat  fast  and  very  intense, 
burning  all  the  brick  thoroughly  and  equally.  Thirty-six 
hours  of  full  heat  are  generally  required  to  burn  the  brick, 
and  about  twenty-four  hours  are  required  to  attain  this  heat. 
The  time  required  for  cooling,  of  course,  varies  with  the 
season. 

"  A  large  number  of  the  fire-bricks  manufactured  here  are 
sent  to  the  manufacturing  establishments  of  the  Lake  Superior 
regions,  while  a  great  many  are  shipped  to  the  South,  and  almost 
all  other  points  where  manufactories  requiring  intense  heating 
apparatuses  are  established;  and  so  superior  are  the  manufac- 
tures of  the  St.  Louis  and  Cheltenham  works  that  wherever 
they  have  been  introduced  they  have  been  awarded  the  pre- 
mium, both  as  to  the  quality  of  the  clay  and  superiority  of 
manufacture.  The  clay  is  becoming  an  article  of  commerce  in 
itself,  and  is  sought  after  from  the  various  manufacturing  cities 
of  our  own  country,  while  some  orders  have  come  from  Europe. 
One  or  two  firms  exist  in  this  city  that  engage  exclusively  in 
its  traffic.  It  is  usually  put  up  in  barrels,  and  is  worth  in  this 
market  sixteen  dollars  per  ton.  Fire-bricks  made  at  the  Chel- 
tenham and  Oak  Hill  Works  have  been  submitted  to  the  severest 
tests  known  to  the  business,  and  pronounced  by  experienced 
men  to  be  of  the  very  best  quality.  For  retorts  and  crucibles, 
and  everything  else  designed  to  be  exposed  to  the  action  of  a 
great  heat,  the  fire-clay  found  in  St.  Louis  County  is  unsur- 
passed, and  is  a  source  of  wealth  little  dreamed  of  by  the  pio- 
neer settlers  of  this  part  of  the  Mississippi  valley.  As  yet  it  is 
not  fully  developed  or  worked  to  any  extent  by  other  than  the 
establishments  already  named ;  but  it  is  not  saying  too  much 
to  predict  that  the  time  is  not  far  in  the  future  when  the  estab- 
lishments to  be  built  up  here  to  shape  and  convert  into  articles 
of  usefulness  will  be  equal  to  those  of  any  part  of  the  Old 
World,  to  which  America  looked  for  many  years  for  her  supply 
of  clay  for  crucibles,  retorts,  etc.,  and  thus  add  millions  of 
money  to  our  home  capital,  and  increase  our  population  by 
thousands." 

According  to  the  tax  assessor's  report  for  1882,  the 
valuation  of  the  real  estate  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis  is 
us  follows  :  In  the  old  limits,  or  within  the  limits 
before  1877,  there  are  63,652  lots,  valued  at  $143,- 
585,820,  and  1417  acres,  valued  at  $3,440,270  ;  total, 
$147,026,090.  In  the  area  between  the  old  and 
present  limits  there  are  18,367  lots,  valued  at  $7,233,- 
670,  and  19,056  acres,  valued  at  $7,917,850 ;  total, 
$15,151,520.  The  grand  total  for  the  entire  city  for 
the  82,019  lots  and  20,473  acres  is  $162,177,610. 

St.  Louis  now  has  about  one-third  of  its  area  cov- 
ered with  building  and  park  improvements.  There 
are  about  three  hundred  and  thirty  miles  of  improved 
streets,  two  hundred  and  fifteen  miles  of  public  and 
district  sewers,  two  hundred  and  thirty  miles  of  water- 
pipe,  eighteen  street  railroads,  having  nearly  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty  miles  of  route  through  the  city,  and 
sixteen  steam  railroads  centering  at  Union  Depot. 
-  The  United  States  government  now  owns  property 
in  real  estate  and  buildings  in  St.  Louis  to  the  value 
of  $5,787,800,  and  the  St.  Louis  school  board  owns 
property  valued  at  $2,382,342.  The  valuation  of 
property  owned  by  private  schools  and  convents  is 


$1,418,465,  and  by  church  corporations,  $3,610,586. 
The  total  amount  of  real  estate  exempt  from  taxation 
in  the  city  is  about  $35,000,000. 

The  increase  in  the  assessed  value  of  real  estate 
in  St.  Louis  in  1882  was  about  fifteen  per  cent,  as 
to  the  entire  city.  In  the  central  part  of  the  city 
twenty  and  twenty-five  per  cent,  increase  was  made, 
while  in  the  suburban  sections  five  to  ten  per  cent, 
additional  value  was  placed  on  real  estate.  But  few 
owners  made  petitions  appealing  from  these  additional 
valuations. 

Below  are  given  samples  of  the  assessments  on 
Washington  Avenue  and  Olive  Street  for  the  past 
two  years,  from  which  some  idea  may  be  obtained  of 
the  increased  values. 

Washington  Avenue. 

Between  Fourth  and  Fifth  Streets: 

Ames'  estate,  90  feet  front,  valued  at  $187,500  in  1881,  and 
$190,000  in  1882. 

William  G.  Clark,  owner,  112  feet  front;  increased  from 
$155,750  to  $174,500. 

Mercantile  Block,  18  feet  front;  increased  from  $17,720  to 
$26,520. 

Between  Fifth  and  Sixth  Streets : 

Mary  F.  Barrett,  71  feet  front ;  increased  from  $82,140  to 
$94,860. 

John  H. Beach,  23  feet  front;  from  $20,570  to  $23,180. 

Alford  Bradford,  70  feet ;  increased  from  $94,800  to  $105,- 
800. 

Charles  Bradford,  30  feet;  from  $43,200  to  $48,200. 

State  Savings  Association,  27  feet ;  from  $19,280  to  $21,000. 

Between  Sixth  and  Seventh  Streets: 

Ames'  estate,  90  feet;  from  $87,200  to  $100,000. 

New  Lindell  Hotel  Company,  182  feet;  from  $474,150  to 
$587,000. 

Between  Seventh  and  Eighth  Streets  : 

Gerard  B.  Allen,  235  feet;  from  $94,580  to  $138,080. 

George  W.  Bull,  22  feet;  from  $17,930  to  $22,240. 

Between  Eighth  and  Ninth  Streets : 

First  Methodist  Church,  94  feet;  from  $35,880  to  $38,000. 

Between  Ninth  and  Tenth  Streets: 

Esther  Collins,  24  feet;  from  $32,330  to  $37,500. 

Olive  Street. 

Between  Fourth  and  Fifth  Streets  : 

Third  National  Bank,  37  feet;  from  $97,000  to  $103,750. 
Between  Sixth  and  Seventh  Streets : 

Provident  Savings-Bank,  25  feet;  from  $39,500  to  $44,500. 
John  B.  Sarpy,  50  feet;  from  $46,330  to  $52,900. 
Between  Sixth  and  Seventh  Streets  : 
Alice  Bacon,  25  feet;  from  $13,870  to  $15,200. 
Between  Seventh  and  Eighth  Streets : 
T.  Benoist,  44  feet;  from  $33,040  to  $40,000. 
Between  Eighth  and  Ninth  Streets: 
Laura  A.  Blossom,  25  feet ;  from  $12,290  to  $15,450. 
Odd-Fellows'  Hall  Association,   127  f«et;   from  $54,000  to 
$60,000. 

Between  Ninth  and  Tenth  Streets : 

Gerard  B.  Allen,  100  feet;  from  $70,500  to  $92,500. 

Pelagie  Berthold,  50  feet;  from  $23,500  to  $26,500. 

Between  Tenth  and  Eleventh  Streets: 

Mary  A.  Calhoun,  24  feet;  from  $8250  to  $12,250. 


1036 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Between  Eleventh  and  Twelfth  Streets : 
Daniel  Catlin,  24  feet ;  from  $8720  to  $9720. 
Nathan  Cole,  29  feet;  from  $11,410  to  $12,800. 

John  Byrne,  Jr.,  the  pioneer,  perhaps,  in  what  has 
grown  to  be  the  colossal  real  estate  business  of  St. 
Louis,  was  born  in  New  York  City,  Aug.  3,  1805. 
His  parents  were  John  Byrne  and  Margaret  O'Don- 
nell,  both  natives  of  County  Donegal,  Ireland.  Little 
is  recorded  of  his  boyhood,  except  that  he  was  edu- 
cated at  Georgetown,  D.  C.,  leaving  school  in  1819  and 
removing  with  his  parents  to  Mobile,  Ala.,  where, 
although  a  mere  boy,  he  was  immediately  associated 
with  his  father  in  mercantile  pursuits,  for  which  he 
early  exhibited  a  special  aptitude. 

On  the  5th  of  March,  1832,  he  was  married  to  Sarah 
M.  Fitzimmons,  a  native  of  Asheville,  N.  C.,  and  of 
Irish  parentage.  This  union  has  proved  a  long  and 
happy  one,  and  on  the  5th  of  March,  1882,  the  cou- 
ple had  the  pleasure  of  celebrating  their  golden  wed- 
ding, amid  the  congratulations  of  a  large  company  of 
their  friends  in  St.  Louis. 

The  ruin  wrought  by  the  panic  of  1837  compelled 
Mr.  Byrne  to  seek  a  new  location.  Accordingly  he 
removed  to  St.  Louis,  where  he  established  a  modest 
dry  goods  house  on  Market  Street.  Few  of  those 
then  engaged  in  business  in  St.  Louis  are  now  living, 
but  one  of  the  few  is  Eugene  Kelly,  who  kept  a  store 
within  a  few  doors  of  his,  and  who  is  now  a  wealthy 
banker  of  New  York. 

In  1840,  Mr.  Byrne  opened  a  real  estate  office  in  a 
little  building  on  Chestnut  Street,  near  Fourth. 
Although  the  honor  has  been  claimed  for  others,  he 
was  perhaps  the  pioneer  in  this  business,  and  H.  W. 
Leffingwell  appears  to  have  been  the  next  person  to 
engage  in  this  as  yet  untried  field. 

Mr.  Byrne's  industry  and  fidelity  to  the  interests  of 
his  patrons  were  speedily  recognized,  and  he  soon  had 
the  satisfaction  of  seeing  his  business  established  on 
a  substantial  basis.  Its  increase  has  been  singularly 
uniform,  a  result  due  perhaps  to  his  conservatism, 
which  prevented  his  engaging  in  the  wild  speculations 
that  proved  so  ruinous  to  others  in  the  real  estate 
trade.  This  caution  begot  confidence  in  him  and 
gained  him  custom,  and  some  of  the  largest  estates  in 
St.  Louis  have  passed  through  his  hands.  It  is  now 
forty-two  years  since  the  business  was  inaugurated, 
and  the  generous  competence  which  Mr.  Byrne  is 
now  enjoying  in  the  evening  of  his  days  is  the  fitting 
reward  for  years  of  watchful  and  incessant  indus- 
try. 

Although  not  a  politician,  Mr.  Byrne  has  not  de- 
clined to  serve  the  public  when  called  upon.  At  one 
time  he  was  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Education, 


serving  with  Chancellor  Eliot,  and  proved  himself  a 
progressive  friend  of  the  public  school  system. 

He  is  a  devoted  member  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
and  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  St.  Vincent  de 
Paul  Association.  When  he  arrived  in  St.  Louis  he 
says  the  population  was  only  eighteen  thousand.  The 
court-house  was  the  only  public  building,  and  that 
was  unfinished.  The  only  Catholic  Churches  were 
the  cathedral  and  the  chapel  of  the  St.  Louis  Uni- 
versity, and  the  only  two  Catholic  institutions  were 
the  St.  Louis  University,  under  Father  Ellet,  and  the 
Convent  of  the  Sacred  Heart. 

Mr.  Byrne  was  a  director  in  the  Central  Savings- 
Bank,  and  when  it  failed  he  lost  his  investments  and 
the  deposits  of  his  house.  He  is  now  a  director  in 
the  Safe  Deposit  Company. 

Mr.  Byrne  has  had  two  children.  Mary  Elizabeth 
was  born  in  New  York  in  1833,  and  in  1856  was 
married  in  St.  Louis  to  Dr.  F.  L.  Haydel,  of  St. 
James  Parish,  La.  Dr.  Haydel  has  been  associated 
with  his  father-in-law  for  many  years  as  superintend- 
ent of  his  business. 

The  fate  of  James  Fitzsimmons  Byrne  was  a  tragic 
one.  He  was  born  in  St.  Louis,  May  27,  1842 ;  at- 
tended school  at  Antwerp,  Belgium,  for  four  years, 
and  on  June  8,  1864,  was  drowned  in  the  Rhine  at 
Bonn,  Prussia.  He  was  a  young  man  of  exceptional 
promise,  and  his  sudden  death  fell  with  crushing 
weight  upon  his  parents. 

Although  now  considerably  beyond  the  Scriptural 
limit  of  "  threescore  years  and  ten,"  Mr.  Byrne  has 
not  until  lately  exhibited  any  marked  decay  of  body 
or  mind.  He  appears  occasionally  at  his  business, 
and  attends  to  many  details,  and  still  manifests  con- 
siderable interest  in  affairs.  Of  a  retiring  nature,  he 
has  always  shunned  publicity,  and  would  prefer,  if 
judged  at  all,  to  be  judged  by  his  deeds.  According 
to  such  a  standard,  there  are  few  of  the  business  men 
of  St.  Louis  who  have  accomplished  more,  not  merely 
in  winning  success  in  business,  but  in  demonstrating 
the  fact  that  enduring  success  is  the  natural  result  of 
patient,  painstaking,  and  unostentatious  labor. 

Marcus  A.  Wolff,  another  prominent  real  estate 
i  agent,  was  born  in  Louisville,  Ky.,  May  14,  1831. 
1  His  father  was  born  in  London,  England,  of  Polish 
'•  parents,  and  came  to  this  country  when  only  nineteen 
years  old.  He  was  a  mechanic  in  moderate  circum- 
stances. Eventually  he  married  Miss  Susan  Frank- 
lin, of  Kentucky.  The  elder  Wolff  was  a  man  of 
sound  common  sense,  and,  so  far  as  he  was  able,  gave 
his  son  a  good  common-school  education.  When  the 
boy  was  only  ten  years  of  age,  however,  necessity 
compelled  him  to  leave  school,  in  order  to  contribute 


THE   MISSISSIPPI  RIVER  AND   ITS  TRIBUTARIES. 


1037 


to  his   own   support  and  to  that  of  the  other  and 
younger  members  of  the  family. 

Hoping  to  better  his  condition,  his  father  removed 
to  St.  Louis,  and  Marcus  found  employment  as  a 
newsboy  and  in  various  capacities  in  the  newspaper 
offices.  The  papers  of  the  city  then  were  the  Mis- 
souri Republican,  the  Evening  Gazette,  the  Missou- 
rian,  and  the  Reveille.  For  several  years  he  was  a 
carrier  on  the  Evening  Gazette  and  the  Reveille,  and 
in  1847  he  went  on  the  Republican,  working  at  the 
press  and  carrying  papers.  The  chief  incidents  of  the 
latter  engagement  were  the  fire  that  destroyed  the 
office  of  the  paper  and  the  cholera  epidemic  of  1849. 
While  the  malady  was  raging  young  Wolff  gave  a 
signal  display  of  energy  :  three  of  the  carriers  of  the 
paper  were  stricken  down,  and  he  insisted  upon  deliv- 
ering the  papers  on  their  routes  in  addition  to  his 
own,  and  for  some  time  did  the  work  of  four  men, 
beginning  at  one  o'clock  A.M.  and  walking  continu- 
ously until  noon.  Such  service  won  the  gratitude 
and  respect  of  his  employers  and  the  admiration  of  his 
acquaintances.  In  this  eminently  practical  school  Mr. 
Wolff  completed  his  business  education. 

In  December,  1852,  he  married  Miss  Eliza  J.  Curtis, 
of  St.  Louis,  and  about  the  same  time  obtained  a  po- 
sition as  teller  and  clerk  in  a  private  banking-house, 
in  which  position  he  soon  acquired  the  reputation  of 
being  the  best  judge  of  bank-notes  in  the  city,  a  dis- 
tinction to  be  proud  of,  for  in  those  days  there  were 
about  twelve  hundred  banks  throughout  the  country 
issuing  notes  of  differing  denomination.  By  judicious 
investment  of  his  savings  he  was  enabled  in  1859  to 
establish  himself  in  business  as  junior  member  of  the 
real  estate  firm  of  Porter  &  Wolff.  The  house  soon 
became  known  as  one  of  the  most  successful  in  St. 
Louis.  In  1868,  Mr.  Porter  retired,  and  Mr.  Wolff  \ 
continued  the  business,  having  purchased  his  partner's 
interest.  In  1872  the  firm  of  M.  A.  Wolff  &  Co. 
was  established.  Under  Mr.  Wolff's  energetic  man- 
agement the  business  grew  rapidly,  and  has  long  been 
perhaps  the  largest  and  most  prosperous  of  its  kind 
in  St.  Louis. 

Pre-eminently  a  business  man,  Mr.  Wolff  has  never 
held  office,  although  a  stanch  Democrat,  and  often 
solicited  to  allow  his  name  to  be  used.  But  recogniz- 
ing the  fact  that  his  own  prosperity  depended  on  that 
of  the  city,  he  has  always  taken  a  deep  interest  in 
whatever  promised  to  advance  her  progress.  He  was 
one  of  the  original  stockholders  in  the  Boatmen's 
Savings  Institution,  and  holds  or  has  held  an  interest 
(mostly  as  director)  in  the  following  institutions: 
Second  National  Bank,  East  St.  Louis  Elevator  Com- 
pany, Hope  Mutual  Insurance  Company,  St.  Louis 
66 


Distillery  Company,  Rapid  Transit  Company,  South 
St.  Louis  Street  Railroad  Company,  and  Real  Estate 
Exchange.  Generally,  it  may  be  said  that  no  legiti- 
mate enterprise  promising  the  advancement  of  the 
city  and  State  has  yet  been  inaugurated  in  which  he 
has  not  manifested  a  deep  interes't. 

Mr.  Wolff  is  of  a  social  nature,  and  is  a  Mason, 
Knight  Templar,  Knight  of  St.  Patrick,  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  St.  Louis  Legion  of  Honor  and  other  so- 
cieties. Throughout  his  life  he  has  been  industrious, 
prudent,  and  saving,  and  as  a  consequence  has  amassed 
a  handsome  competency.  His  residence  at  Cote  Bril- 
liante  is  one  of  the  most  attractive  in  the  city. 

Still  in  the  prime  of  life,  Mr.  Wolff  has  lost  none  of 
the  spirit  and  dash  that  characterized  his  early  career, 
and  appears  good  for  many  years  to  come. 


CHAPTER    XXVI. 

THE  MISSISSIPPI  RIVER  AND  ITS  TRIBUTARIES. 

As  the  commercial  metropolis  of  the  Mississippi 
valley,  St.  Louis  lays  under  contribution  not  only  the 
great  Mississippi  River,  but.  all  the  numerous  streams 
which  swell  this  mighty  current.  Situated  twenty 
miles  below  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri  and  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy-four  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the 
Ohio,  St.  Louis  holds,  as  has  been  frequently  pointed 
out  in  this  work,  the  key  to  the  industrial  develop- 
ment of  that  vast  and  fertile  region  which  is  drained 
by  the  Mississippi,  the  Missouri,  the  Ohio,  and  the 
numerous  smaller  rivers,  and  her  commercial  existence 
is  indissolubly  linked  to  that  of  the  great  valley. 

"  Many  years  ago  the  late  Governor  Clark  and  my- 
self," says  Hon.  Thomas  H.  Benton,1  "  undertook  to 
calculate  the  extent  of  beatable  water  in  the  valley  of 
the  Mississippi ;  we  made  it  about  fifty  thousand 
miles  !  of  which  thirty  thousand  were  computed  to 
unite  above  St.  Louis,  and  twenty  thousand  below. 
Of  course,  we  counted  all  the  infant  streams  on  which 
a  flat,  a  keel,  or  a  bateau  could  be  floated,  and  justly  ; 
for  every  tributary  of  the  humblest  beatable  character 
helps  to  swell  not  only  the  volume  of  the  central 
waters,  but  the  commerce  upon  them.  Of  this  im- 
mense extent  of  river  navigation,  all  combined  in  one 
system  of  waters,  St.  Louis  is  the  centre  and  the 
entrepot,  presenting  even  now,  in  its  infancy,  an 
astonishing  and  almost  incredible  amount  of  com- 
merce, destined  to  increase  forever."  The  Missis- 

1  Letter  to  the  St.  Louis  delegation  to  the  Chicago  Convention, 
dated  June  20,  1847. 


1038 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


sippi,  the  conduit  of  them  all  to  the  ocean,  must 
ever  remain  the  central  figure  in  the  group.  Rising 
in  Lake  Itasca,  about  three  thousand  two  hundred 
miles  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  near  the  "  divide" 
which  turns  the  water-fall  of  that  country  into  the 
Red  River  of  the  North,  it  flows  for  over  one  thou- 
sand miles  through  a  rich  and  abundant  land,  until 
its  waters  are  broken  by  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony, 
near  which  the  thriving  cities  of  Minneapolis  and  St. 
Paul  are  located.  The  river  at  these  falls  is  eighteen 
hundred  feet  wide,  and  its  waters  are  precipitated  over 
a  ledge  of  limestone  rock  seventeen  feet  in  height, 
forming  a  dam,  the  water  of  which  supplies  power  to 
many  manufacturing  establishments  in  Minneapolis, 
the  chief  of  which  is  that  of  flour.  For  continuing 
the  improvement  of  these  falls,  twenty-five  thousand 
dollars  was  appropriated  by  the  River  and  Harbor 
Act  of  1882.  St.  Paul,  near  these  falls,  is  seven  hun- 
dred and  ninety-eight  miles  from  St.  Louis,  and  is  the 
head  of  steamboat  communication  with  St.  Louis, 
though  the  river  is  navigable  far  above  the  falls. 

Not  the  least  of  the  remarkable  features  of  the 
Mississippi  River  are  the  physical  characteristics 
which  it  has  stamped  upon  the  delta  which  it  has 
created  and  through  which  it  flows.  The  scientists 
who  have  made  a  study  of  this  river  regard  the 
delta  of  the  Mississippi  as  beginning  near  the  village 
of  Commerce,  about  twenty-eight  miles  above  the 
mouth  of  the  Ohio,  where  the  rock  in  situ  is  first  en- 
countered on  both  sides  of  its  channel,  and  supposed 
to  underlie  its  bed.  If  that  be  assumed  as  a  fact,  it 
involves  the  further  assumption  that  at  some  remote 
period  there  existed  a  cataract  or  rapids  of  far  greater 
descent  than  that  at  Niagara  somewhere  above  the 
mouth  of  the  Ohio  River.  The  elevation  of  the  low- 
water  surface  of  the  Mississippi  about  Cape  Girardeau 
is  two  hundred  and  eighty  five  feet  above  the  level  of 
the  ocean,  and  if  ever  the  level  of  the  sea  extended 
up  to  that  point,  the  Mississippi  must  then  and  there 
have  precipitated  its  waters  over  a  ledge  two  hundred 
and  eighty-five  feet  high.  If  we  imagine  a  great 
plane,  extending  from  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  six 
hundred  miles  in  length  and  thirty  to  forty  in  width, 
with  its  northern  extremity  elevated  two  hundred  and 
eighty-five  feet,  we  shall  have  some  idea  of  the  delta 
which  the  river  has  created  in  the  progress  of  time. 
This  plane,  containing  forty  thousand  square  miles, 
has  been  formed  in  the  course  of  ages  from  the  ma- 
terial washed  down  from  the  uplands  by  the  river 
and  its  tributaries.  The  river  has  therefore  raised 
above  the  sea  the  soil  which  constitutes  its  own  bed, 
and  flows  down  this  plane  of  its  own  creation  in  a 
serpentine  course,  frequently  crowding  the  hills  and 


bluffs.  The  actual  distance  from  the  mouth  of  the 
Ohio  to  the  gulf  is  in  round  numbers  five  hundred 
miles,  the  length  of  the  Mississippi  from  the  same 
point  to  the  gulf  is  eleven  hundred  and  seventy- 
eight  miles,  and  the  average  descent  at  high  water  is 
three  and  a  quarter  inches  per  mile.  The  course  of 
the  river  is  therefore  lengthened  out  nearly  seven  hun- 
dred miles,  or  more  than  doubled  by  the  remarkable 
flexures  of  its  channel,  and  the  rate  of  descent  is  re- 
duced by  these  flexures  to  less  than  one-half  the  in- 
clination of  the  plane  down  which  it  flows. 

The  Mississippi  bears  along  at  all  times,  but  es- 
pecially in  the  periods  of  the  floods,  a  vast  amount  of 
earthy  matter  suspended  in  its  waters,  which  the  cur- 
rent is  able  to  carry  forward  so  long  as  the  water  is 
confined  to  the  channel.  But  when  the  water  over- 
flows the  banks  its  velocity  is  checked,  and  it  imme- 
diately deposits  the  heaviest  particles  which  it  trans- 
ports and  leaves  them  upon  its  borders,  and  as  the 
water  continues  to  spread  farther  from  its  banks,  it 
continues  to  let  down  more  and  more  of  this  sus- 
pended material,  the  heaviest  particles  being  deposited 
on  the  banks,  and  the  finest  clay  conveyed  to  positions 
more  remote.  The  consequence  is  that  the  borders 
of  the  river  which  received  the  first  and  heaviest 
particles  are  raised  higher  above  the  general  level  of 
the  plane  than  the  soil  which  is  more  remote,  and 
that  while  the  plane  of  the  delta  dips  towards  the 
sea  at  the  rate  of  eight  inches  per  mile,  the  soil  ad- 
jacent to  the  banks  slopes  off  at  right  angles  to  the 
course  of  the  river  into  the  interior  for  five  or  six 
miles  at  the  rate  of  three  or  four  feet  to  the  mile. 
The  lands  immediately  on  the  borders  of  the  river  are 
extremely  fertile,  and  often  highly  cultivated,  but  as 
they  are  all  subject  to  inundation  during  the  high 
floods  of  the  river,  they  are  guarded  by  artificial  em- 
bankments. The  water  pressing  upon  these  embank- 
ments often  produces  breaches  or  crevasses  through 
them,  and  rushes  in  a  deep  column  into  the  low 
grounds,  and  sweeps  over  every  improvement.  The 
width,  depth,  and  area  of  cross  section  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi below  St.  Louis  will  be  found  in  the  following 
table,  from  the  memoir  of  Charles  Ellet,  Jr. : 


Points  on  the  River.                ^rdt.h> 

t  eeu 

At  Cape  Girardeau,  1%  miles  above—    2500 

66.5 
77.5 
71.3 
102.5 
72.8 
81.5 
81.0 
103.6 
79.1 
87.6 
102.1 
120.0 
84.0 
96.3 
91.3 

Area  of 
Cross  Section, 
Square  Feet. 
105,544 

...    4031 

235,333 
143,212 
161,221 
171,190 
196,300 
170,160 
187,170 
178,220 
108,130 
1  fid,  164 
207,800 
187.220 
256.292 

...     2830 

At  Horse-Shoe  Cut-Off  
Above  Arkansas  River,  -^  mile  
Below           "           "       %  ni''e  
At  American  Bend,  upper  side  

..     2940 
..     2*U 
...     3730 
.     3365 
..     3285 

..     3440 

...    3540 

..     3513 

Below          "           3      "       

..     4400 

..     4048 

Below        "            "    .. 

..     5613 

THE   MISSISSIPPI  RIVER  AND   ITS   TRIBUTARIES. 


1039 


Points  on  the  River. 


Above  Grand  Gulf,  4  miles 
Below      "  "     3      " 

Above  Red  River,  1^  mile 
Below     "        "        1       " 
In  Racourci  Cut-Off. 
At  Tunica  Bend 
Baton  Kougc 

Above  Plaquemine,  1J^  miles 
Below  "  "        " 

Above  Donaldsonville,  1  mile 


Bonnet  Carr6  Bend,  above  Crevasse.. 
"        "  "      below        "       .. 

SauvS's  plantation  ........................... 

McMaster's  plantation  ..................... 


Feet. 

3644 
5900 
2545 
3665 
1761 
3323 
2500 
2170 
2790 
2483 
3553 
2925 
2983 
2375 
2425 


Feet. 

105.5 
76.5 
118.0 
128.0 
107.0 
87.7 
...... 

123,5 
128.0 
117.5 
lo:?.2 
107.9 
76.4 
135.3 
100.0 


Area  of 

Cross  Section, 
Square  Feet. 
175,773 
264,797 
194,530 
268,646 
148,790 
233,892 
212,500 
181,500 
199,280 
200,250 
114,580 
198,734 
152,443 
182,031 
166,172 


The  average  area  of  high-water  section  of  the 
whole  from  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  to  New  Orleans 
is  two  hundred  thousand  square  feet.  The  estimate 
for  the  discharge  of  high  water  by  the  Mississippi  at 
the  top  of  the  flood  of  1854  was  one  million  two 
hundred  and  eighty  thousand  cubic  feet  per  second. 

At  the  time  of  the  Revolution  there  were  able 
men  who  conceived  that  the  Atlantic  States,  hemmed 
in  by  the  sea  and  by  a  chain  of  mountains,  embraced 
too  great  a  diversity  of  surface  and  products,  and  were 
too  widely  scattered  not  to  present  discordant  elements 
and  jarring  interests,  which  could  only  be  reconciled 
and  held  in  check  by  a  powerful  centralized  govern- 
ment. They  could  not  imagine  that  the  barriers  of 
the  mountains  would  be  overleaped,  and  that  other 
States  would  spring  up  in  the  remote  West;  that 
their  descendants  would  intermingle  on  the  Pacific 
coast  with  the  people  of  Asia,  and  claim  the  Sand- 
wich Islands  for  their  neighbors ;  that  Mexico  would 
present  but  a  feeble  barrier  to  their  interminable 
progress,  or  that  States  would  flourish  in  the  Missis- 
sippi valley,  in  which  one  of  the  States,  Missouri, 
unexplored  at  the  period  of  the  Revolution,  has  a 
population,  resources,  and  wealth  greater  than  all  the 
original  thirteen  when  their  independence  was  achieved, 
and  a  city,  St.  Louis,  is  more  populous,  wealthy,  and 
enterprising  than  all  the  cities  of  the  Atlantic  coast 
at  the  same  epoch. 

The  distances  from  St.  Louis  to  points  on  the 
upper  Mississippi  are  as  follows : 

Miles. 

To  mouth  of  Missouri 20 

Alton 5 

Grafton 18 

Cap  auGris 27 


Worthington 10 

Hamburg 10 

Clarksville 15 

Louisiana 

Cincinnati,  111 15 

Saverton 

Hannibal 7 

Marion 10 

Quincy 10 

La  Grange 10 

Canton 

Tully 2 

Warsaw 20 

Keokuk 5 

Montrose 12 


Total. 

20 

25 

43 

70 

80 

90 
105 
117 
132 
140 
147 
157 
167 
177 
185 
187 
207 
212 
224 


Miles.  Total. 

Fort  Madison 12  236 

Pontoosac 6  242 

Dallas 2  244    • 

Burlington  15  259 

Oquawka 15  274 

Keithbury 12  286 

New  Boston g  294 

Port  Louisa 12  306 

Muscatine ]g  324 

Hock  Island 30  354 

Hampton 12  366 

Le  Clair 6  372 

Camanche 18  390 

Albany 2  392 

Fulton 10  402 

Sabula ig  420 

Savanna 2  422 

Galena 30  452 

Dubuque 25  477 

Will's  Landing 12  489 

Waupaton 8  497 

Buena  Vista 6  503 

Cassville 4  507 

Guttenberg 10  517 

McGregor 22  539 

Prairie  du  Chien 3  542 

Red  House  Landing 3  545 

Johnson's  Landing 1  546 

Columbus 29  579 

Lansing 2  677 

Winneshiek 8  585 

Victory 5  590 

Warner's  Landing 11  601 

Wild  Cats'  Bluffs 12  613 

La  Crosse 16  629 

Black  River 12  641 

Fortune's  Landing 6  647 

Montoville 4  651 

Winona 7  658 

Wabashaw  Prairie 4  662 

Honie's  Landing 10  672 

Hall's  Landing 10  682 

Wabasha 25  707 

Nelson's  Landing 2  709 

Reed's  Landing 2  711 

LakePepin 1  712 

Wells' Lauding 14  726 

Bullard's  Landing 8  734 

Red  Wing 8  742 

Point  Prescott 22  764 

Point  Douglas 1  765 

Hastings 25  790 

Crow  Village 3  793 

St.  Paul 5  798 

Falls  of  St.  Anthony « 8  806 

Mendota 6  812 

FortSnelling 1  813 

Itasca 37  850 

Sauk  Rapids 49  899 

Fort  Ripley 46  945 

The  distances  from  St.  Louis  to  points  on  the  Mis- 
sissippi to  Cairo  are  as  follows : 

Miles.  Total. 

To  Cahokia 4  4 

Carondelet 1  5 

Jefferson  Barracks 5  10 

Sneck's  Landing 10  20 

Widow  Waters' Landing 1  21 

Sulphur  Springs 2  23 

Rattlesnake  Springs 2  25 

Harlow's 5  30 

Platin  Rock 2  32 

Selina 3 

Rushtower 6  40 

John  Brickley's 5  45 

Fort  Chartres 5  50 

Ste.  Genevieve 10 

St.  Mary's 10  70 

Pratt's 2  72 

Kaskaskia 3  75 

Chester 5  80 


1040 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Miles.     Total. 


Maynard 1 

Fort  Perry 1 

Liberty 

Underbill's. 
Herring's  .. 

Baily's 

Wilkinson.. 
Linhoop. 


Sellers  , 
Grand  Tower. 
Birmingham.. 

Hines 

Preston's 

Bennet's 

Neelev's 


5 

1 

4 

5 

1 

Wittenburg 14 

1 

'".'".'.'.'.".! 6 

1 

1 

1 

1 

V  a  null's 1 

Willard's 2 

Bainbridge 1 

Clear  Creek 9 

Cape  Girardeau 5 

Thebes 10 

Commerce .• 3 

Thornton's 5 

Price's 2 

Lane's 3 

Hunt's 1 

Rodney's 15 

Cairo 5 

Mouth  of  Ohio 5 

Ohio  City 5 


81 
82 
90 
95 
96 
100 
105 
106 
120 
121 
122 
128 
129 
130 
131 
132 
133 
135 
136 
145 
150 
160 
163 
168 
170 
173 
174 
189 
194 
194 
194 


The  river  system  of  the  Mississippi  valley,  of 
which  St.  Louis  is  the  centre,  the  entrepot,  may  be 
summarized  as  follows : 


Miles. 


Mississippi  from  St.  Anthony's  Falls  to 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico 

Red  River  to  head  of  navigation 

Arkansas  to  Neosho  River 

White  River  to  Batesville 

St.  Francis  River 

Missouri  River 

Osage  River 300 

Kansas 300 

Other  tributaries '....  600 

Des  Moines 

St.  Peter's 

Yazoo  

Ohio 

Its  tributaries — Tennessee 600 

Cumberland ., 300 

Wabash  300 

Green,  Kentucky,  and  Muskingum..  500 
Allegheny 400 

The  Illinois 

Rock  River,  Galena,  Wisconsin,  and  St. 
Croix 


2,200 

1,100 

600 

400 

100 

2,000 


1,200 
300 
300 
100 

1,000 


2,100 
300 

500 


Making  the  total  river  navigation..  12,200 

At  Fort  Snelling  the  St.  Peter's,  or  Minnesota 
River  empties  into  the  Mississippi,  eight  hundred  and 
thirteen  miles  above  St.  Louis,  and  is  navigable  for 
sixty  miles.  By  the  River  and  Harbor  Act  of  1882 
the  Secretary  of  War  is  directed  to  cause  examina- 
tions and  surveys  to  be  made  of  "  the  source  of  this 
river,  near  the  foot  of  Big  Stone  Lake,  with  a  view 
to  its  being  added  to  the  reservoir  system  of  the 
Mississippi  and  its  tributaries."  The  St.  Croix 
River,  with  its  large  lumber  trade,  is  about  two 
hundred  miles  in  length,  and  enters  the  Mississippi 
at  a  point  seven  hundred  and  sixty-five  miles  above 


St.  Louis ;  the  chief  river  points  on  the  St.  Croix  are 
Hudson,  Stillwater,  Osceola,  and  St.  Croix  Falls.1 
The  Chippewa  River  empties  into  the  Mississippi 
six  hundred  and  eighty-six  miles  above  St.  Louis, 
near  the  end  of  Lake  Pepin,  upon  which  a  harbor  of 
refuge  at  Lake  City  is  to  be  constructed  under  the 
River  and  Harbor  Act  of  1882.  This  river  is  naviga- 
ble for  steamboats  about  seventy  miles,  and  upon  its 
surface  large  quantities  of  timber  are  annually  rafted 
to  St.  Louis ;  its  length  is  three  hundred  miles,  and 
its  chief  tributaries  are  the  Clearwater  and  Red 
Cedar  Rivers.  For  the  improvement  of  the  Chip- 
pewa River  thirty-five  thousand  dollars  was  appro- 
priated by  the  River  and  Harbor  Act  of  1882. 

The  Wisconsin  River  empties  into  the  Mississippi 
four  miles  below  Prairie  du  Chien,  and  five  hundred 
and  thirty-eight  miles  above  St.  Louis.  This  river  is 
navigable  for  steamboats  as  far  as  Portage,  where  the 
canal  connects  it  with  the  Fox  River,  which  flows 
into  Green  Bay,  and  connects  the  Mississippi  system 
with  the  lake  system  of  navigation.  The  length  of 
the  Wisconsin  is  six  hundred  miles,  and  it  receives 
the  waters  of  many  tributaries,  some  of  them  streams 
of  considerable  volume.  The  Fevre  River,  upon 
which  Galena  is  situated,  enters  the  Mississippi  a  few 
miles  below  Duluth,  and  is  navigable  a  part  of  the 
year  to  Galena.  The  Wapsipinicon  River,  at  a  point 
seven  miles  below  Camanche,  and  three  hundred  and 
eighty-three  miles  above  St.  Louis,  empties  into  the 
Mississippi.  Its  length  is  two  hundred  miles,  but  it 
is  not  navigable.  The  Rock  River,  rising  in  Fon  du 
Lac  County,  Wis.,  near  Lake  Winnebago,  flows  south- 
westerly, and  enters  the  Mississippi  River  two  miles 
below  Rock  Island,  at  a  point  three  hundred  and 
fifty-two  miles  above  St.  Louis.  Its  navigation  is 
dependent  upon  high  water,  and  extends  two  hundred 
and  twenty-five  miles. 

The  distances  on  Rock  River  from  Watertown  to 
the  Mississippi  are : 

Miles. 

From  Watertown  to  Jefferson 16 

To  Fort  Atkinson S 

Janesville 34 

Beloit 18 

Roscoe 8 

Rockford 12 

Byron 

Oregon 10 

Dixon 20 

Sterling : 

Lyndon 16 

Prophetstown 2 

Camden 45 

Mississippi  River 1 

The  Iowa  River  takes  its  rise  in  Hancock  County, 
Iowa,  and  is  navigable  for  small  steamboats  in  the 


Total. 

16 

24 

58 

76 

84 

96 

108 

118 

138 

150 

166 

168 

213 

214 


1  Thirty    thousand  dollars  was  appropriated   by  the   River 
and  Harbor  Act  of  1882  for  improving  this  river. 


THE   MISSISSIPPI   RIVER   AND   ITS   TRIBUTARIES. 


1041 


high-water  season  for  eighty  miles  from  its  mouth,  on 
the  Mississippi  River,  two  hundred  and  ninety-four 
miles  above  St.  Louis,  near  New  Boston.  Its  length 
is  about  three  hundred  miles,  and  its  course  south- 
easterly. 

The  Des  Moines  River,  rising  in  the  southern  part 
of  Minnesota,  flows  through  an  exceedingly  fertile 
and  productive  country  for  four  hundred  miles,  of 
which  two  hundred  are  navigable.  It  enters  the 
Mississippi  near  Alexandria,  Mo.,  about  two  hundred 
and  seven  miles  above  St.  Louis.  The  distances  upon 
this  river  are : 

Miles.  Total. 

From  Fort  Des  Moines  to  Dudley 14  14 

To  Lafayette 5  19 

Bennington 10  29 

Red  Rock 16  45 

Amsterdam 12  57 

Bellefontaine 12  69 

Auburn 12  81 

Des  Moines  City 8  89 

Eddyville 2  91 

Chillicothe 8  99 

Ottuinwa 12  111 

New  Market 20  131 

Portland 6  137 

Philadelphia 8  145 

Pittsburgh 7  152 

Pleasant  Hill 5  157 

Vernon 8  165 

Bonaparte 5  170 

Fnrmington 8  178 

Black  Hawk 3  181 

Croton 3  184    , 

Athens 5  189 

Belfast 6  195 

St.  Francisville 10  205 

Mississippi  River 15  220 

Quincy,  111.,  one  hundred  and  sixty-seven  miles 
above  St.  Louis,  on  the  Mississippi,  is  situated  in  one 
of  the  finest  agricultural  sections  of  the  country. 
Hannibal,  Mo.,  one  hundred  and  forty-seven  miles 
above  St.  Louis,  is  an  important  point  for  the  ship- 
ment of  pork,  hemp,  tobacco,  and  other  produce. 
Both  of  these  thriving  cities  are  important  centres  of 
the  trade  and  commerce  of  St.  Louis. 

The  Illinois  River  empties  into  the  Mississippi  at 
Grafton,  111.,  forty-three  miles  above  St.  Louis.  The 
Kankakee  and  Des  Plaines  Rivers  uniting  at  Dresden 
form  the  Illinois,  which,  receiving  the  waters  of  Ver- 
milion River,  then  becomes  navigable  for  steamboats 
during  a  part  of  the  year.  The  productiveness  of 
the  country  through  which  the  Illinois  flows  makes 
the  commerce  of  that  river  very  valuable.  The  dis- 
tances from  St.  Louis  to  trading-points  on  the  Illinois 
River  are  as  follows : 

Miles.  Total. 

To  Mason's  Landing 42  42 

Hurdin 25  67 

Columbians 10  77 

Apple  Creek 4 

Bridgeport. 


Miles. 

Total. 

Meredosia  , 

6 

119 

10 

129 

4 

143 

Browning  

6 

149 

6 

155 

Bath  

12 

167 

12 

179 

10 

189 

Copperas  

12 

201 

Lancaster  

8 

209 

Kingston  

2 

211 

Pekin  

10 

221 

Wesley  City  

6 

227 

Peoria  

3 

230 

Spring  Bay  

14 

244 

Rome  

6 

250 

Chillicothe  

2 

252 

20 

272 

30 

302 

La  Salle  

1 

303 

SI 
83 

Monte/ uina 14 

Florence 6         103 

Griggsville 6         109 

Naples 4         113 


The  Missouri  River  unites  with  the  Mississippi 
twenty  miles  above  St.  Louis.  The  springs  in  the 
Rocky  Mountains  from  which  its  head-waters  flow 
are  not  more  than  a  mile  from  those  which  supply 
the  Columbia  River,  which  empties  into  the  Pacific 
Ocean.  The  Jefferson,  Gallatin,  and  Madison,  three 
small  streams,  unite  to  form  the  Missouri.  The 
"  Gates  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,"  which,  rising 
perpendicularly  from  the  water's  edge  to  the  height 
of  twelve  hundred  feet,  compress  the  river  into  a 
breadth  of  four  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  are  four 
hundred  and  forty-one  miles  from  the  extreme  point 
of  navigation  of  the  branches.  The  "  Great  Falls,"  a 
series  of  rapids,  having  a  fall  of  three  hundred  and 
fifty-one  feet  in  sixteen  miles,  are  one  hundred  and 
ten  miles  below  the  "  Gates."  These  falls  are  broken 
into  four  leaps,  of  which  the  first  in  the  descent  of 
the  river  is  twenty-six  feet ;  the  second,  forty-seven 
feet ;  the  third,  nineteen  feet ;  and  the  fourth,  ninety- 
eight  feet.  Below  the  falls  navigation  is  unobstructed 
by  any  permanent  barrier,  and  only  impeded  by  low 
waters  after  the  July  flood  has  passed  down.  The 
great  number  of  islands  and  sand-bars  that  have 
formed  in  the  river  render  the  channel  intricate  and 
difficult  for  navigation,  which,  with  the  numerous 
"snags,"  make  steamboating  extremely  hazardous. 
The  first  important  tributary,  the  Yellowstone,  is  as 
yet  not  of  any  material  importance  from  a  commercial 
point  of  view.  It  is  navigable  for  a  considerable  dis- 
tance by  the  steamboats  of  the  upper  Missouri,  and 
when  the  country  through  which  it  flows  shall  have 
been  settled  and  cultivated,  the  trade  of  the  Yellow- 
stone will  doubtless  become  very  valuable. 

The  Platte,  or  Nebraska  River  enters  the  Missouri 
seven  hundred  and  forty  miles  from  St.  Louis. 
Formed  by  its  North  and  South  Forks,  which  rise  in 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  the  Platte  flows  easterly  for 
two  thousand  miles,  but  is  shallow,  and,  except  in  the 
great  freshets  of  the  spring,  is  not  navigable. 


1042 


HISTORY   OP  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Sixteen  miles  above  Kansas  City  and  four  hundred 
and  seventy-three  from  St.  Louis,  the  Little  Platte 
from  Iowa  enters  the  Missouri.  It  is  two  hundred 
miles  in  length,  shallow,  and  not  of  much  importance 
commercially. 

One  of  the  largest  tributaries  of  the  Missouri  is  the 
Kansas,  which  enters  that  river  near  Kansas  City, 
four  hundred  and  fifty-nine  miles  from  St.  Louis. 
Rising  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  flowing  east- 
ward through  the  rich  State  of  Kansas,  its  length  is 
twelve  hundred  miles,  nine  hundred  of  which,  with 
some  improvement,  might  be  made  navigable.  It  is 
one  thousand  feet  wide  at  its  mouth,  and  has  many 
tributaries,  of  which  Solomon's  Fork,  seven  hundred 
miles  long,  and  Smoky  Hill  Fork,  eight  hundred 
miles  long,  are  the  largest. 

Grand  River  enters  the  Missouri  three  hundred  and 
one  miles  from  St.  Louis.  It  is  two  hundred  and 
forty  miles  in  length,  and  navigable  one  hundred 
miles  between  the  Missouri  and  Madison,  Iowa. 

Five  miles  below  Cambridge,  Iowa,  and  two  hun- 
dred and  sixty-nine  above  St.  Louis,  the  Chariton 
River  from  Iowa  enters  the  Missouri.  It  is  navigable 
for  thirty  miles,  and  its  length  is  one  hundred  miles. 

Eight  miles  below  Arrow  Rock  and  two  hundred 
and  forty  miles  from  St.  Louis,  the  La  Mine  River 
enters  the  Missouri.  It  is  navigable  for  about  thirty 
miles. 

The  Osage  River  is  about  five  hundred  miles  in 
length,  and  runs  through  a  very  fertile  and  productive 
country,  and  enters  the  Missouri  one  hundred  and 
sixty-nine  miles  from  St.  Louis.  It  is  navigable  for 
about  two  hundred  miles. 

The  Gasconade,  rising  in  Wright  County,  Mo., 
runs  nearly  two  hundred  miles,  and  empties  into  the 
Missouri  one  hundred  and  twenty-nine  miles  from  St. 
Louis.  It  is  important  only  as  supplying  water-power, 
and  is  not  navigable. 

The  distances  from  St.  Louis  to  points  on  the  Mis- 
souri River  are  as  follows : 


Miles.      Total. 


To  inouth  of  Missouri  River. 


Bellefontaine  Bend. 

Jamestown 

Charbonier 

St.  Charles 

Howard  Bend 

Bonhorame  Island.. 

Howell's  Ferry 

Dozier 

Port  Royal 

Tavern  Rock 

Mount  Albans 

Augusta 

Jones  Point 

Houth  Point 

Basonia 

Washington  

Tuque  Point. 


20 
5 

2 


II) 
12 
1 
4 
5 
1 
1 
1 
6 
2 
4 
1 
1 
1 


St.  John's  Landing 2 


20 
25 
27 
35 
45 
57 
58 
62 
67 
68 
69 
70 
76 
78 
82 
83 
M 
85 
87 


Miles.  Total. 

Newport  Landing 2  89 

Miller's  Landing 9  98 

Hermann 23  121 

Gasconade 8  129 

Portland 12  141 

St.Aubert's 10  151 

Shipley's 4  155 

Bonnot's  Mills 7  162 

Osage 2  164 

Moreau 5  169 

Jefferson  City 5  174 

Claysville 7  181 

Marion 10  191 

Martin's  Landing 7  198 

Nashville 7  205 

Mount  Vernon 7  212 

Rocheport 8  220 

Boonville ...  12  232 

La  Mine 8  240 

Arrow  Rock 8  248 

Glasgow 17  265 

Cambridge 9  274 

Brunswick 26  300 

Miami 15  315 

Waverly 31  346 

Dover  Landing 13  359 

Lexington 12  371 

Wellington 8  379 

Camden 10  389 

Napoleon 8  397 

Richfield 24  421 

Liberty 15  436 

Kansas  City 21  457 

Kansas  River 2  459 

Leavenworth 13  472 

Little  Platte 1  473 

Weston 33  506 

Atchison 15  521 

Doniphan 7  528 

Maysville 28  556 

Palermo 24  580 

St.  Joseph 11  591 

Nodaway 25  616 

Iowa  Point 30  646 

Brownsville 40  686 

NebraskaCity 30  716 

Plattsmouth 21  737 

Platte  River 3  740 

St.  Mary's 2  742 

Council  Bluffs 15  757 

Florence 10  767 

Fort  Calhoun 10  777 

DeRoto 15  792 

Tekama 30  822 

Sioux  City 60  882 

Yellowstone  River 1075  1957 

Great  Falls 675  2632 

Rocky  Mountain  Gates 110  2742 

The  Ohio,  which  enters  the  Mississippi  at  Cairo, 
one  hundred  and  seventy-four  miles  below  St.  Louis, 
is  formed  at  Pittsburgh,  one  thousand  and  nineteen 
miles  from  Cairo,  by  the  junction  of  the  Allegheny 
and  Youghiogheny.  The  Allegheny,  which  is  the 
proper  continuation  of  the  Ohio,  rises  on  the  borders 
of  Lake  Erie,  where  its  tributaries  terminate  in 
Lake  Chautauqua,  one  thousand  three  hundred  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  seven  hundred  feet 
above  the  level  of  Lake  Erie.  A  boat  may  start 
from  these  sources,  within  seven  miles  of  Lake  Erie, 
in  sight  sometimes  of  the  sails  which  whiten  the  ap- 
proach to  the  harbor  of  Buffalo,  and  float  securely 
down  the  Conewango  or  Cassadaga  to  the  Allegheny, 
down  that  river  to  the  Ohio,  and  thence  uninterrupt- 


THE   MISSISSIPPI   RIVER   AND   ITS   TRIBUTARIES. 


1043 


edly  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  In  all  this  distance  of 
two  thousand  four  hundred  miles  the  descent  is  so 
uniform  and  gentle,  so  little  accelerated  by  rapids, 
that  when  there  is  sufficient  water  to  float  the  vessel, 
and  sufficient  power  to  govern  it,  the  downward  voy- 
age may  be  performed  without  difficulty  or  danger  in 
the  channels  as  they  were  formed  by  nature.  Steam- 
boats have  ascended  the  Allegheny  to  Olean  Point, 
two  thousand  three  hundred  miles  from  the  mouth  of 
the  Mississippi,  and  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
above  Pittsburgh.  From  the  junction  of  the  two  prin- 
cipal tributaries  of  the  Ohio  at  Pittsburgh,  to  Point 
Pleasant,  where  the  Great  Kanawha  River  from  West 
Virginia  enters  the  Ohio,  there  are  only  small  and  un- 
important streams  entering  the  Ohio.  Point  Pleasant 
is  distant  from  St.  Louis  nine  hundred  and  forty-two 
miles.  The  Great  Kanawha  is  navigable  for  small 
boats,  and  the  products  of  salt,  coal,  and  iron  which 
in  great  quantities  are  sent  down  that  river  find  at 
St.  Louis  a  market.  The  salt  manufactures  along 
the  Great  Kanawha  amount  to  eight  million  bushels 
annually. 

Improvement  of  the  Mississippi  and  Tribu- 
taries.— Prior  to  the  construction  of  the  New  York 
and  Canadian  canals,  and  the  opening  of  railways  be- 
tween the  Western  and  Eastern  States,  the  Missis- 
sippi River  and  its  navigable  tributaries  were  the  only 
highways  of  commerce  between  the  vast  territory 
embracing  the  Western  States  and  the  other  States  of 
the  Union.  The  closing  of  the  mouth  of  the  Missis- 
sippi during  the  civil  war,  the  general  paralysis  of 
Southern  industry  and  trade  incident  to  that  war,  and 
the  increase  in  the  size  of  ocean  vessels  turned  the 
current  of  commerce  from  the  southern  to  the  eastern 
route,  and  from  the  bosom  of  the  Mississippi  to  the 
canals  and  railways  that  led  to  Northern  Atlantic 
cities.  This  deflection  of  the  commerce  of  the  Western 
States  from  the  southern  to  the  northern  routes  dim- 
inished, without  destroying,  the  value  of  the  Missis- 
sippi River  as  a  great  commercial  highway.  The 
relative  economy  of  water  over  rail  transportation  for 
heavy  freights,  and  the  failure  of  the  railways  to  sup- 
ply sufficient  cheap  transportation  to  meet  the  demands 
of  a  rapidly  increasing  commerce  between  the  great 
central  basin  of  this  continent  and  the  markets  of 
the  world,  created  that  public  sentiment,  to  which 
Congress  has  within  a  few  years  past  responded,  for 
the  improvement  of  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi 
and  its  tributaries.  Previous  to  the  public  recogni- 
tion of  the  vast  importance  of  this  national  under- 
taking, the  prevention  of  "  inundations  of  the  delta 
of  the  Mississippi"  had  attracted  attention,  together 
with  the  practicability  and  cost  of  improving  the 


navigation  of  Western  rivers,  as  incidental  rather 
than  primary  reasons  for  those  improvements.  The 
memoir  of  Charles  Ellet,  Jr.,1  was  prepared  under 
the  authority  of  an  act  of  Congress  directing  the 
Secretary  of  War  to  institute  such  surveys  and  in- 
vestigations as  were  necessary  to  the  preparation  of 
adequate  plans  for  protecting  the  delta  from  inunda- 
tions, and  increasing  the  depth  of  water  on  the  bars 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  Mr.  Ellet,  though 

j  not  an  officer  of  the  government  or  in  the  employ  of 
the  War  Department,  was  called  to  this  important 
duty,  and  authorized  to  make  such  investigations 
as  would  enable  him  to  devise  and  report  suitable 
plans  for  the  protection  of  the  delta  from  inunda- 
tions by  overflows. 

As-  early  as  1841  the  attention  of  Congress  was 
called  to  the  condition  of  the  Mississippi  above  the 
mouth  of  the  Ohio.  From  1836  to  1841  it  was  said 
that  more  property  had  been  destroyed  from  the 
mouth  of  the  Ohio  to  St.  Louis  by  snags  than  on  all 
the  other  parts  of  the  river  and  its  tributaries.2  Not- 
withstanding the  general  government  had  provided 

;  snag-boats  for  the  lower  river,  the  manifest  neglect  of 
the  Western  rivers  was  entailing  an  annual  loss  of 
millions  of  dollars  upon  the  commerce  of  the  West, 
owing  to  the  dangerous  and  destructive  condition  of 
the  then  only  commercial  highway  for  that  great  sec- 
tion of  the  country.  A  theory  of  constitutional  con- 
struction intervened  to  obstruct  the  work  of  improve- 
ment, which  became  so  obviously  absurd  that  to  avoid 
its  inconveniences  Mr.  Calhoun  designated  the  Missis- 
sippi River  as  an  "  inland  sea,"  to  the  improvement 
of  which  the  powers  of  the  general  government 
might  be  applied.  Notwithstanding  the  vast  extent 
and  wonderful  fertility  of  the  country  which  those 
rivers  drain,  the  nature,  variety,  and  location  of  the 
products  seeking  transportation,  and  the  almost  incal- 
culable commerce  which  demanded  the  facilities  of 
easy  and  safe  movement,  their  navigation  was  left  un- 
improved until  the  competition  of  the  railroads  gave 
weight  and  influence  to  the  demands  of  an  injured 
public. 

In  1870,  Congress,  in  addition  to  the  usual  appro- 
priation for  river  improvements  and  surveys,  made  an 


1  "  The  Mississippi  and  Ohio  Rivers :  containing  plans  for  the 
protection  of  the  delta  from  inundations;  and   investigations 
of  the  practicability  and  cost  of  improving  the  navigation  of 
the  Ohio  and  other  rivers  by  means  of  reservoirs,  with  appendix 
on  the  bars  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  by  Charles  Ellet, 
Jr.,  Civil  Engineer." 

2  John  A.  Scudder,  before  the  Senate  Committee  on  Transpor- 
tation Routes  to  the  Seaboard,  in  1 873,  said,  "  I  suppose  there  are 
five  thousand  wrecks  between  this  (St.  Louis)  and  Cairo  alone. 
I  speak  now  of  all  the  boats  that  are  sunk."     P.  615. 


1044 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


allowance  of  funds  for  the  survey  and  examination  of 
various  small  streams  tributary  to  the  Mississippi  and 
its  great  branches.  Among  the  streams  to  be  exam- 
ined were  the  Cuivre  River  in  Missouri,  the  Current 
River  in  Missouri,  Black  River,  Missouri  and  Ark- 
ansas, White  River,  flowing  through  the  same  States, 
the  Fourche  la  Faire  in  Arkansas,  and  Bayou  Bar- 
tholomew in  Louisiana.  The  surveys  of  these  rivers 
were  made  by  Brevet  Maj.  Charles  J.  Allen,  Engi- 
neer Corps,  who  in  that  year  reported  to  Gen.  William 
T.  Reynolds,  U.  S.  Engineer  Corps,  in  charge  of 
Western  rivers  at  St.  Louis.  In  addition  to  the  ex- 
amination of  these  rivers,  the  same  Congress  which 
authorized  this  work  ordered  a  complete  survey  of  the 
Ouachita  River  from  Trinity,  La.,  to  Camden,  Ark., 
a  distance  of  three  hundred  miles.  This  survey  was 
made  in  order  to  ascertain  the  practicability  of  im- 
proving navigation  on  that  stream  by  the  construction 
of  locks  and  dams. 

The  opening  up  of  the  Little  Missouri  River  for 
the  navigation  of  light-draught  steamboats,  a  work  of 
immense  value  to  all  that  section  of  country  adjacent 
to  its  waters,  as  well  as  to  the  general  interests  of 
Western  commerce,  was  accomplished  that  year.  The 
country  through  which  it  flows  is  a  very  productive 
region,  but  the  fact  that  it  was  in  a  measure  cut  off 
from  markets  prevented  its  development.  Cotton, 
the  chief  product  of  this  rich  region,  had  to  be  hauled 
on  wagons  a  distance  of  one  hundred  miles,  which 
placed  an  embargo  on  its  production. 

The  work,  however,  accomplished  by  Maj.  Allen, 
in  which  St.  Louis  is  most  deeply  interested,  was  his 
thorough  and  complete  survey  of  that  portion  of  the 
Mississippi  River  extending  from  the  mouth  of  the 
Missouri  to  the  mouth  of  the  Maramec,  which  in- 
cludes the  harbor  of  St.  Louis.  A  careful  examina- 
tion of  the  bars,  chutes,  and  bank  abrasions  was  made, 
and  the  particular  force  of  the  current  in  certain 
localities  was  ascertained. 

During  the  season  of  1871,1  Gen.  Reynolds  re- 

1  The  snag-boat  fleet  in  1871  under  the  command  of  Gen. 
Reynolds  was  composed  of  the  "Thayer,"  the  "Octavia,"  the 
"S.  H.  Long,"  the  "  R.  E.  DeRussey,"  and  the  "  J.  J.  Abert." 
The  "  Thayer"  operated  in  the  Missouri,  between  St.  Joseph 
and  Omaha,  from  the  time  the  river  opened  until  the  close  of 
September,  when  she  was  sent  to  the  upper  White,  Black,  and 
Little  Red  Rivers. 

The  "  R.  E.  DeRussey"  operated  in  the  Missouri,  between 
Kansas  City  and  St.  Joseph,  from  early  in  the  season  until  the 
1st  of  September. 

After  her  arrival  at  St.  Louis  she  was  loaned  to  the  city  au- 
thorities to  remove  obstructions  in  the  harbor,  the  city  paying 
all  her  expenses.  This  was  a  benefit  to  the  city  and  no  loss  to 
the  general  commerce,  for  the  reason  that  the  appropriation  was 
not  enough  to  keep  the  boats  at  work  until  the  1st  of  July. 


moved  over  four  thousand  snags,  roots  and  all,  from 
the  streams,  as  well  as  "  rack  heaps"  destroyed  and 
wrecks  removed,  and  thousands  of  trees  cut  to  pre- 
vent their  becoming  snags,  and  aid  given  to  vessels 
aground  or  in  distress,  which  was  always  rendered 
when  possible  and  never  charged  for. 

In  the  upper  Ouachita  and  Little  Missouri,  where 
snag-boats  could  not  go,  flat-boats  drawing  not  over 
ten  inches  of  water  were  set  at  work  "  cutting"  snags 
which  their  light  power  could  not  pull  out.  The 
work  was  done  under  the  superintendence  of  experi- 
enced pilots  of  those  streams,  and  at  a  low  stage  of 
water.  This  was  the  only  cutting  that  was  done,  ex- 
cepting in  the  case  of  chutes,  in  two  or  three  cases, 
when  they  were  so  low  that  the  yawl  only  could  go 
through.  This  method  was  adopted  to  render  the 
chute  available  when  a  rise  should  come. 

Under  the  law  of  Congress  2  allowing  the  employ- 
ment of  civil  engineers  for  the  purpose  of  executing 
the  surveys  and  improvements  of  Western  and  North- 
western rivers,  much  work  has  been  done  on  the  nav- 
igable waters  of  the  Mississippi  valley. 

In  1845  the  Memphis  Convention,  for  the  purpose 
of  bringing  the  condition  of  navigation  on  Western 
rivers  to  the  attention  of  Congress,  was  held.  John 

The  "  Long"  operated  in  the  Missouri,  from  Kansas  City  to- 
Hermann,  until  about  the  1st  of  September,  when  she  was  with- 
drawn. After  she  reached  the  Mississippi  she  worked  a  few 
days  in  the  St.  Louis  harbor,  and  on  the  1st  of  November  was 
ordered  below,  between  Memphis  and  the  mouth  of  the  Ar- 
kansas. 

The  "  J.  J.  Abert"  worked  in  the  Missouri,  below  St.  Aubert, 
until  the  middle  of  August,  when  she  came  into  the  Mississippi, 
and  worked  between  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri  and  Memphis. 

The  "Octavia"  was  employed  the  entire  season  between 
Keokuk  and  Cairo,  endeavoring  to  keep  a  good  depth  of  water 
between  these  points,  until  it  was  necessary  to  send  her  into 
the  Missouri  to  help  the  "DeRussey"  and  "Abert"  out  of  that 
river. 

The  work  of  the  "  Octavia"  was  of  great  service  between  St. 
Louis  and  Keokuk,  but  owing  to  the  nature  of  the  river  from 
St.  Louis  to  Cairo  the  benefit  was  not  so  great.  Channels  across 
the  worst  bars  were  cut  several  times  during  the  season,  but 
they  soon  filled  up. 

The  amount  available  for  running  and  operating  the  dredge 
and  snag-boats  after  using  enough  for  repairs  was  only  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  dollars.  With  this  they  were  run  about 
nine  months  each,  which,  as  there  were  five  boats  in  all,  was  an 
average  cost  of  about  three  thousand  four  hundred  dollars  per 
month,  or  less  than  one  hundred  and  twenty  dollars  per  day. 

The  Missouri  from  Omaha  to  the  mouth,  the  Mississippi  from 
Keokuk  to  Vicksburg,  the  Arkansas  from  its  mouth  probably 
to  Little  Rock,  the  Ouachita  from  its  mouth  to  (.'anxlen,  the 
White  from  its  mouth  to  Jacksonport,  the  Little  Red,  Black, 
ami  St.  Francis  Rivers  from  their  mouths  as  far  up  as  the  boats 
can  go  well,  were  all  passed  over  by  the  snag-boats  at  least 
twice,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  distance  four  or  more  times 
during  that  season. 

»  March  29,  1867:  Rev.  Stat.,  Sec.  5253. 


THE   MISSISSIPPI  RIVER  AND   ITS   TRIBUTARIES. 


1045 


C.  Calhoun  presided,  and  was  made  chairman  of  the 
committee  to  memorialize  Congress.  In  that  memo- 
rial Mr.  Calhoun  took  the  broadest  ground  in  favor 
of  the  improvements  being  made  by  the  Federal  gov- 
ernment without  regard  to  their  cost. 

A  convention  was  held  in  Chicago  July  4,  1847, 
to  consider  the  subject  of  the  improvement  of  the 
Mississippi  River  and  its  principal  tributaries,  to 
which  delegates  from  St.  Louis  were  appointed. 

These  delegates  prepared  an  able  report  upon  the 
subject,  which  was  published  in  pamphlet  form,1  from 
which  it  appears  that  there  were  1190  steamboats 
and  4000  keel-  and  flat-boats  engaged  in  the  commerce 
of  Western  rivers,  employing  61,650  persons,  the  cost 
of  which  is  set  at  $16,188,561,  and  the  running  ex- 
penses at  $32,725,000.  The  cost  of  river  transporta- 
tion was  summed  up  as  follows  : 

Cost  of  running  1190  steamboats $32,725,000 

Insurance,  at  12  percent 1,942,627 

Interest,at  6  percent 971,313 

Wear  and  tear,  at  24  per  cent 3,885,254 

Tolls  on  Louisville  and  Portland  Canal  250,000 
Cost  of  flat-boats  (included  because 

sacrificed  at  New  Orleans) 1,380,000 


Total  cost  of  transportation $41,154,194 

This  vast  sum  was  an  annual  "  tax  upon  the  surplus 
produce,  enterprise,  industry,  and  trade  of  the  coun- 
try." The  aggregate  annual  tonnage  transported  was 
set  at  10,126,160  tons;  and  the  "grand  aggregate  value 
of  commerce  afloat  upon  the  navigable  waters  of  the 
valley  of  the  Mississippi"  was  estimated  by  this  com- 
mittee at  $432,621,240,  "being  nearly  double  the 
amount  of  the  whole  foreign  commerce  of  the  United 
States."  Taking  into  consideration  the  loss  of  steam- 
boats and  cargoes,  the  committee  regarded  it  as  not 
"  too  high  an  estimate  to  put  down  the  actual  losses 
at  two  millions  of  dollars  per  annum.  This  is  anni- 
hilated,— so  much  destroyed  of  the  wealth  of  the 
country, — amounting  every  ten  years  to  a  sum  equal 
to  the  purchase-money  paid  by  the  government  for  all 
Louisiana." 

This  was  the  era  in  Federal  politics  when  the  au- 
thority of  the  general  government  to  undertake  works 
of  internal  improvement  was  denied  by  a  powerful 
and  often  successful  party.  It  was  also  a  time  when 
the  discipline  of  party  was  stronger  and  more  binding 
than  the  interests  of  States  and  sections.  That  theory 
as  well  as  discipline  may  be  said  to  have  departed 

1  "  The  Commerce  and  Navigation  of  the  Valley  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, and  also  that  appertaining  to  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  con- 
sidered with  reference  to  the  improvement  by  the  general  gov- 
ernment of  the  Mississippi  and  its  principal  tributaries,  being 
a  report  prepared  by  authority  of  the  delegates  from  the  city 
of  St.  Louis  for  the  use  of  the  Chicago  Convention  of  July  5, 
1847." 


forever  from  the  politics  of  the  country,  since  the 
River  and  Harbor  bill  of  1882  appropriated  nearly 
$20,000,000  for  the  improvement  of  the  rivers  and 
harbors  of  the  country,  of  which  $4,123,000  was  for 
the  Mississippi  River.  Up  to  1873  the  United  States 
government  had  expended  for  the  improvement  of 
rivers  and  harbors  on 

The  Atlanticcoast $9,587,173 

The  Gulf  coast 579,706 

The  Pacific  coast 638,003 

The  Northern  lakes 10,437,158 

The  Western  rivers 11,438,300 


Total $32,680,340 

Above  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony  to  Leech  Lake,  a 
distance  of  six  hundred  and  seventy-five  miles,  the 
Mississippi  may  be  navigated  in  certain  conditions 
of  the  rainfall.  A  reconnoissance  of  this  part  of  the 
river  was  made  in  1869  by  Francis  Cook,  civil  engi- 
neer, under  the  direction  of  Gen.  G.  K.  Warren,  of  the 
United  States  Engineer  Corps.  In  his  report  of  Jan. 
22,  1870,2  Mr.  Cook  presents  much  valuable  informa- 
tion in  regard  to  the  improvement  of  the  upper  Mis- 
sissippi, and  revives  the  "  reservoir"  plan  of  Mr.  Ellet 
for  supplying  the  river  both  above  and  below  the 
Falls  of  St.  Anthony  during  dry  seasons.  A  lockage 
at  Sauk  Rapids  of  eighteen  feet  will  connect  the  reaches 
of  the  river  and  extend  the  navigation  to  Little  Falls, 
where  a  lockage  of  fourteen  feet  will  form  a  connec- 
tion with  another  navigable  reach  extending  to  the 
mouth  of  Pine  River,  where  the  removal  of  bowlders 
and  the  opening  of  cut-ofis  will  extend  navigation  to 
Pokegama  Falls.  At  that  point  a  lockage  of  thirty 
feet  will  open  the  navigable  waters  above  to  Lake  Leech 
and  Winnebagoshish  Lake.  Thus  continuous  naviga- 
tion will  be  had  for  six  hundred  and  seventy-five  miles 
above  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony.  The  natural  reser- 
voirs that  would  supply  the  Mississippi  River,  both 
above  and  below  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  during 
the  seasons  of  low  water  are  to  be  formed  by  con- 
structing a  dam  at  Pokegama  Falls,  by  which  a  supply 
of  37,057,638,400  cubic  feet  of  water  could  be  ob- 
tained, and  a  dam  raising  Lake  Mille  Lacs  two  feet 
would  increase  that  amount  10,036,224,000  cubic  feet. 
The  estimated  cost  of  these  reservoirs  was  one  hun- 
dred and  fourteen  thousand  dollars,  and  they  would 
supply  to  the  upper  Mississippi  a  permanent  depth  of 
from  four  and  a  half  to  five  feet  during  the  entire 
season.  In  a  report  to  the  War  Department,  Dec.  22, 
1873,3  Maj.  F.  W.  Farquhar,  of  the  United  States 
Engineer  Corps,  recommended  that  a  complete  survey 
be  made  of  the  navigable  portions  of  the  Mississippi 

*  K.\.  Doc.  285,  Forty-first  Congress,  Second  Session. 
3  Ex.  Doc.  145,  Forty-third  Congress,  First  Session. 


1046 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


River  above  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  and  urged  the 
further  improvement  of  the  river  between  St.  Anthony 
and  St.  Cloud.  These  improvements  have  all  been 
undertaken  by  the  general  government,  and  for  con- 
tinuing operations  on  the  reservoirs  at  the  head-waters 
of  the  Mississippi,  Congress  appropriated,  Aug.  2,  i 
1882,1  three  hundred  thousand  dollars.  By  the  same 
act  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  was  appropriated  for 
the  removal  of  snags,  ten  thousand  dollars  for  contin- 
uing the  improvement  of  the  Mississippi  River  above 
the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  and  twenty-five  thousand 
dollars  for  improving  the  falls. 

Upon  the  Mississippi  between  St.  Paul  and  St. 
Louis  two  dredge-boats  have  been  employed  since 
1867,  operating  chiefly  upon  sand-bars,  removing 
snags  and  overhanging  trees.  The  Rock  Island 
Rapids2  have  been  improved  by  excavating  a  chan- 
nel so  as  to  give  a  width  of  two  hundred  feet  and  a 
navigable  depth  of  four  feet  at  extreme  low  water,  | 
and  a  canal  6.7  miles  in  length  was  constructed  at 
Keokuk  Rapids.  This  canal  is  from  two  hundred  and 
fifty  to  three  hundred  feet  in  width,  with  a  minimum 
depth  of  five  feet.  The  act  of  Aug.  2,  1882,8  appro- 
priated two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  for  con- 
tinuing the  improvement  of  the  Mississippi  River  from 
St.  Paul  to  Des  Moines  Rapids,  and  thirty  thousand 
dollars  for  the  construction  of  a  dry-dock  at  the  Des 
Moines  Rapids  Canal,  and  thirty  thousand  dollars  for 
improving  Des  Moines  Rapids  Canal.  "  The  widening 
of  the  channel  at  Rock  Island,"  4  said  a  committee  of 
St.  Louis  business  men  in  a  letter  to  a  committee  of 
Congress,  "  the  completion  of  the  canal  at  Des  Moines, 
the  construction  of  the  wing-dams  before  alluded  to, 
the  removal  of  wrecks  and  snags,  and  the  construction 
of  the  Fort  St.  Philip  Canal  would,  we  believe,  result 
in  the  utilizing  of  this  great  waterway  from  St.  Paul 
to  New  Orleans,  and  reduce  the  cost  of  transportation 
to  a  uniform  cost  not  exceeding  the  lowest  average 
as  shown  by  the  tables  of  freight  accompanying  this 
report.  In  the  opinion  of  this  committee,  the  removal 
of  wrecks  and  snags  between  St.  Louis  and  New  Or- 


1  River  and  Harbor  Bill. 

1  In  .1836,  Lieut.  R.  E.  Lee  was  in  charge  of  the  improve- 
ments, and  continued  work  thereon  until  1839.  No  appropria- 
tion was  made  from  1839  to  1852,  when,  under  an  appropriation 
by  Congress,  the  work  was  intrusted  to  Lieut.  Warren,  of  the 
topographical  engineers.  In  1856,  Maj.  Floyd  was  put  in 
charge  of  the  work,  and  since  then  it  has  been  prosecuted  under 
the  supervision  of  engineers  of  the  United  States. 

s  River  and  Harbor  Bill. 

*  Letter  signed  E.  0.  Stanard,  chairman,  Erastus  Wells,  W. 
H.  Stone,  Lewis  V.  Bogy,  R.  P.  Tausey,  Webster  M.  Samuel, 
George  Bain,  H.  C.  Haarstick,  Isaac  M.  Mason.  Myron  Coloney, 
George  H.  Morgan,  in  report  of  Transportation  Committee,  page 
598. 


leans  is  of  vital  importance  to  the  commerce  of  the 
river.  Wrecks  between  St.  Louis  and  Cairo,  sunken 
many  years  ago  and  forgotten,  are  so  numerous  that, 
from  the  extra  hazard  they  present,  our  rate  of  insur- 
ance is  not  only  increased  upon  boat  hulls  and  cargoes, 
but  steamers  with  thin  hulls  and  light  draught  are  re- 
fused insurance  at  any  rate.  It  is  necessary,  there- 
fore, to  construct  much  stronger  and  more  expensive 
hulls,  and  necessarily  of  deeper  draught,  than  would 
be  acceptable  to  underwriters  were  these  wrecks  and 
snags  removed."  The  opinions  of  these  leading  com- 
mercial men,  as  well  as  the  reports  of  engineers,  at 
length  created  so  strong  a  public  sentiment  in  regard 
to  the  improvement  of  the  Mississippi  River  that  Con- 
gress, by  the  act  of  June  18,  1879,  created  the  Mis- 
sissippi River  Commission,  to  examine  and  report 
such  plans,  specifications,  and  estimates  as  would  ren- 
der the  river,  when  the  work  was  completed,  fully  equal 
to  the  demands  of  commerce.  For  the  commence- 
ment of  this  great  work  there  was  appropriated  by 
the  act  of  August,  1882,  the  sum  of  $4,123,000  for 
the  improvement  of  the  Mississippi  River  "  from 
the  head  of  the  Passes  to  Cairo,"  and  $600,000  for 
improving  the  river  "  from  Cairo  to  the  Des  Moines 
Rapids."  The  estimates  of  the  cost  of  the  various  im- 
provements of  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries, 
made  by  the  Merchants'  Exchange  of  St.  Louis, 
amounted  to  $16,010,000,  and  are  supposed  to  cover 
the  entire  cost  of  the  radical  improvements  of  these 
rivers,  with  the  exception  of  the  Ohio. 

The  improvement  of  the  latter  river  so  as  to  secure 
a  uniform  depth  of  six  feet  at  low  water  from  Pitts- 
burgh to  Cairo  has  long  been  recognized  as  being 
demanded  by  the  vast  interests  that  line  the  banks  of 
that  mighty  stream.  The  length  of  the  river  between 
those  points  is  nine  hundred  and  twenty-seven  miles. 
Six  States  border  upon  it,  viz. :  Pennsylvania,  West 
Virginia,  Ohio,  Kentucky,  Indiana,  and  Illinois,  and 
the  territory  drained  by  it  embraces  214,000  square 
miles.  W.  Milnor  Roberts,  in  1868,  estimated  the 
value  of  the  commerce  of  the  cities  and  towns  on  the 
river  at  $1,623,000,000.  The  coal  and  other  mineral 
interests  are  of  immense  value  and  importance.  The 
coal  area  embraces  a  territory  of  122,000  square 
miles,  and  the  shipments  of  coal  by  the  river  in  1873 
amounted  to  60,000,000  bushels,  or  2,300,000  tons. 
Almost  all  the  coal  consumed  in  the  cities,  towns, 
and  country  bordering  on  the  Mississippi  River  and 
its  navigable  tributaries  below  St.  Louis,  consumed 
by  steamers  on  the  Mississippi  River,  and  to  a  great 
extent  by  ocean-steamers  from  New  Orleans,  is  shipped 
on  the  Ohio  River.  During  a  single  rise  in  that  river 
forty-six  fleets,  composed  of  three  hundred  and  sixty- 


THE   MISSISSIPPI   RIVER   AND   ITS   TRIBUTARIES. 


1047 


nine  barges,  and  carrying  4,156,000  bushels  of  coal, 
started  from  Pittsburgh  within  three  days. 

A  board  of  commissioners  for  the  improvement  of 
the  Ohio  River  was  created  in  1872  by  the  joint 
action  of  the  States  of  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  West 
Virginia,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Indiana,  and  Illinois, 
which  presented  a  memorial  to  Congress  Dec.  16, 
1872,  asking  the  general  government  to  undertake 
the  work,  which  was  stated  to  be  "  not  one  of  en- 
gineering but  of  finance."  The  difficulty  which  em-  ' 
barrasses  the  navigation  of  the  Ohio  arises  from  a 
descent  of  four  hundred  and  twenty-six  feet  between 
Pittsburgh  and  Cairo,  in  consequence  of  which  the 
current  varies  from  one  and  a  half  to  three  and  a  half 
miles  per  hour.  In  1870,  W.  Milnor  Roberts,  United 
States  engineer,  suggested  a  plan  of  improvement,  the 
estimated  cost  of  which  was  twenty-three  million 
seven  hundred  and  seventy-seven  thousand  six  hun- 
dred and  sixty-two  dollars,  and  Gen.  G.  Weitzel,  major 
of  engineers,  and  W.  E.  Merrill,  major  of  engineers, 
as  a  board  of  commissioners,  appointed  by  the  War 
Department  April  16,  1872,  reported  a  plan  of  im- 
provement Jan.  31,  1874.1  With  the  exception  of 
the  purchase  of  the  Louisville  and  Portland  Canal 
around  the  falls  of  the  Ohio  and  making  the  same 
free,  very  little  of  any  importance  and  nothing  of  any 
permanent  value  has  been  done  towards  the  improve- 
ment of  the  Ohio  River  by  the  Federal  government. 

The  improvement  of  the  Illinois  River  was  begun  as 
early  as  1836  with  the  construction  of  the  Illinois  and 
Michigan  Canal,  which  was  to  extend  from  Chicago  to 
the  Illinois  River  at  La  Salle,  a  distance  of  about  one 
hundred  miles,  but  in  the  general  financial  crash  of 
1837  the  work  was  suspended.  The  bonds  issued  for  • 
the  construction  of  the  canal  were  owned  principally  in  j 
England.  In  1844  a  proposition  was  made  to  the  Eng- 
lish bondholders  that  if  they  would  advance  sixteen 
hundred  thousand  dollars  for  the  completion  of  the  i 
canal  it  should  pass  into  their  hands,  and  its  revenue  i 
go,  with  what  lands2  the  State  owned, — the  avails  of 
the  bonds  being  paid  into  the  canal  funds  to  reimburse 
the  State, — to  pay  the  bonds,  interest  and  principal. 
In  accordance  with  this  suggestion  the  English  bond- 
holders appointed  two  trustees  and  the  State  one, 
under  whose  control  the  work  remained  until  May  1, 
1872.  The  original  plan  of  building  the  canal  was 
to  give  it  an  incline  from  the  Chicago  River  to  the 
Des  Plaines  River  at  Lockport,  and  then  supply  a 
portion  of  the  water  by  pumping-works  at  Bridge- 
port, at  the  commencement  of  the  canal.  The  city  of 


1  Ex.  Doc.  No.  127,  Forty-third  Congress,  First  Session. 
*  Lands  donated  in  1S31  by  United  States  along  the  canal. 


Chicago,  under  authority  from  the  State,  removed  the 
"bench,"  or  summit  level,  thus  securing  a  constant 
flow  of  water  from  the  Chicago  River  to  Lockport. 
A  distance  of  twenty-seven  miles  was  thus  deepened 
to  eight  feet,  at  a  cost  of  about  three  millions  of 
dollars.  The  original  design  of  this  canal  was  to 
connect  the  navigable  waters  of  the  Illinois  River 
with  Lake  Michigan.  The  tolls  and  revenues  of  the 
canal  were  never  sufficient  to  pay  even  the  interest  on 
the  bonds,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  Illinois  River 
of  late  years  has  had  less  water  in  it  than  when  the 
canal  was  projected.  Though  the  improvement  of  the 
Illinois  River  had  been  urged  upon  Congress  tor  many 
years,  it  was  not  until  about  1865  that  an  appropriation 
of  eighty-five  thousand  dollars  was  made  for  that  work, 
but  very  little  was  done  under  that  appropriation,  the 
money  being  diverted  by  the  Secretary  of  War  to  the 
improvement  of  the  Rock  Island  Rapids.  In  1869  the 
Legislature  of  Illinois  appropriated  four  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  dollars  for  the  work,  and  in  the  same  year 
Congress  appropriated  two  millions  for  Western  rivers, 
of  which  sum  eighty-five  thousand  dollars  was  ex- 
pended on  this  river.  In  1870,  Congress  appropriated 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  the  work.  In  1873 
the  estimated  cost  of  its  completion  was  two  million  two 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  by  the  River  and  Harbor 
bill  of  1882  there  was  appropriated  one  hundred  and 
seventy-five  thousand  dollars  for  continuing  the  work, 
which  is  now  being  carried  on  by  the  general  govern- 
ment. In  addition,  the  further  improvement  of  the 
navigation  of  the  Illinois  River  is  contemplated  by 
the  construction  of  the  Hennepin  Canal  from  Henne- 
pin  to  Rock  Island.  The  estimated  cost  of  this  work 
is  four  million  five  hundred  thousand  dollars,3  for 
which  the  River  and  Harbor  bill  of  1882  appropri- 
ated the  sum  of  thirty  thousand  dollars,  with,  how- 
ever, the  proviso  "  that  nothing  herein  shall  be  con- 
strued to  commit  the  government  to  proceed  with  the 
construction  of  the  said  improvement."  The  im- 
provements of  this  river  now  completed  and  in  con- 
templation will  form  with  the  Hennepin  Canal  a  con- 
tinuous line  of  canal  and  slack-water  navigation  from 
Chicago  to  the  Mississippi  River,  as  follows : 

Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal,  Chicago  to  La  Salle...      96  miles. 
Slack  water,  Illinois  River,  La  Salle  to  Hennepin...      19     ' 
Hennepin  Canal,  Illinois  to  Mississippi  River 65     ' 

Total 180     « 

The  improvements  of  the  upper  Mississippi  now 
in  progress  will,  when  completed,  afford  seven  hundred 
and  sixty-one  miles  of  continuous  navigation  between 

s  Mr.  Utley,  of  the  Board  of  Canal  Commissioners  of  Illinois  : 
Transportation  Report,  p.  L':>J. 


1048 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


St.  Louis  and  St.  Paul  for  barges,  which  can  pass 
through  the  Hennepin  and  the  Illinois  and  Michigan 
Canals  to  the  city  of  Chicago,  thus  affording  compe- 
tition with  ail  railroad  lines  which  cross  the  Missis- 
sippi River  between  St.  Paul  and  St.  Louis. 

Beyond  the  removal  of  the  snags  by  the  govern- 
ment snag-boats,  nothing  has  been  done  for  the  im- 
provement of  the  navigation  of  the  Missouri  River. 
The  Missouri  River  Improvement  Association  in  1881 
addressed  a  memorial  to  Congress  upon  the  sub- 
ject, but  it  is  conspicuous  by  its  absence  from  the 
bulky  volume  of  the  River  and  Harbor  bill  of  1882. 

The  Fox  and  Wisconsin  Rivers  have  formed  an 
important  highway  for  two  hundred  years.  It  was 
by  pursuing  this  route  that  Marquette  in  1673  dis- 
covered the  upper  Mississippi,  and  along  these  rivers 
the  French  missionaries  and  traders  made  the  earliest 
settlements  in  the  West.  _  In  the  ordinance  for  the 
government  of  the  Northwestern  Territory,  adopted 
July  14,  1787,  it  was  provided  that  the  navigable 
waters  leading  into  the  Mississippi  and  the  St.  Law- 
rence, and  the  carrying  places  between  the  same,  should 
be  common  highways  and  forever  free.  The  same 
provision  is  embodied,  in  substance,  in  the  act  of 
Congress  of  Aug.  7,  1789,  after  the  adoption  of  the 
Constitution ;  in  the  act  of  Congress  establishing  a  j 
Territorial  government  for  Wisconsin,  approved  April 
20,  1836 ;  in  the  act  admitting  Wisconsin  as  a  State,  | 
Aug.  6,  1846,  and  in  the  Constitution  of  the  State 
of  Wisconsin.  A  preliminary  survey  of  the  cost  of 
the  improvement  of  these  rivers  was  made  by  Capt. 
Cram,  of  the  United  States  Topographical  Engineers, 
in  1839.  By  the  act  of  Congress  Aug.  8,  1846,  a 
grant  of  land  was  made  to  the  State  of  Wisconsin  for 
the  purpose  of  improving  the  navigation  of  these 
rivers,  and  for  constructing  a  canal  through  the  di- 
vide, or  "  portage,"  to  unite  them,  in  which  the  j 
declaration  was  reasserted  that  this  channel  should  be 
free  to  the  commerce  of  the  United  States.  The 
State  of  Wisconsin,  by  its  Board  of  Public  Works, 
and  afterwards  by  corporations  duly  authorized,  under- 
took the  improvement  of  these  rivers,  in  the  prosecu- 
tion of  which  over  two  millions  of  dollars,  including 
the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  the  lands  granted  by  Con- 
gress, were  expended.  The  Fox  River  was  improved 
so  as  to  pass  at  low  water  boats  of  four  feet  draught 
from  Green  Bay  to  Lake  Winnebago,  and  boats  of 
two  and  a  half  feet  draught  from  Lake  Winnebago  to 
the  Wisconsin  River.  Little  or  no  work  was  done  on 
the  latter  river. 

The  improvement  utterly  failed  to  meet  the  re- 
quirements of  commerce,  because  it  did  not  admit  of 
the  passage  of  boats  from  the  Mississippi  up  the 


Wisconsin  River.  On  the  Fox  River  the  improve- 
ment aided  in  the  development  of  that  portion  of  the 
State, — a  development  which  is  traceable  not  only  to 
the  utilization  of  the  water-power,  but  probably  in  a 
greater  degree  to  the  competition,  although  neces- 
sarily small,  existing  between  water  and  rail.  In 
1870,  Congress  directed  the  Secretary  of  War  to 
adopt  such  a  plan  for  the  improvement  of  the  Wis- 
consin as  should  be  approved  by  the  chief  of  engi- 
neers, and  authorized  him  to  appoint  arbitrators  to 
ascertain  the  sum  which  ought  to  be  paid  for  the 
transfer  of  all  rights  in  the  works  of  improvement 
then  held  by  the  corporation  created  under  the  laws 
of  Wisconsin.  The  sum  fixed  upon  was  one  hundred 
and  forty-five  thousand  dollars.  By  the  act  of  July 
7,  1870,1  Congress  further  directed  that  all  tolls  and 
revenues  derived  from  the  improvement,  after  pro- 
viding for  current  expenses,  should  be  paid  into 
the  treasury  until  the  United  States  was  reimbursed 
for  all  sums  advanced  for  the  same  with  interest 
thereon,  after  which  the  tolls  were  to  be  reduced  to 
the  least  sum  which,  with  any  other  revenue  derived 
from  the  improvement,  would  be  sufficient  to  operate 
and  keep  the  improvement  in  repair.  In  1871,  Con- 
gress made  the  appropriation  of  one  hundred  and 
forty-five  thousand  dollars,  and  the  deed  of  transfer 
was  executed  and  delivered  to  the  United  States. 
Subsequently  appropriations  amounting  to  four  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars  were  made.  The  report  of  Col. 
Houston,  then  engineer  in  charge,2  in  1873,  says, 
"  The  work  now  in  the  hands  of  the  government  is 
different  from  any  other  work  of  this  character,  and 
the  appropriation  that  was  made  last  year  (1872)  is 
too  small  an  appropriation  to  carry  on  the  work  to 
advantage."  In  the  River  and  Harbor  bill  for  1882 
the  sum  of  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  was  appro- 
priated for  continuing  the  improvement. 

The  efforts  to  improve  navigation  at  the  mouths  of 
the  Mississippi  have  a  history  running  through  more 
than  a  century  and  a  half, — a  history  made  up  in  large 
part  of  controversy  and  discussion  among  engineers, 
wherein  almost  every  fact  advanced  by  one  was  con- 
troverted by  another,  and  every  theory  advocated  was 
subsequently  assailed  or  exploded.  The  vexed  ques- 
tion has  at  last  been  definitely  settled,  and  it  is  only 
necessary  now  to  present  in  chronological  order  the 
historical  facts  in  connection  with  this  vast  enterprise. 

In  1722  the  present  South  Pass  was  examined  by 
M.  Pauger,  an  engineer  in  the  employ  of  the  West- 
ern Company,  and  described  as  being  "  straighter 


1  Rev.  Stat.,  Sec.  5249. 

2  Evidence  before  Committee  on  Transportation,  pp.  229-32. 


THE   MISSISSIPPI   RIVER   AND   ITS   TRIBUTARIES. 


1049 


than  the  ancient  pass,  but  narrower."     It  was  added 
that  "  at  the  outlet  of  this  Pass  there  is  a  bar  upon 
which  there  is  but  nine  to  ten  feet  water,  and  which 
is  about  one  hundred  toises  wide."    According  to  this 
engineer,  there  was  an  average  draught  on  the  bar  of  the 
South  Pass,  one  hundred  and  sixty  years  ago,  of  about  , 
ten  English  feet.     From  the  year  1764  to  1771,  we  ; 
learn  from  Gault's    map,  made  from  the  Admiralty  j 
surveys,  that  the  depth  on  the  bar  at  the  Pass  was  ! 
from  eight  to  nine  feet  English.     From  that  time  to 
1838  there  are  no  data  as  to  the  depth  of  water.     In 
that  year  (1838)  a  survey  was  made,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  special  board  of  United  States  engineers, 
by  George  G.  Meade,  who  ascertained  that  "  eight 
feet  could  be   carried   over  the  west  and   principal 
channel."     After  the  Meade  survey  a  spit  of  sand 
formed  directly  in  the  mouth  of  the  Pass,  which  en- 
tirely closed  up  the  entrance,  so  far  as  commercial 
purposes  were  concerned. 

The  Northeast  Pass,  or  a  branch  thereof  called  the 
Southeast  Pass,  was  in  the  early  period  of  the  navi- 
gation of  the  river  the  principal  avenue  of  its  com- 
merce. But  this  preference  was  probably  due  rather 
to  its  position,  favoring  vessels  from  the  east,  than  to 
the  actual  depth  of  water  at  its  mouth.  The  earliest 
notices  of  the  bars  speak  of  the  entrance  to  the  river 
as  if  there  were  but  one  that  was  used  by  the  ship- 
ping, and  Mr.  Ellet  says  "  it  cannot  be  doubted  that 
the  Southeast  Pass,  or  the  Northeast  Pass  (which 
were  in  fact  at  that  day,  as  they  were  fifty  years 
later,  but  two  distinct  channels  through  the  shoal 
water  at  the  outlet  of  the  Northeast  Pass),  is  the 
channel  to  which  these  early  notices  apply."  *  The 
following  allusion  to  this  outlet  is  from  a  dispatch 
from  Bienville,  then  Governor  of  the  province,  to 
the  French  minister  in  1722  :  "  I  have  had  the  honor 
to  inform  the  Council  by  my  last  letters  concerning 
the  entrance  to  the  river,  and  to  assure  them  that 
vessels  drawing  not  over  thirteen  feet  (French)  could 
then  enter  at  full  sail  without  touching,  and  that  it 
would  not  be  difficult  to  render  the  Pass  practicable 
for  vessels  of  the  largest  size,  the  bottom  being 
nothing  but  a  soft  and  movable  mud."  Mr.  Ellet 
adds  that  "  Bienville  would  have  undertaken  to 
deepen  the  water  on  the  bar  if  the  engineers  who 
were  specially  charged  with  such  works  had  con- 
curred with  him  in  opinion  upon  the  practicability  of 
the  enterprise."  The  difference  of  opinion  among 
engineers  which  existed  at  that  early  day  has  con- 
tinued for  a  century  and  a  half,  and  postponed  the 

1  Appendix  to  "  Memoir  on  Mississippi  and  Ohio  Rivers," 
p.  329. 


work  until  Mr.  Eads  forced  it  through  by  assuming 
all  risk,  and  undertaking  its  construction  upon  the 
terms  of  no  pay  without  success. 

As  early  as  1722  the  engineer,  Pauger,  expressed 
the  opinion  that  the  deposit  from  the  river  "  could  be 
broken  and  carried  off  by  stopping  up  some  of  the 
Passes  of  the  Mississippi,  by  means  of  old  vessels 
sunk  to  the  bottom,  together  with  trees,  of  which  a 
prodigious  quantity  descends  during  the  two  first 
months  of  the  year,"  and  he  proposed  a  system  of 
dikes  and  brushwood  for  establishing  the  current  of 
the  river.  This  plan  of  improvement  by  dikes  and 
brushwood,  suggested  in  1722  by  M.  Pauger,  was 
assailed  as  useless  and  impracticable  by  Charles  Ellet, 
Jr.,  in  his  memoir  on  the  Mississippi  and  Ohio 
Rivers : 

"If  we  increase  the  velocity  of  the  fresh-water  currents  by 
contracting  the  channel,  or  by  stopping  up  the  secondary  out- 
lets, we  shall  certainly  increase  the  depth  and  velocity  of  the 
column  of  fresh  water  flowing  into  the  gulf  on  top  of  the  sea- 
water.  But  that  will  not  sweep  out  the  bar.  No  part  of  the 
fresh  water  comes  within  eight  feet  of  the  top  of  the  bar  which 
it  is  expected  to  remove. 

"  The  immediate  effect  of  this  increased  force  of  fresh  water 
will  be  to  carry  the  upper  portion  of  the  salt  water  immediately 
below  it  farther  out,  and  to  transfer  the  place  of  deposit  to  some 
other  point  still  on  the  bar,  but  nearer  the  sea,  just  as  it  is  now 
transferred  sometimes  from  above  the  head  of  the  Passes,  where 
it  is  occasionally  found  in  extreme  low  water,  to  within  half  a 
mile  of  the  edge  of  the  gulf,  to  which  point  it  recedes  in  com- 
mon high  water.  But  this  will  not  prevent  an  under  current  of 
salt  water  from  flowing  in  and  an  upper  current  from  flowing 
out,  nor  will  it  prevent  deposits  from  taking  place  at  the  points 
where  the  direction  changes,  though  with  the  same  volume,  of 
water  it  will  change  the  position  of  that  deposit." 

Mr.  Ellet  further  contended  that 

"  while  the  effect  of  increasing  the  velocity  of  the  current  by 
contracting  the  embouchure  of  the  river  will  not  be  felt  in  the 
removal  of  the  bars,  this  increase  of  current  will  take  place  at 
the  surface,  and  hence  act  with  increased  power  upon  the  very 
works  by  which  it  is  produced.  These  works  must  rest  on  foun- 
dations of  loose  mud,  which  has  been  deposited  in  the  existing 
order  of  things.  There  is,  therefore,  reason  to  believe,  at  least 
to  apprehend,  that  any  material  increase  of  littoral  velocity 
would  carry  off  this  deposit,  undermine  the  works,  and  conse- 
quently overthrow  them." 

In  this  opposition  to  what  is  now  known  as  the 
jetty  system  Maj.  C.  W.  Howell,  of  the  United  States 
engineers,  concurred  in  his  letter  to  Capt.  J.  H.  Ogles- 
by,  president  of  the  New  Orleans  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce, saying, — 

"The  theory  is  attractive  from  its  apparent  simplicity,  and 
for  the  same  reason  is  the  first  to  claim  the  attention  of  dabblers 
in  hydraulic  engineering,  who  either  do  not  know,  or  else  lose 
sight  of  the  condition  essential  to  its  successful  application.  The 
principles  of  these  conditions  are  two:  1.  That  the  character  of 
the  bed  and  banks  of  the  river  at  the  point  of  application  be 
Buch  that  scouring  will  be  effected  in  the  bed  in  preference  to 


1050 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


the  banks;  in  other  words,  the  banks  must  be  firm  enough  to 
withstand  the  action  of  the  current,  and  the  bottom  yielding 
enough  to  permit  scour. 

"  The  second  condition  is  thut  there  shall  exist  a  current  (lit- 
toral), passing  the  outer  extremities  of  the  jetties  perpendicular 
to  them,  capable  of  sweeping  to  one  side  or  the  other  all  deposit 
made  about  the  jetty-heads  and  tending  to  form  a  new  bar  out- 
side. 

"  No  such  current  has  been  discovered  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi,  although  carefully  sought.  In  default  of  it  jetties 
•would  have  to  be  built  farther  and  farther  out,  not  annually, 
but  steadily  every  day  each  year,  to  keep  pace  with  the  advance 
of  the  river  deposit  into  the  gulf,  provided  they  are  attempted, 
and  the  attempt  warranted  by  having  the  relative  character  of 
bed  and  bank  favorable. 

"  For  the  reasons  that  these  two  conditions  are  not  to  be  found 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  careful  engineers  have  time 
and  again  pronounced  the  application  of  jetties  at  either  South- 
west Pass  or  Pass  a  1'Outre  not  worthy  of  a  trial  at  government 
expense.  If  enthusiastic  jetty  men  wish  to  pass  from  theory  to 
practice,  they  can  always  gain  consent  to  spend  their  own  money 
in  building  jetties  at  Southwest  Pass,  and  if  they  succeed  in 
doing  good  they  will  have  a  fair  claim  on  government  for  recom- 
pense. .  .  .  Jetties  have  been  attempted  there,  and  not  only 
reported  a  failure  by  the  inspecting  officer,  but  abandoned  by 
Messrs.  Craig  &  Righter,  who  made  the  attempt.1 

"  The  full  particulars  of  this  may  be  found  in  Ex.  Doc.  No. 
5  H.  R.,  36th  Cong.,  2d  sess.     The  practical  experience  gained 
by  that  failure,  I  presume,  will  deter  the  government,  though  it 
will  not  deter  adventurous  jetty  men,  from  sinking  more  money   i 
in  such  attempts." 

The  "  adventurous  jetty  men"  were  Capt.  James 
B.  Eads  and  his  associates,  who,  as  is  well  known,  have 
made  the  jetty  system  a  grand  success.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  recapitulate  here  the  controversy  which, 
in  the  newspapers  as  well  as  in  Congress,  have  agi- 
tated the  whole  Mississippi  valley  concerning  this 
method  of  deepening  the  water  at  the  mouth  of  the 
great  river. 

The  various  modes  which  have  been  attempted  of 
increasing  the  depth  of  the  channel  through  the 
Passes  have  been  the  following  : 

1.  Dredging.    Under  instructions  of  the  War  Department, 
Capt.  Talcott  attempted  in  1839  to  open  the  Southwest  Pass 
with  the  ordinary  bucket-drag.     The  gulf  waves  in  a  single 
storm  swept  in  "  twice  as  much  mud"  as  he  had  taken  out. 

2.  By  rake  and  harrow.     This  method  was  once  tried  under 
the  direction  and  at  the  expense  of  the  government  by  a  tow- 
boat  association,  but  their  efforts  were  equally  fruitless.     The 
channel  was  temporarily  opened  to  a  depth  of  eighteen  feet, 
but  again  suddenly  closed  by  a  gulf  storm. 

3.  In    1836    the   government  entered  into  a   contract  with 
Messrs.  Craig  &  Righter  to  open  a  channel  one  thousand  feet 
wide   and  eighteen  feet  deep,  which  was   to  be   executed  by 
closing  all  the  Passes  except  those  designated  for  navigation. 
The  contract  was  abandoned. 

4.  In   1868-70  the  government  caused  to  be  constructed  a 

1  Craig  &  Righter  built  but  one  jetty,  and  not  jetties,  as  ap- 
pears from  a  foot-note  to  page  455,  stating  that  "the  contrac- 
tors (Messrs.  Craig  <t  Righter,)  merely  built  one  insecure  jetty 
of  a  single  row  of  pile-planks,  about  a  mile  long." 


steam  propeller  dredge,  at  a  cost  of  three  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars,  which  was  placed  under  the  command  of  an 
officer  of  the  navy.  This  experiment  was  faithfully  made,  but 
it  "  failed  to  maintain  a  much  greater  depth  of  water  than  that 
which  nature  has  prescribed  as  the  regimen  depth  of  the  Pass." 
The  results  of  this  mode  were  at  least  but  temporary,  and  to 
have  been  of  any  service  would  have  had  to  be  continued  from 
year  to  year,  while  the  labors  of  an  entire  season  were  liable  to 
be  destroyed  at  any  time  by  a  single  storm. 

5.  By  the  Fort  St.  Philip  Canal,  which  was  strongly  recom- 
mended by  a  majority  of  the  board  of  engineers  appointed  by 
the  War  Department.  This  canal  was  proposed  as  early  as 
1832,  since  which  time  many  surveys  and  reconnoissances  have 
been  made  as  to  its  proper  location,  expense,  and  commercial 
practicability. 

A  report  of  the  United  States  board  of  engineers 
in  1874  favored  the  canal  scheme  and  opposed  the 
jetties,  holding  that  the  cost  of  producing  a  depth 
of  twenty-seven  feet  would  be  twenty-three  million 
dollars. 

In  February,  1874,  James  B.  Eads  proposed  to  Con- 
gress to  open  the  mouth  of  the  river,  making  a  depth 
of  twenty-eight  feet,  for  ten  million  dollars,  at  the 
entire  risk  of  himself  and  his  associates,  not  a  dollar 
to  be  paid  until  a  depth  of  twenty  feet  was  secured. 
The  controversy  created  by  Capt.  Eads'  proposition  be- 
came quite  warm  and  personal.  A  committee  of  civil 
engineers  was  appointed  to  investigate  the  question, 
and  particularly  the  European  jetties  and  their  ef- 
fects. 

The  result  of  their  investigation  was  favorable  to 
the  jetties,  and  on  March  3,  1875,  the  President 
signed  the  bill  entering  into  a  contract  with  Capt.  Eads 
to  deepen  the  mouth  of  the  river.  South  Pass,  which 
had  previously  had  a  depth  of  nine  feet,  was  chosen, 
and  work  begun  in  June,  1875.  By  May,  1876,  when 
very  little  work  had  been  done,  it  was  found  that  one 
million  nine  hundred  thousand  cubic  yards  of  material 
had  been  scoured  out,  and  that  the  minimum  depth 
was  16.9  feet.  Even  with  this  showing  many  persons 
still  failed  to  have  confidence  in  the  jetties,  and  stories 
of  new  bars,  mud,  lumps,  etc.,  were  told  almost  every 
day  in  the  local  press.  In  November,  1877,  the 
dredge-boat  "  Bayley"  was  used  in  scouring  the 
channel  of  the  jetties. 

A  survey  made  Dec.  15,  1877,  showed  a  channel 
twenty-two  feet  deep,  and  more  than  two  hundred 
feet  wide,  existing  from  the  deeper  water  in  South 
Pass  to  the  deeper  water  in  the  gulf.  On  this  show- 
ing the  first  award  of  five  hundred  thousand  dollars, 
under  the  contract  made  between  Eads  and  the  gov- 
ernment, was  paid  over  to  him.  Work  was  continued 
on  the  jetties  in  1877  and  1878,  in  which  year  it  was 
completed,  the  concrete  and  crib-work  at  the  sea  ends 
being  erected. 

The  following  table  will  show  the    depth    in  the 


THE   MISSISSIPPI   RIVER  AND   ITS   TRIBUTARIES. 


1051 


channel   at  ten  thousand  feet  from  East  Point,  the 
worst  part  of  the  Pass,  at  various  times : 


June,  1875 9.2  feet. 

May,  1876 15        " 

August,  1876 19.8    " 

July,  1877 20.3    " 

June,  1878 21.9    " 


February,  1879 22.2  feet. 

March,  1879 24.8    " 

June,  1879 28       " 

July,  1879 30.5    " 


In  the  summer  of  1881  the  least  depth  in  the 
channel  in  South  Pass,  not  in  the  jetties,  was  26 }  feet, 
97,000  feet  above  East  Point  and  at  Bayou  Grande ; 
and  29  feet  at  Picayune  Bayou,  and  at  a  point  90,000 
feet  above  East  Point.  At  no  point  in  the  jetties 
proper  is  the  depth  of  channel  less  than  30  J  feet. 

James  B.  Eads,  whose  name  is  permanently  asso- 
ciated with  three  gigantic  enterprises, — the  building 
of  the  jetties,  the  construction  of  the  gunboat  fleet 
at  St.  Louis  during  the  war,  and  the  erection  of  the 
great  bridge  across  the  Mississippi, — may  justly  be 
regarded  as  one  of  the  foremost  engineers  of  his  day, 
and  it  is  quite  within  bounds  to  say  that  no  man  has 
ever  surmounted  greater  mechanical  difficulties  or 
wrested  a  larger  measure  of  success  from  doubtful 
and  hostile  conditions.  Two  of  the  three  great  ex- 
periments whose  practicability  he  so  signally  demon- 
strated may  be  classed  among  the  wonders  of  the 
age,  for  it  is  a  matter  of  history  that  the  construc- 
tion both  of  the  Mississippi  bridge  and  jetties  was 
regarded  by  leading  engineers  and  scientific  men  as 
impracticable,  dangerous,  and  altogether  beyond  the 
limits  of  reasonable  calculation.  With  that  un- 
bounded faith  in  the  correctness  of  his  own  judg- 
ment and  that  indomitable  courage  and  endurance 
which  have  ever  been  recognized  as  the  first  essen- 
tials to  success  in  all  great  undertakings,  Capt.  Eads 
maintained  his  position  in  the  face  of  criticism,  de- 
traction, personal  abuse,  and  determined  professional 
hostility  working  through  various  channels,  and  at 
last,  by  sheer  pluck  and  persistence,  fully  vindicated 
the  soundness  of  his  views  and  covered  his  critics 
with  confusion. 

Capt.  Eads  was  born  in  Lawrenceburg,  Ind.,  May 
23,  1820,  and  his  early  education  was  acquired  in 
the  schools  of  Louisville  and  Cincinnati.  Before  he 
had  succeeded  in  mastering  the  rudiments,  however, 
his  father  experienced  reverses  which  necessitated  his 
withdrawal  from  school,  to  which  he  never  returned. 
At  a  very  early  age  he  developed  a  taste  for  mechan- 
ics and  a  fondness  for  experimenting  with  machinery, 
which  was  afterwards  to  become  the  ruling  passion  of 
his  wonderful  career.  Among  the  anecdotes  related 
of  him  is  one  to  the  effect  that  when  only  nine  years 
old,  having  embarked  on  an  Ohio  River  steamboat, 
he  exhibited  such  an  intelligent  interest  in  the  engine 


that  the  engineer  volunteered  to  explain  to  him  the  de- 
tails of  its  mechanism  and  operation,  finding  in  him  an 
absorbed  and  quickly  responsive  pupil.  Four  years 
later  the  boy  was  able  to  construct  a  miniature  work- 
ing steam-engine  without  assistance. 

In  September,  1833,  when  only  thirteen  years  of 
age,  he  arrived  in  St.  Louis  under  very  unpropitious 
circumstances,  the  steamboat  on  which  his  father 


with  his  family  had  embarked  to  seek  a  home  farther 
West  having  been  burned,  thus  rendering  the  family 
destitute.  In  order  to  contribute  something  to  the 
common  fund,  young  Eads  sold  apples  on  the  street, 
and  succeeded  not  only  in  providing  for  his  own  sup- 
port but  also  in  assisting  his  mother.  After  a  while 
he  obtained  a  position  with  a  mercantile  firm,  the 
senior  partner  of  which,  Barrett  Williams,  having 
discovered  his  mechanical  tastes  and  aspirations,  gave 
him  free  access  to  his  library,  where  he  eagerly  em- 
braced the  opportunity  to  study  mechanics,  machin- 
ery, and  civil  engineering.  After  spending  some  time 
in  this  occupation  he  obtained  a  position  as  clerk  on 
a  steamboat,  which  he  retained  two  years,  and  during 
this  period  obtained  a  valuable  fund  of  information 
concerning  the  great  river  whose  restless  current  he 
was  afterwards  to  bridle  and  control  at  will.  In  1842 
he  entered  into  a  partnership  with  Case  &  Nelson, 
boat-builders,  for  the  purpose  of  recovering  steam- 
boats and  cargoes  which  had  been  wrecked  or  sunk 


1052 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


in  the  river.  At  first  the  operations  of  the  firm  were 
limited,  their  machinery  and  appliances  being  very 
primitive  and  quite  inadequate  to  the  work  which 
they  undertook  to  perform.  Such  were  the  energy, 
versatility,  and  industry  of  Capt.  Eads,  however,  that 
the  business  rapidly  expanded,  until,  in  the  space  of 
about  ten  years,  it  extended  the  entire  length  of  the 
Mississippi,  and  the  property  of  the  firm  had  increased 
to  half  a  million  dollars.  In  1845,  Capt.  Eads  sev- 
ered his  relations  with  Messrs.  Case  &  Nelson  and 
established  a  factory  for  the  manufacture  of  glass- 
ware. To  Capt.  Eads  belongs  the  credit  of  having 
made  the  first  glassware  west  of  the  Mississippi. 
The  enterprise  not  proving  remunerative,  however,  he 
returned  to  his  old  business  of  recovering  steamboat 
property,  etc.,  from  the  river. 

In  the  winter  of  1855-56,  Capt.  Eads  submitted 
to  Congress  a  proposition  to  keep  the  Western  rivers 
open  for  a  term  of  years  by  removing  all  obstructions 
and  keeping  the  channels  free.  A  bill  embodying 
his  proposal  passed  the  House  of  Representatives,  but 
was  defeated  in  the  Senate.  In  1857  he  retired  from 
active  business  on  account  of  ill  health,  but  on  the 
breaking  out  of  the  war  his  large  and  varied  expe- 
rience in  navigating  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries, 
his  thorough  knowledge  of  those  rivers,  his  immense 
industry  and  energy,  and  his  almost  intuitively  sound 
judgment  were  promptly  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the 
Union  government.  While  a  stanch  supporter  of  the 
war  measures  of  the  Lincoln  administration,  Capt. 
Eads  by  no  means  approved  the  enforcement  of  harsh 
and  arbitrary  measures  of  coercion,  and,  as  elsewhere 
narrated,  at  a  crisis  when  peculiar  courage  was  re- 
quired to  assume  such  a  position,  took  strong  ground 
against  the  levying  of  contributions  on  Southern  sym- 
pathizers, and  headed  a  movement  for  raising  a  fund 
to  take  the  place  of  that  which  the  military  authori- 
ties had  determined  to  exact  from  alleged  friends  of 
the  Confederacy  in  St.  Louis.  When  the  government 
took  into  consideration  the  feasibility  of  forming  a 
gunboat  fleet  on  the  Mississippi,  Capt.  Eads  was 
summoned  to  Washington  for  consultation,  and  in 
pursuance  of  his  advice  the  construction  of  a  number 
of  ironclads  was  undertaken.  Capt.  Eads  received 
the  contract  for  building  the  first  seven  of  these  ves- 
sels, and  accomplished  the  gigantic  task  with  con- 
spicuous ability  and  success.  His  labors  in  this  con- 
nection have  already  been  fully  set  forth  in  this  work 
in  the  chapter  on  the  civil  war. 

Capt.  Eads'  next  great  feat  was  the  construction  of 
the  bridge  across  the  Mississippi.  He  was  the  origi- 
nator and  creator  of  this  vast  enterprise,  and  as  its 
chief  engineer  personally  superintended  the  prosecution 


of  the  work, — a  work  attended  by  innumerable  diffi- 
culties, delays,  and  embarrassments, — which  he  con- 
ducted to  a  triumphant  consummation  by  the  steady 
and  persistent  exercise  of  his  rare  energy  and  in- 
domitable will. 

Even  when  most  actively  engaged  with  the  multi- 
farious duties  of  this  grave  trust,  and  weighted  down 
with  its  responsibilities,  he  found  time  and  thought 
to  give  to  the  important  problem  of  securing  a  suffi- 
cient depth  of  water  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi 
for  vessels  of  the  largest  draught.  After  long  and 
mature  deliberation  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  only  practicable  method  of  securing  this  object 
was  by  an  elaborate  and  costly  system  of  jetties, 
which  he  defines  as  being  "  simply  dikes  or  levees 
under  water,  .  .  .  intended  to  act  as  banks  to  the 
river  to  prevent  its  expanding  and  diffusing  itself  as 
it  enters  the  sea.  It  is  a  notable  fact  that  where  the 
banks  of  a  river  extend  boldly  out  into  the  sea  no  bar 
is  formed  at  the  entrance.  It  is  where  the  banks  or 
fauces  terrx  (jaws  of  earth)  are  absent,  as  is  the  case 
in  delta-forming  rivers,  that  the  bar  is  an  invariable 
feature.  The  bar  results  from  the  diffusion  of  the 
stream  as  it  spreads  out  fan-like  in  entering  the  sea. 
The  diffusion  of  the  river  being  the  cause,  the  remedy 
manifestly  lies  in  contracting  it  or  in  preventing  the 
diffusion." 

In  1852  a  board  of  engineers  composed  of  Maj. 
Chase  and  Capts.  Barnard  and  Beauregard,  of  the 
army,  and  Capt.  Latimer,  of  the  navy,  recommended 
that  in  order  to  increase  the  depth  of  water  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi  the  process  of  stirring  up 
the  bottom  of  the  river  by  suitable  machinery  be 
tried,  and  that  if  this  failed,  dredging  by  buckets  be 
employed.  If  both  failed,  they  recommended  that 
jetties  be  constructed  at  the  Southwest  Pass,  to  be  ex- 
tended annually  into  the  gulf  as  experience  should 
show  to  be  necessary.  Should  it  then  be  needed,  they 
advised  that  the  lateral  outlets  should  be  closed,  and, 
finally,  if  all  these  expedients  failed,  that  a  ship-canal 
might  be  resorted  to. 

Dredging,  as  we  have  seen,  was  tried  without  suc- 
cess, and  repeated  experiments  with  other  plans  re- 
sulted in  nothing  until,  in  1875,  Capt.  Eads  began  the 
construction  of  his  jetty  works,  the  contract  having 
been  awarded  to  James  Andrews  &  Co.  within  two 
months  after  the  passage  by  Congress  of  the  act 
authorizing  the  experiment.  On  the  23d  of  March, 
1875,  a  complimentary  banquet  in  honor  of  Capt. 
Eads  was  given  by  leading  citizens  of  St.  Louis  at  the 
Southern  Hotel,  at  which  the  mayor  of  the  city  pre- 
sided. In  the  course  of  an  address  on  this  occasion 
Capt.  Eads  said, — 


THE   MISSISSIPPI  RIVER   AND  ITS   TRIBUTARIES. 


1053 


"  If  the  profession  of  the  engineer  were  not  based  upon  exact  | 
science,  I  might  tremble  for  the  result,  in  view  of  the  immensity 
of  the  interests  which  are  dependent  upon  my  success.  But  j 
every  atom  that  moves  onward  in  the  river,  from  the  moment  it 
leaves  its  home  and  crystal  springs  or  mountain  snows,  through- 
out the  fifteen  hundred  leagues  of  its  devious  pathway,  until  it  I 
is  finally  lost  in  the  vast  waters  of  the  gulf,  is  controlled  by  laws 
as  fixed  and  certain  as  those  which  direct  the  majestic  march 
of  the  heavenly  spheres.  Every  phenomenon  and  apparent 
eccentricity  of  the  river,  its  scouring  and  depositing  action,  its 
curving  banks,  the  formation  of  the  bars  at  its  mouth,  the 
effect  of  the  waves  and  tides  of  the  sea  upon  its  currents  and  , 
deposits,  are  controlled  by  laws  as  immutable  as  the  Creator,  and 
the  engineer  needs  only  to  be  assured  that  he  does  not  ignore 
the  existence  of  any  of  these  laws  to  feel  positively  certain  of 
the  result  he  aims  at.  I  therefore  undertake  the  work  with  a 
faith  based  upon  the  ever  constant  ordinances  of  God  himself, 
and  so  certain  as  He  will  spare  my  life  and  faculties  for  two 
years  more,  I  will  give  to  the  Mississippi  River,  through  His 
grace  and  the  application  of  His  laws,  a  deep,  open,  safe,  and 
permanent  outlet  to  the  sea." 

That  this  prediction  of  Capt.  Eads,  so  confidently 
uttered,  was  no  empty  boast  or  over-sanguine  declara- 
tion has  been  amply  demonstrated  by  the  magnificent 
success  which  has  crowned  his  labors.  At  the  present 
time  the  largest  ocean  vessels  sail  in  and  out  the 
mouth  of  the  river  without  danger  or  difficulty,  and  to 
the  energy,  skill,  and  wonderful  prescience  of  James 
B.  Eads  is  due  the  completion  of  a  work  of  improve- 
ment which  has  already  contributed  immensely  to  the 
prosperity  of  the  Mississippi  valley. 

Capt.  Eads'  fertile  brain  is  never  at  rest,  and  is  con- 
stantly employed  in  devising  great  enterprises.  Of 
these  the  most  conspicuous  in  recent  years  is  a  plan 
for  the  construction  of  a  railway  for  the  transportation 
of  ships  across  the  isthmus  of  Panama,  thus  obviating 
the  necessity  for  the  proposed  ship-canal, — a  scheme 
which  he  has  advocated  with  characteristic  ardor  and 
great  ability,  and  which  is  still  fresh  in  the  public  mind. 
In  the  summer  of  1875  the  Scientific  American  sug- 
gested his  name  as  a  candidate  for  President  of  the 
United  States,  and  the  nomination  was  indorsed  by  a 
number  of  leading  journals  throughout  the  country 
as  being  that  of  a  man  whose  genius,  experience,  and 
wonderful  achievements  eminently  fitted  him  for  so 
exalted  a  station.  Capt.  Eads,  however,  has  no  politi- 
cal aspirations,  and  can  well  afford  to  rest  content  with 
the  laurels  he  has  earned. 

In  1845  he  married  Martha  N.,  daughter  of  Patrick 
M.  Dillon,  of  St.  Louis  (who  died  in  1852),  and  subse- 
quently his  present  wife,  Mrs.  Eunice  S.  Eads.  He 
has  five  daughters,  three  of  whom  are  married  respec- 
tively to  John  A.  Ubsdell,  of  New  York,  and  Estill 
McHenry  and  James  F.  How,  of  St.  Louis. 

In  recognition  of  his  achievements  in  his  profession 
the  Missouri  State  University  conferred  the  degree  of 
67 


LL.D.  on  Capt.  Eads,  and  the  St.  Louis  Academy  of 
Sciences  twice  elected  him  its  president.  Besides 
these  positions  he  has  filled  many  other  offices  of  trust 
and  honor  in  various  important  corporations,  among 
which  may  be  mentioned  the  National  Bank  of  the 
State  of  Missouri,  the  St.  Louis,  Kansas  City  and 
Northern  Railway,  the  St.  Charles  Bridge  Company, 
and  the  Third  National  Bank. 

In  St.  Louis  Capt.  Eads  enjoys  the  universal  respect 
and  esteem  of  the  community,  which  is  justly  proud 
of  one  whose  career  has  been  almost  without  a  parallel 
in  this  country,  and  whose  success  in  the  face  of 
herculean  difficulties  has  extorted  the  admiration  of 
even  his  opponents. 

The  Harbor  of  St.  Louis. — Almost  coincidently 
with  the  arrival  of  the  first  steamboat  at  St.  Louis  in 
1817  a  sand-bar  formed  in  the  bend  at  the  lower  end 
of  the  town,  which  gradually  extended  up  as  far  as 
Market  Street,  making  a  naked  beach  at  low  water. 
Another  bar  soon  formed  in  the  river  at  the  upper 
end  of  the  city,  west  of  Bloody  Island.  Thus,  at 
the  very  outset  of  the  commercial  progress  of  St. 
Louis,  the  current  of  the  Mississippi,  cutting  deeper 
and  deeper  into  the  American  Bottom  on  the  eastern 
side  of  Bloody  Island,  was  threatening  the  city  with 
the  diversion  of  its  channel  to  the  east  side  of  the 
island,  leaving  St.  Louis  "  high  and  dry,"  with  a 
sand-bar  in  front  of  it. 

In  this  crisis  it  was  generally  predicted  that  the 
city  would  amount  to  nothing  in  a  commercial  point 
of  view,  and  the  timid  refused  to  make  investments 
in  real  estate,  fearing  that  the  town  would  be  left 
without  the  facility  of  availing  itself  of  the  benefits 
which  the  new  steam  system  of  navigation  prom- 
ised.1 

1  "  Pursuant  to  the  notice  given  by  the  Board  of  Aldermen, 
November  20th,"  says  the  Republican  of  Dec.  4,  1832,  "a  large 
number  of  our  most  respected  citizens  assembled  last  evening, 
at  an  early  hour,  in  the  city  hall,  to  consider  the  propriety 
of  taking  measures  for  the  removal  of  the  sand-bar  in  front  of 
the  city.  The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  Mr.  P.  Ferguson, 
and  on  motion,  Thornton  Griinsley,  Esq.,  was  called  to  the 
chair,  and  Nathan  Ranney  was  appointed  secretary. 

"The  meeting  was  addressed  in  a  plain  and  lucid  manner  by 
the  following  gentlemen  i  Hon.  James  H.  Peck,  P.  Ferguson, 
Mr.  Tabor,  A.  L.  Maginnis,  Mr.  McKee,  J.  F.  Darby,  W.  K. 
Rule,  R.  Simpson,  and  Thomas  Cohe,  when  a  report  of  a  com- 
mittee previously  appointed  by  the  board  of  aldermen  to  examine 
the  channel  of  the  river  was  called  for  and  ordered  to  be  read. 

"  On  motion  of  J.  F.  Darby,  seconded  by  R.  Simpson,  it  was 
resolved  that  a  committee  of  seven  gentlemen  be  appointed  to 
draft  resolutions  expressive  of  the  sense  of  this  meeting,  where- 
upon the  chair  named  the  following  gentlemen  to  constitute  the 
said  committee:  A.  L.  Maginnis,  Gen.  Bernard  Pratte,  James 
Clemens,  G.  Paul,  A.  Gamble,  G.  Morton,  and  J.  F.  Darby, 
Esqs. 


1054 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


In  1833  the  city  authorities,  becoming  alarmed  for 
the  commercial  prosperity  of  the  city,  undertook  the 
removal  of  the  sand-bars,  and  with  that  view  em- 
ployed John  Goodfellow  to  plow  them  up  with  ox-teams 
and  plows,  thus  loosening  the  sand,  which  high  water 
was  expected  to  wash  away.  The  idea  was  suggested 
by  Col.  Thomas  F.  Riddick,  and  the  means  were  sup- 
plied by  Gen.  Bernard  Pratte  and  some  other  wealthy 
citizens.  About  three  thousand  dollars  was  expended 
in  the  plowing  process  without  making  any  impression 
upon  the  sand-bar. 

Steamboats  had  grounded,  and  could  not  land  as 
high  up  as  Olive  Street,  and  daily  indications  were 
given  that  the  river  would  ultimately  sweep  around 
to  the  eastern  side  of  Bloody  Island  and  leave  the  , 
Missouri  shore. 

The  mayor  of  St.  Louis  in  1835  was  John  F. 
Darby,  who,  fully  realizing  the  danger  that  threatened 
the  present  and  future  welfare  of  the  city,  induced 
the  Board  of  Aldermen  to  petition  Congress  for  aid 
to  improve  and  construct  the  harbor  of  St.  Louis. 
The  representative  of  St.  Louis  in  Congress  at  that 
time  was  Gen.  William  H.  Ashley,1  who  by  constantly 
urging  the  committee  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
to  which  the  petition  was  referred,  of  which  Patrick 
Henry  Pope,  from  the  Louisville,  Ky.,  district  was 
chairman,  finally  secured  the  reporting  of  a  bill  recom- 
mending the  improvement  of  the  harbor,  and  appro- 
priating one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  for 
that  purpose.  Col.  Thomas  H.  Benton,  then  in  the 
United  States  Senate,  hampered  and  hindered  by  his 

"After  the  committee  had  retired  fora  short  time  it  returned, 
and  submitted  the  following  resolutions,  which  were  unani- 
mously adopted : 

"1.  Resolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  meeting  the  in- 
crease of  the  sand-bar  opposite  this  city  would  be  alike  injuri- 
ous to  its  health  and  commercial  prosperity. 

"  2.  Resolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  meeting  the  course 
pursued  by  the  corporate  authorities  of  this  city  for  the  removal  j 
of  the  grievance  complained  of  is  justly  deserving  of  and  hereby 
receives  its  decided  support,  and  that  this  meeting  cordially 
approve  of  the  city  authorities  effecting  said  removal  by  pro- 
curing funds  for  such  object,  whether  by  loan  or  otherwise,  and 
that  they  also  concur  in  requesting  the  corporate  authorities  to 
solicit  the  aid  of  the  State  and  general  government  therefor." 

1  Gen.  Ashley  was  warmly  attached"  to  the  people  of  St.  Louis, 
where  he  had  lived  so  long  and  had  so  many  devoted  friends. 
This  circumstance  gave  great  encouragement  and  hope.  His 
daring  adventures,  perils,  and  enterprises  in  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, whereby  he  had  accumulated  great  wealth,  the  elegance 
of  his  entertainments  at  Washington,  and  his  gentlemanly  bear- 
ing, all  had  given  him  a  position  of  commanding  influence,  and 
made  him  one  of  the  most  popular  men  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives; and  although  he  was  no  speaker  himself,  his  pleas- 
ant demeanor  and  his  genial  manner  were  so  winning,  that  a 
dozen  members  of  eloquence  and  ability  on  the  floor  were  always 
ready  to  spring  to  their  feet  and  advocate  his  measures. 


allegiance  to  the  Democratic  party,  which,  since  Gen. 
Jackson's  veto  of  the  Lexington  and  Maysville  road 
bill,  had  opposed  all  internal  improvements  by  the 
general  government,  could  not  very  zealously  advocate 
the  bill  for  the  improvement  of  St.  Louis  harbor, 
though  he  offered  no  opposition  to  its  passage.2 

The  work  of  preserving  the  harbor  of  St.  Louis 
was  to  be  done  under  the  supervision  of  Gen.  Charles 
Gratiot.  Mayor  Darby  immediately  opened  corre- 
spondence with  Gen.  Gratiot,  urging  him  to  visit  St. 
Louis  and  examine  the  harbor.  This  visit  was  made, 
and  the  river  fully  examined.  Gen.  Gratiot  was  in- 
troduced by  Mayor  Darby  to  the  Board  of  Aldermen, 
on  which  occasion  the  Hon.  Wilson  Priinm,  then  presi- 
dent of  the  board,  addressed  him  in  happy  terms, 
alluding  to  his  association  and  connection  with  the 
city  and  its  inhabitants. 

Gen.  Gratiot,  immediately  upon  his  return  to 
Washington,  sent  Lieut.  Robert  E.  Lee  to  St.  Louis, 
charged  with  the  immediate  supervision  of  the  work 
of  preserving  the  harbor.  This  was  in  1837,  and  the 
work  was  continued  by  Lieut.  Lee,  with  Henry  Kay- 
ser  as  his  assistant,  until  1839,  when  the  appropria- 
tion made  by  Congress  was  exhausted. 

In  December,  1837,  Lieut.  Lee  wrote  as  follows 
concerning  the  St.  Louis  harbor : 

"The  appropriation  for  the  improvement  of  the  harbor  has 
for  its  object  the  removal  of  a  large  sand-bar  occupying,  below 
the  city,  the  former  position  of  the  main  channel  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, which,  gradually  augmenting  for  many  years,  has  now 
become  an  island  of  more  than  two  hundred  acres  in  extent,  and 
reaching  from  the  lower  part  of  St.  Louis  to  two  miles  below. 
The  extensive  shoals  formed  around  its  base  extend  on  the  east 
to  the  middle  of  the  river,  and  connecting  with  the  mainland 
on  the  west  afford  at  low  water  a  dry  communication  between. 
A  flat  bar  projects  from  the  upper  end  to  the  foot  of  Bloody  Is- 
land, opposite  the  town,  which  at  low  stages  of  the  river  presents 
an  obstacle  to  the  approach  of  the  city,  and  gives  reason  to  appre- 
hend that  at  some  future  day  this  passage  may  be  closed.  This 
is  rendered  more  probable  by  the  course  of  the  river  above.  The 
united  waters  of  the  Missouri  and  Mississippi  for  some  miles 
below  their  junction  sweep  with  great  velocity  along  the  Illi- 
nois shore,  where  they  are  deflected  to  the  other  side.  The 


1  In  1847,  Col.  Benton  wrote  a  letter  to  the  St.  Louis  delega- 
tion to  the  Chicago  Internal  Improvement  Convention,  defining 
his  position  upon  the  question  of  internal  improvements,  say- 
ing, "  I  have  always  been  a  friend  of  that  system,  but  not  to 
its  abuses ;  and  here  lies  the  difficulty,  the  danger,  and  the 
stumbling-block  to  its  success.  Objects  of  general  and  national 
importance  can  alone  claim  the  aid  of  the  Federal  government; 
and  in  favor  of  such  objects  I  believe  all  the  departments  of  the 
government  to  be  united.  Confined  to  them,  and  the  Constitu- 
tion can  reach  them  and  the  treasury  sustain  them  :  extended 
to  local  or  sectional  objects,  and  neither  the  Constitution  nor  the 
treasury  could  uphold  them.  National  objects  of  improvement 
are  few  in  number,  definite  in  character,  and  manageable  by 
the  treasury ;  local  and  sectional  objects  are  innumerable  and 
indefinite  and  ruinous  to  the  treasury." 


THE   MISSISSIPPI  RIVER  AND  ITS   TRIBUTARIES. 


1055 


main  body,  passing  west  of  Cascarot  (now  Cabaret)  Island, 
joins  with  the  lesser  portion  at  its  foot,  and  the  whole  is  com- 
pressed in  a  narrow  gorge  (opposite  Bissell's  Point).  Spreading 
out  in  the  wide  area  below,  the  main  current  still  keeps  to  the 
Missouri  shore,  while  a  large  part  of  the  river  directed  toward 
the  Illinois  side  is  fast  wearing  away  its  bank  and  cutting  out 
a  large  channel  east  of  Bloody  Island.  .  .  .  The  two  channels 
again  uniting  at  the  foot  of  Bloody  Island,  the  whole  body  of 
water  sweeps  down  the  Illinois  shore,  and,  its  velocity  becoming 
aijain  increased  by  the  narrowing  of  its  bed,  the  abrasion  of  its 
bottom  recommences,  all  the  deep  water  being  here  on  the  Il- 
linois side  and  all  the  shoal  on  that  of  Duncan  Island.  .  .  . 
But  in  order  to  arrest  the  wearing  away  of  the  eastern  bank  of 
the  river  and  to  protect  the  Illinois  shore,  it  will  be  necessary  to 
divert  from  it  the  force  of  the  current.  This  may  be  done  by 
running  a  dike  from  above  the  small  slough  on  that  side,  par- 
allel with  the  western  shore,  sufficiently  far  to  throw  the  water 
west  of  Bloody  Island.  .  .  ,  The  same  effect  would  be  produced 
by  throwing  a  dam  across  directly  from  the  head  of  Bloody  Is- 
land to  the  Illinois  shore.  ...  In  addition  to  these  works,  the 
head  of  Bloody  Island  will  have  to  be  protected,  from  its  head 
to  the  centre,  so  as  to  secure  it  from  the  action  of  the  current." 

The  report  also  recommended  a  dike  extending 
down  stream  from  the  foot  of  Bloody  Island.  In  the 
following  year  Capt.  Lee  reported  the  commencement 
of  the  work,  and  said  that,  with  the  small  part  of  the 
work  actually  completed,  about  seven  hundred  feet  of 
Duncan  Island  had  been  washed  off. 

The  work  under  Lieut.  Lee  during  two  years  turned 
the  current  of  the  Mississippi  back  to  the  Missouri  side, 
washed  out  the  sand-bars,  and  deepened  the  water  in 
the  harbor,  but  dikes  were  required  to  be  built  to  pre- 
serve and  protect  what  had  already  been  accomplished. 

Dr.  William  Carr  Lane  succeeded  to  the  mayoralty 
of  St.  Louis  in  1839,  and  the  city  authorities,  without 
assistance  or  aid  from  any  quarter,  continued  the  work 
in  the  improvement  of  the  harbor  under  the  direction 
of  the  able  assistant  of  Lieut.  .Lee,  Henry  Kayser. 
But  they  were  harassed  and  annoyed  by  injunctions  of 
certain  parties  in  Illinois  ;  and  the  mayor  and  some  of 
his  subordinates  were  indicted  on  account  of  the  work 
being  done  on  the  Illinois  shore  by  some  of  the  public 
functionaries  of  that  State,  from  which,  so  long  as  the 
work  was  under  the  direction  of  the  general  govern- 
ment, they  were  exempt.  Still  the  work  in  the  face 
of  all  these  trials  progressed.1 


"-  In  1846-47  the  St.  Louis  authorities  and  the  owners  of  the 
land  on  the  Illinois  side  projected  a  dike,  and  agreed  to  extend 
it  from  the  west  side  of  Bloody  Island  to  the  main  Illinois  shore 
near  where  Vaughan's  dike  now  is.  It  was  begun  in  1847,  and 
prosecuted  at  great  expense,  which  was  borne  exclusively  by  St. 
Louis. 

In  September,  1848,  Governor  French,  of  Illinois,  directed 
the  State's  attorney  at  Belleville  to  ask  the  court  there  for  an 
injunction  against  the  work  on  the  dike,  which  was  yet  incom- 
plete. The  injunction  was  asked  and  granted  on  the  ground  of 
the  invasion  by  St.  Louis  of  the  State  rights  of  Illinois. 

An  appeal  was  taken  by  St.  Louis  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 


In  1840,  Mr.  Darby  was  again  elected  mayor,  and 
the  wo»k  on  the  harbor  was  continued  by  the  city 
government.  The  application  was  renewed  to  Con- 
gress for  aid  in  behalf  of  the  city,  for  further  appro- 
priations to  continue  the  harbor  improvements,  but 
without  success.  The  work  was  continued  by  the  city 
for  about  fifteen  years,  under  the  supervision  and  man- 
agement at  first  of  Henry  Kayser,  and  subsequently 
of  Gen.  S.  B.  Curtis. 

In  1844,  Capt.  T.  J.  Cram,  United  States  Corps  of 
Topographical  Engineers,  wrote  as  follows  of  St.  Louis 
harbor : 


State  of  Illinois.  That  tribunal  having  expressed  the  opinion  at 
its  December  term  in  1848  that  not  the  judiciary  but  the  Legis- 
lature could  properly  determine  what  the  interest  of  the  State  of 
Illinois  required  in  the  premises,  the  Legislature  of  1848-49 
was  appealed  to  by  St.  Louis,  in  the  celebrated  case  Illinois  vs. 
St.  Louis.  In  January,  1849,  a  joint  resolution  was  passed  au- 
thorizing the  city  of  St.  Louis  to  construct  a  highway  over  the 
dike  then  in  progress  of  construction.  The  work  was  at  once 
resumed,  and  progressed  until  June,  1851,  when  the  dike  and 
road,  made  of  stone  and  earth,  near  completion,  were  swept 
away  by  the  flood  of  that  year.  After  the  water  abated,  how- 
ever, in  the  fall  of  1851,  one-fourth  of  a  mile  north  of  the  site 
of  the  first  dike  and  nearly  parallel,  another,  the  present  dike, 
was  projected.  It  was  laid  out  by  L.  M.  Kennett,  mayor  of  St. 
Louis,  and  the  city  engineer,  Gen.  Curtis.  It  was  finished  in 
1856,  in  the  same  status  in  which  it  now  is.  Its  cost  was  one 
hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand  dollars.  The  land  belonged 
to  the  Wiggins  Ferry  Company. 

Thus  the  channel  on  this  side  was  stopped,  and  by  the  in- 
creased volume  and  velocity  of  the  St.  Louis  channel,  Duncan's 
Island  was  removed  therefrom,  and  the  port  of  St.  Louis  re- 
stored.— History  of  East  St.  Louis,  by  Robert  A.  Tyson,  page  28. 

The  Bepublican  of  March  24,  1852,  speaking  of  Duncan's 
Island,  said, — 

"  This  bone  of  contention  between  this  city  and  a  number  of 
claimants  is  about  to  be  lost  among  the  things  that  were.  Some 
two  years  past  the  tongue  of  land  from  Duncan's  Island  reached 
as  high  almost  as  Market  Street,  and  while  the  Levee  about  that 
point  had  become  perfectly  inaccessible  to  boats,  the  sand  con- 
tinued still  to  accumulate  and  the  island  to  extend  upwards. 
Every  one  can  call  to  mind  the  apprehended  total  ruin  of  the 
South  Levee  from  this  cause,  and  property-owners  in  lower 
St.  Louis  know  best  the  disastrous  consequences  which  such 
damages  would  have  involved.  The  dikes  and  other  works 
about  Bloody  Island  have  effected  a  thorough  change  in  the 
river  at  that  locality.  Duncan's  Island  having  been  curtailed 
materially  of  its  proportions,  has  become  almost  unrecognizable. 
Two  or  three  days  since  we  strolled  along  the  Levee,  witnessing 
the  vast  and  costly  improvements  which  have  sprung  up  on  every 
side.  We  were  surprised  to  see  the  head  of  Duncan's  Island 
entirely  washed  away  and  its  uppermost  limits  removed  some- 
where opposite  the  gas-works.  A  large  body  of  water  fills  the 
slough,  still  washing  away  the  island  on  its  west  side,  while 
the  main  current  of  the  river,  which  strikes  directly  against  the 
head,  is  carrying  it  away  at  the  opposite  east  side.  The  river 
along  the  whole  southern  landing  is  more  than  deep  enough  for 
the  largest  class  of  steamers.  Whatever  may  be  said  of  the 
works  in  our  harbor,  the  owners  of  property  in  South  St.  Louis 
have  had  material  cause  to  know  their  efficiency  in  averting  a 
great  evil,  for  which  nothing  could  have  repaid  them." 


1056 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


"  In  so  far  as  the  general  natural  main  tendencies  of  the  di- 
rection and  force  of  the  currents  in  different  reaches  o£the  river 
are  being  exerted,  that  portion  of  the  river  represented  on  the 
chart  west  of  Bloody  Island  and  forming  the  harbor  of  St.  Louis, 
I  regret  to  say,  must  be  regarded  in  the  condition  of  fast  becom- 
ing a  mere  slough.  ...  In  the  last  six  years,  since  the  survey 
of  Capt.  Lee  was  made,  the  abrasion  east  of  Bloody  Island  has 
been  such  as  to  wash  away  a  strip  three  hundred  feet  wide  and 
fifty  feet  deep.  ...  It  appears  that  in  1839,  1840,  and  1841 
an  extent  of  nine  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet  of  the  dike 
recommended  by  Capt.  Lee  was  constructed,  extending  from  the 
foot  of  Bloody  Island,  in  order  to  wash  away  the  bar,  costing 
about  forty-six  thousand  dollars,  when  the  work  was  stopped 
for  want  of  funds  and  left  to  its  fate,  before  it  had  been  carried 
to  one-half  of  Capt.  Lee's  estimated  cost.  Of  all  the  piles  that 
were  driven,  only  forty-two  could  be  found  standing  in  Novem- 
ber, 1843.  The  work  seems  to  have  been  constructed  by  driv- 
ing two  rows  of  piles  from  twenty  to  forty  feet  apart  and  distant 
in  the  same  row  from  each  other  six  to  ten  feet,  and  the  space 
between  the  rows  of  piles  filled  with  brush  and  stone,  battened 
from  the  piles  outwards,  one  foot  in  three.  The  idea  of  a  dam 
directly  across  from  the  head  of  Bloody  Island  to  the  Illinois 
shore  seems  to  have  been  abandoned,  and  the  oblique  dike 
commenced  starting  from  the  Illinois  shore  near  Venice,  and 
extending  in  the  direction  as  recommended  in  Capt.  Lee's  re- 
port. The  funds  for  this  work  were  furnished  by  the  city  of  St. 
Louis,  and  executed  at  a  cost  of  sixteen  thousand  dollars,  ex- 
clusive of  machinery.  Commencing  at  the  upper  extremity  of 
this  work,  about  twelve  hundred  feet  have  sunk  four  and  a  quar- 
ter feet  below  its  original  level  or  been  swept  away  by  ice  and 
drift  or  by  the  force  of  the  current.  There  for  an  extent  of 
eleven  hundred  feet  it  has  either  been  swept  entirely  away  or 
sunk  eleven  feet  below  its  original  level.  In  the  next  reach  of 
four  hundred  and  thirty-five  feet  it  has  either  been  swept  away 
or  sunk  nine  and  a  quarter  feet.  In  all  the  remainder  of  the 
work,  twelve  hundred  and  sixty-five  feet,  quite  to  its  lowest 
extremity,  where  it  extended  into  the  strongest  part  of  the  cur- 
rent, it  must  have  been  swept  away  or  sunk  fifteen  feet  below 
its  original  level.  Throughout  the  whole  of  this  dike  there 
are  but  few  piles  found  standing.  The  city  has  also  expended 
about  eleven  thousand  six  hundred  and  seventeen  dollars  in  the 
construction  of  cross-dikes  of  stone,  thrown  without  piles  or 
brush,  to  protect  the  west  bank  of  Bloody  Island  from  abrasion. 
It  is  observable  that  in  most  of  these  cross-dikes,  which  were 
extended  from  the  shore  perpendicular  to  the  thread  of  the 
stream,  the  water  has  cut  into  the  bank  on  their  down-stream 
sides,  in  virtue  of  a  current  setting  along  the  lower  face  of  the 
dike  directly  into  the  bank.  Also  the  bed  of  the  stream  has 
immediately  below  the  dikes  been  made  deeper  by  the  plunge 
of  water  passing  over  their  summits,  as  is  always  the  tendency 
under  the  fall  over  a  waste  weir." 

Capt.  Cram  quotes  from  the  reports  of  Capt.  Lee, 
in  1840,  to  show  what  had  been  the  effect  of  the 
work  begun  in  1837.  The  report  said, — 

"  The  pier  on  the  Illinois  shore  (i.e.,  from  Venice  south)  has 
served  to  throw  the  main  body  of  water  west  of  Bloody  Island, 
which  has  cut  a  broad  and  deep  channel  through  the  flat  shoal 
that  extended  from  the  head  of  Bloody  Island  to  the  Missouri 
shore.  As  this  channel  enlarges  that  east  of  the  island  diminishes, 
and  between  the  pier  and  head  of  Bloody  Island  is  becoming  more 
and  more  shoal.  The  pier  from  the  foot  of  Bloody  Island  con- 
fines the  water  to  the  Missouri  shore,  and  directs  the  current 
against  the  head  of  Duncan  Island.  A  large  portion  of  the 
head  and  eastern  face  of  this  island  has  been  washed  away 
during  the  past  year.  The  deep  water  now  extends  close  to  it, 


and  admits  the  largest  boats  to  the  lower  wharf  of  the  city. 
The  depth  of  the  river  on  the  Illinois  side  is  diminishing.  .  .  . 
Both  piers,  however,  require  to  be  finished.  The  upper  ought 
to  be  strengthened  and  extended  down  the  river  and  the  lower 
completed." 

The  appropriations  recommended,  however,  were 
not  made,  and  the  work  went  to  pieces.  Capt.  Cram 
says  (1844),— 

"  Had  ample  means  been  appropriated  and  expended  accord- 
ing to  the  views  of  that  officer,  in  all  probability  the  harbor 
would  have  needed  little  more,  except  to  fill  up  for  the  subse- 
I  quent  settling  of  the  work,  the  damage  occurring  from  ice, 
abrasion,  and  driftwood.  These  would  have  cost  considerably 
more  than  generally  supposed,  but  I  think  that  plan,  if  pur- 
sued to  completion  and  to  have  been  successful,  would  ulti- 
mately have  resulted  in  a  completely  connected  work,  extending 
from  near  the  foot  of  Kerr's  Island  quite  to  the  head  of  Bloody 
Island,  then  along  the  west  shore  of  that  island  by  a  revetment 
to  connect  with  the  dike,  making  two  miles  of  dike-work,  one 
mile  of  revetment,  and  nine  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet  of 
dike."  .  .  . 

The  report  of  the  city  engineer  in  March,  1846, 
stated  that  in  1842  the  lower  part  of  the  harbor  was 
so  obstructed  by  bars  that  the  ferry-boat  was  com- 
pelled to  land  at  the  foot  of  Vine  Street.  In  the 
winter  of  1845-46,  although  the  water  was  two  feet 
lower  than  had  ever  been  known  before,  the  boat 
could  use  her  landing  at  the  foot  of  Market  Street, 
showing  a  decided  improvement  instead  of  impairment 
of  the  wharf  front,  as  had  been  charged  by  parties  hos- 
tile to  the  plan  of  the  city  extending  the  dikes  at 
Hazel  and  Mulberry  Streets.  He  further  said, — 

"  The  improvement  of  the  harbor  requires,  first,  a  regular 
shore  on  the  Missouri  side,  which  in  time  will  be  afforded  by 
the  improved  Levee;  second,  a  regular  and  nearly  parallel  shore 
on  the  Illinois  side;  third,  regulation  of  the  bed  of  the  river 
above  the  city  so  as  to  direct  the  water  into  the  channel  under 
favorable  conditions.  The  first  is  the  work  of  the  city,  the  latter 
two  are  and  should  be  in  the  hands  of  the  United  States." 

Congress  at  this  time  seemed  entirely  willing  to 
make  what  at  that  time  would  have  been  considered 
liberal  appropriations  for  the  harbor  of  St.  Louis  and 
other  public  works,  but  all  bills  of  this  character  were 
consistently  vetoed  by  President  Polk.  As  a  result 
of  the  vetoes  the  question  of  internal  improvements 
became  a  political  issue  of  no  little  importance  in  the 
Northwest  and  West.  Additional  appropriations  be- 
ing unobtainable,  inquiry  was  made  as  to  what  had 
become  of  the  unexpended  appropriation  of  1844. 
From  all  that  can  now  be  ascertained  the  balance, 
twenty-two  thousand  seven  hundred  and  nine  dollars, 
was  never  expended. 

The  controversy,  already  alluded  to,  with  the  Illinois 
authorities  in  regard  to  the  river-front  of  East  St. 
Louis  being  happily  ended  by  the  joint  resolution  of 
the  Illinois  Legislature,  the  construction  of  the  dike 


THE   MISSISSIPPI   RIVER   AND   ITS   TRIBUTARIES. 


1057 


opposite  Duncan's  Island  was  resumed  in  the  spring  of 
1851.  The  river  was  then  five  thousand  two  hun- 
dred feet  in  width  opposite  the  lower  part  of  the  city, 
and  it  was  proposed  to  narrow  it  to  eighteen  hundred 
feet.  In  1852,  chiefly  as  a  result  of  the  efforts  to 
close  Bloody  Island  chute,  which  had  not  then  fully 
succeeded,  the  east  side  had  been  removed  until  the 
island  extended  but  five  hundred  feet  east  of  the  pro- 
posed wharf  line.  A  small  strip  of  the  island  was 
joined  to  the  main  land  by  cross-dikes  in  1852-53. * 

From  that  time  and  up  to  1866  the  chute  west  of 
the  island  was  unnavigable.  In  1866  the  city  engi- 
neer advocated  straightening  the  river  from  the  city 
to  Carondelet  by  a  front  line  passing  through  the 
island.  About  this  time  the  west  chute  became  the 
main  channel,  and  the  wharf  line  was  left  as  estab- 
lished in  1864  to  the  then  city  limits  at  Keokuk 
Street.  As  this  line  ended  seven  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  from  the  shore,  its  adoption  involved  the  widen- 
ing of  the  chute  by  washing  away  the  west  side  of 
the  island.  Several  small  spur-dikes  were  pushed  out 
from  the  Missouri  shore  behind  the  island  previous  to 
1858,  but  not  far  enough  to  exert  any  controlling  in- 
fluence during  the  time  when  it  was  uncertain  which 
plan  would  finally  be  adopted.  After  the  extension 
of  the  city  in  1870,  absorbing  the  old  town  of  Caron- 
delet, the  extension  of  the  line  in  front  of  the  newly- 
acquired  territory  was  brought  forward,  and  a  project 
submitted  by  the  city  engineer  accepting  the  line  as 
then  established  by  ordinance,  nearly  in  the  middle  of 
the  channel,  affording  an  opportunity  to  make  many 
blocks  of  ground. 

The  project  of  making  the  west  chute  the  perma- 
nent channel  was  acquiesced  in  by  all.  The  board  of 
engineers  in  their  report  of  April  13,  1872,  had  in- 
dorsed it  to  the  extent  of  saying  by  implication  that 
the  United  States  should  close  the  eastern  channel  if 
observation  showed  danger  of  the  river  leaving  the 
channel  to  the  west.  Before  this  proposed  extension 
of  the  wharf  line  was  formally  laid  before  the  City 
Council,  an  ordinance  was  passed  ordering  the  con- 
struction of  a  dike  at  the  foot  of  Bryan  Street.  As 
no  necessity  was  apparent  for  this  dike,  it  is  not  un- 
reasonable to  suppose  that  it  was  moved  and  passed 
with  a  view  chiefly  to.  commit  the  city  to  the  proposed 

1  The  Republican  of  Feb.  25,  1874,  gives  the  following  as  the 
measurements  of  the  river:  "At  the  foot  of  Pine  Street  it  is 
1560  feet  wide;  foot  of  Wash  Street,  1500  feet;  at  Biddle  Street, 
1500  across  to  Bloody  Island  ;  North  Market  to  the  main  shore 
below  the  dike,  3900;  Warren  Street  to  the  end  of  the  long 
dike,  before  the  government  commenced  work,  2380  feet  wide; 
to  the  shore  below  the  dike,  3500  feet;  from  Destrehan  to 
the  Venice  Ferry  landing,  2580  feet;  from  Angelica  Street  to 
Bishoff's  dike,  1450  feet." 


line.  Work  on  this  dike  was  prosecuted  so  vigor- 
ously that  the  first  intimation  of  its  commencement 
to  many  was  the  complaint  made  by  boatmen  that  the 
channel  was  obstructed,  but  the  work  had  progressed 
far  enough  to  cross  the  main  channel,  which  had  been 
along  the  main  Missouri  shore.  The  work  being 
done  in  the  spring,  or  at  the  season  when  the  general 
tendency  of  the  river  is  to  rise,  the  conditions  were 
unfavorable  to  the  ostensible  purpose  of  the  dike, 
which  was  to  compel  the  washing  away  of  the  west 
side  of  the  island. 

As  the  stage  of  water  afforded  a  free  discharge  of 
the  obstructed  water  by  way  of  the  eastern  chute, 
that  channel  was  deepened,  and  eventually  became  the 
main  channel. 

Growing  out  of  the  discussion  which  followed  the  re- 
turn of  the  channel  to  Cahokia  chute,  an  urgent  demand 
for  the  closure  of  that  chute  was  made  by  all  parties 
interested,  for  once  all  agreeing  in  desiring  this  action, 
and  a  survey  was  made  by  United  States  engineers  in 
the  summer  of  1874,  with  special  reference  to  this 
matter.  The  construction  of  a  dam  across  Cahokia 
Creek  was  authorized  by  Congress.  The  act  of  Con- 
gress making  appropriations  for  this  dam  specifically 
limits  it  to  a  low  dam,  although  it  was  clearly  stated 
in  the  report  that  as  such  it  would  necessarily  fail  to 
accomplish  all  the  requirements  of  the  case. 

Very  little  has  actually  been  done  towards  the  per- 
manent improvement  of  the  harbor  below  the  arsenal. 
The  plans  contemplate  considerable  reclamations  of 
ground  from  the  river,  which  must  be  a  slow  process. 
These  proposed  reclamations  extend  from  above  the 
arsenal  to  near  Dover  Street,  from  Fillmore  to  Stein 
Street,  and  from  Stein  Street  nearly  to  Jefferson 
Barracks.  When  complete  the  alignment  of  the  wharf 
south  will  be  convex  from  Market  Street  to  Bryan, 
a  distance  of  sixteen  thousand  feet,  and  concave  from 
there  to  Jefferson  Barracks,  thirty-six  thousand  feet. 

On  the  east  side  of  the  river  the  corrected  width  is 
defined  only  at  the  Illinois  and  St.  Louis  Railroad 
dike,  opposite  Chouteau  Avenue  and  opposite  Marine 
Avenue,  by  the  revetment  of  part  of  Arsenal  Island, 
opposite  Carondelet,  by  the  incline  of  the  East  St. 
Louis  and  Carondelet  Railroad,  by  the  Waterloo  Ferry 
dike  and  the  coal-dump  of  the  St.  Louis  and  Cairo 
Narrow-Gauge  Railroad.  Farther  down  the  United 
States  dikes  for  the  improvement  of  Horsetail  Bar, 
with  two  thousand  four  hundred  feet  of  partially- 
constructed  training-wall,  are  steps  toward  the  defin- 
ition of  a  line  extending  to  the  head  of  Carroll  Island. 

Arsenal  Island  belongs  to  the  city  of  St.  Louis, 
having  been  purchased  from  the  school  board  for 
thirty-three  thousand  dollars  in  1866.  It  was  pat- 


1058 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


ented  to  the  school  board  in  1864  by  J.  M.  Edmunds, 
commissioner  of  the  general  land  office  at  Washing- 
ton. All  of  the  land  within  the  island  previous  to 
this  time  was  known  as  "  Quarantine  Island,"  and 
sometimes  called  Arsenal  Island.  The  total  number 
of  acres  contained  in  the  island  at  that  time  was  119.57. 
The  deed  to  the  city  was  signed  by  Felix  Coste,  pres- 
ident of  the  school  board,  and  George  M.  Fitchten- 
kamp,  secretary.  During  the  civil  war  the  upper 
portion  of  the  island  was  used  as  a  burial-ground  by 
the  government.  After  the  city  got  possession  it 
was  used  for  a  smallpox  hospital.  Many  of  the  old 
graves,  not  otherwise  removed,  were  washed  away  by 
the  encroachments  of  the  river. 

Going  back  to  the  surveys,  the  first  shore  line  we 
have  a  record  of  (in  1862)  was  opposite  the  north  line 
of  the  arsenal.  The  head  of  the  island  moved  down 
three  hundred  feet  by  1865,  in  which  year  the  main 
channel  was  on  the  east  side  of  the  island.  At  that 
time  one  could  go  from  the  St.  Louis  side  to  the  head 
of  the  island  on  a  sand-bar  during  low  water,  from 
October  to  about  March.  The  next  survey  was  made 
in  1874,  when  it  was  found  that  the  head  of  the 
island  had  moved  down  one  thousand  three  hundred 
feet  from  the  survey  of  1865,  making  the  retrocession 
of  the  island  altogether  since  the  survey  of  1862 
about  one  thousand  six  hundred  feet,  over  one-fourth 
of  a  mile  in  twelve  years.  The  survey  of  1874  showed 
the  channel  to  be  located  on  the  west  side,  between 
the  island  and  the  Missouri  shore.  The  change  of 
the  channel  at  that  time  was  caused  by  dikes  built 
by  the  Cahokia  Ferry  Company  for  the  purpose  of 
making  a  steam  ferry-boat  landing  at  Cahokia. 

The  survey  of  this  island  by  City  Engineer  John 
G.  Joyce  in  1880  shows  that  the  head  of  the  island 
has  moved  down  four  thousand  eight  hundred  feet 
from  the  survey  of  1862,  nearly  a  mile.  The  chan- 
nel still  remains  on  the  west  side  of  the  island.  It  is 
interesting  to  remark  here  that  the  dike  built  by  City 
Engineer  Moulton  about  1867-68,  at  the  foot  of 
Bryan  Street,  diverted  the  channel  from  the  west  to 
the  east  side  of  the  island,  and  also  washed  the  head 
of  the  island  down  some  three  thousand  feet.  A  cor- 
respondence sprang  up  about  that  time  between  the 
Governor  of  Illinois  and  Mayor  Brown  in  reference 
to  the  Bryan  Street  dike,  the  Governor  opposing  the 
construction  of  the  dike  on  account  of  the  damage 
that  would  accrue  to  the  farmers  on  the  Illinois  side 
in  consequence  of  diverting  the  current  to  the  Illi- 
nois shore ;  the  result  was  that  the  building  of  the  dike 
was  stopped,  and  the  general  government  had  to  erect 
a  dike  from  Arsenal  Island  to  the  Illinois  shore  from 
the  upper  eastern  shoulder  of  the  island. 


The  survey  of  Mr.  Joyce  shows  the  acreage  of  Ar- 
senal Island  to  be  247.32  acres.  The  revetment 
made  by  the  United  States  government  engineers 
along  the  west  shore,  extending  from  a  little  below 
the  northern  apex  towards  the  southern  extremity, 
with  revetment  and  dike  on  the  east  shore,  would 
justify  the  conclusion  that  there  will  be  little,  if  any, 
washing  away  in  the  future ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  a 
steady  increase.  The  dike  which  was  built  on  the 
east  side  some  two  or  three  years  ago,  above  alluded 
to,  has  already  formed  a  sand-bar  on  its  south  and  ad- 
joining the  island  of  some  two  hundred  and  sixteen 
acres,  which  will  steadily  increase  by  accretion.  This 
in  time  will  be  as  high  as  the  island  proper.  The 
dike  is  bound  to  obstruct  the  current  forever  on  that 
side,  and  its  being  built  on  a  foundation  of  brushwood 
fastened  by  piling  and  the  whole  imbedded  with  rock, 
justifies  the  belief  that  it  is  a  permanent  fixture. 

The  improvements  of  the  harbor  of  St.  Louis  have 
passed  through  two  stages.  The  first,  arising  out  of 
a  difficulty  in  the  way  of  approach  to  the  harbor, 
has  already  been  considered.  This  difficulty  stood  also 
in  the  way  of  all  the  commerce  passing  St.  Louis,  and 
therefore  the  improvement  was  in  no  proper  sense  a 
local  one.  The  second  stage  dates  from  about  1841 
or  1843,  and  is  marked  by  the  addition  to  the  former 
difficulty  of  an  apprehension  that  the  harbor  would 
be  entirely  lost;  not  only  that  the  main  channel  would 
be  to  the  eastward  of  the  island,  but  that  the  Missouri 
shore  would  speedily  become  inaccessible  to  boats. 

Upon  the  authority  of  Capt.  Cram,  it  appears  that 
the  volume  of  water  in  1843  west  of  the  island  was 
to  that  east  of  it  as  ten  to  six.  In  December,  1845, 
the  same  officer  says,  the  quantity  running  into  the 
city  channel  was  to  the  quantity  running  into  the  Il- 
linois as  1  is  to  1.01.  These  changes  rendered  the 
closure  of  the  chute  east  of  Bloody  Island  a  necessity 
to  St.  Louis,  and  the  hope  of  being  benefited  by  the 
misfortune  of  their  rival  accounts  for  the  interest  taken 
by  Alton  and  Quincy  in  the  matter  of  closing  the  chute 
much  more  satisfactorily  than  the  pretended  fear  of 
injury  from  back-water  caused  by  forcing  the  Missis- 
sippi to  pass  through  a  channel  only  four  hundred  and 
fifty  yards  wide. 

In  the  years  following  the  closure  of  the  Bloody 
Island  channel  no  matter  of  general  interest  arose 
until  by  the  growth  of  the  city  and  its  trade  the  ex- 
tension of  wharf  facilities  was  required,  and  a  third 
stage  in  the  development  of  the  demand  for  harbor 
improvement  was  introduced  by  the  necessities  of  the 
traffic  across  the  stream,  the  number  of  persons  and 
railroad  transfers  requiring  that  both  shores  should  be 
permanently  accessible  at  numerous  points. 


THE   MISSISSIPPI  RIVER   AND   ITS   TRIBUTARIES. 


1059 


The  central  and  south  wharves  have  now  plenty  of 
water.  Regarding  the  establishment  of  the  present 
north  wharf  line  and  clearing  away  the  bar  in  front  of 
it,  the  report  of  Col.  W.  E.  Merrill,  United  States 
Engineers,  after  showing  that  the  Grand  Chain  dike 
should  be  abandoned,  as  it  only  made  matters  worse  at 
Sawyer's  Bend,  has  the  following :  "  The  central  har- 
bor being  in  good  condition  during  the  low  stage,  it  is 
manifest  that  if  we  can  make  the  northern  harbor  like 
the  central  we  may  expect  the  same  results  in  it.  In 
other  words,  if  we  can  canalize  this  portion  of  the  river 
to  a  sufficiently  small  section,  giving  it  revetted  banks, 
we  may  confidently  expect  a  sufficiency  of  water. 
Moreover,  when  once  this  work  is  properly  performed 
we  need  have  no  further  apprehensions  about  the 
angle  at  which  the  river  current  enters  the  city 
limits.  It  will  be  forced  through  so  narrow  a  channel 
as  to  make  the  variations  of  the  current  a  matter  of 
indifference.  If  we  could  succeed  in  getting  the  river 
to  abandon  the  Sawyer  Bend  and  to  take  the  eastern 
channel  by  Cabaret  Island  we  would  doubtless  attain 
our  object,  and  a  shoal  extending  from  Venice  west- 
ward would  ultimately  narrow  the  water-way  to  the 
prescribed  width.  But  having  concluded  that  no  re- 
liance could  be  placed  upon  any  means  under  our 
control  for  effecting  this  change,  it  only  remains  to 
see  if  we  cannot  accomplish  the  same  thing  in  a  dif- 
ferent manner.  Our  object  will  be  to  contract  the 
water-way  in  the  northern  harbor  so  as  to  force  the 
water  to  run  in  the  channel  which  we  wish,  notwith- 
standing it  comes  from  Sawyer's  Bend.  There  is  a 
permanent  low-water  channel  already  established  in  the 
northern  harbor,  though  it  is  not  alongside  the  north- 
ern wharf.  Either  the  city  must  move  to  this  channel 
or  the  channel  must  be  made  to  come  to  the  city.  The 
former  method  would  be  more  natural,  and  in  an  en- 
gineering point  of  view  would  be  much  preferable. 
Our  studies  have  shown  us  that  in  its  natural  condition 
a  river  has  no  right  lines,  passing  directly  from  a  curve 
bending  one  way  into  a  curve  bending  in  the  opposite 
direction.  If,  then,  the  northern  wharf  line  were 
moved  out  to  the  edge  of  the  bar  and  made  to  conform 

to  the  curve  of  the  channel,  we  should  have  a  natu- 
'         i 

rally  formed  river  from  below  the  Grand  Chain  to  the 
elevator.  With  shore  lines  thus  established  there 
would  be  no  difficulty  in  making  permanent  revet- 
ments." After  instancing  a  number  of  objections  to 
this  course,  such  as  the  abandonment  of  a  line  on 
which  much  work  had  been  done,  lengthening  the 
sewers,  damages  to  water-front  owners,  etc.,  the  engi- 
neer's report  says, — 

"Under  these  circumstances  the  only  course  that  :<eems  left 
is  to  force  the  river  to  come  to  the  wharf,  which  the  city  has 


established.  That  this  can  be  done  I  have  no  doubt,  though 
the  channel  so  formed  will  be  an  unnatural  and,  therefore,  ex- 
pensive one.  ...  To  force  the  water  channel  over  to  the  city 
wharf  we  must  drive  it  by  a  series  of  dikes.  Th-j  dikes  already 
constructed  by  City  -Engineer  Bischoff  will  be  the  first  of  the 
system,  the  long  dike  extended  will  be  the  third,  an  interme- 
diate dike  at  or  near  Venice  Landing  will  be  the  second,  and 
a  fourth  dike  may  be  needed  at  the  head  of  Bloody  Island.  I 
would  recommend  that  they  be  raised  to  the  height  of  fourteen 
feet  above  low  water."  .  .  . 

It  is  upon  this  report  of  Col.  Merrill  that  the  city 
has  based  its  latter-day  wharf  plans.1 

The  present  United  States  engineers  are  not  so  san- 
guine that  the  river  can  be  brought  to  the  wharf,  but 
think  the  wharf  must  go  to  the  river. 

According  to  their  reports,  the  complete  improve- 
ment of  the  harbor  of  St.  Louis  requires,  first,  the 
fixation  of  the  banks  above  the  city  so  as  to  control 
the  approach  to  the  harbor  and  preserve  the  condi- 
tions of  entrance  invariable  ;  second,  the  regulation 
of  the  width  and  depth  in  front  of  the  city  by  regu- 
lar permanent  lines  of  definition  at  high  and  low 
stages. 


1  The  Republican  of  March  20,  1857,  speaking  of  the  wharf, 
said, — 

"  The  whole  of  this  magnificent  work,  from  Market  Street  to 
Locust,  has  been  completed  and  is  now  ready  for  use.  Those 
who  recollect  the  condition  of  the  Levee  when  Mr.  Kennett  came 
into  office,  less  than  a  year  ago,  can  hardly  realize  the  change 
which  it  has  undergone.  It  was  then  a  narrow,  unpaved,  and 
irregular  spot,  upon  which  business  could  be  done  only  in  the 
greatest  confusion  and  with  still  greater  delay.  A  narrow  street 
afforded  very  little  room  for  the  receiving  and  discharging  of 
freight,  and  the  drays  were  so  jammed  together  that  it  was  im- 
possible to  get  along.  Now,  thanks  to  Mr.  Kennett's  sound 
judgment,  knowledge  of  the  demands  of  commerce,  and  energy 
in  carrying  out  his  plans,  he  has,  with  the  aid  of  the  Council, 
built  up  and  carried  out  a  levee  which  has  not  its  like  in  the 
United  States.  The  work  before  him  was  enough  to  startle  a 
man  less  bold  and  less  confident  of  the  ability  to  carry  out  his 
plans  than  himself.  It  was  necessary  not  only  to  extend  the 
wharf  into  the  river,  but  also  to  fill  up  the  ground  several  feet, 
and  upon  this  a  solid  and  durable  pavement  was  to  be  laid.  All 
this  has  been  accomplished  under  circumstances  of  a  very  dis- 
couraging character.  Merchants  can  now  do  their  business 
with  some  comfort,  the  boats  can  discharge  and  receive  their 
freight  in  one-half  the  time  and  in  good  condition,  and  the 
draymen  can  pursue  their  laborious  calling  without  delay  and 
without  being  constantly  jammed  against  each  other.  For  this 
improvement  the  community  is  indebted  to  Mr.  Kennett.  Be- 
fore he  came  into  office  it  was  going  on  at  a  snail's  pace,  and 
upon  so  narrow  and  contracted  a  plan  that  no  advantage  could 
have  been  derived  from  it,  even  if  it  had  been  paved. 

"  If  Mr.  Kennett  is  continued  in  office — and  the  citizens  will 
do  great  injustice  to  themselves  if  they  do  not  elect  him  without 
a  serious  contest — seven  additional  blocks  south  of  Main  Street 
will  be  completed  before  the  end  of  the  summer,  and  then  what 
a  magnificent  levee  it  will  be !  The  work  is  going  on  as  rap- 
idly as  possible;  it  gives  employment  to  hundreds  of  men,  and 
the  sooner  it  is  all  completed  the  sooner  the  city  will  be  able  to 
effect  a  reduction  in  the  rates  of  wharfage." 


1060 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


"  The  first  requires  the  revetment  of  the  right  bank  for  the 
whole  length  of  Sawyer  Bend,  and  possibly  a  section  of  the  j 
Illinois  shore  opposite  to  and  above  the  Chain  of  Rocks,  also  j 
the  closing  of  Cabaret  slough  by  a  high  embankment  and  re-  j 
vetment  of  the  head  of  the  island.  Besides  the  work  here 
named  it  is  improbable  that  any  will  be  required  for  many  years 
upon  that  part  of  the  city  front  above  the  water-works.  The 
concave  bank  insures  the  permanent  location  of  the  channel 
close  to  the  Missouri  shore,  and  the  west  side  of  Cabaret  Island 
is  more  likely  to  receive  accretions  than  suffer  abrasion.  There- 
fore, unless  by  the  growth  of  new  interests  or  unforeseen  ex- 
pansion of  those  existing,  a  necessity  should  arise  for  deep  water 
on  the  east  side,  this  part  of  the  river  may  be  considered  the  ap- 
proach to  the  harbor,  and,  except  the  work  named,  may  be  left 
to  nature.  The  extent  of  bank  to  be  revetted  in  Sawyer's  Bend 
is  twenty-seven  thousand  feet. 

"  The  regulated  canalized  river  harbor  will  begin  near  the 
city  water-works,  and  the  upper  limit  may  be  fixed  at  the  pres- 
ent Bischoff's  dike,  which  now  extends  from  the  Illinois  shore 
to  within  one  thousand  five  hundred  and  seventy  feet  of  the 
St.  Louis  wharf." 

By  the  River  and  Harbor  Act  of  1882  it  is  pro- 
vided 

"  that  the  unexpended  sums  heretofore  appropriated  for  an  ice- 
harbor  at  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  be  and  the  same  are  hereby  transferred 
and  appropriated,  to  be  expended,  under  the  direction  of  the 
Secretary  of  War,  for  the  improvement  of  the  channel  of  the 
Mississippi  River  opposite  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  by  repair- 
ing and  raising  the  low  dam  across  the  channel  east  of  Arse- 
nal Island,  known  as  Cahokia  chute,  and  by  the  construction 
of  such  other  works  in  or  near  said  Cahokia  chute  as  may  bo 
deemed  advisable  to  accomplish  the  same  purpose." 

The  harbor  of  St.  Louis,  extending  from  the  Des 
Peres  River  on  the  south  to  the  northern  extremity 
of  the  city,  is  nearly  fourteen  miles  in  length,  of 
which'  nearly  four  miles  are  paved,  and  embraces  an 
area  of  water  of  nearly  five  square  miles. 

The  total  expenditures  for  the  improvement  of  the 
harbor  of  St.  Louis  from  Ofetober,,  1840,  to  April, 
1869,  amounted  to  $1,012,551.68. 

Floods  in  the  Mississippi  and  Tributaries,  and 
the  Levee  System. — The  Mississippi  River  and  its 
tributaries  drain  an  area  above  and  including  the  Red 
River  as  follows : 

Square 
Miles. 

I.  The  Missouri  River  and  tributaries 519,400 

II.  The  Ohio  "         "  "         202,400 

III.  The  Upper  Mississippi  River  and  trib- 

utaries      184,500 

IV.  The  Arkansas  and  White  Rivers  and 

tributaries 176,700 

V.  The  Red  River  and  tributaries 102,200 

VI.  The  Yazoo,  Obion,  and  Black  Rivers 

and  tributaries 29,300 

VII.  The  St.  Francis  River  and  tributaries..  12,100 


Total 1,226,600 

The  rainfall  over  this  vast  extent  of  country  has  been 
carefully  investigated,  and  forty  inches  has  been  fixed 
upon  as  the  annual  downfall,  which  must,  of  course, 
be  carried  off,  either  by  evaporation  or  drainage. 


Supposing,  says  Charles  Ellet,  Jr.,  that  "  from  any 
cause, — as  the  tillage  of  the  prairies,  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  vegetable  growth,  or  the  better  drain- 
age of  the  fields, — out  of  the  forty  inches  of  rain, 
two-fifths  of  an  inch,  or  nearly  one  per  cent,  of 
the  whole,  should  be  discharged  into  the  Mississippi 
in  the  course  of  sixty  days  of  flood  over  and  above 
the  present  discharge.  If  this  slight  increase  of 
the  total  discharge  were  distributed  uniformly  over 
the  whole  period  of  sixty  days  of  high  water,  it  would 
require  that  the  channel  of  the  river  should  be  com- 
petent to  give  vent  to  an  increased  volume  equal  to 
two  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  cubic  feetjper  second. 
If  this  increased  volume  be  retained  in  the  channel  by 
levees,  these  levees  must  be  raised  six  feet  higher 
than  the  tops  of  the  present  (1854)  embankments."  * 
The  object  of  the  computations  by  which  this  conclu- 
sion was  arrived  at  by  Mr.  Ellet  was  to  show  how 
sensitive  is  the  discharge  of  the  Mississippi  River  to 
every  variation,  however  inconsiderable,  of  the  drain- 
age of  the  country  ;  and  to  prove  that  if  the  evapo- 
ration be  slightly  reduced,  or  the  drainage  slightly 
hastened  or  increased  by  the  causes  which  are  pro- 
gressing with  increasing  population  and  the  extension 
of  cultivation,  then  for  every  fifth  part  of  an  inch 
by  which  the  total  drainage  is  increased  in  the  period 
of  high  water  there  must  be  experienced  an  average 
increase  of  about  three  feet  in  the  heights  of  the 
floods,  unless  the  water  can  find  its  accustomed  vents 
into  the  swamps.  This  statement  will  aid  in  form- 
ing some  estimate  of  the  consequences  which  are  to 
spring  from  the  extension  of  society  over  the  yet  un- 
peopled West,  and  the  cultivation  of  the  vast  territory 
which  is  drained  by  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries, 
increasing  the  amount  of  water  poured  down  the 
lower  Mississippi,  while  the  population  of  that  por- 
tion of  the  valley  is  closing  the  accustomed  outlets  of 
the  river  in  the  extension  of  the  levees. 

A  great  flood  is  the  result  of  a  simultaneous  dis- 
charge of  the  great  tributaries  which  ordinarily  run 
off  successively.  The  high  water  produced  by  the 
Red  and  Arkansas  Rivers,  in  the  ordinary  course  of 
things,  has  begun  to  subside  before  that  of  the  Ohio, 
Cumberland,  and  Tennessee  comes  down  ;  and  these, 
again,  begin  to  recede  before  the  upper  Mississippi 
discharges  its  vojume ;  and  this,  in  its  turn,  subsides 
before  the  snows  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  are  melted 
by  the  tardy  sun  in  those  high  latitudes,  and  the  water 
has  time  to  flow  off  through  the  three  thousand  miles 
of  channel  intervening  between  the  sources  of  those 
distant  streams  and  the  head  of  the  delta.  It  is  a 

1  "  Mississippi  and  Ohio  Rivers,"  by  Charles  Ellet,  Jr. 


THE   MISSISSIPPI  RIVER   AND   ITS   TRIBUTARIES. 


1061 


part  of  the  natural  order  of  events  that  these  great 
rivers  should  discharge  successively.  But  when,  under 
circumstances  over  which  there  exists  no  control,  the 
ordinary  order  of  successive  discharge  is  changed  for 
a  simultaneous  pouring  out  of  all  the  tributaries,  then 
comes  the  "year  of  great  waters,"  like  1785,  1811, 
1823,  1826,  1844,  1858,  and  1881. 

The  first  unusual  rise  of  the  Mississippi  River  of 
which  we  have  any  account  took  place  in  1542.  In 
March  of  that  year,  while  De  Soto  and  his  followers 
were  at  an  Indian  village  on  the  western  side  of  the 
"  Rio  Grande,"  as  the  early  Spaniards  called  the  Mis- 
sissippi, which  from  its  elevated  description  indicates 
the  site  of  Helena,  in  Arkansas,  there  was  a  rise  in 
the  river  which  covered  all  the  surrounding  country 
as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach.  In  the  village  (repre- 
sented to  have  been  on  high  ground)  the  water  rose 
from  five  to  six  feet  above  the  earth,  and  the  roofs  of 
the  Indian  cabins  were  the  only  places  of  shelter. 
The  river  remained  at  this  height  for  several  days, 
and  then  subsided  rapidly. 

The  earliest  authentic  account  of  the  American 
Bottom  being  submerged  is  that  of  the  flood  of  1724. 
A  document  is  to  be  found  in  the  archives  of  Kaskaskia, 
which  consists  of  a  petition  to  the  crown  of  France, 
in  1725.  for  a  grant  of  land,  in  which  the  damage 
sustained  the  preceding  year  (1724)  by  the  rise  of 
the  water  is  mentioned.  The  villagers  were  driven 
to  the  bluffs  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Kaskaskia 
River,  their  gardens  and  corn-fields  were  destroyed, 
and  their  buildings  and  property  much  injured.  We 
have  no  evidence  of  its  exact  height,  but  the  whole 
American  Bottom  was  submerged.  This  was  proba- 
bly in  June. 

There  was  a  tradition  among  the  old  French  peo- 
ple many  years  since  that  there  was  an  extraordinary 
rise  of  the  river  between  1740  and  1750,  but  we  find 
no  written  or  printed  account  of  it. 

In  the  year  1772  another  flood  came,  and  portions 
of  the  American  Bottom  were  again  covered.  Fort 
Chartres,  in  1756,  stood  half  a  mile  from  the  Missis-  j 
sippi  River;  in  1776  it  was  eighty  yards.  Two  years 
after,  Capt.  Pittman,  who  surveyed  the  fort  in  1768, 
states, — 

"  The  bank  of  the  Mississippi  next  the  fort  is  continually  fall- 
ing in,  being  worn  away  by  the  current,  which  has  been  turned 
from  its  course  by  a  sand-bank,  now  increased  to  a  considerable 
island  covered  with  willows.  Many  experiments  have  been 
tried  to  stop  this  growing  evil,  but  to  no  purpose.  Eight  years 
ago  the  river  was  fordable  to  the  island;  the  channel  is  now 
forty  feet  deep." 

About  the  year  1770  the  river  made  further  en- 
croachments, but  in  1772,  when  it  inundated  portions 
of  the  American  Bottom,  it  swept  away  the  land  to 


the  fort  and  undermined  the  wall  on  that  side,  which 
tumbled  into  the  river.  A  large  and  heavily-timbered 
island  now  occupies  the  "  sand-bar"  of  Capt.  Pittman's 
time,  between  which  and  the  site  of  the  fort  a  slough 
runs. 

The  next  period  of  extreme  high  water  was  in  1785, 
during  which  Kaskaskia,  Cahokia,  and  large  portions 
of  the  American  Bottom  were  submerged.  Concern- 
ing this  great  inundation  we  have  but  meagre  infor- 
mation. This  year,  however,  is  known  in  the  annals 
of  Western  history  as  Fannee  des  grandes  eaux, — 
the  year  of  the  great  waters.  In  1844  it  was  con- 
tended by  some  of  the  old  inhabitants  of  Kaskaskia 
and  Cahokia,  who  remembered  the  great  flood  of 
1785,  that  the  water  attained  a  greater  height  then 
than  in  the  last-mentioned  year.  It  is  certain  that  at 
Kaskaskia  the  water  attained  a  greater  height  in  1844 
than  was  reached  in  1785.  This  is  not  predicated 
upon  the  mere  recollections  of  individuals,  but  was 
ascertained  from  existing  marks  of  the  height  of  the 
flood  of  that  year  after  the  subsidence  of  the  water 
in  1844.  It  was  then  proved  that  in  this  last-men- 
tioned year  the  water  rose  two  feet  and  five  inches 
above  the  high-water  mark  of  1785.  The  destruction 
of  property  by  this  freshet  was  comparatively  small. 
The  mighty  stream  spread  over  a  wilderness  tenanted 
only  by  wild  beasts  and  birds,  and  the  few  inhabitants 
then  residing  within  the  range  of  its  destructive 
sweep  easily  escaped  with  small  loss  to  the  highlands. 
Gen.  Edgar  once  said  that  in  Kaskaskia  the  water 
rose  to  the  surface  of  the  door-sill  of  the  house  of  the 
late  Robert  Morrison,  but  that  in  one  place,  where  the 
court-house  stood  a  few  years  since,  the  ground  was 
above  the  water.  That  season  the  inhabitants  passed 
by  means  of  water-craft  through  the  prairies  and  lakes 
from  Cahokia  to  Kaskaskia.  This  flood  destroyed  all 
the  crops,  and  did  much  damage  about  the  French 
villages  on  the  American  Bo.ttom. 

There  were  high  waters  so  as  to  overflow  the  low 
grounds  and  fill  the  lakes  and  sloughs  on  the  Ameri- 
can Bottom  at  other  seasons  subsequent  to  1785,  but 
none  that  deserve  attention  until  that  of  1811.  It 
was  in  the  summer  preceding  the  "  shakes,"  as  the 
earthquakes  were  called. 

This  flood  resulted  in  part  from  the  annual  rise  of 
the  Missouri,  as  did  the  ones  previously  noticed.  The 
flood  in  the  Missouri  always  occurs  between  the  15th 
and  30th  of  June,  and  is  caused  by  the  snows  melt- 
ing in  the  mountains  at  the  heads  of  the  main  Mis- 
souri. In  some  seasons  the  Yellowstone,  which  is  in 
a  more  southern  latitude,  pours  out  a  flood  which 
reaches  St.  Louis  about  the  last  of  May  or  1st  of 
June. 


1062 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


In  1811  the  Mississippi  River  commenced  rising 
early  in  May,  and  by  the  15th  the  water  had  spread 
over  a  large  portion  of  the  American  Bottom.  The 
water  began  to  subside,  and  by  the  1st  of  June  was 
only  over  the  banks  in  low  places.  By  the  6th  of 
June  the  river  again  commenced  rising,  and  continued 
to  rise  until  the  14th,  when  it  came  to  a  stand.  At 
this  time  the  greater  part  of  the  American  Bottom 
was  under  water,  and  Kaskaskia,  Cahokia,  Prairie  du 
Pont,  Cantien,  and  nearly  all  the  settlements  in  the 
bottom  were  inundated,  and  the  inhabitants  had  fled 
to  the  high  lands. 

The  "  common  fields"  belonging  to  Ste.  Genevieve 
were  on  the  bottom  land  adjacent  to  the  river,  much 
of  which  has  since  been  swept  away,  the  steamboats 
now  running  over  the  same  spot.  The  water  entirely 
submerged  the  field,  and  nearly  covered  the  growing 
corn.  A  story  is  still  narrated  by  the  oldest  inhab- 
itants that  at  the  time  of  the  flood  some  of  the 
panic-stricken  inhabitants  waited  on  Father  Maxwell, 
the  village  priest,  to  "  pray  away  the  water."  It  is 
said  he  gave  no  direct  encouragement  at  first,  until  he 
perceived  the  water  at  a  stand,  when  he  proposed  to 
the  corn-growers  to  drive  off  the  waters  by  saying 
masses  for  a  share  of  all  the  corn  they  raised.  The 
bargain  was  struck,  the  masses  were  said,  and  the 
waters  suddenly  retired  from  their  fields.  The  ground 
was  soon  dry  and  in  good  order,  the  corn  looked  green, 
and  the  priest,  it  is  said,  shared  in  the  luxuriant 
crop. 

There  was  considerable  destruction  of  property  by 
this  freshet,  and  a  great  many  cattle  drowned.  The 
height  attained  by  the  water  during  this  freshet  has 
never  been  precisely  ascertained.  But  it  is  believed 
that  the  flood  was  not  so  great  as  that  during  Vannee 
des  grandes  eaux. 

The  flood  of  1811  was  much  greater  than  any  that 
followed  until  1823,  when  a  sudden  change  in  the 
temperature  after  a  winter  when  the  snowfall  was 
unprecedentedly  heavy  throughout  the  Northwest  and 
the  fall  of  very  heavy  rains  caused  the  Mississippi  to 
commence  rising  rapidly  about  the  8th  of  May,  1823. 
It  continued  to  rise  rapidly  until  the  23d  of  the 
month,  when  it  came  to  a  stand.  At  that  time  the 
water  entirely  covered  the  American  Bottom,  and  the 
citizens  of  Kaskaskia,  Cahokia,  Cantien,  French  Vil- 
lage, Wood  River,  Madison,  and  other  settlements 
had  been  compelled  to  abandon  their  homes  and  seek 
refuge  on  the  bluffs  and  in  St.  Louis.  The  houses  in 
the  lower  part  of  St.  Louis  were  surrounded  by  water. 
The  Levee  was  submerged,  and  the  river  rose  to  the 
lower  room  in  the  old  store  at  the  foot  of  Oak  Street 
(then  kept  by  John  Shackford)  about  five  feet.  The 


water  overflowed  all  the  low  grounds  about  East  St. 
Louis.1 

The  loss  of  cattle  was  very  great,  and  the  farmers 
suffered  heavily  throughout  the  American  Bottom. 
The  high  land  about  where  that  part  of  East  St. 
Louis  known  as  Papstown  is  now  built,  and  la  bate 
d  renard,  or  the  Fox  Mound,  which  had  escaped  sub- 
mersion during  the  flood  of  Tannee  des  grandes 
eaux,  were  the  only  dry  ground  in  the  American 
Bottom,  except  some  mounds  whose  tops  were  of 
no  great  extent.  In  this,  as  in  the  flood  of  1811, 
there  exists  no  means  of  ascertaining  the  height  which 
the  river  attained,  nor  are  there  the  means  of  as- 
certaining the  amount  of  destruction  which  was  ac- 
complished by  this  great  freshet. 

The  season  of  1826  was  characterized  by  tremen- 
dous rainfalls  throughout  the  whole  Northwest,  and 
the  Mississippi  was  very  high  throughout  the  spring 
from  about  the  15th  of  April.  Towards  the  close  of 
May  the  river  had  overflowed  its  banks  and  spread  for 
miles  over  the  country.  By  the  8th  of  June  Cahokia, 
Kaskaskia,  Prairie  du  Pont,  Cantien,  and  the  common 
fields  of  Ste.  Genevieve  were  submerged.  The  loss 
of  stock  and  other  property  was  very  great.  The  in- 
habitants of  the  "  bottoms"  sought  refuge  either  on 
the  bluffs  back  in  Illinois  or  among  the  hills  of  Mis- 
souri, or  in  St.  Louis.  There  is,  so  far  as  we  can 
ascertain,  no  record  left  of  the  height  attained  this 
year  by  the  water  in  the  river.  The  river  came  to  a 
stand  on  the  10th  of  the  month,  and  on  the  llth  was 
falling  rapidly.  By  the  25th  the  river  had  reached 
an  ordinary  stage, — the  great  flood  had  been  lost  in 
the  vast  volume  of  waters  of  the  gulf. 

The  winter  of  1843—44  was  not  one  of  unusual 
severity,  though  there  were  tremendous  snow-storms 
throughout  the  Northwest.  The  winter  broke  up 
early  in  May,  but  the  weather  continued  cool,  and  the 
spring  was  characterized  by  the  severest  rain-storms 
ever  known  in  the  Northwest.  Early  in  the  season 
the  river  began  to  rise,  and  by  the  1st  of  May  was 
full  almost  to  overflowing.  The  population  of  Mis- 
souri and  Illinois  had  greatly  increased,  farming  had 
improved  the  soil  and  largely  facilitated  the  drainage 
of  the  land.  Towns  and  settlements  had  sprung  up 
everywhere,  and  along  the  river-banks  centres  of  popu- 
lation had  gathered  and  garnered  great  wealth. 


1  Many  of  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis  recollect  when  the  east 
bank  of  the  river  opposite  Oak  Street  was  where  the  island  now 
is,  which  was  farther  up  the  river  and  nearer  the  St.  Louis 
shore.  There  was  a  village  of  some  twenty  small  houses  at  and 
above  where  the  dike  joins  the  island,  and  a  ferry  of  the  French 
fashion  (two  canoes  with  a  light  platform  over  them)  crossed 
the  river  from  that  village  to  the  foot  of  Oak  Street. 


THE   MISSISSIPPI   RIVER   AND   ITS   TRIBUTARIES. 


1063 


When,  therefore,  they  saw  the  mighty  rivers  bank-  , 
full  in  April  they  were  not  alarmed ;   and  when  on 
the  3d  of  May  the  great  streams  began  to  recede,  all  ! 
fear  passed  away  with  the  decline  in  the  volume  of 
the  waters.     But  thick  clouds  gathered,  and  deluges  ; 
of  water  were  poured  out  over  the  face  of  the  whole 
country.1     Little  brooks  became  swollen  creeks,  and 
small  creeks  great  rivers,  and  little  rivers  great  floods, 
all  pouring  into  the  mighty  Missouri  and  Mississippi 
their  vast  contributions  to  the  overwhelming  waters 
that  rose  above  the  barriers  which  confined  them  and 
deluged  the  fairest  part  of  the  great  West. 

By  the  10th  of  May  the  river  began  rising,  and  by 
the  16th  the  flood  began  to  create  alarm  at  St.  Louis.  ; 
The  Republican  of  the  17th  of  May  calls  it  "  a  tre-  ; 
mendous  flood,"  and  adds, — 

"  The  waters  were  coming  down  upon  us  from  every  quarter. 
The  Mississippi  is  now  as  high  as  it  has  been  known  for  many 
•years,  and  is  still  rising.  Just  above  Oak  Street  it  was  last  i 
evening  within  six  or  eight  feet  of  touching  the  curbstone. 
The  cellars  all  above  the  wharf  are  filling  with  water.  It  was 
still  rising  last  evening  at  the  rate  of  twelve  inches  in  twenty- 
four  hours,  and  this  notwithstanding  an  immense  volume  of 
water  is  pouring  over  the  Illinois  shore.  The  whole  of  the 
American  Bottom,  from  Alton  to  Kaskaskia,  will  be,  we  fear, 
submerged.  The  people  are  deserting  their  homes  in  Illinois 
towns." 

The  river  continued  to  rise  throughout  the  18th, 
19th,  and  20th,  reaching  the  doors  of  the  stores  on 
Front  Street  north  of  Pine,  and  extending  to  the 
Pap  house  on  the  Illinois  side,  a  distance  of  two  and 
a  half  miles.  The  merchants  on  Front  Street  had  all 
been  compelled  to  move  their  stock  of  goo'ds  into  the  j 
second  stories.  The  waters  came  to  a  stand  on  the 
21st,  with  prospects  of  a  decline,  which  began  rapidly 
on  the  23d,  and  continued  until  the  river  was  again  j 
within  its  banks  on  the  7th  of  June.  But  the  flood 
from  the  Missouri  was  coming  down.  From  the  3d  '• 
to  the  10th  of  June  there  was  a  continued  succession 
of  the  most  terrible  rain-storms  ever  witnessed.  These 
tremendous  rains  were  general  throughout  the  North- 
west. The  Mississippi  again  commenced  rising  at  St. 
Louis  on  the  8ch  of  June.  The  rise  was  steady,  though 
not  alarmingly  rapid.  The  upper  Mississippi,  Illinois, 
Missouri,  Des  Moines,  Gasconade,  Osage,  Kaw,  Platte, 
and  all  the  tributaries  were  pouring  out  their  floods. 

Steadily,  slowly,  but  inexorably  the  great  floods  from 
the  prairies,  hills,  and  mountains  came  sweeping  down 
to  the  lower  valleys.  Before  the  12th  of  the  month 
the  river  was  again  breaking  over  the  banks  in  places. 


By  the  15th  the  floods  began  to  alarm  the  people  of 
the  valley,  and  "  the  great  flood  of  1844"  had  com- 
menced its  devastations. 

There  were  five  hundred  persons  in  St.  Louis  who 
were  driven  from  their  homes  by  this  flood.2 

At  Bon  Secour  there  were  camped,  all  in  open  camps, 
one  hundred  and  twenty-two  persons.  Several  of  these 
families  left  their  homes  with  from  four  to  nine  chil- 
dren, and  with  less  than  fifty  pounds  of  flour  and  a 
small  quantity  of  meat. 

The  water  covered  all  of  Illinoistown,  rose  above  the 
first  story  of  the  houses,  and  reached  within  a  few 
inches  of  the  height  attained  in  the  freshets  of  1823 
and  1826.  A  considerable  portion  of  the  curbstones 
on  Water  Street  were  covered,  and  the  water  was  run- 
ning into  the  lower  stories  of  the  houses  of  Battle  Row, 
corner  of  Laurel  Street. 

All  the  rivers  above  were  reported  to  be  rising,  but 
the  principal  rise  was  from  the  Missouri,  said  to  be 
the  June  freshet  from  the  mountains.  The  Missouri, 
the  upper  Mississippi,  and  the  Illinois,  and  their  trib- 
utaries were  overflowing  their  banks  and  rising  rapidly, 
spreading  destruction  and  consternation  among  the  in- 
habitants of  the  bottoms,  whose  losses  were  very  great. 
Many  of  their  farms  were  completely  under  water,  and 
their  crops  were  entirely  destroyed,  and  their  stock 
either  carried  off  by  the  flood  or  scattered  over  the 
country. 

The  Illinois  River  was  within  six  inches  of  the  high- 
water  mark  of  the  great  flood  that  occurred  seventeen 
years  before,  and  at  Naples  it  had  overflowed  the  bank 
and  the  streets  were  under  water. 

On  June  17th  the  river  was  about  six  inches  higher 
than  the  water- mark  of  the  month  before.  North  of 
Locust  Street,  on  Front  Street,  and  above  Vine  Street 
the  water  rose  over  the  sidewalks  and  into  many  of 
the  stores,  forcing  the  merchants  to  carry  their  dam- 
ageable goods  into  the  second  stories,  and  to  place  the 
remainder  on  shelves  and  counters.  On  the  18th  the 
steamer  "  Missouri  Mail"  brought  the  alarming  news 
of  a  great  rise  in  the  Missouri,  which  on  the  13th  was 
rising  at  St.  Joseph  at  the  rate  of  seven  feet  in  twenty- 
four  hours. 

The  whole  country  between  Weston  and  Glasgow 
was  under  water.  Camden  Bottom  was  covered  to  a 
depth  of  six  to  eight  feet.  The  officers  of  the  "  Mail" 


1  It  rained  continually  for  ten  days.  According  to  the  esti- 
mate made*  by  Dr.  B.  B.  Brown,  the  quantity  of  rainfall  was 
nine  inches,  being  a  greater  quantity  than  that  of  the  whole  of 
the  year  1843. 


2  "  Nearly  all  the  people  of  Brooklyn,  Venice,  Cahokia,  and 
Six-Mile  Prairie  and  other  points  along  the  river-banks  are  in 
the  city.  In  the  vicinity  of  Anderson's  Mill,  in  the  upper  part 
of  the  city,  there  are  upwards  of  fifty  families  and  more  than 
two  hundred  persons,  many  of  whom  are  destitute,  and  all  are 
without  shelter,  except  such  temporary  covering  as  they  have 
been  able  to  erect." — Republican,  June  24. 


1064 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


spent  nearly  one  entire  day  in  relieving  and  saving 
those  who  were  in  danger,  and  the  accounts  they  related 
were  peculiarly  distressing  ;  quite  a  number  of  persons 
were  missing,  many  of  whom  were  doubtless  lost. 
Cattle  in  large  numbers  were  seen  floating  down 
amidst  the  drift,  their  heads  only  visible.  Many 
houses  were  also  seen  floating  on  the  flood. 

The    editorial    of  the  Republican  of  June  19th 


"We  have  taken  some  pains  to  ascertain  with  certainty  the 
height  of  the  present  rise  in  the  river  compared  with  former 
freshets.  We  have  been  very  unsuccessful.  Within  the  memory 
of  many  of  the  oldest  inhabitants  there  have  been  three  extra- 
ordinary freshets, — one  in  1811,  one  in  1823,  and  the  last  in  1826. 
If  there  were  any  others,  we  have  not  been  able  to  learn  the  par- 
ticulars. The  freshet  of  1811  appears  to  have  been  the  highest. 
That  year  the  Ste.  Genevieve  common  fields,  and  in  fact  the 
whole  bottom,  was  covered  with  water.  Boats  passed  with  ease 
to  and  from  Ste.  Genevieve  to  Kaskaskia.  There  is  a  great  dif- 
ference of  opinion  as  to  the  height  attained  by  the  water  in  1826. 
Some  say  it  was  higher  than  now ;  others  insist  that  at  present 
the  water  is  higher  than  during  that  year." 

On  Thursday,  the  20th,  the  Mississippi  was  from 
three  to  six  miles  wide,  and  in  many  places  nine. 
It  covered  all  Front  Street  and  the  sidewalk  ;  it  was 
over  the  boilers  in  Cathcart's  mill,  and  the  steamer 
"  Lightner"  was  resting  her  bow  against  the  front  of 
Henry  N.  Davis'  store  at  the  corner  of  Front  and 
Morgan  Streets.  The  water  was  up  along  Battle  Row 
nearly  to  the  door-hatches.  At  J.  &  E.  Walsh's  store, 
corner  of  Vine  and  Front  Streets,  the  water  was  up  to 
within  about  fourteen  inches  of  the  locks  on  the  doors. 
At  the  corner  of  Pine  and  Front  Streets  it  was  just  up  to 
the  top  of  the  sill  of  the  door  of  Mr.  Collins'  warehouse. 
At  Market  Street  it  was  between  nine  and  ten  inches 
below  the  sill  of  the  east  door  of  Coons  &  Gallagher's 
store.  The  lower  part  of  the  city,  in  the  vicinity  of 
Mill  Creek,  was  all  submerged.  The  water  covered 
Second  Street  below  the  bridge.  Mr.  Stiles  and  most 
of  the  people  in  that  quarter,  especially  along  Convent 
Street,  removed,  and  the  communication  was  main- 
tained by  means  of  boats. 

Several  houses  up  in  the  direction  of  the  dam  were 
several  feet  under  water.  Of  course  all  the  low  lands 
in  Soulard's  addition  and  St.  George's  were  overflowed. 

On  the  Illinois  side  everything  was  under  water ; 
at  Cahokia  the  inhabitants  were  forced  to  flee  to  the 
bluffs,  and  several  houses  in  Illinoistown  were  moved 
from  their  foundations,  and  some  overturned. 

The  "  Indiana,"  which  made  fast  at  the  door  of  the 
female  academy,  brought  up  from  Kaskaskia  the  Sis- 
ters of  Charity  at  the  convent  and  the  priests  con- 
nected with  the  church  at  that  place,  and  several  fam- 
ilies and  such  furniture  as  they  had  saved.  The  town 
was  from  ten  to  twenty  feet  under  water.  Several 


dwelling-houses  that  were  most  exposed  to  the  cur- 
rent of  the  river,  together  with  many  barns,  stables, 
and  outhouses,  were  swept  away. 

The  city  engineer,  about  twelve  o'clock  on  the  22d, 
ascertained  that  the  water  was  over  the  city  direc- 
trix, the  curbstone  on  Front  Street,  east  of  the  mar- 
ket-house, three  feet  four  inches.  This  gave  thirty- 
four  feet  nine  inches  plumb  water  above  low-water 
mark.  From  half-past  seven  o'clock  on  Thursday 
morning  until  half-past  seven  Friday  evening  the  rise 
was  seventeen  inches.  This  was  an  immense  and  un- 
paralleled rise,  and  can  only  be  properly  estimated 
when  the  whole  width  of  the  river  is  considered.  In 
many  places  it  was  from  ten  to  fifteen  miles  wide.  In 
Second  Street  the  water  extended  from  Hazel  to  the 
junction  of  Second  and  Fifth -Streets,  being  in  some 
places  from  four  to  five  feet  deep.  The  low  land  in 
front  and  all  the  low  lands  between  Second  and 
Third  and  Fifth  Streets  were  several  feet  under  water. 

On  June  22d  the  editor  of  the  RepuUican 

"took  a  trip  across  the  river  in  the  row-boat  '  Ripple,'  a  boat 
which  is  owned  and  manned  by  a  company  of  young  gentle- 
men, amateur  boatmen,  and  had  a  most  pleasant  time  of  it.  We 
left  the  foot  of  Market  Street  and  crossed  to  the  ferry  landing. 
From  thence  we  passed  over  several  streets  of  Illinoistown,  and 
to  '  Old  Pap's  house,'  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  ferry  landing. 
Thence  we  rowed  through  a  corn-field  and  an  oat-field  to  the 
railroad,  passed  along  it  some  distance  and  through  another 
field  to  the  big  lake  near  the  Pittsburgh  coal-mines,  a  distance 
of  about  nine  miles.  On  our  return  we  crossed  to  the  east  side 
of  Bloody  Island,  and  passed  round  the  head  of  the  island. 
Everywhere  we  witnessed  the  destruction  of  whole  crops,  the 
year's  subsistence  of  the  farmer  and  his  family." 

For  the  'twenty-four  hours  of  Sunday,  June  23d, 
the  water  rose  fourteen  inches,  and  reached  the  climax 
of  the  flood,  where  it  remained  nearly  stationary  until 
the  28th,  when  it  commenced  receding.  In  order  to 
relieve  the  needs  of  the  destitute  the  City  Council  by 
ordinance  placed  one  thousand  dollars  at  the  disposi- 
tion of  the  mayor  and  other  officers.  The  number 
encamped  was  as  follows:  At  Bon  Secour,  122;  at 
Mr.  Cremer's,  45 ;  at  John  Cohen's,  18  ;  at  John 
Sharp's,  5  ;  at  Game's,  21 ;  at  Falling  Spring,  31  ;  at 
Edward  Hebert's,  4 ;  at  Prairie  du  Pont,  41  ;  at  Jo- 
seph Boismenen's,  40;  at  the  Grand  Marias  Pass,  40 
families. 

The  water  continued  to  recede  with  great  rapidity. 
By  the  middle  of  July  the  river  had  reached  an  or- 
dinary stage.  The  weather  became  settled,  the 
atmosphere  void  of  moisture.  July,  August,  and 
September  proved  very  dry,  and  before  the  close  of  the 
season  the  river  had  reached  an  exceedingly  low  stage.1 

1  The  following  interesting  account  of  the  great  flood  of  18-14 
was  written  in  July  of  the  same  year  by  the  late  Dr.  B.  W. 
Brooks.,  of  Jonesboro',  111. : 


THE   MISSISSIPPI   RIVER   AND   ITS   TRIBUTARIES. 


1065 


The  long-continued  and  ruinous  flood  of  1851  did  newspapers  of  St.  Louis  of  May  29,  1851.  Two 
not  begin  to  attract  particular  attention  until  "  fearful  days  after  the  river  began  to  rise  rapidly  at  St.  Louis, 
accounts  of  the  rise  in  the  upper  Mississippi,"  the  I  and  by  sundown  of  the  30th  was  fifteen  feet  eight 
river  being  over  its  banks  in  many  places,  reached  the 

"  The  Mississippi,  being  at  a  good  boating  stage  of  water, 
commenced  rising  rapidly  on  the  18th  day  of  May,  1844,  and 
continued  rising  at  the  rate  of  from  two  feet  to  thirty  inches 
every  twenty-four  hours  until  the  first  day  of  June,  at  which 
time  it  was  within  eighteen  inches  of  high-water  mark  in  the 
years  1811  and  1826.  It  then  commenced  falling  gradually 
until  the  10th  of  June,  at  which  time  it  had  fallen  some  five  or 
six  feet,  so  as  to  leave  all  the  farms  free  from  water,  which 
were  previously  about  half  covered  with  water  generally,  with 
the  exception  of  Jacob  Treese's  farm  and  a  few  others.  This 
rise  was  presumed  to  come  out  of  the  Mississippi  lliver.  On 
the  llth  of  June  the  Missouri  flood  came  down,  and  the  Mis- 
sissippi commenced  rising  again,  and  continued  to  rise  at  the 
rate  of  from  one  foot  to  eighteen  inches  every  twenty-four 
hours  until  it  inundated  the  entire  bottom,  covering  every 
farm  in  it  from  eighteen  to  thirty  feet,  that  being  the  depth  of 
soundings  on  the  road  from  Jonesboro'  to  Littleton's  old  ferry, 
and  to  Willard's  ferry.  Horses,  cattle,  sheep,  and  hogs  were 
destroyed  in  vast  numbers,  notwithstanding  every  exertion 
was  used  by  the  benevolent  and  enterprising  citizens  through- 
out the  county.  Wood-boats,  ferry-flats,  canoes,  and  skiffs,  and 
divers  rafts  or  other  crafts,  made  upon  the  spur  of  the  moment, 
were  employed  in  collecting  and  boating  the  stock  and  house- 
hold property  of  the  alarmed  and  distressed  citizens  to  the 
high  lands.  Many  of  the  citizens  living  near  the  banks  on 
the  Illinois  shore  fled  with  their  families  in  consternation  to 
the  Missouri  shore,  leaving  all  their  horses,  cattle,  and  house- 
hold effects  to  their  fate.  This  latter  rise  and  overflow  of  the 
river  continued  until  the  29th  of  June,  when  it  came  to  a 
stand,  the  citizens  having  in  a  great  degree  made  an  end  of 
removing  the  effects  of  the  suffering  inhabitants  to  the  neigh- 
boring hills.  On  the  1st  of  July  the  waters  began  greatly  to 
recede,  and  continued  to  fall  until  ...  it  became  confined 
within  the  banks  of  the  river.  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that 
about  one-half  of  the  houses  in  the  Mississippi  Bottom  were 
removed  from  their  foundations;  all  the  fences  wholly  removed 
and  washed  away.  All  the  warehouses  on  the  bank  fell  into 
the  river,  and  many  dwelling-houses  shared  a  like  fate. 

"  This  inundation  was  ten  or  twelve  feet  higher  than  that  of 
1811,  or  of  1826,  and  higher  than  ever  known,  except  in  1785, 
when  it  rose  thirty  feet  above  the  common  level,  and  from  the 
reports  recorded  in  Beck's 'History  of  Illinois  and  Missouri,' 
it  was  the  greatest  flood  known  during  the  last  one  hundred  and 
fifty  years,  at  which  period  the  Mississippi  washed  in  a  part*of 
Fort  Chartres.  Mr.  Cerre,  the  oldest  French  settler  in  St. 
Louis,  says  the  inundation  of  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri  was 
not  as  high  by  some  four  or  five  feet  in  1785  as  it  was  this 
year,  1844,  and  all  the  old  settlers  of  Kaskaskia  agree  in 
saying  that  the  overflow  of  1785  left  one  dry  spot  in  the  town 
of  Kaskaskia,  which  was  covered  in  1844  with  water  five  feet 
deep.  The  steamer  '  Indiana'  was  chartered  by  the  nuns  to 
take  the  pupils  of  the  nunnery  to  St.  Louis,  and  received  them 
on  board  at  Col.  Menard's  door,  and  passed  along  the  road  to 
St.  Louis,  on  which  there  was  from  six  to  fifteen  feet  of  water, 
leaving  the  river  far  to  the  left  the  whole  route.  Some  two 
hundred  citizens  went  up  from  Kaskaskia  on  the  '  Indiana,' 
and  about  three  hundred  found  shelter  on  the  premises  of  Col. 
Men»rd,  and  many  more  spread  their  tents  along  the  bluffs. 

"  Millions  of  dollars  will  not  cover  the  loss  sustained  by  this 
flood  in  the  States  of  Illinois  and  Missouri.  Some  of  the  most 


inches  below  the  high-water  mark  of  1844,  as  marked 

valuable  farms  in  those  two  States  have  been  rendered  worth- 
less for  several  years.  The  whole  American  Bottom  from  Alton 
to  Cairo  was  submerged,  containing  seven  hundred  square 
miles  of  the  finest  land  in  the  world.  La  Bute  si  Renard  was 
the  only  point  of  land  out  of  water  in  1785  :  so  says  the  St. 
Louis  Kepiiblicmi. 

"  The  great  flood  was  occasioned  by  the  swelling  of  the  north- 
ern rivers  which  empty  into  the  Missouri  and  upper  Mississippi, 
and  by  the  melting  of  the  snow  on  the  eastern  declivity  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains. 

"  The  Spanish  and  Portuguese  historians  of  De  Soto's  maraud- 
ing expedition  tell  us  that  in  March,  1542,  all  the  high  grounds 
on  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi,  from  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio 
to  Red  River,  were  submerged  several  feet.  There  is  a  docu- 
ment in  the  clerk's  office  of  Randolph  County,  111.,  at  Kaskiiskia, 
dated  1725,  soliciting  a  grant  of  lots  and  lands  from  the  crown 
of  France,  and  urging  as  a  reason  the  'great  flood'  of  the 
preceding  year,  1724,  which  overflowed  the  village,  destroyed 
the  houses,  and  drove  the  inhabitants  to  the  bluffs. 

"The  bottom  lands  along  the  Mississippi  from  Alton  to  Cairo, 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  average  five  miles  in  width.  Since 
the  Mississippi  was  first  discovered  by  Europeans,  the  waters 
had  passed  over  all  the  low  grounds  from  bluff  to  bluff 
several  times.  In  1785  this  bottom  was  covered,  and  small 
boats  passed  from  St.  Louis  to  Kaskaskia  over  the  land.  In 
1811,  at  the  annual  June  rise  of  the  Missouri,  a  part  of  the 
American  Bottom  and  the  common  fields  of  Ste.  Genevieve 
were  inundated.  In  1826  the  river  inundated  the  town  of 
Illinois,  opposite  St.  Louis,  and  also  the  lowlands  along  the 
American  Bottom,  but  not  as  high  by  ten  feet  as  this  flood  of 
1844.  The  flood  at  St.  Louis  attained  its  greatest  height  on 
the  24th  of  June,  1844,  and  was  thirty-eight  feet  seven  inches 
above  low-water  mark  at  that  city." 

William  L.  Murfree,  Sr.,  gives  a  graphic  description  of  the 
flood  of  1844  in  Scribner's  Mayazine :  "The  shallowest  water, 
for  indefinite  miles  in  any  direction,  was  two  feet  deep,  the 
nearest  land  'the  hills  of  the  Arkansaw,' thirty  miles  away. 
The  mules  were  quartered  on  the  upper  floor  of  the  gin-house ; 
the  cattle  had  all  been  drowned  long  ago ;  planter,  negro,  and 
overseer  were  confined  to  their  respective  domiciles;  the  grist- 
mill was  under  water,  and  there  was  no  means  of  preparing 
corn  for  culinary  purposes  except  a  wooden  hominy  mortar. 
The  hog-and-hominy  diet  (so  highly  extolled  by  some  people 
who  have  never  lived  on  it)  was  adopted  of  necessity,  the 
former  being  represented  by  mess-pork  salter  than  tongue  can 
tell.  There  were  no  visitors,  except  now  and  then  a  sociable 
snake,  which,  no  doubt,  bored  by  swimming  around  indefinitely 
in  the  overflow,  and  craving  even  human  companionship,  would 
glide  up  on  the  gallery  of  some  of  the  houses.  There  was  no 
means  of  locomotion  except  the  skiff  and  the  humble  but 
ever  serviceable  '  dugout,' nowhere  to  go,  and  nobody  within 
a  day's  journey  otherwise  or  more  comfortably  situated.  The 
only  sense  of  sympathy  from  without  was  had  from  remote  and 
infrequent  glimpses  of  the  gallant  steamer  '  J.  M.  White,' 
which,  leaping  from  point  to  point,  made  better  time  from  New 
Orleans  to  St.  Louis  than  was  ever  made  before  or  for  many 
years  after.  That  year  nineteen  plantations  out  of  twenty  failed 
to  produce  a  single  pound  of  cotton  or  a  single  bushel  of  corn, 
and  when  the  flood  was  over  and  the  swamp  Noahs  came  out  of 
their  respective  arks,  they  were,  to  say  the  least,  malcontent." 


1066 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


on  the  column  in  front  of  the  Centre  Market,  and 
eight  feet  and  one-half  inch  below  the  city  directrix, 
or  the  curbstone  at  the  corner  of  Market  Street  and 
the  Levee.  The  top  of  the  stonework  of  the  dike  is 
two  feet  lower  than  the  city  directrix.  A  large 
portion  of  the  east  side  of  Duncan's  Island,  and  seven 
houses,  and  a  portion  of  the  dike  erected  by  the  city 
between  the  island  and  the  Illinois  shore,  were  washed 
away.  *  About  one  million  feet  of  lumber  from  the 
upper  part  of  the  city  was  also  washed  away.  Through 
almost  all  of  June  the  river  continued  to  rise,  until 
June  23d  it  had  risen  four  feet  nine  and  a  half  inches 
below  the  high-water  mark  of  1844 ;  from  this  date 
the  waters  commenced  to  decline. 

The  desolation  which  visited  the  States  watered  by 
the  Mississippi,  the  Missouri,  the  Wabash,  the  Illinois, 
and  their  tributaries  was  beyond  all  calculation. 

In  1854  the  river  was  very  high,  the  water 
almost  entirely  submerging  the  Levee  at  St.  Louis. 
Great  damage  was  done,  especially  in  the  lower  portion 
of  the  course  of  the  river.  The  destruction  of  property 
was  immense  in  Mississippi,  Arkansas,  and  Louisiana. 

In  1858  the  water  rose  to  a  point  within  about 
two  and  a  half  feet  of  the  flood  of  1844.  Many 
towns  were  inundated,  and  vast  destruction  of  property 
was  effected.  The  water  broke  over  the  levee  at 
Cairo,  111.,  and  completely  submerged  that  city.  The 
water  in  the  Ohio  was  also  very  high.  The  planters 
in  the  delta  and  the  farmers  throughout  the  low 
country  suffered  immense  losses. 

In  1863  the  river  rose  very  high,  and  the  flood 
swept  away  much  property.  The  water  came  into  the 
stores  on  the  Levee  at  St.  Louis.  This  was  the  last 
great  flood  until  1881,  though  the  water  rose  quite 
high  in  1867,  and  again  in  1871  and  1875.  But 
these  floods  did  little  damage  in  the  upper  valley.  In 
Mississippi,  Arkansas,  and  Louisiana  great  destruction 
was  wrought  in  1867, 1871,  and  1875. 

The  flood  of  1881  began  in  May,  and  on  the  4th 
of  that  month,  from  the  foot  of  Anna  Street,  on  the 
St.  Louis  side,  the  only  limit  for  the  water  was  the 
bluff,  three  miles  to  the  east.  East  Carondelet,  as 
the  little  village  opposite  Carondelet  is  called,  was 
flooded  by  the  breaking  of  the  dike  at  the  head  of 
the  island,  and  the  inhabitants  took  their  children  in 
their  arms  and  sought  safety  on  the  high  grounds. 
Many  of  them  crossed  in  the  ferry-boat  and  found 
quarters  in  Carondelet.  Over  a  hundred  persons 
were  thus  rendered  homeless.  From  the  arsenal, 
steamboats  could  be  seen  through  the  willows  which 
were  once  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  plying  in  the 
overflow.  The  width  of  the  river  at  that  point  was 
estimated  at  three  miles. 


The  country  surrounding  the  little  town  of  Venice, 
opposite  the  north  wharf,  was  inundated.  Night- 
fall found  East  St.  Louis  still  exempt  from  inundation, 
but  the  situation  there  was  extremely  critical,  and 
the  alarm  among  the  inhabitants  was  general.  At 
2.35  o'clock,  May  3d,  the  steamboats  lying  along  the 
East  St.  Louis  side  of  the  river  set  up  a  combined 
whistling,  which  conveyed  to  people  on  the  St.  Louis 
side  of  the  river  the  impression  that  the  town  of  East 
St.  Louis  was  in  danger  of  being  swept  away,  but 
whistling  was  the  signal  agreed  on  whenever  the  break 
should  occur  in  the  Madison  County  dike.  Fortunately 
the  alarm,  though  far  from  causeless,  did  not  herald 
such  great  disaster.  A  break  had  occurred  in  the 
Chicago,  Burlington  and  Quincy  Railroad  embank- 
ment, and  a  great  volume  of  water  poured  through  it, 
threatening  to  sweep  down  on  East  St.  Louis  and 
send  the  inhabitants  fleeing  for  their  lives.  The 
water  had  two  courses  to  take, — one  up  Cahokia 
Creek,  where  it  would  do  no  great  damage  immedi- 
ately, the  other  down  the  creek,  where  it  would 
drown  out  East  St.  Louis.  When  the  possibility  of 
the  embankment's  breaking  had  been  canvassed  before- 
hand, there  was  scarcely  any  one  who  did  not  suppose 
that  the  water  would  come  down  the  creek,  but, 
strangely  enough,  it  took  the  other  course,  and  the 
Ohio  and  Mississippi  embankment  for  the  time  kept 
it  away  from  East  St.  Louis. 

The  greatest  actual  damage  which  occurred  in  one 
place  was  the  loss  of  the  bridge,  valued  at  twenty 
thousand  dollars,  across  Cahokia  Creek. 

On  May  5th  the  river  had  risen  half  a  foot  within 
twenty-four  hours,  and  was  above  the  high-water  mark 
of  1876,  and  still  rising.  East  St.  Louis  was  in 
greater  danger  than  ever. 

The  water  on  the  4th  came  near  taking  in  com- 
pletely what  little  of  the  levee-front  it  had  left  the 
day  before.  From  Biddle  Street  to  Locust  sidewalks 
were  only  to  be  seen  in  spots.  From  Washington 
Avenue  to  Locust  the  water  was  running  over  the 
pavement  and  against  the  lintels  of  the  houses.  From 
Spruce  Street  to  Chouteau  Avenue  there  was  no  pas- 
sage for  pedestrians,  and  as  early  as  six  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  a  skiff  tied  to  the  awning-post  in  front  of  607 
South  Levee  was  floating  over  the  sidewalk  in  a  foot  of 
water.  Between  East  St.  Louis  and  Fish  Lake  thou- 
sands of  acres  of  wheat  were  under  water.  In  East 
Carondelet  there  were  some  sixteen  houses  above 
water,  each  of  which  was  crowded  with  those  whose 
homes  were  submerged. 

The  floods  on  the  Mississippi  of  which  more  par- 
ticular accounts  have  been  given  were  selected  because 
of  the  exceptionally  high  stage  of  the  water,  but  almost 


THE   MISSISSIPPI  RIVER   AND   ITS   TRIBUTARIES. 


1067 


every  year  witnesses  very  high  water,  and  the  annual 
loss  of  property  is  very  great.  These  constantly  occur- 
ring stages  of  high  water,  in  which  the  flood  wave, 
overleaping  the  banks,  spreads  over  the  adjacent  ! 
country,  have  caused  the  construction  of  artificial 
banks  along  the  tops  of  those  created  by  the  stream 
itself,  and  as  these  new  banks  have  been  extended 
along  both  banks  of  the  river,  they  have  assumed  a 
regular  system  of  protection,  which  is  known  as  the 
levee  system.  This  system,  though  located  on  the 
river  below  St.  Louis,  is  yet  of  very  great  importance 
to  the  trade  and  commerce  of  a  city  whose  situation 
naturally  makes  it  the  great  commercial  capital  of  the 
river-drained  country.  It  was  to  find  "  means  of 
obviating  the  disasters  incident"  to  these  floods,  and 
"  to  prevent  the  overflow  of  these  low  grounds,  or 
swamp  lands  generally,  covering,  as  is  supposed,  nearly 
forty  thousand  square  miles,1  that  the  investigations 
made  by  Charles  Ellet,  Jr.,  were  undertaken. 

"  The  lands  which  are  now  annual!}'  overflowed  may  cer- 
tainly be  estimated  at  fully  1 6,000,000  of  acres,  which,  if  relieved 
by  any  effectual  process,  would  be  worth  at  the  government 
price  $20,000,000 ;  but  converted  as  they  may  be  into  sugar  and 
cotton-fields,  would  possess  a  value  that  it  might  seem  extrava- 
gant to  state,  while  the  annual  loss  and  distress  inflicted  on  the 
present  population  by  the  inundations  of  the  river  can  scarcely 
find  a  parallel  in  many  localities,  excepting  in  the  effects  of  na- 
tional hostilities."  a 

These  levees  extend  on  one  side  or  the  other  about 
eighteen  hundred  miles,  and  represent  in  first  cost  and 
present  value  twenty  million  dollars.  But  even  the 
present  system  is  regarded  as  entirely  inadequate,  for 
the  levees,  which  are  constantly  breaking  or  threatening 
to  break,  protect  but  a  comparatively  small  strip  along 
the  main  stream  and  its  principal  tributaries,  whereas 
by  protection  against  overflow  and  by  proper  drain- 
age an  enormous  expanse  of  what  is  now  waste  swamp 
land  would  be  brought  into  cultivation, — a  stretch  of 
country  beside  which  the  areas  reclaimed  from  the  sea 
in  the  Netherlands  sink  into  insignificance, — while  the 
work  of  reclamation,  gigantic  as  it  would  have  to  be 
in  relation  to  its  results,  in  the  amount  of  time  and 
labor  required,  would  be  comparatively  small  beside 
the  work  of  the  industrious  Dutch.  There  would 
thus  be  rendered  available  along  the  Mississippi  not 


1  "  The  area  is  as  large  as  the  States  of  New  Hampshire,  Ver- 
mont, Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  and  New  Jer- 
sey combined.  Less  than  eight  per  cent,  of  this  area  is  now 
under  cultivation.  It  is  estimated  that  if  protected  and  im- 
proved these  lands  would  be  worth  $2,043,858,251.  As  their 
present  value  is  but  $107,628,833,  the  increase  would  be  a  sum 
nearly  equal  to  the  national  debt.  It  is  therefore  claimed  that 
the  returns  would  justify  the  outlay  of  the  largest  sum  which 
the  improvement  would  be  likely  to  cost." 

*  Ellet's  "  Memoir  on  the  Mississippi  and  Ohio  Rivers,"  p.  27. 


less  than  two  million  five  hundred  thousand  acres 
of  sugar  land,  about  seven  million- acres  of  cotton 
land,  and  one  million  acres  of  corn  land,  all  of  unsur- 
passed fertility.  On  the  eastern  side  of  the  river  is  the 
great  swamp  of  Mississippi,  fifty  miles  wide,  extend- 
ing from  just  below  Memphis  to  Vicksburg,  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy  miles  in  a  direct  line,  and  nearly  four 
hundred  miles  along  the  river.  On  the  other  side  is 
another  vast  and  fertile  region,  embracing  the  lower 
part  of  Missouri,  all  the  alluvial  front  of  Arkansas  and 
of  Louisiana  as  far  down  as  the  mouth  of  the  Red  River. 
This  land  is  not  so  favorably  situated  for  reclamation 
as  that  on  the  eastern  side,  where  there  is  no  tributary 
of  the  Mississippi  until  the  Yazoo  is  reached,  within 
a  few  miles  of  the  Walnut  Hills,  near  Vicksburg. 
But  on  the  west  side  are  a  number  of  tributary 
streams,  themselves  all  liable  to  overflow,  while  all 
are  subject  to  back-water  from  the  Mississippi,  which 
would  make  levees  necessary  as  far  as  the  line  of 
back-water  extends.  Much  fine  land,  however,  has 
been  reclaimed  here,  although  the  line  of  levees  is 
more  fragmentary  than  on  the  other  side.  Below  the 
Red  River  there  are  no  tributaries  entering  the  Mis- 
sissippi, and  on  the  other  hand  the  waters  are  de- 
pleted by  numerous  outlets  to  the  gulf. 

The  levee  system  was  begun  in  Louisiana  in  the 
early  part  of  the  last  century,  but  the  reclamation  of 
swamp  lands  in  Mississippi  and  Arkansas  has  origi- 
nated in  recent  years.  Congress,3  by  a  general  grant 
of  all  the  inundated  lands  to  the  States  in  which  they 
lie,  for  the  express  purpose  of  making  "  the  necessary 
levees  and  drains  to  reclaim  swamp  and  overflowed 
lands,"  offered  inducements  to  the  States,  and  through 
the  States  to  individual  enterprise,  to  commence 
a  vast  system  of  embankment,  with  a  view  to  the 
ultimate  exclusion  of  the  water  of  the  Mississippi 
and  its  great  tributaries  from  all  the  inundated  lands 
upon  their  borders.  To  this  legislation  the  State  of 
Missouri  responded  by  an  appropriation  of  fifty  thou- 
sand dollars  to  begin  the  work  of  reclamation  at  the 
head  of  the  delta,  where  many  hundreds  of  square 
miles  of  inundated  territory  might  be  reclaimed  by 
art,  and  the  land  brought  under  cultivation.  The 
State  of  Arkansas  with  equal  promptness  passed  an 
act  granting  to  all  proprietors  who  may  construct 
front  levees  the  right  to  enter  the  donated  lands  where 
they  may  choose  to  select  them,  in  payment  for  the 
cost  of  the  levees  which  they  might  construct.  The 
Legislature  of  Mississippi,  even  prior  to  the  act  of 
Congress,  gave  authority  to  the  five  northern  counties 
of  that  State  to  levy  a  tax  of  ten  cents  per  acre  on 


8  Act  approved  Sept.  28,  1850. 


1068 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


all  the  lands  in  each  of  these  counties,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  constructing  front  levees  and  shutting  out  the 
waters  of  the  Mississippi  from  the  great  swamps  ex- 
tending back  to  the  Yazoo.  The  State  of  Louisiana 
was  not  less  prompt  in  this  matter  than  the  other 
States,  and  by  the  incorporation  of  the  Louisiana 
Levee  Company  has  provided  both  authority  and 
power  with  appropriate  means  for  restraining  the 
waters  within  the  banks  of  the  river. 

A  discussion  of  the  wisdom  of  the  levee  system  is 
not  within  the  province  of  this  work,  the  aim  of 
which  is  only  to  relate  what  has  taken  place,  and  not 
to  forecast  what  may  result  from  closing  all  the  nat- 
ural and  existing  outlets  by  which  in  former  years  the 
flood  wave  of  the  Mississippi  found  a  vent.1 

But  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the  reclamation  of  the 
drowned  lands  in  the  Mississippi  valley  will  improve  j 
the  climate  of  a  vast  region  of  country  and  make  it 
more  salubrious,  adding  vastly  to  the  wealth  of  those 
States  by  giving  value  to  the  lands,  and  greatly  in- 
crease their  commercial  resources  by  bringing  im- 
mense regions  of  these  vacant  lands  under  cultivation, 
while  improving  the  navigation  of  the  river.  An 
object  of  so  much  importance  to  the  health  and  pros- 
perity of  so  many  people  in  so  many  States  cannot 
be  without  great  influence  upon  the  trade,  commerce, 
and  prosperity  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis. 

Ferries. — Prior  to  1797  there  was  a  ferry  between 
the  Missouri  and  Illinois  shores,  starting  from  a  point  j 
below  the  town  of  St.  Louis,  but  in  that  year  a  ferry 
between  Cahokia  and  St.  Louis  was  established,  which 
seems  to  have  been  the  only  one  for  a  considerable 
period.2 

1  In  1874  a  national  commission  recommended  an  elaborate 
levee  system.     As  this  was  regarded  as  but  a  temporary  expe- 
dient, the  commission  appointed  under  the  law  of  1879  consid- 
ered more  comprehensive  plans.     Chief  of  these  are  two  which 
are  designed  to  make  a  subordinate  element  of  the  levees,  and 
possibly  to  make  it  possible  to  dispense  with  them  altogether. 
One  of  these  is  called  the  "  outlet  system,"  and  is  designed  to 
carry  off  the  superfluous  waters  by  making  large  and  adequate 
outlets,  possibly  diverting  the  Red  River,  so  that  it  shall  reach 
the  gulf  independently  of  the  Mississippi. 

2  In  "Annals  of  the  West,"  page  122,  the  following  reference 
to  the  ferry  occurs  : 

"  At  that  time  [at  the  period  of  the  foundation  of  St.  Louis] 
a  skirt  of  tall  timber  lined  the  bank  of  the  river,  free  from  under- 
growth, which  extended  back  to  a  line  about  the  range  of  Eighth 
Street.  In  the  rear  was  an  extensive  prairie.  The  first  cabins 
were  erected  near  the  river  and  market;  no  '  Bloody  Island'  or 
'  Duncan's  Island'  then  existed.  Directly  opposite  the  old 
Market  Square  the  river  was  narrow  and  deep,  and  until  about 
the  commencement  of  the  present  century  persons  could  be  dis- 
tinctly heard  from  the  opposite  shore.  Opposite  Duncan's 
Island  and  South  St.  Louis  was  an  island  covered  with  heavy 
timber  and  separated  from  the  Illinois  shore  by  a  slough.  Many 
persons  are  now  living  (1850)  who  recollect  the  only  ferry  from 


About  1783,  Capt.  James  S.  Piggott  established  a 
fort  not  far  from  the  bluffs  in  the  American  Bottom, 
west  of  the  present  town  of  Columbia,  in  Monroe 
County,  which  was  called  "  Piggott's  Fort ;"  and  Gover- 
nor St.  Clair,  knowing  the  character  of  Capt.  Piggott'a 
services  during  the  Revolutionary  war,  made  him  pre- 
siding judge  of  the  court  of  St.  Cfair  County,  the  seat 
of  which  was  at  Cahokia.  Capt.  Piggott  was  not  only 
a  brave  soldier,  but  a  shrewd  and  enterprising  man, 
and  set  to  work  at  once  to  develop  the  resources  of 
the  little  community.  In  the  winter  of  1792-93  he 
erected  two  log  cabins  on  the  site  of  East  St.  Louis, 
and  continued  the  work  of  improvement  during  the 
winter  months  (in  the  summer  the  workmen  would 
have  been  in  constant  danger  from  the  Indians)  until 
1795.  After  the  successful  campaign  of  Gen.  Wayne 
against  the  Indians,  Capt.  Piggott  removed  his  family 
from  the  fort  to  the  site  of  the  future  Illinoistown. 
Having  completed  a  road  and  bridge  over  Cahokia 
Creek  and  established  a  ferry  from  the  Illinois  to  the 
Missouri  shore,  he  petitioned,  on  the  15th  of  August, 
1797,  for  the  exclusive  right  to  collect  ferriage  in  St. 
Louis,  then  under  the  dominion  of  the  Spanish  crown. 
His  petition  was  in  the  following  words : 

"Si.  CLAIR  Co.,  TERRITQRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

"  NORTHWEST  OF  THE  RIVER  OHIO. 
"To  Mr.  Zenon  Trudean,  Commander  at  St.  Louis: 

"SiR, — Though  unacquainted,  through  a  certain  confidence 
of  your  love  of  justice  and  equity,  I  venture  to  lay  before  you 
the  following  petition,  which,  from  reasons  following,  I  am  con- 
fident you  will  find  just  to  allow. 

"  The  petition  is  that  Your  Honor  will  grant  me  the  whole 
benefit  of  this  ferry  to  and  from  the  town  of  St.  Louis.  I  do 
not  desire  to  infringe  upon  the  ferry  privileges  below  the  town, 
which  have  been  long  established,  but  that  no  person  in  the 
town  may  be  allowed  to  set  people  across  the  river  for  pay  (at 
this  place),  so  long  as  you  shall  allow  that  the  benefits  of  this 
ferry  hath  made  compensation  for  my  private  expenses  in  open- 
ing a  new  road  and  making  it  good  from  this  ferry  to  Cahokia 
Town,  and  making  and  maintaining  a  bridge  over  the  River 
Abbe  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  length. 

"  Your  consideration  and  answer  to  this  is  the  request  of  your 
humble  petitioner;  and  as  an  acknowledgment  of  the  favor 
petitioned  for,  if  granted,  I  will  be  under  the  same  regulations 
with  my  ferry,  respecting  crossing  passengers  or  property  from 
your  shore  as  your-ferry-men  are  below  the  town  ;  and  should 
your  people  choose  to  cross  the  river  in  their  own  crafts,  my 
landing  and  road  shall  be  free  to  them. 

"And  should  you  wish  me  to  procure  you  anything  that 
comes  to  market  from  the  country  on  this  side,  I  shall  alwayi 
be  ready  to  serve  you. 

"And  should  you  have  need  of  timber  or  anything  that  is 
the  product  of  my  land,  it  may  be  had  at  the  lowest  rates. 

"  I  am,  sir,  with  due  respect,  your  humble  servant, 

"JAMES  PIGGOTT. 

"Aug.  15,  1797." 


Illinois  to  St.  Louis  passed  from  Cahokia,  below  this  island,  and 
landed  on  the  Missouri  shore  near  the  site  of  the  United  States 
arsenal." 


THE   MISSISSIPPI   RIVER  AND   ITS  TRIBUTARIES. 


1069 


Although  the  Spanish  commandant  was  anxious  to 
have  the  ferry  regularly  carried  on  by  Piggott,  because 
it  was  of  great  use  to  St.  Louis,  yet  he  devised  a  plan 
by  which  it  was  done  without  having  it  said  that  he 
had  granted  the  ferry-right  to  a  foreigner,  viz.,  he 
granted  Piggott  the  ferry  landing  below  Market  Street, 
on  which  Piggott  then  erected  a  small  ferry-house, 
which  was  occupied  mostly  by  one  of  his  ferry  hands, 
who  at  any  time  could  transport  foot  passengers  in  a 
canoe  ;  but  when  horses,  etc.,  were  to  be  taken  across 
a  platform  had  to  be  used,  which  required  three  men 
to  manage  it. 

This  platform  was  surrounded  by  a  railing,  and 
floated  on  Indian  "  pirogues,"  made  by  hollowing  out 
trees.  The  craft  was  "  poled  or  paddled  with  long 
sweeps  handled  by  Creoles."  Not  only  was  Piggott 
granted  the  right  of  establishing  a  ferry-house  at  St. 
Louis,  but  he  was  made  a  citizen  of  the  town  by  the 
commandant,  and  clothed  with  other  powers  and 
privileges.  At  this  time,  it  is  said,  the  river  was  so 
narrow  that  persons  wishing  to  cross  from  either  side 
could  easily  make  Capt.  Piggott  hear  "  the  old-time 
shout  of  '0— ver!'" 

The  ferry  was  managed  by  Capt.  or  Judge  Piggott 
until  the  20th  of  February,  1799,  when  he  died, 
leaving  his  wife  the  executrix  of  his  will.  Mrs. 
Piggott  rented  the  ferry  to  Dr.  Wallis  for  the  years 
1800-2,  and  then  to  a  Mr.  Adams.  About  this 
time  Mrs.  Piggott  married  Jacob  Collard,  and  removed 
from  Illinois  to  St.  Louis,  Mo.  Before  leaving  she 
leased  the  ferry  to  John  Campbell  for  ten  years  from 
the  5th  day  of  May,  1805.  Campbell,  however, 
procured  a  license  for  a  ferry  in  his  own  name 
during  the  time  of  the  lease,  and  hence  for  a  short  j 
time  it  was  called  "  Campbell's  ferry."  But  after 
a  lawsuit  Campbell  and  confederates  were  beaten, 
and  the  ferry  reconveyed  to  Piggott's  heirs,  one  of 
whom,  assisted  by  men  named  Solomon,  Blundy,  and 
Porter,  operated  the  ferry  until  part  of  the  heirs  sold 
out  to  McKnight  &  Brady. 

For  some  time  the  ferry-boats  landed  at  Illinois- 
town,  about  the  northwest  end  of  Main  and  Market 
Streets,  near  which  was  the  spot  where  the  bridge 
constructed  by  Capt.  Piggott  crossed  the  River  1' Abbe, 
more  commonly  known  as  Cahokia  Creek.  Although 
many  tenants  subsequently  occupied  the  ferry  tract  of 
land,  none  of  them  had  a  fee  title  therein,  the 
property  being  owned  by  the  heirs  of  James  Piggott 
or  their  assigns,  who  derived  their  title  in  part  from 
a  grant  made  by  Governor  William  H.  Harrison,  of 
Indiana  Territory,  March  12,  1803,  of  a  tract  of 
land  which  afterwards  became  the  site  of  East  St. 
Louis. 

68 


On  the  7th  of  December,  1808,  the  following  an- 
nouncement was  made  of  the  rates  of  ferriage : 

"  To  TRAVELERS. 

"  Rates  of  ferriage,  as  established  by  law,  from  St.  Louis  to 
the  opposite  shore. 

For  a  single  person $0.25 

Horse 50 

Neat  cattle,  each 50 

Calash 50 

Wagon 50 

Lumber  of  any  kind,  per  cwt 12£" 

In  1813  a  rival  ferry  appears,  from  the  subjoined 
advertisement  published  May  15,  1813,  to  have  been 
established : 

"We,  the  subscribers,  take  the  liberty  to  inform  the  public 
that  any  person  or  persons  who  may  think  proper  to  cross  with 
us  at  our  ferry  to  St.  Louis,  and  for  which  pay  us  the  customary 
prices  established  by  law,  that  we  will  return  them  back  free  of 
ferriage  at  all  times  when  our  boat  is  on  the  west  side  of  the 
Mississippi  River  at  St.  Louis.  This  measure  became  indis- 
pensably necessary  in  consequence  of  an  indirect  course  of  con- 
duct practiced  towards  us. 

"BrRD  <fe  CHARLES  LOCKHART, 
"  Lockhart's  Ferry,  opposite  St.  Louis." 

The  following  ofier  to  rent  Piggott's  ferry  was  made 
on  the  30th  of  September  in  the  same  year : 

"Ferry.  On  the  13th  November  next  I  will  rent  to  the 
highest  bidder  the  ferry  opposite  St.  Louis ;  due  attendance 
will  be  given  by  me  at  the  house  where  John  Porter  now  lives, 
and  other  particulars  will  be  made  known  at  the  time  of  leasing. 

"  JOSEPH  PIGQOTT." 

On  the  4th  of  January,  1815,  five-sevenths  of  Pig- 
gott's heirs  conveyed  their  interest  in  the  ferry  to  Mc- 
Knight &  Brady,  who  had,  under  special  contract, 
been  running  it  on  trial  one  year  previous,  and  on  the 
4th  of  March,  1820,  the  other  two-sevenths  of  Pig- 
gott's heirs  conveyed  their  interest  in  the  land  and 
ferry  to  Samuel  Wiggins,  who,  under  special  contract 
with  them,  had  been  running  a  ferry  in  competition 
with  McKnight  &  Brady  during  1819,  and  on  the 
19th  of  May,  1821,  McKnight  &  Brady  conveyed 
their  ferry  right  to  Samuel  Wiggins.1 

Edwin  Draper,  writing  of  his  own  experience  in 
crossing  the  Mississippi  in  1815,  says, — 

"  The  ferry-boat  in  which  we  crossed  was  a  small  keel-boat, 
without  upper  deck  or  cabin,  and  was  propelled  by  four  oars  by 
hand.  The  wagons,  then  the  only  means  of  land  travel,  were 
run  by  hand  on  to  the  boat,  across  which  were  placed  broad 
planks  transversely,  resting  on  the  gunwales  of  the  boat,  while 
the  tongue  of  the  wagon  projected  beyond  the  side  of  the  boat, 
and  as  the  latter  swayed  gracefully  to  the  motion  of  the  waves 


1  Another  account  states  that  "  Pigot"  (meaning,  of  course, 
not  Capt.  Piggott,  but  another  member  of  the  family)  "  operated 
the  ferry  in  the  same  old  fashion  with  canoes  until  1815  or  1817. 
It  probably  passed  then  into  the  hands  of  Day,  a  squire  and 
tavern-keeper  in  Illinoistown.  In  1819,  Day  sold  to  Samuel 
Wiggins.  Day  had  improved  somewhat  on  the  old  system,  and 
had  run  a  boat  operated  by  one  horse,  who,  by  a  treadmill  step, 
had  worked  stern-  or  side-wheels." 


1070 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


the  tongue-chains  would  dip  politely  into  the  water,  as  if  ac- 
knowledging the  power  of  the  mighty  monarch  they  were  daring 
to  stride.  The  horses,  wagon,  and  saddle,  family,  slaves,  and 
dogs  were  stowed  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat  between  the  wagons, 
and  thus  we  triumphantly  entered  Missouri.  Our  crossing,  with 
many  other  families,  was  detained  several  days  by  high  winds 
and  waves  preventing  the  safe  crossing  of  the  boat.  Whether 
this  boat  was  merely  improvised  for  the  occasion,  or  was  the 
regular  class  of  boats  then  in  use  I  do  not  know,  but  that  was 
the  boat  then  used.  Since  that  date  I  have  lived  in  Missouri 
to  see  and  experience  its  many  changes,  and  have  been  more  or 
less  familiar  with  its  history.  My  first  crossing  of  the  great 
water  certainly  inspired  tne  with  some  fear,  but  I  did  not  know 
then  but  it  was  among  the  common  products  or  everyday  sights  j 
in  this  country.  .  .  . 

"  The  statement  I  make  is  this,  that  at  the  time  I  first  crossed 
the  stream  in  1815  it  was  fully  a  quarter  of  a  mile  wider  at  St. 
Louis  than  it  is  at  the  present  time.  I  do  not  state  the  exact 
number  of  feet  and  inches  it  has  diminished,  but  about  the 
above  distance.  How  this  wonderful  change  in  the  width  of 
the  river  at  your  great  city  was  brought  about  it  is  not  my 
business  or  purpose  to  explain." 

Another  writer  thus  describes  the  old  ferry  a  few 
years  later : 

"  There  were  at  that  time  two  ferry-boats  making  regular 
trips,  one  at  the  foot  of  Market  Street  and  one  near  Morgan 
Street.  In  front  of  the  city  was  a  sand-bar,  which  in  1819 
reached  from  Market  to  Morgan  Streets,  and  extended  two- 
thirds  of  the  way  across  the  river. 

"  The  ferries  were  owned  by  Mr.  Nash  and  E.  M.  Van  Ansdel. 
One  of  the  boats  crossed  above  Bloody  Island,  and  the  other 
below.  Skiffs  and  keel  boats  were  also  much  used  in  the  trans- 
fer of  freight  and  passengers.  Mr.  Day  started  the  first  horse 
ferry-boat  about  1824,  which  was  also  the  first  one  that  had  any 
cover  or  protection  from  the  weather." 

In  November,  1816,  five  persons  lost  their  lives  by 
the  upsetting  of  the  ferry-boat.  The  newspaper  ac- 
count of  the  disaster  at  the  time  of  its  occurrence  is 
as  follows: 

"  On  Tuesday  morning  last  the  ferry-boat  which  is 
accustomed  to  ply  between  this  town  and  the  opposite 
shore  of  the  Mississippi  upset  in  the  middle  of  the 
stream,  by  which  five  persons  lost  their  lives.  The 
ferryman,  Mr.  Dubay,  and  his  two  assistants  died  on 
being  taken  ashore  from  the  wreck  ;  Ezekiel  Woolfort, 
son  of  Mr.  Woolfort,  of  this  place,  and  a  Mr.  Stark,  of 
Bourbon  County,  Ky.,  sunk  before  the  boats  reached 
the  wreck,  and  are  not  found.  What  adds  poignancy 
to  this  unusual  catastrophe,  some  of  the  ferrymen 
spoke  after  they  were  taken  up,  but  died  from  ex- 
cessive fatigue  and  cold,  without  an  immediate  remedy 
being  applied,  and  which  generally  succeeds  in  cases 
of  suspended  animation. 

"  Dubay  was  a  useful  citizen,  and  attended  to  the 
town  ferry  with  unprecedented  attention.  He  has  left 
a  helpless  family,  whose  situation  claims  the  attention 
of  the  benevolent. 

"  Mr.  John  Jacoby,  of  St.  Louis,  has  authorized 
us  to  offer  a  reward  of  fifty  dollars  for  the  body  of 


Mr.  Stark,  or  if  it  should  be  taken  up  too  far  down 
the  river  for  conveyance  to  this  place,  those  to  whose 
lot  it  may  fall  to  pay  the  last  sad  offices  to  the  de- 
ceased are  informed  that  every  expense  will  be  paid 
for  his  decent  interment.  Mr.  Woolfort  will  no  doubt 
liberally  reward  those  who  will  find  and  inter  his  son 
as  above." 

On  the  17th  of  March,  1819,  it  was  announced 
that  application  had  been  made-"  to  the  Legislature 
of  Illinois  at  its  present  session  for  the  privilege  of 
running  a  ferry-boat  from  the  town  of  Illinois  to  St. 
Louis  by  steam-  or  horse-power,  and  that  Legislature, 
with  a  laudable  view  of  encouraging  useful  improve- 
ments for  public  accommodation,  have  authorized  the 
establishment  of  such  ferry-boat." 

Besides  managing  the  ferry,  Mr.  Wiggins  appears 
also  to  have  kept  a  tavern  in  Illinoistown,  and  was 
evidently  a  thrifty  and  progressive  citizen.1 

In  1820,  Mr.  Wiggins  procured  a  boat  which  was 
worked  by  one-horse  power,  but  still  employed 
French  Creoles  from  Cahokia  to  ferry  passengers  and 
horses  over  by  means  of  canoes  lashed  together.  The 
new  boat  was  crushed  in  the  ice  in  the  winter  of 
1824-25,  near  the  foot  of  Morgan  (then  Oak)  Street, 
Mr.  Wiggins  then  built  a  larger  and  better  boat, 
which  he  christened  the  "  Sea  Serpent,"  of  one-horse 
power,  and  from  this  until  1828  all  the  ferriage  was 
performed  by  boats  of  this  class.  So  largely  did  the 
business  increase  that  he  was  compelled  to  enlarge  his 
fleet,  and  two  other  boats,  also  of  one-horse  power, 


1  "After  the  establishment  of  the  Piggott  ferry  successive  at- 
tempts were  made  to  establish  towns,  which  bore  various  names. 
Some  of  these  were  laid  out  immediately  on  the  shore  of  the 
river,  and  as  there  were  no  paved  levees  to  protect  the  banks, 
the  river  kept  constantly  encroaching  upon  the  land,  and  the 
towns  were  washed  away.  The  first  was  named  Washington. 
It  was  situated  on  the  Illinois  shore,  eastward  and  opposite  to 
the  St.  Louis  grain  elevator.  It  consisted  of  a  tavern,  owned 
by  Mr.  Samuel  AViggins,  and  four  or  five  dwelling-houses.  A 
gentleman  now  living  near  Belleville,  once  clerk  of  St.  Clair 
Count}',  relates  an  incident  that  occurred  to  him  during  the 
time  when  Washington  was  gradually  washing  away.  lie 
states  that  he  had  been  to  St.  Louis  with  produce  from  his 
father's  farm,  fifteen  miles  eastward.  He  says,  'One  night  I 
slept  in  Wiggins'  tavern.  It  was  pretty  close  to  the  shore.  A 
big  sycamore-tree  stood  eight  feet  from  the  house  on  the  bank. 
Along  about  midnight  I  heard  wnter.  It  seemed  from  the  sound 
to  be  under  the  house.  I  thought  it  must  be  the  river.  I  partly 
dressed  as  quickly  as  I  could,  and  ran  out  shoreward.  Wiggins 
and  everybody  else  that  was  in  it  ran  out  too,  expecting  the 
house  to  go.  The  big  sycamore  was  gone.  It  had  taken  with 
it  a  piece  of  ground  from  under  the  .house,  and  the  river  was 
running  under  the  outer  wall.  But  it  stood  till  morning.  I 
got  breakfast  there,  when  they  moved  it  back  farther  from  the 
river.'.  Subsequently  all  the  town  of  Washington  was  washed 
away." — Hist.  East  St.  Louis,  by  Robert  A.  Tyson,  pp.  19 
and  20. 


<**< 

v^ 


THE   MISSISSIPPI   RIVER  AND  ITS  TRIBUTARIES. 


1071 


named  the  "  Rhinoceros''  and  "  Antelope,"  were  added 
to  the  number,  making  three  in  all.  In  1828  a  new 
boat,  with  steam-power,  named  the  "  St.  Clair,"  was 
added,  and  made  two  landings  each  day,  calling  at  the 
foot  of  Market  Street,  then  at  Morgan,  and  thence 
across  to  the  Illinois  shore.  In  1830  the  business 
had  increased  to  such  an  extent  as  to  demand  another 
boat,  and  the  "  Ibex"  was  added.  In  1832,  Samuel 
Wiggins  sold  his  ferry  franchises  to  Bernard  Pratte, 
father  of  Gen.  Bernard  Pratte,  John  O'Fallon,  John 
H.  Gay,  Charles  Mulliken,  Andrew  Christy,  Samuel 
C.  Christy,  Adain  L.  Mills,  and  William  C.  Wiggins. 
In  1838,  John  H.  Gay  bought  the  interest  of  John 
O'Fallon.  Shortly  after  this  Andrew  Christy  pur- 
chased the  remaining  interest  of  Col.  O'Fallon,  and 
afterwards  the  entire  interest  of  Mr.  Gay.  At  this 
time  Mr.  Christy  and  his  sister-in-law,  Mrs.  McLane 
Christy,  owned  ten  shares,  over  one-half  of  the  stock. 

Andrew  Christy  was  born  in  Warren  County,  Ohio, 
in  1799,  and  when  quite  young  removed  with  his 
parents  to  Lawrence  County,  111.,  where  they  located 
on  a  farm  near  Sumner,  the  county-seat  of  that 
county.  In  his  youth  Andrew  engaged  for  a  time 
in  teaching  school  near  Ridge  Prairie,  St.  Clair 
Co.,  in  the  same  State. 

In  1826,  in  company  with  Francis  and  Vital,  sons 
of  Nicholas  Jarrot,  of  Cahokia,  he  engaged  in  lead- 
mining  at  Galena,  111.,  which  business  he  pursued 
during  several  years.  He  then  removed  to  St.  Clair 
County,  opposite  St.  Louis,  and  entered  into  business 
with  his  brother,  Samuel  C.  Christy. 

In  1832,  as  stated  above,  he  and  his  brother,  with 
Bernard  Pratte  and  others,  purchased  from  Samuel 
Wiggins  the  ferry  franchise  and  boats  belonging  to 
the  Wiggins  Ferry  Company,  and  continued  a  member 
of  this  company  until  his  death.  From  1835  to  1840 
he  was  engaged  in  the  grocery  and  commission  busi- 
ness in  St.  Louis  with  Samuel  B.  Wiggins,  in  Chou- 
teau's  Row,  on  the  street  then  between  Market  and 
W'ulnut  Streets  and  Main  Street  and  the  Levee. 

He  represented  St.  Louis  in  the  Legislature  of 
Missouri  in  1851. 

Mr.  Christy  was  a  public-spirited  man,  and  among 
the  important  enterprises  which  he  was  active  in  pro- 
moting were  operations  for  the  preservation  of  the 
harbor  of  St.  Louis  by  turning  the  current  of  the 
river  toward  the  Missouri  shore,  and  thus  preventing 
the  shoaling  of  the  water  on  that  side.  He  was  also 
identified  with  early  efforts  for  the  establishment  of 
railroads  leading  to  St.  Louis.  In  short,  he  was  a 
promoter  of  every  enterprise  that  promised  to  advance 
the  prosperity  of  the  city. 

By  the  exercise  of  his  excellent  judgment  and  keen 


foresight,  together  with  his  indomitable  energy,  he 
accumulated  a  large  fortune,  which  he  bequeathed  to 
his  brothers  and  sisters,  or  their  descendants.  He 
was  never  married.  Mr.  Christy  died  of  paralysis 
Aug.  11,  1869. 

In  1832  the  steam  ferry-boat  "  Ozark"  was  added 
to  the  vessels  of  the  ferry  company  ;  thep,  as  the  busi- 
ness increased,  the  "  Vindicator"  and  the  "  Icelander" 
were  put  on,  the  latter  being  destroyed  by  fire  in  1844. 
The  "  Wagoner"  was  built  in  1846,  and  then  the 
"  Grampus."  The  "  St.  Louis"  was  added  in  1848. 
Her  boilers  exploded  Feb.  21,  1851,  killing  thirteen 
persons,  including  the  engineer,  a  daughter  of  Mr. 
Jarvis,  the  pilot,  and  Captain  Trendley's  son,  who 
had  just  arrived  from  California,  having  been  in  the 
city  but  two  days.  The  accident  occurred  at  the  foot 
of  Spruce  Street,  just  after  the  boat  left  the  landing. 
After  the  "St.  Louis"  there  followed  in  turn,  as  occa- 
sion demanded,  the  "Illinois,"  "John  Trendley," 
"  Illinois,  No.  2,"  lost  in  the  ice  in  1864,  the  "  Amer- 
ica," and  the  "  New  Era,"  which  became  the  flag-ship 
"  Essex"  of  Admiral  Foote,  and  saw  hard  service  in 
the  civil  war.  In  addition  to  these  were  the  "  Charles 
Mulliken,"  "  Samuel  C.  Christy,"  "  Cahokia,"  "  Belle- 
ville,"  "Edward  C.  Wiggins,"  "East  St.  Louis," 
"  Springfield,"  "  Edwardsville,"  "  Ram,"  "  Lewis  V. 
Bogy,"  and  the  tugs  "  H.  C.  Crevelin,"  "S.  C.  Clubb," 
and  "  D.  W.  Hewitt."  The  "  Vindicator"  was  wrecked 
in  1871,  and  in  1875  the  "  S.  C.  Clubb"  was  nearly 
destroyed  by  fire,  but  was  afterwards  repaired. 

Owing  to  the  difficulty  and  danger  experienced  by 
the  ordinary  ferry-boats  in  crossing  the  river  when 
encumbered  by  ice,  the  company,  in  July,  1839,  con- 
tracted with  a  boat-builder  at  New  Albany,  Ind.,  for 
an  ice  steam  ferry-boat,  with  which  they  would  be 
"  able  to  cross  the  river  at  all  times,  except  when  the 
ice  is  stationary."  The  vessel  was  to  be  constructed 
after  plans  prepared  by  Mr.  Mulliken,  of  Mulliken  & 
Pratte,  merchants  of  St.  Louis,  with  an  iron  bow, 
"  in  such  a  manner  as  to  admit  of  her  being  driven 
through  any  amount  of  floating  ice."  The  boat  was 
completed  in  the  following  fail,  and  arrived  at  St. 
Louis  on  the  3d  of  December.  She  was  about  one 
hundred  feet  in  length,  forty  feet  beam,  and  four  feet 
hold.  Her  hull  was  plated  with  sheet-iron  one-sixth 
of  an  inch  in  thickness,  with  an  iron  cutwater  seven 
inches  thick.  She  carried  four  hundred  tons  and 
drew  twenty-five  inches  of  water. 

In  1842  a  new  ferry  company  was  formed,  as  ap- 
pears from  the  following  announcement  in  the  Rcpujj. 
lican  of  February  5th  of  that  year :  "  We  understand 
that  the  new  ferry  company  have  contracted  with  the 
Dry-Dock  Company  for  a  ferry-boat.  This  company 


1072 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


have  obtained  the  right  of  ferriage  from  the  foot  of 
Spruce  Street,  and  from  a  road  laid  out  by  the  author- 
ities of  St.  Clair  County  to  the  river-bank." 

In  1 847  the  landing-place  of  the  ferry  at  St.  Louis 
was  at  the  foot  of  Locust  Street,  but  complaint  was 
made  that  this  location  was  inconvenient,  and  that 
delay  was  caused  by  the  crowding  of  other  boats  "  into 
the  landing  at  that  point." 

On  the  22d  of  January,  1848,  it  was  announced 
that  a  new  steam  ferry  had  been  established  at  Car- 


19 

CAHOKIA   IN  1840. 

ondelet  across  the  Mississippi  Eiver.  This,  it  was 
added,  would  open  a  new  line  of  travel  to  all  Southern 
Illinois.  The  distance  from  the  Kaskaskia  road  to 
the  river  was  about  two  miles,  and  between  these  points 
a  substantial  road  was  built.  <(  By  this  route,"  said 
the  announcement,  "  travelers  avoid  the  difficulties  of 
crossing  the  American  Bottom." 

On  the  7th  of  January,  1852,  the  Republican 
stated  that  the  ferry  company  had  "  with  their  usual 
liberality  placed  their  ferry-boats  at  the  disposition  of 
the  railroad  company  for  the  transportation  of  persons 
to  and  from  the  demonstration  to  be  made  to-day. 
The  boats  will  be  free  to  persons  going  to  or  return- 
ing from  the  celebration." 

In  1853  the  Wiggins  charter,  granted  in  1819,  ex- 
pired, and  application  was  made  to  the  Legislature  for 
a  renewal.  Commenting  upon  this  application  at  the 
time  (Feb.  3,  1853)  the  Republican  said, — 

"  Under  their  charter  and  various  amendments  since  obtained 
they  have  heen  doing  a  highly  prosperous  business.  They  have 
managed  to  keep  the  field  and  destroy  measurably  all  compe- 
tition. They  are  now  applying  to  the  Legislature  for  an  im- 
mense addition  to  their  powers.  They  are  asking  the  Legisla- 
ture to  re-charter  them  with  a  capital  of  one  million,  and  with 
power  to  own  fifteen  hundred  acres  (three  hundred  of  coal  land), 
and  also  with  power  to  build  a  city  on  Bloody  Island,  to  charge 
wharfage  fees,  to  build  and  to  run  any  number  of  ferry-boats  from 


said  island  to  St.  Louis,  and  generally  to  engage  in  any  busi- 
ness required  by  the  exigencies  of  a  city  proprietorship.     ' 

"  The  city  on  Bloody  Island,  with  all  its  wharves,  lots,  streets, 
and  alleys,  would  probably  belong  for  many  generations  to 
come  to  this  incorporated  company.  St.  Louis  has  felt,  and 
Cairo  has  felt,  and  both  cities  now  feel  the  evil  of  having  a  great 
mass  of  their  property  in  the  hands  of  one  man  or  a  few 
men." 

When  Samuel  Wiggins  sold  his  franchises  to  the 
company  in  1832,  he  transferred  to  them  about  eight 
or  nine  hundred  acres  lying  between  Brooklyn  and 
the  Cahokia  commons.    The  company 
leased  the  river  front  of  the  Cahokia 
commons,  embracing  between  five  and 
six  thousand  acres,  and  gave  the  Ca- 
hokians  a  free  ferriage  to  and  from 
St.  Louis  and  three  hundred  dollars 
per  year  for  twenty  years.     On  the 
3^yfj|£*  expiration  of  the  lease  the  Cahokians 

re-leased  a  portion  of  the  lands  to  in- 
dividuals, the  revenue  of  which  went 
"  to  the  support  of  schools  and  law- 
yers." The  commons  extended  from 
the  ancient  city  of  Cahokia  to  the 
Pittsburgh  coal  landing  at  the  dike 
opposite  Chouteau  Avenue,  and  were 
extremely  fertile. 

Notwithstanding  the  opposition  to 
the  company's  application  for  a  new  charter  and  addi-t 
tional  franchises,  a  perpetual  charter  for  ferry  purposes 
was  granted  to  Andrew  Christy,  William  C.  Wiggins,1 

1  William  C.  Wiggins,  brother  of  Samuel  Wiggins,  was  born 
in  1783  atNewburgh,  N.  Y.,  and  the  early  portion  of  his  life  was 
spent  in  the  cities  of  New  York  and  Albany.  He  then  removed 
to  Charleston,  S.  C.,  where  he  lived  ten  years  and  was  married. 
After  this  he  returned  to  the  city  of  New  York,  remained  there 
some  years,  and  in  1818  started  for  the  West,  arriving  in  St. 
Louis  in  the  same  year.  In  1822  he  took  charge  of  the  "  Wig- 
gins Ferry,"  of  which  he  remained  in  charge  for  thirty  years. 
He  was  the  last  of  the  original  purchasers  of  the  stock  of  the 
company,  and  realized  from  his  exertions  and  industry  a  hand- 
some fortune.  Mr.  Wiggins  died  on  the  25th  of  November, 
1853. 

Samuel  B.  Wiggins,  son  of  William  C.  Wiggins,  was  born  in 
Charleston,  S.  C.,  Dec.  11,  1814.  He  first  commenced  business 
in  Illinois,  but  subsequently  returned  to  St.  Louis  and  opened  a 
house  in  company  with  S.  C.  Christy,  under  the  style  of  Christy 
&  Wiggins.  When  Mr.  Christy  retired,  Mr.  Wiggins  carried 
on  the  business  alone  until  he  took  his  brother  into  partnership, 
the  new  firm  being  known  as  S.  B.  Wiggins  &  Co.  After  con- 
tinuing for  some  time  it  was  again  reorganized  under  the  name 
of  Wiggins  &  Anderson,  and  was  a  prominent  grocery  and 
dry-goods  firm.  It  was  dissolved  in  1859,  and  Mr.  Wiggins, 
withdrew  entirely  from  active  business  life.  During  the  period 
of  his  commercial  career  and  afterwards  he  occupied  various 
important  positions  in  business  circles.  He  was  a  director  in 
the  Southern  Bank,  in  the  Pacific  Insurance  Company,  and 
for  fifteen  years  in  the  Citizens'  Insurance  Company.  For 


THE   MISSISSIPPI   RIVER   AND  ITS   TRIBUTARIES. 


1073 


Adam  L.  Mills,  Lewis  V.  Bogy,  and  Napoleon  B. 
Mulliken. 

The  company,  although  it  enjoyed  for  many  years 
a  practical  monopoly  of  the  ferriage  business,  appears, 
on  the  whole,  to  have  pursued  a  liberal  policy.     The  ; 
entire  river-front  of  East  St.  Louis,  for  a  distance  of  j 
four  miles,  was  owned  by  it,  and  in  1875  its  property  ! 
was  estimated  to  be  worth  several  millions  of  dollars.  | 
The  company  contributed  greatly  to  the  development  j 
and  growth  of  East  St.  Louis,  and  co-operated  with 
the  railroad  companies  in  providing  additional  traveling 
facilities  for  St.  Louis  by  granting  suitable  grounds 
for  tracks,  depots,  warehouses,  yards,   and  machine- 
shops.      For  eighteen  years  Hon.  Lewis  V.  Bogy, 
afterwards  United  States  >  senator  from  Missouri,  was  i 
president  of  the  company,  and  Capt.  John  Trendley,1 
after  whom  also   one  of  the  ferry-boats  was  named, 
served  the  company  continuously  from  the  7th  of  May, 
1825,  for  a  period  of  more  than  half  a  century. 

In  1865  the  average  number  of  passengers  carried 
daily  by  the  ferry  fleet  to  and  from  St.  Louis  was  j 
from  1000  to  1500;  bushels  of  coal,  10,000  to  15,000; 
transfer-wagons,  500  to  600 ;  farmers'  and  market- 
wagons,  100  to  150  ;  omnibuses,  30  to  40.  The  ag- 
gregate receipts  for  1865  were  very  little  less  than 
$300,000,  while  in  1873  the  aggregate  receipts  were 
largely  over  $500,000.  At  this  time  (1873)  there 
were  10,000  shares,  representing  nominally  a  million 
of  dollars,  "  but,"  remarked  a  newspaper  writer,  "  if 
any  one  desires  to  know  how  much  they  are  worth  at 
a  marketable  or  selling  price  over  the  par  value  of 
8100,  he  can  do  so  by  wanting  to  purchase."  In 
addition  to  the  eight  ferry-boats  and  three  transfer- 
boats  which  the  company  then  owned,  the  East  St. 
Louis  real  estate  and  wharf  franchises  were  very 
valuable.  Much  the  largest  amount  of  stock  was 
held  by  the  Christys,  which  had  been  sub-divided,  and 
was  then  represented  by  perhaps  twenty-five  heirs. 
The  sales  of  real  estate  subsequent  to  1865  and  up 
to  1873,  none  being  sold  prior  to  1865,  and  all  of  it 
having  been  purchased  by  Capt.  Samuel  Wiggins  at 

several  years  he  was  president  of  the  Wiggins  Ferry  Company,  I 
in  which  he  was  a  large  stockholder.  He  died  on  the  24th  of  j 
July,  1868. 

1  A  newspaper  writer,  describing  the  ferry  at  an  early  period, 
eays,  "There  was  no  levee  at  that  time,  and  the  boat  was  landed  ! 
under  the  cliffs  and  rocks.  A  road  led  down  from  the  village  ; 
(St.  Louis)  to  the  ferry  landing.  Capt.  Trendley  used  fre- 
quently to  run  in  under  the  cliffs  to  get  out  of  a  shower.  The 
ferry  landing  at  that  early  time  on  the  Illinois  shore  was  at  the 
old  brick  tavern  then  kept  by  Dr.  Tiffin  (which  has  since  been 
swept  away),  and  about  two  hundred  yards  west  of  the  Illinois 
and  Terre  Haute  round-house.  The  fare  at  that  time  was  a 
'  long  bit'  for  a  footman,  a  market-wagon  seventy-five  cents, 
and  for  a  two-horse  wagon  one  dollar." 


the  government  price  of  one  dollar  and  twenty-five 
cents  per  acre,  amounted  to  almost  one  million  dollars, 
and  what  was  left  was  considered  in  1873  to  be 
worth  more  than  the  whole  estimated  value  of  1865. 

In  1875  the  officers  of  the  company  were  N.  Mul- 
liken, president ;  F.  M.  Christy,  vice-president ;  S. 
C.  Clubb,  general  superintendent ;  Henry  Sackman, 
assistant  superintendent ;  John  Trendley,  agent ; 
first  grade  directors,  N.  Mulliken,  F.  M.  Christy,  S. 
C.  Clubb,  J.  H.  Beach,  Ernest  Pegnet.  In  1882, 
Samuel  C.  Clubb,  president;  F.  L.  Ridgely,  vice- 
president  ;  Henry  L.  Clark,  secretary  and  treasurer ; 
E.  C.  Newkirk,  assistant  secretary  ;  directors,  Sam- 
uel C.  Clubb,  F.  L.  Ridgely,  Charles  Shaw,  Ernest 
Pegnet,  and  Charles  Wiggins,  Jr. 

The  St.  Charles  ferry  was  established  by  Marshall 
Brotherton2  and  John  L.  Ferguson. 

The  South  St.  Louis  and  Cahokia  ferry  was  estab- 
lished in  1870,  and  opened  to  travel  on  the  19th  of 
June  of  that  year.  The  following  account  of  the 
inauguration  of  the  ferry  was  printed  in  a  St.  Louis 
newspaper  of  the  20th  : 

"  The  tow-boat  '  Florence/  Henry  Kuter,  captain,  left  the 
foot  of  Anna  Street  yesterday  afternoon  for  Cahokia  with  a 
large  excursion  party  on  board.  The  occasion  was  the  celebra- 
tion of  the  opening  of  a  ferry  between  South  St.  Louis  and 

z  Marshall  Brotherton  was  born  in  Erie  County,  Pa.,  Jan.  6, 
1811,  and  when  an  infant  was  brought  out  into  the  wilds  of 
St.  Louis  County  by  his  parents.  The  family  located  upon  a 
piece  of  ground  not  far  from  St.  Louis,  and  Mr.  Brotherton, 
the  elder,  lived  there  as  a  thrifty  farmer  up  to  the  time  of  his 
death.  James  Brotherton,  a  brother  of  Marshall,  was  elected 
sheriff  of  St.  Louis  County,  and  Marshall,  then  a  young  man, 
removed  to  St.  Louis  and  worked  in  the  office  of  his  brother  as 
deputy.  When  James  died,  Marshall,  who  had  made  a  very 
efficient  officer,  was  elected  sheriff,  and  occupied  that  office  for 
several  terms.  He  then  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits  in  St. 
Louis,  his  business  being  mainly  that  of  a  lumber  dealer.  He 
was  also  interested  in  other  matters,  notable  among  them  being 
a  partnership  with  John  L.  Ferguson  in  the  ownership  of  the 
St.  Charles  ferry.  At  various  periods  he  held  the  offices  of 
sheriff,  county  judge,  fund  commissioner,  and  president  of  the 
board  of  managers  of  the  House  of  Refuge.  About  1854  or 
1855  he  was  put  forward  as  a  candidate  for  the  mayoralty,  but 
was  not  elected.  He  was  uniformly  successful  in  business, 
owing  to  his  sound  judgment,  active  habits,  and  great  popular- 
ity. At  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  in  the  latter 
part  of  November,  1875,  his  ferry  interest  and  the  North  Mis- 
souri Planing-Mill,  situated  on  the  river-bank,  at  the  foot  of 
Bremen  Avenue,  were  the  only  active  operations  which  he  still 
controlled.  He  was,  however,  president  of  the  Bremen  Savings- 
Bank,  which  position  he  had  held  ever  since  that  institution 
was  organized. 

In  early  manhood  Mr.  Brotherton  married  Miss  Ferguson,  a 
sister  of  his  partner,  John  L.  Ferguson.  His  wife  died  a  few 
years  after  they  were  married,  and  in  1840  or  1841  he  married 
Miss  Herndon,  a  daughter  of  Rev.  John  C.  Herndon,  by  whom 
he  had  two  daughters,  afterwards  Mrs.  Oscar  Reed  and  Mrs.. 
Stephen  M.  Yeaman. 


1074 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Cahokia.  The  South  St.  Louis  and  Cahokia  Ferry  Company 
was  established  in  March  last,  with  a  nominal  capital  of  two 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  divided  into  shares  of  fifty  dol- 
lars; each  share  to  receive  the  benefit  of  one  lot  twenty  by 
one  hundred  and  forty  feet  in  what  is  denominated  Southeast 
St.  Louis,  to  wit :  a  sand-bar,  a  portion  of  Cahokia  commons, 
and  so  much  of  the  Mississippi  River  as  may  be  recovered  by  a 
contemplated  dike  from  the  main  shore  to  Cobb  Island  '  by 
accretion.'  The  lease  of  these  lands  has  been  obtained  by  the 
ferry  company  for  ninety-nine  years.  About  seven  hundred 
acres  of  land  is  comprised  in  this  lease,  for  which  the  company  is 
to  pay  twenty-five  dollars  per  acre  per  annum,  and  the  present 
inhabitants  of  Cahokia  to  pass  over  free  during  their  lives.  This 
privilege  does  not  extend  to  their  offspring,  and  it  accordingly 
behooves  the  beneficiaries  to  live  on  to  a  good  old  age.  The 
lease  was  made  also  on  condition  that  one  thousand  dollars  be 
expended  by  the  company  for  improvements  within  eight 
months,  and  that  at  least  one  ferry-boat  be  put  in  operation 
within  fifteen  months. 

"  The  officers  of  the  company  are  Robert  J.  Rombauer,  presi- 
dent; Henry  Saenger,  secretary  and  treasurer,  with  the  follow- 
ing directors  :  George  Bayha,  E.  W.  Decker,  George  Rathwaite, 
Antoine  Faller,  John  D.  Abry,  of  East  St.  Louis;  E.  H.  Illin- 
ski,  of  Cahokia ;  Francis  Mohrhardt.  The  bargain  on  the  part 
of  the  Cahokians  was  signed  by  Francis  Lavallee,  supervisor, 
and  George  Labenhoffer  and  John  Palmer,  trustees." 

The  officers  of  the  Cahokia  and  St.  Louis  Ferry 
Company  in  1882  were  Julius  Pitzman,  president, 
and  W.  S.  Hopkins,  secretary.1 

In  addition  to  the  foregoing,  the  following  ferry 
companies  have  offices  in  St.  Louis : 

Madison  County  ferry,  landing  foot  of  North 
Market  Street;  boats  ply  between  St.  Louis  and 
Venice,  111. ;  president  in  1882,  John  J.  Mitchell. 

St.  Louis  and  Illinois  Railroad  ferry,  from  foot  of 
Chouteau  Avenue  to  the  coal  dike,  East  St.  Louis. 

1  In  1864  Arsenal  Island,  containing  about  one  hundred  and 
twenty  acres  of  ground,  was  allotted  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior  and  the  commissioners  of  the  general  land  office  to  the 
St.  Louis  public  schools,  and  in  1866  the  school  board  sold  it  to 
the  city  for  thirty-three  thousand  dollars.  It  was  occupied  for 
hospital  purposes  by  the  city  until  1869,  when  the  hospitals 
were  removed  to  Quarantine.  In  1874,  Benjamin  Segar  settled 
on  the  island,  and  put  part  of  it  in  cultivation,  and  continued 
to  live  there  under  a  lease  granted  him  by  the  city.  The  island 
for  a  number  of  years  had  been  moving  down  stream,  and  finally 
fronted  on  a  parcel  of  ground  in  the  Cahokia  commons  on  the 
Illinois  shore,  owned  by  Judge  Rombauer,  as  trustee  for  the 
Cahokia  Ferry  Company.  When  the  island  had  reached  a  point 
in  front  of  the  ground  mentioned,  the  ferry  company  claimed  the 
right  to  extend  their  north  and  south  lines  across  it  to  the 
water's  edge  on  the  western  side  thereof,  and  to  take  possession 
of  so  much  of  the  island  as  was  contained  within  those  lines, 
and  they  entered  on  the  island  and  built  a  wire  fence  on  their 
north  line.  This  fence  was  torn  down  as  soon  as  its  existence 
came  to  the  knowledge  of  the  city  authorities,  and  sign -boards 
were  erected  warning  all  persons  from  trespassing  there.  Sub- 
sequently an  action  was  instituted  in  the  Circuit  Court  at  Belle- 
ville by  Judge  Rombauer,  as  trustee,  against  M.  Segar,  the 
tenant  of  the  city,  to  recover  the  possession  of  the  fifty  acres 
of  ground  embraced  within  the  lines  spoken  of. 


The  St.  Louis  and  Illinois  Coal  Company  and 
Ferry  was  originally  chartered  in  1841  under  the 
style  of  the  "  St.  Clair  Railroad  Company,"  and 
under  that  name  continued  until  1865,  when  the 
present  company  was  organized,  and  became  the  pur- 
chasers of  the  franchises  of  the  St.  Clair  Railroad 
Company.  The  incorporators  were  William  C.  An- 
derson and  John  D.  Whitesides.  The  company  does 
a  general  coal  transportation  and  ferry  business. 
Joseph  W.  Branch  was  elected  president  in  1865,  and 
has  ever  since  continued  to  hold  that  position.  The 
present  capital  stock  is  one  million  five  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars.  The  board  of  directors  consists  of 
the  following :  Joseph  W.  Branch,  Adolphus  Meier, 

C.  S.  Greeley,  W.  A.  Hargadine,  N.  Campbell,  John 

D.  Perry,  George  Knapp.     The  officers  are  Joseph 
W.   Branch,  president;   Adolphus  Meier,  vice-presi- 
dent ;  P.  T.  Burke,  secretary  and  treasurer. 

Waterloo  Turnpike  Road  and  Ferry  Company,  W. 
H.  Grapevine,  superintendent ;  ferry  landing,  foot  of 
David  Street ;  transfer,  foot  of  Franklin  Street,  Car- 
ondelet. 

The  Great  St.  Louis  Steel  Bridge  across  the  Mis- 
sissippi River.2 — The  first  proposition  for  the  erection 
of  a  bridge  across  the  Mississippi  River  at  St.  Louis 
was  made  by  Charles  Ellet,  Jr.,  in  1839.3  Mr.  Ellet 
proposed  a  suspension  bridge  having  a  central  span  of 
twelve  hundred  feet,  and  two  side  spans  of  nine  hun- 
dred feet  each  ;  but  the  city  fathers  stood  aghast  at 
the  enormous  estimate  of  the  cost,  seven  hundred  and 
thirty-seven  thousand  six  hundred  dollars,  for  a  high- 
way bridge  alone.  Mr.  Ellet  revived  his  project  in 
September,  1848,  but  nothing  was  accomplished.  In 
January,  1853,  it  was  stated  in  one  of  the  St.  Louis 
newspapers  *  that  u  some  years  ago  Mr.  Charles  Col- 
lins obtained  the  passage  of  a  law  authorizing  the 
building  of  a  suspension  bridge  across  the  Mississippi 
at  St.  Louis,  and  if  he  had  lived  there  is  every 
reason  to  believe  that  he  would  have  accomplished  it ; 
but  with  him  died  all  the  enterprise  of  the  northern 
part  of  the  city,  and  nothing  has  been  heard  of  it 
since."5 


1  For  the  history  of  the  construction  of  the  great  bridge,  the 
author  is  mainly  indebted  to  Professor  C.  M.  Woodward,  of 
Washington  University. 

*  The  first  bridge  to  span  the  Mississippi  River  was  a  wire 
suspension  bridge  at  Minneapolis,  Minn.,  built  in  1854  by 
Thomas  M.  Griffith,  at  a  cost  of  nearly  fifty  thousand  dollars. 

<  Republican,  Jan.  13,  1853. 

6"  Yesterday,"  said  the  same  paper  of  March  17,  1854,  "we 
examined  the  drawing  and  profile  of  a  bridge  for  the  Mississippi 
River,  drawn  by  B.  Andreas,  engineer,  corner  of  Second  and 
Chestnut  Streets,  over  Ellis  &  Hutton's.  He  has  located  it  across 
the  river  at  or  near  the  shot-tower  above  Carondelet,  and  has 


THE   MISSISSIPPI   RIVER   AND   ITS  TRIBUTARIES. 


1075 


In  1855,1  Josiah  Dent  organized  a  company,  with 
Maj.  J.  W.  Bissell  as  engineer,  and  a  second  plan 
for  a  suspension  railway  bridge  was  proposed.  The 
cost  was  estimated  at  one  million  five  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars.  For  the  want  of  financial  support  the 
scheme  was  soon  abandoned.  The  incorporators  of 
the  company,  which  was  known  as  the  St.  Louis  and 
Illinois  Bridge  Company,  were :  St.  Louis,  John 
How,  J.  H.  Lucas,  John  O'Fallon,  Samuel  Gaty,  An- 
drew Christy,  Josiah  Dent,  S.  J.  Smith,  D.  A.  Janu- 
ary, William  M.  Morrison  ;  Illinois,  J.  A.  Matter- 
son,  Curtis  Blakeman,  J.  D.  Morrison,  S.  B.  Chand- 
ler, William  C.  Kinney,  Gustavus  Koerner,  William 
S.  Wait,  Vital  Jarrot,  William  N.  Wickliffe,  John  M. 
Palmer,  John  D.  Arnold,  Joseph  Gillespie. 

In  1867  the  time  seemed  to  have  arrived  for  com- 
mencing operations  in  earnest.  Strangely  enough, 
after  nearly  thirty  years  of  inactivity,  two  rival  com- 
panies appeared  in  the  field  ;  one  was  regularly  organ- 
ized (in  April,  1867)  under  the  laws  of  Missouri, 
and  included  among  its  managers  several  prominent 
citizens  of  St.  Louis  ;  the  other  claimed  an  exclusive 
right  under  a  charter  granted  by  the  State  of  Illinois, 
and  was  controlled  by  a  well-known  bridge-builder  of 
Chicago.  James  B.  Eads  was  the  chief  engineer  of 
the  St.  Louis  company  (known  as  the  St.  Louis  and 
Illinois  Bridge  Company)  ;  L.  B.  Boomer  was  mana- 
ger of  the  Illinois  company,  which  was  known  as  the 
Illinois  and  St.  Louis  Bridge  Company. 

The  Illinois  company  was  incorporated  Feb.  21, 
1867,  the  incorporators  being  Joseph  Gillespie,  John 
M.  Palmer,  Jesse  K.  Dubois,  William  Shepard,  John 
Williams,  William  R.  Morrison,  L.  A.  Parks,  Levi 
Davis,  T.  B.  Blackstone,  H.  C.  Moore,  Peter  H.  Wil- 
lard,  R.  P.  Tansey,  Gustavus  A.  Koerner,  C.  P.  Hea- 
ton,  L.  B.  Boomer,  Fred.  T.  Krafft,  L.  B.  Parsons, 
John  Baker,  and  A.  H.  Lee. 

The  officers  were  L.  B.  Boomer,  president ;  R.  P. 
Tansey,  secretary;  directors,  L.  B.  Boomer,  R.  P. 


made  his  drawings  to  correspond.  AVe  understand  that  his 
plan  is  made  with  strict  regard  to  the  measurement  of  the  river 
at  that  point  in  width  and  the  elevations  on  either  side.  He 
proposes  to  cross  the  river  by  five  spans,  each  three  hundred  and 
fifty  feet,  the  base  of  the  carriage-way  to  be  sixty  feet  above  the 
high  water  of  1844,  or  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  above  ordi- 
nary low  water,  the  bridge  to  rest  on  piers  of  rock  or  cast  iron. 
The  superstructure  is  to  be  of  lattice-work  of  wrought  iron,  well 
secured  together,  with  two  ways  in  breadth  and  two  for  use,  one 
placed  above  the  other,  the  low  ways  for  railroad  tracks  and  the 
upper  for  the  ordinary  travel  of  horses,  carriages,  wagons,  etc." 
1  "  Last  winter,"  said  the  Republican  of  July  11,  1855,  "the 
legislatures  of  Missouri  and  Illinois,  anticipating  the  necessity 
which  might  exist  for  bridging  the  Mississippi  at  this  point  be- 
fore the  time  for  reassembling  should  again  come  round,  passed 
the  requisite  legal  provisions  for  such  n  purpose." 


Tansey,  George  Judd,  William  R.  Morrison,  and  C. 
Beckwith.  The  location  selected  by  the  Missouri 
Company  was  at  the  foot  of  Washington  Avenue, 
where  the  width  of  the  river  at  ordinary  stages  is  but 
little  over  fifteen  hundred  feet,  and  the  plan  consisted 
of  three  steel  arches,  supported  by  two  masonry  piers 
in  the  river  and  an  abutment  on  each  shore.  All  the 
foundations  were  to  be  sunk  to  the  rock,  which  was 
known  to  be  nearly  ninety  feet  below  low-water  at  the 
site  of  the  east  pier.  The  Illinois  company,  on  the 
other  hand,  had  selected  a  location  about  half  a  mile 
above,  and  proposed  to  build  an  iron  truss-bridge,  the 
longest  spans  of  which  should  be  three  hundred  and 
fifty  feet,  supported  by  piers  formed  of  cast-iron  col- 
umns, those  nearest  the  Missouri  shore  to  be  sunk  to 
the  rock,,  and  those  on  the  east  side  bedded  in  the 
sand  fifty  or  sixty  feet  below  low  water.  For  a  time 
the  contest  between  these  two  companies  was  very 
sharp,  though  confined  principally  to  the  newspapers 
and  the  courts.  In  March,  1863,  the  controversy 
was  terminated  by  the  nominal  consolidation  of  the 
two  companies,  and  the  actual  absorption  of  the  Illi- 
nois company  by  its  rival,  to  which  the  former  had 
sold  out,  the  new  corporation  taking  the  name  of  the 
Illinois  and  St.  Louis  Bridge  Company.  The  officers 
of  the  old  St.  Louis  company  retained  their  positions 
in  the  new  organization,  and  Capt.  James  B.  Eads 
continued  as  chief  engineer  and  a  principal  stock- 
holder. 

From  the  first  Capt.  Eads  was  the  leading  spirit  in 
the  enterprise.  As  chief  engineer  during  the  entire 
period  of  seven  years  (from  1867  to  1874)  occupied 
by  the  building  of  the  bridge,  he  was  responsible  for 
every  novelty,  both  of  design  and  execution,  and  his 
personal  genius  impressed  itself  upon  every  detail  of 
the  structure. 

Col.  Henry  Flad*  was  Capt.  Eads'  first  assistant 

2  Henry  Flad,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  engineers  of  the 
West,  was  a  graduate  of  the  University  of  Munich,  and  his  first 
professional  engagement  was  in  connection  with  hydraulic 
works  on  the  Rhine.  He  came  to  America  at  the  time  of  the 
German  revolution  of  1848,  and  for  a  period  of  eleven  years 
was  connected  with  some  of  the  most  important  railroads  in  the 
country.  In  1854  he  removed  to  Missouri,  and  was  employed 
as  resident  engineer  of  the  Iron  Mountain  road,  a  considerable 
portion  of  which  was  constructed  by  him.  He  also  made  sur- 
veys for  several  other  roads  in  Missouri. 

In  connection  with  Mr.  Kirkwood,  he  made  plans  for  the 
water-works  of  Compton  Hill  and  Bissell's  Point,  and  a  large 
measure  of  the  success  of  that  great  improvement  is  due  to  his 
skill.  After  the  completion  of  this  work  he  filled  the  office  of 
commissioner  of  water-works  for  eight  years.  At  the  outbreak 
of  the  war  he  entered  the  army  as  a  private,  but  his  skill  as  an 
engineer  soon  brought  him  into  prominence,  and  he  rose  rapidly 
to  the  rank  of  colonel  of  engineers. 

Col.  Flad's  name  will  always  be  associated  with  that  of  Capt. 


1076 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


throughout,  and  brought  to  the  work  great  practical 
experience,  a  ready  power  of  analysis,  and  mechanical 
ingenuity  of  a  high  order.  He  was  ably  seconded  by 
Walter  Katte.  The  theory  of  the  structure  was  the 
joint  product  of  Charles  Pfeifer  and  Professor  William 
Chauvenet,  of  Washington  University. 

The  presidents  of  the  bridge  company  in  order 
were  Charles  K.  Dickson,  William  M.  McPherson, 
and  Gerard  B.  Allen.  J.  C.  Cabot  was  the  first  sec- 
retary, J.  H.  Britton  the  first  treasurer.  Dr.  William 
Taussig  held  the  position  of  chairman  of  the  execu- 
tive committee  through  all  the  administrations.1 

All  the  great  foundations  of  the  bridge,  two  abut- 
ments and  two  river  piers,  stand  on  the  solid  rock 
which  underlies  the  ordinary  river-bed.  The  con- 
struction of  these  foundations  was  the  most  difficult 
part  of  the  work.  To  interfere  as  little  as  possible 
with  the  navigation  of  the  river,  and  to  diminish  the 
cost  of  the  foundations,  the  arches  were  designed 
with  long  spans,  and  the  two  channel  piers  were  given 
great  stability.  The  contract  for  the  whole  of  the 
masonry  work  on  the  bridge  was  awarded  in  August, 
1867,  to  James  Andrews,  of  Allegheny,  Pa. 

The  first  stone  in  the  western  abutment  pier  was 
laid  on  the  bed-rock  Feb.  25,  1868 ;  the  first  stone 
was  laid  on  the  caisson  of  the  east  channel  pier  Oct. 
25.  1869,  and  the  first  stone  on  the  caisson  of  the 
west  channel  pier  was  laid  the  15th  of  January,  1870. 

During  the  first  half  of  the  year  1868  the  minutest 
details  of  the  work  were  critically  examined  by  the 
board  of  engineers.  The  mathematical  calculations 
and  investigations  were  conducted  by  Col.  Flad  and 
Mr.  Pfeifer,  and  then  submitted  to  Capt.  Bads, 
and  by  him  referred  to  the  analysis  and  examination 
of  Professor  W.  Chauvenet,  LL.D.,  chancellor  of 
Washington  University.  In  this  way  the  most  won- 
derful mathematical  exactness  was  secured.  By  the 
middle  of  the  year  the  drawings  and  all  the  de- 
tails of  the  bridge  had  been  gone  through  with  by 
the  engineers,  and  the  mighty  structure  was  complete 
in  the  mind  of  the  chief  engineer  and  his  assistants. 


Eads  in  connection  with  the  St.  Louis  bridge  and  tunnel.  He 
had  charge  of  all  the  details  of  their  construction,  and  it  is  a 
matter  of  history  that  on  every  occasion  Capt.  Eads  insisted 
upon  a  division  of  the  honors  of  their  united  success  in  this 
great  undertaking.  Among  other  works  of  Col.  Flad  may  be 
mentioned  the  lowering  of  the  track  of  the  Missouri  Pacific  Rail- 
road through  the  city,  and  the  concentration  of  tracks  at  the 
Union  Depot. 

1  A  "History  of  the  St.  Louis  Bridge,  containing  a  full  ac- 
count of  every  step  in  its  construction  and  erection,  and  in- 
cluding the  theory  of  the  ribbed  arch  and  the  tests  of  mate- 
rials," written  by  Professor  C.  M.  Woodward,  was  published  in 
1882,  by  G.  I.  Jones  &  Co.,  of  St.  Louis. 


The  foundation  of  the  west  abutment  was  laid  in 
a  coffer-dam  at  a  depth  of  fifty-five  feet  below  extreme 
high  water.  The  other  great  piers  were  "sunk  "  to 
much  greater  depths  by  the  aid  of  compressed  air. 
The  west  pier  stands  on  the  rock  ninety-one  feet  below 
high  water ;  the  foundation  of  the  east  pier  is  one 
hundred  and  twenty-seven  feet  below  high-water 
mark,  and  the  east  abutment  extends  one  hundred 
and  thirty-five  feet  below  the  surface  of  extreme  high 
water.  The  sinking  of  these  piers  was  a  great  feat 
of  engineering  and  full  of  interest.  The  sinking  of 
the  east  pier  is  thus  described : 

The  caisson  of  the  east  pier  was  built  of  iron,  and 
was  eighty-two  feet  long,  sixty  feet  wide,  and  nine 
feet  deep. 

The  roof  and  sides  were  made  of  thick  iron  plates 
riveted  air-tight  and  strengthened  by  girders  and 
brackets.  A  temporary  wooden  bottom  was  used 
until  the  admission  of  compressed  air  from  powerful 
air-pumps  kept  the  interior  free  from  water  down  to 
the  "  cutting  edge"  of  the  caisson.  The  masonry  of 
the  pier  was  laid  upon  the  roof  of  the  caisson,  which 
it  completely  covered.  The  weight  of  the  masonry 
soon  caused  the  caisson  to  sink  deep  in  the  river,  ren- 
dering an  increased  air-pressure  necessary  to  keep 
the  caisson  free  of  water  and  to  support  the  load 
above.  On  the  roof  of  the  caisson  a  coffer-dam  was 
constructed  to  exclude  the  river.  The  caisson  was 
furnished  with  bearing-timbers  along  its  walls  and 
under  its  roof,  and  when  it  reached  the  river  bottom 
they  rested  evenly  upon  the  sand  and  gave  sufficient 
support  to  allow  the  masonry  to  be  built  above  the 
surface  of  the  river.  At  this  point  the  guides  and 
suspension  rods  which  had  been  used  to  control  the 
motion  of  the  caisson  were  removed,  and  the  further 
progress  of  the  pier  was  effected  by  undermining  the 
bearing-timbers  and  letting  the  whole  mass  go  down 
as  additional  masonry  was  laid  in  the  open  air  above. 

The  space  within  the  caisson  was  known  as  the 
"  air-chamber,"  and  it  is  evident  that  workmen  were 
needed  inside,  and  that  there  must  be  ready  means 
for  passing  in  and  out. 

Entrance  to  and  exit  from  the  air-chamber  was 
through  "  air-locks,"  seven  in  number.  These  air- 
locks were  in  form  vertical  cylinders,  made  of  one- 
half  inch  plate-iron.  The  central  lock,  which  was 
six  feet  in  diameter  and  six  feet  high,  was  wholly 
within  the  air-chamber.  In  fact,  the  roof  of  the 
caisson  formed  its  upper  base.  Adjoining  this  lock 
was  a  second  iron  cylinder  five  feet  in  diameter  and 
five  feet  deep,  sunk  through  the  roof  of  the  cais- 
son and  entirely  open  at  the  top.  The  air-lock  had 
two  strong,  tight- fitting  doors,  one  communicating 


THE   MISSISSIPPI  RIVER   AND   ITS  TRIBUTARIES. 


1077 


Extreme  High  Water. 


City  Directrix. 

A,  Air  Looks. 

B,  Air  Chamber. 

C,  Timber  Girdo 

D,  Discharge       i 
Sand  Pump. 

E,  Sand  Pumps. 


with  the  open  air-cylinder  just  mentioned  and  swing- 
ing into  the  lock,  the  other  opening  into  the  air- 
chamber  and  swinging  from  the  lock.  Workmen 
generally  passed  in  and  out  through  the  central  lock. 

The  method  of  going  in  or  out  was  very  simple. 
The  outer  door  of  the  air-lock  being  open,  and  the 
inner  one,  of  course,  closed,  the  party  of  visitors,  for 
example,  descended  into  the  open  cylinder  near  the 
central  lock,  crawled  through  the  opening  into  the 
lock,  and  closed  the  door.  A  cock 
was  then  opened  which  allowed 
the  compressed  air  from  the 
chamber  to  enter  the  lock.  When 
the  air-pressure  within  the  lock 
equaled  that  in  the  chamber,  the 
other  door  readily  swung  open 
and  the  party  entered  the  air- 
chamber.  The  time  required 
in  entering  depended  upon  the 
pressure  in  the  chamber  and 
the  ability  of  the  persons  in  the 
lock  to  endure  the  change.  If 
the  air  was  let  on  rapidly,  and 
the  pressure  was  considerable, 
the  sensation  produced  was  very 
disagreeable.  The  compression 
of  the  air  in  the  lock  was  at- 
tended by  the  evolution  of  heat, 
and  though  the  air  was  saturated 
with  moisture  as  well  as  warm, 
there  was  no  difficulty  connected 
with  one's  breathing.  The  only 
serious  difficulty  to  a  visitor  was 
felt  in  his  ears.  The  pressure 
upon  the  exterior  of  the  drum 
was  very  painful  unless  soon  bal- 
anced by  internal  pressure.  This 
could  generally  be  produced  by 
vigorously  blowing  the  nose, 
thus  forcing  air  into  the  interior 
cavity  of  the  ear.  Capt.  Eads 
found  that  the  act  of  swallowing 
would  often  give  relief,  and  had 
a  pail  of  water  and  a  cup  placed 
in  the  lock.  In  some  cases,  however,  these  simple 
remedies  were  of  no  avail,  and  intense  pain  was  the 
result.  In  that  event  the  air  was  admitted  very  slowly. 

In  returning  from  the  chamber  the  operation  was 
equally  simple.  The  party  entered  the  lock,  closed 
the  inner  door,  and  opened  a  cock  which  allowed  the 
air  of  the  lock  to  escape  to  the  outside.  As  soon  as 
the  air-pressure  was  reduced  to  that  of  the  atmos- 
phere, the  outer  door  was  readily  opened.  The  phys- 


ical effects  of  reducing  the  pressure  were  very  different 
from  those  experienced  when  going  in.  The  expand- 
ing air  absorbed  heat,  and  one  literally  felt  the  chill 
to  the  very  marrow.  So  much  vital  heat  was  lost 
that  in  some  cases  the  effect  was  very  disastrous. 
There  was  much  in  the  habit  of  undergoing  these 
changes.  Certain  air-lock  men,  whose  duty  it  was  to 
take  visitors,  engineers,  and  workmen  in  and  out, 
became  so  used  to  sudden  changes  that  they  could, 

+7'58 


METRES. 

!•'.  Main       Entrance 

Shaft. 

(J,  Side  Shafts. 
H,  Iron  Envelope. 
1,  Bracing  for  Shell. 
().  Strengthening 

I'.raukets. 


SECTION    OF    EAST    PIER    AND    CAISSON. 


without  apparent  injury  or  even  inconvenience,  endure 
surprisingly  rapid  changes  of  pressure. 

As  the  caisson  continued  to  sink  it  was  necessary 
to  remove  the  sand  from  the  air-chamber.  This  was 
done  by  means  of  the  "sand-pumps,"  an  exceedingly 
ingenious  device  invented  by  Capt.  Eads.  The  sand 
mixed  with  water  was  thrown  out  in  jets  with  great 
rapidity.  A  three-inch  pump  was  capable  of  discharg- 
ing sand  at  the  rate  of  three  hundred  cubic  yards  in 


1078 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


twenty-four  hours.  The  pier  settled  on  the  average 
about  fifteen  inches  per  day. 

No  difficulty  was  experienced  in  causing  the  caisson 
to  settle  evenly  and  gently.  The  sand  was  trenched 
beside  the  bearing-timbers,  thus  allowing  a  slight  lateral 
motion  of  the  sand  as  it  yielded  to  the  pressure.  It 
was  soon  learned  that  the  admission  of  water  into  the 
air-chamber,  consequent  upon  a  slight  reduction  in 
the  air-pressure,  had  the  effect  of  increasing  the 
mobility  of  the  sand  so  as  to  bring  the  caisson  down 
with  an  exceedingly  gradual  motion. 

The  progress  of  the  east  pier  down  through  the 
sand  is  clearly  shown  in  the  illustration  on  the  pre- 
ceding page.  It  gives  a  cross-section  of  the  pier 
through  the  main  stairway,  a  circular  well  through 
which  the  workmen  descended  to  the  air-chamber. 
A  sand-pump  is  represented  as  at  work  within  the 
caisson,  and  men  are  supplying  it  with  sand. 

The  intensity  of  the  air-pressure  in  the  air-chamber 
of  the  east  pier  reached  a  maximum  of  about  sixty- 
five  pounds  per  square  inch,  or  about  fifty  pounds 
above  the  normal.  The  physiological  effects  of  long 
exposure  to  this  pressure  and  of  sudden  release  from 
it  were  at  times  very  severe.  During  the  construc- 
tion of  the  deep  piers  over  one  hundred  men  were 
violently  attacked  with  cramps  and  chills,  and  thirteen 
died  from  them. 

The  caissons  were  constructed  at  Carondelet,  under 
the  direction  of  the  chief  engineer  and  Capt.  William 
L.  Nelson  and  H.  G.  McComas,  the  great  caisson  for 
the  last  of  the  channel  piers  being  completed  and 
launched  Oct.  18,  1869. 

The  whole  time  occupied  in  sinking  the  east  pier 
to  the  rock  was  one  hundred  and  twenty-six  days, 
during  several  of  which  it  was  too  cold  to  lay  ma- 
sonry, and  at  other  times  it  was  impossible  to  furnish 
stone  on  account  of  the  ice. 

The  west  pier  was  sunk  in  seventy-seven  days. 

The  east  abutment,  the  largest  and  deepest  of  all, 
was  sunk  in  one  hundred  and  thirty-four  days.  The 
caisson  of  the  latter  contained  many  improvements 
over  the  others.  All  the  large  piers  are  faced  with 
gray  granite  down  to  low  water.  All  the  piers  had 
reached  the  rock-bed  by  the  beginning  of  1872,  and 
before  the  close  of  that  year  the  masonry  was  com- 
pleted, including  the  approach  arches  across  the  levees 
in  St.  Louis  and  East  St.  Louis. 

The  size  of  the  foundations  is  shown  as  follows : 


Extreme  height  from  Cubic  yards 

base  to  top  of  cornice,  of  masonry. 

West  abutment 112  feet  8J  inches.        12,643 

West  pier 172    "    1         "  U,170 

East  pier 197    "    H       "  17,820 

East  abutment 192    "    9         "  24,093 


The  plan  of  the  superstructure  of  the  great  bridge 
(which  was  contracted  for  Feb.  26,  1870)  is  as  bold 
as  the  foundations  and  even  more  original.  It  con- 
sists of  three  magnificent  steel  arches,  supporting  two 
railway  tracks,  and  a  broad  paved  causeway  for  high- 
way traffic  on  the  top  of  the  structure. 

The  spans  of  the  side  arches  are  each  five  hundred 
and  two  feet  in  the  clear,  and  the  central  arch  stretches 
five  hundred  and  twenty  feet  over  deep  water.  Each 
arch  consists  of  four  equal  ribs  placed  side  by  side  at 
intervals  of  sixteen  and  half  feet,  twelve  feet,  and 
sixteen  and  a  half  feet,  these  distances  being  between 
centres. 

Each  rib  consists  of  two  parallel  members  or  sys- 
tems of  tubes,  twelve  feet  apart,  connected  by  a  single 
system  of  bracketing,  in  appearance  like  a  curved  tri- 
angular truss.  Each  tube  is  eighteen  inches  in  ex- 
ternal diameter  and  about  twelve  feet  long,  and  is  per- 
fectly straight,  with  slightly  beveled  ends.  The  tubes 
of  each  member  are  securely  coupled  together  by  two 
enveloping  half-cylinders,  and  the  steel  pins  which  re-, 
ceive  the  brace-bars  on  their  ends  pass  through  both 
.  couplings  and  tubes.  A  tube  consists  of  six  bars  of 
steel,  rolled  in  the  shape  of  straight  staves,  from  one 
and  three-sixteenths  to  two  and  one-eighth  inches  in 
thickness,  and  snugly  inserted  in  an  envelope  of  steel 
i  one-quarter  of  an  inch  thick. 

The  tubes  are  exquisitely  made,  and  the  arches  as 
beautiful  as  works  of  art. 

The  lateral  or  wind  bracing  consists  of  a  series  of 
diagonal  steel  ties  and  wrought-iron  tubular  struts  be- 
tween the  ribs,  and  an  upper  truss  between  the  two 
roadways.  The  latter  truss  for  the  centre  span  is  of 
iron,  forty-nine  feet  wide  and  five  hundred  and  forty 
feet  in  extreme  length. 

The  erection  of  the  arches  was  effected  by  a  method 
entirely  new  and  of  a  most  interesting  character,  in- 
vented by  Col.  Henry  Flad.  Only  the  briefest  ac- 
count of  its  successful  execution  can  be  given  here. 

The  end  tubes  of  each  rib  screw  into  massive 
wrought-iron  "  skew-backs,"  which  are  bolted  to  the 
masonry  by  long  steel  bolts  six  inches  in  diameter. 
In  the  case  of  the  channel  piers  the  anchor-bolts  are 
over  thirty  feet  long,  passing  quite  through  the  ma- 
sonry and  securing  the  skew-backs  on  both  faces.  In 
this  way  the  ribs  were  made  self-supporting,  as  they 
were  built  out  from  the  masonry.  In  some  instances 
nearly  a  hundred  feet  was  thus  built  without  addi- 
tional support.  The  weight  of  the  unfinished  ribs, 
however,  caused  the  outer  ends  to  fall  below  their 
normal  positions,  and  it  was  necessary  to  draw  them 
up  by  cables  passing  over  towers  erected  on  the  ma- 
sonry. These  cables  were  strained,  as  occasion  re- 


THE   MISSISSIPPI   RIVER   AND   ITS   TRIBUTARIES. 


1079 


quired,  by  powerful  hydraulic  jacks,  which  lifted  the 
towers.  The  cables  lifted  the  deflected  arches  to 
their  normal  position  (and  even  above  it),  and  allowed 
the  ribs  to  be  built  still  farther  out.  The  deflected 
ends  of  these  second  extensions  were  supported  by 
secondary  cables,  which  passed  over  masts  standing 
on  the  ribs  at  the  joints,  supported  directly  by  the 
primary  cables,  and  thence  down  to  the  pins  in  the 
skew-back  tubes. 

By  such  means  semi-ribs,  stretching  two  hundred 
and  fifty  feet  over  the  Mississippi,  were  fully  sup- 
ported until  they  were  successfully  "  closed"  at  the 
crown.  The  minute  details  of  the  operation  of  closing 
the  ribs  form  an  interesting  feature  in  the  history  of 
the  bridge.  The  influence  of  temperature  and  elas- 
ticity was  strikingly  shown.  The  magnitude  of  the 
main  cables  may  be  estimated  from  the  fact  that  they 
were  made  of  the  best  rolled  iron,  and  each  had  a 
cross-section  of  forty-two  square  inches. 

The  total  weight  of  one  naked  rib  of  the  centre  span 
is  four  hundred  and  eighty-eight  thousand  two  hundred 
and  two  pounds.  The  total  amount  of  steel  in  the 
three  arches  is  four  million  seven  hundred  and  eighty 
thousand  pounds.  Of  wrought  iron  there  are  six 
million  three  hundred  and  thirteen  thousand  pounds. 

The  superstructure  of  the  bridge  was  constructed 
by  the  Keystone  Bridge  Company,  of  Pittsburgh, 
Pa.,  and  its  cost  was  $2,122,781.65.  The  approaches 
were  built  by  the  Baltimore  Bridge  Company.  The 
total  cost  of  the  entire  bridge,  including  the  approaches, 
was  $6,536,729.99.  If  to  this  we  add  interest,  land 
damages,  commissions  for  charters  and  financial  agents, 
hospital  expenses,  etc.,  the  sum  total  is  swelled  to 
nearly  ten  million  dollars.  The  bridge  was  completed 
and  opened  to  public  travel  on  the  23d  of  May, 
1874.1 

1  "  The  long-looked-for  opening  of  the  bridge  to  public  travel," 
said  the  Republican  of  May  24th,  "took  place  yesterday  morn- 
ing, as  previously  announced.  Six  o'clock  was  the  hour  fixed 
for  the  opening,  but  long  before  that  time  a  great  multitude  of 
people  had  gathered  around  the  office,  each  anxious  to  get  the 
first  ticket.  The  pressure  on  the  ticket-sellers  continued  for 
two  or  three  hours,  and  during  the  entire  day  they  were  kept 
reasonably  busy.  Many  more  tickets  were  sold  than  were  used, 
as  many  persons,  for  economy's  sake,  purchased  packages.  It 
is  understood  that  the  recipts  for  the  day  were  about  one  thou- 
sand dollars." 

The  first  person  who  purchased  tickets  on  May  23d,  accord- 
ing to  the  same  authority,  was  Charles  Gallagher,  night  clerk  in 
the  office  of  the  Republican.  In  announcing  this  fact  that  paper 
added,  "  He  was  present  waiting  for  the  office  to  open,  and  has 
the  following  certificate  to  show  the  facts  : 

"  '  Charles  Gallagher  bought  first  one  dollar's  worth  of  tickets 
and  crossed  the  bridge. 

(Signed)  '  F.  W.  GEISEKER. 

'"May  23,  1874.' 


On  the  9th  of  June  the  first  train  of  three  passen- 
ger-coaches, in  which  was  seated  a  select  party  of 
about  fifty  invited  guests,  connected  with  the  track  of 
the  bridge-approach  from  the  St.  Louis  and  Vandalia 
Railway  and  crossed  the  river,  running  as  far  into  the 
tunnel  as  Seventh  Street. 

At  the  suggestion  of  Sylvester  H.  Laflin,  an  im- 
posing celebration  in  honor  of  the  completion  of  the 
bridge  was  held  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  1874.  Bar- 
ton Able,  George  Bain,  and  other  leading  citizens  of 
St.  Louis  promptly  seconded  Mr.  Laflin's  proposition, 
and  a  meeting  to  take  preliminary  action  was  held  at 
the  Merchants'  Exchange  on  the  13th  of  June.  Capt. 
Barton  Able  presided,  and  George  H.  Morgan  acted 
as  secretary.  A  committee  was  appointed  to  make 
the  necessary  arrangements,  and  on  the  13th  a  com- 
mittee on  programme,  Chauncey  I.  Filley,  chairman  ;  a 
finance  committee,  Sylvester  H.  Laflin,  chairman  ;  and 
a  committee  jon  transportation,  Capt.  John  N.  Bofin- 
ger,  chairman,  were  selected.  On  the  1 6th  a  committee 
on  printing  was  appointed,  with  George  H.  Morgan 
as  chairman,  and  Arthur  B.  Barret,  afterwards  mayor 
of  the  city,  was  made  grand  marshal  of  the  day.  Mr. 
Barret  subsequently  appointed  Col.  C.  Maguire  as- 
sistant marshal,  and  G.  0.  Kalb  and  Henry  Benecke 
as  adjutants.  The  committees  as  finally  completed 
were  composed  of  the  following  persons : 

Committee  of  Arrangements. — Barton  Able  (chairman),  George 
H.  Morgan  (secretary.),  S.  H.  Laflin,  George  Bain,  John  S.  Cav- 
ender,  W.  H.  Maurice,  M.  J.  Lippman,  Web.  M.  Samuel,  D.  P. 
Rowland,  John  B.  Maude,  R.  M.  Scruggs,  C.  0.  Dutcher,  John 
N.  Bofinger,  John  W.  Carroll,  Chauncey  I.  Filley,  L.  L.  Ash- 
brook,  C.  Maguire,  John  0.  Farrar,  Arthur  B.  Barret,  J.  0. 
Broadhead,  S.  E.  Hoffman,  L.  S.  Metcalf,  C.  M.  Woodward, 
Charles  Osborne,  Henry  Benecke,  George  D.  Capen,  C.  L. 
Thompson,  Henry  T.  Blow,  Charles  Speck,  Isaac  M.  Mason, 
John  Riggin,  Jr.,  Robert  A.  Campbell,  J.  B.  C.  Lucas,  H.  Clay 
Sexton,  L.  Dorshimer,  R.  P.  Tansey,  Daniel  G.  Taylor,  George 
Knapp,  G.  W.  Fishback,  William  McKee,  Charles  A.  Mantz, 
Stilson  Hutchins,  W.  V.  Wolcott,  Emil  Preetorius,  A.  J.  Spaun- 
horst,  Carl  Daenzer,  Henry  Gambs,  Daniel  Able,  W.  A.  Braw- 
ner,  H.  M.  Blossom,  M.  L.  Cohn,  D.  R.  Risley,  John  McDonald, 
Abram  Nave,  Thomas  Kennard,  G.  W.  Chadbourne,  E.  A.  Carr, 
George  I.  Barnett,  B.  M.  Chambers,  W.  H.  Scudder,  Daniel  Cat- 
lin,  Joseph  Brown,  L.  A.  Moffett,  J.  T.  Howenstein,  C.  B.  Bray, 
Miles  Sells,  Gen.  Grierson,  Capt.  Babbitt,  Maj.  E.  B.  Grimes, 
Gen.  John  Turner,  Col.  C.  C.  Penrose,  Capt.  William  Hawley, 
James  Doyle,  John  H.  Beach,  Charles  Parsons,  R.  J.  Lack- 
land, J.  G.  Chapman,  R.  C.  Clowry,  John  H.  McCluney,  G.  0. 
Kalb,  Wallace  Delafield,  II.  W.  Hough,  W.  A.  Hargadine,  John 
Cantwell,  R.  M.  Renick,  J.  C.  Cabot,  George  Minch,  Charles  P. 
Warner,  James  M.  Brawner,  W.  H.  Pulsifer,  E.  S.  Walton,  A. 
W.  Slayback,  H.  H.  Wernse,  John  G.  Prather,  A.  B.  Pendle- 


"  It  has  been  stated,  as  we  understand,  that  Mr.  McMahon,  a 
superintendent  of  the  bridge,  was  the  first  man  to  cross.  This  is 
incorrect.  Mr.  McMahon  purchased  his  ticket  the  night  previous, 
and  was  not  legitimately  a  passenger,  being  an  employ^  of  the 
company.  Mr.  Gallagher  is  clearly  entitled  to  the  honor." 


1080 


HISTORY  OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


ton,  James  B.  Clemens,  William  H.  Smith,  Nicholas  Wall,  Fred. 
Von    Phul,    W.    B.    Thompson,    Forester    Dolhonde,   Edmund 
Froehlich,  N.  Stevens,  M.  M.  Buck,  Herman  Rechtien,  Robert  j 
A.  Betts,  N.  M.  Bell,  Goodman  King,  Joseph  Franklin,  C.  N.  ! 
Hoblitzell,  J.  L.  D.  Morrison,  Joseph  A.  Wherry,  E.  S.  Mira- 
goli. 

Committee  on  Finance. — S.  H.  Laflin  (chairman),  John  B. 
Maude,  Chauncey  I.  Filley,  George  Bain,  C.  0.  Butcher,  J.  T. 
Howenstein,  S.  Metcalf,  Arthur  B.  Barret,  George  I.  Barnett,   ; 
D.  P.  Rowland,  W.  A.  Hargadine,  John  H.  McCluney,  Wallace  ; 
Delafield,  George  D.  Capen,  C.  L.  Thompson,  H.  H.  Wernse,  L.  I 
L.  Ashbrook,  John  Cantwell,  W.  A.  Brawner,  H.  M.  Blossom, 
M.  L.  Cohn,  Thomas  Kennard,  Charles  Speck,  S.  M.  Dodd,  H. 
W.  Hough,  A.  W.  Slayback,  John  Kennard,  C.  B.  Bray,  E.  S. 
Walton,  James  S.  Brawner,  W.  B.  Thompson,  Robert  A.  Betts, 
Goodman  King,  Joseph  Franklin,  C.  J.  L.  Hoblitzell. 

Committee  on  Fireworks. — S.  H.  Laflin  (chairman),  W.  H. 
Maurice,  John  B.  Maude,  R.  M.  Scruggs,  D.  P.  Rowland. 

Committee  on  Programmes  and  Invitations. — Chauncey  I. 
Filley  (chairman),  D.  P.  Rowland,  John  B.  Maude,  Arthur  B. 
Barret,  John  W.  Carroll,  Barton  Able. 

Committee  on  Transportation. — Arthur  B.  Barret  (chairman), 
John  N.  Bofinger,  S.  H.  Laflin,  R.  P.  Tansey. 

Committee  on  Printing. — George  H.  Morgan  (chairman), 
Leslie  A.  Moffett,  J.  T.  Howenstein. 

Committee  on  Decorations. — George  I.  Barnett  (chairman), 
Dr.  J.  0.  Farrar,  Maj.  E.  B.  Grimes,  E.  S.  Miragoli,  Charles 
Speck,  Daniel  Able,D.  R.  Risley,  J.  H.  McCluney,  C.  B.  Bray, 
G.  0.  Kalb. 

Committee  on  Ordnance. — Capt.  Babbitt  (chairman),  S.  H. 
Laflin,  F.  W.  Fuchs,  John  B.  Gray,  John  S.  Cavender. 

Committee  on  Music. — George  Bain  (chairman),  G.  H.  Mor- 
gan, C.  0.  Butcher,  Rich.  J.  Compton. 

Committee  on  Harlor  and  Police. — L.  Borsheimer  (chairman), 
James  Boyle,  H.  Rechtien. 

Committee  on  Fire  Department. — H.  Clay  Sexton. 

Press  Committee. — George  W.  Gilson,  Democrat;  George 
Mills,  Times  ;  C.  Winter,  Westliche  Post ;  W.  B.  Stevens,  Dis- 
patch ;  J.  G.  Bill,  Republican;  T.  Mitchell,  Globe ;  C.  B. 
Kargau,  Anzeiger ;  Lewis  Willich,  Amerika ;  F.  Haarson, 
Courier  ;  Thomas  J.  Meek,  Journal ;  Charles  J.  Osborn,  agent 
Associated  Press.  • 

The  programme  determined  on  comprised  a  pro- 
cession, addresses,  display  of  fireworks,  etc.  The 
east  and  west  approaches  to  the  bridge  were  elabo- 
rately decorated,  and  at  the  Third  Street  entrance  a 
gigantic  portrait  of  Capt.  James  B.  Eads  was  dis- 
played. Immediately  underneath  the  portrait  were 
exhibited  two  large  symbolical  figures,  which  repre- 
sented Missouri  and  Illinois  clasping  hands.  At  the  | 
east  end  of  the  bridge,  and  just  at  the  point  where 
the  two  roadways  separate  and  begin  the  descent  to  < 
the  Illinois  shore,  a  great  triumphal  arch  was  erected, 
extending  from  side  to  side  of  the  bridge,  and  sur- 
mounting a  pavilion  which  separated  the  two  passage- 
ways of  the  arch  was  a  colossal  statue  of  the  Goddess 
of  Liberty.  To  the  left  of  the  Third  Street  entrance- 
gate  a  platform  was  erected  for  the  accommodation  of 
the  invited  guests.  Farther  on,  on  the  same  side  of 
the  roadway,  a  series  of  elevated  seats  was  provided 
on  one  of  the  buildings  adjoining  the  bridge  for  the 


families  of  the  bridge  officials.  The  decorations  were 
of  an  elaborate  and  tasteful  character,  and  on  the 
morning  of  the  Fourth  of  July,  beneath  a  cloudless 
sky,  presented  a  beautiful  and  imposing  spectacle. 
Many  buildings  in  the  city  were  also  decorated,  and 
at  Washington  Avenue  and  Ninth  Street  a  handsome 
triumphal  arch  was  erected  by  St.  Xavier's  College. 

On  the  wings  of  the  east  front  the  heraldic  arms 
of  the  States  of  Illinois  and  Missouri  were  painted, 
with  the  legend  above,  "  A  link  of  steel  unites  the 
East  and  West ;"  and  on  the  western  front  of  the 
arch,  tastefully  decorated  with  evergreens  and  fifty  feet 
high,  a  medallion  portrait  of  Capt.  Eads.  On  the 
wings  were  the  following :  "  The  Mississippi  dis- 
covered by  Marquette,  1673 ;  spanned  by  Capt. 
Eads,  1874."  "St.  Louis  founded  by  Laclede, 
1764 ;  crowned  Queen  of  the  West,  1874." 

Salutes  in  honor  of  the  bridge  and  the  day  were 
fired  by  Simpson  Battery,  under  the  direction  of 
Lieut.-Col.  F.  W.  Fuchs,  inspecting  and  mustering 
officer  for  St.  Louis  City  and  County,  who  was  placed 
in  charge  of  the  ordnance  and  firing  for  the  occasion. 

The  battery  consisted  of  four  guns,  four  caissons, 
and  fifty-six  men,  commanded  by  First  Lieut.  Charles 
Hiltwein  and  Second  Lieut.  A.  B.  Bayer. 

At  daylight  a  salute  of  thirteen  guns  was  fired  by 
the  battery  near  the  bridge  for  the  old  original  States. 

At  nine  o'clock  A.M.  one  hundred  guns  were  fired 
for  the  bridge,  fifty  on  each  side  of  the  river,  by  the 
same  battery,  the  firing  being  alternate,  commencing 
with  Missouri.  At  twelve  o'clock  (noon)  a  salute  of 
thirty-seven  guns  for  the  States  and  Territories  of  the 
Union  was  fired  on  the  Levee  by  the  ordnance  depart- 
ment of  Jefferson  Barracks,  under  command  of  Capt. 
Babbitt.  At  daylight  a  Federal  salute,  and  at  nine 
A.M.  a  national  salute  was  fired  by  Gen.  Grierson  at 
the  old  arsenal  grounds.  • 

The  procession  moved  at  a  few  minutes  past  nine 
o'clock  from  the  junction  of  Washington  and  Jeffer- 
son Avenues,  headed  by  a  squad  of  Metropolitan  po- 
lice under  command  of  Capt.  Huebler,  and  followed 
immediately  by  the  grand  marshal  and  his  aids,  twenty- 
two  of  whom  were  boys  mounted  on  ponies  and  wear- 
ing uniforms  of  black  jacket,  white  pantaloons,  and 
red  sash. 

Next  in  order  came  the  following  organizations : 
Company  of  United  States  cavalry,  Companies  A  and 
B  National  Guards,  company  of  Uhlans,  Knights  of 
Pythias,  Ancient  Order  of  Hibernians,  Knights  of 
Father  Mathew,  Druids,  Sons  of  Hermann,  members 
of  the  French  National  Aid  Society,  Turners,  Bohe- 
mian Gymnastic  Club,  Western  Star  Commandery 
(Knights  Templar),  Same  (Encampment),  United 


THE   MISSISSIPPI   RIVER   AND   ITS   TRIBUTARIES. 


1081 


Brethren  of  Friendship,  Mutual  Aid  Society,  Labor- 
ers' Aid  Society,  United  League,  No.  1,  Real  Estate 
and  Beneficial  Society,  Old  Temperance  Society,  pre- 
ceded by  the  Bavarian  Band,  Irish  American  Benev- 
olent Society,  No.  1. 

In  addition  to  these  societies  the  procession  com- 
prised the  following  organizations: 

Merchants'  Exchange,  represented  by  a  large  ban- 
ner bearing  a  picture  of  the  Exchange,  and  the  offi- 
cers and  members  in  carriages. 

Fire  Department,  with  engines  and  apparatus  deco- 
rated with  flags,  wreaths  of  flowers,  etc.  H.  Clay 
Sexton,  chief,  on  horseback ;  Richard  Beggs,  J.  W. 
Barne,  and  Jacob  Trice,  assistants,  in  buggies,  and 
J.  W.  Tennelle,  secretary,  on  horseback. 

German  Singing  Societies,  Professor  E.  Froelich, 
leader.  The  societies,  headed  by  the  New  Orleans 
Orchestra,  numbered  six  hundred  men,  and  made  a 
fine  display  with  banners  and  decorations. 

Mechanics'  and  Manufacturers'  Exchange,  with  an 
Exchange  building  in  miniature.  The  building  had 
a  large  number  of  windows,  each  supposed  to  light 
the  office  of  one  of  the  many  trades  represented  in 
the  Exchange  membership,  and  over  each  of  these 
windows  was  painted  the  trade  represented,  such  as 
"  bricklayer,"  "  carpenter,"  etc.  Following  this,  in 
the  order  in  which  they  were  employed,  were  repre- 
sentatives on  wagons  in  long  procession  of  all  the  dif- 
ferent processes  necessary  to  the  construction  of  a 
complete  house, — architects,  excavators,  stone-masons, 
stone-cutters,  brick-makers,  bricklayers,  architectural 
iron-workers,  carpenters,  stair-builders,  roofers,  tin- 
ners, lightning-rod  men,  plumbers,  plasterers,  gas- 
fitters,  painters  and  glaziers,  paper-hangers,  grate  and 
mantel  manufacturers. 

The  marshal  of  this  department  was  Henry  Mil- 
burn,  and  the  following  were  his  aids:  T.  J.  Flanagan, 
adjutant;  Henry  Perks,  Lewis  Luthy,  James  Gilfoyle, 
C.  K.  Ramsey,  C.  Franz,  and  C.  Kammerer. 

The  directors  of  the  Exchange  preceded  this  portion 
of  the  procession  in  carriages.  They  were  as  follows: 
James  Luthy,  president ;  David  Cavanaugh,  C.  H. 
Frank,  J.  H.  Maurice,  John  Norris,  William  McCully, 
C.  Lynch,  T.  P.  McKelleget,  James  Garvin,  Martin 
Ittner,  John  Stoddart,  A.  S.  McBride,  W.  S.  Stamps, 
secretary. 

St.  Louis  Life  Insurance  Company,  of  which  Capt. 
Eads  was  president,  with  afac-simile  of  the  company's 
building  at  Sixth  and  Locust  Streets. 

Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  numbering 
from  twelve  hundred  to  fifteen  hundred  men. 

Grand  officers  of  Grand  Lodge  :  L.  T.  Minturn,  M. 
W.  G.  M. ;  Alfred  Bennett,  R!  W.  D.  G.  M. ;  J.  S. 


Maitland,  R.  W.  G.  W. ;  E.  M.  Sloan,  R.  W.  G.  Sec. ; 

W.  H.  Thompson,  R.  W.  G.  Treas. ;-  A.  M.  Alexander, 

M.  C.  Libby,  R.  W.  G.  Representatives ;  Rev.  E.  D. 

Isbell,  W.  G.  Chap. ;  J.  M.  Gilkeson,  W.  G.  Marshal. 

Past  Grand  Masters :  Gerard  B.  Allen,  Elihu  H. 

Shepard,   Isaac   M.  Veitch,  Henry   Holmes,   C.   C. 

Archer,  Isaiah  Forbes,  J.  F.  Sheifer,  J.  R.  Lackland, 

Ira  Stansberry,  J.  C.  Nulsen,  John  Doniphan,  E.  M. 

i  Sloan,  H.  H.  Bodeman,  M.  C.  Libby,  E.  Wilkerson, 

|  W.  H.  Thompson. 

Grand  officers  of  Grand  Encampment :  J.  J.  Meier, 

!  M.  W.  G.  P. ;  J.  S.  Maitland,  M.  E.  G.  H.  P. ;  E. 

1  S.  Pike,  R.  W.  G.  S.  W. ;  R.  E.  McNuly,  R.  W.  G. 

I  Scribe;  William  Berry,  R.  W.  G.  Treas.;    Daniel 

Kerwin,  E.  R.  Shipley,  R.  W.  G.  Representatives. 

Past  Grand  Patriarchs :  A.  G.  Braun,  Alexander 
Peterson,   Thomas   Gerrard,  A.   G.   Trevor,   W.   H. 
|  Woodward. 

Uniformed  Patriarchs:  E.  Wilkerson,  chief  mar- 
shal ;  A.  G.  Hequembourg,  first  assistant  marshal  (in 
j  command) ;  F.  A.  Cavendish,  second  assistant  mar- 
!  shal. 

First  Division,  Daniel  Kerwin,  marshal ;  Second 
Division,  Thomas  Bennet,  marshal ;  Third  Division, 
j  Henry  Diers,  marshal. 

United  States  officials.    The  custom -house  employes 
!  exhibited  a  full-rigged  brig,  twenty-six  feet  long,  em- 
i  blematic  of  commerce,  mounted  on  wheels,  and  drawn 
'  by  eight  horses.    The  vessel  was  named  the  "  James  B. 
i  Eads,"  and  was  "  commanded"  by  Henry  P.  Wyman, 
special  deputy  collector.     The  post-office  was  repre- 
sented by  a  six-horse  wagon  bearing  the  post-office 
seal,  post- rider,  railway  train,  and  telegraph  wire,  with 
coat  of  arms  of  the  United  States,  the  whole  deoorated 
with  flags,  evergreens,  etc.,  three  messenger-wagons, 
— one  each  for  North,  South,  and  West  St.  Louis, 
— and  one  hundred  letter-carriers,  mounted  and  on 
foot. 

Brewers'  Association,  with  a  representation  of  King 
Gambrinus  on  his  throne,  the  king  being  personated 
by  Jacob  Schorr. 

The  various  other  trades  and  industries  of  St.  Louis 
were  also  fully  represented  by  delegations,  with  ban- 
ners, appropriate  devices,  etc. 

The  St.  Louis  Rowing  Club  had  a  boat  suspended 
to  a  wagon,  with  oars,  flags,  and  other  decorations. 
A  number  of  the  members  of  the  club  were  in  the 
boat,  imitating  nautical  acts. 

The  Western  Rowing  Club  had  two  boats  and  two 
teams,  likewise  accompanied  by  members  of  the  club, 
and  finely  decorated. 

The  members  of  the  City  Council  in  carriages,  and 
all  the  engines  and  hose-carriages  in  the  city  in  holi- 


1082 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


day  attire,  led  by  Chief  Sexton,  were  the  closing  fea- 
tures of  the  procession.  The  engines  had  hardly 
gotten  into  line,  however,  after  waiting  all  the  fore- 
noon, when  an  alarm  of  fire  was  sounded  from  Seven- 
teenth and  Franklin  Avenue.  By  a  previous  under-  | 
standing,  those  engines  which  were  already  under 
head  of  steam  responded  to  the  alarm,  and  as  they 
darted  through  the  crowded  streets  with  the  horses  at 
a  gallop  there  was  great  confusion  and  excitement. 
No  accidents  happened,  however,  and  order  was  soon 
restored,  the  procession  ending  as  was  laid  down  in 
the  programme,  after  having  passed  through  the  prin- 
cipal streets  in  the  city  to  the  bridge. 

One  of  the  features  of  the  celebration  was  the  pas- 
sage of  a  train  of  cars  across  the  bridge  from  East  St. 
Louis  to  the  exit  of  the  tunnel  on  the  St.  Louis  side. 
The  train  was  composed  of  fifteen  palace  sleeping- 
cars  and  three  powerful  locomotives,  contributed  by 
the  Vandalia  and  Illinois  Central  Companies.  The 
entire  train  was  in  charge  of  W.  H.  Finkbine,  con- 
ductor on  the  Vandalia  road  for  twenty-three  years. 
His  assistants  were,  on  the  first  engine,  No.  62,  Wil- 
liam Consen ;  second  engine,  No.  70,  William  Vansen. 
The  brakemen  were  Job  Graves,  William  Colburn,  H. 
Schumaker,  A.  C.  Thornton,  H.  W.  Orvell,  Thomas 
Mirton,  John  Brown,  John  Mallory,  James  Binkley, 
M.  B.  Mason,  and  Michael  Brazill. 

The  officials  of  the  Vandalia  Railway  on  board  the 
train  in  crossing  were  John  E.  Simpson,  general  super- 
intendent; N.  Stevens,  general  agent;  and  N.  K.  El- 
liott, master  of  transportation. 

Among  the  passengers  on  the  train  were  Senator  L. 
V.  Bogy,  Hon.  Silas  Woodson,  Governor  of  Missouri; 
Governor  Beveridge,  of  Illinois ;  Governor  Hendricks, 
of  Indiana ;  Judge  Napton,  St.  Louis ;  Judge  H.  M. 
Jones,  St.  Louis;  Judge  Hamilton,  St.  Louis;  Judge 
John  M.  Krum,  St.  Louis  ;  Hon.  Hugh  Moffat,  mayor 
of  Detroit ;  Hon.  D.  R.  Wright,  mayor  of  Oswego, 
Kan. ;  Hon.  E.  0.  Stanard,  Hon.  James  S.  Rollins, 
Columbia,  Mo. ;  Hon.  George  Bain,  Capt.  Bart  Able, 
Web  M.  Samuel,  president  Merchants'  Exchange,  and 
many  other  leading  citizens  of  St.  Louis  and  elsewhere. 

On  the  grand  stand  on  the  open  area  at  the  corner 
of  Washington  Avenue  and  Third  Street,  were  seated 
the  following  persons,  named  in  the  order  of  their 
arrival :  Gen.  W.  S.  Harney,  Hon.  T.  C.  Harris,  mem- 
ber of  the  Legislature  from  Phelps  County ;  Hon. 
George  B.  Clark,  State  Auditor ;  J.  H.  Waugh,  of 
Columbia;  Hon.  H.  Clay  Ewing,  attorney-general  of 
Missouri;  ex-Governor  B.  Gratz  Brown,  Judge  Sam- 
uel Treat,  Hon.  E.  0.  Stanard,  Dr.  Samuel  Read, 
president  of  Missouri  State  University  ;  Hon.  John  F.  j 
Cooke,  British  vice-consul ;  Gerard  B.  Allen,  Capt.  I 


James  B.  Eads,  Barton  Able,  Maj.  Grimes,  United 
States  army ;  Hon.  James  S.  Rollins,  Hon.  L.  V. 
Bogy,  Col.  R.  B.  Price,  of  Columbia ;  Judge  John 
M.  Krum,  Chauncey  I.  Filley,  S.  D.  Barlow,  George 
I.  Barnett,  Hon.  N.  M.  Bell,  Capt.  Samuel  Pepper, 
ex-Governor  Thomas  C.  Fletcher,  Judge  Speck,  Col. 
J.  L.  D.  Morrison,  William  A.  Lynch,  Governor  Bev- 
eridge, of  Illinois ;  Hon.  John  D.  Perry,  Rev.  Dr. 
Brookes,  Maj. -Gen.  W.  S.  Hancock,  Richard  Dow- 
ling,  J.  Wilson  McDonald,  the  sculptor ;  Hon.  Web 
M.  Samuel,  president  of  the  Merchants'  Exchange ; 
John  Baptiste  Hortey,  the  oldest  native  citizen  of  St. 
Louis ;  Unit  Pasin,  David  A.  Harvey,  L.  Harrigan, 
chief  of  police;  William  A.  Cozens,  Sullivan  Blood, 
Samuel  Hawken,  Robert  D.  Sutton,  H.  B.  Belt,  David 
A.  Harris,  Arrible  and  Antone  Cayore,  J.  H.  Britton, 
James  H.  Heath,  Hon.  Charles  H.  Hardin  and  Hon. 
David  Moore,  of  the  State  Senate ;  Col.  Joseph  L. 
Stevens,  of  Boonville ;  Capt.  John  Sibille,  a  veteran 
of  the  war  of  1812  ;  Gen.  Nathan  Ranney,  Hon.  Wells 
Blodgett,  Hon.  John  F.  Darby,  Col.  John  L.  Phillips, 
of  Sedalia;  John  F.  Tolle,  United  States  Senator 
Ferry,  of  Michigan  ;  Hon.  Erastus  Wells,  W.  Milnor 
Roberts,  consulting  engineer  of  the  bridge,  and  C. 
Shaler  Smith,  engineer;  Hon.  H.  C.  Brockmeyer, 
United  States  collector;  E.  W.  Fox,  Col.  D.  M. 
Renick,  Dr.  Barret,  S.  H.  Laflin,  Col.  R.  A.  Camp- 
bell, L.  H.  Murray,  of  Springfield,  Mo. ;  D.  Robert 
Barclay,  Col.  Ferdinand  Myers,  Dr.  William  Taussig, 
Carlos  S.  Greeley,  Governor  Woodson,  Miles  Sells, 
State  Senator  Allen,  George  Bain,  Mayor  Brown,  Gen. 
Wilson,  J.  R.  Lionberger,  John  Jackson,  J.  S.  Welsh, 
N.  S.  Chouteau,  Capt.  Fitch,  United  States  navy ;  J. 
F.  How. 

Among  the  ladies  who  graced  the  occasion  with 
their  presence  were  Mrs.  Governor  Woodson,  Mrs. 
Governor  Brown,  Mrs.  H.  Clay  Ewing,  Mrs.  J.  H. 
Britton,  Miss  Hutt,  of  Troy,  Mo. ;  Miss  Fanny  Britton, 
Mrs.  C.  K.  Dickson,  Miss  Dickson,  Miss  Chouteau, 
Mrs.  J.  Jackson,  Mrs.  J.  B.  Eads,  Miss  Addie  Eads, 
Mrs.  J.  H.  Britton,  Miss  F.  Britton,  Mrs.  J.  R.  Lion- 
berger, Miss  Lionberger,  Mrs.  William  Taussig,  Miss 
Taussig,  Mrs.  H.  Flad,  Miss  Flad,  Mrs.  G.  B.  Allen, 
Miss  Hodgman. 

The  exercises  opened  with  prayer  by  Rev.  Dr. 
Brookes,  after  which  addresses  were  delivered  by  Capt. 
Barton  Able,  Hon.  Joseph  Brown,  mayor  of  St. 
Louis,  Governor  Beveridge,  of  Illinois,  Governor 
Woodson,  of  Missouri,  Hon.  B.  Gratz  Brown,1  Capt. 

1  In  the  course  of  his  address  Governor  Brown  gave  an  inter- 
esting sketch  of  the  legislation  of  Congress  in  relation  to  the 
bridge,  as  follows :  "  Ever  since  the  earliest  act  incorporating 
St.  Louis  the  necessity  of  establishing  some  permanent  way 


THE   MISSISSIPPI  KIVER  AND  ITS   TRIBUTARIES. 


1083 


James  B.  Eads.1  Governor  Hendricks,  of  Indiana, 
and  Hon.  Thomas  W.  Ferry,  of  Michigan.  The 
speeches  were  varied  with  singing  by  the  various 
singing  societies  present,  led  by  Professor  E.  Froelich. 

across  the  great  river  has  impressed  itself  upon  the  minds  of  our 
people.  On  two  or  three  occasions  this  has  taken  shape  in  char- 
ters proposed  or  passed  by  the  Legislatures  of  the  adjoining 
States,  but  as  they  were  necessarily  inoperative  in  the  absence 
of  any  congressional  sanction,  they  failed  to  attract  investment. 
At  length,  however,  the  demand  for  greater  facilities  of  transit 
forced  itself  into  national  importance,  and  in  commemoration  of 
the  enterprise  it  may  be  stated  that  it  was  on  the  4th  day  of 
December,  1865,  that  notice  was  given  in  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States  of  intent  to  bring  in  a  bill  to  authorize  the  con- 
struction of  a  bridge  across  the  Mississippi  River  at  the  city  of 
St.  Louis.  On  the  18th  day  of  December  the  bill  was  presented 
and  appropriately  referred.  It  was  reported  back  from  the 
committee  March  22,  1866,  and  laid  over  until  a  subsequent  [ 
day  for  action.  The  discussion  which  followed  was  animated,  : 
elicited  much  hostile  criticism,  and  the  bill  was  only  passed 
after  an  elucidation  which  seemed  to  render  it  innocuous  in  the 
eyes  of  its  most  violent  opponents.  Subsequently  a  bill  re- 
lating exclusively  to  bridges  and  post-routes  on  the  upper  Mis- 
sissippi caine  back  to  the  Senate  from  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, and  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Post-offices.  The 
bill,  which  had  passed  the  Senate,  it  was  found  had  been  sup- 
pressed in  the  committee  of  the  House.  The  situation  was 
critical,  the  calendar  was  loaded  down,  the  session  was  closing. 
It  was  then  that  the  appeal  was  made  to  the  committee  in  the 
Senate  to  engraft  by  way  of  amendment  the  Senate  bill  upon 
the  House  bill,  and  after  much  (fontroversy  this  was  finally  as- 
sented to,  so  reported  back  and  passed,  the  House  concurring 
therein  in  the  expiring  hours  of  the  Congress. 

"  It  was  in  virtue  of  riparian  rights  conceded  by  Illinois  and 
Missouri,  under  the  sanction  of  an  act  of  the  National  Congress, 
and  sustained  by  the  indorsement  of  our  own  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce, that  this  bridge  was  undertaken.  Historically,  therefore^ 
it  seemed  to  grow  out  of  the  necessities  of  the  age.  But  the 
point  to  which  I  wish  to  invite  your  attention  is  this,  that,  so 
great  was  the  antagonism  from  rival  commercial  routes,  it  was 
only  when  the  provisions  of  the  congressional  act  had  been 
made  to  declare  that  the  central  span  should  not  be  less  than 
five  hundred  feet  nor  the  elevation  less  than  fifty  feet  above  the 
city  directrix  that  hostility  could  be  so  allayed  as  to  permit  the 
passage  of  the  bill.  It  was  upon  the  tacit  assumption  by  its 
opponents  of  its  utter  impracticability  that  antagonism  gave 
way.  In  fact,  the  utterance  was  then  and  there  boldly  made 
that  the  genius  did  not  exist  in  the  country  capable  of  erecting 
such  a  structure.  Others,  however,  had  more  faith,  and  to-day 
you  behold  the  accomplishment  of  what  was  thus  derided  as  im- 
possible; you  see  the  requirement  of  the  law  fulfilled  in  all  its 
strictness;  you  see  those  spans  of  five  hundred  feet  leaping 
agile  from  base  to  base;  you  see  those  tapering  piers  bedded  on 
the  immovable  rock,  deep  down  below  the  homeless  sands,  and 
rising  to  gather  the  threads  of  railways  and  roadways  high  in 
the  upper  air;  and  you  see,  caught  as  if  by  inspiration,  beauty 
there  in  all  its  flowing  proportion,  and  science  there  in  its  rare 
analysis  of  the  strength  of  materials,  and  an  endurance  there 
for  all  time  in  its  bond  of  iron  and  steel  and  granite  to  resist 
force  and  fire  and  flood." 

1  With  regard  to  the  permanence  of  the  structure,  Capt.  Eads 
said,  "  I  am  justified  in  declaring  that  the  bridge  will  exist  just 
as  long  as  it  continues  to  be  useful  to  the  people  who  come  after 
us,  even  if  its  years  should  number  those  of  the  pyramids.  That 


In  addition  to  the  ceremonies  at  the  bridge,  there 
was  a  display  of  steamboats  in  the  harbor,  which  were 
arranged  near  the  bridge  according  to  "  the  rainbow 
plan,"  the  boats  taking  position  in  three  tiers,  the 
smallest  vessels  being  in  front. 

At  night  there  was  a  grand  display  of  fireworks 
from  the  bridge,  among  the  pieces  being  a  representa- 
tion of  the  bridge  itself,  a  colossal  statue  of  Washing- 
ton, a  grand  "  Temple  of  Honor,"  with  a  statue  of  Capt. 
Eads  in  the  centre,  and  a  representation  of  the  new 
Chamber  of  Commerce  building. 

The  bridge  as  it  now  stands  is  one  of  the  marvels 
of  modern  engineering.  It  is  a  two-story  structure, 
the  great  arches  which  we  have  described  carrying 
double-track  railways,  and  above,  a  broad  highway 
seventy-five  feet  in  width.  On  this  are  promenades 
on  either  side  and  four  tracks  or  iron  tramways  for 
street-cars  and  ordinary  road-wagons.  Thus  four  ve- 
hicles may  be  hauled  abreast  along  this  spacious  ele- 
vated roadway  and  then  not  blockade  it  so  as  to  prevent 
persons  passing  on  foot  and  on  horseback. 

This  roadway  is  formed  by  transverse  iron  beams 
twelve  inches  in  depth,  supported  by  iron  struts  of 
cruciform  sections  resting  on  the  arches  at  the  points 
where  the  vertical  bracings  of  the  latter  are  secured. 
The  railways  beneath  are  carried  on  transverse  arch- 
like  beams  of  steel  secured  to  the  struts,  which,  based 
upon  the  arches,  support  the  right  of  the  carriageway 
as  well.  Between  the  iron  beams  forming  the  road- 
ways four  parallel  systems  of  longitudinal  wooden 
members  are  introduced,  extending  from  pier  to  pier, 
which  serve  the  purpose  of  maintaining  the  iron  in 
position.  The  ends  of  these  wooden  beams  rest  upon 
the  flanges  of  the  beams,  and  are  thus  secured  from 
moving.  On  these  the  sills  of  the  roadway  and  the 
cross-ties  of  the  railways  are  laid.  From  the  oppo- 
site ends  of  the  iron  beams,  a  double  system  of  diag- 


its  piers  will  thus  endure  but  few  will  doubt,  while  the  peculiar 
construction  of  its  superstructure  is  such  lhat  any  piece  jn  it  can 
be  easily  taken  out  and  examined,  and  replaced  or  renewed, 
without  interrupting  the  traffic  on  the  bridge.  The  effect  of 
temperature  upon  the  arches  is  such  that  in  oold  weather  the 
lower  central  tubes  and  the  upper  abutment  tubes  composing  the 
spans  are  so  relieved  of  strain  that  any  one  of  them  may  be  un- 
coupled from  the  others  and  easily  removed.  In  hot  weather 
the  upper  ones  of  the  centre  and  the  lower  ones  near  the  piers 
may  be  similarly  removed.  In  completing  the  western  span, 
two  of  the  lower  tubes  of  the  inside  ribs  near  the  middle  of  the 
span  were  injured  during  erection,  and  were  actually  uncoupled 
and  taken  out  without  any  difficulty  whatever  after  the  span 
was  completed,  and  two  new  ones  put  in  their  place  within  a 
few  hours. 

"This  is  a  feature  in  its  construction  possessed  by  no  other 
similar  work  in  the  world,  and  it  justifies  me  in  saying  that  this 
bridge  will  endure  as  long  as  it  is  useful  to  man." 


1084 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


onal  horizontal  iron  bracing  serves  to  bind  the  whole 
firmly  together,  and  gives  additional  support  against 
wind-pressure. 

The  calculation  made  for  the  strength  of  the  bridge 
was  that  it  should  carry  the  weight  of  the  greatest 
number  of  people  who  could  stand  on  the  roadway 
above,  and  at  the  same  time  have  each  railway  track 
below  covered  from  end  to  end  with  locomotives,  and 
this  enormous  load  to  tax  the  strength  of  the  bridge 
to  the  extent  of  less  than  one-sixth  of  the  ultimate 
strength  of  the  steel  of  which  the  arches  have  been 
constructed.  It  is  computed  that  the  ultimate  strength 
of  the  material  of  which  this  structure  is  composed 
will  sustain  on  the  three  arches  twenty-eight  thousand 
nine  hundred  and  seventy-two  tons  before  it  would 
give  way  under  it.  The  maximum  load,  however, 
which  can  be  allowed  on  the  bridge  at  any  one  time 
is  much  less  than  the  enormous  burden  which  we  have 
mentioned.  The  weight  of  the  bridge  and  the  load 
which  it  should  sustain  at  the  maximum  of  the  al- 
lowance for  perfect  safety  is  7  ^5-  tons  per  lineal 
foot,  or  about  10,865  tons.  The  thrust  of  each  end 
of  the  arch  is  received  on  a  surface  of  granite  equal 
to  24  square  feet,  and  as  each  span  has  four  arches,  it 
follows,  therefore,  that  the  thrust  of  the  arches  is  re- 
ceived on  a  surface  of  576  square  feet  of  granite.  At 
10,000  pounds  to  the  square  inch — a  low  rate  of 
strength  for  granite — to  crush  it  414,770  tons  would 
be  required.  A  weight  so  enormous  could  never  be 
placed  on  the  piers  or  arches.  No  danger  then  exists 
of  the  piers  being  crushed  by  the  tremendous  thrust  of 
the  immense  five  hundred  feet  arches. 

There  is  no  other  bridge  of  the  arch  or  truss  pat- 
tern which  can  be  compared  to  this.     The  Kuilinburg  j 
bridge  across  the  Leek,  an  arm  of  the  Rhine,  or  rather  j 
the  Zuyder  Zee,  in  Holland,  which  is  one  of  the  most 
famous  structures  of  the  kind  in  Europe,  is  a  truss 
bridge  of  515  feet  span.     The  Menai  bridge  is  an 
arch  of  500  feet. 

The  eastern  approach  is  a  great  work  apart  from 
the  bridge  to  which  it  leads.  This  portion  of  the 
work  was  executed  by  the  Baltimore  Bridge  Company, 
under  the  supervision  of  Col.  C.  Shaler  Smith.  The 
grand  highway,  leaving  the  stone  arch  supports  on  the 
East  St.  Louis  side,  is  carried  across  a  space  of  some 
sixty  feet  on  immense  steel  columns,  which  support 
great  iron  girders.  About  eighty  feet  from  the  stone 
arch  the'  road  divides,  and  begins  to  descend  at  the 
rate  of  about  three  feet  to  the  hundred.  This  divis- 
ion was  rendered  essential  in  order  to  conduct  the 
railway  tracks  along  at  a  rate  of  descent  of  about  one 
foot  to  the  hundred.  About  four  hundred  feet  to  the 
eastward  of  the  bridge  proper  the  highways  and  rail- 


road tracks  are  on  a  level.  But  the  railways  from 
that  point  eastward,  because  of  its  easier  grade,  are 
elevated  above  the  roadways  on  either  side.  At  Third 
Street,  East  St.  Louis,  the  highways  are  terminated 
on  the  level  of  the  street.  Where  the  grade  of  the 
railways  rises  about  ten  feet  above  the  grade  of  the 
carriageways  there  is  a  broad  level  platform,  and  a 
double  roadway  turns  westward  under  the  railway  and 
reaches  the  grade  of  the  street  on  Second  Street.  The 
roadways  from  this  turning  platform  are  continued  on 
to  the  level  of  Dike  Avenue  beyond,  about  two  hun- 
dred feet.  The  railways  are  conducted  over  Dike 
Avenue,  East  St.  Louis,  on  an  iron  viaduct,  at  a  grade 
of  one  foot  to  the  hundred,  about  three  thousand 
feet,  to  the  east  bank  of  Cahokia  Creek,  where  it  at- 
tains the  level  of  the  concentring  railways.  The 
railways  and  the  roadways  as  well  turn  an  easy  curve 
to  the  northeast  when  about  two  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  east  of  the  stone  piers.  This  approach  of  itself 
is  a  great  work  splendidly  accomplished. 

The  situation  of  the  bridge  and  the  peculiar  topog- 
raphy of  the  city  made  it  impossible  that  the  work 
could  be  accomplished  without  rendering  the  construc- 
tion of  a  subterranean  approach  necessary.  *  If  the 
bridge  had  been  built  on  a  more  elevated  plan  it 
would  have  necessitated  the  passage  of  steam-pro- 
pelled trains  across  and  tnrough  the  thronged  thor- 
oughfares of  a  populous  city.  Had  the  bridge  been 
located  at  Biddle  or  Bates  Street  it  would  have  been 
necessary  to  carry  the  railways  over  the  streets  and 
on  out  Cass  Avenue,  a  much-traveled  thoroughfare. 
The  height  of  the  bridge  above  the  water  is  the  mini- 
mum which  a  due  regard  for  the  great  navigation  in- 
terests of  the  river  would  have  permitted.  The  western 
landing  of  the  bridge  is  on  one  of  the  highest  points 
of  Third  Street.  The  grade  brings  the  highway  from 
the  bridge  arches  down  to  the  level  of  this  street, 
leaving  at  that  place  a  depth  of  fourteen  feet  in  which 
to  commence  the  underground  passageway  from  the 
bridge  to  the  Mill  Creek^ valley.  It  seems  as  though 
nature  intended  that  in  St.  Louis  a  mighty  railway 
interest  should  concentrate  and  be  provided  with  facili- 
ties for  the  transaction  of  business  without  iuterferin°' 

O 

with  intercommunication  in  the  city.  In  the  future, 
even  more  than  now,  will  the  selection  of  a  location 
for  the  bridge,  which  necessitated  a  tunnel,  be  es- 
teemed the  wisest  that  could  have  been  made.  The 
great  traffic  of  the  railways  can  go  on  and  the  throng- 
ing myriads  of  the  city's  population  will  rush  along 
undisturbed  by  the  trains  that  carry  the  products  of 
a  vast  continent  underneath  the  ground. 

It  was  early  seen  that  an  approach  tunnel  would 
have  to  be  built  to  get  trains  to  the  western  terminus 


THE   MISSISSIPPI  RIVER  AND   ITS   TRIBUTARIES. 


1085 


of  the  bridge.  Indeed,  that  followed  inevitably  the 
Eads  location  of  the  bridge  itself.  For  the  construc- 
tion of  the  tunnel  a  company  was  organized  with  Dr. 
William  Taussig  as  president. 

After  mature  consideration  a  plan  was  drawn  up 
which  involved  the  building  of  a  double  tunnel,  and 
was  adopted.  A  route  along  Washington  Avenue  to 
Seventh  Street,  with  a  curve  from  that  point  to  Eighth 
and  Locust  Streets,  thence  down  Eighth  Street  to  Pop- 
lar, was  selected,  and  arrangements  perfected  to  put 
the  work  under  contract. 

The  necessary  financial  arrangements,  surveys,  and 
estimates  having  been  made,  the  tunnel  company,  in 
the  autumn  of  1872,  awarded  a  contract  to  Messrs. 
Skrainka  &  Co.,  who,  after  working  several  months, 
threw  up  the  contract,  which  was  then  awarded  to 
James  Andrews,  of  Allegheny,  Pa.  The  new  con- 
tractor set  about  the  execution  of  the  task  April  16, 
1873,  with  great  energy.  A  large  number  of  laborers 
were  employed,  and  the  work  of  excavating  the  great 
tunnel  and  building  the  huge  stone  walls  to  support 
the  heavy  arches  was  pushed  forward  with  great  ra- 
pidity. 

It  was  no  small  task  the  contractor  had  assumed. 
Before  it  was  completed  there  had  been  removed  two 
hundred  and  fifteen  thousand  cubic  yards  of  earth 
from  the  tunnel  canal,  and  the  stone  masonry  required 
on  the  work  was  fifty  thousand  cubic  yards.  Thirteen 
millions  of  bricks  have  been  used  in  the  arches  of  this 
great  underground  passageway.  The. whole  length 
of  the  tunnel  is  four  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
eighty  feet,  or  sixteen  hundred  and  twenty-three  yards 
and  one  foot,  almost  one  mile.  There  are  two  tunnels 
really,  divided  by  a  heavy  wall  which  supports  the 
arches  that  spring  from  it  in  either  direction.  The 
width  of  these  tunnels  is  fourteen  feet  each,  except 
at  the  curve,  where  they  are  fifteen  feet  wide.  From 
the  top  of  the  rail  to  the  interior  crown  of  the  arches 
the  height  is  sixteen  feet  six  inches. 

The  arrangement  of  a  double  tunnel  covered  under 
the  street  by  two  longitudinal  arches  not  only  renders 
collisions  in  the  tunnel  absolutely  impossible,  but  also 
greatly  increases  the  strength  of  the  arches,  which 
not  only  support  their  own  weight,  but  must  carry  the 
weight  of  the  streets  and  the  immense  traffic  of  the 
most  traveled  thoroughfare  in  the  city.  On  Eighth 
Street  between  Locust  and  Olive,  the  location  of  the 
new  post-office,  the  roof  of  the  tunnel  is  composed  of 
immense  longitudinal  iron  girders,  supported  on  heavy 
cast-iron  pillars.  On  these  longitudinal  sills  of  iron 
rest  lateral  girders  scarcely  less  ponderous.  The 
spaces  between  these  are  filled  by  transverse  brick 
arches.  At  this  point  the  roadways  open  wider  so  as 
69 


to  admit  of  the  exchange  of  mails.  By  means  of 
hopper-like  receptacles  the  mail  on  the  cars  may  be 
completely  discharged  in  thirty  seconds,  and  a  similar 
place  of  deposit  for  the  outgoing  mails  enables  the 
train  agent  to  get  the  bags  on  board  in  about  the  same 
time. 

The  distance  from  the  entrance  of  the  tunnel  at  its 
southern  terminus  to  the  northern  terminus  of  the 
railway  approach  east  of  Cahokia  Creek,  East  St. 
Louis,  is  eleven  thousand  feet,  which  is  three  thou- 
sand six  hundred  and  sixty-six  yards  and  two  feet,  or 
two  miles,  one  hundred  and  forty-six  yards,  and  two 
feet.  This  is  really  the  length  of  the  bridge  railway. 

The  last  stone  for  the  arches  of  the  tunnel  was 
placed  in  position  Thursday,  June  24, 1874.  During 
the  progress  of  the  work  two  serious  mishaps  to  the 
tunnel  delayed  operations  for  a  time.  In  1873  about 
two  hundred  feet  of  the  massive  stone  wall  of  the 
open  cut  was  overthrown  during  a  great  rain-storm  by 
the  tremendous  pressure  of  twenty-eight  feet  of  water 
collected  behind.  In  the  winter  of  1874  a  serious 
break  in  the  completed  tunnel  took  place  on  Wash- 
ington Avenue  above  Sixth  Street.  These  were  re- 
paired. In  the  first  case  the  wall  had  to  be  rebuilt, 
in  the  last  the  arch  was  taken  out,  the  wall  strength- 
ened, and  the  arch  replaced.  Notwithstanding  so  many 
men  were  employed,  and  there  was  so  large  an  amount 
of  work,  there  were  comparatively  few  fatal  casualties. 
The  railway  tracks  were  completed  through  the  tunnel 
in  July,  1874. 

On  the  20th  of  December,  1878,  the  bridge  was 
sold  under  foreclosure  of  mortgage,  at  the  east  front 
of  the  court-house,  a  little  after  twelve  o'clock.  The 
sale  was  in  virtue  of  a  decree  of  the  United  States 
Circuit  Court,  rendered  on  the  17th  of  October,  in 
the  suit  of  John  Pierpont  Morgan  and  Solon  Hum- 
phreys against  the  bridge  company  and  others.  Eze- 
kiel  W.  Woodward  was  the  commissioner  appointed 
to  make  the  sale,  and  the  property  to  be  sold  included 
the  bridge  proper,  its  approaches  in  St.  Louis  and 
East  St.  Louis,  and  all  its  appurtenances,  franchises, 
and  other  property.  The  terms  of  the  sale  were  fifty 
thousand  dollars  to  be  paid  in  bidding  off  the  prop- 
erty, and  the  balance  in  the  manner  described  in  the 
decree  of  the  court.  The  purchaser  was  also  to  pay 
in  cash,  on  the  confirmation  of  the  sale  by  the  court, 
the  costs  of  the  suit,  including  the  expenses  of  sale, 
commissions  to  the  trustees,  and  fees  to  the  solicitors 
and  counsel  as  determined  by  the  court,  and  in  addi- 
tion to  and  over  his  bid.  in  cash,  the  amount  of  the 
certificates  of  the  indebtedness  of  the  receivers  in  the 
suit  that  were  outstanding  and  amounting  to  three 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  more  or  less. 


1086 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Bidding  was  invited,  and  Charles  B.  Tracy  bid  two 
million  dollars.  There  the  matter  hung,  and  all  the 
eloquence  of  the  auctioneer  was  futile  to  procure  an- 
other bid.  When  it  became  quite  certain  that  no 
advance  would  be  made  on  Mr.  Tracy's  bid,  the  auc- 
tioneer, with  the  usual  warning  of  "  once,  twice,  three 
times,"  knocked  down  the  bridge  at  two  million  dollars. 
The  name  being  called  for,  Mr.  Tracy  announced  An- 
thony J.  Thomas,  of  New  York,  as  the  purchaser. 
On  inquiry  Mr.  Thomas  was  ascertained  to  be  a  mer- 
chant in  New  York,  who  had  bought  the  bridge  for 
the  first  mortgage  bondholders,  who  were  also  the 
principal,  if  not  the  sole,  holders  of  the  second  mort- 
gage bonds. 

E.  W.  Woodward  stated  subsequently  that  the 
bridge  had  failed  to  yield  enough  money  to  pay  the 
interest  on  its  indebtedness.  There  were  three  mort- 
gages. The  fourth  one  was  canceled  and  wiped  out 
of  existence.  The  suit  for  foreclosure  was  brought 
by  the  first  and  second  bondholders  jointly.  The 
bridge  company  organized  soon  after  the  sale  by  the 
election  of  J.  Pierpont  Morgan  and  Solon  Hum- 
phreys, of  New  York  ;  and  Gerard  B.  Allen,  Julius 
Walsh,  and  Kzekiel  W.  Woodward,  of  St.  Louis,  as 
directors.  The  new  company  thereupon  elected  the 
following  officers  :  Solon  Humphreys,  president ; 
Ezekiel  W.  Woodward,  vice-president  ;  Edward 
Walsh,  secretary ;  and  Anthony  J.  Thomas,  treas- 
urer. 

On  the  1st  of  July,  1881,  the  bridge  was  leased  to 
the  Missouri  Pacific  and  Wabash,  St.  Louis  and  Pa- 
cific Eailway  companies  at  an  annual  rental  equaling 
interest  on  bonds,  semi-annual  dividends  on  first  pre- 
ferred stock  at  the  rate  of  five  per  cent,  per  annum 
for  three  years  to  and  ending  in  July,  1885,  and  there- 
after at  the  rate  of  six  per  cent.  ;  and  semi-annual 
dividends  of  three  per  cent,  on  second  preferred 
stock,  the  first  payment  to  be  made  July  1,  1884. 
Dividends  payable  in  gold  free  of  all  charges.  The 
companies  further  agreed  to  pay  all  taxes,  assess- 
ments, and  other  charges ;  to  pay  two  thousand  five 
hundred  dollars  a  year  for  maintaining  organization, 
and  to  provide  and  maintain  offices  for  the  company 
in  St.  Louis  and  New  York.  In  addition  it  is  pro- 
vided that  the  bonds  of  the  company  as  they  mature 
shall  be  paid  by  the  lessee  companies.  The  funded 
debt  consists  of  $5,000,000  seven  per  cent,  gold 
bonds,  dated  April  1,  1879,  due  1928;  interest  pay- 
able April  and  October  ;  first  preferred  stock  $2,490,- 
000 ;  second  preferred  stock  $3,000,000 ;  common 
stock  $2,500,000.  The  directors  of  the  St.  Louis 
Bridge  Company  in  1882  were  Solon  Humphreys, 
J.  Pierpont  Morgan,  New  York ;  E.  W.  Woodward, 


Gerard  B.  Allen,  Edward  Walsh,  Jr.,  St.  Louis,  Mo. ; 
President,  Julius  S.  Walsh,  St.  Louis. 

One  of  the  most  active  and  energetic  promoters  of 
the  great  bridge  enterprise  was  John  R.  Lionberger, 
who  was  a  director  of  the  company  from  its  incipiency, 
1  and  a  member  of  the  executive  and  construction  com- 
I  mittee.     Mr.  Lionberger  was  a  stanch,  unwavering 
supporter  of  the  project  through  its  darkest  hours, 
and   contributed  his   share  and  something  more  to- 
wards providing  means  to  resume  work  on  the  bridge 
and  push  its  construction  to  completion. 

John  Robert  Lionberger  was  born  in  Virginia, 
Aug.  22,  1829.  As  the  name  indicates,  his  father 
was  of  German,  his  mother  of  English-Scotch  descent^ 
— a  mixture  of  blood  calculated  to  produce  an  enter- 
prising and  aggressive  race.  His  father  was  engaged 
in  mercantile  business  in  Virginia,  which  he  resumed 
upon  the  removal  of  the  family,  in  1837,  to  Boonville, 
Cooper  Co.,  Md. 

Up  to  the  age  of  sixteen  young  Lionberger  attended 
the  Rioted  Kemper's  Academy  in  Boonville,  and  sub- 
sequently entered  the  University  of  the  State  of  Mis- 
souri at  Columbia,  and  took  a  classical  course.  Al- 
though thus  equipped  with  an  education  which  fitted 
him  for  a  professional  career,  his  tastes  led  him  to 
engage  in  mercantile  pursuits,  and  he  spent  some 
years  thus  occupied  at  Boonville.  The  small  and 
quiet  town,  however,  offered  at  best  only  a  limited 
prospect  to  a  young  man  of  energy  and  enterprise, 
and  in  1855  he  removed  to  St.  Louis,  and  established 
the  wholesale  boot-  and  shoe-house  of  Lionberger  '& 
!  Shields,  on  Main  Street.  This  partnership  lasted 
some  two  years,  when  Mr.  Lionberger  purchased  Mr. 
Shields'  interest,  and  for  some  time  managed  the 
business  as  sole  proprietor  under  his  own  name. 
Subsequently  junior  partners  were  admitted,  and  the 
firm  became  known  as  J.  R.  Lionberger  &  Co.,  under 
which  title  it  flourished  until  1867,  when  he  retired, 
leaving  to  his  associates  a  well-established  and  pros- 
perous trade,  and  having  made  for  himself  a  fortune 
and  reputation  for  rectitude  and  business  sagacity 
second  to  none  of  the  merchants  of  that  period. 

But  in  retiring  from  trade  he  did  not  retire  from 
business.  On  the  contrary,  he  immediately  entered 
upon  a  field  of  much  greater  activity,  and  thenceforth 
his  energies  were  exerted  in  connection  with  many 
enterprises  of  great  public  importance,  and  promising 
much  to  the  city  of  his  adoption.  All  the  great  pro- 
jects of  the  past  twenty-five  years  have  had  his  earnest 
and  energetic  support.  He  has  been  foremost  in  devel- 
oping the  transportation  system  of  St.  Louis,  and  was 
specially  prominent  in  the  affairs  of  the  North  Mis- 
souri Railroad.  When  the  fortunes  of  that  road  were 


\ 


NAVIGATION   ON   THE   MISSISSIPPI   RIVER. 


1087 


at  a  low  ebb,  the  company  with  which  he  was  identi- 
fied took  the  road  and  completed  it  to  Kansas  City 
and  the  Iowa  State  line.  As  has  been  seen,  he  was 
very  active  and  efficient  in  promoting  the  construction 
of  the  bridge  across  the  Mississippi.  He  was  also  a 
director  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  Association, 
and  a  member  of  the  building  committee  which  su- 
pervised the  erection  of  the  Merchants'  Exchange, 
perhaps  the  most  stately  and  ornamental  structure  of 
which  the  city  can  boast.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Board 
of  Trade,  and  has  served  it  in  many  honorable  and  use- 
ful capacities  ;  was  a  delegate  to  the  Boston  Convention 
of  the  National  Board,  and  was  also  its  representative 
in  the  New  Orleans  Convention,  where  his  fellow- 
delegates  showed  their  estimation  of  his  character  as 
a  representative  business  man  of  St.  Louis  by  electing 
him  their  chairman.  It  may  therefore  be  said  with- 
out exaggeration  that  in  all  matters  relating  to  the 
public  welfare,  and  in  all  enterprises  undertaken  for 
the  benefit  of  the  city,  Mr.  Lionberger  has  manifested 
the  keenest  interest,  and  has  contributed  generously 
of  his  own  means  towards  any  object  that  seemed 
likely  to  build  up  St.  Louis. 

One  of  the  later  enterprises  which  he  has  assisted, 
and  one  of  the  most  important,  is  the  Union  Depot 
and  Shipping  Company,  which  in  1881  erected  a  ware- 
house with  an  elevator  five  hundred  by  seventy  feet, 
and  four  stories  high,  with  an  elevator  capacity  of 
seven  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  bushels  of  grain. 
Other  corporations  with  which  Mr.  Lionberger  has 
been  connected  have  done  much  to  improve  the  city 
in  the  erection  of  tasteful  and  ornamental  buildings. 
When  the  street  railway  system  was  introduced, 
Mr.  Lionberger  at  once  appreciated  its  importance  as 
an  agency  in  developing  the  city,  and  promptly  gave 
it  his  attention  and  support.  He  is  a  large  owner  of 
street  railway  stock,  and  his  efforts  have  always  been 
directed  towards  the  management  of  the  street  car 
companies  with  reference  to  the  convenience  of  the 
community. 

Mr.  Lionberger  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the 
Safe  Deposit  Company,  one  of  the  most  substantial 
corporations  of  its  kind  in  the  country,  and  has  been 
its  president  for  several  years.  He  was  also  one  of 
the  organizers  of  the  old  Southern  Bank  in  1857, 
served  actively  as  a  director,  and  was  for  many  years 
its  vice-president.  When  in  1864  it  organized  under 
the  National  banking  law  and  became  the  Third 
National  Bank,  Mr.  Lionberger  retained  his  interest 
in  the  corporation,  and  in  18G7  was  elected  president, 
a  position  which  he  held  until  1876,  when  he  re- 
signed and  made  a  long  European  journey.  On  his 
return  from  abroad  he  was  elected  vice-president,  in 


which  position  his  judgment  and  foresight  have  con- 
tributed largely  towards  making  the  bank  one  of  the 
strongest  and  most  highly  respected  financial  insti- 
tutions in  the  Mississippi  valley.  In  December, 
1882,  after  twenty-five  years  of  continuous  service  in 
different  capacities,  he  resigned  the  vice-presidency 
and  directorship  in  this  institution. 

In  1852,  Mr.  Lionberger  married  Miss  Margaret 
M.  Clarkson,  of  Columbia,  Mo.,  a  lady  of  engaging 
and  estimable  qualities,  and  their  union  has  yielded 
four  children. 

The  many  public  positions  which  Mr.  Lionberger 
has  held  have  exposed  him  to  the  severest  scrutiny 
of  the  community,  which  has  only  served  to  demon- 
strate his  sterling  integrity,  and  to  set  forth  conspicu- 
ously his  pure  and  unblemished  character.  As  a 
public-spirited  man,  he  occupies  a  prominent  place 
among  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis,  while  in  private  life 
he  is  esteemed  for  his  engaging  qualities  of  head  and 
heart.  His  work  is  not  yet  finished,  and  if  the  past 
is  any  augury  of  the  future,  it  may  be  assumed  that 
he  will  for  many  years  to  come  be  heard  of  in  con- 
nection with  schemes  to  advance  the  public  good  and 
further  still  more  the  "  manifest  destiny"  of  St.  Louis. 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 

NAVIGATION   ON  THE    MISSISSIPPI  RIVER. 

AFTER  the  bark  canoe,  in  the  progress  of  naviga- 
tion on  the  Mississippi,  came  the  Mackinaw  boat,  car- 
rying from  fifteen  hundredweight  to  three  tons,  and 
then  the  keel-boat,  or  barge,  capable  of  carrying  from 
thirty  to  forty  tons.  The  first  appearance  of  the  keel- 
boat  on  the  Mississippi  above  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio 
of  which  there  is  any  account  was  in  1751,  when  a 
fleet  of  boats,  commanded  by  Bossu,  a  captain  of  French 
marines,  ascended  as  far  as  Fort  Chartres.  This  en- 
terprise, also,  was  the  first  to  ascertain  by  actual  ex- 
perience the  perils  of  navigating  the  Mississippi.  One 
of  the  boats,  the  "  Saint  Louis,"  struck  a  sand-bar 
above  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  and  was  unladen  and 
detained  two  days.  Three  days  later,  says  the  traveler, 
"  my  boat  ran  against  a  tree,  of  which  the  Mississippi 
is  full ;  .  .  .  the  shock  burst  the  boat,  and  such  a 
quantity  of  water  got  in  that  it  sunk  in  less  than  an 
hour." *  This  was  probably  the  first  commercial  boat 
"  snagged"  on  the  Mississippi.  From  three  to  four 
months  were  required  to  make  a  voyage  from  New 

1  Bossu,  vol.  i.  p.  114. 


1088 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Orleans  to  the  settlement  in  the  vicinity  of  St.  Louis. 
For  years  afterwards,  and  until  the  era  of  steam  navi- 
gation, a  journey  on  the  river  was  a  matter  of  no  small 
moment,  serious  consideration,  and  prudent  domestic 
and  personal  preparation.  It  had  to  be  made  on  craft 
of  a  peculiarly  constructed  and  constricted  form,  having 
but  limited  living  arrangements,  and  of  slow,  uncertain 
progress,  where,  besides  being  deprived  of  the  usual 
comforts  of  even  an  ordinarily-supplied  home,  the  trav- 
eler was  thrown  into  immediate  association  with  a  wild, 
reckless,  rollicking  set  of  voyageurs,  whose  manual 
labors  alone  aided  or  urged  the  craft,  either  with  or 
against  wind  and  current,  by  the  use  of  oars,  poles,  i 
and  other  contrivances.  The  shippers  on  these  boats, 
after  forwarding  their  goods  and  products  thereon,  were 
satisfied  to  have  returns  therefrom  in  five  or  six  months 
after  the  shipment,  and  not  very  much  surprised  or 
disappointed  when  they  heard  that  boat  and  cargo  were 
resting  quietly  on  the  bottom  of  the  river,  near  the 
foot  of  some  snag,  or  upset  in  a  storm,  or  reposing 
high  and  dry  on  a  sand-bar,  where  they  must  remain 
till  the  next  high  water  floated  them  off.  True,  such 
disasters  and  delays  were  not  always  attendant  upon 
this  mode  of  navigation, — if  they  had  been,  the  whole 
system  would  have  fallen  into  disuse  very  soon  and 
altogether, — but  they  were  of  frequent  occurrence,  and 
were  viewed  as  being,  more  or  less,  a  natural  result  of 
the  primitive  powers  and  material  they  were  compelled 
to  bring  into  service. 

Flat-boats  (of  about  the  same  model  we  have  now) 
and  barges  were  the  kind  of  craft  mostly  in  use  on  the 
Ohio  and  Mississippi  and  their  navigable  tributaries 
at  the  beginning  of  the  immigration  and  settlements 
along  those  rivers,  in  the  early  part  of  this  century, 
and  for  several  of  the  closing  decades  of  the  previous 
century,  the  former  for  transporting  their  few  market- 
able products,  and  for  the  conveyance  of  families  and 
stock  to  new  settlements  that  could  be  reached,  or 
mainly  so,  by  water.  As  the  country  became  more 
populous  and  developed,  the  interchange  of  products 
and  manufactures  became  a  desirable  necessity,  espec- 
ially along  and  with  the  southern  coasts  and  towns. 
For  this  purpose  barges  were  introduced  and  made 
common  carriers,  up  and  down,  and  from  point  to 
point.  Like  flat-boats,  they  were  broad  and  square  at 
the  ends,  but  were  raked  fore  and  aft,  and  instead  of 
being  entirely  covered  in,  not  more  than  half  their 
hull  was  decked  over,  and  on  the  part  thus  decked  a 
cabin  was  placed  for  the  use  of  the  crew  and  such 
few  passengers  as  might  venture  with  them.  The  re- 
mainder was  left  open,  or  only  oar-decked,  where  was 
stored  the  cargo,  which  was  covered  with  some  suita- 
ble material  to  protect  it  from  the  weather.  The 


space  under  the  cabin  was  devoted  to  stowage  also. 
Being  designed  for  continued  and  active  service, 
they  were  stronger,  better  built,  and  more  properly 
fitted  out  for  navigation  than  flat-boats,  and  instead  of 
being  sold  at  the  end  of  the  trip  for  whatever  they 
would  bring,  or  otherwise  disposed  of  (as  the  flat- 
boat  was),  were  brought  back  to  their  home-ports  by 
the  crew,  against  winds  and  current,  by  a  constant 
and  arduous  heaving  on  oars,  poles,  and  cordelles,  with 
an  occasional  use  of  the  sail  when  the  breeze  was 
sufficiently  strong  and  favorable.  Many  of  these  crafts 
were  owned  and  run  by  individuals  who  made  barge- 
ing  their  avocation,  and  in  person  commanded  and 
controlled  their  operations,  but  established  lines  of 
barges  (not  regular)  owned  by  companies  or  firms 
were  not  uncommon  from  the  principal  towns  of  the 
upper  rivers  to  New  Orleans,  the  boats  of  which 
were  placed  in  charge  of  competent  men  experienced 
in  river  navigation,  who  acted  as  patroon  (captain) 
and  pilot,  aided  by  a  crew  of  their  own  selection. 
These  boats  carried  from  one  hundred  to  two  hundred 
tons,  and  some  as  much  as  four  hundred,  but  not 
many,  the  latter  being  too  unwieldy  and  unmanage- 
able, and  difficult  to  land  except  in  high  water.  The 
trip  down,  say  from  Cincinnati  or  St.  Louis  to  New 
Orleans,  was  made  in  about  five  weeks,  unless  they 
were  favored  with  bright  nights,  when  it  would  be  made 
more  quickly.  The  return  occupied  eighty  or  ninety 
days,  and  frequently  much  longer.  The  crew  was 
eight  to  fifteen  men  on  the  downward  and  twenty  to 
thirty-six  on  the  upward  trip.  Fast  time  was  fre- 
quently attempted,  and  often  successfully  performed 
according  to  the  prevailing  ideas.  A  quick  trip  was 
made  in  February,  1811,  by  the  keel-boat  "Susan 
Amelia,"  which  descended  from  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio 
to  Natchez  in  fourteen  days  and  five  hours.  This 
trip  was  a  famous  one  in  its  day,  and  the  boat's  time 
from  and  to  different  points  was  made  the  standard  of 
swiftness  for  many  years,  as  was  that  of  the  steamer 
"  J.  M.  White"  in  a  later  day.  But  it  was  deemed 
a  very  risky  and  imprudent  exhibition  by  the  cautious 
men  of  the  time.  An  old  river  chronicler  in  speak- 
ing of  it  said,  "  Nothing  ought  to  induce  such  run- 
ning but  a  case  of  life  and  death." 

"  Before  the  panting  of  the  steam-engine  was  heard 
on  these  (Western)  waters,"  says  Lloyd's  Steamboat 
Directory,  "  the  only  river  contrivance  for  conveyance 
of  freight  and  passengers  was  a  species  of  boat  called 
a  barge,  or  largee,  according  to  French  nomenclature. 
The  length  of  this  boat  was  from  seventy-five  to  one 
hundred  feet;  breadth  of  beam  from  fifteen  to  twenty 
feet ;  capacity  from  sixty  to  one  hundred  tons.  The 
receptacle  for  the  freight  was  a  large  covered  coffer, 


NAVIGATION   ON  THE   MISSISSIPPI   RIVER. 


1089 


called  the  cargo-box,  which  occupied  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  hulk.  Near  the  stern  was  an  apology 
for  a  cabin,  a  straitened  apartment  six  or  eight  feet  in 
length,  in  which  the  aristocracy  of  the  boat,  viz.,  the 
captain  and  patroon,  or  steersman,  were  generally 
quartered  at  night.  The  roof  of  the  '  cabin'  was 
slightly  elevated  above  the  level  of  the  deck,  and  on 
this  eminence  the  helmsman  was  stationed  to  direct  the 
movements  of  the  boat.  The  barge  was  commonly 
provided  with  two  masts,  though  some  carried  but  one. 
The  chief  reliance  of  the  boatmen  was  on  a  square 
sail  forward,  which  when  the  wind  was  in  the  right 
direction  accelerated  the  progressive  motion  of  the 
boat  and  relieved  the  hands,  who  at  other  times  were 
obliged  to  propel  the  barge  by  such  laborious  methods 
as  rowing,  warping,  and  the  cordelle." 

Keel-boating  proper  was  an  institution  of  a  later 
day.  The  keeled  craft  were  not  in  general  use  on  the 
rivers  until  1808-9,  though  all  the  early  river  navi- 
gation is  now  referred  to  under  the  generic  term  of 
keel-boating.  Naturally  the  bargemen  became  the 
keel-boatmen ;  the  commercial  interests,  designs,  and 
working  of  the  two  modes  were,  in  fact,  about  the 
same,  and,  for  all  the  purposes  of  the  present  sketch, 
essentially  alike.  But  keel-boats  were  much  of  an 
advance  over  barges  in  celerity  and  diminution  of  time 
and  labor.  They  were  longer  and  narrower,  had  a  keel- 
shaped,  instead  of  a  broad  flat  bottom,  carried  as  much 
freight  on  a  less  amount  of  current  expenses,  furnished 
less  resisting  surface,  and  therefore  were  more  easily 
handled  in  cross  currents,  bends,  and  other  places  re- 
quiring speedy  movement,  made  quicker  trips,  and 
for  several  other  good  reasons  became  in  a  short  time 
after  their  introduction  the  universal  freight-carriers, 
holding  their  position  as  such  for  nearly  twenty 
years,  or  until  the  running  of  steam-craft  came  with 
a  sufficient  frequency  and  tonnage  to  supply  the  de- 
mands of  commerce,  when  of  course  they  were  aban- 
doned for  the  superior  advantages  offered  by  steam- 
boats. They  were  also  generally  quite  artistically 
built,  presenting  a  neat  appearance  on  the  water,  in 
many  respects  resembling  the  canal-boats  of  this  day. 
As  a  rule,  however,  the  river-craft  was  unshapely  and 
cumbrous.  The  lines  of  least  resistance  were  not 
then  understood,  and  different  kinds  of  boats  were 
used  according  to  the  needs  of  the  locality  and  the 
nature  of  the  freight,  including  canoes,  pirogues, 
barges,  keel-  and  flat-boats.  "  The  Indian  birch  canoe 
was  ordinarily  thirty  feet  long,  four  feet  wide  in  the 
broadest  part,  two  and  a  half  feet  deep  in  the  centre, 
and  two  feet  deep  at  each  end.  The  pirogue  was 
larger  than  the  canoe,  but  smaller  than  the  other 
other  boats.  The  barge  was  wider,  but  not  so  long 


as  the  keel-boats,  and  was  chiefly  used  between  St. 
Louis  and  New  Orleans.  The  barges  sometimes  had 
a  capacity  of  forty  tons.  The  boats  designed  for  the 
Indian  trade  were  of  peculiar  construction,  from 
forty  to  sixty  feet  in  length,  with  low  sides  and  a 
bottom  almost  flat.  Their  narrowness  and  light 
draught  fitted  them  for  swift  or  shallow  water.  In 
ascending  the  river,  the  boatmen,  in  order  to  prevent 
a  useless  expenditure  of  strength,  avoided  the  rapid 
current  of  the  channel  of  the  river  and  sought  the 
slower  water  near  the  shore ;  and  in  order  that  they 
might  approach  close  to  the  bank,  the  boats  were 
constructed  with  a  flat  bottom  and  provided  with 
short  oars.  The  low  side  of  the  boat,  by  bringing 
the  oarlock  nearer  to  the  water,  lessened  the  resist- 
ance, and  consequently  lightened  the  labors  of  the 
rowers.  The  capacity  of  these  boats  varied  from  fif- 
teen thousand  to  twenty-five  thousand  pounds,  and  the 
size  of  the  crew  was  determined  by  the  allowance  of 
one  boatman  for  every  three  thousand  pounds  of 
freight.  The  oarsmen  were  generally  Creoles  and 
French  mulattoes. 

"  The  crookedness  of  the  Mississippi  between  St. 
Louis  and  New  Orleans  necessitated  long  detours. 
In  one  place  a  circuit  of  fifty-four  miles  represented 
an  actual  gain  of  only  five  miles  ;  at  another  point  the 
neck  of  a  bend  thirty  miles  long  was  but  a  mile 
and  a  half  across.  In  ascending  these  bends  the  boats 
always  avoided  the  concave  side  of  the  stream,  for  the 
double  purpose  of  escaping  the  force  of  the  current 
and  the  peril  of  caving  banks.  Large  masses  of  earth 
undermined  by  the  action  of  the  water  sometimes  fell 
suddenly  into  the  river,  and  a  boat  overtaken  by  such 
an  accident  was  in  imminent  danger  of  submersion. 
In  order  to  shun  this  risk,  as  well  as  to  avoid  the  main 
current  of  the  stream,  the  boats  kept  close  to  the  con- 
vex bank  of  the  bends.  The  extreme  crookedness  of 
the  river  necessitated  frequent  crossings,  and  it  has 
been  stated  that  the  number  of  times  a  boat  was  com- 
pelled to  cross  the  Mississippi  in  the  ascent  from  New 
Orleans  to  St.  Louis  was  three  hundred  and  ninety. 
These  crossings,  and  the  distance  that  a  heavily 
freighted  boat  would  be  borne  down  stream  in  going 
from  one  side  to  the  other,  added  nearly  five  hundred 
miles  to  the  length  of  the  voyage.  In  descending  the 
river  the  boatmen  reversed  their  course  of  action,  and 
followed  the  concave  side  of  the  bends  in  order  to 
avail  themselves  of  the  effective  aid  of  the  current. 
In  violent  storms  or  high  winds,  when  it  was  not  safe 
to  move,  the  boats  were  fastened  to  trees  on  the  oppo- 
site bank. 

"  A  voyage  from  St.  Louis  to  New  Orleans  and  re- 
turn occupied  from  four  to  six  months  ;  consequently 


1090 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


only  two  round  trips  could  be  made  in  a  year.  Even 
with  the  assistance  of  sails,  a  row-boat  could  not  make 
the  ascent  in  less  than  seventy  or  eighty  days.  A 
keel-boat  could  be  brought  by  cordelle  from  Louisville 
to  St.  Louis  in  twenty-five  days."1  In  addition  to 
the  use  of  sails  and  oars,  "  warping,"  "  cordelling," 
and  "  poling"  were  employed  as  means  of  propulsion. 
"  In  '  warping'  a  long  rope  was  fastened  to  some  im- 
movable object  on  the  bank,  and  then  the  crew,  stand- 
ing in  the  bow  and  pulling  hand  over  hand,  drew  the 
boat  forward ;  the  hands  of  the  crew  serving  the  pur- 
poses of  a  capstan.  The  progress  was  slow  but  steady. 
In  '  cordelling'  the  crew  walked  along  the  bank  and 
drew  the  boat  after  them  by  means  of  a  rope.  It  was, 
in  fact,  identical  with  canal-boat  navigation,  except 
that  the  motive-power  was  men  instead  of  mules  or 
horses.  '  Poling'  consisted  in  pushing  the  boat  up 
stream  by  the  aid  of  long  poles.  The  men  succes- 
sively took  their  places  at  the  bow,  and  firmly  resting 
their  poles  on  the  bed  of  the  river,  walked  towards 
the  stern  pushing  the  boat  forward.  Whenever  a  man 
reached  the  stern,  he  pulled  up  his  pole  and  ran  rap-  ; 
idly  back  to  resume  his  place  in  the  line.  Hence  the 
spaces  on  each  side  of  the  boat  where  this  con- 
stant circuit  was  going  on  were  called  the  '  running 
boards.' " 2 

The  boatmen  were  a  class  by  themselves,  a  hardy,  | 
adventurous,  muscular  set  of  men,  inured  to  constant 
peril  and  privation,  and  accustomed  to  severe  and  un- 
remitting toil.  For  weeks,  and  even  months  at  a 
time,  they  saw  no  faces  but  those  of  their  companions 
among  the  crew  or  in  some  passing  craft,  and  their 
days  from  dawn  until  dark  were  spent  in  constant 
work  at  the  oars  or  poles,  or  tugging  at  the  rope  either 
in  the  boat  or  on  the  shore,  as  they  were  employed 
either  in  warping  or  cordelling.  At  night,  after 
"  tying  up,"  their  time  was  generally  spent  in  gaming, 
carousing,  story-telling,  etc.,  the  amusements  of  the 
evening  being  varied  not  infrequently  with  a  fisticuff 
encounter. 

The  labor  involved  in  their  occupation  was  of  the 
severest  character,  and  the  constant  and  arduous  ex- 
ercise produced  in  most  of  them  an  extraordinary 
physical  development.  So  intense  was  the  exertion 
usually  required  to  propel  and  guide  the  boat  that  a 
rest  was  necessary  every  hour,  and  from  fourteen  to 
twenty  miles  a  day  was  all  the  progress  that  could  be 
made  against  the  stream.  The  sense  of  physical 
power  which  naturally  accompanied  the  steady  exer-  j 
cise  of  the  muscles  inspired  the  average  boatman  not 
merely  with  insensibility  to  danger,  but  a  bellicoseness 


«f  disposition  which  seems  to  have  been  characteris- 
tic of  his  class.  The  champion  pugilist  of  a  boat 
was  entitled  to  wear  a  red  feather  in  his  cap,  and  this 
badge  of  pre-eminence  was  universally  regarded  as  a 
challenge  to  all  rivals.3 

In  summer  the  boatmen  were  usually  stripped  to 
the  waist,  and  their  bodies,  exposed  to  the  sun,  were 
tanned  to  the  swarthy  hues  of  the  Indian ;  in  winter 
they  were  clothed  in  buckskin  breeches  and  blankets, 
(capots),  a  grotesque  combination  of  French  and  In- 
dian styles  which  gave  their  attire  a  wild  and  peculiar 
aspect.  Their  food  was  of  the  simplest  character. 
"  After  a  hard  day's  toil,"  says  Monette,4  "  at  night 
they  took  their  '  fillee'  or  ration  of  whiskey,  swallowed 
their  homely  supper  of  meat  half  burned  and  bread 
half  baked,  and  retiring  to  sleep  they  stretched  them- 
selves upon  the  deck  without  covering,  under  the  open 
canopy  of  heaven,  or  probably  enveloped  in  a  blanket, 
until  the  steersman's  horn  called  them  to  their  morn- 
ing '  fillee'  and  their  toil. 

"  Hard  and  fatiguing  was  the  life  of  a  boatman, 
yet  it  was  rare  that  any  of  them  ever  changed  his 
vocation.  There  was  a  charm  in  the  excesses,  in  the 
frolics,  and  in  the  fightings  which  they  anticipated 
at  the  end  of  the  voyage  which  cheered  them  on.  Of 
weariness  none  would  complain,  but  rising  from  his 
bed  at  the  first  dawn  of  day,  and  reanimated  by  his 
morning  draught,  he  was  prepared  to  hear  and  obey 
the  wonted  order,  'Stand  to  your  poles  and  set  off!" 
The  boatmen  were  masters  of  the  winding  horn  and  the 
fiddle,  and  as  the  boat  moved  off  from  her  moorings, 
some,  to  cheer  their  labors  or  to  '  scare  off  the  devil 
and  secure  good  luck,'  would  wind  the  animating  blast 
of  the  horn,  which,  mingling  with  the  sweet  music  of 
the  fiddle  and  reverberating  along  the  sounding  shores, 
greeted  the  solitary  dwellers  on  the  banks  with  news 
from  New  Orleans." 

Levity  and  volatility  were  conspicuous  traits  of 
the  boatman's  character,  and  while  he  was  willing  to 
perform  excessive  and  long-continued  labor,  he  would 
render  such  service  only  to  a  "  patroon"  whom  he 
respected.  In  fine,  the  average  keel-boatman  was 
cool,  reckless,  courageous  to  the  verge  of  rashness, 


1  Professor  S.  Waterhouse. 


2  Ibid. 


1  "  Their  athletic  labors  gave  strength  incredible  to  their 
muscles,  which  they  were  vain  to  exhibit,  and  fist-fighting  was 
their  pastime.  He  who  could  boast  that  he  had  never  been 
whipped  was  bound  to  fight  whoever  disputed  his  manhood. 
Keel-boatmen  and  bargemen  looked  upon  flat-boatmen  as  their 
natural  enemies,  and  a  meeting  was  th«*  prelude  to  a  '  battle- 
royal.'  They  were  great  sticklers  for  '  fair  play,'  and  whoso- 
ever was  worsted  in  battle  must  bide  the  issue  without  assist- 
ance."— Monette's  History  of  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi, 
p.  20. 

4  Ibid.,  pp.  19  and  20. 


NAVIGATION   ON   THE   MISSISSIPPI   RIVER. 


1091 


and  pugnacious,  but,  notwithstanding  certain  grave 
shortcomings,  an  unmitigated  hater  of  all  the  darker 
shades  of  sin  and  wrong-doing,  such  as  stealing,  rob- 
bing, and  murdering  for  plunder,  crimes  that  in  his 
day  were  frequently  and  boldly  perpetrated  along  the 
sparsely-settled  banks  and  at  lonely  islands  of  the 
Ohio  and  Mississippi  Rivers. 

"  The  departure  of  a  boat  was  an  important  inci- 
dent in  the  uneventful  village  life  of  St.  Louis.  On 
such  occasions  it  was  customary  for  their  friends  to 
assemble  on  the  banks  to  bid  adieu  to  the  voyageurs. 
Sometimes  half  the  population  of  the  village  was 
present  to  tender  their  wishes  for  a  prosperous  trip. 

"  For  years  it  was  believed  that  no  keel-boat,  could 
ascend  the  Missouri.  The  rapidity  of  the  current 
was  supposed  to  be  an  insuperable  obstacle  to  naviga- 
tion by  such  craft.  The  doubt  was  settled  by  the 
enterprise  of  George  Sarpy,  who  sent  a  keel-boat 
under  Capt.  Labrosse  to  try  the  difficult  experi- 
ment of  ascending  the  Missouri.  The  success  of  the 
undertaking  marked  a  signal  advance  in  Western 
navigation,  and  supplied  the  merchants  of  St.  Louis 
with  new  facilities  for  the  transportation  of  their 
goods,"  1  while  it  also  greatly  extended  the  operations 
of  the  boatmen  and  increased  their  numbers. 

Of  the  keel-boatmen,  when  classed  by  nativity,  the 
Kentuckians  bore  the  most  unenviable  reputation,  on 
account  of  the  fact  that  they  were  generally  charac- 
terized by  excessive  recklessness  and  bellicoseness, 
and  we  are  told  so  gloomy  was  the  reputation  of  the 
Kentuckians  that  travelers  were  liable  at  every  place 
(except  the  miserable  wayside  taverns)  to  have  the 
door  shut  in  their  face  on  applying  for  refreshments 
or  a  night's  lodgings.  Nor  would  any  plea  or  cir- 
cumstance alter  the  decided  refusal  of  the  master  or 
mistress,  unless  it  might  be  the  uncommonly  genteel 
appearance  and  the  equipage  of  the  traveler. 

For  a  similar  reason,  possibly,  badly-built  boats, 
with  poor  or  injured  plank  in  their  bottoms,  which 
had  been  sold  to  unsuspecting  or  inexperienced  per- 
sons, were  known  as  "  Kentucky  boats/' 

"  In  1807,"  says  a  writer  on  "  Early  Navigators" 
in  a  St.  Louis  newspaper,  "  a  Mr.  Winchester's  boat 
struck  a  rock  in  the  Ohio,  below  Pittsburgh  a  short 
distance,  and  one  of  her  bottom  planks  being  badly 
stove  in,  she  sunk  immediately,  having  on  board  a 
valuable  cargo  of  dry-goods.  The  proprietor,  not 
being  with  the  boat  at  the  time,  conceived,  when 
informed  of  the  disaster,  that  it  had  been  caused  by 
carelessness  of  the  person  to  whom  he  had  intrusted 
the  boat  and  cargo,  and  brought  suit  against  him  for 

1  Professor  Waterhouse. 


damages;  and  indeed  it  was  somewhat  evident,  from 
all  that  could  be  ascertained,  that  the  patroon  had  no 
business  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  rock,  and  could 
and  should  have  avoided  it.  The  defendant's  position 
was  rather  gloomy,  but  his  resources  proved  equal  to 
the  emergency.  The  suit  was  before  (Dr.)  Justice 
Richardson,  of  Pittsburgh,  who  himself  had  had  some 
sad  experiences  with  Kentucky  boats.  The  defendant 
knowing  or  being  informed  of  this,  hired  two  men, 
went  down  to  the  wreck,  and  with  some  difficulty 
procured  several  pieces  of  the  plank  that  had  given 
way.  On  the  day  of  trial,  after  the  plaintiff  had,  as 
every  one  present  thought,  fully  established  his  charges 
and  demands,  the  justice  asked  the  defendant  if  he  had 
any  rebutting  evidence  to  offer.  '  Yes,  your  Honor,'  he 
replied,  '  I  have ;'  and  reaching  down  under  his  seat, 
he  drew  out  the  pieces  of  plank  aforementioned  and 
said,  '  I  have  no  evidence  to  offer,  your  Honor,  ex- 
cept these  pieces,  which  I  can  prove  to  your  Honor 
are  part  of  the  same  plank,  the  breaking  of  which 
caused  the  boat  to  sink,  which,  I  say,  would  not  have 
occurred  if  the  plank  had  been  reasonably  sound. 
Look  at  them  !  Your  Honor  will  see  that  it  was  my 
misfortune  to  have  been  placed  in  charge  of  one  of 
these  d — d  Kentucky  boats.'  Without  in  any  way 
noticing  the  blasphemous  expression,  the  justice  ex- 
amined the  pieces,  which  proved  to  be  thoroughly 
rotten  and  defective,  unfit  to  be  put  anywhere,  much 
less  in  the  bottom  of  a  boat.  After  hearing  from  the 
defendant's  helpers  that  these  pieces  were  taken  from 
the  boat  in  question,  at  the  identical  place  where  she 
had  broken,  the  court  delivered  its  mind  as  follows : 
'  This  court  had  the  misfortune  once  to  place  a  valu- 
able cargo  on  a  Kentucky  boat,  not  knowing  it  to  be 
such,  which  sunk  and  went  down  in  seventeen  feet  of 
water,  this  court  verily  believed,  by  coming  in  contact 
with  the  head  of  a  yellow-bellied  catfish,  there  being 
no  snag,  rock,  or  other  obstruction  near  her  at  the 
time ;  and  this  court,  being  satisfied  of  the  premises 
in  this  cause,  doth  order  that  the  same  be  dismissed 
at  plaintiff's  costs,  to  have  included  therein  the  ex- 
penses of  the  defendant  in  going  to  and  returning 
from  the  wreck,  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  such 
damnable  and  irrefutable  evidence  as  this  bottom 
plank  has  furnished.'  And  the  bottom  plank  was 
deemed  proof  so  conclusive,  and  the  prejudice  against 
Kentucky  boats  in  the  public  mind  was  so  extended 
and  settled,  that  it  was  thought  inadvisable  to  urge 
the  suit  any  further." 

Besides  the  ordinary  dangers  of  the  treacherous  cur- 
rents, "  cave-ins,"  shoals  and  snags  of  the  Mississippi, 
and  occasional  assaults  from  prowling  savages,  the 
early  boatmen  were  often  called  upon  to  face  the  more 


1092 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


serious  peril  of  an  attack  by  river  pirates.  "  Many  a 
boatload  of  costly  merchandise  intended  for  the  ware- 
houses of  St.  Louis  never  reached  its  destination.  The 
misdeeds  of  the  robbers  were  not  always  limited  to  the 
seizure  of  goods.  The  proof  of  rapine  was  often  ex- 
tinguished by  the  murder  of  the  witnesses.  The  caves 
of  the  pirates  were  rich  with  the  spoils  of  a  plundered 
commerce,  and  the  depredations  became  more  frequent 
in  proportion  to  the  impunity  with  which  they  were 
committed.  At  last  the  interruption  of  trade  became 
so  grave  and  the  danger  to  life  so  imminent  that  the 
Governor-General  of  Louisiana  was  constrained  to  take 
more  effective  steps  for  the  suppression  of  the  bandits. 
An  official  order  excluding  single  boats  from  the  Mis- 
sissippi granted  the  privilege  of  navigation  only  to 
flotillas  that  were  strong  enough  to  repel  their  assail- 
ants. The  plan  succeeded  and  the  pirates  were  ulti- 
mately driven  from  their  haunts.  The  arrival  at  St. 
Louis  in  1788  of  the  flotilla  of  ten  boats  was  a  memor- 
able occasion  in  the  annals  of  the  village."  1 

The  arrival  of  this  flotilla  gave  the  name  of  "  tan- 
n6e  des  dix  bateaux"  to  the  year  1788,  which  was 
the  last  year  of  Don  Francisco  Cruzat's  second  ad- 
ministration. In  the  year  before,  M.  Beausoliel,  a 
New  Orleans  merchant,  had  been  captured  by  pirates 
near  the  island  that  still  bears  his  name,  and  subse- 
quently escaping,  recaptured  his  boat  and  killed  the 
pirates.  He  then  returned  to  New  Orleans  and  re- 
ported his  experience  to  the  Governor,  who  thereupon 
issued  the  order  already,  referred  to  that  all  boats 
bound  for  St.  Louis  the  following  spring  should  sail 
together  for  mutual  protection.  This  was  carried  out, 
and  the  flotilla  "  des  dix  bateaux"  made  the  voyage, 
capturing  at  Cottonwood  Creek  the  camp  and  supplies 
of  the  pirates,  with  a  valuable  assortment  of  miscel- 
laneous plunder  which  had  been  taken  from  many 
boats  on  previous  occasions. 

"  In  an  advertisement  published  in  1794  the  patrons 
of  a  special  line  of  boats  were  assured  of  their  safety. 
The  statements  which  were  made  to  allay  apprehen- 
sions showed  that  the  fear  of  pirates  was  not  then 
groundless.  A  large  crew  skillful  in  the  use  of  arms, 
a  plentiful  supply  of  muskets  and  ammunition,  an 
equipment  on  each  boat  of  six  one-pound  cannon  and 
a  loop-holed  rifle-proof  cabin  for  the  passengers  were 
the  means  of  defense  provided,  on  which  were  based 
the  hopes  of  security.  So  formidable  an  array  of 
weapons  was  not  well  calculated  to  inspire  timid  na- 
tures with  confidence  in  the  safety  of  the  voyage."  2 

The  boatmen  were  very  active  and  energetic  in 
rooting  out  the  nests  of  pirates,  and  not  infrequently 


1  Professor  Waterhouse. 


* Ibid. 


administered  lynch-law  in  summary  fashion.  One  of 
the  most  sanguinary  incidents  of  this  character  was 
that  which  occurred  in  1809. 

Island  94  (called  Stack  Island,  or  Crows'  Nest), 
one  hundred  and  seventy  miles  above  Natchez,  was 
notorious  for  many  years  for  being  a  den  for  the  ren- 
dezvous of  a  gang  of  horse- thieves,  counterfeiters, 
robbers,  and  murderers.     It  was  a  small  island  located 
in  the  middle  of  Nine-Mile  Reach.     From  hence  they 
would  sally  forth,  stop  passing  boats,  and  murder  the 
crew,  or  if  this  appeared  impracticable,  would  buy  their 
horses,  flour,  whiskey,  etc.,  and  pay  for  them.     Their 
villanies  became  notorious,  and  several  years'  pursuit 
by  the  civil  law  officers  failed  to  produce  any  results 
in  the  way  of  punishment  or  eradication.     But  they 
were  at  length  made  to  disappear  by  an  application  of 
lynch-law  from  several  keel-boat  crews.    The  full  his- 
tory of  this  affair  has  never  been  fully  unfolded,  and 
perhaps  never  will  be,  but  for  terrible  retribution  and 
complete  annihilation,  outside  of  any  authorized  de- 
crees, it  never  had  its  equal  in  any  administration  of 
lynch-law,  the  recitals  of  which  cast  so  many  shadows 
on  the  annals  of  the  West  and  South.     The  autumn 
and  winter  immediately  preceding  the  month  of  April, 
1809,  had  been  marked  by  numerous  atrocities  on  the 
part  of  the   bandits    of  the    Crows'   Nest.     Several 
boats  and  their  entire  crews  had  disappeared  at  that 
point,  and  no  traces  could  be  found  of  them  afterward. 
The  country  around  and  up  and  down  the  river  had 
been  victimized  and  robbed  in  almost  every  conceiv- 
able form  by  depredators  whose  movements  could  be 
satisfactorily  traced   as  tending   towards   the   Crows' 
Nest.     In   that  month   it  occurred  that  seven  keel- 
boats  were  concentrated  at  the  head  of  Nine-Mile 
Reach,  within  speaking  distance  of  each  other,  being 
detained    by  heavy  contrary  winds.     The    crews    of 
these  were  well  informed  as  to  the  villanies  of  those 
who  harbored  on  the  little  island  a  few  miles  below 
them.     Many  of  them  had  friends  and  old  comrades 
who  were  known  to  have  been  on  the  missing  boats. 
By  what  means  it  was  brought  about,  at  whose  sug- 
gestion or  influence  was  never  made  known,  but  one 
dark  night,  a  few  hours  before   daylight,  eighty  or 
ninety  men  from  these  wind-bound  craft,  well  armed, 
descended  silently  in  their  small  boats  to  the  Crows' 
Nest  and  surprised  its  occupants,  whom  they  secured 
after  a  short  encounter,  in  which  two  of  the  boatmen 
were   wounded    and   several  of   the   robbers   killed. 
Nineteen  men,  a  boy  of  fifteen,  and  two  women  were 
thus  captured.     Shortly  after  sunrise  the  boy  (on  ac- 
count of  his  extreme  youth)  and  the  two  women  were 
allowed  to  depart.     What  was  the  manner  of  punish- 
ment meted  out  to  the  men,  whether  shot  or  hanged, 


NAVIGATION   ON   THE   MISSISSIPPI   RIVER. 


1093 


was  never  ascertained  with  any  degree  of  certainty. 
None  but  the  boatmen,  the  boy,  and  the  two  women, 
however,  ever  left  the  island  alive,  and  by  twelve 
o'clock  noon  the  crews  were  back  to  their  boats,  and 
the  wind  having  calmed  the  night  previous  they 
shoved  out,  and  by  sunset  were  far  down  the  river 
and  away  from  the  scene  of  the  indisputably  just 
though  unlawful  retribution.  Two  years  afterward 
came  the  terrible  earthquake,  which,  with  the  floods 
of  1811-13,  destroyed  every  vestige  of  the  Crows' 
Nest,  leaving  nothing  of  it  to  be  seen  but  a  low  sand- 
bar, and  with  it  passed  away  from  public  sight  and 
mind  all  signs  of  its  bandits,  their  crimes,  and  the 
awful  doom  that  befell  them. 

Some  years  later  a  new  type  of  river  desperadoes 
appeared,  who,  if  tradition  and  history  do  not  greatly 
belie  them,  were  not  much  more  exemplary  in  their  con- 
duct than  the  pirates  and  buccaneers  who  preceded 
them.  "  Mike"  Fink  in  particular,  the  model  hero  of 
the  Mississippi  boatmen,  who  has  figured  on  the  pages  of 
popular  romance,  was  a  ruffian  of  surpassing  strength 
and  courage.  His  rifle  was  unerring,  and  his  con- 
science was  as  easy  and  accommodating  as  a  man  in 
his  line  of  business  could  wish.  His  earliest  vocation 
was  that  of  a  boatman,  but  he  had  belonged  to  a  com- 
pany of  government  spies  or  scouts  whose  duty  it  was 
to  watch  the  movements  of  the  Indians  on  the  fron- 
tier. At  that  time  Pittsburgh  was  on  the  extreme 
verge  of  the  white  population,  and  the  spies,  who  were 
constantly  employed,  generally  extended  their  recon- 
noissances  forty  or  fifty  miles  west  of  that  place. 
Going  out  singly  and  living  in  Indian  style,  they  as- 
similated themselves  to  the  habits,  tastes,  and  feelings 
of  the  Indians.  In  their  border  warfare  the  scalp  of 
a  Shawnee  was  esteemed  about  as  valuable  as  the  skin 
of  a  panther.  "  Mike"  Fink,  tiring  of  this  after  a 
while,  returned  to  the  water  life,  and  engrafting  sev- 
eral other  occupations  on  that  of  the  boatman,  put  all 
mankind,  except  his  friends  and  employer,  to  whom 
he  was  honest  and  faithful,  under  contribution,  and 
became  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a  freebooter. 
"  Mike,"  haying  murdered  "  Joe"  Stevens,  was  killed 
by  one  of  Joe's  brothers.  James  Girty,  another  of  the 
famous  Mississippi  boatmen,  was  represented  as  a 
"  natural  prodigy,"  not  "  constructed  like  ordinary 
men,  for,  instead  of  ribs,  bountiful  nature  had  pro- 
vided him  with  a  solid  bony  casing  on  both  sides, 
without  any  interstices  through  which  a  knife,  dirk, 
or  bullet  could  penetrate."  He  possessed  amazing 
muscular  power,  and  courage  in  proportion,  and  his 
great  boast  was  that  he  had  "  never  been  whipped." l 


Lloyd's  Steamboat  Directory,  p.  38. 


The  trade  conducted  by  these  boats  was  of  consid- 
erable proportions.  As  early  as  1802  the  annual  ex- 
ports of  the  Mississippi  valley  amounted  to  $2,160,000, 
and  the  imports  to  $2,500,000.  Up  to  1804  the 
annual  value  of  the  fur  trade  of  Upper  Louisiana 
amounted  to  $203,750.  The  province  then  exported 
lead,  salt,  beef,  and  pork,  and  received  Indian  goods 
from  Canada,  domestics  from  Philadelphia  and  Bal- 
timore, groceries  from  New  Orleans,  and  hardware 
from  the  Ohio  River. 

Short  notices  in  the  newspapers  of  that  day,  an- 
nouncing, "  Wanted  to  freight,  from  this  place  to 
Louisville,  about  sixteen  hundredweight,  apply  at 
the  printing-office," 2  or  (;  thirteen  boatmen  are  wanted 
to  navigate  a  few  boats  to  New  Orleans,  to  start  about 
the  15th  of  next  month  ;  the  customary  wages  will  be 
given,"3  or  that  "  the  barge  '  Scott'  will  start  from  St. 
Louis  on  the  1st  of  March,  and  will  take  freight  for 
Louisville  or  Frankfort,  in  Kentucky,  on  reasonable 
terms,  apply  to  John  Steele,"4are  too  laconic  to  more 
than  indicate  the  existence  of  a  commerce,  without 
affording  any  reliable  data  of  its  dimensions  or  the 
appliances  by  which  it  was  carried  on.5 

8  Minsouri  Gazette,  July  5,  1809. 

»  Ibid.,  Aug.  30,  1809. 

«  Ibid.,  Dec.  22,  1809. 

5  "  FREIGHT  FROM  NEW  ORLEANS  TO  KASKASKIA  IN  1741. — 
We  doubt  whether  so  unique  or  so  old  a  bill  of  lading  can  be 
found  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  as  that  which  follows. 
It  is  a  translation  from  a  bill  of  sale  executed  the  18th  of  May, 
1741,  by  Barois,  notary  in  Kaskaskia.  What  would  our  steam- 
boatmen  say  now  at  receiving  such  a  price  for  an  old  salt-kettle, 
when  they  are  in  the  practice  of  transporting  one  thousand  to 
twelve  hundred  tons  of  goods  between  the  ports  of  New  Orleans 
and  St.  Louis,  and  are  in  a  very  bad  humor  if  by  chance  they 
fail  to  make  the  trip  in  six  days  ?  '  And  has  been  further  agreed 
that  said  Mettager  promises  to  deliver  to  said  Bienvena,  at  the 
landing-place  of  this  town  of  Kaskaskia,  at  his  own  risks,  the 
fortunes  of  war  excepted,  an  iron  kettle,  weighing  about  two 
hundred  and  ninety  pounds,  used  for  the  manufacture  of  salt, 
and  which  said  Bienvena  owns  in  New  Orleans,  and  said  Bien- 
vena promises  to  pay  to  said  Mettager,  for  his  salary  and 
freight,  after  the  delivery  of  said  kettle,  a  steer  in  good  order, 
three  bushels  of  salt,  two  hundred  pounds  of  bacon,  and  twenty 
bushels  of  Indian  corn,  under  the  penalty  of  all  costs,  etc.' " — 
Republican,  Nov.  30,  1850. 

PETER  PROVENCHERE'S  BILL  OP  LADING. 

Shipped  by   Peter  Provenchere,  of  the  town  of  St.  Louis, 

merchant,  on  board  the  boat  "  J.  Maddison,"  whereof  Charles 

Quirey  is  master,  now  lying  at  the  landing  before  the  town  of 

St.  Louis  and  ready  immediately  to  depart  for  Louisville,  Ky. 

F.  T.       Six  packs  of  deer-skins,  marked  and  numbered  as  per 

margin,  and  a  barrel  of  bear-oil,  containing  about  thirty  - 

96     two  gallons,  all  in  good  order  and  well  conditioned,  which 

I  promise  to  deliver  in  like  good  order  and  condition 

99     (unavoidable  accident  excepted)  unto  Mr.  Francis  Tar- 

ascon,  merchant,  Louisville,  or  to  his  assigns. 
109         And,  moreover,  I  acknowledge  to  have  of  the  said 
Peter   Provenchere  a  note  of  Peter  Menard  on   Louis 


1094 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


At  the  period  of  the  introduction  of  steam  upon 
the  Mississippi,  1817,  the  whole  commerce  from  New 
Orleans  to  the  upper  country  was  transported  in  about 
twenty  barges  of  an  average  of  one  hundred  tons  each, 
and  making  but  one  trip  in  a  year.  The  number  of 
keel-boats  on  the  Ohio  was  estimated  at  one  hundred 
and  sixty,  carrying  thirty  tons  each.  The  whole 
tonnage  was  estimated  at  between  six  thousand  and 
seven  thousand. 

The  advent  of  steam,  of  course,  superseded  the  use 
of  the  keel-boat,  and  the  picturesque  features  of  the 
earlier  navigation  passed  away.  In  the  presence  of 
the  mighty  energy  which  has  revolutionized  the  com- 
merce of  the  world,  the  warp  and  cordelle,  the  pole 
and  running-board  forever  disappeared  from  the  bosom 
of  the  Mississippi. 

"  The  commerce  of  St.  Louis  had  humble  begin- 
nings. The  facilities  for  transportation  were  limited 
to  the  rudest  row-boats,  but  in  course  of  time  there 
has  grown  from  the  birch  canoe  a  vast  inland  fleet, 
which  in  1880  bore  to  the  port  of  St.  Louis  about 
two  million  tons  of  merchandise." 1 

Steamboating. — In  "  The  First  Steamboat  Voyage 
on  the  Western  Waters,"  John  H.  B.  Latrobe  says, 
"  Whether  steam  could  be  employed  on  the  West- 
ern rivers  was  a  question  that  its  success  between  New 
York  and  Albany  was  not  regarded  as  having  entirely 
solved,  and  after  the  idea  had  been  suggested  of 
building  a  boat  at  Pittsburgh,  to  ply  between  Natchez 
and  New  Orleans,  it  was  considered  necessary  that 
investigations  should  be  made  as  to  the  currents  of 
the  rivers  to  be  navigated  in  regard  to  the  new  sys- 
tem." These  investigations  were  undertaken  by  Nich- 
olas J.  Roosevelt,  who  repairing  in  May,  1809,  to 
Pittsburgh,  there  constructed  a  flat-boat  in  which  he 
proceeded  to  New  Orleans  for  the  purpose  of  studying 
and  investigating  the  new  conditions  of  navigation  to 
which  the  steam  system  was  about  to  be  subjected. 
These  investigations  proved  entirely  satisfactory,  not 

! 

111  Lorimier,  inhabitant  of  Cape  Girardeau,  for  one  thou- 
sand pounds  of  reeeiptable  deer-skins,  the  said  note 

112  transferred  to  my  order,  and  I  bind  and  engage  myself 
to  ask  of  the  said  Louis  Lorimier  the  payment  of  the  j 

113  said  note,  and  if  I  reclaim  it  to  deliver  to  the  said  Fran-  | 
cis  Tarascon  or  assign   the  thousand  pounds  of  deer-   j 
skins,  together  with  the  six  packs  and  the  barrel  now 
received,  and  in  case  of  no  payment  to  return  the  note 
to  Mr.  Tarascon,  he  or  they  paying  freight. 

In  witness  whereof  I  have  set  my  hand  to  three  bills  of  lading, 
all  of  the  same  tenor  and  date,  one  being  accomplished,  the  others 
null  and  void. 

CHARLES  QUIREY. 
Test,  WILLIAM  C.  CARR. 
St.  Louis,  the  8th,  A.D.  1809. 

1  Professor  Waterhouse. 


only  to  Mr.  Roosevelt  but  also  to  Messrs.  Fulton  and 
Livingston,  who  were  to  furnish  the  capital,  and  Mr. 
Roosevelt  in  1811  took  up  his  residence  in  Pittsburgh, 
to  superintend  the  construction  of  the  boat  and  engine 
that  were  to  open  the  Western  waters  to  the  new  sys- 
tem of  steam  navigation. 

The  "  New  Orleans"  was  the  first  steamboat  con- 
structed on  Western  waters.  She  was  one  hundred 
and  sixteen  feet  in  length,  with  twenty  feet  beam,  and 
her  engine  had  a  thirty-four-inch  cylinder,  with  boiler 
and  other  parts  in  proportion.  She  was  about  four 
hundred  tons  burden,  and  cost  in  the  neighborhood 
of  thirty-eight  thousand  dollars.  There  were  two 
cabins,  one  aft  for  ladies,  and  a  larger  one  forward  for 
gentlemen.  The  ladies'  cabin,  which  was  comfortably 
furnished,  contained  four  berths.  The  "  New  Orleans" 
was  launched  in  March,  1811  ;  left  Pittsburgh  in 
October  of  the  same  year;  passed  Cincinnati  October 
27th,  and  reached  Louisville  the  next  day,  in  sixty- 
four  hours'  running  time  from  Pittsburgh.  The  water 
was  too  low  for  her  to  cross  the  falls,  and  while  at 
Louisville  waiting  for  sufficient  water  she  made  several 
short  excursions.  She  also  made  one  trip  to  Cincin- 
nati, arriving  there  in  forty-five  hours'  running  time 
from  Louisville,  Nov.  27,  1811.  While  here  she 
made  an  excursion  trip  to  Columbia,  charging  one  dol- 
lar per  head.  Shortly  afterward,  the  river  rising,  she 
left  this  place  for  New  Orleans,  December,  1811. 
Her  voyage  down  the  river  was  perilous  in  the  ex- 
treme, as  shortly  after  leaving  Louisville  the  great 
earthquakes  began.  She  ran  between  Natchez  and 
New  Orleans,  her  trips  averaging  about  three  weeks. 
July  13,  1814,  she  landed  on  her  upward  voyage  two 
miles  above  Baton  Rouge,  on  the  opposite  side,  and 
spent  the  night  taking  in  wood,  the  night  being  thought 
too  dark  to  run  with  safety.  At  daylight  the  next 
morning  she  got  up  steam,  and  on  starting  the  engine 
it  was  found  she  would  not  move  ahead,  but  kept 
swinging  around.  The  water  had  fallen  during  the 
night,  and  the  captain  found  she  was  resting  on 
a  stump.  An  anchor  was  put  out  on  her  starboard 
quarter,  and  by  the  aid  of  her  capstan  she  was  soon 
hove  off;  but  on  clearing  her  it  was  discovered  she 
had  sprunk  a  leak  and  was  sinking  rapidly.  She  was 
immediately  run  into  the  bank  and  tied  fast,  but  sunk 
so  rapidly  her  passengers  had  barely  time  to  get  off 
with  their  baggage.* 


4  The  "Navigator,"  an  old  and  rare  book  printed  at  Pittsburgh, 
Pa.,  in  the  early  part  of  this  century,  records  many  interest- 
ing facts  concerning  the  '•  early  navigators."  From  this  source 
we  learn  something  of  the  expenses  and  profits  of  the  "  New 
Orleans"  when  a  packet  between  Natchez  and  New  Orleans. 
This  old  chronicle  says,  "  Her  accommodations  are  good  and 


NAVIGATION   ON   THE   MISSISSIPPI  RIVER. 


1095 


The  history  of  the  early  steamboats  following  the 
"  New  Orleans"  will  be  found  interesting,  as  showing 


her  passengers  generally  numerous,  seldom  less  from  Natchez 
than  from  ten  to  twenty,  at  eighteen  dollars  per  head,  and  when 
she  starts  from  New  Orleans  generally  from  thirty  to  fifty,  and 
sometimes  as  many  as  eight}7  passengers,  at  twenty-five  dollars 
each  to  Natchez.  According  to  the  observations  of  Capt. 
Morris,  of  New  Orleans,  who  attended  her  as  pilot  several  trips, 
the  boat's  receipts  for  freight,  upwards,  have  averaged  the  last 
year  seven  hundred  dollars,  passenger  money  nine  hundred 
dollars;  downward,  three  hundred  dollars  for  freight,  five  hun- 
dred for  passengers.  She  performs  thirteen  trips  in  the  year, 
which,  at  two  thousand  four  hundred  dollars  per  trip,  amount 
to  thirty-one  thousand  two  hundred  dollars.  Her  expenses 
are,  twelve  hands  at  twenty  dollars  per  month,  four  thou- 
sand three  hundred  and  twenty  dollars  ;  captain,  one  thousand 
dollars ;  seventy  cords  of  wood  each  trip,  at  one  dollar  and 
seventy-five  cents,  which  amounts  to  one  thousand  five  hundred 
and  eighty-six  dollars;  in  all  six  thousand  nine  hundred 
and  six  dollars.  It  is  presumed  that  the  boat's  extra  trips 
for  pleasure  or  otherwise,  out  of  her  usual  route  trade,  have  paid 
for  all  the  expenses  of  repairs,  and  with  the  profits  of  the  bar- 
room, for  the  boat's  provisions,  in  which  case  there  will  remain 
a  net  gain  of  twenty-four  thousand  two  hundred  and  ninety- 
four  dollars  for  the  first  year  The  owners  estimate  the  boat's 
value  at  forty  thousand  dollars,  which  gives  an  interest  of  two 
thousand  four  hundred  dollars ;  and  by  giving  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  ninety-four  dollars  more  for  furniture,  etc., 
we  have  the  clear  gain  of  twenty  thousand  dollars  for  the  first 
year's  labor  of  the  steamboat  '  New  Orleans.' 

"  The  steamboat  goes  up  in  about  seven  or  eight  days,  and  de-  j 
scends  in  two  or  three,  stopping  several  times  for  freight,  passen- 
gers, etc.     She  stays  at  the  extremes  of  her  journey,  Natchez 
and  New  Orleans,  about  four  or  five  days  to  discharge  and  take 
in  loading." 

The  first  sea-vessel  on  the  Western  waters  was  a  brig  called 
the  "St.  Clair,"  one  hundred  and  twenty  tons  burden,  built  at 
Marietta,  Ohio,  by  Commodore  Preble,  in  1798  or '99,  who  went 
down  the  rivers  in  her  to  New  Orleans,  from  thence  to  Havana 
and  Philadelphia,  and  at  the  latter  port  he  sold  her.  From 
1799  to  1805  there  were  built  at  Pittsburgh  four  ships,  three 
brigs,  and  several  schooners,  but  misfortunes  and  accidents 
happening  to  most  of  them  in  going  down  the  rivers  to  the  gulf, 
ship-building  at  Pittsburgh  and  the  upper  Ohio  went  into  a 
decline,  until  revived  some  years  after  in  the  shape  of  steam- 
boat architecture.  One  of  these  ships  took  out  her  clearance 
papers  at  Pittsburgh  for  Leghorn,  Italy,  and  in  illustrating 
the  commercial  habits  and  enterprise  of  the  American  people, 
Henry  Clay,  in  a  speech  in  Congress,  related  the  following 
anecdote  about  her  :  When  the  vessel  arrived  at  Leghorn,  the 
captain  presented  his  papers  to  the  custom  officer  there, 
but  he  would  not  credit  them,  and  said  to  the  master,  "  Sir, 
your  papers  are  forged,  there  is  no  such  place  as  Pittsburgh  in 
the  world,  your  vessel  must  be  confiscated."  The  trembling 
captain  asked  if  he  had  a  map  of  the  United  States,  which  he 
fortunately  had,  and  produced,  and  the  captain,  taking  the 
officer's  finger,  put  it  down  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi, 
then  led  it  a  thousand  miles  up  that  river,  and  thence  another 
thousand  up  to  Pittsburgh,  and  said,  "  There,  sir,  is  the  port 
whence  my  vessel  cleared  from."  The  astonished  officer,  who, 
before  he  saw  the  map,  would  as  soon  have  believed  the  vessel 
had  been  navigated  from  the  moon,  exclaimed,  "  I  knew  that 
America  could  show  many  wonderful  things,  but  a  fresh-water 
seaport  is  something  I  never  dreamed  of." 


how  quickly  the  innovation  made  itself  felt,  and  how 
speedily  the  new  system  obliterated  the  old. 

The  second  boat  was  the  "  Comet,"  of  twenty-five 
tons,  owned  by  Samuel  Smith,  built  at  Pittsburgh  by 
Daniel  French  ;  stern-wheel  and  vibrating  cylinder, 
French's  patent  granted  in  1809.  The  "  Comet" 
made  a  voyage  to  Louisville  in  1813,  and  to  New 
Orleans  in  the  spring  of  1814 ;  made  two  trips  to 
Natchez,  and  was  sold,  the  engine  being  put  up  on  a 
plantation  to  drive  a  cotton-gin.  Third  boat,  the 
"  Vesuvius,"  three  hundred  and  forty  tons,  built  at 
Pittsburgh  by  Robert  Fulton,  and  owned  by  a  com- 
pany belonging  to  New  York  and  New  Orleans ;  left 
Pittsburgh  for  New  Orleans  in  the  spring  of  1814, 
commanded  by  Capt.  Frank  Ogden.  She  started 
from  New  Orleans,  bound  for  Louisville,  the  1st  of 
June,  1814,  and  grounded  on  a  bar  seven  hundred  miles 
up  the  Mississippi,  where  she  lay  until  the  3d  of  De- 
cember, when  the  river  rose  and  she  floated  off.  She 
returned  to  New  Orleans,  where  she  ran  aground  the 
second  time  on  the  batture,  where  she  lay  until  the 
1st  of  March,  when  the  river  rose  and  floated  her  off. 
She  was  then  employed  some  months  between  New 
Orleans  and  Natchez,  under  the  command  of  Capt. 
Clemment,  who  was  succeeded  by  Capt.  John  De- 
Hart.  Shortly  after  she  took  fire  near  New  Orleans 
and  burned  to  the  water's  edge,  having  a  valuable 
cargo  aboard.  The  fire  was  supposed  to  have  been 
communicated  from  the  boiler,  which  was  in  the  hold. 
The  bottom  was  raised  and  built  upon  at  New  Or- 
leans, and  she  went  into  the  Louisville  trade,  but  was 
soon  after  sold  to  a  company  at  Natchez.  On  ex- 
amination subsequent  to  the  sale  she  was  pronounced 
unfit  for  use,  was  libeled  by  her  commander,  and  sold 
at  public  auction.  Fourth  boat,  the  "  Enterprise," 
forty-five  tons,  built  at  Brownsville,  Pa., -by  Daniel 
French,  under  his  patent,  and  owned  by  a  company  at 
that  place,  made  two  trips  to  Louisville  in  the  summer 
of  1814,  under  the  command  of  Capt.  J.  Gregg. 
On  the  1st  of  December  she  took  in  a  cargo  of  ord- 
nance stores  at  Pittsburgh,  and  left  for  New  Orleans, 
commanded  by  Capt.  Henry  M.  Shreve,  and  ar- 
rived at  New  Orleans  on  the  14th  of  the  same  month. 
She  was  then  dispatched  up  the  river  in  search  of  two 
keel-boats  laden  with  small-arms  which  had  been 
delayed  on  the  river.  She  got  twelve  miles  above 
Natchez,  where  she  met  the  keels,  took  their  masters 
and  cargoes  on  board,  and  returned  to  New  Orleans, 
having  been  but  six  and  a  half  days  absent,  in  which 
time  she  ran  six  hundred  and  twenty-four  miles. 
She  was  then  for  some  time  actively  employed  in 
transporting  troops.  She  made  one  trip  to  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico  as  a  cartel,  and  one  trip  to  the  rapids  of  the 


1096 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


Red  River  with  troops,  and  nine  voyages  to  Natchez. 
She  left  New  Orleans  for  Pittsburgh  on  the  6th  of 
May,  and  arrived  at  Shippingport  on  the  30th,  twenty- 
five  days  out,  being  the  first  boat  that  ever  arrived  at 
that  port  from  New  Orleans.  She  then  proceeded  on 
to  Pittsburgh,  and  the  command  was  given  to  D. 
Worley,  who  lost  her  in  Rock  Harbor,  at  Shipping- 
port.  Fifth  boat,  the  "  ^tna,"  three  hundred  and 
forty  tons,  built  at  Pittsburgh,  and  owned  by  the  same 
company  as  the  "  Vesuvius,"  left  Pittsburgh  for  New 
Orleans  in  March,  1815,  under  the  command  of  Capt. 
A.  Gale,  and  arrived  at  that  port  in  April  follow- 
ing ;  was  placed  in  the  Natchez  trade ;  was  then 
placed  under  the  command  of  Capt.  Robinson  De 
Hart,  who  made  six  trips  on  her  to  Louisville. 

The  sixth  boat  was  the  "  Zebulon  M.  Pike,"1  built 
by  Mr.  Prentiss  at  Henderson,  Ky.,  on  the  Ohio 
River,  in  1815.  The  "  Pike"  deserves  special  men- 
tion, as  she  was  the  first  steamboat  to  ascend  the 
Mississippi  above  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  and  the  first 
to  touch  at  St.  Louis.  Her  first  trip  was  made  in  the 
spring  of  1815  to  Louisville,  Ky.,  two  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  in  sixty-seven  hours,  making  three  and 
three-quarter  miles  per  hour  against  the  current.  On 
her  voyage  to  St.  Louis  she  was  commanded  by  Capt. 

1  Named  after  Zebulon  Montgomery  Pike,  formerly  a  briga- 
dier-general in  the  United  States  army,  who  was  born  at  Lamber- 
ton,  N.  J.,  Jan.  5, 1779,  and  killed  at  York,  near  Toronto,  Upper 
Canada,  on  the  27th  of  April,  1813.  Zebulon,  his  father,  was 
born  in  New  Jersey  in  1751,  and  died  at  Lawrenceburg,  Ind., 
July  27,  1834.  He  was  a  captain  in  the  Revolutionary  army, 
was  present  at  St.  Clair's  defeat  in  1791,  and  was  brevet  lieu- 
tenant-colonel in  the  United  States  army  July  10,  1812.  His 
son  was  appointed  a  cadet  in  the  regiment  of  his  father  March 
3, 1799,  and  was  made  first  lieutenant  in  November  and  captain 
in  August,  1806.  Skilled  in  mathematics  and  in  the  languages, 
he  was  appointed  after  the  purchase  of  Louisiana  to  conduct  an. 
expedition  to  trace  the  Mississippi  to  its  source.  Leaving  St. 
Louis,  Aug.  9, 1805,  he  performed  this  service  satisfactorily,  re- 
turning after  eight  months  and  twenty  days  of  exploration  and 
exposure  to  constant  hardship.  In  1806-7  he  was  engaged  in 
geographical  explorations  of  Louisiana,  during  which,  being 
found  on  Spanish  territory,  he  with  his  party  was  taken  to 
Santa  Fe,  and  after  a  long  examination  and  the  seizure  of  his 
papers  was  escorted  home,  arriving  at  Natchitoches  July  1, 
1807.  In  1810  he  published  a  narrative  of  his  expeditions, 
with  valuable  maps  and  charts.  Receiving  the  thanks  of  the 
government,  he  was  made  major  of  the  Sixth  Infantry,  May  3, 
1808;  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  Fourth  Infantry,  Dec.  31, 1809; 
deputy  quartermaster-general,  April  3,  1812;  colonel  Fifteenth 
Infantry,  July  3,1812;  and  brigadier-general,  March  12,  1813. 
Early  in  1813  he  was  assigned  to  the  principal  army  as  adjutant- 
and  inspector-general,  and  was  selected  to  command  an  expedi- 
tion against  York,  the  capital  of  Upper  Canada.  Landing  under 
a  heavy  fire,  he  charged  the  enemy  in  person,  and  put  them  to 
flight,  carried  one  battery  by  assault,  and  was  moving  to  the 
attack  of  the  main  works,  when  the  explosion  of  the  British 
magazine  mortally  wounded  him,  speedily  causing  his  death  on 
April  27,  1813. 


Jacob  Read.  "  The  hull,"  says  Professor  Water- 
house,  "  was  built  on  the  model  of  a  barge.  The 
cabin  was  situated  on  the  lower  deck,  inside  of  the 
'  running-boards.' 

"  The  boat  was  driven  by  a  low-pressure  engine,  with 
a  walking-beam.  The  wheels  had  no  wheel-houses. 
The  boat  had  but  one  smoke-stack.  In  the  encounter 
with  a  rapid  current  the  crew  reinforced  steam  with 
the  impulse  of  their  own  strength.  They  used  the 
poles  and  running-boards  just  as  in  the  push-boat 
navigation  of  barges.  The  boat  ran  only  by  day,  and 
was  six  weeks  in  making  this  first  trip  from  Louis- 
ville to  St.  Louis.  It  landed  at  the  foot  of  Market 
Street  Aug.  2,  1817.  The  inhabitants  of  the  village 
gathered  on  the  bank  to  welcome  the  novel  visitor. 
Among  them  was  a  group  of  Indians.  As  the  boat 
approached,  the  glare  of  its  furnace  fires  and  the 
volumes  of  murky  smoke  filled  the  Indians  with  dis- 
may. They  fled  to  the  high  ground  in  the  rear  of 
the  village,  and  no  assurances  of  safety  could  induce 
them  to  go  one  step  nearer  to  the  object  of  their 
fears.  They  ascribed  supernatural  powers  to  a  boat 
that  could  ascend  a  rapid  stream  without  the  aid  of 
sail  or  oar.  Their  superstitious  imaginations  beheld 
a  monster  breathing  flame  and  threatening  the  ex- 
tinction of  the  red  man.  In  a  symbolic  sense,  their 
fancy  was  prophetic :  the  progress  of  civilization,  of 
which  the  steamboat  may  be  taken  as  a  type,  is  fast 
sweeping  the  Indian  race  into  the  grave  of  buried 
nations." 

The  first  notice  we  have  of  the  expected  arrival  of 
the  "  Pike"  at  St.  Louis  is  the  following  announce- 
ment in  the  Missouri  Gazette  of  the  14-th  of  July, 
1817: 

"  A  steamboat  is  expected  here  from  Louisville  to-morrow. 
There  is  no  doubt  but  what  we  shall  have  a  regular  communi- 
cation with  Louisville,  or  at  least  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  by  a 
steam  packet." 

On  the  2d  of  August  the  Gazette  published  this 
notice : 

"The  steamboat  'Pike'  will  be  ready  to  take  in  freight  to- 
morrow for  Louisville  or  any  of  the  towns  on  the  Ohio.  She 
will  sail  for  Louisville  on  Monday  morning,  the  4th  August, 
from  ten  to  twelve  o'clock.  For  freight  or  passage  apply  to  the 
master  on  board. 

"  JACOB  READ,  Master." 

The  return  trip  of  the  "  Pike"  is  also  mentioned  in 
the  Gazette  of  September  2d  as  follows : 

"  The  steamboat '  Pike'  will  arrive  in  a  day  or  two  from  Louis- 
ville. This  vessel  will  ply  regularly  between  that  place  and  this, 
and  will  take  in  her  return  cargo  shortly  after  her  arrival.  Per- 
sons who  may  have  freight,  or  want  passage  for  Louisville  or  any 
of  the  towns  on  the  Ohio,  will  do  well  to  make  early  application 
to  the  master  on  board.  On  her  passage  from  this  to  Louisville 
she  will  make  a  stop  at  Herculaneum,  where  Mr.  M. 'Austin  will 


NAVIGATION   ON   THE   MISSISSIPPI  RIVER. 


1097 


act  as  agent;  also  at  Ste.  Genevieve  and  Cape  Girardeau.  At 
the  former  place  Mr.  Le  Meilleur  and  at  the  latter  Mr.  Stein- 
beck will  act  as  agents,  with  whom  freight  for  the  '  Pike'  may 
be  deposited  and  shipped. 

"  Persons  wanting  passage  in  this  vessel  will  apply  as  above. 
She  will  p'erform  her  present  voyage  to  and  from  Louisville  in 
about  four  weeks,  and  will  always  afford  an  expeditious  and  safe 
passage  for  the  transportation  of  freight  or  passengers. 

"  JACOB  READ,  Master." 

Again  on  the  22d  of  November  the  Gazette  an- 
nounced that  "  the  steamboat  '  Pike'  with  passengers 
and  freight  arrived  here  yesterday  from  Louisville." 

The  "  Pike"  had  a  capacity  of  thirty-seven  tons,  old 
government  tonnage.  She  made  a  trip  to  New  Or- 
leans, and  several  between  Louisville  and  Pittsburgh, 
after  which  she  was  engaged  in  the  Red  'River  trade. 
She  was  snagged  in  March,  1818.1 


The  next  vessel  after  the  "  Pike"  to  arrive  at  St. 
Louis  was  the  "  Constitution,"  Capt.  R.  T.  Guyard, 
which  arrived  Oct.  2,  1817.  The  steamboat  ceased 
in  1818  to  be  a  novelty  on  the  Mississippi,  and  be- 


1  The  seventh  boat  on  the  Mississippi  was  the  "  Dispatch," 
twenty-five  tons,  built  at  Brownsville,  Pa.,  by  the  same  com- 
pany that  owned  the  "  Enterprise,"  and  under  French's  patent. 
She  made  several  trips  from  Pittsburgh  to  Louisville,  and  one 
to  New  Orleans  and  back  to  Shippingport,  where  she  was  wrecked 
and  her  engine  taken  out.  She  was  commanded  by  Capt.  J. 
Gregg. 

The  eighth  boat  was  the  "  Buffalo,"  three  hundred  tons,  built 
at  Pittsburgh  by  Benjamin  H.  Latrobe,  Sr.,  the  distinguished 
architect  of  the  capitol  at  Washington.  She  was  afterwards  sold 
at  sheriff's  sale  in  Louisville  for  eight  hundred  dollars. 

We  find  in  the  American  Weekly  Messenger,  published  in 
Philadelphia,  July  2,  1814,  the  following  letter,  which  relates 
the  circumstances  of  the  launch  of  the  steamboat  "  Buffalo"  : 

«  PITTSBURGH,  June  3,  1814. 

"  We  omitted  to  mention  that  the  steamboat  '  Buffalo'  was 
safely  launched  on  the1 13th  ult.  from  the  yard  of  Mr.  Latrobe. 
This  boat,  which  was  intended  to  complete  the  line  of  steam- 
boats from  New  Orleans  to  Pittsburgh,  is  a  fine  and  uncom- 
monly well  built  vessel  of  two  hundred  and  eighty-five  tons 
burden,  carpenters'  measurement,  and  is  intended  to  trade  reg- 
ularly between  Louisville  and  Pittsburgh  once  a  month  as  long 
as  the  water  will  admit.  She  has  two  cabins  and  four  state- 
rooms for  private  families,  and  will  conveniently  accommodate 
one  hundred  persons  with  beds.  Should  it  be  found  that  her 
draught  of  water,  which  will  be  about  two  feet  six  inches  when 
her  machinery 'is  on  board,  is  too  great  for  the  summer  months, 
it  is  intended  immediately  to  put  on  the  stocks  another  boat  or 
boats  of  smaller  draught  and  less  bulky  construction.  It  is 
expected  that  the  'Buffalo'  will  be  finished  in  time  to  bring  up 
the  cargo  of  the  steamboat  '  Vesuvius'  from  New  Orleans." 

A  succeeding  number  of  the  same  paper,  the  Weekly  American 
Messeiifjer,  contains  the  following  items  from  St.  Louis : 

"ST.  Louis  (I.  T.),  July  2,  1814. 

''  On  Sunday  last  an  armed  boat  arrived  here  from  Prairie  du 
Chien,  under  the  command  of  Capt.  John  Sullivan,  with  his 
company  of  militia  and  thirty-two  men  from  the  gunboat '  Gov- 
ernor Clark,'  their  terms  of  service  (sixty  days)  having  expired. 
Capt.  Yeizer,  who  commands  on  board  the  '  Governor  Clark,'  off 
Prairie  du  Chien,  reports  that  his  vessel  is  completely  manned, 
that  the  fort  is  finished,  christened  Fort  Shelby,  and  occupied 
by  the  regulars,  and  that  all  are  anxious  for  a  visit  from  Dick- 
son  and  his  red  troops.  The  Indians  are  hovering  around  the 


village,  stealing  horses,  and  have  been  successful  in  obtaining  a 
prisoner,  a  Frenchman,  who  had  gone  out  to  look  for  his  horses." 

Ninth  boat,  the  "James  Monroe,"  one  hundred  and  twenty 
tons,  built  at  Pittsburgh,  by  Mr.  Latrobe,  owned  by  a  company 
at  Bayou  Sara,  and  run  in  the  Natchez  trade. 

Tenth  boat,  the  "  Washington,"  four  hundred  tons,  a  two- 
decker,  built  at  Wheeling,  Va.,  constructed  and  partly  owned 
by  Capt.  Henry  M.  Shreve.*  The  engine  of  the  "Washing- 
ton" was  built  at  Brownsville,  Pa.,  under  the  immediate  direc- 
tion of  Capt.  Shreve;  her  boilers  were  on  the  upper  deck,  being 
the  first  boat  on  that  plan,  a  valuable  improvement  by  Capt. 
Shreve,  which  is  now  generally  in  use.  The  "Washington" 
crossed  the  falls  in  September,  1816,  under  the  command  of 
Capt.  Shreve,  bound  for  New  Orleans,  and  returned  to  Louis- 
ville during  the  following  winter.  In  the  month  of  March, 
1817,  she  left  Shippingport  a  second  time,  and  proceeded  to 
New  Orleans,  and  returned  to  Shippingport,  being  absent  only 
forty-five  days.  This  was  the  trip  that  convinced  the  despair- 
ing public  that  steamboat  navigation  would  succeed  on  the 
Western  waters. 

Eleventh  boat,  the  "  Franklin,"  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  tons,  built  at  Pittsburgh,  by  Messrs.  Shiras  <t  Cromwell, 
engine  built  by  George  Evans,  left  Pittsburgh  in  December, 
1816,  was  sold  at  New  Orleans,  and  was  subsequently  employed 
in  the  Louisville  and  St.  Louis  trade.  She  was  sunk  in  the 
Mississippi,  near  Ste.  Genevieve,  in  1819,  on  her  way  to  St. 
Louis,  commanded  by  Capt.  Revels. 

Twelfth  boat,  the  "Oliver  Evans"  (afterwards  the  "Con- 
stitution"), seventy  tons,  built  at  Pittsburgh,  by  George  Evans, 
engines  his  patent.  She  left  Pittsburgh  in  December,  1816,  for 
New  Orleans;  she  burst  one  of  her  boilers  in  April,  1817,  off 
Point  Coupee,  by  which  eleven  men  lost  their  lives,  principally 
passengers.  Owned  by  George  Sulton  and  others  of  Pitts- 
burgh. 

Thirteenth  boat,  the  "  Harriet,"  forty  tons,  built  at  Pitts- 
burgh, constructed  and  owned  by  Mr.  Armstrong,  of  Williams- 
port,  Pa.  She  left  Pittsburgh,  October,  1816,  for  New  Orleans, 
crossed  the  falls  in  March,  1817,  made  one  trip  to  New  Orleans, 
and  subsequently  ran  between  that  place  and  Muscle  Shoals,  on 
the  Tennessee  River. 

Fourteenth  boat,  the  "  Kentucky,"  eighty  tons,  built  at 
Frankfort,  Ky.,  in  1817,  and  owned  by  Hanson  &  Beswell,  en- 
gaged in  the  Louisville  trade. 

*  The  St.  Louis  Republican  of  March  7, 1851,  thus  Dotes  the  death  of 
this  eminent  steamboat-man:  "This  worthy  citizen  died  at  the  resi- 
dence of  his  son-in-law  in  this  city  yesterday.  He  was  for  nearly  forty 
years  closely  identified  with  the  commerce  of  the  West,  either  in  flat- 
boats  or  steam  navigation.  During  the  administrations  of  Adams, 
Jackson,  and  Van  Bureu  he  filled  the  post  of  United  States  superin- 
tendent of  Western  river  improvements,  and  by  the  steam  snag-boat, 
of  which  he  was  the  inventor,  contributed  largely  to  the  safety  of  West- 
ern commerce.  To  him  belongs  the  honor  of  demonstrating  the  prac- 
ticability of  navigating  the  Mississippi  Kiver  with  steamboats.  He 
commanded  the  first  steamer  that  ever  ascended  that  river,  and  made 
several  and  valuable  improvements,  both  of  the  steam-engine  and  of  the 
hull  and  cabins  of  the  Western  steamboats.  While  the  British  were 
threatening  New  Orleans  in  1814-15,  he  was  employed  by  Gen.  Jack- 
son in  several  hazardous  enterprises,  and  during  the  battle  of  the  8th  of 
January  served  one  of  the  field-pieces  which  destroyed  the  advancing 
column  led  by  Gen.  Keane.  His  name  lias  become  historically  associated 
with  Western  river  navigation,  and  will  long  be  cherished  by  his  numer- 
ous friends  throughout  this  valley." 


1098 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


came   a   recognized  agent  of  the  commerce  of  the 
valley. 

The  arrivals  and  departures  of  vessels  about  this 
time  were  occasionally  noticed  by  the  Gazette  as  fol- 
lows : 


Fifteenth  boat,  the  "Governor  Shelby,"  ninety  tons,  built 
at  Louisville,  engine  by  Bolton  &  Ebolt,  of  England.  In  1819 
she  was  running  very  successfully  in  the  Louisville  trade. 

Sixteenth  boat,  the  ''New  Orleans,"  three  hundred  tons, 
built  at  Pittsburgh  by  Messrs.  Fulton  &  Livingston  in  1817,  for 
the  Natchez  trade,  sunk  near  Baton  Rouge,  but  was  raised,  and 
sunk  again  near  New  Orleans  in  February,  1819,  about  two 
months  after  her  first  sinking. 

Seventeenth  boat,  the  "  Vesta,"  one  hundred  tons,  built  at 
Cincinnati  in  1817,  and  owned  by  Messrs.  Bosson,  Cowdin  <t 
Co.  She  plied  regularly  as  a  packet  between  Cincinnati  and 
Louisville. 

Eighteenth  boat,  the  "George  Madison,"  two  hundred  tons, 
built  at  Pittsburgh  in  1818,  by  Messrs.  Voorhees,  Mitchell, 
Rodgers  &  Todd,  of  Frankfort,  Ky.,  was  engaged  in  the  Louis- 
ville trade  in  1819. 

Nineteenth  boat,  the  "Ohio,"  four  hundred  and  forty-three 
tons,  built  at  New  Albany,  Ind.,  in  1818,  by  Messrs.  Shreve  & 
Blair,  in  the  Louisville  trade. 

Twentieth  boat,  the  "  Napoleon,"  three  hundred  and  thirty- 
two  tons,  built  at  Shippingport  in  1818,  by  Messrs.  Shreve, 
Miller  &  Breckinridge,  of  Louisville,  engaged  in  the  Louisville 
trade. 

Twenty-first  boat,  the  "Volcano,"  two  hundred  and  fifty 
tons,  built  at  New  Albany,  Ind.,  by  Messrs.  John  &  Robinson 
De  Hart  in  1818.  She  was  purchased  in  1819  by  a  company  at 
Natchez,  and  ran  between  that  port  and  New  Orleans. 

Twenty-second  boat,  the  "General  Jackson,"  one  hundred 
and  fifty  tons,  built  at  Pittsburgh  in  1818,  and  owned  by  R. 
Whiting,  of  Pittsburgh,  and  Gen.  Carroll,  of  Tennessee,  in  the 
Nashville  trade. 

Twenty-third  boat,  the  "  Eagle,"  seventy  tons,  built  at  Cin- 
cinnati in  1818,  owned  by  James  Berthoud  &  Son,  of  Ship- 
pingport, Ky.,  in  the  Natchez  trade. 

Twenty-fourth  boat,  the  "  Hecla,"  seventy  tons,  built  at 
Cincinnati  in  1818,  and  owned  by  Messrs.  Honoris  &  Barbaror, 
of  Louisville,  in  the  Louisville  trade. 

Twenty-fifth  boat,  the  "  Henderson,"  eighty-five  tons,  built 
at  Cincinnati  in  1818,  and  owned  by  Messrs.  Bowers,  of  Hen- 
derson, Ky.,  in  the  Henderson  and  Louisville  trade. 

Twenty-sixth  boat,  the  "Johnson,"  eighty  tons,  built  at 
AVheeling,  Vn.,  in  1818,  and  in  1819  engaged  in  the  Yellow- 
stone expedition. 

Twenty-seventh  boat,  the  "  Cincinnati,"  one  hundred  and 
twenty  tons,  built  at  Cincinnati  in  1818,  and  owned  by  Messrs. 
Paxon  &  Co.,  of  New  Albany,  Ind.,  in  the  Louisville  trade. 

Twenty-eighth  boat,  the  "  Exchange,"  two  hundred  tons, 
built  in  Louisville,  Ky.,  in  1818,  and  owned  by  David  L.  Ward, 
of  Jefferson  County,  Ky.,  in  the  Louisville  trade. 

Twenty-ninth  boat,  the  "  Louisiana,"  forty-five  tons,  built 
at  New  Orleans  in  1818,  and  owned  by  Mr.  Duplisa,  of  New 
Orleans,  in  the  Natchez  trade. 

Thirtieth  boat,  the  "James  Ross,''  three  hundred  and  thirty 
tons,  built  at  Pittsburgh  in  1818,  and  owned  by  Messrs.  Whit- 
ing  <fe  Stackpole,  of  Pittsburgh,  in  the  Louisville  trade. 

Thirty-first  boat,  the  "  Frankfort,"  three  hundred  and  twenty 
tons,  built  at  Pittsburgh  in  1818,  and  owned  by  Messrs.  Voor- 
hees &,  Mitchell,  of  Frankfort,  Ky.,  in  the  Louisville  trade. 

Thirty-second  boat,  the  "Tamerlane,"  three   hundred  and 


"On  Saturday  last  the  steamboat  'Franklin,'  of  about  one 
hundred  and  forty  tons  burden,  arrived  here  in  thirty-two  days 
from  New  Orleans  with  passengers  and  an  assorted  cargo.  The 
'  Franklin"  is  admirably  calculated  for  a  regular  packet-boat  to 
ply  between  St.  Louis  and  New  Orleans.  Her  stowage  is  capa- 

twenty  tons,  built  at  Pittsburgh  in  1818,  and  owned  by  Messrs. 
Bogart  it  Co.,  of  New  York,  in  the  Louisville  trade. 

Thirty-third  boat,  the  "  Perseverance,"  forty  tons,  built  at 
Cincinnati  in  1818,  and  owned  at  that  place. 

Thirty-fourth  boat,  the  "St.  Louis,"  two  hundred  and 
twenty  tons,  built  at  Shippingport,  Ky.,  in  1818,  and  owned  by 
Messrs.  Hewes,  Douglass,  Johnson,  and  others,  in  the  St.  Louis 
trade. 

Thirty-fifth  boat,  the  "  General  Pike,"  built  at  Cincinnati  in 
1818,  intended  to  ply  between  Louisville,  Cincinnati,  and  Mays- 
ville  as  a  passenger  packet,  and  owned  by  a  company  at  Cin- 
cinnati. She  was  the  first  steamboat  built  on  the  Western  waters 
for  the  exclusive  convenience  of  passengers.  Her  accommo- 
dations were  ample,  her  apartments  spacious  and  convenient. 
She  measured  one  hundred  feet  keel,  twenty-five  feet  beam, 
and  drew  only  three  feet  three  inches  water.  The  length  of 
her  cabin  was  forty  feet,  and  the  breadth  twenty-five  feet.  At 
one  end  were  six  state-rooms,  and  at  the  other  end  eight.  Be- 
tween the  two  sets  of  state-rooms  was  a  saloon  forty  by  eighteen 
feet,  sufficiently  large  for  the  accommodation  of  one  hundred 
passengers.  The  "  Pike"  was  built  as  an  opposition  boat  to 
the  "  Vesta,"  built  in  1817.  The  rivalry  of  these  boats  gave 
rise  to  a  slang  phrase  which  held  its  place  with  the  boys  at  that 
period,  and  outlived  the  career  of  both  boats.  There  are  old 
citizens  of  Cincinnati  now  living  who,  if  they  will  carry  their 
memories  back  to  the  '20's,  will  remember  the  boys  in  the 
streets  and  through  the  commons  yelling,  "  Go  ahead,  '  Vesta,' 
the  '  Pike'  is  coming  !" 

Thirty-sixth  boat,  the  "Alabama,"  twenty-five  tons,  built  on 
Lake  Ponchartrain,  La.,  in  1818,  in  the  Red  River  trade. 

Thirty-seventh  boat,  the  "Calhoun,"  eighty  tons,  built  in  1818 
at  Frankfort,  Ky.,  and  afterwards  employed  in  the  Yellowstone 
expedition.  • 

Thirty-eighth  and  thirty-ninth  boats,  the  "  Expedition,"  one 
hundred  and  twenty  tons,  and  "  Independence,"  fifty  tons,  built 
near  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  both  of  which  were  destined  for  the  Yel- 
lowstone expedition,  the  "  Independence"  being  the  first  boat 
that  undertook  to  stem  the  powerful  current  of  the  Missouri. 
They  both  arrived  at  Franklin  (Boon's  Lick),  Howard  Co., 
two  hundred  miles  up  the  Missouri  River  from  its  mouth,  in 
the  month  of  June,  1819. 

Fortieth  boat,  the  "Maid  of  Orleans,"  one  hundred  tons, 
built  at  Philadelphia  in  1818,  and  owned  by  a  company  in  New 
Orleans,  and  afterwards  (in  1819)  engaged  in  the  St.  Louis 
trade.  She  was  constructed  both  for  river  and  sea  navigation, 
— the  latter  by  sails,  the  former  by  steam-power.  She  arrived 
at  New  Orleans,  schooner-rigged,  ascended  the  Mississippi  by 
steam,  and  was  the  first  vessel  which  ever  reached  St.  Louis 
from  an  Atlantic  port. 

Forty-first  bflat,  the  "  Ramapo,"  sixty  tons,  built  in  New 
York  in  1818,  and  in  1819  employed  in  the  Natchez  trade. 

Forty-second  boat,  the  "Mobile."  one  hundred  and  fifty  tons, 
built  at  Providence,  R.  I.,  in  1818,  owned  at  Mobile,  and  in 
1819  employed  in  the  Louisville  traile. 

Forty-third  boat,  the  "  Mississippi,"  four  hundred  tons,  built 
in  New  Orleans  in  1818,  arrived  at  Havana  in  February,  1819. 
She  was  intended  to  ply  between  Havana  and  Matanzas. 

Forty-fourth  boat,  the  steamboat  "Western  Engineer,"  built 
on  the  Monongahela  in  1818-19,  descended  the  Ohio  River  from 
Pittsburgh  about  the  1st  of  May,  1819,  and  afterwards  ascended 


NAVIGATION   ON   THE   MISSISSIPPI   RIVER. 


1099 


cious,  and  her  cabin  commodious  and  elegant." — Gazette,  June 
12,  1818. 

"  The  steamboat  '  Franklin'  left  this  place  yesterday  with 
freight  and  passengers  for  New  Orleans.  The  master  expects 
to  arrive  there  in  eight  days.  Our  common  barges  take  from 
twenty-five  to  thirty  days  to  perform  the  voyage." — Gazette, 
June  19,  1818. 


"  List  of  Steamboats  Trading  to  Ne<n  Orleans. — '  Franklin,' 
one  hundred  and  thirty-one  tons;  'Eagle;'  'Pike'  (sunk); 
'  James  Monroe'  (sunk,  now  repairing)." — Gazette,  Sept.  5, 1818. 

"The  new  steamboat  'Johnson,'  built  by  Col.  Johnson,  of 
Kentucky,  passed  Shawneetown  the  first  of  this  month  bound 
to  New  Orleans.  She  is  intended  as  a  regular  trader  from  Ken- 
tucky on  the  Mississippi  and  the  Missouri  as  far  up  as  the  Yel- 
lowstone River."—  Gazette,  Nov.  6,  1818. 


the   Missouri    River  in  connection   with  the   government  ex-  i 
ploring  expedition.     The  object  of  the  expedition  was  princi-   i 
pally  to  make  a  correct  military  survey  of  the  river  and  to  fix   | 
upon  a  site  for  a  military  establishment  at  or  near  the  junction 
of  the  Yellowstone  with  the  Missouri,  to  ascertain  the  point 
where  the  Rocky  Mountains  are  intersected  by  the  forty-ninth 
degree  of  latitude,  which  formed  the  western  boundary  between 
the  possessions  of  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States,  and  to 
inquire  into  the  "  trading  capacity  and  genius  of  the  various 
tribes  through  which  they  may  pass."     The  officers  employed 
on  this  duty  were  Mnj.  S.  H.  Long,  of  the  United  States  Engi- 
neers, Maj.  Thomas  Biddle,  United  States  Corps  of  Artillery,  and 
Messrs.  Graham  and  Swift.    The  boat  was  completely  equipped 
for  defense  and  was  manned  by  a  few  troops.     The  "Western  En-  i 
gineer"  drew  only  two  feet  six  inches  of  water.     She  was  well   ; 
built,  was  bottomed  with  iron  or  copper,  and  had  a  serpent's 
head  on  her  bow  through  which  the  steam  passed,  presenting  a 
novel  appearance. 

The  launch  of  the  "  Western  Engineer"  at  Pittsburgh,  March   i 
26th,  was  noticed  in  the  Gazette  of  May  26,  1819,  as  follows: 

"As  the  launching  of  the  United  States  steamboat  at  Pitts-  ! 
burgh  has  been  announced,  and  as  it  may  not  be  generally  , 
known  what  are  the  objects  in  view,  I  send  you  some  extracts  of 
a  letter  from  a  young  officer  going  upon  the  expedition.  She 
is  called  the  '  Western  Engineer/  and  will  start  from  Pittsburgh  i 
about  the  first  of  May.  It  is  intended  that  she  shall  navigate 
the  Western  waters  as  far  as  the  Yellowstone  Iliver,  which  will 
require  upwards  of  two  years.  It  is  not  expected  that  they 
will  do  more  than  explore  the  waters  of  the  Missouri  the  first 
season,  as  the  movements  will  be  gradual,  in  order  to  obtain  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  that  section  of  the  country,  with  a  his- 
tory of  the  inhabitants,  soil,  minerals,  and  curiosities.  The 
expedition  is  under  the  direction  of  Maj.  Stephen  II.  Long,  of 
New  Hampshire,  of  the  topographical  engineers,  attended  by 
Mr.  James  Graham,  of  Virginia,  Mr.  William  H.  Swift,  from  the 
United  States  Military  Academy,  Maj.  Thomas  Biddle,  of  Phila- 
delphia, of  the  artillery,  and  the  following  gentlemen:  Dr. 
Jessup,  of  Philadelphia,  mineralogist;  Dr.  Say,  of  Philadelphia, 
botanist  and  geologist;  Dr.  Baldwin,  of  Wilmington,  Del.,  zool- 
ogist and  physician ;  Dr.  Peale,  of  Philadelphia,  landscape 
painter  and  ornithologist ;  Mr.  Seymour,  of  Philadelphia,  land- 
scape painter  and  ornithologist;  Maj.  O'Fallon,  Indian  agent. 

"She  is  well  armed,  and  carries  an  elegant  flag,  painted  by 
Mr.  Peale,  representing  a  white  man  and  an  Indian  shaking 
hands,  the  calumet  of  peace,  and  a  sword.  The  boat  is  seventy- 
five  feet  long,  thirteen  feet  beam,  draws  nineteen  inches  water 
with  her  engine,  which,  together  with  all  the  machinery,  is 
placed  below  deck  entirely  out  of  sight.  The  steam  passes  off 
through  the  mouth  of  the  figure-head  (a  large  serpent).  The 
wheels  are  placed  in  the  stern,  to  avoid  the  snags  and  sawyers 
which  are  so  common  in  these  waters.  She  has  a  mast  to  ship 
or  not  as  may  be  necessary.  The  expedition  will  depart  with 
the  best  wishes  of  the  scientific  part  of  our  country." 

Forty-fifth  boat,  the  "  Rifleman,"  two  hundred  and  fifty  tons, 
built  in  Louisville  in  1819,  and  owned  by  Messrs.  Butler  &  Ea- 
rners, in  the  Louisville  trade. 

Forty-sixth  boat,  the  "  Car  of  Commerce,"  one  hundred  and 
fifty  tons,  built  at  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  in  1819,  owned  by  William  F. 


Patterson  &  Co.,  of  Louisville,  and  engaged  in  the  trade  of  that 
place. 

Forty-seventh  boat,  the  "  Paragon,"  three  hundred  and 
seventy-six  tons,  built  in  1819  at  Cincinnati  by  William  Par- 
sons, and  owned  by  William  Noble  and  Robert  Neilson,  in  the 
Louisville  trade. 

Forty-eighth  boat,  the  "  Maysville,"  one  hundred  and  fifty 
tons,  built  in  1819,  and  owned  by  Messrs.  Murphy,  Moreton, 
and  J.  Birkley,  of  Washington,  Ky.,  and  Messrs.  Armstrong 
and  Campbell,  of  Maysville. 

Forty-ninth  boat,  the  "  Columbus,"  four  hundred  and  sixty 
tons,  built  at  New  Orleans  in  1819,  and  owned  by  a  company 
there.  She  was  afterwards  engaged  in  the  Louisville  trade. 

Fiftieth  boat,  the  "General  Clark,"  one  hundred  and  fifty 
tons,  built  at  Louisville  in  1819,  and  owned  by  a  company  there. 

Fifty-first  boat,  the  "Vulcan,"  three  hundred  tons,  built  at 
Cincinnati,  1819,  for  the  New  Orleans  trade,  and  owned  by  James 
&  Douglass  and  Hugh  &  James,  all  of  Cincinnati. 

Fifty-second  boat,  the  "  Missouri,"  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  tons,  built  at  Newport,  Ky.,  1819,  owned  by  John  and 
Walker  Yeastman,  and  destined  for  the  St.  Louis  trade. 

Fifty-third  boat,  the  "  New  Comet,"  one  hundred  tons,  altered 
from  a  barge  called  the  "Eliza"  in  1819,  owned  by  Isaac  Hough 
and  James  W.  Byrne,  of  Cincinnati,  and  intended  for  the  New 
Orleans  trade. 

Fifty-fourth  boat,  the  "Newport,"  fifty  tons,  built  at  New- 
port, Ky.,  in  1819,  owned  by  a  company  at  New  Orleans,  and 
in  1819  engaged  in  the  Red  River  trade. 

Fifty-fifth  boat,  the  "  Tennessee,"  four  hundred  tons,  built 
at  Cincinnati  in  1S19,  owned  by  Messrs.  Breedlove  &  Bardford, 
of  New  Orleans,  and  a  company  of  Nashville,  afterwards  em- 
ployed in  the  Louisville  trade.  The  "  Tennessee"  was  sunk  in 
the  Mississippi  by  striking  a  snag  on  a  very  dark  night  in  1823. 
The  loss  of  life  was  large,  some  sixty-odd  persons  being  drowned, 
among  them  several  persons  of  distinction.  This  disaster  caused 
great  excitement  throughout  the  country,  and  deterred  numbers 
from  traveling  on  steamboats. 

Fifty-sixth  boat,  the  "General  Robinson,"  two  hundred  and 
fifty  t»ns,  built  at  Newport,  Ky.,  in  1819,  owned  by  a  company 
at  Nashville,  and  run  in  that  trade. 

Fifty-seventh  boat,  the  "  United  States,"  seven  hundred  tons, 
built  at  Jeflersonville,  Ind.,  for  the  Natchez  trade  in  1819,  and 
owned  by  Hart  and  others.  She  was  the  largest  steamboat 
which  had  been  built  in  the  Western  country. 

Fifty-eighth  bout,  the  ''Post-Boy,"  two  hundred  tons,  built 
at  New  Albany,  Ind.,  in  1819,  owned  by  H.  M.  Shreve  and 
others,  and  run  from  Louisville  to  New  Orleans.  This  was  one 
of  the  packets  employed  by  the  Postmaster-General  for  carry- 
ing the  mail  between  those  places,  according  to  an  act  of  Con- 
gress passed  March,  1819.  By  this  act  the  whole  expense  was 
not  to  exceed  that  of  transporting  the  mail  by  land. 

Fifty-ninth  boat,  the  "  Elizabeth, "  one  hundred  and  fifty 
tons,  built  at  Salt  River,  Ky.,  in  1819,  owned  by  a  company  at 
Elizabeth,  Ky.,  and  engaged  in  the  New  Orleans  trade. 

Sixtieth  boat,  the  "  Fayette,"  one  hundred  and  fifty  tons, 
built  in  J819,  owned  by  John  Gray  and  others,  in  the  Louis- 
ville trade. 


1100 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


The  arrival  about  March  1,  1819,  of  "the  large 
and  elegant  steamboat  '  Washington'  "  from  New  Or- 
leans, which  city  she  left  on  the  1st  of  February,  was 
announced  in  the  Gazette  of  March  3d.  The  steam- 
boat "  Harriet"  arrived  from  the  same  port  early  in 
April.  The  "Sea-Horse,"  which  arrived  at  New  Or- 
leans from  New  York,  and  the  "  Maid  of  Orleans," 
which  reached  the  same  port  from  Philadelphia  early 
in  1819,  were  probably  the  first  steamboats  that  ever 
performed  a  voyage  of  any  length  on  the  ocean. 

The  "  Maid  of  Orleans"  continued  her  voyage  to 
St.  Louis,  where  she  arrived  about  the  1st  of  May. 
On  the  same  day  the  steamboat  "  Independence," 
Capt.  Nelson,  arrived  from  Louisville.  The  Missouri 
Gazette  of  the  19th  of  May,  1819,  has  the  following 
steamboat  memoranda : 

"  The  '  Expedition/  Capt.  Craig,  arrived  here  on  Wednesday 
last,  destined  for  the  Yellowstone.  The  'Maid  of  Orleans,' 
Capt.  Turner,  sailed  for  New  Orleans,  and  the  'Independence,' 
Capt.  Nelson,  for  Franklin,  on  the  Missouri,  on  Sunday  last. 
The  '  Exchange,'  Capt.  Whips,  arrived  here  on  Monday,  and 
will  return  to  Louisville  in  a  few  days  for  a  new  set  of  boilers, 
she  having  burst  her  boiler  in  ascending  the  Mississippi. 

"The  'St.  Louis,'  Capt.  Hewes,  the  'James  Monroe/  and 
'  Hamlet'  were  advertised  to  sail  from  New  Orleans  to  St.  Louis 
about  the  middle  of  last  month. 

"  In  1817,  less  than  two  years  ago,  the  first  steamboat  arrived 
at  St.  Louis.  We  hailed  it  as  the  day  of  small  things,  but  the 
glorious  consummation  of  all  our  wishes  is  daily  arriving. 
Already  during  the  present  season  we  have  seen  on  our  shores 
five  steamboats  and  several  more  daily  expected.  Who  would 
or  could  have  dared  to  conjecture  that  in  1819  we  would  have 
witnessed  the  arrival  of  a  steamboat  from  Philadelphia  or  New 
York  ?  yet  such  is  the  fact.  The  Mississippi  has  become  familiar 
to  this  great  American  invention,  and  another  new  arena  is 
open.  A  steamboat,  owned  by  individuals,  has  started  from 
St.  Louis  for  Franklin,  two  hundred  miles  up  the  Missouri,  and 
two  others  are  now  here  destined  for  the  Yellowstone.  The 
time  is  fast  approaching  when  a  journey  to  the  Pacific  will 
become  as  familiar,  and  indeed  more  so,  than  it  was  fifteen  or 
twenty  years  ago  to  Kentucky  or  Ohio.  '  Illustrious  nation/ 
said  a  distinguished  foreigner,  speaking  of  the  New  York 
canal,  'illustrious  nation,  whose  conceptions  are  only  equaled 
by  her  achievements.' " 

The  "  Independence,"  Capt.  Nelson,  was  the  first 
steamboat  that  entered  the  Missouri  River.  Sailing 
from  St.  Louis  in  May,  1819,  she  reached  Franklin, 
on  the  Missouri,  after  a  voyage  of  thirteen  days,1 


Sixty-first  boat,  the  "  Elkhorn,"  three  hundred  ton?,  built  at 
Portland,  Ky.,  in  1819,  owned  by  Messrs.  Gray  &  Anderson, 
in  the  New  Orleans  trade. 

Sixty-second  boat,  the  "  Providence,"  two  hundred  ton?,  built 
near  Frankfort,  Ky.,  in  1819, and  owned  by  L.  Castleman  A  ('<>. 

Sixty-third  boat,  the  "  General  Putnam,"  two  hundred  tons 
built  at  Newport,  Ky.,  in  1819,  owned  by  James  M.  Byrne  & 
Co.,  of  Cincinnati,  and  engaged  in  the  New  Orleans  trade. 

i  "FnAKKi.iN  (BOON'S  LICK),  May  19,  1819. 
"ARRIVAL  OF  THE  STEAMBOAT. — With  no  ordinary  sensation 
of  pride  and  pleasure  we  announce  the  arrival  this  morning  at 


of  which  four  days  were  spent  at  different  landings. 
Her  voyage  extended  up  the  Missouri  to  Old  Chariton, 
from  whence  she  returned  to  St.  Louis.2  The  United 
States  government  the  year  previous  had  determined 
to  explore  the  Missouri  River  up  to  the  Yellowstone, 
and  for  that  purpose,  as  elsewhere  stated,  Major  S. 
H.  Long  had  built  at  Pittsburgh  the  "  Western  En- 
gineer." 

To  Col.  Henry  Atkinson  had  been  intrusted  the 
command  of  this  expedition,  and  starting  from 
Plattsburgh,  N.  Y..  in  the  latter  part  of  1818,  he 
arrived  in  Pittsburgh  in  the  spring  of  1819.  The 
"  Western  Engineer"  was  completed  soon  after,  and 
arrived  at  St.  Louis  June  8,  1819.  On  the  21st  the 
expedition  started  for  the  Missouri.3  "  It  was  ac- 

this  place  of  th'e  elegant  steamboat  'Independence/  Capt.  Nel- 
son, in  seven  .sailing  days  (but  thirteen  from  the  time  of  her 
departure)  from  St.  Louis,  with  passengers  and  cargo  of  flour, 
whiskey,  sugar,  iron  castings,  etc.,  being  the  first  steamboat  that 
ever  attempted  ascending  the  Missouri.  She  was  joyfully  met 
by  the  inhabitants  of  Franklin,  and  saluted  by  the  firing  of 
cannon,  which  was  returned  by  the  '  Independence.' 

"  The  grand  desideratum,  the  important  fact,  is  now  ascer- 
tained that  steamboats  can  safely  navigate  the  Missouri." 

s  "  On  Wednesday  last  arrived  steamboat  '  Harriet/  Capt. 
Armitage,  twenty-six  days  from  New  Orleans. 

"  On  Sunday  arrived  the  '  Johnson/  from  Cape  Girardeau, 
with  United  States  stores,  one  of  the  fleet  destined  for  the  Mis- 
souri expedition. 

"  On  Saturday  the  steamboat '  Independence/  Capt.  Nelson, 
arrived  from  Franklin  and  Chariton,  on  the  Missouri.  The 
'  Independence'  has  met  with  no  accident  on  her  route,  although 
much  troubled  with  bars  and  the  impediments  in  the  channel 
of  the  river.  Both  the  inhabitants  of  Franklin  and  Chariton 
gave  a  dinner  to  the  captain  and  passengers  on  board.  The 
'Independence'  was  three  days  coming  from  Franklin,  but  only 
running  nineteen  hours.  She  has  been  absent  from  St.  Louis 
in  all  twenty-one  days.  This  trip  forms  a  proud  event  in  the 
history  of  Missouri.  The  Missouri  has  hitherto  resisted  almost 
effectually  all  attempts  at  navigation  ;  she  has  opposed  every 
obstacle  she  could  to  the  tide  of  emigration  which  was  rolling 
up  her  banks  and  dispossessing  her  dear  red  children,  but  her 
white  children,  although  children  by  adoption,  have  become  so 
numerous,  and  are  increasing  so  rapidly,  that  she  is  at  last 
obliged  to  yield  them  her  favor.  The  first  attempt  to  ascend 
her  by  steam  has  succeeded,  and  we  anticipate  the  day  as  speedy 
when  the  Missouri  will  be  as  familiar  to  steamboats  as  the  Mis- 
sissippi or  Ohio.  Capt.  Nelson  merits  and  will  receive  deserved 
credit  for  his  enterprise  and  public  spirit  in  this  undertaking." 
—  Gazette,  June  9,  1819. 

*  "  The  steamboat  '  Johnson'  passed  here  on  Wednesday  last 
with  troops,  etc.,  for  the  Yellowstone." — Gazette,  May  25,  1819. 

"  The  steamboat  '  Jefferson'  arrived  on  Saturday  last  from 
Louisville.  She  is  another  of  Col.  Johnson's  boats  destined 
for  the  Western  expedition,  and  has  been  delayed  by  the 
breaking  of  her  machinery." — Gazette,  June  23,  1819. 

"The  '  Western  Engineer'  left  St.  Louis  on  Monday,  the  21st 
inst.,  and  proceeded  on  her  journey  up  the  Missouri.  This 
undertaking  is  worthy  of  an  enlightened  and  patriotic  gov- 
ernment, and  its  success  will  confer  deserved  renown  both  on 
its  projectors  and  its  executors." — Gazette,  June  23,  1819. 


NAVIGATION   ON   THE   MISSISSIPPI   RIVER. 


1101 


companied  by  three  other  United  States  steamers  and 
nine  keel-boats,  bearing  a  detachment  of  government 
troops.  The  names  of  the  steamboats  and  of  their 
commanders  were  '  Thomas  Jefferson,'  Capt.  Orfort ; 
*  R.  M.  Johnson,1  Capt.  Colfax ;  and  the  '  Expedition,' 
Capt.  Craig. 

"  The  little  fleet  entered  the  Missouri  with  martial 
music,  display  of  flags,  and  salute  of  cannon.  In 
honor  of  the  statesman  who  acquired  the  territory  of 
Louisiana  for  the  United  States,  the  precedence  was 
accorded  to  the  '  Thomas  Jefferson,'  but  some  disar- 
rangement of  its  machinery  prevented  this  boat  from 
taking  the  lead,  and  the  '  Expedition'  secured  the 
distinction  of  being  the  first  steamer  of  this  flotilla  to 
enter  'the  Missouri.  The  'Thomas  Jefferson'  was 
doomed  to  a  still  worse  mishap,  for  not  long  after 
it  ran  on  a  snag  and  sank. 

"  The  steam-escape  of  the  '  Western  Engineer'  was 
shaped  like  a  great  serpent  coiled  on  the  bow  of  the 
boat  in  the  attitude  of  springing,  and  the  steam  hiss- 
ing from  the  fiery  mouth  of  the  python  filled  the  In- 
dians with  terror.  They  thought  that  the  wrath  of 
the  Great  Spirit  had  sent  this  monster  for  their  chas- 
tisement."1 

The  Gazette  of  the  2d  of  June  contained  the  fol- 
lowing "  steamboat  news :" 

"  Arrived  at  this  place  on  the  1st  instant  the  fast-sailing  and 
elegant  steamboat  St.  Louis,  Capt.  Hewes,  in  twenty-eight  days 
from  New  Orleans;  passengers,  Col.  Atkinson  and  Maj.  Mcln- 
tosh,  of  the  United  States  army,  and  others.     The  captain  has 
politely  favored  us  with  the  following  from  his  log-book :  '  On 
the  oth   May  left  New  Orleans.     At  3  P.M.  passed  steamboat 
Volcano,  bound  down.     10th,  at  6  A.M.,  passed  steamboat  James   \ 
Ross  ;  at  11  P.M.  passed  steamboat  Jiifleman,  at  anchor,  with 
shaft  broke.     15th,  at   3   P.M.,  passed  steamboat  Madison,  six   | 
days  from  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio.     20th,  passed  steamboat  Gov- 
ernor Shelby,  bound  for  New  Orleans.    22d,  run  on  a  sand-bar  and   > 
was  detained  till  next  day.     26th,  at  7  P.M.,  at  the  grand  turn 
below  Island  No.  60,  passed  nine  keel-boats,  with  Sixth'  Regi- 
ment United  States  Infantry,  commanded   by  Col.  Atkinson, 
destined  for  the  Missouri;  at  11  P.M.  took  on  board  Col.  Atkin-   | 
son  and  Miij.  Mclntosh ;  at  quarter  past  eleven  run  aground,   i 
and  lost  anchor  and  part  of  cable.     27th,  the  steamboat  Har-   \ 
riet  passed  while  at  anchor.     28th,  at  3  P.M.,  passed  steamboat 
Jefferson,  with  United  States  troops,  having  broke  her  piston  ; 
at  4  P.M.  repassed  the  steamboat  Harriet.'  " 

On  the  9th  the  same  paper  announced  that  Capt. 
Hewes,  of  the  "  St.  Louis,"  had  gratified  the  citizens 
of  St.  Louis  with  a  sail  to  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri, 

"  Last  week  Col.  Henry  Atkinson,  on  seeing  the  ferry-boats 
worked  by  wheels,  immediately  conceived  the  idea  of  applying 
them  to  the  barges  bound  up  the  Missouri  with  United  States 
troops,  stores,  etc.  In  about  three  days  he  had  one  of  the 
barges  rigged  with  wheels  and  a  trial  made,  in  which  she  was 
run  up  the  Missouri  about  two  mile?  and  back  in  thirty  min- 
utes."— Gazette,  June  30,  1819. 

1  Professor  Waterhouse. 
70 


and  that  "  the  company  on  board  was  large  and  gen- 
teel, and  the  entertainment  very  elegant." 

The  return  of  the  "  Maid  of  Orleans,"  Capt.  Tur- 
ner, on  the  28th  of  July,  and  the  departure  of  the 
"  Yankee,"  Capt.  Hairston,  early  in  December  for 
New  Orleans,  complete  the  record  of  steamboating 
for  1819. 

About  this  time  began  the  long  and  active  career 
on  the  river  of  Capt.  John  C.  Swon,  one  of  the  best- 
known  names  in  the  steamboat  trade  of  St.  Louis. 
Capt.  Swon  was  born  in  Scott  County,  Ky.,  May  16, 
1803.  His  father  was  an  early  pioneer  from  Mary- 
land, and  a  large  land-owner  in  Kentucky.  He  died 
:  in  1814  while  locating  lands  in  St.  Francis  County, 
\  Mo.,  and  young  Swon  passed  under  the  guardianship 
of  Col.  R.  M.  Johnson,  who  had  then  lately  been 
Vice-President  of  the  United  States.  In  1819  the 
boy  sailed  up  the  Missouri  to  Council  Bluffs,  and 
was  so  infatuated  with  the  river  that  he  resolved  to 
follow  it  for  a  livelihood.  The  wild  and  romantic 
scenery  of  the  Missouri,  the  high  bluffs,  dense  forests, 
and  broad  prairies  offered  special  attractions  to  the 
eye  and  fired  his  youthful  imagination.  In  the  fol- 
lowing year  he  returned  home  and  obtained  permis- 
sion from  his  guardian  to  engage  in  the  river  trade. 

Consequently,  in  1821,  Capt.  Swon  obtained  a 
position  as  clerk  on  the  "  Calhoun,"  under  Capt.  Silas 
Craig,  and  for  two  years  was  engaged  in  the  St.  Louis 
and  Louisville  trade,  the  boat  occasionally  making  a 
trip  to  New  Orleans,  when  Swon  usually  had  charge 
of  the  vessel  himself. 

From  1823  to  1830,  Capt.  Swon  was  connected 
with  several  of  the  most  famous  boats  of  that  period, 
among  which  may  be  mentioned  the  "  Steubenville," 
"  Governor  Brown,"  and  "  America,"  under  Capt. 
Crawford  and  Capt.  Alexander  Scott. 

In  1825,  Capt.  Swon,  having  formed  an  extremely 
favorable  idea  of  the  place  from  his  frequent  visits, 
made  St.  Louis  his  permanent  home.  In  1830  he 
temporarily  left  St.  Louis  and  went  to  Pittsburgh, 
Pa.,  where,  in  company  with  Capt.  James  Wood,  of 
that  city,  he  built  the  "  Carrollton."  He  subse- 
quently took  charge  of  that  vessel,  and  ran  her  in 
the  St.  Louis  and  New  Orleans  trade.  In  1833  he 
built  the  "  Missouri,"  and  commanded  her  for  one 
season  ;  in  the  next  year  he  built  the  "  Majestic,"  in 
1835  the  "Selma,"  and  in  1837  the  "St.  Louis," 
the  largest  steamer  up  to  that  time  ever  employed  on 
the  Mississippi. 

In  1839  he  sold  the  "St.  Louis,"  and  engaged  in 
the  wholesale  grocery  business  in  St.  Louis  with  R.  A. 
Barnes,  the  firm  being  Barnes  &  Swon,  but  in  1840 
he  retired  from  the  partnership  and  resumed  his  old 


1102 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


calling.  He  then  returned  to  Pittsburgh,  and  brought 
out  the  "  Missouri"  in  1841.  In  August  of  that  year 
the  boat  was  destroyed  by  fire  while  lying  at  the 
wharf  at  St.  Louis.  Undaunted,  however,  Capt.  Swon 
went  to  Louisville,  and  purchased  the  "  Alexander 
Scott"  in  1842,  and  managed  her  until  1845,  when 
he  sold  her,  and  purchased  an  interest  in  the  "  J.  M. 
White,"  which  vessel  he  commanded  until  1847, 
when  he  sold  her,  and  proceeded  to  comply  with  a 
resolution,  formed  on  account  of  family  reasons,  to 
build  just  one  more  boat  and  then  leave  the  river. 
He  contracted  for  the  "  Aleck  Scott,"  and  launched 
her  in  March,  1848,  for  the  Missouri  trade.  Both 
the  "  Alexander  Scott"  (previously  mentioned)  and 
the  "  Aleck  Scott"  were  named  in  honor  of  one  of 
young  Swon's  earliest  captains,  Alexander  Scott,  one 
of  the  best  known  river-men  of  that  period.  Capt. 
Swon  commanded  the  "  Aleck  Scott"  until  July,  1854, 
when  he  sold  her  and  retired  from  the  river,  thus 
ending  a  long,  active,  and  useful  career,  devoted  to  the 
development  of  the  river  interests  of  Missouri. 

In  1857  he  purchased  a  beautiful  place  at  Webster 
Station,  on  the  Missouri  Pacific,  and  lived  there  sev- 
eral years  in  rural  quiet.  In  1867-68  he  disposed  of 
it  and  visited  Europe.  Upon  his  return  he  settled 
in  St.  Louis,  where  he  has  continued  to  reside,  enjoy- 
ing in  well- earned  ease  the  fruits  of  a  more  than 
usually  industrious  manhood. 

Capt.  Swon  has  been  twice  married.  His  first  wife, 
whom  he  married  in  1830,  was  Anna  Kennett,  sister 
of  L.  M.  Kennett,  ex-mayor  of  St.  Louis.  Of  this 
union  two  children  were  born,  who  are  now  dead. 
After  three  years  of  singularly  happy  married  life 
Mrs.  Swon  died,  and  Capt.  Swon  married  Miss  Ken- 
nett, a  cousin  of  his  first  wife.  This  lady  died  in  the 
spring  of  1882,  leaving  no  living  children. 

Capt.  Swon  was  chosen  superintendent  of  the  Ohio 
and  Mississippi  Railroad  in  the  early  stages  of  that 
enterprise,  but  did  not  accept  the  position.  He  is  a 
director  in  the  Hope  Mining  Company,  his  only  busi- 
ness connection,  although  he  has  been  solicited  to 
assist  numerous  enterprises.  He  has  taken  a  lively 
interest  in  the  problems  of  transportation  which  St. 
Louis  has  had  to  grapple  with,  and  cherishes  an 
honest  pride  in  his  own  labors  in  that  direction, 
having  done  probably  as  much  as  any  one  man  to  de- 
velop the  river  and  steamboat  interests  of  the  city 
and  State.  Well  preserved  and  wonderfully  fresh  for 
a  man  over  eighty  years  of  age,  he  remains  one  of  the 
few  survivors  of  the  adventurous  class  of  steamboat- 
men  who  aided  so  largely  in  building  up  the  river 
commerce  of  the  Mississippi  valley. 

The  first  steamboat  that  ascended  the  upper  Mis- 


sissippi was  the  "  Virginia,"  which  arrived  at  Fort 
Snelling  in  May,  1823.  The  Missouri  and  upper 
Mississippi  had  now  been  opened  to  regular  naviga- 
tion, and  the  steamboat  traffic  of  the  great  river  and 
its  tributaries  developed  rapidly.  On  the  27th  of 

j  August,  1825,  the  Republican  announced  that  there 
were  two  steamboats,  the  "  Brown"  and  "  Magnet," 
now  lying  here  for  the  purpose  of  repairing,  and 
added,  "  We  believe  this  is  the  first  instance  of  a 

;  steamboat's  remaining  here  through  the  season  of 
low  water."  The  expansion  of  the  steamboat  busi- 
ness continued  without  interruption,  and  in  its  issue 
of  April  19,  1827,  the  Republican  commented  upon 

i  it  as  follows  : 

"  During  the  past  week  our  wharf  has  exhibited  a  greater 

1   show  of  business  than  we  recollect  to  have  ever   before  seen, 

j   and  the  number  of  steam  and  other  boats  arriving  and  depart- 

i   ing   has   been   unprecedented.     The  immense  trade  which   has 

opened   between    this   place  and   Fevre  River  at  the  present 

employs,  besides  a  number  of  keels,  six  steamboats,  to  wit: 

the     'Indiana,'     'Shamrock,'      'Hamilton,'      'Muskingum,' 

'  Mexico'   and  '  Mechanic.'     The  '  Indiana'   and  '  Shamrock' 

on  their  return  trips  have  been   deeply  freighted  with   lead, 

and  several  keel-boats  likewise  have  arrived  with  the   same 

article.      Judging   from   the  thousands   of   people  who   have 

gone  this  spring  to  make  their  fortunes  at  the  lead-mines,  we 

should  suppose  that  the  quantity  of  lead  produced  this  year 

will  be  tenfold  greater  than  heretofore." 

Again,  on  the  12th  of  July,  the  same  paper  re- 
marked that  it  must  be  gratifying  to  every  citizen  of 
St.  Louis  to  witness  the  steady  advancement  of  the 
town,  "  the  number  of  steamboats  that  have  arrived 
and  departed  during  the  spring"  being  cited  as  "  the 
;  best  evidence  of  the  increase  of  business."  During 
I  1832  there  were  eighty  arrivals  of  steamboats  at 
St.  Louis,  whose  aggregate  tonnage  amounted  to 
9520  tons.  In  1834  the  number  of  steamboats  on 
the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries  was  230,  their  ton- 
nage aggregating  39,000  tons.  There  were  also 
1,426,000  feet  of  plank,  joists  and  scantling,  1,628,- 
000  shingles,  15,000  rails,  1700  cedar  logs,  8946 
cords  of  wood,  and  95,250  bushels  of  coal  landed 
from  the  boats,  together  with  12,195  barrels  and 
sixty  half-barrels  of  flour,  463  barrels  and  twenty 
half-barrels  of  pork,  and  233  barrels  and  fifty  half- 
barrels  of  beef. 

In  1836  the  "  Champion,"  Capt.  Mix,  performed 
the  trip  from  Vicksburg  to  Pittsburgh,  and  thence  to 
St.  Louis,  in  seven  days'  running  time ;  and  between 
St.  Louis  and  Louisville  in  fifty  hours,  "  passing  the 
'  Paul  Jones'  and  several  other  boats  with  ease." 
She  was  beaten,  however,  in  June  of  that  year  by 
the  "  Paul  Jones."  In  announcing  this  fact  the  Re- 
publican stated  that  the  captain  of  the  "  Champion" 
(which  was  an  Eastern-built  boat)  "  acknowledges 


NAVIGATION   ON   THE    MISSISSIPPI   RIVER. 


1103 


his  inability  to  go  ahead  of  our  Western  boats,"  and 
that  he  would  shortly  start  with  his  boat  for  the  At- 
lantic cities  via  New  Orleans. 

During  the  same  month  seventy-six  different 
steamboats  arrived  at  St.  Louis,  the  aggregate  ton- 
nage of  which  was  10,774,  the  number  of  entries 
being  146,  and  the  wharfage  $930.  The  same  ac- 
tivity continued  in  1837,  and  the  Republican  notes 
the  presence  of  thirty-three  steamboats  receiving  and 
discharging  cargo  on  one  day  in  April,  1837. 

The  steamboat  "  North  St.  Louis"  was  launched  on 
the  29th  of  March,  1837,  from  the  yard  of  Messrs. 
Thomas  &  Green.  This  boat  was  said  to  have  been 
a  "  splendid  specimen  of  the  enterprise,  the  genius, 
and  the  art  of  our  Western  citizens,"  and  was  regarded 
as  "  the  finest  boat  which  has  ever  floated  upon  the 
Mississippi."  * 

On  the  10th  of  October,  1838,  the  subject  of  es- 
tablishing a  steamship  line  from  St.  Louis  to  Eastern 
cities  was  considered  at  a  meeting  of  merchants  at 
the  Merchants'  Exchange.  John  Smith  was  ap- 
pointed chairman,  and  A.  G.  Farwell  secretary. 

The  object  of  the  meeting  having  been  stated  by 
the  chair,  it  was  on  motion  ordered  that  a  committee 
of  five  persons  be  appointed  to  prepare  resolutions  for 
the  action  of  the  meeting.  The  chair  appointed 
Messrs.  D.  L.  Holbrook,  N.  E.  Janney,  A.  B.  Cham- 
bers, A.  G.  Farwell,  and  R.  M.  Strother  as  this  com- 
mittee. 

After  a  short  absence  the  committee  returned  and 
reported  the  following : 

"  Resoh-ed,  That  the  establishment  of  a  line  of  steamships 
from  some  Eastern  port  or  ports  to  this  city  is  a  subject  of  deep 
interest  to  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis,  and  that  in  the  opinion  of 
this  meeting  it  is  expedient. 

"  Ecuolced,  That  a  committee  of  persons  be  appointed  to 
correspond  with  such  individuals  in  the  Eastern  cities,  and  with 
such  other  persons  as  they  may  deem  proper  upon  the  subject, 
and  that  they  be  requested  to  put  themselves  in  possession  of 
as  many  facts  connected  with  the  proposed  enterprise  as  pos- 
sible, and  that  they  report  at  as  early  an  adjourned  meeting  as 
practicable. 

"  Kenolred,  That  a  committee  of  persons  be  appointed  to 
collect  facts  and  statistics  relating  to  the  import  and  export 
trade  of  St.  Louis,  and  the  necessity  of  opening  a  direct  trade 
with  the  Eastern  ports,  its  profits  and  utility,  and  report  at  an 
adjourned  meeting." 

The  question  being  upon  the  adoption  of  the  first 
resolution,  Messrs.  N.  Ranney,  A.  B.  Chambers,  R. 
M.  Strother,  N.  E.  Janney,  John  F.  Hunt,  and  the 
chairman  severally  addressed  the  meeting,  after  which 
the  resolutions  were  unanimously  adopted. 

On   motion   it  was  ordered  that  the  blank  in  the 


1  The  death  of  Joseph  Bates,  captain  of  the  steamboat 
ville,"  occurred  on  the  :">th  of  April,  1837. 


;  Boon- 


second  resolution  be  filled  with  "  five,"  and  that  in 
third  resolution  be  filled  with  "fifteen,"  whereupon 
the  chair  appointed  Messrs.  A.  G.  Farwell,  A.  B. 
Chambers,  Hezekiah  King,  J.  B.  Camden,  and  E. 
Bredell  the  committee  under  the  second  resolution, 
and  Messrs.  Adam  B.  Chambers,  N.  E.  Janney,  D.  L. 
Holbrook,  Reuben  M.  Strother,  William  Glasgow,  H. 
Von  Phul,  E.  H.  Beebe,  John  F.  Hunt,  N.  Ranney, 
Edward  Walsh,  G.  K.  McGunnegle,  J.  0.  Agnew, 
B.  Clapp,  E.  Tracy,  and  0.  Rhodes  the  committee 
under  the  third  resolution. 

On  motion  of  Capt.  N.  Ranney,  John  Smith  was 
added  to  the  first  committee  as  chairman. 

The  steamboat  and  lumber  register  for  1838  shows 
the  number  of  steamers  which  entered  the  port  of  St. 
Louis  during  the  year  to  have  been  154,  and  the  ag- 
gregate tonnage  22,752  ;  the  number  of  entries,  1014  ; 
and  the  wharfage  collected,  $7279.84. 

The  steamboat  "  Ottawa"  was  the  first  boat  built 
on  the  Illinois.  She  was  constructed  in  part  at  Ot- 
tawa, added  to  at  Peru,  and  finished  at  St.  Louis. 
She  was  of  the  very  lightest  draught,  seventeen  inches 
light,  and  had  a  powerful  engine,  the  design  being  to 
take  two  keels  in  tow  in  low  water,  the  steamer  her- 
self being  light ;  so  that  whenever  there  were  seven- 
teen inches  of  water  on  the  bars,  she  would-be  able 
to  reach  St.  Louis  with  one  hundred  tons  of  freight 
weekly.  Her  length  was  one  hundred  feet,  breadth 
twenty,  and  the  cabin  was  laid  off  entirely  in  state- 
rooms. The  owners  resided  in  Ottawa. 

In  1840  the  number  of  steamboats  on  the  Mississippi 
and  its  tributaries  was  two  hundred  and  eighty-five, 
with  an  aggregate  tonnage  of  forty-nine  thousand  eight 
hundred  tons. 

The  steamboat  "  Missouri,"  then  the  longest  boat 
on  Western  waters,  visited  St.  Louis  about  the  1st  of 
April,  1841.  Her  length  was  two  hundred  and  thirty- 
three  feet,  the  width  of  her  hull  was  thirty  feet,  and 
her  entire  breadth,  guards  included,  fifty-nine  feet. 
The  depth  of  her  hold  was  eight  and  a  half  feet,  and 
this  was  the  quantity  of  water  she  drew  when  fully 
loaded.  Her  light  draught  was  five  feet  four  inches. 
The  diameter  of  her  wheels  was  thirty-two  feet,  and 
the  length  of  buckets  twelve  feet.  Her  cylinders 
were  twenty-six  inches  in  diameter,  with  a  twelve-foot 
stroke.  She  had  two  engines  and  seven  forty-two-inch 
boilers.  She  was  steered  by  chains,  and  was  well  fur- 
nished with  hose  and  other  apparatus  for  the  extin- 
guishment of  fires. 

The  "  Missouri"  carried  six  hundred  tons,  and  was 
built  at  Pittsburgh  for  and  under  the  direction  of 
Capt.  J.  C.  Swon,  of  St.  Louis,  at  a  cost  of  forty-five 
thousand  dollars. 


1104 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


She  was  intended  as  a  regular  trader  between  St. 
Louis  and  New  Orleans,  but,  as  heretofore  stated,  was 
burned  at  St.  Louis  in  August,  1841. 

In  1842  two  boat-yards  for  the  construction  of 
steamboats  and  other  river-craft  were  in  existence 
in  St.  Louis,  and  during  this  year  the  number  of 
steamboats  on  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries  was 
four  hundred  and  fifty,  with  an  aggregate  tonnage  of 
about  ninety  thousand  tons.1 

In  1843  the  number  was  six  hundred  and  seventy- 
two,  with  an  aggregate  tonnage  of  one  hundred  and 
thirty-four  thousand  four  hundred,  and  in  addition 
to  the  steamers  there  were  about  four  thousand  flats 
and  keels.  For  the  year  1844  the  enrolled  and  licensed 
tonnage  of  Western  rivers  amounted  to  one  hundred 
and  forty-four  thousand  one  hundred  and  fifty  tons. 
Messrs.  Harvey,  Premeau  &  Co.,  under  the  style  of 
the  St.  Louis  Fur  Company,  chartered  the  steamer  j 
"  Clermont,  No.  2,"  D.  G.  Taylor  commander,  in 
Jnne,  1846,  and  the  boat  sailed  for  the  head-waters  | 
of  the  Missouri  on  the  7th  to  trade  with  Sioux  and 
Blackfeet  Indians.  The  improvements  in  the  con-  [ 
struction  of  steamboats  had  been  such  that  the  time 
consumed  in  the  voyage  from  New  Orleans  to  St. 
Louis,  which  in  early  days  had  occupied  weeks,  had 
in  1844  been  reduced  to  a  few  days.  On  the  9th  of 
May,  1844,  the  Republican  made  the  following  an- 
nouncement : 

"  What  has  heretofore  been  merely  the  speculation  of  enthu- 
siasts has  been  realized.  New  Orleans  has  been  brought  within 
less  than  four  days'  travel  of  St.  Louis, — in  immediate  neighbor- 
hood propinquity.  The  steamboat  '  J.  M.  White'  has  been  the 
first  to  accomplish  this  extraordinary  trip. 

"  The  '  J.  M.  White'  left  this  port  on  Monday,  April  29th,  at 
three  o'clock  P.M.,  with  six  hundred  tons  of  freight,  and  arrived 
at  Xew  Orleans  on  Friday  evening,  the  3d  inst.,  being  three 
days  and  sixteen  hours  on  her  downward  trip.  She  departed 
for  St.  Louis  on  Saturday,  May  4,  1844,  at  forty  minutes  after 
five  o'clock  P.M.,  and  arrived  on  the  8th,  having  made  the  trip  up 
in  three  days  and  twenty-three  hours,  and  having  been  but  nine 
days  on  the  voyage  out  and  home,  including  all  detention. 

"  The  following  are  the  runs  up  from  wharf  to  wharf,  the 
best  time  ever  made  by  any  steamboat  on  the  Western  waters . 
"From  New  Orleans  to  Natchez,  300  miles,  20  h.  40  m. 
"         "         "        Vicksburg,  410  miles,  29  h.  55  m. 
"         "        "         Montgomery's,  625  miles,  1  day  13  h. 

8  m. 

"  "  "  Memphis,  775  miles,  2  days  12  h.  8m. 
"  "  "  Cairo,  1000  miles,  3  days  6  h.  44  m. 
"  "  "  St.  Louis,  1200  miles,  3  days  23  h.  9m." 

One  of  the  leading  steamboat  men  of  St.  Louis 
about  this  time  was  Capt.  W.  W.  Greene.  William 
Wallace  Greene  was  born  in  Marietta,  Ohio,  in  1798. 
His  father,  Charles  Greene,  was  of  the  Rhode  Island 

1  Elliot  R.  Hopkins,  collector  of  the  port,  died  on  the  18th  of 
September,  1842. 


family  of  Greenes  which  furnished  the  country  one  of 
its  most  successful  Revolutionary  generals.  He  was 
a  merchant  in  Marietta  from  1796  to  1812,  and  also 
engaged  in  the  building  of  ships  on  a  large  scale  for 
those  days,  constructing  three  ships,  two  or  three 
brigs,  and  several  schooners,  which  he  owned  in  con- 
nection with  R.  J.  Meigs,  Col.  Lord,  and  Benjamin 
Ives  Gilman,  prominent  men  of  that  period.  Charles 
Greene's  wife  was  Elizabeth  Wallace,  of  Philadelphia. 
From  these  parents  William  Wallace  Greene  inher- 
ited sterling  qualities  of  heart  and  mind  and  elevated 
religious  principles.  Reverses  in  the  large  shipping 
interests  of  his  father  threw  him  early  in  life  upon  his 
own  resources,  and  with  no  capital  save  energy,  a  good 
character,  sound  common  sense,  and  a  fair  education, 
he  left  home  for  busier  and  more  promising  fields. 
He  first  went  to  Dayton,  Ohio,  where  for  seven  years 
he  was  employed  in  the  general  merchandise  estab- 
lishment of  his  cousins,  Steele  &  Pierce.  He  then 
removed  to  Louisville,  Ky.,  and  New  Albany,  Ind., 
continuing  in  the  mercantile  business  until  1820, 
when  he  engaged  as  clerk  on  the  steamboat  "  Ohio," 
running  in  the  New  Orleans  trade,  and  for  two  years 
was  employed  on  the  river.  In  1822  he  again  em- 
barked in  mercantile  pursuits  at  Hamilton,  Ohio. 

In  the  following  year  he  removed  to  Cincinnati  and 
commenced  business  as  a  commission  and  forwarding 
merchant.  Soon  after,  in  connection  with  his  brother 
Robert,  he  built  the  low-pressure  steamer  "  De  Witt 
Clinton,"  the  fastest  boat  of  her  day  on  the  Western 
waters.  When  finished  he  took  command  of  her,  but 
soon  resigned  her  to  his  uncle,  Maj.  Robert  Wallace, 
of  Louisville,  Ky.  The  Greene  brothers  then  built 
the  low-pressure  steamers  "  Native"  and  "  Fairy,"  and 
followed  in  quick  succession  with  others,  until  they 
owned  a  large  flotilla  of  very  fine  and  fast  boats,  some 
engaged  in  the  Cincinnati  and  Louisville  trade,  others 
in  the  Cincinnati  trade,  and  still  others  in  the  Ar- 
kansas, Missouri,  and  Illinois  Rivers.  Capt.  W.  W. 
Greene  commanded  several  of  these  vessels,  and  was 
as  well  and  favorably  known  as  any  officer  who  navi- 
gated the  great  rivers  of  the  West.  In  1832-33  he 
commanded  the  high-pressure  steamer  "  Superior," 
employed  in  the  Cincinnati  and  New  Orleans  trade. 

In  1834,  Capt.  Greene,  in  connection  with  his  bro- 
ther-in-law, Capt.  Joseph  Conn,  built  the  "  Cygnet," 
with  vibrating  cylinders ;  and  while  running  this 
boat  they  removed  to  St.  Louis  and  made  that  city 
their  residence  and  base  of  operations.  Greene  was 
captain,  and  Conn  was  clerk  ;  and  so  officered,  the 
"  Cygnet"  for  several  years  did  a  prosperous  business 
on  the  Mississippi,  Arkansas,  and  Illinois  Rivers. 
In  1837,  Capts.  Greene  and  Conn  sold  the  "  Cygnet," 


Bfei 


« 


n 


NAVIGATION   ON   THE   MISSISSIPPI   RIVER. 


1105 


and,  in  connection  with  James  R.  Sprigg,  engaged  in 
the  auction  and  commission  business  under  the  firm- 
name  of  Conn,  Sprigg  &  Greene  (a  partnership  easily 
recalled  by  many  of  the  older  citizens  and  one  of  the 
leading  houses  of  that  period).  The  firm  was  also  at 
times  interested  as  part  owner  in  the  steamers  "  Cas- 
pian," "  Vandalia,"  "  Oregon,"  and  "  Osage,"  all  em- 
ployed in  the  St.  Louis  and  New  Orleans  trade. 

Capt.  Greene  enjoyed  in  a  marked  degree  the  con- 
fidence of  the  community.  In  1842  (Bernard  Pratte 
being  mayor)  he  was  appointed  harbor-master;  in  1845, 
local  agent  of  the  Post-Office  Department ;  and  in  1849 
surveyor  and  collector  of  the  port  of  St.  Louis,  which 
office  he  resigned  in  1853  to  accept  the  presidency  of 
the  Globe  Mutual  Insurance  Company,  to  which  he 
was  annually  elected  for  many  years.  All  who  knew 
him  will  remember  with  what  unfailing  urbanity  and 
fidelity  he  discharged  these  important  public  trusts. 

In  1827,  Capt.  Greene  was  married  to  Sarah  A. 
Conn,  daughter  of  an  old  and  well-known  citizen  of 
Cincinnati.  He  died  April  16,  1873,  leaving  two 
daughters. 

Capt.  Greene  was  an  honored,  consistent,  and  use- 
ful member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  For  many 
years  he  was  a  ruling  elder,  and  brought  to  the  duties 
of  that  office  the  zeal  and  fidelity  which  he  always 
exhibited  in  his  secular  employments.  In  all  the 
relations  of  life,  in  fact,  Capt.  Greene  was  a  man  of 
the  strictest  rectitude,  untiring  energy,  and  ready  gen- 
erosity. His  death  was  that  of  the  resigned  and  hope- 
ful Christian,  weary,  however,  under  the  accumulated 
burdens  of  years. 

The  following  resume  of  steamboating  at  St.  Louis 
is  from  the  Republican  of  Jan.  5,  1847  : 

"  During  the  year  1845  there  were  213  steamboats  engaged 
in  the  trade  of  St.  Louis,  with  an  aggregate  tonnage  of  42,922 
tons,  and  2050  steamboat  arrivals,  with  an  aggregate  tonnage 
of  358,045  tons,  to  which  may  be  added  346  keel-  and  flat-boats. 
During  the  year  1846  there  were  251  steamboats,  having  an 
aggregate  tonnage  of  53,867  tons,  engaged  in  the  St.  Louis  com- 
merce. These  boats  made  2411  trips  to  our  port,  making  an 
aggregate  tonnage  of  407,824  tons.  In  the  same  year  there 
were  881  keel-  and  flat-boat  arrivals. 

"  To  exhibit  the  time  of  their  arrival,  and  their  tonnage,  and 
to  show  at  what  period  the  heaviest  portion  of  our  commerce  is 
carried  on,  we  subjoin  a  statement  of  the  arrivals  for  each 
month : 

Arrived.  Steamers.    Tonnage.     ^K^efs"*1 

January 53  8,917  6 

February 152         26,111  35 

March 158         31,580  22 

April 195         49,334          44 

May 372         78,124  68 

June 295         60,043  38 

July 193         46,554  68 

August 211         37,553  75 

September 171         28,331  72 

October 237         37,538         162 

November 185         31,346         171 

December 190         32,393         120 


"The  trade  in  St.  Louis  in  1846  employed,  as  we  have  stated, 
251  boats,  of  an  aggregate  tonnage  of  53,867  tons.  If  we  esti- 
mate the  cost  of  these  boats  at  $50  per  ton,  which  is  below  the 
true  average,  we  have  an  investment  in  the  shipping  of  this  city 
of  $2,693,350;  and  if  we  allow  an  average  of  25  persons,  in- 
cluding all  those  employed  directly  upon  the  boat,  to  each  vessel, 
we  have  a  total  of  6275  persons  engaged  in  their  navigation. 
Add  to  these  the  owners,  workmen,  builders,  agents,  shippers, 
and  all  those  connected  or  interested  in  this  commerce,  from  the 
time  the  timber  is  taken  from  the  forest  or  the  ore  from  the 
mine,  arid  the  list  will  be  swelled  to  many  thousands." 

The  number  of  enrolled  and  licensed  steamboats  on 
Western  rivers  in  1845  was  789,  with  an  aggregate 
tonnage  of  159,713  tons. 

The  steamers  running  on  the  upper  Mississippi 
from  1823  to  1844  were  used  mainly  to  transport 
supplies  for  the  Indian  traders  and  the  troops  stationed 
at  Fort  Snelling.  Previous  to  the  arrival  of  the 
"  Virginia"  at  Fort  Snelling  in  May,  1823,  keel-boats 
were  used  for  this  trade,  and  sixty  days  from  St. 
Louis  to  Fort  Snelling  was  considered  a  good  trip. 

The  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  for  1846 
makes  the  following  exhibit  of  enrolled  and  licensed 
tonnage  of  the  West:  New  Orleans,  180,504.81 ;  St. 
Louis,  22,425.92  ;  Pittsburgh,  17,162.94;  Cincinnati, 
15,312.86  ;  Louisville,  8172.26 ;  Nashville,  2809.23 ; 
Wheeling,  2666.76;  total,  249,054.77  tons.  Apply- 
ing to  this  volume  of  tonnage  the  average  of  210 
tons  to  a  steamboat,  there  were  1190  employed  on 
Western  rivers,  which  at  $65  per  ton  cost  816,188,561. 
Supposing  these  boats  to  run  220  days  in  a  year  at  a 
cost  of  $125  per  day,  their  annual  expense  amounted 
to  $32,725,000,  and  they  employed  41 ,650  persons. 
The  cost  of  the  river  transportation  in  1846  was  esti- 
mated at$41,154,194.1 

The  rapid  increase  of  the  steamboating  interest  of 
St.  Louis  is  thus  set  forth  in  the  Republican  of  the 
27th  of  January,  1848  : 

"  In  no  department  of  business  has  the  rapid  growth  of  St. 
Louis  as  a  commercial  port  been  made  so  undeniably  manifest 
as  in  her  shipping  by  means  of  steamboats.  The  first  steam- 
boat arrival  at  St.  Louis  was  in  1817.  At  that  time  the  whole 
commerce  of  New  Orleans  was  carried  on  by  about  twenty  barges 
of  one  hundred  tons  each,  and  one  hundred  and  sixty  keel-  and 
flat-boats  of  about  thirty  tons  each,  making  a  total  tonnage  of 
from  six  thousand  to  seven  thousand  tons.  In  1834  the  whole 
number  of  steamboats  on  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries  was 
two  hundred  and  thirty,  with  a  total  tonnage  of  thirty-nine 
thousand  tons.  In  1840  the  number  was  two  hundred  and 
eighty-five,  with  a  tonnage  of  forty-nine  thousand  eight  hun- 
dred. In  1842  the  number  was  four  hundred'  and  fifty,  with  a 
tonnage  of  about  ninety  thousand  tons.  In  1843  the  number 
rose  to  six  hundred  and  seventy-two,  with  a  tonnage  of  one 
hundred  and  thirty-four  thousand  four  hundred.  In  1846,  by 
reference  to  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of  the 

1  The  Commerce  and  Navigation  of  the  Valley  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, p.  7. 


1106 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


licensed  and  enrolled  steamboat  tonnage,  the  number  is  stated 
at  eleven  hundred  and  ninety,  with  a  tonnage  of  two  hundred 
and  forty-nine  thousand  and  fifty-four  tons. 

"In  1839  there  were  one  thousand  four  hundred  and  seventy- 
six  steamboat  arrivals  at  this  port,  with  a  total  tonnage  of 
two  hundred  and  thirteen  thousand  one  hundred  and  ninety- 
three  tons.  In  1840  there  were  seventeen  hundred  and  twenty- 
one  arrivals  ;  tonnage,  two  hundred  and  forty-four  thousand 
one  hundred  and  eighty-six.  In  18-44  there  were  two  thou- 
sand one  hundred  and  five  arrivals;  tonnage,  four  hundred 
and  sixty-seven  thousand  eight  hundred  and  twenty-four.  In 
eight  years,  from  1839  to  the  end  of  1847,  the  number  of  steam- 
boat arrivals  and  the  aggregate  tonnage  have  more  than  doubled. 
The  arrivals  in  1847  exceed  those  of  1839  by  four  hundred  and 
eighty-nine,  and  the  tonnage  by  three  hundred  and  seventy-one 
thousand  four  hundred  and  forty -six  tons."1 

In  1851  three  steamboats  went  up  the  Minnesota 
River,  and  in  1852  one  boat  ran  regularly  up  that 
river  during  the  season.  In  1853  the  business  re- 
quired an  average  of  one  boat  per  day.  In  1854  the 
trade  had  largely  increased,  and  in  1855  the  arrivals 
of  steamers  from  the  Minnesota  numbered  119. 

In  1852  the  novel  application  of  the  steamboat  to 
the  purposes  of  a  circus  was  made  by  Capt.  Jack, 
well  known  to  thousands  of  the  "  old-timers"  in  the 
Mississippi  valley  from  his  long  connection  with  the 
show  business.  In  that  year  he  was  engaged  in  build- 
ing at  Cincinnati  the  great  "  Floating  Palace"  for 
Spalding  &  Rogers'  circus,  among  the  oldest  and  most 
successful  managers  in  that  line  in  the  United  States. 
Capt.  Jack  purchased  an  interest  in  the  floating  palace, 
and  began  his  career  as  a  showman  at  Pittsburgh. 
The  boat  carried  an  amphitheatre,  in  which  the  eques- 
trian performances  took  place,  which  was  capable  of 
seating  one  thousand  persons.  From  Pittsburgh  they 
descended  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  to  New  Or- 
leans, giving  exhibitions  at  all  places  along  the  banks. 
From  New  Orleans  they  steamed  across  the  gulf  to 
Mobile,  and  from  Mobile  the  palace  ascended  the 
Alabama  River  to  the  head  of  navigation  at  Wetunka, 
and,  returning,  went  up  the  Black  Warrior  to  Colum- 
bia. Returning  to  Mobile  and  New  Orleans,  they 
started  on  the  spring  campaign  up  the  Mississippi, 
and,  arriving  at  St.  Louis,  exhibited  at  the  foot  of 
Poplar  Street  to  an  audience  of  twenty-five  hundred 
people  for  three  days.  The  crowd  was  so  immense 
that  they  charged  one  dollar  "  permission,"  instead  of 
admission  tickets,  to  those  who  were  unable  to  get  in, 
for  the  privilege  of  looking  in  at  the  windows.  G. 
R.  Spalding  was  the  manager  of  the  concern,  and  Mr. 
Van  Norton  the  general  agent.  The  palace  continued 


to  exhibit  successfully  along  the  Mississippi,  Missouri, 
and  Ohio  Rivers  until  1860,  when  the  boat  was 
beached  in  New  Orleans.  Capt.  Jack  then  engaged 
on  the  "  Banjo"  with  a  French  Zouave  troupe,  which 
exhibited  on  all  the  principal  tributaries  of  the  lower 
Mississippi,  up  the  Red  River,  the  Cache,  La  Fourche, 
and  Atchafalaya,  and  on  the  Mississippi  at  Fort 
Adams.  On  the  19th  of  July,  1862,  they  entered 
the  boundaries  of  the  Southern  Confederacy,  and 
at  New  Iberia  and  Franklin,  La.,  gave  shows  for 
the  benefit  of  the  soldiers  of  the  Confederate  States. 
In  1862,  Spalding  &  Rogers  organized  their  outfit 
for  South  America.  Mr.  Spalding  offered  Capt.  Jack 
an  interest  in  the  venture,  advising  him  at  the  same 
time  that  it  was  hazardous.  "  You,"  said  Mr.  Spald- 
ing, "  are  now  well  fixed,  and  may  lose  all,  but  if  we 
lose  all  we  can  stand  it."  Capt.  Jack  went  into  busi- 
ness for  himself,  and  lost  largely  in  Confederate  cur- 
rency, but  came  out  finally  very  successful.  He  was 
from  Ohio,  and  arrived  in  St.  Louis  in  1849  with  but 
one  dollar  in  his  pocket.  Spalding  &  Rogers  returned 
from  their  South  American  venture  in  1866,  having 
made  money.  They  returned  with  all  their  company 
except  one  lady,  who  died  on  the  trip.  Capt.  Jack 
owed  his  success  in  life  to  his  former  employe,  Gr.  R. 
Spalding,  who  died  in  New  Orleans  in  February, 
1880.  Mrs.  Spalding  died  six  months  afterwards, 
leaving  Charles  Spalding,  of  St.  Louis,  who  was  their 
only  living  son,  as  their  heir. 

During  the  season  of  1856  trade  upon  the  Missis- 
sippi was  very  prosperous,  and  the  arrivals  at  St.  Paul 
exhibited  an  increase  over  any  previous  year,  notwith- 
standing the  season  of  navigation  was  much  shorter 
than  that  of  the  year  before.2 

In  the  year  1870s  the  most  remarkable  event  which 


1  Capt.  Alfred  Rodgers,  formerly  a  commander  of  one  of  the 
finest  steamboats  on  the  river,  and  for  the  last  year  or  eigh- 
teen months  of  his  life  engaged  in  the  commission  and  produce 
business  in  St.  Louis,  died  on  the  13th  of  June,  1849. 


1  In  July,  1857,  the  steamer  "  Louisiana,"  commanded  by 
Capt.  J.  Harry  Johnson,  with  S.  D.  Bradley,  clerk,  and  Capt.- 
D.  R.  Asbury,  pilot;  Joseph  Brennan,  engineer;  and  Hugh 
Maney,  mate,  fired  her  gun  from  a  point  between  the  shot- 
tower  and  water-works  at  eight  minutes  after  four  o'clock  A.M., 
and  arrived  at  Keokuk,  a  distance  of  two  hundred  and  forty 
miles,  making  the  run  all  the  way  against  a  swift  current,  by 
eight  o'clock  and  sixteen  minutes  P.M.,  in  sixteen  hours  and 
eight  minutes.  On  her  memorable  run  the  "  Louisiana"  landed 
at  Hannibal,  and  lost  some  twenty-four  minutes.  She  beat  the 
fastest  time  ever  before  made,  that  of  the  "  Hannibal  City," 
forty-one  minute?. 

"The  "  Jennie  Bonnie,"  a  little  yacht  commanded  by  Capt. 
Carpenter,  arrived  at  St.  Louis  June  14,  1870,  from  New 
Orleans,  in  tow  of  the  "  Mary  Alice."  Capt.  Carpenter  had 
started  over  a  year  previously  from  the  coast  of  Maine,  and  had 
made  a  voyage  of  over  twenty-six  thousand  miles,  including 
the  survey  of  harbors  and  inlets,  terminated  by  his  arrival  at 
St.  Louis.  The  crew  consisted  only  of  the  captain  and  a  com- 
panion. The  vessel  took  a  most  circuitous  route,  up  and  down 
all  the  bays  and  inlet?  of  the  Atlantic  coast,  until  her  arrival 


NAVIGATION  ON   THE   MISSISSIPPI  RIVER. 


1107 


had  as  yet  occurred  illustrating  the  degree  of  excellence 
attained  in  the  art  of  boat-building,  was  the  celebrated 
trial  of  speed  between  the  steamers"  Robert  E.  Lee"  and 
"  Natchez,"  in  a  race  from  New  Orleans  to  St.  Louis. 
Perhaps  no  event  in  the  whole  history  of  steamboat- 
ing  on  the  Mississippi  attracted  so  much  attention. 
For  many  days  the  press  in  the  West  was  filled  with 
references  to  it,  and  many  newspapers  in  the  far  East 
esteemed  it  of  sufficient  importance  to  notice  the 
progress  of  the  two  leviathans,  not  only  by  publishing 
long  telegrams,  but  also  editorially.  The  boats  ar- 
rived at  St.  Louis  on  the  4th  of  July,  having  made 
an  unparalleled  run  of  more  than  twelve  hundred 
miles.  It  is  believed  that  not  less  than  two  hundred 
thousand  persons  witnessed  the  arrival  of  the  "  R.  E. 
Lee,"  which  was  the  first  to  reach  the  goal.1 

at  New  Orleans.  After  remaining  at  St.  Louis  a  couple  of  days 
the  "Jennie  Bonnie"  went  to  St.  Paul,  and  thence  across  the 
grand  portage  to  Lake  Superior,  through  Lakes  Huron,  Erie, 
and  Ontario  into  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  around  to  the  coast  of 
Maine  to  the  point  where  she  started  from. 

1  "  Quite  an  excitement,"  says  a  St.  Louis  journal,  "  was  created 
in  steamboat  circles  by  the  trials  of  speed  between  the  steamers 
'  R.  E.  Lee'  and '  Natchez.'  For  years  the  time  of  the '  J.  M. White' 
from  New  Orleans  to  St.  Louis  had  stood  unequaled,  and  among 
river-men  there  was  a  desire  to  know  if  any  improvement  in 
the  building  of  fast,  and  at  the  same  time  good,  business  boats 
had  been  made.  While  we  cannot  see  that  anything  was  gained 
by  the  trial,  we  place  the  time  of  each  boat  on  record  for  the 
benefit  of  those  interested. 

1844.—'  J.  M.  White's'  run  : 
From  New  Orleans  to          Miles.   Dnys.  Hours.  Min. 

Natchez 300         ..         20         40 

Vicksburg 410         1  5         55 

Montgomery  Point...  625         1         23  8 

Memphis 775         2         12  8 

Cairo 1000         3  6         44 

St.  Louis 1200         3         23  9 

1870.—'  Natchez'  time,  July,  1870  : 

From  New  Orleans  to  Days.  Hours.  Min. 

Natchez 17  52 

Vicksburg 26 

Head  of  Thresher  Field 24          4 

Napoleon 1  18  15 

White  River 1  19  30 

Helena 2  2  35 

Memphis 2  9  40 

Head  of  Island  No.  10 3  

Hickman 3  1  43 

Cairo 3  4  24 

St.  Louis 3  21  58 

1870.—'  Lee's'  time,  July,  1870  : 
From  New  Orleans  to  Days.  Hours.  Min. 


Carrollton 

Harry's  Hill.... 

Red  Church 

Bonnet  Carre ... 
College  Point..., 
Donaldsonville. 

Plaquemine  

Baton   Rouge... 

Bayou  Sara 

Red  River 

Stamps' 

Briers 

Ashley 

Natchez 


1 
1 
2 
3 
4 
7 
8 

10 
12 
13 
15 
16 
17 


27J 

39 
38 
50 
59 
5 

25 
26 
56 
56 
51i 
29 
11 


Steamboat  Casualties. — Neither  the  exact  num- 
ber of  steamboats  lost  nor  a  reasonably  accurate  ap- 
proximation of  the  number  of  deaths  resulting  from 
steamboat  accidents  on  Western  waters  will  ever  be 
ascertained,  for  until  within  a  few  years  past  but  little 
effort  was  made  to  preserve  the  records  and  statistics 
of  such  disasters.  The  most  reliable  record  of  ex- 


Days. 

Hours. 

Min. 

Cole's  Creek  

19 

21 

Waterproof  , 

19 

53 

Rooney  

20 

45 

21 

2 

Grand  Gulf.  

22 

6 

Hard  Times  

22 

18 

Vicksburg  

1 

38 

1 

2 

37 

1 

3 

49 

Lake  Providence  

1 

5 

47 

Greenville  

1 

10 

55 

Napoleon  

1 

16 

22 

White  River  

1 

16 

56 

Australia  

1 

19 

Helena  

1 

23 

25 

2 

6 

9 

Island  No.  37  

2 

9 

Island  No.  26  

2 

15 

30 

Island  No.  14  , 

2 

17 

23 

2 

19 

50 

Island  No.  10  

2 

20 

37 

Island  No.  8  

...  2 

21 

25 

.  Lucas'  Bend  

3 

,  3 

1 

St.  Louis  

3 

18 

14 

"  Not  satisfied  with  the  result  of  the  trips  to  St.  Louis,  a  race 
against  time  was  arranged  for  in  October,  from  New  Orleans  to 
Natchez,  in  which  the  '  Natchez'  came  out  victorious. 

"Time  of  the  'Lee'  and  'Natchez'  from  New  Orleans  to 
Natchez,  October,  1870  : 


'  NATCHEZ.' 

From  New  Orleans  to                        H.  M.  S. 

Carrollton 25  30 

Hill's 55  45 

RedChurch 1  29  45 

Bonnet  CarrS 2  27  30 

College  Point 3  29  30 

Donaldsonville 4  34  15 

Plaquemine „ 6  32  45 

Baton  Rouge 7  49  30 

Bayou  Sara 10  1  45 

Red  River 12  21  30 

Stamps' , 13  23  30 

Bryan's 15  26  .... 

Henderson's 16  8  32 

Natchez 16  51  30 


'R.  E.  LEE.' 

H.    M.  S. 

..  25  30 

..  54  15 

1  28  15 

2  22  15 

3  26  15 

4  28  15 

7  41  15 

9  53  15 

12  23  ... 

13  23  30 
13  32  ... 
16  15  40 
16  59  5 


"Capt.  Kannon  feeling  confident  his  boat  could  do  still  better, 
made  one  more  run  against  time,  and  regained  the  reputation 
of  the  '  Lee.'  The  time  was  as  follows  : 

From  New  Orleans  to                          H.  M.  S. 

Carrollton  ..........................  26  25 

Harry  Hill's..  .....................  54  43 

Red  Church  .....................      1  29  5 

Bonnet  Carre  ...................     2  25  5 

College  Point  ....................     3  28  20 

Convent  ...........................     3  37 

Donaldsonville  ..................     4  30  55 

Bayou  Goula  .....................     5  40  28 

Plaquemine  .....................     6  26  50 

Baton  Rouge  .......  ............     7  40  42 

Bayou  Sara  ......................     9  48  20 

Stamps'  ...........................  13  11  55 

Henderson's  .....................  15  55  25 

Natchez  ..............................  16  36  47" 


1108 


HISTORY  OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


plosions  up  to  1871   was  made  up  by  Capt.  S.  L. 
Fisher  and   Capt.   James   McCord,  both    well-known 
citizens  of  St.  Louis  and  practical  steamboat  men.1 
This  record  begins  in  the  year  1816,  and  is  as  follows  : 

STEAMBOAT  EXPLOSIONS  FOB  FIFTY-FIVE  YEARS. 

The   curious  revelation   is   made  by  these  figures 
that  there  have  been  more  explosions  of  steam-boilers 
on  Western  steamboats,  in  proportion  to  the  number 
of  boats   engaged   in   business  on    the   rivers,  since 
Congress  enacted  laws  for  the  regulation  and  guidance 
of  engineers  on  steam-vessels  ;  and  the  list  of  casual- 
ties also  shows  that  explosions  were  attended  by  more 
fatal   results  after   that    legislation    than    previously 
when   engineers  had  to  trust  entirely  to  their  skill 
and  judgment  in  the  management  of  the  engine  and 
regulating  the  pressure  in  the  boilers.    By  contrasting 
the  number  of  casualties  for  a  period  of  eighteen  years 
preceding  the  passage  of  the  law  of  1852  by  Con- 
gress with  the  number  of  casualties  for  a  period  of 
eighteen  years  subsequent  to  the  adoption   of   the 
law,  the  difference  can  be  more  readily  perceived. 
During   the   first-named   period   twenty-seven    boats 
exploded  their  boilers,  and  one  thousand  and  two 
persons  were  killed.     During  a  period  of  eighteen 
years  subsequent  to  the  passage  of  the  law  fifty-four 
boats  met  with  disaster  by  explosion,  and  three  thou- 
sand one  hundred  persons  were  killed. 
From  Jan.  1  to  Nov.  19,  1841,  the  following  boats 
engaged  in  the  St.  Louis  trade  were  lost  : 

The  Vermont  sank   between  St.  Louis    and 
the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  valued  at  $5  000 

Year.         Name  of  Boat. 

Number  of 
Lives  Lost. 

Year. 

Name  of  Boat. 

Number  of 
Lives  Lost. 

is  111     Wellington 

9 
30 
20 
60 
29 
17 
9 
21 
50 
85 
100 
55 
7 
26 
25 
9 
23 
25 
6 
13 
30 
74 
53 
28 
14 
6 
150 
13 
100 
9 
19 
18 
8 
40 
60 
27 
20 
3 
15 
19 
40 
30 
5 
3 
14 

1857 
1857 
1857 
1857 
i  1857 
1858 
1859 
1859 
1859 
1860 
1860 
1860 
1860 
1861 
1861 
1862 
1862 
1862 
1862 
1862 
1882 
1863 
1864 
1864 
1865 
1865 
1865 
1865 
1866 
1866 
1866 
1866 
1867 
1868 
1870 
1870 
1870 
1870 
1870 
1871 
1871 
1871 
1871 
1871 

12 
3 
20 
12 
8 
1 
70 
45  . 
2 
8 
2 
23 
2 
4 
80 
150 
4 
1 
3 
1 
3 
4 
5 
1647 
5 
11 
18 
12 
7 
11 
8 
5 
22 
31 
11 
5 
36 
13 
7 
9 
60 
1 
7 
1 

1817     Constitution 

Kentucky  

is-'")     Teche           

1830  i  Helen  McGregor.. 
1836     Ben  Franklin  
1836     Rob  Roy 

Cataract  

Buckeye  Belle  
Titania  

1837     Chariton 

Princess  

1837     Dubuque8    

1837     Black  Hawk  

Hiawatha  

is:;-.     Moselle  

John  Calhoun  
Sain  Gaty  

1838     Oronoco            .  ... 

1838     Gen    Brown 

Ben  Lewis  

18.38     Augusta  

H.  T.  Gilmore  
Madonna  

1839     George  Collier3.... 
1839     Wellington 

Ben  Sherrod  

1838     Walker  

Pennsylvania  
Monongahela  
Com.  Perry  

1840     Persia  

1844     Lucy  Waller  
1845     Elizabeth    

Advance  

Isro  ... 

1845     Marquette  

Ollie  Sullivan  

1846     H.  W.  Johnston.. 
1847     Edward  Bates  
1848     Concordia  .         .. 

Ben  Levi  

1849     Virginia  

Nimrod  

1849     Cutter  

R.  J.  Lockwood... 
W.  R.  Carter  

1849     Louisiana  

Rienzi    sank    between    St.    Louis      and 
the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  8,000 

1850     St   Joseph  

Gen.  Lytle  

1850     Anglo-Norman.... 
1850     Kate  Fleming  
1850     Knoxville  

Missouri  

Peoria    sank    between    St.    Louis    and 
the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  .         .        5000 

Phantom  

Cumberland  

Chester   sank    between    St.    Louis    and 
the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  20  000 

1S51     Oregon  

Harry  Dean  

1852     Pocahontas  

Eclipse  

Homer   sank    between    St.    Louis    and 
the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  6,000 

1852     Thomas  Stone  
1852     Glencoe  

Magnolia  

City  of  Memphis.. 
David  White  

Maid    of    Orleans    sank     between     St. 
Louis  and  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  25,000 
Oregon   sank    between    St.    Louis    and 
the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  20  000 

1852     Saluda  

1852     Franklin  

1853     Bee  

Maggie  .Hays  
Iberville  

1854     Kate  Kinney  
1854     Timor  

Keokuk   sank  between    St.    Louis    and 
the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  6  000 

Judge  Wheeler  
W.  R.Arthur  
Rob  Roy  

1854     Reindeer  

Wm.    Paris    sank    between     St.    Louis 
and  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  12,000 

Raven  

A.  M.  Phillips  sank  between  St.  Louis 
and  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio                    .        6  000 

New  State  

1  •*.">(!     Metropolis  

Tohula   sank    between    St.    Louis    and 
the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  15,000 

'  The  Fifth  Annual  Report  of  the  St.  Louis  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce, for  1860,  has  no  reference  to  or  mention  of  steamboat 
casualties. 
1  The   "  Dubuque,''  Capt.   Smoker,  was    destroyed    on    the 
Mississippi    River    while   on    her    voyage    from    St.  Louis   to 
Galena,  Aug.  15,  1837,  near  Muscatine  Bar,  eight  miles  below 
Bloomington.     The  accident  was  caused  by  the  explosion  of 
the  boiler  on  the  larboard  side,  probably  on  account  of  some 
defect  in  material  or  workmanship.     The  steamboat  "  Adven- 
ture," arriving  in  a  few  hours  after  the  explosion,  took  the 
"  Dubuque"  in  tow  to  Bloomington.     The  killed  were  John 
Littleton,  Isaac  Deal,  Felix  Pope,  Charles  Kelly,  Noah  Owen, 
Jesse   Johnson,  James    C.   Carr,  George   McMurtry,    Francis 
Pleasants,  Henry  A.  Carr,  John   C.  Hamilton,  Joseph   Brady, 
John  Boland,  Joseph  L.  Sanes,  L.  B.  Sanes,  Martin  Shough- 
nohoy,   George  Clix,   David  Francour,  and  Mrs.  M.  Shaugh- 
nessy  and  child. 
*  When   the  "  George   Collier,"  while   on   her  way,  May  6, 

U.  S.  Mail  sank  between  St.  Louis  and 
the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  15,000 

Brazil  sank  on  the  upper  Mississippi  8,000 
Caroline  sank  below  mouth  of  Ohio  35  000 

Chief  Magistrate  sank  below  mouth    of 
Ohio  15000 

Baltic  sank  below  mouth  of  Ohio  12,000 

Malta  sank  on  the  Missouri  15,000 

Missouri  burnt  at  the  wharf.  50,000 

$290,000 

1839,  from  New  Orleans  to  St.  Louis,  was  about  eighty  miles 
below  Natchez,  her  piston-rod  gave  way.     The  cylinder-head 
was  broken,  and  the  boiler-stand  carried  away.     The  steam 
escaping  scalded  forty-five  persons,  of  whom  twenty-six  died 
that  day,  as  follows  :  T.  J.  Spalding,  Ch.  Brooks,  William  Blake, 
C.  Herring,  Mrs.  E.  Welch  and  two  children,  S.  O'Brien  and 
wife,  S.  J.  Brogua,  John  Idida,  D.  J.  Rose,  D.  Groe,  F.  Gross, 
J.  B.  Bossuet,  P.  Smith,  Joseph  Lawrence,  Charlotte  Fletcher 
and  brother,  Bilch,  and  six  others  unknown. 

NAVIGATION   ON  THE   MISSISSIPPI   RIVER. 


1109 


In  De  Bows  Review  a  list  of  disasters  to  steam- 
boats is  given  which,  though  made  from  "very  defec- 
tive returns,"  has  not  overdrawn  the  picture  of  death, 
ruin,  and  suffering  which  explosions,  collisions,  and 
carelessness  have  inflicted  on  the  people  of  this  coun- 
try who  traveled  on  Western  waters.  This  list  in 
the  Review  for  1849  extended  back  many  years.  It  is 


4.  Carelessness  or  ignorance  of  those  intrusted  with  the  man- 
agement of  the  boiler. 
In  this  class  : 

Racing 1 

Incompetent  engineers 2 

Old  boilers 6 

Stopping  off  water 1 

Carelessness 22 — 32 

Dates  and  Numbers  of  Explosions. 


as  follows  : 

Whole  number  of  boats  on  which  explosions  have  oc- 

1816  3 

1834  1 

1817  4 

1835  10 

1819  1 

1836  13 

1820     .                                       1 

1837                                          13 

1821  1 

1838                                          11 

Officers             "                 "                 31            57 

1822  1 

1839                                            3 

Crew                "                 "                 25            103 

1825  2 

1840  8 

Whole  number  killed                       164           1,805 

1826  3 

1841                 .                           7 

"            "         wounded                 111           1,015 

1827  2 

1842  7 

Total  amount  of  damages                 75           $997,650 

1828  1 

1843  9 

Average  number  of  passengers  killed  in  the  enumer- 

1829  4 

1844  4 

1830  12 

1845                                          11 

Average  number  of  officers  killed  in  the  enumerated 

1831  2 

1846  7 

1832                                              1 

1847                                          12 

Average  number  of   crew  killed  in  the  enumerated 

1833  5 

1848  12 

Date  given  in  177  cases  ;   not  s 
Pecuniary  loss,  233  cases,  at  $1 
Loss  of  life,  233  cases,  at  11  ea< 
Wounded,  233  cases,  at  9  each. 

ated  in  56;    total  233 

Average  number  killed  in  the  enumerated  cases  11 
Average  number  wounded  in  the  enumerated  cases....                9 

3,202  each  $3,090,366 

)h  2,563 

The  cause  is  stated  in  98  cases;  not  stated  in  125; 

2097 

Total  killed  and  wounded  

4660 

1.  Excessive  pressure,  gradually  increased,  was  the 

The  fate  of  boats  emplo 
is  traced  in  the  Western 
lows  : 

344  worn  out  or  abandonee 
238  snagged  or  otherwise  s 
68  burnt  

yed  in  the  Mississippi  trade 
Boatman  for  1848,  as  fol- 

2.  The   presence   of  unduly  heated   metals  was   the 

3    Defective  construction  was  the  cause  of.  33 

4.  Carelessness  or  ignorance  was  the  cause  of.  32 

5.  Accidental  (rolling  of  boat)  was  the  cause  of.  1 

unk                   34£       " 

Nature  of  the  Accidents. 

10         " 

17  lost  by  collision  

2}       " 

The  seventeen  boats  which 
"  Washington,"  •'  Union,"  "At 
"  Cotton  Plant,"  "  Tallyho,"  " 
"Alabama,"    "Hornet,"    "  Ka 
"Huntress,"  "  Gen.  Robinson,' 
Average   age  of  boats  worn 
nearly. 
Average  age  of  boats  sunk,  bu 
nearly. 
Boats  of  which  we  have  no 
the  accounts  obtained. 
Bull 
Built  in  Pittsburgh  distric 
"      Cincinnati         " 
"      Louisville         " 
"      Nashville          " 
"      other  places  

^4 
lad  their  boilers  burst  were  the 
as,"  "  Caledonia,"  "  Porpoise," 
Tricolor,"  "  Car  of  Commerce," 
nawha,"    "  Helen    McGregor," 
"Arkansas,"  and  "Teche." 
out   or   abandoned,  five  yeara 

rnt,  or  otherwise  lost,  four  years 
dates  of  loss  are  calculated  by 

di>ig. 
t  304. 

Burstin"1  steam-chests  ,  1 

Bolt  and  boiler  forced  out  1 

Blew  out  boiler-head  4 

Not  stated  38 

Total                 233 

Classification  of  Causes. 
1.  Under  pressure  within  the  boiler,  the  pressure  being  grad- 
ually increased.     In  this  class  are  the  cases  marked  "excessive 
pressure." 
2.  Presence  of  unduly  heated  metal  within  the  boiler.     In 
this  class  are  included 

221 

103 

19 

37 

Total 

..    fi.<U 

Deposits  2  —  16 

3.  Defective  construction  of  the  boiler  and  its  appendages. 
Improper  or  defective  material: 
In  this  class  are  included  cast-iron 

Number  of  Scats  built  in  each  of  the  following  years: 
1811  1        1S25  39 

1812  0 

1826  60 

1813  1 

1827  24 

1814  2 

1828  35 

1816  5 

1829  55 

1817  8 

1830  43 

Bad  workmanship  : 
Want  of  proper  gauge-cocks  3 

1818  31 

1831  68 

1819  34 

1832  .     ..     80 

1820                                            9 

1833                                          48 

Detective  flue  1 

1821                                            7 

1834                                         59 

Extending  wire  walls  1 

1822                                          10 

1835                                          52 

Pipe  badlv  constructed  1 

182S                                          14 

Tntnl                                                      fi84. 

Want  of  step-joints  on  pipe  1  —  7 

1824                                          13 

Defective  boiler  (nature  of  defect  not 
stated)  11 

The  following  is  a  compilation  of  the  number  of 
boats  lost  up  to  1850  : 

Total  in  this  class....                                     33 

71 


1110 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


From  1810  to  1820 

"      1820  to  1830 

"      1830  to  1840 

"      1840  to  1850 

Boats  whose  date  of  loss  is  unknown 


Total. 


The  tonnage  of  480  of  the  above  boats,  as 

ascertained  by  record 

Tonnage,  supposed 


Total. 


3 

37 
184 
270 

80 

576 

68,048 
17,210 

85,258 


Original  cost  of  boats  lost  by  sinking,  as  as- 
certained   $6,348,940 

Supposed  original  cost  of  102  not  accounted 

for 765,000 

Total  original  cost 7,113,940 

Total  depreciation  while  in  service 3,665,890 

Final  loss 3,681,297 

The  list  of  boats  destroyed  by  fire  comprises  166.  The  orig- 
inal cost  of  these  166  steamers  was  $1,010,854. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  more  noteworthy 
disasters  to  St.  Louis  vessels : 

In  March,  1823,  the  "Tennessee,"  Capt,  Camp- 
bell, was  lost  and  thirty  persons  drowned.  In  Decem- 
ber of  the  same  year  the  "  Cincinnati,"  on  her  way 
from  St.  Louis  to  New  Orleans,  ran  on  a  snag  below 
Ste.  Genevieve  and  sank.  No  lives  were  lost. 

In  the  latter  part  of  April,  1832,  the  "  Talisman," 
lying  in  port  at  St.  Louis,  was  burned  to  the  water's 
edge.  Ou  the  24th  of  October,  1834,  the  "  Missouri 
Belle"  collided  with  the  "  Boone's  Lick"  and  sank 
almost  immediately,  thirty  persons  being  drowned. 

The  "Shepherdess,"  from  Cincinnati  for  St.  Louis, 
struck  a  snag  on  the  4th  of  January,  1844,  in  Ca- 
hokia  Bend,  within  three  miles  of  Market  Street 
wharf,  St.  Louis,  and  sank.  The  disaster  occurred 
about  eleven  o'clock  at  night,  and  as  most  of  the  pas- 
sengers had  retired  to  their  cabins  and  the  boat  sank 
rapidly,  the  loss  of  life  was  very  great. 

On  the  10th  of  March,  1848,  the  steamers  "Ava- 
lanche,'' "Hibernian,"  "John  J.  Hardin,"and  "  La- 
clede,"  with  two  barges,  were  burned  at  the  Levee  near 
the  foot  of  Washington  Street,  St.  Louis ;  and  on  the 
9th  of  May  the  steamers  "  Mail,"  "  Missouri  Mail," 
"  Lightfoot,"  and  "  Mary"  were  burned  at  their 
wharf  in  St.  Louis. 

The  following  boats  were  burned  at  St.  Louis 
during  the  year  1849,  excepting  at  the  time  of  the 
great  fire  in  May  : 

Algoran,  July  29th $18,000 

Dubuque,  July  29th 8,000 

Highlander,  May  1st 14,000 

Mary.  July  29ih 3(1,000 

Phoenix,  July  29th 16,1100 

Sun  Francisco,  July  29th 28,000 

Accidents  to  Steamboats  which  were  afterwards  raised  and  re- 
pa  ired. 

"  Buena  Vista,"  took  fire  at  Kaskaskia  landing ;  cargo  greatly 
damaged  by  water ;  boat  saved  from  burning  by  the  exertions  of 
her  officers  and  crew. 


"Governor  Briggs,"  struck  a  wreck  and  sunk  in  backing  out 
from  the  wharf  at  St.  Louis  July  12th;  afterwards  raised  and 
repaired. 

"  Magnet,"  collapsed  connection  pipe  and  flue  at  St.  Louis 
August  8th  ;  afterwards  repaired. 

"  San  Francisco,"  exploded  a  boiler  at  St.  Louis  May  30th, 
killing  and  scalding  several  persons;  afterwards  burned  at  the 
same  place  on  July  29th. 

Twenty-three  vessels  were  burned  at  the  wharf  in 
St.  Louis  at  the  time  of  the  great  fire  on  May  17, 
1849,  as  follows: 

"American  Eagle,"  Cossen,  master,  Keokuk  and  Upper  Mis- 
sissippi packet,  valued  at  $14,000,  total  loss;  insured  for  $3500 
in  Pittsburgh;  no  cargo. 

"Alice,"  Kennett,  master,  Missouri  River  packet,  valued  at 
$18,000,  total  loss;  insured  for  $12,000,— $9000  in  city  offices, 
balance  Eirst;  cargo  valued  at  $1000. 

"  Alexander  Hamilton,"  Hooper,  master,  Missouri  River 
packet,  valued  at  $15,000,  total  loss;  insured  for  $10,500  in 
Eastern  offices  ;  no  cargo. 

"  Acadia,"  John  Russell,  master,  Illinois  River  packet,  val- 
ued at  $4000,  total  loss;  fully  insured  in  Eastern  offices;  cargo 
fifty  barrels  molasses  and  sundry  small  lots  of  merchandise,  val- 
ued at  $1000. 

"Boreas,  No.  3,"  Bernard,  master,  Missouri  River  packet, 
valued  at  $14,500,  total  loss;  insured  for  $11, 500  in  city  offices; 
no  cargo. 

"  Belle  Isle,"  Smith,  master,  New  Orleans  trade,  valued  at 
$10,000,  total  loss;  insured  for  $8000  in  the  Columbus  agency 
at  New  Orleans  and  another  office;  no  cargo. 

"Eliza  Stewart,"  11.  McKee,  master,  Missouri  River  trade, 
valued  at  $9000,  total  loss;  insured  for  nearly  the  full  value, — 
$4500  in  the  Nashville  agency,  bain  nee  in  the  city  ;  no  cargo. 

"  Eudora,"  Ealer,  master,  New  Orleans  and  St.  Louis  trade, 
valued  at  $16,000,  total  loss;  insured  for  $10,500,  all  in  city 
offices;  no  cargo. 

"  Edward  Bates,"  Randolph,  master,  Keokuk  packet,  valued 
at  §22,500,  total  loss;  insured  for  $15,000,  all  in  city  offices;  no 
cargo. 

"  Frolic"  (tow-boat),  Ringling,  master,  valued  at  $1500,  total 
loss;  no  insurance  ;  no  cargo. 

"  General  Brook"  (tow-boat),  Ringling,  master,  valued  at 
$1500,  total  lo.js;  no  insurance  ;  no  cargo. 

"  Kit  Carson,"  Goddin,  master,  Missouri  river  packet,  valued 
at  $16,000,  total  loss;  insured  for  $8000,  if  not  more,  in  city 
offices;  cargo  valued  at  $3000. 

'•  Mauieluke,"  Sinithers,  master,  New  Orleans  and  St.  Louis 
trade,  valued  at  $30,000,  total  loss;  insured  for  $20,000,— $8000 
in  Louisville,  $5000  in  Columbus  agency,  $7000  in  St.  Louis ; 
no  cargo. 

"Mandan,"  Beers,  master,  Missouri  river  trader,  valued  at 
$14,000,  total  loss;  insured  for  $10,500,  all  in  city  offices;  no 
cargo. 

"  Montauk,"  Legrand  Morehouse,  master,  Upper  Mississippi 
trader,  valued  at $16,000,  total  loss;  insured  for $10,000,— $5000 
here,  balance  in  agencies;  cargo  valued  at  $8000. 

"  Martha,"  D.  Finch,  master,  Missouri  river  trader,  valued 
at  $10,000,  total  loss;  fully  insured;  cargo  valued  at  $30,000, 
also  insured. 

"  Prairie  State,"  Baldwin,  master,  Illinois  river  packet,  val- 
ued at  $26,000,  total  loss ;  insured  in  Eastern  offices  for  $18,000  ; 
cargo  valued  at  $3000. 

'•Red  Wing,"  Barger,  master,  Upper  Mississippi  trade,  val- 
ued at  $6000,  total  loss;  no  insurance;  cargo  valued  at  $3000. 


NAVIGATION   ON   THE   MISSISSIPPI  RIVER. 


1111 


"St.  Peters,"  Ward,  master,  Upper  Mississippi  trade,  valued 
at  $12,000,  total  loss;  insured  for  $9000  in  the  Nashville  and 
Louisville  agencies;  no  cargo. 

"  Sarah,"  Young,  master,  New  Orleans  and  St.  Louis  trade, 
valued  sit  $35,000,  total  loss;  insured  for  $20,000  at  Cincinnati; 
cargo  valued  at  $30,000. 

"  Taglioni,"  Marshall,  master,  Pittsburgh  and  St.  Louis  trade, 
valued  at  $20,000,  total  loss;  insured  for  nearly  the  full  value 
in  Pittsburgh;  cargo  fifty  tons  of  iron,  five  hundred  kegs  of 
nails,  and  sundry  lots  of  merchandise,  valued  at  from  $12,000 
to  $15,000. 

"  Timour,"  Miller,  master,  Missouri  river  trade,  valued  at 
$25,000,  total  loss  ;  insured  for  $18,000,— $4000  in  the  city  offices, 
the  balance  East;  cargo  valued  at  $6000. 

"  White  Cloud,"  Adams,  master,  New  Orleans  and  St.  Louis 
trade,  valued  at  $3000,  total  loss;  fully  insured;  no  cargo. 

The  steamboat  "  Andrew  Jackson"  was  destroyed 
by  fire  while  lying  at  Illinoistown  on  Aug.  7,  1850. 
She  was  an  old  boat  and  insured  for  six  thousand  dol- 
lars. Five  other  boats  narrowly  escaped  being  con- 
sumed. The  steamboat  "  Governor  Briggs"  was  dam- 
aged by  collision  with  the  "  Allegheny  Mail,"  near  St. 
Louis,  on  January  13th.  The  "  Mustang"  was  burned 
to  the  water's  edge  at  St.  Louis  on  May  8th.  She  was 
rebuilt,  but  afterwards  lost  by  snagging  in  the  Mis- 
souri, near  Brunswick,  early  in  October.  The  "  Ohio" 
blew  out  a  mud-valve  at  St.  Louis  on  September  26th, 
scalding  two  persons. 

The  bursting  of  the  larboard  boiler  of  the  ferry- 
boat "St.  Louis,"  on  the  23d  of  February,  1851, 
caused  one  of  those  terrible  disasters  which  have  so 
often  shocked  the  public  in  this  country.  "  Timbers, 
large  masses  of  machinery,  brick-work,  and  ashes  were 
hurled  aloft  in  every  direction  with  many  human 
beings."  There  were  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  per- 
sons on  the  boat  at  the  time  of  the  explosion.  Of 
that  number  there  were  but  three  or  four  survivors. 
There  were  thirteen  bodies  identified.  The  cor- 
oner's list  of  dead  mentions  "  John  Walter  James, 
an  unknown  boy,  Sebastian  Smith,  a  boy  called  Bill, 
living  in  Illinoistown  near  Pap's  house,  Dr.  Truett, 
Merriwether  Smith,  Robert  Hardin,  Alexander 
McKean,  William  W.  Benson,  Isaac  Cooper,  Alfred 
Wells,  Ernest  August  Stuidt." 

The  steamer  "  Sultana"  was  destroyed  by  fire,  with 
a  loss  of  seventy-five  thousand  dollars  on  boat  and 
cargo,  on  the  12th  of  June,  1851,  while  lying  at  the 
foot  of  Mullanphy  Street,  St.  Louis. 

By  the  explosion  of  the  boilers  of  the  steamer 
"  Glencoe,"  upon  her  arrival  at  St.  Louis  from  New 
Orleans,  on  April  4,  1852,  another  great  destruction 
of  life  and  property  was  brought  about.  During  the 
same  fire  the  steamer  "  Cataract"  was  greatly  injured, 
together  with  wood-  and  wharf-boats.  On  the  18th 
of  January,  1853,  the  steamers  "New  England," 
"  Brunette,"  and  "  New  Lucy"  were  burned  at  the 


wharf  in  St.  Louis.  The  steamer  "•  Bluff  City"  was 
burned,  and  the  <;  Dr.  Franklin,  No.  2,"  and  "  High- 
land Mary"  were  greatly  damaged  by  the  fire  from 
the  first,  on  the  27th  of  July,  1853,  while  lying  at 
the  St.  Louis  Levee.  The  "  Montauk,"  "Robert 
Campbell,"  and  "  Lunette"  were  burned  on  the 
13th  of  October,  1853.  On  Feb.  16,  1854,  the 
Alton  packet,  "  Kate  Kearney,  No.  1,"  exploded 
her  starboard  boiler  just  as  she  was  starting  from  St. 
Louis.  Twenty-five  persons  were  severely  scalded. 
The  Rev.  S.  G.  Gassaway,  rector  of  St.  George's 
Church,  St.  Louis,  was  killed,  and  Mnj.  Buell  was 
severely  injured.  The  steamers  "  Twin  City,"  "Prai- 
rie City,"  and  "  Parthenia"  were  burned  at  the  wharf 
in  St.  Louis  on  the  7th  of  December,  1855.  A  loss 
of  nearly  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  was  caused 
by  the  burning  of  the  steamers  "  St.  Clair,"  "  Paul 
Anderson,"  "  James  Stockwell,"  "  Southerner,"  and 
"  Saranac,"  and  the  damaging  of  the  "  Monongahela," 
"Pennsylvania,"  and  "  Mattie  Wayne." 

The  steamer  "  Australia"  was  burned  on  the  1st  of 
April,  1859,  and  the  steamers  "  New  Monongahela" 
and  "Edinburgh"  at  Bloody  Island  on  the  15th  of 
May  of  the  same  year.  A  loss  of  two  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars  and  the  destruction  of  five  steamers  were 
caused  by  the  burning  of  the  "  H.  D.  Bacon,  the  "  L. 
L.  McGill,"  the  "  Estella,"  the  "A.  McDowell,"  and 
the  "  W.  H.  Russell,"  on  the  27th  of  October,  1862.1 
The  steamers  "  Imperial,"  valued  at  sixty  thousand 
dollars,  "  Hiawatha,"  valued  at  sixty  thousand  dollars, 
"  Jesse  K.  Bull,"  valued  at  twenty  thousand  dollars, 
and  the  "  Post-Boy,"  valued  at  thirty-five  thousand 
dollars,  were  burned  on  the  13th  of  September,  1863. 
The  "  Chancellor,"  "  Forest  Queen,"  and  the  "  Cata- 
houla"  were  burned  on  the  4th  of  October,  1863. 
The  steamer  "  Maria,"  having  on  board  a  portion  of  the 
Third  Iowa  and  Fourth  Missouri  Cavalry,  was  blown 
up  at  Caroudelet  in  December,  1864.2  The  "  Jennie 


1  The  number  of  steamboats  destroyed  and  damaged  in  1860 

was 299 

The  number  of  canai-boats  destroyed  and  damaged  in  I860 

was 48 

The  number  of  coal  and  Uat-boats  destroyed  and  damaged 

in   I860  was 208 

The  number  of  steamboats  totally  destroyed  was 120 

Due  to  the  following  causes  : 

Sunk 11 

Uunied 31 

Explosion 19 

Collision 24 

Loss  of  life,  254. 

*  From  the  RepnlUcan  of  Dec.  12,  1864  : 

"  At  seven  o'clock  Sunday  morning  the  steamboat  '  Maria,' 
loaded  with  government  troops,  horses,  mules,  wagons,  etc., 
was  blown  up  while  lying  at  the  landing  at  Carondclot,  and 
afterwards  burned  to  the  water's  edge.  About  six  o'clock  Sat- 
urday evening  the  '  Maria,"  '  Lillie  Martin,'  and  '  Ella  Faber,' 


Snagged  and  damaged 44 

Damaged  by  storm 39 

Breaking  machinery 21 

Collision  with  banks 8 


1112 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


Lewis,"  and  the  ferry-boat  "  Illinois,  No.  2,"  were 
sunk  in  the  ice  at  St.  Louis,  Nov.  19,  1864. 

The  Carondelet  and  Marine  Railway  Docks,  together 
with  the  steamer  "  Jeanie  Deans,"  were  totally  destroyed 
by  fire  on  the  12th  of  May,  1866.  The  steamers 
"  Ida  Handy"  (valued  at  seventy-five  thousand  dol- 
lars), "  Bostona,"  and  "  James  Raymond"  were  burned 
on  the  2d  of  June,  1866.  The  steamer  "  Magnolia," 
valued  at  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  was 
burned  on  the  13th  of  June.  By  the  fire  of  the  7th 
of  April,  1866,  the  steamers  "  Fanny  Ogden"  with 
cargo,  the  "  Frank  Bates"  and  cargo,  the  "  Nevada" 
and  cargo,  the  "  Alex.  Majors"  with  cargo,  and  the 
"  Eflfie  Deans"  with  cargo,  all  together  .involving  a 
loss  of  over  five  hundred  thousand  dollars,  were  de- 
stroyed. On  the  26th  of  February,  1866,  a  disas- 
trous fire  occurred,  destroying  the  steamers  "  Le- 
viathan," "  Luna,"  "  Peytona,"  and  "  Dictator,"  with 
a  loss  estimated  at  three-quarters  of  a  million  of  dol- 
lars. 

On  December  19th  the  steamer  "  Gray  Eagle"  was 
sunk  at  St.  Louis.  The  ice-gorge  of  1865-66  occa- 
sioned a  loss  of  nearly  a  million  of  dollars  to  the 
owners  of  steamboats.  The  following  was  the  esti- 

t 

having  on  board  a  considerable  number  of  cavalry,  principally 
belonging  to  the  Third  Iowa  and  Fourth  Missouri  Cavalry, 
left  the  Levee  at  St.  Louis  and  dropped  down  to  Carondelet, 
about  seven  miles  below,  where  they  were  lying  when  the 
disaster  took  place,  the  '  Maria'  between  the  other  two.  She 
had  on  board  Col.  Benteen,  commanding  brigade,  with  his  staff 
and  escort,  Col.  B.  S.  Jones,  Third  Iowa  Cavalry,  a  portion  of 
his  command  and  detached  troops,  amounting  in  all  to  about 
one  hundred  men,  besides  the  crew  of  the  boat,  en  route  for 
Cairo.  The  explosion,  by  whatever  means  caused,  threw  the 
forward  end  of  the  boilers  apart,  landing  them  on  the  deck, 
without  disturbing  the  after  ends,  and  dashed  the  front  of  the 
furnaces  and  a  quantity  of  coal  forward,  setting  fire  to  bales  of 
hay,  twelve  of  which  only  were  on  deck,  the  remainder  with  the 
oats  being  in  the  hold.  At  the  moment  the  explosion  took  place 
the  floor  of  the  cabin  was  burst  up,  and  falling  back  precipitated 
a  number  of  soldiers  down  upon  the  boilers  and  burning  wreck. 
"  When  the  '  Maria'  left  St.  Louis  she  was  in  advance  of  the 
'  Ella  Faber,'  who  had  on  board  men  recently  belonging  to  the 
Fourth  Missouri  Cavalry.  Eight  of  the  men  of  this  regiment 
left  behind  got  on  board  the  'Maria.'  Two  only  of  those  are 
known  to  have  got  off  unhurt.  What  has  become  of  the  others 
is  not  known.  Immediately  after  the  accident  occurred  the 
'  Lillie  Martin,'  which  had  steamed  up,  fell  down  and  took  off 
the  men  on  board  and  on  the  after-part  of  the  boat,  and  also 
three  ladies.  In  half  an  hour  after  the  explosion  the  boat  was 
a  mass  of  flame,  allowing  time  to  save  nothing  but  the  load  of 
human  life  aboard.  The  '  Maria'  is  a  new  boat,  built  at  Cin- 
cinnati, the  trip  to  St.  Louis  being  her  third  since  built.  Her 
cost  was  thirty-five  thousand  dollars.  She  is  insured  at  Cin- 
cinnati, but  for  what  amount  we  did  not  learn.  The  officers  of 
the  '  Maria'  are  Capt.  Alexander  Montgomery ;  Wesley  B. 
Dravo  and  William  Dravo,  clerks;  Washington  Couch  and 
Frank  Ganger,  engineers;  Thomas  Botts  and  Andrew  Acker, 
mates;  Sol.  Catterlin  and  David  I'.hisli field,  pilots." 


mate  of  the  total  loss  of  steamboat-owners  and  under- 
writers from  the  formation  of  the  ice-gorge  at  St. 
Louis  in  1865  to  its  breaking  on  the  16th  of  De- 
!  cember  of  that  year,  together  with  the  names  of  the 
vessels  sunk : 

Value. 

New  Admiral $60,000 

Old  Sioux  City 10,000 

Empire  City 20,000 

Calypso  (about) 30,000 

Highlander 20,000 

Geneva 27,000 

Metropolitan  (about) 18,000 

Four  wharf-boats  (about) 15,000 

Seven  barges  (about) 25,000 

On  the  second  breaking  up,  Friday, 
the  12th  January,  1866  : 

Belle  of  Memphis 85,000 

John  Trendly  (ferry-boat) 50,000 

Prairie  Rose 15,000 

Julia lfi,000 

Warsaw 35,000 

Underwriter,  No.  8 20,000 

Omaha 12,000 

Saturday,  the  13th  of  January,  the 

Nebraska 20,000 

City  of  Pekin 37,000 

Hattie  May 30,000 

Diadem 22,000 

Viola  Belle 30,000 

Reserve 30,000 

Rosalie 45,000 

Five  rock-boats  (about) 18,000 

Memphis  wharf-boat 5,000 

Alton  wharf-boat 2,500 

Total $697,500 

In  the  above  table  no  amount  whatever  is  set  down 
for  damage  done  the  boats  that  escaped  being  sunk. 
The  computations  made  on  this  subject  by  steamboat- 
men  and  steamboat-builders  aggregated  one  hundred 
and  forty  thousand  dollars,  while  some  went  as  high  as 
one  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  and  one  hundred  and 
seventy  thousand  dollars. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  steamboat  disasters  at 
or  near  St.  Louis  from  1867  to  1881,  inclusive: 

1867.  Jan.  20,  "Mexico,"  burned  at  St.  Louis;  total  loss. 
Jan.  26,  "  R.  C.  Wood,"  sunk  opposite  Carondelet. 

Jan.  26,  "  E.  H.  Fairchild,"  sunk  opposite  Carondelet. 
Feb.  6,  "Tom  Stevens,"  sunk  near  St.  Louis. 
Feb.  13,  "AVhite  Cloud,"  gunk  at  St.  Louis;  total  loss. 
June    13,    "Governor   Sharkey,"  sunk   at  St.  Louis;    total 
loss. 

Sept.  10,  "G.W.Graham,"  burned  at  St.  Louis;  total  los». 
Sept.  10,  "Yellowstone,"  burned  at  St.  Louis;  total  loss. 
Sept.  27,  "  Illinois,"  exploded  at  St.  Louis;  repaired. 

1868.  Feb.  4,    "Anna   White,"  sunk  by  ice   in   St.   Louis 
harbor;  total  loss.     Value  812,000;  partly  insured. 

Feb.  4,  "Clara  Dolsen,"  New  Orleans  packet,  burned  in 
St.  Louis:  total  loss.  Insured  for  $25,000. 

Feb.  22,  "Kate  Putnam,"  sunk  near  St.  Louis;  raised  and 
repaired.  Insured  for  $20,000. 

Feb.  29,  "  Paragon,"  sunk  in  Mississippi  River  near  Cape 
Girardeau;  total  loss.  Insured  for  $35,000. 

March  2,  "M.  S.  Mephain,"  burned  at  St.  Louis  Levee. 
Value  $35,000  ;  insured  for  §40,000.  Total  loss. 

March  2,  "Fannie  Scott,"  burned  at  St.  Louis  Levee. 
Damage  $5000. 


NAVIGATION   ON   THE   MISSISSIPPI   RIVER. 


1113 


March  2,  "Kate  Kinney,"  partially  burned  at  St.  Louis 
Levee.  Damage  $5000  ;  insured. 

April  18,  "  George  D.  Palmer"  (stern-wheeler),  partially 
burned  at  St.  Louis  Levee.  Damage  $5000 ;  insured  at  Cin- 
cinnati. 

Dec.  18,  "George  McPorter,"  sunk  in  St.  Louis  harbor; 
total  loss. 

1869.  March  29,  "Carrie  V.  Kountz,"  "Gerard  B.  Allen," 
"Ben   Johnson,"   "Henry    Adkins,"    "Jennie    Lewis,"    and 
"Fannie  Scott"  burned  at  St.  Louis;  loss  nearly  $500,000. 

Oct.  28,  steamer  "Stonewall"  burned,  and  a  large  number  of 
lives  lost. 

1870.  Jan.  19,  steamer  "  Lady  Gay,"  one  day  out  from  St. 
Louis,  struck  a  snag  near  Grand  Tower  and  was  sunk.   She  was 
built  in  1865,  and  was  valued  at  $50,000.     She  was  one  of  the 
boats  of  the  St.  Louis  nnd  New  Orleans  Packet  Company,  and 
belonged  to  Capt.  I.  H.  Jones,  Theodore  Laveille,  and  others. 
She  was  insured  for  $24,000  on  boat  and  $30,800  on  cargo  and 
stock. 

Jan.  28,  collision  between  the  tow-boat  "Fisher"  and  ferry- 
boat "  East  St.  Louis,"  opposite  Olive  Street;  damage  slight. 

1871.  Jan.  13,  tow-boat  "Tiber"  thrown  out  of  the  river  at 
the  foot  of  Biddle  Street,  St.  Louis,  by  floating  ice,  and  totally 
destroyed. 

The  canal  propeller  "  Sligo"  beached  and  destroyed  by  the 
floating  ice  at  the  foot  of  Cherry  Street,  St.  Louis. 

Jan.  28,  the  steamer  "  W.  R.- Arthur,"  bound  from  New  Or- 
leans to  St.  Louis,  exploded  her  boilers  on  the  Mississippi  River 
when  about  twenty  miles  above  Memphis.  The  boat  was  to- 
tally destroyed.  By  this  accident  about  sixty  lives  were  lost. 

Feb.  28,  the  St.  Louis  and  Keokuk  packet  "Rob  Roy"  met 
with  a  serious  accident  when  leaving  St.  Louis.  The  starboard 
head  of  the  steam-drum  blew  out  with  great  force.  Two  state- 
rooms and  the  mess-room  were  demolished.  West  Robinson,  a 
deck-hand,  was  killed. 

March  8,  great  storm  at  St.  Louis.  The  St.  Louis  and  New 
Orleans  packet  "Mollie  Able,"  a  line  side-wheel  steamer,  lying 
at  the  East  St.  Louis  wharf,  was  caught  by  the  tornado  and 
almost  totally  destroyed.  Several  other  boats  were  injured. 

1876.  Feb.  12,  the  steamer  "  Rescue"  caught  fire  at  the  wharf 
in  St.  Louis  and  burned  to  the  water's  edge  ;  afterwards  rebuilt.. 

Feb.  16,  steamer  "John  M.  Chambers"  partly  burned  at 
wharf;  rebuilt. 

April  8,  steamer  "  Rob  Roy"  struck  St.  Louis  bridge ;  slightly 
damaged.  On  the  25th,  the  propeller  "  Whale"  struck  the  bridge, 
and  was  damaged  to  the  extent  of  about  $2000. 

Dec.  13,  the  ice-gorge  at  St.  Louis  gave  way,  carrying  with  it, 
destroying  and  partially  destroying,  the  following  boats  and 

barges : 

Steamers.  Value. 

Centennial $65,000 

Jennie  Baldwin 2,000 

Bayard 3,500 

Rock  Island 4,000 

Davenport 4,000 

Alexander  Mitchell 30,000 

War  Eagle 75,000 

Andy  Johnson 30,000 

There  was  no  insurance  on  any  of  the  above  steamers. 

Steamer  "Fannie  Keener"  was  also  sunk;  was  valued  at 
$5000,  fully  insured. 

Steamer  "  South  Shore,"  valued  at  $2500. 

Steamer  "Southern  Belle,"  valued  at  $1500,  and  four  barges, 
valued  at  $4500. 

1877.  Sept.  19,  while  the   steamer  "Grand   Republic''  was 
lying  in  port  at  St.  Louis  she  caught  fire  and  burned  to  the 
water's  edge.     She  cost  $300,000,  and  was  insured  for  $50,200. 
Six  weeks  previous  to  this  disaster  her  owners  spent  $25,000  in 


Loss. 
$5000 
2000 
3500 
4000 
4000 
5000 
5000 
3000 


repairing  her.  The  iron-hulled  steamer  "  Carondelet,"  which 
was  lying  alongside  of  the  "Grand  Republic,"  met  the  same 
fate.  She  was  valued  at  $20,000  and  insured  for  $17,500. 
The  sparks  from  a  passing  steamer  were  the  supposed  cause  of 
the  fire. 

1878.  March  8,  steamer  "Colossal"   burned  to  the  water's 
edge  while  lying  at  the  bank  at  St.  Louis;  loss  $12,000. 

March  9,  the  tug-boat  "Baton  Rouge" damaged  by  fire  at  St. 
Louis. 

June  8,  steamer  "  Exchange"  burned  to  the  water's  edge  at 
St.  Louis ;  loss  $9000. 

1879.  June  11,  the  tug  "  Charles  F.  Nagle"  struck  a  snag  op- 
posite South  St.  Louis  and  sank.     She  was  raised. 

1880.  March  27,  steamer  "  Daisy"  sunk  at  South  St.  Louis; 
valued  at  $3000. 

Sept.  26,  steamer  "Fannie  Tatum"  sunk  below  St.  Louis; 
valued  at  $15,000  :  cargo,  $35,000.  She  was  raised. 

1881.  March  13,  steamer  "James  Howard"  destroyed  by  fire 
at  St.  Louis  wharf,  together  with  a  cargo  of  sugar,  etc.,  valued 
at  $65,000 ;  boat  valued  at  $75,000. 

April  9,  steamer  "  Victory"  collided  with  St.  Louis  bridge 
and  sunk ;  afterwards  raised. 

April  11,  the  tug  "Daisy"  exploded  her  boilers  and  sunk. 
Two  lives  lost. 

Steamboat-Building. — The  building  and  repairing 
of  steamboats  at  St.  Louis  is  an  industry  which 
originated  at  a  comparatively  early  period.  In  De- 
cember, 1830,  mention  was  made  of  the  fact  that  the 
Legislature  had  passed  an  act  to  incorporate  the  St. 
Louis  Marine  Railway  Company,  which  was  organized 
in  March,  1831,  with  Peter  Lindell,  president;  John 
Mullanphy,  D.  D.  Page,  Thomas  Biddle,  and  J. 
Clemens,  Jr.,  directors  ;  John  O'Fallon,  treasurer ;  and 
James  Clemens,  Jr.,  secretary.  In  1833  there  was 
in  existence  at  the  upper  end  of  the  city  a  marine 
railway  under  the  superintendence  of  Thomas  J. 
Payne,  which  it  had  been  announced  in  July  would 
be  ready  for  work  in  the  same  year.1 

In  1841  public  sentiment  began  to  be  directed 
towards  the  importance  of  securing  the  construction 
at  St.  Louis  of  the  steamboats  that  carried  on  her 
commerce,  and  the  newspapers  of  that  year  repeatedly 
called  attention  to  efforts  being  made  in  that  direction.2 

1  '•  Marine  Railway  at  St.  Louis. — The  proprietors  have  the 
pleasure  of  informing  the  public  that  their  ways  have  been 
fairly  tested,  and  are  now  ready  to  receive  for  repair  steamboats 
and  other  craft  at  the  very  low  price  of  one  hundred  dollars  for 
all  boats  not  exceeding  one  hundred  tons,  to  lie  on  the  ways  two 
days  for  repair  without  any  additional  charge,  except  the  cost 
of  repair.     Boats   exceeding  one  hundred  tons  will  be  charged 
one  dollar  per  ton,  with  the  privilege  of  lying  on  the  ways  for 
repair  from  two  to  four  days,  according  to  tonnage.     Boats  that 
shall  remain  on  the  ways  longer  than  is  herein  privileged  to 
pay  for  every  day  exceeding  the  privileged  number  twenty  per 
cent,  on  the  sum  charged  for  drawing  out. 

"THOMAS  J.  PAYNE, 

"Superintendent  Marine  Raihcay  Company." 
—Republican,  July  22,  1833. 

2  "  A  great  deal  has  been  said  by  the  newspapers  of  this  city 
in  favor  of  building  boats  at  this  place.     The  spirit  has  been 


1114 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


In  1842  two  boat-yards  for  the  construction  of  vessels 
were  in  existence,  and  in  January,  1843,  the  marine 
railway  of  Messrs.  Murray  &  Sons,  below  Thomas' 
mill,  erected  for  the  purpose  of  drawing  out  and  re- 
pairing boats,  was  ready  for  work.  The  structure 
consisted  of  eight  ways  reaching  into  the  bed  of  the 
river  below  low-water  mark.  There  was  a  cradle  upon 
each  two  ways  which  let  down  into  the  river,  and 
upon  which  the  boat  was  placed,  and  from  these,  two 
chains  led  to  a  beam  which  was  propelled  by  a  wheel 
and  screws,  and  each  screw  was  turned  by  a  horse, 
thus  combining  the  power  of  the  lever  and  the  screw. 

The  Reporter  of  Jan.  29,  1846,  contained  the  fol- 
lowing statement  of  steamboats  built  at  St.  Louis,  of 
boats  built  elsewhere  for  St.  Louis,  and  of  boats  pur- 
chased and  brought  into  the  St.  Louis  trade  in  1845, 
furnished  by  L.  A.  Hedges,  surveyor  of  that  port : 


BOATS  BUILT  AT  ST.  Louis. 

Names.                                          Tonnage.  Cost. 

Governor  Briggs 91  $9.000 

Laclede 239  20,000 

Missouri 887  45,000 

Iowa 249  22,000 

Dial 140  7,000 

Helen 61  8,000 

Prairie  Bird 213  17,000 

Little  Dove 77  5,500 

Ocean  Wave 205  17.000 

Convoy 750  39,000 

2912  $189,500 


moved,  the  ground  has  been  broken,  and  we  trust  that  here- 
after we  ^hall  have  no  cause  to  complain,  and  that  our  boat- 
owners  will  consult  not  only  their  own  individual  interests,  but 
the  interests  of  the  community  also,  and  give  to  their  neighbors 
and  customers  employment  in  return  for  their  custom.  It 
is  not  more  gratifying  to  us  than  it  will  doubtless  be  to  many 
others  of  our  citizens  to  learn  that  Cnpt.  Case  has  opened 
a  boat-yard  in  the  upper  part  of  the  city,  near  the  site  of  the 
old  brewery.  The  situation  is  pronounced  by  experienced  boat- 
builders  to  be  one  of  the  best  in  the  West.  The  water  in 
front  of  it  is  deep,  and  no  difficulty  will  be  experienced  at  any 
season  of  the  year  in  launching  boats.  Upon  examination  it  is 
ascertained  that  the  timber  is  superior  to  any  used  in  the  West 
in  building  boats. 

"A  contract  has  been  made  by  Messrs.  Hoffman,  Alleyne  & 
Klein  for  the  hull  of  a  new  boat,  and  for  the  machinery  of  the 
'  Little  Red,'  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  tons,  for  the  New 
Orleans  trade.  The  keel  has  been  laid,  and  the  frame  is  nearly 
ready  to  be  put  up.  The  foundry-work  will  be  by  Messrs. 
Kingsland  &  Lightener,  and  the  cabin  and  upper  works  by  Mr. 
Lumm.  The  whole  is  under  the  supervision  of  Capt.  J.  C. 
Shepard. 

"  A  contract  has  been  made  for  the  rebuilding  of  a  boat  to  be 
called  the  '  Phoenix,'  and  for  the  machinery  of  the  '  Missouri.' 
The  contract  for  the  hull  has  been  made  with  the  Dry-Dock 
Company,  the  cabin  and  superstructure  by  Messrs.  Whitehill 
&  AVeston,  the  foundry-work  by  Messrs.  Kingsland  &  Lightner 
and  her  clothing  and  other  articles  of  outfit  by  Mr.  John  J. 
Anderson,  the  whole  under  the  superintendence  of  Capt.  John 
F.  Hunt."— Republican,  Nov.  11,  1841. 


BUILT  ELSEWHERE  FOR  ST.  Louis  OWNERS. 

Names.                                            Tonnage.  Cost. 

Boreas,  No.  2,  Pittsburgh 222  $20,500 

Nebraska,  Pittsburgh 149  15,500 

War  Eagle,  Cincinnati 156  14,000 

Time,  Louisville 109  6,500 

Windsor,  Louisville 196  16,000 

Wiota,  Eliznhethtown 219  17,000 

Odd  Fellow,  Southland 98  7,500 

Pride  of  the  West,  Cincinnati..     371  20,000 

1520  $117,000 

PURCHASED  FOR  THE  ST.  Louis  TRADE. 

Names.                                            Tonnage.  Cost. 

Falcon,  of  Beaver 144  86,000 

Fortune,   of  Louisville 101  6,000 

Balloon,  of  New  Albany  154  6,000 

Radnor,  of  Jefferson ville 163  6,000 

Ceeiliii,  of  Pittsburgh 112  3,000 

North  Bend,  of  Pittsburgh 120  4,000 

Archer,  of  Pittsburgh 148  9,000 

Amulet,  of  Wheeling t...       56  2,500 

Tioga,  of  Wheeling 171  4,000 

Tributary,  of  Pittsburgh 149  8,000 

Lehigh,  of  Pittsburgh 188  4,500 

Cumberland   Valley,    of  Smith- 
land 168  2,000 

1674  $61,000 


Total  addition   to  St.    Louis 

tonnage 6106 

Total  cost..., 


$367,500 


This  statement  is  interesting,  as  showing  the  in- 
crease of  boat-building  in  St.  Louis,  as  well  as  ena- 
bling us  to  compare  the  cost  between  boats  built  in  St. 
Louis  and  those  built  elsewhere  at  this  time.1 

The  Marine  Railway  and  Floating  Dock  Company 
in  1850  had  at  Carondelet  a  dock  three  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  in  length  and  ninety-four  feet  in  breadth, 
with  seven  feet  depth  of  hold.  The  hold  was  divided 
into  four  water-tight  compartments  from  bow  to  stern, 
which  were  sub-divided  by  bulkhead  thwartships,  cut- 
ting the  whole  into  twenty-six  air-  and  water-tight 
chambers.  The  Mound  City  Marine  Ways  Company 
was  established  in  1858  by  Capt.  William  L.  Hamble- 
ton,  and  its  affairs  were  subsequently  conducted  under 
thenameof  Hambleton  Brothers.^  The  business  proved 
very  successful,  a  hundred  new  boats  having  been 
built  by  the  firm  and  more  than  a  thousand  repaired. 

The  building  of  iron  hulls  for  steamboats  has  of 
late  years  become  an  important  industry  at  St.  Louis. 
Though  several  iron-plated  war-vessels  were  con- 

*It  was  noted  in  the  Republican  of  Nov.  1,  1848,  that  "con- 
tracts have  been  entered  into  with  Messrs.  Brotherton  &  Gordon 
for  the  lumber  to  be  used  in  the  building  of  a  ship  in  this  city. 
It  is  to  be  commenced  immediately  by  Capt.  Evans  and  Mr. 
French,  who  design  to  make  it  a  permanent  business.  The  ves- 
sel is  to  be  of  three  hundred  tons  burden,  and  will  be  com- 
pletely fitted  and  rigged  here.  It  is  to  be  completed  by  the  1st 
of  April,  will  then  be  loaded  and  proceed  seaward.  It  is  be- 
lieved that  sea-vessels  can  be  built  here  on  better  terms  than  at 
New  York  or  on  the  Ohio.  The  timber  used  in  their  construc- 
tion is  of  a  better  quality  than  that  obtained  on  the  Ohio,  and 
greatly  clreaper  than  that  which  is  used  in  New  York." 


NAVIGATION   ON   THE   MISSISSIPPI   RIVER. 


1115 


structed  at  St.  Louis  during  the  civil  war,  it  was 
not  until  about  the  year  1874  that  the  building  of 
iron  hulls  took  definite  and  positive  form  as  a  leading 
industry.  To  Theodore  Allen,  more  than  to  any  other 
individual,  is  due  the  credit  of  establishing  this  great 
business.  In  1874,  Mr.  Allen  issued  a  prospectus 
pointing  out  the  advantages  of  iron  hulls  over  wooden, 
and  pioposed  the  erection  of  the  "  St.  Louis  Iron 
Ship  Works,"  which  were  afterwards  inaugurated 
under  the  name  of  the  "  Western  Iron  Boat  Building  i 
Company,"  composed  of  Messrs.  Chouteau,  Harrison, 
and  Vallee,  well-known  iron  manufacturers.  Of  this 
company  Mr.  Allen  became  superintendent.  The 
yards  of  the  company  at  Carondelet  extend  for  two 
thousand  one  hundred  feet  along  the  river-front,  and 
back  to  the  railroad,  employing  about  two  hundred 
men.  A  pamphlet  published  by  Charles  P.  Chou- 
teau in  1878  gives  a  map  and  very  complete  statistics 
of  the  products  of  the  West,  covering  the  statistics  of 
tonnage  and  business  on  Western  waters,  the  tow- 
ing and  barge  business,  the  defects  of  wooden  and  the 
advantages  of  iron  hulls. 

St.  Louis  and  St.  Paul  Packet  Company. — This 
corporation  had  its  origin  in  the  Keokuk  Northern 
Line  Packet  Company,  which  was  formed  by  the  con- 
solidation of  the  St.  Louis  and  Keokuk  Packet  Com- 
pany and  the  Northern  Line  Packet  Company.  The 
St.  Louis  and  Keokuk  Line  was  formed  Jan.  1,  1842, 
the  principal  members  of  the  company  being  Capt. 
John  S.  McCune  and  J.  E.  Yeatman.  In  October, 
1842,  the  keel  of  the  first  boat,  the  "  Di  Vernon," 
was  laid  at  St.  Louis,  and  the  vessel  was  completed  at 
a  cost  of  sixteen  thousand  dollars  and  started  on  her 
first  trip  to  Keokuk  before  the  close  of  navigation. 
On  the  opening  of  the  spring  trade  in  1843  she  com- 
menced running  regularly,  and  with  two  other  (tran- 
sient) steamers  formed  a  daily  line,  which  continued 
throughout  the  season.  During  the  following  winter 
the  company  built  the  "  Laclede,"  one  of  the  best 
steamboats  of  her  day,  and  at  the  same  time  purchased 
the  "  Boreas."  With  these  vessels  the  daily  line  was 
resumed  in  the  spring  of  1844,  the  company  in  the 
mean  time  having  secured  the  contract  for  carrying  the 
mails.  During  this  season  an  opposition  line  with  three 
steamers — the  "  Swallow,"  "  Anthony  Wayne,"  and 
"  Edwin  Bates" — was  organized,  and  in  the  following 
spring  both  lines  commenced  running  and  continued 
until  about  midsummer,  when  the  new  line  suc- 
cumbed, and  the  "  Bates,"  a  fast  and  handsome  boat, 
was  purchased  by  the  old  company.  In  the  spring 
of  1846  the  "Lucy  Bertram,"  and  in  the  fall 
of  1847  the  "  Kate  Kearney,"  both  new  and  hand- 
some vessels,  were  added  to  the  line.  Another 


"  Di  Vernon"  was  built  at  St.  Louis  in  1850  at  a 
cost  of  forty-nine  thousand  dollars,  a  sum  which  was 
thought  at  the  time  to  be  very  large  for  the  construc- 
tion of  a  steamboat.  In  the  spring  of  the  same  year 
another  opposition  line,  with  the  steamers  "  Monon- 
gahela,"  "  New  England,"  and  "  Mary  Stephens,"  was 
established.  The  two  lines  were  kept  up  during 
nearly  the  entire  spring  and  summer.  One  boat  of 
each  line  left  port  daily,  side  by  side,  at  the  top  of 
its  speed,  burning  the  most  expensive  fuel,  paying 
the  highest  wages,  and  carrying  freight  and  passen- 
gers at  a  price  so  low  that  the  entire  receipts  of  both 
would  not  defray  one  boat's  wood  bill.  The  contest 
was  long  and  severe,  and  lasted  until  late  in  the  sum- 
mer. When  the  two  lines  had  sunk  about  fifty  thou- 
sand dollars,  the  opposition  boats  were  withdrawn  and 
sold  at  auction,  and  the  "  New  England"  was  pur- 
chased by  the  old  company. 

The  "  Jeanie  Deans"  was  built  in  the  summer  of 
1852,1  and  the  "  New  Lucy"  in  the  fall  of  the  same 
year.  The  "  New  Lucy"  was  burned  at  her  wharf  at 
St.  Louis  about  six  weeks  after  being  finished.  Dur- 
ing the  summer  of  1853  the  "  Westerner"  was  built, 
and  subsequently  another  "  Kate  Kearney."  There 
were  also  added  to  the  line  from  time  to  time  the 
"  Sam  Gaty,"  "  Keokuk,"  and  "  Quincy,"  built  at 
St.  Louis,  and  the  u  Ben  Campbell,''  <;  Prairie  State," 
"  J.  McKee,"  "  Glaucus,"  "  Regulator,"  "  Jenny 
Lind,"  «  Conewago,"  "  York  State,"  "  Winchester," 
"  Thomas  Swann,"  and  others  obtained  by  purchase. 


1  The  commander  of  the  "Jeanie  Deans"  was  Capt.  J.  W. 
Malin.  Capt.  Malin  was  born  in  October,  1818,  at  Vevay, 
Switzerland  Co.,  Ind.  In  1832  he  commenced  his  career  as  a 
river  pilot  in  the  flat-boat  business,  between  Madison  and  Cin- 
cinnati, and  a  few  years  later  began  running  a  packet  between 
Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis,  commanding  at  different  times  in  that 
trade  the  "John  Drennan,"  the  "  Mary  Stevens,"  the  "Royal 
Arch,"  the "  Hamburgh,"  and  the  "Statesman."  He  nest  en- 
gaged in  the  Minnesota  trade,  and  was  afterwards  connected 
for  ten  years  with  the  Keokuk  Packet  Line,  commanding  at 
first  the  "Jeanie  Deans,"  with  which  he  remained  until  the 
building  of  the  "  Warsaw,"  which  he  commanded  until  that 
vessel  became  unfit  for  further  use.  In  1868  he  engaged  with 
Capt.  Scudder  in  the  commission  business  in  St.  Louis,  the  firm 
being  Malin  &  Scudder,  but  subsequently  returned  to  his  old 
occupation  and  commanded  vessels  in  the  Star  and  Anchor 
Lines.  Capt.  Malin  had  purchased  in  1868  an*  interest,  with 
Capt.  Brolaski,  in  the  Laclede  Hotel,  and  in  1870,  having  bought 
his  partner's  share,  he  associated  his  son,  Walter  A.  Malin,  with 
him  and  assumed  the  management  of  the  hotel.  In  1871  the 
erection  of  an  extensive  addition  to  the  hotel  was  commenced 
by  Dr.  Bircher,  and  completed  in  August,  1873,  at  which  time 
Malin  &  Son  took  possession  and  united  the  two  under  the  name 
of  the  Laclede-Bircher  Hotel.  The  latter  portion  of  the  title, 
however,  was  seldom  used,  and  the  hotel  was  popularly  known 
simply  as  the  Laclede.  Capt.  Malin  died  at  the  Hot  Springs, 
Ark.,  in  September,  1874. 


1116 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


In  1857  the  company  established  the  Quincy  line, 
making  one  freight  and  passenger  line  between  St. 
Louis  and  Quincy,  and  one  mail  and  passenger  line 
between  St.  Louis  and  Keokuk.  They  were  arranged 
as  follows : 

Quincy  Packets.  —  "Keokuk,"  Bradley,  master; 
"Sam  Gaty,"  Richardson,  master;  "Quincy,"  Ford, 
master. 

Keokuk  Mail  Packets. — "  Jeanie  Deans,"  Malin, 
master ;  "  Di  Vernon,"  Sheble,  master ;  "  Thos. 
Swann,"  Johnson,  master. 

About  1871  the  line  was  consolidated  with  the  North- 
ern Line  Packet  Company.  In  the  winter  of  1857— 
58  a  number  of  the  captains  of  steamboats  plying  be- 
tween St.  Louis  and  St.  Paul  determined  to  form  a 
new  line  and  make  regular  trips,  leaving  on  stated 
days  in  the  week.  On  the  opening  of  navigation  in 
the  following  spring  this  line  consisted  of  the  steam- 
ers "  Canada,"  Capt.  James  Ward;  "  W.  L.  Ewing," 
Capt.  W.  Green  ;  "  Denmark,"  Capt.  R.  C.  Gray  ; 
"Metropolitan,"  Capt.  Thomas  B.  Rhodes;  "Minne- 
sota Belle,"  Capt.  Thomas  B.  Hill ;  and  "  Pembina," 
Capt.  Thomas  H.  Griffith.  Messrs.  Warden  &  Shaler 
.were  appointed  agents,  and  the  line  was  known  as  the 
Northern  Line.  In  1859  the  "  Chippewa,"  Capt. 
W.  H.  Crapeta ;  "  Dew  Drop,"  Capt.  N.  W.  Parker ; 
"  Lucie  May,"  Capt.  J.  B.  Rhodes ;  "  Aunt  Letty," 
Capt.  C.  G.  Morrison  ;  "  Northerner,"  Capt.  P.  A. 
Alford,  and  the  "  Laclede"  were  added. 

In  the  winter  of  1859-60  the  owners  of  the  differ- 
ent vessels  decided  to  form  a  joint-stock  company,  and 
organized  under  the  name  of  the  Northern  Line 
Packet  Company.  The  incorporators  and  directors 
were  D.  Hawkins,  Thomas  Gordon,  and  J.  W.  Parker, 
of  Galena,  111. ;  John  B.  Rhodes,  of  Savannah,  111. ; 
R.  C.  Gray,  of  Pittsburgh,  Pa. ;  and  James  Ward 
and  Thomas  H.  Griffith,  of  St.  Louis.  Mo.  Capt. 
James  Ward  was  elected  president,  and  Thomas  H. 
Griffith  secretary  and  treasurer.  The  vessels  owned 
by  the  company  were  the  "  Sucker  State,"  "  Hawk- 
Eye  State,"  "  Canada,"  "  Pembina,"  "  Metropolitan," 
"  Northerner,"  "  W.  L.  Ewing,"  "  Denmark,"  "  Henry 
Clay,"  "  Minnesota  Belle,"  and  "  Fred.  Lorenz." 

In  1864,  Capt.  William  F.  Davidson,  who  had  been 
managing  a  line  of  steamboats  on  the  upper  Missis- 
sippi, established  a  service  between  Dubuque  and  St. 
Paul,  and  subsequently,  having  purchased  the  prop- 
erty of  the  Galena  Packet  Company,  established  the 
Northwestern  Union  Packet  Company.  In  1868  the 
Northern  Line  Packet  Company  admitted  the  boats  of 
the  Northwestern  Company  into  their  line,  and  in  the 
following  year  the  vessels  were  running  under  the 
direction  of  the  Northern  Company.  In  1871  the 


steamers  of  the  two  companies  plying  between  St. 
Louis  and  northern  points  were :  Northern  Line,  "  Lake 
Superior,"  "  Red  Wing,"  ;'  Dubuque,"  "  Minnesota," 
"  Davenport,"  "  Muscatine,"  "  Pembina,"  "  Savannah," 
"Sucker State,"  and  "  Minnesota;"  Northwestern  Linei 
"North western, v  "S.S.Merrill,"  "Belleof  LaCrosse," 
"Alexander  Mitchell,"  "  Victory,"  "  City  of  Quincy," 
"  Molly  McPike,"  and  "  Phil  Sheridan."  Up  to  1871 
the  Northern  Line  had  lost  but  three  boats, — the  "  Den- 
mark," sunk  at  Atlas  Island  by  striking  a  log ;  the 
"  Northerner,"  burned  at  the  St.  Louis  Levee  ;  and  the 
"  Burlington,"  sunk  at  Wabasha.  The  officers  in 
1870  were  Thomas  B.  Rhodes,  president ;  Thomas  H. 
Griffith,  secretary ;  Thomas  J.  Buford,  superintend- 
ent; and  I.  M.  Mason,  general  freight  agent.  The 
total  number  of  tons  of  freight  deposited  by  the 
steamers  of  the  company  during  the  year  at  St.  Louis 
was  seven  hundred  and  sixty-four  thousand  three 
hundred  and  seven. 

The  Keokuk  Packet  and  the  Northern  Line  Packet 
Companies  were  competitors  for  the  same  trade,  and 
the  rivalry  between  them  became  so  close  and  ener- 
getic that  each  suffered  heavily,  and  it  was  finally  de- 
cided to  form  a  new  company  which  should  embrace 
them  both.  Accordingly  a  new  corporation  was  or- 
ganized, with  the  name  of  the  Keokuk  Northern  Line 
Packet  Company,  the  capital  stock  of  which  was 
seven  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  and  the 
property  of  the  competing  lines  was  purchased.  The 
first  president  was  Capt.  John  S.  McCune,  who  man- 
aged its  affairs  with  marked  ability  until  his  death. 
He  was  succeeded  by  Darius  Hawkins,  who  was  the 
nominal  head  of  the  company  during  a  period  of 
legal  difficulties  until  1875,  when  Capt.  William  F. 
Davidson  was  elected  president.  In  1879-80  the 
company  owned  the  following  steamboats : 

Tons. 

Northwestern 802.06 

Rob  Roy 967.00 

Red  Wing 670.43 

War  Eagle 953.74 

Charlie  Uheever 313.67 

Barges,    forty  -  eight 

in  number 13,242.49 

Total  tonnage...  21,391.16 

The  officers  in  1879  were  William  F.  Davidson, 
president ;  Francis  Johnston,  secretary  ;  John  Baker, 
agent ;  James  A.  Lyon,  general  passenger  agent. 

The  St.  Louis  and  St.  Paul  Packet  Company,  the 
successor  of  the  Keokuk  Northern,  was  organized  in 
June,  1881,  with  a  capital  stock  of  one  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars,  the  incorporators  being  W.  F.  Davidson, 
R.  M.  Hutchinson,  and  F.  L.  Johnston.  The  com- 
pany transacts  a  general  passenger  and  freight  business 
between  St.  Paul  and  St.  Louis,  and  owns  the  following 


Tons. 

Alexander  Mitchell 512.09 

Belle  of  La  Crosse......  476.69 

Clinton 909.22 

Daniel  Hine 100.61 

Damsil 210.71 

Golden  Eiigle 941.50 

G.  H.  Wilson 159.06 

Minneapolis 649.62 

Minnesota...,  ..  482.27 


NAVIGATION   ON   THE   MISSISSIPPI  RIVER. 


1117 


boats :  "  Gem  City,"  "  War  Eagle,"  "  Alexander 
Mitchell,"  "  Minneapolis,"  "  Northwestern,"  "  Belle  of 
La  Crosse,"  and  "  Centennial."  The  officers  in  1882 
were  W.  F.  Davidson,  president ;  R.  M.  Hutchinson, 
superintendent ;  and  P.  S.  Johnston,  secretary.  The 
general  offices  are  located  at  Dubuque,  Iowa. 

William  F.  Davidson,  successively  president  of  the 
Keokuk  Northern  and  St.  Louis  and  St.  Paul  compa- 
nies, is  one  of  the  leading  steamboat  proprietors  of  the 
West.  He  was  born  in  Lawrence  County,  Ohio,  on  the 
4th  of  February,  1825.  His  father  being  a  boatman, 
Capt.  Davidson  was  educated  from  his  earliest  boy- 
hood in  the  navigation  of  Western  waters.  When 
only  twenty  years  of  age  he  was  captain  of  the 
steamer  "  Gondola"  on  the  Ohio  River,  and  in 
1856  established  a  line  of  three  steamers  on  the 
upper  Mississippi.  He  also  engaged  in  the  same 
business  in  1857-58  on  the  Minnesota  River,  and 
subsequently  established  a  line  between  La  Crosse  and 
St.  Paul,  and  in  1864  a  line  from  Dubuque  to  St. 
Paul.  He  then  purchased  the  Galena  Packet  Com- 
pany's property  and  franchises  and  organized  the 
Northwestern  Union  Packet  Company,  which  was  af- 
terwards consolidated  with  the  Northern  Line,  which 
in  turn  was  absorbed  by  the  Keokuk  Northern.  After 
the  death  of  Capt.  J.  S.  McCune,  president  of  the 
latter  corporation,  Capt.  Davidson  was  elected  his  suc- 
cessor, and  is  now  president  of  the  St.  Louis  and  St. 
Paul  Packet  Company.  Capt.  Davidson  has  thus  had 
a  varied  but  uniformly  successful  career  as  a  steamboat 
manager,  and  his  company,  under  his  energetic  but 
wise  and  prudent  administration,  is  now  in  a  flourish- 
ing condition.  Capt.  Davidson  was  married  in  1859 
to  Miss  Sarah  A.  Johnson,  daughter  of  Judge  John- 
son, of  Lawrence  County,  Ohio. 

The  St.  Louis  and  St.  Paul  Passenger  Freight 
Line  was  incorporated  in  December,  1880,  under  the 
laws  of  Wisconsin,  with  the  following  board  of  direc- 
tors :  P.  L.  Davidson,  S.  F.  Clinton,  and  Lafayette 
Holmes.  The  company  transacts  a  general  passenger 
and  freight  transportation  business  on  the  Mississippi 
River,  between  St.  Louis  and  St.  Paul,  and  owns  the 
following  steamboats:  "  Grand  Pacific,"  '-Arkansas," 
"  Flying  Eagle,"  "  Alexander  Kendall,"  "  White 
Eagle,"  and  "  Alfred  Todd."  The  officers  for  1882 
were  P.  L.  Davidson,  president ;  S.  F.  Clinton,  vice- 
president  ;  and  Lafayette  Holmes,  secretary.  The  gen- 
eral offices  are  located  in  La  Crosse,  Wis. 

The  Diamond  Jo  Line  was  established  in  1867 
by  Joseph  Reynolds.  It  started  in  a  small  way,  with 
only  one  boat,  which  was  employed  by  Mr.  Reynolds 
in  the  produce  trade  on  the  upper  Mississippi,  with 
headquarters  at  Dubuque,  Iowa.  The  business  in- 


creased with  every  succeeding  year  until,  in  1882, 
there  were  five  elegant  steamers  running  on  the  line 
between  St.  Louis  and  St.  Paul.  The  boats  are  the 
"  Mary  Morton,"  "  Libbie  Conger,"  "  Diamond  Jo," 
"  Josephine,"  and  "  Josie,"  all  of  which  are  equipped 
with  the  latest  and  most  improved  machinery  and  life- 
saving  apparatus.  The  officers  in  1882  were  Joseph 
Reynolds,  general  manager,  and  E.  M.  Dickey,  gen- 
eral freight  agent.  The  general  office  is  at  Dubuque, 
Iowa. 

The  St.  Louis  and  Vicksburg  Packet  Company 
was  organized  and  chartered  in  1859,  as  the  Memphis 
and  St.  Louis  Packet  Company,  by  John  A.  Scudder, 
Daniel  Able,  Wm.  J.  Lewis,  Wm.  C.  Postal,  and  R. 
L.  McGce.  The  Memphis  Line  commenced  with  the 
steamers  "  Ben  Lewis,"  "  J.  H.  Dickey,"  and  "  Platte 
Valley,"  which  were  followed  in  turn  by  the  "  John 
D.  Perry,"  "  Rowena,"  "  C.  E.  Hillman,"  "  Colorado," 
"St.  Joseph,"  "Mary  E.  Forsyth,"  "Southerner," 
"  Courier,"  "  Robb,"  "  Adam  Jacobs,"  "  City  of 
Alton,"  "Luminary,"  "  Julia,"  "  G.  W.  Graham," 
"Belle  of  Memphis,  No.  1,"  "Belle  of  St.  Louis," 
"  City  of  Cairo,"  "  City  of  Vicksburg,"  "  Grand 
Tower,"  "  Belle  of  Memphis,  No.  2,"  and  the  "  City 
of  Chester." 

During  the  first  eleven  years  but  one  serious  acci- 
dent occurred,  the  explosion  of  the  "  Ben  Lewis,"  at 
Cairo.  The  "  Belle  of  Memphis,  No.  1,"  was  lost  in 
the  ice  at  St.  Louis,  and  the  "  G.  W.  Graham"  was 
burned  at  the  Levee,  but  in  neither  instance  were  any 
lives  lost.  The  first  president  of  the  company  was 
Capt.  Daniel  Able,  whose  life  had  been  identified  with 
river  interests  from  boyhood,  and  who  managed  the 
line  with  maiked  ability.  He  was  succeeded  by  W. 
G.  Lewis,  who  in  turn  was  followed  by  John  J.  Roe, 
under  whose  administration  the  business  of  the  com- 
pany was  greatly  increased  and  extended.  A  regular 
line  of  packets  between  St.  Louis  and  Vicksburg  was 
established,  and  the  construction  of  a  number  of  new 
steamboats  was  contracted  for.  On  the  death  of  Mr. 
Roe,  Capt.  Henry  W.  Smith,  who  had  long  been 
identified  with  the  company  as  general  superintendent, 
was  elected  president.1 

1  Henry  W.  Smith  was  born  in  Connecticut,  and  about  1845 
removed  to  Missouri,  settling  at  Glasgow,  where  he  engaged  in 
mercantile  pursuits.  While  thus  occupied  he  was  chosen  a 
member  of  the  State  Legislature,  and  served  with  ability  and 
zeal.  In  1850  he  abandoned  his  business  at  Glasgow  to  engage 
in  steamboat  enterprises,  and  commenced  his  career  on  the  river 
as  clerk  on  the  "  General  Lane."  He  afterwards  commanded  and 
owned  steamers  of  the  same  line.  In  1855  he  was  made  in- 
spector of  hulls  for  the  board  of  underwriters,  but  upon  the 
formation  of  the  Memphis  Packet  Line  he  was  called  into  ac- 
tive service  again,  and,  as  general  superintendent,  and  subse- 


1118 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


Capt.  Smith  died  in  March,  1870,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded in  the  presidency  of  the  company  by  John  A. 
Scudder. 

In  1879  the  steamboats  belonging  to  the  company 
were  the 


Tons. 

Belle  of  Memphis 919.67 

Colorado 632.87 


Tons. 

John  B.  Maude 922.04 

Ste.  Genevieve 790.20 


City  of  Vicksburg 1058.28    City  of  Greenville 1438.06 

City  of  Helena 1058.28 

Emma  C.  Elliott 660.16        Total 8537.84 

Grand  Tower 1058.28' 

The  officers  in  1879  were  John  A.  Scudder,  presi- 
dent ;  Theodore  Zeigler,  secretary ;  John  P.  Reiser, 
superintendent ;  and  William  B.  Russell,  agent.  In 
that  year  a  reorganization  of  the  company  was  effected, 
and  its  name  was  changed  to  the  St.  Louis  and  Vicks- 
burg Packet  Company,  and  the  line  is  now  known  as 
the  St.  Louis  and  Vicksburg  Anchor  Line. 

The  company  owns  the  following  steamers,  which 
ply  between  St.  Louis  and  Memphis  and  Vicksburg : 
"  Ctyy  of  Providence,"  "  Gold  Dust,"  "  City  of  Green- 
ville," "  Belle  of  Memphis,"  "  City  of  Cairo,"  "  City 
of  Vicksburg,"  "  Arkansas  City,"  "  James  B.  Maude," 
"  City  of  Helena,"  "  Ste.  Genevieve,"  "  E.  C.  Elliott," 
and  "  Colorado."  The  general  office  is  located  on  the 
company's  wharf-boat  at  the  foot  of  Locust  Street,  and 
the  officers  in  1882  were  John  A.  Scudder,  president 
and  general  manager ;  Directors,  John  A.  Scudder,  G. 
B.  Allen,  J.  P.  Reiser,  and  T.  C.  Zeigler.  The  capital 
stock  is  five  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

The  New  Orleans  Anchor  Line  was  organized  in 
June,  1878,  and  incorporated  during  the  same  month 
with  a  capital  stock  of  three  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars, the  ^corporators  being  John  A.  Scudder,  James 
P.  Reiser,  G.  B.  Allen,  William  J.  Lewis,  and  T.  C. 
Zeigler.  John  A.  Scudder  was  elected  president,  and 
has  retained  that  position  ever  since.  The  company 
transacts  a  general  passenger  and  freight  transporta- 
tion business  on  the  Mississippi  River  between  St. 
Louis  and  New  Orleans,  the  steamers  employed  being 
the  "  City  of  New  Orleans,"  "  City  of  Alton,"  "  City 
of  Baton  Rouge,"  "John  A.  Scudder,"  "  W.  P. 
Holliday,"  and  "  Commonwealth."  This  company 
does  its  own  insurance,  and  during  its  existence  has 
lost  five  boats  by  fire. 

John  A,  Scudder,  president  of  the  St.  Louis  and 
Vicksburg  Anchor  Line  and  New  Orleans  Anchor 
Line,  has  long  been  identified  with  steamboat  inter- 
ests on  the  Mississippi.  He  was  born  at  Maysville, 


quently  president,  of  that  company  he  became  widely  known 
upon  the  Western  waters.  At  the  time  of  his  death  Capt.  Smith 
was  also  president  of  the  Wrecking  Company,  and  of  a  build- 
ing association,  besides  being  engaged  in  a  large  lumber  busi- 
ness in  East  St.  Louis  and  other  mercantile  enterprises. 


Mason  Co.,  Ry.,  on  the  12th  of  June,  1830.  His 
father,  Dr.  Charles  Scudder,  was  a  native  of  New 
Jersey,  and  his  mother,  Mary  H.  Scudder,  was  a 
native  of  Virginia.  Capt.  Scudder  removed  to  St. 
Louis  at  an  early  age,  and  soon  became  actively  iden- 
tified with  steamboat  interests  on  the  Mississippi 
River.  Before  he  was  thirty  years  old  he  had  already 
become  quite  prominent  in  the  business,  and  assisted, 
as  one  of  the  incorporates,  in  the  organization  of  the 
Memphis  and  St.  Louis  Packet  Company,  of  which, 
as  already  stated,  he  became  the  president  in  1870. 
Capt.  Scudder  at  once  addressed  himself  to  the  task 
of  consolidating  and  harmonizing  the  steamboat  in- 
terests on  the  lower  Mississippi,  and  succeeded  in 
greatly  expanding  the  operations  of  the  wealthy  and 
powerful  corporation  of  which  he  had  become  the 
head.  Associated  with  him  were  Gerard  B.  Allen, 
John  J.  Roe,  Edgar  and  Henry  Ames,  and  other 
wealthy  citizens  of  St.  Louis,  who  ably  seconded  his 
shrewd  and  energetic  administration  of  the  com- 
pany's affairs.  To  Capt.  Scudder's  tact  and  good 
management  it  was  mainly  due  that  the  corporation 
passed  unscathed  through  the  turmoils  and  dangers  of 
the  civil  war,  for  although  he  had  not  then  been 
chosen  its  chief  executive  officer,  his  wise  and  prudent 
counsels  were  always  heeded,  and  served  to  guide  the 
company  safely  over  many  a  shoal  and  rock. 

In  1869  the  Memphis  Packet  Company  purchased 
the  line  running  to  Vicksburg,  and  extended  its  ser- 
vice to  that  point,  running  three  boats  a  week  to 
both  Vicksburg  and  Memphis.  In  1874,  at  his  sug- 
gestion, the  company  adopted  the  trade-mark  or  emblem 
of  an  anchor,  and  from  this  the  appellation  "  Anchor 
Line"  was  adopted.  Capt.  Scudder  was  the  first  to 
introduce  on  the  Western  rivers  the  restaurant  plan, 
now  so  much  favored,  and  every  improvement  calculated 
to  promote  the  convenience  and  comfort  of  patrons  he 
has  always  been  the  first  to  adopt.  In  1877  he  was 
elected  president  of  the  St.  Louis  Merchants'  Exchange, 
and  in  1878  he  orgnaized  the  New  Orleans  Anchor 
Line,  with  semi-weekly  trips.  In  1879  the  charter  of 
the  Memphis  and  St.  Louis  Packet  Company  ex- 
pired, and,  as  heretofore  stated,  the  company  was  re- 
organized under  the  title  of  the  St.  Louis  and  Vicks- 
burg Anchor  Line.  As  the  chief  executive  of  both 
these  companies,  Capt.  Scudder  continues  to  lead  a 
life  of  unceasing  activity.  His  thorough  familiarity 
with  the  whole  subject  of  river  navigation  renders 
him  an  accepted  authority  among  steamboat  men,  and 
there  is  probably  no  other  individual  engaged  in  the 
business  of  Western  transportation  who  has  been 
more  uniformly  successful,  or  who  has  contributed 
more  largely  to  the  development  of  the  trade  of  the 


NAVIGATION   ON   THE   MISSISSIPPI   RIVER. 


1119 


Mississippi  and  its  tributaries.  Although  he  has 
succeeded  in  amassing  a  large  fortune,  Capt.  Scudder 
is  as  regular  and  punctual  in  the  discharge  of  his 
official  duties  now  as  he  was  at  the  outset  of  his  career. 
Nothing  that  concerns  the  interests  of  his  companies 
escapes  his  vigilant  eyes,  and  no  detail  is  too  insig- 
nificant to  demand  his  attention.  His  policy  is  char- 
acterized by  a  happy  combination  of  liberality,  bold- 
ness, and  prudence,  and  the  corporations  under  his 
charge  are  models  of  enterprising  and,  at  the  same 
time,  conservative  and  judicious  management.  He 
possesses  in  a  rare  degree  not  only  the  capacity  to 
plan,  but  the  ability  to  execute,  and,  as  we  have  indi- 
cated, is  always  in  the  van,  not  merely  in  adopting, 
but  in  devising  improvements  in  methods  of  trans- 
portation. Personally  he  is  as  modest  and  unassum- 
ing as  he  is  public-spirited  and  generous  in  his  deal- 
ings with  his  fellow-men.  For  many  years  he  has 
been  thoroughly  identified  with  the  interests  of  the 
city  which  early  in  life  he  made  his  home,  and  to-day 
he  is  one  of  the  most  highly  honored  and  influential 
citizens  of  St.  Louis.  He  was  married  in  June,  1852, 
to  Miss  Mary  A.  White,  and  a  few  years  since  Mrs. 
Scudder  was  made  the  recipient  from  unknown  donors 
of  a  handsome  portrait  of  her  husband  executed  by 
Major  Conant.  The  portrait  was  presented  "  as  a  tes- 
timonial in  recognition  of  his  services  and  enterprise 
in  building  up  the  commerce  of  the  city  and  the 
Mississippi  valley"  by  leading  citizens  of  St.  Louis, 
whose  names  were  withheld,  who  "  admired  him  as  a 
man  of  spirit,  thrift,  sagacity,  and  large  views,"  and 
who  "  appreciated  the  work  he  had  accomplished  in 
perfecting  and  extending  river  transportation  facilities." 
The  St.  Louis  and  Mississippi  Valley  Trans- 
portation Company  was  originally  the  Mississippi 
Valley  Transportation  Company.  The  latter  corpo- 
ration was  organized  in  the  early  part  of  1866,  and  the 
first  president  was  Capt.  Barton  Able.  The  first  tow 
of  barges  left  St.  Louis  for  New  Orleans  on  the  1st 
of  April,  1866.  In  the  following  year,  Capt.  George 
H.  Rea  was  elected  president.  Capt.  Rea  was  born 
in  Massachusetts  April  26,  1816.  He  served  an 
apprenticeship  at  the  trade  of  tanning,  and  subse- 
quently removed  to  Waynesboro',  Tenn.,  where  he 
built  up  a  remunerative  trade  in  hides  and  leather. 
Shortly  before  the  breaking  out  of  the  civil  war  he 
removed  to  St.  Louis,  where  he  established  a  hide 
and  leather  store.  He  soon  became  prominent  among 
the  business  men  of  St.  Louis,  and  assisted  in  the 
establishment  of  the  Second  National  Bank.  In 
1866  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  State  Legisla- 
ture from  the  Thirty-fourth  Senatorial  District  of  I 
Missouri,  and  as  chairman  of  the  Ways  and  Means 


Committee  and  in  other  capacities  proved  an  active 
and  useful  member.  Capt.  Rea  became  largely  inter- 
ested in  Western  transportation  enterprises.  He  was 
at  one  time  a  director  of  the  Missouri  Pacific  Rail- 
road Company,  and  built  the  branch  of  that  road 
from  Pleasant  Hill  to  Lawrence,  Kan.  He  was  a 
stockholder  in  various  railway  and  water  transporta- 
tion companies,  and  in  1867,  as  stated,  was  elected 
president  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  Transportation 
Company,  whose  affairs  he  managed  with  great  en- 
ergy and  success.  During  Capt.  Rea's  administration 
the  other  officers  of  the  company  were  Henry  C. 
Haarstick,  vice-president  and  superintendent;  A.  R. 
Moore,  secretary  ;  William  F.  Haines,  general  freight 
agent;  John  A.  Stevenson,  agent  at  New  Orleans; 
R.  L.  Williams,  agent  at  New  York. 

The  following  steamboats  were  owned  by  the  com- 
pany in  1879: 


Tow-boat 


Future  City" 

Grand  Lake,  No.  2" 

John  Gilmore" 

John  Dippold" 

My  Choice" 

PortEads".... 


Tons. 

589.30 
377.49 
503.09 
554.97 
462.23 
334.38 


Barges,  forty-three 47,524.23 

Total  tonnage 50,345.69 

In  1880  the  St.  Louis  and  New  Orleans  Trans- 
portation Company  was  chartered,  but  on  the  10th  of 
September,  1881,  it  was  consolidated  with  the  Missis- 
sippi Valley  corporation  under  the  name  of  the  St. 
Louis  and  Mississippi  Valley  Transportation  Com- 
pany, which  was  incorporated  with  a  capital  stock 
of  two  million  dollars,  the  incorporators  being 
George  H.  Rea,  Henry  C.  Haarstick,  George  D. 
Capen,  Austin  R.  Moore,  R.  S.  Hays,  H.  M.  Hoxie, 
Henry  Lowrey,  A.  A.  Talmage,  and  John  C.  Gault. 
The  company  owns  twelve  steam  tow-boats  and  one 
hundred  barges,  which  are  bonded  for  all  export  and 
import  business.  Its  trade  is  largely  in  wheat,  corn, 
and  oats,  and  in  the  transportation  of  these  cereals  it 
probably  transacts  a  larger  business  than  any  similar 
corporation  in  the  world.  The  officers  in  1882  were 
Henry  C.  Haarstick,  president;  H.  Lowrey,  vice- 
president;  H.  P.  Wyman,  secretary;  and  A.  R. 
Moore,  treasurer  ;  Directors,  George  H.  Rea,  Henry 
C.  Haarstick,  George  D.  Capen,  Austin  R.  Moore,  R. 
S.  Hays.  H.  M.  Hoxie,  Henry  Lowrey,  A.  A.  Tal- 
mage, and  John  C.  Gault.  The  office  is  located  on 
the  company's  wharf  boat  at  the  foot  of  Elm  Street. 

The  St.  Louis  and  New  Orleans  Packet  Com- 
pany was  organized  in  May,  1869,  and  was  the  suc- 
cessor of  the  Atlantic  and  Mississippi  Steamship 
Company.  The  first  president  was  Capt.  John  N. 
Bofinger.  the  first  secretary  Walker  R.  Carter,  and 


1120 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


the  first  general  superintendent  John  W.  Carroll. 
In  1870  the  executive  officers  remained  the  same, 
and  the  directors  were  John  N.  Bofinger,  D.  R. 
Powell,  Walker  R.  Carter,  John  W.  Carroll,  and 
Theodore  Laveille.  At  that  time  the  steamers  be- 
longing to  the  company,  which  were  then  among  the 
largest  and  finest  in  Western  waters,  were  the  "  Olive 
Branch,"  "Pauline  Carroll,"  "Richmond,"  "Dexter," 
"  Mollie  Able,"  "  Thompson  Dean,"  "  Common- 
wealth," "  W.  R.  Arthur,"  "  Bismarck,"  "  Great 
Republic,"  and  "  Continental."  In  1871  the  follow- 
ing steamers  were  added  :  "  City  of  Alton,"  "  Belle 
Lee,"  "Natchez,"  "Belfast,"  "Carrie  V.  Kountz," 
"  Rubicon,"  "  Capital  City,"  "  Henry  Ames,"  "  C.  B. 
Church,"  "  Glencoe,"  "  Andy  Johnson,"  "  John 
Kyle,"  "Mollie  Ebert,"  "Lady  Lee,"  "  Oceanus," 
"Shannon,"  "Virginia,"  "Susie  Silver,"  "Tom 
Jasper,"  "  James  Howard,"  "  City  of  Quincy,"  "  S. 
S.  Merrill."  The  total  amount  of  freight  carried  in 
1871  was  one  hundred  and  seventy- three  thousand 
nine  hundred  tons. 

Capt.  John  N.  Bofinger,  first  president  of  the  St. 
Louis  and  New  Orleans  Packet  Company,  was  born 
in  Lancaster  County,  Pa.,  Oct.  30,  1825,  and  in  1835 
removed  with  his  parents  to  Cincinnati,  where  his 
father  established  the  first  German  paper  west  of 
Pittsburgh,  the  Cincinnati  Volksblatt,  which  became 
a  flourishing  journal  and  existed  many  years.  The 
boy  was  educated  at  the  public  schools  of  Cincinnati, 
and  in  1846  obtained  a  position  as  clerk  on  the  mail 
line  steamers  plying  between  Cincinnati  and  Louis- 
ville. In  April,  1848,  he  arrived  in  St.  Louis  as 
clerk  of  the  steamer  "  Atlantic,"  on  which  he  remained 
as  clerk  and  captain  for  six  years.  In  1854,  in  con- 
nection with  John  J.  Roe  and  Rhodes,  Pegram  & 
Co.,  he  purchased  the  steamer  "  L.  M.  Kennett,"  and 
in  1857  built  the  steamer  "  William  M.  Morrison," 
which,  when  the  war  broke  out,  was  the  last  boat  to 
leave  St.  Louis  for  New  Orleans.  The  "  Morrison" 
was  detained  by  the  Confederate  authorities  at  Mem- 
phis, May  28,  1861,  and  was  burned  at  New  Orleans 
by  the  Confederates  on  the  arrival  of  Farragut's  fleet. 

For  thirteen  years  preceding  the  war,  Capt.  Bo- 
finger commanded  steamers  running  between  St.  Louis 
and  New  Orleans,  and  enjoyed  the  reputation  of  being 
an  unusually  successful  captain.  During  that  period  he 
made  one  hundred  and  ninety-two  trips  between  the 
two  cities,  and  never  met  with  an  accident  that  oc- 
casioned the  loss  of  a  life. 

The  war  provided  a  new  theatre  for  the  display  of 
Capt.    Bofinger's  abilities  as  an  organizer  and  com- 
mander.    He  became  interested  in  nearly  all  the  con-  i 
tracts  let  by  the  United  States  government  for  the  ' 


transportation  of  troops  and  supplies  on  the  Missis- 
sippi and  its  tributaries  during  1861,  '62,  '63,  '64, 
'65,  '66,  and  '67,  and  during  that  time  owned  thirty 
steamers.  He  was  no  doubt  the  largest  vessel-owner 
in  the  world.  An  instance  of  the  magnitude  of  his 
operations  and  the  extent  of  the  trust  reposed  in  his 
capacity  to  conduct  them  successfully  is  afforded  by 
the  fact  that  he  was  chosen  by  Gen.  L.  B.  Parsons, 
A.Q.M.G.,  m  1862  to  proceed  to  Memphis  and  Helena 
for  the  purpose  of  embarking  the  troops  and  animals 
of  Gen.  Sherman's  army  destined  for  Vicksburg. 
The  number  of  steamers  engaged  in  this  service  was 
ninety-five, — three  boats  were  laden  with  munitions  of 
war,  four  with  commissary  and  quartermaster's  stores, 
and  the  remainder  with  the  army  of  nearly  thirty-five 
thousand  men  and  their  animals,  etc.  This  vast  fleet 
was  escorted  by  eleven  gunboats  under  the  command 
of  Admiral  Porter. 

After  the  war  Capt.  Bofinger  with  others  formed 
the  Atlantic  and  Mississippi  Steamship  Company,  with 
a  capital  of  over  two  million  dollars,  and  owning 
twenty-five  of  the  largest  steamboats  then  on  the 
river,  and  was  elected  superintendent  of  the  company. 
In  1867  he  severed  his  connection  with  this  com- 
pany and  established  the  Vicksburg  Mail  Line,  and 
after  two  years  of  successful  operations,  sold  his  in- 
terest to  the  Memphis  and  St.  Louis  Packet  Company, 
now  the  Vicksburg  Anchor  Line. 

In  1869  the  Atlantic  and  Mississippi  Steamship 
Company  sold  its  steamers,  and  Capt.  Bofinger  and 
others  formed  the  St.  Louis  and  New  Orleans  Packet 
Company,  of  which  he  was  elected  president,  serving 
in  that  capacity  until  1873,  when  he  retired  from  the 
company. 

In  1869-70,  Capt.  Bofinger  held  a  contract  with 
the  government  to  transport  troops  and  supplies  be- 
tween St.  Louis  and  Fort  Benton,  over  three  thou- 
sand miles ;  between  St.  Louis  and  New  Orleans, 
twelve  hundred  miles ;  and  between  St.  Louis  and 
Fort  Gibson,  on  the  Arkansas  River,  fifteen  hundred 
miles  ;  an  aggregate  of  five  thousand  seven  hundred 
miles.  This  was  the  longest  river  transportation  con- 
tract ever  held  by  any  one  person. 

During  the  past  few  years  Capt.  Bofinger  has  en- 
gaged somewhat  extensively  in  steamboat-building, 
one  vessel  of  iron,  the  "  Gouldsboro',"  being  a  trans- 
fer steamer  at  New  Orleans  ;  and  he  is  now  construct- 
ing a  large  steamer  for  the  Memphis  and  Kansas 
City  Railroad.  In  connection  with  his  brother  he  has 
established  the  Telephone  Company  in  Louisiana  and 
Mississippi,  which  they  own  and  operate. 

Capt.  Bofinger's  wife  was  Miss  Mary  E.  Shewell, 
of  St.  Louis. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVEKSITV  OF    HUNOiS. 


NAVIGATION   ON   THE   MISSISSIPPI  RIVER. 


1121 


Capt.  Bofinger  is  regarded  as  authority  on  all 
matters  connected  with  river  transportation,  especially 
on  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries,  and  congressional 
committees  and  other  bodies  desiring  information  have 
availed  themselves  freely  of  his  knowledge,  attained 
through  nearly  forty  years  of  varied  and  arduous  ex- 
perience. He  may  be  classed  with  the  foremost  of 
the  second  generation  of  Mississippi  steamboat  cap- 
tains, and  is  a  worthy  successor  of  such  men  as  the 
gallant  Shreve  and  others  who  were  pioneers  in  this 
calling.  While  Capt.  Bofinger  has  contributed  his 
full  share  towards  making  river  transportation  an  im- 
portant factor  in  the  commerce  of  the  country,  his 
work  is  not  yet  ended,  and  those  who  know  his  in- 
domitable  energy  do  not  hesitate  to  predict  that  he 
will  again  be  heard  from  in  connection  with  works  of 
great  magnitude  and  of  equally  conspicuous  public  j 
utility. 

The   Merchants'  Southern  Line  Packet  Com-  : 
pany  was  established  in  1870,  and  its  steamers  plied  , 
between  St.  Louis  and  New  Orleans,  connecting  at 
Columbus  with   the   Mobile  and   Ohio  Railroad,  at 
Memphis  with  the  Mississippi  and  Tennessee  Rail- 
road and  Memphis  and  Charleston  Railroad,  at  New  j 
Orleans  with  the  Morgan  Line  steamships  for  Mobile. 
Galveston,  and  Indianola,  also  at  the  same  port  with 
steamships  for  Havana,  at  the  mouth  of  Red  River 
with  Red  and  Ouachita  River  packets,  and  at  Hick- 
man,  Ky.,  with  the  Northwestern  Railroad  for  Nash- 
ville and  points  in  Middle  and  East  Tennessee  and 
Northern  Georgia. 

The  officers  of  the  company  in  1870  were  J.  F. 
Baker,  president ;  B.  R.  Pegram,  vice-president ; 
Thomas  Morrison,  secretary ;  Charles  Scudder,  super- 
intendent; David  H.  Silver,  general  agent,  and  the 
principal  steamers  were  the  "  James  Howard,"  B.  R. 
Pegram,  captain ;  "  Henry  C.  Yeager,"  I.  C.  Van 
Hook,  captain  ;  "  Susie  Silver."  Samuel  S.  Entriken, 
captain ;  "  T.  L.  McGill,"  Thomas  W.  Shields,  cap- 
tain ;  "  Carrie  V.  Kountz;'1  "  Henry  Ames,"  J.  West 
Jacobs,  captain ;  "  John  Kyle,"  John  B.  Weaver, 
captain  ;  "  Mollie  Moore,"  George  D.  Moore,  captain. 

The  Kansas  City  Packet  Company  (Star  Line) 
is  the  successor  of  the  Missouri  Packet  Company, 
which  originated  with  the  Star  Line  Packet  and  Mi- 
ami Packet  Companies.  The  Star  Line  was  absorbed 
by  the  Miami,  which  then  became  known  as  the  Miami 
"Star  Line"  Packet  Company.  In  1869  this  corpo- 
ration had  five  steamers  plying  between  St.  Louis  and 
Kansas  City.  The  officers  at  that  time  were  Capt.  E. 
W.  Gould,  president ;  Capt.  W.  W.  Ater,  secretary  ; 
and  Capt.  M.  Hillard,  general  freight  agent,  and  the 
steamers  were  the  "  Mountaineer,"  M.  H.  Crapster, 


captain ;  "  W.  J.  Lewis,"  R.  J.  Whitledge,  captain  ; 
"  W.  B.  Dance,"  N.  F.  Constance,  captain  ;  "  Clara," 
John  Abrams,  captain  ;  "  Post-Boy, "  S.  Ball,  captain. 
The  "  E.  La  Barge,"  "  M.  McDonald,"  «  Nile,"  and 
"  Viola  Belle"  were  also  run  under  direction  of  the 
company.  Early  in  1871  the  stockholders  of  the 
Star  and  Miami  Lines  formed  a  new  line,  and  or- 
ganized under  the  name  of  the  Missouri  River 
Packet  Company,  with  W.  J.  Lewis  as  president ; 
Joseph  Kinney,  vice-president ;  E.  W.  Gould,  super- 
intendent ;  William  W.  Ater,  secretary ;  and  M. 
Hillard,  general  freight  agent.  During  1871  the 
company  built  three  new  boats,  the  "  Capitol  City," 
"  Fannie  Lewis,"  and  "  Joseph  Kinney."  Besides 
the  regular  trips  to  Kansas  City,  the  steamers  of  the 
company  during  1871  made  twenty-one  trips  to  Mem- 
phis and  Helena. 

The  Kansas  City  Packet  Company  was  organized 
July  15,  1878,  with  a  capital  stock  of  fifty  thousand 
dollars,  the  incorporators  being  W.  J.  Lewis,  C.  S. 
Rogers,  E.  W.  Gould,  N.  Springer,  and  R.  J.  Whit- 
ledge.  The  company  transacts  a  general  passenger 
and  freight  business  on  the  Missouri  and  Mississippi 
Rivers  between  St.  Louis  and  Fort  Benton,  and  owns 
the  steamers  "  Joe  Kinney,"  "  Fannie  Lewis," 
"  Mattie  Bell,"  and  "  D.  R.  Powell,"  together  with 
four  barges.  The  officers  of  the  company  in  1882 
were  E.  W.  Gould,  president ;  C.  S.  Rogers,  vice- 
president  ;  and  R.  J.  Whitledge,  secretary  ;  Directors, 
C.  S.  Rogers,  W.  J.  Lewis,  E.  W.  Gould,  N.  Sprin- 
ger, and  R.  J.  Whitledge.  The  office  is  located  on 
the  wharf-boat  at  the  foot  of  Olive  Street. 

E.  W.  Gould,  president  of  the  Kansas  City  Packet 
Company,  was  born  in  Massachusetts  on  the  15th  of 
December,  1811.  He  served  an  apprenticeship  at  the 
trade  of  carriage- making,  and  in  1835  went  West  and 
worked  for  two  years  at  his  trade  in  St.  Louis.  He 
then  purchased  an  interest  in  the  steamer"  Friendship," 
which  was  engaged  in  the  Illinois  River  trade,  and 
subsequently  became  clerk  of  a  steamer  on  the  upper 
Mississippi.  In  1837  he  was  made  captain  of  the 
steamer  "  Knickerbocker,"  which  was  lost  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Ohio  two  years  later.  Subsequently  Capt.  Gould 
became  engaged  in  the  Missouri  River  trade,  and  was 
successively  president  of  the  Miami  Star  Line  and 
superintendent  of  the  Missouri  River  Packet  Com- 
pany. Upon  the  organization  of  the  Kansas  City 
Packet  Company  he  became  its  president.  Capt. 
Gould  is  an  experienced  and  able  steamboat  manager, 
and  the  affairs  of  the  corporation  over  which  he  pre- 
sides are  conducted  with  conspicuous  skill  and  success. 
In  1846  he  was  married  to  Miss  Chipley,  daughter  of 
Dr.  William  B.  Chipley,  at  Warsaw,  111. 


1122 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


The  "K"  Line  of  Packets,  designed  to  ply  be- 
tween St.  Louis  and  Miami  and  intermediate  points 
on  the  Missouri  River,  began  business  early  in  1870 
with  the  "St.  Luke,"  Judd  Cartwright,  captain. 
The  line  was  managed  by  Capt.  Joseph  Kinney,  as- 
sisted by  J.  S.  Nanson  as  superintendent,  and  H.  F. 
Driller,  general  agent.  Subsequently  the  "  Alice" 
was  added,  and  a  flourishing  business  was  transacted 
by  the  two  steamers. 

The  St.  Louis  and  Omaha  Packet  Company  was 
organized  in  1867,  the  first  president  being  Joseph  S. 
Nanson,  and  the  first  secretary  Joseph  McEntire,  both 
of  whom  were  experienced  steamboat-men.  During 
the  second  year  of  the  company's  existence  Capt.  John 
B.  Weaver1  was  elected  president,  and  served  in  that 
capacity  for  two  years. 

The  steamers  of  the  line  were  the  "  T.  L.  McGill," 
T.  W.  Shields,  captain ;  "  Silver  Bow,"  T.  W.  Rea, 
captain  ;  "  Mary  McDonald,"  J.  Greenough,  captain  ; 
«  Cornelia,"  L.  T.  Belt,  captain  ;  "  Columbian,"  Wil- 
liam Barnes,  captain  ;  "  Glasgow,"  W.  P.  Lamothe, 
captain  ;  "  Kate  Kinney,"  J.  P.  McKinney,  captain  ; 
"  H.  S.  Turner,"  J.  A.  Yore,  captain. 

The  Coulson  Line  of  Steamers,  plying  between 
St.  Louis  and  Fort  Benton,  was  organized  in  1878. 
The  officers  in  1882  were  S.  P.  Coulson,  president; 
W.  S.  Evans,  vice-president ;  and  D.  W.  Marratta, 
secretary  and  general  superintendent.  The  company 
owns  and  controls  the  following  steamers  :  "  Rosebud," 
"  Big  Horn,"  "  Josephine,"  and  "  Dacotah."  Jen- 
kins &  Sass  are  the  agents  at  St.  Louis. 

The  Naples  Packet  Company  was  organized  in 
1848,  and  was  chartered  Aug.  12,  1872,  with  the 
following  i n corporators :  C.  S.  Rogers,  E.  W.  Gould, 
J.  W.  Mortimer,  and  Samuel  Rider.  The  capital 
stock  is  sixty-four  thousand  dollars,  and  the  company 
transacts  a  passenger  and  freight  transportation  busi- 
ness between  St.  Louis  and  Peoria,  111.  It  owns  the 
handsome  steamer  "  Calhoun,"  which  makes  all  way 
landings  on  the  Mississippi  and  Illinois  Rivers  between 
the  terminal  points.  C.  S.  Rogers  was  elected  presi- 
dent first  in  1872,  and  has  retained  the  position  ever 
since.  John  W.  Mortimer  is  the  secretary,  and  the 
directors  are  C.  S.  Rogers,  E.  W.  Gould,  John  W. 

1  Capt.  Weaver  died  in  St.  Louis  on  the  6th  of  August,  1871, 
in  the  fifty-seventh  year  of  his  age.  dipt.  Weaver  arrived  in 
St.  Louis  when  a  young  man,  and  until  his  death  was  identified 
with  the  city's  steamboat  interests.  As  clerk  and  then  com- 
mander, ho  was  connected  with  steamers  plving  on  the  Missouri 
River  for  more  than  twenty-five  years.  As  previously  stated, 
he  was  elected  president  of  the  St.  Louis  and  Omaha  Packet 
Company,  and  in  connection  with  Capt.  Davidson  and  others 
became  one  of  the  owners  of  the  steamer  "John  Kyle,"  and  in 
the  fall  of  1870  commander  of  that  vessel. 


Mortimer,  and  Samuel  Rider.  The  office  is  located 
on  the  wharf-boat,  foot  of  Olive  Street. 

The  St.  Louis  and  Peoria  Packet  Company  was 
organized  on  the  3d  of  February,  1868,  its  officers  at 
that  time  being  J.  S.  McCune,  president;  A.  C. 
Dunlevy,  secretary  ;  and  F.  A.  Sheble,  general  super- 
intendent. In  1870  the  vessels  belonging  to  the 
company  were  the  "  Beardstown,"  Samuel  E.  Gray, 
captain  ;  "  City  of  Pekin,"  Thomas  Hunter,  captain; 
"  Illinois,"  S.  E.  Gray,  captain ;  "  Schuyler,"  H.  G. 
Rice,  captain ;  "  Columbia,"  Joseph  Throckmorton,2 
captain. 

In  1871  the  vessels  employed  by  the  company 
were  the  "  Illinois,"  "  City  of  Pekin,"  "  Huntsville" 
and  barges,  "  P.  W.  Strader"  and  barges,  and  "  Beards- 
town." 

The  St.  Louis,  Cincinnati,  Huntington  and 
Pittsburgh  Packet  Company,  whose  headquarters 

1  Capt.  Joseph  Throckmorton  was  born  on  the  16th  of  June, 
1800,  in  Monmouth  County,  N.  J.  As  a  lad  he  entered  a  mer- 
cantile house  in  New  York,  but,  in  company  with  others,  sub- 
sequently purchased  the  steamer  ''Red  Rover,"  and  made 
several  trips  with  her  from  Pittsburgh  to  Zanesville,  Ohio.  The 
"Red  Rover"  was  finally  sunk  in  a  collision,  but  was  raised  and 
taken  to  St.  Louis  and  employed  in  the  Galena  trade.  While 
engaged  in  the  upper  Mississippi  trade,  Capt.  Throckmorton 
won  the  friendship  of  the  Indian  chief  Keokuk,  who  offered 
him  nearly  all  the  Flint  Hills,  afterwards  the  site  of  the  city 
of  Burlington,  if  he  would  settle  there.  About  1830  Capt. 
Throckmorton,  in  company  with  Capt.  George  W.  Atcheson, 
built  the  steamer  "  Winnebago"  at  Paducah,  and  employed 
her  in  the  Galena  trade  until  1832,  when  he  built  at  Pittsburgh 
the  steamer  "  Warrior,"  and  a  tow-barge  for  the  accommodation 
of  passengers.  While  Capt.  Throckmorton  was  in  command  of 
the  "  Warrior"  the  Black  Hawk  war  broke  out,  and  the  vessel 
was  chartered  for  the  transportation  of  the  United  States 
troops  under  Gen.  Atkinson.  At  the  battle  of  Bad  Axe,  which 
was  the  decisive  engagement  of  the  war,  the  captain  aud  crew 
of  the  "  Warrior"  were  hotly  engaged.  The  "  Warrior"  con- 
tinued in  the  upper  Mississippi  trade  until  1835,  when  Capt. 
Throckmorton  built  the  steamer  "  St.  Peter,"  and  in  1836  the 
"Ariel."  During  the  following  year  he  built  the  "Burling- 
ton," and  in  1842  the  "General  Brooke."  In  1845  he  sold  the 
"  Brooke"  to  the  American  Fur  Company,  and  assumed  com- 
mand of  that  company's  steamer  "Nimrod,"  but  having  pur- 
chased the  "  Cecilia,"  relinquished  his  position.  In  1848  he 
built  the  "  Cora,''  which  he  commanded  for  a  year  or  two,  after 
which  he  acted  for  four  years  as  the  agent  of  the  Tennessee 
Insurance  Company  at  St.  Louis.  He  then  returned  to  his 
former  occupation  of  steamboat  captain,  and  having  built  the 
"  Genon,"  commanded  that  vessel  from  1854  to  1856.  In  1857 
he  built  the  "  Florence,"  and  in  1864  the  "  Montana."  In  the 
spring  of  1868,  Capt.  Throekmorton  purchased  the  "Columbia," 
and  employed  her  in  the  trade  between  St.  Louis  and  Fort 
Benton.  He  subsequently  made  several  trips  with  his  boat  in 
the  service  of  the  Illinois  Packet  Company,  and  finally  sold 
her  to  the  Arkansas  River  Packet  Company.  During  the  last 
two  years  of  his  life  Capt.  Throckmorton  was  employed  by  the 
United  States  government,  under  the  command  of  Col.  Macomb, 
United  States  engineer,  in  the  improvement  of  the  upper 
Mississippi.  He  died  in  December,  1872. 


RIVER   COMMERCE   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


1123 


are  at  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  established  an  agency  in  St. 
Louis  in  1881.  It  owns  and  controls  the  following 
boats,  which  run  between  Pittsburgh,  Cincinnati,  and 
St.  Louis:  the  "Buckeye  State,"  "Pittsburgh," 
"  Carrie,"  and  "  John  L.  Rhodes."  The  company 
transacts  a  general  transportation  business,  carrying 
both  passengers  and  freight.  The  officers  are  J.  M. 
Williamson,  superintendent,  Cincinnati ;  and  Capt. 
W.  S.  Evans,  superintendent,  Pittsburgh.  Jenkins 
&  Sass  are  the  agents  at  St.  Louis. 

The  Gartside  Coal  and  Towing  Company  was 
organized  in  1856,  and  chartered  in  May,  1873,  with 
a  capital  stock  of  fifty  thousand  dollars.  The  incor- 
porators  were  James,  Charles  E.,  and  Joseph  Gartside. 
The  company  owns  two  steam-tugs  and  ten  barges,  and 
transacts  a  general  coal  and  transportation  business. 
The  officers  in  1882  were  Charles  E.  Gartside,  presi- 
dent, and  James  Gartside,  secretary  and  treasurer. 
The  office  is  located  on  the  New  Orleans  Anchor  Line 
wharf-boat,  foot  of  Pine  Street. 

The  Carter  Line  (Red  River  Packet  Company) 
was  established  in  1869  by  Capt.  VV.  R.  Carter  and 
Capt.  Joseph  Conn,  who  employed  the  "  R.  J.  Lock- 
wood,"  "  Silver  Bow,"  "  H.  M.  Shreve,"  "Oceanus," 
"  M.  E.  Forsyth,"  "Lady  Lee,"  "Belle  Rowland," 
and  "  Mary  E.  Poe."  The  annual  receipts  of  the 
company  amounted  to  about  six  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars.  The  ports  visited  by  the  line  were 
landings  on  the  Missouri  River,  St.  Louis,  Jefferson, 
Shreveport,  and  New  Orleans. 

The  Merchants'  St.  Louis  and  Arkansas  River 
Packet  Company  began  business  in  the  spring  of 
1870.  The  territory  embraced  within  the  range  of 
the  company's  operations  extended  from  the  mouth  of 
the  Arkansas  River  to  Fort  Smith,  and  comprised  all 
that  section  south  of  the  river  and  between  it  and  the 
Ouachita,  and  north  of  it  to  the  extreme  western  and 
northwestern  sections  of  the  State,  also  from  the 
mouth  of  White  River  to  the  upper  part  of  it  and 
the  country  bordering  on  Black  and  Currant  Rivers, 
reaching  almost  to  the  northern  line  of  the  State. 
The  company  was  incorporated  in  1870  with  a  cap- 
ital stock  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  the 
following  officers  were  elected  : 

President,  James  A.  Jackson  ;  Vice-President,  D. 
P.  Rowland  ;  Treasurer,  George  D.  Appleton  ;  Secre- 
tary and  Superintendent,  James  D.  Sylvester;  Direc- 
tors, James  A.  Jackson,  D.  P.  Rowland,  Matthew 
Moody,  W.  S.  Stover,  C.  L.  Thompson,  Louis  Fusz, 
George  D.  Appleton,  C.  N.  McDowell,  and  George 
Wolff. 

A  low-water  boat  was  at  once  contracted  for  for  the 
upper  Arkansas  River,  three  steamers  purchased,  and 


the  line  put  in  working  order.  The  steamers  employed 
by  the  company  in  1871  were  the  "  Sallie,"  "  Colum- 
bia," "  Muncie,"  "  Sioux  City,"  and  "  Little  Rock." 
At  Little  Rock  the  vessels  from  St.  Louis  connected 
with  the  light-draught  steamer  "  Little  Rock,"  which 
ran  to  Fort  Smith,  thus  forming  a  continuous  line  of 
communication  with  the  extreme  western  border  of 
the  State. 

Ouachita  River  Packets. — Prior  to  1870  St. 
Louis  had  not  enjoyed  an  extensive  trade  with  the 
region  of  country  bordering  on  the  Ouachita  River. 
Hitherto  her  merchants  and  shippers  had  permitted 
New  Orleans  and  other  Southern  cities  to  monopolize 
the  business  of  the  Ouachita  ports,  but  in  that  year 
it  was  determined  to  send  several  steamers,  loaded  at 
St.  Louis,  to  that  river.  The  experiment  was  made, 
and  the  results  were  such  as  to  establish  the  entire 
practicability  of  building  up  a  regular  and  lucrative 
trade.  The  steamers  of  the  line  were  the  "  C.  H. 
Durfee,"  Frank  Dozier,  captain  ;  "  Mary  McDonald," 
John  Greenough,  captain ;  "  Ida  Stockdale,"  J.  W. 
Jacobs,  captain ;  "  Hesper,"  J.  Ferguson,  captain ; 
"  C.  V.  Kountz,"  J.  C.  Vanhook,  captain  ;  "  Tempest," 
D.  H.  Silver,  captain.  The  "  Tempest"  was  destroyed 
on  her  first  trip  up  the  river.  H.  F.  Driller  was  the 
general  freight  agent  of  the  line.  Mr.  Driller  after- 
wards secured  two  boats  for  the  White  River  trade, 
the  "  Osage,"  Capt.  William  A.  Cade,  and  the  "  Na- 
trona,"  Capt.  George  Graham. 

VALUE  OP  STEAMBOATS  REGISTERED  OR   CONTROLLED  AT   ST. 
Louis,  Mo.,  IN  1871. 

Memphis  and  St.  Louis  Packet  Company 

Carter  Line  Packet  Company 

Northwestern  Transportation  Company 

Wiggins  Ferry  Company 

Northern   Line  Packet  Company 

Harbor  tow-boats  and  tugs 

St.  Louis  Sand  Company 

Gral'ton  Stone  and  Tow  Company 

Conrad  Line  (Tennessee  Kiver) 

North western  Union  Packet  Company 

Merchants'  Southern  Line 

Keokuk  Packet  Compuny 

Peoria  Packet  Compuny 

Na [iles  Packet  Company 

Missouri  River  Packet  Company 

St.  Louis  and  New  Orleans  Packet  Company  (about). 

Mississippi  Valley  Transportation  Company 

St.  Louis  and  Arkansas  River  Packet  Company 

Outside  boats  (about) 


$700,000 

250,000 

1-40,000 

140.500 

352,000 

86,000 

10,000 

16,300 

33,000 

709,000 

730.000 

450,000 

90,000 

04,1100 

425,000 

475,000 

205,000 

110,000 

500,000 


Total  value $5,428,800 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

RIVER    COMMERCE   OF   ST.    LOUIS. 

BY  the  terms  of  the  treaty  for  the  cession  of 
Louisiana  to  the  United  States,  the  full  and  .complete 
navigation  of  the  Mississippi  River  was  secured  to 


1124 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


the  United  States.  The  trade  and  commerce  of  the 
river  at  this  time  (1803-4)  were  unimportant.  New 
Orleans  and  St.  Louis  were  the  only  towns  of  any 
size  upon  the  Mississippi,  the  latter  having  but  four- 
teen hundred  inhabitants  in  1811,  and  the  value  of 
its  merchandise  and  imports  amounting  to  about 
two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  annually. 
As  small  a  sum  as  this  appears  to  be,  it  was  princi- 
pally owing  to  the  fact  that  St.  Louis  was  the  fitting- 
out  point  for  the  military  and  trading  establishments 
on  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri  that  even  this 
amount  was  reached.  Peltries,  lead,  and  whiskey 
made  a  large  portion  of  the  currency,  and  the 
branches  of  business  were  not  at  all  fixed  or 
definite.1 

The  establishment  of  the  Bank  of  St.  Louis  in 
1816,  and  of  the  Missouri  Bank  in  1817,  indicates  a 
great  increase  of  the  business  of  St.  Louis,  and  may 
be  regarded  as  fixing  an  initial  point  in  its  trade  and 
commerce  with  other  sections.  In  1821  there  were 
only  four  hundred  and  twenty-nine  tax-payers  in  St. 
Louis,  and  the  total  taxes  levied  for  the  year  amounted 
to  $3823.80. 

The  prices  current  of  a  retail  market  give  but  a 
partial  idea  of  the  business  of  the  community,  and 
those  of  St.  Louis  for  Nov.  23,  1816,  afford  only  a 
general  notion  of  the  market  of  the  town  at  that 
period. 

ST.  LOUIS    RETAIL    PRICES    CURRENT. 

Beef,  on  foot,  per  cwt...  $4.00 

Bread,  ship,  none 

Butter,  per  pound 25 

Beeswax, "       "      

Candles,   "       "      

Cheese,     "       "      

Cheese,    common,    per 

pound 

Boards,  none  in  inar- 


.25 
.25 
.25 


Flour,  horse-mill,  su- 
perfine, per  cwt $6.00 

Grain,  wheat,  per 
bushel 1.00 

Grain,  rye,  per  bushel       .62i 

Grain,  barley,  per 
bushel 

Grain,  corn,  per  bush... 

Grain,  oats, 


ket Gunpowder,  per  Ib 

Cider,  none  in  market |  Haras, 


.75 
.37 
.37 
1.00 
.12 


.50 

.40 

1.25 

.50 


Hides,  per  piece 2.75 

Hogs' lard,  per  Ib 12 

Bears'  lard,  per  gallon..     1.50 
Honey,         "       "      ....     1.00 


Coffee,  per  pound 

Cotton,    "       "         

Cotton  yarn,  No.  10 

Feiithers,  per  pound.... 
Flour,  per    barrel,  su- 
perfine in  demand....    16.00 

The  annual  imports  of  St.  Louis  were  computed  for 
1820  "at  upwards  of  $2,000,000," 2  and  the  Indian 

1  John  Arthur  advertises  among  "cheap  goods"  bleached 
country  cottons,  cotton  cloth,  cotton  and  wool  cards,  German 
steel,  smoothing-irons,  ladies'  silk  bonnets,  artificial  flowers, 
linen  duck,  muslins,  white  thread,  wool  and  cotton,  a  handsome 
new  gig  and  harness,  cable  and  cordelle  ropes,  and  that  he  will 
take  pay  in  furs,  hides,  whiskey,  country-made  sugar,  and  bees- 
wax, with  "a  negro  girl  eighteen  years  of  age  also  for  sale." 
And  even  the  editor  and  proprietor  of  the  only  journal  west  of  j 
the  Mississippi  advertises  in  his  sheet  that  he  will  keep  a  house 
of  entertainment  for  strangers,  where  they  will  find  every  ac- 
commodation except  whiskey.  He  would  also  take  care  of  eight 
or  ten  horses. — Edwards'  (treat  West,  p.  295. 

•Dr.  Lewis  C.  Beck's  Gazetteer  of  Missouri,  1823. 


trade  of  the  Missouri  and  Mississippi  Rivers  was  val- 
ued at  $600,000.  The  establishment  of  a  Branch 
Bank  of  the  United  States  in  1829  would  indicate  a 
great  increase  in  the  trade  and  commerce  of  St.  Louis 
for  the  decade  from  1820  to  1830.  In  the  absence 
of  statistical  records,  the  only  sources  of  information 
on  this  point  are  the  public  journals  of  that  period, 
which  are  filled  with  the  evidence  of  the  great  rapid- 
ity with  which  St.  Louis  was  growing  in  business 
and  manufactures. 

A  comparison  of  the  prices  current  for  1816  with 
those  for  1835  affords  some  idea  of  the  progress  indi- 
cated, as  well  as  of  the  articles  which  made  up  the 
trade  of  St.  Louis  by  the  river  at  that  time : 

ST.   LOUIS  PRICES   CURRENT   FOR  1835. 

Ale  and  porter,  bbl $8.00 

Bacon,  ham,  Ib $0.03  @  .09 

"       hog,round 05£  @  .06 

Beans,  bush ,  .75 

Beef,  bbl 8.00  @  10.00 

Beeswax,  Ib 16J  @  .17 

Butter,  Ib 10  @  .12 

Castings,  ton 70.00 

Castor  oil,  gall 1.35  @  1.37 

Candles,  sperm,  Ib 40  @  .42 

"       mould,  Ib 13  @  .14 

"       dipped,  Ib 11  @  .12 

Clover-seed,  bush 7.00  @  8.00 

Coal,  bush 10  @  .12 

Coffee  (in  demand),  Ib .15J 

Cordage,  white,  Ib 06  @  .08 

"          manilla,  Ib 20  @  .22 

Copperas,  Ib 02  @  .03 

Cotton,  Ib 11  @  .12 

"         yarns,  Ib 25  @  .27 

Furs,  beaver,  Ib 3.50 

"     muskrat-skin 20  @  .25 

"     deer-skins,  shaved,  Ib 20  @  .22 

in  hair,  Ib 10  @  .12 

"     raccoon-skins 30  @  .33 

Feathers,  Ib 37  @  .40 

Flour,  superfine  Illinois,  bbl 4.50  @  4.75 

"      superfine  Ohio,  bbl 4.25  @  4.50 

Mackerel,  bbl 6.00  @  8.00 

Glass,  10  x  12,  box 5.00  @  5.25 

"       8  x  10,  box 4.00  @  4.25 

Grain,  wheat,  bush 60  @  .62 

Corn,  bush 45  @  .50 

Molasses,  gall 35  @  .37 

Nails,  cut,  Ib 06J  @  .07 

Oil,  sperm,  gall 65  @  .70 

'    linseed,  gall 1.00  @  1.12 

"    tanners',  bbl 18.00  @  20.00 

Pork,  mess,  bbl 11.00  @  12.00 

"      prime,  bbl 10.50  @  11.00 

Potatoes,  bush 25  @  .37 

Rice,  Ib 05  @  .06 

Sugar,  Ib 09  @  .10 

loaf,  Ib 15  @  .17 

"       Havana,  Ib 

"       white,  Ib 12  @  .13 

Salt,  Liverpool,  bushel  of  50  Ibs 85  @  .90 

"     ground,  bushel  of  50  Ibs 70  @  .75 

"     Turk's  Island,  bushel  of  50  Ibs..       .62  @  .65 

"     Kanawhn,  bushel  of  50  Ibs 45  @  .50 

Shot,  bag 1.50  @  1.62 

Cognac  brandy,  gall 1.25  @  1.75 

American  brandy,  gal] 75  @  1.00 

Peach  brandy,  gall 1.25 

Holland  gin.   gall 1.25  @  1.50 

Common  gin,  gall.. .50  @  .60 

New  Orleans  rum,  gall 50  @  .55 

Jamaica  rum,  gall 1.10  @  1.15 

Whiskey,  corn,  gall 28  @  .30 

"          rye,  gall 40  @  .45 


RIVER   COMMERCE   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


1125 


Tallow,  lb $0.08    @    $0.09 

Tar,  bbl 4.50    @       5.00 

Tea,  Gunpowder,  lb 1.25    @      1.33 

'•      Imperial,  lb 1.20     (g)       1.30 

"      Young  Hyson l.CO     @       1.06 

Gunpowder,  Dupont's,  keg 7.00 

"  Kentucky  &  Delaware, 

keg 6.50 

Hides,  dried,  lb 11     @        .12 

Iron,    Missouri    and    Juniata,    ton 

2000  Ibs 120.00 

Lard,  lb .06 

Lead,  bar,  lb .06 

"      pig,  lb .0-1$ 

"      white,  in  oil  ^in  demand),  keg.  2.75 

Linentow,yd , 13    @        .14 

"      flax,  yd 20     @        .22 

Vinegar,  bbl 4.00     @       5.00 

Wine,  Madeira,  gall 3.00     @       4.00 

"      Teneriife,  gall 1.00    @      1.25 

"      S.  Madeira,  gall 1.50    @       1.75 

"       Port,  gall 2.00     @       2.50 

"      Malaga,  gall 70    @        .75 

"      champagne,  doz 14.00    @    18.00 

"      claret,  doz 4.00     @      4.50 

Provision  market: 

Beef,  lb .05 

Veal,  lb .08 

Mutton,  lb .06 

Butter,  lb .12$ 

Eggs,  doz .ll| 

Chickens,  full  grown .25 

"         young .12$ 

The  steamboat  register  for  1835  shows  the 
number  of  different  steamboats  to  have 

been 121 

Aggregate  tonnage 15,470 

Number  of  entries '803 

Wharfage  collected $4,573.60 

Wood  and  lumber  liable  to  wharfage: 

Plank,  joists,  and  scantlings 1,414,330  feet. 

Shingles 148,000 

Cedar  posts  (S's) 7,706 

Cords  of  firewood 8,066 

A  comparison  of  these  figures  with  the  same  items 
for  1831  shows  an  increase  of  more  than  one  hundred 
per  cent. 

The  panic  of  183*7  was  attended  with  the  ruin  of 
thousands  of  people  all  over  the  country,  and  with 
the  prostration  of  the  business,  trade,  and  commerce  of 
St.  Louis.  The  arrivals  and  departures  of  steamboats 
for  1839,  however,  were:  arrivals,  two  thousand  and 
ninety-five ;  departures,  sixteen  hundred  and  forty- 
five.1 

1  The  Jtepnllican  of  June  4,  1836,  describes  the  commercial 
condition  of  St.  Louis  at  that  time  as  follows: 

"At  no  prior  time  has  this  city  exhibited  so  many  signs  of 
improvement  as  are  now  daily  seen.  Capital  is  finding  its  way 
to  us,  and  large  investments  are  made  in  real  estate,  not,  we 
feel  assured,  with  a  view  to  speculation,  which  benefits  no  one 
but  those  who  are  parties  in  it,  but  with  the  design  of  improv- 
ing it.  The  sale  of  lots  in  Christy's  addition  to  the  town 
amounted  on  the  first  two  days  to  one  hundred  and  one  thou- 
sand dollars.  It  was  continued  yesterda)',  and  will  probably 
reach  one  hundred  and  forty  thousand  dollars.  Other  sales  of 
property  bordering  on  the  town  have  recently  been  made 
amounting  to  many  thousands  of  dollars.  Block  No.  13,  with 
three  or  four  houses  upon  it,  fronting  upon  Main  and  Water 
Streets,  sold  ten  or  twelve  days  ago  for  two  hundred  and  forty 
thousand  dollars,  and  other  property  in  the  business  part  of  the 
city  went  for  equally  fair  prices.  We  say  fair  prices,  for  they 
72 


It  is  impossible  to  give  any  concise  statement  of 
the  amount  of  the  river  trade  of  St.  Louis,  but  some 
of  the  leading  and  principal  items  for  the  year  1840 
will  afford  an  approximate  idea  of  the  volume  of  busi- 
ness then  transacted.  From  1831,  when  the  first  in- 
surance office  was  established,  to  1840  the  marine 
risks  amounted  to  $58,021,986.  This  sum  does  not 
include  the  whole  amount  of  property  at  risk,  because 
some  of  the  boats  and  cargoes  were  insured  at  the 
East  and  South,  and  some  were  not  insured  at  all. 
The  estimate  of  property  uninsured  was  put  at  thirty- 
three  and  one-third  per  cent.,  which  would  raise  the 
value  to  $77,362,648.  The  receipts  of  lead  at  St. 
Louis  for  1839  were  375,000  pigs;  for  1840,  390,- 
000  pigs;  and  for  1841,395,000  pigs.  A  pig  of 
lead  averaged  sixty-nine  pounds,  and  was  estimated 
at  three  and  one-half  cents  per  pound,  making  the 
value  of  this  trade  for  1841,  $13,825,  and  for  the 
three  years  nearly  $50,000.  "  At  least  8500  hogs- 
heads of  tobacco"  passed  St.  Louis,  with  a  value  of 
$912,500.  There  were  shipped  from  St.  Louis  80,- 
000  bushels  of  wheat  and  110,000  barrels  of  flour, 
valued  at  $610,000. 

When  to  these  figures  are  added  those  for  the  trade 
in  beef,  pork,  bacon,  lard,  butter,  corn,  live-stock, 
buffalo  robes,  furs,  skins,  and  peltries,  hemp,  bag- 
ging, bale-rope,  and  the  many  other  articles  that 
comprise  the  industry  of  a  growing  community  but 
of  which  there  exist  no  statistics,  it  will  be  seen  that 


are  by  no  means  so  extravagant  as  have  been  obtained  in  other 
AVestern  towns,  and  are  such  as  will  justify  the  purchasers  in 
making  permanent  improvements  upon  the  property.  In  many 
cases  it  is  their  intention  to  do  so. 

"We  have  made  some  inquiry,  and  have  found  that  upwards 
of  two  hundred  houses  are  now  building  in  the  city.  They  are 
started  in  every  direction,  and  it  is  probable  that  another  hun- 
dred will  be  put  up  during  the  season  if  contracts  can  be  made 
for  them.  One  or  two  churches  are  to  be  erected,  a  splendid 
theatre  is  under  way,  and  a  female  seminary  is  to  be  commenced. 
Many  of  the  buildings  will  be  handsomely  finished  for  stores 
and  extensive  warehouses,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  before 
another  year  passes  away  we  shall  be  able  to  furnish  houses  for 
the  numerous  business  men  who  arc  desirous  of  making  estab- 
lishments here.  Our  country  friends  who  are  engaged  in  mer- 
cantile pursuits  have  in  many  instances  determined  to  make 
their  purchases  hereafter  at  St.  Louis,  as  the  competition  and 
increase  of  business  has  satisfied  them  that  they  can  do  so  to 
better  advantage  than  in  the  Atlantic  cities.  Useful  and 
extensive  manufactories  are  starting  up  at  every  point,  and  in 
a  short  time  we  shall  be  independent  of  other  places  for  our 
steam-engines  and  other  materials  of  daily  use.  The  corporate 
societies  are  not  behind  our  citizens  in  making  improvements. 
The  whole  line  of  the  wharf  is  rapidly  being  macadamized,  and 
before  the  winter  sets  in  it  will  present  a  better  appearance  than 
any  port  in  the  Western  country.  Many  contracts  are  made 
for  paving  the  streets,  and  two  or  three  years  of  industry  will 
bring  about  the  completion  of  this  work  throughout  the  city." 


1126 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


St.  Louis  had  in  1840  made  considerable  progress 
on  the  road  to  that  commercial  prosperity  which  she 
now  enjoys.  The  imports  were  valued  at  from  ten  to 
fifteen  millions  of  dollars. 

A  slight  idea  may  be  gathered  of  the  trade  of 
St.  Louis  in  1843  from  the  following  table,  which 
exhibits  the  imports  and  exports  of  the  city  from  the 
13th  of  January  up  to  the  12th  of  August,  1843 : 


Imports.  Exports. 

Beeswax,  bbls 470  777 

"        Ibs 36,007  26,655 

Buffalo  robes,  bales 8,983  4,186 

Corn,  sacks 28,091  27,688 

Flour,  bbls 59,965  88,393 

Hemp,  bales 26,947  17,629 

Lead,  pigs 398,225  397,213 

Lard,  bbls 10,751  19,243 

"       kegs 15,581  18,337 

Oil  lard,  bbls 559  3,060 

Pork,  bbls 16,633  30,097 

Tobacco,  hhds 14,599  13,498 

"Wheat,  bbls 58,777  22,241 

"       sacks 78,299  27,945 


The  receipts  of  tobacco  for  the  year  1842  were 
1754  hogsheads,  of  which  1645  hogsheads  were  sold, 
leaving  on  hand  on  the  1st  of  January,  1843,  109 
hogsheads. 

In  the  Prices  Current  for  1844  the  population  is 
estimated  at  40,000,  and  the  registered  tonnage  at 
20,420  tons,  against  14,729  tons  in  the  year  1842, 
thus  showing  an  increase  in  less  than  three  years  of 
nearly  40  per  cent.  This  tonnage  was  the  property 
of  citizens  of  St.  Louis,  and  it  may  be  safely  said  that 
at  least  as  much  more  was  employed  in  its  trade  and 
commerce  the  property  of  other  cities.  The  arrivals 
during  the  year  amounted  to  2613,  against  2105  the 
previous  year,  showing  an  increase  of  508  arrivals. 
The  annual  trade  of  St.  Louis  was  then  estimated  at 
§50,000,000.  Nearly  47,000  bags  of  coffee,  11,000 
hogsheads  of  sugar,  758,000  pigs  of  lead,  31,000 
bales  of  hemp,  13,000  hogsheads  of  tobacco,  132,000 
barrels  of  flour,  and  nearly  a  million  bushels  of  wheat 
were  imported  into  St.  Louis  in  1843,  being  an  average 
increase  of  nearly  20  per  cent,  on  that  of  the  previous 
year. 

The  harbor-master's  report  for  1845  shows  that 
during  the  year  there  were  2050  steamboat  arrivals 
in  the  harbor  of  St.  Louis,  with  an  aggregate  tonnage 
of  358,045  tons,  and  346  arrivals  of  keel-  and  flat- 
boats,  and  that  the  trade  of  the  city  was  carried  on 
by  213  steamboats,  with  an  aggregate  tonnage  of 
42,922  tons. 

From  the  same  report  there  has  been  compiled  the 
following  table  of  the  places  from  whence  these  ves- 
sels came,  showing  the  arrivals  from  each  quarter  for 
each  month,  as  follows : 


New        Ohio    Illinois  M.Y:^fnrni  Missouri  Other 
Orleuns.    Kiver.    lliver.  Mlsl J? *  ''pl    Itiver.    Points. 


In  January 17  5  15 

February 13  13  20 

March 27  42  57 

April 24  39  36 

May 35  49  52 

June 27  33  29 

July 16  46  26 

August 20  44  26 

September....  25  38  7 

October 22  45  13 

November 21  47  17 

December 3  5 

250  406  298 


Biver. 

1558 

12  2  7 

67  11  S 

75  23  10 

102  49  13 

66  42  21 

58  29  18 

63  25  22 

60  22  19 

48  20  16 

74  20  24 
311 


647        249 


167 


From  the  foregoing  it  appears  that  during  1845 
there  were  250  steamboat  arrivals  from  New  Orleans ; 
406  from  different  ports  on  the  Ohio  River,  including 
arrivals  from  the  Cumberland  and  Tennessee ;  278 
from  ports  on  the  Illinois  River ;  647  from  ports  on 
the  Mississippi  above  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  not 
including  the  daily  trip  of  the  Alton  packet;  249 
from  ports  on  the  Missouri  River;  and  168  from 
other  points,  chiefly  from  Cairo  and  intermediate 
ports  between  that  point  and  St.  Louis. 

During  the  year  1848-49,  St.  Louis  began  to 
receive  heavy  shipments  of  the  products  of  the 
Southern  States,  and  orders  for  articles  hitherto 
sent  to  other  cities  were  sent  to  the  merchants, 
manufacturers,  and  mechanics  of  St.  Louis.  Direct 
communication  with  the  lakes  and  the  Canadas 
also  presented  great  advantages  to  the  shipping 
and  commercial  interests  of  the  city.  The  total 
receipts  of  tobacco  by  the  river  for  the  period  of 
five  years,  from  1844  to  1849,  was  49,918  hogs- 
heads, an  exhibit  which  shows  "  a  steady  decrease 
in  the  production  of  that  staple  in  the  State  of 
Missouri  since  1844."  The  decrease  in  the  pro- 
duction of  tobacco  was  compensated  by  an  increase 
in  that  of  hemp,  the  entire  crop  of  which  in  1846 
was  80,000  bales,  of  which  47,152  bales  were  re- 
ceived by  the  river.  The  receipts  of  lead  by  the 
river  were,  for  1847,  749,128  pigs,  and  for  1848, 
705,718  pigs.  The  receipts  of  flour  by  the  river  for 
1847  were  328,568  barrels  and  686  half-barrels,  and 
for  1848  they  were  387,314  barrels  and  541  half- 
barrels.  In  addition  the  city  mills  produced  400,000 
barrels.  The  total  production  was  over  700,000  bar- 
rels, which,  at  $4.25  per  barrel,  made  an  aggregate 
value  of  $2,975,000.  The  wheat  crop  of  1847-48 
was  an  unusually  fine  one  throughout  the  river  States, 
and  the  receipts  by  way  of  the  river  for  1847  were 
2,432,377  bushels,  and  for  1848,  2,194,798  bushels. 
The  receipts  of  corn  by  the  river  were,  for  1847, 
1,016,318  bushels,  and  for  1848,  699,693  bushels. 
The  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal  opened  in  1847-48, 
drawing  off  316,625  bushels.  The  receipts  of  oats 


RIVER  COMMERCE   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


1127 


for  1847  were  202,365  bushels,  and  for  1848,  243,700 
bushels.  ''  Of  the  entire  shipments  from  this  city," 
it  was  stated  about  this  time,  "  it  is  computed  that  fully 
three-fourths  reach  the  city  of  New  Orleans."  The 
beef  receipts  for  1848  were  9381  tierces,  7876  bar- 
rels, and  47  half-barrels  ;  and  of  pork,  97,662  barrels 
and  1923  half-barrels,  together  with  25,820  casks, 
3603  hogsheads,  2847  barrels,  3775  boxes  of  bacon. 
Of  lard  there  were  received  6579  tierces,  67,329 
barrels,  and  14,180  kegs,  showing  an  immense  im- 
provement in  the  provision  trade.  The  lumber  trade 
for  1847  amounted  to  16,917,850  feet,  and  for  1848 
to  22,137,915  feet;  shingles  for  1847,  13,098,800, 
and  for  1848,  15,851,500.  There  were  also  42,282 
cords  of  wood  received  by  the  river  in  1847,  and 
38,857  cords  in  1848.  Of  coal  the  receipts  by  river 
in  1847  were  1,454,048  bushels,  and  in  1848,  1,623,- 
687  bushels. 

As  elsewhere  stated  more  in  detail,  two  calamities 
visited  St.  Louis  in  the  year  1849,  the  cholera  and 


the  great  conflagration  of  steamboats  and  other  prop- 
erty on  the  17th  of  May,  which  exerted  a  disastrous 
influence  on  every  branch  of  her  trade,  commerce, 
and  business.  A  mortality  of  seven  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  twenty-one  persons  and  the  destruction 
of  three  million  three  hundred  and  thirty-five  thou- 
sand four  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  of  property  could 
not  but  have  administered  a  check  to  enterprise  and 
retarded  progress.  It  is  surprising,  however,  to  note 
the  alacrity,  energy,  and  perseverance  which  were  ex- 
hibited by  the  people  of  St.  Louis  in  repairing  the 
losses  and  obliterating  the  evidences  of  these  visita- 
tions. Before  the  expiration  of  six  months  com- 
merce, if  not  fully  recovered,  at  least  exhibited  no 
signs  of  impairment,  but  was  in  full  motion,  and  all  the 
routine  of  mercantile  affairs  was  in  active  operation. 

The  estimated  value  of  thirty-one  of  the  leading 
articles  of  produce  received  at  the  port  of  St.  Louis 
during  the  year  1849,  with  total  valuation,  is  as 
follows : 


AllTICLKS. 

Aggregate  Amount. 

Average  Rate. 

Estimated  Value. 

Tobacco,  leaf  

9,879  hhds  

$50.00    per  hhd  .    .. 

$493  950  00 

"         manufactured  

5,904  boxes  

15.00      "     box  

88  560  00 

9,258  tons  

110  00      "     ton 

1  018  380  00 

Lead  T  

16,428  tons  

85.40      "    ton 

1  402  951  20 

Flour  

306,412  bbls  

4.20      "     bbl 

1  286  930  40 

Wheat  

1,792,535  bush  

.80       '     bush 

1  434  028  00 

Corn  

305  333  bush  

31       '     bush 

94  653  23 

Otits 

252  291  bush  . 

28       '     bu«b 

70  641  58 

J&rley  

92,463  bush  

.70       '     bush 

64  724  10 

Ifove  

5,844  bush  

.40       '     bush 

2  337  60 

Behns  

9,078  bush  

.40       '     bush  

2,731  20 

Beef  

10,687  tierce."  

9.00       '     tierce  

96  183  00 

>< 

12  336  Ibis    . 

8  00     "     bbl 

98  688  00 

Pork  

113,862  bbls  

8.00     "     bbl  

920  896  00 

"  bulk  

9  651,656  Ibs  

.02i   "     lb  

241  291  40 

Lard  

15,801  tierces  

17.50      "     tierce 

276  517  50 

f"             

58,270  bbls  

1300     "     bbl 

757  510  00 

M 

18,845  kegs  

3  50            keg 

64  957  50 

Bacon  

16,880  casks  

30.00            cask 

580  400  00 

3,245  bbls.  and  boxes... 

12.50           box  and  bbl 

40  562  50 

Pickled  hams  and  shoulders  

10,564  casks  

14  56           cask 

153  178  00 

Whiskey    

29,085  bbls  

7.50           bbl 

217  997  50 

Tallow  

721,460  Ibs  

.06J          lb  

48  698  55 

Butter  

1,255,280  Ibs  

.OS£          lb 

106  698  80 

19,065  coils  

7.25           coil 

142  21  1  25 

1,079  pieces  

15  106  00 

103  500  bush.  . 

.30           bush 

31  050  00 

Onions  

21,350  bush  

.50            bush 

10  675  00 

Grease  

351,851  Ibs  

.03J          lb  

12  314  78 

Hide?,  dry  and  green  
Hay       

68,902  
920  tons  

1.80  oa  h  
16.00    p  r  ton 

124,033.60 
14  720  00 

Flaxseed  

26,500  bush  

.85            bush  

22,525  00 

Feather?  

62,340  Ibs  

.28           lb  

17  455  20 

Brooms  

1  1,023  dozens  '.  

1.60           doz.... 

17  636  SO 

Dried  fruit  

63,102  bush  

.90            bush.  . 

56  791  80 

Green  apples  
Wool  

20,583  bbls  
1,274  bales  

1.50           bbl  
22.50            bale  .. 

30,874.50 
28  665  90 

$10  087  327  99 

During  1849  the  arrivals  of  steamboats  at  St. 
Louis  were:  From  New  Orleans,  313;  Ohio  River, 
401;  Illinois  River,  686;  upper  Mississippi,  806; 


Missouri  River,  355  ;  Cairo,  122  ;  other  points,  217. 
The  total  number  of  arrivals  of  steamboats  and 
barges  in  1848  was  3468 ;  in  1849,  2975 ;  of  keel- 


1128 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


and  flat-boats  in  1848,  332,  and  in  1849,  166.  The 
total  tonnage  of  steamboats  and  barges  in  1848  was 
688,213,  and  in  1849,  633,892. 

The  prevalence  of  yellow  fever  at  New  Orleans  in 
1853  proved  a  serious  check  to  the  river  trade  of  St. 
Louis,  and  the  difficulty  of  shipping  crews,  except  at 
enhanced  wages,  threw  a  large  amount  of  tonnage  out 
of  the  trade  and  advanced  freights  to  a  high  figure. 
All  descriptions  of  agricultural  products  ruled  un- 
usually high  in  prices,  and  the  farmers  reaped  a  rich 
reward  for  their  enterprise  and  industry,  the  profits 
realized  enabling  them  to  enlarge  the  area  of  cultiva- 
tion, to  improve  their  residences,  and  to  invest  to  a 
large  extent  in  the  railroad  enterprises  that  were  then 
being  projected  in  every  direction  through  the  West. 
In  this  year  (1853)  the  statistics  and  transactions  of 
a  railroad  were  reported  for  the  first  time  in  connec- 
tion with  the  river  trade.  The  Missouri  Pacific 
Railroad  was  that  year  completed  a  distance  of  forty 
miles,  through  a  section  of  country  which,  though 
contiguous  to  St.  Louis,  had  not  been  brought  under 
cultivation.  Without  a  farm  along  its  line,  and  with 
its  western  terminus  in  a  dense  forest,  this  great 
railroad  began  to  connect  the  Mississippi  with  the 
"back  country,"  and  overpaid  the  expenses  of 
transportation  more  than  ten  thousand  dollars,  fore- 
shadowing the  immense  profits  from  the  investment. 
The  "  receipts  per  Pacific  Railroad"  were :  Tobacco, 
48  hogsheads  and  3  boxes ;  lead,  1556  pigs;  iron, 
88,350  pounds  pig,  530  blooms;  wheat,  3418 
bushels;  hides,  5200  pounds;  whiskey,  214  barrels; 
wood,  370  cords;  wine,  9  casks,  7  barrels,  and  8 
boxes,  native;  hubstuff,  25  cords;  and  hoop-poles, 
570,000. 

A  comparison  of  the  tonnage  of  Western  cities  at 
the  end  of  the  year  1853  will  show  the  rapid  strides 
that  St.  Louis  had  made  in  the  river  trade. 

The  official  returns  of  tonnage,  June  30,  1853, 
were: 


Cincinnati... 
Louisville — 
Nashville.... 
St.  Louis  .... 


Tons. 

10,191 

14,166 

3,414 

45,441 


Decrease  from  1851 
Increase      "       " 
Decrease      "       " 
Increase      "       " 


Tons. 

3,996 

1,229 

163 

11,136 


These  returns  also  show  that  St.  Louis  had  then 
more  steam  tonnage  than  Wheeling,  Cincinnati,  Louis- 
ville, New  Albany,  Nashville,  and  Memphis  combined. 
The  arrivals  of  vessels  at  St.  Louis  for  1853  num- 
bered 3307,  or  529  more  than  at  New  Orleans.1 

The  official  returns  of  tonnage  for  the  year  ending 
June  30,  1854,  give  the  following  table  of  steam  ton- 
nage, showing  the  amount  enrolled  at  several  ports, 
viz. : 

1  "Thoughts  about  St.  Louis,"  by  John  Hogan,  pp.  6  and  7. 


Tons. 

New  York 101,487.41 

New  Orleans 57,174.54 

St.  Louis 48,557.51 

Philadelphia 24,523.93 

Cincinnati 23,842.73 

Louisville 20,122.89 

Mobile 18,110.40 

Baltimore 14,451.14 

Nashville 5,726.73 

Wheeling 4,127.89 

New  Albany 2,952.31 

Memphis 1,894.80 

St.  Louis  was  then  the  third  city  in  the  Union  in 
the  amount  of  enrolled  steam  tonnage,  nearly  doub- 
ling Philadelphia,  with  more  than  Philadelphia  and 
Baltimore  combined,  with  more  than  Cincinnati,  Louis- 
ville, and  Wheeling  together,  and  paying  duties  on 
foreign  imports  amounting  to  more  than  seven  hundred 
thousand  dollars.2 

The  navigation  of  the  rivers  in  the  West  was  im- 
peded to  a  greater  extent  and  for  a  longer  period  in 
1860  that  ever  before  within  the  recollection  of  the 
oldest  boatmen.  This  condition  of  the  rivers  led  to 
action  on  the  part  of  St.  Louis  merchants,  which  for 
a  while  induced  the  hope  that  new  and  entirely  differ- 
ent methods  were  about  to  be  adopted.  The  necessity 
of  changing  the  mode  of  handling  grain  consigned  to 
the  merchants  of  St.  Louis  had  long  been  felt,  and 
the  commission  houses  and  millers  of  the  city  had  be- 
come convinced  that  sacks  should  be  dispensed  with, 
and  that  grain  should  be  transported  in  bulk.  The 
Chamber  of  Commerce  aided  in  the  movement  by  pre- 
senting a  memorial  to  the  City  Council  requesting  it 
to  grant  an  elevator  privilege  to  Messrs.  Henry  and 
Edgar  Ames  and  Albert  Pearce,  who  had  offered  to 
construct  upon  their  own  responsibility  two  elevators 
upon  the  Levee, — one  near  the  foot  of  Carr  Street, 
in  the  northern  part  of  the  city,  and  the  other  near 
the  foot  of  Myrtle  Street,  in  the  southern  part.  The 
elevators  were  to  have  been  of  the  most  approved  con- 
struction and  material,  with  a  capacity  of  half  a  million 
bushels  each,  and  to  have  been  exclusively  used  for 
the  storage  of  grain  in  bulk.  The  City  Council,  after 
an  able  report  from  a  special  committee  of  that  body 
had  been  submitted,  promptly  passed  the  ordinance, 
but  it  was  vetoed  by  the  mayor,  and  the  inauguration 
of  the  elevator  system  of  handling  grain  in  St.  Louis 
was  postponed  until  1863. 

The  subject  of  bridging  the  Mississippi  at  Rock 
Island,  which  had  been  under  discussion  for  several 
years,  was  brought  before  the  Hon.  I.  M.  Love, 
judge  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States, 
who  decided  at  the  April  term  of  the  court  in  1860 
"  that  that  portion  of  the  railroad  bridge  across  the 
Mississippi  River  at  or  near  Davenport,  within  the 

2  Ibid. 


RIVER  COMMERCE   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


1129 


State  of  Iowa,  being  part  of  the  bridge  commonly  called 
the  Rock  Island  bridge,  and  which  is  part  of  the  Missis- 
sippi and  Missouri  Railroad,  is  a  common  and  public 
nuisance,  and  a  material  impediment  and  obstruction 
to  the  navigation  of  said  river  by  steamboats  and  other 
craft,"  and  ordered  it  to  be  removed.  This  action  of 
the  court  was  approved  by  the  St.  Louis  Chamber  of 
Commerce,  and  the  connecting  of  the  railroad  systems 
east  with  those  west  of  the  Mississippi  was  postponed  , 
until  a  period  of  more  enlightened  ideas  with  regard 
to  transportation  had  arrived. 

In  consequence  of  low  water  during  I860,  freights 
on  the  upper  Mississippi,  Missouri,  and  Illinois  ruled 
very  high,  and  there  was  an  increase  in  marine  dis- 
asters, reaching  as  high  as  two  hundred  and  ninety- 
nine  boats,  with  a  loss  of  life  amounting  to  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty-four. 

The  arrivals  and  departures  of  vessels  at  St.  Louis 
during  1859  and  1860  were: 


1859. 

1860. 

Upper  Mississippi  

....   1,501 

1,524 

Lower  Mississippi  

....      616 

767 

Missouri  

...      396 

269 

Illinois  

...       679 

544 

Ohio  

....      367 

277 

Tennessee  

58 

3t 

Cumberland  

31 

35 

Arkansas  

7 

Barges,  canal-  and  flat-boats.. 

....  1,397 

1,724 

Total  

...  5,045 

5,178 

Departures  

5,104 

5,218 

Tonnage  

768,905 

844,039 

During  the  period  of  the  civil  war  (1861-65)  there 
was  almcst  complete  stagnation  in  the  river  trade  and 
a  general  paralysis  of  the  industries  and  commerce  of 
St.  Louis.  The  condition  of  affairs,  industrial  as  well 
as  political,  during  the  great  crisis  of  the  nation's  his- 
tory, is  fully  set  forth  in  the  chapter  on  the  civil  war. 
The  following,  however,  is  a  copy  of  circular  instruc- 
tions issued  by  C.  G.  Memminger,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  of  the  Southern  Confederacy,  in  March, 
1861,  relating  to  the  commerce  of  the  Mississippi. 
These  instructions  related  to  importations  from  places 
north  of  the  then  so-called  Confederate  States.  Vessels 
descending  the  river  were  required  to  come  to  at  Nor- 
folk, or  Nelson's  Landing,  on  the  Mississippi,  and  the 
master  was  to  report  the  arrival  to  the  collector,  exhibit- 
ing duplicate  manifests  of  the  whole  cargo  and  declaring 
the  name  of  the  vessel,  name  of  master,  where  from, 
the  port  of  destination,  and  a  full  and  particular  de- 
scription of  the  cargo.  A  custom-house  officer  was 
required  to  board  vessels  and  demand  the  manifests 
mentioned.  These  manifests  were  to  be  certified  by 
the  collector  or  boarding- officer,  and  one  of  them  re- 
turned to  the  master.  The  manifest  returned  by  the 
custom-house  officer  was  to  be  sent  to  the  collector  of 


the  port  of  final  destination.  If  there  were  on  board 
and  intended  for  delivery  at  points  other  than  ports 
of  entry  or  delivery  goods  not  subject  to  duty  they 
could  be  landed,  provided  the  master  gave  to  the  first 
revenue  officer  a  schedule  in  duplicate  of  the  articles, 
describing  them,  quantity  and  value,  name  of  con- 
signee, and  place  where  to  be  landed.  On  one  of 
these  schedules,  directed  to  be  returned  to  the  master, 
the  officer  was  to  indorse  a  landing  permit.  The  in- 
structions were  in  part  as  follows: 

"  Masters  of  flat-boats,  with  coal  bulk  intended  for  points  as 
above,  must  give  under  oath  to  the  collector  at  Norfolk  a 
schedule  in  duplicate,  setting  forth  name  of  boat,  owner,  master, 
where  from,  quality,  quantity,  and  value,  and  the  fact  of  its 
being  intended  to  be  landed  at  places  other  than  ports  of  entry 
or  delivery.  On  these  schedules  the  collector  will  estimate  the 
duties  payable ;  and  on  payment  of  the  duties  at  Norfolk,  will 
indorse  on  the  original  schedule  (to  be  returned  to  the  master) 
a  certificate  of  pnymcnt  and  permit  to  land  the  goods. 

"Should  any  portion  of  the  cargo  of  vessels  arriving  as  afore- 
said, composed  of  dutiable  or  free  articles,  be  destined  to  ports 
of  entry  or  delivery  other  than  the  port  of  final  destination,  per- 
mission may  be  obtained  to  land  the  same  under  the  following 
regulations  : 

"The  master  shall  present  to  the  revenue  officer  at  Norfolk 
a  schedule  in  tr  plicate  of  the  goods,  describing  them  by  marks 
and  numbers,  numbers  of  packages  and  contents,  correspond- 
ing with  the  description  in  the  general  manifest  of  the  vessel, 
also  stating  the  consignee  and  name  of  the  port  of  destination 
of  the  merchandise. 

"Should  the  merchandise  be  intended  to  be  landed  at  more 
than  one  intermediate  port,  then  separate  schedules  of  the 
goods  destined  for  each  port  to  be  made  out  in  triplicate,  with 
all  the  particulars  before  required,  shall  be  presented  j  and  the 
revenue  officers  to  certify  on  each  of  the  schedules  the  fact  of 
presentation,  and  also  on  the  original  to  indorse  his  permission 
for  the  vessel  to  land  at  the  port  or  ports  designated  the  goods 
described  in  said  schedule.  The  original  shall  be  then  returned 
to  the  master  or  commander. 

"  On  the  arrival  of  the  vessel  at  an  intermediate  port,  the 
master  or  commander  is  to  present  to  revenue  officer  the  origi- 
nal schedule,  and  will  receive  a  general  permit  to  land  tho 
goods  upon  their  being  duly  entered  and  special  landing  per- 
mits issued,  as  now  provided  by  law  for  the  landing  of  imported 
merchandise.  Should  the  vessel  arrive  out  of  business  hours, 
or  should  circumstances  compel  it,  the  master  is  permitted  to 
deposit  the  goods  either  in  a  bonded  warehouse  or  the  custody 
of  a  revenue  officer,  and  shall  receive  a  receipt  containing  all 
the  particulars  of  the  schedule,  and  the  original  schedule  shall 
be  delivered  to  the  person  with  whom  tho  merchandise  is  de- 
posited, and  by  him  delivered  over  to  the  collector  or  chief 
revenue  officer  as  soon  as  tho  opening  of  the  custom-house  will 
admit. 

"  On  the  arrival  of  the  vessel  at  the  port  of  final  destination,  tho 
master  or  commander  shall  make  due  entry  at  the  custom-house 
by  delivering  his  original  manifest,  together  with  all  schedules 
indorsed  with  the  permits  to  land  at  intermediate  ports,  and 
the  receipts  of  officers  to  whom  any  goods  may  have  been  de- 
livered, or  any  other  documents  showing  the  disposition  of  any 
portion  of  the  cargo ;  and  the  residue  of  the  cargo  shall  be 
landed  on  permits  similar  to  those  provided  by  law  for  the  land- 
ing of  imported  merchandise;  and  the  total  cargo,  as  shown 
by  the  original  manifest,  shall  be  delivered  at  this  port,  with  the 


1130 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


exception  of  such  as  is  shown  by  the  documents  presented  at 
the  tiino  of  entry  to  have  been  landed  elsewhere,  under  the 
penalties  now  provided  by  law  for  discrepancies  existing  in  the 
cargoes  of  vessels  arriving  from  foreign  ports. 

"  In  order  to  relieve  vessels  in  this  branch  of  importing  trade 
from  embarrassments,  all  goods  imported  therein  remaining  un- 
claimed, or  for  which  no  entry  shall  be  made  or  permit  granted 
within  twenty-four  hours  after  arrival,  may  be  taken  possession 
of  by  the  collector  and  deposited  in  a  bonded  warehouse,  on  a 
general  permit  to  be  issued  by  him  for  that  purpose. 

"  To  afford  further  facilities  in  the  event  of  vessels  in  this 
trade  arriving  nt  the  port  of  final  destination  before  the  open- 
ing or  after  the  closing  of  the  custom-house  for  the  day,  and 
a  necessity  exists  for  discharging  the  cargo,  it  shall  be  law- 
ful to  deposit  the  same  or  any  part  thereof,  at  the  risk  and  ex- 
pense of  said  vessel,  on  the  levee,  in  the  charge  of  the  inspec- 
tion service  of  the  customs,  or  in  any  bonded  warehouse  at  the 
port,  such  portion  of  said  cargo  as  may  be  practicable,  the 
master  or  commander  of  the  vessel  obtaining  for  the  goods  so 
deposited  a  receipt  from  the  inspection  officer  on  the  Levee,  or 
the  custom  officer  in  charge  of  the  warehouse,  which  receipt 
shall  be  delivered  to  the  collector  of  customs  as  soon  thereafter 
as  the  business  hours  of  the  custom-house  at  said  port  will 
permit. 

"  Any  goods,  wares,  or  merchandise  imported  as  aforesaid  may 
be  entered  at  the  port  of  destination  on  the  presentation  to  the 
collector  of  the  bill  or  bills  of  lading,  together  with  the  other 
documents  now  required  by  law  on  the  entry  of  imported  mer- 
chandise, before  and  in  anticipation  of  the  arrival  of  the  im- 
porting vessel,  and  the  necessary  permits  for  the  landing  shall 
issue  on  the  completion  of  these  entries. 

"  And  on  the  presentation  of  these  permits  to  the  surveyor,  it 
shall  be  his  duty,  and  is  hereby  required  of  him  (if  the  vessel  by 
which  the  goods  are  imported  shall  have  arrived  at  the  port),  to 
detail  an  inspector  of  the  customs  to  superintend  the  landing  of 
the  merchandise  described  therein,  and  such  landing  is  author- 
ized before  entry  has  been  made  by  the  importing  vessel  at  the 
custom-house  when  the  interest  of  commerce  or  circumstances 
attending  such  arrival  shall  render  it  necessary.  It  must,  how- 
ever, be  distinctly  understood  that  it  is  unlawful  to  discharge 
any  portion  of  the  cargoes  of  these  vessels  except  under  the 
supervision  and  inspection  of  the  customs  officer. 

•'  Clearances. — Before  the  departure  of  any  vessel  navigating 
the  Mississippi  or  other  rivers,  destined  to  a  foreign  port  or 
place  beyond  the  northern  limits  of  the  Confederate  States  of 
America,  the  master  or  person  having  charge  thereof  shall  de- 
liver to  the  collector  or  chief  officer  of  the  customs  at  the  port 
from  which  such  vessel  is  about  to  depart  a  manifest  of  the 
cargo  on  board  the  same,  in  the  form  and  verified  in  the  man- 
ner now  provided  by  law  for  vessels  to  a  foreign  port,  and  obtain 
from  said  collector  a  clearance  as  follows  : 

Confederate  States  of  America. 
District  of 

Port  of  IS 

These  are  to  certify  to  all  whom  it  doth  concern,  that 

master  or  commander  of  the 
of  bound  for 

hath  entered  and  cleared  his  said  vessel  according  to  law. 

Given  under  my  hand  and  seal  nt 

the  custom-house  of  this         day  of  18 

Collector. 

"  It  shall  be  permitted  to  vessels  engaged  in  the  navigation 
and  commerce  provided  for  by  these  regulations,  after  clearance, 
to  take  on  board  at  the  port  of  original  departure,  or  any  other 
place  within  the  limits  of  the  Confederacy,  any  goods,  wares,  or 
merchandise,  and  to  proceed  therewith  to  a  destination  beyond 


the  Confederate  limits,  on  delivering  to  the  collector  or  chief 
revenue  officer  at  the  port  of  Norfolk,  on  the  Mississippi,  or 
at  the  port  nearest  the  frontier  of  the  Confederacy  on  any  other 
river,  a  schedule  describing  all  the  goods  on  board,  the  quantity, 
value,  and  destination,  not  declared  in  the  manifest  delivered 
at  the  time  of  clearance  at  the  custom-house  of  the  original 
port  of  departure.  The  schedule  thus  received  is  to  be  for- 
warded to  the  port  from  which  the  vessel  may  have  originally 
cleared. 

"  Lastly,  it  is  made  the  duty  of  the  collector  at  the  port  of 
Norfolk,  or  at  the  other  frontier  ports  at  which  masters  of  out- 
ward-bound vessels  are  required  to  deliver  schedules,  to  board 
all  vessels  bound  for  places  beyond  the  Confederate  limits  in  the 
same  manner  and  at  the  hours  as  hereinbefore  provided  for  in- 
ward-bound vessels." 

As  long  as  there  were  no  railroads  to  compete  with 
the  trade  and  commerce  of  the  river,  the  subject  of 
improving  the  navigation  of  Western  waters  was  dis- 
cussed. Commercial  opinion  seemed  to  have  settled 
down  to  the  conviction  that  impediments  to  naviga- 
tion, such  as  snags,  sand-bars,  sunken  boats,  and  the 
rapids  of  the  upper  river,  were  inevitable  and  had  to 
be  submitted  to.  But  when  railroads  began  to  divert 
the  trade,  and  threatened  loss  and  injury  to  the  vast 
amount  of  capital  already  invested  in  steamboats  and 
barges,  as  well  as  to  the  multitude  of  laborers  who 
found  employment  in  river  navigation,  the  political 
power  of  the  Mississippi  valley  was  invoked  to  protect 
the  great  river  from  the  loss  that  was  threatened,  as 
well  as  to  employ  its  natural  advantages  to  better  effect 
in  aid  of  the  consumer  and  producer.  The  initiatory 
steps  looking  to  the  improvement  of  the  navigation 
of  Western  rivers  by  the  general  government  were 
taken  at  a  convention  held  in  St.  Louis  in  February, 
1867,  which  resulted  in  annual  appropriations  for  the 
removal  of  snags,  sand-bars,  and  the  improvements  at 
the  rapids  at  Rock  Island. 

The  practical  operation  of  the  St.  Louis  grain 
elevator,  the  charter  for  which  was  granted  in  1863, 
demonstrated  the  fact  that  grain  could  be  handled  in 
bulk  advantageously,  and  that  with  proper  facilities 
for  shipping  to  New  Orleans  and  transferring  at  that 
point  in  bulk,  grain  could  be  delivered  at  the  Eastern 
cities  and  foreign  ports  cheaper  via  the  Mississippi 
River  than  by  any  other  route.  The  cost  of  trans- 
porting a  bushel  of  wheat  from  St.  Paul  to  New  York 
via  St.  Louis  and  New  Orleans,  with  the  proper  facil- 
ities for  transferring  at  those  cities,  was  ascertained  to 
be  at  least  twenty  cents  per  bushel  less  than  by  any 
northern  route,  and  it  was  also  discovered  that  the 
cost  of  transportation  could  be  further  reduced  ten 
cents  with  a  proper  canal  around  the  rapids  at  Rock 
Island.  The  Mississippi  Valley  Transportation  Com- 
pany was  this  year  (1863)  handling  grain  in  bulk, 
and  a  transfer  elevator  was  built  by  St.  Louis  parties 


RIVER   COMMERCE   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


1131 


for  use  in  New  Orleans  at  the  opening  of  navigation. 
Further  elevator  facilities,  chiefly  at  East  St.  Louis, 
were  undertaken  in  1866,  and  the  energy  and  enter- 
prise of  St.  Louis  were  fully  awakened  to  the  prac- 
ticability of  making  the  Mississippi  the  great  high- 
way for  the  products  of  the  Northwest  to  foreign 
markets.  At  the  same  time  the  trade  with  Montana 
and  the  gold  regions  of  the  upper  Missouri  was  in- 
creasing, and  had  extended  beyond  the  most  sanguine 
estimates.  Fifty-one  boats  left  St.  Louis  during  the 
year  for  the  upper  Missouri,  carrying  twenty-two 
million  seven  hundred  and  seventy  thousand  pounds 
of  freight  and  many  passengers. 

The  opening  of  the  year  1866  found  the  Missis- 
sippi at  St.  Louis  firmly  closed  by  ice,  which  broke 
up  on  the  night  of  January  12th,  destroying  an  im- 
mense quantity  of  shipping. 

The  following  statement  shows  the  quantity  of 
grain  received  and  disbursed  by  the  St.  Louis  Ele- 
vator Company  from  Oct.  24,  1865,  to  Jan.  1, 
1867  i1 

Eeceipts  from  Oc-  Disbursed  from  Oc-  Balance  in 
tober,  1865,  to  tober,  1865,  to  Elevator  Jan- 
January,  1867.  January,  1807.  unry,  18C7. 
Bushels.  Bushels.  Bushels. 

Wheat 1,342,750.43  1,148,344.22  194,406.21 

Corn 228,495.05  221,105.22  7,389.39 

Oats 127,944.07  126,306.02  1,638.05 

Barley 252,901.40  243,199.43  9,701.45 

Rye 19,152.46  19,152.46               

Malt 1,364.04  1,364.04 

Total 1,972,609  1,758,109  214,500 

Receipts  for  1866. 

Bushels. 

Wheat 1,087,090.50 

Corn 210,230.55 

Oats 54,867.12 

Barley 11,072.42 

Rye 12,079.14 

Malt 1,364.04 

Total 1,376,705 

The  tonnage  of  St.  Louis,  comprising  steamers 
plying  between  that  and  other  ports,  July  1,  1866, 
was  as  follows : 

Rivers.  1"tee"gm"  Barges.  Total.  Tonnage.       Value. 

Lower  Mississippi 55  30  85  74,800  $3,970,000 

Arkansas 16  ...  16  5,925  378,000 

Cumberland    and    Ten- 
nessee   18  ...  18  5,925  282,000 

Upper  Mississippi 44  67  111  30,685  1,625.000 

Illinois 16  25  41  10,355  488,000 

Ohio 45  ...  45  19,800  1,088,000 

Missouri 71  ...  71  38,525  2,545,000 

Total 265     122     387    186,015     $10,376,000 

The  effect  of  railroads  upon  the  trade  of  the 
Mississippi  and  other  rivers  becomes  very  apparent 

1  "  Up  to  187 1  the  elevator  had  no  source  of  supply  save  the 
river,  connections  with  the  various  railroads  not  having  been 
made  in  1866." — St.  Louis,  the  Commercial  Metropolis  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi Valley,  by  L.  U.  lieavis,  p.  189. 


by  an  examination  of  the  commercial  statistics 
for  1866.  For  example,  of  the  total  receipts  of 
flour,  amounting  to  2,107,026  barrels,  only  424,627 
were  received  by  river;  of  4,550,305  bushels  of 
wheat,  3,245,995  bushels;  of  7,233,671  bushels  of 
corn,  4,815,860  bushels;  of  3,667,253  bushels  of 
oats,  2,648,612  bushels;  of  375,417  bushels  of  rye, 
356,078  bushels ;  and  of  548,796  bushels  of  barley, 
425,969  bushels.  In  the  export  of  grain  the  same 
influence  is  visible.  Of  2,107,026  barrels  of  flour, 
the  rivers  carried  1,149,868  bushels;  of  4,550,304 
bushels  of  wheat,  408,742  bushels;  of  7,233,671 
bushels  of  corn,  6,713,027  bushels;  of  3,667,253 
bushels  of  oats,  2,581,492  bushels;  of  375,417 
bushels  of  rye,  184,963  bushels;  of  548,796 
bushels  of  barley,  53,655  bushels.  The  total  re- 
ceipts of  grain  amounted  to  22,079,072  bushels,  and 
the  total  exports  to  18,835,969  bushels. 

The  year  1866  was  an  unprofitable  one  in  many 
respects.  The  cost  of  the  necessities  of  life  was 
greatly  increased,  political  dissensions  were  bitter  and 
•  violent,  and  the  financial  policy  of  Congress  and  in- 
different crops  produced  doubt  and  uncertainty  as  to 
the  future,  and  greatly  depressed  trade  and  business. 
The  receipts  of  flour  and  grain  at  St.  Louis  fell  off 
in  1867  4,210,317  bushels  from  1866,  and  the  ex- 
ports diminished  proportionately.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  the  hog  product,  there  was  a  corresponding 
decrease  in  every  article  of  commerce.  Previous  to 
the  civil  war  the  great  market  of  St.  Louis  had  been 
in  the  Southern  States,  where  the  energies  of  the 
planting  interest  were  wholly  devoted  to  the  growing 
of  cotton  and  sugar,  necessitating  the  importation  of 
breadstuffs.  The  abolition  of  slavery  produced  an 
entire  change  in  the  labor  system,  and  the  destitution 
that  followed  the  war  interfered  even  as  late  as  1867 
with  the  production  of  the  great  staples  of  the 
South,  and  for  this  reason,  and  because  it  compelled 
the  raising  of  food-supplies  at  home,  made  the 
Southern  people  small  buyers  in  the  market  of  St. 
Louis.  The  prospect  of  so  great  a  change  in  the 
agricultural  productions  of  the  Southern  States 
obliged  St.  Louis  to  seek  other  markets  for  the 
produce  which  came  to  her  from  the  North  and 
West,  and  to  open  up  other  avenues  of  trade.  AVith 
this  in  view  the  attention  of  her  merchants  were 
directed  to  South  America  and  Europe.  The  city 
of  New  Orleans,  with  interests  identical  with  those 
of  St.  Louis,  set  on  foot  a  movement  to  establish  a 
regular  line  of  steamers  with  Liverpool,  and  to 
construct  a  large  elevator  to  receive  and  disburse 
grain  in  the  most  economical  manner.  The  contest 
between  the  river  and  the  railroad  for  the  great  prize 


1132 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


of  transporting  the  produce  of  the  "West  was  fairly 
under  way  at  this  time.  The  cheapness  of  transpor- 
tation was  to  determine  the  supremacy,  and  in  order 
that  the  grain  of  the  West  might  reach  an  exporting 
point  at  less  cost  via  the  Mississippi  River  than  via 
the  lakes  required  improved  and  increased  facilities. 
The  Des  Moines  and  Rock  Island  rapids  were  in  a 
fair  way  of  removal,  the  work  having  been  under- 
taken and  regularly  appropriated  for  by  the  general 
government.  That  obstruction  removed,  the  elevators 
of  St.  Louis  were  ready  to  receive  or  transfer  the 


grain,  and  the  barge  company  provided  barges  for 
transportation  to  New  Orleans,  where  the  Higby 
elevator  transferred  the  grain  to  ocean  vessels. 
Under  the  impetus  thus  given  several  cargoes  of 
grain  were  shipped  to  New  York  and  Europe,  estab- 
lishing fully  the  practicability  of  the  route.  St.  Louis 
added  other  facilities  for  handling  grain  by  extending 
the  North  Missouri  and  Iron  Mountain  Railroads  to 
the  elevators. 

The  arrivals  and  departures  of  vessels  at  St.  Louis 
during  1867  and  1868  were: 


'a. 

~ 

£  » 

•-  £. 

._; 

S3 

• 

6  id 

Kivers. 

*i 
si 

i 

£-  % 

st 

i 

1 
i 

°S 
i 

5 

2 

i 

_  "3 

s  i 
c] 

• 

1 

< 

B 

a 

H 

_o 

O 

§> 
J 

§ 
1 

11 
f>  3 
tn 

5Jj 

«  "~ 

11 

H 

• 
e 

H 

Arrival,  1867... 

691 

886 

311 

350 

17 

5 

38 

45 

130 

5 

2478 

047 

3425 

1,080,320 

1868... 

596 

969 

356 

291 

1 

1 

12 

46 

154 

2 

2 

338 

1133 

3471 

1,655,795 

Departure,  1867 

741 

915 

318 

396 

11 

5 

49 

41 

105 

4 

2-r>X5 

"           1868 

579 

1013 

361 

332 

3 

15 

44 

228 

2 

2577 

ARRIVALS   AND   DEPARTURES  FOR  FOUR   YEARS. 


ARRIVAU 

. 

DKPARTCBES. 

YEAR. 

Boats. 

Barges. 

Tonnage. 

No.  of  boats. 

1868  

2338 

1133 

1  055  795 

2579 

1867  

2478 

947 

1  086  390 

2585 

1866  

2972 

1124 

1  ''27  078 

3(166 

1865  

2768 

1114 

1£'?9  8'6 

2953 

During  the  year  1870  the  general  government 
established  gauges  at  different  points  on  the  Western 
rivers,  where  the  daily  rise  and  fall  of  the  water  are 
taken  and  furnished  by  telegraph  each  day  to  the 
different  cities,  also  the  height  of  water  as  compared 
with  a  well-known  high-  or  low-water  mark,  which 
gives  a  more  perfect  indication  of  the  depth  of  the 
channel. 

The  system  of  railroads  which  in  1870  had  spread 
out  from  St.  Louis  in  every  direction  had  the  effect 
of  contracting  the  limits  of  freightage  by  water. 
When  not  only  freight  but  passengers  were  carried 
by  water,  the  steamboats  of  the  Mississippi  found 
a  remunerative  trade.  But  the  time  had  arrived 
when  the  steamboat  had  become  too  slow  a  means  of 
transportation  for  an  enterprising  and  progressive 
people.  The  passenger  travel  having  deserted  the 
steamboats,  they  were  compelled  to  look  to  their 
freight-list  almost  entirely  for  their  profits.  The 
question  of  how  to  preserve  to  the  river  marine  the 
traffic  with  the  South  that  was,  and  would  be  for 
several  years,  dependent  upon  the  river  was  discussed 


with  a  view  to  the  use  of  iron  in  the  construction  of 
hulls  both  for  steamers  and  barges. 

During  the  year  1870  the  agitation  of  the  question 
of  materially  reducing  the  taxes  and  dues  paid  by  steam- 
boatmen  for  the  purpose  of  maintaining  wharves  and 
improving  the  levees  and  harbors  of  river  towns  and 
cities  was  kept  up  almost  uninterruptedly  through 
the  entire  season. 

The  following  is  a  condensed  statement  of  all  the 
wharfage  collected  at  St.  Louis  from  April,  1846,  to 
December,  1870,  a  period  of  twenty-four  years  : 


From  April,  1846,  to  April,  1847. 


1847, 

1848, 

JS49, 

1850, 

1851, 

1852, 

1853, 

1S54, 

1855, 

1856, 

1857, 

1858, 

1859, 

1860, 

1S61, 

1862, 

1863, 

1864, 

1865, 

1866, 

1867, to  January,  1868 

January,  1868,  to  April,  1869 

April,  1869,  to  April  12,  1870 

"  12,  1870,  to  December,  1870,  inclusive. 


1848. 

1849 

1850 

1851 

1852 

1853 

1854 

1855 

1856 

1857 

1858 

1859 

1860 

1861 

1862 

186;} 

1864 

1865 

1866 

1867.... 


$23,371.02 
31,231.05 
35,886.16 
33,701.72 
46,912.26 
47,064.35 
55,506.69 
58,402.37 
60,069.99 
62,613.46 
74,n>1.68 
72.3-15.72 
64,808.18 
69.615.72 
67,544. ilti 
28,635.85 
43,997.36 
54,152.90 
7-\290.97 
84,384.60 
77,135.20 
66,293.45 
95,584.48 
87,706.112 
66,626.60 


Total $1,480,043.36 

The  following  are  the  expenditures  from  April, 
1848,  to  December,  1870,  inclusive: 


RIVER  COMMERCE   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


1133 


From  A] 

u 
It 
I 

I 
t 
1 

U 
ft 

tt 
11 

t 
I 

t 

'     Oc 
i 

«    AJ 

T 

>ril,  1848,  to  A] 
1849, 
1850, 
1851, 
1852, 
1853, 
1854, 
1855, 
1856, 
1857, 
1858, 
1859, 
I860, 
1861, 
1862, 
1863, 
1864, 
1865, 
1866, 
1867,  to  Oc 
tober,  1  868,  to 
"         1869,  to 
>ril  12,  1870,  to 

>ril,  1849  $16,252.24 

ARRIVALS  AND  DEPARTURES  FOR  EIGHTEEN  YEARS. 

1851  68,967.38 
1852  31,959.08 

ARRIVALS. 

DEPARTURES. 

1853  64,160.74 

YEARS. 

I 

i 

U) 

1 

Tons  of 
Freight 
Received. 

Rogisterod 
Tonnage. 

YEARS. 

I 

)ii 

1854  102,559.25 

1855  92,965.51 

1856  74,0.38.69 

1857  56,107.61 

1858                                      63  ^66  98 

1859  88,662.63 

1889 

2537 
2420 
2871 
23GO 
2322 
2150 
2122 
2201 
2332 
2316 
2346 
2574 
2796 
2789 
2338 

1310 
1525 
1821 
1471 
1291 
660 
683 
743 
951 
1020 

1165 
1195 
1240 
1133 

802,080 
852,410 
893,860 
688,970 
714,700 
644,4  So 
688,755 
663,525 
732,765 
810,055 
863,919 
883,401 

1889 

2487 
2340 
2866 
2392 
2348 
2156 
2118 
2223 
2364 
2303 
2322 
2604 
2782 
2786 
2579 
2588 
3096 
2953 

769,905 
884,025 
1,038,350 
676,445 
614,675 
597,G76 
600,225 
6311,095 
707,3.'5 
783,256 
£05,282 
770,498 

I860  58,902.88 

1881 

1881  
1880  
1871)  

1861                                      44,202  93 

1880  

1862                                      12  835  37 

1879  

1  <JA3  1                                                 10  3J.7  0<3 

1878.. 
1877.. 
1876.. 
1875.. 
1874.. 

1878  

1864  7,498.28 

1877  
1876  
1875  
1874  

1865  25,421.23 

1866                                      59  904  06 

18671  183,232.60 

1873  . 
1872.. 
1871.. 
1870.. 
1869.. 
1868. 




1,166,889 
1,225,443 
1,055,795 
1,086,340 
1,227,078 
1,229,826 

1873  
1872  
1871  
1870... 
1869.. 
1868.. 
1867.. 
1866.. 
1865.. 

tober,  18681  193,205.82 

October,  1869'  123,974.02 

April  11,  1870  59,584.34 
December,  1870,  inclusive.       90,859.20 

1867.. 
18GG.. 
18G5.. 

2478 
2972 
2767 

947 
1142 
1141 

...fcl.fi29  40-0-91 

As  the  railroads  grew  in  importance  and  developed 
their  power  to  successfully  compete  with  the  steam- 
boats in  the  transportation  of  merchandise  and  heavy 
freights,  the  steamboat  interest,  finding  the  trade 
gradually  leaving  it,  began  the  employment  of 
barges.  In  1848  the  total  number  employed  at  St. 
Louis  was  sixty-eight,  with  a  tonnage  of  four  thou- 
sand six  hundred  and  forty-one  tons.  There  were 
also  in  that  year  engaged  in  the  trade  a  large  number 
of  keel-,  flat-,  and  canal-boats,  the  arrivals  of  which 
for  the  year  1848  aggregated  three  hundred  and 
forty-nine  in  number,  and  thirteen  thousand  nine 
hundred  and  sixty  in  tons.  In  1849  the  barges 
numbered  seventy,  with  a  combined  tonnage  of  four 
thousand  four  hundred  and  ninety-seven  tons.  This 
branch  of  transportation  continued  to  develop,  as  will 
appear  from  the  following  table  :2 


1  Paid  for  removing  wrecks,  included  in  the  above  amounts, 
viz. : 

In  1862-63 $300.00 

1866-67 64,952.77 

1867-68 50,575.00 

1868-69 30,775.00 


Total $146,602.77 

2  In  the  report  of  the  Union  Merchants'  Exchange  for  1866 
it  is  stated  that  "  the  barge  system  is  fast  finding  favor  with 
our  merchants,  and  will,  at  no  distant  day,  be  the  prevailing 
mode  of  transporting  heavy  freights,  while  the  fine  packets 
which  now  grace  our  western  waters  will  bo  run  on  time  for  pas- 
sengers and  light  freight.  The  Mississippi  Valley  Transporta- 
tion Company  has,  during  the  past  summer,  demonstrated  the 
fact  that  this  is  the  cheapest  mode  of  moving  produce  and  heavy 
freight?,  having  since  May  1st  carried  from  this  port  over  one 
hundred  and  ten  thousand  tons.  And  when  the  plan  of 
moving  grain  in  bulk  is  established  the  tow-boats  and  barges 
will  add  to  the  commerce  of  our  city  by  giving  cheap  freights 
and  saving  an  immense  amount  of  expense  in  the  shape  of  hand- 
ling, tarpaulins,  and  dunnage." 


The  value  of  barges  belonging;  to  St.  Louis  in  1872 


was : 

Northern  Line  Packet  Company...  31  barges.  $89,100 

St.  Louis  Land  Company 7  "  8,000 

Grafton  Stone  and  Tow  Company..  18  "  9,600 

Conrad  Line 6  "  9,000 

Bridge  Company 19  "  100,000 

Northwestern  Union  Packet  Com- 
pany   42  "  60,700 

Mississippi  Valley  Transportation 

Company 35  "  432,000 

Peoria  Packet  Company 6  "  9,000 

Miscellaneous 10,000 

Total  value $727,400 

Value  of  Barges  on  the  Ohio. 

Cincinnati $408,500 

Pomeroy 122,500 

Wheeling 27,000 

Louisville 200,000 

Evansville '. 162,000 

Gallipolis 74,000 

Kanawha 120,000 

Pittsburgh  (exclusive  of  coal-boats) 800,000 

I'aducah .' 12,000 

Miscellaneous 1,000,000 

$3,769,400 

"  Gray's  Iron  Line,"  organized  in  1863,  had,  in 
1872,  barges  aggregating  29,900  tonnage  plying  be- 
tween Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis. 

The  number  of  steamboats  and  barges  owned  by 
the  packet  companies  in  1870  was  117  steamers  and 
176  barges,  with  a  tonnage  capacity  of  176,615, 
and  valued  then  at  $5,219,700. 

The  year  1871  was  not  a  successful  year  in  river 
navigation,  business  showing  a  considerable  falling  off, 
both  in  the  number  of  trips  and  to  the  extent  of  ten 
thousand  tons  in  tonnage,  the  season  being  unusually 
short  and  the  stage  of  the  water  unsatisfactory. 
The  average  depth  of  water  in  the  Western  rivers  was 
less  "  in  1871  than  during  any  season  in  the  past 
twenty-five  years." 3  Notwithstanding  these  draw- 
backs, substantial  progress  was  made  towards  replacing 

8  Republican,  Jan.  1,  1872. 


1134 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


the  river  commerce  on  a  firmer  basis.  Gradually  but 
surely  the  methods  of  operating  on  the  Mississippi 
and  its  tributaries  were  changing.  The  demand  for 
cheap  freight  was  causing  shippers  to  turn  their  atten- 
tion to  water  routes,  and  to  meet  the  general  demand 
in  this  direction,  steamboatmen  were  making  every 
effort  to  discover  the  method  by  which  river  naviga- 
tion might  be  cheapened  and  improved.  A  spirit  of 
enterprise,  of  genuine  and  healthy  progress,  was  alive 
among  the  river  men.  The  steamers  of  the  Western 
rivers  up  to  1871  had  generally  been  built  to  accommo- 
date both  freight  and  passengers.  On  all  of  them  were 
erected  costly  and  weighty  cabins,  and  of  course  the 
carrying  capacity  of  the  boat  was  reduced  by  as  much 
as  the  weight  of  the  cabin.  In  addition  to  this  draw- 
back, the  owner  was  compelled  to  maintain  a  large  and 
expensive  cabin  crew,  and  when  passenger  travel  was 
dull  freights  had  to  be  taxed  to  make  up  the  deficit 
in  a  losing  passenger  trip.  Experiments  had  been 
made  with  boats  built  with  large  carrying  capacity, 
but  furnished  with  no  cabins  for  the  accommodation 
of  passengers.  This  class  of  boats  proved  successful. 
In  1871,  on  the  Ohio,  lower  Mississippi,  Illinois,  and 
upper  Mississippi  large  quantities  of  freight  were  trans- 
ported in  barges,  and  the  number  of  tow-boats  and 
barges  was  being  increased  every  year. 

During  the  same  year  a  successful  trip  was  made  from 
St.  Louis  to  Galveston,  Texas,  by  a  light  stern-wheel 
steamboat,  the  "  Beardstown,"  demonstrating  the 
practicability  of  establishing  direct  communication 
between  St.  Louis,  through  the  bayous  and  coast 
channel,  and  the  coast  cities  of  Texas.  The  enlarge- 
ment of  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal  opened  to  St. 
Louis,  through  the  Illinois  River  and  that  canal,  di- 
rect water  communication  with  Chicago,  Milwaukee, 
Duluth,  Detroit,  Toledo,  Cleveland,  and  Buffalo.  An 
iron  propeller  called  the  "  Two  Brothers,"  built  and 
equipped  at  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  completed  a  voyage  from 
that  port  via  the  Miami  Canal,  Muskingum,  Ohio, 
and  Mississippi  Rivers  to  the  mouth  of  the  Red  River, 
and  thence  through  that  stream  into  the  Atchafalaya, 
the  Sabine,  and  thence  to  Galveston.  The  Michigan 
and  Illinois  Canal  having  been  opened,  three  lake 
schooners  at  the  beginning  of  winter  sailed  from  Chi- 
cago, passed  through  the  canal,  and  entered  Peoria 
Lake.  It  was  the  intention  of  the  owners  of  these 
vessels  to  pass  down  the  Illinois  and  Mississippi 
Rivers  to  the  gulf,  where  they  could  operate  during  the 
winter.  Their  design  was  frustrated  by  the  closing 
of  the  river  and  lake  by  ice.  These  incidents  seemed 
to  promise  that  at  no  very  distant  period  loaded 
barges  would  be  towed  from  ports  on  the  lakes  to 
New  Orleans  direct. 


The  legislation  by  Congress  in  February,  1871,  re- 
pealed the  then  existing  steamboat  laws,  and  enacted 
a  law  of  more  stringent  and  restrictive  character. 
Under  its  provisions  a  board  of  officers  was  created 
with  almost  autocratic  control  over  the  whole  steam- 
boat interests.  No  sooner  did  the  obnoxious  pro- 
visions of  this  law  receive  the  attention  of  the 
steamboatmen  than  a  storm  of  opposition  to  its 
enforcement  swept  over  the  entire  country.  Associ- 
ations of  steamboatmen  and  vessel-owners'  associations 
were  formed  at  all  the  river-,  lake-,  and  sea-ports  in  the 
United  States.  For  the  first  time  in  the  history  of 
the  country  the  owners  of  steamboats  and  ships  were 
united.  A  call  for  a  convention  of  vessel-owners  to 
meet  in  Louisville,  Ky.,  on  the  15th  of  November, 
was  responded  to  from  about  twenty  States,  who  sent 
delegates.  The  convention,  composed  of  men  repre- 
senting about  one  billion  six  hundred  million  dollars 
invested  in  steam-vessels,  met  at  the  appointed  time, 
and  after  a  harmonious  but  earnest  discussion  of  the 
grievances  under  which  they  labored,  extending  through 
a  three  days'  session,  the  convention  adjourned  after  ap- 
pointing certain  general  committees.  The  executive 
committee  labored  earnestly  to  prepare  a  bill  to  be 
introduced  into  Congress  which  would  be  just  to  their 
interests  and  still  fair  toward  the  general  government. 
The  passage  of  the  law  in  question  awakened  an  in- 
terest in  the  subject  of  steam  navigation,  and  provoked 
a  unanimity  of  feeling  among  those  most  deeply  in- 
terested. A  national  convention  of  vessel-owners  was 
called  to  meet  in  Washington  City  on  the  22d  of  De- 
cember, 1872,  to  consider  what  further  could  be  done 
to  reawaken  an  interest  in  water  transportation  lines.1 

The  steamboat  tonnage  of  Western  rivers  in  1871 


was  : 


Pittsburgh 162.523.9t 

Brownsville 18,250.00 

Wheeling 6,254.00 

Parkersburg 4,180.00 

Kanawha  11  iver  trade 2,185.00 

Gallipolis 1,652.00 

Cincinnati 41,318.08 

Poraeroy 2,310.08 

Madison 1,740.26 

Zanesville 620.00 

Louisville 18,820.97 

Paducah 3,021.00 

Evansville 10,652.05 

Nashville 4,500.00 

Cairo 4,207.00 

Memphis 20,402.12 

New  Orleans 285.S25.18 

Galena  (Dis.) 10,307.18 

St.  Louis  (carrying  capacity) 96,926.26 

St.  Louis  (barges'  carrying  capacity)..  45,741.00 

Cincinnati  (barges) 26,638.17 

Barges  at  other  ports 35,782.19 


Total  tonnage  (capacity) 803,844.45 

1  The  law  of  the  28th  of  February,  1871,  has  not  been  materially 
changed,  and  will  be  found  in  the  Revised  Statutes  of  the  United 
States,  Title  LII,  Regulation  of  Steam  Vessels. 


RIVER   COMMERCE   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


1135 


The   aggregate   value  of  steamboat   property   on 
Western  rivers  in  1871  was  as  follows: 


Pittsburgh.  Pa $3,fi90,000 

Wheeling,  W.  Va.  (estimated) 385,000 

Gallipolis.  Ohio 40,000 

Cincinnati,  Ohio 3,065,500 

Louisville,  Ky 1,097,500 

Evansville,  Ind 463,100 

Nashville,  Tenn 148,000 

Memphis,  Tenn 685,000 

Galena  (Dis.) 820,000 

New  Orleans  (river  steamers) 6,842,600 

Total $17,214,700 

To  which  add  steamboats  at  St.  Louis  5,428,800 


Grand  total $22,643,500 

Value  of  barges  on  Western  rivers  ...       3,769,400 

Total  value  of  boats  and  barges $20,412,900 


The  above  statement  does  not  include  the  coal-boats 
of  Pittsburgh,  nor  the  stone-boats  employed  at  various 
quarries  on  the  Ohio,  Green,  Cumberland,  and  Ten- 
nessee Rivers,  the  boats  of  the  upper  Tennessee  River, 
the  canal-boats  employed  in  the  navigation  of  the 
Miami,  Wabash,  and  Illinois  Canals,  nor  does  it  in- 
clude the  barges  employed  at  New  Orleans  and  other 
ports  on  the  Southern  waters,  which  would  add  con- 
siderably to  the  aggregate  value. 

In  July,  1872,  an  invitation  signed  by  many  of 
the  best  citizens  of  St.  Louis  was  sent  to  the  com- 
missioner of  emigration  for  Missouri  in  London,  in- 
viting representative  Englishmen  to  visit  the  great 
fair  at  St.  Louis  in  the  following  October ;  and  the 
London  Times  of  August  30th,  in  a  leading  editorial, 
urged  upon  its  readers  the  importance  of  a  more  direct 
trade  with  the  Mississippi  valley,  and  particularly  with 
St.  Louis.  The  invitation  was  favorably  received  in 
England,  and  although  only  a  few  Englishmen  were 
able,  in  consequence  of  the  lateness  of  the  season 
when  it  reached  them,  to  attend  the  fair,  it  resulted 
in  the  formation  of  the  "  Mississippi  Valley  Society 
of  London  and  St.  Louis,"  having  for  its  "  general 
objects,"  first,  the  removal  of  "  all  obstructions  to  the 
direct  interchange  of  products  between  Europe  and 
the  great  Western  and  Southern  States  of  North 
America  ;"  and,  secondly,  ''  to  facilitate  the  introduc- 
tion of  foreign  capital  into  those  States,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  developing  their  resources  and  increasing  their 
commerce." 

The  failure  to  estimate  at  its  proper  value  the 
operations  of  the  Western  river  system  in  deter- 
mining the  course  of  commerce  and  establishing  an 
equilibrium  in  the  carrying  trade  was  made  apparent 
by  the  rates  charged  in  1873  on  the  northern  and 
southern  routes  to  Liverpool.  Freight  charges  by 
these  routes  were  as  follows :  From  St.  Paul  to 


New  Orleans,  eighteen  cents  per  bushel  on  corn ; 
thence  to  Liverpool,  twenty  cents  ;  elevator  charges 
at  New  Orleans,  two  cents,  making  a  total  of  all 
charges  between  St.  Paul  and  Liverpool  of  forty  cents 
per  bushel.  The  ruling  freight  rates  on  corn  during 
that  season  by  the  New  York  route  had  been,  from 
St.  Paul  to  Chicago,  eighteen  cents;  Chicago  toJBuf- 
falo,  by  lake,  eight  cents;  Buffalo  to  New  York,  by 
canaj,  fourteen  cents;  charges  at  Chicago,  two  cents; 
at  Buffalo,  two  cents ;  at  New  York,  four  cents ; 
freight  to  Liverpool,  sixteen  cents,  making  the  total 
charges  on  a  bushel  of  corn  between  St.  Paul  and 
Liverpool  via  New  York  amount  to  sixty-four  cents, 
or  a  difference  of  twenty-four  cents  on  the  bushel  in 
favor  of  the  Mississippi  and  gulf  route. 

This  comparison  of  .freight  charges  was  not  without 
an  important  influence  upon  the  problem  of  cheap 
transportation,  which  was  then  coming  into  promi- 
nence. The  question  was  carried  into  the  halls  of 
Congress,  and  its  agitation  led  to  the  appointment  by 
the  United  States  Senate  of  the  "  Select  Committee 
on  Transportation  Routes  to  the  Seaboard,"  which 
was  "  authorized  ...  to  investigate  and  report  upon 
the  subject  of  transportation  between  the  interior 
and  the  seaboard."  The  message  of  the  President 
of  the  United  States  had  invited  the  attention  of 
Congress  to  the  fact  that  the  time  had  arrived  for 
that  body  "  to  consider  various  enterprises  for  the 
more  certain  and  cheaper  transportation  of  the  con- 
stantly-increasing Western  and  Southern  products  to 
the  Atlantic  seaboard,"  and  it  added  that  "  the  sub- 
ject is  one  that  will  force  itself  upon  the  legislative 
branch  of  the  government  sooner  or  later."  In  this 
connection  the  President  suggested  "  that  immediate 
steps  be  taken  to  gain  all  available  information,  to 
insure  equitable  and  just  legislation,"  and  recom- 
mended the  appointment  of  a  commission  to  consider 
the  whole  question  and  to  report  to  Congress  at  some 
future  day.  Senator  Windom,  of  Minnesota,  was 
made  chairman  of  the  Senate  committee  which,  as 
previously  indicated,  was  appointed  in  accordance 
with  these  recommendations.  In  addition  to  this 
governmental  recognition  of  the  necessity  and  im- 
portance of  full  consideration  of  the  subject  of  trans- 
portation, the  Farmers'  Convention  of  Illinois  incor- 
porated into  their  platform  an  emphatic  demand  for 
immediate  action  looking  toward  the  improvement  of 
the  navigation  on  Western  rivers.  The  Transporta- 
tion Committee  at  the  outset  of  the  investigation 
were  confronted  with  "  the  absence  of  systematized 
statistics  with  regard  to  the  course  and  magnitude  of 
the  internal  commerce  of  the  country,"  and  with 
"  the  apparent  indifference  and  neglect  with  which  it 


1136 


HISTORY  OP  SAINT  LOUIS. 


had  been  treated"  in  our  governmental  policy.1  The 
huge  sum  of  ten  billion  dollars  was  fixed  by  the  com- 
mittee as  the  "  value  of  commodities  moved  by  the 
railroads  in  1872 ;"  and  it  was  added  that  "  their 
gross  receipts  reached  the  enormous  sum  of  four  hun- 
dred and  seventy-three  million  two  hundred  and 
forty^one  thousand  and  fifty-five  dollars ;"  and  that 
"  the  commerce  of  the  cities  on  the  Ohio  River  alone 
has  been  carefully  estimated  at  over  one  billion  six 
hundred  million  dollars  per  annum." 

P-ublic  attention  was  now  directed  most  forcibly 
to  the  water  lines  of  transportation,  and  everywhere 
throughout  the  West  the  people  were  awakening  to 
the  importance  of  availing  themselves  to  the  fullest 
extent  of  the  unrivaled  facilities  for  transportation 
which  would  be  afforded  by  their  magnificent  rivers 
when  properly  improved,  and  when  the  difficulties 
and  embarrassments  which  then  beset  their  navigation 
had  been  entirely  removed. 

The  commerce  of  the  Missouri  River  had  "dwin- 
dled to  insignificance"  in  1874. 2  A  difference  of 
opinion  existed  as  to  whether  this  was  due  to  the  fact 
that  two  well-equipped  railways  were  running  up  the 
valley,  parallel  to  and  not  far  distant  from  the  river, 
or  to  the  character  of  the  stream,  the  number  of 
snags  and  wrecks  in  its  bed,  the  rapidity  of  its  cur- 
rent, and  the  consequent  necessity  for  costly  vessels 
to  navigate  it.  An  effort  to  establish  the  barge 
system  upon  the  Missouri  River  had  been  made  in 
1873,  but  without  sufficient  trial  to  demonstrate 
whether  it  was  or  was  not  practicable. 

The  Illinois  River  had  in  1872  become  "  the 
freight  regulator  between  the  Mississippi  and  Lake 
Michigan,"  and  the  enlargement  of  the  Illinois  and 
Michigan  Canal  had  already  been  productive  of  most 
beneficial  results.  The  commerce  of  St.  Louis  with 
the  Arkansas,  White,  and  Ouachita  Rivers  declined 
very  perceptibly  during  the  year,  while  the  trade  with 
the  Red  River  still  maintained  a  position  of  impor- 
tance. The  "  packet  system"  on  the  Mississippi  con- 
tinued to  embrace  almost  the  entire  traffic  of  the 
river.  The  Memphis  and  St.  Louis  Packet  Company 
transported  341,400  tons  of  merchandise  during  the 
year  1873 ;  the  Keokuk  and  Northern  Line  227,600 
tons ;  the  Missouri  River  Star  Line  Packet  Company 
98,950  tons ;  the  Merchants'  Southern  Packet  Com- 
pany 140,500  tons  ;  the  St.  Louis  and  New  Orleans 
Packet  Company  141,600  tons,  and  the  Mississippi 
Valley  Transportation  Company  161,200  tons. 


1  Report  of  the  Select  Committee  on  Transportation  Routes 
to  the  Seaboard,  p.  8. 

*  Missouri  Republican,  Jan.  1,  1874. 


The  amount  of  freight,  in  tons,  received  at  St. 
Louis  by  rail  and  river  from  1872  to  1876  was  as 
follows : 

1872 By  rail,  2,838,364;  by  river,  863,919 

1873 "        3,245,178  "         801,055 

1874 "       3,165,093  "         732,765 

1875 "       3,232,770  "          663,525 

1876 "       3,431,200  "         688,755 

The  decline  in  river  business  appears  from  these 
figures  to  have  become  permanent.  The  shipments 
of  freight,  in  tons,  for  the  same  years  show  a  similar 
falling  off  in  river  business : 

1872 By  rail,  1,204,664;  by  river,  805,282 


1873 
1874 
1875 
1876 


1,155,416 
1,230,676 
1,301,450 
1,659,950 


783,256 
707,325 
639,095 
600,225 


The  excitement  and  business  depression  resulting 
from  the  Presidential  election  in  1876,  together  with 
the  agitation  of  the  war  question  in  Europe,  unset- 
tled values,  and  interfered  seriously  with  the  course  of 
trade  throughout  the  country,  but  possibly  less  seri- 
ously in  St.  Louis  than  at  other  commercial  centres. 
It  is  especially  noticeable  that  the  receipts  of  many 
articles  of  trade  increased  in  a  very  marked  degree  on 
those  of  the  previous  years,  as  shown  by  the  follow- 
ing table : 

1876.      1875.      1874. 

Tons  of  freight  received 4,119,975     3,896,295     3,897,858 

"         "         shipped 2,260,175     1,940,545     1,938,001 

Total  tons  handled 6,380,150     5,836,840     5,835,959 

The  river  at  St.  Louis  was  open  to  trade  during  the 
entire  winter  of  1875-76,  and  continued  open  in  the 
fall  of  1876  until  December  3d,  but  the  winter  of 
1876-77  was  one  of  the  coldest  on  record,  the  river 
being  closed  at  Cairo  and  Memphis,  and  as  far  south 
as  Helena. 

In  October  of  1877  a  River  Improvement  Con- 
vention met  at  St.  Paul,  which  appointed  a  committee 
to  lay  the  wants  of  the  Mississippi  valley  before  Con- 
gress, and  to  urge  an  increased  appropriation  for  the 
improvement  of  the  river  by  the  general  govern- 
ment. 

For  several  years  prior  to  1877  experimental  ship- 
ments of  grain  in  bulk  to  foreign  ports  via  New  Or- 
leans had  been  made.  The  "  humidity"  of*  the  gulf,3 

3  Among  the  arguments  against  the  value  of  the  Mississippi 
as  a  route  for  the  transportation  of  cereals  to  foreign  markets 
was  the  assertion  that  climatic  influences  at  New  Orleans  and 
on  the  gulf  would  injure  the  products  of  the  Northwestern 
States.  The  testimony  of  a  large  number  of  gentlemen  well 
informed  on  the  subject  before  the  Senate  Committee  on  Trans- 
portation Routes  to  the  Seaboard  most  effectually  disposed  of  that 
alleged  difficulty.  For  instance,  Capt.  A.  R.  Miller,  agent  of  the 
State  Line  Steamship  Company,  stated  that  during  his  experi- 
ence in  business  "we  have  shipped  here  on  our  ships  about 


RIVER   COMMERCE   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


1137 


the  condition  of  the  grain  upon  arrival  at  destination, 
•which  was  said  to  be  impaired,  and  the  "  dangers  by 
the  way"  were  all  alleged  as  causes  why  foreign  trade 
down  the  Mississippi  would  be  commercially  impracti- 
cable. A  record  of  the  shipments,  however,  with 
official  reports  of  the  condition  of  grain  on  arrival  on 
the  other  side,  showed  that  the  cargoes,  without  ex- 
ception, were  received  in  good  condition,  even  when 
shipped  in  sailing-vessels,  and  the  result  of  the  ex- 
periment was  to  demonstrate  the  practicability  of  the 
route,  and  to  gradually  build  up  an  increasing  trade. 

The  value  of  waterways  for  commerce  continued 
in  1877  to  attract  general  attention,  and  the  success 
which  at  this  time  began  to  attend  the  efforts  of  Capt. 
Eads  at  the  "jetties"  served  to  concentrate  Western 
and  Southern  political  influence  in  favor  of  such 
further  improvements  of  the  great  rivers  of  the  West 
as  would  render  them  fully  equal  to  the  demands  of 
the  already  immense  and  still  growing  trade  of  the 
great  valley. 

A  careful  examination  of  actual  freight  rates  during 
the  year  1877  on  shipments  of  grain  from  St.  Paul 
via  St.  Louis  and  New  Orleans  to  Liverpool,  and 
via  Chicago  and  New  York,  showed  that  the 
through  rate  to  Liverpool  was  eleven  cents  per 
bushel  lower  via  the  St.  Louis  route  the  whole  year 
round.  This  advantage  in  freight  immediately 
changed  the  complexion  of  affairs,  and  the  great 
trunk  lines,  which  had  discriminated  against  St. 
Louis,  began  making  extraordinarily  favorable  con- 
cessions to  its  merchants.  The  public  rail  rates  on 
grain  were  immediately  reduced  from  twelve  and  one- 
half  cents  a  hundred  as  low  as  ten  cents,  so  that 
grain  was  carried  at  about  six  cents  per  bushel.  In 
another  case  a  shipment  of  nineteen  hundred  barrels 
of  flour  was  contracted  for  at  one  dollar  per  barrel 
from  St.  Louis  to  Liverpool  via  Philadelphia,  which  was 
just  five  cents  less  than  the  steamship  rate  from  New 
York  to  Liverpool.  Until  the  jetties  were  completed, 
St.  Louis  was  at  the  mercy  of  the  railroads,  and  they 
made  what  rates  they  pleased.  Chicago  and  Milwau- 
kee, on  the  contrary,  had  the  lake  route  at  their  com- 
mand, and  the  railroads  could  not  dictate  to  them 
during  the  summer  months.  Six  months  in  the  year, 
however,  the  lake  route  is  closed  with  ice,  and  then 


two  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  bushels  of  corn,  and  have 
never,  in  any  instance,  heard  complaint  of  any  damage  whatever; 
but,  on  the  contrary,  it  has  landed  in  as  fine  condition  as  when 
it  was  shipped."  These  statements  were  confirmed  by  a  com- 
mittee of  the  Union  Merchants'  Exchange  of  St.  Louis,  which 
also  presented  to  the  Senate  committee  a  list  of  eighteen  cargoes 
of  corn  shipped  from  New  Orleans  to  Europe  from  Feb.  11  to 
Aug.  26,  1873,  all  of  which  arrived  in  good  condition. 


the  railroads  reign  supreme  even  in  the  lake  cities. 
Not  so  with  St.  Louis :  the  river  from  Cairo  to  the 
sea  is  always  open,  and  from  St.  Louis  to  Cairo  it  is 
rarely  closed  more  than  a  month  or  a  month  and  a 
half,  while  frequently  it  is  not  closed  at  all.  There 
is,  therefore,  a  certainty  of  competition  and  low  freights 
for  ten  or  eleven  months  in  the  year,  whereas  it  ex- 
ists during  only  six  out  of  the  twelve  for  Chicago 
and  Milwaukee. 

The  export  trade  via  New  Orleans,  which  revived 
in  1877  under  such  favorable  auspices,  continued  with 
augmented  volume  in  1878.  During  each  month  of 
the  year  there  was  a  steady  flow  of  shipments,  and 
the  total  movement  reached  5,451,603  tons.  In 
1879  the  shipment  of  grain  in  bulk  from  St.  Louis 
amounted  to  6,164,838  tons,  and  but  for  the  low 
stage  of  water  during  the  summer  and  early  fall  the 
shipments  would  have  been  largely  increased,  as  on  the 
opening  of  the  river  in  January,  1880,  engagements 
were  made  for  all  the  tonnage  that  could  be  had,  and 
over  1,500,000  bushels  of  corn  were  forwarded  dur- 
ing the  month,  one  tow  alone  taking  270,000  bushels 
of  corn  and  another  225,376  bushels  of  corn  and 
other  freight. 

On  the  20th  of  October,  1880,  there  assembled  in 
St.  Louis  a  convention  of  delegates  from  twenty-one 
States  and  Territories,  the  object  being  to  promote 
"  cheap  transportation  and  free  commerce."  A  con- 
vention composed  of  delegates  from  Missouri,  Kan- 
sas, and  Nebraska  was  also  held  at  Kansas  City,  in 
September,  1880,  which  created  the  Missouri  River 
Improvement  Association.  Under  the  auspices  of 
this  association  another  convention  was  held  in  the 
city  of  St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  on  the  29th  of  November, 
1881,  which  appointed  an  executive  committee  to 
memorialize  Congress  upon  the  improvement  of  the 
navigation  of  the  Missouri  River. 


FOREIGN  SHIPMENTS   FROM   ST.  LOUIS  ON  THROUGH  BILLS 
OF  LADING,  VIA  NEW  ORLEANS,  DURING  1881. 


To 

C 

• 

0 

H 

Tobacco. 

\Vbcat. 

c 

1 

Oil  dike. 

Bran  »nd 

S.  Stuffs. 

|| 
«l 

England  
Scotland  
Belgium  

BMn.i 
21,446 
1,321 
5,613 
1,500 

JJhds. 
1448 

'"is 

Hath. 
114,05'i 
40,000 

BlM*. 

410,786 

Sacks. 
4058 

Sacla. 
4350 

Sacki. 

300 

25 

Holland   

Total  

29,880 

14CC 

154,053 

410,786 

4058 

4350 

325 

1  Shipments  of  flour  via  Atlantic  seaboard  and  by  New  Or- 
leans were  in  sacks  of  various  weights,  and  are  reduced  to  bar- 
rels for  convenience  in  reference. 

11S8 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


TRANSACTIONS  AT   THE   CUSTOM-HOUSE,  ST.  LOUIS. 
Exhibit  of  Comparative  Receipts  from  all  Sources  at  the  Port  of  St.  Louis  During  the  Last  Ttce>ity-two  Years. 


YEAR. 

Import  Duty. 

Hospital  Tax. 

Steamboat 
Fees. 

Storage. 

Official  Fees. 

Fines  and 
Forfeits. 

Total  Collec- 
tions. 

1861                        

$14,425.15 

$2,304.60 

$771.00 

$523.48 

$585.50 

$18,609.78 

1862           

20,404.70 

4,550.60 

3,342.25 

950.33 

1661.80 

31,019.64 

1863             

36,622.09 

3,644.60 

4,194.00 

436.50 

1785.15 

49,910.33 

1864                       

76,448.43 

6,185.55 

5,636.00 

408.45 

1890.30 

94,759.92 

1865  

586,407.07 

10,271.10 

18,848.05 

729.74 

5410.40 

654,583.21 

1866             

785,651.30 

8,465.50 

11.145.70 

424.98 

4541.30 

834,935.78 

1867                  

1,236,798.06 

8,556.18 

15,571.00 

2403.24 

3558.15 

1,297,255.88 

1868  

1,403,997.64 

6,244.64 

14,044.83 

1383.18 

3880.15 

1,457,985.66 

1869          

1,711,256.19 

6,619.98 

14,366.92 

2487.42 

1890.00 

1,764,1  12.31 

1870              

1,996,083.49 

7,003.64 

14,040.49 

1390.31 

2482.65 

2,037,484.15 

1871  

1,874,907.29 

10,590.50 

16,306.60 

1226,36 

2278.80 

1,905,309.55 

1872         

1,697.563.27 

11,325.78 

16.114.57 

2459.09 

2587.50 

1,730,050.21 

1873              

1,376,466.32 

11,206.75 

14,512.98 

1829.45 

•     2630  80 

1,406,646.30 

1874  

1,674,116.53 

11,868.34 

13,895.26 

1742.00 

1949.65 

1,703,591.78 

1875  

1,159,849.17 

9,578.53 

13,022.72 

1653.00 

2099.45 

1,186,202.87 

1876  

1,748,374.30 

12,005.81 

13,700.94 

1168.00 

2550.00 

1,777,369.05 

1877  

1,275,175.72 

11,363.92 

13.593.45 

1201.25 

3397.25 

1,304,731.59 

1878     

1,590,458.08 

12,108.88 

13,613.65 

946.49 

2245.00 

1,619,375.10 

1879  

831,513.96 

11,476.89 

13,700.40 

1473.23 

2241.55 

328.47 

860,734.50 

18SO  

1,320,855.61 

12,681.83 

14,189.00 

1571.73 

2581.20 

279.88 

1,351,559.25 

1881.          

1,352,093.48 

11,936.43 

14.139.30 

1848.66 

2575.45 

80.00 

1,382,673.32 

1882  

1,295,475.07 

11,834.22 

8,048.25 

512.00 

3110.00 

58.95 

1,319,038,50 

CONDENSED  CLASSIFICATION  OF  COMMODITIES  imported  direct 
into  St.  Louis  during  1881,  showing  foreign  value  and  duties 
paid. 


DIRECT  SHIPMENTS  FROM  ST.   LOUIS  TO   FOREIGN  COUN- 
TRIES, IN  TONS. 


ARTICLES. 

Foreign  Value. 

Amount 
Duties  Paid. 

$22,840.00 
2,556.00 
20,908.00 
1,877.00 
17,846.00 
10,725.00 
141,444.00 
43,192.00 
74,098.00 
21,144.00 
1,720.00 
103,452.00 
39.466.00 
62.323.00 
1,646.00 
49,362.00 
3,247.00 
4,784.00 
58,308.00 
13,495.00 
8,740.00 
20,124.00 
22,275.00 
10,276.00 
1,507.00 
29,344.00 
1,122.00 
53,581.00 
10,058.00 
57,233.00 
19,080.00 
50,367.00 
49,354.00 
84,077.00 
89,262.00 
86,738.00 
15,818.00 
101,570.00 
556,858.00 

$5,905.68 
970.56 
5,208.70 
374.60 
7,138.40 
1,534.90 
39,842.05 
19,635.20 
7,410.40 
7,699.24 
924.56 

Books  and  printed  mutter  

Brushes  

China  and  earthenware  

Cutlery                   

Druggists'  sundries  

Files  

23,734.75 
6,369.28 
350.00 
42,042.25 
811.75 
1,469.10 
20,407.80 
4,723.25 
3,059.00 
12,074.40 
15,305.99 
3,082.80 
493.72 
1,764.42 
478.80 
18,753.35 
1,919.20 
11,414.82 
11,659.79 
15,975.82 
45,442.25 
20,727.97 
85,684.08 
36,979.95 
13,901.62 
68,789.43 
194,070.29 

Iron  (railroad  bars)  

Leaf  her  

"              t(   metals  

«              «  fcilk  

"              "  wool  

Philosophical  instruments  

Steel                

Tin                      

Woolen  dry-goods  

Totals          

$1,961,917.00 

$758,080.17 

1881. 

1880. 

1870. 

1878. 

1875. 

By  rail  eastward  

0  1.727 

146087 

135,881 

72,091 

K.,825 

By  river  to  New  Orleans  

389,587 

453,681 

176,531 

154,060 

0,857 

Total  

481  314 

599768 

312  412 

226,151 

23,682 

The  shipments  by  river  for  1881  include,  in  addition  to  the 
articles  in  table  of  shipments  by  river  on  through  bills  of  lading, 
12,801,124  bushels  of  grain  shipped  via  New  Orleans  not  on 
through  bills  of  lading. 

SHIPMENTS  OF    BULK    GRAIN    BY  KIVER    FROM    ST.   LOUIS 
TO  NEW  ORLEANS  FOR  TWELVE  YEARS  FOR  EXPORT. 


Year. 

Wlieat. 

Corn. 

Rye.           Oats. 

Totals. 

I}u*h. 

EMS//. 

Until.             Pinsli. 

Unfit. 

1881  

4,197.981 

8,640,720 

22,423         132,823 

\  •'  lt():j  ')47 

1880  

5,913,272 

9.804,392 

45,000        

I.\7ii2,r,i;4 

1879  

2  390,897 

3,585,589 

157,424           30,928 

0  1  114  Mi.S 

1878  

1  ,876  639 

60'J,041         108,807 

5  4-il  tit^J 

1877  

351.453 

3.578,057 

171,843        

4,101,353 

1876  

37.142 

I,737,2:t7 

I,774,o7!) 

1875  

1  35  9(il 

17-?  (117 

30S.578 

1874  

365  252 

1,047  794 

10,000 

1  ,4i'3,04(i 

1873  

1  ,373,!)f.9 

1.37:i,'J69 

1872  



1,711,039 





1,711,03'.) 

1871  

309,077 



3,000 

312,077 

1870  

66000 

6L!,000 

BARGE  COMPANIES  AND  CAPACITY  IN  1SS1. 

'£ 

0 

2 

ii  *•  = 

H  £ 

I 

Name. 

»i 

I 

J 

6aa 

a 

1 

£.4 

Ifll 

fe 

H 

o» 

St.   Louis  and    Mississippi  Valley 

7?,,J,. 

BM.;,. 

Transportation  Conipnn> 
American  Transportation  C 
Mound   City  Trunsportati 

13 

2 

98 
10 

4,9OO,(K)0 
400,1  KJO 

3,000,000 
400.000 

xjmpany 
}ii  Cuni- 

1 

9 

540,000 

500,000 

RAILROADS. 


1139 


STATEMENT  OF  BULK  GRAIN  EXPORTED  FROM  NEW 
ORLEANS,  1881. 


To 

Corn. 

Wheat. 

Rye. 

Bush  . 
2  042  01  3 

Bush. 
417,893 

Bush. 

776  916 

1  256  364 

£58  210 

France  
Holland                             

1,970,47-2 
216  447 

2,008,644: 
215,517 

22,423 

19f>  !llt> 

125,099 

835  99  1 

29  932 

261  110 

578,494 

Total  bushels  

7  555  829 

4,533,789 

22,423 

Total  bushels  1880  

9  596  956 

5,901,137 

23,000 

ARRIVALS    AND    DEPARTURES    OF    STEAMBOATS   AND 
BARGES,  1882. 

ARRIVALS. 


1882. 

Upper  Mississippi. 

Lower  Mississippi. 

Illinois. 

Missouri. 

_o 

3 

Cumberland  and  Ten- 
nessee. 

Total  Steamers. 

1 

•a  * 
=  « 
«  o 

$ 
V 

i 

Tons  of  Freight  Re- 
ceived. 

-Si 

8« 

i-  ^ 

,3    C8 

£* 
=5  >> 

o|l 

o  "^  ° 

£ 

January  
February  
March  

11 
28 

74 
113 
134 

108 

n-j 

139 
128 

136 
110 

20 

1111 

51 

79 
107 
84 
90 
75 
80 
74 
82 
70 
74 
34 

912 

2 
11 

35 
29 
34 
22 
21 
19 
17 
17 
18 
3 

228 

3 
6 
7 
9 
10 
28 
25 
10 
9 
4 
3 

114 

7 
8 
17 
20 
18 
14 
10 
10 
9 
6 
10 
5 

140 

i 

4 

3 

2 
3 
2 
2 

32 

75 
Ii7 
240 
250 
289 
233 
207 
270 
248 
247 
218 
07 

37 
77 
174 
190 
191 
98 
70 
94 
105 
130 
97 
41 

25,750 
43,575 
127,800 
117,895 
115,730 
68,020 
80,335 
57,095 
42,805 
48,840 
53,925 
19,710 

1,790 
10,375 
30,070 
33,645 
33,250 
10,880 
43,020 
38,865 
38,080 
23,045 
1,270 

Api  il  

MHV  

July  ... 

August  
September.    . 
October  
November.     . 
December..    . 

Total  

2537 

1310 

802,080 

271,490 

Upper  Mississ 

ppj  2 

36,670  ton 

4,820    " 

by  rafts. 

To 

tal      

9- 

1,490     " 

DEPARTURES. 

1882. 

£ 
1 
'1 

X 
S. 

— 

S3 

i 
1 

i 

h 

I 

°3 

c 

>H 

5 
S 

1 
O 

•n 
c 
a 
• 

|! 

—  ^ 
II 

a 

3 

a 

"B 

5 

2 
1 

1 

i 

3 

§ 

1 

5 
3 
i 

«* 

J& 

h 

±.  a. 
o  '3 
35 

a 
o 
H 

12 
25 
71 
113 

127 
106 

no 

137 
136 
122 
96 
22 

52 
71 
92 
78 
78 
74 
89 
79 
85 
72 
79 
44 

,; 

s 

27 
18 
22 
20 
14 
19 
14 
2 

...... 

8 
12 
13 
7 
31 
25 
8 

o 

10 
9 
21 
18 
20 
19 
16 
13 
10 
7 
13 
4 

i 

2 
3 
2 
4 
3 
1 
1 
3 
2 

79      35,055 
120      63,120 
232;      88,:"  90 
252      93,985 
268      80,450 
228       55,740 
271       06,900 
275       80,145 
254       66,080 
226       55,160 
209      52,045 
73      26,035 

April  

July     

9 

Total     

1077 

893 

214 

112 

100 

22 

2487 

709,905 

CHAPTER    XXIX. 

RAILROADS. 

THE  most  cursory  glance  at  the  map  of  the  United 
States  will  satisfy  any  one  that  St.  Louis  is  the  point 
at  which  the  greater  part  of  the  vast  internal  com- 
merce of  the  country  passes,  whether  going  from  the 
Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  or  from  the  frozen  regions  to 
the  torrid  zone.  From  the  founding  of  the  city,  the 
great  river  system  of  the  Mississippi  valley,  as  we  have 
seen,  has  been  tributary  to  her  wealth  and  pros- 
perity ;  and  when  the  era  of  railroads  came  with  its 
rapidity  of  movement,  to  satisfy  that  restless  spirit 
which  characterizes  the  American,  she  was  among  the 
first  of  the  cities  to  recognize  the  impending  change 
in  commercial  transportation,  and  to  take  the  neces- 
sary steps  to  guard  her  interests  and  promote  her 
prosperity. 

The  first  movement  in  this  direction  was  the  action 
of  a  large  number  of  the  enterprising  citizens  of  St. 
Louis,  calling  upon  the  several  counties  of  the  State 
to  send  delegates  to  an  "  Internal  Improvement  Con- 
vention" which  was  to  assemble  in  that  city  on  the 
20th  of  April,  1835.  At  the  time  appointed  the  con- 
vention met  at  the  court-house  and  organized  by  the 
selection  of  Dr.  Samuel  Merry  as  chairman,  and  G. 
K.  McGunnegle  as  secretary.  The  roll  of  the  con- 
vention being  called,  the  following  delegates  were  found 
to  be  present : 

St.  Louis  County. — Edward  Tracy,  Maj.  J.  B.  Brant,  Col.  John 
O'Fallon,  Dr.  Samuel  Merry,  Archibald  Gamble,  M.  L.  Clark, 
Col.  Joseph  C.  Laveille,  Thornton  Grimsley,  II.  S.  Geyer,  Col. 
Henry  Walton,  Lewellyn  Brown,  Henry  Von  Phul,  George  K. 
McGunnegle,  Col.  B.  W.  Ayres,  Pierre  Chouteau,  Jr.,  and 
Hamilton  R.  Gamble. 

Lincoln  County. — Col.  David  Bailey,  Hans  Smith,  Emanuel 
Block,  Benjamin  W.  Dudley,  and  Dr.  Bailey. 

Washington  County. — Dr.  J.  H.  Relfe,  Philip  Cole,  John  S. 
Brickey,  Jesse  II.  Mcllvaine,  Myers  II.  Jones,  James  Evans, 
and  W.  C.  Reed. 

Cooper  County. — Benjamin  E.  Ferry,  N.  W.  Mack,  and  Wil- 
liam H.  Trigg. 

Warren  County. — Carty  Wells,  Nathaniel  Pendleton,  and  Ir- 
vine S.  Pitman. 

St.  Charles  County. — Edward  Bates,  Moses  Bigelow,  William 
M.  Campbell,  and  W.  L.  Overall. 

Galloway  County. — William  II.  McCullough,  William  H.  Rus- 
sell, D.  R.  Mullen,  Dr.  N.  Kouns,  C.  Oxley,  Jacob  G.  Lebo,  R. 
B.  Overton,  and Moxley. 

Montr/ornery  County. — Dr.  M.  M.  Maughas,  S.  C.  Ruby,  and 
Nathaniel  Dryden. 

Boone  County. — Dr.  James  W.  Moss,  John  B.  Gordon,  J.  W. 
Keiser,  D.  M.  Hickman,  J.  S.  Rollins,  William  Hunter,  R.  W. 
Morriss,  and  Granville  Branham. 

Howard  County. — Dr.  John  Bull,  Maj.  Alphonso  Wetmore, 
Weston  F.  Birch,  Joseph  Davis,  Gen.  J.  B.  Clark,  T.  Y.  Stearns, 
and  John  Wilson. 

Jefferson  County. — James  S.  McCutchen. 


1140 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


After  some  debate  the  convention  recommended 
the  construction  of  two  railroads,  one  from  St.  Louis 
to  Fayette,  and  the  other  from  St.  Louis  to  the  iron- 
and  lead-mines  in  the  southern  part  of  the  State. 
After  the  adjournment  of  the  convention  the  mem- 
bers attended  a  banquet  given  in  their  honor  by  the 
merchants  of  St.  Louis  at  the  National  Hotel,  then 
situated  at  the  corner  of  Third  and  Market  Streets. 
The  mayor,  John  F.  Darby,  presided,  assisted  by 
Charles  Keemle,  secretary,  and  the  following  vice- 
presidents  :  Gen.  John  Ruland,  Hon.  H.  O'Neil, 
Thomas  Cohen,  Maj.  William  Milburn,  Beverly 
Allen,  Col.  J.  W.  Johnson,  and  William  G.  Pettus. 

To  defray  the  expenses  attending  the  survey  of  the 
routes  of  the  two  railroads  recommended  by  the  In- 
ternal Improvement  Convention,  the  judges  of  the 
St.  Louis  County  court,  in  May,  1836,  appropriated 
two  thousand  dollars. 

On  the  18th  of  June,  1836,  another  internal  im- 
provement meeting  was  held  in  St.  Louis,  to  devise 
means  for  the  furtherance  of  the  Boston  Railroad 
design,  which  contemplated  a  direct  communication 
between  Boston  and  St.  Louis,  and  connections  with 
the  improvements  leading  to  the  other  cities  of  the 
Atlantic  seaboard.  On  motion  of  T.  Grimsley,  John 
F.  Darby  was  called  to  the  chair,  and  on  motion  of 
A.  B.  Chambers,  William  Milburn  was  appointed 
secretary. 

The  chairman  stated  what  he  understood  to  be 
the  object  of  the  meeting,  and  urged  its  importance 
to  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  the  whole  State  of  Missouri, 
and  the  entire  valley  of  the  Mississippi. 

A.  B.  Chambers  gave  his  views  more  at  length, 
and  concluded  by  stating  that  Mr.  Walker,  of  Boston, 
who  was  one  of  the  projectors  of  the  scheme  and  its 
warm  advocate,  was  present,  and  that  many  were  de- 
sirous of  hearing  him  on  the  subject,  but,  to  bring  the 
matter  directly  before  the  meeting,  he  would  first  ask 
the  reading  of  a  preamble  and  resolutions  which  had 
been  prepared  for  the  occasion.  They  were  accord- 
ingly read  as  follows : 

"  WHEREAS,  The  citizens  of  St.  Louis  have  seen  with  pleasure 
the  proposition  in  Boston  and  other  portions  of  the  East  for 
the  connection  of  Boston  with  the  Western  country  by  means 
of  an  uninterrupted  line  of  railroads; 

"AND  WHEREAS,  The  measure  is  one  of  advantage  to  the 
East  and  the  West,  and  to  no  portion  of  the  West  more  than  to 
St.  Louis,  which  will,  if  it  is  ever  completed,  be  the  termination 
of  the  line; 

"AND  WHEREAS,  the  accomplishment  of  the  undertaking  ap- 
pears to  be  probable  and  within  the  means  of  the  States 
interested,  and  requiring  but  a  small  addition  of  road  to  what 
is  already  built  or  in  the  progress  of  erection  ;  therefore, 

''Resulted,  That  we  cordially  approve  of  the  proposition  to 
connect  Boston  with  the  Western  country  by  means  of  a  rail- 


road as  a  work  of  easy  accomplishment,  and  which  deserves  the 
support  of  all  the  States  through  which  it  may  pass. 

"  2.  Kesolced,  That  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis  will  lend  their 
assistance  and  hearty  co-operation,  so  far  as  their  ability  ex- 
tends, in  furtherance  of  the  proposition. 

"3.  Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  be  appointed,  who 

shall  constitute  a  committee  of  correspondence,  and  shall  gen- 
erally have  authority  to  do  whatever  may  be  in  their  power  to 
aid  in  carrying  out  the  contemplated  work." 

The  preamble  and  resolutions  having  been  read, 
there  was  a  unanimous  call  for  Mr.  Walker,  who  de- 
livered a  very  interesting  discourse,  in  which  he  dem- 
onstrated the  practicability  of  the  plan  and  its  great 
importance  to  both  the  East  and  the  West. 

The  resolutions  were  then  read  separately  and 
unanimously  adopted,  the  blank  in  the  third  resolu- 
tion ordered  to  be  filled  with  the  number  "  five,"  and 
the  chair  authorized  to  appoint  the  committee. 

The  chair  accordingly  appointed  William  Carr 
Lane,  mayor  of  the  city,  Thornton  Grimsley,  Andrew 
J.  Davis.  William  Milburn,  and  Gustavus  A.  Bird, 
and  by  resolution  of  the  meeting  the  chairman,  John 
F.  Darby,  was  added  to  the  committee. 

The  same  meeting  further  resolved  that  a  commit- 
tee should  be  appointed  "  to  draft  a  memorial  to  the 
Legislature  asking  the  aid  of  the  State  government 
to  the  amount  of  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  for 
the  construction  of  a  railroad  to  the  mining  region ; 
also  to  draft  a  memorial  to  the  mayor  and  aldermen 
of  this  city  asking  their  aid  in  the  same  amount  for 
the  same  object ;  also  to  draft  a  memorial  to  Con- 
gress asking  a  donation  of  every  section  and  frac- 
tional section  thereof  of  public  lands  over  which  the 
road  should  pass ;  also  to  draft  a  memorial  to  the 
Legislature  asking  for  a  geological  survey  of  the 
State." 

Under  this  resolution  the  following  committee  was 
appointed:  B.  W.  Ayres,  A.  Wetmore,  G.  Morton, 
Dr.  King,  J.  C.  Abbot,  A.  J.  Davis,  Charles  Collins, 
John  Kingsland,  John  Simonds,  William  Smith,  and 
James  liussell. 

At  the  same  meeting  it  was  resolved  that  a  com- 
mittee be  appointed  "  to  collect  facts  relating  to  the 
general  subject  of  internal  improvement,  and  to  the 
particular  object  embraced  in  the  first-mentioned  reso- 
lutions." To  this  committee  were  appointed  J.  C. 
Dinnies,  Dr.  Englemann,  Dr.  Merry,  Maj.  Anderson, 
Edward  Tracy,  Rene  Paul,  and  D.  D.  Page. 

In  January  following  two  charters  were  granted  by 
the  State,  one  incorporating  the  St.  Louis  and  Belle- 
vue  Mineral  Railroad  Company,  and  the  other  the 
Louisiana  and  Columbia  Railroad  Company.  The 
charters  were  similar  in  their  enactments,  and  were 
very  liberal  in  their  terms.  The  legislators  of  that 


RAILROADS. 


1141 


day  were  in  doubt  whether  railroads  should  be  worked 
by  horse-  or  steam-power,  and  whether  the  vehicles 
and  motive-power  should  be  owned  by  the  company  or 
by  other  parties.  They  also  had  very  vague  concep- 
tions of  the  profits  likely  to  accrue  to  the  stockholders. 
The  ruling  idea,  however,  seems  to  have  been  the  con- 
struction of  improved  highways,  free  to  all,  and  sub- 
ject only  to  such  restrictions  as  the  public  good  and 
the  interest  of  those  who  had  invested  capital  in  them 
demanded.1 

Both  of  these  projected  railroad  lines  were  surveyed, 
but  neither  was  built.  The  charter  of  the  Louisiana 
and  Columbia  road  was  incorporated  ten  years  after- 
wards in  that  granted  to  the  Hannibal  and  St.  Jo 
Company,  and  that  of  the  Bellevue  road  in  the  Iron 
Mountain  Railroad  charter  fourteen  years  afterwards.2 

1  The  two  charters  contain  the  following  provisions : 

"SEC.  13.  It  shall  be  lawful  for  said  corporation  to  place  on 
or  prescribe  the  kind  of  carriages  that  may  be  used  on  said 
road,  and  by  whom  used,  and  whether  propelled  by  steam  or 
other  power,  for  the  transportation  of  passengers, -goods,  wares, 
and  merchandise  of  all  kinds,  and  also  all  kinds  of  produce. 
For  this  purpose  the  company  may  construct  such  turnouts 
and  other  things  or  devices  as  may  be  considered  necessary  or 
to  the  interest  of  the  company.  All  cars,  carriages,  or  other 
vehicles  on  said  road  shall  be  subject  to  the  direction  of  the 
company,  and  no  person  shall  put  any  carriage  or  other  vehicle 
on  said  road  without  the  permission  of  said  company. 

"  SEC.  14.  The  company  may  charge  and  receive  such  tolls 
and  freights  for  the  transportation  of  persons,  commodities,  or 
carriages  as  shall  be  to  the  interest  of  the  same.  Such  tolls 
shall  be  established  by  the  directors,  and  may  from  time  to  time 
be  altered.  They  may  charge  tolls  and  freights  on  any  part  of 
the  road  that  may  be  in  a  state  for  traveling  on,  whether  the 
rails  be  laid  or  not. 

"  SEC.  15.  Semi-annual  dividends  of  so  much  profits  as  the 
directors  may  deem  expedient  shall  be  made  to  the  stockholders, 
but  no  dividends  shall  be  made  to  a  greater  amount  than  the 
net  profits  after  deducting  all  expenses,  and  no  dividend  shall 
be  more  than  twenty  per  cent,  per  annum  on  the  capital  stock 
paid  in." 

2  "At  the  railroad  convention,"  said  the  Republican  of  July 
28,  1836,  "  the  following-named  gentlemen  constituted  the  com- 
mittee to  raise  by  subscription  the  necessary  means  to  pay  the 
expenses  of  a  complete  reconnoissance  and  survey  of  the  routes 
of  the  two  proposed  roads,  to  secure  the  services  of  skillful 
and  competent  engineers,  etc.,  and  cause  the  work  to  be  done 
with  as  little  delay  as  possible:  Messrs.  George  Collier,  J.  B. 
Brant,  John  Smith,  John  W.  Reel,  J.  II.  Gay,  of  St.  Louis ;  D. 
M.  Hickman,  of  Boone;  Uriah  Sebree,  of  Howard;  Jacob  C. 
Lebo,  of  Galloway,  Andrew   Monroe,  of  Montgomery;    David 
Bailey,  of  Lincoln;    Myers  F.  Jones  and  John  C.  Bricky,  of 
Washington;  Samuel  Massey,  of  Crawford;  Thomas  M.  Dough- 
erty and  Jacob  R.  Stine,  of  St.  Louis  County." 

On  the  17th  of  December  the  same  paper  added, — 
"  All  of  us  remember  that  we  made  such  ado  at  the  time  the 
railroad  convention  was  held  in  this  town,  but  that  spirit  died 
with  the  disappearance  of  the  members  of  that  body.     Several 
committees  were  appointed  to  perform  certain  specified  duties; 
all  of  them  were  competent,  and  had  abundant  time  and  a  deep 
interest  at  stake,  and  yet  not  one  of  them  has  attended  as  he 
73 


Thus  ended  the  first  effort  at  railroad  construction 
in  Missouri.3 

Notwithstanding  their  temporary  want  of  success, 
however,  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis  continued  to  mani- 
fest a  lively  interest  in  railroad  development,  and 
looked  forward  with  confidence  to  the  day  when  their 
cherished  desires  should  be  consummated.4 

In  June,  1839,  another  town-meeting  was  held  at 
the  court-house  for  the  purpose  of  devising  means 
to  connect  St.  Louis  with  Boston  by  railroad.  Noth- 
ing resulted  from  a  discussion  of  the  subject,  as 
the  people  still  relied  too  confidently  upon  the  splen- 
did geographical  position  of  St.  Louis  to,  sooner 
or  later,  attract  the  needed  capital  and  enterprise 
for  the  construction  of  railroads.  At  this  period 
(1839)  a  railroad  had  been  completed  to  Buffalo,  and 
the  route  from  the  West  to  the  East  by  way  of  the 
lakes  had  besnin  to  attract  attention.6 


ought  to  have  done,  punctually  and  assiduously,  to  the  duties  of 
his  appointment.  These  gentlemen  are  the  largest  property- 
holders  in  the  city,  are  all  of  them  wealthy,  and  it  was  right  to 
expect  that  they  would  feel  some  little  interest  in  the  important 
matters  intrusted  to  them." 

3  In  August,  18.30,  a  miniature  railroad  was  exhibited  at  the 
old  Baptist  Church  situated  at  Third  and  Market  Streets.     It 
consisted  of  a  small  circular  track,  fastened  to  a  stage,  on  which 
moved  a   miniature  locomotive  attached  to  a  car   just  large 
enough  to  hold  one  person.     The  speed  attained  was  at  the  rate 
of  seven  miles  an  hour.     A  small  admission  fee  was  charged, 
and  persons  were  required  to  pay  "  an  extra  picayune"  for  the 
privilege  of  riding  round  the  track.     In  its  notice  of  the  ex- 
hibition at  the  time  (Aug.  24, 1830)  a  local  journal  said,  "  The 
public  will  be  much  gratified  by  a  visit  to  the  miniature  rail- 
road exhibited  at  the  old  Baptist  Church.    This  combination  of 
art  and  science,  although  in  miniature,  is  complete  in  all  its  parts, 
and  exhibits  in  one  view  all  the  apparatus  necessary  for  railway 
traveling.     With  a  few  ounces  of  coal,  and  a  small  measure  of 
water,  it  winds  its  way  round  on  a  circular  track  of  one  hun- 
dred feet  at  the  rate  of  seven  miles  per  hour,  carrying  a  person 
of  the  largest  size  in  the  car." 

4  In  1S32  the  bill  incorporating  the  Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis 
Railway  Company  passed  the  Legislature  of  Ohio. 

The  Republican  of  Aug.  13,  1836,  published  tho  report  of  the 
engineers  appointed  to  survey  the  route  of  a  railroad  from 
Marion  City  to  the  interior  of  the  country.  "  It  will  be  seen," 
added  that  paper,  "  that  the  rails  on  a  part  of  this  road  have 
already  been  laid,  and  many  miles  more  are  under  contract." 

8  "  A  gentleman  and  his  family  left  here  a  few  days  since  in  a 
boat  for  Peoria.  There  he  took  another  boat  to  Peru,  and  from 
Peru  was  carried  overland  by  stages  to  Chicago,  making  the 
whole  trip  in  three  days.  At  Chicago  he  took  a  boat  the  same 
evening  for  Buff.ilo.  Judging  from  the  speed  of  the  lake  boats, 
he  would  reach  Buffalo  in  about  four  or  five  days  from  the  time 
he  left  thit>  place,  and  if  he  traveled  from  Buffalo  to  New  York 
at  the  rate  stated  by  a  traveler  in  a  late  number  of  the  Journal 
of  Commerce,  he  would  reach  the  latter  place  in  less  than  three 
days  more,  making  the  whole  distance  from  St.  Louis  to  New 
York  in  about  eight  or  nine  days.  The  ordinary  trip  from 
New  York  to  St.  Louis,  by  the  Ohio  River,  requires  between 
ten  and  twelve  days." — Republican,  July  11,  1839. 


1142 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


A  board  of  improvements  was  created  by  the  State 
in  1840,  but  nothing  was  done  further  than  to  make 
a  survey  for  a  railroad  from  St.  Louis  to  the  Iron 
Mountain  by  the  way  of  Big  River,  and  some  surveys 
of  the  Osage  River  with  a  view  of  improving  its  nav- 
igation. 

Missouri  Pacific  Railway. — As  already  indi- 
cated, the  commercial  sagacity  of  the  people  of  St. 
Louis  recognized  the  fact  that  the  capital  of  the  east- 
ern section  of  the  country  would  ultimately  come  to 
their  city  in  order  to  construct  the  railroads  which  her 
expanding  trade  demanded ;  that  the  self-interest  of 
the  East  would  seek  the  mart  where  were  collected 
the  vast  productions  of  the  West ;  and  that  being  the 
most  distant  city  from  the  East,  she  was  the  nearest 
to  the  West,  the  greatest  producing  as  well  as  the 
greatest  consuming  section  of  the  country. 

These  considerations  induced  her  merchants  to 
pivot,  as  it  were,  their  great  Pacific  Railroad  on  the 
Mississippi  River,  with  that  already  great  feeder  and 
carrier  as  the  base  and  eastern  terminus,  and  to  "  go 
west"  for  greater  conquests  and  grander  results.1 

The  successful  termination  of  the  Mexican  war 
had  added  large  areas  to  the  territory  of  the  Union 
and  expanded  its  boundaries  to  the  Pacific,  and  it  was 
soon  seen  that  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California  (in 
1848)  would  in  a  few  years  open  up  that  country  to 
a  trade  more  valuable  even  than  the  gold  of  her  mines, 
and  people  the  Pacific  slope  with  an  energetic  and 
enterprising  race.2 

1  "  Passing  by  Smith's  foundry  yesterday,  corner  of  Pine 
Street  and  Post-Office  Alley,  we  there  observed  certain  compo- 
nents of  a  species  of  machinery  which  will  be  a  new  sight  to 
many  hereabouts,  as  it  was  to  us.  This  was  the  wheels  and 
axles  for  a  train  of  railroad  freight  cars,  intended  for  the  con- 
veyance of  coal  from  the  mine  to  some  point  on  the  Cumber- 
land River  which  we  could  not  ascertain.  The  proprietor  has 
taken  a  contract  for  furnishing  the  running  apparatus  for 
thirty-six  cars,  together  with  the  castings  of  a  crane  of  stupen- 
dous power  for  swinging  the  entire  car,  with  its  load,  from  the 
track  to  the  boat." — Kepitblican,  Aug.  7,  1847. 

*"  Seven  young  gentlemen,  citizens  of  this  city,"  said  a 
St.  Louis  newspnper  of  Jan.  21,  18-19,  "left  last  evening  on 
the  steamer  '  Rowena'  for  the  gold  regions,  via  New  Orleans, 
Chagres,  and  Panama,  their  final  destination  being  San  Fran- 
cisco. The  party  consists  of  Messrs.  D.  S.  Ford,  C.  II.  Fran- 
cher,  William  Barlow,  T.  B.  Walker,  A.  H.  Gould, Hoi- 
brook,  and  John  S.  Robb. 

"In  addition  to  this  company,  another  consisting  of  Capt. 

William  Craine,  J.  M.  Julics,  James  Anthony, Murray, 

and  Piper  leaves  this  morning  on  the  steamer  '  St. 

Joseph,'  destined  for  the  same  point.  These  parties,  the  first 
regularly  organized  in  this  city,  go,  as  we  learn,  fully  prepared 
to  encounter  all  the  hardships  and  dangers  of  so  long  a  journey, 
and,  what  is  better,  carry  with  them  means  sufficient  to  enter  into 
any  suitable  or  profitable  business  alter  their  arrival,  should 
they  not  find  that  of  gold-digging  as  lucrative  as  they  expect."  I 


From  time  to  time,  previous  to  the  year  1849, 
various  propositions  were  suggested  by  Whitney, 
Maury,  Degrand.  and  others  for  the  construction  of 
a  railroad  from  St.  Louis  to  some  point  on  the  Pacific 
coast,  and  in  December,  1848,  the  Western  Journal 
commenced  the  publication  of  a  series  of  articles  on 
Eastern  commerce,  by  J.  Loughborough,  which  were 
designed  to  direct  attention  to  the  importance  of 
a  railroad  from  the  Mississippi  valley  to  the  Pacific  ; 
the  route  favored  being  that  by  the  mouth  of  the 
Kansas  and  the  South  Pass.  In  January  of  1849 
the  editor  of  the  Western  Journal  advocated  the  same 
project. 

About  this  time,  in  February  of  1849,  Col.  Benton 
brought  before  the  United  States  Senate  his  project 
for  a  Pacific  railroad,  advocating  it  in  a  powerful 
speech,  that  seemed  to  have  the  effect  of  giving  life 
to  the  movement,  which  the  public  mind  had  already 
been  prepared  for.3 

On  the  20th  of  February  following  a  large  meeting 
of  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis  was  held,  upon  a  call  of 
the  mayor,  to  take  action  upon  the  subject.  Judge 
Krum,  then  mayor  of  the  city,  presided,  and  a  com- 
mittee, of  which  Thomas  Allen  was  chairman,  re- 
ported a  series  of  resolutions,  strongly  in  favor  of 
the  construction  of  a  "  national  central  highway" 
to  the  Pacific.  These  resolutions  were  unanimously 
adopted  by  the  meeting.  The  Legislature  was  then 
in  session,  and  a  successful  attempt  was  made  to  pro- 
cure a  charter  for  the  Pacific  Railroad,  commencing 
at  St.  Louis,  and  running  to  the  western  line  of  Van 
Buren  (afterwards  Cass)  County.  It  was  approved  on 

In  its  issue  of  March  8th  the  same  paper  added :  "  Our  city 
is  rapidly  filling  up  with  persons  from  all  quarters  of  the 
Union,  wending  their  way  to  the  gold  regions.  A  gentleman 
who  has  means  of  arriving  at  something  like  reliable  informa- 
tion informs  us  that  there  are  now  in  the  city  several  hundred 
persons  from  a  distance,  preparing  to  start  as  soon  as  the 
weather  and  season  will  permit  for  California.  The  fine 
steamer  'Germantown'  arrived  last  evening  from  the  Ohio 
with  a  freight  and  a  crowd  of  passengers,  of  whom  we  noticed 
twenty-two  persons  and  several  wngons  destined  for  California. 
Fourteen  of  the  persons  styled  themselves  as  tho  Buffalo 
Mining  Company,  and  hail  from  Buffalo,  N.  Y.  They  are  com- 
pletely fitted  out  with  nil  the  utensils,  implements,  etc.,  for  a 
long  journey  and  a  life  in  the  mountains.  The  others  aro  from 
different  parts  of  the  Keystone  State." 

3  Senator  Benton,  on  the  7th  of  February,  1849,  introduced 
a  bill  into  the  United  States  Senate  to  provide  for  tho  location 
and  construction  of  a  central  national  road  from  the  Pacific 
Ocean  to  the  Mississippi  River,  to  be  an  iron  railway  where 
practicable,  and  a  wagon-road  where  a  railway  was  not  prac- 
ticable, nnd  proposed  to  set  apart  seventy-five  per  cent,  of  the 
proceeds  of  the  sales  of  the  public  lands  in  Oregon  and  Cali- 
fornia, and  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  proceeds  of  all  other  sales  of 
the  public  lands,  to  defray  the  costs  of  its  location  and  con- 
struction, but  nothing  practicable  ever  came  of  that  bill. 


RAILROADS. 


1143 


the  12th  of  March,  1849.  The  line  of  the  proposed 
road  is  thus  defined  in  the  seventh  section  of  the 
charter : 

"  Said  company  shall  have  power  to  survey,  make, 
locate,  and  construct  a  railroad  from  the  city  of  St. 
Louis  to  the  city  of  Jefferson,  and  thence  to  some 
point  on  the  western  line  of  Van  Buren  (now  Cass) 
County,  in  this  State,  with  a  view  that  the  same  may 
be  continued  hereafter  westwardly  to  the  Pacific 
Ocean."  The  act  vested  its  powers  in  twenty-one 
corporators,  of  whom  nine  formed  a  quorum  and 
might  proceed  to  act. 

The  corporators  were  John  O'Fallon,  Lewis  V. 
Bogy,  James  H.  Lucas,  Edward  Walsh,  George  Col- 
lier, Thomas  B.  Hudson,  Daniel  D.  Page,  Henry  M. 
Shreve,  James  E.  Yeatman,  John  B.  Sarpy,  Wayman 
Crow,  Joshua  B.  Brant,  Thomas  Allen,  Robert  Camp- 
bell, Pierre  Chouteau,  Jr.,  Henry  Shaw,  Bernard 
Pratte,  Ernst  Angelrodt,  Adolphus  Meier,  Louis  A. 
Benoist,  and  Adam  L.  Mills. 

The  capital  stock  of  the  company  as  fixed  by  the 
charter  was  ten  million  dollars. 

On  the  24th  of  May,  1849,  the  City  Council  of  St. 
Louis  passed  the  following  preamble  and  resolutions : 

"WHEREAS,  Recent  events  have  directed  public  attention  to 
the  necessity  and  importance  of  early  railroad  and  telegraph 
connection  with  California  and  Oregon,  and  the  general  desire 
seems  to  be  to  make  St.  Louis  the  starting  point  for  those  great 
national  works ;  and 

"  WHEREAS,  This  community  is  especially  interested  in  the 
accomplishment  of  so  vast  and  beneficent  an  enterprise,  and  is 
properly  expected  to  lead  in  the  essential  preliminary  action 
for  concentrating  and  enlightening  public  opinion  in  reference 
thereto;  and 

"  WHEREAS,  It  is  peculiarly  desirable  that  measures  should 
be  promptly  adopted  in  furtherance  of  the  most  feasible  plan 
for  making  such  a  connection  between  St.  Louis  and  the  Bay  of 
San  Francisco  or  the  Pacific  coast;  therefore, 

"Be  it  resolved  by  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  the  Board  of 
Delegates  concurring,  That  the  mayor  be  requested  to  call  a 
mass-meeting  of  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis  and  surrounding 
country,  to  be  holden  on  the  first  Monday  in  June  next,  at  four 
o'clock  P.M.,  in  order  to  appoint  the  necessary  committees,  and 
to  make  suitable  arrangements  for  a  convention  of  delegates 
from  all  the  towns,  cities,  counties,  and  States  which  will  join 
in  such  a  movement,  said  convention  to  be  holden  in  the  city  of 
St.  Louis  on  the  third  Monday  of  October  next. 

"And  be  it  further  resolved,  That  the  hospitalities  of  this 
city  be  tendered  to  all  of  the  delegates  to  said  convention,  and 
that  it  be  recommended  to  the  mass-meeting  on  the  first  Mon- 
day of  June  next  to  take  all  suitable  action  to  procure  attend- 
ance at  the  October  convention  from  as  many  States  as  possible, 
together  with  such  information  to  be  laid  before  said  conven- 
tion as  may  show  the  value  and  importance  of  the  route  indi- 
cated, and  the  respective  merits  of  the  various  plans  which 
have  been  submitted  to  public  consideration  in  reference  to  this 
subject." 

In  accordance  with  the  request  contained  in  the 
resolutions,  the  mayor  caused  to  be  published  in  the 


several  newspapers  of  the  city  the  following  notice, 
dated  May  28,  1849,  viz.: 

"WHEREAS,  The  Honorable  City  Council  have  passed  reso- 
lutions authorizing  and  requesting  the  mayor  to  call  a  meeting 
of  the  citizens  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis  and  the  surrounding 
country,  to  be  held  on  the  first  Monday  in  June  next,  in  order 
to  appoint  the  necessary  committees  and  to  make  suitable  ar- 
rangements for  a  convention  of  delegates  from  all  the  towns, 
cities,  counties,  and  States  which  will  join  in  such  a  movement, 
for  the  purpose  of  taking  into  consideration  the  best  and  speed- 
iest plan  of  railroad  and  telegraphic  connection  with  California 
and  Oregon  and  the  Pacific  coast,  said  convention  to  be  held  in 
the  city  of  St.  Louis  on  the  third  Mondny  of  October  next :  Now, 
therefore,  in  compliance  with  said  resolutions,  I  do  hereby  re- 
spectfully request  the  inhabitants  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis  and 
the  surrounding  country  to  meet  at  the  rotunda  of  the  court- 
house on  Monday,  the  1st  day  of  June  next,  at  four  o'clock,  to 
take  into  consideration  the  above-mentioned  subject,  and  such 
other  matters  in  relation  thereto  as  may  come  before  the  meet- 
ing- JAMES  G.  BARRY,  Mayor." 

A  meeting  of  persons  interested  was  held  at  the 
court-house,  in  accordance  with  the  above  notice,  at 
which  the  Hon.  J.  G.  Barry,  mayor,  was  called  to  the 
chair,  and  Col.  John  O'Fallon,  David  Chambers,  and 
A.  R.  McNair  appointed  vice-presidents,  Capt.  Rich- 
ard Phillips  and  A.  B.  Chambers  secretaries. 

The  chairman  explained  the  object  of  the  meet- 
ing, and  alluded  to  the  vast  importance  of  the  sub- 
ject, its  extent  and  influence  upon  the  political  and 
commercial  prosperity  of  the  country,  and  the  neces- 
sity and  duty  of  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis  to  take 
an  active  part  in  furtherance  of  the  enterprise. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Blennerhassett,  it  was  ordered 
that  a  committee  of  ten  be  appointed  by  the  chair 
to  report  a  preamble  and  resolutions  for  the  action 
of  the  meeting. 

The  chair  selected  the  following  to  compose  the 
committee:  R.  S.  Blennerhassett,  Thomas  Cohen, 
Robert  Campbell,  Pierce  C.  Grace,  George  L.  Lack- 
land, Sr.,  Matthias  Steitz,  William  Ennis,  Mann  But- 
ler, L.  V.  Bogy,  and  William  Milburn,  who,  by  their 
chairman,  reported  the  following  preamble  and  reso- 
lutions: 

"  WHEREAS,  The  idea  of  establishing  a  thorough  fare  of  travel 
and  of  commerce  between  Europe  and  Asia,  across  the  continent 
of  America,  has  ever  been  cherished  by  the  statesman  and 
philanthropist  since  the  days  of  Columbus;  and  whereas,  the 
discovery  and  application  of  steam  as  a  motive-power,  the  rapid 
extension  of  the  means  of  electric  communication,  the  recent 
events  in  our  history  which  have  extended  our  domain  to  the 
Pacific  Ocean,  the  extraordinary  discoveries  of  gold  in  Califor- 
nia, and  the  peaceable  and  prosperous  condition  of  our  beloved 
country,  all  conspire  to  place  the  consummation  of  this  Jong- 
cherished  project  in  the  power  of  the  American  people;  and 
whereas,  the  great  number  of  projects  for  a  railway  across  the 
continent  which  have  been  presented  to  Congress  and  canvassed 
before  the  country,  as  also  the  debate  with  regard  to  the  prac- 
versity  of  opinion  in  respect  to  the  location  and  manner  of  pro- 
ticability  of  a  telegraphic  line,  are  calculated  to  produce  a  di- 


1144 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


viding  the  necessary  means  of  construction  in  the  case  of  both 
projects,  and  consequently  to  embarrass  the  action  of  the  na- 
tional legislature  upon  such  subjects;  and  considering  it  of 
vital  importance  in  the  adoption  of  measures  purely  national 
in  all  their  bearings,  and  calculated  to  affect  the  condition  of 
the  whole  race  of  man,  whether  civilized  or  savage,  that  the 
heart  of  the  nation  should  be  united  in  the  great  work,  and  be- 
lieving that  this  favorable  condition  of  the  public  mind  can  best 
be  promoted  through  the  agency  of  a  convention  that  shall  be 
purely  national  in  all  respects,  be  it,  therefore, 

"  Resolved,  That  this  meeting  cordially  approve  of  the  recom- 
mendation made  by  the  city  authorities  of  holding  a  great  na- 
tional convention  in  St.  Louis,  on  the  third  Monday  of  October 
next,  for  the  purpose  of  taking  into  consideration  the  expedi- 
ency and  practicability  of  establishing  a  line  of  electric  tele- 
graph, and  of  constructing  a  railway  from  St.  Louis  to  the  Bay 
of  San  Francisco. 

"  Itesolved,  That  the  project  of  a  great  line  of  railway  across 
the  American  continent  is  in  all  its  aspects  a  national  project, 
that  as  such  it  is  due  to  every  State  and  section  of  the  Union 
that  their  opinions  and  views  shall  be  heard,  and  their  in- 
terest fairly  considered,  and  that  we  deprecate  any  attempt  to 
excite  sectional  jealousy,  party  rivalry,  or  personal  feelings  in 
reference  to  this  important  subject. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  chairman  of  this  meeting  appoint  a  com- 
mittee of  twenty-five,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  prepare  an  ad- 
dress to  the  people  of  the  United  States,  urging  them  to  take 
into  their  serious  consideration  these  interesting  subjects;  to 
open  and  conduct  a  correspondence  with  every  portion  of  the 
Union,  in  such  manner  as  to  further  the  objects  of  this  meet- 
ing; to  collect,  prepare,  and  publish  all  the  facts  calculated  to 
recommend  these  subjects  to  public  consideration,  and  to  sug- 
gest when  and  how  they  ought  to  be  accomplished ;  and, 
finally,  to  prepare  and  classify,  and  have  printed  for  the  use 
of  the  members  of  the  October  convention,  every  fact  within 
their  power  calculated  to  shed  light  upon  these  subjects,  to- 
gether with  a  map  and  profile  sections,  made  up  from  the  best 
authorities. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  feel  deeply  gratified  in  witnessing  that 
many  portions  of  the  Union  are  awakening  to  the  importance 
of  this  great  subject,  and  feel  satisfied  that  our  fellow-citizens 
generally  will  cordially  co-operate  in  bringing  into  successful 
operation  the  great  national  measures  which  are  contemplated 
by  the  convention  of  October  next. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  mayor  and  Council  of  the  city  of  St. 
Louis  and  the  county  court  be  hereby  requested  to  appropriate 
out  of  their  treasury  such  sum  or  sums  as  in  their  judgment, 
upon  consultation  with  said  committee,  shall  be  requisite  to 
carrv  into  effect  the  foregoing  resolutions. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  whole  people  of  the  United  States  be 
and  they  are  hereby  invited  to  send  delegates  to  the  contem- 
plated convention,  and  that  the  hospitalities  of  this  city  are 
hereby  cordially  proffered  to  all  such  as  may  honor  us  by  their 
attendance." 

The  preamble  and  resolutions  were  unanimously 
adopted. 

On  the  llth  of  June  the  chairman  announced  the 
following  as  the  committee  of  twenty-five  under  the 
resolution : 

Messrs.  L.  M.  Kennett,  Thomas  Allen,  Thomas  B. 
Hudson,  M.  Tarver,  Henry  Kayser,  A.  B.  Chambers, 
R.  Phillips,  John  O'Fallon,  Edward  Walsh,  John  F. 
Darby,  J.  M.  Field,  L.  V.  Bogy,  G.  K.  Budd.  N.  R. 


Cormany,  John  Loughborough,  Charles  G.  Ramsey, 
Joseph  C.  Meyer,  John  Withnell,  George  L.  Lack- 
land, J.  B.  Brant,  Thomas  D.  Yeats,  Samuel  Gaty, 
0.  D.  Filley,  A.  Olshausen,  and  V.  Staley. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  committee  held  on  June  14th 
the  following  sub-committees  were  appointed : 

Committee  on  address  to  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  Thomas  Allen,  Thomas  B.  Hudson,  M.  Tarver, 
Henry  Kayser,  V.  Staley  ;  committee  on  invitation 
and  correspondence,  A.  B.  Chambers,  R.  Phillips,  John 
O'Fallon,  Edward  Walsh.  John  F.  Darby  ;  committee 
on  publication,  M.  Tarver,  J.  M.  Field,  L.  V.  Bogy, 
George  K.  Budd,  N.  R.  Cormany  ;  committee  on  statis- 
tics of  convention,  John  Loughborough,  Charles  G. 
Ramsey,  J.  C.  Meyer,  John  Withnell,  George  L.  Lack- 
land ;  committee  on  finance,  J.  B.  Brant,  Thomas  D. 
Yates,  Samuel  Gaty,  0.  D.  Filley,  A.  Olshausen. 

The  prevalence  of  the  cholera  as  an  epidemic  for 
a  time  interrupted  the  action  of  the  committee,  but 
at  an  adjourned  meeting  of  the  citizens,  held  in  Sep- 
tember, 1849,  it  was  reported  by  the  chairman  of  the 
committee  that  two  thousand  copies  of  the  address 
from  the  pen  of  Thomas  Allen  had  been  printed  and 
freely  circulated,  and  all  proper  steps  taken  for  calling 
together  a  convention  to  be  held  on  the  15th  of  Octo- 
ber, 1849. 

The  address  was  an  able  presentation  of  the  argu- 
ments in  favor  of  the  enterprise,  and  one  of  the  strik- 
ing theories  advanced  was  that  which  advocated  the 
national  character  of  the  work. 

"  But,  on  the  other  hand,"  wrote  Mr.  Allen,  "  if  we  fail  to 
make  this  road,  and  California  and  Oregon  remain  without  any 
practicable  or  convenient  connection  with  the  old  States  of  the 
Union,  who  can  doubt  that  a  new  republic  will  grow  up  on  the 
shores  of  the  Pacific  which  would  perhaps  become  independent 
of  the  Union,  and  obtain  a  supremacy  of  their  own  upon  an  ocean 
favorable  to  steam  navigation,  and  the  very  home  of  the  trade 
with  Asia  ?  The  whale  fishery,  the  present  American  trade  with 
China,  the  Pacific  Islands,  and  the  northwest  coast,  would  be 
shared,  if  not  monopolized,  by  the  new  republic.  The  central 
authority  would  find  their  power  over  a  people  so  remote  to  be 
feeble  and  insufficient.  With  great  mineral  wealth  in  their  pos- 
session, with  a  trade  before  them  which  has  been  the  cynosure 
of  commercial  nations  during  the  whole  Christian  era,  and 
the  experience  and  energy  of  the  race  whence  they  derive  their 
origin,  who  can  doubt  their  future  power  and  progress  in  com- 
plete independence  of  all  other  nations? 

"The  true  policy  of  our  government  and  country,  therefore,, 
in  reference  to  this  subject  is  apparent.  The  great  importance 
and  absolute  necessity  of  this  communication  across  the  conti- 
nent, by  railway  and  telegraph,  must  be  appreciated.  We 
confidently  trust  that  it  will  be  carried  out,  by  national  means 
and  authority,  as  one  of  the  most  powerful  auxiliaries  to  the 
integrity  and  perpetuity  of  the  Union,  and  to  the  mission  of  our 
country  in  promoting  and  extending  the  influence  of  the  noble 
cause  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  civilization  and  humanity. 

"  What  we  want  is  a  central  highway  that  shall  be  most 
useful  and  most  acceptable  to  all  parts  of  our  country.  Nor 


RAILROADS. 


1145 


•can  we  anticipate  any  dispute  as  to  power,  inasmuch  as  the 
route  will  lie  entirely  through  the  territory  of  the  United 
States,  concerning  which  Congress  have  power  to  make  all 
needful  rules  and  regulations;  and  if  it  he  expedient  or  neces- 
sary to  enter  the  limits  of  a  State,  the  right  of  way  is  already 
granted.  To  the  eastern  frontier  of  that  territory,  we  have  as- 
surance that  the  electric  telegraph  will  be  constructed  during 
the  present  year,  and  to  the  same  frontier,  railroad  lines  are 
already  projected,  or  in  operation,  within  the  limits  of  the 
States." 

The  address  concluded  as  follows : 

"We  therefore  respectfully  invite  delegates  from  every  State 
and  Territory  of  the  nation.  Laying  aside  for  the  moment  party 
and  private  engagements,  we  bespeak  from  all  parties  a  day  in 
union  for  the  general  good.  We  ask  every  district  to  send  its 
representatives,  that  we  may  have  them  from  the  mountains  and 
from  the  plains,  from  the  cities  and  from  the  country,  from  the 
hills  of  New  England  and  from  the  savannas  of  Georgia ;  that  they 
will  come  to  us  from  the  north  and  the  south,  from  the  east,  and 
even  from  the  west,  pouring  in  upon  us  by  all  the  numerous 
avenues  of  conveyance  which  converge  at  this  point,  so  that 
the  hospitality  of  St.  Louis  shall  rejoice  in  the  fullest  exercise 
and  enjoyment  of  its  means,  and  that  a  quickening  voice  may 
go  forth  from  the  assembled  mass  that  shall  give  to  the  great 
measure  of  American  progress  assurance  of  its  triumph." 

At  the  adjourned  meeting  of  the  citizens,  held  on 
the  first  Monday  in  September,  1849,  Mayor  Barry 
called  the  meeting  to  order,  and  requested  the  same 
officers  selected  at  the  mass-meeting  to  serve  with 
him,  viz. :  vice-presidents,  Col.  John  O'Fallon,  David 
Chambers,  and  A.  11.  McNair ;  Richard  Phillips  and 
A.  B.  Chambers,  secretaries. 

The  mayor  then  explained  the  objects  for  which 
the  adjourned  meeting  was  held. 

On  the  suggestion  of  Judge  Krum,  A.  A.  King, 
Governor  of  the  State,  being  present,  was  invited  and 
took  a  seat  with  the  chairman  and  vice-presidents. 

The  proceedings  of  the  mass-meeting  held  on  the 
4th  of  June  were  then  read. 

L.  M.  Kennett,  from  the  committee  of  twenty-five, 
reported  an  abstract  of  the  meetings  and  proceedings 
of  the  committee,  and  the  following  resolutions,  which 
were  accepted : 

"Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  arrangements  consisting  of 
twenty  be  selected  by  the  chairman  of  this  meeting,  to  provide 
a  suitable  place  for  holding  the  convention  of  the  loth  of  Octo- 
ber, and  to  take  all  necessary  measures  for  its  comfort  and 
accommodation  whilst  in  session. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  chairman  appoint  a  committee  of  recep- 
tion, also  to  consist  of  twenty,  to  procure  the  names  of  delegates 
as  they  arrive,  and  see  that  they  are  suitably  provided  for. 

"  Resolved,  That  a  finance  committee,  consisting  of  three 
members  from  each  ward  of  the  city,  be  appointed  to  collect  sub- 
scriptions to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  convention,  as  the  ap- 
propriations made  by  the  City  Council  and  county  court  arc 
insufficient  for  that  purpose. 

"Resolved,  That  fifty  delegates  to  attend  the  convention, 
twenty  from  the  county  and  thirty  from  the  city  (five  from  each 
ward),  be  now  selected,  the  names  to  be  proposed  by  the  chair- 
man and  passed  upon  by  the  meeting." 


The  resolutions  were  adopted  unanimously. 

On  motion  of  Judge  Bowl  in  it  was  resolved  that 

the    committee    of    twenty-five    appointed    by   the 

i  mass-meeting  on   the  4th  of  June  be  added  to  the 

i  delegation  from  the  city  and  county,  and  requested  to 

take  seats  as  delegates  from  the  city  and  county. 

The  chairman  then  announced  the  following  names 
of  the  committees  and  delegates,  which  were  adopted : 

Committee  of  Arrangements. — Thornton  Grimsley, 
Charles  Keemle,  J.  B.  Sarpy,  A.  S.  Smyth,  James 
Magehan,  J.  H.  Alexander,  Wait  Barton,  John  M. 
Wimer,  John  Leach,  C.  Pullis,  C.  L.  Hunt,  P.  A. 
Berthold,  Louis  Beach,  George  K.  McGunnegle, 
Samuel  Hawken,  Patrick  Gorman,  John  McNeil,  Ed- 
ward Brooks,  Hiram  Shaw,  Oliver  D.  Filley. 

Committee  of  Reception. — James  E.  Yeatman,  J. 
B.  Crockett,  D.  D.  Page,  C.  M.  Valleau,  George  Ma- 
guire,  Matthias  Steitz,  R.  M.  Reuick,  T.  T.  Gantt, 
Luther  C.  Clark,  Thomas  O'Flaherty,  William  G. 
Clark,  James  M.  Hughes,  William  Bennett,  R.  C. 
McAllister,  J.  A.  Brownlee,  L.  A.  Labeaume,  Mann 
Butler,  Sr.,  Bryan  Mullanphy,  J.  A.  Durkan. 

Committee  of  Finance. — First  Ward,  John  Dunn, 
John  C.  Dagenhart,  Ezra  0.  English  ;  Second  Ward, 
Michael  S.  GerrS,  J.  P.  Thomas,  Patrick  Walsh; 
Third  Ward,  William  H.  Pococke,  Michael  Kelley, 
H.  D.  Bacon ;  Fourth  Ward,  H.  L.  Patterson,  J.  B. 
Carson,  Theron  Barnum ;  Fifth  Ward,  J.  T.  Swear- 
ingen,  George  Plant,  Isaac  T.  Green  ;  Sixth  Ward, 
Isaac  L.  Sturgeon,  Nathaniel  Childs,  Jr.,  Reuben  B. 
Austin. 

Delegates.  —  First  Ward,  R.  S.  Blennerhassett, 
David  B.  Hill,  Edward  Haren,  William  R.  Price, 
D.  D.  Mitchell;  Second  Ward,  George  R.  Taylor, 
Archibald  Gamble,  Wilson  Primm,  John  G.  Shelton, 
Mann  Butler,  Jr. ;  Third  Ward,  Edward  Bates,  Henry 
S.  Geyer,  A.  L.  Mills,  Bernard  Pratte,  Samuel  Treat ; 
Fourth  Ward,  James  H.  Lucas,  William  Robb,  John 
M.  Krum,  G.  B.  Allen,  John  Howe;  Fifth  Ward, 
Alexander  Hamilton,  Trusten  Polk,  John  B.  Gibson, 
Robert  Cathcart,  Archibald  Carr ;  Sixth  Ward,  Henry 
Holmes,  T.  M.  Post,  J.  T.  Swearingen,  Isaac  H. 
Sturgeon,  Calvin  Case ;  County,  John  K.  Walker, 
James  H.  Castello,  Geerge  M.  Moore,  Frederick 
Hyatt,  William  F.  Berry,  Henry  Walton,  James  Sut- 
ton,  James  McDonald,  Hamilton  R.  Gamble,  Alton 
Long,  Judge  Higgins,  Henry  McCullough,  John  B. 
Bogert,  Peregrine  Tippett,  Zeno  Mackey,  John  Sap- 
ington,  Peter  D.  Barada,  William  Milburn,  H.  M. 
Shreve,  G.  W.  Goode. 

At  the  call  of  the  meeting,  Governor  King  briefly 
responded,  expressing  his  entire  approbation  of  the  ob- 
jects and  purposes  of  the  meeting.  He  regarded  them 


1146 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


as  feasible,  practicable,  and  within  the  powers  and 
energies  of  the  nation.  The  object  was  one  not  partial 
to  the  State  or  nation,  but  interested  the  civilized  world. 
All  the  energies  and  assistance  which  he  could  bring 
to  the  furtherance  of  the  proposed  work  he  cheerfully 
promised  to  give. 

At  subsequent  periods  several  meetings  of  the  citi- 
zens were  held,  and  suitable  arrangements  made  for 
holding  the  convention,  and  for  the  accommodation 
of  the  delegates  attending  from  a  distance. 

The  convention,  which  consisted  of  delegates  from 
the  several  States,  assembled  in  St.  Louis  on  Monday, 
the  15th  of  October,  1849. 

At  twelve  o'clock  the  delegates  assembled  in  the 
rotunda  of  the  court-house,  and  on  motion  of  Col. 
Thornton  Grimsley,  of  St.  Louis,  Hon.  A.  T.  Ellis, 
of  Indiana,  was  called  to  the  chair  as  president  of 
the  convention  pro  tempore. 

Mr.  Ellis  thanked  the  convention  for  the  honor 
conferred  upon  him.  Before  proceeding  to  business, 
he  requested  that  the  Rev.  Bishop  Hawks  offer  a 
prayer. 

Bishop  Hawks  thereupon  rose,  and  made  a  brief 
and  eloquent  address,  in  which  he  adverted  to  the 
rapid  growth,  prosperity,  and  influence  of  the  nation 
among  the  people  of  the  earth,  and  the  grand  project 
contemplated  by  the  assembling  of  the  convention, 
and  prayed  that  in  their  consultations  harmony  of 
action  and  unity  of  purpose  might  prevail,  and  that 
their  proceedings  might  redound  in  much  good  to  the 
country,  and  to  the  glory  of  the  Most  High. 

Upon  a  call  of  the  several  States  it  appeared  that 
delegates  were  present  from  the  States  of  Missouri,1 
Pennsylvania,  New  York,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Kentucky, 
Illinois,  Iowa,  Wisconsin,  Michigan,  Louisiana,  and 
Tennessee. 

On  Tuesday  the  committee  appointed  to  select  offi- 
cers for  the  permanent  organization  of  the  convention, 
and  to  recommend  rules  for  the  government  of  its  de- 
liberations, reported  that  they  had  agreed  to  recom- 
mend for  president,  Hon.  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  of 


1  St.  Louis  Delegation. — Same  as  above  stated,  with  the  addi- 
tion of  the  following: 

Dr.  Prout,  Hugh  Garland,  William  M.  McPherson,  Miron 
Leslie,  John  Barnes,  L.  A.  Labeauine,  R.  S.  Elliott,  Dr.  Penn, 
F.  M.  Haight,  M.  Blair,  L.  M.  Kennett,  Thomas  Allen,  Thomas 
B.  Hudson,  M.  Tarver,  Henry  Kayser,  A.  B.  Chambers,  R. 
Phillips,  John  O'Fallon,  Edward  Walsh,  John  F.  Darby, 
J.  M.  Field,  G.  K.  Budd,  N.  R.  Germany,  John  Loughborough, 
Charles  G.  Ramsey,  John  B.  Meyer,  John  Withnell,  George  L. 
Lackland,  T.  T.  Gantt,  Thonvis  D.  Yeats,  Samuel  Gaty,  0.  D. 
Filley,  A.  Olshausen,  V.  Staley,  James  G.  Barry. 

Ste.  Genevieve. — Lewis  V.  Bogy,  August  St.  Gemuie,  Felix  St. 
Gemnie,  F.  Vall<?,  Gustave  St.  James. 


Illinois ;  for  vice-presidents,  W.  L.  Totten,  of  Penn- 
sylvania; Samuel  Forrer,  of  Ohio;  Samuel  Emison, 
of  Indiana ;  Henry  J.  Eastin,  of  Kentucky ;  Hon. 
Joseph  Williams,  of  Iowa  ;  Charles  Bracken,  of  Wis- 
consin ;  Henry  S.  Geyer,  of  Missouri ;  John  Biddle, 
of  Michigan;  Amherst  K.  Williams,  of  New  York; 
Hon.  W.  B.  Scates,  of  Illinois ;  for  secretaries,  A.  B. 
Chambers,  of  Missouri ;  W.  H.  Wallace,  of  Iowa ; 
A.  S.  Mitchell,  of  Kentucky ;  W.  G.  Minor,  of  Mis- 
souri ;  T.  A.  Stuart,  of  Illinois. 

The  report  of  the  committee  was  approved,  and 
the  president,  Hon.  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  was  conducted 
to  the  chair. 

A  committee  of  three  from  each  State  represented 
was  appointed  by  the  chair  to  report  resolutions  for 
the  consideration  of  the  convention,  as  follows  : 

Iowa. — V.  P.  Van  Antwerp,  G.  H.  Walworthr 
William  Thompson. 

Tennessee. — Le  Roy  Pope,  Jr.,  E.  J.  Carroll, 
George  W.  Smith. 

Kentucky. — H.  J.  Eastin,  A.  S.  Mitchell,  James 
Harper. 

Pennsylvania. — George  Darsie,  Charles  Naylor,  J. 
H.  Reed. 

Wisconsin. — Charles  Bracken,  J.  R.  Murray,  Ed- 
ward Vaughers. 

Illinois. — Richard  Bond,  William  B.  Warrenr 
Thomas  Hayne. 

Indiana.— Albert  S.  White,  R.  W.  Thompson,  A. 
T.  Ellis. 

Michigan. — John  Biddle. 

Louisiana. — Charles  C.  Lathrop. 

New  York. — Amherst  R.  Williams. 

Missouri. — A.  A.  King,  J.  Loughborough,  T.  B. 
English. 

Ohio.—D.  W.  Deshler,  J.  H.  Sullivan,  Henry 
Stoddard. 

On  Wednesday  the  chair  announced  the  following 
gentlemen  as  having  been  appointed,  in  accordance 
with  the  action  of  the  convention,  to  constitute  the 
committee  to  memorialize  Congress :  W.  F.  Bowden, 
of  Wisconsin  ;  A.  K.  Williams,  of  New  York ;  Charles 
Naylor,  of  Pennsylvania ;  J.  F.  Maury,  of  Virginia ; 
John  G.  Low,  of  Ohio  ;  G.  W.  Lincoln,  of  Tennessee  ; 
0.  H.  Smith,  of  Indiana ;  W.  S.  Wait,  of  Illinois ; 
John  Biddle,  of  Michigan ;  James  Clark,  of  Iowa ; 
Thomas  Allen,  of  Missouri;  Basil  Duke,  of  Ken- 
tucky ;  C.  C.  Lathrop,  of  Louisiana ;  Robert  Cham- 
bers, of  New  Jersey. 

Henry  Stoddard,  of  Ohio,  from  the  committee  ap- 
pointed to  draft  resolutions  for  the  consideration  of 
the  convention,  submitted  the  following,  which  were 
read  : 


RAILROADS. 


1147 


"  1 .  Resolved,  That  this  convention  is,  in  its  spirit  and  object, 
strictly  national,  having  no  party,  no  sectional,  no  local  inter- 
ests to  serve  or  promote,  but  having  at  heart  the  interests  of  the 
whole  country. 

"  2.  Resolved,  That  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  to  make  immediate  provision  for  the  construction 
of  a  great  trunk  railroad  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  in  California, 
•with  a  branch  road  to  Oregon,  from  such  point  in  the  Missis- 
sippi valley  or  on  the  frontier  of  the  States  as  may  be  found 
from  examination  and  surveys  to  be  most  eligible  and  conve- 
nient, with  reference  to  the  existing  and  prospective  state  of  the 
country  and  the  population  and  convenience  of  the  whole 
Union,  and  that  it  should  be  diligently  prosecuted  by  the  Fed- 
eral government. 

"3.  Resolved,  That  the  various  lines  of  railway  now  either  com- 
plete or  under  process  of  construction  from  Savannah,  Charles- 
ton, Richmond,  Baltimore,  Philadelphia,  New  York,  and  Boston, 
tending  to  and  connecting  with  the  Mississippi  valley,  are  only 
parts  of  the  great  whole  which  the  general  government  is  asked 
to  consummate  by  the  Mississippi  and  Pacific  Railway,  and  that 
these  Eastern  connections  now  being  prepared  for  it,  by  uniting 
all  interests,  guarantee  the  perfect  nationality  of  this  work. 

•'4.  Resolved,  That,  as  an  important  means  necessary  and 
preliminary  to  the  construction  of  such  railroad,  it  is  the  first 
duty  of  the  American  Congress,  immediately  upon  its  assem- 
bling together,  to  make  provision  for  the  establishment  of  mili- 
tary posts  from  the  western  confines  of  our  Western  States  to 
the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  these  posts  should  be  established  numer- 
ously in  all  proper  places,  not  far  distant  from  each  other,  and 
that  civilized  and  productive  settlements  should  be  encouraged 
around  them  by  liberal  sales  or  grants  of  the  public  lands,  by 
extending  ample  protection  to  the  settlers  and  to  the  transport 
of  their  stores  and  merchandise,  etc.,  so  that  by  these  means 
full  opportunities  may  be  afforded  to  our  topographical  engi- 
neers for  the  immediate  reconnoissance  and  survey  of  our  vast 
possessions  reaching  to  the  Pacific,  and  one  or  more  practical 
roads,  with  facilities  of  travel,  be  immediately  formed  for  our 
citizens  across  our  own  Territories  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pa- 
cific shores. 

"  5.  Resolved,  That  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  be  me- 
morialized to  construct,  or  authorize  the  construction  of,  a 
national  line  of  telegraph  along  the  route  which  may  be  deter- 
mined upon  by  national  authority  for  the  great  railway  to  the 
Pacific. 

"6.  Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  five  be  appointed  by  the 
president  of  this  convention  to  prepare  and  publish  an  address 
to  the  people  of  the  United  States  urging  their  co-operation  in 
procuring  such  action  on  the  part  of  Congress  as  may  be  neces- 
sary to  carry  out  the  views  of  this  convention." 

Hon.  R.  W.  Thompson,  of  Indiana,  then  addressed 
the  convention  at  length,  and  concluded  by  submit- 
ting the  following  resolutions  in  lieu  of  those  reported 
by  the  committee : 

"Resolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  convention  it  is  the 
duty  of  the  general  government  to  provide  at  an  early  period 
for  the  construction  of  a  central  national  railroad  from  the 
valley  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

"  Resolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  convention  a  grand 
trunk  railroad,  with  branches  to  St.  Louis,  Memphis,  and  Chi- 
cago, would  be  such  a  central  and  national  one. 

"  Resolved,  That  a  committee  be  appointed  to  communicate 
to  the  convention  to  be  held  at  Memphis  the  foregoing  reso- 
lutions, and  to  request  the  concurrence  of  said  convention 
therein." 


The  resolutions  offered  by  Mr  Thompson  were 
carried  by  almost  an  unanimous  vote. 

Hon.  Charles  Naylor,  of  Pennsylvania,  then  ad- 
dressed the  convention. 

A  communication  was  received  from  the  delegates 
from  Memphis,  Tenn.,  tendering  to  the  convention  an 
invitation  to  be  present  at  and  participate  in  the  de- 
liberations of  the  National  Pacific  Railroad  Conven- 
tion, which  was  to  meet  in  Memphis,  October  23d. 

The  invitation  was  signed  by  George  W.  Smith, 
Edward  J.  Carroll,  L.  Pope,  Jr.,  W.  T.  Avery,  E. 
Hickman,  A.  S.  Caldwell,  Samuel  Vance,  Miles  Owen. 

It  was  moved  by  Hon.  J.  H.  Burch  that  the  com- 
mittee to  communicate  the  resolutions  of  the  St. 
Louis  convention  to  the  convention  to  meet  on  the 
23d  instant  at  Memphis  be  composed  of  fifty  persons, 
and  that  Hon.  R.  W.  Thompson,  of  Indiana,  be  chair- 
man of  that  committee,  which  motion  was  adopted. 

The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  memorial  prepared 
by  the  committee  appointed  for  that  purpose  and 
forwarded  to  Congress : 

"  To  the  Senate  and  House  of   Representatives  of  the    United 

States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled  : 

"  The  memorial  of  the  subscribers,  members  of  a  committee 
appointed  at  a  meeting  of  numerous  delegates  assembled  from 
fifteen  States  of  the  Union,  held  at  St.  Louis,  in  the  State  of 
Missouri,  on  the  fifteenth,  sixteenth,  seventeenth,  and  eighteenth 
days  of  October  last,  respectfully  represents 

"  That  your  memorialists  were  instructed  by  said  assembly 
'  to  draft  a  memorial  to  Congress,  presenting  the  objects  and 
desires  of  the  convention.' 

"Your  memorialists,  therefore,  respectfully  beg  leave  to  in- 
vite the  attention  of  your  honorable  bodies  to  the  published 
call  of  said  convention,  to  its  proceedings,  and  to  the  address 
to  the  people  of  the  United  States  issued  under  its  authority, 
as  furnishing  the  best  evidence  in  the  possession  of  your  me- 
morialists of  the  'objects  and  desires  of  the  convention,'  all  of 
which  are  hereto  annexed,  marked  respectively  A,  B,  and  C. 

"  Your  honorable  bodies  will  readily  perceive,  by  reference  to 
these  papers,  that  the  objects  and  desires  of  the  convention 
embrace  the  construction  of  a  national  railroad,  electric 
telegraph,  and  a  line  of  military  posts  across  the  central  parts  of 
the  continent,  from  the  Mississippi  River  to  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

"That  these  objects  are  held  to  be  of  national  importance 
and  of  high  necessity,  and  that  they  ought  to  be  accomplished 
by  the  means  and  authority  of  the  government  of  the  United 
States  at  an  early  day. 

"Your  memorialists,  in  behalf  of  said  convention,  therefore, 
respectfully  pray  that  immediate  measures  may  be  taken  by 
your  honorable  bodies  for  the  location  and  construction  of  this 
national  railroad  and  telegraph;  and  in  thus  praying,  your 
memorialists  believe  they  are  but  asking  your  honorable  bodies 
to  promote  and  perpetuate  social,  commercial,  and  political  inter- 
course with  our  regions  in  the  interior  and  upon  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  to  render  them  readily  and  easily  accessible  to  the  whole 
people  of  the  Union,  and  to  the  government  itself,  and  to  con- 
firm and  strengthen  the  Union  of  these  States. 

"And  your  memorialists  beg  leave  to  call  the  earnest  atten- 
tion of  your  honorable  bodies  to  the  actual  present  and  proba- 
ble future  condition  of  affairs  in  the  West.  By  the  treaty  of 
peace  with  Mexico  the  territorial  property  and  domain  of  the 


1148 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


nation  have  been  immensely  extended,  as  well  in  the  interior  of  j 
the  continent  us  upon  the  shores  of  the  Pacific.  The  flag  of  the  , 
United  States  now  waves  among  remote  tribes  and  people  who  j 
have  hitherto  been  accustomed  to  feeble  masters  and  to  compar- 
ative freedom  from  the  restraints  of  civilized  government. 
These  people  and  tribes  are  to  feel  the  power  of  a  new  govern- 
ment; peace  is  to  be  maintained  among  them ;  the  emigrants 
from  the  older  States  are  to  be  protected;  a  largely-extended 
sea-coast  is  to  be  fortified  against  the  dangers  of  foreign  enemies, 
and  we  would  respectful!}'  submit  whether  a  cheaper  or  more 
efficient  provision  for  national  defense  and  internal  peace  and 
union,  in  respect  to  the  Territories  and  embryo  States  of  the 
West,  can  be  executed  or  devised  than  this  railroad  and  tele- 
graph, extending  from  the  Mississippi  River  to  the  Pacific 
Ocean.  And  in  this  connection,  and  as  a  preliminary  step  in 
the  process  of  constructing  this  great  work,  and  as  an  impor- 
tant means  of  repressing  Indian  depredation?,  murders,  and 
wars,  your  memorialists  pray  that  your  honorable  bodies  may, 
without  unnecessary  delay,  establish  the  line  of  military  posts 
recommended  by  the  convention,  and  more  particularly  alluded 
to  in  this  address. 

"  Nor  is  the  general  subject,  in  the  opinion  of  your  memorial- 
ists, unworthy  of  your  serious  consideration,  viewed  as  a  means 
of  increasing  the  national  wealth.  Compare  the  Pacific  Rail- 
road as  a  medium  of  trade  with  the  Mississippi  and  the  Ohio 
Rivers,  and  the  branches  which  will  ultimately  project  from  it, 
with  the  tributaries  of  those  noble  streams,  and  no  true  estimate 
can  be  made  of  its  value.  Experience  has  demonstrated  that 
in  all  parts  of  the  United  States  the  enhanced  value  of  land, 
through  districts  comparatively  sterile  or  unproductive,  far  ex- 
ceeds the  cost  of  the  railroads  which  have  rendered  them  ac- 
cessible to  market.  With  the  un equaled  advantages  to  be 
afforded  by  the  Pacific  Railroad,  would  not  the  territory  to  be 
traversed  by  it  immediately  become  nearly  as  valuable  as  the 
most  eligible  agricultural  districts  of  the  United  States,  whilst 
as  it  now  lies  it  must  remain  comparatively  useless?  Tn  this, 
therefore,  would  be  a  creation  of  value  far  exceeding  the  cost  of 
the  work  at  the  highest  estimation.  And  as  a  commercial  link, 
bringing  Europe  and  Asia  into  contact  through  the  heart  of  our 
North  American  continent,  and  becoming  the  greatest  common 
carrier  of  the  world, — our  own  country,  the  half-way  house  upon 
the  highway  of  nations, — your  memorialists  respectfully  ask  your 
honorable  bodies  to  consider  the  immense  consequences  which 
will  result  from  it  beneficially  to  our  country. 

"  And  your  memorialists,  in  conclusion,  pray  that  the  national 
bearing  and  importance  of  the  subject  may  secure  for  it  the 
favorable  consideration  of  enlightened  statesmanship  and  pa- 
triotism, and  that  it  may  be  viewed  and  always  held  above  the 
prejudices  of  party  and  aloof  from  the  machinations  of  sec- 
tional interest. 

"  And  your  memorialists  will  ever  pray,  etc. 

"THOMAS  ALLEN,  of  Missouri. 

"  W.  S.  WAIT,  of  Illinois. 

"W.  F.  BOWDEN,  of  Wisconsin. 

"  A.  K.  AVILLIAMS,  of  New  York. 

"CHARLES  NAYLOR,  of  Pennsylvania. 

"  M.  F.  MAURY,  of  Virginia. 

"  JOHN  G.  Low,  of  Ohio. 

"  G.  W.  LINCOLN,  of  Tennessee. 

"0.  H.  SMITH,  of  Indiana. 

"JOHN  BIDDLE,  of  Michigan. 

'•JAMES  CLARK,  of  Iowa. 

"BASIL  DUKE,  of  Kentucky. 

"C.  C.  LATHROP,  of  Louisiana. 

"ROBERT  CHAMBERS,  of  New  Jersey. 

"  J.  C.  ELDER,  of  Maryland." 


Letters  approving  and  encouraging  the  scheme  of 
a  national  railroad  to  the  Pacific  were  received  and 
read  from  Levi  Woodbury,  Roger  Huntington,  Z. 
Pratt,  Richard  M.  Johnson,  James  G.  King,  John 
H.  McHenry,  Lewis  Cass,  J.  C.  Calhoun,  Henry 
Clay,  Martin  Van  Buren,  William  H.  Seward,  Levi 
Hubbell,  A.  D.  Crossmore,  P.  P.  F.  Degrand,  Thomas 
H.  Benton,  Jr.,  Samuel  Beardsley,  Giles  Spring, 
Robert  M.  McLane,  D.  S.  Dickinson,  J.  W.  Cris- 
field,  G.  W.  Peter,  W.  L.  Goggin,  J.  G.  Chapman, 
John  Glenn,  0.  G.  Gates,  H.  B.  Huntershott,  James 
Gadsden,  James  Grant,  Samuel  R.  Curtis,  William 
Duer,  J.  Davis,  George  S.  Fisher,  Maunsel  White, 
William  T.  Lawrence,  D.  Field,  John  M.  Botts,  John 
H.  Clarke,  Edwin  Crosswell,  Albert  S.  White,  J.  L. 
Martin,  W.  Preston,  John  F.  Gray,  A.  W.  Buel,  John 
N.  Niles,  John  G.  Palfrey,  Preston  B.  Reed,  Wash- 
ington Hunt,  W.  L.  Foote,  J.  Van  Buren,  W.  B. 
Mac-lay,  Henry  O'Reilly,  Benjamin  F.  Porter,  C.  F. 
Keener,  Chauncey  P.  Holcomb,  William  Woodbridge, 
and  F.  Tiernan. 

The  construction  of  the  proposed  railroad  to  the 
Pacific  became  a  question  in  politics,  and  was  favored 
in  the  "  platforms"  of  both  parties  and  the  "  pledges" 
of  public  men,  but  was  postponed  to  a  "  more  conve- 
nient season."  The  subject,  however,  continued  to 
hold  the  earnest  attention  and  interest  of  the  people 
of  St.  Louis,  and  was  urged  with  great  force  and 
vigor  by  Thomas  Allen,  J.  Loughborough,  and  others. 

On  Jan.  29,  1850,  Thomas  Allen,  one  of  the  cor- 
porators mentioned  in  the  charter  of  the  Pacific 
Railroad,  published  a  note  in  the  Missouri  Republican 
calling  for  a  meeting  of  the  corporators  with  a  view 
to  organization.  At  this  meeting,  which  was  held 
in  the  office  of  the  St.  Louis  Insurance  Company,  in 
the  city  of  St.  Louis,  on  Thursday  evening,  the  31st 
of  January,  1850,  there  were  present  John  O'Fallon, 
James  H.  Lucas,  Edward  Walsh,  George  Collier, 
Daniel  D.  Page,  James  E.  Yeatman,  Joshua  B.  Brant, 
Thomas  Allen,  Adolphus  Meier,  Adam  L.  Mills,  and 
Wayman  Crow. 

On  motion  of  Thomas  Allen,  the  meeting  was  or- 
ganized by  calling  Col.  John  O'Fallon  to.  the  chair, 
and  appointing  Wayman  Crow  secretary. 

Mr.  Allen  then  delivered  an  address,  which  was 
published  and  extensively  circulated.  It  was  an 
able  presentation  of  the  Pacific  Railroad  enterprise, 
and  inspired  confidence  in  the  project  of  building  a 
railroad  in  Missouri  for  its  local  worth,  as  well  as  for 
a  link  in  the  great  Pacific  Railroad.  After  this 
address,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Lucas,  it  was 

"  Resolved,  That  the  corporators  do  now  proceed  to  organize 
by  the  election  of  a  president,  secretary,  and  treasurer." 


RAILROADS. 


1149 


The  vote,  having  been  taken,  resulted  in  the  elec- 
tion of  Col.  John  O'Fallon,  president ;  Thomas  Allen, 
secretary  ;  and  Daniel  D.  Page,  treasurer. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Allen,  it  was 

"  Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  three  corporators  be  ap- 
pointed to  open  books  for  subscription  to  the  capital  stock  of 
the  company  ;  that  said  books  be  opened  on  Monday,  the  4th 
of  February,  at  ten  o'clock,  and  close  at  three  o'clock  P.M.,  and 
kept  open  for  six  days  in  the  rooms  of  the  Merchants'  Ex- 
change." 

The  chairman  appointed  the  following  gentlemen 
that  committee,  viz. :  James  H.  Lucas,  James  E. 
Yeatman,  and  J.  B.  Brant. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Lucas,  it  was 

"  Resolved,  That  the  several  papers  in  the  city  be  requested  to 
publish  the  proceedings  of  this  meeting  and  the  address  of  Mr. 
Allen  on  this  subject." 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Allen,  it  was 

"  Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  three  be  appointed  to  prepare 
a  memorial  to  Congress,  praying  a  donation  of  alternate  sections 
of  land  along  the  route  for  the  construction  of  the  proposed 
road." 

The  chairman  appointed  the  following  gentlemen 
that  committee:  Thomas  Allen,  James  H.  Lucas, 
Wayman  Crow. 

Before  the  adjournment  of  the  meeting  the  eleven 
gentlemen  present  pledged  themselves  to  subscribe 
$154,000  in  the  aggregate  to  the  stock  upon  the 
opening  of  the  books,  which  pledge  they  redeemed. 
Mr.  Lucas  first  started  the  subscription  by  offering  to 
be  one  of  three  to  make  up  $100,000.  In  this  he 
was  joined  by  John  O'Fallon  and  D.  D.  Page.  It 
was  understood  that  there  were  others  ready  to  sub- 
scribe, and  that  $1,000,000  could  be  raised  by  the 
1st  of  March. 

The  subscribers,  nearly  all  of  whom  expressed 
their  willingness  and  purpose,  if  necessary  to  the 
progress  of  the  work,  to  double  or  more  than  double 
their  subscriptions,  were : 

James  H.  Lucas 333  shares,  $33,300 


John  O'Fallon 334 

Daniel  D.  Page 333 

Thomas  Allen 100 

J.  &  E.  Walsh 100 

James  E.  Yeatman 50 

Joshua  B.  Brant 100 

George  Collier 100 

Wayman  Crow 25 

A.  L.  Mills 50 

Adolphus  Meier 15 

Total....  ...1540 


33.400 

33,300 

10,000 

10,000 

5,000 

10,000 

10,000 

2,500 

5,000 

1,500 


$154,000 

"  We  are  justified  in  asserting,"  added  the  Repub- 
lican in  its  notice  of  its  meeting,  "  that  the  eleven 
gentlemen  present,  if  they  had  had  time  for  consul- 
tation and  examination  of  the  charter,  would  have 
promptly  made  up  the  two  hundred  thousand  dollars, 
and  they  will  yet  do  it.  The  three  first  on  the  list 


agreed  to  take  one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  each 
expressing  his  willingness  to  double  it  if  necessary, 
and  for  the  privilege  of  subscribing  the  odd  thousand 
they  tossed  up,  Col.  O'Fallon  winning  it.  This  sub- 
scription has  been  made  in  good  faith  by  men  under 
their  own  signature,  every  one  of  whom  is  able  not 
only  to  fulfill  his  present  pledge,  but  to  go  further  if 
it  should  be  necessary.  Their  judgment,  feelings,  and 
interest  prompt  them  to  push  the  measure  forward, 
and  we  risk  nothing  in  saying  that  this  road  will  be 
early  commenced  and  speedily  completed." 

At  a  subsequent  meeting  a  book  was  ordered  to  be 
opened  in  each  ward  of  the  city,  and  the  book  at  the 
Merchants'  Exchange  was  ordered  to  be  kept  open 
until  the  Saturday  preceding  the  last  Monday  in 
March.  A  committee,  consisting  of  Thomas  Allen, 
Edward  Walsh,  and  Adolphus  Meier,  was  appointed 
to  make  preliminary  arrangements  for  a  general  topo- 
graphical and  geological  survey  of  the  country  upon 
the  proposed  route  of  the  road.  An  election  of  nine 
directors,  as  provided  by  the  charter,  was  ordered  to 
be  held  on  the  last  Monday  in  March. 

The  committee,  in  accordance  with  the  original 
action  of  the  incorporators,  issued  the  following  notice : 

"Books  for  the  subscription  of  stock  to  the  Pacific  Railroad 
will  be  opened  between  the  hours  of  10  A.M.  and  3  P.M.  on  Mon- 
day, the  4th  of  February,  at  the  Merchants'  Exchange,  and  will 
be  kept  open  for  six  days. 

"JAMES  H.  LUCAS, 
"JAMES  E.  YEATMAN, 
"  J.  B.  BRANT, 

"Committee." 

In  its  issue  of  February  5th  the  Republican,  de- 
scribing the  opening  of  the  books,  said, — 

"  Nearly  the  whole  amount  required  to  put  the  Pa- 
cific Railroad  into  operation  was  subscribed  yesterday. 
The  books  will  continue  open  during  the  week. 

"  The  Merchants'  Exchange,  from  eleven  to  twelve 
o'clock  yesterday,  was  crowded  with  business  men 
and  visitors,  called  thither  to  see  what  progress  was 
making  in  the  subscription. 

"  The  subscription  to  the  stock  in  the  Pacific  Rail- 
road reached  one  hundred  and  ninety  thousand  dol- 
lars yesterday.  Nineteen  thousand  dollars  is  wanted 
to  perfect  the  organization  of  the  company.  As  soon 
as  this  is  secured  the  directors  will  feel  themselves 
authorized  to  employ  engineers  and  to  go  on  with  the 
work.  It  will  authorize  them  also  to  ask  subscrip- 
tions, on  the  part  of  the  city  and  county  of  St.  Louis, 
of  all  incorporated  companies,  and  of  the  counties 
through  which  it  may  be  settled  that  the  road  shall 
pass." 

On  February  7th  the  following  subscriptions  were 
added  to  those  which  had  already  been  made  : 


1150 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Shares.   Amount. 

Auguste  Guelberth  &  Co 20         $2,000 

Charles  L.  Hunt 30           3,000 

Thomas  Grey 5              500 

John  M.  Johnson 5              500 

L.  Deaver 20           2,000 

Thomas  B.  Chambers 5               500 

B.  M.  Chambers 5              500 

William  Turner 2              200 

H.L.Patterson 20           2,000 

Ann  C.  T.  Farrar,  by  J.  T.  Swear- 

ingen 20           2,000 

James  Harrison 50           5,000 

William  Beaumont 15           1,500 

William  Renshaw,  Jr 10           1,000 

P.  A.  Berthold 10           1,000 

A.  Shurlds  Dent 5              500 

Fred  Dent,  Jr 5              500 

S.  E.  Selleck 5              500 

Total 232      $23,200 

"  When  the  books  were  closed  yesterday,"  said  a 
newspaper  of  Feb.  9, 1850,  "  the  following  gentlemen 
had  subscribed  the  shares  and  sum  placed  opposite  to 
their  names  : 

Shares.   Amounts. 

James  H.Lucas 333       $33,300 

John  O'Fallon 334 

Daniel  Page. 333 

Thomas  Allen 100 

J.  and  E.  Walsh 100 

James  E.  Yeatman 50 

George  Collier 100 

Joshua  B.  Brant 100 

Crow,  McCreery  &  Co 25 

A.  L.  Mills 50 

Adolphus  Meier 15 

Joseph  Cbarless 50 

Taylor  A  Mason 25 

K.  Mackenzie 25 

Switzer,  Plaite  &  Co 25 

John  B.  Sarpy 25 

Louis  A.  Labeaume 

Chambers  &  Knapp 

Charles  L.  Hunt 

John  Simonds 

A.  P.  Ladew  &  Co 

Sandford  J.  Smith 

W.  Risley  &  Son 10 

R.  Simpson 10 

R.  W.  Ulrici 10 

John  B.Carson 5 

P.  M.Dillon 30 

P.  R.  Donnelly 10 

John  R.  Baldwin 10 

George  I.  Barnett 10 

Charles  Sellman 10 

Evans,  Nuckles  &  Co 10 

Oliver  Quinette 5 

John  Hogan 5 

J.  D.  Osborne 5 

Alexander,  Copp  A  Co 10 

Alexander  Hallam 5 

B.  H.  Batte 5 

John  W.  Barker 5 

Wilson  A  Bros....  10 


50 
20 
20 
50 
15 
10 


33,400 
33,300 
10,000 
10,000 
5,000 
10,000 
10,000 
2,500 
5,000 
1,500 
5,000 
2,500 
2,500 
2,500 
2,500 
5,000 
2,000 
2,000 
5,000 
1,500 
1,000 
1,000 
1,000 
1,000 
500 
3,000 
1,000 
1,000 
1,000 
1,000 
1,000 
500 
500 
500 
1,000 
500 
500 
500 
1,000 


Total 2020     $202,000" 

"  Every  day's  subscription  to  the  stock  of  the  Pacific  Rail- 
road Company,"  said  a  St.  Louis  newspaper  of  February  10th, 
"  only  serves  to  show  the  strong  hold  which  this  project  is  ac- 
quiring upon  the  people  of  St.  Louis.  Yesterday  the  stock 
taken  exceeded  forty-five  thousand  dollars,  and  at  the  close  of 
the  books  the  whole  amount  subscribed  was  three  hundred  and 
five  thousand  five  hundred  dollars.  When  it  was  considered 
that  the  project  has  only  been  before  the  people  for  about  a 
week,  that  it  is  only  ten  days  since  the  charter  was  first  pub- 
lished and  a  portion  of  the  commissioners  met  in  a  quiet  way 


and  resolved  that  the  great  work  should  be  commenced,  and  by 
way  of  attestation  of  their  own  convictions  of  what  ought  to  be 
done  subscribed  one  hundred  and  fifty-four  thousand  dollars, 
it  may  be  claimed,  we  think,  that  the  people  of  St.  Louis  have 
done  nobly. 

"  After  the  close  of  the  books  yesterday  the  directors  held  a 
meeting  to  determine  upon  further  proceedings.  We  under- 
stand that  they  resolved  to  reopen  the  books  for  the  subscription 
of  stock  at  the  Merchants'  Exchange  to-morrow  (Monday),  and 
they  resolved  also  to  open  additional  books  of  subscription  in  the 
First,  Second,  Fourth,  Fifth,  and  Sixth  Wards,  the  Merchants' 
Exchange  being  in  the  Third  Ward,  under  the  supervision  of 
the  committee  who  have  had  charge  of  the  books ;  and  that  they 
were  authorized  to  employ  assistants  in  the  several  wards.  This 
arrangement  will  accommodate  a  great  number  of  persons,  and 
will  add,  we  have  no  doubt,  to  the  interest  felt  in  the  success  of 
the  work." 

Two  days  later  (February  12th)  it  was  announced 
that  the  following  gentlemen  had  been  appointed  ward 
committees  to  collect  subscriptions  to  the  Pacific  Rail- 
road, and  to  make  personal  collections  for  subscrip- 
tions in  their  respective  wards  during  the  remainder 
of  the  week : 

First  Ward,  Edward  Haren,  R.  S.  Blennerhassett, 
D.  B.  Hill,  Adolph  Abeles,  M.  Steitz. 

Second  Ward,  George  R.  Taylor,  George  Knapp, 
G.  Schoentaler,  M.  S.  Cerre,  John  Kern. 

Third  Ward,  Louis  A.  Labeaume,  Asa  Wilgus, 
Ferdinand  Overstolz,  A.  L.  Mills,  Sullivan  Blood. 

Fourth  Ward,  0.  D.  Filley,  G.  I.  Barnett,  Rufus 
Keyser,  A.  P.  Ladew,  Patrick  Gorman. 

Fifth  Ward,  A.  H.  Glasby,  John  Leach,  William 
Branegan,  Charles  Dean,  John  B.  Carson. 

Sixth  Ward,  J.  H.  Sturgeon,  Charles  Hammond, 
Smith  Robinson,  D.  W.  Dixon,  Theodore  Labeaume. 

At  the  closing  of  the  books  on  the  12th  of  February, 
1850,  the  whole  number  of  shares  taken  amounted  to 
three  hundred  and  nineteen  thousand  eight  hundred 
dollars.  This,  however,  did  not  include  any  portion 
of  what  had  been  subscribed  on  the  books  in  possession 
of  the  committees  of  the  several  wards.  On  the  1st  of 
May,  1850,  it  was  announced  that  the  city  corpora- 
tion was  about  to  subscribe  the  five  hundred  thousand 
dollars  authorized  by  a  vote  of  the  people.  "  The 
subscriptions  of  individuals,"  it  was  added,  "  do  not 
yet  amount  to  that  sum." 

The  amount  required  by  the  charter  (two  hundred 
thousand  dollars)  having  been  secured,  the  corpora- 
tion proceeded  to  organize  by  the  election  of  a  board 
of  directors.  The  committee  appointed  to  superintend 
the  election  consisted  of  Luther  M.  Kennett,  0.  D. 
Filley,  A.  Wilgus,  Louis  A.  Labeaume,  and  George 
Knapp.  At  the  election  which  was  held  on  the  25th 
of  March,  1850,  at  the  Merchants'  Exchange  the  fol- 
lowing were  chosen  directors :  Thomas  Allen,  John 
O'Fallon,  James  H.  Lucas,  Louis  A.  Labeaume, 


RAILROADS. 


1151 


Edward  Walsh,  James  E.  Yeatman,  George  Collier, 
Daniel  D.  Page,  and  L.  M.  Kennett. 

On  the  following  day  the  directors  met  and  elected 
Thomas  Allen  president,  and  Louis  A.  Labeaume 
secretary  pro  tern.  There  were  then  twenty-nine 
million  two  hundred  and  sixteen  thousand  acres  of. 
land  in  Missouri  open  to  private  entry  which,  as 
stated  in  the  memorial  of  the  directors  to  Congress, 
remained  unsold.1 

Mr.  Allen,  the  president  of  the  company,  who,  as 
we  have  seen,  had  been  one  of  the  most  prominent 
and  efficient  promoters  of  the  enterprise  from  the 
start,  addressed  himself  to  the  work  before  him  with 
characteristic  energy  and  vigor,  and  under  his  able 
direction  the  affairs  of  the  company  soon  took  shape. 
On  the  22d  of  April  it  was  announced  that  James  P. 
Kirkwood,  of  New  York,  had  been  appointed  chief 
engineer  of  the  road.* 

Mr.  Kirkwood  was  then  superintendent  of  the  New 
York  and  Erie  Railroad.  Under  his  direction  three 
parties  of  engineers  were  started  on  the  surveys. 
Three  different  routes  were  surveyed,  and  a  very  full 
and  able  report  made  by  the  engineers,  and  published 
with  the  first  annual  report  of  the  board  of  directors. 
The  preliminary  surveys  were  commenced  on  the  24th 
of  May,  and  closed  on  the  29th  of  November,  1850. 
Five  different  lines  were  surveyed,  embracing  in  the 
whole  over  eight  hundred  miles  of  survey. 

During  the  progress  of  the  surveys  the  president, 
Mr.  Allen,  personally  visited  and  addressed  the  people 
and  the  county  courts  of  nearly  every  county  from  St. 
Louis  to  the  western  boundary,  and  also  laid  his  plans 
before  the  Governor  of  the  State,  which  the  Gov- 
ernor, after  due  consideration,  substantially  adopted. 
The  city  and  county  of  St.  Louis  and  the  county  of 
Jackson  subscribed  to  the  stock.  Petitions  to  Con- 
gress in  behalf  of  a  grant  of  land,  as  applied  for  by 
the  company,  were  circulated  and  numerously  signed 
in  all  the  counties  along  the  proposed  line,  and  in  due 
time  transmitted  to  Congress. 

At  the  session  of  Congress  held  in  1850-51  a  bill 
passed  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  granting  for 

1  At  this  time  not  a  single  railway  touched  the  Mississippi 
on  either  side  at  St.  Louis.     The  Erie  Railroad  was  not  com- 
pleted, and  only  seven  thousand  miles  of  railroad  had  been  con- 
structed in  the  United  States. 

2  "  Pacific  Railroad. — The  commencement  of  this  great  and, 
to  our  city,  important  work  we  presume  will  take  place  imme- 
diately.    Mr.  Kirkwood,  late  engineer  of  the  New  York  and 
Erie  Uailroad,  now  engineer  of  the  Pacific  Railroad,  arrived  in 
our  city  yesterday  morning  accompanied  by  two  assistants.    In 
a  very  short  time  the  corps  of  engineers  will  be  organized  and 
the  reconnoissance  and  the  location  commenced." — Republican, 
May  21,  1850. 


the  railroad  alternate  sections  of  land  for  a  space  of 
six  miles  in  width  on  each  side,  but  was  not  reached 
in  the  House  of  Representatives.  In  the  same  winter 
of  1850-51,  the  president  of  the  railroad  company 
having  been  elected  to  the  State  Senate,  a  plan  for 
a  complete  system  of  railroads  for  the  State  was  laid 
before  the  Legislature  by  him,  including  a  form  of 
State  aid  by  a  loan  of  the  public  credit.  This  plan, 
which  was  soon  adopted,  contemplated  the  issue  of 
State  bonds  to  the  railroad  company  to  an  amount 
equal  to  the  amount  first  to  be  advanced  by  the  stock- 
holders, the  company  agreeing  to  pay  the  interest  and 
principal  of  the  bond,  and  the  State  reserving  a  first 
lien  on  the  road  as  security. 

The  first  act  was  approved  Feb.  22, 1851,  and  pro- 
vided for  the  issue  to  the  extent  of  two  millions  of 
State  bonds  to  the  Pacific  Railroad  Company,  in  sums 
of  fifty  thousand  dollars,  upon  satisfactory  evidence 
being  furnished  to  the  Governor  at  each  application 
that  a  like  sum  of  fifty  thousand  dollars  had  been  ex- 
pended by  the  company,  derived  from  sources  other 
than  State  bonds,  and  provided  that  the  bonds  should 
not  be  sold  below  par.  These  bonds  having  twenty  years 
to  run,  and  bearing  six  per  cent,  interest,  were  sold  at 
a  premium  for  more  than  a  year  and  a  half,  and  some 
were  sold  as  high  as  110.  Some  important  amend- 
ments to  the  charter  were  granted  at  the  same  session 
by  an  act  approved  March  1,  1851.  Congress,  on  the 
10th  of  June,  1852,  passed  an  act  granting  to  the 
State  of  Missouri  the  alternate  sections  of  land  in  a 
strip  of  six  sections  in  width  on  each  side  of  the  line, 
for  the  construction  of  a  railroad  from  St.  Louis  to 
the  western  boundary  of  the  State.  Soon  after  the 
passage  of  this  act  the  company  petitioned  the  Gover- 
nor to  call  an  extra  session  of  the  Legislature,  and  the 
then  Governor,  Hon.  Austin  A.  King,  complied  with 
the  request. 

So  largely  had  individuals  entered  the  public  lands 
the  previous  year  or  two  in  consequence  of  the  rail- 
road surveys,  that  it  was  soon  discovered  that  the 
grant  would  be  of  little  value  for  constructing  a  rail- 
road in  a  direct  line  westward  from  St.  Louis  to  the 
western  boundary.  Therefore,  in  view  of  the  immense 
district  of  country  lying  at  the  southwest,  known  to 
be  desirable  in  soil,  climate,  and  minerals,  yet  inacces- 
sible, and  also  in  view  of  the  probability  that  a  good 
route  for  the  national  road  to  California  might  be 
found  along  the  thirty-fifth  parallel,  it  was  deemed 
advisable  to  make  a  fork  in  the  line  of  road,  and  run 
the  main  trunk  nearly  west  in  the  direction  of  Kan- 
sas via  the  State  capital,  and  the  fork  or  branch  in 
the  southwestern  direction.  To  the  road  from  St. 
Louis  to  the  point  of  divergence  from  the  main  line, 


1152 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


and  thence  to  the  southwest  boundary  of  the  State,  the 
State  granted  the  lands  by  the  act  of  Dec.  20,  1852, 
without  bonus  and  with  an  exemption  from  taxation 
until  the  road  could  pay  a  dividend,  and  with  also  a 
further  loan  of  $1,000,000  to  the  main  line,  and 
$1,000,000  to  the  Southwest  Branch.  The  right  of 
pre-emption  to  actual  settlers  already  on  the  lands  at 
$2.50  per  acre  was,  however,  reserved. 

Mr.  Allen,  president  of  the  company,  was  appointed 
the  agent  of  the  State  to  select  the  lands,  and  for  that 
purpose  went  to  Washington  City.  The  lands  se- 
lected amounted  to  about  1,200,000  acres. 

The  Pacific  Railroad  Company,  having  surveyed  a 
route  for  a  branch  railroad  to  the  Iron  Mountain,  to 
cross  the  Maramec  near  the  mouth  of  Calvey  Creek,  in 
Franklin  County,  and  run  on  an  interior  ridge  west 
of  Big  River,  via  Potosi,  and  having  reported  that  the 
Iron  Mountain  could  thus  be  reached  by  building  about 
sixty  miles  additional  of  railroad,  at  a  cost  of  two  or  two 
and  a  half  million  dollars,  the  Legislature  granted  a 
loan  to  the  company  for  that  branch  of  seven  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  dollars.  The  demand  having  arisen 
for  a  "  direct  line"  to  the  Iron  Mountain  from  St. 
Louis,  this  loan  was  subsequently  yielded  and  trans- 
ferred to  the  St.  Louis  and  Iron  Mountain  Railroad. 

On  the  12th  of  March,  1851,  the  board  of  direc- 
tors resolved  to  commence  the  construction  of  the  Pa- 
cific road,  and  were  called  upon  for  the  first  time  to 
consider  the  question  of  route.  The  road  had  origi- 
nally been  defined  as  to  Jefferson  and  Cass  County, 
but,  now  free  to  seek  the  best  route  through  the 
State,  it  became  evident  that  more  extended  surveys 
must  be  made  before  they  could  act  intelligently.  A 
division  of  forty  miles  only  was  located,  as  being  com- 
mon to  all  the  routes  that  they  could  take. 

At  the  time  it  was  in  contemplation  to  make  other 
surveys,  not  only  connecting  in  detail  those  already 
made,  but  to  try  other  routes,  passing  farther  inland 
or  towards  the  southwest.  But  it  had  been  found 
that  speculators  followed  the  track  of  the  engineers 
and  entered  all  the  best  land,  and  it  was  thought  ad- 
visable not  to  make  any  more  surveys  until  a  land 
grant  had  passed  Congress,  and  the  land  was  put  out 
of  market. 

In  the  mean  time  vigorous  efforts  were  made  to  in- 
crease the  subscriptions  to  the  stock  of  the  company 
to  one  million  five  hundred  thousand  dollars,  in  order  ! 
that  the  latter  might  avail  itself  of  the  State's  sub- 
scription. 

"There  was  a  good  deal  of  encouragement,"  said  the  Repub- 
lican of  May  12, 1851,  "in  the  meeting  in  relation  to  the  Pacific 
Railroad  which  took  place  on  Saturday  evening.  Mr.  Allen 
stated  a  variety  of  facts  in  relation  to  the  road.  Speaking  of 


the  financial  condition  of  the  company,  he  said  that  the  indi- 
vidual subscriptions  amounted  to  about  four  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars,  the  city  had  subscribed  five  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  the  county  of  St.  Louis  one  hundred  thousand  dollars, 
the  coilnty  of  Jackson  one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  other 
subscriptions  would  make  the  sum  up  to  nearly  twelve  hundred 
thousand  dollars.  The  directors  desired  to  swell  this  sum  to 
•fifteen  hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  hence  the  present  effort. 
Whenever  the  last-named  sum  is  subscribed,  the  company  can 
then  avail  itself  of  the  credit  of  the  State  to  the  amount  of  two 
millions  of  dollars,  and  then  there  would  be  a  capital  of  three  and 
a  half  millions  of  dollars  to  go  to  work  with.  The  engineer  es- 
timates the  entire  cost  of  the  road,  assuming  that  it  is  three 
hundred  miles  in  length,  at  six  millions  of  dollars.  This  in- 
cludes everything,  payments  for  depots,  cars,  locomotives,  etc. 
We  have  a  right  to  expect  that  Congress  will  do  justice  to  this 
State  at  the  next  session  by  making  adequate  grants  of  lands 
for  the  use  of  this  road  and  that  of  the  Hannibal  and  St.  Joseph 
Company,  and  this  will  go  very  far  towards  the  completion  of 
the  work." 

At  this  meeting  a  resolution  was  adopted  providing  for  com- 
mittees "to  canvass  the  several  wards  for  subscriptions  of  stock 
to  the  railroad.  Subsequently  the  following  committees  were 
appointed : 

"First  Ward,  Adolph  Abeles,  Henry  A.  Lynch,  Frederick 
W.  Beckwith,  Brannock  Jones,  Lewis  Clark,  L.  C.  Degenhardt, 
William  Friend,  H.  Niemeyer,  Thomas  T.  Gantt,  John  C. 
Rust. 

"Second  Ward,  George  R.  Taylor,  Solomon  Smith,  Matthew 
Steitz,  William  Palm,  Francis  P.  Blair,  J.  B.  Sickles,  Hiram 
Shaw,  John  Kern,  Alexander  Keyser,  Robert  Simpson. 

"Third  Ward,  R.  S.  Elliott,  Asa  Wilgus,  A.  Miltelberger, 
George  R.  Reed,  John  C.  Meier,  John  C.  Ivory,  William  H. 
Carroll,  Adolphus  Meier,  Nathan  Ranney,  John  Shade. 

"  Fourth  Ward,  William  T.  Christy,  John  Finney,  S.  H.  Rob- 
bins,  0.  D.  Filley,  F.  B.  Chiles,  A.  J.  P.  Garesche,  T.  W.  Hoit, 
John  S.  Watson,  P.  R.  McCreery,  J.  D.  Houseman. 

"  Fifth  Ward,  A.  P.  Ladew,  John  Leach,  Willis  R.  Prichard, 
F.  Laubmann,  G.  B.  Allen,  L.  Holthaus,  Leroy  Kingsland,  H. 
H.  Cohen,  Louis  Bach,  James  Fortune." 

At  a  meeting  of  the  directors  held  on  the  18th  of 
June,  1851,  at  which  A.  S.  Mitchell  acted  as  secre- 
tary, the  board  proceeded  to  locate  the  First  Division 
of  the  road.  The  various  surveyed  routes  and  their 
estimated  costs  having  been  presented  and  explained 
by  James  P.  Kirkwood,  chief  engineer,  Mr.  Lucas 
offered  the  following  resolution  : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  route  through  Chouteau  Pond 
valley  and  the  valley  of  the  Des  Peres  to  the  Mara- 
mec valley,  and  up  the  Maramec  valley  for  a  distance 
of  about  thirty-nine  miles  from  St.  Louis,  commencing 
in  St.  Louis  at  Fourteenth  Street,  be  adopted  as  the 
First  Division  of  the  Pacific  Railroad." 

The  yeas  and  nays  were  demanded  on  this  resolu- 
tion, and  the  result  was  as  follows  : 

Yeas,  Messrs.  Allen,  Bridge,  Haren,  Harrison, 
Kennett,  Labeaume,  Lucas,  Walsh,  and  Yeatman, — 9. 
Nays,  none ;  the  entire  board  present  and  voting. 

In  deciding  upon  this  location  the  board  took  into 
consideration  not  only  the  estimated  cost  of  the  dif- 


RAILROADS. 


1153 


ferent  lines,  but  the  need  of  a  branch  to  the  Iron 
Mountain  and  the  southwest  part  of  the  State. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Kennett,  the  following  resolution 
in  relation  to  calls  on  stock  in  the  Pacific  Railroad 
was  adopted : 

"  Resolved,  That  not  exceeding  thirty  per  cent,  upon 
the  capital  stock  of  the  company  shall  be  called  in 
any  one  year  during  the  construction  of  the  road."1 

An  election  for  directors  of  the  road  was  held  on 


1  "  The  report  of  J.  P.  Kirkwood,  chief  engineer  of  the  road, 
to  the  board  of  directors,  in  June,  1851,  contained  the  follow- 
ing information  as  to  the  lines  he  had  surveyed,  their  lengths 

and  estimated  cost : 

Miles. 
Missouri    River   route  (by  Crevecoeur 

Lake  to  Jefferson) 121.87       $2,989,157 

Maramec   route,   inland    to   Jefferson 

City 149.03         3,752,854 

Maramec  combination  route  by  Mara- 
mec and  Gray's  Gap 130.58         3,145,303 

"  The  board  of  directors  were  divided  in  opinion  as  to  which 
route,  under  all  the  circumstances,  should  be  adopted.  At  the 
eastern  end  of  the  line,  and  more  practically  in  St.  Louis,  there 
was  very  decided  opposition  to  the  selection  of  the  route  shown 
above  as  the  Missouri  River  route,  for  this  principal  reason, 
that,  as  was  urged,  the  river  itself  afforded  sufficient  facilities 
to  the  whole  country  through  which  it  ran,  and  that  the  road 
should  be  so  located  as  to  open  and  develop  a  country  not  pene- 
trated by  any  natural  highway.  Under  these  circumstances  of 
opposition  to  the  route  shown  by  the  engineer's  report  to  be 
the  shortest,  as  well  as  the  least  expensive,  it  was  determined 
to  locate  the  road  as  far  as  Franklin,  thirty-seven  miles.  This 
point  was  selected  for  the  reason  that  it  was  the  extreme  western 
point  from  which,  after  further  deliberation  and  examination, 
it  would  be  possible,  without  seriously  increased  cost,  to  con- 
tinue the  location  either  on  the  inland  or  the  Missouri  River 
route.  To  accomplish  this  object  they  were  compelled  to  aban- 
don the  route  described  above  by  Crevecoeur  Lake,  which 
strikes  the  Missouri  River  eighteen  miles  and  three-quarters 
from  St.  Louis,  though  that  was  the  shortest  and  the  most 
economical. 

"  Prior  to  the  decision  of  this  question,  and  while  it  was 
pending,  considerable  feeling  arose  in  St.  Louis,  which  was 
manifested  in  denunciations  of  the  board  of  directors,  coupled 
with  charges  that  they  were  purposely  delaying  the  location  of 
the  line,  especially  that  portion  of  it  nearest  to  St.  Louis,  for 
unworthy  reasons,  arising  out  of  a  desire  to  enrich  themselves 
by  speculations  in  hinds,  having,  as  was  alleged,  in  their  capa- 
city of  directors  information  respecting  the  route  to  be  selected 
which  the  community  generally  could  not  procure.  When, 
therefore,  the  report  of  the  engineer  was  made,  the  road  was 
immediately  located  (on  the  succeeding  day,  as  appears  by  the 
records  of  the  company),  and  an  order  made  for  the  publication 
of  the  route  selected. 

"  It  should,  perhaps,  also  be  added  that  though,  as  has  been 
explained  above,  the  board  of  directors  were  influenced  by 
popular  prejudice  in  favor  of  the  inland  route  (in  which  they 
probably  to  some  extent  participaled)  to  locate  the  road  upon 
that  route  so  far  as  Franklin,  there  is  no  evidence  whatever 
that  in  the  actual  location  of  the  road  upon  the  particular  route 
adopted  to  that  point  any  considerations  had  weight  except  the 
engineer's  report  and  the  questions  of  economical  construction 
and  use." — lieport  of  Joint  Railroad  Committee  of  Missouri 
Legislature,  published  Nov.  28,  1855. 


the  19th  of  June,  1851,  which,  we  are  told,  "ex- 
cited very  considerable  interest,  and  called  forth  a 
large  vote."  It  resulted  as  follows : 

For  James  H.  Lucas,  3015  votes;  Hudson  E. 
Bridge,  2943;  James  E.  Yeatman,  2915;  Edward 
Walsh,  2914;  Louis  A.  Labeaume,  2892;  James 
Harrison,  2883  ;  Luther  M.  Kennett,  2777  ;  John  C. 
Rust,  2728;  Thomas  Allen,  2294;  Daniel  D.  Page, 
2036;  Joseph  Charless,  1598;  Joshua  B.  Brant, 
1584;  George  Collier,  1470.  This  list  completed 
the  board.  The  next  highest  was  Isaac  L.  Garrison, 
who  received  1452  votes. 

The  first  division  of  the  road  (thirty-nine  miles) 
having  been  put  under  contract,  the  first  spadeful  of 
earth  was  removed,  in  the  absence  of  the  Governor, 
by  the  then  mayor  of  the  city,  Hon.  Luther  M.  Ken- 
nett, on  the  4th  of  July,  in  the  presence  of  a  large 
and  enthusiastic  audience.  This  memorable  event 
took  place  at  a  point  on  the  south  bank  of  Chouteau 
Pond,  on  Mr.  Minckes'  ground,  west  of  Fifteenth 
Street. 

The  event  was  the  occasion  of  a  great  popular 
demonstration,  in  which  the  entire  city  participated. 
The  day  was  introduced  with  a  national  salute  by  the 
Missouri  Artillery,  under  the  command  of  Capt. 
Henry  Almstedt.  At  an  early  hour  the  city  in  every 
portion  was  filled  with  the  members  of  the  civil  and 
military  societies  who  designed  to  join  in  the  proces- 
sion. Chief  Marshal  Grimsley  had  announced  that  the 
march  to  the  ground  would  commence  punctually  at 
eight  o'clock  A.M.,  and  accordingly  as  early  as  half- 
past  seven  the  various  associations,  orders,  companies, 
clubs,  etc.,  began  to  pour  into  Fourth  Street  from  all 
quarters.  The  city  had  seldom  witnessed  such  an 
enlivening  spectacle  as  that  displayed  previous  to  the 
forming  of  the  procession.  Flays  were  flying  from 
the  tops  of  engine  buildings  and  public-houses,  and 
streamed  from  the  windows  of  newspaper  offices,  or 
floated  over  the  street  at  many  points ;  numerous  de- 
tachments of  military  corps  were  dashing  to  their 
various  places  of  rendezvous ;  squads  of  civil  societies 
|  were  coming  to  view  from  every  corner,  and  the  whole 
was  enlivened  by  the  inspiring  sounds  of  music. 
Soon  after  seven  o'clock  an  immense  multitude 
thronged  Fourth  Street  from  Washington  Avenue, 
where  the  head  of  the  line  rested,  a  distance  of 
several  blocks.  The  line  formed  on  Fourth  Street, 
and  shortly  before  eight  o'clock  the  chief  marshal  as- 
sembled his  aids  and  assistants  and  instructed  them 
in  regard  to  the  duties  assigned  them.  The  band  of 
the  St.  Louis  Grays  was  then  ordered  to  its  post,  and 
the  following  officers  also  took  the  places  previously 
agreed  upon : 


1154 


HISTORY  OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


Thornton  Grimsley,  chief  marshal;  John  S.  Watson,  II.  W. 
Williams,  aids  ;  assistant  marshal?,  Joseph  P.  Wilkinson,  Wil- 
liam J.  Romyn,  William  Waddinghain,  Jr.,  Benjamin  Bogy, 
Alfred  Dryden,  William  Light,  Charles  Mehl,  William  II.  Coz- 
ens,   McDowell,  Thomas*  Horrell,  John  Kern,  D.  Preston, 

William  T.  Knapp,  John  C.  Vogel,  George  L.  Nuckolls,  George 
Shuly,  William  S.  Chapman,  Frederick  King. 

The  chief  marshal  then  arranged  the  procession  in 
the  following  order : 

Chief  Marshal  and  his  Aids. 

St.  Louis  Grays'  Brass  Band. 

Governor,  his  Aids,  Heads  of  the  Departments. 

President,  Directors,  and  Company  of  the  Pacific  Railroad. 

Corps  of  Engineers. 
Orator  of  the  Day  and  Invited  Guests. 

Judiciary  of  the  Eighth  Circuit  and  Officers  of  the  several  Courts. 
Mayor  and  Board  of  Aldermen,  Delegates,  and  Executive  Offi- 
cers of  the  City.     Editorial  Corps. 
St.  Louis  Grays,  Capt.  George  Knapp. 
Missouri  Dragoons,  Capt.  Btinkman. 
Missouri  Artillery,  Capt.  Almstedt. 
St.  Louis  Yagers,  Capt.  Schaeffer. 
Union  Swiss  Guards,  Capt.  Frye. 

St.  Louis  Fire  Department. 
Ancient  Order  of  Free  and  Accepted  Masons. 

Hibernian  Benevolent  Society. 
Catholic  Total  Abstinence  and  Benevolent  Society. 

St.  Vincent  Orphan  Society. 

German  Roman  Catholic  Society. 

St.  Louis  Musical  Club. 

Social  Glee  Club. 

St.  Louis  Gymnastic  Society. 

German  Benevolent  Society. 

United  Association  of  Free  Men. 

Sons  of  Temperance. 
German  Catholic  Total  Abstinence  Society. 

United  Ancient  Order  of  Druids. 

United  Patriotic  Refugee  Association. 

Citizens  in  Carriages. 

Citizens  on  Horseback. 

Arrived  at  the  grand  stand,  which  had  been  erected 
at  Chouteau's  Pond  for  the  speakers  and  invited 
guests,  the  band  performed  the  "  Grand  Pacific  Rail- 
road March,"  which  had  been  composed  for  the  occa- 
sion by  Mr.  Balmer,  after  which  Col.  Thornton 
Grimsley,  the  grand  marshal,  announced  the  order  of 
proceedings,  and  then  introduced  the  president  of  the 
railroad  company,  Thomas  Allen.  Mr.  Allen  deliv- 
ered an  interesting  address,  in  which  he  reviewed  the 
history  of  the  road  up  to  that  time,  and  in  the  course 
of  it  he  said, — 

"The  charter  of  the  Pacific  Railroad  was  granted  in  1849, 
and  slept  for  a  year,  disregarded  and  almost  unknown.  It  is 
about  eighteen  months  since  public  attention  was  first  called  to 
it,  and  only  about  fifteen  months  since  the  company  now  act- 
ing was  organized  under  it.  During  that  period  we  have  had 
a  good  deal  of  preliminary  work  to  do,  comparatively  new 
country  to  explore,  and  the  people  to  awaken  to  the  considera- 
tion of  a  new  subject.  We  have  made  over  eight  hundred 
miles  of  preliminary  survey ;  we  have  located  about  seventy 
miles  ;  we  have  obtained  the  promised  support  of  every  county 


upon  the  line  ;  we  have  secured  the  co-operation  of  the  State, 
and  a  loan  of  the  public  credit;  we  have  brought  the  subject 
to  the  notice  of  the  government  of  the  United  States,  and  we 
have  procured  subscriptions  which,  though  not  yet  so  large  as 
we  desire,  give  us  great  encouragement. 

"  We  have  found  our  distance  across  the  Stute  to  be  about 
three  hundred  miles,  and  our  grades  easy,  the  maximum  not 
exceeding  forty-five  feet  to  the  mile,  and  that  occurring  only 
on  a  short  distance.     The  cost  is  estimated  below  the  average 
cost  of  railroads,  at  about  twenty  thousand  dollars  per  mile,  or 
about  six  millions  for  the  whole  completed. 
The  particular  business  of  our  proposed   road   has 
been  estimnted  by  the  engineer,  and  the  estimate  is 
made  in  detail,  and  will   be  found  upon  examina- 
tion  to  be  a  very  moderate  one.     The  general  re- 
sult, however,  is  that  the  passenger  business  will 

amount  to $457,900 

Freight 470,200 

.  Total,  second  year $928,100 

"This  would  be  a  gross  profit  of  about  fifteen  per  cent,  on  six 

millions.     The  cost  of  running  may  be  forty  to  fifty  per  cent. 

of  the  gross  earnings.     But  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that 

this  business  will  constantly  increase. 

"The  business  on  the  Missouri  River  in  1850  seems  to  afford 

some  corroboration  of  this  estimate,  if  we  may  compare  the 

river  with  the  railroad.    The  results  obtained  from  manifests  ia 

probably  below  the  truth,  but  gives, — 

For  freight $450,478 

For  passengers 368,000 

$818,478" 

Upon  the  conclusion  of  Mr.  Allen's  address,  a  pro- 
logue in  verse,  composed  by  A.  S.  Mitchell,  secretary 
of  the  company,  was  recited  by  J.  M.  Field.  Hon. 
Edward  Bates,  orator  of  the  day,  then  delivered  an 
elaborate  address,  in  which  he  drew  a  graphic  picture 
of  the  fertility  and  resources  of  the  great  Mississippi 
valley. 

"  Here  we  are,"  said  Mr.  Bates,  "  in  the  centre  of  the  great 
valley,  the  natural  centre  of  the  largest  body  of  rich,  habitable 
land  on  the  face  of  the  earth, — a  land  large  enough  to  maintain 
in  comfort  two  hundred  millions  of  people,  every  one  of  whom 
could  bring  the  produce  of  his  labor  to  this  centre  by  natural 
navigation, — just  below  the  confluence  of  three  mighty  rivers, 
Missouri,  Mississippi,  and  Illinois,  and  just  above  the  influx  of 
the  beautiful  Ohio,  whose  fertile  banks  are  already  teeming  with, 
industry,  enterprise,  and  wealth.  Look  at  the  map  of  the  val- 
ley, its  broad  surface  is  divided  into  quarters  by  the  figure  of 
a  cross, — a  little  irregular,  to  be  sure,  but  still  a  cross.  The 
Mississippi  is  the  shaft,  and  the  Ohio  and  Missouri  are  the 
limbs.  And  the  shaft  and  both  the  limbs  are  bristling  with 
tributaries,  each  one  of  which  is  large  enough  to  be  considered 
in  Europe  a  mighty  river,  fit  to  be  improved  and  cherished  as 
the  artery  of  a  nation's  commerce. 

"  Look  ag:iin  at  the  map,  and  note  the  distance  and  the  com- 
manding points.  The  driftwood  that  floats  past  our  city 
plunges  in  the  turbid  waters  of  the  Mississippi  for  twelve 
hundred  miles  before  it  is  washed  by  the  bright  waves  of  the 
ocean.  The  water-line  of  commerce  from  Pittsburgh  to  St. 
Louis  is  twelve  hundred  miles.  Your  steamers  go  up  the  Mis- 
souri, without  a  snag  pulled  out  or  a  sand-bar  removed  beyond 
our  western  border,  two  thousand  five  hundred  miles.  Ascend- 
ing the  Mississippi,  they  push  their  bows  into  the  very  foam  of 
St.  Anthony's  Falls ;  and  above  those  falls,  I  know  not  how  many 
hundred  miles  of  placid  water  invite  the  adventurous  boatmen 


RAILROADS. 


1155 


to  the  fur  north.     Go  up  the  Illinois :  you  can  find  no  stopping- 
place  there,  for  the   Father  of  Waters  is  wedded  to  the  lakes. 
In  Illinois  and  New  York  the  duty  imposed  by  the  great  gifts  j 
bestowed  upon  us  is  partly  done,  and  now,  by  the  aid  of  their  j 
canals,  you  can  leave  the  ocean  in  a  boat,  and  entering  the  Mis- 
sissippi or  the  Hudson,  circumnavigate  the  nation. 

"  We  occupy  the  most  important  point  on  this  great  circuit. 
If  there  were  not  a  cabin  or  a  white  man  from  the  Ohio  to  the 
Missouri;  if  our  forests  were  still  in  pristine  solitude,  and  our 
prairies  untracked,  save  by  the  hoof  of  the  buffalo  and  the  moc- 
casin of  the  Indian  savage,  I  should  still  believe — considering 
the  extent  and  richness  of  the  valley,  the  number,  length,  and 
direction  of  its  rivers,  and  its  capacity  to  produce,  in  boundless 
plenty,  all  that  can  minister  to  the  comfort,  wealth,  and  power 
of  man — I  should  still  confidently  believe  that  the  greatest  city 
upon  the  continent  must  be  established  within  that  span's  length 
upon  the  map. 

*  %  •%  •:•:-  *  *  ;•:•  * 

"  Consider  the  country  through  which  the  road  is  to  pass.  It 
abounds  in  all  the  menns  necessary  for  the  support  and  comfort 
of  a  dense  population.  Its  rich  soil  produces  in  abundance  all 
the  plants  that  belong  to  the  climate,  and  its  most  barren  hills 
serve  but  to  contain  its  unmeasured  stores  of  mineral  treasures. 

"  But  whither  does  it  tend  ?  When  you  have  constructed  the 
road  to  the  frontier  of  Missouri,  what  power  can  stop  it  there? 
Beyond  lie  the  extended  plains  of  the  Missouri  and  the  Arkan- 
sas, New  Mexico,  Utah,  California,  Oregon,  the  Pacific,  and  the 
old  Eastern  World.  My  mind  recoils  from  the  magnitude  of 
the  contemplation,  and  I  leave  the  incalculable  results  to  mingle 
with  the  future  glories  of  our  country's  name." 

In  the  absence  of  the  Governor  of  the  State,  Hon. 
Austin  A.  King,  who  was  detained  at  home  by  ill- 
ness, Hon.  Luther  M.  Kennett  was  called  upon  by 
the  president  of  the  company,  Mr.  Allen,  to  perform 
the  ceremony  of  raising  the  first  sod  in  the  com- 
mencement of  the  work  of  grading  the  road.  On 
receiving  the  spade  which  Mr.  Allen  presented  for 
that  purpose,  Mr.  Kennett  made  a  brief  address, 
closing  with  the  statement  that  he  would  proceed  to 
use  the  spade  "  to  make  the  first  cut  in  the  line  of 
the  Pacific  Railway." 

At  the  conclusion  of  Mr.  Kennett's  speech,  the 
procession  again  formed,  and  while  the  band  played 
the  "  Governor's  March,"  the  assemblage  proceeded 
to  the  line  of  the  road,  near  the  shore  of  Chouteau's 
Pond.  The  mayor  here  shoveled  a  few  spadefuls  of 
earth  into  the  pond,  and  was  followed  by  the  presi- 
dent, Mr.  Allen,  and  several  other  members  of  the 
Pacific  Railroad  Company.  Enthusiastic  cheers 
greeted  this  proceeding,  with  which  the  ceremonies 
closed. 

The  first  section  of  the  First  Division  (from  St.  Louis 
to  Franklin),  the  construction  of  which  was  thus  in- 
augurated, extended  from  Seventh  to  Fourteenth 
Street,  St.  Louis,  and  included  the  filling  in  of  Chou- 
teau's Pond.  The  work  of  grading  was  fully  com- 
menced on  the  2d  of  August,  1851.  The  contracts 
on  the  first  divisions  were  let  when  labor  was  cheap, 


and  with  little  or  no  experience  by  contractors  in 
doing  work  in  Missouri,  and  labor  increased  in  price 
from  seventy-five  cents  to  one  dollar  and  twenty-five 
cents  per  day.  A  great  deal  of  sickness  prevailed 
upon  the  line  most  of  the  time.  The  cholera  made 
its  appearance  nearly  every  year  on  almost  every  sec- 
tion. Provisions  of  all  kinds  rose  to  very  high  prices. 
Material  was  found  more  difficult  of  excavation  than 
any  one  could  have  supposed.  All  these  difficulties 
combined  increased  the  cost  much  over  original  esti- 
mates. A  large  portion  of  the  work  when  the  cars 
commenced  running  to  Franklin  was  in  an  unfinished 
condition,  and  required  a  great  deal  of  labor  with 
gravel  trains,  in  widening  embankments  and  taking 
down  slopes  in  cuts.  Most  of  the  ballasting  was  done 
by  the  company',  material  being  procured  from  the 
bluffs  upon  the  Maramec  River. 

The  second  division  extended  from  Franklin  to 
Jefferson  City.1 

As  the  work  progressed  it  was  soon  discovered  that 
more  money  would  be  needed,  and  on  the  6th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1851,  an  election  was  held  to  test  the  sense 
of  the  people  of  St.  Louis  County  on  the  expediency  of 
subscribing  an  additional  one  hundred  thousand  dollars 
to  the  stock  of  the  company,  which  resulted  in  favor 
of  the  proposition.  Strenuous  efforts  were  also  made 
to  swell  the  resources  of  the  company  by  procuring 
grants  of  land  from  the  general  government.  In 
June,  1852,  as  heretofore  stated,  Congress  passed  an 
act  approved  June  10th,  which  granted  the  right  of 
way  to  the  State  of  Missouri  and  a  portion  of  the 
public  lands  to  aid  in  the  construction  of  railroads. 
The  provision  of  the  act  relating  to  the  sale  of  these 
lands  was  as  follows  : 

"That  a  quantity  of  land  not  exceeding  one  hundred  and 
twenty  sections  on  each  road,  and  included  within  a  continuous 
length  of  twenty  miles  of  said  road,  may  be  sold  ;  and  when  the 
Governor  of  said  State  shall  certify  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Inte- 
rior that  said  twenty  miles  of  said  road  is  completed,  then  an- 

1  Sections  16  and  17  were  the  heaviest  on  the  First  Division, 
covering  very  deep  rock  excavations  and  two  tunnels,  one  about 
six  hundred  and  the  other  about  four  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long. 
During  the  progress  of  this  work  the  cholera  appeared  and  drove, 
at  several  periods,  the  entire  force  from  the  sections.  Great  num- 
bers died,  and  for  a  while  it  was  impossible  to  induce  men  to  go 
upon  the  work.  Finally  the  contractors  succeeded  in  procuring 
a  large  force,  but  there  was  a  good  deal  of  trouble  between  Sec- 
tions 17  and  18,  which  finally  resulted,  in  January,  1853,  in  a 
general  riot  in  which  two  laborers  of  Section  17,  John  Flood  and 
James  Carroll,  were  killed  and  a  number  of  others  badly  injured. 
In  order  to  suppress  these  disturbances  and  restore  order,  the 
St.  Louis  Grays,  Capt.  Knapp,  and  the  Missouri  Artillery,  Capt. 
Almstedt,  were  dispatched  to  the  scene  and  accomplished  that 
object.  After  this  outbreak  a  police  force  was  stationed  upon 
Section  18,  which  had  become  known  as  the  "  Bloody  Eigh- 
teenth," to  preserve  order. 


1156 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


other  like  quantity  of  land  hereby  granted  may  be  sold,  and 
so  from  time  to  time  until  said  road  is  completed;  and  if  said 
road  be  not  completed  within  ten  years,  no  further  sales  shall 
be  made,  and  the  lands  unsold  shall  revert  to  the  United  States." 

The  State  of  Missouri  also  extended  liberal  assist- 
ance to  the  road.  The  first  legislation  on  the  subject, 
as  we  have  seen,  was  the  act  of  March  12,  1849, 
which  required  the  company  to  complete  the  road 
within  ten  years  from  the  date  of  its  commencement, 
and  reserved  to  the  State  the  right  to  purchase  the 
road  at  the  expiration  of  fifty  years,  two  years'  notice 
of  the  intention  so  to  do  having  been  given,  its  value 
to  be  ascertained  by  appraisers  mutually  chosen.  The 
General  Assembly  afterwards  passed  an  act,  approved 
Feb.  22,  1851,  granting  to  the  Pacific  Railroad  Com- 
pany a  loan  of  the  credit  of  the  State  to  the  amount 
of  two  millions  of  dollars,  in  special  bonds  of  the 
State,  bearing  interest  at  the  rate  of  six  per  centum 
per  annum  from  the  date  of  the  respective  issues 
thereof,  payable  twenty  years  thereafter,  to  be  deliv- 
ered to  the  company  in  sums  of  fifty  thousand  dollars, 
after  satisfactory  evidence  that  an  equal  sum,  derived  j 
from  the  other  moneys  of  the  company,  had  been  ex- 
pended on  the  work  prior  to  the  original  and  each 
successive  issue.  The  act  provided  further  that  as  a 
condition  precedent  to  the  delivery  of  the  first  install- 
ment of  bonds,  a  bona  fide  subscription  to  the  capital 
stock  of  the  company  of  one  million  and  a  half  of  dol- 
lars should  be  made;  required  the  company  to  provide 
for  the  payment  of  the  accruing  interest  and  the  prin- 
cipal of  the  bonds,  and  provided  that  the  acceptance 
of  the  successive  issues  of  bonds,  filed  in  the  office  of 
the  Secretary  of  State,  should  operate  as  a  mortgage 
of  the  entire  property  of  the  company  to  the  State,  to 
secure  the  payment  of  principal  and  interest,  to  be 
foreclosed  for  the  benefit  of  the  State  upon  failure  to 
make  such  payment,  with  the  further  condition  that 
none  of  the  bonds  should  be  disposed  of  at  less  than 
their  par  value. 

During  the  same  session  an  act  was  passed  entitled 
"  An  Act  to  amend  the  act  entitled  'An  Act  to  incor- 
porate the  Pacific  Railroad/ "  approved  March  1, 
1851,  and  accepted  by  the  stockholders  of  the  com- 
pany, as  required  by  the  act,  on  the  2d  of  December, 
1851,  enlarging  and  defining  the  powers  granted  by 
the  original  act  of  incorporation,  removing  the  con- 
ditions therein  contained  that  the  city  of  Jefferson 
should  be  made  a  point  on  the  line  of  the  road,  and 
that  it  should  intersect  the  western  line  of  Van  Buren 
County,  and  authorizing  the  company  to  select  any 
route  from  St.  Louis  to  the  western  line  of  the  State 
deemed  mo^t  advantageous.  The  act  authorized  the 
company  to  borrow  money  for  the  purpose  of  com- 


pleting and  operating  the  road  (to  any  amount  not 
exceeding  the  unsubscribed  capital),  and  to  issue 
bonds  therefor,  secured  by  mortgage  on  their  prop- 
erty, subject,  however,  to  the  prior  lien  of  the  State. 
On  the  13th  of  December,  1852,  the  president 
and  directors  of  the  Pacific  Railroad  Company  ad- 
dressed a  memorial  to  the  General  Assembly,  setting 
forth  their  willingness — in  view  of  the  fact  that  that 
part  of  the  grant  of  land  made  to  the  State  by  the 
act  of  Congress,  approved  June  10,  1852,  and 
applicable  to  a  railroad  from  St.  Louis  to  the  western 
boundary  of  the  State,  would,  if  the  lands  were  selected 
with  reference  to  the  then  proposed  line  of  the  road  from 
St.  Louis  to  the  western  boundary  of  the  State,  yield 
so  small  a  quantity  of  land  in  view  of  the  conditions 
coupled  with  the  grant,  as  to  be  of  comparatively  little 
value  to  the  railroad — to  undertake  the  construction 
of  a  branch  road,  diverging  from  the  trunk  line  of 
the  Pacific  Railroad,  and  terminating  on  the  western 
boundary  of  the  State,  south  of  the  Osage  River,  and 
seeking,  if  the  views  of  the  memorialists  should  be 
adopted,  a  further  loan  of  the  credit  of  the  State  in  aid 
of  the  construction  of  the  proposed  branch  road,  and 
also,  in  view  of  the  proposed  diversion  of  the  land  grant 
from  the  main  trunk  of  the  Pacific  Railroad,  praying 
for  an  additional  loan  of  the  State  credit  to  secure  its 
completion.  The  memorialists  further  proposed  to  con- 
struct a  branch  of  the  Pacific  Railroad  southwardly 
to  the  Iron  Mountain  and  Pilot  Knob,  if  the  aid  of 
the  State  by  a  loan  of  her  credit  should  be  given. 
At  the  first  session  of  the  seventeenth  General  As- 
sembly an  act  was  passed  entitled  "  An  Act  to  accept 
a  grant  of  land  made  to  the  State  of  Missouri  by  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States,  approved  June  10, 
A.D.  1852,  to  aid  in  the  construction  of  certain  rail- 
roads in  this  State,  and  to  apply  a  portion  thereof  to 
the  Pacific  Railroad,"  approved  Dec.  25,  1852,  and 
accepted  by  the  Pacific  Railroad  Company,  as  re- 
quired in  the  act,  on  the  21st  of  January,  1853. 
This  act  vested  the  lands  granted  by  act  of  Congress 
in  the  Pacific  Railroad  Company,  to  be  by  it  se- 
lected, and  located  along  the  line  of  a  road  to  be  con- 
structed by  that  company  identical  with  the  main  line 
of  the  Pacific  Railroad  to  the  point  of  divergence,  and 
diverging  from  the  main  trunk  line  of  the  road  at  a 
point  east  of  the  Osage  River,  and  striking  the  west- 
ern boundary  of  the  State  south  of  the  Osage  River,  at 
any  point  selected  by  the  company.  This  act  granted  a 
loan  of  the  credit  of  the  State  in  aid  of  the  construction 
of  the  Southwest  Branch  Road  to  the  amount  of  one 
million  of  dollars,  on  the  condition  that  no  part  of  the 
credit  thus  granted  should  be  used  until  a  bona  fide 
subscription  of  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  to  the 


RAILROADS. 


1157 


capital  stock  of  the  company,  applicable  to  the  con- 
struction of  the  Southwest  Branch,  should  be  made, 
and  on  terms  and  under  limitations  similar  to  those 
which  had  attended  the  former  grants  of  the  credit  of 
the  State.  The  act  further  provided  that  the  main 
trunk  of  the  Pacific  Road  should  be  located  from  St. 
Louis  to  Jefferson  City  ;  thence  by  the  best  inland 
route  through  Johnson  County,  terminating  at  any 
point  designated  by  the  company  in  Jackson  County, 
conditioned  that  the  counties  west  of  Jefferson  City 
should  subscribe  four  hundred  thousand  dollars  to  the 
capital  stock  of  the  company,  in  addition  to  the  amount 
already  subscribed  ;  in  default  of  which  the  company 
should  be  at  liberty  to  select  for  the  road  any  location 
deemed  expedient.  An  additional  grant  of  the  credit 
of  the  State  to  the  amount  of  one  million  dollars,  ap- 
plicable to  the  construction  of  the  main  trunk  of  the 
Pacific  Railroad,  was  made  by  this  act,  on  the  same 
terms  and  conditions  as  prescribed  in  the  act  of  Feb. 
22,  1851,  with  the  requirement  that  the  road 
should  be  completed  to  its  terminus  in  Jackson 
County  and  in  operation  within  five  years  from  the 
date  of  the  passage  of  the  act.  Power  was  granted  to 
the  company  for  the  purpose  of  raising  money  from 
time  to  time,  for  the  completion  and  construction  of 
the  Branch  Road,  to  sell  the  land  in  the  manner  pro- 
vided in  the  act  of  Congress  of  June  10,  1852,  and 
to  issue  bonds  bearing  a  rate  of  interest  not  greater 
than  seven  per  cent,  per  annum,  secured  by  mortgage 
of  the  lands,  subject  to  the  terms  of  the  act  of  Con- 
gress, for  the  redemption  of  which  bonds  the  faith  of 
the  State  should  in  nowise  be  pledged. 

In  the  winter  of  1853  an  act  was  passed  entitled 
"  An  Act  to  authorize  the  formation  of  railroad  asso- 
ciations, and  to  regulate  the  same,  approved  Feb.  24, 
1853,  which  provided  that  the  gauge  of  track  or 
width  between  the  rails  of  all  railroads  in  this  State 
should  be  five  feet  six  inches,"  the  gauge  adopted  and 
brought  into  use  prior  to  that  time  by  the  Pacific 
Railroad  Company. 

An  act  was  also  passed  at  the  same  session  amend- 
atory of  the  original  act  of  incorporation,  approved 
Feb.  24, 1853,  authorizing  the  Pacific  Railroad  Com- 
pany to  extend,  construct,  and  operate  the  road  to  any 
point  west  of  the  boundary  of  the  State,  and  to  enter 
into  contracts  for  that  purpose. 

At  the  first  session  of  the  Eighteenth  General  As- 
sembly an  act  was  passed  entitled  "  An  Act  for  the 
benefit  of  the  Pacific  and  other  railroad  companies," 
approved  Feb.  10,  1855.  This  act  provided  for  the 
loan  to  the  Pacific  Railroad  Company  of  the  sum  of  two 
hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  act  so  amended  former 
laws  as  to  require  the  Governor  to  deliver  to  the  several 
74 


railroad  companies  in  the  State  who  were  entitled  to  a 
further  issue  of  State  bonds  the  whole  amount  within 
the  limits  of  the  grants  to  them  respectively  to  which 
they  were  entitled  by  virtue  of  showing  an  equiva- 
lent amount  of  actual  expenditure  upon  their  roads, 
respectively,  of  funds  derived  from  other  sources, 
without  regard  to  the  limit  of  such  disbursement, 
before  fixed  at  fifty  thousand  dollars ;  and,  further, 
by  authorizing  the  several  companies  to  sell  the 
bonds  issued  to  them  at  their  market  value,  even 
though  they  should  fall  below  par,  and  by  authorizing 
the  hypothecation  of  the  bonds,  if  desired,  to  carry 
on  the  operations  of  the  roads. 

At  the  same  session  an  act  was  passed  entitled 
"  An  Act  to  aid  the  construction  of  the  Pacific  Rail- 
road," approved  March  3,  1855,  granting  a  further 
loan  of  the  State  credit  to  the  amount  of  three  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars,  on  the  same  terms  and  condi- 
tions which  governed  the  loans  formerly  made,  and 
providing  for  the  appointment  of  a  Board  of  Public 
Works  to  examine  into  the  affairs  of  the  company 
and  its  management.  This  act  provided  that  unless 
accepted  by  the  Pacific  Railroad  Company  within  six 
months  after  its  passage  it  should  be  inoperative,  and 
not  having  been  accepted  by  the  company  it  expired 
by  its  own  limitation.  A  supplemental  act  passed  at 
the  same  session  was  approved  March  3,  1855,  pro- 
viding for  the  protection  of  innocent  settlers  on  lands 
included  in  the  land-grant  to  the  Pacific  Railroad 
Company. 

On  the  1st  of  June,  1853,  a  mortgage  was  executed 
by  the  company  for  ten  million  dollars,  which  included 
the  lands  granted  by  the  General  Assembly  to  the  Pa- 
cific Railroad  and  the  entire  property  of  the  company 
on  the  main  and  branch  line,  subject  to  the  prior  lien 
of  the  State.  No  bonds  were  sold  under  this  mort- 
gage, and  it  was  subsequently  canceled. 

The  estimates  of  cost  furnished  to  the  Legislature 
Dec.  1,  1852,  were: 

St.  Louis  to  Kansas $7,858,043 

Southwest  Branch 8,157,000 


Total,  exclusive  of  interest $16,015,043 

Estimates  submitted  Jan.  1,  1855 : 

Full  expenditures  required,  with  interest, 
etc.,  from  St.  Louis  to  Kansas,  with  roll- 
ing stock $10,300,000 

Southwest  Branch  to  State  line 9,900,000 


Total  estimate,  Jan.  1,1855 $20,000,000 

The  total  of  stock  subscriptions  and  State  bonds 
devoted  to  the  purposes  of  the  company  up  to  No- 
vember, 1855,  amounted  to  $6,734,400.  Of  this 
sum  the  individual  subscriptions  amounted  to  $864,400, 
of  which  $140,000  was  applicable  west  of  Jefferson 


1158 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


City.  The  subscriptions  made  by  the  city  and  county 
of  St.  Louis,  payable  in  bonds,  were : 

City  of  St.  Louis $500, 000 

County  of  St.  Louis 5UO,UOO 

County  of  St.  Louis  subscribed  in  cash, 
at  one,  two,  three,  and  four  years, 
$1,200.000,  but  anticipated  by  the 
county's  bonds  to  the  amount  of 875,000 

The  first  railroad  iron  for  the  Pacific  Road  was  re- 
ceived in  St.  Louis  in  April,  1852.  There  were  in 
all  42t>7  bars,  the  aggregate  cost  of  which  was 
$16,595.30.  The  government  duty  amounted  to 
64978.50.  The  iron  was  imported  from  England. 
On  Nov.  12, 1852,  the  first  locomotive,  the  "  Pacific," 
manufactured  at  Taunton,  Mass.,  was  placed  upon  the 
track  at  the  machine-shop  erected  by  the  company, 
and  run  out  to  the  Manchester  road. 

"Yesterday  evening,"  said  the  Republican  of  Dec.  2,  1852, 
"  we  visited  the  depot  station  of  the  Pacific  Railroad  Company 
to  see  the  first  car  started,  and  listen  to  the  first  whistle  of  the 
iron  horse  on  this  side  of  the  Mississippi.  We  were  disap- 
pointed in  seeing  the  car  start,  but  we  had,  in  company  with  a 
number  of  persons,  the  pleasure  of  seeing  the  first  car,  the 
'  Pacific,  No.  3,'  placed  on  the  track,  and  this  morning  at  seven 
o'clock  we  expect  to  hear  the  first  whistle.  Owing  to  unavoid- 
able circumstance.*,  the  car  and  tender  could  not  be  placed  upon 
the  track  as  early  as  was  expected.  It  is  there  now,  and  the 
fact  mny  be  announced  that  the  first  car  for  the  Pacific  was 
placed  on  the  track  yesterday  evening." 

On  the  following  day,  as  anticipated,  the  first 
trial  was  made.  The  locomotive,  with  the  tender,  had 
been  backed  down  nearly  to  Fourteenth  Street,  and 
three  heavily-laden  cars  of  iron  and  ties  were  attached. 
Thomas  Allen,  president  of  the  company,  T.  S.  O'Sul- 
livan,  engineer,  Mr.  Copp,  the  secretary,  and  a  num- 
ber of  other  gentlemen  were  present.  William  II. 
Kingsley,  the  resident  engineer,  having  charge  of  the 
construction  of  the  First  Division,  had  the  track  in 
complete  working  order.  Everything  being  ready,  and 
the  word  given,  "All  aboard,"  Charles  Williams,  the 
chief  machinist  of  the  company,  took  charge  of  the 
engine,  and  at  seven  o'clock  the  whistle  sounded,  and 

O  * 

the  (rain  was  in  motion.  To  Mr.  Williams  belongs 
the  credit  of  having  run  the  first  engine  west  of  the 
Mississippi  going  towards  the  Pacific.  The  train  was 
run  successfully  to  the  terminus  of  the  track,  a  dis- 
tance of  several  miles. 

A  few  days  later  the  road  was  completed  to  Sulphur 
Springs,  or  Cheltenham,  five  miles  from  St.  Louis, 
and  an  experimental  trip  was  made  to  that  point  on 
the  9th  of  December,  1852.1 


i  "The  president,  Thomas  Allen,  in  commemoration  of  the 
event,  had  invited  the  directors  of  the  company,  the  members 
of  the  Legislature  from  St.  Louis  and  other  counties,  then  on 
their  way  to  Jefferson  City,  and  a  few  early  friends  of  the  en- 
terprise to  a  collation  at  the  Sulphur  Springs,  or  Cheltenham. 
At  one  o'clock  the  train  was  off.  There  were  two  beautiful  and 


During  this  year  (1852)  Mr.  Kirkwood,  chief  en- 
gineer, resigned,  and  was  succeeded  by  Thomas  S. 
O'Sullivan. 

On  the  6th  of  May,  1853,  the  directors  decided 
that  the  road  should  be  opened  for  travel  to  Kirkwood, 
fourteen  miles  from  the  city,  and  that  for  the  accom- 
modation of  way  business  the  train  should  stop  at  Rock 
Spring,  two  and  a  half  miles  from  the  city  ;  "  Chelten- 
ham, about  five  miles;  the  River  des  Peres,  a  little 
beyond  Sutton's  ;  and  Webster's  College,  which  is  two 
and  a  half  miles  this  side  of  Kirkwood." 

By  resolution  of  the  boar.d  "  the  fare  for  passengers 
from  this  time  forth  is  not  to  exceed  three  cents  per 
mile,  with  proper  and  liberal  deduction  for  in  and  out 
passengers." 

The  First  Division,  thirty-nine  miles,  from  St.  Louis 
to  Franklin,  was  opened  on  the  19th  of  July,  1853, 
and  the  event  was  signalized  by  an  excursion  to  the 
then  terminus  of  the  road.  At  eleven  o'clock  on  that 
day.  twelve  large  passenger-cars,  drawn  by  the  loco- 
motive "  St.  Louis,"  and  carrying  between  six  and 
seven  hundred  invited  guests,  including  the  St.  Louis 
Grays,  with  Jackson's  Band  of  the  Sixth  United 
States  Infantry,  started  for  Franklin  Station,  in  Frank- 
lin County,  which  was  then  situated  in  a  forest  of  large 
timber,  with  no  other  improvements  than  a  large  and 
handsome  depot,  extending  several  hundred  feet. 
Here  the  train  was  greeted  by  several  hundred  per- 
sons from  the  surrounding  country,  including  many 
ladies.  In  all  there  were  fully  fifteen  hundred  per- 
sons present. 


commodious  passenger-cars  attached  to  the  powerful  locomotive. 
A  few  minutes  brought  the  company  to  the  mansion  of  Mr. 
llawley,  at  the  Sulphur  Springs,  and  they  sat  down  to  a  most 
bountiful  repast. 

"After  discussing  the  viands  the  meeting  was  entertained  by 
addresses  fn>ui  Mayor  Kennett,  the  president  of  the  railroad 
company,  Mr.  Allen,  Dr.  Shelby,  the  then  Speaker  of  the 
llou.-e  of  Representatives  of  the  Stale,  the  Hon.  Edward  Bates, 
James  II.  Lucas,  Esq.,  Mr.  Halliburton,  member  of  the  House 
of  Representatives  from  Linn,  Mr.  Tarvcr,  Mr.  O'Sullivan,  the 
then  enginrer  of  the  road,  who  commenced  the  work  in  con- 
nection with  Mr.  Kirkwood,  the  first,  engineer,  and  who  was 
most  flatteringly  toasted  by  the  company.  The  health  of  Mr. 
Williams,  who  ran  the  first  locomotive,  was  also  received  with 
cheers.  Mr.  La,l>eauine  gave  'the  Governor  of  the  State  and 
the  aid  he  has  given  this  and  other  internal  improvement  en- 
terprises,'and  expressed  the  hope  that  his  successor  would  prove 
ns  favorable  to  their  consummation.  This  sentiment  was  re- 
ceived with  much  enthusiasm.  Mr.  Loughborough  and  many 
other  early  friends  of  this  road  were  toasted. 

"The  day  was  remarkably  fine,  and  at  the  appointed  time 
(railroad  tiaie)  the  company,  with  several  hundred  who  had 
come  out  on  the  second  train,  returned  to  the  ciiy.  Everything 
worked  well,  and  for  a  new  road,  we  say  advisedly  that  there  is 
not  a  better  built  road  in  the  Union." — Hi-publican,  Dec.  10, 
1852. 


RAILROADS. 


1159 


"  Much  of  the  latter  part  of  the  road,"  says  a  con- 
temporary account,  "  had  not  been  used  before, — 
in  fact,  some  of  the  rails  had  not  been  laid  until  that 
morning, — and  still  we  arrived  at  Franklin  before  two 
P.M.  The  actual  running  time,  as  kept  by  some  of 
the  passengers,  was  one  hour  and  fifty-one  minutes, 
a  fair  speed  for  a  new,  partially  unballasted  and  untried 
road." 

A  collation  was  served,  after  which  Charles  D. 
Drake  proposed  the  health  of  the  president  of  the 
company,  Thomas  Allen.  In  Mr.  Allen's  absence, 
Hon.  L.  M.  Kennett  responded  in  an  address  highly 
eulogistic  of  Mr.  Allen's  services  in  behalf  of  the  en- 
terprise. In  the  course  of  his  address  Mr.  Kennett 
congratulated  his  hearers  on  the  fact  that  the  cars  were 
of  St.  Louis  manufacture,  "  drawn  by  a  locomotive 
made  in  St.  Louis,  and  by  St.  Louis  mechanics,  Messrs. 
Palm  &  Robertson,  to  whose  enterprise  and  public  spirit 
the  company,  and  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis  generally, 
are  indebted  for  so  important  a  movement  towards 
our  city's  advancement  to  wealth  and  prosperity." 

The  actual  cost  of  the  division  was  set  down  by 
Mr.  Kennett  as  being  "  a  trifle  over  one  million  six 
hundred  thousand  dollars."  At  this  time  the  two 
divisions  of  the  main  stem,  towards  Kansas,  had  been 
located,  and  were  under  construction  as  far  as  Jeifer-  : 
son  City,  eighty-eight  miles  from  Franklin. 

Addresses  were  also  made  by  Hon.  John  How, 
mayor  of  St.  Louis,  Hon.  Edward  Bates,  J.  D.  Ste- 
venson, R.  S.  Elliott,  William  Palm  (of  the  firm  of 
Palm  &  Robertson,  who  built  the  first  locomotive  in 
St.  Louis),  A.  S.  Mitchell,  P.  B.  Garesche,  William 
L.  Williams,  James  Conran,  Henry  Cobb,  Charles 
S.  Rannals,  and  others. 

The  president,  Mr.  Allen,  who  had  devoted  his 
time  and  energies  to  the  starting  of  the  enterprise,  the 
first  year  without  pay,  and  during  the  last  at  a  salary 
of  fifteen  hundred  dollars  per  annum,  willing  still  to 
make  sacrifices  for  the  cause,  and  desirous  of  attract- 
ing public  attention  at  once  to  the  necessities  of  the 
case  and  to  propitiate  all  opposition,  if  any,  on  the 
score  of  long  continuance  in  office,  tendered  his  resig- 
nation, which  was  accepted  at  a  meeting  of  the  board  of 
directors  on  April  30,  1854,  which  at  the  same  time 
passed  a  unanimous  indorsement  of  his  entire  action  in 
the  affairs  of  the  company.  After  Mr.  Allen's  resig- 
nation had  been  accepted,  Hudson  E.  Bridge  was 
elected  president  of  the  company,  and  Henry  L.  Pat- 
terson vice-president.  At  an  election  held  about 
this  time  the  question  of  making  a  subscription  on 
the  part  of  St.  Louis  County  to  the  amount  of  one 
million  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  to  the  capital 
stock  of  the  company  was  decided  affirmatively  by  a 


vote  of  three  thousand  four  hundred  and  twenty  yeas 
to  one  thousand  three  hundred  and  thirty-three  nays. 

The  work  of  construction  from  Franklin  westward 
was  prosecuted  with  unremitting  energy,  and  on  the 
1st  of  November,  1855,  the  road  was  opened  to  Jeffer- 
son City.1  This  event  was  the  occasion  of  a  catas- 
trophe which  resulted  in  great  loss  of  life,  and  caused 
universal  distress  and  mourning  in  St.  Louis.  It  has 
ever  since  been  known  as  the  Gasconade  Bridge  dis- 
aster, and  occupies  a  position  of  melancholy  promi- 
nence in  the  history  of  the  city. 

The  train,  which  consisted  of  fourteen  passenger- 
cars,  started  from  the  Seventh  Street  Depot,  St.  Louis, 
on  the  morning  of  Thursday,  November  1st,  with  the 
mayor  and  City  Council  of  St.  Louis,  Company 
A  of  the  St.  Louis  Grays,  and  the  National  Guard, 
with  the  band  attached  to  the  latter,  and  a  number  of 
invited  guests,  the  whole  party  numbering  between 
six  and  seven  hundred  persons.  There  had  been 
heavy  rains  the  night  before,  and  the  weather  was 
still  inclement,  but  the  train  proceeded  in  safety  until 
the  Gasconade  River  was  reached,  when  the  bridge 
across  the  stream  gave  way,  and  ten  of  the  cars  were 
precipitated  a  distance  of  twenty-five  or  thirty  feet. 
The  locomotive,  from  all  appearances,  had  reached 
the  edge  of  the  first  pier  when  the  structure  gave 
way,  and  in  falling  reversed  its  position,  the  front 
turning  to  the  east  and  the  wheels  upward.  On 
the  locomotive  at  the  time  were  the  president,  H.  E. 
Bridge,  T.  S.  O'Sullivan,  the  chief  engineer  of  the 
road,  and  several  employe's.  Mr.  Bridge  escaped, 
but  Mr.  O'Sullivan  was  killed.  The  road  entered  the 
bridge  with  a  curve,  and  this  circumstance,  perhaps, 
prevented  the  disaster  from  being  more  fatal,  as  the 
cars  thereby  were  diverted,  and  thus  prevented  from 
falling  in  a  general  melee.  The  baggage-car,  next  the 
engine,  went  down  easily,  without  causing  any  serious 
casualty.  The  first  and  second  passenger-cars  fol- 
lowed, and  in  these  several  were  killed,  and  a  great 
number  more  or  less  mangled.  In  the  third  car  one 
or  two  were  killed  only.  This  car,  although  in  a  dan- 
gerous position  and  almost  entirely  demolished,  was 
less  fatal  to  life  and  limb.  In  the  fourth  and  fifth 
cars  a  great  many  were  fatally  injured  and  several 
instantly  killed.  The  other  cars  of  the  train  followed 
swiftly  on  their  fatal  errand,  and  the  loss  of  life,  with 
contusions  more  or  less  severe,  was  dreadful.  Some 
of  the  cars  plunged  on  those  beneath  them  with  their 
ponderous  wheels,  and  crushed  or  maimed  the  uufor- 

i  On  the  10th  of  February,  1855,  the  road  was  opened  to 
Washington,  fifty-five  miles;  and  on  the  6th  of  August,  1855, 
to  Hermann,  eighty-one  miles. 


1160 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


tunate  persons  below.  Others  hung  upon  the  cliff 
in  a  perpendicular  position,  and  two  or  three  turned 
bottom  upward  down  the  grade.  Only  one,  the  ex- 
treme rear  car,  maintained  its  position  on  the  rail. 

"  When  we  take  into  consideration  the  fall  of  thirty 
feet  in  front  to  the  bed  of  the  river,"  says  the  Repub- 
lican, in  its  account  of  the  disaster,  "  and  the  high 
embankment  on  either  side  of  the  track,  covered  with 
stone, —  the  ponderous  cars  themselves  capable  of 
grinding  each  other  into  fragments, — the  wonder  is 
increased  that  so  few  were  killed  outright  or  fatally 
wounded.  There  is  hardly  a  position  in  which  a  car 
could  be  precipitated  from  the  track  at  the  point 
named  that  gives  a  reasonable  hope  of  escape,  and  yet 
although  seven  out  of  the  ten  of  which  the  train  was 
composed  plunged  headlong  down  the  abutment,  and 
then  others  rolled  over  the  grade,  containing  five  to 
six  hundred  passengers,  we  have  only  the  report  of 
twenty-five  killed  and  mortally  injured. 

"  As  soon  as  the  crash  was  over  a  moment  of  pain- 
ful silence  ensued,  and  then  issued  from  the  wreck 
the  groans  of  the  wounded,  the  supplications  of  the 
imprisoned,  the  screams  of  the  agonized,  while  here 
and  there  might  be  observed  the  upturned  face  of  the 
dead,  mangled  and  clotted  with  blood,  or  the  half- 
buried  forms  of  others  whose  spirits  had  passed  away 
forever.  To  add  to  the  horror  of  the  scene,  a  storm 
of  lightning,  thunder,  and  rain  arose  of  the  severest 
description." 

Drs.  McDowell  and  McPherson  happened  to  be  on 
the  train,  and  rendered  efficient  aid  to  the  wounded. 

Couriers  were  dispatched  forthwith  to  Hermann  for 
another  train,  and  in  an  hour  or  less  the  wounded 
were  in  comfortable  cars  on  their  way  to  the  city. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  killed  and  injured  : 

Killed.— A.  L.  Chappell,  Rev.  A.  Bullard,  B. 
B.  Dayton,  Cyrus  Melvin,  Mann  Butler,  Thomas 
Grey,  Rev.  Mr.  Teasdale,  S.  Best  (fireman),  Pat- 
rick Barry  (wood-passer),  T.  J.  Mott  (representa- 
tive of  Dunklin  County),  Thomas  S.  O'Sullivan 
(chief  engineer),  E.  C.  Yosti  (firm  of  Shields  & 
Yosti),  Capt.  C.  Case,  E.  C.  Blackburn,  J.  A.  Ross 

(firm  of  Ross  &  Gillum),  Athey  (late  assessor 

of  St.  Louis),  Henry  Chouteau  (of  the  firm  of 
Chouteau  &  Valle),  Capt.  O'Flaherty,  Joseph  Har- 
ris (of  St.  Louis  County),  E.  B.  Jeffrees  (represen- 
tative of  Franklin  County),  Adolph  Abeles,  George 
Eberle,  William  L.  Lynch,  R.  M.  Dubois,  11.  W. 
Huhn,  Joseph  A.  Finnegan,  Mr.  McCulloch  (of  Dunk- 
lin) ;  one  body,  left  at  the  Gasconade  ;  one  body,  iden- 
tified at  Hermann,  name  unknown. 

All  of  the  above  not  otherwise  specified  were  resi- 
dents of  St.  Louis. 


Wounded. — Hon.  Washington  King,  mayor  of  St. 
Louis,  badly  cut. 

F.  L.  Billon,  arm  broken. 

Carlos  S.  Greeley,  slightly  injured. 

L.  M.  Kennett,  slightly  injured. 

Judge  Wells,  United  States  District  Court,  slightly, 
injured. 

John  M.  Wimer,  badly  hurt. 

Henry  C.  Hart. 

George  K.  Budd. 

Francis  Lane,  leg  broken. 

James  Mullery,  slightly  injured. 

D.  H.  Armstrong,  right  arm  broken. 

Capt.  Connelly,  right  leg  injured. 

Wilson  Primm,  bruised  about  the  head. 

John  Sehuetze,  not  seriously  hurt. 

Edward  Colston,  badly  cut  on  head. 

S.  J.  Levi,  bruised  about  face. 

L.  A.  Benoist,  leg  hurt. 

Judge  Thomas,  of  Bridgeton,  face  injured. 

John  J.  Hoppe,  face  cut. 

Wayman  Crow,  leg  bruised. 

Peter  Oehman,  badly  bruised. 

Mr.  Dyson,  firm  of  Taylor  &  Dyson,  lower  jaw 
broken,  and  otherwise  badly  injured. 

John  C.  Ivory,  much  cut  and  bruised. 

William  Lindsey,  shoulder  out  of  joint. 

John  K.  Field,  firm  of  Beardslee  &  Field.  Mr. 
Field  went  out  the  day  after  the  accident,  having 
heard  that  his  brother  was  seriously  injured  at  the 
Gasconade  Bridge.  He  failed  to  get  across  BosufF 
Creek  before  the  bridge  there  was  washed  away. 
Afterwards  he  crossed  the  river,  took  a  hand-car, 
and  was  at  work  on  it  when  his  coat  was  caught  in 
the  wheel  and  he  was  thrown  out.  The  wheel  passed 
over  him,  doing  him  very  serious  injury,  principally 
about  the  face. 

W.  H.  Tucker,  the  engineer  on  the  locomotive,  had 
his  legs  badly  bruised. 

William  D'CEnch,  right  arm  broken. 

Julius  Bush,  face  cut  badly. 

John  Neindenhofer,  face  bruised. 

James  McDermott,  leg  broken. 

A  number  of  others  were  more  or  less  seriously  hurt. 

The  masonry  of  this  bridge  was  of  the  most  sub- 
stantial kind,  and  had  stood  every  test  applied  to  it 
without  damage  in  any  shape  whatever.  The  wooden 
superstructure — trestle-work — was  put  up  by  Stone, 
Boomer  &  Co.,  men  of  great  experience  in  bridge- 
building:  in  the  West.1 


1  In  view  of  the  distressing  nature  of  the  calamity,  the  mayor 
of  St.  Louis,  Hon.  Washington  King,  determined  to  set  apart  a 


RAILROADS. 


1161 


It  having  become  apparent  that  the  cost  of  the  pro- 
posed railroads  in  Missouri  had  been  underestimated, 
the  Legislature  on  the  10th  of  December,  1855,  en- 
acted that  the  State  bonds  might  be  issued  to  the 
railroad  companies  in  the  proportion  of  two  dollars  of 
loan  advanced  for  one  expended  by  the  stockholders, 
and  thus  granted  the  further  sum  of  two  millions  to 
the  main  trunk  line  of  the  Pacific  Road.  The  act 
also  created  and  established  a  Board  of  Public  Works, 
consisting  of  three  persons,  not  stockholders,  to  be 
(after  the  first  appointed  by  the  Governor)  elected  by 
the  people  for  four  years,  the  first  election  in  1856, 
and  further  required  each  railroad  company  to  set 
aside  and  pay  to  the  State  treasurer  every  year,  on 
State  bonds  thereafter  to  be  issued,  one  and  one 
quarter  of  one  per  cent,  on  each  thirty-year 
bond,  and  two  and  one-half  per  cent,  on  each 
twenty-year  bond  sold  or  hypothecated.  The  treas- 
urer of  the  State  and  the  treasurer  of  each  railroad 
company  for  the  time  being  were  made  commission- 
ers of  tho  sinking  fund  thus  created,  and  each  com- 
pany was  required  to  pay  to  the  State  treasurer  the 
semi-annual  interest  on  the  bonds  issued  to  them 
thirty  days  before  the  coupons  should  fall  due.  The 
State  treasurer  was  required  to  select  one  place  in  the 
city  of  New  York  for  the  payment  of  the  interest  on 
all  the  bonds  issued  by  the  State,  and  to  give  public 
notice  thereof  thirty  days  in  advance. 

James  H.  Lucas  was  elected  president  of  the  Pacific 
Railroad  Company  in  March,  1856,  but  resigned 
about  a  month  afterwards,  when  William  M.  Mc- 
Pherson  was  elected  president  in  his  place,  and  Ed- 
ward Miller  soon  after  was  made  chief  engineer.  Mr. 
McPherson  continued  to  serve  as  president  until 
March,  1858,  when  Hon.  John  M.  Wimer  was  elected 
in  his  place. 

By   an  act   approved  March   3,  1857,  the  State 


day  of  fasting  and  prayer.     He  accordingly  issued  the  following 
proclamation : 

"To  THE  CITIZENS  OF  ST.  Louis. — In  view  of  the  awful  and 
inscrutable  dispensation  of  Providence,  by  which  so  many  valu- 
able lives  were  lost  on  Thursday  last,  I  have  deemed  it  proper 
to  recommend,  and  as  the  mayor  of  the  city  I  do  hereby 
recommend  and  set  apart  Monday  next,  the  5th  inst.,  and  ask 
that  it  be  observed  universally  as  a  day  of  cessation  from  all 
labor,  as  a  tribute  of  respect  to  those  who  are  most  deeply 
stricken  by  this  terrible  blow,  and  a  day  of  heartfelt  thankful- 
ness and  gratitude  to  God  by  and  on  account  of  all  who  are 
saved  from  death. 

"  I  recommend  that  all  business  houses  be  closed,  and  that  all 
secular  pursuits  go  unobserved  on  that  day.  I  also  request  that 
the  churches  of  all  denominations  be  opened  for  religious  wor- 
ship on  that  day. 

"WASHINGTON-  KING,  Mayor. 

"MAYOR'S  OFFICE,  ST.  Louis,  Nov.  3,  1855." 


agreed  to  guarantee  the  bonds  of  the  Pacific  Railroad 
Company,  issued  as  authorized  by  the  act  of  Dec. 
10,  1855,  upon  a  mortgage  of  lands  on  the  Southwest 
Branch,  in  sums  of  $100,000  each,  to  an  amount  not 
exceeding  $4,500,000,  the  first  $100,000  to  be  issued 
upon  evidence  of  a  like  amount  of  expenditure  on 
that  branch  by  the  company,  derived  from  sources 
other  than  guaranteed  bonds,  but  the  subsequent 
amounts  were  to  be  issued  as  fast  as  each  given  sum 
was  expended.  The  Governor  was  also  authorized  to 
make  such  guarantees  in  larger  amounts  than  $100,- 
000  at  a  time  if  expedient,  and  place  them  for  sale 
in  the  hands  of  an  agent  to  be  appointed  by  him,  etc. 
The  company  was  required  to  complete  the  South- 
west Branch  in  four  years,  pay  the  interest,  and  hold 
the  State  harmless  from  her  guarantee,  or  forfeit  the 
branch  road,  lands,  and  franchises.  The  same  act 
further  provided  that  whenever  the  Pacific  Railroad 
Company  had  expended  five  hundred  thousand  dollars 
west  of  Jefferson  City,  the  Governor  of  the  State 
should  issue  to  them  $1,000,000,  part  of  the  amount 
granted  by  the  act  of  Dec.  10,  1855,  but  not  issued; 
and  also  granted  a  further  loan  of  $300,000  of  the 
same  amount,  to  be  based  upon  a  showing  of  half  that 
sum  expended  from  stock  subscriptions  west  of  Jef- 
ferson City.  The  act  also  granted  the  same  com- 
pany a  further  loan  of  $1,000,000,  to  be  issued  in 
sums  of  $100,000,  the  applications  for  them  to  be 
based  upon  proof  of  additional  expenditure  of  half 
the  amount  derived  from  other  sources  than  State 
bonds,  and  not  included  in  any  previous  statement, 
and  showing  also  that  the  proceeds  of  all  the  bonds 
issued  under  the  act  of  1855  had  been  expended  in 
the  construction  of  the  road,  the  statement  of  ex- 
penditure to  be  exclusive  of  interest,  discount,  and 
commissions. 

This  law  also  provided  that  the  work  should  pro- 
gress continuously  west,  so  as  to  leave  no  part  unfin- 
ished beyond  the  reach  of  the  means  of  the  com- 
pany, and  postponed  the  payments  into  the  sinking 
fund  required  by  the  act  of  1855  until  Jan.  1,  1859, 
when  said  payments  were  to  commence  and  be  made 
as  before  required,  and  within  two  years  from  that 
time  the  companies  were  to  make  full  payment  of  all 
sums  thus  postponed.  The  same  act  of  March  3, 
1857,  required  the  State  geologist  to  make  a  thorough 
survey  along  the  lines  of  all  railroads  aided  by  the 
State,  and  to  report  in  detail  to  the  president  and  di- 
rectors "  all  the  mineral,  agricultural,  and  other  re- 
sources which  may  affect  the  value  or  income  of  the 
road  under  their  direction." 

In  consequence  of  the  panic  in  the  money  market, 
the  State  bonds  of  Missouri,  like  many  others,  touched 


1162 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


a  low  point  in  the  fall  of  1857,  and  many  of  the 
holders  felt  much  alarmed.  The  act  of  Nov.  19, 1857, 
suspended  the  further  issue  and  guarantee  of  bonds 
until  March  1, 1859,  with  some  exceptions,  and  among 
them  four  hundred  thousand  dollars  were  permitted 
to  be  issued  to  the  Pacific  Railroad  to  finish  to  Round 
Hill,  and  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  to  carry  the 
Southwest  Branch  to  Moseley's.  But  it  was  agreed 
that  whenever  State  bonds  could  be  sold  for  ninety 
cents  on  the  dollar,  the  Governor  might  issue  five 
hundred  thousand  dollars  for  the  Southwest  Branch, 
and  receive  in  exchange  the  same  amount  of  guaran- 
teed bonds.  It  was  further  provided  that  there 
should  be  deposited  with  the  State  treasurer  a  like 
amount  of  seven  per  cent,  railroad  mortgage  bonds 
as  collateral  security,  and  as  the  latter  bore  seven 
per  cent,  interest  and  the  former  six,  the  company 
was  required  to  pay  the  difference  (one  per  cent.) 
into  the  State  interest  fund  on  the  bonds  so  ex- 
changed. 

The  Pacific  Railroad  was  also  required  to  deliver 
up  all  guaranteed  bonds,  and  a  like  amount  of  State 
bonds,  running  twenty  years  and  bearing  six  per  cent, 
interest,  were  ordered  to  be  issued  and  delivered  to 
them.  It  was  a  singular  fact  that  while  State  bonds 
sold  readily,  mortgage  bonds,  guaranteed  by  the  State, 
could  not  be  sold. 

The  Board  of  Public  Works  was  required  to  attend 
all  the  meetings  of  the  boards  of  directors  and  watch 
their  proceedings.  Full  and  ample  provision  was  also 
made  by  the  Legislature  to  meet  at  all  times  the  ac- 
cruing interest  on  the  State  bonds  of  Missouri. 

The  main  (or  Kansas)  line  of  the  Pacific  Railroad 
was  completed  to  Sedalia,  and  its  Southwest  Branch, 
afterwards  the  St.  Louis  and  San  Francisco  line,  to 
Rolla  in  1861.  The  four  years  of  the  civil  war  re- 
tarded the  efforts  of  the  company  to  push  forward  the 
work  of  construction,  and  the  effect  upon  the  road 
was  disastrous  in  the  extreme.  For  much  of  the  time 
in  the  use  of  the  government,  which  only  allowed  the 
actual  cost  of  transportation,  and  seriously  injured  by 
destruction  of  its  depots  and  bridges  by  armed  bands, 
the  work  was  still  pushed  forward  under  the  greatest 
difficulties,  and  in  May,  1863,  was  extended  to  Dres- 
den, in  July,  1864,  to  Warrensburg,  and  was  being 
pushed  to  Kansas  City,  when  the  great  raid  of  Gen. 
Price,  in  the  fall  of  that  year,  destroyed  everything 
destructible  between  Franklin  and  Kansas  City,  in- 
flicting a  damage  which  exceeded  a  million  of  dollars. 
Nearly  one  mile  of  bridging  was  destroyed,  includ- 
ing the  Gasconade,  Moreau,  and  Osage,  and  depot 
buildings,  machine-shops,  water-tanks,  and  wood- 
sheds were  totally  destroyed  at  Franklin,  Gray's  Sum- 


mit, South  Point,  Washington,  Hermann,  California, 
Syracuse,  Otterville,  and  many  lesser  points.  Large 
portions  of  the  track  were  torn  up,  and  the  entire  road 
was  a  wreck. 

Under  military  protection  the  work  of  repair  and 
extension  was  continued,  and  the  road  was  opened 
to  Holden  in  May,  1865,  and  to  Kansas  City  in 
September  of  that  year. 

Since  its  completion  to  Kansas  City  other  roads 
have  been  completed  to  that  point,  but  the  Pacific 
Road  has  held  its  own  in  the  contest  for  the  com- 
merce of  the  West.  Its  present  connections  with 
roads  west  and  southwest  are  of  the  most  intimate 
character,  and  cars  run  to  and  from  St.  Louis,  with- 
out break  of  bulk,  to  every  railroad  point  in  Kansas 
and  Colorado. 

During  the  year  1878-79  the  construction  of  tho 
Sedalia  and  Fort  Scott  Railroad  shortened  the  line 
between  St.  Louis  and  Fort  Scott  more  than  one 
hundred  miles,  and  arrangements  were  completed  for 
the  running  of  freight  and  passenger  trains,  with- 
out break,  between  St.  Louis  and  Fort  Scott.  The 
connecting  link  between  Fort  Scott  and  the  main 
line  of  the  Missouri,  Kansas  and  Texas  Railroad  was 
completed  in  1871,  after  which  time  freight  and 
passenger  trains  ran,  without  break,  to  Chetopa  and 
points  in  the  Indian  country. 

Connections  have  been  made  between  Pleasant 
Hill  and  Lawrence,  .by  which  the  route  to  Denver 
was  straightened  and  shortened.  Roads  from  Sedalia 
to  Lexington,  from  Holden  to  Paola  and  Emporia, 
Kan.,  and  from  Tipton  to  Versailles  and  Warsaw,  in 
Missouri,  have  also  been  constructed. 

Among  the  most  active  and  liberal  of  the  early 
promoters  of  this  great  enterprise  was  Edward  Walsh. 
Mr.  Walsh  was  born  in  County  Tipperary,  Ireland,  Dec. 
27,  1798.  The  family  consisted  of  eleven  children, 
who  were  trained  to  habits  of  industry  and  economy,  and 
when  old  enough  to  work  established  in  some  employ- 
ment. After  being  kept  at  school  until  twelve  years 
old,  Edward  entered  the  store  of  a  cousin,  and  remained 
there  four  years.  He  then  went  into  business  with 
his  brother,  who  kept  a  mill  and  brewing  establish- 
ment, and  remained  there  four  years.  A  letter  from 
his  cousin  in  Louisville  about  this  time  induced  him 
to  emigrate  to  America,  and  on  the  7th  of  June,  1818, 
he  arrived  in  New  York,  reaching  Louisville  in  due 
season.  In  October,  1818,  he  removed  to  St.  Louis, 
and  subsequently  settled  in  Ste.  Genevieve  County, 
where  he  built  a  mill  and  conducted  a  profitable 
business  until  1824,  when  he  sold  out  and  started 
another  mill  in  Madison  County.  This,  too,  he  soon 
disposed  of,  and  acting  on  the  idea  which  he  had 


•• 


RAILROADS. 


1163 


long  entertained  that  St.  Louis  was  the  best  field 
for  his  energies,  he  finally  removed  to  the  city  and 
settled  permanently,  engaging  with  his  brother  in 
the  general  merchandising  business,  under  the  firtn- 
name  and  style  of  J.  &  E.  Walsh. 

In  1831  he  also  engaged  in  milling  again,  and 
ultimately  conducted  operations  on  a  large  scale, 
having  three  mills  in  constant  operation.  One  of 
the  three  is  still  standing,  at  the  corner  of  Florida 
Street  and  the  Levee.  It  was  built  in  1827,  and 
has  made  more  flour  than  any  mill  in  St.  Louis. 

The  milling  business  succeeded  as  merchandising 
had  done,  and  Edward  Walsh  next  engaged  in  steam- 
boating  on  a  large  scale.  It  is  estimated  that  he  had 
half  a  million  dollars  invested  in  the  business,  and 
at  one  time  he  was  interested  in  twenty-one  vessels 
that  were  plying  on  the  Western  waters. 

During  this  period  his  firm  enjoyed  almost  the  en- 
tire monopoly  of  the  Galena  lead  business.  There 
was  then  no  Chicago  to  dispute  the  supremacy  of  St. 
Louis  in  that  region. 

When  railroads  began  to  be  agitated,  Mr.  Walsh 
was  among  their  most  earnest  and  energetic  promo- 
ters, being  one  of  the  first  subscribers  and  original 
directors  of  the  Missouri  Pacific  Railroad  Company. 
He  was  also  a  subscriber  to  the  stock  of  the  North 
Missouri  Railroad  and  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Rail- 
road Companies,  and  was  one  of  the  originators  of  the 
present  street  railway  system. 

Mr.  Walsh  assisted  in  numerous  other  public  en- 
terprises, and  was  one  of  the  first  directors  of  the  old 
Bank  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  and  a  director  in  the 
old  Missouri  Insurance  Company  and  Union  Insurance 
Company.  He  was  also  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
present  Merchants'  National  Bank. 

The  successful  management  of  such  large  and  com- 
plex interests,  down  almost  to  the  very  day  of  his 
death,  indicate  a  mind  of  uncommon  strength,  and 
Mr.  Walsh's  sound  business  judgment  was  recognized 
by  all  his  contemporaries.  The  splendid  success  which 
he  accomplished  is  his  best  monument.  The  young 
man  who  came  to  a  new  continent  with  neither  friends 
nor  patronage  made  his  way  by  sheer  force  of  char- 
acter and  industry  to  wealth  and  position,  and  when 
he  died,  on  the  23d  of  March,  1866,  he  was  mourned 
as  one  of  the  leading  citizens  of  the  State  of  his 
adoption. 

Edward  Walsh's  brother,  John  Walsh,  with  whom 
he  was  so  long  associated  in  business,  and  who  died 
many  years  before  him,  was  likewise  noted  for  his 
business  talents  and  lofty  integrity.  He  was  also 
widely  known  for  his  benevolence  and  charity,  which 
endeared  him  to  a  very  large  circle  of  friends,  and 


still  keeps  his  memory  green  in  the  minds  of  the 
people  of  St.  Louis.  Edward  Waish  was  also  of  an 
eminently  charitable  and  benevolent  character,  but 
many  of  his  benefactions  were  private  and  were 
never  known.  He  was  particularly  friendly  and 
generous  to  immigrants,  especially  his  own  country- 
men, many  of  whom,  being  destitute,  he  helped  to 
become  prosperous  business  men,  and  who  not  infre- 
quently testified  their  gratitude  to  Mr.  Walsh  by  the 
presentation  of  some  elegant  and  costly  token. 

Although  frequently  tendered  political  honors  and 
preferment,  Mr.  Walsh  uniformly  declined,  having  no 
aspirations  in  that  direction.  He  was,  however,  a 
warm  friend  and  admirer  of  the  Hon.  Thomas  H. 
Benton,  and  wherever  his  (Benton's)  interests  were 
involved  he  labored  actively  and  unselfishly  for  their 
promotion. 

Edward  Walsh  was  twice  married, — first  in  1822 
to  Miss  Maria  Tucker,  and  secondly,  Feb.  11, 1840,  to 
Miss  Isabelle  Do  Mun,  daughter  of  Julius  De  Mun. 
She  died  May  26,  1877.  Mr.  Walsh  left  six  chil- 
dren, viz. : 

Ellen,  who  became  the  wife  of  Solon  Humphreys, 
of  New  York,  president  of  the  Wabash,  St.  Louis  and 
Pacific  Railway. 

Julius  S.  Walsh,  of  whom  a  sketch  appears  else- 
where in  this  work. 

Marie  C.,  who  became  the  wife  of  B.  M.  Chambers, 
"now  a  resident  of  St.  Louis  County. 

J.  A.  Walsh,  president  of  the  Mississippi  Glass 
Company. 

Edward  Walsh,  Jr.,  president  of  the  Pilot  Knob 
Iron  Company. 

Daniel  E.  Walsh,  ex-president  of  the  People's, 
Tower  Grove  and  Lafayette  Railway  Company. 

In  1866  the  Southwest  Branch  of  the  Missouri 
Pacific  Railway  was  taken  possession  of  by  the  State 
for  non-payment  of  interest  on  the  State  subsidy,  and 
sold  with  the  lands  in  the  same  year  to  the  Atlantic 
and  Pacific  Railroad  Company,  which  company  in 
1872  leased  the  line  of  the  old  company.  The  two 
roads  were  operated  under  one  management  until  Sept. 
6, 1876,  when  the  Pacific  Road  was  sold,  under  process 
of  foreclosure  of  the  third  mortgages,  ana  conveyed  by 
the  purchasers  to  the  present  company,  incorporated 
as  the  Missouri  Pacific"  Railroad  Company,  Oct.  21, 
1876,  with  a  share  capital  of  $3,000,000.  The 
amount  of  old  indebtedness  prior  to  the  third  mort- 
gage, and  assumed  by  the  new  company,  was  $13,- 
700,000. 

By  articles  of  association  filed  Aug.  11,  1880,  the 
Missouri  Pacific  was  consolidated  (still  retaining  the 
same  name)  with  the  St.  Louis  and  Lexington,  the 


1164 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


Kansas  City  and  Eastern,  the  Lexington  and  South- 
ern, the  St.  Louis,  Kansas  and  Arizona,  the  Missouri 
River,  and  the  Leavenworth,  Atchison  and  North- 
western Companies.  The  authorized  share  capital  of 
the  consolidated  company  was  $30,000,000 ;  amount 
issued  to  carry  out  consolidation,  $12,419,800  ;  the 
funded  debt  of  the  new  company,  including  three  of 
the  present  lines,  was  $19,259,000.  The  Missouri, 
Kansas  and  Texas  Railway  was  leased  to  the  Mis- 
souri Pacific  Railway  Company  on  the  1st  of  Decem- 
ber, 1880,  the  rental  being  the  net  earnings  of  the  leased 
line,  which  for  1881  amounted  to  $1,911,673.93.  The 
Missouri  Pacific  Railway  operates  the  Central  Branch, 
Union  Pacific  Railroad,  accounting  to  the  Union  Pa- 
cific, which  owns  it,  for  the  net  earnings. 

During  1881  the  Missouri  Pacific  Railway  acquired 
the  ownership  of  the  railroad,  branches,  and  property 
of  the  St.  Louis,  Iron  Mountain  and  Southern  Rail- 
road Company  by  the  exchange  of  three  shares  of  its 
capital  stock  for  four  shares  of  that  of  the  St.  Louis, 
Iron  Mountain  and  Southern  Railroad.  The  Inter- 
national and  Great  Northern  Railroad  of  Texas  was 
absorbed  by  the  Missouri,  Kansas  and  Texas  Railroad 
of  Missouri  by  the  exchange  of  one  share  of  the  stock 
of  the  former  for  two  shares  of  the  stock  of  the  latter. 
According  to  the  report  for  the  year  ending  Dec.  31, 
1881,  the  condition  of  the  Missouri  Pacific  Railroad 
was  as  follows : 

Rolling  stock  :  Locomotive  engines,  134  ;  cars,  pas- 
senger, 78,  baggage,  mail,  and  express,  28 ;  cabooses, 
81 ;  freight  (box,  2318;  stock,  551 ;  platform,  132; 
coal,  1138),  4139;  total  revenue  cars,  4326  ;  service 
cars,  24. 

Operations  for  the  year :  Trains  run  (passenger, 
1,109,793;  freight,  2,940,078),  4,049,871  miles; 
total  engine  service,  4,220,241  miles  ;  passengers  car- 
ried, 1,017,507  ;  carried  one  mile,  59,132,107  ;  aver- 
age fare,  2.48  cents  ;  freight  moved,  2,712,634  ;  moved 
one  mile,  368,817,609  tons;  average  rate,  1.30 
cents. 

The  earnings  (774  miles)  were :  From  passengers, 
$1,472,150.13  ;  freight,  $4,806,913.67  ;  mail  and  ex- 
press, $29 '  281.01;  miscellaneous,  $2,067,612.99, 
total  ($11,164.03  per  mile),  $8,640,957.80. 

Expenditures:  For  maintenance  of  way,  $1,043,- 
655.78;  rolling  stock,  $1,268,204.31  ;  transportation, 
$1,047,254.58 ;  miscellaneous  and  taxes,  $269,040.17; 
total  ($4,687.54  per  mile),  $3,628,154.84. 

Net  earnings,  $5,012,802.96  ;  dividends  (April, 
July,  October,  and  Dec.  31, 1881,  1 J  per  cent,  each), 
$1,524,167.11. 

The  general  balance  sheet  presented  Dec.  31, 1881, 
showed, — 


Construction  and  equipment $33,555,939.10 

Real  estate 73.76fi.99 

Stocks  and  l>onds 20,3(10,866.53 

Material  and  fuel 1,091, 763.44 

Current  accounts 6,463,138.66 

Cash  onhand 585,540.16 


Total  assets $62,071,014.88 

Capital  stock $29,955,375.00 

Funded  delit 20,664,000.00 

Sundry  accounts 6,941,926.77 

Bills  paynble 451,956.64 

Profit  and  loss 4,057,756.47 


Total  liabilities $62,071,014.88 

The  increase  in  share  capital  during  the  year  ($17,- 
534,575)  was  due  wholly  to  the  issue  made  in  the 
purchase  of  the  St.  Louis,  Iron  Mountain  and  South- 
ern Railroad.  The  statement  of  the  funded  debt, 
Dec.  31, 1881,  showed  that  there  were  $48,195,000 
of  authorized  bonds,  and  that  the  outstanding  in- 
debtedness amounted  to  $20,664,000. 

The  Missouri  Pacific  now  forms  part  of  the  great 
system  of  railroads  controlled  by  Jay  Gould  and  his 
associates.  Its  directors  (elected  March  7,  1882) 
are  Jay  Gould,  Russell  Sage,  Sidney  Dillon,  W.  F. 
Buckley,  Thomas  T.  Eckert,  George  J.  Forrest, 
George  Gould,  A.  L.  Hopkins,  H.  G.  Marquand, 
Samuel  Sloan,  all  of  New  York ;  F.  L.  Ames,  South 
Easton,  Mass.;  S.  H.  H.  Clark,  Omaha,  Neb.:  R.  S. 
Hayes,  St.  Louis.  Jay  Gould,  president ;  R.  S. 
H.iyes,  first  vice-president ;  A.  L.  Hopkins,  second 
vice-president ;  A.  H.  Calef,  secretary,  New  York ; 
W.  M.  Arnold,  assistant  secretary  ;  A.  A.  Talmage, 
general  manager;  A.  W.  Dickinson,  superintendent; 
D.  Brock,  master  of  transportation ;  J.  C.  Brown, 
general  solicitor ;  T.  J.  Portis,  general  attorney ;  D. 
S.  H.  Smith,  local  treasurer;  C.  G.  Warner,  general 
auditor ;  F.  Chandler,  general  passenger  and  ticket 
agent ;  C.  B.  Kinnan,  assistant  general  passenger 
agent;  J.  L.  G.  Charlton,  assistant  general  ticket 
agent ;  S.  Frink,  general  freight  agent ;  G.  W.  Cole, 
assistant  general  freight  agent ;  J.  J.  Rogers,  assist- 
ant general  freight  agent ;  J.  Hewitt,  superintendent 
machinery;  J.  W.  King,  paymaster;  R.  B.  Lyle, 
purchasing  agent,  all  of  St.  Louis.  M.  Bullard,  su- 
perintendent telegraph,  Sedalia ;  A.  G.  Easton,  car 
accountant,  Sedalia  ;  W.  P.  Andrews,  general  bag- 
gage agent,  St.  Louis;  J.  Hansen,  general  agent,  St. 
Joseph ;  L.  H.  Nutting,  general  Eastern  agent,  New 
York. 

Missouri  Division :  Warder  Gumming,  superin- 
tendent, Sedalia ;  A.  M.  Hager,  assistant  superin- 
tendent transportation,  St.  Louis ;  C.  L.  Dunham, 
superintendent,  Atchison  Section,  Western  Division, 
Kansas  City. 

Kansas  and  Texas  Division :  T.  M.  Eddy,  super- 
intendent, Sedalia,  Mo. ;  T.  G.  Golden,  assistant  su- 


RAILROADS. 


1165 


perintendent  transportation,  Denison,  Texas ;  C.  V. 
Lewis,  division  freight  agent,  Parsons,  Kan. 

Central  Branch  Division. — W.  W.  Fagan,  superin- 
tendent, Atchison,  Kan.  ;  M.  L.  Sargent,  assistant 
general  freight  agent,  Atchison,  Kan. 

The  practical  operation  of  this  vast  railway  system, 
with  all  its  ramifying  lines  and  branches,  is  confided 
to  the  experienced  and  skillful  hands  of  the  general 
manager,  Mr.  Talmage.  Archibald  Alexander  Tal- 
mage  was  born  in  Warren  County,  N.  J.,  April  25, 
1834.  His  father  (an  Englishman  by  descent)  was 
pastor  of  a  Presbyterian  congregation,  and  was  as- 
sisted in  his  responsible  duties  by  a  noble  wife,  in 
whose  veins  flowed  some  of  the  purest  blood  of  Scot- 
land. Born  under  these  favorable  auspices,  young 
Talmage  enjoyed  every  opportunity  for  acquiring  a 
sound  rudimentary  education,  and  improved  his  ad- 
vantages so  well  that  at  the  comparatively  early  age 
of  fifteen  he  had  passed  through  the  curriculum  of  the 
High  School  and  the  academy  with  more  than  usual 
credit.  Desiring  to  be  independent,  he  then  left 
home  and  spent  three  years  in  a  country  store  at 
Goshen,  N.  Y.,  where  he  became  somewhat  familiar 
with  the  routine  of  general  business  and  obtained  his 
first  glimpse  of  active  commercial  life.  The  lessons 
learned  in  this  capacity  no  doubt  proved  invaluable  in 
moulding  the  future  character  of  the  man  and  in 
giving  him  habits  of  method  and  organization,  which 
qualified  him  in  an  eminent  degree  for  performing  the 
duties  of  freight  clerk  in  the  freight  department  of 
the  New  York  and  Erie  Railway,  on  which  he  en- 
tered when  eighteen  years  of  age,  and  where  he  re- 
mained one  year,  displaying  during  that  brief  period 
a  precocious  talent  and  an  adaptability  for  railroad 
work  which  were  highly  satisfactory  to  his  superiors. 
He  next  spent  some  months  in  a  wholesale  hardware 
establishment  in  New  York  City,  but  the  business 
hardly  suited  him,  and  in  1853  he  removed  to  Chicago 
and  obtained  employment  with  the  Michigan  South- 
ern Railroad  as  freight  clerk.  Within  sixty  days, 
however,  he  was  transferred  to  Monroe,  Mich.,  and 
soon  after  to  Toledo,  Ohio,  where  he  remained  until 
August,  1858,  during  the  last  two  years  in  the  re- 
sponsible position  of  train-master,  directing  all  trains 
on  the  Toledo  Division  of  the  road,  and  having  charge 
of  all  employe's  at  that  point. 

In  his  twenty-fifth  year  he  removed  to  St.  Louis 
and  engaged  as  passenger  conductor  on  the  Terre 
Haute  and  Alton  Railroad,  displaying  the  same  force 
of  character,  the  same  energy,  and  the  same  ready 
tact  which  characterize  his  present  management,  and 
his  superior  abilities  in  the  transportation  depart- 
ment being  generally  conceded  by  all  with  whom 


he  was  brought  in  contact.  In  April,  1864,  he  was 
appointed  assistant  superintendent  of  the  road  be- 
tween East  St.  Louis  and  Terre  Haute,  and  infused 
into  the  management  new  energy  and  method ;  but 
in  consequence  of  a  want  of  harmony  between  him- 
self and  his  chief,  he  resigned  in  October,  1864,  and 
accepted  a  position  as  master  of  transportation  of  the 
military  roads  controlled  by  the  United  States  gov- 
ernment east  and  south  of  Chattanooga.  Within 
thirty  days  he  was  appointed  superintendent  of  the 
same  lines,  and  remained  in  absolute  charge  of  them 
until  at  the  close  of  the  war  the  government  turned 
them  over  to  the  civil  authorities.  He  was  then 
appointed  general  superintendent  of  the  East  Ten- 
nessee and  Georgia  Railroad,  and  remained  busily  en- 
gaged in  its  reorganization  and  reconstruction  until 
the  fall  of  1868,  when  he  was  invited  by  Mr.  Herki- 
mer,  general  superintendent  of  the  Indianapolis  and 
St.  Louis  Railway  Company  (which  had  leased  the 
Terre  Haute  and  Alton  Railroad)  to  resume  the  assist- 
ant superintcndency,  which  he  had  resigned  in  Octo- 
ber, 1864.  Here  he  displayed  such  marked  ability 
that  in  October,  1870,  he  was  appointed  Mr.  Her- 
kimer's  successor,  the  late  Col.  Thomas  A.  Scott 
asserting  that  "  A.  A.  Talmage  was  the  best  rail- 
road manager  in  the  West."  In  this  position  his 
abilities  became  more  widely  known  and  recog- 
nized, and  hence  it  was  not  surprising  that  in  March, 
1871,  he  was  requested  to  transfer  his  sphere  of 
operations  to  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi  River 
and  to  become  general  superintendent  of  what  was 
then  known  as  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Railroad,  run- 
ning from  Pacific  to  Vinita.  In  December  of  the 
same  year  the  general  superintendence  of  the  Mis- 
souri Pacific  was  intrusted  to  him,  and  for  a  period 
of  over  eleven  years,  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
months  in  1876,  he  has  remained  in  active  charge  of 
what  may  be  truly  considered  the  most  valuable  rail- 
road property  west  of  the  Mississippi  River.  In  this 
position  he  enjoys  the  implicit  confidence  of  those 
who  are  recognized  as  being  among  the  shrewdest 
and  most  far-seeing  railway  managers  in  the  United 
States.  His  retention  in  so  responsible  a  position  as 
that  of  general  transportation  manager  of  the  Mis- 
souri Pacific  Railway  and  its  comprehensive  system, 
covering  about  six  thousand  miles  of  railway,  for 
so  long  a  period,  is  the  best  possible  evidence  of  his 
success.  He  certainly  occupies  a  foremost  place 
among  those  truly  great  and  public-spirited  men  who 
have  been  instrumental  in  building  up  that  unrivaled 
transportation  system  west  of  the  Mississippi  River. 
There  can  be  no  question  as  to  the  indomitable 
energy,  versatility,  and  executive  ability  of  one  who, 


11GC 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


in  the  prime  of  physical  and  mental  strength,  has 
raised  himself  to  a  standard  of  influence  incompara- 
bly superior  to  that  which  is  occupied  by  any  oper- 
ating executive  officer  in  the  Western  States. 

In  1868,  Mr.  Talmage  was  married  to  Miss  Mary 
II.  Clark,  the  accomplished  daughter  of  the  Rev. 
James  Clark,  D.D.,  of  Philadelphia,  Pa.  The  Rev. 
T.  De  Witt  Talmage,  D.D.,  the  brilliant  pulpit  orator 
of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  is  his  cousin. 

The  great  Pacific  Railroad  across  the  continent  was 
completed  May  10,  1869,  and  railroad  communication 
was  opened  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  coasts 
two  days  later,  May  12,  1869.  At  a  meeting  of  the 
Missouri  Historical  Society,  held  on  the  4th  of  June, 
1869,  the  following,  on  motion  of  Gen.  Ranney,  was 
adopted  for  the  purpose  of  being  placed  on  record : 

"  One  of  the  great  Pacific  Railroads  over  the  continent  from 
east  to  west  was  finished  May  10,  1869. 

"  One  of  our  merchants,  James  H.  Gibson,  made  over  it  the 
first  importation  of  tea  from  China  to  St.  Louis,  which  was  only 
thirty-seven  days  in  transit." 

The  Missouri  Pacific  or  Southwestern  system,  as  it 
is  called,  operated  under  one  management,  or  rather 
one  interest,  consists  of  the  Missouri  Pacific,  the  Iron 
Mountain,  the  Texas  Division  of  the  Missouri  Pacific 
(formerly  the  Missouri,  Kansas  and  Texas),  the  Texas 
and  Pacific,  and  the  International  and  Great  Northern 
Railroads,  covering  five  thousand  nine  hundred  and 
forty- four  miles  of  railway  directly  in  the  interests  of 
St.  Louis.  The  region  drained  by  this  system  covers 
the  whole  country  from  the  Mexican  frontier  to  the 
Mississippi,  from  Omaha  to  the  gulf.  New  lines  are 
being  built  in  many  parts  of  the  Southwest.  One  of 
the,principal  roads  in  this  system  now  under  construc- 
tion is  the  Fort  Worth  and  Denver  Road,  which  is 
now  finished  to  a  point  called  Henrietta,  one  hundred 
miles  northwest  of  Fort  Worth.  It  stretches  across 
the  country  towards  Pueblo,  in  Colorado,  whence  the 
trains  will  run  into  Denver  over  the  Rio  Grande  Rail- 
road for  the  present.  This  line  will  be  nearly  six 
hundred  miles  in  length,  and  will  be  pushed  rapidly 
to  completion. 

The  southern  point  of  this  system  is  Laredo,  on 
the  Rio  Grande,  reached  by  the  International  and 
Great  Northern  Railroad,  where  connection  is  made 
with  the  Mexican  Railroad  (narrow-gauge),  now  in 
course  of  construction  towards  the  city  of  Mexico. 
The  latter  is  being  built  from  both  ends, — Laredo 
and  the  city  of  Mexico.  In  time  the  International 
Road  will  itself  have  a  standard  gauge  connection 
through  to  the  city  of  Mexico,  though  the  work  as  pro- 
jected is  at  a  standstill  on  account  of  certain  compli- 


cations that  have  arisen  within  the  past  few  months 
in  Texas.  The  Mexican  National  Road  has  many 
branches  in  the  republic  of  Mexico,  and  before  two 
years  shall  have  elapsed  the  system  will  embrace 
something  like  eighteen  hundred  miles,  giving  St. 
Louis  direct  communication  with  all  the  principal 
cities  of  that  country  and  the  mining  regions.  St. 
Louis  will  not  only  have  opened  to  her  merchants 
and  manufacturers  a  valuable  trade,  but,  owing  to  her 
splendid  railway  connections,  will  have  advantages 
which,  if  properly  taken  hold  of,  will  secure  the  bulk 
of  the  business  to  be  derived  from  Mexico. 

To  the  westward  the  Texas  and  Pacific  meets  the 
Southern  Pacific  at  Sierra  Blanca,  a  point  a  short  dis- 
tance east  of  El  Paso,  and  in  connection  with  the 
Iron  Mountain  these  roads  form  a  through  route  to 
San  Francisco  and  points  on  the  Pacific  coast.  To 
the  southeastward  from  Marshall  the  Texas  Pacific  is 
completed  to  New  Orleans,  the  extension  being 
known  as  the  New  Orleans  Pacific,  and  thus  does 
the  Southwestern  system  have  its  own  through  line  to 
New  Orleans.  Before  many  months  St.  Louis  will 
have  direct  rail  connection  with  New  Orleans  on  the 
west  bank  of  the  Mississippi  River.  This  line  will 
soon  be  almost  a  bee-line  between  the  two  cities  by 
the  completion  of  the  line  of  the  Iron  Mountain  Road, 
now  being  pushed  as  rapidly  as  possible  through  East- 
ern Arkansas  from  a  point  known  as  Knoble,  on  the 
Iron  Mountain  Road,  in  Arkansas,  to  Alexandria,  La., 
on  the  Texas  Pacific,  and  now  finished  to  Forest  City. 
This  system,  while  tending  to  draw  trade  to  St.  Louis, 
of  course  brings  St.  Louis  into  competition  with  the 
cities  of  New  Orleans  and  Galveston,  and  the  course 
of  trade  will  depend  upon  the  inducements  offered  by 
the  different  cities  for  it. 

This  Southwestern  system,  as  previously  indicated, 
is  a  part  of  the  Gould  system,  which  embraces  in  ad- 
dition to  the  roads  named  the  Wabash,  St.  Louis  and 
Pacific  Railroad  system,  both  east  and  west  of  the  river. 
This  powerful  combination  is  considered  as  advanta- 
geous to  St.  Louis,  and  the  policy  heretofore  pursued 
has  been  in  the  interests  of  the  city.  It  is  under- 
stood that  the  interests  of  the  two  are  identical  in 
many  respects,  and  that  the  true  interests  of  this  vast 
system  will  be  to  make  St.  Louis  its  grand  centre. 
As  far  as  can  be  known,  this  has  been  the  policy  of 
the  management  up  to  this  time,  and  St.  Louis  is 
recognized  as  the  headquarters  of  this  vast  interest, 
all  the  general  offices  being  located  here. 

The  Missouri  Pacific  on  May  1,  1882,  extended  its 
line  northward  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Missouri  River 
from  Atchison,  Kan.,  to  Omaha,  Neb.,  making  direct 
connection  through  Kansas  City  between  Omaha  and 


RAILROADS. 


1167 


St.  Louis.     Various  other  extensions  of  its  branches 
have  been  and  are  being  made. 

The  mileage  of  the  Missouri  Pacific  at  this  writing 
(Jan.  1,  1883)  is  as  follows: 

Miles. 

Main  line,  St.  Louis  via  Kansas  City,  to  Omaha 496 

St.  Joseph  Extension 21 

Carondelet  Branch 11 

Lebanon  Branch 40 

Glencoe  Branch 4 

Boonville  Branch 44 

Lexington  Branch 55 

Lexington  and  Southern  Division 132 

Kansas  and  Arizona  Division 135 

Kansas  City  and  Eastern  Division 32 

Warsaw  Section 42 

Kansas  and  Texas  Division,  main  line,  Hannibal,  Mo.,  to 

Denisnn,  Texas 575 

Neosho  Section 157 

Mineola  Section 103 

Fort  Worth  and  Waco  Sections 280 

Dallas  Extension 38 

Jefferson  Branch 155 

Central  Branch  Division,  main  line,  Atchinson  to  Lenora, 

Kan , 293 

Washington  Branch 7 

Republican  Branch , 31 

Jewell  Branch 43 

South  Solomon  Section....  24 


Total  Missouri  Pacific  proper,  with  Missouri,  Kan- 
sas and  Texas  Division 2718 

The  Iron  Mountain  Road  is  the  next  most  important 
factor  in  this  system.  The  main  line  runs  from  St. 
Louis  to  Texarkana,  on  the  border,  between  Arkansas 
and  Texas,  while  from  Bismarck  a  branch  leads  to 
Belmont.  on  the  Mississippi,  opposite  Columbus,  Ky., 
at  which  point  connection  is  made  with  the  system  of 
roads  east  of  the  Mississippi  River. 

The  Iron  Mountain  and  Helena  is  forty-three  miles 
in  length,  and  was  but  recently  acquired.  It  will  be 
a  most  valuable  feeder.  It  extends  from  Helena  to 
Forest  City. 

The  Galveston,  Henderson  and  Houston  Road,  fifty 
miles  in  length,  and  running  between  the  cities  of 
Galveston  and  Houston,  was  recently  purchased  by 
the  Gould  system,  and  henceforth  will  be  operated  as 
a  part  of  the  International  and  Great  Northern  Rail- 
road. 

The  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Railroad,  originally  the 
Southwest  Branch  of  the  Missouri  Pacific  Railroad, 
was  endowed  December,  1852,  by  the  State,  with  one 
million  two  hundred  thousand  acres  of  land,  and  with 
an  appropriation  of  one  million  dollars  of  State  bonds. 
In  the  spring  of  1853  the  president  of  the  Missouri 
Pacific,  who  was  then  in  New  York,  entered  into  a 
contract  with  Diven,  Stancliff  &  Co.  for  the  construc- 
tion of  the  whole  Southwest  Branch.  In  December, 
1855,  the  Legislature  passed  an  act  transferring  to  the 
main  line  the  one  million  dollars  before  authorized  for 
the  Southwest  Branch.  The  company  was  also  author- 
ized to  mortgage  a  million  acres  of  their  lands  and  those 


of  the  Southwest  Branch,  and  issue  their  own  bonds 
thereon  to  the  extent  of  ten  million  dollars,  to  aid  them 
to  construct  that  branch,  the  State  agreeing  to  guar- 
antee three  million  dollars  of  the  company's  bonds,  the 
proceeds  to  be  expended  on  the  first  one  hundred  and 
fourteen  miles  of  the  Southwest  Branch,  reaching 
from  Franklin  to  a  point  beyond  the  Gasconade  River; 
but  the  company  was  required  to  expend  fifty  thou- 
sand dollars,  to  be  derived  from  other  sources,  for 
every  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  of  bonds  to  be 
guaranteed.  This  act  required  the  First  Division  of 
the  branch  to  be  completed  within  three  years  from 
its  date,  under  penalty  of  forfeiture  of  the  road  to  the 
State,  with  its  lands  and  franchises,  by  operation  of  law, 
subject  only  to  the  mortgage  above  mentioned.  The 
law  also  extended  the  privileges  of  actual  settlers  on 
railroad  lands,  by  granting  them  rights  of  pre-emption 
at  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents  per  acre  to  the  extent  of 
fifteen  miles  from  the  road. 

From  1854  to  1861  the  State  contributed  two  mil- 
lion dollars  more  to  its  construction.  As  the  condition 
of  its  several  contributions  to  the  funds  of  the  South- 
west Branch,  amounting  to  five  million  dollars,  the 
State  of  Missouri  had  stipulated  for  the  forfeiture  to 
it  of  the  road,  its  lands,  franchises,  etc.,  in  case  of  fail- 
ure on  the  part  of  the  company  to  pay  the  interest  on 
the  bonds  issued  by  the  State. 

Such  failure  having  been  made,  on  Feb.  19,  1866, 
the  Governor  took  possession  of  the  road  as  State 
property,  and  by  act  of  the  Legislature  its  name  was 
changed  to  the  "  Southwest  Pacific  Railroad,"  and  the 
property  was  offered  for  sale.  It  was  bought  by  Gen. 
J.  C.  Fremont  at  one  million  three  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  payable  one-fourth  cash,  the  balance  in  four 
annual  installments,  and  under  the  obligation  to  ex- 
pend five  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  its  extension 
the  first  year.  Fremont  and  his  associates  failed  to 
comply  with  this  agreement.  He,  however,  succeeded 
in  completing  the  road  to  the  Gasconade  River,  at 
Arlington,  or  thirteen  miles,  but  encumbered  the 
property  with  debts  to  a  large  amount.  He  took 
possession  June  14,  1866,  and  was  dispossessed  by 
the  Governor,  under  the  terms  of  the  sale,  June  21, 
1867. 

While  Fremont  and  his  associates,  one  of  whom 
was  Levi  Parsons,  were  in  possession  of  the  property, 
they  procured  from  Congress  the  charter  of  the  At- 
lantic and  Pacific  Railroad  Company.  This  charter 
contemplated  one  hundred  million  dollars  of  capital, 
granted  forty  sections,  or  twenty-five  thousand  six 
hundred  acres,  of  land  per  mile  in  the  Territories,  and 
twenty  sections,  or  twelve  thousand  eight  hundred 
acres,  per  mile  in  the  State  through  which  its  line 


1168 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


might  pass ;  provided  for  a  railroad  from  Springfield, 
Mo.  (thus  tapping  the  charter  of  the  Missouri  Com- 
pany), to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  with  a  branch  in  the 
Indian  Territory  from  Van  Buren,  Ark.,  to  an  inter- 
section with  the  main  line  on  the  Canadian  River ; 
and  further  provided  for  the  consolidation  of  the 
company  to  be  formed  under  this  charter  with  any 
other  (to  wit,  the  Missouri  Company)  which  might 
have  been  chartered  over  the  same  route  or  any  part 
thereof.  This  charter  was  passed  July  27,  1866. 

Before  the  proprietors  of  this  great  enterprise  had 
time  to  realize  from  the  speculation,  their  power  in 
the  premises  was  broken  to  a  degree  by  the  loss  of 
their  control  over  the  Missouri  portion  of  the  road, 
once  more  the  property  of  the  State.  Andrew  Peirce, 
Jr.,  F.  B.  Hayes,  and  their  associates,  having  been 
losers  as  holders  of  bonds  issued  under  the  Fremont 
regime,  which  were  apparently  rendered  worthless  by 
the  forfeiture  of  the  property  to  the  State,  associa- 
ted themselves  together  under  a  new  act  of  the  Mis- 
souri Legislature,  organizing  the  South  Pacific  Rail- 
road Company,  and  to  this  new  company  the  State 
made  almost  a  clean  donation  of  all  the  road  already 
completed,  unsold  lands,  etc.,  on  certain  stringent  con- 
ditions, to  wit : 

1st.  The  company  was  required  to  spend  $500,000 
the  first  year  to  complete  the  road  to  Lebanon  in  two 
years,  to  Springfield  in  three  years  and  six  months, 
and  to  the  State  line  by  the  10th  of  June,  1872. 

2d.  They  were  to  deposit  $1,500,000  in  cash  in  the 
State  treasury,  which  they  were  to  be  allowed  to  with- 
draw only  in  sums  of  8100,000,  as  the  same  might  be 
expended  in  extending  the  road. 

3d.  They  were  required  to  give  a  bond  in  the  sum 
of  $1,000,000  for  the  faithful  performance  of  the  con- 
tract, and  for  the  payment  of  $300,000  to  the  State 
in  three  annual  installments. 

These  conditions  having  been  complied  with,  and 
an  excess  of  $200,000  over  the  sum  required  having 
been  deposited  with  the  treasurer,  the  South  Pacific 
Company  took  possession  June  30,  1868,  and  com- 
pleted the  road  to  the  several  points  mentioned  in 
from  twelve  to  eighteen  months  less  time  than  was  re- 
quired by  their  contract  with  the  State. 

The  "  Atlantic  and  Pacific,"  chartered,  as  above 
mentioned,  July  27,  1866,  was  duly  organized  in  Oc- 
tober, 1866,  and  Gen.  Fremont  chosen  president  on 
June  11, 1868.  The  property  having  meanwhile  been 
encumbered  by  the  indorsement  of  some  $3,000,000 
bonds  issued  by  the  Southwest  Pacific,  the  control  of 
the  company  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  same  parties 
who  owned  and  controlled  the  South  Pacific  Railroad 
Company,  and  on  Oct.  21,  1870,  the  said  South 


Pacific  Company  sold  and  conveyed  its  entire  property 
to  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific.  Thus  the  entire  property 
and  franchises  of  all  these  companies  became  merged 
in  one  under  the  liberal  Federal  charter  granted  to  the 
Atlantic  and  Pacific,  who  thus  owned  not  only  what 
the  stockholders  had  bought  and  paid  for,  but  what 
has  cost  the  State  of  Missouri  and  county  of  St.  Louis 
over  $6,000,000  in  securities  to  its  predecessors. 

The  St.  Louis  and  San  Francisco  Railway 
Company  is  the  successor  of  the  Southwest  Branch 
of  the  Missouri  Pacific,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  was 
sold  in  1868  to  purchasers  who  were  incorporated  as 
the  South  Pacific  Railroad  Company.  The  latter 
corporation  completed  the  road  to  Lebanon,  seventy- 
one  miles,  in  1869  ;  to  Springfield,  fifty-six  miles, 
in  May ;  and  to  Peirce  City,  fifty  miles,  in  October, 
1870.  At  this  date  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Rail- 
road Company  purchased  the  road  and  completed  it 
to  Vinita,  three  hundred  and  sixty-four  miles  from 
St.  Louis,  where  connection  was  made  with  the  Mis- 
souri, Kansas  and  Texas  Railroad.  On  the  1st  of 
July,  1872,  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Railroad  Com- 
pany leased  the  Pacific  and  Missouri,  to  which  its 
line  once  belonged,  and  operated  that  road  until  No- 
vember, 1875,  when  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  was 
placed  in  the  hands  of  a  receiver.  On  the  8th  of 
September,  1876,  the  road  and  lands  of  the  company 
were  sold  under  foreclosure  of  mortgages  to  the  St. 
Louis  and  San  Francisco  Railway  Company,  and  the 
corporation  was  reorganized  under  the  latter  name. 

Few  Western  roads  have  made  the  rapid  progress 
that  the  St.  Louis  and  San  Francisco  has.  Up  to  the 
time  of  its  extension  to  Springfield,  in  the  southwest- 
ern corner  of  Missouri,  its  business  was  comparatively 
small.  No  sooner  had  the  country  of  the  Ozarks 
been  reached  than  the  road  began  to  rise  in  impor- 
tance, and  to-day  it  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  most 
valuable  roads  of  the  St.  Louis  system.  Several  years 
ago  the  branches  to  Carthage  and  other  parts  of 
Southwest  Missouri  were  built ;  then  the  extensions 
were  carried  into  Kansas.  On  June  8,  1881,  the 
first  passenger  train  that  ever  steamed  its  way  through 
Benton  and  Washington  Counties,  Ark.,  went  into  Fay- 
etteville,  and  opened  up  a  most  fertile  portion  of  that 
growing  State  to  St.  Louis. 

During  last  year  the  line  was  completed  to  Van 
Buren  and  Fort  Smith,  beyond  the  Boston  Moun- 
tains into  the  Arkansas  valley,  where  the  finest  of 
cotton  is  grown,  as  well  as  all  kinds  of  grain  and 
fruit,  and  coal  of  the  best  varieties  abounds  in  inex- 
haustible quantities.  The  right  of  way  has  been 
secured  through  the  Choctaw  nation,  and  the  survey 
made  for  the  further  extension  of  the  road  to  Paris, 


RAILROADS. 


1169 


Texas,  where  it  will  some  day  form  connections  with 
the  Houston  and  Texas  Central  and  the  Gulf,  Color- 
ado and  Sante  Fe  Roads,  two  of  the  leading  lines  of 
that  State,  which  will  reach  Paris  by  the  time  the 
St.  Louis  and  San  Francisco  is  finished  to  that  point. 
The  completion  of  the  latter  will  give  three  com- 
peting lines  to  Texas,  all  under  separate  and  distinct 
managements. 

During  last  year  the  road  was  extended  to  Tulsa,  in 
the  Indian  Territory,  and  is  being  rapidly  pushed  on 
to  Albuquerque  to  meet  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific, 
which  is  jointly  owned  by  the  St.  Louis  and  San 
Francisco  and  the  Atchison,  Topeka  and  Santa  Fe 
Railway  Companies.  West  of  Albuquerque  the  road 
is  in  operation  to  Canon  Diablo,  three  hundred  and 
twelve  miles,  and  the  grading  is  being  rapidly  done 
from  the  latter  point  to  the  Colorado  River.  The 
Southern  Pacific,  working  eastward,  has  a  large  force 
grading  from  Mohave,  and  expects  to  have  the  line 
completed  to  the  Colorado  River  by  the  time  the 
Atlantic  and  Pacific  reaches  that  point. 

The  mileage  of  the  St.  Louis  and  San  Francisco  at 
this  time  (Jan.  1,  1883)  is  in  detail  as  follows : 

St.  Louis,  Mo.,  to  Halstead,  Kan 533 

Pierce  City,  Mo.,  to  Tulsa,  Indian  Territory..  138 

Plymouth,  Mo.,  to  Fort  Smith,  Ark 134 

Joplin,  Mo.,  to  [Girard,  Kan 39 

'Springfield.  Mo.,  to  Sparta,  Mo 27 

Oronogo,  Mo.,  to  Galena,  Kan 20 

Total 891 

On  the  14th  of  March,  1882,  the  following  persons  j 
were  elected  directors  of  the  road :  Leland  Stanford,  j 
San  Francisco,  Cal. ;  Edward  F.  Winslow,  Jay  Gould, 
A.  S.  Hatch,  C.  P.  Huntington,  W.  L.  Frost,  James 
D.  Fish,  and  William  F.  Buckley,  New  York  ;  Albert  | 
W.  Nickerson,  Boston,  Mass. ;  Charles  W.  Rogers,  ! 
R.  S.  Hayes,  St.  Louis.     The  executive  officers  of  the  | 
company   are    Edward  F.  Winslow,  president,  New  j 
York  ;  C.  W.  Rogers,  first  vice-president  and  general  j 
manager,    St. "  Louis ;    James  D.  Fish,  second   vice-  ! 
president,   New  York  ;   T.   W.  Lillie,  secretary  and 
treasurer,  New  York  ;  A.  Douglas,  auditor,  St.  Louis ; 
John    O'Day,  general   attorney,  St.  Louis;    W.  A. 
Thomas,    Springfield,    Mo.,    and   J.  R.  Wentworth, 
Neodesha,  Kan.,  division  superintendents ;  D.  Wish- 
art,  general  passenger  agent,  St.  Louis ;  T.  E.  Cassidy, 
general  freight  agent,  St.  Louis ;  W.  H.  Coffin,  land 
commissioner,  St.  Louis;  D.  H.  Nichols,  master  of  \ 
transportation,  Springfield,  Mo. ;    James  Dun,  chief  i 
engineer,  Springfield,  Mo.     The  principal  office  of  the 
company  is  located  in  St.  Louis. 

The  St.  Louis,  Salem  and  Little  Rock  Railway, 
which  reaches  St.  Louis  by  the  St.  Louis  and  San 
Francisco  Railway,  extends  from  Cuba  to  Salem,  Mo., 


a  distance  of  forty-one  and  five-tenths  miles,  with  a 
number  of  small  branches.  The  company  was  char- 
tered Jan.  17, 1871,  and  the  road  was  opened  Oct.  15, 
1873.  The  president  of  the  company  is  A.  L.  Craw- 
ford, of  New  Castle,  Pa. ;  Vice-President  and  Pur- 
chasing Agent,  H.  A.  Crawford,  St.  Louis ;  Treasurer 
and  Secretary,  William  Brewster,  Erie,  Pa. ;  Assistant 
Secretary  and  Treasurer,  E.  L.  Foote,  St.  Louis. 

Of  the  enterprising  band  of  St.  Louis  capitalists 
who  secured  the  completion  of  the  Missouri  Pacific 
and  its  Southwest  Branch  none  was  more  ardent, 
self-sacrificing,  or  energetic  than  Daniel  Randall 
Garrison.  Mr.  Garrison  was  born  near  Garrison's 
Landing,  Orange  Co.,  N.  Y.,  Nov.  23,  1815.  His 
/ather,  Capt.  Oliver  Garrison,  owned  and  commanded 
the  first  line  of  packets  that  ran  between  New  York 
and  West  Point,  early  in  the  present  century  before 
steamboats  were  known.  Capt.  Garrison  was  of  old 
New  England  Puritan  stock,  and  his  wife  was  of  a 
Holland  family  that  settled  in  New  York  at  an  early 
day.  Her  connections  embraced  such  historic  names 
as  the  Schuylers,  Buskirks,  and  Coverts. 

Young  Garrison's  youth  passed  without  special 
incident  until  his  removal  with  his  father  to  Buffalo 
in  1829,  where  he  obtained  employment  with  Bealls, 
Wilkinson  &  Co.,  engine-builders,  with  whom  he  re- 
mained until  1833,  when  he  went  to  Pittsburgh  and 
was  engaged  in  one  of  the  largest  machine-shops  in 
that  city.  In  1835  he  removed  to  St.  Louis. 

While  he  was  in  Buffalo,  Daniel  Webster  visited 
the  place,  and  young  Garrison  was  one  of  three  young 
men  who  presented  the  great  "  expounder  of  the 
Constitution"  with  an  elegant  card-table,  as  a  testi- 
monial of  their  indorsement  of  his  tariff  views.  The 
table  was  a  mosaic,  composed  of  nearly  every  descrip- 
tion of  American  wood,  and  was  accepted  by  Mr. 
Webster  with  flattering  acknowledgments.  The  ad- 
miration which  Mr.  Garrison  thus  early  formed  for 
the  great  statesman  has  continued  undituinished  ever 
since. 

Upon  arriving  in  St.  Louis,  Mr.  Garrison  secured 
employment  at  the  head  of  the  drafting  department 
in  the  foundry  and  engine-works  of  Kingsland,  Light- 
ner  &  Co.,  and  although  less  than  twenty-one  years 
of  age,  was  soon  distinguished  as  one  of  the  ablest 
and  most  trustworthy  mechanics  in  the  city.  This 
engagement  continued  until  1840,  when,  in  connection 
with  his  brother,  Oliver  Garrison,  he  started  in  busi- 
ness as  a  manufacturer  of  steam-engines.  Manufac- 
turing establishments  in  the  West  were  comparatively 
few  at  that  time,  and  nearly  all  manufactured  articles 
were  brought  from  the  East ;  but  coal  and  iron  ex- 
isted in  abundance  in  Missouri,  and  the  Garrisons 


1170 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


reasoned  that  St.  Louis  presented  many  unsurpassed 
advantages  as  a  manufacturing  point.  Their  start 
was  moderate,  but  as  business  prospered  the  capacity 
of  their  works  was  increased  until  nearly  every  kind 
of  steam  machinery  in  use  was  made  by  them.  Their 
success  had  a  stimulating  effect  on  other  enterprises 
of  the  kind,  and  gave  a  great  impetus  generally  to  the 
manufacturing  interests  of  the  city.  During  these 
years  Mr.  Garrison  worked  incessantly;  all  the  draft- 
ing of  the  establishment  was  done  by  him,  and  every 
piece  of  work  turned  out  passed  under  his  personal 
inspection  at  every  stage  of  its  manufacture. 

In  1848  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California  agi- 
tated the  whole  country,  and  a  tidal  wave  of  immi- 
gration swept  westward.  Believing  that  as  the  Pacific, 
slope  was  settled  a  large  market  would  be  created  for 
steamboat  and  mill  machinery,  the  Garrisons  imme- 
diately began  to  manufacture  for  that  region,  and 
Daniel  was  sent  to  California  early  in  1849,  to  super- 
vise the  introduction  of  their  products.  He  went 
via  the  Isthmus ;  and  upon  his  arrival  at  Panama 
found  the  discoveries  of  gold  fully  confirmed,  and 
wrote  to  his  brother  Oliver  at  St.  Louis  to  send  on 
three  engines  immediately.  These  reached  him  in 
California  in  the  fall  of  the  year  (1849),  were  quickly 
sold  at  a  handsome  profit,  and  were  the  forerunners 
of  other  extensive  and  profitable  shipments  of  the 
kind. 

One  of  the  engines  were  sold  to  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  and  Mr.  Garrison  went  to  Oregon  to  de- 
liver it.  Here  was  displayed  a  signal  illustration  of 
his  fertility  of  resource  in  unforeseen  emergencies.  On 
the  voyage  the  main  couplings  of  the  engine  had  been 
lost  overboard,  and  it  was  necessary  that  Garrison 
should  supply  them;  but  since  to  order  them  from  St. 
Louis  would,  in  those  days  of  slow-going  sail-vessels 
by  way  of  Cape  Horn,  have  involved^  a  protracted 
delay  in  the  ordinary  course  of  affairs,  Garrison  under- 
took to  make  the  couplings  himself.  The  nearest 
known  iron  ore  was  on  the  upper  Willamette,  a  hun- 
dred miles  or  so  distant,  and  the  only  way  to  get  it 
down  to  him  was  by  means  of  Indians  and  mules. 
This  was  done,  however,  and  when  the  ore  arrived 
Garrison  had  a  blast  furnace  ready  and  made  his  iron 
and  poured  his  casting.  This  is  believed  to  have  been 
the  first  iron  manufactured  on  the  Pacific  coast.  He 
al^o  built  the  boat  for  his  engine, — one  hundred  and 
eighty  feet  keel,  twenty  feet  beam,  and  six  feet  hold, 
— also  no  doubt  the  first  steamboat  ever  constructed 
on  the  waters  of  the  Pacific. 

Mr.  Garrison  returned  to  St.  Louis  in  1850,  and 
soon  after  the  brothers  retired  from  the  foundry,  each 
having  made  an  ample  fortune.  Daniel  II.  Garrison 


then  settled  down  upon  his  beautiful  farm  in  West 
St.  Louis,  embracing  a  large  tract  in  what  is  now  the 
fashionable  "  Stoddard's  Addition."  This  tract  was 
covered  with  woods  when  Mr.  Garrison  established 
himself  there,  and  through  its  shady  recesses  he  and 
his  neighbors  had  often  hunted  deer  and  other  game. 
It  is  now  traversed  by  handsome  avenues,  and  is 
dotted  with  charming  residences. 

After  a  brief  period  spent  in  the  enjoyments  of 
country  life,  Mr.  Garrison,  at  the  earnest  solicitation 
of  his  friends  and  many  prominent  citizens  of  St. 
Louis,  undertook  the  task  of  completing  the  Ohio  and 
Mississippi  Railroad, — an  enterprise  partly  finished, 
but  just  then  in  what  seemed  a  most  helpless  and 
hopeless  condition.  The  directory  of  the  company 
embraced  such  strong  men  as  George  K.  McGunnegle, 
Judge  Breeze,  of  Illinois,  Col.  Christy,  Col.  John 
O'Fallon,  W.  H.  Belcher,  H.  D.  Bacon,  and  Mr. 
Garrison  himself.  The  others  all  turned  instinctively 
to  Mr.  Garrison  as  the  one  man  to  lift  the  project  out 
of  the  "  slough  of  despond."  First  stipulating  that 
he  should  have  absolute  power  in  the  premises,  he  ac- 
cepted the  trust,  and  ultimately  succeeded  in  finishing 
the  work,  but  not  without  almost  herculean  labors  in 
the  face  of  obstacles  that  only  those  intimately  ac- 
quainted with  the  circumstances  can  have  any  idea  of. 
To  Daniel  R.  Garrison,  therefore,  unquestionably  be- 
longs the  honor  of  having  completed  the  first  railroad 
that  connected  St.  Louis  with  the  East.  The  com- 
pletion of  the  road  was  a  marked  event  in  the  history 
of  St.  Louis,  and  the  merchants  of  the  city  gave  Mr. 
Garrison  a  magnificent  service  of  solid  silver,  as  a  tes- 
timonial of  their  appreciation  of  his  invaluable  labors. 

Mr.  Garrison  continued  to  manage  the  Ohio  and 
Mississippi  until  1858,  and  then  left  it  in  fine  condi- 
tion. Meanwhile  he  had  become  interested  in  the 
Missouri  Pacific  Railroad  Company.  When  the  war 
broke  out  this  road  was  finished  from  St.  Louis  to 
Sedalia,  where  it  stopped,  owing  to  lack  of  money  to 
carry  it  forward.  The  enterprise  was  involved  in  the 
greatest  embarrassments,  and  Mr.  Garrison  was  ap- 
pealed to  to  extricate  it.  He  refused  the  presidency 
of  the  road,  but  was  made  vice-president  and  general 
manager,  and,  armed  with  full  powers,  succeeded  in 
completing  the  road  to  Kansas  City  in  the  face  of  ob- 
structions that  seemed  insurmountable.  The  war  was 
in  active  progress  at  the  time,  and  in  Missouri  hostile 
armies  were  continually  fighting  for  the  possession  of 
the  splendid  domain  through  which  the  Missouri  Pa- 
cific was  to  run.  While  the  road  was  being  built, 
therefore,  he  was  placed  between  two  hostile  armies, 
and  more  than  once  he  periled  his  life  to  push  forward 
his  great  undertaking.  As  he  was  an  uncompromis- 


RAILROADS. 


1171 


ing  Union  man,  he  repeatedly  received  warnings  that 
his  life  was  in  danger,  but  these  threats  did  not  affect  I 
his  composure  in  the  slightest  degree ;  he  kept  on,  i 
and  before  the  war  was  over  cars  were  running  into  j 
Kansas. 

In  1869  it  was  desired  to  reduce  the  gauge  of  the 
road  from  five  and  a  half  feet  to  the  standard  gauge, 
and  in  July  of  that  year  Mr.  Garrison  superintended 
the  execution  of  the  work.  So  complete  were  his 
arrangements  that  this  great  feat  was  accomplished  in 
sixteen  hours,  without  the  slightest  interruption  to 
travel,  over  the  whole  distance  from  St.  Louis  to  Kan-  \ 
sas  City. 

Mr.  Garrison  remained  as  vice-president  and  general 
manager  of  the  Missouri  Pacific  Railroad  and  its  con- 
nections until  1870,  when  he  retired.  In  1874,  how- 
ever, he  was  elected  vice-president  and  general  man- 
ager of  both  the  Missouri  Pacific  and  the  Atlantic 
and  Pacific,  and  so  remained  until  the  sale  of  those 
great  properties. 

As  a  railroad  man,  Mr.  Garrison  had  cultivated  an 
enlarged  view  of  the  future  of  the  Mississippi  valley, 
and  naturally  regarding  iron  as  the  base  of  its  pros- 
perity, he  interested  himself  upon  his  first  retirement 
from  the  management  of  the  Missouri  Pacific  in  the 
organization  of  the  Vulcan  Iron-Works  in  South  St. 

O 

Louis,  employing  nearly  one  thousand  men,  and  the 
first  mill  of  the  kind  established  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi. Very  soon  thereafter  he  and  his  friends  built 
the  Jupiter  Iron-Works,  one  of  the  largest  furnaces 
in  the  world,  and  still  later  he  brought  about  a  con- 
solidation of  the  two  interests  under  the  title  of  the 
Vulcan  Iron  and  Bessemer  Steel-Works,  which  were 
owned  principally  by  himself  and  his  brother.  For 
years  he  was  managing  director  of  these  giant  estab- 
lishments, and  conducted  them  with  signal  success. 
When  he  finally  retired  from  the  position  a  few  months 
ago  his  employes  presented  him  with  a  finely-engrossed 
testimonial  expressive  of  their  appreciation  of  his 
kindness  as  a  humane  and  thoughtful  employer,  and 
of  regret  that  the  relations  between  master  and  men, 
so  signally  pleasant  in  every  particular,  were  about  to 
be  sundered. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  name  one  who  has  done  so 
much  for  the  real  prosperity  of  St.  Louis  and  the 
West  as  has  Mr.  Garrison,  and  there  are  not  many 
who,  having  accomplished  so  much,  would  take  so 
modest  a  view  of  their  labors  as  he  does  of  his ;  for 
he  is  one  of  the  plainest  and  most  unassuming  gentle- 
men of  which  the  city  can  boast,  and  yet  one  of  the 
most  courteous  and  approachable.  He  is  tall  and  of  ro- 
bust frame,  is  still  capable  of  great  physical  and  mental 
endurance,  and  possesses  to  a  pre-eminent  degree  a 


"  sound  mind  in  a  sound  body/'  Upon  scarcely  any 
other  man  in  St.  Louis,  and  perhaps  in  the  whole 
West,  have  rested  such  great  responsibilities  as  fre- 
quently in  his  later  career  have  devolved  upon  him. 
In  every  demand  made  upon  him  he  has  shown  the 
finest  executive  ability.  It  has  been  justly  remarked 
that  Mr.  Garrison  "  has  compassed  within  his  own 
experience  an  amount  of  beneficent  enterprise  and 
well-directed  labor  that,  if  parceled  out  among  a 
score  of  common  men,  would  make  the  life-work  of 
each  very  large."  All  this  Mr.  Garrison  has  accom- 
plished by  sheer  native  energy  and  ability,  for  he  is  a 
self-made  man  in  the  most  literal  sense  of  the  expres- 
sion. He  came  to  St.  Louis  a  poor  young  man,  and 
is  now  one  of  its  wealthiest  citizens ;  but  his  wealth 
is  not  merely  in  stocks  and  bonds ;  it  consists  also  in 
the  valued  esteem  of  his  fellow  business  men  and  the 
citizens  of.  St.  Louis,  who  gladly  honor  him  for  his 
unstinted  labors  in  behalf  of  their  city  and  State. 

The  biographical  edition  of  lleavis'  "  St.  Louis, 
the  Future  Great  City,"  was  dedicated  to  Mr.  Garri- 
son in  these  appropriate  words : 

"To  Daniel  Randall  Garrison,  a  citizen  grent  in  the  attri- 
butes of  manhood,  one  who  has  woven  out  from  his  individu- 
ality, his  superior  brain  and  restless  activity  a  large  contribu- 
tion to  the  city  of  my  theme  and  to  my  country,  one  who  in 
building  up  his  own  fortunes  has  impressed  his  character  upon 
many  material  interests,  nnd  who  gives  promise  of  siill  greater 
usefulness  in  the  future,  this  volume,  which  illustrates  a  fade- 
less hope  nnd  a  profound  conviction  in  the  future  of  St.  Louis, 
is  respectfully  inscribed  by  the  author." 

The  Hannibal  and  St.  Joseph  Railroad,  one 
of  the  earliest  railroad  enterprises  in  Missouri,  was 
chartered  on  the  IGih  of  February,  1847,  and  ground 
was  broken  at  Hannibal  early  in  November,  1851. 
When  the  Pacific  Railroad  sought  aid  from  the  State 
the  two  enterprises  worked  together,  each  aiding  the 
other,  and  the  Hannibal  and  St.  Joseph  Railroad 
procured  the  State  credit  for  $1,500,000.  Again 
acting  together  before  Congress,  they  both  procured  a 
grant  of  land.  The  Hannibal  line  was  completed  to 
St.  Joseph  in  1859.  The  Missouri  Pacific  Railway 
Company  uses  the  road  between  St.  Joseph  and  At- 
chison,  together  with  the  terminal  facilities  at  both 
places.  The  total  length  of  the  line  between  Hannibal 
and  St.  Joseph  is  206.41  miles,  and  the  branches  are: 

Qttiiicy. — Palmyra,  Mo.,  to  Quincy,  111.,  13.42  miles. 
Knnsns  City. — Cameron  to  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  53.05  miles. 
At<-tiisr>n. — St.  Joseph  to  Atchison,  Mo.,  19.47  miles. 
Making  the  total  length  of  lines  owned  and  operated  292.35 
miles. 

The  Laclede  and  Crevecoeur  Lake  Railway 
Company  was  chartered  Sept.  26,  1880,  and  opened 
July  1,  1881.  The  company  owns  no  rolling  stock, 


1172 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


it  being  operated  by  the  Missouri  Pacific  Railroad 
Company,  whose  road  it  joins  at  Laclede  Junction, 
eight  miles  from  St.  Louis.  Its  line  extends  from 
Laclede  Junction  to  Crevecoeur  Lake,  Mo.,  and  is 
twelve  miles  in  length. 

The  St.  Louis,  Iron  Mountain  and  Southern 
Railway  Company  was  formed  May  6,  1874,  by 
the  consolidation  of  four  other  organizations,  viz. : 
the  St.  Louis  and  Iron  Mountain  Railway  Company, 
the  Arkansas  Branch  of  the  St.  Louis  and  Iron  Moun- 
tain Railway  Company,  the  Cairo,  Arkansas  and  Texas 
Railroad  Company,  and  the  Cairo  and  Fulton  Railroad 
Company.  The  through  line  was  opened  in  1874. 

The  valuable  mineral  deposits  of  the  Iron  Moun- 
tain and  Pilot  Knob  early  attracted  the  attention  of 
the  enterprising  men  of  St.  Louis,  and  in  1837  men- 
tion is  made  in  the  Republican  of  January  18th  of  a 

"  railroad  to  the  mineral  region,"  and  of  the  fact  that  "  Mr. 
Stansbury  has  completed  his  reconnoissance  of  the  country  be- 
tween St.  Louis  and  the  rich  mineral  region  of  Washington 
County,  with  a  view  to  the  location  of  a  railroad  in  that  direc- 
tion." 

The  same  paper,  under  date  of  Feb.  6,  1837,  re- 
ferred to 

"  an  act  to  incorporate  the  St.  Louis  and  Bellevue  Mineral 
Railroad,"  with  Robert  Simpson,  Samuel  Merry,  J.  B.  Brant, 
Thornton  Grimsley,  G.  W.  Call,  Joseph  C.  Laveille,  John  F. 
Darby,  James  Robinson,  William  R.  Ellett,  John  Perry,  Jesse 
II.  Mcllvaine,  James  H.  Relfe,  Israel  McGready,  or  a  majority 
of  them  constituting  the  first  board  of  directors. 

The  charter  of  the  St.  Louis  and  Iron  Mountain 
Railroad  Company  was  granted  by  the  State  Legisla- 
ture and  approved  March  3,  1851,  reviving  for  the 
most  part  the  charter  of  the  "  St.  Louis  and  Bellevue 
Mineral  Railroad  Company,"  approved  Jan.  25, 1837, 
and  amended  Feb.  17,  1853.  The  first  survey  for  a 
railroad  west  of  the  Mississippi  River  was  made  for  this 
road  by  W.  H.  Morrell,  it  having  been  ordered  in 
1839  by  the  State  government  on  "the  nearest  and 
best  route  from  St.  Louis  to  the  Iron  Mountain."  In 
1849  a  survey  was  made  by  order  of  the  United 
States  government  from  St.  Louis  to  the  southwest 
corner  of  Arkansas,  and  in  1852  one  for  a  branch  of 
the  Pacific  Railroad  to  the  Iron  Mountain  was  made 
by  James  H.  Morley. 

By  the  act  of  March  3,  1851,  the  capital  stock  of 
the  Iron  Mountain  Company  was  fixed  at  six  million 
dollars,  divided  into  shares  of  one  hundred  dollars 
each,  and  the  company  was  empowered  to  construct  a 
road  from  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  or  from  some  point  on 
the  line  of  the  Pacific  Railroad,  to  or  near  the  Iron 
Mountain,  in  St.  Frangois  County,  or  the  Pilot  Knob, 
in  Madison  County,  and  at  any  time  within  ten  years 
from  the  passage  of  the  act  to  extend  the  road  to  Cape 


Girardeau,  on  the  Mississippi  River,  or  to  any  point 
south  of  Cape  Girardeau  within  the  limits  of  the 
State,  or  to  the  southwestern  part  of  the  State.  At 
the  second  session  of  the  Seventeenth  General  As- 
sembly an  act  was  passed  entitled  "  An  Act  to  expedite 
the  construction  of  the  Iron  Mountain  Branch  of  the 
Pacific  Railroad,  approved  Dec.  25,  1852." 

This  act  empowered  the  Pacific  Railroad  Company 
to  construct  a  branch  road  to  the  Iron  Mountain  and 
Pilot  Knob,  with  liberty  to  extend  it  to  the  Missis- 
sippi River  and  to  the  boundary  line  of  the  State  of 
Arkansas,  and  granted  a  loan  of  the  State  credit,  to  be 
used  solely  in  constructing  the  Iron  Mountain  Branch, 
to  the  extent  of  seven  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars.  The  act  further  provided  for  the  transfer  by 
the  Pacific  Railroad  Company  to  the  Iron  Mountain 
Company  of  the  bonds  thus  authorized  to  be  issued 
on  a  failure  by  that  company  to  commence  the  con- 
struction of  the  branch  within  twelve  months  from 
the  passage  of  the  act,  on  condition  that  five  hundred 
thousand  dollars  should  be  subscribed  to  the  capital 
stock  of  the  company  before  any  part  of  the  bonds 
were  issued,  and  that  the  road  should  be  located 
through  Washington  County,  and  not  more  than  five 
miles  east  of  the  county-seat  thereof. 

At  the  same  session  of  the  General  Assembly  an 
act  was  passed  amendatory  of  the  act  last  referred  to, 
approved  Feb.  23,  1853,  providing  that  the  adoption 
by  the  board  of  directors  of  the  Pacific  Railroad 
Company  within  the  limit  of  twelve  months  from  the 
25th  of  December,  1852,  of  a  resolution  declining  to 
construct  the  Iron  Mountain  Branch  Road  should 
operate  as  an  immediate  and  full  transfer  of  the  loan 
of  the  State  credit — granted  for  the  construction  of 
that  branch — to  the  Iron  Mountain  Railroad  Com- 
pany. 

At  the  same  session  an  act  was  passed  entitled  "  An 
Act  to  amend  an  act  entitled  '  An  Act  to  incorporate 
the  St.  Louis  and  Iron  Mountain  Railroad  Company, 
approved  March  3,  1851,'  "  which  was  approved  Feb. 
17,  1853,  granting  general  powers  and  supplying  the 
deficiencies  of  the  original  charter. 

The  general  provisions  of  an  act  passed  at  the 
same  session,  entitled  "An  Act  to  authorize  the  forma- 
tion of  railroad  associations,  and  to  regulate  the 
same,"  approved  Feb.  24,  1853,  applied  to  the 
Iron  Mountain  Railroad  Company,  as  well  as  the  pro- 
visions of  Sections  2  and  3  of  an  act  passed  at  the 
first  session  of  the  Eighteenth  General  Assembly, 
entitled  "  An  Act  for  the  benefit  of  the  Pacific  and 
other  railroad  companies,"  authorizing  the  issue  of 
bonds  in  installments  of  greater  amount  than  fifty 
thousand  dollars  on  certain  conditions,  and  permitting 


RAILROADS. 


1173 


the  sale  and  hypothecation  of  bonds  at  their  market 
value,  though  below  par. 

At  the  first  session  of  the  Eighteenth  General 
Assembly  an  act  was  passed  entitled  "  An  Act  to  aid 
in  the  construction  of  the  St.  Louis  and  Iron  Moun- 
tain Railroad,"  approved  March  3,  1855.  This  act 
provided  for  an  additional  loan  of  the  State  credit  to 
the  Iron  Mountain  Railroad  Company  to  the  amount 
of  seven  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  upon  the 
same  terms  and  with  the  same  restrictions  as  prescribed 
by  the  several  acts  providing  for  and  regulating  the 
grant  of  State  credit  to  the  several  railroad  companies. 
The  act  provided  also  for  the  appointment  of  a  Board 
of  Public  Works,  charged  with  the  supervision,  and 
required  to  examine  into  the  affairs  of  the  company, 
the  act  to  be  operative  only  if  accepted  by  the  com- 
pany within  six  months  after  its  passage.  This  act 
was  accepted  as  prescribed  on  the  llth  of  May, 
1855.1 

The  preliminary  organization  of  the  company  was 
effected  on  the  4th  of  November,  1852,  and  on  the 
4th  of  January,  1853,  the  first  board  of  directors  was 
chosen  as  follows : 

John  O'Fallon,  James  Harrison,  William  M.  Mc- 
Pherson,  Jules  Vall4,  Henry  Kayser,  Francis  Keller- 
man,  Jr.,  William  H.  Belcher,  Andrew  Christy,  Solon 
Humphreys,  Lewis  V.  Bogy,  John  Simonds,  Frederick 
Schulenburg,  and  John  Cavender.  Surveys  were  or- 
dered by  the  board  and  commenced  during  the  same 
month  (January,  1853),  and  were  reported  on  the  29th 
of  March,  1853.  In  all  the  preliminary  movements 


1  "  Pursuant  to  a  call  published  in  the  English  and  German 
papers,  a  meeting  was  held  on  the  16th  inst.  at  the  Phoenix 
Engine-House,  for  the  purpose  of  raising  subscriptions  to  the 
Iron  Mountain  Railroad. 

"  On  motion,  Mr.  II.  Kayser  was  chosen  president,  Messrs. 
F.  Schulenberg,  J.  B.  Bremel,  H.  Cobb,  and  Ch.  Gehrke  vice- 
presidents,  and  Charles  Mehl  and  Ad.  Abeles  were  appointed 
secretaries. 

"  After  some  preliminary  remarks  by  the  president  as  to  the 
object  of  the  meeting,  Messrs.  McPherson,  Reynolds,  Alex. 
Kavser,  and  Cobb  addressed  the  meeting  in  an  eloquent  manner, 
expressing  at  the  same  time  their  preference  for  a  separate, 
direct  route. 

"  The  following  gentlemen  have  been  appointed  on  the  eight 
sub-committees  for  collecting  subscriptions  to  the  stock  of  the 
St.  Louis  and  Iron  Mountain  Railroad  Company  : 

"1.  C.  R.  Dickson,  L.  King,  J.  Brimermann;  2.  A.  H. 
Menkins,  J.  Kern,  J.  P.  Bremel;  3.  J.  D.  Daggett,  E.  R. 
Mason,  A.  Stcinkauler;  4.  A.  Abeles,  Thos.  Reynolds,  I.  G.  C. 
Heidricks  ;  5.  C.  C.  Simmons,  J.  C.  Degenhart,  L.  M.  Kennett: 
6.  G.  Gehrke,  Wm.  Hohenschild,  M.Feldman;  7.  II.  C.  Lynch 
C.  Jung,  B.  Rice;  8.  C.  F.  Blattau,  E.  0.  English,  C.  Mehl. 

"  The  first  named  on  each  of  the  committees  will  be  furnished 
with  a  subscription-book. 

"  H.  KAYSKR,  CVn  of  Com." 

—Eepullican,  Dec.  18,  1852. 
75 


the  prominent  object  seems  to  have  been  to  reach  the 
mineral  region  and  the  Iron  Mountain,  without  any 
definite  idea  of  going  beyond.  The  work  on  the  line 
was  advertised  for  contract  on  the  21st  of  July, 
1853. 

After  some  delay,  caused,  as  appears  from  the 
journal  of  proceedings  of  the  board,  by  conflicting 
opinions  as  to  the  proper  route  to  be  selected,  the  line 
was  finally  located  for  a  portion  of  the  distance  to 
the  Pilot  Knob,  in  Madison  County,  on  the  8th  of 
September,  1853. 

On  the  7th  of  November,  1853,  an  election  for 
directors  of  the  company  was  held,  at  which  the  fol- 
lowing were  chosen :  William  H.  Belcher,  John 
Cavender,  John  How,  Adolph  Abeles,  Lewis  V.  Bogy, 
L.  M.  Kennett,  M.  Brotherton,  James  Harrison, 
William  M.  McPherson,  F.  Schulenburg,  E.  Haren, 
M.  Miller,  and  E.  R.  Mason.  The  board  met 
on  the  following  day  (November  8th),  and  elected 
Luther  M.  Kennett  president.  Mr.  Kennett  was  re- 
elected  in  1854,  and  his  successors  in  the  presidency 
up  to  the  sale  of  the  road  in  1866  were  Madison 
Miller,  1855-58 ;  Lewis  V.  Bogy,  1858-59 ;  S.  D. 
Barlow,  1859-66. 

In  the  fall  of  1853  the  work  of  construction  was 
commenced,  under  a  partial  letting  to  Messrs.  Holmes 
&  Co.  on  a  small  portion  of  the  northern  end  of  the 
line.  On  the  28th  of  February,  1854,  a  contract  for 
the  construction  of  the  whole  road  to  the  Pilot  Knob, 
except  that  portion  already  contracted  for,  was  entered 
into  with  Messrs.  Watts  &  Co.  This  contract  did 
not  include  the  furnishing  of  iron  rails.  Messrs. 
Watts  &  Co.  subsequently  bought  out  the  other  con- 
tracts, with  the  exception  of  that  for  work  connected 
with  the.  bridge  over  the  Maramec,  and  that  for  the 
grading  of  a  small  portion  of  the  line  between  St. 
Louis  and  Carondelet,  which  was  contracted  for  by  the 
board,  in  the  spring  and  summer  of  1854,  with  the 
owners  of  the  land  through  which  the  line  of  the  road 
passed. 

On  the  15th  of  June,  1855,  a  contract  was  entered 
into  with  a  Pennsylvania  firm  for  nine  thousand  tons 
of  iron  rails  of  their  manufacture,  the  whole  quantity 
needed  for  the  completion  of  the  road  to  the  Pilot 
Knob. 

The  first  locomotive  (made  in  St.  Louis  by  Wil- 

j  Ham  Palm)  was  placed  on  the  road  in  1856,  and  the 

road  was  opened  for  business  a  distance  of  eighty-five 

!  miles,  from  St.  Louis  to  Pilot  Knob,  in  May,  1858. 

i  The  entire  cost  of  the  road,  including  Potosi  Branch, 

rolling  stock,  discounts  and  interest  to  Oct.  1,  1860, 

was  $5,519,948.51.     The  means  of  construction  were 

derived  from  the  following  sources : 


1174 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


From  stock  subscribed  and  paid  in $1,970,537.50 

"     Stute  of  Missouri  bonds 3,50], 000. 00 

"     net    earnings   transportation    to    October, 

1859 87,093,68 

"     floating  debt 43,989.13 

The  company  having  received  from  the  State  of  j 
Missouri  from  time  to  time  during  the  progress  of  ! 
construction  loans  of  State  bonds   amounting  in  the  i 
aggregate  to  $3,50 1,000,  for  which  the  State  took  a 
statutory  first  mortgage,  and  having  failed  for  several 
years,  in  common  with  some  of  the  other  railroads,  to 
pay  all  the  interest  falling  due  upon  those  bonds,  the 
Legislature   on    the    19th  day  of  February,   18G6, 
passed  an  act  entitled  "  An  Act  to  provide  for  the  sale 
of  certain  railroads  and  property  by  the  Governor,  to 
foreclose  the  State's  lien  thereon,  and   to  secure  an 
early  completion  of  the  Southwest    Branch   Pacific, 
the  Platte  Country,  the  St.  Louis  and  Iron  Mountain, 
and  the  Cairo  and  Fulton  Railroads  of  Missouri." 

Under  the  provisions  of  this  act  the  Governor  ad- 
vertised the  road  for  sale,  and  on  the  27th  of  Septem- 
ber, 18GG,  sold  it  at  public  auction,  and  bid  it  in  for 
the  State  for  the  amount  of  principal  and  interest 
due  the  State.  Three  commissioners,  appointed  under 
the  act,  took  possession  of  the  road  and  managed  it 
for  the  State  until  Jan.  12, 1867.  They  were  author- 
ized by  the  law  to  receive  proposals  and  sell  the  road 
"  to  the  highest  and  best  bidders,"  one  fourth  cash,  and 
the  balance  in  five  equal  annual  installments,  with  six 
per  cent,  interest,  payable  annually,  and  the  pur- 
chasers to  enter  into  contract  and  give  bond  in  the 
sum  of  $500,000  to  complete  the  road  to  the  Missis- 
sippi River,  opposite  to  or  below  Columbus,  Ky.,  in 
five  years  after  the  date  of  sale,  and  to  expend 
$500,000  a  year  "  in  the  work  of  graduation,  masonry, 
and  superstructure  on  said  extension."  The  commis- 
sioners awarded  the  road  to  McKay,  Simmons  & 
Vogel,  and  the  Governor  approved  the  award,  and 
completed  the  sale  contract  by  a  deed,  and  these  par- 
ties, without  taking  any  but  momentary  possession, 
sold  and  transferred  the  property  to  Thomas  Allen, 
who  entered  into  possession  Jan.  12,  1867.  He  as- 
sumed the  bond  and  the  obligation  to  pay  the  pur- 
chase-money, and  the  contract  to  complete  the  road  as 
required.  He  at  once  appointed  James  H.  Morley 
chief  engineer,  and  the  surveys  for  the  extension 
commenced  in  February,  and  owing  to  the  rough 
character  of  the  country  were  continued  on  many  dif- 
ferent lines,  which  were  fully  reported  on  until  July, 
when  the  route  from  Bismarck  to  Belmont  was  se- 
lected, finally  located,  and  put  under  contract. 

On  the  20th  of  March,  1866,  the  Legislature 
passed  an  act  to  enable  the  purchasers  of  the  railroad 
to  incorporate  themselves,  directing  how  it  might  be  i 


done,  and  declaring  that  the  corporation  thus  pro- 
vided for  should  have  the  same  rights  as  to  property 
and  franchises  that  the  corporation  to  which  they  suc- 
ceeded through  the  sale  made  by  the  State  formerly 
had. 

Accordingly  Mr.  Allen  and  his  associates  incorpor- 
ated themselves  on  the  29th  of  July,  1867,  in  the 
manner  directed  by  the  law,  into  the  St.  Louis  and 
Iron  Mountain  Railroad  Company,  adopting  the  same 
name  as  the  original  corporation,  and  acquiring  the 
same  right  of  property  and  franchises  as  had  belonged 
to  that  corporation. 

On  the  17th  of  March,  1868,  the  Legislature 
passed  an  act  entitled  "  An  Act  to  confirm  the  title  of 
the  St.  Louis  and  Iron  Mountain  Railroad  to  Thomas 
Allen,  his  heirs  and  assigns,  and  to  deliver  possession 
thereof  to  the  St.  Louis  and  Iron  Mountain  Railroad 
Company,  organized  as  a  corporation  on  the  29th  day 
of  July,  1867." 

In  the  month  of  April,  1867,  a  suit  was  com- 
menced by  the  attorney-general  of  the  State  (Win- 
gate)  against  the  State  commissioners  and  purchasers 
of  the  road,  to  set  aside  the  sale,  as  made  by  the 
commissioners  and  Governor,  seeking  at  the  same 
time  to  enjoin  the  company  from  going  on  with  the 
road.  In  this  latter  he  was  overruled  by  the  court, 
but  his  suit,  prosecuted  in  the  form  it  was,  proved  a 
serious  detriment,  embarrassing  all  attempts  to  get 
the  public  interested,  and  causing  heavy  discounts  on 
loans.  This  burden,  in  view  of  the  short  time  re- 
maining (six  months)  within  the  first  year,  for  the 
proper  expenditure  of  $500,000,  as  required  by  law, 
gave  the  company  great  anxiety.  It  succeeded,  how- 
ever, through  strenuous  efforts,  with  the  aid  of  efficient 
contractors,  in  getting  forty  miles  of  the  lower  divi- 
sion graded,  and  by  the  time  the  first  year  had  elapsed, 
viz.,  from  Jan.  11,  1867,  to  Jan.  1,  1868,  the  ex- 
penditures had  amounted  to  8583,611.73,  in  addition 
to  the  sum  of  $225,700  paid  into  the  State  treasury 
on  the  purchase.  This  was  done,  and  the  statement 
sworn  to,  certified  by  the  Governor,  and  filed  with  the 
Secretary  of  State,  in  spite  of  the  impediments  put 
in  the  way  by  the  attorney-general.  The  Legislature 
upon  petition  were  about  to  pass  a  resolution  order- 
ing the  suit  dismissed  as  to  the  road,  but  to  insist  on 
its  prosecution  as  to  the  Governor's  commissioners 
and  the  original  purchasers,  when  the  Governor,  on 
the  night  of  the  15th  of  January,  1868,  seized  the 
road.  His  reason,  as  afterwards  published,  was  that 
the  company  had  not  made  the  expenditure,  nor  the 
annual  statement,  as  required  by  law.  The  Legisla- 
ture, however,  subsequently  ordered  him  to  restore 
the  road  and  all  its  earnings  and  property  forthwith, 


RAILROADS. 


1175 


and  at  the  same  time  confirmed  the  title  forever  by 
the  act  of  March  17th,  above  mentioned,  and  in  six 
days  thereafter  granted  the  balance  due  the  State  as 
a  subsidy  to  aid  the  company  in  building  the  Arkan- 
sas Branch. 

The  Governor  and  his  agents  operated  the  road 
from  Jan.  15  to  March  18,  1868  (sixty  days), 
when  it  was  restored  to  its  lawful  owners.  The  suit 
of  the  attorney-general  was  dismissed,  as  to  the  road 
and  the  company,  on  the  16th  of  April  ensuing,  and 
the  net  proceeds  of  the  Governor's  two  months'  oper- 
ations ($3806  80)  were  turned  over  to  the  company 
about  the  1st  of  the  ensuing  May.  A  claim  for 
damages  done  by  these  acts  of  State  officers  was  laid 
before  the  Legislature  January,  1869,  amounting  to 
•$1,316,724.  The  road  from  St.  Louis  to  Belmont 
(opposite  to  Columbus,  Ky.)  was  completed  in  1869. 

On  the  7th  of  April,  1870,  the  board  of  directors 
resolved  "  that  the  St.  Louis  and  Iron  Mountain 
Railroad  Company  desire  to  avail  themselves  of  the 
provisions  of  an  act  entitled  '  An  Act  to  aid  the  build- 
ing of  branch  railroads  in  the  State  of  Missouri,'  ap- 
proved March  21,  1868,  for  the  purpose  of  building 
a  branch  of  their  road  from  Pilot  Knob  southerly  to 
the  State  line  of  Arkansas,  under  the  name  of  the 
'  Arkansas  Branch  of  the  St.  Louis  and  Iron  Moun- 
tain Railroad."  "  The  act  authorized  a  separate  cor- 
poration to  be  governed  by  the  parent  road,  the 
accounts  to  be  kept  separate,  the  stockholders  having 
the  same  right  to  vote  for  the  directors  as  those  of  the 
original  company.  It  was  therefore  agreed  that  the 
•capital  stock  of  this  branch  should  be  $2,500,000, 
and  that  bonds  should  be  issued  to  the  extent  of 
$2,500,000,  payable  in  twenty-five  years,  with  interest 
at  seven  per  cent.,  payable  semi-annually  in  gold,  and 
secured  by  a  special  mortgage  of  the  Branch  Railroad, 
its  property  and  appurtenances.  The  State  having  by 
law  appropriated  the  unpaid  portion  of  the  purchase- 
money  and  interest  accruing  after  the  date  of  the 
act  for  the  Iron  Mountain  and  Cairo  and  Fulton 
Railroads  ($674,300),  at  the  rate  of  $15,000  per 
mile  for  every  mile  completed  within  a  certain  time, 
it  became  necessary  to  complete  the  first  twenty  miles 
on  or  before  the  23d  of  March,  1871,  and  work  was 
commenced  in  the  fall  of  1870,  and  the  first  thirty 
miles  completed  Feb.  23,  1871.  The  work  was 
prosecuted  during  the  remainder  of  that  year,  and 
Nov.  4,  1872,  the  whole  line  (ninety-nine  miles  in 
length)  was  completed  to  the  boundary  of  Arkansas. 
It  was  duly  accepted  by  the  State,  and  the  debt  can- 
celed. Trains  commenced  running  regularly  over 
the  line  April  2,  1873. 

As  previously  stated,  the   road  was   consolidated 


with  other  roads  in  May,  1874,  and  a  through  line 
secured  to  Texarkana,  Texas. 

The  gauge  of  the  road  was  changed  in  June,  1879, 
from  five  feet  to  four  feet  eight  and  one-half  inches, 
to  accommodate  its  running  machinery  to  the  roads 
east  of  the  Mississippi,  with  which  it  connects  at  St. 
Louis  by  means  of  the  great  bridge. 

The  connections  of  this  great  railroad  are, — 

At  Carondelet,  five  miles  south  of  St.  Louis,  with 
the  Missouri  Pacific  and  with  the  East  St.  Louis  and 
Carondelet  Railways,  by  which  it  is  enabled  to  handle 
with  great  economy  the  provision  and  produce  busi- 
ness from  Kansas  City  for  Southern  markets. 

At  Mineral  Point,  six  miles  from  St.  Louis,  with  a 
branch  to  Potosi. 

At  Bismarck,  seventy-six  miles  from  St.  Louis,  the 
line  divides  ;  the  one  to  Belmont  intersects  at  Charles- 
ton, one  hundred  and  seventy-eight  miles  from  St. 
Louis,  the  Cairo,  Arkansas  and  Texas  Railroad  ;  here 
a  ferry  connects  with  the  Mobile  and  Ohio  Railroad 
for  Mobile  and  intermediate  points  in  Mississippi  and 
Alabama,  also  with  New  Orleans.  The  St.  Louis, 
Iron  Mountain  and  Southern  system  connects  at 
Union  City  with  the  Nashville,  Chattanooga  and  St. 
Louis  Railway  for  Memphis,  Nashville,  Chattanooga, 
Atlanta,  Augusta,  Charleston,  Columbia,  Port  Royal, 
Savannah,  Macon,  Selma,  Montgomery,  Decatur, 
Jacksonville,  and  points  in  Florida.  The  other  line 
of  the  St.  Louis,  Iron  Mountain  and  Southern  Rail- 
road from  Bismarck  continues  in  the  direction  of  Ar- 
kansas and  Texas,  passing  the  great  iron  deposits  at 
Iron  Mountain  and  Pilot  Knob,  the  valley  of  Arcadia, 
the  grades  of  the  Ozark  Mountains,  and  the  Black 
River  to  Poplar  Bluff,  one  hundred  and  sixty-six 
miles  from  St.  Louis.  At  that  point  the  branch  from 
Cairo  connects  with  the  Arkansas  division,  crossing 
the  Missouri  boundary  at  Moark,  so  called  from  Mo. 
and  ARK. 

At  Little  Rock,  three  hundred  and  forty-five  miles 
from  St.  Louis,  connection  is  made  with  the  Memphis 
and  Little  Rock  and  Fort  Smith  Railroads. 

At  Malvern,  three  hundred  and  eighty-eight  miles 
from  St.  Louis,  connection  is  made  for  the  Hot  Springs 
by  the  Hot  Springs  Narrow-Gauge  Railroad. 

At  Texarkana,  four  hundred  and  ninety  miles  from 
St.  Louis,  the  southern  terminus  of  the  St.  Louis, 
Iron  Mountain  and  Southern  Railroad,  connection  is 
made  with  the  Texas  and  Pacific  Railway,  and  by  it 
with  New  Mexico  and  California,  and  with  the  Inter- 
national and  Great  Northern  Railroad,  by  which 
Hearne,  Houston,  Galveston,  San  Antonio,  Columbia, 
and  Palestine  trade  with  St.  Louis.  When  Mexico  is 
opened  to  American  enterprise,  the  St.  Louis,  Iron 


1176 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


Mountain  and  Southern  Railway  will,  as  heretofore 
indicated,  be  one  of  the  chief  lines  of  intercommuni- 
cation with  that  great  and  undeveloped  country,  and 
St.  Louis  the  entrepot  for  its  trade  with  the  United 
States. 

The  Cairo,  Arkansas  and  Texas  Railroad  Company 
was  an  independent  organization,  which  derived  its 
powers  from  a  special  act  of  the  Missouri  Legislature, 
approved  May  16,  1872,  authorizing  the  construction 
of  a  road  from  Greenfield,  opposite  Cairo,  to  Poplar 
Bluff.  This  road,  seventy-one  miles  in  length,  was 
completed  in  September,  1873,  intersecting  the  Bel- 
rnont  line  of  the  St.  Louis  and  Iron  Mountain  Road 
at  Charleston,  in  Missouri  County,  and  the  Arkansas 
Branch  at  Poplar  Bluff.  Having  a  grant  of  gov- 
ernment lands  amounting  to  sixty-five  thousand  acres, 
it  became  a  desirable  adjunct  of  and  is  now  controlled 
by  the  St.  Louis,  Iron  Mountain  and  Southern  Rail- 
road Company. 

The  Cairo  and  Fulton  Railroad  was  incorporated  in 
1853,  and  received  a  grant  of  land  from  Congress  of 
3840  acres  per  mile.  In  1866  its  privileges  were  ex- 
tended for  ten  years  and  its  grant  enlarged  to  6400 
acres  per  mile.  At  that  time  the  charter  was  controlled 
by  Eastern  capitalists,  but  being  a  direct  link  in  the 
line  from  St.  Louis  to  Texas,  the  St.  Louis  and 
Iron  Mountain  Railroad  and  its  Arkansas  Branch,  the 
Cairo,  Arkansas  and  Texas  Railroad,  entered  into  ar- 
rangements by  which  the  Cairo  and  Fulton  Railroad 
was  consolidated  with  the  St.  Louis  and  Iron  Moun- 
tain Railroad. 

The  total  mileage  of  the  Iron  Mountain  road  is  as 
follows : 

Miles. 

St.  Louis  to  Texarkana 490 

Bismarck  to  Columbus 121 

Iron  Mountain  and  Helena 43 

Potosi  Branch 4 

Cairo  to  Poplar  Bluff 74 

Doniphan  Branch  (as  far  as  completed) 7 

Cowley  Ridge  Branch 140 

Camden  Branch 34 

Total 913 

The  earnings  of  the  road  for  the  year  ending 
Dec.  31,  1881,  amounted  ($10,691.20  per  mile)  to 
$7,686,973.38;  expenditures  ($6859.34  per  mile) 
to  $4,931,863.70.  The  total  assets  were  set  down  at 
$56,334,799.54  ;  capital  stock,  $22,084,115  ;  funded 
debt,  $31,792,929.71. 

During  the  year  1881  the  greater  part  of  the  stock 
of  the  St.  Louis,  Iron  Mountain  and  Southern  Rail- 
road Company  was  purchased  by  the  Missouri  Pacific 
Railroad  Company,  the  object  of  the  purchase  being 
the  consolidation  of  the  two  corporations,  and  on  the 
14th  of  March,  1882,  the  following  directors  were 
elected :  Henry  G.  Marquand,  Jay  Gould,  Russell 


Sage,  Thomas  T.  Eckert,  Sidney  Dillon,  Joseph  S. 
Lowery,  Samuel  Shethar,  John  T.  Terry,  and  George 
B.  McClellan,  of  New  York ;  Henry  Whelan,  of 
Philadelphia ;  Frederick  L.  Ames,  of  Boston  ;  Rufus 
J.  Lackland  and  R.  C.  Kerens,  of  St.  Louis.  The 
executive  officers  of  the  company  are  Jay  Gould, 
president,  New  York ;  R.  S.  Hayes,  first  vice-presi- 
dent, St.  Louis ;  Thomas  T.  Eckert,  second  vice- 
president,  New  York ;  S.  D.  Barlow,  secretary,  St. 
Louis  ;  A.  H.  Calef,  treasurer,  New  York ;  C.  G. 
Warner,  general  auditor,  St.  Louis ;  H.  M.  Hoxie, 
general  manager,  St.  Louis  ;  E.  L.  Dudley,  superin- 
tendent, St.  Louis ;  0.  A.  Haynes,  master-mechanic, 
Carondelet,  Mo.  ;  .Seth  Frink,  general  freight  agent, 
St.  Louis ;  F.  Chandler,  general  passenger  agent, 
St.  Louis ;  Thomas  Essex,  land  commissioner,  St. 
Louis  ;  J.  H.  Morley,  chief  engineer,  St.  Louis ;  R. 
B.  Lyle,  purchasing  agent,  St.  Louis ;  A.  E.  Bu- 
chanan, superintendent  of  bridges,  Little  Rock,  Ark. 
The  principal  office  of  the  company  is  located  at  Bt. 
Louis. 

The  Texas  and  Pacific  Railway  Company  was 
organized  under  an  act  of  Congress,  March  3,  1871r 
and  the  general  railroad  laws  of  Texas.  It  acquired 
the  properties  of  the  Southern  Pacific,  the  Southern 
Transcontinental,  and  the  Memphis,  El  Paso  and 
Pacific  Railroad  Companies.  The  Southern  Pacific 
was  a  consolidation  of  the  Vicksburg,  Shreveport  and 
Texas  and  the  Southern  Pacific.  The  portion  of  the 
line  in  Louisiana,  about  twenty  miles,  was  built  by 
the  Vicksburg,  Shreveport  and  Texas,  and  the  section 
from  the  east  line  of  Texas  to  Longview,  Texas,  about 
forty  miles,  by  the  Southern  Pacific  Company.  The 
rest  of  the  line  in  Texas  was  built  by  the*  Texas  and 
Pacific  Company.  The  road  extends  from  New  Or- 
leans, La.,  westward  through  Louisiana  and  Texas, 
and  by  junction  with  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad 
of  California  to  the  Pacific  coast.  Its  length  June 
1,  1882,  was: 

Miles, 

From  New  Orleans  to  Sierra  Blanca,  Texas 1080 

Other  Divisions f. 312 

Statement  of  mileage  as  operated  by  divisions,  June  1,  1882  : 

Miles. 

New  Orleans  Division,  New  Orleans  to  Shreveport,  La 335 

Southern  Division,  Shreveport,  La.,  to  Sierra  Blanca, 

Texas 74& 

Jefferson  Division,  Marshall  to  Texarkana  Junction 69 

Transcontinental  Division,  Texarkaua  via  Sherman  to 

Fort  Worth 243 

Total  length  of  road 1392 

During  1881  seven  hundred  miles  of  road  were  com- 
pleted and  equipped,  and  on  the  1st  of  January,  1882, 
a  junction  was  formed  with  the  Southern  Pacific 
Railroad  of  California,  at  a  point  five  hundred  and 


RAILROADS. 


1177 


twenty-three  miles  west  of  Fort  Worth,  and  on  the 
15th  of  the  same  month  the  road  was  opened  for  traf- 
fic to  El  Paso,  and  a  through  line  established  from 
St.  Louis  to  San  Francisco  via  the  Iron  Mountain 
Road.  On  the  21st  of  June,  1881,  the  Texas  and 
Pacific  was  consolidated  with  the  New  Orleans  Pacific 
Railway,  extending  from  Shreveport  to  New  Orleans,  a 
distance  of  about  three  hundred  and  thirty-five  miles. 

The  total  earnings  of  the  Texas  and  Pacific  Rail- 
way for  the  year  ending  May  31,  1881,  amounted  to 
($6208.62  per  mile)  $3,201,777.08;  expenditures 
($4929.78  per  mile),  02,608,021.32  ;  total  assets, 
344,609,589.03  ;  capital  stock,  $14,814,700  ;  bonded 
debt,  $27,460,000. 

By  a  general  law  of  Texas  the  road,  in  common 
with  others  in  the  State,  is  entitled  to  a  land  grant  of 
sixteen  sections  (10,240  acres)  to  the  mile.  The  land 
earned  upon  the  mileage  constructed  up  to  May  31, 
1881,  was  10,225,462  acres. 

The  officers  of  the  company  are  :  Directors,  Frank 
S.  Bond,  Philadelphia,  Pa. ;  John  C.  Brown,  Pulaski, 
Tenn. ;  Jay  Gould,  Russell  Sage,  E.  H.  Perkins,  Jr., 
T.  T.  Eckert,  A.  L.  Hopkins,  New  York ;  James  P. 
Scott,  Charles  0-  Baird,  Philadelphia,  Pa.  ;  E.  B. 
Wheelock,  New  Orleans,  La. ;  B.  K.  Jamison,  Phila- 
delphia, Pa. ;  W.  T.  Walters,  Baltimore,  Md. ;  W.  C. 
Hall,  Louisville,  Ky. ;  William  M.  Harrison,  Jeffer- 
son, Texas  ;  R.  S.  Hayes,  St.  Louis,  Mo.  President, 
Jay  Gould,  New  York  ;  Vice-Presidents,  R.  S.  Hayes 
and  John  C.  Brown,  St.  Louis ;  General  Manager,  H. 
M.  Hoxie,  St.  Louis. 

The  active  and  directing  mind  of  the  Texas  and 
Pacific  Railway  since  its  inception  has  been  Hon. 
John  C.  Brown.  Governor  Brown  was  born  Jan.  6, 
1827,  in  Giles  County,  Tenn.,  and  was  the  son  of  a 
farmer  in  moderate  circumstances.  His  parents  were 
of  Scotch  blood,  and  he  was  the  youngest  of  nine 
children.  He  received  his  earliest  training  in  the  old 
field  school-house  of  that  day,  and  then  received  the 
best  education  which  the  times  afforded  at  Jackson 
College,  at  Columbia,  Tenn.  He  finished  his  course 
in  1846,  and  then  engaged  in  teaching  while  pre- 
paring for  the  bar,  to  which  he  was  admitted  in  Octo- 
ber, 1848.  He  opened  an  office  in  Pulaski,  where 
his  diligence,  integrity,  and  ability  secured  him  a  large 
and  lucrative  practice,  to  which  he  mainly  devoted 
himself  until  the  civil  war.  His  devotion  to  his  pro- 
fession did  not  interrupt  his  private  studies  of  general  I 
literature  ;  and  having  the  means  and  the  leisure,  he 
supplemented  his  studies  with  a  journey  abroad  in 
1858-59,  visiting  the  country  of  his  forefathers  and 
then  making  the  tour  of  the  Continent,  Egypt,  and 
the  Holy  Land. 


Up  to  1860  Mr.  Brown  had  strictly  devoted  him- 
self to  his  profession.  He  never  sought  office,  and 
although  a  zealous  and  pronounced  Whig  avoided  pol- 
itics as  a  pursuit.  In  1860,  however,  he  was  chosen 
an  elector  on  the  Bell  and  Everett  or  Constitutional 
Union  ticket.  As  a  consequence  of  Mr.  Lincoln's 
election  the  Southern  States  determined  to  secede 
from  the  Union.  The  State  of  Tennessee  was  in  a 
condition  of  intense  political  excitement,  during  which 
Mr.  Brown  took  the  stump  and  made  a  vigorous  and 
fearless  canvass  in  favor  of  the  Union  and  in  opposition 
to  secession.  But  when  Tennessee  separated  herself 
from  the  Union  and  began  organizing  her  troops  for 
the  Confederacy,  as  a  "  son  of  the  South"  John  C. 
Brown  did  not  hesitate,  but  joined  the  Confederate 
army  as  a  private,  was  elected  captain  of  his  company, 
became  colonel  of  the  Third  Tennessee  Volunteers, 
and  as  senior  colonel  commanded  a  brigade  and  par- 
ticipated in  the  defense  of  Fort  Donelson.  When 
the  fort  surrendered  he  became  a  prisoner  of  war. 
After  his  exchange  in  August,  1862,  he  was  promoted 
to  be  brigadier-general,  and  was  assigned  to  duty  with 
Gen.  Braxton  Bragg.  In  the  campaign  in  Kentucky 
he  participated  in  the  battle  of  Perryville  and  other 
actions.  After  the  battles  of  Chickamauga  and 
Missionary  Ridge,  and  the  actions  incident  to  Gen. 
Joseph  E.  Johnston's  retreat  (in  all  of  which  he  par- 
ticipated), he  was  promoted  to  be  major-general.  He 
finished  his  active  military  career  at  Franklin,  Tenn.. 
where  he  was  so  severely  wounded  as  to  be  unable  to 
rejoin  his  command  until  a  short  time  before  the 
surrender  of  Johnston's  army  at  Greensboro',  N.  C., 
where  he  was  assigned  to  the  command  of  one  of 
Johnston's  best  divisions.  In  his  relations  with  the 
army  he  was  a  strict  disciplinarian,  and  always  at  the 
post  of  duty.  No  trespassing  on  private  property  was 
tolerated,  and  marauding  was  severely  and  promptly 
punished.  He  was  several  times  severely  wounded. 

In  1864  he  was  married  to  Miss  Childers,  an 
accomplished  lady  of  Murfreesboro',  Tenn.,  and  a 
niece  of  Mrs.  James  K.  Polk,  widow  of  the  ex- 
President.  Mrs.  Brown  has  contributed  a  woman's 
share  in  promoting  her  husband's  fortunes,  and  has 
borne  him  an  interesting  family  of  four  children. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  Governor  Brown  returned 
to  the  practice  of  his  profession  at  Pulaski,  and  con- 
tinued in  full  practice  till  1869,  when  he  was  elected 
delegate  to  the  convention  which,  in  January,  1870, 
met  and  framed  the  present  Constitution  of  Tennessee, 
and  was  chosen,  without  solicitation,  president  of  that 
body.  In  1870  he  was  unanimously  nominated  by  the 
Democrats  of  Tennessee  for  Governor.  The  issues  in 
this  canvass  were  of  a  character  that  seriously  affected 


1178 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


the  honor  and  prosperity  of  Tennessee.  The  war  had 
greatly  wasted  the  resources  of  the  State.  An  enor-  j 
mous  public  debt  had  accumulated,  and  default  had 
been  made  in  payment  of  interest.  The  public  credit 
was  low  and  the  resources  for  current  expenses  almost 
exhausted.  Governor  Brown  took  the  statesmanlike 
ground  that  the  public  debt  could  be  and  must  be 
paid.  He  was  elected  by  forty  thousand  majority  to 
the  office  of  Governor,  an  office  to  which  his  eldest 
brother,  Neill  S.  Brown  (now  living  in  Nashville), 
had  been  chosen  in  1847  over  Aaron  V.  Brown,  one 
of  the  most  popular  Democrats  of  his  day.  The  in- 
fluence of  Neill  S.  Brown,  who  was  a  central  figure 
in  State  and  national  politics,  was  sensibly  felt  in  the 
Presidential  campaign  which  resulted  in  the  election 
of  Gen.  Taylor,  and  Mr.  Brown  was  subsequently 
tendered  the  post  of  minister  to  Russia,  which  he 
accepted. 

In  1872,  Governor  John  C.  Brown  was  unani- 
mously renominated,  and  re-elected,  and  during  his  ad- 
ministration (1871-75)  the  bonded  debt  of  the  State 
was  reduced  from  about  forty-three  million  dollars  to  a 
little  more  than  twenty  million  dollars,  a  large  floating 
debt  was  paid,  and  the  State  re-established  its  credit 
by  resuming  the  payment  of  its  current  interest  after 
funding  its  past-due  obligations  at  par.  He  retired 
from  office  after  having  won  the  general  approval  of  j 
the  people  of  the  State. 

In  November,  1876,  a  new  career  opened  to  him 
with  the  offer  of  the  vice-presidency  of  the  Texas  and 
Pacific  Railway.  This  great  highway  from  the  At- 
lantic seaboard,  through  Texas  and  Mexico,  to  Califor- 
nia, a  route  unexposed  to  snows  and  frosts,  had 
been  projected  before  the  war.  Such  a  system  of 
railways,  connecting  the  Mississippi  River  with  the 
Pacific  slope,  was  intended  to  attract  the  trade  of 
California  and  the  trans-Cordilleras  to  the  great 
waterways  of  the  United  States,  and  at  the  same 
time  open  the  too-long  neglected  commerce  of  the 
republic  of  Mexico  to  our  enterprising  merchants. 
This  Texas  route,  south  of  the  isothermal  line  of 
snow  blockades,  had  been  projected,  a  small  portion  i 
of  it  built,  and  valuable  franchises  secured  before  the 
war.  An  immense  grant  of  land  from  the  State  of 
Texas,  which  owned  her  own  public  domain,  had  been 
secured,  and  favorable  treaties  with  Mexico  for  the 
right  of  way  were  in  progress  of  negotiation,  when 
the  secession  of  the  Southern  States  stopped  the 
work.  When  the  war  had  ended  the  Southern 
States  found  their  Mississippi  River  commerce  de-  ! 
stroyed  and  their  great  transcontinental  railway  still  : 
a  paper  scheme,  while  the  North  and  West  had  made 
rapid  progress  in  the  building  of  the  Northern  and  ' 


Central  Pacific  Railroads  towards  the  Pacific  slope. 
Governor  Brown  accepted  the  office  of  vice-president 
of  the  Texas  Pacific,  with  the  enlightened  views  of 
the  statesman  and  publicist.  He  saw  clearly  if  the 
South  was  not  to  have  her  ante-bellum  river  traffic 
there  was  in  the  projected  railway  through  Texas  and 
Mexico,  with  its  liberal  franchises  yet  preserved  and 
its  land  subsidies,  a  ready  means  of  reaching  the  trade 
of  California  and  the  sister  republic,  and  he  entered 
heartily  into  the  project.  As  vice-president  of  the 
company,  he  issued  an  appeal  to  the  people  of  the 
South,  elaborating  his  views  in  relation  to  the  enter- 
prise in  a  statesmanlike,  sagacious,  and  practical 
pamphlet  which  deserves  a  leading  place  in  the  rail- 
way literature  of  a  period  that  was  prolific  of  great 
enterprises.  He  also  delivered  numerous  addresses, 
in  which  he  appealed  to  the  Southern  States  to  lay 
aside  all  questions  of  sectional  political  strife,  and 
urged  them  to  address  all  their  efforts  to  the  im- 
provement of  their  country,  the  fostering  of  educa- 
tion, and  the  creation  of  wealth-producing  facilities. 
For  three  consecutive  years  he  remained  at  Washing- 
ton, appearing  before  congressional  committees  and 
pressing  upon  them  the  claims  of  his  great  work. 
His  labors  were  onerous  and  difficult,  but  owing  to 
the  opposition  of  rival  interests  they  were  not  fully 
successful.  Nevertheless,  he  performed  them  to  the  emi- 
nent satisfaction  of  Col.  Thomas  A.  Scott  and  the  capi- 
talists who  were  interested  in  the  enterprise,  and  who, 
pending  the  appeal  to  Congress,  had  gone  on  with  the 
work.  Ultimately  Governor  Brown  was  authorized 
by  Col.  Scott  to  proceed  to  New  York  and  effect 
negotiations  which  had  been  invited  by  Jay  Gould 
and  other  capitalists.  These  negotiations  were 
satisfactorily  accomplished  in  January,  1880.  Gov- 
ernor Brown  was  then  continued  in  his  confidential 
position,  and  in  September,  1881,  he  accepted  the 
position  of  general  solicitor  for  the  consolidated  sys- 
tem, which  includes  the  Missouri  Pacific  system,  with 
the  Missouri,  Kansas  and  Texas  Railway  connections, 
the  Iron  Mountain,  Texas  and  Pacific,  New  Orleans 
and  Pacific,  and  International  and  Great  Northern, 
and  continued  in  charge  and  superintendence  of 
the  construction  of  the  Texas  Pacific  from  Fort 
Worth  to  El  Paso,  with  headquarters  in  St.  Louis, 
until  the  line  was  completed  in  the  winter  of  1881— 
82. 

Governor  Brown's  identification  with  the  interests 
of  St.  Louis  was  heartily  welcomed,  for  his  knowledge 
of  the  law,  and  his  abilities  as  a  speaker,  trained  in 
the  sharp  school  of  exciting  debate  and  in  the  calmer 
methods  of  inquiry,  his  experience  in  the  command 
of  men  and  in  the  management  of  the  most  important 


RAILROADS. 


1179 


affairs,  his  careful  examination  and  knowledge  of  the 
carrying  trade  and  its  auxiliary  interests,  had  emi- 
nently combined  to  fit  him  for  leadership  in  the  gi- 
gantic schemes  that  are  radiating  from  this  centre 
into  the  undeveloped  regions  of  the  great  Southwest. 
Each  year  of  his  present  high  responsibilities  but 
adds  to  the  reputation  for  talent  and  usefulness  which 
he  incontestably  enjoys  in  the  judgment  of  those  best 
qualified  to  determine. 

The  Missouri,  Kansas  and  Texas  Railroad. — 
On  the  20th  of  September,  1865,  the  "  Union  Pacific 
Railway  Company"  (Southern  Branch)  was  incorpo- 
rated for  the  construction  of  a  railroad,  to  be  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty  miles  in  length,  from  Junction  City 
to  Chetopa.  When  the  road  was  completed  to  Ein- 
poria,  it  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Missouri,  Kansas 
and  Texas  Railway  Company,  which  was  organized 
April  7,  1870,  and  which  at  the  same  time  absorbed 
the  Neosho  Valley  and  Holden,  the  Labette  and  Seda- 
lia,  and  the  Tebo  and  Neosho  Railroad  Companies. 
The  lines  from  Sedalia  to  Parsons  and  from  Holden 
to  Paola  were  then  constructed,  and  being  the  first  to 
reach  the  Indian  Territory,  the  company  became  en- 
titled to  construct  its  road  through  the  Territory.  The 
progress  made  was  so  rapid  that  in  January,  1873, 
the  Red  River  at  Denison  was  crossed  and  the  Texas 
railroad  system  united  with.  Failing  in  the  effort  to 
obtain  the  control  of  the  Missouri  Pacific  in  1872,  by 
•which  arrangement  St.  Louis  would  have  become  the 
eastern  terminus,  the  managers  effected  (April  29, 
1872)  the  purchase  of  the  St.  Louis  and  Santa  Fe 
Railroad,  extending  from  Holden,  Mo.,  to  Paola,  Kan., 
and  (in  1874)  of  the  Hannibal  and  Central  Missouri 
Railroad,  by  which  connection  between  Hannibal  and 
Moberly  was  obtained.  In  1873  trains  were  running 
from  Hannibal  to  Denison.  The  road  was  leased  to 
the  Missouri  Pacific  Railway  Company,  Dec.  1, 1880, 
the  rental  paid  being  the.net  earnings  of  the  road. 

The  International  and  Great  Northern  Rail- 
road was  organized  Sept.  22,  1873,  by  the  consolida- 
tion of  the  International  Railroad  Company,  chartered 
Aug.  17, 1870,  and  the  Houston  and  Great  Northern 
Railroad  Company,  chartered  Oct.  22,  1870.  In  1881 
the  company's  road  and  property  were  purchased  by 
the  Missouri,  Kansas  and  Texas  Railway  Company. 

Ohio  and  Mississippi  Railroad. — The  Ohio  and 
Mississippi,  Marietta  and  Cincinnati,  and  Baltimore 
and  Ohio  Railroads  form  a  great  highway  of  com- 
merce and  travel  between  the  Mississippi  River  and 
the  Atlantic  seaboard,  and  between  St.  Louis  and 
Baltimore.  Practically  under  one  management,  they 
illustrate  the  genius  and  ability  of  one  man  and  the 
enterprise  of  two  great  cities.  To  John  W.  Garrett, 


of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad,  is  due  the  honor 
of  having  linked  St.  Louis  and  Baltimore  together  by 
this  great  railroad  line,  thus  making  each  city  the 
complement  of  the  other  in  all  that  relates  to  trade 
and  commerce. 

The  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Railroad  was  incorporated 
by  the  State  of  Indiana,  Feb.  14,  1848,  its  charter 
authorizing  the  construction  of  a  railroad  from  Cin- 
cinnati via  Vincennes  to  St.  Louis,  and  providing  that 
the  directors  be  taken  from  the  citizens  of  Cincinnati, 
Vincennes,  and  St.  Louis,  and  one  or  more  from  each 
county  along  the  line  of  the  proposed  work.  The 
directors  named  in  the  charter  from  St.  Louis  were 
Bryan  Mullanphy,  Ferdinand  Kennett,  Robert  Camp- 
bell, George  K.  McGunnegle,  and  William  Carr  Lane. 
The  St.  Louis  directors  met  at  the  Planters'  House, 
St.  Louis,  on  the  24th  of  March,  1848,  Mr.  Camp- 
bell in  the  chair,  and  Mr.  Mullanphy  acting  as  secre- 
tary. 

On  motion  of  Col.  Ferdinand  Kennett,  it  was 

"  Resolved,  That  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis  have  heard  with 
pleasure  of  the  public- spirited  efforts  in  the  State  of  Indiana 
preparatory  to  the  construction  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi 
Railroad,  in  which  they  most  heartily  concur,  and  trust  that  at 
an  early  day  a  charter  from  the  State  of  Illinois  will  enable 
St.  Louis  to  connect  itself  with  that  great  contemplated  under- 
taking ;  that  in  the  mean  time  they  feel  assured  that  the  citizens 
of  St.  Louis  will  cheerfully  aid  in  all  preliminary  steps,  and 
subscribe  liberally  for  the  establishment  of  a  communication  so 
important  to  the  whole  West. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  will  respond  to  any  allotment  of  labor 
that  may  be  imposed  upon  us  towards  promptly  effecting  the 
foregoing  objects." 

On  motion  of  George  K.  McGunnegle,  it  was 

"Resolved,  That  we  will,  if  it  shall  be  judged  proper  by  the 
directory,  attend  to  the  opening  of  subscription  books  in  St. 
Louis,  and  to  the  obtaining  subscriptions  to  stock  in  said  rail- 
road, and  in  conjunction  with  the  public-spirited  citizens  of  our 
sister  State  of  Illinois,  attend  to  all  details  necessary  or  proper 
to  the  procuring  such  charter,  privileges,  and  powers  as  may  be 
necessary  to  the  extension  of  said  railroad  to  the  State  of  Mis- 
souri." 

OQ  motion  of  Dr.  William  Carr  Lane,  it  was 

"Resolved,  That  the  period  of  construction  of  the  Ohio  and 
Mississippi  Railroad  has  now  arrived,  in  the  opinion  of  the  most 
cautious  and  practical  business  men  in  the  community,  and 
that  it  cannot  fail,  so  soon  as  completed,  to  realize  and  exceed 
the  most  sanguine  anticipations  of  its  enterprising  projectors." 

On  the  29th  of  March,  1848,  a  meeting  of  the  di- 
rectors of  the  company  was  held  at  Vincennes,  at 
which  Abner  T.  Ellis  was  elected  president,  John 
Ross  treasurer,  and  Benjamin  M.  Monroe  secretary. 
At  the  same  meeting  it  was  resolved  that  a  thorough 
survey  of  the  route  from  Cincinnati  to  St.  Louis,  to  be 
made  by  a  competent  engineer,  was  necessary,  and  that 
a  sufficient  sum  should  be  collected  for  this  purpose. 


1180 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


The  directors  in  St.  Louis,  Vincennes,  and  Cincinnati 
were  appointed  a  committee  for  their  several  towns 
and  counties  to  receive  subscriptions  for  this  purpose. 

On  the  15th  of  March,  1849,  the  road  was  char- 
tered by  the  Legislature  of  Ohio,  and  on  the  28th  of 
the  same  month  an  "  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Railroad 
mass-meeting"  assembled  in  the  rotunda  of  the  court- 
house in  St.  Louis  to  consider  a  proposition  to  loan 
the  city's  credit  for  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  to 
the  proposed  road.  The  mayor,  Hon.  J.  M.  Krum, 
was  called  to  the  chair,  and  J.  M.  Field  appointed  sec- 
retary. James  J.  Purdy,  William  M.  McPherson, 
Archibald  Gamble,  D.  D.  Page,  and  William  M. 
Campbell  were  appointed  vice-presidents.  The  chair- 
man explained  the  objects  of  the  meeting,  and  an- 
nounced his  intention  to  sustain  the  proposition  and  to 
vote  for  the  loan.  After  an  address  by  Professor  0. 
M.  Mitchell  the  following  gentlemen  were  appointed  a 
committee  to  prepare  an  address  to  the  people  of  St. 
Louis  in  favor  of  the  railroad  loan:  Thomas  Allen, 
Frederick  Kretchmar,  John  McNeil,  Willis  L.  Wil- 
liams, Samuel  M.  Bay,  Isaac  N.  Sturgeon,  Samuel 
Hawken,  Trusten  Polk,  Daniel  D.  Page,  L.  V.  Bogy, 
A.  L.  Mills. 

The  committee  reported  an  address,  after  the  read- 
ing of  which  Judge  Mullanphy  addressed  the  meeting. 
The  question  was  then  put  upon  the  adoption  of  the 
address,  and  it  was  carried  unanimously. 

L.  V.  Bogy  offered  the  following  resolution,  which 
was  unanimously  adopted  :  "  That  the  chairman  appoint 
ten  delegates  to  represent  the  city  of  St.  Louis  in  the 
proposed  convention  to  be  held  in  the  town  of  Salem, 
in  the  State  of  Illinois,  on  the  second  Monday  in  May 
next,  the  appointments  to  be  made  hereafter,  and  the 
names  of  the  delegates  to  be  published  in  the  city 
papers."  On  his  further  motion,  it  was 

"  Resolved,  That  the  chairman  appoint  a  committee  i 
of  vigilance,  to  consist  of  ten  in  each  ward  friendly  j 
to  the  proposition,  to  attend  the  polls  on  Monday  next  i 
and  secure  the  favorable  consideration  of  the  subject." 

The  election  referred  to  in  the  last  resolution  was 
for  the  purpose  of  deciding  whether  the  city  should 
lend  its  credit  to  the  extent  of  five  hundred  thousand 
dollars  for  the  construction  of  the  road.  A  large 
majority  was  returned  in  favor  of  the  proposition. 
The  vigilance  committee  appointed  in  accordance  with 
Mr.  Bogy's  resolution  was  composed  of: 

"  First  Ward,  Thomas  Allen,  R.  J.  Collins,  S.  Pilkington, 

Sol  Smith, Renick,  C.  Campbell,  Edward  Haren,  J.  McHose, 

H.  D.  Bacon,  D.  B.  Hill. 

"Second  Ward,  Isaac  A.  Hedges,  Charles  Kribben,  Ellis 
Wainright,  Fred  Kretschmar,  Thornton  Grimsley,  Patrick 
Walsh,  Hiram  Shaw,  Edward  Tracy,  J.  C.  Barlow,  J.  C.  Maigne. 


"  Third  Ward,  C.  G.  Henry,  John  Largee,  Charles  Keemle, 
L.  V.  Bogy,  A.  L.  Mills,  T.  B.  Targee,  J.  H.  Lucas,  H.  E.  Bridge, 
J.  F.  Darby,  Joseph  H.  Conn. 

"Fourth  Ward,  Austin  Piggott,  L.  M.  Kennett,  William 
Robb,  J.  L.  Finney,  Charles  M.  Valle,  T.  Barnum,  Arnadee 
VallS,  T.  W.  Hoyt,  J.  A.  Eddy,  J.  H.  Lightner. 

"  Fifth  Ward,  Samuel  Hawken,  Charles  Dean,  William  Black- 
more,  Conrad  Doll,  John  Sigerson,  Trusten  Polk,  Samuel  Gaty, 
T.  F.  Risk.  Dennis  Marks,  Conrad  Fox. 

"Sixth  Ward,  W.  H.  Belcher,  Thomas  Gray,  W.  G.Clark,  E. 
Dobbins,  J.  L.  Garrison,  J.  R.  Hammond,  R.  B.  Austin,  Charles 
M.  Pond,  J.  M.  Wimer,  L.  Perkins. 

"  The  heavy  majority,"  said  a  St.  Louis  paper  in  announcing 
the  result,  "cast  in  favor  of  the  subscription  by  the  city  to 
stock  in  this  road  must  be  gratifying  to  every  friend  of  the 
measure.  It  is  now  manifest  that  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis  are 
in  earnest  in  their  desire  to  see  this  work  commenced  and 
speedily  completed.  They  have  manifested  their  appreciation 
of  the  object  and  their  confidence  in  its  success  by  the  unan- 
imity with  which  they  have  agreed  to  invest  their  money  in  the 
enterprise. 

"  This  vote  may  be  hailed  as  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  St. 
Louis.  It  is  the  first  instance  in  which  she  has  put  forth  her 
efforts  to  the  accomplishment  of  a  great  enterprise,  and  she  has 
come  up  to  the  full  amount  desired  with  a  promptness  and  a 
heartiness  which  evince  that  she  understands  her  interest  in  the 
proposed  work.  It  is  due  to  the  success  of  this  enterprise  to 
state  that  the  vote  on  this  question  was  not  controlled,  to  any 
considerable  extent,  by  party  feeling.  A  few  men  may  have 
been  actuated  to  oppose  it  by  the  belief  that  opposition  would  be 
popular,  but  the  great  body  of  the  voters  were  governed  purely 
by  their  own  sense  of  the  expediency  or  inexpediency  of  the 
measure,  and  the  probable  effect  of  the  construction  of  the  road 
on  business  and  the  prosperity  of  the  city.  A  few  of  the  more 
wealthy  citizens  and  large  property-holders  opposed  it,  but  they 
were  limited  in  number  compared  with  those  of  the  same  class 
who  advocated  the  proposition.  Efforts  were  made  to  rally  the 
holders  of  leased  ground  and  the  owners  of  small  estates  into 
opposition  to  it,  on  the  ground  that  it  would  bring  about  an  in- 
crease of  taxes,  but  this  failed  to  be  successful  except  with  a  few 
persons.  The  only  ward  which  gave  a  majority  against  it  was 
the  First.  The  Third  Ward  gave  an  overwhelming  vote  in  favor 
of  it. 

"  Now  that  a  million  and  a  half  of  dollars  have  been  secured 
by  the  two  cities  of  Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis,  and  about  eight 
hundred  thousand  dollars  by  the  counties  of  Indiana,  the  work 
will  doubtless  be  taken  hold  of  promptly  and  pushed  forward 
with  proper  energy.  There  is  no  longer  a  doubt  that  the  road 
will  be  built.  The  only  question  is,  how  soon  ?  This  will,  to  a 
certain  extent,  depend  on  the  early  action  of  the  Legislature  of 
Illinois." 

On  the  12th  of  February,  1851,  the  Ohio  and 
Mississippi  Railroad  Company  of  Illinois  was  incor- 
porated by  the  Illinois  Legislature  to  build  a  railroad 
from  Illinoistown  (now  East  St.  Louis)  to  connect 
with  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  of  Indiana.  The  in- 
corporators  named  in  the  Illinois  charter  were  Jos.  G. 
Bowman,  Sidney  Breese,  James  Hall,  Alfred  Kitchell, 
Arthur  McCauley,  George  W.  Page,  Benjamin  Bond, 
J.  L.  D.  Morrison,  A.  T.  Ellis,  John  Ross,  Luther 
M.  Kennett,  John  O'Fallon,  James  H.  Lucas,  Andrew 
Christy,  Daniel  D.  Page,  John  Law,  Peter  Chouteau, 
Jr.,  Benjamin  F.  Rittenhouse,  Samuel  B.  Chandler, 


RAILROADS. 


1181 


John  A.  McClernand,  John  S.  Martin,  Aaron  Shaw, 
William  W.  Roman,  and  Green  C.  Crawford. 

In  the  latter  part  of  March,  1851,  the  directors  of 
the  St.  Louis  and  Vincennes  Railroad  (the  Western 
Division  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi)  met  at  St. 
Louis  for  the  purpose  of  organization.  The  following 
gentlemen  were 'present :  John  A.  McClernand,  Shaw- 
neetown  ;  James  L.  D.  Morrison,  Samuel  B.  Chan- 
dler, Belleville ;  Alfred  Kitchell,  Richland  County,  111. ; 
Aaron  Shar,  Lawrence  County,  111. ;  Abner  T.  Ellis, 
Vincennes,  Indiana ;  John  O'Fallon,  Daniel  D.  Page, 
Luther  M.  Kennett,  and  Andrew  Christy,  St.  Louis. 

The  meeting  was  organized  by  calling  Mr.  Christy 
to  the  chair  and  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Morrison  as  i 
secretary.  An  adjournment  then  took  place  until  I 
March  24th,  when  the  board  again  assembled  at  the 
Merchants'  Exchange,  the  same  members  being 
present.  Col.  John  O'Fallon,  of  St.  Louis,  was  then 
elected  president  of  the  company,  and  "  it  being 
deemed  important  for  the  dispatch  of  business  to  have 
an  additional  director  in  St.  Louis,  Mr.  Bowman,  of 
Lawrence  County,  one  of  the  earliest  and  most  promi- 
nent friends  of  the  enterprise,  tendered  his  resigna- 
tion. It  was  accepted,  and  Charles  P.  Chouteau  ap- 
pointed to  fill  the  place.  Col.  Robert  Campbell  was 
also  elected  to  fill  a  vacancy  caused  by  the  resignation 
of  Mr.  Page." 

On  the  26th  of  March  the  directors  requested  the 
directors  of  the  Eastern  Division  to  instruct  their 
chief  engineer,  E.  Gest,  to  prosecute  his  surveys  from 
Vincennes  to  Illinoistown,  and  report  to  them  his  esti- 
mate of  the  probable  cost  of  the  road.  Mr.  Gest  re- 
ported to  the  board  on  the  1st  of  September  follow- 
ing. In  the  latter  part  of  September  the  board  was 
advised  that  the  directors  of  the  Eastern  Division  had 
adopted  the  plan  of  constructing  that  division  by  let- 
ting it  to  an  association  of  individuals  to  construct 
the  whole  line.  The  directors  of  the  Western  Di- 
vision concurring  in  the  views  of  the  board  of  the  j 
Eastern  Division  as  to  the  advantages  to  be  gained  by  : 
letting  the  whole  line  to  one  set  of  contractors,  adopted 
the  same  plan,  and  a  committee  was  appointed  with 
full  powers  and  authority  to  negotiate,  which  concluded 
a  contract  in  conjunction  with  a  similar  committee 
appointed  by  the  directors  of  the  Eastern  Division. 

Under  this  authority  a  contract  was  negotiated,  and 
concluded  on  the  22d  of  November,  1851,  with  Messrs. 
H.  C.  Seymour  &  Co.,  of  New  York,  by  which  they 
agreed  to  construct  and  equip  the  road  from  Cincin- 
nati to  St.  Louis  for  nine  million  dollars,  the  rela- 
tive proportions  of  the  cost  to  be  paid  by  each  com- 
pany, to  be  determined  by  the  amount  of  work  done 
and  equipment  furnished  on  each  division. 


At  a  meeting  of  the  directors  of  the  Ohio  and 
Mississippi  Railroad  Company  held  on  the  7th  of 
September,  1851,  Col.  John  O'Fallon  was  unani- 
mously re-elected  president;  George  K.  McGunnegle, 
secretary ;  and  Sidney  Breese,  of  Illinois,  counselor 
of  the  company. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  directors  held  Feb.  2,  1852, 
it  was 

"  Resolved,  That  a  public  demonstration  of  the  commence- 
ment of  the  work  on  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Railroad  be  had 
at  Illinoistown  on  Saturday,  the  7th  instant,  at  eleven  o'clock 
A.M.,  that  the  secretary  request  the  insertion  of  a  proper  notice 
thereof  in  all  the  daily  journals  in  this  city,  and  that  in  the 
same  an  invitation  be  extended  to  the  Governors  of  the  States 
of  Illinois  and  Missouri,  to  the  people  of  these  States  generally, 
and  to  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis  and  Belleville  and  their  public 
functionaries,  and  that  the  president  appoint  a  committee  of 
five  to  make  arrangements  for  said  celebration,  and  that  at  the 
same  hour  the  work  be  commenced  on  said  road  at  its  intersec- 
tion with  the  Central  Railroad  in  Marion  County,  111. 

"Resolved,  That  the  secretary  of  this  board  communicate 
with  the  City  Council  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis  and  request  them 
to  take  action  in  aid  of  said  celebration,  in  such  manner  as  to 
the  Council  may  seem  most  proper,  in  co-operation  with  the 
committee  appointed  by  the  board.'' 

The  resolutions  were  submitted  to  the  City  Council 
by  the  secretary  of  the  company,  and  the  invitation 
accepted  by  both  boards. 

The  following  committees  were  appointed  by  the 
Council  to  confer  with  the  committee  of  the  railroad 
company :  from  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  Messrs.  An- 
derson, Sturgeon,  Degenhart,  and  Lynch  ;  from  the 
Board  of  Delegates,  Messrs.  Farrar,  Pilkington,  Trask, 
and  McKee.1 

On  Feb.  7,  1852,  the  ceremony  of  breaking  ground 
took  place  according  to  the  announcement. 

"  About  ten  or  eleven  o'clock,"  says  a  contemporary 
account,  "  a  large  number  of  the  citizens  congregated 

1  "  On  Saturday  next  at  eleven  o'clock  the  construction  of  this 
road  will  be  simultaneously  commenced  in  Illinoistown  and  at 
its  intersection  with  the  Central  Railroad  in  Marion  County. 
The  intervention  of  the  telegraph  enables  the  directors  to  have 
the  work  commenced  at  each  point,  although  far  distant,  at 
almost  the  very  same  moment  of  time. 

"  At  the  commencement  of  the  construction  in  Illinoistown 
there  will  be  present  Judge  Ellis,  the  president  and  father  of 
the  enterprise;  Professor  Mitchell,  who  has  taken  from  the  first 
a  most  lively  interest  in  the  work  ;  Mr.  Seymour,  the  contractor 
for  the  construction  of  the  entire  distance;  and  the  board  of 
directors,  at  least  such  of  them  as  are  in  the  city.  The  public 
functionaries  of  Belleville,  Collinsville,  Alton,  and  St.  Louis 
will  be  present." — Republican,  Feb.  5,  1852. 

Technically,  the  work  had  already  been  commenced.  By  the 
contract  of  Seymour  &  Co.  it  was  stipulated  that  the  construction 
of  the  road  should  be  commenced  on  or  before  the  1st  day  of 
February,  1851,  and  "on  Saturday  last,"  said  the  Republican 
of  February  2d,  "  Mr.  Morris,  the  engineer  for  the  contractors, 
commenced  the  construction  by  breaking  ground  in  Illinois- 
town.  This  was  necessary  on  the  part  of  the  contractors  to  save 
the  contract." 


1182 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


on  the  ferry-boat,  and  proceeded  across  the  river  to 
take  part,  in  and  witness  the  interesting  spectacle. 
The  spot  selected  for  the  purpose  was  within  a  few 
rods  of  the  Mississippi,  and  there,  with  a  plank  or 
two  for  the  wheelbarrows,  and  an  old  cart  for  a  ros- 
trum, the  immense  work  of  connecting  Cincinnati  and 
St.  Louis  by  railroad  was  commenced. 

"  Charles  D.  Drake  announced  in  a  short  but  witty 
and  pithy  speech  the  programme  of  the  ceremonies. 
By  the  arrangement  Col.  O'Fallon,  as  president  of 
the  road,  opened  the  business  of  the  day.  Having 
addressed  the  citizens  present  on  the  magnitude  of  the 
undertaking  and  the  great  results  which  must  follow 
from  its  completion,  he  proceeded  to  the  working  part 
of  his  duties,  and  in  a  few  moments  had  quite  a  load 
of  sand  and  gravel  for  the  mayor  of  the  city  to  wheel 
off.  Col.  O'Fallon  is  one  of  the  oldest  inhabitants. 
He  has  almost  grown  up  with  the  city,  and  the  past 
and  present  in  his  memory  represent  two  views  of 
the  metropolis,  one  a  French  village  on  the  borders  of 
civilization,  the  other  a  magnificent  emporium,  the 
centre  of  commercial  attraction,  the  nursery  of  refine- 
ment and  science  for  an  immense  area  of  country, 
extending  north  to  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  and  west 
to  the  Pacific  slope.  His  words  on  the  occasion  were 
few  but  terse.  Like  the  old  Roman  general,  who  was 
'  no  orator,'  he  seemed  to  say,  '  What  others  promise 
I  will  do.'  Although  silvered  with  the  frost  of  many 
years,  he  looks  forward  to  the  completion  of  the  work 
within  '  his  day.' 

"  Judge  Ellis  next  took  the  stand.  He  briefly  re- 
viewed the  difficulties  encountered  thus  far  in  the 
work,  spoke  confidently  of  its  completion,  and  dwelt 
for  a  time  on  the  great  importance  of  the  road.  He 
assisted  Col.  O'Fallon  in  'breaking  ground,'  as  an 
earnest  that  on  his  section  of  the  line  the  great  under- 
taking was  commenced,  to  be  prosecuted  with  unabated 
energy  to  a  full  and  triumphant  completion. 

"  Mayor  Kennett  then  addressed  the  assembly,  and 
in  some  happy  remarks,  in  which  he  alluded  to  the 
progressive  links  of  connection  with  Illinois,  from 
sand  to  stone  dikes,  and  now  by  iron  bands,  he  hoped 
the  tie  would  ultimately  become  strong  and  indisso- 
luble, wedded  by  reciprocal  interests  which  nothing 
should  be  able  to  dissever. 

"  The  officers  of  the  Pacific  Railroad  Company 
were  invited  to  take  part  in  the  ceremonies  of  the 
day,  and  they  were  accordingly  present.  The  presi- 
dent, Mr.  Allen,  expressed  his  warmest  wishes  for  the 
success  of  the  enterprise,  as  one  intimately  connected 
with  the  prosperity  of  the  work  over  which  he  pre- 
sided." Addresses  were  also  delivered  by  Professor 
Mitchell  and  Mr.  Seymour,  the  contractor. 


At  an  election  for  directors  of  the  company,  held 
Sept.  7,  1852,  the  following  were  chosen : 

John  O'Fallon,  Henry  D.  Bacon,  William  H.  Belcher,  Joshua 
H.  Alexander,  Joshua  B.  Brant,  Samuel  Gaty,  Isaac.  H.  Stur- 
geon, Abner  T.  Ellis,  Sidney  Breese,  J.  L.  D.  Morrison,  Charles 
P.  Chouteau,  Samuel  H.  Clubb,  Alfred  Kitchell. 

The  first  section  of  the  road  was  opened  with  ap- 
propriate ceremonies  on  April  8,  1854. 

"  At  the  hour  appointed,"  says  a  writer  in  a  St.  Louis  news- 
paper of  April  9th,  "we,  in  company  with  nine  hundred  and 
ninety-nine  others,  presented  ourselves  at  the  office  of  the  com- 
pany on  Fourth  Street,  and  there  found  some  twenty  or  more 
omnibuses  drawn  up  in  array  to  receive  their  freight;  from 
thence  a  few  minutes'  ride  brought  us  to  the  Mill  Creek  station, 
where  the  invited  disembarked  from  the  horse  conveyances  and 
jumped  into  the  railway  cars.  Precisely  at  noon  the  first  train 
started,  and  In  fifteen  minutes  was  followed  by  the  second. 

"  The  line  is  of  the  six-foot  or  broad  gauge,  and  is  built  be- 
tween the  banks  of  the  Ohio  and  the  Whitewater  Canal,  the 
scenery  on  both  sides  being  most  variedly  picturesque.  On  the 
train  moving  the  band  struck  up  a  lively  air,  the  people 
thronged  the  windows,  road,  and  bridges,  and  amid  the  vivas 
of  the  multitude,  the  cheers  of  the  passengers,  and  the  firing 
of  cannon  the  iron  horse  commenced  its  trip.  All  along  the 
line  the  same  gay  scene  was  presented  until  the  cars  reached 
Sedamsville,  where  the  train  paused  in  its  progress  a  few 
minutes.  The  band  again  played,  and  Mr.  Sedam,  from  the 
bridge,  fired  several  feu  dejoies  from  a  small  piece  of  artillery, 
making  the  welkin  ring  again.  A  short  ride  from  Sedamsville 
brought  us  to  Industry,  a  flourishing  little  town  of  some  fifteen 
hundred  inhabitants.  Once  again  the  iron  horse  moves  on 
through  the  valley,  between  the  hills  of  Indiana  and  Kentucky, 
till  it  reaches  the  bank  of  the  Great  Miami,  at  the  junction  of 
the  Lawrenceburg  and  Indianapolis  Railroad. 

"  Here  we  were  met  and  welcomed  by  a  train  from  Aurora 
(our  destination),  filled  with  the  gallant  sons  of  Indiana.  With 
this  accession  of  numbers  the  cars  crossed  the  Miami  bridge,  a 
plain  but  substantial  and  ingeniously  built  structure  of  wood. 
A  few  hundred  yards  over  this  a  halt  was  made  at  Lawrence- 
burg.  Leaving  Lawrenceburg  and  its  inhabitants  behind,  Far- 
mer's and  Miller's  Creeks  are  passed  (both  spanned  by  wooden 
trestle  bridges),  and  the  train  approached  Aurora,  which  lies  at 
the  foot  of  surrounding  hills,  with  the  Ohio  on  one  side  and 
Hogan's  Creek  on  the  other.  Here  some  time  was  passed  in 
examining  the  machine-  and  locomotive-shops,  which  are  built 
of  stone,  and  in  size  commensurate  with  the  prospective  busi- 
ness of  the  road.  The  train  started  homeward  at  4.30  P.M., 
stopped  on  the  road  at  Lawrenceburg,  at  Gen.  Harrison's  seat, 
where  the  band  played  '  Auld  Lang  Syne,'  at  Sedamsville,  where 
the  cannon  was  again  fired,  and  finally  arrived  at  the  Mill  Creek 
station  at  six  P.  M.,  the  passengers  having  had  a  most  pleasant 
trip,  attended  with  unmixed  pleasure." 

The  "  last  spike"  on  the  road  was  driven  Aug.  15, 
1857.1 


1  "  We  have  official  information  that  the  grandest  internal  im- 
provement work  of  the  West  will  be  completed  to-day  at  noon, 
by  the  driving  of  the  last  spike  necessary  to  close  up  the  gap  in 
the  Eastern  Division  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Railroad.  A 
company  of  gentlemen  left  here  last  evening  to  meet  one  from 
Cincinnati  at  the  point  of  completion,  near  Mitchell,  Ind., 
where,  with  appropriate  extemporaneous  observances,  the  happy 
event  will  be  duly  inaugurated." — Republican,  Aug.  15,  1857. 


RAILROADS. 


1183 


Two  years  after  the  "  last  spike"  was  driven,  Aug. 
2,  1859,  the  following  notice  appeared  in  the  Repiibli-  ; 
can  of  that  date  : 

"  To  St.  Louis  Merchant*. — The  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad 
Company  is  receipting  for  goods  through  from  all  Eastern  cities 
from  St.  Louis,  all  rail  via  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Railroad, 
without  the  necessity  of  insurance  against  the  perils  of  river 
navigation,  and  in  as  short  time  as  by  any  other  route." 

The  well-laid  plans  and  bright  anticipations  with 
which  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Railroad  began  its 
career  did  not  avail  to  save  it  from  the  influence  and 
effects  of  the  panic  of  1857,  and  both  companies  of 
that  name  succumbed  before  the  blows  of  a  financial 
disaster  that  destroyed  almost  all  commercial  values 
and  prostrated  enterprises  of  every  kind.  In  order  to 
save  the  property,  the  "  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Rail- 
road Company  of  Illinois"  was  organized  in  1861,  and 
under  the  authority  of  its  charter  purchased  the  whole 
road  from  East  St.  Louis  to  Vincennes.  Similar  action 
was  taken  by  the  Indiana  Company,  and  in  1869  the 
two  companies  were  consolidated.  In  1871  steps  were 
taken  to  reduce  the  gauge  from  six  feet  to  four  feet  j 
eight  inches,  in  conformity  with  that  of  the  Marietta 
and  Cincinnati  and  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Roads,  over 
and  by  which  its  "  through"  business  with  Baltimore 
must  be  transacted.  This  feat,  then  considered  very 
remarkable,  but  now  not  so  much  so,  was  completed 
in  seven  hours  on  the  23d  of  July,  1871.  It  was 
during  the  administration  of  J.  L.  Griswold  as  gen- 
eral superintendent  that  the  change  of  gauge  was 
effected. 

Before  this  time  the  gauge  of  the  Ohio  and  Mis- 
sissippi had  conformed  to  that  of  the  Erie  Road  of  New 
York,  with  which  it  connected  via  the  Atlantic  and 
Great  Western,  across  the  State  of  Ohio.  Hence 
freights  reaching  Cincinnati  from  St.  Louis  and  far- 
ther West  via  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  road,  and  des- 
tined for  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  must  have  gone  for- 
ward to  New  York  by  the  Erie  connection  or  been 
reshipped  at  Cincinnati,  subject  to  the  additional  ex- 
pense of  that  operation.  To  obviate  this  great  ob- 
struction to  the  trade  of  Baltimore  as  well  as  of  St.  j 
Louis,  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad,  by  a  large  j 
subscription  to  the  new  loan  of  the  Ohio  and  Missis- 
sippi, obtained  an  influence  and  power  in  the  man- 
agement of  that  company  which  effected  first  the 
change  of  gauge,  and  subsequently  a  practical  consoli-  i 
dation  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi,  the  Marietta  and 
Cincinnati,  and  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  in  one  great 
central  line. 

The  Louisville  Branch  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi, 
from  North  Vernon  to  Jeffersonville,  Ind.,  was  built 
under  an  act  of  March  3,  1865,  and  opened  in  1869. 


Surveys  for  the  Springfield  Division,  extending 
from  Beardstown,  on  the  Illinois  River,  to  Shawnee- 
town,  on  the  Ohio,  were  commenced  in  1865.  The 
organization  that  completed  that  part  of  the  road  was 
the  Springfield  and  Illinois  Southeastern  Railroad 
Company.  The  road  was  opened  from  Springfield  to 
Pana  in  1869,  from  Shawneetown  to  Flora  in  1870, 
from  Springfield  to  Beardstown  in  1871,  and  from 
Pana  to  Flora  in  1872.  The  panic  of  1873,  and 
the  years  of  business  depression  that  followed,  caused, 
in  1874,  a  sale  under  foreclosure  proceedings,  at 
which,  on  the  1st  of  January,  1875,  the  property 
was  purchased  by  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Railway 
Company  for  $1,700,000  in  bonds  secured  by  mort- 
gage on  that  division. 

On  the  17th  of  November,  1876,  the  Ohio  and  Mis- 
sissippi Railway  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  receiver. 

The  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Railway  is  a  direct  line 
between  St.  Louis  and  Cincinnati,  and  the  main  stem 
is  three  hundred  and  forty-one  miles  in  length.  It 
has  intersections  at  Sandoval,  Olney,  Vincennes,  and 
other  points  along  the  road.  At  North  Vernon,  two- 
hundred  and  sixty-eight  miles  from  St.  Louis,  the 
Louisville  Branch  leaves  the  main  line,  making  fifty- 
five  miles  to  Louisville.  At  Flora,  111.,  the  Spring- 
field Division  crosses  the  main  line,  connecting 
Shawneetown  and  Beardstown,  two  hundred  and 
twenty-eight  miles,  and  joining  at  the  north  with  the 
St.  Louis  and  Rock  Island  Division  of  the  Chicago, 
Burlington  and  Quincy  Railroad. 

The  mileage  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Railroad 
on  Dec.  31,  1882,  was  as  follows: 

Miles. 

St.  Louis  to  Cincinnati 341 

Louisville  to  North  Vernon 55 

Shawneetown  to  Beardstown 228 

Total 624 

The  earnings  for  the  year  ending  Dec.  31,  1881r 
amounted  to  $4,074,407.81  ;  operating  expenses, 
83,115,355.19  ;  net  earnings,  $959,052.62.  The 
share  capital  of  the  company  is  $24,030,000,  of 
which  $20,000,000  is  common  and  $4,030,000  pre- 
ferred. The  total  funded  debt  is  $12,872,000. 

After  the  road  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  receiver, 
it  was  proposed  to  reorganize  the  company  as  fol- 
lows :  To  create  a  series  of  five  per  cent,  fifty  year 
bonds  secured  by  mortgage  on  road,  equipment,  and 
personal  property  of  the  company  to  the  amount  of 
$16,000,000,  of  which  $12,784,000  will  be  exchanged 
for  old  bonds  as  they  mature  as  follows  :  Income  and 
funded  debt  bonds,  due  Oct.  1,  1882,  $174,000;  first 
consolidated  mortgage  bonds,  due  Jan.  1,  1898,  $6,- 
772,000 ;  second  consolidated  mortgage  bonds,  due 


1184 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


April  1,  1911,  $3,829,000  ;  Springfield  Division 
bonds,  due  Nov.  1,  1905,  $2,009,000.  The  residue 
($3,216,000)  to  be  used  for  the  following  purposes : 
To  pay  past-due  coupons  on  the  first  mortgage,  $48,- 
825  ;  on  second  mortgage,  $536,060  ;  on  Springfield 
Division,  $351,575;  to  pay  contributions  first  mort- 
gage sinking  fund,  $177,000  ;  second  ditto,  $165,845  ; 
to  pay  second  mortgage,  Western  Division  bonds, 
$97,000;  debenture  bonds,  $140,000;  special  loans 
(for  which  Springfield  Division  bonds  have  been  hy- 
pothecated), $250,000 ;  remainder  of  floating  debt, 
$150,000  ;  contingent  liabilities,  $300,000 ;  addi- 
tional equipment  and  terminal  facilities,  $999,695. 
The  $3,216,000  issue  is  to  be  further  secured  by  a 
pledge  of  $991,000,  Springfield  Division  bonds, 
•which  will  be  canceled  on  the  retirement  of  the 
present  first  mortgage  bonds  of  the  company.  The 
$12,784,000  to  be  held  for  the  sole  purpose  of  re- 
tiring the  old  bonds  as  they  mature.  The  above 
proposition  of  the  committee  on  reorganization,  which 
was  under  date  of  Jan.  20,  1882,  was  accepted  by  the 
stockholders  of  the  company  on  the  7th  of  April, 
1882.  The  officers  of  the  company  are:  Directors, 
W.  T.  McClintick,  Chillicothe,  Ohio;  Charles  A. 
Beecher,  John  Waddle,  Cincinnati ;  R.  L.  Cutting, 
Jr.,  Henry  M.  Day,  New  York ;  Robert  Gdrrett, 
Osmun  Latrobe,  James  Sloan,  Jr.,  T.  H.  Garrett, 
Baltimore,  Md. ;  F.  W.  Tracy,  Springfield,  111. ;  F. 
Janssen,  Louisville,  Ky. ;  H.  Pearson,  London,  Eng. 
President,  W.  F.  McClintick,  Cincinnati ;  Receiver, 
J.  M.  Douglas,  Cincinnati ;  Superintendent,  W.  W. 
Peabody,  Cincinnati ;  Secretary,  W.  M.  Walton, 
New  York  ;  Treasurer,  Charles  S.  Cone,  Cincinnati ; 
€hief  Engineer,  N.  A.  Gurney,  Cincinnati ;  Master 
of  Car  Repairs,  J.  P.  Coulter,  Cochran,  Ind. ;  General 
Passenger  Agent,  W.  B.  Shattuck,  Cincinnati ;  Gen- 
eral Freight  Agent,  William  Duncan,  St.  Louis; 
Purchasing  Agent,  G.  E.  Atwood,  Cincinnati ;  Road 
Master,  H.  D.  Hanover,  Aurora,  Ind.  ;  Superin- 
tendent of  Bridges,  H.  M.  Hall,  Olney,  111. 

The  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Railroad  Company  has 
contributed  immensely  to  the  development  of  East 
St.  Louis.  "  The  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Railroad  at 
East  St.  Louis,"  said  a  St.  Louis  newspaper  of  April 
16,  1864, 

41  has  congregated  a  population  large  enough  to  constitute 
•quite  a  populous  village  of  most  industrious  inhabitants.  The 
company  owns  there  forty-two  acres  of  ground  about  a  mile 
from  the  river.  On  that  tract,  with  great  labor  and  expense, 
they  have  constructed  an  elevated  plateau  of  more  than  four 
acres  of  ground,  about  twelve  feet  above  the  average  level  of 
the  surrounding  bottom  land,  and  about  six  feet  above  the 
high-water  mark  of  1858.  On  these  four  acres  are  the  exten- 
sive machine-shops  of  the  company,  which,  with  necessary 


yard-room,  occupy  nearly  the  whole  of  that  large  space. 
Within  these  shops  over  two  hundred  and  seventy  men  are 
employed, — machinists,  carpenters,  blacksmiths,  painter?!,  gla- 
ziers, upholsterers,  copper-  and  tin-workers,  and  common 
laborers.  In  the  various  departments  the  workmen  are  of 
the  best  class,  skillful  machinists,  carpenters,  and  painters, 
who  all  command  the  highest  wages,  and  would  be  in  demand 
in  any  city  where  skilled  labor  is  required." 

The  Marietta  and  Cincinnati  and  the  Baltimore 
and  Ohio  Railroads,  continuing  the  great  central 
St.  Louis  and  Baltimore  line  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean, 
fill  a  place  in  the  railway  system  of  which  St.  Louis 
is  the  commercial  and  business  centre,  which  requires 
some  description  and  explanation.  The  Belpre  and 
Cincinnati  Railroad  Company  was  chartered  in  1848 
to  construct  a  line  of  railway  from  the  Ohio  River 
opposite  Parkersburg,  W.  Va.,  up  the  Hocking  valley 
to  the  Little  Miami  Railroad,  and  by  an  amendment 
to  the  charter  in  1851,  was  authorized  to  construct 
to  Cincinnati  and  to  consolidate  with  the  Franklin 
and  Ohio  River  Railroad,  under  the  corporate  title 
of  the  "  Marietta  and  Cincinnati  Railroad  Company." 
For  seven  years  the  work  of  construction  was  pros- 
ecuted slowly  ;  and  the  company  having  become  em- 
barrassed, was  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  receiver  in 
1857,  in  which  year  (April  20th)  it  was  opened,  the 
Little  Miami  Railroad  being  used  from  Loveland  to 
Cincinnati.  From  this  receivership  the  company 
emerged  in  1860,  barnacled  with  "  first  preferred," 
"  second  preferred,"  and  "  common  stock."  Other 
legal  obstructions  as  to  the  character  of  its  franchises 
kept  the  company  "  in  chancery"  until  relieved  by 
legislative  action  in  1863.  The  Union  Branch  Rail- 
road from  Scott's  Landing  to  Belpre  was  soon  after 
purchased,  and  also  the  road  from  Hillsboro'  to 
Loveland  from  the  Hillsboro'  and  Cincinnati  Railroad 
Company.  In  December,  1863,  the  Marietta  and 
Cincinnati  Railroad  Company  purchased  that  part 
of  the  Scioto  and  Hocking  Valley  Railroad  between 
Portsmouth  and  the  track  of  the  Cincinnati  and 
Muskingum  Valley  Railroad,  now  known  as  its 
"  Portsmouth  Branch." 

The  extension  from  Loveland  to  the  Cincinnati, 
Hamilton  and  Dayton  Railroad  was  completed  Feb. 
17,  1866,  and  the  Cincinnati  and  Baltimore  Railway, 
which  continues  the  line  into  Cincinnati,  was  opened 
June  1,  1872.  The  Baltimore  Short-Line  Railway 
was  opened  Nov.  15,  1874.  The  Marietta  and  Cin- 
cinnati Railroad  Company  guaranteed  the  stock  and 
bonds  of  these  companies. 

Owing  to  the  non-completion  of  the  Northwest- 
ern Virginia  Railroad,  now  known  as  the  Parkers- 
burg  Branch  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio,  from 
Grafton  to  Parkersburg,  it  was  not  until  1857 


RAILROADS. 


1185 


that  through  business  with  Baltimore  could  be 
effected.  The  material  aid  extended  by  the  Balti- 
more and  Ohio  kept  the  company  afloat  until  June 
27,  1877,  when,  having  made  default  in  the  interest 
on  its  fourth  mortgage  bonds,  its  property  was  placed 
in  the  hands  of  a  receiver.  After  remaining  under 
the  control  of  receiver  John  King,  Jr.,  for  several 
years,  J.  H.  Stewart  was  appointed  receiver,  and  in 
1880  a  committee  on  reorganization  was  named  by 
the  bondholders,  as  follows :  Augustus  Kountze,  E. 
R.  Bacon,  George  Arents,  and  J.  B.  Dumont,  of 
New  York  ;  T.  Edward  Hambleton,  Skipwith  Wil- 
mer,  and  H.  Irvine  Keyser,  of  Baltimore.  This 
committee  adopted  plans  looking  to  the  reorganization 
of  the  road,  which  was  finally  sold  for  $4,375,000  to 
the  purchasing  committee  of  security-holders,  com- 
posed of  Messrs.  E.  R.  Bacon,  of  New  York,  T.  [ 
Edward  Hambleton,  and  Robert  Garrett.  The  Bal- 
timore and  Ohio  interest,  in  the  absence  of  Robert 
Garrett,  was  represented  by  John  K.  Cowen.  The 
price  was  about  two-thirds  of  the  appraised  value  of 
the  property,  the  lowest  amount  at  which  it  could  be  ! 
sold  under  the  order  of  the  court.  As  the  transac-  i 
tion  was  entirely  formal  and  in  accordance  with  the 
plan  of  reorganization,  which  was  assented  to  by 
ninety-eight  per  cent,  of  the  security-holders,  the 
price  is  not  a  criterion  of  the  value  of  the  road. 
Under  the  reorganization,  the  leased  short  line  at 
each  end  becomes  part  of  the  new  line,  one  hundred 
and  ninety-five  miles  long,  from  Cincinnati  to  Parkers- 
burg,  with  branches,  etc.,  that  make  the  total  length 
two  hundred  and  fifty-five  miles.  The  purchasers 
paid  $100,000  cash  and  the  remainder  in  the  securi- 
ties of  the  corporation.  After  the  ratification  of  the 
sale  new  securities  were  issued.  Their  classification 
is  as  follows :  First  mortgage  bonds,  four  and  a  half  | 
per  cent,  guaranteed,  $7,185,000,  subject  to  reduc-  i 
tion  ;  second  mortgage,  five  per  cent.,  $3,040,000  ;  , 
third  mortgage,  three  per  cent,  for  ten  years  and  four  [ 
per  cent,  thereafter,  $2,270,000  ;  fourth  mortgage,  j 
first  income,  five  per  cent.,  $3,410,000  ;  fifth  mort- 
gage, second  income,  five  per  cent.,  $4,000,000,  to- 
gether with  preferred  and  common  stock  to  be  issued 
upon  the  completion  of'  the  reorganization.  Some 
claims  in  litigation  remained  to  be  settled  by  the 
courts.  The  old  first  and  second  mortgages  were 
seven  per  cents.,  and  the  thirds  and  fourths  were  eight 
per  cents. 

After  confirmation  of  the  sale  by  the  court  a  new 
company  was  incorporated,  which  was  styled  the  Cin- 
cinnati and  Baltimore  Railroad  Company.  It  forms 
the  connecting  link  between  Parkersburg  and  Cincin- 
nati, in  the  St.  Louis  line  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio, 


and  is  fully  under  the  control  of  the  Baltimore  and 
Ohio  corporation.  J.  H.  Stewart,  formerly  receiver 
of  the  Marietta  and  Cincinnati,  is  general  manager 
of  the  reorganized  road. 

The  length  of  the  Marietta  and  Cincinnati  Rail- 
road proper,  from  Cincinnati  and  Baltimore  Junc- 
tion, Ohio,  to  Main  Line  Junction,  Ohio,  in  1882, 
was  156.80  miles. 

Branches  : 

Scott's   Landing,   Main    Line    Junction  to 

Scott's  Landing 31.20 

Belpre,  Marietta  to  Belpre 11.10 

Hamden,  Portsmouth  to  Hamden 55.40 

Hillsboro',  Blanchester  to  Hillsboro' 21.40 

Total  branches 119.10 

Leased  lines : 

Cincinnati  and  Baltimore  Railway,  Cin- 
cinnati to  junction  Marietta  and  Cincin- 
nati Railroad 5.80 

Baltimore  Short  Line  Railway,  Main  Line 

Junction  to  Belpre 30.30 


Total  leased  lines. 

Total  length  of  lines  operated. 


36.10 


312.00 


The  directors  of  the  company,  elected  Feb.  15, 
1882,  were  Robert  Garrett,  W.  T.  Burns,  Theodore 
Cook,  W.  W.  Peabody,  Baltimore,  Md. ;  George 
Hoadley,  H.  C.  Smith,  R.  M.  Bishop,  W.  W.  Scar- 
borough, James  D.  Lehmer,  W.  B.  Loomis,  John 
Waddle,  Cincinnati,  Ohio;  William  T.  McClintick, 
William  Waddle,  Chillicothe,  Ohio.  General  super- 
intendent, W.  W.  Peabody,  Cincinnati,  Ohio ;  ticket 
agent  at  Sfe  Louis,  J.  D.  Phillips. 

Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad  Company. — The 
history  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad  Company 
is  too  voluminous  for  more  than  brief  and  cursory 
treatment  in  this  work.  As  early  as  1827  the  mer- 
chants of  the  Atlantic  cities  were  looking  to  that 
vast  and  fertile  region  of  the  great  West  between  the 
Alleghenies  and  the  Mississippi  River,  for  the  bulk 
of  the  productions  that  were  to  constitute  the  com- 
merce and  subsistence  of  the  country.  The  Erie 
Canal  of  New  York  and  the  public  works  of  Pennsyl- 
vania promised  to  New  York  City  and  Philadelphia  a 
future  interest  in  that  great  valley,  from  which  Balti- 
more would  be  practically  cut  off  for  want  of  some- 
thing better  than  the  "  National  road."  The  Ches- 
apeake and  Ohio  Canal,  confronted  by  the  elevations 
of  the  Alleghenies,  could  promise  but  little,  and  that 
little  would  go  to  Georgetown  on  the  Potomac,  hinder- 
ing rather  than  promoting  the  commerce  of  Baltimore. 
Steam  railroads  at  that  day  were  unknown,  none 
having  been  built  either  in  England  or  elsewhere  for 
the  transportation  of  passengers  and  produce.  Iron 
tramways  for  coal  and  other  heavy  productions  were 
in  use  only  to  a  very  limited  extent.  It  was  a  bold 
thought  which  induced  Philip  E.  Thomas,  then  presi- 


1186 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


dent  of  the  Mechanics'  Bank  of  Baltimore  and  com- 
missioner of  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Canal,  to  re- 
sign the  latter  position  and  undertake  to  enlist  his 
fellow-citizens  of  Maryland  in  the  work  of  construct- 
ing a  railroad  from  the  Chesapeake  Bay  to  the  Ohio 
River.  Nevertheless,  Mr.  Thomas  entered  upon  the 
work  with  a  zeal  born  only  of  conviction,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  obtaining  the  co-operation  of  George  Brown, 
another  prominent  and  influential  capitalist  of  Balti- 
more. 

At  a  public  meeting  held  in  Baltimore,  Feb.  12, 
1827,  these  two  gentlemen  expressed  the  conviction 
that  rail  transportation  must  supersede  that  of  water, 
and  induced  the  appointment  of  a  committee  to  col- 
lect facts  and  carefully  consider  the  novel  proposition. 
That  committee  was  quick  to  observe  and  note  the 
facts  that  the  trend  of  the  Atlantic  coast  shortened 
the  line  from  the  East  to  the  West,  placing 
Southern  cities  nearer  to  the  great  valley  than  North- 
ern cities,  and  that  Baltimore  was  two  hundred  miles 
nearer  to  the  navigable  waters  of  the  Mississippi 
valley  than  New  York,  and  one  hundred  miles  nearer 
than  Philadelphia.  The  committee  also  strongly  sus- 
tained in  its  report  the  idea  that  railroads  .would 
supersede  canals  in  transportation,  and  earnestly  rec- 
ommended the  construction  of  a  railroad  from  Balti- 
more to  the  Ohio  River.  John  V.  L.  McMahon 
prepared  the  charter  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Rail- 
road Company,  the  charter  for  the  first  railroad  in 
the  United  States,  which,  from  its  very  great  clear- 
ness, became  the  model  for  many  subsequent  charters. 
At  the  session  of  the  General  Assembly  of  Mary- 
land in  1828,  the  sum  of  five  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars was  voted  to  aid  in  the  construction  of  the  work. 
The  surveys  of  1827  and  those  of  1828  made  appa- 
rent the  feasibility  of  the  route  to  the  Ohio  River 
along  the  valley  of  the  Potomac,  and  on  July  4, 1828, 
the  venerable  Charles  Carroll  of  Carrollton  "  broke 
ground,"  and  on  the  1st  of  October,  1828,  the  work 
was  fairly  commenced  "  all  along  the  line"  from  Bal- 
timore to  Ellicott's  Mills.  Congress  was  petitioned 
at  the  session  of  1828-29  to  aid  in  this  important 
work,  but  notwithstanding  a  favorable  consideration 
by  many  members,  the  influence  of  the  Chesapeake 
and  Ohio  Canal  Company  was  potent  enough  to  pre- 
vent any  favorable  action.  The  first  division  of  the 
road  to  Ellicott's  Mills  was  opened  for  traffic  in  1830, 
and  the  "  brigade  of  cars,"  *  as  trains  were  then  called, 
hauled  by  horses  or  mules,  left  "  the  depot  on  Pratt 
Street  at  six  and  ten  o'clock  A.M.,  and  at  three  and 
four  o'clock  P.M.,  and  will  leave  the  depot  at  Ellicott's 


1  Baltimore  American,  July,  1830. 


Mills  at  six  and  eight  and  a  half  o'clock  A.M.,  and  at 
twelve  and  a  half  and  six  o'clock  P.M."  It  was  in 
1830  that  George  Stephenson's  locomotive,  "  The 
Rocket,"  made  fifteen  miles  per  hour  on  the  Liver- 
pool and  Manchester  Railroad.  But  the  England  of 
1830  was  very  much  farther  from  America  than  that 
country  is  to-day.  Ideas  traveled  then  by  sail- vessels, 
and  not  by  electricity,  and  it  was  to  "  put  fire  on  their 
backs"  that  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad  Com- 
pany offered  to  the  mechanical  genius  of  America 
rewards  of  five  and  four  thousand  dollars  respectively 
for  locomotives  which,  upon  trial,  should  prove  to  be 
the  first  and  second  best  in  complying  with  the  speci- 
fications. "  The  York,"  an  engine  built  at  York,  Pa., 
by  Davjs  &  Gartner,  attained  upon  trial  a  speed  of  fif- 
teen miles  an  hour,  and  practically  demonstrated  the 
feasibility  of  steam  as  a  traction  agency.  The  charter  of 
the  "  Washington  Branch"  was  obtained  in  1832,  as 
well  as  authority  to  extend  the  tracks  of  the  company 
to  the  harbor  of  Baltimore  from  Mount  Clare  shops 
and  depot.  The  road  was  opened  from  Baltimore  to 
Point  of  Rocks  in  1832,  but  further  prosecution  of 
the  work  to  Harper's  Ferry  was  temporarily  arrested 
by  injunction  sued  out  by  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio 
Canal  Company.  The  delay  continued  for  about  a 
year,  and  the  road  was  not  opened  to  Harper's  Ferry 
until  1834.  The  charter  of  the  Washington  Branch 

O 

had  been  saddled  with  objectionable  provisions,  which 
were  not  removed  until  1833,  after  which  so  ener- 
getically was  the  work  of  construction  pushed  that  in 
July,  1835,  the  branch  was  opened  to  Bladensburg, 
and  to  Washington  City  in  August  of  the  same  year. 
The  controversy  with  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Canal 
Company  impeded  and  obstructed  the  work  of  the 
railroad  company  west  of  Harper's  Ferry  until  the 
Legislature  of  1835-36  removed  all  obstructions  to 
the  extension  westward  of  the  company's  lines.  The 
State  of  Maryland  and  the  city  of  Baltimore  each 
about  this  time  subscribed  three  million  dollars  to  the 
capital  stock  of  the  company. 

The  Harper's  Ferry  viaduct  over  the  Potomac 
River  was  completed  in  December,  1836,  opening  a 
connection  with  the  valley  of  Virginia  by  the  Potomac 
and  Winchester  Railroad.  From  Harper's  Ferry  to 
the  Ohio  River  the  work  of  construction  was  not 
pushed  forward  steadily.  Preliminary  surveys  were 
completed  in  1838,  but  the  period  of  time  fixed  in 
the  charter  of  the  company  by  the  State  of  Virginia 
for  the  occupancy  of  that  part  of  the  State  to  be  en- 
tered upon  by  the  company  having  expired,  an  ex- 
tension of  five  years  for  completion  to  the  Ohio  River 
was  granted  by  the  State,  coupled  with  the  condition 
that  Wheeling  should  be  one  of  the  termini,  and  a 


RAILROADS. 


1187 


subscription  of  $1,058,420  to  the  capital  stock  of  the 
company  was  made  by  the  State  of  Virginia.  In  1842 
the  road  was  opened  to  Hancock  and  Cumberland, 
and  in  1853  to  Wheeling,  a  total  distance  of  three 
hundred  and  seventy-nine  miles.  The  formal  opening 
took  place  on  the  12th  of  January,  1853.  The  suc- 
cessive periods  of  progress  by  this  great  road  in  reach- 
ing its  destination  on  the  Ohio  are  worthy  of  being 
preserved.  They  are : 

Miles. 

May  24,  1830,  to  Ellicott's  Mills,  by  horse-power 14 

Aug.  30,  1830,           "              "             steam     "     14 

Dec.  31,  1831,  to  Frederick 61 

April  1,  1832,  to  Point  of  Rocks 69 

Dec.  31,  1834,  to  Harper's  Ferry 84 

July  20,  1834,  to  Bladensburg  (Washington  Branch) 32 

Aug.  25,  1834,  to  Washington             "                 "         40 

June  1,  1842,  to  Hancock 123 

Nov.  5,  1842,  to  Cumberland 178 

July  21,  1851,  to  Piedmont 206 

July  22,  1852,  to  Fairmont 302 

Jan.  12,  1853,  to  Wheeling 379 

The  Northwestern  Virginia  Railroad  was  leased  by 
the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  in  1857,  for  a  period  of  five 
years,  renewable,  and  became  the  Parkersburg  Branch, 
extending  from  Grafton  on  the  main  line  to  Parkers- 
burg,  on  the  Ohio  River. 

The  civil  war  was  a  period  of  repeated  raids  and 
injuries  to  the  road,  but  the  work  of  reconstruction 
was  promptly  entered  upon  immediately  after  the  ter- 
mination of  actual  hostilities  in  1865,  and  at  the  same 
time  the  policy  of  the  president,  John  W.  Garrett, 
looking  to  more  intimate  and  thorough  connections 
with  the  railway  system  west  of  the  Ohio  River,  took 
active  shape.  In  pursuance  of  this  general  plan  the 
Central  Railroad  of  Ohio,  between  Bellaire  and  Co- 
lumbus, was  leased  in  1866  by  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio, 
and  an  unbroken  line  opened  between  Baltimore  and 
the  capital  of  Ohio,  where  connection  was  made  with 
Cincinnati,  Indianapolis,  and  other  points  in  the  West- 
ern States. 

The  Winchester  and  Potomac  Railroad,  leased  in 
1867,  opened  the  great  valley  of  Virginia  to  this 
railroad,  and  the  line  was  further  extended  up  that 
valley  by  the  lease  in  1870  of  the  Winchester  and 
Strasburg  Railroad  and  the  Manassas  Division,  in  the 
valley,  of  the  present  Virginia  Midland  Railroad 
Company. 

In  1869  the  Sandusky,  Mansfield  and  Newark  Rail- 
road having  passed  under  the  control  of  the  Baltimore 
and  Ohio,  opened  the  lakes  to  the  Lake  Erie  Divis- 
ion of  the  road.  The  great  iron  bridge  at  Parkers- 
burg  was  opened  in  1871,  and  in  the  same  year  the 
Hempfield  Railroad,  from  Wheeling  to  Washington, 
Pa.,  was  purchased,  and  has  since  been  operated  as  the 
Wheeling,  Pittsburgh  and  Baltimore  Branch.  The 
Pittsburgh  and  Connellsville  Road,  which  was  leased 


from  Jan.  1,  1876,  offered  another  outlet,  and  brought 
Baltimore  and  Pittsburgh  into  a  direct  interchange  of 
trade  and  business.  The  Metropolitan  Branch,  from 
Washington  to  the  main  line,  was  commenced  in  1870, 
and  completed  May  28,  1873.  The  Newark,  Somer- 
set and  Straitsville  Railroad  Company  passed  into  the 
control  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  in  1872,  and  in  the 
same  year  the  charters  from  the  States  of  Ohio,  Indi- 
ana, and  Illinois  for  the  Baltimore,  Pittsburgh  and 
Chicago  Railroad  Company  were  granted,  and  the 
road  was  completed  from  Centreton  to  Chicago  in 
1874,  thus  providing  a  through  line  between  Balti- 
more and  Chicago. 

The   different   lines  of  the   Baltimore   and   Ohio 
system  in  1882  were: 

Miles. 

Main  Stem,  from  Baltimore  to  Wheeling 379 

Parkersburg  Division,  from  Grafion  to  Parkersburg 104 

Washington  Branch,  Relay  to  Washington 31 

Metropolitan  Branch,  Washington  to  Junction 43 

Alexandria  Branch,  liladcnsburg  to  Shepherd 12J 

Washington  County  Branch,  Wcverton  to  Hagerstown...       24 
Harper's  Ferry  and  Valley  Branch,  Harper's  Ferry  to 

Staunton 126 

Pittsburgh   Division,  Cumberland  to   Pittsburgh,  with 

branches  from  Connellsville  to  Uniontown,  and  Broad 

Ford  to  Mount  Pleasant 174 

Central  Ohio  Division,  Columbus!  to  Bellaire 137 

Lake  Erie  Division,  Sandusky  to  Newark 116 

Chicago  Division,  Newark  to  Shavvnee 43 

Wheeling,  Pittsburgh  and  Baltimore  Branch,  Wheeling 

to  Washington,  Piv 32 

Marietta  imd  Cincinnati  Railroad 297 

Ohio  and  Mississippi  Railway 620 


Total 2409* 

The  "  terminal  facilities"  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
Railroad  Company  at  Locust  Point,  Baltimore,  inur- 
ing indirectly  but  most  materially  to  the  trade  and 
commerce  of  St.  Louis,  constitute  a  factor  in  the  rail- 
road facilities  of  St.  Louis  as  well  as  of  Baltimore. 
As  early  in  the  history  of  the  road  as  1848  the  coal 
trade  demanded  and  received  the  means  of  easy  and 
inexpensive  trans-shipment  from  the  cars  to  the  boat. 
In  1851  the  Locust  Point  lands,  purchased  by  Hon. 
Thomas  Swarm,  president  of  the  company,  were  in- 
creased in  area  by  means  of  inducements  held  out  to 
private  parties  to  erect  their  own  wharves  at  Whet- 
stone Point.  It  was  not  until  1860,  however,  when 
connections  had  been  established  with  the  West,  and 
the  fruits  of  Mr.  Garrett's  sagacity  were  beginning 
to  be  realized,  that  the  development  of  the  "  terminal 
facilities"  at  Locust  Point  took  their  presentdefinite  and 
complete  shape.  The  experimental  European  line  es- 
tablished by  Mr.  Garrett's  purchase  of  the  "  Alle- 
gheny," the  "  Carroll,"  the  "  Somerset,"  and  the 
"  Worcester"  steamships  from  the  United  States 
government  was  the  beginning  of  that  Atlantic 
extension  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio,  by  which 
Western  grain  and  produce  are  shipped  in  bulk  to 


1188 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Europe  on  through  bills  of  lading.  The  erection  of 
piers,  wharves,  and  warehouses  followed  immediately 
upon  the  establishment  of  this  European  line.  The 
management  of  so  vast  an  enterprise  demanded  the 
sagacity  and  nerve  of  a  man  like  Mr.  Garrett  to  dem- 
onstrate its  feasibility,  before  the  more  timid  would 
take  hold  of  a  doubtful  and  untried  business.  The 
experimental  line  finally  gave  way  to  others  which 
are  now  reaping  the  harvest  of  the  seed  which  Mr. 
Garrett  sowed. 

Elevators  followed  and  facilities  increased  until 
Baltimore  offers  cheaper  and  easier  trans-shipment  of 
heavy  products  than  any  Atlantic  port  in  the  country. 
The  largest  steamer  in  the  United  States  transfers 
trains  of  cars  across  the  harbor  of  Baltimore  to  the 
tracks  of  the  Philadelphia,  Wilmington  and  Balti- 
more Railroad,  and  an  independent  connection  with 
Philadelphia  and  New  York  will  in  the  near  future 
make  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  a  separate  and  distinct 
line  from  New  York  as  well  as  from  Baltimore.  When 
this  great  object  shall  have  been  consummated  it 
is  fair  to  presume,  from  his  past  career,  that  Mr. 
Garrett  will  give  greater  freedom  to  transportation  be- 
tween the  East  and  the  West,  as  he  has  given  cheaper 
rates,  and  forced  upon  others  the  lesson  that  Baltimore 
is  an  important  factor  in  the  foreign  commerce  of  the 
Western  States. 

To  the  great  executive  powers  and  financial  talents 
of  John  W.  Garrett,  ably  seconded  by  his  son,  Robert 
Garrett,  now  first  vice-president  of  the  company,  the 
present  vast  development  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
Railroad  is  unquestionably  due.  Under  Mr.  Garrett's 
prudent,  wise,  and  at  the  same  time  aggressive  manage- 
ment the  company  has  successfully  weathered  all  the 
financial  storms  that  have  threatened  it  in  common 
with  other  railroad  properties,  and  has  come  off  more 
than  conqueror  in  all  the  "  wars"  that  have  been  waged 
by  it  with  rival  companies.  Mr.  Garrett  has  also 
preserved  his  company  from  the  injurious  effects  of 
"  watered  stock,"  and  now  enjoys  the  satisfaction  of 
seeing  it  command  a  place  in  the  markets  surpassed 
by  no  other  railroad  corporation. 

Several  years  ago  Mr.  Garrett  called  to  his  aid  the 
vigorous  energies  of  his  son.  Robert  Garrett,  who  had 
been  educated  and  trained  to  railroad  management, 
and  who  has  since  abundantly  demonstrated  his  pecu- 
liar fitness  for  the  position. 

To  the  facilities  of  transportation  offered  by  the 
Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad  and  its  extensive  con- 
nections, Mr.  Garrett  has  added  those  of  the  telegraph 
and  express  systems.  By  the  former  he  provides  com- 
petition with  the  former  telegraphic  monopoly  of  the 
Western  Union  Company,  and  by  the  latter  he  extends 


the  competition  to  the  transportation  of  valuable  and 
perishable  articles.  He  has  also  organized  an  Atlantic 
Cable  Company  for  telegraphic  communication  with 
Europe,  which  will  probably  soon  have  in  operation 
two  cables  connecting  the  land  wires  of  the  Baltimore 
and  Ohio  Telegraph  Company  with  all  European  capi- 
tals and  commercial  centres.  It  is  doubtful  whether 
any  single  life  has  been  more  fruitful  of  grand  achieve- 
ments in  railroading  than  that  of  John  W.  Garrett. 

The  labors  of  Mr.  Garrett  in  the  many  departments 
of  his  great  railroad  system  have  demanded  the  assist- 
ance of  men  of  marked  ability  and  fertility  of  re- 
source at  points  distant  from  the  headquarters  of  the 
company.  The  selection  at  St.  Louis  has  been  a  most 
fortunate  one.  To  W.  W.  Peabody,-  general  super- 
intendent of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Railroad,  the 
great  success  of  this  line  has  been  pre-eminently  due. 
His  zeal,  ability,  energy,  and  integrity  have  established 
with  the  commercial  and  traveling  community  a  con- 
fidence in  the  safety  and  reliability  of  the  great  line 
of  railroad  possessed  by  no  other  company  to  a  greater 
degree  and  enjoyed  by  very  few  to  an  equal  extent. 

The  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Railway  claims  to 
be  the  shortest  and  quickest  route  between  St. 
Louis  and  Cincinnati,  and  between  St.  Louis  and 
Louisville.  The  road  being  under  the  management 
of  one  general  superintendent,  all  trains  leaving  St. 
Louis  for  Louisville  and  Cincinnati  are  run  through 
promptly  on  time,  and  a  continuous  trip  is  guaranteed. 
In  connection  with  the  Marietta  and  Cincinnati  and 
the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroads,  trains  are  run 
through  to  Washington,  D.  C.,  without  the  change  of 
a  single  car  in  all  the  chain  of  day-coaches,  parlor-, 
palace-,  and  other  cars.  It  is  worthy  of  remark  in  this 
connection  that  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad  Com- 
pany operates  a  sleeping-,  dining-,  and  parlor-car  system 
of  its  own,  and  that  it  is  the  only  line  that  passes 
through  the  national  capital  in  going  East. 

The  Wabash,  St.  Louis  and  Pacific  Railway 
Company  originated  in  the  Toledo  and  Illinois 
Railroad  Company,  which  was  organized  April  25, 
1853,  under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  to  con- 
struct a  railroad  between  Toledo  and  the  western 
boundary  of  the  State.  On  the  19th  of  August  fol- 
lowing the  Lake  Erie,  Wabash  and  St.  Louis  Rail- 
road Company  was  organized  under  the  laws  of 
Indiana  to  build  a  road  from  the  east  line  of  the  State 
through  the  valleys  of  the  Little  River  and  Wabash 
River  to  the  west  line  of  the  State  in  the  direction  of 
Danville.  111.  The  road  from  Toledo  through  Ohio 
and  Indiana  was  constructed  under  these  two  charters. 
On  the  25th  of  June,  1856,  the  two  companies  were 
consolidated  under  the  style  of  the  Toledo,  Wabash 


RAILROADS. 


11S9 


and  Western  Railroad  Company.  This  organization 
having  become  financially  embarrassed  in  the  general 
panic  of  1857-58,  its  property  was  sold  in  October, 
1858,  under  foreclosure  proceedings,  and  purchased  by 
Azariah  Boody,  who  conveyed  it  to  two  new  compa- 
nies, under  the  style  of  the  Toledo  and  Wabash,  of 
Ohio,  and  the  Wabash  and  Western,  of  Indiana,  the 
two  being  consolidated  Oct.  7,  1858,  under  the  cor- 
porate name  of  the  Toledo  and  Wabash  Railroad 
Company,  which  operated  the  road  through  the 
States  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois  until  1865,  when 
all  interests  between  Toledo  and  the  Mississippi  River 
at  Quincy  and  Hamilton  were  consolidated  under  an 
agreement  between  the  Toledo  and  Wabash,  the 
Great  Western  of  Illinois,  the  Quincy  and  To- 
ledo, and  the  Illinois  and  Southern  Iowa  Railroad 
Companies,  under  the  style  and  designation  of  the 
Toledo,  Wabash  and  Western  Railway  Company. 
The  Great  Western  Railroad  Company  of  this 
combination  was  organized  in  1859,  and  its  road  ex- 
tended from  the  Indiana  State  line  to  Meredosia,  in 
Illinois,  with  a  branch  from  Bluff  City  to  Naples. 
The  road  from  Meredosia  to  Camp  Point  was  owned 
by  the  Quincy  and  Toledo  Railroad  Company,  and 
the  road  from  Clayton,  111.,  to  Carthage,  Lid.,  was  owned 
by  the  Illinois  and  Southern  Iowa  Railroad  Company. 
In  1870  the  Decatur  and  East  St.  Louis  Railroad 
Company  constructed  and  equipped  a  road  between 
Decatur  and  East  St.  Louis,  which  in  the  same  year 
came  under  the  management  and  control  of  the  To- 
ledo, Wabash  and  Western  Railway  Company,  and 
which  was  opened  to  St.  Louis  in  1871.  The  Han- 
nibal and  Naples  Railroad,  between  Naples  and  Han- 
nibal, with  a  branch  to  Pittsfield  from  Maysville,  was 
leased  in  1870  by  the  Toledo,  Wabash  and  Western 
Railway  Company,  and  in  1871  the  same  company 
obtained  control  of  the  Hannibal  and  St.  Louis  Cen- 
tral Railroad,  from  Hannibal  to  Moberly,  and  also  of 
the  Pekin,  Lincoln  and  Decatur  Railroad,  which  was 
thenceforth  operated  as  the  "  Pekin  Division."  In 
1872  the  Lafayette  and  Bloomington,  from  Lafayette  j 
Junction  to  Bloomington,  was  added  to  the  lines  of  j 
the  Toledo,  Wabash  and  Western  Railroad  Company,  ! 
making  a  total  of  over  nine  hundred  miles  of  road  | 
operated  under  ownership  and  lease  by  this  cor- 
poration. In  1874  financial  disaster  overtook  the 
company,  and  its  property  passed  under  decrees  of  the 
courts  into  the  hands  of  John  D.  Cox  as  receiver. 
Mr.  Cox  retained  control  until  1877,  when  a  reorgani- 
zation was  effected  under  the  style  of  the  Wabash 
Railway  Company.  The  leases  of  the  Pekin,  Lincoln 
and  Decatur  and  the  Lafayette  and  Bloomington 
Railroads  were  set  aside  during  the  receivership,  as 
76 


well  as  that  of  the  bridge  at  Quincy.  In  1877  the 
Edwardsville  Branch  passed  under  the  control  of  the 
Wabash,  and  on  the  7th  of  November,  1879,  the 
Wabash,  St.  Louis  and  Pacific  Railway  Company  was 
organized  by  the  consolidation  of  the  Wabash  and 
the  St.  Louis,  Kansas  City  and  Northern  Railway 
Companies  and  their  branches. 

The  St.  Louis,  Kansas  City  and  Northern  Railway 
Company  is  the  outgrowth  of  the  North  Missouri 
Railroad  Company,  which  was  chartered  March  1, 
1851,  to  build,  equip,  and  operate  a  railroad  from  St. 
Louis  to  the  boundary  line  between  Missouri  and 
Iowa,  and  thence  on  to  Ottumwa  and  Chariton. 

The  work  of  construction  was  commenced  in  May, 
1854,  and  the  road  was  completed  to  the  Missouri 
River,  opposite  St.  Charles,  on  the  2d  of  August, 
1855  ;  to  Warrenton  in  August,  1857  ;  to  Mexico  in 
May,  1858  ;  to  Moberly  Nov.  30,  1858,  and  to  Ma- 
con  in  February,  1859.  The  civil  war  affected  all 
works  of  this  character,  and  the  North  Missouri  re- 
mained stationary  at  Macon  until  1864.  Unable  to 
meet  its  obligations  to  the  State  for  interest,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  war  and  its  effects,  the  company  met 
with  most  favorable  action  on  the  part  of  the  Legis- 
lature of  1868-67,  which  relinquished  the  State  lien, 
upon  the  condition  that  the  company  should  build  a 
branch  from  Moberly  to  Kansas  City  and  the  western 
boundary  of  the  State,  and  extend  the  road  from  Ma- 
con  to  the  Iowa  line.  By  this  generous  action  on  the 
part  of  the  State  the  company  was  enabled  to  push 
its  extensions  both  north  and  west.  In  1868  the  road 
was  completed  to  the  State  line  at  Coatesville,  and  in 
1869  the  road  was  opened  to  Kansas  City,  on  the  west- 
ern line,  and  to  Ottumwa,  on  the  northern  line,  which 
was  reached  over  the  St.  Louis  and  Cedar  Rapids 
Railroad,  built  by  an  independent  corporation  and 
leased  by  the  North  Missouri.  The  Chariton  and 
Randolph  and  the  Missouri  River  Valley  Railroad 
Companies  were  consolidated  into  the  North  Missouri 
in  1864.  The  line  of  the  latter  companies  was 
opened  from  Moberly  to  Brunswick  Dec.  15,  1857  ; 
to  Carrollton  Aug.  15,  1868;  to  Lexington  Junction 
Oct.  1,  1868,  and  to  the  junction  with  the  Hannibal 
and  St.  Joseph  Railroad  Nov.  28,  1868. 

In  1871  financial  embarrassments  overtook  the 
North  Missouri  Company,  and  foreclosure  following, 
the  road  was  purchased  by  M.  K.  Jessup,  of  New 
York,  who  in  February,  1872,  assigned  it  to  the  St. 
Louis,  Kansas  City  and  Northern  Railroad  Company, 
a  corporation  organized  under  the  general  railroad  law 
of  Missouri.  A  new  line  from  Ferguson  into  St.  Louis 
and  the  Union  Depot  was  built  in  1876,  and  the  road 
was  extended  from  North  Missouri  Junction  to  Kan- 


1190 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


sas  City  and  from  Pattensburg  to  Council  Bluffs,  with 
a  branch  to  Clarinda,  in  1879.1 

The  capital  stock  of  the  new  consolidated  company 
(Wabash,  St.  Louis  and  Pacific  Railway)  on  Jan.  1, 
1880,  was  $40.000,000,  half  common  and  half  pre- 
ferred, of  which  $12,000,000  of  each  kind  was  as- 
signed to  the  former  stockholders  and  creditors  of  the 
St.  Louis,  Kansas  City  and  Northern,  and  $8,000,000 
of  each  kind  to  those  of  the  Wabash  Company.  The 
indebtedness  of  the  two  companies,  $35,469,550,  was 
assumed  by  the  new  company  upon  consolidation, 
making  the  capital  and  bonded  debt  of  the  new  com- 
pany Jan.  1,  1880,  875,464,550. 

Twenty-one  railroad  organizations  which  were  at 
one  time  operated  as  distinct  lines  have  been  merged 
in  order  to  form  what  is  now  known  as  the  great 
Wabash,  St.  Louis  and  Pacific  Railroads,  one  of  the 
largest  systems  in  the  United  States.  Previous  to 
1880  the  Wabash  proper  extended  from  Toledo  to  St. 
Louis,  Hannibal,  Quincy,  and  Keokuk,  with  a  branch 
from  Logansport  to  Butler,  Ind.,  or  a  total  length  of 
seven  hundred  and  eighty-two  miles.  But  in  the  fall 
of  1879,  as  we  have  seen,  the  Wabash  was  consoli 
dated  with  the  St.  Louis,  Kansas  City  and  North- 
ern Railroad,  extending  from  St.  Louis  to  Kansas 
City,  St.  Joseph's,  Ottumwa,  and  Council  Bluffs,  with 
several  small  branches,  having  in  all  seven  hundred 
and  sixty-nine  miles  of  road.  The  corporation  thus 
formed,  with  a  mileage  of  fifteen  hundred  and  fifty- 
one  miles,  established  its  headquarters  at  St.  Louis. 
During  the  same  year  entry  to  Chicago  was  effected 
by  the  purchase  of  the  Chicago  and  Paducah,  ex- 
tending from  Effingham  and  Altamont  to  Chester, 
111.,  and  the  construction  of  a  branch  from  Strawn, 
ninety-six  miles  northward.  Subsequent  acquisitions 
were  the  Toledo,  Peoria  and  Warsaw  Road,  extending 
from  State  line,  Indiana,  through  Peoria  to  Burling- 
ton, Warsaw,  and  Keokuk,  a  distance  of  two  hundred 
and  forty-six  miles,  and  before  the  close  of  the  same 
year,  the  Quincy,  Missouri  and  Pacific,  Champaign, 
Havana  and  Western,  Missouri,  Iowa  and  Nebraska, 
and  Centreville,  Moravia  and  Albia  Roads,  all  con- 
necting at  different  points  with  the  main  line.  On 
Dec.  31,  1880,  the  system  comprised  two  thousand 
four  hundred  and  seventy-nine  miles. 

The  lines  built  and  acquired  during  1881  were  the 
Detroit  and  Butler,  an  extension  of  the  Logansport 
and  Butler  Division  to  the  city  of  Detroit,  one  hun- 
dred and  thirteen  miles ;  and  the  purchase  of  the  In- 

1  On  the  2d  of  February,  1 878,  the  Republican  announced  that 
on  "  Monday  morning  the  first  through  train  from  St.  Louis  to 
St.  Paul  will  leave  the  Union  Depot  via  the  St.  Louis,  Kansas 
City,  and  Northern  Railroad." 


dianapolis,  Peru  and  Chicago  Railway,  extending  from 
Indianapolis  to  Michigan  City,  a  distance  of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty-one  miles.  Other  roads  added  to  the 
system  the  same  year  were  the  Cairo  and  Vincennes, 
the  Danville  and  Southwestern,  the  Quincy,  Mis- 
souri and  Pacific,  the  DCS  Moines  and  Northwestern, 
and  the  Attica  and  Coviugton,  making  the  actual 
revenue-earning  mileage  of  the  Wabash  at  the  close 
of  the  year  1881  three  thousand  three  hundred  arid 
eighty-four  miles. 

The  Butler  and  the  Detroit,  in  connection  with  the 
Toleda,  Peoria  and  Warsaw,  completed  the  second 
independent  trunk  line  of  the  system  from  the  Mis- 
sissippi River  to  Lake  Erie,  besides  securing  new 
connections  upon  its  entrance  to  Detroit. 

Several  extensions  and  branches  were  finished 
during  1882,  the  most  important  of  which  were  the 
Shenandoah  and  the  Des  Moines  Divisions.  The  former 
continued  the  second  trunk  line  from  the  Mississippi 
to  Lake  Erie  through  to  the  Missouri,  and  established 
another  to  Council  Bluffs  and  Chicago  line.  The 
cities  of  St.  Louis  and  Des  Moines  were  connected  in 
a  more  direct  manner  than  heretofore.  The  total 
length  of  the  Wabash  is  3670.6  miles,  being  the 
third  largest  mileage  of  any  distinct  railroad  company 
in  the  world.  The  details  of  the  mileage  of  the  lines 
east  of  the  Mississippi  are  as  follows : 

Miles. 

Toledo,  Ohio,  to  St.  Louie,  Mo 435.7 

Decatur,  111.,  to  Quincy,  111 150.7 

Bluffs,  111.,  to  Hannibal,  Mo 49. S 

Maysville,  111.,  to  1'ittsfield,  111 6.2 

Clayton,  111.,  to  Keokuk,  Iowa 42.3 

Log;ins])ort,  Ind.,  to  Detroit,  Mich 213.8 

Edwardsville,  111., to  Edwardsville  Crossing,  111.  8.5 

Indianapolis,  Ind.,  to  Michigan  City,  Ind 161.0 

Havana,  III.,  to  Springfield,  111 47.2 

Holli=,  111.,  to  Jacksonville  Junction,  111 75.3 

West  Lebanon,  Ind.,  to  Le  Roy,  111 76.0 

Vincennes,  Ind.,  to  Cairo,  111 158.0 

Danville,  111.,  to  St.  Francisville,  Ind 1 13.1 

Toledo,  Ohio,  to  Milan,  Mich 34.0 

Attica,  Ind., 'to  Covington,  Ind 14.5 

State  Line,  Ind.,  to  Burlington,  Iowa 214.8 

La  Harpe,  III.,  to  Elvaston,  III 20.8 

Hamilton.  111.,  to  Warsaw,  111 5.0 

Chicago,  III.,  to  Altamont,  III 215.5 

Streator,  111.,  to  Strentor  Junction,  111 39.6 

Shurnway,  111.,  to  Effingham,  111 8.5 

Urban*,  111.,  to  Havana.  Ill 102.2 

AVhite  Heath,  111.,  to  Decatur,  111 29.7 

Bates,  III.,  to  Ural'ton.  Ill 71.4 

Champaign,  111.,  to  Sidney,  111 14.0 


Total 2307.6 

The  Western  Division,  connecting  the  Missouri 
River  with  the  great  lakes,  is  the  great  Northwestern 
feeder  of  St.  Louis  commerce,  penetrating  all  portions 
of  Missouri,  and  furnishing  an  outlet  to  St.  Louis  for  a 
large  portion  of  the  commerce  of  Central  and  Northern 
Iowa.  The  Western  Division  is  being  pushed  for- 
ward, and  will  ultimately  be  extended  to  Estherville, 
Dickinson  Co  ,  in  the  northern  border  of  Iowa,  and 


RAILROADS. 


1J91 


will  some  day  penetrate  the  great  wheat-fields  of 
Minnesota  and  Dakota.  Various  short  lines  have 
been  extended,  until  now  the  total  mileage  of  the 
Wabash  west  of  the  Mississippi  is  in  detail  as  follows : 

Miles. 

St.  Louis,  Mo.,  to  Kansas  City,  Mo  276.8 

Brunswick,  Mo.,  to  Council  Bluffs,  Iowa 224.4 

lloseberry,  Mo.,  to  Clarinda,  Iowa 21.5 

Moberly,  Mo.,  to  Ottuuiwa,  Iowa 131.0 

North  Lexington,  Mo.,  to  St.  Joseph,  Mo 76.3 

Centralia,  Mo.,  to  Columbia,  Mo 21.8 

Salisbury,  Mo.,  to  Glasgow,  Mo 15.0 

Ferguson,  Mo.,  to  Biddle  Street,  St.  Louis 10. G 

Quincy,  Mo.,  to  Trenton,  Mo 135  9 

Keokuk,  Iowa,  to  Shcnandoah,  Iowa 244.0 

Relay,  Iowa,  to  Des  Moine?,  Iowa 91.3 

Des  Moines,  Iowa,  to  Fonda,  Iowa 115.0 

RECAPITULATION. 

Lines  east  of  the  Mississippi  River 2307.6 

"     west  "  "  "     ,  ..  1363.0 


Total 3670.6 

From  Toledo  the  Wabash  makes  connection  with 
the  Atlantic  cities  via  the  Lake  Shore  and  also  the 
Canada  Southern  Road.  The  Wabash  is  located  in 
the  States  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Missouri,  and 
Iowa,  or  in  that  portion  of  those  States  lying  be- 
tween thirty-seven  degrees  and  forty-two  degrees  of 
latitude,  and  between  eighty-two  degrees  and  ninety- 
six  degrees  of  longitude.  Within  these  boundaries 
is  contained  one  of  the  most  productive  regions  on  the 
continent. 

The  elements  of  agricultural,  forest,  and  mineral 
strength  combined  make  it  now,  under  partial  devel- 
opment, a  region  of  unsurpassed  richness.  The  largest 
agricultural  production  is  of  wheat  and  corn.  The 
production  of  wheat  in  the  United  States  for  1882 
was  502,798,600  bushels.  Of  this,  196,244,100 
bushels  was  grown  in  the  five  States  through  which  the 
road  passes,  being  thirty-nine  per  cent,  of  the  whole 
crop.  The  production  of  corn  in  the  same  year  was 
1,624,917,800,  and  the  amount  grown  in  the  same 
States  was  740,665,000  bushels,  being  forty-six  per 
cent,  of  the  whole  crop.  Other  farm  productions  were 
proportionately  large.  ' 

All  the  climatic  and  soil  conditions  are  the  most 
favorable  for  the  growth  of  the  staple  crops  of  the 
temperate  zone.  In  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Missouri  are 
yet  extensive  and  valuable  timbered  areas,  from  which 
the  manufacturing  establishments  of  these  and  adjoin- 
ing States  draw  large  supplies.  The  manufacturing 
establishments  of  the  United  States  turned  out  pro- 
ductions valued  at  §5,369,667,706  in  1880 ;  the  five 
States  above  mentioned,  embracing  an  area  of  256,880 
square  miles,  about  nine  per  cent,  of  the  entire  area 
of  the  United  States,  turned  out  from  their  manufac- 
tories a  product  valued  at  $1,147,606,405,  or  twenty- 
one  per  cent,  of  the  whole  product  of  the  country. 


The  mineral  wealth  of  all  these  States  is  destined  at  no 
distant  period  to  make  them  the  central  manufacturing 
ground  of  the  country. 

The  large  area  of  bituminous  coal  contained  in 
them,  of  a  quality  suitable  for  the  manufacture  of 
iron,  with  the  unlimited  supply  of  Missouri  ore  of  the 
best  quality  located  so  near  the  coal,  must  place  these 
States  in  the  front  rank  as  manufacturing  localities. 
Their  central  location  will  give  them  great  advantages 
in  distribution,  much  greater  than  any  other  locality 
can  command.  This  area  also  presents  the  rarest  and 
strongest  combination  of  elements  for  future  growth 
and  greatness. 

The  population  of  these  States  was,  by  the  census 
of  1880, 12,048,764,  averaging  in  the  States  as  a  group 
only  47  to  the  square  mile.  Their  area  has  the  capa- 
bility of  sustaining  and  profitably  employing  five  times 
the  population  it  now  has,  and  there  is  no  other  area 
on  the  continent  of  equal  extent  that  has  within  its 
boundaries  so  small  a  percentage  of  waste  or  unpro- 
ductive land. 

The  transportation  facilities  for  movement  of  pro- 
ductions, by  natural  and  artificial  means,  are  better 
adapted  to  its  wants  than  those  of  any  other  region 
of  equal  extent.  These  are  considerations  of  the 
greatest  importance,  which  will  have  a  potent  influence 
on  this  region. 

The  officers  of  the  Wabash,  St.  Louis  and  Pacific 
Railway  Company  are :  Directors,  Frederick  L.  Ames, 
Boston ;  A.  L.  Hopkins,  Jay  Gould,  Russell  Sage, 
Sidney  Dillon,  Solon  Humphreys,  Samuel  Sloan,  G. 
G.  Haven,  New  York ;  Charles  Ridgeley,  Springfield, 
111. ;  James  F.  Joy,  Detroit,  Mich". ;  James  Cheney, 
Fort  Wayne,  Ind. ;  B.  W.  Lewis,  James  F.  How, 
Thomas  E.  Tutt,  St.  Louis ;  George  L.  Dunlap, 
Chicago.  President,  Jay  Gould,  New  York ;  First 
Vice-President,  A.  L.  Hopkins,  New  York  ;  Second 
Vice-President,  John  C.  Gault,  St.  Louis;  Third 
Vice-President  and  Secretary,  James  F.  How,  St. 
Louis  ;  Treasurer,  W.  B.  Corneau,  St.  Louis ;  Auditor, 
D.  B.  Howard,  St.  Louis;  Assistant  Auditor,  M. 
Trumbull,  St.  Louis ;  General  Superintendent,  R. 
Andrews,  St.  Louis ;  Assistant  General  Superintend- 
ent, W.  F.  Merrill,  St.  Louis;  General  Solicitors,  W. 
H.  Blodgett,  St.  Louis,  and  W.  Swayne,  New  York ; 
Chief  Engineer,  W.  S.  Lincoln,  St.  Louis ;  General 
Freight  Agent,  A.  C.  Bird,  St.  Louis ;  First  Assist- 
ant General  Freight  Agent,  M.  Knight,  St.  Louis ; 
Assistant  General  Freight  Agent,  C.  L.  Wellington, 
St.  Louis ;  General  Passenger  Agent,  H.  C.  Townsend, 
St.  Louis ;  General  Baggage  Agent,  C.  P.  Maule,  St. 
Louis ;  Purchasing  Agent,  R.  W.  Green,  St.  Louis ; 
Paymaster,  G.  F.  Shepherd,  St.  Louis;  Commercial 


1192 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Agent,  J.  M.  Osborn,  Toledo,  Ohio ;  Car  Accountant, 
C.  P.  Chesebro,  St.  Louis;  Superintendent  Telegraph, 
C.  Selden  ;  Assistant  Superintendent  Telegraph,  G. 
0.  Kinsman  ;  General  Master-Mechanic,  J.  Johnson, 
Springfield,  111. ;  General  Master  Car-Builder,  U.  H. 
Kohler,  Toledo,  Ohio. 

Vandalia  Line. — The  St.  Louis,  Vandalia  and 
Terre  Haute  Railroad  Company,  which,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Terre  Haute  and  Indianapolis  Railroad, 
is  commonly  known  as  the  "  Vandalia  Line,"  origi- 
nated in  a  project  for  an  eastern  connection  along 
the  general  route  of  this  road,  which  was  very  early 
considered  by  the  people  of  St.  Louis. 

"So  early  as  1837,"  says  the  Republican  of  Feb.  2,  1847, 
"the  subject  of  connecting  the  improvements  in  the  States  of 
Indiana  and  Ohio  with  the  Mississippi  River  commanded  the 
attention  of  the  Legislature,  and  it  was  deemed  advisable  to 
authorize  the  construction  of  what  is  called  the  Northern  Cross 
Railroad,  a  route  by  which  the  works  in  our  sister  States  could 
be  connected  with  the  great  commercial  artery  of  the  nation, 
and  a  continuous  line  of  communication  formed  between  the 
East  and  West,  affording  every  facility  to  a  free  commercial 
and  social  intercourse  between  the  different  and  otherwise  almost 
disconnected  sections  of  our  common  country.  The  route  had 
in  contemplation  not  only  the  accommodation  of  a  numerous 
population  along  the  line  through  which  it  would  pass,  but  a 
point  nearly  central  in  the  State,  and  being  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment, so  that  from  that  point  roads  or  branches  of  the  main 
trunk  would  radiate  to  points  upon  the  Mississippi  and  Illinois 
River,  and  insure  the  building  up  of  commercial  marts  within 
our  own  State." 

The  Northern  Cross  Railroad  was  ultimately  located  \ 
between  Galesburg  and  Quincy,  111.,  and  was  sold  in  • 
1860  to  the  Chicago,  Burlington  and  Quincy  Rail-  | 
road. 

In  1847,  by  "  An  Act  to  incorporate  the  Mississippi  J 
and  Atlantic  Railroad  Company,"  it  was  provided  that 
"  J.  B.  Drake,  M.  G.  Dale,  James  Bradford,  William 
S.  Wait,  W.  S.  Smith,  Henry  Willis,  Curtis  Blake- 
man,  G.  T.  Allen,  A.  B.  Chambers,  Ferdinand  Ken- 
nett,  T.  A.  Madison,  R.  K.  McLaughlin,  and  their 
associates  and  successors,  are  hereby  created  a  body 
corporate  under  the  name  of  the  Mississippi  and  At- 
lantic Railroad  Company  for  the  term  of  fifty  years. 
The  incorporators  were  authorized  and  empowered 
"  to  locate  and  construct  a  railroad  from  the  banks  of 
the  Mississippi  opposite  St.  Louis  through  Greenville 
and  Vandalia  to  the  east  line  of  the  State,  and  termi- 
nating in  Clark  or  Edgar  County,  most  convenient  for 
the  continuation  of  the  same  to  Terre  Haute,  and  fol- 
lowing as  near  as  may  be  the  line  of  the  great  Cum- 
berland Road." 

In  1850  an  convention  was  held  at  Vandalia  for  the 
purpose  of  organizing  a  company  to  construct  a  railroad 
from  Terre  Haute  to  Illinoistown,  opposite  St.  Louis. 
"  Such  a  road  when  built,"  said  the  Republican  of 


March  21,  1850,  "will  connect  Philadelphia,  New 
York,  and  Baltimore  in  a  continuous  line  of  railway 
with  St.  Louis.  It  is  now,  we  believe,  the  only  piece 
of  route  not  under  contract  or  unprovided  for." 

It  was  not,  however,  until  1865,  when  the  St.  Louis, 
Vandalia  and  Terre  Haute  Railroad  Company  was 
chartered  (Feb.  10,  1865)  for  the  construction  of  a 
line  via  Vandalia,  Effingham,  and  Marshall  to  the 
Indiana  line,  that  the  project  of  1847  took  definite 
shape.  Though  the  work  of  construction  was  begun 
in  1866,  the  enterprise  would  probably  have  eventu- 
ated in  a  merely  local  road  if  the  lease  of  the  St.  Louis, 
Alton  and  Terre  Haute  Railroad  to  parties  inimical  to 
the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company  had  not  threat- 
ened the  traffic  of  that  great  corporation  with  hostile 
action  and  compelled  it  to  seek  other  connection  with 
St.  Louis.  Under  the  influence  and  by  the  aid  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company,  the  St.  Louis,  Van- 
dalia and  Terre  Haute  Railroad  progressed  so  rapidly 
that  in  1868  trains  were  running  between  East  St. 
Louis  and  Highland,  and  the  road  was  completed  to 
Effingham  in  July,  1869,  and  a  through  train  ar- 
rangement between  St.  Louis  and  Chicago  effected  by 
the  Illinois  Central  connection  in  1870. l 

The  Terre  Haute  and  Indianapolis  Railroad  Com- 
pany leased  the  St.  Louis,  Vandalia  and  Terre  Haute 
Line  as  soon  as  it  reached  the  Indiana  State  line.  In 
1876,  the  Vandalia  Line  and  the  Indianapolis  and 
St.  Louis  Line  came  under  one  management,  and  were 
so  operated  until  1878. 

The  Terre  Haute  and  Indianapolis  Railroad  Com- 
pany, an  integral  part  of  the  Vandalia  Line,  was 
organized  as  the  Terre  Haute  and  Richmond  Railroad 
Company  in  1847,  under  the  railroad  laws  of  Indiana, 
to  construct  a  railroad  from  Terre  Haute  to  Richmond, 
to  connect  with  the  Columbus  and  Indiana  Central 
Railroad.  In  1851  the  company  was  reorganized, 
and  built  a  line  between  Terre  Haute  and  Indian- 
apolis. In  1866  the  title  of  the  company  was  changed 
from  the  Terre  Haute  and  Richmond  Railroad  Com- 
pany to  the  Terre  Haute  and  Indianapolis  Company. 

The  St.  Louis,  Vandalia  and  Terre  Haute  Railroad 
Company,  under  the  existing  arrangement,  is  leased  to 
the  Terre  Haute  and  Indianapolis  Railroad  Company, 
for  account  of  itself  and  the  Pittsburgh,  Cincinnati 
and  St.  Louis  Railway  Company  and  the  Columbus, 
Chicago  and  Indiana  Central  Railway  Company, 
which  jointly  guarantee  the  first  mortgage  bonds  and 

l"The  railroad  excursion  from  Indianapolis  and  Terre  Haute 
to  this  city,  given  in  celebration  of  the  opening  of  the  St.  Louis, 
Vandalia  and  Terre  Haute  Railroad,  occurred  yesterday,  and 
the  excursionists  will  be  publicly  received  to-day." — Republican, 
June  9,  1870. 


RAILROADS. 


1193 


one  million  six  hundred  thousand  dollars  of  second 
mortgage  bonds,  the  obligation  of  the  Pittsburgh, 
Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis  Railway  Company  in  this 
respect  being  guaranteed  by  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad 
Company.  The  Terre  Haute  and  Indianapolis  Rail- 
road operates  the  Vandalia  Road  under  a  lease  for  nine 
hundred  and  ninety-nine  years,  at  an  annual  rental  of 
thirty  per  cent,  of  the  gross  earnings,  and  guarantees 
interest  on  the  mortgage  bonds.  The  Terre  Haute 
and  Logansport  Railroad  is  also  leased  and  operated 
and  its  bonds  guaranteed  by  the  same  company.1 


1  Mnj.  John  E.  Simpson,  general  manager  of  the  Vandalia 
Line,  died  at  the  Lindell  Hotel,  St.  Louis,  Aug.  2, 1880.     Mnj. 
Simpson  was  born  near  Londonderry,  Ireland,  Nov.  1, 1839,  his 
father  being  a  wealthy  farmer  of  Scotch  and  Irish  extraction. 
In  1840  his  family  emigrated  to  America,  his  father  engaging 
in  the  grocery  business  in  New  York  City.     In  1843  the  family 
moved  to  Detroit,  where  the  elder  Simpson  was  occupied  in 
building  light-houses  for  the  government.     He  also  became  en- 
gaged in  the  Michigan  Central  Railroad.     While  thus  employed 
he  removed  to  Michigan  City,  Ind.,  where  young  Simpson  at- 
tended the  free  school,  and  at  the  age  of  eleven  years  started 
out  in  life,  selling  Chicago  papers.     He  was  next  employed  as 
messenger-boy  in  a  telegraph-office,  and  during  the  illness  of 
the  operator  learned  the  art  of  telegraphing,  by  which  means 
he  secured  a  position  as  telegraph  operator  at  Detroit  when  but 
thirteen  years  old.     He  remained  in  that  position  five  years, 
when  he  obtained  a  position  with  the  Michigan  Central  Rail- 
road in  order  that  he  might  perfect  himself  in  running  trains 
by  telegraph.     At  the  expiration  of  two  years  he  received  the 
appointment  from  Col.  Ricker,  general  superintendent  of  the 
Louisville,  New  Albany  and  Chicago  Railroad,  of  assistant  train 
dispatcher,  and  as  such  had  charge  of  the  movements  of  all 
trains  between  Michigan  City  and  Lafayette,  Ind.     While  in 
Michigan  City  he  was  chosen  captain  of  the  Zouaves,  an  inde- 
pendent military  company,  and   was   made  president  of  the 
Literary  and  Library  Society  for  the  engagements  of  lectures, 
etc.     At  the  beginning  of  the  war  in  1861  he  enlisted  as  a  pri- 
vate, and  was  soon  elected  captain  of  Company  H  of  the  Fifty- 
ninth  Indiana  Volunteers.     Previous  to  this  he  joined  a  regi- 
ment composed  entirely  of  railroad  men  raised  as  engineer  troops, 
and  went  to  Chicago.     After  remaining  in  camp  at  Chicago  for 
six  months  it  transpired  that  there  was  no  law  in  existence  au- 
thorizing the  raising  of  this  regiment,  and  as  a  consequence  it 
was  disbanded.     Capt.  Simpson,  returning  from  Chicago  with 
his  company,  joined  the  Fifty-ninth,  and  soon  after  the  battle  of 
Pittsburgh  Landing  joined  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  with 
which  he  remained  four  years,  participating  in  all  the  battles, 
including  the  siege  of  Vicksburg  and  the  inarch  to  the  sea. 
During  the  last  two  years  he  served  on  the  staff  of  Maj.-Gen. 
John  E.  Smith,  commander  of  the  Third  Division  of  the  Fif- 
teenth Army  Corps  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  ranking  as 
major.     While  in  active  service  in  the  field  he  filled  several  re- 
sponsible positions.      He  was  provost-marshal  at  Huntsville, 
Ala.,  and  performed  that  duty  at  other  places.     At  the  close 
of  the  war  he  was  appointed  in  the  regular  army,  but  declined. 
On  being  mustered  out  in  August,  1865,  at  Indianapolis,  he  ac- 
cepted the  position  of  train  dispatcher  and  superintendent  of 
telegraph  for  the  Terre  Haute  and  Richmond  Railway,  under 
Col.  Ricker,  and  in  1867  was  appointed  assistant  superintendent 
of  the  Terre  Haute  and  Indianapolis  Railway. 

In  June,  1870,  the  Vandalia  Line  having  been  completed, 


The  lines  owned  and  operated  by  the  Terre  Haute 
and  Indianapolis  Railroad  in  1882  were : 

51  lies. 

Main  line  from  Indianapolis  to  Illinois  State  line.. 79.40 

Coal  branches 33.92 

Leased : 

Terre  Haute  and  Logansport  Railroad, — Logansport  to 

Rockville.  Ind 94.00 

St.  Louis,  Vandalia  and  Terre  Haute, — East  St.  Louis, 

111.,  to  Indiana  State  line 158.10 


Total  length  of  line  operated 365.42 

The  general  balance  sheet  Oct.  31, 1881,  placed  the 
assets  at  $5,734,507.43;  capital  stock,  $1,988,150  ; 
funded  debt,  SI, 600,000. 

The  president  of  the  company  is  W.  R.  McKeen, 
Terre  Haute,  and  the  general  superintendent  is  Jo- 
seph Hill,  St.  Louis.  The  principal  office  is  located 
at  Terre  Haute.  The  general  freight  agent  at  St. 
Louis  is  H.  W.  Hibbard,  and  the  general  ticket  agent 
E.  A.  Ford. 

The  Vandalia  Line  stretches  one  hundred  and 
sixty-seven  miles  across  Illinois  and  Indiana,  con- 
necting at  Effingham  with  the  Illinois  Central,  fur- 
nishing an  outlet  to  Chicago  on  the  north  and  Cairo 
on  the  south,  and  terminates  at  Terre  Haute.  From 
there  it  runs  via  Indianapolis  and  Columbus  over  the 
Pan  Handle,  connecting  at  Pittsburgh  with  the  Penn- 
sylvania Railroad.  This  road  has  a  great  many  small 
branches  and  coal  connections,  but  its  total  direct 
mileage  is  three  hundred  and  fifty-six  miles  between 
St.  Louis,  Terre  Haute,  Indianapolis,  and  Logans- 
port.  The  general  offices  of  the  Vandalia  are  nearly 
all  located  at  St.  Louis.  Within  the  past  two  years 
the  road-bed  has  been  put  in  the  most  thorough 


Maj.  Simpson  was  appointed  division  superintendent  in  charge 
from  Indianapolis  to  Terre  Haute.  In  July,  1871,  he  was  made 
general  superintendent  of  the  entire  line  from  Indianapolis  to 
St.  Louis,  and  continued  thus  until  November,  1875,  when,  the 
Vandalia  and  St.  Louis  and  Indianapolis  Lines  having  been  com- 
bined under  one  management,  Mnj.  Simpson  was  made  general 
manager  of  the  consolidated  lines.  This  position  he  held  up  to 
the  time  of  his  death,  with  headquarters  in  St.  Louis.  He  was 
married  December,  1866,  to  Miss  Ilattie  L.  Sherman,  second 
daughter  of  Dr.  W.  G.  Sherman,  of  Michigan  City.  During 
his  residence  in  St.  Louis  he  filled  numerous  positions.  He  was 
president  of  the  Railway  Employes  Mutual  Benefit  Association, 
president  of  the  Governing  Board  of  the  Union  Depot,  and 
chairman  of  the  committees  in  charge  of  relay  depots  at  East 
St.  Louis  and  at  Indianapolis.  He  was  a  member  of  the  So- 
ciety of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  and  belonged  to  the  Cin- 
cinnati Society  of  ex-army  and  navy  officers.  He  was  also  a 
member  of  the  Ancient  Landmarks  lodge  of  Masons  at  Indian- 
apolis, and  belonged  to  the  Order  of  Elks. 

Maj.  Simpson  was  pre-eminently  a  self-made  man,  rising  to 
a  position  of  great  responsibility  by  sheer  energy  and  faithful 
performance  of  duty.  His  integrity  and  honesty  were  unques- 
tioned, and  he  was  honored  and  esteemed  for  many  sterling 
qualities. 


1194 


HISTORY  OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


order,  and  the  iron  rails  between  St.  Louis  and  In- 
dianapolis have  been  replaced  with  steel  rails.  Many 
other  improvements  have  been  made. 

The  eastern  prolongation  of  the  Vandalia  Line  is 
the  Pittsburgh,  Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis  Railroad, 
which  operates  in  addition  to  its  own  line  the  Colum- 
bus, Chicago  and  Indiana  Central  Railway.  The 
latter  road,  beginning  at  Indianapolis,  where  the  Terre 
Haute  and  Indianapolis  Railroad  terminates,  extends 
to  Columbus,  Ohio,  where  it  meets  the  Pittsburgh, 
Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis  Railway.  The  latter  road 
extends  to  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  and  forms  part  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Railroad  system. 

The  Pennsylvania  Company  was  chartered  by  the 
Legislature  of  Pennsylvania,  April  7,  1870,  for  the 
purpose  of  managing  in  the  interest  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Railroad  Company  the  railroads  leased  and 
controlled  by  it  west  of  Pittsburgh.  The  organiza- 
tion of  the  company  dates  from  April  1,  1872.  The 
aggregate  length  of  the  lines  operated  in  1882  was 
H422.70  miles.  Of  this  vast  network  of  roads  the 
Vandalia  Line  is  one  of  the  most  important. 

The  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company  was  char- 
tered April  13, 184G,  to  construct  a  railroad  from  Pitts- 
burgh to  Harrisburg,  to  unite  with  the  Harrisburg, 
Portsmouth,  Mountjoy  and  Lancaster  Railroad  or 
by  extension  eastward  with  the  Columbia  Railroad. 
Authority  was  also  conferred  upon  the  company  to 
connect  with  the  Portage  Railroad  over  the  Allegheny 
Mountains  at  or  near  Hollidaysburg  or  Johnstown. 
The  work  of  construction  was  begun  at  Harrisburg  in 
July,  1847,  and  the  division  from  that  point  to  the 
junction  with  the  Portage  Railroad  at  Hollidaysburg 
was  opened  Sept.  16,  1850.  The  Western  Division, 
from  the  western  end  of  the  Portage  Railroad  at 
Johnstown  to  Pittsburgh,  was  opened  Sept.  10,1852. 
The  Mountain  Division,  and  with  it  the  whole  line, 
was  opened  Feb.  15, 1854.  From  Harrisburg  to  Phil- 
adelphia the  line  is  made  up  of  the  old  Philadelphia 
and  Columbia  Railroad  and  the  Harrisburg,  Ports- 
mouth, Mountjoy  and  Lancaster  Railroad,  which  was 
leased  in  1849. 

The  capital  stock  of  the  company  was  authorized  to 
be  increased  in  1853,  under  which  authority  the  com- 
pany has  been  able  to  aid  its  western  connections. 
In  1856  authority  was  obtained  for  the  construction 
of  a  railroad  to  the  Schuylkill  River  from  the  Phila- 
delphia and  Columbia  Railroad,  as  well  as  for  the  con- 
struction of  wharves,  warehouses,  etc.  In  1857  the 
policy  of  disconnecting  the  State  with  the  public 
works  by  the  sale  of  all  the  works  then  owned  by 
the  State  was  confirmed  by  legislative  action.  These 
public  works  consisted  of  the  Philadelphia  and  Co- 


lumbia Railroad,  the  canal  from  Columbia  to  Dun- 
can's Island,  the  Juniata  Canal,  the  Allegheny  .Por- 
tage Road,  and  the  canal  from  Johnstown  to  Pitts- 
burgh. The  property  thus  disposed  of  was  purchased 
by  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company.  In  1860  the 
Lancaster  and  Harrisburg  Railroad  was  leased,  and 
in  1861  the  Philadelphia  and  Erie  Railroad  was  also 
leased.  In  1864  the  Philadelphia  and  Erie  was 
opened  for  through  traffic  by  means  of  the  Western 
Pennsylvania  Railroad.  In  1865  the  old  canal  below 
Freeport  was  converted  into  a  railroad  to  connect  the 
Western  Pennsylvania  and  the  Fort  Wayne  Railroad 
at  Allegheny  City,  and  during  this  year  the  "  Con- 
necting Railway"  from  Frankford  to  Mantua  Junc- 
tion, West  Philadelphia,  was  constructed.  "  Fast 
freight"  lines  were  introduced  upon  the  road  in  1865. 
In  1868-69  were  effected  those  extended  leases  of 
Western  lines  by  which  communication  was  secured 
with  Indianapolis,  St.  Louis,  Louisville,  and  Chicago. 
In  1869  the  Pittsburgh,  Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago 
Railroad  was  leased  by  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad 
Company;  in  1870,  the  Erie  and  Pittsburgh  ;  in  the 
same  year  also  the  Wrightsville,  York  and  Gettys- 
burg Railroad  came  into  the  possession  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania Railroad  Company.  In  1870,  as  previously 
stated,  the  "  Pennsylvania  Company"  was  chartered 
to  give  greater  efficiency  to  the  management  of  the 
Western  leased  roads,  and  to  the  latter  company  all  the 
interests  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company  were 
transferred.  In  1876  arrangements  were  effected 
with  the  Northern  Central  Railway  Company  which 
opened  direct  communication  with  Baltimore,  and  re- 
sulted in  the  construction  of  the  Baltimore  and  Poto- 
mac Railroad,  which  gave  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad 
a  through  line  to  Washington  in  1873.  In  May, 
1871,  the  railways  and  canals  of  the  United  Compa- 
nies of  New  Jersey  were  leased  by  the  Pennsylvania 
Railroad  Company,  and  the  amplest  terminal  facilities 
at  Jersey  City  were  secured.  In  the  same  year  the 
Cleveland  and  Pittsburgh  was  transferred  to  the  Penn- 
sylvania Railroad  Company,  and  also  a  controlling  in- 
terest in  the  Jeffersonville,  Madison  and  Indianapolis 
Railroad. 

In  1881  the  company  purchased  a  controlling  in- 
;  terest  in  the  Philadelphia,  Wilmington  and  Baltimore 
Railroad  (including  the  Delaware,  the- West  Chester 
and  Philadelphia,  and  the  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore 
Central  Railroads),  and  thus  secured  another  and 
more  direct  line  connecting  Philadelphia  and  Balti- 
more. 

The  total  mileage  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad 
proper,  including  branches,  leased  and  operated  lines, 
etc.,  in  1882  was: 


RAILROADS. 


1195 


Pennsylvania   Railroad   proper,   with  leased 

lines  and  branches 1172.50 

Lines  operated  by  the  Pennsylvania  Company  3422.70 

Total 4595.20 

The  above  statement  includes  the  lines  operated 
between  Philadelphia  and  Pittsburgh  and  west  of 
Pittsburgh,  but  does  not  comprise  the  New  Jersey 
roads,  the  Philadelphia,  Wilmington  and  Baltimore, 
the  Northern  Central,  and  the  Baltimore  and  Potomac, 
with  their  branches  in  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  Del- 
aware, and  New  Jersey. 

Chicago  and  Alton  Kailroad. — The  Alton  and 
Sangamon  Railroad,  chartered  in  1847,  commenced 
in  1849,  and  completed  in  1852,  was  the  first  link 
in  one  of  the  most  important  railroads  in  the  country, 
and  the  parent  of  the  Chicago  and  Alton  Railroad. 
After  completion  to  Springfield,  the  road  was  ex- 
tended to  Bloomington,  thence  to  Joliet,  and  thence 
to  Chicago.  The  Chicago  and  Mississippi  Railroad, 
chartered  Feb.  27,  1847,  was  the  organization  that 
completed  the  road  to  Joliet.  In  December,  1857,  the 
road  from  Alton  to  Joliet  was  sold  for  the  paltry  sum 
of  five  thousand  dollars  to  Governor  Matteson.  The 
road  represented  an  expenditure  at  the  time  of  the 
sale  of  nine  million  five  hundred  and  thirty-five  thou- 
sand dollars.  The  purchaser  was  the  St.  Louis,  Alton 
and  Chicago  Railroad,  from  whose  hands  the  prop- 
erty passed  in  1860  to  James  Robb,  receiver.  Under 
the  financial  and  executive  management  of  Mr.  Robb 
the  property  improved  in  value,  resources,  and  revenues 
rapidly,  aud  in  1861  measures  were  inaugurated 
looking  to  the  rehabilitation  of  the  company,  and  in 
that  year  (February  16th)  the  Chicago  and  Alton 
Railroad  Company  was  formed,  with  Mr.  Robb  as 
president.  The  proper  termini  of  the  road  were  rec- 
ognized as  being  Chicago  and  St.  Louis,  and  the  offer 
of  John  J.  Mitchell  to  build  an  independent  line 
from  Alton  to  East  St.  Louis,  provided  the  Chicago 
and  Alton  Railroad  Company  would  merge  its  fran- 
chises with  those  of  the  Alton  and  St.  Louis  Com- 
pany, was  accepted,  and  the  road  completed  between 
East  St.  Louis  and  Alton.  In  1868  the  Chicago  and 
Alton  secured  control  of  the  Bloomington  and  God- 
frey Line,  a  distance  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles, 
which  had  been  built  under  the  charter  of  the  St. 
Louis,  Jacksonville  and  Chicago  Railroad  Company. 
The  lease  under  which  this  important  connection  was 
made  runs  for  nine  hundred  and  ninety-nine  years, 
and  the  rental  to  be  paid  is  forty  per  cent,  of  the  gross 
earnings,  provided  the  forty  per  cent,  does  not  exceed 
two  hundred  and  forty  thousand  dollars  in  any  one 
year.  In  1870-71  arrangements  were  entered  into 
with  the  St.  Louis.  Jacksonville  and  Chicago  Rail- 


road Company  by  which  a  branch  road  from  Rood- 
house,  111.,  to  Louisiana,  on  the  Mississippi  River,  was 
built,  and  at  the  same  time  the  charter  and  franchises 
of  the  Louisiana  and  Missouri  River  Railroad  Com- 
pany were  transferred  to  the  Chicago  and  Alton  Rail- 
road Company.  This  latter  charter  contemplated  the 
construction  of  a  road  two  hundred  and  sixteen  miles 
in  length  (with  a  branch  from  Mexico  to  Cedar  City, 
fifty  miles  in  length),  to  a  point  opposite  Jefferson 
City.  The  road  from  Louisiana  to  Mexico,  Mo.,  was 
opened  in  the  year  1871-72.  from  Mexico  to  Fulton 
March  6,  1872,  and  from  Cedar  City  to  Fulton  in 
July  of  the  same  year.  Legal  difficulties  intervened 
to  prevent  the  construction  of  the  contemplated  line 
from  Louisiana  to  Kansas  City,  and  arrangements  were 
made  with  the  St.  Louis,  Kansas  City  and  Northern 
Railroad  for  traffic  and  passenger  transportation  over 
the  road  of  the  latter  company  from  Mexico,  Mo.,  to 
Kansas  City,  and  for  running  passenger-trains  on  the 
line  via  Bloomington,  Roodhouse,  Louisiana,  and 
Mexico,  Mo.,  between  Chicago  and  Kansas  City.  In 
1878  the  formation  of  an  independent  company  to  be 
controlled  by  the  Chicago  and  Alton  Company  was 
effected,  to  build  the  Missouri  extension  from  Mexico, 
Mo.,  to  Kansas  City.  The  corporate  name  of  this 
company  is  the  Kansas  City,  St.  Louis  and  Chicago 
Railroad  Company.  Its  road  was  opened  through  on 
the  1st  of  May,  1879. 

The  Chicago  and  Alton  Road,  main  line,  extends 
to  Chicago,  making  connection  there  with  the  great 
number  of  roads  running  to  the  north  and  east. 
The  Missouri  Division  uses  the  main  line  to  Rood- 
house.  The  length  of  the  main  lines  east  of  the 
river  and  all  in  the  State  of  Illinois,  including 
branches,  is  five  hundred  and  sixty-seven  miles. 
This  road  is  now  in  the  twenty- first  year  of  its  ex- 
istence, and,  including  side  tracks,  is  one  thousand  and 
seventy  miles  in  length  east  and  west  of  the  river. 
It  forms  a  triple  link  between  the  cities  of  Chicago, 
St.  Louis,  and  Kansas  City,  and  there  is  a  branch 
from  Dwight  to  Washington,  111.,  86.96  miles  in 
length.  Very  nearly  the  entire  road  has  been  relaid 
with  steel  rails  within  the  past  few  years.  The  line 
traverses  rich  sections  of  country,  and  has  a  splendid 
freight  and  passenger  business. 

In  1877  the  Chicago  and  Alton  Company  built  a 
bridge  across  the  Mississippi  at  Louisiana. 

The  directors  of  the  Chicago  and  Alton  Railroad 
Company  are  T.  B.  Blackstone,  John  B.  Drake,  Chi- 
cago, 111. ;  Morris  K.  Jesup,  New  York ;  John  F. 
Slater,  Norwich,  Conn. ;  George  Straut,  Peoria,  111. ; 
James  C.  McMullin,  John  Crerar,  Chicago ;  Lorenzo 
Blackstone,  Norwich,  Conn. ;  John  J.  Mitchell,  St. 


1196 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Louis.  The  president  of  the  company  is  T.  B. 
Blaekstone,  Chicago.  The  Louisiana  and  Missouri 
River  Railroad,  extending  from  Louisiana,  Mo.,  to 
Cedar  City,  Mo.,  a  distance  of  100.80  miles,  was 
chartered  in  18G5,  completed  in  July,  1872,  and 
leased  in  perpetuity  to  the  Chicago  and  Alton  Rail- 
road Company  from  Aug.  1,  1870.  R.  P.  Tansey, 
St.  Louis,  is  president  of  the  company,  and  W.  W. 
Pope,  St.  Louis,  is  secretary  and  treasurer. 

The  Chicago,  Burlington  and  Quincy  Railroad 
Company  had  its  origin  in  the  organization  in  1849 
of  the  Aurora  Branch  Railroad  Company,  and  the 
construction  of  a  railroad  from  Aurora  to  Geneva.  In 
1852  the  Chicago  and  Aurora  Railroad  Company 
was  organized,  and  built  the  road  from  Chicago  to 
Aurora.  In  1856  this  latter  road  was  consolidated 
with  the  Central  Military  Tract  Railroad  Company, 
which  owned  the  road  from  Mendota  to  Galesburg, 
the  new  company  being  known  as  the  Chicago, 
Burlington  and  Quincy  Railroad  Company.  The 
Northern  Cross  Railroad  Company,  owning  a  line 
between  Galesburg  and  Quincy,  became  embarrassed, 
and  was  purchased  in  1860  by  the  Chicago,  Burling- 
ton and  Quincy.  The  Peoria  and  Aquatoka  Rail- 
road, which  was  purchased  in  1862,  gave  the  com- 
pany a  line  from  Peoria  to  East  Burlington,  with  a 
terminus  on  the  Mississippi  River.  In  1862  the 
company  built  the  line  from  Gates  City  to  Lewiston, 
and  in  1868  the  road  from  Lewiston  to  Rushville, 
under  the  charter  of  the  Peoria  and  Hannibal  Rail- 
road Company.  The  Dayton,  Peoria  and  Hannibal 
Railroad  Company's  charter  was  obtained  about  the 
same  time.  From  Galva  to  New  Boston  and  Keiths- 
burg,  the  road  was  built  under  the  charters  of  the 
American  Central  and  of  the  Dixon  and  Quincy  Rail- 
road Companies,  and  leased  by  the  Chicago,  Burling- 
ton and  Quincy.  The  Fox  River  Line  was  built  under 
the  charter  of  the  Ottawa,  Oswego  and  Fox  River 
Valley  Railroad  Company,  and  leased  by  the  Chicago, 
Burlington  and  Quincy.  The  road  from  Mendota 
to  East  Clinton  was  built  by  the  Illinois  Grand  Trunk 
Railroad  Company,  and  leased  by  the  Chicago,  Bur- 
lington and  Quincy.  By  the  lease  of  the  Chicago 
and  Iowa  Railroad  by  the  Chicago,  Burlington  and 
Quincy  the  Chicago  and  Rock  River  Railroad  was 
reached,  and  by  the  lease  of  the  Quincy  and  Warsaw 
Railroad  and  of  the  Carthage  and  Burlington  Rail- 
road the  line  from  Quincy  to  Burlington  was  obtained, 
while  the  Keokuk  and  St.  Paul  Railroad  Company 
opened  the  trade  and  travel  of  Keokuk  to  the  Chicago, 
Burlington  and  Quincy.  The  Quincy  Division,  from 
Quincy  to  East  Louisiana,  was  built  by  the  Quincy, 
Alton  and  St.  Louis  Railroad  Company,  and  was 


leased  to  the  Chicago,  Burlington  and  Quincy  in 
1876.  The  St.  Louis,  Rock  Island  and  Chicago, 
built  under  the  charter  of  the  Rockford,  Rock  Island 
and  St.  Louis  Railroad  Company,  and  leased  in  1876 
to  the  Chicago,  Burlington  and  Quincy,  extends  from 
the  Chicago  and  Northwestern,  near  Sterling,  to  Rock 
Island,  and  thence  to  St.  Louis. 

The  Burlington  and  Missouri  River  Railroad  was 
consolidated  with  the  Chicago,  Burlington  and  Quincy 
in  1872,  and  became  the  Iowa  Division.  During  1881 
a  number  of  extensions  and  new  lines  of  road  were 
built  in  Missouri,  Nebraska,  Illinois,  Iowa,  and  Colo- 
rado. 

The  St.  Louis  Division  of  the  great  Burlington 
Road  consists  of  the  old  Rockford,  Rock  Island  and 
St.  Louis  Railroad,  two  hundred  and  forty-seven  miles 
in  length,  to  Rock  Island,  and  connects  St.  Louis  with 
the  Chicago,  Burlington  and  Quincy  system,  with  two 
thousand  five  hundred  and  eighty-six  miles  of  road  in 
Illinois,  Iowa,  Missouri,  Kansas,  Nebraska,  and  Colo- 
rado. The  St.  Louis  Division  was  opened  up  in  1877. 
Previous  to  that  time  the  Burlington  had  no  line  of 
its  own  into  St.  Louis,  though  it  had  good  connections. 
From  St.  Louis  a  through  line  is  formed  in  connection 
with  the  Burlington,  Cedar  Rapids  and  Northern  and 
Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul  Roads  to  points  in  the  North- 
west. Via  Rock  Island  and  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee 
and  St.  Paul  a  line  is  formed  for  all  Missouri  River 
and  Wisconsin  points,  Manitoba,  Montana,  and  Idaho. 
The  Denver  extension  of  the  Burlington  was  completed 
July  1,  1882,  and  it  is  the  only  one  of  the  lines  from 
St.  Louis  which  has  its  own  track  to  that  city.  It 
penetrates  the  most  fertile  portions  of  Nebraska,  and 
has  opened  up  a  section  of  country  the  trade  of  which 
ought  to  be  very  valuable  to  the  merchants  and  manu- 
facturers of  St.  Louis  if  the  proper  efforts  are  put  for- 
ward to  secure  it. 

The  south  end  of  the  St.  Louis  Division  of  the  Bur- 
lington passes  through  a  rich  wheat  country.  North 
of  Vermont,  111.,  the  corn  country  along  the  line  is 
reached  and  extends  on  through  Illinois  and  Iowa, 
and  in  that  section  are  also  the  great  dairy  farms  of 
the  West.  This  road  brings  over  four  million  pounds 
of  butter  to  St.  Louis  annually  in  its  refrigerator-cars. 
The  business  both  in  and  out  of  St.  Louis  is  rapidly 
increasing. 

The  president  of  the  company  is  C.  E.  Perkins, 
Burlington,  Iowa ;  First  Vice-President,  A.  E.  Ton- 
zalin,  Boston ;  Second  Vice-President  and  Treasurer, 
J.  C.  Peasley,  Chicago ;  Third  Vice-President  and 
General  Manager,  T.  J.  Potter,  Chicago.  Officers  of 
the  St.  Louis  Division :  Superintendent,  W.  R.  Crump- 
ton,  St.  Louis ;  Freight  and  Passenger  Agent,  W.  D. 


RAILROADS. 


1197 


Sanborn,  St.  Louis;  Master-Mechanic,  A.  Forsyth, 
Beardstown,  111. 

The  Texas  and  St.  Louis  Railway  Company  was 
organized  on  the  14th  of  April,  1879,  as  the  successor 
of  the  Tyler  Tap  Railroad,  and  the  road  was  opened 
to  Trinity,  one  hundred  and  eighty-one  miles,  at  the 
close  of  1880.  It  was  extended  to  Corsicana,  a  dis- 
tance of  two  hundred  and  three  miles,  on  the  1st  of 
April,  1881,  and  to  Waco,  two  hundred  and  sixty 
miles,  Sept.  1,  1881.  The  company  purchased  the 
Little  River  Valley  and  Arkansas  Railroad  in  Mis- 
souri, and  organized  under  the  name  of  the  Texas  and 
St.  Louis  Railway  Company  of  Arkansas  and  Missouri, 
to  build  a  railroad  from  Texarkana  to  Cairo,  the  object 
being  to  run  through  cars  from  Bird's  Point,  opposite 
Cairo,  111.,  to  Gatesville,  Texas,  a  distance  of  seven 
hundred  and  thirty-two  miles.  On  the  29th  of  May, 
1882,  the  company  effected  a  traffic  alliance  with  the 
Illinois  Central  Railroad  and  the  St.  Louis,  Alton  and 
Terre  Haute,  commonly  known  as  the  Cairo  Short 
Line,  by  which  those  companies  agreed  to  interchange 
business  and  operate  their  respective  roads  as  one  line. 
Under  this  agreement  the  company  is  enabled  to  run 
its  trains  into  St.  Louis  and  Chicago.  On  the  16th  of 
May,  1882,  a  similar  arrangement  was  effected  with 
the  Arkansas  Midland  and  the  Batesville  and  Brink- 
ley  Railroad  Companies,  by  the  terms  of  which  those 
companies  agreed  to  change  their  gauge  from  three 
feet  six  inches  to  three  feet  and  to  complete  their 
lines  to  their  respective  termini.  This  agreement 
secures  to  the  Texas  and  St.  Louis  Company  a  line  into 
Little  Rock  and  Helena,  Ark.,  and  also  to  Augusta, 
Newport,  Jacksonport,  and  Batesville,  in  the  White 
River  valley.  Arrangements  were  also  made  to  ex- 
tend the  line  from  Waco  to  Laredo,  and  to  construct 
a  branch  from  Mount  Pleasant  to  Dallas,  Texas. 

The  road  is  known  as  the  "  Cotton  Belt"  route,  and 
is  a  most  important  addition  to  the  railroad  interests 
of  St.  Louis.  The  project  originated  among  the 
cotton  men  of  St.  Louis,  who  saw  an  opportunity  to 
penetrate  one  of  the  richest  cotton  belts  in  the  South 
and  draw  the  staple  to  the  St.  Louis  market.  With 
the  exception  of  a  gap  of  forty-five  miles  to  be  filled 
in  Arkansas,  this  road  has  a  continuous  track  between 
Bird's  Point,  Mo.  (opposite  Cairo,  111.),  and  Gates- 
ville, Texas,  or  a  distance  of  seven  hundred  and  fifty- 
two  miles.  There  is  a  branch  from  New  Madrid,  Mo., 
to  Maiden,  the  county-seat  of  Dunklin,  the  "  banner" 
cotton-producing  county  of  Missouri,  and  also  pro- 
ducing a  large  amount  of  corn.  A  branch  will  soon 
be  constructed  to  Dallas.  Texas,  and  as  soon  as  the 
forces  can  be  transferred  from  Arkansas  the  extension 
through  Texas  to  Laredo,  on  the  Rio  Grande,  will  be 


pushed  along  as  fast  as  men  and  money  can  accomplish 
it.  When  the  road  reaches  Laredo  a  connection  will 
be  formed  with  a  narrow-gauge  road  which  will  be 
running  into  the  city  of  Mexico  by  that  time, — the 
Mexican  National.  From  Texarkana  the  road  runs 
parallel  with  the  Iron  Mountain  Railway  through  Ar- 
kansas, and  divides  the  country  between  it  and  the 
Mississippi  River.  While  the  richest  cotton  counties 
are  traversed,  there  are  also  along  the  route  some  of  the 
heaviest  and  best  timber  forests  to  be  found  in  the 
United  States.  In  Arkansas  and  Texas  there  have 
already  been  over  fifty  saw-mills  started  along  the  line 
of  the  narrow-gauge ;  new  towns  are  being  established, 
and  immigration  is  pouring  into  the  counties  through 
which  the  road  passes. 

From  Cairo  the  connection  is  made  by  change  of 
trucks  with  the  Cairo  Short  Line,  over  which  road 
the  freight  will  be  transported  to  East  St.  Louis. 
During  the  past  year  a  large  and  substantial  brick 
building  was  put  up  at  East  St.  Louis  and  supplied 
with  the  machinery  necessary  to  establish  there  a 
cotton  compress,  the  total  cost  of  which  was  two  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars.  This  press  will  receive  and 
handle  the  staple  from  along  the  narrow-gauge  line, 
and  it  is  expected  that  the  cotton  trade  of  St.  Louis 
will  be  largely  increased  by  the  receipts  over  the 
Texas  and  St.  Louis  and  Cairo  Short  Line  roads. 

The  earningsduringlSSl  amounted  to  $198,039.90, 
and  the  expenses  to  $166,237.49.  The  company  has 
a  land  grant  of  10,240  acres  to  each  mile  of  com- 
pleted road,  and  capital  stock  is  provided  for  at  the 
rate  of  $10,000  per  mile;  funded  debt,  first  mortgage 
six  per  cent,  thirty-year  bonds,  dated  June  1,  1880, 
interest  June  and  December,  $10,000  per  mile;  land 
grant  and  income  six  per  cent,  thirty-year  bonds, 
dated  June  1,  1880,  $10,000  per  mile,  interest  pay- 
able if  earned.  Up  to  April  1,  1882,  there  had  been 
issued  $2,660,000  first  mortgage  bonds,  $2,660,000 
income  bonds,  and  $2,660,000  of  stock,  a  total  of 
$7,980,000.  On  the  Missouri  and  Arkansas  Division 
bonds  were  issued  upon  160  miles  of  road  at  $10,000, 
or  $1,600,000  first  mortgage,  and  the  same  amount  of 
income  bonds. 

The  officers  of  the  company  are :  Directors,  J.  W. 
Paramore,  W.  M.  Senter,  J.  L.  Sloss,  St.  Louis ;  L. 
H.  Roots,  Little  Rock,  Ark. ;  T.  R.  Bonner,  L.  B. 
Fish,  Tyler,  Texas;  L.  C.  De  Morse,  Texarkana, 
Ark.;  T.  J.  Lowe,  Gilmer,  Texas;  C.  M.  Seley, 
Waco,  Texas.  President,  J.  W.  Paramore,  St.  Louis  ; 
Vice- President,  W.  M.  Senter,  St.  Louis;  Treasurer, 
L.  B.  Fish ;  Secretary,  C.  T.  Bonner ;  General 
Freight  and  Ticket  Agent,  G.  W.  Lilley,  all  of 
Tyler,  Texas  ;  Master  of  Machinery,  G.  W.  Prescott, 


1198 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


St.  Louis ;  General  Superintendent,  J.  B.  Van  Dyne, 
Tyler,  Texas ;  Chief  Engineer,  C.  F.  Stephens,  Pine 
Bluff;  Purchasing  Agent,  F.  W.  Paramore,  St.  Louis ; 
Master  of  Car  Repairs,  W.  J.  Lewis,  Tyler,  Texas. 
The  principal  office  of  the  company  is  at  St.  Louis. 

Col.  James  W.  Paramore,  president  of  the  Texas 
and  St.  Louis  Railway  Company,  was  born  near  Mans- 
field, Ohio,  Dec.  27,  1830, — a  farmer's  son  and  the 
tenth  of  a  family  of  eleven  children.  He  early  de- 
termined to  secure  a  college  education,  and  as  his 
father  was  only  in  moderate  circumstances,  he  decided 
that  it  should  be  obtained  at  his  own  expense.  After 
some  debate  his  father  gave  his  consent,  on  condition 
that  he  should  relinquish  his  share  of  the  paternal 
estate.  At  seventeen  he  prepared  for  college  at  Mans- 
field Academy,  and  then  went  through  Granville  Col- 
lege (now  Denuison  University),  graduating  in  the 
class  of  '52  with  high  honors.  During  this  entire 
period  he  supported  himself  by  his  own  labor.  He 
then  taught  two  years  in  the  Montgomery  (Ala.) 
Academy,  and  studied  law  in  the  office  of  Bortley  & 
Kirkwood,  at  Mansfield,  Ohio.  Mr.  Bortley  was  af- 
terwards elected  supreme  judge,  and  also  became  Gov- 
ernor, while  Mr.  Kirkwood  moved  to  Iowa,  and  be- 
came Governor  and  United  States  senator,  and  was 
a  member  of  President  Garfield's  cabinet. 

Young  Paramore  then  attended  the  Albany  Law 
School,  graduating  in  1855  as  Bachelor  of  Laws,  and 
subsequently  opened  a  law-office  at  Cleveland,  and 
made  an  excellent  beginning.  A  disastrous  commer- 
cial speculation,  however,  in  1857,  induced  him  to 
seek  a  new  field  in  the  West,  and  he  settled  at  Wash- 
ington,  Mo.,  where,  in  addition  to  conducting  a  prom- 
ising law  business,  he  published  the  Washington  Ad- 
vertiser, a  local  paper  of  fair  circulation  and  influence. 

Upon  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  he  returned 
with  his  family  to  Ohio,  and  promptly  responded  to 
the  call  for  troops,  becoming  major  in  the  Third  Ohio 
Cavalry,  and  serving  under  Buell,  llosecrans,  and 
Thomas,  in  the  Armies  of  the  Ohio  and  the  Cum- 
berland. He  participated  in  twenty-seven  engage- 
ments (many  of  them  very  severe  ones),  without, 
however,  receiving  a  wound.  He  was  very  popular 
and  efficient  as  an  officer,  and  after  the  battle  of  Stone 
River  was  promoted  to  the  colonelcy  of  the  regiment 
over  the  lieutenant-colonel  and  the  senior  major,  and 
for  a  considerable  period  commanded  the  Second 
Cavalry  Brigade. 

In  1864  he  resigned  from  the  army  and  engaged 
successfully  in  business  at  Nashville,  Tenn.  In  1867 
he  turned  his  attention  to  railroading,  and  obtained  a 
charter  for  the  Tennessee  and  Pacific  Railroad,  a 
link  designed  to  connect  the  Southern  Pacific  with 


the  Atlantic  waters  at  Norfolk,  Va.  Under  the 
stimulus  of  liberal  aid  from  the  State,  a  portion  of 
the  line  was  completed,  but  unfriendly  legislation 
followed  and  the  work  was  suspended.  As  superin- 
tendent, etc.,  Col.  Paramore  continued  to  operate  the 
finished  portion  until  the  adoption  of  the  new  Consti- 
tution forbade  any  further  hope  of  help  from  the 
State,  and  then  he  sold  his  interests  and  removed  to 
St.  Louis,  attracted  by  the  grand  capabilities  of  the 
city.  He  here  began  to  urge  upon  others  the  possibil- 
ities of  St.  Louis  becoming  a  great  cotton  market,  but 
generally  his  ideas  were  declared  to  be  Utopian.  The 
Iron  Mountain  Railroad  had  just  been  completed  into 
the  cotton  belt,  and  his  quick  perception  grasped  the 
idea  that  this  highway,  extending  into  the  very  heart 
of  the  cotton-producing  region  of  Arkansas  and  Texas 
(the  finest  in  the  world),  opened  a  new  enterprise  for 
St.  Louis  and  made  it  possible  to  establish  here  one  of 
the  leading  cotton  markets  of  the  world.  To  accom- 
plish this  two  things  were  requisite:  1.  Reasonable 
transportation  charges  to  St.  Louis,  which  were  readily 
conceded  by  Mr.  Allen,  the  president  of  the  Iron  Moun- 
tain Railroad  ;  and  2.  The  reduction  of  the  expense 
of  handling  the  staple  to  the  lowest  possible  figures. 
The  latter  could  be  accomplished  only  by  the  use  of 
machinery  more  powerful  than  had  been  previously 
considered  necessary.  Chiefly  through  his  labors  the 
Cotton  Compress  Company  was  formed  in  1873,  with 
himself  as  president.  It  started  with  seventy-five 
thousand  dollars,  but  now  has  one  million  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  dollars  paid-up  capital,  and 
maintains  the  largest  and  most  convenient  warehouses 
for  handling  cotton  in  the  world.  The  company  oc- 
cupies about  eighty  acres  of  land,  and  has  a  hand- 
ling capacity  of  fully  five  hundred  thousand  bales  of 
cotton  a  year,  and  a  compressing  capacity  of  three 
thousand  bales  daily. 

Col.  Paramore  was  president  of  the  company,  and 

1  the  architect  of  all  the  buildings  and  compresses  that 

now  comprise  this   magnificent  system   of  handling 

cotton,  which  (by  the  way)  is  being  copied  by  other 

cotton  markets  of  the  country. 

This  was  the  pioneer  of  other  establishments  of  a 
similar  character,  and  the  result  of  Col.  Paramore's 
prompt  and  far-sighted  action  has  been  to  place  the 
cotton  trade  of  St.  Louis  on  a  substantial  basis. 
From  an  average  of  28,575  bales  from  1866  to  1873 
it  has  risen  to  480,028  bales  in  1879-80,  and 
402,706  bales  in  1880-81. 

In  such  esteem  were  Col.  Pararaore's  services  in 
this  respect  held,  that  in  December,  1880,  the  busi- 
ness men  of  St.  Louis  presented  him  with  a  silver 
service,  accompanied  by  the  following  letter : 


ov 


RAILROADS. 


1199 


"Mn.  J.  W.  PAUAMORE  : 

"  Dear  Sir, — By  this  testimonial  we  desire  to  express  our  high 
regard  for  your  character  as  a  friend,  and  to  offer  our  tribute  of 
admiration  for  the  rare  ability  you  have  shown  in  the  successful 
management  of  the  large  business  enterprise  under  your  control. 
To  you  more  than  to  any  other  person  is  due  the  credit  for  erect- 
ing the  compress  warehouses,  by  which  a  flourishing  trade  in 
cotton  was  created ;  and  to  you,  also,  should  be  accorded  espe- 
cial praise  for  your  untiring  efforts  to  build  a  railroad  into 
Texas,  that  our  commerce  with  that  State  might  be  increased 
and  forever  secured.  Not  alone  as  a  leader  in  these  enterprises 
have,  you  manifested  that  consummate  skill  and  courageous,  in- 
domitable energy  which  have  marked  your  conduct  as  a  business 
man,  but  in  every  useful  measure  with  which  you  were  concerned, 
whether  for  the  public  good  or  for  private  gain,  you  have  always 
shown  the  fidelity  and  disinterested  zeal  of  a  true  friend  and 
benefactor.  Please  accept  this  solid  silver  service  as  being  the 
token  of  our  esteem  commemorative  of  your  career." 

While  studying  the  cotton  question,  Col.  Paramore 
observed  that  in  Arkansas,  Texas,  Southern  Kansas, 
and  the  Indian  country  there  was  a  region  capable  of 
producing  more  than  two  million  bales  of  cotton  yearly 
legitimately  tributary  to  St.  Louis,  but  with  no  eco- 
nomical means  of  reaching  a  market,  and  he  conceived 
the  system  of  roads  known  as  the  "  Cotton  Belt  Route" 
to  penetrate  this  region.  In  the  fall  of  1881  he  re- 
signed the  presidency  of  the  Cotton  Compress  Com- 
pany, and  has  ever  since  given  his  undivided  attention 
to  the  prosecution  of  this  great  work.  It  is  a  system 
of  narrow-gauge  railroads,  extending  from  Cairo,  111., 
to  Laredo,  Texas,  with  "  feeders"  at  various  points, 
embracing,  when  completed,  over  one  thousand  five 
hundred  miles  of  railroads,  and  penetrating  a  section  of 
the  Southwest  unrivaled  for  the  raising  of  cotton  and 
miscellaneous  produce.  At  Laredo  the  system  con- 
nects with  the  road  now  building  under  the  "  Palmer- 
Sullivan  concession"  through  Mexico,  and  at  Cairo  it 
has  an  extremely  advantageous  traffic  contract  with 
the  Illinois  Central  Railroad,  by  which,  as  previously 
stated,  it  makes  direct  connection  with  St.  Louis,  and 
also  Chicago  and  all  Eastern  cities. 

It  is  not  by  chance  that  Col.  Paramore  has  selected 
the  three-feet  gauge  for  his  system  of  railroads.  His 
is  a  strong,  analytical  mind,  and  before  engaging  in 
any  enterprise  he  is  accustomed  to  give  it  a  thorough 
and  exhaustive  study  from  every  stand-point.  He 
chose  the  three  feet  gauge,  not  on  grounds  of  present 
expediency  merely,  but  in  the  firm  belief  that  this 
system  is  the  one  best  adapted  to  the  South,  and  must 
crowd  the  old  "  broad-gauge"  roads  to  the  wall.  He 
argues  that  since  the  product  of  about  eighty  acres  of 
cotton  may  be  carried  in  one  car,  while  only  five  to 
ten  acres  of  the  staple  products  of  the  North  are  re- 
quired to  till  a  car,  the  South  does  not  need  the  heavy 
and  expensive  system  of  broad-gauge  railroads.  He 
asks,  "  Why  send  a  four-horse  wagon  to  bring  a  two- 


horse  load?"  In  other  words,  why  maintain  broad- 
gauge  roads  when  narrow-gauge  will  answer  the  same 
purpose  ? 

In  his  investigation  of  the  matter,  Col.  Paramore 
has  come  to  the  most  important  conclusions,  if  true. 
He  not  only  claims  the  absolute  economy  of  a  three- 
feet  gauge  road,  but  he  believes  that  such  a  road,  with 
a  debt  limited  to  the  expense  of  building  and  oper- 
ating, can  hold  in  check  the  vast  railway  monopolies 
already  in  existence,  with  their  roads  bonded  for 
many  times  their  value.  It  must  be  apparent  that  a 
railway  whose  fixed  charges  for  interest  do  not  ex- 
ceed six  hundred  dollars  per  mile,  and  which  if  sub- 
stantially built  can  be  worked  for  33  J  per  cent,  of  its 
gross  earnings,  can  afford  to  give  lower  rates,  both  for 
freight  and  passenger  traffic,  than  one  whose  fixed  in- 
terest charges  are  twelve  hundred  to  fifteen  hundred 
dollars  per  mile  annually,  and  which,  under  the  most 
favorable  circumstances,  cannot  be  worked  for  much 
less  than  sixty  per  cent,  of  its  gross  earnings. 

There  seems  little  room  to  doubt  the  correctness  of 
Col.  Paramore's  belief  that  this  system  of  railways 
will  effectually  protect  the  people  of  the  South  against 
the  concentrating  tendencies  of  the  great  broad-gauge 
roads.  In  the  judgment  of  Col.  Paramore  the  nar- 
row-gauge railroad  is  the  one  upon  which  the  future 
business  of  the  country  will  be  done ;  the  present 
standard  gauge  must  ultimately  give  way  before  it, 
since  it  embraces  economy  in  construction  and  econ- 
omy in  operation,  and  lessens  immensely  the  cost 
of  moving  the  products  of  the  farmer  and  manufac- 
turer. There  is  also  the  important  consideration  that 
such  roads,  properly  managed,  will  always  be  able  to 
respond  to  the  popular  cry  of  cheap  transportation, 
and  will  effectually  spike  the  guns  of  those  who  are 
demanding  that  "  government  should  lay  its  iron  hand 
on  the  railroads  and  undertake  to  regulate  their 
charges." 

Upon  the  subject  of  cheap  transportation  Col. 
Paramore  holds  novel  and  striking  views,  contrary  to' 
the  belief  generally  entertained  by  the  people  in  the 
Mississippi  valley,  viz.,  "  that  railroad  transportation 
I  is  cheaper  than  river."  While  others  have  proclaimed 
the  Mississippi  to  be  "  God's  great  highway  for  com- 
merce," he  views  it  as  merely  a  great  "  national 
sewer,"  and  says  that  to  man  has  been  left  the  labor  of 
providing  "  cheap  and  rapid  transportation"  by  the 
construction  of  railroads.  He  energetically  insists 
that,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  cotton  can  to-day  be  shipped 
from  Arkansas  and  Texas  via  St.  Louis  to  Europe 
cheaper  than  from  the  gulf  port  cities. 

This  discussion  illustrates  very  forcibly  the  original 
and  striking  methods  of  thought  that  characterize 


1200 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Col.  Paramore.  Whether  his  conclusions  agree  with 
those  of  previous  investigators  in  the  same  field  matters 
little  to  him ;  like  every  independent  and  original 
thinker,  he  has  supreme  confidence  in  his  own  judg- 
ment, and  follows  it  unfalteringly,  although  it  may 
lead  him  to  abandon  old  traditions  and  attack  old 
idols.  Living  in  a  period  celebrated  for  great  railroad 
men,  he  loses  nothing  by  comparison  with  the 
greatest  of  them.  In  one  short  decade  he  has 
written  his  name  indelibly  on  the  history  of  St. 
Louis  and  the  great  Southwest.  As  has  been  well 
said,  "  He  has  been  the  chief  promoter,  and  in  some 
sense  the  creator,  of  one  of  the  richest  trades  that  pay 
tribute  to  St.  Louis,  and  has  now  laid  hold  upon  the 
carrying  trade  of  the  Southwest  with  a  boldness  and 
vigor  and  originality  that  make  him  one  of  the  most 
conspicuous  and  able  leaders  of  the  time." 

Col.  Paramore  has  not  only  shown  St.  Louis  how 
to  be  a  great  cotton  market,  but  he  has  also  exerted 
himself  to  make  it  the  centre  of  a  system  of  railroad 
transportation  which  now  seems  destined  to  revolu- 
tionize the  railroad  system  of  the  South  and  South- 
west, and  work  incalculable  benefits  to  the  industries 
of  those  regions. 

Col.  Paramore  is  still  in  the  full  vigor  of  manhood, 
when  judgment  is  at  its  best,  and  although  he  has 
already  done  more  for  St.  Louis  than  often  falls  to  the 
lot  of  one  man  to  accomplish  for  a  community,  his 
fellow-citizens  are  encouraged  to  hope  that  what  he  has 
already  performed  is  only  a  promise  of  a  yet  more 
brilliant  and  useful  future. 

Indianapolis  and  St.  Louis  Railroad  and  the 
St.  Louis,  Alton  and  Terre  Haute  Railroad. — The 
Terre  Haute  and  Alton  Railroad  was  chartered  Jan. 
28,  1851.  In  1852  the  Belleville  and  Illinoistown 
Railroad  Company  was  incorporated  by  the  Illinois 
Legislature  to  construct  a  railroad  from  Illinoistown 
(now  East  St.  Louis)  to  Belleville.  In  1854  an  act 
was  passed  by  the  Illinois  Legislature  authorizing  the 
consolidation  of  both  of  the  above  railroads  under  the 
style  of  the  Terre  Haute,  Alton  and  St.  Louis  Rail- 
road Company.  The  consolidation  was  not  effected 
until  1856,  when  the  whole  line  from  East  St.  Louis 
to  Terre  Haute  and  from  East  St.  Louis  to  Belleville 
was  completed  and  opened  to  traffic.  Financial  embar- 
rassments overtaking  the  new  company  it  was  placed 
in  the  hands  of  a  receiver,  and  on  the  18th  of  February, 
1861,  reorganized  under  the  style  of  the  St.  Louis, 
Alton  and  Terre  Haute  Railroad  Company,  which  took 
possession  in  1862. 

The  Indianapolis  and  St.  Louis  Railroad  was  char- 
tered Aug.  31,  1867,  and  opened  July  11,  1870, 
having  been  built  in  the  interest  of  and  leased  to  the 


Pennsylvania  Company  (Pennsylvania  Railroad).  In 
18G7  it  leased  the  St.  Louis,  Alton  and  Terre  Haute 
Railroad  for  ninety-nine  years  ;  the  Cleveland,  Colum- 
bus, Cincinnati  and  Indianapolis,  the  Lake  Shore  and 
Michigan  Southern,  the  Indianapolis,  Cincinnati  and 
Lafayette,  and  the  Pittsburgh,  Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago 
Railroad  Companies  being  guarantors  of  the  lease. 
The  Indianapolis,  Cincinnati  and  Lafayette  Railroad 
having  passed  into  the  hands  of  a  receiver,  the  other 
companies  were  left  to  guarantee  the  provisions  of  the 
lease,  which  they  did  until  April  1,  1878,  when  the 
Indianapolis  and  St.  Louis  Railroad  Company  refused 
to  pay  the  monthly  rental  unless  the  St.  Louis,  Alton 
and  Terre  Haute  consented  to  a  reduction  of  the 
rental  to  three  hundred  thousand  dollars.  Litigation 
ensued  to  compel  a  performance  of  the  lease. 

The  Cairo  Short  Line,  as  the  St.  Louis,  Alton  and 
Terre  Haute  is  generally  called,  is  the  connecting  link 
between  St.  Louis  and  New  Orleans.  It  is  also 
closely  allied  with  the  Illinois  Central,  and  the  latter 
now  controls  the  Chicago,  St.  Louis  and  New  Orleans, 
or  Great  Jackson  route,  which  with  the  Cairo  Short 
Line  forms  the  through  line  between  St.  Louis  and 
New  Orleans,  the  entire  distance  being  six  hundred 
and  ninety-eight  miles.  The  distance  between  St. 
Louis  and  Cairo  by  the  Short  Line  is  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles.  The  traffic  agreement  with  the  Texas 
and  St.  Louis,  it  is  confidently  believed,  will  result  in 
a  large  exchange  of  business  between  the  two  roads. 
The  narrow-gauge  has  opened  up  an  entirely  new  sec- 
tion of  country,  and  one,  too,  that  is  rich  in  resources, 
and  rapidly  filling  up  with  a  good  class  of  settlers.  At 
Cairo  adequate  transfer  facilities  have  been  provided, 
and  very  little  time  will  be  lost  in  changing  the  cars 
from  the  trucks  of  the  two  lines,  which  is  to  be  dono 
in  order  not  to  break  bulk.  The  Cario  Short  Line 
not  only  has  a  large  through  business,  but  its  local 
business  is  exceptionally  fine.  It  is  one  of  the  heaviest 
of  the  coal-carrying  roads. 

The  Indianapolis  and  St.  Louis  Railroad  is  a  part 
of  the  "  Bee-Line  System,"  the  other  lines  in  the  sys- 
tem being  the  Cleveland,  Columbus,  Cincinnati  and 
Indianapolis  Railroad  and  the  Dayton  and  Union, 
all  of  which  are  practically  under  one  management. 
The  Bee  Line  has  been  in  operation  more  than  twenty 
years.  The  mileage  of  the  system  is  as  follows : 

Miles. 
Indianapolis  and  St.  Louis  Line,  from  St.  Louis  to 

Indianapolis 263 

Cleveland,    Columbus    and    Cincinnati,   from  In- 
dianapolis to  Cleveland 283 

Cincinnati  to  Cleveland 245 

Columbus  to  Delaware,  Ohio 25 

Dayton  to  Union 47 

Total...,  863 


RAILROADS. 


1201 


The  president  and  receiver  of  the  company  is  J. 
H.  Devereux,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio.  The  president  of 
the  St.  Louis,  Alton  and  Terre  Haute  Company  is 
\V.  Bayard  Cutting,  of  New  York ;  Vice-President, 
Treasurer,  and  General  Manager,  George  W.  Parker, 
St.  Louis ;  Secretary,  E.  F.  Leonard,  St.  Louis. 

Louisville  and  Nashville  Railroad. — The  St. 
Louis  and  Southeastern  Railway  (Louisville  and 
Nashville  Railroad,  St.  Louis  Division)  was  the 
outcome  of  railroads  chartered  by  the  States  of 
Illinois,  Indiana,  Kentucky,  and  Tennessee.  The 
St.  Louis  and  Southeastern  and  the  Evansville 
and  Southern  Illinois  were  chartered  by  the  State 
of  Illinois  in  1869.  The  Evansville,  Carmi  and 
Paducah  Railroad  Company  was  chartered  by  In- 
diana in  the  same  year.  Under  those  three  charters 
the  main  line  from  St.  Louis  to  Evansville,  Ind.,  and 
the  Shawneetown  Branch  were  constructed.  The  road 
from  Mount  Vernon  to  Ashley  and  from  Ashley  to  St. 
Louis  was  put  under  contract  immediately,  and  trains 
were  running  to  Mount  Vernon  in  1870,  and  to  East 
St.  Louis  in  1871.  The  Illinois  companies  were  con- 
solidated in  1870  under  the  name  of  the  St.  Louis 
and  Southeastern  Railway  Company  of  Illinois  and 
Indiana. 

In  1872  negotiations  were  finally  completed  by 
which  the  franchises  of  the  Evansville,  Henderson 
and  Nashville  Railroad,  incorporated  by  Kentucky  in 
1807  to  build  a  railroad  from  Henderson  to  the  State 
line  of  Tennessee,  were  transferred  to  the  St.  Louis 
and  Southeastern.  The  length  of  the  road  proper  is 
208  miles,  divided  into  the  St.  Louis  Division,  from 
East  St.  Louis  to  Evansville,  1G0.8  miles;  the  Shaw- 
neetown Branch, 4 1.5  miles;  and  the  O'Fallon  Branch, 
5.9  miles.  The  Kentucky  Division,  from  Henderson 
to  Guthrie,  is  98  miles  in  length,  and  the  Tennessee 
Division,  from  Guthrie  to  Nashville,  is  47  miles  in 
length. 

In  1880  the  road  passed  under  the  control  of  the 
Louisville  and  Nashville  Railroad,  and  now  forms  a 
part  of  that,  great  system. 

The  Louisville  and  Nashville  Railroad  connects 
St.  Louis  with  Nashville,  Tenn.,  it  being  three 
hundred  and  sixty-one  miles  to  the  latter  point,  and 
there  joins  the  system  which  extends  through  the 
Southeast,  penetrating  with  its  leased  lines  and  allied 
roads  the  States  of  Illinois,  Kentucky,  Tennessee, 
Georgia,  and  Florida.  The  Louisville  and  Nashville 
system  proper,  without  including  the  leased  lines,  is 
two  thousand  three  hundred  and  twenty  miles  in 
length.  The  headquarters  are  at  Louisville,  and  it 
is  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  valuable  of  the  lines 
classed  as  Southern  roads. 


In  conjunction  with  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Road, 
with  which  it  connects  at  Louisville,  a  through  route  to 
points  in  West  Virginia,  Virginia,  Washington,  Balti- 
more, and  Georgia  is  formed.  During  the  past  year 
the  Louisville  and  Nashville  opened  up  a  line  be- 
tween St.  Louis  and  the  city  of  Louisville,  the  route 
being  formed  over  the  Louisville  Air  Line,  which 
meets  the  Louisville  and  Nashville  at  Mount  Vernon, 
111.  The  line  passes  the  county-seat  of  every  county 
on  the  route  in  Illinois,  and  traverses  one  of  the 
best  wheat-growing  sections  of  that  State.  There  is 
a  large  milling  interest  on  the  road,  and  it  is  one  of 
the  heaviest  coal-carrying  roads  that  enters  the  city  of 
St.  Louis. 

St.  Louis  and  Cairo  Railroad. — The  Cairo  and 
St.  Louis  Railroad  Company  was  chartered  Feb.  16, 
1865,  to  construct  a  railroad  from  East  St.  Louis,  via 
Columbia  and  Waterloo,  Red  Bud  and  Sparta, 
Murphysboro'  and  Jonesboro',  to  Cairo.  Ground  was 
broken  Aug.  30,  1871,  and  the  road  was  completed 
and  opened  on  the  1st  of  March,  1875.  On  July  14, 

1881,  the  road  was  sold,  under  foreclosure  of  the  first 
mortgage  bonds,  and  a  new  company  organized,  under 
the  name  of  the  St.  Louis  and  Cairo  Railroad  Com- 
pany, which  took  possession  of  the  road  on  Feb.  1, 

1882.  The  line  of  the  road  extends  from  East  St. 
Louis  to  Cairo,  111.,  a  distance  of  146.5  miles.     The 
St.  Louis  and  Cairo  Railroad  is  a  narrow-gauge  line, 
and  was  the  first  of  its  kind  built  near  St.  Louis.    Its 
business  has  been  chiefly  of  a  local  nature,  and  prin- 
cipally between  the  points  from  which  the  name  is 
derived.     It  passes  through  some  of  the  most  pros- 
perous counties  of  Illinois,  and  has  built  up  a  business 
which,  while  not  being  regarded  as  large,  is  fairly 
satisfactory.      One  of  the  drawbacks  has  been   the 
gauge,  on  account  of  which  the  exchange  of  business 
with  the  standard  gauge  roads  has  been  comparatively 
light.     About  a  year  ago  it  was  generally  supposed 
that  the  St.  Louis  and  Cairo  would   make   connec- 
tion with  the  Texas  and  St.  Louis  (the  Paramore 
system),  and  thus  form  the  connecting  link  between 
that  chain  of  narrow-gauge  lines  and  the  Toledo,  Cin- 
cinnati and  St.  Louis,  the  latter  now  practically  com- 
pleted to  East  St.  Louis.    The  arrangement,  however, 
was  not  carried  out,  as  the  Texas  and  St.  Louis  some 
time  since  made  a  traffic  arrangement  with  the  Cairo 
Short  Line  and  the  Illinois  Central. 

The  directors  of  the  company  in  1882  were  S. 
Corning  Judd,  H.  B.  Whitehouse,  Chicago;  J.  A. 
Horsey,  E.  Norton,  New  York  ;  J.  B.  Livingston, 
East  St.  Louis ;  F.  Bross,  Cairo.  President,  W.  F. 
Whitehouse,  Chicago ;  General  Superintendent, 
Charles  Hamilton,  St.  Louis. 


1202 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


The  Toledo,  Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis  Railroad 
is  the  longest  narrow-gauge  road  east  of  the  Missis- 
sippi River,  and  is  now  practically  finished  to  East 
St.  Louis,  where  track-yards,  freight-houses,  and  de- 
pots are  being  provided.  The  original  name  of  the 
road  was  the  Toledo,  Delphos  and  Bloomington,  but 
it  was  subsequently  changed  to  the  style  given  above. 
The  system  now  embraces  a  mileage  of  about  nine 
hundred  miles,  and  the  necessary  amount  of  money 
has  been  secured  to  put  in  order  and  equip  the  St. 
Louis  end.  At  Delphos,  Ohio,  the  line  branches  to 
St.  Louis,  making  nearly  a  direct  route  from  St.  Louis 
to  Toledo,  Ohio.  This  will  be  a  most  important  road 
to  St.  Louis,  as  it  runs  through  the  upper  Ohio  val- 
ley, and  thus  opens  up  to  trade  a  territory  not  here- 
tofore directly  tributary  to  this  market. 

The  West  End  Narrow-Gauge  Railway  extends 
from  Grand  Avenue,  St.  Louis,  to  Florissant,  Mo.,  a 
distance  of  sixteen  miles.  It  was  opened  Oct.  1, 
1878,  and  sold  under  foreclosure  in  March,  1879. 
The  president  of  the  company  is  Erastus  Wells ; 
Superintendent,  Holla  Wells ;  Secretary  and  Treasurer, 
William  D.  Henry. 

The  East  St.  Louis  and  Carondelet  Railway 
was  chartered  on  the  18th  of  February,  1857,  and 
opened  Sept,  26,  1872.  It  is  used  chiefly  as  a  con- 
necting road  for  all  lines  terminating  at  East  St.  Louis. 
It  extends  from  East  St.  Louis  to  Falling  Springs, 
111.,  a  distance  of  9.25  miles,  with  a  branch  to  East 
Carondelet,  a  distance  of  2.25  miles.  At  East  Ca- 
rondelet. by  means  of  the  Missouri  Pacific  steam  ferry, 
cars  are  transferred  to  and  fro  between  the  Missouri 
Pacific  and  San  Francisco  and  Iron  Mountain  Roads 
and  the  roads  on  the  east  bank  of  the  river.  The 
officers  of  the  company  are  Thomas  D.  Messier,  presi- 
dent, Pittsburgh  ;  John  B.  Bowman,  secretary,  East 
St.  Louis ;  W.  H.  Barnes,  treasurer,  Pittsburgh ; 
Joseph  Hill,  general  superintendent,  St.  Louis. 

The  East  St.  Louis  Connecting  Railway  ex- 
tends along  the  levee  in  East  St.  Louis  a  distance  of 
1.25  miles.  The  company  was  chartered  Dec.  2G, 
1877,  and  the  road  was  opened  Oct.  28,  1879.  The 
officers  are  S.  C.  Clubb,  president,  St.  Louis ;  S.  A. 
Chouteau,  secretary,  St.  Louis;  Gordon  Willis,  gen- 
eral freight  agent,  East  St.  Louis;  H.  L.  Clark, 
treasurer,  St.  Louis ;  Robert  Henry,  road-master, 
East  St.  Louis. 

The  Illinois  and  St.  Louis  Railroad  and  Coal 
Company  was  chartered  originally  as  the  St.  Clair 
Railroad  Company  on  the  26th  of  February,  1841, 
and  the  name  was  changed  to  that  of  the  Pittsburgh 
Railroad  and  Coal  Company,  chartered  Feb.  10, 1859. 
The  corporation  was  reorganized  under  its  present 


title  on  the  16th  of  February,  1865.  The  line  ex- 
tends from  Belleville,  111.,  to  East  St.  Louis,  111.,  a 
distance  of  fifteen  miles,  and  has  coal-mine  branches 
aggregating  three  miles  in  length. 

The  St.  Louis  Bridge  Railroad  was  operated 
until  1881  by  the  St.  Louis  Bridge  Company,  which 
succeeded  (March  17,  1879)  the  Illinois  and  St. 
Louis  Bridge  Company,  sold  out  under  foreclosure. 
On  the  1st  of  July,  1881,  the  bridge  was  leased  to 
the  Missouri  Pacific  and  Wabash,  St.  Louis  and 
Pacific  Railway  Companies.  The  length  of  the  track 
on  the  great  bridge  across  the  Mississippi  and  its 
approaches  is  6439  feet,  and  the  length  in  St.  Louis 
is  11.19  miles,  and  in  East  St.  Louis  5.77  miles. 
The  bridge  has  two  roadways, — the  lower  one  for 
steam  railway  traffic  alone,  the  upper  one  for  horse 
railways,  wagons,  and  foot-passengers. 

The  St.  Louis  Coal  Railroad  is  owned  and  con- 
trolled chiefly  by  capitalists  of  St.  Louis,  mostly 
manufacturers  and  coal-miners.  Its  length  is  now 
about  one  hundred  miles.  It  runs  to  some  of  the 
largest  coal-mines  in  Illinois,  and  there  are  being 
started  on  the  line  som«  iron-  and  steel-works  that 
promise  to  be  the  largest  in  the  State.  It  reaches 
St.  Louis  over  the  Cairo  Short  Line  track. 

The  Tunnel  Railroad  of  St.  Louis  was  formerly 
the  St.  Louis  Tunnel  Railroad,  which  was  sold  under 
foreclosure,  and  a  new  company  formed  under  the 
title  of  the  Tunnel  Railroad  of  St.  Louis,  with  a 
capital  of  one  million  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars,  divided  into  shares  of  one  hundred  dollars 
each.  In  July,  1881,  this  company  leased  its  road 
and  property  to  the  Wabash,  St.  Louis  and  Pacific 
and  the  Missouri  Pacific  Railway  Companies,  which 
agreed  to  pay  as  rental  an  annual  dividend  of  six  per 
cent,  on  the  capital  stock,  to  pay  two  thousand  five 
hundred  dollars  a  year  for  the  expenses  of  organiza- 
tion, to  provide  and  maintain  offices  in  New  York 
and  St.  Louis,  and  to  pay  all  expenses  of  advertising, 
etc.  The  president  of  the  company  is  Julius  S. 
Walsh,  of  St.  Louis.  The  length  of  the  tunnel  is 
about  one  mile. 

MILEAGE  OF  RAILROADS  CENTERING  IN  ST.  LOUIS   IN  1882. 


HAILROADS    EAST   OF  THE   MISSISSIPPI. 


Miles. 


Ynndalia  Line 356 

Ohio  and  Mississippi 624 

Bee  Line 863 

Chicago  and  Alton 567 

AVab:ish,St.  Louis  and  Pacific  (east)..  2307 

Chicago,  Burlington  and  Quincy 1064 

Louisville  and  Nashville 319 

St.  Louis  nnd  Cairo 151 

Toledo,  Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis 900 

Cairo  Short  Line ,  150 


Total  eastward . 


7,301 


RAILROADS. 


1203 


RAILROADS   WEST    OF   THE   MISSISSIPPI. 


Miles. 


Southwestern  system 5944 

St.  Louis  and  San  Francisco 891 

Wabash,  St.  Louis  and  Pacific  (west)..  1363 

Chicago  and  Alton  (west) 265 

Keokuk  and  St.  Louis  Line 189 

Texas  and  St.  Louis 800 

Chicago,    Burlington     and     Quincy 
(west) 1522 


Total  westward.. 
Aggregate.. 


10,924 
18,225 


St.  Louis,  although  advantageously  situated,  with 
sixteen  railroads  and  three  great  rivers,  has  labored 
under  many  disadvantages  in  respect  to  freight  rates, 
and  an  attempt  is  now  being  made  through  the  or- 
ganization of  a  Freight  Bureau  to  obtain  her  just 
rights  in  the  premises.  The  amount  of  business  in 
the  past  year,  as  indicated  by  the  tonnage  handled, 
shows  a  steady  increase,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  fol- 
lowing table  : 

1882.  1881.  1880. 

Tons  freight  received...     7,702,702       7,602,985       6,990,384 
Tons  fi eight  shipped 4,519,065       4,346,937       3,793,205 

Total  by  river  and  rail  12,221,767     11,949,922     10,783,589 

"Union  Depot,  on  the  south  side  of  Poplar  Street, 
between  Ninth  and  Twelfth,  is  the  central  point  at 
which  converge  the  railroads  entering  St.  Louis.  It 
is  a  large  building  of  brick  and  stone,  and  was  erected 
by  a  company  organized  on  the  10th  of  June,  1871. 
At  the  preliminary  meeting  held  for  the  purpose  of 
completing  the  organization  "  for  the  establishment  of 
a  union  passenger  depot  and  tunnel  in  St.  Louis" 
the  following  persons  were  present : 

Daniel  Torrance,  president  0.  and  M.  R.  R.  Co.;  A.  N. 
Christie,  vice-president  0.  and  M.  R.  R.  Co.;  Gen.  L.  B.  Par- 
sons, director  0.  and  M.  and  North  Mo.  R.  R. ;  W.  R.  McKeen, 
president  St.  Louis,  Vandalia  and  Terre  Haute  Railroad ;  W. 
G.  Broughton,  superintendent  St.  L.  and  St.  J. ;  E.  W.  Wood- 
ward, president  Indianapolis  and  St.  Louis  R.  R. ;  Oscar  Town- 
send,  president  C.  C.  C.  and  I.  11.  R.  Co.;  J.  J.  Mitchell,  di- 
rector C.  and  A.  R.  R. ;  J.  C.  McMulkn,  general  superintendent 
C.  and  A.  R.  R. ;  Gen.  E.  F.  Winslow,  president  St.  L.  and  S. 
E.  R.  R.;  A.  Carnegie,  director  U.  P.  R.  R.;  Capt.  James  B. 
Eads,  chief  engineer  Bridge  Company;  Dr.  William  Taussig, 
chairman  executive  committee  Bridge  Co.;  William  P.  Shinn, 
gineral  agent  Pcnn.  Central  R.  R.  Co.;  James  Smith,  of  Jami- 
son, Smith  &  Cotling,  bankers,  New  York ;  Col.  T.  A.  Scott, 
president  Penn.  Central  R.  R.  Co.;  J.  A.  McCullough,  general 
manager  Penn.  Central;  J.  N.  Drummond,  assistant  president 
T.  W.  and  W.  R.  W.  Co.;  Gen.  A.  Anderson,  vice-president  T. 
W.  and  W.  R.  W.  Co. ;  Hon.  W.  M.  McPherson,  director  in 
Bridge  Company  and  N.  M.  R.  R.  Co.;  Col.  George  E.  Leighton 
and  B.  M.  Chambers,  directors  in  Mo.  Pacific  11.  R.  Co. ;  Thomas 
Alkn,  president  Iron  Mountain  R.  R. 

On  motion  of  Col.  Thomas  A.  Scott,  the  following 
plan  of  organization  was  adopted : 

"  1.  The  company  to  be  organized  on  a  basis  of  five  millions 
of  dollars,  as  follows: 


"  First  mortgage  seven  per  cent,  gold  bonds, 

free  of  tax , 

Three  millions  capital  stock 


"From  which  it  is  expected  to  realize — 

Two  millions  of  bonds,  at  say  85 

Three   millions  capital    (assuming  that  only 
one-third  will  be  called) 


"Which  will  cover  the  following  estimated 
cost : 

Real  estate 

Tunnel  (according  to  engineer's  estimates) 

Depot  building  (according  to  engineer's  esti- 
mates)  

Interest  on  bonds  during  construction 

Contingencies 


$2,000,000 
3,000,000 

$5,000,000 

$1,700,000 

1,000,000 


$2,700,000 


$750,000 
615,000 

1,000,000 
100,000 
235,000 

$2,700,000 


"2.  The  amount  necessary  to  pay  the  annual  interest  on  the 
bonds  and  the  premium  thereon  (say  $155,000),  also  eight  per 
cent,  interest  on  the  paid-up  capital  ($80,000),  also  the  costs 
and  expenses  of  maintenance  (say  $50,000),  and  a  sufficient 
amount  to  provide  a  sinking  fund  of  not  less  than  $50,000  per 
annum,  which  shall  bo  used  by  the  trustees,  first,  to  reduce  by 
lot  annually  the  bonded  indebtedness  until  it  is  paid  off,  and 
thereafter  to  return  ratably  to  each  shareholder  ninety  per 
cent,  of  his  stock  investment,  and  when  this  is  accomplished, 
the  depot  and  its  business  shall  ever  thereafter  be  subject  only 
to  such  assessment  as  will  be  required  to  pay  its  maintenance. 
Taxes  and  working  expenses  with  eight  per  cent,  per  annum 
on  the  remaining  ten  per  cent,  of  stock,  which  shall  be  pre- 
served for  the  purpose  of  holding  intact  the  corporate  organi- 
zation and  franchises  of  the  company,  shall  be  assessed  pro 
rata  against  all  the  roads  using  the  depot  and  tunnel. 

"  3.  Contracting  roads  pay  only  the  net  amount  of  such  as- 
sessment; non-contracting  roads  or  future  lines  shall  pay  thirty 
(30)  per  cent,  in  addition  to  their  j»-o  rated  assessment,  of  which 
additional  percentage  one-half  is  to  be  returned  to  the  contract- 
ing roads  according  to  their  pro  rata,  and  the  other  half,  to- 
gether with  all  the  rents  obtained  from  the  building  proper, 
such  as  offices,  eating-houses,  restaurants,  etc.,  goes  to  stock. 

"  4.  AVith  the  consent  of  the  depot  company  and  two-thirds 
of  the  contracting  lines,  the  additional  percentage  of  the  as- 
sessment against  non-contracting  lines  may  be  reduced  to  not 
less  than  ten  (10)  per  cent. 

"5.  The  pro  rating  shall  be  made  on  the  tonnnge  of  freight 
passing  through  the  tunnel  or  going  to  the  depot,  whether 
through  the  tunnel  or  otherwise,  and  also  on  each  passenger-, 
baggage-,  and  express-car  entering  the  depot  or  tunnel  (an 
account  of  which  shall  bo  kept  by  the  depot  company),  and 
each  passenger-,  baggage-,  and  express-car  shall  be  assessed  the 
same  as  ten  tons  of  freight.  But  the  board  of  directors  shall, 
by  the  assent  of  two-thirds  of  its  entire  body,  have  authority 
to  make  and  establish  from  time  to  time  such  tariff  of  rates  and 
charges,  both  as  regards  the  through  and  local  business  that 
may  be  done  in  said  tunnel  and  depot,  as  they  may  deem  just 
and  equitable,  it  being,  however,  provided  that  the  rates  so  es- 
tablished shall  produce  the  amount  required  as  stated  in  Sec- 
tion 2. 

"6.  No  charge  shall  be  made  to  contracting  roads  for  loco- 
motives or  empty  cars. 

"7.  The  privileges  of  the  depot  consist  in  the  use  of  tracks 
in  the  depot  proper  and  sidings  for  empty  trains,  waiting-rooms, 
baggage-  and  conductors'  rooms,  ticket-  and  telegraph-offices. 

"  8.  The  choice  of  tracks  and  other  depot  facilities  shall  be 
at  the  option  of  contracting  roads.  In  case  of  disagreement  it 
shall  be  determined  by  lot. 


1204 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


"9.  The  passage  of  trains  through  the  tunnel  shall  be  regu- 
lated in  the  same  order  of  precedence  as  that  established  by  the 
bridge  company. 

"  10.  Each  contracting  road  shall  bind  itself  to  use  the  pas- 
senger depot  and  tunnel  during  the  term  of  the  corporate  ex- 
istence of  the  Union  Depot  Company,  and  they  further  respec- 
tively agree  to  run  each  and  all  of  their  passenger-trains 
running  through  the  present  limits  of  St.  Louis  to  and  from 
said  company's  depot  in  St.  Louis,  and  to  pay  such  rates  for 
their  use  and  maintenance  (according  to  provisions  of  para- 
graph 2)  as  may  be  equitably  assessed  against  it  according  to 
their  use,  and  shall  subscribe  not  less  than  fifty  thousand  dol- 
lars to  its  capital  stock,  payable  in  installments,  as  called  for 
by  the  board  during  the  progress  of  the  work. 

"11.  Every  contracting  road  terminating  in  East  St.  Louis 
or  in  St.  Louis  shall  be  entitled  to  be  represented  by  one  di- 
rector in  the  board  of  directors,  and  provision  shall  be  made  as 
soon  as  possible  to  carry  this  article  into  effect." 

The  following  were  the  articles  of  association : 

"ARTICLE  1.  The  corporate  title  of  this  association  shall  be 
the  Union  Depot  Company  of  St.  Louis. 

"  ART.  2.  The  object  of  this  company  shall  be  the  acquisition 
of  the  necessary  grounds  and  the  erection  of  the  necessary 
buildings  for  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  a  union 
passenger  depot  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  also,  ultimately,  of  a 
union  freight  depot  for  the  accommodation  of  through  and  local 
freight,  and  to  make  such  arrangements  with  the  bridge  com- 
pany as  may  be  found  needful  for  the  early  completion  of  the 
connections  leading  from  the  bridge  to  the  depot  or  depots  of 
this  company  or  other  companies,  by  tunnel  or  otherwise. 

•'  AUT.  3.  The  company  shall  organize  under  the  provisions 
of  the  act  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Missouri, 
approved  March  10,  1871,  providing  for  the  formation  of  such 
companies. 

"  AUT.  4.  The  capital  of  the  company  shall  be  three  million 
dollars,  to  be  represented  by  thirty  thousand  shares  of  one  hun- 
dred dollars  each,  and  its  corporate  existence  shall  continue  for 
nine  hundred  and  ninety-nine  years. 

"ART.  5.  So  soon  as  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  are  sub- 
scribed to  the  capital  stock,  the  subscribers  thereto  shall,  either 
in  person  or  by  duly  executed  proxy,  elect  a  board  of  nine 
directors,  who  shall  continue  in  office  for  one  year,  and  who, 
immediately  after  their  election,  shall  organize  by  the  choice  of 
a  president  from  among  their  number,  and  of  a  secretary  and 
treasurer.  Until  such  time  as  the  company  has  its  own  offices, 
such  election  and  meetings  of  the  board  shall  be  held  at  the  office 
of  the  Illinois  and  St.  Louis  Bridge  Company. 

"  ART.  6.  Five  per  cent,  of  the  amount  subscribed  shall  be 
paid  in  cash  at  the  time  of  subscription,  and  until  a  treasurer 
is  elected  William  Taussig,  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  is  author- 
ized to  collect  such  first  cash  payment. 

"  ART.  7.  The  board  of  directors  shall,  as  soon  as  practicable, 
enact  by-laws  for  the  government  of  the  company,  and  the  '  plan 
of  organization'  hereto  attached  shall  form  the  basis  of  such  by- 
laws. 

"  The  undersigned  agree  to  the  above  articles  of  association, 
and  subscribe  the  number  of  shares  set  opposite  their  names  to 

the  capital  stock  of  the  Union  Depot  Company  of  St.  Louis  : 

• 
Subscribers.  No.  Shares. 

Ohio  and  Mississippi  Railway  Company,  by  D.  Torrance, 

president 1000 

A.  N.  Christie 1000 

Louis  B.  Parsons 1000 

The  Toledo,  Wabash  and  Western,  by  A.  Anderson..*...  2500 
St.  Louis,  Vondalia  and  Terre  llaute,  by  William  K. 
McKeen 1000 


Indianapolis  and  St.  Louis  Railroad  Company,  by  E.  W. 

Woodward 500 

J.  B.  Ends,  on  account  of  the  North  Missouri  Railroad..  1000 
Illinois  and  St.  Louis  Bridge  Company,  by  William  M. 

McPherson,  president 1000 

Pittsburgh,  Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis  Railroad  Company, 

by  Thomas  A.  Scott,  president 2250 

The  Pennsylvania  Company,  by  Thomas  A.  Scott,  presi- 
dent   2000 

St.   Louis  and  Iron   Mountain   Railroad   Company,  by 

Thomas  Allen,  president 500 

Chicago  and  Alton  Railroad,  by  J.  J.  Mitchell 500 

James  B.  Eads 50 

James  D.  Smith 50 

Andrew  Carnegie 100 

William  Taussig 100 

Thomas  A.  Scott 50 

James  II.  Britton 50 

D.  Torrance 50 

A.  N.  Chiistie 50 


Stock  having  been  subscribed  to  the  extent  of  fifteen 
thousand  shares,  a  meeting  of  the  stockholders  was 
held.  Thomas  A.  Scott  was  elected  chairman,  and 
William  P.  Shinn  secretary. 

On  motion  of  Capt.  Eads  it  was  resolved  that  the 
subscribers  proceed  to  an  election  of  nine  directors  of 
the  company  by  ballot.  Messrs.  Smith  and  Britton 
were  appointed  tellers.  The  election  having  been 
held,  the  tellers  reported  the  whole  number  of  votes 
cast  fourteen  thousand  three  hundred  ;  necessary  to 
a  choice,  seven  thousand  one  hundred  and  seventy-six. 

The  following  gentlemen  were  declared  duly  elected 
for  the  ensuing  year,  each  receiving  fourteen  thousand 
three  hundred  and  fifty  votes,  to  wit :  D.  Torrance, 
E.  W.  Woodward,  William  R.  McKeen,  Thomas 
Allen,  J.  B.  Eads,  Thomas  A.  Scott,  J.  J.  Mitchell, 
A.  Boody,  William  Taussig.  The  meeting  then  ad- 
journed. 

The  board  of  directors  then  met,  and  was  called 
to  order  by  Col.  T.  A.  Scott.  Dr.  William  Taussig 
was  then  elected  president  of  the  board,  and  Daniel 
Torrance  vice-president ;  E.  W.  Woodward  was 
chosen  secretary  pro  tern. ;  Col.  James  II.  Britton 
was  elected  treasurer  of  the  board. 

On  motion  of  Col.  Scott,  it  was  resolved  that  the 
president  be  requested  to  collect  and  prepare  a  report 
of  all  the  data  and  information  respecting  sites  and 
plans  for  depot  purposes,  with  power  to  employ  proper 
persons  to  assist  in  obtaining  such  data. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Mitchell,  it  was  resolved  that  the 
books  of  subscription  to  the  stock  of  the  company 
be  closed  until  otherwise  ordered  by  the  board. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  directors  held  on  the  27th  of 
June,  1871,  it  was 

"Resolved,  That  a  special  committee  of  five  be  appointed  to 
confer  with  the  authorities  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  with  the 
officers  of  the  several  lines  of  railroads  west  of  the  river  that 
terminate  in  St.  Louis,  and  such  other  parties  as  said  committee 
may  deem  needful,  in  order  to  ascertain  whether  the  facilities 
and  united  action  can  be  obtained,  said  committee  to  have 


RAILROADS. 


1205 


power  to  call  the  board  together  whenever  they  are  prepared  to 
submit  a  report  for  consideration  of  the  board. 

"Resolved,  That  no  location  of  the  depot  west  of  Fourth 
Street  should  be  considered." 

The  resolutions  were  adopted  unanimously,  and  the 
following  gentlemen  were  appointed  the  committee : 
Col.  Thomas  A.  Scott,  D.  Torrance,  A.  Boody, 
Thomas  Allen,  J.  B.  Eads.  The  president,  Dr. 
Taussig,  was  added  to  the  committee.  The  site  on 
Poplar  Street  was  finally  chosen,  and  the  building 
erected. 

On  the  9th  of  May,  1874,  the  St.  Louis  Union 
Depot  Company  was  chartered  under  an  act  author- 
izing the  formation  of  union  depots  and  stations  for 
railroads  in  the  cities  of  Missouri,  approved  March 
18,  1871.  The  charter  was  to  run  ninety-nine  years. 
The  capital  stock  of  the  company  was  $1,000,000, 
divided  into  ten  thousand  shares  of  one  hundred 
dollars  each.  The  following  is  the  list  of  incorpo- 
rators,  with  the  amount  of  stock  subscribed  by  each : 

William  D.  Griswold $10,000 

William  H.  Clement 25,000 

Joseph  N.  Kinney 25,000 

llobert  M.  Shoemaker 25,000 

Peter  W.  Strader '. 25,000 

AVilliam  Taussig 5,000 

Samuel  Gaty 2,500 

Total $117,500 

OMNIBUS  AND   STREET-CAR   LINES. 

In  St.  Louis  as  elsewhere  the  omnibus  preceded 
the  street-car,  just  as  the  stage  preceded  the  railway 
train. 

In  March,  1838,  Mr.  Belcher  was  proprietor  of  an 
omnibus  line  which  a  local  journal  stated  was  "  de- 
serving of  the  praise  and  patronage  of  the  public  for 
the  handsome  and  convenient  style  in  which  his  car- 
riage is  fitted  up."  This  enterprise  did  not,  however, 
receive  the  patronage  it  deserved,  and  Mr.  Belcher's 
omnibus  line  soon  suspended  operations.  In  the  fall 
of  1844,  Erastus  Wells,  now  one  of  the  leading 
citizens  of  St.  Louis,  associated  himself  with  Calvin 
.Case,  and  the  firm  of  Case  &  Wells  established  an 
omnibus  line.  Referring  to  the  enterprise  a  St.  Louis 
newspaper  of  June  11,  1845,  said, — 

"  It  is  but  a  few  months  since  our  opinion  was  asked  as  to  the 
probable  profits  of  an  omnibus  to  be  run  in  a  certain  part  of  the 
city.  At  that  time  no  omnibuses  were  run  in  the  city.  The  ex- 
periment was  attempted.  The  first  was  started  by  Messrs.  Case 
&  Wells,  to  run  from  the  National  Hotel,  on  Market  Street,  to 
the  ferry  at  the  upper  end  of  the  city.  We  believe  it  has  been 
as  successful  as  could  have  been  expected  from  a  new  under- 
taking. At  first  people  were  a  little  shy  of  it;  some  did  not 
think  it  exactly  a  genteel  way  of  traveling  the  streets.  These 
scruples  have  entirely  disappeared,  and  everybody  now  rides  in 
them,  and  is  glad  of  the  opportunity.  Messrs.  Case  &  Wells 
manifest  a  determination  to  keep  up  with  the  encouragement 
given,  and  have  lately  put  on  their  line  a  new  and  beautiful 
77 


omnibus  manufactured  in  Troy,  N.  Y.  It  is  a  fine  specimen  of 
workmanship,  and  is  a  very  comfortable  carriage.  In  addition 
to  the  line  above  mentioned,  wo  now  have  regular  lines  running 
from  the  National  Hotel  to  the  arsenal,  along  Second  Street;  a 
line  from  the  Planters'  House  to  the  arsenal,  along  Fourth 
Street;  a  line  from  the  corner  of  Fourth  and  Market  Streets  to 
the  Camp  Springs,  and  a  line  to  the  Prairie  House.  All  seem 
to  be  doing  a  flourishing  and  profitable  business,  and  they 
prove  to  be  a  great  convenience  to  persons  residing  in  distant 
parts,  and  to  those  having  business  to  attend  to  in  remote  parts 
of  the  city.  They  have  contributed  not  a  little  to  give  an  in- 
crease of  value  to  real  estate  lying  at  a  distance  from  the  centre 
or  business  part  of  the  city." 

The  first  omnibus  of  St.  Louis  manufacture  was 
placed  upon  the  Market  Street  and  Carondclet  Avenue 
line  Sept.  17, 1845.  It  was  constructed  by  T.  Salorgne, 
and  was  "  in  every  respect  equal  to  those  used  on  the 
Case  &  Wells  line."1  The  Sunday  idea  in  184(1 
entered  into  the  legislation  about  omnibuses,  and  the 
City  Council  adopted  the  following  ordinance : 

"  It  shall  not  be  lawful  for  any  omnibus  or  vehicle  capable  of 
containing  more  than  four  persons  to  be  driven  in  the  streets  of 
this  city  on  Sunday  after  the  hour  of  two  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon, for  the  purpose  of  carrying  passengers  from  point  to  point 
within  the  city,  or  from  a  point  within  the  city  to  a  point  with- 
out the  same,  or  from  a  point  without  the  city  to  a  point  within 
the  same.  For  any  violation  of  this  section,  the  owner,  driver, 
or  person  in  charge  of  any  such  vehicle  shall  forfeit  and  pay  for 
the  first  offense  not  less  than  twenty  dollars,  for  the  second 
offense  not  less  than  fifty  dollars,  for  the  third  offtnse  not  less 
than  one  hundred  dollars,  and  upon  a  third  conviction  the 
license  to  run  such  vehicle  shall  be  adjudged  to  be  forfeited." 

"The  above,"  said  the  Jtepullivun  of  June  22d,  in  reference 
to  the  ordinance,  "is  a  fair  specimen  of  the  legislation  of  the 
Native  American  City  Council.  The  distinction  drawn  between 
the  morning  and  evening  of  Sunday,  making  an  act  lawful  if 
done  before  2  o'clock  P.M.  and  unlawful  if  done  after  that  hour, 
the  distinction  between  carriages  that  will  hold  four  and  those 
that  will  hold  five  persons,  the  allowing  the  rich  and  prodigal 
who  can  own  or  hire  a  carriage  an  unbounded  latitude  to  ride 
and  drive  through  the  streets  at  all  hours,  while  the  laboring 
and  less  prodigal  must  not  enjoy  a  ride,  although  it  only  costs 
a  dime,  is  worthy  of  this  enlightened  age  and  the  liberal  spirit 
of  the  board  that  can  sanction  it." 

In  1850,  Erastusi  Wells,  with  Calvin  Case,  Robert 
O'Blennus,  and  Lawrence  Matthews,  formed  a  com- 
bination which  purchased  and  operated  all  the  omni- 
bus lines  in  St.  Louis.  In  the  following  year  there 
were  six  lines  in-  existence,  as  follows  :  First,  from  the 
arsenal  to  Carondelet ;  second,  from  the  corner  of 
Market  and  Second  Streets  to  the  arsenal ;  third,  from 
the  corner  of  Main  and  Market  to  Camp  Springs ; 
fourth,  from  the  corner  of  Broadway  and  Franklin 
Avenue  to  Rising  Sun  Tavern ;  fifth,  from  the  cor- 
ner of  Market  and  Third  to  Bremen;  sixth,  from 
Bremen  to  Bissell's  Ferry.  The  omnibuses  from 
these  points  started  from  every  four  to  ten  minutes, 

i  Republican,  Sept.  17,  1815. 


1206 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


and  the  lines  comprised  in  all  ninety  omnibuses,  four 
hundred  and  fifty  head  of  horses,  four  stables,  and 
about  one  hundred  hands. 

Luther  Case  also  had  a  line  running  on  Seventh 
Street,  from  the  corner  of  Morgan  Street  and  Broad- 
way to  the  Flora  Garden,  and  comprising  seven  omni- 
buses, forty-five  head  of  horses,  and  about  fifteen 
hand?. 

William  Billings  was  just  entering  into  the  busi- 
ness, and  had  three  omnibuses  on  Broadway,  which 
ran  from  the  corner  of  Second  and  Market  Streets  to 
Bremen. 

In  1859  the  city's  territory  had  grown  to  such  di- 
mensions that  the  introduction  of  the  street-car  sys- 
tem had  become  a  necessity.  On  the  3d  of  January 
of  that  year  a  meeting  of  citizens  of  the  First  Ward 
was  held  at  Jaeger's  Garden,  "  to  consider  the  subject 
of  horse  railroads."  T.  C.  Chester  called  the  meeting 
to  order,  and  David  Bayles  was  elected  chairman. 
Benjamin  Bryson,  Sebastian  Burbeck,  and  Noah  H. 
Whittemore  were  chosen  vice-chairmen,  and  William 
S.  Hilyer  secretary.  On  taking  the  chair,  Mr.  Bayles 
made  a  short  address,  in  the  course  of  which  he 
argued  that  the  establishment  of  a  safe,  speedy,  and 
comfortable  mode  of  travel  from  one  end  of  the  city 
to  the  other  parts  would  enhance  the  value  of  sub- 
urban property,  increase  the  population  of  the  out- 
skirts, and  build  up  business  in  those  localities.  A 
committee  consisting  of  Thomas  C.  Chester,  H.  C. 
Lynch,  B.  Vanewitz,  A.  Hammer,  and  Joseph  N. 
Lock,  was  appointed  by  the  chairman  to  draft  resolu- 
tions expressive  of  the  sense  of  the  meeting.  While 
the  committee  were  absent,  W.  S.  Hilyer  addressed 
the  meeting. 

The  committee  on  resolutions  reported  through 
Mr.  Chester  the  following : 

"  Resolved,  By  the  citizens  of  the  First  Ward,  in  mass-meet- 
ing assembled, — 

•'1.  That  the  construction  of  horse  railways  upon  the  public 
streets,  connecting  the  suburbs  more  clcfsely  with  the  centre  and 
with  each  other,  and  affording  increased  facilities  for  rapid  and 
convenient  communication  with  all  parts  of  the  city,  is  a 
measure  commending  itself  highly  to  our  favor  and  encourage- 
ment. 

"2.  That  the  successful  completion  and  operation  of  such 
railways  will  contribute  in  an  especial  manner  to  the  growth 
and  prosperity  of  our  own  ward,  by  inducing  settlement  and 
improvement  within  its  limits,  and  filling  up  our  now  large 
vacant  territory  with  an  industrious  and  thrift}-  population. 

"  3.  That  the  aldermen  and  delegates  of  the  First  Ward  in 
the  City  Council  be,  and  they  are  hereby  instructed  to  en- 
courage and  promote  by  all  lawful  means  within  the  sphere  of 
their  official  duties  the  granting  of  the  right  of  way  for  one 
track  on  Carondelet  Avenue,  and  one  on  Seventh  Street,  and 
such  other  necessary  facilities  to  city  railway  companies  as  will 
contribute  to  the  speedy  completion  of  the  roads,  limiting  them, 
however,  to  passenger  traffic  alone,  and  surrounding  them  with 


such  proper  and  wholesome  restrictions  as  will  insure  the  safety 
and  convenience  of  the  public." 

Mr.  Chester,  on  reporting  the  resolutions,  made  a 
few  appropriate  remarks.  Dr.  Hammer  also  spoke, 
"  criticising  the  action  of  the  late  meeting  of  citizens 
of  the  Second  and  Third  Wards,  and  ascribing  the 
disaffection  manifested  there  to  the  influence  of  a  few 
politicians  who  had  axes  to  grind." 

T.  E.  Courtenay  followed  in  a  brief  speech,  setting 
forth  the  advantages  of  street  railroads,  and  answer- 
ing the  arguments  of  their  opponents. 

The  resolutions  were  then  submitted  to  the  action 
of  those  present,  and  were  adopted  by  a  large  vote. 

The  first  street  car  corporation  in  St.  Louis  was  the 
Missouri  Railroad  Company,  and  the  first  car  was 
run  on  the  4th  of  July,  1859,  the  driver  being  the 
president  of  the  company,  Hon.  Erastus  Wells.  A 
contemporaneous  account  thus  describes  the  event : 

"In  accordance  with  previous  arrangements  and  expecta- 
tions, this  the  first  horse  railroad  in  St.  Louis  was  brought  into 
practical  use  yesterday  at  ten  o'clock  by  running  over  its  track 
the  first  car,  which  arrived  via  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Rail- 
road yesterday  morning,  and  was  immediately  placed  upon  the 
track  at  the  Fourth  Street  termination  of  the  road,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  a  large  number  of  spectators  congregated  there  to  wit- 
ness the  somewhat 'novel  sight  of  a  horse-car.  It  is  a  beautiful 
vehicle,  light,  elegant,  and  commodious,  built  with  fifteen  others 
of  the  same  style  for  the  Missouri  Railroad  Company  by  Kiui- 
ball  &  Gorton,  Philadelphia,  at  a  cost  of  nine  hundred  dollars, 
including  freights,  etc. 

"At  ten  o'clock  a  few  invited  guests  with  the  directors  of  tho 
road  took  their  scats  within  the  car,  and  the  horses  were  at- 
tached to  the  pole,  which  can  readily  be  shipped  to  cither  end 
of  the  car.  Mr.  E.  Wells,  president  of  the  road,  then  took  the 
reins,  and  after  a  jerk  or  two  the  first  car  moved  slowly  but 
steadily  up  the  track,  amidst  loud  shouts  and  cheers  from  the 
crowd.  Troops  of  urchins  followed  in  its  wake,  endeavoring  to 
hang  on,  and  we  fear  unless  this  is  prevented  in  future  serious 
accidents  may  occur.  The  centre  of  the  track,  or  footpath, 
being  macadamized  and  not  sufficiently  settled,  small  pieces  of 
rock  were  constantly  being  detached  by  the  horses'  feet,  and 
falling  upon  the  track  material!}'  retarded  the  progress  of  the 
car,  in  several  cases  throwing  it  from  the  track.  The  switches 
or  turn-out?,  too,  require  some  alterntion,  as  they  do  not  answer 
entirely  the  purpose  intended.  Several  times  the  car  failed, 
to  run  upon  the  track  intended,  and  a  general  backing  out 
was  found  necessary  before  the  car  could  proceed.  But  after 
various  delays  of  this  nature  the  car  arrived  at  Tenth  Street, 
the  track  having  been  cleared  of  stone  only  that  distance.  The 
horses  were  then  attached  to  the  other  end,  and  the  return  trip 
progressed,  and  after  but  few  delays,  the  track  being  much 
improved  by  the  first  trip,  the  pioneer  car  arrived  at  Fourth 
Street,  where  it  was  again  greeted  by  a  large  crowd  of  persons, 
each  waiting  an  opportunity  for  a  free  ride.  During  the  pro- 
gress of  the  car  through  the  streets  its  presence  was  greeted  by 
hundreds  of  fair  faces  beaming  from  every  window  and  door, 
while  shouts  of  joy  from  scores  of  urchins  heralded  its  ap- 
proach. The  first  trip  has  proved  the  enterprise  a  complete 
success,  and  at  each  subsequent  trip  which  was  made  with  the 
car  crowded  to  repletion  fresh  laurels  were  won,  as  the  horses 
pulled  the  enormous  load  without  apparent  effort." 


RAILROADS. 


1207 


During  the  same  year  the  St.  Louis,  Citizens',  and 
People's  Lines  were  started  in  close  succession  in  the 
months  of  August,  September,  and  October.  With 
each  succeeding  year  new  companies  have  been  or- 
ganized and  new  lines  constructed,  until  now  the  city 
is  amply  supplied  with  transportation  facilities.  The 
first  two-story  car,  or  "double-decker,"  was  used  on  the 
Northwestern  St.  Louis  Railway,  Oct.  25, 1874.  The 
running  of  a  steam  motor  was  attempted  in  the  sub- 
urbs, but  the  accidents  occurring  from  the  frightening 
of  horses  caused  the  experiment  to  be  abandoned.  In 
April,  1881,  a  general  strike  was  inaugurated  on  the 
part  of  the  conductors  and  drivers  on  all  the  lines, 
and  resulted  in  a  general  suspension  of  business.  On 
April  24th,  25th,  2Gth,  and  27th  no  cars  were  run  in 
the  city.  On  the  28th  of  April  the  Missouri  Railroad 
Company  and  the  Lindell  Company  effected  a  com- 
promise with  their  employes  and  resumed  business  on 
their  respective  lines.  On  the  29th  and  30th  the  other 
roads  followed  their  example.  The  various  roads  with 
their  connections  form  one  complete  network,  and 
afford  the  traveling  public  every  facility  for  going  to 
any  portion  of  the  city  on  short  notice.  A  uniform 
fare  of  five  cents  is  charged,  the  tickets  on  any  road 
being  good  on  all  others. 

According  to  the  assessment  of  1882,  the  valuation 
of  the  different  street  railway  companies  of  St.  Louis 
is  as  follows : 

Bcnton  and  Bellefontaine,  6J  miles  of  track,  $10,330 ;  real 
estate,  632,760.  Total,  $43,090. 

Ca.-ss  Avenue  and  Fair  Grounds,  8.62  miles  of  track,  §26,550; 
real  estate,  $32,850.  Total,  §59,400. 

Lindell  Railroad,  9J  miles  of  track,  $33,250 ;  real  estate,  $54,- 
020.  Total,  $87,270. 

Missouri  Railroad  (Olive  and  Market  Streets),  Si  miles  of 
track,  $29,750;  real  estate,  $57,240.  Total,  $86,990. 

Mound  City,  6J  miles  of  track,  $15,000. 

People's  Railway,  8  miles  of  track,  $28,000. 

St.  Louis  (Fifth  Street),  14  j  miles,  $44,000;  real  estate,  $39,- 
100.  Total,  $83,100. 

South  St.  Louis,  12  miles  of  track,  $24,400. 

Tower  Grove,  1  mile,  $2000. 

Tower  Grove  and  Lafayette,  3£  miles,  $8000 ;  real  estate, 
$6790.  Total,  $14,790. 

Union  Line  (Fourth  and  Locust),  8  miles,  $28,000  ;  real  estate, 
$15,030.  Total,  $63,030. 

Union  Depot,  10  miles,  $25,000;  real  estate,  $14,390.     Total, 

:;90. 

The  total  length  of  the  roads  is  119.6  miles;  total  number  of 
rars,  4HG;  total  number  of  horses,  2280;  total  number  of  men 
employed,  1010;  total  number  of  passengers  carried,  19,000,000. 

These  companies  return  horses  and  mules  as  follows  :  Benton 
and  Bellefontaine,  132;  Cass  Avenue,  193;  Lindell,  356;  Olive 
and  Market,  295;  Mound  City,  93;  People's,  250;  Fifth  Street, 
437;  South  St.  Louis,  75;  Tower  Grove  and  Lafayette,  93;  Union, 
210;  Union  Depot,  366. 

THE  MISSOURI  RAILROAD  COMPANY  was  organ- 
ized May  10,  1859,  with  a  capital  stock  of  three 


hundred  thousand  dollars,  as  authorized  by  an  act  of 
the  Legislature  of  Missouri  dated  Dec.  13,  1855, 
and  by  an  ordinance  of  the  City  Council  May  6, 
1859.  The  incorporators  were  William  Vanzandt, 
Marcus  M.  Hodgman,  Charles  Hathaway,  Erastus 
Wells,  George  Trask,  Marshall  Brotherton,  and  Wil- 
liam M.  McPherson.  Erastus  Wells  was  chosen 
president  of  the  company  upon  its  organization,  and 
was  successively  re-elected  and  held  the  position  until 
Nov.  5,  1881.  The  construction  of  the  road  was 
commenced  in  the  early  part  of  1859,  and  was  com- 
pleted from  Fourth  and  Olive  Streets  as  far  west  as 
Twelfth  Street  in  July  of  that  year.  On  July  4, 
1859,  as  previously  stated,  the  first  car  was  run  over 
the  track.  The  Fourth  and  Olive  Streets  line  has 
since  been  extended,  running  west  as  far  as  Grand 
Avenue.  In  1859  the  Market  Street  line  extended 
from  Fourth  to  High  Street,  but  has  since  been  ex- 
tended west  to  Grand  Avenue,  and  to  Tower  Grove 
Station.  This  road  was  controlled  and  managed  by 
the  original  incorporators  until  Nov.  5,  1881,  when 
the  stock  was  transferred  to  the  present  corpora- 
tion and  an  election  held,  resulting  as  follows :  P. 
Chouteau  Maffitt,  president ;  John  R.  Lionberger, 
vice-president;  William  D.  Henry,  secretary  and 
treasurer,  and  Charles  M.  Allen,  superintendent ;  P. 

C.  Maffitt,  John   R.  Lionberger,   Charles   Parsons, 
Daniel  Catlin,  and  James  Clarke,  directors.     Under 
the  new  management  the  capital  stock  of  the  road 
was  increased  from  three  hundred  thousand  dollars  to 
six  hundred  thousand  dollars.     The  route  at  present 
is  from  Fourth  and  Market  Streets  to  Bellevue  House, 
Manchester  road,  and  Olive  Street  to  Grand  Avenue. 
The  offices  and  Market  Street  stables  are  located  at 
No.  1827  Market  Street,  and  the  Olive  Street  line 
stables   on   Olive,  between    Leonard   and    Channing 
Avenues. 

THE  ST.  Louis  RAILROAD  COMPANY  was  organ- 
ized Feb.  1,  1859,  and  incorporated  March  24,  1859,, 
the  incorporators  being  Hudson  E.  Bridge,  D.  A.  Jan- 
uary, John    How,  Alexander  Peterson,  Robert   A. 
Barnes,  James    H.  Lucas,   William    M.  McPherson, 

D.  H.  Armstrong,  Frederick  Meyer,  and  George  R. 
Taylor.     The  original  capital  stock  was  three  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  but  it  has  since  been  increased  to 
nine  hundred   thousand    dollars.     D.  H.  Armstrong 
was  elected  president  of  the  company  in  1859,  and 
his  successors  in  order  have  been    D.  A.  January, 
Hudson  E.  Bridge,  W.  T.  Sherman  (afterwards  the 
distinguished  general),  D.  H.  Armstrong,  Hudson  E. 
Bridge,  J.  0.  F.  Farrar,  James  H.  Blood,  Benjamin  Far- 
rar,  John  F.  Madison,  Robert  A.  Barnes,  and  Chris- 
tian Pepcr.     The  road  was  built  and  the  running  oi 


1208 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


cars  commenced  in  1859,  the  line  of  route  being  from 
the  old  city  limits  on  the  north  to  Keokuk  Street  on  the 
south  ("Wild  Hunter),  via  Bellefontaine  road,  Broad- 
way, Fifth  and  Seventh  Streets,  and  Carondelet  Ave- 
nue. The  total  length  of  the  company's  tracks  is 
seven  and  one-half  miles.  The  officers  of  the  com- 
pany are  Christian  Peper,  president ;  Robert  A. 
Barnes,  vice-president;  Robert  B.  Jennings,  secre- 
tary and  treasurer ;  Smith  P.  Gault,  attorney ;  and 
Charles  Ischer,  superintendent.  Directors,  Christian 
Peper,  Robert  A.  Barnes,  Henry  Blakesley,  F.  E. 
Schmieding,  John  N.  Straat,  B.  Brockmann,  and 
Gerhard  Droge. 

THE  CITIZENS'  RAILWAY  COMPANY  was  organized 
in  1859,  and  commenced  running  during  that  year. 
The  present  organization  was  chartered  in  July,  1874, 
with  a  capital  stock  of  three  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars. Among  the  incorporators  and  officers  were  B. 
Gratz  Brown,  president;  Edward  Walsh,  Henry  T. 
Blow,  James  B.  Eads,  B.  Gratz  Brown,  G.  S.  Case, 
John  Doyle,  and  Gary  Gratz,  directors.  The  track 
was  laid  on  Franklin  Avenue  and  Morgan  Street,  from 
Fourth  to  Garrison  Avenue.  In  1864  the  company 
extended  the  line  from  Garrison  Avenue  to  Prarie 
Avenue,  along  Easton  Avenue,  also  from  Easton  Ave- 
nue, along  Grand  Avenue,  to  the  fair-grounds.  In 
1865  the  capital  stock  was  increased  from  three  hun- 
dred thousand  to  five  hundred  thousand  dollars.  An- 
other extension  was  made  in  1881  from  Prairie  Ave- 
nue, along  St.  Charles  Rock  road,  to  Renkelville,  and 
along  Papen  Avenue  to  the  National  Bridge  road  and 
King's  Highway.  The  total  length  of  the  company's 
lines  with  extensions  is  fourteen  miles  of  single 
track.  The  stables  and  depot  are  located  on  Prairie 
Avenue  and  St.  Charles  Rock  road.  The  first  and 
successive  presidents  have  been  B.  Gratz  Brown, 
James  B.  Eads,  A.  R.  Easton,  and  Julius  S.  Walsh, 
who  still  retains  the  position.  The  other  officers  of 
the  company  are  J.  P.  Helfestein,  vice-president ; 
George  Kaufhold,  secretary  and  treasurer ;  and 
Thomas  Gartland,  superintendent.  Directors,  Julius 
S.  Walsh,  J.  P.  Helfestein,  A.  R.  Easton,  G.  S.  Case, 
John  A.  Walsh,  J.  N.  Straat,  and  G.  H.  Plant, 

THE  PEOPLE'S  RAILWAY  COMPANY  was  organized 
in  1859,  and  chartered  June  22d  of  that  year  by  spe- 
cial act  of  the  State  Legislature,  with  a  capital  stock 
of  three  hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  incorporators 
were  R.  M.  Renick,  B.  Able,  J.  H.  Lightncr,  P.  L. 
Foy,  H.  Crittenden,  J.  B.  Sickles,  and  John  S.  Cav- 
ender.  The  first  president  of  the  road,  elected  in 
1859,  was  R.  M.  Renick,  who  was  succeeded  in  turn 
by  G.  W.  Dreger,  J.  H.  Lightner,  James  H.  Britton, 
J.  R.  Lionberger,  D.  E.  Walsh,  and  Julius  S.  Walsh. 


In  the  fall  of  1859  the  road  was  completed  from 
Morgan  Street,  running  along  Fourth  Street  and 
Chouteau  Avenue,  to  St.  Ange  Avenue.  In  1864 
the  track  was  extended  from  St.  Ange  Avenue  to 
Lafayette  Park.  In  1882  another  extension  was 
made  from  Lafayette  Park,  running  along  Lafayette 
Avenue,  to  Grand  Avenue.  The  total  length  of  the 
road  at  the  present  time  is  eight  miles  of  single  track, 
which  is  fully  equipped  and  supplied  with  all  the 
latest  and  most  improved  rolling  stock,  etc.  The 
stables  and  depot,  located  on  Park  Avenue,  between 
Mississippi  and  Second  Carondelet  Avenue,  are  sub- 
stantial brick  buildings,  being  especially  constructed 
for  the  purpose  for  which  they  are  being  used. 
The  officers  of  the  company  are  Julius  S.  Walsh, 
president;  Wm.  B.  Ryder,  secretary,  and  Patrick 
Shea,  superintendent.  Directors,  Julius  S.  Walsh, 
John  R.  Lionberger,  J.  T.  Sands,  Chas.  Green,  J.  H. 
Lightner,  James  F.  How,  and  John  Jackson. 

Julius  S.  Walsh,  the  present  able  and  popular 
president  of  the  Citizens',  People's,  Tower  Grove, 
and  Union  Lines,  has  been  conspicuously  identified 
with  the  growth  and  development  of  St.  Louis  for 
twenty-five  years,  and  his  name  has  been  associated 
with  many  important  enterprises.  Mr.  Walsh  was 
born  in  St.  Louis,  Dec.  1, 1842,  and  was  a  son  of  the 
late  Edward  Walsh  and  Isabelle  de  Mun.  His  father 
was  a  native  of  Ireland,  who  emigrated  to  America  as 
early  as  in  1815,  first  settling  at  Louisville,  Ky.  In 
1824  he  removed  to  St.  Louis,  and  during  that  year 
established  the  well-known  firm  of  J.  &  E.  Walsh. 

After  receiving  the  usual  primary  instruction  in  the 
preparatory  schools,  Julius  entered  the  St.  Louis  Uni- 
versity, where  he  prosecuted  his  studies  until  1859, 
when  he  entered  St.  Joseph's  College,  Bardstown, 
Ky.,  from  which  institution  he  graduated  in  1861. 
In  1863  the  St.  Louis  University  conferred  upon  him 
the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts.  In  1864,  Columbia 
College,  New  York,  conferred  upon  him  the  degree 
of  LL.B.,  and  he  was  also  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
the  State  of  New  York. 

In  1864  he  returned  to  St.  Louis  and  entered  the 
office  of  the  firm  of  J.  &  E.  Walsh.  In  1866,  Ed- 
ward Walsh,  the  senior  member  of  the  firm,  died, 
leaving  the  management  of  the  business  to  Julius,  and 
from  1866  until  1870  he  was  occupied  in  settling  up 
the  affairs  of  his  father's  estate.  The  assets  were  of 
a  varied  character,  consisting  of  steamboats,  railroad 
stocks,  real  estate  and  other  securities.  During 
these  years  he  was  elected  director  in  several  corpora- 
tions. 

Abandoning  mercantile  life,  Mr.  Walsh  turned  his 
attention  to  the  street  railway  system  of  St.  Louis,  and 


</. 


EAILROADS. 


1209 


is  among  the  most  active  of  those  who  have  con- 
tributed to  its  extension  and  development.  In  1870 
he  was  elected  president  of  the  Citizens'  Railway  Com- 
pany, and  of  the  Fair  Grounds  and  Suburban  Railroad 
Company  ;  the  last  named  road  having  since  been  con 
solidated  with  the  Citizens',  of  which  company  he  is 
still  the  chief  executive  officer.  In  1880,  Mr.  Walsh 
was  elected  president  of  the  People's  Railway  Company, 
the  Park  Railroad  Company,  and  the  Tower  Grove 
and  Lafayette  Railroad  Company,  which  positions  he 
still  retains.  In  1882  he  was  chosen  a  director  in  the 
Third  National  Bank  of  St.  Louis. 

In  1874  he  was  elected  president  of  the  St.  Louis 
Agricultural  and  Mechanical  Association,  and  served 
as  its  chief  executive  officer  for  four  consecutive  years, 
infusing  into  the  management  an  energy  and  method 
strikingly  characteristic  of  all  his  business  operations. 
At  the  time  he  became  president  of  the  association,  its 
eighty-three  acres  were  occupied  only  one  week  during 
the  entire  year,  which  was  during  the  annual  fair, 
while  the  remainder  of  the  year  it  remained  closed  to 
the  public.  He  at  once  set  to  work  to  make  the 
grounds  attractive  at  all  seasons  and  on  every  day  of 
the  year.  He  commenced  this  improvement  by  first 
erecting  the  Art  Gallery,  and  next  founded  the  Zoo- 
logical Gardens,  which  have  since  become  so  popular 
and  such  a  favorite  public  resort.  The  gardens  con- 
tain some  of  the  finest  and  rarest  specimens  of  the 
animal  kingdom  in  America.  During  his  term  of 
office  as  president  of  the  association,  all  the  beautiful 
buildings  of  the  department:  of  natural  history  were 
erected,  and  the  grounds  converted  from  an  unsightly 
waste  to  a  beautiful  landscape.  These  improvements 
were  most  beneficial  to  the  association,  securing  to  it 
a  daily  revenue  instead  of  during  only  one  week  of 
the  year.  The  grounds  were  embellished  with  fine 
trees,  handsomely  inclosed  and  ornamented  with 
shrubbery,  flowers,  drives,  graded  walks,  etc.,  and 
were  made  one  of  the  most  beautiful  spots  of  the  kind 
in  the  country. 

In  1875  the  Illinois  and  St.  Louis  bridge  passed 
into  the  hands  of  receivers,  and  Julius  S.  Walsh  was 
appointed  agent  in  St.  Louis.  The  affairs  of  the 
Bridge  Company  at  that  time  were  much  complicated 
and  embarrassed  ;  but  upon  his  resignation  as  agent 
in  1876  he  received  the  most  complimentary  letters 
from  J.  Pierpont  Morgan  and  Solon  Humphreys,  of 
New  York,  who  were  the  receivers,  and  from  Messrs. 
J.  S.  Morgan  &  Co.,  of  London,  the  agents  of  the 
bondholders,  expressing  their  entire  satisfaction  at  the 
manner  in  which  he  had  conducted  the  affairs  of  the 
corporation,  and  urging  him  to  continue  his  relations 
with  the  Bridge  Company. 


In  1875  he  was  made  president  of  the  South  Pass 
Jetty  Company,  and  continued  to  hold  that  position 
for  the  term  of  three  years,  when  he  resigned  on  ac- 
count of  the  pressure  of  other  business.  Mr.  Walsh 
was  the  first  person  to  subscribe  to  the  stock  of  the 
corporation,  and  it  was  largely  owing  to  his  individual 
efforts  that  its  financial  success  was  secured. 

On  the  reorganization  of  the  Tunnel  Railroad  Com- 
pany of  St.  Louis,  at  the  first  meeting  of  the  directors, 
on  Dec.  19,  1878,  Mr.  Walsh  was  elected  president, 
and  has  ever  since  retained  that  position.  In  1880, 
having  served  for  a  number  of  years  as  director  in  the 
St.  Louis,  Kansas  City  and  Northern  Railroad  Com- 
pany, he  was,  upon  its  consolidation  with  the  St.  Louis, 
Wabash  and  Pacific  Railway,  made  a  director  in  the 
last-named  corporation,  which  position  he  afterwards 
resigned  to  accept  the  presidency  of  the  St.  Louis 
Bridge  Company.  The  executive  ability  of  Mr.  Walsh 
is  well  known,  and  has  been  exhibited  in  several  other 
positions  of  great  responsibility. 

Notwithstanding  his  great  popularity  and  wide- 
spread influence,  Mr.  Walsh  has  never  aspired  to 
municipal,  State,  or  national  office,  but  has  always 
exhibited  the  keenest  interest  in  every  important 
movement  concerning  the  growth  and  welfare  of  the 
city.  All  the  corporations  with  which  he  is  connected 
are  upon  a  firm  financial  basis,  and  are  among  the 
most  important  and  solid  institutions  of  St.  Louis. 

In  1 870  he  was  married  to  Miss  Josephine  Dickson, 
daughter  of  the  late  Charles  K.  Dickson,  of  St.  Louis. 

Mr.  Walsh  has  aided  in  building  up  and  maintain- 
ing some  of  the  most  important  corporations  of  the 
city,  and  to  his  unswerving  business  integrity  and 
indefatigable,  though  unostentatious,  energy  their 
success  is  largely  due.  As  a  citizen,  he  stands  with- 
out reproach,  and  as  a  business  man,  second  to  none 
in  the  community.  His  benevolence  of  disposition  is 
proverbial  among  all  who  know  him.  Strictly  moral 
in  every  walk  of  life,  and  a  truly  high-minded,  honor- 
able gentleman,  but  few  men  possess  in  so  marked  a 
degree  the  merited  confidence  and  friendship  of  their 
fellow- citizens. 

Julius  de  Mun,  grandfather  of  Julius  S.  Walsh, 
was  descended  from  one  of  the  most  ancient  and  influ- 
ential families  of  the  province  of  Bigorre,  France, 
where  the  castle  and  the  domain  bearing  the  name  of 
De  Mun — to  which  the  family  possessed  a  title  until 
1690 — were  situated.  The  first  of  the  family,  or 
rather  the  first  seigneur  known  by  name,  was  Anstor 
de  Mun  (knight),  who  was  born  about  the  year  1180. 
Of  this  Anstor,  Julius  de  Mun  was  a  lineal  descendant. 

The  immediate  ancestor  of  Mr.  de  Mun  was  Sieur 
Jacques  de  Mun,  knight  of  the  Old  Guard  of  the 


1210 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


person  of  His  Majesty,  and  of  the  Lady  Marie  Made- 
leine le  Meilleur,  his  wife.  The  children  of  Jacques 
de  Mun  and  wife  were : 

Juliette  Marie  Madeleine,  who  married  M.  de 
Pestre.  She  accompanied  her  mother  in  1817  to  the 
island  of  Cuba,  where  she  remained  until  her  children 
required  education  beyond  the  ability  of  the  neigh- 
boring schools  to  furnish,  when  she  removed  to  Phila- 
delphia to  complete  their  training.  Having  accom- 
plished this  object  she  returned  to  Cuba,  and  when 
her  grandchildren  required  similar  advantages,  she 
again  repaired  to  Philadelphia  for  that  purpose,  and 
finally  died  there  after  the  year  1854. 

Luuis  de  Mun,  who  became  an  attache  to  the  em- 
bassy of  Baron  Hyde  de  Neauvillc,  French  minister 
to  the  United  States,  and  from  that  position  went  to 
Cuba,  became  a  sugar-planter  in  that  island,  and  died 
there  unmarried. 

Auguste  Elizabeth  Vincent  de  Mun,  killed  at  Ste. 
Genevieve,  Mo.,  by  McArthur,  about  the  year  1816, 
unmarried. 

Jules  Louis  Rene  Marie  de  Mun,  known  in  St. 
Louis  as  Jules  or  Julius  de  Mun,  and  Amadee  de 
Mun,  who  was  lost  at  sea,  unmarried.  Julius  de  Mun 
was  born  in  Port  au  Prince,  in  the  island  of  San  Do- 
mingo, on  the  25th  of  April,  1782,  his  parents  having 
visited  that  island  to  look  after  their  large  possessions. 
Here  they  remained,  in  consequence  of  the  disturbed 
condition  of  France,  until  the  massacre  of  the  whites 
during  the  insurrection  of  the  negroes,  from  which 
they  escaped  after  great  peril  and  difficulty.  They 
went  to  England,  the  condition  of  France  (then  con- 
vulsed by  the  Reign  of  Terror)  not  permitting  them  to 
return  there  with  safety.  Shortly  after  this,  Jacques 
de  Mun  died,  and  the  family  remained  in  England 
for  the  purpose  of  educating  their  children,  until  the 
year  1808,  when  they  came  to  the  United  States, 
stopping  in  New  Jersey,  from  whence  they  moved  to 
Ste.  Genevieve,  Mo.  (then  the  largest  town  in  the 
State),  in  1810.  Here  they  remained  until  the  year 
1817,  when  Mrs.  de  Mun,  heart-broken  by  the  death 
of  her  son  Auguste,  removed  with  her  family  (except 
her  son  Julius,  who  was  married)  to  Baltimore,  Md., 
and  from  thence  to  the  island  of  Cuba,  where  she  died. 

The  life  of  Julius  de  Mun  was  filled  with  extraor- 
dinary incidents.  Born,  as  we  have  seen,  in  San 
Domingo  of  noble  parentage,  he  was  sent  with  his 
brother  Auguste,  when  quite  young,  to  Paris,  France, 
to  be  educated,  where  he  remained  until  his  parents 
removed  from  San  Domingo  to  England,  when  word 
was  conveyed  to  the  brothers  of  their  father's  desire 
that  they  should  join  him.  In  charge  of  a  devoted 
servant,  who  disguised  them  in  the  habiliments  of 


poverty,  they  then  started  for  the  coast,  and  arrived 
safely  in  England.  As  they  were  passing  through 
Paris  they  witnessed  the  scenes  of  blood  and  death 
near  the  guillotine  when  Robespierre  was  being  exe- 
cuted. The  little  boy  Julius  began  to  cry,  whereupon 
his  brother  shook  him  and  told  him  to  be  quiet,  and 
not  to  attract  attention. 

In  the  year  1816,  Mr.  de  Mun  formed  a  partner- 
ship with  Auguste  P.  Chouteau  and  Pierre  Chouteau 
for  the  purpose  of  trading  with  Santa  Fe  and  Chi- 
huahua;  Auguste  P.  Chouteau  and  Mr.  de  Mun, 
with  their  employes,  going  on  the  expedition.  When 
they  arrived  at  Chihuahua  they  were  robbed  of  their 
goods  and  the  whole  party  imprisoned.  They  re- 
mained in  durance  for  nearly  two  years,  when,  owing 
to  the  pressure  brought  to  bear  by  the  government 
of  the  United  States  on  the  central  government  of 
Mexico  and  the  good  offices  of  the  French  minister 
at  Washington,  they  were  released  and  returned  to 
St.  Louis. 

In  the  fall  of  1819,  Mr.  de  Mun  and  family  left  St. 
Louis  for  the  island  of  Cuba,  where  he  arrived  early 
in  1820  and  purchased  a  coffee  estate,  which  he  cul- 
tivated until  the  fall  of  1830,  when  he  returned  to 
St.  Louis,  arriving  in  January,  1831.  Shortly  after 
his  return  he  was  appointed  secretary  and  translator 
to  the  board  of  United  States  commissioners  for  ad- 
justing the  titles  of  the  French  and  Spanish  grants 
to  lands  in  Missouri,  the  duties  of  which  position  he 
discharged  with  marked  ability.  Mr.  de  Mun  was 
afterwards  appointed  United  States  register  of  the 
land  office  at  St.  Louis,  and  subsequently  was  elected 
recorder  of  deeds  for  the  county  of  St.  Louis,  which 
office  he  held  at  the  time  of  his  death. 

On  the  31st  of  March,  1812,  Mr.  de  Mun  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Isabelle  Gratiot,  daughter  of  Charles 
Gratiot,  who  was  considered  the  most  beautiful  woman 
in  St.  Louis,  and  of  charming  manners.  She  died 
July  13,  1878. 

The  issue  of  this  marriage  were  Isabelle,  married 
to  Edward  Walsh ;  Julie,  married  to  Antoine  Leon 
Chenie  ;  Louise,  married  to  Robert  A.  Barnes;  Emilie, 
married  to  Charles  Bland  Smith  ;  and  Clara,  who  died 
unmarried  just  after  becoming  of  age. 

Upon  the  restoration  of  the  Bourbon  family  to  the 
throne  of  France  royal  letters  were  forwarded  by  the 
government  of  Louis  XVIII.  to  Julius  de  Mun 
through  the  French  ambassador,  inviting  himself  and 
family  to  return  to  France,  and  accompanying  these 
letters  was  the  decoration  of  the  order  of  the  Fleur 
de  Lys,  the  highest  honor  in  the  gift  of  the  king. 

Mr.  de  Mun  died  in  St.  Louis  on  the  15th  of 
August,  1843. 


RAILROADS. 


1211 


Julius  de  Mun  had  a  fine  English  and  French  edu- 
cation, also  speaking  and  writing  Spanish,  and  was 
possessed  of  accomplishments  not  common  to  the 
gentlemen  of  this  country  at  that  period.  He  was  of 
gentle  but  distinguished  manners,  modest  and  retiring 
in  his  disposition,  of  perfect  integrity  and  pure  morals, 
and  of  the  most  delicate  sense  of  honor. 

THE  UNION  DEPOT  RAILROAD  COMPANY,  which 
was  originally  known  as  the  "  Gravois  Railway,"  was 
chartered  under  an  act  of  the  Legislature  of  tho 
State  of  Missouri  on  April  27,  1862.  After  its  con- 
struction the  road  was  sold  under  foreclosure  of  a 
second  mortgage,  and  purchased  by  Green  Erskine 
and  Thatcher  S.  Johnson,  who  afterwards  sold  it  to 
the  present  corporation.  The  original  incorporators 
were  John  Scullin,  C.  M.  Seaman,  Francis  Carter, 
Thatcher  S.  Johnson,  Green  Erskine,  and  James  H. 
Roach.  The  road  was  constructed  in  1862  from  the 
corner  of  Fourth  and  Pine  Streets  west  to  Gravois 
road,  a  distance  of  three  and  one-half  miles.  Since 
that  time  extensions  have  been  made,  the  route  at 
present  being':  Gravois  Branch  (yellow  cars),  from 
Fourth  Street,  corner  of  Pine,  on  Ninth ;  Clark  Avenue, 
Twelfth ;  south  on  Park  Avenue  to  Ninth  ;  Gravois 
road  to  Jefferson  Avenue,  with  extension  to  Tower 
Grove  Park.  Lafayette  Branch  (blue  cars),  same  to 
Park  Avenue ;  thence  north  to  State,  Carroll,  Linn, 
and  Lafayette  to  Lafayette  Park.  The  present  capital 
stock  of  the  company  is  three  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars, with  first  mortgage  bonds  of  one  hundred  and 
seventy-five  thousand  dollars.  John  Scullin  was 
elected  president  of  the  road  in  1876,  at  the  time  of 
the  sale  of  the  "  Gravois  Railway"  to  the  present 
company,  and  has  filled  the  position  ever  since.  The 
general  offices  and  stables  are  located  on  the  corner  of 
Gravois  road  and  Jefferson  Avenue.  The  officers  of 
the  company  are  John  Scullin,  president;  Clement 
M.  Seaman,  vice-president  and  treasurer ;  James  H. 
Roach,  secretary  ;  John  Scullin,  Clement  M.  Seaman, 
Francis  Carter,  Francis  Erskine,  and  James  II.  Roach, 
directors. 

THE  BENTON-BELLEFONTAINE  RAILROAD  COM- 
PANY was  incorporated  under  a  special  charter  Feb. 
8,  1864,  with  a  capital  stock  of  8500,000.  The  in- 
corporators were  A.  W.  Hciming,  Felix  Coste,  Wil- 
liam W.  Warren,  Norman  Cutler,  Silas  Bent,  Jacob 
B.  Terrell,  Charles  L.  Holmes,  and  II.  M.  McKittrick. 
The  construction  of  the  road  was  begun  in  1864,  and 
completed  in  1866.  In  1876  the  road  was  sold  for 
the  payment  of  first  mortgage  bonds,  the  present  cor- 
poration becoming  owners  of  the  franchise.  Under 
the  present  management  the  capital  stock  was  reduced 
to  $300,000.  The  lines  extend  from  Third  Street 


and  Washington  Avenue  via  Washington  Avenue, 
Tenth  and  Eleventh  Streets  to  the  Water  Tower,  the 
length  being  seven  miles  of  single  track.  The  officers 
are  George  H.  Chase,  president,  and  Robert  McCul- 
lough,  secretary  and  treasurer. 

THE  LINDELL  RAILWAY  COMPANY  was  chartered 
on  Feb.  26,  1864,  with  an  authorized  capital  stock  of 
$600,000.  Among  the  applicants  for  the  charter  and 
the  original  stockholders  were  John  H.  Lightner, 
Wayman  Crow,  Dwight  Durkee,  Levin  H.  Baker, 
John  M.  Krum,  D.  R.  Garrison,  William  Patrick, 
Joshua  Cheever,  Bernard  Crickard,  William  D'Oench, 
Charles  K.  Dickson,  William  Mayer,  and  Morris 
Taussig.  Dwight  Durkee  was  elected  president  of 
the  company  in  1864,  and  continued  to  hold  the  posi- 
tion until  March,  1870,  when  he  was  succeeded  by 
John  H.  Maxon,  the  present  incumbent.  The  road 
was  begun  in  October,  1864,  and  cars  commenced 
running  on  Washington  Avenue  March  15,  1867, 
and  on  the  Fourteenth  Street  line  May  12,  1867. 
The  route  extends  from  Third  and  Washington  to 
Ware  and  Lucas  Avenues,  along  Lucas  Avenue 
to  Grand  Avenue,  north  on  Grand  Avenue  to 
Delmar  Avenue,  west  on  Delmar  Avenue  to  Vande- 
venter  Avenue,  thence  north  on  Vandeventer  Avenue 
to  Finney  Avenue,  thence  east  on  Finney  to  Grand 
Avenue,  thence  south  on  Grand  Avenue  to  Morgan, 
thence  east  on  Morgan,  connecting  with  regular  tracks 
(blue  cars),  to  Summit  Avenue,  via  Fourteenth  Street 
and  Chouteau  Avenue.  The  offices  and  stables  are 
located  at  No.  2305  Washington  Avenue,  and  there 
are  stables  also  at  2330  Chouteau  Avenue,  corner  of 
Finney  and  Vandeventer  Avenues.  The  officers  of 
the  company  are  John  H.  Maxon,  president;  John 
H.  Lightner,  vice-president ;  and  G.  W.  Baumhoff, 
secretary  and  treasurer.  Directors,  John  H.  Maxon, 
John  H.  Lightner,  G.  W.  Baumhoff,  John  M.  Gil- 
keson,  E.  Catlin,  and  W.  A.  Hargadine. 

THE  BADEN  AND  ST.  Louis  RAILROAD  COM- 
PANY was  organized  in  1865,  and  chartered  during 
the  same  year.  The  road  was  finished  and  equipped 
in  1866.  The  line  of  route  is  from  Grand  Avenue 
and  Bellefontaine  road  to  Baden,  a  distance  of  two 
and  one-half  miles.  The  capital  stock  is  $100,000. 
The  offices  and  stables  are  located  on  the  east  side  of 
Bellefontaine  road,  near  Dowling  Avenue.  The  offi- 
cers of  the  company  are  George  S.  Case,  president ; 
John  H.  Reel,  vice-president ;  and  John  W.  Archer, 
superintendent. 

THE  UNION  RAILWAY  COMPANY  was  organized 

in  1865,  and  chartered  July  29,  1865,  with  a  capital 

stock  of  §300,000.     Among  the  incorporators  were 

•  C.  D.  Colman,  C.  D.  Blossom,  W.  E.  Saltmarsh,  II. 


1212 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


M.  Blossom,  and  C.  W.  Horn.  During  1865  the 
road  was  constructed  from  the  corner  of  Fourth  and 
Locust  Streets  west  to  Hyde  Park.  In  1875  the 
lines  were  extended  from  Hyde  Park  to  the  fair 
grounds,  and  at  present  their  entire  length  is  eight 
miles  of  single  track.  Hon.  B.  Gratz  Brown  was 
elected  first  president  of  the  road,  and  was  succeeded 
by  John  Brown,  who  held  the  position  for  a  short 
term,  being  followed  by  Julius  S.  Walsh,  who  has 
ever  since  retained  the  presidency  of  the  company. 
In  1866  the  capital  stock  was  increased  from  $300,- 
000  to  8600,000.  In  1882  the  officers  were  Julius 
S.  Walsh,  president ;  J.  P.  Helfestein,  vice-president ; 
M.  J.  Moran,  secretary  and  treasurer;  and  Michael 
Moran,  superintendent.  Directors,  Julius  S.  Walsh, 
B.  Gratz  Brown,  A.  B,.  Easton,  J.  P.  Helfestein,  J. 
A.  Walsh,  Charles  Greene,  and  George  S.  Case. 

THE  TOWER  GROVE  AND  LAFAYETTE  RAILWAY 
COMPANY  was  chartered  March  20,  1866,  with  an 
authorized  capital  stock  of  $300,000,  the  incorpo- 
rators  being  H.  N.  Switzer,  John  J.  Roe,  James  B. 
Eads,  C.  K.  Dickson,  and  J.  0.  Cavender.  The  road 
was  constructed  and  put  in  operation  during  1866, 
over  Second  and  Third  Streets  from  the  corner  of 
Fourth  and  Morgan  to  Anna  Street,  the  total  length 
being  six  miles  of  track.  G.  W.  Dreyer  was  elected 
first  president  of  the  road  in  1866,  and  his  successors 
in  regular  order  have  been  J.  H.  Lightner,  J.  H. 
Britton,  J.  R.  Lionberger,  D.  E.  Walsh,  and  Julius 
S.  Walsh,  the  latter  being  still  the  chief  executive 
officer.  W.  B.  Ryder  is  secretary  and  treasurer  of 
the  company,  and  the  directors  are  Julius  S.  Walsh, 
John  R.  Lionberger,  J.  T.  Sands,  Charles  Green,  J. 
H.  Lightner,  James  T.  How,  and  John  Jackson. 

THE  CASS  AVENUE  AND  FAIR  GROUNDS  RAIL- 
WAY COMPANY  was  organized  in  1874,  its  incorpo- 
ration being  approved  by  the  City  Council  Jan.  19, 

1874,  and  the  charter  granted  Feb.  9,  1874.     The 
first    directors    were    James   Edwards,    William    T. 
Wernse,    Louis    H.    Stroube,   Joseph    M.   Fitzroy, 
Jeremiah  Fruin,  H.  Klages,  William  Miller,  Thomas 
Bowe,  John  Cunningham,  Sol.  Lawrence,  and  D.  E. 
Lockwood.     The  construction  of  the  road  was  begun 
during  the  latter  part  of  1874,  and  it  was  completed 
and  equipped  with  the  cars  running  on   June  25, 

1875.  William  K.  Patrick  was   elected   the   first 
president,  and  held  the  position  during  the  construc- 
tion of  the  road.     He  was  succeeded  in  June,  1875, 
by  W.  R.  Allen,  who  has  since  retained  the  position. 
The  capital  stock  of  the  company  originally  was  five 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  but  it  has  since  been  re- 
duced to   three  hundred  thousand  dollars.     At  the 
present  time  the  company  has  no  bonded  indebted- 


ness. The  line  extends  from  Fifth  and  Walnut 
Streets  north  on  Seventh  Street  to  Cass  Avenue, 
thence  to  Glasgow  Avenue,  north  to  St.  Louis  Ave- 
nue, west  to  Grand  Avenue  and  the  Fair  Grounds, 
returning  by  the  same  to  Eighth  Street,  south  to 
Walnut  Street,  and  thence  to  Fifth  Street.  The 
entire  length  of  the  road  is  nine  miles  of  single  track. 
The  stables  and  car-sheds  were  erected  in  the  spring  of 
1875.  The  officers  of  the  company  are  W.  R.  Allen, 
president;  George  W.  Allen,  vice-president;  and  G. 
G.  Gibson,  secretary  and  treasurer.  Directors,  W. 
R.  Allen,  George  W.  Allen,  Thomas  Allen,  William 
R.  Donaldson,  J.  D.  Barlow,  James  W.  Wallace,  and 
E.  M.  Smith.  The  general  offices  are  located  in  the 
Southern  Hotel  building,  corner  of  Fifth  and  Walnut 
Streets,  and  the  stables  and  car-sheds  on  the  corner 
of  Cass  and  Glasgow  Avenues. 

THE  MOUND  CITY  STREET  RAILWAY  COMPANY 
was  organized  in  1875,  as  the  successor  of  the  Mound 
City  Railway  Company,  chartered  in  December,  1865, 
with  a  capital  stock  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars. 
The  original  incorporators  were  John  Scullin,  Clement 
M.  Seaman,  William  Nichols,  A  D.  Jaynes,  Francis 
Carter,  J.  B.  Johnson,  and  Thatcher  S.  Johnson. 
The  first  and  only  president  of  the  company,  elected 
in  1875,  is  John  Scullin,  who  has  ever  since  retained 
the  position.  Immediately  after  the  organization  of 
the  company  the  charter  and  franchises  of  what  was 
then  known  as  the  "  Northwestern  St.  Louis  Railway" 
were  sold  on  foreclosure  to  J.  B.  Johnson,  by  whom 
they  were  transferred  to  the  present  corporation. 
The  road  was  completed  and  the  cars  commenced 
running  in  January,  1866.  The  route  extends  from 
the  corner  of  Fourth  and  Pine  Streets  west  to  Ninth 
Street,  thence  north  to  North  Spring  Street,  thence 
west  on  Spring  Street  and  St.  Louis  Avenue  to  Jef- 
ferson Avenue ;  returning  by  St.  Louis  Avenue, 
North  Spring,  Fourteenth,  Locust  Avenue,  Twelfth, 
Locust,  Ninth,  and  Pine  Streets  to  Fourth  Street. 
The  total  length  is  seven  miles  of  single  track.  The 
cars  of  the  Mound  City  Line  pass  by  the  new  post- 
office  and  government  building,  Pope's  Theatre,  St. 
Luke's  Hospital,  St.  Louis  University,  St.  Louis 
Place  Park,  Lindell  Park,  Base- Ball  Park,  Fair 
Grounds,  and  Zoological  Garden.  The  officers  of  the 
company  are  John  Scullin,  president ;  Francis  Carter, 
vice-president;  and  Clement  M.  Seamen,  secretary 
and  treasurer.  Directors,  John  Scullin,  Francis  Carter, 
Clement  M.  Seaman,  George  A.  Madill,  and  James 
H.  Roach.  The  offices  are  located  at  623J  Olive 
Street,  and  the  stables  on  the  southwest  corner  of  St. 
Louis  Avenue  and  Twenty-first  Street. 

THE  SOUTH  ST.  Louis  RAILWAY  COMPANY  was 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1213 


incorporated  in  April,  1876,  with  a  capital  stock  of 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  the  incorporators  being 
Charles  P.  Chouteau,  P.  A.  Hadney,  A.  Habsinger, 
and  others.  Soon  after  its  organization  the  company 
absorbed  the  Carondelet  Railway  Company,  with  its 
franchises,  tracks,  etc.,  and  extended  the  tracks  of 
that  road  to  the  corner  of  Sixth  and  Market  Streets. 
I.  C.  Terry  was  elected  the  first  president  of  the  road 
in  April,  1876,  and  was  succeeded  by  Pierre  Chou- 
teau, who  in  turn  was  followed  by  Theo.  Plase,  the 
present  incumbent,  who  is  also  the  treasurer  of  the 
corporation.  The  secretary  is  J.  B.  Greensfelder,  and 
the  directors  are  F.  W.  Moss,  J.  S.  Robertson,  M.  A. 
Wolff,  L.  Gottschalk,  and  C.  F.  Hermann.  The  , 
route  extends  north  from  the  stables  along  Main 
Street,  Carondelet  road,  and  Jefferson  Avenue,  east 
on  Pestalozzi  Street,  north  along  Eighth  and  De- 
catur  Streets,  east  on  Lafayette  to  Fulton,  north 
to  Hickory,  east  to  Fifth,  north  to  Market;  re- 
turning same  to  Pestalozzi,  south  on  Eighth  to  Ar- 
senal, thence  west  to  Jefferson  Avenue,  and  south  to 
the  stables,  which  are  located  on  the  north  side  of 
Davis,  near  Main  Street.  The  general  office  is  at 
the  corner  of  Sixth  and  Walnut  Streets. 

THE  ST.  Louis  TRANSFER  COMPANY  was  char- 
tered Dec.  12,  1859,  as  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi 
Transfer  Company,  the  original  incorporators  being 
P.  W.  Strader,  Joseph  N.  Kinney,  Alex.  H.  Lewis, 
Thomas  Lowe,  Henry  C.  Cooling,  and  Alfred  Gother. 
P.  W.  Strader  was  elected  the  first  president  in  1859, 
and  was  succeeded  by  Samuel  Gaty,  .the  present  in- 
cumbent. The  capital  stock  is  eight  hundred  and 
fifty-nine  thousand  two  hundred  dollars,  and  the  com- 
pany transacts  a  general  transfer  business,  handling 
passengers,  baggage,  and  freight  to  and  from  railroad 
depots,  steamboats,  etc.  S.  H.  Klinger  is  secretary  of 
the  company;  T.  B.  Thompson,  treasurer;  and  R.  P. 
Tansey,  manager.  The  directors  are  Samuel  Gaty, 
R.  P.  Tansey,  S.  C.  Clubb,  W.  H.  Clement,  J.  J. 
Mitchell,  D.  S.  Gray,  and  J.  M.  Thompson.  The 
office  is  located  at  No.  213  North  Third  Street. 

THE  RAPID  TRANSIT  COMPANY  was  chartered 
June  3,  1880,  with  an  authorized  capital  stock  of 
fifty  thousand  dollars,  the  incorporators  being  M.  A. 
Wolff,  Charles  McClaren,  John  H.  Terry,  John 
Lumsden,  John  T.  Davis,  George  D.  Reynolds,  and 
Henry  Gennett.  The  company  commenced  opera- 
tions with  twenty  of  the  "  Herdic"  coaches  on  Sept. 
16,  1880,  and  continued  the  transfer  of  passengers 
over  various  streets  in  the  city  up  to  May  1,  1882, 
when  the  coaches  were  taken  off  and  the  company 
changed  in  character  to  that  of  one  doing  a  general 
livery  business.  The  first  president  was  M.  A.  Wolff, 


who  was  elected  in  1880,  and  was  succeeded  by  John 
H.  Terry  in  1882.  The  other  officers  of  the  com- 
pany are  Geo.  D.  Reynolds,  secretary ;  M.  A.  Wolff, 
treasurer;  M.  A.  Wolff,  Geo.  H.  Shields,  E.  S. 
Barnes,  E.  G.  Obear,  Peter  Lehman,  John  H.  Terry, 
and  John  T.  Davis,  directors. 


CHAPTER    XXX. 

TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND  MANUFACTURES. 

EVERY  great  centre  of  trade  must  possess  or  con- 
trol a  maximum  of  natural  and  acquired  facilities  for 
all  the  particular  operations  of  PRODUCTION,  CON- 
VERSION, and  EXCHANGE. 

Production  includes  agriculture,  mining,  forestry, — 
the  ensemble  of  all  those  arts  which  supply  men  with 
food  and  the  raw  materials  which  he  converts  into 
food,  fuel,  shelter,  clothing,  light,  conveniences,  luxu- 
ries ;  conversion  includes  the  processes  and  the  instru- 
ments of  manufacture  in  all  its  branches  ;  exchange, 
or  commerce,  is  the  duplex  process  and  machinery  by 
which  the  producers  are  brought  together  and  enabled 
to  barter  their  products,  by  which  the  raw  materials 
are  gathered  in  and  the  converted  products  distributed 
and  exchanged ;  it  includes  banking  and  transporta- 
tion, capital  and  credit. 

Every  operation  of  production,  conversion,  and 
exchange  depends  upon  the  existence  of  facilities 
acquired  from  nature  or  created  and  bestowed  by  man. 
Without  these  facilities  there  would  be  no  trade,  and 
to  be  a  centre  of  trade  a  city  must  not  only  possess 
them  very  largely,  but  possess  also  the  means  and  the 
will  to  enlarge,  develop,  and  increase  them  steadily 
and  rapidly.  Rivalry  may  be  submitted  to,  superi- 
ority tolerated  in  other  things,  but  no  city  determined 
upon  success  can  tolerate  rivalry,  much  less  superiority, 
in  the  spirit  of  improvement. 

The  natural  advantages  of  St.  Louis  as  a  centre  of 
production  are  in  part  the  result  of  the  co-operation 
of  soil  and  climate  with  intelligent  labor ;  in  part 
they  are  derived  from  the  geological  configuration  of 
the  earth, — the  distribution  of  its  mineral  strata  and 
the  superficial  contour. — determining  the  course  and 
volume  of  streams.  St.  Louis  could  not  occupy  its 
present  commanding  position  and  maintain  its  lofty 
attitude  as  a  trade  centre  if  it  were  seated  upon  a 
bog,  like  those  of  Ireland,  or  amid  the  granite  bowl- 
ders and  masses  of  trap  and  sand  which  diversify  the 
soil  of  New  England,  or  upon  the  margin  of  a  swamp, 
like  New  Orleans,  or  in  the  gateway  of  a  great  fresh- 
water pond,  like  Chicago.  As  has  been  sufficiently 


1214 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


shown  in  other  parts  of  this  work,  St.  Louis  combines 
more  of  the  advantages  of  site  and  location — which 
arc  necessary  to  the  building  up  of  a  great  city — than 
any  other  interior  city  in  the  world.  It  is  the  focal 
point,  the  centre,  the  key  to  the  greatest  river  system, 
the  largest  and  most  magnificent  valley,  the  widest 
area  of  the  richest  and  most  productive  soils,  the 
finest  juxtaposition  of  exhaustless  mineral  wealth, 
and  the  most  comprehensive  and  far-reaching  railroad 
system  upon  the  Aice  of  the  globe. 

What  nature  bestows,  man  has  seized  upon  and  is 
improving  to  the  utmost  with  energy  and  intelligence. 
"  Science,  whence  foresight,  foresight,  whence  ac- 
tion,"— excellent  words  of  Auguste  Comte, — is  the 
guiding  rule  of  man's  action  upon  nature  for  the  de- 
velopment of  the  resources  of  St.  Louis.  "  Man  com- 
mands nature  only  by  obeying  her  laws,"  the  philoso- 
phers have  declared,  and  the  limitation  is  thoroughly 
well  understood  in  St.  Louis.  Capital,  labor,  talent 
— meaning  by  talent  natural  capacity  developed  and 
shaped  by  acquired  skill — are  the  three  forces  which 
have  worked  together  in  harmonious  unison  to  pro- 
mote the  growth  and  expand  the  trade  of  this  "  the 
great  cjty  of  the  future."  St.  Louis  is  not  so  rich  in 
money  capital  as  many  older  and  larger  cities,  but 
what  she  possesses  is  entirely  in  hand,  absolutely 
active,  and  so  thoroughly  energized  and  vitalized  by 
will,  purpose,  and  intelligent  co-operation,  that  some- 
how each  dollar  seems  to  do  the  work  which  it  requires 
three  to  do  elsewhere.  In  that  capital  which  money 
does  not  always  stand  in  place  of  and  which  often 
money  cannot  buy, — business  talents,  business  judg- 
ment, business  pluck,  business  co-operation  and  associa- 
tion,— St.  Louis  allows  no  rivalry,  admits  of  no  equal. 

In  different  parts  of  this  work  we  have  spoken  in 
detail  and  given  the  complete  statistics  of  the  re- 
sources of  St.  Louis  in  production  and  for  conversion 
and  exchange.  It  only  remains  to  speak  of  these 
things  in  a  group  as  the  essential  qualifications  for 
producing  a  great  and  unrivaled  centre  of  trade.  The 
promise  of  the  future  can  best  be  seen  by  comparing 
the  results  and  accomplishments  of  the  past  and 
the  present.  St.  Louis  may  reasonably  expect  to 
become  the  greatest  market  on  the  continent,  because 
the  tendencies  of  the  city's  development,  ever  since 
it  began  to  grow,  have  been  favorable  to  that  expec- 
tation, and  because  the  character  of  the  improvements 
made  and  the  facilities  enjoyed  are  all  in  the  direc- 
tion of  consummating  and  perfecting  a  great  central 
mart  for  the  conversion  and  exchange  of  the  products 
of  a  very  wide  and  very  rich  area.  No  city  in  the 
world  has  such  an  extent  of  back  country  convenient 
to  it,  and  which  is  or  can  be  made  tributary  to  it. 


Let  us  give  an  example  of  what  we  mean  by  a 
region  which  has  or  must  become  tributary  to  St. 
Louis.  Take  the  cotton  manufacture,  which  is  as 
yet  only  a  nascent  industry  in  St.  Louis,  although 
nothing  can  prevent  it  from  becoming  a  supreme  and 
controlling  one,  if  St.  Louis  will  but  make  a  proper 
use  of  its  many  and  superb  advantages  in  this  respect. 
The  cotton  of  Arkansas,  Texas,  West  Tennessee, 
West  Louisiana,  and  Middle  and  North  Alabama — 
an  area  in  which  more  than  half  the  entire  cotton 
crop  of  the  country  is  grown — can  be  delivered  by 
rail  or  river  on  the  Levee  at  St.  Louis  as  cheaply  as 
it  can  at  Atlanta,  Mobile,  New  Orleans,  Chattanooga, 
and  any  other  distributing  centre  in  the  country, 
excepting  only  Memphis,  and  more  cheaply  than  at 
Chicago,  Boston,  New  York,  Baltimore,  Cincinnati, 
Norfolk,  Charleston,  and  Savannah.  To  convert  this 
cotton  into  fabrics  there  are  needed  capital,  food,  fuel, 
machinery,  labor,  and  skill.  Now  how  does  the  case 
stand  ?  The  cotton  gathered  at  St.  Louis  is  sent  fif- 
teen hundred  miles  farther  east  to  New  England,  or 
four  thousand  miles  farther  east  to  England,  to  be 
manufactured.  To  aid  in  this  distant  manufacture, — 
the  finished  products  of  which  are  returned  to  St. 
Louis  to  be  distributed  by  her  merchants  in  every 
region  to  which  their  trade  extends, — St.  Louis  further 
contributes  food-supplies  for  the  labor  employed  in  it, 
and  iron  for  the  manufacture  of  the  machinery  used. 
Thus  St.  Louis,  having  the  capital,  having  the  raw 
material,  having  the  cheap  food  and  the  cheaper  fuel, 
I  sends  all  these  things  thousands  of  miles  away,  and 
fetches  the  finished  products  thousands  of  miles  back 
again,  instead  of  employing  the  means  necessary  to 
invite  or  compel  the  capitalists  engaged  in  this  indus- 
try to  bring  their  plant  and  their  skilled  labor  to  the 
trade  centre,  where  there  is  not  only  the  newest  and 
most  complete  conjunction  of  cheaper  food  and  cheap- 
est fuel,  with  cheap  raw  material,  but  where  also 
there  is  the  best  market  for  the  sale  and  distribution 
of  the  finished  fabrics.  This  is  an  unnatural  perver- 
sion of  ways  and  means,  an  unnatural  misuse  of  su- 
perior facilities,  and  it  cannot  last.  The  cotton 
manufacturer,  other  things  being  equal,  will  not  pay 
for  the  transportation  of  his  raw  materials  and  his 
products  over  such  long  distances  when  he  can  pro- 
duce and  sell  his  fabrics  on  the  spot  where  cheap  raw 
materials  meet  cheaper  food  and  cheapest  motive 
power.  Mohammed  will  go  to  the  mountain,  for  the 
reason  that  it  is  cheaper  than  for  the  mountain  to  go 
to  Mohammed.  There  can  be  but  one  settlement  of 
this  problem.  It  has  been  delayed  by  the  rapid 
cheapening  of  transportation,  the  reluctance  of  capital 
and  manufactures  to  change  their  sphere  of  operation, 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1215 


and  by  other  causes ;  but  it  is  certain  to  come  in  the 
end,  for  St.  Louis,  whenever  tho  right  use  is  fully 
made  of  her  facilities,  is  the  place  where  cotton  can 
be  manufactured  most  cheaply.  A  hundred  years 
hence,  perhaps,  Alabama,  Georgia,  and  Texas  may  be 
competing  with  St.  Louis,  through  their  natural  ad- 
vantages, for  the  position  of  cheapest  manufacturing 
point ;  but  this  will  not  be  the  case  so  long  as  St. 
Louis  maintains  her  superiority  as  a  centre  for  cheap 
food,  cheap  fuel,  and  cheap  exchange.1 

The  Cotton-Trade. — The  cotton  manufacture  will 
grow  as  the  cotton-trade  has  grown.  From  a  few  bales 
in  1844,  from  twenty  thousand  bales  in  1863,  to  five 
hundred  thousand  in  1880  looks  like  a  considerable 
stride,  but  it  is  the  work  of  a  very  few  years,  and  it 
is  only  the  beginning,  for  the  cotton  country  properly 
tributary  to  St.  Louis  yields  three  million  bales  and 
upwards  per  annum.  That  trade  trickled  along  like 
a  feeble  rivulet  for  some  time,  then  suddenly  it  ex- 
panded into  a  great  river.  It  must  continue  to  expand 
with  every  mile  added  to  the  Southern  railroad  con- 
nections of  St.  Louis,  which  are  already  so  extensive. 
So  will  it  be  with  the  cotton  manufacture  of  St.  Louis. 
That  appears  to  be  feeble  and  small,  but  it  must  ex- 
pand and  grow  to  greatness,  because  all  the  con- 
ditions are  exceptionally  favorable  to  it.  The  census 
of  1880  only  shows  three  factories,  with  capital  of 
8625,500,  hands  444,  $36,325  wages,  $318,156  value 
of  materials,  and  8453,295  value  of  products, — an  in- 
fant indeed;  wages  $192.40  per  capita  per  annum 
for  employes,  of  whom  three-fourths  were  women  and 
children,  and  profits  inside  of  eight  per  cent,  on  the 
invested  capital ;  but  it  is  the  beginning,  the  founda- 
tion of  a  controlling  industry  of  the  future. 

The  first  indication  we  have  of  the  establishment 
of  a  cotton-factory  in  St.  Louis  appears  in  the  old 
Missouri  Gazette  of  the  31st  of  January,  1811.  The 
paragraph  reads, — 

1 "  Forty  years  ago  the  trades  and  industries  of  St.  Louis  were 
already  extensive  and  flourishing.  At  this  time  (1841)  there 
were  in  St.  Louis  two  foundries,  twelve  stone,  grate,  tin,  and 
copper  manufactories,  twenty-seven  blacksmith!  and  house- 
smiths,  two  white-lead,  red-lead,  and  litharge  manufactories, 
one  castor-oil  factory,  twenty  cabinet-  and  chair-factories,  two 
establishments  for  manufacturing  linseed-oil,  three  factories 
for  the  making  of  lead-pipe,  fifteen  tobacco  and  cigar  man- 
ufactories, eleven  cooper?,  nine  hatters,  twelve  saddle,  har- 
ness, and  trunk  manufactories,  fifty-eight  boot-  and  shoe- 
shops  that  manufactured,  six  grist-mills,  six  breweries,  a 
glass-cutting  establishment,  a  Britannia  manufactory,  a  carpet 
manufactory,  and  an  oil-cloth  factory.  There  was  also  a  sugar- 
refinery,  a  chemical  and  fancy  soap  manufactory,  a  pottery  and 
stoneware  manufactory,  an  establishment  for  cutting  and  beau- 
tifying marble,  two  tanneries,  and  several  manufactories  of 
plows  and  other  agricultural  implements." — Edward*'  Great 
West,  pp.  376-77. 


"An  event,  not  viewed  as  of  public  importance  in  itself,  may 
yet  be  highly  interesting  from  the  reflections  to  which  it  gives 
rise.  An  English  gentleman  (Mr.  Bridge),  of  considerable 
capital,  arrived  here  on  Tuesday  evening  last,  with  his  family, 
for  the  purpose  of  establishing  himself  in  this  place.  We  un- 
derstand he  has  brought  with  him  the  machinery  of  a  cotton- 
factory  and  two  merino  rams.  Such  an  emigrant  is  an  impor- 
tant acquisition  to  the  country." 

Whether  Mr.  Bridge  ever  carried  his  purpose  into 
excution  does  not  appear,  but  the  probability  is  that 
the  "  two  merino  rams"  may  have  diverted  him  into 
the  wool  business,  as  seven  years  afterwards  "  carding- 
machincs  and  cotton-spinning  machinery"  were  pre- 
paring to  commence,  in  thespring  of  181 8,  in  St.  Louis. 

Adolphus  Meier2  enjoys  the  distinction  of  having 
been  the  first  to  establish  a  cotton-factory  in  St.  Louis.3 

2  Adolphus  Meier  was  born  in  the  city  of  Bremen,  Germany, 
on  May  8,  1810.     His  father,  Dr.  G.  Meier,  occupied  a  very 
honorable  and  influential  position,  being  a  lawyer  of  that  city 
and  secretary  of  the  Supreme  Court.     He  gave  his  son  Adolphus 
all  the  opportunities  of  an  early  education,  which  were  ample 
in  Bremen,  and  further  to  improve  it  sent  him  for  some  time  to 
Switzerland. 

After  completing  his  education,  Adolphus  Meier  spent  three 
years  in  a  large  banking-house,  where  he  became  instructed 
in  the  business  of  banking,  but  wishing  for  a  more  active 
field  engaged  for  some  time  in  the  shipping  business.  On 
May  9,  1831,  he  commenced  business  on  his  own  account, 
and  was  successful  from  the  outset;  and  feeling  comfortable  in 
life,  on  April  21,  1835,  was  married  to  Miss  Anna  R.  Rust, 
daughter  of  a  respectable  merchant  of  his  native  city.  Mr. 
Meier  having  freighted  many  vessels  with  emigrants  at  Bremen, 
and  hearing  much  of  the  fertility  of  the  great  Mississippi  valley, 
embarked  at  Bremen  for  New  Orleans  on  Oct.  20, 1830,  with  his 
wife,  child,  and  '•  household  gods."  After  landing  at  New 
Orleans,  Mr.  Meier  took  passage  for  St.  Louis,  and  arrived  there 
on  March  2,  IS.'iT.  He  opened  a  hardware-store  in  an  old  rickety 
building  on  the  corner  of  Main  and  Chestnut  Streets.  He 
occupied  this  spot  for  many  years,  until  the  old  building  was 
torn  down  and  a  splendid  edifice  erected  in  its  stead,  where  the 
firm  of  Adolphus  Meier  &  Co.  conducted  their  extensive  opera- 
tions. The  firm  at  this  time  (1860)  consisted  of  Adolphus  Meier, 
his  eldest  son,  and  John  C.  Rust. 

3  The  statement  that  Mr.  Meier  was  the  first  to  establish  a 
cotton-factory  in  St.  Louis  is  denied  by  a  correspondent  in  the 
Jicpiillicnii  of  March  15,  1857,  who  says,  "The  first  establish- 
ment of  the  kind  (a  cotton-batting  factory)  was  put  in  opera- 
tion by  Mr.  J.  T.  Dowdall,  now  of  the  firm  of  Dowdall,  Mark- 
ham   &   Co.     The  demand   increased   so   rapidly  that  within 
twelve  months  from  the  commencement  it  required  about  two 
thousand  pounds  per  day  to  fill  the  orders.     The  proprietors, 
Messrs.  J.  T.  Dowdall   &  Co.,  when  starting  in  St.  Louis  had 
connected  a  finishing-shop  with  their  factory,  and  as  the  de- 
mand for  machinery  increased  it  became  necessary  to  enlarge 
this  branch  of  their  business.     The  starting  of  a  cotton-batting 
factory  in  St.  Louis  attracted  the  attention  of  persons  wanting 
such  descriptions  of  machinery,  and  a  demand  for  cotton-  and 
wool-carding  machines  having  sprung  up,  they  determined  to 
dispose  of  their  cotton-factory,  and  devote  their  entire  attention 
to  the  manufacture  of  steam-engines,  mill-work,  and  carding- 
machines.     Messrs.  Doan,  King  &  Co.  became  the  purchasers 
of  the  factory,  and  continued  their  business  in  connection  with 


1216 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


In  1844,  Adolphus  Meier  &  Co.  started  a  cotton- 
factory  at  the  corner  of  Main  and  Chestnut  Streets. 
It  had  at  first  twelve  spinning-machines  and  eight 
hundred  spindles,  which  were  soon  increased  to  double 
the  number.  The  business  proved  successful  from  the 
start,  and  the  firm  soon  erected  a  new  and  commodious 
building  at  the  corner  of  Eleventh  and  Soulard  Streets, 
sixty  feet  wide  by  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  in 
length  and  four  stories  high.  They  introduced  new 
and  improved  machinery,  and  in  1854  it  was  the  only 
factory  west  of  the  Mississippi  River  making  yarn 
carpet  warp  and  "  bats"  and  lamp-wick.  It  is  thus 
described  in  the  account  of  that  year's  industries, 
under  the  head  of  the  St.  Louis  Cotton-Factory : 

"  This  is  one  of  our  earliest  and  most  extensive  manufacturing 
establishments;  Adolphus  Meier  &  Co. are  the  proprietors.  The 
factory  itself  is  built  on  a  square  of  ground,  three  hundred  by 
one  hundred  and  fourteen  feet,  between  Soulard  and  Lafayette 
Streets.  One-half  of  the  block  is  covered  with  substantial  brick 
buildings,  and  full  of  machinery  of  the  latest  and  most  im- 
proved kinds.  The  factory  employs  about  one  hundred  and  ten 
hands,  and  runs  over  one  thousand  spindles.  We  learn  that  its 
annual  capacity  of  production  may  be  thus  stated :  570,000 
pounds  of  yarn,  90,000  pounds  of  cotton  yarn,  90,000  pounds 
of  white  and  colored  carpet  warp,  80,000  pounds  of  candle- 
wick,  and  150,000  pounds  of  batting.  The  proprietors,  we  also 
learn,  are  now  putting  in  power-looms  to  weave  one-half  of 
their  yarns  into  brown  sheetings.  This  will  give  employment 
to  a  largely  increased  number  of  operatives,  and  to  St.  Louis 
the  credit  of  having  the  first  cotton-factory  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi. It  will  not  be  long,  we  trust,  before  the  necessity  of  im- 
porting cotton  yarns  from  the  Ohio  River  will  altogether  cease 
to  exist." 

The  factory  did  a  successful  business  until  1857, 
when  it  was  totally  destroyed  by  fire.  At  the  time 
of  this  disaster  the  factory  contained  4500  spindles, 
and  consumed  thirty-five  bales  of  cotton  per  week. 
It  was  making  daily  2500  yards  of  sheeting,  2400 
pounds  of  yarn,  500  pounds  of  batting,  150  pounds 
of  twine,  150  pounds  of  wicking,  besides  a  large 
quantity  of  carpet  warp  and  bagging.  The  period  of 

their  jobbing  trade  until  the  latter  became  so  large  that  they 
were  compelled  to  dispose  of  the  former,  and  sold  to  Messrs. 
Bredell  &  Baldwin.  The  demand  by  this  time  had  greatly 
increased,  and  large  quantities  of  the  batting  were  sent  to  the 
cities  and  towns  along  the  lake  shore  as  far  as  Buffalo  and  New 
York.  The  death  of  Mr.  Bredell  closed  their  business.  About 
one  year  after  this  the  foreman  of  the  factory  commenced  busi- 
ness on  a  very  limited  scale,  and  although  he  has  since  in- 
creased his  works,  still  he  cannot  supply  even  the  demand  of 
the  retail  trade.  There  is  now  another  factory  to  be  started  by 
Messrs.  Essex  <fc  Block,  which  they  hope  will  be  able  to  supply 
not  only  the  demand  of  our  city,  but  '  to  ship  a  large  amount 
to  the  Northern  and  Southern  markets.'  This  factory  will  be 
located  on  Green  Street,  between  Seventh  and  Eighth,  and 
within  sixty  days  from  this  time  the  builders  of  their  machinery, 
Messrs.  Dowdall,  Markham  &  Co.,  expect  to  put  it  in  full  opera- 
tion." 


labor  was  twelve  hours  a  day  for  five  days  in  the  week, 
and  nine  hours  on  Saturday,  all  the  year  round.  Em- 
ployment was  given  to  150  hands. 

After  the  fire  the  company  was  reorganized  and 
incorporated  as  the  "  St.  Louis  Cotton-Factory,"  Mr. 
Meier  holding  the  largest  amount  of  stock,  and  being 
elected  president.  The  works  were  rebuilt,  and  the 
factory  under  Adolphus  Meier's  able  management 
continued  to  do  a  lucrative  business. 

In  1865  the  St.  Louis  Cotton-Factory  Company 
was  reorganized  under  a  new  charter,  and  its  manu- 
facturing capacity  increased.  At  this  time  Col.  Rob- 
ert Campbell  and  other  leading  citizens  became  largely 
interested  in  the  enterprise. 

In  1854,  when  Mr.  Meier's  factory  was  in  success- 
ful operation,  the  total  receipts  of  cotton  in  St.  Louis 
was  913  bales.  Now  it  is  the  greatest  cotton  market 
of  the  interior,  and,  what  is  equally  to  the  purpose  in 
support  of  its  destiny  to  become  the  centre  of  a  great 
cotton  manufacture,  it  is  the  centre  of  a  dry-goods 
trade  and  distribution  now  valued  at  over  forty  mil- 
lion dollars,  and  rapidly  increasing.  The  capital  in 
this  business  is  over  ten  million  dollars.  The  busi- 
ness and  capital  have  all  grown  up  since  1849,  and 
more  than  half  the  sales  made  arc  of  cotton  fabrics. 

George  H.  Morgan,  secretary  of  the  St.  Louis  Mer- 
chants' Exchange,  who  is  one  of  the  most  intelligent 
and  best-informed  business  experts  in  the  United 
States,  has  given  it  as  his  opinion  that  St.  Louis  must 
continue  to  increase  rapidly  in  importance  as  a  cotton 
market.  He  gives  as  the  reasons  for  his  faith  the 
summary  of  superior  facilities  and  advantages  pos- 
sessed by  the  city,  as  compiled  and  presented  by  C.  W. 
Simmons,  secretary  of  the  St.  Louis  Cotton  Exchange  : 

"1.  St.  Louis  is  in  a  direct  line  from  Arkansas  and  Texas  to 
the  East  and  Liverpool. 

"2.  As  the  country  merchants  control  the  cotton,  they  save 
exchange  by  shipping  to  where  they  buy. 

"  3.  St.  Louis  is  the  best  point  from  which  the  planters  and 
merchants  can  draw  their  supplies. 

"4.  St.  Louis  is  above  the  yellow  fever  line,  and  the  trade  can 
be  conducted  the  year  round. 

"  5.  The  cotton  produced  by  the  above  States  is  of  the  best 
quality,  thus  making  our  market  desirable  for  spinners  and 
buyers. 

"6.  Our  market,  under  its  system  of  warehousing,  can  and 
does  handle  cotton  cheaper  than  other  markets. 

"  7.  Our  railroad  facilities  are  better  than  those  of  any  other 
cotton  market. 

"  8.  Our  purchasers  are  the  North,  East,  Liverpool,  and 
home." 

In  the  same  way,  the  advantages  and  facilities  of 
St.  Louis  as  a  centre  for  cotton  manufacture  might  be 
summed  up : 

A.  Production. 

a.  Control  of  the  best  quality  of  the  staple  by  means 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND  MANUFACTURES. 


1217 


of  cheap  transportation  on  short  interior  lines  by  the 
most  direct  routes  to  the  Southwest.  This  area,  the 
cotton  produced  in  it  and  the  connection  of  St.  Louis 
•with  it,  arc  rapidly  and  steadily  increasing  every  year. 

b.  The  planters  sell  to  the  country  merchants  from 
whom  they  buy  their  supplies.     As  plantations  be- 
come smaller,  the  sales  of  the  country  merchants  will 
become  larger  and  tend  more  and  more  to  include  the 
entire  line  of  goods  consumed  by  the  planting  class. 
It  might  pay  the  planter  of  one  hundred  to  five  hun- 
dred bales  to  go  to  the  city  and  buy  at  wholesale ;  but 
the  planter  of  five  to  fifty  bales  cannot  do  this.    Hence 
the  country  merchant's  trade  is  increasing  in  volume 
and  importance. 

c.  To  the  country  merchant  of  the  Southwest  St. 
Louis  is  the  best  and  cheapest  market.     It  is  better 
stocked,  its  goods  are  cheapest,  its  transportation  facili- 
ties most  extensive,  most  convenient,  and  cheapest.  The 
country  merchant  of  the  Southwest,  therefore,  will  buy 
in  St.  Louis  his  corn,  flour,  provisions,  dry-goods,  cloth- 
ing, fertilizers,  groceries,  hardware,  agricultural  im- 
plements, and  the  furniture,  vehicles,  jewelry,  liquors, 
and  luxuries  which  the  planter  needs  and  the  country 
merchant  supplies, — an  enormous  line  of  goods,  all  of 
which  can  be  most  cheaply  paid  for  in  live-stock  and 
baled  cotton.     Thus  St.  Louis  secures  and  is  able  to 
maintain  control  of  unlimited  supplies  of  the  raw  ma- 
terial of  the  cotton  manufacture  on  the  most  favorable 
terms  possible. 

B.    Conversion. 

a.  Manchester  (England)  and  Fall  River  (Mass.), 
to  compete  with  St.  Louis  in  the  cotton  manufacture, 
must  buy  their  raw  cotton  in  St.  Louis  and  carry  it 
to  their  mills,  a  distance  of  fifteen  hundred  miles  in 
one  case,  of  four  thousand  miles  in  another.     This  is 
a  freight  advantage  in  favor  of  St.  Louis  which  aver- 
a<ires,  under  all  circumstances,  one-fourth  of  one  cent 

O          7  ' 

per  pound. 

b.  Fall  River  must  pay  for   coal,  the  controlling 
motive-power  in  cotton  manufacture,  fifty  per  cent, 
more  than  it  costs  in  St.  Louis.     In  Manchester  coal 
is  not  quite  as  cheap  as  in  St.  Louis,  and  while  the 
price  of  fuel  in  the  latter  place  tends  to  decrease  as 
wider  areas  of  coal  are  opened  and  the  facilities  for 
cheap  transportation  are  increased,  the  tendencies  of 
fuel  in  price  in  England  are  upward,  in  consequence 
of  diminished  supply  and  greater  cost  and  difficulty 
of  procuring  it. 

c.  Fall  River  and  Manchester   equally  must  buy 
their  breadstuff's  and  provisions  in  St.  Louis, — that  is 
to  say,  they  must  pay  for  breadstuff's  and  provisions  a 
price  which  is  equal  to  the  St.  Louis  price  phis  the 
cost  of  transportation  from  St.  Louis  and  their  deliv- 


ery in  those  cities.  This  is  equal  to  an  enhancement 
of  twenty-five  per  cent,  upon  the  price  of  food  in  St. 
Louis.  But  the  total  labor  employed  in  cotton  manu- 
facture is  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  the  cost,  and  in 
England  and  this  country  the  cost  of  food  represents 
about  seven -twelfths  of  the  total  cost  of  labor.  Thus 
St.  Louis,  through  its  cheaper  food,  has  an  advantage 
in  the  cost  of  labor  in  cotton  manufacture  equal  to 
fourteen  and  one-half  per  cent. 

d.  The  sum  of  the  advantages  of  St.  Louis  for  cot- 
ton manufacture,  therefore,  growing  out  of  its  position 
as  a  trade  centre,  would  be  seventeen  per  cent,  over 
England  and  New  England. 

e.  These  advantages  are  increasing  steadily  from 
natural  causes,  and  to  them  must  be  added  a  similar 
line  of  advantages  in  respect  to  the  raw  materials  for 
machinery,  and  the  cheapness  of  rents,  sites  for  facto- 
ries, etc. 

f.  The  advantage  of  new  plants  and  machinery  of 
latest   and   most    improved   make,  when   St.   Louis 
goes  into  cotton  manufacture,  must  not  bo  overlooked. 
In  old  establishments  usually  one-half  the  capital  is 
locked  up  in  old,  inconvenient  buildings  and  machi- 
nery, heating  apparatus  and  the  like,  which  do  not 
produce  the  best  results,  and  are  costly  out  of  propor- 
tion to  their  value. 

C.  Exchange. 

St.  Louis  could  distribute  more  cheaply  than  any 
competing  city  the  products  of  looms  capable  of  con- 
verting into  fabrics  every  bale  of  staple  annually  re- 
ceived by  her  merchants.  This  cotton-goods  market 
is  extending  rapidly  through  new  connections  with 
the  far  West  and  with  Mexico,  and  it  would  be  still 
more  largely  enhanced  by  the  facilities  of  St.  Louis 
for  outstripping  competition  in  the  extensive  manu- 
facture of  cotton. 

The  drawbacks  are  want  of  capital,  want  of  ma- 
chinery, want  of  skilled  labor,  and  the  opposition,  of 
course,  of  the  jobbers,  who  sell  the  goods  manufac- 
tured in  other  places.  These  deficiencies  St.  Louis 
must  remove.  With  her  natural  and  acquired  ad- 
vantages she  can  well  afford  to  do  so.  In  corrobo- 
ration  of  the  facts  and  conclusions  adduced  above,  it 
is  proper  to  add  the  following  statistics  and  figures  :l 

GROWTH  OF  THE  ST.  LOUIS  COTTON-TRADE. 

No.  of  Bales.         Net  per  ct. 
Gross.  Net.         of  Crop. 

1866-67 19,338         

1871-72 36,421       16,706         0.56 

1873-74 103.741       79,418         1.90 

1879-80... 496,570     324,284         5.63 

1880-81 398,839     301,353        4.56 

1881-82 374,415     259,151         4.78 

1  From  a  paper  by  Charles  W.  Knapp  on  "  St.  Louis :  Past, 
Present,  and  Future,"  read  before  the  "  Round  Table  Club," 
Oct.  14,  1882. 


1218 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


"  This  presents  a  picture  of  trade  aggrandizement 
•which  should  at  once  inspire  confidence  in  the  future 
and  stimulate  the  merchants  of  St.  Louis  to  try  what 
the  same  energy  and  enterprise  will  accomplish  in 
other  fields.  To  have  built  up  in  half  a  dozen  years 
from  unimportant  proportions  a  trade  running  yearly 
over  twenty  million  dollars  proves  that  it  is  often  only 
necessary  to  dare  in  order  to  do.  I  ask  your  atten- 
tion especially  to  the  fact  that  the  cotton  trade  of  St. 
Louis  showed  signs  of  healthy  growth  during  the  year 
just  closed,  in  despite  of  the  great  falling  off  in  the 
volume  of  its  receipts,  as  you  will  see  that  only  in 
1879-80  did  it  receive  so  large  a  percentage  of  the 
whole  cotton  crop.  The  significance  of  this  fact  you 
will  find  still  more  strikingly  illustrated  by  the  follow- 
ing: 

PERCENTAGE    OF    COTTON    CROP    RECEIVED    AT  LEADING 

MARKETS,  ESTIMATED  ON  GROSS  RECEIPTS. 

Per  Cent,  of  Crops  of  1881-82.      1880-81.  1879-80. 

St.  Louis 7.21  6.11  8.43 

Memphis 6.24  7.13  7.12 

New  Orleans 21.91         24.37  26.13 

Galveston 8.45         10.83  8.60 

Mobile 4.88  5.95  6.23 

Savannah 13.64         13.51  12.88 

Charleston 9.61         10.19  8.59 

Houston 7.80         10.60          

Cincinnati 7.46  4.90  5.46 

"  This  presents  a  comparison  of  gross  receipts,  of 
which  alone  could  I  find  the  statistics  for  comparison. 
St.  Louis,  Cincinnati,  and  Savannah  are  the  only 
points  which  show  receipts  of  a  larger  percentage  of 
the  crop  than  previous  years,  and  of  these  Cincinnati, 
as  heretofore  stated,  is  only  a  point  in  transit  and  not 
a  market.  St.  Louis,  therefore,  held  its  own  in  1881- 
82  better  than  any  other  market  in  the  country,  and 
has  every  reason  to  count  upon  a  large  increase  this 
year,  if  the  crop  realizes  present  anticipations." 

In  the  same  connection,  Mr.  Nimmo,  in  his  recent 
report  on  the  internal  commerce  of  the  United  States, 
sums  up  the 

"RECEIPTS  OF  COTTON  AT   ST.  LOUIS,  BY  RIVER  AND  BY 

RAIL,  DURING  THE  PAST  FOURTEEN  YEARS. 

Cotton  Year  Ending  August  31st.         By  River.  By  Rail.  Total. 

Bules.            Jiales.  Balet. 

]sf,fi     53.506         1,921  55.4L'7 

1867 18,712         1,066  19,779 

1868     38,804            220  39,024 

1S69            16,614              82  16,696 

1870 17,034         1,484  18,518 

1871  15,582         4,6S8  20,270 

1872            30,018         6,403  36,421 

^7;;              2rt,577  33,132  59,70'.) 

1S74                 27,538  76,203  Id::. 7-11 

1875          11,750  122,219  133,969 

1876     19.020  22.1.1)78  244,598 

1877 6,650  211,084  217,734 

1S7S 9,998  238,858  248,s;,<; 

1879 15,012  320,787  3;i5,7(J9 

1880 32,279  464,291  496,570 

'•'  The  receipts  of  cotton  at  St.  Louis  by  river  fell  from  53,506 
bales  during  the  cotton  year  1866  to  32,279  bales  during  the 
cotton  year  18SO,  while  the  receipts  by  rail  rose  from  1921  bales 
to  464,291  bales.  The  total  receipts  increased  from  55427  bales 
to  496,570  bales. 


"The  receipts  of  the  cotton  year  ended  Aug.  31,  1880,  were 
principally  by  the  rail  lines  west  of  the  Mississippi  River,  the 
Iron  Mountain  Road  alone  bringing  about  84  per  cent,  of  the 
total  receipts. 

"  The  total  receipts  were  as  follows  : 

Bales. 

By  Iron  Mountain  Railroad 417,238 

San  Francisco  Railroad 21,669 

Missouri,  Kansas  and  Texas  Railroad..     20,867 

railroads  east  of  Mississippi  River 4.517 

lower  Mississippi  River  boats 32,279 

Total 496,570" 

And  George  H.  Morgan,  secretary  of  the  St.  Louis 
Merchants'  Exchange,  in  the  report  on  which  Mr. 
Nimmo  based  his  conclusions,  replied  as  follows  to 
some  of  the  interrogatories  propounded  to  him  : 

"  Question  18.  Please  to  state  such  facts  as  will  indicate  the 
growth  of  the  cotton  traffic  of  St.  Louis,  giving  both  receipts 
and  shipments,  and  presenting  tables  showing  the  growth  of  the 
cotton  traffic  over  the  various  routes  during  the  last  five  or  six 
years.  In  this  connection  please  also  to  give  the  States  and 
localities  in  which  the  cotton  received  by  the  different  routes  is 
produced. 

"Answer.  The  business  of  the  cotton  year  ending  Aug.  31, 
1880,  has  more  than  realized  the  expectations  of  the  trade.  The 
gross  receipts  amounted  to  496,570  bales,  placing  St.  Louis  at 
the  head  of  the  interior  cotton  markets  of  the  country.  The 
prevalence  of  yellow  fever  at  Memphis  during  the  fall  of  1879 
no  doubt  turned  to  St.  Louis  some  cotton  that  otherwise  would 
not  have  come  to  this  market,  but  the  amount  so  diverted  could 
not  have  exceeded  at  the  utmost  25,000  bales.  The  increase 
was  by  the  railroads  from  Arkansas,  Texas,  and  the  Indian 
Territory,  which  trade  legitimately  belongs  to  St.  Louis,  and 
will  doubtless  increase  with  the  production  in  those  States. 

"The  value  of  the  cotton  business  to  our  city  is  equal  to  at 
least  950,000,000  per  annum.  The  value  of  the  net  receipts  the 
past  year,  at  $55  per  bale,  would  be  $17,835,620.  It  is  safe  to 
estimate  that  the  greater  portion — say  three-fourths  to  seven- 
eighths — of  the  proceeds  of  the  cotton  sold  here  is  expended  in 
the  purchase  of  goods  and  supplies.  Add  to  this  the  trade  that 
has  naturally  followed  the  channel  opened  by  the  cotton  trade, 
and  the  amount  named  will  not  more  than  cover  the  amount  of 
business  that  is  the  natural  result  of  the  diversion  of  cotton  to  this 
market.  Of  the  gross  receipts,  172,286  bales  were  on  through 
bills  of  lading  to  Eastern  and  foreign  markets,  leaving  324,284 
bales  as  the  amount  handled  by  our  factors,  against  218,716  bales 
the  previous  year.  Of  the  shipments,  173,644  bales  were  ex- 
ported direct  to  Europe,  7248.  bales  to  Canada,  110,761  bales  to 
the  Atlantic  seaboard  cities,  432  bales  to  San  Francisco,  and 
186,134  bales  to  interior  manufacturing  points.  Of  the  receipts, 
the  larger  amount  came  from  Arkansas,  and  the  next  from 
Texas,  as  will  be  seen  by  tables  on  following  pages.  As  the 
business  has  increased  the  facilities  for  handling  the  same  have 
been  provided.  The  St.  Louis  Cotton  Compress  Company,  the 
largest  establishment  of  its  kind  in  the  world,  has  added  to  its 
former  buildings,  and  has  also  erected  a  compress  on  the  line  of 
the  Missouri  Pacific  Railroad.  The  capacity  of  the  three  com- 
panies is  now  as  follows  : 

Capacity 

Storage     per    Day 
Capacity,    lor  Com- 
pressing. 
Bale*.  Bales. 

St.  Louis  Cotton-Press  Company 150,000         4000 

Factors'  and  Brokers'  Compress  Company....     25,000         1000 
Peper  Cotton-Press 25,000         1500 


Total 200,000 


6500 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1219 


The  tables  below,  derived  from  the  same  source, 
about  complete  this  exhibit : 

STATEMENT  allowing  iJie  sources  of  supply  rf  cotton  received  at 
St.  Louis  for  the  year  ending  August  31,  1880. 

Bales. 

From  Arkansas 239,374 

Texas 207,779 

Missouri 24,180 

Tennessee 15,589 

Mississippi 6,136 

Indian  Territory 3,268 

Alabama 93 

Kentucky 89 

Louisiana 62 

Total  receipts 496,570 

FOREIGN   EXPORTS  AND   DOMESTIC  SHIPMENTS  IN  1880-81. 

Bales. 
To  Liverpool,  England 188,160 


London, 

Oldham, 

Manchester, 

Farnsworth, 

Wigall, 

Burg, 


To  Havre,  France 

Bremen,  Germany. 
Hamburg,     " 


Antwerp,  Belgium.... 
Amsterdam,  Holland. 
Rotterdam,  " 


492 
402 
372 
127 
51 
78 


3,531 
569 


253 
2,417 


Chemnitz,  Saxony 

Canada 

New  York  for  export. 


Total  foreign 

To  seaboard  points  : 

To  New  Orleans 7,240 

Philadelphia 7,353 

New  York 34,190 

Boston 4,269 

Baltimore,  Md 3,816 


189,682 
3,266 


4,100 
2,507 


4,940 

200 

5,810 

1,575 

212,080 


Interior  shipments  : 

To  Massachusetts 44,633 

Rhode  Island 23,830 

Connecticut. 15,872 

Pennsylvania 13,745 


56,868 


New  Hampshire.. 

Maine 

New  York  (State). 

Vermont...- 

Ohio 

Delaware 

New  .Jersey 

Maryland 

Illinois 

Michigan 

Wisconsin  

Indiana 

Kentucky 

Minnesota 

San  Francisco 


7,751 

5,518 

2,426 

1,834 

819 

728 

240 

629 

153 

269 

87 

603 

11 

184 

270 


119,602 


Total  exports. 


38S,5oO 


RECEIPTS   THROUGH   COTTON. 

By  1879-80. 

St.    Louis,    Iron    Mountain    and    Southern  Rule*. 

Railway 149,041 

Missouri,  Kansas  and  Texas  Railway 11,853 

St.  Louis  and  San  Francisco  Railway 9.713 

By  River 1,679 


1878-79. 
Bales. 
115,957 
1,076 


Total  bales 172,286     117,083 


1879-80. 
Jiales. 


1878-79. 
Half  a. 


1877-78.      1876-77. 
Haiti.  Bales. 


Gross  receipts 496,570     335,799  248,856     217,734 

Shipped  via  St.  Louis  on 

through  bills  of  lading.  172,286     117,083  61,561       69,258 

Net  amount  handled • 

by  St.  Louis  factors.  324,284     218,716  187,295     148,476 

The  rate  of  freights  on  cotton  from  interior  points 
in  Texas  to  St.  Louis  is  about  the  same  as  that  to 
Galveston,  and  the  transportation  charges  from  in- 
terior points  in  Texas  to  Liverpool  via  St.  Louis  do 
not  materially  differ  from  those  via  Galveston  to 
Liverpool,  thus  making  St.  Louis  a  strong  competitor 
with  Galveston  for  the  cotton  trade  of  interior  Texas. 

On  the  general  subject  of  the  mutual  interaction 
of  local  advantages  in  production,  conversion,  and 
exchange,  as  affecting  St.  Louis  and  its  competitors, 
C.  H.  Pope,  an  expert  in  transportation  matters,  ob- 
serves, in  regard  to  the  territory  south  of  the  Ohio 
River  and  of  the  State  boundary  of  Missouri,  that 

"at  the  opening  of  the  era  of  railway  transportation  the  com- 
mercial relations  of  Chicago  with  the  territory  considered  were 
meagre  and  spasmodic.  The  city  did  not  form  a  market  for 
any  of  the  products  of  the  Southern  soil;  it  did  not  possess 
organized  railway  facilities  nor  lines  of  non-competitive  com- 
modities, all  of  which,  added  to  disadvantageous  position, 
practically  placed  that  city  outside  the  commercial  pale  for  the 
Southern  Mississippi  River  basin. 

"  Her  first  traffic  with  the  States  of  Tennessee,  Mississippi, 
Alabama,  and  Louisiana,  via  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  and 
connections,  was  rapidly  improved  and  followed  up,  and  trade 
relations  were  organized  which,  on  some  lines  of  merchandise, 
have  re.mained  permanent  and  prosperous.  The  influence  of 
Chicago  in  the  South  at  present  is  an  important  one.  It  is 
felt  most  largely  along  the  line  of  the  New  Orleans,  St.  Louis 
and  Chicago  Railroad,  and  of  the  Mobile  and  Ohio  Railroad. 
In  fact,  during  the  era  of  railway  transportation,  the  line  of 
New  Orleans,  St.  Louis  and  Chicago  Railroad  has  formed  as 
nearly  a  dividing  boundary  for  the  commerce  of  the  interior 
cities  as  it  is  possible  to  establish. 

"  To  the  west  of  this  road  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  since  the 
completion  of  its  Southern  trunk  connections,  controls  more  of 
the  commerce  of  the  country  than  either  Cincinnati  or  Louis- 
ville, and  in  this  territory  Cincinnati,  Louisville,  and  Chicago 
each  enters  as  a  competitor,  the  aggregate  value  of  the  com- 
merce in  all  commodities  controlled  by  each  therein  being 
almost  equal,  although  the  trade  seeking  each  city  varies 
largely  with  the  commodities  moved, — i.e.  the  aggregate  trade 
of  each  city  in  particular  commodities  being  widely  different." 

He  adds  that  the  trade  specialties  which  Chicago 
advantageously  offers  to  this  territory  are  grain,  hides, 
pork,  and  live-stock,  besides  a  large  list  of  manufac- 
tured goods,  including  clothing,  implements  and  ma- 
chinery, iron,  etc.  Those  which  St.  Louis  offers  are 
furs,  flour,  grain,  and  manufactured  articles. 

J.  D.  Hayes,  of  Detroit,  one  of  the  experts  best 
known  in  connection  with  trade  and  transportation, 
in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Nimmo,  dated  April  7,  1881,  re- 
marks as  follows  upon  the  force  of  natural  advan- 
tages in  promoting  manufactures : 


1220 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


"  In  reply  to  your  valued  favor  of  23d  ultimo,  in  regard 
to  '  the  development  of  manufacturing  interests  in  the  chief 
cities  of  the  West,  viz.,  Cincinnati,  St.  Louis,  and  Chicago,'  I 
would  say  the  manufacturing  interests  of  those  cities,  as  well 
as  all  other  cities,  towns,  and  villages,  depend  very  much  upon 
natural  advantages,  aided  by  circumstances,  controlled  by 
business  energy,  and  capital  to  bring  out  and  develop  those 
natural  advantages. 

"  Take  St.  Louis  for  example.  For  hundreds  or  thousands 
of  years  before  the  present  race  of  people  were  known  the 
Mississippi  and  Missouri  Rivers  formed  their  junction  near 
the  place  where  St.  Louis  now  stands, — those  rivers  being 
navigable  for  so  many  hundred  miles  in  each  direction,  drain- 
ing a  country  rich  in  agricultural  lands,  as  well  as  very 
abundantly  supplied  with  iron,  coal,  and  other  minerals, 
together  with  the  great  variety  of  different  kinds  of  valuable 
timber  suitable  for  manufacturing,  all  of  which  could  be 
brought  to  that  point  from  the  north  by  the  natural  flow  of 
water,  thence  onward  down  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  to  reach 
open  and  unobstructed  ocean  navigation  all  the  year  round  to 
all  parts  of  the  world.  This  vast  region  of  country  along  those 
rivers  is  capable  of  sustaining  a  population  of  three  hundred 
millions  of  people,  without  having  more  inhabitants  to  the 
square  mile  than  some  parts  of  Europe.  With  such  a  country 
and  such  natural  resources  to  and  from,  such  a  central  point 
would  not  fail  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  dullest  mind  to 
its  future  prospects  long  before  the  steamboats  or  the  railroads 
had  entered  into  competition  in  rates  with  the  currents  of  the 
rivers  in  their  onward  course  to  the  ocean.  Therefore  from  the 
beginning  to  the  present  time,  and  for  all  coming  time,  rail- 
roads and  steamboats  must  compete  with  the  currents  of  those 
rivers  for  the  traffic  of  St.  Louis;  therefore  manufactories  at 
that  point  enjoy  benefits  which  are  in  some  respects  a  protec- 
tion as  against  interior  towns  or  cities  having  to  pay  local  or 
non-competing  rates.  The  St.  Louis  rates  affect  the  rates  upon 
all  productions  far  back  into  the  country  each  side  of  that 
river,  as  far  as  to  where  the  local  rates  into  St.  Louis  and  the 
through  rate  from  St.  Louis  added  together  equal  the  east- 
bound  rate  by  rail  from  the  interior  cities  and  towns. 

"The  public  are  educated  to  call  this  natural  advantage  'dis- 
crimination in  rates  in  favor  of  St.  Louis,'  which  is  true  so  far 
as  the  other  places  are  concerned,  but  it  is  a  'discrimination' 
made  by  God  himself  in  the  formation  of  the  world,  therefore 
beyond  the  power  of  railroad  managers  to  change.  The  man- 
ufacturer can  with  some  degree  of  certainty  put  his  money, 
energy,  and  material  together  at  that  point,  looking  to  the  future 
wants  of  the  vast  number  of  people  that  are  now  in  the  West 
and  the  millions  upon  millions  more  that  will  be  there,  and  go 
forward  with  manufacturing  enterprises  without  limit,  feeling 
secure  in  the  ability  to  compete  with  any  other  part  of  the 
world." 

In  different  words  and  varying  forms,  all  that  has 
been  said  on  this  subject  only  serves  to  enforce  and 
illustrate  what  was  said  long  ago  by  the  author  of  the 
"  Wealth  of  Nations,"  Adam  Smith,  in  that  great 
work,  the  foundation,  in  fact,  of  all  political  economy, 
and  in  many  respects  the  wisest  and  most  healthy 
treatise  upon  that  complicated  science  : 

"The  great  commerce  of  every  civilized  society  is  that  which 
is  carried  on  between  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  and  those  of 
the  country.  It  consists  in  the  exchange  of  rude  for  manufac- 
tured produce,  either  immediately  or  by  the  intervention  of 
money,  or  of  some  sort  of  paper  which  represents  money.  The 
country  supplies  the  town  with  the  means  of  subsistence  and 


the  materials  of  manufacture.  The  town  repays  this  supply  by 
sending  back  a  part  of  the  manufactured  produce  to  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  country.  The  town,  in  which  there  neither  is  nor 
can  be  any  reproduction  of  substances,  may  very  properly  be 
said  to  gain  its  whole  wealth  and  subsistence  from  the  country. 
We  must  not,  however,  upon  this  account  imagine  that  the 
gain  of  the  town  is  the  loss  of  the  country.  The  gains  of  both 
are  mutual  and  reciprocal,  and  the  division  of  labor  is,  in  this 
as  in  all  other  cases,  advantageous  to  all  the  different  persons 
employed  in  the  various  occupations  into  which  it  is  sub-divided. 
The  inhabitants  of  the  country  purchase  from  the  inhabitants 
of  the  town  a  greater  quantity  of  manufactured  goods  with  the 
produce  of  a  much  smaller  quantity  of  labor  than  they  must 
have  employed  had  they  attempted  to  prepare  them  themselves. 
The  town  affords  a  market  for  the  surplus  produce  of  the  coun- 
try, or  what  is  over  and  above  the  maintenance  of  the  culti- 
vators, and  it  is  there  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  country  ex- 
change it  for  something  else  which  is  in  demand  among  them. 
The  greater  the  number  and  the  revenue  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  town,  the  more  extensive  is  the  market  which  it  affords  to 
those  of  the  country  ;  and  the  more  extensive  that  market,  it  is 
always  the  more  advantageous  to  a  greater  number.  The  corn 
which  grows  within  a  mile  of  the  town  sells  there  for  the  same 
price  with  that  which  comes  twenty  miles'  distance.  But  the 
price  of  the  latter  must  generally  not  only  pay  the  expense  of 
raising  it  and  bringing  it  to  market,  but  also  afford  the  ordinary 
profits  of  agriculture  to  the  farmer.  The  proprietors  and  culti- 
vators of  the  country,  therefore,  which  lies  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  town  gain  in  the  price  of  what  they  sell,  over  and  above 
the  ordinary  profits  of  agriculture,  the  whole  value  of  the  car- 
riage of  the  like  produce  that  is  brought  from  more  distant 
parts,  and  they  save,  besides,  the  whole  value  of  this  carriage 
in  the  price  of  what  they  buy." 

And  this  rule  applies  not  only  to  cotton,  but  to 
every  other  manufacture  in  which  St.  Louis  has  em- 
barked already  or  will  embark  in  the  future,  and  the 
extent  and  profits  of  these  manufactures  of  St.  Louis 
will  be  in  exact  proportion  to  the  extent  of  tributary 
country,  its  need  for  supplies,  and  the  advantages  of 
transportation  and  conversion  possessed  by  St.  Louis 
over  other  competing  trade  centres.  The  extent  of 
these  natural  and  acquired  facilities  constitutes  what 
may  be  termed  the  natural  protection  of  St.  Louis,  as 
distinguished  from  the  artificial  protection  which  may 
be  derived  through  the  tariff.  The  percentage  of  that 
natural  protection  cannot  exactly  be  determined,  .since 
so  many  various  factors  enter  into  its  composition. 
We  have  shown  that  it  is  at  least  seventeen  per  cent, 
in  the  case  of  cotton.  In  the  case  of  flour  and  pro- 
visions for  the  cotton  sections  tributary  to  St.  Louis 
it  is  probably  fully  as  great. 

COTTON  COMPRESS  COMPANIES. — What  the  ele- 
vators are  to  the  handling  of  grain  the  compress  com- 
panies are  to  the  handling  of  cotton  shipments,  and 
in  "  terminal  facilities"  for  the  latter  trade  St.  Louis 
is  without  an  equal,  one  of  the  three  establishments 
of  the  kind  of  which  the  city  boasts  being,  as  we 
have  indicated,  the  largest,  most  complete,  and  most 
convenient  of  the  kind  in  the  world.  There  are  three 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1221 


compress  companies  in  St.  Louis,  and  a  summary  of 
their  compressing  facilities  makes  the  following  re- 
markable exhibit : 


Capital  Stock. 

St.  Louis $1,250,000 

Factors' and  Brokers'.        150,000 
Peper 100,000 


Storage 
Capacity. 

Bales. 
200,000 

25,000 

25,000 


Capacity  per 

Day  for 
Compressing. 

Bales. 

6000 

1500 

1000 


REPORT  OB'  COTTON  COMPRESSED  AT  ST.  LOUIS. 

Year  ending                          Receipts.  Shipments.  Stock. 

A"g-  31-                                  Balee.  Bales.  Bales. 

1882 259,151  265,637  1739 

1881 317,195  316,537  8225 

1880 358,124  351,818  7467 

1879 237,437  237,101  1161 

1878 205,861  206,537               825 

The  Peper  Cotton  Compress  was  the  first  in  St.  j 
Louis,  being  erected  in  1871,  at  the  old  building  cor- 
ner of  Twelfth  and  Market  Streets.  The  press  was 
of  primitive  character  and  capacity,  but  was  used  until 
1878,  when  the  company  removed  to  its  present  spa- 
cious warehouse,  bounded  on  the  river-front  by  the 
Levee,  and  on  its  western  length  by  the  tracks  of  the 
St.  Louis,  Iron  Mountain  and  Southern  Railway.  The 
warehouse  is  two  hundred  and  fifty  by  three  hundred 
feet,  and  two  stories  high.  It  contains  two  powerful 
hydraulic  presses,  with  a  maximum  power  of  five  mil- 
lion pounds  pressure  on  the  bale.  The  other  ap- 
pointments of  the  warehouse  are  also  very  complete. 
The  officers  of  the  company  are  Jerome  Hill  (of  Hill, 
Fontaine  &  Co.),  president ;  Christian  Peper,  vice- 
president ;  and  E.  D.  Meier,  secretary  and  treasurer. 

The  St.  Louis  Compress  Company  was  organized 
July  20, 1873,  and  has  since  so  increased  its  business 
as  to  employ  one  million  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars  capital.  The  vast  establishment  covers  a  space 
of  five  entire  blocks,  with  a  total  frontage  of  seventeen 
hundred  and  forty-eight  feet,  occupying  fifteen  acres 
of  ground,  and  with  its  two  stories  occupying  thirty 
acres  of  floor  space.  The  company's  warehouses  are 
arranged  in  three  divisions, — two  on  the  Levee  and 
Park  Avenue,  and  a  third  (new)  on  the  Missouri 
Pacific  and  San  Francisco  Railways  in  the  West  End. 
There  are  in  the  first  two  nine  buildings  with  heavy 
brick  walls  and  iron  doors.  A  network  of  railway 
tracks  surrounds  the  platforms,  and  the  arrangements 
for  loading  and  unloading  direct  from  cars  and  boats 
are  most  complete. 

Cotton  is  received  and  delivered  by  the  company 
free  of  drayage.  After  a  bale  has  been  properly  classed 
and  marked  up  for  shipment  it  is  compressed,  and 
taken  from  the  delivering  platforms  by  the  Cotton 
Transportation  Company,  which  company  was  or- 
ganized for  the  express  purpose  of  transporting  cotton 
in  through  car-load  lots,  without  breaking  seals,  to 
the  initial  lines  in  East  St.  Louis,  and  from  thence 


to  the  East  and  Europe.  As  the  Compress  Com- 
pany insure  all  cotton  in  their  hands,  this  organ- 
ization of  the  Transportation  Company  in  connection 
with  them  enables  them  to  cover  the  cotton  by  one 
policy  from  the  time  they  receive  it  until  it  is  handed 
to  the  railroad  companies  in  East  St.  Louis.  The 
Transportation  Company  was  organized  and  con- 
ducted under  the  able  management  of  Col.  J.  W. 
Paramore,  the  first  president  of  the  Compress  Com- 
pany. As  a  greater  security  from  fire,  the  buildings 
are  divided  into  some  twelve  or  fifteen  compart- 
ments, and  throughout  the  whole  the  arrangements 
for  handling  the  cotton  are  of  the  most  elaborate 
character.  The  floors  are  all  on  an  inclined  plane 
from  the  receiving  platforms  to  the  compresses,  and 
thence  to  the  delivery  platforms,  and  all  of  these  plat- 
forms are  well  roofed  in. 

The  company  has  four  powerful  presses,  so  com- 
bining steam  and  hydraulic  power  that  they  compress 
a  bale  of  cotton  to  a  density  of  nine  inches,  enabling 
twenty-five  thousand  pounds  to  be  readily  loaded  on 
an  ordinary  freight-car.  In  1879-80  two  hundred 
and  seventy-five  thousand  bales  were  compressed  here. 
The  new  warehouse  comprises  six  hundred  feet  front  by 
a  depth  of  four  hundred,  with  thirty-seven  and  one- 
half  acres  of  ground,  and  most  complete  machinery 
and  other  appointments.  The  company  employs  from 
three  hundred  to  eight  hundred  men,  according  to 
the  season,  and  paid  for  labor  since  its  organization, 
and  up  to  September,  1880,  three  hundred  and  ninety- 
four  thousand  two  hundred  and  four  dollars.  The 
original  officers  remained  up  to  1881,  when  President 
J.  W.  Paramore  was  obliged,  on  account  of  his  great 
railway  operations  in  Arkansas  and  Texas,  to  resign. 
The  officers  of  the  company  then  chosen  and  still  re- 
maining as  such  are  William  M.  Senter,  president; 
C.  M.  Donaldson,  vice-president,  secretary,  and  treas- 
urer ;  F.  W.  Paramore,  assistant  secretary  ;  Directors, 
William  M.  Senter,  James  L.  Sloss,  M.  C.  Humphrey, 
J.  D.  Goldman,  J.  N.  Stegall,  Thomas  H.  West,  I.  M. 
Wiener,  George  D.  Fisher,  R.  B.  Wright,  C.  M.  Don- 
aldson, William  F.  Obear. 

The  board  for  the  Texarkana  Cotton  Compress  Com- 
pany, which  is  also  a  St.  Louis  enterprise,  is  composed 
as  follows :  F.  M.  Martin,  C.  M.  Donaldson,  R.  B. 
Wright,  J.  H.  Reifsnyder,  A.  C.  Stewart,  J.  W. 
Phillips.  M.  C.  Humphrey,  J.  D.  Goldman,  James 
L.  Sloss,  William  M.  Senter.  The  Texarkana  Com- 
pany is  organized  under  the  laws  of  the  State  of 
Missouri ;  the  stockholders  are  mainly  the  same  as  in 
the  St.  Louis  Cotton  Compress  Company ;  the  chief 
office  is  at  St.  Louis ;  the  branch  office  and  general 
agent  at  Texarkana. 


1222 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


The  Factors'  and  Brokers'  Compress  Company, 
located  on  Columbus  and  Lafayette  Streets,  and 
covering  an  entire  block  of  ground,  commenced 
business  in  November,  1874,  with  a  capital  stock 
of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars.  The 
mechanical  advantages  are  such  as  to  insure  speedy 
and  economical  handling  of  the  staple,  and  the  ware- 
houses are  extensive  and  conveniently  arranged. 
The  capacity  has  been  so  increased  from  year  ; 
to  year  that  the  company  can  now  handle  with 
its  two  powerful  presses  fifty-five  thousand  bales 
during  a  cotton  year.  The  officers  are  R.  B.  Whitte- 
more,  president;  C.  T.  Mitchell,  secretary;  and 
Messrs.  Oliver  Garrison,  H.  M.  Mandeville,  Richard 
H.  Allen,  and  John  G.  Wells,  directors. 

There  are  as  yet  only  two  cotton-mills  in  St.  Louis,  ; 
those  of  Bemis  &  Marriott  and  of  Theo.  G.  Meier,  • 
and  both  are  doing  so  large  a  business  that  the  I 
erection  of  other  manufactories  on  a  still  more  exten-  ; 
sive  scale  is  in  contemplation.  The  requisite  capital 
is  already  assured. 

Hemp,  Bagging,  and  Tow. — Hemp  and  tobacco 
are  still  great  staples  of  Missouri  and  great  materials 
for  manufacture  in  St.  Louis,  but  their  importance 
relatively  is  not  so  transcendent  as  it  used  to  be. 
Other  products  have  outstripped  them  in  the  scale 
and  give  larger  results.  Hemp  and  tobacco  will 
always  be  grown  upon  limestone  land,  because  this, 
the  only  soil  which  will  produce  blue  grass,  is  also  the 
only  one  upon  which  those  two  products  can  be  suc- 
cessfully cultivated  and  without  exhausting  the  fer- 
tility of  the  soil.  These  products  have  been  culti- 
vated largely  since  the  first  settlements  in  Missouri. 
The  French  raised  tobacco  before  St.  Louis  was 
founded,  and  it  was  an  article  of  trade  with  the  In- 
dians in  the  days  of  Laclede.  The  first  Kentucky 
immigrants  brought  with  them  the  cultivation  of 
hemp,  while  the  Canadian  habitant  of  Cahokia  grew 
and  hackled  flax  for  linen  and  tow-cloth  from  the 
days  of  Charlevoix  down.  Under  the  old  colonial 
system,  however,  so  active  was  the  competition  of  to- 
bacco that  the  cultivation  of  flax  and  hemp  and  the 
manufacture  of  linen  and  cordage  had  to  be  enforced 
by  penalties  and  encouraged  by  bounties,  yet  much 
of  the  domestic  wear  was  of  tow  and  linen  and  linsey- 
woolsey  until  fulling-mills  were  established  and  the 
use  of  cotton  goods  became  universal.  In  St.  Louis, 
in  1821,  there  was  no  linen  made  except  a  little  spun 
and  woven  for  domestic  use,  and  there  was  no  rope 
nor  bagging  manufactured.  The  consumption  of  rope 
had  been  comparatively  large,  as  there  was  a  demand 
for  it  for  cordelles,  but  it  was  all  imported  from  New 
Orleans  or  from  the  Eastern  cities.  In  1810  the  cul- 


tivation of  hemp  sprang  up  largely  in  Kentucky  on 
account  of  the  blockade  of  the  Baltic,  and  these  Ken- 
tuckians  and  their  children  emigrating  later  to  Mis- 
souri, carried  the  cultivation  of  hemp  with  them. 
But  as  in  1820  the  total  manufactures  of  Missouri 
only  yielded  one  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  dollars, 
and  all  the  capital  invested  was  only  forty-six  thou- 
sand dollars,  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  hemp 
crop  had  led  to  the  establishment  of  a  co-ordinated 
industry.  Still  there  was  the  crop,  and  the  manufac- 
ture would  follow. 

In  1842  the  tariff  laid  a  duty  of  25  per  cent,  on 
bagging,  5  cents  per  square  yard  on  gunny-cloth,  25 
per  cent,  on  flax  and  hemp  bags,  25  per  cent,  on  linen 
tick,  and  the  same  on  burlaps,  canvas  of  linen,  30  per 
cent,  on  hemp  and  jute  carpet,  4£  and  5  cents  per 
pound  on  cordage  of  hemp  and  manilla,  25  per  cent,  on 
drillings  and  manufactures  of  flax,  $20  per  ton  on  raw 
flax,  5  per  cent,  on  flaxseed,  $40  per  ton  on  raw  hemp, 
with  20  per  cent,  on  manufactures  of  hemp,  20  per 
cent,  on  hemp-seed,  and  the  same  on  manilla,  $25  per 
ton  on  jute,  25  per  cent,  on  jute  butts,  and  25  per 
cent,  on  linen  fabrics.  With  this  the  cultivation  of 
hemp  and  the  manufacture  of  the  raw  hemp  and  flax 
may  be  said  to  have  begun  in  Missouri.  In  the 
course  of  about  ten  years  rapid  progress  was  made. 
The  commercial  statistics  of  St.  Louis  for  1853  show 
a  receipt  of  63,450  bales  of  hemp,  against  49,124  the 
previous  year,  valued  at  $300,000,  the  price  having 
risen  to  $130  per  ton  in  consequence  of  the  Crimean 
war. 

The  cordage  business  was  also  prosperous,  as  the 
reports  show.  Receipts  this  year  (1853)  foot  up 
58,437  coils,  against  41,674  in  1852,  showing  a  differ- 
ence of  16,763  coils.  This  difference,  at  the  ruling 
market  rates,  gives  the  sum  of  $17,000,  and  when  to 
this  is  added  the  advance  on  the  whole  receipts  over 
the  prices  of  the  preceding  year,  the  cash  increase  on 
operations,  sums  up  $60,000.  Sales  during  the  year 
were  unusually  large.  Many  Southern  orders  previ- 
ously sent  to  the  Ohio  River  were  filled  at  this  point, 
the  St.  Louis  market  offering  equal  inducement  as  far 
as  quality  was  concerned  and  superior  claim  to  the  con- 
sideration of  buyers  as  regards  cheaper  transportation. 
Sales  ranged  from  6  to  6f ,  the  larger  portion  at  6J- 
to  6J  ;  in  1852,  4£  to  5£  were  the  ruling  rates. 
The  heavy  advance  in  hemp,  of  course,  led  to  this 
result.  As  far  as  can  be  ascertained,  the  quantity 
manufactured  in  St.  Louis  amounted  to  from  14,000  to 
15,000  coils  ;  of  this  the  Lowell  Factory,  in  the  north- 
ern part  of  the  city,  turned  out  11,000,  the  greater 
part  of  which  found  sale  in  the  St.  Louis  market. 
Missouri  rope  regained  its  standard  during  the  season 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND  MANUFACTURES. 


1223 


for  excellence  of  quality,  and  was  eagerly  sought  by 
Southern  buyers. 

R.  W.  S.  Allen,  of  Kentucky,  and  J.  H.  Alexan- 
der &  Co.,  McClelland,  Scruggs  &  Co.,  and  Douglass 
&  Bier,  of  St.  Louis,  purchased  about  this  time  of 
W.  A.  Richardson,  of  Louisville,  the  Perry  &  Slaugh- 
ter patent  for  making  bale-rope  and  hackling  hemp. 
The  right  included  the  whole  of  Missouri  and  the 
western  half  of  Illinois.  Operations  were  commenced 
about  the  1st  of  April,  with  machinery  sufficient  to 
turn  out  one  hundred  coils  of  rope  and  three  tons 
hackled  hemp  per  day.  The  annual  consumption  of 
hemp  was  from  two  to  three  thousand  tons. 

Hon.  John  Hogan,  speaking  of  the  hemp  industry 
of  this  period,  remarks, — 

"  It  would  almost  be  unpardonable  if,  in  such  notices  of  manu- 
factures as  I  take,  I  were  to  omit  all  notice  of  the  productions 
of  one  of  our  own  great  staples,  hemp.  There  are  in  St.  Louis 
many  rope-works,  carried  forward  on  the  old  principle  of  opera- 
tion; these  aggregately  do  a  pretty  extensive  business,  and  al- 
though they  are  important,  yet  they  do  not  exactly  come  within 
my  plan.  There  are  here  in  successful  operation  two  extensive 
steam-propelled  hemp-works,  and  two  more  nearly  ready  for 
operation.  The  works  of  Mr.  John  L.  Elaine  are  located  above 
the  shot-tower.  They  contain  some  twenty-five  machines,  which 
are  soon  to  be  increased.  The  building  is  a  large  stone  and  brick 
edifice,  and  the  business  is  understood  to  be  quite  remunerative, 
although  during  the  past  year  the  price  of  the  raw  material  has 
been  relatively  higher  than  the  manufactured  commodity.  The 
Missouri  Hemp  Company,  of  which  John  T.  Douglass  is  presi- 
dent, have  their  establishment  located  on  Stoddard,  just  south 
of  Chouteau  Avenue.  The  buildings,  all  of  brick,  were  erected 
purposely  for  this  business,  and  are  said  to  be  fire-proof,  cer- 
tainly they  are  secure-  from  any  external  hazard.  The  chief 
building  is  ninety  by  forty  feet,  three  stories  high,  and  contains 
thirty-two  spinning-machines  and  four  hackles,  all  made  by 
Todd,  McKay  &  Co.,  of  Paterson,  N.  J.  The  machines  are  of 
the  Perry  &  Slaughter  patent,  and  the  hackles  are  of  the  Arnold 
patent,  besides  cards,  breaks,  and  picks,  as  usual.  The  engine- 
house,  also  of  brick,  is  supplied  with  an  engine  of  fifty  horse- 
power, built  by  Gaty,  McCune  &  Co.,  which  propels  all  the 
machinery.  The  average  consumption  of  hemp  is  seventy  tons 
per  week,  and  the  product  averages  one  hundred  coils  of  rope 
and  fifteen  bales  of  hackled  hemp  per  day. 

"Johnsons,  Bartley  <t  Lytle  are  erecting  on  the  corner  of 
Decatur  and  Barry  Streets,  opposite  the  church  of  St.  Vincent, 
another  extensive  rope  manufactory.  The  principal  building  is 
to  be  one  hundred  and  twenty  by  forty-four  feet  and  four  sto- 
ries high,  the  engine  and  boiler  house  is  to  be  ninety-six  by 
twenty  feet,  the  whole  built  of  brick  in  the  best  manner.  Mr. 
L.  D.  Baker,  builder.  As  the  buildings  are  not  yet  finished, 
there  is  of  course  no  machinery  erected,  consequently  I  can 
give  no  description  of  it  or  its  product;  but  I  may  say  that  the 
gentlemen  who  have  it  in  hand  are  energetic  business  men, 
familiar  with  all  the  details  of  this  species  of  manufacture, 
having  lately  been  engaged  in  its  prosecution  in  Louisville, 
Ky.,  and  the  machinery  will  be  all  new  and  of  most  approved 
character;  and  for  the  present  they  will  confine  themselves  to 
making  bale-rope  and  hackled  hemp.  There  is  another  large 
establishment  nearly  ready  for  the  machinery,  which  is  situated 
on  the  corner  of  Austin  and  Twelfth  Streets,  got  up  by  Mr.  R. 
B.  Bowler,  lately  a  very  extensive  manufacturer  of  bagging  and 


rope  in  Cincinnati,  also  a  good  business  man,  and  every  way 
qualified  to  push  forward  the  enterprise.  Here  the  chief  com- 
modity made  will  be  bagging  and  bale-rope,  to  the  produc- 
tion of  which  the  machinery  is  perfectly  adapted.  I  have 
understood  that  a  company  of  heavy  capitalists  are  associated 
with  Mr.  Bowler,  and  they  have  obtained  a  charter  from  the 
Legislature  under  the  name  of  the  '  St.  Louis  Rope  and  Bag- 
ging Company.' " 

In  1860  these  industries  in  hemp  and  flax  had  at- 
tained the  following  respectable  proportions  : 

No.  of 
Articles.  Estab.    Cnpitnl.    Hands.    Materials.       Products. 

Bags 1        $8,000          6         $71,500         $76,000 

Tents 1          3,000          8  4, (100  6,000 

Rope  and  bagging..  14      474,130      464      1,029,100      1,189,018 

The  maximum  was  reached  in  1855,  which  year 
also  was  that  in  which  American  ship-building  culmi- 
nated. Since  the  civil  war  the  culture  of  hemp  and  flax 
in  Missouri  has  not  flourished.  In  1870  there  was 
manufactured  in  St.  Louis  3,377,845  yards  of  bagging. 
In  1880  there  were  engaged  in  these  manufactures: 
Bagging  (flax,  hemp,  and  jute),  3  establishments; 
capital,  $370,000  ;  hands,  551 ;  wages,  $150,216;  ma- 
terials, $545,900  ;  product,  $867,395.  Awning  and 
tents,  9  establishments ;  $127,200  capital ;  259  hands; 
$54,850  wages ;  $249,185  materials;  $388,940  pro- 
ducts. Cordage  and  twine,  14  establishments ;  $12,- 
875  capital;  89  hands;  $16,423  wages;  $33,250 
materials ;  $67,664  products. 

BECEIPTS  OF  HEMP  AND  TOW  FOR  THIKTY-ONE  YEARS. 


Years.  Bales. 

1865 40,846 

1864 64,078 

1863 56,337 

1862 78,313 

1861 25,558 

1860 68,673 

1859 68,796 

1858 81,423 

1857 80,094 

1856 53,737 

1855 91,320 

1854 69,629 

1853 62,692 

1852 48,819 

1851 65,471 


Years.  Bales. 

1881 3,580 

1880 1,731 

1879 4,072 

1878 5,087 

1877 7,930 

1876 3,157 

1875 3,960 

1874 11,266 

1873 16,860 

1872 20,790 

1871 15,292 

1870 12,716 

1869 24,468 

1868 25,699 

1867 30,750 

1866 18,759 

The  Grain  Trade. — The  history  of  the  grain  trade 
of  St.  Louis  embraces  a  succession  of  mutations,  all 
tending  to  the  enlargement  and  expansion  of  this  in- 
terest, and  exhibiting  a  remarkable  extension  in  re- 
spect to  tributary  commercial  relations.  A  few  years 
ago  it  was  insisted,  as  indeed  it  had  been  for  forty 
years,  that  the  local  mills  made  the  St.  Louis  market, 
but  large  as  the  milling  interest  is,  that. demand  bears 
a  relation  of  only  about  fifty  per  cent,  to  the  actual 
grain  supply.  To  illustrate :  The  receipts  of  wheat 
from  all  sources  in  1881  were  15,275,931  bushels, 
while  the  milling  consumption  was  7,407,536,  less 
than  one-half.  The  difference  between  these  amounts 
represents  the  shipments.  As  to  corn,  the  great  staple 


1224 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


of  Illinois  and  Iowa  tributaries,  the  receipts  aggre- 
gated 24,049,983  bushels,  while  the  milling  demand 
was  only  4,576,963,  a  trifle  more  than  one-fourth  of 
the  exportation  of  this  cereal.  The  proportion  as  to 
rye  is  still  more  marked. 

SOURCES  OF  SUPPLY  OF  WHEAT  FOR  TWO  YEARS. 

From  1882.  1881. 

The  West,  by  rail  and  Missouri  River 12,229,248  7,819,478 

The  South,  by  rail  from  west  of  Mississippi  River.     1,322,094         422,033 

The  South,  by  Mis-i>si|>i>i  Hiver  boats 1,149,629         330,900 

The  South,  by  rail  from  east  of  Mississippi  River..    1,629,318          115,667 

The  East,  by  Vail  and  by  Illinois  River 2,190,684  2,028,063 

The  North, 'by  rail  and  river .-..        756,2:19         903,009 

Wagons  from  near  the  city 1,491,875  1,621,831 

Total  receipts,  bushels 20,774,987    13,243,571 

COMPARATIVE    RECEIPTS    BY    RAIL,   RIVER,  AND    WAGONS 

FOR   TWO  YEARS. 

By                                                                 1882.  1881. 

Railroads 16,379,690  9,715,568 

Rivers 2,903,422  1,904,172 

Wagons 1,491,875  1,623,831 

Total  bushels 20,774,987  13,243,571 

DIRECTION  OF  SHIPMENTS   FOR  TWO   YEARS. 

Shipped  to  1882.  1881. 

Europe  direct  via  Atlantic  seaboard 125,467  134,610 

Europe  via  New  Orleans 5,637.391  4,197,981 

The  East,  by  rail  and  Illinois  and  Ohio  Rivers 6,015,427  1,640,318 

The  West,  by  rail  and  Missouri  River 4.018  3,076 

The  Soulh,  by  rail  and  river 368,574  893,^54 

The  North,  by  rail  and  river 295,183  51,791 

Total  shipments,  bushels 12,446,060      6,921,630 

COMPARATIVE  SHIPMENTS  BY  RAIL  AND  RIVER  FOR  TWO 

YEARS. 
By  1882.  1881. 

Railroads 6,691,926  2,758,962 

Rivers 5,754,134  4,162,668 

Total  shipments,  bushels 12,446,060  6,921,630 

It  was  when  St.  Louis  ceased  to  be  a  market  of 
mere  consumption  demand  and  attracted  to  this 
centre  the  crops  of  Central  and  Southern  Illinois, 
Northern  Iowa,  and  the  great  Northwest,  the  West, 


South,  and  Southwest,  and  when  she  began  to  supply 
other  cities  and  other  countries, — it  was  when,  in 
short,  she  became  one  of  the  distributing  points  for 
the  world's  breadstuff's  that  she  came  into  prominence 
as  a  leading  market.  The  growth  of  the  speculative 
tendency  doubtless  aided  St.  Louis,  and  her  call- 
boards,  like  those  of  Chicago,  were  a  great  advertise- 
ment, but  the  transactions  in  actual  grain  also  grew 
with  the  increase  of  rail-  and  water-route  facilities  for 
the  movement  of  crops.  Chicago  had  the  lakes  and 
more  trunk  lines,  but  the  genius  of  Capt.  James  B. 
Eads  opened  a  highway  to  the  sea,  and  St.  Louis 
began  shipping  grain  via  the  jetties  direct  to  Liver- 
pool. River  transportation  companies  were  formed, 
and  many  bottoms  built  to  carry  the  outward-bound 
grain  from  St.  Louis  to  deep  water.  Meantime  more 
railroads  extended  their  lines  to  St.  Louis,  and  in 
shipping  facilities  were  greatly  increased  in  the  inter- 
est of  new  tributary  points.  Thus  St.  Louis  ac- 
quired the  key  to  the  situation,  and  invited  the  invest- 
ment of  large  foreign  capital  in  the  grain-trade  of  the 
Mississippi  valley.  Moneyed  men  were  swift  to  ap- 
preciate the  advantages  St.  Louis  offered  in  this 
regard,  and  Jay  Gould,  among  others,  hastened  to 
devote  several  million  dollars  to  the  extension  of  rail- 
roads centering  here,  and  to  the  advancement  also  of 
the  water-route  transportation  companies. 

SOURCES  OF  SUPPLY. — The  following  tablq  exhibits 
the  receipts  in  1882  and  the  sources  of  the  same. 
The  shipments  via  New  York,  it  will  be  observed, 
are  trifling  as  compared  with  those  by  the  St.  Louis 
and  Liverpool  route  via  the  jetties. 


FBOH 


Bushels.  Bushels. 

The  We?t,  by  rail  and  Missouri  River 12,229,248            5,256,665 

The  South,  by  rail  from  west  of  Mississippi  River 1,322,094              402,805 

The  South,  by  Mississippi  River  boats 1,149.529  |            87,770 

The  South,  by  rail  from  east  of  Mississippi  River 1,629,318  !             50,970 

The  East,  by  rail  and  by  Illinois  River i  2,196,684  j       4,400,215 

The  North,  by  rail  and  river 756,239  '       3,593,130 

Wagons  from  near  the  city 1,491,875               750,000 


Wheat. 


Corn. 


Oats. 


Total  receipts 20,774,987          14,541,555          8,138,516          403,707 


Bushels. 

3,751,934 

485,243 

8,038 

40,983 

1,118,296 

2,383,622 

350,400 


Rye. 


Bushelt. 

320,406 

800 

59 

13,372 

44.070 
25,000 


Barley. 


Bushelt. 

120, 070 

7,516 

49,541 

400 

352,369 

1,258,072 

25,000 


1,818,968 


DIRECTION   OF  SHIPMENTS  OF  GRAIN. 


To 


Wheat. 


Corn. 


Oats. 


Rye. 


Barley. 


Europe  direct,  by  rail  via  New  York 

Europe  direct  via  New  Orleans 

The  East,  by  rail  and  Illinois  and  Ohio  Rivers. 

The  West,  by  rail  and  Missouri  River 

The  South,  by  rail  and  river 

The  North,  by  rail  and  river 


Bushels. 

125,467 

5,637,391 

6,015.427 

4,018 

368,574 

295,183 


Bushelt. 


Bushels. 


Bushels. 


Bushels. 


Total  shipments. 


12,446,060 


250,485 
2,523,947 

327,572 

6,251,618 

23,353 


1,647,341 

126,586 

2,617,023 

19,061 


15,994 
307,433 

2.066 
17,907 

1,470 


32,754 
8,021 

40,947 
4,523 


9,376,975 


4,410,011 


344,870 


86,245 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1225 


SHIPMENTS  IN  1881. — The  following  table  exhibits  the  movement  in  grain  at  this  market  during  1881, 
and  while  compiled  as  of  shipments,  necessarily  comprehends  also  the  receipts  during  the  same  period : 


BY 

Wheat. 

Corn. 

Oats. 

Rye. 

Barley. 

Chicago  and  Alton  Railroad  (Missouri  Division)  

Bushels. 
103 
3,469 
92 

Bushels. 

Bushels. 

Bushels. 

Bushels. 

127,372 
114,283 
49,217 
1,033,026 
8,213 
617,512 
424,562 
95,702 
1,677,707 
106,845 
819.673 
461,796 
222,673 
23,215 
1,174 
59,187 
6,359 
8,817,980 
472,305 
172,233 
8,158 
12 
18,201 
27,428. 
11,106 
14,241 

50,736 
6,529 
1,938 
414,477 
11,291 
205,699 
77.949 
38,077 
59,353 
101,156 
68,734 
10,919 
5,265 

1,888 

844 
1,352 
19,880 
1,661 
9,136 
23,325 
10 
138,840 
1,361 
26,588 
18,238 
2,660 

5,378 
1,780 
6,497 
3,514 
614 
12,112 
54,668 
105 
13,390 
4,394 
830 
50,033 
32 

St.  Louis  and  San  Francisco  Railroad  

St  Louis  Wabash  and  Pacific  Railroad  (Western  Division).. 

St.  Louis,  Iron  Mountain  and  Southern  Railroad  

389,540 
170 
442,802 
242,881 
23,730 
566,686 
201,197 
367,120 
205,916 
245,807 
3,208 
24,405 
41,468 
368 
3,983,228 
1,244 
7,618 
9,955 
52 
12 
160,637 
22 

Missouri  Pacific  Railroad  (Kansas  and  Texas  Division).... 

Chicago  and  Alton  Railroad  (Main  Line)  

St   Louis   Vandalia  and  Terre  Haute  Railroad  

St.  Loui*,  Wabash  and  Pacific  Railroad  (Eastern  Division). 
Chicago,  Burlington  and  Quincy  Railroad  (Eastern  Div.).. 

8,051 
3,800 
335 
1,760,771 
270,666 
99,851 
7,114 
122 
2,678 
10,278 
2,322 
4,747 

1,364 
52 
690 
23,845 
2,797 
7,010 
574 
315 
94 
22,237 

18,013 
963 
438 
3,015 
372 
332 
5,710 

Chicago,  Burlington  and  Quincy  Railroad  (Northern  Div.).. 
Keokuk  a,nd  St   Louis  Railroad  

Illinois                          "         "     

16 

4,858 

Ohio                             "         "             

6,921,630 
69,563 
7,407.536 

15,390,180 
1,173,830 
4,576,963 
1,950,934 
958,076 

3,222,858 
26,500 

304,761 

187,064 

Shipped  direct  from  country  points  

60,000 
76,281 
91,941 

3,131,166 
162,466 

.    2,137,981 
161,822 

Stock  on  hand  Dec.  31,  1881  

877,202 

15,275,931 

24,049,983 

6,542,990 

532,983 

2,486,867 

COMPARATIVE  STATEMENT. — The  following  table  exhibits  the  growth  of  the  grain  trade  of  St.  Louis  from 
1851  to  1882,  inclusive: 

RECEIPTS  AND  SHIPMENTS  OF  GRAIN  FOR  A  SERIES  OF  YEARS. 


YEAR. 

Wheat,  Bushels. 

Corn,  Bushels. 

Oats,  Bushels. 

Rye,  Bushels. 

Barley,  Bushels. 

Receipts. 

Shipments. 

Receipts. 

Shipments. 

Receipts. 

Shipments. 

Receipts. 

Shipments. 

Receipts. 

Shipments. 

1851  

1  712,776 

1852          .   .. 

i  fus  3S7 

1853  2075872 

1854                                2V6272 

:: 

1855  sai->  854 

1856  
1857  
1858  
1859  
1860  
1861  

3,747,2*4 
3,218,410 
3,835.759 
3,568,732 
3,555,871 
2,654,787 
3,559,336 
2,621.020 
3,315,828 
3,452,722 
4,410,305 
3,571,593 
4.353,591 
6,736,454 
6,638,2f)3 
7,311,910 
6,007,987 
6,185,038 
8,255,221 
7,604,265 
8,037,574 
8,274,151 
14,325.431 
17,093,362 
21.022,275 
13,243,571 
20,774,987 

'"  67,710 
635,818 
321,888 
542,231 
1,715,005 
636,562 
1,048,532 
918,477 
1,210,286 
1,938,841 
1,  562,453 
2,630,007 
2,410,190 
6,900,802 
7,302,076 
11,313,879 
6,921,630 
12,446,060 

938.54U 
2,485,786 

892,104 
1,639,579 
4,249,782 
4,51.1,040 
1,7:59,219 
1,361,310 
2,369,500 
3,162,310 
7.233,n71 
5,155,480 
2,800,277 
2.395,713 
4,708,838 
6,030,734 
9,479,387 
7,701,187 
6,991,677 
6,710.263 
15,249,909 
11,847,771 
9,009,7*3 
13,360,636 
22,288,077 
21,259,310 
14,541,555 

1  029  908 



'!>}i!)U55 
6,757,199 
4,318,937 
1,611,618 
1.298,803 
3,637,060 
4,4(19,849 
8,079,739 
5,2(10,916 
4,148,5)6 
3,523,974 
12,728.849 
9,309,014 
6,382,712 
8,311,005 
17,571,322 
15,390.180 
9,376,975 

1,624,158 
1.690,010 
1,267,624 
1,832,634 
1,735,167 
3,135,040 
3,84%877 
4,  105,  040 
4,173.227 
3,568,253 
3,4  15,388 
3,259,132 
3,461,814 
4,519,510 
4,358.099 
5,467,800 
6,369,853 
5.296.967 
5,006.860 
3,61)0,912 
3,124,721 
3,882.276 
5,002,165 
5.607,078 
6.295,050 
8,138,516 

30.442 
45,900 
123,056 
159,974 
117,080 
253,552 
205,918 
140,533 
217,568 
375,417 
250,704 
367,961 
266,056 
210,642 
374,336 
377,587 
356,  i80 
2-8,743 
275,200 
399,826 
472,907 
845.932 
713,728 
468,755 
469,769 
403,707 

201,434 
290,925 
182,270 
326,060 
846,230 
548,797 
705,215 
634,591 
767,600 
778,518 
876,217 
1,263,486 
1,158,615 
1,421,406 
1,171,337 
1,492,985 
1,326,490 
1.517,292 
1,831,507 
2,561,992 
2,411,723 
1,818,968 

18IJ2  
1863  
1864  
1865  

3,083,864 
2,624,044 
2,244,756 
1,925,579 
2,903.002 
3,144,744 
2,484,582 
3,467,594 
3,215.206 
3,027,663 
2/77.015 
1,932,983 
1,  550  665 
1.792,801 
2,154,026 
2,541,613 
3,222,858 
4,410,011 

32,445 
225,460 
56,076 
192,553 
110,947 
100,254 
138.756 
150,208 
206,652 
166,133 
134,960 
304,192 
397.183 
757,621 
423,720 
276,041 
304,761 
344,870 

50,000 
89,751 
55,720 
64,426 
57,134 
70,451 
62,843 
87,566 
125,604 
227,418 
146,330 
223,680 
188,251 
244,799 
260,422 
155,113 
187,064 
86,245 

1866  

1867  
1868  

1869  
1870  

1871  

1872  

1873  

1874  
1875  

1876  

1877  

1878  
1879  
1880  
1881  

1882  

1226 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


STOCKS  IN  STORE  AT  THE  CLOSE  OF  EACH  YEAR,  IN  PUBLIC 
ELEVATORS  AND   PRIVATE  HANDS. 

YEAR. 

Wheat. 

Corn. 

Outs. 

Rye. 

Barley. 

1807  

Bll'lirl*. 

174.874 

7(1,849 
4:!7,I15 
329.740 
625977 
6:17,388 
21!l,l(l8 
51(1,154 
772.806 
610,!'f>6 
413,495 
437,149 
1  •':!•>  258 

Butlirt*. 
35.000 
31,  153 
21,878 
19.763 
V.'4,nJl 
181,115 
l.r.!Mti3 
1  88,28; 
412/.98 
553.H72 
290,845 
4!  '2.594 
1,379,8--'G 
1,010,843 
958.070 
905,310 

Bitfliel*. 

42,822 
81,729 
69.077 
89,702 
238,087 
178,537 
lll.Olfi 
1(4,824 
89.H78 
154,202 
31,470 
37,213 
187,122 
2'.'  1,440 
1(12.406 
72,563 

Buflirh. 
2.250 
20.234 
16,331 
3,243 
48,001 
134,045 
19.0(10 
2,442 
2(5,589 
60,1.54 
35,027 
42,720 
55.804 
63.214 
91.941 
43,570 

Bii'helt. 
24,149 
68,537 
101,557 
62.916 
00.202 
130,(i25 
45,836 
100.320 
117,815 
199,080 
93,309 
219.433 
165,089 
75.144 
101X22 
101,373 

1808  

lbi;9  

1S70  

1871  
1872  

1873  

1874  

1875  

187fi  
1877          

1878  

18SO  
1881  - 

1,902.797 
m,'2o2 

830,502 

1882  

The  season  of  1880  was  an  exceptional  one  in  re- 
spect to  an  immense  crop,  the  largest  by  nearly  thirty 
per  cent,  in  the  yield  for  many  years. 

EXPORTS  BY  TONS. — A  comparative  compilation 
by  tons  of  direct  shipments  from  St.  Louis  to  foreign 
countries  for  1875  and  1878-81  makes  this  exhibit: 

1881.        1880.        1879.        1878.      1875. 

By  river  and  jetties. 389,5*7    453,681     170.531     154.000      6,857 

By  rail  eastward 01,727    140,087    135,381      72,091     16,«25 

Total  tons 481,314    599,768    312,412    226,151     23,082 

The  foreign  shipments  by  river  and  the  jetties  on 
through  bills  of  lading  in  1881  aggregated  564,839 
bushels,  and  to  this  must  be  added  12,861,124 
bushels  of  grain  via  New  Orleans,  but  not  on 
through  bills,  making  the  grand  aggregate  of  13,- 
425,963  bushels.  The  bulk  grain  exports  from  New 
Orleans  and  the  foreign  destination  of  the  same  are 
thus  compiled : 


Corn. 


To 


England  .....................  2,042,613 

Germany  ....................      776.916 

Belgium  .....................  1.256,364 

France  ......................   1,5)70,472 

Holland  .....................      216.447 

Ireland  ......................      195,916 

Denmark  ....................      835,991 

Scotland  .............................. 

Cape  Breton  ................     261,110 


Wheat.          Rye. 

Bnshth.  Bushels. 

417,893      

558,210       

2,608,644  

215,517  22,423 

125,099      

29,932      ........ 

578,494      


Total 7,555,829     4,533,789     22,423 


Total  bushels,  1880....  9,596,956     5,901,137     23,000 

A  comparison  of  the  shipments  of  grain  in  bulk  by 
river  and  for  export  during  the  twelve  years  of  1870— 
81  makes  this  interesting:  exhibit: 


Tear. 

Wheat. 

Corn. 

R.ve. 

Oats. 

Totals. 

Bn«hels. 

Bushels. 

Bushels. 

Bushfls. 

1881  

4,1  1)7,981 

8,640,720 

22.423 

132,823 

12,993,947 

1880  

5,913,272 

9,804.392 

45,000 

15,762,664 

1879  

2,390,897 

3,585,589 

157,424 

30,928 

6,164,838 

1878  

1,876,639 

2.857,056 

609,041 

108,867 

5,451,603 

1877  

351,  -153 

3,578,057 

171,843 



4,101,353 

1876  

37,142 

1,737.238 





1,774.379 

1875  

135,961 

172,617 

308,578 

1874  

365,252 

1,047,794 

10,000 

1,423.046 

1873  

1,373,969 

1,373,969 

1872  



1,711,039 

.  ......... 

1,711,039 

1871 

309,077 

3,000 

312,077 

1870  

66.000 



66,000 

Thus  has  the  grain  trade  of  St.  Louis  grown  from 
the  proportions  of  a  purely  local  market  to  tho'se  per- 
taining to  one  of  the  chief  commercial  centres  of  the 
world,  situated  in  the  heart  of  the  greatest  grain-pro- 
ducing section  of  the  American  continent. 

All  indications  point  to  an  immense  increase  in  the 
grain  trade  of  St.  Louis.  The  superior  facilities  for 
transportation  offered  by  the  jetties  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Mississippi,  and  by  the  improvements  which  the 
large  appropriation  made  in  the  River  and  Harbor  Act 
of  1882  will  secure  in  the  navigation  of  the  river, 
must  insure  not  only  greater  safety  but  a  considerable 
reduction  in  the  cost  of  shipment. 

The  position  of  St.  Louis  as  a  grain  mart  is  indi- 
cated in  the  following  table  of  shipments  of  grain  and 
flour  during  1880 : 

Bushels. 

Chicago 154,377,115 

Toledo 53,372,739 

St.  Louis 46,675,581 

Milwaukee 29,691,524 

Peoria 20,544,508 

Detroit 10,366,491 

Duluth 6,511,100 


Total 321,539,058 

From  the  paper,  by  Charles  W.  Knapp,  on  "  St. 
Louis :  Past,  Present,  and  Future,"  read  before  the 
"  Round  Table,"  Oct.  14,  1882,  it  appears  that  St. 
Louis,  in  1881, 

"  led  Chicago  as  a  wheat  market  last  year,  receiving  one  and 
one-fourth  million  bushels  more  than  Chicago  handled.  Nor 
can  the  fact  be  altered  by  counting  the  gross  receipts  of  Chicago, 
•which  show  it  a  million  and  a  half  bushels  ahead  in  1881,  for, 
after  all,  the  true  basis  of  comparison  is  by  crop  and  not  calendar 
years, — that  is,  from  August  1st  to  July  31st.  They  know  this 
at  Chicago,  the  Board  of  Trade  reports  giving  the  receipts  by 
crops  for  a  number  of  years,  and  the  gross  receipts  at  Chicago 
from  Aug.  1,  1881,  to  July  31,  1882,  were  only  13,116,580 
bushels,  or  3.45  per  cent,  of  the  whole  crop,  while  St.  Louis  re- 
ceived 14,085,964  bushel?,  or  4.71  per  cent.  Is  there  any 
chance  now  to  cavil  at  my  statement  that  St.  Louis  was  the 
greatest  wheat  market  of  the  world  last  year  ?  It  got  nearly  a 
million  bushels  more  than  the  gross  receipts  of  Chicago,  and 
at  least  4,000,000  more  than  Chicago's  net  receipts,  for  in  the 
first  six  months  of  the  year  in  question  a  through  movement  of 
2,000,000  bushels  was  included  in  Chicago's  gross  receipts,  so  it 
is  no  injustice  to  assume  a  total  through  movement  of  3,000,000 
bushels  in  the  whole  year.  Chicago,  therefore,  got  only  about 
71i  per  cent,  as  much  wheat  as  St.  Louis,  and,  unless  Minneap- 
olis, which  received  3,500,000  bushels  more  than  St.  Louis  in 
1881,  is  called  a  market,  in  despite  of  the  fact  that  it  receives 
for  home  consumption  only,  and  shipped  out  but  500,000  bushels, 
the  pre-eminence  of  St.  Louis  must  rest  undisputed. 

"This  enormous  consumption  at  Minneapolis  suggests,  what 
more  direct  statistics  confirm,  that  that  city  is  the  greatest  flour 
manufacturing  city  of  the  country,  yet  St.  Louis  is  a  greater 
flour  market.  Counting  iu  all  the  Minneapolis  flour  passing 
through  Chicago,  that  city  figures  itself  a  greater  market,  but 
it  has  no  just  claim  to  the  through  movement,  which  it  does  not 
handle.  Let  it  stand  by  its  net  receipts  and  manufacture,  ag- 
gregating only  1,194,657  barrel?,  while  the  1,718,429  barrels 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1227 


•  • 

•  •    '  ''•'  '  '  ••....• 

' 

-  ' 

•  baa 
..,.-. 

•••••.•  : 

• 

!.,          ' 


tionai 


' 


1228 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


his  advice  and  aid  in  matters  involving  the  industrial 
development  of  the  city. 

Mr.  Jackson  early  gave  much  thought  to  the  open- 
ing and  development  of  lines  of  traffic  from  St.  Louis 
to  outlying  regions,  and  was  a  director  in  the  Wabash 
system  of  railroads  west  of  the  Mississippi,  reaching 
to  Kansas  City,  Omaha,  and  the  rich  grain-fields  of 
Iowa,  etc.  When  it  had  been  demonstrated  that  the 
grain  trade  of  the  Northwest  was  not  henceforth  to  be 
completely  monopolized  by  Chicago,  and  that  ship- 
ments of  grain  to  the  Atlantic  from  the  South  and 
West  could  be  made  advantageously  by  way  of  St. 
Louis,  he  was  an  earnest  and  practical  advocate  of  the 
introduction  of  improvements,  such  as  elevators,  steam- 
car  transfers,  etc.,  by  which  grain  could  be  handled 
quickly  and  economically  at  St.  Louis. 

From  the  first  he  was  an  earnest  advocate  of  the 
great  bridge,  and  became  prominently  identified  with 
its  construction.  In  the  many  dark  days  of  the  en- 
terprise, when  the  project  seemed  at  a  hopeless  stand- 
still, no  man  gave  it  more  cheering  or  more  energetic 
support. 

When  the  bridge  was  finished,  Mr.  Jackson  realized 
that  the  time  had  come  to  make  a  determined  effort 
to  improve  the  Mississippi  River  and  establish  its  su- 
premacy as  the  "  water-way  of  the  continent,"and  he  be- 
came the  president  of  the  South  Pass  Jetty  Company, 
and  labored  devotedly  at  the  side  of  the  heroic  Eads 
in  his  audacious  engineering  feat  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi. 

Mr.  Jackson  gave  liberally  of  his  means  to  this 
vast  work,  which  has  taken  its  place  as  one  of  the 
great  achievements  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and 
he  has  now  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  the  time 
and  money  of  himself  and  his  associates  have  been 
instrumental  in  solving  the  problem  of  cheap  trans- 
portation for  the  West  and  Northwest.  Their  success 
entitles  them  to  be  classed  as  the  preservers  of  the 
commerce  of  the  Mississippi  valley,  and  statistics  jus- 
tify their  right  to  this  proud  title ;  for  while  during 
the  past  decade  the  shipments  of  grain  from  St.  Louis 
have  increased  over  one  hundred,  per  cent,  and  those 
by  rail  about  fifty  per  cent.,  the  shipments  by  way  of 
river  have  increased  within  the  same  period  five  thou- 
sand per  cent,  (being  only  312,077  bushels  in  1871, 
and  15,762,664  bushels  in  1880).  In  1881  they 
were  very  nearly  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  whole  grain  ship- 
ments of  the  year. 

While  thus  largely  interested  in  questions  affecting 
transportation,  Mr.  Jackson  has  necessarily  been 
brought  to  face  the  important  subject  of  the  terminal 
handling  and  transfer  of  grain,  and  it  is  to  a  great 
extent  due  to  his  labors  that  the  problem  has  been 


solved  so  satisfactorily  for  St.  Louis.  He  was  one  of 
the  first  subscribers  to  the  St.  Louis  elevator,  and  the 
company  of  which  he  is  president  also  controls  the 
East  St.  Louis  and  Venice  elevators,  and  occupies  the 
St.  Louis  salt  warehouse. 

These  immense  establishments  are  connected  by 
wires  with  each  other,  and  although  the  East  St. 
Louis  and  Venice  elevators  are  on  the  Illinois  side 
of  the  river,  the  entire  business  is  transacted  with  the 
utmost  promptness  and  regularity  from  the  general 
office,  where  Mr.  Jackson  is  the  directing  mind.  The 
grain  handled  by  these  three  elevators  has  in  some 
years  reached  as  high  as  sixty  per  cent,  of  all  the 
grain  received  at  St.  Louis,  and  this  system  of  eleva- 
tors is  justly  regarded  as  a  most  important  agent  in 
giving  a  permanent  and  healthy  stimulus  to  the  grain 
trade  of  St.  Louis. 

Early  in  1880  it  became  apparent  that  the  existing 
barge  lines  in  operation  between  St.  Louis  and  New 
Orleans  were  inadequate  for  the  rapid  and  economical 
transportation  of  grain,  and  Mr.  Jackson  united  with 
other  capitalists  in  the  establishment  of  the  St.  Louis 
and  New  Orleans  Transportation  Company,  with  a 
fleet  of  five  tow-boats  and  thirty-five  barges.  Sub- 
sequently a  consolidation  of  this  company  and  the 
Mississippi  Valley  Transportation  Company  was  ef- 
fected, and  the  result  of  the  union,  the  St.  Louis  and 
Mississippi  Valley  Transportation  Company,  employs 
thirteen  tow  steamers  and  nearly  one  hundred  barges, 
with  capacity  for  four  million  nine  hundred  thousand 
bushels  of  bulk  grain,  and  the  ability  to  move  to  New 
Orleans  monthly  three  million  bushels  of  grain. 

Mr.  Jackson's  efforts  to  build  up  the  grain  trade  of 
St.  Louis  by  furnishing  suitable  terminal  facilities  for 
the  handling  of  grain,  and  by  providing  cheap  trans- 
portation to  Europe,  have  not  lacked  recognition  .on 
the  part  of  his  fellow  business  men.  He  has  been 
vice-president  of  the  Merchants'  Exchange,  and  is  one 
of  the  most  influential  and  honored  members  of  that 
body.  In  1880,  when  the  jetty  system  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Mississippi  had  proved  its  utility,  and  ships  of 
deep  draught  were  loading  at  New  Orleans  with  St. 
Louis  grain,  a  party  of  Mr.  Jackson's  friends  (some  of 
whom  had  been  his  associates  in  the  South  Pass  Jetty 
Company)  visited  him  at  his  elegant  home  in  St.  Louis, 
and  presented  him,  as  a  testimonial  of  their  apprecia- 
tion of  his  public-spirited  labors  in  behalf  of  St.  Louis, 
a  handsome  and  costly  watch,  which  bore  the  inscrip- 
tion, "  The  stockholders  of  the  South  Pass  Jetty 
Company  to  their  esteemed  president,  John  Jackson, 
in  grateful  remembrance  of  his  fidelity  to  these  inter- 
ests in  the  darkest  hours  of  the  enterprise."  The 
esteem  in  which  Mr.  Jackson  is  held  by  those  who 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES.  1229 

1 
• 

-;  and  a  « 
that  :- 

:   Susan 

: 

•     '  •:  • 

•         •'       ;•  '     -  '•         '  -  .  .  • 

•  -        •   -          iiiion  .   •  -  •  • 

ac  on    Fifth    : 

•-•-..-  -  '  -  - 

:   over 

-   .       •         •      .  •     •     -    •  . 

•  .    -     .  • 

:        .  -        .  .          •  • 

•         - 
' 
• 

•.(dating  forty  -six  c::- 

- 

:  '     -         - .  . 

-  '  '  • 

iik   grain    that  was 
i  Pacific  llail- 

•mg  the  earliest  to  appreciate  the 
Anight  be  given  to  the  grain  tr  ide  ot  the 
:he  elevator  system.     According)- 

of  nearly  five  mil  -1  a  company  Kle- 

• 
- 

.  • 


.' 

{.he  brothers  immediately 
thousand 

. 

ired  thot 

.^  .  - 

• 

"    -      -    - 
• 
- 

-   • 

...  .  ••- 

.  . 

--  • .  " 

_,  —        .......      -_      »..w        uu.^JJV^iU         ljui  I/     Ui        UK.  ilV^T?       VylJ^ClUO      J-ldtlO^UlUCltlUtl       V7U11J  ptl  IJJ  ,      U\       W111U11        WU» 


1230 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


triumphantly  demonstrated  the  great  economy  of  a 
water- route  to  the  sea.  The  brothers  are  also  largely 
interested  in  the  Elk  Valley  Farming  Company,  which 
controls  fifteen  thousand  acres  of  farming  land  in  Da- 
kota, on  which  a  prosperous  town  of  two  thousand  in- 
habitants, only  a  year  old  and  named  "  Larimore," 
has  sprung  up.  The  brothers  regard  this  as  one  of 
the  most  important  and  promising  of  their  ventures. 

Mr.  Larimore  was  also  president  of  the  Iron  Moun- 
tain Bank,  and  has  been  for  four  years  an  efficient 
member  of  the  City  Council.  He  is  also  a  member 
of  the  St.  Louis  Club  and  of  the  St.  Louis  Legion  of 
Honor.  He  has  long  been  a  member  of  the  Centenary 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

J.  W.  Larimore,  brother  of  N.  G.  Larimore,  was 
born  July  16,  1837,  in  Bourbon  County,  Ky.,  and 
removed  to  Missouri  with  the  family  in  1844.     The 
time  occupied  in  making  this  journey  was  two  weeks, 
the  household  goods  being  brought  in  wagons  and  the 
family  in  a  carriage;  now  the  trip  would  require  only 
ten  or  twelve  hours.    His  father,  W.  L.  Larimore,  had 
purchased  a  large  tract  of  land  in  St.  Louis  County. 
Being  a  man  of  unusual  foresight,  he  predicted  a  I 
bright  future  for  himself  and  family,  as  he  looked  ; 
upon  St.  Louis  as  the  coming  metropolis  of  the  Mis-  j 
sissippi  valley,  although  the  population  at  that  time  | 
was  only  about  thirty-four  thousand.     He  at  once  set  | 
about  opening  up  his   large   and   magnificent  farm,  j 
which  in  18G4  took  the  premium  offered  by  the  St.  j 
Louis  Agricultural   and  Mechanical  Association  for  ! 
the  most  highly  improved  and  best  cultivated  large 
farm,  there  being  nearly  one  thousand  acres,  most  of 
which  was  meadow  land.     This  farm  was  bought  at 
from  ten  dollars  to  twelve  dollars  per  acre,  and  was 
sold  by  him  in  1865  in  small  farms  for  from  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  dollars  to  two  hundred  dollars  per 
acre,  and  was  known  as  "  The  Model  Farm."     It  was 
on  this  farm  that  J.  W.  Larimore  considers  he  received 
the  most  valuable  part  of  his  education,  having  had 
the  management  of  it  for  seven  years,  although  his 
father  gave  him  all  the  advantages  of  the  best  schools 
in  the  city.     In  1865,  with  his  brother,  he  removed 
to  St.  Louis,  and  his  subsequent  prosperous  career  is 
embraced  in  the  sketch  of  that  of  N.  G.  Larimore. 

He  was  married  Jan.  29,  1867,  to  Bettie  11.  Car- 
lisle, of  St.  Louis,  both  being  active  members  of  the 
Centenary  Methodist  Church,  and  closely  identified 
with  the  Methodist  Orphans'  Home,  she  being  a 
manager  and  he  secretary  and  a  member  of  the  board 
of  trustees  of  that  worthy  and  admirably  managed 
institution.  He  is  also  one  of  the  board  of  trustees 
of  the  Bethel  Association,  one  of  the  most  useful 
charities  in  the  city.  Here  every  Sunday  are  gathered 


together  from  five  hundred  to  one  thousand  of  the 
poor  and  their  children  who  are  deprived  of  the  privi- 
leges of  a  regular  church  by  reason  of  the  long  dis- 
tance from  their  homes  to  that  portion  of  the  city 
where  most  of  the  churches  are.  They  are  provided 
with  competent  teachers,  and  the  faithful  and  zealous 
chaplain,  Capt.  Kitwood,  preaches  to  them  two  or 
three  times  every  week. 

J.  W.  Larimore  is  also  a  stockholder  and  director 
in  the  Continental  Bank,  which  is  one  of  the  most 
prosperous  financial  institutions  in  the  city.  He  is 
also  secretary  and  director  of  the  Central  Elevator 
Company,  a  stockholder  and  director  of  several  other 
elevator  companies,  and  vice-president  of  the  Elk 
Valley  Farming  Company,  on  whose  farm  in  Dakota 
were  raised  in  1882  some  sixty  thousand  bushels  No. 
1  hard  spring  wheat. 

Only  those  familiar  with  the  effect  which  the  in- 
troduction of  the  elevator  system  has  had  upon  the 
grain  trade  of  St.  Louis  can  appreciate  what  such 
men  as  N.  G.  and  J.  W.  Larimore  have  done  for  the 
city.  Not  many  years  ago  the  grain  trade  of  the 
West  and  Northwest  was  handled  by  Chicago,  but 
the  Larimores  and  others  of  similar  courage  addressed 
themselves  to  the  great  problem  of  handling  grain 
economically  and  expeditiously,  the  solution  of  which, 
in  connection  with  the  rapid  development  of  the 
grain-growing  region  lying  west  and  south  of  St. 
Louis,  has  amounted  to  almost  a  revolution  in  that 
line  of  business.  The  Larimores  have  contributed 
their  full  share  to  accomplishing  this  result,  and  it  is 
thought  that,  owing  to  their  intimate  relations  with 
the  Gould  Southwestern  railroad  system,  they  handle 
much  the  greater  portion  of  the  grain  that  comes  to 
St.  Louis. 

J.  W.  Larimore  has  taken  a  great  interest  in  the 
improvement  of  Pine  Street,  west  of  Grand  Avenue, 
where  he  purchased  several  large  blocks  of  ground, 
on  which  he  has  erected  six  large,  fine  stone-front 
houses,  two  of  which  are  double  and  elegantly  fin- 
ished in  hard  wood.  One  of  them  is  occupied  by 
Mr.  Larimore  as  his  family  residence.  His  enter- 
prise has  given  quite  an  impetus  to  the  improvement 
of  that  part  of  the  city,  and  the  value  of  adjacent 
property  has  advanced  from  twenty-five  to  fifty  per 
cent,  during  the  past  year.  Nor  is  this  all :  together 
with  his  brother,  N.  G.  Larimore,  he  has  recently 
(January,  1883)  secured  a  quarter  of  the  block  at 
the  southwest  corner  of  Fourth  and  Oiive  Streets,  and 
they  intend  shortly  to  erect  thereon  a  series  of  build- 
ings worthy  of  the  location  and  a  credit  to  the  city. 

The  Advance  Elevator  Company  (Messrs.  McCor- 
mick)  is  admirably  equipped  at  East  St.  Louis,  and 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1231 


has  two  elevators,  A  and  B,  with  a  total  capacity  of 
1,500,000  bushels. 

The  Union  Elevator,  East  St.  Louis,  has  been  re- 
cently built  on  the  line  of  the  Chicago,  Burlington 
and  Quincy  Railroad,  and  enjoys  unusual  terminal 
facilities  and  a  capacity  of  1,500,000  bushels,  which 
is  to  be  still  further  increased.  The  proprietors, 
Messrs.  Greer  Brothers,  of  St.  Louis  and  Peoria,  111., 
have  also  an  elevator  at  the  latter  point. 

The  Union  Depot  Elevator  D  is  also  new,  and  is 
most  admirably  arranged  and  located.  It  has  a  ca- 
pacity of  750,000  bushels,  and  John  R.  Lionberger, 
the  proprietor,  has  also  Union  Depot  Warehouse,  with 
a  capacity  of  250,000  bushels. 

Central  Elevator  C  has  a  capacity  of  800,000 
bushels. 

The  McPheeters  Warehouse  Company,  so  organized 
last  year,  but  in  existence  as  a  firm  since  1877,  has 
built  one  of  the  largest  and  most  complete  warehouses 
in  the  West.  It  has  rail  and  water  connections,  and 
occupies  a  large  river-front,  from  Nos.  1104  to  1115 
inclusive,  North  Levee.  The  directors  are  W.  L. 
Wickham,  T.  T.  Turner,  and  T.  S.  McPheeters,  Mr. 
Wickhaui  being  president  and  Mr.  McPheeters  sec- 
retary and  manager.  The  capital  is  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars.  Besides  the  new  building,  two 
hundred  and  sixty-four  by  one  hundred  and  two  feet 
with  a  capacity  for  eight  hundred  car-loads,  the  com- 
pany has  another  warehouse  on  North  Main  Street. 

A  recapitulation  of  the  storage  capacity  of  elevators 
and  the  larger  warehouses  makes  the  following  ex- 
hibit, which  no  other  Western  city  can  boast : 

Bushels. 

St.  Louis  Elevator 2,000,000 

Central  Elevator  A 700,000 

Central  Elevator  B 900.000 

Central  Elevator  C 800,000 

East  St.  Louis  Elevator 1,000,000 

Advance  Elevator  A 500,000 

Advance  Elevator  B 1,000,000 

Union  Elevator 1,500,000 

Venice  Elevator 600,000 

Union  Depot  Elevator 750,000 

Salt  Warehouse  Elevator 750,000 

St.  Louis  Warehouse 200,000 


Total 10,700,000 

McPheeters  Warehouse  Company 500,000 

Mills  and  Milling. — The  inauguration  of  the  flour- 
milling  interest  in  what  is  now  St.  Louis  antedates 
the  Revolutionary  war  and  the  declaration  of  inde- 
pendence by  nearly  a  decade.  During  the  period  of 
Spanish  subsidies,  on  Aug.  11,  1766,  Laclede  Liguest 
received  a  grant  of  land,  "  situate  on  La  Petite  Riv- 
ttre,"  afterwards  known  as  Chouteau  Pond,  on  which 
he  caused  to  be  built  c<  two  mills  for  grist  purposes," 
one  of  them  run  by  water,  and  the  other  termed  a 
horse-mill.  How  long  these  primitive  establishments 


existed  is  unknown,  but  up  to  a.bout  1862  a  very 
ancient  looking  lime-mill  stood  upon  this  old  site,  then 
fronting  Chouteau  Pond,  which,  since  filled  up,  is  now 
occupied  by  the  Union  Depot,  railroad  tracks,  freight 
warehouses,  and  other  evidences  of  commercial  progress. 
Precisely  when  merchant  mills  took  the  place  of 
the  rude  structures  of  the  last  century  is  not  disclosed 
by  the  early  commercial  records,  and  it  seems  uncer- 
tain whether  the  mill  erected  at  the  corner  of  Florida 
Street  and  the  Levee  in  1827  and  afterwards  operated 
by  Edward  Walsh  was  really  the  first  of  compara- 
tively modern  character.  In  1836,  Capt.  Martin 
Thomas  built  a  mill  in  the  northern  part  of  the  city, 
which  was  burned  on  July  10,  1836,  just  after  it  had 
been  put  in  complete  order.  Its  re-erection  was 
speedily  followed  by  the  building  of  numerous  other 
flouring-mills,  so  that  in  1847  fourteen  were  in  active 
operation,  the  foundation  being  thus  laid  of  the  St. 
Louis  flour  market,  since  characterized  by  uniform 
excellence  of  brands  and  great  business  enterprise.  Of 
these  fourteen  mills  five  remain,  though  greatly  en- 
larged and  improved.  A  majority  of  the  others  were 
destroyed  by  fire.  The  names  and  capacity  of  the 
mills  of  1847  are  thus  recorded  : 


Barrels 
a  Day. 

Eagle 200 

Union  200 

«Exc,clsior 100 

*Mound 75 

Franklin 125 

^Planters' 125 

Park...,                           200 


Barrels 
a  Day. 

*Missouri 176 

«Star 200 

*Nonantuin 125 

*Centre 100 

^Washington 100 

Camp  Spring 125 

*Chouteau....  ..  100 


Those  marked  thus  *  are  no  longer  in  existence. 

In  1850  we  find  that  there  were  twenty-two  mills 
in  operation  in  St.  Louis,  whose  capacity  for  manu- 
facturing flour  was  about  two  thousand  eight  hundred 
barrels,  and  whose  actual  consumption  of  wheat  was 
not  far  short  of  twelve  thousand  bushels  daily.  The 
mills  were  as  follows: 

•...,,                                                           Run  of  Number  of 

Stone.  Barrels. 

Saxony 2  50 

Mound 2  75 

Diamond 2  75 

Centre 2  75 

O'Fallnn 2  75 

Franklin 2  75 

Cherry  Street 3  100 

Nonantum 2  100 

Washington 3  100 

Magnolia 2  100 

Phreiiix 3  100 

Engle 2  100 

Kxcclsior 2  100 

Park 3  125 

Chouteau's 3  150 

Star 4  150 

Planters' 2  150 

Agawan 4  200 

Empire 4  250 

United  States 3  250 

McElroy's 4  400 

Missouri  (burnt) 


Total. 


2800 


1232 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


The  Laclede  Mill,  the  largest  at  that  period,  was 
erected  in  1856,  at  the  corner  of  Soulard  and  Decatur 
Streets,  with  four  run  of  stone  and  a  manufacturing 
capacity  of  three  hundred  barrels  a  day.  Sears  &  Co., 
the  owners,  expended  forty  thousand  dollars  in  its 
erection.  While  there  have  necessarily  been  a  variety 
of  changes  with  time,  yet  a  majority  of  the  millers  of 
1850  are  still  among  the  "jolly  millers  of  St.  Louis," 
and  participated  in  the  annual  excursion  of  the  craft 
in  May,  1882. 

The  millers  of  1849-50  took  a  prominent  part  in 
the  organization  of  the  "  Merchants'  Exchange,"  and 
the  Millers'  Exchange  of  that  period  is  said  to  have 
been  the  pioneer  corn  exchange  of  this  country.  Prior 
to  that  time  wheat  came  to  the  St.  Louis  market 
solely  by  river  and  in  sacks,  and  samples  were  hawked 
about  from  mill  to  mill  for  sale.  The  outfit  or  furnish- 
ing of  this  exchange  consisted  of  two  pine  counters, 
and  twenty-four  tin  pans  for  flour  samples.  The 
Millers'  Association  had  already  been  organized,  with 
Gabriel  Chouteau,  John  Walsh,  Joseph  Powell,  C.  L. 
Tucker,  Dennis  Marks,  Dr.  Tibbets,  James  Waugh, 
and  T.  A.  Buckland  as  directors.  The  prominence 
then  assumed  by  this  interest  in  the  direction  of  the 
commercial  affairs  of  St.  Louis  has  since  been  main- 
tained in  the  election  of  five  millers  as  presidents  of 
the  Merchants'  Exchange,  viz. :  E.  0.  Stanard,  in 
1866;  C.  L.  Tucker,  1867;  George  P.  Plant,  1869; 
George  Bain,  1878;  Alexander  H.  Smith,  in  1880.1 

Among  the  most  aggressive  and  enterprising  of 
these  was  George  P.  Plant.  Mr.  Plant  was  born  in 
Lancaster  (now  Clinton),  Mass.,  March  23,  1814,  the 
eldest  son  and  the  third  in  a  family  of  six  sons  and 
six  daughters.  His  boyhood  was  one  of  thrift  and 
labor,  and  he  was  brought  up  in  a  practical  atmosphere, 
his  father  being  a  cotton  manufacturer,  with  an  excel- 
lent library  of  mechanical  and  scientific  works,  which 
the  boy,  directed  by  a  gifted  sister,  carefully  studied. 
From  these  books  he  contracted  a  desire  for  the  calling 
of  a  civil  engineer.  Opportunities  for  studying  the 
science  were  in  those  days  very  meagre,  and  with  little 
but  self  instruction,  he  launched  at  once  into  the 
school  of  practice,  and  was  employed  as  a  subordinate 
under  Maj.  Whistler,  who  was  engaged  in  building  a 
railroad  between  Springfield  and  Worcester,  Mass. 

The  West  was  then  beginning  to  attract  the  atten- 
tion of  the  young  and  venturesome,  and  the  projected 
construction  of  railroads  and  canals  in  Illinois  seemed 
to  young  Plant  to  offer  a  promising  field  for  the  exer- 


•  l  A  full  account  of  the  organization  of  the  Millers'  Exchange 
is  given  in  connection  with  the  Merchants'  Exchange,  with 
which  it  was  afterwards  incorporated. 


cise  of  his  talents.  Consequently  in  1835  he  went 
West,  and  after  visiting  an  uncle  who  was  living  in 
Kentucky,  located  at  Jacksonville,  111.,  where  he  was 
employed  as  chief  engineer  in  building  the  first  rail- 
road west  of  the  Alleghenies. 

This  road  was  called  khe  Northern  Cross  Railroad. 
The  first  rail  was  laid  at  Meredosia,  May  9, 1838,  and 
the  first  locomotive  arrived  by  steamboat  Sept.  6, 
1838.  It  was  put  upon  the  track  Nov.  8,  1838,  for 
a  trial-trip  over  the  eight  miles  of  the  road  that  were 
finished.  George  P.  Plant,  the  chief  engineer,  was 
master  of  ceremonies,  and  in  the  party  were  Governor 
Duncan,  of  Illinois,  Murray  McConnell,  the  State 
commissioner,  James  Dunlap  and  Thomas  T.  January, 
contractors,  Charles  Collins  and  Myron  Leslie,  of  St. 
Louis,  and  Alexander  Strother.  There  were  then  less 
than  two  thousand  miles  of  railroad  in  the  United 
States ;  but  Mr.  Plant,  to  whom  belongs  the  unques- 
tioned honor  of  having  first  harnessed  the  iron  horse 
in  the  Mississippi  valley,  lived  to  see  nearly  seventy- 
five  thousand  miles  of  railroad  in  the  country,  and  the 
valley  gridironed  with  railroads,  distributing  the  pro- 
ducts of  the  Southwest  through  St.  Louis  in  every 
direction,  north,  east,  south,  and  west,  with  the  city 
itself  occupying  a  then  undreamed-of  prominence  as 
the  gateway  to  China  and  Japan. 

At  Jacksonville  he  met  and  married  Matilda  W. 
January,  sister  of  D.  A.  and  Thomas  T.  January,  who 
soon  removed  to  St.  Louis  and  engaged  in  mercantile 
and  other  pursuits,  in  which  they  won  an  honorable 
name.  In  1839,  Mr.  Plant  followed  them  to  St.  Louis, 
and  after  a  varied  experience  built  the  Franklin  flour 
mills,  on  Franklin  Avenue  near  Fifth  Street,  and 
founded  the  firm  of  George  P.  Plant  &  Co.  Subse- 
quently his  brother  Samuel  became  a  partner,  and 
when  he  died  in  1866,  Mr.  Plant  admitted  his  son 
George  J.  to  membership  in  the  firm,  and  still  later 
George  H.  Plant,  the  son  of  Samuel  Plant. 

In  1859  his  wife  died,  leaving  two  sons,  and  in 
1863  he  married  Miss  Martha  G.  Douthitt,  a  daugh- 
ter of  the  late  Robert  H.  Douthitt,  of  Pittsburgh,  Pa., 
who  still  survives  him. 

While  active  and  energetic  in  the  prosecution  of 
his  own  business,  which  he  conducted  with  such  suc- 
cess as  to  amass  a  large  fortune,  Mr.  Plant  was  much 
interested  in  affairs  about  him,  and  among  the  many 
positions  of  trust  which  he  held  were  the  following: 
President  of  the  Merchants'  Exchange,  president  of 
the  Millers'  National  Convention,  president  of  the 
American  Central  Insurance  Company,  president  of 
St.  Luke's  Hospital,  etc. 

Mr.  Plant  was  of  delicate  constitution,  but  his 
strength  of  mind  enabled  him  to  do  perhaps  more 


v* 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


work  than  many  stronger  men  accomplished.  In 
February,  1875,  he  was  seized  by  a  cold  that  rapidly 
developed  into  typhoid  pneumonia,  and  on  the  morn- 
ing of  February  24th  he  breathed  his  last. 

His  death  and  funeral  were  the  occasion  of  such  a 
display  of  respect  and  esteem  as  are  accorded  to  no 
common  man.  All  the  bodies  with  which  he  had  been 
connected  adopted  resolutions  expressing  their  regret 
at  the  decease  of  Mr.  Plant  in  words  of  the  most 
tender  and  touching  eulogy.  The  press,  not  only  of 
St.  Louis  but  of  distant  cities,  joined  in  paying  tribute 
to  one  whose  name  throughout  the  land  was  a  syno- 
nym of  business  integrity,  and  who  had  come  to  be 
recognized  as  one  of  the  representative  men  of  the 
Southwest.  "  It  was,"  wrote  a  friend  soon  after  his 
death,  "  his  long  career  in  St.  Louis  as  a  strict  and 
honorable  business  man,  a  successful  manufacturer, 
the  establishing  of  a  name  national  in  its  reputation, 
his  fidelity  in  places  of  trust  and  honor,  his  disinter- 
estedness as  a  citizen,  his  charity  and  benevolence, 
his  ready  ear  to  the  misfortunes  of  others,  his  sound 
judgment  and  advice,  ever  ready  for  those  who  sought 
it,  his  known  conservatism,  yet  progressiveness  of 
thought  and  ideas,  that  gave  him  the  eminence  he 
attained  in  the  community,  made  his  loss  so  widely 
felt,  and  called  forth  from  all  sides  such  widespread 
testimonials  of  genuine  regard  and  respect." 

In  addition  to  the  twenty-four  flour  mills  within  the 
city  limits,  several  of  the  St.  Louis  mills  have  like  es- 
tablishments in  Illinois  and  other  tributary  points,  and 
the  aggregate  capital  invested  in  this  interest  is  esti- 
mated at  thirty-five  million  dollars.  The  daily  manu- 
facturing capacity  exceeds  twelve  thousand  barrels. 
Only  since  1871,  however,  has  the  home  product  ex- 


ceeded the  receipts  from  other  marts.  Flour  made 
from  the  wheat  grown  in  the  Mississippi  valley  has  the 
keeping  or  self-preservative  quality  to  such  an  extent 
that  it  is  much  in  request  in  Southern  latitudes,  and 
St.  Louis  millers  export  largely  to  Rio  and  the  West 
Indies.  George  Bain,  president  of  the  Atlantic  Mill- 
ing Company  and  of  the  National  Millers'  Associa- 
tion, was  the  pioneer  in  the  export  trade.  Ten  years 
ago  he  went  to  England  with  a  consignment  of  flour 
in  sacks  equal  to  thirty  thousand  barrels,  and  found 
ready  sale  for  the  product.  Since  then  St.  Louis  has 
become  a  distributing-point  to  the  markets  of  the 
world,  and  St.  Louis  flour  has  won  first  premiums 
at  the  World's  Expositions  in  Paris,  Vienna,  and 
Philadelphia.  In  1879  there  was  exported  to  Eu- 
ropean nations  and  to  South  America  an  aggregate 
of  six  hundred  and  nineteen  thousand  one  hundred 
and  three  barrels  of  flour  of  St.  Louis  manufacture. 
The  flour  shipments  on  through  bills  of  lading  to 
foreign  countries  during  1881  makes  this  exhibit: 

Barrels. 

To  England 178,879 

Scotland 64,744 

Ireland 18,893 

Belgium 23,728 

Wales 600 

Germany 2,906 

France 4.087 

Holland 6,184 

South  America 8,416 

West  Indies 383 

Other  places 571 


Total 309,391 

The  following  table,  compiled  from  the  reports  of 
millers  to  the  Merchants'  Exchange,  exhibits  the  ag- 
gregate amount  of  flour  handled  by  them  during  the 
last  nine  years : 


1882. 

1881. 

1880. 

1879. 

1878. 

1877. 

1876. 

1875. 

1874. 

2,203,424 
1,850,215 

991,986 

1,620,996 
1,718,429 

261,264 

1,703,874 
2,077,625 

436,165 

1,607,236 
2,142,949 

404,569 

1,305,336 
1,916,290 

412,246 

1,157,932 
1,517,921 

262,475 

1,071,434 
1,441,944 

254,596 

1,300,381 
1,484,821 

304,721 

1,683,898 
1,573,202 

228,789 

Sold  and  shipped  direct 
from  country  mills  

Total  barrels  

4,845,625 

3,600,689 

4,217,664 

4,154,757 

3,633,872 

2,938,328 

2,767,974 

3,089,923 

3,485,889 

"  Previous  to  1880,"  says  Secretary  George  H. 
Morgan,  of  the  Merchants'  Exchange,  in  his  valuable 
report  on  the  trade  and  commerce  of  St.  Louis  for 
1882,  "  St.  Louis  manufactured  a  greater  number  of 
barrels  of  flour  than  any  other  city,  but  owing  to  the 
fact  that  within  the  past  three  years  several  of  our 
largest  flouring- mills  have  been  destroyed  by  fire,  our 
enterprising  Northwestern  neighbor,  Minneapolis,  has 
outstripped  us  in  the  manufacture  of  flour.  But  with 
the  new  mills  built  in  the  past  two  years,  and  those 


now  building  and  planned,  St.  Louis  will  soon  regain 
its  old  pre-eminence  as  the  largest  manufacturer  of 
flour  in  this  country.  The  first  section  of  the  Atlantic 
Roller-Mill,  with  a  capacity  of  thirteen  hundred  bar- 
rels per  day,  was  completed  in  December,  and  further 
additions  will  doubtless  be  made  during  the  comiu"- 

o  o 

year.  J.  B.  Kehlor  &  Co.  have  commenced  the  erec- 
tion of  the  Grand  Pacific  Mills,  which,  when  fully 
completed,  will  have  a  daily  capacity  equal  to,  if 
not  exceeding,  that  of  any  other  mill  in  the  world. 


1234 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Messrs.  Teideman  &  Co.  are  perfecting  plans  for  the 
rebuilding  of  the  Iron  Mountain  Mills,  burned  in 
August  last.  These  mills,  when  completed,  will  in- 
crease the  capacity  of  St.  Louis  mills  to  17,500  bar- 
rels per  day, — over  5,000,000  barrels  per  annum. 
Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  our  manufacturing 
capacity  has  decreased,  St.  Louis  can  justly  claim  to 
be  the  largest  flour  market  in  the  United  States. 
While  New  York  shows  receipts  of  5,883,709  bar- 
rels, it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  in  this  amount  is 
included  all  the  flour  shipped  directly  from  interior  cities 
to  Europe  and  South  America,  and  in  which  the  New 
York  merchant,  whether  receiver  or  exporter,  has  no 
interest  whatever;  and  while  some  of  our  Western 
competitors  show  nominally  very  large  receipts,  a 
large  proportion  of  such  receipts  pay  no  tribute  to 
the  city  through  which  they  pass  on  their  way  to  the 
seaboard  for  export  or  to  the  New  England  States  for 
consumption,  while  of  the  4,845,625  barrels  handled 
the  past  year  by  St.  Louis  millers  and  dealers,  there 
was  not  one  per  cent,  that  did  not  actually  change 
hands  here,  being  bought  and  sold  in  this  market. 

"  The  amount  of  flour  manufactured  during  1882 
was  1,830,215  barrels,  an  increase  over  1881  of 
131,786  barrels.  The  receipts  reached  2,003,424 
barrels,  the  largest  in  the  history  of  the  trade.  The 
shipments  aggregated  3,305,765  barrels,  a  greater 
amount  than  ever  before,  of  which  the  equivalent  of 
623,211  barrels  was  shipped  in  sacks  direct  to  foreign 
ports,  970,462  barrels  went  to  Eastern  consumers, 
and  1,661,481  barrels  were  taken  by  the  Southern 
States.  In  addition  to  the  amount  exported  from  St. 
Louis,  344,984  barrels  were  reported  by  St.  Louis 
dealers  from  points  other  than  St.  Louis,  being  shipped 
direct  from  the  country  mills  to  save  expense,  but  all 
of  which  was  sold  in  this  market." 

FLOUR  MANUFACTURED  during  1882  by  mills  outside  of  the 
city  of  St.  Louis,  but  owned  by  citizens  of  St.  Louis,  members 
of  the  Merchants'  Exchange. 


(-•O 

=  £ 

=  = 

OWNER. 

Name  of  Mill. 

Location. 

KJ 

IS 

^ 

E.  0.  Stanard  &  Co  

Alton  Citv  

Alton,  III  

122,277 

F.  Ttedrnmu  &  Co  

Capf  County  

Jackoon,  Mo  

3(i.4I2 

Futli,  Ewald  &  Co  

St.  Marys  

St.  Marvs,  Mo  

37,600 

John  W.  Kanflmaii  

Pri'Mileiit1  

Betlutltn,  111  

30  61  15 

I).  L.  Wins;  A  Co  

Planet  

Litchti.-lu.  Ill  

195.210 

Keillor  HUM  

Edwarilsville  

Edwaiilsvillc,  III  

121,684 

Cn-wn  Mills  Company.. 

Crown  

H.-lU-vill,-,  Ill  

59.00U 

Mauntel,  Boi^ess  A  Co. 

AvNton  

A  vision.  111  

B6,5Ufi 

Maunlel,  Burgess  &  Co. 

Cone  

Ste.  Gcnevicvc,  Mo.. 

211.7  1.'. 

F.  A.  Kens*  &  Co  

Belleville  Star.. 

Hrlleville,  III  

44,600 

F.  A.  Reuss  &  Co  

Georgetown  

Georgetown,  111  

24,900 

Total      

754  598 

The  product  for  1881  of  those  mills  making  a 
specialty  of  corn  meal,  rye  flour,  grits,  hominy,  and 
corn  flour  should  be  added  to  obtain  a  complete  exhibit 
of  the  milling  interest  of  St.  Louis.  It  is  as  follows  : 


Company. 
Hezel 

pany. 
Humpei 

Saxony 
Lalleme 
I'lanaga 

foil.... 

J.  L.  Pi 

Camp 
Company. 


•e.3 

sS 

g» 

*  |» 

!S2 

ILLER8. 

Name  of  Mill. 

S  § 

£?f 

£  £ 

O 

Io5 

P 

63 

a 

«  a 

&  Feiner  

214  709 

25923 

aiicln   Milling 

245  495 

36098 

tilling    Com- 

3  500 

&Co  

Lowell  

7,000 

2691 

it  Bros  

2,000 

is  &  Ricliard- 

Mississippi  Valley... 

430000 

60000 

;e  &  Co  

Tuscan  

3,000 



Sprint;      Mill 

7500 

y\or  &  Co  

Globe  

1,200 

[  

905704 

122021 

12001 

These  figures  show  a  steady  increase  in  this  par- 
ticular, averaging  over  forty  per  cent,  a  year.  The 
exports  of  corn  meal  in  1881  aggregated  599,016  bar- 
rels, and  1228  car-loads  of  bran  and  ship  stuffs  in 
bulk  were  shipped,  and  560,115  sacks  of  the  same. 
The  growth  of  the  flour  trade  of  St.  Louis  will  be 
seen  in  the  following  table  of  the  receipts  and  manu- 
facture of  »flour  for  thirty-two  years  and  the  exports 
for  eighteen  years: 


Year 

Receipts. 

Manf. 

Exports. 

Year 

Receipts 

Manf. 

Exports. 

1851 
1852 
185:i 
1854 
1855 
1856 
1857 
1X58 
1X59 
1860 
1861 
1862 
1863 
1804 
1865 
1866 

BM*. 
184.715 
132,050 

192/J45 
226.450 
323,446 
573.664 
687,451 
4x4,715 

4X4^000 
647.419 
689,242 
815.144 
1,161,038 
1,208,726 

Bbl*. 
408,099 
383.184 
455,076 
503.157 
&  13,353 
078,496 
662,548 
825,651 
063,446 
839,165 
694,110 

75«,422 

782,500 
743,281 
818,300 

Bbfc. 

1867 
1868 
1869 
1870 
1871 
1872 
1873 
1874 
1875 
1876 
1S77 
1878 
1879 
18SSO 
1881 
18S2 

Bbls. 
944,075 

80o,X.',6 
1,210,555 
1,491,626 
1,428,408 
1,259,933 
1,296,457 
1  ,683,>98 

Bbls. 

765,298 
895.154 
1,O6*,592 
1,351,773 
1,507,915 
1,494,798 
1,420,287 
1,573,202 
1.484.821 

Bblt. 
1,450,475 

1,499,337 
2,172,761 
1,790,739 
2,076.525 
2.247,040 

2,506,215 
2,981,760 
2,4SO,«77 

l,i  (71,434    1,441,944 
1,157,932     1,5I7,!121 
1.305.336     1,916,290 
1.607,236    2,142.949 
1,703,874     2,077,625 
1,620,990     1.71H.429 
2,003,424    1,850,215 

2,217,578 
2.295,fi57 
2,670,740- 
3,045,035 
3,2112,803 
2,696,245 
3,305,765 

1.521,465 
1,700,740 

The  soui 
ments  of  fl 
from  the  fo 

By 

Eastern  rail  re 
Illinois  River 
Western  railr 

•ces  of  supply  and  the  dir 
3ur  during  1881  and  188 
ilowing  table  : 

RECEIPTS, 
ads  45 

ection  of  ship- 
2  will  be  seen 

1882.               1881. 
Bbl».               Bblt. 
7,034          359,153 
7,205              9,210 
5.176          451.106 

oads.... 

58 

1  Burned  August,  1882. 


Missouri  River 4,iil>r>  14.660 

Southern   railroads 645,fi50  486,505 

Lower  river  I. oats 39,933  34,851 

Northern  railroads 131.918  157,071 

Upper  river  boats 79,828  52,137 

From  local  points 32,585  56,303 

Total 2,003,423  1,620,996- 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1235 


Direction. 
Direct  to  Europe  

SHIPMENTS 

1882. 
Bbls. 
....      623,211 

1881. 
Bbls. 

Year. 

Corn  Meal. 
Barrett. 

Bran  and  Ship 
in  Sacks. 

82,773 
103,385 
120,183 
102,906 
85,317 

Bran  and  Ship 
in  Sacks. 

560,115 
602,103 
539,443 
499,481 
680,565 
661,458 
578,062 
558,696 
471,447 
386,321 
457,908 
444,450 
313.585 

Stuffs 
in  Bulk. 
Cars. 

Stuffs 
in  Bulk. 
Cart. 
1228 
1936 
1185 
1058 

To  Eastern  points  by  rai 
«                  a      rjv 

Southern          "      rail 
"                   "      riv< 

....      961,094 

329,896 
817,156 
871,386 
631,038 
312,312 
366,366 

1872 

51  207 

sr  

9,368 

1871 

38  003 

....      934,968 

1870 

38  225 

•r  

....      726,513 

1869 

ni  13 

17,663 

Year. 
1881  

Exports. 

Corn  Meal. 

Barrels. 
599,016 

Northern  points  

32,948 

Total  

...  3,305,765 

2,696,545 
BRAN    AND 

Stuffs 
in  Bulk. 
Cart. 
644 
447 
463 
336 

RECEIPTS  AND    SHIPME 
SHIP  STUFFS 

Year.                            C 
1881  

NTS    OF    C( 
FOR  THIR 

Receipts. 
orn  Meal. 

Barrels. 
12,057 
37.435 
10.475 
2,046 
13  075 

)RN    MEAL, 
TEEN  YEARS. 

Bran  and  Ship 
in  Sacks. 

143,753 
123,374 
118,605 
148.844 
220,564 
179,990 
207,219 
194.345 

1880  

632,343 

1879  

393,710 

1878  

281  712 

1877  

395,908 

1876  

383,242 

1880    . 

1875  

420,399 

1879  

1874  

402,871 

1878  

1873  

358,736 

1877  

1872  

234,938 

1876  

.  17,768 

1871  

191,910 

1875  

31,706 
34.595 

1870  

171,203 

1874.... 

1869.... 

..  106.667 

FLOUR  MANUFACTURED  IN  ST.   LOUIS   FOR  THREE  YEARS. 


MILLERS. 

Name  of  Mill. 

Capacity  in 
24  Hours. 

Manufactured 

1882. 

Manufactured 
1881. 

Manufactured 
1880. 

Atlantic1  

194  425 

286  882 

E.  0.  Stanard  &  Co  

900 

158,263 

159,196 

171*243 

Kohlor  Brothers  

TjiiuU'de  

600 

133,000 

128,000 

120  672 

Union  Strum  Mills  Company  

Union  Steam  

600 

134,786 

123  150 

105  640 

(  600 

118,900 

104  259 

92  300 

Park  

800 

150,525 

97,951 

74  192 

Empire  Mill  Company  

600 

80,439 

91,442 

130  131 

400 

91,100 

90  000 

88  116 

George  P    Plant  A  Co  

Franklin    

450 

84,980 

86  845 

90  490 

Saxony  Mill  Company  

Saxony  

350 

73,717 

82,606 

81  040 

lie/el  Milling  Company  

400 

84,000 

78,000 

89  000 

George  P.  Plant  <t  Co  

Pearl  

325 

63,890 

67  030 

60  750 

Anchor  Mill  Company  

800 

196,350 

65,000 

E.  Goddurd  &  Suns  Company  

600 

70,235 

56,140 

80  685 

F.  L.  Johnston  &  Co  

350 

50,900 

51,800 

78  600 

500 

142,300 

46,750 

90  542 

F.  Tiedeman  A  Co  

500 

31,420 

45  675 

Henry  Kalhfleisch  &  Co  

St.  George  

200 
500 

31,250 
120,155 

34,385 
33  575 

24,150 

43  000 

38  420 

W.  S.  Taylor  &  Co  

Globe  

150 

5,000 

20  000 

16  980 

Ca  rondo  let  

150 

17,800 

18  000 

18  000 

J    L   Price  A  Co  

Tuscan  

125 

3,000 

600 

3  000 

Kehlor*  

800 

8,205 

336  792 

Total,  24  Mills. 

24  Mills. 

10,700 

1,850,215 

1,718,429 

2,077,625 

1  Burned  Aug.  12,  1881 ;  rebuilt  December,  1882.  *  Burned  Aug.  24,  1882. 

*  Completed  November,  1882. 


8  Burned  February,  1882. 


Bread,  Crackers,  etc. — "  At  the  time  of  the 
transfer  of  the  province  of  Louisiana  to  the  United 
States,"  says  Edwards  ("Great  West,"  p.  288), 
"  there  was  but  one  baker  in  the  town,  by  the  name 
of  Le  Clerc,  who  baked  for  the  garrison,  and  who 
lived  on  Main  Street,  between  what  is  now  known  as 
Elm  and  Walnut."  Dec.  5,  1812,  Toussaint  Benoit 
had  a  baker-shop  on  North  Church  Street,  in  Block 
64.  On  the  llth  of  November,  1815,  Christian 
Smith  informed 


"the  citizens  of  St.  Louis,  and  those  who  attend  the  St.  Louis 
market,  that  he  has  opened  a  bake- shop  in  Decatur  Street,  oppo- 
site Edward  Hempstead's  office,  where  household  breads,  cakes, 
biscuits,  crackers,  etc.,  will  always  be  ready  for  customers.  To- 
morrow evening  the  first  batch  will  be  drawn,  and  the  citizens 
are  invited  to  send  and  make  trial.  For  the  accommodation  of 
hi8  friends  of  the  north  end  of  St.  Louis,  he  will  keep  bread  for 
sale  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Wallace,  the  place  lately  occupied  by 
Mr.  Jourdan  Labrose." 

April  20,  1816,  the  Missouri  Gazette  published  the 
following  ordinance : 


1236 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


"  Ax  ORDINANCE  to  establish  the  tariff  and  regulate  the  inspection 

of  bread  for  the  town  of  St.  Louis, 

"  Be  it  ordained  by  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  aforesaid  town, 
that  hereafter  no  loaf  of  bread  shall  be  vended  in  said  town  at 
a  price  greater  than  twelve  and  one-half  cents,  and  in  order  to 

re  • 

fix  the  weight  of  said  loaf  of  bread,  the  bakers  of  bread  shall 
hereafter  be  regulated  by  the  following  tariff: 


Price  of  the 
100  cwt. 

S2  Olt 

Weight  of  the        ; 
Loaf,  of  Flour. 
No.  of  Ounces. 

.  76 

Price  of  the 
100  cwt 

Weight  of  the 
Loaf,  of  Flour. 
No.  of  Ounces. 
28 

o  50 

61 

6  00  , 

,  25 

3  00 

51 

6.50  

24 

3.50 

41 

7.00  

23 

4  00 

36 

7.50  

22 

4  50 

..  34 

8.05  

21 

5.00.... 

..  30 

"  Provided,  however,  That  if  the  prices  of  flour  should  be 
different  from  the  prices  fixed  in  the  above  tariff,  the  weight  of 
the  loaf  shall  be  regulated  accordingly." 

June  20,  1816,  Abijah  Hull  &  Co.,  bakers,  were 
located  on  South  Main  Street,  in  block  No.  6. 

According  to  the  census  of  1880,  the  number  of 
firms  engaged  in  the  bread  and  cracker  business  was 
195,  but  in  1881  the  number  was  estimated  at  215, 
with  a  total  business  of  $2,000,000  ;  hands  employed, 
500  ;  wages  paid,  $350,000. 

One  of  the  largest  houses  in  the  cracker  trade  is 
the  Dozier-Weyl  Cracker  Company,  of  which  the 
founder  was  Capt.  James  Dozier.  Capt.  Dozier  was 
born  in  Nash  County,  N.  C.,  Jan.  7,  1806,  the  son 
of  Thomas  Dozier,  and  descended  from  an  old  and 
well-known  Virginia  family.  Of  Capt.  Dozier's  boy- 
hood little  is  recorded,  but  that  he  was  of  a  stirring 
and  adventurous  spirit  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact 
that  when  but  eighteen  years  old  he  migrated  to  the 
West,  his  only  attendant  being  Peter,  a  negro  boy, 
whom  his  father  had  given  him.  The  journey,  which 
was  undertaken  by  land,  was  a  toilsome  one,  there 
being  no  railroads  then,  and  only  a  few  primitive 
steamboats.  He  settled  near  Paris,  Tenn.,  where, 
after  a  short  season  spent  in  farming,  he  commenced 
the  mercantile  business  in  a  small  way,  and  followed 
this  pursuit  several  years  with  excellent  success,  hav- 
ing gained  the  confidence  of  all  with  whom  he  came 
in  contact. 

In  1826,  Mr.  Dozier  married  Miss  Mary  A.  Dud- 
geon, the  daughter  of  John  Dudgeon,  originally  of 
Virginia,  but  later  of  near  Lexington,  Ky.,  where 
most  of  his  family  were  born.  In  1828,  accompanied 
by  his  father-in-law  and  family  and  two  other  families 
of  that  neighborhood,  he  emigrated  to  Missouri,  set- 
tling in  the  upper  part  of  St.  Louis  County,  near  the  ' 
Virginia  settlement  of  the  Tylers  and  Colemans, 
families  whose  descendants  are  among  the  leading 
people  of  that  locality.  Here  Capt.  Dozier  and  Mr. 
Dudgeon,  his  father-in-law,  leased  the  old  McAllister 


tan-yard,  and  operated  it  with  success  for  some  years, 
when  Capt.  Dozier  retired  and  resumed  the  mercan- 
tile business.  He  continued  in  this  employment  for 
a  few  years,  and  finally  removed  to  the  north  side  of 
the  Missouri  River,  into  St.  Charles  County,  where, 
he  lived  for  many  years.  Here  he  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  his  subsequent  fortune,  conducting  a  flourish- 
ing business  as  a  merchant  and  farmer,  and  became 
one  of  the  leading  men  of  that  region.  By  frugality 
and  industry  he  accumulated  a  large  estate,  consisting 
of  lands,  stock,  etc.,  and  in  doing  so  was  greatly  aided 
by  the  most  estimable  of  wives,  of  whom  it  was 
justly  said  that  "  she  was  a  bee  that  brought  a  great 
deal  of  honey  to  that  hive." 

In  1844,  Mr.  Dozier  engaged  in  the  steamboat  busi- 
ness, and  owned  and  operated  successively  the  "  War- 
saw," "Lake  of  the  Woods,"  "St.  Louis  Oak," 
'•Cora,"  "Mary  Blane,"  and  "Elvira"  (a  boat  of 
much  reputation  in  her  day,  and  named  for  his  second 
daughter).  Later  he  or  his  sons  owned  the  "  Row- 
ena,"  "Thomas  E.  Tutt,"  "  Mollie  Dozier,"  etc. 
There  are  doubtless  many  old  steamboatmen  yet 
living  in  whom  the  mention  of  the  names  of  these 
vessels  will  awaken  the  most  interesting  recollections. 
Those  were  the  palmy  days  of  steamboating  on  the 
Missouri  River,  and  the  vessels  owned  by  Capt. 
Dozier  made  his  name  widely  known  along  that  stream 
and  its  tributaries,  and  everywhere  respected  as  the 
synonym  of  all  that  was  honest  and  straightforward. 
He  was  a  contemporary  and  acquaintance  of  Capts. 
Roe,  Throckmorton,  La  Barge,  Eaton,  Kaiser,  and 
others,  most  of  whom  he  survived. 

In  1854,  Capt.  Dozier  retired  from  the  river  to  his 
country  home,  where  he  built  a  fine  residence  near 
the  river-bank.  A  more  beautiful  place  or  a  better 
improved  farm,  or  rather  set  of  farms,  could,  perhaps, 
not  have  been  found  on  the  Missouri  River  than  that 
of  Capt.  Dozier,  at "  Dozier's  Landing."  His  house 
was  ever  open  to  his  friends  and  neighbors,  and  for 
the  twenty  years  he  lived  in  St.  Charles  County  was 
seldom  without  some  visitors.  His  charities  to  the 
poor  and  orphans  were  of  the  most  generous  character, 
and  his  house  at  times  was  the  home  of  many  unfor- 
tunates. In  his  numerous  benefactions  he  was  wholly 
free  from  ostentation,  and  the  world  never  knew  of 
most  of  his  deeds  of  benevolence.  Cnpt.  Dozier  was 
an  owner  of  slaves,  but  a  kind  and  thoughtful  master. 

Immediately  after  the  war  he  removed  to  St.  Louis, 
and  in  1867  formed  a  partnership  with  the  long-estab- 
lished and  well-known  baker,  Joseph  Garueau,  in  the 
bakery  business.  In  1872  this  firm  was  dissolved, 
and  Capt.  Dozier  then  founded  the  present  large  baking 
establishment  of  the  Dozier-Weyl  Cracker  Company, 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1237 


than  which  perhaps  no  manufacturing  establishment 
in  America  is  better  known,  it  being  probably  the 
largest  cracker- factory  in  the  world. 

Capt.  Dozier  died  July  15,  1878,  after  but  a  few 
hours'  illness.  For  more  than  twenty  years  he  had 
been  a  consistent  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  South,  and  enjoyed  the  confidence  and  respect 
of  the  members  of  that  communion,  by  whom  his 
counsels  were  prized  and  his  example  is  held  in  affec- 
tionate remembrance.  As  a  citizen,  he  stood  very 
high,  yet  his  real  worth  was  appreciated  only  by 
those  who  knew  him  intimately,  for  his  nature  was 
reserved,  and  while  his  friends  embraced  all  with 
whom  he  was  ever  brought  into  business  or  social 
relations,  comparatively  few  were  privileged  to 
thoroughly  know  and  comprehend  his  character.  As 
a  business  man,  though  reticent,  he  was  quick  to  de- 
cide and  equally  quick  to  act,  and  his  judgment  was 
clear  and  seldom  at  fault.  Consequently  he  left  to  his 
family  a  good  heritage,  the  accumulation  of  a  lifetime 
of  economy  and  upright  dealing,  but  he  bequeathed 
also  what  they  prize  far  more,  the  life  record  of  a 
good  citizen,  a  loving  husband,  and  a  wise  and  tender 
father. 

Groceries. — In  early  times  the  grocery  trade  was 
included  under  the  general  designation  of  "  dry- 
goods,"  but  as  far  back  as  May  2,  1812,  we  find 
J.  F.  Laveille  advertising  a  new  store,  his  stock  con- 
sisting of  groceries,  queensware,  and  other  goods.  In 
1853  the  importations  of  groceries  embraced  50,774 
hogsheads,  13,993  barrels,  and  40,257  boxes  and 
bags  of  sugar,  53,554  barrels  and  hogsheads  of  mo- 
lasses, 868  barrels  of  syrup,  and  104,467  bags  of  cof- 
fee. This  was  largely  in  advance  of  the  previous 
year's  imports,  given  as  follows :  Sugars,  35,283 
hogsheads,  27,672  barrels  and  boxes,  31,745  bags; 
coffee,  96,240  sacks;  molasses,  54,933  barrels  and 
hogsheads. 

In  1855  there  were  fifty-six  houses  engaged  in  the 
wholesale  grocery  trade,  with  annual  sales  amounting 
to  $22,783,505.  Under  the  classification  of  groceries, 
dry-goods,  boots  and  shoes  there  were  five  firms  en- 
gaged, their  annual  sales  aggregating  $710,675. 

The  total  number  of  wholesale  grocery  firms  in  St. 
Louis  in  1881  was  fifty- two ;  wholesale  and  retail 
groceries,  nine ;  dealers  in  fancy  groceries,  three, — 
making  a  total  of  sixty-four  firms  in  the  wholesale 
grocery  business.  The  sales  (exclusive  of  sugar,  cof- 
fee, rice,  etc.)  are  estimated  at  thirty  millions  of  dol- 
lars per  annum.  During  the  same  year  (1881)  there 
were  one  thousand  and  twenty-five  retail  groceries  in 
St.  Louis. 

One  of  the  largest  grocery  firms  in  the  country,  and 
T9 


probably  in  the  world,  the  Greeley-Burnham  Grocer 
Company,  is  located  in  St.  Louis.  Its  founder  was 
Carlos  S.  Greeley  (a  sketch  of  whose  active  and 
beneficent  career  is  printed  elsewhere  in  this  work  in 
the  history  of  the  operations  of  the  Western  Sanitary 
Commission),  who  in  1838  established  a  wholesale 
grocery-house  in  St.  Louis,  the  firm  being  composed 
at  first  of  Messrs.  Greeley  &  Sanborn,  and  afterwards 
of  Greeley  &  Gale.  Business  was  commenced  on  the 
Levee  on  a  very  moderate  scale,  and  one  of  the  pecu- 
liarities of  its  management  was  that,  contrary  to  the 
usual  practice  of  the  time  and  place,  the  firm  sold  no 
liquor.  The  enterprise  prospered,  and  the  partner- 
ship of  Greeley  &  Gale  continued  in  successful  opera- 
tion until  1858,  in  which  year  C.  B.  Burnham  was 
admitted  to  partnership,  and  the  house  took  the  name 
of  C.  B.  Burnham  &  Co. 

Daniel  B.  Gale,  who  was  associated  with  Mr.  Gree- 
ley in  the  establishment  of  the  original  firm,  was 
born  in  Salisbury,  N.  H.,  March  30,  1816.  When 
he  was  but  six  years  old  his  father,  a  prosperous  far- 
mer, died,  but  his  mother,  a  woman  of  rare  qualities 
of  mind  and  heart,  cheerfully  assumed  the  added  re- 
sponsibilities, and,  watching  over  his  childhood  and 
youth  with  unceasing  love,  laid  the  foundations  of  a 
singularly  fine  and  noble  character.  The  lad  worked 
on  the  farm  until  he  was  about  fourteen  years  of  age, 
and  his  early  education  was  mostly  received  from  the 
common  country  school,  taught  six  months  in  the 
year ;  but  he  afterwards  enjoyed  for  a  time  the  ad- 
vantages of  the  academy  in  his  native  town,  and  then, 
with  the  intention  of  becoming  a  lawyer,  entered 
Meriden  Academy,  in  Plainfield,  N.  H.,  to  prepare 
for  college.  Like  many  another  New  England  stu- 
dent, he  taught  a  country  school  during  the  winter, 
and  at  the  same  time  prosecuted  his  studies ;  but  a 
change  having  come  over  his  mind  as  to  his  life-work, 
he  abandoned  the  idea  of  entering  the  legal  profession, 
and  became  a  clerk  in  the  store  of  Samuel  C.  Bart- 
lett,  a  prominent  and  wealthy  merchant  of  Salisbury. 

A  friend  who  knew  him  well  at  that  period  writes, 
"  He  was  rather  impulsive,  very  affectionate  in  his 
nature,  and  more  delicate  in  his  constitution  than  his 
brothers,  and  on  that  account  was  perhaps  rather 
more  the  favorite  of  his  mother.  He  was  always, 
even  in  boyhood,  perfectly  correct  in  his  deportment, 
was  reliable  in  all  that  he  said  or  did,  and  was  never 
guilty  of  any  of  those  boyish  tricks  and  vices  so 
common  with  young  men,  and  by  some  considered 
almost  necessary  follies  of  youth.  There  was  a 
small  public  library  in  Salisbury,  from  which  he  pro- 
cured books,  and  he  early  acquired  the  habit  of 
filling  up  his  leisure  time  in  reading.  This  habit  con- 


1238 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


tinued  ever  after,  and  made  him  a  man  of  great  gen- 
eral information." 

Very  soon  after  becoming  of  age,  at  the  earnest 
solicitation  of  his  brother,  a  lawyer  in  Peoria,  111., 
who  was  anxious  for  him  to  settle  at  that  point,  he 
determined  to  try  his  fortune  in  the  West,  and  having 
some  money  from  his  father's  estate  at  his  disposal, 
he  purchased  a  stock  of  goods  in  Boston,  shipped 
them  by  way  of  New  Orleans  to  Peoria,  and  proceeded 
without  delay  via  Pittsburgh  to  that  town,  where  he 
intended  to  reside.  But  having  chanced,  in  March, 
1838,  to  meet  at  Peoria  a  native  of  his  birthplace, 
Carlos  S.  Greeley,  who  was  establishing  himself  in 
St.  Louis,  and  who  urged  upon  his  young  townsman 
the  superior  advantages  which  St.  Louis  as  a  business 
centre  offered  to  a  stirring  young  man,  he  visited  St. 
Louis,  where  he  found  Mr.  Greeley  just  opening  busi- 
ness, and  suggested  the  formation  of  a  partnership, 
offering  to  put  into  the  capital  of  the  firm  the  two 
thousand  dollars'  worth  of  goods  then  on  the  way  up 
the  river.  Mr.  Greeley  accepted  the  proposition,  and 
the  two,  who  were  destined  to  be  from  this  moment 
lifelong  friends  and  associates,  repaired  to  a  room  in 
the  National  Hotel,  corner  of  Third  and  Market 
Streets,  and  there  arranged  the  basis  of  partnership 
and  the  general  principles  on  which  the  business 
should  be  conducted.  . 

A  noteworthy  feature  of  their  agreement  was  that 
it  was  wholly  verbal.  When  one  proposed  to  reduce 
it  to  writing,  the  other  remarked  that  were  it  put  on 
paper  it  would  be  no  more  binding,  for  if  people  would 
not  keep  a  verbal  contract,  they  would  surely  find 
some  way  to  break  a  written  one.  And  so,  on  the 
28th  of  March,  1838,  the  firm  of  Greeley  &  Gale 
was  organized,  without  any  written  articles  of  copart- 
nership, and  during  the  thirty-six  years  in  which  the 
principals  were  associated  they  never  found  it  neces- 
sary to  draw  up  any  such  articles,  nor  to  commit  to 
writing  any  agreement,  either  with  each  other  or  with 
those  who  were  subsequently  admitted  to  the  firm. 

The  rapid  rise  and  development  of  the  firm  has 
already  been  related.  Of  his  associate  in  the  years 
of  toil  that  first  ensued  and  of  honorable  and  well- 
earned  success  that  followed  Mr.  Greeley  says,  "  Mr. 
Gale  was  a  good,  honest,  working  man,  always  ready 
to  do  his  share  of  hard  work, — and  there  was  plenty 
of  it  for  many  long  years.  A  more  conscientious  or 
correct  man  I  never  had  the  pleasure  of  knowing.  I 
never  knew  him  to  fail  in  any  capacity.  He  was  in 
every  respect  a  good  man,  a  thorough  Christian." 

Mr.  Gale  was  pre-eminently  a  man  of  business,  and 
attended  strictly  to  details.  He  did  not  allow  his 
time  or  capital  to  be  squandered  in  outside  invest- 


ments and  speculations,  which  allure  from  their  legiti- 
mate callings  so  many  merchants  only  to  result  in 
financial  disaster,  but  to  all  public  enterprises  which 
promised  good  to  St.  Louis  he  gave  hearty  and  ma- 
terial support.  For  many  years  he  was  a  director  in 
several  of  the  banks,  and  was  a  liberal  subscriber  to 
the  stock  of  the  Kansas  and  Pacific  Railroad.  In  com- 
pany with  Messrs.  Greeley,  John  D.  Perry,  Joseph 
O'Neil,  and  others,  he  rendered  to  that  great  enter- 
prise important  financial  aid  at  a  most  critical  period 
of  its  history.  For  several  years,  too,  he  was  the 
faithful  and  incorruptible  representative  of  the  Sev- 
enth Ward  in  the  City  Council, — a- service  prompted 
not  by  love  of  applause  or  personal  gain,  for  such 
motives  were  entirely  foreign  to  his  quiet  and  unsel- 
fish nature,  but  by  a  serious  conviction  of  the  duty 
he  owed  his  fellow-citizens,  whom  he  served  in  a 
strong  and  upright  way,  without  compromise  of  their 
rights  or  loss  of  his  own  self-respect.  Thus,  though 
diligent  in  business,  he  found  time  and  means  to 
render  substantial  aid  to  the  city  of  his  residence 
and  love,  and  his  honorable,  successful,  and  praise- 
worthy career  as  a  merchant  and  citizen  was  truth- 
fully eulogized  on  the  occasion  of  his  death  by  the 
Union  Merchants'  Exchange,  of  which  he  was  a 
member,  in  these  words :  "  A  gentleman  of  univer- 
sally modest  deportment,  yet  widely  known  and 
beloved  on  account  of  the  remarkable  purity  and  be- 
nevolence of  his  character;  a  merchant  of  sterling 
integrity,  about  whose  name  the  most  pleasant  mem- 
ories will  forever  cluster." 

Mr.  Gale  was  a  thoroughly  benevolent  man,  and 
for  years  he  was  an  efficient  worker  in  that  noble 
charity  the  Provident  Association.  He  was  also 
trustee  and  counselor  in  various  charitable  organiza- 
tions, to  the  prosperity  and  usefulness  of  which  his 
best  energies  were  consecrated.  He  ever  kept  his 
heart  fresh  and  warm  by  personal  intercourse  with 
the  poor,  listening  patiently  to  tales  of  sorrow  and 
want,  and  alleviating  human  suffering  and  wretched- 
ness with  all  the  means  at  his  command.  He  gave 
freely  to  the  cause  of  education,  especially  to  the 
training  of  young  men  for  the  Christian  ministry, 
and  at  his  death,  which  occurred  on  the  23d  of  Sep- 
tember, 1874,  he  left,  among  other  liberal  benefac- 
tions, a  bequest  of  five  thousand  dollars  to  Shurtleff 
College,  Upper  Alton,  111.,  and  an  equal  sum  to  the 
Girls'  Industrial  Home  in  St.  Louis.  His  modest 
nature  shrank  from  publicity,  and  he  literally  did  not 
let  "his  left  hand  know  what  his  right  hand"  did. 

On  March  15,  1850,  Mr.  Gale  was  baptized  by 
Rev.  J.  B.  Jeter,  D.D.,  into  the  fellowship  of  the 
Second  Baptist  Church  of  St.  Louis.  During  those 


LIBRARY 
Of   THE 
UNfVf  I    |MiN 


TKADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES 


! 


- 


• 
. 

.»  watf 


•  • 


1240 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


of  a  mechanic,  from  whom  he  inherited  sturdy  common 
sense  and  valuable  mechanical  gifts.    The  family  were 
in  moderate  circumstances,  and  he  enjoyed  only  the 
ordinary    country   school   privileges  of   that  period. 
His  boyhood  was  passed  uneventfully,  and  at  the  age  j 
of  seventeen  he  found  employment  in  a  retail  grocery  j 
in  Philadelphia,  an  engagement  which  lasted  about  one  i 
year. 

In  February,  1855,  he  removed  to  St.  Louis  and 
took  a  position  as  shipping  clerk  in  the  wholesale 
grocery  establishment  of  his  uncles,  S.  &  J.  Hamill, 
then  doing  business  on  the  Levee.  The  house  was  a 
leading  one  in  its  line  of  trade,  and  the  engagement 
was  an  extremely  beneficial  one  to  young  Brookmire. 
He  served  the  establishment  so  faithfully  that  after 
successive  promotions  the  young  man,  who  landed  in 
St.  Louis  with  no  capital  but  an  indomitable  will  and 
faith  in  himself,  was  admitted  in  five  years  to  an  active 
partnership  in  the  house,  which  then  (in  1860)  took 
the  name  of  Joseph  Hamill  &  Co.  In  1868  the 
senior  partner,  Mr.  Hamill,  retired,  and  the  firm-name 
then  became  Brookmire  &  Ranken,  under  which  title 
it  has  continued  to  flourish  until  the  present  day.  Of 
the  career  of  this  firm  and  of  its  present  standing  it 
is  only  necessary  to  remark  that  it  is  not  only  a  lead- 
ing house  in  its  particular  line,  but  may  fairly  be  re- 
garded as  representative  of  the  general  trade  of  St. 
Louis  in  its  stability  and  its  capacity  for  expansion. 
The  scene  of  its  operations  has  been  at  the  great  dis- 
tributing point  for  the  mighty  Mississippi  valley,  in- 
viting operations  on  a  large  scale,  and  not  only  in- 
volving the  use  of  large  capital,  but  imperatively 
demanding  the  employment  of  decision,  judgment, 
and  nerve.  The  house  has  also  had  to  pass  through 
many  stormy  seasons  of  trade,  when  success  depended 
upon  close  and  accurate  observation  and  clear  and 
speedy  judgment;  but  its  uninterrupted  progress 
through  wars  and  panics  and  its  present  prosperity 
may  be  taken  as  conclusive  evidence  that  its  managers 
(at  whose  head  has  stood  Mr.  Brookmire  for  nearly 
fifteen  years)  possessed  those  necessary  qualities  in  a 
marked  degree. 

The  secrets  of  Mr.  Brookmire's  success  have  been 
thoroughness  and  system.  Such  were  the  qualities 
which  led  to  his  remarkably  speedy  promotion  to  a 
partnership,  and  they  have  proved  to  be  the  founda- 
tion stones  of  his  subsequent  fortune.  Upon  assum- 
ing the  obligations  of  a  partner,  he  aspired  to  be  a 
leader  among  men  of  his  particular  line  of  business, 
not  only  in  those  routine  matters  which  every  grocer 
is  supposed  to  master,  but  in  those  particulars  which 
perhaps  a  majority  neglect.  In  such  matters  as  the 
chemistry  of  his  trade,  for  instance,  he  is  especially 


well  informed,  and  his  knowledge  has  greatly  con- 
tributed to  the  judicious  and  successful  management 
of  the  firm's  large  business.  His  mechanical  tastes 
are  strong,  and  he  figures  as  the  inventor  of  several 
patents  of  special  ingenuity  and  in  general  use  among 
the  trade,  by  whom  Mr.  Brookmire's  inventive  genius 
is  properly  appreciated. 

Mr.  Brookmire  has  often  been  solicited  to  serve  the 
public  in  various  official  capacities,  but  has  always 
declined,  having  no  taste  for  the  excitements  of  such 
a  life,  although  deeply  appreciating  the  honor  his 
fellow-citizens  sought  to  pay  him.  He  is,  however,  a 
close  observer  of  public  affairs,  and  his  influence  as  a 
citizen  has  ever  been  exerted  on  the  side  of  economy 
and  honesty  in  the  management  of  the  city,  State,  and 
national  governments. 

Outside  of  his  own  business,  Mr.  Brookmire  has 
not  cared  greatly  to  interest  himself;  his  reputation 
(by  which  he  hopes  hereafter  to  be  best  remembered) 
is  that  of  one  of  the  most  successful  grocers  of  St. 
Louis.  Nevertheless  his  name  is  associated  with 
some  enterprises  of  considerable  importance.  He  is 
also  a  valued  member  of  several  boards  and  societies, 
including  the  popular  St.  Louis  Legion  of  Honor; 
and  the  possession  of  considerable  real  estate  in  various 
parts  of  the  city  still  further  identifies  him  with  St. 
Louis.  Without  a  particle  of  pretense  or  affectation, 
he  is  one  of  the  best  representatives  of  the  self-con- 
tained and  aggressive  class  of  business  men  who  have 
made  St.  Louis  known  and  respected  throughout  the 
great  Mississippi  valley. 

In  January,  1867,  Mr.  Brookmire  married  Miss 
Anna  Forbes,  daughter  of  Dr.  Isaiah  Forbes,  an  old 
and  well-known  citizen. 

One  of  the  important  branches  of  the  grocery  busi- 
ness is  the  sugar  trade.  In  1881  the  receipts  were 
58,535  hogsheads,  128,393  barrels,  320  boxes,  and 
15,108  sacks.  The  receipts  of  coffee  during  1881 
amounted  to  243,239  sacks,  and  the  annual  value 
of  this  trade  is  set  down  at  over  $500,000.  The 
pre-eminence  of  St.  Louis  as  the  largest  interior 
coffee  market  in  the  world  is  still  maintained.  Her 
shipments  of  coffee  are  about  twenty-five  per  cent, 
greater  than  those  of  Chicago,  Cincinnati,  or  New 
Orleans.  The  receipts  of  butter  during  1881  ag- 
gregated 8,247,401  pounds,  and  the  receipts  of 
cheese  to  109,272  boxes,  the  total  value  of  the  trade 
being  estimated  at  $1,500,000.  Several  firms  are 
engaged  in  the  direct  importation  of  tea,  their  busi- 
ness aggregating  over  $500,000.  The  trade  of  St. 
Louis  in  oysters  and  fish  is  estimated  at  about  the 
same  amount,  and  the  trade  in  fruits  and  nuts 
aggregated  in  1881  the  sum  of  $800,000. 


v\*a*  R; 

^* 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1241 


The  trade  in  molasses,  coffee,  rice,  and  tea  is  shown  in  the  following  tables : 

RECEIPTS   AND   EXPORTS   OF   MOLASSES,    COFFEE,   AND   RICE   FOR   EIGHTEEN    YEARS. 


YEARS. 

MOLASSES. 

Receipts. 

Exports. 

1882  

Bblt. 
57,608 
52,750 
26,243 
21,234 
16,426 
13,285 
13,270 
19,679 
24,726 
15,962 
12,263 
17,449 

Kegs. 
68,833 
83,419 
14,555 
3,562 
528 
1,894 
2,870 
13,568 
15,472 
6,548 
9,463 
5,238 
5,221 
5,053 
4,189 
996 
761 
1,461 

Hhds. 

Bbls. 
74,060 
67,655 
40,707 
30,035 
32,990 
26,524 
26,202 
40,393 
36,136 
22,269 
24,209 
42,758 
27,891 
25,857 
19,862 
14,789 
12,072 
10,444 

Ke 
117, 
125, 
37, 
36, 
39, 
27, 
37, 
65, 
37, 
20, 
18, 
31, 
21, 
20, 
•17, 
14, 
11, 
H, 

1881  

7 
77 

1880  

1879  

1878  

12 
25 
390 
2,495 
1,489 
1,111 

1877  

1876  

1875  

1874  

1873  

1872  

1871  

1870  

14,166 
27,465 
16,568 
8,802 
6,616 
10,589 

1869  

1868  

1867  

1866  

1865  

COFFEE. 


Receipts.         Exports. 


Bags. 

255,880 

245,239 

303,649 

267,533 

201,080 

197,099 

191,543 

166,914 

153,919 

142,863 

135,792 

169,058 

113,950 

135,491 

92,669 

98,617 

90,367 

60,106 


Bags. 

254,842 

233,616 

277,184 

207,938 

190,950 

180,696 

179,025 

202,192 

179,548 

142,778 

141,970 

159,730 

112,621 

107,853 

91,615 

80,344 

65,985 

56,963 


RICE. 

Receipts. 

Exports. 

Sk>.  &  Bbls. 

PJcgs. 

49,305 

48,797 

48,661 

50,281 

39,399 

34,608 

34,213 

28,154 

25,600 

20,467 

22,386 

26,563 

20,379 

24,665 

17,991 

24,465 

18,115 

24,553 

10,997 

12,019 

7,649 

10,764 

6,620 

15,148 

6,448 

10,971 

9,593 

10,804 

9,020 

9,781 

6,069 

7,560 

3,977 

5,344 

2,035 

• 

RECEIPTS   OF    TEA. 


Year.  Pkgs. 

1882 35,641 

1881 35,518 

1880 34,908 

1879 52,799 


Year.  Pkgs. 

1878 '. 37,702 

1877 65,189 

1876 26,008 


The  importation  of  sugar  at  St.  Louis  from  1865 
to  1882  is  presented  in  the  following  table,  as  well  as 
the  shipments  to  the  interior: 

RECEIPTS  AND  EXPORTS   OF   SUGAR  FOR  EIGHTEEN  YEARS. 


Year. 

Receipts. 

Exports. 

1882  

HJidK. 

42,867 
58,535 
68,182 
65,235 
65,004 
51049 
49)415 
36,389 
36,647 
33,532 
30,024 
35,532 
23,289 
23,742 
16,628 
19,730 
14,686 
17,889 

Bbls. 
179,900 
128.393 
126,061 
89,993 
75,028 
66,103 
54,311 
51,680 
56,068 
35,314 
36,275 
31,353 
10,597 
24,529 
15,973 
19,819 
12,119 
8,189 

Boxes. 
102 
320 
225 
1,224 
7,735 
30,494 
60,985 
40,690 
80,836 
50,656 
60,762 
38,050 
56,255 
61,041 
44,196 
29,924 
43,607 
29,410 

Bags. 
84,672 
15,108 
779 
595 
20,792 
6,400 
12,908 
8,031 
39,774 
19,735 
5,057 
47 
114 
409 
516 
2,112 
1,049 

Hhds. 
1,921 
2,853 
4,150 
6,615 
4,059 
5,816 
7,691 
7,424 
6,292 
3,566 
7,006 
9,390 
5,160 
4,648 
3,374 
2,855 
1,985 
1,852 

Bbls. 
319,034 
294,796 
331,014 
256,544 
250,240 
238,090 
236,276 
252,770 
223,641 
152,198 
150,175 
138,675 
98,243 
9fi,9'.  0 
80,208 
67,670 
57,548 
53,069 

Bags. 
19,581 
12,171 
19,420 
33,008 
48,013 
40,901 
53,755 
41.458 
21,144 
25.168 
18,797 
10,053 
10,870 
21,125 
22,735 
24,849 
17,960 

1881  

1880  

1879  

1878  

1877  

1876  

1875  
1874  

1873  
1872  

1871  
1870  

1869  

1868  

1867  

1866  

1865  

David  Nicholson,  one  of  the  representative  men  in 
the  grocery  trade  of  St.  Louis,  was  born  in  the  vil- 
lage of  Fowlis  Wester,  in  the  county  of  Perth,  Scot- 
land, on  Dec.  9,  1814.  His  parents  were  in  only 
moderate  circumstances,  and  he  was  reared  in  the 
sharp  and  rigorous  school  of  comparative  poverty. 
He  received  in  early  youth  such  education  as  the 
Scottish  rural  schools  then  afforded,  but  being  fond 
of  books  and  of  ready  intellect  and  more  than  ordi- 
nary aptness,  he  was  a  promising  scholar.  His  parents 


were  of  the  most  rigid  integrity,  and  instilled  early 
into  his  mind  and  being  the  principles  of  the  strictest 
uprightness  and  honesty. 

After  his  school-days  his  first  employment  was  the 
toilsome  service  of  a  grocer's  apprentice  in  the  city 
of  Glasgow.  An  apprenticeship  in  Scotland  in  those 
days  meant  thorough  instruction  in  all  the  details  of 
the  trade  to  be  learned,  and  when  young  Nicholson 
had  served  his  time  he  had  an  all  but  perfect  knowl- 
edge of  the  business  as  then  conducted.  Afterwards 
he  went  to  the  town  of  Oban,  in  the  West  Highlands 
of  Scotland,  and  there  entered  the  service  of  a  mer- 
chant who  had  been  attracted  by  his  activity  and 
energy  thus  early  developed  in  the  store  at  Glasgow. 

While  yet  in  his  eighteenth  year  he  came  to  Amer- 
ica, landing  at  Montreal,  and  afterwards  proceeded  to 
Ottawa,  but  finding  no  employment  in  the  business 
to  which  he  had  been  disciplined  and  educated,  he 
engaged  as  tutor  to  the  children  of  the  postmaster, 
where  he  remained  until  learning  that  his  employer 
had  withheld  his  letters,  apparently  for  fear  of  losing 
his  services  as  a  teacher,  he  gave  up  his  position. 
He  then  learned  the  trade  of  a  carpenter,  and  worked 
as  such  at  Hamilton  and  other  Canadian  towns,  also 
at  Erie,  Pa.,  and  Chicago,  and  in  1838  removed  to 
St.  Louis,  where  he  continued  to  follow  that  occupa- 
tion. Physically  strong  and  mentally  quick,  he  was 
noted  above  many  of  his  fellow-craftsmen  for  rapid 
and  superior  workmanship.  Some  of  the  finest  orna- 
mental woodwork  in  St.  Xavier's  Church,  St.  Louis, 
was  done  by  him,  and  he  often  referred  to  it  with 
pride  in  later  years. 

In  1843  he  relinquished  the  trade  of  a  carpenter  to 


1242 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


embark  in  the  grocery  business,  and  formed  a  part- 
nership with  William  Strachan,  who  was  at  that  time 
a  wine  merchant  of  St.  Louis.  The  title  of  the  firm 
was  Strachan  &  Nicholson.  Mr.  Strachan  became 
surety  for  the  obligations  incurred  in  establishing  the 
business,  but  no  cash  capital  was  invested.  Mr.  Nich- 
olson was  the  sole  manager  and  director  of  the  new 
interest  thus  created,  which  was  originally  estab- 
lished at  Fourth  and  Market  Streets.  His  thorough 
business  training  now  asserted  itself,  and  under  his 
direction  the  business  prospered  and  soon  attained 
large  proportions.  After  a  number  of  removals  in  the 
passing  years,  necessitated  by  the  steady  growth  of 
its  trade,  the  house  finally  in  1870  settled  in  the 
present  commodious  building,  Nos.  13  and  15  North 
Sixth  Street,  between  Market  and  Chestnut  Streets,  a 
structure  erected  by  Mr.  Nicholson  himself  to  meet 
the  modern  requirements  of  a  continually  increasing 
business.  The  house  contains  five  floors,  each  fifty 
by  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  feet,  and  at  the  pres- 
ent time  employs  a  force  of  fifty  assistants. 

Mr.  Nicholson's  remarkable  success  as  a  merchant 
may  be  attributed  to  his  unremitting  diligence,  and 
the  conducting  of  all  his  business  transactions,  small 
and  large,  on  the  basis  of  strictly  honorable  princi- 
ples, to  his  promptness  in  payments,  and  the  hand- 
ling of  only  the  best  goods.  In  all  his  thirty-seven 
years  of  commercial  life  no  one  having  a  just  claim 
was  ever  turned  away  from,  his  counting-house  with- 
out receiving  his  due,  and  the  name  of  David  Nichol- 
son was  never  commercially  dishonored  at  home  or 
abroad. 

He  had  great  contempt  for  the  "  sharp  practices" 
common  in  the  trade,  and  despised  those  who  were 
guilty  of  them.  He  was  original  in  his  business 
methods,  having  little  respect  for  the  stereotyped  ways 
of  others,  and  did  not  follow  them. 

The  establishment  always  occupied  its  own  distinct 
position  in  the  grocery  system  of  St.  Louis.  It  was, 
however,  thoroughly  progressive  and  aggressive ;  its 
growth  was  co-extensive  with  that  of  the  city,  and  it  ul- 
timately came  to  be  recognized  throughout  the  country 
as  a  leading  house.  It  was  also  well  known  abroad, 
for  Mr.  Nicholson  was  the  first,  and  also  the  largest, 
importer  of  foreign  groceries  in  this  market,  at  times 
chartering  vessels  and  loading  them  with  cargoes 
solely  for  his  own  account,  and  dealt  directly  with  the 
merchants  and  producers  of  almost  every  foreign 
clime.  He  did  more  than  any  other  man  in  the  St. 
Louis  trade  to  educate  the  community  to  the  impor- 
tance of  purchasing  superior  goods,  and  to  induce  the 
consumption  of  commodities  hitherto  unknown  in 
this  market. 


From  the  time  of  his  coming  to  St.  Louis,  Mr. 
Nicholson  took  a  very  active  and  practical  interest  in 
the  development  and  growth  of  the  city,  and  gradu- 
ally, as  his  means  permitted,  became  a  large  real  es- 
tate owner,  and  left  many  enduring  tokens  of  his  en- 
terprise scattered  throughout  the  city.  He  erected 
the  beautiful  "  Temple  Building,"  at  Fifth  and  Wal- 
nut Streets,  and  had  he  built  nothing  more  this  hand- 
some structure  would  have  been  a  convincing  evidence 
of  his  superior  taste  and  spirit.  But  few  men  in  St. 
Louis  ever  built  more  largely  or  after  a  better  style 
than  he  did.  A  man  of  commerce  by  education  and 
practice,  he  was  nevertheless  a  mechanic  by  nature. 
As  a  lifelong  friend  happily  remarked,  "  the  spirit  of 
a  builder  lived  in  him,"  and  the  bent  of  his  genius 
took  form  in  many  stately  edifices.  One  of  his  most 

I  tasteful  improvements  was  "  Nicholson  Place,"  laid  out 
and  adorned  by  him,  and  which  he  stipulated  should 

!  be  occupied  only  by  dwellings  of  "  elegant  design  and 
substantial  character." 

During  the  civil  war  David"  Nicholson  was  a  stanch 
and  unswerving  Unionist,  an  outspoken  adherent  of 
the  loyal  cause,  and  prominent  in  the  counsels  of  its 

i  friends.  Through  the  darkest  days  of  civil  strife, 
from  1861  to  1865,  he  never  doubted  the  final  tri- 
umph of  the  lawfully  constituted  powers,  that  of  the 

'.  government  of  the  United  States.  In  a  career  noted 
for  its  activity  and  industry  his  charities  were  many, 
— his  ever-open  hand  responded  munificently  to  the 
generous  impulses  of  his  noble  heart. 

Mr.  Nicholson  possessed  many  traits  which  en- 
titled him  to  be  classed  among  the  most  remarkable 
business  men  of  his  time.  He  intensely  loved  his 
business,  and  his  energy  in  the  prosecution  of  it  was 
almost  unexampled.  To  this  were  added  unswerving 
rectitude,  intense  hatred  of  dishonesty  and  dissimu- 
lation of  every  type,  and  an  outspoken  condemnation 
of  wrong.  There  was  also  another  side  to  his  char- 
acter less  publicly  known.  In  his  nature,  tender  as 
that  of  woman,  there  was  an  element  of  poetry  that 
always  belongs  to  men  of  fervent  feeling.  Possessing 
a  fine  mind  and  an  intimate  knowledge  of  Bible  his- 
tory and  teachings,  and  having  read  much  historical 
and  current  literature  of  the  highest  order,  he  enjoyed 
the  companionship  of  large  and  elevating  thoughts, 
and  in  moments  of  relaxation  was  a  most  entertaining 
companion.  In  certain  issues  which  at  times  sprang  up, 
regarding  his  business,  he  was  led  into  various  news- 
paper controversies,  and  proved  himself  a  racy  master 
of  the  pen.  In  his  early  days  he  wrote  numerous 
compositions  in  verse  that  were  of  a  high  order  of 
merit,  and  during  the  civil  war  wrote  several  patriotic 
odes  that  were  characterized  by  unusual  poetic  inspi- 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1243 


ration  and  fervor.  His  love  for  the  home  of  his  boy- 
hood and  his  native  land,  which  he  often  visited,  grew 
as  his  years  were  multiplied,  and  he  never  ceased  to 
give  evidence  of  his  deep  affection  and  warm  friend- 
ship for  his  schoolmates  and  the  companions  of  his 
early  years.  The  scenes  and  surroundings  of  his 
youth,  beautiful  in  nature  and  luxuriant  in  their 
adornment,  were  precious  to  him,  and  the  thatch- 
roofed  cottages  of  his  birthplace  were  ever  dear  to 
his  heart.  A  striking  evidence  of  the  tenderness  of 
his  nature  was  shown  in  the  fact  that,  having  learned 
that  the  roof  of  the  cottage  in  which  he  was  born 
needed  rethatching,  he  promptly  forwarded  the  money 


while   the  community  sorrowed  ov^er  the  loss  of  an 
upright  and  honored  citizen. 

BELCHERS  SUGAR  REFINING  COMPANY. — One 
of  the  most  prominent  features  of  the  manufacturing 
and  mercantile  interests  of  St.  Louis  is  the  Belcher 
Sugar  Refinery.  The  business  of  which  it  is  the 
outgrowth  was  established  in  1840  by  William  H. 
Belcher  and  Samuel  McLean,  and  in  August  of  that 
year  the  firm  of  McLean  &  Belcher  invited  the  atten- 
tion of  the  trade  to  the  fact  that  they  "  had  on  hand 
a  stock  of  refined  sugars  and  sugar-house  molasses, — 
a  pure  article."  The  refinery  was  originally  located 
on  Cedar  Street,  between  Main  and  Second  Streets. 


THE    BELCHER   SUGAR   REFINERY, 

Southeast  corner  Main  and  Ashley  Streets. 


to  have  it  done,  and  cared  for  its  proper  preservation' 
ever  afterwards. 

He  was  frank  and  bluff  in  his  manner,  and  courted 
no  man's  favor,  but  was  also  an  humble,  sincere,  and 
faithful  Christian,  and  the  teachings  of  his  pious  home 
in  Scotland  inspired  the  activities  of  a  long  and  honor- 
able career.  He  was  early  schooled  in  the  tenets  of 
Presbyterianism,  and  for  nearly  forty  years  was  an  effi- 
cient, esteemed,  and  highly-respected  member  of  the 
Second  Church  of  St.  Louis.  He  died  on  the  26th  day 
of  November,  1880,  after  a  short  illness,  surrounded 
by  his  family,  who  mourned  the  departure  of  an  affec- 
tionate, kind,  and  noble-hearted  husband  and  father, 


After  it  had  been  in  operation  a  comparatively  short 
time,  Gay,  Glasgow  &  Co.,  then  importing  island 
sugar,  purchased  Belcher's  interest,  and  finally  Mc- 
Lean's interest  also.  For  nearly  a  year  Edward  J. 
Gay,  one  of  the  partners  of  the  firm,  gave  his  personal 
attention  to  the  management  of  the  refinery,  and  in 
1843,  William  H.  Belcher  returned  to  St.  Louis,  and 
purchased  from  Gay,  Glasgow  &  Co.  the  works  in  the 
old  building,  on  which  they  held  a  lease.  He  gave 
his  closest  personal  attention  to  the  business,  although 
it  was  then  very  small;  secured  the  services  of  practi- 
cal refiners,  and  was  gradually  gathering  confidence, 
strength, and  ability, when  the  "high  water"  of  1844 


1244 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


drowned  out  his  establishment  and  caused  him  con- 
.  siderable  loss. 

In  1845  a  site  was  purchased  on  the  block  between 
Main  and  Lewis  and  Bates  and  O'Fallon  Streets,  and 
the  erection  of  new  buildings  was  commenced.  Al- 
though the  building  put  up  was  of  considerable  extent, 
it  was  only  the  nucleus  of  the  numerous  buildings  which 
afterwards  constituted  the  immense  establishment  of  the 
refining  company.  From  this  time  the  business,  con- 
trolled by  William  H.  Belcher  and  his  brother  Charles 
Belcher,  received  a  new  impetus  and  steadily  increased 
in  magnitude.  Additional  ground  was  purchased  and 
new  buildings  were  put  up  from  year  to  year  as  the 
enlargement  of  operations  rendered  it  necessary.  For 
ten  years  the  career  of  the  establishment  was  steadily 
successful,  and  its  operations  rapidly  assumed  most 
important  proportions.  During  the  years  1854  and 
1855  some  rather  extensive  operations  in  Cuba  re- 
sulted disastrously  and  heavy  losses  were  incurred, 
and  early  in  1855  the  business  was  transferred  to  a 
corporation  now  known  as  the  Belchers'  Sugar  Refin- 
ing Company,  which  was  composed  of  the  creditors 
of  Belcher  &  Brother,  the  capital  stock  being  fixed  at 
one  million  dollars.  The  original  incorporators  were 
William  H.  Belcher,  Rufus  J.  Lackland,  George  D. 
Humphreys,  Charles  W.  Horn,  Edward  Walsh,  Derick 
A.  January,  William  M.  Morrison,  Edward  Wyman, 
Joseph  C.  Cabot,  Constance  J.  Peifers,  Edward  Y. 
Ware,  and  Charles  Belcher.  The  charter,  which  was 
approved  Jan.  25,  1855,  fixes  the  capital  stock  at  the 
amount  above  named,  and  authorizes  its  being  in- 
creased to  one  million  five  hundred  thousand  dollars 
whenever  the  stockholders  shall  by  vote  so  direct. 
Thus  organized,  and  with  energetic  and  experienced 
men  at  the  head  of  affairs,  the  operations  of  the  refin- 
ery were  prosecuted  successfully.  In  the  general 
financial  crash  of  1857  the  business  suffered  severely, 
there  being  a  sudden  drop  in  sugars  of  from  four  to 
five  cents  a  pound.  A  loss  of  from  four  hundred 
thousand  to  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  was 
incurred,  but  the  business  went  on  without  inter- 
ruption. William  H.  Belcher  remained  at  the  head 
of  the  business  until  the  close  of  1859,  when  he  re- 
moved to  Chicago,  where  he  died  in  1866.  He  was 
succeeded  by  Charles  Belcher,  the  junior  partner  of 
Belcher  &  Brother.  Having  weathered  the  storm  of 
1857,  the  career  of  the  company  since  has  been  one  of 
steady  progress,  and  it  has  now  reached  a  position  of 
commercial  influence  national  in  point  of  view. 

The  premises  occupied  by  the  company  consist  of  a 
number  of  buildings,  covering  nearly  four  of  the 
squares  in  that  part  of  the  city,  embracing  the  main 
structure  of  the  refinery  proper,  bonded  warehouses, 


cooperage-shops,  bone-black  houses,  and  various  other 
buildings  occupied  by  other  departments. 

"The  sugar  refinery  proper,"  says  a  description  of  the  estab- 
lishment written  in  1868,  "where  the  different  processes  of  re- 
fining are  carried  on,  has  a  front  on  Lewis  Street,  between  Bates 
and  O'Fallon  Streets,  of  two  hundred  and  forty  feet,  with  a  depth 
of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet,  and  is  six  stories  in  height. 
The  first  part  of  this  building  was  erected  in  1845,  but  it  has 
been  added  to  constantly  until  it  reached-  its  present  propor- 
tions. It  is  built  with  great  solidity,  as  a  great  weight  has  to 
be  supported  in  the  stories.  The  processes  of  refining  require 
that  the  building  in  which  they  are  carried  on  should  be  of  con- 
siderable height,  so  as  to  admit  of  the  sugar  in  solution  being 
let  down  from  story  to  story  in  the  various  stage?,  and  to  gain 
the  advantage  of  the  pressure  of  a  column  of  liquid  which  is 
required  in  the  course  of  refining.  The  portion  of  this  build- 
ing erected  in  1845  stands  on  the  southern  half  of  the  square ; 
the  central  portion  was  erected  in  1856,  and  that  covering  the 
northern  portion  of  the  square  was  built  in  1852.  The  central 
part  is  principally  devoted  to  the  clarifying  process,  the  filter- 
ing of  the  liquid  sugar,  storing  or  drying  hard  sugars.  In  the 
lower  part  of  the  southern  portion  of  the  building  the  packing 
is  done,  while  the  northern  and  the  upper  floors  generally  are 
devoted  to  various  operations  in  the  work  of  refining,  purging 
sugars  in  the  moulds,  etc.  Here  also  are  the  crushing-  and  pow- 
dering-mills,  shaving-mills,  and  other  appliances  used  in  the 
preparing  of  the  sugar  in  the  different  forms  for  the  market. 
The  vacuum-pans,  where  the  refined  solution  is  reduced  again 
to  the  form  of  sugar  by  boiling,  are  situated  in  a  small  building 
south  of  the  main  structure,  and  fronting  on  O'Fallon  Street. 
The  basement  is  used  principally  as  a  fill-house,  where  the 
'melted  sugar  is  run  into  the  moulds  and  allowed  to  stand  until 
it  is  well  settled  preparatory  to  drawing.  In  the  rear  of  the 
refinery,  and  occupying  the  balance  of  the  square  to  Main 
Street,  is  a  bonded  warehouse  and  other  buildings.  On  the  east 
side  of  Lewis  Street  the  bone-black  house  is  situated,  with  a 
front  of  one  hundred  and  seventy  feet  on  Lewis  Street  and  a 
depth  of  eighty  feet.  This  was  built  in  1867.  On  the  square 
between  O'Fallon  and  Ashley  Streets,  and  covering  half  of  the 
entire  square,  with  a  front  of  two  hundred  and  forty  feet  on 
Lewis  Street,  is  a  line  of  warehouses  four  stories  in  height,  built 
in  1852  and  1854.  In  the  rear  is  the  mechanics'  shop,  occupy- 
ing the  central  portion  of  the  square,  and  running  back  to  Main 
Street.  On  the  square  on  the  opposite  side  of  Main  Street  is  an 
extensive  cooperage-shop,  with  a  front  on  Second  Street  of  one 
hundred  and  seventy-five  feet,  which  was  built  in  1852.  On 
the  northeast  corner  of  the  same  square  is  the  water  reservoir, 
built  in  1867.  The  company  have  water-  and  gas-works  of  their 
own,  and  supply  all  that  is  needed  throughout  the  refinery 
premises.  The  total  value  of  real  estate  owned  and  occupied 
at  present  by  the  company  is  not  far  from  half  a  million  dollars, 
and  the  total  frontage  is  about  fourteen  hundred  feet.  In  some 
instances  the  buildings  on  different  squares  communicate  by 
bridges  across  the  streets,  stretching  from  the  upper  stories,  and 
the  bone-black  house  is  connected  with  the  refinery  by  a  tunnel 
under  the  street.  In  various  places  tramways  are  laid  for  the 
easy  transportation  of  the  trucks  containing  bone-black." 

The  company,  which  still  occupies  the  building  at 
the  corner  of  Lewis  and  O'Fallon  Streets,  is  now 
erecting  a  new  refinery  and  incidental  buildings  on 
Main  and  Ashley  Streets.  The  building  will  be  the 
highest  in  the  city,  having  thirteen  stories,  including 
a  spacious  basement.  The  foundation  on  which  this 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1245 


gigantic  structure  rests  is  built  of  cut  stone,  the  walls 
having  a  thickness  of  forty  four  inches.  The  refinery 
has  a  frontage  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-eight  feet 
on  Main  Street,  and  the  filtering-house,  including 
wash-house  and  warehouse,  has  a  frontage  of  two 
hundred  and  eighty  feet  on  Ashley  Street.  The  boiler- 
house,  fronting  on  an  alley,  measures  two  hundred  and 
eighty  feet.  The  floors  in  the  refinery  are  each  sup- 
ported by  twenty-four  oak  posts,  having  an  average 
thickness  of  twenty-two  inches.  In  the  filtering- 
house,  each  floor  is  supported  by  twenty-four  cast-iron 
columns,  which  are  connected  with  wrought-iron 
beams.  The  height  of  the  refinery  is  one  hundred 
and  thirty-two  feet ;  height  of  the  filtering-house,  one 
hundred  and  ten  feet ;  height  of  the  tower,  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-seven  feet.  The  average  height  of 
the  floors  is  eleven  feet.  The  material  used  in  the 
building  is  principally  pressed  brick  above  the  founda- 
tion. In  appearance  it  is  plain  and  substantial. 
Richard  Berger  was  the  architect. 

The  present  officers  of  the  company  are  W.  L. 
Scott,  president,  and  A.  D.  Cunningham,  secretary. 

William  H.  Belcher,  founder  of  Belchers'  Sugar 
Refinery,  was  born  in  Connecticut  in  1811.  From 
fifteen  to  twenty  years  of  age  he  was  clerk  in  his 
father's  store  in  a  country  town  in  Massachusetts. 
When  not  quite  twenty  he  went  to  New  York,  enter- 
ing as  clerk  in  a  wholesale  grocery  store.  After  a 
year  or  two  he  took  up  the  business  of  selling  books 
at  auction,  traveling  through  the  country  for  that  pur- 
pose, and  selling  in  the  largest  towns.  At  the  close 
of  1834  he  went  through  the  Southern  States,  and 
continued  in  the  business  until  1840,  selling  books  in 
most  of  the  Southern  cities  and  in  some  of  those  in  the 
West.  In  1840,  as  already  stated,  he  embarked  with 
Samuel  McLean  in  the  business  of  sugar  refining  in 
St.  Louis.  The  business  connection  was  dissolved 
next  year,  Mr.  Belcher  leaving  it;  but  in  1843  he 
bought  the  whole  establishment,  and  the  enterprise 
from  that  time  went  forward  prosperously  and  ex- 
panded yearly.  Mr.  Belcher  knew  nothing  of  the 
business  when  first  connected  with  it,  but  soon  learned 
the  old  plan  and  system  of  sugar  refining,  and  learned 
further  that  it  was  going  out  of  date,  and  that  new 
and  improved  methods  must  be  adopted  to  secure 
success.  These  he  introduced  from  time  to  time,  and 
from  a  very  small  beginning  built  up  a  sugar  refinery 
that  when  he  left  it  was  one  of  the  largest  in  the 
country,  as  well  as  being  one  of  the  most  important 
manufacturing  establishments  in  St.  Louis  or  the 
West.  The  principal  part  of  the  present  buildings 
of  the  sugar  refinery  were  erected  by  him.  He  pur- 
chased the  site  after  suffering  severely  at  his  old  loca- 


tion from  the  flood  of  1844,  selecting  a  locality  that 
was  found  water-proof  that  year.  In  1859  he  went 
to  Chicago,  and  established  a  sugar  refinery  there 
with  fair  prospects  of  success,  but  the  outbreak  of  the 
war  ruined  that  enterprise,  and  the  refinery  was  worked 
irregularly  during  the  war  with  only  partial  success. 

While  in  Chicago  he  introduced  the  culture  of  the 
sugar-beet  into  Illinois,  and  inaugurated  other  enter- 
prises which  promised  more  of  benefit  to  the  public 
than  to  himself.  He  died  at  Chicago  in  March,  1866, 
honored  and  esteemed  by  the  mercantile  community 
of  that  city  for  his  rare  business  qualifications,  his 
public  spirit,  and  his  personal  character. 

SPICES. — The  sale  of  spices  also  forms  an  important 
factor  in  the  grocery  business  of  St.  Louis.  One  of 
the  largest  firms  engaged  in  this  branch  of  the  trade 
is  that  of  William  Schotten  &  Co.  William  Schotten, 
the  founder  of  the  house,  was  born  in  Neuess,  near 
Diisseldorf,  Germany,  Sept.  26,  1819.  His  father 
was  a  man  of  limited  means,  and  his  boyhood  passed 
without  special  incident.  He  received  the  usual 
parochial  education,  and  was  then  employed  by  a 
prominent  physician  in  his  neighborhood,  who  had  a 
very  large  practice.  In  this  occupation  young  Schot- 
ten acquired  a  practical  knowledge  that  could  not  be 
obtained  in  the  schools.  In  1847  he  embarked  for 
America,  and  repaired  directly  to  St.  Louis,  having 
heard  that  a  number  of  his  countrymen  had  settled 
here.  Soon  after  his  arrival  he  established  a  spice- 
factory  on  Walnut  Street,  opposite  the  Cathedral. 
He  began  on  a  small  scale,  grinding  his  stock  himself 
by  hand,  and  then  peddling  it  about  town  from  a 
basket.  He  labored  with  remarkable  energy  and  per- 
severance amid  discouragements  that  would  have  ap- 
palled a  less  determined  man.  One  by  one,  however, 
the  obstacles  yielded,  and  he  finally  secured  a  prosper- 
ous business,  his  goods  not  only  obtaining  a  local 
reputation  but  being  in  demand  in  Chicago,  Cincin- 
nati, and  other  large  cities  in  the  West.  Year  by 
year  the  trade  continued  to  expand  until  his  death  in 
September,  1874,  when  he  left  a  comfortable  fortune 
to  his  family,  together  with  a  large  spice  and  coffee 
business.  His  sales  aggregated  yearly  about  two 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  a  very  large  amount  for 
those  days.  As  has  been  said,  this  result  required 
hard  and  steady  work  and  many  sacrifices ;  but  Mr. 
Schotten  possessed  in  an  uncommon  degree  the  val- 
uable German  qualities  of  patience  and  perseverance. 
His  genial  disposition  secured  him  hosts  of  friends, 
and  added  largely  to  his  list  of  customers. 

In  addition  to  the  spice  trade,  Mr.  Schotten  engaged 
in  the  milling  business  on  North  Market  Street,  oppo- 
site the  old  North  Missouri  Railroad  depot.  This 


1246 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


enterprise  prospered  for  a  time,  but  the  mill  was 
burned,  and  the  insurance  proving  worthless,  the  in- 
vestment was  a  total  loss.  Thenceforward  he  confined 
himself  strictly  to  the  business  of  manufacturing 
spices,  etc.,  and  handed  over  to  his  sons  at  his  death 
the  fine  results  of  a  quarter  of  a  century  of  honest  and 
diligent  labor. 

Mr.  Schotten  was  twice  married,  and  left  three 
sons, — Hubertus  by  his  first  wife,  and  Julius  J.  and 
Henry  E.  by  his  second.  Upon  his  arrival  in  St. 
Louis,  Mr.  Schotten  attended  a  night  school  in  order 
to  gain  a  knowledge  of  English  and  other  branches 
essential  for  a  business  man,  and  thoroughly  appreci- 
ating the  importance  of  a  good  education,  gave  his 
three  boys  the  advantages  of  a  college  course.  His 
sons  seem  to  have  inherited  much  of  their  father's 
aptitude  for  business,  for  in  the  eight  years  since  his 
•death  their  trade  has  doubled,  and  is  constantly  in- 
creasing. 

In  18*70,  Mr.  Schotten  visited  Europe,  remaining 
abroad  over  a  year.  Much  of  the  time  was  spent  in 
gaining  additional  knowledge  of  his  business,  and  he 
brought  back  improved  machinery. 

Outside  of  his  business,  Mr.  Schotten  did  not  seek 
prominence,  being  naturally  very  unpretentious.  He 
once,  however,  accepted  a  directorship  in  the  Iron 
Mountain  Bank. 

In  politics  he  was  inclined  to  be  independent,  and 
never  sought  an  office.  In  religion  he  was  a  Catholic, 
and  was,  successively,  a  member  of  the  Cathedral  and 
St.  Mary's  parishes,  and  was  a  faithful  and  generous 
adherent  of  the  church. 

Salt  used  to  be  in  the  past,  and  probably  will  be 
in  the  future,  a  valuable  mineral  resource  of  Missouri. 
As  early  as  Jan.  25, 1810,  William  Christy  &  Co.  adver- 
tised that  they  wished  to  employ  fifteen  hands  to  work 
at  salt-making  on  the  Missouri,  to  whom  they  would 
give  liberal  wages.  "  Our  boat,"  added  the  advertise- 
ment, "  will  depart  from  this  place  for  the  salt-works 
about  the  1st  of  March."  Jan.  4, 1812,  McKnight 
&  Brady  announced  that  they  had  just  received  "  a 
quantity  of  salt  from  the  Missouri  saline."  At  the 
present  time  the  cost  of  transportation  bears  such  an 
inconsiderable  relation  to  the  cost  of  establishing  im- 
proved modern  salt-works,  with  the  elaborate  ma- 
chinery, royalties,  rentals,  etc.,  that  it  is  cheaper  for 
St.  Louis  to  buy  its  salt  than  to  manufacture  it.  In 
former  times,  when  the  costs  of  transportation  were 
excessive,  the  salines  of  Missouri  and  the  adjacent 
counties  of  Illinois  were  a  source  of  revenue  and  a 
stimulus  to  trade. 

The  salt  springs  and  salines  of  Missouri  are  most 
abundant  in  the  central  part  of  the  State,  yielding 


excellent  brine,  especially  in  the  counties  of  Cooper, 
Saline,  Howard,  and  those  adjoining  them.  They  are 
adjacent  to  the  Missouri,  in  a  country  full  of  cheap 
wood  and  coal,  and  the  supply  of  saline  is  regarded 
by  experts  as  inexhaustible. 

RECEIPTS  AND   EXPORTS  FOR  EIGHTEEN  YEARS. 


Receipts. 
Barrels. 


Year. 

1882 297,425  42,750 

1881 232,843  73,239 

1880 313,379  61,348 

1879 244,966  78,345 

1878 271,521  78,781 

1877 202,377  104,406 

1876 242,153  114,850 

1875 246,193  96,880 

1874 201,268  136,165 

1873 379,699  149,861 

1872 262,413  117,367 

1871 211,235  107,197 

1870 316,435  62,626 

1869 238,452  63,937 

1868 242,899  64,512 

1867.- 141,869  78,674 

1866 134,542  88,013 

1865 170,814  83,221 


Sacks.    Bulk,  in  Bushels. 


368,290 
314,720 
333,868 
439,788 


Exports. 


Year. 


Barrels. 


Sacks.    Bulk,  in  Bushels. 


1882 291,188 

1881 218,185 

1880 239,163 

1879 221,965 

1878 218,997 

1877 184,934 

1876 196,988 

1875 219,102 

1874 205,442 

1873 230,939 

1872 199,940 

1871 202,629 

1870 251,509 

1869 195,100 

1868 182,187 

1867 114,817 

1866 115,252 

1865 109,248 


16,519 
25,197 
21,688 
21,691 
32,049 
25,519 
39,900 
30,381 
40,119 
35,978 
51,594 
52,547 
23,164 
27,031 
24,778 
28,737 
47,432 
24,328 


245,071 
182,382 


Tobacco. — According  to  the  early  advertisements 
of  industries  in  St.  Louis,  the  manufacture  of  tobacco 
was  begun  about  the  year  1817.  On  November  29th 
of  that  year,  Richards  &  Quarles  advertised  a  "  tobacco 
manufactory  on  the  cross  street  nearly  opposite  the 
post-office,  northeast  corner  of  block  No.  36,"  and  in 
1836,  H.  Richards  informed  the  citizens  of  Missouri 
and  Illinois  Territories  that  he  carried  on  the  tobacco 
manufactory  "  on  the  cross  street  nearly  opposite  the 
copper  and  tin  manufactory  of  R.  Neal."  From  that 
day  the  trade  in  tobacco  in  St.  Louis  has  steadily 
grown  and  expanded  into  its  present  enormous  dimen- 
sions. The  absence  of  data  prevents  the  tracing  of 
their  growth  ;  commercial  statistics  were  not  regarded 
as  of  any  importance  at  that  day,  and  for  many  years 
afterwards  there  existed  no  reliable  record  of  commer- 
cial facts  and  conditions.  In  1841  the  Republican 
regarded  tobacco  as  "  another  item  of  our  trade  which 
is  swelling  etery  year  into  much  greater  importance." 


•ARY 

,015. 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1247 


"To  show  the  importance  of  this  item,"  added  that  journal, 
•"  we  here  incorporate  a  letter  addressed  to  us  by  a  house  in  the 
city  who  are  extensively  engaged  in  the  trade,  and  the  extent 
of  their  connection  with  it  will  be  appreciated  by  the  fact  that 
they  this  year  took  out  an  open  policy  of  insurance  on  tobacco 
to  the  amount  of  $500,000.  From  the  interest  and  attention 
they  have  devoted  to  the  subject  their  statement  may  be  relied 
upon  as  very  near  the  actual  amount : 

"'A.  B.  CHAMBERS,  Esq.: 

"'DEAR  SIR, — In  answer  to  your  inquiries  in  relation  to  the 
tobacco  crop  of  Missouri,  we  reply  that  the  shipments  this  season 
do  not  vary  materially  from  9000  hogsheads,  of  which  number 
at  least  8500  pass  St.  Louis.  The  relative  quality  and  value  will 
be  found  nearly  as  follows  : 

2000  hhds.  strips,  worth  in  Europe            $175 $350,000 

2500      "      Ists,           "          New  Orleans    120 300,000 

2500      "      2ds,           "                     "               70 175,000 

1500      "      X,             "                     "               50 75,000 

500      "      ings  and  bull's  eye,  worth  in  New  Orleans 

$25 12,500 


$912,500 

" '  From  the  best  estimate  that  can  be  formed  of  the  growing 
crop,  it  will  range  from  12,000  to  15,000  hogsheads,  but  prices 
will  not  be  equal  to  last  year.'" 


hogshead,  the  price  fixed  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature,  will 
amount  to  five  thousand  dollars,  to  say  nothing  of  the  quantity 
which  will  be  brought  from  the  other  States  and  Territories. 
If  viewed  only  in  the  light  of  revenue,  with  reason  it  might  be 
urged  upon  the  City  Council  to  adopt  this  measure,  but  it  pre- 
sents itself  in  another  form  more  enlarged  and  benevolent,  that 
of  benefiting  the  entire  population  of  the  great  valley  of  the 
upper  Mississippi,  more  particularly  our  own  State.  The  planter, 
if  we  act  wisely,  will  find  here  a  market  for  his  tobacco,  can  at- 
tend in  person  and  dispose  of  it  to  his  own  satisfaction,  and  re- 
turn home  convinced  that  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis  feel  an  in- 
terest in  his  welfare,  and  are  willing  to  lend  a  helping  hand  in 
advancing  not  only  her  own  prosperity,  but  that  of  the  entire 
State,  that  she  knows  no  difference  between  honorable  and 
valuable  customers  on  her  frontier  and  her  own  immediate 
citizens." 

The  increasing  crops  of  tobacco  in  Missouri  and 
adjacent  States  induced  the  City  Council  to  establish 
regulated  inspections  of  tobacco,  and  Messrs.  Wimer 
and  Shaw,  as  a  select  committee  of  the  City  Council, 
reported  an  ordinance  to  that  effect.1 

From  1853  to  1868,  inclusive,  the  following  were 
the  receipts  of  tobacco  at  the  warehouses  of  St.  Louis  : 


John  W.  Witner  and  Hiram  Shaw,  in  recommend- 
ing the  City  Council  of  St.  Louis  to  establish  tobacco 
inspection,  said, — 

"  The  crop  of  Missouri  tobacco  in  1841,  although  the  business 
of  growing  that  staple  is  yet  in  its  infancy,  is  estimated  by  gen- 
tlemen well  versed  in  this  matter  at  not  less  than  twelve  thou- 
sand hogsheads;  the  crop  of  1842  is  estimated  at  twenty  thou- 
sand hogsheads,  and  should  one-third  only  of  this  quantity  be 
inspected  here,  the  storage  on  the  same,  at  seventy-five  cents  a 

.RECEIPTS,  SHIPMENTS,  AND   OFFERINGS,  IN   HOGSHEADS,   DURING  THE  PAST  THIRTEEN  YEARS. 


Hilda. 

1853 9,926 

1854 9,485 

1855 6,632 

1856 6,829 

1857 5,646 

1858 6,721 

1859 9,006 

1860 11,956 


Hhds. 

1861 8,505 

1862 13,050 

1863 19,325 

1864 42,490 

1865 16,483 

1866 13,669 

1867 18,584 

1868 12,266 


Since  and  including  1870  the  receipts,  shipments, 
and  offerings  have  been  : 


1882. 

1881. 

1880. 

1879. 

1878. 

1877. 

1876. 

1875. 

1874. 

1873. 

1872. 

1871. 

1870. 

Receipts  

17,445 

22,042 

18,813 

20,278 

25,870 

28,064 

29  204 

13  110 

22  881 

19  062 

12  676 

16,523 

11  193 

Shipments  
Inspections  

7,946 
6,871 

10,737 
10,457 

8,879 
11,470 

10,766 
14,870 

19,701 
16,322 

22,109 
18,913 

24,221 
17,466 

11,574 
10,980 

17,772 
18,174 

14,648 
13,048 

9,137 
10,087 

11,243 
14,677 

7,642 
10,480 

About  1850,  Missouri  possessed  the  largest  tobacco 
manufacturing  establishment  in  the  West,  the  house 
of  Swinney  &  Lewis,  Lewis  Brothers,  Lewis  Company, 
of  Glasgow,  afterwards  of  St.  Louis.  This  house  was 
founded  in  1837  in  Glasgow,  and  removed  to  St. 
Louis  in  1847,  the  Glasgow  branch  being  still  main- 
tained. In  1860  the  house  employed  five  hundred 
hands,  manufactured  between  three  and  four  million 
pounds  of  plug  and  fine-cut,  and  exported  large  quan- 
tities of  leaf  and  strips  to  Great  Britain  and  the  Con- 
tinent of  Europe.  Of  its  operatives,  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  were  negro  slaves  owned  by  the  firm. 
This  firm,  before  it  closed  operations  to  go  into  other 
occupations,  sold  tobacco  in  every  State  and  Territory. 

In  the  production  of  manufactured  tobacco,  St. 
Louis  now  ranks  second  among  the  cities  of  the  United 
States,  being  surpassed  only  by  Jersey  City,  and  is 
also  becoming  quite  a  market  for  leaf  tobacco.  The 


trade  has  increased  of  late  years  to  about  four  million 
five  hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  the  capacity  of  all 


1  The  old  State  tobacco  warehouse,  situated  between  Washing- 
ton Avenue  and  Green  and  Fifth  and  Sixth  Streets,  was  destroyed 
by  fire  on  the  llth  of  August,  1873.  The  building  was  erected 
by  the  State  for  a  tobacco  warehouse  in  1843,  and  after  being 
used  for  that  purpose  for  a  few  years  was  abandoned.  It  was 
closed  for  a  long  time,  and  about  1859  the  State  donated  the 
use  of  the  building  to  the  city  of  St.  Louis.  While  the  old  Lin- 
dell  Hotel  was  in  process  of  construction,  the  State  ordered  the 
sale  of  the  ground  and  building,  and  they  were  purchased  by 
Jamieson  &  Getting,  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  an  immense 
dry-goods  house.  This  plan  was  afterwards  abandoned,  and 
the  property  was  sold  to  John  J.  Roe,  and  belonged  to  his  estate 
at  the  time  of  his  death.  It  was  afterwards  purchased  by  John 
G.  Copelin,  Mr.  Roe's  son-in-law,  for  $190,000.  The  building 
was  estimated  to  be  worth  not  more  than  $4000.  During  the 
time  it  was  in  disuse  for  commercial  purposes  it  was  in  great  de 
mand  for  parties,  balls,  drills,  and  large  assemblages  generally, 
its  extensive  floor-room  rendering  it  at  one  time  the  most  eligible 
place  in  the  city  for  such  purposes. 


1248 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


the  factories  together  is  over  twenty  million  pounds  a 
year.  Some  of  these  establishments  have  erected 
magnificent  buildings  and  other  improvements  of  this 
nature  within  the  last  two  years.  The  revenue  paid 
by  St.  Louis  manufacturers  and  its  excess  over  that 
paid  in  Chicago  establishes  the  pre-eminence  of  the 
St.  Louis  market ;  indeed,  the  monthly  tax  of  one  St. 
Louis  factory  in  excess  of  one  hundred  thousand  dol- 


Company,  and  Price  &  Austin  Tobacco  Company,  to- 
gether with  a  large  number  of  individual  firms. 

The  cigar  trade  has  grown  scarcely  less  in  propor- 
tion, and  the  dealers  in  leaf  tobacco  express  themselves 
as  well  satisfied  with  the  ratio  of  increase  in  their 
branch  of  the  trade. 

The  receipts  of  leaf  in  1882  were  seventeen  thou- 
sand four  hundred  and  fifty-five  hogsheads,  and  the 


LIGGETT    &    MYERS    TOBACCO    COMPANY, 

Corner  Thirteenth  and  St.  Charles  Streets. 


lars  (including  the  cigar  duties)  is  frequently  larger 
than  that  of  all  the  Chicago  dealers.  St.  Louis  manu- 
factured tobacco  is  found  in  every  part  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  volume  of  product  has  steadily  in- 
creased since  the  reduction  of  the  government  tax  in 
1879.  Among  the  largest  manufacturers  of  tobacco 
in  St.  Louis  are  the  Liggett  &  Myers  Tobacco  Com- 
pany, Catlin  Tobacco  Company,  Dausman  Tobacco 


shipments  seven  thousand  nine  hundred  and  forty- 
six. 

In  St.  Louis,  as  elsewhere,  the  manufacture  of 
cigarettes  has  developed  within  a  year  or  two,  and  the 
present  season  already  shows  a  marked  increase  in  this 
branch  of  the  trade.  Including  this,  the  following 
tabular  statement  covers  the  local  manufacture  in  all 
lines : 


1877. 

1878. 

1879. 

1880. 

1881. 

1882. 

Ibs. 

5,448,522 

5,954,747 

8,642  688 

12,846,169 

17  139,087 

17,121.199 

Cigars  

M. 

33,920 

:::;  5110 

35  042 

38  412 

39  904 

40  877 

M. 

1  9S2 

453 

Snuff  

Ibs. 

35,595 

36.180 

41,180 

43,710 

47  769 

48,990 

In  1880  the  census  return  was,  for  the  whole  trade  : 

Tobacco.— Establishments,  222;  capital,  $1,419,- 

125 ;    hands,    2627  ;    wages,    8668.926 ;    material, 


$4,262,681 ;  product,  $5,702,762  ;  net  profit,  $629,- 
243,  equal  to  44  per  cent.,  which  will  do  very  well 
This  is  divided  up  thus : 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1249 


Cigars.— Establishments,  201  ;  capital,  $272,925  ; 
hands,  825  ;  wages,  $265,967  ;  material,  $312,725  ; 
products,  $888,993. 

Tobacco  (chewing,  smoking,  snuff). — Establish- 
ments, 21  ;  capital,  $1,146,200  ;  hands,  1802  ;  wages, 
$402,959  ;  material,  $3,950,956  ;  products,  $4,813,- 
769. 

The  leading  Southern  factories  keep  agencies  and 
an  extensive  stock  in  St.  Louis  for  sale  and  conve- 
nience of  distribution,  and  the  Havana  and  Key  West 
cigar  manufacturers  have  also  large  dealings  here. 

The  following  tables  will  show  the  extent  of  the 
business  done  in  St.  Louis  during  1882  and  for  the 
nine  years  previous,  though  half  of  the  period  is  counted 
by  the  fiscal  year,  the  method  of  keeping  the  record 
previous  to  1877. 


YEAK. 

Tobacco  Man  n  fac- 
tured  anil  Sold. 

Amount  Tax 
Paid. 

Fiscal        1872  

Pounds. 
5,751.185 
5,441,872 
4,794,985 
6,324,408 
4,928,147 
5,484,431 
5,990,801 
8,670,466 
12,889,784 
17,234,869 
17,170,190 

$1,358,717.50 
1,094,600.03 
1,154,651.52 
1,317,783.26 
1,185,712.92 
1,319,036.16 
1,440,716.84 
1,477,899.00 
2,062,541!.  45 
2,751,307.00 
2,728,525.82 

"            1873  

"            1874  

«            1875    

"            1876  

Calendar,  1877  

1878  

1879  

1880  

1881  

1882  

Total    

85,839,684 

The  manufactures  of  1882  can  be  cla$ 
lows  :                                                           ] 

Plu0'  chewing  tobacco  13 

>sified  as  fol- 

Ponnds. 

,223.857* 
2»».7Sli| 

,657,6  15i 
48,990| 

Snuff    ---  

Total.... 

..  17.170.19544 

Lead. — The  earliest  mineral  of  value  to  St.  Louis 
in  point  of  time,  was  lead.  In  fact,  it  may  almost 
be  said  that  St.  Louis  owes  its  existence  to  lead.  The 
Hon.  E.  B.  Washburue,  of  Illinois,  ex-minister  to 
France  from  the  United  States,  in  a  letter  to  A.  D. 
Hagen,  Librarian  of  the  Chicago  Historical  Society, 
dated  Dec.  13,  1880,  after  speaking  of  the  researches 
of  M.  Margry  in  the  archives  of  the  French  Ministry 
of  Marine,  and  his  important  and  valuable  contribu- 
tions to  the  early  history  of  the  United  States,  in 
which  he  takes  an  enthusiastic  interest,  says, — 

"  I  took  the  opportunity  to  talk  with  him  touching  the  early 
discoveries  of  lead-mines  in  what  is  now  Illinois  and  Missouri, 
and  received  a  letter  in  reply,  which  I  also  inclose  herewith.  He 
was  kind  enough  to  send  me  a  transcript  of  certain  documents 
which  are  to  be  published  by  Congress,  and  which  I  have  not 
yet  seen.  By  these  documents  I  am  more  convinced  than  ever 
that  the  Galena  and  Dubuque  lead-mines  were  the  earliest  ever 


discovered  by  the  French  explorers,  either  :n  Illinois,  Iowa,  or 
Missouri.  The  accounts  of  the  discovery,  about  the  year  1719, 
of  the  mine  of  M.  de  la  Motte  and  the  Mnramec  mines  of  Mis- 
souri are  very  interesting,  but  I  cannot  here  refer  to  them  par- 
ticularly. What  interested  me  very  much  is  an  extract  from  a 
letter  written  from  Fort  de  Chart.res  on  the  21st  day  of  July, 
1722,  by  one  Le  Gardeur  de  Lisle,  which  I  copy  herewith,  and 
which  is  in  relation  to  the  discovery  of  minerals  on  the  Illinois 
River : 

"  '  I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you,  gentlemen,  that  I  have 
been  sent  in  command  of  a  detachment  of  twelve  soldiers  to  ac- 
company M.  Rennud  to  the  Illinois  River,  where  the  Indians 
had  found  some  lumps  of  copper,  which  they  brought  to  M. 
de  Boisbriant,  and  more  particularly  to  a  coal-mine,  said  to  be 
very  rich. 

"  '  When  we  reached  the  place  of  our  destination,  M.  Renaud 
commenced  the  search  for  the  copper-mine,  but  without  success, 
no  sign  of  that  metal  being  visible  anywhere.  However,  in 
looking  for  the  coal-mine,  which  we  had  been  told  was  near  the 
spot  we  had  examined  before,  we  discovered  a  silver  and  copper 
mine,  of  which  M.  Renaud  made  an  assay,  and  which  upon  the 
surface  of  the' ground  is  much  richer  than  M.  de  la  Motte's. 

'• '  I  have  kept  a  little  diary  of  that  journey.  I  take  the  liberty 
of  sending  it  to  you ;  it  will  enable  you  to  locate  the  spot  where 
this  mine  is  situated.  It  is  a  most  beautiful  site;  the  mine  is 
easy  to  work  and  close  to  a  magnificent  country  for  settlers.  I 
am  delighted  with  iny  trip  and  with  the  success  which  has  at- 
tended it,  for  the  assay  made  bj'  M.  Renaud  was  upon  ore  found 
on  the  surface,  and  it  has  proved  to  be  much  better  than  that  of 
M.  de  la  Motte's  mine.' 

"  M.  Le  Guis  gives  an  account  of  the  manner  in  which  these 
miners  smelted  their  ore  in  1743,  and  it  is  almost  precisely  the 
same  method  which  was  followed  in  the  Galena  up  to  within 
three  or  four  years  before  I  located  there  in  1840.  There  were 
then  the  remains  of  many  old  log  furnaces  throughout  the 
mines.  It  was  about  in  1836,  I  think,  that  the  log  furnaces 
were  supplanted  by  the  Druminond  blast  furnace.  The  amount 
of  waste  or  scoria  by  the  old  log  method  of  smelting  was  very 
great.  This  waste  was  in  a  great  measure  avoided  by  the 
blast  furnace,  of  which  the  inventor  was  Robert  A.  Drummond, 
of  Jo  Daviess  County,  the  uncle  of  the  Hon.  Willis  Druminond, 
of  Iowa,  late  commissioner  of  the  general  land  office  at  Wash- 
ington. 

"  The  following  is  the  description  of  the  log  furnace  one 
hundred  and  thirty-seven  years  ago: 

"  'They  cut  down  two  or  three  big  trees  and  divide  them  in 
logs  five  feet  long;  then  they  dig  a  small  basin  in  the  ground 
nnd  pile  three  or  four  of  these  logs  on  top  of  each  other  over 
this  basin;  then  they  cover  it  with  the  same  wood,  and  put 
three  more  logs,  shorter  than  the  first,  on  top,  and  one  at  each 
end  crosswnys.  This  makes  a  kind  of  a  box,  in  which  they  put 
the  mineral ;  then  they  pile  as  much  wood  as  they  can  on  top 
and  around  it.  When  this  is  done,  they  set  fire  to  it  from 
under;  the  logs  burn  up  and  partly  melt  the  mineral.  They 
are  sometimes  obliged  to  repent  the  same  operation  three  times 
in  order  to  extract  all  the  matter.  This  matter,  falling  into 
the  basin,  forms  a  lump,  which  they  afterwards  melt  over  again 
into  bars  weighing  from  sixty  to  eighty  pounds,  in  order  to 
facilitate  the  transportation  to  Kaskaskia.  This  is  done  with 
horses,  who  are  quite  vigorous  in  the  country.  One  horse 
carries  generally  four  or  five  of  these  bars.  It  is  worthy  of 
remark,  gentlemen,  that  in  spite  of  the  bad  system  these  men 
have  to  work,  there  has  been  taken  out  of  the  La  Motte  mine 
two  thousand  five  hundred  of  these  bars  in  1741,  two  thousand 
two  hundred  and  twenty-eight  in  1742,  and  these  men  work 
only  four  or  five  months  in  the  year  at  most." 


1250 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Capt.  Pittman,  writing,  in  1770,  of  Ste.  Genevieve, 
says,  "  A  lead-mine  about  fifteen  leagues  distant  sup- 
plies the  whole  country  with  shot."  Many  curious 
facts  in  regard  to  these  Potosi  lead-mines  are  to  be 
found  incorporated  in  different  parts  of  this  work, 
and  we  do  not  need  to  reproduce  them  in  the  present  ' 
chapter. 

Lead  soon  became,  next  to  peltries,  the  most  im-  j 
portant  and  valuable  export  of  the  country,  and,  like  j 
pelts,  it  served  in  lieu  of  a  currency.     It  was  not,  I 
however,  until  St.  Louis  began  to  control  the  com-  j 
merce  of  the  surrounding  regions  that  much  lead  came 
there.     Before  that  it  was  nearly  all  shipped  from 
Ste.  Genevieve.     John  Arthur,  in  1811,  offering  to 
sell  a  large  line  of  cheap  goods,  gives  notice  that  he 
will  take  in  pay  furs,  hides,  whiskey,  country-made 
sugar,  and   beeswax,  but   says  nothing  about  lead. 
However,  it  was  offered  for  sale  by  Wflliam  Clark, 
then  Indian  agent,  afterwards  Governor,  in  the  fol- 
lowing miscellaneous  assortment : 

"  For  sale  by  William  Clark,  the  following  articles,  viz. :  113 
pounds  beaver,  103  otter-skins,  327  raccoon-skin?,  6  pechon,  20 
muskrats  and  minks,  25  gray  squirrels,  10  painted  buffalo- 
skins,  dressed,  53  plain  buffalo-skins,  dressed,  436  deer-skins, 
24  dressed  -deer-skins,  1276  pounds  lead,  400  pounds  gunpow- 
der, 70  pounds  nails,  130  beaver  traps,  1  box  of  glass,  10  x  12, 
2  horse-pistols,  1  fusee,  2  rifles,  70  pounds  tobacco  in  carrots, 
14  hanks  of  worsted,  assorted,  80  shawls,  4  pieces  Irish  linen, 
2000  yards  calico." 

Among  the  largest  dealers  in  this  sort  of  merchan- 
dise in  the  fur-trading  days  of  St.  Louis,  was  Joseph 
A.  Sire,  one  of  the  associates  of  Chouteau  &  Sarpy's 
fur  company. 

Joseph  A.  Sire  was  born  at  La  Rochelle,  France, 
Feb.  19, 1799,  and  left  home  when  fifteen  years  of  age 
to  seek  his  fortune  in  the  New  World.  His  father,  a 
teacher  of  languages,  had  died,  and  his  mother,  a 
woman  of  fine  intelligence,  encouraged  him  in  his  de- 
termination to  emigrate  to  America,  in  the  belief  that 
the  chances  of  success  were  greater  there  than  in  her 
own  country,  then  distracted  by  the  daring  schemes 
and  restless  ambition  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte.  At 
this  time  Europe  was  one  vast  camp,  still  heaving 
from  the  struggle  between  Napoleon  and  the  allied 
powers  to  determine  whether  that  great  adventurer's 
ambitious  dream  of  the  solidarity  of  nations  should  be 
realized.  Mr.  Sire's  mother,  in  view  of  the  unsettled 
condition  of  the  country,  overcame  the  natural  im- 
pulses which  prompted  her  to  keep  her  son  at  her 
side,  and  urged  upon  him  the  advisability  of  seeking 
a  distant  and  more  promising  field  of  usefulness.  Mr. 
Sire,  who  fully  appreciated  her  wisdom  and  maternal 
courage,  always  maintained  for  her  the  deepest  filial 
reverence  and  love,  and  contributed  most  generously 


of  his  fortune  as  long  as  she  lived  to  minister  to  her 
comfort  and  happiness. 

The  voyage  to  America  might  well  have  dismayed 
one  much  older  than  the  adventurous  lad,  for  in  those 
days  the  facilities  of  travel  did  not  exist  which  now 
enable  one  to  make  the  circuit  of  the  world  in  less 
time  and  with  far  less  trouble  and  danger  than  were 
then  required  to  perform  the  journey  between  St. 
Louis  and  New  York.  No  steamships  traversed  the 
ocean  with  almost  the  regularity  of  ferry-boats ;  the 
sailing-vessel  was  the  only  means  of  transportation, 
and  even  the  sailing-vessel  had  not  acquired  the 
swiftness  and  regularity  of  movement  attained  by 
modern  ships.  Often  beating  about  for  days  in  view 
of  a  haven,  awaiting  a  favorable  wind,  and  frequently 
driven  out  to  sea  by  an  off-shore  storm,  it  seldom  per- 
formed a  voyage  of  any  length  without  encountering 
many  hardships  and  delays.  On  land  the  method*  of 
locomotion  were  similarly  cumbrous  and  unreliable. 
The  canal-boat,  with  its  crowded,  ill-ventilated  "  be- 
tween-decks,"  and  the  stage-coach  were  practically  the 
only  resources  of  the  traveler.  Young  Sire,  however, 
endured  the  hardships  of  this  novel  experience  with 
that  courage  and  fortitude  which  continued  to  char- 
acterize him  throughout  his  career, — a  career  un- 
dimmed  up  to  the  hour  of  his  death  by  a  single  dis- 
honorable act. 

Arrived  at  Philadelphia,  he  sought  the  advice  and 
assistance  of  Vital  M.  Garesche,  then  in  business  in 
that  city  as  one  of  the  firm  of  Garesche  &  Rasazies, 
but  who  subsequently  removed  with  bis  family  to  St. 
Louis,  where  he  became  an  influential  member  of  the 
City  Council  and  president  of  the  Board  of  Public 
Schools.  Mr.  Garesche's  parents  had  been  residents 
of  La  Rochelle,  and  he  extended  a  cordial  welcome  to 
the  young  Frenchman,  who  brought  letters  of  intro- 
duction to  him,  and  gave  him  employment.  His  in- 
dustry, integrity,  and  thorough  reliability  soon  created 
a  most  favorable  impression,  and  he  continued  to  en- 
joy the  confidence  of  the  firm  of  which  Mr.  Garesche 
was  the  senior  partner  until,  in  1826,  he  determined 
to  go  West.  Upon  his  arrival  in  St.  Louis,  whither 
he  directed  his  steps,  he  was  promptly  admitted  to  the 
houses  of  the  best  families  of  Creoles,  to  whom  he 
was  commended  by  valued  correspondents,  and  ob- 
tained a  situation  as  clerk  with  Sylvestre  Labadie. 

St.  Louis  at  that  time  was  but  little  changed  from 
what  it  was  when  seen  by  Washington  Irving, — "  a 
motley  population,  composed  of  the  original  colonists, 
the  keen  traders  of  the  Atlantic,  backwoodsmen  of 
Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  the  Indians  and  the  half- 
breeds,  together  with  a  singular  aquatic  race  that  had 
grown  up  from  the  navigators  of  the  river,  the  boat- 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1251 


men  of  the  Mississippi,  who  possessed  habits,  man- 
ners, almost  a  language  peculiarly  their  own  and 
strongly  technical."  Such  a  community,  with  the  dis- 
sipation ever  incidental  to  frontier  life,  offered  strong 
temptations  to  a  young  man,  an  entire  stranger,  de- 
void of  means  and  deprived  of  the  associations  of 
home  and  kindred,  yet  the  energy  and  pure  character 
of  Mr.  Sire  bore  him  safely  through  the  ordeal.  To 
quote  the  words  of  one  who  met  him  just  after  his 
arrival,  he  was  then  about  twenty-five,  stout  in  form, 
florid  in  complexion,  of  commanding  but  not  extra- 
ordinary stature,  very  affable  in  his  manner,  and 
earnest  and  energetic  in  his  ways.  Mr.  Labadie,  his 
employer,  was  a  Creole  gentleman  who  had  married 
a  Miss  Gratiot,  and  he  and  his  wife  by  their  own 
worth,  as  well  as  relationship  to  the  Chouteaus,  the 
Prattes,  the  Papins,  the  Bertholds,  and  the  Soulards, 
ranked  among  the  very  first  people  of  St.  Louis.  Mr. 
Labadie  was  the  owner  of  a  grist-mill,  to  which  was 
attached  the  first  saw-mill  ever  established  west  of  the 
Mississippi  River.  It  was  located  on  the  bluff  near 
the  foot  of  Ashley  Street,  rude  and  simple  though 
serviceable  in  its  machinery,  its  motive-power  being 
an  elevated  circular  tread-plane  worked  by  oxen. 

There  was  no  metal  connected  with  the  machinery, 
just  as  the  "  Vide  Poche"  carts,  now  unknown,  but 
then  the  only  vehicle,  had  not  a  particle  of  metal, 
even  for  the  harness  of  the  ponies  by  which  they  were 
drawn.  Mr.  Sire  became  clerk  of  this  establishment, 
but  by  his  amiability  and  excellent  deportment  ingra- 
tiated himself  in  the  favor  of  his  employers,  and  in 
the  following  year  married  the  only  child  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Labadie,  a  lady  of  sweet  disposition  and  culti- 
vated and  engaging  manners.  The  union  was  a  happy 
one  while  it  lasted,  but  of  short  duration,  for  within 
two  years  his  wife  and  their  only  child  died. 

Having  become  associated  in  the  fur  trade  with 
Pierre  Chouteau  and  John  B.  Sarpy,  owners  of  the 
American  Fur  Company,  with  whom  he  was  con- 
nected by  his  marriage,  he  took  charge  of  their  an- 
nual expedition  to  the  upper  country,  as  the  region  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  head-waters  of  the  Missouri  was 
then  denominated, — a  wild,  unbroken  waste,  the  home 
of  fierce  and  warlike  tribes,  the  counterpart  of  which 
is  still  to  be  found  in  the  dark  and  bloody  ground  of 
portions  of  Texas  and  New  Mexico,  where  the 
Apaches  wage  a  desperate  but  futile  struggle  against 
the  advance  of  civilization.  The  company  erected 
at  different  points  throughout  this  district  stockade 
forts  for  protection  against  the  ruthless  warriors  of 
the  plains.  The  expedition  would  always  leave  in  the 
spring,  with  a  cargo  of  trinkets,  blankets,  tobacco,  guns, 
and  ammunition,  and  would  remain  at  the  forts,  bar- 


tering with  the  Indians,  until  the  opening  of  navigation 
in  the  following  year  enabled  them  to  descend  with 
their  boats  to  St.  Louis  to  dispose  of  their  product 
and  to  replenish  their  stock.  The  navigation  of  the 
Missouri,  with  its  swift,  turbid  current,  its  snags,  and 
its  shifting  channels,  was  fraught  with  danger,  aside 
from  the  fact  that  the  voyagers  were  necessarily  always 
on  the  alert  against  the  wily  Indians. 

Within  the  fort  peril  also  lurked,  and  sleepless  vig- 
ilance was  maintained  lest  some  hostile  band  should 
invade  its  precincts  and  murder  every  white  man. 
These  forts  were  oases  in  the  trackless  wilderness,  far 
more  isolated  than  those  of  the  general  government 
at  the  present  day.  The  latter  are  united  by  tele- 
graph, have  regular  mails,  and  are  always  within  sup- 
porting distance  of  each  other,  but  the  trading-post 
had  no  other  communication  with  the  outer  world 
than  by  the  courrier  du  bois,  who  traveled  from  one 
fort  to  the  other,  or  perhaps  was  sent  to  the  settlement 
thousands  of  miles  away  with  dispatches.  These 
courriers  were  white  men  who  had  lived  so  long  among 
the  Indians  that,  like  them,  they  had  acquired  their 
skill  in  guiding  themselves  through  trackless  wilder- 
nesses by  night  by  the  light  of  the  stars,  and  by  day 
by  the  bark  of  trees.  Six  years  of  Mr.  Sire's  life  were 
passed  in  these  distant  forts,  yet  on  his  return 'to  St. 
Louis,  so  little  had  he  been  spoiled  by  his  contact  with 
barbarism,  that  he  was  welcomed  in  the  most  exclusive 
circles.  After  this  Mr.  Sire  settled  down  in  the  office 
of  the  company  at  St.  Louis,  to  guide  and  organize 
the  expeditions  he  had  formerly  commanded,  an  occu- 
pation in  which  he  was  still  engaged  at  the  time  of 
his  death,  July  15, 1854.  His  business-like  and  meth- 
odical habits,  fortified  by  his  personal  experience, 
proved  of  great  importance  and  value  to  his  associates, 
and  contributed  materially  to  the  development  of  their 
business.  All  three  have  now  passed  away,  each  leav- 
ing a  fortune  honestly  earned,  which  is  the  best  evi- 
dence of  their  thrift  and  foresight. 

In  1852,  Mr.  Sire  was  married  for  the  second  time, 
the  lady  of  his  choice  being  Mrs.  Rebecca  W.  Chou- 
teau, widow  of  one  who  belonged  to  a  family  honored 
then,  as  now,  not  only  as  of  historic  interest  in  respect 
to  St.  Louis,  but  of  great  public  importance,  having 
ever  shown  itself  ready  to  embark  capital  in  enter- 
prises which  were  likely  to  promote  the  development 
of  St.  Louis.  Mrs.  Sire  is  still  living,  a  woman  of 
marked  characteristics,  beloved,  not  for  herself  alone, 
but  also  for  her  feminine  virtues  of  true  sympathy 
and  charity. 

Although  a  consistent  and  earnest  Democrat,  Mr. 
Sire  had  no  taste  for  politics  nor  any  aspirations  for 
public  office.  He  was  frequently  requested  to  become 


1252 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


a  candidate,  but  invariably  declined.  He  was  a  man 
of  warm  and  affectionate  temperament,  generous  yet 
prudent,  unobtrusive  in  dress  and  manners,  a  public- 
spirited  citizen,  and  an  ardent  and  loyal  friend.  A 
notable  illustration  of  the  latter  fact  was  afforded  in 
the  devoted  affection  he  ever  entertained  for  his  first 
employer,  Mr.  Garesche,  who  also  possessed  great  kind- 
ness of  heart.  Between  the  two  there  always  existed 
an  attachment  which  time  could  not  diminish  nor  ab- 
sence impair,  and  when  Mr.  Garesche,  with  his  family, 
reached  St.  Louis  in  1839  the  intimacy  was  renewed. 
Upon  the  death  of  Mr.  Garesche,  April  4,  1844,  Mr. 
Sire  became  the  protector  of  his  children,  and  one  to 
whom  they  never  appealed  in  vain.  Generous  in  his 
instincts,  constant  in  his  friendships,  honorable  in  all 
his  transactions,  genial  in  his  intercourse  with  his 
fellow-men,  the  friendless  boy-adventurer  died  the 
wealthy  merchant  and  lamented  citizen,  leaving  be- 
hind him  a  record  without  stain  or  blemish. 

In  1854  the  statistics  of  the  lead  product  were  as 
follows : 


STATISTICS  OF 

THE   LEAD 

TRADE  OF  THE   UPPER  MIS- 

SISSIPPI. 

Year-         Produced. 

Equal  to 
Pouuds. 

PricelOOO   Price  100 
Pounds       Pounds 
Mineral.        Lead. 

Value  at 
Galena. 

1842.. 

..      447,909 

31,353,630 

$12.85 

$2.24 

$702.321.31 

1843.. 

.      659,261 

39,148.270 

12.60 

2.34 

91(5,069.51 

1844.. 

.       624,672 

43,727,040 

16.88 

2.80 

1.224.357.12 

1845.. 

.       778,498 

64,494,860 

17*7 

2.96 

1,  til  3,047.  88 

1846.. 

.       732,403 

51,268,210 

17.33 

2.89 

1,481.651.26 

1847.. 

.       775J.6J6 

64,085,920 

19.16 

3.17 

1,714,523.(>8 

1848.. 

.       681,969 

47,737,8:JO 

19.82 

3.24 

1,546,705.69 

1849.. 

.       628,934 

44,025,380 

22.18 

3.67 

l,6to,73144 

1850.. 

568,589 

39,801,230 

24.10 

4.20 

1,671,651.66 

1851.. 

.      474,115 

33,188,050 

25.61 

4.08 

I,3o4,i  i6244 

185;:.. 

.       408,628 

28,603,960 

25.87 

4.12 

1,178,483.05 

1853.... 

.      425,814 

29,8(16,980 

34.41 

6.50 

1,639,383.90 

Total...  7,103,448 

497,241,360 

16,(>57,9b8.94 

SHIPMENTS  OF  LKAD/rom  the  upper  mines  during  the  season  of  1853,  from 

March  21«f  to  December  1st. 

Ports  from  whence  Shipped. 
Shipped  via  the  River. 

Pigs. 

Pounds. 

Value. 

» 

tl  8  543         ! 

!  2.208.010 

$1,226,340.55 

43.K&2           3.0H9K40 

168.830.20 

23,086 

l,61li,020 

88.881.10 

14,186 

993,020 

54,616.10 

Buena  Vista. 

2,676 

187,320 

10,352.61) 

Shipped  via  the  lake 

23,471 

1,642,970 

90,363.35 

Total 425,814        29,806,980       $1,639,383.90 

The  receipts  at  St.  Louis  aggregated  441,889  pigs 
in  1854,  against  409,314  in  1853.  Of  this  5315 
came  from  the  Missouri,  and  the  balance  from  the 
upper  and  lower  Mississippi.  The  Galena  table  gives 
the  quantity  shipped  per  river  at  402,343;  deduct 
from  this  the  Missouri  receipts,  and  the  balance,  it  is 
fair  to  suppose,  came  from  the  lower  mines,  say  34,231 
pigs.  A  pig  of  lead  has  the  average  weight  of  eighty 
pounds. 

Hon.  John  Hogan,  in  one  of  his  lucid  pamphlets 
about  the  past,  present,  and  future  of  St.  Louis,  always 
in  his  thoughts,  had  the  following  in  regard  to  the 
city's  lead  business : 


"Some  sixteen  months  ago  one  establishment  commenced  the 
making  of  lead  pipe  and  sheet-lead  here.  They,  like  all  similar 
untried  experiments,  had  to  feel  their  way  along.  The  machi- 
nery was  costly;  workmen  at  first  difficult  to  be  obtained:  the 
field  of  sale  preoccupied  by  those  longer  engaged,  more  expe- 
rienced, possessed  of  ample  capital. 

"  But  these  young  men  possessed  the  energy,  the  probity, 
felt  the  field  was  vast,  and  were  content  with  small  profits  on 
large  sales. 

"  They  pushed  their  battle  to  the  gate,  and  now  what  is  the 
result? — they  supply  with  these  articles  the  entire  valley  of  the 
Minsissippi.  South  they  include  the  trade  of  New  Orleans  ;  east, 
all  the  region  to  Pittsburgh  ;  north,  the  whole  region  of  the  up- 
per lakes.  Within  the  last  twelve  months  they  have  manufac- 
tured of  lead  pipe  alone  over  two  million  pounds.  This  has 
been  shipped  in  immense  casks  and  on  large  reels  to  supply  the 
demands  of  the  great  West  and  South  ;  while  of  sheet-lead  they 
have  made  one  million  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  pounds 
in  the  same  period,  besides  bar-lead. 

"Now,  these  articles  were  not  included  in  our  exports  of  1851, 
before  presented,  for  the  works  were  not  in  existence  then,  and 
these  figures  are  now  given  to  show  that  St.  Louis  is  a  suitable 
place  for  manufactures,  and  also  what  may  be  done  by  industry 
and  intelligence. 

"  In  the  said  government  returns  no  mention  is  made  of  shot, 
although  that  article  was  then  manufactured  here,  but,  like 
everything  else,  has  grown  considerably  in  that  period. 

"There  is  but  one  'shot-tower'  here,  but  it  is  fully  qualified 
to  supply  the  vast  extent  of  country  dependent  on  us,  or  which 
our  skill  or  ability  may  bring  within  the  reach  of  our  openitions. 
The  region  supplied  from  here  with  shot  embraces  nearly  all  the 
valley  of  the  Mississippi. 

"I  deem  the  operations  of  this  concern  to  be  important,  and 
was  anxious  to  furnish  in  this  place  some  indication  of  its  ex- 
tent, which  I  am  enabled  to  do  by  the  kind  courtesy  of  Capt. 
Simonds,  one  of  the  enterprising  proprietors. 

"I  take  an  aggregate  statement,  furnished  me  by  him,  of  its 
business  during  the  five  months  commencing  January  1st  and 
ending  June  1,  1854,  as  made  up  from  their  books,  viz. : 

Total  amount  of  shot  of  all  sizes  manufac- 
tured and  sold  during  said  five  months, 
79,775  bags,  or 1,994,375  pounds. 

Bar-lead  for  same  period,  1714  kegs,  or 428,460        " 

Total  shot  and  lead  in  five  months 2,422,835        " 

"During  that  period  of  five  months  the  works  were  run  but 
one  hundred  and  four  days,  thus  the  amount  of  pig-lead  con- 
sumed each  day  averages  twenty-three  thousand  two  hundred 
and  forty  pounds." 

The  manufacture  of  shot  near  St.  Louis  dates 
back  to  1809,  when  it  was  announced  in  the  Mis- 
souri Gazette  of  March  1st  that  "  at  Herculaneum 
a  shot  manufactory  is  now  erecting  by  an  active  and 
enterprising  citizen  of  our  Territory  ;  the  situation  is 
peculiarly  adapted  for  the  purpose,  having  a  natural 
tower,  or  rather  stupendous  rock,  forming  a  precipice 
of  about  one  hundred  and  sixty  feet,  having  the  lead- 
mines  in  the  neighborhood,  and  one  of  the  finest  har- 
bors for  vessels.  We  presume  the  proprietor  will  be 
enabled  to  supply  the  Atlantic  States  on  such  terms 
as  will  defeat  competition."  The  proprietor  referred 
to  was  J.  Macklot,  who  on  the  16th  of  November, 
1809,  "  commenced  casting  shot  equal  to  the  best 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1253 


English  patent."  In  1810,  also  at  Herculaneum,  "a 
new  and  flourishing  little  town  on  the  Joachim,  about 
thirty  miles  from  this  (St.  Louis)  place,"  Mr.  Austen 
erected  a  shot-tower,  and  then  Herculaneum  "  boasted 
of  two  towers  capable  of  supplying  the  Union  with 
shot  of  all  sizes."  l 

The  shot-tower  of  Ferdinand  Kennett  was  opened 
in  February,  1847.  The  tower  was  built  by  Messrs. 
Kayser  &  Carlisle,  and  was  thirty-one  feet  in  di- 
ameter at  the  base,  seventeen  feet  at  the  top,  and 
one  hundred  and  seventy-five  feet  high.  Previous  to 
the  erection  of  this  tower,  Mr.  Kennett  had  been  en- 
gaged in  the  same  business,  having  a  tower  on  Elm 
Street,  which  tumbled  down,  wounding  several  persons. 
In  1858,  Mr.  Kennett's  shot-tower  passed  into  the 
hands  of  an  incorporated  company,  since  which  time 
it  has  been  regarded  as  a  most  successful  enterprise. 
During  the  war  the  shot-tower  company  suffered  se- 
verely in  a  pecuniary  sense,  much  of  its  work  being 
declared  contraband. 

The  tower  is  one  hundred  and  eighty-six  feet  in 
height,  twenty-one  feet  above  the  tallest  steeple  in  the 
city.  At  the  base  it  is  thirty-one  feet  in  diameter, 
at  the  pinnacle  seventeen  feet.  It  is  built  of  hard 
burnt  brick,  cemented,  and  is  regarded  as  thoroughly 
substantial  in  every  particular.  The  wall  at  the  base 
is  four  feet  through  ;  at  the  summit  of  the  tower  it  is 
twenty-two  inches. 

In  1850  the  capital  invested  was  forty  thousand 
dollars,  employing  ten  hands,  with  an  annual  product 
of  six  thousand  dollars. 

KECEIPTS    AND    EXPORTS    OF    LEAD,  IN    PIGS    OP 

80  POUNDS  EACH. 

Year.  Keceipts.  Exports. 

1882 1,107.395  687,219 

1881 925,406  625,L'i',t> 

1880 7154. 8S7  45)5, o:;r, 

1871) SI  7,5514  408,12:5 

~ 704, 307  .C':;, '.Hit 

1877 7510,028  47:!.28l 

1876 605,557  40-1,300 

1875 579,202  3L'i  . 

1^74 479,448  21S,538 

1873 356,037  216,040 

1  The  manufacture  and  sale  of  powder  were  also  established 
in  St.  Louis  at  an  early  date.  On  the  15th  of  October,  1814, 
William  Sullivan  published  the  following  advertisement : 

"  Owners  of  powder,  take  notice  that  I,  the  subscriber,  have 
rented  the  powder  magazine  from  its  proprietor,  and  that  from 
the  date  of  the  present  advertisement  I  will  charge  twenty-five 
cents  per  month  for  storage  on  every  keg,  provided  it  does  not 
contain  more  than  one  hundred  pounds,  and  on  every  keg  or 
barrel  that  contains  more  than  one  hundred  pounds  to  pay  at 
the  rate  of  one  dollar  per  hundred." 

Maj.  James  Barry  commenced  the  manufacture  of  powder 
in  the  neighborhood  of  St.  Louis  in  1823  (ItejmWi'cnn,  March 
5,1823),  and  in  1833  "Maj.  Philips1  Eagle  Powder-Mills  had 
just  been  put  in  operation"  (Republican,  July  9,  1833). 

The  latter  mills  were  soon  after  destroyed  by  an  explosion. 
80 


Year.  Keccipts. 

1872 285,709 

1871 229,961 

1870 237,03'J 

1869 228,303 

1868 185,823 

1867 144,555 

1866 149,584 

1865 116,635 

1864 93,035 

1863 79,823 

1862 95,800 


Exports. 
62,862 
50,660 
62,674 
57,281 
40,358 
18,674 
13,553 


Of  the  receipts  during  1881,  300,000  pigs  (equal 
to  24,000,000  pounds)  were  received  for  conversion 
and  manufacture.  In  the  conversion  of  lead  to  car- 
bonate the  metal  of  Missouri  is  peculiarly  easy  and 
profitable  to  work,  yielding  one  hundred  pounds  of 
ceruse  for  every  hundred  pounds  of  metal,  besides  a 
proportion  of  red  lead  and  litharge  made  from  the 
refuse.  This  manufacture,  moreover,  produces  lin- 
seed-oil, cotton-seed-  and  castor-oil,  and  oil-cake  for 
exportation  and  fattening  stock,  and  it  encourages 
the  manufacture  of  vitriol.  Thus  one  industry,  by 
utilizing  a  product  which  is  among  the  donations  of 
nature  to  St.  Louis,  provides  employment  for  capital 
and  labor  in  a  dozen  other  industries  which  grow  out 
of  or  are  allied  to  it.  The  control  of  almost  inex- 
haustible supplies  of  cheap  lead  by  St.  Louis  makes 
it  one  of  the  leading  manufacturing  centres  in  the 
country  for  paints. 

White  Lead  and  Oils. — The  manufacture  of  white 
lead,  and  of  its  kindred  interest  paints,  and  oils  is 
most  extensively  carried  on  in  St.  Louis.  The  ma- 
terials required  by  this  large  trade  are  collected  almost 
entirely  within  the  State  of  Missouri,  while  the  ad- 
joining States  also  afford  a  large  supply,  enabling  its 
indefinite  extension.  The  manufacture  of  white  lead 
(carbonate  of  lead)  was  inaugurated  in  St.  Louis  in 
the  year  1837  by  Drs.  Hoffman  and  Reed  in  a  very 
primitive  manner.  From  a  very  small  beginning,  -say 
one  hundred  tons  per  annum,  the  manufacture  of  that 
pigment  has  kept  pace  with  the  growth  of  the  city 
and  surrounding  country,  until  it  now  ranks  as  one 
among  the  important  branches  of  its  manufacturing 
industries.  The  annual  production *and  consumption 
of  white  lead  throughout  the  entire  country  is  com- 
puted to  be  from  sixty-five  to  seventy  thousand  tons. 
Of  this  amount  there  is  manufactured  west  of  the 
Allegheny  Mountains  say  forty  thousand  tons,  of 
which  St.  Louis  manufacturers  produce  at  least  forty 
per  cent.,  thus  giving  to  St.  Louis  a  larger  pro- 
duction of  that  article  than  any  other  city  in  the 
Union.  There  are  at  present  in  successful  operation 
in  St.  Louis  four  of  the  best  appointed  and  equipped 
factories  in  the  country,  with  a  capacity  sufficient  to 
supply  the  white-lead  demand  of  the  entire  Missis- 
sippi valley  for  many  years  to  come. 


1254 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


The  Collier  White  Lead  and  Oil  Company  is  one 
of  the  largest  to  be  found  anywhere  in  the  United 
States.  It  was  founded  by  Dr.  Reed,  and  went  into 
operation  in  the  year  1837.  It  is  located  on  the 
north  side  of  Clark  Avenue,  beginning  at  Ninth 
Street  on  the  east  and  extending  nearly  to  Eleventh 
Street.  In  1 842  it  passed  into  the  hands  of  H.  T. 
Blow  and  Joseph  Charless.  It  has  three  separate 
departments, — the  factory,  the  cooper  shop,  and  the 
corroding  stacks.  All  of  these  are  on  a  large  scale 
and  provided  with  every  facility  for  manufacturing 
cheaply  and  extensively.  In  1850  the  present  company 
became  proprietors,  under  the  presidency  of  Henry  T. 
Blow.  The  annual  productions  are  four  thousand 
tons  of  white  lead  ground  in  oil,  two  hundred  thou- 
sand pounds  of  red  lead,  two  hundred  thousand  pounds 
of  litharge,  one  hundred  thousand  gallons  of  linseed- 
oil,  and  one  hundred  thousand  gallons  of  castor-oil. 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  among  the  men 
whose  sagacity  grasped  and  whose  energy  fulfilled  the 
conditions  of  the  prosperity  of  St.  Louis,  none  oc- 
cupied a  higher  rank  or  contributed  by  his  individ- 
ual success  more  largely  to  the  general  welfare  than 
the  eminent  and  honored  merchant,  George  Collier, 
after  whom  the  Collier  White-Lead  Works  are  named. 

George  Collier,  younger  son  of  Peter  and  Catherine 
Collier,  was  born  on  the  17th  of  March,  179G,  on 
his  father's  homestead  in  Worcester  County,  Md. 
His  lather,  who  died  while  he  was  yet  a  child,  besides 
carrying  on  with  success  the  farm  upon  which  he  re- 
sided, was  largely  engaged  in  the  Atlantic  coasting 
trade,  and  at  his  death,  which  occurred  before  1810, 
left  what  was  in  those  days  a  handsome  property  to 
his  family.  His  mother  was  a  woman  of  great  force 
of  character,  revered  as  well  as  loved  by  all  who 
knew  her.  After  her  husband's  death  she  continued 
to  reside  at  the  homestead  in  Maryland  until  both 
her  sons,  John  and  George,  arrived  at  manhood,  giv- 
ing to  each  of  them  the  best  education  for  mercantile 
pursuits  which  that  part  of  the  country  at  that  time 
afforded,  and  for  this  purpose  sending  them  to  Mr. 
Wylie's  academy  in  Philadelphia,  then  of  the  highest 
repute. 

About  the  year  1816,  John  Collier,  who  had  just 
arrived  at  manhood,  came  to  Missouri,  then  still  a 
Territory,  and  settled  at  first  in  St.  Charles,  where  he 
began  business  as  a  merchant.  His  success  was  such 
that  before  long  he  opened  a  branch  house  in  St. 
Louis,  which  within  a  few  years  became  the  principal 
establishment.  During  this  time  George  Collier  was 
completing  his  education  in  Philadelphia,  where  he 
formed  friendships  subsequently  of  great  service  to 
him  in  his  business  career. 


About  the  year  1818,  having  completed  his  educa- 
tion, George  Collier  joined  his  brother  in  Missouri 
and  engaged  with  him  in  business,  before  long  becom- 
ing his  partner.  According  to  the  custom  of  those 
times,  their  business  was  of  a  general  nature,  includ- 
ing an  assortment  of  the  staple  articles  most  in  demand 
among  those  who  traded  with  St.  Louis.  It  was  at 
first  carried  on  at  retail,  but  soon  expanded  into  a 
wholesale  business,  and  extended  rapidly  throughout 
the  settled  portions  of  Missouri  and  Illinois. 

In  1821  the  partnership  was  dissolved  by  the  death 
of  the  elder  brother,  who  had  already  made  his  mark 
as  a  business  man  of  ability  and  energy,  as  well  as  of 
high  personal  character.  The  younger  continued  the 
business  alone  for  several  years. 

About  the  year  1825,  his  business  continuing  to  in- 
crease, Mr.  Collier  took  into  partnership  with  him  Peter 
Powell,  like  himself  a  native  of  Maryland,  and  who 
had  been  for  several  years  in  his  employ.  The  firm 
of  Collier  &  Powell,  thus  formed,  continued  to  carry 
on  a  general  merchandise  business  until  the  year 
1830,  when  Mr.  Collier  retired  from  the  firm,  having 
acquired  what  was  for  those  days  a  considerable  for- 
tune. 

From  this  time  he  entered  upon  pursuits  charac- 
teristic at  once  of  his  energy  and  his  far-sighted  views 
as  a  business  man.  Realizing  that  the  river  trade  of 
St.  Louis,  north,  south,  east,  and  west,  was  to  be  the 
secret  of  her  prosperity,  he  began  to  invest  his  means 
largely  in  the  building  of  steamboats.  But  a  few 
years  had  passed  since  the  first  steamer  came  up  from 
New  Orleans  to  St.  Louis  (1817),  making  the  weary 
voyage  in  twenty-seven  days,  but  demonstrating  by 
the  fact  of  making  it  that  the  days  of  the  "  broad- 
horn,"  the  flat-boat,  and  the  keel-boat  were  at  an  end. 
Pittsburgh  had  become  the  navy-yard  of  Western  com- 
merce, at  which  then  and  for  years  afterwards  the 
greatest  facilities  for  such  work  existed. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  faculty  of  judging  men 
and  selecting  fit  agents  for  important  enterprises  is 
characteristic  of  high  ability.  The  method  pursued 
by  Mr.  Collier  in  entering  upon  this  new  field  demon- 
strated his  possession  of  that  faculty.  It  was  his 
habit,  year  after  year,  to  select  men  already  experi- 
enced in  the  river  navigation  and  to  send  them  to 
Pittsburgh  to  make  contracts  for  the  building  of  steam- 
ers which  they  were  to  command,  and  in  which  he 
often  gave  them  an  interest.  Instructing  them  as  to 
the  character  and  purposes  of  the  vessel,  he  furnished 
them  with  credits  sufficient  to  meet  whatever  cost 
might  be  incurred,  and  stationed  them  at  Pittsburgh 
in  active  superintendence  of  the  work  while  it  pro- 
gressed, thus  securing  the  most  watchful  personal 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1255 


supervision  and  assistance  from  men  at  once  compe- 
tent for  their  duties  and  whose  interests  coincided  with 
his  own.  In  this  way  during  the  twelve  or  fourteen 
years  following  he  became  largely  interested  in  steam- 
boats, constantly  building  new  ones  of  size  and  ca- 
pacity suited  to  the  trade  either  of  the  upper  or  the 
lower  Mississippi  or  the  Missouri  Rivers,  according 
to  their  destination.  It  was  one  of  his  maxims  to 
hold  no  property  which  brought  no  return  ;  and  in 
respect  of  steamboats  it  was  observed  that  he  rarely 
held  one  longer  than  was  necessary  to  establish  its 
character  in  the  trade,  selling  those  which  did  not 
prove  profitable  in  order  to  cut  off  further  loss,  while 
those  which  earned  a  good  name  he  often  sold  when 
at  their  highest  repute,  thus  realizing  their  highest 
value  and  escaping  further  risks.  The  limits  of  this 
sketch  forbid  more  than  a  cursory  mention  of  this 
part  of  his  mercantile  history.  Suffice  it  to  say  that 
during  the  years  in  question  he  was  the  owner  of  a 
large  number  of  steamers  plying  on  all  the  waters 
communicating  with  St.  Louis,  and  most  of  which 
had  been  built  under  his  directions,  often  having 
afloat  at  one  time  eight  or  ten  large  vessels.  The  men 
to  whose  fidelity,  ability,  and  skill  he  intrusted  the 
management  of  these  large  interests  rarely  disap- 
pointed him.  Sharing  with  him  the  profits  of  these 
ventures,  some  of  them  thus  laid  the  foundations  of 
their  own  success.  Such  men  were  Sullivan  Blood, 
afterwards  president  of  the  Boatmen's  Savings  Insti- 
tution, long  a  highly-respected  citizen  of  St.  Louis ; 
John  Simonds,  afterwards  of  the  banking-house  of 
Luca's  &  Simonds ;  and  N.  J.  Eaton,  who,  after  re- 
signing a  commission  in  the  United  States  army,  had 
come  to  St.  Louis,  and  whose  executive  ability  was 
early  recognized  by  Mr.  Collier,  more  than  one  of 
whose  boats  he  commanded.  To  these  names,  long 
and  well  known  in  St.  Louis,  might  be  added  others, 
notably  that  of  Rufus  J.  Lackland,  afterwards  one  of 
its  most  prominent  and  successful  merchants,  now 
(188J)  president  of  the  Boatmen's  Savings- Bank  and 
the  St.  Louis  Gas-Light  Company,  and  who  is  himself 
authority  for  the  statement  that  to  his  early  acquaint- 
ance and  connection  with  Mr.  Collier,  and  to  the  as- 
sistance rendered  him,  unsought,  by  the  latter  in  his 
early  business  life,  his  subsequent  success  is  largely 
due. 

An  important  element  in  these  enterprises  was  the 
high  reputation  for  probity,  as  well  as  for  large  re- 
sources and  exemplary  business  habits,  which  Mr. 
Collier  had  established  not  only  in  St.  Louis,  but 
throughout  all  parts  of  the  country  where  the  busi- 
ness men  of  that  city  were  known.  It  was  prover- 
bial that  his  credit  was  practically  unlimited,  and 


that  whoever  he  sent  to  Pittsburgh  with  au- 
thority and  credit  for  building  a  steamboat,  or  north- 
ward to  purchase  lead,  or  to  New  Orleans  for  the  pur- 
chase of  return  cargoes  of  groceries  on  his  boat,  or  to 
Philadelphia,  then  the  financial  centre  of  the  United 
States,  was  sufficiently  backed  by  George  Collier's 
name. 

It  goes  without  saying  that  the  navigation  of  the 
Western  rivers  was  attended  in  those  early  days  with 
not  less,  perhaps  with  greater  risks  and  dangers  than 
now.  But  so  constant  was  the  good  fortune,  and  so 
high  the  reputation  of  his  steamers,  that  George  Col- 
lier's "luck"  became  proverbial.  Nor  is  it  any  dis- 
paragement to  others  to  claim  for  him  the  first  rank 
among  those  whose  far-sighted  energy  and  bold  and 
successful  management  built  up  the  vast  river  trade  of 
St.  Louis,  along  whose  Levee,  before  1860,  often  lay 
at  one  time  a  fleet  of  nearly  two  hundred  magnificent 
steamers,  busily  loading  and  unloading  side  by  side 
the  rich  and  varied  products  of  every  zone. 

During  these  years,  however,  the  steamboat  inter- 
est was  by  no  means  the  only  one  which  engaged  his 
attention.  The  rich  deposits  of  lead  at  and  near  Ga- 
lena, 111.,  as  well  as  those  to  the  southward  in  Mis- 
souri, were  at  that  time  the  great  source  of  supply  for 
that  metal.  Partly  as  an  independent  investment,  and 
paitly  by  way  of  utilizing  his  steamboat  property,  Mr. 
Collier  engaged  largely  in  the  purchase  and  shipment 
of  lead,  especially  from  the  north,  forming  for  that 
purpose  a  business  connection  with  the  house  of 
Thomas  Fassit  in  Philadelphia,  in  which  direction,  as 
well  as  via  New  Orleans,  great  quantities  of  lead  were 
shipped.  Besides  purchasing  lead  from  others,  he 
became  a  large  owner  in  the  Galena  mines,  and  the 
metal  from  those  regions  at  that  time  was  the  chief 
source  of  supply,  not  only  for  the  white-lead  factories 
in  Pennsylvania  and  other  Eastern  States,  but  was 
also  shipped  in  large  quantities  to  France  and  other 
parts  of  Europe.  This  traffic  in  lead,  since  distrib- 
uted over  regions  farther  west,  formed  for  many  years, 
as  we  have  seen,  an  important  part  of  the  trade  of  St. 
Louis,  and  to  its  development  no  man  in  that  city 
contributed  more  actively  or  more  sagaciously  than 
George  Collier. 

Operations  so  large  as  these,  and  requiring  the  con- 
stant use  of  so  much  capital  and  credit,  naturally 
suggested  to  his  active  mind  the  combination  with 
them  of  a  banking  business.  About  1835-36  he 
formed  a  partnership  with  William  G.  Pettus,  whose 
wife  was  the  sister  of  Mr.  Collier's  first  wife.  For 
several  years  thereafter  the  firm  of  Collier  &  Pettus 
conducted  a  large  business  in  the  way  of  banking  and 
exchange,  deriving  an  independent  source  of  profit 


1256 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


from  the  dealings  in  Eastern  exchange  resulting  from 
the  shipments  of  lead,  already  mentioned,  as  well  as 
from  large  collections  which  rapidly  flowed  into  their 
hands  from  Mr.  Collier's  Eastern  acquaintances,  who 
sold  to  the  merchants  of  St.  Louis  their  general  sup- 
plies. 

In  still  another  direction  the  interests  already  men- 
tioned were  utilized.  Some  of  the  steamers  wholly 
or  in  part  owned  by  Mr.  Collier  were  in  the  Southern 
river  trade,  and  were  constantly  engaged  in  carrying 
to  New  Orleans  lead  shipped  by  him  and  his  associates, 
as  well  as  other  staple  articles,  including  flour,  in  the 
manufacture  of  which  at  St.  Charles  he  was  early  in- 
terested. The  proceeds  of  such  cargoes  were  invested 
under  his  direction  in  profitable  return  cargoes  of 
heavy  groceries,  sugar,  coffee,  salt,  and  molasses,  for 
which  New  Orleans  was  up  to  the  outbreak  of  the 
civil  war  the  principal  point  of  supply  to  St.  Louis 
and  thence  to  the  fur  West  and  Northwest. 

In  1840  the  banking  firm  of  Collier  &  Pettus  was 
dissolved  by  Mr.  Collier's  retirement  therefrom, 
though  Mr.  Pettus  for  some  time  longer  continued 
the  business.  In  1842  Mr.  Collier  formed  the  firm 
of  Collier  &  Morrison,  taking  into  partnership  his 
brother-in-law,  the  late  William  M.  Morrison,  then  a 
young  man,  for  whom  this  introduction  to  business 
life  also  proved  the  first  step  in  a  highly  successful 
mercantile  career.  The  business  of  this  firm  was 
chiefly  commission,  but  they  also  dealt  largely  in 
lead,  for  which  during  so  many  years  St.  Louis  was 
the  great  entrepot  of  the  West. 

In  1840,  Mr.  Collier,  whose  health  was  never 
robust  and  had  become  delicate,  determined  to  with- 
draw from  active  business,  and  gradually  sold  out  all 
his  interest  in  steamboats.  In  1847  he  retired  from 
the  firm  of  Collier  &  Morrison,  which  was  succeeded 
by  William  M.  Morrison  &  Co.,  the  new  partners 
being  Kufus  J.  Lackland  and  Alfred  Chadwick, 
whose  office  during  the  remainder  of  his  life  Mr.  Col- 
lier made  his  headquarters,  and  to  whose  very  success- 
ful career  his  advice  and  assistance  largely  contrib- 
uted. From  this  time  he  gradually  withdrew  from 
business  cares  other  than  the  management  of  his  val- 
uable landed  estate  and  other  investments  in  the  city 
of  St.  Louis. 

It  is  possible  in  the  brief  space  at  command  only 
to  allude  to  other  features  of  a  business  life  whose 
thirty  years  of  activity  included  and  so  largely  in- 
fluenced the  early  commercial  history  and  subsequent 
growth  of  his  adopted  city. 

His  calm  and  sagacious  judgment,  united  with 
singularly  clear  and  quick  prcceptions,  both  as  to  men 
and  as  to  the  contingencies  of  business,  peculiarly 


qualified  him  for  financial  success,  and  for  many  years 
before  his  death  Mr.  Collier  was  by  common  consent 
regarded  as  the  highest  financial  authority  in  St.  Louis, 
and  was  often  consulted  as  such  by  those  in  whose 
affairs  he  was  not  personally  interested.  For  several 
years  prior  to  its  failure  in  1837  he  was  one  of  the 
directors  in  the  Branch  Bank  of  the  United  States  at 
St.  Louis.  In  February,  1837,  the  Bank  of  the  State 
of  Missouri  was  chartered,  in  which  the  State  was  a 
large  stockholder,  appointing  a  majority  of  the  direc- 
tors. In  December,  1840,  Mr.  Collier  was  elected 
one  of  the  directors  who  represented  the  private 
stockholders,  and  continued  to  fill  that  position  for 
six  years,  having  been  twice  re-elected,  but  declined 
a  third  re-election  in  1846. 

By  an  act  approved  Jan.  12,  1831,  was  incorpo- 
rated the  first  insurance  company  in  St.  Louis,  under 
the  name  of  the  Missouri  Insurance  Company,  the 
name  of  George  Collier  heading  the  list  of  incorpora- 
tors,  and  for  many  years  of  its  successful  career  he 
was  one  of  its  most  important  members.  It  was 
characteristic,  however,  both  of  his  self-reliance  and 
his  customary  good  fortune — if  the  result  of  wise  and 
watchful  management  is  to  be  called  good  fortune — 
that  he  rarely  insured  his  own  property  at  all,  though 
he  not  unfrequently  underwrote  risks  for  others  as  a 
private  person. 

As  already  stated,  the  shipment  of  lead  from  St. 
Louis  southward  and  eastward  was  a  very  important 
part  of  its  early  commerce.  Part  of  the  lead  thus 
shipped  was  for  many  years  returned  to  the  West  in 
the  shape  of  white  lead  from  Eastern  factories,  but 
between  1837  and  1850  the  manufacture  of  white 
lead  and  of  oil  from  the  castor-bean  was  established 
in  St.  Louis.  The  well-known  firm  of  Charless  & 
Blow  were  among  the  pioneers  of  this  industry.  lu 
1850  their  factory  was  destroyed  by  fire,  and  the 
heavy  loss  thus  sustained  threatened  the  business  with 
ruin.  But  it  was  re-established  by  the  incorporation, 
in  September,  1851,  of  the  Collier  White  Lead  and 
Oil  Company,  to  the  capital  of  which  Mr.  Collier  was 
the  largest  single  contributor,  the  active  management 
remaining  in  the  hands  of  the  Hon.  Henry  T.  Blow; 
The  prosperous  career  of  this  important  industry  has 
more  than  verified  the  anticipations  of  those  who, 
like  Mr.  Collier,  believed  that  the  future  prosperity  of 
St.  Louis  would  depend  largely  upon  her  manufactures. 

In  1845  was  held  at  Memphis  the  first  Inter-State 
River  and  Harbor  Convention,  an  assemblage  made 
famous  by  the  presidency  of  John  C.  Calhoun.  It 
was  Mr.  Calhoun  himself  who — in  reference  to  the 
question  of  constitutional  power  on  the  part  of  the 
Federal  government  to  make  such  improvements — 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1257 


there  first  applied  to  the  great  rivers  of  the  West  a 
designation  which  instantly  became  famous,  that  of 
"  inland  seas."  It  was  more  than  a  picturesque 
phrase :  it  was  an  argument  in  a  word,  it  was  the 
solution  of  a  grave  constitutional  question.  At  this 
convention  the  commercial  interests  of  St.  Louis  were 
represented  by  a  delegation  of  twenty-five  of  her  most 
prominent  citizens,  of  whom  George  Collier  was  one. 

He  was  also  a  member  of  the  first  board  of  direc- 
tors of  the  Missouri  Pacific  Railroad,  having  been  one 
of  those  who  first  met  for  the  purpose  of  organizing 
and  procuring  its  incorporation. 

In  February,  1851,  the  Mercantile  Library  Hall 
Association  of  St.  Louis  was  incorporated  by  special 
act  for  the  express  purpose  of  erecting,  and  soon  after 
did  erect,  for  the  use  of  the  St.  Louis  Mercantile  Li- 
brary Association,  the  large  building  at  the  southwest 
corner  of  Fifth  and  Locust  Streets,  still  occupied  by  the 
latter.  In  this  public  enterprise  Mr.  Collier  took  great 
interest,  not  only  subscribing  liberally,  but  giving  still 
more  important  advice  and  assistance  in  planning  and 
prosecuting  the  work. 

He  was  for  many  years  a  trustee  of  the  Second 
Presbyterian  Church,  of  which  the  Rev.  Dr.  William 
A.  Potts  was  the  eminent  and  beloved  pastor. 

It  is  not  within  the  purpose  of  this  sketch,  even 
did  its  limits  permit,  to  dwell  upon  the  personal  qual- 
ities which  not  only  commanded  the  highest  respect 
and  confidence  of  his  associates  and  of  the  community 
at  large,  but  won  the  tender  affection  of  those  who 
knew  him  best.  Always  gentle  and  courteous  in  man- 
ner and  of  few  words,  his  demeanor  even  under 
trying  circumstances  was  singularly  calm  and  self- 
possessed,  while  his  conduct  indicated  great  prompt- 
ness and  decision  of  character.  His  accurate  judg- 
ment of  men  has  already  been  mentioned.  To  this 
was  united  a  cordial  and  sympathetic  interest  in  young 
men  who  proved  themselves  worthy  of  confidence, 
which  in  many  instances,  long  held  in  grateful  re- 
membrance, showed  itself  by  timely  and  generous  aid 
in  money  and  credit.  No  trait  of  his  was  recalled  more 
warmly  by  those  from  whom  these  reminiscences 
have  been  obtained  than  the  frequent  and  liberal  as- 
sistance afforded  by  him,  often  unsought,  to  those 
whose  character  was  his  only  security. 

Mr.  Collier's  political  affiliations  were  always  with 
the  Whig  party.  If  he  had  ever  indulged  any  aspi- 
rations for  public  life,  the  uniform  and  overwhelming 
preponderance  in  Missouri  of  the  Democratic  party 
would  have  rendered  them  hopeless.  He  was  always 
averse,  however,  to  notoriety  of  any  sort,  and  uni- 
formly declined  or  avoided  even  the  temptation  to 
leave  the  quiet  walks  of  private  life. 


Early  in  1852  his  health,  which  had  long  been  del- 
icate, began  to  fail  steadily,  and  a  lingering  illness 
terminated  in  his  death  at  his  house  in  St.  Louis  on 
the  18th  of  July,  1852,  at  the  comparatively  early 
age  of  fifty-six. 

Mr.  Collier  was  twice  married.  His  first  wife, 
Miss  Frangoise  E.  Morrison,  whom  he  married  ou 
Jan.  1,  182G,  at  St.  Charles,  Mo.,  died  Aug.  30, 
1835,  leaving  a  daughter  and  an  infant  son.  In  1838 
he  married  Miss  Sarah  A.  Bell,  eldest  daughter  of 
the  late  William  Bell,  of  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  who  still 
survives  him.  Of  this  marriage  five  sons  and  one 
daughter  survived  him.  Both  daughters  are  still  liv- 
ing in  St.  Louis.  The  elder  in  1857  became  the  wife 
of  Henry  Hitchcock,  a  leading  member  of  the  St. 
Louis  bar.  The  younger  in  I860  married  Ethan  A. 
Hitchcock,  then  a  partner  iu  the  American  house  of 
Olyphant  &  Co.  in  China,  where  he.  continued  to 
reside  till  his  retirement  from  that  firm  in  1872. 
Since  1875  he  has  resided  in  St.  Louis,  holding  high 
positions  of  business  trust. 

Five  sons  of  Mr.  Collier  attained  manhood,  only 
two  of  whom  now  survive.  One  of  these,  William 
B.  Collier,  is  a  resident  of  California.  The  other, 
Maurice  Dwight  Collier,  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
St.  Louis  in  18G9,  and  has  since  pursued  his  profes- 
sion with  diligence  and  promise  of  success.  During 
part  of  this  time  he  was  a  diligent  and  influential 
member  of  the  City  Council,  and  in  1876  was  elected 
a  member  of  the  board  of  freeholders,  thirteen  in 
number,  who  framed  the  present  city  charter  of  St. 
Louis. 

The  works  of  the  St.  Louis  Lead  and  Oil  Company 
were  erected  in  the  spring  of  1865,  and  are  located  on 
North  Second  Street  at  the  corner  of  Cass  Avenue.  In 
addition  to  the  manufacture  of  white  lead,  the  company 
gives  a  large  share  of  attention  to  producing  litharge,  red 
lead,  linseed-oil,  castor-oil,  and  cotton-seed  oil.  The 
works  consume  annually  the  enormous  amount  of  one 
thousand  tons  of  pig-lead,  in  addition  to  fifty  thousand 
bushels  of  castor-beans,  one  hundred  thousand  bushels  of 
flaxsecd,  and  forty-five  thousand  bushels  of  cotton-seed. 
The  works  of  the  company  alone  cost  nearly  two  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars,  and  have  a  frontage  of  nearly 
six  hundred  feet  on  Second  Street.  They  have  eigh- 
teen stacks,  holding  each  five  thousand  pots  and  forty 
thousand  pounds  of  metal.  As  many  as  eighty-five 
men  are  given  employment  at  these  works,  to  whom 
the  company  pay  about  sixty  thousand  dollars  annually. 

The  Southern  White  Lead  and  Color  Company 
erected  its  works  in  the  fall  of  1865.  They  are  situ- 
ated at  the  corner  of  Main  and  Lombard  Streets.  The 
company  devotes  its  attention  almost  wholly  to  the 


1238 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


production  of  white  lead,  and  its  brands,  like  those 
of  all  other  St.  Louis  works,  have  already  gained  an 
enviable  reputation,  especially  throughout  the  Southern 
and  Southwestern  States.  Its  lot  has  a  frontage  of 
two  hundred  and  fifteen  feet  on  Main  Street  and  one 
hundred  feet  on  Lombard  Street.  The  works  have 
twenty  stacks  of  a  capacity  of  five  thousand  pots  each, 
ten  pounds  of  lead  to  a  pot.  The  consumption  of  pig- 
lead  is  twelve  hundred  tons  yearly,  the  supply  being 
obtained  from  Missouri,  Iowa,  Wisconsin,  and  also 
Germany.  The  product  of  the  Granby  mines  in  Mis- 
souri is  as  highly  esteemed  as  that  of  any  other  State 
in  this  country  or  of  Europe,  but  good  metal  is  not 
always  to  be  had  in  large  enough  quantities  at  home, 
and  hence  the  company  is  compelled  to  go  abroad. 

Iron. — "  Here  is  the  centre  of  the  world's  trade,  here 
is  the  future  metropolis  of  the  world's  empire,  in  the 
favored  child  of  the  mighty  valley  of  the  Mississippi, 
the  City  of  the  Iron  Crotm."  l  This  declaration  ceases 
to  be  hyperbole  when  St.  Louis  is  regarded  as  the  centre 
of  that  iron  region  "  where  they  have  enough  ore  (iron) 
to  run  one  hundred  furnaces  for  one  thousand  years." 
With  Iron  Mountain,  Pilot  Knob,  Shepherd  Moun- 
tain, Simmons'  Mountain,  and  thousands  of  other 
deposits  to  glut  the  forges  of  the  future,  St.  Louis 
cannot  fail  to  become  the  grandest  iron  work-shop  in 
the  world.  "  Concentrated  in  a  limited  area,  sur- 
rounded on  all  sides  by  the  grandest  agricultural  dis- 
trict of  the  globe,  with  unlimited  supplies  of  coal, 
with  timber  and  water-power  unsurpassed  upon  the 
continent,  with  a  genial  climate  and  healthy  homes 
for  the  operatives,  and  their  food  cheaply  produced 
almost  at  their  doors,  with  the  world  for  a  market, 
and  transportation  facilities  for  reaching  its  most  dis- 
tant point,  it  is  not  difEcuk  to  see  a  prosperous  future 
for  a  section  so  happily  situated  and  so  richly  en- 
dowed," and  even  exaggeration  seems  impossible  in 
forecasting  the  future  prospects  of  a  city  which  is 
the  centre  and  the  commercial  and  manufacturing  me- 
tropolis of  a  country  so  favored  with  natural  advan- 
tages. 

As  early  as  September,  1814,  D.  Stewart,  on  Main 
Street,  adjoining  the  store  of  T.  Hunt  &  Co.  and 
opposite  the  dwelling  of  William  C.  Carr,  "  manu- 
factured all  kinds  of  cut  nails,  brads,  sprigs,"  and 
sold  them  at  the  following  prices :  6d.,  7d.,  8(7.,  10c/., 
12<?.,  and  2(W.  at  twenty  cents  per  pound  ;  4d.  at 
twenty-five  cents  per  pound.  He  sold  the  best  quan- 
tity of  bar-iron  at  fourteen  cents  per  pound,  or  twelve 
and  a  half  cents  by  the  ton.  The  establishment  of  iron 


1  Address  by  Charles   P.  Johnson,  of  St.  Louis,  before  the 
State  Immigration  Convention,  April  13,  1880. 


foundries  in  St.  Louis,  it  is  believed,  antedates  the 
mining  of  the  ores,  and  may  be  regarded  as  having 
been  begun  in  1817,  when  Lewis  Newell  landed  in 
the  then  thriving  village  and  commenced  the  business 
'  of  blacksmithing,  giving  special  attention  to  the  mak- 
ing of  edge  tools.  His  fame  soon  spread  abroad  as  a 
great  axe-maker.  At  this  time  St.  Louis  was  an  im- 
portant centre  of  the  fur  trade  of  the  West ;  the  de- 
mand for  wolf-traps,  beaver-traps,  and  squaw-axes  was 
very  considerable,  and  Newell  soon  made  a  specialty 
of  the  manufacture  of  these  implements,  the  produc- 
tion of  a  good  quality  of  which  brought  him  at  once 
wealth  and  a  wider  fame.  About  that  time,  too,  the 
old  French  cart  began  to  be  superseded  by  the  Yan- 
kee wagon,  all  the  cast-iron  hub-boxes  for  which  had 
to  be  brought  from  Pittsburgh,  as  indeed  all  other 
iron  castings.  Then  it  was  that  the  idea  of  founding 
first  entered  the  brain  of  the  first  St.  Louis  founder. 
Newell  saw  that  if  he  could  make  the  hub-boxes  he 
could  make  a  wagon  out  and  out,  thus  saving  a  heavy 
expense  in  their  manufacture  and  adding  greater  facil- 
ity to  their  production,  an  improvement  much  to  be 
desired  by  the  farmers  and  settlers  around  St.  Louis. 
Newell  racked  his  brain  for  a  plan  to  overcome  the  in- 
convenience of  having  to  import  wagon-boxes.  He 
was  not  a  practical  iron  founder,  but  his  genius  and  in- 
domitable courage  made  up  for  the  want.  Having 
completed  a  pattern,  he  went  to  work  with  a  common 
blacksmith's  forge  to  make  wagon-boxes,  and  melted 
his  iron  and  moulded  them  with  perfect  success.  This 
was  the  first  melting  of  iron  west  of  the  Mississippi 
River.  For  four  years  Newell  proceeded  with  this 
slow  process  to  turn  out  boxes  for  the  wagons  he 
made. 

In  October,  1828,  Samuel  Gaty  arrived  in  St. 
Louis,  in  company  with  John  A.  Morton,  Jr.,  and  a 
young  Welshman  named  Richards.  When  they  ar- 
rived in  St.  Louis  there  was  no  foundry  in  the  city. 
There  was,  however,  a  frame  building  which  parties 
from  Cincinnati  had  erected  with  the  intention  of 
starting  a  foundry,  but  not  being  able  to  work  the 
coal,  had  abandoned  the  project.  In  this  building, 
near  Second  and  Cherry  Streets,  Gaty  and  his  friends 
started  a  small  foundry ;  but  the  partnership  (for 
which  Gaty  furnished  the  cash  capital)  was  not  for- 
tunate, and  in  a  few  months  Gaty  and  Morton  were  in- 
duced to  sell  out  to  Col.  Martin  Thomas,  who  subse- 
quently leased  the  works  to  Peter  McQueen,  of  New 
York.  Gaty  was  out  of  work  for  a  while,  for  McQueen 
had  a  poor  idea  of  Western  mechanics,  and  preferred 
(as  he  said)  skilled  men  from  the  East,  yet  on  two 
occasions  Gaty  showed  his  aptness  and  skill  in  a  re- 
markable way.  McQueen  was  asked  to  make  a  new 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1259 


shaft  for  the  steamer  "  Jubilee."  He  said  his  men 
could  make  the  pattern  and  mould  one,  but,  having 
been  used  only  to  a  cupola,  could  not  well  melt  the 
iron  in  an  air-furnace.  Gaty,  however,  undertook  the 
job  of  melting  the  iron,  and  got  a  fine  casting.  But 
it  was  then  found  that  there  was  not  a  geared  lathe 
in  the  city  to  turn  the  shaft  with.  Gaty  was  again 
appealed  to,  and  with  two  cog-wheels  he  very  soon 
rigged  up  sufficient  power  to  turn  the  shaft  by  hand. 

In  the  spring  of  1830,  Scott  &  Rule,  then  the 
largest  merchants  in  St.  Louis,  and  also  among  the 
largest  property-holders,  proposed  building  a  foun- 
dry for  Lewis  Newell,  they  to  hold  the  concern  in 
their  name,  Newell  having  failed  in  business  and 
being  at  the  time  insolvent.  After  completing  his 
agreement  with  Scott  &  Rule,  Newell  wrote  to  Samuel 
Gaty,  who  had  gone  to  Louisville,  Ky.,  to  return  to 
St.  Louis  and  enter  into  business  with  him.  Gaty 
accepted,  and  in  November,  1830,  came  back  to  St. 
Louis,  and  superintended  the  building  of  the  foundry, 
the  money  for  which  was  furnished  by  Scott  &  Rule. 
A  site  for  the  foundry  was  selected  on  the  west  side 
of  Main  Street,  between  Cherry  and  Morgan,  and 
during  the  winter  Gaty  prepared  the  foundation  for 
the  intended  building,  and  in  the  spring  he,  with  his 
own  hands,  dug  up  the  fire-clay  for  the  bricks  for  the 
furnace,  moulded  them  himself,  and  built  the  furnace, 
which  was  finished  in  the  spring  of  1831.  On  July 
4th  he  took  the  first  heat,  and  the  first  castings  were 
for  Capt.  John  C.  Swon,  of  the  steamer  "  Carroll- 
ton,"  and  were  of  excellent  quality.  Gaty  &  Newell 
worked  the  furnace  for  a  while  with  great  success, 
but  it  was  destined  to  a  short  life,  for  in  the  win- 
ter of  1831-32,  Scott  &  Rule  became  involved,  and 
made  an  assignment  to  James  Woods,  of  Pittsburgh. 
This  swept  everything  from  Gaty  &  Newell.  But 
young  Gaty,  undismayed  by  misfortune,  and  with  a 
determination  that  could  not  fail  of  any  reasonable  , 
undertaking,  rented  the  foundry  from  Woods  and 
went  to  work  ;  and  from  that  time  fortune  smiled  on 
him,  as  it  always  does  on  brave,  industrious  men  who 
are  determined  to  succeed.  Newell  had  an  interest  in 
the  concern.  The  business  prospered  and  the  foun- 
dry was  increased  in  capacity,  making  all  kinds  of 
engines  and  machinery. 

In  1832,  Felix  Coonce  became  a  partner  in  the 
foundry,  and  the  firm  was  known  as  Gaty,  Coonce  & 
Co.  In  1838,  Newell  sold  his  interest  to  Capt.  Beltz- 
hoover,  and  in  1840,  Beltzhoover  sold  again  to  A.  H. 
Glasby.  In  1841,  Coonce  sold  his  interest  to  John 
S.  McCune,  who  came  from  Pike  County,  Mo., 
where  he  had  just  sold  out  a  mill  and  country  store, 
which  he  bought  with  money  the  proceeds  of  the  sale 


of  a  vein  of  lead  ore  that  he  had  recently  struck  at 
Galena.  The  firm  was  then  styled  Gaty,  McCune 
&Co. 

In  1849,  Gerard  B.  Allen  was  admitted  to  the 
firm,  which  then  became  Gaty,  McCune  &  Co.  Later, 
James  Collins,  William  H.  Stone,  and  Amos  Howe 
were  admitted,  and  this  firm  continued  until  July. 
1862,  when  it  dissolved,  and  Gaty  and  McCune  retired 
from  the  foundry  business. 

In  all  these  changes  Mr.  Gaty,  although  surrounded 
by  very  capable  men,  was  at  the  head  of  the  estab- 
lishment and  was  its  controlling  aiind.  He  started 
with  a  little  air-furnace  of  four  tons'  capacity,  and 
presided  over  the  development  of  a  business  which  in 
a  few  years  grew  to  enormous  proportions,  the  foun- 
dry being  in  its  day  one  of  the  most  extensive  manu- 
facturing establishments  of  its  class  in  the  whole  val- 
ley of  the  Mississippi,  and  occupying  a  whole  square, 
bounded  by  Main,  Second,  Cherry,  and  Morgan 
Streets.  Much  of  this  block  of  land  Mr.  Gaty  still 
owns,  and  it  is  covered  with  large  and  costly  build- 
ings. 

After  the  retirement  of  Mr.  Gaty  in  1862,  Jame's 
Collins,  who  had  been  connected  with  the  establish- 
ment since  1833,  with  the  exception  of  a  brief  retire- 
ment in  1860,  became  one  of  the  principal  proprietors 
and  manager  of  the  works. 

Mr.  Collins  had  been  employed  in  the  capacity  of 
foreman  and  superintendent  until  1853,  when  he 
bought  the  remaining  interest  of  Mr.  Glasby,  and 
the  success  that  attended  this  foundry  is  in  no  small 
measure  the  result  of  Mr.  Collins'  unwearying  labors 
in  its  superintendence. 

James  Collins  was  so  thoroughly  identified  with 
the  iron  interests  of  St.  Louis  that  a  brief  sketch  of 
his  career  will  not  be  out  of  place.  He  was  born  in 
Canada  West  in  the  year  1818,  and  at  nine  years  of 
age  was  left  an  orphan,  without  friends,  means,  or 
education.  He  was  apprenticed  to  the  firm  of  Sheldon 
&  Dutcher,  iron  founders,  of  Toronto,  where  he  soon 
mastered  the  business  of  founding  and  engine-build- 
ing. At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  came  to  the  United 
States,  and  soon  after  started  a  small  foundry  in  Buf- 
falo for  Judge  Williamson,  and  superintended  it  for 
about  four  months,  when  he  was  taken  with  the 
Wrestern  fever,  came  to  St.  Louis  in  1833,  and  com- 
menced work  for  Gaty,  Coonce  &  Co.  in  their  foun- 
dry, with  which  firm  he  was  identified  for  twenty- 
eight  years,  in  1853  (as  stated)  becoming  a  part 
owner.  Under  this  partnership  the  foundry  was  run 
until  1860,  when  Mr.  Collins  retired,  and  in  July, 
1 862,  the  copartnership  of  the  firm  expired  by  limi- 
tation, when  its  affairs  were  wound  up  and  the  fixtures 


1260 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


and  machinery  sold,  Mr.  Collins  becoming  one  of  the 
chief  purchasers,  eventually  putting  the  machinery, 
patterns,  etc.,  into  the  Broadway  Foundry,  with  which 
he  afterwards  became  connected. 

In  1837,  Hudson  E.  Bridge  arrived  in  St.  Louis, 
and  in  company  with  Messrs.  Hale  and  Samuel  S. 
Rayburn  began  the  manufacture  of  plows.  Mr.  Hale 
dying  soon  after,  the  business  was  continued  by  Bridge 
&  Rayburn,  and  the  department  of  stoves  and  hollow- 
ware  was  added.  In  a  short  time  French  Rayburn, 
a  younger  brother  of  Samuel  S.  Rayburn,  came  to  Sc. 
Louis  and  was  admitted  into  partnership  with  Bridge 
&  Rayburn,  which  caused  a  marked  increase  in  their 
business. 

French  Rayburn  was  born  in  Montgomery  County, 
Va.,  Jan.  5,  1815.  His  ancestors,  who  were  of  Scot- 
tish origin,  settled  in  the  north  of  Ireland  several 
centuries  ago.  His  grandfather  on  the  paternal  side 
emigrated  from  Ireland  and  settled  in  Virginia  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century.  James  Ray- 
burn,  the  father  of  French  Rayburn,  was  a  prominent 
citizen  of  Montgomery  County.  He  was  for  many 
years  judge  of  Probate  Court,  was  sheriff  of  the 
county,  and  held  other  positions  of  public  trust.  He 
died  in  December,  1814,  some  two  or  three  weeks 
before  the  birth  of  "his  son  French.  His  wife,  Nancy 
Watterson  (iiee  Shanklin),  at  the  time  of  her  second 
marriage  was  mother  by  her  first  husband  of  one 
child,  William  S.  Watterson,  who  was  the  father  of 
Harvey  M.  Watterson,  who  represented  Tennessee 
for  many  years  in  the  lower  house  of  Congress,  and 
the  grandfather  of  the  brilliant  Henry  Watterson,  of 
the  Louisville  Courier-Journal.  She  died  in  the 
month  of  July,  1835,  venerable  in  years  and  the 
mother  of  twelve  children,  only  one  of  whom,  the 
youngest,  French  Rayburn,  is  still  living.  Mr.  Ray- 
burn  acquired  the  best  education  the  times  afforded 
in  the  excellent  schools  of  Bedford  County,  Tenn. 
His  business  life  began  at  Nashville,  Tenn.,  under 
the  care  and  direction  of  his  brother  Samuel,  who 
was  of  the  firm  of  Mitchell  &  Rayburn,  and  after  the 
dissolution  of  that  firm,  and  when  he  was  seventeen 
years  of  age,  Robert  and  James  Woods  (who  were 
near  relatives),  of  the  firm  of  James  Woods  &  Co., 
took  him  into  their  house,  and  manifested  a  father's 
interest  in  him.  They  were  engaged  in  the  banking 
business  at  Nashville,  and  also  owned  and  operated 
the  extensive  Cumberland  Iron-Works,  under  the 
firm-name  of  Joseph  Woods  &  Co.  In  1833  they 
opened  an  iron  house  in  St.  Louis  for  the  sale  of 
the  products  of  their  iron-works,  and  placed  Samuel 
S.  Rayburn,  an  elder  brother  of  French  Rayburn,  in 
charge.  French,  however,  won  their  esteem  and  con- 


fidence to  such  an  extent  that  in  1834  they  sent  him 
to  St.  Louis  and  associated  him  with  his  brother  in 
the  management  of  the  iron  house. 

Samuel  S.  Rayburn  was  one  of  the  most  prominent 
and  successful  business  men  of  St.  Louis.  He  was  a 
director  for  many  years,  vice-president,  and  during  the 
absence  of  its  president,  John  B.  Smith,  in  Europe 
acting  president  of  the  famous  old  State  Bank  of 
Missouri,  of  which  Robert  A.  Barnes  was  afterwards 
president.  He  founded  the  house  of  Bridge,  Ray- 
burn  &  Co.  (associating  with  him  Hudson  E.  Bridge 
and  Titus  Hale),  for  the  manufacturing  of  stoves,  etc. 
He  died  in  Bedford  County,  Tenn.,  in  1849.  His 
daughter  Victoria,  an  only  child,  was  reared  and  edu- 
cated by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  French  Rayburn,  and  was 
married  to  Lieut.  George  R.  Bissell,  a  son  of  the  late 
Capt.  Lewis  Bissell,  of  St.  Louis,  who  now  resides  in 
Oakland,  Cal. 

French  Rayburn  married  in  May,  1841,  Catherine, 
eldest  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Margaret  (iiee  Beltz- 
hoovcr)  Stacker.  Samuel  Stacker  was  born  in  Penn- 
sylvania, near  Philadelphia,  and  was  of  German  par- 
entage. He  removed  to  Pittsburgh,  where  he  married 
Miss  Margaret  Beltzhoovcr,  whose  parents,  also  of 
German  extraction,  belonged  to  one  of  the  prominent 
families  of  Pennsylvania.  He  built  the  first  bridge 
over  the  Cumberland  River  at  Nashville,  and  after- 
wards, in  connection  with  his  brother  John,  erected 
and  operated  the  Lafayette  Furnace,  on  the  Cum- 
berland River,  in  which  business  he  amassed  a  fortune. 
He  and  his  brother  sold  their  furnace  property  in 
1834,  and  purchased  of  Joseph  Woods  &  Co.  an  in- 
terest in  the  Cumberland  Iron-Works,  near  Fort  Don- 
elson,  the  firm  becoming  Woods,  Stacker  &  Co. 
Samuel  Stacker  had  entire  charge  of  the  rolling-mill 
and  furnaces,  and  by  his  practical  and  careful  manage- 
ment brought  the  works  to  a  higher  state  of  efficiency 
and  prosperity  than  they  had  ever  attained  before. 

He  died  Dec.  28,  1859,  at  the  close  of  a  successful 
and  honorable  life,  and  lies  buried  beside  his  wife  at 
old  Lafayette  Furnace,  Tenn. 

In  1842,  Mr.  Rayburn  retired  from  the  management 
of  the  iron  house  in  St.  Louis,  and  in  the  following 
year  moved  to  the  farm  where  he  now  resides,  which 
he  had  purchased  in  1842.  He  has  resided  continu- 
ously on  this  farm,  with  the  exception  of  two  years 
(from  1845  to  1847),  during  which  he  built  the 
Stacker  Company  Furnace,  on  the  Cumberland  River, 
Tennessee,  and  manufactured  pig-iron. 

Mr.  Rayburn  had  four  children, — Samuel  S.,  born 
Dec.  14,  1842;  Cora  Rebecca,  born  Dec.  10,  1844; 
Mary  Elsie,  born  Oct.  30, 1854  ;  and  Catherine  French, 
born  Aug.  17,  1860.  Cora  died  Dec.  30,  1859,  at 


UH' 
!HE 

u*w 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


12G1 


the  age  of  fifteen,  and  Mary  Elsie  Jan.  7,  1869,  aged 
fourteen.  Their  loss,  just  as  they  were  budding  into 
beautiful  womanhood,  was  a  severe  blow  to  their 
parents.  Mrs.  Rayburn  died  April  26,  1881,  after  a 
lingering  illness  of  over  a  year,  and  is  buried  in  the 
family  lot  in  Bellefontaine  Cemetery.  Her  character 
was  both  strong  and  gentle,  and  her  retired  disposi- 
tion made  her  home  life  remarkable  for  wifely  and 
motherly  virtues.  In  society  she  exhibited  the  cul- 
ture of  a  refined  lady  and  the  virtues  of  a  Christian 
woman. 

Mr.  Rayburn  has  always  been  a  pronounced  Dem- 
ocrat, but  never  a  politician,  only  once  consenting  to 
hold  elective  office,  when,  in  1858,  he  served  as  a 
member  of  the  Missouri  Legislature,  which  was  nota- 
ble for  its  frequent  adjournments  and  extra  sessions, 
during  the  incumbency  of  Governor  Robert  Stewart. 
He  held  the  position  of  chairman  of  two  committees, 
— Banks  and  Corporations  and  Committee  on  Ac- 
counts. During  the  war  he  was  elected  a  director  of 
the  State  Bank,  which  position  he  declined. 

For  twenty-five  years  he.  has  been  a  member  of  the 
Southern  Methodist  Church  of  Bellefontaine,  holding 
many  positions  of  trust,  and  contributing  liberally 
towards  its  maintenance. 

He  is  sixty- eight  years  of  age,  and  a  fine  repre- 
sentative of  the  pioneers  to  whose  honor  and  keeping 
was  confided  the  destiny  of  St.  Louis  City  and  County. 

In  1837  all  manufactures  of  iron  were  brought 
from  the  Ohio  River.  Hudson  E.  Bridge,  however, 
conceived  that  the  cost  might  be  lessened  by  hav- 
ing the  plates  manufactured  on  the  Tennessee  River 
and  put  together  in  his  own  shop,  and  this  was 
the  first  innovation.  But  this  did  not  satisfy  him. 
With  only  the  experience  in  iron  manufacture  ac- 
quired in  Springfield,  he  determined  to  make  the 
plates  in  St.  Louis,  and  in  1838  a  little  foundry 
was  established  in  connection  with  his  store.  Old 
stove  dealers  warned  the  young  man,  then  only 
twenty-eight  years  of  age,  of  his  folly  in  endeavoring 
to  compete  with  the  older  manufactures  of  Cincinnati, 
and  of  the  failure  that  must  inevitably  follow.  But 
Mr.  Bridge  soon  found  that  by, careful  economy  the 
cost  of  manufacture  was  less  than  the  cost  of  bringing 
from  the  East.  At  this  time  he  was  his  own  fore- 
man and  salesman  by  day,  and  his  own  book-keeper 
at  night,  and  though  of  very  humble  pretensions  in 
comparison  with  the  establishment  of  to-day,  the 
foundation  was  thus  laid  of  the  Empire  Stove-Works, 
which  was  destined  to  become  one  of  the  largest  and 
best-known  manufacturing  enterprises  of  the  Missis- 
sippi valley. 

In  the  year  1842,  Mr.  Bridge  associated  with  him 


his  younger  brother,  Harrison  Bridge,  and  the  firm 
of  Bridge  &  Brother  was  established.  His  brother's 
death  in  1850  left  him  again  alone  for  several  years. 
In  1857,  John  H.  Beach,  who  had  been  for  several 
years  connected  with  the  house,  was  admitted  as  an 
associate,  and  the  firm  of  Bridge,  Beach  &  Co.  has 
continued  to  the  present  time. 

The  foundry  of  Hudson  E.  and  Harrison  Bridge 
was  located  in  the  northern  part  of  the  city,  but  in 
1847  it  was  removed  to  the  corner  of  Main  and  Al- 
mond Streets. 

About  the  time  of  the  establishment  of  the  stove- 
works  of  Hudson  E.  Bridge,  Philip  Kingsland  re- 
moved to  St.  Louis,  and  in  1844  built  the  Phoenix 
Foundry  and  Machine-Shop  at  the  corner  of  Second 
and  Cherry  Streets,  for  the  manufacture  of  cooking-, 
coal-,  and  parlor-stoves,  tin-plate,  etc.  From  this  small 
beginning  has  grown  one  of  the  largest  manufacturing 
establishments  in  the  United  States. 

Philip  Kingsland,  now  the  head  of  the  great  Kings- 
land  &  Ferguson  Manufacturing  Company,  was  born 
at  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  March  31, 1809.  His  father  was 
a  well-known  manufacturer  in  the  iron  business,  and 
conducted  the  largest  establishment  there.  Philip 
was  sent  to  the  village  school,  for  Pittsburgh  then  was 
not  much  more  than  a  village,  and  at  the  age  of  fif- 
teen the  boy's  education,  such  as  it  was,  was  com- 
pleted. His  father  then  placed  him  in  his  shop,  where 
he  learned  the  business,  beginning  at  the  very  bottom. 
Mr.  Kingsland  says  he  was  "  put  through"  the  trade 
without  being  shown  any  favor  as  the  son  of  the  pro- 
prietor, but,  on  the  contrary,  was  treated  with  the 
utmost  strictness.  The  discipline,  if  harsh,  was  very 
useful,  and  so  well  did  the  boy  profit  by  it  that 
at  eighteen  he  had  the  whole  charge  of  the  shop, 
embracing  the  supervision  of  over  one  hundred 
and  fifty  men.  Although  a  mere  stripling,  he  man- 
aged affairs  so  well  that  he  was  continued  as  superin- 
tendent for  several  years.  Meanwhile  he  had  visited 
St.  Louis  two  or  three  times,  and  finally,  in  1835,  no 
longer  able  to  resist  his  pioneer  spirit,  he  removed  to 
St.  Louis  and  built  a  large  iron  foundry  and  machine- 
shop  on  Broadway,  which  he  managed  for  several 
years.  The  first  firm  was  Kingsland,  Liihner  & 
Cuddy,  but  this  partnership  was  of  brief  duration, 
Mr.  Cuddy  withdrawing  arid  Kingsland  &  Lithner 
continuing  for  perhaps  twenty  years.  Their  business 
grew  to  immense  proportions,  and  became  one  of  the 
most  prominent  and  important  industries  of  St.  Louis. 
At  last  Kingsland  &  Lithner  sold  their  establishment, 
good  will,  etc.,  and  soon  after  the  works  burned  down. 

Mr.  Kiugsland  next  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 
agricultural  implements  at  the  corner  of  Second  and 


1262 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Cherry  Streets.  The  firm  was  Kingslands  &  Fer- 
guson, the  partners  being  himself,  his  brother  George 
(now  dead),  and  David  K.  Ferguson.  Here,  too, 
signal  prosperity  rewarded  his  efforts. 

Mr.  Kingsland  finally  withdrew  from  the  active 
management  of  these  works,  and  removed  to  Caron- 
delet  in  1861),  where  he  organized  the  Kingsland 
Iron-Works,  being  president  of  the  company,  and 
built  the  two  blast  furnaces  which  now  comprise  a 
part  of  the  famous  Vulcan  Steel-Works.  These  were 
put  into  successful  operation,  but  a  change  of  man- 
agement occurring,  Mr.  Kingsland  returned  to  St. 
Louis  in  1871  or  1872,  and  resumed  his  place  as  a 
member  of  the  firm  of  Kingsland  &  Ferguson.  He 
subsequently  effected  a  reorganization  of  the  concern 
under  the  title  of  the  Kingsland  &  Ferguson  Manu- 
facturing Company,  under  which  name  the  establish- 
ment is  still  known,  its  present  officers  being  Philip 
Kingsland,  president;  D.  K.  Ferguson,  vice-president ; 
Elliot  Douglas,  secretary  ;  L.  D.  Kingsland  (a  nephew 
of  Mr.  Kingsland),  treasurer. 

Nearly  fifty  years  have  elapsed  since  Philip  Kings- 
land  arrived  in  St.  Louis  and  established  himself  in 
business,  and  they  have  proved  to  be  years  of  steady 
and  astonishing  success.  It  is  gratifying  to  be  able 
to  state  that  Mr.  Kingsland's  prosperity  is  the  result 
of  watchful  devotion  to  business,  and  of  honest  and 
straightforward  dealings.  Half  a  century  spent  in  a 
career  in  which  there  is  no  flaw  or  stain  is  something 
certainly  to  be  proud  of,  and  Mr.  Kingsland  may  not 
only  enjoy  the  abundant  fruits  of  a  business  wisely 
planned  and  honestly  conducted,  but  may  be  happy 
in  the  consciousness  that  his  integrity  has  earned  him 
a  high  place  in  the  regard  of  the  community.  He  is 
now  at  the  head  of  one  of  the  largest  manufactories 
in  the  West.  It  occupies  nearly  a  whole  block  in 
North  St.  Louis,  embraces  expensive  buildings,  com- 
plete and  costly  machinery,  immense  stocks,  etc.,  and 
requires  the  use  of  vast  capital  and  the  employment 
of  hundreds  of  hands, — a  monument  of  no  ordinary 
character  to  the  energy,  ability,  and  skill  of  its  founder. 

In  184G,  John  T.  Dowdall  started  the  Washington 
Foundry,  on  Second  Street,  between  Morgan  and 
Green.  The  firm  was  at  one  time  styled  Dowdall, 
Carr  &  Co.,  and  afterwards  Dowdall,  Page  &  Co. 

In  1846,  Palm  &  Robinson  started  the  pipe  foundry 
on  Soulard  and  Second  Streets,  and  in  1852,  it  is  said, 
constructed  the  first  locomotive  ever  made  in  the  West, 
but,  unfortunately  for  St.  Louis,  William  Palm  was 
too  honest  to  compete  with  the  foundries  of  the  East, 
and  the  construction  of  locomotives  was  not  encouraged 
here.  It  is  conceded  though  that  Mr.  Palm  built  a 
good,  serviceable  locomotive. 


In  1846  the  Garrison  Brothers  started  the  Eagle 
Foundry,  on  Main  Street,  between  Carr  and  Biddle, 
conducted  it  several  years,  and  sold  it  to  Renfrew  & 
Crozier.  Mr.  Renfrew  died  in  1861,  and  the  es- 
tablishment passed  into  the  hands  of  the  surviving 
partner,  Alexander  Crozier. 

The  extensive  works  of  Buck  &  Wright  were  es- 
tablished in  1849,  but  did  not  commence  manufac- 
turing until  April  or  May,  1850,  when  they  began  to 
operate  with  thirty-five  men,  moulders,  laborers,  etc., 
included.  Their  operations  were  then  confined  to  a 
small  establishment,  but  they  gradually  increased 
their  facilities  and  capacities,  by  the  extension  and 
enlargement  of  the  area  of  their  works,  until  they 
covered  an  entire  block  and  gave  employment  to 
one  hundred  and  thirty  men,  comprising  sixty-six 
moulders  and  sixty-four  other  mechanics  and  laborers. 
To  this  firm,  it  is  said,  belongs  the  credit  of  inventing 
and  making  glass  doors  to  their  Buck  cook-stoves,  of 
which  they  also  claim  to  be  the  inventors.  It  was 
the  leading  cook-stove  manufactured  at  their  estab- 
lishment, and  attained  a  wide-spread  popularity. 
They  also  made  twenty-nine  other  kinds  of  cook- 
stoves,  the  leading  wood-stove  being  the  "  Brilliant," 
of  which  alone  they  made  fifteen  different  varieties, 
and  of  the  "  Peerless"  nine  different  varieties.  Their 
leading  coal  cook-stove  was  the  "  Paragon,"  of  which 
they  manufactured  thirteen  different  varieties,  and  of 
other  stoves  they  made  twenty-five  different  varieties. 

In  1849,  Giles  F.  Filley  started  the  Excelsior 
Stove-Works.  A  writer,  speaking  of  the  works  in 
1869,  says, — 

"These  works,  now  ranking  among  the  first  in  the  country, 
were  commenced  in  the  early  part  of  the  year  1849,  and  the 
manufacture  of  stoves  commenced  in  September  of  that  year. 
For  four  years  the  business  was  confined  to  a  small  establish- 
ment, and  necessarily  compelled  to  meet  many  perplexing  diffi- 
culties; but  in  1853  the  increase  of  the  business  was  so  great 
that  an  addition  and  extension  of  the  shops  became  necessary, 
and  a  moulding-room,  eighty  by  one  hundred  and  twenty,  and 
a  four-story  warehouse  were  erected,  much  to  the  surprise  of 
many  people,  who  thought  it  a  rash  and  foolish  venture,  arguing 
that  it  was  impossible  to  make  stove  manufacturing  a  successful 
or  profitable  business  in  St.  Louis.  But  time  and  experience, 
the  great  arbiters  of  all  earthly  affairs,  have  clearly  demon- 
strated the  fact  that  it  was  not  a  rash  venture,  but  a  most  suc- 
cessful financial  enterprise,  and  one  which  has  done  as  much  to 
develop  the  practical  importance  of  St.  Louis  as  a  manufactur- 
ing point  as  any  other  enterprise  ever  undertaken.  And  now, 
instead  of  being  confined  to  narrow  quarters,  it  extends  over  an 
area  of  37,000  square  feet,  gives  employment  to  255  operatives 
in  its  various  departments,  and  involves  a  weekly  cash  outlay 
of  $4916,  or,  reckoning  a  month  at  four  and  one-third  weeks, 
$21,303  a  month,  or  $255,636  annually,  and  is  perhaps  among 
the  largest,  if  not  itself  the  largest,  in  the  United  States.  It 
now  melts  from  27  to  30  tons  of  iron  per  day,  or  a  weekly  ag- 
gregate of  175  tons.  But  just  here  it  will  be  proper  to  remark 
that  only  about  two-thirds  of  the  iron  melted  is  turned  out  in 


ILLINOIS. 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1263 


perfect  castings.  The  other  third  results  in  scraps  or  'grates,' 
to  use  moulders'  parlance,  and  is  remelted  and  recast  from  day 
to  day.  It  is  estimated  that  since  starting  in  September,  1849, 
up  to  Nov.  1,  1869,  it  has  consumed  a  little  over  50,000  tons  of 
iron.  From  the  time  the  foundry  commenced  operations  in 
1849  to  Jan.  1,  1850,  there  were  made  644  stoves  of  all  kinds. 
In  1852,  the  first  year  of  the  run  of  the  Charter  Oak  stove,  its 
leading  cooking-stove,  their  manufactures  amounted  to  12,680, 
of  which  2619  were  Charter  Oak?,  and  as  the  popularity  of  these 
stoves  increased  so  increased  their  manufacture  of  them,  and 
the  whole  may  be  summed  up  in  the  following  tabular  statement 
to  the  present  time.  It  will  be  noticed,  however,  that  in  1857, 
when  there  was  a  financial  panic,  and  during  the  war,  there  was 
a  slight  falling  off  in  this  as  in  all  other  kinds  of  manufactures  : 

ni  »  i  Charter 

"\ear.  Total.  Oaks 

1849 644             '.. 

1850 5,977             

1851 10,906             

1852 12,608  2,019 

1853 14,850  4,785 

1854 18,441  6,643 

1855 25,305  11,141 

1856 29,387  12,548 

1857 28,385  10,804 

1S58 18,718  6,595 

1859 22,764  7,144 

I860 21,599  7,366 

1861 10,334  3,183 

1862 16,422  4,795 

1863 18,231  5,546 

1864 15,666  5,556 

1865 23,488  8,066 

1866 24,258  9,445 

1867 18,245  11,548 

1868 31,507  13,347 

1869,  11  months  ending  Nov.  30.  33,334  16,864 

411,141  147,995 

On  hand  Dec.  1 5,776  1,565 

Total  production 416,917  149,560 

"During  the  years  1864-66,  while  the  government  law  im- 
posing a  tax  of  three  dollars  per  ton  on  meHed  iron  remained 
in  force,  the  Excelsior  Manufactory  paid  a  yearly  average  of 
the  one-twcnty-second  part  of  all  revenue  derived  from  that 
source,  as  follows : 

"In  1864 1.17i  parts. 

In  1865 1.18       " 

In  1866 1.28       " 

"  Until  the  present  year  nearly  all  the  iron  used  at  the  Excel- 
sior Works  was  brought  from  points  outside  of  the  State, — Ohio, 
Pennsylvania,  and  Tennessee, — but  the  establishment  of  fur- 
naces in  our  own  State  and  city  has  worked  a  very  desirable 
change,  as  it  tends  to  keep  all  the  outlays  for  iron,  except  for 
the  Scotch  pig,  nt  home  among  our  own  people.  This  outlay 
for  iron  was  no  inconsiderable  item,  as  last  year  the  works  of 
which  we  write  paid  out  over  eighty  thousand  dollars  to  the 
iron  manufacturers  of  Ohio  alone,  to  say  nothing  of  the  amount 
paid  to  the  manufacturers  in  other  localities.  This  year  they 
have  not  purchased  or  used  a  single  ton  of  American  iron  pro- 
duced outside  of  Missouri,  and  after  giving  it  a  fair  test,  pro- 
nounced it  superior  to  any  other  iron  ever  used  for  stove  manu- 
facturing purposes.  The  only  foreign  purchases  are  of  Scotch 
iron,  which,  as  heretofore  remarked,  is  of  a  softer,  more  fluid 
nature,  and  when  mixed  with  the  Missouri  iron,  which  is  very 
strong  and,  to  use  a  foundryman's  words,  'does  not  run  sharp 
enough  to  bring  out  the  nice  designs  and  ornaments,'  obtains 
the  quality  desired. 

"The  stoves  manufactured  at  the  Excelsior  Works  find  a 
market  in  Missouri,  Kansas,  Nebraska,  and  other  adjoining 


States,  in  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  and  Texas,  New  Mexico, 
Colorado,  Montana,  Utah,  and  wherever  else  St.  Louis  commerce 
extends. 

"From  the  1st  of  January  to  the  30th  of  November  of  the 
present  year  their  sales  of  stoves  and  the  necessary  materials  to 
put  on  the  fixtures  reached  within  a  small  fraction  of  $1,250,- 
000,  while  it  is  supposed  that  in  the  five  stove  foundries  in 
operation  in  St.  Louis  there  is  invested  no  less  than  $1,500,000. 

"  The  power  that  drives  the  machinery  to  carry  on  the  manu- 
facturing department  of  the  Excelsior  Works  is  supplied  by  an 
engine  of  eighty-five  horse-power,  with  sixteen  and  a  half  inch 
cylinder  of  four-feet  stroke.  The  machinery  which  it  propels 
may  Le  enumerated  as  follows  :  Two  cylinder-blowers,  one  burr 
millstone,  one  sand-mill,  three  coal-mills,  seven  drills,  one  iron- 
turning  lathe,  one  wood-turning  lathe,  three  circular  saws,  one 
planing-machine,  ten  cleaning  mills,  seven  emery-wheels,  two 
hoisting-machines,  and  four  grindstones.  Betides  this  it  fur- 
nishes the  power  for  moving  the  iron  cars  used  for  hauling  coal 
and  iron  up  to  the  cupola.  There  are  two  furnaces,  the  blast 
for  which  is  carried  from  the  cylinder-blower,  one  of  them  an 
eightcen-inch  pipe  three  hundred  feet  long,  and  the  other  one 
a  sixteen  and  a  half  inch  pipe  two  hundred  and  forty  feet  long. 

"  We  have  stated  that  the  Excelsior  Stove-Works  give  employ- 
ment to  two  hundred  and  fifty-five  persons,  and  on  further  in- 
quiry we  learn  that  these  two  hundred  and  fifty-five  employes 
are  classified  and  paid  an  average  of  weekly  wages  as  follows  : 

Total  to 
«  Class.  No.      Wages.    Each  Class. 

Draughtsman 1  $24.00  $24.00 

Pattern-makers 3  18.00  54.00 

Flask-makers 4  18.00  72.00 

Iron  pattern  fitters 4  17.00  68.00 

Moulders 112  22.00  2464.00 

Mounters 38  15.00  570.00 

Cleaners 18  14.00  252.00 

Blacksmiths 4  15.00  60.00 

Engineers 1  22.00  22.00 

Laborers,  teamsters,  etc 54  14.00  756.00 

Clerks 13  30.00  390.00 

Superintendents 3  60.00  180.00 

Total  255 

Total  weekly  expense  for  labor $4916.00" 

The  start  of  Giles  F.  Fillcy  was  made  in  rather  a 
small  way,  the  employes  numbering  twenty-five  moul- 
ders and  about  twenty  men  in  other  departments. 
These  works  have  been  extended  and  enlarged  from 
time  to  time  until  they  now  (1883)  employ  two  hun- 
dred and  thirty  moulders  and  about  three  hundred 
and  twenty  men  in  other  departments,  five  hundred 
and  fifty  in  all  at  the  works  proper,  which  cover  two 
large  blocks  in  North  St.  Louis.  In  1865  the  works 
were  incorporated  into  what  is  known  as  the  "  Ex- 
celsior Manufacturing  Company,"  and  the  business 
now  includes  the  furnishing  of  tinners'  supplies  as 
well  as  the  making  of  stoves,  and  the  whole  number 
of  employes  is  about  six  hundred  and  fifty. 

The  Missouri  Stove- Works  were  established  in 
1865,  but  did  not  fairly  commence  business  until 
January,  1866.  During  the  four  years  succeeding 
their  manufactures  made  the  following  exhibit : 


1866 

1867 


2,380 
3,850 


1868 6,400 

1869 7,500 


Total 20,130 


1264 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


or  5032  annually.  The  Missouri  Stove  Foundry  is 
now  located  on  Second  Street,  northeast  corner  of 
Palm. 

The  Western  Stove  Manufacturing  Company  was 
organized  and  a  charter  obtained  in  1868,  and  manu- 
facturing operations  commenced  in  October  of  that 
year.  The  stock  was  owned  and  the  labor  principally 
performed  by  mechanics  and  laborers.  It  combined 
the  manufacture  of  iron  railings  and  castings  for  agri- 
cultural implements  with  that  of  stoves.  The  works 
are  still  in  successful  operation. 

In  this  sketch  of  the  St.  Louis  stove  manufacturing 
interest,  and  its  extent  we  have  dealt  altogether  with 
the  leading  establishments,  but  from  them  sufficient  in- 
formation has  been  obtained  to  show  the  importance 
and  magnitude  of  the  business  as  well  as  its  influence 
upon  the  commercial  interests  and  population  of  the 
city.  The  amount  of  capital  invested  in  this  one 
branch  of  trade  exceeds  $1,650,000.  In  1882  there 
were  nine  establishments  engaged  in  this  branch  of 
manufacture,  employing  1555  hands,  whose  products 
were  valued  at  82,695,000. 

The  first  bar  of  iron  made  out  of  pig-metal  in  Mis- 
souri was  made  on  Cedar  Creek  (Washington  County) 
in  May,  1825,  and  the  first  blooms  were  made  in  1832. 
Though  ore  was  abundant  and  easily  smelted,  the  great 
expense  of  transportation  in  a  new  and  thinly-settled 
country  soon  induced  the  abandonment  of  the  enter- 
prise ;  and  Dr.  Litton  states  that  "  the  next  blast  fur- 
nace was  probably  erected  in  1828,  by  Mr.  Massey, 
in  Crawford,  which  has  been  in  successful  operation 
up  to  the  present  time." * 

In  1850,  Messrs.  James  Harrison  &  Co.  purchased 
from  Capt.  James  Bissell  a  large  tract  of  land  in  the 
northern  section  of  the  city,  a  short  distance  above 
Bremen,  and  began  the  erection  of  an  extensive  roll- 
ing-mill and  nail-factory.  The  building  was  about 
two  hundred  and  thirty-four  feet  long  and  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty  feet  wide. 

James  Harrison,  one  of  the  pioneers  in  the  devel- 
opment of  the  iron  trade  of  St.  Louis,  was  born  iu 
Bourbon  County,  Ky.,  in  October,  1803,  and  was  the 
son  of  John  Harrison,  a  farmer  of  that  region.  John 
Harrison's  family  came  to  this  country  from  the 
north  of  Ireland  at  an  early  day,  and  his  wife  was  of 
English  lineage.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Harrison  had  ten 
children,  James  being  the  second  of  several  sons,  all 
of  whom  became  wealthy.  Capt.  William  M.  Har- 
rison is  now  one  of  the  most  successful  merchants  and 
bankers  of  Texas. 

James  Harrison  spent  his  early  years  on  a  farm, 

1  Franz  Mayer  was  the  first  to  cast  bells  in  St.  Louis,  in  1851. 


and  enjoyed  such  moderate  school  advantages  as  his 
section  afforded.  In  1822  he  removed  to  Missouri 
and  settled  in  Fayette,  Howard  Co.,  where  for  several 
years  he  engaged  successfully  in  mercantile  pursuits 
with  James  Glasgow.  He  early  showed  uncommon 
aptitude  for  business.  Among  his  successful  ventures 
of  this  period  was  the  shipping  of  stock  to  St.  Louis, 
and  several  times  he  went  with  a  flat-boat  of  stock 
from  St.  Louis  to  Xew  Orleans.  In  1830  he  married 
Maria  Louisa,  daughter  of  Joel  Prewitt,  of  Howard 
County,  Mo.,  and  sister  of  Mrs.  William  N.  Switzer 
and  Dr.  Prewitt,  of  St.  Louis.  This  excellent  lady 
died  in  St.  Louis  in  1847. 

During  1831  and  1832  he  visited  Chihuahua, 
Mexico,  for  trading  purposes,  and  led  a  busy  and 
stirring  life,  not  unfraught  with  personal  danger.  On 
one  occasion  his  party  was  pursued,  and  eleven  out 
of  the  thirteen  were  caught  and  scalped. 

From  1833  to  1840  he  was  a  merchant  in  Arkansas, 
and  conducted  business  in  several  towns  simultane- 
ously, meeting  with  the  most  flattering  success.  He 
was  still  in  partnership  with  Mr.  Glasgow,  under  the 
style  of  Glasgow  &  Harrison. 

In  1840  he  removed  to  St.  Louis,  which  city  he 
henceforth  made  his  home.  He  had  "  prospected" 
over  a  large  portion  of  Missouri,  and  the  immense 
mineral  wealth  of  the  State  was  earlier  and  better 
known  to  him  than  to  most  others.  His  knowledge 
on  this  subject  convinced  him  that  the  development 
of  these  treasures  would  inure  immensely  to  the  ad- 
vantage of  St..  Louis,  and  would  prove  a  source  of 
fortune  to  the  individuals  who  engaged  therein.  He 
therefore  formed  connections  with  men  of  great  wealth 
and  business  capacity,  and  began  active  operations  in 
this  new  field.  In  1845  he  became  a  partner  in  the 
firm  of  Choutcau,  Harrison  &  Vallo,  a  house  which 
eventually  took  the  very  highest  rank  in  the  business 
circles  of  the  West,  and  contributed  largely  not  only 
to  establish  the  iron  interests  of  St.  Louis,  but  also  to 
enhance  the  general  reputation  of  its  entire  manufac- 
turing and  mercantile  community. 

The  immense  wealth  of  the  Iron  Mountain  had  for 
generations  excited  the  cupidity  of  men,  but  it  was 
reserved  for  Mr.  Harrison  to  develop  its  treasures. 
In  1843  he  became  a  third-owner  of  the  Iron  Moun- 
tain property,  and  in  1845  organized  the  "  Iron  Moun- 
tain Company,"  consisting  of  James  Harrison,  Pierre 
Chouteau,  Jr.,  and  F.  Valle,  of  St.  Louis ;  C.  C.  Zeig- 
ler  and  John  Scott,  of  Ste.  Genevieve ;  F.  Pratt,  of 
Fredcricktown ;  and  August  Belmont,  S.  Ward,  and 
Charles  Mersch,  of  New  York.  The  development  of 
this  industry  was  attended  by  numerous  and  costly 
experiments,  but  eventually  the  unwearying  faith  and 


UNWt 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1265 


energy  of  Mr.  Harrison  and  his  associates  overcame 
every  obstacle,  and  their  business  has  grown  until 
they  have  come  to  be  reckoned  among  the  largest 
producers  of  iron  in  the  world. 

James  Harrison  was  a  stanch  defender  of  home 
interests,  and  gave  a  ready  car  to  every  enterprise 
that  promised  to  be  of  public  utility.  He  was  an 
earnest  friend  of  railroads,  and*  not  long  after  the 
formation  of  the  company  to  work  the  Iron  Mountain  ' 
property  inspired  the  organization  of  the  Iron  Moun- 
tain Railroad  Company,  and  was  one  of  its  directing 
minds  for  several  years.  He  was  a  director  in  the 
Missouri  Pacific,  and  when  that  road  was  bought 
from  the  State  he  was  one  of  the  principal  parties 
who  negotiated  the  seven-million- dollar  loan. 

In  all  these  large  transactions  there  never  attached 
the  slightest  suspicion  to  Mr.  Harrison's  name,  and 
such  was  the  confidence  placed  in  his  honor  and  judg- 
ment that  he  readily  secured  the  co-operation  of  the 
most  eminent  men  of  the  city  in  his.  undertakings- 
On  the  other  hand,  he  was  always  ready  to  assist 
others  in  their  meritorious  projects.  He  possessed  a 
rare  knowledge  of  men,  as  was  evinced  by  the  con- 
spicuous success  of  most  of  those  whom  he  chose  as 
partners,  friends,  associates,  and  even  employes, — men 
of  great  talent  and  unsullied  honesty,  who  became 
noted  in  his  enterprises  for  largeness  of  views,  fer- 
tility of  resources,  and  persevering  energy. 

Mr.  Harrison  toiled  not  for  wealth  alone,  but  also 
for  the  great  and  noble  object  of  assisting  to  build  up 
the  city  and  State.  He  was  a  man  of  large  heart  and 
generous  impulses,  and  the  welfare  of  his  employes 
engaged  much  of  his  time  and  attention.  He  caused 
to  be  built  a  handsome  church  for  his  tenants  at  Iron 
Mountain,  and  established  schools  for  their  benefit. 
An  open-handed  citizen,  he  figured  in  various  chari- 
table and  other  undertakings  for  the  public  good,  such 
as  the  organization  of  the  Bellefontaine  Cemetery 
Association,  etc.,  and  seemed  to  realize  fully  that  he 
was  responsible  to  God  and  society  for  a  good  use 
of  his  riches. 

In  person  Mr.  Harrison  was  tall  and  stately,  and 
his  manner  was  grave  and  dignified,  never  tolerating 
a  rude  familiarity,  but  courteously  inviting  to  known 
friends  or  those  who  had  legitimate  claims  upon  his 
attention.  His  habits  were  remarkably  temperate, 
and  enabled  him  to  labor  with  unflagging  industry 
under  burdens  which  would  have  broken  others  com- 
pletely down.  The  most  conspicuous  trait  of  his 
character  was  a  "  marvelous  serenity  under  misfor- 
tune and  absence  of  elation  in  periods  of  special 
prosperity." 

Mr.  Harrison   died  on   the  3d  of  August,  1870, 


after  but  two  or  three  days'  illrress.  His  sudden 
decease  shocked  the  community,  and  was  mourned 
as  a  public  affliction.  He  did  not  die  before  his  time, 
and  had  lived  to  see  many  of  his  predictions  regarding 
St.  Louis  more  than  fulfilled.  He  saw  his  favorite 
city  double  her  population  within  the  last  decade  of 
his  life,  while  the  increase  was  thirtyfold  during  his 
citizenship.  As  an  observant  man,  he  must  have  been 
conscious  that  some  share  of  this  wonderful  progress 
was  due  to  his  labors. 

Well  has  it  been  said  of  him,  "  The  imperishable 
evidences  of  his  labors  and  enterprises  are  stamped  in 
unmistakable  characters  upon  works  more  enduring 
than  bronze  or  marble,  and  the  ability  with  which 
he  grappled  the  great  commercial  and  manufacturing 
problems  of  his  adopted  State  adds  a  lustre  to  a  name 
that  Missourians  will  always  be  proud  to  honor." 

Edwin  H.,  son  of  James  Harrison,  was  born  in 
1836  in  the  town  of  Washington,  Hempstead  County, 
Ark.,  where  his  father  was  then  conducting  one  of 
several  mercantile  establishments  located  at  widely 
separated  points  in  that  State.  In  1840,  as  we  have 
seen,  James  Harrison  sold  out  his  Arkansas  enterprises 
and  removed  to  St.  Louis  with  his  family,  of  which 
Edwin,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  the  first  born. 

In  1846,  Edwin  was  sent  to  Ste.  Genevieve,  Mo., 
to  a  French  school,  in  order  that  he  might  be  better 
prepared  for  the  training  that  was  to  follow.  The 
next  year,  at  the  suggestion  of  Father  De  Smet,  he 
was  sent  to  the  Jesuit  College  of  Notre  Dame  de  la 
Paix,  at  Namur,  Belgium,  where  he  remained  until 
1851,  acquiring  a  good  education  and  as  thorough  a 
knowledge  of  French  as  could  be  obtained  by  daily 
and  uninterrupted  practice. 

Upon  returning  to  St.  Louis  in  1851,  young  Har- 
rison spent  a  part  of  the  two  succeeding  years  at 
Wyman's  school,  and  in  1853  entered  the  Lawrence 
Scientific  School,  a  department  of  Harvard  Univer- 
sity, Cambridge,  Mass.  Here  for  the  first  two  years 
he  made  a  specialty  of  mechanics  and  engineering, 
in  which  branches  he  graduated  in  18.^5.  Mean- 
while he  had  attended  the  lectures  of  Professor 
Asa  Gray  on  botany,  and  of  the  great  Agassiz  on 
zoology  and  geology.  To  use  his  own  expression, 
he  was  "  infatuated"  with  Agassiz,  and  after  obtain- 
ing his  diploma  as  engineer  he  went  into  Agassiz's 
laboratory  as  a  special  student,  remaining  for  one  and 
a  half  years.  Of  his  intercourse  with  that  wonder- 
ful man  he  never  speaks  except  with  emotion.  One 
of  his  summer  vacations  was  spent  with  Agassiz 
about  Eastport,  Me.,  and  Grand  Menan  Island,  study- 
ing the  beauties  and  unraveling  the  mysteries  of  ma- 
rine animal  nature. 


1266 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


One  of  the  interesting  reminiscences  of  his  student 
life  with  Agassiz  may  not  improperly  be  given  here. 
It  was  in  the  summer  of  1855  or  1856,  while  spend- 
ing his  vacation  at  the  private  laboratory  which  was 
attached  to  Agassiz's  summer  residence  at  Nuhant, 
that  one  day,  after  dinner,  the  professor  appeared  in 
the  laboratory,  holding  a  letter  in  his  hand  which  he 
had  just  received,  and  exhibiting  evidence  of  some 
pleasurable  excitement  in  his  countenance.  The  letter 
was  an  autograph  note  from  Louis  Napoleon,  which, 
beginning  with  "You  are  a  Frenchman,"  tendered 
him  the  chair  of  paleontology  in  the  Jardin  des 
Plantes,  the  highest  scientific  position  in  the  gift  of 
France  ;  also  a  seat  in  the  French  Senate.  It  was  a 
pardonable  pride  which  lit  up  his  countenance,  but 
he  did  not  hesitate  a  moment  to  reject  such  extra- 
ordinary honors,  and  his  reply  was  immediately  trans- 
mitted to  the  emperor.  He  declined  the  offer  in 
such  terms  as  were  due  to  so  distinguished  a  patron  of 
science,  and  begged  to  assure  the  emperor  that  while 
it  was  true  his  ancestors  were  Frenchmen,  he  was  a 
native  of  Switzarland,  and  still  remained  a  citizen  of 
that  republic,  and  that  he  had  come  to  America  to 
spend  the  remainder  of  his  days,  pursuant  to  a  reso- 
lution immutably  decided  on  years  before. 

During  some  months  in  1859,  Mr.  Harrison  was  en- 
gaged under  the  State  geologist,  Professor  Swallow,  in 
the  geological  survey  of  Missouri,  and  in  1871  he  was 
appointed  by  Governor  B.  Gratz  Brown  a  member 
of  the  board  of  managers  of  the  Missouri  Geological 
Survey,  and  continued  to  be  reappointed  and  to  hold 
the  office  until  the  end  of  the  survey,  under  the  in- 
cumbency of  Governor  Hardin. 

From  1860  to  1862,  Mr.  Harrison  lived  in  New 
Mexico  as  a  Santa  Fe  merchant.  Since  18G5  he  has 
been  the  president  of  various  manufacturing  and 
mining  companies  and  other  institutions,  including 
the  Iron  Mountain  Company,  Lacledc  liolling-Mills 
(Chouteau,  Harrison  &  Valle  Iron  Company),  St. 
Louis  Smelting  and  Refining  Company,  the  Manu- 
facturers' and  Miners'  Association,  Mercantile  Library 
Association,  St.  Luke's  Hospital  Association,  Mis- 
souri Historical  Society,  and  others.  He  is  also  a 
director  and  actively  interested  in  the  Carbondale  Coal 
and  Coke  Company  and  its  associated  lines  of  railroad 
in  Southern  Illinois,  in  the  Harrison  Wire-Works, 
the  St.  Louis  Fair  Association,  and  the  Hope  and 
Granite  Mining  Companies,  whose  valuable  mines  arc 
located  in  Montana. 

In  1867,  before  the  founding  of  the  city  of  Lcad- 
ville,  he,  in  the  interest  of  the  St.  Louis  Smelting 
and  Refining  Company,  visited  the  famous  California 
Gulch  (on  which  the  city  is  now  located),  and  de- 


termined to  erect  smelting- works  there.  This  con- 
clusion becoming  known  produced  a  rush  of  fortune- 
hunters,  who  located  around  the  site  he  had  selected 
for  the  furnaces,  and  before  the  Harrison  Reduction- 
Works  (whose  erection  he  superintended  in  person) 
were  completed,  which  was  during  the  summer  of  that 
year,  a  population  of  several  thousand  adventurous 
souls  had  concentrated  and  named  the  town  Lcad- 
viile,  because  of  the  extensive  discoveries  of  lead-bear- 
ing silver  ores  made  in  the  neighborhood. 

Mr.  Harrison  was  made  a  Freemason  in  Monte- 
zuma  Lodge,  Santa  Fe,  in  1861.  He  is  now  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Benevolent  Order  of  Elks,  and  of  the  St. 
Louis  Legion  of  Honor.  He  has  been  a  member  of 
the  American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of 
Science,  and  of  the  St.  Louis  Academy  of  Sciences 
for  twenty-five  years,  and  is  also  a  member  of  the 
American  Association  of  Mining  Engineers,  and  other 
societies  of  that  character,  and  various  club?. 

Having  enjoyed  educational  advantages  of  large  ex- 
tent and  variety,  it  is  proper  to  add  that  Mr.  Harri- 
son has  proved  one  of  the  most  intelligent  and  public- 
spirited  citizens  of  St.  Louis.  Most  of  his  enter- 
prises have  involved  the  employment  of  large  bodies 
of  men,  and  have  embraced  the  solution  of  some  in- 
teresting problems  of  transportation,  particularly  during 
the  early  days  of  Lcadville.  In  this  direciion  he  has 
done  much  to  advance  the  interests  of  this  city,  and 
has  assisted  others  in  doing  much.  Philanthropic 
and  educational  enterprises  have  found  him  a  sympa- 
thetic and  generous  patron.  For  some  years  he  has 
been  a  director  of  Washington  University ;  and  in 
1878-79,  his  attention  having  been  called  to  the  de- 
sirability of  incorporating  the  manual  feature  in  edu- 
cation, he  is  said  to  have  built  and  given  to  the  uni- 
versity the  building  now  occupied  by  the  "  Manual 
Training-School,"  and  has  been  intrusted  with  the 
chairmanship  of  the  board  of  managers!  of  the  school. 

Mr.  Harrison  was  married  Nov.  13,  1873,  to  Miss 
Laura  E.  Sterne,  of  Glasgow,  Mo.  Two  children, 
James  and  Louise,  make  up  the  family. 

Mr.  Harrison  is  a  gentleman  of  tall  physique  and 
affable  manners,  and  of  a  benevolent  and  enterprising 
disposition.  He  is  unassuming  and  undemonstrative 
in  his  daily  life,  and  is  a  modest  recipient  of  the  honors 
bestowed  upon  him  so  freely  by  his  fellow-citizens. 
In  social  life  he  is  esteemed  by  a  very  large  circle  of 
friends,  who  have  learned  to  appreciate  and  esteem 
the  sterling  qualities  which  have  caused  him  not  only 
to  be  loved  at  his  own  fireside,  but  also  admired  and 
respected  among  his  business  associates  as  one  of  the 
most  worthy  citizens  of  St.  Louis. 

The  Republican  of  Feb.  19,  1845,  announced  that 


U*r      •> 

o. 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1267 


"  the  company  who  now  own  this  important  mass  of 
iron  ore  (Iron  Mountain)  have  commenced  operations 
in  the  erection  of  furnaces,  and  will  in  the  course  of 
the  present  year  be  fully  under  way,"  and  on  the  30th 
of  October,  1846,  the  same  paper  added  that  "  th.e 
first  shipment  of  pig-iron  from  the  Iron  Mountain 
Company's  works  in  this  State,  about  four  and  a  half 
tons,  was  received  here  Wednesday  per  steamer  '  Mcn- 
dota.'  It  was  taken  by  Messrs.  Gaty,  McCune  & 
Glasby,  at  whose  foundry  its  quality  will  be  tested. 
The  works  now  in  progress  will,  when  fully  completed, 
as  we  are  informed,  run  from  sixteen  to  twenty  tons 
of  pig-iron  per  day,  and  the  supply  of  ore  is  inex- 
haustible." 

On  the  14th  of  the  following  November  it  was 
stated  that  "  on  Wednesday  some  pig-iron  from  the 
Iron  Mountain  in  this  State  was  for  the  second  time 
tested,  and  that  very  thoroughly,  at  the  fuundry  of 
Messrs.  Kingsland  &  Lithner,  of  this  city.  It  was 
found  to  be  very  malleable  and  easily  filed,  and  was 
pronounced  equal  in  all  respects  to  the  best  Tennessee 
iron." 

In  1853  the  total  consumption  of  coal  was  put 
down  at  two  million  eight  hundred  and  thirty-seven 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  eighteen  bushels, — one 
hundred  and  thirteen  thousand  five  hundred  tons, — 
of  which  only  twelve  thousand  tons  was  used  in  the 
iron  manufacture.  But  Mr.  Hogan,  writing  at  this 
time,  was  strenuously  urging  his  fellow-citizens  to 
press  forward  the  iron  industry  and  make  the  profit 
out  of  it  which  other  communities  were  reaping  the 
benefit  of  with  resources  not  near  so  great. 

"  Xo  country  in  the  world,"  he  showed,  "  of  the  same  extent 
has  so  abundant  and  accessible  supply  of  iron  as  Missouri.  .  .  . 

"  I  say  that  our  State  and  city  should  have  the  most  extensive 
iron  manufactures  in  the  United  States,  and  as  evidence  thereof 
it  is  only  necessary  to  instance  some  of  the  vast  formations  of 
this  metal  in  our  State.  And  first  of  these  formations  I  notice 
the  Iron  Mountain,  situated  in  St.  Francis  County,  about 
eighty  miles  south  of  St.  Louis.  This  is  one  of  the  most  won- 
derful metalliferous  formations  in  the  world,  and,  with  the  other 
vast  bodies  in  its  immediate  vicinity,  is  worthy  of  the  investi- 
gation of  all  lovers  of  science,  all  students  of  nature.  The  ore 
of  the  Iron  Mountain  covers  an  area  of  some  five  hundred 
acres,  and  is  in  the  centre  of  a  possession  of  twenty  thousand 
arpens  belonging  to  the  same  parties.  It  rises  to  a  height  of 
some  two  hundred  and  sixty  feet  above  the  general  level  of  the 
country,  and  is  estimated  to  contain  above  the  surface  over  two 
hundred  million  tons  of  ore.  Here  is  an  object  for  laborers  that 
is  capable  of  supplying  the  demands  even  of  English  furnaces 
for  generations  without  going  below  the  general  surface  of  the 
country.  The  ore  is  found  in  lumps  from  the  size  of  pebbles  of 
a  few  ounces  to  those  of  two  or  three  hundred  pounds  in  weight, 
and  is  gathered  from  the  surface  from  base  to  summit  to  the 
extent  of  thousands  of  tons  without  any  difficulty.  The  ore 
of  this  mountain,  and,  indeed,  of  those  contiguous,  is  known  as 
the  specular  oxide,  and  usually  yields  some  sixty-eight  to  seventy 
per  cent,  of  pure  iron,  ani  it  is  so  free  from  injurious  substances 


as  to  present  no  obstacle  to  working  it  directly  into  blooms. 
The  metal  is  so  excellent  that  much  of  it,  and  also  that  from 
the  Pilot  Knob,  is  now  used  by  the  manufacturers  on  the  Ohio 
for  mixing  with  the  ores  found  there,  and  is  especially  esteemed 
for  making  nails.  There  are  now  in  operation  at  the  mountain 
two  blast  furnace?,  producing  from  one  hundred  to  one  hundred 
and  twenty  tons  per  month;  a  third  one  is  building,  and  will 
soon  be  working,  estimated  to  be  capable  of  making  sixty  to 
seventy  tons  per  week,  which,  when  all  completed,  will  produce 
from  seven  thousand  to  seven  thousand  five  hundred  tons  of 
metal  annually. 

"  These  furnaces,  as  also  the  mountain  and  its  complement  of 
timber  land,  belong  to  Messrs.  Chouteau,  Harrison  &  Valle,  the 
owners  also  of  the  extensive  rolling-mill  in  the  upper  part  of 
the  cit}-.  They  do  not  contemplate  the  erection  of  any  more 
furnaces  at  the  mountain,  but  they  expect  to  have  in  the  south- 
ern part  of  the  city  both  furnaces  and  forges  on  the  completion 
of  the  Iron  Mountain  Railroad,  and  will  bring  up  the  ore, 
where  they  can  have  an  abundant  supply  of  coal  with  which  to 
manufacture  it.  The  amount  of  ore  above  the  surface  would 
seem  to  preclude  the  necessity  of  looking  any  deeper,  nor,  in- 
deed, except  as  a  matter  of  geological  investigation,  will  it 
probably  ever  be  necessary;  yet  the  enterprising  proprietors 
have  been  making  some  experiments  in  order  to  test  the  nature 
of  the  foundation  on  which  their  superstructure  stands.  *  And 
as-  the  public  may  have  some  curiosity  on  this  subject,  and  with 
a  view  of  exemplifying  the  greatness  of  our  mineral  wealth,  I 
have  obtained  the  result  of  the  borings  made  by  their  order 
alongside  the  base  of  the  mountain.  The  shaft  has  already 
been  sunk  to  the  depth  of  one  hundred  and  forty-four  feet.  In  that 
distance  they  have  fifteen  feet  of  clay  and  ore,  thirty  feet  of 
white  sandstone,  thirty-three  feet  of  blue  porphyry,  and  fifty- 
three  feet  of  pure  iron  ore,  in  which  they  are  still  at  work. 
How  much  thicker  this  vein  is,  of  course,  can  only  be  known  in 
the  progressive  investigation,  but  this  is  sufficient;  the  balance 
of  the  distance  is  composed  of  narrow  layers  of  rock  and  gravel. 
Thus  we  see  partly  what  is  lelow  the  surface  to  the  depth  of  only 
one  hundred  and  forty-four  feet  ;  and  this  bed  of  iron  ore  would 
itself  be  immensely  valuable,  even  if  there  was  none  above. 

"  Next  to  the  '  Iron  Mountain,'  and  only  some  six  or  eight 
miles  farther  from  St.  Louis,  is  another  very  remarkable  forma- 
tion known  as  the  '  Pilot  Knob,'  which  is  also  of  iron.  The 
Knob  covers  about  the  same  area  as  the  Mountain,  but  is  more 
elevated;  it  is  conical,  and  rises  some  seven  hundred  feet  above 
the  general  surface,  and  is  visible  for  many  miles  in  every  di- 
rection. 

"  The  Pilot  Knob  is  the  property  of  Mr.  Lewis  V.  Bogy  and 
others,  incorporated  as  the  '  Madison  Iron-Mining  Company.' 
They  own  some  twenty-five  thousand  acres  of  land,  including 
the  Knob,  the  Shepherd  Mountain,  and  some  eight  other  valu- 
able iron  deposits,  all  in  the  same  vicinity  in  Madison  County, 
some  eighty-five  or  ninety  miles  south  of  St.  Louis,  on  the  line 
of  the  Iron  Mountain  Railroad. 

"  These  several  deposits,  although  in  the  immediate  vicinity 
of  each  other,  materially  differ  in  their  characteristics,  and 
produce  iron  adapted  to  various  purposes,  and  each  of  them 
dissimilar  in  some  particulars  from  the  metal  at  the  Iron  Moun- 
tain, so  that  very  good  quality  of  iron  may  be  easily  produced 
in  Missouri  by  such  admixtures  as  may  be  found  desirable. 

"  The  Madison  Company  have  now  at  work  four  steam-en- 
gines; one  of  these  is  used  to  operate  a  saw-mill,  the  others  are 
connected  with  the  iron-works.  They  have  now  in  operation 
one  blast  furnace,  and  are  building  another  on  a  more  extended 
saale.  When  this  is  completed  they  will  make  some  twenty 
tons  of  metal  per  day.  They  have  also  a  forge  working  eight 
fires,  and  making  blooms  direct  from  the  ore,  about  twenty-five 


12G3 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


tons  per  week,  and  also  making  some  bar-iron.     The  ore  is 
quarried   out  of  the  side  of  the   hill  some   three  hundred   feet 
above  the  surface,  and  now  presents  the  remarkable  appear-   ; 
ance  of  an  iron  wall,  some  fifty  feet  high  by  about  two  hundred 
feet  long,  and  the  ore  of  same  richness  rises  as  high  as  the  top,   j 
and  doubtless  sinks  deep  beneath  the  foundation  of  the  Knob.'' 

Professor  Swallow.  State  geologist  of  Missouri,  says 
of  the  iron-fields  of  this  State  that 

"if  Missouri  will  work  up  her  iron  and  coal  she  may  become 
as  powerful  and  rich  :is  England.  She  has  more  territory  and 
better  soil,  more  and  better  iron,  and  quite  as  much  coal. 

"  People  who  work  iron  partake  of  its  strong  and  hardy 
nature.  They  move  the  world  and  shape  its  destinies.  The  re- 
gion tributary  to  St.  Louis  has  far  more  of  the  very  best  varieties 
of  iron  ore  than  can  be  found  available  for  any  other  locality 
in  the  known  world,  and  the  facilities  for  working  these  vast 
deposits  are  unsurpassed.  The  country  is  well  watered,  timber 
is  abundant,  and  all  is  surrounded  by  inexhaustible  coal-beds. 
These  facts  alone  will  make  St.  Louis  the  great  iron  mart  of  the 
country." 

In  commenting  upon  the  various  ores  and  oxides 
of  this  metal  accessible  to  Missouri,  he  says  of  the 
specular  oxide  of  iron  that  it  is  one  of  the  most 
abundant  and  valuable  ores  in  the  State.  Iron  Moun- 
tain is  the  largest  mass  observed.  It  is  two  hundred 
feet  high  and  covers  an  area  of  five  hundred  acres, 
and  is  made  up  almost  entirely  of  this  ore  in  its 
purest  form.  The  quantity  above  the  surface  of  the 
valley  is  estimated  at  two  hundred  million  tons.  But 
this  is  only  a  fraction  of  the  ore  here,  as  it  descends 
to  unknown  depths,  and  every  foot  of  the  descent  will 
yield  some  three  million  tons.  Veins  of  this  ore  cut 
the  porphyry  at  the  shut-in,  the  location  of  the  first 
iron  furnace  erected  in  this  region.  Fine  beds  of 
this  ore  were  also  found  at  the  Buford  ore-bed  at  the 
Big  Bogy  Mountains,  at  Russell  Mountain,  at  the 
James  Iron-Works,  and  other  localities  in  Phclps 
County,  and  in  sections  two,  three,  ten,  and  eleven  of 
township  thirty-five,  range  four,  west  in  Dent  County, 
on  the  Southwest  Pacific  Railroad,  and  in  several 
other  localities  in  that  county.  There  are  several 
important  deposits  in  Crawford,  Phclps,  and  Pulaski 
Counties. 

The  silicious  specular  oxide  exists  in  vast  quantity 
and  very  pure  in  Pilot  Knob,  intcrstratified  with 
slates  and  porphyry.  The  Shepherd  Mountain 
abounds  in  magnetic  and  itp<;-uJiir  n.dde.  Pilot  Knob 
and  Iron  Mountain,  it  is  estimated,  could  furnish  a 
million  tons  of  manufactured  iron  per  annum  for  two 
hundred  years,  all  suitable  for  casting,  for  Catalan 
blooms,  and  Bessemer  steel. 

Bog  iron  abounds  in  the  swamps  of  Southeast 
Missouri. 

Hematite  ores  are  generally  distributed  .over  the 
southern  part  of  the  State,  enough  to  supply  many 
generations. 


Spathic  ore,  very  pure,  is  found  in  numerous  large 
beds  among  the  tertiary  deposits. 

Adjoining  States  possess  large  iron  deposits  imme- 
diately available  for  the  industries  of  St.  Louis. 

But  the  most  extensive  iron-bed  yet  observed  is 
on  the  Missouri  River,  cropping  out  in  the  bluffs  on 
both  banks  of  the  river  for  a  distance  of  more  than 
twenty-five  miles.  These  beds  are  on  the  river,  and 
many  million  tons  could  be  mined  and  put  on  boats 
for  less  than  one  dollar  per  ton,  and  the  expense  of. 
carrying  to  St.  Louis  down  stream  would  be  very 
small. 

Other  localities  might  be  mentioned,  but  we  have 
shown  the  position  of  enough  of  the  various  varieties 
of  iron  ore  to  supply  any  possible  demand  of  any 
possible  manufacturing  city  for  the  next  thousand 
years,  and  all  is  so  located  as  to  be  tributary  to  St. 
Louis. 

"The  simple  fact  that  such  quantities  of  iron  ore  do  exist," 
says  Professor  Swallow,  "so  near,  and  in  places  so  accessible, 
will  compel  this  young  and  vigorous  city  to  become  >lte  iron, 
mart.  The  iron  furnaces  at  Iron  Mountain,  Pilot  Knob,  Iron- 
dale,  Moselle  AArorks,  James  Works,  St.  Louis,  and  Carondelet, 
fifteen  in  all,  with  a  capacity  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  thou- 
sand tons,  and  two  rolling-mills  with  a  capacity  of  forty  thou- 
sand tons,  and  the  numerous  foundries  and  machine-shops,  are 
the  growth  of  a  few  years,  a  mere  beginning  of  the  great  work 
of  utilizing  our  iron  ores.  These  will  increase  in  a  rapid  ratio 
until  a  hundred  furnaces  pour  forth  the  molten  metal,  a  score 
of  mills  roll  it  into  rails  and  bars  and  plate?,  and  a  hundred 
foundries  mould  it  into  the  ten  thousand  shapes  and  forms  de- 
manded by  human  industry.  Then  shall  we  see  the  millenium 
of  iron  men,  and  our  people  be  prepared  to  appreciate  the  value 
of  our  iron-beds." 

This  was  written  in  1870,  since  which  date  the  pre- 
diction has  in  part  been  realized. 

One  of  the  most  active  and  energetic  spirits  in  the 
development  of  the  Iron  Mountain  property  was  the 
late  distinguished  merchant  and  valued  citizen  Jules 
Valle.  Mr.  Valle  was  the  grandson  of  Col.  Jean 
Baptiste  Valle,  Sr.,  the  last  Spanish  and  French  com- 
mandant of  the  port  of  Ste.  Genevieve,  in  Upper  Louis- 
iana, and  was  the  son  of  John  B.  Valle,  Jr.,  of  the 
firm  of  Mcnard  &  Valle,  the  oldest  house  in  the  Mis- 
sissippi valley.  He  was  born  in  Ste.  Genevieve,  Mo., 
Jan.  15,  1819,  and  graduated  in  1840  or  1841  at  the 
Catholic  Theological  Seminary  called  the  "  Barrens," 
located  near  Perryville,  Mo.  Shortly  afterwards  he 
was,  despite  his  youth,  appointed  superintendent  of 
Valle"  s  mines,  in  St.  Francois  County,  Mo.,  which 
position  he  filled  about  two  years.  He  then  became 
associated  with  his  uncle,  Felix  Janis,  in  the  dry- 
goods  business  at  Ste.  Genevieve,  the  firm  bearing  the 
name  of  Janis  &  Valle,  successors  to  the  old  house  of 
Mcnard  &  Valle.  On  the  17th  of  January,  1843,  he 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1269 


was  married  to  Miss  Isabella  Sargent,  of  Ste.  Gene- 
vieve.  In  1852,  having  become  one  of  the  owners 
of  the  Iron  Mountain  Company,  he  removed  to  St. 
Louis  to  take  the  position  of  secretary  of  the  com- 
pany, and  shortly  afterwards  was  elected  vice-president. 
He  was  also  a  partner  in  the  firm  of  Chouteau,  Har- 
rison &  ValK'1.  and  at  the  death  of  James  Harrison  in 
1870  became  president  of  the  Iron  Mountain  and 
Chouteau,  Harrison  &  Valle  Companies.  He  also 
originated  the  scheme  for  the  organization  of  what 
became  the  Vulcan  Steel- Works,  in  Carondelet.  When 
he  became  connected  with  the  Iron  Mountain  Com- 
pany the  annual  product  was  only  three  thousand  tons 
of  iron,  and  when  he  died  it  was  three  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  tons.  As  one  of  the  pioneers  in  develop- 
ing the  mineral  resources  of  the  Iron  Mountain  region, 
he  performed  inestimable  services  to  Southeastern  Mis- 
souri, and  his  labors  naturally  tended  to  the  immediate 
advantage  of  St.  Louis,  in  whose  prosperity  he  took  a 
deep  interest,  as  was  shown  on  numerous  occasions 
when  her  interests  seemed  at  stake.  He  was  a  direc- 
tor in  the  Mechanics'  Bank  and  the  St.  Louis  Mutual 
Insurance  Company. 

Mr.  Valle  was  a  gentleman  of  generous  impulses 
and  social  disposition.  He  died  March  3,  1872, 
leaving  a  wife  and  seven  children. 

In  1856,  Henry  Cobb1  estimated  the  yearly  pro- 
ducts of  the  iron  manufactures  of  St.  Louis  as  aver- 
aging $5,000,000,  and  stated  that  there  were  thirty 
iron-works  in  St.  Louis ;  that  the  five  oldest  works,  viz. : 
Mississippi  Foundry  of  Gaty,  McCune  &  Co.,  Broad- 
way Foundry  of  Kingsland  &  Cuddy,  Eagle  Foundry  of 
Clark,  Renfrew  &  Co.,  Empire  Stove- Works  of  Bridge 
&  Brother,  and  Excelsior  Stove- Works  of  Giles  F. 
Filley,  together  employed  870  men,  and  paid  for 
wages  $450,000  ;  that  the  value  of  their  products  was 
$1,900,000,  and  that  the  thirty  iron-works  of  St.  Louis 
employed  2266  men,  and  paid  wages  amounting  to 
$1,000,000. 

Notwithstanding  the  vast  coal  and  iron  deposits 
contiguous  to  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  the  development 
of  the  iron  interest  is  of  comparatively  recent  date. 
The  great  difficulty  that  impeded  the  iron  furnace 
business  was  in  the  character  of  the  coal.  The  his- 
tory of  the  Carondelet  Furnace  will  illustrate  the  em- 
barrassments and  disappointments  which  attended  the 
smeltiug  business.  This  furnace  was  erected  in  1864, 
near  the  first  station  in  Carondelet.  When  finished 
it  was  leased  in  November,  1864,  to  A.  M.  Brown,  of 
Pennsylvania,  who  ran  it  for  three  months,  using  a 
coal  got  out  at  Dry  Hill,  St.  Louis  Co.  The  iron 


1  Western  Journal  and  Civilian,  vol.  xv.  p.  202. 

81 


produced  was  poor  and  meagre  in  quantity  ;  the  enter- 
prise did  not  pay  and  was  abandoned,  and  the  furnace 
lay  idle  till  some  time  in  1866,  when  it  was  leased  by 
J.  H.  McKernan,  of  Indianapolis,  who  commenced 
running  it  with  a  coal  taken  up  at  a  place  called  Bra- 
zil, in  Indiana.  It  was  operated  for  six  months  with 
indifferent  success  by  McKernan,  and  in  January, 

1867,  Mr.  Lilly,  of  Pennsylvania,  bought  an  interest, 
and  the  furnace  was  kept  going  by  them  till  July, 

1868.  Then  Lilly  sold  out  to  T.  A.  McNair  and  Wil- 
liam Speer,  who  took  hold  of  it  with  an  energy  that 
showed  a  determination   to  work  out  the  problem  of 
its  capacity  to  make  iron.     McNair  caused  several 
changes  to  be  made  in  the  furnace,  which,  although 
Mr.  McNair  was  not  what  would  be  termed  "  an  iron 
man,"  turned  out  to  be  very  valuable  improvements 
to  the  furnace,  increasing  its  yield  and  the  quality  of 
the  iron  produced. 

The  year  1868,  when  Mr.  McNair  took  charge  of 
the  furnace,  was  the  year  in  which  the  Board  of  Trade 
of  St.  Louis  aided  in  developing  the  Illinois  coal  from 
near  Springfield,  in  Sangamon  County,  to  Big  Muddy, 
in  Jackson  County,  by  furnishing  nine  thousand  dol- 
lars to  secure  an  experiment  in  the  manufacture  of 
iron  at  the  furnace  in  Carondelet,  "  which  experiment 
has  resulted  in  complete  success  and  given  a  new  im- 
pulse to  the  iron  business  of  Missouri,  and  has  already 
directed  additional  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars 
to  the  investment  in  furnaces  and  iron-works  in  Jef- 
ferson and  St.  Louis  Counties."  2 

Prior  to  the  experiments  on  Big  Muddy  coal  the 
mining  of  iron  had  reached  important  figures. 

Up  to  1850  the  total  production  of  pig-metal  in  the 
State  was  estimated  to  have  been  nearly  40,000  tons, 
and  the  amount  of  iron  mined  about  100,000  tons. 
From  1850  to  1860  the  amount  of  pig-metal  is  es- 
timated to  have  been  110,000  tons,  and  the  amount 
of  ore  mined  to  have  been  about  310,000  tons.  From 
1860,  and  including  1869,  the  amount  of  pig-metal 
made  was  about  210,000  tons,  and  the  amount  of  ore 
mined  615,000  tons  (more  than  double  the  amount  of 
the  previous  decade),  of  which  about  300,000  tons  were 
shipped  out  of  the  State,  principally  to  the  Ohio  River, 
the  yield  and  strength  of  fibre  rendering  it  desirable 
to  mix  with  the  ores  "  raised"  in  Pennsylvania.  In 
two  years  of  the  last  decade — 1870-71 — the  amount 
of  pig-metal  produced  was  about  150,000  tons,  or 
only  60,000  tons  less  than  in  the  whole  of  the  pre- 
vious decade,  and  the  amount  of  ore  mined  about 
550,000  tons  (only  75,000  tons  less  than  the  entire 
product  of  the  preceding  ten  years),  of  which  about 


3  Industrial  Interests  of  Missouri,  by  Henry  Cobb,  1870. 


1270 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


290,000  tons  were  shipped  outside  of  the  State,  the  j 
shipments  including  lots  to  Indiana  and  Tennessee,  as 
well   as  to  the  Ohio  River,  one  small   consignment 
having  even  gone  to  Scotland. 

Considerable  additions  were  made  in  1869-70  to 
the  iron-works  in  South  St.  Louis,  and  the  Lewis  Iron- 
Works  were  completed,  as  well  as  the  South  St.  Louis 
Works.  The  different  establishments  in  operation  in 
1870,  with  their  capacities,  were: 

The  Kingsland   Works,  2  furnaces ;  capacity,  68  ! 
tons  per  day. 

The  Lewis  Iron  Company,  2  furnaces  ;  capacity,  68 
tons  per  day. 

The  South  St.  Louis  Company,  2  furnaces ;  capacity, 
68  tons  per  day. 

The  Carondelet  Iron  Company,  1  furnace  ;  capacity, 
16  tons  per  day. 

The  amount  of  metal  produced  was  about  twenty- 
eight  thousand  tons,  of  which  one-half  was  sold  in  St. 
Louis,  and  the  balance  taken  at  Chicago,  Evansville, 
and  other  points. 

Establishments  embraced  under  the  head  of  ma- 
chine-shops and  foundries  are  not  only  numerous  but 
do  a  large  business,  and  the  operations  of  1882  were 
on  the  whole  quite  successful.  The  manufacture  of 
heavy  machinery  is  increasing  greatly,  and  the  work 
turned  out  here  is  as  fine  and  satisfactory  as  that  of 
any  city  in  the  country.  Most  of  the  powerful  snag- 
machines  now  being  made  use  of  by  the  United  States 
government  in  removing  obstructions  from  Western 
rivers  were  built  in  this  city,  as  well  as  the  vessels  on 
which  they  are  operated.  The  heavy  cotton-com- 
pressing machinery  used  here  and  all  through  the 
South  is  the  product  of  St.  Louis  shops,  as  well  as 
cotton-seed  oil  and  hydraulic  presses.  Much  of  the 
machinery  of  the  Crystal  Plate-Glass  Company's  works 
was  made  in  St.  Louis.  The  finest  engines,  and  in 
fact  every  variety  of  iron  products,  are  turned  out. 
All  of  the  leading  shops  also  operate  foundries  of  their 
own.  As  yet  the  manufacture  of  mining  machinery 
is  in  its  infancy  at  this  point,  and,  in  view  of  the  fact 
that  St.  Louis  is  so  well  situated  for  supplying  the 
camps,  there  is  a  good  opening  here  for  capitalists  who 
may  wish  to  invest  money  in  mining-machinery  works. 
Immense  quantities  of  this  machinery  are  sold  here, 
but  the  dealers  buy  elsewhere.  The  number  of  ma- 
chine-shops and  foundries  in  St.  Louis  in  1882  was 
27  ;  number  of  hands  employed,  2067 ;  capital  in- 
vested, $994,000  ;  value  of  product,  $3,855,000. 

About  1849,  Joseph  W.  Branch  purchased  the  St. 
Louis  Saw-Works  from  the  firm  of  Messrs.  Childs, 
Pratt  &  Co.,  by  whom  that  branch  of  saw  manufac- 
turing had  been  recently  introduced  in  St.  Louis,  and 


in  1853  he  finally  settled  in  the  city,  where  he  has 
lived  continuously  for  a  period  of  thirty  years.  His 
firm  was  originally  organized  under  the  style  of 
Branch,  Crookes  &  Frost,  but  on  Mr.  Frost's  retire- 
ment in  1857  the  business  remained  in  the  hands  of 
Mr.  Branch  and  his  brother-in-law,  Joseph  Crookes, 
under  the  firm-name  of  Branch,  Crookes  &  Co.  This 
latter  name  it  has  continued  to  bear,  notwithstanding 
the  fact  that  Mr.  Branch  in  1872  purchased  the 
interest  of  Mr.  Crookes,  and  has  been  sole  proprietor 
ever  since  that  time.  From  the  moderate  beginning 
which  prudence  required  to  be  made,  the  special  in- 
dustry in  which  Mr.  Branch  engaged  has  been  steadily 
developed  until  it  has  attained  to  very  large  propor- 
tions, and  the  acknowledged  excellence  of  its  manu- 
factures has  won  for  the  firm  an  enviable  reputation 
throughout  the  country. 

Joseph  W.  Branch  was  born  in  that  portion  of 
Yorkshire,  England,  described  in  the  first  chapter  of 
"  Ivanhoe."  His  birthplace,  Rotherham  (to  use  the 
language  of  Sir  Walter  Scott),  lies  "  in  that  pleasant 
district  of  Merry  England  which  is  watered  by  the 
River  Don,  where  existed  in  ancient  times  a  large 
forest,  covering  the  greater  part  of  the  beautiful  hills 
and  valleys  which  lie  between  Sheffield  and  the  pleasant 
town  of  Doncaster.  The  remains  of  this  extensive 
wood  are  still  to  be  seen  at  the  noble  seats  of  Went- 
worth,  of  Wharncliffe  Park,  and  around  Rotherham. 
Here  haunted  of  yore  the  fabulous  Dragon  of  Wantley ; 
here  were  fought  many  of  the  most  desperate  battles 
during  the  civil  wars  of  the  Roses ;  and  here  also 
flourished  in  ancient  times  those  bands  of  gallant  out- 
laws whose  deeds  have  been  rendered  so  popular  in 
English  song." 

Born  of  the  purest  stock  of  the  old  Saxon  Frank- 
lins, Mr.  Branch  inherited  the  qualities  of  his  race  in 
singular  distinctness,  as  the  spirit  of  adventure  in  his 
earlier  years,  and  the  energy,  tenacity,  and  indomit- 
able steadiness  of  his  maturer  life  have  proved  ;  but 
the  best  successes  which  he  has  achieved  are  partly 
due  to  a  circumstance  which  seemed  at  first  to  be  a 
great  misfortune.  In  his  early  childhood  he  gave  no 
promise  of  the  robust  physical  development  which  he 
subsequently  reached ;  indeed,  he  was  so  delicate  in 
health  that  he  was  deprived  of  the  privileges  of  school 
education,  and  thus  it  happened  that  an  accomplished 
mother  was  his  only  teacher.  From  her  he  learned 
the  elements  of  a  thorough  English  education,  and  the 
abundant  legends  and  ballad  stories  of  the  North 
country  in  which  they  lived.  From  her  also  he 
learned  the  infinitely  more  important  lessons  of  honor, 
veracity,  fidelity,  and  simple  but  practical  religion  by 
which  his  life  has  been  directed. 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1271 


Mr.  Branch's  father  had  established  a  manufactory 
in  Rotherhana,  and  the  delicate  child  naturally  became 
interested  in  mechanical  pursuits.  While  yet  a  mere 
lad  he  was  permitted  to  enter  the  counting-house  of 
the  Globe  Works,  at  Sheffield,  rather  as  an  experi- 
ment than  with  any  serious  expectation  of  his  learn- 
ing the  business  ;  but  from  that  time  he  began  to  out- 
grow the  feebleness  of  his  childhood,  and  speedily 
exhibited  so  uncommon  a  capacity  for  affairs  that 
when  he  was  only  seventeen  years  of  age  he  was  in 
actual  charge  of  several  departments  of  the  large  and 
intricate  business  of  the  Globe  Works.  In  1844, 
when  he  was  only  eighteen,  he  received  a  striking 
proof  of  the  confidence  of  his  employers.  They  had 
a  large  trade  with  America,  which  they  had  con- 
ducted through  their  American  correspondents,  until 
the  volume  of  their  business  in  this  country  had  re- 
quired them  to  establish  a  branch  house  and  a  factory 
in  New  York  City.  These  were  already  in  existence, 
but  they  were  not  working  satisfactorily,  and.  young 
Branch  was  sent  to  take  charge  of  them.  Unfortu- 
nately, however,  he  found  them  in  the  hands  of  men 
who  were  greatly  his  seniors,  and  who  were  not  dis- 
posed to  carry  out  the  views  of  so  young  a  chief,  and 
after  two  years,  failing  to  secure  the  co-operation  to 
which  he  was  entitled,  the  lad  resigned  his  position. 

Then  began  the  adventurous  part  of  Mr.  Branch's 
life.  By  advice  of  his  father,  he  spent  several  years 
in  traveling  through  various  parts  of  the  United 
States,  and  in  1848  made  quite  a  remarkable  journey 
through  Mexico,  which  might  readily  furnish  material 
for  a  writer  of  romance.  That  country  was  in  a  fear- 
fully disturbed  condition  when  Mr.  Branch,  who  was 
then  only  twenty-two  years  of  age,  undertook  to  ex- 
plore it.  He  organized  a  company  of  sixteen  resolute 
men,  and  with  this  small  force,  well  mounted  and  well 
armed,  rode  from  Vera  Cruz  to  Mazatlan,  on  the  Pa- 
cific ;  thence  he  went  to  San  Francisco,  and  spent  the 
greater  part  of  1849  in  that  city  and  in  occasional 
visits  to  the  mines  which  had  been  opened  in  California. 
Returning  to  the  East  in  1849,  Mr.  Branch  engaged 
in  business  in  St.  Louis,  as  heretofore  stated. 

In  view  of  his  own  success  in  business  and  his 
standing  in  the  community,  it  was  impossible  that 
Mr.  Branch  should  escape  a  multiplicity  of  duties,  in 
which  his  labor  and  influence  were  needed  by  his 
friends  and  fellow-citizens.  Hence,  besides  the  im- 
portant positions  of  president  of  the  Illinois  and  St. 
Louis  Railroad  and  of  the  Madison  County  Ferry 
Company,  and  vice-president  of  the  Mechanics'  Bank, 
which  he  now  occupies,  he  has  been  called  upon  to 
hold  many  trusts,  and  to  fill  many  positions  of  the 
greatest  importance  and  responsibility.  Nothing, 


however,  has  been  permitted  to  interfere  with  his  de- 
votion to  the  interests  of  the  innumerable  benevolent 
institutions  and  enterprises  to  which  he  has  given  his 
aid,  with  hand,  purse,  and  influence,  to  an  extent 
which  is  hardly  credible.  Nothing  which  had  any 
claim  to  his  support  as  a  man  or  citizen  has  been  re- 
fused the  best  service  he  could  render  it.  As  presi- 
dent of  the  St.  George's  Society,  he  has  lent  timely 
aid  to  hundreds  of  poor  emigrants ;  to  the  various 
orders  of  the  Masonic  fraternity  he  has  rendered 
yeoman's  service ;  to  St.  Luke's  Hospital  he  has  been 
munificent  in  gifts  and  earnest  in  every  form  of  sup- 
port, and  in  the  co-operative  societies  which  have  for 
their  object  the  relief  of  the  widows  and  orphans  of 
their  members  he  has  worked  with  all  the  enthu- 
siasm and  tireless  energy  of  his  nature. 

At  a  time  when  the  society  known  as  the  Knights 
of  Honor  was  comparatively  weak  in  the  State  of 
Missouri,  Mr.  Branch  threw  himself  into  it  with 
results  that  were  at  once  apparent.  He  was  for  two 
years  called  to  preside  over  it  as  its  chief  officer  in 
the  State  of  Missouri,  and  its  progress  while  under 
his  administration  was  such  as  to  astonish  its  most 
sanguine  adherents.  In  the  St.  Louis  Legion  of 
Honor,  which  is  an  order  of  similar  plan  and  purpose 
to  the  Knights  of  Honor,  he  holds  an  influential  po- 
sition ;  and  in  all  the  charities  of  St.  George's  Church, 
of  which  he  is  the  senior  warden,  Mr.  Branch  is 
looked  to  as  a  hearty  sympathizer,  an  earnest  worker, 
and  a  munificent  contributor.  It  is  an  open  secret 
that  when  the  new  and  beautiful  edifice  of  St.  George's 
had  been  advertised  some  years  ago  for  sale  by  the 
sheriff  to  pay  a  heavy  debt  of  the  parish,  amounting 
to  some  sixty  thousand  dollars,  more  than  half  the 
sum  required  was  contributed  by  two  individuals,  one 
|  of  whom  was  Edwin  Harrison,  and  the  other  was 
Mr.  Branch.  Grace  Church  is  also  under  obligations 
to  him  for  gifts  amounting  to  thousands  of  dollars. 
In  his  religious  views  Mr.  Branch  is  an  Episcopalian 
of  the  old-fashioned  High  Church  sort,  with  a  strong 
leaning  towards  the  Broad  Church  school.  His  re- 
ligion, however,  is  of  a  practical  rather  than  a  theo- 
retical kind.  As  the  senior  warden  of  his  parish,  he 
is  the  valued  adviser  of  his  rector,  in  the  council  of 
the  diocese  he  exerts  a  great  influence,  and  in  every 
diocesan  enterprise  he  is  one  of  those  to  whom  his 
bishop  looks  for  strong  and  wise  co-operation. 

In  his  political  views  Mr.  Branch's  position  is 
thoroughly  independent.  During  the  civil  war  he 
felt  it  to  be  his  duty  to  give  an  unequivocal  and  un- 
divided support  to  the  Union  cause,  but  he  could 
never  bring  himself  to  regard  the  Southern  people  in 
the  light  of  enemies.  In  the  miseries  which  the  war 


1272 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


occasioned  his  "  charity  recognized  no  uniform,"  and 
when  the  flag  of  the  Confederacy  was  furled,  one  of 
his  first  thoughts  was  to  send  relief  to  suffering  dis- 
tricts of  the  conquered  South.  Owing  to  his  course 
in  this  respect,  in  a  border  State  and  in  a  more  than 
semi-Southern  city,  Mr.  Branch's  pronounced  Union- 
ism never  caused  the  least  breach  between  him  and 
his  Southern  neighbors.  Since  the  war  he  has  been 
repeatedly  urged  by  representative  men  of  both  politi- 
cal parties  to  permit  them  to  nominate  him  for  high 
public  office,  but  to  these  solicitations  he  has  steadily 
refused  to  listen.  He  is  content,  and  has  good  reason 
to  be  content,  with  the  private  station  which  he  has 
made  for  himself,  and  in  which,  while  still  in  the  full 
vigor  of  manhood,  he  enjoys  the  comforts  of  an  ample 
fortune  and  the  blessings  which  attend  a  well-regu- 
lated life. 

It  would  hardly  be  right  to  close  this  sketch,  for 
which  the  materials  have  been  gathered  from  many 
sources,  without  referring  to  Mr.  Branch's  exception- 
ally happy  domestic  life.  It  was  in  1857  that  he 
contracted  a  marriage,  from  which  the  element  of  ro- 
mance was  not  absent,  with  Annie  Clark,  second 
daughter  of  Matthew  Clark,  of  Cusworth,  Yorkshire, 
England.  Mr.  Clark  was  a  gentleman  farmer  of 
ancient  family,  farming  his  own  land  as  well  as  land 
rented  from  one  of  his  neighbors.  His  estate  was  not 
far  from  Rotherham,  where  Mr.  Branch  was  born, 
and  was  quite  near  to  "  the  pleasant  town  of  Don- 
caster,"  where  some  of  Mr.  Branch's  relatives  resided. 
An  attachment,  of  which  the  young  people  were  hardly 
conscious  at  the  time,  for  Miss  Clark  was  then  a  very 
young  girl  at  school,  was  followed  several  years  later 
by  a  correspondence,  which  at  length  led  to  their 
marriage.  Mr.  Branch's  most  partial  friends  consider 
it  no  derogation  from  his  merits  to  say  that  the  noblest 
and  most  generous  features  of  his  honorable  life  have 
had  their  inspiration  at  the  fireside  of  a  happy  home. 
In  her  own  sphere  Mrs.  Branch  is  as  well  known  for 
her  charities  and  personal  service  to  good  works  of  all 
sorts  as  her  husband  is  in  his.  Their  family  con- 
sists of  three  sons  and  four  daughters.  Their  oldest  son, 
Joseph  Clark  Branch,  has  reached  his  majority,  and  is 
actively  engaged  in  the  business  of  his  father's  firm. 

According  to  the  census  of  1870,  the  mining  indus- 
try of  St.  Louis  County  showed  the  following  statistics: 


Hands. 

Capital. 

Wages. 

Material. 

Products. 

401 
20 
47 
28 
734 
146 
1564 

31,007,143 
20,0(K) 
142.857 
37,1)00 
880,000 
95,000 
2,762,500 

$330,000 
21,000 
30,000 
18,600 
700,000 
120,:iOO 
1,174,194 

8826,750 
26,760 

237,250 
28,710 
813,000 
445.U20 
1,416,775 

81,455,000 
60,000 
294,000 
79,600 
1,945,000 
669,050 
2,937,950 

"    anchor-sand  chains 

"     nail*  and  spikes.... 
"     railing,  wrought... 

In  1880,  St.  Louis  City  received  1,800,000  tons  of 
coal,  four  and  one-half  times  as  much  as  the  county 
consumed  in  1870;  the  receipts  of  iron  ore  were 
173,307  tons;  of  pig-iron,  116,240  tons.  The  num- 
ber of  establishments  in  the  iron  industry  was  41 ; 
number  of  hands,  4444  ;  capital,  $8,733,500  ;  wages, 
$1,751,107;  material,  $4,744,630  ;  product,  $8,101,- 
915.  The  future  value  of  this  industry  may  be  in- 
ferred from  the  following  facts :  St.  Louis  has  aa 
much  capital  in  the  iron  manufacture  as  Philadel- 
phia, thirty-three  per  cent,  more  than  Chicago,  and 
double  as  much  as  Cleveland,  while  the  profits  at  all 
three  of  these  cities  were  nearly  double  those  at  St. 
Louis,  showing  that  the  latter  city  is  chiefly  working 
to  expand  and  develop  a  great  industry  and  not  to 
realize  an  immediate  large  profit  upon  it.  Ex-Mayor 
Overstolz,  in  his  address  before  the  State  Immigra- 
tion Convention  in  April,  1880,  thus  spoke  of  the 
growth  and  the  prospect  of  this  industry, — 

"  That  the  inexhaustible  deposits  of  iron  ore  in  the  State  of 
Missouri,  and  the  abundance  of  our  coal  supply  should  have  led 
to  extensive  furnaces,  rolling-mills,  foundries,  and  iron-  and 
steel-works  of  all  kinds  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis  is  not  surprising. 
An  immense  industry  has  been  developed  within  a  period  of 
ten  or  fifteen  years,  and  notwithstanding  the  general  depression 
of  the  iron  trade  during  the  last  few  years,  it  is  to-day  one  of 
our  most  important  departments  of  manufacture.  The  iron- 
business  includes  so  many  branches,  viz. :  the  manufacture  of 
pig-iron  and  its  conversion  into  bar-iron,  to  steel,  to  castings, 
and  the  making  of  articles  of  iron,  such  as  engines,  machinery,, 
stoves,  etc.,  all  made  from  the  original  pig-iron  or  bars,  that  it 
is  difficult,  in  the  absence  of  official  statistics,  to  calculate  the 
amount  invested  in  the  industry.  The  result  of  inquiries  in- 
stituted by  myself  into  the  operation  of  the  trade  seems  to 
show  that  the  amount  of  capital  at  present  invested  in  the  busi- 
ness in  this  city  is  nearly  $8,700,000,  and  the  value  of  produc- 
tion, in  view  of  the  recent  advance  in  prices,  about  $11,745,- 
000.  This  includes  boiler-making,  furnaces,  rolling-mills,, 
machine-shops,  mill  machinery,  nuts  and  bolts,  wire  and  wire- 
goods,  etc.,  and  I  have  no  doubt  the  aggregate  stated  is  below 
the  real  volume  of  the  trade.  The  present  revival  in  iron- 
manufacture  and  profitable  prices  will  soon  greatly  increase  the 
business  in  this  city,  owing  to  our  favorable  situation  for  sup- 
plying all  parts  of  the  city  and  our  boundless  supplies  of  or* 
and  coal.  This  one  industry  in  itself  possesses  wonderful  pos- 
sibilities of  development  and  of  increasing  our  municipal 
wealth,  because  it  is  one  that  must  expand  with  the  increasing 
population  and  settlement  of  the  country.  It  is  a  business 
that  rests  upon  the  basis  of  a  great  staple  article  of  human 
use,  one  that  is  absolutely  necessary  in  every  step  of  commercial 
progress,  and  this  unquestioned  truth  renders  its  extension  in 
this  city  a  matter  of  certainty.  Within  a  distance  of  less  than 
one  hundred  miles,  and  connected  by  railroads,  exists  abun- 
dance of  the  best  kind  of  ore ;  on  all  sides  of  us  and  within  a 
radius  of  thirty  miles  arc  immeasurable  coal  deposits,  and  these 
facts,  in  connection  with  the  capital  and  the  manufacturing 
and  shipping  facilities  by  river  and  rail  available  here,  make  it 
evident  that  the  future  extension  of  the  trade  must  be  felt  most 
immediately  and  powerfully  at  St.  Louis." 

The  charcoal-iron  furnaces  in  1874  were  as  follows  : 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1273 


Furnaces. 


Capital. 


Pilot  Knob $1,000,000 

Iron  Mountain 1,000,000 


Irondale. 
Marainec  .. 

Scotia , 

Moselle 

<3  asconu.de. 


300,000 
300,000 
250,000 
250,000 


Capacity. 

Tons. 

12,000 

12,000 

7,000 

6,000 

7.000 

6,000 


Total $3,100,000         50,000 

STOVE-COAL  AND  COKE  FURNACES. 


Capital. 

Vulcan $250,000 

Missouri 250,000 

South  St.  Louis 250,000 

Carondelet 150,000 


Capacity. 
Tons. 
25,000 
25,000 
25,000 
8,000 


$900,000       110,000 


ROLLING-MILLS. 

Capital. 

Lnclede $500,000 

Vulcan 200,000 


Capacity. 
Tons. 
10,000 
40,000 


$700,000         50,000 

The  annual  value  of  the  products  of  these  works 
was  about  $7,300,000. 

According  to  the  reports  made  to  the  Merchants' 
Exchange,  the  receipts  of  pig-iron  at  St.  Louis  from 
all  sources  during  1882  amounted  to  105,432  tons. 
From  the  most  reliable  information  obtainable  the  pro- 
duction of  pig-iron  in  the  furnaces  of  the  city  during 
the  year,  and  not  included  in  the  above,  was  114,930 
tons,  or  a  total  of  220,362  tons.  The  shipments  for 
the  year  were  53,951  tons,  leaving  about  166,411 
tons  for  local  consumption,  supposing  the  stocks  on 
hand  at  the  close  of  1881  and  1882  were  equal.  The 
following  statement  shows  the  consumption  of  pig- 
iron  in  the  different  iron-melting  establishments  in 
the  city  last  year,  the  information  having  been  ob- 
tained from  the  several  proprietors : 

Tons. 

Six  stove-works 13,300 

Three  agricultural  implement  works 4,200 

One  steel  rail  works  84,000 

Three  cur-wheel  works 13,000 

Four  rolling-mills 18,300 

One  gas-  and  water-pipe  works 12,000 

Six  machinery  building  foundries •  10,350 

Four  architectural  iron  works. 1,875 

Eight  miscellaneous  works 6,800 


Total,  thirty-six  establishments 163,825 

The  blast  furnaces  which  are  operated  by  St.  Louis 
capital  are  not  all  located  in  the  city,  but  as  the  busi- 
ness is  all  or  chiefly  done  here,  and  so  much  of  the 
product  comes  to  this  market,  they  can,  by  rights,  be 
classed  as  St.  Louis  enterprises.  There  are  eight 
stacks  of  coke-  and  coal-blast  furnaces  in  Missouri,  and 
four  stacks  of  charcoal  furnaces.  Of  the  former,  all 
are  located  in  this  city  and  Carondelet,  and  there  are 
two  stacks  of  the  Meier  Furnace  near  East  Caron- 


delet, in  Illinois,  immediately  opposite  the  city.  The 
St.  Louis  Ore-  and  Steel-Works  at  Carondelet  are 
mammoth  concerns,  and  in  the  same  surburban  town 
are  located  the  works  of  the  South  St.  Louis  Iron 
Company.  The  Missouri  Furnaces,  the  South  St. 
Louis  Furnaces,  and  the  Meier  Furnaces  are  all  oper- 
ated by  the  Missouri  Furnace  Company.  The  Mid- 
land Furnace,  in  Crawford  County ;  the  Nova  Scotia 
Furnace,  in  Dent  County ;  the  Pilot  Knob  Furnace, 
in  Iron  County ;  and  the  Sligo  Furnace,  in  Dent 
County,  are  all  operated  by  St.  Louis  companies. 
They  all  produce  Bessemer  pig,  the  most  of  which  is 
converted  into  steel  in  St.  Louis. 

To  recapitulate :  Bituminous  coal  or  coke  furnaces, 
ten  stacks ;  annual  capacity,  224,000  net  tons.  Char- 
coal furnaces,  four  stacks ;  annual  capacity,  57,500 
net  tons.  Total  number  of  furnaces,  fourteen  stacks ; 
total  annual  capacity,  281,500  net  tons.  Total  pro- 
duct for  1882:  coke-iron,  114,930  tons;  charcoal- 
iron,  45.123  tons. 

Number  of  furnaces 14 

Number  of  hands  employed 1,400 

Capital  invested $1,775,000 

Value  of  product  (average  S25  per  ton)  $4,001,325 

There  are  six  rolling-mills  and  steel-works  in  St. 
Louis.  The  Vulcan  was  built  in  1872  as  an  iron-mill, 
but  was  changed  to  steel-works  in  1876.  During 
1882  the  Vulcan  consumed  100,000  tons  of  pig-iron, 
producing  90,000  tons  of  steel  rails.  The  other  works 
include  the  Granite  Iron-Rolling  Mills,  the  Laclede 
Rolling-Mills,  the  Helmbacher  Forge  and  Rolling- 
Mills,  the  St.  Louis  Steam  Forge  and  Iron- Works, 
and  the  St.  Louis  Bolt-  and  Iron- Works.  In  addition 
to  these,  the  Harrison  Steel  Company  are  erecting 
mammoth  steel-works  at  Harrison,  111.,  which  will  be 
included  in  the  industries  of  St.  Louis  as  the  capital 
is  supplied.  From  the  best  estimates  the  number 
of  hands  employed  by  the  seven  mills  last  year  was 
3475  ;  capital  invested,  $5,825,000  ;  value  of  product, 
$10,730,000. 

The  following  statistics  show  the  development  of 
the  iron  and  kindred  trades  from  1877  to  1881,  in- 
clusive : 

Iron  and  Steel. 

Tons. 

Receipts  in  1881 56,231 

"  1880 50,720 

"  1879 48,419 

1878 

"  1877 34,64« 


Receipts  in  1881.... 

"  1880.... 

1879.... 

"  1878.... 

"  1877.... 


Nails. 

Kegs.  Keg*. 

534,227    shipments 548,494 

601,795          "          486,396 

575,538          "  487,157 


510,590 


499,518 


1274 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Receipts  in  1881. 
"  1880. 

"  1879. 

"  1878. 

"  1877. 


Receipts  in  1881. 
"  1880. 

"  1879. 

"  1878. 

"  1877. 


Iron  Ores. 

Tons.  Tons. 

...  173,307    shipments 105,901 

...  316,200           "           94,458 

...  211,879          "          87,148 


...  115,886          "          52,229 

Pig-Iron. 

Tons.  Tons. 

...  116.440    shipments 75,230 

...     83,132          "          95,570 

...     70,876          "          85,148 


...     46,094          ' 
Railroad  Iron. 


Receipts  in  1881. 
"  1880. 

"  1879. 


32,751 


Tons. 
99,347 
45,135 
40,993 


Owing  to  the  great  diversity  of  iron  manufactures  it 
is  impossible  to  give  the  exact  figures  of  this  vast  in- 
dustry in  St.  Louis,  but  a  general  idea  of  its  magnitude 
may  be  obtained  from  the  statement  that  in  the  man- 
ufacture of  iron  and  steel  castings,  bolts,  nuts,  washers, 
rivets,  and  wrought  railing  thirty-seven  firms  are  en- 
gaged, which  have  a  capital  invested,  in  buildings, 
grounds,  machinery,  etc.,  of  over  $8,000,000,  and 
provide  employment  for  4370  persons.  The  business 
transacted  annually  amounts  in  value  to  $8,424,000, 
and  the  wages  to  $1,900,251.  Besides  the  above, 
four  firms  are  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  architec- 
tural and  ornamental  iron-work,  employing  forty-four 
hands,  and  transacting  a  business  of  over  $80, 000  per 
annum,  and  there  are  a  number  of  firms  engaged  in 
the  sale  of  iron  and  steel  products,  whose  transactions 
are  estimated  at  over  $6,000,000  per  annum. 

Few  people  in  St.  Louis  have  an  adequate  idea  of 
the  magnitude  of  the  railroad  interests  which  have 
centred  at  this  point  within  the  past  twenty  years, 
and  of  the  immensity  of  those  kindred  interests  which 
depend  upon  the  development  of  this  kind  of  trans- 
portation. When  a  new  road  is  built,  everybody  knows 
that  it  must  be  ironed  with  rails  from  some  mill, 
but  few  are  aware  that  a  vast  amount  of  other  mate- 
rial besides  iron  or  steel  rails  enters  into  the  con- 
struction of  a  railroad,  or  that  when  built  it  takes  a 
great  variety  of  costly  things  to  fit  up  the  engines, 
equip  its  cars,  and  keep  them  running ;  yet  such  is 
the  case,  and  now  the  business  of  furnishing  railway 
supplies  is  one  of  the  leading  ones  of  the  country. 
It  follows  that,  as  St.  Louis  is  a  great  railway  centre, 
the  business  here  is  very  great ;  and  yet  many  read- 
ers of  this  work  will  no  doubt  be  surprised  to  learn 
that  one  of  the  largest  concerns  of  this  kind  in  the 
world  is  located  here,  that  of  M.  M.  Buck  &  Co. 

Myron  M.  Buck,  the  founder  of  this  colossal  estab- 
lishment, was  born  in  Manchester,  N.  Y.  He  came 


of  a  well-known  and  influential  family.  His  grand- 
father was  one  of  the  pioneers  in  that  region,  being 
a  member  of  the  "  Holland  Land  Purchase,"  a  com- 
pany which  bought  the  whole  of  Western  New  York, 
a  section  aptly  denominated  the  "  Garden  of  the 
State,"  where  their  descendants  still  live,  enjoying 
in  wealth  and  elegant  comfort  the  results  of  the 
labors  of  their  far-seeing  and  sagacious  ancestors. 
The  grandfather  settled  at  Canandaigua  Lake,  and 
here  his  son  succeeded  him,  and  became  owner  of  a 
cotton-  and  woolen-mill,  which  he  managed  success- 
fully, and  here  M.  M.  Buck  was  born  and  reared. 
In  the  practical  atmosphere  of  a  mill-owner's  life  he 
gained,  it  may  be  supposed,  the  practical  bias  which 
has  distinguished  his  career  and  has  made  it  so  suc- 
cessful. 

Young  Buck  received  a  common-school  education, 
but  the  school  privileges  of  that  period  were  very 
meagre,  and  he  soon  exhausted  them.  At  the  age 
of  eighteen  he  left  his  father's  house  to  make  a 
living  for  himself.  After  visiting  several  towns  in 
Western  New  York,  and  paying  a  visit  to  Toronto 
and  other  Canadian  places,  he  drifted  to  New  York 
City,  where  he  was  employed  in  a  manufacturing 
establishment,  but  soon  determined  to  go  into  busi- 
ness for  himself,  and  in  pursuance  of  that  object  went 
West.  He  spent  three  years  in  Chicago,  and  in  1858 
removed  to  St.  Louis,  where  he  opened  a  modest 
establishment  for  the  manufacture  of  car  trimmings, 
etc.  He  labored  amid  many  and  great  disadvantages, 
such  as  want  of  capital  and  influential  friends,  but, 
undismayed,  he  plodded  steadily  along,  honestly  and 
faithfully  giving  his  business  his  personal  attention, 
and  pushing  it  in  every  quarter,  until  he  soon  ob- 
tained a  recognized  footing,  and  was  enabled  to  es- 
tablish a  depot  for  the  sale  of  all  kinds  of  railway 
supplies.  This  was  the  pioneer  establishment  of  the 
kind  in  the  Mississippi  valley,  and  only  the  second 
one  in  the  West.  It  has  not  only  been  the  first  in 
point  of  time,  but  it  has  been  foremost,  also,  in  the 
magnitude,  variety,  and  boldness  of  its  operations, 
and  it  is  stated  that  it  is  the  largest  house  but  one 
in  this  field  in  the  country. 

The  headquarters  of  the  railway  supply  house  of 
M.  M.  Buck  &  Co.  are  at  209  and  211  North  Third 
Street,  St.  Louis,  where  it  occupies  two  six-story 
buildings,  each  embracing  an  area  of  thirty-five  by 
one  hundred  and  fifty-six  feet.  It  uses,  also,  two 
other  large  buildings  for  manufacturing  and  storage 
purposes.  In  the  manufacture  and  handling  of  goods 
about  two  hundred  hands  are  employed,  and  it  sup- 
plies most  of  the  leading  Eastern  houses  with  articles 
of  its  own  make,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  the 


/ 


UNN 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1275 


sole  Western  representative  of  some  of  the  most  ex- 
tensive manufacturing  establishments  in  this  country. 
More  than  one  hundred  railways  are  its  constant 
customers,  and  its  operations  cover  literally  the 
whole  western  hemisphere,  from  Canada  to  South 
America. 

Mr.  Buck  attributes  this  marvelous  success  solely 
to  his  close  and  careful  attention  to  business,  which  i 
has  been  of  a  character  and  magnitude  to  engross  his 
time,  and  he  has  declined  numerous  solicitations  to  | 
engage  in  other  enterprises  and  to  permit  the  use  of  his 

name  as  a  candidate.     But  in  matters  affecting  the 

0 

progress  and  prosperity  of  St.  Louis  he  has  always 
been  wide  awake  and  public-spirited,  and  has  ever 
been  found  one  of  the  most  generous  supporters  of 
worthy  public  enterprises.  In  church  affairs  and  in 
social  circles,  as  among  his  business  associates,  he  en- 
joys the  esteem  of  all  who  know  him,  and  is  regarded 
as  one  of  the  representative  men  of  St.  Louis. 

The  number  of  establishments  engaged  in  the  busi- 
ness of  furnishing  railroad  supplies  in  St.  Louis  in 
1882  was  11;  number  of  hands  employed,  1560; 
capital  invested,  $981,000 ;  value  of  products, 
$1,925,000. 

The  trade  in  stoves,  tinware,  and  house-furnishing 
goods  has  long  given  St.  Louis  especial  prominence 
throughout  the  Western  and  Southern  States.  In 
1881  there  were  nine  firms  engaged  in  the  wholesale 
trade,  with  a  business  aggregating  five  million  five 
hundred  thousand  dollars  per  annum,  and  ninety-five 
firms  engaged  in  the  retail  trade. 

The  saws  produced  in  St.  Louis  have  a  very  high 
reputation  ;  in  fact,  there  are  none  enjoying  a  higher 
one.  Most  of  the  mammoth  saw-mills  in  the  Wis- 
consin pineries  and  other  portions  of  the  Northwest 
are  provided  with  St.  Louis  saws,  and  the  same  may 
be  said  of  the  South  and  Southwest ;  and  it  is  claimed 
that  St.  Louis  would  not  stand  at  the  head  of  cities 
possessing  the  largest  number  of  saw-mills,  as  she 
does,  if  it  were  not  for  the  excellence  of  the  cutting 
tools  used.  There  are  few  wood-working  establish- 
ments west  of  the  Mississippi  River  that  do  not  use 
St.  Louis  made  saws.  In  connection  with  the  manu- 
facture of  saws  these  establishments  also  make  all  of 
the  machinery,  both  iron-  and  wood-work,  for  saw- 
mills, and  complete  outfits  are  furnished,  including 
boilers,  engines,  etc.,  ready  to  put  the  saws  at  work 
cutting  lumber.  There  are  but  two  establishments  in 
the  city  that  manufacture  saws,  but  there  are  several 
that  manufacture  saw-mill  outfits.  The  number  of 
establishments  last  year  was  five  ;  number  of  hands  em- 
ployed, 175;  capital  invested,  $350,000;  value  of 
product,  $500,000. 


There  are  half  a  dozen  or  more  concerns  in  the 
city  which  make  boilers  exclusively,  and  the  business 
of  1 882  was  much  better  than  it  was  even  during  the 
previous  year.  The  excellence  of  the  work  done  in 
the  boiler-works  of  St.  Louis  has  established  a  good 
trade,  and  employment  is  given  to  nearly  five  hundred 
hands  at  good  wages.  There  is  no  part  of  the  Western 
country  where  St.  Louis  boilers  are  not  in  use,  and 
there  is  no  river  or  navigable  stream  in  the  West 
where  the  steamboats  are  not  driven  by  power  gen- 
erated in  St.  Louis  made  boilers.  These  boilers  are 
also  used  in  thousands  of  industrial  establishments  in 
all  parts  of  the  country,  in  breweries,  mills,  coal- 
mines, sugar  refineries,  factories,  etc.  The  year's 
operations  showed  that  there  were  eight  boiler- facto- 
ries running ;  number  of  hands  employed,  435  ;  capi- 
tal invested,  $140,000;  value  of  product,  $565,000. 

There  are  seven  establishments  in  the  city  engaged 
in  the  manufacture  of  agricultural  implements,  giv- 
ing employment  to  four  hundred  and  seventy-five 
hands  last  year,  and  producing  articles  that  are  well 
known  all  over  the  country,  besides  reflecting  the 
greatest  credit  on  the  manufacturers.  St.  Louis 
manufactures  more  agricultural  implements  than 
Pittsburgh,  Cincinnati,  or  Cleveland,  and  owing  to 
the  vast  territory  to  be  supplied  in  future  from  this 
market  and  the  splendid  facilities  afforded  here,  this 
industry  is  destined  to  become  a  great  one.  The 
number  of  establishments  operated  in  1882  was  five; 
capital  invested,  $420,000;  value  of  product,  $700,000. 

The  volume  of  business  done  in  those  establishments 
in  St.  Louis  making  a  specialty  of  manufacturing  ar- 
chitectural and  ornamental  iron-work  has  been  gratify- 
ingly  large,  though,  considering  the  possibilities  of  the 
trade,  it  would  seem  that  it  ought  to  have  been  larger. 
The  erection  of  more  than  five  million  dollars'  worth 
of  buildings  in  the  city  during  1882  of  itself  should 
have  called  for  very  large  quantities  of  architectural 
and  ornamental  iron-work,  and  there  is  a  large  extent 
of  country  tributary  to  St.  Louis,  to  which  other  large 
quantities  might  have  been  supplied.  Number  of  es- 
tablishments in  the  city  last  year,  seven ;  number  of 
hands  employed,  315 ;  capital  invested,  $250,000 ; 
value  of  product,  $435,000. 

Hardware. — There  is  no  line  of  business  in  St. 
Louis  in  which  more  enterprise  is  displayed  than 
in  the  hardware  trade.  The  men  engaged  in  it 
are  energetic  and  possessed  of  ample  capital,  and  as 
a  result  their  business  extends  east  as  far  as  Ohio, 
north  as  far  as  Minnesota,  west  as  far  as  the  Pa- 
cific coast,  and  south  as  far  as  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 
No  class  of  business  men  have  done  so  much,  per- 
haps, in  exploring  new  territory  and  in  widening  the 


1276 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


field  of  St.  Louis  trade.  It  would  astonish  one  to 
look  into  the  order-books  of  some  of  the  St.  Louis 
hardware  establishments.  He  would  see  that  St. 
Louis  supplies  hardware  to  over  one-half  the  territory 
embraced  in  the  United  States  and  Territories,  and 
that  her  houses  send  goods  to  Indiana,  Illinois,  Ken- 
tucky, Tennessee,  Iowa,  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  Min- 
nesota, Kansas,  Arkansas,  Dakota,  Wyoming,  Oregon, 
Utah,  Indian  Territory,  Texas,  Mississippi,  Louisiana, 
Alabama,  New  Mexico,  Arizona,  Nevada,  California, 
Oregon,  and  Washington  Territory.  There  is  a  single 


been  a  wonderful  increase  in  the  last  few  years. 
While  the  mineral  trade  does  not  as  yet  amount  to 
as  much  as  the  other  two  mentioned,  it  is  most  im- 
portant and  is  rapidly  increasing. 

The  agricultural  region,  the  cotton  region,  and  the 
mining  region  contiguous  to  St.  Louis  are  each  capable 
of  supporting  a  great  city,  so  that  with  them  all  St. 
Louis  is  secure.  If  the  cotton  fails  the  grain  may 
not,  but  if  both  fail  the  mineral  remains.  It  is 
hardly  possible,  however,  that  any  misfortune  will 
ever  occur  to  deprive  St.  Louis  of  the  benefits  of  more 


rruuH 

I!  J  111 


SIMMONS    HARDWARE   COMPANY. 

Corner  of  Washington  Avenue  and  Ninth  Street. 


house  in  St.  Louis  that  sells  half  the  sporting  goods  • 
sold  in  Oregon,  and  about  all  that  is  sold  in  Nevada,  j 
With  such  a  wide  territory.and  so  diversified,  it  is  not  • 
surprising  that  the  hardware  trade  of  St.  Louis  should 
be  in  a  most  prosperous  condition. 

St.  Louis  trade,  in  general,  is  not  dependent  upon 
any  single  section  of  country,  and  there  are  tributary 
to  St.  Louis  a  vast  agricultural  region,  a  vast  cotton 
region,  and  a  vast  mineral  region.  Attention  has 
already  been  called  to  the  grain  trade  and  the  cotton 
trade,  and  it  has  been  shown  that  in  both  there  has 


than  one  of  these  sources  of  trade  at  a  time.  There 
is  no  line  of  business  that  derives  greater  or  more 
substantial  advantages  from  this  happy  combination  of 
resources  than  the  hardware  trade.  It  supplies  the 
agriculturist,  the  cotton-planter,  and  the  miner,  and 
hence  it  may  be  set  down  as  a  practical  certainty  that 
the  enterprising  hardware  men  of  St.  Louis  will  be 
amply  rewarded  in  the  future.  With  the  above  facts 
in  view  it  is  not  surprising  that  St.  Louis  should  be 
the  best  hardware  market  in  the  United  States.  It 
is  not  meant  by  this  that  it  is  the  largest,  for  New 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1277 


York  and  Boston  are  not  to  be  ignored,  but  St.  Louis 
is  a  better  market  to  purchase  in  than  New  York  or 
Boston.  The  St.  Louis  houses  carry  more  varied 
stocks  than  they  do  in  either  of  the  above  cities,  and 
hence  the  jobbing  trade  is  better  represented.  It  is 
more  difficult  for  a  dealer  to  obtain  a  stock  of  hard- 
ware in  New  York  than  in  St.  Louis,  for  the  reason 
that  the  New  York  houses  confine  themselves  largely 
to  special  lines  of  goods,  while  the  houses  in  St.  Louis 
carry  full  lines  of  all  the  varieties  of  goods  that  come 
under  the  head  of  hardware.  It  is  no  uncommon 
thing  for  a  merchant  from  Texas  to  go  to  New  York 
to  lay  in  a  stock  and  come  back  to  St.  Louis  to  pur- 
chase his  hardware,  nor  is  it  unusual  for  a  merchant 
from  Kansas  or  Nebraska  to  go  to  Chicago  to  get  a 
stock  of  goods  and  send  to  St.  Louis  for  his  hard- 
ware. There  is  at  least  one  house  in  St.  Louis  that 
has  received  numbers  of  orders  of  that  kind.  But 
this  is  not  only  the  most  convenient  hardware  market 
in  the  United  States,  it  is  also  the  cheapest.  Six 
houses  in  St.  Louis  do  an  immense  business  and  have 
an  abundance  of  capital,  and  a  single  establishment 
sells  more  nails l  than  any  other  two  houses  in  Amer- 
ica. This  is  because  it  has  the  capital  with  which  to 
make  cash  purchases.  For  the  amount  of  business 
done,  the  hardware  men  of  St.  Louis  use  more  capital 
than  any  other  class. 

There  has  been  but  one  failure  in  the  hardware 
trade  of  St.  Louis  in  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and  that 
was  long  before  the  war.  Some  of  the  larger  estab- 
lishments occupy  an  astonishing  area  of  store-room  ; 
indeed,  two  of  the  principal  houses  alone  utilize  over 
four  acres  of  flooring  each,  in  display  of  their  wares. 
Including  importers,  jobbers,  two  manufacturers,  deal- 
ers in  the  heavier  class  of  goods  only,  and  the  numer- 
ous retailers,  there  are  upwards  of  sixty  houses  en- 
gaged in  the  various  branches  of  the  hardware  trade 
in  St.  Louis,  although  there  may  have  been  small 
dealers  in  this  line  prior  to  that  time.  Henry  Shaw, 
of  Shaw's  Garden  fame,  is  believed  to  have  been  the 
first  dealer  in  this  ware  exclusively.  His  establish- 
ment on  Main  Street,  fifty  years  ago,  had  for  rivals 
only  general  stores  incidentally  carrying  some  hard- 
ware. The  trade  has  now  so  increased  as  to  justify 
the  carrying  of  stocks  valued  at  fifteen  million  dol- 
lars. Fourteen  establishments  employed,  in  1882, 
1140  hands  ;  capital  invested,  $550,000  ;  value  of  pro- 
duct, $1,296,000. 

One  of  the  earliest  hardware  merchants  of  St.  Louis 
was  James  C.  Sutton.  Mr.  Sutton  removed  to  St. 


1  Sept.  3,  1814,  D.  Stewart  advertised  his  cut-  and  wrought- 
nail  factory  in  Block  4. 


Louis  in  1819  from  New  Jersey,  having  followed  the 
tide  of  Western  emigration  which  set  in  towards  Mis- 
souri- about  that  period,  and  settling  in  Missouri,  was 
identified  for  many  years  with  its  pioneer  history  and 
progress.  Mr.  Sutton,  soon  after  his  arrival,  erected 
a  blacksmith-shop  on  the  northwest  corner  of  Second 
and  Spruce  Streets,  and,  in  company  with  his  brother 
Joseph,  carried  on  the  business  many  years.  The 
old  frame  shop  has  long  since  disappeared,  and  the 
site  was  occupied  in  recent  years  by  Haase's  grocery, 
No.  323  Second  Street. 

There  was  at  that  time  not  much  competition  ex- 
isting in  the  business,  there  being  one  other  smith's 
shop  on  the  corner  of  Main  and  Olive,  carried  on  by 
Charles  Basroe.  The  city  was  then  bounded  on  the 
west  by  Third  Street,  all  beyond  being  fields  and 
ponds.  It  was  not  until  about  1824  that,  through 
the  persistent  efforts  of  the  Suttons,  iron  tires  on 
wagons  came  into  general  use,  and  not  until  ten  years 
later  that  carts,  which  before  had  not  a  particle  of 
iron  about  the  whole  framework,  were  ironed,  and 
partook  of  other  improvements  in  their  make-up. 
Plows,  which  up  to  this  period  were  made  of  the  roots 
of  trees,  also  changed  their  form  by  the  substitution 
of  iron  points  and  shares. 

Mr.  Sutton  introduced  a  greatly-improved  plow, 
which  became  widely  known  as  the  "  Sutton  Plow," 
and  which  was  used  for  many  years  by  farmers  in 
breaking  up  prairie  and  bottom  lands.  Of  course 
this  plow,  which  was  an  immense  improvement  on 
the  wooden  machines  in  previous  use,  has  long  since 
been  superseded  by  others  of  improved  patents.  Mr. 
Sutton's  shop,  about  the  year  1820,  occupied  a  loca- 
tion nearly  in  the  business  centre  of  the  city.  On 
Main  Street,  east  side,  about  the  third  house  north 
from  Spruce  Street,  there  was  still  standing  in  1877 
the  old  two-story  frame  building  occupied  in  1820  by 
Mr.  Sutton  as  his  dwelling-house.  The  front  was 
once  painted  white  and  the  sides  red,  but  the  white 
had  disappeared,  and  a  few  blotches  of  the  red  re- 
mained. In  1835  he  moved  out  to  the  "  League 
Square"  on  the  Manchester  road,  where  he  set  up  his 
blacksmith-shop,  and  bought  a  farm  from  Mr.  Gratiot, 
which  under  his  management  became  one  of  the 
finest  in  the  county. 

Mr.  Sutton  married  Ann  Wells,  whose  parents 
lived  in  the  Gravois  settlement,  and  survived  her  about 
two  years.  He  died  July  19,  1877,  leaving  five  sons 
and  four  daughters. 

The  Simmons  Hardware  Company,  which  is  one 
of  the  most  extensive  corporations  of  its  kind  in  the 
West,  was  established  by  E.  C.  Simmons,  who  has 
long  been  a  prominent  member  of  the  hardware  trade 


1278 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


of  St.  Louis.     Edward  Campbell  Simmons  was  born 
in    Frederick  County,  Md.,  Sept.  21,  1839,  and  in  j 
1845,  when  Edward  was  seven  years  of  age,  his  father  ' 
removed  from  Maryland,  where  he  had  pursued  the  j 
occupation  of  a  merchant,  to  St.  Louis.     In   1856 
young  Simmons  entered  the  hardware  establishment  ' 
of  Child,  Pratt  &  Co.  in  a  minor  capacity,  at  a  salary 
of  twelve  dollars  and  fifty  cents  per  month.     After 
remaining  with  the  firm  for  three  years  he  obtained 
a  position  as  clerk  in  the  house  of  Wilson,  Leavering 
&  Waters,  at   a   salary  of  fifty  dollars   per    month.  \ 
Three  years  later  he  was  admitted  to  the   firm    as 
junior   partner,  and  at  the  end  of  six  months,  Mr. 
Leavering   having  died,  the  name  of  the  firm  was 
changed  to  Waters,  Simmons   &  Co.     It  continued  • 
thus  through    nine    years  of  great  prosperity  until  | 
Jan.    1,   1872,  when   Mr.   Waters   retired,  and   Mr. 
Simmons  associated  with  him  J.  W.  Morton,  and  the 
firm  became  E.  C.  Simmons  &  Co.     Two  years  later 
a  corporation  was  formed  under  the  name  and  style 
of  the  Simmons  Hardware  Company,  which  purchased 
the  interests  of  Simmons  &  Co.,  and  has  since  con- 
ducted the  business  with  signal  energy  and  success. 
As  president  of  the  company,  Mr.  Simmons  is  still 
the  controlling  mind  of  the  vast  concern,  and  to  the 
liberality,  promptness,  sagacity,  and  untiring  energy 
of  his  business  methods  is  chiefly  due  the  uninter- 
rupted  prosperity  which  it  has  enjoyed.     In  1866 
Mr.  Simmons  was  married  to  Miss  Carrie  Welsh. 

Augustus  F.  Shapleigh,  founder  and  head  of  the 
great  hardware  house  of  the  A.  F.  Shapleigh  & 
Cantwell  Hardware  Company,  was  born  in  Ports- 
mouth, N.  H.,  Jan.  9,  1810,  of  a  family  who  trace 
their  lineage  to  English  stock  that  settled  in  Maine 
in  1663-65,  and  who  during  the  early  history  of 
the  country  held  many  important  trusts  under  the 
British  crown.  Mr.  Shapleigh's  father  was  a  well- 
known  seafaring  man  of  that  region,  the  owner  and 
captain  of  the  ship  "  Granville,"  who  was  lost,  together 
with  the  vessel  and  a  valuable  cargo,  off  Rye  Beach. 
This  disaster  left  his  wife  and  five  children  in  much 
reduced  circumstances  financially,  but  the  noble  spirit 
and  energy  of  Mrs.  Shapleigh  enabled  her  to  raise  her 
children  comfortably  and  give  them  such  education  as 
was  common  in  those  days. 

When  a  mere  lad  of  fourteen  years  of  age,  Augustus 
entered  a  hardware  store  in  the  town  of  Portsmouth, 
N.  H.,  and  worked  there  about  one  year,  from  day- 
light until  dark,  for  fifty  dollars  a  year,  and  boarded 
himself. 

The  associations  of  Portsmouth,  situated  so  near 
the  ocean,  were  largely  connected  with  the  sea,  and 
most  of  the  young  men  at  some  time  or  other  natur- 


ally desired  to  embark  in  a  sailor's  life.  Young  Shap- 
leigh was  not  an  exception  to  the  rule,  and  leaving 
the  hardware  store,  he  shipped  as  a  light  hand  before 
the  mast,  and  made  several  European  voyages,  which 
consumed  three  years  of  his  time.  Then,  at  the 
earnest  solicitation  of  his  mother  and  sisters,  he  was 
induced  to  leave  the  sea  and  re-enter  the  store  in 
which  he  first  served. 

An  important  clerkship  having  been  offered  him 
by  the  old  and  well-established  hardware  house  of 
Rogers  Brothers  &  Co.,  in  Philadelphia,  he  concluded 
to  accept  it,  and  remained  with  that  firm  many 
years,  obtaining  therein  a  junior  partner's  interest 
and  a  promising  start  in  business.  Desiring  to  en- 
large their  operations,  the  firm  determined  to  open  a 
branch  establishment  in  the  West,  and  St.  Louis  was 
selected  for  the  venture.  Mr.  Shapleigh  was  sent 
there  to  superintend  it,  and  arriving  in  1843,  opened 
the  hardware  establishment  under  the  firm-name  of 
Rogers,  Shapleigh  &  Co.  Eventually  Mr.  Rogers, 
who  was  the  capitalist  of  the  concern,  died,  and  Mr. 
Shapleigh  formed  a  connection  with  Thomas  D.  Day, 
under  the  firm-name  of  Shapleigh,  Day  &  Co.  This 
partnership  continued  for  sixteen  years,  or  until  1863, 
when  Mr.  Day  retired,  and  the  house  was  known  as 
A.  F.  Shapleigh  &  Co.,  which  continued  until  July, 
1880,  when  the  concern  was  changed  and  incorporated 
under  the  name  of  the  A.  F.  Shapleigh  &  Cantwell 
Hardware  Company,  the  owners  and  officers  therein 
being  A.  F.  Shapleigh,  president ;  John  Cantwell, 
vice-president ;  Francis  Shapleigh,  second  vice-presi- 
dent ;  and  Alfred  Lee,  secretary  and  treasurer. 

The  history  of  the  house  has  been  one  of  steady 
and  continuous  growth,  a  result  due  mainly  to  the 
personal  labors  of  Mr.  Shapleigh  himself.  From  a 
small  and  modest  start  in  1843,  it  now  occupies 
arched  and  connected  floors  from  Nos.  414  to  422 
North  Main  Street,  extending  from  Main  to  Com- 
mercial Street,  seven  stories  high,  and  heavily  stocked 
with  merchandise  pertaining  to  their  business,  such 
as  cutlery,  guns,  building  material,  chains,  anvils* 
mining  machinery,  etc. 

It  is  well  to  note  here  the  wonderful  progress 
made  in  the  manufacture  of  hardware  on  this  side  of 
the  Atlantic  during  the  past  forty  years.  When  Mr. 
Shapleigh  first  commenced  business  in  St.  Louis,  ninety 
per  cent,  of  the  stock  was  imported  from  England 
and  Germany  via  New  Orleans.  At  the  present  time 
exactly  the  reverse  is  the  case :  ninety  per  cent,  of  all 
general  hardware  sold  is  manufactured  in  our  own 
country,  and  a  large  amount  of  heavy  iron  and  other 
goods  is  made  in  St.  Louis  of  a  superior  quality  and 
at  less  cost  than  from  other  sources. 


*s 

\Hi 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1279 


Mr.  Shapleigh  has  never  held  political  office,  being  a 
man  of  business,  and  regarding  his  business  as  worthy 
of  his  entire  attention.  Still  he  has  figured  some- 
what prominently  in  other  enterprises  besides  his  own, 
having  been  a  director  for  many  years  in  some  of  the 
leading  banking  and  insurance  companies  of  the  city, 
in  which  capacity  his  judgment  has  been  highly  prized, 
and  his  name  has  lent  additional  strength  to  the  com- 
panies in  which  he  is  interested. 

In  1838,  while  at  Philadelphia,  Mr.  Shapleigh  mar- 
ried Miss  Elizabeth  Ann  Umstead  ;  eight  children 
were  the  fruit  of  this  marriage,  six  of  whom  are  living, 
five  sons  and  one  daughter  (now  Mrs.  J.  W.  Boyd). 
The  sons  are  all  thriving  young  men  of  character  and 
good  business  capacity,  and  John  is  a  promising 
physician  of  St.  Louis. 

Mr.  Shapleigh  was  brought  up  amid  Unitarian  in- 
fluences, but  is  not  a  member  of  any  church.  He, 
however,  gives  liberally  to  religious  enterprises,  and 
regards  churches  as  the  bond  that  holds  society  to- 
gether. Every  enterprise  calculated  to  advance  the 
interests  of  the  city  has  received  his  hearty  support. 

Personally,  Mr.  Shapleigh  is  a  quiet  and  unassum- 
ing man,  being  content  to  pursue  his  business  with- 
out ostentation,  and  leaving  others  to  plunge  into  the 
mad  vortex  of  speculation.  Now,  toward  the  close  of 
a  career  that  is  remarkable  for  its  uniform  success,  he 
derives  a  just  pride  from  the  fact  that  his  prosperity 
has  been  won  by  close  attention  and  strict  adherence 
to  sound  principles  of  business.  His  house  has  passed 
through  years  of  war  and  panics,  and  yet  his  estab- 
lishment has  pursued  the  even  tenor  of  its  way,  un- 
shaken by  any  of  those  agitations.  Mr.  Shapleigh 
makes  the  honorable  boast  that  during  all  this  period 
he  never  asked  an  extension,  and  never  let  a  just  bill  be 
presented  a  second  time  for  payment.  It  is  gratify- 
ing to  note  that  such  punctilious  regard  for  their  obli- 
gations has  brought  Mr.  Shapleigh  and  his  associates 
an  ample  reward,  and  that  their  house  is  generally 
recognized  as  being  one  of  the  most  substantial  in  the 
Mississippi  valley. 

Another  leading  hardware  merchant  in  St.  Louis 
is  George  A.  Rubelmann.  He  was  born  in  Tut- 
tlingen,  Wiirtemberg,  Feb.  27,  1841.  In  1847  the 
family  came  to  America,  settling  at  Muscatine,  Iowa. 
In  1854  the  family  was  dispersed,  and  George  A., 
who  was  next  to  the  youngest  of  the  children,  was 
taken  by  his  father  to  St.  Louis  with  a  view  of 
putting  him  in  a  hardware  store.  The  boy,  it  ap- 
pears, had  cherished  a  desire  to  engage  in  that  busi- 
ness ever  since  he  was  ten  years  old,  and  his  subse- 
quent success  fully  justified  his  predilection. 

His  father  placed  him  in  a  small  hardware  store 


kept  by  William  Siever,  at  what  is  now  1907  Broad- 
way. His  salary  the  first  year  was  four  dollars  a 
month  and  board.  Mr.  Siever  was  not  successful,  and 
in  1857  the  store  was  turned  over  to  Adolphus  Meier 
&  Co.,  who  were  the  largest  creditors.  Rubelmann, 
although  but  a  boy  of  seventeen,  was  solicited  by 
Meier  &  Co.  to  take  charge  of  the  store ;  and  at  the 
same  time  he  received  the  offer  from  a  hardware 
house  at  Leaven  worth,  Kan.,  of  a  situation  at  one 
thousand  dollars  a  year.  He  consummated  a  bargain 
with  Meier  &  Co.,  and  managed  the  store  until  1860, 
when,  with  his  brother  John  G.,  he  purchased  the 
business  for  six  thousand  five  hundred  dollars,  giving 
notes  for  the  entire  amount.  In  those  days  sales 
were  universally  made  on  six  months'  time,  and  the 
brothers  followed  the  general  custom ;  but  the  war 
came  on,  and  on  July  1,  1861,  the  young  firm  found 
nearly  all  their  accounts  worthless,  their  balance-sheet 
showing  fifteen  hundred  dollars  on  the  wrong  side. 
They  had  but  three  creditors,  from  each  of  whom 
they  procured  time  on  their  liabilities.  Thencefor- 
ward they  managed  so  well  as  to  be  able,  Jan.  1, 1863, 
to  pay  all  claims  up  to  that  date,  including  December's 
bills, 

Subsequently  they  devoted  their  attention  specially 
to  cabinet  hardware,  and  after  a  hard  struggle  built 
up  a  large  and  flourishing  business. 

In  1875,  George  A.  Rubelmann  sold  out  to  John 
G.  Rubelmann  and  opened  a  small  store  at  627  North 
Sixth  Street ;  but  business  developed  so  rapidly  that 
in  1877  he  doubled  the  size  of  the  store,  and  in  1879 
the  increase  of  trade  compelled  him  to  remove  to  a 
large  three-story  building  at  821  North  Sixth  Street. 
These  quarters  also  soon  proved  inadequate,  and  he 
began  the  erection  of  a  large  four-story  store  at  907 
and  909  North  Sixth  Street. 

The  boy  who  at  seventeen  years  of  age  was  placed 
in  charge  of  a  store  and  who  could  command  a  salary 
of  one  thousand  dollars  a  year  is  now  at  the  head  of 
one  of  the  largest  establishments  in  his  line  of  trade 
in  the  West,  and  at  the  age  of  forty-one,  in  the  prime 
of  a  careful  and  well-ordered  life,  enjoys  a  handsome 
and  growing  competence.  Mr.  Rubelmann,  who  started 
in  life  with  none  of  the  advantage  of  station  and  little 
of  the  teaching  of  the  schools,  is  literally  the  architect 
of  his  own  fortunes.  His  education  was  mainly  ac- 
quired by  study  after  the  day's  work  was  done.  On. 
March  14,  1865,  he  married  Miss  Sarah  A.  Guthrier 
an  estimable  young  lady  of  St.  Louis. 

In  1879,  Mr.  Rubelmann  was  instrumental  in  in- 
ducing the  furniture  manufacturers  of  St.  Louis  to 
organize  for  mutual  protection,  and  the  St.  Louis  Furni- 
ture Exchange  was  established.  He  was  not  a  furni- 


1280 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


ture  man  himself,  but  dealt  in  furniture  hardware,  and 
the  readiness  with  which  the  furniture  men  acted  upon 
his  suggestions  to  form  a  union  demonstrates  his  in- 
fluence among  his  business  associates  and  the  respect 
entertained  for  his  judgment. 

Mr.  Rubelmann's  life  has  been  that  of  a  quiet, 
modest  citizen,  thoroughly  devoted  to  business,  and 
enjoying  the  utmost  respect  and  esteem  of  all  who 
have  come  to  know  him  intimately. 

Blacksmithing. — There  were  three  blacksmiths  in 
St.  Louis  at  the  time  of  the  transfer  from  the  Spanish 
to  the  United  States  authorities, — "Delosier,  who  re- 
sided in  Main  Street,  near  Morgan  ;  Rencontre,  who 
lived  in  Main,  near  Carr ;  and  Valois,  who  resided  in 
Main,  near  Elm,  and  did  the  work  for  the  govern- 
ment." 1  In  February,  1811,  James  Baird  had  a 
blacksmith-shop  in  J.  B.  Becquet's  old  shop  on  South 
Main  Street,  Block  36,  but  removed,  November  30th, 
to  John  Coon's  old  house  on  Third  Street,  Block  80. 
On  Nov.  6,  1812,  George  Casner  removed  his  black- 
smith-shop to  "  the  large  shop  lately  occupied  by 
Beard,"  and  on  Nov.  12,  1814,  James  Barlow  adver- 
tised his  blacksmith-shop  as  located  in  Beard's  large 
shop  on  Third  Street.  In  December,  1819,  George 
Casner's  new  livery-stable  and  blacksmith-shop  were 
located  on  the  east  side  of  Sixth  Street,  adjoining 
Mount's  carriage-shop. 

The  number  of  blacksmithing  establishments  in 
St.  Louis  in  1881  was  168,  giving  employment  to  400 
hands,  who  received  wages  amounting  to  $200, 000. 
The  capital  employed  was  $250,000,  and  the  business 
transacted  annually  amounted  to  $700,000. 

Manufactures  of  Fire-Brick,  Glassware,  Pot- 
tery, China,  etc. — The  soils  of  Missouri  supply  nearly 
all  the  mineral  constituents  of  the  various  pigments. 
Zinc  is  produced  in  great  quantities,  tin  likewise,  and 
there  is  an  abundance,  far  beyond  any  probable  demand, 
of  ochres,  barytes,  uranium,  manganese,  cobalt,  red 
chalk,  china  clay,  and  terra  di  siena.  The  sulphuret  of 
zinc  is  abundant  in  Southwest  Missouri,  cobalt  exists 
in  quantity  at  Mine  la  Motte  and  other  places,  perox- 
ide of  manganese  in  Ste.  Genevieve,  large  beds  of 
purple  shales  in  the  coal  measures,  making  an  admir- 
able cheap  pigment  for  outside  work,  beds  of  red  and 
yellow  ochre  exist  on  the  Missouri  River,  sulphate  of 
baryta  is  found  in  large  quantities  in  a  very  pure  white 
form,  and  with  the  ferruginous  clays  forms  the  best 
possible  ground  for  mixture  with  lead  and  zinc  in  the 
composition  of  shaded  pigments  which  are  at  once 
both  cheap  and  durable.  The  manufacture  of  paints 
in  St.  Louis,  by  the  tenth  census,  employs  13  estab- 

1  Edwards'  Great  West,  p.  288. 


lishments  and  608  hands,  and  a  capital  of  $1,688,350. 
The  wages  paid  amount  to  $250,532,  and  the  value 
of  material  used  is  $2,196,480. 

Fire-clay  rivaling  the  best  deposits  of  Europe  is 
found  within  four  miles  of  the  St.  Louis  court-house. 
The  bed  is  fifteen  feet  thick,  and  very  extensive.  An 
analysis  shows  the  following  elements  : 

Silica 53.94 

Alumina,  with  some  peroxide  of  iron 33.73 

Lime 1.17 

Magnesia a  trace 

Water....  10.94 


Total 99.78 

Fire-brick  made  of  this  clay  is  capable  of  resisting 
very  high  temperatures.  The  excellence  of  the  ma- 
terial recommends  it  for  retorts,  alembics,  crucibles, 
and  furnaces.  The  kilns  of  this  manufacture  ought 
to  be  far  more  numerous. 

Formerly  fire-rock  was  brought  from  remote  States 
for  the  bloomeries  at  Ironton.  This  fire-rock,  im- 
ported at  a  very  heavy  expense,  seldom  lasted  more 
than  five  months.  But  a  few  years  ago  a  geological 
examination  discovered  a  superior  quality  in  the  im- 
mediate vicinity  of  Ironton.  This  fire-rock  is  very 
refractory,  and  often  resists  the  heat  of  the  furnaces 
for  seventeen  months. 

Adepts  consider  the  plastic  clay  which  is  found  at 
Commerce  fully  equal  to  that  of  Devonshire.  It  is  as 
fine  and  almost  as  white  as  flour.  The  best  potter's 
clay  and  kaolin  exist  in  quantities  that  preclude  the 
idea  of  exhaustion.  All  that  Missouri  needs  to  be- 
come famous  for  its  crockery  and  queensware  is  skill- 
ful labor  from  the  potteries  of  Europe.  The  materials 
and  capital  for  the  manufacture  of  earthenware  and 
porcelain  are  abundant ;  art  alone  is  requisite. 

Near  Ste.  Genevieve  there  is  a  bank  of  saccha- 
roidal  sand  which  is  twenty  feet  in  height  and  miles 
in  extent.  The  mass  is  inexhaustible.  Two  analyses 
give  the  following  result : 

Silica 98.81         99.02 

Lime 0.92  0.98 

The  sand  is  very  friable  and  nearly  as  white  as 
snow.  It  is  not  oxidized  or  discolored  by  heat,  and 
the  glass  made  from  it  is  clear  and  unstained.  One 
firm  in  St.  Louis  has  annually  exported  more  than 
three  thousand  five  hundred  tons  of  this  sand  to  the 
glass  manufactories  of  Wheeling,  Steubenville,  and 
Pittsburgh. 

A  large  portion  of  the  silica  used  in  the  glass-fac- 
tories of  Pittsburgh  is  carried  from  Missouri.  Instead 
of  incurring  the  expense  of  two  transportations  and 
paying  to  distant  establishments  the  cost  of  produc- 
tion, local  factories  ought  to  meet  all  the  domestic 
wants  and  supply  the  markets  of  the  West. 


01 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1281 


In  evidence  that  the  industries  built  upon  such 
natural  products  are  not  neglected  or  misunderstood 
in  St.  Louis,  the  tenth  census  returns  among  the  city's 
manufactures : 

Bricks.— Establishments,  45  ;  capital,  $727,250  ; 
hands,  1235  ;  wages,  $307,581 ;  materials,  $196,588 ; 
products,  $700,942. 

Glass. — Establishments,  5  ;  capital,  $280,000  ; 
hands,  615  ;  wages,  $261,098  ;  materials,  $238,996  ; 
products,  $597,277. 

Lime.  —  Establishments,  4  ;  capital,  $64,500  ; 
hands,  49;  wages,  $13,800;  materials,  $32,925; 
products,  $63,200. 

Marble-  and  Stone-  Work. — Establishments,  56  ; 
capital,  $237,825 ;  hands,  725  ;  wages,  $237,207  ; 
materials,  245,707  ;  products,  $707,721. 

Stone  and  Earthenware. — Establishments,  5  ;  capi- 
tal, $34,500  ;  hands,  58;  wages,  $16,090  ;  materials, 
$19,985;  products,  $46,430. 

GLASS-WORKS. — The  mineral  resources  for  manu- 
facturing possessed  By  St.  Louis  have  long  had  their 
superiority  recognized  and  admitted.  They  only 
waited  for  transportation  and  capital  to  develop  them. 
The  iron-beds  of  Pilot  Knob  and  Iron  Mountain, 
for  instance,  have  been  familiar  to  every  school-boy 
who  studied  his  geography  for  the  past  two  genera- 
tions, and  some  of  the  other  valuable  products  have 
been  known  in  similar  ways  quite  as  long. 

In  1854,  Hon.  John  Hogan,  in  his  excellent  and 
suggestive  "  Thoughts  about  St.  Louis,"  insisted  that 
the  city  must  become  a  centre  for  the  manufacture  of 
glass,  for  the  reason  that  it  possessed  every  product 
and  material  necessary  to  that  manufacture  in  its 
cheapest  and  purest  form.  In  his  own  words, — 

"The  purest  and  whitest  sand,  for  the  manufacture  of  flint 
glass,  is  found  in  inexhaustible  quantities  but  a  short  distance 
from  the  city,  on  the  Mississippi  River,  both  above  and  below. 
Here  is  the  best  lead  market,  both  for  the  mines  of  Illinois  and 
Missouri,  and  by  the  extension  of  our  railroads  to  the  West  ami 
South  this  latter  supply  is  to  bo  immensely  increased,  while  pot 
and  pearl  ash  can  be  obtained  either  from  the  Ohio,  the  lakes, 
or  the  upper  Mississippi,  from  the  asheries  of  Iowa  and  Wis- 
consin. These  are  the  principal  elements  of  the  manufacture 
of  glass,  but  there  is  still  one  most  important  matter  in  the  ex- 
pense of  the  establishment,  viz.,  the  pots  in  which  the  metal  is 
melted,  and  which,  as  they  are  subjected  to  a  most  intense  and 
long-continued  heat,  require  to  be  made  of  the  very  best,  of 
a  peculiar  clay,  which  the  best  establishments  have  to  obtain 
from  Europe.  But  it  would  almost  seem  as  if  nature  intended 
St.  Louis  for  her  great  glass-work  shop  :  not  only  is  the  sand 
here,  and  the  lead  and  the  ashes  easily  obtained,  but  she  has  un- 
derlaid a  section  of  St.  Louis  County  with  the  very  best  clay  of 
which  to  make  the  pots,  equal,  I  am  assured,  to  the  very  best 
European  clay,  and  generally  superior  to  any  heretofore  found 
in  the  United  States,  for  this  purpose. 

"  Like  many  other  valuable  discoveries,  this  was  accidentally 
ie  in  digging  a  well  on  the  farm  of  Charles  Semple,  Esq., 


on  the  Natural  Bridge  plank-road,  some  four  miles  from  St. 
Louis.  And  while  it  is  so  accessible  to  our  city,  it  is  also  inex- 
haustible. Messrs.  Scully  &  Co.  have  already  subjected  it  to 
the  severest  tests ;  they  have  had  pots  made  of  it  which  have 
been  in  use  constantly  for  the  last  six  months,  and  they  have 
proved  themselves  by  the  trial :  they  are  found  to  be  as  durable 
as  those  made  of  the  best  imported  clay.  The  single  article  of 
coal  is  the  only  thing  in  which  the  upper  Ohio  has  any  advan- 
tage of  us,  but  this  is  being  rapidly  overcome;  our  railroads 
penetrating,  as  they  all  do,  vast  coal-beds  will  soon  equalize  this, 
and  furnish  ample  supplies  at  fair  rates  for  carrying  on  our 
numerous  manufactories." 

In  fact,  Mr.  Hogan,  in  this  last  sentence,  refers  to 
one  of  the  very  few  instances  in  which  St.  Louis  did 
not  know  or  failed  to  appreciate  her  own  resources  and 
their  extent. 

As  early  as  1846,  James  B.  Eads,  of  bridge  and 
jetty  fame,  Mr.  Nelson,  of  the  Union  Iron-Works  at 
Carondelet,  and  Col.  Case,  formerly  of  the  Broadway 
line  of  omnibuses,  associated  themselves  together  for 
the  purpose  of  establishing  a  glass  manufactory  in  St. 
Louis.  The  enterprise  at  that  time,  as  all  other  new 
enterprises  always  are,  was  looked  upon  with  a  good 
deal  of  doubt  and  misgiving  as  to  its  success,  it  being 
regarded  more  in  the  light  of  an  experimental  adven- 
ture than  of  a  promising  enterprise.  In  this  instance 
the  unfavorable  anticipations  were  realized ;  the  ex- 
penses and  outlays  attending  the  enterprise  were 
much  greater  than  its  projectors  anticipated,  and 
Messrs.  Nelson  and  Case  soon  withdrew  from  the 
firm,  leaving  Mr.  Eads  to  manage  its  affairs.  With 
an  energy  and  spirit  undaunted  by  the  discourage- 
ments that  presented  themselves,  Mr.  Eads  prose- 
cuted the  business  until  he  involved  himself  in  a 
heavy  pecuniary  responsibility,  and  was  compelled  to 
abandon  the  undertaking.  Subsequently,  however, 
by  enterprise  in  other  directions,  he  liquidated  every 
dollar  of  the  indebtedness  he  had  incurred  in  at- 
tempting to  establish  and  develop  this  branch  of 
manufacturing  in  St.  Louis.  The  enterprise  was 
known  as  the  flint-glass  works.  On  the  failure  of 
Mr.  Eads,  the  works  passed  into  the  hands  of  Messrs. 
Hale  and  Seil,  who  transformed  them  into  green-glass 
works,  and  by  that  firm  they  were  conducted  for 
some  years.  After  passing  through  different  hands 
and  different  stages  of  litigation,  it  being  supposed 
that  Col.  Case  had  some  claim  upon  the  works,  an 
arrangement  was  made  by  which  James  Holmes  and 
Dr.  Taylor,  in  1853  or  1854,  succeeded  to  Case's  in- 
terest, and  re-started  them  as  flint-glass  works.  This 
firm  was  attended  by  the  same  bad  fortune  as  its 
predecessors,  and  finally  sold  them  to  Dr.  George  W. 
Scully.  Dr.  Scully  was  possessed  of  large  means  and 
good  credit,  and  sunk  in  the  enterprise  about  eighty- 
five  thousand  dollars  cash,  and  made  debts  to  the  ex- 


1282 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


tent  of  over  one  hundred  thousand  dollars.  On  his 
failure  the  enterprise  was  continued  by  his  principal 
creditors,  under  the  name  of  the  St.  Louis  Glass  Com- 
pany. Bonested  &  Co.  ran  the  works  as  green-glass 
and  flint-glass  works  up  to  1860  and  1861,  when  they 
leased  the  establishment  to  Joseph  Bagot  and  J.  K. 
Cummings,  who  conducted  it  altogether  as  flint-glass 
works. 

The  ground  on  which  the  works  were  built  had 
never  been  owned  by  any  of  the  different  firms,  but 
was  leased  of  the  Chambers,  Christy,  and  Wright  es- 
tates, but  in  1864,  Messrs.  Bagot  and  Cummings 
bought  the  ground  and  works  at  partition  sale  by  the 
sheriff.  The  back  rents  and  taxes  on  the  works  and 
ground  not  having  been  paid  up  for  several  years,  the 
whole  concern  was  involved  in  debt.  They  then 
bought  all  the  movable  property  from  the  parties  in- 
terested, and  became  sole  owners  in  fee-simple  of  the 
entire  establishment. 

From  this  time  better  fortune  attended  the  enter- 
prise, and  Messrs.  Bagot  and  Cummings  continued 
together  in  the  prosecution  of  the  business  until  the 
death  of  Mr.  Bagot  in  May,  1868.  Mr.  Cummings 
then  gave  bond  in  the  Probate  Court  in  the  sum  of 
forty  thousand  dollars,  and  as  surviving  partner  of  the 
firm  of  Bagot  &  Cummings  has  continued  the  busi- 
ness successfully  on  his  individual  responsibility  up  to 
the  present  time.  This,  in  brief,  is  a  history  of  the 
glass  manufactory  now  conducted  and  known  as  the 
St.  Louis  Glass- Works,  at  the  corner  of  Broadway  and 
Monroe  Streets,  and  to  John  K.  Cummings  is  due  the 
honor  of  having  established  the  first  successful  glass 
manufactory  in  St.  Louis. 

Mr.  Cummings  was  born  in  Coleraine,  County  Lon- 
donderry, Ireland,  and  was  raised  in  Belfast.  His 
mother  died  when  he  was  thirteen,  and  his  father  a 
year  later.  The  boy  had  received  the  rudiments  of 
an  education  in  the  schools  of  the  neighborhood,  but 
when  left  an  orphan  was  obliged  to  provide  for  him- 
self, and  led  a  varying  and  rather  precarious  life.  He 
was  apprenticed  to  a  tailor,  but  soon  gave  that  up ; 
worked  in  Edinburgh,  Scotland,  in  a  soda-water  fac- 
tory ;  acted  as  clerk  in  a  grocery  store  ;  and  worked  in 
a  wall-paper  factory  and  in  a  ginger-ale  factory  in  Bel- 
fast, but  remained  in  none  of  these  occupations  long, 
or  with  any  particular  encouragement.  His  career 
was  that  of  thousands  of  homeless  and  friendless 
boys.  There  seems  to  have  been  nobody  to  recognize 
his  capabilities,  or  to  offer  him  the  cheering  hand 
and  give  him  the  helpful  word. 

In  1854  he  emigrated  to  America,  landing  at  New 
Orleans  and  passing  up  the  river  to  St.  Louis.  He 
first  obtained  a  situation  in  one  of  the  packing-houses 


of  the  Ameses,  and  remained  there  about  a  year.  He 
then  secured  a  situation  in  the  factory  of  the  St.  Louis 
Glass- Works,  and  remained  there  many  years,  entering 
as  an  apprentice  to  the  glass-cutting  trade,  which  he 
soon  left  to  learn  the  glass-mould  making  trade.  His 
employer,  however,  thought  it  best  to  transfer  him 
from  the  "  bench"  to  positions  of  greater  responsi- 
bility, showing  the  estimation  in  which  he  was  held, 
and  allowing  him  to  obtain  a  thorough  knowledge  of 
the  business,  such  as  could  hardly  have  been  acquired 
in  any  other  way. 

When,  on  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  President 
Lincoln  made  the  first  call  for  troops,  Mr.  Cummings 
enlisted  as  a  private  soldier.  He  had  served  in  the 
"  Sarsfield  Guards,"  and  had  marched  to  the  Kansas 
border  on  the  Southwestern  expedition  under  Gen. 
Frost,  when  he  thought  his  State  was  threatened,  but 
had  soon  resigned  on  realizing  that  it  was  the  Union 
of  the  States  which  was  threatened  by  the  South.  He 
joined  the  Fifth  Regiment  United  States  Reserve  Corps 
as  a  private,  but  the  colonel  (Stifel)  soon  appointed 
him  adjutant  and  instructor,  or  drill-master.  This 
command  participated  in  the  early  military  operations 
along  the  Missouri  River,  joining  Gen.  Lyon  imme- 
diately after  the  battle  of  Boonville,  assisted  in  the 
construction  of  the  works  about  Lexington,  patroled 
the  river,  and  had  several  engagements  with  the 
enemy.  Subsequently  Mr.  Cummings  was  appointed 
lieutenant-colonel  of  the  Twentieth  Enrolled  Missouri 
Militia  by  Governor  Gamble. 

Notwithstanding  the  history  of  glass-making  in  St. 
Louis  had  been  that  of  an  unbroken  line  of  disastrous 
failures,  as  has  been  shown,  Mr.  Cummings,  ever  since 
his  first  experience  in  the  business,  although  merely 
a  subordinate,  entertained  a  firm  belief  that  the  in- 
dustry could  be  made  to  pay,  and  in  1861  formed  a 
partnership  with  Joseph  Bagot,  leased  the  St.  Louis 
Glass- Works  from  the  receiver  (afterwards  buying 
them  at  sheriff's  sale),  and  resumed  business  at  the 
old  place,  where  a  few  years  previously  the  friendless 
boy  had  worked  his  way  up  from  his  position  of  an 
apprentice. 

Mr.  Bagot  was  a  practical  man  from  the  East.  He 
had  managed  the  works  some  years  before,  and  was 
experienced  and  careful.  He  took  charge  of  the 
manufacturing  department,  and  in  addition  to  the  cus- 
tomary duties  of  the  position  made  the  vats  with  his 
own  hands.  Mr.  Cummings  managed  the  books  and 
financial  part  of  the  business,  attended  to  buying  and 
selling,  and  spent  no  inconsiderable  part  of  his  time 
going  about  town  and  drumming  up  trade.  Such 
energy  as  he  and  Bagot  exhibited  could  not  fail  of  its 
reward  ;  and  while  they  had  great  difficulties  to  sur- 


VJN'V 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1283 


mount,  it  soon  became  apparent  that  they  had  mastered 
the  secret  and  were  on  the  road  to  success.  The  busi- 
ness grew  apace,  and  when  Mr.  Bagot  died  in  1868 
the  value  of  the  establishment  was  rated  at  thirty-five 
.thousand  dollars,  and  it  was  one  of  the  recognized 
institutions  of  the  city.  The  joint  capital  of  the  two 
upon  starting  was  less  than  two  thousand  dollars. 

Mr.  Cummings  then  became  sole  proprietor,  and  as 
such   has   since  remained   in  charge   of  the    works, 
which  have  grown  from  the  scanty  two  thousand  dol- 
lars' capital  of  1861  to  a  capital  of  one  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars  in  1882,  with  yearly  sales  of  from  seventy- 
five    thousand    dollars  to   one  hundred   and   twenty 
:  thousand  dollars,   and  employing  one   hundred   and 
twenty  hands,  with  a  pay-roll  of  forty  thousand  dollars 
;  annually. 

To  John  K.  Cummings,  therefore,  unquestionably 
belongs  the  honor .  of  having  demonstrated  the  fact 
that  the  manufacture  of  glass  could  be  made  profitable 
in  St.  Louis.  It  was  he  who  showed  that  the  raw 
material  found  near  St.  Louis  in  limitless  quantities 
was  second  to  none  in  the  world,  and  put  upon  a  sure 
footing  an  industry  that  perhaps  above  any  other  de- 
mands skillful  and  careful  management. 

Mr.  Cummings  is  a  man  of  liberal  and  unselfish 
views,  and  there  has  been  no  jealous  hoarding  of  his 
secret.  His  experiences  in  his  business  have  been 
at  the  disposal  of  any  who  chose  to  avail  themselves 
of  them,  and  he  has  cheerfully  offered  advice  and 
given  pecuniary  assistance  to  others  who  have  been 
desirous  of  starting  new  works.  So,  also,  he  has 
been  a  foremost  advocate  of  every  measure  that  has 
promised  to  benefit  St.  Louis,  and  has  been  a  liberal 
supporter  even  when  the  financial  results  were  not 
promising.  Among  the  numerous  enterprises  which 
he  has  assisted  are  the  Illinois  and  St.  Louis  Railroad 
and  Coal  Company,  Cahokia  Ferry  Company,  Grain 
Association,  St.  Louis  French  Window-Glass  Com- 
pany, Merchants'  Exchange,  Butchers'  and  Drovers' 
Bank,  etc.  For  many  years  he  has  been  a  leading 
member  of  the  Citizens'  Committee,  whose  efforts  in 
behalf  of  municipal  and  legislative  reform  have  re- 
sulted in  so  much  permanent  good  to  St.  Louis. 

Mr.  Cummings'  excellent  business  qualities,  sound 
judgment,  and  exceptional  skill  have  won  the  re- 
spect of  all  who  have  come  in  contact  with  him,  but 
he  also  possesses  engaging  personal  qualities  that 
have  obtained  for  him  the  affection  of  all  who  know 
him  intimately.  He  is  especially  beloved  by  his  em- 
ployes, and  is  an  open-handed  dispenser  of  charity. 
In  private  life  he  is  the  quiet  and  unassuming  gen- 
tleman. 

About  1850,  Messrs.  Henry  T.  Blow,  Barksdale, 


and  others  commenced  in  St.  Louis  the  manufacture 
of  window-glass.  Their  works  were  erected  on  the 
Barksdale  grounds,  due  west  of  the  arsenal,  and  ad- 
joining the  Concordia  Park,  and  in  them  was  made 
the  best  window-glass  ever  manufactured  in  the  United 
States.  The  works,  however,  were  short-lived,  and 
the  public-spirited  citizens  who  started  them  soon 
lost  all  their  investments.  Their  failure  was  in  part 
owing  to  the  incompetency  of  the  workmen  they  had 
of  necessity  to  bring  from  the  glass-works  of  Pitts- 
burgh, Pa.,  and  other  glass-manufacturing  points. 
About  the  year  1854-55  these  works  were  leased  by 
James  Wallace  and  associates  and  converted  into 
flint-glass  works.  They  afterwards  formed  a  joint- 
stock  company  under  the  name  of  the  Missouri  Glass 
Company,  the  stock  being  mostly  held  by  such  pub- 
lic-spirited citizens  as  James  H.  Lucas,  Col.  John 
O'Fallon,  Archibald  Gamble,  and  Edward  Bredell, 
who  was  all  the  time  president  of  the  company. 
Edward  Dailey  was  secretary,  and  James  W.  Wal- 
lace factory  superintendent  and  manager.  This 
company  carried  on  an  extensive  but  unprofitable 
business,  and,  about  1859-60,  suspended  operations 
entirely.  The  company,  for  a  part  of  the  time, 
manufactured  green  glassware  as  well  as  flint.  After 
this  suspension  the  works  remained  idle  up  to 
1863,  when  they  were  leased  by  James  W.  Wallace 
&  Brother.  Shortly  afterward  a  gentleman  named 
Gate,  with  some  capital,  succeeded  to  the  business, 
and  associated  with  him  a  gentleman  named  La- 
salle,  from  some  one  of  the  numerous  glass-works  in 
the  New  England  States,  and  the  firm  became  Gate, 
Lasalle  &  Co.  In  a  short  time  Mr.  Gate  sold  his 
interest  to  a  man  named  Barry,  and  the  firm  became 
Barry,  Lasalle  &  Co.,  who  continued  the  business 
until  their  means  were  exhausted  and  they  were  com- 
pelled to  suspend  operations.  They  were  public- 
spirited,  energetic  men,  but  had  to  yield  to  the  ap- 
parent fatality  that  attended  all  the  glass-works  at- 
tempted in  the  city,  and  in  about  1865  or  1866  the 
works  were  sold  to  the  St.  Louis  Plow  Manufacturing 
Company,  composed  of  Messrs.  Barnum,  Markham, 
and  others,  who  dismantled  the  works,  selling  part  of 
the.  material  to  Messrs.  Bagot  &  Cummings,  but  the 
greater  bulk  to  Messrs.  Ford  &  Co.,  who  were  starting 
glass-works  at  New  Albany,  Ind.,  and  to  which  place 
it  was  removed,  occupying  nearly  an  entire  steamboat 
with  its  bulk. 

The  Western  Glass- Works  were  started  as  a  green- 
glass  bottle  manufactory,  on  the  corner  of  Emmet 
and  Columbus  Streets,  in  South  St.  Louis,  and  were 
commenced  in  1855  or  1856,  by  Messrs.  Lewis 
and  Harcum,  and  other  practical  glass-blowers  from 


1284 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Pittsburgh.  After  the  establishment  had  been  con- 
tinued a  short  time  under  the  management  of  Harcum 
&  Co.,  Felix  Bobe  and  Emil  Marks  joined  the  firm, 
and  subsequently  Justus  Snyder.  These  parties  met 
with  the  same  poor  success  that  attended  all  their 
predecessors,  and  the  works  were  sold  to  J.  B.  Good- 
hue,  who  carried  them  on  with  some  degree  of  success 
until  he  took  them  down  and  removed  them  to  the 
hill  north  of  Yaeger's  Garden.  Shortly  afterwards 
he  failed,  and  leased  them  to  a  party  of  glass-blowers 
from  Pittsburgh,  and  the  works  soon  after  burned 
down.  Mr.  Goodhue  for  some  time  had  a  small  con- 
cern on  the  ground,  in  which  he  tried  to  demonstrate 
the  feasibility  of  a  new  style  of  glass  furnace,  on 
which  he  had  obtained  letters  patent.  There  was 
also  another  small  establishment  started  by  William 
Gillender,  once  a  manager  for  Dr.  G.  W.  Scully,  of 
the  St.  Louis  Works.  This  establishment  was  lo- 
cated in  an  old  saw-mill  at  the  foot  of  Jefferson 
Street,  but  meeting  with  poor  success,  it  was  disman- 
tled and  torn  down  a  short  time  after  its  erection. 
Still  another  establishment  was  commenced  at  the 
corner  of  Chambers  and  Main  Streets,  by  Messrs. 
Pickup,  Collins  &  Walter,  practical  glass-makers,  in 
1865  or  1866.  A  limited  degree  of  success  attended 
this  firm  for  a  few  months,  when  they  sold  out  to 
Messrs.  Bagot  &  Cummings,  who  removed  the  works 
to  the  establishment  conducted  by  them. 

The  Mississippi  Glass  Company,  of  which  George 
D.  Humphreys  is  the  principal  proprietor,  has  works 
on  Angelica  Street  near  Second.  The  chief  products 
are  green  glassware,  such  as  pickle-jars,  fruit-jars, 
sauce-bottles,  etc.,  the  demand  for  which  is  very  large 
in  the  city.  The  company  have  enlarged  the  works 
to  enable  them  to  meet  the  demands  for  the  wares 
which  are  produced.  There  are  about  one  hundred 
and  twenty  persons  employed  in  the  establishment. 
The  sand  used  comes  from  Franklin,  and  the  soda 
ash  is  imported  from  England.  The  lead  used  is 
obtained  in  St.  Louis.  This  company  does  not  at- 
tempt to  make  clear  glassware.  The  demand  for 
the  products  of  the  factory  is  very  large.  It  was  es- 
tablished about  1872. 

The  Union  Glass  Manufactory,  Nicholas  Schaeffer 
president,  located  on  the  corner  of  Anna  and  De 
Kalb  Streets,  is  a  French  establishment ;  that  is  to 
say,  the  superintendent,  foreman,  and  workmen  are  all 
French,  and  the  products  of  the  factory  are  equal  in  j 
every  respect  to  the  best  French  wares.  The  window 
glass  manufactured  at  this  establishment  is  equal  to 
that  made  anywhere.  This  company  is  doing  a  large 
business,  receiving  orders  from  distant  places.  The 
works  have  only  been  in  operation  about  ten  years, 


and  have  been  successful  from  the  beginning.  Em- 
ployment is  afforded  for  several  hundred  persons  in 
consequence  of  the  erection  of  these  works,  and  some 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  are  annually  added 
to  the  wealth  of  the  city. 

The  most  important  enterprise  of  the  kind  in  the 
West,  perhaps  in  America,  is  the  Crystal  City  Plate- 
Glass  Works  at  Platin  Rock,  about  thirty  miles  south 
of  St.  Louis.  This  is  an  enterprise  of  great  magni- 
tude, requiring  an  outlay  of  several  hundred  thousand 
dollars  to  complete  the  works  alone.  They  were 
finished  in  1875,  by  their  then  principal  owner,  Eben 
Ward,  of  Detroit,  Mich.  Experiments  made  with 
the  sand  of  Platin  show  that  it  has  all  the  requisite 
qualities  for  a  plate-glass  element,  and  all  the  ma- 
terials necessary  except  soda  are  obtainable  in  St. 
Louis.  The  Crystal  City  Works  have  attracted  the 
attention  of  glass-makers  not  only  in  this  country  but 
in  Europe  also. 

FIRE-BRICK  AND  POTTERY. — Tradition  places  the 
discovery  of  fire-clay  at  a  period  far  antedating  the 
incorporation  of  St.  Louis,  and  the  existence  of  vast 
beds  of  fire-clay,  underlying  almost  the  entire  city 
and  surrounding  country,  has  always  been  popularly 
believed.  The  first  record  we  have  of  the  manufac- 
ture of  pottery  in  St.  Louis  is  dated  April  20,  1816. 
At  this  time  George  W.  Ferguson  gave  notice  through 
the  columns  of  the  Missouri  Gazette  "  that  he  has 
commenced  the  manufacture  of  earthenware  in  St. 
Louis,"  and  "  pledges  himself  that  it  shall  be  as  du- 
rable as  any  brought  on  here,  and  sold  on  more  mod- 
erate terms."  He  also  informed  the  public  that  he 
kept  on  hand  "  a  large  assortment  of  vessels  of  every 
description,"  which  he  sold  "  by  wholesale  or  retail." 

We  have  no  means  of  ascertaining  whether  this 
new  enterprise  succeeded  at  this  early  period  in  St. 
Louis,  but  in  the  next  year,  on  August  23d,  "  Chris- 
tian Smith,  near  Mr.  Neal's  tin  and  copper  manufac- 
tory, on  the  street  leading  from  Matthew  Kerr's  store 
to  Shope's  tavern,  informed  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis 
and  surrounding  counties  that  he  had  on  hand,  and 
would  always  "  be  supplied  from  his  kiln,  the  best 
milk-pots,  dishes,  crocks,"  etc. 

The  successful  manufacture  of  fire-brick  and  pot- 
tery in  St.  Louis  is  perhaps  due  to  the  French  com- 
munity that,  thirty-five  years  ago  and  more,  peopled 
Cheltenham,  now  a  thriving  suburban  manufacturing 
settlement.  The  discovery  and  development  of  these 
fire-clay  mines  were  reserved,  however,  for  the  period 
immediately  prior  to  the  civil  war. 

After  the  cessation  of  strife  the  interest  rapidly 
developed  until  now  there  are  six  very  large  estab- 
lishments in  the  suburbs,  with  extensive  commercial 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND  MANUFACTURES. 


1285 


connections,  and  the  manufacturers  and  dealers  number 
twelve,  representing  large  capital  and  a  considerable  ex- 
port demand.  Drain  and  other  tiling,  gas  retorts, 
blast-furnace  and  cupola  linings,  fire-brick,  Bessemer 
tuyeres,  and  other  articles  form  the  chief  manufac- 
turing product  of  these  establishments,  one  of  which 
also  supplies  the  glass  manufactories  extensively  with 
"Jwashed  clay,"  or  purified  clay.  Indeed,  St.  Louis 
supplies  America  with  this  through  a  Pittsburgh 
house. 

In  the  spring  of  1873,  however,  the  fact  that  a  pe- 
culiar character  of  fire-clay  could  be  so  burned  as  to  be 
utilized  for  street  pavements  was  discovered  by  George 
Sattler,  the  owner  of  some  mining  property  on  the 
Columbia  Bottom  road,  ten  miles  north  of  the  bridge, 
but  still  within  the  city  limits.  For  some  years  his 
assertion  was  ridiculed,  but  ultimately,  encouraged  by 
President  Flad,  of  the  Board  of  Public  Improvements, 
Professors  Smith  and  Potter,  of  Washington  Univer- 
sity, William  Glasgow,  Jr.,  and  other  experts,  some 
experiments  were  made  under  official  authority,  and 
pavements  of  this  material  were  laid  where  street 
traffic  was  heaviest.  This  has  resulted  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  company  by  a  hundred  leading  capital- 
ists, and  the  whole  extent  of  the  mine — sixty-three 
acres  of  river  bluffs — is  to  be  utilized  in  the  produc- 
tion of  this  new  pavement  material,  which  after  long 
use  shows  wear  scarcely  more  than  granite,  and  is 
much  cheaper.  The  development  of  this  new  in- 
dustry upon  so  extensive  a  scale  will  add  largely  to 
the  fire-clay  interest  of  St.  Louis. 

The  larger  working  potteries  of  St.  Louis  number 
six  in  all,  and  their  ware  is  everywhere  accorded  the 
character  of  artistic  form  and  substantial  manufacture. 
This  interest,  too,  has  very  largely  developed  from  its 
comparatively  insignificant  beginning  as  such  in 
1834.  At  that  time  moulds  and  vessels  were  of  very 
primitive  design,  and  workmanship  scarcely  rivaling 
in  finish  the  efforts  of  the  mound-builders.  Indeed, 
some  of  the  discoveries  of  work  of  this  character  at- 
tributed to  this  early  race  excel  in  form  and  finish  the 
samples  represented  as  the  product  of  the  manufac- 
turers of  half  a  century  ago.  The  export  of  St. 
Louis  manufactured  pottery  is  constantly  on  the  in- 
crease. 

CHINA,  QUEENSWARE,  ETC.  —  There  are  over 
twenty  houses  in  St.  Louis  engaged  in  the  wholesale 
china,  glass,  and  queensware  trade,  and  the  total  sales  in 
1881  amounted  to  two  million  seven  hundred  and  ninety 
thousand  dollars.  The  importations  of  china  during  the 
same  year  aggregated  in  value  two  hundred  thousand 
dollars.  .  Among  the  most  active  and  enterprising 
men  in  this  line  of  business  in  St.  Louis  is  Henry 
82 


Westermann.  Mr.  Westermann  was  born  near  the 
historic  town  of  Minden,  Prussia,  July  2,  1832.  His 
family  was  in  very  moderate  circumstances,  and  in 
1839  his  father  came  to  America  to  better  his  condi- 
tion, and  settled  in  St.  Louis.  In  1842  his  family 
followed  him,  and  Henry  attended  the  school  of  the 
Lutheran  Church,  and  later  Munday's  Academy,  an 
institute  of  some  repute  in  those  days.  When  he  had 
acquired  sufficient  knowledge  of  English  and  his  age 
permitted,  he  worked  during  the  daytime  and  spent 


the  evenings  in  study.  The  needs  of  the  family  ren- 
dered it  desirable  that  he  should  labor  at  an  early  age, 
and  about  1845  he  was  employed  to  set  up  type  in 
the  St.  Louis  Type  Foundry,  then  operated  by  Ladew 
&  Co.,  at  Locust  and  Second  Streets,  continuing,  how- 
ever, to  attend  school  whenever  opportunity  per- 
mitted. He  was  next  employed  at  Barnuni's  Hotel, 
located  at  Third  and  Vine  Streets,  which  was  then 
the  largest  hotel  in  the  city.  Barnum  &  Moreland 
were  the  proprietors,  and  among  those  connected  with 
the  establishment  was  the  well-known  Josiah  Fogg. 
Young  Westermann  worked  here  in  several  capacities 
for  a  year  or  two,  and  was  finally  made  assistant  bar- 
keeper. 

In  1849  he  obtained  a  position  in  the  crockery 
establishment  of  R.  H.  Miller  &  Co.,  on  Main  Street 
near  Pine,  beginning  as  a  store-boy  and  working  his 


1286 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


way  up  to  the  position  of  salesman.  He  was  apt  at 
learning  the  business,  and  being  a  German,  was  very 
useful  in  the  firm's  dealings  with  customers  of  that 
nationality. 

Having  saved  a  little  money  he,  at  the  age  of  twenty 
or  twenty-one,  established  a  retail  grocery  store  on 
Biddle  Street,  between  Ninth  and  Tenth,  but  soon  re- 
turned to  the  crockery  business,  and  was  employed 
for  a  few  years  by  the  firm  of  Heinecke  &  Estell. 
Then,  in  February,  1855,  he  opened  for  himself  a  re- 
tail queensware  and  china  store  on  Franklin  Avenue 
near  Sixth  Street.  In  the  latter  part  of  that  year  a 
fire,  originating  in  a  neighboring  building,  destroyed 
his  establishment,  and  in  January,  1856,  he  resumed 
the  same  business  on  Franklin  Avenue  near  Fourth 
Street,  where  he  prospered  to  such  an  extent  that  he 
was  enabled  to  establish  an  additional  store  on  Broad- 
way. In  1857  he  admitted  E.  F.  W.  Meier  as  a 
partner,  who  assumed  charge  of  the  Broadway  store, 
while  Mr.  Westermann  managed  the  Franklin  Avenue 
concern.  In  the  following  year  (1858)  the  Broadway 
store  was  removed  to  Main  Street,  where  the  firm  of 
Westermann  &  Meier  transacted  business  for  twenty- 
three  years.  The  Franklin  Avenue  store  was  even- 
tually sold,  and  the  firm  concentrated  their  energies 
on  the  Main  Street  establishment,  and  built  up  a  j 
business  probably  second  to  none  in  their  line  in  St. 
Louis.  Meanwhile  the  firm  had  become  interested  in 
a  branch  establishment  at  500  North  Main  Street, 
and  when,  in  July,  1880,  the  partnership  was  dis- 
solved, Mr.  Westermann  retained  the  latter  business, 
and  continued  to  manage  it  under  the  style  of  Henry 
Westermann  &  Co.  until  Jan.  1,  1883,  when  he  re- 
moved to  the  large  and  commodious  building  at  608 
Washington  Avenue,  opposite  the  Lindell  Hotel,  the 
whole  of  which  he  occupies.  The  firm  is  a  heavy  im- 
porter of  earthenware,  china  and  glassware,  etc.,  most 
of  its  invoices  coming  by  way  of  New  Orleans  up  the 
great  river  route,  and  its  trade  extends  to  the  West, 
Northwest,  South,  and  Southwest.  It  is  now  the 
oldest  wholesale  china,  glass,  and  queensware  house 
in  St.  Louis,  and  has  maintained  its  leading  position 
through  several  panics,  owing,  no  doubt,  to  the  emi- 
nent conservatism  and  integrity  of  its  founder,  Henry 
Westermann. 

On  the  8th  of  January,  1857,  Mr.  Westermann 
married  Caroline  Augusta  Wenkel,  a  German  lady  of 
St.  Louis,  who  has  proved  herself  a  useful  assistant 
in  the  domestic  sphere.  Several  children  have  blessed 
the  union,  of  whom  William  H.  and  Alfred  Oscar 
are  associated  with  their  father  in  business,  for  which 
they  have  displayed  a  special  aptitude.  From  child- 
hood Mr.  Westermann  has  been  a  member  of  the 


Lutheran  Church,  and  for  many  years  has  been  trustee 
of  the  church  of  that  denomination  at  Sixteenth  and 
Morgan  Streets.  He  also  served  as  treasurer  of  the 
congregation  while  the  present  edifice  was  being  built. 
Mr.  Westermann  is  a  member  of  no  secret  or  other 
societies,  regarding  home  and  church  as  sufficient  to 
satisfy  the  reasonable  aspirations  of  any  man.  In 
every  relation  of  life  he  is  the  unobtrusive  and  es- 
teemed citizen,  and  enjoys  the  unbounded  respect  of 
all  who  know  him. 

BRICK-  AND  TILE-WORKS. — The  first  bricklayer 
who  regularly  followed  his  vocation  in  St.  Louis  is 
said  to  have  been  John  Lee.  Pierre  Berthold,  Sr., 
says  Edwards'  "  Great  West,"1  "  saw  him  in  Marietta, 
in  Ohio,  and  persuaded  him  to  accompany  him  to  St. 
Louis  and  carry  on  his  business.  Lee  consented,  and 
the  first  brick  house  that  was  erected  was  of  the  brick 
he  manufactured.  The  house  was  built  on  Main 
Street,  between  Chestnut  and  Market  Streets,  and  was 
built  for  Berthold  &  Chouteau.  There  have  been 
many  disputes  concerning  who  owned  the  first  brick 
house  in  St.  Louis,  and  as  we  have  given  much  at- 
tention to  the  matter,  we  are  prepared  to  give  authen- 
tic information.  Christian  Wilt  owned  the  second, 
Judge  Carr  the  third,  Manuel  Lisa  the  fourth,  and 
John  Smith  the  fifth.  Mr.  John  Lee,  the  first  brick- 
layer who  came  to  St.  Louis,  for  some  years  had  a 
monopoly  in  his  business.  He  raised  a  large  family, 
and  some  of  his  grandchildren  have  intermarried 
with  some  of  the  princely  merchants  of  St.  Louis." 
On  the  12th  of  October,  1811,  Samuel  Bridge  adver- 
tised that  he  would  "  sell  very  low  a  quantity  of 
brick,  viz.,  at  three  dollars  per  thousand  as  they  came 
to  hand,  or  six  dollars  if  picked,"  which  might  be 
seen  "  at  the  margin  of  the  creek  at  the  south  end  of 
the  town."  For  further  particulars  persons  were  re- 
ferred to  Mr.  Charless,  who  was  authorized  to  sell. 
April  17,  1818,  John  Dobbs  and  Samuel  I.  Carman 
announced  that  they  had  entered  into  partnership  in 
the  bricklaying  business,  and  were  "  ready  to  make 
contracts  for  the  building  of  houses  in  a  workmanlike 
manner  and  of  the  best  material  that  St.  Louis  af- 
fords." On  the  4th  of  September  of  this  year  the 
Missouri  Gazette,  speaking  of  the  building  operations 
in  the  town,  remarked, — 

"  A  gentleman  informs  us  that  before  the  winter 
sets  in  there  will  be  near  3,000,000  of  brick  laid  in 
this  town  since  the  1st  of  April  last,  and  he  believes, 
from  a  general  acquaintance  with  the  citizens,  that 
double  that  quantity  would  be  laid  this  season  if  ma- 
terials and  workmen  could  be  obtained  on  moderate 


1  Pages  593-94. 


TKADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1287 


terms.  Common  laborers  are  much  wanted  ;  none  can 
be  had  for  less  than  $1.50  per  day  for  the  season 
through.  A  few  laborers  from  the  eastward  have 
been  enabled  to  secure  to  themselves  160  acres  of 
land  each  by  their  labor  this  season."1 

In  1830  "  numerous  brick-yards  had  been  estab- 
lished in  the  lower  part  of  the  city,  and  brick  build- 
ings had  become  the  fashion  of  the  day."2  In  1881 
the  business  had  grown  to  such  proportions  that  forty- 
five  establishments  were  engaged  in  the  manufacture 
of  fire-brick,  building  brick,  and  tile,  giving  employ- 
ment to  over  one  thousand  men  and  boys,  and  trans- 
acting a  business  of  over  seven  hundred  thousand 
dollars. 

Coal. — With  the  exception  of  Pittsburgh,  there  is 
no  large  city  in  the  country  which  has  better  facili- 
ties for  procuring  cheap  coal  than  St.  Louis.  The 
coal  measures  of  Missouri  and  Illinois,  from  which 
the  city  draws  part  of  her  supply,  are  extensive  and 
peculiarly  rich.3 

Those  of  Missouri  outcrop  from  the  mouth  of  the 
Des  Moines  to  the  Indian  Territory,  while  those  of 
Illinois  underlie  nearly  the  whole  State.  From  these 
sources  as  well  as  from  Pittsburgh  comes  the  immense 
quantity  of  coal  annually  consumed  in  the  city.4 

In  the  early  days  of  the  city's  history  the  inhabi- 
tants of  St.  Louis  did  not  know  or  failed  to  appreciate 
their  own  resources  and  their  extent.  The  coal-fields 
accessible  to  the  city  were  underestimated  and  dis- 
guised. For  many  years  it  was  thought  that  their 
products  were  not  suited  to  the  manufacture  of  iron, 
and  metal,  and  coal  also,  were  brought  from  Pitts- 
burgh and  Johnstown,  and  iron  from  Lake  Michigan, 
to  supply  the  foundries  and  forges  of  the  city.  All 
this  has  been  changed.  Not  that  the  extent  and  value 


1  In  November,  1817,  the  wages  paid  and  the  cost  of  living 
were  set  down  as  follows : 

"  Bricklayers,  masons,  and  carpenters,  per  day,  $3.00;  mak- 
ing common  shoes  (each),  everything  found,  $1.00;  all  other 
mechanical  labor  in  proportion ;  white  laborers  $1.50  per  day; 
negro  laborers  from  $18  to  $25  per  month ;  female  slaves  hire 
out  at  from  s.J  to  $15  per  month;  house-rent  from  $10  to  $100 
per  month  ;  beef  from  4  to  8  cents  per  pound ;  pork,  same ;  veal 
from  8  to  10  cents  per  pound  ;  mutton,  same;  butter  25  to  37J 
cents  per  pound;  fowls  25  cents  per  piece;  flour  $10  per  barrel  ; 
corn  meal  $1  per  bushel ;  Orleans  clayed  sugar  from  33  to  37i 
cents  per  pound;  loaf  sugar  62i  cents  per  pound;  coffee  50 
cents  per  pound ;  all  the  necessaries  of  life  in  the  same  propor- 
tion." 

*  Edwards'  Great  West,  p.  340. 

8  On  the  27th  of  September,  1817,  Charles  Busron  advertised 
that  he  would  "give  twenty-five  cents  per  bushel  for  as  much 
as  one  thousand  bushels  of  stone  coal." 

*  In  1846  a  joint-stock  company,  with  a  capital  of  ten  thou- 
sand dollars,  was  started  in  St.  Louis  for  increasing  the  supply 
of  coal. 


of  the  coal  and  iron  deposits  were  not  known,  but  their 
cheapness  and  adaptability  to  one  another  were  not 
understood,  and  thus  there  was  a  retardation  of  devel- 
opment. The  value  of  the  coal  convenient  to  St.  Louis 
and  the  extent  of  the  deposits  have  been  greatly  en- 
hanced during  the  past  few  years  by  further  explo- 
rations. In  1855,  Professor  Swallow  estimated  the 
good  available  coal  of  Missouri  at  134,000,000,000 
tons.  He  now  finds  his  estimate  very  far  within  the 
mark.  Professor  Hitchcock,  in  1870-71,  estimated 
the  coal  measures  of  Missouri  at  27,000  square  miles, 
Kansas  17,000  square  miles,  Arkansas  12,000  square 
miles,  2000  feet  thick,  twenty  beds  from  six  inches  to 
six  feet  in  thickness.  The  Illinois  basin  has  51,700 
square  miles,  from  600  to  2500  feet  thick,  ten  beds, 
aggregate  thickness  thirty-five  feet.  The  Indian  Ter- 
ritory basin  is  13,600  square  miles,  and  the  Texas 
basin  104,600  square  miles. 

The  coal-mines  of  Missouri  are  usually  easily 
worked,  and  require  no  deep  shafts  or  expensive  ma- 
chinery for  hoisting  or  drainage.  They  underlie  the 
greater  portion  of  the  finest  agricultural  sections,  not 
only  of  the  State,  but  of  as  productive  a  region  as  is 
on  the  continent.  Coal  of  good  quality  can  be  pur- 
chased at  the  mines  so  cheaply  that  even  where  far- 
mers have  timber  in  abundance  near  at  hand  they 
prefer  to  burn  coal  rather  than  cut  and  haul  wood  a 
short  distance.  The  coal  area  covers  considerably 
more  than  one-half  of  the  State,  and  active  and  syste- 
matic mining  has  opened  the  beds  in  more  than  a 
thousand  places  along  the  railroads  and  near  the 
towns.  There  need  never  be  any  fear  of  a  scarcity 
of  fuel  in  Missouri,  and  the  condition  of  the  farmer 
here  may  in  this  respect  be  considered  blessed  far 
above  that  of  those  located  in  many  portions  of  the 
Northwest  and  farther  West,  where  buffalo  chips, 
cornstalks,  and  twisted  hay  are  all  they  can  afford  to 
temper  the  cold  of  more  rigorous  winters  than  are 
ever  experienced  near  St.  Louis. 

According  to  the  census  of  1870,  the  following  were 
the  statistics  of  the  coal  industry  of  St.  Louis  at  that 
time:  9  establishments;  1183  hands;  $1,790,000 
capital ;  $904,000  wages  ;  $302,180  materials  ;  444,- 
642  tons  of  products,  valued  at  $1,473,000,  equal  to 
$3.31  per  ton.  The  receipts  of  coal  in  1881  aggre- 
gated 44,720,175  bushels,  and  of  coke  12,860,700 
bushels. 

Drugs  and  Chemicals. — The  establishment  of  the 
drug  business  as  distinct  from  the  practice  of  medi- 
cine dates  back  to  an  early  period  in  the  history  of 
St.  Louis.  Originally  the  only  "apothecary-shop" 
known  to  the  frontier  settlements  was  the  saddle-bags 
of  the  traveling  practitioner,  but  in  January,  1812, 


1288 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Farrar  &  Charless  conducted  a  drug-store  "  adjoining 
the  printing-office,"  and  on  the  18th  of  the  month  an- 
nounced that  they  would  have  "  a  fresh  supply  in  the 
spring."  1 

Prior  to  this  Dr.  B.  Gr.  Farrar's  card  had  appeared 
in  the  Gazette  (May  24,  1809),  announcing  that  he 
might  be  found  at  Robidoux's  house  on  Second  Street, 
and  in  the  same  issue  of  the  paper  it  was  stated  that 
Dr.  Saugrain  had  the  first  vaccine  matter  used  in  St. 
Louis.  On  the  10th  of  May,  1812,  Farrar  &  Char- 
less  gave  notice  that  they  had  dissolved  partnership, 
Mr.  Charless  continuing  alone  at  the  old  stand,  and 
on  the  18th  of  July  following  it  was  announced  that 
Dr.  B.  Farrar  had  established  a  drug  store  below  Major 
Christy's  tavern,  next  to  Daugin's  silversmith-shop. 
During  the  same  month  (July  26th)  appeared  the 
professional  card  of  Dr.  R.  Simpson,  whose  office  was 
located  on  Second  Street,  "  adjoining  Manuel  Lisa." 
Dr.  Simpson  also  engaged  in  the  drug  business,  and 
about  this  time  there  is  frequent  mention  of  "  Simp- 
son's store."  Oct.  1,  1812,  Drs.  Farrar  and  Walker 
associated  themselves  in  the  practice  of  medicine  and 
established  a  drug  store,  which  on  the  10th  of  April, 
1813,  was  removed  to  Mrs.  Chouteau's  house,  "  oppo- 
site Lisa's  new  brick."  September  llth  of  the  same 
year  Dr.  Simpson  removed  his  drug  store  to  the  for- 
mer stand  of  Farrar  &  Walker,  Block  5,  and  Sept. 
16, 1815,  Farrar  &  Walker  "  removed  their  medicine- 
shop  to  Main  Street,  opposite  R.  Paul's,"  Block  30. 

On  the  1st  of  October,  1815,  it  was  announced 
that  Simpson  &  Quarles  had  formed  a  copartnership 
for  conducting  the  drug  and  medicine  business  "  in 
Simpson's  old  stand,"  and  on  the  4th  of  January 
that  they  had  removed  to  Block  36.  June  19, 1818, 
notice  was  given  that  Dr.  A.  Nelson  had  purchased 
the  drug  business  of  Simpson  &  Quarles,  and  Feb. 
10,  1819,  that  Nelson  &  Hoffman  had  established  a 
drug  store  "  in  Simpson's  new  brick,  opposite  the 


1  "  Patent  medicines"  would  seetn  to  have  formed  an  im- 
portant part  of  the  druggist's  stock  even  at  that  day,  for  on  the 
31st  of  August,  1808,  we  find  the  following  curious  advertise- 
ment in  the  Missouri  Gazette  : 

"  Aaron  Elliot  &  Son  offer  for  sale  at  Ste.  Genevieve  a  num- 
ber of  patent  medicines,  among  which  are  Church's  Cough 
Drops,  Turlington's  Balsam  of  Life,  Bateman's  Drops,  British 
Oil,  Steer's  Opodeldoc,  Hill's  Balsam  of  Honey,  Godfrey's 
Cordial,  essence  of  peppermint,  Lee's  New  London  Bilious 
Pills,  by  the  gross  or  less  quantity,  Anderson's  Pills,  Hooper's 
Female  Pills,  Liquid  True  Blue,  Maccaboy  and  Cephalick 
snuff,  chemical  fire-boxes,  one  of  the  best  inventions  in  the 
world  for  travelers ;  also  stationery,  blank  books  of  various 
sizes,  children's  spelling-books,  common  writing  and  letter 
paper,  Dutch  quills,  sealing-wax,  wafers,  a  few  steel  spring 
truffles,  thumb  lancets,  spring  lancet?,  gum  lancets,  green 
goggles,  etc." 


post-office."  At  the  same  time  (February  10th)  Tuttle 
&  Teller  were  conducting  the  drug  and  medicine  busi- 
ness at  the  "  new  brick  at  the  lower  end  of  Main 
Street,  below  the  Collet  double-brick."  April  7, 
1819,  the  removal  was  announced  of  Renshaw  & 
Hoffman  to  "  next  door  north,  lately  Dent  &  Rearick, 
large  warehouse  in  rear,"  and  on  the  21st  of  the  same 
month  the  removal  of  the  drug  and  medicine  store  of 
Nelson  &  Hoffman  to  the  "  late  stand  of  Renshaw 
&  Hoffman." 

The  pioneer  house  in  the  wholesale  drug  trade  was 
that  of  Joseph  Charless  &  Son,  which  afterwards 
became  Charless  &  Blow.  Their  business  expanded 
to  large  proportions,  and  in  course  of  time  a  number  of 
firms  established  themselves  in  the  trade,  which  is  now 
one  of  the  most  important  industries  in  St.  Louis. 
In  1881  there  were  fifteen  firms  engaged  in  the  man- 
ufacture of  drugs  and  chemicals,  with  a  capital  of 
$969,000  invested,  giving  employment  to  three  hun- 
dred hands,  to  whom  they  paid  annually  $124,000  in 
wages,  and  transacting  a  business  of  $1,200,000. 
During  the  same  year  there  were  seven  wholesale  drug- 
gists in  St.  Louis,  and  their  combined  sales  aggregated 
nearly  87,000,000.  There  were  also  two  hundred  and 
eight  retail  druggists,  whose  sales  amounted  to  between 
$9,000,000  and  $10,000,000. 

One  of  the  best-known  firms  engaged  in  the  whole- 
sale drug  business  west  of  the  Mississippi  is  that  of 
Richardson  &  Co.,  the  senior  member  of  which  is 
James  Richardson,  a  sketch  of  whom  will  be  found 
elsewhere  in  this  work  in  the  history  of  the  Public 
School  Library. 

Of  the  druggists  of  St.  Louis,  none  is  more  widely 
or  more  favorably  known  than  Jacob  Spencer  Merrell. 
Mr.  Merrell  was  born  at  Westmoreland,  Oneida  Co., 
N.  Y.,  Feb.  5,  1827.  His  father,  Jacob  Merrell,  was 
a  direct  descendant  of  the  Jacob  Merrell  who  came 
from  England  to  New  England  with  the  original 
Hartford  colony.  His  mother  (the  father's  second 
wife),  Sylvia  Spencer,  was  also  of  English  extraction, 
and  was  a  descendant  of  an  early  New  England  family. 

Being  the  eldest  son,  Jacob  S.  was  required  from 
his  earliest  recollection  to  assist  on  the  farm  during 
the  summer,  but  in  winter  was  sent  to  the  district 
school.  In  early  boyhood  he  manifested  the  habits 
of  industry  and  economy  that  have  since  characterized 
his  life,  and  have  given  him  a  front  rank  among  the 
merchants  and  manufacturers  of  the  West. 

In  the  spring  of  1842,  when  but  fifteen  years  old, 
young  Merrell  concluded  that  a  farm  of  one  hundred 
acres,  with  a  large  family  to  share  its  products,  did 
not  afford  a  sufficiently  promising  field  for  his  labors, 
yet  he  freely  recognized  the  claims  of  his  father  upon 


~ 
^V 

«NW* 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1289 


him,  and  not  wishing  to  deprive  him  of  services  that 
legally  and  properly  belonged  to  him,  he  "  bought  his 
time"  of  his  father  for  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars, 
and  the  clothes  he  then  had  for  thirty  dollars  more. 
Of  this  amount  he  paid  sixty  dollars  in  cash,  the 
fruits  of  his  own  economy  and  industry. 

His  first  employment  after  consummating  this 
arrangement  was  driving  upon  the  Erie  Canal,  his 
wages  being  nine  dollars  per  month.  When  the  canal 
closed  in  the  fall,  he  returned  home  and  worked  for 
his  board  during  the  winter,  enjoying  for  the  last  time 
the  only  school  advantages  he  ever  received. 

In  the  following  April  he  obtained  employment  in 
a  country  store  at  Oneida  Lake,  but  in  July  his  em- 
ployer failed,  and  he  again  returned  home  and  worked 
for  his  father  during  haying  and  harvesting,  after 
which  he  started  with  ten  dollars  in  his  pocket,  worked 
his  passage  on  the  Erie  Canal  to  Buffalo,  and  from 
thence  took  deck  passage  to  Toledo,  where,  having 
failed  to  obtain  employment  that  had  been  promised 
him,  he  engaged  to  cut  cordwood  in  the  oak  forests 
at  a  point  where  for  many  years  past  the  Toledo  High 
School  has  been  located. 

During  the  following  spring  he  went  to  Lexington, 
Ky.,  where  he  was  employed  by  his  uncle  in  the 
grocery  business,  at  ten  dollars  per  month.  This  oc- 
cupation, however,  did  not  satisfy  his  restless  energies, 
and  in  the  following  January  he  hired  a  horse  and 
went  into  the  mountains  of  Kentucky  to  buy  furs. 
For  several  months  he  traversed  the  head-waters  of 
the  Kentucky,  Cumberland,  and  Licking  Rivers.  In 
May,  while  in  Cincinnati,  whither  he  had  gone  to 
market  his  furs,  he  noticed  an  advertisement  of  a  little 
drug-mill  on  "  Western  Row"  for  sale  or  for  rent. 
He  purchased  the  establishment,  chiefly  on  credit, 
and  at  the  age  of  eighteen  commenced  his  business 
career. 

In  spite  of  many  difficulties  the  enterprise  pros- 
pered under  his  vigorous  and  judicious  management, 
and  five  years  later,  as  we  learn  from  a  volume  enti- 
tled "  Sketches  and  Statistics  of  Cincinnati,"  he  em- 
ployed ten  hands,  had  a  thirty  horse-power  engine, 
and  manufactured  thirty  thousand  dollars'  worth  of 
goods  yearly,  with  a  business  rapidly  growing  and 
certain  ultimately  of  becoming  one  of  extensive  op- 
erations. 

In  1848,  Mr.  Merrell  returned  to  his  native  place, 
and  on  the  20th  of  September  was  married  to  Kate 
Jeannette  Kellogg,  daughter  of  Deacon  Warren  Kel- 
logg, of  Westmoreland.  The  success  which  has  ever 
attended  Mr.  Merrell  must  in  no  small  degree  be  at- 
tributed to  the  assistance  of  his  faithful  wife. 

Early  in  1853,  Mr.  Merrell  concluded  that  St.  Louis 


offered  a  more  promising  field  for  his  business  than 
Cincinnati,  and  having  purchased  property  on  St. 
Charles  Street,  between  Fifth  and  Sixth  Streets,  he 
sold  his  Cincinnati  business,  and  on  the  same  day  es- 
tablished himself  in  St.  Louis. 

The  progress  of  his  business  has  been  uninter- 
rupted to  the  present  day,  except  in  1857,  when  by 
a  disastrous  fire  he  lost  twenty-eight  thousand  dol- 
lars, his  insurance  being  only  four  thousand  dollars. 
Though  the  oldest  wholesale  druggist  in  St.  Louis,  he 
has  never  failed  in  business  and  has  never  compro- 
mised with  his  creditors.  Upon  the  occasion  of  the 
loss  by  fire,  some  friendly  creditors  urged  him  to  make 
a  settlement  at  fifty  cents  on  the  dollar,  but  he  stead- 
fastly refused,  preferring  to  make  the  attempt  to  pay 
in  full,  in  which  he  succeeded. 

The  employment  of  his  spare  time  in  reading,  added 
to  a  quick  perception,  a  retentive  memory,  and  care- 
fully-acquired habits  of  practical  thought,  have  enabled 
Mr.  Merrell  to  greatly  remedy  the  want  of  early  educa- 
tion, and  have  secured  him  a  fund  of  knowledge  such 
as  few  business  men  possess.  He  is  not  only  a  mer- 
chant, but  is  a  pharmaceutist,  a  chemist,  and  a  physi- 
cian, and  his  knowledge  of  these  sciences  has  enabled 
him  to  devise  many  new  remedies  previously  unknown, 
but  now  deemed  almost  indispensable  by  the  medical 
profession.  His  knowledge  of  medicine  has  induced 
many  to  seek  his  advice,  and  for  many  years  he  has 
had  quite  an  extensive  office  practice  among  friends 
and  others,  many  of  whom  had  failed  to  obtain  relief 
from  regular  practitioners.  To  multitudes  of  such  he 
has  rendered  gratuitous  service. 

Dr.  Merrell  is  the  president  and  one  of  the  founders 
of  the  American  Medical  College,  in  St.  Louis. 

Though  an  active  member  of  the  Whig  and  Repub- 
lican parties,  he  has  always  refused  remunerative  offices 
until  the  spring  of  1881,  when  he  was  induced  to 
accept  the  nomination  for  treasurer  of  the  city  of  St. 
Louis,  and  was  elected  for  a  term  of  four  years  by  a 
handsome  majority. 

During  the  war  his  active  and  outspoken  devotion 
to  the  Union  raised  about  him  bitter  enemies  and 
steadfast  friends,  but,  unheeding  praise  or  blame,  he 
quietly  pursued  the  course  he  had  marked  out  for 
himself  and  labored  zealously  in  the  work  of  recruit- 
ing soldiers  for  the  front. 

Dr.  Merrell  has  always  taken  an  active  part  in  re- 
ligious matters,  and  ever  since  his  arrival  in  St.  Louis 
has  been  a  member  of  the  First  Congregational  Church 
(Rev.  Dr.  Post's),  and  for  ten  years  past  the  president 
of  its  board  of  trustees. 

As  the  owner  of  a  number  of  farms  in  the  "  Ameri- 
can Bottom,"  he  has  done  much  to  improve  that  sec- 


1290 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


tion,  and  particularly  by  putting  in  operation  the 
drainage  laws  of  Illinois.  He  is  a  director  in  the  St. 
Louis  Stoneware  Company. 

Dr.  Merrell  is  emphatically  a  "  self-made  man," 
whose  success  has  been  won  by  steadfastness  of  pur- 
pose, honorable  dealing,  untiring  industry,  and  careful 
economy.  Beneath  an  exterior  which  a  casual  ob- 
server might  deem  cold  and  unsympathetic  is  a  warm 
and  cordial  nature.  His  sympathies  are  manifested 
by  deeds  rather  than  words,  and  he  gives  freely  to 
every  deserving  charity,  public  and  private. 

The  farmer  lad  who  "  bought  his  time"  of  his 
father  and  began  life  as  a  canal-boy  is  now  a  promi- 
nent citizen  of  St.  Louis,  rich  and  respected  by  all. 
Such  a  career  speaks  volumes  for  Dr.  Merrell's  strength 
of  character,  sound  judgment,  and  indomitable  energy 
and  industry. 

Within  the  comparatively  brief  period  of  fifteen  j 
years  has  been  achieved  one  of  the  most  noteworthy 
successes,  from  a  business  point  of  view,  which  even 
the  aggressive  and  enterprising  mercantile  world  of 
St.  Louis  can  exhibit,  in  the  establishment  of  the 
wholesale  drug  firm  of  Meyer  Brothers  &  Co.  Chris- 
tian F.  G.  Meyer,  the  head  of  the  house,  was  born  at' 
Haldern,  Westphalia,  Dec.  9,  1830.  His  family  was 
in  moderate  circumstances,  being  engaged  in  sheep- 
raising  and  bee-culture.  His  father  died  when  he  was 
four  years  old,  and  his  mother  when  he  was  sixteen. 
After  the  latter  occurrence  he  emigrated  with  his 
brother,  J.  F.  W.  Meyer  (six  years  his  senior),  to 
America,  the  objective-point  being  Fort  Wayne,  Ind., 
near  which  place  a  relative  resided.  They  sailed  from 
Bremen  in  September,  1847,  and  the  ocean  trip  con- 
sumed seven  weeks.  From  New  Orleans,  where  they 
landed,  to  Fort  Wayne  was  a  long  and  tedious  journey, 
being  performed  by  steamboat,  canal-boat,  and  on 
foot,  and  it  was  not  until  February,  1848,  that  the 
Meyers  reached  Fort  Wayne. 

Young  Meyer,  realizing  that  a  knowledge  of  Eng- 
lish was  essential  to  success  in  this  country,  attended 
a  private  school  for  the  purpose  of  learning  the  lan- 
guage, but  his  means  being  limited  he  was  obliged  to 
leave  school  and  make  his  own  way  in  the  world. 
During  the  same  year  (1848)  he  entered  Reed's  drug 
store  at  Fort  Wayne  as  an  apprentice.  His  progress 
was  rapid,  and  by  close  attention  to  his  duties  during 
the  day,  and  by  employing  his  nights  in  studies  per- 
taining to  the  business,  he  soon  won  the  confidence  of 
his  employer.  In  the  following  year  the  cholera  was 
prevalent,  and  owing  either  to  the  sickness  of  the 
proprietor  and  clerks  or  their  absence  from  town,  he 
was  left  in  sole  charge  of  the  store  for  several  weeks, 
and  in  this  arduous  crisis  acquitted  himself  with  great 


skill  and  credit.  In  August,  1852,  having  saved  four 
hundred  or  five  hundred  dollars,  he,  in  company  with 
an  acquaintance,  opened  a  retail  drug  store  in  the 
same  place.  The  venture  proved  very  successful. 

What  Mr.  Meyer  is  accustomed  to  call  the  most 
fortunate  event  of  his  life  occurred  in  July,  1854, — 
his  marriage  with  Miss  Fran'ces  F.  Schmidt,  a  lady 
who  some  years  previous  had  come  to  this  country 
from  Alsace,  then  a  French  province.  To  this  alli- 
ance Mr.  Meyer  attributes  a  great  share  of  his  suc- 
cess in  life,  she  having  proved  a  helpmeet  for  him  in 
every  sense  of  the  word.  Their  domestic  relations 
have  been  of  the  happiest  character,  and  their  union 
has  been  blessed  with  nine  children, — seven  boys  and 
two  girls, — of  whom  eight  are  living. 

Meanwhile  the  business  at  Fort  Wayne  continued 
to  prosper,  and  with  increasing  success  and  confi- 
dence Mr.  Meyer  became  imbued  with  the  desire 
to  conduct  operations  on  a  larger  scale.  Accordingly 
he  visited  St.  Louis  in  May,  1865,  and  made  arrange- 
ments to  establish  a  wholesale  business.  In  Septem- 
ber he  purchased  the  stock  of  J.  Mathews  &  Sons, 
then  in  business  at  the  corner  of  Second  and  Locust 
Streets.  The  stock  amounted  to  about  seventy  thou- 
sand dollars,  but  although  considered  quite  large  in 
those  days,  when  nearly  everything  was  about  one 
hundred  per  cent,  more  costly  than  at  present,  it 
would  now  be  comparatively  small. 

The  rapid  shrinkage  in  values  which  set  in  after 
the  war  subjected  all  who  were  then  in  business  to  a 
severe  ordeal,  and  many  succumbed,  but  by  assiduous 
labor  and  extraordinarily  good  management  the  firm 
was  enabled  to  weather  the  storm,  and  its  present  stand- 
ing is  a  proud  monument  to  Mr.  Meyer's  early  labors. 

Mr.  Meyer  is  a  prominent  member  of  the  German 
Lutheran  Church,  and  at  present  is  one  of  the, trus- 
tees of  the  Concordia  Theological  Seminary  (Lu- 
theran), on  Jefferson  Avenue,  as  also  of  the  congre- 
gation where  he  worships. 

While  necessarily  devoting  the  greater  portion 
his  time  to  his  extensive  business,  he  has  yet  been 
able  to  indulge  to  some  extent  a  taste  for  literature. 
At  Fort  Wayne,  besides  attending  to  his  drug  busi- 
ness, he  for  some  time  owned  and  edited  a  paper, 
and  since  then  has  written  more  or  less  for  the  press. 
He  has  also  traveled  much  in  this  country  and  abroad, 
principally  on  account  of  his  health,  which  on  several 
occasions  has  been  impaired  by  overwork. 

Although  Mr.  Meyer's  associations  outside  of  his 
business  have  been  chiefly  with  Germans,  he  speaks 
the  English  language  with  the  ease  and  fluency  of  his 
mother-tongue.  He  has  also  acquired  a  fair  knowled< 
of  French. 


-:---: 

.:- 


'       ' 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1291 


Mr.  Meyer  has  been  uniformly  successful  in  busi- 
ness. The  building  he  first  occupied,  at  the  corner 
of  Second  and  Locust  Streets,  soon  proved  too  con- 
tracted for  his  rapidly  increasing  trade,  and  accord- 
ingly in  January,  1867,  the  house  removed  to  the 
building  Nos.  6  and  8  North  Second  Street,  occupying 
the  four  floors  and  the  cellar.  A  few  years  later  addi- 
tional space  was  demanded,  and  Nos.  10  and  12  were 
added,  and  about  four  years  since  the  cry  for  "  more 
room"  forced  them  to  occupy  the  adjoining  structure, 
Nos.  14  and  16.  This  gave  them  the  entire  building, 
one  hundred  and  eight  feet  front  by  one  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  deep,  four  stories  high,  in  addition  to  the  cel- 
lars, in  all  nearly  two  acres  of  floor  space.  They  also 
have  an  extensive  store  in  Kansas  City,  the  largest 
drug  establishment  west  of  St.  Louis,  while  they  still 
maintain  the  one  in  Fort  Wayne,  which  is  in  reality 
the  parent  house.  C.  F.  Gr.  Meyer  is  the  controlling 
mind  in  the  firm,  which,  perhaps,  conducts  the  largest 
jobbing  drug  business  in  the  world,  the  annual  sales 
amounting  to  millions  of  dollars. 

Oils.— In  1843,  Dr.  Hoffman  exhibited  in  St. 
Louis  a  sample  of  steam-refined  lard-oil,  manufactured 
at  his  establishment  on  Market  Street,  corner  of 
Thirteenth,  which  was  "  as  pure  and  clear  as  the  best 
sperm,  and  burns  as  brightly."  The  oil  was  manu- 
factured from  "  inferior  qualities  of  lard,"  and  fur- 
nished to  purchasers  "  at  very  low  prices."  The  , 
chandlers  and  lard-oil  factories  in  St.  Louis  num- 
bered in  1850  ten  factories,  with  invested  capital  of 
ninety-nine  thousand  three  hundred  dollars,  employing 
two  hundred  and  twenty-six  hands,  and  producing 
annually  four  hundred  and  ninety-eight  thousand  nine 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars. 

In  1857  the  Patent  Press  Oil- Works,  Latourette, 
Wyman  &  Grant,  proprietors,  were  erected   for  the  ; 
manufacture  of  oil  from  flaxseed,  castor-beans,  and  cot- 
ton-seed.   The  great  scarcity  of  the  two  former  led  the 
proprietors  to  turn  their  attention  to  cotton-seed,  upon  ! 
which  they  had  experimented  successfully.     Though  , 
originally  designed  for  the  exclusive  manufacture  of 
linseed-  and   castor-oil,  these  works  were  early  em-  i 
ployed  in  making  cotton-seed  oil,  which  was  found  so 
far  profitable  as  to  induce  the  proprietors  to  push  their 
efforts  in  that  direction.    The  proprietors  were  among 
the  first  parties  in  the  world  who  succeeded  in  making  I 
oil  from  cotton-seed  so  as  to  make  it  pay.     After  ex- 
perimenting with  thirty  thousand  bushels  of  the  seed,  , 
they  found  so  fine  a  margin  in  it  as  to  induce  them  to 
extend  their  operations. 

The  oil  was  shipped  to  New  Orleans,  to  the  East, 
and  Europe,  and  the  cake  was  found  to  be  highly 
valuable  as  food  for  cattle. 


In  1877  the  business  of  manufacturing  cotton-seed 
oil  was  further  extended  by  the  opening  of  "  The 
Future  City  Oil-Works,"  J.  J.  Powers,  proprietor,  at 
607  South  Levee,  where  buildings  occupying  the 
whole  block  had  been  secured,  and  power,  presses, 
and  sieves,  with  cleaning  apparatus,  erected.  The 
capital  invested  (one  hundred  thousand  dollars)  has 
been  increased,  and  the  yearly  value  of  the  products 
amounts  to  more  than  three  hundred  thousand  dollars, 
the  factory  employing  one  hundred  and  fifty  hands, 
and  manufacturing  five  thousand  barrels  of  oil  and  five 
thousand  tons  of  cake.  A  ready  market  is  found  in 
Europe,  where  the  oil  is  manipulated  into  salad-  and 
olive-oil. 

The  receipts  of  petroleum  at  St.  Louis  during  the 
years  from  1877  to  1881  were: 


Years. 


Receipts. 


1QQ,  f  106.023  barrels. 

181 |      MOO  tanks. 

f    68,928  barrels. 

80 1      1,320  tanks. 

,a,.Q  (    62,707  barrels. 

18'a {         897  tanks. 

,Q>7Q  ]    61,651  barrels. 

1878 {         842  tanks. 

1877 109,053  barrels. 

Lard-oil  was  made  by  three  firms  in  1881,  who 
employed  twenty-five  hands,  whose  wages  were  thirteen 
thousand  one  hundred  dollars  annually.  They  trans- 
acted a  yearly  business  of  five  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars,  and  the  capital  invested  was  ninety- 
six  thousand  two  hundred  dollars. 

Dry-Goods.  — The  dry-goods  trade  of  St.  Louis  has 
gradually  expanded  from  the  humble  transactions  of 
1808  until  at  this  writing  the  city  offers  a  market  to 
buyers  surpassed  by  none  in  the  country  for  variety, 
extent,  and  cheapness.1 

On  the  23d  of  July,  1808,  the  following  announce- 
ment was  made  in  the  Missouri  Gazette : 


1  "  It  must  not  be  understood  by  the  reader  that  a  merchant 
at  that  time  approximated  at  all  in  his  business  relations  to  the 
merchant  of  to-day.  A  place  occupying  but  a  few  feet  square 
would  contain  all  of  their  goods;  and,  indeed,  during  the  period 
of  the  first  growth  of  St.  Louis  a  merchant  kept  all  of  his  goods 
in  a  chest  or  box,  which  was  opened  whenever  a  purchaser 
would  appear.  Sugar,  coffee,  gunpowder,  blankets,  paint, 
spices,  salt,  knives,  hatchets,  guns,  kitchen-ware,  hunting-shirts, 
and  every  variety  of  coarse  dry-goods  were  stored  together. 

"  Owing  to  the  tediousness  of  navigation,  the  prices  de- 
manded for  all  articles  of  importation  were  enormous.  Sugar 
and  coffee  were  each  two  dollars  per  pound,  and  everything  else 
in  proportion.  Tea  was  almost  unknown  until  the  advent  of 
the  United  States  government.  Articles  now  regarded  as  in- 
dispensable to  human  existence,  and  occupying  a  low  position 
in  the  scale  of  human  comfort,  were  then  esteemed  the  greatest 
luxuries,  and  so  expensive  as  to  be  enjoyed  only  on  state  occa- 
sions, and  then  with  parsimony." — Edwards'  Great  West,  p. 
289. 


1292 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


"  I  will  sell  to  the  highest  bidder  for  cash,  on  Tuesday,  the 
3d  of  August  next,  at  ten  o'clock  A.M.,  at  the  house  of  Mrs. 
Labadie,  in  the  town  of  St.  Louis,  an  invoice  of  goods  amount- 
ing to  between  seven  and  eight  hundred  dollars,  viz. :  Best 
Cognac  brandy,  that  has  been  more  than  three  years  in  cedar 
at  this  town ;  dry-goods,  consisting  of  cloths,  strouds,  chintzes, 
calicoes,  muslins,  Irish  linen  ;  saddlery,  chewing  tobacco,  etc., 
and  a  large  quantity  of  well-assorted  castings  and  hardware. 

"As  the  sole  object  of  the  sale  is  to  raise  the  aforesaid  sum 
of  money,  the  goods  must  be  sold,  fetch  what  they  will;  there- 
fore great  bargains  will  be  given. 

"JERE.  CONNOR,  Auctioneer." 

Wilkinson  &  Price  were  transacting  business  Au- 
gust 2d  at  Papin's  old  store.  September  14th,  St. 
Louis  furnishes  the  first  big  advertisement  to  the 
Gazette,  viz. :  "  Hunt  &  Hankinson  have  received,  in 
addition  to  their  former  stock,  and  are  now  opening  a 
general  assortment  of  merchandise,  which  they  will 
sell  at  the  most  reduced  prices  for  cash,  viz. :  Tin  and 
hardware,  medicines,  stationery,  saddlery  of  all  kinds, 
wrought  nails,  cut  do.  of  all  sizes,  men's  hats,  women's 
do.,  wool  do.,  boots  and  shoes,  ladies  sprig'd  kid  and 
morocco  shoes,  plain  do.,  Jefferson  do.,  children's  do., 
Lisbon  wine,  claret  do.,  Cognac  brandy,  Imperial  tea, 
Young  Hyson  do.,  Hyson  skin  do.,  loaf  sugar,  lump 
do.,  Muscovado  do.,  coffee,  chocolate,  mustard,  box 
raisins,  best  Spanish  cigars,  dry-goods."  etc. 

Jacob  Philipson  announced  in  the  Gazette  of  Nov. 
9,  1808,  that  he  was  "opening  at  his  new  store, 
opposite  post-office,  a  seasonable  supply  of  dry-goods 
and  a  general  assortment  of  groceries,  among  which 
are  blankets,  shoes,  madder,  and  turkey  red,  linseed- 
oil,  tanners'  do.,  fresh  teas,  coffee,  chocolate,  and  sugar, 
shad,  mackerel,  a  few  German  and  English  Bibles, 
Testaments,  hymn-books,  etc.,  all  of  which  he  intends 
selling  for  cash  at  reasonable  prices." 

As  indicated  by  the  advertisements  given  above,  the 
dry-goods  store  of  the  olden  time  was  a  variety-shop, 
such,  for  instance,  as  that  of  "  Z.  Mussina,  just  arrived 
from  Philadelphia  via  Pittsburgh,  with  a  large  assort- 
ment of  dry-goods,  groceries,  queensware,  ironmongery, 
tin-ware,  paints,"  which  he  offered  "  for  sale  at  the  old 
stand  of  Madame  Labadie  (lately  occupied  by  A.  C. 
Dunn)  and  opposite  to  Mr.  Jacob  Philipson."  About 
this  time  also  H.  Austin  &  Co.,  of  Ste.  Genevieve, 
have  a  displayed  advertisement.  They  offer  to  sell 
"  brown,  drab,  and  mixed  broadcloths  at  from  $2  to 
$6  per  yard;  1000  yards  of  calicoes  from  50  to  75 
cents  per  yard;  cotton  laces  from  $1.25  to  $2.50; 
best  green  coffee  at  62J  cents  per  pound;  loaf  and 
lump  sugar  at  50  cents  per  pound.  Goods  purchased 
in  New  York  for  cash,  and  will  be  sold  as  low  as  any 
in  the  Territory  for  cash,  or  lead  at  $6  per  100  pounds, 
delivered  at  Ste.  Genevieve  or  Herculaneum." 


The  following  advertisements  indicate  the  character 
of  the  trade  and  give  the  names  of  the  merchants  who 
conducted  it  during  this  year  (1809) : 

April  26. — "  Falconer  &  Comegys  have  just  received  and  offer 
for  sale  at  reasonable  prices,  at  St.  Louis  and  Ste.  Genevieve, 
merchandise  suitable  for  the  approaching  season." 

May  24. — "  For  sale,  300  yards  fine  country  linen,  1400  yards 
tow  linen,  1500  pounds  nails,  2000  gallons  old  whiskey,  also  a 
quantity  of  white  rope.  The  above-mentioned  articles  will  be 
sold  by  the  quantity  for  cash,  as  low  as  first  cost  and  carriage 
from  Lexington,  Ky.,  to  this  place.  Those  who  wish  to  pur- 
chase will  please  call  at  the  house  formerly  occupied  by  Mr.  P. 
Leduc,  opposite  Alexander  McNair's.  GEORGE  DALE." 

July  26. — "  The  subscriber  has  opened  in  the  store  formerly 
occupied  by  Messrs.  Hunt  &  Hankinson  an  assortment  of  dry- 
goods,  groceries,  and  hardware,  which  he  is  determined  to  sell 
at  reasonable  terms.  MATTHEW  KERR." 

September  13. — "  Merchant  tailor.  Bernard  Lalende,  lately 
arrived  from  Bordeaux,  takes  the  liberty  to  inform  the  public 
that  he  intends  to  follow  the  tailoring  business  in  all  its  branches. 
He  also  takes  this  method  of  informing  the  ladies  and  gentle- 
men that  he  will  sell  at  his  shop  cloth  and  other  stuff,  handker- 
chiefs, thread,  wine,  coffee,  and  Imperial  tea,  also  an  assortment 
of  the  best  fiddle-strings." 

September  13. — "P.  Berthold  and  Paul,  lately  arrived  from 
Baltimore  and  Philadelphia,  offer  for  sale  a  very  elegant  assort- 
ment of  dry-goods  and  groceries  at  very  moderate  prices  for 
cash.  They  keep  their  store  at  Mr.  Valois',  Main  Street." 

December  21. — Bernard  Pratte  and  John  P.  Cabanne  an- 
nounced that  they  had  fresh  goods  on  hand  at  "  Pratte's  old 
corner,  Main  and  Market  Streets." 

December  26. — "  William  Shannon  is  now  opening  at  the 
house  of  Francis  Benoit  a  complete  assortment  of  goods  suitable 
to  the  present  and  approaching  season." 

During  this  year  (June  7th)  the  dissolution  of  the  firm  of 
Hunt  &  Hankinson  (Wilson  P.  Hunt  and  John  Hankinson)  was 
announced,  and  Henry  M.  Shreve  &  Co.  (Fergus  Moorehead) 
advertised  a  stock  of  goods  next  to  Robidoux's  residence,  Block 
6.  On  the  27th  of  September,  Jacob  Philipson  announced  the 
removal  of  his  store  to  next  above  Gratiot's;  and  Falconer  & 
Comegys  advertised  their  store  "in  Labadie'  store-house." 

In  1810  the  Gazette  contained  the  following  an- 
nouncements : 

January  llth. — "Just  received  an  assortment  of  dry-goods 
and  groceries,  for  sale  at  reasonable  terms,  also  a  keel-boat 
seventy  feet  in  length.  SAMUEL  PERRY." 

February  20th. — "  F.  Menard  has  the  honor  of  informing  the 
public  that  he  is  now  opening,  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Pierre  Chou- 
teau,  the  following  articles,  which  he  will  sell  at  wholesale  or 
retail  on  very  low  terms :  Sugar  per  one  hundred  pounds,  $20  ; 
coffee  per  one  hundred  pounds,  $40;  Marseilles  soap,  dry-goods, 
Russia  sheeting,  brown  linen,  blankets,  French  brandy,  ruin, 
claret,  etc." 

April  19th. — "George  Pescay,  just  from  Philadelphia,  with 
fresh  goods,  opened  in  the  house  of  the  late  Mr.  Robidoux." 

April  23d. — "  H.  M.  Shreve  and  Fergus  Moorhead's  store  in 
Robidoux's  log  store,  in  block  No.  6." 

April  26th. — "  Thomas  Hickey,  tailor  and  ladies'  habit- 
maker,  has  commenced  business  on  the  Public  Square,  nearly 
opposite  Col.  Chouteau's." 

April  26th.—"  H.  M.  Shreve  &  Co.  have  brought  from  Phil- 
adelphia and  opened  at  St.  Louis  a  complete  and  general  as- 
sortment of  dry-goods,  groceries,  hardware,  china,  and  queens- 
ware,  iron,  steel,  castings,  and  stationery,  at  the  most  reduced 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1293 


prices.  They  have  opened  at  Ste.  Genevieve  an  assortment  of 
the  above-mentioned  goods,  which  shall  be  sold  at  reduced 
profit." 

April  26th. — "Wood  &  Dunn  have  just  arrived  from  Phil- 
adelphia, and  have  opened  in  St.  Louis  a  general  assortment  of 
dry-goods  suitable  to  the  season,  also  groceries,  queens  and 
hardware,  etc.  They  have  also  opened  in  Ste.  Genevieve  an 
assortment  of  dry-goods,  groceries,  hardware,  etc." 

May  10th. — "  J.  G.  Comegys  it  Co.  just  returned  from  Phila- 
delphia with  a  large  stock  of  fresh(  goods,  opposite  Charles 
Gratiot.'' 

July  12th. — "  Patrick  Lee,  auctioneer,  broker,  and  commis- 
sion merchant,  informs  the  public  that  his  store  near  the  post- 
office  is  well  provided  with  dry-goods  and  groceries,  which  he 
will  sell  at  a  moderate  price.  He  has  commenced  the  business 
of  a  broker  and  auctioneer  in  the  town  of  St.  Louis,  and  will 
execute  with  the  greatest  punctuality  the  orders  of  such  persons 
as  may  address  themselves  to  him  in  that  line." 

September  20th. — "  Horace  Austin  is  opening  at  the  old  stand  ; 
of  Messrs.  Falconer  &  Comegys  a  handsome  assortment  of  dry-  ' 
goods." 

About  this  time  the  terms  of  sale  wore  barter  and  exchange 
rather   than   cash.      When   "a   heap   of  whiskey  and   peach 
brandy"  were  offered  by  Frederick    Yeiger  (1811)  for   "beef  ; 
hides,"  with  the  remark,  "no  credit,  as  he  can't  write,"  it  is   ! 
not  surprising  that  "Joseph  Bouju,  clock-  and  watch-maker,   ! 
silversmith  and  jeweler."  should  offer  for  sale  "cherry  bounce,   j 
ratifia  de  Grenoble,  whiskey,  a  gig  and  harness,  with  his  keel- 
boat  and  apparatus." 

On  Jan.  12,  1811,  Jacob  Philipson  offered  his  goods  "low  to 
close  out." 

February  14th,  Moses  Scott  advertised  his  store,  "next  above 
Baird's  shop,"  and  on  May  22d  McKnight  &  Brady  informed   I 
the  public  that  they  had  on  hand  a  large  stock  of  fresh  goods   j 
opposite   the    residence  of   Gen.   William    Clark  (Papin's   old 
store). 

Christian  Wilt,  from  Philadelphia,  advertised  his  goods  July 
25th,  in  Mussina's  stand,  and  Depestre,  De  Mun  &  Co.  an- 
nounced September  llth  that  they  were  just  from  Philadelphia 
and  Baltimore  with  an  assortment  of  new  goods. 

In  May,  1812,  it  was  announced  that  McXair,  Thompson 
A  Co.  had  just  opened  a  handsome  assortment  of  merchandise 
from  Philadelphia  and  Pittsburgh  in  Madame  Robidoux's  house 
(Block  5),  and  that  J.  F.  Laveille,  just  from  New  Orleans,  had 
opened  a  new  store  in  Madame  Chouteau's  house  (Block  33). 
On  the  Oth  of  June  the  dissolution  of  the  firm  of  Berthold  ,t 
Paul  was  announced,  and  on  the  17th  of  September  the  closing 
out  of  the  business  of  Depestre  &  De  Mun.  On  October  10th  it 
was  stated  that  Smith,  Von  Phul  &  Co.,  of  Lexington,  Ky.,  had 
dissolved,  and  that  Smith  &  Von  Phul  would  continue  ;  and  on 
November  6th  that  Veuve  Pescay  and  Michael  Tesson  had  dis- 
solved the  partnership  existing  since  February,  1811,  and  that 
M.  Tesson  would  continue  alone. 

During  1813  the  following  advertisements  among  others  ap- 
peared : 

January  !)th. — '•  To  the  Ladies.  Shawls,  line  muslins,  bon- 
nets, lacss,  etc.,  for  sale  at  a  moderate  price.  M.  TESSON." 

June  19th. — "  Berthold  &  Chouteau  have  on  sale  a  general 
assortment  of  dry-goods,  groceries,  hardware  and  crockery,  etc." 

November  13th. — "  McKnight  &  Brady  have  just  received 
from  Baltimore  an  additional  supply  of  woolens;  will  be  sold 
for  cash  at  their  store  on  Main  Street,  opposite  Governor 
Clark's." 

On  the  31st  of  December,  1814,  McKnight  &  Brady  gave 
notice  that  they  had  sold  their  stock  and  desired  their  accounts 
settled  up. 


Peter  Lindell  &  Co.  announced  Nov.  26,  1814,  that  they 
would  close  their  business  on  the  1st  of  Januar}',  1815. 

About  the  close  of  the  war  of  1812,  say  in  1816, 
there  was  quite  an  influx  of  men  of  business  and 
capital  to  St.  Louis.  Some  who,  doubtless,  during 
the  war  had  studied  its  advantages  decided  that  it 
was  equally  adapted  for  trade  in  peace,  and  the  close 
of  the  war  having  given  a  great  impetus  to  settlement 
in  Illinois  and  Missouri,  all  these  new  settlements, 
as  well  as  the  old  ones,  began  to  look  more  and 
more  to  St.  Louis  as  their  place  of  obtaining  sup- 
plies. Among  those  who  came  here  at  or  about 
that  time  as  merchants  or  engaging  in  mercantile 
pursuits  were  Col.  John  O'Fallon,  Peter  and  Jesse 
Lindell,  and  Henry  Von  Phul.  Others  came  after 
them,  among  them  George  Collier  and  James  Clem- 
ens, Jr.  Among  the  other  merchants  of  St.  Louis 
about  this  time  were  Thomas  and  John  Crom- 
well, Charles  W.  Hunter,  Isaac  Bennett,  Theodore 
Hunt,  James  Kennedy,  Smith  &  Spicer,  Thomas 
Hanly,  Rene  Paul  &  Co.  ("  new  goods  from  Phila- 
delphia and  Baltimore  in  his  new  store-house,"  Block 
4),  John  B.  Herpin  &  Son  ("  new  store  from  Phila- 
delphia in  Patrick  Lee's  former  stand,"  Block  37), 
Stephen  R.  Wiggins,  Patrick  M.  Dillon  (at  the  house 
of  Maj.  P.  Chouteau,  Main  Street,  Block  28),  John 
Little,  Porter,  Glasgow  &  Nivin,  Maddock  &  Duval, 
and  Charles  Wahrendorff,  who  advertised  German 
goods  at  Perkins  &  Drip's  store,  opposite  the  post- 
office.  One  of  the  leading  business  men  and  influen- 
tial citizens  of  St.  Louis  about  this  time  was  Thomas 
Forsyth,  who  was  a  prominent  figure  in  the  early 
history  of  Illinois  and  Missouri.  His  father,  Wil- 
liam Forsyth,  was  a  native  of  Aberdeen,  Scotland, 
who  came  to  America  in  1757.  After  a  short  stay 
in  Philadelphia  he  went  to  Canada,  and  was  wounded 
in  the  battle  of  Quebec,  where  both  Wolfe  and  Mont- 
calm  fell.  He  married  in  Canada  and  settled  in  De- 
troit (then  a  British  town),  where,  Dec.  5,  1771, 
Thomas  Forsyth  was  born.  The  boy  received  a  plain 
but  practical  education,  which  qualified  him  for  both 
the  public  and  private  business  in  which  he  after- 
wards engaged. 

In  1793,  Thomas  Forsyth  left  Detroit,  in  company 
with  his  half-brother,  John  Kenzie,  the  founder  of 
Chicago,  and  for  several  years  engaged  in  trade  with 
the  Illinois  Indians.  In  one  of  his  Eastern  trips  he 
met  and  married  a  lady  named  De  Maillot,  of  Hagers- 
town,  Md.,  and  in  1809  settled  at  Peoria,  111.  During 
the  subsequent  Indian  troubles  he  exercised  a  great 
influence  over  the  savages,  especially  the  Pottawato- 
mies,  years  of  dealing  with  them  having  given  him 
a  perfect  knowledge  of  their  language  and  disposition. 


1294 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


To  the  Governors  of  both  Missouri  and  Illinois  he 
repeatedly  conveyed  intimations  of  threatened  hostili- 
ties, and  while  he  could  not  always  avert  war,  he  was 
able  to  do  much  to  mitigate  its  horrors. 

In  recognition  of  his  services  he  was  appointed 
Indian  agent  at  Peoria,  with  full  power  to  act  in  case 
of  an  emergency,  but  the  appointment  was  kept  secret 
lest  he  should  lose  his  influence  over  the  tribes.  After 
the  massacre  at  the  site  of  Chicago,  in  August,  1812, 
Mr.  Forsyth,  at  the  risk  of  his  life,  went  directly  to 
the  Indians  and  secured  the  ransom  of  some  of  their 
captives.  This  was  a  most  dangerous  service,  for  had 
the  Indians  been  aware  of  the  fact  that  he  was  a 
government  agent,  he  would  no  doubt  have  been 
burnt  at  the  stake.  It  required  the  utmost  sagacity 
and  the  greatest  tact  and  skill  to  conduct  these  ne- 
gotiations so  as  to  retain  the  confidence  of  suspicious 
Indians  ;  but  his  uniform  kindness  towards  them  and, 
above  all,  his  unvarying  candor  and  truthfulness  in 
dealing  with  them  gave  him  great  influence  and  caused 
them  to  trust  him  implicitly.  More  than  once  his 
life  was  imperiled  by  the  machinations  of  enemies 
who  sought  to  compass  his  death  at  the  hands  of  the 
savages,  but  his  tact  and  good  fortune  always  enabled 
him  to  escape. 

Mr.  Forsyth  acted  as  agent  for  the  Illinois  In- 
dians during  the  war,  and  when  peace  was  declared 
he  was  intrusted  with  a  still  more  responsible  duty, — 
that  of  agent  for  the  Sac  and  Fox  Indians.  He 
made  treaties  with  these  nations,  which  were  always 
ratified  by  the  government,  and  was  charged  with  the 
distribution  of  large  sums  of  money  and  great  amounts 
of  merchandise,  which  duty  he  performed  with  the  j 
strictest  honesty  and  with  marked  ability.  He  re- 
tained this  agency  for  many  years,  and  it  is  thought 
that  had  he  continued  to  hold  the  office  the  Black 
Hawk  war  would  not  have  occurred. 

He  finally  removed  to  St.  Louis,  and  resided  in  the 
little  village  for  several  years,  at  the  same  time  per- 
forming the  duties  of  Indian  agent  and  visiting 
Peoria  as  often  as  was  necessary.  He  bought  eight 
hundred  acres  of  land  owned  by  Jean  Marie  Papin 
(the  progenitor  of  the  Papin  family),  and  forming 
a  large  part  of  what  is  now  Forest  Park,  where  he  re- 
sided for  the  rest  of  his  life,  dying  in  1832. 

Nature  bestowed  upon  Thomas  Forsyth  a  sound 
and  well-balanced  mind  in  a  sound  and  athletic  body. 
He  was  a  gifted  talker  and  a  most  pleasant  and  enter- 
taining companion.  Benevolence  and  kindness  of 
heart  were  his'  predominant  traits.  He  occupied  a 
prominent  position  in  the  community,  as  was  due  to 
one  who  had  performed  important  public  services. 
His  private  life  was  amiable  and  blameless,  and  he 


died  universally  esteemed  and  regretted.  He  left 
four  children, — John,  who  died  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
one,  while  studying  medicine  with  Dr.  Farrar ; 
Thomas,  who  was  a  rover,  and  died  away  from  home ; 
Mary,  who  married  a  French  gentleman  named  Bouis 
and  died  within  a  year  thereafter ;  and  Robert,  who 
was  born  in  1808  and  died  Nov.  1,  1872. 

Robert  Forsyth  was  a  farmer,  leading  a  quiet  life 
of  ease  on  his  estate  in  St.  Louis  County,  and  was  a 
respected  citizen.  He  married  Miss  Anna  M.  Culver, 
of  Pensacola,  Fla.,  and  left  three  children,  all  of 
whom  are  yet  living, — William  Forsyth,  a  resident  of 
Kirkwood,  near  St.  Louis  ;  Mary,  who  married  Dr. 
G.  H.  Morrill,  and  lives  in  St.  Louis;  and  Laura, 
who  married  E.  M.  Tesson. 

On  Oct.  18,  1817,  it  was  announced  that  Ber- 
thold  &  Chouteau's  partnership  had  expired,  and  that 
A.  P.  Chouteau,  De  Mun,  and  John  B.  Sarpy  would 
open  there.  November  29th  it  was  stated  that 
"  Thomas  Estes'  one  hundred  thousand  dollar"  stock 
of  goods  had  just  been  opened  "  in  the  store  lately 
occupied  by  R.  Collet,  lower  end."  December  6th 
notice  was  given  of  "  Gabriel  and  Rene"  Paul's  large 
stock  opening  in  R.  Paul's  stone  house,  North  Main 
Street."  Sanguinet  &  Bright  advertised  their  store, 
December  13th,  on  Block  6,  nearly  opposite  the  post- 
office,  and  Bernard  Pratte  gave  notice,  December 
13th,  of  his  removal  to  his  new  brick  house  between 
Clemens'  and  Smith's  stores.  About  this  time  Thomas 
McGuire  &  Co.  transacted  business  "  opposite  Gover- 
nor Clark's,  lately  M.  Scott." 

On  the  23d  of  January,  1818,  James  Brand  an- 
nounced "  a  new  stock  from  Philadelphia  in  the  house 
formerly  Sergt.  Hall's  printing-office ;"  on  the  30th  it 
was  stated  that  "  Thomas  Estes  has  removed  to  the 
house  formerly  Peebles'  tavern  and  since  S.  R.  Wig- 
gins' store  ;"  February  13th,  L.  W.  Boggs  and  Thomas 
Hanly  gave  notice  that  they  had  dissolved  partnership, 
Boggs  having  purchased  Hanly's  interest.  March  12th, 
Renshaw  &  Hoffman  gave  notice  that  they  were  just 
from  Baltimore,  "  with  all  new  goods,  at  the  store  for- 
merly Collet  &  Daily's ;"  May  1st,  J.  Macklot  &  Co. 
advertised  their  goods  in  the  store  "  lately  M.  Scott's, 
opposite  the  Indian  office ;"  June  12th,  Thomas  P. 
Williams  &  Co.,  in  the  store  recently  occupied  by 
Perkins  &  Drips ;  July  1st,  Renshaw  &  Hoffman 
"  removed  to  the  centre  frame  store  of  the  three  re- 
cently put  up  by  F.  Dent,  on  Smith's  lot,  opposite 
Von  Phul  &  Co.,  'Sign  of  the  Plow;'"  July  24th, 
James  Clemens  &  Co.,  third  door  above  the  market  on 
Main  Street  (Smith's  store)  ;  July  31st,  Samuel  R. 
Ober,  large  stock  new  goods  next  below  Collet  & 
Daily,  Block  37  ;  August  19th,  William  Prout  &  Son, 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1295 


"  new  goods  just  opened  in  Clark's  old  Indian  office, 
opposite  Porter,  Glasgow  &  Nivin ;"  September  4th, 
Edward  Tracy,  just  from  New  York,  with  new  goods 
at  the  store  of  Dent  &  Rearick ;  September  4th, 
Jonathan  Guest  "has  just  opened  his  new  goods  in 
Maj.  Douglass'  new  brick  house,"  Elm  Street;  Sep- 
tember llth,  Charles  Wahrendorff  &  Co.  "removed 
to  next  below  the  new  banking-house,  opposite  to 
James  Clemens' ;"  September  25th,  Jonathan  Guest 
removed  to  Pratte's  warehouse,  at  the  lower  corner  of 
Market  Street;  December  1st,  Thomas  Hanly  re- 
moved "  to  his  new  brick  on  the  river  ;"  December  4th, 
Rene  and  Gabriel  Paul  dissolved  partnership,  R.  Paul 
retiring;  December  llth,  Gabriel  Paul  advertised  an 
"  auction  and  commission  house,  in  R.  Paul's  stone 
house." 

About  1819  business  began  to  be  classified,  and 
there  were  separate  dealers  in  groceries,  in  dry-goods, 
in  hardware,  although  many  houses  still  continued  to 
deal  in  mixed  merchandise ;  but  Scott  &  Rule  (Capt. 
Scott  and  William  K.  Rule)  established  a  house  in 
St.  Louis  almost  exclusively  for  the  sale  of  groceries, 
chiefly  brought  from  New  Orleans.  Then  there  were 
Shackford  &  Ranney,  then  Gay  &  Estes,  doing  each  a 
large  business  in  the  grocery  line;  James  Clemens, 
John  Smith,  the  Powels,  Warburton,  and  several 
others  almost  exclusively  dealers  in  dry-goods.  On 
the  15th  of  January  of  this  year  James  and  George 
H.  Kennerly  advertised  their  business  as  being  con- 
ducted in  Clark's  brick  house,  Block  10 ;  January 
22d,  Dent  &  Rearick,  Main  Street,  opposite  H.  Von 
Phul  &  Co.,  Block  33;  February  3d,  Chouteau  & 
Sarpy  removed  to  the  store  between  Moses  Scott  and  ! 
the  old  Indian  council-house;  February  10th,  Chris-  i 
tian  and  Andrew  Wilt's  new  firm  was  advertised,  and 
on  the  same  day  G.  Paul's  auction-room,  "  in  his  new 
brick  house,  opposite  the  theatre.  Main  Street,"  Block 
11  ;  April  7th,  Renshaw  &  Hoffman  "have  removed 
next  door  north,  lately  Dent  &  Rearick,  large  warehouse 
in  the  rear;"  April  28th,  Charles  W.  Hunter  "has  re- 
moved from  M.  Kerr's  old  stand  diagonally  opposite  his 
former  place;"  June  2d,  Michael  and  Francis  Tes- 
son,  copartnership ;  June  9th.  partnership  of  Thomas 
Collet  and  Michael  Daily  dissolved,  and  a  copartner- 
ship formed  between  Michael  Daily  and  Madame 
Pescay  ;  June  23d,  Joseph  Wiggins  "  removed  to  No. 

2  in  Chouteau's  new  brick  row,  nearly  opposite  Bank 
of  Missouri ;"    June    30th,   Julius    de    Mun,  "  new 
stock  in  M.  Lisa's  new  house,  opposite  the  Enquirer 
office ;"  July  24th,  David  W.  Tuttle  removed  to  No. 

3  in  Chouteau's  new  brick  row,  nearly  opposite  the 
Bank  of  Missouri ;  August  4th,  James  Timon  &  Son, 
new  store  next  above    Riddick's  auction-house,  late 


Low  &  Trask;  August  llth,  David  E.  Cuyler  "has 
a  lot  of  goods  for  sale  in  Mr.  Dillon's  new  brick  store, 
opposite  the  Farmers'  and  Mechanics'  Hotel ;"  De- 
cember 8th,  Theodore  Papin  and  Joseph  Amoreaux 
"  have  purchased  the  stock  of  Macklot  &  Co.,  and  will 
continue  the  business  in  Gratiot's  stone  store;"  De- 
cember 23d,  Charles  Billon  removed  to  his  new  estab- 
lishment, North  Main,  at  the  corner  opposite  the  old 
Gratiot  residence;  December  29th,  Thomas  Estes  re- 
moved to  No.  2  of  Col.  A.  Chouteau's  new  brick  row, 
South  Main  Street. 

In  1820  the  following  firms  advertised:  January 
5th,  Castillo  &  Gilhuly,  store  in  Moses  Scott's 
former  stand,  South  Main  Street;  January  19th, 
Joseph  Hertzog,  from  Philadelphia,  "will  continue 
the  business  of  C.  &  A.  Wilt  at  the  same  place  ;"  Jan- 
uary 26th,  William  H.  Savage;  March  8th,  Gilhuly 
&  Cummins'  store,  in  McKnight  &  Brady's  brick 
house,  north  of  the  corner  store ;  March  29th, 
Hastings  &  Simpson's  store,  South  Main  Street,  in 
Collet's  brick  building  ;  Samuel  R.  Ober,  next  below 
Hastings  &  Simpson  ;  April  8th,  Joseph  and  Francis 
Robidoux  removed  their  store  from  old  stand  to 
Papin's  brick  house,  Block  32  ;  April  10th,  "  Charles 
Wahrendorff'  &  ,Co.  have  dissolved;"  April  19th, 
John  Shackford  &  Co.,  third  in  Chouteau's  brick 
row ;  May  3d,  the  new  firm  of  Tracy  &  Wahrendorff 
formed  "  in  old  sland ;"  May  30th,  Nathaniel  D. 
Payne's  new  store,  North  Main  Street,  in  Auguste  P. 
Chouteau's  new  brick  house ;  August  9th,  George 
Burchmore,  new  goods;  August  17th,  Paul  &  In- 
gram, from  Philadelphia,  dry-goods,  etc.,  in  No.  1  in 
Auguste  Chouteau's  new  brick  row,  Block  7  ;  August 
23d,  Giles  and  John  Samuel,  merchants,  in  R.  Paul's 
stone  corner  house,  North  Main  Street. 

From  this  mixed  beginning  the  dry-goods  trade  of 
St.  Louis  sprang,  just  as  the  present  magnificent  city 
rose  from  the  humble  abodes  which  preceded  the 
palaces  and  warehouses  that  now  attract  the  admira- 
tion of  every  visitor. 

The  well-known  wholesale  and  retail  dry-goods 
house  of  William  Barr  &  Co.  was  established  in  1849, 
the  original  location  being  at  the  corner  of  Third  and 
Market  Streets  ;  but  after  a  few  months  the  estab- 
lishment was  removed  to  the  corner  of  Fourth  and 
Olive  Streets,  where  it  remained  until  1857.  In  that 
year  the  firm  removed  to  a  building  which  was  after- 
wards enlarged  until  it  occupied  the  entire  block 
bounded  by  Third,  Fourth,  Vine,  and  St.  Charles 
Streets.  The  present  quarters  of  the  firm,  which  is 
known  as  the  William  Barr  Dry-Goods  Company, 
and  composed  of  William  Barr,  Charles  H.  Berking, 
and  Joseph  Franklin,  are  a  handsome  and  imposing 


1296 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


structure  located    on    Sixth    Street,   extending  from 
Olive  to  Locust. 

The  failure  of  the  Illinois  banks  in  1842,  the  low 
price  of  produce,  and  the  stagnation  of  business  in 
the  West  contributed  to  bring  on  a  crisis  in  St. 
Louis.  Many  business  men  found  themselves,  after 
years  of  toil,  left  without  a  dollar  ;  and  the  most  for- 
tunate were  content  if,  by  the  sacrifice  of  all  their 
past  profits  in  trade,  they  could  preserve  their  credit, 
and  be  prepared  to  commence  business  anew  when 
the  storm  passed  over  It  required  some  two  years  to 
relieve  the  country  of  its  embarrassments,  to  restore 


taken  place  in  various  firms,  some  lost  their  books  by 
the  great  fire  of  1849,  and  others  again  declined 
giving  any  statement,  although  assured  that  it  should 
bg  strictly  confidential." 

The  statements  of  the  business  of  six  dry-goods 
houses  were  obtained,  which  sum  up  as  follows : 

Sales  in  1845 $1,119,057.20 

"        1853 4,074,782.01 


Increase  in  eight  years $2,955,724.81 

There  were  over  twenty  wholesale  dry-goods  houses, 
besides  those  situated  near  the  North  Market  and  o 


WILLIAM    BARR    DRY-GOODS    COMPANY, 

Corner  Sixth,  Olive,  and  Locust  Streets. 


confidence  and  give  a  healthy  tone  to  trade,  especi- 
ally in  a  city  like  St.  Louis,  where  men  had  to  rely 
mainly  upon  their  own  capital,  being  limited  to  one 
bank,  with  a  capital  of  only  six  hundred  thousand 
dollars. 

From  1845  business  maintained  a  steady  and 
healthy  growth,  and  "  we  have  endeavored,"  says  a 
local  journal,  ':  to  gather  some  statistics  illustrative  of 
this  fact.  We  have  found  difficulty  in  attaining  our 
object,  which  was  to  give  the  business  of  the  same 
houses  in  1845  and  1853.  Some  of  our  business 
men  have  died,  others  have  retired,  changes  have 


Carondelct  Avenue,  nearly  the  same  number,  that 
transacted  a  large  jobbing  and  retail  business. 

The  above  statement  embraced  two  of  the  largest 
houses,  and  it  also  embraced  two  that  were  considered 
among  the  small  houses  in  amount  of  business. 

Another  long-established  firm  in  the  dry -goods  trade 
is  that  of  Samuel  C.  Davis  &  Co.,  whose  name  is  one 
of  the  business  landmarks  of  St.  Louis.  The  founder 
of  the  house,  Samuel  C.  Davis,  first  came  to  St. 
Louis  from  Brookline,  Mass.,  and  began  business  in  a 
little  store  at  Market  and  Commercial  Streets,  then 
the  business  centre  of  the  town.  His  partner  was 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1297 


J.  R.  Standford.  In  addition  to  the  dry-goods  busi- 
ness the  firm  conducted  a  flourishing  trade  in  boots 
and  shoes  and  groceries.  Mr.  Standford  finally  re- 
tired, and  John  Tilden  and  Eben  Richards  were  ad- 
mitted into  partnership.  In  1849  the  house  escaped 
the  great  fire,  and  in  1857  the  business  was  removed 
to  Nos.  8  and  10  North  Main  Street.  In  1867,  Mr. 
Tilden  and  Mr.  Richards  retired,  and  the  house  was 
then  composed  of  Samuel  C.  Davis,  Andrew  W. 
Sproule,  and  John  T.  Davis,  who  still  remain  the 
partners  in  the  firm.  In  1872  the  grocery  depart- 
ment, and  in  1873  the  shoe  department,  both  of 
which  had  been  removed  to  No.  12  Main  Street, 


the  reception  and  delivery  of  goods.  The  basement 
extends  under  the  sidewalk  of  the  streets,  and  is 
lighted  by  thick  glass  set  in  iron-work  overhead. 
The  building  is  amply  provided  with  conveniences  for 
the  prompt  and  speedy  handling  of  goods,  and  the 
establishment  is  altogether  one  of  the  most  complete, 
as  it  is  one  of  the  most  extensive,  in  the  West. 

About  1850  the  leading  dry -goods  house  of  St. 
Louis  was  that  of  Rutherford  &  Day.  Franklin  O. 
Day,  the  junior  member  of  the  firm,  and  afterwards 
one  of  the  most  prominent  merchants  of  the  city,  was 
born  in  Burlington,  Vt..  Oct.  31,  1816,  both  of  his 
parents  being  natives  of  that  State.  His  ancestor, 


SAMUEL   C.  DAVIS    &   COMPANY, 

Washington  Avenue  and  Fifth  Street. 


were  sold,  and  the  house  thenceforward  restricted 
itself  to  the  dry-goods  trade.  In  August,  1871,  was 
commenced  the  erection  of  the  present  magnificent 
building  at  the  northwest  corner  of  Fifth  Street 
and  Washington  Avenue,  which  was  completed  and 
occupied  in  March,  1873.  This  structure,  which  is 
in  the  Italian  style  of  architecture,  and  of  spacious 
and  imposing  appearance,  has  a  frontal  of  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy-five  feet  on  Fifth  Street  by  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  feet  on  Washington  Avenue,  and 
contains,  including  the  basement,  six  floors.  In  the 
rear  of  the  immense  building  there  is  a  broad,  paved 
area,  left  open  to  insure  sufficient  light  and  to  facilitate 


Robert  Day,  came  to  America  from  England  with 
his  wife.  Mary,  in  1634.  It  is  a  family  tradition  that 
the  Days  originally  came  from  Wales,  the  name'having 
been  Dee,  but  in  time  it  came  to  be  written  Daye  or 
Day,  to  agree  with  the  pronunciation. 

Mr.  Day  received  a  common-school  education,  but 
at  a  very  early  age  evinced  a  desire  to  obtain  a  knowl- 
edge of  business  in  order  that  he  might  earn  his  own 
livelihood,  and  when  a  mere  boy  was  employed  in  his 
father's  dry-goods  house.  At  the  age  of  seventeen 
he  left  home  and  went  to  New  York,  where  he  ob- 
tained a  situation  in  the  same  business.  Two  years 
later  (when  nineteen)  his  father's  sudden  death  called 


1298 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


him  home,  and  being  the  eldest  son  he  settled  his 
father's  estate,  and  proved  himself  already  to  possess 
excellent  business  qualifications. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-two  he  formed  a  partnership 
for  the  sale  of  dry-goods  at  Northfield,  Vt.  The 
business  does  not  appear  to  have  been  a  very  large  or 
paying  one,  for  in  three  years  he  abandoned  it  and 
removed  to  St.  Louis  with  only  two  hundred  dollars. 
It  is  believed  that  this  money  was  the  fruit  of  his  own 
industry  and  thrift,  for  he  appears  to  have  always 
taken  care  of  himself  after  leaving  home,  and  there 
is  no  record  of  his  having  received  anything  from  his 
father's  estate. 

Upon  arriving  at  St.  Louis  Cin  1842  or  1843)  he 
was  employed  by  T.  S.  Rutherford  in  the  wholesale 
dry-goods  business,  and  so  distinguished  himself  for 
efficiency  that  about  January,  1845,  he  was  admitted 
as  a  partner  by  Mr.  Rutherford,  the  firm  being  T.  S. 
Rutherford  &  Co.  Four  years  later  a  second  partner- 
ship was  formed  under  the  title  of  Rutherford  &  Day. 
Mr.  Rutherford,  who  is  still  living  (1882),  continues 
to  speak  in  the  highest  terms  of  the  qualities  shown 
by  Mr.  Day  thus  early  in  his  business  career. 

During  the  latter  years  of  his  partnership  with 
Mr.  Rutherford  the  California  excitement  prevailed 
throughout  the  West,  and  St.  Louis  was  the  starting- 
point  of  numerous  expeditions  overland.  A  favorite 
speculation  which  brought  fortunes  to  many  was  the 
shipping  of  live-stock  across  the  plains  to  the  Western 
El  Dorado.  After  dissolving  his  partnership  with 
Mr.  Rutherford,  Mr.  Day  engaged  in  a  venture  of 
this  kind,  accompanying  a  herd  to  California  in  1853, 
but  was  too  late  to  reap  the  expected  profits,  although 
the  scheme  was  far  from  being  a  failure.  His  part- 
ner in  the  speculation  was  Mortimer  Kennett,  and 
the  wearisome  overland  journey  consumed  six  months. 

In  1854,  Mr.  Day  returned  to  St.  Louis,  and  in  the 
following  year  established  himself  in  the  wholesale 
liquor  business  with  Charles  Derby,  the  firm  being 
Derby  &  Day.  This  enterprise,  like  everything  un- 
dertaken by  Mr.  Day,  prospered,  and  from  quite  a 
moderate  beginning  grew  to  be  one  of  the  largest  in- 
terests of  the  kind  in  the  city,  its  name  being  a  syn- 
onym for  careful,  judicious  management  and  honorable 
dealing.  Mr.  Day  continued  in  this  business  until 
his  death,  Feb.  16,  1882.  For  some  years  he  had 
been  in  declining  health,  but  up  to  within  a  week  of 
his  death  was  able  to  visit  the  office  and  keep  himself 
informed  as  to  the  general  condition  of  affairs. 

The  leading  characteristics  of  Mr.  Day's  business 
life  were  the  exercise  of  unusual  tact  and  foresight 
and  the  avoidance  of  all  hazardous  enterprises.  As  a 
result  of  his  steady  application  to  business  he  amassed 


a  fortune,  at  one  time  very  large,  consisting  of  val- 
uable real  estate  in  various  portions  of  the  city. 
Its  value  afterwards  shrank  somewhat,  but  he  still 
left  his  family  an  estate  estimated  at  perhaps  half  a 
million.  He  was  a  public-spirited  property-owner, 
and  but  a  short  time  before  his  death  erected  several 
very  handsome  five-story  buildings  on  Locust  Street, 
near  the  Equitable  building,  corner  of  Sixth  Street. 

On  the  2d  of  October,  1849,  Mr.  Day  married  La- 
vinia  M.  Aull,  who  was  born  in  Lexington,  Mo.  At 
his  death  he  left  a  wife  and  four  children,  three  sons 
and  a  daughter,  the  latter  married  to  J.  R.  Truesdale, 
formerly  of  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  and  now  a  leading  busi- 
ness man  of  St.  Louis.  Of  the  sons,  Frank  P.  Day 
and  Lawrence  W.  Day  were  associated  with  their 
father  in  the  establishment,  and  have  practically  suc- 
ceeded to  the  management,  in  which  capacity  they 
have  shown  the  possession  of  excellent  business  quali- 
fications. 

Mr.  Day  was  associated  in  many  important  public 
enterprises,  such  as  the  St.  Louis  Bridge,  the  Mer- 
chants' Exchange,  etc.,  and  was  a  director  in  the 
Merchants'  National  Bank,  the  Franklin  Savings- 
Bank,  and  the  Boatmen's  Insurance  Company. 

In  one  respect  Mr.  Day  will  long  be  held  in  grate- 
ful remembrance  by  all  lovers  of  the  beautiful.  He 
was  a  man  of  fine  taste,  and  was  among  the  first  in  St. 
Louis  to  exhibit  the  desire  to  collect  works  of  art. 
Among  the  famous  pictures  which  he  owned  from  time 
to  time  was  "  Paying  the  Rent,"  by  Erskine  Nicol, 
which  took  the  second  prize  at  the  Paris  Exposition 
of  1867.  Mr.  Day  paid  ten  thousand  dollars  for  this 
picture,  and  subsequently  sold  it  to  William  H.  Van- 
derbilt,  whose  gallery  it  adorns.  Mr.  Day  also  ex- 
tended hearty  encouragement  to  the  establishment  of 
art  societies,  etc. 

Mr.  Day  was  not  a  member  of  any  church,  but  at- 
tended the  Holy  Communion  (Episcopal),  to  which 
members  of  his  family  belonged.  He  was  one  of  the 
most  liberal  contributors  in  the  parish,  and  had  a  high 
appreciation  of  the  worth  of  religion  in  matters  of 
every-day  life. 

Among  the  business  men  of  St.  Louis  who  have 
been  prominent  within  the  past  thirty  or  forty  years 
few  achieved  a  more  substantial  and  meritorious  suc- 
cess than  did  Mr.  Day,  and  among  those  who  have 
passed  away  none  were  more  generally  or  deeply  re- 
gretted than  he.  Many  have  lived  and  died  who  made 
a  much  more  pretentious  figure,  but  none  possessed  in 
richer  store  the  essentials  of  true  manhood,  as  exem- 
plified both  in  business  and  in  private  life.  Franklin 
0.  Day  and  the  class  to  which  he  belonged  were 
worthy  successors  to  the  remarkable  men  who  founded 


• 


I 


. 
i 

• 


! 
- 


justly 
•  kind 


only  his 

• 

• 


1300 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


Beginning  his  church  experience  somewhat  late  in 
life,  he  quickly  developed  a  remarkable  fitness  for  re- 
ligious work,  and  became  a  leader  in  all  the  church 
enterprises,  religious  as  well  as  material.  For  seven 
years  he  has  been  superintendent  of  the  church  Sun- 
day-school, and  in  this  capacity  has  been  remarkably 
successful.  For  about  four  years  he  has  also  been 
superintendent  of  the  afternoon  Sunday-school  of  the 
Page  Avenue  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  He  is  a 
trustee  and  steward  in  St.  John's  Church,  and  as  a 


of  the  representative  houses  of  the  Mississippi  valley. 
J.  H.  Wear  associated  with  him  John  W.  Hickman, 
under  the  firm-name  of  Wear  &  Hickman,  in  the 
wholesale  fancy  dry -goods  business  in  1863.  The 
original  location  was  at  the  corner  of  Main  and 
Chestnut  Streets,  where  they  remained  until  1865, 
when  they  removed  to  319  North  Main  Street,  In 
1867,  Mr.  Hickman  withdrew,  and  the  firm-name 
was  changed  to  J.  H.  Wear  &  Co.  His  quarters 
having  become  too  circumscribed  for  the  business, 


J.   H.   WEAR,  BOOGHER    &    CO..   HRY-CiOODS. 
Sixth  and  St.  Clmrles  Streets. 


member  of  the  official  board  has  sought  to  infuse  into 
church  management  as  much  of  business-like  principles 
and  methods  as  possible.  His  counsels  in  church 
matters  are  always  large-hearted  and  generous,  and 
he  infuses  as  much  life  and  spirit,  into  his  religious 
undertakings  as  he  does  into  his  secular  concerns. 
Though  zealous  in  the  cause  of  Methodism,  Mr. 
Scruggs  is  free  from  narrow  sectarianism,  and  gladly 
extends  a  hand  to  those  of  other  denominations  as 
co-workers  in  religious  effort. 

The  firm  of  J.  H.  Wear,  Boogher  &  Co.  is  one 


Mr.  Wear  removed  in  the  spring  of  1871  to  No.  508 
North  Main  Street.  Another  removal  soon  became 
necessary,  and  on  the  1st  of  January,  1875,  the  firm 
occupied  the  six-story  building  at  the  corner  of  Fifth 
Street  and  Washington  Avenue.  The'present  quar- 
ters are  at  the  southwest  corner  of  Sixth  and  St 
Charles  Streets.  The  firm  is  composed  of  J.  H.  We 
and  Jesse  L.  and  John  P.  Boogher. 

One  of  the  earliest  dry-goods  merchants  of  St 
Louis  was  Way  man  Crow.  Mr.  Crow  removed  to  St 
Louis  from  Kentucky  in  1835,  and  opened  a  drj 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1301 


goods  jobbing-house  under  the  firm-name  of  Crow 
&  Tevis,  his  associate,  Terhune  Tevis,  residing  in 
Philadelphia.  Then  all,  or  nearly  all,  the  business 
was  confined  to  the  Levee  (Water  Street  then)  and 
Main  Street,  and  the  new  firm  located  themselves 
temporarily  at  the  corner  of  Water  and  Oak  Streets) 
(the  latter  now  known  as  Cherry),  removing  in  the 
next  spring  to  the  stone  house  at  the  corner  of  Main 
and  Olive  Streets,  which  had  been  the  residence  of 
Col.  Rene"  Paul.  Of  all  the  merchants  engaged  in 
business  at  the  time  the  firm  of  Crow  &  Tevis  began 
operations,  none  now  remain  actively  engaged  in 
trade.  At  that  date  the  lines  of  communication  be-  i 
tween  St.  Louis  and  the  East  were  by  river  to  New 
Orleans,  and  thence  by  sea  and  by  river  to  Pittsburgh, 
and  thence  by  wagons  to  Philadelphia.  Sixty  days 
was  then  quick  time  between  New  York  and  St.  Louis, 
and  purchases  of  goods  for  the  spring  sates  of  March 
and  April  were  made  in  the  preceding  September; 
those  for  the  fall  sales  were  made  in  June  and  July, 
and  the  arrivals  of  boats  from  New  Orleans  and  Pitts- 
burgh with  the  season's  stock  of  goods  for  the  dif- 
ferent merchants  of  the  town  formed  marked  events. 
The  communication  with  the  interior  was  even  less 
convenient,  and  sales  were  made  always  upon  six 
months'  time,  with  an  indefinite  period  for  collec- 
tion. Commencing  thus  with  a  business  of  less  than 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  Mr.  Crow  has  remained 
at  the  head  of  the  firm,  'increasing  its  business  to 
millions  of  dollars  per  annum,  and  passing  through 
all  the  financial  revulsions  that  have  marked  the  his- 
tory of  the  West,  in  some  of  which  as  high  as  thirty 
per  cent,  interest  was  paid  for  the  use  of  money  that 
was  even  then  obtainable  only  upon  pledges  of  per- 
sonal property,  and  not  once  did  his  house  suspend  or 
fail  to  meet  all  obligations  promptly  at  the  date  of 
maturity.  In  1837  the  firm  removed  to  a  three-story 
brick  house  on  the  west  side  of  Main  Street,  at  the 
corner  of  Locust,  belonging  to  Gen.  Ashley,  and  in 
1839  or  1840  to  the  O'Fallon  block,  nearly  opposite 
that  location.  In  this  last  building  the  firm  continued 
in  business  until  burned  out  by  the  fire  of  1849, 
changing  its  style  from  Crow  &  Tevis  to  that  of  Crow, 
Tevis  &  McCreery,  and  afterwards,  upon  the  retire- 
ment of  Mr.  Tevis,  to  that  of  Crow,  McCreery  & 
Barksdale.  Up  to  this  time  the  house  had  met  and 
successfully  passed  through  two  panics,  and  when 
their  stock  of  goods  was  destroyed  by  the  "  great 
fire,"  the  members  of  the  firm  instead  of  faltering,  as 
others  of  their  associates  did,  were  only  spurred  to 
greater  enterprise.  In  the  fall  of  1849,  Mr.  Crow 
built  a  fine  four-story  brick  warehouse  at  No.  216 
Main  Street,  to  which  the  business  was  removed. 
83 


Shortly  after  that  date  Mr.  Barksdale  retired  to 
engage  in  the  banking  business,  and  the  firm-name 
was  changed  to  that  of  Crow,  McCreery  &  Co.  P. 
R.  McCreery  died  in  November,  1861,  and  George 
D.  Appleton  retired  in  the  succeeding  year.  The 
members  of  the  firm  then  were  Wayman  Crow,  Wm. 
H.  Hargadine,  Hugh  McKittrick,  David  D.  Walker, 
and  Francis  Ely. 

In  1871  the  firm  removed  to  the  new  Chouteau 
buildings,  523  North  Main  Street  (near  Washington 
Avenue),  and  occupied  a  handsome  warehouse  twenty- 
eight  feet  front  by  one  hundred  and  forty  feet  deep, 
employing  four  stories  for  the  storage  of  goods.  The 
building  was  provided  with  all  the  modern  appliances 
for  transacting  business  with  facility,  including  two 
elevators,  one  for  the  passage  of  customers  from 
floor  to  floor,  and  the  other  for  raising  and  lowering 
goods. 

A  newspaper,  in  its  notice  of  the  removal,  remarked 
at  the  time,  "  The  contrast  between  the  small  building 
on  Water  and  Oak  Streets,  where  the  firm  first  began 
business,  and  the  palatial  house  now  occupied  by 
them  is  scarcely  less  than  that  between  the  St.  Louis 
of  1835  and  the  St.  Louis  of  1871,  and  not  more 
marked  than  the  changes  that  have  been  made  in  the 
mode  and  extent  of  business,  the  character  of  and 
terms  upon  which  sales  are  made,  and  the  facilities  for 
handling  and  time  of  transit  of  goods  from  the  for- 
eign and  domestic  looms  to  the  warehouse  here  and 
their  distribution  to  interior  merchants.  The  sales  of 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars  per  annum  have  in- 
creased to  two  million  dollars,  while  credits  have 
shrunk  from  six  months  to  thirty  and  sixty  days,  with 
collections  as  prompt  now  as  they  then  were  dilatory. 
The  country  merchants  visited  the  city  once  in  six 
months,  and  the  business  of  the  year  was  crowded  into 
two  periods  of  thirty  days  each,  and  dullness  inter- 
vened for  four  or  five  months,  while  now  each  day 
brings  its  quota  of  purchasers,  and  upon  any  day  in 
the  winter  as  much  business  is  done,  relatively  to  the 
trade  of  the  year,  as  was  then  transacted  in  the  three 
months  of  December,  January,  and  February.  Then 
the  population  of  the  Mississippi  valley  was  confined 
to  a  narrow  belt  skirting  the  river  and  its  tributaries, 
and  the  whistle  of  the  locomotive  was  an  unknown 
sound.  Now,  with  increased  population  in  all  the 
great  States  of  the  valley,  and  with  new  regions  daily 
being  opened  up  to  our  commerce,  Mr.  Crow  seems 
in  his  energy  and  enterprise  to  emulate  his  youth  and 
still  strive  to  place  St.  Louis  in  the  front  rank  of  com- 
mercial cities." 

The  present  firm,  under  the  style  of  Crow,  Harga- 
dine &  Co.,  is  composed  of  Wayman  Crow,  William 


1302 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


A.  Hargadine,  Hugh  McKittrick,  and  Edward  J. 
Glasgow,  Jr.  The  warehouse,  a  handsome  and  im- 
posing structure,  is  situated  at  the  southeast  corner  of 
Eighth  Street  and  Washington  Avenue. 

The  great  firm  of  Dodd,  Brown  &  Co.  was  estab- 
lished in  January,  1866,  by  Samuel  M.  Dodd  and 
James  G.  Brown,  who  located  on  the  corner  of  Main 
and  Locust  Streets,  in  a  four-story  building  twenty- 
five  feet  by  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet,  and  filled  it 
with  what  was  then  considered  a  very  large  stock. 
Their  sales  during  the  first  year  aggregated  one  mil- 
lion two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  giving 


who  commenced  the  dry-goods  business  at  No.  418 
Franklin  Avenue,  with  a  cash  capital  of  two  thou- 
sand three  hundred  dollars.  From  this  small  begin- 
ning they  have  gradually  built  up  one  of  the  largest 
dry-goods  houses  in  the  country,  and  having  made  no 
less  than  six  large  additions  to  the  original  building, 
now  occupy  an  imposing  structure  at  the  southeast 
corner  of  Fifth  Street  and  Franklin  Avenue. 

In  addition  to  the  above  there  are  a  large  number 
of  flourishing  dry-goods  firms  in  St.  Louis,  and  the 
trade  is  of  vast  proportions.  The  amount  of  capital 
employed  in  the  business  was  estimated  by  Joseph 


DODD.  BROWN    &    CO., 
Corner  Fifth  and  St.  ChiirK's  Streets. 


them  a  front  rank  in  the  trade.  The  firm  continued 
business  at  the  original  store  until  1869,  when  it  re- 
moved to  217  North  Main  Street.  In  1871  it  erected 
the  present  warehouse  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Fifth 
and  St.  Charles  Streets.  It  is  an  immense  building, 
five  stories  in  height  with  a  basement,  covering  about 
sixty  thousand  square  feet,  and  provided  with  all  the 
conveniences  necessary  to  facilitate  the  vast  business 
of  the  firm.  The  house  as  at  present  constituted  is 
composed  of  Samuel  M.  and  Marcus  D.  Dodd,  James 
G.  Brown,  and  Hamilton  Daughaday. 

The  firm  of  D.  Crawford  &  Co.  was  established  in 
1866  by  Dugald  Crawford  and  Alexander  Russell, 


Franklin,  of  the  William  Barr  Dry-Goods  Company, 
in  1880,  at  §10,000,000,  and  the  amount  of  business 
annually  at  835,000,000.  From  1870  to  1880  the 
trade  had  doubled  in  the  aggregate. 

In  1881  twelve  exclusively  wholesale  and  importing 
houses  were  engaged  in  the  trade,  besides  seven  dry- 
goods  commission  houses  and  one  wholesale  and  retail 
house,  making  a  total  of  twentv  houses  encashed  in 

m 

wholesaling  dry- goods.  The  business  transacted  during 
the  year  amounted  in  value  to  over  $28,000,000.  In 
addition  to  the  wholesale  houses  there  were  207  retail 
establishments  in  St.  Louis. 

Closely  allied  with   the  dry-goods   trade    are    the 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1303 


•  wholesale  fancy  goods  and  notions  and  the  wholesale 
millinery  and  straw  goods  trades.  In  the  fancy  goods 
and  notions  trade  twenty-four  wholesale  houses  were 
engaged  in  1881,  their  business  annually  amounting 
to  about  $8,000,000.  The  number  of  wholesale  and 
retail  houses  engaged  in  the  same  trade,  in  addition 
to  the  twenty-four  houses  referred  to,  was  183. 
In  the  wholesale  millinery  and  straw  goods  business 
eleven  large  concerns  were  engaged,  with  a  business 
amounting  to  more  than  three  million  dollars  per 
annum,  besides  which  there  were  eighty-eight  mil- 
linery firms. 

The  extensive  carpet  and  curtain  house  of  John 
Kennard  &  Sons,  long  eminent  in  enterprise  and  busi-  i 
ness  standing,  is  the  oldest  house  in  the  special  line  ! 
of  goods  dealt  in  in  the  whole  West,  and  the  largest 
house  in  its  trade  west  of  New  York.     It  has  occu-  I 
pied  the  same  locality  for  twenty-seven  years,  during  j 
which  time  its  business  connections  and  volume  of  | 
trade  have  steadily  and  continually  increased,  and  its  i 
reputation  for  taste  and  judgment,  like  its  commercial  j 
standing  and  mercantile  repute,  has  never  ceased  to 
rise  higher  and  higher. 

The  founder  of  this  house,  John  Kennard,  even 
before  he  came  to  St.  Louis,  had  made  himself  known 
both  in  the  East  and  the  West  as  one  of  the  most 
energetic  and  enterprising  men  of  business  of  his 
day.  His  knowledge  of  goods  and  of  the  trade  was 
remarkably  extensive  ;  his  reputation  in  the  East  as  a 
buyer  was  only  excelled  by  his  standing  in  the  West 
as  a  salesman  and  judge  of  the  market.  He  had  the 
closest  and  most  intimate  familiarity  with  the  pro- 
cesses of  manufacture  and  the  tendencies  and  drift  of 
custom ;  one  glance  at  a  fabric  enabled  him  to  dis- 
cover at  once  how  and  of  what  it  was  made,  and  what 
were  its  prospects  to  please  the  taste  or  satisfy  the 
notions  of  customers. 

John  Kennard  was  a  Marylander  by  birth,  and  de- 
scended of  ancient  and  honorable  stock,  English  in 
ancestry,  on  both  the  male  and  female  sides  of  the 
house.  His  father,  John  Kennard,  was  the  grandson 
of  the  Kennard  (John  also)  who  immigrated  from 
England  in  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
John  Kennard  of  the  existing  firm  is  th&  fifth  John 
Kennard,  son  of  John,  the  fifth  in  direct  line  from 
the  settler  in  "  Old  Kent."  John  Kennard  the  first 
patented  an  estate  of  considerable  proportions  in 
Kent  County,  Md.,  the  property  being  about  Worton. 
Some  of  his  descendants  still  hold  land  in  that  neigh- 
borhood and  about  Rock  Hall.  John  the  second,  un- 
like several  other  of  his  father's  children,  who  settled 
elsewhere  in  the  peninsula  of  Maryland  and  Delaware 
(one  went  to  Philadelphia,  another  to  South  Carolina 


and  made  a  fortune),  remained  at  the  paternal  home- 
stead, his  by  right  of  birth  as  the  oldest  born,  and 
here  his  son,  John  the  third,  was  born  March  28, 
1778.  John,  the  third,  when  he  grew  up  left  the 
home  place  and  settled  in  Talbot  County,  where, 
Jan.  15,  1807,  he  married  Mary  Spencer.  John 
Kennard  the  third  was  a  man  of  remarkable  and 
stately  presence,  and  his  manners  had  something  of 
the  grand  air.  He  lived  in  different  parts  of  Mary- 
land and  the  West,  dying  eventually  in  Lexington, 
Ky.,  on  Jan.  8,  1840.  His  wife,  Mary  Spencer,  who 
survived  to  the  age  of  eighty-seven  years,  a  hale  and 
hearty  nonagenarian,  was  a  daughter  of  Hon.  Perry 
Spencer,  one  of  the  most  considerable  men  of  his  day 
and  section,  a  ship-builder  of  prominence  when  the 
ship-yards  of  the  Chesapeake  were  famous  all  over  the 
world,  a  leading  politician  and  representative,  and 
three  times  in  immediate  succession  (1800-8)  elector 
for  his  State  on  the  Presidential  ticket.  His  home- 
stead, "  Spencer  Hall,"  on  Miles  River,  had  been  con- 
tinuously in  the  family  from  the  arrival  of  the  founder 
of  the  family,  James  Spencer,  in  1670. 

John  Kennard  the  fourth,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  son  of  John  the  third  and  Mary  Spencer,  was 
born  in  the  town  of  Easton,  Talbot  Co.,  Md.,  Aug. 
14,  1801).  His  parents  had  other  children, — Perry 
S.  Kennard,  of  St.  Louis  ;  Robert  0.,  of  Vicksburg  ; 
Mary,  married  to  Dr.  Newman,  of  St.  Louis ;  and 
Elizabeth,  wife  of  Whittington  King,  of  Lexington, 
Ky. 

A  few  years  after  the  birth  of  John  Kennard  fourth 
his  parents  removed  to  Baltimore  and  took  up  their 
residence  in  that  city.  •  Mr.  Kennard,  Sr.,  had  nearly 
impoverished  himself  by  undertaking  the  guardian- 
ship of  his  father's  minor  children  and  acting  the  part 
of  a  father  to  them,  and  he  was  consequently  not  able 
to  give  his  son  John  any  great  educational  advantages. 
Indeed,  he  received  but  little  schooling,  and  it  was 
only  by  giving  the  same  assiduous  attention  to  books, 
reading,  and  study  which  he  applied  to  business  that 
the  young  man  was  able  to  repair  the  defects  of  so 
meagre  an  academic  training  as  had  beeu  at  his  com- 
mand. He  was  still  only  a  lad  when  he  entered  the 
wholesale  dry-goods  house  of  Thomas  Mummey  (after- 
wards Mummey  &  Meredith,  Mummey,  Meredith  & 
Spencer,  and  Meredith  &  Spencer),  one  of  the  largest 
establishments  in  Baltimore,  and  having  control  espe- 
cially of  an  extensive  Western  and  Southern  trade. 

Here  Mr.  Kennard  was  able  to  learn  the  rudiments 
of  commerce  and  merchandise  under  exceptionally 
favorable  auspices,  and  he  made  such  good  use  of  his 
opportunities  that  he  speedily  became  known  as  one 
of  the  best  young  business  men  in  the  city,  and  in  a 


1304 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


few  years  had  such  confidence  in  his  own  energy  and 
capacity  as  to  go  into  business  for  himself.  In  1832 
the  Asiatic  cholera  desolated  Baltimore,  and  in  a  few 
days  Mr.  Mummey,  his  wife,  his  brother  and  his  wife 
were  all  borne  to  the  grave,  none  of  them  surviving 
more  than  a  few  hours'  illness.  It  was  in  this  first 
encounter  with  the  dreaded  pestilence  in  its  most  fatal 
form  (for  then  no  one  knew  anything  about  the  dis- 
ease and  its  treatment)  that  Mr.  Kennard  acquired 
that  familiar  knowledge  of  nursing  in  epidemics  and 
of  the  way  to  combat  diseases  of  the  kind  which  he 
afterwards  put  to  such  exemplary  and  heroic  use 
during  the  visits  of  the  cholera  plague  to  Lexington 
and  St.  Louis.  In  the  former  city  his  services  iu 
these  seasons  of  affliction  will  not  soon  be  forgotten, 
though  most  of  the  generation  in  which  they  were 
rendered  has  already  passed  away.  In  1833,  Wednes- 
day evening,  August  21st,  by  Rev.  Eli  Henkle,  pastor 
of  St.  John's  Methodist  Protestant  Church,  Baltimore, 
Mr.  Kennard  was  married  to  Rebecca  Owings  Mum- 
mey, daughter  of  his  former  employer,  lately  deceased. 

Mrs.  Kennard's  family  was  good  old  Maryland 
stock  all  round.  There  are  no  better  people  in 
ancient  Baltimore  County  than  those  who  bear  the 
names  of  Cockey,  Deye,  and  Owings.  Thomas 
Mummey's  grandfather  was  Joshua,  son  of  Richard 
Owings,  an  extensive  owner  of  mill-seats ;  his  grand- 
mother was  Mary  Cockey,  daughter  of  John  and 
Eliza  Cockey.  The  names  of  Cockey,  Deye,  Owings, 
and  their  kinsfolk  the  Gists  are  familiar  enough  all 
through  the  West,  where  they  were  pioneers ;  but 
before  that  they  were  pioneers  also  in  Maryland. 
Joshua  Owings  was  one  of  the  members  of  the  first 
vestry  of  the  first  Episcopal  Church  in  Maryland  west 
of  Baltimore,  and  in  his  house  (it  is  still  standing, 
though  greatly  altered)  the  first  Methodist  converts 
in  Maryland  assembled,  and  Asbury  preached  his 
first  sermons.  Mary  Cockey  (Owings)  was  born 
Dec.  10,  1716,  and  died  Feb.  6,  1768,  the  mother 
of  ten  children.  One  of  these  children,  Marcella, 
born  July  5,  1748,  married  Thomas  Worthington, 
and  lived  to  be  ninety-six  years  old.  Another,  Re- 
becca, born  Jan.  27,  1751,  was  married  to  Samuel 
Mummey,  and  died  Dec.  24,  1806. 

Samuel  Mummey  (it  has  been  conjectured  that  the 
name  was  originally  Munnings,  but  it  is  undoubtedly 
the  same  name  now  so  familiar  in  Washington 
County,  Md.,  as  Mumma,  and  the  original  of  which, 
Mumme,  meaning  "  masker,"  "  nmminer,"  is  of  very 
frequent  occurrence  in  and  around  Bremen)  was  one 
of  three  brothers  who  came  when  very  young  from 
Germany  and  settled  in  Baltimore  County, — trades- 
men, with  no  fortune  but  their  craft  and  their  indus- 


try. The  other  two  brothers  were  John  and  Chris- 
topher.  John  married  Margaretta  Beam,  one  of  a 
milling  family,  and  Christopher,  after  doing  service 
in  the  army  of  Washington  during  the  Revolution, 
went 'West  and  settled  in  Kentucky. 

Samuel  Mummey  and  Rebecca,  his  wife,  were  the 
parents  of  six  children,  of  whom  Thomas,  the  eldest, 
was  born  Oct.  26,  1774,  in  Baltimore  County.  He 
had  but  scant  schooling,  but  was  a  well-read  man 
before  he  died.  He  came  to  Baltimore  very  early  to 
seek  his  fortune,  his  estate  at  that  time  consisting 
chiefly  of  a  new  suit  of  clothes  and  seven  or  eight 
silver  dollars,  the  products  of  the  sale  of  the  skins 
of  rabbits  caught  in  his  traps  during  the  winter. 
Ten  years  later  he  was  in  business  for  himself,  and 
pushing  his  way  toward  that  fortune  with  a  most 
untiring  energy.  His  associates  on  Market  Street 
habitually  called  him  par  excellence  "  the  minute- 
man."  On  July  13,  1797,  Thomas  Mummey  was 
married  to  Catharine  Fishburne,  of  Frederick  County, 
Md.,  born  May  14,  1778,  the  daughter  of  Philip 
Fishburne  and  Elizabeth,  his  wife.  Philip  Fish- 
burne was  English  by  birth,  a  man  of  studious  turn,' 
with  a  bent  for  astronomy.  He  had  been  educated 
in  Germany  with  the  intention  of  becoming  a  clergy- 
man. This  plan  had  been  abandoned  and  emigration 
to  America  substituted  for  it;  but  the  studious  man 
still  retained  his  piety  and  his  fondness  for  the  ven- 
erable old  tomes,  vellum-bound  quartos,  and  pig-skin 
folios  which  were  in  his  library.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  Committee  of  Safety  in  Frederick  County 
during  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  was  greatly  es- 
teemed. 

Thomas  and  Catharine  Mummey  had  thirteen  chil- 
dren, of  whom  Rebecca,  the  wife  of  John  Kennard, 
was  the  eighth.  "  Sister"  Mummey,  as  all  her  con- 
temporaries used  to  call  her,  was  in  every  way  a  most 
beautiful  character,  lovely  in  her  person,  flawless  in 
her  soul,  and  brilliant  of  mind, — a  woman  whom  all 
looked  up  to,  and  to  whom  leadership  was  natural. 
Sister  Mummey's  house  was  the  resort  of  the  whole 
Methodist  Conference ;  Sister  Mummey's  "  class" 
and  prayer-meeting  and  missionary  society  were  the 
most  esteemed  of  all  their  kind  in  the  community. 
The  "  sainted  woman"  was  what  the  Catholic  ladies 
and  priests  who  encountered  her  in  her  errands  of 
charity  and  of  consolation  used  to  call  her.  Sister 
Mummey  had  energy  to  match  her  zeal  and  decision 
to  balance  the  sweet  serenity  of  her  character.  She 
led  the  secession  in  1829  out  of  which  the  Methodist 
Protestant  Church  grew,  and  once,  when  her  husband's 
business  became  involved  through  indorsing  for  others, 
she  went  into  business  herself,  and  not  only  supported 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1305 


the  family,  but  always  had  a  thousand  dollars  or  so  to 
lend  her  husband  to  take  up  a  note  maturing  at  an  ill 
time.  As  for  Thomas  Mummey,  the  minute-man,  it 
is  enough  to  say  that  he  was  worthy  to  be  husband 
of  this  Sister  Catharine,  the  sainted  woman.  He  lost 
two  or  three  fortunes  by  the  default  of  those  whom 
he  helped  in  business,  yet  when  he  died  in  1832  each 
of  his  children  got  a  clean  little  fortune  out  of  his 
estate.  He  was  a  man  of  aifairs,  helpful  and  public- 
spirited  ;  was  a  defender  of  Baltimore  at  the  battle  of 
North  Point,  member  of  the  City  Council,  director  in 
the  State  Penitentiary,  and  prominent  in  fire  compa- 
nies, insurance  companies,  and  banks. 

Not  long  after  his  marriage  with  Rebecca  Mummey, 
John  Kennard  went  to  the  West  in  search  of  a  busi- 
ness location.  He  had  determined  to  cross  the  Alle- 
ghenies  into  the  West  and  plant  himself  at  some  place 
where  he  might  grow  up  with  the  country.  He  landed 
at  St.  Louis  the  day  of  the  dedication  of  the  Cathedral, 
and  visited  Cincinnati  and  other  places,  but  without 
coming  to  a  decision.  After  an  experiment  with  Madi- 
son, Ind.,  Mr.  Kennard  at  length  established  himself  in 
the  "  Athens  of  the  West,"  Lexington,  Ky.,  the  heart 
and  pride  of  the  Blue  Grass  region.  Here  John  and 
his  father  went  into  the  dry- goods  business,  but  the  old 
gentleman  only  lived  to  1840,  and  his  son  established 
other  business  connections.  It  was  a  bad  time  for 
business  in  the  West,  after  the  terrible  panic,  collapse, 
and  depression  of  1837,  when  that  section,  the  centre 
of  the  gigantic  land  speculations,  suffered  most,  because 
all  values  were  locked  up  in  land,  and  sunk  together  in 
the  common  vortex  of  one  universal  depreciation.  Mr. 
Kennard  had  a  young  and  growing  family,  and  there 
were  a  good  many  people  besides,  more  or  less  help- 
less themselves,  whom  it  was  the  instinctive  need  of 
his  heart,  rather  than  the  demand  of  reason  or  prac- 
tical judgment,  to  help  on  and  prop  up  somehow, 
though  he  made  himself  their  staff.  But  he  had  the 
energy,  the  vitality,  the  industry  of  a  dozen  men. 
Nothing  could  keep  such  a  man  down.  He  could  not 
fetter  himself  so  tightly  that  his  own  forces  were  unable 
to  break  the  bonds.  And  he  had  much  to  give  away, 
because  he  was  so  simple  in  his  habits,  knowing  noth- 
ing beyond  the  pale  of  his  church,  his  family,  and  his 
business.  Not  many  years  before  his  death  he  told 
the  writer  of  this  that  he  could  not  recollect  that 
in  all  his  life  he  had  spent  five  dollars  altogether 
upon  himself.  A  more  unselfish  man  never  lived, 
nor  a  better  and  more  devoted  husband  and  father, 
nor  a  more  consistent,  humble-minded  Christian,  nor 
a  better  man  of  business. 

In  business  Mr.  Kennard  conjoined  to  a  consum- 
mate tact  and  a  delicate  and  perfectly  educated  taste 


a  fiery  energy  in  action,  the  closest  scrutiny  and  super- 
vision in  management,  and  a  knowledge  and  intimate 
familiarity  with  all  the  details  which  could  not  be  sur- 
passed. He  knew  every  part  of  every  department 
himself,  and  looked  after  it  himself.  His  quickness 
and  dispatch  were  almost  marvelous,  and  in  every 
case  they  rested  upon  a  perfect  and  thorough  ac- 
quaintance with  his  subject  in  all  its  bearings. 

After  Mr.  Kennard  had  established  himself  at  last 
in  the  carpet  trade  in  Lexington,  had  taken  his  sons 
in  with  him,  and  thoroughly  grasped  the  business  and 
all  its  possibilities,  he  found  that  the  field  in  Lexing- 
ton was  too  small  for  such  a  trade  as  he  sought  for 
J.  Kennard  &  Sons.  The  town  was  rich,  but  it  was 
old,  conservative,  off  the  line  of  travel.  The  maxi- 
mum of  sales  was  easy  to  reach,  but  it  was  not  easy 
for  one  to  get  above  and  beyond  that ;  in  fact,  it  could 
not  be  transcended.  Mr.  Kennard  made  up  his  mind. 
He  wanted  to  build  up  a  large  business,  which,  put  in 
the  hands  of  his  sons,  trained  in  his  methods  and 
brought  up  under  his  eye,  might  be  expanded  by  them 
to  indefinitely  great  proportions.  He  removed  to  St. 
Louis,  established  himself  there,  on  Fourth  Street,  in 
the  carpet  and  curtain  trade  in  1857,  and  that  is  the 
beginning  of  the  present  house. 

With  such  a  foundation  the  house  might  be  ex- 
pected to  prosper,  and  so  it  did  from  the  very  first. 
Mr.  Kennard  was  always  successful  in  St.  Louis ;  he 
made  money  rapidly  from  the  start,  and  might  have 
accumulated  largely.  But  he  had  set  out  in  life  with 
the  determination  never  to  be  worth  more  than  fifty 
thousand  dollars,  and  when  his  earnings  rose  above 
that  self-imposed  limit  he  quietly  gave  the  surplus 
away. 

Mr.  Kennard  died  Nov.  18,  1872,  aged  sixty-three 
years,  the  cause  of  his  death  being  typhoid  pneu- 
monia. A  shaft  marks  the  place  of  his  interment  in 
Bellefontaine  Cemetery.  His  widow  survives  him. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kennard  were  the  parents  of  eight 
children.  Of  these,  three  are  living, — Mary  Rebecca, 
John,  and  Samuel  M.,  comprising  the  existing  firm  of 
J.  Kennard  &  Sons. 

The  house  and  the  business  are  a  hundredfold 
larger  in  every  way  than  the  J.  Kennard  &  Sons  of 
Lexington  in  1857,  yet  it  is  conducted  upon  identi- 
cally the  same  principles,  and  owes  its  success,  its 
prosperity,  and  its  capacity  for  safe  and  unchecked 
expansion  to  the  fact  that  it  has  retained  the  methods 
and  the  groundwork  of  the  elder  John  Kennard.  His 
insight,  tact,  discrimination,  good  taste,  prompt  meth- 
ods, close  scrutiny,  square  and  upright  dealings,  and 
safe  and  sound  financiering  are  part  of  the  capital  and 
the  stock  in  trade  of  the  house  to-day.  It  is  not  only 


1306 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


as  a  reminiscence,  but  as  a  symbol  also  that  the  firm 
and  the  sign  remain  to-day  as  originally  constituted, 
John  Kennard  &  Sons.  He  is  still,  in  spirit,  influence, 
and  example,  the  head  of  the  house  he  established. 

The  late  William  Henry  Haggerty  was  at  one  time 
among  the  largest  retail  dry-goods  merchants  of  the 
city.  Mr.  Haggerty  was  born  in  County  Cork,  Ire- 
land, Sept.  6,  1829,  of  parents  who  were  widely 
known  and  highly  respected.  His  mother  having 
been  left  a  widow  and  thrown  upon  her  own  resources, 
engaged  in  mercantile  business,  in  which  she  achieved 
remarkable  success.  Her  sons  inherited  her  talents 
for  trade,  and  when  William  Henry  left  Ireland  for 
America,  being  then  but  eighteen  years  old,  he  found 
employment  in  a  large  dry-goods  house,  successfully 
conducted  by  three  brothers,  in  New  Orleans. 

Young  Haggerty  spent  some  five  years  in  that 
business  and  then  removed  to  St.  Louis,  having  just 
two  dollars  and  fifteen  cents  in  his  pocket  when  he 
landed.  He  went  to  the  house  of  Murdoch  &  Dick- 
son  (yet  well  remembered),  explained  his  condition 
and  the  plan  he  had  formed  to  go  into  business, 
showed  the  two  dollars  and  fifteen  cents,  and  asked 
for  a  little  credit.  Murdoch  scrutinized  the  young 
man,  and  remarking  that  he  "  seemed  like  a  nice,  honest 
Irishman,"  granted  the  request,  and  young  Haggerty 
started  out  with  a  lot  of  whips  which  he  peddled 
about  town.  He  soon  returned  and  paid  the  little  in- 
debtedness, a  matter  of  but  two  or  three  dollars. 
From  this  transaction  there  resulted  a  friendship  that 
lasted  until  Mr.  Murdoch's  death,  many  years  later. 

Having  saved  money  enough  to  buy  a  horse  and 
wagon,  his  next  venture  was  to  purchase  a  stock  of 
tea,  which  he  sold  by  the  pound  to  the  French  cot- 
tagers on  the  G-ravois  road  and  other  parts  of  the  town 
far  from  retail  stores.  In  this  also  he  succeeded,  and 
soon  realized  a  sum  sufficient  to  justify  the  thought 
of  marriage  and  of  engaging  regularly  in  business. 

In  1854  he  returned  to  New  Orleans,  and  was 
married  to  Anna  M.  Boylan,  daughter  of  Commodore 
Boylan,  who  was  interested  in  a  steamship  line  from 
New  Orleans  to  Liverpool. 

During  the  same  year  he  embarked  in  the  retail 
dry-goods  trade,  and  prospered  to  such  an  extent  that 
he  ventured  to  open  a  more  pretentious  business  in 
what  was  then  known  as  the  "  red  store,"  on  Seventh 
Street,  opposite  the  Centre  Market,  between  Spruce 
and  Poplar  Streets.  Many  of  the  oldest  families  in  the 
city  were  his  customers,  and  he  made  money  rapidly. 
He  was  ever  on  the  alert  for  advantageous  bargains, 
and  made  a  practice  of  frequenting  auction  sales  of 
fire  and  bankrupt  stocks,  and  while  he  bought  boldly, 
his  judgment  was  seldom  at  fault,  and  he  soon  came 


to  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  best  business  men  in  the 
city  in  that  particular  line. 

In  1862  he  disposed  of  his  retail  business  and  en- 
gaged in  the  wholesale  jobbing  trade  on  Main  Street. 
Then  for  some  years  he  conducted  a  wholesale  auction 
house,  and  finally  once  more  engaged  in  the  jobbing 
business.  In  January,  1880,  he  admitted  his  son 
Thomas  J.  as  partner,  and  placed  the  business  in  his 
charge.  He  next  became  a  member  of  the  auction 

i  firm  of  Haggerty  &  Dewes,  and  finally,  having  been 
incapacitated  for  work  by  an  accident,  he  merged  his 
jobbing  business  into  a  stock  company  under  the  cor- 
porate name  of  Haggerty  &  Son  Auction  Goods  Com- 
pany, in  which  shape  the  business  was  being  conducted 
when  he  died,  March  11,  1882,  leaving  a  handsome 
fortune  to  his  widow  and  a  family  of  nine  children. 

Mr.  Haggerty  was  a  zealous  member  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  and  for  sixteen  years  of  St.  John's  parish. 
His  life  was  marked  by  many  deeds  of  unostentatious 
charity,  and  he  was  deeply  interested  in  all  the  benevo- 
lent enterprises  of  the  church,  especially  those  in- 
volving the  care  of  orphans.  He  was  also  a  member 
of  the  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  Society,  and  was  one  of 
the  five  charter  members  of  the  Knights  of  St.  Pat- 
rick. In  all  these  relations  he  shunned  publicity,  but 
his  advice  was  always  sought,  and  generally  proved 
judicious. 

When   a  boy  Mr.  Haggerty   enjoyed  but   scanty 

•  school  privileges,  and  it  is  said  that,  realizing  his 
deficiencies,  he  used  to  spend  his  evenings,  after  the 

;  day's  hard  work  was  over,  in  the  store  at  New  Orleans, 

!  under  the  direction  of  one  of  the  older  brothers,  in 
learning  to  write,  "  cipher,"  and  keep  books.  From 
this  point  onward  his  success  was  steady  and  uniform, 
and  in  his  particular  line  of  business  he  deserves  to  be 

;  classed  among  the  representative  men  of  St.  Louis. 

Silk. — The  Morus  multicaulis  fever  reached  Mis- 
souri in  1838-39,  and  forthwith  spread  like  a  prairie 
on  fire.  "  The  theory  was  a  beautiful  one  :  one  acre 
planted  in  mulberry-trees  would  feed  worms  sufficient 
to  produce  thousands  of  dollars  of  silk, — wealth  could 
not  be  garnered  sooner  from  a  Potosi  mine."1  In  the 
Republican  of  March  7,  1839,  "  the  stockholders  in 
the  Missouri  Silk  Company"  were  advised  that, — 

"  The  undersigned,  being  the  persons  named  in  the  act  in- 
corporating the  Missouri  Silk  Company  to  call  a  meeting  of  the 
members  of  said  association  for  the  acceptance  of  and  organiza- 
tion under  said  act,  do  hereby  give  notice  that  a  meeting  will 
be  held  on  Monday  evening,  March  18,  1839,  at  7  P.M. 

"  William  C.  Anderson,  John  J.  Anderson,  Andrew  J. 
Davis,  Charles  P.  Billon,  Joseph  Settinius,  N.  Pas- 
chall,  H.  Perrin." 

Edwards'  Great  West. 


mis. 


I  HE 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1307 


.  aps, 

. 


. 

• 

. 


' 
• 


367, 

ed  it 

•Mile   and   John 


Mr.  Marti1 

• 
is  not  wat  n  himself  with  the 


1308 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


reason  that  has  induced  him  to  keep  his  business 
within  moderate  limits  has  prevented  him  from  going 
outside  to  indulge  in  speculation.  His  only  venture, 
therefore,  outside  of  his  business  has  been  a  little 
"  deal"  in  real  estate,  and  he  owns  a  few  pieces  of 
valuable  property  in  some  of  the  choicest  business 
quarters  of  St.  Louis.  Mr.  Martin,  in  other  words, 
is  a  quiet,  observant  business  man,  and  his  career 
shows  that  signal  success  may  be  won  from  small  be- 
ginnings, simply  by  careful,  close,  and  honest  dealings, 
a  thrifty  attention  to  details,  and  an  avoidance  of  specu- 
lation. 

The  Provision  Trade. — No  interest  in  St.  Louis 
has  developed  more  largely  in  recent  years  than  the 
provision  trade  in  all  its  branches.  The  live-stock 
interest,  taken  as  a  whole,  places  St.  Louis  in  the 
second  rank  of  all  American  cities,  and  this  satisfac- 
tory showing  is  largely  contributed  to  by  the  packers 
and  other  dealers,  whose  business  since  1861  has  been 
dignified  as  a  special  interest. 

As  early  as  1832  there  appears  to  have  been  meat- 
packing, purely  for  local  consumption,  in  St.  Louis, 
but  of  course  in  a  small  way,  scarcely  larger  in  extent, 
perhaps,  than  the  more  primitive  practice  of  a  decade 
earlier  of  drying  meat  in  the  sun. 

The  number  of  hogs  packed  in  St.  Louis  in  1843- 
44  was  above  16,000  head;  1844-45,  13,000  head; 
1845-46,  31,000  head  ;  and  1846-47,  to  January 
6th,  20,053  head. 

In  1861  the  local  product  first  began  to  assume 
proportions  capable  of  comparison  with  the  importa- 
tions, and  for  a  few  years  thereafter  the  demand  for 
supplies  to  fill  the  calls  of  the  commissary  department 
of  the  United  States  army  greatly  enhanced  the  value 
of  the  product  and  improved  the  trade. 

RECEIPTS  AND  SHIPMENTS  OF  HOG  PRODUCT  AT  ST.  LOUIS. 


Year. 


Receipts  for  Twenty-one  Years. 
Pork.       Ham  and  Meats. 


flnrreJs. 


Pounds. 


Lard. 
Pounds. 


1882  

78,502 

92,217,813 

18,480,610 

1881  

17,692 

77,736,968 

16,526,606 

1880  

13,658 

77,376,418 

8,248,208 

1879  

32,113 

92,983,380 

8,415,176 

1878  

52,200 

58,611,064 

7,019,741 

1877  

45,482 

48,203,972 

7,087,001 

1876  

45,632 

50,290,716 

6,067,325 

1875  

46,547 

51,556,146 

6,732,320 

1874  

55,453 

52,104,380 

6,877,560 

1873  

57,476 

50,071,760 

8,981,820 

1872  

60,207 

63,434,860 

11,288,890 

1871  

88,442 

57,804,350 

10,093,460 

1870  

77,398 

44,494,770 

6,215,150 

1869  

78,236 

47,225,140 

7,778,410 

1868  

85,127 

46,753,360 

5,941,650 

1867  

92,071 

47,623,450 

7,229,670 

1866  

56,740 

31,278,150 

5,004,870 

1865  

66,822 

34,781,570 

6,391,030 

1864  

71,559 

45,291,770 

9,057,250 

1863  

34,256 

49,387,870 

9,501,930 

1862  

51,187 

40,340,850 

11,592,940 

Shipments  for 

Year.                 Pork. 
Barrels. 

1882  inn.  139 

Eighteen   Years 

Ham  and  Meats. 
Pounds. 
140,785,135 
139.012,260 
146,362,997 
159,398,870 
125,602.088 
119,955,382 
106,803,076 
105,809,598 
133,486.380 
184,392,770 
147,141,960 
123,665,060 
77,501,130 
75,755,450 
58,228,270 
70,095,130 
49,897,050 
64.910.870 

Lard. 

Pound*. 

39,829,146 
43,449,768 
38,004,829 
38,925,903 
40,452,505 
34,725,726 
29,292,879 
24,145,176 
27,112.270 
37,156,811) 
33,943,860 
30,750,470 
15,507,840 
13,322,900 
12,945,490 
14,318,210 
7,462,230 
9.569.830 

1881... 

71,826 

1880... 

79,416 

1879... 
1878... 
1877... 

89,385 
112,375 
108,768 

1876... 

86,141 

1875... 

95,503 

1874.. 

90  343 

1873... 

105,876 

1872... 

114,329 

1871... 

131  7.32 

1870... 

115  236 

1869... 

120,002 

1868... 

130  268 

1867... 

138,226 

1866... 

92,595 

1865... 

..   109.702 

PACKING  AT  ST.  LOUIS  FOR  TWENTY-ONE  SEASONS. 


Seasons. 
1881  82  

Number 
Hogs. 

.  .    31fi  379 

Average 
Weight. 

253  97  gross 

Average 
yield  Lnrd, 
all  kinds. 
35  13 

Average 
cost  per  100 
Ibs.  Gross. 
621 

1880-81  

..   474  159 

250  86     " 

35  56 

4  62 

1879-80  

....    577  793 

258  18     " 

3608 

405 

1878-79  

...    6^9,261 

264         " 

4045 

283 

1877-78  

..    5119  540 

270         " 

38  20 

396 

1876-77  

....   414  747 

255         " 

32  55 

570 

1875-76  

...   329,895 

268  47    " 

36  56 

717 

1874-75   

..    469  246 

240         " 

30 

700 

1873-74  

...    463  793 

261  53    " 

3418 

1872-73  

...    638  000 

260         " 

34  .')0 

1871  "2   

.     419032 

263  15     " 

35  17 

1870-71  

...    30-i  600 

216      net. 

1869-70  

....    241  316 

190  50    " 

1868-69  

....    231  937 

189  27    " 

1867  68  

237  160 

193  91     " 

1866-67  

....   183543 

222  34     " 

1865-66  

....    123,335 

208.91     " 

1864-65  

....    191  890 

178  50     " 

1863-64  

...    244600 

179          " 

1862-63  

....    178,750 

207         " 

1861-62...., 

.      89.093 

224.50    " 

PACKING  AT  ST.  LOUIS  FOR  TWELVE  MONTHS. 

Hogs. 

March  1  to  March  1,  1881-82 556,379 

"  "  1880-81 884,159 

"  "  1879-80 927,793 

"  "  1878-79 771,261 


It  is,  of  course,  understood  that  the  packing  season 
includes  less  than  a  calendar  year. 

There  are  thirty-five  packing  firms  in  St.  Louis, 
some  of  them  very  extensive  and  of  national  reputa- 
tion in  the  trade  for  their  large  product  and  the  ex- 
cellence of  their  wares.  St.  Louis  cured  hams  of 
favorite  brands  and  canned  beef  of  the  St.  Louis 
Beef-Canning  Company  have  an  extensive  foreign  as 
well  as  American  reputation.  Indeed,  the  export 
trade  in  this  line  has  in  recent  years  grown  to  mam- 
moth proportions. 

The  provision  trade  of  St.  Louis  in  all  its  ramifica- 
tions probably  represents,  including  buildings,  public 
and  private,  a  capital  of  $12,000,000,  and  an  annual 
product  in  excess  of  that  amount  in  value.  It  is 
therefore  a  very  large  interest,  both  in  its  home  and 
foreign  character. 

The  sources  of  supply  during  1880  and  1881  were: 


TRADE,    COMMERCE,   AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1309 


POEK. 

HAMS. 

MEATS. 

LARD. 

1880. 

1881. 

1880. 

1881. 

1880. 

1881. 

1880. 

1881. 

Enst  

Bblt. 
1,754 
6,677 
48 
5,179 

Jtblt. 
1,934 
13,354 
272 
2,132 

Lbt. 
2,069,664  . 
457,561 
54,664 
358,985 

Lbt. 
3,823,719 
554.028 
77,378 
929,613 

Lbt. 
39,340,985 
12,406,590 
177,033 
22,510,936 

Lbs. 
48,585,196 
11,414,606 
160,782 
12,191,646 

Lbi. 
5,511,495 
989,178 
306,887 
1,440,648 

L6». 
12,311,541 
2,117,293 
260,582 
1,837,190 

East  and  Northeast.. 

North  

Total    

13,658 

17,692 

2,940,874 

5,384,738 

74,435,544 

72,352,230 

8,248,208 

16,526,606 

The  exports  during  the  same  period,  and  the  direction  of  the  same,  were: 


PORK. 

HAMS. 

MEATS. 

LARD. 

1880. 

1881. 

1880. 

1881. 

1880. 

1881. 

1880. 

1881. 

Northward  

Bblt. 
76,077 
3,032 
74 
233 

Bblt. 
68,943 
505 
2,134 
244 

Lbt. 
9,594,793 
12,006,449 
2,064,105 
113,915 

Lbt. 
8,730,855 
6,795,426 
1,683,374 
136,765 

Lbs. 
102,582,677 
18,797,356 
1,013,115 
190,587 

Lbt. 
96,081,872 
24,375,452 
1,162,759 
45,757 

Lbs. 
23,557,013 
13,977,911 
358,890 
111,015 

Lbs. 
25,144,585 
17,255,650 
887,061 
162,472 

Eastward  

Westward  

Southward  

Total  

79,416 

71,826 

23,779,262 

17,346,420 

122,583,735 

121,665,840 

38,004,829 

43,449,768 

The  growing  popularity  of  American  side-meat  and 
hams  in  Europe  largely  accounts  for  this  change  in 
method  of  foreign  shipments  to  the  bulk  form,  and  a 
similar  change  of  form  is  proportionately  true  of  beef, 
for  while  only  9000  barrels  and  tierces  were  shipped, 
the  enormous  quantity  of  4,037,164  pounds  of  canned 
beef  was  sent  abroad  from  this  market  in  1881. 

Charles  W.  Knapp,  in  his  able  paper  on  "  St.  Louis : 
Past,  Present,  and  Future,"  read  before  the  "  Round 
Table"  as  late  as  Oct.  14,  1882,  presents  the  follow- 
ing review  of  her  produce,  provision,  and  live-stock 
trades : 

"We  can  see  as  a  general  fact  that  a  large  majority  of  the 
8050  purely  mercantile  concerns  in  St.  Louis  conduct  some 
species  of  retail  or  merchandise  jobbing  business,  but  there  is 
no  sort  of  statistical  information  respecting  these  departments  of 
trade;  so  we  can  only  survey  intelligently  the  operations  of  the 
limited  class  who  conduct  the  produce,  provision,  and  live-stock 
trades,  of  which  the  exchanges  compile  full  and  interesting  re- 
ports. These  are,  however,  not  alone  the  direct  sources  of 
great  wealth,  but  largely  the  mainspring  of  all  other  trade,  and 
it  is  the  first  striking  evidence  of  the  commercial  importance 
of  St.  Louis  that  the  value  of  the  produce,  provisions,  and  live- 
stock handled  here  is  exceeded  in  no  other  city  in  the  world  ex- 
cept Chicago.  I  estimate  the  value  of  the  commodities  of  this 
kind  which  St.  Louis  handled  in  1881,  including  lumber,  as 
$200,000,000,  while  the  secretary  of  the  Chicago  Board  of 
Trade  puts  down  $300,000,000  for  that  city,  and  the  superin- 
tendent of  the  Cincinnati  Chamber  of  Commerce  $130,000,000 
for  that  city.  Exhibit  No.  7  will  show  you  the  receipts  of  all 
important  products  of  the  farm,  forest,  and  mine  at  both  Chicago 
and  St.  Louis. 


EXHIBIT  No.  7 — RECEIPTS  OP  THE  CALENDAR  YEAR  1881. 


Chicago. 

St.  Louis. 

Flour  

bbls. 

Grost. 
4,816,239 
14,824,990 
78,393,315 
24.861,538 
1  ,363,552 
6,695,358 
21,668,575 

Net. 
956,457 
11,884,256 
61,464,899 
14,451,494 
'837,779 
4,244,892 
4,304,056 

Gross. 
I,(i20,996 
13,243,571 
21,259,310 
6,295,050 
469,769 
2,411,723 
7,294,482 

Wheat  

Oats  

bush. 

Rye  

bush. 

Total  

146,807,328 

97,187,377 

50,871,805 

465,332 
22,042 
503,862 
1,672,153 
334,426 
54,547 
17,692 
72,352,230 
43,449,768 
98,097 
1,378,759 
1  85,763 
8,247,401 
20.079,814 
Il,l!i8,272 
434,043,094 
56,578,785 
173,307 
116,240 
925,406 
1,800,000 

Cotton  

I  III  1  OH 

bhds      

Cattle  
Hogs  

head. 

1,498,550 
6,474,844 
493,624 
12,906 
52,298 
138,787,745 
61,403,1)71 
57,452 
2,386,105 
1541,054 
66,270,785 
77,803,155 
45,343,995 
1,878,922,000 
863,915,000 
298,247 
324,106 
17,545 
2,000,000 

Pork  

bbls. 

Meat  

Ibs 

Ibs 

Hay  

Potatoes  
Malt  

bush. 

Butter  

Ibs. 

Hides  

Wool  

Ibs. 

"•-•"-" 

Lumber  

feet. 

Pig-iron  

Coal  

tons. 

"  I  direct  your  attention  especially  to  the  difference  between 
the  gross  and  net  receipts  of  Chicago,  for  in  the  usual  state- 
ments of  Chicago's  trade  the  gross  receipts  are  given  in  utter 
disregard  of  the  fact  that  they  include  everything  that  passes 
through  Chicago,  as  well  as  what  stops  at  that  city  and  is 
handled  there,  although  Chicago  has  no  more  interest  in  this 
through  movement  than  any  ordinary  railway  station  on  the 
lines  of  transit.  Its  Board  of  Trade  reports  give  the  through 
movement  of  grain,  so  it  is  feasible  to  make  out  the  net  receipts, 


1310 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


as  I  have  done,  but  of  everything  else  the  gross  receipts  alone  are 
attainable,  although  thirty-four  per  cent,  of  the  gross  receipts  of 
grain  being  through  movement,  the  proportion  in  other  lines 
must  also  be  considerable.  At  St.  Louis,  on  the  other  hand, 
there  is  practically  no  through  movement,  except  of  cotton,  so 
that  if  the  net  receipts  of  that  commodity  be  made  the  basis  of 
calculation,  the  fair  method  of  comparison  with  Chicago  is  with 
the  net  figures  of  that  city  as  far  as  obtainable.  Now  look  at 
the  exhibit  and  you  will  see  that  in  the  produce  trade,  at  least, 
St.  Louis  makes  no  mean  showing  beside  Chicago. 

"  It  has,  doubtless,  not  struck  you,  however,  that  St.  Louis 
led  Chicago  in  1881  as  a  produce  market,  but  if  you  will  figure 
on  the  value  of  the  receipts  at  each  city, — I  mean  the  produce 
actually  handled, — you  will  find  that  the  aggregate  value  of 
what  came  to  St.  Louis  exceeded  what  was  handled  at  Chicago 
nearly  three  and  a  half  million  dollars.  Exhibit  No.  8  will 
make  this  plain  to  you  and  recall  one  of  the  most  important  re- 
sults St.  Louis  owes  to  its  natural  advantages  of  situation,  that 
it  is  eligibly  located  for  handling  largely  the  products  of  both 
the  Northern  and  Southern  States,  so  that  its  receipts  of  cotton 
and  tobacco  more  than  overbalance  the  greater  receipts  of  grain 
at  Chicago. 

EXHIBIT  No.  8 — MONEY  VALUE  OP  PRODUCE  RECEIPTS,  1881. 

Chicago.  St.  Louis. 

Flour $4,780,285  $9,412,800 

Wheat 13,669,903  15,230,106 

Corn 30,732,449  10,629,655 

Oats 5,780,597  2,527,020 

Rye 837,779  469,769 

Barley 4,244,893  2,411,723 

Cotton 20,000,000 

Tobacco 3,000,000 

Hay 1,000,000  1,600,000 

Potatoes 1,900,000  1,100,000 


Total $62,945,886     $66,381,073" 

Retail  Butchers. — Necessarily  in  a  city  of  the  size 
of  St.  Louis  the  home  consumption  of  meats  is  large 
and  the  dealers  numerous.  The  butchers  number 
nearly  eight  hundred,  and  there  are  fifteen  market- 
houses,  the  largest  being  the  Union,  on  the  block 
between  Fifth,  Sixth,  Christy  Avenue,  and  Morgan 
Streets. 

One  of  the  earliest  butchers  in  St.  Louis  was  Ben- 
jamin Estill,  who  on  the  17th  of  September,  1814, 
published  the  following  advertisement : 

"  The  subscriber  respectfully  informs  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis 
that  he  will  commence  the  butchering  business  on  Monday  next. 
With  deference  he  requests  the  heads  of  families  and  masters  of 
shops  to  meet  him  on  that  morning  at  market-house  and  par- 
take of  his  first  essay,  as  a  free  will  offered  at  the  commence- 
ment of  his  business. 

"  The  farmers  who  make  St.  Louis  a  market  for  their  beef  are 
invited  to  call  on  the  subscriber  at  the  Sign  of  the  Cross-Keys,  at 
the  south  end  of  St.  Louis,  and  make  positive  contracts  for  their 
cattle,  as  the  subscriber  wishes  to  destroy  the  prevailing  idea 
of  advantages  being  taken  of  them  in  bringing  their  beef  to  this 
market.  Those  who  will  favor  him  with  their  custom  shall 
always  have  their  money  on  the  delivery  of  their  beef. 

"  BENJAMIN  ESTILL." 

Public  markets  are,  however,  less  popular  than 
formerly,  and  most  of  the  butchers  have  their  own 
shops,  a  majority  belonging  to  the  Meat  Shopmen's 


Association,  organized  in  1879  to  protect  the  dealers 
against  excessive  license  fees.  In  this  they  have  suc- 
ceeded, after  much  litigation  carried  to  the  court  of 
last  resort  in  the  State. 

A  Butchers'  Association,  however,  was  formed  as 
early  as  1859. 

"  The  butchers  of  St.  Louis  to  the  number  of  about  eighty," 
says  a  contemporary  account,  "held  a  meeting  yesterday  after- 
noon [Aug.  25,  1859],  at  Washington  Hall,  for  the  purpose  of 
forming  an  association  '  for  the  more  effectual  protection  of  their 
interests.'  If  we  understand  the  case  clearly,  the  association  is 
designed  to  make  arrangements  by  which  the  butchers  will  be 
able  themselves  to  render  the  tallow  and  tan  the  hides  which 
they  now  sell  to  the  dealers  in  those  articles. 

"  On  motion,  Capt.  James  C.  Denny  was  called  to  the  chair, 
and  C.  L.  Kraft  appointed  secretary.  The  following  preamble 
and  resolutions  were  offered  and  unanimously  adopted  : 

"  WHEREAS,  The  butchers  of  St.  Louis,  for  their  mutual  benefit, 
the  further  advancement  of  their  own  interests,  and  to  put  a 
stop  to  unfair  oppression,  have  seen  fit  to  form  themselves  into 
an  association; 

"  Resolved,  That  we  form  ourselves  into  an  association  to  be 
known  as  the  Butchers'  Rendering  Association  of  St.  Louis. 

"  Resolved,  That  a  finance  committee  be  appointed,  whose 
duty  it  shall  be  to  wait  upon  the  butchers  and  collect  whatever 
installments  shall  be  adjudged  necessary. 

"  Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  ways  and  means  be  appointed 
to  ascertain  the  most  practical  way  of  commencing  operations. 

"  The  following  financial  committee  was  then  appointed  :  An- 
drew Hochmuth,  Hampton  Woodruff,  George  Hughes,  Daniel 
Frewoyd,  Robert  Dickey,  Edward  Heitzberg,  Vincent  &  Block, 
Eckert  Gotschamer,  John  Krutse,  J.  Stuart,  Christ.  Zimmer, 
George  Sehrader,  N.  Christian,  T.  McNamara,  Charles  Zoller,  F. 
Hague,  John  Shall,  Capt.  Denny. 

On  motion,  a  building  committee  of  six  was  appointed  as 
follows:  William  Mulhall,  Thomas  Kidney,  James  Cooney,  H. 
Springer,  J.  McNamara,  Sebastian  Winters." 1 


1  In  1861  there  was  considerable  dissatisfaction  among  tt 
butchers  of  St.  Louis  owing  to  the  existence  of  unlicensed  shoj: 
for  the  sale  of  meat,  and  on  the  26th  of  December  a  mass-meet 
ing  of  the  butchers  was  held  at  the  Wedge  House  to  take  actio 
in  the  premises. 

"On  motion  of  James  Denny,  W.  Hohenschild  was  called 
the  chair,  and  William  Grant  appointed  secretary.    The  follo\ 
ing  preamble  and  resolutions  were  unanimously  adopted: 

"WHERKAS,  the  butchers  of  St.  Louis,  lessees  of  stalls  it 
the  different  public  markets  of  the  city,  are  heavily  taxed 
the  city  for  said  stalls  to  carry  on  a  legitimate  business ;  at 
whereas,  unlicensed  meat-shops  for  the  sale  of  fresh  meat,  cor 
trary  to  law,  are  in  full  operation  and  being  opened  in  differer 
parts  of  the  city,  directly  interfering  with  our  business  in  tl: 
markets ;  and  whereas,  it  is  an  undeniable  fact  that  the  butcher 
in  the  different  markets  do  more  than  any  other  class  of  men 
alleviate  the  wants  of  the  poor  of  the  city  and  the  different  in- 
stitutions for  the  support  of  the  needy  and  oppressed;    and 
whereas,  the  municipal  authorities  are  opposed  to  such  shop 
being  opened  or  allowed;  therefore, 

"  Resolved,  That  we  would  respectfully  request  the  Board 
Public  Commissioners,  in  consideration  of  the  above  facts, 
order  the  chief  of  police  to  cause  all  such  persons  selling  frost 
meats  contrary  to  law  to  be  arrested  and  punished  accordingly 

"Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  three  from  each  market 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1311 


Cattle  Trade,  Live-Stock  Yards,  etc.— The  geo- 
graphical as  well  as  commercial  position  of  St.  Louis 
makes  her  the  natural  receiving  and  distributing 
point  for  cattle,  sheep,  and  hogs  from  Texas,  Ar- 
kansas, Illinois,  Iowa,  Colorado,  Nebraska,  and  Kan- 
sas. About  1848  the  packing  of  beef  and  pork  had 
already  grown  to  be  an  important  industry,  and  as 
many  as  thirteen  establishments  were  engaged  in  the 
business  in  St.  Louis  and  vicinity.  From  the  1st  of 
November,  1848,  to  Jan.  31,  1849,  the  number  of 
beeves  packed  by  the  firms  of  William  Risley  &  Son, 
G.  &  C.  Bayha,  John  Sigerson,  Joseph  J.  Bates,  and 
Henry  Ames  &  Co.  was  2148.  In  1870  the  Texas 
cattle  trade  began  to  seek  a  market  in  St.  Louis,  the 
receipts  of  cattle  for  that  year  showing  a  gain  of 
77,857  head,  mostly  credited  to  Texan  cattle.  In 
1871  the  receipts  of  Texan  cattle  amounted  to 
87,210  head.  The  total  receipts  and  shipments  of 
cattle  at  St.  Louis  during  the  seven  years  from  1865 
to  1871  were: 

Year.                                             Receipts.  Shipments. 

1871 199,427  129,827 

]870 201,422  129,748 

1869 124,565  59,867 

1868 115,352  37,277 

1867 74,146  26,799 

1866 103,259  24,462 

1865 94,307  46,712 

RECEIPTS  AND   SHIPMENTS    OF   SHEEP  FOR  SEVEN  YEARS. 

Year.                                            Receipts.  Shipments. 

11871 118,864  38,465 

1870 94,477  11,649 

1869 96,626  12,416 

1868 79,315  6,415 

1867 62,974  19,022 

1866 64,647  15,194 

1865 52,133  8,680 

Prior  to  1873,  the  natural  advantages  offered  by 
St.  Louis  for  this  trade  not  being  availed  of,  Chicago 


appointed  to  confer  with  the  butchers  of  their  respective  markets, 
composed  of  the  following  gentlemen  : 

"Christian  Vol/,  Francis  Mulhall,  and  John  J.  Puller,  from 
Museum  Market. 

•'Mr.  Benson  and  Mr.  Meisinger,  from  Gamble  Market. 

"  Henry  Springer,  Win.  Mulhall,  and  Thomas  O'Connor,  from 
North  Market. 

"  Hampton  Woodruff,  Augustus  Berkley,  Henry  Weisel,  and 

; resident,  from  Centre  Market, 
r.   Block,   Augustus    Meisebach,    Henry    Kurmann,    and 
George  Lambrech,  from  South  Market. 

"  Matthew  O'Connor,  Conrad  Schnurr,  and  John  Reeder,  from 
City  Market. 

"  Charles  Schuchmann,  Abraham  Mack,  and  Timothy  Clancy, 
from  Carr  Market. 

"  Eckhart  Gottschammer  and  Philip  Schuchmann,  from 
Biddle  Market. 

"John  Schole  and  John  Keller,  from  Sturgeon  Market. 
"  Robert  Dickey,  William  Grant,  and  John   Burnett,  from 
Lucas  Market. 

igust  Geeser  and  Win.  Reifeis,  from  Soulard  Market. 
rilliam   Murphy  and   Henry    Pfeiffer,   from   Washington 
let." 


derived  nearly  all  Jhe  benefit  of  the  cattle  trade  of 
these  States.  It  was  in  that  year  that  a  few  Eastern 
gentlemen  who  thoroughly  realized  the  great  possibili- 
ties of  the  situation  formed  the  St.  Louis  National 
Stock-Yards  Company  and  established  the  St.  Louis 
National  Stock- Yards.  This  was  no  ordinary  venture ; 
the  amount  of  money  required  was  very  large,  and 
the  opposition  from  the  interest  of  other  cities  that 
would  be  antagonized  had  to  be  met  with  sufficient 
power  to  overcome  it.  All  this  was  accomplished, 
and  to-day  St.  Louis  possesses  the  largest  and  most 
complete  and  perfect  live-stock  yards  in  the  United 
States.  At  the  same  time  the  city  secured  an  interest 
that  distributes  many  millions  of  dollars  every  year 
among  her  manufacturers  and  merchants. 

The  original  stockholders  of  the  National  Company 
were  Wm.  H.  Vanderbilt,  Horace  F.  Clark,  Augustus 
Schell,  James  H.  Banker,  A.  Boody,  A.  B.  Baylis, 
Samuel  F.  Barger,  Allerton,  Dutcher  &  Moore,  T.  C. 
Eastman,  Alexander  M.  White,  Isaac  H.  Knox,  John 
L.  Macaulay,  John  B.  Bowman,  and  Levi  Parsons,  of 
the  Land  Grant  and  Trust  Company.  Most  of  the 
stockholders  were  New  York  capitalists.  The  termi- 
nal facilities  thus  acquired  for  handling  cattle  con- 
signed to  the  St.  Louis  market  are  extensive,  and 
include  all  the  appliances  of  yardage,  tracks,  ex- 
changes, pens,  hotel  accommodation  for  stockmen, 
and  other  conveniences  now  demanded  by  this  rapidly 
growing  interest. 

The  tract  of  land  of  which  the  stock-yards  proper 
form  a  part  was  purchased  by  the  St.  Louis  National 
Stock- Yards  Company  on  the  1st  of  March,  1871, 
from  John  B.  Bowman  and  J.  L.  Griswold,  of  East 
St.  Louis.  This  tract,  containing  four  hundred  acres, 
is  situated  on  both  sides  of  the  Cahokia  Creek,  about 
one  mile  north  of  the  city  of  East  St.  Louis,  in  St. 
Clair  County,  111.  On  the  east  the  track  of  the  St. 
Louis,  Vandalia  and  Terre  Haute  Railway  affords 
communication,  while  the  tract  is  bisected  near  its 
western  limits  by  the  track  of  the  Toledo,  Wabash 
and  Western  Railway.  Between  these  two  roads 
there  is  a  connecting  link  which  passes  through  the 
paved  and  improved  yards,  thus  giving  superior  ad- 
vantages for  the  reception  and  shipment  of  stock.  An 
addition  to  the  original  purchase  was  made  subse- 
quently by  a  negotiation  with  E.  Matthews  for  a  tract 
of  two  hundred  and  fifty-two  acres.  The  price  paid 
for  the  first  four  hundred  acres  purchased  was  $145,- 
000.  The  purchase  from  Mr.  Matthews  cost  the 
company  $50,000.  The  National  Stock-Yards  Com- 
pany is  therefore  the  owner  of  six  hundred  and  fifty- 
two  acres  of  land,  for  which  it  paid  $195,000. 

The  original  capital  of  the  incorporated  company 


1312 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


was  one  million  dollars,  but  the  charter  confers  the 
special  privilege  of  increasing  the  capital  stock  as 
circumstances  may  demand. 

This  important  enterprise  was  originated  by  the  great 
New  York  and  Chicago  stock  firm  of  Allerton,  Dutcher 
&  Moore,  who  are  entitled  to  the  credit  of  having  suc- 
cessfully enlisted  the  attention  of  moneyed  men  and 
brought  about  a  combination  of  some  of  the  greatest 
capitalists  of  the  nation  to  carry  forward  the  great 
work.  That  these  yards  were  located  in  Illinois  in- 
stead of  Missouri  is  due  solely  to  the  fact  that  the 
company  found  it  impossible  to  purchase  at  any  rea- 
sonable price  a  suitable  tract  of  sufficient  extent 
equally  convenient  to  business  on  the  Missouri  side. 
Though  situated  in  Illinois,  the  National  Stock- Yards 
are  essentially  a  St.  Louis  institution.  The  ground 
having  been  secured,  work  was  at  once  commenced. 
A.  M.  Allerton,  a  gentleman  of  tact  and  energy,  gave 
his  personal  attention  to  the  work.  About  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  acres  of  the  four-hundred-acre  tract 
were  surveyed,  and  the  work  of  grading  commenced. 
This  was  a  vast  undertaking,  as  mounds  were  to  be 
leveled  down  and  ponds  filled  up,  but  an  immense 
amount  of  work  was  performed  in  a  very  short  time. 
The  whole  ground  was  bisected  by  sewers  placed  six 
feet  below  the  surface.  Water-pipes  were  laid,  and 
regular  streets  or  avenues  were  laid  out.  All  this  was 
done  before  the  work  of  constructing  sheds,  barns, 
and  inclosures  was  commenced.  But  this  work  once 
completed  a  large  force  of  men  was  at  once  employed 
in  building  above  ground.  Vast  quantities  of  lumber 
were  used  in  this  work.  The  posts  are  all  of  red- 
cedar  ;  the  fencing,  roofs,  etc.,  are  of  yellow-pine. 
The  offices,  hotel,  and  exchange  hall  are  lighted  by 
gas  manufactured  at  the  company's  own  works,  and 
two  powerful  engines  supply  the  yards  with  an  abun- 
dance of  water. 

The  ground  was  platted,  with  avenues  running 
north  and  south,  east  and  west,  crossing  at  right 
angles.  Those  running  from  the  south  are  three 
hundred  and  ninety-two  feet  apart.  The  first  one, 
called  Avenue  A,  is  one  hundred  and  ninety-six  feet 
from  the  east  line  of  the  yard.  Avenue  F  is  one 
hundred  and  ninety-six  feet  from  the  south  line. 
The  avenues  are  divided  into  yards  or  sheds  for  cattle. 
The  original  plan  calls  for  two  hundred  and  eighty- 
nine  yards.  These  yards  accommodate  fifteen  thou- 
sand horned  cattle,  and  outside  space  with  good  ar- 
rangements for  feeding  and  shelter  is  furnished  for 
twenty  thousand  more.  The  yards  and  avenues  are 
paved  with  the  Belgian  pavement. 

On  the  west  side  of  the  yard,  and  near  to  the 
northwest  corner,  the  eye  rests  upon  an  immense 


frame  structure,  painted  white,  which  is  eleven  hun- 
dred and  twenty-two  feet  long  and  one  hundred  feet 
wide.  Extending  directly  through  the  middle  of  the 
building,  for  its  entire  length,  is  a  broad  passageway, 
on  either  side  of  which  are  located  the  hog-pens, 
seventy  in  number,  with  a  total  capacity  of  holding 
twenty  thousand  hogs. 

In  the  centre  of  the  immense  yard  for  herding 
stock  are  situated  the  offices  of  the  company.  The 
building  is  in  the  centre  of  a  square,  which  has  been 
laid  off  with  avenues  extending  towards  the  cardinal 
points  of  the  compass.  The  structure  is  of  brick, 
two  stories,  besides  the  basement,  with  sleeping  ac- 
commodations for  clerks,  watchmen,  and  laborers. 

The  chief  attraction  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
St.  Louis  National  Stock -Yards  is  the  Allerton  House, 
a  five-story  brick  structure,  containing  over  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty  chambers,  besides  a  dining-hall,  bil- 
liard-room, wide  halls,  a  large  office,  and  parlors  and 
sitting-rooms.  The  architectural  appearance  of  the 
building  is  very  imposing,  and  it  is  supplied  with 
water  and  gas  throughout,  heated  by  steam,  and  fur- 
nished with  all  the  comfortable  appendages  of  a  first- 
class  hotel.  Thomas  Walsh  was  the  architect,  and 
Milburn  &  Sons  contractors.  The  cost  of  the  build- 
ing was  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand 
dollars.  The  structure  is  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
front,  and  extends  back  two  hundred  and  forty-eight 
feet.  A  portion  of  the  back  extension  is  only  three 
stories  high. 

The  yards  were  formally  opened  on  the  20th  of 
November,  1873,  on  which  occasion  addresses  were 
delivered  by  Hon/S.  M.  Kase,  Hon.  E.  0.  Stanard, 
Mayor  Bowman,  of  East  St.  Louis,  N.  M.  Bell,  of 
St.  Louis,  Hon.  John  Hinchcliffe,  Hon.  L.  H.  Hite, 
and  Judge  William  G.  Case. 

The  National  Yards  are  located  about  a  mile  beyond 
East  St.  Louis,  in  a  district  known  in  early  times  as 
"  the  Great  American  Bottom,"  and  have  a  world- 
wide reputation  for  their  completeness.  Railway 
magnates  have  fostered  the  interest,  and  Jay  Gould 
has  become  a  large  stockholder  in  the  National  Com- 
pany. 

The  Union  Stock- Yards  at  Bremen  are  wholly  a 
St.  Louis  enterprise,  and  utilize  about  fifty  acres  in 
terminal  facilities  for  the  handling  of  cattle,  hogs, 
and  sheep.  The  Venice  and  Madison  County  Ferry 
chiefly  transports  this  stock  over  the  river  from  Venice, 
and  the  delay  of  passing  through  East  St.  Louis  is 
thereby  avoided.  A  capital  of  three  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  dollars  is  employed  by  this  establish- 
ment. 

The  St.  Louis  Union  Stock- Yard  Company   was 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1313 


organized  in  March,  1874,  and  grounds,  consisting  of 
twenty-three  and  a  half  acres,  were  purchased  in 
April  for  one  hundred  thousand  dollars.  No  time 
was  lost  in  pushing  on  the  work,  as  the  exchange  was 
commenced  in  May,  and  the  yards  and  pens  in  June. 
There  are  127  hog-pens,  capable  of  containing  25,000 
hogs,  and  65  cattle-pens,  able  to  accommodate  2000 
head  of  cattle. 

There  are  also  a  number  of  private  stock-yards  in 
the  suburbs  on  both  sides  of  the  river,  but  the  bulk  of 
the  import  and  export  trade  necessarily  gravitates 
toward  the  public  yards,  where  dealing  is  only  in 
large  round  lots  or  car-loads.  During  the  last  eigh- 
teen years  the  receipts  of  cattle,  sheep,  and  hogs,  and 
the  exports  of  the  same,  have  been  as  follows : 

RECEIPTS  AND  SHIPMENTS 


. 

YEAR. 

RECEIPTS. 

SHIPMENTS. 

Cattle. 

Sheep. 

Hogs. 

Cattle. 

Sheep. 

Hogs. 

1882  

443,169 
503,862 

4:4,7-0 

420,864 

4ii6,2:i5 
411,969 
349.043 
335.742 
3WI,Q45 
279.078 
X«3,4U* 
199,527 
201,  +'-'2 
12  4,505 
115,352 
74,146 
1H3.259 
94,807 

443,120 
334,420 
205,969 
182,048 
108,095 
200,502 
157.SU 
125,679 
114,913 
86,4:i4 
115,904 
118,899 
94,477 
96,626 
79.315 
62,974 
64,047 
52,133 

846,228 
1,072,153 
1,840,084 
1,702,724 
1,451,634 
896,319 
877,160 
628,509 
1,126,586 
973,512 
759,076 
633,370 
310,850 
344,848 
301,500 
298,241 
217,022 
99,003 

188,486 
293,01)2 
228,879 
226,255 
201,723 
251,566 
220,430 
216,7(11 
226,078 
180,662 
104,870 
130,018 
129,748 
59,867 
37,277 
26,799 
24,402 
40,712 

245,071 
170,395 
93,522 
88,(I83 
74,433 
87,569 
67,886 
37,784 
35,577 
18,902 
29,540 
37,465 
11.649 
12,416 
6,415 
19,022 
15,194 
8,080 

264,584 
889,909 
770,709 
0X6,1199 
528,027 
314,287 
232.X70 
120,729 
453,710 
224,873 
188,700 
113,913 
17,156 
39,076 
10,277 
28,627 
13,368 
17,869 

1881  

18X0  

1879  

1878  

1877  

1876...'.  

1875  .... 

1874  
1873  

1872  

1871  

I,s70  

1809. 

1868         

18(17  

1866  

1865  

OF  LIVE  STOCK  FOR  1882. 


. 
RECEIVED  BY 

RECEIPTS. 

SHIPMENTS. 

Cattle. 

Hogs. 

Sheep. 

Horses 
and 
Mules. 

Cattle. 

Hogs. 

Sheep. 

Horses 
and 
Mules. 

Chicago  and  Alton  Railroad  (Missouri  Division)  

Head. 

16,892 
162,683 

53,057 
73,145 
65,427 
5,108 
4,858 
3,324 
I-.323 

4,687 

6,641 
6,187 
4,154 
5,230 

Head. 

68,086 
152,427 
48,099 
294.248 
7,557 
10,939 
2,080 
3.960 
1,325 
6,836 
54,812 
25,018 
8,511 
47,830 

H>ad. 
32,741 
91,039 
00,811 
80,697 
2H.947 
3,329 
6,940 

\,»n 

6,524 
2,840 
32,123 
9,428 
27,400 
6,080 

Head. 
2,192 
4,558 
887 
6,978 
8,.s73 
788 
1,5>4 
439 
151 
4,350 
3.694 
1,518 
735 
417 

Head. 
188 
293 
277 
5,001 
266 
330 
361 
30 

Head. 
317 
975 
94 

Head. 
3,S91 
5,505 
038 
220 
40,835 
16,985 
85 

Head. 
193 
1,272 
310 
5,274 
1,239 
410 
3,387 
908 

5J606 
2,363 
3,354 

7,745 

2,777 

St.  Louis,  Wabash  and  Pacific  Kail  mad  (Western  Division) 
St.  Louis,  Iron  Mountain  and  Southern  Kailrond  

41 
11 
345 
1,192 

Mi>souri  Pacific  Railroad  (Kansas  and  Texas  Division)  
Cairo  Short  Line  Railroad  

Louisville  and  Nashville  Railroad  

St.  Louis  and  Cairo  Railroad  

101 

18,087 
7,134 
26,875 
106,548 
17,285 

18,749 
21,727 
02,580 
38,594 
36,338 

22,573 
20,028 
52,380 
110,720 
48.697 
120 

Chicago  and  Alton  Railroad  

Indianapolis  and  St   Louis  Railroad  

Vandalia  and  Terre  Haute  Railroad  

St.  Louis,  WaUash  and  Pacific  Railroad  (Eastern  Division) 
Chicago,  Burlington  and  Quincy  Railroad  (East.  Division) 
Illinois  and  St.  Lou  is  Rail  road  

Keokuk  and  St  Louis  Railroad  

2,511 
4,li70 
7,874 
3,604 
2,761 
245 
2 
6,875 

6,233 
58,170 
21,201 
3,(l5l 
17,!I90 
3,090 

"2,965 

4,140 
10.100 
13,101 
C,0i9 
3,092 
1,101 
2'.i2 
8,579 

632 
1,189 
2,263 
679 
590 
80 
55 
60 

276 
1,732 

•    1,681 

95 

2,797 
2,619 

5,941 

Chicago,  Burlington  and  Quincy  Railroad  (North  Division) 
Lower  Mi>siss'|)|)i  River  boats  

482 

787 

Illinois  River  boats  

Missouri  River  boats  '.  

Totals  .          ..   . 

443,169 

846,228 

443,120 

42,718 

188,486 

264,584 

245,071 

46,255 

How  many  million  dollars  annually  are  invested  in 
live-stock  dealings  in  this  market  is  readily  calculable, 
but  the  local  consumption  demand  is  not  more  readily 
ascertainable  than  the  actual  exports,  for  the  latter  are 
largely  contingent  upon  the  extent  of  the  demand  of 
the  beef-canning  companies,  the  proportion  of  stock 
exported  alive  being  still  comparatively  inconsiderable 
in  this  valley. 

In  his  paper  on  "  St.  Louis :  Past,  Present,  and 
Future,"  Charles  W.  Knapp  does  not  find  the  live- 
stock trade  as  encouraging  as  he  thinks  it  ought  to 
be. 

"Though  it  has  increased,"  he  says,  "during  the  last  dozen 
years,  the  comparison  with  Chicago  was  more  favorable  in  the 
matter  of  cattle  ten  years  ago  than  to-day,  while  such  gain 
upon  Chicago  as  has  been  made  in  the  matter  of  hogs  is  more 
than  counterbalanced  by  the  failure  of  our  packers  to  take  ad- 


vantage of  the  increased  receipts,  as  will  be  made  plain  by  Ex- 
hibit No.  32.  Connected  with  this  most  unsatisfactory  record 
is  the  further  fact  ihnt  the  receipts  of  packed  meats  at  St.  Louis 
have  fallen  off  considerably  in  recent  years,  the  receipts  of  bar- 
reled pork  in  1861  having  been  about  eighty-four  per  cent, 
greater  than  in  1881,  and  of  mess-pork  sixty  per  cent,  greater, 
while  of  lard  we  only  got  twelve  per  cent,  more  in  1881. 

EXHIBIT  NO.  32— PORK-PACKING  YEAR  ENDING  MARCH. 

Chicago.  St.  Louis. 

1878-79 4,960,956  771,261 

1879-80 4,6SO,637  987,793     ...     ',".]". 

..  5,752,191  824,159     579,398     6:t2,98l     462348 

..  5,100,484  556,379     800,928     508,458     486^066 

EXHIBIT  NO.  32— CATTLE  RECEIPTS. 


Kansas 
City. 


Cincin- 
nati. 


Milwau- 
kee. 


1880-81 
1881-82 


Chicago. 

1865 330,301 

1870 532,964 

1872 ...  684,075 

1877 1,096,745 

1881 1,498,550 


St.  Louis.        St'  L"'1's  P" 
cent,  of  Chicago. 

94,307  28.55 


263,404 
411,969 
503,862 


38.50 
37.49 
33.72 


1314 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


HOG  RECEIPTS. 

Chicago. 

St.  Louis. 

St.  Lonis  per 
cent,  of  Chicago. 

1865  

757,072 

99,663 

13.16 

1870  

,  1,693,158 

310,850 

18.36 

1880  , 

,  7,059,355 

1,840,684 

26.22 

1881... 

...  6,494,844 

1,672,153 

25.76" 

St.  Louis   Beef-Canning  Company. — A  promi-  ; 
nent  factor  in  the  enlargement  of  the  provision  trade 
of  St.  Louis  is  the  St.  Louis  Beef-Canning  Company,  j 
whose  base  of  operations  is  the  National  Stock- Yards,  ! 
East  St.  Louis.     This  establishment — which  in  its 
European  exports  has  with  its  cooked  meats  super- 
seded the  "roast  beef  of  Old  England,"  according  j 
to  a  consular  report — was  organized  in  1876,  with  a 
capital  stock  of  four  hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  ! 
occupied  its  present  packing  and  warehouses,  covering  \ 
four  acres,  in  1879.     Its  successive  presidents  have 
been  R.  D.  Hunter,  H.  L.  Newman,  Isaac  H.  Knox, 
and  G.  L.  Joy,  the  latter  being  the  present  executive, 
with  the  following  board  of  directors :  Messrs.  Knox,  ! 
Joy,  J.  B.  Butcher,  A.  M.  White,  T.  C.  Eastman,  j 
S.  W.  Allerton,  and  R.  W.  Donnell. 

Beginning  with  packing  twenty-five  beeves  a  day,  I 
the  company  has  now  a  capacity  to  handle  one  thou- 
sand head,  and  employs  from  eight  hundred  to  one  i 
thousand  hands  daily,  according  to  the  season.     For 
two  years  it  did  not  intermit  a  single  day,  although  it  j 
is  unusual  for  packers  to  operate  continuously  through  | 
the  year.     The  aggregate  packing  during  the  three  j 
years  ending  May,  1882,  was  two  hundred  and  one  j 
thousand  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven  head,  about 
one-half  of  which  product  was  exported. 

The  cash  value  of  the  daily  product  is  over  fifty 
thousand  dollars,  and  the  establishment  is  the  second 
largest  of  its  kind  in  the  world. 

O 

The  company  buys  the  choicest  cattle  at  the  adja- 
cent National  Stock-Yards,  where  they  are  cooled  and  j 
rested  before  slaughtering.     After  this  the  sides  of 
beef  are  perfectly  chilled  by  an  improved  process; 
they  are  then  "cut  down,"  the  ribs  and  loins  shipped 
all  over  the  country,  supplying  dealers  in  Boston,  New  ; 
York,  Philadelphia,  Pittsburgh,  Cincinnati,  St.  Louis, 
and  the  remainder  prepared  for  curing.     The  curing 
cellars  of  the  company  extend  under  the  main  build-  i 
ings,  and  cover  about  three  acres.     The  bulk  of  the  j 
meat  is  cured,  cooked,  and  packed  in  cases  in  due 
time;  the  hams  are  smoked  and  turned  out  under 
the  "  Star  of  the  West"  brand,  and  the  balance  packed 
in  barrels  as  "  rolled"  and  "  plate  beef     The  tin  can 
department — as  an  illustration  of  the  magnitude  of 
the  business — employs,  in  addition  to  numerous  labor- 
saving  machines  for  stamping,  soldering,  etc.,  from  one 
hundred  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  hands,  and  manufac- 
tures daily  tin  cans  enough,  when  filled,  to  load  from 


six  to  ten  cars,  according  to  the  size  of  the  cans.  The 
company  imports  its  own  tin  and  manufactures  its  own 
solder.  Another  interesting  feature  is  the  "  fertilizing 
department,"  which  is  located  at  some  distance  from 
the  main  works,  and  utilizes  all  the  refuse,  converting 
it  into  valuable  fertilizers, — azotine,  dried  blood,  bone- 
meal,  etc.  The  horns  and  large  bones  are  sorted, 
treated,  and  sold  to  manufacturers  of  buttons,  combs, 
fancy  toilet  articles,  etc.  This  department  employs 
about  twenty-five  hands,  and  produces  about  six  car- 
loads of  material  per  day.  The  chief  business  of  the 
company  is  the  packing  and  sale  of  canned  cooked 
meats,  and  the  correspondents  of  the  company  are  in 
all  countries.  The  first  operations  were  the  packing 
of  corned  beef,  but  rapid  extension  has  been  made, 
until  the  list  now  comprises  corned,  roast,  and  boiled 
beef,  whole  and  compressed  beef  tongue,  lunch  tongue, 
ham,  ox-kidney,  ox-tail,  pigs'  feet,  and  English  brawn, 
or  head  cheese.  These  are  all  packed  in  tins  ranging 
from  one  to  twenty-eight  pounds  in  weight,  and  are 
ready  for  instant  use.  The  company  also  packs  a  beef 
or  lunch  sausage  cooked.  The  goods  of  the  company 
have  been  exhibited  and  tested  in  the  fairs  of  the 
world,  and  have  gathered  trophies  at  Paris,  London, 
the  American  Institute  of  New  York,  and  elsewhere. 
Horse  and  Mule  Marts. — Long  antedating  the 
history  of  the  army  mule  the  patient  beast  "  without 
pride  of  ancestry  or  hope  of  posterity"  had  contrib- 
uted largely  to  the  commercial  growth  and  importance 
of  St.  Louis.  In  1856  the  firm  of  A.  Shulerr  &  Co., 
predecessors  of  Reilly  &  Wolfort,  commenced  the  es- 
tablishment of  sale-stables  which  now  outrival  in 
number  and  capital  employed  the  sales-yards  of  Lon- 
don, and  give  to  Broadway  for  many  blocks  a  national 
reputation  as  the  location  of  the  largest  horse  and 
mule  market  in  the  United  States,  and  with  respect 
to  dealings  in  mules,  the  largest  in  the  world.  The 
extent  of  the  trade  in  the  supply  of  these  animals 
for  the  Southern  plantations  and  the  Western  plains, 
as  well  as  for  use  by  local  carrying  companies,  had 
been  generally  known,  and  there  was  some  knowledge 
too  of  the  fact  that  the  United  States  government 
was  a  large  purchaser  of  horses  and  mules  in  this 
market ;  but  it  remained  for  the  accredited  represen- 
tatives of  a  foreign  government  to  demonstrate  a  few 
years  ago,  and  beyond  cavil,  that  St.  Louis  leads  the 
world  in  the  number,  quality,  and  monetary  value  of 
its  mules.  Large  purchases  were  made  here  by  both 
combatants  in  the  Franco-Prussian  war.  The  British 
found  the  Mississippi  valley  mule  best  adapted  by 
hardihood  to  service  in  India ;  the  Turks  discovered 
the  same  quality  of  adaptation  for  the  Orient ;  and 
the  French  government,  after  purchasing  here  large 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND  MANUFACTURES. 


1315 


numbers  of  fine  horses  for  its  cavalry,  added  still 
larger  orders  for  mules  for  service  in  the  Tunisian 
campaign. 

But  while  the  attainable  statistics  show  a  trade  of 
nearly  ten  millions  of  dollars  annually,  it  is  doubtful 
whether  this  sum  really  represents  the  actual  trans- 
actions in  horses  and  mules  within  forty  per  cent., 
for  the  reason  that  the  larger  portion  of  the  stock 
imported  from  the  vicinage,  or  within  perhaps  a  hun- 
dred miles,  is  driven  direct  to  the  sale-stables,  and 
does  not  therefore  appear  upon  the  tabulated  returns 
of  the  railroads  and  transportation  companies.  For 
example,  a  compilation  of  the  returns  to  the  Mer- 
chants' Exchange  for  1881  shows  the  receipts  of 
horses  and  mules  to  have  been  forty-two  thousand 
three  hundred  and  sixty-five,  and  the  shipments  to 
exceed  that  number  largely.  The  same  anomaly  is 
exhibited  in  the  reports  of  former  years.  Indeed,  a 
single  one  of  the  ten  larger  houses  engaged  in  the 
business  shipped  in  1881  upwards  of  half  the  num- 
ber thus  recorded,  and  in  the  first  four  months  of 
1882  the  shipments  exceeded  seven  thousand,  a  large  ; 
portion  of  the  stock  being  exported  to  England,  Scot-  [ 
land,  and  the  West  Indies.  A  fact  not  generally 
known  in  this  connection  is  that  fine  mules  bring  a  i 
higher  price  than  fine  horses  for  exportation,  although 
the  home  demand  keeps  the  prices  of  inferior  or  sec-  j 
ond-class  animals  about  even.  Foreign  buyers  will  pay  : 
for  choice  mules  from  two  hundred  and  fifty  to  three 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars  a  head,  in  round  lots,  and  even 
more,  while  they  would  expect  to  pay  for  the  same  grade 
of  horses  not  more  than  from  two  hundred  to  two 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  The  longevity  and  hardi- 
hood of  the  mule  is  rated  a  third  higher  by  foreign 
purchasers.  The  United  States  government  is  the 
most  exacting  of  American  buyers,  and  the  French 
are  the  most  particular  of  the  purchasers  from 
abroad. 

The  receipts  and  shipments  of  horses  and  mules 
at  St.  Louis  from  1874  to  1882,  inclusive,  were  : 

Tear.  Receipts.  Shipments. 

Head.  Head. 

1882 42,718  46,655 

1881 42,365  43,794 

1880 46,011  44,416 

1879 33,289  36,947 

1878 27,878  30,867 

1877 22,652  25,157 

1876 22,271  26,301 

1875 27,516  28,675 

1874 27,175  30,202 

Hides  and  Leather. — There  are  more  domestic 
hides  shipped  from  St.  Louis  than  from  any  market 
in  the  United  States,  the  aggregate  value  of  the 
transactions  in  this  commodity  approximating  four 
million  dollars.  The  hide  product  is  not  only  exten- 


sively employed  in  the  manufacture  of  boots  and 
shoes,  but  is  necessarily  an  important  factor  in  the 
making  of  saddles,  harness,  belting,  and  a  variety  of 
other  articles  of  commerce.  In  St.  Louis  there  is  not 
only  a  large  product  of  hides  from  the  cattle  slaugh- 
tered for  local  consumption,  but  the  receipts  from  the 
cattle-growing  regions  are  immense,  this  being  the 
natural  centre  of  that  interest,  which  includes  in  ex- 
tent of  territory  Illinois,  Missouri,  the  Indian  Terri- 
tory, Texas,  Mexico,  New  Mexico,  Colorado,  Dakota, 
Montana,  Utah,  and  Arizona.  The  establishment  of 
extensive  slaughtering  houses,  such  as  that  of  the 
Beef- Canning  Company,  producing  4000  hides  a 
week,  and  the  butchers'  yield,  about  the  same  figure, 
greatly  increases  the  product  derived  from  imports, 
which  in  1881  aggregated  20,079,814  pounds.  The 
exports  were  28,082,036  pounds,  and  the  amount 
utilized  in  local  manufacture  was  nearly  as  krge  as 
both  sums  together,  or  upwards  of  40,000,000  pounds. 
In  1834  and  earlier  there  were  also  large  receipts  of 
bison  hides  from  the  plains,  and  this  formed  an  im- 
portant element  in  the  freightage  of  the  "  overland 
route ;"  but  of  late  years  the  extermination  of  the 
American  buffalo  has  been  so  nearly  completed  that 
few  are  now  received,  or  even  desired,  for  bison  hide 
makes  very  inferior  leather  as  compared  with  the 
product  of  the  domestic  cattle. 

Of  the  two  methods  of  preparing  hides  for  the  St. 
Louis  market,  the  salting  is  preferred  above  drying, 
although  not  always  practicable,  as  nearly  all  the  hides 
coming  from  the  Southwest  and  West  are  already  cured 
by  drying,  after  the  primitive  manner  in  vogue  on  the 
plains.  Texas  hides  rank,  in  excellence  of  quality, 
second  only  to  those  of  South  America. 

Up  to  a  very  few  years  ago  nearly  all  the  hides  re- 
ceived in  the  St.  Louis  market  were  shipped  hence  to 
Eastern  tanneries,  but  now  St.  Louis  boasts  of  several 
tanners  and  curriers  with  establishments  possessing 
the  requisites  of  capital  and  capacity  and  doing  a 
thriving  business.  Indeed,  these  already  outnumber 
the  dealers  in  hides  and  pelts,  one  of  them  having  a 
capacity  of  over  five  hundred  hides  a  week.1 

The  hide  dealers,  however,  are  among  the  most  solid 
and  prosperous  business  men  of  St.  Louis,  and  represent 
an  aggregate  capital  of  nearly  two  million  dollars. 
In  earlier  times  the  custom — begun  perhaps  almost  as 
early  as  the  settlement  of  St.  Louis — of  buying  hides 
directly  from  the  butchers  and  selling  to  the  tanners 
was  in  vogue,  but  in  1864,  B.  H.  Newell,  one  of  the 

1  "  Forty  dollars  per  ton,"  stated  an  advertisement  in  the 
Missouri  Gazette  of  July  2,  1814,  "will  be  given  for  well-saved 
shomac  (sumac)  at  the  subscriber's  morocco  manufactory  in  St. 
Louis." 


1316 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


largest  buyers  in  the  St.  Louis  market,  originated  the 
brokerage  system,  by  which  the  brokers  act  as  agents 
for  the  tanners,  and  now  nearly  all  the  business  be- 
tween dealers  and  tanners  is  thus  conducted,  and,  it 
is  claimed,  with  great  advantage  to  all  parties  con- 
cerned. With  the  growth  of  the  St.  Louis  saddlery 
trade  to  pre-eminence  over  that  of  any  other  market 
in  the  world,  the  dealings  in  hides  and  leather  have 
necessarily  increased  in  proportion,  and  the  establish- 
ment of  numerous  boot  and  shoe  factories  has  con- 
tributed to  swell  the  total  dealings  in  leather  for  all 
purposes  to  the  sum  of  nearly  ten  million  dollars. 
The  following  statistics  exhibit  the  growth  of  the 

trade : 

HIDES. 


Beceipts. 

Exports. 

Peltries, 
Receipts. 

» 
1874  

Piece*. 
184,468 
165,917 
161,902 
112,678 
120,739 
103,906 
150,245 
146,4-21 
160,470 
187,591 

Bundles. 
106,641 
83,234 
56,703 
31,092 
37,425 
17,170 
16,362 
11,910 
6,981 
7,310 

Pieces. 
65,976 
10J.-252 
110,890 
116,630 
55,896 
66.173 
81,546 
85,291 
lfio,580 
267,119 

Bundln. 
247,941 
158,162 
92,693 
62,500 
132,321 
81,048 
47,083 
45,113 
22,481 

Bundle*. 
16,636 
15,158 
18,560 
14,175 
12,903 
11,584 
11,278 
10,278 

1873   

1372   

1871  

1870  

1869  

1868  

1867  

1865      

HIDES. 

Receipts. 

Exports. 

Povndt. 

22,135,538 
20,1179,814 
18,436.253 
20,u4-i,7:t4 
17,li9,894 
20,001,  03  1 
21,^11,245 
19,851,947 

Pound*. 

2H.744.094 
2K.U8X.636 
24,114,529 
26,719,928 
21,4:59.051 
26.258.1  13 
29,520,487 
32,457,805 

1881 

• 

Receipts  in  188 
"           188 
"           185 
"           187 

LEATHER. 
1             

Rolls. 

J2.002 
>4,398 
38,386 
26.804 

0             .  . 

9 

7.... 

Saddlery  Trade. — St.  Louis  leads  the  world  in 
saddlery,  although  the  fact  is  not  known  outside  of 
strictly  commercial  circles.1  The  market  is  usually 
most  active,  but  there  is  no  exchange  or  central  depot 
for  the  compilation  of  statistics.  As  an  exclusive 
business,  saddlery  and  saddlery  hardware  date  back 
only  to  1859,  and  not  much  was  done  in  that  line 

i  John  Chandler  <fc  Co.,  saddle-,  bridle-,  and  harness-makers, 
Main  Street,  advertised  their  business  Feb.  1,  1812,  and  John 
Jacoby,  saddler,  informed  his  friends  and  the  public  generally, 
Dec.  14, 1816,  that  he  had  removed  his  shop  from  near  Lexing- 
ton, Ky.,  to  St.  Louis,  "  where  he  has  opened  a  shop  on  Front 
Street,  near  Governor  Clark's,  and  opposite  T.  Hunt's  store." 
Aug.  23,  1820,  T.  Grimsley  and  William  Stark  conducted  the 
saddlery  and  harness  business  in  Jacoby's  old  stand,  next  below 
Neal  <t  Liggett. 


until  1866.  Prior  to  that  time  the  general  stores 
that  abounded  in  St.  Louis,  as  elsewhere  throughout 
the  Southwest,  dealt  in  saddlery  to  some  degree  in 
connection  with  other  wares.  The  territory  then  sup- 
plied by  St.  Louis  was  very  limited,  but  now  saddlery 
of  St.  Louis  manufacture  is  supplied  to  Missouri, 
Kentucky,  Mississippi,  Tennessee,  Louisiana,  Texas, 
Arkansas,  Kansas,  Colorado,  the  Indian  Territory, 
Wyoming,  Montana,  Arizona,  Dakota,  and  New 
Mexico,  most  of  which  States  and  Territories  use 
this  ware  to  so  large  an  extent  that  the  St.  Louis 
export  trade  in  this  line  in  1831  aggregated  in  value 
over  three  million  five  hundred  thousand  dollars. 
Upwards  of  fifteen  hundred  hands  are  employed  in 
the  trade  here,  and  the  wholesale  firms  alone  number 
twelve,  while  the  retailers  and  the  exclusively  "  tree" 
manufacturers  aggregate  twenty-two  more. 

In  1882  the  total  number  of  establishments  en- 
gaged in  the  trade  was  ninety-six.  It  is  also  a  re- 
markable fact  that  the  failures  in  this  line  have  been 
fewer  than  in  any  other  trade  of  similar  extent. 
Since  the  war  the  process  of  manufacture  has  been 
greatly  changed  by  the  introduction  of  sewing-ma- 
chines and  other  machinery,  and  the  speed  in  the 
process  of  manufacture  has  so  greatly  increased  that 
at  least  a  dozen  saddles  can  now  be  turned  out  in  the 
time  it  formerly  took  to  make  one.  Much  of  the 
manufacturing,  in  so  far  as  elm  "  trees"  is  con- 
cerned, is  done  at  the  State  Penitentiary  at  Jefferson 
City,  and  then  the  appendages  of  leather,  in  various 
styles  of  artistic  finish,  are  added,  giving  to  the  "  tree" 
a  neat  appearance.  Prices  of  saddlery  have  been 
greatly  reduced,  so  that  a  saddle  formerly  costing  say 
fifteen  dollars  can  now  be  purchased  for  five  dollars, 
and  the  average  price  of  the  finest  scarcely  goes  above 
ten  dollars.  The  facilities  for  manufacturing  and  the 
large  tributary  territory  give  St.  Louis  great  advan- 
tages over  other  markets,  and  the  trade  is  constantly 
increasing  in  extent  as  well  as  in  the  reputaton  which 
is  accorded  the  market  for  the  uniform  excellence  of 
its  saddlery  goods. 

Boots  and  Shoes. — The  wholesale  boot  and  shoe 
business  is  an  important  factor  in  the  commercial 
prosperity  of  St.  Louis.2 

J  Among  the  early  boot  and  shoe  makers  of  St.  Louis  were 
the  following: 

Young  <t  Bright,  who  dissolved  partnership  March  22,  1810, 
the  business  being  continued  by  John  A.  Bright. 

Badgely  &  Stubblefield,  "  ladies'  and  gentlemen's  shoe  and 
boot  makers,"  who  announced  on  the  llth  of  April,  1811,  that 
they  had  commenced  business  and  "  would  carry  on  the  vari- 
ous branches  of  their  profession." 

John  Holbrook,  boot  and  shoe  maker,  whose  place  of  business 
(Feb.  8,  1820)  was  "his  new  brick  house,  South  Main  Street." 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1317 


Nineteen  wholesale  houses  were  engaged  in  the 
trade  in  1881,  which  aggregated  about  ten  millions 
of  dollars.  The  manufacture  of  boots  and  shoes  is 
also  carried  on  to  a  considerable  extent  in  St.  Louis, 
the  number  of  firms  in  1881  being  one  hundred  and 
eighty-four,  with  an  annual  business  of  one  million 
eight  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

Of  the  wholesale  firms  engaged  in-  the  sale  of  boots 
and  shoes  the  house  of  Hamilton,  Brown  &  Co.  is 
among  the  most  prominent.  One  of  the  founders  of 
this  great  firm,  and  at  present  the  general  manager  of 
its  affairs,  is  Alanson  D.  Brown.  Mr.  Brown  was 


several  years,  and  where  he  was  engaged  for  three 
years  as  clerk  in  a  general  merchandise  store.  He 
then  engaged  in  business  with  one  of  his  uncles  with 
such  success  that  in  two  years  he  was  enabled  to  dis- 
pose of  his  interest  for  thirteen  thousand  dollars.  In 
the  spring  of  1872  he  removed  to  St.  Louis, 
and  engaged  in  the  wholesale  boot  and  shoe  busi- 
ness with  James  M.  Hamilton,  a  gentleman  of 
great  experience  in  the  business,  who  had  long 
been  a  valued  employe  of  the  well-known  house 
of  Appleton,  Noyes  &  Co.  The  firm  started  under 
the  name  of  Hamilton  &  Brown,  and  it  is  interest- 


FAMOUS    SHOE   AND    CLOTHING    COMPANY, 

Northwest  Cor.  Fifth  and  Morgan  Streets. 


born  in  Granville,  Washington  Co.,  N.  Y.,  March 
21,  1847.  His  parents  are  yet  living,  and  his  father, 
who  is  a  prosperous  farmer  of  that  section,  has  been 
supervisor  for  several  terms,  although  his  party  has 
been  decidedly  in  the  minority,  and  is  otherwise 
prominent  in  town  affairs. 

Young  Brown's  boyhood  was  that  of  most  farmer 
lads,  working  on  the  farm  in  summer  and  attend- 
ing the  district  school  in  winter ;  he  also  attended 
a  commercial  college  at  Rutland,  Vt.  In  1864  he 
obtained  a  position  as  clerk  in  a  store  at  Granville, 
where  he  remained  two  years,  and  then  removed  to 
Columbus,  Miss.,  where  two  uncles  had  lived  for 
84 


ing,  in  view  of  the  present  dimensions  of  the  business, 
to  recall  the  circumstance  that  the  joint  capital  of 
the  two  partners  was  but  twenty-three  thousand  dol- 
lars, Mr.  Hamilton  contributing  ten  thousand  dollars 
and  Mr.  Brown  the  thirteen  thousand  dollars  he 
brought  with  him  from  Mississippi.  The  business  grew 
rapidly,  and  its  subsequent  development  has  been  with- 
out precedent  and  far  beyond  the  most  sanguine  expec- 
tations of  its  founders.  In  1876  two  additional  part- 
ners were  admitted,  William  H.  Carroll  and  E.  P. 
Williams,  who  had  been  salesmen  in  the  house,  and 
the  style  of  the  firm  became  Hamilton,  Brown  &  Co., 
which  is  its  present  designation.  The  house,  although 


1318 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


comparatively  a  young  one,  was  then  transacting  a 
business  of  many  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars 
annually  ;  but  the  firm  resolved  to  attempt  what  their 
contemporaries  declared  to  be  a  dangerous  experi- 
ment, the  selling  of  goods  only  for  cash  instead  of 
the  usual  four  and  six  months'  time,  a  method  that 
seemed  to  Hamilton,  Brown  &  Co.  to  be  at  variance 
with  sound  business  principles,  and  therefore  in  1877 
they  instituted  the  reform  indicated,  believing  it  not 
only  safer  for  themselves  in  the  avoidance  of  bad 
debts  and  the  risks  involved  in  the  sale  of  goods 
on  credit,  but  equally  to  the  advantage  of  their  cus- 
tomers in  affording  them  better  bargains  for  their 
money.  The  result  proved  the  thorough  soundness 
of  their  reasoning,  for  in  1877,  the  first  year  of  the 
experiment,  the  sales  of  the  establishment  were  larger 
than  ever  before,  and  amounted  to  seven  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  dollars. 

The  subsequent  development  of  the  business  of 
Hamilton,  Brown  &  Co.  has  been  one  of  the  commer- 
cial marvels  of  St.  Louis.  For  five  years  past  the 
annual  sales  have  not  fallen  below  one  and  a  half  mil- 
lions of  dollars,  and  for  1880  they  footed  up  the 
princely  sum  of  one  million  nine  hundred  and  twenty- 
six  thousand  dollars.  The  company  occupies  a  six- 
story  building,  with  basement,  at  Washington  Avenue 
and  Fifth  Street,  St.  Louis,  and  here  it  conducts  per- 
haps the  largest  wholesale  boot  and  shoe  establishment 
in  the  city.  When  asked  regarding  the  secret  of  his 
success,  Mr.  Brown  is  accustomed  to  say  that  there  is 
none,  except  constant  application,  a  minute  looking 
after  details,  and  incessant  watchfulness  to  prevent 
leakage  and  waste.  It  is  no  reflection  upon  the  gentle- 
men associated  with  him,  and  who  have  contributed 
much  to  bring  about  this  splendid  success,  to  say  that 
as  the  active  business  manager  of  the  firm  of  Ham- 
ilton, Brown  &  Co.,  the  brilliant  reputation  of  the 
house  is  largely  due  to  Alanson  D.  Brown's  energy, 
enterprise,  and  assiduity. 

In  one  of  his  business  trips  to  Boston  Mr.  Brown 
became  acquainted  with  Miss  Ella  Gertrude,  daughter 
of  Charles  C.  Bills,  a  prominent  shoe  manufacturer 
of  that  city,  and  they  were  subsequently  married. 
Three  children  are  the  result  of  the  union.  Mr. 
Brown  is  a  member  of  the  Third  Baptist  Church  of 
St.  Louis,  and  endeavors  to  contribute  his  share  to- 
wards all  the  worthy  enterprises,  religious,  charitable, 
and  philanthropic,  that  appeal  for  aid.  He  regards 
it  as  a  pleasurable  duty  to  support,  as  far  as  he  can, 
all  projects  reasonably  calculated  to  advance  the  pros- 
perity of  the  city  of  his  adoption,  and  may  justly  be 
ranked  among  its  most  active  and  progressive  young 
business  men. 


Jewelry. — The  manufacture  and  sale  of  jewelry, 
which  is  now  one  of  the  important  industries  of  St. 
I  Louis,  was  established  at  an  early  period  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  town.  As  far  back  as  April,  1812,  Jo- 
seph Bouju,  "  clock  and  watchmaker,  silversmith  and 
jeweler,"  in  Madame  Papin's  house,  opposite  Gen. 
Clark's  office,  advertised  a  variety  of  wares.  Mr. 
Bouju's  establishment  was  not  the  only  one  in  the 
town,  as  we  find  that  Dr.  Farrar's  store  was  adver- 
tised in  the  same  year  as  being  situated  below  Maj. 
Christy's  tavern,  next  to  Dangin's  silversmith's  shop. 
In  July,  1817,  Charles  E.  Jeauneret  pursued  the 
trade  of  watchmaker  at  P.  Chouteau's  house,  and  in 
September,  1817,  Israel  B.  Grant  opened  a  shop  next 
door  below  Mr.  Wilts'  store,  on  Main  Street,  where 
he  manufactured  silver-work  and  jewelry,  keeping 
also  "  a  constant  supply  of  soup,  table,  dessert,  and 
teaspoons,  gold  watch-chains,  seals  and  keys,  ear-  and 
finger-rings,  bracelets,  gold  and  silver  sleeve-buttons, 
thimbles,  hooks  and  eyes,  etc.  Engraving  and  hair- 
work  neatly  executed."  During  the  same  year  Joseph 
Bouju  had  his  shop  opposite  the  store  of  Mr.  Wilt. 
On  the  13th  of  November,  1818,  Charles  Billon, 
clock  and  watch  maker  and  jeweler,  informed  "  the  in- 
habitants of  St.  Louis  and  its  vicinity  that  he  has 
commenced  business  in  the  house  occupied  by  Mr. 
Dangin,  on  Main  Street,  where  he  has  for  sale  an  as- 
sortment of  gold  and  silver  repeaters,  plain  gold  and 
silver  watches,  with  an  assortment  of  jewelry,  con- 
sisting of  fine  gold  chains,  seals  and  keys,  breastpins, 
ear-rings,  etc.,  which  he  will  sell  on  the  most  ac- 
commodating terms. 

"  N.B. — Watches  of  every  description  carefully 
repaired,  and  engraving  executed  with  neatness  and 
dispatch." 

Mr.  Billon  had  removed  to  St.  Louis  from  Phila- 
delphia, and  his  location  is  further  described  as 
"  Dangin's  old  stone  house."  At  the  same  time  Henry 
Gulager  carried  on  the  trade  of  a  clock  and  watch 
maker  "  next  to  the  old  Indian  office  in  Clark's  stone 
row."  On  the  llth  of  August,  1819,  Robert  Logan, 
clock  and  watch  maker,  advertised  his  establishment  as 
being  located  "  in  Bouju's  old  place,"  and  on  the  18th, 
Joseph  Bouju  announced  his  removal  to  "  his  new 
house"  opposite  Paul's  auction-room.  Dec.  23, 1819, 
Charles  Billon  gave  notice  that  he  had  removed  to 
his  new  establishment  on  North  Main  Street,  at  the 
corner,  opposite  the  old  Gratiot  residence. 

The  trade  in  jewelry  has  gone  on  expanding  until 
now  St.  Louis  surpasses  every  other  city  in  the  West 
as  a  market  for  this  branch  of  business.  In  1881 
seventeen  firms  were  engaged  in  the  jewelry  trade, 
whose  sales  aggregated  four  million  dollars  per  annum. 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


In  the  manufacture  of  jewelry  and  silver-plated  ware 
eight  firms  were  engaged,  employing  sixty  hands,  and 
transacting  a  business  of  two 
hundred  thousand  dollars  per 
annum. 

The  oldest  jewelry  firm  in 
the  city,  and  one  of  the  old- 
est in  the  West,  is  that  of 
the  E.  Jaccard  Jewelry  Com- 
pany. It  was  established  in 
1829  by  Louis  Jaccard,  who 
emigrated  to  America  from 
Switzerland,  and  who  was 
followed  by  his  nephew  Eu- 
gene in  1837.  The  house 
of  Louis  Jaccard  &  Co.,  as 
it  was  originally  called,  was 
dissolved  Dec.  31,  1848,  by 
the  withdrawal  of  Louis 
Jaccard,  who  was  succeeded 
by  his  nephew  Eugene,  who 
in  1852  associated  A.  S. 
Mermod  with  him,  and  in 
1855  D.  C.  Jaccard,  the  firm 
then  becoming  E.  Jaccard  & 
Co.  In  1864  the  partner- 
ship was  dissolved,  Messrs. 
Mermod  and  D.  C.  Jaccard 
withdrawing  and  establish- 
ing another  house.  Eugene 
Jaccard  continued  the  origi- 
nal business  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  on  the  4th 
of  September,  1871.  Mr. 
Jaccard,  who  was  fifty-seven 
years  old,  was  born  in  Ste. 
Croix,  Switzerland,  and,  as 
previously  stated,  emigrated 
to  this  country  about  1834. 
Commencing  life  in  St.  Louis 
as  a  journeyman  jeweler  at 
nine  dollars  a  week,  he 
worked  his  way  to  fortune, 
gaining  for  himself  at  the 
same  time  the  marked  re- 
spect of  his  fellow-citizens. 
He  was  liberal  but  unosten- 
tatious in  his  charities,  a  l 
devout  member  of  the  Pine 
Street  Presbyterian  Church, 

in  which  organization  he  was  a  deacon,  president  of 
the  Missouri  Loan  Bank,  and  director  in  the  Third 
National  Bank,  Continental  Life  Insurance  Company 


of  New  York,  and  Excelsior  Insurance  Company  of 
St.  Louis.     He  left  a  wife,  but  no  children. 


JACCARD    JEWELRY   COMPANY, 
Northeast  corner  Fifth  and  Olive  Sts. 

Mr.  Jaccard  was  succeeded  in  the  business  in  1871 
by  his  nephew,  Eugene  J.  Cuendet,  and  the  firm  is 
now  known  as  the  E.  Jaccard  Jewelry  Company,  of 


1320 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


which  Mr.  Cuendet  is  president.  It  occupies  the 
handsome  building  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Fifth 
and  Olive  Streets,  fronting  one  hundred  feet  on  Olive 
Street  and  fifty  feet  on  Fifth  Street.  It  is  built  of 
Athens  marble,  five  stories  in  height,  and  its  archi- 
tecture is  graceful  and  imposing.  The  cost  of  the 
building  and  ground  exceeded  three  hundred  thousand 
dollars.  The  stock  comprises,  in  addition  to  the  or- 
dinary wares  of  an  extensive  jewelry  establishment, 
choice  importations  of  pottery,  porcelain,  rare  and 
valuable  gems,  bronzes,  gilt  goods,  statuary,  French 
clocks,  etc.,  and  the  firm  makes  a  specialty  of  watches 
and  music-boxes,  which  are  manufactured  especially 
for  it  in  Switzerland. 

The  firm  of  Mermod,  Jaccard  &  Co.  has  attained 
great  celebrity  in  the  jewelry  trade  of  the  West,  and 
transacts  an  extensive  business.  Its  founder,  D. 
Constant  Jaccard,  was  born  in  Ste.  Croix,  Switzerland, 
Aug.  22,  1826.  He  received  the  usual  instruction 
at  the  public  schools,  and  when  eleven  years  old 
began  his  apprenticeship  as  a  jeweler,  being  first  em- 
ployed on  music-boxes,  and  afterwards  on  watches, 
and  dividing  his  time  between  his  studies  and  his 
work  at  the  bench.  He  remained  with  his  parents 
until  1845,  and  then  attended  the  Normal  School  at 
Lausanne,  where  he  went  through  the  three-years' 
course  with  eighteen  months'  study,  and  graduated 
first  in  a  class  of  thirty-five.  In  order  to  defray  his 
expenses  at  this  institution,  he  gave  two  hours'  les- 
sons each  day,  and  during  the  vacation  worked  at  his 
bench. 

After  leaving  school  he  taught  one  year,  and  then 
the  political  disturbances  in  France  and  Switzerland 
in  1847-48  induced  him  to  accept  an  invitation  from 
Louis  and  Eugene  Jaccard,  his  cousins,  to  come  to 
St.  Louis  and  work  with  them. 

Mr.  Jaccard  left  Ste.  Croix  April  24,  1848,  and 
arrived  in  St.  Louis  on  the  15th  of  July.  The  trip 
consumed  over  eighty  days,  whereas  it  takes  now  less 
than  twenty  days. 

He  went  to  work  immediately  upon  his  arrival,  and 
has  resided  in  St.  Louis  ever  since.  During  the  gold 
fever  of  1849-51  he  was  often  urged  by  friends  to 
go  to  California,  and  though  frequently  solicited  to 
change  his  business,  he  has  remained  steadfast  to  his 
first  choice,  and  his  perseverance  has  been  richly 
rewarded. 

His  ancestors  were  French  Huguenots,  who  fled 
to  Switzerland  after  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of 
Nantes,  and  settled  in  Ste.  Croix,  on  the  very  first 
ground  after  crossing  the  frontier.  The  rest  of  the 
family  remained  in  Picardy,  France,  and  spell  their 
name  Jacquard,  which  seems  to  have  been  its  original 


form.  The  Ste.  Croix  refugees,  however,  adopted  the 
spelling  Jaccard.  From  the  Jacquard  family  came 
the  inventor  of  the  Jacquard  loom.  ^ 

Having  from  a  child  suffered  from  sick  headache 
;  and  facial  neuralgia,  Mr.  Jaccard  has  been  prevented 
from  going  much  into  society  or  joining  social  organ- 
izations. His  habits,  therefore,  have  been  quiet  and 
retired,  but  he  has  nevertheless  given,  unostenta- 
tiously, much  time  and  labor  to  works  of  beneficence 
and  trust.  As  treasurer  of  the  Societe  du  sou  par 
semaine,  he  distributed  during  the  war,  in  connection 
with  the  Sanitary  Commission,  over  twenty  thousand 
dollars  to  relieve  the  wants  of  persons  on  both  sides. 
In  1868  he  was  appointed  vice-consul  of  Switzerland 
at  St.  Louis,  and  acted  alone  as  consul  for  two  years, 
having  only  lately  been  relieved,  at  his  own  request, 
on  account  of  ill  health. 

In  politics,  Mr.  Jaccard  is  independent  and  an  earn- 
est advocate  of  civil  service  reform.  He  thinks  both 
parties  made  up  of  good  and  bad,  and  in  voting  has 
always  selected  his  candidates  with  a  view  of  the  real 
fitness  of  the  man  for  the  place,  and  regardless  of  the 
ticket  to  which  he  may  belong. 

In  religion,  Mr.  Jaccard  is  a  Presbyterian.  He  was 
formerly  an  elder  in  Dr.  Brooks'  church,  and  is  now 
a  member  of  Dr.  Marquis'  Lafayette  Park  Presbyte- 
rian Church. 

In  1855  he  was  married  to  a  daughter  of  J.  G. 
Chipron,  brother-in-law  to  Rev.  Dr.  Grandpierre,  of 
Paris,  France,  where  Mrs.  Jaccard  was  born.  Her 
family  settled  in  Highland,  111.,  in  1848. 

On  Dec.  31,  1848,  as  previously  stated,  the  house 
of  Louis  Jaccard  &  Co.  was  dissolved,  Louis  selling 
his  half-interest  to  his  nephew  Eugene,  who  carried 
on  the  business  alone,  under  the  name  of  E.  Jaccard, 
until  1852,  when  he  took  A.  S.  Mermod  as  partner, 
and  then  in  1855,  D.  C.  Jaccard  as  a  third  partner, 
forming  the  firm  of  E.  Jaccard  &  Co.  This  continued 
until  May  1, 1864,  when  the  partnership  was  dissolved 
under  the  following  circumstances: 

In  1863,  Eugene  Jaccard  had  formed  a  partner- 
ship with  the  two  Captains  La  Barge  and  Harkness 
(under  the  name  of  La  Barge,  Harkness  &  Co.),  for 
the  purpose  of  trading  and  steamboating  on  the  river. 
This  being  outside  of  the  regular  jewelry  business, 
produced  a  disagreement  among  the  members  of  the 
firm  of  E.  Jaccard  &  Co.  Mr.  Mermod  and  D.  C. 
Jaccard  being  apprehensive  that  their  interests  would 
suffer,  on  May  1,  1864,  sold  their  interest  to  Eugene 
Jaccard. 

Immediately  after  their  withdrawal  Messrs.  Mermod 
and  Jaccard  purchased  an  establishment  under  Odd- 
Fellows'  Hall,  corner  of  Fourth  and  Locust  Streets, 


>0P- 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1321 


and  taking  as  partner  C.  F.  Mathey,  founded,  May  1, 
1864,  the  firm  of  D.  C.  Jaccard  &  Co.,  who  have 
done  business  at  this  place  (Odd-Fellows'  Block)  ever 
since.  The  firm  soon  obtained  a  good  business,  and 
throughout  the  whole  of  the  subsequent  period  its 
progress  has  been  steady  and  uninterrupted.  Even 
during  the  period  of  general  commercial  depression, 
from  1873  to  1879,  the  development  of  its  business 
was  unchecked.  In  1873  the  firm  added  to  its  double 
store  on  Fourth  Street  the  large  building  on  Locust 
Street. 

In  1873  the  name  of  the  firm  was  changed  from 
D.  C,  Jaccard  &  Co.  to  Mermod,  Jaccard  &  Co., 
under  Odd-Fellows'  Hall,  Fourth  and  Locust  Streets. 
This  was  done  in  order  to  prevent  mistakes  arising 
from  the  similarity  of  the  two  firm-names,  although 
Eugene  Jaccard  had  then  been  dead  two  years,  and 
D.  C.  Jaccard  was  the  only  one  of  that  name  per- 
sonally engaged  in  the  jewelry  business  in  St.  Louis. 
Goodman  King  had  been  admitted  as  a  partner  some 
years  before,  and  contributed  no  small  amount  of 
energy  and  activity  to  the  establishment.  When  D. 
C.  Jaccard  and  his  partners  separated  from  the  house 
of  Eugene  Jaccard,  they  agreed  to  establish  their 
business  on  a  definite  basis,  and  all  signed  a  written 
agreement  stipulating  that  they  would  never  speculate 
in  anything  ;  they  would  never  buy  more  goods  than 
they  could  pay  cash  for ;  they  would  not  sign  any  notes 
or  have  any  drafts  drawn  on  them  ;  that  at  the  end  of 
every  month  they  would  carefully  examine  the  con- 
dition of  their  affairs,  in  order  to  act  intelligently  in 
the  purchase  of  goods.  The  faithfulness  with  which 
they  adhered  to  these  regulations  was  soon  discovered 
by  manufacturers,  all  of  whom  became  anxious  to 
deal  with  such  a  house,  and  consequently  the  very 
best  oifers  have  always  been  at  their  disposal. 

Mermod,  Jaccard  &  Co.  have  their  own  manufac- 
tory for  watches  (particularly  for  ladies'  watches)  at 
Ste.  Croix,  Switzerland,  Mr.  Jaccard's  brother  Justin 
being  at  its  head.  His  cousins  are  large  manufac- 
turers of  music-boxes  also  at  Ste.  Croix. 

Mermod,  Jaccard  &  Co.  have  also  a  house  in  Paris. 
No.  32  Faubourg  Poissonniere,  where  Mr.  V.  Verse- 
puy,  a  most  expert  connoisseur,  watches  the  diamond 
market  for  them,  and  selects  all  their  clocks  and  ol- 
jets  d'art.  Two  of  the  members  also  visit  Europe 
regularly  twice  a  year  for  the  purchase  of  new  arti- 
cles in  their  line.  The  house  has  also  representatives 
in  Vienna,  Bohemia,  London,  Birmingham,  Sheffield, 
etc.,  and  is  so  well  known  in  Europe  that  it  can  buy 
whatever  it  needs  quite  as  well  as  in  New  York,  such 
is  its  standing  among  manufacturers  and  those  who 
supply  it  with  its  goods.  This  high  reputation,  it  is 


needless  to  say,  it  enjoys  as  well  in  the  United  States 
and  Mexico  as  in  more  distant  lands. 

Mr.  Mermod  and  D.  C.  Jaccard  have  each  a  son, 

Arthur  Mermod  and  Eugene  Jaccard,  both  of  whom 

have  for  some  years  been  emplo'yed  in  the  store,  and 

|  will  soon  be  ready  to  take  up  the  business  and  carry 

i  it  on  in  accordance  with  the  principles  adopted  by 

•  their  fathers  when  they  commenced. 

Type  Foundries. — The  first  type  foundry  in  St. 
Louis  was  established  by  A.  P.  Ladew.  Mr.  Ladew 
was  born  in  Albany,  N.  Y.,  Sept.  13,  1811,  and  was 
the  son  of  Stephen  Ladew,  a  prominent  merchant, 
and  at  one  time  private  secretary  of  De  Witt  Clinton. 
At  the  age  of  thirteen  A.  P.  Ladew  was  placed  in  an 
establishment  to  learn  the  trade  of  type-making  and 
stereotyping,  and  subsequently  worked  in  the  well- 
known  foundry  of  James  Conner  in  New  York.  After 
serving  his  apprenticeship  he  formed  the  acquaintance 
of  L.  Johnson,  of  Philadelphia,  a  leading  type  founder 
of  that  day,  and  under  his  patronage  and  that  of 
George  Charles  he  removed  to  St.  Louis  in  1838  and 
established  the  St.  Louis  Type  Foundry,  the  firm  being 
George  Charles  &  Co.  In  its  issue  of  Dec.  1,  1840, 
one  of  the  St.  Louis  newspapers  said, — 

"  We  received  yesterday  a  specimen  of  pica  type 
from  the  foundry  of  Mr.  Charles,  who  is  just  opening 
on  Market  Street.  The  specimen  before  us  assures  us 
that  this  will  prove  a  most  valuable  acquisition  to  the 
printers  of  the  West." 

On  the  1st  of  July,  1843,  it  was  announced  that 
A.  P.  Ladew  had  become  the  sole  proprietor  of  the 
foundry,  and  on  the  12th  of  February,  1852,  A.  P. 
Ladew  &  Co.  informed  the  public  that  they  had  estab- 
lished a  stereotype  foundry,  at  which  they  were  pre- 
pared to  execute  all  kinds  of  work  usually  performed 
in  such  establishments.  "  These  gentlemen,"  added 
the  paper  announcing  the  fact,  "  are  well  known  to  the 
people  of  the  West  as  type  founders,  etc."  In  1850 
the  capital  invested  in  the  type  foundry  was  fifty-one 
thousand  eight  hundred  dollars,  employing  ten  males 
and  ten  females,  with  an  annual  product  of  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  dollars. 

Subsequently  the  firm  became  known  as  Ladew, 
Peers  &  Co.,  and  its  business  developed  to  very  large 
proportions,  the  foundry  supplying  the  demand  for  its 
products  throughout  the  West.  Mr.  Ladew  was 
prominently  associated  with  various  newspapers  and 
other  business  enterprises  in  St.  Louis,  and  was  one 
of  the  most  substantial  and  influential  members  of  the 
community.1  He  was  a  director  of  the  St.  Louis 

1  Mr.  Ladew  was  twice  married.  His  first  wife  was  Miss  Cath- 
erine Leets,  of  Xew  Jersey,  and  his  second  wife  Mrs.  Lizzie  E. 
Clark,  whom  he  married  Sept.  3,  1856. 


1322 


HISTOHY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


Building  and  Savings  Association,  member  of  the  City 
Council,  vice-president  of  the  Commercial  Insurance 
Company,  and  a  director  in  the  Bank  of  St.  Louis, 
besides  holding  other  positions  of  trust  and  honor. 

There  are  now  (1882)  two  type  foundries  in  St. 
Louis, — the  St.  Louis  Type  Foundry,  conducted  by  a 
stock  company,  of  which  William  Bright  is  secretary, 
at  the  northeast  corner  of  Third  and  Vine  Streets,  and 
the  Central  Type  Foundry,  15  North  Third  Street. 

Lumber. — With  a  soil  so  deep  and  such  an  abundant 
supply  of  water,  the  forests  of  Missouri  must  needs 
teem  with  trees  and  shrubs  and  vines  useful  in  indus- 
try or  as  fruit-producers ;  and  in  fact  the  timber 
supply  of  Missouri  is  enormous,  although,  as  experi- 
ence has  taught,  unhappily  not  inexhaustible.  The 
gigantic  sylvan  wildernesses  both  of  Brazil  and 
Guiana  are  not  protected  against  the  indiscriminate 
rapacity  of  man,  who  always  seems  to  attack  the  for- 
est with  the  ferocity  of  an  assault  upon  a  hereditary 
enemy.  In  the  great  forests  of  Missouri  a  very  wide 
variety  of  the  useful  woods  are  represented, — oak, 
hickory,  maple,  ash,  mulberry,  locust,  linden,  poplar, 
elm,  walnut,  and  pine  for  carriages,  wagons,  and  agri- 
cultural implements ;  pine,  linden,  poplar,  cotton- 
wood,  walnut,  cypress,  cedar,  oak,  and  gum  for  houses 
and  other  buildings ;  walnut,  poplar,  linden,  maple, 
cherry,  coffee-tree,  locust,  gum,  mulberry,  tupelo,  pine, 
cypress,  cedar,  birch,  hickory,  and  oak  for  cabinet- 
work ;  cedar,  locust,  oak,  hickory,  mulberry,  and  pine 
for  fences ;  and  Osage  orange,  thorns,  buckthorn,  and 
cedar  for  hedges.  Millions  of  these  varieties  of  lum- 
ber are  destroyed  every  year  in  opening  farms,  and 
meanwhile  the  people  of  Missouri  are  importing  mil- 
lions in  furniture  and  agricultural  implements  and 
lumber  for  the  various  kinds  of  carpentry.  There  is 
poor  economy  in  importing  walnut,  pine,  cherry,  pop- 
lar, birch,  maple,  oak,  linden,  and  cedar  manufactured 
into  furniture  from  the  Ohio  and  its  tributaries  when 
Missourians  are  destroying  upon  their  farms  more 
and  better  lumber  of  the  same  variety  every  year. 

In  spite  of  all  the  grandeur  of  growth  of  the  forests, 
it  has  only  been  of  recent  years  that  the  people  of 
St.  Louis  have  begun  to  supply  themselves  with  the 
articles  manufactured  from  the  wood  products  of  the 
country,  much  less  to  produce  any  for  export.  The 
absorption  of  industry  in  other  channels,  the  scarcity 
of  capital  and  skilled  labor,  and  the  cheap  goods  sup- 
plied by  competing  communities  elsewhere  prevented 
these  essentially  home  manufactures  from  establish- 
ing themselves  in  the  city  upon  anything  like  a  large 
scale  or  one  commensurate  with  the  community's  needs. 

The  ancient  French  liabitans  did  indeed  contrive 
to  manufacture  their  canoes  and  bateaux,  their  rude 


charrettes,  and  their  equally  rude  houses  of  posts  from 
native  timber,  joining their^oofs  and  floors,  and  framing 
them,  and  making  their  cedar-picket  inclosures  with 
a  good  deal  of  simple,  compact  skill.  But  they  did 
not  admire  the  forest,  nor  choose  to  grapple  with  it ; 
they  got  their  firewood  from  the  debris  brought  down 
by  the  floods  of  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri,  and  the 
old  town  either  bought  its  sawed  and  squared  and 
planed  lumber  or  else  did  without.  The  Missouri 
Gazette  of  March  1,  1809,  has  the  following  adver- 
tisement : 

"The  subscriber  will  receive  and  execute  orders  for  any  quan- 
tity of  plank  at  the  following  prices  per  hundred  feet,  viz. : 

Cherry $3.50 

Walnut  or  ash 3.25 

Oak 3.00 

"  To  those  who  may  forward  their  bills  and  receive  their 
plank  at  any  of  the  landing-places  at  St.  Louis  a  deduction  of 
twenty-five  cents  per  hundred  feet  will  be  made. 

"  A  quantity  of  the  above  kinds  of  plank  is  deposited  for  sale 
at  Mr.  Stedman's  tan-yard  at  the  above  prices. 

"N.B. — Orders  for  plank  will  be  received  at  the  printing- 
office  and  forwarded  to  the  mill. 

"THOMAS  KIUKPATRICK. 

"GOSHEN  TOWNSHIP,  INDIAN  TERRITORY." 

The  following  is  probably  the  first  notice  of  an  at- 
tempt to  manufacture  furniture  in  St.  Louis.  It  is 
from  the  same  journal,  26th  of  July,  1810: 

"  Heslep  A  Taylor,  Windsor  and  fancy  chair-makers,  at  their 
shop,  adjoining  Mr.  J.  Coons',  .St.  Louis,  inform  the  public  that 
they  have  just  arrived  from  Pennsylvania  with  an  extensive 
assortment  of  materials  necessary  for  elegant  and  plain  chairs. 
They  will  gild,  varnish,  japan,  and  paint  their  work  agreeable 
to  the  fancy  of  those  who  wish  to  encourage  the  business  in 
this  place.'' 

Feb.  13,  1813,  we  find  the  following: 

"  Philip  Matile,  wheelwright,  carriage-  and  chair-maker 
(from  Switzerland),  informs  the  public  that  he  has  for  the  last 
two  years  carried  on  business  in  this  neighborhood.  He  has 
now  established  a  shop  six  miles  from  St.  Louis,  on  the  road 
that  leads  to  Camp  Bellefontaine.1' 

In  1818,  3d  of  January,  we  read, — 

"  Pine  boards  sell  here  now  at  the  enormous  price  of  eight 
dollars  per  hundred  feet.  Ash,  oak,  walnut,  and  every  other 
description  of  boards  rate  in  the  same  proportion." 

In  the  year  1819,  Messrs.  Laveille  and  Morton  ar- 
rived in  St.  Louis  from  Pittsburgh  on  flat-bottomed 
boats  loaded  with  lumber,  on  the  tops  of  which  were 
stowed  the  effects  of  the  emigrants.  This  is  believed 
to  have  been  the  first  importation  of  Eastern  lumber 
into  St.  Louis.  On  their  arrival  they  engaged  as 
carpenters,  and  subsequently  became  extensive  build- 
ing contractors.  With  the  increase  in  their  business 
came  an  increased  demand  for  lumber,  and  for  a  good 
many  years  the  principal  supply  was  drawn  from  the 
yellow-pine  districts  of  the  Gasconade  River  and  its 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND  MANUFACTURES. 


1323 


tributaries,  in  what  was  then  Gasconade  County,  but 
now  Gasconade,  Texas,  and  a  half-dozen  or  more  other 
counties.  The  principal  mills  were  located  on  the  Big 
Piney,  and  were  owned  by  Messrs.  Fort  &  Lynch,  | 
Ormsby,  Truesdale,  Addison,  Bates,  and  Joseph  Wal- 
ton, there  being  some  eight  or  ten  in  all.  After  the 
lumber  was  manufactured  it  was  brought  down  the 
Gasconade  and  Missouri  Rivers  in  rafts,  and  it  was 
from  this  lumber  that  the  St.  Louis  arsenal  and  Jef- 
ferson Barracks  were  built.  Every  winter  the  builders 
or  dealers  in  lumber  had  to  make  a  trip  by  horseback 
to  that  district,  the  time  occupied  in  going  being 
six  days,  and  the  route  by  way  of  Manchester,  thirty 
miles  from  St.  Louis ;  Union,  sixty  miles  from  Man- 
chester, crossing  the  Burbois,  and  taking  the  Shaw- 
neetown  trail  to  Strong's,  on  Little  Prairie,  thirty  miles 
from  Union ;  then  to  Clayton's,  forty  miles  from 
Strong's  ;  then  to  Bradford's,  on  Spring  Creek,  thirty- 
five  miles  from  Clayton's ;  and  then  to  the  mills  on 
Big  Piney,  about  twenty  miles  from  Spring  Creek. 
The  country  was  sparsely  settled,  and  the  points 
named  the  only  ones  where  accommodation  for  either 
man  or  beast  could  be  had. 

Some  lumber  was  also  brought  from  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Ste.  Genevieve,  and  poplar  from  the  vicinity 
of  a  stream  south  of  the  city,  known  as  the  Big  Muddy, 
and  Cape  Girardeau,  and  it  was  not  until  somewhere 
about  the  years  1825-27  that  Messrs.  Laveille  &  Mor- 
ton commenced  making  a  regular  business  of  bringing 
lumber  from  Pittsburgh  and  vicinity  to  supply  the 
St.  Louis  market. 

July  2,  1836,  we  find  the  following,  showing  a 
rapid  progress : 

"  Our  readers  are  referred  to  an  advertisement  in 
another  column  of  a  steam  planing-machine,  recently 
put  into  operation  in  this  city  by  Mr.  James  Kipp. 
The  machinery  is  in  all  respects  perfect,  and  we  un- 
derstood that  it  was  capable  of  turning  out  six  hun- 
dred planks  per  day  completely  finished.  The  whole 
operation  is  performed  with  wonderful  velocity." 

In  1844  lumber  began  more  regularly  to  be  brought 
from  the  Allegheny  regions,  and  about  the  same  time 
St.  Louis  lumbermen  turned  their  attention  to  the 
pine  regions  of  the  upper  Mississippi  and  the  northern 
lakes,  the  erection  of  mills  there,  and  the  manufacture 
and  shipment  of  lumber  direct  by  river.  During 
that  time,  and  even  yet  with  some  exceptions,  the 
lumber  in  the  St.  Louis  market  was  brought  in  rafts 
floated  down  by  its  manufacturers,  or  from  Chicago 
yards,  the  business  all  the  while  increasing. 

For  several  years  the  larger  portion  of  white-pine 
was  brought  via  Chicago,  but  the  cost  of  transporta- 
tion operated  against  Chicago. 


The  manufacture  of  pine  lumber  in  St.  Louis,  that 
has  proved  a  fortune  to  some  of  its  citizens,  was  par- 
tially the  result  of  a  misfortune  to  some  of  the  log  or 
lumbermen  of  the  St.  Croix  region.  In  1843,  in 
consequence  of  the  heavy  rains  in  the  upper  country 
and  the  vast  accumulation  of  logs  in  the  Lake  St.  Croix 
"  boom,"  the  "  boom"  gave  way,  and  thousands  of  logs 
escaped  to  the  river.  They  were  gathered  up  at  dif- 
ferent points  along  the  Mississippi,  made  into  rafts 
and  brought  down  to  St.  Louis,  and  some  of  them 
sold  to  Daniel  Page,  who  had  a  mill  on  the  river-bank, 
a  short  distance  above  what  is  now  known  as  Mound 
Street.  On  the  1st  of  November,  1841,  Messrs. 
West,  Field  &  Vandeventer  started  what  was  known 
at  the  time,  and  as  long  as  it  was  conducted,  as  the 
Pine  Mill,  which  was  confined  exclusively  to  the  saw- 
ing of  pine  lumber.  So  successful  was  this  enterprise, 
and  so  great  the  demand,  that  the  supply  of  logs  be- 
came inadequate,  and  they  were  forced  to  hire  men 
and  send  them  to  the  pineries  to  cut  logs  for  their 
mill,  so  that  this  firm  may  be  set  down  as  inaugurating 
that  branch  of  business  in  St.  Louis. 

In  this  connection  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  say  that 
among  other  orders  they  filled  was  one  in  1849-50 
for  the  spars,  decking,  etc.,  of  the  ship  "  Matilda," 
built  at  St.  Louis,  and  designed  for  the  St.  Louis  and 
San  Francisco  trade.  This  was  about  the  time  of  the 
breaking  out  of  the  California  gold  fever,  but  before 
the  ship  was  finished  Mr.  French,  for  whom  she  was 
building,  failed,  and  West,  Field  &  Vandeventer  and 
Gordon  &  Brotherton,  who  had  a  hard  lumber  mill, 
and  had  furnished  the  oak  lumber  for  the  outside  and 
inside  siding,  ribs,  etc.,  closed  their  lien,  and  with  some 
other  interested  parties  caused  her  to  be  sold  at  sheriff's 
sale  and  bid  her  in.  After  the  sale  they  had  her  taken 
down  to  New  Orleans,  where  she  was  rigged  out,  a 
cargo  taken  on  board,  and  started  for  New  York,  but 
on  entering  the  gulf  she  sprang  a  leak,  and  was  forced 
to  put  back  and  go  on  to  the  dock  for  repairs.  The 
insurance  on  the  hull  and  cargo  did  not  cover  the 
loss,  and  her  owners  put  her  on  the  market  and  sold 
her  at  a  great  sacrifice.  She  was  subsequently  sold 
in  New  York  for  twenty-seven  thousand  dollars. 

The  firm  of  Schulenburg  &  Boeckeler  in  1848  pur- 
chased their  first  raft  of  pine  logs,  which  were  brought 
from  the  Wisconsin  pineries,  and  hence  became  the 
second  firm  to  commence  the  manufacture  of  pine 
lumber  in  the  city.  That  mill  continued  the  manufac- 
ture of  native  and  pine  lumber  from  that  time,  although 
a  part  of  the  intervening  time  the  mill  was  mainly  run 
by  other  parties,  Schulenburg  &  Boeckeler  retaining 
an  interest  all  the  time.  It  finally  passed  under  the 
entire  control  and  management  of  A.  Boeckeler  &  Co., 


1324 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


and  since  then  the  bulk  of  its  manufactures  has  been 
of  pine  to  fill  home  orders  for  bridge  material  and 
other  heavy  work.  In  1850  the  firm  became  owners  < 
of  the  now  large  planing-mill  on  Mullanphy  Street,  be- 
tween Tenth  and  Eleventh.  In  1853,  Schulenburg 
&  Boeckeler  conceived  the  idea  of  establishing  mills  of 
their  own  in  the  pineries  of  Minnesota,  from  which  i 
they  might  supply  their  yards  direct,  and  the  success  • 
that  attended  the  enterprise  has  abundantly  proved 
its  wisdom.  The  site  selected  was  at  the  town  of 
Stillwater,  on  the  St.  Croix  River,  and  in  1854  the 
mills  were  completed  and  put  in  mofion.  These  mills 
were  propelled  by  steam,  generated  by  five  large  boil- 
ers, and  the  machinery  driven  by  two  good-sized  en- 
gines. The  saws  were  run  in  "  gangs,"  there  being 
three  "gangs,"  in  one  of  which  there  were  twenty-eight 
saws,  in  another  one  twenty-two,  and  in  the  other  one 
eighteen,  so  that  the  cutting  of  the  largest  log  was  a 
matter  of  but  small  moment.  Besides  these  gang-saws 
there  was  one  large  rotary-  or  circular-saw,  and  a  num- 
ber of  smaller  circulars  for  manufacturing  lath,  shingles, 
palings,  etc.,  the  whole  machinery  giving  employment 
to  about  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  men.  From 
the  starting  of  the  mills  in  1854  to  1857  the  most  of 
their  manufactures  were  sold  to  different  points  on  the  j 
river,  only  a  part  being  brought  to  St.  Louis,  and  it 
was  not  until  the  summer  of  that  year  that  they  j 
began  "  piling"  in  their  yards. 

The  time  occupied   in   bringing  a  hand-raft  from 
Stillwater  to  St.  Louis  varied  according  to  the  stage 
of  the  water  and  the  rapidity  of  the  current,  but  gen-  '] 
erally  was  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  days.    The  man- 
agement of  the  raft  required  about  twenty-four  men 
and  a  pilot,  each  string  having  two  oars  and  requiring 
two  oarsmen.     The  time  necessary  for  a  tow-boat  raft 
to  make  the  trip  was  about  twelve  to  fifteen  days,  and 
required  only  one  man  to  each  string,  besides  the  reg-  \ 
ular  boat's  crew.     Laths,  shingles,  and  palings  were 
manufactured  at  the  mills  in  the  pineries,  and  brought 
down  on  the  top  of  the  lumber-rafts,  a  single  raft  often 
bringing  150,000  shingles,  300,000  laths,  and  25.000  ; 
palings,  making    in    all  a  very  valuable  cargo,  t  and 
worth,  at  a  reasonable  estimate,  about  $25,000. 

From  Michigan  and  Canada  large  numbers  of  logs 
were,  even  at  that  early  day.  brought  to  St.  Louis. 
Yellow-pine  from  the  Gasconade,  poplar  from  South- 
western Indiana,  Southern  Illinois,  and  Tennessee,  and 
cedar  from  the  cedar-rifts  of  Tennessee  were  early 
imported  to  St.  Louis. 

Richard  Schulenburg,  the  senior  member  of  the 
lumber  firm  of  Schulenburg  &  Boeckeler,  and  one  of 
the  pioneers  in  the  lumber  trade  of  St.  Louis,  was 
born  in  Westphalia,  Prussia,  in  1837.  His  father 


was  an  attorney,  and  gave  his  son  an  education  suit- 
able for  entering  on  the  study  of  a  profession,  for 
which  he  designed  him.  At  the  age  of  nineteen  ifc 
was  found  that  his  taste  inclined  toward  industrial 
and  commercial  pursuits,  and,  with  the  approbation 
of  his  father,  he  went  to  Manchester,  in  England, 
where  he  passed  two  years  in  the  acquisition  of  a 
knowledge  of  business.  He  then  returned  and  passed 
two  years  in  Germany,  one  of  which  was  devoted  to 
the  discharge  of  his  military  duty. 

In  1861  he  came  to  America  and  located  at  St. 
Louis.  Soon  after  his  arrival  he  engaged  in  the 
lumber  business  in  a  small  way,  and  this  business  he 
has  ever  since  followed.  His  trade  steadily  enlarged, 
and  in  1874  he  became  a  stockholder  in  the  Eau 
Claire  Lumber  Company. 

After  the  death  of  Nelson  C.  Chapman,  which 
occurred  in  that  year,  Mr.  Schulenburg  succeeded 
him  as  vice-president  and  general  business  manager 
of  the  company.  Under  his  management  the  busi- 
ness of  the  company  in  St.  Louis  has  largely  increased, 
and  it  now  reaches  the  amount  of  65,000,000  feet  of 
lumber  annually  sold  here. 

Mr.  Schulenburg  was  married  in  1864  to  Miss 
Eliza,  daughter  of  Frederick  Schulenburg,  an  old 
citizen  of  St.  Louis.  They  have  five  children,  three 
sons  and  two  daughters.  He  has  devoted  his  entire 
time  and  energies  to  his  business,  and  has  bestowed 
very  little  attention  on  other  matters. 

It  was  many  years  before  St.  Louis  began  to  supply 
her  own  wants  in  the  lumber  and  timber  line,  and  to 
manufacture  the  various  wares  of  wood  which  occupy 
so  large  and  important  a  place  in  business  and  domes- 
tic service.  In  1850  the  census  statistics  showed  but 
two  planing-mills,  with  35  hands  and  an  annual  pro- 
duct valued  at  no  more  than  $96.000.  There  were 
55  cooper  establishments,  having  248  hands,  and 
making  $288,822  of  annual  products  ;  9  saw-mills, 
with  $115,000  capital,  103  hands,  and  $248,000 
annual  product ;  1  bucket-factory  with  10  hands, 
turning  out  $6000  a  year;  8  carriage-makers,  $56,- 
000  capital,  138  hands,  and  $130.000  products  ;  50 
cabinet-makers,  $72,700  capital,  195  hands,  $182,800 
products  ;  3  plane-makers,  $5300  capital,  15  hands, 
$48,000  products  ;  1  chair-factory,  $1500  capital,  5 
hands,  $3500  output ;  1  basket-maker,  $400  capital, 
2  hands,  $2160  product;  32  wagon-makers,  $27,275 
capital,  121  hands,  $146,585  products;  1  yawl-boat 
builder,  $150  capital,  1  hand,  $750  product ;  1  block- 
and  pump-maker,  $8000  capital,  17  hands,  $9000 
product ;  and  1  ship-yard,  $125,000  capital,  85  hands, 
$150,000  products  in  steamboats. 

This,  however,  was   but   the   beginning.     As  the 


J 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1325 


annual  trade  review  of  one  of  the  city  newspapers  for 
1854  puts  it, — 

"In  many  articles  of  manufacture,  both  of  wood  and  metals, 
we  are  dependent  upon  the  industry,  enterprise,  and  ingenuity 
of  other  States  for  nearly  the  whole  supply  which  our  demand 
requires  ;  this,  too,  while  this  section  has  ample  stores  of  the 
raw  material,  superior  in  texture,  and  capable  of  being  procured 
in  the  cheapest  possible  manner.  With  the  most  inexhaustible 
quantities  of  iron  and  copper  ore,  we  import  nearly  all  the  arti- 
cles manufactured  out  of  these  metals,  such  as  nails  and  cast- 
ings of  every  description.  Sand  is  taken  from  the  State,  to  be 
returned  from  Pittsburgh  in  the  shape  of  glass.  Our  forests 
are  filled  with  timber  suitable  for  the  finest  furniture,  and  we 
import  bureaus,  sofas,  chairs,  bedsteads,  buckets,  and  a  hundred 
other  articles  of  like  character." 


The  Chippewa,  Black  River,  Wisconsin  River, 
Wolf  River,  the  Green  Bay  district,  and  Southeast 
Missouri  were  in  time  made  tributaries  to  the  lumber 
trade  of  St.  Louis. 

The  receipts  of  lumber  at  St.  Louis  in  1875  were  : 

Feet. 

White-pine  by  river 89,217,880 

"          by  railroad 9,464,000 

Yellow-pine 21,326,850 

Poplar  by  river 4,496,000 

"       by  railroad ,      2,149,000 

Hard  woods 12,474,500 

Cedar 2,729,090 

Pieces. 

Shingles 43,574,090 

Laths 15,099,000 

Logs  of  all  kinds 40,232 


There  were,  to  be  sure,  many  factories,  as  shown  The  shipments  aggregated  56,643,000  feet, 
above,  but  they  were  on  a  small  scale,  and  did  not  The  receipts  of  lumber  for  the  calendar  year  1881 
meet  the  city's  requirements.  During  the  year  1853,  were  434,043,094  feet,  nearly  twelve  tim.es  as  much 
for  which  this  journal's  statistics  were  compiled,  for  as  in  1853  ;  shingles,  56,578,785.  In  carpenter- 
example,  there  were  received  from  other  places  20,063  ing,  in  1880,  the  business  done  by  St.  Louis  was 
dozen  brooms,  1018  nests  of  baskets,  98,141  pieces  j  as  follows:  Establishments,  185;  hands,  2228; 
of  cooper  stuff,  8474  packages  of  furniture,  771  wages,  $667,900  ($300  per  capita} ;  capital,  $361,- 
chicken-coops,  1091  saddle-trees,  and  about  10,000  840;  material,  $1,585,094 ;  products,  $3,005,411,— 
packages  of  woodware,  such  as  washboards,  buckets,  leaving  a  net  profit  of  $716,233  (200  per  cent.  OD 
tubs,  pails,  etc.,  besides  hub-stuff  and  hoop-poles  and  capital). 

blocks  by  railroad.  The  exhibit  of  lumber  from  all  !  Baskets  (rattan  and  willow-ware). — Establishments, 
sources  was  as  follows :  7;  capital,  $9015;  hands,  14;  wages,  $6140;  ma- 
Lumber  (sawed)  received  by  the  lumber  merchants  terials,  $3960  ;  products,  $18,020. 

O.inlf53 •.-•:•••"•••-••••:• V :"•'"'"  1*'*™>*Q         Boxes  (cigar).— Establishments,  6;  capital,  $57,- 

Shingles  received  by  the  lumber  merchants  in  1853..  30,462,700 

Laths  "        "  «  "    ..    6,947,000  550;  hands,  97 ;  wages,  $34,100;  material,  $47,700; 

Cedar  posts  "  "  "  "  "     .  22,748  -,  &ir\Ktinr\ 

products,  $105,600. 

During  the  year  there  were  purchased  by  the  city         Boxes    (packing).  —  Establishments,  11  ;    capital, 

mills  the  following :  $40,000  ;    hands,    98  ;    wages,    $23,601  ;    material, 

Logs  purchased 29,63*6,808  $75,430;   products,  $140,400. 

Lumber  manufactured  therefrom 2?'^'!^         Brooms  and  Brushes.— Establishments,  25;  capi- 

Laths  from  same 7,975,500 

The  plank-road  stuff  received  by  the  county  for  roads,  tal,    $95,175;    hands,    328;    wages,    $83,349;    mate- 

rial,  $140,770  ;  products,  $281,280. 

The  above  shows,  in  the  receipt  and  consumption  of         Carriages  and    Wagons    (materials).—  Establish- 

sawed  lumber,  60,786,332  feet.  ments,  3;   capital,  $126,000;   hands,   203;  wages, 

A  comparative  statement  of  the  lumber  trade  for  $91,638;  material,  $134,440;  products,  $264,600. 
1868  and  1869  makes  the  following  exhibit:  Carriages  and    Wagons    (finishing).  — Establish- 

UpperMi.^ippi .!?61..  ..  so/otooo  ments'  39  >  c^h^  ^40,050;  hands,  1300;  wages, 

Saginaw  and  Canada,— Saginaw  5,ooo,6oo  and  Can-  $447,831  ;  material,  $811,865  ;  products,  $1,614,236. 

ada  2,50(1,000 7,500,000  „         /     -i        j  j  •     N          T?  »  ur  i, 

Chicago 3000000          ^ars  (railroad,  street,  and    repairs).  —  Estabhsh- 

Popiur  f.-om  Southern  Illinois  and  Indiana 'soojouo  ments,  7  :    capital,    $314,200;    hands,    704;    wages, 

Yellow-pine,  Mobile  and  Ohio  Railroad  and  steamer 

from  Vieksburg 1,500,000  $293,384  ;  material,  $732,460  ;  products,  $1,100,809. 

How-pine  from  Potosi,  Mo ^oujooo  ,        ^^  (undertakers'  goods).— Establishments,  5  ; 

Total 35,000,000  capital,  $30,500;  hands,  33;  wages,  $12,530;  ma- 

1869-  terial,  $109,200  ;  products,  $157,396. 

Upper  Mississippi 20,000,000  . 

Saginaw 500*000          Cooperage. — Establishments,    78;    capital,    $493,- 

^caiV.:::::/::::::::::::r;;;:.:::;::::;  ;  JftSSS  ;295;  hands>  1217;  wages>  $377,056;  material, 

Poplar  from  Illinois,  Indiana,  and  Tennessee 1^500^000  $798,262;    products,  $1,431,405. 

Southern  yellow-pine  from  Vicksburg,  Mobile,  and  r,        .,  u  A  ur  v.  K/I  '.   1       «oon 

Ohio...... 1000000          Furniture. — Establishments,    54;    capital,    $920,- 

MiHouripine ".V....V.\ZV.V.\^\V.V.\"\\V.V.'.'.'    3.'ooot'ooo  7Q2  ;  hands,  1315  ;>  wages,  $511,915;  material,  $1,- 

Totai ..  32,500,000  082,825;  products,' $1,979,683. 


1326 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Looking- Glass  and  Picture  Frames. — Establish- 
ments, 19;  capital,  8323,900  ;  hands,  280;  wages, 
$80,251 ;  material,  $102,825  ;  products,  $268,682. 

Lumber  (planed).  —  Establishments,  9  ;  capital, 
$272,350  ;  hands,  418  ;  wages,  $152,609  ;  material, 
$502,742 ;  products,  $756,936. 

Lumber  (sawed).  —  Establishments,  3  ;  capital, 
$620,000;  hands,  194;  wages,  $72,086;  material, 
$251,600;  products,  $412,000. 

Sash  (doors  and  blinds).— Establishments,  12; 
capital,  $586,195;  hands,  804;  wages,  $275,321; 
material,  $669,871  ;  products,  $1,191,670. 

Wheelwrighting.  —  Establishments,  52  ;  capital, 
$51,950;  hands,  148;  wages,  $47,598;  material, 
$42,632;  products,  $140,121. 

Wood  (turned  and  carved). — Establishments,  18  ; 
capital,  $28,725 ;  hands,  51  ;  wages,  $19,183  ;  ma- 
terial, $20,045 ;  products,  $84,207. 

These  statistics  do  not  include  many  industries  in 
which  .wood  and  lumber  play  a  collateral  or  subordi- 
nate part,  such  as  models  and  patterns,  organs  and 
pianos,  pumps,  refrigerators,  roofing  and  roofing  ma- 
terial, saddlery,  show  cases,  trunks,  umbrellas  and 
canes,  whips,  billiard-tables,  bridges,  children's  car- 
riages and  sleds,  casks,  chairs,  washing-machines, 
wooden-ware,  agricultural  implements,  etc. 

RECEIPTS  OF  LUMBER  AND  LOGS  FOR  1881  AND  1882. 

1881.  1882. 

Ff.et.  Feet. 
White-pine  lumber  from   upper    Mississippi 

River 100,454,498  162,682,830 

Yellow-pine  lumber  from    lower  Mississippi 

River 270,500  512,740 

Ash  lumber  from  lower  Mississippi  River 2,568,000  3,764,748 

Poplar '                              «     10,705,700  11,844,915 

Oak         "        "          "             "                 «     1,154,000  1,903,447 

Walnut  lumber,  half  from  lower  Mississippi 

River,  ami  half  from  Missouri  River 1,781,261  2,039,680 

Cottonwood   lumber  from   upper   Mississippi 

River 1,500.500  2,530,000 

Total  receipts  by  river 118,434,459    185,278,370 

Number.  Number. 
Receipts  of  shingles  from  upper  Mississippi 

River 34,590,785  56.835,209 

Receipts  of  lath  from  upper  Mississippi  River..       18,113.823  35,247,014 

pickets    "         "                              "     ..           870,175  1,451,748 

53,674,783      93,533,748 

Receipts  of  Logs  by  River. 

1882,  superficial  feet 4,341,763 

1881,  "  «    11,912,6:55 

1880,  "    8,699,192 

Total  Receipts  of  Lumber  and  Logs. 

1881.  1882. 

Feet.  Feet. 

Lumber  by  river 118,434.459  185,278,370 

"   railroad 30:i,696,000  251,927,000 

Logs  by  river 11,912,631  4,341,763 

Total  receipts 434,043,094    441,547,133 

Total  Receipts  of  Shingles  and  Lath  by  River  and  Rail. 
1882.  1881.  1S80. 

Shingles,  pieces 77,667,000    56,578,000    106,246,000 

Lath,  ' 35,247,000     18,523,000      41,023,000 

Among  the  lumber  merchants  of  St.  Louis  few,  if 
any,  have  enjoyed  a  larger  measure  of  success  and  in- 


fluence than  William  G.  Clark,  who  for  nearly  fifty 
years  has  been  one  of  the  prominent  business  men 
of  the  city.  Mr.  Clark  was  born  in  Baltimore,  Md., 
Nov.  4,  1818.  His  great-grandparents  emigrated 
from  Argyleshire,  Scotland,  to  York  County,  Pa.,  in 
1750.  His  grandfather,  Matthew  Clark,  was  in  1802 
a  member  of  the  Pennsylvania  Legislature,  represent- 
ing the  county  of  York.  His  father  (who  was  also 
named  Matthew)  married  Miss  Tempie  Glenn,  the 
granddaughter  of  Maj.  Robert  Glenn,  an  officer  under 
Gen.  Washington  in  the  Revolutionary  war.  Col. 
Matthew  Clark  (father  of  William  G.  Clark)  was  one 
of  the  defenders  of  Baltimore  in  the  war  of  1812, 
being  a  volunteer  from  the  county  of  York.  Sub- 
sequently, in  1816,  he  removed  to  Baltimore  to  live. 
Matthew  Clark's  mother  was  a  sisler  of  Judge  Hugh 
Breckenridge,  of  Pennsylvania,  one  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished men  of  his  day. 

William  G.  Clark  was  educated  in  the  public  schools 
of  Baltimore  until  he  was  seventeen  years  of  age, 
when  he  entered  as  clerk  the  dry-goods  house  of 
John  Taylor,  where  he  remained  for  one  year.  In 
1836  he  accompanied  Daniel  Trowbridge  to  St.  Louis, 
to  enter  into  business,  and  served  him  as  clerk  for  a 
period  of  three  years.  In  1839,  Mr.  Clark  com- 
menced business  for  himself  as  a  wholesale  clothing 
merchant,  the  firm  being  Jones,  Clark  &  Gill,  one  of 
the  largest  establishments  of  its  kind  at  that  day  in 
the  city,  and  still  remembered  by  the  old  inhabitants 
as  one  of  the  leading  houses  on  Main  Street.  Al- 
though success  crowned  his  career  as  a  wholesale 
clothing  merchant,  he  retired  from  the  business  in 
1842,  being  convinced  that  the  lumber  business  pre- 
sented a  wider  field  for  the  exercise  of  his  enterprise 
and  ability.  Accordingly  he  entered  upon  this  new 
occupation  with  an  energy  and  industry  which  soon 
caused  him  to  become  one  of  the  most  extensive  and 
successful  lumber  merchants  in  the  city.  Having 
erected  a  large  steam  saw-mill  on  the  river-bank  in 
the  northern  part  of  the  city,  he  continued  in  the 
lumber  business  until  1874,  when  he  retired  with  an 
ample  fortune,  and  a  reputation  for  integrity  and  up- 
rightness of  which  any  one  might  be  proud. 

Mr.  Clark's  sagacity  and  forecast  as  a  practical 
business  man  are  seen  in  the  investments  in  real  estate 
which  he  made  from  time  to  time  while  actively  en- 
gaged in  other  pursuits.  One  of  these  is  worthy  of 
mention.  In  1850,  when  as  yet  there  was  but  little 
business  done  on  Fourth  Street,  he  purchased  the  old 
Methodist  Church  property  on  the  corner  of  Fourth 
Street  and  Washington  Avenue,  on  which,  in  1856,  he 
erected  a  block  of  substantial  and  handsome  five-story 
buildings,  which  he  still  owns,  and  which  at  the 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1327 


present  time  occupy  one  of  the  most  prominent  busi- 
ness centres  of  the  city. 

As  a  citizen,  Mr.  Clark  has  been  identified  with 
many  of  the  leading  enterprises  of  the  day.  He  was 
a  director  of  the  Southern  Bank,  a  trustee  of  the  City 
University,  and  a  director  and  leading  spirit  in  the 
building  of  the  first  Lindell  Hotel.  During  the 
cholera  epidemic  in  1849,  Mr.  Clark  was  selected  as 
one  of  the  "  Committee  of  Safety,"  to  which  was 
committed  the  management  of  sanitary  affairs  dur- 
ing the  three  months  in  which  the  terrible  plague 
rested  like  a  pall  over  the  city.  This  "  Committee  of 
Safety,"  composed  of  such  other  leading  men  as  Hon. 
Luther  M.  Kennett,  Hon.  Trusten  Polk,  Judge  T.  T. 
Gantt,  and  A.  B.  Chambers,  discharged  the  impor- 
tant trust  confided  to  it  with  marked  fidelity,  and 
to  its  action  the  city  is  indebted  for  the  first  estab- 
lishment of  quarantine. 

Through  life  Mr.  Clark  has  been  a  pronounced  and 
active  Christian  man.  He  has  long  been  a  ruling 
elder  in  the  Pine  Street  (now  Grand  Avenue)  Presby- 
terian Church,  and  is  chairman  of  the  building  com- 
mittee charged  with  the  erection  of  the  handsome 
church  edifice  on  the  corner  of  Grand  and  Wash- 
ington Avenues,  and  is  identified  with  other  depart- 
ments of  church  work. 

Mr.  Clark  has  been  twice  happily  married, — first  to 
Miss  Julia  Miller,  of  Baltimore,  Md.,  who  bore  him 
six  children.  His  second  wife  is  Miss  Mary  Bell 
Parks,  daughter  of  Joseph  Parks,  of  St.  Charles, 
Mo.,  by  whom  he  has  had  four  children,  all  of  whom 
are  still  living. 

No  citizen  of  St.  Louis  stands  higher  as  a  man  of 
sterling  integrity  and  high-toned  Christian  character 
than  does  William  G.  Clark. 

Wood-  and  Willow-Ware. — Included  under  this 
trade  nomenclature  is  a  vast  range  of  articles  and 
utensils,  such  as  buckets,  casks,  tubs,  ladles,  bread- 
bowls,  and  other  household  appliances  or  furnishings 
in  wood,  while  willow-ware  includes  baskets,  chairs, 
and  the  like  constructed  of  this  light  material.  But 
with  the  sale  of  these  have  become  associated  in  the 
trade  cordage,  rope,  brooms,  wrapping-paper,  paper 
bags,  stove  polish,  axle  grease,  and,  in  the  case  of  one 
of  the  largest  firms,  playing  cards  also.  Indeed,  the 
trade  now  comprises  probably  a  greater  number  of 
articles  in  daily  use  than  any  other  business.  Pre- 
cisely when  dealing  in  wooden-ware  became  separated 
from  the  hardware  trade  proper,  of  which  it  may  be 
said  to  be  the  counterpart,  cannot  now  be  ascertained. 
From  the  reminiscences  of  old  inhabitants  of  the  city, 
however,  it  appears  that  the  wooden-ware  trade  existed  as 
early  as  1835,  but  it  was  in  connection  with  the  hard- 


ware trade.  As  a  separate  industry,  the  branch  is  of 
comparatively  modern  origin  here  as  elsewhere.  In 
St.  Louis,  however,  the  wood-  and  willow-ware  trade  has 
obtained  the  ascendency  over  that  of  any  other  city  in 
America  or  Europe.  St.  Louis,  in  fact,  is  the  ruling 
market,  and  prices  for  every  other  city  on  the  continent 
are  fixed  here.  In  the  manufacture  of  these  wares, 
of  themselves  apparently  insignificant,  a  capital  ap- 
proaching, in  the  aggregate,  three  million  dollars  is 
utilized,  and  upwards  of  a  thousand  hands  are  em- 
ployed in  the  conduct  of  a  vast  system  of  machinery. 
Dealers  in  wood-  and  willow-ware  transact  a  business 
often  exceeding  in  value  two  million  dollars  a  year ; 
and  as  to  the  general  volume  of  the  trade,  it  is  officially 
established  that  one  St.  Louis  firm  sells  more  annually 
than  the  combined  trade  of  any  other  four  houses  in 
the  same  line  in  the  world,  and  more  than  the  aggre- 
gate sales  of  all  the  houses  in  this  line  of  business 
west  of  the  Alleghenies.  Thus  St.  Louis  is  absolutely 
beyond  competition  in  this  line,  having  also  the  largest 
manufactory  of  this  character  in  the  world.  Not 
only  are  these  goods,  chiefly  derived  from  home 
manufactories,  shipped  to  every  considerable  city  and 
town  in  America,  but  there  is  considerable  export  to 
Cuba,  South  and  Central  America,  and  to  Australia. 
The  great  excess  of  shipments  over  imports  is  thus 
explained,  as  well  as  in  the  utilization  of  the  supply 
of  raw  material  found  convenient  to  the  market. 

In  the  manufacture  of  wooden-ware  proper,  pine 
and  oak  are  chiefly  used.  One  of  the  larger  estab- 
lishments supplies  the  West  with  water  buckets  and 
the  like,  and  there  are  three  oakware  manufactories 
whose  product  is  larger  than  that  of  any  other  estab- 
lishment in  existence.  Axe  handles,  hoe  handles, 
shovel,  pick,  and  other  varieties  of  hard-wood  han- 
dles are  supplied  by  a  manufacturing  company  having 
the  largest  establishment  of  the  kind  in  the  world. 
An  element  entering  largely  into  this  peculiar  trade 
is  axle  grease,  all  of  which  is  manufactured  in  St. 
Louis,  the  product  of  four  lubricating  companies 
aggregating  nearly  half  a  million  dollars  annually. 

The  paper  bags  entering  into  the  wood-  and  willow- 
ware  trade  are  also  manufactured  in  St.  Louis,  one 
factory,  sixty  by  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  feet 
and  five  stories  high,  thus  utilizing  ten  tons  of  paper 
daily,  and  giving  employment  to  over  a  hundred 
hands,  as  appears  from  the  labor  commissioner's 
statistics. 

A  still  more  wonderful  feature  of  the  trade,  how- 
ever, is  the  manufacture  of  brooms  by  machinery. 
The  only  establishment  of  the  kind  in  the  world  was 
put  in  operation  in  St.  Louis  about  the  year  1876, 
and  it  consumes  or  utilizes  more  broom-corn  than  all 


1328 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


other  broom-factories  (hand)  in  the  West.  It  turns 
out  six  hundred  dozen  complete  brooms  daily,  uses 
seven  thousand  two  hundred  handles,  and  works  up 
six  tons  of  the  raw  material.  The  product  thus 
aggregates  about  three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars  a  year,  or  over  twelve  hundred  dollars  each 
working  day.  This  extensive  trade  is  constantly  in- 
creasing. 

Furniture. — In  a  review  of  the  manufactures  of 
St.  Louis  at  that  time,  a  local  journal  of  Sept.  7, 
1854,  said,  with  reference  to  the  furniture  industry, 
"  There  are  many  residents  of  St.  Louis,  probably  the 
majority  of  the  inhabitants,  who  are  not  aware  of  the 
progress  and  already  advanced  state  of  St.  Louis  manu-  ' 
factories.  The  time  was  when  we  looked  to  Cincin- 
nati and  the  Eastern  cities  for  almost  everything  we 
wanted  in  the  line  of  manufactures,  either  because 
the  article  we  wished  was  not  to  be  had  here,  or  if  it 
was  the  Eastern  manufacture  could  be  had  at  a 
cheaper  rate.  As  in  any  other  growing,  struggling 
city,  our  mechanics  were  not  able  to  compete  with 
Eastern  work,  and  it  always  requires  a  vast  deal  of 
enterprise,  determination,  and  hard  labor  to  break  up 
a  trade  that  has  once  been  established,  no  matter  in 
what  line  of  business.  Many  really  enterprising 
mechanics  have  failed  in  producing  this  result  and 
have  become  bankrupt,  almost  martyrs  to  the  cause 
of  home  manufactures."  l 

Prior  to  that  date,  Paris  H.  Mason,  in  1847,  asso- 
ciated himself  with  Russell  Scarrett,  at  214  Wash- 
ington Avenue ;  Conrades  &  Logeman  established 
their  business  in  1853  ;  Joseph  Peters  was  making,  in  : 
1854,  a  specialty  of  bureaus  and  cabinet-work;  John  I 
H.  Crane  commenced  the  furniture  business  in  1855  ; 
William  Mitchell  opened  his  shop  in  the  same  year, 
and  in  1871  the  establishment  was  incorporated  as 
the  "  Mitchell  Furniture  Company,"  and  in  1860, 
Martin  Lammert  began  business.  From  this  year 
the  business  rapidly  increased,  until  now  it  is  one  of 
the  most  important  industries  in  St.  Louis.  In  1881 
there  were  seventy-two  houses  engaged  in  the  furni- 
ture-trade, whose  sales  aggregated  three  million 
dollars  per  annum. 

Joseph  Peters,  who,  as  we  have  seen,  was  one  of  i 
the  early  furniture  manufacturers  of  St.  Louis,  was 
born  in  Prussia,  May  9,  1832.  He  learned  the  trade 
of  a  cabinet-maker,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-two,  de- 
siring to  better  his  condition,  emigrated  to  America, 
settling  in  St.  Louis  in  1854.  For  nine  years  he 

1  In  June,  1815,  J.  D.  Russell  carried  on  a  chair- factory  "  be- 
tween Kerr's  store  and  the  post-office,"  and  in  April,  1818,  Isaac  ! 
Allyn  conducted  a  similar  establishment  on  Second  Street,  three 
doors  north  of  Shope. 


worked  at  his  trade,  and  in  1863  established  a  manu- 
factory. Having  little  or  no  capital,  he  employed  at 
first  a  few  hand-workers,  but  with  hard  labor  and 
economy  the  business  prospered,  and  in  the  lapse  of 
time  horse-power  was  introduced,  and  finally  steam. 
Mr.  Peters  managed  the  business  personally  and 
under  his  own  name  until  1880,  when  the  "  Joseph 
Peters'  Furniture  Company"  was  organized,  he  be- 
coming its  president.  It  is  one  of  the  largest  concerns 
of  the  kind  in  St.  Louis,  but  is  distinguished  not  so 
much,  perhaps,  for  the  extent  of  its  operations  as  for 
the  fine  quality  of  its  manufactures.  Hitherto  St. 
Louis  has  been  obliged  to  look  elsewhere  for  its  fine 
furniture,  but  there  is  a  prospect,  under  the  enter- 
prising lead  of  such  men  as  Joseph  Peters,  that  the 
demand  for  elegant  and  expensive  goods  will  be  met 
by  the  home  manufacturer. 

Distilleries. — In  former  years  St.  Louis  had  more 
distilleries  operatingin  her  midst,  but  the  product  of  the 
two  remaining — the  St.  Louis  and  the  Teuscher  Com- 
panies— is  greater,  according  to  the  testimony  of  the 
Internal  Revenue  Department,  than  that  of  their 
more  numerous  predecessors.  In  1854  the  produc- 
tion was  seventeen  thousand  five  hundred  barrels,  and 
during  the  five  years  from  1877  to  1881  the  produc- 
tion, estimated  on  the  basis  of  the  stamp-tax  paid  (at 
ninety  cents  a  gallon),  was,  in  value,  as  follows : 


1880 $1,755,525 

•1881 2,168,433 


1877 $1,883,462 

1878 2,101,556 

1879 1,877,510 

The  product  of  1881  aggregated  upwards  of  twenty- 
four  thousand  gallons,  a  trifling  quantity  as  compared 
with  the  large  imports.  St.  Louis,  however,  has 
ownership  in  several  Kentucky  distilleries,  the  prod- 
uct of  which  is  handled  in  the  St.  Louis  market,  and 
there  are  also  a  large  number  of  distilleries,  agents, 
and  rectifiers  doing  business  in  St.  Louis,  so  that  the 
entire  movement  of  the  whiskey  interest  represents 
perhaps  two  million  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  a 
year. 

The  following  table  shows  the  condition  of  the 
distillery  business : 


RECEIPTS  OF   HIGH-WINES. 
Sbl*. 

1S82 9,152 

1881 7,847 

1880 14,580 

1879 9,835 

1S78 10,497 

1S77 11,083 

1876 29,592 


SHIPMENTS   OF   WHISKEY. 
Bbls. 

1882 104,790 

1881 95,884 

1880 110,582 

1879 89,086 

1878 86,358 

1877 96,048 

1876 101,841 


The  following  is  a  statement  of  the  amount  of 
grain  used,  product,  of  spirits,  and  tax  paid,  etc.,  of 
the  two  distilleries  which  have  operated  during  the 
years  1880,  1881,  and  1882  in  this  district: 


c 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1329 


Bushels  of  grain  mashed  and 
distilled  ........................... 


1880. 
592,430 


1880. 
Galls. 
Spirits  produced: 

Bourbon 69,654 

Alcohol 297,816 

Gin  6,538 

High-wines 213,830 

Pure  neutral  or  Cologne 

spirits 1,376,820 

Whiskey 77,393 

Total 2,042,051 

1880. 
Galls. 


Average  yield  of  spirits  per 
bushel 


1881. 
688,850 

1881. 
Galls. 

50,710 

305,895 

4,4^5 

201,856 

1,747,551 
138,562 

2,449,029 

1881. 
Galls. 

3.58 


1882. 
555,667 

1882. 
Galls. 

16,452 

344,937 

810 

26,520 

1,700,866 
103,739 

2,193,314 

1882. 
Galls. 

398 


1880. 


Am 


1882. 
Galls. 

mount    of   tax    paid,  at)    «.,  »KrV.0on     I       2,409,043          2,239,785 
ninety  cents  per  gallon.  (   »M«»,1*LW  Tax  Tax 

I  $2,1 68, 138.70  $2,015,80650 


1881. 

Galls. 

2,409,043 


Alcohol  exported  free  of  tax- 
Alcohol  transferred  to  manu- 
facturing warehouse  to  be 

exported 

Alcohol  withdrawn  for  scien- 
tific purposes,  free  of  tax... 
Whinkey  allowed  by  reason 
of  leakage 


Galls 
60,253 

11,170 

532 

1,499 


Galls. 
20,795 


2,088 


Remaining  on  hand  in  distillery  warehouse 

Dec.  31, 1880.    Dec.  31, 1881.    Dec, 


Bourbon . 

Alcohol 

Gin 

High-wines 

Pure  in-utrul  or  Cologne 

spirits 

Whiskey 

Total 


Galls. 
33,934 

5,072 
135 

1,320 

16,173 
4,086 


Galls. 

38,576 

17,969 

45 


14,9)9 
6,196 


Galls. 


523 


31,1882. 
Galls. 
13,436 
1,490 


6,187 
1,206 


60,720  77,735  22,319 

Galls. 

Spirits  rectified  or  compounded  in  the  year  1880 3,493,916.32 

"  "  "  "          "     1881. 3,54S,!I3.S  52 

"  »  "  "         "     1882 .'.  3,249,909.57 

1880.  1881.  1882. 

Galls.  Galls.  Galls. 

Total  number  of  gallons 
gauged  in  three  years  by 

United  States  gangers 11,603,205.87     12,539,512.07     11,380,467.26 

Total  number  of  wholesale 
liquor  dealers'  stamps  is- 
sued on  change  of  package..  29,513  31,180  29,921 

Wines. — Fifteen  or  twenty  years  ago  it  was 
thought  that  Missouri  would  become  a  great  wine- 
growing State  and  St.  Louis  a  wine  market  of  conse- 
quence. These  expectations  have  not  been  fully 
realized,  owing,  in  part,  to  the  rapidly-developed 
vineyard  interests  of  California,  and  in  part  to  the 
preference  given  in  St.  Louis  to  the  beer  market. 
But  the  wine-making  trade  is  still  productive,  and 
promises  to  become  a  very  substantial  manufacture 
when  the  vine-plantings  are  more  extensive  and  the 
plant  for  fermenting  and  ripening  the  grape-juice  is 
larger. 

Great  intelligence  and  thought  have  recently  been 
given  to  grape-culture  and  wine-making  in  Missouri, 
with  the  result  of  eliminating  much  error  and  many 
absurdly  false  expectations  of  yield  and  profit,  at  the 
same  time  getting  the  industry  closer  down  to  a  busi- 
ness-like basis.  Missouri  wines  have  an  admitted 
excellence  in  flavor  and  keeping  qualities,  and  the  soil 


and  climate  of  the  State  are  suitable  to  the  produc- 
tion of  grapes  yielding  a  "  must''  full  of  body  and 
having  saccharine  enough  in  it  to  prevent  the  acetic 
fermentation.  On  this  point  Rev.  Mr.  Peabody,  an 
admitted  expert,  says, — 

"  The  two  important  natural  conditions  demanded 
by  the  grape  are  climate  and  soil.  Given  these  two, 
all  the  rest  will  eventually  follow  from  the  application 
of  the  skilled  industry  of  the  vine-dresser.  In  this 
portion  of  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  we  find  these 
two  elementary  conditions,  climate  and  soil,  existing 
together.  That  the  soil  and  climate  of  Missouri  and 
the  adjacent  parts  of  other  States,  .especially  those  on 
its  eastern  and  western  boundaries  (Illinois  and  Kan- 
sas), are  eminently  adapted  to  the  growth  of  the 
grape  is  a  point  too  well  established  to  need  discus- 
sion here.  The  fact  is  well  known  and  universally 
acknowledged  throughout  the  entire  district,  and 
perhaps,  I  may  venture  to  add,  throughout  the 
United  States.  Compared  with  other  sections  of  the 
United  States  (at  least  all  those  east  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains),  so  far  as  their  capabilities  have  been 
tested,  our  advantages  for  the  production  of  wine  are 
certainly  superior."  1 

All  the  experiments  at  Hermann  have  been  satisfac- 
tory and  remunerative,  and  there  are  said  to  be  fifteen 
million  acres  of  land  in  Missouri  suitable  for  vine- 
yards. 

In  1853  the  native  wine  received  in  St.  Louis  was 
contained  in  nine  casks,  seven  barrels,  and  eight 
boxes, — less  than  the  product  of  Kaskaskia  and  Caho- 
kia  a  hundred  years  before  that.  The  census  of  1870 
returned  four  wine-makers  and  an  annual  product  ex- 
ceeding $800,000.  The  census  of  1880  gives  three 
establishments,  $380,000  capital,  thirty-one  hands, 
$18,830  wages,  $52,000  material,  and  $131,000 
product.  These  figures  are  not  encouraging,  and  yet 
the  grape-growing  interest  is  not  disheartened.  On 
the  contrary,  it  rests  confident  that  Missouri  must 
be  the  centre  of  wine-making  in  this  country,  because 
it  has  six  varieties  of  grapes  native  to  the  soil,  and 
which,  unlike  the  California  grapes,  are  claimed  to  be 
phylloxera-proof. 

The  native  wine  interest  has  largely  exceeded  the 
whiskey  manufacture  and  trade  in  volume  of  late  years 


1  In  1848,  Alexander  Kayser,  of  St.  Louis,  offered  three  pre- 
miums of  one  hundred  dollars  each  for  the  best  specimens  of 
Missouri  wine,  the  vintage  of  three  consecutive  years.  The 
first  premium  was  awarded  in  1849  for  the  vintage  of  1848, 
the  second  in  1850  for  the  vintage  of  1849.  For  the  latter 
prize  there  were  twenty-seven  samples  of  wine  produced  for 
competition,  but  the  premium  was  awarded  to  Jacob  Home),  of 
1  Hermann,  for  "  a  wine  of  pure  Catawba  grapes." 


1330 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


in  St.  Louis,  although  a  much  more  recently-estab- 
lished branch  of  trade.  One  St.  Louis  brand  of 
champagne  alone  exceeds  in  volume  and  value  of 
trade  the  purely  spirit  interest,  and  the  growth  of 
the  trade  in  Missouri,  California,  and  other  native 
wines  has  exceeded  the  anticipations  of  those  engaged 
in  it.  The  bottled  wine  export  last  year  reached 
nearly  twenty  thousand  cases.  The  value  of  foreign 
wines  and  liquors  which  passed  through  the  St.  Louis 
custom-house  in  1881  was  $60,639,  on  which  a  duty 
of  $26,990.39  was  paid.  Of  the  forty  firms  engaged 
in  the  wholesale  whiskey  trade  in  1881,  many  deal  in 
wines  and  other  liquors,  and  the  sales  aggregate  prob- 
ably over  $2,000,000  per  annum. 

Breweries. — The  period  when  lager-beer  brewing, 
which  has  become  an  industry  of  immense  propor- 
tions, was  established  in  St.  Louis  is  more  readily 
ascertainable  than  the  precise  time  when  brewing  gen- 
erally was  inaugurated.  The  early  files  of  the  Missouri 
Gazette,  however,  fix  the  date  of  the  beginning  of  beer- 
brewing  in  St.  Louis  in  the  month  of  May,  1810, 
when  that  paper  "  congratulated"  its  readers 

"  on  the  acquisition  of  a  new  establishment  for  making  porter 
and  strong  beer.  Mr.  St.  Vrain,  of  Bellefontaine,"  it  added, 
"  has  erected  a  manufactory  and  taken  into  partnership  an  ex- 
perienced European  brewer,  and  has  commenced  business  in  a 
handsome  style.  The  lovers  of  malt  will  now  have  an  oppor- 
tunity to  foster  an  undertaking  so  much  wanted  in  this  Terri- 
tory." 

Subsequently  the  same  paper  published  the  follow- 
ing advertisement : 

"Table  beer  and  porter,  manufactured  by  St.  Vrain  &  Habb, 
at  Bellefontaine,  near  St.  Louis.  Those  who  wish  to  be  supplied 
will  please  direct  their  orders  to  the  brewery,  or  to  Edward 
Hempstead,  Esq.,  St.  Louis,  who  will  always  have  a  quantity  in 
his  cellar  ready  for  sale.  Customers  who  may  want  a  large 
supply  will  please  to  give  timely  notice." 

The  following  from  the  same  source  fixes  the  price 
at  which  beer  was  sold  to  the  early  inhabitants  of  St. 
Louis : 

'  "Strong  and  table  beer,  manufactured  by  St.  Vrain  A  Habb, 
at  Bellefontaine,  near  St.  Louis.  The  price  of  strong  beer  will 
be  ten  dollars  in  cash  or  twelve  in  produce,  five  dollars  in  cash 
for  table  beer  or  six  in  produce,  delivered  at  the  brewery  at  the 
following  prices : 

Wheat at  62£  cents. 

Barley at  50        " 

Rye at62£      " 

Corn at  25        " 

Green  hops at  10        " 

"  Cattle  and  pork  at  the  market  price  will  also  be  taken,  and 
three  months'  credit  shall  be  given  to  purchasers,  provided  they 
give  an  indorsed  note  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  brewers.  Those 
who  wish  to  be  supplied  will  please  direct  their  orders  to  the 
brewery,  or  to  Edward  Hempstead,  Esq.,  St.  Louis." 

In  May,  1810,  the  St.  Louis  brewery  of  Jacob  Philipson  went 
into  operation,  and  he  was  "  ready  to  sell  beer  at  the  price  of  eleven 


dollars  for  the  barrel  and  six  dollars  for  the  half-barrel,  one 
dollar  of  each  to  be  returned  to  the  purchaser  on  his  redeliver- 
ing  within  a  reasonable  time  the  empty  barrel  in  good  condition, 
and  bearing  the  stamp  of  the  brewery."  Mr.  Philipson  also 
agreed  that  the  above  price  should  "  be  reduced  whenever  grain 
can  be  obtained  in  this  country  in  quantities  sufficient  to  give 
the  brewery  a  continued  employment,  and  whenever  our  farmers, 
by  attending  to  the  cultivation  of  hops,  will  do  away  with  the 
necessity  of  procuring  this  article  from  a  great  distance  and  at 
considerable  expense.  The  brewery  will  keep  no  books,  and  will 
deliver  beer  only  for  immediate  payment.  This  invariable  rule 
is  imposed  on  the  proprietor  by  the  necessity  of  his  paying  cash 
(frequently  in  advance)  for  every  ingredient  and  every  part  of 
labor.  Beer  will  be  retailed  at  the  rate  of  twelve  and  a  half 
cents  per  quart  at  the  stores  of  Messrs.  Sylvestre  Labadie  and 
Michel  Tesson,  and  at  various  other  convenient  situations  in  this 
place,  and  at  Ste.  Genevieve  a  constant  supply  will  be  kept  up 
at  the  store  of  Jacob  Philipson." 

In  1826  the  "  new  brewery"  of  Lynch  &  Co.  was  advertised, 
and  in  1827,  John  Mullanphy  had  "St.  Louis  ale  at  his  brewery 
in  whole  or  half-barrels." 

Descendants  of  the  old  French  residents  prior  to 
1800  speak  of  a  fermented  liquor  made  in  St.  Louis 
at  that  early  period,  and  of  the  existence  of  at  least 
one  primitive  place  of  brewing.  The  venerable  Ezra 
English  manufactured  a  malt  liquor  better  known  as 
ale  than  beer  half  a  century  or  more  ago,  and  upon 
an  extensive  scale,  judged  by  the  storage  capacity  of 
the  "  English  Cave,"  not  far  from  the  present  site  of 
Ben  ton  Park,  and  which  was  then  used,  as  subse- 
quently, for  the  storing  of  beer.  The  cave  itself  has 
a  romantic  history,  and  while  it  is  believed  to  lead  to 
the  river,  has  never  been  thoroughly  explored  in  its 
inmost  recesses,  nor  further  than  sufficient  to  afford 
capacity  for  storing  three  thousand  five  hundred  bar- 
rels. English  &  McHose  were  the  firm  subsequently 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  beer  in  this  connection. 
The  St.  Louis  Ale  Brewery  is  the  only  one  of  that 
character  yet  existing. 

Probably  the  first  lager-beer  brewery  established  in 
St.  Louis  district  was  put  in  operation  in  18-41  by  the 
father  of  William  J.  Lemp,  who  succeeded  to  the  busi- 
ness, after  being  engaged  in  malting  for  a  while,  upon 
the  death  of  the  elder  Lemp.  This  brewery  was  in 
rear  of  the  site  of  the  present  Lemp  sample-rooms,  on 
Walnut  Street  near  Second.  With  the  immigration 
of  German  citizens  familiar  with  brewing,  the  erection 
of  breweries  and  malt-houses  increased  in  number, 
until  there  are  now  twenty-three  of  the  former  and 
thirteen  of  the  latter,  six  independent  of  the  brewer- 
ies, and  in  all  producing  yearly  about  one  million 
bushels.  Many  of  the  brewing  establishments  are 
very  extensive,  and  represent  an  aggregate  value  of 
over  nine  million  dollars.  St.  Louis  has  become, 
with  the  growth  of  the  American  taste  for  lager, 
the  third  city  in  its  production  in  this  country,  and 
in  excellence  of  the  product  rivals  Bohemia,  hitherto 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1331 


conceded   to  be   the  headquarters  of  the  best  beer  in  wave  of  emigration  swept  over  us,  and  we  found  the  town  inun- 

r            IT                                                                                              I  dated  with  breweries,  beer-houses,  sausage-shops,  Apollo  gar- 

j  dens,  Sunday  concerts,  Swiss  cheese,  and   Holland   herrings. 

The  growth  of  the  industry,  in  respect  to  its  con-  j  We  found  it  almost  necegsary  to  learn  the  German  Ianguage 

tribution  of  revenue  to  the  general  government,  at  the  !  before  we  could  ride  in  an  omnibus  or  buy  a  pair  of  breeches, 

rate  of  ninety-two  and  a  half  cents  per  barrel,  makes  and  absolutely  necessary  to  drink  beer  at  a  Sunday  concert. 

the  official  exhibit  for  five  years  :  "*n  nothing'  perhaps'  has  the  German  influence  been  more 

sensibly  and,  we  will  add,  more  beneficially  felt  than  in  the  in- 

1877 l«o'st?'7n               •  tro<*ucti°n  °f  beer  as  a  common  beverage.     It  is  not  only  used 

567'642°01  ky  *ne  tlermansj  but  it  has  been  wellnigh  universally  adopted 

1880 674,282.95  by  the  English-speaking  population,  and  the  spacious  beer  halls 

1881 816,226.51               j  and  extensive  gardens  nightly  show  that  the  Americans  are  as 

The  following  exhibit,  although  differing  Somewhat  f°nd  °f  the  Galnbrinian  "l^  «  are  those  who  have   intro- 

duced  it.  .  .  ." 

from  that  collected  by  the  State  Bureau  of  Labor 

Oi  ..  ,.       .       p  ,  ,       ,  ,         j  ,   ,.       1,1  in  1854  the  Republican  of  September  20th  said, — 

Statistics,  is  of  later  date,  and  believed  to  be  more 

,         .  "  St.  Louis  has  about  twenty-four  breweries,  and  every  one 
comprehensive ; 

j  of  them  has  stored  nearly  twice  the  quantity  of  '  ale'  for  this 

Amount  expended  for  barley,  malt,  and  hops $2,984,807  summer  that  has  been  made  in  any  preceding  one.     As  we  are 

"    1Ceff"s 785*033  informed  by  one  of  the  largest  dealers  of  this  article,  the  quan- 

in  expenses  "and"  repairs.'.'".' .'     I,03o'l62  tity  may  be  safely  reckoned  at  40,000  barrels  of  lager  beer,  and 

for  fuel 99,855  perhaps  20,000  barrels  of  common  beer.     By  an  average  count, 

"   oats  and  hay 47,949  One  barrel  of  thirty  gallons  gives  about  300  glasses.     Thus  we 

Taxes.  United  States  and  city ,                  L  in  nnn  nnn    , 

"        on  realty  employed... have  about  12,000,000  glasses  of  lager  beer,  and  about  6,000,000 

Revenue  stamps  and  licenses 966,140  of  common  beer;  in  all,  18,000,000  glasses  of  beer  drank  in  St. 

Louis  from  the  1st  of  March  last  up  to  the  17th  of  September, 

Total $6,330.063  the  time  the  lager  beer  gave  out.     Common  beer  is  sold  at  five 

Capital  Permanently  Employed.  dollars  per  barrel,  and  lager  beer  at  seven   dollars,  that  is  at 

Capital.           Hands.  wholesale.     This  will  make  the  amount  received  by  the  brewers 

In  breweries $6,000,000         3000  for  lager  beer  $290,000,  and  for  common  $100,000 ;  together,  say 

"   bottle  factories 300,000           650  $380,000.     The  retailers,  at  five  cents  a  glass,  took  in  $600,000 

"cooperage 750,000           500  for  lager  beer  and  $300,000  for  the  common  article.     Justthink 

"   copper,   iron,    and    machinery 

working.. 450,000           300  of  it,  nearly  a  million  of  dollars  ($900,000)  spent  in  St.  Louis 

during  one  summer  for  beer,  and  that  chiefly  among  the  Ger- 

Total $7,500,000         4450           :  mans  themselves  !" 

The  political  influence  exerted  by  German  immi-  In  1810  the  table  beer  of  St.  Vrain  &  Habb,  brewed 
gration  has  not  been  more  potential  than  that  exer-  in  St.  Louis,  sold  at  ten  dollars  cash,  or  twelve  dollars 
cised  by  the  same  element  in  modifying  popular  in  produce,  per  barrel,  and  that  of  the  St.  Louis  brew- 
habits.  The  Republican  of  June  21,  1857,  com-  ery  at  about  the  same.  In  1854  the  price  of  com- 
menting upon  the  influence  of  lager  beer  upon  the  |  nion  beer  was  five  dollars  per  barrel,  and  seven  dol- 
habits  and  customs  of  the  people  of  St.  Louis,  remarks  lars  for  lager.  In  1860  the  average  price  of  lager 
that  about  1840, —  was  eight  dollars  per  barrel.  The  beer  garden  fol- 

"  When  our  city  was  in  its  infancy,  and  the  German  infusion  lowed  quicklv  UPOD  the  general  introduction  of  lager 

had  not  poured  in,  no  one  spoke  seriously  of  a  German  vote,  and  as  a  beverage.    In  1857,  Lemp's  saloon  is  mentioned  as 

the  papers  never  entertained  such  a  subject  as  a  German  ele-  "  oneof  the  largest  of  the  class,"  and  "  about  nine  o'clock 

ment;  no  aspirant  for  congressional  honors  ever  then  modeled  j  afc  nj    hfc  ft         fect  beer  babej  „    where   ar(mnd  &  ^^ 

his  opinion  by  the  German  standard  or  courted  German  favor.   •  .              . 

There  was  no  German  paper,  because  there  were  none  to  read  °er  ff  tab|CS  excited  coteries  were  assembled,   "  quaff- 

it;  no  beer  gardens,  because  there  were  none  to  frequent  them.  ing  incredible  quantities  of  beer   and   Uttering  almost 

We  do  not  remember  having  seen  in  those  days  such  a  thing  as  j  impossible  Successions  of  VOCal  sounds,  and  boys  rush- 

a  sausage-shop,  a  gasthaus,  or  a  handlung.      There  was  one  ^  enthusiastically  from   the   bar   to    the  tables   with 

apothelce  and  a  deutscher  arzt,  and,  if  we  mistake  not,  the  sign  ,                                            . 

of  a  hebamme  swung  at  that  period  over  the  door  somewhere  in  m°re   glaSS6S  °f  beer   than    lfc  W0uld    seem  withi»   ^e 

the  region  known  then  as  Frenchtown.    There  was  nothing  that  power  of  tW«  human  hands  to  carry." 

indicated  that  there  was  a  German  population  requiring  more  Since  1857  the  consumption  of  beer  has  increased 

than  one  doctor,  a  drug-store,  and  midwife.  enormously.     It  was  estimated  by  Henry  H.  Rueter, 

I  he  only  garden  which  had  any  pretensions  as  a  place  of  .                     ,          _    .      1  _             J: 

resort  was  known  at  that  time  to  the  very  limited  number  of  president  of  the   United  States  Brewers    Association, 

young  ladies  and  gentlemen  who  took  summer-evening  strolls  fliat    the    beer    production    of  the   whole    Country   for 

as  the  'Broadway  Garden,'  and  was,  as  well  as  we  can  recol-  1879    reached    10,000,000   barrels,   and   that  of  Mis- 

leet,  dimly  lighted  by  variegated  oil-lamps,  and  solely  devoted  to  gouri    507963    barrels,    which,    according  to    the   tax 

ice-cream  and  'mead.'     The  Broadway  Garden  went  out  just  •111-                  i         <->    *, 

about  the  time  that  beer  gardens  came  in.    And  when  they  did  Pald'  had  increased  to  877,663  barrels  in  1881.      We 

come  in  it  was  tumuituously ;  a  sudden  and  almost  unexpected  have  seen  that  in  1854  the  Republican  ascertained 


1332 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


that  "  one  barrel  of  thirty  gallons  gives  about  three 
hundred  glasses,"  and  that  then  St.  Louis  consumed 
eighteen  millions  of  glasses  in  a  single  spring  and 
summer.  Applying  the  same  calculation  to  the  pro- 
duction for  1881,  we  find  that  the  $816,226.51  paid 
for  stamps,  at  ninety-three  cents  per  barrel,  gives  a 
production  of  877,663  barrels,  which,  at  three  hun- 
dred glasses  per  barrel,  would  allow  263,298,900 
glasses.  This  would  give  a  consumption,  assuming 
the  population  to  be  400,000,  of  658  glasses  for  every 
person  during  the  year.  In  addition  to  this  1,252,344 
packages  of  ale  and  beer  were  shipped  from  the  city. 
The  following  table  of  statistics  is  translated  from 
the  Mississippi  Handels-Zeitung,  a  German  commer- 
cial newspaper  published  in  St.  Louis.  It  exhibits 
the  names  of  the  breweries  existing  in  that  city  in 
1860,  the  names  of  their  several  proprietors,  and  the 
amount  and  value  of  the  beer  manufactured  by  each : 


1  Name  of  Brewery  and  Proprietor. 


Bbls. 
Lager 
Beer. 


Bbls.    Bbls. 
Common    of 
Beer.     Ale. 


Arsenal,  G.  Steinkauler 4,000  3,000 

Bavarian,  Gottsclialk  &  Co 2,700  500 

Broadway,  G.  G.  Zi.ller  &  Co 1,800  3,000 

Bellcfontainp,  1'enrson.  Smith  &  Co 2,000  2,500 

Busch's,  Fritz,  Wain wright  &  Co 8,500  6,500 

Camp  Sprinn.  Joseph  Uhrig  &  Co 9,000  5,000 

City,  C'lir.  G.  StiM 5,500  600 

Excelsior,  Clir.  Koliler  &  Co 1,500  1,000 

FoitunH,  Bergesch,  Feric  &  Co 700  600 

Franklin,  Tinker  Brothers  &  Co 1,000  800  400 

Ganibrinus,  Anton  Jnger 1,500  1,000     

Green  Tree,  Joseph  Schnaider  &  Co 4,500  3,000     

German,  Eckerle  &  Weiss 2,500  1,800    

Hirkury, Conrad  Elliott 500  250     

Jefferson,  Bnmuing  &  Wettekamp 2,500  2,500     

Iron  Mountain,  Adi.lph  GeUhard 3,000  2,300     

Jacks' •!!,. Joseph  Steulier 900  600     

Lafryette, Theodore  Biinkwortb. 2,700  1,800     

Laclede,  Ch.  Stolzli 800  500     

Missouri,  G.  Bautenstraucli 500  3<K)     

New  Bremen,  Spangler  &,  Smith 2,500  2.000     

National,  Fred.  Wagner 2,500  2,000    

Oregon,  Stock  Brothers 3,(lOO  2,000     

Pacific,  Kontz  &  Hofmeister 2,500  1,500     

Philndi'!phia,  A.  Dentelmoser 2,600  1,500      

Phoenix,  C   Stachlin 9,500  6,000    

Pittsburgh,  Coste  &  Lensler 4,000  4,000     

Ruck  Branch,  Charles  Zuller 3,000  1.500     

Steam,  F.  Boyd  &  Co 2,500  2,000  4000 

St.  Louis.  E.  English 3,01)0  2,000     

Southern,  Keitz,  Schricker  &  Co 2,600  1,500     

Solilop,  L.  Koch 300  200     

S-hneir's,  Const.  Schnerr 3,500  2,600     

SchiiinannX  Ch.  Schumann 300  200     

Stnmpfg,  Wild.  Stumpf  <t  Co 4.000  2,000     

Stern,  Ch.  Longnemare 3,600  3,500     

Union,  Winkelmeyer  &  Schiffer 10,000  6,0»K)     

Wash  Street,  Hamm  &  Hoppe 3,500  3,:500     

Washington,  Ch.  Schneider  &  Co 1,200  750     

Western,  A.  Lemp 4,800  3,600     

Whole  number,  40.  

Totnl 122,400  85,500  4400 

In  1858  the  whole  number  of  barrels  amounted  to.  110,800  74,400  4200 

Increase  in  the  number  of  barrels  over  last  year..    11,600  11,100  200 

The  average  price  of  lager  beer  last  year  was  88  per,  barrel, 

making  a  total  of $979,200 

85,000  liarrels  common  beer,  at  $6  per  barrel 5., 000 

4400  barrels  of  ale,  at  $8  per  barrel 35,200 

Altogether 81,523,400 


"  Now,  reckoning  the  working  capital  of  each  brew- 
ery represented  at  an  average  of  $15,000,  we  get  the 
further  sum  of  $600,000  invested  in  beer,  making  a 
grand  total  of  $2,1 24,400. 

"  It  may  then  be  taken  for  granted  that  a  capital  of 


at  least  $2,000,000  is  annually  expended  in  the  pro- 
duction of  beer  in  this  city." 

We  have  spoken  of  the  people  of  St.  Louis  and  their 
calm  composure  in  adversity,  their  steadfast  assurance 
that  every  cloud  had  its  silver  lining.  We  have  shown 
in  part  how  capital  and  energy  have  rallied  to  the  sup- 
port of  struggling  industries,  and  how  every  trade, 
and  every  encouragement  to  trade,  has  been  at  once 
worked  up  to  its  full  capacity  and  utmost  tension. 
The  history  of  her  manufactures  shows  how  continual 
this  power  has  been  of  utilizing  every  resource  ;  how 
the  cotton  trade  sprung  up  out  of  Southern  railroad 
extensions,  bringing  in  its  train  an  immense  expansion 
of  the  general  business  in  merchandise.  In  the  same 
way  the  manufacture  of  hog  and  beef  products  has 
grown  up  about  the  Texas  cattle  trade  and  the  live- 
stock and  distillery  business,  and  the  development  of 
the  brewing  business  and  the  export  of  malted  liquors 
have  sprung  up  from  the  grain  trade.  This  brewing 
business  and  its  correlated  industries  of  bottling  and 
exporting  beer  are,  as  we  have  shown,  enormous,  and 
so  extensive  an  industry  as  beer-brewing  necessarily 
requires  the  products  of  many  trades  and  manufac- 
tures to  supply  its  wants.  Boilers,  engines,  pumps, 
ice-machines,  mashing-tubs,  tanks,  and  mills,  and 
other  copper,  iron,  and  brass  works  are  necessary  in 
the  first  instance,  and  need  repairs  and  renewal,  thus 
giving  employment  to  hundreds  of  workmen. 

Again,  cooperage  is  daily  required,  and  the  extent 
of  the  demand  may  be  inferred  from  the  simple  state- 
ment that  the  Missouri  breweries  have  267,800  pack- 
ages in  constant  use. 

They  also  require  the  services  of  bricklayers,  ce- 
ment- and  asphalt-workers,  wagon-  and  harness-makers, 
bung  and  cork  manufacturers,  painters  and  label- 
printers. 

As  nearly  as  can  be  ascertained,  the  capital  invested 
in  the  several  trades  and  manufactures  comprised  in 
the  above  enumeration  over  and  above  what  would  be 
required  were  it  not  for  the  wants  of  the  brewing 
business  amounts  to  $500,000,  and  making  and  con- 
structing what  the  breweries  require  gives  constant 
occupation  to  1000  skilled  workmen. 

If,  then,  all  the  facts  be  brought  together  in  one 
comprehensive  view,  it  will  be  found  that  the  lager- 
beer  brewing  industry  of  Missouri  supports  16,210 
persons  (without  taking  at  all  into  account  the  retail 
venders),  and  directly  sets  in  motion  annually,  in  pur- 
chase and  sale,  over  $20,000,000.  It  seems  to  be  the 
most  important  industry  in  the  State.1 

Among  the  brewers  of  St.  Louis  one  of  the  most 


1  Report  of  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics. 


(it- 


/ 


TRADE.  COMMERCE.  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1333 


• 
: 

i 
• 
. 

. 
•Id 

. 


the  firm  bui! 

ablish 
Choute 


ii 

under 
er-Bup 
jown  far  at. 
summ 
nal  Brewer- 


nti!  they  both  r« 

- 


ais ;   at 
BotUine.— B 


from 


• 

•nrati  & 

;d  States  (in 

Lonis  es 
then  ••• 

y  five 
Tbe 

• 

• 


uermany  in  1805,  and  came  to  the  United  States  in  ,  was  taken. 


— -  vi   «,,,^uuj-u,rc  tnuusaiia  dollars 


1334 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


A  meeting  of  stockholders  was  then  called  at  the 
Merchants'  Exchange,  on  Main  Street.  William  M. 
McPheeters  was  called  to  the  chair,  whereupon  he 
stated  the  object  of  the  meeting,  which  then  pro- 
ceeded to  the  appointment  of  trustees,  and  the  follow- 
ing were  elected  : 

Asa  Wilgus,  Kenneth  Mackenzie,  William  M.  Mc- 
Pherson,  John  J.  Anderson,  William  W.  Green,  W. 
Patrick,  Edward  Brooks,  John  McNeil,  T.  E.  Cour- 
tenay,  S.  Dorsheimer,  John  B.  Carson,  George  Knapp, 
and  B.  F.  Stout. 

The  board  subsequently  elected  Asa  Wilgus  presi- 
dent, and  B.  F.  Stout  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the 
company.  At  a  subsequent  meeting  of  the  board  a 
resolution  was  passed  to  increase  the  capital  to  fifty 
thousand  dollars,  and  the  books  were  opened  for  that 
amount.  Subscriptions  were  promptly  made,  and 
forty  thousand  dollars  was  taken,  leaving  the  amount 
of  ten  thousand  dollars  to  be  subscribed. 

The  company  "  leased  Mr.  Finney's  large  ice-house 
on  Fifth  Street,  and  also  leased  a  lot  of  ground  from 
the  public  schools  on  the  Levee,  between  Plum  and 
Cedar  Streets,"  on  which  they  erected  a  spacious 
building  for  the  purpose  of  storing  ice. 

In  1881  there  were  eight  wholesale  and  thirty- 
three  retail  ice  dealers  in  St.  Louis,  and  the  volume 
of  business,  both  wholesale  and  retail,  is  estimated  at 
between  four  million  and  five  million  dollars. 

Engraving,  Photographing,  etc.  —  Seventeen 
firms  were  engaged  in  1881  in  the  business  of  en- 
graving, die-sinking,  etc.,  in  St.  Louis,  with  a  capital 
of  eighty  thousand  dollars,  giving  employment  to  sixty- 
five  hands,  and  paying  wages  annually  amounting  to 
seventy-three  thousand  dollars.  The  business  trans- 
acted was  estimated  at  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars.  In  wood-engraving  St.  Louis  has 
long  enjoyed  a  special  pre-eminence.  In  1881  there 
were  three  large  establishments  in  active  operation, 
whose  jroducts  realized  the  sum  of  forty  thousand 
dollars,  the  industry  employing  twenty-four  skilled 
workmen.  There  are  also  a  number  of  photographers, 
some  of  whom  enjoy  a  wide  celebrity  for  the  supe- 
riority and  nicety  of  their  work.  Among  the  latter 
the  well-known  establishment  of  John  A.  Scholten  is 
specially  worthy  of  mention.  Mr.  Scholten  was  born 
in  Bees,  a  town  on  the  Rhine,  in  Prussia,  and  at- 
tended the  schools  of  his  native  place  until  four- 
teen years  old,  when  he  emigrated  with  his  parents 
to  America,  settling  at  Hermann,  Mo.  Here  he 
remained  for  three  years,  and  then  removed  to  St. 
Louis,  where  he  spent  some  time  in  the  dry-goods 
store  of  Trueworthy  Hoyt,  a  respected  and  highly 
successful  merchant.  In  1857,  however,  he  aban- 


doned commercial  pursuits  and  turned  his  attention 
to  his  present  calling,  in  which  he  soon  won  an  exten- 
sive local  reputation  for  the  correctness  and  artistic 
beauty  of  the  likenesses  which  he  produced.  His 
success  prompted  him  to  choose  a  more  central  loca- 
tion, and  he  removed  to  Fourth  Street,  between  Olive 
and  Locust,  and  subsequently  to  the  northwest  corner 
of  Olive  and  Fifth  Streets.  His  rooms  at  the  latter 
location  were  models  of  elegance  and  good  taste. 

In  1874  he  removed  to  his  present  location,  near 
Olive  and  Tenth  Streets,  which  he  had  fitted  up  es- 
pecially for  the  delicate  requirements  of  his  profes- 
sion. On  New  Year's  night,  1878,  his  establishment 
was  burned,  but  in  May,  1879,  he  resumed  business 
at  the  same  location,  in  a  studio  erected  specially  for 
him,  and  combining  all  the  approved  features  of  the 
most  celebrated  Eastern  galleries,  modified  in  such  par- 
ticulars as  Mr.  Scholten's  long  and  varied  experience 
had  shown  to  be  desirable.  He  not  only  built  a 
structure  suitable  in  every  way  to  his  art,  but  pro- 
cured the  most  costly  and  perfect  apparatus  yet  in- 
vented. 

Mr.  Scholten  has  applied  himself  to  his  calling 
with  unreserved  devotion,  and  has  been  an  enthusi- 
astic laborer,  constantly  experimenting  and  perfecting. 
Instead  of  being  content  with  the  accepted  methods 
of  others,  he  has  investigated  for  himself,  and  in  so 
doing  has  been  the  introducer  of  improvements  hav- 
ing a  permanent  value.  He  was  the  first  to  introduce 
into  St.  Louis  the  popular  carte  de  visite,  and  by  lib- 
eral yet  judicious  expenditure  has  contributed  materi- 
ally to  the  development  of  the  photographic  art  in  St. 
Louis.  The  estimation  in  which  he  is  held  by  lead- 
ing citizens  appears  in  the  following  testimonial : 

"MERCHANTS'  EXCHANGE  OF  ST.  LOUIS. 
"  John  Wahl,  Prest.  George  H.  Morgan,  Sec. 

"ST.  Louis,  May  3,  1879. 
"  MR.  JOHN  A.  SCHOLTEN  : 

"  Dear  Sir, — The  undersigned,  president  and  ex-presidents 
of  the  Merchants'  Exchange,  desiring  to  express  to  you  their  ap- 
preciation of  your  kindness  in  contributing  to  the  'records'  of 
the  Exchange  the  handsomely  framed  portraits  of  the  '  presi- 
dents,' have  had  prepared  the  accompanying  medal,  which  they 
beg  you  to  accept  as  a  token  of  the  esteem  in  which  you  are 
held  by  them  individually,  and  as  a  recognition  on  the  part  of 
the  Exchange  of  your  liberality  and  courtesy.  They  desire  also 
to  congratulate  you  on  the  opening  of  your  new  rooms,  and  trust 
you  may  receive  the  generous  patronage  which  you  so  richly 
deserve  as  an  artist  and  a  gentleman. 

"  D.  P.  ROWLAND.  WEB  M.  SAM  TEL. 

"GEORGE  BAI.V.  JOHN  A.  SCDDDER. 

"WILLIAM  J.  LEWIS.  NATHAN  COLE. 

"THOMAS  RICHESON.  R.  R.  TANSEY. 

"  W.  H.  ScrDDER.  E.  0.  STANARD. 

"Attest: 

"JOHN  WAHL,  Prest.  GEORGE  H.  MORGAN,  Sec," 


?per 

-    • 
• 
and  r,  : 

'  - 

-  .  . 

. 
. 

and   hand-]  -  •. 

- 

i 
. 
• 

! 
oe  hundred  an  •  .  ..  .        . 

• 
••••••  ••  - 

•' 

' 
T>hers.—  of  work- 

• 

• 


. 


1336 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


for  any  trust  undertaken."  Aaron  Elliott  &  Son,  of 
Ste.  Genevieve,  on  the  7th  of  June,  advertised  in  the 
St.  Louis  papers  to  the  effect  that  "  all  those  who 
have  open  accounts  with  Aaron  Elliott,  or  Aaron 
Elliott  &  Son,  are  requested  to  call  and  close  the  same 
prior  to  the  1st  August,  1809.  Those  who  neglect 
this  call  will  have  their  accounts  to  settle  with  an 
attorney,"  with  a  postscript  stating  that  they  had 
constantly  on  hand  a  complete  assortment  of  drugs 
and  medicines,  "  which  they  will  sell  either  wholesale 
or  retail  on  as  good  terms  as  can  be  purchased  in  this 
country."  On  July  5th,  Michael  Dolan,  "  tailor 
and  habit-maker,"  Main  Street,  announced  that  he  had 
opened  a  shop  at  the  house  then  occupied  by  Mr. 
Hampton,  "  breeches-maker."  Cornelius  Burns,  also 
a  tailor,  begged  leave,  on  November  2d,  to  acquaint 
his  friends  and  the  public  that  he  had  commenced 
business  on  his  own  account  at  the  house  formerly  i 
occupied  by  Wilson  &  Price.  On  the  16th  of  the 
same  month,  Bernard  Lalende  made  it  known  that 
he  manufactured  gentlemen's  coats  for  $4.50,  and 
pantaloons  at  $1.75,  "  well  made  and  in  the  newest 
fashion."  In  1811,  Norman  McKenzie  wanted  a  few 
carpenters,  and  Robert  Wash  announced  himself  as 
administrator  of  James  A.  Graham,  and  offered  a  re- 
ward of  $20  for  a  fine  cloak  that  had  been  stolen.  J. 
Septlivres,  on  the  2d  of  June,  1812,  published  his 
card  as  house  and  sign  painter.  In  an  advertise- 
ment dated  Aug.  5,  1813,  we  find  that  there  "  ar- 
rived a  few  days  ago  from  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia 
River,  Robert  Steuart,  Ramsey  Crooks,  Joseph  Mil-  . 
ler,  and  Robert  McClellan,  and  three  hunters,''  whose 
narrative  would  appear  the  following  week.  In  1815, 
William  Sullivan  kept  a  livery-stable  in  St.  Louis, 
and  his  terms  were  ten  dollars  per  month,  with  no  de- 
duction for  any  horse  taken  out  unless  he  remained 
out  a  week  or  more,  $3  per  week,  75  cents  for  twenty- 
four  hours.  Auguste  Chouteau  advertised  at  private 
sale,  May  18,  1816,  his  lots  lately  laid  out  on  the  hill 
west  of  town,  a  plot  of  which  might  be  seen  at  the 
printing-office.  On  the  8th  of  June  of  the  same 
year,  John  Keesacker  informed  the  "  gentlemen  of 
St.  Louis  that  he  has  opened  a  barber-shop  in  Front 
Street,  near  Mr.  Paul's  store  building,  and  pledges 
himself  he  will  give  satisfaction  in  his  line  of  business. 
Price  of  shaving  per  month,  $1."  On  the  18th  of 
June,  Mrs.  Baker  started  the  millinery  business  in 
the  brick  building  opposite  Mr.  Savage's  auction- 
room.  In  1829  the  announcement  was  made  that 
"  the  new  bathing  establishment  of  Mr.  J.  Sparks  & 
Co.  has  about  thirty-five  visitors,  and  of  that  number 
not  one  has  experienced  an  hour's  sickness  since  the 
bathing  commenced  ;  we  should,  for  the  benefit  of  the  ' 


health  of  the  city,  be  glad  there  were  more  encourage- 
ment, and  as  the  season  is  partly  over,  tickets  have  been 
reduced  to  one  dollar  the  season." 

Miscellaneous  Trades  and  Industries. — In  ad- 
dition to  the  foregoing  there  is  an  immense  variety  of 
trades  and  industries  in  St.  Louis,  of  which  it  is  im- 
possible to  give  a  particular  account  within  the  limits 
of  this  work.  Among  the  more  important  may  be 
mentioned  the  trade  in  wall-paper,  carpets,  etc.,  in 
which  thirty-one  houses  were  engaged  in  1881,  their 
business  aggregating  one  million  nine  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars ;  books  and  stationery,  in  which  five 
wholesale  and  seventy-five  retail  houses  were  employed 
in  1881,  the  aggregate  business  being  estimated  at 
six  million  nine  hundred  thousand  dollars ;  news 
and  book  paper,  etc.,  represented  in  1881  by  nine 
wholesale  dealers,  transacting  a  business  of  three  mil- 
lion nine  hundred  thousand  dollars  ;J  music  aud  musi- 
cal instruments,  transacted  by  eleven  houses,  whose 
business  was  estimated  in  1881  at  one  million  six  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars  ;  produce,  seventy-nine  houses, 
with  annual  sales  estimated  in  1881  of  two  million 
dollars,  besides  four  firms  engaged  in  the  sale  of  seeds 
of  various  kinds  ;  powder,  guns,  and  sporting  goods, 
five  wholesale  firms,  who  confine  their  business  to  gun, 
rifle,  and  blasting  powder  and  similar  goods,  and  three 
firms  who  deal  in  guns,  pistols,  fishing-tackle,  and 
sporting  goods;  aggregate  value  of  business  in  1881, 
six  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

In  addition  to  the  manufactures  already  described 
there  were  in  1881  the  following  among  other  indus- 
tries in  active  and  successful  operation  :  Agricultural 
implements,  seven  firms,  500  hands  employed,  $900,- 
000  value  of  annual  product ;  artificial  feathers  and 
flowers,  three  firms,  79  hands,  $150,000  annual  sales ; 
awnings  and  tents,  ten  firms,  250  hands  employed, 
$400,000  annual  sales ;  bags,  paper,  flax,  hemp,  and 
jute,  seven  firms,  500  hands  employed,  $1,100,000 
annual  sales ;  box  manufactures,  twelve  firms,  250 
hands  employed,  $400,000  annual  sales ;  brass  foun- 
dries, fourteen  firms,  157  hands  employed,  $580,000 


1  "  At  a  meeting  of  the  directors  and  stockholders  of  the  '  Mis- 
souri Paper  Manufacturing  Company,'  held  at  their  office,  No. 
46  Chestnut  Street,  St.  Louis,  Tuesday,  Oct.  30,  1860,  the  or- 
ganization of  the  company,  under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  Mis- 
souri, was  completed,  and  the  following-named  gentlemen  con- 
firmed as  directors  of  the  company  for  the  first  year  from  the 
7th  of  July  last,  and  the  persons  named  in  connection  with  the 
same  elected  officers  for  the  same  term. 

"  Directors,  as  named  in  the  license  from  the  State,  R.  II.  Hut 
bell,  E.  Stafford,  Bernard  Poepping,  George  Spear,  V.  B.  S. 
Reber;  President,    Hon.  Bernard  Poepping;    Vice-President 
Thomas  H.  Paschall,  Esq.  ;  Secretary,  Edward  Stafford,  Esq."- 
Misaouri  Republican,  Nov.  2,  1860. 


TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1337 


annual  sales;  carriages  and  wagons,  forty  firms,  1100 
men  and  boys  employed,  nearly  $2,000,000  annual 
Bales  ;  confectionery,  three  hundred  dealers,  value  of 
business  $1,200,000  per  annum;  cooperage,  eighty 
establishments,  900  hands  employed,  $500,000  capital 
invested,  total  annual  sales  $1,500,000  ;  cordage  and 
twine,  fourteen  firms,  77  hands  employed,  $75,000 
estimated  value  of  business ;  corsets,  three  firms, 
$10,000  annual  sales;  cutlery  and  tools,  four  firms, 
20  hands  employed,  $24,000  annual  sales  ;  engraving, 
die-sinking,  etc.,  seventeen  firms,  65  hands  employed, 
$151,000  annual  sales;  wood-engraving,  three  firms, 
24  hands  employed,  $40,000  annual  sales ;  files,  six 
firms,  35  hands  employed,  $42,000  annual  sales; 
glass,  six  firms,  400  hands  employed,  $600,000  an- 
nual sales ;  glue,  five  firms,  30  hands  employed, 
$75,000  annual  sales ;  machinery,  forty-six  firms, 
1600  hands  employed,  $2,500,000  annual  sales; 
marble-  and  stone-work,  fifty-six  firms,  475  hands  em- 
ployed, $800,000  annual  sales ;  mattresses  and  spring- 


beds,  nine  firms,  55  hands  employed,  $150,000  an- 
nual sales  ;  mineral  and  soda  waters,  ten  firms,  100 
hands  employed,  $175,000  annual  sales;  paints  and 
varnishes,  total  capital  invested  $2,000,000,  532 
hands  employed,  82,700,000  annual  sales ;  refrigera- 
tors, three  firms,  101  hands  employed,  $309,000  an- 
nual sales ;  roofing  and  roofing  materials,  five  firms, 
75  hands  employed,  $177,000  annual  sales;  show- 
cases, four  firms,  79  hands  employed,  $90,000  annual 
sales ;  shirts,  seventeen  firms,  274  women  and  52  men 
employed,  $280,000  annual  sales ;  stone  and  earth- 
enware, five  firms,  forty-one  hands  employed,  $50,000 
annual  sales ;  tin,  copper,  and  sheet-iron,  about  200 
firms,  with  an  estimated  business  of  $1,200,000  per 
annum  ;  vinegar,  fourteen  firms,  120  hands  employed, 
$575,000  value  of  annual  product;  wheelwrighting, 
fifty-two  firms,  130  hands  employed,  $155,000  annual 
sales ;  whips,  four  firms,  annual  business  $20,000  ; 
wire- work,  600  hands  employed,  $1,300,000  annual 
sales. 


COMPARATIVE  BUSINESS  IN   LEADING  ARTICLES  AT   ST.  LOUIS  FOR  1878,  1879,  1880,  AND  1881. 


ARTICLES. 

1878. 

1879. 

1880. 

1881. 

Flour,  amount  manufactured  bbls. 

1,916,290 

2,142,949 

2,077,625 

1,718,129 

"       handled  bbls. 

3,633,872 

4,154,754 

1  217,664 

3,600,689 

Wheat,  total  receipts  ...                             bush. 

1  1  :;''j,431 

17,093  362 

21,022,275 

13,243,511 

Corn,        "           "      bush. 
Oats,         "           "       bush. 

9,009,723 
3,882,276 

13,360,636 
5,002,165 

22,298,077 
5,607,078 

21,259,310 
6,295,050 

Rye,         "           "       bush. 

845,932 

713,728 

468,755 

469,796 

Barley,     "           "       bush. 

1,517,292 

1,831,517 

2,561,992 

2,411,723 

36,107,334 

46,037,578 

60,477,547 

51,785,403 

Cotton,  receipts  bales. 

338,340 

472,436 

352,219 

461,759 

Hemp,        "      bales. 

5,087 

4,072 

1,731 

3,580 

Bagging,  manufactured.    .     ..        yards. 

7,500  000 

8,000,000 

10,000,000 

10,000,000 

Hay,  receipts,  bales  of  400  Ibs  ....bales. 

330,981 

461,979 

676,268 

98,097 

Tobacco,  receipts  hhds. 

25,870 

20,278 

18,813 

22,042 

Lead,  receipts  in  pigs,  80  Ibs.  average  P'S8- 

764,357 

817,594 

764,887 

925.406 

Hog  product,  total  exports     Ibs. 

188,529,593 

220,891,273 

199,456,866 

1  96,827,  'J'JS 

Cattle,  receipts  head. 

406,235 

420,654 

424,720 

503,862 

Sheep,        "       head. 

168,095 

182,648 

205,969 

334,426 

Hogs,         "      head. 

1,451,634 

1,762,224 

1,840,684 

1,672,153 

Horses  and  mules,  receipts  head. 

27,878 

33,953 

46,011 

42,365 

Lumber,                        "      feet. 
Shingles,                        "       pcs. 

189,238,333 
88,059,000 

280,986,361 
77,811,500 

330,935,973 
106,246,750 

434,043,094 
56,578,785 

Lath,                             "       pcs. 

33,993.000 

27,713,700 

41,023,400 

18,523,823 

Wool,  total  receipts  Ibs. 

16,469,816 

20,786,742 

12,387,089 

11,198,272 

Hides,    "          "      Ibs. 

17,129,894 

20,042,734 

18,436,253 

20,  079,  S|  I 

Sugar,  received  Ibs. 

106,836,225 

107,176,052 

113,627,470 

109,537,015 

Molasses,  shipped  galls. 
Coffee,  received  bags. 

1,844,260 
201,080 

1,684,9(50 
267,533 

2,164,098 
303,649 

4,190,290 
245,239 

Rice,  receipts  bbls. 

25,600 

34,213 

39,399 

48,661 

Coal.        "       bush. 

33,087,300 

36,978,150 

41,972,356 

44,720,175 

Nails,      "      .              ke^s 

522,399 

575,538 

601,795 

53<t,227 

Potatoes,  receipts  .  .     bush 

602,675 

963,047 

801,422 

1,378,754 

Salt.               "       .                             bbls. 

271,521 

1M4.986 

313,379 

232,843 

"      sacks. 

78,781 

78,345 

61,348 

73.239 

"       bush,  in  bulk. 
Butter  Ibs 

"  8,627,'056 

439,788 
8,961,965 

333,868 
8,659,133 

314,720 
8,247,401 

[ 

In  1871  a  carefully  prepared  statement  by  William 
A.  Johnson  showed  the  increase  in  manufactures  in 
twenty  of  the  leading  articles  to  have  been  nineteen 
per  cent,  in  the  capital  employed,  and  thirty  per  cent, 
in  the  value  of  the  products. 


Mr.  Charles  W.  Knapp,  from  whose  very  able  paper 
on  St.  Louis,  read  before  the  "  Round  Table"  in  Oc- 
tober, 1882,  we  have  frequently  had  occasion  to  quote, 
thus  groups  the  manufacturing  cities,  according  to  the 
census  of  1860,  1870,  and  1880 : 


1338 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


MANUFACTURING  OF   LEADING  CITIES   IN  1860. 


ClTT. 

Number  of 
Establish- 
ments. 

Capital. 

Average 
Number  of 
Hands. 

Wages. 

• 
Cost  of  Material. 

Product. 

Baltimore  

1310 

$3,789,757 

21,821 

$4,351,244 

$18,068,683 

$29,591,958 

1050 

14,527,880 

19,093 

6,948,839 

20,254,277 

37.681,808 

1032 

12,320,876 

12,758 

4,462,633 

19,040,316 

34,241,520 

Buffalo  

792 

5,529,471 

6,500 

1,819,382 

6,974,291 

10,774,400 

Chicago  

469 

5,571,025 

5,593 

1,992,257 

8,026,670 

13,555,671 

Cincinnati  

2084 

18,983,693 

30,268 

8,693,830 

25,887,363 

46,995,062 

387 

2,676,963 

4,455 

1,333,118 

4,029,015 

6,973,737 

368 

4,137,766 

3,707 

1,080,095 

3,743,285 

6,498,593 

Jersey  City  

279 

3,345,690 

3,310 

1,171,857 

3,479,927 

6,760.241 

Newark  

770 

13,846,605 

21,800 

6,517,952 

15,029,087 

27,927.514 

New  Orleans  

1232 

3,431,535 

5,568 

2,907,469 

5,295,265 

11,373,265 

Nfiw  York  

4375 

61,212,757 

90,204 

28,481.915 

90,177,038 

159,107,369 

Philadelphia  

6298 

73,318,885 

137,983 

27,369.254 

69,562,206 

135,979,677 

894 

17,961,985 

23,769 

6,651,040 

13,655,956 

29,211,478 

Pittsburgh  

1191 

20,531,440 

20,493 

6,241,520 

13,020,615 

26,563,679 

San  Francisco  

229 

2,284,800 

1,564 

1,703  672 

15,037,840 

19,595,356 

St.  Louis  

1126 

12,733,948 

11,737 

4,372,087 

16,212,699 

27,000,070 

Washington  

429 

2,905,865 

3,148 

1,139,154 

2,884,185 

5,412,102 

MANUFACTURING  OF   LEADING  CITIES  IN   1870. 


CITY. 

Number  of 
Establish- 
ments. 

Capital. 

Average 
Number  of 
Hands. 

Wages. 

Cost  of  Material. 

Product. 

Baltimore  

2,759 

$26,049,040 

23,944 

$10,352,078 

$36,144,425 

$59,219,933 

2,546 

47,311,906 

43  550 

22  748,700 

50,384,305 

111,380,840 

Brooklyn  

1,043 

25,287,981 

18545 

9.273,994 

39,899,971 

60,848,673 

Buffalo  

1,429 

13,043,790 

13,274 

4  946,414 

15,274,440 

27,446,683 

1,440 

39,372,276 

31,105 

13,045,286 

60,362,188 

92,518,742 

Cincinnati  

2,469 

42,646,152 

37,344 

15,601,289 

44,876,148 

78.905,980 

1,149 

13,645,018 

10,063 

4  539  065 

16,861  357 

27,049,012 

Detroit  

1,193 

14,732,160 

13,989 

5,375,213 

15,336,359 

26,217,685 

333 

11,718,400 

5,624 

3,280,526 

17,229  652 

24,256,017 

801 

11,129,291 

11,589 

4,464,640 

10,369.556 

20,364,650 

828 

8,109,199 

8,433 

3,409,172 

11,609,995 

18,798,122 

1,198 

22,606,662 

22,156 

11,537,270 

29  255,062 

52  108,958 

New  Orleans  

911 

5,751,985 

5,084 

2,254,554 

4,556,543 

9,989,288 

7,624 

129  952,262 

129,577 

63  824,049 

178,696,939 

332,951,520 

8,184 

174,016,674 

137,496 

58,780,130 

180,325,713 

322,004,517 

Providence  

1,303 

54,485,967 

37,100 

15,097,233 

55,147,483 

85,142,032 

Pitts'>ur"h    

1  184 

54  303  474 

34,228 

18  493,124 

52,165  657 

88,789,414 

San  Francisco  

1,223 

21,170,856 

12,377 

7,238,528 

20,046,321 

37,410,829 

4,579 

60,357,001 

40,856 

24,221,717 

87,388,252 

158,761,013 

Washington  

952 

5,021,925 

4,685 

2,007,600 

4,754,883 

9,292,173 

MANUFACTURING  OF   LEADING  CITIES   IN  1880. 


CITY. 

Number  of 

Establish- 
ments. 

Capital. 

Average 
Number  of 
Hands. 

Wages. 

Cost  of  Material. 

Product. 

Baltimore  

3,596 

$35,760  108 

55,201 

$14  467,825 

$46,488,244 

$75,621,388 

3,521 

32,750  134 

56  813 

23  715  140 

77,586  607 

123,366,137 

Brooklyn  

5,089 

56,621,399 

45,226 

21,672,051 

124,951,203 

169,757,590 

Buffalo  

5,137 

24,188,562 

16,838 

6,913,702 

25,888,263 

40,003,265 

Chicago  

3,479 

64,177,335 

77,601 

33,795,486 

174,244,364 

214,045,007 

3,231 

43,278,733 

41,188 

18,571,687 

55,939,133 

94,869,105 

Cleveland  

1,033 

18,134,  7S!> 

21.499 

8,377,081 

30,85(1,  '.177 

47,352.208 

Detroit  

875 

1J,L'02,159 

15,162 

5,811,426 

17,143,490 

28.333,580 

Jersey  City  

555 

11,329  915 

10,688 

4  347,034 

49,320,099 

50,581,141 

Louisville  

1,066  • 

19  583  013 

16,579 

5,496,521 

19,180,212 

82,381,733 

Milwaukee  

821 

13,811,405 

19.620 

6,0(15,487 

26,462,740 

38,955,238 

1,299 

i':;  '.ity.iio 

29,232 

12,809,011 

-IL','.»40,817 

66,234,525 

New  Orleans  

906 

8,401,390 

9,449 

3,658,152 

10,475,022 

18,341,1106 

New  York  

11,162 

164  917,856 

"17  977 

93,378,806 

275,097,236 

448,209,2*8 

Philadelphia  

8,377 

170  495  191 

173,869 

60,606,287 

187,169.375 

304.501,725 

Providence  7  

1  186 

23  593  '.»:;•' 

"1  :;:;i; 

8  903  729 

21  37(J,4ii7 

39,596,653 

Pittsburgh  

1,071 

50,976  W2 

38,465 

16,918,426 

41.  20  1.998 

76,241,884 

2,860 

29,417  "  It! 

26,072 

13,595,010 

t  i,537.-i:;o 

71,613,385 

2  886 

45  385  785 

39  724 

16  714  917 

68  154,990 

104  :>83,587 

961 

5  381  •'•'(') 

711li 

3  897  126 

5  234  611 

11  611,115 

TRADE,  COMMERCE,  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


1339 


CENSUS  RETURNS   OF  ST.  LOUIS   PRODUCTIONS   IN   1880. 

MECHANICAL  AND  MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRIES. 

Number  of  Establishments. 

3 
I 

Greatest  Number  of  Hands  Em- 
ployed at  any  onetime  during 
the  Year. 

Average  Number  of 
Hands  Employed. 

Total  Amount  Paid  in  Wages 
dunug  the  Year. 

Materials. 

Products. 

1 

o 

» 

> 

1 

1 

Females  above  15  Years. 

Children  and  Youths. 

2886 

$45,385,785 

32,080 

4702 

2942 

516,714,917 

§68,154,990 

$104,383,587 

7 
3 
9 
3 

8 
7 
168 
10 
3 
184 
6 
6 
11 
14 
195 
45 
25 
185 
8 
3 
39 
7 
100 
13 
6 
5 
31 
78 
3 
14 
3 
3 

9 
15 
5 
8 
7 
10 
3 
6 
24 
4 
3 
54 
5 
3 
3 
5 
6 
8 
10 
9 
3 
4 
10 
4 
17 
6 
4 
8 
3 
7 
7 
17 
3 
4 
5 
17 
19 
9 
3 
45 
56 
8 
20 

8434,000 
3G,t  .00 
127,200 
370,<M>0 
88,250 
111,700 
9,1115 
224,745 
132,500 
12,000 
•      679,ii30 
57,550 
2l,5(K) 
4»,600 
186,100 
719,070 
727,250 
95,175 
361,840 
350 
126,000 
740,050 
314,200 
1,361,335 
140,800 
230,000 
30,500 
307,560 
493,295 
3,5(K) 
12,875 
720 
625,500 
4,000 
6.900 
696,000 
16,450 
17,000 
9,ci75 
72,100 
1-Z,200 
38,900 
2,067,500 
17,100 
31,500 
920,702 
280.000 
11,000 
13,000 
34,350 
48,260 
17.UOO 
210,150 
60,400 
0,000 
54,li(iO 
5,960,()00 
236,000 
2,402,.r>oo 
23,400 
34,000 
52,000 
10,300 
291,  BOO 
69,260 
123,460 
54,OoO 
64.500 
71,500 
5,325 
323,900 
272,350 
620.HOO 
888,7  H 
237,8*5 
21,750 
26,725 

600 
85 
259 
551 
110 
100 
14 
461 
278 
14 
1410 
97 
155 
98 
172 
1215 
1235 
328 
2228 
3 
203 
1300 
704 
3612 
656 
119 
33 
569 
1217 
21 
89 
8 
444 
21 
9 
317 
•20 
41 
20 
53 
25 
46 
712 
18 
47 
1315 

""£» 

83 
64 
21 
32 
156 
145 
12 
22 
2208 
178 
1876 
48 
H4 
66 
18 
205 
50 
120 
17 
49 
1'22 
18 
280 
418 
194 
1730 
7-25 
90 
411 

443 
9 
47 
149 
12 
48 
13 
343 
148 
13 
658 
51 
27 
80 
149 
614 
787 
117 
1098 
2 
189 
1012 
601 
1191 
75 
90 
•23 
207 
860 
9 
37 
2 
110 
20 
5 
216 
17 
29 
14 
47 
22 
35 
654 
13 
38 
1044 
395 
16 
29 
24 
20 
6 
111 
49 

22 
2158 
1'23 
1717 
34 
44 
55 
12 
180 
40 
M 
16 
33 
94 
18 
129 
880 
11!) 
16*4 
473 
50 
'242 

"*60 
165 
161 

30 
26 

6 

16 
5 
76 
42 
10 

1190,179 
25,450 
5  1,«50 
150.216 
29,700 
39,714 
6,140 
188,954 
80,700 
7.052 
425,004 
34,100 
23,300 
33,601 
70,087 
312,913 
307,581 
83,349 
667,9iiO 
150 
91,0:i8 
447,831 
29  1,384 
779.90  S 
119,775 
41,840 
12,530 
159,619 
377,056 
6,200 
16,4-23 
1,450 
86,3*5 
9,596 
4,184 
123,940 
0,950 
12,725 
7,165 
25,050 
11,350 
17,142 
488,109 
4,800 
11,014 
511,1115 
261.098 
9,450 
18,01'C 
13,220 
9,150 
7.375 
51,321 
42,805 
3,508 
12,700 
610,575 
00,498 
1,0:55,424 
20,700 
17,8aO 
37,600 
7.868 
74.139 
10,595 
39,101 
7,250 
13.WK1 
51.205 
8,514 
80.251 
152,009 
72,080 
735>92 
237,207 
24,9:14 
122,636 

$478.140 
66.000 
249,185 
545,900 
174,800 
182,900 
3,960 
201,598 
105,000 
17,4(10 
884,812 
47,700 
45.KOO 
75,430 
395,275 
1.672.X43 
196.588 
149,770 
1,585,094 
900 
134,440 
811,805 
732.400 
1,895,342 
238,700 
391,500 
109.200 
774,790 
798,202 
12,(  HID 
33,250 
2,410 
318,156 
8,450 
6,700 
665,305 
2,650 
9,420 
10,750 
62,500 
1,370 
7.870 
11,900,553 
11,375 
54,902 
1,082,825 
238,1190 
7,100 
19,000 
41,575 
00,220 
19,350 
102,250 
77,740 
7,290 
35,725 
2,823,058 
301,9:57 
1,589,415 
25,300 
31,800 
98,000 
10,1)10 
370,540 
240,7117 
299,920 
14,41)1 
32,9^5 
83,344 
4,970 
102.X26 
502,742 
251.000 
995,429 
245,707 
75,430 
168,130 

$856,430 
1  47,250 
388,940 
807.31)5 
231.500 
323.500 
18,020 
610,909 
257,087 
29.200 
1,0:54,594 
105,600 
01,  MM 
140,400 
570,450 
2,575.350 
700,942 
2*1,280 
3,005,411 
6,100 
264,600 
1,014,236 
1,100,809 
3,425.107 
483.000 
608.00*) 
157,390 
1,158,185 
1,431,405 
24,000 
67,004 
6,400 
453,-295 
24,400 
33,400 
1,160,743 
23,000 
43,200 
30,000 
120,900 
21,070 
34,300 
13,759,0-28 
30,840 
123,250 
1,1)79,083 
597,277 
27,000 
40.000 
73.800 
107,300 
40,7<K) 
18«,802 
177..f>31 
10,2:!4 
81,450 
3,950,5:50 
49:5,500 
3,520,815 
03,400 
07,010 
189,500 
25,500 
519.300 
282,417 
:!'.i!),!)03 
39,292 
G.V200 
214989 
<i4,714 
20S,Ox2 
750,930 
412,000 
2,221,455 
707,721 
135.300 
390,000 

'"as 

6 

7 

217 
22 
44 

'"57 
""2 

197 
11 
19 
2 
8 
68 
153 
110 
8 

Boxes,  wooden,  packing  

Bread,  crackers,  and  other  bakery  products  

'""s 

io52 
451 
2 
4 
185 

""3 

171 

""3 
57 
6 
1 
....„ 

3 
51 

"'12 
30 
4 

'"21 

88 
1 
40 

"iiw 
....„ 

28 
1 
2 
1 
3 
2 

Coffins,  liurinl-cases,  and  undertakers'  goods  

Files              

1 

2 

Fniit.s  iinil  vegetables,  canned  and  preserved  

8 
11 
...... 

1 

68 
220 

Glass    

35 

4 
4 

Glue     

23 
'"82 

""'i 

4 

Ink                   

110 
14 

20 
5 

7 

Lamps  ami  reflectors  

10 

Leather,  binned  

3 

7 

6 

17 

Looking-glass  and  picture  frames  

1 
2 

22 
22 

19 

8 
18 
10 

1340 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


CENSUS  RETURNS  OF   ST.  LOUIS   PRODUCTIONS  IN  1880.—  Continued. 

MECHANICAL  AND  MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRIES. 

Number  of  Establishments. 

3 

"R 

a 

Greatest  Number  of  Hands  Em- 
ployed at  any  one  time  during 
the  Year. 

Males  above  16  Years.  g  |" 

B  g 

F(5 

Females  above  15  Years. 

JLs 

<§£ 
Children  and  Youths.  g,i 

Total  Amount  Paid  in  Wages 
during  the  Year. 

Materials. 

Products  . 

32 
10 
3 
8 
3 
7 
3 
13 
119 
24 
25 
3 
48 
61 
101 
9 
3 
5 
92 
12 
17 
4 
15 
6 
6 
120 
21 
201 
14 
4 
18 
3 
14 
17 
52 
4 
3 
8 
18 
80 

81,243,000 
87,100 
11,700 
60,000 
10,600 
21,350 
96,000 
1,688,350 
369,945 
1,383,200 
86,050 
48,200 
55,650 
115,775 
2,480,060 
529,850 
28,700 
58,700 
1,370,350 
586,195 
122,100 
23,000 
718,927 
4,750 
34,500 
418,325 
1,146,200 
272,925 
105,500 
1,400 
209,025 
26,500 
249,650 
36,250 
51,950 
1,260 
380,000 
470,500 
28,725 
5,458,388 

1095 
135 
11 
15 
14 
22 
29 
608 
1416 
326 
95 
167 
277 
368 
2541 
143 
117 
102 
1477 
804 
454 
86 
310 
14 
58 
706 
1802 
825 
168 
6 
80 
13 
145 
21 
148 
12 
31 
690 
51 
3268 

564 
89 
10 
10 
9 
19 
25 
522 
863 
198 
59 
58 
144 
239 
1978 
109 
86 
75 
1143 
661 
52 
74 
253 
11 
31 
508 
763 
576 
156 
3 
48 
10 
115 
19 
110 
11 
30 
597 
42 
2324 

...... 

20 
25 

$269,763 
39,846 
6,400 
5,350 
6,000 
'     10,398 
13,050 
250,532 
393,932 
134,696 
43,130 
41,999 
83,753 
;i26,099 
1,239,299 
65,900 
42,950 
48,000 
533,442 
275,321 
84,416 
28,499 
95,561 
5,925 
16,090 
227,546 

87,085,909 
48,000 
1,420 
8,775 
5,200 
8,060 
505,750 
2,196,480 
549,654 
482,235 
48,950 
134,200 
48,191 
214,958 
1,249,094 
701  ,570 
183,300 
81.900 
1,382,074 
669,871 
127,100 
11,750 
1,262,701 
5,565 
19,985 
553,208 
3,950,956 
312,725 
205,775 
1,150 
62,100 
35,000 
296,000 
13,175 
42,a32 
8,960 
52,000 
704,300 
20,045 
8,756,728 

$8,424,064 
173,000 
16,400 
28,250 
16,600 
27,200 
539,000 
2,570,860 
l,255,-,5-> 
1,145,090 
170.094 
211,200 
215,100 
494,fi83 
3,668,287 
926,750 
309,500 
177,800 
2,364.858 
1,191,670 
278,700 
89,100 
1,607,541 
21,425 
46,430 
1,095,959 
4,813,76'J 
888,093 
340,560 
4,370 
148,727 
54,600 
572,400 
39,740 
140,121 
17,414 
131,000 
1,251,050 
84.207 
11,729,196 

Musical  instruments  and  materials,  not  specified 
Musical  instruments,  organs  and  materials  

1 

1 

Oil,  lard  

Paints  

10 
15 

87 
18 
25 

4 
18 
13 
6 
25 

Photographing  

Pickles,  preserves,  and  sauces  

Plumbing  and  gas-  fitting  

'175 

7 
117 
2 
15 

Printing  and  publishing  

Roofing  and  roofing  materials  

Saddlery  and  harness  

4 

"274 
4 

2 

'"is 

146 
6 

72 
43 

1 
2 
2 
10 
62 
325 
72 
8 

Shirts  

Tobacco,  chewing,  smoking,  and  snuff.  

402,959 
265,967 
73,125 
1,020 
20.850 
8,962 
69,520 
9,367 
47,598 
4,639 
18,830 
277,670 
19,183 
1,145,190 

Trunks  and  valises  

Umbrellas  and  canes  

Upholstering  

4 

6 

Varnish  

Vinegar  

12 

4 

1 
3 

Watch  and  clock  repairing  

Whips  

Wine  

Wire-work  

4 
"326 

76 
2 
233 

Wood,  turned  and  carved  

1  The  eighty  establishments  classed  as  "  miscellaneous  industries"  are  grouped  in  order  that  the  business  of  individual  establishments  may 
not  be  disclosed  to  the  public.  In  this  group  are  embraced  artificial  limbs;  Babbitt-metal  and  solder;  bags,  other  than  paper;  belting  and  hose, 
leather;  billiard-tables  and  materials;  bluing;  bone-,  ivory-,  and  lamp-black ;  bridges;  carriages  and  sleds,  children's;  cordials  and  syrups;  cork- 
cutting;  explosives  and  fireworks;  fertilizers;  flavoring  extracts;  furniture;  chairs;  furs,  dressed;  iron-forgings;  ice,  patent  process;  jewelry 
and  instrument  cases;  lard,  refined;  lead,  bar,  pipe,  sheet,  and  shot;  malt  ;  mantels,  slate,  marble,  and  marbleized;  oil,  animal;  nil,  castor;  oil, 
cotton-seed;  oil,  lubricating;  paving  materials;  perfumery  and  cosmetics;  photographic  apparatus ;  plated  and  Britannia  ware ;  regalias  and  society 
banners  and  emblems;  safes,  doors,  and  vaults,  fire-proof ;  saws;  silk  and  silk  goods;  silver*inithing;  sporting  goods;  stamped-ware;  stationery 
goods;  steam-fittings  and  heating  apparatus;  stereotyping  and  electrotyping;  sugar  and  molasses,  refined;  surgical  appliances;  tar  and  turpen- 
tine; telegraph  and  telephone  apparatus;  terra-cotta  ware;  toys  and  games;  type-founding;  upholstering  materials;  washing-machines  and 
clothes-wringers;  watch-cases;  window-blinds  and  shades;  wire;  wooden-ware;  woolen  goods. 


Information  derived  from  the  United  States  Census 
Bureau  as  late  as  December,  1882,  gives  the  following 
as  the  proper  figures  in  regard  to  the  manufactures  of 
St.  Louis : 

Number  of  establishments 2,922 

Capital  employed 850,672,885 

Number  of  males  employed  above  sixteen  years 

of  age 33,948 

Number  of  females  employed  above  fifteen  years 

of  age " 4,761 

Number  of  children  and  youths  employed 3,079 

Amount  paid  in  wages $17,713,532 

"  for  materials 75,068,467 

Value  of  products 113,874,875 


CHAPTER    XXXI. 

COMMERCIAL   EXCHANGES. 

Chamber  of  Commerce  and  Merchants'  Ex- 
change.— The  first  movement  for  the  formation  of  a 
merchants'  association  in  St.  Louis  was  made  in  the 
summer  of  1836,  and  the  original  organization  was  ef- 
fected at  a  meeting  of  "  merchants  and  traders,"  held 
at  the  office  of  the  Missouri  Insurance  Company,  on 
the  15th  of  July  in  that  year.  Edward  Tracy  was 
chairman,  and  Daniel  Lamont  acted  as  secretary. 
Preliminary  meetings  had  already  been  held,  and  the 
record  of  the  proceedings  having  been  read,  the  com- 
mittee appointed  to  draft  a  constitution  and  by-laws 


COMMERCIAL   EXCHANGES. 


1341 


reported  through  their  chairman,  George  K.  McGun- 
negle.  After  the  report  had  been  read  and  considered 
it  was  unanimously  adopted.  The  meeting  then  pro- 
ceeded to  the  election  of  officers,  and  the  following 
were  chosen  :  President,  Edward  Tracy  ;  Vice-Presi- 
dent, Henry  Von  Phul ;  Secretary  and  Treasurer, 
John  Ford  ;  Annual  Committee  of  Appeals,  George 
K.  McGunnegle,  William  Glasgow,  John  W.  Keel, 
J.  P.  Doan,  John  Walsh,  Daniel  Lament ;  Commit- 
tee for  the  month  of  July,  E.  H.  Beebe,  Wayman 
Crow,  C.  Doan,  G.  Erskine,  W.  Finuey. 

The  association  was  styled  the  "  St.  Louis  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce,"  and  its  rules,  as  adopted  at  the 
first  meeting,  provided  for  the  following  fees  and  com- 
missions : 

"  RULE  8.  The  fees  of  arbitration  under  the  sanction  of  this 
Chamber  shall  be  as  follows: 

For  each  award  over  $100  to  $500 $7.50 

"              500  to  1000 10.00 

1000  to  1500 15.00 

"             1500  to  2500 20.00 

"              "             2500...,                              ,  25.00 


rifl'  of  charges,  etc.,  established  by  the  Chamber  of  Com- 
of  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  and  recommended  for  general 
adoption  when  no  agreement  exists  to  the  contrary  : 

Commissions.  Per  cent. 

On  sales  of  merchandise  or  produce  ...............................     5 

On  sales  of  lead  .........................................................     2J 

On  guarantee  of  sales  on  time  .......................................     2J 

For  purchasing  and  shipping  merchandise  or  produce,  with 
funds  on  hand,  on  the  aggregate  cost  and  charges  .........     2^ 

For  accepting  drafts  or  indorsing  notes  or  bills  of  ex- 
change, without  funds,  produce,  or  bills  of  lading  in 
hand  ..................................................................... 


For  cash  advances,  in  all  cases,  even  with  produce  or  bills 

of  lading  (and  interest  from  date)  ............................. 

For  shipping  to  another  market  produce  or  merchandise 

upon  which  advances  have  been  made  ........................ 

For  negotiating  drafts  or  notes  as  drawer  or  indorser  ........ 

On  sale  or  purchase  of  stocks  .................................  ...... 

On  sale  or  purchase  of  boats,  without  guarantee  ............... 

For  procuring  freight,  on  the  amount  of  freight  ............... 

For  chartering  boats  ................................................... 

For  collecting  freights  or  accounts  ................................. 

For  collecting  delayed  or  litigated  accounts  ..................... 

For  collecting  dividends  on  stocks  ................................. 

For  adjusting  insurance  losses  ...................................... 

For  receiving  and  remitting  moneys  from  which  no  other 

remuneration  is  derived  ............................................ 

For  effecting  insurance,  when  the  premium  amounts  to  forty 

dollars  or  less  ......................................................... 

For  effecting  insurance,  when  the  premium  exceeds  forty 

dollars  on  the  amount  of  premium  .............................. 

On  outfits  and  disbursements  ........................................ 


2J 


2J 


"  The  above  commissions  to  be  exclusive  of  storage,  brokerage, 
and  every  other  charge  actually  incurred.  The  risk  of  loss  by 
fire,  unless  insurance  be  ordered,  and  of  robbery,  theft,  and 
other  unavoidable  occurrences,  if  the  usual  care  be  taken  to  se- 
cure the  property,  in  all  cases  to  be  borne  by  the  proprietors  of 
the  goods. 

"  Interest  to  be  charged  at  the  rate  of  ten  per  cent,  per  annum 
sill  debts  after  maturity  until  paid. 

Agency  for  Steamboats.  Per  Trip.  . 

Under  150  tons  ........................................  $10 

Over  150  and  less  than  300  tons  ..................     20 

Over  300  and  less  than  400  ........................      25 

Over  400  and  upwards  ..............................     30" 


The  meetings  continued  to  be  held  in  the  office  of 
the  Missouri  Insurance  Company  until  the  member- 
ship had  increased  to  such  proportions  that  the  ac- 
commodations became  inadequate,  whereupon  the  as- 
sociation removed  to  the  building  occupied  by  the 
Missouri  Republican,  on  Main  Street  near  Pine.  In 
the  following  winter  George  K.  McGunnegle,  one  of 
the  leading  originators,  obtained  from  the  General 
Assembly  of  Missouri,  of  which  he  was  a  member,  the 
following  act  of  incorporation  : 

"Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Mis- 
souri, as  folloiot  : 

"SECTION  1.  That  the  persons  composing  the  association  in 
the  city  of  St.  Louis  styled  the  'St.  Louis  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce' are  hereby  created  a  body  politic  and  corporate  under 
the  name  of  the  'St.  Louis  Chamber  of  Commerce,'  and  by  that 
name  may  sue  and  be  sued,  implead  and  be  impleaded,  receive 
and  hold  property  and  effects,  real  and  personal,  by  gift,  or  de- 
mise, or  purchase,  and  dispose  of  the  same  by  sale,  lease,  or 
otherwise;  said  property  so  held  not  to  exceed  at  any  one  time 
the  sum  of  twenty  thousand  dollars;  may  have  a  common  seal, 
and  alter  the  same  from  time  to  time,  and  make  such  rules, 
regulations,  and  by-laws  as  may  be  within  the  scope  of  their 
association  and  not  contrary  to  the  laws  of  the  land. 

"SEC.  2.  That  the  rules  and  by-laws  of  the  said  associa- 
tion shall  be  the  rules  and  by-laws  of  the  corporation  hereby 
created  until  the  same  shall  be  regularly  repealed  or  altered, 
and  that  the  present  officers  of  said  association  shall  be  officers 
of  the  corporation  hereby  created  until  their  respective  offices 
shall  regularly  expire  or  be  vacated. 

"Approved,  January  9,  1837." 

In  December,  1837,  the  following  persons  were  the 
officers : 

Edward  Tracy,  president ;  Henry  Von  Phul.  vice- 
president  ;  John  Ford,  secretary  and  treasurer ;  Com- 
mittee of  Appeals,  William  Glasgow,  John  W.  Reel, 
T.  L.  Doan,  Augustus  Kerr,  George  K.  McGunnegle, 
George  Collier;  Monthly  Committee  on  Arbitration  for 
December,  J.  M.  Corse,  T.  D.  Fontaine,  Alfred  Tracy, 
Stephen  Gore,  James  L.  Lane. 

On  the  23d  of  December  of  the  same  year  the 
proprietors  of  the  Republican  announced  that, — 

"At  the  solicitation  of  a  large  number  of  merchants  and 
business  men  of  the  city,  we  have  issued  a  prospectus  for  open- 
ing an  exchange  and  news-room,  which  may  be  seen  at  all  the 
principal  book-stores,  hotels,  and  in  the  hands  of  several  gentle- 
men of  the  city.  We  contemplate  opening  the  rooms  in  Janu- 
ary next.  Our  arrangements  for  the  receipt  of  papers,  period- 
icals, magazines,  etc.,  will  not  be  complete  by  that  time,  but  will 
be  perfected  as  soon  as  the  speed  and  regularity  of  the  mails 
will  admit.  Our  object  is  not  revenue  alone :  we  hope  by  this 
to  benefit  the  community  and  extend  the  usefulness  and  circula- 
tion of  our  paper,  and  it  now  remains  with  the  public  to  see 
whether  they  are  willing  to  sustain  such  an  institution.  The 
exchange  room  will  be  opened  to  the  public  generally,  and  will  be 
furnished  as  is  usual  to  furnish  such  apartments.  The  reading- 
room  will  be  supplied  with  all  the  principal  newspapers  of  the 
United  States,  without  regard  to  politics,  and  the  principal 
standard  literary  reviews,  magazines,  and  periodicals,  properly 
arranged." 


1342 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


In  February,  1838,  the  Republican  added, — 

"  The  exchange  rooms  will  be  free  to  the  public  at  all  times, 
except  when  occupied  by  the  Chamber  of  Commerce.  The 
reading-room  will  be  open  only  to  subscribers,  or  to  such 
persons  as  they  may  introduce,  not  being  resident  of  the  city, 
to  the  transient  officers  of  the  United  States  and  State  govern- 
ments, to  the  captains,  clerks,  and  officers  of  steamboats,  to  the 
subscribers  of  the  Republican,  not  residents  of  the  city,  and 
such  persons  as  the  proprietors  may  think  proper  to  per- 
mit. Merchants  will  be  at  liberty  to  introduce  their  clerks, 
and  mechanics  their  apprentices:  keepers  of  hotels  and  board- 
ing-bouses, who  may  become  subscribers,  will  be  permitted  to 
introduce  their  transient  guests.  The  price  has  been  estab- 
lished at  $10  for  a  single  subscriber,  $15  for  a  firm  of  two  per- 
sons, and  $20  for  a  firm  of  three  or  more,  payable  half-yearly 
in  advance.  No  subscription  will  be  received  for  less  than  a 
year. 

"  We  have  received  the  following  flattering  notice  from  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  : 

"'CHAMBER  OP  COMMERCE, 
'"Sx.  Louis,  Jan.  5,  1838. 

" '  At  a  meeting  of  the  members  of  the  St.  Louis  Chamber  of 
Commerce,  held  on  the  28th  uU.,  the  following  resolution  was 
adopted  and  ordered  to  be  published  : 

'"Resolved,  That  this  Chamber,  purporting  to  represent  the 
mercantile  and  trading  interests  of  this  community,  cordially 
recommend  to  the  individuals  composing  this  body  to  give  their 
hearty  co-operation  in  carrying  out  the  views  of  Messrs.  Cham- 
bers, Evans  <fc  Knapp  in  establishing  a  "  Merchants'  Exchange 
and  News-Room,"  and  that  this  body  also  respectfully  recom- 
mend to  their  fellow-citizens  generally,  who  are  not  members  of 
this  Chamber,  to  lend  their  moral  and  pecuniary  aid  in  carry- 
ing the  plan  of  the  proprietors  into  complete  effect. 
"  '  By  order  of  the  Chamber, 

"  JOHN  FORD,  Sec." 

On  the  1st  of  January,  1839,  the  annual  election 
of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  was  held  at  the  office 
of  the  St.  Louis  Perpetual  Insurance  Company,  and 
the  following  officers  were  elected  :  Edward  Tracy, 
president ;  Henry  Von  Phul,  vice-president ;  John 
Ford,  treasurer  and  secretary  ;  William  Glasgow,  John 
W.  Reel,  T.  P.  Doan,  Augustus  Kcrr,  George  K. 
McGunneglc,  and  George  Collier,  committee  of  ap- 
peals;  Charles  P.  Billon,  Joseph  Charless,  John  D. 
Daggett,  John  H.  Gay,  and  William  Hempstead, 
monthly  committee  on  arbitration  for  January. 

The  first  proposition  for  the  erection  of  a  Mer- 
chants' Exchange  building  was  made  by  a  writer  in 
the  St.  Louis  Bulletinof  Oct.  5,  1838,  who  suggested 
that  the  erection  of  such  a  building  might  be  effected 
by  a  union  of  the  insurance  companies.  No  action 
seems  to  have  been  taken  in  the  matter,  although  the 
Republican  of  November  2d  stated  that  the  propo- 
sition had  been  "  favorably  responded  to  by  a  majority 
of  those  interested."  The  meetings  of  the  Chamber 
were  held  for  some  time  in  the  Republican  building, 
and  afterwards  in  the  basement  of  the  Unitarian 
Church,  at  the  northwest  corner  of  Pine  and  Fourth 
Streets.  The  Merchants'  News-Room,  in  October, 


1838,  was  situated  at  No.  45  Main  Street,  immedi- 
ately under  the  Republican  office,  and  it  was  an- 
nounced (October  17th)  that  "  for  the  remainder  of 
the  season  the  Exchange  and  News-Room  will  be 
regularly  lighted  from  sundown  until  between  nine 
and  ten  o'clock."  The  germ  of  the  present  exchange 
system  was  developed  in  the  fall  of  this  year  by  a 
suggestion  in  the  Evening  Gazette,  which  was  in- 
dorsed in  the  Republican  of  October  23d,  to  the 
effect  that  the  merchants  should  assemble  at  regular 
hours  for  the  transaction  of  any  business  that  they 
might  have  with  one  another.  "  We  think  the  idea 
a  good  one,"  remarked  the  Republican.  "  If  a  certain 
hour  is  established  for  'Change,  say  twelve  or  one 
o'clock  in  the  day,  every  merchant  having  business  to 
do  with  another  would  know  where  and  when  he 
could  be  found."  The  officers  of  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  in  February,  1839,  were  Edward  Tracy, 
president;  Henry  Von  Phul,  vice-president ;  Daniel 
Hough,  secretary  and  treasurer ;  William  Glasgow, 
George  Collier,  Augustus  Herr,  J.  P.  Doan,  George 
K.  McGunnegle,  John  Walsh,  committee  of  appeals ; 
Committee  of  Arbitration  for  February,  Charles  F. 
Henry,  John  Lee,  N.  E.  Janney,  A.  Mieur,  A. 
Ricketson. 

The  subject  of  erecting  an  Exchange  building  was 
revived  in  the  spring  of  1839,  and  on  the  22d  of 
April  a  meeting  was  held  at  the  Merchants'  Exchange 
and  News-Room  for  the  purpose  of  taking  formal  action 
in  the  premises.  On  motion  of  Col.  Rene  Paul,  the 
meeting  was  organized  by  the  appointment  of  Henry 
S.  Coxe  as  president,  and  William  G.  Pettus  as  sec- 
retary. 

The  object  of  the  meeting  having  been  explained 
by  Col.  Rene  Paul  and  A.  B.  Chambers,  the  follow- 
ing resolutions  were  submitted  by  Mr.  Chambers,  and, 
after  two  slight  amendments  had  been  agreed  to,  were 
unanimously  adopted : 

"  1.  Resolved,  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  meeting  that  an 
Exchange  building  should  be  erected  in  this  city,  and  that  the 
business  of  the  city  and  its  commerce  require  the  immediate 
commencement  of  the  work. 

"2.  Resolred,  That  we  approve  of  the  plan  submitted  to  the 
consideration  of  this  meeting  of  a  union  of  the  city  authori- 
ties, insurance  companies,  brokers,  societies',  and  individuals  in 
the  erection  of  this  building,  and  earnestly  commend  the  same 
to  the  consideration  of  the  mayor  and  City  Council  and  of  the 
citizens  generally. 

"  3.  Revolved,  That  a  committee  of  persons  be  appointed 
to  prepare  a  report  of  the  plan  submitted,  or  any  other  plan, 
with  such  additions  and  illustrations  as  may  contribute  to  a 
perfect  understanding  of  the  same,  and  that  they  cause  the 
satire  to  be  printed,  with  the  charter  of  the  Exchange  Company, 
and  submitted  to  the  consideration  of  the  persons,  companies, 
anil  societies  embraced  in  this  plan,  and  request  their  early 
action  upon  it. 


COMMERCIAL   EXCHANGES. 


1343 


"  4.  Retained,  That  the  city  authorities,  the  insurance  compa- 
nies, other  societies,  brokers,  and  individuals  be  respectfully  re- 
quested to  confer  with  the  committee  appointed  by  this  meet- 
ing, and  signify  to  them  their  decision  upon  the  plan  which 
shall  be  submitted. 

"  5.  Iteaolcefl,  That  whenever  the  committee  appointed  by  this 
meeting  shall  have  ascertained  that  a  sufficient  amount  of  stock 
will  be  taken  to  secure  the  erection  and  completion  of  the  build- 
ing, they  shall  request  the  commissioners  named  in  the  charter 
of  the  Exchange  Company  to  open  the  books  for  the  stock  of 
the  same." 

On  motion  of  John  D.  Daggett,  the  blank  in  the 
third  resolution  was  filled  with  "  seven,"  and  it  was 
decided  that  the  president  appoint  the  committee. 

The  president  appointed  the  following  gentlemen  on 
the  committee,  viz. :  John  D.  Daggett,  Rene  Paul,  Na- 
thaniel Paschall,  Adam  B.  Chambers,  John  B.  Camden, 
William  Glasgow,  and  Edward  Tracy. 

In  1840,  Edward  Tracy,  who  had  been  president 
of  the  Chamber  from  its  organization,  prompted  by  a 
nice  sense  of  mercantile  honor,  arising  from  the  fact 
that  he  was  then  involved  in  mercantile  embarrass- 
ments, resigned.  The  members  declined  to  accept 
his  resignation,  but  Mr.  Tracy  having  refused  to 
withdraw  it,  Henry  Von  Phul,  who  had  been  vice- 
president  from  the  beginning,  was  chosen  by  acclama- 
tion. He  declined,  however,  to  serve,  and  Wayman 
Crow  was  elected,  serving  from  1841  to  October,  1849, 
with  George  K.  McGunnegleas  vice-president.  Dur- 
ing Mr.  Crow's  term  of  office  the  secretaries  were  Daniel 
Hough,  F.  L.  Ridgely,  and  Edward  Barry.  In  Sep- 
tember, 1842,  the  officers  were  Wayman  Crow,  presi- 
dent ;  George  K.  McGunnegle,  vice-president ;  F.  L. 
Ridgely,  secretary  and  treasurer ;  Committee  of  Ap- 
peals for  1842,  John  D.  Daggett,  N.  E.  January,  H. 
L.  Hoffman,  John  Stagg,  George  K.  Budd,  William 
Glasgow ;  Committee  of  Arbitration  for  September, 
Benjamin  Clapp,  C.  F.  Hendry,  A.  Kerr,  J.  G.  Lin- 
dell,  and  Joseph  S.  Pease. 

The  officers  in  May,  1844,  were  Wayman  Crow, 
president;  G.  K.  McGunnegle,  vice-president;  F.  L. 
Ridgely,  secretary  and  treasurer;  Committee  of  Ap- 
peals for  1844,  George  K.  Budd,  Edward  Brooks, 
Henry  Von  Phul,  J.  S.  Thompson,  John  Simonds, 
P.  G.  Camden ;  Committee  of  Arbitration  for  May, 
J.  C.  Abbott,  W.  G.  Haun,  A.  Meier,  Charles  I.  j 
Tucker,  Charles  T.  Wheeler. 

The  project  for  the  erection  of  an  Exchange  build- 
ing appears  to  have  lain  dormant  until  July,  1847,  on 
the  21st  of  which  month  it  was  announced  that  "  two 
gentlemen  of  the  city"  had  purchased  "the  property 
owned  by  the  Baptist  Society  at  the  corner  of  Chest- 
nut and  Third  Streets,  with  the  intention  of  erecting 
an  Exchange  building  upon  it."  The  ground  extended 
seventy  feet  upon  Third  Street  and  ninety  upon  Chest- 


nut. On  the  3d  of  January,  1848,  books  were  opened 
for  subscriptions  to  the  capital  stock  of  a  company 
then  about  to  be  organized  for  the  erection  of  an 
Exchange,  and  on  the  20th  of  May  following  the 
fact  was  noted  that  the  proposition  had  progressed  so 
far  that  a  lot  on  Fifth  Street,  "  in  the  central  part  of 
the  city,"  had  been  secured,  and  subscriptions  to  the 
stock  were  "  rapidly  filling  up." 

In  the  spring  of  1848  an  Exchange  was  established 
in  connection  with  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  where 
merchants  met  regularly  to  interchange  views  and 
transact  business.  The  enterprise  met  with  general 
support  and  favor,  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  busi- 
ness men  subscribing  to  it.  Rooms  were  secured  on 
the  northeast  corner  of  Main  and  Olive  Streets,  up- 
stairs, and  fitted  up  for  the  purposes  of  the  Exchange. 
Edward  Barry  was  appointed  secretary,  and  the  rooms 
were  supplied  with  newspapers,  price-currents,  etc., 
and  telegraphic  dispatches  giving  the  state  of  the 
market  up  to  twelve  o'clock  noon  in  all  the  Atlan- 
tic and  Southern  cities.  The  subscription  price  was 
ten  dollars  per  annum,  and  subscribers  possessed  the 
privilege  of  introducing  strangers  and  non-residents 
into  the  Exchange  and  reading-rooms.  On  the  14th 
of  May,  1849,  it  was  announced  that  another  effort 
was  about  to  be  made  for  the  organization  of  a 
Merchants'  Exchange.  At  a  special  meeting  of  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  held  on  the  llth  of  September, 
1849,  George  K.  McGunnegle,  vice-president,  stated 
that  it  had  been  called  to  take  into  consideration  the 
establishment  of  a  Merchants'  Exchange  and  the  pro- 
curing of  rooms  which  would  answer  that  purpose  for 
the  present,  with  the  ulterior  view  of  erecting  an  edi- 
fice suitable  to  the  object.  After  some  discussion  the 
matter  was  referred  to  a  committee,  of  which  James 
E.  Yeatman  was  chairman.  On  the  17th  of  Septem- 
ber the  committee  reported  that  it  was  impracticable 
at  that  time  to  build  a  Merchants'  Exchange,  and  rec- 
ommended the  leasing  of  the  second  floor  of  the  build- 
ing owned  by  Mr.  Charless,  next  door  to  the  corner 
of  Main  and  Olive  Streets.  The  report  was  adopted, 
and  a  committee  appointed  for  the  purpose  of  estab- 
lishing a  Merchants'  Exchange.  On  the  27th  of  De- 
cember following  it  was  announced  that  the  rooms  in- 
tended for  the  use  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  and 
of  the  merchants  generally  had  been  completed.  They 
were  located  in  the  second  story  of  the  building  occu- 
pied by  Charless  &  Blow.  A  meeting  of  merchants 
and  other  subscribers  to  the  new  Exchange  was  held 
in  tljeir  new  rooms  on  the  2d  of  January,  1850,  and 
the  rules  prescribing  the  terms  of  membership  and 
the  various  committees  and  for  the  regulation  of  busi- 
ness were  adopted.  A  resolution  was  also  adopted 


1344 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


that  the  Exchange  be  regularly  opened  at  the  hour  of 
eleven  o'clock  on  Monday,  January  7th,  and  that  the 
'Change  hour  be  from  eleven  to  twelve  o'clock  every 
day,  except  Sundays  and  holidays. 

Nearly  two  hundred  of  the  principal  merchants  of 
the  city  were  members  of  the  Exchange  and  Reading- 
Room,  at  an  annual  contribution  sufficient  to  cover  the 
expenses  of  the  establishment.  A  secretary  and  clerk 
were  employed,  whose  duty  it  was  to  keep  an  accurate 
record  of  the  state  of  the  market  in  St.  Louis  and 
other  important  cities,  procure  the  latest  accounts  of 
sales  and  other  information  calculated  to  influence 
commercial  transactions,  obtain  telegraphic  dispatches, 
and  keep  at  all  times,  as  far  as  practicable,  tables  of 
the  state  of  the  supply  and  demand  in  leading  articles 
of  the  St.  Louis  market. 

This  intelligence  was  kept  in  appropriate  books,  but 
was  only  open  to  the  inspection  of  members.  All 
persons  were  admitted  to  the  Exchange  room,  but  no 
resident  of  the  city,  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits, 
and  not  a  member  of  the  association,  was  permitted 
to  buy  or  sell  produce  or  merchandise  at  the  Exchange, 
or  avail  himself  of  the  information  which  was  col- 
lected for  the  use  of  members.  Non-residents  of  the 
city  might  be  introduced  by  any  member,  and  when  so 
introduced  had  free  access  to  the  privileges  of  the  Ex- 
change and  Reading- Room  for  a  limited  time.  Others 
not  resident  might  also  purchase  any  produce  or  mer- 
chandise offered  for  sale,  but  might  not  be  sellers. 
Manufacturers  and  mechanics  might  sell  their  com- 
modities without  the  necessity  of  membership.  Any 
person  of  any  profession  or  pursuit,  of  respectable 
standing,  could  become  a  member  by  subscribing  and 
paying  the  annual  charge  for  its  support,  and  auction- 
eers at  a  small  charge  obtained  the  privilege  of  selling 
stocks  and  real  estate  in  the  Exchange,  except  during 
the  'Change  hour. 

The  Merchants'  Exchange  and  Reading-Room  were 
open  to  members  at  all  times  (Sundays  and  holidays 
excepted)  from  seven  o'clock  A.M.  to  eight  o'clock  P.M. 
in  summer,  and  from  eight  o'clock  A.M.  to  nine  o'clock 
P.M.  in  winter,  commencing  the  1st  of  October  and 
ending  the  1st  of  March. 

The  commercial  year  was  considered  to  commence 
on  the  1st  of  September,  and  end  on  the  31st  of 
August  following. 

The  Merchants'  Exchange,  though  closely  allied 
with  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  conducted  in 
conjunction  with  it,  was  a  distinct  organization.  The 
Chamber  of  Commerce  controlled  the  affairs  of  ioth 
associations,  and  its  members  were  known  as  the 
"  voting  members."  The  Merchants'  Exchange  was 
composed  of  persons  who  simply  had  the  right  to 


transact  business  in  the  Exchange  rooms,  without  a 
vote  in  the  government. 

In  the  mean  time  the  millers  of  St.  Louis  had  or- 
ganized an  Exchange  of  their  own.  Previous  to  this 
action,  being  continually  in  the  market,  they  had  to 
go  on  the  Levee  and  sample  all  the  piles  of  wheat 
they  might  find,  and  then  wait  an  indefinite  time  for 
the  sellers  to  make  their  appearance,  some  of  whom 
might  be  there  ready  to  sell  by  ten  o'clock,  others  not 
before  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  Thus  the  millers 
were  from  day  to  day  from  four  to  six  hours  exposed 
the  year  round  to  all  kinds  of  weather  and  the  intol- 
erable dust  or  mud.  Having  suffered  from  exposure 
on  the  Levee  in  previous  years,  James  Waugh  and 
T.  A.  Buckland  determined  in  February,  1849,  to  call 
a  meeting  of  all  the  millers,  in  order  to  remedy  the 
inconvenience  and  exposure  in  transacting  their  busi- 
ness. With  that  in  view  they  wrote  a  request  to  each 
miller  in  the  city  to  meet  at  C.  L.  Tucker's  office. 
Theodore  Papin,  being  present,  agreed  to  deliver  the 
notices,  and  on  the  day  appointed  for  the  meeting 
they  were  greeted  with  the  presence  of  nearly  all  the 
mill-owners  in  the  city,  among  them  the  following : 
Gabriel  S.  Chouteau,  Joseph  C.  Shands,  John  Walsh, 

Robinson,  Joseph  Powell,  Mr.  Tibbits,  Dennis 

Marks,  George  P.  Plant,  Henry  Whittemore,  Alphonso 
Smith,  T.  A.  Buckland,  C.  L.  Tucker,  Henry  Pilk- 
ington,  James  Waugh. 

T.  A.  Buckland  was  called  upon  to  state  the  object 
of  the  meeting,  after  which  those  present  organized 
the  Millers'  Association  by  electing  the  following  di- 
rectors: Gabriel  S.  Chouteau,  John  Walsh,  Joseph 
Powell,  C.  L.  Tucker,  Dennis  Marks,  Mr.  Tibbits,  T. 
A.  Buckland,  and  James  Waugh,  with  Joseph  Pow- 
ell president,  and  C.  L.  Tucker  secretary.  The  board 
was  then  called  together  by  the  president,  and  after 
consultation  the  following  committee  was  appointed : 
Messrs.  Powell,  Marks,  and  Buckland,  with  instruc- 
tions to  rent  rooms  and  procure  the  necessary  tables 
and  other  furniture.  As  soon  as  the  rooms  were  ready 
the  merchants  were  invited  to  bring  to  them  samples 
of  any  produce  they  might  have  for  sale.  Thus 
about  the  1st  of  March,  1849,  the  Millers'  Exchange 
was  opened  over  Nos.  9  and  11  Locust  Street,  and  is 
said  to  have  been  the  first  Exchange  established  in  the 
United  States  for  the  buying  and  selling  of  produce. 
It  continued  for  two  years,  during  which  time  nearly 
all  the  produce  seeking  a  market  in  St.  Louis  was 
offered  for  sale.  When  the  merchants  established  a 
general  Exchange,  and  for  that  purpose  rented  rooms 
adjoining  the  corner  of  Main  and  Olive  Streets,  the 
millers  were  invited  to  join  them.  In  response  the 
millers  appointed  Messrs.  Marks,  Tibbits,  and  Buck- 


COMMERCIAL   EXCHANGES. 


1345 


land  to  confer  with  the  officers  of  the  Merchants'  Ex- 
change, and  at  the  conference  it  was  agreed  that  the 
secretary  of  the  Millers'  should  be  the  assistant  secre- 
tary of  the  Merchants'  Exchange,  with  which  ar- 
rangement the  Millers'  and  Merchants'  Exchanges 
were  united.1 

In  March,  1851,  the  following  officers  of  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  were  elected  :  President,  Wil- 
liam M.  Morrison ;  Vice-Presidents,  Alfred  Vinton, 
David  Tatum ;  Secretary  and  Treasurer,  Edward 
Barry  ;  Committee  of  Appeals,  T.  H.  Larkin,  J.  J. 
Roe,  Adolphus  Meier,  J.  D.  Osborne,  Dennis  Marks, 
George  Partridge,  P.  R.  McCreery,  R.  M.  Henning, 
Neree  Valle,  J.  H.  Alexander,  E.  M.  Ryland,  H.  T. 
Chiles ;  Committee  of  Arbitration  for  March,  John 

C.  Bull,  R.  M.  Funkhouser,  J.  T.  Chappell,  Alonzo 
Child,  Solon  Humphreys,  James  W.   Finley,  Henry 
Ames,  N.  Ranney,  Morris  Collins,  Robert  Barth,  J. 

D.  Houseman,  A.  W»  Fagin,  Henry  Whittemore. 

In  December,  1852,  the  following  gentlemen  were 
appointed  by  the  president  of  the  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce as  delegates  to  the  "  Commercial  Convention" 
held  in  Baltimore  on  the  18th  of  that  month  :  Joseph 
Stettinius,  P.  Herman,  W.  H.  Barksdale,  James  A. 
Bryan,  T.  J.  Homer,  William  Bennett,  Taylor  Blow, 
0.  Wales,  Thomas  M.  Taylor,  J.  D.  Houseman,  E. 
W.  Blatchford,  A.  J.  McCreery,  James  Christy,  W. 
Ballentine,  E.  Livermore,  John  Knapp,  William  Low, 
W.  S.  Gilman,  R.  K.  Woods,  Henry  White. 

The  project  of  erecting  a  building  for  the  Chamber 
of  Commerce  and  Exchange  was  again  revived  in 
1855,  and  with  better  success  than  had  attended  the 
previous  efforts  in  this  direction.  On  the  13th  of 
September  of  that  year,  on  motion  of  Hon.  Henry  T. 
Blow,  a  committee,  consisting  of  Henry  T.  Blow,  R. 
J.  Lackland,  Charles  P.  Chouteau,  A.  F.  Shapleigh, 
and  Thomas  E.  Tutt,  was  appointed  to  procure  a 
charter  for  an  Exchange  Building  Company,  to  solicit 
proposals  for  a  suitable  lot,  and  to  procure  plans  for  a 
building  for  an  Exchange.  On  the  15th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1855,  Edward  J.  Gay  and  Robert  Barth,  on  the 


1  In  his  address  at  the  opening  of  the  new  Exchange,  Dec.  21, 
1875,  Mr.  Wayman  Crow,  second  president  of  the  Chamber 
of  Commerce,  said,  "  The  Chamber  rented  the  commodious 
room  adjoining  the  St.  Louis  Insurance  Company  on  Main 
Street,  where  they  established  a  daily  reading-  and  assembly- 
room  with  convenient  arrangements.  Subsequently  they  in- 
vited the  Millers'  Exchange,  which  had  just  organized,  to  unite 
with  them  and  bring  samples  of  grain,  flour,  etc., '  on  'Change,' 
— an  important  step  of  progress,  for,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  this 
was  the  pioneer  Corn  Exchange  in  this  country,  our  Chamber 
taking  the  lead  in  thus  bringing  together  the  buyers  and  the 
sellers  with  their  samples  for  the  purpose  of  facilitating  their 
daily  intercourse  and  trade." 


part  of  and  representing  the  owners  of  property  on 
the  east  side  of  Main  Street,  between  Market  and 
Walnut  Streets,  submitted  a  proposition  for  the  erec- 
tion of  a  building  on  the  site  named,  fronting  one 
hundred  and  twenty-three  feet  on  Main  Street,  the 
second  story  to  be  appropriated  exclusively  for  the 
use  of  a  Merchants'  Exchange  hall,  at  a  rental  of  two 
thousand  five  hundred  dollars  per  annum  for  ten  years, 
and  at  a  meeting  held  on  the  24th  of  November, 

1855,  the  president  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce 
was  instructed  to  enter  into  a  lease  of  the  premises 
offered  by  Messrs,  Gay  and  Barth.     At  a  meeting  of 
the  stockholders  "  who  have  engaged  in  a  building  for 
a  Merchants'  Exchange  on  the  ground  recently  occu- 
pied by  the  Centre  Market,"  which  was  hejd  Jan.  5, 

1856,  the  following  trustees  were  chosen  :  James  H. 
Lucas,  George  R.  Taylor,  Louis  C.  Gamier,  Edward 
J.  Gay,  Neree  Valle",  Felix  Coste,  and  Lawrason  Riggs. 

A  resolution  was  also  passed  that  the  trustees  pro- 
ceed immediately  to  consummate  the  agreement  en- 
tered into  with  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  for  the 
leasing  of  the  second  story  of  the  new  building. 

On  the  25th  of  February  the  stockholders  held 
another  meeting,  at  which  the  plans  for  the  building 
were  presented  for  approval.  The  following  com- 
mittee to  solicit  additional  subscriptions  was  ap- 
pointed :  G.  W.  Dreyer,  Isaac  S.  Smyth,  T.  A.  Buck- 
land,  Joseph  E.  Elder,  Adolphus  Meier,  Robert 
Campbell,  Samuel  Bonner,  John  C.  Powell,  S.  B. 
Wiggins,  John  Kern,  Adolphe  Paul,  J.  G.  Shelton, 
and  Joseph  C.  Barlow.  The  committee  organized  by 
the  election  of  Adolphus  Meier  as  chairman. 

The  work  was  prosecuted  successfully,  and  the  con- 
struction of  the  proposed  Exchange  begun.  At  a 
meeting  of  the  stockholders  held  on  the  9th  of  March, 

1857,  on  motion  of  Col.  Robert  Campbell,  Adolphus 
Meier  was  called  to  the  chair,  and  John  E.  Yore  ap- 
pointed secretary.     The  chairman  explained  the  ob- 
jects of  the  meeting  to  be  to  receive  the  report  of  the 
trustees  of  their  transactions  for  the  past  year,  to  re- 
ceive and  approve  the  charter  granted  by  the  Legisla- 
ture to  the  company,  and  to  elect  a  board  of  seven 
trustees  to  serve  for  the  ensuing  year.     The  reports  of 
the  president  and  secretary  were  then  read,  and  on 
motion  of  Samuel  B.  Wiggins  were  adopted.     The 
charter  for  the  St.  Louis  Merchants'  Exchange  Com- 
pany was  then  read,  and  on  motion  of  Mr.  Lucas  it 
was  resolved  that  the  said  charter  be  approved  and 
accepted,  and   that  the  stockholders  of  the  company 
signify  their  acceptance  of  the  same  by  signing  their 
names  to  it.     The   meeting  then   proceeded  to  the 
election   of  seven  trustees  to  serve  for  the  ensuing 
year.     Messrs.  George  Knapp  and  Taylor  Blow  were 


1346 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


appointed  tellers.  The  votes  having  been  counted, 
the  following  gentlemen  were  declared  elected  as  trus- 
tees :  James  H.  Lucas,  George  R.  Taylor,  Louis  C. 
Gamier,  Neree  Valle,  Lawrason  Riggs,  Felix  Coste, 
and  Edward  J.  Gay. 

The  first  annual  report  of  the  trustees  to  the  stock- 
holders was  as  follows : 

"  The  contract  for  the  entire  building  was  awarded  to  Messrs. 
Barnett  &  Weber,  at  the  sum  of  sixty-four  thousand  five  hun- 
dred dollars,  and  the  contract  carefully  guarded  as  to  the  time 
for  its  completion  and  security  for  its  faithful  performance. 

"  The  building  was  to  have  been  completed  and  ready  for 
delivery  on  the  first  day  of  last  December,  but  it  is  regarded  as 
a  fortunate  circumstance  that  it  had  not  progressed  as  rapidly 
as  the  contract  required,  for  it  is  well  known  to  the  association 
that  the  conflagration  on  the  19th  of  November  last  entirely 
destroyed  that  imposing  structure  known  as  the  City  Buildings, 
immediately  in  the  rear  of  the  Exchange;  and  there  can  be  but 
little  doubt  but  that  the  Exchange  building  would  have  shared 
a  similar  fate,  even  if  it  had  progressed  so  far  as  to  be  ready  for 
the  roofing. 

"The  trustees,  as  soon  as  they  had  fixed  upon  a  plan  and 
made  selection  of  a  design,  secured  the  services  of  Mr.  Oliver 
A.  Hart,  architect  and  superintendent,  who  was  employed  to 
revise  the  specifications  for  the  entire  structure  and  superin- 
tend the  building  from  its  foundation  to  its  entire  completion. 

"  The  building  has  been  progressing  under  the  personal  super- 
vision of  Messrs.  Gamier,  Coste,  and  Taylor,  constituting  the 
building  committee,  who,  together  with  Mr.  Hart,  it  is  believed, 
have  supervised  the  entire  construction  from  its  excavation  to 
the  present  time. 

"  The  building  is  on  an  entire  rock  foundation,  care  having 
been  observed  in  going  down  to  the  solid  rock  in  all  places 
where  it  was  not  reached  according  to  the  excavation  made  for 
the  cellars,  and  in  this  connection  it  is  believed  to  be  a  most  sub- 
stantial job  of  rubble  masonry,  as  the  utmost  care  was  observed 
by  Messrs.  McFadden  <t  Lynch,  the  contractors,  whose  names 
alone  are  a  sufficient  guarantee  that  the  work  has  been  faith- 
fully done.  The  outer  walls  on  Main  and  Commercial  Streets, 
constructed  of  brick  und  stone,  are  two  and  a  half  feet  in  thick- 
ness from  the  top  of  the  lintels  to  the  bottom  of  the  two  massive 
trusses,  and  'from  thence  up  to  the  cornice  one  and  a  half  feet  in 
thickness. 

"  The  gross  amount  of  subscriptions,  both  in  money  and  kind, 
amount  to  the  sum  of  eighty-seven  thousand  two  hundred  dol- 
lars, and  the  subscriptions  in  kind  or  property  have  all  been 
advantageously  used  in  the  contracts  for  the  building. 

"The  Itase  from  the  association  to  the  Chamber  of  Commerce 
of  the  second  story  for  the  term  often  years,  has  been  executed 
by  both  parties,  and  it  is  most  confidently  believed  that  the 
whole  building  will  be  finished  complete  between  the  1st  and 
15th  of  the  ensuing  May  ;  the  stores,  however,  will  be  ready  by 
the  10th  of  April." 

The  ground  for  the  building  was  broken  on  the  1st 
of  March,  1856.  The  erection  of  the  structure  was 
pushed  rapidly  forward,  and  business  "  on  'Change" 
was  transacted  for  the  first  time  in  the  new  hall  on 
June  8,  1857.  The  edifice  was  of  the  Venetian 
style  of  architecture.  The  front  was  of  the  "  Allen 
stone,"  and  the  main  and  paitition  walls  were  of 
brick.  The  space  occupied  on  Main  Street  was  one 


hundred  and  twenty-three  feet,  the  building  running 
back  eighty-six  feet  to  Commercial  Street.  On  the 
main  floor  were  four  stores,  each  having  a  front  of 
twenty-seven  feet  in  the  clear  by  eighty-five  feet  deep 
and  fourteen  high.  Three  of  these  stores  were  leased 
as  follows  as  soon  as  finished  :  One  to  the  Franklin 
Savings  and  Insurance  Company,  one  to  Peter  Ames 
for  a  wine  and  liquor  store,  and  the  other  to  the  Mer- 
chants' and  Manufacturers'  Savings  Institution. 

The  Exchange  Hall  was  one  hundred  and  one  feet 
in  length  and  eighty  feet  in  depth.  The  extreme 
height  to  the  apex  of  the  dome  was  sixty-three  feet, 
and  the  galleries  twenty-six  feet.  The  panels  of  the 
dome  were  beautifully  decorated  in  fresco  by  the 
artist,  L.  D.  Pomerede,  with  paintings  representing 
the  four  quarters  of  the  globe,  and  the  hall  was  well 
lighted  by  ample  windows  and  by  a  skylight  in 
the  dome.  Connected  with  the  main  hall  was  a 
room  for  the  use  of  the  secretary  of  the  association. 
The  south  end  of  the  hall  was  fitted  up  as  a  reading- 
room,  elevated  about  seventeen  feet  above  the  main 
floor,  and  reached  by  a  circular  iron  staircase.  The 
room  was  eighteen  feet  by  eighty,  supported  by  eight 
Corinthian  columns,  and  inclosed  by  a  second  tier  of 
columns  and  tasteful  iron  railings.  This  reading-room 
was  exposed  and  visible  from  the  main  floor. 

The  third  story  of  the  building  was  devoted  to 
offices,  twenty-two  in  number,  arranged  so  as  to  form 
a  square  around  the  basin  of  the  rotunda,  with  a 
gallery  four  feet  wide,  protected  by  an  iron  railing 
running  around  the  entire  square. 

The  exterior  of  the  building  was  of  a  handsome 
and  imposing  character,  the  stone  used  being  a  finely 
grained  and  shaded  limestone  from  the  quarry  near 
Allcntown,  on  the  Pacific  Railroad.  The  building 
was  three  stories  high,  and  the  north  and  south  en- 
trances had  projecting  porticoes,  suppoited  by  fluted 
and  carved  Corinthian  columns  with  bold  moulded 
capitals,  and  an  entablature  surmounted  by  a  large 
carved  work,  in  the  centre  of  which  was  a  medallion 
with  the  device  or  coat  of  arms  of  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce. 

At  the  time  of  its  erection  the  structure  was  one 
of  the  handsomest  and  most  imposing  of  its  kind  in 
the  country.1 

About  eleven  o'clock  on  the  day  of  its  formal  oc- 
cupation by  the  Exchange  the  visitors  began  to  as- 
semble, and  in  less  than  an  hour  the  hall  was  thronged 
almost  to  its  capacity.  Considerable  business  was 
transacted,  but  calls  were  made  for  a  speech  from 

1  Among  those  especially  prominent  in  aiding  the  erection  of 
the  building  were  James  1J.  Lucas  and  George  11.  Taylor. 


COMMERCIAL   EXCHANGES. 


1347 


Henry  Ames,  president  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce. 
That  gentleman  declined  making  any  remarks,  but 
taking  the  stand,  offered  the  following  sentiments  : 

"  St.  Louis  has  long  been  married  to  New  York  and 
Boston :  the  Western  people  have  now  adopted  the 
Utah  principle  and  taken  Baltimore  into  the  alliance." 

Judge  Z.  Collins  Lee,  of  Baltimore,  then  took  the 
stand,  in  answer  to  a  generally  expressed  desire,  and 
compared  the  past  of  St.  Louis  with  her  then  present 
greatness.  From  this  time  the  Chamber  of  Commerce 
held  its  meetings  in  the  new  building. 

A  movement  was  set  on  foot  in  June,  I860,  for  the 
removal  of  the  Exchange  to  other  quarters  in  a  new 
building  then  about  to  be  commenced  by  F.  P.  Blair, 
Thomas  C.  Reynolds,  and  Thomas  Walsh,  on  Third 
Street,  south  of  the  post-office,  but  nothing  came  of  it. 
Dissensions,  engendered  by  political  excitement,  arose 
among  the  members  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce 
during  the  early  period  of  the  civil  war,  and  culmi- 
nated at  the  annual  election  on  the  8th  of  January, 
1862.  A  contemporary  version  of  the  affair  gives 
the  following  particulars  : * 

"  The  annual  election  of  officers  for  the  Chamber  of  Commerce 
took  pliice  yesterday  and  resulted,  unhappily,  in  an  unfriendly 
division  of  the  members,  the  withdrawal  of  part  of  them,  anil  a 
movement  to  establish  a  new  Chamber,  which  movement  was 
half  consummated  in  the  excitement  of  the  moment.  It  has 
heretofore  been  customary,  during  the  two  or  three  weeks  im- 
mediately preceding  an  election,  to  fix  upon  proper  persons  as 
candidates,  nominate  them  at  a  preliminary  meeting,  and  elect 
them  with  but  nominal  opposition  when  the  day  for  balloting 
came  on.  This  season  the  offices  of  president,  vice-president, 
and  committee-men  were  unsought  for.  Several  gentlemen  who 
were  solicited  to  become  candidates  declined,  and  the  usual 
primary  mode  of  nominating  was,  we  believe,  dispensed  with 
altogether.  Still  a  full  ticket  was  offered  by  general  consent  to 
the  Chamber  voters,  and  bid  fair  to  be  elected  without  regular 
opposition.  It  bore  the  heading  '  Commercial  Ticket,'  and  con- 
tained the  following  name,s  : 

"  For  president,  Henry  J.  Moore;  for  vice-presidents,  Carlos 
S.  Greeley,  Aaron  W.  Fagin :  for  flour  inspectors,  William 
Stobie,  James  L.  Benson;  for  committee  of  appeals,  J.  W. 
Booth,  Thomas  Ilicheson,  Nathan  Cole,  George  D.  Hall,  Gil- 
bert Pryor,  F.  A.  Reuss,  Alexander  II.  Smith,  Henry  A.  llo- 
mcycr,  E.  0.  Stanard,  Isaac  V.  W.  Butcher,  Robert  G.  Greer, 
Sylvester  II.  Laflin. 

"  The  office  of  secretary,  which  pays  a  liberal  salary,  was  the 
only  one  which  invited  or  promised  a  contest.  Mr.  W.  B. 
Baker,  who  has  been  the  incumbent  for  several  years,  was 
placed  upon  the  commercial  ticket  for  re-election.  It  became 
evident  some  weeks  ago  that  he  would  meet  a  determined  oppo- 
sition, and  friends  and  opponents  of  this  gentleman  set  them- 
selves to  work  actively,  pro  and  co»,  in  the  canvass.  His 
friends  said  his  defeat  was  sought  on  political  grounds,  and 
that  he  was  to-be  forced  from  office  because  he  was  a  Union 
man.  His  opponents,  on  the  contrary,  claimed  to  base  their 
objections  on  personal  grounds,  said  they  had  solicited  Union 
men  to  run  for  the  secretaryship,  and  that  they  would  support 

1  Missouri  Republican,  Jan.  9,  1862. 


any  one  in  opposition,  laying  all  political  considerations  aside. 
Many  of  the  friends  of  Mr.  Baker,  however,  viewed  these  pro- 
fessions with  distrust,  and  determined  to  rally  in  force  in  his 
behalf,  the  other  party  having  found  a  candidate  in  the  person 
of  R.  II.  Davis. 

"The  old  plan  of  making  new  members  on  election-day  to 
secure  additional  votes  was  called  into  requisition  in  this  in- 
stance. A  list  of  eighty  new  names  was  offeied  for  member- 
ship, and  composed,  says  rumor,  of  friends  of  Baker.  The 
opposite  party  had  not  been  industrious  in  preparing  a  list  of 
their  own,  and  defeat  or  victory  hung  upon  the  exclusion  or 
admission  of  these  candidates.  To  save  themselves  they  had, 
of  course,  to  accomplish  their  exclusion.  Under  an  old  stand- 
ing rule  of  the  Chamber,  which  requires  but  five  adverse  votes 
to  'black-ball'  a  candidate,  this  was  easily  done.  The  names 
were  offered  en  masse,  and  rejected  en  masae.  Upon  this  rejec- 
tion the  supporters  of  Mr.  Bilker  felt  that  the  day  was  against 
them  and  gave  up  the  contest.  Capt.  Moore  withdrew  as  a 
candidate  for  president,  and  the  friends  of  the  commercial 
ticket  generally  declined  to  vote  and  retired  from  the  hall.  A 
portion  met  in  the  secretary's  room,  and  with  S.  M.  Edgell  in 
the  chair,  resolved  to  take  steps  towards  establishing  a  new  Ex- 
change, the  chairman  being  authorized  to  appoint  a  committee 
to  report  at  a  future  meeting  on  the  subject. 

"Those  who  remained  in  the  hall  completed  the  election,  and 
voted  for  nn  irregular  ticket,  which  was  chosen  as  foJIows: 

"President,  Albert  Pearce ;  First  Vice- President,  William 
Matthews;  Second  Vice-President,  Edgar  Ames:  Secretary  and 
Treasurer,  R.  II.  Davis. 

"  Committee  of  Appeals,  T.  H.  Larkin,  N.  Schaffer,  T.  Betts, 
John  Tolle,  II.  McKittrick,  John  F.  Baker,  J.  Jackson,  W.  S. 
Moffett,  Willis  J.  Powell,  T.  Ferguson,  J.  W.  Booth,  Samuel 
Johnson,  Jr. 

"  Flour  Inspectors,  W.  Stobie,  Joseph  Powell,  J.  L.  Benson. 

"  It  was  rumored  last  evening  that  Messrs.  Pearce,  Ames,  and 
one  or  two  others  of  those  elected  had  declined  to  accept,  but 
we  hear  that  they  consider  the  best  means  of  preserving  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  and  the  excellent  mercantile  organiza- 
tion of  St.  Louis  will  be  best  assured  by  their  acceptance.  AVe 
think  it  is  likely  that  they  will  retain  the  places  to  which  they 
have  been  invited.  The  leading  members  of  the  ticket-elect, 
we  may  fay,  are  Union  men  of  the  strongest  cast,  but  this  fact 
we  cite  merely  to  prove  that  politics  played  a  less  conspicuous 
part  in  the  Chamber  election  of  yesterday  than  many  of  the 
members  themselves  would  have  believed.  Mr.  Pearce,  the  new 
president,  is  the  present  head  of  the  old  and  important  house 
of  Hening  <t  Woodruff,  and  possesses  the  mercaniile  experience 
and  elements  of  general  character  necessary  to  fill  the  office 

with  credit  to  himself  and  the  Chamber  of  Commerce." 

• 

At  the  meeting  of  the  "bolting"  members,  Stephen 
M.  Kdgell  was  called  to  the  chair  as  president,  and 
Clinton  B.  Fisk  was  chosen  secretary. 

The  president  was  instructed  to  appoint  a  com- 
mittee of  five  persons,  whose  duty  it  should  be  to 
report  at  a  subsequent  meeting  a  plan  of  organization 
of  "  The  Union  Merchants'  Exchange  of  St.  Louis," 
and  to  make  inquiry  for  suitable  rooms  for  the  accom- 
modation of  the  organization,  and  report  location  and 
terms  of  lease.  The  meeting  adjourned  to  meet  at 
the  call  of  the  president  and  committee. . 

On  the  llth  of  January  the  secretary  issued  the 
following : 


1348 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


"  ELECTION  NOTICE. — The  Union  Merchants'  Exchange  of  St. 
Louis  will  elect  permanent  officers  for  the  year  1862  on  Satur- 
day, the  llth  inst.,  at  twelve  o'clock  noon.  The  secretary  will 
be  at  the  rooms  of  the  Exchange,  corner  of  Main  and  Elm 
Streets,  at  ten  o'clock  this  (Saturday)  morning  to  receive  names 
and  fees  for  membership.  Parties  engaged  in  mercantile  or 
manufacturing  pursuits,  banks,  bankers,  and  insurance  compa- 
nies are  invited  to  an  examination  of  the  proceedings  of  the 
Union  Merchants'  Exchange  as  published  in  this  paper  this 
morning,  and  to  membership  in  the  Union  Exchange. 

"  CLINTON  B.  FISK,  Secretary." 

'.'The  Union  Merchants'  Exchange  convened  for  the  transac- 
tion of  business  this  day  under  the  United  States  flag  at  their 
temporary  rooms,  corner  of  Main  and  Elm  Streets.  The  com- 
mittee on  permanent  organization,  through  Thomas  Richeson, 
made  report  as  follows  : 

"  '  Gentlemen, — Your  committee  would  suggest  to  this  meeting 
the  following  as  the  necessary  steps  to  be  taken  for  the  per- 
manent organization  of  the  Union  Merchants'  Exchange  of  St. 
Louis : 

" '  1st.  That  all  good  loyal  Union  men  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis 
engaged  in  mercantile  or  manufacturing  pursuits,  who  desire  to 
become  members  of  the  Union  Exchange,  be  and  they  are  hereby 
requested  to  come  forward  and  signify  their  intention  by  giving 
their  names  to  the  secretary  of  this  meeting. 

"  '  2d.  That  this  body  will  proceed  to  the  permanent  organi- 
zation of  the  Union  Merchants'  Exchange  of  St.  Louis  by  the 
election  of  permanent  officers  for  the  ensuing  year  at  twelve 
o'clock  noon  on  Saturday,  the  llth  inst.,  and  that  each  member 
be  required  to  pay  the  sum  of  ten  dollars  to  the  secretary  pro 
tern,  before  casting  his  vote. 

" '  3d.  That  the  president  appoint  a  committee  of  five  persons, 
whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  prepare  suitable  rules  and  regulations 
for  the  government  of  this  Exchange. 

'"4th.  That  your  present  committee  be  continued  for  the 
purpose  of  procuring  rooms  for  the  permanent  occupancy  of 
this  Exchange.' 

"The  report  of  the  committee  was  received  and  adopted  by 
acclamation. 

"James  Archer  tendered  to  the  Exchange  a  'flag  of  the 
Union,'  to  be  displayed  from  the  rooms  on  Saturday,  the  llth 
inst. 

"  H.  M.  Woodward  proposed  to  place  an  iron  safe  in  the 
rooms  free  of  rent. 

"  The  meeting  passed  a  vote  of  thanks  to  Messrs.  J.  H.  Lucas, 
L.  W.  Patchen  &  Co.,  Teichman  &  Co.,  Wattenberg,  Bush  &  Co., 
James  Archer,  and  H.  M.  Woodward  for  their  generous  courte- 
sies to  this  body. 

"  Partiesi  desiring  membership  in  the  Union  Merchants'  Ex- 
change were  then  invited  to  make  application  to  the  secretary. 

"  One  hundred  and  fifty  firms  enrolled  their  name?,  when  the 
Exchange  adjourned  to  meet  at  eleven  o'clock  on  Saturday,  the 
llth  inst. ;  election  of  permanent  officers  to  take  place  at  twelve 
o'clock. 

"Judges  of  Election,  Clinton  B.  Fisk,  Alexander  H.  Smith, 
and  Henry  S.  Reed. 

"  The  secretary  will  be  present  at  the  Union  Exchange  Rooms 
at  ten  o'clock  Saturday  morning  to  receive  additional  names 
and  fees  for  membership.  List  of  members  will  be  published 
in  the  city  papers  of  Monday  morning,  Jan.  13,  1862. 

"S.  M.  EDGELL,  President. 

"  CLINTON  B.  FISK,  Secretary." 

In  its  issue  of  January  llth  the  Republican  said, — 

"  So  far  as  we  can  understand,  the  differences  which  have 

taken  place  between  the  merchants  and  business  men  who  have 


heretofore  met  at  the  Merchants'  Exchange  remain  unadjusted, 
the  committees  in  their  meetings  for  that  purpose  having  mari- 
ifested  very  little  disposition  to  meet  each  other  on  reasonable 
terms.  This  is  to  be  regretted  on  several  accounts.  It  not  only 
tends  to  break  up  an  association  which  has  been  the  pride  of  the 
city,  and  to  which  all  have  looked  for  aid  and  counsel  in  times 
of  difficulty,  but  it  is  likely  to  be  productive  of  bad  feeling,  and 
to  interrupt  the  transaction  of  business  of  every  kind.  It  may 
well  be  doubted  whether  the  feud  can  stop  here,  for  there  are 
traces  of  a  disposition  already  visible  to  carry  it  into  social  life, 
and  make  it  the  cause  of  unpleasant  differences  between  men 
who  have  been  friends  for  years.  Can  it  be  possible  that  there 
is  not  good  sense  and  kind  feeling  enough  among  the  men  who 
have  been,  perhaps  by  accident,  made  prominent  actors  in  this 
affair  to  put  a  stop  to  action  likely  to  lead  to  these  results  ? 

"  From  the  papers  published  below  it  will  be  seen  that  all  the 
officers  elected  by  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  on  Wednesday  have 
resigned  their  places;  that  the  president  (Mr.  January)  and 
one  of  the  vice-presidents,  Mr.  W.  Matthews,  have  also  resigned, 
leaving  the  other  vice-president  (Mr.  Pottle),  under  a  former 
election,  the  only  officer  of  the  association.  This  has  been 
done,  as  we  understand  it,  to  give  an  opportunity  to  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  to  begin  the  work  of  organi- 
zation anew,  to  retrace  their  steps,  and  to  enable  them  to  select 
officers  who  will  be  acceptable  to  the  great  majority  of  the 
members.  If  errors  have  been  committed,  if  political  tests 
have  been  made  by  any  one,  a  matter  about  which  we  have  not 
the  evidence  upon  which  to  form  a  correct  judgment,  if  it  be 
deemed  essential  to  continue  the  existence  of  the  association, 
and  this  is  admitted,  the  resignation  of  all  the  officers  ought  to 
be  regarded  as  highly  honorable,  and  as  the  best  mode  of  re- 
storing harmony  to  the  Chamber.  Whatever  else  may  be  done, 
the  action  of  these  gentlemen  cannot  fail  to  meet  the  approval 
of  the  thinking  and  conservative  portion  of  the  members  of  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce. 

"Si.  Louis,  Jan.  10,  1862. 
"  To  D.  A.  JANUARY,  President  Chamber  of  Commerce  : 

"Sir, — The  undersigned,  elected  by  the  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce on  the  8th  inst.  to  the  offices  of  president,  vice-president, 
and  secretary,  respectfully  decline  to  fill  said  offices. 

"  ALBERT  PEARCE. 
•'WILLIAM  MATTHEWS. 
'•  EDGAR  AMES. 
"  R.  H.  DAVIS." 

"ST.  Louis,  Jan.  10,  1862. 
"To  THE  SECRETARY  CHAMBER  OF  COMMERCE,  St.  Louis: 

"  Sir, — The  undersigned,  president  and  first  vice-president 
of  the  Chamber,  respectfully  tender  the  resignation  of  these 
offices. 

"D.  A.  JANUARY,  President. 

"WILLIAM  MATTHEWS,  First  Vice-Prest." 

"ST.  Louis,  Jan.  10,  1862. 
"To  D.  A.  JANUARY,  President  Chamber  of  Commerce: 

"Sir, — The  undersigned,  elected  by  the  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce on  the  8th  inst.  as  the  committee  of  appeals  to  serve  for 
the  ensuing  year,  respectfully  decline  to  serve. 

"THOMAS  H.  LARKIN.        THEO.  BETTS. 

"J.  F.  BAKER.  JOHN  F.  TOLLE. 

"  W.  S.  MOFFETT.  THOMAS  FERGUSON. 

"JAMES  W.  BOOTH.  H.  McKirrRicK. 

"SAMUEL  JOHNSON,  Jr.     WILLIS  J.  POWELL. 

"  J.  JACKSON.  N.  SCHAEFFER." 

The  breach  in  the  organization  seems  to  have  had 
its  origin  in  the  political  differences  and  animosities  of 


COMMERCIAL   EXCHANGES. 


1349 


its  members,  and  the  election  of  the  secretary  was  the 
excuse  rather  than  the  cause  of  the  division.1 

Strenuous  efforts  were  made  to  heal  the  breach,  but 
without  avail.  Among  these  was  the  appointment  by 
the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Messrs.  Francis  Whit- 
taker,  J.  J.  Roe,  Edgar  Ames,  William  Matthews, 
and  N.  Wall  as  a  committee  to  confer  with  the  se- 
ceding members.  A  similar  committee  was  appointed 
by  the  Union  Exchange  and  a  conference  held,  but 
no  compromise  was  effected. 

The  two  committees  subsequently  held  another 
meeting,  at  which  the  following  paper  was  presented 
by  the  committee  of  the  regular  organization  to  the 
Union  committee : 

"  ST.  Louis,  Jan.  10,  1862. 
"S.  M.  EDGELL,  ESQ.,  President: 

"  SIR, — We,  the  committee  chosen  with  full  powers  to  wait 
on  your  body,  beg  leave  to  inform  you  that  the  officers  elected 
at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  on  the  8th 
inst.  have  all  declined  serving,  that  the  president,  Mr.  Jan- 
uary, and  vice-president,  Mr.  Matthews,  have  also  resigned, 
leaving  Mr.  Pottle  the  only  executive  officer  of  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  proper. 

"  We  therefore  tender  to  you  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  you 
assuming  all  its  liabilities. 

"  Hoping  this  course  may  reconcile  and  harmonize  all  past 
grievances,  and  bring  the  commercial  interests  of  our  city  to- 
gether in  peace  and  quiet,  and  asking  your  consideration  of 
this  communication,  we  are, 

Respectfully, 

"  FRANCIS  WHITTAKER,  Chairman. 

"  JOHN  J.  ROE. 

"  EDGAR  AMES. 

"  WILLIAM  MATTHEWS. 

"  N.  WALL." 

On  the  llth  of  January  a  meeting  of  the  Union 
Exchange  was  held,  at  which  John  J.  Roe,  on  behalf 
of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  addressed  the  members 
of  the  Union  Exchange  touching  the  importance  of 
union  and  harmony  among  the  merchants  of  St. 
Louis,  and  desired  to  know  whether  the  proposition 
from  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  to  surrender  their 
rooms  and  other  property  to  the  Union  Exchange, 
with  the  provision  that  the  members  of  the  Chamber 

1  The  complication  was  aggravated  by  the  dissemination  of 

the  following  circular  : 

"CHAMBER  OF  COMMERCE, 

"ST.  Louis,  Jan.  7,  1862. 

"  SIR, — Inclosed  you  will  find  the  nomination  of  officers  for 
the  St.  Louis  Chamber  of  Commerce  for  the  present  year,  1862. 
Unfortunately,  a  certain  set  of  the  members  of  said  Chamber 
have  sought  to  introduce  politics  into  that  organization,  and  wo 
find  an  opposition,  through  which  a  violent  secessionist,  claim- 
ing to  be  a  relative  of  Mr.  Jefferson  Davis,  is  presented  for  the 
important  position  of  secretary  simply  upon  the  ground  that 
the  old  incumbent  has  proved  himself  a  loyal  citizen.  Such  an 
issue  cannot  but  work  great  evil  to  the  interests  of  the  Chamber, 
and  we  inclose  the  within  ticket,  asking  your  consideration  to 
its  merits,  and  trusting  you  will  give  it  your  cordial  support." 
86 


of  Commerce  should  be  admitted  as  a  body  en  masse 
to  the  new  Union  Exchange,  would  be  favorably  re- 
ceived. A  negative  response  was  given  to  the  inter- 
rogatory. S.  M.  Edgell.  president,  stated  that  the 
new  organization  would  refuse  admission  to  no  one 
who  was  willing  to  stand  upon  the  platform  which 
had  been  adopted  by  the  Union  Exchange ;  that  the 
institution  was  to  be  known  as  truly  loyal  to  the 
United  States  government,  but  that  from  its  rooms 
political  discussions  and  disputes  should  be  banished. 
Maj.  Edwards,  chairman  of  the  committee  on  per- 
manent organization,  indorsed  the  views  expressed  by 
the  president,  counseled  steadfastness  to  the  principles 
already  adopted,  and  presented  as  candidates  for  the 
offices  of  the  Uuion  Merchants'  Exchange  for  the  year 
1862  the  following  persons: 

President,  Henry  J.  Moore;  Vice-Presidents,  Carlos  S.  Gree- 
ley,  Aaron  W.  Fagin;  Committee  of  Appeals,  J.  W.  Booth, 
Thomas  Richeson,  Nathan  Cole,  George  D.  Hall,  Gilbert  Pryor, 
F.  A.  Reuss,  Alex.  H.  Smith,  Henry  A.  Homeyer,  E.  0.  Stan- 
ard,  Isaac  V.  W.  Dutcher,  Robert  C.  Greer,  Sylvester  H.  Laf- 
lin;  Secretary  and  Treasurer,  William  B.  Baker;  Flour  In- 
spector, Joseph  Powell. 

All  the  candidates  were  elected. 

The  membership  list  of  the  Union  Merchants'  Ex- 
change of  St.  Louis  at  the  date  of  its  permanent  or- 
ganization was  as  follows : 

Archer,  James.  Clarke,  D.  A. 

Anglerodt  &  Barth.  Cogswell  &  Co. 

Ames.  Henry  &  Co.  Cranwill,  Castle  &  Peters. 

Alexander,  F.  R.  Collins,  Morris. 

Auferheide,  F.  W.  Collins,  Kellogg  &  Kirby. 

Bridge,  Beach  &  Co.  Chase  &  Bro. 

Buckland,  T.  A.,  attorney.  Cutter  &  Terrill. 

Baldwin  &  Dodd.  Cooley  &  Tower. 
Banker,  G.    W.,  president   of     Creveling,  H.  C. 

the  O'Fallon  Lead  and   Oil     Campbell,  Robert  A  Co. 

Company.  Comstock,  J.  F.  &  Co. 

Bonner,  Samuel.  Conant,  H.  A. 

Boyden  &  Co.  Caminan,  Jacob. 

Behrens,  F.  S.  &  Co.  Davis,  Samuel  C.  &  Co. 

Block  &  Evers.  Dunham  &  Gregg. 

Blunden,  Koenig  &  Co.  Dutcher  &  Co. 

Booth,  J.  W.  &  Son.  Davis  <fc  Co. 

Bowen,  John  H.  Doan,  King  &  Co. 

Beck  &  Corbett.  Edgell,  S.  M.  &  Co. 

Beckman,  E.  &  Bro.  Edgar,  T.  B. 

Bemis  &  Brown.  Ewing,  AV.  L.  &  Co. 

Baur  &  Bohle.  Eckermann  &  Co. 

Butler,  Asa  R.  Eagle  Foundry. 

Bell,  C.  H.  &  Co.  Ensel,  G.  S. 

Brebaugh,  Simeon.  Eads,  James  B. 

Brown  <t  Co.  Edgell,  S.  M. 

Barlow  &  Taylor,  bankers.  Fagin,  A.  W. 

Collier  White  Lead  Co.  Filley,  Chauncey  I. 

Christopher  &  Richards.  Fisk,  Clinton  B. 

Chadbourne  &  Forster.  Fisher,  John  A.  &  Co. 

Chapman  &  Thorp.  Ferguson,  C.  C.,  secretary. 

Chamberlain,  F.  B.  &  Co.  Franklin  Insurance  Co. 

Clarke,  R.  P.  Fenby,  Samuel. 


1350 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Fritchle,  J.  &  Co. 

Fii?k,  Knight  &  Co. 

Fisse,  G.  H. 

Fenby,  R.  D. 

Fenn,  William  P. 

Filley,  E.  A.  A  S.  R. 

Forster,  Marquard. 

Filley,  Giles  F. 

Greeley  &  Gale. 

Grassmuck,  Peter. 

Goodrich,  Willard  A  Co. 

Garrison,  J.  L. 

Goodwin  &  Anderson. 

Gaylord,  Son  &  Co. 

Greer,  J.  G.  &  Co. 

Green,  J.  &  Co. 

Green,  W.  R.  A  Co. 

Gilderhaus  &  Co. 

Hazard,  W.  T. 

Heinrichshoffen,  W.  &  R. 

Holmes,  Charles. 

Iluniko,  William. 

Holmes,  Robert. 

Holmes,  S.  &  Son. 

Hening  &  Woodruff. 

Holton  &  Capelle. 

How,  John. 

Holsman,  George. 

Hall,  Woodward  &  Co. 

Hoeber,  Gustavus. 

Harlon  &  Wahl. 

Hammill,  S.  &  J. 

Homeyer,  Henry  A.  A  Co. 

Hamilton,  Mark. 

Humphreys,  Terry  &  Co. 

Hancock,  D.  J.  &  Co. 

Habe,  William  A  Bro. 

Hammond  &  Co. 

Ham,  James. 

Haseltine  A  Bent. 

Howland,  Charles  H. 

Illinois  River  Packet  Co. 

James,  P. 

Jackson,  Perry  A  Co. 

Jackson,  Edward. 

Jacoby,  S. 

Kendall,  H.  N.  &  Co. 

Kreickhaus  &  Co. 

Krafft,  E.  F. 

Kuhs  A  Mueller. 

Leonard,  James  D. 

Lemb,  Adam. 

Lipman,  Morris  J. 

Loring,  H.  I.  A  Co. 

Lemcke  Bros. 

Ludewig,  Johannes. 

Moore,  Henry  J. 

Mudd,  Alexis. 

Merritt,  J.  &  Bro. 

Mitchell,  Rammelsherg  A  Co. 

McArthur  A  Fisher. 

Meyer  A  Blaun. 

McCartney,  Samuel  A  Co. 

Morris,  S.  T. 

Manny,  Drake  A  Downing. 

Martin,  Henry  A  Co. 


Moreau,  Alexander  B. 

Mueller,  A.  C. 

McKee  A  Fishback. 

Meier,  Adolphus  A  Co. 

Meyer,  Henry  L.  A  Co. 

Mepham  A  Bro. 

Meyer  A  Meister. 

McQueen,  William  N. 

McCandless,  William. 

Marks,  Dennis. 

Northrup,  A.  K. 

Nulsen  A  Mersmans. 

Obear  A  Gates. 

Obear,  W.  F. 

Plant,  George  P.  A  Co. 

Pompenay,  Francis. 

Pegram,  George. 

Pearce,  H.  0.  A  Co. 

Pottle  A  Bailey. 

Pike  A  Kellogg. 

Partridge  A  Co. 

Pomeroy  A  Benton. 

Perret,  A.  L. 

Prather,  John  G.  A  Co. 

Pryor,  Gilbert. 

Pulsifer,  W.  H. 

Patchin,  L.  W.  A  Co. 

Pomeroy,  C.  W. 

Perry,  John  D. 

Roe,  John  J.  A  Co. 

Reevey,  J.  B. 

Rich  A  Co. 

Reuss,  F.  A.  A  Co. 

Richardson,  James. 

Rosenfeld,  Isaac,  Jr.,  cashier 
State  Savings  Association. 

Raphaelsky,  M. 

Sears,  S.  G. 

Sexton,  John  A. 

St.  Louis  Building  and  Sav- 
ings Association. 

Seitz,  Louis. 

Sinnot,  Nicholas  Cullen. 

Standard,  Gilbert  A  Co. 

Stevens,  N. 

Smith,  W.  H.  A  W. 

Smith,  F.  A  Co. 

Stobie,  William. 

Schaeffer,  Anheuser  A  Co.     , 

Stoddard,  A.  S.  A  Co. 

Stafford,  E. 

Sumner,  A. 

Simpkins,  G.  W. 

Stetkauler,  G. 

Shidy  A  Loomis. 

Simpson,  John  H. 

Sweet,  G.  B.  A  Bro. 

Stedman,  W.  S.  A  Co. 

Slater  A  Virden. 

Stephens,  R.  A  Co. 

Smith,  Alexander  H. 

Sickles,  T.  B.  A  Co. 

Schild,  William  A  Co. 

Smith,  Irwin  Z. 

Seimers  A  Sersinghaus. 

Tucker,  Charles  L. 


Teasdale,  M.  C. 
Teichuian  A  Co. 
Toole,  John. 
Thamer,  Julius. 
Totten,  W.  W. 
Uhrig,  Joseph. 
Vansyckle,  A. 
Woodward,  H.  M. 
Whittaker,  Francis. 
Wilson,  William  C. 
Wilson,  James. 


Willard  A  Co. 
Wattenberg,  Busch  A  Co. 
Waltman,  Gustavus. 
Whitmore,  Charles. 
Whitmore,  Henry. 
Wolff  A  Hoppe. 
Wann,  John. 
Whiteside,  John. 
Warne,  Cheever  A  Co. 
Young,  William  A  Co. 
Yaeger,  Eggers. 


At  a  meeting  of  the  Union  Merchants'  Exchange, 
held  January  13th,  the  following  resolution  was 
adopted : 

"  Resolved,  That  all  persons  engaged  in  mercantile  or  manu- 
facturing pursuits,  banks,  hankers,  and  insurance  companies 
who  can  subscribe  to  the  following  obligation  are  cordially  in- 
vited to  membership  in  the  Union  Merchants'  Exchange  in  St. 
Louis,  and  that  all  the  members  heretofore  enrolled  shall  be 
required  to  subscribe  to  said  obligation  : 

"We,  the  undersigned,  solemnly  pledge  our  honor  that  we 
will  bear  true  allegiance  to  the  United  States  and  to  the  pro- 
visional government  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  and  support  and 
sustain  the  Constitution  and  laws  thereof;  that  we  will  main- 
tain the  national  sovereignty  paramount  to  that  of  all  State, 
county,  or  confederate  powers ;  that  we  will  discourage,  dis- 
countenance, and  forever  oppose  secession,  rebellion,  and  disin- 
tegration of  the  Federal  Union ;  that  we  disclaim  and  denounce 
all  faith  and  fellowship  with  the  so-called  Confederate  authori- 
ties or  armies,  and  pledge  our  honor  to  the  sound  performance 
of  this  our  solemn  obligation."1 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Union  Exchange,  held  Jan. 
23,  1862,  the  committee  appointed  by  the  Union 
Merchants'  Exchange  to  meet  a  similar  committee 
from  the  St.  Louis  Chamber  of  Commerce  reported 
that  they  had  met,  and  after  consultation  in  regard 
to  the  differences  between  the  two  organizations,  were 
unable  to  effect  any  satisfactory  adjustment,  where- 
upon the  following  resolutions  were  offered  : 

"Resolved,  That  no  member  of  the  Union  Merchants'  Ex- 
change shall,  after  the  1st  of  February  next,  be  a  member  of  or 
transact  business  at  the  rooms  of  any  similar  organization  in 
this  city ;  and  the  president  of  this  association  shall  cause  the 
name  of  any  member  violating  this  rule  to  be  stricken  from  the 
roll  of  membership,  and  announce  the  same  at  the  first  meet- 
ing of  the  Exchange  thereafter. 

"  Resolved,  That  no  member  of  any  similar  organization  in 
the  city  of  St.  Louis  shall  be  admitted  to  the  membership  of  the 
Union  Merchants'  Exchange  after  the  1st  of  February  next, 
except  by  ballot,  and  any  applicant  failing  to  receive  two-thirds 
of  the  whole  number  of  votes  cast  shall  be  rejected." 

Action  upon  these  resolutions  was  postponed  to  a 
subsequent  meeting. 

The  new  Exchange  occupied  quarters  in  the  build- 
ing south  of  the  post-office,  on  Third  Street,  belong- 

1  "  The  Merchants'  Exchange  building  is  emphatically  run- 
•ning  under  the  Stars  and  Stripes.  An  old  American  flag  which 
had  seen  service  in  the  war  of  1812  was  unfurled  to  the 
breeze  yesterday  from  the  Exchange." — Republican,  Jan.  14, 
1862. 


COMMERCIAL  EXCHANGES.  1351 


, 

' 
• 
.,  William  Stobie,  J< 

.    • 

assuri 
indulging  in  ht 

I 

by  Mr.  Januar. 
thanks  far  the  hom  . 

• 

pon  the  fi 
.. 

: 


rVest,  i: 


. 

: 

• 
' 

lie 

•    • 
. 

• 

• 

i 


1352 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


again  married  to  Miss  Julia  C.  Churchill,  of  Louis- 
ville, Ky.,  who,  with  five  children,  survives  him. 

At  a  special  meeting  of  the  Union  Exchange,  held 
on  the  3d  of  April,  1862,  the  following  communication 
was  read  and  submitted  to  the  members : 

"OFFICE  ST.  Louis 
"  MERCHANTS'  EXCHANGE  COMPANY, 

"  April  2,  1862. 
"  To  Henry  J.  Moore,  Esq.  : 

"  DEAR  SIR, — I  have  the  honor  to  present  the  following  reso- 
lution of  the  company  I  represent,  with  an  earnest  request 
that  the  committee  asked  for  will  be  granted,  and  that  mutual 
concessions  may  lead  to  good  results. 

"  I  am,  respectfully  yours, 

"  GEORGE  R.  TAYLOR, 

"President  Merchants'  Exchange  Company. 
" '  Resolved,  That  the  president  be  and   he   is  hereby  in- 
structed to  request  of  the  two  Chambers  of  Commerce  the  ap 
pointing  of  a  committee  of  five  members  of  their  respective 
bodies  to  meet  this  board  on  Friday  next  at  10  o'clock  A.M., 
with  a  view  of  avoiding,  if  possible,  the  sacrifice  of  this  com- 
pany's interests,  and  the  adjustment  of  the  present  unfortunate 
difficulties.' " 

A  motion  to  comply  with  the  request  was  adopted, 
and  the  president  appointed  the  committee  as  follows : 
George  Partridge,  Thomas  Richeson,  Dennis  Marks, 
Charles  Holmes,  Henry  A.  Homeyer. 

The  conference  failed  to  procure  an  adjustment  of 
the  difficulties,  but  on  the  27th  of  October  another 
proposition  was  submitted.  The  letter  of  the  president 
embodying  this  proposition  was  as  follows : 

"OFFICE  OF  THE  ST.  Louis  MERCHANTS' 
EXCHANGE  COMPANY. 

"ST.  Louis,  Oct.  27,  1862. 
"  To  THE  UNION  MERCHANTS'  EXCHANGE  OF  ST.  Louis,  Mo. : 

"  As  president  of  the  St.  Louis  Merchants'  Exchange  Com- 
pany, I  have  the  honor  to  address  your  body,  and  sincerely 
hope  that  you  will  view  with  liberality,  as  well  as  equitably,  the 
following  proposition,  the  more  especially  as  the  stockholders 
of  the  Exchange  Company  are  neither  directly  nor  indirectly  re- 
sponsible for  the  unfortunate  division  that  has  so  seriously  in- 
volved the  company's  interest,  and  proximate  ruin  of  their  pro- 
perty. And  in  this  connection  allow  me  to  call  your  attention 
to  the  company's  earliest  history,  and  the  great  liberality  that 
characterized  the  action  of  those  having  then,  as  at  this  time, 
the  building  and  the  company's  interest  in  charge. 

"The  St.  Louis  Chamber  of  Commerce  then  occupied  rooms, 
wholly  unsuited  for  their  purpose,  over  the  drug  store  of  Messrs. 
Charless  <t  Blow,  being  contracted,  dark,  and  ineligible  in  every 
particular.  At  this  time  the  Chamber  entered  into  an  agree- 
ment with  a  few  of  their  own  members,  proposing,  among  other 
things,  that  if  a  room  sixteen  feet  in  the  clear,  and  not  less  than 
one  hundred  feet  in  front  by  eighty  feet  in  depth,  with  as  few 
obstructions  as  practicable  was  prepared,  the  same  would  be 
leased  for  ten  years,  at  an  annual  rent  of  two  thousand  five  hun- 
dred dollars.  Now,  at  this  time  the  property  represented  by 
this  company  was  vacant,  and  at  the  instance  of  a  few  persons 
an  association  was  formed,  the  ground  purchased,  and  the  build- 
ing now  the  company's  erected,  the  association  subsequently 
obtaining  a  charter.  Instead  of  a  room  of  the  dimensions  speci- 
fied in  the  agreement  referred  to,  the  present  building  was 


erected,  and  the  most  elegant  apartments  to  be  found  in  the 
whole  range  of  commercial  cities  in  the  United  States  placed  at 
the  disposal  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce.  The  building  is 
known  to  be  complete  in  all  its  appointments,  was  occupied  by 
the  merchants  for  whom  and  at  whose  instance  it  was  built,  and 
continued  to  be  occupied  by  them  until  the  inauguration  of  this 
cruel  war,  when  difficulties,  in  which  this  company  was  in  no 
wise  involved,  arose,  eventuating  in  a  separation,  and  ultimately 
in  the  closing  of  the  apartments  so  leased  to  the  Chamber  and 
parties  for  whom  it  was  built. 

"The  foregoing  is  a  plain  statement  of  facts,  with  the  addi- 
tional one  that  the  company,  in  its  liberality,  desiring  to  serve 
the  merchants,  have  wellnigh  ruined  their  property,  for  it  is 
almost  useless  for  other  purposes.  Now,  in  view  of  all  the  cir- 
cumstances, and  with  the  hope  and  reasonable  expectation  of 
harmonizing  ultimately  the  unfortunate  division  between  par- 
ties for  whom  the  building  was  erected,  the  undersigned  sub- 
mits the  following  proposition :  We  will  place  your  honorable 
body  in  peaceable  possession  of  all  the  original  apartments  occu- 
pied by  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  including  the  use  of  all  the 
furniture,  fixtures,  and  property  on  the  premises,  on  the  first 
day  of  the  ensuing  November,  for  the  term  of  fourteen  months, 
at  the  same  rental  specified  in  the  lease  to  said  Chamber,  upon 
condition,  first,  that  your  honorable  body  admit  such  members 
of  the  old  Chamber  to  your  organization  on  their  complying 
with  all  the  requisites  of  your  rules  and  organization  :  or, 

"  Second!}',  that,  should  you  refuse  them  membership,  then 
your  honorable  body  admit  such  of  them  as  may  choose  to  visit 
your  meetings  and  participate  in  the  sale  and  purchase  of  pro- 
duce, upon  their  paying  the  regular  and  customary  fees  pre- 
scribed by  your  rules, — not  voting  nor  participating  in  the  man- 
agement of  your  organization,  but  to  conform  in  all  particu- 
lars, in  their  intercourse  with  the  members  and  each  other,  as  is 
prescribed  by  rules  in  the  premises. 

"  I  honestly  entreat  your  honorable  body,  on  behalf  of  the 
interests  of  all  parties  involved,  so  detrimental  to  this  company, 
and  the  interests  directly  and  most  injuriously  affected,  to  ac- 
cept the  within  and  foregoing  proposition,  thus  harmonizing  all 
conflicting  opinions  without  sacrificing  principle,  and  avoiding 
the  injury,  if  not  ultimate  destruction,  of  this  company's  prop- 
erty. 

"  I  am,  very  respectfully, 

"  G.  R.  TAYLOR,  President. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Union  Exchange,  held  on  the 
18th  of  November,  1862,  the  directors  were  author- 
rized  by  a  unanimous  vote  to  make  a  proposition  to 
George  R.  Taylor,  president  of  the  Exchange  Com- 
pany, to  lease  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  building 
for  five  years,  at  two  thousand  five  hundred  dollars 
per  annum,  and  make  no  conditions  as  to  member- 
ship. The  terms  suggested  were  accepted,  and  on 
the  26th  the  Union  Exchange  removed  from  the 
rooms  near  the  post-office  which  it  had  occupied  to 
the  old  quarters  in  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  build- 
ing. At  an  election  held  on  the  7th  of  January, 
1863,  the  following  officers  of  the  Union  Exchange 
were  chosen : 

President,  George  Partridge  ;  Vice-Presidents,  C.  S.  Greeley, 
A.  W.  Fagin  ;  Directors,  N.  Schaeffer,  John  J.  Roe,  E.  0.  Stan- 
ard,  S.  M.  Edgell,  Barton  Able,  George  P.  Plant,  William 
D'Oench,  Thomas  Richeson,  J.  0.  Pierce,  H.  A.  Homeyer ; 
Committee  of  Appeals,  J.  W.  Booth,  Nathan  Cole,  C.  L. 


COMMERCIAL  EXCHANGES. 


1353 


Tucker,  Samuel  McCartney,  John  C.  Rust,  F.  A.  Reuss,  Robert 
C.  Greer,  C.  0.  Dutcher,  M.  C.  Teasdale,  George  H.  Rea,  G.  W. 
Chadbourne,  G.  Woltman ;  Committee  of  Arbitration,  S.  Jac- 
oby,  T.  A.  Buckland,  J.  G.  Nulsen,  G.  W.  Banker,  A.  L. 
Holmes,  W.  Heinrichshofen,  A.  B.  Marean,  Charles  F.  Meyer, 
N.  Stevens,  W.  II.  Pulsifer. 

On  the  4th  of  March,  1863,  the  Exchange  was 
chartered,  the  incorporators  being  all  the  members 
of  the  association. 

In  the  spring  of  1871  the  question  of  obtaining 
more  spacious  accommodations  presented  itself,  and 
at  a  meeting  of  the  directors  held  on  the  12th  of 
June,  1871,  Gerard  B.  Allen  presiding,  the  following 
propositions  were  submitted : 

"  Third  and  Chestnut  Proposition. 

"Sr.  Louis,  June  12,  1871. 
"  GERARD  B.  ALLEN,  ESQ., 

"  President  of  the  Union  Merchants'  Exchange: 

"  Dear  Sir, — The  undersigned  have  agreed  to  form  a  company 
with  ample  capital  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  an  Exchange 
building,  fronting  two  hundred  and  forty-three  feet  on  the  west 
side  of  Third  Street,  between  Chestnut  and  Pine  Streets,  with 
a  depth  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  on  Chestnut  Street,  be- 
tween Third  and  Fourth  Streets,  and  desire  to  lease  to  your  as- 
sociation suitable  accommodations  therein. 

"  The  location,  in  reference  to  the  business  of  this  city,  and 
to  the  positions  of  the  custom-house,  post-office,  court-house, 
banking-houses,  and  hotels,  is  one  of  the  most  central  that  can 
be  secured,  and  is  likely  to  remain  so  for  a  number  of  years  to 
come.  We  design  to  erect  a  first-class  edifice,  which  will  be, 
architecturally,  an  ornament  to  the  city,  and  fit  up  the  second 
story  for  an  Exchange,  with  its  reading-rooms,  secretary's  and 
directors'  rooms.  The  details  of  arrangements  of  the  rooms 
will  be  made  to  suit  the  views  of  your  association,  as  it  is  the 
design  of  the  company  to  devote  the  entire  fronton  the  western 
side  of  Third  Street,  if  required,  to  the  purposes  of  the  Ex- 
change, and  not  only  to  construct  an  edifice  ample  for  the  pres- 
ent wants  of  trade,  but  also  to  provide  for  extending  it  so  as  to 
accommodate  the  manufacturing,  mechanical,  and  banking  in- 
terests as  well  as  the  commercial.  It  is  also  intended  to  set  the 
building  sufficiently  back  so  as  to  widen  the  adjoining  streets. 

"  The  style  of  the  edifice  will  accord  with  the  present  Euro- 
pean taste,  and  it  will  have  all  the  necessary  accommodations 
for  the  purposes  of  your  association ;  a  room  will  be  furnished 
on  the  second  floor,  double  the  size  of  the  present  Exchange 
room,  with  the  privilege  of  making  it  nearly  four  times  as  large ; 
it  will  be  from  forty-five  to  fifty  feet  in  height,  with  acoustic 
advantages  unsurpassed.  The  construction  of  the  building  will 
be  such  that  light  and  ventilation  will  be  obtained  on  the  four 
sides  or  points,  with  the  principal  points  south  and  east,  these 
being  the  most  sought  after,  even  in  our  domestic  buildings. 
Another  grand  feature  of  the  arrangement  is  that  a  summer 
Exchange  can  be  had  on  the  ground  floor,  on  the  west  side  of  the 
building,  covering  it  over  with  glass  sustained  by  iron-work, 
flagging  it  with  marble  tiles,  forming  an  arcade  from  Chestnut 
to  Pine  Streets,  with  brokers',  bankers',  real  estate,  and  insur- 
ance offices  on  both  sides  of  it.  Those  who  have  traveled 
abroad  can  readily  see  the  effect  and  importance  of  this  feature 
in  the  arrangement  of  an  Exchange  building,  and  the  ready 
facilities  it  would  give  for  the  transaction  of  business  would  be 
unequaled  on  this  continent. 

"We  respectfully  request  the  appointment  of  a  committee  to 
confer,  on  the  part  of  your  association,  with  Messrs.  George 


Knapp,  James  H.  Lucas,  B.  W.  Alexander,  R.  J.  Lackland,  and 
H.  L.  Patterson,  a  committee  on  our  part,  respecting  the  terms 
and  other  arrangements  which  would  be  acceptable  to  it  in  re- 
gard to  the  proposed  Exchange. 

"  We  remain,  dear  sir,  yours  respectfully, 

"James  H.  Lucas,  J.  G.  Weld,  George  Knapp  & 
Co.,  B.  W.  Alexander,  Ann  L.  Hunt,  Eras- 
tus  Wells,  Thomas  Allen,  Joseph  Brown, 
Adolphus  Meier,  Franklin  0.  Day,  George 
R.  Taylor,  R.  J.  Lackland,  Henry  Blaksley, 
J.  H.  McLean,  Joseph  Weil,  John  Finn,  James 
J.  O'Fallon,  Elois  P.  Kayser,  William  C.  Tay- 
lor, R.  W.  Mitchell,  William  Keiler,  Frederick 
Hill,  John  H.  Gay,  Ed.ward  J.  Gay,  William 
T.  Gay,  J.  R.  Pullis  &  Brother,  Z.  F.  Wetzell 
&  Co." 

Third  and  Locust  Proposition. 

"ST.  Louis,  June  12,  1871. 

"To  THE  CHAMBER  OF  COMMERCE  OF  THE  CITY  OF  ST.  Louis: 
"For  myself  and  associates,  I  propose  to  erect  a  Merchants' 
Exchange  building  in  Block  64  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  at  the 
northeast  corner  of  Locust  and  Third  Streets,  the  building  to  be 
two  hundred  by  one  hundred  and  eight  feet ;  the  Exchange  room 
to  be  one  hundred  by  one  hundred  and  seventy  feet  in  the  clear 
and  forty-six  feet  high,  to  have  entrances  from  Third  Street  and 
Exchange  Street.  The  large  room  will  leave  committee-room, 
secretary's  room,  reading-room,  directors'  room,  and  ample  ac- 
commodation for  washing,  etc.  For  particulars,  see  plans. 

"We  propose  to  lease  to  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  for  thirty 
years,  the  first  ten  years  thereof  for  fifteen  thousand  dollars,  the 
second  ten  for  twenty  thousand  dollars,  and  the  third  ten  years 
for  twenty-five  thousand  dollars. 

"  For  myself  and  associates, 

"  P.  B.  GERHART." 

A  plan  for  erecting  a  similar  building  at  Sixth 
Street  and  Washington  Avenue  was  also  submitted 
by  John  A.  Scudder,  Catherine  Ames,  and  William 
H.  Scudder. 

Architectural  drawings  of  the  proposed  buildings 
accompanied  the  first  two  propositions. 

The  board,  after  an  informal  consultation,  ordered 
the  propositions  to  be  laid  upon  the  table  for  one 
week,  and  directed  the  secretary  to  request  the  par- 
ties to  amend  their  propositions  by  including  in  them 
all  particulars  respecting  the  locations,  dimensions, 
prices  of  rent,  and  the  time  at  which  they  would 
obligate  themselves  to  have  the  building  ready  for 
occupancy  in  the  event  of  the  acceptance  of  any  of 
the  propositions. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  directors  on  the  19th  of  June 
the  following  amended  propositions  were  submitted 
by  the  same  parties  : 

Thrrd  and  Chestnut  Location. 

"ST.  Louis,  June  19,  1871. 
"GERARD  B.  ALLEN,  President  Union  Merchants'  Exchange: 

"  DEAR  SIR, — We  propose  to  furnish  the  Union  Merchants' 
Exchange  with  suitable  apartments  for  all  the  purposes  of  an 
Exchange  building,  including  large  chamber,  reading-  and  com- 
mittee-rooms, offices,  etc.,  located  on  Third  Street,  between 
Chestnut  and  Pine  Streets.  The  size  contemplated  for  the 


1354 


HISTORY  OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


large  chamber  is  .one  hundred  and  seventy-nine  feet  in  length, 
eighty  feet  in  width,  and  from  forty-five  to  fifty  feet  in  height, 
with  light  and  ventilation  from  three  sides,  and  unsurpassed 
acoustic  properties. 

"Should  a  larger  room  or  different  dimensions  be  required, 
we  hold  ourselves  in  readiness  to  make  the  alterations,  with  a 
view  to  meeting  the  reasonable  views  of  the  directory  and  mem- 
bers. Full  and  complete  arrangements  have  been  made  for  the 
purchase  and  possession  of  the  ground,  and  ample  guaranty 
will  be  given  for  the  completion  of  the  building,  which  will  be 
on  an  elegant  scale  of  architectural  beauty,  on  or  before  the 
25th  of  November,  1872,  the  time  of  the  expiration  of  your 
present  lease.  We  propose  a  lease  to  the  Exchange  for  twenty- 
five  years  on  the  following  terms  :  For  a  term  of  five  years, 
$12,000  per  annum;  for  a  second  term  of  five  years,  $15,000  per 
annum  ;  for  a  third  term  of  five  years,  $18,000  per  annum  ;  for 
a  fourth  term  of  five  years,  $21,000  per  annum;  and  for  the  fifth 
term  of  five  years,  $24,000  per  annum. 

"  We  may  here  repeat,  from  a  former  statement  laid  before 
you,  that  the  location  proposed  is  perhaps  the  most  central 
that  can  be  found,  relative  to  the  custom-house,  post-office, 
court-house,  banking  and  insurance  institutions,  leading  hotels, 
the  preponderance  of  the  business  houses  of  our  city,  and  the 
centre  of  our  river  commerce." 

(Signed) 

GEORGE  KNAPP,  representing  James  H.  Lucas,  George 
Knapp  <fc  Co.,  Ann  L.  Hunt,  Thomas  Allen,  Adolphus  Meier, 
George  R.  Taylor,  Henry  Blaksley,  Joseph  Weil,  James  J. 
O'Fallon,  William  C.  Taylor,  William  Keiler,  John  H.  Gay, 
William  T.  Gay,  J.  G.  Weld,  B.  W.  Alexander,  Erastus  Wells, 
Joseph  Brown,  Franklin  0.  Day,  R.  J.  Lackland,  J.  H.  Mc- 
Lean, John  Finn,  Elois  P.  Kayser,  R.  W.  Mitchell,  Frederick 
Hill,  Edward  J.  Gay,  J.  R.  Pullis  &  Brother,  Z.  E.  Wetzell  <fc 
Co.,  who  had  agreed  to  form  a  company  with  ample  capital  for 
the  purpose  of  erecting  an  Exchange  building,  conformably  to 
the  above  proposition. 

Third  and  Locust  Plan. — P.  B.  Gerhart,  for  himself 
and  associates,  reiterated  his  former  proposition,  with 
the  additional  statement  that  they  proposed  to  have  the 
building  ready  for  occupation  in  eighteen  months 
after  the  acceptance  of  the  proposition  and  after  Third 
Street  had  been  widened  as  proposed  for  the  bridge 
approaches. 

Sixth  and  Washington  Avenue  Proposition. — 
Messrs.  John  A.  and  W.  H.  Scudder  and  Mrs.  Ames 
submitted  the  same  proposition  as  before  for  the 
erection  of  a  building  on  this  location,  with  the  stip- 
ulation that  it  should  be  completed  by  November, 
1872.  This  contemplated  the  erection  of  a  building 
one  hundred  and  eighty-two  feet  on  Washington  Av- 
enue by  one  hundred  feet  on  Sixth  Street,  leaving 
twenty-five  feet  on  the  north  side  for  an  open  court. 
The  rent  proposed  was,  for  the  first  five  years,  §5500 
per  annum ;  the  next  ten  years,  $20,000  per  an- 
num ;  the  next  five  years,  §25,000  per  annum. 

The  board  did  not  discuss  the  merits  or  demerits 
of  the  propositions,  but  merely  considered  the  mode 
of  submitting  the  question  to  the  members  of  the 
Exchange.  The  directors  decided  that  a  vote  of  the 
members  be  taken  on  the  6th,  7th,  and  8th  of  July, 


polls  open  from  10  A.M.  to  2  P.M.  each  day.  They 
further  decided  that  any  plan  to  be  considered  adopted 
must  have  a  majority  of  all  the  votes  cast,  and  that 
in  the  event  of  there  not  being  a  majority  for  either 
of  the  propositions,  the  one  receiving  the  lowest  num- 
ber be  considered  rejected,  and  a  new  ballot  ordered 
upon  the  other  two.  If  a  majority  of  the  votes  were 
cast  for  any  one  proposition,  the  board  would  under- 
stand that  they  were  instructed  to  enter  into  a  con- 
tract according  to  the  proposition  approved. 

The  proposition  of  the  Messrs.  Scudder  and  Mrs. 
Ames  was,  however,  withdrawn,  as  appears  from  the 
following  letter : 

"OFFICE  OK  HENRY  AMES  <fc  Co. 

"Sx.  Louis,  June  27,  1871. 

"To    G.   B.    ALLEX,    President   of  the    Union    Merchants'  Ex- 
change, St.  Louis  : 

"  DEAR  SIR, — We  desire  to  withdraw  the  proposition  now  be- 
fore you,  of  the  undersigned,  for  building  a  new  Exchange 
building  on  Sixth  and  Washington  Avenue,  believing  that  in 
so  doing  you  will  the  more  readily  arrive  at  a  selection  which 
will  be  agreeable  to  a  larger  number  of  your  members  than  if  a 
greater  number  of  proposals  were  before  you.  As  the  selection 
of  this  site  seems  to  be  opposed  by  many  of  your  members,  we 
are  unwilling  to  be  the  instruments  of  any  discord  or  disagree- 
ment among  you.  In  conclusion,  we  will  say  that  we  will  cor- 
dially support  any  location  which  may  be  the  selection  of  a 
majority  of  your  members. 

"  Yours,  respectfully, 

"JOHN  A.  SCUDDER. 

"  CATHERINE  AMES. 

"WILLIAM  H.  SCUDDER." 

The  withdrawal  of  the  Scudder  proposition  left 
but  two  sites  to  be  considered  and  voted  upon  by  the 
members  of  the  Exchange,  viz. :  Third  and  Locust 
Streets,  and  Third  Street  between  Chestnut  and  Pine. 
"  We  maintain,"  said  the  Republican  at  the  time, 
"  that  the  latter  is  the  more  suitable,  being  nearer  the 
centre  of  trade  and  more  accessible  to  the  great  body 
of  our  merchants.  As  has  heretofore  been  stated, 
there  are  seven  hundred  and  seventy-three  business 
houses  represented  on  'Change  located  south  of  Olive 
Street,  while  there  are  only  four  hundred  and  ninety- 
two  located  north  of  that  street.  This  shows  at  a 
glance  that  a  large  majority  of  our  mercantile  com- 
munity would  be  better  accommodated  by  the  loca- 
tion of  the  Exchange  between  Chestnut  and  Pine 
Streets  than  between  Locust  and  Vine.  We  believe 
that  the  question  has  already  been  decided  with  em- 
phasis by  the  common  voice  of  those  most  interested, 
and  it  only  remains  to  record  that  decision  at  the 
election  to  be  held  on  the  6th,  7th,  and  8th  of  next 
month." 

The  proposition  of  Mr.  Knapp  and  his  associates 
was  finally  accepted  by  the  board,  and  a  special  com- 
mittee, composed  of  Gerard  B.  Allen,  George  Bain, 


COMMERCIAL  EXCHANGES. 


1355 


John  Wall,  W.  M.  Samuel,  Miles  Sells,  and  D.  P. 
Rowland,  was  appointed  to  prepare  articles  of  associa- 
tion for  a  company  to  be  known  as  the  St.  Louis 
Chamber  of  Commerce  Association.  At  that  time 
the  officers  of  the  Exchange  were  Gerard  B.  Allen, 
president ;  R.  P.  Tansey,  first  vice-president ;  George 
Bain,  second  vice-president ;  and  George  P.  Plant, 
John  F.  Mauntel,  William  H.  Scudder,  Philip  C. 
Taylor,  D.  P.  Rowland,  William  J.  Lewis,  Web 
M.  Samuel,  John  A.  Scudder,  John  Wahl,  and  Miles 
Sells,  directors.  This  committee  reported  a  series  of 
articles  of  association  to  a  meeting  held  on  the  22d 
of  November,  1871,  and  after  they  had  been  read,  the 
following  preamble  and  resolutions  were  adopted  : 

"WHEREAS,  A  petition  signed  by  nearly  seven  hundred  mem- 
bers of  this  Exchange,  being  a  majority  thereof,  has  been  pre- 
sented to  this  directory  requesting  them  to  locate  the  new  Ex- 
change building  on  the  block  bounded  by  Third  and  Fourth  and 
Chestnut  and  Pine  Streets,  and  to  take  steps  to  form  a  stock 
company  to  purchase  or  lease  the  property  designated  and  build 
a  suitable  building  thereon ;  therefore  be  it 

"  Resolved,  That  the  directory  of  the  Union  Merchants'  Ex- 
change cordially  indorse  the  location  so  designated  and  the 
articles  of  association  reported  to  them  by  the  special  com- 
mittee appointed  for  this  purpose. 

"  Resolved,  That  committees  of  three  each  be  appointed  by 
the  president  to  canvass  the  members  of  the  Exchange  and 
others  interested  and  secure  subscriptions  to  the  capital  stock 
of  the  proposed  association." 

The  articles  of  association  which  were  adopted  at 
the  same  meeting  read  as  follows : 

"  CERTIFICATE  OF  ASSOCIATION  OF  THE  ST.  Louis  CHAMBER  OF 
COMMERCE  ASSOCIATION. 

"  The  undersigned  hereby  certify  that,  by  virtue  of  the  pro- 
visions of  chapter  sixty-nine  of  the  general  statutes  of  the  State 
of  Missouri,  entitled  '  Manufacturing  and  Business  Com- 
panies,' and  authorizing  the  formation  of  corporations  '  to 
erect  hotels,  halls,  market-houses,  warehouses,  exchange  and 
other  buildings,  and  for  any  other  purpose  intended  for  mutual 
profit  or  benefit,  not  otherwise  especially  provided  for  and  not 
inconsistent  with  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  this  State,'  they 
have  associated,  and  by  these  presents  do  associate  together,  to 
form  a  corporation  in  manner  and  form,  and  for  the  objects  and 
purposes  hereinafter  set  forth,  as  follows : 

"ART.  I.  The  corporate  name  of  this  company  shall  be 
'THE  ST.  Lnns  CHAMBER  OF  COMMERCE  ASSOCIATION.' 

"ART.  II.  The  objects  for  which  this  company  is  formed 
are  the  erection  of  an  Exchange  and  other  buildings  on  Block 
86,  bounded  by  Chestnut,  Pine,  Third,  and  Fourth  Streets,  in 
the  city  of  St.  Louis,  ^tate  of  Missouri ;  the  lease  or  purchase, 
in  fee-simple  or  otherwise,  of  the  land  on  which  said  Exchange 
buildings  are  designed  to  be  erected,  and  the  use  or  renting 
out  of  said  buildings  for  a  Merchants'  or  other  Exchange,  for 
offices,  banks,  stores,  or  any  other  lawful  use  or  purpose  what-  ! 
•ever  approved  by  this  company. 

"ART.  III.  The  amount  of  the  capital  stock  of  this  company 
shall  be  one  million  dollars,  and  consist  of  ten  thousand  shares 
of  one  hundred  dollars  each.  But  the  company  shall  be  re- 
garded as  established  and  organized  by  the  subscriptions  of 
stock  made  by  the  signers  of  this  certificate,  and  the  board  of 


directors  hereinafter  named  shall  make  rules  or  by-laws  in  ref- 
erence to  any  further  subscriptions  to  said  capital  stock. 

"  ART.  IV.  The  affairs  of  this  company  shall  be  managed  by 
a  board  of  thirteen  directors, — Rufus  J.  Lackland,  B.  W.  Alex- 
ander, Henry  T.  Blow,  Gerard  B.  Allen,  Geo.  Knapp,  John  A. 
Scudder,  W.  M.  Samuel,  George  Bain,  George  P.  Plant,  Henry 
L.  Patterson,  E.  0.  Stanard,  W.  J.  Lewis,  and  D.  P.  Rowland 
shall  form  said  board  for  the  first  year. 

"  ART.  V.  The  business  operations  of  this  company  shall  be 
carried  on  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  and  its  office  shall  be  at  such 
place  in  said  city  as  may  from  time  to  time  be  selected  by  said 
board  of  directors. 

"ART.  VI.  The  period  of  the  corporate  existence  of  this 
company  shall  be  fifty  years. 

"ART.  VII.  The  board  of  directors  shall,  as  soon  as  prac- 
ticable, call  a  general  meeting  of  the  stockholders  of  this  com- 
pany to  make  by-laws  for  the  same,  as  provided  by  law,  for  the 
management  of  its  property,  the  regulation  of  its  affairs,  the 
transfer  of  its  stock,  and  especially  for  the  declaration  of  the 
powers  and  duties  of  said  board  of  directors." 

On  the  12th  of  December  the  directors  met  and 
elected  Rufus  J.  Lackland  president,  Gerard  B.  Allen 
and  George  Knapp  vice-presidents,  and  George  H. 
Morgan  secretary  pro  tern.  At  the  same  meeting 
they  adopted  and  issued  the  following  address : 

"The  undersigned,  directors  of  the  St.  Louis  Chamber  of 
Commerce  Association,  desire,  in  asking  for  your  subscriptions 
to  the  capital  stock  of  that  association,  to  present  some  of  the 
reasons  which  have  impelled  them  to  assume  the  responsibility 
of  providing  St.  Louis  with  a  suitable  Exchange  building. 

"  It  must  be  apparent  to  all  of  our  citizens  that  it  is  full  time 
that  St.  Louis  should  evince  the  same  faith  in  its  future  prog- 
ress that  is  exhibited  by  the  great  majority  of  the  people  of 
the  whole  country.  No  greater  evidence  of  this  faith  and  of  a 
determination  to  command  success  can  be  given  than  the  erec- 
tion of  a  Merchants'  Exchange,  a  grand  central  mart,  in  which 
will  be  combined  the  commerce  of  a  dozen  States,  and  around 
which  must  of  necessity  gather  the  controllers  of  the  capital 
which  will  aid,  encourage,  and  extend  that  commerce.  Nor  is 
it  unimportant  that  such  a  building  should  combine  architec- 
tural strength  and  elegance.  The  present  requirements  of  our 
commerce  cannot  be  served  in  a  small  edifice,  and  it  is  not  open 
to  doubt  that  the  requirements  of  ten  years  hence  will  demand 
greatly  extended  accommodations;  that  with  the  increase  of 
our  population,  the  extension  of  our  trade,  the  cultivation  of  a 
higher  taste  in  art,  the  erection  of  a  structure  of  imposing  di- 
mensions will  alone  satisfy  the  conditions  of  the  progress  of 
the  city  and  assure  that  progress. 

"  The  plan  proposed,  and  which  has  received  the  approval  of 
the  members  of  the  Merchants'  Exchange,  is  to  devote  the  en- 
tire block  bounded  by  Fourth,  Chestnut,  Third,  and  Pine 
Streets  to  the  erection  of  buildings  for  commercial,  banking, 
insurance,  legal,  and  exchange  purposes,  the  structure  to  be 
suitable  in  architectural  design  to  the  metropolis  of  the  West, 
commensurate  in  extent  and  adaptation  to  the  present  and 
prospective  commercial  interests  of  the  city,  and  which  shall 
present  facilities  for  the  immediate  co-operation  of  the  varied 
interests  represented  in  the  Produce  Exchange,  the  Board  of 
Trade,  the  Mechanics'  and  Manufacturers'  Exchange,  the  To- 
bacco Association,  the  Pork-Packers'  Association,  the  Real  Es- 
tate Exchange,  the  Board  of  Underwriters,  etc.  The  entire 
cost  of  such  a  structure,  including  the  fee-simple  of  the  ground, 
will  exceed  two  million  dollars,  but  it  is  not  probable  that  the 
entire  cost  will  be  borne  by  the  association.  The  building  of 


1356 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


the  whole  block  in  the  same  style  of  architecture  is  imperative, 
but  it  is  now  proposed  that  the  association  shall  purchase  only 
the  eastern  two-thirds  of  the  block,  leaving  Mr.  Lucas  and 
Mrs.  Hunt  to  build  up  the  western  third,  a  division  that  will 
reduce  the  amount  to  be  raised  by  this  association  some  seven 
or  eight  hundred  thousand  dollars,  while  the  interests  of  the 
public  will  lose  nothing.  The  work  is  not  to  be  commenced 
upon  the  structure  until  the  entire  amount  necessary  to  con- 
struct it  has  been  provided  for  by  stock  subscriptions  or  other- 
wise, nor  will  the  architect  be  selected  until  that  time,  when 
perfect  plans,  with  specifications,  shall  be  submitted,  and  the 
cost  clearly  known  before  any  expenditure  upon  construction 
account  is  made. 

"We  are  thus  explicit  in  stating  details  that  we  may  more 
directly  enlist  your  aid.  It  seems  to  us  clear  that  in  this  task 
of  developing  the  commercial  interests  of  St.  Louis  and  placing 
its  future  progress  beyond  question,  we  are  justly  entitled  to  call 
upon  the  moneyed  institutions  of  the  city  for  liberal  stock  sub-  I 
scriptions.  We  advance  no  labored  argument  to  prove  that  the 
enterprise  must  of  necessity  be  a  paying  one.  In  a  building 
of  the  character  designated  a  large  amount  of  room  will  be  de- 
voted to  banking  rooms,  insurance  offices,  etc.,  and  as  they  will 
be  by  the  location  brought  in  direct  proximity  with  the  interests 
that  form  the  basis  of  their  transactions,  there  will  be  no  lack 
of  desirable  tenants.  There  is  scarcely  more  need  to  present 
reasons  that  should  determine  you  to  make  subscriptions  to  the 
capital  stock.  The  banks  and  insurance  companies  of  the  city 
represent  a  capital  of  nearly  fifty  millions  of  dollars,  capital 
that  belongs  to  St.  Louis,  is  a  representative  of  the  accumu- 
lated wealth  of  the  city,  and  has  been  largely  drawn  here  by 
the  operations  of  merchants.  Beyond  this  the  banks  alone 
hold  an  average  of  over  thirty  millions  of  dollars,  deposited  by 
merchants  and  business  men,  each  of  whom  is  interested  in, 
and  will  be  served  by  the  erection  of,  the  proposed  structure. 
The  merchants  themselves  of  necessity  are  unable  to  withdraw 
large  amounts  of  their  capital  from  their  active  business  for 
stock  subscriptions,  even  to  an  enterprise  of  this  character;  nor 
would  it  be  to  the  interest  of  the  banks  to  have  them  do  so. 
The  latter,  however,  as  the  custodians  of  the  deposits  of  the 
merchants,  are  required  to  hold  a  certain  portion  of  their  re- 
sources in  trust,  and  we  submit  to  them  that  the  fiduciary  trust 
thus  imposed  can  be  most  wisely  used  in  such  an  investment  as 
we  propose,  as  by  this  means  they  employ  most  directly  a  por- 
tion of  the  gathered  capital  of  the  merchants  to  aid  and  ex- 
tend the  commercial  operations  and  profits  of  the  depositor. 

"  We  are  gratified  to  announce  that  the  subscriptions  already 
made  and  tendered  foot  up  four  hundred  thousand  dollars,  of 
which  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  is  from  individ- 
uals, and  the  remainder  from  the  Bank  of  the  State,  the  Boat- 
men's Saving  Institution,  and  Third  National  Bank,  each  of 
which  institutions  will  subscribe  fifty  thousand  dollars,  and 
propose  to  occupy  portions  of  the  building.  We  may  add  that 
the  subscriptions  will  be  called  for  only  as  the  work  progresses, 
thus  extending  the  payments  over  a  period  of  eighteen  months 
or  two  years. 

"  In  conclusion,  we  suggest  that,  although  at  the  moment 
there  may  be  a  doubt  as  to  whether  some  of  our  banks,  under 
their  charters,  can  make  such  subscriptions,  that  this  objection 
may  be  obviated  by  the  passage  by  the  Legislature  of  a  gen- 
eral law  enabling  corporations  as  such  to  take  stock  in  other 
corporations. 
(Signed) 

"  Rufus  J.  Lackland,  B.  W.  Alexander,  Henry  T.  Blow,  Ge- 
rard B.  Allen,  George  Knapp,  John  A.  Scudder,  W.  M. 
Samuel,  George  Bain,  George  P.  Plant,  Henry  L.  Patter- 
son, E.  0.  Stanard,  William  J.  Lewis,  D.  P.  Rowland." 


On  the  19th  of  December  the  association  was  char- 
tered by  the  Legislature,  the  incorporators  being 
Erastus  Wells,  John  N.  Bofinger,  R.  J.  Lackland, 
and  others.  Immediately  after  its  organization  the 
board  effected  the  purchase  of  the  ground  for  five 
hundred  and  sixty-one  thousand  seven  hundred  dol- 
lars and  eighty-six  cents,  and  applied  itself  to  the 
work  of  obtaining  subscriptions,  which  on  the  6th  of 
July,  1873,  amounted  to  six  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand dollars.1 

In  May,  1873,  the  work  of  tearing  down  the  old 
buildings  was  commenced,  and  in  July  the  first  ex- 
cavation was  made  for  the  foundations.  On  August 
25th  following  the  first  stone  of  the  foundation  was 
laid,  and  on  the  6th  of  June,  1874,  the  corner-stone 
was  laid  with  Masonic  ceremonies  under  the  direction 
of  Rufus  E.  Anderson,  Grand  Master  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Missouri.2  On  Friday,  June  5th,  the  re- 
ception-stone was  set  in  place  at  the  northeast  corner 
of  the  building,  a  large  copper  box  having  been  fitted  in 
place  in  its  centre.  The  immense  corner-stone  proper 
was  placed  at  a  point  a  short  distance  away,  to  serve 
as  a  speaker's  stand.  On  Saturday  afternoon,  June 
6th,  the  members  of  the  different  Masonic  lodges,  in- 
cluding the  Grand  Lodge  of  Missouri,  and  Knight 
Templar  commanderies  of  the  city  assembled  in  uni- 
form at  Seventh  and  Market  Streets,  where  they  were 
joined  by  Company  A,  National  Guards,  Capt.  John  B. 
Gray.  The  members  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce 
Association  and  Merchants'  Exchange  and  a  large 
number  of  other  prominent  citizens  also  joined  the 
procession.  At  five  o'clock  the  march  was  begun.  First 
came  a  body  of  mounted  policemen,  then  the  mili- 
tary headed  by  the  New  Orleans  Band,  then  the 
Knights  Templar  commanderies,  then  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  Association  and  Merchants'  Exchange,  and 
lastly  the  Grand  Lodge,  headed  by  the  Arsenal  Band. 
On  Fourth  Street,  in  front  of  the  Planters'  House,  the 
procession  halted  and  opened  out,  and  the  Grand  Lodge 
passed  through,  receiving  the  salutes  of  the  command- 

1  Among'  the  most  earnest  promoters  of  the  enterprise  was- 
James  H.  Lucas,  who  consented  to  conform  the  building  to  be 
erected  on  the  Fourth  Street  front  of  the  Exchange  Square  to- 
the  Exchange  building.    After  the  five  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars of  stock  had  been  subscribed,  Mr.  Lucas  subscribed  twenty 
thousand  dollars,  and  made  a  deed  for  the  property,  yielding  to 
the  company  the  additional  advantage  of  allowing  the  Exchange 
property  to   extend  back  so  as  to  leave  him  a  depth  for  his 
Fourth  Street  property  of  only  ninety-five  instead  of  ninety- 
six  and  a  half  feet.     Ill  health,  however,  prevented  Mr.  Lucas 
from  taking  an  active  part  in  the  work,  and  from  giving  writ- 
ten pledges  to  build  up  the  Fourth  Street  front  in  conformity 
to  the  Exchange  plan. — Republican,  Nov.  18,  1873. 

2  At  this  time  the  subscriptions  to  the  stock  amounted  to  eight 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars. 


COMMERCIAL   EXCHANGES. 


1357 


cries  and  military.  Passing  around  by  Chestnut 
Street,  the  body  proceeded  to  the  scene  of  ceremony. 
Arrived  there,  the  officers  of  the  Grand  Lodge  took 
their  station  on  the  platform,  and  the  brethren 
formed  in  a  hollow  square  about  the  corner-stone. 
The  officers  of  the  Grand  Lodge  at  this  time  were 
R.  E.  Anderson,  G.  M. ;  John  W.  Luke,  D.  G.  M. ; 
J.  E.  Cadle,  S.  G.  W. ;  Allen  McDowell  (acting), 
J.  G.  W. ;  William  N.  Loker,  G.  Treas. ;  Geo.  Frank 
Gouley,  G.  Sec. ;  Rev.  R.  A.  Holland,  G.  Chap. ;  D.  N. 
Burgoyne,  Bearer  Great  Light ;  J.  R.  Friend,  S.  G. 
Deacon  ;  Morris  Jacks,  J.  G.  Deacon  ;  W.  R.  Stub- 
blefield,  G.  Marshal ;  Nicholas  Wall,  Grand  Marshal ; 
G.  B.  Dameron,  G.  Sword-Bearer;  John  G.  Gilfillan, 
Grand  Steward ;  Isaiah  Forbes,  Grand  Steward ;  J. 
X.  Allen,  Grand  Tiler.  After  music  by  the  Arsenal 
Band,  R.  J.  Lackland,  president  of  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  Association,  introduced  to  the  immense 
concourse  who  blocked  the  streets  on  every  side  Web 
M.  Samuel,  president  of  the  Merchants'  Exchange, 
who  delivered  an  interesting  and  forcible  address. 
Rufus  E.  Anderson,  Grand  Master  of  the  Grand 
Lodge,  then  addressed  the  assemblage,  and  when  he 
had  finished,  the  ceremony  of  laying  the  corner-stone 
was  commenced.  A  box  was  placed  in  the  stone, 
containing  a  Bible,  the  records,  constitution  and  by- 
laws of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  Association  and 
of  the  Merchants'  Exchange,  copies  of  newspapers, 
coins,  and  other  relics,  and  the  stone,  weighing  nine 
tons,  was  then  lifted  into  place,  after  which  the  usual 
Masonic  ceremonies  were  performed. 

The  officers  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  Associa- 
tion at  this  time  were  Rufus  J.  Lackland,  president ; 
George  Knapp,  first  vice-president ;  B.  W.  Alexan- 
der, second  vice-president ;  George  H.  Morgan,  secre- 
tary and  treasurer  ;  Directors,  Rufus  J.  Lackland,  B. 
W.  Alexander,  George  Knapp,  W.  M.  Samuel,  George 
Bain,  George  P.  Plant,  D.  P.  Rowland,  J.  H.  Britton, 
John  R.  Lionberger,  John  H.  Beach,  Adolphus 
Meier,  Charles  L.  Hunt,  J.  B.  C.  Lucas.  Building 
Committee,  George  Knapp,  chairman  ;  R.  J.  Lack- 
land, J.  R.  Lionberger,  Adolphus  Meier,  Charles  L. 
Hunt. 

In  1875  the  name  of  the  Exchange,  which  had 
continued  to  be  the  Union  Merchants'  Exchange,  was 
changed  to  the  Merchants'  Exchange  of  St.  Louis,  and 
in  the  preamble  to  their  rules  and  by-laws  the  mem- 
bers declared  the  object  of  the  association  to  be  "  to 
advance  the  commercial  character  and  promote  the 
manufacturing  interests  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis,"  to 
"  inculcate  just  and  equitable  principles  of  trade,  es- 
tablish and  maintain  uniformity  in  the  commercial 
usages  of  the  city,  acquire,  preserve,  and  disseminate 


valuable  business  information,"  and  to  "  avoid  and 
adjust,  as  far  as  practicable,  the  controversies  and 
misunderstandings  which  may  arise  between  individ- 
uals engaged  in  trade."  The  erection  of  the  new 
Exchange  building  was  pressed  forward  with  great 
energy,  and  the  splendid  structure  was  completed  and 
formally  opened  on  the  21st  of  December,  1875,  with 
ceremonies  of  an  elaborate  and  imposing  character. 
At  ten  o'clock  the  members  of  the  Exchange  assem- 
bled at  the  old  Exchange  building  to  say  "  good-by" 
to  their  former  home.  At  eleven  o'clock  Company 
A,  National  Guards,  commanded  by  Capt.  C.  E. 
Pearce,  filed  into  the  hall,  headed  by  Postlethwaite's 
Band,  and  after  music  by  the  Arsenal  Band,  D.  P. 
Rowland,  president  of  the  Exchange,  called  the  as- 
semblage to  order,  and  announced  that  Mr.  Wayman 
Crow,  the  oldest  living  member  and  the  second  presi- 
dent of  the  Exchange,  had  been  selected  to  deliver 
the  farewell  address.  Mr.  Crow  then  addressed  the 
meeting,  giving  an  historical  sketch  of  the  organiza- 
tion and  relating  many  interesting  reminiscences.1 

1  In  the  course  of  his  address  Mr.  Crow  said, — 
"Our  organization,  gentlemen,  has  witnessed  in  this  city  a 
growth  and  development  almost  unparalleled  in  modern  times. 
Since  the  day  of  our  incorporation  a  population  of  ten  thou- 
sand has  increased  to  nearly  half  a  million.  In  a  little  more 
than  half  a  century  St.  Louis  has  passed  from  a  border  trading- 
post,  scarcely  yet  Americanized,  to  a  metropolis  which  is  already 
contending  for  a  foremost  rank  among  American  cities.  I  can 
scarcely  help  feeling  surprised  when  I  look  around  me  to  find 
myself  almost,  if  not  quite,  the  oldest  '  business  man'  of  St. 
Louis,  although  in  some  communities  I  might  claim  to  be  a 
young  man  yet.  But  having  been  in  business  here  more  than 
forty  years,  I  cannot  recall  to  mind  an  individual  now  in  com- 
mercial life  who  was  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits  at  the  time 
of  my  coming.  You  will  pardon  me,  then,  I  am  sure — seeing 
that  I  belong  to  the  past  more  than  to  the  present — if  my 
thoughts  revert  to  those  early  days  and  rest  for  a  moment  with 
the  men  who  were  my  trusted  co-laborers,  and  with  those  who 
immediately  preceded  us  in  our  work.  At  least  you  will  per- 
mit me  to  bear  witness  to  the  high  character,  the  commercial 
honor,  the  personal  faithfulness  of  those  who  were  the  early 
founders  of  our  prosperity,  and  who  gave  the  tone  and  stan- 
dard— 'not  yet  lost,  and  never,  as  we  confidently  hope,  to  be  lost 
— to  the  daily  business  life  of  St.  Louis.  Those  old-time  work- 
ers may  have  been  a  little  too  conservative,  sometimes  timid, — 
'  old  fogies'  you  would  call  them  nowadays, — but  they  were 
scrupulously  honest  in  their  dealings,  strict  constructionists  in 
their  regard  for  contracts,  men  of  untarnished  integrity  in 
meeting  their  engagements,  and  it  is  to  their  practice  and  ex- 
ample that  the  present  high  commercial  credit  of  St.  Louis,  both 
at  home  and  abroad,  is  greatly  due.  However  strong  and  prom- 
ising the  present  may  be,  I  cannot,  as  your  oldest  member,  say 
a  better  word  than  this, — that  we  should  hold  fast  to  the  early 
traditions  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  and  maintain  that 
high  regard  for  honorable  dealing  which  has  characterized  the 
past,  so  that  to  be  a  recognized  member  of  the  St.  Louis  Mer- 
chants' Exchange  may  always  and  everywhere  be  a  passport 
to  respect  and  confidence.  Consider  through  what  trials  and 
difficulties  we  have  thus  far  advanced.  No  city  has  suffered 


1358 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


At  the  close  of  Mr.  Crow's  address  the  band  struck 
up  "  Auld  Lang  Syne,"  and  the  air  was  sung  by  the 
entire  Exchange.  A  procession  was  then  formed 
under  direction  of  William  Hamilton,  grand  marshal, 
which  marched  up  Main  Street  to  Washington  Avenue, 
up  Washington  Avenue  to  Fourth  Street,  down  Fourth 
Street  to  Chestnut  Street,  and  along  Chestnut  Street 
to  the  new  Exchange  building.  A  squad  of  mounted 
police  formed  the  head  of  the  procession.  Next  came 
Postlethwaite's  Band,  followed  by  Company  A,  Na- 
tional Guard  Rifle  Association,  Capt.  Charles  E.  Pearce 
in  command.  The  president  and  directors  of  the  St. 
Louis  Chamber  of  Commerce  Association  came  next, 
and  after  them  the  architects,  builders,  and  con- 
tractors of  the  new  building,  ex-presidents  of  the  Ex- 
change, vice-presidents  and  directors,  various  com- 
mittees and  members.  Along  the  line  of  march  the 
streets  were  lined  with  people,  and  at  the  new  build- 
ing there  was  scarcely  room  enough  for  the  column 
to  pass  along  comfortably.  Although  there  was  a 
goodly  number  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  present  as 
spectators,  the  vastness  of  the  hall  and  the  galleries 
made  the  many  appear  but  few.  When  the  proces- 
sion filed  into  the  hall,  the  officers,  ex-officers,  and  dis- 
tinguished guests  mounted  to  the  platform,  while  the 
other  members  of  the  procession  filled  all  the  standing- 
room  on  the  floor  of  the  hall.  The  Arsenal  Band  took 
position  at  the  left  of  the  platform  and  opened  the  cer- 
emonies with  music.  Among  those  on  the  platform 
were  the  following: 

D.  P.  Rowland,  president  of  the  Merchants'  Ex- 
change, Mayor  Britton,  Rev.  Dr.  W.  G.  Eliot,  Way- 
man  Crow,  Capt.  James  B.  Eads,  Samuel  M.  Edgell, 
George  Knapp,  Charles  Hunt,  Adolphus  Meier,  ex- 
Governor  E.  0.  Stanard,  John  Beach,  Web.  M. 
Samuel,  Maj.  Francis  D,  Lee,  George  Partridge,  D. 
A.  January,  William  H.  Scudder,  George  H.  Mor- 
gan, Capt.  Nanson,  Craig  Alexander,  John  B.  Maude, 
Michael  McEnnis,  William  M.  Senter,  R.  P.  Tansey, 
Capt.  Davidson,  and  John  Booth. 

Hon.  E.  0.  Stanard  called  the  meeting  to  order, 


greater  reverses  by  fire,  pestilence,  and  flood,  by  financial  crises, 
by  internal  dissensions  and  civil  war;  and  yet  we  have  passed 
through  all,  chiefly  by  the  sturdy  strength  and  steadfastness  of 
our  business  men.  At  the  present  time,  notwithstanding  many 
disturbing  influences  and  more  '  exceptions'  to  the  course  of 
strict  honesty  than  are  necessary  to  'establish  the  rule,'  the 
prevailing  tendencies  are  in  the  right  direction.  The  future  is 
clear  and  bright  before  us.  To  your  hands,  gentlemen,  upon 
whom  the  burden  and  heat  of  the  day  must  fall,  the  commercial 
destinies  of  our  city  are  committed.  Let  the  future  be  better 
than  the  past  by  as  much  as  the  magnificent  building  to  which 
we  go  is  better  than  that  from  which,  almost  reluctantly,  we 
must  now  depart." 


and  stated  that  as  the  hall  was  so  very  large,  and  its 
acoustic  properties  had  never  been  tried,  it  would  be 
necessary  to  preserve  the  strictest  silence  to  secure  a 
hearing  of  the  speakers.  He  then  introduced  Maj. 
Francis  D.  Lee,  chief  architect  of  the  building,  who 
delivered  possession  to  R.  J.  Lackland,  president  of 
the  Chamber  of  Commerce  Association,  accompanying 
the  formal  transfer  of  the  structure  with  a  brief  address. 
Mr.  Lackland  then  delivered  the  building  in  turn  to 
D.  P.  Rowland,  president  of  the  Merchants'  Ex- 
change. In  the  course  of  his  remarks,  Mr.  Lackland 
complimented  Col.  George  Knapp,  chairman  of  the 
building  committee,  for  the  untiring  energy  which 
he  had  displayed  in  overcoming  all  obstacles  to  the 
completion  of  the  edifice.  "  To  his  (Col.  Knapp 's) 
far-sighted  public  spirit  and  indomitable  energy," 
added  Mr.  Lackland,  "  we  are  mainly  indebted  for 
this  beautiful  structure." 

On  behalf  of  the  Merchants'  Exchange,  Mr.  Row- 
land accepted  the  trust  from  Mr.  Lackland,  to  whose 
remarks  he  responded  in  a  brief  and  eloquent  address. 
Prayer  was  then  offered  by  Rev.  Dr.  W.  G.  Eliot, 
after  which  Capt.  James  B.  Eads,  orator  of  the  day, 
was  introduced,  and  delivered  an  elaborate  and  able 
address.  A  poem  on  commerce  was  then  recited  by 
Solon  N.  Sapp,  which  was  followed  by  addresses  by 
Web  M.  Samuel,  Hon.  E.  0.  Stanard,  and  George 
H.  Morgan.  Mr.  Morgan  then  read  a  communica- 
tion from  Thomas  A.  Buckland,  a  member  of  the 
first  board  of  directors  of  the  Merchants'  Exchange, 
congratulating  the  association  on  the  grand  results 
which  had  been  achieved,  and  referring  to  the  great 
changes  which  had  taken  place  since  thirty  years 
before,  when  the  pulpit  of  the  First  Baptist  Church 
stood  almost  in  the  spot  occupied  by  the  president's 
desk  in  the  new  hall.  Capt.  Frank  B.  Davidson  being 
called  on  made  a  few  remarks,  after  which  President 
Rowland  declared  the  meeting  adjourned,  and  the 
vast  assemblage  dispersed.  In  the  evening  the  hall 
was  illuminated  and  a  concert  was  .given,  which  was 
repeated  on  the  following  night. 

The  building  is  one  of  the  most  spacious,  attractive, 
and  conveniently  arranged  structures  of  its  class  in  the 
world,  and  its  total  cost  (including  the  site)  was  about 
$1,800,000. 

It  occupies  the  eastern  and  principal  portion  of  the 
block  bounded  by  Third,  Fourth,  Chestnut,  and  Pine 
Streets,  having  a  main  frontage  of  two  hundred  and 
thirty-five  feet  on  Third  Street,  and  secondary  fronts 
of  one  hundred  and  eighty-seven  feet  each  on  Chest- 
nut and  Pine  Streets. 

Externally  the  edifice  is  of  cut  Warrensburg  sand- 
stone, and  is  apparently  but  three  stories  high,  although 


COMMERCIAL   EXCHANGES. 


1359 


it  is  in  reality  five,  exclusive  of  the  basement.  The 
basement  is  treated  with  quoined  piers,  with  red  gran- 
ite plinths  and  boldly  moulded  caps,  and  the  first  story 
with  piers  supported  by  moulded  bases  and  caps,  car- 
rying a  bold  cornice  enriched  with  triglyphs.  The 
second  and  third  stories  are  of  .the  composite  order,  the 
pilasters  coupled  and  supported  with  pedestals,  with 
balusters  between  the  same.  The  centre  of  the  Third 
Street  front  is  enriched  with  detached  columns  in  the 
several  stories,  surmounted  by  a  bold  pediment.  A 
rich  crowning  entablature,  carrying  a  balustrade,  sur- 
mounts the  entire  building.  In  all  parts  of  the  de- 
sign the  reliefs  are  bold,  producing  the  fullest  effect 
of  light  and  shade ;  and  although  the  separate  parts 
of  the  building  are  almost  colossal,  the  general  effect 
of  the  whole  is  light  and  airy.  The  style  of  the  archi- 
tecture is  something  of  a  mixture,  but  may  properly 
be  classed  of  the  renaissance  order. 

The  principal  fagade  is  recessed 
twenty-one  feet  from  the  original 
building  line  of  Third  Street,  thus 
giving  room  for  a  broad  sidewalk  and 
spacious  area  along  that  entire  front. 
It  is  also  recessed  on  Chestnut  and 
Pine  Streets,  so  that  the  sidewalks 
there  are  increased  to  a  width  of  four- 
teen feet. 

Although  the  structure  appears  to 
be  a  unit,  in  reality  there  are  two 
distinct  buildings,  separated  internally 
by  a  large  area  for  light  and  ventila- 
tion, but  connected  by  a  grand  central 
stair  hall  and  by  arcades  on  Chestnut 
and  Pine  Streets.  In  that  portion  of 
the  structure  west  of  the  internal  area 
is  situated  the  grand  Exchange  Hall,  the  clear  dimen- 
sions of  which  are  two  hundred  and  thirty-five  feet  by 
ninety-eight  feet  in  area,  with  a  height  of  sixty-nine 
feet.  It  is  lighted  on  every  side  with  great  windows 
filled  with  plate-glass  in  two  tiers,  separated  by  a  light 
gallery  extending  around  the  hall.  The  door  and  hall 
casings  are  of  massive  walnut  highly  varnished  and 
polished,  with  panel-work  of  French  walnut.  The 
bases  of  the  pilasters  and  all  the  wainscotings  are  of 
the  same  material. 

The  president's  desk  with  accessories  on  a  raised  ! 
platform  ornaments  the  west  side  of  the  hall,  and  is  : 
the  most  elegant  piece  of  work  of  the  kind  in  the 
West.     It  is  of  walnut,  carved  and  moulded  in  the 
most  tasteful  manner.     The  desks  of  the  members, 
the  grain  tables,  and,  in  short,  all  the  other  fittings  are 
likewise  of  walnut.    The  grain  tables  are  all  covered 
with  thick  slabs  of  highly-polished  white  marble. 


The  ceiling,  including  the  cornice  and  cone,  is 
ninety-nine  by  two  hundred  and  fifteen  feet,  and  ex- 
clusive of  them  is  fifty  by  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
nine,  and  is  divided  into  three  compartments,  each 
containing  a  grand  medallion. 

The  central  figure  of  the  ceiling  is  emblematic  of  St. 
Louis,  and  is  surrounded  by  groups  typical  of  the  agri- 
cultural, mineral,  and  industrial  products  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi valley.  The  group  of  figures  to  the  north 
represents  the  four  quarters  of  the  world  bringing 
their  various  offerings  to  the  West,  which,  with  out- 
stretched arms,  offers  its  products  in  exchange.  The 
two  figures  at  the  bottom  complete  the  representation 
of  the  West  with  the  Mississippi  Hiver. 

The  two  end  compartments  are  composed  of  geo- 
metrical divisions,  ornamented  in  imitation  of  stucco, 
containing  each  four  panels,  with  emblematic  repre- 
sentations of  the  industries  of  the  State  of  Missouri 


CHAMBER    OF    COMMERCE. 

in  basso-relievo.  The  centres  of  these  two  compart- 
ments form  each  a  medallion  of  twenty-six  by  twenty- 
six  feet.  The  one  on  the  north  end  represents  char- 
acteristic types  of  European  nations, — England,  Ger- 
many, Italy,  France,  Scotland,  and  Ireland  forming  a 
central  group,  surrounded  by  Russia,  Switzerland, 
Spain,  Sclavonia,  European  Turkey,  and  Greece.  The 
south  medallion  represents  characteristic  types  of 
Asia  and  Africa, — Arabia,  Egypt,  Judea,  China,  and 
Japan  forming  the  principal  group,  surrounded  by 
Ethiopia,  Caucasia,  India,  Persia,  Abyssinia,  and 
Mongolia. 

The  cornice  surrounding  the  ceiling,  with  the  span- 
drels and  lunettes  over  the  windows,  forms  a  border 
twenty  feet  wide,  containing  the  names  of  all  the 
States  of  the  Union,  and  representations  of  the  mer- 
chant flags  of  the  world  in  panel-work,  enriched 
with  ornaments  in  imitation  of  stucco. 


1360 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


The  style  of  this  decoration  is  of  the  classic  Vene- 
tian school  of  the  sixteenth  century,  of  which  it  is  a 
magnificent  illustration.  The  ceiling,  as  a  whole, 
presents  a  scene  of  gorgeous  beauty,  which  is  only 
intensified  by  an  examination  of  the  various  groups 
and  figures  in  detail.  The  coloring  is  of  a  florid, 
tone,  the  harmony  of  which  is  preserved  in  the 
minutest  particular,  the  contrasts  and  shades  being  so 
arranged  as  not  in  any  instance  to  attract  the  eye 
from  the  general  effect. 

The  artists  were  Messrs.  Becker  &  Sciepcevich, 
fresco  and  decorative  painters  of  St.  Louis. 

The  building  fronting  on  Third  Street  is  entirely 
devoted  to  banks  and  offices,  and  has  a  basement  and 
five  stories.  The  first  story  contains  six  rooms  of 
ample  dimensions,  arranged  with  fire-  and  burglar- 
proof  safes  and  every  accommodation  for  first-class 
moneyed  institutions.  The  upper  four  stories  are 
divided  into  sixty  commodious  and  well-lighted 
offices,  furnished  like  the  first  with  fire-proof  safes 
and  every  modern  convenience.  The  basement  con- 
tains a  number  of  large  rooms  suitable  for  brokers'  or  | 
exchange  offices  and  various  other  kinds  of  business. 

The  first  story  of  that   portion   of  the  structure 
under  the  ground  hall  is  devoted  to  banks,  offices,  or  i 
any  business  purpose  for  which  it  may  be  required. 

A  noticeable  feature  of  the  interior  consists  of  six 
immense  doors  opening  into  the  grand  hall,  each 
one  nine  feet  wide  and  eighteen  feet  high.  They 
fold  back  into  the  thickness  of  the  wall  so  as  to  afford 
no  obstruction  when  opened,  and  are  composed  of 
dark  bard  wood  of  several  hues,  paneled,  moulded, 
enriched,  and  highly  polished.  They  are  finished 
with  bold  architraves,  entablatures,  and  pediments. 

The  grand  staircase,  which  cost  twenty-five  thou- 
sand dollars,  leads  from  the  basement  to  the  grand 
hall,  and  is  accessible  from  every  face  of  the  building. 
It  is  of  imposing  proportions,  and  is  composed  of 
hard  woods,  and  the  newels  and  balusters  are  massive, 
and  of  elegant  designs  of  carving,  moulding,  and  pan- 
eling. Some  idea  of  its  dimensions  may  be  obtained 
from  the  fact  that  it  occupies  an  area  of  twenty-seven 
by  sixty-one  feet. 

There  are  six  broad  entrances  to  the  building, — 

O* 

three  on  Third  Street,  one  on  Pine,  one  on  Chest- 
nut, and  one  on  the  court  west  of  the  structure. 
The  principal  or  central  entrance  on  Third  Street  is 
very  beautiful  and  strictly  classical,  of  the  Doric 
order.  The  frieze  of  the  portico  bears  the  name  and 
purpose  of  the  building  in  raised  letters  carved 
from  the  stone.  The  stairway  from  this  entrance 
leads  directly  to  the  grand  hall.  The  other  entrance 
on  Third  Street,  as  well  as  those  on  Pine  and  Chest- 


nut, communicate  with  the  main  stairway,  and  also 
with  the  steam  elevators,  which  extend  through  the 
entire  height  of  the  building,  giving  easy  and  ready 
access  to  every  part  of  the  building. 

During  the  National  Democratic  Convention  which 
nominated  Samuel  J.  Tijden  for  President  there  were 
five  thousand  two  hundred  chairs  on  the  floor  of  the 
hall,  and  at  the  formal  opening  of  the  hall  it  con- 
tained over  ten  thousand  people.  In  the  centre  of 
the  hall,  and  directly  in  front  of  the  rostrum,  stands 
a  large  handsome  fountain,  throwing  out  jets  of 
water  in  all  directions,  adding  not  only  to  the  beauty 
of  the  surroundings  but  also  to  the  comfort  of  all 
present,  particularly  on  hot  summer  days.  This  was 
the  gift  of  John  A.  Scudder,  an  ex-president  of  the 
Exchange  and  one  of  its  most  enterprising  members. 
The  fountain  is  on  rollers,  and  can  be  moved  in  and 
out  of  the  hall  with  very  little  trouble.  The  archi- 
tects of  the  building  were  Lee  &  Annan. 

The  officers  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  from  its 
formation  up  to  1862  were : 

1836  to  1840.— Edward  Tracy,  president;  Henry  Von  Phul, 
vice-president;  John  Ford,  secretary. 

1841  to  October,  1849. — Wayman  Crow,  president;  George 
K.  McGunnegle,  vice-president. 

1836  to  1849.— John  Ford,  Daniel  Hough,  and  F.  L.  Ridgely, 
secretaries. 

From  October  to  December,  1849. — George  K.  McGunnegle, 
president;  Edward  Briggs,  vice-president;  Edward  Barry,  sec- 
retary. 

1850. — George  K.  McGunnegle,  president;  Edward  Brooks, 
vice-president;  Edward  Barry,  secretary. 

1851,  to  March  4. — George  K.  McGunnegle,  president;  Ed- 
ward Brooks,  vice-president. 

1851,  from  March  4. — William  M.  Morrison,  president;  Alfred 
Vinton  and  David  Tatutn,  vice-presidents;  Edward  Barry,  sec- 
retary. 

1852. — William  M.  Morrison,  president;  Alfred  Vinton  and 
Henry  Von  Phul,  vice-presidents ;  Edward  Barry,  secretary. 

1853. — Alfred  Vinton,  president;  James  E.  Yeatman  and 
Henry  Von  Phul,  vice-presidents;  Edward  Barry,  secretary. 

1854. — Alfred  Vinton,  president;  R.  M.  Henning  and  Henry 
Von  Phul,  vice-presidents ;  Edward  Barry,  secretary. 

1855. — R.  M.  Henning,  president;  Rufus  J.  Lackland  and 
Henry  T.  Blow,  vice-presidents  ;  Edward  Barry,  secretary. 

1856,  to  May  31. — R.  M.  Henning,  president:  J.  A.  Brown- 
lee  and  William  T.  Hazard,  vice-presidents ;  W.  B.  Baker,  sec- 
retary. 

From  June  9,  1S56,  and  1857. — Henry  Ames,  president;  D. 
A.  January  and  John  J.  Roe,  vice-presidents;  W.  B.  Baker, 
secretary. 

1858.— E.  M.  Ryland,  president;  R.  M.  Funkhouser  and  T. 
A.  Buckland,  vice-presidents;  W.  B.  Baker,  secretary. 

1859. — R.  M.  Funkhouser,  president;  John  T.  Douglass  and 
Charles  L.  Tucker,  vice-presidents;  W.  B.  Baker,  secretary. 

1860. — D.  A.  January,  president:  M.  L.  Pottle  and  J.  H. 
Oglesby,  vice-presidents;  W.  B.  Baker,  secretary. 

1861. — D.  A.  January,  president;  William  Matthews  and  M. 
L.  Pottle,  vice-presidents ;  W.  B.  Baker,  secretary. 

1862. — William  Matthews,  president;  James  Mackoy  and 
George  Bayha,  vice-presidents;  R.  H.  Davis,  secretary. 


COMMERCIAL   EXCHANGES. 


1361 


In  1862  the  organization  went  out  of  existence,  but, 
as  we  have  seen,  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  Associa- 
tion was  formed  in  the  autumn  of  1871,  and  Hufus 
J.  Lackland  was  elected  president  and  still  continues 
to  serve  as  such.  At  the  time  of  the  completion  of 
the  building  the  officers  were  Rufus  J.  Lackland, 
president;  George  Knapp,  first  vice-president,  and  B. 
W.  Alexander,  second  vice-president,  who  with  Web 
M.  Samuel,  George  Bain,  Charles  Green,  D.  P.  Row- 
land, J.  H.  Britton,  J.  R.  Lionberger,  J.  H.  Beach, 
Adolphus  Meier,  Charles  L.  Hunt,  and  Levi  L.  Ash- 
brook  were  the  directors.  George  H.  Morgan  was 
secretary  and  treasurer. 

The  present  board  of  directors  is  composed  of  the 
same  persons,  with  the  exception  of  J.  H.  Britton 
(deceased).  The  officers  of  the  Merchants'  Exchange 
(which  succeeded  the  old  Chamber  of  Commerce  or- 
ganization in  1862)  have  been, — 


Year. 


President. 


Vice-Presidents. 


1862. 

H.  J.  Moore. 

C.  i 

1863. 

G.  Partridge. 

C.  6 

1864. 

T.  Richeson. 

B.  j 

1865. 

B.  Able. 

E.I 

1866. 

E.  0.  Stanard. 

A. 

1867. 

C.  L.  Tucker. 

E.  . 

1868. 

J.  J.  Roe. 

G.  : 

1869. 

G.  P.  Plant. 

H. 

1870. 

W.  J.  Lewis. 

G.( 

1871. 

G.  B.  Allen. 

R. 

1872. 

R.  P.  Tansey. 

W. 

1873. 

W.  H.  Scudder. 

S.  ] 

1874. 

W.  M.  Samuel. 

L.  : 

1875. 

D.  P.  Rowland. 

j.  i 

1876. 

N.  Cole. 

j. 

1877. 

J.  A.  Scudder. 

N. 

1878. 

G.  Bain. 

H. 

1879. 

J.  Waul. 

M. 

1880. 

A.  H.  Smith. 

c.  : 

1881. 

M.  McEnnis. 

j.  , 

1882. 

C.  E.  Slayback. 

c.  : 

1883. 

J.  C.  Ewald. 

D. 

S.  Greeley,  A.  W.  Fagin. 
S.  Greeley,  A.  W.  Fagin. 
Able,  C.  L.  Tucker. 
0.  Stanard,  H.  A.  Homeyer. 
H.  Smith,  D.  G.  Taylor. 
Ames,  D.  G.  Taylor. 
P.  Plant,  H.  A.  Homeyer. 
A.  Homeyer,  Nathan  Cole. 
G.  Wagguman,  H.  C.  Yeager. 
P.  Tansey,  G.  Bain. 
.  H.  Scudder,  C.  H.  Teichman. 
M.  Edge!l,  W.  M.  Samuel. 
L.  Ashbrook,  J.  F.  Tolle. 
P.  Meyer,  W.  M.  Seuter. 
Wall  I,  F.  B.  Davidson. 
Schaefer,  G.  Bain. 
C.  Haarstick,  Craig  Alexander. 
McEnnis,  W.  J.  Letup. 

E.  Slayback,  J.  C.  Ewald. 
Jackson,  A.  T.  Harlow. 

F.  Orthwein,  F.  Gaiennie. 
R.  Francis,  D.  P.  Grier. 


No.  of 
Members. 
675 
518 
725 
990 
1110 
1068 
1268 
1332 
1282 
1289 
13G9 
13(33 
1307 
1442 
1397 
1327 
1290 
1260 
1303 
3533 
3565 


Secretary  and  Treasurer,  1862,  Clinton  B.  Fisk;  1863-64,  J.  H.  Alex- 
ander; 1865-83,  George  H.  Morgan. 

Officers  for  the  Year  1883.— President,  J.  C.  Ewald;  Vice-Presidents,  D. 
R.  Francis,  D.  P.  Grier;  Directors:  1883,  Michael  McEnnis,  J.  C.  Mac- 
Ginnitie,  Charles  W.  Barstow,  John  P.  Keiser,  Charles  S.  Freeborn ; 
1883-84,  Charles  E.  Slayback,  D.  P.  Slattery,  A.  0.  Grubb,  L.  C.  A.  Koenig, 
Ewing  Hill;  Secretary  and  Treasurer,  George  H.  Morgan  ;  Assistants, 
D.  R.  Whitmore,  Lovell  W.  Stebbins  ;  Caller,  Joseph  P.  Carr ;  Assistant 
Caller,  John  D.  Bell ;  Committee  of  Appeals,  Stephen  G.  Price,  J.  D. 
Houseman,  Jr.,  L.  Methudy,  Hugh  Ferguson,  Breedlove  Smith,  H.  G. 
Bohn,  D.  L.  Wing,  E.  F.  Hoppe,  John  H.  Evil,  William  Stobie,  H.  B. 
Eggeis,  Charles  L.  Thompson;  Committee  of  Arbitration:  First  six 
months,  Henry  S.  Platt,  R.  H.  Allen,  Jr.,  A.  Weyl,  D.  II.  Bartlett,  Delos 
R.  Haynes;  Second  six  months,  James  M.  Carpenter,  F.  W.  Rockwell, 
A.  F.  Donk,  C.  Bernet,  Joseph  Lloyd  ;  Door-Keeper,  James  P.  Newell ; 
Registry  Clerk,  Frank  L.  Stobie;  Telegraph  Clerk,  Frederick  L.  Stobie; 
Messenger,  Edward  M.  Pottle. 

The  merchants  of  St.  Louis,  and  in  fact  the  com- 
munity generally,  have  just  reason  to  be  proud  of 
their  Exchange,  which  is  universally  recognized  as 
being  one  of  the  most  honorable  and  influential  bodies 
in  the  country.  It  is  not  exaggeration  to  say  that  it 
is  felt  in  the  commerce  of  nearly  every  important 


nation  on  the  globe,  commanding  as  it  does  the  trade 
of  the  far-famed  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  with  its 
vast  stores  of  produce  and  its  busy  hives  of  industry 
and  thrift.  Among  its  members  have  been  not  only 
many  of  the  representative  business  men  of  St.  Louis, 
but  individuals  who  have  been  and  now  are  conspicu- 
ous in  national  affairs.  In  its  organization  the  Ex- 
change is  comprehensive  and  essentially  democratic, 
its  doors  being  open  to  the  members  of  all  honorable 
trades,  professions,  businesses,  or  callings.  Among  them 
are  commission  merchants,  insurance  men,  millers, 
dealers  in  feed,  grocers,  flour  dealers,  produce  mer- 
chants, brewers,  teamsters,  provision  merchants,  pork- 
packers,  cotton  buyers,  fast  freight  transportation  men, 
real  estate  men,  manufacturers  of  paints,  oils,  and 
white  lead,  brokers,  hide  and  wool  merchants,  maltsters, 
coal  dealers,  builders,  blacksmiths,  civil  engineers,  con- 
fectioners, coopers,  cracker  manufacturers,  distillers, 
cider  and  vinegar  manufacturers,  druggists,  farmers, 
foundrymen,  hatters,  hotel-keepers,  ice  dealers,  iron 
manufacturers,  lawyers,  livery-stable  keepers,  lumber- 
men, manufacturers  of  macaroni,  paper  dealers,  paint- 
ers, printers,  railroad  men,  rope  manufacturers,  salt 
dealers,  manufacturers  of  soap  and  candles,  street 
sprinklers,  stove  dealers,  stockmen,  tanners,  tobacco 
dealers,  wire  manufacturers,  undertakers,  in  short,  the 
Exchange  is  thoroughly  representative  of  the  commer- 
cial and  industrial  activity  of  St.  Louis,  and  embraces 
the  great  bulk  of  those  who  contribute  most  to  the 
wealth  and  prosperity  of  the  community  at  large.  It 
has  always  maintained  a  high  and  rigid  standard  of 
commercial  ethics,  and  has  contributed  immensely  to 
secure  for  the  business  men  of  St.  Louis  that  reputa- 
tion for  strictly  honorable  dealing  which  they  enjoy 
throughout  the  commercial  world. 

The  Cotton  Exchange. — The  first  meeting  of  the 
organization  now  known  as  the  St.  Louis  Cotton  Ex- 
change was  held  in  the  directors'  room  of  the  old  Mer- 
chants' Exchange  building,  on  Main  Street,  on  Oct.  17, 
1873.  The  officers  of  the  Cotton  Association  (for  so 
it  was  then  called)  were  Theodore  G.  Meier,  president ; 
William  M.  Senter,  vice-president ;  Myron  Coloney, 
secretary ;  and  Messrs.  William  P.  Shyrock,  Henry 
Drucker,  Miles  Sells,  S.  A.  Bemis,  Harlow  J.  Phelps, 
D.  W.  Marmaduke,  and  John  T.  Watson,  members 
of  the  directory.  There  had  previously  been  held  an 
informal  gathering  at  the  office  of  Theodore  G.  Meier, 
at  which  were  present  the  gentlemen  named  above, 
together  with  Messrs.  Ladd  and  Rowland.  The  asso- 
ciation so  established  and  subsequently  incorporated 
(in  August,  1874)  comprised  eighty-one  members, 
who  paid  five  dollars  initiation  fee  each,  and  were  as- 
sessed twenty  dollars  each  for  annual  dues.  At  the 


1362 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


first  formal  meeting  the  question  of  a  suitable  location 
was  discussed,  and  it  was 

"  Ordered,  That  the  room  fronting  on  Main  Street, 
third  floor  of  building  joining  the  Merchants'  Ex- 
change building,  be  rented  for  the  use  of  this  associa- 
tion at  a  rate  of  not  more  than  twenty-five  dollars  per 
month." 

At  a  subsequent  meeting  the  president  was  author- 
ized to  procure  "  a  telegraphic  machine"  for  the 
"  rooms,"  by  which  appellation  the  single  apartment 
was  officially  dignified.  Cotton  warehousemen  were 
made  to  feel  the  power  of  the  association  by  being 
notified  that  "  weighers  must  plainly  state  the  condi- 
tion of  cotton  upon  their 
certificates,  and  the  gross 
weight,  tare,  and  net  of 
the  same." 

At  the  fifth  regular 
meeting  was  conceived 
the  plan  of  offering  large 
cash  premiums  on  cotton 
at  the  approaching  St. 
Louis  Fair  (1874),  and 
it  was  "  resolved  that  not 
less  than  ten  thousand 
dollars  be  offered  as  pre- 
miums on  cotton  next 
fall."  The  Fair  Asso- 
ciation met  this  tender 
in  a  reciprocally  liberal 
spirit,  and  the  cotton 
men  increased  the  sum 
to  eleven  thousand  dol- 
lars. This  relation  ex- 
isted up  to  1881,  and  the 
premiums  annually  of- 
fered were  an  important 
factor  in  building  up  the 
cotton  interest  in  St. 
Louis.  On  the  ratifica- 
tion of  the  articles  of  incorporation  the  Association 
changed  its  name  to  the  Cotton  Exchange,  by  which 
it  is  now  known,  raised  its  dues  and  initiation  fee  to 
fifty  dollars  each,  and  elected  the  following  officers  on 
Sept.  16,  1874:  Theo.  G.  Meier,  president ;  William 
M.  Senter,  vice-president ;  Myron  Coloney,  secretary  ; 
and  Messrs.  William  P.  Shyrock,  Henry  Drucker, 
Miles  Sells,  S.  A.  Bemis,  Harlon  J.  Phelps,  John  T. 
Watson,  and  L.  C.  Norvell,  directors. 

In  1875  the  Exchange  removed  to  new  quarters  on 
Main  and  Chestnut  Streets,  where  its  membership  in- 
creased to  three  hundred  in  1880,  although  during 
the  five  years  preceding  the  membership  fee  had  been 


ST.  LOUIS   COTTON    EXCHANGE, 

Southwest  corner  Main  and  Walnut  Streets. 


successively  advanced  to  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars, 
then  five  hundred  dollars,  and  finally  to  the  present 
figure,  one  thousand  dollars,  the  annual  dues  remain- 
ing, however,  at  fifty  dollars.  At  the  first  regular 
meeting  of  the  directory  of  1875  the  present  secre- 
tary, C.  W.  Simmons,  was  chosen,  and  he  bids  fair  to 
serve  efficiently  many  more  terms.  The  presidency 
since  that  period  has  been  occupied  successively  by 
William  M.  Senter,  W.  P.  Shyrock,  M.  C.  Hum- 
phrey, J.  H.  Dowell  (who  died  during  his  term,  Mr. 
Senter  filling  the  unexpired  portion),  D.  P.  Rowland, 
and  James  L.  Sloss. 

The  present  officers  are  William  M.  Senter,  presi- 
dent; William  L.  Black, 
vice-president ;  C.  W. 
Simmons,  secretary  and 
treasurer ;  Henry  W. 
Young,  assistant  secre- 
tary ;  Directors,  William 
M.  Senter,  Win.  L. 
Black,  James  L.  Sloss, 
J.  B.  Fisher,  Theo.  G. 
Meier,  D.  P.  Rowland, 
W.  V.  Johnson,  M.  C. 
Humphrey,  and  T.  H. 
West. 

The  new  Exchange 
building  was  erected  by 
the  Cotton  Exchange 
Building  Company,  com- 
posed of  Vice-President 
William  L.  Black,  Silas 
B.  Jones,  William  T. 
Wilkins,  and  Leonard 
Matthews.  Its  erection 
was  necessitated  by  the 
marvelous  growth  of  the 
cotton  interest  and  the 
inadequacy  of  the  old 
quarters  to  the  demands 
of  the  trade,  and  was  determined  on  at  a  meeting 
of  the  directors  of  the  Exchange  in  the  month  of 
November,  1879,  at  which  D.  P.  Rowland,  W. 
M.  Senter,  J.  L.  Sloss,  and  W.  L.  Black  were 
appointed  a  committee  to  select  a  suitable  location. 
The  site  chosen,  southwest  corner  of  Main  and  Wal- 
nut Streets,  though  "  down  town,"  has  the  desired  ad- 
vantage of  being  near  the  river,  the  base  of  cotton 
supplies,  and  is  also  the  centre  of  the  district  almost 
exclusively  occupied  by  cotton  factors  and  others  in 
the  trade.  The  building,  which  was  designed  by  H. 
W.  Kirchner,  architect,  is  five  stories  in  height 
(eighty  feet  in  all),  and  fronts  eighty-five  feet  on  Main 


COMMERCIAL  EXCHANGES. 


1363 


and  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  on  Walnut  Street. 
There  is  ample  accommodation  for  offices.  The  Ex- 
change hall  proper,  seventy-six  by  fifty  feet,  is  on  the 
second  floor,  and  is  reached  by  a  beautiful  and  capa- 
cious corridor  and  staircase.  Architecturally,  the  build- 
ing, designed  after  the  renaissance  school,  is  of  stock 
brick,  trimmed  with  stone  and  galvanized  iron,  the 
first  story  being  of  iron.  The  value  of  the  ground 
and  structure  is  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
thousand  dollars.  Its  construction  occupied  a  year. 
The  grand  hall  is  a  model  in  its  natural  wood  finish, 
the  elegance  of  its  furnishing,  and  in  the  good  taste 
displayed  in  the  fresco  decorations.  The  latter  com- 
prise scenes  from  life  in  the  cotton-picking  season,  and 
panels  with  representations  of  an  overflowing  basket 
of  the  fleecy  staple,  a  ship  loaded  with  cotton,  and  a 
Mississippi  River  steamboat  "  baled"  all  over.  The 
painting  on  twenty  piers  is  emblematic  of  the  manu- 
factured cotton  in  its  several  stages,  and  on  the  west 
wall  is  an  arrangement  of  State  seals,  those  of  Mis- 
souri, Tennessee,  Arkansas,  Texas,  and  Mississippi. 
The  building  is  supplied  with  reading-rooms,  electric 
clocks,  bells,  elevators,  telegraph-offices,  telephones, 
and  other  modern  conveniences  and  business  necessi- 
ties. Upon  the  occasion  of  the  dedication  of  the  new 
building,  May  4,  1882,  speeches  were  made  by  pres- 
ent and  past  officers,  and  by  ex-Governor  Hubbard,  of 
Texas,  ex- Governor  Stanard,  of  Missouri,  and  others. 
A  silver  service  was  presented  to  Vice-President  Black, 
a  collation  was  served,  and  a  promenade  concert  was 
given  in  the  evening. 

William  Marshall  Senter,  the  able  and  energetic  i 
president  of  the  Cotton  Exchange,  was  born  at  Lex- 
ington, Tenn.,  April  11,  1831,  the  son  of  a  prosper- 
ous farmer  in  that  section.  His  mother  was  a  native 
of  North  Carolina,  and  was  of  Scotch  lineage.  Up 
to  the  age  of  about  eighteen  young  Senter  assisted 
his  father  on  the  farm,  and  obtained  a  good  common 
school  education.  He  then  engaged  as  a  clerk  in  the 
dry-goods  business  at  Trenton,  Tenn.,  and  after  a  suita-  i 
ble  apprenticeship  went  into  business  for  himself  at  ! 
that  place.  While  residing  in  Trenton  he  married 
his  present  wife,  Lucy  Jane  Wilkins.  In  1863  he 
removed  to  Columbus,  Ky.,  and  remained  in  business 
there  about  a  year.  His  success  at  both  places  caused 
him  to  seek  a  larger  field  for  his  operations,  and  in 
1864  he  removed  to  St.  Louis,  where  he  established 
himself  as  a  commission  merchant.  His  attention 
was  soon  directed  to  the  cotton  trade  of  St.  Louis. 
Owing  to  the  war  the  city  was  then  handling  consid- 
erable cotton,  and  Mr.  Senter  became  impressed  with 
the  idea  that  this  traffic  could  be  retained.  The  re- 
ceipt of  fifty-six  thousand  bales  in  1865-66  seemed 


to  justify  this  confidence,  but  in  the  years  immediately 
following  only  an  average  of  some  twenty-eight  thou- 
sand bales  were  handled.  Nevertheless,  Mr.  Senter, 
who  had  become  thoroughly  identified  with  the  cotton 
trade,  maintained  the  correctness  of  his  belief,  and 
labored  incessantly  through  years  of  discouragement 
to  make  his  prediction  good.  He  was  an  influential 
member  of  the  Cotton  Association,  which  was  organ- 
ized in  1870,  and  when,  as  we  have  seen,  the  present 
Cotton  Exchange  was  established  in  1873,  he  was  the 
|  first  vice-president,  and  is  now  in  his  third  term  as 
president. 

As  a  result  of  the  labors  of  Mr.  Senter  and  others 
the  cotton  trade  of  St.  Louis  began  ultimately  to 
assume  a  shape  that  promised  permanent  success. 
In  1870-71  the  receipts  were  only  twenty  thousand 
two  hundred  and  seventy  bales,  but  in  1871-72  no 
less  than  thirty-six  thousand  four  hundred  and  twenty- 
one  bales  were  handled  in  St.  Louis.  The  completion 
of  the  Iron  Mountain  Railroad  into  the  rich  cotton- 
fields  of  Arkansas  and  Texas  gave  the  trade  a  great 
stimulus;  and  when  in  1873,  Col.  Paramore  settled 
in  St.  Louis  and  laid  before  the  cotton  merchants  his 
scheme  for  a  gigantic  cotton  compress  that  should 
afford  proper  facilities  for  handling  cotton  on  a  large 
scale  and  with  the  utmost  economy,  in  order  to  attract 
and  provide  for  the  growing  trade  of  the  Southwest, 
he  found  a  willing  co-laborer  in  Mr.  Senter.  The 
result  of  their  joint  efforts  was  the  organization  of 
the  St.  Louis  Cotton  Compress  Company,  which  now 
has  a  paid-up  capital  of  one  million  dollars,  and  man- 
ages the  largest  cotton  compress  and  warehouse  in  the 
world.  It  is  a  fine  monument  to  the  wise  forethought 
and  liberal  commercial  spirit  of  its  projectors.  When 
Col.  Paramore  retired  from  the  presidency  of  this 
corporation  in  1881,  Mr.  Senter,  who  had  been  vice- 
president  and  one  of  the  directors  from  the  organiza- 
tion, succeeded  to  the  vacancy. 

When  the  Iron  Mountain  Railroad  was  about  to 
pass  out  of  Thomas  Allen's  hands  into  those  of  per- 
sons having  no  special  interest  in  St.  Louis,  Mr. 
Senter  was  one  of  those  who  at  once  responded  and 
took  stock,  to  keep  the  control  of  the  road  at  St. 
Louis.  He  also  became  a  director  of  the  road,  and 
took  an  active  part  in  the  management,  a  connection 
which  lasted  until  Jay  Gould  finally  purchased  the 
property. 

Mr.  Senter  has  also  been  an  earnest  and  efficient 
promoter  of  Col.  Paramore's  Texas  and  St.  Louis 
Railway  (the  "  Cotton  Belt  Line"),  and  is  the  vice- 
president  of  the  organization. 

When  the  new  Cotton  Exchange  was  being  erected, 
the  builder  became  embarrassed  and  was  unable  to  go 


1364 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


on  with  the  work,  whereupon  Mr.  Senter  stepped  to 
the  front  and  organized  a  building  company  and  tided 
the  enterprise  over  the  difficulty. 

"When  St.  Louis  took  her  place  as  one  of  the 
assured  cotton  marts  of  the  country,  many  American 
and  foreign  buyers  with  large  capital  made  the  city 
their  headquarters,  but  the  veteran  house  of  Senter 
&  Co.  led  them  all,  and  has  retained  its  acknowledged 
supremacy,  having  handled  of  late  years  over  sixty 
thousand  bales  annually,  representing  a  value  of  over 
five  million  dollars.  Associated  in  the  house  of 
Senter  &  Co.  is  Mr.  Senter's  brother-in-law,  W.  T. 
Wilkins,  who  brought  to  the  concern  rare  energy  and 
ability. 

As  a  business  man  of  ripe  judgment,  Mr.  Senter 
is  in  great  request,  but  outside  of  the  cotton  interests 
his  business  connections  are  few.  He  has,  however, 
been  vice-president  of  the  Merchants'  Exchange,  and 
is  a  director  in  the  American  Central  Fire  Insurance 
Company  of  St.  Louis. 

Personally,  Mr.  Senter  is  one  of  the  most  modest 
and  unassuming  of  men,  but  in  action  he  is  energetic 
and  intrepid.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Baptist 
Church,  and  strives  to  leaven  his  business  with  his 
religious  principles.  The  result  is  that  no  house  in 
St.  Louis  enjoys  a  higher  reputation  as  an  honest, 
capable,  and  sound  establishment. 

Mr.  Senter  has  had  four  children,  three  of  whom 
are  now  living.  One,  a  daughter,  is  the  wife  of  A. 
B.  Jones,  a  well-known  lawyer  of  St.  Louis. 

The  St.  Louis  Board  of  Trade  was  organized  in 
the  autumn  of  1867,  and  its  formal  inauguration  took 
place  at  the  Polytechnic  building  on  the  evening  of 
October  17th  of  that  year,  the  address  on  that  occa- 
sion being  delivered  by  Hon.  Henry  T.  Blow.  The 
board  held  a  meeting  at  the  same  place  on  the  1st  of 
November,  1867,  which  was  called  to  order  by  the 
president,  Adolphus  Meier,  who  laid  before  it  the  re- 
port of  Messrs.  Wayman  Crow,  Henry  T.  Blow,  and 
Isidor  Busch,  "  a  special  committee  appointed  to  con- 
sider and  report  upon  a  communication  from  the  Bir- 
mingham, England,  Chamber  of  Commerce,  recom- 
mending the  adoption  of  an  international  law."  The 
Board  of  Trade  has  continued  in  active  and  successful 
operation  since  then  down  to  this  writing,  its  officers 
(1882)  being  C.  I.  Filley,  president;  Joseph  A. 
Wherry,  first  vice-president ;  C.  L.  Thompson,  secre- 
tary and  treasurer  ;  E.  C.  Simmons,  Joseph  O'Neil, 
E.  K.  Holton,  J.  E.  Shorb,  John  Cantwell,  E.  A. 
Hitchcock,  N.  C.  Chapman,  I.  M.  Mason,  and  S.  H. 
Laflin,  directors. 

Mechanics'  Exchange. — In  1839  the  leading  me- 
chanics of  the  city,  in  order  that  there  might  be  unity 


in  their  efforts,  and  that  co-operation  might  be  secured 
among  them,  called  a  meeting  for  the  purpose  of 
forming  a  Mechanics'  Exchange.  At  this  meeting 
Capt.  David  H.  Hill  presided,  and  Louis  Dubreuil 
was  appointed  secretary.  Five  persons  were  chosen 
to  select  a  committee  from  the  different  departments 
of  business,  one  to  be  selected  from  each  branch,  to 
draft  a  constitution,  by-laws,  etc.  The  five  gentlemen 
thus  chosen  were  R.  N.  Moore,  J.  M.  Paulding,  Asa 
Wilgus,  William  A.  Lynch,  and  John  H.  Ferguson, 
who  after  consultation  submitted  the  following  names: 
Joseph  C.  Laveille,  carpenter  ;  Daniel  D.  Page,  baker  ; 
Asa  Wilgus,  painter;  Isaac  Chadwick,  plasterer; 
Samuel  Gaty,  founder ;  Thomas  Andrews,  copper- 
smith ;  George  Trask,  cabinet-maker;  John  M.  Paul- 
ding,  hatter  ;  James  Barry,  chandler ;  James  Love, 
blacksmith;  Joseph  Laiden,  chair-maker;  Wooster 
Goodyear,  cordwainer;  William  Shipp,  silversmith; 
John  Young,  saddler ;  B.  Townsend,  wire  and  sieve 
manufacturer;  J.  Todd,  burr  millstone  manufacturer; 
Thomas  Gambal,  cooper ;  Francis  Raborg,  tanner ; 
S.  C.  Coleman,  turner ;  N.  Paschall,  printer;  John  G. 
Shelton,  tailor ;  B.  L.  Turnbull,  bookbinder ;  Charles 
Coates,  stone-cutter;  Anthony  Bennett,  stone-mason; 
David  Shepard,  bricklayer;  I.  A.  Letcher,  brick- 
maker;  William  Thomas,  ship-builder;  Samuel  Haw- 
kins, gunsmith  ;  Samuel  Shawk,  locksmith  ;  A.  Oak- 
ford,  comb-maker ;  N.  Tiernan,  wheelwright ;  J.  B. 
Gerard,  carriage-maker ;  Moses  Stout,  plane-maker ; 
James  Robinson,  upholsterer  ;  and  J.  Bemis,  machin- 
ist. From  this  meeting  resulted  the  organization  of 
the  mechanics,  and  ultimately  the  formation  of  a 
Mechanics'  Exchange.1 

In  1852  a  new  Exchange  was  organized,  a  meeting 
for  that  purpose  being  held  at  the  Criminal  Court 
room  on  the  23d  of  February.  At  this  meeting  Col. 
;  Thornton  Grimsley  was  called  to  the  chair,  and  Rufus 
Kayser  was  appointed  secretary,  after  which  Mr. 
Goodin,  chairman  of  a  committee  appointed  at  a 
previous  meeting,  reported  as  follows : 

"Your  committee,  appointed  at  a  primary  meeting  of  the 
master-mechanics  of  St.  Louis,  held  on  Thursday  evening,  the 
12th  instant,  to  prepare  a  plan  of  organization,  would  report 
recommendatory,  as  follows : 

"  1st.  That  we  proceed  at  once  to  an  organization,  under  the 
name  and  style  of  the  Mechanics'  and  Manufacturers'  Exchange 
and  Library  Association  of  St.  Louis,  by  the  election  of  the  fol- 
lowing officers:  president,  vice-president,  corresponding  secre- 
tary, recording  secretary,  treasurer,  and  a  board  of  seven  direc- 
tors, the  president  of  the  association  to  be  ex  officio  chairman 
of  the  board  of  directors. 

2d.  That  any  mechanic  or  manufacturer  residing  in  the  county 
of  St.  Louis  shall,  upon  the  payment  of  ten  dollars,  the  amount 

1  Edwards'  Great  West,  p.  365. 


COMMERCIAL  EXCHANGES. 


1365 


of  annual  subscription,  be  entitled  to  the  full  privileges  of  mem- 
bership for  one  year. 

"  3d.  That  the  board  of  directors,  as  soon  as  elected,  shall  be 
instructed  to  report  to  the  association  for  the  government  of  the 
same  a  constitution  and  by-laws. 

"THORNTON  GRIMSLF.Y, 
"  CHARLES  H.  PECK, 
"P.  WONDERLY, 
"J.  C.  EDGAR, 
•'  R.  KEYSER, 
"JOHN  GOODIN, 

"  Committee." 

The  report  was  unanimously  adopted,  and  the  fol- 
lowing resolutions  were  after  wards  offered  and  adopted : 

"  Resolved,  That  at  the  first  meeting  of  the  subscribers  to  the 
association  it  be  made  the  special  order  of  business  to  elect  the 
following :  president,  vice-president,  corresponding  secretary, 
recording  secretary,  treasurer,  and  a  board  of  seven  directors. 

"  Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  three  be  appointed  in  each 
ward  of  the  city  to  obtain  subscriptions  of  members." 

The  following  committees  were  afterwards  appointed, 
in  accordance  with  the  resolution :  First  Ward,  J. 
Dunn,  F.  Saler,  L.  W.  Peck ;  Second  Ward,  Richard 
Ivers,  Morris  Pawley,  S.  E.  Selleck;  Third  Ward, 
J.  P.  Camp,  C.  H.  Peck,  James  Luthey;  Fourth 
Ward,  Rufus  Keyser,  Frank  Weston,  Mahlon  Weber; 
Fifth  Ward,  J.  C.  Edgar,  W.  F.  Stacy,  P.  Kings- 
land ;  Sixth  Ward,  J.  C.  Cochran,  Linus  Jackson, 
Archibald  Carr. 

The  present  Mechanics'  P^xchange  was  organized 
in  1856  by  A.  Ittner,  Thomas  Rich,  A.  Cook,  W. 
Stamps,  James  Garvin,  C.  Lynch,  J.  Locke,  James 
Luthy,  and  others.  The  first  president  (elected  in 
1856)  was  N.  M.  Ludlow.  In  1857-58  the  rooms 
of  the  association,  which  was  then  known  as  the  Me- 
chanics' and  Manufacturers'  Exchange,  were  located 
at  No.  63  Chestnut  Street,  between  Third  and  Fourth 
Streets.  The  objects  of  the  association,  as  stated  at 
the  time,  were  "  the  encouragement,  development,  and 
promotion  of  the  mechanical  and  manufacturing  in- 
terests of  the  city,  and  the  arbitration  of  all  errors 
and  misunderstandings  between  its  members  and  those 
of  the  community  having  business  with  them."  The 
rooms  were  kept  open  on  business  days  from  seven 
o'clock  A.M.  until  six  o'clock  P.M.,  the  general  assem- 
bling hour  being  from  eleven  to  twelve  o'clock.  Each 
member  was  entitled  to  a  "  communication  box,"  the 
use  of  the  reading-room,  library,  stationery,  etc., 
without  extra  charge.  The  terms  of  membership 
were  ten  dollars  per  annum,  payable  half-yearly  in 
advance. 

The  officers  in  1858  were  W.  Stamps,  president ; 

N.   M.  Ludlow,  first  vice-president ;    E.  N.  Leeds, 

second  vice-president ;  R.  M.  Parks,  treasurer  ;  Henry 

Weissenfels,  secretary.     Committee   of   Arbitration, 

87 


John  Andrews,  William  Barron,  Philip  Wilson, 
James  L.  Gage,  P.  Gregory,  John  B.  Gibson,  P. 
Harvey,  Andrew  Middleton  ;  Committee  of  Appeal, 
Charles  H.  Peck,  Samuel  Robbins,  W.  F.  Cozzens, 
John  Evill,  W.  G.  Clark,  L.  D.  Baker,  W.  H.  Mark- 
ham. 

The  avocations  of  the  members  at  this  time  were : 
architects,  superintendents,  and  builders,  110  ;  hatters 
and  fur  dealers,  4  ;  bricklayers,  60  ;  wire  manufac- 
turers, 1  ;  boot  and  shoe  dealers,  3  ;  paper-hanging 
establishments,  2  ;  stationers  and  booksellers,  3  ;  car- 
riage- and  wagon-makers,  5  ;  stone-masons,  9  ;  lumber 
dealers,  13  ;  stone-cutters,  8 ;  tin  and  stove  dealers, 
9  ;  hardware  dealers,  3  ;  wood-turners,  2  ;  galvanized 
iron-work,  7  ;  saw-milling,  15  ;  stone-pavers,  4  ;  var- 
nish manufacturers,  1  ;  terra-cotta  work,  9  ;  painters, 
8  ;  lime-burners,  6  ;  cement  dealers,  2  ;  gas-fitters,  5  ; 
plumbers.  10 ;  planing-mills,  5 ;  mastic  work,  2 ; 
wrought-  and  cast-iron-work,  17  ;  brick-makers,  20  ; 
plasterers,  11;  marble  dealers,  8;  composition-, 
metal-,  and  slate- roofers,  14  ;  sundry  other  kinds  of 
business,  24  ;  total,  401. 

Persons,  not  members,  residing  in  or  out  of  the  city, 
who  desired  to  exhibit  models,  works  of  art,  etc.,  had 
the  privilege  of  using  the  large  hall  for  that  purpose, 
if  acceded  to  by  the  secretary  or  any  other  officer  of 
the  institution. 

The  present  Exchange  was  chartered  in  1875,  with 
an  authorized  capital  stock  of  two  thousand  five  hun- 
dred dollars. 

On  the  12th  of  February,  1879,  the  Exchange 
entered  upon  the  occupation  of  its  new  quarters, 
comprehending  the  entire  fifth  floor  of  the  then  re- 
cently completed  Hunt  building,  No.  106  North 
Fourth  Street,  which  had  been  leased  to  the  organiza- 
tion by  Mr.  Hunt.  The  president  of  the  Exchange, 
W.  W.  Polk,  and  the  vice-presidents,  Thomas  F.  Hay- 
den  and  Francis  Hawkins,  welcomed  the  members. 

At  the  present  time  the  membership  numbers 
several  hundred.  The  present  board  of  officers  is 
composed  of  Anthony  Ittner,  president ;  T.  P.  Mc- 
Kelleget,  first  vice-president;  W.  J.  Thorn,  second 
vice-president;  William  Stamps,  treasurer;  and  W. 
R.  Dalton,  secretary.  Directors,  J.  Green,  P.  Mul- 
cahy,  II .  Gundaker,  J.  Methudy,  M.  Hudson,  and 
W.  Adams. 

Among  the  most  active  and  energetic  members 
of  the  Mechanics'  Exchange  was  Joseph  K.  Bent, 
on  the  occasion  of  whose  death  the  Exchange 
adopted  resolutions  expressive  of  regret  at  the  loss 
of  an  esteemed  member,  a  valued  friend,  and  one 
of  the  foremost  builders  of  the  city.  Mr.  Bent 
was  born  in  Wendell,  Mass.,  Nov.  16,  1816.  His 


1366 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


parents   were   descended  from     the  old    settlers   of 
Massachusetts,  and  the  family  was  widely  and  favor- 
ably known.     His  uncle,   Joseph   Kilbourn,  was  a 
wealthy  cotton   broker  in  Augusta,  Ga.,  and  one  of 
his  two  brothers  was  a  prosperous  cotton  broker  in 
New  Orleans.     Joseph  K.  received  a  good  common- 
school  education,  and    then   learned   the  trade  of  a 
carpenter  and  builder.     His  parents  went  West  in 
the  "  '30's"  for  their  health,  and  settled  at  Liberty, 
Clay  Co.,  Mo.,  where,  July  3,  1839,  Mr.  Bent  was 
married  to  Miss  Sabrina  Phelps,  daughter  of  William  | 
W.  Phelps,  a  well-known  and  influential  gentleman  : 
of  that  region,  and  a  descendant  of  the  famous  Phelps  ; 
family  of  Western  New  York,  after  whom  the  village 
of  Phelpstown  was   named.     At  Liberty,  Mr.  Bent 
attempted  to  practice  the  profession  of  an  architect,  • 
but  the  field  being  very  limited,  he  removed  to  St. 
Louis,  Oct.  25,  1839,  and  was  soon  actively  engaged 
in  building.     During  the  forty  years  that  followed  he  j 
transacted  a  large  and  flourishing   business  as  con-  ! 
tractor.     Up  to  the  year  1868  he  conducted  the  busi- 
ness alone,  but  in  that  year  he  admitted  his  son,  Wil- 
liam   E.  Bent,  as  a  partner,  the   firm-name   being 
Joseph  K.  Bent  &  Son.     Mr.  Bent's  name  is  indeli- 
bly associated  with  some  of  the   largest   and  most 
costly  buildings  erected  in  St.  Louis.     He  did  the 
carpenter- work  for  the  new  Merchants'  Exchange,  the 
immense  Barr  building  at  Sixth  and  Olive  Streets, 
and  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  on  Lucas  Place,  i 
and  had  the  entire  contract  for  building  the  Third 
National  Bank,  and  many  large  stores  on  Fourth  and 
Fifth  Streets,  in  the  business  portion  of  the  town,  as 
well  as  numerous  handsome  and  costly  private  resi- 
dences in  various  parts  of  the  city.     In  his  day  he 
was  one  of  the  largest,  as  well   as  one  of  the  best, 
builders   St.    Louis  possessed.     In   addition    to   his  i 
building  enterprises  he  for  several  years  managed  a 
planing-mill,  manufacturing  work  for  his  own  build- 
ings as  well  as  for  others. 

Mr.  Bent  died  on  the  21st  of  March,  1880,  leav- 
ing a  comfortable  estate  to  his  widow  and  children,  i 
He  was  a  faithful  member  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  bore  his  last  illness  with  Christian  forti-  ' 
tude.     He  was  a  member  of  no  secret  or  other  society  i 
except  the  Mechanics'  Exchange,  in  which  he  took  a 
deep  interest.     He  was  thoroughly  devoted  to  his  pro- 
fession, and  in  the  management  of  his  large  and  ex- 
acting business  made  numerous  friends,   being  emi- 
nently of  a  social  nature.     He  was  a  man  of  unusual 
decision  of  character,  and  enjoyed  the  implicit  confi- 
dence and  respect  of  all  who  knew  him. 

The  St.  Louis  Real  Estate  Exchange  is  located 
at  212  North  Sixth  Street,  and  its  officers  (1882)  are 


Charles  Green,  president;  M.  A.  Wolff,  vice-president ; 
Leon  L.  Hall,  secretary  and  treasurer  ;  Charles  Green, 
Theophile  Papin,  J.  S.  Farrar,  F.  L.  Haydel,  J.  L. 
January,  William  C.  Wilson,  and  John  Maguire,  di- 
rectors. 

St.  Louis  Mining  and  Stock  Exchange. — In 
1874  the  St.  Louis  Mining  Exchange  was  established 
at  the  southeast  corner  of  Fourth  and  Elm  Streets, 
by  M.  S.  Mepham  &  Co.,  as  a  headquarters  for  persons 
engaged  in  mining  or  the  sale  of  mineral  lands.  A 
large  number  of  persons  interested  in  minerals  rented 
offices  in  the  building,  all  being  located  at  convenient 
distances  apart  on  the  first  floor,  and  separated  from 
each  other  by  neat  railings.  Cases  were  fitted  up  for 
the  display  of  Missouri  minerals,  and  a  complete  and 
handsome  collection  was  secured,  together  with 
specimens  of  fossils,  Indian  curiosities,  and  relics  of 
the  civil  war,  the  latter  presented  by  Gen.  John  B. 
Gray. 

The  St.  Louis  Mining  and  Stock  Exchange  was 
organized  in  the  fall  of  1880,  and  held  its  first  meet- 
ing at  its  rooms  on  Third  Street,  between  Olive  and 
Locust,  Dec.  2,  1880,  on  which  occasion  the  Exchange 
was  formally  opened  for  business  at  eleven  o'clock. 
The  officers  at  the  time  were :  President,  James 
Baker  ;  Vice-President,  Thomas  Richeson  ;  Treasurer, 
Francis  T.  Iglebart ;  Secretary,  Theodore  W.  Heman  ; 
Directors,  G.  W.  Chadbourne,  Charles  F.  Orthwein, 
Francis  T.  Iglehart,  J.  W.  Paramore,  John  W.  Noble, 
D.  P.  Rowland,  Thomas  Richeson,  E.  S.  Chester,  T.  W. 
Beman,  "W.  R.  Allen,  D.  R.  Francis,  James  Baker, 
John  E.  Ennis. 

The  St.  Louis  Coal  Exchange  was  organized 
June  1,  1879,  for  the  purpose  of  developing  the  coal 
trade  of  the  city,  and  for  the  mutual  protection  of 
dealers  and  shippers  of  coal. 

The  officers  of  the  Exchange  are  Alexander  Hamil- 
ton, president;  C.  E.  Gartside,  treasurer;  and  Wil- 
liam Lackman,  secretary.  The  Exchange  is  located 
at  No.  108  North  Fourth  Street. 

Boatmen's  Exchange. — In  1868,  Charles  P.  Chou- 
teau  erected  a  handsome  building  on  the  Levee  at  the 
corner  of  Vine  Street,  for  the  purposes  of  a  Boatmen's 
Exchange.  The  building  presented  quite  a  striking 
appearance,  having  a  front  of  about  sixty  feet  and  a 
height  of  ninety  feet.  The  material  used  in  its  erec- 
tion was  principally  brick,  but  the  front  was  of  Chi- 
cago stone  from  the  Lemont  quarries.  The  rear  faced 
on  Commercial  Street,  and  had  also  a  handsome  ex- 
terior. The  style  of  architecture  was  Italian.  The 
architects  were  Messrs.  Barnard  &  Piquenard.  The 
cost  of  the  building  was  about  eighty  thousand  dollars. 

St.   Louis   Furniture  Exchange. — In   October, 


0* 


BANKS,  AND   OTHER   FINANCIAL  INSTITUTIONS,  AND   BANKERS.         1367 


1879,  there  was  quite  a  formidable  strike  among  the 
furniture-workers  of  the  city,  and  at  the  suggestion  of 
George  A.  Rubelmann,  a  prominent  dealer  in  cabinet 
hardware,  a  meeting  of  the  furniture  manufacturers 
was  held,  at  which  the  desirability  of  union  in  the 
existing  emergency  was  conceded  and  the  organization 
of  a  Furniture  Exchange  determined.  On  the  26th 
of  October,  1879,  the  following  officers  were  elected: 
President,  Daniel  Aude;  Vice-President,  D.  S.  Home ; 
Treasurer,  J.  H.  Koppelman. 

The  strike  soon  collapsed,  but  the  organization  con- 
tinued, and  now  embraces  about  fifty  of  the  leading 
manufacturers  of  the  city.  The  Exchange  meets  at 
Sixth  and  Morgan  Streets,  where  it  has  convenient 
rooms  and  supports  a  monthly  paper,  The  St.  Louis 
Furniture  Manufacturer.  The  present  officers  of  the 
Furniture  Exchange  are :  President,  Charles  Spier  ; 
Vice-President,  Frank  Prange ;  Secretary,  F.  Han- 
peter  ;  Treasurer,  J.  H.  Koppelman. 

The  St.  Louis  Manufacturers'  Association  was 
organized  on  the  27th  of  March,  1874.  The  meeting 
for  the  purpose,  which  was  held  in  the  directors'  room 
of  the  Merchants'  Exchange,  was  called  to  order  by 
Adolphus  Meier,  who  announced  that  it  was  an  ad- 
journed meeting,  G.  B.  Allen  having  been  chairman 
of  the  previous  meeting.  At  this  meeting  Mr.  Allen 
had  been  appointed  to  draft  a  constitution,  by-laws, 
and  rules  of  order  for  the  prospective  association. 

Mr.  Allen  read  the  document  prepared  by  him, 
which,  on  motion  of  Giles  F.  Filley,  was  adopted  as  a 
whole. 

The  election  of  officers  was  then  proceeded  with  by 
ballot,  Gerard  B.  Allen  being  elected  president,  and 
Thomas  Richeson  vice-president. 

The  constitution  provided  that  the  secretary  and 
treasurer,  which  offices  should  be  united  in  one  person, 
should  be  appointed  by  the  executive  committee, 
which  should  be  appointed  by  the  president. 

The  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  was  instituted 
under  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly  of  Missouri 
in  March,  1879.  The  second  section  of  the  act 
establishing  the  bureau  defines  its  objects.  It  is 
"  to  collect,  assort,  systematize,  and  present  in  annual 
reports  statistical  details  relating  to  all  departments 
of  labor  in  the  State,  especially  in  relation  to  the  com- 
mercial, industrial,  social,  educational,  and  sanitary 
condition  of  the  laboring  classes,  and  to  the  perma- 
nent prosperity  of  the  productive  industries  of  the 
State."  The  general  offices  are  located  in  St.  Louis. 
The  expense  of  the  bureau  up  to  Dec.  31,  1880,  was 
one  thousand  four  hundred  and  forty-six  dollars  and 
thirty  cents.  H.  J.  Spaunhorst  is  the  commissioner. 

The  Missouri  State  Board  of  Immigration  was 


created  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature  of  Missouri  in 
March,  1879,  its  object  being  to  advertise  the  resources 
of  the  State  and  invite  immigration.  The  officers 
appointed  when  the  board  was  created  were  Andrew 
McKinley,  of  St.  Louis,  president ;  A.  Steinacker,  of 
St.  Joseph,  auditor;  and  John  M.  Richardson,  of  Car- 
thage, Mo., secretary.  The  commissioners  were  to  serve 
for  a  term  of  four  years.  An  appropriation  was  made 
by  the  State  for  the  first  two  years,  of  eight  thousand 
dollars,  and  for  the  next  two  years  of  twenty  thousand 
dollars.  The  board  has  issued  several  papers  relating 
to  the  agricultural,  mining,  and  manufacturing  capa- 
bilities of  the  State,  sixty  thousand  copies  of  the 
"  Hand-Book  of  Missouri,"  and  fifty  thousand  copies 
j  of  a  smaller  pamphlet  and  map,  which  have  been  dis- 
tributed in  other  States  and  in  Europe.  The  board 
has  conducted  in  the  past  and  continues  to  conduct 
an  extensive  correspondence  with  intending  immigrants 
and  capitalists.  The  invitation  extended  to  immi- 
grants does  not  come  from  great  land  proprietors  and 
speculators,  with  specious  and  exaggerated  statements, 
to  induce  them  to  take  their  property  at  fancy  prices, 
but  from  the  whole  people,  through  their  representa- 
tives in  the  Legislature  of  the  State.  They  are  in- 
vited because  it  is  believed  that  the  undeveloped 
resources,  once  understood  and  put  in  process  of 
development,  will  enhance  the  value  of  every  prop- 
erty in  the  State ;  because  every  acre  put  under 
cultivation,  every  mine  opened  and  worked,  every 
mill  and  factory  built,  and  every  new  industrial 
enterprise  started  will  benefit  the  already  existing 
industries,  create  new  markets,  and  increase  the  com- 
merce and  material  wealth  of  Missouri. 


CHAPTER    XXXII. 

BANKS,  AND   OTHER  FINANCIAL  INSTITUTIONS, 
AND   BANKERS. 

WHEN  the  white  settlers  first  occupied  the  site  of 
St.  Louis,  the  currency  in  use  among  the  Indians  was 
mainly  wampum,  or  peag,  or  wampumpeag,  as  it  was 
variously  called.  It  consisted  of  dark  purple  and 
white  beads,  made  out  of  shells  or  stone,  and  pierced 
for  stringing.  The  purple  beads  had  twice  the  value 
of  the  white,  and  when  arranged  in  strings  or  belts 
were  used  as  articles  of  jewelry.  As  currency,  wam- 
pum was  used  in  strings  and  valued  according  to 
measure,  a  fathom,  or  belt,  consisting  of  three  hun- 
dred and  sixty  beads.  At  an  early  period  the  settlers, 
in  trading  with  the  Indians  for  furs  and  peltries,  some- 


1368 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


times  used  wampum,  but  as  it  was  liable  to  deterioration 
by  wear  and  use,  and  became  overabundant,  besides 
not  being  of  a  character  to  satisfy  foreign  debts,  it 
soon  ceased  to  be  current  and  was  abolished  as  a 
nuisance. 

When  the  early  settlers  received  gold  and  silver, 
they  hoarded  it  up  to  pay  for  foreign  commodities, 
and  to  supply  its  place  for  making  "  change"  began 
to  use  a  "  barter  currency."  *  Beaver-,  otter-,  raccoon-, 
pechon-,  muskrat-,  mink-,  gray-squirrel,  buffalo-,  and 
deer-skins,  beef-hides,  bacon,  beeswax,  country-made 
sugar,  whiskey,  and  lead  constituted  the  first  currency 
of  St.  Louis.2 

l  Writing  on  this  subject,  Mr.  Billon  says,  "  The  French  word 
livre  signifies  in  English  a  book,  a  pound-weight,  and  down  to 
the  date  of  the  French  Constitution  of  1792  was  the  name  of 
a  coin  of  the  value  of  eighteen  and  one-half  cents  of  our  cur- 
rency, which  for  long  centuries  back,  under  the  ancient  mon- 
archy of  France,  was  established  as  the  unit  of  that  nation,  in 
which  all  their  money  calculations  were  figured  up  and  their 
account-books  kept. 

"  The  French  Revolutionists,  in  their  zeal  to  do  away  with 
everything  that  savored  in  the  slightest  of  the  ancien  regime, 
abolished  the  livre  and  substituted  therefor  their  new  coin,  the 
franc,  which  they  made  one  mill,  or  the  one-tenth  of  a  cent, 
heavier  than  the  livre,  otherwise  it  would  have  been  merely  the 
same  old  thing  with  a  new  name,  since  which  day  the  word  livre,  i 
as  applied  to  a  money  coin,  has  become  obsolete,  and  is  known   ' 
but  to  few  of  the  present  age.     The  par  value  of  five  livres,  by 
act  of  Congress,  was  ninety-two   and   one-half  cents,  United  ! 
States  currency,  and  that  of  five  francs,  ninety-three  cents. 

"As  this  term    livre  occurs  in  every  French    document  on  ' 
record  in  the  archives  relating  to  money  matters,  the  persons 
who  were  employed  to  translate  these  papers  into  English  some   • 
years  back,  being  doubtless  ignorant  that  there  ever  had  been  a 
coin  of  that  designation,  have  almost  invariably  translated  it 
into 'pound,' thereby  making  the  document  translated  mean- 
ingless in  its  most  essential  particular,  the  consideration. 

"  Let  it  be  understood  that  the  above  remarks  in  relation  to 
the  livre  apply  solely  to  the  mode  of  keeping  their  accounts, 
there  being  but  little  of  any  coin  seen  in  the  country,  the  circu- 
lating medium  being  furs  and  peltries  at  a  fixed  price  per  pound, 
— forty  cents  for  finest,  thirty  for  medium,  and  twenty  cents 
inferior.    Whether  established  by  law  or  custom  does  not  appear, 
but,  unless  otherwise  stipulated  by  contract,  all  transactions  were 
understood  to  be  in  the  above  medium.     After  the  transfer  to  j 
Spain  the  coin  of  that  kingdom  began  to  appear,  but  in  very  ' 
limited  amounts,  as  we  find  a  few  transactions  for  '  hard  dol-   | 
lars,'  in  contradistinction  of  the  soft,  or  '  fur  dollars.' 

"As  to  paper  money,  none  had  ever  been  seen  in  the  country  \ 
at  that  early  day,  and  even  had  there  been  any,  but  few  could  j 
have  made  out  the  denomination. 

"Even  after  the  transfer  to  the  United  States  transactions 
were  made  in  peltries,  as  we  find  that  Judge  John  B.  C.  Lucas 
made  his  first  purchase  of  a  house  for  his  residence  from  Pierre 
Duchouquette  and  wife,  Dec.  14,  1807,  for  six  hundred  dollars 
in  peltries." 

z  The  following  advertisements,  taken  from  the  files  of  the  old 
Missouri  Republican,  show  that  barter  currency  was  very  gen- 
erally in  use  in  St.  Louis  at  a  late  period : 

Jan.  4,  1809. — "  Have  just  received  and  offer  for  sale  an  as- 
sortment of  dry-goods,  consisting  of  the  following,  viz. :  Coat- 


In  many  instances  taxes  were  collected  in  kind, 
and  fees  were  established  in  barter. 

It  was  long  before  the  tide  of  immigration  brought 
to  the  people  a  small  supply  of  silver  coin.  This 


ings,  flannels,  blankets,  velvets,  cassimeres,  linens,  muslins, 
checks,  sannas,  baftas,  ginghams,  cambrics,  hose,  handker- 
chiefs, threads,  sewing-cotton,  sewing-silk,  buttons,  shoes,  hats, 
paper,  blank-books,  pins,  needles,  etc. 

"  Also  a  small  assortment  of  groceries,  viz. : 

"Young  Hyson  and  Hyson  skin  teas,  best  green  coffee  at 
sixty-two  cents,  loaf  and  lump  sugar  at  fifty  cents,  Muscovado 
sugar  at  fifty  cents,  black  pepper,  Spanish  segars  per  box,  hun- 
dred, or  dozen,  indigo,  etc.,  with  a  general  assortment  of 
queen's  penciled  and  enameled  ware. 

"  The  above  goods  were  purchased  in  New  York  for  cash,  and 
will  be  sold  as  low  as  any  in  the  Territory  for  cash,  or  lead  at 
six  dollars  per  hundred,  delivered  at  Ste.  Genevieve  or  Her- 
culaneum. 

"  H.  AUSTIN  <t  Co. 

"  Ste.  Genevieve." 

Jan.  11,  1809. — "Just  received  and  opened  at  the  store  of 
Bernard  Pratte  a  complete  assortment  of  dry-goods,  groceries, 
liquors,  iron,  and  steel,  which  will  be  disposed  of  at  a  moderate 
advance  either  for  cash  or  pork." 

Oct.  19, 1809.— "The  subscriber  respectfully  informs  the  citi- 
zens of  Ste.  Genevieve  that  he  has  just  opened  at  the  new  store, 
opposite  the  billiard-room,  a  handsome  and  general  assortment 
of  hardware  and  groceries,  which  he  will  sell  wholesale  on  the 
most  advantageous  terms  for  cash,  lead,  or  approved  notes. 

"JOHN  GORDON." 

Dec.  21,  1809. — "I  wish  to  purchase  a  quantity  of  beef-hides 
of  a  good  quality.  A  generous  price  will  be  given  in  cash  or 
goods  from  those  indebted  to  the  subscriber.  Hides  will  be 
taken  in  payment. 

"GEORGE  DALE." 

April  26,  1810. — "The  subscriber  has  just  opened  a  quantity 
of  bleached  country  linen,  cotton  cloth,  cotton-  and  wool-cards, 
iron,  German  steel,  smoothing-irons,  ladies'  silk  bonnets,  arti- 
ficial flowers,  etc.  Also  a  handsome  new  gig,  with  plated  har- 
ness, cable  and  cordelle  rope,  with  a  number  of  articles  that 
suit  this  country.  He  will  take  in  payment  fur,  hides,  whiskey, 
country-made  sugar,  bacon,  and  beeswax. 

"  JOHN  ARTHUR. 

"  P.S. — A  negro  girl  eighteen  years  of  age,  a  good  house- 
servant,  for  sale." 

May  2,  1811. — "  The  copartnership  of  Audubon  &  Rozier  is 
this  day  dissolved  by  mutual  consent.  Those  indebted  are  re- 
quested to  make  immediate  payment  to  Ferdinand  Rozier,  who 
is  duly  authorized  to  settle  all  the  business  of  said  firm. 

"JOHN  AUDITBON. 
"FERDINAND  ROZIER." 

"The  subscriber  begs  leave  to  inform  his  friends  and  the 
public  that  he  has  purchased  that  valuable  stock  of  goods 
formerly  owned  by  Audubon  &  Rozier,  on  such  terms  as 
to  enable  him  to  dispose  of  them  by  wholesale  or  retail  un- 
usually low  for  cash,  or  to  punctual  customers  on  short  dates. 
The  best  market  price  will  be  given  for  lead  in  exchange  for 
goods. 

"FERDINAND  ROZIER. 

"Ste.  Genevieve,  April  6,  1811." 

Jan.  4,  1812. — "  Look  here  !  The  subscriber  has  removed  to 
the  house  adjoining  Mr.  Dongan's  silversmith-shop,  on  Main 


BANKS,  AND   OTHER  FINANCIAL  INSTITUTIONS,  AND   BANKERS. 


1369 


was  usually  in  the  shape  of  -Spanish  milled  dollars, 
and  did  not  satisfy  the  demand  for  small  change. 
For  the  purpose  of  making  change  the  people  cut  the 
dollars  into  pieces  worth  twenty-five  cents  and  twelve 
and  a  half  cents  each,  which  were  nicknamed  "  sharp- 
shins.''  This  class  of  currency  soon  became  very 
redundant  and,  of  course,  very  unpopular,  and  in 
time  ceased  to  pass  except  at  a  great  reduction,  or  as 
old  silver.  Smaller  sums  than  twelve  and  a  half  cents 
were  given  out  by  store-keepers  in  pins,  needles, 
writing-paper,  etc. 

In  framing  the  Constitution  (1*789),  the  right  to 
coin  money  and  regulate  its  value  was  given  to  Con- 
gress, the  States  being  prohibited  from  making  any- 
thing but  gold  and  silver  coin  a  legal  tender,  with  the 
avowed  purpose  of  establishing  a  specie  currency  as 
the  national  standard  of  value.  But  the  States  each 
claimed  the  right  to  incorporate  banks,  and  Pennsyl- 
vania had  taken  a  leading  step  in  this  direction  by 
chartering,  in  1781,  the  Bank  of  North  America. 
This  was  the  first  bank  which  issued  convertible 
notes.  On  Sept.  2,  1789,  the  Treasury  Department 
was  established,  and  Alexander  Hamilton  was  ap- 
pointed secretary.  He  proposed  the  scheme  of  the 
first  national  bank  of  the  United  States,  which  was 
chartered  by  Congress  in  1791.  Its  charter  was  for 
twenty  years,  and  it  issued  no  notes  under  ten  dol- 
lars. Questions  of  coinage  were  taken  tip  by  Con- 
gress as  early  as  1781,  but  it  was  not  until  July  6, 

1785,  that  the   "dollar"  was  adopted.     On  Aug.  8, 

1786,  a  mint  law  was  passed,  but  after  being  modi- 
fied Oct.  16,  1786,  it  was  not  approved  until  Sept.  2, 
1792.     Silver  was  first  coined  in  1794,  and  gold  in 
1795. 

Banks  at  this  time  were  political  engines,  and  the 
charter  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  having  ex- 
pired, its  renewal  was  refused,  and  it  went  into  liqui- 
dation in  1811.  A  large  number  of  State  banks  at 
once  sprang  up,  and  a  wild  inflation  of  paper  money 
prepared  the  way  for  a  sad  condition  of  financial 
affairs.  Immediately  on  the  declaration  of  war  with 
Great  Britain  in  1812,  all  the  banks  in  the  Middle 
and  Southern  States  except  New  York  suspended 
payment,  and  the  New  York  banks  had  to  succumb 
in  1814,  amid  the  closing  scenes  of  the  war.  The 


Street,  St.  Louis.  He  has  on  hand  a  heap  of  whiskey,  plenty 
of  peach-brandy,  linsey,  country  linen,  shoes,  cut  and  ham- 
mered nails,  cotton  and  cotton  cloth,  bed-cords,  etc.,  which  he 
will  sell  low  for  cash  or  beef-hides,  delivered  at  the  store  or  at 
Squire  Moorehead's  slaughter-yard. 

"  FRED.  YIEZKR. 

"N.B. — No  credit  may  be  expected,  as   the  subscriber   has 
(unfortunately)  never  learned  to  write." 


New  Orleans  banks  suspended  in  April,  1814,  the 
banks  of  Philadelphia  Aug.  30,  1814,  and  those  of 
the  Middle  and  Southern  States  within  a  fortnight 
later.  Those  of  Ohio  and  Kentucky  had  specie  until 
Jan.  1,  1815,  and  while  a  few  in  Maine  ceased  pay- 
ment early  in  1814,  the  banks  in  the  rest  of  New 
England  did  not  suspend  at  all. 

Banks  now  multiplied  faster  than  ever,  and  the  old 
ones  increased  their  issues.  The  notes  required  elab- 
orate quotations,  and  brokers  had  a  rich  harvest  in 
negotiating  them.  The  war  with  Great  Britain  had 
j  very  little  effect  upon  St.  Louis,  but  at  its  close  immi- 
gration from  the  old  States  poured  rapidly  into  the 
town.  The  new  settlers  brought  more  or  less  money 
and  property  with  them,  and  introduced  some  changes 
in  the  customs  and  modes  of  living.  About  this 
period  began  that  era  of  prosperity  which  has  con- 
tinued ever  since,  and  which  has  been  a  conspicuous 
feature  of  the  city's  history.  Enterprising  traders 
took  up  their  abode  in  the  town  and  commenced  suc- 
cessful business.  The  new  buildings  that  were  erected 
were  more  tasteful  in  appearance  than  the  old ;  a  new 
vitality  appeared  to  quicken  the  sluggish  channels  of 
business,  and  an  atmosphere  of  thrift  and  comfort 
was  created.  The  money  which  the  new  inhabitants 
now  brought  in,  and  which  had  been  paid  by  the 
United  States  to  the  militia  during  the  war,  and  to 
the  regulars  stationed  in  or  passing  through  the  town, 
turned  the  heads  of  all  the  people,  and  gave  them 
new  ideas  and  aspirations,  so  that  by  1819  the  whole 
country  was  affected  with  a  mania  for  speculating  in 
lands  and  town  lots.1 

St.  Louis  boasted  in  1816  of  having  a  business 
capital  of  nearly  one  million  dollars,  but  complained 
that  it  did  not  enjoy  the  advantages  of  a  bank,  al- 
though the  Territorial  Legislature  granted  a  charter 
for  one  as  early  as  Aug.  21,  1813.2  All  the  leading 

:  -^ 

1  On  the  9th  of  January,  1818,  the  following  notice  appeared : 
"St.  Louis  Exchange  and  Land  Office.  The  undersigned 
having  opened  an  office  as  broker  for  the  Missouri  and  Illinois 
Territory,  informs  the  public  that  he  is  now  ready  for  the  pur- 
chase and  sale  (on  commission  only)  of  houses  and  lands, 
United  States  stock,  etc. 

"S.  R.  WIGGINS." 

3  The  Missouri  Gazette  of  July  1.3,  1816,  says, — 
"  The  opulent  town  of  St.  Louis  may  boast  of  a  capital  of 
nearly  one  million,  and  has  few  manufactories,  no  respectable 
seminary,  no  place  of  worship  for  dissenters,  no  public  edifices, 
no  steam  mill  or  boat,  no  bank,  and  (I  was  going  to  say)  no 
effective  police.  Mr.  Philipson  has  lately  established  an  excel- 
lent brewery,  where  excellent  beer  and  porter  are  made.  Mr. 
Wilt  erected  a  red  and  white  lead  manufactory,  and  threw  into 
the  market  several  tons  of  that  useful  article ;  his  red  lead  has 
been  admired  as  superior  to  that  imported.  Mr.  Hunt's  tanning 
establishment  is  of  primary  importance.  Mr.  Henderson's  soap 


1370 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


citizens  of  the  town  felt  that  a  bank  was  a  necessity, 
and  they  made  great  efforts  to  establish  one.  They 
did  not  succeed,  however,  until  September,  1816, 
when  the  Bank  of  St.  Louis  was  first  opened  for 
business,  as  will  be  seen  elsewhere. 

The  State  banks  in  other  sections  of  the  Union  had 
by  this  time  flooded  the  country  with  their  issues,  and 
the  result  was  a  succession  of  speculations,  revulsions, 
panics,  and  general  depression  in  business.  The  year 
1817  was  considered  "  a  period  of  gloom  and  agony; 
no  money,  either  gold  or  silver ;  no  paper  convertible 
into  specie ;  no  measure  or  standard  of  value  left  re- 
maining ;  no  price  for  property  or  produce ;  no  sales 
but  those  of  the  sheriff  and  the  marshal."  It  was 
upon  this  troubled  sea  that  the  fortunes  of  the  Bank 
of  St.  Louis  were  cast.  It  conducted  its  business  after 
the  prevailing  fashion.  Instead  of  restraining  specu- 
lation, it  joined  in  the  race  for  wealth  and  flooded  the 
country  with  its  issues.  As  a  consequence  it  ceased 
to  exist  within  three  years. 

Shortly  after  the  Bank  of  St.  Louis  began  business 
the  Bank  of  Missouri  was  organized,  and  incorporated 
Feb.  1 , 1817.  The  commissioners  appointed  to  receive 
subscriptions  to  its  capital  stock  of  two  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  dollars  were  Charles  Gratiot,  William 
Smith,  John  McKnight,  Jean  B.  Cabanne,  and  Mat- 
thew Kerr.  The  first  president  was  Auguste  Chouteau, 
and  the  first  cashier  Lilburn  W.  Boggs.  The  institu- 
tion being  a  depository  of  the  public  moneys,  it  entered 
upon  its  career  with  the  confidence  of  the  public,  but, 
like  most  banks  of  the  day,  it  followed  the  course 
marked  out  by  the  Bank  of  St.  Louis,  and  failed  like 
its  predecessor  with  great  loss  to  many  deserving  and 
industrious  citizens. 

and  candle  manufactory  would  be  of  great  utility  if  it  only  re- 
ceived that  patronage  the  proprietor  so  richly  merits. 

"I  have  no  doubt  but  that  brickmakers  and  bricklayers, 
carpenters  who  could  be  satisfied  with  a  moderate  compensation 
for  their  labor,  black-  and  whitesmiths,  silversmiths,  woolen- 
and  cotton-carding  and  spinning-machines  and  managers, 
tobacconists,  nailers,  gunsmiths,coopers,  pump-makers,  stocking- 
weavers,  wagon-makers,  stone-cutters,  boat-,  barge-,  and  ship- 
builders, rope-makers,  cutlers  and  tool-makers,  skin-dressers, 
and  many  other  employments  would  do  well  here.  A  man  of 
capital  and  enterprise  would  soon  accumulate  a  large  fortune  by 
erecting  a  steam  flour-  and  saw-mill  in  this  place;  wheat  sells 
here  at  one  dollar  per  bushel  (abundance  raised  in  the  country), 
and  good  merchantable  flour  is  sure  to  command  from  eight  to 
ten  dollars  per  barrel.  Corn  generally  rates  at  from  twenty-five 
to  fifty  cents,  and  will  bring  in  meal  from  fifty  to  eighty-seven 
an'd  one-half  cents  per  bushel.  Pine  boards  sell  at  four  dollars, 
and  oak  and  ash  at  two  and  three  dollars  per  hundred  feet. 
Saw-logs  could  be  brought  to  town  at  one  dollar  each.  Five 
thousand  barrels  of  whiskey  are  annually  received  here  from 
the  Ohio,  and  sold  at  seventy-five  cents  per  gallon,  while  thou- 
sands of  bushels  of  grain  are  offered  at  a  low  price  to  any 
enterprising  man  who  will  commence  a  distillery." 


Governor  Ford,  in  his  "  History  of  Illinois,"  says 
emigrants  brought  money  into  the  State  at  this  period 
in  great  abundance.  "  The  owners,"  he  adds, 

"had  to  use  it  some  way,  and  as  it  could  not  be  used  in  legiti- 
mate commerce  in  a  State  where  the  material  for  commerce  did 
not  exist,  the  most  of  it  was  used  to  build  houses  in  towns  which 
the  limited  business  of  the  country  did  not  require,  and  to  pur- 
chase land  which  the  labor  of  the  country  was  not  sufficient  to 
cultivate.  The  United  States  government  was  then  selling  land 
at  two  dollars  per  acre,  eighty  dollars  on  the  quarter-section  to 
be  paid  down  on  the  purchase,  with  a  credit  of  five  years  for 
the  residue.  For  nearly  every  sum  of  eighty  dollars  there  was 
in  the  country  a  quarter-section  of  land  was  purchased,  for  in 
those  days  there  was  no  specie  circulation  to  restrain  unwarrant- 
able speculation  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  the  notes  of  most  of  the 
numerous  banks  in  existence  were  good  in  the  public  land  offices. 
The  amount  of  land  thus  purchased  was  increased  by  the  gen- 
eral expectation  that  the  rapid  settlement  of  the  country  would 
enable  the  speculator  to  sell  it  for  a  high  price  before  the  expi- 
ration of  the  credit.  This  great  abundance  of  money  also, 
about  this  time,  made  a  vast  increase  in  the  amount  of  mer- 
chandise brought  into  the  State.  When  money  is  plenty  every 
man's  credit  is  good.  The  people  dealt  largely  with  the  stores 
on  credit,  and  drew  upon  a  certain  fortune  in  prospect  for 
payment.  Every  one  was  to  get  rich  out  of  the  future  emi- 
grant. The  speculator  was  to  sell  him  houses  and  lands,  and  the 
farmer  was  to  sell  him  everything  he  wanted  to  begin  with  and 
to  live  upon  until  he  could  supply  himself.  Towns  were  laid 
out  all  over  the  country,  and  lots  were  purchased  by  every  one 
on  credit;  the  town-maker  received  no  money  for  his  lots,  but 
he  received  notes  of  hand,  which  he  considered  to  be  as  good  as 
cash;  and  he  lived  and  embarked  in  other  ventures  as  if  they 
had  been  cash  in  truth.  In  this  mode,  by  the  year  1820,  nearly 
the  whole  people  were  irrecoverably  involved  in  debt.  The  banks 
in  Ohio  and  Kentucky  broke  one  after  another,  leaving  the 
people  of  these  States  covered  with  indebtedness  and  without 
the  means  of  extrication.  The  banks  at  home  and  in  St.  Louis 
(as  we  have  seen)  ceased  business.  The  great  tide  of  immi- 
grants from  abroad,  which  had  been  looked  for  by  every  one, 
failed  to  come.  Real  estate  was  unsalable;  the  lands  pur- 
chased of  the  United  States  were  unpaid  for  and  likely  to  be 
forfeited.  Bank  notes  bad  driven  out  specie,  and  when  these 
notes  became  worthless  there  was  no  money  of  any  description 
left  in  the  country." 1 

In  1822  there  was  a  pressing  scarcity  of  money ; 
in  1825, 1826, 1827,  and  1828  convulsions  and  bank- 
ruptcy among  the  banks.  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Illi- 
nois, and  Missouri  tried  stay  laws,  tender  laws,  and 
paper  issues  in  every  form.  Kentucky  tested  the  ex- 
periment most  thoroughly  ;  the  others  desisted  sooner. 
In  1829  and  1830  the  gloom  which  had  brooded  so 
long  over  the  country  was  dispelled  and  a  brighter 
prospect  was  unfolded.  For  the  first  time  for  eight 
years  the  natural  course  of  trade  had  brought  a  bal- 
ance of  specie  of  eight  and  a  half  millions  of  dollars 
into  the  country.  In  1828,  in  the  election  of  Gen. 
Jackson  to  the  Presidency,  the  people  began  to  evince 
hostility  to  every  form  of  paper  money,  and  in  his 
first  message  to  Congress  President  Jackson  charged 

i  Page  43. 


BANKS,  AND   OTHER   FINANCIAL  INSTITUTIONS,  AND   BANKERS.  1371 


the  United  States  Bank,  which  had  been  chartered  in 
1816,  and  which  had  established  a  branch  in  St.  Louis 
with  Col.  John  0' Fallen  as  president,  with  having 
"  failed  in  the  great  end  of  establishing  a  uniform  and 
sound  currency."  The  friends  of  the  bank  defended 
it,  and  the  leading  political  parties  took  sides,  one  for, 
the  other  against,  the  bank.  The  citizens  of  St.  Louis 
who  favored  the  bank  gave  expression  to  their  feel- 
ings at  a  public  meeting  held  in  the  town  hall  on  the 
afternoon  of  July  24,  1832.  Dr.  William  Carr 
Lane  presided  at  the  meeting,  and  James  L.  Murray 
was  appointed  secretary.  A  committee  consisting  of 
Messrs.  Edward  Bates,  Pierre  Chouteau,  Jr.,  George 
Collier,  Thornton  Grimsley,  Henry  S.  Geyer,  and 
Nathan  Ranney  presented  the  following  resolutions, 
which  were  adopted : 

"  Resolved,  That  we  view  with  deep  mortification  and  regret 
the  President's  veto  of  the  bill  which  recently  passed  both 
houses  of  Congress  to  continue  for  a  limited  time  the  charter  of 
the  Bank  of  the  United  States. 

"  Resolved,  That,  in  our  opinion,  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States  is  greatly  useful  and  convenient  to  the  government  as  a 
fiscal  agent,  highly  beneficial  to  the  nation  at  large,  and  indis- 
pensably necessary  to  the  commercial  prosperity  and  individual 
comfort  of  the  Western  people,  and  its  existence  is  as  strictly 
accordant  with  the  principles  laid  down  in  the  Constitution  as 
its  operations  are  with  the  welfare  of  the  community. 

"Resolved,  That  in  the  present  condition  of  the  commercial 
and  pecuniary  affairs  of  this  section  of  the  Union,  if  the  bank 
should  be  driven,  by  fear  of  the  consequences  of  the  President's 
veto,  to  curtail  the  discounts  and  withdraw  its  paper  from  cir- 
culation, one  universal  scene  of  distress  and  ruin  will  pervade 
the  whole  Western  country. 

"  Resolved,  That  a  committee  be  appointed  to  'draft  an  ad- 
dress to  the  people  on  the  subject  of  the  re-charter  of  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States,  and  on  the  principles  and  doctrines  of  the 
veto  message." 

The  chair  appointed  Dr.  George  W.  Call  and 
Messrs.  Frederick  Hyatt,  Matthew  Kerr,  Asa  Wilgus, 
Thomas  Cohen,  and  James  L.  Murray  to  compose  the 
committee  under  the  last  resolution. 

Gen.  Jackson  had  also  a  great  many  friends  and 
admirers  in  St.  Louis,  and  on  the  evening  of  the  same 
day  they  held  a  meeting  in  the  town  hall,  at  which 
Dr.  Samuel  Merry  and  Absalom  Link  presided,  and 
William  Milburn  acted  as  secretary.  Col.  George  F. 
Strother  made  an  address,  after  which  Messrs.  E. 
Dobyns,  John  Shade,  James  C.  Lynch,  L.  Brown,  B. 
W.  Ayres,  J.  H.  Baldwin,  and  P.  Taylor  were  ap- 
pointed to  draft  resolutions.  Subsequently  the  veto 
message  was  read,  and  the  following  resolutions  were 
adopted : 

"Resolved,  That  this  meeting  view  all  banks  and  banking 
institutions  possessing  exclusive  privileges  and  powers  of  mo- 
nopoly as  of  dangerous  tendency  in  a  government  of  the  people, 
calculated  in  their  nature  to  draw  distinctions  in  society  and 
build  up  family  nobilities. 


"  Resolved,  That  this  meeting  do  concur  with  Gen.  Jackson 
in  the  view  which  he  has  taken  of  the  United  States  Bank,  with 
its  privileges,  powers,  and  unconstitutionality. 

"Resolved,  That  this  meeting  view  the  stand  which  Gen. 
Jackson  has  taken  against  the  moneyed  powers  of  Europe  and 
America  as  a  mark  of  firmness  and  patriotism  not  surpassed  by 
any  patriot  or  statesman  since  the  light  of  liberty  first  dawned 
upon  our  country. 

"Resolved,  That  he  is  entitled  to  the  fullest  confidence  of  this 
meeting  and  of  the  American  people  for  his  undiminished 
firmness. 

"  Resolved,  That  this  meeting  will,  by  all  honorable  and 
proper  means,  contribute  all  in  their  power  to  sustain  him  in 
his  position  against  the  bank." 

During  the  time  that  the  Branch  Bank  of  the 
United  States  was  in  operation  in  St.  Louis  it  had 
the  confidence  of  the  community,  and  was  of  great 
advantage  to  its  business  interests.  It  closed  its 
career  with  great  credit  to  its  managers,  for  when  the 
accounts  were  settled  it  was  found  that  the  govern- 
ment had  sustained  a  loss  of  only  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  dollars.  On  July  10,  1832,  President 
Jackson  vetoed  a  recharter  for  the  parent  bank,  and 
in  1836,  its  twenty  years'  charter  from  the  Federal 
government  having  expired,  it  was  rechartered  by  the 
State  of  Pennsylvania.  In  1837  and  1839  it  sus- 
pended specie  payments,  and  Feb.  4,  1840,  it  sus- 
pended finally,  the  stockholders  losing  everything. 

Upon  the  abolition  of  the  Branch  Bank  of  the 
United  States  the  Cincinnati  Commercial  Agency 
established  a  branch  in  St.  Louis,  and  by  means 
of  its  ample  capital  and  liberal  dealing  gained  the 
confidence  of  the  public.  The  general  government 
deputized  the  agency  as  its  fiscal  agent,  and  the 
new  bank  assumed  the  business  of  the  Branch  Bank 
of  the  United  States,  and  imparted  new  vigor  to 
business,  which  had  begun  to  languish  for  the  want 
of  pecuniary  support.  With  the  aid  of  government 
deposits  the  agency  made  considerable  money,  and  its 
success  excited  the  jealousy  of  the  merchants,  who 
had  long  wished  for  a  bank  of  .their  own,  and  who 
for  several  years  had  been  trying  to  effect  that  object, 
but  who  had  been  opposed  by  others  who  dreaded  the 
great  influx  of  paper  and  a  repetition  of  the  disasters 
which  had  overtaken  the  banks  that  had  previously 
been  established  in  the  city.  The  merchants,  how- 
ever, determined  to  make  another  effort,  and  the  first 
bill  presented  to  the  Legislature  in  1837  was  one  to 
charter  "  The  Union  Bank  of  Missouri."  The  bill 
was  amended  and  changed,  and  on  Feb.  1,  1837,  the 
charter  of  "  The  Bank  of  the  State  of  Missouri," 
which  had  been  passed,  was  signed  by  the  Governor 
and  became  a  law.  Hugh  O'Neill,  Henry  Walton, 
John  B.  Sarpy,  George  K.  McGunnegle,  and  John 
O'Fallon  were  appointed  to  receive  subscriptions  in 


1372 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


St.  Louis,  and  a  sufficient  amount  having  been  sub- 
scribed the  bank  went  into  operation  on  the  15th  of 
April,  1837.  After  the  establishment  of  the  new 
bank  the  general  government,  in  accordance  with  an 
act  of  Congress,  was  compelled  to  transact  its  business 
with  it,  and  in  June,  1837,  a  transfer  was  also  made 
by  the  Commercial  Agency  to  the  Missouri  Bank  "  of 
the  local  debt  of  our  citizens,"  "  the  amount  to  be 
paid  in  installments  at  stated  periods  running  through 
two  years,  bearing  an  interest  of  five  per  cent." 

About  the  time  of  the  agitation  for  the  establish- 
ment of  a  local  bank,  a  bill  passed  the  Missouri  House 
of  Representatives  for  the  expulsion  of  all  agencies 
of  foreign  banking  institutions  from  the  State.  Im- 
mediately a  town-meeting  was  called  at  the  City 
Hall,  on  Dec.  17,  1836,  "  for  the  purpose  of  taking 
into  consideration  the  propriety  of  continuing  bank 
agencies  in  the  city,  and  for  other  purposes."  The 
meeting  was  organized  with  Dr.  Hardage  Lane  as 
chairman,  and  Charles  D.  Drake  as  secretary.  John 
F.  Darby  addressed  the  meeting  at  some  length,  and 
Dr.  William  Carr  Lane  offered  the  following  resolu- 
tions, which  were  adopted : 

"That  in  the  opinion  of  this  meeting  it  will  be  highly 
inexpedient  in  the  General  Assembly  to  remove  or  lessen  the 
banking  facilities  now  possessed  by  the  manufacturing  and 
commercial  community  by  removing  the  bank  agencies  now 
located  amongst  us,  and  that  we  deprecate  any  presentation  in 
the  General  Assembly  on  the  subject  as  tending  inevitably  to 
the  great  injury  of  every  class  of  our  citizens. 

"  Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  five  persons  be  appointed  to 
respectfully  memorialize  the  General  Assembly  upon  the  subject 
of  these  agencies." 

The  chair  then  appointed  the  following  committee 
in  accordance  with  the  resolution :  George  Morton, 
Henry  S.  Geyer,  John  D.  Dagget,  James  T.  Swearin- 
gen,  and  Samuel  S.  Reyburn. 

George  Morton  then  offered  the  following  resolu- 
tions, which  were  severally  adopted  : 

"  Resolved,  That  this  meeting  has  heard  with  regret  that 
there  is  a  disposition  in  the  General  Assembly  to  expel  from 
the  State  agencies  of  foreign  insurance  companies;  for  the 
reason  that  they  are  evidently  an  accommodation  and  benefit  to 
this  city,  affording  to  the  owners  of  insurable  property  facilities 
of  protection  which  without  them  could  not  be  had,  and  opera- 
ting only  for  the  advantage  of  the  community. 

"  Resolved,  Therefore,  that  our  senators  and  representatives 
be  respectfully  requested  to  use  their  influence  to  induce  the 
General  Assembly  to  permit  insurance  agencies  to  continue 
their  beneficial  operations  amongst  us. 

"Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  three  be  appointed  by  the 
chair  to  select  five  gentlemen  to  repair  as  a  delegation  to  the 
city  of  Jefferson,  and  co-operate  with  our  senators  and  repre- 
sentatives in  respectfully  laying  before  the  General  Assembly 
the  wants  and  wishes  of  the  people  of  this  city  upon  such  sub- 
jects of  general  interest  as  to  them  shall  seem  proper." 


The  chair  appointed  Messrs.  George  Morton,  Henry 
Von  Phul,  and  Edward  Tracy  that  committee. 

In  1830  the  banks  in  the  United  States  were  esti- 
mated to  number  three  hundred  and  twenty-nine',  with 
a  capital  of  one  hundred  and  ten  millions  of  dollars. 
In  1837  their  number,  including  branches,  was  seven 
hundred  and  eighty-eight,  with  two  hundred  and  ninety 
million  dollars  capital.  The  consequences  of  their 
multiplication  were  speculation  in  property  and  com- 
modities, increasing  prices,  strikes  of  working-people 
for  increase  of  wages,  the  abandonment  of  agricultural 
pursuits,  and  the  crowding  of  people  into  cities  or  large 
towns  for  the  purpose  of  speculation,  chiefly  in  city 
and  village  lots.  Industry  was  no  longer  thought  of 
by  the  multitudes  of  people  who  found  themselves 
rich  from  the  high  prices  obtained  for  farming  lands 
bought  for  new  villages  or  cities  that  were  to  grow 
up  to  enrich  their  owners.  At  length  (1836-37) 
the  United  States  began  to  import  food  from  other 
countries,  and  hungry  mobs  attacked  the  flour-stores 
in  New  York,  the  great  speculation  culminating 
in  panics  in  all  the  cities.  Early  in  March,  1837, 
Herman  Briggs  and  Co.,  of  New  Orleans,  failed  on 
account  of  the  decline  in  cotton.  Their  New  York 
agents  failed  as  soon  as  the  news  reached  that  city. 
This  was  the  beginning.  At  New  York  one  failure 
followed  another  among  those  who  held  Southern 
funds.  In  April  news  came  that  the  leading  Eng- 
lish merchants  granting  American  credits  had  become 
dependent  on  the  Bank  of  England,  and  were  being 
carried  on  a  guarantee  from  the  city.  The  panic  then 
recommenced,  and  continued  increasing  until  May  8th, 
when  the  Dry- Dock  Bank  of  New  York  suspended. 
The  other  banks  were  forced  to  suspend  on  the  9th  and 
10th.  The  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  St.  Louis,  and 
other  banks  followed  as  the  news  spread.  Each  city 
professed  that  it  could  have  held  out,  but  was  forced 
to  yield  in  the  general  interest.  St.  Louis  suffered 
greatly  from  the  panic  that  swept  over  the  country. 
Many  of  the  leading  firms  of  the  city  were  prostrated, 
and  business,  which  a  few  weeks  before  was  moving 
smoothly  along  in  its  accustomed  channels,  was 
checked  with  fearful  suddenness,  and  became  almost 
extinct. 

Of  course  the  state  of  the  country  was  a  promi- 
nent topic  in  political  discussions.  Hon.  Thomas  H. 
Benton,  then  the  leader  of  the  Democratic  party  in 
Missouri,  was  an  advocate  of  a  specie  currency,  and 
his  party  declared  in  favor  of  a  monetary  system  com- 
posed exclusively  of  the  precious  metals.  The  Whig 
party  was  in  favor  of  re-establishing  a  controlling 
power,  like  the  United  States  Bank.  In  August, 
1837,  notwithstanding  the  denunciations  of  Col.  Ben- 


BANKS,  AND   OTHER   FINANCIAL   INSTITUTIONS,  AND   BANKERS. 


1373 


ton  and  his  adherents,  a  petition  to  Congress  "  for  the 
establishment  of  a  National  Bank"  was  adopted  by  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  of  St.  Louis,  and  was  signed 
by  nearly  every  leading  business  man  in  the  city. 

An  extra  session  of  Congress  was  called  by  Presi- 
dent Van  Buren  ;  the  banks  expanded  still  more  their 
issues  of  depreciated  paper,  and  Congress  did  nothing 
but  permit  the  issue  of  United  States  Treasury  notes 
bearing  a  small  interest  to  meet  the  pressing  wants  of 
the  general  government.  On  May  10,  1838,  the 
New  York  and  New  England  banks  resumed,  but  the 
Philadelphia  banks  delayed  until  the  Governor  forced 
them  to  resume,  Aug.  13,  1838.  The  banks  in  the 
other  States  followed  in  due  time.  In  October,  1839, 
the  paper  of  the  United  States  Bank  went  to  protest, 
and  on  the  9th  the  Philadelphia  banks  suspended 
payment.  They  were  followed  by  all  the  banks 
South  and  West,  and  by  those  of  Rhode  Island. 
The  New  York  and  other  New  England  banks  did 
not  suspend.  In  consequence  of  the  suspension  of 
the  Eastern  banks,  the  Bank  of  the  State  of  Missouri, 
on  the  12th  of  November,  1839,  passed  a  resolution 
"  that  the  bank  will  in  future  receive  from,  and  pay 
only  to  individuals  her  own  notes  and  specie  on  the 
notes  of  specie-paying  banks."  This  decision,  on 
becoming  generally  known,  aroused  the  intense  in- 
dignation of  the  mercantile  community  of  St.  Louis. 

The  Missouri  Republican  of  the  following  day 
says, — 

"  The  bank  excitement  continued  very  high  during  yester- 
day. In  fact,  it  is  the  only  subject  matter  of  conversation  or 
consideration.  The  merchants,  it  might  literally  be  said,  have 
forsaken  their  counting-rooms,  and  mechanics  their  shops. 
Wherever  two  or  three  meet,  the  action  of  the  bank  was  the 
theme  of  conversation,  and  in  every  circle  that  we  have  fallen 
in  with,  whatever  might  be  the  politics  of  those  composing  it, 
the  resolution  of  the  directors  was  condemned  without  measure 
or  reserve.  In  truth,  there  never  has  been  in  this  community 
so  universal  and  unanimous  a  condemnation  of  any  measure  as 
this.  Execrations  loud  and  deep  are  freely  uttered  in  every 
quarter,  and  by  men  of  all  parties." 

The  notes  of  banks  of  other  States  formed  the 
principal  currency  of  the  State,  and  by  this  act  of  the 
Bank  of  the  State  of  Missouri  all  the  notes  of  banks 
which  had  suspended  specie  payment  lost  their  char- 
acter as  representing  funds  for  the  payment  even  of 
existing  contracts.  The  merchants  were  in  a  most 
distressing  situation.  They  had  their  commercial 
honor  to  preserve,  and  to  do  this  it  was  all  important 
that  their  notes  should  not  go  to  protest.  There  were 
not,  however,  sufficient  specie  and  bankable  funds  in 
circulation  to  redeem  their  paper.1  In  this  crisis  a 
meeting  was  held  at  the  court-house  at  noon  on  Nov. 


13,  1839,  "  to  take  into  consideration  the  recent  move- 
ment by  the  Bank  of  the  State  of  Missouri  in  re- 
fusing to  receive  anything  except  specie  and  its  own 
paper  in  payment  of  debts  due  it." 

Edward  Tracy  was  chosen  president,  J.  C.  Laveille 
and  J.  Clemens,  JY.,  vice-presidents,  and  G.  G.  Foster 
and  Samuel  Gaty,  secretaries.  It  was 

"  Revolved,  That,  as  the  sense  of  this  meeting,  it  will  be  no  dis- 
credit to  any  individual  having  paper  maturing  this  day  at  the 
Bank  of  Missouri  to  allow  said  paper  to  go  to  protest  if  a  ten- 
der is  made  at  bank  or  to  the  notary  of  currency  hitherto  bank- 
able and  is  refused." 

The  president  announced  the  following  gentlemen 
as  a  committee  on  resolutions  :  Messrs.  N.  Paschall, 
George  Morton,  Joseph  Foster,  A.  Carr,  J.  P.  Doane, 
J.  B.  Sarpy,  Asa  Wilgus,  John  "Whitehill,  Wayman 
Crow,  George  K.  Budd,  A.  G.  Farwell,  H.  Von  Phul, 
and  Felix  Coouce. 

A  proposition  was  made  to  John  Brady  Smith, 
president  of  the  bank,  that  the  collection  paper  dis- 
counted by  the  bank  up  to  that  time  should  be  paid 
in  the  same  description  of  funds  as  that  previously 
received  by  the  bank,  and  that  the  business  paper  dis- 
counted by  the  bank  up  to  that  time  should,  as  far  as 
possible,  be  placed  on  the  footing  of  accommodation 
paper,  the  curtailment  and  discount  being  paid  in 
specie  or  the  notes  of  specie-paying  banks. 

The  president  promised  to  confer  with  the  board 
of  directors,  and  after  due  deliberation  by  that  body 
objection  to  the  proposition  was  raised  on  the  ground 
that  there  would  be  necessarily  some  depreciation  of 
the  funds,  which  loss  the  bank  was  unwilling  to  sus- 
tain. So  great  was  the  emergency  at  this  particular 
juncture  in  financial  affairs,  that  this  objection  was 
met  on  the  part  of  the  most  wealthy  of  the  citizens 
by  an  offer  to  legally  bind  themselves  to  indemnify 
the  bank  against  any  loss  it  might  sustain  by  a  depre- 
ciation of  the  notes  of  the  banks  "  heretofore  received."2 

The  directors  of  the  bank  held  a  consultation,  but 
determined  to  adhere  to  their  original  resolution. 

The  merchants  had  fully  expected  that  the  bank 
would  accept  the  noble  proposition  made  it  by  the 
responsible  gentlemen  mentioned,  but  when  the  refusal 
of  the  board  of  directors  was  made  known,  another 
indignation  meeting  was  called,  which  strongly  con- 
demned the  conduct  of  the  bank,  and  resolutions  were 
adopted  recommending  those  doing  business  with  it 
to  withdraw  their  deposits  and  patronize  some  other 


1  Edwards'  Great  West. 


1  The  gentlemen  who  obligated  themselves  to  be  thus  respon- 
sible were  George  Collier,  E.  Tracy,  Pierre  Chouteau,  John 
Walsh,  William  Glasgow,  John  Perry,  Henry  Von  Phul,  John 
Kerr,  G.  K.  McGunnegle,  Joseph  C.  Laveille,  and  John  O'Fal- 
lon. — Edwards'  Great  Went,  p.  368. 


1374 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


institution.  As  a  consequence  many  of  the  largest 
depositors  withdrew  their  funds  and  deposited  them 
in  the  insurance  offices,  and  with  the  St.  Louis  Gas- 
Light  Company,  which  was  then  doing  a  banking 
business.1 

The  bank,  notwithstanding  it  was  thus  deprived  of 
the  support  of  many  of  its  most  influential  patrons,  still 
pursued  the  policy  it  had  adopted,  and  weathered  the 
financial  storm  which  had  threatened  it. 

On  Jan.  15,  1841,  all  the  banks  of  the  country  re- 
sumed specie  payments,  but  they  all  suspended  again 
on  the  4th  of  February  of  the  same  year.  The  Phil- 
adelphia banks  resumed  in  March,  1842,  but  complete 
resumption  of  specie  payments  throughout  all  the 
States  was  not  accomplished  until  1843,  when  prices 
were  at  the  lowest  point.  Bankruptcy,  ruin,  and  dis- 
tress had  done  their  work.  At  least  two  thousand 
millions  of  dollars,  it  has  been  estimated,  represented 
the  shrinkage  in  prices  or  values,  six  hundred  millions 
of  dollars  of  debts  being  wiped  out  by  actual  bank- 
ruptcies.2 

In  1846  the  Democratic  party  succeeded  in  estab- 
lishing the  independent  treasury,  the  general  govern- 
ment becoming  its  own  banker,  and  receiving  and 
paying  only  coined  money.  The  measure  was  highly 
beneficial  in  promoting  the  use  of  coined  money.  In 


1  The  Missouri  Republican  about  this  time  discourses   thus 
upon  the  financial  situation  : 

'"The  Divorce,'  the  Bank  and  the  People. — A  third  and 
probably  last  notice  from  the  State  Bank  of  Missouri  appears 
in  to-day's  paper.  The  first  notice  was  the  famous  resolution 
of  the  12th,  contemplating  a  specie-paying  business  altogether, 
and  another  restricting  the  curtailment  of  renewable  paper  to 
five  per  cent,  instead  of  ten,  as  had  been  the  case.  Under  the 
first  resolution  specie  was  demanded  in  all  eases,  as  well  as  upon 
collection,  as  discounted  business  and  accommodation  paper. 
The  next  day  brought  forth  another  set  of  resolutions  requiring 
depositors  of  paper  for  collection,  whether  owned  in  the  city  or 
out  of  it,  to  withdraw  the  same  from  bank,  and  giving  notice 
that  no  paper  will  be  received  hereafter  for  collection  unless 
specie  is  expressed  on  the  face.  The  third  and  last  notice  is 
that  to  which  we  have  requested  attention,  and  which  is  a  free 
confession  on  the  part  of  the  bank  that  the  measure  which  it 
contemplated  on  the  12th  would  operate  harshly  and  oppres- 
sively, and  its  repeal  is  compassed  in  another  way.  By  the  last 
notice,  for  the  next  sixty  days  discounted  business  paper  is  made 
to  assume  the  character  of  renewable  paper,  the  drawer  paying 
up  one-tenth  of  the  amount  with  interest,  and  although  the  ar- 
rangement is  restricted  to  sixty  days,  we  venture  to  prophesy 
that  its  character  will  not  be  changed,  and  that  it  will  there- 
after be  renewed." 

2  The  first  bankruptcy  law  in  this  country  was  passed  April 
4,  1800,  but  was  repealed  Dec.  19,  1803.     Another  bankruptcy 
act  was  passed  Aug.  19, 1841,  and  repealed  Feb.  25, 1843.    This 
was  the  period  of   "scrip,"  or  "  shinplaster"  currency.      The 
kinds  of  currency  in  use  in  the  West  were  known  as  "  bank 
scrip,"  "  canal"  and  "  railroad  scrip,"  "  white  dog,"  "  blue  dog," 
"  blue  pup,"  etc. 


the  same  year  and  in  1847  the  potato  famine  in  Ireland 
sent  to  the  United  States  thousands  of  emigrants,  and 
in  1848  the  revolution  on  the  continent  sent  thou- 
sands more.  The  potato  famine  also  gave  the-  United 
States  a  market  for  grain,  and  saved  them  from  a 
share  in  the  financial  troubles  of  1847.  The  repeal 
of  the  Corn  Laws  in  1846  and  the  more  liberal 
tariff  adopted  by  Congress  in  that  year  gave  wider 
scope  to  industry.  Railroads  had  already  been 
extended  both  in  the  United  States  and  Europe  suffi- 
ciently to  affect  production  and  exchange.  The  tele- 
graph was  just  coming  into  general  use,  and  ocean 
steam  navigation  was  rapidly  extending.  Following 
close  upon  this  conjunction  of  circumstances  came  the 
discovery  of  gold  in  California  in  1848.  At  once 
began  a  great  emigration  of  adventurous  men  to  the 
Pacific  slope,  and  also  great  speculation  in  exports 
thither.  The  whole  industrial  world  gained  by  this 
new  supply  of  the  medium  of  exchange,  which  came 
just  when  it  was  needed  to  sustain  the  new  develop- 
ment of  industry  and  commerce.  The  first  exchange 
of  the  metal  was  for  food  and  manufactured  articles, 
and  its  djscovery  caused  a  new  and  sharp  demand  for 
agricultural  and  manufactured  products  in  St.  Louis 
and  elsewhere.  New  fields  were  opened,  new  fac- 
tories built,  not  in  the  United  States  only,  but  in  all 
the  commercial  countries.  The  new  and  enlarged  in- 
dustries brought  richer  returns  than  before,  both  of 
wages  and  profits,  not  on  account  of  the  money,  but  on 
account  of  the  whole  industrial  expansion,  which  the 
new  supply  of  real  money  facilitated. 

After  two  or  three  years  of  low  discount  rate  and 
cheap  food,  there  followed  in  1853  rumors  of  war 
and  a  bad  crop  in  England.  This  caused  high  prices 
for  wheat  and  a  renewed  speculation  in  Western 
lands  and  railroads,  which  resulted  in  1854  in  a 
crisis  and  panic  -in  Wall  Street,  New  York.  Some 
California  traders  also  found  their  affairs  to  be  in  a 
critical  condition,  but  generally  the  mercantile  com- 
munity held  firm.3  Suddenly,  on  the  13th  of  January, 
1855,  the  failure  of  Page  &  Bacon,  of  St.  Louis,  an 
old  and  highly-esteemed  banking-house,  with  liabil- 
ities estimated  at  several  millions  of  dollars,  was  an- 
nounced. The  firm  transacted  the  largest  banking 
business  in  the  West,  and  at  this  time  stood  towards 
the  city  and  county  of  St.  Louis  in  the  relation  of 
public  benefactors.4 


3  Professor  William  G.  Sumner. 

*  The  head  of  the  firm  was  Daniel  D.  Page,  of  whom  a  bio- 
graphical sketch  is  given  in  the  municipal  chapter.  Henry 
D.  Bacon,  his  partner,  was  born  May  3,  1813,  at  East  Gran- 
ville,  Mass.  He  entered  early  in  life  into  commercial  pursuits 
at  Hartford,  Conn.,  and  in  1835  removed  to  the  city  of  St. 


BANKS,  AND   OTHER   FINANCIAL  INSTITUTIONS,  AND   BANKERS. 


1375 


The  announcement  of  the  suspension  of  the  bank- 
ing-house of  Page  &  Bacon  created  a  wide-spread 
sensation  in  the  community,  which  was  not  diminished, 
but  rather  increased,  by  the  fact  that  Messrs.  Loker, 

Louis,  where  he  soon  engaged  as  partner  in  one  of  the  lead- 
ing dry-goods  firms  of  the  city.  He  then  entered  the  iron 
trade,  which  he  pursued  with  good  results  until  his  marriage 
in  1844  with  Miss  Julia  Page,  daughter  of  .Daniel  D.  Page, 
when  he  became  associated  with  him  in  the  flour  business.  He 
was  a  very  active  and  enterprising  young  man,  and  at  his 
suggestion  his  father-in-law  in  1848  consented  to  open  a 
banking-house  under  the  firm-name  of  Page  &  Bacon,  leaving 
its  management  to  the  more  experienced  Bacon.  The  property 
of  D.  D.  Page  provided  a  strong  backing  to  the  concern,  and 
the  house  prospered  from  the  start.  The  known  ability  of 
Henry  D.  Bacon  increased  the  confidence  of  the  public,  and  as 
both  were  leading  Democrats,  they  profited  through  the  oppor- 
tunity offered  by  the  Mexican  war,  under  the  Democratic  ad- 
ministration of  President  Polk,  which  made  St.  Louis  the  dis- 
bursing centre  of  large  sums  of  money  for  the  army.  In  1850 
they  established  a  branch  in  California,  and  in  1854  their  ex- 
changes amounted  to  the  immense  sum  of  eighty  millions  of 
dollars. 

Everything  went  on  well  with  the  firm,  and  as  Duncan,  Sher- 
man &  Co.  were  their  New  York  agents,  both  firms  made  large 
gains.  In  1849  and  1850,  St.  Louis  took  a  sudden  leap  forward. 
An  immense  emigration  from  Europe,  especially  from  Germany, 
forced  across  the  ocean  by  the  collapse  of  the  revolution  of  1848, 
settled  either  in  St.  Louis  or  in  its  vicinity.  Most  of  them  were 
people  of  means,  and  with  the  traditional  desire  of  Germans  to 
own  land,  they  purchased  real  estate.  The  trade  in  building 
lots  assumed  enormous  proportions,  and  values  rose  rapidly. 
Page  &  Bacon  saw  heavy  profits  in  the  movement,  and  at  once 
started  with  building  up  the  extensive  property  of  Mr.  Page, 
selling  houses  and  lots  with  small  cash  payments  and  on  long 
mortgages  at  great  advantage,  and  using  the  funds  of  the  bank 
in  buying  more  land.  But  in  1854  this  upward  tendency  came 
to  a  sudden  stop ;  sales  of  land  gradually  ceased,  and  Page  & 
Bacon  found  themselves  unexpectedly  in  difficulty  to  meet  all 
the  demands  upon  them.  Early  in  the  fall  of  that  year  the 
great  sugar-refinery  of  Belcher  Brothers  in  St.  Louis,  the  lar- 
gest establishment  of  its  kind  then  in  the  country,  suspended 
payment,  and  Page  &  Bacon  held  a  large  amount  of  their  dis- 
credited paper.  Distrust  began  to  creep  upon  the  commercial 
community  of  the  city.  Bacon  saw  the  storm  coming  and  hur- 
ried to  New  York.  He  opened  negotiations  with  Duncan, 
Sherman  &  Co.,  with  whom  he  had  been  doing  a  lucrative  busi- 
ness for  seven  years.  The  conference  came  to  a  conclusion  on 
the  third  day  at  midnight  in  Bacon's  room  in  the  New  York 
Hotel,  and  he  was  promised  that  his  firm  should  have  a  credit 
of  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  on  the  strength  of  the 
securities  Bacon  had  to  offer,  valid  mortgages  on  improved 
property  in  St.  Louis.  Henry  Bacon  returned  home  in  bright 
spirits,  but  he  was  greatly  alarmed  a  few  days  later  when  a 
telegram  informed  him  that  Duncan,  Sherman  A  Co.  could  not 
help  them,  as  they  must  first  look  out  to  protect  themselves. 
"  For  God's  sake,"  he  telegraphed  back,  "  do  not  desert  us ;  if 
you  do  we  are  ruined,  and  half  of  St.  Louis  with  us !"  But  the 
New  York  house  was  inexorable,  and  sent  word  that  a  banking- 
house  had  no  right  to  risk  its  money  in  real  estate  or  other 
speculations.  Thereupon  Page  &  Bacon  closed  their  doors. 
.  The  banking-house  of  Messrs.  Duncan,  Sherman  &  Co.  failed 
in  New  York  in  August,  1875,  and,  singular  to  note,  their  fate 
was  precisely  the  same  as  that  which  overtook  their  St.  Louis 


Renick  &  Co.,  another  banking  firm,  did  not  open  their 
doors.  Ordinary  business  in  the  city  was  left  unat- 
tended to  by  the  citizens,  and  the  public  mind  seemed 
absorbed  at  first  in  the  public  calamity  of  the  stop- 
page of  Page  &  Bacon,  and  afterwards  in  the  run 
which  commenced  on  the  other  banking-houses  of  the 
city.  Indeed,  Saturday,  the  13th  of  January,  1855, 
was  a  day  long  to  be  remembered  in  the  financial 
annals  of  St.  Louis.  As  soon  as  the  banking-houses 
were  opened  in  the  morning  a  run  on  the  deposits 
commenced,  and  continued  without  intermission  until 
evening.  During  this  time  the  firm  of  Lucas  & 
Simonds  paid  out  upwards  of  two  hundred  and  sixty 
thousand  dollars,  Louis  A.  Benoist  &  Co.1  more  than 


correspondents  twenty  years  before.  As  in  the  case  of  Page  <fc 
Bacon,  Duncan,  Sherman  &  Co.,  not  six  weeks  before  their 
failure,  were  told  by  their  London  correspondents  that  their 
credit  would  be  protected  and  their  paper  honored.  But  on  the 
27th  of  July,  1875,  they  were  told  that  they  could  not  be  accom- 
modated, as  a  banking-house  had  no  right  to  tie  up  its  funds  in 
cotton  and  railroad  speculations.  Like  Page  &  Bacon,  they  were 
also  forced  to  stop  business. 

Besides  many  public  evidences  of  the  liberality  of  the  firm, 
Mr.  Bacon  showed  his  generosity  personally  in  many  ways. 
To  his  efforts  in  part  is  to  be  attributed  the  establishment  of 
the  Mercantile  Library,  which  has  proved  to  be  of  the  greatest 
use  to  St.  Louis.  He  contributed  forty  thousand  dollars  towards 
the  erection  and  furnishing  of  the  Union  Presbyterian  Church, 
and  the  Webster  College  and  the  Home  of  the  Friendless  were 
also  beneficiaries  of  his  bounty.  He  was  among  the  first  of  the 
enterprising  merchants  of  St.  Louis  who  stepped  forward  prom- 
inently to  aid  in  the  construction  of  the  Missouri  Pacific  Rail- 
road when  that  magnificent  enterprise  was  presented  to  the 
public.  His  first  subscription  was  the  liberal  sum  of  thirty- 
three  thousand  dollars,  and  afterwards  he  made  advances  for 
the  prosecution  of  the  work  to  the  amount  of  from  one  to  two 
hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  Belleville  and  St.  Louis  Rail- 
road was  another  evidence  of  the  same  liberality.  He  also 
assisted  very  materially  in  pushing  forward  to  its  destination 
the  North  Missouri  Railroad.  In  advancing  to  the  city  and 
county  of  St.  Louis  large  amounts  of  money  to  meet  their  bonds 
the  firm  of  Page  &  Bacon  at  the  time  were  regarded  as  public 
benefactors.  In  1853,  knowing  the  advantage  a  direct  line 
through  the  rich  bottom-land  of  Illinois  would  prove  to  St. 
Louis,  they  advanced  the  necessary  sum  for  the  completion  of 
the  greater  portion  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Railroad.  This 
diverted  an  immense  sum  of  money  from  their  business,  and  a 
pressure  shortly  after  taking  place  in  the.money  market,  as  w 
have  stated,  the  firm  was  compelled  on  Jan.  13,  1855,  to  suspend 
payment. 

1  Louis  A.  Benoist  was  born  in  St.  Louis,  Aug.  13,  1803.  His 
father,  Francois  M.  Benoist,  was  a  native  of  Montreal,  Can., 
and  his  mother  was  the  daughter  of  Charles  Sanguinette,  an 
early  settler.  Francois  M.  Benoist  was  an  Indian-trader,  and 
removed  to  St.  Louis  in  1790.  His  son  Louis  A.  attended  early 
in  life  the  school  of  Judge  Tompkins,  and  at  the  age  of  fourteen 
went  to  St.  Thomas'  Coljege,  Kentucky,  where  he  remained  for 
two  years.  Returning  to  St.  Louis,  he  commenced  reading 
medicine  with  Dr.  Todson.  After  a  trial  of  two  years  he  re- 
linquished medicine  and  began  the  study  of  law  in  the  office  of 
Horatio  Cozens.  Soon  after  this  he  entered  the  office  of  Pierre 


1376 


'HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  the  Boatmen's 
Saving  Institution  one  hundred  and  seven  thousand 
dollars. 

Though  the  run  was  apparently  upon  these  insti- 
tutions alone,  yet  the  other  banking-houses  by  no 
means  escaped  the  visitation.  J.  J.  Anderson  &  Co. 
and  E.  W.  Clark  &  Brothers,  bankers,  paid  out  on 
that  day  larger  sums,  in  proportion  to  their  deposits, 
than  any  other  houses  in  the  city,  although  no  crowds 
were  collected  around  their  doors,  as  was  the  case 
with  other  financial  institutions.  The  same  was  true 
of  other  firms  to  a  smaller  extent.  It  was  calculated 
by  good  judges  that  between  seven  and  eight  hundred 
thousand  dollars  of  deposits  were  drawn  from  the 
banking-houses  on  this  eventful  day. 

To  check  the  panic  which  was  spreading  over  the 
community,  and  to  restore  public  confidence  in  the 
monetary  institutions  of  the  city,  on  Monday  morn- 
ing, January  15th,  the  following  guarantee  notice 
was  issued,  in  which  it  will  be  seen  that  ten  of  the 
wealthiest  citizens  of  St.  Louis,  believing  in  the  en- 
tire ability  of  these  banking-houses  to  pay  every 
demand  which  might  be  made  upon  them,  pledged 
their  private  property  (estimated  to  be  worth  over 
eight  million  dollars)  to  secure  the  deposits : 

"  To  THE  PUBLIC. 

"  The  undersigned,  knowing  and  relying  on  the  ample  ability 
of  the  following  banking-houses  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  and 
with  a  view  of  quieting  the  public  mind  in  regard  to  the  safety 
of  deposits  made  with  them,  hereby  pledge  themselves,  and 
offer  as  a  guarantee  their  property,  to  make  good  all  deposits 
with  either  of  said  banking-houses,  to  wit :  Messrs.  Lucas  & 
Simonds,  Bogy,  Miltenberger  &  Co.,  Tesson  and  Danjen,  L.  A. 


Provenchere,  conveyancer,  where  he  continued  his  studies.  In 
1823  he  visited  Europe  to  look  after  some  family  property,  and 
on  his  return  was  wrecked  in  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  but  reached  St. 
Louis  in  safety,  and  opened  a  broker's  office  for  the  sale  of  prop- 
erty, loaning  money,  etc.  He  pursued  this  business  for  a  short 
time,  and  in  1832  opened  an  exchange  and  lottery  office.  This, 
it  is  said,  was  the  first  banking-office  established  in  St.  Louis. 
In  1838  his  business  increased  to  such  an  extent  that  he  estab- 
lished a  branch  in  New  Orleans  under  the  firm-name  of  Benoist 
&  Hackney,  which  was  afterwards,  in  1855,  known  as  Benoist, 
Shaw  &  Co.  In  July,  1847,  the  St.  Louis  house  of  Benoist  & 
Co.  suspended  payment,  together  with  the  Perpetual  Savings 
Institution,  owing  to  the  tightness  of  the  money  market,  and 
their  "  inability  to  convert  their  debts  or  funds  into  such  cur- 
rency as  their  depositors  could  use."  Messrs.  Benoist  A  Co., 
however,  resumed  payment  thirty  days  afterwards.  Mr.  Benoist's 
banking  career  was  a  long  one,  and  he  amassed  a  very  large 
estate,  estimated  in  value  at  about  three  millions  of  dollars.  He 
was  thrice  married,  his  first  wife  being  Miss  Barton,  of  Kas- 
kaskia,  111.,  his  second  Miss  Hackney,  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
the  third  Miss  Sarah  E.  Wilson,  daughter  of  John  Wilson,  of 
New  Jersey.  Mr.  Benoist  had  twenty  children,  of  whom  thir- 
teen survived  him.  He  died  in  Havana  on  the  15th  of  January, 
1869. 


Benoist  &  Co.,  John  J.  Anderson  &  Co.,  Darby  &  Barksdale, 
and  Boatmen's  Savings  Institution. 

"  J.  O'Fallon,  Ed.  AValsh,  Louis  A.  Labeaume,  J.  B.  Brant,  L. 
M.  Kennett,  D.  A.  January,  John  How,  James  Harrison, 
Andrew  Christy,  Charles  P.  Chouteau. 
"ST.  Louis,  Jan.  15,  1855." 

The  generous  manner  in  which  these  patriotic  and 
self-sacrificing  citizens  stepped  forward  to  sustain  the 
credit  of  their  city,  with  no  motive  save  the  city's 
good,  showed  plainly  the  broad  basis  on  which  the 
prosperity  of  St.  Louis  was  founded  and  restored  con- 
fidence completely.  Indeed,  no  more  pleasing  event 
has  ever  happened  in  the  commercial  history  of  the 
country.  These  noble  men  volunteered  their  private 
fortunes  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  the  character 
and  standing  of  their  city,  both  as  to  her  commercial 
credit  and  the  quiet  of  the  community,  and  no  one 
could  require  stronger  evidence  of  the  entire  safety 
of  his  or  her  funds  in  the  threatened  banks.  The 
guarantee  provided,  together  with  the  prompt  pay- 
ment by  the  bankers  of  every  deposit  called  for  on 
January  16th,  restored  confidence  completely,  and  for 
the  remainder  of  the  week,  though  money  was  very 
scarce,  every  one  seemed  comparatively  cheerful  and 
energetic.  The  crisis,  though  it  seemed  for  a  time 
about  to  result  in  a  fearful  public  calamity,  was  in 
reality  productive  of  much  good,  for  it  developed 
resources  in  St.  Louis  which  before  were  latent  and 
not  suspected  by  many  of  the  citizens.  It  showed 
also  that  the  finances  of  the  city  were  founded  on  a 
substantial  basis,  and  that  they  were  fully  able  to 
withstand  a  storm.  But,  above  all,  it  exhibited  the 
noble  character  of  the  wealthy  citizens  in  a  clear  and 
brilliant  light,  and  as  the  news  of  the  crisis,  and  of 
its  issue,  spread  over  the  country,  St.  Louis  assumed 
a  prouder  and  loftier  position  than  she  had  ever  attained 
in  the  eyes  of  the  commercial  world. 

The  houses  which  had  survived  the  "  run"  pro- 
ceeded to  business  with  renewed  vigor  and  added 
stability  and  strength,  and  the  two  firms  which  had 
suspended  made  immediate  preparations  to  resume  at 
an  early  day.  Messrs.  Page  &  Bacon  paid  all  their 
drafts,  after  the  15th  of  January,  at  the  Bank  of 
America,  in  New  York,  with  interest  and  cost  of  pro- 
test, and  on  February  17th  announced  that  they 
would  "  resume  the  regular  business"  of  their  office 
on  the  19th.  At  the  time  named  the  banking-house 
fully  resumed  business  operations,  but  in  consequence 
of  the  failure  of  their  branch  bank  in  San  Francisco^ 
and  their  drafts  going  to  protest  in  New  York,  the 
partners  of  the  parent  bank  in  St.  Louis  determined 
to  suspend  operations,  which  they  did  finally  on 
April  4th. 


BANKS,  AND   OTHER  FINANCIAL  INSTITUTIONS,  AND   BANKERS. 


1377 


On  the  24th  of  August,  1857,  the  failure  of  the 
Ohio  Life  and  Trust  Company,  of  Cincinnati,  an  old 
and  highly- esteemed  institution,  with  liabilities  for 
seven  million  dollars,  was  announced.  This  incident 
passed  without  causing  any  general  alarm,  but  the  banks 
well  knew  what  it  meant.  They  reduced  their  loans 
in  New  York  City  from  August  22d  to  October  17th 
nearly  one-half,  and  this  produced  a  crisis.  A  large 
number  of  failures  of  banks  and  firms,  especially 
brokers,  produce  dealers,  and  persons  depending  on 
Western  collections,  took  place  in  September.  Bills 
on  the  seaboard  were  hardly  obtainable  in  the  interior 
at  ten  and  fifteen  per  cent,  premium.  On  the  12th 
and  13th  of  September  the  banks  of  Philadelphia, 
Washington,  Baltimore,  and  many  interior  towns  sus- 
pended. Stocks  fell  forty  or  fifty  per  cent.,  and  twenty 
thousand  persons  were  thrown  out  of  work  in  New 
York  City  within  a  fortnight.  On  the  13th  of  October 
the  New  York  banks  (with  one  exception)  suspended  ; 
the  New  England  banks  followed  immediately. 

The  crisis  in  St.  Louis  was  perhaps  more  intense 
than  in  any  other  city  of  the  country.  The  news 
from  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore  of  the  suspension 
of  the  banks  id  those  cities  was  announced  in  the 
newspapers  on  September  28th,  and  was  not  without 
its  effect  on  the  money  market.  Immediately  after 
the  banks  opened  for  business  the  "run"  on  them  for 
specie  payments  began.  The  consequence  was  that  the 
house  of  Darby  &  Barksdale  closed  about  ten  o'clock, 
and  very  soon  thereafter  that  of  J.  J.  Anderson  & 
Co.  suspended  payments.  There  were  unusual  de- 
mands upon  the  other  banking-houses  of  the  city,  but 
they  were  promptly  met.  An  excessive  "  run"  also 
occurred  upon  the  banking-house  of  James  H.  Lucas 
&  Co.,  which  was  then  doing  the  largest  banking  busi- 
ness of  any  house  in  the  West.  The  senior  member 
of  the  firm  was  one  of  the  wealthiest  men  in  the  city, 
and  as  his  failure  would  have  proven  a  public  calamity 
at  this  time,  eighteen  generous  gentlemen  of  large 
means,  and  of  the  highest  character  for  honesty  and  in- 
tegrity, without  solicitation  from  any  quarter,  pledged 
their  private  property  to  secure  the  depositors  of  the 
banking-house  against  all  loss.  The  guarantee  was  as 
follows : 

"The  undersigned,  believing  that  there  is  nothing  in  the  con- 
dition of  affairs  to  justify  a  want  of  confidence  on  the  part  of 
the  community  in  the  solvency  of  the  several  banking-houses 
of  St.  Louis,  do  hereby,  in  order  to  allay  the  apprehensions  of 
depositors  and  to  prevent  the  inconveniences  which  might  re- 
sult from  a  run  on  their  depositories  (without  intending  by 
their  action  to  intimate  a  distrust  of  any  other  hous«),  guaran- 
tee and  assure  to  all  persons  having  accounts  with  the  banking- 
house  of  James  H.  Lucas  &  Co.  the  safety  of  their  respective 
deposits. 


"  AVitness  the  hands  and  seals  of  the  undersigned  this  28th  of 
September,  1857,  at  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

"  James  E.  Yeatman,  James  Harrison,  John  How,  R.  J.  Lock- 
wood,  Edward  J.  Gay  &  Co.,  Ed.  Walsh,  J.  0' Fallen,  John 
H.Gay,  M.  Brotherton,  W.  Renshaw,  Jr.,  J.  S.  McCune, 
D.  A.  January  &  Co.,  D.  H.  Armstrong,  Chas.  K.  Dickson, 
Thomas  T.  Gantt,  AVni.  M.  McPherson,  James  B.  Eads, 
Chas.  Tillman." 

Another  paper  of  the  same  character,  guaranteeing 
the  safety  of  all  deposits  in  the  banking-house  of 
Renick  &  Peterson,  was  also  issued  and  signed  by 
Samuel  Gaty,  R.  Campbell,  Edward  Walsh,  John  How, 
Charles  K.  Dickson,  Thos.  T.  Gantt,  J.  J.  Murdoch, 
0.  D.  Filley,  G.  F.  Filley,  J.  B.  Sickles,  Livermore, 
Cooley  &  Co.,  W.  Renshaw,  Jr.,  W.  H.  Ben  ton,  and  H. 
Crittenden.  These  gentlemen  were  known  to  be  men  of 
wealth  ;  at  the  same  time  they  were  prudent  and  were 
able  to  carry  out  their  pledge,  and  would  have  done 
so  if  it  had  been  required  of  them. 

After  what  had  transpired  on  Monday,  the  28th  of 
September,  there  was  great  anxiety  to  see  what  would 
be  the  result  of  the  panic  on  Tuesday.  The  Repub- 
lican of  the  30th  thus  details  the  financial  proceed- 
ings of  the  day : 

"  It  was  apprehended  that  a  run  would  be  made  on  the 
bankers  and  savings  institutions,  notwithstanding  the  guaran- 
tees given  to  two  of  the  banking-houses  by  some  of  the  leading 
capitalists  of  the  city  and  the  acknowledged  solvency  of  the 
whole  of  them.  At  the  hour  of  opening  an  unusual  number  of 
persons  was  observed  upon  Main  Street  and  on  the  cross  streets 
leading  to  it.  The  first  thing  that  attracted  attention  was  a 
notice  at  the  door  of  the  banking-house  of  Bogy,  Miltenberger 
&  Co.  that  the  house  had  temporarily  suspended  business,  and 
that  it  would  not  be  opened. 

"  The  seekers  after  gold  were  early  on  the  street  in  front  of 
the  banking-house  of  James  H.  Lucas  &  Co.,  where  they  were 
soon  joined  by  a  number  of  idlers  and  curiosity-mongers. 
Those  who  had  deposits  in  this  house  were  not  overmodest  in 
making  demands  for  specie,  and  from  nine  to  nearly  eleven 
o'clock  the  tellers  were  busily  employed  in  paying  checks. 

"Another  class  of  depositors  was  not  slow  in  paying  their 
respects  to  the  gentlemen  who  managed  the  German  Savings 
Institution,  in  the  Merchants'  Exchange  block.  There  was 
quite  a  rush  upon  them,  and  this  was  kept  up  for  an  hour  or 
two,  when  all  demands  for  specie  from  affrighted  depositors 
ceased.  While  these  things  were  going  on  in  Main  Street, 
another  set  of  depositors  were  paying  their  respects  to  the 
Boatmen's  Savings  Institution,  at  the  corner  of  Pine  and  Sec- 
ond Streets.  For  a  time,  say  an  hour  or  two,  the  young  gen- 
tlemen whose  province  it  is  to  honor  drafts  upon  this  institu- 
tion were  a  good  deal  exercised,  and  the  coin  passed  out  pretty 
freely  ;  but  by  the  time  they  had  fairly  got  their  bands  in  the 
demand  was  exhausted,  and  they  had  nothing  unusual  to  do 
for  the  balance  of  the  day.  Passing  up  Main  Street,  a  few 
stragglers  were  noticed  in  the  banking-house  of  L.  A.  Benoist 
&  Co.,  but  the  serenity  of  the  gentleman  who  manages  that 
concern  was  not  disturbed,  and  he  rarely  took  his  hands  out  of 
his  pockets. 

"  Still  farther  up  the  street,  the  State  Savings  had  no  calls 
for  specie  from  importunate  or  suspicious  depositors,  and  dis- 
counts were  made  and  the  usual  business  carried  on  as  if  they 
had  no  knowledge  of  any  undue  excitement  in  the  city." 


1378 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Mercantile  failures  now  commenced  and  followed 
each  other  day  by  day,  the  panic  increasing  with  re- 
newed force  as  each  suspension  was  announced,  and 
as  money  was  locked  up  by  any  one  who  could  get 
and  keep  it,  the  pressure  for  money  in  the  city  was 
very  great.  There  was  an  abundance  of  "  currency," 
but  this  had  ceased  to  be  available  in  the  payment  of  \ 
debts  where  specie  funds  were  required,  and  for  this 
reason,  on  October  3d,  Messrs.  Chouteau,  Harrison  & 
Valle,  one  of  the  largest  and  most  important  business 
houses,  temporarily  suspended  payment.  This  was  an 
event  that  was  not  expected,  and  it  added  fuel  to  the 
panic.  As  a  consequence,  many  of  the  leading  houses 
in  St.  Louis  were  compelled  to  suspend  business,  and 
thousands  of  persons  were  thrown  out  of  employ- 
ment. On  the  following  day  the  banking-house  of 
E.  W.  Clark  &  Brothers  was  compelled  to  tempora- 
rily suspend  cash  payments.  This  was  followed  on 
the  5th  by  the  suspension  of  the  great  banking-house 
of  James  H.  Lucas  &  Co.,  which  had  been  struggling 
for  several  weeks  to  withstand  the  unexampled  mone- 
tary pressure.  The  Republican  in  announcing  this 
failure  said, — 

"  It  needed  only  the  stoppage  of  this  banking-house  of  James 
H.  Lucas  &  Co.  to  wind  up  the  financial  horrors  with  which 
this  city  has  been  overwhelmed  within  the  past  three  weeks. 
Business  houses  have  suspended  to  the  surprise  of  everybody, 
banking-houses  supposed  to  be  equally  sound  with  that  of 
Lucas  &  Co.  have  gone  down,  and  confusion  has  been  increased ; 
but  when  the  house  of  James  H.  Lucas  &  Co.  was  forced  to 
suspend  yesterday  by  the  continual  run  upon  it,  as  regular  as 
the  rain  which  fell  throughout  the  day,  men  were  amazed  and 
scarcely  knew  what  to  think.  The  case  is  an  extraordinary  one. 
For  at  least  thirty  days  the  house  had  endured  a  regular,  cease- 
less draft  upon  it  for  coin.  There  was  not  a  man,  in  all  proba- 
bility, who  did  not  believe  that  his  money  was  perfectly  safe 
with  them,  but  the  great  majority  of  depositors,  either  to  answer 
the  importunities  of  friends  or  to  be  sure  that  the  gold  was  in 
their  clutches,  resolved  to  check  it  out,  and  it  was  done.  We 
assume  that  a  million  of  dollars  of  current  deposits  were  thus 
extracted  by  little  and  little,  and  yesterday,  between  one  and  two 
P.M.,  the  doors  were  closed.  We  need  not  say  that  we  regret 
this  suspension.  There  is  hardly  a  man  in  the  community  who 
will  not  do  it.  To  nearly  all  it  was  a  matter  of  surprise  that 
such  an  event  should  occur  at  all,  even  in  such  inauspicious 
times.  But  when  it  is  considered  that  the  house  was  doing  an 
immense  business,  that  it  had  daily  transactions  over  the  coun- 
try, that  in  the  sudden  and  extraordinary  pecuniary  panic 
through  which  we  are  now  passing  losses  must  necessarily  be 
incurred,  and  with  a  run  upon  all  banking-houses,  indicating 
a  general  want  of  confidence,  however  ungenerous  that  feeling 
may  have  been,  it  is  not  surprising  that  even  this  strong  house 
should  have  been  forced  to  yield  to  the  storm.  The  members 
of  the  firm  have,  it  is  certain,  the  warmest  sympathies  of  the 
people  of  St.  Louis." 

On  October  6th  an  unexampled  run  was  made  on  ; 
the  Boatmen's  Savings  Institution,  which  was  con-  \ 
tinued  until  night.  The  capacity  of  the  bank  was  - 


not  impaired  by  this  demonstration,  as  the  amount 
paid  out  hardly  made  an  impression  on  the  funds  then 
in  its  vaults,  and  specie  funds  were  offered  it  by  other 
banks,  but  declined  by  the  managers  of  the  institu- 
tion. In  consequence  of  rumors  that  were  circulated 
in  the  city,  the  bank  in  the  afternoon  issued  the  fol- 
lowing "  card" : 

"BOATMEN'S  SAVINGS  INSTITUTION, 
"Oct.  6,  1857. 

"  Whereas,  there  are  rumors  injurious  to  this  institution,  that 
a  portion  of  its  cash  funds  are  on  deposit  in  other  institutions 
of  this  city,  the  board  deem  it  proper  to  state  that  all  the  cash 
funds  belonging  to  it  are  in  its  own  vaults. 

"  By  order  of  the  board  of  directors. 

"S.  BLOOD,  President." 

On  the  same  day  the  "  Mutual  Savings  Institu- 
tion," located  under  the  Planters'  Hotel,  at  the  corner 
of  Fourth  and  Pine  Streets,  suspended.  At  the  State 
Bank  a  steady  run  was  made  on  it  all  day.  The  Ger- 
man Savings  and  the  Franklin  Savings  Institutions, 
situated  in  the  Exchange  building,  suffered  a  similar 
run,  but  it  created  no  impression  on  their  funds. 
Tesson  &  Danjen,  Benoist  &  Co.,  Franciscus  &  Co., 
Renick  &  Peterson,  and  other  banking-houses  were 
not  much  troubled  with  specie  demands. 

Thus  the  panic  continued  until  October  6th,  when 
a  second  meeting  was  held  by  the  leading  merchants 
of  the  city  at  the  Exchange  room,  for  the  purpose  of 
receiving  the  report  of  Messss.  Ranney,  Gamier,  Ho- 
gan,  January,  Crow,  Wall,  Gay,  Oglesby,  King, 
Funkhouser,  and  Tucker,  a  committee  appointed  at  a 
previous  meeting  "  to  advise  upon  the  currency  ques- 
tion." The  committee  reported  the  following  resolu- 
tion, which  was  adopted : 

"  Jtesolved,  That  the  committee  are  unanimously  of  opinion 
that  memorials  should  be  generally  signed  petitioning  the  Leg- 
islature of  this  State,  which  convenes  on  the  third  Monday  in 
the  month,  not  to  issue  any  State  bonds,  except  such  as  previous 
legislation  makes  imperative  to  be  issued,  and  to  pass  such  a 
revenue  law  as  will  give  to  the  world  the  most  perfect  assurance 
that,  under  any  and  all  circumstances,  Missouri  will  pay  her 
interest  and  protect  her  obligations." 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Ranney,  the  following  resolution 
was  also  unanimously  adopted  : 

"Resolved,  That  the  business  men  of  St.  Louis  will  continue 
to  receive  for  the  present  the  good  currency  (meaning  Illinois 
bank-notes,  which  were  thought  to  be  better  secured  than  any 
other)  afloat  in  the  country  in  all  transactions  at  par." 

In  consequence  of  the  action  of  the  merchants,  the 
following  day  passed  off  without  any  excitement  what- 
ever. "  There  was  quite  a  cheerful  feeling,  and  people 
seemed  to  feel  that  they  had  reached  the  turning 
point,  when  financial  affairs  must  improve  and  greater 
activity  be  infused  into  every  description  of  busi- 
ness." 


BANKS,  AND   OTHER   FINANCIAL   INSTITUTIONS,  AND   BANKERS. 


1379 


On  October  19th  the  banking-house  of  Messrs. 
Tesson  &  Danjen  suspended,  which  was  followed  on 
the  24th  by  the  closing  of  the  Bank  of  the  State  of 
Missouri.  On  the  26th  the  State  Bank  opened  as 
usual,  but  did  not  pay  specie,  and  with  this  exception 
business  was  transacted  through  the  day.  The  Mer- 
chants' Bank  suspended  specie  payments  as  soon  as 
it  opened  on  Monday  morning,  the  26th,  but  the 
Southern  Bank  suffered  the  run  to  be  made  upon  it 
for  an  hour,  and  then  the  suspension  of  specie  pay- 
ments was  announced.  The  Mechanics'  Bank  sus- 
tained the  run  all  day,  but,  like  the  others,  was  forced 
in  time  to  succumb  to  the  unexampled  monetary 
pressure. 

This  crisis  was  short,  sharp,  and  severe,  but  the 
recovery  was  rapid,  and  the  reaction  healthful.  The 
losses  were  very  great,  but  it  was  only  a  bad  stumble 
in  a  career  of  great  prosperity,  and  it  simply  taught 
sobriety  and  care.  The  number  of  bankruptcies  in 
the  United  States  and  Canada  was  5123,  with  $299,- 
800,000  liabilities.  Fourteen  railroads  suspended  pay- 
ment on  $189,800,000,  and  cotton  manufacturers 
suffered  severely  by  the  fall  of  cotton  (sixteen  cents 
to  eight  and  a  half  cents)  and  by  the  depreciation  of 
stock. 

The  Northern  and  Eastern  banks  resumed  in  De- 
cember, 1857,  and  were  followed  shortly  afterwards 
by  all  the  other  banks  in  the  country.  Things  went 
on  until  the  civil  war  very  much  in  the  old  way.  The 
next  panic  was  in  November,  1860.  Prosperity  and 
abundance  prevailed  everywhere  in  all  the  States. 
Business  of  every  kind  appeared  to  be  conducted 
with  profit ;  the  crops  had  been  abundant,  and  the 
banking  and  currency  systems  rested  upon  a  solid 
foundation.  But  the  election  of  President  Lincoln 
was  followed  by  movements  towards  secession  and  by 
political  agitation  and  excitement.  Later  in  Novem- 
ber several  States  were  found  to  be  drifting  in  the 
wake  of  South  Carolina,  which  was  considered  the 
leader  in  a  movement  aiming  at  secession.  A  dark 
cloud  arose  to  mar  the  fair  prospects  of  a  great  nation 
engaged  in  profitable  occupations,  and  there  ensued  a 
shrinkage  of  business,  a  contraction  of  credit,  the 
reduction  of  enterprise,  and  some  hoarding  of  gold. 
Prices  were  lowered,  the  foreign  exchanges  fell,  and 
gold  began  to  be  imported.  Southern  collections  be- 
came difficult,  and  then  ceased. 

The  panic  set  in  about  the  middle  of  November  at 
New  York  with  sudden  violence.  Some  of  the  banks 
were  speedily  embarrassed,  and  the  suspension  of  all, 
or  nearly  all,  was  considered  inevitable  if  the  panic 
continued  to  the  close  of  Thursday,  the  22d  of  No- 
vember. But  on  Monday,  the  19th,  a  plan  for  allay- 


ing the  panic  was  devised,  and  was  submitted  on  that 
day  and  the  next  for  the  consideration  of  the  bank 
officers,  who  adopted  it  in  general  meeting  on  Wednes- 
day, the  21st.  It  was  at  once  carried  into  effect,  with 
wonderful  success.  People  who  had  drawn  out  specie 
at  once  returned  it  to  the  banks,  and  the  day,  that  was 
expected  to  bring  on  general  bankruptcy  only  wit- 
nessed universal  rejoicing.  Not  so,  however,  in  St. 
Louis,  where  all  the  banks,  with  the  exception  of  the 
Exchange  Bank,  suspended  payment  on  November 
26th.  They  resumed  shortly  after,  but  during  the 
winter  the  Southern  States  seceded  and  the  political  ex- 
citement increased.  In  April,  1861,  the  progress  of 
the  secession  movement  caused  great  uneasiness  in 
financial  circles,  but  on  the  24th  of  that  month  the 
bank  officers  again  united  as  before  and  prevented 
any  panic  worthy  of  note.1 

On  October  14th  the  banks  of  St.  Louis  created 
quite  a  stir  in  the  community  by  deciding  not  to  receive 
or  pay  out  the  notes  of  the  Union  Bank  of  Missouri. 
The  initiative  was  taken  by  the  State  Bank,  which 
was  followed  by  the  others.  On  the  following  day 
a  meeting  of  the  bank  presidents  was  called  at  the 
instance  of  the  Merchants'  Bank,  "  to  determine  on  a 
lirie  of  policy  to  be  pursued  by  these  institutions 
towards  each  other."  The  State  Bank,  Merchants', 
Southern,  Mechanics',  and  St.  Louis  were  represented 
at  the  meeting.  A  resolution  was  adopted  for  a  set- 
tlement of  balances  each  day,  the  notes  of  each  bank 
being  received  and  paid  out  indiscriminately.  This 
resolution  was  agreed  to  by  all  the  banks  represented 
except  the  Bank  of  St.  Louis,  which,  in  consequence 
of  the  seizure  of  some  one  hundred  and  thirty-four 
thousand  dollars  of  its  coin  by  the  military  authori- 
ties, did  not  feel  itself  warranted  in  abiding  by  the 
resolution.2 


1  On  the  20th  of  September,  1861,  the  following  notice  was 
published : 

"  Subscriptions  Invited  to  the  National  Loan. — Pursuant  to 
instructions  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  a  book  will  be 
opened  on  the  24th  day  of  September,  1861,  at  the  office  of  the 
assistant  treasurer  in  St.  Louis,  for  subscriptions,  under  my 
superintendence,  for  treasury  notes,  to  be  issued  under  the  act 
of  July  17,  1861.  BKN.  FARRAR, 

"  Assistant  Treasurer  United  States,  St.  Louis,  Mo." 

2  The  coin  referred  to  was  taken  possession  of  by  an  officer 
of  the  army  in  the  branch  bank  at   Boonville,  111.,  and   was 
transferred  by  him  into  the  hands  of  the  United  States  Ex- 
press Company,  with  instructions  to  deposit  it  with  the  sub- 
treasurer  in   St.  Lous.     The  sub-treasurer  refused  to  receive 
it,  and  the  express  officer  then  made  a  special  deposit  of  it  in 
the  Mechanics'  Bank,  where  it  remained  for  some  time,  as  none 
of  the  army  officers  were  willing  to  take  the  responsibility  of 
restoring  it  at  this  time  to  the  bank.     In  a  short  time,  how- 
ever, the  specie  was  returned  to  the  owners. 


1380 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


In  consequence  of  this  action  on  the  part  of  the  St. 
Louis  Bank,  its  paper  on  the  16th  was  rejected  at  the 
several  banks.  This  proceeding  was  followed  on  the 
next  day  by  similar  action  on  the  part  of  several  of 
the  other  banks.  The  State  Bank  received  and  paid 
out  Southern  and  Mechanics'  Bank  bills,  while  the 
Merchants'  refused  the  Mechanics',  but  took  the 
Southern  Bank  notes,  as  they  had  agreed  to  do.  The 
Mechanics'  then  retaliated  on  the  Merchants'  by 
throwing  out  its  paper.  This  state  of  affairs  con- 
tinued until  the  19th,  when  the  misunderstanding 
between  the  Merchants'  and  Mechanics'  Banks  was 
removed,  and  they  received  each  other's  paper  as  for- 
merly. The  paper  of  the  State,  Mechanics',  Mer- 
chants', and  Southern  Banks  constituted  at  this  time 
the  only  circulating  medium  in  the  city.1 

The  final  panic  at  New  York  preceding  the  suspen- 
sion of  specie  payments  on  Dec.  30,  1861,  was  very 
slight,  the  banks  having  suspended  before  the  public 
had  become  aware  of  there  being  any  pressing  neces- 
sity for  it.  In  the  interior,  where  State  banks  were 
issuing  notes  on  security  of  stocks  of  the  seceding 
States,  many  banks  failed,  and  there  was  much  dis- 
tress among  the  people.  The  year  1862  consequently 
opened  with  a  general  suspension  of  specie  payments 
by  the  banks  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  on  Feb. 
25,  1862,  Congress  authorized  the  issue  of  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  millions  of  "greenback"  legal  tender 
notes.  The  first  issue  of  legal  tenders  was  in  April. 
As  they  were  issued  gold  rose,  and  all  specie  disap- 
peared. On  July  llth  one  hundred  and  fifty  mil- 
lion dollars  more  legal  tenders  were  voted,  and  the 
provision  of  the  act  of  February  25th.  for  funding 
them  in  six  per  cent,  bonds  was  omitted.2 


1  On  the  31st  of  July,  1861,  the  assistant  finance  commissioner 
of  the  State  made  an  official  report  on  the  condition  of  the  State 
bank-note  circulation,  from  which  it  appears  that  the  entire  out- 
standing circulation  of  all  the  banks  in  the  State  was  $8,021,000. 
Of  this  account  the  discredited  or  partially  discredited  banks 
had  a  circulation  of  $4,609,405,  divided  as  follows:  St.  Louis, 
$472,110;  Mechanics',  $831,635;  Western,  $597,045;  Southern, 
$715,070;  Union,  $1,067,510;  Farmers',  $926,035.  This  would 
leave  for  the  circulation  of  the  remaining  banks,  Exchange, 
Merchants',  and  State  Banks,  $3,411,595,  which  was  the  local 
capital  upon  which  the  business  of  the  city  and  State  was  con- 
ducted. The  savings  institutions  (leaving  out  the  brokers)  had 
a  deposit  account  of  over  $3,000,000. 

J  In  consequence  of  the  discovery  of  extensive  gold  deposits 
at  Pike's  Peak,  in  Colorado,  and  the  Salmon  River  regions,  a 
meeting  was  held  on  May  26,  1862,  at  the  Union  Merchants' 
Exchange,  "  to  take  into  consideration  measures  for  establishing 
in  St.  Louis  a  United  States  Branch  Mint."  Mr.  Partridge 
called  the  meeting  to  order,  when  Clinton  B.  Fisk  read  a  pre- 
amble and  resolution,  and  the  following  memorial  to  Congress. 
which  were  adopted.  The  memorial  was  circulated  throughout 
the  city  and  State  for  signatures,  and  was  afterwards  submitted 
to  Congress : 


In  January,  1862,  the  highest  price  of  gold  was 
three  and  three-quarters  premium,  and  when  a  second 
issue  of  legal  tender  notes  was  authorized  (July  llth), 
it  sold  at  a  premium  of  twenty  per  cent.  In  January, 
1863,  another  issue  of  one  hundred  million  dollars  of 
the  notes  was  authorized,  when  gold  rose  to  fifty  per 
cent,  premium.  June  20,  1864,  gold  trading  was 
forbidden.  Gold  rose  from  199,  on  the  21st,  to  230 
on  the  23d,  and  fell  to  207  again.  The  act  was  re- 
pealed July  2d.  Gold  reached  its  highest  point,  285, 
in  July.  1864,  the  paper  dollar  being  worth  a  little 
more  than  thirty-five  cents  in  coined  money.  One 
week  after  the  Confederate  forces  east  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, on  May  11,  1865,  had  surrendered,  the  pre- 
mium on  gold  was  as  low  as  twenty-eight  and  a  half 
per  cent. 

The  act  of  July  17, 1862,  provided  for  the  issue  of 
stamps  to  be  used  as  "  change,1'  but  they  were  incon- 
venient, and  the  act  of  March  3,  1863,  provided  for 
fifty  million  dollars  of  fractional  notes.3 


"  To  the  President  and  Members  of  the  Senate  and  House  of 
Representative*,  in  Congress  of  the  United  States: 
"  Your  memorialists  would  represent  that  since  the  recent  dis- 
covery and  partial  development  of  the  rich  gold  deposits  at 
Pike's  Peak  and  Colorado,  and  the  Salmon  River  regions,  St. 
Louis  has  become  the  depository  of  much  of  the  crude  products 
of  these  mines.     Several  organizations,  with  abundant  supplies 
for  the  further  exploration  and  development  of  said  mines,  are 
now  en  route  for  the  northwest  from  this  city  and  vicinity. 

"  The  Missouri  and  Yellowstone  Rivers  afford  accessible  com- 
munication by  steamboat  to  within  one  hundred  and  twenty 
miles  of  the  richest  mines  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  The 
Pacific  Railroad,  the  early  completion  of  which  we  now  hope 
for,  will  open  to  St.  Louis  direct  communication  with  the  rich 
gold  districts  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  and  Pike's  Peak.  The  rich 
treasures  of  these  mines  will  naturally  flow  back  by  these  routes 
into  the  lap  of  St.  Louis.  Our  great  city,  being  situated  in  the 
geographical  centre  of  this  continent,  reaching  out  her  arms  by 
her  rivers  and  railroads  to  every  extremity  of  the  nation,  makes 
her,  by  her  providential  location,  not  only  the  great  centre  of  the 
commerce  of  the  Mississippi  valley,  but  of  the  United  States. 

"In  view,  therefore,  of  these  considerations,  and  in  order  to 
the  speedy  convertibility  of  the  crude  products  of  these  mines 
into  coin,  your  memorialists  pray  your  honorable  body  to  estab- 
lish a  branch  mint  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  and,  as  in  duty 
bound,  your  petitioners  will  ever  pray." 

3  The  following  general  order  was  issued  in  St.  Louis  in  Sep- 
tember, 1862  : 

"OFFICE  OF  THE  PROVOST-MARSHAL-GENERAL, 

"DISTRICT  OF  MISSOURI  AND  IOWA. 

"ST.  Louis,  Sept.  15,  1862. 
"GENERAL  ORDER  No.  1. 

"All  banks,  bankers,  banking  institutions,  brokers,  and  all 
persons,  natural  or  politic,  doing  a  banking  business,  or  any 
branch  thereof,  wholly  or  partially  within  this  district,  are 
hereby  notified  and  warned  that  all  transfers  and  assignments 
of  stock,  certificates  in  the  nature  of  stock,  certificates  of  de- 
posit, money,  or  currency  used  as  money,  or  any  other  credits 
or  effects,  made  by  the  following  persons,  that  is  to  say: 


BANKS,  AND   OTHER   FINANCIAL   INSTITUTIONS,  AND   BANKERS. 


1381 


On  the  25th  of  February,  1863,  the  National  Bank 
Act  was  passed,  authorizing  $300,000,000  of  bank 
capital  to  be  distributed,  half  of  it  according  to  bank- 
ing capital,  and  half  of  it  according  to  population. 
An  act  approved  July  12,  1870,  added  $54,000,000, 
and  provided  for  withdrawing  and  redistributing  an 
excess  above  the  quota  held  in  New  York  and  the 
East.  This  last  was  found  impracticable.  The  act 
of  Jan.  14,  1875,  removed  all  restrictions.  On  Oct. 
5,  1865,  there  were  sixty-six  national  banks  in  opera- 
tion. The  system  rapidly  absorbed  nearly  all  the 
banks.  The  law  required  that  country  banks  should 
hold  fifteen  per  cent,  of  their  circulation  and  deposits- 
in  greenbacks,  and  that  the  banks  in  the  large  re- 
demption cities  should  hold  twenty-five  per  cent. 
The  banks  were  afterwards  allowed  to  count  their 
reserves  with  their  redemption  agents  as  part  of  this 
reserve  up  to  three-fifths  of  the  required  amount. 
The  act  of  June  20,  1874,  did  away  with  this  re- 
serve, as  far  as  circulation  was  concerned,  and  substi- 
tuted a  five  per  cent,  reserve  to  be  kept  at  Washing- 
ton, where  the  redemption  takes  place. 

The  act  of  June  30,  1864,  limited  the  amount  of 
greenbacks  to  $400,000,000,  and  such  part  of  $50,- 
000,000  more  as  might  be  needed  to  redeem  tem- 
porary loans.  A  general  resolution  in  favor  of  con- 
traction and  resumption  passed  Dec.  18,  1865,  and  a 
measure  allowing  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to 
withdraw  $10,000,000  in  six  months,  and  thereafter 
$4,000,000  per  month,  was  adopted  April  14,  1866. 
The  crisis  in  England  in  the  spring  of  1866,  and  the 
war  on  the  continent  in  the  summer  of  that  year,  caused 
some  stringency  in  the  United  States,  and  set  the  gold 
premium  in  activity.  In  February,  1868,  McCulloch's 
contraction  was  suspended  by  order  of  Congress.  He 
had  reduced  the  greenbacks  to  $356,000,000,  at  which 

"  1st.  Persons  holding  any  office,  civil  or  military,  under  the 
government  called  the  government  of  the  Confederate  States 
of  America. 

"  2d.  Persons  holding  any  office,  civil  or  military,  under  the 
government  of  any  of  said  Confederate  States. 

"  3d.  Persons  who  have  in  any  manner  assisted  or  given  aid 
and  comfort  to  the  said  Confederate  States,  or  any  of  them,  dur- 
ing the  present  rebellion  against  the  authority  of  the  United 
States,  are  all  absolutely  null  and  void;  and  all  banks,  bankers, 
banking  institutions,  brokers,  and  all  persons,  natural  or 
politic,  doing  a  banking  business,  or  any  branch  thereof,  wholly 
or  partially  within  this  district,  are  forbidden  to  recognize  or 
give  effect  to  any  such  transfer  or  assignment,  or  to  pay  any 
money,  or  transfer  any  credit,  by  reason  of  any  check,  draft, 
bill  of  exchange,  or  order  drawn  or  made  by  any  person  claim- 
ing to  be  the  proprietor,  owner,  or  assignee  of  any  such  stock, 
money,  credits,  certificates  or  effects,  or  the  proceeds  thereof. 

"  By  order  of  Brig.  Gen.  SCHOFIELD. 

(Signed)  "  THOMAS  T.  GANTT, 

"  Provost- Marshal- General." 


point  they  stood  until  October,  1872,  when  Mr.  Bout- 
well,  who  affirmed  that  the  $44,000,000  so  withdrawn 
were  under  his  control,  issued  $5,000,000  of  them  to 
correct  a  stringency  in  Wall  Street.  These  were 
withdrawn  during  the  winter,  and  the  sum  remained 
$356,000,000  until  the  crisis  of  1873,  when  it  was 
raised  to.  $382,000,000.  The  act  of  Jan.  14,  1875, 
made  that  sum  the  limit,  allowed  national  banks  to 
be  formed  to  any  extent,  and  authorized  them  to  issue 
notes  for  ninety  per  cent,  of  the  bonds  deposited. 
Greenbacks  to  the  amount  of  eighty  per  cent,  on  the 
additional  notes  issued  were  to  be  withdrawn  until 
greenbacks  were  reduced  to  $300,000,000.1 

The  phenomena  of  excessive  issues  of  paper  money 
during  the  years  1863,  1864,  and  1865  were  pecu- 
liarly impressive.  Prices  frequently  rose  and  fell 
from  rapid  fluctuations  in  the  volume  of  the  issues  as 
well  as  from  the  vicissitudes  of  war.2 

1  The  case  of  Hepburn  vs.  Griswold,  involving  the  constitu- 
tionality of  the  Legal  Tender  Act  as  to  contracts  made  before 
its  passage,  was  decided  by  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  in 
conference  Nov.  27,  1869,  by  the  chief  justice  and  seven  asso- 
ciates. One  of  these,  Judge  Grier,  resigned  Feb.  1,  1870,  and 
the  decision  against  the  constitutionality  of  the  act  as  applied 
to  the  contracts  mentioned  was  announced  February  7th.  Judge 
Strong  was  appointed  Feb.  18,  1870,  and  Judge  Bradley  March 
21,  1870.  The  re-argument  of  Knox  vs.  Lee,  involving  the 
decision  just  mentioned,  took  place  in  December,  1870.  Judge 
Miller  read  the  decision  of  the  majority  affirming  the  constitu- 
tionality of  the  law,  Chase,  Nelson,  Clifford,  and  Field  dissent- 
ing.— Professor  William  G.  Sumner,  "First  Century  of  the 
Republic,"  p.  258 ;  8  Wallace,  United  States  Reports,  p.  626 ; 
12  Wall.  457,  and  note,  p.  528. 

*  The  following  is  a  copy  of  an  act  passed  by  the  Legislature 
of  Missouri,  entitled  "  An  Act  relative  to  railroad  directors  or 
other  officers,  bank  directors  or  other  officers,  and  directors  or 
other  officers  or  trustees  of  any  incorporated  company  or  insti- 
tution," approved  March  23,  1863  : 

"  Be  it  enacted  by  the   General  Assembly  of  the   State   of  Mis- 
souri as  follows  : 

"SECTION  1.  That  all  railroad  directors  and  officers,  bank 
directors  and  officers,  and  all  officers  of  all  incorporated  com- 
panies, or  of  any  incorporated  institutions  in  this  State,  before 
entering  upon  their  duties  as  such  officers  or  directors,  shall 
take  and  subscribe  an  oath  in  form  as  follows : 

"'I,  A.  B.,  do  on  oath  (or  affirmation)  declare  that  I  have 
not  at  any  time  since  the  17th  day  of  December,  A.D.  1861, 
willfully  taken  up  arms  or  levied  war  against  ^he  United  States, 
nor  against  the  provisional  government  of  the  State  of  Missouri, 
nor  have  willfully  adhered  to  the  enemies  of  either,  whether 
domestic  or  foreign,  by  giving  aid  and  comfort  or  countenance 
thereto,  but  have  always  in  good  faith  opposed  the  same;  and, 
further,  I  will  support,  protect,  and  defend  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States,  and  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  against  all 
enemies  and  opposers,  whether  domestic  or  foreign,  any  ordi- 
nance, laws,  or  resolutions  of  any  State  Convention  or  Legisla- 
ture, or  of  any  order  or  organization,  secret  or  otherwise,  to  the 
contrary  notwithstanding;  and  that  I  do  this  with  an  honest 
purpose,  pledge,  and  determination  faithfully  to  perform  the 
same  without  any  mental  reservation  or  evasion  whatever,  and 


1382 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Suffering  and  distress  prevailed  among  the  poor 
and  all  who  were  dependent  on  fixed  incomes.  There 
were  stupendous  speculations  in  gold,  in  stocks  and 
commodities  and  property,  and  sudden  acquisitions  of 
wealth  from  these  speculations,  as  well  as  from  gov- 
ernment contracts,  with  heavy  losses  and  depressions 
in  many  branches  of  trade  and  industry.  Since  the 
close  of  the  war,  the  panic  of  1869,  from  a  great 
speculation  in  gold,1  and  that  of  1873,  from  the 
breaking  down  of  new  railroad  enterprises,  have  been 
the  most  notable. 

The  stringency  which  had  occurred  in  the  fall  of 
1871  and  1872  was  significant  of  the  approaching 
absorption  by  expanding  credit  of  the  legally  limited 
amount  of  paper  currency.  In  the  summer  of  1873 
the  granger  agitation  in  the  West  frightened  investors 
from  railroad  bonds  and  crippled  the  enterprises  which 
depended  on  the  continuance  of  these  investments  for 
funds.  The  rebuilding  of  Chicago  and  Boston  had 
also  caused  a  great  absorption  of  circulating  capital. 
On  the  8th  of  September  the  New  York  Warehouse 
and  Security  Company  failed,  and  its  suspension  was 
followed  by  that  of  one  or  two  firms  involved  by 
railroad  construction.  Confidence  in  persons  known 
to  be  burdened  in  this  way  was  impaired,  and  a  run 
on  them  for  deposits  began.  On  the  18th  of  Septem- 
ber, Jay  Cooke  &  Co.  succumbed  to  this  demand,  and 
a  panic  followed.  The  country  depositors  began  a 

that  I  will  faithfully  demean  myself  while  in  office,'  which 
said  oath  or  affirmation  shall  be  filed  in  the  office  of  the  clerk 
of  the  county  court  for  the  county  where  the  said  directors  or 
other  officers  or  trustees  reside  within  ten  days  after  taking  said 
oath  or  affirmation. 

"Sec.  2.  All  railroad  directors  and  officers,  bank  directors 
and  officers,  all  officers  of  all  incorporated  companies,  or  of  any 
incorporated  institution,  who  shall  fail  to  take  and  subscribe  to 
the  foregoing  oath  or  affirmation  on  or  before  the  1st  day  of 
April,  A.D.  1863,  shall  vacate  their  office  as  said  directors  or 
officers,  and  the  vacancy  occasioned  shall  be  filled  by  appoint- 
ment or  election  under  existing  laws. 

"SEC.  3.  Any  person  who  shall  falsely  take,  or  having  taken, 
shall  thereupon  willfully  violate  the  oath  prescribed  in  the  first 
section  of  this  act,  shall,  upon  conviction  thereof  by  any  court 
of  competent  jurisdiction,  be  adjudged  guilty  of  the  crime  of 
perjury,  and  shall  be  punished  therefor  in  accordance  with  ex- 
isting laws.  An>l  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  judges  of  all 
courts  having  criminal  jurisdiction  under  the  laws  of  this  State 
specially  to  charge  the  grand  juries  in  the  counties  in  which 
said  courts  shall  be  held  respectively,  and  of  all  grand  juries, 
in  the  performance  of  their  duties  under  the  laws  of  this  State, 
specially  to  inquire  concerning  the  commission  of  any  act  of 
perjury  mentioned  in  the  first  section  of  this  act.  This  act  to 
take  eflect  from  and  after  its  passage." 

1  In  September,  1869,  a  corner  in  gold  was  made,  which  ter- 
minated in  the  panic  of  September  23d,  known  in  history  as 
"Black  Friday,"  when  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  inter- 
vened by  a  sale  of  gold  to  pat  a  stop  to  the  proceedings  of  a 
clique  of  speculators. 


"  run"  on  their  banks,  the  country  banks  called  for 
their  balances,  and  the  city  banks  called  their  funds 
in  from  the  brokers.  On  the  20th  the  Union  Trust 
Company  of  New  York  suspended,  and  two  or  three 
other  banks  and  trust  companies  followed  in  quick 
succession.  The  panic  on  the  New  York  Exchange 
was  so  great  that  it  was  closed,  and  remained  so  for 
ten  days.  The  Gold  Exchange  closed  on  Monday,  the 
22d,  with  gold  at  112. 

The  financial  storm  did  not  break  upon  St.  Louis 
until  late  in  September.  To  prevent  a  panic  and 
business  failures  a  meeting  of  bank  presidents  and 
other  members  of  the  Clearing  House  Association 
was  called  at  the  rooms  of  the  association  on  Sep- 
tember 25th,  and  the  following  resolutions  were  unan- 
imously adopted  : 

"Resolved,  1st,  That,  for  the  protection  of  our  commercial 
interests  and  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  a  drain  of  currency 
from  the  banks  of  this  city,  we  do  hereby  agree  to  adopt  sub- 
stantially the  plan  adopted  in  New  York,  viz. :  we  will  not  pay 
out  currency  or  checks  except  for  small  sums,  to  be  optional 
with  the  banks  upon  which  they  are  drawn,  but  we  will  certify 
checks  drawn  on  balances  in  our  banks  payable  through  the 
Clearing-House  only. 

"  2d,  That  the  committee  of  management  of  the  St.  Louis 
Clearing-House  Association  are  hereby  authorized  and  directed 
to  issue  immediately  Clearing-House  certificates  in  sums  of  five 
hundred  dollars  each  to  an  amount  not  exceeding  two  million 
dollars.  Said  certificates  shall  be  used  for  the  purpose  of 
settling  balances  between  the  banks  composing  the  Clearing- 
House  Association,  and  each  bank  should  be  entitled  to  an 
amount  of  said  certificates  equal  to  its  pro  rata  of  clearings 
during  the  past  quarter;  such  certificates  so  issued  to  be  se- 
cured by  a  deposit  of  ample  collateral  with  a  special  committee 
of  five  bank  officers  to  be  selected  by  the  president  of  the  Clear- 
ing-House Association.1 

"3d,  That  the  deposit  of  collateral  with  said  committee  shall 
consist  of  United  States  bonds,  bonds  of  this  city  and  county, 
such  commercial  paper  and  such  other  securities  as  the  com- 
mittee in  their  judgement  consider  proper  and  satisfactory,  and 
the  committee  shall  fix  the  valuation  at  which  the  securities 
shall  be  taken. 

"•1th,  That  these  resolutions  shall  remain  in  force  only  until 
the  1st  of  November  next." 

The  leading  merchants  of  the  city  considered 
this  movement  of  the  banks  as  being  commendable 
and  prudent  in  the  highest  degree,  and  as  having 
a  direct  tendency  to  prevent  a  panic  and  business 
failures.  Immediately  after  the  adjournment  of  the 
meeting  a  general  suspension  of  the  St.  Louis  banks 
and  banking-houses  took  place,  and  a  run  upon  them 


*  The  committee  appointed  in  accordance  with  the  second 
resolution  was  as  follows  :  John  R.  Lionberger,  president  Third 
National  Bank;  AVilliam  H.  Scudder,  vice-president  State  Sav- 
ings Institution;  James  II.  Britton,  president  National  Bank 
of  Missouri;  Robert  Barth,  of  Angelrodt  &  Bartb  ;  C.  D.  Block, 
president  Fourth  National  Bank ;  and  R.  J.  Lackland,  president 
Boatmen's  Savings-Bank. 


BANKS,  AND   OTHER   FINANCIAL   INSTITUTIONS,  AND   BANKERS. 


1383 


was  thus  prevented.  As  a  consequence  currency  be- 
came very  scarce,  and  Mayor  Brown  in  a  message  to 
the  City  Council  recommended  that  the  city  issue  its 
warrants  as  a  measure  of  relief  for  existing  financial 
embarrassments.  The  City  Council  entertained  the 
proposition  favorably,  and  with  curious  unanimity  on 
September  29th  passed  an  ordinance  providing  for  an 
issue  of  three  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  municipal 
"  shinplasters."  The  new  scrip  was  immediately  pre- 
pared, and  on  November  6th  the  first  installment  of 
one  hundred  and  five  thousand  dollars  was  put  into 
circulation.  The  notes  were  of  three  denominations, 
one  dollar,  two  dollars,  and  three  dollars,  and  the  en- 
graving and  printing  were  finely  executed.  They 
were  printed  on  a  superior  quality  of  bank-note  paper, 
in  four  colors.  The  back  of  the  notes  was  brown  in 
color,  from  which  circumstance  they  came  to  be  known 
as  "  brown-backs."  In  general  appearance  they  were 
similar,  but  each  was  embellished  with  a  different  de- 
sign. They  read : 

"STATE  OP  MISSOURI, 

"ST.  Louis,  Nov.  1,  1873. 

"  The  city  of  St.  Louis  hereby  promises  to  pay  to  bearer  at 
the  city  treasury  one  (two  or  three)  dollar.     This  note  is  re- 
ceivable for  all  city  taxes,  licenses,  and  other  municipal  dues. 
"JOSEPH  BROWN,  Mayor, 
"SAMUEL  PEPPER,  Comptroller, 
"A.  GEISEL,  Treasurer."1 

The  panic  of  1873  was  allayed  in  New  York  by 
the  union  of  the  banks,  as  in  1860  and  1861,  although 
not  without  serious  disasters  incident  to  a  shrinkage  in 
values  estimated  at  three  hundred  millions  of  dollars 
within  four  weeks,  principally  in  the  obligations  of  i 
railroad  enterprises,  which  had  been  placed  upon  the 
market  to  an  extent  far  exceeding  the  immediately 
available  financial  resources  ef  the  country.  The  re- 
vulsion was  precipitated  by  a  falling  off  in  the  demand 
for  American  railway  securities  in  other  countries. 
Happily,  the  course  pursued  by  the  bank  officers  in 
New  York  and  other  cities  was  effectual  in  preserving 
the  industry,  trade,  and  commerce  of  the  country  from 
a  catastrophe  that  threatened  at  one  time  to  overwhelm 
the  economical  interests  of  the  people.  The  suspen- 
sion of  paper  payments  by  the  banks  continued  until 
Nov.  22,  1873. 

In  the  summer  of  1877  considerable  depression 
was  felt  in  commercial  circles  in  St.  Louis,  which 
seriously  affected  the  banking  institutions  of  the  city. 

1  In  1861  the  city  issued  similar  warrants,  but  it  would  have 
•been  better  if  they  had  never  been  issued.  Seven  years  after- 
wards frauds  connected  with  the  issue  were  discovered,  but  the 
full  extent  of  them  was  never  completely  developed.  Some 
officials  estimate  that  the  city  lost  by  the  first  transaction  about 
•one  hundred  thousand  dollars. 


With  the  decrease  of  business  the  banks  became 
crippled  in  their  resources,  and  in  consequence  of  fail- 
ing securities  a  considerable  amount  of  depreciated 
real  estate  came  into  their  possession.  The  banks 
could  not  realize  upon  this  class  of  assets  in  time  to 
meet  the  demands  of  their  clamorous  depositors,  and 
when  the  crisis  came  a  number  of  the  small  savings 
institutions  were  forced  to  suspend  business. 

The  German  Bank,  then  located  at  the  corner  of 
Fifth  and  Market  Streets,  was  the  first  to  suspend,  on 
July  10,  1877.  The  announcement  of  the  failure  of 
this  institution,  though  not  altogether  unexpected 
among  the  well  informed  in  the  community,  was  a 
surprise  to  the  public  at  large.  On  the  14th,  soon 
after  the  beginning  of  banking  hours,  crowds  began  to 
gather  at  the  numerous  small  banking-houses,  and  a 
run  was  made  on  them  by  frightened  depositors,  who 
were  determined  to  withdraw  their  money.  As  a 
consequence  the  Butchers'  and  Drovers'  Bank,  at  the 
corner  of  Fifth  and  Morgan  Streets,  soon  went  into 
liquidation,  and  its  suspension  was  followed  on  the  16th 
by  the  closing  of  the  North  St.  Louis  Savings  Associ- 
ation, situated  at  the  southeast  corner  of  Fourth  and 
Morgan  Streets,  and  of  the  Bank  of  St.  Louis.  The 
suspension  of  the  Bank  of  St.  Louis  appears  to  have 
been  directly  the  result  of  the  failure  of  the  North 
St.  Louis  Savings  Association.  At  the  same  time  a 
slight  run  was  made  on  the  Boatmen's,  but  the  with- 
drawals amounted  to  scarcely  more  than  a  trifle  for 
that  wealthy  institution.  A  number  of  the  most  sub- 
stantial citizens  offered  this  bank  liberal  assistance  if 
it  needed  it,  one  gentleman  making  a  proffer  of  one 
hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand  dollars  cash  ;  but 
the  Boatmen's  Bank  declined  these  kind  offers,  as  it 
felt  fully  able  to  satisfy  all  the  demands  that  might  be 
made  upon  it.  The  Provident  Savings  Association, 
the  Union  Savings,  the  German  Savings,  the  Broad- 
way Savings,  the  Biddle  Market  Bank,  and  a  number 
of  other  banks  sustained  something  of  a  "  run,"  but 
cheerfully  paid  all  deposits  on  demand. 

At  the  close  of  business  on  the  16th  of  July  the 
run  had  about  ceased,  and  although  quiet  prevailed  in 
banking  circles,  on  the  17th  another  moneyed  institution 
closed  its  doors.  The  Bremen  Savings- Bank  opened 
as  usual  on  that  day,  but  in  the  face  of  a  pressing 
demand  for  more  money  than  it  had  at  hand,  it  sus- 
pended about  ten  o'clock. 

The  failure  of  this  bank  ended  the  financial  crash 
of  1877.  The  suspensions  fell  like  a  thunderbolt 
upon  a  great  number  of  small  depositors,  frugal,  trust- 
ful, hard-working  men  and  women,  whose  little  all, 
representing  years  of  toil  at  the  market-stall  or  the 
wash-tub,  was  swept  away. 


1384 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


The  act  of  Congress  of  Jan.  14,  1875,  specified 
Jan.  1,  1879,  as  the  day  for  the  resumption  of  specie 
payments  by  the  national  banks,  and  at  the  time 
named  all  the  banks  resumed,  and  to-day  the  country 
is  enjoying  unexampled  prosperity. 

The  extent  of  the  commercial  interests  of  St.  Louis 
is  plainly  indicated  by  the  strength  and  proportions 
of  her  banking  business.  A  larger  capital  is  em- 
ployed in  banking  in  St.  Louis  than  in  any  other  city 
in  the  country  of  approximate  size.  Notwithstanding 
the  enormous  capital  invested  the  business  has  been 
uniformly  profitable,  and  while  the  number  and 
strength  of  the  banks  have  increased  year  by  year, 
the  wonderful  development  of  the  commercial  and 
manufacturing  interests  of  the  city,  has  kept  the 
money  employed. 

At  one  time  St.  Louis  received  calls  from  some  of 
the  Southern  States  for  large  amounts  of  money.  This 
demand  was  sufficient  to  absorb  all  the  money  that 
the  banks  could  spare  during  the  entire  season  of 
moving  the  cotton  crop.  It  was  a  profitable  business, 
as  the  margins  were  liberal  aod  the  borrowers  were 
able  to  offer  the  very  highest  grade  of  commercial 
paper.  Since  the  war,  with  the  opening  up  of  new 
channels  of  trade,  this  class  of  banking  business  has 
changed  somewhat.  Then,  again,  the  commerce  of 
certain  of  these  States  is  so  disturbed  that  St.  Louis 
bankers  noted  for  conservatism  refuse  to  accept  any 
paper  offered  from  them  unless  it  is  well  secured. 

AGGREGATE  STATEMENT  OP  THE  TWENTY-FOUR  BANKS  IN  ST. 
national  banks  on  the  3Qth  December,  1822, — compared 
Chase,  manager  of  the  Clearing-Houie. 


Therefore  this  old  channel  for  the  employment  of  bank- 
ing capital  is  temporarily  closed.  Yet  the  grain  trade, 
the  flour  interest,  the  cotton  traffic,  and  other  elements 
of  St.  Louis  commerce  have  increased  so  largely  that 
the  bankers  have  been  able  to  employ  their  immense 
resources  safely  and  profitably.  In  view  of  this 
success  under  conditions  somewhat  unfavorable,  the 
banks  properly  feel  assured  of  the  future.  There  is 
no  other  section  of  country  in  the  world  that  is  re- 
cuperating and  advancing  commercially  so  rapidly  as 
the  South.  The  influence  that  the  prosperity  of  Texas 
and  Arkansas  has  had  upon  St.  Louis  is  well  known. 
There  is  not  a  branch  of  trade  in  the  city  that  has  not 
been  benefited  by  it,  and  the  banking  business  has  had 
its  share.  With  the  further  progress  of  prosperity 
in  the  South,  and  with  continued  commercial  activity, 
there  will  be  a  greater  demand  for  the  employment 
of  banking  capital  than  has  ever  been  known  in 
St.  Louis,  and  this  will  no  doubt  necessitate  an  in- 
crease on  even  the  enormous  resources  now  in  the 
hands  of  existing  banks,  if  it  does  not  call  for  the 
establishment  of  other  banking  institutions.  For  a 
generation  past  St.  Louis  has  been  renowned  for  the 
strength  of  her  banks. 

The  leading  institutions  of  this  class  have  long  held 
a  high  rank  among  the  very  best  banks  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  representative  bankers  of  St.  Louis 
have  enjoyed  a  wide  reputation  as  enterprising,  saga- 
cious, and  prudent  financiers. 

Louis, — eighteen  State  banks  on  the  \5th  December,  1882,  find  «>jt 
with  statement  of  31«<   December,  1881,  as  exhibited  by   Edward 


Dec.  31,  1881. 

Dec.  15  and  30, 

1882. 

DIFFERENCES. 

Capital  and  surplus  

$11,696,063 

$13,492,964 

Increase.  .. 

$1,796,901 

7,863,391 

8,901,522 

1  038,131 

Current  deposits  

35,479,737 

32,827,489 

Decrease... 

2,652,248 

1,448,590 

632,850 

« 

815,740 

Liabilities  

$56,487,781 

$55,854,825 

$632,956 

Bonds  to  secure  circulation  

$1,610,000 

$710,000 

Decrease... 

$900000 

Good  loans  and  bonds  

41,578,226 

39  898,252 

a 

1  679  974 

Cash   checks,  and  exchange  

5,990,551 

7,599  187 

1  609  036 

6,276,348 

6,627,158 

350  810 

Real  estate  and  other  assets  

1,U:;2,656 

1,020,228 

Decrease 

12  428 

$56,487,781 

$55,854,825 

Decrease... 

$632,956 

The  Bank  of  St.  Louis,  or  "  the  Old  Bank  of  St.  i  Pratte,  Manuel   Lisa,  Thomas  Brady,  Bartholomew 


Louis,"  as  it  is  distinctively  known,  was  chartered  by 
the  Territorial  Legislature  on  Aug.  21,  1813,  the 
commissioners  being  Auguste  Chouteau,  John  B.  C. 


Berthold,  Samuel  Hammond,  Rufus  Easton,  Robert 
Simpson,  Christian  Wilt,  and  Risdon  H.  Price. 
On  the  2d  of  October,  1813,  subscription   books 


Lucas,  Clement  B.  Penrose,  Moses  Austin,  Bernard  i  were  opened  under  the  supervision  of  the  board  of 


BANKS,  AND   OTHER  FINANCIAL   INSTITUTIONS,  AND   BANKERS. 


1385 


commissioners,  Christian  Wilt  secretary,  as  follows : 
At  St.  Louis,  by  Robert  Simpson ;  at  St.  Charles,  by 
Uriah  J.  Devore ;  at  Ste.  Genevieve,  by  Thomas  Oli- 
ver ;  at  Mine  a  Breton,  by  Moses  Austin  ;  at  Cape 
Girardeau,  by  Joseph  McFerron  ;  at  New  Madrid,  by 
John  La  Vallee. 

In  December,  1814,  Thomas  F.  Riddick,  Risdon  H. 
Price,  and  John  Cromwell,  on  the  part  of  the  com- 
missioners, gave  the  public  notice  that 

"  on  the  15th  of  December  instant  subscription  books  will  be 
opened  at  St.  Louis,  St.  Charles,  Herculaneum,  Mine  a.  Breton, 
and  Ste.  Genevieve,  in  the  Missouri  Territory,  and  at  Kaskaskia 
and  Cahokia,  in  the  Illinois  Territory,  under  the  direction  of 
William  Smith,  Theodore  Hunt,  and  Edward  Hempstead,  at 
St.  Louis;  Nathaniel  Simonds  and  Jesse  Morrison,  at  St. 
Charles ;  John  W.  Honey  and  Elias  Bates,  at  Herculaneum ; 
Moses  Austin  and  William  H.  Ashley,  at  Mine  a  Breton  ; 
Joseph  Pratte  and  William  Shannon,  at  Ste.  Genevieve;  Pierre 
Menard  and  AVilliam  Morrison,  at  Kaskaskia ;  Nicholas  Jarrot 
and  John  Hay,  at  Cahokia,  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  sub- 
scriptions for  stock  in  the  Bank  of  St.  Louis.  A  copy  of  the 
articles  of  the  association  will  be  found  in  the  hands  of  each  of 
the  commissioners  above  named,  the  books  to  continue  open 
for  three  months ;  shares  at  one  hundred  dollars  each." 

It  was  the  first  bank  established  in  Missouri,  and 
was  organized  on  Sept.  2,  1816,  with  the  following 
directors :  Samuel  Hammond,  William  Rector,  Ber- 
nard Pratte,  Risdon  H.  Price,  Moses  Austin,  Theo- 
dore Hunt,  E.  B.  Clemson,  Justus  Post,  Robert 
Simpson,  Charles  N.  Hunter,  Walter  Wilkinson, 
Theophilus  W.  Smith,  and  Elias  Bates.  On  the  20th 
of  September,  Col.  Samuel  Hammond  was  elected 
president,  and  John  B.  N.  Smith  cashier.  The  capi- 
tal stock  was  one  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

For  over  a  year  the  bank  was  a  most  popular  institu- 
tion. It  created  an  extraordinary  impetus  in  business 
circles,  encouraged  the  public  mind,  and  was  every- 
where regarded  as  a  most  excellent  enterprise.  Early 
in  1818,  however,  there  was  a  reaction,  caused,  it  is 
said,  by  speculative  and  unsafe  investments  on  the 
part  of  the  management,  and  the  stockholders  and 
directors  became  divided.  The  antagonism  finally 
culminated  in  a  rupture  in  the  board,  and  the  seizure 
of  the  bank  property  by  what  was  known  as  the 
Thomas  H.  Benton  faction  among  the  stockholders. 
These  proceedings  are  fully  set  forth  in  the  subjoined 
protest  in  the  interest  of  the  ousted  officials,  bearing 
date  Feb.  13,  1818: 

"  TERRITORY  OF  MISSOURI.  } 

'  \  »s. 
COUNTY  OF  ST.  Louis.       ) 

"  I,  Joseph  V.  Gamier,  a  notary  public  in  and  for  the  county 
of  St.  Louis,  in  the  Territory  aforesaid,  duly  commissioned,  at 
the  request  of  the  president  and  directors  of  the  Bank  of  St. 
Louis,  stating  among  other  things  that  on  Wednesday,  the  llth 
day  of  February  inst.,  a  meeting  of  the  board  of  directors  of 
said  bank  being  held  at  the  banking-house  of  said  bank  (being 
discount  day)  after  the  business  of  the  day  had  been  gone 


through,  a  certain  resolution  was  offered  by  Joshua  Pilcher,  a 
director,  supported  and  seconded  by  Elias  Rector,  also  a  direc- 
tor, having  for  object  the  removal  from  office  of  cashier  of  said 
bank  of  John  B.  N.  Smith,  which  being  carried  in  the  affirma- 
tive by  a  majority  of  two  (ten  of  the  directors  being  present), 
a  motion  was  made  by  the  said  Joshua  Pilcher  that  the  board 
proceed  to  the  appointment  or  election  of  a  cashier,  which  being 
also  carried,  the  board  proceeded  to  the  election  of  a  cashier, 
when,  after  two  ballots  without  effect,  on  the  third  ballot  The- 
ophilus W.  Smith  was  declared  duly  elected  the  cashier  of  the 
said  Bank  of  St.  Louis  by  a  majority  of  four  votes,  three  votes 
being  in  the  negative  and  seven  in  favor  of  the  said  Theophilus 
W.  Smith.  That  upon  the  result  of  the  election  being  made 
known,  three  of  the  directors  then  present,  to  wit,  the  said 
Joshua  Pilcher,  Elias  Rector,  and  Robert  Simpson,  tendered 
their  resignation  as  directors  of  the  said  bank,  which  being  re- 
corded, their  seats  as  directors  of  the  said  bank  were  declared 
•vacated,  and  an  entry  of  the  same  was  made  on  the  minutes  of 
the  proceedings  of  the  said  board  of  directors.  That  shortly 
after  a  tumultuous  assemblage  of  persons  was  seen  in  and  about 
the  banking-house  of  said  bank,  instigated,  it  is  supposed  by 
the  said  Joshua  Pilcher  and  Elias  Rector,  in  consequence  of  the 
said  election  and  appointment  of  the  cashier  as  aforesaid,  and 
for  no  other  cause  as  is  verily  believed.  That  the  said  Joshua 
Pilcher,  Elias  Rector,  Thomas  H.  Benton,  Lieut.  James  McGun- 
negle  (of  the  army  of  the  United  States),  Thompson  Douglass, 
Stephen  Rector,  Thomas  Handy,  John  Little,  Jeremiah  Con- 
nor, Taylor  Berry,  and  Col.  Daniel  Bissel,  also  in  the  army  of 
the  United  States,  with  others,  at  present  unknown,  did,  as  they 
also  believe,  enter  the  banking-house  of  the  said  bank  with  an 
intent  forcibly  to  wrest  from  the  president,  directors,  and  officers 
of  the  said  bank  the  possession  thereof;  and  did  actually  then 
and  there  pass  a  resolution  to  possess  themselves  of  the  keys  of 
the  outer  doors  of  the  said  bank,  and  did  accordingly,  or  one  of 
them  for  the  whole  and  in  the  name  of  the  whole,  actually  take 
possession  of  the  same,  and,  having  ordered  out  the  subordinate 
officers  of  the  bank,  did  lock  up  the  doors  thereof.  The  said 
president  and  directors  further  state  that  the  aforesaid  Joshua 
Pilcher  and  others  did  afterwards  assemble  near  the  said  bank- 
ing-house at  the  counting-room  of  the  said  Joshua  Pilcher,  and 
then  and  there  demanded  of  the  president  the  delivery  by  him 
of  the  keys  of  the  vault  of  the  same,  which  being  refused,  they 
did  afterwards,  on  the  evening  of  the  same  day,  again  assemble 
together,  when  the  following  resolution  was  adopted,  to  wit: 
'  Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  five  persons  be  appointed  to 
take  charge  of  the  keys  of  the  bank  and  to  have  the  custody  of 
the  banking-house,  and  deny  admittance  to  the  said  governing 
directors  and  their  officers,  and  will  assist  in  putting  them  out 
if  they  gain  admittance  by  any  means,'  a  copy  of  which  was 
left  by  the  said  Joshua  Pilcher  and  Jeremiah  Conner  with  Eli 
B.  Clemso/i,  the  president  pro  tern.,  legally  appointed  by  the 
president,  who  was  prevented  from  attending  by  indisposition. 
They,  the  said  Pilcher  and  Connor,  in  conjunction  with  Thomas 
H.  Benton,  having  previously  declared  to  the  said  Theophilus 
W.  Smith,  the  cashier  of  the  said  bank,  that  it  was  their  deter- 
mined intention  to  carry  the  said  resolution  into  effect  should 
an  attempt  be  made  to  regain  the  possession  of  the  said  bank 
and  banking-house,  which  said  declaration  and  threats  thus 
made  by  the  said  Pilcher,  Connor,  and  Benton,  for  themselves 
and  on  behalf  of  the  aforementioned  Elias  Rector,  James  Mc- 
Gunnegle,  Thompson  Douglass,  Stephen  Rector,  Thomas  Hanly, 
John  Little,  Taylor  Berry,  and  Daniel  Bissel,  the  said  parties  thus 
protesting  had  no  doubt  and  verily  believed  would  be  carried 
into  execution  should  an  attempt  be  made  at  regaining  the 
possession  of  the  said  bank  and  banking-house,  whereby  and 
wherefor  all  attempts  at  the  same  have  by  the  said  protesting 


1386 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


parties  been  thought  useless  and  even  dangerous.  Afterwards, 
to  wit,  on  the  12th  day  of  the  same  month,  Theophilus  W. 
Smith,  the  cashier  of  the  said  bank,  made  of  the  said  Joshua 
Pilcher,  Thomas  H.  Benton,  and  Jeremiah  Connor  a  demand  of 
the  keys  of  the  said  bank,  which  were  denied  him ;  Col.  Eli  B. 
Clemson,  the  president  pro  tern.,  also  made  a  demand  of  the  keys 
aforesaid  of  the  said  Joshua  Pilcher,  and  the  same  were  refused 
and  denied  him  ;  whereby  the  said  president  and  directors  and 
the  subaltern  officers  of  the  said  bank  have  been  prevented  from 
attending  to  the  duties  of  their  respective  appointments,  to  the 
great  damage,  prejudice,  and  detriment  of  the  said  Bank  of  St. 
Louis,  the  stockholders  thereof  and  all  others  concerned,  either  i 
directly  or  indirectly,  with  the  same. 

"  Whereupon  I,  the  said  notary,  at  the  request  aforesaid,  have 
and  do  hereby  protest  against  the  said  Joshua  Pilcher,  Elias 
Rector,  Thomas  H.  Benton,  James  McGunnegle,  Thompson 
Douglass,  Stephen  Rector,  Thomas  Hanly,  John  Little,  Jere- 
miah Connor,  Taylor  Berry,  and  Daniel  Bissel,  and  all  others 
concerned,  for  all  the  damages,  losses,  interests,  and  costs  suffered 
or  to  be  suffered  by  the  said  president  and  directors  of  the  Bank 
of  St.  Louis,  the  stockholders  in  the  said  bank,  whether  collec- 
tively or  in  their  individual  capacity,  and  all  others  concerned 
in  business  with  the  said  bank  of  whatever  nature  soever,  in 
consequence  of  or  resulting  from  the  taking  possession  by  the 
said  Joshua  Pilcher,  Elias  Rector,  Thomas  H.  Benton,  James 
McGunnegle,  Thompson  Douglass,  Stephen  Rector,  Thomas 
Hanly,  John  Little,  Jeremiah  Connor,  Taylor  Berry,  and  Daniel 
Bissel  of  the  said  Bank  of  St.  Louis  and  the  banking-house 
thereof,  and  the  keeping  out  of  the  same  the  said  president  and 
directors,  and  thereby  putting  a  stop  to  and  preventing  the 
carrying  on  of  the  business  of  the  same  and  exposing  it  to  dis- 
order." 

Legal  proceedings  were  instituted  against  those  who 
took  forcible  possession  of  the  bank,  and  on  February 
20th  following  it  was  announced  that  "  the  banking- 
house  of  the  Bank  of  St.  Louis  having  been  restored 
to  the  possession  of  the  board  of  directors  by  the  in- 
dividuals in  whose  possession  it  has  unlawfully  been, 
the  public  are  hereby  notified  that  the  bank  will  be 
open  for  business  as  usual  on  Monday,  the  23d  day 
of  February  inst.,  at  ten  A.M.  By  order  of  the  board. 
S.  HAMMOND,  President." 

On  March  3d  following  the  opposition  party  pub- 
lished the  following  protest : 

"  To  THK  PUBLIC  :  Whereas,  a  notice  was  given  by  the  presi- 
dent and  directors  of  the  Bank  of  St.  Louis  to  the  public  that 
the  Bank  of  St.  Louis  would  open  on  Monday,  the  23d  inst.,  for 
the  transaction  of  business  ;  and  whereas  that  period  has  passed 
without  his  notification  having  been  complied  with,  but  another 
advertisement  has  been  published,  notifying  the  public  that  the 
Bank  of  St.  Louis  would  remain  closed  until  the  10th  March 
next,  stating  among  other  reasons  for  such  a  measure  that  '  it 
is  believed'  (by  the  president  and  directors)  'that  a  combina- 
tion has  been  formed  for  the  purpose  of  embarrassing  the  pro- 
ceedings of  said  bank,  which  combination  still  exists,'  the  un- 
dersigned, stockholders  in  the  said  bank,  being  fully  satisfied 
that  no  such  combination  has  ever  existed,  and  that  this  is 
only  a  pretext  of  the  said  president  and  directors  to  shield 
themselves  from  the  imputation  such  a  proceeding  was  calcu- 
lated to  draw  upon  them  from  the  public,  and  also  to  give  an 
additional  coloring  to  the  proceedings  of  the  llth  and  12th 
inst.,  and  being  also  convinced  that  no  substantial  cause  exists 


for  the  adoption  of  such  a  measure  by  the  said  president  and 
directors,  we  do  therefore  most  solemnly  protest  against  such  a 
proceeding  on  the  part  of  the  said  president  and  directors  as 
calculated  materially  to  injure  the  interests  of  the  stockholders 
in  said  bank ;  we  do  also  further  protest  against  the  manner  in 
which  the  business  of  the  said  bank  is  at  present  conducted,  by 
keeping  the  doors  closed  and  refusing  the  payment  of  their 
paper,  at  the  same  time  receiving  payments  from  many  indi- 
viduals who  are  obliged  to  enter  the  banking-house  by  a  private 
door  for  that  purpose. 

"Stephen  Rector,  Thompson  Douglass,  Joshua  Pilcher,  Elias 
Rector  (agent  for  William  Rector),  Thompson  Douglass  (at- 
torney for  Risdon  H.  Price),  J.  McGunnegle,  J.  McGun- 
negle (attorney  for  Daniel  Bissell),  Taylor  Berry,  T.  H. 
Benton  (for  self  and  Thomas  Wright),  John  Little, 
Thomas  Hanly. 
"ST.  Louis,  Feb.  26,  1818." 

On  March  12, 1818,  the  board  of  directors,  through 
S.  Hammond,  president,  issued  a  notice  that  "  the 
public  mind  having  become  tranquillized,  the  Bank  of 
St.  Louis  opened  for  business  on  Tuesday  last,  re- 
deemed its  paper  in  specie,  and  the  public  are  hereby 
notified  that  it  will  continue  to  redeem  its  paper  in 
specie  on  its  presentation."  1 

After  the  disagreement  of  February,  1818,  the 
bank  continued  to  decline  until  July,  1819,  when  it 
finally  collapsed,  to  the  serious  disadvantage  of  its 
stockholders.  On  July  12, 1819,  the  following  notice 
declared  the  suspension  of  the  first  bank  established 
in  St.  Louis : 

"The  directors  of  the  Bank  of  St.  Louis,  finding  that  the 
operation  of  the  bank  cannot  be  continued  either  with  profit  to 
the  stockholders  or  advantage  to  the  community,  have  deter- 
mined to  suspend  the  business  of  the  bank.  A  general  meeting 
of  the  stockholders  has  therefore  been  called  to  take  into  con- 
sideration the  propriety  of  continuing  or  closing  finally  its  con- 
cerns; and  in  the  mean  time,  to  save  the  creditors  of  the  bank 
from  losses  or  unnecessary  delay  in  the  liquidation  of  their  de- 
mands, the  directors  have  made  specific  assignments  of  the 
effects  of  the  bank,  appropriating  them  so  as  to  discharge  the 
debts  due  by  the  bank  as  promptly  as  possible. 

"  The  Bank  of  St.  Louis,  after  a  suspension  of  business  for 


!The  directors  of  the  Bank  of  St.  Louis  prior  to  the  8th  of 
December,  1817,  for  that  year  were  Samuel  Hammond,  Robert 
Simpson,  Thompson  Douglass,  Justus  Post,  Thomas  Wright, 
Risdon  H.  Price,  Moses  Austin,  William  Rector,  Eli  B.  Clemson, 
J.  B.  N.  Smith  (cashier),  Joshua  Pilcher,  Samuel  Perry,  Theo- 
dore Hunt,  Elias  Bates;  after  Dec.  8,  1817,  until  Feb.  11,  1818, 
Samuel  Hammond,  Justus  Post,  Joshua  Pilcher,  Walter  Wil- 
kinson, James  Mason,  Moses  Austin,  Elias  Rector,  Eli  B.  Clem- 
son, Nathaniel  B.  Tucker,  J.  B.  N.  Smith  (cashier),  J.  J.  Wil- 
kinson, Robert  Collet,  Elias  Bates,  Robert  Simpson ;  after 
Feb.  11,  1818,  to  Dec.  14, 1818,  Samuel  Hammond,  Walter  Wil- 
kinson, Justus  Post,  Nathaniel  B.  Tucker,  Eli  B.  Clemson, 
Theophilus  W.  Smith,  James  Mason,  Rufus  Easton  (two 
vacancies),  J.  J.  Wilkinson,  Stephen  F.  Austin,  Elias  Bates, 
Theophilus  W.  Smith  (cashier);  from  Dec.  14,  1818,  Risdon 
H.  Price  (president),  Stephen  F.  Austin,  Rufus  Easton,  Fred- 
erick Dent,  Jesse  G.  Lindell,  Samuel  Hammond,  John  Nivin, 
Samuel  Perry,  John  Hall,  Robert  Simpson,  Eli  B.  Clemson, 
James  Clemens,  Jr.,  Paul  Anderson. 


BANKS,  AND   OTHER   FINANCIAL   INSTITUTIONS,  AND   BANKERS.  1387 


about  twelve  months,  resumed  operation  on  the  3d  of  March 
last,  under  the  expectation  on  the  part  of  the  directors  of  being 
able,  if  not  to  continue  the  operation  of  the  bank  successfully, 
at  least  to  collect  the  debts  due  the  bank,  and  pay  the  claims 
against  it  more  promptly  than  while  in  a  state  of  suspension. 
The  first  object  of  the  directors,  therefore,  was  to  acquire  a 
fund  on  which  to  commence  temporarily  until  the  bank  could 
collect  the  debts  due  to  it. 

"  By  order  of  the  board  of  directors. 

"  RISDON  H.  PRICE,  President." 

Branch  Bank  of  the  United  States. — In  the  year 
1829  a  branch  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  at 
Philadelphia,  chartered  by  Congress  in  1816,  was  estab- 
lished in  St.  Louis  with  the  following  officers :  John 
O'Fallon,  president,  William  Clark,  Thomas  Biddle, 
Peter  Lindell,  William  H.  Ashley,  John  Mullanphy, 
George  Collier,  James  Clemens,  Jr.,  Matthew  Kerr, 
Pierre  Chouteau,  Jr.,  and  Edward  Tracy,  of  St. 
Louis,  Samuel  Perry,  of  Potosi,  and  Peter  Bass,  of 
Boone,  directors  ;  Henry  S.  Coxe,  cashier  ;  George  K. 
McGunnegle,  clerk ;  and  Thomas  0.  Duncan,  teller. 
John  O'Fallon  was  re-elected  in  1830,  1831,  1832, 
and  1833,  and  after  the  latter  date  we  find  no  account 
of  the  institution,  which  succumbed  about  that  time 
to  the  embarrassments  growing  out  of  the  determined 
hostility  of  President  Jackson's  administration  to  the 
parent  bank  at  Philadelphia. 

The  directors  during  these  years  were  as  follows : 
1830,  John  O'Fallon,  William  Clark,  Thomas  Biddle, 
William  H.  Ashley,  John  Mullanphy,  George  Collier, 
James  Clemens,  Jr.,  Pierre  Chouteau,  Jr.,  Edward 
Tracy,  Jesse  G.  Lindell,  John  Kerr,  Louis  Valle",  of 
Ste.  Genevieve,  John  Bull,  of  Chariton  ;  1831,  John 
O'Fallon,  John  Mullanphy,  George  Collier,  Jesse  G. 
Lindell,  Bernard  Pratte,  John  W.  Johnson,  Thomas 
Biddle,  William  H.  Ashley,  John  Kerr,  Daniel  D. 
Page,  Charles  Wahrendorff;  1832,  John  O'Fallon, 
John  Kerr,  Jesse  G.  Lindell,  Daniel  D.  Page,  Bernard 
Pratte,  John  W.  Johnson,  John  H.  Gay,  James  Clem- 
ens, Jr.,  Henry  Von  Phul,  Peter  Powell,  Edward 
Tracy ;  1833,  J.  O'Fallon,  D.  D.  Page,  B.  Pratte, 
Sr.,  J.  H.  Gay,  J.  Clemens,  Jr.,  H.  Von  Phul,  E. 
Tracy,  G.  Collier,  J.  Mullanphy,  A.  Kerr,  A.  Gam- 
ble. On  the  12th  of  March,  John  O'Fallon  was 
unanimously  re-elected  president. 

The  affairs  of  the  branch  bank  in  St.  Louis  were 
conducted  with  the  strictest  integrity,  and  the  directors 
never  forfeited  the  confidence  reposed  in  them  by  the 
public. 

The  Bank  of  the  State  of  Missouri1  was  chartered 
in  1837,  the  act  of  incorporation  being  signed  Feb- 
ruary 1st  of  that  year.  On  that  day,  in  the  evening, 


1  The  old  Bank  of  Missouri  was  incorporated  Feb.  1,  1817,  as 
heretofore  stated,  but  had  only  a  brief  existence. 


the  election  for  president  and  directors  took  place,  with 
the  following  result :  John  Brady  Smith,  of  St.  Louis, 
president  of  the  parent  bank ;  Hugh  O'Neill,  Sam- 
uel S.  Reyburn,  Edward  Walsh,  PMward  Dobyns, 
William  L.  Sublette.  John  O'Fallon,  directors  of  the 
parent  board. 

Branch  at  Fayette:  J.  J.  Lowry,  president;  W. 
H.  Duncan,  J.  Viley,  Wade  M.  Jackson,  James  Ear- 
eckson,  directors.     On  the  20th  of  February  a  sub- 
scription was  opened  for  the  $50,000  capital  stock 
required  to  authorize  the  subscription  on  the  part  of 
'.  the  State,  and  $108,000  was  realized.     The  capital 
|  stock  was  $5,000,000,  and  the  State  held  one-third  of 
\  the  amount.    The  bank  purchased  the  house  of  Pierre 
Chouteau,  on  Main  Street  near  Vine,  shortly  after- 
ward, and  on  April  15th  began  operations. 

In  June,  1837,  the  board  of  directors  was  com- 
pleted by  the  appointment  by  Governor  Boggs  of  C. 
C.  Detchemendy,  of  Ste.  Genevieve,  and  Carty  Wells, 
of  Warren,  as  directors  on  the  part  of  the  State.    The 
organization  of  the  bank  was  then  as  follows:  Presi- 
dent, John  Brady  Spith  ;  Directors,  Hugh  O'Neil, 
Edward  Walsh,  Samuel  S.  Reyburn,  William  L.  Sub- 
lette, Edward  Dobyns,  John  0  Fallon,  D.  C.  M.  Par- 
i  sons,  Thomas  West,  C.  C.  Detchemendy,  Carty  Wells 
i  (on  the  part  of  the  State),  George  K.  McGunnegle, 
1  Theodore  L.  McGill  (elected  by  the  stockholders) ; 
Cashier,  Henry  Shields. 

John  Brady  Smith  was  one  of  the  most  efficient 
officers  the  bank  ever  had.  He  remained  at  its  head 
for  many  years,  and  died  March  17,  1864. 

Mr.  Smith  accompanied  his  father  to  St.  Louis  at 

;  an  early  period,  and  was  at  one  time  one  of  the  most 

extensive  and  liberal  merchants  in  St.  Louis.    As  the 

first  president  of  the  bank,  he  administered  its  affairs 

with  safety  and  liberality  during  several  trying  periods 

of  financial  disaster.     He  was  collector  of  the  county 

of  St.  Louis  for  several  years,  and  at  all  times  en- 

'  joyed  the  fullest  confidence  of  his  fellow- citizens. 

On  the  31st  of  July,  1837,  the  bank  began  issuing 
its  own  paper,  the  lowest  denomination  of  notes  being 
twenty  dollars.  In  1839  it  suffered  a  serious  loss  in 
the  abstraction  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand 
dollars  in  foreign  coin  stored  in  its  vaults,  and 
although  an  arrest  and  prosecution  followed,  and 
every  effort  was  made  to  recover  the  money,  it  was 
without  result.  In  1857  the  institution  was  reorgan- 
ized under  the  general  law  of  the  State  of  that  year, 
and  with  its  branches  then  had  a  cash  capital  of 
three  million  two  hundred  thousand  dollars.  There 
were  eight  branches,  one  at  each  of  the  following 
places :  Cape  Girardeau,  Palmyra,  Canton,  Fayette, 
Springfield,  Arrow  Rock,  Louisiana,  and  Chillicothe. 


1388 


HISTORY  OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


In  1866  the  stock  held  by  the  State  was  sold,  and 
the  bank  was  reorganized  under  the  National  Bank- 
ing Act.  Its  title  was  changed  to  "The  National 
Bank  of  the  State  of  Missouri,"  the  stock  of  all  of 
the  branches  was  consolidated  with  that  of  the  parent 
bank,  and  the  institution  began  operations  as  a  national 
bank  Nov.  1,  1866.  The  aggregate  capital  at  the  date 
of  this  movement  was  $3,410,300.  Col.  James  H. 
Britton,  formerly  of  the  Third  National  Bank  of  St. 
Louis,  was  elected  president,  Judge  Barton  Bates  vice- 
president,  E.  P.  Curtis  cashier.  Under  this  manage- 
ment the  bank  purchased  all  the  water  loan  of  five 
million  dollars  in  1868.  In  June,  1876,  it  having 
been  found  that  the  existing  capital  was  too  great  to 
be  profitable,  it  was  deemed  expedient  to  reduce  it  to 
two  million  five  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

Up  to  1877  the  National  Bank  of  the  State  of 
Missouri  was  believed  to  be  the  strongest,  as  it  was 
the  oldest,  institution  of  its  kind  in  St.  Louis.  The 
bank  had  been  uniformly  successful  and% prosperous, 
its  business  had  been  most  extended,  yet  it  had  always 
been  conducted  upon  sound  banking  principles.  It 
had  never  made  money  fast,  but  had  paid  its  semi- 
annual dividends  regularly.  Of  it  it  was  said  at  this 
time,  "  In  the  long  course  of  years  during  which  the 
National  Bank  of  the  State  of  Missouri  has  been  a 
leader  in  the  banking  business  of  the  West,  it  has 
maintained  its  position  in  public  confidence  and  es- 
teem. It  has  survived  panics  and  crises  without  being 
disturbed,  and  when  banks  were  tumbling  down  in 
ruins  on  all  sides  this  old  and  stanch  institution  stood 
as  solid  as  a  mountain." 

Among  the  early  officials  of  the  bank  were  some  of 
the  most  prominent  men  in  the  State.  Its  other  presi- 
dents besides  Mr.  Smith,  before  its  organization  under 
the  National  Act,  were  Ferdinand  Kennett,  Bernard 
Pratte,  Joseph  Charless,  Edward  Walsh,  Robert  Camp- 
bell, James  M.'  Hughes,  and  Robert  A.  Barnes. 

Mr.  Barnes  was  born  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  Nov. 
29,  1808.  His  father  was  Jesse  Barnes,  of  Charles 
County,  Md.,  whose  ancestor  emigrated  in  1662  from 
the  county  of  Norfolk,  England,  to  the  southern  part 
of  Maryland,  settling  near  the  site  of  the  present  town 
of  Port  Tobacco.  His  mother  was  Mary  Evans,  of 
Prince  George  County,  Md. 

When  thirteen  years  old  he  was  placed  in  charge 
of  an  uncle,  Richard  Barnes,  of  Louisville,  Ky.,  from 
whom  he  obtained  his  business  education.  Having 
determined  to  make  St.  Louis  his  home,  he  removed 
thither,  arriving  on  the  17th  of  May,  1830,  and  has 
resided  there  ever  since. 

In  December,  1840,  Mr.  Barnes  became  a  director 
in  the  Bank  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  and  was 


continued  as  such  until  November,  1866,  a  period  of 
nearly  twenty-six  years,  during  the  last  eight  of  which 
he  was  its  president.  In  November,  1866*,  as  we  have 
seen,  the  institution  became  a  national  bank,  when  its 
management  passed  into  other  hands.  He  was  also  a 
director  in  various  other  corporations.  Mr.  Barnes 
has  never  had  any  political  aspirations,  and  has  led 
the  quiet  life  of  a  private  citizen.  On  the  28th  of 
January,  1845,  he  married  Louise  de  Mun,  third 
daughter  of  Jules  de  Mun  and  Isabelle  Gratiot. 
There  is  no  living  issue  of  this  marriage. 

A  large  proportion  of  the  subordinates  of  the  old 
Bank  of  Missouri  were  in  its  service  for  a  long  term 
of  years.  Up  to  the  year  1877  it  had  had  only  three 
cashiers, — Henry  Shields,  A.  S.  Robinson,  and  E.  P. 
Curtis. 

Early  in  1877  rumors  became  current  to  the  effect 
that  the  bank  was  embarrassed  by  reason  of  shrinkage 
in  the  value  of  its  securities.  This  led  to  an  investi- 
gation by  the  comptroller  of  the  currency,  which  re- 
sulted in  an  order  for  the  election  of  a  new  board  of 
directors.  At  this  election  in  May,  1877,  four  new 
members  were  chosen,  consisting  of  Hon.  John  B.  Hen- 
derson, N.  S.  Chouteau,  Web  M.  Samuel,  and  H.  S. 
Mills.  At  the  next  meeting  of  the  board  after  the 
election  it  ordered  an  examination  of  the  affairs  of  the 
bank,  appointing  for  that  purpose  the  gentlemen 
named  above  in  conjunction  with  J.  H.  Britton,  pres- 
ident, and  Barton  Bates,  vice-president  of  the  bank. 
The  result  was  a  unanimous  vote  to  wind  up  the  bus- 
iness, either  by  securing  the  appointment  of  a  receiver, 
or  by  placing  the  bank  in  voluntary  liquidation. 

The  failure  of  the  bank  created  the  greatest  sur- 
prise, as  there  were  few  persons  in  the  West  who 
doubted  its  strength  and  solvency,  and  so  strong  was 
the  confidence  placed  in  it  that  the  city  and  State 
funds  were  deposited  in  it.  Its  suspension  was  as- 
cribed to  the  following  causes : 

In  1873,  when  the  panic  came,  the  bank  found  itself 
in  possession  of  many  securities,  real  and  personal, 
which  at  the  time  were  fully  up  to  the  values  for 
which  they  were  pledged.  Subsequently  the  shrink- 
age in  values  was  so  great  that  the  assets  could  not  be 
kept  up  to  the  standard.  This  depreciation  was  all 
the  more  severely  felt  because  of  the  general  depres- 
sion in  trade  during  the  previous  three  years,  which 
had  prevented  all  the  banks  of  the  country  from  mak- 
ing the  profits  of  former  years.  The  bank  had  a  good 
record  as  a  promoter  of  public  enterprises.  It  took 
corporation  loans,  it  aided  the  building  of  railroads 
within  the  State  borders,  it  subscribed  liberally  to 
the  stock  of  the  new  Merchants'  Exchange,  and  it  as- 
sisted the  tunnel  and  bridge  enterprises  and  the  Eads 


BANKS,  AND   OTHER   FINANCIAL   INSTITUTIONS,  AND   BANKERS. 


1389 


jetties.  No  city  or  county  or  State  loan  was  offered 
in  the  market  but  that  the  bank  made  bids.  At  the 
time  of  the  failure  its  board  of  directors  was  composed 
of  J.  H.  Britton,  president ;  Barton  Bates,  vice-pres- 
ident ;  James  B.  Eads,  John  B.  Henderson,  N.  S. 
Chouteau,  J.  S.  Walsh,  C.  F.  Burns,  Web  M.  Samuel, 
and  H.  S.  Mills. 

The  Exchange  Bank  was  chartered  in  1856,  with 
a  capital  of  five  hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  was 
one  of  the  few  institutions  of  its  kind  that  did  not 
reorganize  under  the  national  banking  laws.  Books 
for  subscriptions  to  the  stock  were  opened  on  the  21st 
of  March,  1857.  at  the  office  of  Bogy,  Miltenberger 
&  Co.,  and  the  advance  notice  of  the  fact  was  signed 
by  the  following  corporators  and  commissioners : 
Lewis  V.  Bogy,  Andrew  Christy,  Edward  Cabot, 
Joseph  S.  Pease,  Samuel  B.  Wiggins,  M.  L.  Jackson, 
L.  Dorsheimer,  Bartholomew  Rice. 

On  the  9th  of  October,  1857,  the  stockholders 
elected  as  directors  Lewis-  V.  Bogy,  Louis  Dorsheimer, 
Joseph  S.  Pease,  M.  W.  Warne,  E.  Schneider,  J.  W. 
Spalding,  John  D.  Perry,  John  T.  Douglass,  Louis  C. 
Herschberg,  A.  Berthold,  A.  M.  Waterman,  Stephen 
Hoyt,  J.  B.  Osborn.  On  the  llth  of  the  same 
month  Lewis  V.  Bogy  was  elected  president.  In 
1869  the  bank  erected  a  building  at  217  North  Third 
Street,  and  removed  from  its  old  location  opposite  the 
custom-house.  In  1874,  Joseph  Bogy  was  elected 
president.  The  Exchange  Bank,  and  its  New  York 
correspondent,  the  Chemical  Bank,  were  the  only 
banks  which  did  not  suspend  specie  payment  in  their 
circulation.  This  bank  always  paid  coin  in  redeeming 
its  bank  notes. 

The  Merchants'  National  Bank  was  organized  as 
a  State  bank  in  1857,  the  notice  of  the  opening  of 
books  for  subscriptions,  issued  in  March  of  that  year, 
reading  as  follows : 

"MERCHANTS'  BANK. — Books  for  subscription  to  the  capital 
stock  of  this  bank  will  be  opened  on  Wednesday,  the  18th  of 
March,  1857,  at  the  office  of  the  Millers'  and  Manufacturers' 
Insurance  Company,  on  the  corner  of  Main  and  Pine  Streets, 
and  will  remain  open  from  9  o'clock  A.M.  until  4  o'clock  P.M.  of 
each  day,  until  Tuesday,  the  31st  inst. 

"  Parties  subscribing  will  be  obliged  to  pay  to  the  committee 
of  corporators  ten  per  cent,  in  gold  and  silver  coin  at  the  time 
of  subscribing,  and  the  residue  at  such  times  as  may  be  required 
by  the  directors  during  the  ensuing  twelve  months. 

"Corporators. — James  E.  Yeatman,  William  G.  Clark,  Thorn- 
ton Grimsley,  B.  M.  Runyan,  R.  M.  Parks,  William  T.  Christy, 
Robert  Campbell,  John  A.  Brownlee,  John  G.  MeCune,  D.  A. 
January,  Joseph  Charless,  William  M.  Morrison,  Henry  T. 
Blow." 

In  April,  1857,  the  organization  was  effected  by  the 
election  of  the  following  directors:  John  A.  Brown- 
lee,  Joseph  Charless,  William  M.  Morrison,  William  L. 


Ewing,  Thomas  T.  Day,  P.  R.  McCreery,  D.  A.  Janu- 
ary, James  E.  Yeatman,  E.  C.  Sloan,  B.  M.  Runyan, 
L.  Levering,  R.  Campbell,  J.  W.  Luke.  John  A. 
Brownlee  was  chosen  president,  and  R.  F.  Barry  cash- 
ier. Five  months  later,  on  the  1st  of  September,  the 
bank  went  into  operation.  On  April  23,  1861,  the 
directors  passed  a  resolution  tendering  to  the  State 
authorities  a  loan,  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  the 
State  to  take  measures  for  a  more  efficient  organiza- 
tion of  the  militia  and  to  provide  arms  for  defense. 

On  July  31,  1863,  Robert  K.  Woods  was  elected 
cashier  to  succeed  R.  F.  Barry,  resigned. 

In  1865  the  institution  was  reorganized  under  the 
national  banking  law  as  a  national  bank.  W.  L.  Ewing 
was  elected  president,  and  James  E.  Yeatman  cashier. 
The  presidents  since  the  reorganization  have  been  as 
follows :  W.  L.  Ewing,  elected  in  1865  and  served 
until  1866,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Robert  Camp- 
bell, who  served  one  year,  when  Mr.  Ewing  was  again 
elected  and  served  for  a  similar  term,  being  succeeded 
by  George  L.  Stansbury  in  1869.  Mr.  Stansbury 
served  until  1872,  when  he  retired  and  C.  B.  Par- 
sons was  chosen  in  his  place.  In  1874,  James  E. 
Yeatman  was  elected  president,  and  still  retains  the 
position.  The  cashiers  have  been  James  E.  Yeat- 
man, elected  in  1865  and  served  until  1874;  Robert 
Eagle,  elected  in  1874  and  served  until  1878  ;  James 
C.  Moore,  the  present  incumbent,  chosen  in  1878. 
The  bank  is  now  located  on  the  corner  of  Locust 
and  Third  Streets.  The  present  capital  stock  is 
$700,000  ;  surplus  and  dividend  profits,  $157,254. 

The  present  officers  are  James  E.  Yeatman,  presi- 
dent ;  L.  Levering,  vice-president ;  James  C.  Moore, 
cashier ;  Directors,  James  E.  Yeatman,  A.  F.  Shap- 
leigh,  E.  C.  Sterling,  L.  Levering,  J.  L.  Sloss, 
Thomas  Rankin,  Jr.,  John  O'Fallon,  David  Rankin, 
H.  T.  Simon,  E.  A.  Hitchcock,  John  A.  Walsh, 
and  H.  L.  Newman. 

The  Bank  of  Commerce  was  organized  March  28, 
1857,  by  John  F.  Darby,  Lawrason  Riggs,  Carlos  S. 
Greeley,  Felix  Coste,  Marshall  Brotherton,  Henry 
Hassinger,  and  William  H.  Maurice.  It  was  incor- 
porated under  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly  of 
Missouri  as  a  State  bank,  Feb.  14,  1857,  the  incor- 
porators  being  Asa  Wilgus,  A.  P.  Ladew,  George  M. 
Moore,  W.  H.  Morris,  Clark  J.  Morton,  William 
Hassinger,  John  F.  Darby,  and  Josiah  G.  McClellan. 
The  bank  was  opened  for  business  July  6,  1857, 
having  for  its  board  of  officers  Marshall  Brotherton, 
president ;  R.  M.  Funkhouser,  vice-president ;  and  A. 
P.  Ladew,  secretary  and  treasurer.  The  different 
presidents  of  the  bank  were  elected  in  the  following 
order :  Marshall  Brotherton,  elected  March  28, 1857  ; 


1390 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


Felix  Coste,  elected  Nov.  11,  1857;  Henry  J.  Reed, 
elected  Jan.  14,  1874 ;  and  C.  B.  Burnham,  elected 
Jan.  13,  1875.  Mr.  Burnham  still  retains  the  posi- 
tion. The  bank  was  originally  located  at  No.  202 
North  Second  Street,  and  was  removed  in  1872  to  the 
corner  of  Fourth  and  Olive  Streets.  The  institution 
was  organized  originally  as  a  building  and  savings  as- 
sociation, under  the  title  of  the  "  St.  Louis  Building 
and  Savings  Association,"  with  an  authorized  capital 
of  §500,000,  and  a  liberal  charter,  which  also  gave  it 
banking  privileges.  On  Jan.  1,  1869,  the  name  was 
changed  to  that  of  the  "  Bank  of  Commerce."  The 
original  capital  was  paid  in  at  the  rate  of  $2.50  per 
month  per  share,  and  at  the  end  of  the  first  six 
months  amounted  to  $15,105.50  in  cash.  On  Jan. 
1,  1864,  the  capital  was  $200,000,  which  was  after- 
wards increased  to  $300,000  on  July  1,  1864.  In 
1866  the  stockholders  voted  to  discontinue  the  pay- 
ment of  dividends  and  allow  the  profits  to  remain  in 
the  reserve  fund  of  the  association  for  five  years,  and 
in  1871  again  voted  to  continue  the  non-dividend 
policy  indefinitely.  On  July  1,  1878,  the  payment 
of  dividends  was,  at  the  request  of  the  stockholders, 
resumed ;  the  accumulated  earnings  to  the  credit  of 
the  reserve  fund  at  that  date  amounted  to  $775,000, 
which  with  the  capital  of  $300,000  gave  the  bank 
$1,075,000  of  its  own  funds  in  the  business. 

On  July  1,  1882,  the  reserve  fund  amounted  to 
$900,000,  and  the  bank  sold  the  remaining  two  thou- 
sand shares  of  stock  to  its  shareholders  at  $400  per 
share,  making  its  capital  stock  July  1, 1882,  $500,000, 
and  the  reserve  fund  $1,500,000,  being  a  total  capital 
of  $2.000,000. 

The  present  officers  are  C.  B.  Burnham,  president ; 
Nathan  Cole,  vice-president ;  and  J.  C.  Van  Blarcom. 
cashier.  The  directors  are  James  W.  Bell,  C.  B. 
Burnham,  G.  W.  Chadbournc,  Nathan  Cole,  Samuel 
M.  Dodd,  George  J.  Plant,  W.  H.  Pulsifer,  W.  H. 
Thompson,  and  John  Whittaker. 

The  Mechanics'  Bank  of  St.  Louis  was  incor- 
porated under  the  general  laws  of  Missouri  in  1857, 
and  in  March  of  that  year  notice  was  given  that 
on  Thursday,  March  19,  1857,  books  for  the  sub- 
scription to  the  capital  stock  would  be  opened  at  the 
room  of  the  Mechanics'  and  Manufacturers'  Exchange, 
on  Chestnut  Street,  between  Third  and  Fourth 
Streets,  and  would  remain  open  from  nine  in  the 
morning  until  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  each 
day  until  Monday,  the  30th  day  of  March. 

The  notice  was  signed  by  Charles  H.  Peck,  B.  W. 
Alexander,  Bernard  Bryan,  John  C.  Evans,  N.  M. 
Ludlow,  D.  K.  Ferguson,  J.  W.  Thornburgh,  S  C. 
Hunt,  L.  D.  Baker,  R.  M.  Parks,  Oliver  A.  Hart, 


John  Evill,  William  S.  Cuddy,  G.  I.  Barnett,  John 
M.  Wimer,  incorporators. 

The  bank  was  opened  for  business  in  November, 
1857,  being  then  located  on  the  corner  of  Third  and 
Chestnut  Streets.  Joseph  Charless  was  elected  the 

I  first  president  in    1857,  and  his  successors  in  order 
were  J.  W.  Wills,  Oliver  Garrison,  and  D.  K.  Fergu- 

j  son.     The  first  cashier  was  J.  W.  Wills,  his  succes- 
sors being  Charles  Everts,  George  T.  Hulse,  and  R. 

:  R.  Hutchinson,  the  present  incumbent. 

The  institution  has  always  transacted  business 
under  a  charter  from  the  State  of  Missouri.  This 
bank  is  now  located  on  the  corner  of  Second  and 
Pine  Streets. 

The  last  annual  statement  of  Dec.  15,  1882,  makes 
the  following  exhibit : 

Resources. 

Loans  and  discounts $1,891,603.85 

Real  estate 9,513.29 

Sight  exchange 360,074.74 

Cash...* 621,560.17 


$2,882,752.05 


Liabilities. 


Capital  stock $600,000.00 

Undivided  earnings 129,871.39 

Unclaimed  dividends 1,971.00 

n         ..    ( Individual,  $1,955,425.33  )        „  ,  ,n  ofto  „.. 
Deposits  «  T,      ,  -in-  AQI  oo  f  ••     2,150, 909. 60 

(  Banks,  19o,484.33  j 

$2,882,752.05 

The  officers  during  1882  were  D.  K.  Ferguson, 
president;  J.  W.  Branch,  vice-president;  R.  R. 
Hutchinson,  cashier  ;  Directors,  Oliver  Garrison,  R. 
M.  Parks,  John  G.  Wells,  E.  N.  Leeds,  D.  R.  Gar- 
rison, R.  Sellew,  D.  K.  Ferguson,  Joseph  W.  Branch, 
John  N.  Booth,  R.  B.  Whitmore,  Benj.  B.  Graham, 
and  W.  L.  Wickham. 

Joseph  Charless  was  born  in  Lexington,  Ky., 
Jan.  17,  1804.  His  father,  Joseph  Charless,  was  a 
!  native  of  Westmeath,  Ireland,  where  he  was  born 
July  16,  1772.  The  family  was  originally  of  Wales, 
from  which  principality  John  Charles  emigrated  to 
Ireland  in  1663.  Joseph  Charles  the  elder  was  im- 
plicated, with  Emmet,  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald,  and 
other  noble  spirits,  in  the  Irish  rebellion  of  1795, 
upon  the  failure  of  which  he  fled  to  France,  whence 
he  soon  emigrated  to  the  United  States,  landing  in 
New  York  in  1796.  To  maintain  the  familiar  Euro- 
pean dissyllabic  pronunciation  of  his  name  he  added 
a  final  s  to  its  spelling,  and  thus  Charles  became 
i  Charless. 

Joseph  Charless  the  elder  was  a  printer  by  trade, 
made  his  home  in  Philadelphia,  and  found  employ- 
ment with  Matthew  Carey,  the  publisher,  himself  an 
Irish  patriot  and  refugee,  a  man  of  warm  heart  and 
generous  impulses,  a  creator  of  public  opinion,  a  friend 


BANKS,  AND   OTHER   FINANCIAL   INSTITUTIONS,  AND   BANKERS. 


1391 


of  Franklin,  Lafayette,  Washington,  and  Henry  Clay, 
and  a  hater  of  everything  English,  from  William 
Cobbett  to  Manchester  cottons.  Carey  was  a  great 
favorer  of  "  the  American  system"  of  protection  to 
American  industries  (he  was  the  father  of  Henry  C. 
Carey),  and  it  was  probably  through  his  acquaintance 
with  Clay  that  the  senior  Charless  was  induced  to  re- 
move to  Kentucky.  In  1798  he  had  married  Mrs. 
Sarah  McCloud,  a  widow  with  one  child, — her  maiden 
name  being  Jordan,  born  Jan.  28,  1771,  at  Wilming- 
ton, Del.  He  moved  to  Lexington  in  1800,  and  to 
Louisville  in  1806,  coming  finally  to  St.  Louis  in 
1808,  where  he  founded  the  Missouri  Gazette,  the 
first  newspaper  published  in  St.  Louis  and  west  of  the 
Mississippi,  a  journal  which  still  flourishes  in  vigorous 
usefulness  and  widespread  influence  as  the  Republican 
of  St.  Louis. 

Joseph  Charless  the  elder  was  a  man  full  of  all  good 
qualities,  honored  and  respected  by  all  who  knew 
him ;  simple  in  manner  and  habit,  an  impulsive, 
warm-hearted,  generous  Irish  gentleman,  hospitable 
to  a  degree,  and  brimful  of  cheery  humor.  He  lived 
to  be  sixty-two  years  old,  while  his  widow  died  at  the 
age  of  eighty-one,  outliving  all  her  children  but  one, 
Joseph,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  and  all  her  grand- 
children except  two. 

Joseph  Charless  the  second,  the  fourth  child  of  his 
parents,  was  vei-y  early  put  to  "  the  case"  and  taught 
the  rudiments  of  the  printer's  trade  in  his  father's 
office.  Then,  an  academy  having  been  started  in  St. 
Louis,  he  was  sent  there  to  complete  his  education  ; 
began  the  study  of  law  under  Francis  Spalding,  a 
leading  member  of  the  bar  of  St.  Louis,  and  finished 
his  studies  in  the  law  school  of  Transylvania  Uni- 
versity, Lexington,  Ky. 

A  profession,  however,  was  not  to  his  taste,  and  his 
father  having  sold  out  his  interest  in  the  Missouri 
Gazette  and  gone  into  the  wholesale  drug  business, 
Joseph  became  his  partner  in  1828,  and  from  that 
time  was  a  prominent  man  among  the  merchants  of 
St.  Louis.  Joseph  Charless,  Sr.,  died  in  1834,  his 
son  persuading  him  on  his  death-bed  to  alter  his  will 
and  make  an  equal  partition  of  the  estate,  which  he 
intended  bequeathing  all  to  his  favorite  son,  Joseph. 
This  act  was  characteristic  of  the  whole  life  of  Mr. 
Charless,  in  whom  the  spirit  of  justice  was  instinctive. 
The  tender  and  beautiful  little  "  Memorial"  of  his 
domestic  life,  prepared  for  her  grandchildren  by  his 
widow,  unconsciously  reflects  this  trait  in  his  character 
on  every  page.  This  venerable  lady,  still  surviving,  is 
Charlotte,  daughter  of  Capt.  Peter  Blow,  a  veteran  of 
the  war  of  1812.  Her  mother  was  formerly  a  Miss 
Taylor,  and  both  her  parents  were  Virginians  of  the 


old  stock.  They  had  emigrated  from  Virginia,  and, 
after  farming  in  Alabama  and  elsewhere,  came  to  St. 
Louis  in  May,  1830.  Miss  Blow  became  the  wife  of 
Joseph  Charless,  Nov.  8,  1831. 

Joseph  Charless  was  closely  attentive  to  business  all 
his  life,  not  content  merely  to  maintain  his  house  at 
a  paying  level,  but  striving  always  to  extend  its  con 
nections  and  clientele,  and  increase  the  number  and 
scope  of  its  operations,  going  from  jobbing  to  import- 
ing, and  from  importing  to  manufacturing.  But  he 
was  a  public  man  at  the  same  time  in  the  truest  sense, 
not  as  a  politician  and  office-holder,  but  as  a  represen- 
tative and  promoter  of  public  business  interests.  He 
had  little  to  do  with  politics,  though  always  an  earnest 
Old-Line  Whig  ;  but  he  took  a  leading  part  in  muni- 
cipal councils,  just  as  he  made  himself  prominent  in 
church  and  Sunday-school, — he  was  a  Presbyterian 
and  an  elder, — as  a  matter  of  public  duty ;  he  took 
his  place  in  the  board  of  aldermen,  among  the  directors 
of  the  public  schools,  and  was  a  railroad  director  and 
bank  president.  The  State  appointed  him  president 
of  the  Bank  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  and  he  was 
president  of  the  Mechanics'  Bank,  and  director  of 
the  Pacific  Railroad  at  the  time  of  his  sudden  death, 
besides  being  one  of  the  most  active  men  in  the 
city  in  encouraging  the  founding  of  the  City  Uni- 
versity. Mr.  Charless  was  loved  and  cherished  by  a 
very  large  circle  of  business  friends,  acquired  in  the 
domestic  sphere  in  which  he  shone,  in  the  church,  the 
school  board,  the  bank,  and  the  business  connections 
of  the  extensive  house  of  Charless,  Blow  &  Co.,  of 
which  he  was  the  head.  His  personal  integrity  and 
worth,  his  high  business  standing,  his  skill  and  probity 
in  all  sorts  of  affairs  earned  him  the  respect  and  con- 
fidence of  the  entire  community  ;  they  looked  to  him 
as  a  leader,  and  he  never  hesitated  to  take  the  lead  in 
every  creditable  and  honorable  enterprise  for  advanc- 
ing the  interests  of  St.  Louis.  He  contributed  his 
money  freely  to  all  these,  and  he  was  quick  to  see  the 
advantages  of  every  solid  scheme  of  public  improve- 
ment. He  gave  liberally  and  wisely  in  benevolence ; 
in  charity,  in  ministering  to  the  sick,  the  suffering, 
and  the  needy  his  purse  was  always  open,  and  his 
personal  services  always  employed. 

Mr.  Charless  was  a  man  of  deep,  unaffected  piety 
in  all  the  walks  of  life,  a  consistent  and  active  Chris- 
tian at  church,  at  home,  in  society,  and  business 
alike.  His  conformity  was  steadfast  and  consistent, 
without  making  him  strait-laced  or  austere.  His 
manners  were  gentle,  polite,  and  all  that  the  winning 
benevolence  and  generous  nobility  of  his  face  and 
bearing  promised ;  he  was  kindliness  and  courtesy 
personified,  and  he  had  no  enemies.  He  never  made 


1392 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


any  enemies  except  one,  the  man  whose  dastard  ma- 
lignity turned  him  into  an  assassin.  This  man,  Jo- 
seph W.  Thornton,  was  hanged  Nov.  11,  1859,  and 
Joseph  Charless  forgave  his  deed,  though  his  fellow- 
citizens  and  the  law  could  not  do  so.  Thornton  had 
been  defendant  in  a  criminal  action,  in  which  it  be- 
came Mr.  Charless'  duty  to  bear  witness  against  him. 
Charless  told  only  what  he  knew,  what  the  law 
compelled  him  to  reveal,  and  it  must  have  been  an 
ungrateful  task  to  a  man  of  his  gentle  disposition ; 
but  Thornton  never  forgave  him,  always  declaring 
that  Charless'  testimony  had  ruined  his  prospects  and 
deprived  him  of  his  livelihood,  which  indeed  was  the 
consequence  of  his  own  act,  not  what  Charless  bore 
witness  to.  He  brooded  over  it,  and  at  last  waylaid 
him  on  June  3,  1859,  and  fired  two  shots  at  him. 
This  was  on  Market  Street,  between  Third  and  Fourth 
Streets.  The  first  shot  prostrated  the  victim,  and  as 
he  fell  the  assassin  fired  another  shot  at  him,  all  with-  ! 
out  a  word  of  warning.  Such  a  feeling  of  intense 
indignation  was  aroused  at  this  wretched  deed  that 
the  military  had  to  be  called  out  to  preserve  order 
and  save  Thornton  from  lynching.  Mr.  Charless 
died,  after  twenty-four  hours'  great  suffering,  with  the 
peace  and  composure  of  the  Christian  always  ready 
for  any  summons,  no  matter  how  sudden. 

The  painful  tragedy  of  Mr.  Charless'  death  and  the 
great  love  and  esteem  in  which  he  was  held  by  all  his 
fellow-citizens  led  to  a  more  than  usually  solemn  and 
imposing  funeral.  An  immense  concourse  of  people 
was  present  in  and  around  the  Second  Presbyterian 
Church,  in  which  he  had  worshiped,  and  all  there 
were  mourners  and  filled  with  feelings  of  profound 
sympathy  for  his  bereaved  family.  The  pall-bearers, 
headed  by  John  O'Fallon,  consisted  of  James  H. 
Lucas,  Edward  Bates,  H.  R.  Gamble,  Robert  Camp- 
bell. John  Simonds,  Wm.  W.  Greene,  Thornton 
Griiusley,  Geo.  K.  McGunnegle,  Edward  Walsh,  N. 
Paschall,  Charles  Keemle,  B.  F.  Edwards,  Wm.  Nis- 
bet,  I.  W.  Willis,  and  Chas.  S.  Rannels.  The  banks, 
churches,  railroad  companies,  and  all  the  other  finan- 
cial, benevolent,  and  religious  associations  with  which 
Mr.  Charless  had  so  long  and  intimately  been  con- 
nected passed  resolutions  of  condolence  and  sympathy, 
and  the  whole  community,  roused  to  its  depths  by  such 
a  sad  and  untimely  taking  off,  did  not  stint  to  express 
its  consciousness  of  the  great  loss  it  had  sustained  in 
the  death  of  so  honored,  trusted,  and  useful  a  citi- 
zen. . 

The  St.  Louis  National  Bank  was  established  in 
the  spring  of  1857,  under  the  name  of  the  Bank  of 
St.  Louis.  The  original  notice  of  the  opening  of  the 
subscription  books  read  as  follows : 


"  Notice  is  hereby  given  that  on  Wednesday,  the  18th  day  of 
March,  1857,  we  will  open  books  for  the  subscription  to  the  capi- 
tal stock  of  the  Bank  of  St.  Louis,  at  the  office  of  John  J.  An- 
derson &  Co.,  corner  of  Main  and  Olive  Streets,  in  the  city  of 
St.  Louis,  and  they  will  remain  open  from  nine  in  the  morning 
until  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  each  day  until  Saturday, 
the  26th  day  of  March. 

"  All  persons  subscribing  will  be  required  to  pay  ten  per  cent, 
in  gold  and  silver,  and  the  balance  at  such  time  and  in  such 
amounts  as  may  be  required  by  the  directors  ;  it  being  provided, 
however,  according  to  the  charter,  that  the  whole  amount  shall 
be  paid  within  one  year  from  the  date  of  subscription. 

"  Corporators. — John  J.  Anderson,  John  G.  Priest,  George 
Knapp,  A.  P.  Ladew,  D.  S.  Senter,  Madison  Miller,  Joseph 
Widen,  Stephen  Haskel,  James  Harrison,  Taylor  Blow. 

"ST.  Louis,  March  3,  1857." 

The  original  directors  were  John  Simonds,  A.  G. 
Switzer,  Frederick  Meyer,  George  B.  Sanderson, 
George  S.  McClure,  Henry  T.  Mudd,  George  R. 
Robinson,  Morris  Collins,  William  Lucas,  L.  M. 
Kennett,  J.  B.  S.  Lemoine,  S.  B.  Wiggins,  T.  A. 
Buckland.  John  J.  Anderson  was  elected  president, 
and  John  Brown  cashier.  The  bank  began  operations 
Dec.  15,  1857. 

Towards  the  close  of  1860,  R.  P.  Hanenkamp, 
afterwards  city  comptroller  of  St.  Louis,  was  elected 
president,  and  held  the  position  for  three  years,  at 
the  end  of  which  William  E.  Burr  was  chosen  his 
successor.  Mr.  Burr  has  continued  in  the  manage- 
ment of  the  bank  ever  since. 

In  1865  the  institution  was  changed  to  a  national 
bank,  and  became  known  as  the  St.  Louis  National 
Bank.  Its  incorporators  as  a  national  bank  were 
William  E.  Burr,  James  H.  Wear,  R.  P.  Hanen- 
kamp, John  F.  Tolle,  Benjamin  Stickney,  Thomas 
Ferguson,  Joseph  Garneau,  and  N.  Schaeffer.  The 
officers  at  this  time  were  William  E.  Burr,  president ; 
James  H.  Wear,  Benjamin  Stickney,  Thomas  Fergu- 
son, R.  P.  Hanenkamp,  Joseph  Garneau,  William 
Ballentine,  N.  Schaeffer,  John  F.  Tolle,  directors; 
and  Louis  C.  Billon,  cashier. 

The  bank,  as  originally  operated,  was  located  on 
Chestnut  Street,  between  Main  and  Second  Streets, 
and  was  well  patronized  from  the  beginning.  When 
changed  to  the  St.  Louis  National  Bank  in  1865  it 
was  removed  to  the  building  on  Olive  Street,  opposite 
the  post-office.  Having  sold  that  building,  it  moved 
in  1875  to  its  present  commodious  quarters  in  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  building.  The  government 
funds  collected  in  the  city  and  in  a  large  extent  of 
surrounding  country  are  all  deposited  in  this  bank, 
together  with  all  the  collections  of  the  internal  rev- 
enue office,  as  well  as  those  of  the  post-office  and  the 
bankrupt  courts. 

The  annual  statement  of  the  bank,  Dec.  31,  1881, 
1  showed  its  resources  to  be  S3, 143, 876. 82 ;  capital 


BANKS;  AND   OTHER   FINANCIAL   INSTITUTIONS,  AND   BANKERS. 


1393 


stock  paid  in,  $500,000  ;  surplus  fund,  $56,335.44  ; 
undivided  profits,  $36,902.80 ;  deposits,  $581,305.39 ; 
United  States  deposits,  $110,913.63. 

The  officers  for  1882  were  William  E.  Burr,  presi- 
dent;  J.  G.  Chapman,  Nathan  Cole,  S.  H.  Laflin,  H. 
McKittrick,  F.  Mitchell,  James  M.  Nelson,  S.  A. 
Bemis,  James  H.  Wear,  directors ;  and  John  Nicker- 
son,  cashier. 

The  First  National  Bank  of  St.  Louis  was  or-  | 
ganized  in  October,  1863,  and  began  operations  on 
the  10th  of  that  month  in  its  new  building  at  the  j 
junction  of  Fifth  Street  and  Carondelet  Avenue, 
with  the  following  officers :  President,  F.  W.  Cronen- 
bold ;  Vice-President,  Christian  Staehlin ;  Cashier, 
Peter  Weiss ;  Directors,  F.  W.  Cronenbold,  Christian 
Staehlin,  James  Harrison,  Bernhard  Heidacker,  Henry 
Kalbfleisch,  William  Lemp,  Francis  A.  Lorenz,  George 
Gehrke,  and  Henry  Steinmeyer.  The  amount  of  stock 
subscribed  at  this  time  was  over  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars.  In  1871  some  of  the  officers  became  involved 
and  the  bank  changed  its  name  to  the  Empire  Bank. 
Mr.  Kalbfleisch  was  elected  president.  It  continued 
under  the  same  directors  until  1876,  when  the  busi- 
ness was  turned  over  to  the  Lafayette  Bank.  A 
handsome  building  was  erected  at  the  junction  of 
Fifth  and  Merchant  Streets  for  the  First  National 
Bank. 

The  Lafayette  Bank  was  organized  in  1876,  with 
a  paid  in  capital  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars. 
The  incorporators  were  F.  Arendes,  H.  Ziegenhein, 
Charles  B.  Stuever,  William  Hahn,  and  Philip  W. 
Schneider.  F.  Arendes  was  the  first  president,  H. 
Ziegenhein  vice-president,  and  F.  Lesser  cashier. 
The  first  directors  were  the  incorporators.  The  origi- 
nal location  was  the  corner  of  Carroll  Street  and  Ca- 
rondelet Avenue.  From  here  it  was  removed  to  its 
present  location,  at  the  junction  of  Fifth  and  Mer- 
chant Streets.  The  present  officers  are  F.  Arendes, 
president;  H.  Zeigenhein,  vice-president;  and  P.  J. 
Doerr,  cashier;  Directors,  F.  Arendes,  H.  Ziegen- 
hein, Charles  B.  Stuever,  W.  Hahn,  and  Philip  W. 
Schneider. 

The  Second  National  Bank  was  organized  in  De-  j 
cember.  1863,  with  a  capital  of  $200,000,  with  the 
privilege  of  increasing  it  to  $1 ,000,000.  The  first  board 
of  directors  was  composed  of  T.  B.  Edgar,  George  H. 
Rea,  S.  Rich,  George  P.  Plant,  Morris  Taussig,  J. 
0.  Pierce,  E.  0.  Stanard,  Charles  Holmes,  and  Wm. 
Smith.  T.  B.  Edgar  was  chosen  president,  and  E. 
D.  Jones,  of  the  Exchange  Bank,  cashier.  The  bank 
began  business  in  January,  1864.  It  immediately  be- 
came conspicuous  in  its  services  in  placing  the  popu- 
lar loans  of  7-30's,  5-20's,  and  10-40's,  and  handled 


a  larger  amount  of  these  securities  than  any  other 
bank  in  St.  Louis.  The  bank  declared  its  first  div- 
idend May,  1864,  and  in  July,  1868,  gave  to  its 
stockholders  a  fifty  per  cent,  dividend  in  stock,  mak- 
ing the  capital  $300,000. 

During  a  period  of  ten  years  its  dividends  amounted 
in  the  aggregate  to  $370,175,  ranging  from  five  to 
six  per  cent,  semi-annually,  up  to  July,  1873,  at 
which  time  it  suspended  the  payment  of  dividends, 
preferring  to  let  the  accumulations  remain  for  the 
benefit  of  increasing  business. 

The  Third  National  Bank  of  St.  Louis  was  orig- 
inally chartered  by  the  General  Assembly  of  Mis- 
souri for  1856-57  as  the  Southern  Bank  of  St. 
Louis,  with  a  capital  of  $1,000,000.  The  incor- 
porators were  James  S.  Watson,  James  H.  Britton, 
Abner  Hood,  Wm.  J.  McElhinney,  and  Wm.  T. 
Wood.  On  the  6th  of  April,  1857,  the  following  per- 
sons were  elected  directors : 

Robert  M.  Funkhouser,  John  J.  Roe,  Samuel  K. 
Wilson,  Abner  Hood,  E.  B.  Kimball,  Charles  Miller, 
Wm.  H.  Barksdale,  John  J.  Mudd,  E.  F.  Pittman, 
John  R.  Lionberger,  Wm.  J.  McElhinney,  James  S. 
Watson,  James  H.  Britton.  This  board  subsequently 
elected  as  officers  James  S.  Watson,  president ;  James 
H.  Britton,  cashier;  George  0.  Atherton,  teller;  B. 
W.  Dudley,  general  book-keeper  ;  Thomas  A.  Stod- 
dart,  individual  book-keeper. 

The  bank  began  operations  June  16,  1857,  on 
Pine  Street,  near  Main,  with  $110,600  of  paid  in 
stock.  In  February,  1859,  President  Watson  died, 
and  on  March  14th  following,  E.  B.  Kimball  was 
elected  his  successor. 

James  S.  Watson  was  born  at  Jackson,  Tenn.,  Sept. 
17,  1815.  Of  his  early  career  little  is  recorded.  He 
is  understood  to  have  lived  some  years  in  Kentucky ; 
and  about  1839  removed  to  St.  Louis,  where  he  was 
employed  for  some  time  as  clerk.  He  then  went  to 
St.  Charles,  Mo.,  where  he  was  similarly  occupied,  and 
where,  March  25,  1841,  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Alby  A.  Easton.  In  November,  1842,  he  was  elected 
chief  clerk  of  the  lower  house  of  the  Legislature. 
Under  the  firm-name  of  Watson  &  Yosti,  he  for  some 
time  transacted  business  at  Boonville,  Mo.,  where  he 
made  an  excellent  record  as  an  honorable  and  success- 
ful business  man.  In  December,  1849,  he  entered 
into  partnership  in  the  wholesale  boot  and  shoe  busi- 
ness with  Thomas  E.  Tutt  at  St.  Louis.  This  part- 
nership continued  five  years,  the  firm  transacting  a 
large  and  profitable  business. 

Mr.  Watson  was  one  of  the  passengers  on  the  train 
that  met  with  the  fearful  casualty  at  the  Gasconade 
bridge,  whereby  many  persons  lost  their  lives,  and'  he 


1394 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


was  so  badly  injured  that  his  life  was  despaired  of. 
Having  a  fine  constitution  he  rallied  sufficiently  to  be 
able  to  engage  in  business  again,  but,  while  traveling 
eastward  and  when  near  Philadelphia,  he  was  again 
almost  killed  by  a  collision.  For  the  second  time  he 
apparently  recovered,  and  resumed  business  with  his 
usual  energy  and  perseverance,  but  he  never  fully  re- 
gained his  strength,  and  his  death,  which  occurred  at 
New  Orleans,  Feb.  25,  1859,  was  doubtless  hastened 
by  the  injuries  which  he  sustained  in  these  two 
accidents. 

Mr.  Watson's  bus-       _- 

in  ess  career  in  Mis- 
souri appears  to  have  _ 
been  uniformly  suc- 
cessful, and  in  St. 
Louis  he  was  a  leader 
in  whatever  he  un- 
dertook. He  was 
public-spirited,  and 
took  a  deep  interest 
in  politics.  Hissym- 
pathies  were  with  the 
Democratic  party, 
and  he  enjoyed  the 
friendship  and  con- 
fidence of  its  leading 
men  in  Missouri  and 
the  West,  He  had 
great  faith  in  the 
future  of  St.  Louis, 
and  erected  the  first 
dwelling  south  of 
Lafayette  Park. 

There  are  not 
many  of  Mr.  Wat- 
son's contempora- 
ries living,  but  those 
who  remain  testify 
most  cheerfully  to 
his  many  noble 
traits.  He  was  a  true  friend,  an  obliging  neighbor, 
an  accurate  business  man,  a  kind  husband,  and  an 
affectionate  father. 

Mr.  Watson  was  a  brother-in-law  of  Hon.  Thomas 
L.  Anderson,  Samuel  L.  South.  Archibald  Gamble, 
and  Gen.  L.  C.  Easton,  gentlemen  of  character  and 
prominence  then  and  for  many  years  subsequently.  At 
his  death  he  left  a  wife  and  two  children. 

On  the  2d  of  January,  1864,  the  Southern  Bank 
having  been  changed  into  a  national  bank,  with  a  cash 
capital  of  one  million  dollars,  was  reorganized,  and  be- 
gan'operations  as  the  Third  National  Bank  of  St.  Louis. 


JAMES    S.  WATSON. 


The  directory  under  the  reorganization  consisted  of 
E.  B.  Kimball,  president ;  James  H.  Britton,  cashier  ; 
and  E.  B.  Kimball,  Charles  K.  Dickson,  John  R. 
Lionberger.  James  B.  Eads,  William  N.  Switzer, 
Eugene  Jaccard,  Samuel  R.  Filley,  John  Jackson, 
and  James  H.  Britton,  directors. 

On   March    14,   1864,  Mr.  Kimball  resigned  the 
presidency,  and   James   H.    Britton   was   elected   his 
successor.     On   the  same  day  Thomas  A.   Stoddart 
was  elected  cashier.     Mr.  Britton  served  as  president 
until  Nov.  1,  I860,  when  he  resigned  to  accept  the 
^J===m^_^ presidency    of    the 
National    Bank    of 
the    State   of   Mis- 
souri.    John  R.  Li- 
onberger,   his    suc- 
cessor, resigned  Nov. 
8,    1876,   and    was 
succeeded  by  Thom- 
as E.  Tutt,  the  pres- 
ent chief  executive 
of  the  bank. 

The  bank  was  re- 
moved from  its  orig- 
inal location  on  Pine 
Street  to  Second 
Street  near  Pine, 
and  on  Nov.  25, 
1874,  occupied  its 
new  building,  No. 
417  Olive  Street, 
where  it  still  re- 
mains. This  build- 
ing is  six  stories  in 
height,  with  a  stone 
front,  and  basement 
and  first  floors  fire- 
proof. 

During  its  exist- 
ence this  bank  has 
paid  to  shareholders 

in  dividends  $1,902,540,  of  which  $1,5 12,400  was  de- 
clared and  paid  in  its  character  of  the  Third  National 
Bank. 

The  present  officers  are  Thomas  E.  Tutt,  president ; 
John  R.  Lionberger,  vice-president ;  T.  A.  Stoddart, 
cashier;  Directors,  John  Jackson,  Oliver  B.  Filley, 
John  R.  Lionberger,  Thomas  E.  Tutt,  Leonard  Mat- 
thews, James  W.  Paramore,  W.  T.  Wilkins,  J.  S. 
Walsh.  J.  M.  Franciscus. 

The  Fourth  National  Bank  of  St.  Louis  was  or- 
ganized Feb.  1,  1864.  It  was  chartered  Feb.  26, 
1864,  under  the  general  National  Bank  Act,  and  was 


BANKS,  AND   OTHER   FINANCIAL   INSTITUTIONS,  AND   BANKERS. 


1395 


first  opened  for  business  on  March  22,  1864,  with  a 
capital  stock  paid  in  of  $500,000.  The  incorporators 
were  John  C.  H.  D.  Block,  Joseph  J.  Mersman,  C. 
L.  Holthaus,  John  C.  Nulsen,  F.  E.  Schmieding, 
Francis  Cornett,  John  H.  Kaiser,  Arnold  Hussmann, 
C.  L.  Buschmann,  and  Christian  Peper.  The  first 
board  of  officers  was  composed  of  Joseph  J.  Mersman, 
president ;  John  C.  H.  D.  Block,  vice-president ;  and 
Frederick  W.  Biebinger,  cashier,  the  last  of  whom 
still  holds  the  position.  In  1866,  John  C.  H.  D. 
Block  succeeded  to  the  presidency  of  the  bank,  and 
has  retained  it  ever  since.  When  the  bank  was  first 
organized  it  was  located  on  the  northwest  corner  of 
Third  and  Washington  Streets,  where  it  remained 
until  it  was  removed  to  the  present  location  on  the 
northeast  corner  of  Fourth  and  Washington  Streets.  It 
has  a  capital  paid  in  of  $500,000  ;  surplus  fund,  $200,- 
000;  contingent  fund,  $41,969.21;  and  undivided 
profits  of  $!)!, 607. 41.  The  assets,  consisting  of  United 
States  bonds,  Missouri  State  bonds,  real  estate,  and  - 
other  good  securities,  amount  to  $4,693,013.91. 

The  present  board  of  officers  is  composed  of  John 
C.  H.  D.  Block,  president ;  A.  Hussmann,  vice-presi- 
dent ;  and  F.  W.  Biebinger,  cashier.  The  directors 
are  John  C.  H.  D.  Block,  F.  E.  Schmieding,  Francis 
Cornett,  John  H.  Kaiser,  Arnold  Hussmann,  C.  L. 
Buschmann,  Christian  Peper,  Henry  Grove,  and 
Louis  J.  Holthaus. 

The  Fifth  National  Bank-was  first  organized  in 
1860  under  the  name  of  the  Tenth  Ward  Savings 
Association.  The  incorporators  and  first  directors 
were  Henry  Overstolz,  Thomas  L.  Sturgeon,  Philip 
Stremmel,  Gustavus  Hoffman,  Thomas  M.  Speer, 
James  Stoltebinn,  John  H.  Marquard,  Nicholas 
Hatch,  and  N.  F.  W.  Brentzen.  The  bank  was  first 
located  on  Broadway  and  Exchange  Street.  In  1881 
it  was  again  incorporated  under  the  name  of  the 
Tenth  Ward  Savings- Bank,  the  directors  being  Louis 
Espenschied,  James  Green,  John  H.  Marquard,  Albert 
Schroder,  Theodore  Koch,  Henry  Overstolz,  and  C. 
C.  Crecelius.  Henry  Overstolz  was  the  first  president, 
and  Theodore  Koch  was  the  first  cashier.  In  Janu- 
ary, 1883,  it  was  organized  under  the  National  Bank- 
ing Act  as  the  Fifth  National  Bank,  and  on  January 
10th  opened  for  business  on  the  northeast  corner  of 
Fifth  Street  and  Christy  Avenue.  Henry  Overstolz 
was  chosen  president,  Louis  Espenschied  vice-presi- 
dent, and  C.  C.  Crecelius  cashier.  The  present  di- 
rectors are  Henry  Overstolz,  James  Green,  Louis 
Espenschied,  Otto  D.  Amour,  Conrad  Stauff,  Charles 
Wunderlich.  and  G.  A.  Rubelmann.  The  capital 
stock  is  two  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

The  bank   is  one  of  the  most  flourishing  of  the 


financial  institutions  of  St.  Louis,  and  much  of  its 
success  is  due  to  the  energy,  sound  judgment,  and  busi- 
ness tact  of  its  chief  executive,  Hon.  Henry  Over- 
stolz, who  has  long  been  prominent  among  the 
business  men  of  St.  Louis  for  the  rare  combination 
of  enterprise,  sagacity,  and  prudence  which  he  brings 
to  the  administration  of  affairs  whether  public  or  pri- 
vate. 

The  Continental  Bank  of  St.  Louis  was  chartered 
as  the  National  Loan  Bank  of  St.  -Louis  in  February, 
1865,  and  was  organized  and  went  into  operation  as 
such  in  March,  1866.  The  incorporators  were 
Thomas  O'Reilly,  William  McKee,  Chauncey  I.  Fil- 
ley,  and  Stephen  Ridgely.  The  institution  was  for 
several  years  conducted  as  the  "  National  Loan  Bank," 
but  its  name  was  changed  to  that  of  the  Continental 
Bank,  under  which  name  it  now  transacts  a  general 
banking  business.  The  capital  stock  is  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars ;  surplus,  fifty  thousand  dollars. 
The  first  president  was  T.  B.  Edgar,  who  was  suc- 
ceeded by  George  A.  Baker,  the  present  incumbent. 
W.  H.  Maurice  was  first  chosen  cashier  in  1866,  and 
was  succeeded  by  E.  Karst,  who  held  the  position  for 
a  term  of  years,  and  was  followed  by  W.  P.  Keating, 
who  still  retains  the  position.  The  bank  is  located  at 
No.  411  North  Third  Street.  The  officers  for  1882 
were  George  A.  Baker,  president ;  J.  M.  Thompson, 
vice-president;  W.  P.  Keating,  cashier;  Directors, 
H.  A.  Crawford,  C.  W.  Rogers,  E.  C.  Meacham, 
Oscar  Bradford,  J.  A.  Bartlett,  I.  G.  Baker,  C.  S. 
Freeborn,  J.  W.  Larimore,  and  G.  W.  Parker. 

The  International  Bank  of  St.  Louis  is  a  State 
bank,  and  was  chartered  Feb.  28, 1865,  the  incorpor- 
ators being  Isidor  Bush,  F.  S.  Behrens,  William  C. 
Lange,  August  Leisse,  C.  T.  Uhlmann.  It  was  first 
opened  for  business  Nov.  12,  1866,  with  a  capital  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  at  226  Mar- 
ket Street,  and  was  subsequently  removed  to  its  present 
location,  southeast  corner  Fifth  and  Market  Streets. 
The  resources  of  the  bank,  according  to  a  statement 
made  Dec.  31,  1881,  were  $517,542.07;  capital 
stock  paid  in,  $100,000;  surplus  funds  on  hand, 
$1358.93  ;  deposits,  $395,212.44.  The  first  presi- 
dent was  William  C.  Lange,  who  has  served  ever 
since.  The  directory  for  1882  consisted  of  William 
C.  Lange,  president;  and  Louis  Gottschalk,  Hugo 
Krebs,  P.  A.  Schroth,  G.  J.  Helmerichs,  William  C. 
Lange,  John  P.  Heinrich,  C.  F.  Hermann,  August 
Leisse,  A.  W.  Straub,  directors ;  John  P.  Heinrich, 
secretary. 

The  Commercial  Bank  of  St.  Louis  was  incor- 
porated under  the  general  corporation  laws  of  Missouri, 
March  19,  1866,  and  the  bank  was  opened  for  busi- 


1396 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


ness  during  the  same  month.  The  incorporators  were 
Edward  M.  Samuel,  William  J.  Lewis,  John  M.  Platt, 
John  F.  Baker,  Isaac  S.  Warren,  J.  A.  J.  Aderton, 
George  W.  Rucker,  James  Richardson,  and  Charles 
W.  Reiser.  The  first  officers  were  Edward  M.  Samuel, 
president ;  John  M.  Platt,  vice-president ;  and  J.  W. 
Donaldson,  assistant  cashier.  Mr.  Samuel  continued 
to  act  as  president  of  the  bank  until  his  death,  Sept. 
22,  1869,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  William  J. 
Lewis,  who  was  followed  by  William  Nichols,  the  j 
present  incumbent. 

Edward  Madison  Samuel  belonged  to  a  family  of  j 
Welsh  and  English  descent,  the  Welsh  branch  of 
which  settled  in  Virginia  about  the  year  1700.  From 
thence  they  emigrated  westward,  and  Edward  M. 
Samuel  was  born  in  Henry  County,  Ky.,  Oct.  12, 
1807.  In  1815  the  family  moved  to  Missouri,  where 
the  father  became  quite  prominent,  serving  for  many 
years  as  the  county  clerk  of  Randolph  County.  When 
about  eighteen  young  Samuel  was  placed  in  business 
in  Old  Franklin,  Clay  Co.,  and  in  1829  removed  to 
Liberty,  Clay  Co.,  where  he  engaged  in  mercantile 
pursuits  for  nearly  twenty-five  years,  and  where  he 
lived  for  nearly  forty  years.  He  soon  became  one  of 
the  leading  business  men  of  Northwest  Missouri,  and 
established  a  reputation  for  integrity  and  ability  that 
was  recognized  throughout  the  State. 

In  1829,  Mr.  Samuel  was  appointed  receiver  of 
public  moneys  at  the  land  office  at  Plattsburgh,  a  po- 
sition which  entailed  peculiar  responsibilities.  The 
"  Platte  purchase"  was  included  in  the  district, 
having  then  recently  become  subject  to  pre-emption 
and  settlement.  But  before  the  survey  had  been 
made  settlers  had  flocked  in,  improvements  had  been 
made,  and  the  result  was  an  immense  number  of 
conflicting  claims,  which  it  was  the  province  of  the 
register  and  receiver  to  adjust.  As  a  member  of 
this  court,  Mr.  Samuel  distinguished  himself  as  a  i 
clear-headed  business  man  as  well  as  an  able  and  ; 
impartial  judge. 

In  June,  1853,  he  was  appointed  a  justice  of  the  : 
Clay  County  court,  and  served  as  such  for  somewhat  | 
over  a  year.     In  this  important  position  his  financial 
and  administrative  talents  were  conspicuously  demon- 
strated. 

In  1857,  upon  the  organization  of  the  Liberty 
Branch  of  the  Farmers'  Bank  of  Missouri,  he  was 
elected  its  first  president,  and  was  continuously  re- 
elected  until  his  removal  to  St.  Louis  in  1865. 

On  settling  in  the  metropolis  he  established  the  com- 
mission house  of  E.  M.  Samuel  &  Sous,  his  sons  enter- 
ing the  house  with  him.  Soon  after  he  interested  him- 
self in  the  organization  of  the  Commercial  Bank  of  St.  ' 


Louis,  and,  as  we  have  before  stated,  became  its  first 
president,  retaining  that  position  until  his  death.  As  a 
business  man  he  enjoyed  to  an  unusual  degree  the  con- 
fidence and  respect  of  his  associates,  and  came  to  be  re- 
garded as  a  public-spirited  and  useful  citizen.  Although 
of  delicate  health,  he  was  a  man  of  great  mental  activity 
and  endurance,  and  filled  a  large  space  in  the  com- 
munity. During  his  long  residence  in  Clay  County 
he  contributed  largely  to  every  public  and  religious 
movement.  His  gifts  were  marked  by  a  large-minded 
catholicity.  Thus,  while  for  many  years  a  devoted 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  some  of  his 
largest  contributions  were  in  behalf  of  William  Jewell 
College,  a  Baptist  institution.  His  own  lack  of 
adequate  school  privileges  when  a  boy  made  him  re- 
gard education  with  peculiar  favor,  and  he  was  a 
generous  and  steadfast  friend  of  all  worthy  enter- 
prises in  this  direction.  He  was  also  an  earnest  and 
judicious  adviser  of  young  men,  and  there  are  many 
,yet  living  who  remember  with  gratitude  his  encour- 
aging and  kindly  counsel.  Extensive  and  varied 
reading  enabled  him  to  supply  the  education  he  was 
unable  to  obtain  when  a  boy,  and  he  was  a  well-in- 
formed man  on  matters  of  general  information,  while 
few  were  better  instructed  on  economical  and  political 
questions.  Practice  made  him  a  clear  and  logical 
speaker  and  writer,  and  he  was  a  frequent  contributor 
to  the  public  journals,  his  communications  often  giving 
a  decided  impulse  to  popular  thought. 

In  politics  Mr.  Samuel  was  an  earnest  Whig.  He 
enjoyed  the  acquaintance  of  Henry  Clay,  and  corre- 
sponded with  both  Clay  and  Webster  for  many  years. 
He  was  also  the  personal  friend  of  many  of  the  great 
men  of  his  period,  especially  those  who  represented 
Missouri  in  the  national  councils.  He  was  twice 
nominated  by  his  party  for  Congress,  but,  although 
his  canvass  was  spirited  and  able,  it  was  impossible 
to  overcome  the  adverse  majority. 

In  social  life  and  in  his  family,  Mr.  Samuel's  warm- 
hearted and  genial  nature  shone  with  peculiar  lustre. 
His  domestic  relations  were  particularly  happy,  and 
by  the  community  at  Liberty,  where  he  so  long  lived, 
he  was  regarded  with  the  highest  respect  and  affec- 
tion as  a  citizen  above  reproach.  He  was  twice  mar- 
ried, and  two  daughters  and  three  sons  survive  him. 
The  latter  succeeded  to  his  large  and  profitable  busi- 
ness, and  constitute  one  of  the  best  known  of  the 
commission  houses  of  the  present  day. 

The  Commercial  Bank  has  a  capital  of  $200,000, 
and  a  surplus  fund  amounting  to  $293,592.92.  The 
bank  was  located  originally  at  the  corner  of  Second 
and  Olive  Streets,  but  subsequently  removed  to  217 
Olive  Street.  Its  present  quarters  are  situated  in  the 


BANKS,  AND   OTHER   FINANCIAL  INSTITUTIONS,  AND  BANKERS. 


1397 


Chamber  of  Commerce  building,  and  the  officers  in 
1882  were  W.  Nichols,  president;  Erastus  Wells, 
vice-president;  E.  C.  Breck,  cashier;  and  William 
Nichols,  Erastus  Wells,  E.  C.  Breck,  Isaac  M.  War- 
ren, B.  W.  Lewis,  M.  M.  Buck,  Miles  Sells,  William 
Spear,  Thomas  Howard,  John  M.  Gilkerson,  A.  A. 
Talmage,  W.  M.  Samuel,  and  John  H.  Maxon,  di- 
rectors. 

The  Franklin  Bank  was  chartered  in  1867,  under 
the  laws  of  Missouri,  as  the  Franklin  Avenue  Ger- 
man Savings  Institution,  with  a  paid  up  capital  of 
sixty  thousand  dollars.  The  incorporators  were  John 
H.  Conrades,  James  H.  Forbes,  F.  H.  Krenning,  J. 
G.  Kaiser,  Henry  Meier,  Adolph  Moll,  H.  Mohriman, 
H.  S.  Platt,  F.  W.  Reipschlaeger,  E.  F.  Rethwilm,  Ad. 
Wippern,  and  J.  B.  Woestman.  The  bank  began 
business  in  1867,  and  until  Jan.  1,  1882,  was  con- 
ducted as  the  Franklin  Avenue  German  Savings  In- 
stitution. Then  the  title  was  changed  to  that  of  the 
Franklin  Bank,  and  the  institution  was  removed  to  the 
present  location,  at  the  southeast  corner  of  Fourth  and 
Morgan  Streets,  the  directors  having  purchased  the 
bank  building  of  the  late  North  St.  Louis  Savings 
Association.  The  capital  and  surplus  of  the  Frank- 
lin Bank  at  present  is  three  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars. The  bank  is  under  the  same  management  as 
when  originally  organized,  having  for  its  chief  execu- 
tive officer  H.  Meier,  with  Ad.  Wippern  as  vice- 
president,  and  G.  W.  Garrels  as  cashier.  The  present 
board  of  directors  is  composed  of  James  H.  Forbes, 
F.  H.  Krenning.  Henry  Meier,  Adolph  Moll,  H.  S. 
Platt,  F.  W.  Reipschlaeger,  Ad.  Wippern,  and  J.  B. 
Woestman. 

The  Laclede  Bank  was  established  in  1867  by 
Bartholow,  Lewis  &  Co.,  and  was  operated  as  a  private 
bank  until  1872,  when  it  was  incorporated  as  the  La- 
clede Bank  by  Thomas  J.  Bartholow,  Benjamin  W. 
Lewis.  Jr.,  W.  H.  Chick,  James  A.  Jackson,  Theo- 
dore D.  Meier,  William  J.  Lewis,  P.  B.  Leech,  Carlos 
S.  Greeley,  Edward  Fenton,  Joseph  P.  Card,  and 
George  M.  Edgerton.  Thomas  J.  Bartholow  was  the 
first  president,  and  Francis  T.  Iglehart  cashier.  The 
bank  was  originally  located  at  Third  and  Locust 
Streets,  but  subsequently  removed  to  217  North 
Third  Street,  and  on  the  27th  of  February,  1883, 
to  its  present  location  at  the  corner  of  Third  and 
Pine  Streets.  The  original  chartered  capital  of  the 
bank  was  two  hundred  thousand  dollars,  but  upon 
the  reorganization  of  the  institution,  in  November, 
1882.  it  was  increased  to  five  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars. The  officers  for  1883  are  John  D.  Perry,  presi- 
dent; James  A.  Gregory,  vice-president;  H.  B. 
Schuler,  cashier ;  and  the  following  directors:  John 
89 


D.  Perry,  James  A.  Gregory,  H.  B.  Schuler,  Theo- 
dore Meier,  William  McMillan,  L.  C.  Nelson,  D.  C. 
Grier,  James  W.  Lewis,  Turner  T.  Lewis,  Howard 
Blossom,  Charles  Filley,  D.  R.  Francis,  and  W.  S. 
Hume. 

The  State  Savings  Association  is  one  of  the 
prominent  financial  institutions  of  St.  Louis,  and  may 
justly  rank  as  one  of  the  strongest  and  most  prudently 
managed  banks  in  the  country.  It  was  organized  under 
an  act  of  the  Legislature  of  Missouri,  on  the  29th  of 
December,  1855.  While  the  charter  was  granted  for 
a  savings-bank,  yet  it  has  never  been  in  any  respect 
a  savings  association,  but  has  always  done  a  regular 
commercial  business  as  a  bank  of  discount  and  de- 
posit. The  incorporators  were  John  How,  R.  M. 
Henning,  Eugene  Miltenberger,  Isaac  Rosenfeld,  Jr., 
Lewis  V.  Bogy,  Neree  Valle,  William  L.  Ewing,  R. 
J.  Lockwood,  and  B.  W.  Hill.  The  bank  went  into 
active  operation  immediately  after  its  organization,  and 
was  located  at  first  at  the  corner  of  Vine  and  Main 
Streets,  where  it  remained  until  1876,  when  it  was 
removed  to  its  present  quarters  at  the  corner  of  Vine 
and  Third  Streets.  The  first  president  of  the  insti- 
tution was  R.  M.  Henning,  and  his  successors  were 
John  How.  John  J.  Roe,  and  Charles  Parsons,  the 
present  incumbent.  The  first  cashier  was  Isaac 
Rosenfeld,  Jr.,  who  was  succeeded  by  Charles  Parsons, 
who  was  followed  by  J.  H.  McCluney,  the  present 
cashier.  The  capital  stock  of  the  institution  is  six 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  and  a  surplus  has 
been  accumulated,  after  making  regular  and  liberal 
dividends  since  its  organization,  which  now  amounts 
to  over  seven  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars.  The 
officers  during  1882  were  Charles  Parsons,  president; 
William  H.  Scudder,  vice-president;  and  John  H. 
McCluney,  cashier.  Directors,  Charles  Parsons,  John 
A.  Scudder,  Daniel  Catlin,  A.  F.  Shapleigh,  C.  C. 
Moffitt,  Joseph  Franklin,  and  John  T.  Davis.1 


1  In  1859  there  was  inaugurated  a  war  on  the  part  of  the 
State  Bank  of  Missouri  against  the  currency  of  neighboring 
States,  which,  being  less  easy  to  be  presented  for  redemption, 
usurped  the  purposes  of  circulation  and  prevented  the  Bank  of 
Missouri  from  getting  its  former  advantage  in  this  respect.  A 
law  was  passed  to  prevent  any  chartered  bunking  institution 
from  carrying  on  the  business  of  receiving  and  paying  out  for- 
eign currency.  In  consequence  of  this  the  State  Savings  In- 
stitution gave  up  its  charter,  and  the  stockholders  associated 
themselves  as  joint  partners,  and  so  continued  doing  business 
until  Jan.  26,  1864,  when  a  new  charter  was  obtained,  with  all 
the  privileges  denied  by  the  former  Legislature,  under  which 
charter  the  bank  is  now  doing  business. 

During  its  early  history,  in  October,  1859,  an  attempt  was 
made  to  rob  the  institution.  A  local  account  of  the  affair  says, 
"  For  three  or  four  days  past  it  has  been  known  in  certain  quar- 
ters that  an  attempt  has  been  made  to  enter  the  State  Savings 


1398 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Charles  Parsons,  president  of  this  bank,  was  born 
in  Homer,  Cortland  Co.,  N.  Y.,  on  the  24th  of  Jan- 
uary, 1824,  and  is  the  son  of  Lewis  B.  Parsons,  late 
of  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  and  grandson  of  Capt.  Charles 
Parsons,  of  the  New  York  line  in  the  Revolutionary 
war.  He  commenced  business,  after  receiving  a  thor- 
ough academical  education,  as  a  clerk  in  his  father's 
store,  and  soon  after  attaining  his  majority  was  em- 
ployed, first  as  clerk  and  after  as  partner,  in  a  com- 
mission and  transportation  house  in  Buffalo  from 
1846  to  1850,  when  he  entered  the  Bank  of  Attica, 
in  Buffalo,  and  remained  some  months,  solely  for  the 
purpose  of  learning  the  business  of  banking  under 
its  very  able  financier,  Gains  B.  Rich.  At  the  close 
of  1850  he  removed  to  St.  Louis  with  the  view  of 
selecting  a  point  at  which  to  commence  the  business 
of  banking,  and  finally,  at  the  instance  of  H.  D. 
Bacon,  of  the  then  well-known  firm  of  Page  & 
Bacon,  located  at  Keokuk,  Iowa,  where  he  was  very 
successful  in  business,  and  remained  until  January, 
1862,  when  he  tendered  his  services  to  the  govern- 
ment and  was  placed  in  charge  of  the  army  transpor- 
tation at  St.  Louis,  receiving  soon  after  the  rank  of 
captain  and  assistant  quartermaster.  The  duties  of 
his  position  were  very  extensive  and  onerous,  em- 
bracing employment  of  hundreds  of  steamers  on  the 
rivers  and  railroad  trains  on  land,  to  transport  the 
troops,  horses,  cannon,  provisions  for  men  and  ani- 
mals, and  all  the  various  articles  required  to  pro- 
vision, feed,  and  render  efficient  great  armies  opera- 
ting over  the  extended  theatre  of  war  in  the  West 
and  South.  Besides  these  duties  he  was  required  to 
audit  and  settle  the  accounts  of  all  other  army  quar- 
termasters pertaining  to  transportation  from  Wiscon- 
sin in  the  North  to  the  line  of  actual  war  in  the 
South.  These  various  and  arduous  duties  he  fulfilled 
and  discharged  to  the  great  satisfaction  of  Gen.  Robert 
Allen,  the  chief  of  the  Quartermaster's  Department 
in  the  West,  as  is  shown  by  his  report  to  the  War 
Department,  in  which  he  speaks  in  the  highest  terms 
of  Capt.  Parsons,  and  also  to  the  satisfaction  of  Gen. 
M.  C.  Meigs,  quartermaster-general  himself,  as  is 
shown  by  the  order  of  Gen.  Meigs,  June,  1864,  call- 
ing him  to  Washington  to  take  control  of  the  bureau 
of  railroad  transportation  for  the  United  States,  under 
the  management  of  the  War  Department.  This  order, 
however,  he  persuaded  the  quartermaster-general  to 
rescind.  Mr.  Parsons  continued  in  the  service  of  the 
government  until  July  13,  1864.  Having  been 


Institution,  corner  of  Vine  and  Main  Streets,  by  an  entrance 
through  tho  Vine  Street  sewer,  and  an  effort  to  tunnel  through 
the  rock  that  forms  the  foundation  of  the  building." 


elected,  in  the  previous  February,  cashier  of  the 
State  Savings  Association,  and  being  satisfied  that 
the  success  of  the  government  was  assured,  he  re- 
signed his  commission  in  the  army.  As  a  further 
recognition  of  his  services  he  received  the  brevets  of 
major  and  lieutenant-colonel.  In  August,  1864,  he 
assumed  the  discharge  of  his  duties  as  cashier  of  the 
State  Savings  Association,  and  served  as  such  with 
remarkable  fidelity  and  success  until  February,  1870, 
when  he  was  elected  president  of  the  association. 
Mr.  Parsons  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  Keokuk 
and  Des  Moines  Railroad  Company,  and  continued  on 
the  directory  for  some  years.  He  was  at  one  time  a 
director  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Railroad  Com- 
pany, has  been  president  of  the  St.  Louis  Clearing- 
House  for  the  past  ten  years,  is  president  of  the 
Hannibal  Gas  Company,  vice-president  of  the  Belle- 
fontaine  Street  Railroad  Company,  and  director  of 
the  Missouri  Street  Railway  Company,  both  of  St. 
Louis,  and  is  a  director  in  the  water-works  companies 
of  Atchison,  Kan.,  and  Hannibal,  Mo. 

On  the  llth  of  June,  1857,  Mr.  Parsons  was 
married  to  Miss  Martha  A.  Pettus,  of  St.  Louis. 

In  the  various  positions  which  he  has  been  called 
on  to  fill,  Mr.  Parsons  has  never  failed  to  exhibit 
rare  business  abilities  and  administrative  talents  of 
the  highest  order. 

The  Valley  National  Bank  was  organized  July 
25,  1871.  and  was  chartered  under  the  National 
Banking  Act  Aug.  9,  1871.  The  incorporators  were 
Dwight  Durkee,  George  D.  Hall,  James  Richardson, 
H.  H.  Curtiss,  N.  C.  Chapman,  0.  G.  Proctor,  W.  N. 
Stone,  A.  W.  Mitchell,  J.  M.  Brawner,  Preston  Rob- 
erts, Augustus  Kountz,  N.  S.  Penfield,  J.  C.  Culbert- 
son,  A.  B.  Safford,  J.  L.  Stephens,  A.  D.  Jaynes,  T. 
H.  Waugh,  David  Auld,  Josiah  Hunt,  John  Williams, 
and  others.  The  bank  opened  its  doors  for  business 
Aug.  23, 1871.  at  which  time  its  president  was  Dwight 
Durkee,  who  was  elected  at  a  regular  meeting  of  the 
board  of  directors  July  27, 1871.  The  cashier  at  that 
time  was  James  T.  Howenstein.  When  the  bank  began 
business  the  board  of  directors  consisted  of  Dwight 
Durkee,  George  D.  Hall,  James  Richardson,  H.  H. 
Curtiss,  N.  C.  Chapman,  0.  G.  Proctor,  W.  N.  Stone, 
A.  W.  Mitchell,  J.  M.  Brawner,  Preston  Roberts, 
Augustus  Kountz,  N.  S.  Penfield,  J.  C.  Culbertson, 
A.  B.  Safford,  J.  L.  Stephens,  A.  D.  Jaynes,  J.  H. 
Waugh,  David  Auld,  Josiah  Hunt,  and  John  Williams. 
On  Jan.  29,  1873,  J.  A.  J.  Aderton  was  elected  presi- 
dent of  the  bank,  and  served  until  Oct.  24,  1878,  when 
he  was  succeeded  by  S.  E.  Hoffman,  who  has  since 
retained  the  position.  The  first  location  of  the  bank 
was  No.  320  North  Third  Street,  whence  it  was  re- 


. 


• 


BANKS,  AND   OTHER  FINANCIAL  INSTITUTIONS,  AND   BANKERS. 


1399 


moved  to  No.  207  North  Third  Street,  where  it 
remained  until  the  removal  to  the  present  location, 
at  the  corner  of  Locust  and  Fifth  Streets. 

The  annual  statement  of  the  bank,  Dec.  31,  1881, 
makes  the  following  exhibit: 

Resources. 

Loans  and  discounts $889,647.56 

Overdrafts 2,602.12 

United  States  bonds 50,000.00 

Other  bonds,  etc 7,038.85 

Real  estate,  fixtures,  and  furniture..  12,977.90 

Premium  on  United  States  bonds 1,500.00 

Cash  and  sight  exchange 619,190.18 

United  States  treasurer 9,250.00 

Demand  loans 381,353.69 

$1,973,560.30 
Liabilities. 

Capital  paid  in $250,000.00 

Surplus 28,834.47 

Circulation 45,000.00 

Dividends  unpaid 8,488.00 

Deposits 1,641,237.83 


$1,973,560.30 

The  officers  for  1882  were  S.  E.  Hoffman,  presi- 
dent ;  M.  J.  Lippman,  vice-president;  G.  H.  Goddard, 
cashier ;  M.  J.  Lippman,  John  B.  Noland,  Charles  P. 
Burr,  H.  H.  Curtis,  Joel  Wood,  G.  H.  Goddard,  R. 
J.  McElhaney,  Walter  H.  Trask,  and  S.  E.  Hoffman, 
directors. 

The  German-American  Eank  was  incorporated 
by  Martin  Lammert,  August  Gehner,  John  J.  Menges, 
Ernest  Witte,  B.  F.  Horn,  George  Tinker,  Hugh  L. 
Fox,  and  E.  A.  Mysenburg,  Nov.  3,  1872,  and  was 
opened  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Tenth  and  Franklin 
Streets.  John  J.  Menges  was  elected  president ; 
Martin  Lammert,  vice-president ;  and  E.  A.  Mysen- 
burg, cashier.  The  first  directors  were  Hugh  Bren- 
non,  G.  Mysenburg,  Ernest  Witte,  William  Nieman, 
Martin  Lammert,  John  J.  Menges,  B.  Weber,  B.  F. 
Horn,  George  Tinker,  William  Trauernicht,  Hugh  L. 
Fox,  August  Gehner,  and  E.  A.  Mysenburg.  The 
capital  stock  paid  up  is  $150,000.  The  bank  is  now 
located  at  the  northwest  corner  of  Fourth  and  Frank- 
lin Streets.  The  official  statement  of  the  officers 
Dec.  31,  1882,  showed  gross  earnings  for  six  months 
of  $36,730. 11 ;  surplus  fund,  $56,684.21 ;  resources, 
$1,174,605.95.  The  present  officers  are  August 
Gehner,  president ;  Martin  Lammert,  vice-president ; 
John  Dierberger,  cashier ;  Directors,  Thomas  Ferren- 
bach,  H.  H.  Schulze,  August  Gehner,  Casper  Stolle, 
C.  H.  Grote,' William  Trauernicht,  George  Holtgrewe, 
Glaus  Vieths,  Martin  Lammert,  Ernest  Witte,  F.  H. 
Logemann.  John  H.  Yandell,  J.  C.  Lullman. 

SAVINGS-BANKS. 

As  early  as  1839  an  effort  was  made  to  establish 
a  savings-bank  in  St.  Louis,  a  meeting  of  "  mer- 


chants, traders,  and  mechanics"  being  held  at  the 
Merchants'  Exchange  rooms  for  that  purpose  on  the 
7th  of  February.  On  motion  of  Col.  Charles  Keemle, 
George  K.  McGunnegle  was  called  to  the  chair,  and 
N.  E.  Janney  appointed  secretary.  The  object  of  the 
meeting  having  been  stated  by  the  chairman,  J.  Smith 

i  Hoinans  made  an  address  in  favor  of  the  project,  pre- 
senting many  statistics  showing  the  success  and  utility 
of  similar  institutions  in  other  cities,  and  concluding 

I  by  offering  the  following  preamble  and  resolutions : 

"  WHEREAS,  This  meeting  is  fully  impressed  with  the  belief 
i  that  there  is  a  large  number  of  persons  in  this  city  who  have 
;  no  profitable  mode  of  investment  for  their  surplus  earnings,  and 

"  WHEREAS,  The  want  of  a  depository  for  the  active,  bene- 
ficial, and  profitable  investment  of  the  surplus  means  of  many 
of  our  fellow-citizens  is  the  cause  of  the  extravagant  waste  of 
such  funds ;  therefore, 

"  Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  five  persons  be  appointed  by 
the  chairman,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  report  within  forty 
days  a  plan  for  the  formation  of  a  savings  association  in  the 
city  of  St.  Louis. 

"Resolved,  That  when  this  meeting  adjourns,  it  adjourn  to 
meet  again  on  the  20th  of  March  next,  to  receive  the  report  of 
the  committee." 

The  resolutions  were  unanimously  adopted,  and  on 
motion  of  A.  Wilgus,  it  was  unanimously 

"  Resolved,  That  the  committee  under  the  first  resolution  be 
authorized  to  procure  the  written  opinions  of  Josiah  Spalding, 
H.  R.  Gamble,  and  Beverly  Allen  as  to  the  authority  which 
the  citizens  have  to  establish  such  an  institution  without  a 
charter  from  the  Legislature,  and  whether  the  same  is  contrary 
to  the  Constitution  of  the  State." 

On  motion  of  D.  L.  Holbrook,  it  was  unanimously 

"  Resolved,  That  the  same  committee  be  directed  to  report 
upon  the  expediency  of  connecting  a  joint-stock  association 
for  the  proposed  savings  institution,  similar  to  the  Mechanics' 
and  Traders'  Bank  of  Cincinnati  and  other  institutions  of  the 
same  character." 

The  chairman  then  announced  the  following  as 
composing  the  committee  under  the  first  resolution  : 

J.  Smith  Homans,  Asa  Wilgus,  J.  W.  Paulding, 
Wayman  Crow. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Wilgus,  the  chairman  was  added 
to  the  committee. 

The  Boatmen's  Savings-Bank  was  originally 
organized  in  1846,  was  chartered  in  1847  as  the  St. 
Louis  Boatmen's  Savings  Institution,  and  was  opened 
for  business  during  the  same  year.  The  bank  was 
incorporated  as  a  savings  institution  (without  capital, 
on  the  savings-bank  plan,  "  where  boatmen  and  other 
industrious  classes  can  safely  deposit  at  interest  their 
earnings,"  etc.),  with  a  twenty  years'  charter,  the 
profits  to  be  divided  pro  rata  among  "  original  six- 
month  depositors,"  viz.,  those  who  deposited  one 
hundred  dollars  and  upwards  during  the  first  six 
months,  and  allowed  the  same  to  remain  undisturbed. 


1400 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


The  incorporators  were  George  W.  Sparbawk,  Sul- 
livan Blood,  Edward  Dobyns,  L.  M.  Kennett,  Daniel  f 
D.  Page,  B.  W.  Alexander,  Samuel  C.  Davis,  Adam 
L.  Mills,  Amedee  Valle,  George  K.  Budd,  Thomas 
Andrews,  Henry  D.  Bacon,  Lawrason  Riggs,  James 
G.  Barry,  John  M.  Wimer. 

These  gentlemen  were  subsequently  continued  as 
trustees,  and  Adam  L.  Mills  was  elected  president. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  board  of  trustees,  held  at  the 
office  of  the  Missouri  Republican  on  the  30th  of 
August,  1847,  there  were  present  George  W.  Spar- 
hawk,  Sullivan  Blood,  A.  Valle",  John  M.  Wimer, 
Thomas  Andrews,  Samuel  C.  Davis,  A.  L.  Mills,  and 
James  G.  Barry. 

On  motion  the  meeting  was  called  to  order,  and 
George  W.  Sparhawk  was  called  to  the  chair,  and 
A.  Valle  appointed  secretary. 

The  object  of  the  meeting  having  been  explained 
by  the  chairman,  and  the  act  of  incorporation  read, 
the  latter,  on  motion  of  James  G.  Barry,  was  accepted. 

On  motion  of  John   M.  Wimer,  a   committee   of  j 
three  was  appointed  by  the  chairman  to  draft  by-laws 
and  regulations  for  the  government  of  the  institution, 
whereupon  A.  Valle1,  S.  Blood,  and  S.  C.  Davis  were 
chosen. 

On  Sept.  14,  1847,  John  F.  Darby  and  E.  Haren 
were  elected  trustees  to  fill  vacancies.  On  the  21st, 
Dr.  Robert  Simpson  was  elected  treasurer,  and  B.  B. 
Chamberlain  secretary. 

On  Oct.  16,  1847,  the  trustees  gave  notice  to  the 
public  that  on  Monday,  the  18th  inst.,  its  doors  would 
be  opened  for  business,  stating  that  "  the  Boatmen's 
Savings  Institution  will  henceforward  be  opened  daily 
from  10  A.M.  to  4  P.M.,  and  on  Saturdays  till  6  P.M., 
until  further  ordered.  On  Fridays  no  males  will  be 
admitted,  this  day  being  expressly  set  apart  by  the 
trustees  for  the  female  community.  The  institution 
for  the  present  is  located  at  No.  16  Locust  Street,  one 
door  west  of  Main,  and  those  who  become  its  patrons 
are  respectfully  requested  to  circulate  among  their 
friends  and  neighbors  its  charter  and  by-laws." 

In  April,  1854,  the  bank  was  robbed  of  eighteen 
thousand  dollars  in  notes  of  the  bank  and  over  one 
thousand  dollars  in  gold.  The  thief  or  thieves  ob- 
tained access  to  the  safe  before  the  bank  was  opened 
in  the  morning,  but  left  behind  four  thousand  dollars 
in  gold  and  several  checks  which  were  also  in  the  safe. 
Upon  the  discovery  of  this  loss  the  officers  offered  a 
reward  of  one  thousand  dollars  for  the  detection  of 
the  thief  and  four  thousand  dollars  for  the  return  of 
the  money.  In  anticipation  of  a  run  on  the  bank,  the  j 
banking-houses  of  Page  &  Bacon,  Lucas  &  Simonds,  ' 
Loker,  Renick  &  Co.,  E.  W.  Clark  &  Brothers,  and  ' 


J.  J.  Anderson  &  Co.  offered  advances  to  unlimited 
amounts,  but  assistance  of  this  character  was  not  re- 
quired, as  the  ordinary  routine  of  the  bank  was  not 
disturbed.  During  the  financial  panic  of  1855  the 
Boatmen's  was  one  of  the  institutions  for  which  the 
leading  merchants  pledged  their  property. 

On  the  1st  of  January,  1856,  the  bank  abandoned 
its  original  charter  and  began  business  under  a  second 
— twenty  years' — charter,  with  a  capital  of  four  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars.  On  the  1st  of  October,  1873, 
three  years  prior  to  the  expiration  of  the  second  charter, 
the  bank  reorganized  under  the  general  banking  laws  of 
Missouri  as  The  Boatmen's  Savings-Bank,  with  an  au- 
thorized and  paid  up  capital  of  two  million  dollars.  A  pe- 
culiarity of  the  second  charter  was  the  section  which 
provided  that  "  at  the  expiration  of  every  five  years 
from  the  first  day  of  January,  1856,  if  the  board  of 
directors  deem  it  expedient,  they  may  make,  in  such 
manner  and  on  such  terms  as  to  them  shall  appear 
equitable,  a  dividend  among  the  stockholders  not  ex- 
ceeding one-fourth  of  the  net  profits  of  the  preceding 
five  years,  and  the  remainder  of  said  profits  shall,  at 
the  discretion  of  the  board,  be  reserved  for  the  better 
security  of  depositors  and  for  future  operations,  until 
the  winding  up  of  the  affairs  of  this  corporation,  or 
converted  into  stock  of  the  corporation  and  appor- 
tioned equitably  among  the  stockholders,  notwith- 
standing such  conversion  and  apportionment  should 
increase  stock  beyond  the  sum  limited  in  the  first  sec- 
tion of  this  act.  Otherwise  than  is  in  this  section 
provided  no  dividend  shall  be  made  by  this  board." 

In  accordance  with  the  above  section,  the  board  of 
directors  did  not  declare  any  dividend  until  April  1, 
1871,  more  than  fifteen  years  after  commencing  the 
banking  business,  but  carried  their  net  earnings  to  the 
credit  of  profit  and  loss  account,  until  at  that  time 
the  earnings  had  amounted  to  $2,293,442.83,  and  on 
the  first  of  April,  1872,  a  further  dividend  of  $300- 
000  was  declared,  and  on  July  1,  1873,  the  surplus 
was  $2,456,742. 

At  the  first  election  for  directors  under  the  second 
charter,  held  in  1856,  the  following  were  elected  :  Sulli- 
van Blood,1  Carlos  S.  Greeley,  George  K.  Budd,  Rufus 

1  Sullivan  Blood  was  born  in  the  town  of  Windsor,  Vt., 
April  2-1,  1 795.  His  parents  were  natives  of  Massachusetts,  but 
emigrated  to  Vermont,  then  a  newly-admitted  State,  in  1793. 
They  lived  upon  a  farm,  and  both  died  about  1813,  whereupon 
young  Blood  resolved  to  seek  a  home  in  the  far  West.  About 
two  years  after  their  death  he  made  his  way  to  Olean,  on  the 
head-waters  of  the  Allegheny,  in  Western  New  York,  where  a 
number  of  persons  were  awaiting  the  opening  of  navigation 
to  descend  in  boats  to  the  Ohio.  On  arriving  at  the  Seneca 
reservation,  Mr.  Blood  engaged  for  a  year  among  the  Indians 
in  the  lumber  business,  and  having  realized  a  small  sum  of 


BANKS,  AND   OTHER   FINANCIAL  INSTITUTIONS,  AND   BANKERS. 


1401 


J.  Lackland,  William  D'Oench,  Louis  A.  Labeaume, 
Robert  Holmes,  Luther  M.  Kennett,  John  M.  Wimer, 
Asa  Wilgus,  Adam  L.  Mills,  and  Adolphus  Meier. 
Sullivan  Blood  was  elected  president,  and  Alton  R. 
Easton  cashier.  Charles  Hodgeman  succeeded  Mr. 
Easton  as  cashier  in  1857,  and  occupied  that  post 
until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  April,  1870,  when 
the  present  cashier,  William  H.  Thomson,  was  elected. 
On  Oct.  26,  1857,  at  a  called  meeting  of  the  direc- 
tors of  the  institution,  the  following  resolutions  were 
adopted : 

"1.  Resolved,  That  all  deposits  in  this  institution  up  to  this 
date  will  be  paid  in  gold  and  silver,  and  it  will  continue  to 
receive  deposits  in  the  same,  and  pay  out  the  same  to  said 
depositors. 

"  2.  Resolved,  That  this  institution  will  also  receive  on  de- 
posit bank-notes  of  all  the  chartered  banks  in  this  State,  to- 
gether with  their  branches,  and  will  pay  out  the  same  to  said 
depositors  indiscriminately  in  the  bank-notes  aforesaid. 

3.  Resolved,  That  this  institution  will  receive  in  payment  of 
all  discounted  paper  or  other  debts  due  the  Boatmen's  Saving 

money  there,  he  descended  the  Allegheny,  a  distance  of  three 
hundred  miles,  to  Pittsburgh.  He  then  engaged  on  a  flat-boat 
and  worked  his  passage  down  the  Ohio  until  he  reached  Cin- 
cinnati. From  there  he  went  to  Cairo,  where  there  was  not  a 
house,  and  from  thence  ascended  the  Mississippi  in  a  keel-boat 
to  St.  Louis.  He  was  greatly  pleased  with  the  activity  of  the 
place,  and  in  1817  took  up  his  residence  in  the  town,  where  he 
remained  until  his  death.  St.  Louis  was  at  that  time  just  in 
the  transition  state  between  a  village  and  a  town,  and  in  that 
year  the  first  movement  was  made  to  protect  the  citizens  by  a 
regular  force  of  watchmen.  In  1818,  Mr.  Blood  was  appointed 
a  member  of  the  force,  and  before  long  was  promoted  to  the 
position  of  captain,  to  which  he  was  re-elected  several  consecu- 
tive years.  In  1823,  Capt.  Blood  revisited  his  native  State, 
and  during  his  visit  was  married  to  Miss  Sophia  Hall.  After 
holding  the  position  of  captain  of  the  watch  for  ten  years,  he 
became  deputy  sheriff.  In  1833  he  was  elected  and  served  as 
alderman  from  the  then  Second  Ward  for  one  terra,  at  the  end 
of  which  his  political  life  ended,  as  he  afterwards  always  de- 
clined to  become  a  candidate  for  public  office.  It  was  at  this 
period  that  he  turned  his  attention  to  river  matters,  and  be- 
came engaged  as  a  steamboat  captain  in  the  St.  Louis  and  New 
Orleans  trade,  in  which  he  was  quite  successful.  His  boats, 
which  were  built  under  his  own  supervision  and  which  he  per- 
sonally commanded,  became  extremely  popular,  and  Capt. 
Blood  during  his  period  of  service  was  one  of  the  most  skillful 
and  successful  pilots  on  the  Mississippi.  In  the  early  part  of 
1847,  when  the  Boatmen's  Savings  Institution  was  incorporated, 
Capt.  Blood  was  appointed  one  of  the  directors.  His  execu- 
tive abilities  soon  gave  him  such  prominence  in  the  board  of 
directors  that  he  was  chosen  president,  a  position  which  he 
filled  with  credit  to  himself  and  advantage  to  the  institution 
until  1870,  when  he  resigned  for  the  purpose  of  allowing  some 
younger  and  more  active  man  to  assume  the  laborious  duties  of 
the  office.  He  still  continued  a  director,  and  up  to  the  time  of 
his  death,  which  occurred  Nov.  27,  1875,  notwithstanding  his 
advanced  age,  made  a  daily  visit  to  the  institution  and  took  an 
active  part  in  its  affairs.  Capt.  Blood  left  a  wife,  one  son,  Henry 
Blood,  a  merchant  in  Iowa,  a  married  daughter,  wife  of  James 
L.  Sloss,  of  the  firm  of  Gilkeson  &  Sloss,  of  St.  Louis,  and  a 
daughter,  Miss  Anna  Louisa  Blood. 


Institution  the  paper  of  all  the  chartered  banks  in  the  State 
of  Missouri  and  the  branches  thereof. 

"4.  Resolved,  That  the  Boatmen's  Savings  Institution  will 
receive  in  payment  for  all  collection-paper  gold  and  silver 
only,  unless  otherwise  notified  in  writing. 

"S.  BLOOD, 
''President." 

In  1870,  Capt.  Sullivan  Blood  resigned  the  presi- 
dency of  the  bank,  and  was  succeeded  by  Rufus  J. 
Lackland,  although  he  still  retained  his  place  in  the 
board  of  directors. 

Rufus  James  Lackland  is  a  member  of  one  of  those 
Maryland  families  which  removed  to  Missouri  at  an 
early  day,  and  which,  as  frequently  noted  elsewhere  in 
this  work,  have  contributed  so  much  to  the  growth 
and  prosperity  of  St.  Louis.  Among  these  enter- 
prising spirits,  Peter  and  Jesse  Lindell,  Michael 
McEnnis,  Robert  A.  Barnes,  Edward  Bredell,  John 
Kennard,  Thomas  T.  Gantt,  and  R.  J.  Lackland  at- 
tained to  special  prominence  in  the  affairs  of  the  city. 
The  Lack  lands,  or  Lachlans,  as  they  originally  spelled 
their  name,  were  influential  people  in  Montgomery 
County,  Md.,  and  closely  allied  with  the  Edmon- 
stones  and  other  leading  families  of  that  State.  Archi- 
bald Edmonstone,  who  came  from  Scotland  at  an 
early  day,  is  stated  by  George  Lynn  Lachlan  Davis,  a 
well-known  Maryland  antiquarian  and  writer,  in  his 
"  Day  Star  of  American  Freedom,"  to  have  been  the 
ancestor  "  of  the  Lachlans  of  Montgomery,  but  now 
in  the  State  of  Missouri,  and  of  the  wife  and  children 
of  Governor  Hempstead,  of  Iowa."  In  Scotland, 
where  it  originated,  the  Lachlan  family  enjoyed  con- 
siderable prominence,  and  in  this  country  it  has  always 
maintained  a  leading  position.  James  Lackland  was 
a  member  of  the  Levy  Court  and  county  commissioner 
of  Montgomery  County  from  1799  to  1801,  and 
Dennis  Lackland  was  a  merchant  of  the  same  county 
in  1820. 

Rufus  J.  Lackland  is  directly  descended  from  the 
"  Lachlans  of  Montgomery"  mentioned  in  the  "  Day 
Star,"  and  is  a  cousin  of  the  author  of  that  book.  He 
was  born  in  Poolesville,  Montgomery  Co.,  Md.,  his 
father  being  Dennis  Lackland,  and  his  mother  Eliza 
Appleby,  a  native  of  Berkeley  County,  Va.,  whose 
mother  was  Mrs.  Margaret  Moore  Appleby,  of  Balti- 
timore. 

In  1835,  Mr.  Lackland  removed  with  his  parents 
to  Missouri,  and  during  the  same  year  entered  the 
store  of  Mullikin  &  Pratte,  at  the  corner  of  Market 
Street  and  the  Levee.  Upon  the  dissolution  of  this 
firm  in  1837  he  obtained  a  position  as  clerk  of  the 
steamer  "  Clyde,"  plying  between  St.  Louis  and  New 
Orleans,  and  subsequently  of  the  steamers  "  Chester," 
"  Oregon,"  "  Caroline,"  and  "  Eclipse."  In  1847  he 


1402 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


withdrew  from  the  steamboat  business  and  established 
himself  in  the  wholesale  grocery  and  commission 
trade  as  a  member  of  the  firm  of  William  M.  Morri- 
son &  Co.,  which  continued  to  transact  a  flourishing 
business  until  1861,  when  it  dissolved,  each  partner 
having  secured  a  competence.  Mr.  Lackland  con- 
tinued the  business  in  his  own  name,  and  later  ad- 
mitted his  two  elder  sons  to  partnership,  the  style  of 
the  firm  being  R.  J.  Lackland  &  Sons.  In  1871  he 
finally  retired  from  business. 

For  many  years  Mr.  Lackland  had  been  a  director 
and  one  of  the  largest  stockholders  in  the  Boatmen's 
Savings-Bank,  and  in  1871  he  was  elected  president, 
a  position  he  has  held  ever  since.  The  excellent 
judgment  which  had  characterized  his  management 
of  his  private  business  and  had  contributed  so  mate- 
rially to  its  success  has  been  conspicuously  displayed 
in  the  conduct  of  this  institution,  which  is  one  of  the 
strongest  and  most  prosperous  banks  in  the  West. 

Numerous  other  public  enterprises  have  enjoyed 
the  benefit  of  Mr.  Lackland's  wise  counsel  and  assist- 
ance. In  1855  he  was  elected  vice-president  of  the 
Merchants'  Exchange,  and  in  the  autumn  of  1871 
was  chosen  president  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce 
Association,  organized  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  a 
new  Exchange  building.  Mr.  Lackland  is  still  presi- 
dent of  this  association,  having  been  continuously  re- 
elected  to  the  position.  He  was  one  of  the  most 
zealous  and  efficient  spirits  in  promoting  the  construc- 
tion of  the  new  Chamber  of  Commerce,  and  has  always 
been  foremost  among  his  fellow  business  men  in  aid  of 
all  important  public  enterprises.  For  many  years  he 
has  been  a  director  in  the  Iron  Mountain  Railroad,  and 
also  in  the  Oakdale  Iron-Works  and  the  Scotia  Iron 
Company.  For  twenty  years  he  has  been  a  director 
in  the  Belchers  Sugar-Refining  Company,  and  is  now 
president  of  the  St.  Louis  Gas  Company.  Some  of 
these  are  among  the  most  important  industrial  con- 
cerns in  the  city,  employing  large  capital  and  a  vast 
number  of  hands,  and  are  justly  regarded  as  repre- 
sentative institutions  of  St.  Louis. 

Mr.  Lackland  was  married  in  St.  Louis,  Aug.  23, 
1840,  to  Miss  Mary  Susannah  Cable,  a  native  of  New 
York,  who  died  in  December,  1866,  having  borne  ten 
children,  eight  of  whom  are  living.  Mrs.  Lackland 
was  loved  and  respected  for  her  many  virtues.  Some 
years  later  Mr.  Lackland  married  his  present  wife, 
Mrs.  Caroline  Eliot  Kasson,  the  youngest  sister  of  the 
Rev.  Dr.  William  G.  Eliot,  chancellor  of  Washington 
University,  St.  Louis,  and  a  lady  of  fine  literary  at- 
tainments. 

In  religion  Mr.  Lackland  is  a  Unitarian,  and  in 
politics  a  Democrat.  In  all  the  relations  of  life, 


whether  public  or  private,  he  enjoys  in  the  highest 
degree  the  esteem  and  respect  of  all  who  know  him. 

His  present  position  in  the  community  is  due  en- 
tirely to  his  own  exertions.  Forced  at  an  early  age 
to  rely  upon  himself,  he  put  forth  all  his  energies,  and 
soon  made  a  decidedly  favorable  impression  as  a  young 
man  of  exceptional  industry  and  zeal.  As  a  mer- 
chant, his  career  was  marked  by  great  energy  and 
steadfastness  of  purpose,  a  clear,  quick  judgment,  un- 
sullied integrity,  and  exceptional  ability  in  the  man- 
agement of  enterprises  of  great  magnitude.  As  the 
result,  he  now  enjoys  an  influence  and  consideration 
among  his  fellow  business  men  which  gives  him  a  pecu- 
liar and  special  pre-eminence  in  the  mercantile  world 
of  St.  Louis.  Personally,  Mr.  Lackland  is  a  gentle- 
man of  pleasant  and  genial  address,  and  kind  and 
amiable  towards  all  with  whom  he  is  thrown  in  con- 
tact. By  the  community  in  which  he  has  resided 
for  more  than  forty  years  he  is  justly  regarded  as  a 
far-sighted,  liberal-minded,  and  noble-hearted  citizen. 

In  1873,  as  previously  stated,  the  Boatmen's  Savings 
Institution  was  transformed  into  the  Boatmen's  Sav- 
ings-Bank. In  addition  to  the  original  capital  of 
$400,000  there  was  a  surplus  fund  of  $2,400,000,  and 
the  capital  of  the  bank  was  fixed  at  $2,000,000,  the 
$800,000  remaining  being  divided  among  the  stock- 
holders. The  following  were  designated  as  the  board 
of  directors  in  the  articles  of  association :  Rufus  J. 
Lackland,  Carlos  S.  Greeley,  Adolphus  Meier,  James 
Smith,  Sullivan  Blood,  William  A.  Hargadine,  Edward 
J.  Glasgow,  William  P.  Howard,  John  B.  C.  Lucas, 
George  S.  Drake,  and  William  H.  Thomson. 

The  Boatmen's  Bank  was  first  located  on  the  south- 
west corner  of  Second  and  Pine  Streets,  but  was 
afterwards  moved  to  the  north  side  of  Chestnut,  be- 
tween Main  and  Second  Streets,  and  thence  to  the 
present  location  on  the  northeast  corner  of  Second 
and  Pine  Streets. 

The  officers  of  the  bank  for  1882  were  Rufus  J. 
Lackland,  president ;  George  S.  Drake,  vice-president ; 
William  H.  Thomson,  cashier ;  Directors,  Lawrence 
L.  Butler,  Samuel  Cupples,  George  S.  Drake,  Theo- 
dore Forster,  Carlos  S.  Greeley,  William  A.  Harga- 
dine, Rufus  J.  Lackland,  Adolphus  Meier,  E.  C. 
Simmons,  William  H.  Thomson,  Edwards  Whitaker. 

The  semi-annual  statement  rendered  Dec.  31, 1881, 
showed  the  condition  of  the  bank  to  be  as  follows : 

Resources. 

Cash 81,147,735.31 

Exchange  matured 149,795.05  81,297,530.36 

Bills  receivable $4,847,534.47 

Bills  of  exchange 519,369.28 

Bonds 107,000.00 

Real  estate     79,969.25    5,553,873.00 


Total. 


86,851,403.36 


BANKS,  AND   OTHER   FINANCIAL   INSTITUTIONS,  AND   BANKERS. 


1403 


Liabilities. 

Capital  stock $2,000,000.00 

Surplus    fund  July    1, 

1881 8186,591.88 

Net   earnings  past  six 

months 126,157.72  $312,749.60 

Dividend  "  No  15" $80,000.00 

Bills  receivable  charged 
off. 40.COO.OO    120,000.00    192,749.60    2,192,749.60 


Deposits  on  time 

Deposits  on  demand 

Dividend  "No.  15"(4  per 
cent,  on  $2,000,000).... 


Total. 


$1,325,711.93 
3,252,941.83 

80,000,00    4,658,653.76 


$6,851,403.36 


The  Germans'  Savings  Institution  of  St.  Louis 
was  incorporated  Feb.  25,  1853,  with  an  authorized 
capital  of  twenty-five  thousand  dollars,  and  authority 
to  increase  the  same  from  time  to  time  at  the  will  of 
the  directors  to  any  amount  not  exceeding  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  divided  into  shares  of 
fifty  dollars  each.  The  incorporators  were  Edward 
Haren,  John  Kern,  William  Palm,  Francis  Saler, 
Robert  Barth,  Joseph  Degenhardt,  George  Busch, 
Charles  Wetzel,  Adolphe  Abeles,  Frederick  Bergesch,  j 
Lewis  Bach,  John  Wolff,  Edward  Eggers,  Louis 
Hirschberg,  Ernest  C.  Angelrodt.  The  institution 
opened  for  the  reception  of  deposits  on  Monday,  May 
23,  1853,  the  office  being  located  at  No.  35  Main 
Street,  between  Chestnut  and  Pine  Streets.  It  trans- 
acts a  general  banking  business,  and  solicits  the  ac- 
counts of  corporations,  firms,  and  individuals.  The 
present  capital  stock  paid  up  is  $250,000,  and  there 
is  a  surplus  fund  on  hand  amounting  to  $95,707.67.  ' 

The  board  of  directors  for  1882  was  composed  of  i 
F.    W.    Meister,   president ;     Charles  F.    Orthwein,  j 
George  H.  Braun,  John  Wahl,  Louis  Fusz,  William  j 
Koenig,  J.  G.  Greer,  Adolphus   Boeckeler,  and  A. 
Nedderhut.       Richard  Hospes  is  the  cashier.     The 
bank  is  located  in  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  build- 
ing. 

The  Provident  Savings  Institution  was  organ- 
ized  and   incorporated   in   February,  1864,  and  was 
originally  intended   to   supply  the  need  of  a  public 
pawn-office,  such  as  those  which  exist  in    Europe.  ! 
The  project  did  not,  however,  receive  the  support  of 
the  public,  and  the  institution  was  changed  to  a  sav- 
ings-bank, and  continued  as  such  until  1877,  when  it  ; 
was  again  changed  to  a  commercial  bank.    Its  charter  i 
authorized  a  capital  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  thou-  i 
sand  dollars.     The  paid  up  capital  is  now  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  and  it  is  the  intention  of  the  man-  i 
agement  to  increase  it  to  two  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

The  incorporators  of  the  savings-bank  were  Henry 
Hitchcock,  Carlos  S.  Greeley,  Robert  Holmes,  Wil- 
liam M.  Morrison,  George  Partridge,  George  P.  Plant, 
S.  A.  Ranlett,  and  Levin  H.  Baker.     The  bank  was  • 
opened  for  business  in  January,  1865,  having  for  its 


president  J.  P.  Doan,  who  served  in  that  capacity 
until  1872.  He  was  succeeded  by  William  Gresham, 
who  occupied  the  position  until  1877,  and  was  followed 
by  C.  S.  Greeley,  who  still  retains  the  position.  The 
cashiers  have  been  S.  A.  Ranlett,  from  1865  to  1877, 
and  the  present  incumbent,  Almon  B.  Thomson. 
This  institution  was  first  located  at  the  corner  of  Main 
and  Locust  Streets,  but  removed  to  its  present  loca- 
tion, No.  513  Olive  Street,  in  1867.  The  official 
statement  shows  that  it  has  a  cash  paid  up  capital  of 
$100,000,  and  a  surplus  fund  of  $4666.51. 

The  officers  for  1882  were  C.  S.  Greeley,  president ; 
William  H.  Thomson,  vice-president;  and  Almon  B. 
Thomson,  cashier ;  Directors,  William  H.  Thomson, 
D.  F.  Kaime,  Thomas  H.  Swain,  James  S.  Garland, 
Carlos  S.  Greeley,  Lucien  Eaton,  S.  A.  Ranlett,  and 
A.  B.  Thomson. 

The  Union  Savings  Association  was  incor- 
porated and  organized  Feb.  19,  1864,  having  for  its 
incorporators  Gustavus  W.  Dreyer,  T.  B.  Edgar,  E. 
0.  Stanard,  Henry  Overstolz,  Rene  Beanois,  John  W. 
Woerner,  Alexander  B.  Moreau,  Edward  Wider,  T. 
M.  Ellis,  Thomas  E.  Souper,  Ferdinand  Meyer,  James 
M.  Corbett,  and  John  T.  Tell.  Thomas  S.  Ruther- 
ford was  elected  president  of  the  association,  and  was 
succeeded  by  W.  A.  McMurray,  who  was  followed  by 
Peter  Nicholson,  the  present  incumbent.  The  asso- 
ciation has  a  paid  up  capital  of  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  and  a  surplus  of  twenty-three  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  sixty-one  dollars.  The  officers  for  1882 
were  Peter  Nicholson,  president ;  William  A.  Mc- 
Murray, vice-president ;  and  Horace  Ghiselin,  cashier  ; 
Directors,  Peter  Nicholson,  G.  W.  Updyke,  W.  A. 
McMurray,  S.  G.  Niedinghaus,  John  Scullin,  H.  C. 
Wilson,  J.  W.  Mortimer,  A.  Mansur,  J.  B.  C.  Lucas, 
Charles  H.  Turner,  D.  A.  Marks,  G.  A.  Madill,  and 
Horace  Ghiselin.  The  present  location  of  this  insti- 
tution is  at  No.  322  North  Third  Street. 

The  Safe  Deposit  Company  of  St.  Louis  was 
established  in  1870,  under  a  charter  from  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  for  the  safe- 
keeping of  money,  bonds,  valuable  packages,  plate, 
etc.,  and  for  the  execution  of  trusts,  absolute  security 
and  privacy  being  guaranteed.  The  incorporators 
were  J.  B.  S.  Lemoine,  Eugene  Jaccard,  Robert  K. 
Woods,  G.  A.  Hayward,  John  R.  Lionberger,  J.  H. 
Britton,  James  Harrison,  John  Byrne,  Jr.,  Thomas 
Howard,  and  Logan  Hunter.  In  1870  the  safe  de- 
posit building,  No.  513  Locust  Street,  now  occupied 
by  the  company  was  erected.  The  building  is  supplied 
with  the  latest  and  most  improved  fire-  and  burglaj- 
proof  vaults,  safes,  etc.,  and  everything  pertaining  to 
the  establishment  is  furnished  with  a  view  to  safety 


1404 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


and  durability.  J.  B.  S.  Lemoine  was  chosen  presi- 
dent in  1870,  and  continued  as  such  for  some  years, 
being  succeeded  by  John  R.  Lionberger,  the  present 
incumbent.  The  officers  for  1882  were  John  R. 
Lionberger,  president;  Edwin  Harrison,  vice-presi- 
dent ;  and  G.  A.  Hay  ward,  secretary.  The  board  of 
directors  remains  the  same  as  at  the  incorporation  of 
the  company  in  1870. 

The  Bremen  Savings-Bank  was  incorporated  Aug. 
16,  1868,  and  began  business  Oct.  1,  1868.  The  in- 
corporators  were  M.  Brotherton,  L.  L.  Ashbrook, 
Horace  Fox,  Hermann  Obrock,  Christopher  Crone, 
August  F.  Reller,  F.  W.  Prange,  Henry  Bakewell, 
Henry  Leder,  John  Maguire,  Joseph  W.  Crooks, 
Reiner  Bueter,  Samuel  Stannard,  and  James  Green. 
M.  Brotherton,  president ;  Horace  Fox,  vice-president ; 
and  C.  D.  Affleck,  cashier,  were  the  first  officers. 
The  original  directors  were  Christopher  Crone,  James 
Green,  Jacob  Bitner,  Henry  Bakewell,  Joseph  W. 
Crooks,  Horace  Fox,  M.  Brotherton,  F.  W.  Prange, 
August  F.  Reller,  Henry  Hahne,  L.  L.  Ashbrook, 
Samuel  Stannard,  and  Nicholas  Hatch.  The  capital 
stock  was  originally  8100,000  ;  of  this  only  $30,000 
was  paid  in,  which  grew  to  $125,000.  In  1877  the 
bank  suspended  for  fifteen  days,  and  reopened  on 
the  1st  of  August  with  a  capital  of  $35,000.  The 
present  capital  is  $70,000,  with  a  surplus  of  $12,000. 
F.  W.  Prange  is  president,  and  C.  E.  Kircher  is  cashier. 
The  directors  are  Samuel  Marx,  Charles  Naber,  An- 
thony Nacke,  Hermann  Obrock,  F.  W.  Prange,  C. 
H.  Spencer,  and  T.  T.  Wurmb.  The  bank  occupies 
the  original  location,  3618  Broadway. 

The  Citizens'  Savings-Bank  was  incorporated  in 
September,  1868.  The  incorporators  and  first  di- 
rectors were  Joseph  O'Neil,  John  Ring,  David 
Nicholson,  R.  W.  Powell,  M.  H.  Phclan,  J.  B. 
Ghio,  and  P.  P.  Connors.  Joseph  O'Neil  became 
president ;  R.  W.  Powell,  vice-president ;  and  John 
Schenk,  cashier.  The  bank  was  first  opened  one 
door  from  its  present  location,  on  the  corner  of  Lo- 
cust and  Third  Streets.  The  capital  stock  is  two 
hundred  thousand  dollars.  Joseph  O'Neill  and  R. 
W.  Powell  have  continued  as  president  and  vice- 
president,  and  P.  Gleeson  is  the  present  cashier.  M. 
H.  Phelan,  William  Dooly,  Daniel  Cahill,  Joseph 
O'Neil,  P.  P.  Connors,  R.  W.  Powell,  and  J.  B. 
Ghio  are  the  directors. 

The  Mullanphy  Savings-Bank  was  incorporated 
Jan.  16,  1873,  by  A.  S.  Allen,  F.  W.  Buschmann,  G. 
H.  Elbrecht,  James  Garnett,  F.  Heman,  H.  Klages, 
George  Lanitz,  John  P.  Mullally,  F.  G.  Niedriughaus, 
J.  H.  Rottmann,  F.  A.  Schuleuburg,  A.  Schulherr, 
and  Frederick  Schwartz,  and  was  organized  with  a 


paid  up  capital  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars. 
The  incorporators  comprised  the  original  board  of 
directors,  and  the  officers  were  A.  Schulherr,  president ; 
Frederick  Leser,  cashier.  The  bank  has  always  been 
located  at  the  corner  of  Broadway  and  Mullanphy 
Street.  The  last  annual  statement,  Dec.  1,  1882, 
showed:  Assets,  $675,276.72;  surplus  fund,  $38,- 
089.54.  The  present  officers  are  John  H.  Rottman, 
president ;  G.  H.  Elbrecht,  vice-president ;  L.  G. 
Kammerer,  cashier;  Directors,  H.  C.  Benning,  G. 
H.  Elbrecht,  C.  Kellersmann,  William  Kerksieck,  E. 
C.  Little,  Joseph  Marks,  John  P.  Mullally,  Louis 
Nolte,  James  W.  Rosebrough,  J.  H.  Rottmann, 
Charles  Schumacher,  F.  Schwartz,  H.  Klages. 

The  Northwestern  Savings-Bank,  corner  of  Four- 
teenth and  North  Market  Streets,  was  incorporated 
May  15,  1873.  The  incorporators  were  Charles  G. 
Stifel,  J.  H.  Evers,  A.  Peck,  A.  Bohn,  John  J. 
Hilger,  J.  F.  Heidbreder,  B.  Israel,  H.  Kobusch, 
William  Leffmann,  Henry  Pius,  R.  W.  Rernmel- 
kamp,  Fred.  Steinkamper,  Charles  Schulter,  and  P. 
Obernier.  The  original  and  present  officers  are 
Charles  G.  Stifel,  president ;  J.  H.  Evers,  vice- 
president;  and  P.  Obernier,  cashier.  The  original 
and  present  directors  are  the  incorporators.  The 
capital  stock  is  fifty  thousand  dollars,  and  the  surplus 
is  forty-seven  thousand  dollars.  The  bank  has  al- 
ways been  at  the  corner  of  Fourteenth  and  North 
Market  Streets. 

Miscellaneous  Notes. — In  addition  to  the  banks 
and  savings  institutions  whose  history  has  been  nar- 
rated, many  other  financial  institutions  have  been 
established  in  St.  Louis  from  time  to  time.  Among 
these  are  the  following : 

Mutual  Savings  Institution,  chartered  in  1863,  com- 
menced operations  Feb.  6,  1854,  with  a  capital  of 
$50,000.  Deposits  as  small  as  five  cents  were  received. 
On  time  deposits  six  per  cent,  interest  was  paid.  From 
the  6th  of  February  up  to  the  20th  of  December, 
1854,  the  institution  had  opened  seven  hundred  and 
sixty-nine  accounts,  with  deposits  aggregating  $66,- 
484.59. 

Central  Savings-Bank,  organized  in  1857  with  a 
capital  stock  of  $50,000,  subject  to  increase  not  ex- 
ceeding $750,000.  When  the  Central  commenced  its 
career  it  was  managed  by  the  following  officers  :  Henry 
L.  Patterson,  president ;  John  H.  Tracy,  cashier ;  Di- 
rectors, Henry  J.  Spaunhorst,  John  Byrne,  Jr.,  Peter 
J.  Hurck,  John  F.  Slevin,  Francis  Lepere,  Thomas 
Ferguson,  Hugh  Boyle,  Henry  B.  Berning,  Redmond 
Cleary. 

Owing  to  imprudent  investments  the  institution 
collapsed,  and  on  the  17th*  of  July,  1876,  the  direc- 


BANKS,  AND   OTHER   FINANCIAL   INSTITUTIONS,  AND   BANKERS. 


1405 


tors  executed  an  assignment  for  the  benefit  of  the  cred- 
itors to  E.  T.  Farish,  attorney,  and  Charles  Green, 
real  estate  agent.  Subsequently  a  committee  was 
appointed,  consisting  of  Timothy  Cavanaugh,  Daniel 
Cavanaugh,  J.  Dalton,  Fusz  &  Backer,  and  Thomas 
McEvilly.  Subsequently  M.  H.  Phelan  was  appointed 
assignee  by  the  United  States  Court.  When  the 
estate  passed  into  the  bankruptcy  court  the  following 
statement  of  assets  was  submitted : 

ASSETS. 

Notes  discounted $338.381.55 

Insurance  debts  and  notes  in  suit...        276,969.11 

Bonds  and  stocks 

Notes  discounted  No.  2 

Overdrafts 

Due  from  banks  and  bankers 

Cash  on  hand  July  6,  1876 

Real  estate.... 


56,900.00 
151.573.39 

12,595.55 
6,075.00 

12,683.45 
213,488.27 


Total $1,066,666.32 

There  were  1228  creditors,  representing  a  total 
indebtedness  of  $844,673.07.  The  deposits  consisted 
of  small  amounts,  chiefly  ranging  from  8200  to  $1000. 
Assignee  Phelan  succeeded  in  six  years  in  paying  off 
twenty  per  cent,  of  this  indebtedness  in  three  divi- 
dends, ten,  five,  and  five  per  cent,  each,  which  ex- 
hausted the  collected  assets  of  the  bank,  amounting 
to  $160,000.  The  value  of  the  assets  shrunk  to 
insignificant  figures,  owing  to  the  worthless  nature  of 
some  of  the  real  estate  securities. 

The  City  Bank  of  St.  Louis ;  books  for  subscrip- 
tion to  stock  opened  at  the  counting-room  of  Lucas 
&  Simonds,  March  18,  1857  ;  incorporators,  D.  A. 
January,  William  M.  Morrison,  Henry  L.  Patterson, 
Charles  D.  Drake,  John  Simonds. 

People's  Savings  Institution;  subscribers  notified 
that  ten  per  cent,  of  the  amount  subscribed  was  to  be 
paid  on  or  before  Tuesday,  March  10,  1857,  to  Isidor 
Bush,  corner  of  Park  and  Carondelet  Avenues,  or  to 
Emil  Ulrici,  No.  53  Carondelet  Avenue,  between' 
Barry  and  Marion  Streets  ;  commissioners  to  receive 
the  first  installments,  John  How,  Waldemar  Fischer, 
Isidor  Bush,  Matthias  Steitz,  John  Hogan,  Henry 
Pilkington,  Emil  Ulrici,  Charles  Taussig. 

First  Ward  Savings  Association  ;  books  for  sub- 
scriptions opened  March  14,  1857,  at  the  office  of 
Thomas  Allen,  Decatur  Street,  and  at  J.  P.  Mack's 
drug  store;  Commissioners,  Thomas  Allen,  John  C. 
Rust,  Stephen  D.  Barlow,  Benjamin  A.  Soulard, 
Rene  Bouvais,  James  G.  Stewart,  Heber  Livermore, 
E.  A.  Burt,  Patrick  E.  Burke. 

St.  Louis  Building  and  Savings  Association ;  sub- 
scription-books opened  at  the  rooms  of  the  Mechanics' 
and  Manufacturers'  Exchange,  on  Chestnut  Street 
between  Third  and  Fourth,  March  9,  1857;  incor- 
porators and  commissioners,  Asa  Wilgus,  Clark  J. 


Morton,  Peter  A.  Ladue,  John  F.  Darby,  William 
Hassinger,  George  H.  Moore,  William  M.  Maurice, 
Josiah  G.  McClellan. 

United  States  Savings  Association,  organized  in 
1857,  went  out  of  business  in  June,  1879.  The  di- 
rectors of  the  institution,  which  was  then  located  at 
Second  and  Market  Streets,  decided  in  that  month  to 
close  up  the  affairs  of  the  bank,  and  to  transfer  its 
accounts  to  the  Mechanics'  Bank,  southwest  corner  of 
Second  and  Pine  Streets.  This  decision  was  caused 
by  the  fact  that  the  business  was  no  longer  profitable. 
The  officers  at  the  time  were  Jacob  Tamm,  presi- 
dent ;  Theodore  Sessinghaus,  vice-president ;  Charles 
Kern,  cashier.  The  directors  were  Jacob  Tamm, 
Theodore  Sessinghaus,  G.  Wetzel,  Charles  Hegel, 
Charles  Kern,  Henry  Wiebusch,  August  Eichele, 
H.  D.  Meyer,  Herman  Morell,  Nicholas  Guerdan, 
and  Otto  Lademann.1 

Accommodation  Bank,  organized  about  1864,  was 
located  at  first  on  Chestnut  Street  near  Fourth,  but 
afterwards  removed  to  the  northeast  corner  of  Chest- 
nut and  Third  Streets.  For  some  years  the  bank 
transacted  a  flourishing  business  both  as  a  savings 
and  discount  association.  Its  president  was  Hon. 
Erastus  Wells,  and  the  cashier  William  D.  Henry. 
The  board  of  directors  in  1867  was  composed  of 
Erastus  Wells,  G.  W.  Dreyer,  Col.  Cavender,  John 
E.  Liggett,  of  Liggett  &  Dausman,  and  Thomas  V. 
Strude,  of  Strude,  Ruby  &  Co. 

Real  Estate  Saving  Institution,  organized  in  April, 
1867,  was  located  at  72  North  Third  Street,  above 
Olive.  Seven  per  cent,  interest  was  paid  on  deposits, 
and  sums  as  low  as  one  dollar  were  received.  The 
officers  were  :  President,  George  K.  Budd;  Treasurer, 
Francis  Whitney ;  Legal  Counselor,  John  M.  Krum  ; 
Trustees,  William  M.  Morrison,  John  S.  McCune, 
John  M.  Krum,  Thomas  E.  Tutt,  Henry  Whitmore, 
Morris  Collins,  Charles  A.  Pope,  Oliver  A.  Hart,  R. 
M.  Funkhouser,  George  K.  Budd,  Edward  Haren, 
Sr.,  John  B.  Johnson. 

Home  Savings- Bank,  established  in  May,  1867, 
"  for  the  accommodation  of  citizens  at  the  northern 
end  of  the  city."  The  officers  were  E.  D.  Jones, 
president ;  James  Hodgman,  vice-president ;  H.  C. 
Pierce,  cashier,  and  E.  D.  Jones,  James  Hodgman, 
D.  P.  Green,  E.  G.  Obear,  A.  C.  Osborn,  A.  H.  Weber, 
J.  0.  Coding,  G.  W.  Alexander,  H.  L.  Parker,  J.  P. 
Colby,  John  Crangle,  W.  L.  Barker,  and  T.  Sessing- 


1  Augustus  Beneke,  cashier  of  the  United  States  Savings  In- 
stitution, died  suddenly  in  March,  1871.  He  had  been  a  resi- 
dent of  St.  Louis  for  twenty-two  years,  and  was  widely  and 
favorably  known. 


1406 


HISTORY  OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


haus,  directors.  The  building  was  located  at  the  cor- 
ner of  Broadway  and  Jefferson  Street. 

Butchers'  and  Drovers'  Bank,  organized  in  June, 
1867,  with  B.  M.  Chambers  as  president,  and  P.  S. 
Langton,  cashier,  was  located  at  the  corner  of  Fifth 
and  Morgan  Streets,  opposite  the  Union  Market.  Its 
business  grew  to  enormous  proportions,  and  during 
the  great  panic  of  1873  it  paid  all  checks  as  pre- 
sented, but  on  the  14th  of  July,  1877,  it  ceased 
operations.  "  The  only  reason,"  says  a  newspaper 
announcement  of  the  action  of  the  bank  officers,  "  as 
given  to  us  for  the  close  was  the  imperative  provision 
of  the  new  statute,  which  takes  effect  at  the  end  of 
the  month,  and  which  provides  '  that  when  the  capital 
stock  shall  have  become  impaired  to  the  extent  of 
twenty-five  per  cent,  thereof  by  reason  of  bad  loans 
or  otherwise,  such  corporation  shall  cease  to  do  busi- 
ness unless  the  stock  shall  have  been  made  good  by 
assessment  within  sixty  days.' 

"  The  stock  of  the  bank  as  subscribed  is  two  hun- 
dred and  sixty-one  thousand  dollars,  of  which  one 
hundred  and  thirty  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  is 
paid  in.  Interpreting  that  the  capital  stock  paid  in 
must  be  treated  as  the  sum  by  which  must  be  tested 
the  solvency  of  the  bank,  Mr.  Chambers  saw  but  two 
alternatives  for  compliance  with  the  law,  either  to 
cease  to  do  business  or  to  call  on  stockholders,  which 
last  within  sixty  days  would  not  be  possible. 

"  The  Butchers'  and  Drovers'  Bank  was  organized 
in  1867  with  a  nominal  capital  of  two  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  dollars,  of  which  thirty  per  cent,  was 
paid  in.  From  time  to  time  dividends  were  declared, 
and  were  credited  to  stock  on  the  books  until  fifty 
per  cent,  was  paid  up,  making  a  working  capital  of 
one  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand  dollars.  The 
bank  did  a  flourishing  business  from  the  start,  and, 
in  addition  to  a  heavy  list  of  large  depositors,  became 
popular  with  small  depositors,  of  which  it  had  a  host. 
This  gave  the  bank  such  a  prestige  that  two  years 
ago,  when  only  forty  per  cent,  of  the  stock  was  paid 
up,  shares  were  selling  at  from  seventy  to  seventy-two 
per  cent.,  or  a  little  over  seventy-five  per  cent,  pre- 
mium." 

American  Bank,  established  in  November,  1867  ; 
officers :  President,  E.  Miltenberger ;  Cashier,  Wash 
Barrow  ;  Assistant  Cashier,  F.  Siebeumann  ;  Directors, 
E.  Miltenberger,  Wash  Barrow,  Henry  B.  Berning, 
William  Druhe,  J.  F.  Schiefer,  John  F.  Tolle,  Joseph 
Uhrig,  Jacob  Blattner,  Clingan  Scott,  C.  F.  Orth- 
weim,  L.  W.  Burris,  J.  0.  Banks,  R.  D.  Lancaster. 

German  Bank,  organized  in  1869,  was  located  on 
Market  Street,  between  Second  and  Third,  but  re- 
moved to  Fifth  and  Market  Streets.  It  transacted  a 


large  business,  having  at  one  time  deposits  amounting 
to  one  million  six  hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  in 
December,  1869,  established  a  branch  office  in  "  Hie- 
menz's  new  building,  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Caron- 
delet  Avenue  and  Carroll  Street."  On  the  10th  of 
July,  1877,  the  directors  made  an  assignment  of  all 
the  assets  of  the  bank  to  Charles  Gr.  Stifel  for  the 
benefit  of  the  creditors. 

Broadway  Savings  Bank,  established  March  4, 
1869.  Officers:  L.  S.  Bargen,  president;  J.  P. 
Krieger,  Sr.,  vice-president;  J.  P.  Krieger,  Jr., 
cashier.  For  some  years  the  bank  transacted  a  flour- 
ishing business,  but  on  the  21st  of  May,  1879,  it  was 
compelled  to  suspend,  owing  to  the  sudden  crippling 
of  its  resources.  Less  than  two  years  later  (Jan.  17, 
1881)  its  founder,  J.  Phil.  Krieger,  Jr.,  committed 
suicide  at  the  Western  Hotel,  corner  of  Carr  Street 
and  Broadway,  The  cause  of  the  act  is  indicated  by 
the  Republican  as  follows : 

"The  bank  had  a  good  run  of  business  and  did  fairly  well, 
although  it  is  said  to  have  experienced  at  least  two  financial 
storms,  both  of  which  it  weathered  under  the  guidance  of 
Krieger,  Jr.,  its  cashier.  On  the  afternoon  of  May  21,  1879, 
the  bank  closed  its  doors.  The  directors  had  discovered  a 
slight  impairment,  and  decided  it  was  the  wiser  plan  to  suspend, 
though  Krieger,  Jr.,  was  in  favor  of  making  efforts  to  tide  over 
the  difficulty.  At  this  date  the  liabilities  of  the  bank  were 
about  seven  hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  its  assets  were  then 
figured  at  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars.  Mr.  John 
Dierberger  first,  and  afterwards  Mr.  John  Lionberger  became 
assignee.  Public  feeling  over  the  matter  of  the  failure  ran 
very  high,  especially  as  there  was  a  widespread  opinion  that 
Krieger,  Jr.,  and  one  Mayer  Goldsoll  had  conspired  together  to 
help  themselves  in  their  own  speculations  by  using  the  money 
of  the  bank.  The  grand  jury  after  a  grand  jural  investigation 
indicted  Krieger,  Sr.,  the  president  of  the  bank,  Krieger,  Jr., 
its  cashier,  and  Mayer  Goldsoll,  a  beneficiary  of  the  institution." 

North  St.  Louis  Savings  Association,  established 
April  2,  1860,  the  directors  being  A.  E.  Erfurt, 
Fran§ois  Cornet,  H.  W.  Winmann,  John  F.  Wittee, 
Caspar  Stolle,  C.  L.  Holthous,  Julias  Thamer,  and 
John  C.  Vogel.  In  1864  the  association  reorganized 
under  a  new  charter,  and  commenced  operations  on 
the  1st  of  February  of  the  same  year.  Louis  Espen- 
schied  was  elected  president,  and  John  G-.  Hermann 
secretary.  In  1866  the  real  estate  at  the  southeast 
corner  of  Fourth  and  Morgan  Streets,  part  of  which 
was  occupied  by  the  building  where  the  association 
transacted  its  business,  was  sold  at  auction,  and  the 
association  having  a  fair  surplus  of  profits,  concluded 
to  purchase  it,  with  a  view  to  building  a  banking- 
house  on  one  of  the  two  lots.  The  corner-stone  of 
the  building  was  laid  on  the  3d  of  June,  1869.  On 
the  16th  of  July,  1877,  the  bank  was  compelled  to 
suspend  and  go  into  liquidation.  At  the  time  of  the 
suspension  the  officers  were  A.  C.  Erfurt,  president ; 


BANKS,  AND   OTHER   FINANCIAL  INSTITUTIONS,  AND   BANKERS. 


1407 


E.  F.  W.  Meier,  vice-president  ;  H.  H.  Wernse, 
cashier;  J.  H.  Dickmann,  assistant  cashier;  Di- 
rectors, F.  Barklage,  Theodore  Becker,  Henry  Cor- 
net, A.  C.  Erfurt,  Joseph  Kilpatrick,  E.  F.  W. 
Meier,  Frederick  Schiereck,  J.  W.  Schloemann,  A. 
W.  Schulenberg,  William  Hake,  F.  A.  Witte. 

The  cause  of  the  suspension  was  the  depression  in 
the  real  estate  market. 

Traders'  and  Mechanics'  Bank,  established  in  Oc- 
tober, 1872,  suspended  in  February,  1876.  C.  L. 
Kraft  was  president  at  the  time,  and  was  subsequently 
appointed  assignee. 

S.  B.  Bullock,  for  twenty-seven  years  a  resident  of 
St.  Louis,  and  for  fifteen  years  a  banker,  died  Aug. 
7,  1863. 

Among  the  prominent  bankers  of  St.  Louis  was  ; 
Capt.  Mark  Leavenworth,  who  died  on  Feb.  17, 
1866,  aged  forty-one  years.  He  was  for  a  number 
of  years  widely  known  as  a  river  commander  and 
pilot,  and  for  several  years  prior  to  his  death  was  a 
member  of  the  banking  firm  of  Gaylord,  Leavenworth 
&  Co.,  of  Olive  Street. 

The  house  of  Donaldson   &   Fraley,  brokers  and 
bankers,  was  established  in   1868,  at  the  corner  of 
Third  and  Olive  Streets,  where  the  firm  has  conducted 
a  general  brokerage  and  exchange  business  ever  since. 
The  house  was  established  by  John  W.  Donaldson 
and  Moses  Fraley,  both  of  whom  are  active  members  j 
of  the  firm.     A  branch  house  in  New  York  is  com- 
posed 'of  Moses  Fraley  and  Philip  J.  Goodhart,  and  j 
transacts  business  under  the  firm-name  of  Fraley  & 
Goodhart. 

The  Old  Banking-House  of  James  H,  Lucas 
&  Co. — In  1851,  James  H.  Lucas  established  a  j 
banking-house  in  St.  Louis,  and  in  the  following  year 
associated  with  him  John  Simonds,  the  firm-name 
being  Lucas  &  Simonds.  Mr.  Simonds  was  born  on  the 
13th  of  March,  1800,  in  Windsor  County,  Vt.  His 
father  removed  to  St.  Louis  in  1817,  and  for  several 
years  filled  the  post  of  harbor-master,  dying  in  1839. 
John  Simonds  received  a  common  school  education, 
and  in  1819  was  appointed  deputy  constable.  Two 
years  later  he  was  made  deputy  sheriff,  and  in  1825 
was  appointed  United  States  marshal,  but  owing  to 
his  opposition  to  Gen.  Jackson  was  removed  in  1828. 
He  then  became  a  steamboat  captain,  and  between  the 
years  1828  and  1835  acted  as  commander  of  various 
steamers  on  the  Mississippi.  In  1835  he  established 
a  large  commission  house  in  St.  Louis,  and  successfully 
pursued  this  business  until  1852,  when  he  entered  the 
banking-house  of  James  H.  Lucas  as  a  partner.  In 
1857  he  retired  from  the  firm  and  established  the 
banking-house  of  Simonds  &  Taylor.  Capt.  Simonds' 


first  wife  was  Miss  Teresa  Geyer,  sister  of  Hon.  Henry 
S.  Geyer,  whom  he  married  March  4,  1824,  and  his 
second  wife  was  Miss  Susan  M.  Kennett,  whom  he 
married  May  5, 1852.  For  many  years  Capt.  Simonds 
was  president  of  the  Citizens'  Insurance  Company,  and 
for  a  considerable  period  president  of  the  Board  of 
Underwriters. 

In  the  autumn  of  1852  the  firm  determined  to 
establish  a  branch  banking-house  in  San  Francisco, 
and  for  that  purpose  selected  as  their  agent  on  the 
Pacific  slope  Maj.  Henry  S.  Turner,  assistant  treas- 
urer of  the  United  States  at  St.  Louis,  the  name  de- 
termined upon  for  the  branch  establishment  being  that 
of  Lucas,  Turner  &  Co.  A  short  time  previous  to 
this  decision,  Capt.  William  T.  Sherman,  who  after- 
wards became  so  famous  as  a  general  in  the  Union 
army,  had  been  stationed  at  St.  Louis  as  commissary 
of  subsistence,  but  in  September  of  that  year  was 
transferred  to  New  Orleans.  About  Christmas  of  the 
same  year  Maj.  Turner  laid  before  him  the  details  of 
the  plan  for  the  establishment  of  the  branch  house  in 
San  Francisco,  and  proposed  that  he  should  become  a 
partner  in  the  firm.1 

1  Henry  S.  Turner  was  born  on  the  1st  of  April,  1811,  in 
King  George's  County,  Va.  In  1830  he  was  admitted  as  a 
cadet  at  West  Point,  and  in  June,  1834,  graduated  from  that 
institution.  He  was  at  once  appointed  brevet  second  lieutenant 
in  the  First  Regiment  of  Dragoons,  then  a  new  arm  in  the 
United  States  service.  He  served  with  his  regiment  on  the 
frontier,  his  quarters  being  at  Fort  Des  Moines,  Iowa.  He 
became  second  lieutenant  in  August,  1835,  and  was  appointed 
adjutant  at  the  regimental  headquarters  in  July,  1836.  He 
served  in  this  capacity  until  November,  1838  (he  became  first 
lieutenant  on  the  3d  of  March,  1837),  when  he  was  appointed 
as  aide-de-camp  to  Gen.  Atkinson,  and  served  as  such  until 
July,  1839,  when  he  was  sent  by  the  War  Department  with  two 
colleagues  to  the  cavalry  school  of  Saumur,  France,  to  study 
cavalry  tactics  and  prepare  a  manual  of  instruction  for  that 
arm  of  the  service  in  the  army  of  the  United  States. 

On  returning  to  the  United  States,  two  years  later,  he  waa 
married  to  Miss  Julia  M.  Hunt,  daughter  of  Theodore  Hunt 
and  Anne  Lucas  Hunt,  and  granddaughter  of  John  B.  C.  Lucas. 

After  his  marriage  he  was  stationed  at  Fort  Leavenworth, 
and  served  as  adjutant  of  his  regiment  until  June,  1846.  In 
the  interval  between  these  dates  he  was  on  duty  at  Fort  Gibson, 
at  Jefferson  Barracks,  St.  Louis,  as  well  as  Fort  Leavenworth, 
as  acting  assistant  adjutant-general  of  the  Third  Military  De- 
partment from  July,  1844,  to  September,  1846,  during  which 
time  he  was  detailed  on  an  expedition  through  the  South  Pass 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  When  the  Mexican  war  broke  out 
Gen.  Atkinson  had  died,  and  Col.  Stephen  W.  Kearney,  who 
had  been  appointed  brigadier-general,  was  placed  in  command 
of  the  Army  of  the  West,  on  an  expedition  to  New  Mexico  and 
California.  Maj.  Turner,  who  had  become  captain  of  the  First 
Dragoons  in  April,  1846,  was  the  acting  assistant  adjutant- 
general  of  the  army,  and  his  services  in  the  arduous  campaign 
on  which  it  immediately  entered  were  brilliant  and  highly  ap- 
preciated by  his  gallant  commander.  At  San  Pasqual,  Cal.,  on 
the  6th  of  December,  1846,  a  fierce  attack  was  made  in  the  early 


1408 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


James  H.  Lucas,  the  senior  partner,  subsequently 
had  an  interview  with  Capt.  Sherman,  and  also  pre- 
sented for  his  consideration  the  particulars  of  the 
California  project,  desiring  him  to  accept  the  position 
of  resident  partner  and  manager  in  San  Francisco. 
The  enterprise  struck  Capt.  Sherman  so  favorably 
that  he  obtained  a  leave  of  absence  and  visited  San 
Francisco.  After  carefully  surveying  the  field,  he 

morning  on  a  portion  of  the  United  States  forces  by  a  swarm  of 
mounted  Mexican  lancers,  and  in  the  combat  which  ensued  Capt. 
Turner  received  a  painful  flesh-wound  from  a  lance;  but  none 
of  his  comrades  knew  of  his  mishap  until  the  enemy  had  been 
routed.  He  was  in  the  saddle  at  the  skirmish  at  San  Bernardo 
on  the  following  day,  and  participated  in  that  action.  The 
passage  of  the  San  Gabriel  River  was  effected  on  the  8th  of 
January,  1847.  The  skirmish  on  the  plains  of  Mesa  followed 
on  the  9th  of  the  same  month,  and  for  his  gallant  and  meri- 
torious services  in  these  engagements  he  was  breveted  major, 
to  date  from  the  first  of  them. 

The  Army  of  the  West  returned  to  the  United  States  by  the 
way  of  El  Paso,  in  the  summer  of  1847,  too  late  to  engage  in 
the  operations  under  Gen.  Scott  near  the  city  of  Mexico.  That 
place  was  captured  in  September,  1847.  Maj.  Turner,  who  was 
an  essential  witness  at  the  trial  by  court-martial  of  Col.  Fre- 
mont, was  detained  in  attendance  on  that  court  at  Washington 
City  until  the  treaty  of  peace  in  1848.  In  July  of  that  year  he 
resigned  his  commission  and  devoted  himself  to  civil  life.  He 
cultivated  a  farm  about  nine  miles  from  the  city  of  St.  Louis, 
and  in  1850  was  appointed  assistant  treasurer  of  the  United 
States  in  this  city.  He  performed  the  duties  of  his  office  until 
1852,  when  he  embarked  in  the  business  of  banking,  in  part- 
nership with  the  late  James  H.  Lucas  and  Gen.  W.  T.  Sherman. 
This  partnership  lasted  until  1857.  During  part  of  this  interval 
Maj.  Turner,  together  with  Gen.  (then  Capt.)  Sherman,  resided 
in  San  Francisco,  where  was  established  a  branch  of  the  bank 
of  Lucas,  Turner  &  Co. 

The  firm  was  dissolved  in  1857,  and  Maj.  Turner  returned  to 
his  farm.  In  1863  he  was  elected  president  of  the  Union  Na- 
tional Bank,  and  served  in  that  capacity  until  1869,  when  he 
accepted  the  presidency  of  the  Lucas  Bank,  which  he  held  until 
1874,  when  he  insisted  upon  resigning  the  office  and  devoting 
his  whole  time  to  the  care  of  his  large  property.  In  1858  he 
had  been  elected  to  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  State, 
and  served  most  acceptably  for  two  years,  declining  a  re-election. 
In  1874,  when  a  general  uprising  against  municipal  misrule 
brought  about  the  active  participation  in  city  affairs  of  men 
who  ordinarily  refuse  political  duties,  he  was  induced  to  be- 
come a  candidate  for  a  seat  in  the  Common  Council,  and  was 
elected  by  his  fellow-citizens  without  distinction  of  party.  The 
duties  of  this  office  he  performed  not  perfunctorily  but  con- 
scientiously and  laboriously  for  two  years,  but  then  insisted  on 
a  discharge  from  further  public  service.  Besides  these  public 
duties,  he  was  repeatedly  selected  as  the  depository  of  the  most 
important  private  trusts.  Some  of  the  largest  estates  that  had 
ever  been  administered  in  St.  Louis  passed  through  his  hands 
as  executor.  In  every  instance  the  performance  of  his  duties 
was  above  all  challenge. 

During  the  trying  days  of  1877,  when  riotous  mobs  threat- 
ened the  peace  and  good  order  of  the  leading  cities  of  the 
Union,  he  was  conspicuously  energetic  in  organizing  and  arm- 
ing the  citizens  for  the  suppression  of  disorder.  Muj.  Turner 
died  on  the  16th  of  December,  1881,  universally  regretted  by 
the  citizens. 


determined  to  accept  the  proposition  of  Messrs.  Lucas 
and  Turner,  and  resigned  his  commission  in  the  army, 
to  take  effect  on  the  6th  of  September,  1853.  On 
the  20th  of  that  month  he  left  New  York  with  his 
family  by  steamer  for  the  Pacific  coast,  and  arrived 
safely  in  San  Francisco.  Maj.  Turner  was  associated 
with  him  in  the  management  of  the  branch  bank  until 
1855,  when  he  (Turner)  returned  to  St.  Louis,  and 
Capt.  Sherman  was  left  alone  to  tide  the  affairs  of  the 
agency  over  the  crisis  of  that  year.  Nearly  every 
other  bank  in  San  Francisco  closed  its  doors,  but  the 
house  of  Lucas,  Turner  &  Co.  survived  the  "  run." 
Early  in  1857,  however,  he  informed  the  parent 
house  in  St.  Louis  that  in  his  opinion  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  San  Francisco  establishment  was  no 
longer  advisable.  His  suggestion  was  approved,  and 
he  accordingly  closed  up  the  affairs  of  the  branch 
bank,  and  with  his  family  removed  to  Lancaster, 
Ohio.  Subsequently  Mr.  Lucas  and  Maj.  Turner 
determined  to  establish  a  branch  house  in  New 
York,  which  was  done  on  the  21st  of  July,  1857. 
In  the  fall  of  that  year  the  great  financial  panic  ne- 
cessitated a  suspension  of  the  St.  Louis  firm,  but  Mr. 
Lucas  assumed  the  liabilities  and  paid  all  the  creditors, 
with  ten  per  cent,  interest. 

In  Normandie  of  old,  in  what  is  now  the  depart- 
ment of  the  Eure,  at  the  head  of  navigation  on  the 
river  Brille,  which  empties  into  the  estuary  of  the 
Seine,  stands  the  ancient  town  of  Pont-Audemer, — 
not  a  large  place,  but  venerable,  with  a  history -of  its 
own,  as  you  will  read  in  Thierry  and  in  Martin  ;  with 
seven  thousand  or  eight  thousand  people,  and  manu- 
factures of  leather  and  cloth.  Its  leather  products  • 
are  quite  famous  in  their  way,  and  it  is  to  the  fact  of 
manufactures  being  of  old  establishment  in  Pont-Au- 
demer that  St.  Louis  owes  the  residence  there  of  the 
i  Lucas  family,  who  have  done  so  much  to  improve  and 
adorn  the  town  and  city  ;  for  manufactures  must 
have  manufacturers,  and  these  again  their  wives  and 
daughters,  and  thereby  hangs  a  tale.  The  procureur 
du  roi  (king's  prosecuting  attorney)  of  Pont-Audemer 
from  1760  onward  was  Robert  Edward  Lucas.  An 
old  Norman  family,  the  Lucases,  with  a  terribly  long 
pedigree, — Lucas,  Lucie,  Fitz-Lucas,  De  Lucy,  Filius 
Lucaj, — you  will  find  their  names  in  the  roll  of  Battle 
Abbey,  in  the  English  Domesday  Book,  in  Holinshed, 
in  Joinville,  in  Camden,  Leland,  and  Froissart,  proud 
they  were  accordingly,  sticklers  for  rank  and  social  dis- 
tinction. Robert  Edward  Lucas  married  for  his  wife 
la  Mademoiselle  de  L'Arche.  He  had  a  fine  old 
family  seat  outside  the  town,  and  the  office  of  pro- 
cureur was  in  some  sort  almost  hereditary  in  his  family. 
His  wife  bore  him  a  son,  Jean  Baptiste  Charles  Lucas, 


\H 


BANKS,  AND   OTHER   FINANCIAL   INSTITUTIONS,  AND   BANKERS.  1409 


Aug.  14, 1758,  and  this  boy  from  the  first  was  looked 
upon  as  destined  to  be  his  father's  successor.  He  was 
educated  with  the  position  steadily  in  view,  and  with 
the  profession  also  in  which  it  was  intended  he  should 
succeed  his  father, — an  education  at  once  liberal  and 
exact,  classical  and  technical,  received  in  part  at  the 
university  founded  in  Caen  by  King  Henry  VI.  of 
England,  and  in  part  at  the  Honfleur  and  Paris  law 
schools.  At  Honfleur,  J.  B.  C.  Lucas  met  his  fate, 
in  the  person  of  Mademoiselle  Anne  Sebin,  daughter 
of  a  manufacturer  of  cloth.  Because  her  father  was 
in  trade,  while  the  family  of  Lucas  were  gens  du  droit, 
Mademoiselle  Sebin  was  not  looked  upon  as  his  social 
equal.  But  she  was  handsome,  well  educated,  and 
rich  in  mental  endowments,  and  Lucas  did  not  care 
much  for  the  social  arrangements  which  not  only  stood 
between  him  and  the  object  of  his  affections,  but  also 
proposed  to  marry  him  to  quite  another  person.  Be- 
sides, in  Paris  he  had  become  acquainted  with  Jacques 
le  Roy  de  Chaumont,  son  of  the  landlord  at  Passy 
with  whom  Franklin  and  Adams  sojourned  during  the 
times  of  the  Revolution,  and  through  him  was  im- 
bued with  American  ideas,  becoming  such  a  hot  Re- 
publican, in  fact,  that  he  and  the  king's  attorney,  his 
father,  could  not  agree  at  all.  Le  Roy  was  coming  to 
this  country  to  buy  land  and  settle  in  Western  New 
York.  Lucas  accompanied  him,  arriving  in  the  United 
States  in  1784,  having  first  married  Anne  Sebin.  As 
soon  as  he  became  sufficiently  acquainted  with  the 
English  language,  Lucas  sent  for  his  wife  to  join  him 
in  the  western  wilds.  Albert  Gallatin,  Lucas*  lifelong 
friend,  who  had  come  out  in  1780,  had  bought  land 
in  Virginia,  but  the  Indians  prevented  him  from  oc- 
cupying it,  and  he  was  settled  near  Pittsburgh.  Thither 
went  Lucas  also,  and  bought  a  farm,  called  "  Mont- 
pelier,"  on  Coal  Hill,  on  the  Monongahela  River,  six 
miles  from  Pittsburgh.  Here  some  of  his  children 
were  born, — Robert,  the  eldest,  who  was  cadet  at  West 
Point  by  Gen.  Wilkinson's  appointment,  and  died  in 
the  service  of  his  country  in  1813,  on  the  Canada 
frontier  ;  Charles,  the  lawyer,  killed  in  a  duel  by 
Thomas  Hart  Benton  ;  Adrian  the  planter,  who  was 
drowned  while  crossing  on  the  ice  on  Loutre  Lake, 
Mo.,  in  1804  ;  Anne,  born  Sept.  23,  1796,  widow 
and  survivor  of  Capt.  Theodore  Hunt,  U.S.N.,  and 
Wilson  P.  Hunt,  the  great  fur-trader,  who  after- 
wards kept  store  in  St.  Louis  (Hunt  &  Hankinson)  ; 
James  H.,  born  Nov.  12,  1800  ;  and  William,  born 
in  1798,  who  died  in  1837.  Mrs.  Anne  Sebin  Lucas, 
who  was  born  in  Honfleur,  Aug.  10,  1764,  died  in 
St.  Louis,  Aug.  3,  1811. 

J.  B.  C.  Lucas,  a  man  of  great  parts  naturally  and 
of  superior  culture,  began  at  once  to  take  part  in  pub- 


lic affairs,  following  the  example  of  Gallatin.  Like 
Gallatin,  he  took  the  popular  side  in  the  excise  trou- 
bles of  that  section,  acquiring  great  influence,  and 
being  able  to  do  much  good  by  conservative  and 
moderate  counsels.  His  next  neighbor  was  Maj. 
Ebcnezer  Denny,  a  Revolutionary  officer,  and  one  of 
Harmar's  staff.  The  two  were  opposing  candidates 
in  1795  for  the  Pennsylvania  Legislature.  Denny 
was  a  universal  favorite,  Lucas  scarcely  known,  speak- 
ing English  with  difficulty,  and  charged  by  partisan 
maligners  with  being  an  avowed  atheist,  and  with 
permitting  his  wife,  during  his  absence  in  France,  to 
have  his  land  plowed  on  Sunday.  Nevertheless 
Lucas  was  elected,  though  next  year,  in  a  purely  local 
contest,  Denny  beat  him  badly  for  county  commis- 
sioner, receiving  nearly  every  vote.  Lucas  himself 
told  this  to  Denny's  son,  years  after.  They  were  great 
friends,  went  to  the  polls  together,  and  Denny  contra- 
dicted on  the  stump  the  calumnies  circulated  about 
his  political  opponent.  Lucas  had  a  chance  to  repay 
this  generosity  in  kind  long  years  afterward.  When 
he  was  judge  of  the  Territorial  Court  in  St.  Louis,  a 
case  came  before  him  in  which  Denny,  who  was  not 
present,  was  plaintiff,  and  Alexander  McNair,  first 
Governor  of  the  State,  and  a  very  popular  and  influ- 
ential man,  was  defendant.  Denny's  case  rested  on 
his  own  deposition  and  was  likely  to  go  against  him, 
when  Judge  Lucas  charged  the  jury,  both  in  French 
and  English,  to  this  effect:  "  When  I  lived  in  Penn- 
sylvania," he  said,  "  I  was  the  next  neighbor  to  the 
plaintiff;  we  differed  in  politics,  we  were  opposing 
candidates  for  office,  but  there  never  was  a  more  hon- 
est man.  It  is  impossible  that  he  could  set  up  any 
claim  that  was  not  just  and  true."  The  jury  found 
for  Denny  without  leaving  the  box.  Lucas  was  a  man 
of  remarkable  prudence  and  judgment.  Jefferson 
selected  him,  in  the  beginning  of  his  administration, 
to  go  West  and  ascertain  the  temper  of  the  French 
and  Spanish  residents  of  Louisiana.  This  was  about 
1801.  He  went  incognito  to  St.  Louis,  and  thence 
to  Ste.  Genevieve  and  New  Orleans,  taking  the  name 
of  Pantreaux. 

In  1803,  Lucas  was  member  of  Congress  from 
Western  Pennsylvania,  and  on  the  purchase  of  Lou- 
isiana being  completed,  was  at  once  appointed  by  Jef- 
ferson commissioner  of  land  claims  and  judge  of 
the  Territorial  Court.  He  sold  his  Coal  Hill  farm  for 
five  thousand  dollars  and  went  West  with  his  family, 
arriving  in  St.  Louis  in  September,  1805,  and  imme- 
diately investing  his  money  in  land  in  and  adjacent 
to  the  tow.n.  Mrs.  Hunt,  in  her  cheerful  little 
memoir  of  her  family,  after  mentioning  that  a  Pitts- 
burgh lot,  taken  by  her  father  for  a  bad  debt,  and 


1410 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


afterwards  traded  for  a  horse,  had  sold  for  twenty-five 
thousand  or  thirty  thousand  dollars,  adds,  "  On  the 
advice  of  niy  mother,  who  had  learned  experience 
from  the  sale  of  the  Pittsburgh  lot,  he  invested  his 
salary  in  the  purchase  of  land.  He' bought  mostly 
outlets,  facing  on  what  is  now  Fourth  Street,  each 
lot  being  one  arpent  wide  by  forty  arpens  deep.  All 
this  land  was  used  as  a  common  field,  each  man  culti- 
vating what  he  pleased.  There  were  no  fences  of  any 
kind  on  it.  By  purchasing  a  lot  at  a  time,  he  at 
length  came  to  own  all  the  land  from  Market  Street 
to  St.  Charles,  and  from  Fourth  Street  to  Jefferson 
Avenue.  He  did  not  buy  it  as  a  speculation,  but  for 
what  it  would  produce ;  it  turned  out,  however,  to  be 
an  immense  speculation,  for  the  whole  seven  arpens 
front  did  not  cost  him  over  seven  hundred  dollars,  and 
that  property  is  now  worth,  I  suppose, seventy  millions ! 
A  hundred  dollars  was  what  he  usually  paid  for  an 
arpent  in  width  by  forty  deep,  though  sometimes  he 
got  it  for  less.  The  heirs  to  this  vast  estate  need  not 
thank  my  father  for  it,  for  he  was  too  much  of  a 
politician  to  think  of  investing  his  money  in  land ;  it 
was  my  mother's  foresight  that  suggested  the  invest- 
ment which  turned  out  so  well." 

This  is  rather  a  feminine  way  of  looking  at  things, 
perhaps.  It  needed  the  sagacity  of  a  man,  not  the  in- 
stinctive security  women  feel  in  land-holding,  to  see  the 
possibilities  of  the  future  in  the  untamed  and  unpro- 
gressive  trading  town  of  that  day,  with  streets  all 
mud-holes,  Chouteau's  hill  a  barren  waste,  and  wolves 
prowling  in  the  suburbs  at  Sixth  and  Chestnut  Streets 
when  the  snow  fell.  James  Lucas,  with  his  traps, 
caught  prairie-hens  where  the  Laclede  Hotel  now 
stands,  and  rabbits  on  the  site  of  the  Four  Courts. 

Judge  Lucas,  so  far  from  being  an  "  avowed 
atheist,"  was,  like  all  his  family,  a  consistent  mem- 
ber of  the  Catholic  Church.  So  far  from  being  a 
"  confirmed  poker-player,"  gambling  away  whole 
blocks  of  houses,  as  some  alleged  "old  inhabitants" 
have  gone  out  of  the  way  to  charge  him  with  being, 
he  was  a  man  of  refined,  scholarly  tastes  and  domestic 
habits,  giving  to  his  family  all  the  time  which  he 
could  spare  from  his  business,  and  looking  in  person 
after  the  education  of  his  only  daughter,  a  lady  of 
peculiar  graces  both  of  mind  and  person.  He  was  a 
man  of  strong  feelings,  and  grief  for  the  untimely  loss 
of  his  sons,  five  of  the  six  of  whom  died  sudden 
deaths  in  their  youth  and  prime,  bowed  him  under  a 
weight  of  affliction  such  as  would  have  crushed  a 
less  composed  and  resolute  soul.  These  losses  did, 
indeed,  drive  him  into  retirement  and  seclusion  in  his 
private  life  after  the  death  of  his  accomplished  wife 
and  his  distinguished  son  Charles,  but  they  never 


1  distracted  him  from  close  attention  to  his  affairs. 
These  were  multifarious  and  complicated,  as,  besides 
the  care  of  his  own  immense  estate,  with  all  its  various 
interests,  he  had  a  large  law  business  and  a  great 
amount  of  fiduciary  concerns  for  others, — trusteeships, 
executorships,  and  administrations.  It  is  related  of 
him  that  in  spite  of  all  the  innumerable  time  sales 
and  leases  made  by  him,  through  which  he  became  the 
creditor  of  thousands  of  persons,  he  never  foreclosed 
and  sold  up  more  than  five  mortgages,  and  the  most 
of  these  by  request  of  the  debtors. 

In  1814,  having  occasion  to  go  to  Washington,  a 
journey  then  indeed,  and  scarcely  to  be  made  except 
on  horseback  and  in  the  course  of  months,  he  took 
with  him  his  son,  James  H.,  a  frolicsome  youth,  full 
of  fun  and  humor  and  rather  coltish  in  his  high  spirits 
and  free  temper,  naturally  somewhat  impatient  of  re- 
straint, having  lost  his  mother  so  young  in  life.  Re- 
turning West,  James  H.  Lucas  was  sent  to  school  at 
the  college  of  St.  Thomas,  Nelson  Co.,  Ky.,  an  insti- 
tution in  charge  of  the  Dominican  order  of  friars. 
Among  his  schoolmates  at  this  academy  were  Jeffer- 
son Davis,  with  Louis  A.  Benoist,  Bernard  Pratte, 
Gustave  Soulard,  and  Bion  Gratiot,  all  of  St.  Louis. 
In  1816  he  and  his  brother  William  were  students 
in  Jefferson  College,  Canonsburg,  Pa.,  an  institution 
founded  in  1802,  and  under  charge  of  the  Presby- 
terians. He  was  still  here  when,  Sept.  27,  1817,  his 
brother  Charles  died  of  the  wound  inflicted  by  Col. 
Benton's  pistol.  It  is  said,  we  know  not  how  truly, 
that  his  father,  disliking  the  lad's  propensity  for  mis- 
chief, sent  him  from  here  to  a  school  in  New  Hamp- 
shire. He  may,  perhaps,  have  been  "rusticated." 
At  any  rate,  he  did  travel,  about  the  time  assigned, 
in  New  England,  and  whether  he  sent  his  father  a 
"  declaration  of  independence"  or  not,  he  studied  law 
in  Hudson  (or  Poughkeepsie),  N.  Y.,  supporting  him- 
self the  while  by  teaching  French  in  a  young  lady's 
seminary.  In  Hudson  he  studied  in  the  office  of 
Elisha  Williams,  a  leading  lawyer.  Afterwards  he 
went  to  the  well-known  law  school  of  Judge  Reeves, 
in  Litchfield,  Conn.,  where  he  had  for  his  fellow-stu- 
dents men  like  Governor  Ashley,  Ichabod  Bartlett,  of 
New  Hampshire,  and  N.  P.  Talmage,  of  New  York, 
afterwards  United  States  senator. 

In  1819  he  and  Ashley,  tiring  of  the  "land  of 
steady  habits,"  returned  to  the  West,  the  two  with  a 
companion  forthwith  embarking  on  a  keel-boat  with 
the  purpose  of  descending  the  Mississippi  and  seeking 
their  fortunes  in  South  America,  then  in  all  the  tur- 
moil and  excitement  of  revolution.  Having  got  as 
far  as  Montgomery  Point,  on  the  White  River,  they 
seem  to  have  changed  their  minds,  took  a  pirogue  up 


XV 


BANKS,  AND   OTHER   FINANCIAL   INSTITUTIONS,  AND   BANKERS. 


1411 


the  river,  passed  through  the  "  cut-off"  to  the  Ar- 
kansas, and  landed  at  Arkansas  Post,  famous  for  its 
founder  Tonti,  the  companion  of  La  Salle,  and  for  the 
connection  of  Laclede  with  the  place.  Here  Lucas  | 
was  fortunate  enough  to  become  acquainted  with  Mr. 
Notrebe,  the  chief  merchant  and  planter  in  that  sec-  j 
tion,  an  elegant  French  gentleman  of  culture  and  re-  j 
finement,  with  whom  Lucas  sealed  a  lifelong  friend- 
ship. Doubtless  this  new  acquaintance  had  a  most 
beneficial  influence  upon  young  Lucas,  for  he  seems 
at  once  to  have  settled  down,  resuming  his  law  studies 
with  energy,  determination,  and  persistence,  support- 
ing himself  by  teaching  school,  and  giving  all  his 
leisure  hours  to  study.  Here,  and  at  Little  Rock 
later,  he  followed  other  means  of  livelihood  also,  set 
type  on  the  Arkansas  Gazette,  worked  a  plantation, 
and  ran  a  ferry  opposite  the  place,  charging  twenty- 
five  cents'  toll  for  his  fares,  foot  passengers.  He 
secured  the  appointment  of  county  clerk  also,  until 
he  passed  the  bar,  when  he  took  his  saddle-bags  and 
began  to  ride  the  circuit.  This  industry  was  not 
without  its  reward,  for  Governor  James  Miller,  of  the  i 
Territory,  made  him  in  1825  major  in  the  militia,  and 
afterwards  judge  of  the  probate  court.  In  this  posi- 
tion Mr.  Lucas  remembered  to  have  often  performed 
the  marriage  ceremony,  and  it  was  he  who  married 
Albert  Pike,  the  poet  and  general. 

On  May  10,  1832,  he  was  himself  married  to 
Marie  Emilie  Desruisseaux,  a  native  of  Arkansas 
Post,  but  French  in  descent.  The  father  of  Miss 
Desruisseaux  was  Indian  agent  at  the  post  of  Arkansas 
at  the  time, — a  man  of  consequence  and  ability,  well 
educated,  and  possessing  great  influence.  He  was  a 
Canadian  by  birth,  French  in  his  origin,  and  had 
come  to  that  remote  station  from  Canada  by  way  of 
the  ancient  town  of  Cahokia.  On  the  mother's  side, 
the  late  Mrs.  James  H.  Lucas  was  more  American  in 
blood.  Her  mother  was  a  Van  Noye,  daughter  of  a 
native  of  New  Jersey  (of  Dutch  descent)  who  had 
married  a  Miss  Anderson,  of  Virginia,  and  had  seen 
service  during  the  war  of  the  Revolution.  Thirteen 
children  were  the  fruits  of  James  H.  Lucas'  mar- 
riage, of  whom  six  sons  and  two  daughters  sur-  ' 
vived  him.  Mrs.  Marie  E.  Lucas  died  on  the  24th 
of  December,  1878,  after  a  married  life  of  forty- 
six  and  a  half  years,  being  then  only  in  her  sixty- 
fourth  year.  At  the  time  of  her  death  a  St.  Louis 
journal  said  that,  "  though  occupying  a  position  in 
society  which  the  advantages  of  wealth  and  refine- 
ment entitled  her  to  assume,  she  was  unpretentious 
and  unassuming.  She  was  ever  the  dutiful  wife,  the 
indulgent  mother,  and  faithful  friend,  devoted  to 
every  duty  which  a  religious  faith  and  matronly  qual- 


ities called  upon  her  to  exercise.  Surviving  her  hus- 
band five  years,  she  lived  to  see  her  numerous  family 
settled  in  life,  enjoying  the  large  portions  which  fell 
to  them  from  one  of  the  largest  estates  in  St.  Louis. 
Besides  her  six  sons  she  leaves  two  sons-in-law,  Dr.  J. 
B.  Johnson,  of  St.  Louis,  and  Judge  Hager,  of  Cali- 
fornia." 

In  1837  his  brother  William  died,  and  James  H. 
was  the  only  living  son  of  John  B.  C.  Lucas,  who 
was  already  old,  getting  feeble,  and  feeling  lonesome. 
His  daughter,  Mrs.  Hunt,  had  only  at  this  time  been 
married  a  year  to  her  second  husband,  Wilson  P. 
Hunt,  and  of  course  her  own  menage  demanded  all 
her  time.  John  B.  C.  Lucas  wrote  to  his  son  James 
to  come  home  to  him,  and,  prompted  by  filial  duty, 
the  young  man  gave  up  his  prospects  in  Arkansas 
and  removed  with  his  family  to  St.  Louis.  He  ar- 
rived here  in  October,  1837,  and  settled  on  what  Mr. 
Lucas  called  "the  farm,"  or  home-place,  which  his 
father  gave  him  for  his  own.  It  consisted  of  fifty 
acres  of  land,  and  was  valued  then  at  thirty  thousand 
dollars.  His  residence  was  near  the  fountain  in  Lucas 
(now  called  Missouri)  Park,  and  he  soon  took  the  en- 
tire control  and  management  of  the  extensive  Lucas 
property,  the  judge,  now  nearly  eighty  years  old,  hav- 
ing become  infirm  and  feeble.  From  1837,  therefore, 
James  H.  Lucas  is  thoroughly  and  effectively  iden- 
tified with  the  progress  of  St.  Louis,  and  its  growth 
in  wealth  and  prosperity. 

In  1842,  on  the  18th  of  August,  John  Baptiste 
Charles  Lucas  died,  full  of  years  and  honors,  and 
James  H.  Lucas  and  Annie  L.  Hunt,  his  sister,  suc- 
ceeded to  the  entire  estate. 

The  original  tract  owned  by  the  estate  was  bounded 
north  by  St.  Charles  Street,  on  the  east  by  Fourth, 
south  by  Market,  and  west  by  Pratte  Avenue.  That  em- 
braced the  Lucas  property  up  to  1837.  The  last  ac- 
quisition made  by  the  old  judge  was  Cote  Brilliante, 
consisting  of  two  hundred  and  forty  acres,  which  was 
bought  for  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  in  gold,  and 
comprised  the  undivided  land  owned  by  Mr.  Lucas 
and  Mrs.  Hunt.  Mr.  Lucas  had  also  another  farm, 
the  New  Madrid  location,  his  country-seat,  called 
"  Normandy,"  on  the  St.  Charles  Rock  road,  nine 
miles  from  the  city.  This  portion,  now  belonging  to 
the  Lucas  estate,  comprises  eight  hundred  acres. 
Also,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri  River,  there  are 
six  hundred  and  forty-three  acres  belonging  to  the  es- 
tate. This  is  an  old  Spanish  fort,  where  the  battle  of 
Bellefontaine  was  fought,  in  which  fight  Charles  Lucas 
participated  as  colonel.  There  is  also  the  Courtois 
tract,  consisting  of  four  hundred  arpens,  near  Eureka 
Station,  on  the  Maramec,  still  undivided ;  also  twenty 


1412 


HISTORY  OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


acres  on  the  Clayton  road,  the  old  Barrett  place.  In 
the  management  of  the  city  portion  of  his  vast  estate, 
in  building  and  improvements,  Mr.  Lucas  devoted 
the  remaining  years  of  his  protracted  life,  and  but 
rarely  engaged  in  the  turbulent  excitement  of  politi- 
cal affairs.  He  was,  to  be  sure,  State  senator  from 
1844  to  1845,  making  a  good  serviceable  member, 
and  in  1847  consented  to  run  as  the  Whig  candidate 
for  mayor  in  a  triangular  fight  in  which  W.  M. 
Campbell,  Native  American,  and  Judge  Bryan  Mul- 
lanphy,  Democrat,  were  his  opponents.  Mr.  Lucas 
was  pimply  the  color-bearer  in  a  forlorn  hope,  and  he 
ran  for  the  sake  of  his  party,  not  to  be  elected.  Mul- 
lanphy  triumphed  over  both  the  other  candidates. 

In  business  enterprises  of  a  public  character  Mr. 
Lucas  took  a  conspicuous  and  leading  part.  He  was 
always  ready  to  subscribe  his  money  liberally  and  give 
his  time  freely  to  the  service  of  any  undertaking  which 
he  thought  likely  to  promote  the  welfare  and  prosper- 
ity of  St.  Louis.  He  subscribed  thirty-three  thousand 
dollars  at  the  start  to  the  stock  of  the  Missouri  Pacific 
Railroad  Company,  of  which  he  was  twice  elected 
president,  promoting  its  success  in  many  ways,  and 
especially  by  shaping  and  indorsing  its  financial  exer- 
tions. He  helped  to  organize'  the  St.  Louis  Gas  Com- 
pany, of  which  he  was  also  president ;  was  a  director 
in  the  Boatmen's  Savings  Institution,  and  a  large 
shareholder  and  director  in  nearly  all  the  other  promi- 
nent moneyed  institutions  of  this  city.  In  1851,  as 
hertofore  stated,  in  order  to  promote  his  own  exten- 
sive financial  operations,  he  established  a  banking- 
house  in  St.  Louis,  branches  of  which  were  afterwards 
established  in  New  York  and  San  Francisco.  He  was 
now  building  very  extensively,  besides  his  ramified 
connection  with  many  joint-stock  enterprises,  and  the 
Lucas  Market  and  the  Lucas  Place,  both  laid  out  by 
him,  are  perpetual  monuments  of  the  liberality  of  his 
great  projects,  and  the  taste  which  strengthened  and 
embellished  his  judgment.  His  bank  enjoyed,  as  it 
deserved,  the  confidence  of  the  community,  the  vaults 
of  the  St.  Louis  house  sometimes  containing  deposits 
to  the  value  of  two  and  a  half  millions. 

In  1857  the  banking  firm  of  Lucas,  Simonds  & 
Co..  of  St.  Louis,  and  the  branch  in  San  Francisco, 
under  the  firm  of  Lucas,  Turner  &  Co.,  went  under 
with  the  financial  panic  of  that  year.  It  was  no  re- 
proach to  the  stability  of  any  concern  to  yield  tempo- 
rarilv  to  the  pressure  of  such  convulsions.  Mr.  Lucas 
gave  his  notes  to  all  the  creditors,  some  of  whom 
valued  the  security  so  highly,  with  the  rate  of  interest 
paid  on  them,  that  Mr.  Lucas  had  not  succeeded  in 
calling  them  all  in  three  years  afterwards.  In  these 
financial  troubles,  Mr.  Lucas,  as  we  have  seen,  as- 


sumed the  entire  liabilities,  and  paid  off  every  credi- 
tor with  ten  per  cent,  interest,  the  loss  to  him  amount- 
ing in  the  aggregate  to  about  half  a  million  of  dollars. 
The  debtors  of  the  banking  houses  he  never  sued,  but 
accepted  whatever  was  offered. 

In  1856,  the  year  before  this  monetary  cataclysm, 
Mr.  Lucas  sought  a  temporary  relaxation  from  his 
labors  in  an  extensive  tour  through  Europe,  his 
traveling  companions  being  his  son  William  and  his 
daughter  Elizabeth  (now  the  wife  of  Judge  Hager, 
of  California).  He  visited  the  home  of  his  ancestors 
in  Normandy,  and  bought  the  old  homestead  near 
Pont-Audeiner.  Returning  home  he  attended  with 
assiduous  industry  to  the  management  of  his  business. 
Under  the  transforming  hand  of  time,  and  the  rise  in 
the  value  of  real  estate,  his  riches  increased  with  the 
rapid  progress  of  St.  Louis. 

Of  this  rapid  growth  and  •  unexampled  progress 
Mr.  Lucas  was  at  once  the  observant  witness  and  the 
sagacious  promoter.  He  enriched  himself  by  contrib- 
uting wisely  and  largely  to  enrich  and  beautify  the 
city,  and  so  freely  did  he  employ  his  vast  means  that 
he  was  generally  in  debt  for  ready  cash,  and  com- 
pelled to  borrow  money  to  help  forward  the  innumer- 
able enterprises  with  which  he  was  associated.  Some- 
times his  great  estates  made  him  "  land  poor,"  and 
he  once  told  a  friend,  at  a  meeting  at  the  Planters' 
Hotel,  many  years  before  his  death,  that  while  he  was 
worth,  as  he  supposed,  two  million  dollars,  he  fre- 
quently had  not  money  enough  to  go  to  market  with. 
It  was  not  with  many  people  that  he  became  thus 
confidential,  for  he  was  a  quiet  man,  rather  reserved, 
and  fond  of  keeping  his  own  counsel,  but  at  times, 
in  the  company  of  a  few  friends,  he  unbent  from  his 
usual  reserve,  and  was  eminently  social  and  fond  of 
telling  sketchy  anecdotes  of  his  early  life  and  adven- 
tures. 

Mr.  Lucas  was  a  man  of  marked  capacity  and  posi- 
tive character,  and  of  the  most  undoubted  integrity. 
He  was  modest  and  unassuming,  in  his  deportment, 
and  retiring  in  his  habits,  with  no  disposition  to  put 
himself  forward,  but  in  whatever  position  he  was 
placed  he  was  emphatic  and  decided. 

With  all  these  elements  of  a  strong  character,  he 
was  fitted  to  assume  the  responsibilities  devolved  upon 
him  by  his  father  and  to  manage  a  great  estate, 
which  by  his  prudence,  foresight,  and  industry  was 
so  largely  increased  in  value  and  kept  intact  for  the 
benefit  of  his  family. 

His  fortune  was  very  large.  He  owned  two  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  dwellings  and  stores  previous  to 
the  division  of  his  property  in  1872.  His  taxes  the 
year  before  his  death  on  his  portion  of  the  estate 


w  V.-VM  in*,  tx 


• 


BANKS,  AND   OTHER   FINANCIAL   INSTITUTIONS,  AND   BANKERS. 


1413 


were  one  hundred  and  twenty-six  thousand  dollars. 
He  had  in  all  three  hundred  and  odd  tenants.  Be- 
fore the  division  of  two  millions  to  his  wife  and  eight 
children,  the  income  was  forty  thousand  dollars  per 
month,  amounting  to  nearly  half  a  million  annually. 
After  giving  away  the  two  millions,  the  portion  of 
the  estate  left  was  estimated  by  good  judges  at  five 
millions.  He  was  also  largely  interested  in  the  Pilot 
Knob  Iron  Company,  owning  one-fifth  of  the  stock, 
which  he  gave  away  to  his  children,  being  twenty-five  j 
thousand  dollars  to  each,  and  not  included  in  the  two  ' 
millions  given  them  as  before  stated.  At  an  early 
day  his  father,  Judge  Lucas,  lived  in  a  stone  house 
on  Seventh  Street,  between  Market  and  Chestnut,  and 
he  also  had  a  farm  residence  in  the  woods,  on  the 
site  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  and  one  of  the 
apple-trees  of  the  old  orchard  is  yet  standing. 

The  residence  of  Mr.  Lucas  was  for  many  years 
on  the  southwest  corner  of  Ninth  and  Olive  Streets, 
but  of  late  years  he  resided  in  an  elegant  dwelling 
on  Lucas  Place,  bought  of  John  How  in  1867. 

Mr.  Lucas  gave  as  liberally  as  he  subscribed.  The 
city  owes  him  for  a  quit-claim  deed  for  the  old  jail 
lot;  he  built  the  Lucas  Market,  and  gave  the  Histori- 
cal Society  real  estate  valued  at  ten  thousand  dollars. 
He  gave  the  ground  upon  which  the  Planters'  Hotel 
was  built,  and  which  was  originally  called  "  Lucas 
Hotel." 

He  donated  eleven  thousand  dollars  towards  build- 
ing the  Southern  Hotel.  He  encouraged  the  new  Ex- 
change enterprise  by  selling  a  portion  of  the  ground 
to  the  association  at  a  low  price  and  by  taking  twenty 
thousand  dollars'  stock,  with  assurances  that  the  Fourth 
Street  front  when  built  would  be  equal  in  elegance 
and  architectural  design  to  the  building  of  the  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce  Association.  He  gave  to  the  city 
Missouri  Park.  Two  or  three  times  he  and  Mrs. 
Hunt  gave  lots  for  a  cathedral,  besides  lots  and  dona- 
tions of  money  to  numerous  charitable  institutions. 

The  following  instance  of  his  liberality  may  also 
be  mentioned  in  this  connection  :  At  the  close  of  the 
war  in  1865,  a  man  came  up  here  from  Little  Rock, 
with  three  thousand  dollars  in  "starvation  bonds," 
which  he  endeavored  to  sell,  in  order  to  meet  his 
pressing  wants.  The  only  offer  he  received  was 
twenty  cents  on  the  dollar  for  the  bonds.  Mr.  Lucas 
took  them  at  their  face,  making  only  one  request,  that 
the  party  selling  them  would  on  his  return  to  Arkan- 
sas give  "  Old  Larky,"  who  was  in  indigent  circum- 
stances from  the  war  and  whom  he  knew,  some  meat 
and  flour.  The  bonds  he  subsequently  gave  away  to 
old  Dr.  Price  to  pay  his  taxes  with,  as  they  were  good 
in  Arkansas  for  that  purpose. 
90 


James  H.  Lucas  died  Nov.  11 ;  1873,  at  his  resi- 
dence, 1515  Lucas  Place.  His  eight  children  survived 
him,  six  sons  and  two  daughters,  all  of  whom  are  mar- 
ried. He  was  buried  with  quiet  but  imposing  cere- 
monies from  St.  John's  Church,  corner  of  Chestnut 
and  Sixteenth  Streets,  Archbishop  Kenrick  officiating 
and  Bishop  Ryan  preaching  the  funeral  sermon  in 
presence  of  nearly  all  the  leading  citizens  of  St.  Louis, 
assembled  to  do  honor  to  the  deceased  good  man  and 
honored  fellow-citizen.  The  remains  were  interred  in 
Calvary  Cemetery. 

Mr.  Lucas'  sister,  Mrs.  Anne  L.  Hunt,  the  other 
heir  to  the  estate  of  J.  B.  C.  Lucas,  survived  him  for 
several  years,  dying  April  13,  1879,  at  her  residence, 
which,  like  her  brother's,  was  also  in  Lucas  Place. 
In  youth  she  was  a  bright  and  lovely  girl,  precocious 
in  intellect  and  a  favorite  in  society.  As  has  been 
stated  above,  she  married  early  and  had  two  husbands. 
Her  large  estate  was  managed  by  her  with  excellent 
prudence  and  judgment,  while  of  its  income  she 
seemed  to  look  upon  herself  as  chiefly  an  almoner, 
giving  very  largely  to  charities,  some  of  which  origi- 
nated with  others,  but  some  were  planned  and  con- 
ceived by  her  alone.  She  gave  in  the  most  unosten- 
tatious way,  so,  indeed,  as  she  used  to  say,  that  only 
she  alone  could  see  the  fruits  of  .her  beneficence.  It 
is  said  that  in  this  way,  in  money  and  real  estate,  she 
gave  away  nearly  a  million  dollars.  Among  the  in- 
stitutions founded  by  Mrs.  Hunt  were  the  sisterhood 
and  house  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  and  the  church  and 
school  of  St.  Mary's.  She  also  materially  aided  the 
Little  Sisters  of  the  Poor. 

Mrs.  Hunt  was  her  own  executrix  in  a  great  meas- 
ure, distributing  her  estate  herself  during  the  last  four 
years  of  her  life.  She  was  as  charitable  in  thought 
and  speech  as  she  was  in  deed,  lived  simply  and 
plainly,  and  had  such  an  aversion  to  ostentation  that 
she  particularly  directed  all  the  arrangements  for  her 
own  funeral,  so  as  to  prohibit  everything  like  display. 
She  left  two  children,  nineteen  grandchildren,  and 
twenty-two  great-grandchildren. 

The  St.  Louis  Clearing-House  Association  was 
organized  in  the  latter  part  of  1868,  and  began  active 
operations  on  December  24th  of  that  year  with  the 
following  members : 

Accommodation  Bank,  Bartholow,  Lewis  &  Co.,  Boatmen's 
Savings  Institution,  Butchers'  and  Drovers'  Pank,  Central 
Savings-Bank,  Commercial  Bank,  Exchange  Bank,  First  Na- 
tional Bank,  Fourth  National  Bank,  Fourth  Street  Bank, 
Franklin  Avenue  German  Savings  Institution,  Franklin  Savings 
Institution,  German  Bank,  German  Savings  Institution,  Has- 
kell  &  Co.,  International  Bank,  G.  H.  Loker  &  Brother,  Me- 
chanics' Bank,  Merchants'  National  Bank,  National  Bank 
State  of  Missouri,  National  Loan  Bank,  North  St.  Louis  Savings 


1414 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


Association,  People's  Savings  Institution,  Provident  Savings 
Institution,  St.  Louis  National  Bank,  St.  Louis  Building  and 
Savings   Association,    Second    National    Bank,   State   Savings 
Association,    Third    National    Bank,    Traders'    Bank,   Union 
National    Bank,    Union    Savings    Association,    United   States 
Savings  Institution,  Clark   Brothers  &  Co.,  Western  Savings-   \ 
Bank.     The  original  management  was  composed  of:  President,   j 
W.  E.   Burr,  president  St.  Louis  National   Bank ;  Vice-Presi-  j 
dent,  Charles  Hodgeman,  cashier  Boatmen's  Savings  Institu-  j 
tion;    Committee   of  Management,   J.    H.  Britton,    president  ; 
National  Bank  State  of  Missouri ;  Felix  Coste,  president  St. 
Louis  Building  and   Savings  Association;  J.  C.  II.  D.  Block, 
president   Fourth    National    Bank ;    W.    H.    Maurice,   cashier 
National  Loan  Bank ;  John  R.  Lionberger,  president  Third 
National  Bank  ;  Manager,  James  T.  Howenstein. 

In  1873,  Charles  Parsons  succeeded  Mr.  Burr  as 
president,  J.  R.  Lionberger  succeeded  Mr.  Hodge- 
man as  vice-president,  and  Edward  Chase  succeeded 
Mr.  Howenstein  as  manager. 

On  the  12th  of  July,  1875,  an  amendment  (sec- 
tion 18)  to  the  constitution  was  adopted,  providing 
that 

"  no  member  shall  be  added  to  this  association  unless  such  mem- 
ber shall  have  a  paid  up  capital  of  $150,000,  and  no  member  hav- 
ing a  less  amount  of  paid  up  capital  than  $150,000  shall  be  al- 
lowed to  make  the  exchanges  through  the  Clearing-House  for 
any  non-member,  except  under  such  contracts  as  are  now  exist- 
ing." 

The  Clearing-House  was  originally  located  in  the 
Exchange  Bank  building,  but  is  now  situated  at  No. 
528,  Chamber  of  Commerce  building. 

The  present  government  is  as  follows  : 

President,  Charles  Parsons,  president  State  Savings  Associa- 
tion ;  Vice-President,  Thomas  E.  Tutt,  president  Third  Na- 
tional Bank;  Committee  of  Management,  Joseph  O'Neil  (pres- 
ident Citizens'  Savings-Bank),  William  H.  Thomson  (cashier 
Boatmen's  Savings-Bank),  E.  C.  Breck  (cashier  Exchange 
Bank),  Richard  Hospes  (cashier  German  Savings  Institution), 
R.  R.  Hutchinson  assistant  cashier  Mechanics'  Bank) ;  Committee 
of  Arbitration,  C.  B.  Burnham  (president  Bank  of  Commerce), 
S.  E.  Hoffman  (president  Valley  National  Bank),  William 
Nichols  (cashier  Commercial  Bank),  James  E.  Yeatman  (presi- 
dent Merchants'  National  Bank),  George  A.  Baker  (president 
Continental  Bank) ;  Committee  on  Membership,  T.  A.  Stoddart 
(cashier  Third  National  Bank),  John  Nickerson  (cashier  St. 
Louis  National  Bank),  F.  W.  Biebinger  (cashier  Fourth  Na- 
tional Bank);  Manager,  Edward  Chase;  Members,  Laclede 
Bank,  Boatmen's  Savings-Bank,  Commercial  Bank,  Fourth 
National  Bank,  Franklin  Bank,  German  Savings  Institution, 
International  Bank,  Mechanics'  Bank,  Merchants'  National 
Bank,  Continental  Bank,  Provident  Savings  Institution,  St. 
Louis  National  Bank,  Bank  of  Commerce,  State  Savings  As- 
sociation, Third  National  Bank,  Union  Savings  Association, 
Citizens'  Savings-Bank,  Valle}'  National  Bank. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

INSURANCE,    TELEGRAPH,    POSTAL    SERVICE,    GAS, 
AND   HOTELS. 

Fire,  Marine,  and  Life  Insurance. — During  the 
earlier  portion  of  the  city's  history  insurance  was 
effected  through  the  agency  of  foreign  companies  which 
had  established  branch  offices  in  St.  Louis,  and  it  was 
not  until  1831  that  an  effort  was  made  to  organize  a 
home  insurance  company.  One  of  the  earliest  in- 
surance agents  was  Edward  Tracy,  of  Tracy  & 
Wahrendorff,  who,  on  the  14th  of  June,  1824,  an- 
nounced that  he  would  insure  St.  Louis  property  as 
the  representative  of  the  Farmers'  Fire  Insurance  and 
Loan  Company  of  New  York.  In  February,  1826, 
announcement  was  made  of  the  appointment  of  H. 
C.  Simmons  as  agent  of  the  Protection  Fire  and 
Marine  Insurance  Company  of  Hartford,  Conn., 
which  authorized  him  "  to  insure  against  the  hazards 
of  fire  and  against  the  hazards  of  inland  navigation 
on  the  lowest  terms."  On  the  15th  of  February 
of  the  following  year,  John  Shack  ford  informed 
the  public  that  he  would  insure  against  fire  and 
river  risks.  On  the  same  day  it  was  announced 
that  Edward  Tracy,  of  Tracy  &  Wahrendorff,  would 
continue  to  act  as  the  St.  Louis  agent  of  tho  Farmers' 
Fire  Insurance  and  Loan  Company  of  New  York, 
and  that  Wilson  P.  Hunt,  agent,  would  effect  insur- 
ances in  St.  Louis  on  behalf  of  the  Traders'  Insurance 
Company  of  New  York.  Mr.  Hunt's  advertisement 
as  agent  of  the  Fire  and  Inland  Navigation  Insurance 
Company  was  renewed  in  September,  1828,  as  were 
also  those  of  Edward  Tracy,  agent  for  the  Farmers' 
Insurance  and  Loan  Company  of  New  York,  and  H. 
C.  Simmons,  agent  for  the  Protection  Insurance  Com- 
pany of  Hartford,  Conn.  In  March,  1829,  Mr. 
Tracy  and  Charles  Wahrendorff  were  still  conducting 
a  marine  insurance  business  under  the  firm-name  of 
Tracy  &  Wahrendorff.  On  the  8th  of  February, 
1831,  notice  was  published  to  the  effect  that  those 
who  wished  to  take  stock  in  the  Missouri  Insurance 
Company  of  St.  Louis  were  informed  that  books  had 
been  opened  for  that  purpose  under  the  supervision  of 
a  committee  appointed  by  the  Legislature.  This 
committee  was  composed  of  George  Collier,  John  Mul- 
lanphy,  Peter  Lindell,  James  Clemens,  Jr.,  Thomas 
Biddle,  Henry  Von  Phul,  Edward  Tracy,  and  AVilliam 
K.  Rule.  About  five  weeks  later  (March  15,  1831) 
it  was  announced  that  the  company  had  gone  into 
operation  with  very  favorable  prospects.  The  follow- 
ing were  the  directors  for  the  year:  John  Mullanphy, 
Thomas  Biddle,  George  Collier,  P.  Lindell,  James 


INSURANCE,  TELEGRAPH,  POSTAL  SERVICE,  GAS,  AND  HOTELS. 


1415 


Clemens,  Jr.,  Bernard  Pratte,  Henry  Von  Phul,  and 
William  Hill.  George  Collier  was  president  of  the 
company,  and  John  Ford  secretary. 

In  April  following  notice  was  issued  that  the  capi- 
tal, one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  having  been  se- 
cured, the  company  was  prepared  to  insure  steamboats 
and  every  other  description  of  vessels  against  the 
dangers  of  sea  or  inland  navigation ;  also  stores,  ware- 
houses, dwelling-houses,  mills,  factories,  and  buildings 
in  general,  merchandise,  household  furniture,  vessels 
building  or  in  port,  and  their  cargoes,  and  every  de- 
scription of  personal  property  against  damage  by  fire. 
The  office  of  the  company  was  situated  on  Main 
Street,  near  Vine,  "  in  the  south  end  of  the  late 
dwelling  of  P.  Chouteau."  The  business  hours  were 
stated  to  be  "  from  9  until  1  P.M.,  and  from  3  o'clock 
until  sundown."  In  February,  1837,  a  meeting  of  the 
Missouri  Life  Insurance  and  Trust  Company  was  held, 
at  which  Edward  Tracy  was  unanimously  elected  pres- 
ident, and  Martin  Thomas  vice-president  and  cashier. 
On  the  13th  of  February,  1837,  notice  was  given 
that  the  books  of  subscription  to  the  capital  stock  of 
the  St.  Louis  Insurance  Company  would  be  opened 
on  the  20th  of  March,  at  the  office  of  the  Missouri 
Insurance  Company,  under  the  supervision  of  Wil- 
liam G.  Pettus. 

The  commissioners  whose  signatures  were  appended 
to  this  notice  were  Theodore  Labeaume,  Christopher 
Rhodes,  John  W.  Johnson,  Thomas  S.  Stewart,  Har- 
dage  Lane,  William  G.  Pettus,  Thomas  Andrews, 
John  Ford,  William  L.  Sublette,  John  Shade.  On 
the  same  day  the  commissioners  of  the  proposed 
"  Union  Insurance  Company"  announced  that  sub- 
scription books  would  be  opened  "  at  10  A.M.  on 
Monday  next  at  the  counting-room  of  Von  Phul  & 
McGill,  "  and  would  be  kept  open  for  ten  days,  or 
until  the  stock  was  subscribed  for."  The  commissioners 
were  Augustus  Kerr,  Theodore  L.  McGill,  William 
Hempstead,  J.  G.  Lindell,  Daniel  P.  Page,  and  Ed- 
ward Walsh.  Similar  notices  with  regard  to  the 
proposed  formation  of  the  Citizens'  and  Marine  Insur- 
ance Companies  were  issued  on  the  16th  and  20th 
of  February  respectively.  At  an  election  for  trustees 
of  the  Missouri  Life  Insurance  and  Trust  Company, 
held  in  December,  1837,  the  following  were  elected: 

Edward  Trncy,  Pierre  Chouteau,  Martin  Thomas,  George 
Collier,  Henry  Von  Phul,  William  Glasgow,  Nathaniel  Paschall, 
John  Walsh,  Joseph  Charles?,  Daniel  D.  Page,  Augustus  Kerr, 
George  K.  McGunnegle,  M.  Lewis  Clark,  all  of  St.  Louis;  John 
M.  White,  of  Selina,  Mo.;  John  M.  Derby,  of  Boston,  Mass.; 
David  B.  Ogden,  C.  T.  Catlin,  J.  D.  Beers,  of  New  York; 
George  Hanly,  of  Philadelphia. 

The  subscribers  to  the  stock  of  the  St.  Louis  Float- 
ing-Dock and  Insurance  Company  were  notified  on  the 


25th  of  August,  1838,  that  a  meeting  would  be  held 
at  the  counting-room  of  Messrs.  Charless  &  Blow  on 
the  6th  of  September  for  the  purpose  of  electing  thir- 
teen directors.  The  commissioners  who  gave  this 
notice  were  Robert  Walsh,  John  D.  Daggett,  Thorn- 
ton Grimsley,  Hugh  O'Neil,  Joseph  C.  Laveille, 
Thomas  Andrews,  John  Shannon,  and  James  S. 
Thomas.  In  April,  1839,  the  Republican  announced 
that  the  St.  Louis  Perpetual  Insurance  Company  had 
purchased  the  lot  then  occupied  by  it  for  twenty 
thousand  dollars.  The  company  had  a  capital  of 
three  hundred  thousand  dollars,  which,  however,  had 
not  at  that  time  been  paid  in  full,  although  it  was 
stated  that  the  amount  would  be  secured  in  a  few 
months.  The  institution  had  already  begun  to  receive 
money  on  deposit. 

The  Perpetual  Insurance  Company  also  transacted 
a  savings-bank  business,  as  appears  from  a  brief  news- 
paper mention  of  the  fact  in  April,  1839.  At  the 
election  of  directors  of  this  institution  held  Jan.  4, 
1841,  John  B.  Camden,  William  M.  Tompkins,  Ken- 
neth McKenzie,  John  J.  Anderson,  S.  J.  Bacon, 
Joseph  Stettinius,  and  H.  A.  Garstens  were  chosen. 
March  30,  1843,  the  public  was  informed  that  the  St. 
Louis  Perpetual  Insurance  Company  had  "  fully  re- 
sumed its  insurance  business." 

In  the  Republican  of  July  19,  1849,  mention  is 
made  of  the  fact  that  the  St.  Louis  Floating-Dock 
and  Insurance  Company,  "  which  was  revived  a  short 
time  previous  to -the  late  disastrous  fire,"  met  with  a 
heavy  loss  on  that  occasion.  Notwithstanding  the 
fact,  however,  that  the  losses  amounted  to  one  hundred 
and  twenty  thousand  dollars,  it  was  able  within  sixty 
days  to  adjust  every  loss,  with  the  exception  of  one 
which  involved  a  legal  doubt.  The  stockholders  about 
this  time  increased  the  capital  stock  one  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars,  and  the  company  was  reported  to  be 
"  doing  a  handsome  business." 

At  the  election  of  the  St.  Louis  Insurance  Com- 
pany held  in  September,  1852,  J.  E.  Yeatman,  Charles 
Miller,  J.  D.  Osborne,  E.  Y.  Ware,  S.  K.  Wilson,  J. 
C.  Rust,  J.  B.  S.  Lemoine,  J.  D.  Houseman,  L.  Lev- 
ering, George  Knapp,  George  K.  McGunnegle,  Abner 
Hood,  and  T.  Grimsley  were  chosen  directors  for  the 
year. 

On  the  14th  of  July,  1853,  the  directors  of  the 
Pacific  Insurance  Company  organized  at  the  office  of 
Leffingwell  &  Elliot  by  the  election  of  A.  B.  Cham- 
bers, president,  and  Walter  B.  Foster,  secretary.  It 
was  announced  that  the  company  would  be  prepared 
to  commence  business  "  at  an  early  day  next  week." 

CITIZENS'  INSURANCE  COMPANY. — On  the  16th 
of  February,  1837,  a  notice  was  published  to  the  effect 


1416 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


that  the  Citizens'  Insurance  Company  was  about  to  be 
organized,  the  27th  being  named  as  the  day  for  open- 
ing the  subscription  books  at  the  counting-room  of 
Alfred  Skinner.     The  commissioners  were  George  W. 
Call,  James  Clemens,  Jr.,  Alfred  Skinner,  H.  L.  Hoff-  \ 
man,  John  F.  Darby,  Henry  Chouteau,  David  S.  Hill,  ! 
James  S.  Thomas,  and  John  Shannon.     The  organi- 
zation was  duly   effected,  and   the  company,  whose  | 
offices  are  located  at  the  corner  of  Third  and  Chestnut 
Streets,  has  had  a  flourishing  career  of  more  than  , 
forty-five  years'  duration.     Its  actual  cash  capital  is 
$200,000;  surplus,  8143,553.85  ;    and  its  business, 
which  amounts  to  about  $80,000  per  annum,  is  con-  j 
ducted  on  sound  and  conservative  principles. 

The  company  transacts  a  general  fire  insurance 
business,  which  is  principally  local,  being  confined 
almost  exclusively  to  St.  Louis  County.  The  officers 
of  the  company1  during  1882  were  E.  0.  Stanard, 
president ;  H.  D.  McLean,  vice-president ;  John  P. 
Harrison,  secretary ;  Directors,  E.  0.  Stanard,  George 
H.  Plant,  Theo.  Bartholow,  H.  C.  Haarstick,  Craig 
Alexander,  J.  G.  Chouteau,  A.  Nedderhut,  H.  D. 
McLean,  George  Bain,  J.  B.  M.  Kehlor,  VV.  S. 
Humphreys,  A.  T.  Harlow,  W.  P.  Howard,  A.  0. 
Grubb,  and  Theo.  Booth. 

THE  MARINE  INSURANCE  COMPANY,  located  at  j 
212  North  Third  Street,  was  incorporated  by  the 
Legislature  on  the  25th  of  January,  1837,  and  books 
were  opened  for  subscriptions  to  the  stock  on  the 


1  One  of  the  most  prominent  officers  of  the  Citizens'  Company 
was  William  Renshaw,  Sr.,  who  died  at  the  residence  of  his  son 
at  Fulton,  Mo.,  on  the  1-Hh  of  March,  1864,  aged  seventy-two 
years.  Mr.  Renshaw  removed  to  St.  Louis  in  1818,  when  the 
future  great  city  was  an  unpretentious  town,  and  first  estab- 
lished himself  in  business  as  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Renshaw 
&  Hoffman,  which  continued  in  existence  for  a  number  of  years. 
At  a  later  period  he  was  made  secretary  and  then  president  of 
the  Citizens'  Insurance  Company,  which  under  his  management 
enjoyed,  as  it  si  ill  enjoys,  a  large  share  of  public  favor. 

Another  active  officer  of  this  venerable  company  was  Gen. 
W.  D.  Wood,  who  died  in  St.  Louis  on  the  2d  of  February, 
1867.  Gen.  Wood  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  but  for  twenty  j 
years  had  been  a  citizen  and  resident  of  St.  Louis.  He  was 
educated  for  the  medical  profession,  but  having  a  preference 
for  business  pursuits,  became  a  partner  in  a  hardware  house  in 
St.  Louis.  Subsequently  and  for  several  years  prior  to  the  war 
he  was  secretary  of  the  Citizens'  Insurance  Company.  In 
1861,  on  the  breaking  out  of  hostilities,  he  was  appointed  a 
member  of  Governor  Gamble's  staff  with  the  rank  of  colonel. 
He  commanded  a  regiment  in  Missouri  during  the  early  years 
of  the  war,  and  in  1863  proceeded  with  the  Union  forces  to 
Arkansas.  He  was  given  command  of  a  regiment,  and  some- 
times of  a  brigade,  until  the  close  of  the  war.  After  the  sur- 
render of  the  Confederate  armies  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank 
of  brigadier-general.  In  1866  he  obtained  a  charter  for  the 
Occidental  Insurance  Company,  and  was  elected  president  of 
that  corporation. 


20th  of  February  following  at  the  counting-room  of 
Von  Phul  &  McGill.  The  commissioners  were 
John  W.  Keel,  Theodore  McGill,  George  Sproule, 
William  Hempstead,  James  C.  Way,  William  Finney, 
Edward  Walsh,  Samuel  S.  Reyburn,  Augustus  Kerr, 
and  Edward  Tracy.  On  the  15th  of  March,  John 
W.  Reel  was  elected  president,  and  Samuel  Hough 
secretary,  and  the  company  speedily  entered  upon  a 
prosperous  career.  The  present  capital  stock  of  the 
company  paid  up  is  $150,000.  Among  the  assets 
are  real  estate  valued  at  $20,000 ;  Kansas  Pacific 
Railroad  bonds,  $120,000;  Missouri  Zinc  Company's 
stock,  $28,200.  The  company  has  a  surplus,  over 
all  liabilities,  amounting  to  $46,799.68.  The  business 
transacted  by  this  company  is  a  general  fire,  marine, 
and  inland  insurance.  The  officers  for  1882  were 
Samuel  M.  Edgell,  president;  James  A.  Bartlett, 
vice-president ;  and  S.  G.  Kennedy,  secretary.  Di- 
rectors, S.  M.  Edgell,  C.  S.  Greeley,  R.  P.  Hanen- 
kamp,  Eben  Richards,  John  H.  Beach,  R.  B.  Brown, 
D.  Treadway,  W.  H.  Chick,  H.  W.  Hough,  John  T. 
Davis,  Samuel  Cupples,  Abram  Nave,  John  A.  Bart- 
lett, Hugh  Rogers,  C.  Path,  A.  0.  Grubb. 

THE  HOME  MUTUAL  FIRE  AND  MARINE  INSU- 
RANCE COMPANY  was  chartered  in  1846,  and  the 
first  annual  meeting  was  held  in  May,  1847.  It  then 
had  about  nine  hundred  members.  The  directors 
chosen  were  B.  F.  Edwards,  J.  M.  Krum,  D.  D.  Page, 
J.  A.  Eddy,  I.  L.  Garrison,  W.  A.  Nelson,  J.  Kern, 
J.  Whitehill,  and  Reuben  Knox.  The  company  con- 
tinued in  existence,  doing  a  general  fire  and  marine 
insurance  business,  until  the  9th  of  March,  1880, 
when  it  was  declared  insolvent  by  decree  of  court,  and 
its  affairs  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  superintendent 
of  the  Insurance  Department  of  the  State  for  settle- 
ment. 

THE  MISSOURI  STATE  MUTUAL  FIRE  AND  MA- 
RINE INSURANCE  COMPANY  was  incorporated  in 
1849.  The  first  president  was  C.  M.  Valleau.  The 
headquarters  of  the  company  are  at  712  Chestnut 
Street.  S.  M.  Edgell  is  president,  and  F.  B.  Holmes 
secretary.  The  present  directors  are  W.  A.  Harga- 
dine,  S.  M.  Edgell,  B.  W.  Alexander,  J.  B.  C.  Lucas, 
F.  B.  Holmes,  C.  S.  Greeley,  August  Nedderhut, 
James  E.  Kaine,  and  Adolphus  Meier.  The  original 
location  of  the  company  was  on  the  southwest  corner 
of  Pine  and  Second  Streets.  Later  they  occupied  an 
office  in  the  old  Exchange  building,  and  in  the  Mer- 
chants' Exchange  building.  From  the  latter  place 
they  removed  to  their  present  quarters. 

THE  ST.  Louis  MUTUAL  FIRE  INSURANCE  COM- 
PANY was  organized  on  the  22d  of  February,  1851, 
under  the  name  of  the  St.  Louis  Mutual  Fire  and 


INSURANCE,  TELEGRAPH,  POSTAL  SERVICE,  GAS,  AND  HOTELS. 


1417 


Marine  Insurance  Company  of  St.  Louis.  The  in- 
corporators  were  John  Kern,  A.  F.  Hummitsch,  E. 
F.  Thuemmler,  Jacob  Rosenbaum,  Peter  Pelizarro, 
Adolph  Kehr,  Henry  Kayser,  Thomas  Julius  Meier, 
John  C.  Mueller,  and  Louis  Bach.  Originally  its 
office  was  situated  on  the  northeast  corner  of  Second 
and  Market  Streets,  but  subsequently  it  was  removed 
to  the  southeast  corner  of  Seventh  and  Locust  Streets. 
The  building  now  occupied  by  the  company  was  pur- 
chased in  1869.  The  company  transacts  a  fire  in- 
surance business.  Its  first  president  was  John  Kern, 
who  held  office  until  August,  1856. '  Its  first  secre- 
tary was  George  Weinhagen,  and  its  first  treasurer  A. 
F.  Hummitsch.  The  first  board  of  directors  was 
composed  of  John  Kern,  Adolph  Kehr,  A.  F.  Hum- 
mitsch, Henry  Kayser,  E.  F.  Thuemmler,  Thomas  J. 
Meier,  Jacob  Rosenbaum,  and  Louis  Bach.  The 
charter  expired  April  16,  1880,  and  the  company  was 
reorganized  under  the  general  insurance  statutes,  and 
received  its  charter  for  ninety-nine  years,  July  1, 
1881,  as  the  St.  Louis  Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Com- 
pany of  St.  Louis.  The  officers  for  1882  were  :  Presi- 
dent, John  C.  Vogel ;  Vice- President,  John  G.  Haas  ; 
Secretary,  John  J.  Sutter  ;  Board  of  Directors,  John 
C.  Vogel,  Michael  Voeple,  Caspar  Stolle,  Charles  L. 
Stuever,  John  H.  Mueller,  John  G.  Haas,  Charles 
Branahl,  John  P.  W.  Thul,  and  Henry  G.  Sach- 
leben. 

THE  AMERICAN  CENTRAL  INSURANCE  COMPANY 
was  incorporated  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature  approved 
Feb.  23, 1853,  under  the  name  of  the  Atlantic  Mutual 
Insurance  Company,  the  commissioners  named  in  the 
act  being  Derick  A.  January,  Phocian  R.  McCreery, 
John  Caveuder,  Phillips  Crow,  and  William  T.  Essex. 
In  the  following  November  the  commissioners  reported 
that  they  had  secured  sixty-four  subscriptions,  amount- 
ing to  $126,000.  A  permanent  organization  was 
effected  Jan.  10,  1854,  the  following  persons  being 
elected  trustees:  Wayman  Crow,  John  Cavender,  John 
F.  Darby,  Phillips  Crow,  D.  A.  January,  P.  R.  Mc- 
Creery, William  H.  Pitman,  John  S.  Cavender,  James 
Smith,  Christopher  Rhodes,  George  P.  Doan,  John 
B.  Carson,  Samuel  Russell,  Charles  P.  Chouteau,  0. 
W.  Child,  Samuel  G.  Reed,  James  A.  Jameson, 
George  Partridge,  George  Robinson,  D.  J.  Hancock, 
and  John  J.  Mudd.  John  F.  Darby  was  elected  first 
president  on  the  13th  of  January  ;  Samuel  Russell, 
vice-president,  and  I.  J.  Welbourn,  secretary. 

1  John  Kern  died  on  the  27th  of  August,  1856,  aged  forty- 
two  years.  He  had  been  a  resident  of  St.  Louis  for  about 
twenty  years,  and  was  one  of  its  leading  business  men.  In 
April,  1856,  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Alder- 
men. 


In  1869  the  capital  stock  was  increased  and  the 
assets  invested  in  United  States  securities.  On  the 
22d  of  September  of  that  year  the  name  was  changed 
to  the  American  Central,  and  the  business  was  subse- 
quently extended  to  large  proportions,  agencies  being 
established  in  other  States.  The  losses  of  the  company 
by  the  great  Chicago  fire  destroyed  its  paid  up  capital, 
— $275,000, — but  the  corporation  continued  in  busi- 
ness and  soon  regained  its  former  prosperity.  At  the 
present  time  the  American  Central  is  one  of  the  most 
flourishing  institutions  of  its  kind  in  St.  Louis,  a  sur- 
plus of  $255,295.49  having  been  accumulated.  For 
j  a  number  of  years  the  company  occupied  a  portion 
i  of  the  St.  Louis  Life  Insurance  building  at  Sixth 
and  Locust  Streets,  but  it  subsequently  removed 
to  419  Olive  Street,  where  it  is  now  located.  The 
officers  for  1882  were  George  T.  Cram,  president: 
S.  M.  Dodd,  vice-president ;  W.  H.  Pulsifer,  treasurer ; 
and  James  Newman,  secretary ;  Directors,  S.  M. 
Dodd,  John  Wahl,  George  0.  Carpenter,  George  A. 
Madill,  James  Newman,  John  L.  Blair,  W.  M.  Senter, 
W.  H.  Pulsifer,  D.  Rorick,  George  L.  Joy,  George 
T.  Cram,  and  G.  W.  Chadbourne. 

THE  COVENANT  MUTUAL  LIFE  INSURANCE  COM- 
PANY was  organized  in  1853,  under  the  General  In- 
surance Act  of  Missouri.  Since  its  incorporation  the 
company  has  under  careful  and  judicious  management 
grown  steadily  in  popular  favor,  and  now  makes  the 
following  showing:  Real  estate  owned,  $112,760; 
loans  on  bonds  and  mortgages,  $183,638  ;  loans  on 
stocks  and  bond  collaterals,  $1100;  loans  on  com- 
pany's policies,  $14,530  ;  premium  notes,  loans,  or 
liens,  $100,284.02 ;  stocks  and  bonds  owned,  $41,925 ; 
cash,  $25,173.87  ;  uncollected  premiums,  $6552.93  ; 
all  other  property,  $7813.38 ;  making  the  total  assets 
$494,277.20. 

The  officers  for  1882  were  E.  Wilkerson,  president ; 
A.  F.  Shapleigh,  vice-president ;  and  Alfred  Carr, 
secretary  ;  and  the  board  of  directors  was  composed 
of  the  following :  Nathan  Cole,  S.  H.  Laflin,  Isaac  M. 
Veitch,  Herman  Eisenhardt,  E.  Wilkerson,  J.  D.  S. 
Dryden,  A.  F.  Shapleigh,  A.  G.  Braun,  Theodore 
Betts,  John  W.  Luke,  M.  L.  Libby,  G.  A.  Finkeln- 
berg,  Given  Campbell,  John  Wahl,  Joseph  S.  Nanson, 
and  John  C.  Moore.  The  general  office  is  located  at 
No.  513  Olive  Street. 

THE  MOUND  CITY  MUTUAL  FIRE  INSURANCE 
COMPANY  was  organized  in  May,  1855,  under  a 
charter  granted  by  the  Legislature  during  the  pre- 
ceding month.  The  original  incorporators  were  Wyl- 
i  lys  King,  Asa  AVilgus,  J.  C.  Harns,  D.  C.  Garrison, 
George  S.  Drake,  R.  J.  Lockwood,  James  S.  Watson, 
Rollins  Clark,  and  Robert  Holmes.  The  officers  in 


HISTOHY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


1855  were  D.  R.  Garrison,  president;  II.  J.  Lock- 
wood,  vice-president;  David  H.  Bishop,  secretary ;  and 
John  F.  Darby,  treasurer.  The  company  transacts  a 
general  fire  insurance  business,  and  issues  policies  vary- 
ing in  duration  from  thirty  days  to  six  years.  The 
general  offices  of  the  company  are  situated  at  the 
southwest  corner  of  Sixth  and  Olive  Streets.  The 
present  president,  Ellis  N.  Leeds,  was  elected  in  1867, 
and  has  served  continuously  ever  since.  He  is  regarded 
as  being  one  of  the  ablest  and  most  thoroughly  posted 
insurance  men  in  the  West. 

Ellis  N.  Leeds  was  born  in  Burlington  County,  N.  J., 
Sept.  28,  1814.  His  father  was  a  farmer  in  moderate 
circumstances,  and  the  boy,  after  enjoying  such  school 
privileges  as  were  to  be  obtained  in  the  neighborhood, 
learned  the  trade  of  a  brick-mason.  In  1839,  while 
yet  quite  a  young  man,  he  removed  to  St.  Louis,  and 
continued  to  work  at  his  trade  until  1848,  when  he 
engaged  in  the  lumber  business,  in  which  he  contin- 
ued until  1869,  when  he  retired.  Since  then  he  has 
not  been  actively  employed  in  any  business.  Since 
1862  he  has  been  a  director  in  the  Merchants'  Bank, 
and  for  some  years  was  a  director  in  the  Vulcan  Iron 
Company,  the  St.  Louis  Gas-Light  Company,  the  St. 
Louis  Railway  Supplies  Manufacturing  Company,  and 
the  Cheltenham  Fire-Brick  Company.  As  a  business 
man,  Mr.  Leeds  has  been  signally  and  uniformly  suc- 
cessful, and  the  bricklayer  who  came  to  St.  Louis  in 
1839  now  enjoys  a  handsome  competence.  Of  Quaker 
descent,  he  avoids  all  publicity  and  show,  but  notwith- 
standing his  unobtrusiveness,  he  has  been  associated 
with  many  important  business  enterprises,  and  has 
filled  with  credit  a  number  of  responsible  positions. 
Mr.  Leeds  enjoys  the  respect  of  a  very  large  circle  of 
friends,  and  in  his  domestic  and  social  relations  is  re- 
garded as  one  of  the  most  amiable  and  attractive  of 
men. 

C.  H.  Alexander,  the  present  efficient  secretary  of 
the  Mound  City  Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Company, 
first  entered  the  company  as  a  clerk  in  1862,  and  his 
close  application,  together  with  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  the  business,  soon  gained  him  the  confidence  of 
the  stockholders.  In  1875  he  was  promoted  to  his 
present  position. 

The  directors  of  the  company  are  Ellis  N.  Leeds, 
Daniel  R.  Garrison,  William  Booth,  Matthias  Dough- 
erty, Francis  L.  Haydel,  John  Maguire,  Charles 
Hofman,  Preston  Player,  and  Joseph  T.  Donovan. 

The  company  is  one  of  special  prominence  in  St. 
Louis,  from  the  fact  that  it  has  never  faltered,  its 
obligations  having  always  been  fulfilled  to  the  letter. 
The  total  assets  are  $181,379.94,  the  total  liabilities 
$116,285.06,  and  the  surplus  $65,094.88. 


THE  HOPE  MUTUAL  FIRE  INSURANCE  COMPANY 
was  organized  in  1857,  and  began  to  issue  policies 
early  in  March  of  that  year.  The  first  office  was  at 
Main  and  Vine  Streets,  but  it  soon  removed  to  the 
basement  of  the  Boatmen's  Savings  Institution,  at  the 
northeast  corner  of  Second  and  Pine  Streets.  Its 
incorporators  and  first  board  of  directors  were  Thos. 

E.  Tutt,  A.  F.  Shapleigh,  L.  D.  Baker,  R.   M.  Re 
nick,  Gerard  B.  Allen,  N.  J.  Eaton,  Alexander  Fin- 
ley,  Taylor  Blow,  Rufus  J.   Lackland,  Edward  A. 
Filley,   R.   M.   Park,   W.   H.    Pritchartt,  John  A. 
Brownlee,  A.   M.  Waterman,  Isaac  S.  Smith,  W.  H. 
Tillman. 

From  Second  and  Pine  Streets  the  office  was  re- 
moved to  307  Olive  Street,  and  thence  to  419  Olive 
Street.  Its  first  and  subsequent  presidents  were 
Thomas  E.  Tutt,  N.  J.  Eaton,  C.  S.  Kintzing,  and 
Isaac  M.  Veitch.  The  present  officers  are :  President, 
Isaac  M.  Veitch ;  Secretary,  Henry  Schmitt ;  Direc- 
tors, A.  F.  Shapleigh,  T.  E.  Tutt,  James  M.  Carpen- 
ter, Anthony  Ittner,  Francis  Carter,  G.  H.  Loker, 
William  H.  Thompson,  W.  C.  Jamison,  M.  A. 
Wolff,  and  Isaac  M.  Veitch. 

The  company  has  had  a  very  successful  career  since 
its  organization,  and  furnishes  exceptionally  low  in- 
surance to  its  members  on  the  mutual  plan,  its  busi- 
ness being  mainly  restricted  to  dwelling-houses  and 
furniture. 

WASHINGTON  FIRE  INSURANCE  COMPANY. — 
This  company  was  chartered  on  the  23d  of  Novem- 
ber, 1857,  under  the  name  of  the  Washington  Mutual 
Fire  Insurance  Company,  the  incorporators  being  C. 

F.  Becker,  I.  Kurlbaum,  William  Siever,  John  H. 
Marquard,   L.  Roever,  Herman   H.  Meier,  William 
Sei fried,   P.   WTeber,    E.   Menche,   Charles  Altinger, 
Charles  W.  Gottschalk,  John  H.  Burkhardt,  Edward 
Eggers,   and    F.    Roever.     Its   first    president   was 
Charles    W.    Gottschalk,    who    was    succeeded    by 
Arthur  Olshausen,  who  continues  to  hold  the  office. 
Charles   W.    Horn   was  the  first  vice-president,  and 
Arthur  Olshausen  the  first  secretary.     The  officers  at 
present    are :     President,  Arthur   Olshausen ;    Vice- 
President,  Philip  Gruner,  Jr. ;  Secretary  and  Treas- 
urer, Edward  Breitenstein  ;  Assistant  Secretary,  Louis 
J.  Behrens.     The  office  is  located  at  the  corner  of 
Market  and  Second  Streets. 

THE  GERMAN  MUTUAL  LIFE  INSURANCE  COM- 
PANY, located  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Second  and 
Market  Streets,  was  organized  in  1857,  and  chartered 
November  23d  of  that  year.  The  incorporators  were 
Edward  Eggers,  Frederick  Bergesch,  Francis  Kren- 
ning,  Adolph  Kehr,  F.  A.  H.  Schneider,  Frederick 
Hauck,  Gottlieb  Martin,  Charles  G.  Stifel,  Francis 


0^ 


LIBRARY 
iHE 
UNIVt 


INSURANCE,  TELEGRAPH,  POSTAL  SERVICE,  GAS,  AND  HOTELS.  1419 


. 

i 
• 

in corpora 

' 
w  a  vice-president  of  that  institut  ion 

. 

, 


1420 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


In  private  life  Mr.  Powell  is  retiring  and  amiable, 
but  in  business  is  outspoken  and  decided,  and  his  suc- 
cess is  mainly  due  to  his  prompt  judgment  and  celerity 
of  action.  His  career  has  been  singularly  quiet  and 
uneventful,  but  it  has  been  full  of  usefulness  and 
marked  by  uniform  success. 

THE  JEFFERSON  INSURANCE  COMPANY  was  organ- 
ized May  1,  1861,  with  a  capital  of  6300,000.  The 
total  assets  are  $313,484.71  ;  surplus,  $125,248.71; 
net  cash  received  during  the  last  fiscal  year  for  pre-  ' 
iniums  and  assessments,  §52,880.58 ;  aggregate  income 
for  the  year  in  cash,  855,457.07 ;  net  amount  outstand- 
ing risks,  88,163,901.66.  The  officers  are  :  President,  i 
Hermann  Eisenhardt ;  Vice-President,  Charles  H. 
Teichmann  ;  Secretary  and  Treasurer,  C.  R.  Fritsch  ; 
Directors,  H.  Eisenhardt,  F.  W.  Biebinger,  Aug.  C. 
Mueller,  Charles  Wulfing,  Charles  H.  Teichmann, 
Adam  Conrad,  C.  A.  Stifel,  George  Schlosstein,  G.  H. 
Bokenkump.  Francis  Cornet,  F.  E.  Schmeiding,  and 
Abraham  Kramer.  The  general  offices  are  located  at 
No.  207  North  Third  Street. 

EQUITABLE  LIFE  ASSURANCE  SOCIETY. — The  St. 
Louis  agency  of  the  Equitable  Life  Assurance  Society 
of  the  United  States,  one  of  the  largest  corporations 
of  its  kind  in  the  world,  was  established  in  1862,  S.  A. 
Ranlett,  since  deceased,  being  the  agent.  The  present 
office  is  located  in  the  "  Equitable  Building,"  at  Sixth 
and  Locust  Streets,  one  of  the  finest  structures  in 
the  city.  Benjamin  May  is  the  manager,  and  J.  S.  j 
Kenrick  is  the  cashier  for  the  Southwestern  De- 
partment. James  M.  Brawner,  deceased,  was  the  j 
agent  for  twelve  years.  The  main  office  of  the  Equita- 
ble was  originally  at  No.  92  Broadway,  New  York 
City,  but  was  afterwards  moved  to  the  imposing  build-  ! 
ing  No.  120  Broadway.  Branch  offices,  located  in 
handsome  edifices  owned  by  the  company,  have  been 
established  in  Paris  (France),  Boston,  and  Chicago, 
and  flourishing  agencies  exist  in  all  the  cities  and 
most  of  the  important  towns  in  the  country.  The 
first  president  of  the  society  was  William  C.  Alexan- 
der, and  the  officers  for  1882  were  :  President,  Henry 
B.  Hyde;  Vice-Presidents,  James  W.  Alexander, 
Samuel  Borrowe ;  Secretary,  William  Alexander ; 
Actuaries,  George  W.  Phillips,  J.  G.  Van  Cise ; 
Medical  Examiners,  Dr.  E.  W.  Lambert  and  Dr. 
Edward  Curtis ;  Superintendent  of  Agencies,  E.  W. 
Scott.  The  company,  which  was  organized  on  the 
26th  of  July,  1859,  ranked  at  the  outset  as  No.  19 
in  the  list  of  insurance  societies  as  to  magnitude,  but 
such  has  been  its  growth  that  the  outstanding  pol- 
icies on  its  books  are  claimed  to  largely  exceed  the 
amount  of  the  outstanding  insurances  of  any  other 
company  organized  since  1832.  It  now  holds  the  sec- 


ond place  in  size,  but  is  said  to  have  issued  for  many 
years  past  a  larger  amount  of  new  insurance  than  any 
other  company.  The  only  other  company  whose 
transactions  have  approached  those  of  the  Equitable 
during  recent  years  made  a  showing  in  1881  of 
about  $11,500,000  less  than  the  Equitable. 

THE  NORTH  ST.  Louis  MUTUAL  FIRE  INSURANCE 
COMPANY  was  incorporated  in  February,  1864,  the 
incorporators  being  H.  Overstolz,  Theodore  Koch,  and 
others.  Since  its  organization  the  office  of  the  com- 
pany has  been  situated  at  the  corner  of  Broadway  and 
Exchange  Street.  Henry  Overstolz  has  been  presi- 
dent of  the  company  from  the  beginning.  The  offi- 
cers during  1882  were :  President,  H.  Overstolz ; 
Vice-President,  L.  Espenschied  ;  Secretary  and  Treas- 
urer, Theodore  Koch. 

ST.  Louis  LIFE  INSURANCE  COMPANY. — The 
Mound  City  Life  Insurance  Company,  which  after- 
wards changed  its  name  to  that  of  the  St.  Louis  Life, 
was  organized  on  the  14th  of  May,  1868,  and  its  first 
policy  was  issued  June  10th  of  that  year.  Its  first 
president  was  Capt.  James  B.  Eads,  and  the  offices 
were  located  at  first  at  No.  318  North  Third  Street, 
between  Olive  and  Locust  Streets.  At  the  first  an- 
nual election,  held  at  the  office,  319  North  Third 
Street,  on  the  17th  of  May,  1869,  the  following  offi- 
cers were  chosen :  President,  James  J.  O'Fallon ; 
Vice-President,  Alfred  M.  Britton  ;  Secretary,  Aylett 
H.  Buckner ;  Assistant  Secretary,  S.  W.  Lomax ; 
Directors,  James  J.  O'Fallon,  James  H.  Lucas,  Alfred 
M.  Britton,  Samuel  A.  Hatch,  William  C.  Sipple, 
Augustus  McDowell,  A.  M.  Wakerman,  and  A.  B. 
Garrison.  The  first  policy  issued  bore  the  date  of 
June  12,  1868.  In  less  than  a  year  nine  hundred 
and  sixty-six  policies  had  been  issued,  and  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  thousand  one  hundred  and  seventy 
dollars  and  thirty-three  cents  received  in  premiums. 
In  1872  the  capital  was  increased  from  one  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  dollars  to  five  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  and  two  years  later,  in  January,  1874,  it  was 
again  increased  to  one  million  dollars,  and  in  February 
of  that  year  the  name  was  changed  from  Mound  City 
to  St.  Louis.  The  company  continued  to  transact  a 
large  and  profitable  business,  and  at  the  beginning  of 
1876  its  assets  amounted  to  seven  million  four  hun- 
dred and  six  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty-two 
dollars  and  fifty-four  cents.  Subsequently  the  cor- 
poration went  out  of  existence. 

The  old  St.  Louis  Life  Insurance  building,  at  the 
northwest  corner  of  Sixth  and  Locust  Streets,  is  one 
of  the  handsomest  business  structures  in  the  city.  It 
is  in  the  renaissance  style,  constructed  after  designs  by 
George  I.  Barnett,  architect,  and  the  foundation  is  of 


INSURANCE,  TELEGRAPH,  POSTAL  SERVICE,  GAS,  AND  HOTELS. 


1421 


red  Missouri  granite,  and  the  walls  of  cream-colored 
Missouri  sandstone.  The  floors  are  constructed  of  ! 
brick  arches  supported  by  girders  of  iron,  and  the 
ceilings  of  the  first  floor  and  corridors  are  richly 
frescoed.  The  structure  is  fire-proof  and  supplied 
with  all  the  modern  conveniences. 

THE  GERMAN  MUTUAL  FIRE  INSURANCE  COM-  • 
PANY  was  incorporated  under  the  general  insurance 
act  of  Missouri,   Oct.  9,   1868,   with    a   capital   of 
$300,000.      Its    surplus    at    the    present    time    is 
$67,055.16,  and  the  income  for  the  past  year  was 
$22,381.19.     The    management    from    its   inception  j 
has  undergone  comparatively  few  changes.    Frederick 
Hill  is  president  of  the  company,  L.  Ottenad  is  vice- 
president,  and    Henry   Hiemenz   is  secretary.     The 
board  of  directors  is  as  follows :    Jacob  D.  Hiemenz,  i 
F.  Hill,  Louis  Ottenad,  August  Bohn,  Jacob  Gruen,  j 
August  Gehner,  Claude  Juppier,  Francis  K.  Kren-  \ 
ning,  Nicholas  Berg,  Christian  Koeln,  Henry  Michel, 
and  Charles  Stumpf.     The  offices  of  the  company  are 
at  the  southeast  corner  of  Market  and  Fifth  Streets. 

THE  CARONDELET  HOME  MUTUAL  INSURANCE 
COMPANY  is  located  at  7005  South  Main  Street,  and 
its  officers  during  1882  were  John  Krauss,  president; 
R.  J.  Kilpatrick,  vice-president;  Charles  W.  Hoff- 
meister,  secretary  ;  and  Bernard  O'Reilly,  treasurer  ; 
Directors,  W.  C.  Plass,  Venust  Spindler,  Daniel  Paule, 
Abraham  Herbel,  John  Krauss,  R.  J.  Kilpatrick,  and 
B.  O'Reilly. 

THE  BOARD  OP  ST.  Louis  MARINE  UNDER- 
WRITERS, office  314  Chestnut  Street,  was  organized 
Jan.  1,  1850,  and  was  incorporated  by  act  of  Legis- 
lature on  the  14th  of  January,  1860,  the  incorpora- 
tors  being  James  H.  Hughes,  George  K.  McGun- 
negle,  John  McNeil,  W.  W.  Green,  W.  D.  W.  Bar- 
nard, and  B.  M.  Runyan.  The  object  of  the  associa- 
tion is  the  "  better  preservation  from  loss  or  damage 
of  property  wrecked  or  stranded  upon  the  navigable 
rivers  of  the  State  of  Missouri."  In  the  latter  part  . 
of  April,  1861,  at  the  beginning  of  the  civil  war, 
George  D.  McGunnegle,  "  president  of  the  Board  of 
Underwriters,"  announced  that  the  insurance  com- 
panies of  St.  Louis  had  adopted  a  special  clause  to 
"  cover  all  future  shipments,  and  to  be  attached  to  all 
cargo  policies,  as  follows  : 

"Warranted,  by  the  assured,  free  from  claim  or  loss  or 
damage  arising  from  civil  commotion,  or  from  piracy,  seizure, 
sequestration,  or  detention  and  overpowering  thieves,  or  the 
consequences  of  any  other  hostile  act  of  the  government  or 
people,  person  or  persons  of  any  State  or  States  claiming  to 
have  seceded  from  this  Union." 

The  companies  also  decided  to  cover  the  war  clause  by  charg- 
ing double  rates  net. 

The  officers  of  the  board  for  1882  were  H.  D.  Mc- 


Lean, president ;  J.  A.  Waterworth,  vice-president ; 
James  Barnard,  secretary,  adjuster,  and  agent;  and 
Silas  Adkins,  inspector  of  hulls. 

INSURANCE  EXCHANGE.  —  The  Insurance  Ex- 
change building,  situated  at  the  southeast  corner  of 
Fifth  and  Olive  Streets,  was  erected  during  1869-70, 
after  designs  prepared  by  G.  I.  Barnett,  architect. 
It  is  built  of  Chicago  limestone  in  the  Roman  style 
of  architecture,  is  five  stories  high,  and  is  occupied 
by  stores  and  offices. 

ST.  Louis  BOARD  OF  FIRE  UNDERWRITERS. — 
The  present  St.  Louis  Board  of  Fire  Underwriters 
was  established  in  May,  1872,  but  previous  to  that 
time  similar  organizations  had  existed. 

On  the  28th  of  September,  1866,  a  meeting  of 
insurance  men  was  held  at  the  office  of  the  Marine 
Board  of  Underwriters  for  the  purpose  of  organizing 
a  Board  of  Fire  Underwriters.  All  the  agencies  and 
local  companies  were  represented,  and  a  constitution 
and  by-laws  were  adopted.  A  committee  consisting 
of  George  K.  McGunnegle,  Samuel  E.  Mack,1  and 
George  D.  Capen,  appointed  at  a  previous  meeting, 
reported  a  tariff  of  rates  which  was  a  considerable  ad- 
vance over  the  rates  previously  in  force.  This  action 
was  taken  in  accordance  with  similar  action  on  the 
part  of  the  National  Board  of  Underwriters,  then  re- 
cently organized  in  the  city  of  New  York,  who  asserted 
that "  the  experience  of  the  past  two  years  has  demon- 
strated that  there  has  been  no  profit  in  the  aggregate 
business  of  fire  underwriting  throughout  our  country." 

On  the  6th  of  May,  1872,  the  present  St.  Louis 
Board  of  Fire  Underwriters  was  organized,  and  by  Sep- 
tember of  that  year  was  in  active  operation.  One  of 
the  first  acts  of  the  board  was  the  selection  of  C.  T. 
Aubin,  civil  engineer,  for  the  purpose  of  surveying 
the  buildings  in  the  business  section  of  the  city,  and 
obtaining  the  details  of  their  construction, — the  thick- 
ness of  the  walls,  height  of  parapet  walls,  etc.  Mr. 
Aubin  completed  his  work  in  1874,  and  presented  to 
the  board  "  a  system  of  fixing  adequate  rates  upon 
each  building  according  to  construction,  starting 
with  a  moderate  basis  for  standard  buildings,  and 
making  additional  charges  for  deficiencies  and  all  in- 
flammable goods  contained  therein."2  The  system 
having  received  the  approval  of  the  St.  Louis  Board, 


1  Samuel  Ely  Mack  was  prominently  identified  with  the  in- 
surance interests  of  St.  Louis  for  many  years.     He  was  a  native 
of  Westfield,  Mass.,  and  a  son  of  Gen.  Mack,  of  that  State.     In 
1858,  when  the  Home  Insurance  Company  of  New  York  trans- 
ferred its  general  Western  agency  from  Cincinnati  to  St.  Louis, 
he  was  sent  to  St.  Louis  to  supervise  the  Western  and  Southern 
business  of  that  company,  and  soon  took  rank  among  the  busi- 
ness men  of  the  city.     He  died  in  December,  1866. 

2  Pictorial  St.  Louis,  p.  95. 


1422 


HISTORY  OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


and  subsequently  of  the  National  Board,  went  into 
effect  on  the  1st  of  July,  1875.  The  office  of  the 
board  is  at  508,  Chamber  of  Commerce,  and  the  offi- 
cers for  1882  were  J.  A.  Waterworth,  president ;  A. 
C.  Travis,  vice-president;  C.  T.  Aubin,  secretary  and 
surveyor ;  and  William  M.  Lockwood,  treasurer. 

TELEGRAPH. 

Notwithstanding  the  many  impediments  and  em- 
oarrassments  encountered  by  the  projectors  of  the 
telegraph,  its  extension  westward  was  wonderfully 
rapid.  The  first  line  in  actual  operation  in  the 
United  States  was  established  between  Baltimore 
and  Washington  in  1844.  It  was  completed  and 
messages  were  transmitted  on  the  24th  of  May  of 
that  year,  and  a  little  over  three  and  a  half  years 
later  (Dec.  20,  1847)  the  lines  connecting  East  St. 
Louis  with  the  Eastern  cities  were  finished.  When 
we  take  into  consideration  the  fact  that  telegraphy 
was  as  yet  in  its  infancy,  this  feat  deserves  to  be  ranked 
with  the  great  achievements  of  the  age.  The  line 
between  Baltimore  and  Washington  was  the  creation 
of  the  general  government ;  but  the  development  of  the 
telegraphic  system  in  the  West  was  due  to  the  energy 
and  unflagging  zeal  of  one  man,  Henry  O'Reilly,  who 
after  encountering  many  trials  and  discouragements 
succeeded  in  forming  a  stock  company  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  telegraphic  communication  between  the 
great  business  centres  of  the  East  and  Cincinnati,  St. 
Louis,  and  other  Western  points.  Mr.  O'Reilly  met 
with  very  little  encouragement  from  the  capitalists  to 
whom  he  applied,  finding  it  almost  impossible  to  con- 
vince them  that  the  telegraph  would  ever  prove  a  pay- 
ing investment ;  but,  finally,  having  procured  the 
necessary  funds,  he  obtained  control  of  the  Morse 
patents  from  the  Atlantic  seaboard  westward ;  Pro- 
fessor Samuel  F.  B.  Morse,  who  owned  them,  having 
sought  in  vain  to  induce  the  general  government  to 
purchase  them. 

As  early  as  1837,  Professor  Morse  petitioned  Con- 
gress for  assistance  to  enable  him  to  demonstrate  the 
value  of  his  invention  by  constructing  a  telegraph 
line  between  Washington  and  Baltimore,  but  con- 
gressmen "  ridiculed  his  invention  as  a  mere  chimera, 
and  the  bill  was  never  called  up."  At  the  session  of 
1842,  however,  he  renewed  his  application,  and, 
mainly  through  the  efforts  of  Hon.  John  P.  Kennedy, 
of  Baltimore,  chairman  of  the  House  committee  to 
whom  the  bill  had  been  referred,  Congress  was  in- 
duced on  the  3d  of  March,  the  last  day  of  the  session, 
to  pass  an  act  appropriating  thirty  thousand  dollars 
"  to  test  the  practicability  of  establishing  a  system  of 
electro-magnetic  telegraph  in  the  United  States."  The 


expenditure  of  the  appropriation  was  intrusted  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  who  appointed  Leonard  D. 
Gale  and  James  C.  Fisher  assistants  to  Professor 
Morse.  The  original  intention  had  been  to  lay  the 
wires  under  ground  in  leaden  pipes  along  the  line  of 
the  Washington  Branch  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
Railroad,  but  the  experiment  proved  a  failure,  and 
was  abandoned  after  an  expenditure  of  fifteen  thou- 
sand dollars.  Poles  were  then  erected  and  a  line  of 
wire  constructed  mainly  after  the  present  method  be- 
tween the  two  cities.  The  first  trial  was  made  on  the 
9th  of  April,  1844.  A  message  was  sent  a  distance 
of  six  miles  over  the  wire,  which  was  of  very  indif- 
ferent construction,  and  an  answer  received  "  in  two  or 
three  seconds."  On  the  7th  of  May  the  line  was  in 
full  operation  for  a  distance  of  twenty-two  miles. 
"  The  fluid,"  we  are  told,  "  traversed  the  whole 
twenty-two  miles  and  back  again,  making  forty-four 
miles,  in  no  perceptible  part  of  a  second  of  time.  On 
Friday,  the  24th  of  May,  1844,  the  line  was  com- 
pleted, and  the  first  telegraphic  message  was  sent  from 
Washington  to  Baltimore  by  Miss  Annie  Ellsworth, 
daughter  of  the  commissioner  of  patents.  This  mes- 
sage was  in  these  words :  u  WHAT  HATH  GOD 
WROUGHT  !"  The  first  message  of  the  President  of 
the  United  States  to  Congress  ever  transmitted  over 
the  wires  was  sent  to  the  Baltimore  Sun,  May  1 1, 
1846.  Of  the  thirty  thousand  dollars  appropriated 
by  Congress  for  making  the  experiment,  three  thou- 
sand five  hundred  dollars  remained  unexpended. 

About  July  10,  1844,  Professor  Morse,  with  the 
concurrence  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  ap- 
pointed Henry  J.  Rogers,  of  Baltimore,  "  the  in- 
ventor of  the  American  telegraph,"  assistant  super- 
intendent "  of  the  line  of  electro-magnetic  telegraph 
between  Washington  and  Baltimore,"  with  his  office 
in  the  latter  city.  Mr.  Rogers  made  many  improve- 
ments in  the  telegraphic  system,  and  was  the  inventor 
of  the  Rogers  commercial  code  of  signals,  afterwards 
adopted  by  the  United  States  and  British  govern- 
ments. On  the  15th  of  March,  1845,  the  first  tele- 
graph company  was  formed,  with  the  name  of  "  The 
Magnetic  Telegraph  Company,"  the  object  of  the  in- 
corporators  being  to  construct  a  line  from  Washington 
to  New  York,  and  in  a  little  over  a  year  (June  6, 
1846)  it  was  informally  opened.  It  was  not,  how- 
ever, in  regular  operation  until  several  days  after- 
wards. 

About  this  time  the  war  with  Mexico  commenced, 
Gen.  Taylor  having  crossed  the  Rio  Grande  in  May, 
and  there  was  intense  anxiety  throughout  the  country 
for  prompt  and  trustworthy  intelligence  from  the 
scene  of  hostilities.  News  was  received  at  Washing- 


INSURANCE,  TELEGRAPH,  POSTAL  SERVICE,  GAS,  AND  HOTELS. 


1423 


ton  via  the  Southern  mail,  and  telegraphed  to  Balti- 
more, Philadelphia,  New  York,  and  intermediate 
points.  A  Baltimore  newspaper  (the  Sun},  in  order 
to  obtain  the  war  news  at  the  earliest  possible  moment, 
established  a  "  pony  express"  from  the  steamboat 
wharf  to  the  telegraph-office  in  Washington.  The 
desire  to  procure  the  promptest  intelligence  from  the 
seat  of  war  naturally  suggested  the  extension  of  the 
telegraph  system  in  the  Southwest.  During  the  pre- 
vious year  (April  8, 1845)  the  first  Southern  contract 
had  been  signed  by  Amos  Kendall,  agent  for  Professor 
Morse,  with  H.  H.  O'Callaghan,  of  the  New  Orleans 
Crescent  City,  for  the  extension  of  the  line  from 
Washington  to  New  Orleans,  Mr.  O'Callaghan  having 
established  during  the  winter  an  exclusive  private 
express  on  a  portion  of  the  Southern  route,  by  means 
of  which  he  was  enabled  to  beat  the  United  States 
mail  twenty-four  hours  in  reaching  New  Orleans,  but 
it  was  reserved  for  Henry  O'Reilly,  aided  by  Assistant 
Superintendent  Rogers,  to  construct  a  complete  line 
of  telegraph  between  the  seaboard  and  the  Missis- 
sippi. 

Mainly  through  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Rogers,  a  num- 
ber of  Baltimore  capitalists  were  induced  to  subscribe, 
and  on  the  12th  of  January,  1848,  the  American 
Telegraph  Company  was  formally  organized,  the  in- 
corporators  being  H.  McKim,  Zenus  Barnum,  Moor 
N.  Falls,  William  McKim,  D.  Pain,  Josiah  Lee, 
Henry  J.  Rogers,  and  George  C.  Penniman.  The 
manager  of  the  new  company  was  Mr.  O'Reilly,  and 
the  office  was  in  the  depot  of  the  Baltimore  and  Sus- 
quehanna  Railroad.  Some  time  previously,  however, 
the  construction  of  a  line  between  Baltimore,  York, 
Columbia,  and  Harrisburg,  Pa.,  had  been  commenced. 
Another  company,  known  as  the  Western  Telegraph 
Company,  was  organized  Nov.  11,  1848,  with  John 
F.  Pickell,  president ;  Thomas  J.  McKaig,  treasurer  ; 
and  Howard  Kennedy,  secretary  and  superintendent. 
The  lines  extended  from  Washington  to  Frederick, 
Md.,  and  thence  to  Wheeling,  Va.,  Pittsburgh,  Pa., 
Louisville,  Ky.,  Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  from  these  points 
to  the  South  and  Southwest.  Prior  to  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  above  companies  the  lines  westward  had 
been  constructed,  and  the  first  telegraphic  dispatch 
received  in  Baltimore  from  the  West  reached  that  city 
from  Cincinnati  on  the  20th  of  August,  1847,  by 
way  of  Philadelphia. 

Henry  O'Reilly,  to  whom  the  people  of  the  West 
are  primarily  indebted  for  the  extension  of  the  tele- 
graph, was  a  native  of  New  York,  and  was  a  printer's 
apprentice  about  the  time  that  Horace  Greeley  and 
Thurlow  Weed  were  learning  the  rudiments  of  the 
craft.  Subsequently  he  was  employed  in  the  editorial 


department  of  various  newspapers  printed  in  New 
York  City,  Albany,  and  different  points  in  the  west- 
ern portion  of  the  State.  At  that  early  day  the  mails 
were  transported  by  canal,  and  Mr.  O'Reilly  often 
met  the  canal-boat,  received  his  package  of  Eastern 
newspapers,  and  hurried  back  on  his  horse  to  give 
his  readers  "  the  latest  intelligence."  He  subse- 
quently removed  to  Rochester,  where  he  established 
the  Daily  Advertiser,  the  first  daily  newspaper  be- 
tween the  Hudson  River  and  the  Pacific  coast,  and 
while  pursuing  his  vocation  in  Western  New  York 
strenuously  urged  the  enlargement  of  the  Erie  Canal, 
and  incidentally  attacked  the  inefficient  management  < 
of  the  State  authorities  with  great  force  and  vigor. 
The  first  call,  issued  by  Murray  Hoffma^  for  the 
State  Constitutional  Convention  of  1846,  was  brought 
about  by  him.  In  company  with  one  other  gentle- 
man, Mr.  O'Reilly  "  held  a  meeting,  organized,  passed 
resolutions,  and  then  waited  upon  Mr.  Hoffman  as  a 
delegation,  asking  his  acceptance  of  the  post  of  leader." 
Mr.  Hoffman  consented  and  wrote  the  declaration  of 
wants,  "  and  so  carefully  was  the  matter  conducted  by 
Mr.  O'Reilly,  that  the  first  intimation  the  '  regency' 
had  of  the  uprising  was  the  pouring  in  of  the  journals 
from  all  parts  of  the  State  filled  with  glowing  articles 
on  the  new  movement." 

Mr.  O'Reilly  was  keenly  alive  to  every  public  im- 
provement, and  when  the  permanent  success  of  the 
Morse  telegraph  was  demonstrated,  he  was  among  the 
first  to  appreciate  its  wonderful  possibilities.  About 
this  time,  as  previously  stated,  the  Morse  patentees 
were  endeavoring  to  sell  the  exclusive  right  to  that 
invention  to  the  United  States  government,  the  price 
being  fixed  at  one  hundred  thousand  dollars.  Con- 
gress, however,  delayed  action  on  the  proposition,  and 
in  the  mean  time  a  contract  was  closed  with  Mr. 
O'Reilly  and  others,  giving  them  the  right  to  put  in 
operation  the  Morse  patents  from  the  seaboard  west- 
ward. The  contract  was  general  in  its  character,  and 
the  franchises  conferred  were  extremely  valuable.  It 
covered  not  only  the  original  patent  to  Morse,  but  all 
subsequent  improvements.  Mr.  O'Reilly  was  not  a 
practical  electrician,  but  he  went  to  work  with  an  en- 
ergy and  determination  which  were  finally  crowned 
with  success.  He  had  been  informed  by  experts  that 
to  cross  rivers  with  the  electric  current  it  was  only 
necessary  to  sink  a  copper  plate  on  each  bank.  He 
followed  their  directions,  but  discovered  that  the  cop- 
per plates  were  practically  worthless,  and  substituted 
for  them  great  poles  or  masts  and  stretched  the  wire 
from  one  to  the  other  across  the  stream.  The  Morse 
patentees  considered  copper  the  best  material  for  the 
wires,  but  finding  that  No.  16  copper  wire  was  so 


1424 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


ductile  that  when  wet  it  "  sagged"  down  between  the 
poles  low  enough  to  catch  pedestrians  under  the  chin, 
he  replaced  it  with  iron  wire,  and,  in  fact,  was  the 
first  person  to  use  iron  for  that  purpose.  He  intro- 
duced many  other  improvements,  and  was  not  deterred 
by  obstacles  which  must  have  disheartened  a  less  reso- 
lute man.  His  experience  with  capitalists  was  any- 
thing but  encouraging.  "  Jacob  Little,  then  king  of 
Wall  Street,  told  the  canvasser  that  the  telegraph  was 
a  chimera,  and  put  his  name  down  for  one  hundred 
dollars  as  a  matter  of  charity.  Banks  refused  to  lend 
a  dollar  on  the  security  of  '  a  bit  of  wire,'  and  it  was 
only  by  his  personal  enthusiasm  that  Mr.  O'Reilly  was 
able  to  get  money  enough  to  put  his  lines  up."  The 
first  section  was  from  Harrisburg  to  Lancaster,  Pa., 
and  when  this  line  was  at  last  in  successful  operation, 
capital  became  less  coy  and  the  necessary  funds  were 
soon  obtained  for  completing  the  line  to  Pittsburgh. 
This  was  done  during  the  winter  of  1846-47,  and  the 
working  parties  suffered  great  hardships  from  cold  and 
exposure  during  their  passage  over  the  Alleghenies. 
On  the  1st  of  January,  1847,  a  message  was  flashed 
over  the  wires  from  Philadelphia  to  Pittsburgh,  and 
on  the  20th  of  August  in  the  same  year  Cincinnati 
was  placed  in  telegraphic  communication  with  Phila- 
delphia and  other  points  in  the  East.  On  the  18th 
of  September,  1847,  the  St.  Louis  Republican  made  the 
following  announcement : 

"  An  effort  is  now  being  made  to  test  the  practicability  of  con- 
necting St.  Louis  with  the  Eastern  cities  and  New  Orleans  by 
means  of  the  magnetic  telegraph.  Mr.  O'Reilly,  who  has  re- 
cently constructed  and  put  into  operat'on  the  line  from  Pitts- 
burgh to  Cincinnati  and  Louisville,  and  is  forming  a  connection 
with  his  lines  along  the  lakes,  and  is  also  rapidly  extending  the 
line  from  Louisville  via  Nashville  to  New  Orleans,  proposes  to 
give  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis  the  benefit  of  this  lightning  speed 
by  the  first  week  in  December,  provided  they  will  take  from 
twenty  thousand  to  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  stock  in  that 
line,  say  from  Louisville  or  Indianapolis  to  this  city." 

On  the  llth  of  November  following  it  said, — 

"We  are  informed  on  reliable  authority  that  Mr.  O'Reilly  is 
rapidly  progressing  with  the  construction  of  the  telegraph  in 
this  direction.  It  is  now  completed  and  in  operation  to  Vin- 
cennes,  and  it  is  expected  that  the  wires  will  be  put  up  and  the 
communication  completed  from  Louisville  to  the  east  bank  of 
the  Mississippi  in  the  month  of  December." 

On  the  26th  of  the  same  month  a  meeting  in  aid 
of  the  enterprise  was  held  at  Mechanics'  Hall.  "  The 
attendance,"  remarks  the  Republican, 

"  was  large,  but  not  so  large  as  we  think  the  importance  of  the 
occasion  should  have  called  forth.  We  are  really  surprised  at 
the  apathy  and  indifference  which  a  large  portion  of  our  mer- 
chants and  men  of  business  evince  towards  measures  which  are 
almost  exclusively  for  their  own  benefit.  Col.  Robert  Campbell 
was  called  to  the  chair,  and  John  J.  Anderson  appointed  secre- 
tary. Judge  Ellis,  of  Vincennes.  one  of  the  trustees  of  the 


subscribers  for  the  stock,  made  several  explanations  concerning 
the  manner  of  taking  the  stock,  how  it  was  held,  etc.,  after 
which  Mr.  O'Reilly  addressed  the  meeting  in  explanation  of 
his  contracts,  the  extent  to  which  he  had  carried  his  lines,  their 
connection,  their  influence,  and  the  purposes  he  had  in  view. 
I  A  committee  of  five,  consisting  of  Messrs.  McGunnegle,  Si- 
monds,  Rosier,  Clarke,  and  Yeatman,  was  appointed  to  wait 
upon  the  citizens  to  procure  subscriptions." 

The  President's  message,  delivered  to  Congress 
Dec.  6,  1847,  was  transmitted  from  Philadelphia  to 
Vincennes  by  telegraph,  and  thence  by  "  pony  ex- 
press" to  St.  Louis. 

On  the  8th  of  the  same  month  announcement  was 
made  that  the  subscriptions  for  stock  in  the  "  St. 
Louis  and  Louisville  Telegraph  Company"  would  be 
closed  "  until  Thursday,  at  least  until  trustees  are 
elected  and  they  shall  determine  what  further  meas- 
ures are  necessary."  Three  days  later  (Dec.  11, 
1847)  the  Republican  congratulated  Mr.  O'Reilly 
and  Mr.  Moore,  agent  of  the  mail  contractor,  on  the 
speed  and  accuracy  with  which  the  President's  mes- 
sage had  been  delivered  at  St.  Louis.  The  time  oc- 
cupied in  the  transmission  was  three  days.  The 
message  was  sent  to  Congress  on  Tuesday,  and  the 
telegraphing  from  Philadelphia  to  Vincennes  and 
intermediate  cities  commenced  at  seven  o'clock  on 
Tuesday  evening  and  was  concluded  at  a  quarter  be- 
fore nine  P.M.  Wednesday.  An  interruption  of  sev- 
eral hours  occurred,  owing  to  derangement  of  the 
wires  between  Louisville  and  Cincinnati.  When  the 
operators  were  through  with  the  message  they  were  so 
exhausted  that  they  refused  to  transmit  any  more  tele- 
grams. 

The  Republican  pronounced  the  feat  to  be  "  one  of 
the  greatest  triumphs  of  the  age."  From  Vincennes 
to  St.  Louis,  between  which  points  there  was  as  yet 
no  telegraph  line,  the  message  was  transmitted  by  a 
special  express  organized  by  Mr.  Eastman,  of  East, 
man's  line  of  stages,  and  the  "senior  editor  [of  the 
Republican']  went  to  Vincennes  to  receive  the  copy 
and  bring  it  to  St.  Louis."  Including  stoppages  and 
delays,  the  time  of  transmission  by  telegraph  from 
Philadelphia  to  Vincennes  was  twenty-six  hours  and 
fifty  minutes  ;  the  time  actually  employed,  about  nine- 
i  teen  hours.  The  "  pony  express  "  left  Vincennes  for 
St.  Louis  shortly  after  eight  o'clock  A.M.,  and  reached 
Belleville,  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles, 
in  twenty-four  hours  and  fifty  minutes.  The  message 
"  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  our  compositors,  and  in 
two  hours  and  a  half  it  was  in  type,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  afterwards  was  delivered  to  thousands  of 
S  people."  The  Republican  was  the  only  paper  in 
St.  Louis  to  receive  the  message  by  telegraph. 

On   the  18th   of  December  the    Republican    an- 


INSURANCE,  TELEGRAPH,  POSTAL  SERVICE,  GAS,  AND  HOTELS. 


1425 


nounced  that  the  posts  and  wires  had  been  erected 
as  far  as  the  east  bank  of  the  river,  and  that  in  a 
short  time  the  connection  with  the  city  proper  would 
be  established.  A  trial  of  the  wires  from  the  point 
of  completion  on  the  Mississippi  to  Vincennes  was 
made,  and  resulted  satisfactorily.  Two  days  later 
(Doc.  20.  1847)  the  same  paper  informed  its  readers 
that  "  the  most  extraordinary  undertaking  of  the  age, 
the  completion  of  a  line  of  communication  by  mag- 
netic telegraph  from  the  Atlantic  cities  to  the  east 
bank  of  the  Mississippi,"  had  been  accomplished. 
The  time  consumed  in  the  work  of  construction  was 
less  than  eighteen  months.  The  company's  offices 
were  located  on  the  third  and  fourth  floors  of  the 
St.  Louis  Insurance  Office,  at  the  corner  of  Olive  and 
Main  Streets,  and  it  was  announced  that  business 
would  be  transacted  there  as  soon  as  the  wires  were 
extended  across  the  river  to  the  city.  In  the  mean 
time  an  office  was  established  in  a  house  in  the  upper 
end  of  East  St.  Louis,  and  messages  were  transmitted 
thence  to  Eastern  points.  On  the  20th  of  December 
the  regular  operation  of  the  line  commenced,  and  the 
Republican  announced  that  in  a  day  or  two  it  would 
begin  the  publication  of  the  proceedings  of  Congress 
and  all  important  events  transpiring  in  the  East, 
"  almost  to  the  very  moment  of  putting  the  paper  to 
press."  On  the  22d  the  Republican  published  the 
following : 

"  Dispatches  by  telegraph  for  the  Republican. 

"  LOUISVILLE,  December  21st,  9  P.M. 

"  W.  N.  Haldeman's  respects  to  the  St.  Louis  press,  and  con- 
gratulates them  on  the  crowning  feat  of  Henry  O'Reilly's  en- 
terprise, the  instantaneous  communication  of  the  Mississippi 
with  the  Atlantic. 

"  The  river  here  has  fallen  two  feet.  It  came  within  eight 
inches  of  the  flood  of  1832.  The  weather  is  cold.  No  news 
this  morning.  Chancellor  Kent  died  on  the  13th  inst. 

"  (This  is  the  only  dispatch  from  Louisville,  and  we  have 
nothing  from  the  Atlantic  cities.  The  flood  has  deranged  the 
wires  between  Madison  and  Cincinnati,  and  communication  by 
telegraph  is  cut  off;  but  still  we  ought  to  have  later  dates  from 
New  York  and  Philadelphia,  if  there  was  not  some  defect  on  a 
more  distant  part  of  the  line.  Nothing  is  said  of  the  foreign 
news.)" 

On  the  10th  of  January,  1848,  telegraphic  com- 
munication was  established  between  the  cities  of  St. 
Louis  and  Alton  by  the  indefatigable  O'Reilly,  who 
announced  his  intention,  in  view  of  the  approaching 
completion  of  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal,  to 
extend  the  line  to  Galena  and  Chicago.  About  this 
time  Mr.  O'Reilly  began  what  was  destined  to  be  a 
tedious  and  only  partially  successful  series  of  attempts 
to  introduce  the  telegraph  into  the  city  of  St.  Louis. 
He  proposed  to  do  this  by  erecting  two  lofty  poles  on 
either  bank  of  the  river  and  stretching  the  wire  across 
from  one  pole  to  the  other.  One  of  these  poles  was 


erected  in  front  of  the  St.  Louis  Insurance  office,  and 
a  large  lamp  was  placed  on  top  of  it  to  serve  as  a 
beacon  for  boats  on  the  river  and  "  for  persons  travel- 
ing by  night."  On  the  24th  of  January  the  Repub- 
lican stated  that  an  unsuccessful  attempt  had  been 
made  to  extend  the  wire  from  Bloody  Island  to  the 
western  shore.  When  near  the  shore  the  reel  got  fast 
and  the  wire  broke. 

On  the  30th  of  January  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis 
tendered  Mr.  O'Reilly  a  public  dinner  in  testimony 
of  the  energy  and  skill  with  which  he  had  prosecuted 
the  construction  of  the  telegraph  from  the  East  to  St. 
Louis.  The  letter  of  invitation  was  as  follows : 

"To  HENRY  O'REILLY,  ESQ.: 

"SiR, — The  undersigned,  citizens  of  St.  Louis,  as  a  slight 
testimonial  of  their  sense  of  obligation  for  the  efficiency  and 
perseverance  displayed   by  you  in   the  extension  of  the  tele- 
graphic line  to  this  city,  and  for  the  very  favorable  estimate 
they  have  formed  of  you  personally,  beg  leave  to  tender  to  you 
a  public  dinner  at  such  a  time  as  may  suit  your  convenience. 
"John  O'Fallon,    Helfenstein,    Gore  &    Co.,  J.   E.   Yeatman, 
Berthold,  Ewing  &  Co.,  John  Simonds,  William  T.  Reyn- 
olds &  Co.,  G.  K.  McGunnegle,  John  J.  Anderson  &  Co., 
Luther  C.  Clark,  Kenneth,  McKenzie  &  Co.,  G.  K.  Eudd, 
Smith,  Brothers  &  Co.,  T.  II.  Larkin,  P.  Chouteau,  Jr.,  A 
Co.,  U.  Rasiu  &  Conn,  Wilson  &  Brothers,  Keith,  Ray  & 
Co.,  Samuel  Treat,  G.  Matthews  &  Brother,  Houseman  & 
Lowry,  W.  Barton,  J.  Lemon,  Charles  P.  Chouteau,  Thomas 
T.  Gantt,  T.  B.  Dutcber,  S.  M.  Buy,  King  &  Fisher,  Bryan 
Mullanphy,  Anderson  &  Conn,  John  M.  Wimer,  W.  W. 
Greene,  Bogy  &  Miltenberger,  Chouteau  &  Valle,  John  M. 
Kruni,  Carson  &  Voorhies,  William  Milburn,  Roe  &  Ker- 
chev'il,   Kirtly  &  Ryland,   Henry   Von    Phul,  Keernle  & 
Field,  A.   Miltenberger,   Peake  &  Baker,  James   Bryan, 
John  R.  Hammond.  Lawrason  Riggs,  M.  L.  Clark,  Robert 
Campbell,  D.  D.  Mitchell,  B.  B.  Dayton,  James  B.  Clen- 
denin,  Lj'inan  Farwell,  J.  C.  Tevis,  L.  A.  Benoist  &  Co., 
Edward  Tracy,  II.  S.  Geyer,  D.  II.  Armstrong,  Thomas 
1    O'Flaherty,  Henry  M.  Shreve,  George  Knapp,  C.  Ladew  & 
Co.,  Jesse  Woodruff,  Ferd.  Kennett,  Wayman  Crow,  Leslie 
<fe  Lord,  John  0.  Agnew,  N.  E.  Janney,  II.  MacShnne,  M. 
Blair,  Sproule  &  Keys,  Francis  P.  Blair,  Jr.,  Patrick  Gor- 
man, A.  P.  Ladew  &   Co.,  Bernihoud   &   Son,  James  II. 
Lucas. 
"Sr.  Louis,  Jan.  30,  1848." 

Mr.  O'Reilly  replied^as  follows : 

"Sr.  Louis,  Jan.  31,  1848. 

"GENTLEMEN, — I  have  already  participated  so  largely  in  your 
hospitalities,  and  have  been  honored  with  such  manifestations 
of  your  confidence  in  connection  with  the  enterprise  which  has 
excited  your  attention,  that  no  formal  testimonial  of  your  kind- 
ness, such  as  you  now  propose,  could  impress  me  more  deeply 
]  with  a  sense  of  indebtedness  for  your  favor,  and  while  I  would 
rejoice  to  participate  in  the  festivities  with  which  you  propose 
to  commemorate  an  event  that  you  consider  of  puUio  import- 
ance, circumstances  compel  me  respectfully  to  decline  your 
proffered  invitation." 

On  the  8th  of  February  the  following  notice  was 
published  in  the  St.  Louis  papers : 


1426 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


"  To  THE  PEOPLE  OF  MISSOURI,  WISCONSIN,  AND  IOWA  : 

"I  deem  it  my  duty  to  give  you  notice  that  the  claim  of 
Henry  O'Reilly  to  construct  and  use  Morse's  telegraph  on  any 
line  in  any  direction  beyond  St.  Louis  is  utterly  fraudulent. 
He  has  no  such  right,  and  never  had.  Equally  fraudulent  are 
his  pretences  that  he  has  other  systems  which  he  can  use  be- 
sides Morse's.  They  are  either  pure  humbugs  or  direct  viola- 
tions of  Morse's  patents.  His  object  is  to  fill  his  pockets  with 
your  money,  and  then  leave  you  exposed  to  lawsuits  and  triple 
damages  in  the  United  States  courts  for  violating  Morse's 
patents.  If  any  of  your  towns  and  villages  want  a  telegraph, 
they  can  get  it  without  the  danger  of  lawsuits  or  damages  by 
application  to  the  undersigned  at  Washington  City,  or  to  Wil- 
liam Tanner,  Esq.,  Frankfort,  Ky.,  or  to  Josiah  Dent,  Esq.,  St. 
Louis,  Mo.  AMOS  KENDALL,  Agent  for  Proprietors. 

"  LOUISVILLE,  Jan.  24,  1848." 

Thus  was  inaugurated  a  contest  which  resulted  in 
a  long  and  expensive  litigation.  O'Reilly  became 
involved  in  lawsuit  after  lawsuit  with  the  Morse 
patentees,  and  after  a  stubborn  resistance  was  forced 
to  yield.  His  Western  telegraph  franchises  were 
transferred  to  a  combination  of  capitalists,  who  organ- 
ized the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Company,  which 
has  since  absorbed  a  number  of  similar  enterprises, 
until  now  it  has  become  one  of  the  great  telegraphic 
corporations  of  the  world,  its  lines  radiating  in  every 
direction  throughout  the  United  States.  During  his 
control  of  the  Western  franchises  O'Reilly  constructed  , 
about  eight  thousand  miles  of  line.  Comparatively  \ 
little,  if  any,  of  the  original  line  remains,  as  it  was  ! 
crudely  and  hastily  built,  and  has  long  since  -been 
replaced  by  a  more  reliable  system  of  wires.  O'Reilly 
was  impoverished  by  his  lawsuits,  and  for  a  number 
of  years  held  the  position  of  store- keeper  in  the  New 
York  Custom-House,  from  which  he  retired  in  1878 
at  the  age  of  seventy  years.  His  chief  occupation  in 
recent  years,  aside  from  his  official  duties,  has  been 
the  revision  and  classification  of  his  papers  for  the 
use  of  the  future  historian  of  telegraphy  in  the 
United  States.  His  memoirs,  exhibits,  papers,  and 
books,  in  print  and  manuscript,  number  one  hundred 
and  fifty  volumes,  and  are  now  in  the  collection  of  the 
New  York  Historical  Society.  On  one  occasion,  after 
his  removal  from  the  custom-house,  Mr.  O'Reilly,  it 
is  stated,  said, — 

"  I  seek  now  only  a  quiet  retirement,  and  would 
prefer  to  keep  entirely  out  of  the  public  view,  but 
when  the  real  history  of  the  discovery  and  the  devel- 
opment of  the  telegraph  system  of  this  country  is 
written  many  misplaced  honors  will  fall  away  from 
those  who  have  won  them." 

On  the  14th  of  March,  1848,  the  St.  Louis  Repub- 
lican congratulated  its  readers  on  the  fact  that  the 
wires  would  be  brought  across  the  river  "  this  week." 
Two  tall  masts,  it  added,  "  have  been  erected,  each 
about  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  feet  high,  one  on 


the  bank  of  the  river  in  the  water-works  lot,  and  the 
other  on  Bloody  Island  opposite.  The  span  at  this 
place  is  considerably  less  than  where  the  original  at- 
tempt was  made  to  carry  it  over  the  river." 

On  the  20th  and  21st  of  the  same  month  meetings  of 
the  stockholders  of  the  "  Louisville,  Vincennes  and  St. 
Louis  Telegraph  Company"  were  held  for  the  purpose 
of  organizing  under  a  charter  granted  by  the  Indiana 
Legislature.  A  temporary  organization  was  effected 
in  order  to  enable  Mr.  O'Reilly  to  transfer  the  lines  to 
the  company  previous  to  his  contemplated  departure 
from  that  section  of  the  country.  The  following  were 
chosen  temporary  directors  :  Henry  O'Reilly,  William 
Bratch,  George  T.  M.  David,  Samuel  Wise,  Sanford 
J.  Smith,  William  R.  McCord,  John  Ross,  Thomas 
Bishop,  A.  T.  Ellis. 

The  directors  subsequently  met  and  completed  the 
organization  of  the  "  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Telegraph 
Company"  by  electing  the  Hon.  A.  T.  Ellis  presi- 
dent, John  Ross  secretary,  and  Sanford  J.  Smith 
treasurer.  The  transfer  of  the  line  between  St.  Louis 
and  Louisville,  as  also  of  the  extension  from  Illinois- 
town  to  Alton,  was  then  made  by  Mr.  O'Reilly  to  the 
company.  Steps  were  also  taken  for  the  engraving 
of  appropriate  certificates  for  stock. 

During  a  heavy  gale  on  the  4th  of  May,  1848,  the 
tall  mast  near  the  shot-tower,  upon  which  the  tele- 
graph wire  was  suspended,  was  blown  down,  and  the 
operation  of  the  telegraph  interrupted.  In  conse- 
quence of  this  accident  the  company  was  forced  to 
resort  to  the  old  system  of  sending  the  messages 
across  the  river,  and  transmitting  them  from  Illinois- 
town.  On  the  1st  of  June  following  it  was  an- 
nounced that  the  line  of  O'Reilly's  telegraph  had 
been  extended  from  St.  Louis  to  Springfield,  111.,  and 
that  in  a  short  time  it  would  be  completed  to  Peoria, 
Chicago,  Galena,  Quincy,  Burlington,  and  other  ini- 
portant  towns  on  the  Illinois  and  upper  Mississippi. 
The  announcement  of  the  completion  of  the  line  to 
Springfield  was  accompanied  by  the  following  dispatch 
from  the  editors  of  the  Springfield  Register  to  the 
editors  of  the  St.  Louis  Republican  : 

"SPRINGFIELD,  ILL.,  May  31st. 

"  The  editors  of  the  State  Register  shake  hands  with  the  edi- 
tors of  the  Republican,  with  a  slight  variation,  as  the  preacher 
said  about  the  creation  of  women.  Strike  out  Whig  candidates 
and  insert  Cass  and  Butler  and  we  are  with  you,  but  whatever 
the  result  may  be,  we  hope  always  to  remain  friends." 

On  the  12th  of  August,  1848,  the  telegraph  was 
completed  to  Dubuque,  Iowa,  and  on  the  19th  of 
January,  1849,  notice  was  given  that  O'Reilly's  line 
of  telegraph  had  been  opened  through  from  Louisville 
to  New  Orleans  "  day  before  yesterday," — i.e.,  on  the 


INSURANCE,  TELEGRAPH,  POSTAL  SERVICE,  GAS,  AND  HOTELS. 


1427 


17th  ;  that  dispatches  had  been  received  at  St.  Louis 
from  Baton  Rouge,  and  that  it  was  expected  that 
dispatches  would  be  received  direct  from  New  Orleans 
in  a  very  few  days.  On  the  21st  of  March,  1850, 
telegraphic  communication  was  opened  between  St. 
Louis  and  Cape  Girardeau.  This  was  the  last  north- 
ern link  on  the  St.  Louis  and  New  Orleans  telegraph. 
On  the  22d  of  the  following  month,  April,  1850, 
Henry  O'Reilly  invited  the  attention  of  the  people  of 
St.  Louis  to  a  scheme  for  constructing  a  telegraph 
from  St.  Louis  to  San  Francisco.  Mr.  O'Reilly  de- 
clared that  he  would  ask  no  aid  from  the  government, 
except  in  building  stockades  at  intervals  along  the  line 
to  serve  as  telegraph  stations,  and  for  the  protection 
of  immigrants  and  the  property  of  the  telegraph  com- 
pany. One  of  the  arguments  advanced  in  favor  of 
the  project  was  that  the  stockades  would  form  the 
nucleus  of  settlements  for  the  supply  of  persons  trav- 
eling to  and  from  California.  On  the  27th  of  July 
of  the  same  year  a  telegraph  line  from  St.  Louis  to 
New  Orleans  was  completed  under  the  direction  of 
Mr.  O'Reilly,  and  dispatches  passed  over  the  wires  be- 
tween the  two  cities.  It  was  known  as  O'Reilly's  or 
the  "  People's  Line  of  Telegraph." 

The  use  of  masts  for  supporting  the  telegraph  wires 
across  the  Mississippi  River  having  proved  unsatis- 
factory, it  was  determined  on  the  23d  of  September, 
1850,  to  lay  wires  cased  in  gutta-percha  at  the  bottom 
of  the  river  from  Bloody  Island  to  the  St.  Louis 
shore.  The  work  was  completed  by  the  7th  of  Oc- 
tober, and  the  telegraphic  instruments  were  removed 
from  East  St.  Louis  to  St.  Louis.  The  submerged 
wire  was  found  to  be  a  marked  improvement  on 
the  system  previously  in  use.  In  the  Republican 
of  October  8th  the  announcement  was  made  that  the 
wire  for  Morse's  Southern  telegraph  had  been  sus- 
pe.nded  across  the  Mississippi,  and  that  "  the  '  Bos- 
tona'  passed  under  it  with  the  greatest  ease."  In 
the  summer  and  fall  of  1850  the  work  of  extending 
the  telegraph  from  St.  Louis  to  St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  was 
actively  prosecuted  by  T.  P.  Shaffner  &  Co.,  and  on 
the  8th  of  October  it  was  announced  that  the  posts 
for  the  line  had  been  put  up  to  within  thirty  miles  of 
Jefferson  City.  On  the  4th  of  October,  1851,  a  tele- 
graph-office was  opened  at  Weston,  and  it  was  an- 
nounced that  the  line  would  be  completed  to  St.  : 
Joseph  in  the  course  of  a  week  or  two.  Wade's  tele- 
graph line  from  Cincinnati  to  St.  Louis,  by  way 
of  Indianapolis,  Terre  Haute,  and  Alton,  was  com- 
pleted during  the  same  year  to  the  east  side  of  the 
Mississippi  opposite  St.  Louis,  and  it  was  announced 
that  "  gutta-percha  wire  upon  a  new  principle  would 
be  immediately  laid  across  the  river." 


On  the  6th  of  December,  1851,  the  Republican 
mentioned  that  the  delay  and  inconvenience  to  which 
the  Morse  Telegraph  Line  had  been  subjected  at 
Cape  Girardeau  had  been  remedied  by  the  use  of 
gutta-percha  wire  across  the  river  at  that  place. 
"  Messages  can  now  be  sent  without  interruption  at 
that  point  to  Nashville,  and  from  thence  to  New 
Orleans  by  one  line,  and  to  Louisville  and  all  the  in- 
land and  Atlantic  cities  by  other  connected  lines." 
In  the  same  issue  of  the  paper  appears  a  notice  of  a 
"  sumptuous  supper"  with  which  the  O'Reilly  Tele- 
graphic Lines  "  celebrated  their  triumph  last  Thurs- 
day night  in  successfully  crossing  the  river."  This 
celebration  marks  the  third  attempt  to  solve  the 
problem  of  safely  transmitting  telegrams  across  the 
Mississippi.  Two  wires  belonging  to  the  Northern 
and  Eastern  O'Reilly  Telegraph  Companies,  as  the 
corporations  were  styled,  were  successfully  laid  across 
the  river  above  Bissell's  Ferry  landing,  and  the  con- 
nection with  the  lines  on  either  shore  was  soon  per- 
fected. For  nearly  four  years  the  company  had  been 
experimenting  in  the  hope  of  securing  a  permanent 
submarine  telegraph.  It  never  quite  succeeded,  but 
to  St.  Louis  probably  belongs  the  honor  of  having 
first  utilized,  with  comparatively  satisfactory  results, 
the  gutta-percha  wire  for  laying  telegraph  cables  below 
the  surface  of  the  water.  The  idea  of  a  submarine 
telegraph  was  not  a  novel  one,  the  electrician  Salva- 
having,  it  is  said,  suggested  as  early  as  1797  that  a 
line  be  laid  between  Barcelona  and  Palma,  in  the 
island  of  Majorca. 

On  the  18th  of  October,  1842,  Professor  Morse 
laid  a  copper  wire,  insulated  by  means  of  a  hempen 
strand  coated  with  tar,  pitch,  and  India  rubber,  from 
Governor's  Island  to  the  Battery,  N.  Y.,  and  next 
morning  was  beginning  to  receive  messages  over  it, 
when  the  wire  became  entangled  in  the  anchor  of  a 
vessel  and  was  hauled  on  board.  In  1 843,  Samuel 
Colt  laid  a  submarine  cable  from  Coney  and  Fire 
Islands  at  the  entrance  of  New  York  Harbor  up  to  the 
city,  which  was  operated  with  success.  On  the  28th 
of  December,  1844,  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  Mr.  Colt 
exhibited  a  submarine  battery,  of  which  he  was  the 
inventor,  and  succeeded  in  exploding  several  of  his 
"  combustible  substances"  at  a  considerable  distance 
under  water.  He  proposed  to  the  government  to  per- 
manently fortify  any  harbor  by  this  means  at  a  cost 
not  exceeding  that  of  a  steamship  of  war.  In  1845 
gutta-percha  became  an  article  of  commerce,  but  its 
insulating  qualities  had  not  then  been  discovered.  In 
that  year  Professor  Morse  attempted  to  insulate  a 
wire  with  a  composition  of  beeswax,  asphaltum,  and 
cotton  yarn,  and  failed.  In  1848,  Ezra  Cornell  and 


1428 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


Professor  Morse  endeavored  to  lay  a  cable  across  the 
Hudson  River  to  Fort  Lee,  by  the  use  of  a  mixture  of 
asphalt  and  hemp,  and  afterwards  strung  the  wire 
with  glass  beads  and  inclosed  it  in  a  lead  pipe,  but 
without  success  in  either  case.  Professor  Faraday 
first  made  public  the  insulating  properties  of  gutta- 
percha  in  1848,  and  the  first  submarine  telegraph 
thus  insulated  was  laid  across  the  Rhine  from  Deutz 
to  Cologne  by  Lieut.  Siemens,  of  the  Prussian  Artil- 
lery. On  the  22d  of  November,  1847,  some  months 
before  Faraday's  patent  was  granted  in  England, 
George  B.  Simpson  drew  up  an  application  for  a 
patent  for  the  insulation  of  telegraph  with  gutta-  j 
percha.  It  was  filed  in  the  United  States  Patent 
Office  in  January,  1848,  more  than  a  month  before  i 
Faraday's  announcement.  In  November,  1848,  Simp- 
son exhibited  his  invention  at  the  Washington  Hall 
Fair  in  Baltimore,  where  it  was  tested  and  found  suc- 
cessful, and  received  the  unanimous  commendation  of 
the  press  of  that  city.  As  early  as  December,  1847, 
he  had  exhibited  his  invention  to  the  late  Amos 
Kendall  and  F.  0.  J.  Smith,  in  Cincinnati.  His 
patent  was  rejected  by  the  Patent  Oifice  in  1850,  and 
a  long  litigation  ensued,  which  resulted  in  Simpson's 
favor  in  1867,  shortly  before  his  death. 

H.  W.  Cleveland,  an  assistant  of  Professor  Morse  in 
the  Baltimore  office,  invented  a  submarine  telegraph  in 
April,  1847,  which  he  tested  across  the  bed  of  the 
stream  at  Gunpowder  River  drawbridge,  between 
Baltimore  and  Havre  de  Grace,  and  it  was  eminently 
successful.  In  1850  a  copper  wire  covered  with  gutta- 
percha  was  laid  from  Dover  to  Calais  by  the  electrician 
Brett.  It  was  in  the  same  year  that  the  first  sub- 
marine wire  was  laid  across  the  Mississippi.1 

1  Following  are  the  St.  Louis  Republican's  accounts  of  var- 
ious attempts  to  overcome  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  main-  I 
taining  constant  communication  with  the  eastern  bank  of  the  ' 
Mississippi : 

"  In  October  of  last  year  a  wire  was  sunk  from  the  shore,  near 
the  termination  of  the  Biddle  Street  sewer,  to  the  opposite  side. 
This  wire  had  been  first  insulated  with  gutta-percha,  and  after- 
wards placed  at  distances  of  every  thirty  feet  in  leaden  cylin- 
ders eleven  inches  long  by  four  inches  in  diameter,  and  weigh- 
ing each  about  twenty-five  pounds.  These  cylinders,  the  manu- 
facture of  Mr.  E.  W.  Blatchford,  while  partially  protecting  the 
wire,  afforded  great  resistance  to  the  current,  and  weighed  the 
wire  securely  to  the  bed  of  the  river.  In  this  manner  the  line  had 
worked  well  for  a  time,  when  the  agents  of  the  city,  in  prosecu- 
ting some  work  on  the  Levee,  broke  the  wire.  It  was  taken  i 
up  and  the  damage  repaired,  but  a  second  accident  again  put  a 
stop  to  its  usefulness.  Several  plans  of  sub-river  telegraphic 
connection  were  afterwards  considered  by  the  directors  and 
agents  of  our  companies,  but  the  dangers  of  a  swift  current,  of 
snags  continually  appearing,  and  the  large  quantities  of  sedi- 
ment continually  shifting  its  locality  made  it  difficult  to  sug-  j 
gest  one  adapted  to  every  emergency.  The  one  finally  adopted  i 


Early  in  November,  1852,  the  stockholders  of  the 
St.  Louis  and  Missouri  Telegraph  Company  elected 
the  following  officers : 


and  put  into  use  yesterday  appears  the  best  calculated  for  effec- 
tive resistance  to  every  obstacle,  and  will,  we  trust,  afford  a 
reliable  means  of  communication.  It  is  this  :  A  wire  of  the 
ordinary  size  is  encased  in  three  heavy  coats  of  gutta-percha, 
and  the  whole  protected  with  a  sheeting  of  lead — continuous, 
and  water-  and  air-tight — a  little  less  than  the  eighth  of  an 
inch  in  thickness. 

"To  cross  the  river  twice  at  the  point  mentioned  required 
six  thousand  five  hundred  and  seventy  feet  of  gutta-percha 
wire,  allowing  eighteen  hundred  feet  for  the  irregularities  of  the 
bed  of  the  river,  drifting,  etc.  Mr.  Blatchford  encountered 
many  serious  and  annoying  difficulties  in  the  accomplishment 
of  his  task,  by  the  breakage  of  dies,  etc.;  but  after  an  assiduous 
application  he  finally  succeeded  in  manufacturing  the  whole. 
The  lead  sheeting  was  turned  out  in  pieces  sixty  feet  long,  and 
afterwards  turned  and  soldered  on  the  gutta-percha  and  secured 
together.  The  weight  of  the  whole  when  finished  was  ten  thou- 
sand pounds. 

"  The  wire  was  placed  on  a  ferrj'-boat,  and  at  an  early  hour 
in  the  day  taken  to  the  north  end  of  the  city,  to  be  laid  under 
the  direction  of  Mr.  J.  N.  Alvord,  superintendent  of  the  '  Ohio 
and  Mississippi'  Line,  Mr.  C.  F.  Johnson,  of  the  '  Illinois  and 
Mississippi  Company,'  and  Mr.  Blatchford.  Numerous  doubts 
existed  as  to  the  practicability  of  running  the  wire  on  the  plan 
proposed,  but  the  result  has  set  them  at  rest.  One  end  having 
been  secured  to  the  Missouri  shore,  the  process  of  laying  the 
first  line  commenced  precisely  at  twelve  o'clock,  and  was  termi- 
nated at  sixteen  minutes  past  twelve.  The  boat  then  returned, 
and  the  second  line  was  laid  in  precisely  twelve  minutes,  no  ob- 
stacle whatever  having  been  experienced  either  time,  and  a 
little  over  three-fourths  of  the  wire  only  having  been  used.  To 
assure  themselves  that  the  wires  had  sustained  no  injury  in  de- 
positing it,  Mr.  Alvord  and  Mr.  Johnson,  in  the  afternoon,  com- 
municated with  them  from  the  opposite  shores  with  perfect 
success. 

"  The  operators  on  the  Northern  and  Eastern  Telegraphic 
Lines  have  received  and  sent  their  reports  to  Illinoistown  for  the 
past  ten  months.  The  difficulty  of  sending  or  receiving  reports 
after  night  has  proven  an  annoyance  to  every  one.  It  is  ex- 
pected, and  certainly  it  is  much  hoped,  that  this  inconvenience 
is  entirely  removed." — St.  Louis  Republican,  Dec.  5,  1851. 

"The  first  lines  that  were  constructed  to  this  city  were  sus- 
pended across  the  river  by  the  erection  of  high  masts,  but  owing 
to  the  distance  from  shore  to  shore  and  consequent  weight  of 
the  wire  between  the  masts,  they  were  constantly  breaking  from 
sleet,  storms,  and  even  by  birds  alighting  thereon  in  great  quan- 
tities. This  plan  has  then,  owing  to  its  imperfection  and  ex- 
pense, been  abandoned,  and  the  lines  were  laid  across  the  bed 
of  the  river  by  wire  insulated  with  gutta-percha,  and  sunk  by 
means  of  leaden  weights.  This,  too,  soon  failed,  and  at  the 
time  Mr.  A.  Wade  came  to  the  city  for  the  purpose  of  finishing 
the  Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis  line,  all  our  telegraphing  was  done 
on  the  Illinois  side  and  brought  across  by  ferry.  Since  that 
time,  however,  there  have  been  two  wires  laid  across  the  river 
by  the  O'Reilly  Telegraph  Company,  insulated  with  gutta- 
percha,  and  then  inclosed  in  lead  pipes,  but  from  some  unknown 
cause  one  ef  them  has  already  failed. 

"Amid  all  these  discouraging  circumstances  Mr.  Wade  has 
devised  and  executed  a  plan  which,  in  the  opinion  of  scientific 
men  and  those  best  acquainted  with  telegraphing,  will  prove  as 
effectual  in  resisting  every  obstacle  with  which  it  may  have  to 


INSURANCE,  TELEGRAPH,  POSTAL  SERVICE,  GAS,  AND  HOTELS. 


1429 


Isaac  M.  Veitch,  president:  John  W.  Morris,  secretary; 
Directors,  T.  P.  Shaffner,  G.  B.  Allen,  John  How,  S.  H.  Laflin, 
E.  K.  Woodward,  St.  Louis ;  E.  B.  Cordell,  Jefferson  City  ;  Wil- 
liam H.  Trigg,  Boonville;  Robert  Aull,  Lexington;  William 
McCoy,  Independence  :  Hon.  Sol.  P.  McCurdy,  Weston  ;  E.  Liv- 
erniore,  St.  Joseph. 

In  1859  a  new  cable  was  laid  across  the  Mississippi. 
"  The  Western  Union  Telegraph  Company,"  says  a  St. 
Louis  paper  of  August  22d  of  that  year, 

"some  time  since  deputed  Mr.  Ed.  Creighton  to  superintend 
the  making  and  laying  of  a  new  electric  cable  across  the  Mis- 
sissippi River  at  this  point.  The  cable  is  now  finished,  and  will 
be  laid  to-morrow.  .  .  . 

"Formerly  a  wire  was  stretched  from  a  very  tall  pole  on  the 
island,  but  there  were  frequent  accidents,  which  rendered  com- 
munication uncertain  and  irregular.  The  flood  of  1852  washed 
down  the  giant  mast  on  the  island,  and  since  that  time  suspen- 
sion wires  have  been  abandoned  and  subaqurttic  cables  substi- 
tuted. But  here,  too,  were  obstacles  to  be  met,  for  the  impulsive 
current  of  the  Mississippi  presented  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
telegraphic  intercourse  between  this  city  and  the  opposite  shore 
which  have  never  to  this  day  been  overcome  successfully.  A 
great  many  cables  have  failed  from  breaking,  loss  of  insulation, 
etc.,  and  this  sometimes  after  but  a  few  months' — sometimes 
weeks' — service.  Mr.  Creighton  thinks  he  has  made  a  cable 
which  will  now  withstand  the  force  of  the  rushing  waters  and 
endure  for  years. 

"The  cable  to  be  paid  out  to-morrow  is  manufactured  of  four' 
pieces  of  the  Atlantic  cable  purchased  of  Tiffany,  New  York,  .  .  . 
together  with  twenty-one  strands  of  No.  9  iron  wire,  and  all 
securely  bound  every  six  inches  with  the  same  (No.  9).  Karh 
piece  of  the  Atlantic  cable  has  fifty-six  strands  of  wire,  so  that 
in  the  present  cable  there  are  two  hundred  and  forty-five  wires. 
Two  miles  of  the  Atlantic  cable  are  used  in  the  Mississippi 
'cord,'  and  the  whole  length  of  the  latter  is  two  thousand  six 
hundred  and  fifty  feet.  Its  diameter  is  something  over  two 
inches.  The  total  weight  is  five  tons  and  a  half,  and  the  cost 
is  about  three  thousand  dollars.  It  is  now  coiled  in  an  immense 


contend  as  it  has  thus  far  proved  perfect  in  its  working,  and  if 
so,  must  supersede  all  others  now  in  use.  ...  A  No.  9  wire  of 
the  best  quality,  well  connected  and  annealed,  is  covered  with 
several  coatings  of  gutta-percha  to  the  thickness  of  about  three- 
fourths  of  an  inch.  To  protect  this  from  driftwood,  snags, 
floating  ice,  sand,  chafing  against  rocks,  and  other  like  causes, 
the  whole  outer  surface  of  the  gutta-percha  is  covered  with  No. 
10  annealed  iron  wire,  running  parallel  with  and  confined 
thereto,  in  a  round  cable  formed  by  iron-wire  bands,  within  six 
or  eight  inches  of  each  other,  the  whole  weighing  about  eight 
thousand  pounds  to  the  mile,  and  possessing  a  strength  equal 
to  a  three-quarter  inch  bar  of  solid  iron. 

"Great  care  has  been  taken  to  give  to  the  outer  wires  the 
greatest  tension,  so  as  to  protect  the  gutta-percha  from  any  sud- 
den wrench  or  strain.  This  cable  is  laid  so  as  to  touch  the  bed 
of  the  river  in  any  part,  and  in  such  a  way  that  should  the 
channel  become  deeper  at  any  one  place  than  it  now  is,  it  will 
settle  to  the  bottom. 

"  It  is  imbedded  in  the  earth  at  each  shore  to  the  depth  of 
six  feet,  extending  from  extreme  low-water  mark  to  a  pole  two 
hundred  feet  distant,  where  the  inside  wire  alone  is  connected 
with  the  main  wire  of  the  line,  while  the  outside  wires  are 
firmly  attached  to  the  pole.  The  length  of  this  cable  is  but 
little  over  half  a  mile,  and  upwards  of  ten  miles  of  wire  were 
used  in  its  construction." — St.  Louis  Republican,  Dec.  20,  1S52. 
91 


reel,  and  will  be  stretched  by  one  of  the  Higgins  ferry-boats, 
the  termination  on  this  side  being  near  the  foot  of  Biddle 
Street." 

In  the  early  part  of  1859  a  few  gentlemen  of  St. 
Louis  formed  an  association  for  the  purpose  of  extend- 
ing the  then  existing  line  running  westward  from  St. 
Louis,  and  also  for  the  purpose  of  building  other  lines 
with  the  view  of  inducing  the  California  trunk  lines 

I  to  converge  at  St.  Louis.  This  enterprise  finally  be- 
came of  sufficient  importance  to  justify  the  formation 
of  an  incorporated  company.  A  charter  was  granted 

i  by  the  Legislature  which  was  very  liberal  in  its  pro- 
visions. It  had  fifty  years  to  run,  and  permitted  a 
capital  stock  of  a  million  dollars.  The  style  of  the 
company  was  the  "  Missouri  and  Western  Telegraph 

1  Company,"  which  was  formed  for  the  purpose  of 
"  building,  buying,  leasing,  maintaining,  and  operating 

S  a  telegraph  line  or  lines  west  of  the  Mississippi  River." 
Messrs.  S.  H.  Laflin,  J.  H.  Lightner,  A.  C.  Goddin, 
Charles  M.  Stebbins,  J.  H.  Wade,  Isaac  R.  Elwood, 
and  Anson  Stager,  the  persons  named  as  the  cor- 
porators of  this  company,  met  at  the  Planters'  House 
in  August,  1860,  and  perfected  their  organization  by 
the  election  of  Charles  M.  Stebbins,  of  St.  Louis, 

|  president;  Edward  Creighton,  of  Omaha  City,  general 
agent';  and  R.  C.  Cloury,  of  St.  Louis,  secretary  and 
superintendent. 

This  company  absorbed  the  "  Missouri  River  Tele- 
graph Line,"  extending  from  St.  Louis  to  Kansas  City ; 
the  "Kansas  Telegraph  Line,"  extending  from  Kansas 
City  through  Leavenworth  and  Atchison  to  St.  Jo- 
seph ;  and  the  "  New  Line,"  finished  a  short  time 
before  to  Springfield,  Mo.  It  had  already  raised 
nearly  enough  money  to  complete  a  line  to  Omaha 
City  and  Council  Bluffs.  It  owned  the  exclusive 
right  to  use  the  Morse,  Hughes,  and  House  telegraph 

I  patents  in  all  of  Missouri  south  of  the  Missouri  River, 
in  all  of  Kansas  Territory,  and  in  all  of  Nebraska  Ter- 
ritory south  of  the  Platte  River,  with  the  right  to  ex- 
tend to  Sante  Fe",  Fort  Smith,  St.  Joseph,  Omaha 
City,  and  Council  Bluffs. 

On  the  30th  of  May,  1865,  the  "  United  States 
Telegraph  Line"  commenced  operating  at  the  Mer- 
chants' Exchange. 

In  1879  the  American  Union  Telegraph  Company 
was  incorporated,  and  began  operations  in  St.  Louis 
as  an  auxiliary  to  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad 
telegraph  system.  In  1881  the  corporation  was  ab- 
sorbed by  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Company, 
since  which  time  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad 
Company  has  been  conducting  a  telegraph  business  on 
its  own  account.  It  has  a  large  number  of  offices  at 
the  principal  business  points  of  the  city,  and  has  lines 


1430 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


in  successful  operation  running  to  all  the  leading  cities 
of  the  world. 

UNITED  STATES  MAILS,  POST-OFFICE,  AND  CUSTOM- 
HOUSE. 

At  the  time  of  the  transfer  of  Louisiana  to  the  United 
States  the  mail  facilities  of  the  then  French  village  of 
St.  Louis  and  its  modest  neighbor,  Vide  Poche  (or  Ca-  1 
rondelet),  were  quite  inconsiderable.  A  weekly  pair 
of  saddle-bags  from  the  East,  that  had  run  the  gauntlet  j 
of  the  Indian  tribes  of  the  Northwest,  brought  New  j 
York  and  Philadelphia  letters  and  papers  from  one  to 
six  months  old.  To  the  west  of  St.  Louis  the  mail 
was  mostly  transported  in  the  hats  and  breeches-pockets 
of  hunters,  trappers,  courriers  du  bois,  and  occasional 
immigrants  from  Kentucky  going  into  the  central 
portions  of  Missouri.  For  many  years  the  largest 
portion  of  the  letters  for  people  in  central  Missouri 
were  brought  by  travelers  or  explorers,  generally 
directed  to  some  one  in  the  "  Boone's  Lick  country," 
and  were  stuck  up  in  the  bar-room  or  some  log  tavern 
to  be  called  for  by  the  owners.  As  the  "  Boone's 
Lick  country"  embraced  a  territory  equal  in  size  to 
some  of  the  smaller  States,  it  was  esteemed  a  fortu- 
nate chance  if  a  letter  reached  the  person  addressed. 
After  remaining  stuck  up  and  uncalled  for  for  a  num- 
ber of  months  they  were  considered  "  dead  letters," 
and  settlers  in  the  neighborhood  who  were  anxious  to 
get  news  from  their  old  homes  in  Kentucky  would 
peruse  them  for  the  benefit  of  whom  they  might  con- 
cern. The  delays  and  disappointments  occasioned  by 
the  lack  of  a  regular  mail  system  were  naturally  a 
source  of  much  inconvenience,  and  long  periods  elapsed 
— quite  frequently  many  months — before  a  reply  could 
be  obtained  from  any  distant  point.  Such  was  the 
gay,  contented  character  of  the  French  residents, 
however,  and  such  their  happy,  careless  abandon,  so 
thoroughly  absorbed  were  they  in  the  occupations, 
interests,  and  amusements  of  their  comparatively 
isolated  frontier  life,  that  delays  which  in  our  day  and 
generation  would  be  considered  altogether  monotonous 
and  unbearable  were  tolerated  by  them  not  always 
with  patience,  to  be  sure,  but  with  a  mild  and  good- 
humored  resignation.  The  introduction  of  saddle- 
bags as  a  means  of  transporting  letters  was  a  note- 
worthy innovation,  and  was  hailed  as  a  marked  advance 
in  providing  facilities  for  postal  communication.  When 
the  transfer  to  the  United  States,  however,  had  been 
effected,  the  new  government  at  once  proceeded  to 
establish  a  regular  mail  service  for  St.  Louis  and 
other  important  points  in  the  newly  acquired  territory, 
and  post-offices  were  speedily  established  at  St.  Louis, 
St.  Charles,  and  Ste.  Genevieve.  From  1804  until 
about  1823  there  was  only  one  mail  line  from  St. 


Louis  to  Philadelphia,  running  through  Cahokia, 
Vincennes,  New  Albany,  Louisville,  Limestone  (now 
Maysville),  Wheeling,  Pittsburgh,  and  Chambersburg, 
the  two  latter  places  in  Pennsylvania.  The  distance 
traversed  from  St.  Louis  to  Chambersburg  was  ten 
hundred  and  fifty  miles,  on  which  portion  of  the  route 
the  mail  was  carried  on  horseback,  and  from  St.  Louis 
to  Philadelphia  the  distance  was  about  twelve  hundred 
miles.  Between  Chambersburg  and  Philadelphia  there 
was  a  stage  line  making  two  trips  a  week. 

There  were  two  mails  a  week  from  Philadelphia  to 
Pittsburgh,  and  one  mail  a  week  from  Pittsburgh  to 
the  Western  settlements.  Letters  from  the  East  and 
from  Europe  were  respectively  six  weeks  and  three 
months  in  reaching  St.  Louis.  In  1804  a  turnpike 
had  been  built  between  Philadelphia  and  Lancaster, 
Pa.,  a  distance  of  sixty-five  miles,  and  a  few  years 
later  it  was  finished  to  Harrisburg.  In  1819  it  was 
extended  to  Pittsburgh,  and  for  a  long  time  was  the 
only  turnpike  that  crossed  the  Alleghenies.  As  the 
building  of  this  and  other  great  highways  progressed 
there  was  of  course  a  corresponding  improvement  in 
the  transportation  of  the  mails,  which  was  still  fur- 
ther accelerated  by  the  introduction  of  steamboats  on 
Western  waters.  At  first  steamers  were  six  weeks  in 
making  the  trip  from  Louisville  to  St.  Louis,  but  as 
early  as  1825,  such  had  been  the  progress  made  {in 
steam  navigation  that  a  letter  could  be  sent  from  St. 
Louis  to  Philadelphia  in  twenty  days.  Subsequently 
the  time  was  reduced  to  fifteen  days.  After  the  Na- 
tional road  had  been  completed  to  Columbus,  Ohio, 
and  graded  to  Indianapolis,  stages  ran  through  from 
St.  Louis  to  Philadelphia  in  ten  days,  and  this  was 
the  most  rapid  transit  prior  to  the  introduction  of 
railroads. 

The  first  postmaster  at  St.  Louis  was  Col.  Rufus 
Easton,  who  was  appointed  Jan.  1,  1805,  and  held 
the  office  for  ten  years.  Col.  Easton  was  a  prominent 
and  influential  citizen,  and  represented  the  Territory 
as  a  delegate  in  Congress  from  1814  to  1816,  succeed- 
ing Edward  Hempstead.  By  the  regulations  of  the 
postal  department,  Col.  Easton  was  required  to  publish 
a  quarterly  statement  of  letters  which  remained  un- 
claimed in  the  post-office,  and  until  the  establishment 
of  the  first  newspaper  in  1808  he  posted  a  written 
notice,  giving  the  quarterly  list  of  unclaimed  letters, 
on  the  post-office  door.  On  the  2d  of  August,  1808, 
the  following  list  was  advertised : 

"  A  list  of  letters  remaining  in  the  post-office  at  St.  Louis, 
quarter  ending  June  30,  1808:  James  Ashley,  Charles  Apple- 
gate,  William  Bradley,  William  Bonham,  James  W.  Coburn, 
John  Chitwood,  John  Calaway,  William  McDaniel,  John  Davis, 
Samuel  H.  Dunn.  Cornelius  R.  French,  Samuel  Gibson,  Lieut. 
Daniel  Hughs,  Philip  Leduc,  Jacob  Horine,  John  Mullanphy, 


INSURANCE,  TELEGRAPH,  POSTAL  SERVICE,  GAS,  AND  HOTELS. 


1431 


Philip  Miller,  Robert  Owens,  Louis  Pre  Fillet,  Joseph  Perkins, 
William  Rodgers,  George  G.  Rooney,  Hannah  Radcliffe,  Moses 
Riddle,  Messrs.  Raugh  &  Ermatinger,  Antony  Sanders,  William 
Shay,  George  Smith,  Solomon  Townsend,  Thomas  Vinson,  Simon 
Vanarsdale,  Daniel  Walker,  James  Ward,  Robert  Westcott, 
Anne  Wolfort,  William  R.  Willis,  Hezekiah  Warfield,  John 

Zomwale. 

"R.  EASTON,  P.M." 

The  irregularities,  delays,  and  uncertainties  of  the 
mails  about  this  time  are  set  forth  in  the  following 
from  the  Missouri  Gazette  of  Aug.  10,  1808  : 

"The  failure  of  the  mail  from  Ste.  Genevieve  to  Cahokia, 
and  from  Vincennes  to  the  same  place,  has  long  since  been  a 
fact  of  serious  complaint,  and  more  so  to  the  inhabitants  of  this 
Territory  since  the  establishment  of  a  Gazette  at  the  town  of 
St.  Louis,  it  being  impossible  for  the  printer  to  give  to  his  pa- 
trons early  and  correct  accounts,  either  of  foreign  or  domestic 
news.  The  fault  is  certainly  not  to  be  imputed  to  the  contrac- 
tors, yet  there  is  a  radical  defect  in  the  law  which  does  not  en- 
able the  postmaster-general  to  remedy  the  evil,  the  contrac- 
tor only  being  liable  to  the  forfeiture  of  five  dollars  for  the 
loss  of  a  trip,  and  the  postmaster-general  cannot  annul  the 
contract  until  there  have  been  five  failures.  The  carrier  will 
make  a  speculation.  Say,  for  instance,  it  costs  fifteen  dollars  to 
make  a  trip  between  Vincennes  and  Cahokia;  the  carrier,  by 
his  failure,  saves  ten  dollars  on  the  loss  of  each  trip,  from  the 
tenor  of  his  contract;  and  after  five  forfeitures,  and  before  the 
information  can  reach  the  proper  department,  the  tenor  of  the 
contract  will  have  nearly  expired,  and  even  in  fact  so  before  a 
new  contractor  could  be  had  and  he  enter  upon  his  duties." 

The  mails  were  transported  in  1808  from  Vincennes 
and  Ste.  Genevieve  to  Cahokia,  from  which  place 
another  rider  brought  them  to  St.  Louis  and  St. 
Charles.  These  were  then  the  only  mail  routes  west 
of  Indiana  and  Kentucky. 

The  list  of  letters  remaining  in  the  post-office  at 
St.  Louis  for  the  quarter  ending  Dec.  21,  1808,  was  : 

Richard  Bibb,  Jr.,  John  Brown,  James  Byrnside,  John  Car- 
son, John  Calaway,  Vincent  Calico,  Isaac  Darnielle,  William 
Danis,  care  of  M.  Butcher,  Peter  Detchler,  Robert  Finfey, 
Jacob  Faill,  John  Finley,  John  Gribum,  William  C.  Greenup, 
Garrot  Di  Grinelimour,  care  of  A.  Chouteau,  Jacob  Harry,  Ben- 
jamin Johnson,  James  Leonard,  care  of  A.  McNair,  Mr.  Mc- 
Kinsey,  William  Miller,  James  McFarlane,  Uriah  Musick, 
James  Mackay,  Hezekiah  O'Neil,  John  Patterson,  William 
Patterson,  James  Reid,  Moses  Riddle,  Mr.  F.  Regnier,  Esck 
Sterry,  Paskell  Sary,  Abram  Teter,  Peyton  Thomas,  Robert 
Westcott,  Thomas  Welsh,  Jacob  Wagner,  White  Warner. 

During  the  winter  of  1809  there  was  another  vex- 
atious interruption  of  the  mails,  none  being  received 
for  over  nine  weeks,  and  Mr.  Charless  did  not  fail  to 
call  attention  to  the  fact  and  denounce  it  in  his  Ga- 
zette. 

"We  are  compelled,"  he  said,  on  the  4th  of  January,  "to 
complain  of  the  wretched  state  of  the  post-office  department 
in  this  quarter ;  by  especial  grace  we  sometimes  receive  one 
mail  in  two  or  three  weeks,  and  then  perhaps  receive  only  one 
or  two  papers.  Where  this  pillage  of  papers  exists  we  cannot 
learn  ;  we  sincerely  wish  that  all  the  postmasters  on  the  line 
from  Washington  to  this  place  would  only  do  their  duty  and 
send  on  such  papers  as  are  committed  to  their  charge." 


Again,  on  the  llth  of  January,  he  stated  that  there 
had  been  no  mail  from  the  East  for  more  than  two 
months.  "  Excessively  cold  weather,  and  no  ther- 
mometer in  the  place  to  record  the  degree,"  he  added. 

On  the  31st  of  May,  1809,  an  advertisement  ap- 
peared inviting  proposals  for  carrying  the  mails  (the 
proposals  to  be  received  "  at  the  general  post-office  in 
Washington  City"),  as  follows  : 

"194.  From  Louisville,  Ky.,  by  Jeffersonville  and  Clarks- 
ville,  to  Vincennes,  once  a  week.  Leave  Louisville  every  Sun- 
day at  6  A.M.,  and  arrive  at  Vincennes  the  next  Wednesday  by 
10  A.M.  Leave  Vincennes  every  Wednesday  at  2  P.M.,  and  ar- 
rive at  Louisville  the  next  Saturday  by  6  P.M. 

"195.  From  Vincennes  to  Kaskaskia,  once  a  week.  Leave 
Vincennes  every  Wednesday  at  2  P.M.,  and  arrive  at  Kaskaskia 
on  Saturday  by  6  P.M.  Leave  Kaskaskia  every  Sunday  at  6 
A.M.,  and  arrive  at  Vincennes  the  next  Wednesday  by  10  A.M. 

"  196.  From  Kaskaskia,  by  St.  Philip,  Prairie  du  Rocher, 
and  St.  Louis  to  St.  Charles,  once  a  week.  Leave  St.  Charles 
every  Thursday  at  2  P.M.,  and  arrive  at  Kaskaskia  on  Saturday 
by  6  P.M.  Leave  Kaskaskia  every  Sund  ly  at  6  A.M.,  and  arrive 
at  St.  Charles  on  Tuesday  by  10  A.M. 

"  197.  From  Cape  Girardeau  to  New  Madrid,  once  in  two 
weeks.  Leave  Cape  Girardeau  every  other  Tuesday  at  6  A.M., 
and  arrive  at  New  Madrid  on  Friday  by  10  A.M.  Leave  New 
Madrid  same  day  at  2  P.M.,  and  arrive  at  Cape  Girardeau  on 
Monday  by  6  P.M. 

"  198.  Kaskaskia,  by  Geneva,  Cape  Girardeau,  Tywappety, 
and  Wilkinsonville,  to  Fort  Massac,  once  a  week.  Leave  Kas- 
kaskia every  Sunday  at  6  A.M.,  and  arrive  at  Fort  Massac  on 
Wednesday  by  10  A.M.  Leave  Fort  Massac  every  Wednesday 
at  1  P.M.,  and  arrive  at  Kaskaskia  on  Saturday  by  6  P.M." 

The  mails  announced  on  the  14th  of  November, 
1810,  were  "  from  St.  Louis  to  Cahokia  east,  once  a 
week ;  to  Herculaneum,  Mine  &  Breton,  and  Ste. 
Genevieve,  once  in  two  weeks ;  to  St.  Charles,  once 
a  week." 

The  following  extracts  from  the  diary  of  Mr.  Fred- 
erick L.  Billon  forcibly  illustrate  the  vexatious  delays 
which  attended  travel  and  the  transportation  of  the 
mails  in  those  early  days : 

"I  came  to  St.  Louis  in  the  year  1818,  and  was  just  two 
months  on  my  way  from  my  native  city,  Philadelphia.  I  left 
that  city  Sunday  morning  early,  August  30th,  in  the  mail-stage 
for  Pittsburgh,  where  I  arrived  at  4  P.M.  on  Friday,  September 
4th,  the  sixth  day  from  Philadelphia.  There  being  then  no 
stages  west  of  Pittsburgh,  we  remained  there  some  four  or  five 
days,  waiting  for  a  keel-boat  to  descend  the  Ohio,  keels  and  flat- 
boats  (then  called  '  broad-horns')  being  the  only  conveyances  by 
water  west  of  that  point.  Meeting  with  a  Capt.  Fellows,  then 
coming  to  the  marine  settlement  in  Illinois  with  his  family  in 
a  keel-boat,  we  took  passage  with  him,  and  left  Pittsburgh  on 
Wednesday,  September  9th,  and  after  several  groundings  on 
account  of  the  low  stage  of  water,  reached  Louisville  on  Mon- 
day, the  21st,  being  twelve  days  on  our  voyage  to  that  point. 
We  remained  there  four  days  while  the  boat  was  discharging 
her  cargo,  to  be  drayed  around  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio  to  Shipping- 
port  below.  The  boat  was  then  taken  over  the  falls  and  reloaded, 
and  we  left  again  on  Friday,  September  25th.  After  six  or  seven 
days'  run  from  the  falls,  we  grounded  on  a  bar  at  the  head  of 
Green  River  Island,  and  the  water  falling  rapidly,  soon  left  us 


1432 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


high  and  dry  on  the  bar.  We  lay  here  seven  or  eight  days,  dis- 
charged the  freight  on  the  bar,  cut  skids  on  the  island  to  slide 
the  boat  to  the  water,  reloaded  her,  and  started  again  on  Thurs- 
day, October  8th,  and  in  three  days  more  reached  Shawneetown. 
Here  we  left  the  boat,  being  persuaded  that  she  would  never 
reach  St.  Louis  until  the  following  spring,  having  yet  over  one 
hundred  miles  to  reach  the  Mississippi,  and  two  hundred  more 
up  that  stream  against  a  strong  current.  We  were  here  several 
days  seeking  a  conveyance  for  ourselves  and  trunks  to  Kaskas- 
kia,  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  from  Shawnee,  on  the  way  to 
St.  Louis.  Finally  we  induced  an  old  man  who  possessed  the 
only  wagon  in  the  place,  for  the  sum  of  fifty  dollars  (five  dol- 
lars per  day  for  ten  days  he  would  be  in  going  and  returning), 
to  take  our  few  trunks,  and  we  to  have  the  privilege  of  riding 
if  we  thought  fit.  There  were  then  but  some  four  or  five  houses 
between  these  two  places.  We  left  Shawnee  on  Thursday,  Octo- 
ber 15th,  and  arrived  at  Kaskaskia  on  Tuesday,  the  20th  ;  crossed 
the  Mississippi  to  Ste.  Genevieve  in  a  large  canoe  on  Wednesday, 
the  21st;  remained  here  some  five  or  six  days;  left  for  St.  Louis 
on  Tuesday  morning  early,  the  27th ;  recrossed  the  Mississippi, 
and  cauie  up  in  a  French  cart  that  night  to  Waterloo,  and  on 
the  following  morning,  AVednesday,  the  28th  of  October,  came 
through  the  heavy  timber  in  sight  of  St.  Louis  at  ten  o'clock 
A.M.  ;  crossed  in  a  flat  that  landed  us  on  a  large  bar  extending 
out  several  hundred  yards  from  the  main  shore,  reaching  St. 
Louis  in  just  two  months  from  Philadelphia." 

Mr.  Billon  descended  the  Ohio  at  the  season  of  the 
year  when  the  water  was  lowest,  and  his  journey  was 
lengthened  on  that  account  some  twelve  or  fifteen 
days. 

The  perils  encountered  by  the  mail-carriers  of  that 
early  period  are  only  suggested  by  the  announcement 
made  on  the  6th  of  September,  1810,  that  the  post- 
master-general had  offered  a  reward  of  five  thousand 
dollars  "  for  the  apprehension  and  securing  of  the 
robber  or  robbers  who  murdered  the  post-rider  be- 
tween Vincennes  and  Kaskaskia  and  carried  away 
the  mail  portmanteau  with  its  contents ;  to  be  paid 
upon  the  conviction  of  the  offender." 

Such  was  the  alleged  mismanagement  of  the  mail 
department,  or  that  portion  of  it  in  which  St.  Louis 
was  interested,  that  on  the  28th  of  November,  1812, 
it  was  announced  that  the  grand  jury  of  the  district 
had  presented  it  as  a  nuisance.  The  postmaster  at 
St.  Louis  at  this  time  was  Col.  Rufus  Easton,  a  cap- 
able officer  and  gentleman  of  high  standing,  and  the 
fault  lay  not  with  him,  but  with  the  mail  contractors 
or  "post-riders,"  who,  as  we  have  already  seen,  were 
often  lax  and  negligent  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties. 
Col.  Easton  was  succeeded  in  the  postmastership  by 
his  brother-in-law,  Dr.  Robert  Simpson,  who  was  ap- 
peinted  by  President  Madison  Jan.  1,  1815,  the  va- 
cancy having  been  created  by  Col.  Easton's  election  to 
Congress.  Dr.  Simpson  retained  the  position  nearly  four 
years,  and  in  the  autumn  of  1818  was  succeeded  by 
Capt.  A.  T.  Crane,  of  the  United  States  army.  After 
a  brief  and  popular  administration  of  less  than  twelve 
months  Capt.  Crane  died,  on  the  26th  of  September, 


1819.  The  next  postmaster  was  Col.  Elias  Rector, 
who  retained  the  office  until  his  death  in  1822. 
During  Col.  Easton's  incumbency  the  post-office  was 
located  at  his  residence  and  law-office,  on  the  south- 
west corner  of  Third  and  Elm  Streets.  Dr.  Simpson 
established  it  at  various  points  from  time  to  time,  first 
on  the  east  side  of  Main  Street  above  Elm,  then  on 
the  east  side  of  Main  below  Elm,  then  on  the  west 
side  of  Main  Street,  at  the  southwest  corner  of  Elm 
Street.  Under  Capt.  Crane  it  was  situated  in  the 
back  part  of  the  old  stone  building  occupied  by  the 
Bank  of  St.  Louis,  and  under  Col.  Rector  was  re- 
moved to  the  old  stone  mansion  of  Mrs.  Chouteau, 
at  the  southwest  corner  of  Main  and  Chestnut  Streets, 
and  subsequently  to  the  frame  building  on  the  south 
side  of  Chestnut  Street  below  Second. 

Proposals  were  invited  Aug.  10,  1816,  for  carrying 

United  States  mails  in  Missouri,  from  St.  Louis,  by 

Potosi  and  Lawrence  Court-House,  to  Arkansas,  once 

i  in  four  weeks ;  to  leave  St.  Louis  every  fourth  Satur- 

j  day,  commencing  on  the  first  Saturday  in  November, 

and  arrive  at  Arkansas  in  ten  days,  on  Monday  at  six 

!  P.M.  ;  leave  Arkansas  the  next  Wednesday  at  six  A.M., 

and  arrive  at  St.  Louis  in  ten  days,  on  Friday  at  six 

P.M. 

Nathaniel  Simonds  made  the  following  announce- 
ment to  the  public  Nov.  20,  1818 : 

"  The  subscriber  intends  running  a  stage-coach  between  St. 
Louis  and  St.  Charles  three  times  in  each  week,  to  commence 
1  on  the  first  Monday  in  December,  in  the  following  order,  viz. : 

"  Leave  the  ferry-house  opposite  St.  Charles  at  ten  o'clock 
A.M.  on  Mondays,  Wednesdays,  and  Fridays. 

"Leave  Pitzer's  brick  livery-stable  in  St.  Louis  at  ten  A.M. 
on  Tuesdays,  Thursdays,  and  Saturdays,  and  pass  the  boarding- 
houses  of  Mr.  Pitzer,  Mr.  Paddock,  and  Mrs.  Snow." 

"We  understand."  said  the  Missouri  Gazette  of  March  17, 
1819,  "that  it  is  contemplated  to  establish  a  regular  line  of 
stages  between  this  town  and  Franklin,  Howard  Co.  A  stage 
runs  regularly  once  a  week  to  and  from  St.  Louis  to  Knska.*ki:i, 
another  runs  three  times  a  week  to  St.  Charles,  another  twice  a 
week  to  Edwardsville,  to  which  will,  we  hope,  shortly  be  added 
the  stage  to  Franklin.  We  have  also  understood  that  it  has 
been  in  contemplation  to  establish  a  line  from  Edwardsville  to 
Vincennes.  It  will  only  remain  to  have  it  continued  from  Vin- 
cennes to  Louisville;  a  direct  communication  by  stage  will  then 
be  opened  from  the  Atlantic  States  to  Boon's  Lick,  on  the  Mis- 
souri. It  is  one  of  the  most  advantageous  investments  of 
money  in  the  Eastern  States,  where  the  price  of  conveyance  is 
much  cheaper  than  it  is  west  of  the  Allegheny.  Seven  cents  to- 
the  mile  is  the  usual  price  in  the  former,  while  ten  cents,  and 
sometimes  12J,  are  charged  in  the  latter." 

R.  Smith  announced,  Dec.  15,  1819,  that  "  the 
great  Western  stages  start  every  morning  from  the 
door,  and  on  the  premises  is  one  of  the  best  livery- 
stables  in  the  city,  conducted  by  Mr.  John  Tomlinsonr 
where  travelers'  horses  will  be  faithfully  attended  to." 

The  following  advertisement,  under  date  of  Dec. 


INSURANCE,  TELEGRAPH,  POSTAL  SERVICE,  GAS,  AND  HOTELS. 


1433 


27,  1827,  shows  the  arrangements  for  transporting 
passengers  and  mails  at  that  time : 

"  United  States  mail  stage  from  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  to  Louis- 
ville, Ky.,  passing  through  the  States  of  Illinois  and  Indiana, 
via  Vincennes.  Through  in  five  days  ;  no  night  driving;  twice 
a  week  each  way.  Arrangements :  Leaves  St.  Louis  every 
Tuesday  and  Saturday  at  four  o'clock  A.M.,  and  arrives  at  Vin- 
cennes every  Monday  and  Thursday  at  four  o'clock  P.M.  ;  leaves 
Vincennes  at  four  o'clock  A.M.  next  morning,  and  arrives  at 
Louisville  by  way  of  New  Albany  in  two  days;  leaves  Louis- 
ville every  Sunday  and  Wednesday  at  four  o'clock  A.M.,  and  in 
returning  the  same  time  is  occupied  ;  arrives  at  St.  Louis  every 
Sunday  and  Thursday  at  six  o'clock  P.M.  All  baggage  at  the 
risk  of  the  owner.  Fare,  from  St.  Louis  to  Vincennes,  one 
hundred  and  sixty  miles,  ten  dollars;  from  Vincennes  to  Louis- 
ville, one  hundred  and  twelve  miles,  seven  dollars." 

As  late  as  1835  the  arrangements  for  distributing 
the  mails  were  still  of  a  primitive  character,  and  our 
present  carrier  system  was  then  of  course  unknown. 
Among  the  expedients  resorted  to  the  following  (de- 
scribed in  a  local  journal)  is  rather  unique  : 

"  In  1835,  Mr.  R.  D.  Watson  was  a  merchant  on 
Main  Street,  near  Olive,  and  lived  on  his  farm,  about 
seven  miles  from  the  court-house.  He  generally 
came  into  town  on  Monday  morning,  bringing  in  with 
him  a  little  black  pony,  and  this  pony  was  his  letter- 
carrier.  Any  correspondence  that  might  have  ar- 
rived for  Mrs.  Watson  or  any  member  of  the  family 
was  fastened  to  the  pony's  mane,  and  he  was  then 
turned  loose  on  Olive  Street,  and  would  make  straight 
tracks  for  home,  where  a  servant  would  be  waiting  for 
him.  In  those  days  there  were  but  few  houses  be- 
tween St.  Louis  University  and  Mrs.  Watson's  resi- 
dence, on  the  western  part  of  Watson's  Fruit  Hill 
sub-division." 

The  question  of  expediting  the  mails  between  St. 
Louis  and  Baltimore,  in  accordance  with  the  suggestion 
of  the  Baltimore  Board  of  Trade,  was  the  subject  of 
a  meeting  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  on  the  17th 
of  April,  1851.  It  was  thought  at  the  time  that 
there  was  no  reason  why  the  mail  should  not  be  re- 
ceived in  St.  Louis  in  five  days  from  Baltimore,  and 
that  it  could  be  done  if  the  merchants  of  the  city 
would  set  themselves  about  it  in  earnest. 

The  first  overland  mail  from  California  arrived  in 
St.  Louis  Oct.  10,  1858.  and  the  occasion  was  cele- 
brated by  a  demonstration  in  honor  of  Mr.  Butterfield, 
who  had  been  mainly  instrumental  in  putting  it  into 
successful  operation.  A  procession  was  formed  in 
front  of  the  Planters'  House  about  eight  o'clock 
in  the  evening,  and,  headed  by  the  St.  Louis  Silver 
Band  in  Arnot's  band-wagon  drawn  by  six  horses, 
marched  to  the  Pacific  Railroad  depot.  Mr.  Butter- 
field  was  received  with  an  address  on  behalf  of  the 


citizens  and  of  the  reception  committee  by  Hon.  John 
F.  Darby,  to  which  he  responded. 

Upon  leaving  the  depot  the  carriages  proceeded  to 
their  starting-point  on  Fourth  Street,  preceded  by  the 
band-chariot,  and  passing  around  Pine,  did  not  draw 
up  until  they  reached  the  post-office,  when  the  mail 
was  turned  over  to  the  proper  officials.  Some  extra 
bags,  containing  the  San  Francisco  Evening  Bulletin, 
the  special  edition  of  the  Alta  California,  and  other 
papers,  were  retained  and  put  out  at  the  hotel.  Here 
they  were  opened,  and  the  papers  handed  around  to 
the  assembled  spectators,  who  read  them  with  great 
apparent  interest.  The  Alta  California  was  most  in 
demand,  as  it  displayed  a  fine  special  head  of  "  By 
the  Overland  Mail,"  and  an  imposing  picture  of  a  mail- 
coach  with  four  horses  in  full  gallop.  A  journal, 
showing  the  route  taken  by  the  overland  mail  on  its 
first  trip  from  San  Francisco  to  St.  Louis,  and  also  the 
distances  between  the  different  points  and  the  time 
required  for  the  performance  of  the  trip,  states  that 
at  least  four  days'  time  was  lost  on  this  trip.  The 
record  is  as  follows : 

"Memorandum  of  distances  between  the  stations  on  the  over- 
land route  from  San  Francisco  to  St.  Louis  via  Arizona,  and  of 
the  time  made  on  the  first  trip  :  San  Francisco  to  Clark's,  12; 
Sun  Water,  9;  Redwood  City,  9;  Mountain  View,  12;  San 
Jose",  11;  Seventeen-Mile  House,  17;  Gilroy,  13;  Pacheco 
Pass,  18;  St.  Louis  Ranch,  17;  Lone  Willow,  18;  Temple's 
Ranch,  13;  Firebaugh's  Ferry,  15;  Fresno  City,  19;  Elk  Horn 
Spring,  22;  Whitmote's  Ferry,  17;  Cross  Creek,  12;  Visalia, 
12;  Pack  wood,  12;  Tule  River,  14:  Fountain  Spring,  14; 
Mountain  House,  12 ;  Posey  Creek,  15;  Gordon's  Ferry,  10; 
Kern  River  Slough,  12;  Sink  of  Tejon,  14;  Fort  Tejon,  15; 
Reed's,  8;  French  John's,  14;  Widow  Smith's,  24;  King's,  10; 
Hart's,  12;  San  Fernando  Mission,  8;  Canuengo,  12;  Los  An- 
geles, 12.  Total,  462  miles.  Time,  80  hours. 

"Los  Angeles  to  Monte,  13;  San  Jose",  12;  Rancho  del 
Chino,  12;  Tyinascal,  20;  Laguna  Grande,  10;  Temecula,  21; 
Tcjungo,  14;  Oak  Grove,  12;  Warner's  Ranch,  10;  San  Felipe, 
16;  Vallecito,  18;  Palm  Springs,  9 ;  Carisso  Creek,  9 ;  Indian 
Wells  (without  water),  32;  Alamo  Mucho  (without  water), 
Cook's  Wells  (without  water),  22;  Pilot  Knob,  18  ;  Fort  Yuma, 
10.  Total,  282  miles.  Time,  72  hours  and  20  minutes. 

"Fort  Yuma  to  Swiveler'g,  20 ;  Filibuster  Camp,  18;  Peter- 
man's,  19;  Griswell's,  12;  Flap-Jack  Ranch,  15;  Catman  Flat, 
20;  Murderer's  Grave,  20;  Gila  Ranch,  17;  Maricopa  Wells, 
40  ;  Socatoon,  22  ;  Peeacho,  37  ;  Pointer  Mountain,  22  ;  Tucson, 
18.  Total,  280  miles.  Time,  71  hours  and  45  minutes. 

"Tucson  to  Seneca  Springs  (without  water),  35;  San  Pedro 
(without  water),  24;  Dragoon  Springs  (without  water),  23; 
Apache  Pass  (without  water),  40;  Stein's  Peak  (without 
water),  35;  Soldier's  Farewell  (without  water),  42;  Ojo  de 
Vaca,  14;  Miembre's  River,  16  ;  Cook's  Springs,  18;  Peeacho 
(without  water),  52;  Fort  Fillmore,  14;  Cottonwoods,  25; 
Franklin,  22.  Total,  360  miles.  Time,  82  hours. 

"Franklin  to  Waco  Tanks,  30;  Canodrus,  36;  Pinery  (with- 
out water),  56;  Delaware  Springs,  24;  Pope's  Camp,  40;  Emi- 
grant Crossing,  65;  Horse-Head  Crossing,  55;  Head  of  Concho 
(without  water),  70;  Grape  Creek,  22;  Fort  Chadbourne,  30. 
Total,  428  miles.  Time,  126  hours  and  30  minutes. 


1434 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


"  Fort  Chadbourne  to  Station  No.  1,12;  Mountain  Pass,  16; 
Phantom  Hill,  30;  Smith's,  12;  Clear  Fork,  26;  Francis',  13; 
Fort  Belknap,  22  ;  Murphy's,  16  ;  Jackboro',  19  ;  Earhart's,  16  ; 
Connolly's,  16;  Davidson's,  24  ;  Gainesville,  17  ;  Diamond's,  15; 
Sherman,  15;  Colbert's  Ferry  (Red  River),  13J.  Total,  282J. 
Time,  65  hours  and  25  minutes. 

"Colbert's  to  Fisher's,  13;  Wail's,  14;  Boggy  Depot,  17; 
Gary's,  17;  Waddell's,  15;  Blackburn's,  16  ;  Pusley's,  17  ;  Rid- 
dell's,  17;  Holloway's,  17;  Trayon's,  17;  Walker's,  17;  Fort 
Smith,  15.  Total,  192  miles.  Time,  38  hours. 

"Fort  Smith  to  Woosley's,  16;  Brodie's,  12;  Park's,  20; 

Fayetteville,  15;  's  Station,  12;  Callaghan's,  22;  Har- 

burn's,  19;  Conch's,  16;  Smith's,  15;  Ashmore,  20;  Spring- 
field, 13;  Evan's,  9;  Smith's,  11;  Bolivar,  Hi;  Yost's,  16; 
Quincy,  16;  Bailey's,  10;  Warsaw,  11;  Burns',  15;  Mulholland, 
20;  Shack elford's,  13;  Tipton,  7.  Total,  318^.  Time,  48  hours 
and  55  minutes.  Tipton  to  St.  Louis,  160  miles.  Time,  11  hours 
and  40  minutes. 

"  Recapitulation. 

Miles.  Hours. 

San  Francisco  to  Los  Angeles 462  80 

Los  Angeles  to  Fort  Yuma 282  72.20 

Fort  Yuma  to  Tucson 280  71.45 

Tucson  to  Franklin 360  82 

Franklin  to  Fort  Chadbourne 428  126.30 

Fort  Chadbourne  to  Red  River 282i  65.25 

Red  River  to  Fort  Smith 192  38 

Fort  Smith  to  Tipton 318$  48.55 

Tipton  to  St.  Louis 160  11.40 

Total 2765         569.35 

"  24  days,  20  hours,  and  35  minutes ;  2  hours  and  9  minutes 
allowed  for  difference  in  longitude,  leaves  24  days,  18  hours, 
and  26  minutes." 

The  first  effort  to  secure  the  erection  of  a  building 
for  a  post-office,  custom-house,  land-office,  etc.,  was 
made  in  1838,  a  meeting  being  held  at  the  court-house 
November  12th  of  that  year,  for  the  purpose  of  taking 
into  consideration  the  propriety  of  memorializing 
Congress  on  the  subject.  The  meeting  was  organized 
by  calling  William  Renshaw  to  the  chair,  and  appoint- 
ing John  H.  Watson  secretary,  after  which,  Gen.  N. 
Ranney  having  explained  its  object,  the  following 
resolutions  were  submitted  by  the  secretary : 

"  Resolved,  As  the  sense  of  this  meeting,  that  a  building  for 
a  custom-house  and  other  public  offices  is  highly  necessary  for 
the  convenient  transaction  of  the  public  business  in  this  city, 
and  that  such  measures  as  may  be  deemed  essential  to  the  fur- 
therance of  this  object  should  be  prosecuted  without  delay. 

"Resolved,  That  a  committee,  to  consist  of  five  members,  be 
appointed  by  the  chair,  for  the  purpose  of  drafting  a  memorial, 
to  be  addressed  to  Congress  in  behalf  of  the  object  contemplated 
in  the  foregoing  resolution,  and  that  an  additional  committee, 
to  consist  of  ten  members,  be  appointed  in  like  manner,  whose 
duty  it  shall  be  to  present  said  memorial  to  the  citizens  for  their 
signatures." 

The  resolutions  were  unanimously  adopted,  and  the 
chairman,  pursuant  to  their  provisions,  announced  the 
appointment  of  the  following  committees  :  Committee 
to  prepare  a  memorial,  Messrs.  N.  Ranney,  William 
Milburn,  J.  B.  Bowlin,  A.  Wetmore,  and  A.  J.  Davis  ; 
committee  to  obtain  signatures,  Messrs.  N.  Ranney, 


John  B.  Sarpy,  James  Clemens,  Augustus  Kerr,  Ab- 
ner  Hood,  H.  L.  Hoffman,  S.  S.  Rayburn,  Edward 
Walsh,  William  Glasgow,  C.  Garvey,  Robert  Rankin, 
and  Edward  Tracy. 

The  latter  committee  was  increased  to  twelve  mem- 
bers, on  motion  of  Maj.  Wetmore  that  the  chairman 
and  secretary  be  added  to  the  last-named  committee. 

In  1851  it  was  proposed  to  locate  the  post-office 
temporarily  in  the  court-house  buildings,  and  a  local 
journal,  under  date  of  May  6th,  referring  to  the  pro- 
ject, said,' — 

"  In  the  course  of  the  present  year  the  construction  of  the 
eastern  wing  of  the  court-house  will  be  commenced  and  prob- 
ably finished.  We  stated  some  time  since  that  it  was  contem- 
plated to  erect  two  other  buildings  separate  from  the  court- 
house building,  one  of  which  is  to  stand  on  the  northeast  and 
the  other  on  the  southeast  corner  of  the  lot,  and  both  of  which 
are  to  be  used  as  offices  or  court  rooms,  or  by  persons  in  the 
employ  of  the  county.  It  was  designed  that  these  buildings 
should  be  thirty-two  feet  front  by  sixty  feet  on  Chestnut,  and 
the  same  dimensions  on  Market  Street.  A  proposition  is  now 
before  the  county  court  which  may  cause  a  change  of  these 
plans.  Mr.  Gamble,  the  postmaster,  proposes  that  these  ad- 
ditional buildings  shall  be  constructed  of  sufficient  capacity  to 
be  employed  temporarily  for  post-office  and  custom-house  pur- 
poses. For  the  post-office  alone  Mr.  Gamble  asks  that  one 
apartment  be  set  aside,  forty  feet  front  by  one  hundred  in 
depth." 

On  the  9th  of  October,  1851,  it  was  announced 
that 

"an  association  of  gentlemen  of  this  city  have  leased  from 
Mr.  D.  D.  Page  a  portion  of  the  ground  at  the  corner  of  Second 
and  Chestnut  Streets,  with  the  intention  of  erecting  thereon  a 
building  suited  to  the  wants  of  the  St.  Louis  post-office.  For 
this  purpose  a  front  of  sixty-five  feet  on  Second  by  ninety-six 
on  Chestnut  has  been  obtained.  It  is  contemplated  to  erect  a 
building  three  stories  high,  and  to  appropriate  the  whole  of  the 
first  floor  for  the  uses  of  the  post-office;  the  interior  will  be 
arranged  with  direct  reference  to  the  accommodation  of  the  office 
and  of  its  customers." 

In  the  following  year  the  old  St.  Louis  Theatre 
property,  at  the  corner  of  Third  and  Olive  Streets, 
was  purchased  by  the  government,  and  the  erection 
of  a  custom-house  and  post-office  building  commenced, 
after  plans  prepared  by  George  I.  Barnett,  architect. 

In  addition  to  the  custom-house  and  post-office, 
Mr.  Barnett  has  prepared  the  plans  for  many  other 
public  buildings,  and  occupies  a  deservedly  high  place 
among  the  architects  of  the  country.  He  is  an  Eng- 
lishman by  birth,  and  his  father,  who  was  a  clergy- 
man and  a  writer  of  some  note  on  questions  of  political 
economy,  gave  him  careful  home  training,  supple- 
mented by  a  course  in  the  grammar  school  at  Not- 
tingham. Leaving  this  institution  at  the  age  of  six- 
teen, young  Barnett  spent  three  years  with  a  practical 
builder,  and  then  studied  architecture  in  some  of  the 
best  schools  in  England  and  under  the  best  preceptors 


INSURANCE,  TELEGRAPH,  POSTAL  SERVICE,  GAS,  AND  HOTELS. 


1435 


until  he  was  twenty-four,  when  he  determined  to 
emigrate  to  America.  After  spending  a  few  months 
in  New  York,  he  removed  to  St.  Louis  in  the  latter 
part  of  1839.  Here  he  opened  an  office,  and  soon 
obtained  a  most  lucrative  business.  For  nearly  twenty 
years  he  was  the  only  educated  architect  in  the  city, 
and  his  genius  and  enterprise  naturally  secured  for 
him  an  extensive  clientage.  He  was  employed  in 
nearly  every  great  work  of  that  period.  In  later 
years  St.  Louis  has  had  highly  accomplished  archi- 
tects, but  Mr.  Barnett  still  retains  a  leading  position. 
It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  Mr.  Barnett  has  erected 
a  much  larger  number  of  buildings  than  any  other 
architect  in  St.  Louis,  and 
to  his  skill  and  genius  are 
due  the  architectural  beau- 
ties of  many  of  the  pub- 
lic buildings,  fine  business 
houses,  and  elegant  resi- 
dences of  the  city.  It 
would  be  impossible  to  enu- 
merate all  his  achievements 
in  this  direction,  but  the 
following  may  be  cited  as 
prominent  specimens  of  his 
work :  The  Southern  and 
Lindell  Hotels,  the  St. 
Louis  Mutual  Life  Insur- 
ance building  (Sixth  and 
Locust  Streets),  the  post- 
office  (Third  and  Olive), 
the  granite  building  Fourth 
and  Market,  Barr's  build- 
ing (Sixth  and  Olive),  and 
the  old  Merchants'  Ex- 
change. In  the  competition 
with  the  most  eminent  ar- 
chitects of  the  country  in 
designs  for  the  new  Mer- 
chants' Exchange,  his  draw- 
ing secured  the  first  prize  of  fifteen  hundred  dollars. 
Mr.  Barnett  also  enjoys  a  high  reputation  as  a  hotel 
architect,  and  in  addition  to  the  splendid  fruits  of  his 
genius  in  this  department  in  St.  Louis,  has  built  many 
famous  structures  throughout  the  West,  notably  the 
Maxwell  House  at  Nashville,  Tenn. 

In  1850,  Mr.  Barnett  made  a  professional  tour  of 
Europe,  and  examined  with  well-trained  and  culti- 
vated faculties  the  monuments  of  art  which  the  great 
masters  left  for  the  instruction  of  their  followers. 
St.  Louis  gained  much  from  the  results  of  his  observa- 
tion and  comparison  at  this  period,  and  his  career  from 
that  time  forward  was  one  of  constantly-increasing 


honor  and  influence.  While  impressing  his  individ- 
uality on  the  most  noted  and  beautiful  of  the  struc- 
tures of  an  ambitious  and  growing  city,  he  has  estab- 
lished a  stainless  record  as  an  architect  of  incorruptible 
character.  He  is  a  kind-hearted,  modest,  and  unpre- 
tentious gentleman,  of  genial  nature  and  rare  social 
qualities,  and  while  honored  as  an  artist  he  is  also 
loved  as  a  man. 

Mr.  Barnett  has  two  sons,  who  have  been  bred  to 
his  profession.  George  (the  younger)  is  associated 
with  his  father  in  business,  and  is  a  young  man  of 
extraordinary  proficiency  for  his  age,  who  in  the  judg- 
ment of  those  who  have  watched  the  development  of 
his  youthful  powers,  must 
ultimately  take  rank  among 
the  architects  of  the  coun- 
try. 

"  The  removal  of  the 
post-office,"  it  was  stated  in 
a  newspaper  of  May  20, 
1852,  "  has  had  the  effect 
to  turn  the  attention  of  cer- 
tain classes  of  dealers  to 
property  in  its  present  vi- 
cinity, and  the  consequence 
has  been  to  increase  ma- 
terially its  value." 

The  erection  of  the  build- 
ing proceeded  until  April, 
1859,  when  the  post-office, 
which  occupied  the  whole 
of  the  main  floor,  was  estab- 
lished in  its  new  quarters. 

The  building  is  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-nine  feet 
three  inches  long,  eighty 
feet  nine  inches  wide,  and 
sixty-six  feet  seven  inches 
high  on  the  west  front, 
and  seventy-seven  feet  seven 
inches  high  on  the  east  front.  It  is  of  the  Roman 
Corinthian  order,  and  in  all  its  details  is  in  strict  con- 
sonance with  that  style  of  architecture.  The  entire 
structure  is  faced  with  a  peculiar  stone  known  as  the 
"  Barrett  stone,"  selected  for  the  purpose  by  Capt. 
Bowman,  United  States  supervisor  of  public  buildings, 
and  containing  a  large  proportion  of  silex,  rendering 
it  almost  time-  and  fire-proof.  On  the  west  or  princi- 
pal front  are  six  massive  rusticated  stone  piers,  con- 
nected by  large  arches  the  height  of  the  first  story, 
and  forming  a  sub-base,  which  supports  the  six  fluted 
columns  of  the  portico,  which  is  two  stories  high. 
The  building  has  been  used  for  the  post-office, 


1436 


HISTOHY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


custom-house,  United  States  courts,  and  government 
offices  generally,  but  for  a  number  of  years  has  been 
inadequate  for  those  purposes,  and  in  1872  the  gov- 
ernment determined  to  erect  a  new  building  for  the 
custom-house,  post-office,  etc.,  which  should  not  only 
provide  ample  space  and  facilities,  but  should  be  an 
ornament  to  St.  Louis  commensurate  with  the  dignity 
and  importance  of  the  city.  A  site  was  accordingly 
determined  upon,  comprising  what  was  known  as  the 
Crow  block,  bounded  by  Olive  and  Locust,  Eighth 
and  Ninth  Streets,  which  was  condemned  and  pur- 
chased in  the  autumn  of  1872,  and  plans  were  pre- 
pared by  A.  B.  Mullett,  United  States  supervising 
architect. 

The  structure,  which  is  now  in  course  of  completion, 
has  a  frontage  on  Olive  and  Locust  Streets  of  two 
hundred  and  thirty-two  feet,  by  a  depth  on  Eighth 
and  Ninth  Streets  of  one  hundred  and  seventy- seven 
feet.  It  is  three  stories  in  height  with  an  attic,  and 
the  central  compartment  of  four  stories  is  crowned  by 
an  immense  convex  dome,  the  distance  from  the 
ground  to  the  apex  of  the  dome  being  one  hundred 
and  eighty-four  feet.  The  height  of  the  cornice  of 
the  wing  building  is  ninety-six  feet.  Each  fa§ade  of 
the  building  is  divided  into  three  parts,  each  central  ; 
division  being  crowned  by  pitched  pediments,  over 
which  are  ornamented  windows  of  corresponding  style. 
The  main  front  on  Olive  Street  is  surmounted  by  the 
immense  dome,  and  so  decorated  as  to  produce  a  grand 
and  imposing  effect. 

This  floor  is  but  two  feet  higher  than  the  sidewalk 
on  Olive  Street,  and  is  easy  of  access,  a  decided  im- 
provement on  the  present  post-office  building  in  that 
particular.  The  whole  of  the  first  story  will  be  used 
for  post-office  purposes,  and  is  lighted  not  only  from 
the  four  fronts  of  the  building,  but  from  the  interior 
court  or  quadrangle,  thus  avoiding  the  necessity  of 
burning  gas  during  the  day,  as  is  the  costly  and  un- 
healthy experience  with  the  old  building. 

The  facilities  for  the  reception  of  mail  matter  are 
to  be  made  a  chief  feature.  They  will  be  unequaled 
by  any  building,  either  in  this  or  any  other  country, 
from  the  fact  that  the  mail-cars  will  be  carried  across 
the  St.  Louis  bridge  into  the  tunnel,  and  so  on  until 
they  are  switched  off  in  front  of  the  basement  of  the 
post-office.  For  this  purpose  the  tunnel  will  be 
widened  opposite  the  post-office  so  as  to  afford  a  broad 
platform  between  the  two  tracks  for  the  delivery  and 
receipt  of  all  mail  matter,  and  from  every  direction. 
The  mail  matter  is  then  to  be  placed  on  elevators  and 
run  up  into  the  distributing-room,  and  there  classified. 
The  same  course  is  to  be  pursued  with  reference  to 
all  bonded  goods,  and  all  this  immense  business  is 


made  easy  of  transaction  without  the  distraction  or 
I  disturbance  in  the  slightest  degree  of  the  ordinary 
business  of  the  railroad  through  the  tunnel,  or  the 
business  above  or  on  the  streets. 

The  height  of  the  basement  from  its  flooring  to 
the  sidewalk  is  twenty-eight  and  one-half  feet,  di- 
vided into  two  stories,  to  be  known  as  basement 
and  sub-basement.  The  foundation  of  the  sub-base- 
ment extends  eight  feet  below  the  floor,  which  makes 
the  entire  depth  from  Olive  Street  to  the  bottom  of 
the  foundation  thirty-six  and  one-half  feet. 

Over  the  first  story  or  post-office  floor  will  be  ar- 
ranged the  United  States  District  Courts,  with  suitable 
apartments  for  associate  judges,  clerks,  district  at- 
torneys, marshals,  and  deputies,  grand  and  petit  juries, 
etc.,  with  ample  room  for  all  other  government  offices 
demanding  accommodation.  These  offices  are  ap- 
proachable from  the  main  Olive  Street  front,  as  well 
as  from  others,  affording  spacious  stairway  to  every 
part  of  the  building.  The  main  staircase  is  colossal 
in  its  proportions,  and  elaborate  and  beautiful  in  its 
design,  with  return  flights,  continued  from  floor  to 
floor  to  the  upper  story.  Exclusive  of  this  principal 
stairway  are  two  of  the  largest  passenger  elevators, 
placed  one  on  either  side  of  the  staircase,  and  acces- 
sible from  the  same  vestibule  as  the  Grand  or  Olive 
Street  stairway. 

The  imposing  edifice  has  already  influenced  the 
erection  of  handsome  business  houses  in  its  immediate 
vicinity  and  for  blocks  around.  The  basement  of  the 
building  is  of  red  granite  blocks  with  a  plain  finish. 
The  color  of  the  stone  is  a  pale,  delicate  red,  not  usu- 
ally employed  in  buildings  in  St.  Louis.  The  mate- 
rial employed  above  the  basement  is  Maine  granite 
throughout.  The  principal  stone-work  was  done  on 
Hurricane  Island,  the  lower  story  being  rusticated  and 
having  orders  above,  in  style  of  composition  so  fre- 
quently employed  by  the  Venetian  school  during  the 
renaissance  period,  and  which  owes  its  origin  to  San 
Micheli.  The  second  and  third  stories,  of  the  Corin- 
thian order,  have  pilasters  resting  on  moulded  bases,  the 
intercolumniations  being  filled  in  with  square-headed 
windows,  having  arched  pediments  in  the  second  story 
and  in  the  third  triangular  ones.  Of  the  triple  divis- 
ions and  facades,  the  central  one  on  either  side,  which 
forms  a  projection,  is  adorned  by  porticoes  and  crowned 
with  a  pediment.  Two  porticoes,  one  above  the  other, 
over  the  grand  entrances  have  very  elegant  proportions 
and  details  wrought  with  extraordinary  care.  The 
porticoes  are  formed  by  a  couple  of  granite  columns 
resting  on  massive  plinths  and  having  Corinthian  cap- 
itals. In  each  portico  are  four  fluted  columns,  with 
balustrades  between  the  couples. 


INSURANCE,  TELEGRAPH,  POSTAL  SERVICE,  GAS,  AND  HOTELS. 


1437 


Piers  supporting  statuary  stand  at  the  base  corners 
of  the  lower  portico,  which  is  that  of  the  second  story. 
Over  the  upper  portico  the  fourth-story  windows  are 
semi-circular  headed,  have  finely-moulded  cornices, 
and  are  surmounted  by  a  massive  pediment  enriched 
with  sculptures.  A  finely-wrought  entablature  is  sur- 
mounted by  a  balustrade,  and  above  this  appears  the 
quadrangular  dome,  having  its  windows  encased  with 
grooved  and  coupled  pilasters,  and  their  richly-designed 
cornices  furnishing  support  for  statuary. 

The  building  when  completed  will  be  one  of  the 
most  elegant  and  perfect  in  its  interior  arrangements 
in  the  country,  and  although  not  as  complicated  in 


letters  advertised,  32,515  ;  total  number  registered 
letters  received  for  distribution,  213,311  ;  total  num- 
ber registered  letters  handled,  350,175  ;  total  number 
of  packages  made  up  and  forwarded,  66,042  ;  number 
packages  received  in  transit,  566,430  ;  total  number 
of  registered  packages  forwarded,  632,472;  through 
registered  pouches  made  up  and  dispatched,  19,775  ; 
registered  packages  in  pouches  made  up  and  dis- 
patched, 540.949 ;  total  number  of  registered  pack- 
ages in  pouches  received  and  dispatched,  1,019,638; 
total  amount  money  orders  issued,  1852,771.68  ;  total 
amount  money  orders  paid,  $4,520,090.58 ;  amount 
received  from  depository  offices,  $6,240,986.22 ;  re- 


CrSTOM-HOUSE    AND    POST-OFFICE, 
Corner  Eighth,  Ninth,  and  Olive  Streets. 


architectural  design  as  other  post-offices,  notably  those 
of  New  York  and  Boston,  it  will  undoubtedly  exceed 
them  all  in  the  simple  grandeur  of  its  architectural 
proportions  and  the  quiet  beauty  of  its  general  details. 

The  following  ^statistics  were  returned  by  the  St. 
Louis  post-office  in  1881 : 

Annual  cash  receipts  from  sale  of  stamps,  stamped 
envelopes,  etc.,  $730,539 ;  letters  delivered  at  general 
delivery,  124,465 ;  letters  delivered  at  daily  call, 
21,514;  mail  letters  delivered  by  carriers,  13,119,988; 
mail  postal  cards  delivered  by  carriers,  3,008,926 ; 
drop  letters  delivered  by  carriers,  2,366,852 ;  letters 
and  postal  cards  delivered  from  boxes,  1,852,375; 


mitted  to  New  York,  $2,489,000.  The  total  number 
of  packages  handled  during  the  year  ending  Dec.  31, 
1881,  containing  letters,  was  78,578,  amounting  to 
47,797  pounds.  During  the  same  time  there  were 
13,941  sacks  of  .papers  handled. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  postmasters  of  St. 
Louis,  with  the  dates  of  their  appointment,  from  the 
establishment  of  the  office  in  1805  : 

Postmasters.  Date  of  Appointment. 

Rufus  Easton Jan.  1,  1805. 

Robert  Simpson Jan.  1,  1815. 

Aaron  T.  Crane Sept,  11,  1818. 

Elias  Rector Jan.  1,  1820. 

Wilson  P.  Hunt Oct.  10,  1S22. 

Thomas  Watson June  26,  1840. 


1438 


HISTORY  OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


Postmasters.  Date  of  Appointment. 

Samuel  B.  Churchill July  9,  1842. 

John  M.  Wimer June  14,  1845. 

Archibald  Gamble April  24,  1849. 

David  H.  Armstrong April  3,  1854. 

John  Hogan March  30,  1858.    . 

Peter  L.  Foy April  1,  1861. 

Joseph  S.  Fullerton Feb.  21,  1867. 

Andrew  J.  Smith April  6,  1869. 

Chauncey  I.  Filley March  12,  1873. 

Samuel  Hays Sept.  4,  1878. 

GAS  COMPANIES. 

St.  Louis  Gas-Light  Company. — In  1837  the 
Legislature  of  Missouri  granted  a  charter  to  the  St. 
Louis  Gas-Light  Company,  vesting  in  it  the  power  to 
erect  works  and  necessary  apparatus  for  lighting  St. 
Louis  and  its  suburbs  with  gas.  This  charter  was 
amended  in  1839  and  again  in  1845.  Under  the 
original  charter  and  the  acts  of  Assembly  amendatory 
thereof  the  company  had  the  exclusive  right  to 
manufacture  and  vend  gas  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis, 
and  was  also  authorized  "  to  receive  on  deposit  or 
loan,  and  upon  such  terms  as  the  parties  interested 
may  agree  upon,  any  funds,  the  temporary  or  perma- 
nent use  of  which  may  be  offered  them,  and  the 
use  of  which  may  be  beneficial  to  the  company." 
By  these  acts  it  was  also  provided  that  the  city  of  St. 
Louis  should  have  the  right,  at  the  expiration  of  a 
period  of  either  twenty  or  twenty-five  years  after  the 
1st  of  January,  1840,  if  it  should  so  resolve,  to  pur- 
chase the  gas-works  from  the  St.  Louis  Gas-Light 
Company,  upon  the  terms  and  conditions  and  by  the 
means  (the  appointment  of  arbitrators,  etc.)  men- 
tioned in  these  acts,  and  that  the  charter  should  con- 
tinue in  force  for  twenty-five  years  from  Jan.  1, 1840, 
unless  the  company  should  convey  to  the  city  its  prop- 
erty, etc.,  but  should  the  city  not  determine  to  purchase 
at  either  of  the  times  provided  for,  then  the  charter 
was  to  remain  in  force  another  twenty-five  years.  In 
1839,  after  the  first  amendment  to  the  charter  was 
passed,  an  office  was  opened  on  Chestnut  Street  near 
Main  for  the  purpose  of  engaging  in  the  business  of 
a  general  deposit  and  savings  institution.  At  this 
time  the  officers  and  directors  of  the  company  were : 
President,  N.  Paschall ;  Secretary,  A.  Chadwick  ;  and 
Directors,  Theodore  L.  McGill,  John  D.  Daggett,  R.  S. 
Tilden,  J.  T.  Swearingen,  N.  E.  Janney,  M.  L.  Clark, 
L.  B.  Shaw,  and  P.  R.  McCreery.  In  1840  negotia- 
tions were  entered  into  between  the  company  and  the 
city  with  reference  to  lighting  the  streets  with  gas, 
and  a  bill  authorizing  the  city  to  subscribe  to  the  stock 
of  the  company  to  the  amount  of  fifty  thousand  dollars 
passed  the  City  Council  and  was  approved  by  the 
mayor.  In  1841  the  construction  of  the  works  was 
commenced  on  ground  between  Second  Street  and  the 
river,  nearly  opposite  the  bridge.  Only  a  beginning 


was  made,  however,  the  banking  branch  of  the  busi- 
ness continuing  to  engage  the  entire  attention  of  the 
directory. 

This  soon  proved  unsuccessful,  and  it  was  not  until 
1846  that  the  company  bent  its  energies  to  the  con- 
struction of  its  works  and  the  business  of  making  and 
selling  gas.  At  this  time  it  found  itself,  with  im- 
paired capital,  unable,  unless  extraordinary  efforts 
were  made,  to  complete  its  undertaking.  Looking  to 
this  end,  and  for  the  common  benefit  of  the  contracting 
parties,  an  agreement  was  entered  into  between  the 
city  and  the  company  Jan.  9,  1846,  in  which  the 
comply  engaged  to  furnish  gas,  etc.,  at  a  stipulated 
price,  and  the  city  agreed  to  relinquish  its  right  to  pur- 
chase the  gas-works,  etc.,  at  either  twenty  or  twenty- 
five  years  from  Jan.  1,  1840,  provided  it  should 
have  the  right  to  purchase  at  a  period  of  thirty  years 
after  Jan.  1,  1840,  and  at  the  period  of  every  five 
years  thereafter.  On  June  17th,  G.  F.  Lee,  of 

!  Philadelphia,  entered  into  a  contract  with  the  com- 
pany to  build  the  needed  works  and  furnish  the  city 
with  gas.  The  whole  cost  was  to  be  $130,000,  the 
contractor  agreeing  to  take  the  bonds  of  the  company, 
payable  three  years  after  the  completion  of  the  con- 
tract, for  $50,000,  and  to  subscribe  for  and  pay  $40,- 
000  of  the  capital  stock,  leaving  $40,000  to  be  raised 
by  subscription,  the  real  estate  and  personal  effects  of 
the  company  being  valued  at  $40,000.  The  old 
stock  was  scaled  down  and  new  stock  to  the  amount 
of  $40,000  issued,  making  a  total  capital  of  $170,- 
000.  The  work  was  pushed  rapidly  forward,  and  the 
city  was  lighted  with  gas  for  the  first  time  on  Nov.  4, 
1847.  During  1848  about  6,600,000  cubic  feet  of 
gas  was  consumed,  and  in  1868  the  consumption  had 
increased  to  247,480,000  cubic  feet.  The  success  of 
the  company  was  assured.  The  city,  through  its 
counsel,  notified  the  company  on  Feb.  27,  1869,  that 
it  had  resolved  to  purchase  the  gas-works  on  the  1st 
of  January,  1870,  under  their  agreement  of  1846. 
The  city  appointed  arbitrators,  etc.,  as  required  by  the 

i  company's  charter,  but   the  company  made  no  move 

;  in  the  matter,  and  failed  to  appoint  arbitrators  to 
agree  upon  the  price,  etc.  The  city  instituted  action 
against  the  company  in  May,  1870,  in  the  Circuit 
Court  of  St.  Louis  County,  to  compej  the  company  to 
comply  with  the  terms  of  the  agreement. 

Pending  the  litigation,  in  1873  a  compromise  was 
effected  between  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  the  St.  Louis 

1  Gas-Light  Company,  and  the  Laclede  Gas-Light 
Company  (then  recently  organized),  in  which  it  was 
agreed  that  the  Laclede  Company  should  furnish  gas 
to  all  that  part  of  the  city  lying  north  of  Washington 
Avenue,  and  that  all  litigation  between  the  city  and 


(Mf/i 


INSURANCE,  TELEGRAPH,  POSTAL  SERVICE,  GAS,  AND  HOTELS.  1439 


. 


•• 
. 
o  with  Oliver 

W.  P.  / 

' 
:  I    • 

od  shin 


* 

•   • 
i 

' 

. 


. 

• 

ennos  of  great  inn •• 

•  :  a  public  nature 


• 


' 

• 
;  the  pilia 


working  in  both  places  at  gas-fitting. 


The  first  board   of  officers   was  composed  of   S.   L. 


1440 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


Husted,  president ;  Frederick  Cromwell,  vice-pres- 
ident ;  and  J.  F.  Magoreen,  secretary.  The  territory 
occupied  comprises  all  that  portion  of  St.  Louis  north 
of  Washington  Avenue.  The  company  has  about 
one  hundred  miles  of  pipe  laid,  and  supplies  light  for 
over  four  thousand  public  lamps.  The  works  have  a 
capacity  for  making  one  million  feet  per  day.  The 
officers  at  the  present  time  are  Erastus  Wells,  presi- 
dent;  John  H.  Maxon,  vice-president;  and  J.  D. 
Thompson,  secretary.  The  directors  are  Erastus 
Wells,  John  H.  Maxon,  Charles  Gibson,  John  J. 
Mitchell,  Samuel  Simmons,  Frederick  Cromwell,  and 
J.  H.  Porter. 

The  present  capital  stock  is  one  million  two  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars.  The  offices  of  the  company 
from  1873  to  1881  were  located  at  No.  701  Wash- 
ington Avenue,  but  during  the  latter  year  they  were 
removed  to  the  present  commodious  quarters  at  No. 
1100  Washington  Avenue. 

Carondelet  Gas  Company. — On  March  3,  1857, 
a  charter  was  granted  to  the  Carondelet  Gas-Light 
Company,  the  object  of  which  was  to  light  that  city 
with  gas,  but  for  some  reason  the  provisions  of  the 
charter  were  not  complied  with.  In  April  of  1874 
the  company  was  reorganized  with  John  M.  Krum  as 
president,  T.  C.  Hogan  secretary,  and  A.  C.  Judge 
superintendent,  with  a  capital  stock  of  two  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  dollars.  The  incorporators  were 
Frederick  Hill,  Henry  T.  Blow,  Louis  C.  Picot, 
Madison  Miller,  William  Taussig,  Francis  Kellerman, 
Joseph  Taussig,  Michael  Conrad,  Delphy  Carlin,  Ber- 
nard Poepping,  August  Blumenthal,  Jacob  Stein, 
and  Michael  Jod. 

Its  presidents  have  been,  in  order,  Frederick  Hill, 
John  M.  Krum,  John  H.  Terry,  Charles  H.  Thorn- 
ton, Frank  Erskine,  and  John  R.  Lionberger.  Its 
first  officers  were  Frederick  Hill,  president ;  William 
Taussig,  treasurer;  and  Madison  Miller,  secretary. 
After  the  extension  of  the  city  limits  so  as  to  include 
Carondelet,  the  latter  grew  quite  rapidly,  and  the  de- 
sire of  the  people  to  have  their  streets  and  dwellings 
lighted  with  gas  was  of  such  a  character  as  to  induce 
the  company  to  erect  works  to  supply  that  want. 
Ground  for  this  purpose  was  broken  June  17,  1874, 
and  on  December  31st  gas  was  lighted  for  the  first 
time  in  Carondelet. 

The  present  officers  and  board  of  directors  are  John 
R.  Lionberger,  president;  Charles  Green,  vice-presi- 
dent ;  Nelson  F.  Constant,  superintendent ;  Henry 
C.  Scott,  secretary  ;  Directors,  John  R.  Lionberger, 
Charles  Green,  George  A.  Madill,  John  Scullin, 
Erastus  Wells,  Thomas  E.  Tutt,  and  J.  H.  Lion- 
berger. 


HOTELS. 

In  the  matter  of  hotels  St.  Louis  enjoys  facili- 
ties not  surpassed  by  any  city  in  the  West,  and 
from  the  old  Missouri  of  half  a  century  ago,  with  its 
many  historical  traditions  and  reminiscences,  down  to 
the  celebrated  Lindell,  Southern,  Planters',  and  others 
of  to-day,  its  fame  for  conveniences  and  hospitable  en- 
tertainment to  the  traveler  has  been  justly  proverbial. 

;  In  the  earlier  days  of  the  city,  when  it  was  but  a  little 
town,  some  of  its  best  citizens  were  tavern-keepers, 
but  the  term  tavern-keeper  had  a  different  meaning 

;  then  from  that  which  attaches  to  it  at  the  present 
time.  The  ancient  tavern-keeper  was  in  some  sense 
a  public  benefactor,  and  often  occupied  a  most  honor- 
able position  in  the  community.1 

Among  the  earliest  notices  of  taverns  is  that 
of  the  Missouri  Hotel,  in  the  old  government  man- 
sion, southeast  corner  of  Main  and  Walnut  Streets, 
kept  by  Maj.  William  Christy  for  several  years 
prior  to  1808.  In  the  latter  year  he  engaged  in 
farming  and  grazing,  and  was  succeeded  in  his 
hotel  business  by  Maj.  Richard  Webster,  who 
changed  the  name  of  the  house  to  the  Eagle  Tavern. 

;  In  1810,  tiring  of  farming,  Maj.  Christy  assumed 
charge  of  his  tavern  again,  and  renamed  it  the  Mis- 
souri Hotel.  He  continued  to  operate  it  until  1816, 
when  Thomas  Pechels  (or  Peebles)  bought  it  and 
called  it  Union  Hall.  In  September,  1809,  James 
H.  Audrian  opened  the  Grove  Tavern  at  the  upper 
end  of  Main  Street,  nearly  opposite  P.  Chouteau.  In 
1810,  Joseph  Charless  kept  a  "boarding-house"  on 
North  Main  Street.  In  1811,  Frederick  Weber, 
baker,  notified  the  public  that  he  had  commenced 
keeping  a  house  of  entertainment.  In  1811,  Maj. 
Delauney  kept  a  boarding-house  in  St.  Louis,  and  in 
the  following  year  Horace  Austin  opened  a  tavern  "  in 
the  house  lately  occupied  by  Madame  Robidoux." 
In  July,  1816,  Hugh  C.  Davis  opened  the  Green 
Tree  Tavern  on  Second  Street.  The  Green  Tree  was 
taken  in  1820  by  John  Simonds,  Jr.  About  this 
time  the  Mansion  House  was  also  started,  and  at  the 
beginning  of  1823  became  the  property  of  George  S. 
Greene,  who  changed  its  name  to  the  City  Hotel.  In 
1829  it  passed  into  the  hands  of  Ephraim  Town,  and 
in  1840,  Col.  Theron  Barnum,  who  had  just  reached 
St.  Louis,  bought  it.  Col.  Barnum  kept  it  for  twelve 


1  At  the  time  of  the  transfer  of  the  province  of  Louisiana  to 
the  United  States  there  were  but  two  little  French  taverns  in 
the  town,  one  kept  by  Yostic,  and  the  other  by  Landreville, 
chiefly  to  accommodate  the  conrriers  du  bois  (hunters)  and  the 
voyagcurs  (boatmen)  of  the  Mississippi.  Both  of  these  taverns 
stood  upon  the  corners  of  Main  and  Locust  Streets. — Edwards' 
Great  West,  pp.  288-89. 


INSURANCE,  TELEGRAPH,  POSTAL  SERVICE,  GAS,  AND  HOTELS. 


1441 


years,  and  then  disposed  of  it  to  William  R.  McClure. 
Subsequently  A.  S.  Merritt,  formerly  of  the  Pacific 
Hotel,  operated  it. 

The  first  hotel  of  any  prominence  in  St.  Louis  was 
the  old  Missouri,  which  stood  on  the  southwest  corner 
of  Main  and  Morgan  Streets.  It  was  built  in  1819 
by  John  McKnight  and  Thomas  Brady,  and  subse- 
quently became  the  property  of  the  latter,  who  retained 
it  until  his  death  in  1822.  It  was  a  two-story  stone 
structure,  built  in  the  old  French  style,  its  side  front- 
ing on  Main  Street,  and  its  steep  roof  studded  with 
dormer-windows.  After  Mr.  Brady's  death,  Maj. 
Thomas  Biddle  bought  it,  and  owned  it  until  he  was 
killed  in  a  duel  with  Spencer  Pettis,  in  October,  1831. 
Maj.  Biddle  built  an  addition  to  the  hotel  by  which 
the  accommodations  were  greatly  increased.  He  sent 
to  the  East  and  procured  a  hotel-keeper,  who  opened 
the  house  with  conveniences  never  before  known  west 
of  the  Mississippi  River.  After  the  death  of  Maj. 
Biddle,  the  hotel  was  sold  to  John  F.  Darby,  who  in 
the  year  1835  sold  it  to  Isaac  Walker.  Subsequently 
the  following  persons  kept  it  as  tavern  and  hotel : 
Abijah  Hull,  Ephraim  Town,  and  Messrs.  Mitchell, 
Johnson,  Louis  Oldenburg,  Scudder,  Hubbard,  Sey- 
mour, and  others.  In  1873  the  building  was  torn 
down,  and  gave  place  to  the  tobacco-factory  of  Chris- 
tian Peper. 

The  old  Missouri  Hotel  was  the  scene  of  many  his- 
torical incidents.  The  first  Legislature  that  met 
under  the  State  Constitution  convened  there  in  the 
year  1820.  There  also  the  first  Governor  and  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor  of  th'e  State  were  sworn  into  office 
and  delivered  their  inaugural  addresses,  and  there 
the  two  first  United  States  senators  ever  elected  in 
Missouri,  David  Barton  and  Thomas  H.  Benton, 
were  chosen.  It  was  also  a  favorite  place  for  the 
arrangement  of  duels,  trials  by  courts-martial,  and 
rendezvous  for  army  officers.  Gen.  Scott,  Gen.  Wil- 
liam Henry  Harrison,  Gen.  Zachary  Taylor,  Gen. 
Leavenworth,  and  the  celebrated  Indian-fighter  and 
soldier,  Gen.  Henry  Dodge,  and  many  other  eminent 
and  distinguished  men  made  it  their  stopping-place. 

St.  Glair  Hotel. — In  1829  the  growing  wants 
of  St.  Louis  seemed  to  demand  a  more  commodious 
and  pretentious  hotel  than  the  Missouri,  and  accord- 
ingly Col.  Thornton  Grimsley  purchased  the  Baptist 
Church  property  on  the  southwest  corner  of  Market 
and  Third  Streets,  and  remodeled  it  into  a  neat  four- 
story  hotel,  which  he  called  the  National,  placing  his 
brother  William  G.  in  charge  of  it.  The  National 
at  once  became  the  principal  hotel  of  St.  Louis. 
Henry  Clay,  Daniel  Webster,  Gen.  Zachary  Taylor, 
Jefferson  Davis,  Robert  E.  Lee,  and  others  who 


were  then  or  have  since  become  prominent,  made  it 
their  stopping-place  when  visiting  St.  Louis.  In 
1837,  Messrs.  Stickney  &  McKnight  leased  the  house 
from  Grimsley,  and  fully  maintained  its  popularity 
until  1841,  when  they  retired  to  take  charge  of  the 
Planters',  then  just  built.  They  were  succeeded  by 
Col.  Scott,  and  a  close  rivalry  existed  for  some  time 
between  the  National  and  Planters'.  In  1846  or 
1847  a  fire  partly  destroyed  the  National,  and  bad 
luck  seemed  to  hang  about  the  house  for  some  time 
thereafter.  A  number  of  changes  occurred.  Mr. 
Scott  leased  and  ran  it  a  few  years  as  Scott's  Hotel, 
and  was  followed  by  William  Chesley,  who  changed 
its  name  to  the  St.  Clair.  By  this  name  it  has  been 
known  since  that  time,  with  one  or  two  brief  inter- 
vals. From  1860  to  1877  the  following  persons 
have  managed  the  St.  Clair :  Col.  Gannett,  Jeremiah 
Wood,  George  C.  Wales,  Jonathan  Chesley,  Valentine 
Gerber,  William  Baird,  M.  W.  Quinn,  Trumbull  B. 
Raymond,  and  McDonald  &  Rochester.  In  1877  the 
house  was  closed,  but  was  afterwards  leased  by  Judge 
George  Williams,  who  remodeled  and  newly  fur- 
nished it,  since  which  time  it  has  been  managed  suc- 
cessfully on  the  moderate  price  plan. 

Planters'  Hotel. — In  November,  1817,  Evarist 
Maury  announced  to  the  public  that  he  had  opened 
the  Planters'  Hotel  on  Second  Street,  opposite  Maj. 
Douglass'  office,  where  a  few  boarders  could  be  ac- 
commodated. He  proposed  to  go  into  the  business  on 
an  extensive  scale,  and  announced  that  he  would  en- 
large the  capacity  of  his  house  and  erect  additional 
buildings.  This  was  not,  however,  the  forerunner  of 
the  present  hotel  known  as  the  Planters'.  In  1836  a 
number  of  prominent  citizens  thought  that  it  would 
be  advisable  to  erect  a  larger  and  more  commodious 
hotel  than  any  the  city  then  contained.  To  consider 
this  proposition  a  meeting  was  called  in  October,  at 
which  Judge  J.  B.  C.  Lucas  presided  and  Bernard 
Pratte  acted  as  secretary.  A  committee  consisting  of 
Messrs.  McGunnegle,  Morton,  Kerr,  and  Brant  was  ap- 
pointed to  select  a  suitable  site  and  report  to  an  adj  ourned 
meeting.  The  committee  reported  a  week  afterward, 
and  the  location  immediately  north  of  the  court- 
house, having  a  front  on  Fourth  Street  and  bounded 
by  Chestnut  and  Vine,  was  almost  unanimously  se- 
lected, and  a  committee  was  appointed  to  obtain  the 
subscription  of  the  necessary  amount  of  stock.  The 
liberal  offer  of  Judge  Lucas,  who  owned  the  site 
selected,  unquestionably  had  much  to  do  with  bring- 
ing about  this  result.  At  a  meeting  of  the  share- 
holders on  Dec.  6,  1836,  Messrs.  Alexander  R.  Simp- 
son, D.  D.  Page,  D.  Lamont,  J.  C.  Laveille,  E.  Tracy, 
J.  Charless,  and  G.  W.  Call  were  elected  directors  of 


1442 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


the  company  for  the  first  year.  Application  was  made 
to  the  Legislature  of  1836-37,  and  a  charter  with  a 
capital  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  was  obtained. 
In  March,  1837,  ground  was  broken,  but  owing  to  the 
embarrassments  of  the  times  the  work  was  not  com- 
pleted until  March,  1841.1 

The  following  announcement,  made  upon  the  eve  of 
its  opening,  will  explain  why  an  intended  compliment 
was  not  conferred :  "  We  would  briefly  observe,  fur- 
ther, that  the  title  of  the  house  is  that  given  in  the 
charter.  After  the  house  had  been  taken  by  the 
present  enterprising  proprietors,  Messrs.  Stickney  & 
McKnight,  and  after  they  had  ordered  their  furniture, 
part  of  which,  the  porcelain,  cutlery,  etc.,  was  manu- 
factured in  England,  and  the  name  of  the  establish- 
ment impressed  or  otherwise  fixed  on  every  piece,  the 
board  of  managers  altered  the  title  to  that  of  '  The 
Lucas  House,'  in  honor  of  the  liberal  patron  of  the 
same,  the  Hon.  Judge  Lucas,  but  on  account  of  the 
above  previous  arrangement  of  the  proprietors  they 
have  felt  themselves  bound  to  open  under  the  title  of 
1  The  Planters'  House.'  "  On  the  1st  of  April,  1841, 
the  hotel  went  into  operation.  Stickney  &  McKnight, 
the  lessees,  had  previously  conducted  the  National 
Hotel,  and  were  experienced  hotel-keepers.  Mr.  Stick- 
ney subsequently  bought  out  Mr.  McKnight's  interest, 
and  afterwards  associated  with  him  Leonard  Scolly. 
The  latter  died  in  the  fall  of  1860,  and  Mr.  Stickney 
kept  the  house  until  April,  1864,  when  he  retired 
with  a  competency.  Benjamin  Stickney  was  one  of 
the  leading  citizens  of  St.  Louis,  and  tilled  the  po- 
sitions of  director  in  the  St.  Louis  Gas-Light  Com- 
pany, the  Missouri  Pacific  Railroad,  and  the  St.  Louis 
National  Bank.  He  died  on  the  14th  of  November, 
1876.  After  his  retirement  the  house  was  reopened 
by  J.  Fogg  &  Co.,  Mr.  Fogg  having  previously  been 
associated  with  Theron  Barnum  in  Barnum's  Hotel. 


1  A  curious  circumstance  connected  with  the  land  on  which 
the  Planters'  Hotel  was  built  is  this  :  A  Frenchman,  Francois 
Gunell,  in  1834,  had  the  contract  for  grading  Fourth  Street  four 
feet  in  front  of  the  present  court-house  and  Planters'  Hotel. 
He  had  six  yoke  of  oxen  engaged  to  plow  up  the  hard  pan, 
for  which  he  paid  six  dollars  per  hour  ;  the  fact  that  an  hour  or 
two's  plowing  loosened  dirt  enough  to  keep  his  hands  at  work 
shoveling  the  remainder  of  the  day  will  account  for  the  high 
price  extorted  for  the  labor  of  the  oxen,  as  they  were  employed 
but  a  short  time.  He  had  a  contract  with  Judge  J.  B.  C. 
Lucas  to  fill  up  the  gully  on  which  the  Planters'  Hotel  stands 
with  the  excavated  dirt,  for  which  he  was  to  receive  three  cents 
per  cubic  yard.  The  hole  was  about  thirty  feet  deep,  and  the 
dirt  dumped  in  amounted  to  sixty  dollars.  When  he  came  to 
settle  up  with  Judge  Lucas  the  latter  offered  him  a  deed  to  half 
the  block  on  which  the  Planters'  House  now  stands  in  lieu  of 
the  sixty  dollars,  which  Mr.  Gunell  refused  to  accept,  as  he 
needed  the  money. 


Glasgow  House. — On  the  3d  of  March,  1843, 
the  Glasgow  House  was  opened  at  the  corner  of  Olive 
and  Second  Streets. 

Barnum's  Hotel  was  erected  in  1854  by  George 
R.  Taylor.  The  building  stands  at  the  corner  of 
Walnut  and  Second  Streets,  and  extends  ninety-two 
feet  on  Second  Street  and  one  hundred  and  sixty  feet 
on  Walnut,  with  an  interior  court  one  hundred  by 
sixteen  feet.  The  building  is  six  stories  above  the 
pavement  and  one  story  below,  and  its  exteme  height 
from  pavement  to  cornice  is  ninety  feet  six  inches. 
The  architectural  style  of  the  exterior  fa§ades  is  mod- 
ern Italian.  The  first  or  basement  story  supporting 
the  structure  is  composed  entirely  of  finely- wrought 
St.  Louis  limestone.  "  Barnum's"  was  unquestion- 
ably the  finest  hotel  then  in  St.  Louis,  and  was  built 
by  Mr.  Taylor  expressly  for  Theron  Barnum.  On  the 
28th  of  September,  1854,  the  hotel  was  opened  under 
the  proprietorship  of  Barnum  &  Fogg,  and  at  once 
gained  a  wide  reputation.  In  April,  1864,  Mr.  Bar- 
num retired,  and  the  hotel  was  continued  under  the 
management  of  Fogg,  Miles  &  Co. 

Theron  Barnum,  the  senior  member  of  the  firm, 
was  born  April  23,  1803,  in  Addison  County,  Vt., 
and  in  1808  moved  with  his  father  to  Susquehanna 
County,  Pa.  There  he  worked  on  the  farm,  also 
getting  such  instruction  as  could  be  obtained  in  a 
country  school.  At  the  age  of  seventeen  he  began  to 
teach  school,  and  pursued  that  avocation  for  several 
years,  in  the  mean  time  cultivating  his  mind  in  the 
advanced  branches  of  English  education.  In  1824 
he  went  to  Wilkesbarre,  Pa., 'and  filled  the  position 
of  clerk  in  a  store  until  1827,  when  he  removed  to  • 
Baltimore  at  the  request  of  his  uncle,  David  Barnum, 
and  became  associated  with  him  in  the  management 
of  Barnum's  Hotel,  then  enjoying  a  well-deserved  fame 
as  one  of  the  best  hotels  in  the  United  States.  He  re- 
mained with  his  uncle  in  the  capacity  of  confidential 
clerk,  and  became  under  his  able  instruction  well 
versed  in  the  art  of  conducting  a  first-class  hotel. 
He  then  opened  the  Patapsco  Hotel  at  Ellicott's 
Mills,  fifteen  miles  from  Baltimore,  and  the  terminus 
of  the  first  fifteen  miles  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
Railroad.  While  there,  in  1832,  he  married  Mary 
Lay  Chadwick,  daughter  of  Capt.  Chadwick,  of 
Lime,  Conn.,  and  captain  of  one  of  the  large  packets 
between  New  York  and  Liverpool.  The  fruit  of  this 
marriage  was  two  sons,  Freeman  and  Robert.  In 
1835  he  removed  to  Philadelphia,  and  bought  the 
Philadelphia  Hotel  on  Arch  Street,  but  having  long 
thought  of  going  .to  the  West,  he  sold  out  in  1838, 
and  determined  to  settle  in  St.  Louis.  On  his  way 
he  was  induced  to  stop  at  Terre  Haute,  Ind.,  where 


INSURANCE,  TELEGRAPH,  POSTAL  SERVICE,  GAS,  AND  HOTELS. 


1443 


he  opened   the  new  Prairie   House.     He  remained 
here  only  until  1840,  becoming  satisfied  in  the  mean 
time  that  Terre  Haute  could  never  support  the  kind 
of  hotel  which  he  was  desirous  of  establishing.     In 
March,  1840,  he  removed  to  St.  Louis,  and  rented  the 
City  Hotel, 'at  Third  and  Vine  Streets.     This  hotel  was 
for  a  long  time  the  favorite  house  of  the  public,  and 
became  the  headquarters  of  the  army  officers  residing 
in   or  visiting  St.  Louis.     Among  the  distinguished 
officers  who  made  the  City  Hotel  their  home  were 
Gen.    Gaiues   and  Col.  Croghan.     Mr.  Benton    also 
stopped  here.     Mr.  Barnum  managed  the  hotel  for  ; 
thirteen  years,  and    in    September,  1852,  sold  out. 
After  a  short  retirement  the  present  Barnum's  Hotel  , 
was  built  for  him  by  George  R.  Taylor,  and  for  many 
years  he  had  charge  of  it.     During  his  supervision 
the  Prince  of  Wales,  George  Peabody,  William  H.  ; 
Seward,  Abraham    Lincoln,  and  many   other   distin-  j 
guished  persons  stopped  at  it.     In  1877  he  took  the  j 
Beaumont  House,  which  he  put  in  successful  opera-  i 
tion.     He  died  there  on  the  17th  of  March,  1878,  of  i 
pneumonia.     Mr.  Barnum  was  a  cousin  of  P.  T.  Bar-  | 
num,   and   seems,   with  the    other   prominent  mem-  i 
bers  of  that  family,  to  have  followed  his  peculiar  bent 
with  a  pertinacity  and  energy  that  deserved  if  it  did 
not  always   achieve  success.     He   filled  at  different  j 
times  responsible  positions,  and  was  a  director  in  the 
Home  Mutual  Insurance  Company  for  thirty  years. 

Lindell  Hotel.— On  the  5th  of  March,  1855, 
the  Governor  of  Missouri  approved  an  act  of  the 
Legislature  chartering  the  "  Laclede  Hotel  Company 
of  St.  Louis."  Directors  were  elected  by  the  corpo- 
rators, and  a  practical  organization  was  effected  in 
1857,  and  work  commenced  on  the  lot  bounded  by 
Washington  Avenue  and  Green  Street  and  Sixth 
and  Seventh  Streets,  part  of  which  had  been  selected 
for  a  site.  Jesse  G.  and  Peter  Lindell,  brothers,  con- 
tributed the  ground  and  took  in  exchange  for  it  eighty 
thousand  dollars  in  the  company's  stock ;  they  also 
subscribed  ten  thousand  dollars  in  money.  The  mon- 
etary panic  in  1857  obstructed  the  progress  of  the 
work.  In  1859  an  act  was  obtained  revising  the 
charter,  and  permitting  the  erection  of  a  larger  and 
finer  structure,  and  the  expenditure  of  more  than  five 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  the  limit  in  the  original 
act.  The  name  was  also  changed  to  "  Lindell  Hotel," 
in  compliment  to  the  brothers  who  had  so  largely  in- 
terested themselves  in  the  enterprise.  In  1863  the 
hotel  was  completed  and  leased  to  Messrs.  Sparr  & 
Parks,  who  had  recently  been  the  proprietors  of  the 
Olive  Street  House.  The  board  of  directors  at  this 
time  were  Levin  H.  Baker,  president,  J.  T.  Swearin- 
gen,  Charles  H.  Peck,  Gerard  B.  Allen,  S.  H.  Laflin, 


D.  K.  Ferguson,  and  Derrick  A.  January.  Thomas 
Walsh  and  James  Smith  were  the  architects.  The 
design  was  Italian  of  the  Venetian  school.  The  hotel 
consisted  of  two  parallel  buildings,  extending  east  and 
west  the  length  of  the  whole  front,  with  a  space  of 
forty-five  feet  between  them,  and  connected  only  in 
the  centre  and  both  extremes  by  wing  buildings  run- 
ning north  and  south,  leaving  between  them  two 
courts.  The  Lindell  was  six  stories  high  exclusive  of 
basement  and  attic.  The  height  from  sidewalk  to 
basement  was  one  hundred  and  twelve  feet.  The 
stone  used  was  a  rich  cream-colored  magnesian  lime- 
stone from  the  Grafton  quarries.  The  east  and  south 
fronts  were  of  this  stone,  and  showed  much  elaborate 
carving.  The  north  and  west  fronts  were  faced  with 
the  finest  stock  brick,  ornamented  by  cut-stone  win- 
dow-trimmings. In  every  respect  the  hotel  was  a 
model  one.  On  the  25th  of  November  the  formal 
opening  was  marked  by  an  immense  ball  and  banquet, 
which  was  attended  by  about  four  thousand  guests. 
On  December  17th  the  hotel  was  sold  at  trustees'  sale 
to  Henry  Ames  &  Co.,  for  one  hundred  and  fifty- 
three  thousand  dollars,  subject  to  first  mortgage  bonds 
and  accrued  interest  amounting  to  two  hundred  and 
twenty  thousand  dollars,  but  Sparr  &  Parks  were  not 
disturbed  in  their  lease. 

About  half-past  eight  o'clock  on  the  night  of  the 
30th  of  March,  1867,  fire  was  discovered  in  the 
upper  story  of  the  hotel,  and  in  a  short  time  the 
flames  burst  through  the  roof  and  spread  on  all  sides 
with  great  rapidity.  The  alarm  was  conveyed  to  the 
fire  department,  and  the  engines  arrived  without 
much  delay.  They  were  powerless,  however,  to  stay 
the  progress  of  the  flames,  the  great  height  of  the 
building  rendering  it  impossible  to  throw  water  on 
the  roof.  In  a  short  time  the  entire  top  of  the  hotel 
was  on  fire ;  the  flames  gradually  worked  downward, 
and  it  was  soon  evident  that  the  magnificent  structure 
was  doomed.  Fortunately,  owing  to  the  earliness  of 
the  hour,  very  few  of  the  guests,  of  whom  there  were 
about  four  hundred,  had  retired.  Those  who  were 
sick  were  carried  out  and  conveyed  to  places  of 
safety.  As  soon  as  it  was  known  that  the  building 
could  not  be  saved  efforts  were  made  to  secure  the 
stock  in  the  different  stores  and  the  furniture  and 
portable  property  of  the  hotel,  much  of  which  was 
saved.  Within  three  hours  the  fire  was  at  its  height, 
the  heat  being  so  intense  that  water  thrown  upon  the 
flames  flew  upward  in  sheets  of  steam.  The  firemen 
desisted  from  their  fruitless  efforts  and  devoted  their 
attention  to  saving  the  surrounding  buildings.  About 
twelve  o'clock  the  walls  fell,  and  all  that  remained  of 
one  of-  the  finest  hotels  in  the  world  was  a  shape- 


1444 


HISTORY  OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


less  mass  of  ruins.  The  loss  on  the  building  was 
about  nine  hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  on  the 
furniture  between  two  hundred  thousand  and  three 
hundred  thousand  dollars. 

The  destruction  of  the  Lindell  was  regarded  as  a 
public  calamity.  Impromptu  meetings  of  the  citizens 
were  held  almost  before  the  smoke  had  ceased  ascend- 
ing from  the  ruins  to  take  measures  for  the  erection 
of  a  new  building,  but  it  was  not  until  five  years  had 
elapsed  that  these  efforts  were  crowned  with  success. 
It  became  frequently,  during  this  time,  a  question 
whether  the  new  Lindell  should  be  erected  on  the  old 


and  the  numerous  contractors,  and  within  two  years 
from  the  breaking  of  ground  the  structure  was  com- 
pleted. For  two  months  more  the  process  of  fitting 
and  furnishing  went  on,  and  on  the  28th  of  September, 
1874,  the  whole  establishment  in  complete  running 
order  was  thrown  open  to  the  public. 

The  exterior  of  the  new  building  presents  a  very 
different  aspect  from  the  old  one,  being  less  ornate 
but  much  handsomer. 

The  first  story  is  flush  with  the  sidewalk,  instead 
of  having  a  basement  elevating  it  several  feet  above 
the  pavement.  The  principal  front,  as  in  the  old 


LINDELL    HOTEL, 

Corner  Washington  Avenue,  Sixth  Street,  and  Lucas  Avenue. 


site  or  at  a  point  farther  west  on  the  same  thorough- 
fare. The  matter  was  finally  determined  by  Mrs. 
Vincent  Marmaduke  (formerly  Mrs.  Henry  Ames), 
who  resolved  to  build  on  the  spot  made  historical  by 
the  old  Lindell.  A  company  was  formed  consisting 
of  Messrs.  William  Scudder,  Levin  H.  Baker,  and 
Charles  Parsons,  who  engaged  the  well-known  architect 
George  I.  Barnett  to  design  the  proposed  building. 
About  the  1st  of  September,  1872,  the  work  wa.s  com- 
menced by  removing  the  rubbish  from  the  old  foun- 
dations for  the  purpose  of  constructing  the  new.  The 
work  was  pushed  forward  without  intermission  through 
the  untiring  efforts  of  Messrs.  Scudder  and  'Barnett 


building,  is  on  Washington  Avenue,  with  a  frontage 
I  of  one  hundred  and  eighty-two  feet,  and  a  depth  of 
two  hundred  and  twenty-seven  feet  to  Christy  Avenue. 
The  height  of  the  building  is  one  hundred  and  five 
feet,  and  the  architecture  is  of  the  modern  Italian 
school,  the  first  story  being  of  the  Tuscan  order  and 
constructed  of  iron.  The  five  upper  stories  of  the 
facades  on  Washington  Avenue  and  Sixth  Street  are 
composed  of  Warrensburg  gray  sandstone  that  hardens 
with  age  until  it  becomes  almost  as  capable  of  resist- 
ing the  elements  as  granite.  The  second  story  is 
composed  in  the  principal  compartments  of  Corinthian 
columns  supporting  semi-circular  arches  over  the  win- 


INSURANCE,  TELEGRAPH,  POSTAL  SERVICE,  GAS,  AND  HOTELS. 


1445 


dows.  The  intermediate  windows  have  semi-circular  i 
arches  with  caps,  supported  by  carved  trusses.  This  ' 
story  is  surmounted  by  a  fine  cornice,  and  the  four 
upper  stories  are  divided  by  five  moulded  water-tables. 
All  the  angles  of  the  building  are  finished  with  heavy  j 
quoin-stones.  There  are  three  capacious  stores  on 
each  side  of  the  main  entrance,  and  six  equally  so  on 
Sixth  Street.  A  striking  feature  of  the  front  is  a 
massive  two-story  portico  immediately  in  front  of  the 
main  entrance,  forty-five  feet  wide,  and  projecting 
fifteen  feet  from  the  building,  with  six  Tuscan  columns 
below  and  six  Corinthian  columns  above.  Massive 
iron  railings  of  unique  designs  inclose  each  floor. 
The  ladies'  entrance  on  Sixth  Street  has  also  an  elegant 
but  smaller  portico,  one  story  high,  with  six  columns. 
The  whole  building  is  crowned  with  a  massive  iron 
cornice  eight  feet  high.  On  the  first  floor  is  a  splendid 
hall  or  exchange,  one  hundred  and  fifty-five  feet  long, 
forty-one  feet  wide,  and  eighteen  feet  high.  The 
ceiling  is  elegantly  frescoed  in  intricate  and  tasteful 
designs  and  harmonious  colors.  The  floor  is  laid  in 
tessellated  marble,  and  the  walls  are  pleasantly  tinted. 
On  the  west  side  of  the  exchange  is  the  oflice,  ele- 
gantly fitted  up  with  all  the  modern  appliances.  Im- 
mediately west  of  the  office  is  a  spacious  reading-room, 
comfortable  and  well  lighted.  Opposite  the  office  is 
the  grand  staircase,  an  elaborate  and  stately  structure. 
The  walls  and  ceilings  are  elegantly  frescoed,  and  a 
view  upwards  presents  a  most  pleasing  effect. 

There  is  not  a  dark  room  in  the  hotel,  and  the 
ventilation  is  excellent.  There  are  two  hundred  and 
seventy  guests'  rooms,  which  is  about  a  score  less  than 
the  old  building  had,  but  there  are  many  more  rooms 
devoted  to  public  use,  and  the  floor-room  is  much 
greater.  Everything  that  forethought  could  devise  for 
the  comfort  of  the  guest  and  the  facilitating  of  busi- 
ness has  been  provided,  and  that,  too,  in  the  best  pos- 
sible manner.  The  proprietors  of  the  Lindell  were 
Messrs.  Felt,  Griswold,  Clemmens  &  Co.,  being  W. 
W.  Felt,  of  the  old  Lindell ;  J.  L.  Griswold,  formerly 
superintendent  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Railroad  ; 
H.  H.  Clemmens,  formerly  one  of  the  proprietors  of 
Congress  Hall,  Saratoga  ;  and  Charles  Scudder.  The 
chief  architect  was  George  I.  Barnett ;  assistant  archi- 
tects, Furlong  &  Taylor;  general  carpenter  and  builder, 
Charles  H.  Birch. 

The  present  proprietors  of  the  Lindell  Hotel  are 
the  members  of  the  Lindell  Hotel  Association ; 
Charles  Scudder,  president ;  Henry  Ames,  vice-presi- 
dent ;  William  F.  Haines,  secretary.  Mr.  Scudder 
is  a  brother  of  Capt.  John  A.  Scudder  (of  whom  a 
full  biographical  sketch  is  given  elsewhere),  and,  like 
his  brother,  is  one  of  the  most  active  and  influential 
92 


citizens  of  St.  Louis.  Maj.  William  F.  Haines  was 
born  at  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  Nov.  5,  1829.  He  was  the 
son  of  Samuel  Haines,  of  Lancaster  County,  Pa., 
and  his  mother  was  formerly  Miss  Anna  Lengeker, 
of  the  same  county.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  William 
F.  Haines  served  as  ordinary  seaman  on  the  brig 
"  Odd  Fellow."  After  nearly  a  year  "  before  the 
mast"  he  was  employed  in  Robinson's  banking-house, 
and  at  the  age  of  seventeen  was  cashier  of  the  Mer- 
chants' National  Bank  of  Erie  County,  N.  Y.  Sub- 
sequently young  Haines  returned  to  school  until  Sep- 
tember, 1849,  when  he  removed  to  St.  Louis,  where 
his  first  occupation  was  that  of  book-keeper  in  the 
commission  house  of  David  Tatum.  In  the  spring 
of  1851  he  accepted  the  position  of  chief  clerk  on 
the  steamer  "  Josiah  Lawrence,"  plying  between  St. 
Louis  and  New  Orleans,  and  was  identified  with 
various  river  steamers  as  chief  clerk  and  master  until 
the  opening  of  the  civil  war,  when  he  entered  the 
Confederate  service  as  private  in  Capt.  James  Pritch- 
ard's  company,  First  Missouri  Regiment.  He  was 
afterwards  appointed  quartermaster  of  the  regiment, 
with  the  rank  of  captain,  and  after  the  promotion  of 
Col.  Bowen,  of  the  First  Missouri,  to  brigadier-gen- 
eral, Capt.  Haines  was  made  brigade  quartermaster  on 
his  staff,  with  the  rank  of  major.  He  participated  in 
i  all  of  the  engagements  in  which  Gen.  Bowen's  several 
;  commands  took  part,  and  was  in  Vicksburg  during 
the  siege. 

On  being  exchanged,  Maj.  Haines  was  sent  to  serve 
with  Gen.  L.  S.  Baker,  in  North  Carolina,  where  he 
•  remained  until  the  close  of  the  war.  Gen.  Baker's 
command  being  cut  off  from  the  main  army  of  Gen. 
Joseph  E.  Johnston,  Maj.  Haines  was  sent  to  Raleigh 
to  arrange  terms  of  surrender  with  Gen.  W.  T.  Sher- 
man. Having  previously  known  Gen.  Sherman  in  St. 
Louis,  Maj.  Haines  secured  the  same  terms  given  to 
Gen.  Lee,  and  was  designated  as  paroling  officer  of 
Gen.  Baker's  command.  After  the  war  closed,  Maj. 
Haines  returned  to  St.  Louis  and  resumed  his  river 
occupation,  becoming  captain  of  the  steamer  "  Stone- 
wall," plying  between  St.  Louis  and  New  Orleans.  In 
December,  1865,  he  married  Miss  Abbie  Kennerly, 
youngest  daughter  of  Capt.  George  H.  Kennerly,  for- 
merly of  the  United  States  army,  and  whose  mother  is 
a  daughter  of  the  late  Col.  Pierre  Menard,  of  Kaskas- 
kia,  111.  The  fruits  of  this  marriage  were  four  daugh- 
ters and  three  sons.  Maj.  Haines  was  for  twelve  years 
general  freight  agent  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  Trans- 
1  portation  Company,  which  position  he  held  until  Feb- 
ruary, 1882,  when  he  became  one  of  the  proprietors 
of  the  Lindell,  and  of  the  Hotel  St.  Louis,  at  Lake 
Minnetonka,  Minn. 


1446 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


The  Pacific  Hotel  was  completed  in  January, 
1857.  It  was  located  at  the  corner  of  Poplar  and 
Seventh  Streets,  was  three  stories  high,  and  had  a 
front  on  Seventh  Street  of  more  than  eighty  feet. 
The  ground-floor  was  divided  into  stores  ;  the  second 
floor  contained  the  office,  dining-room,  and  some 
sleeping  apartments  ;  and  the  third  floor  was  divided 
into  small  rooms  separated  by  lath  and  plaster  parti- 
tions. The  capacity  of  the  house  was  about  one  hun- 
dred guests.  George  B.  Field,  who  was  the  owner,  j 
leased  the  hotel  to  Daniel  W.  Strader,  who  opened  it 
in  June  following,  with  Jacob  Lyons  as  his  partner. 
Its  career  was  destined  to  be  a  short  one,  and  to  ter- 
minate with  the  most  appalling  catastrophe  that  had 
ever  befallen  St.  Louis.  On  the  morning  of  Saturday, 
Feb.  20,  1858,  between  three  and  four  o'clock,  the 
building  was  discovered  to  be  on  fire,  and  before  the 
lodgers  on  the  third  floor  could  be  aroused  the  flames 
had  cut  off  all  means  of  egress  by  the  stairways. 
The  terrified  guests,  finding  no  safety  except  in 
leaping  to  the  ground,  did  so  in  many  instances  and 
escaped  more  or  less  injured.  So  rapid  was  the  spread 
of  the  flames,  owing  to  the  combustible  nature  of  the 
building,  that  many  were  unable  to  escape  from  their 
rooms.  There  were  about  seventy-five  persons  in  the 
hotel  at  the  time  the  fire  broke  out.  Of  these  forty- 
four  escaped  uninjured.  The  killed  numbered  nine- 
teen, of  whom  only  ten  were  identified,  as  follows: 
Henry  A.  Rochester  and  T.  Hart  Strong,  of  Roch- 
ester, N.  Y. ;  infant  child  of  J.  Jones,  Bruce  McNitt, 
Paul  Steinestel,  and  Miss  H.  Hunter,  of  St.  Louis ; 
Evans  J.  Watkins,  Columbus,  Ohio  ;  Ephraim  Doane, 
Chicago;  Mrs.  H.  Hubbard,  Boston;  and  J.  Wag- 
oner. 

James  Francis  Geary,  local  reporter  of  the  Leader, 
and  Elihu  Hays  died  on  February  24th  from  injuries 
received  at  the  fire,  making  the  entire  number  of 
deaths  twenty-one.  A  meeting  of  citizens  to  provide 
for  the  burial  of  the  dead  and  the  relief  of  the 
wounded  was  immediately  called.  Col.  Thornton 
Grimsley  presided,  and  committees  were  appointed  to 
provide  for  the  interments  and  to  obtain  subscriptions 
for  the  survivors.  Twelve  of  the  dead  were  buried 
in  Bellefontaine  Cemetery,  their  remains  being  fol- 
lowed to  the  grave  by  the  largest  procession  ever  seen 
in  St.  Louis.  The  survivors,  so  far  as  they  could  be 
discovered,  were  handsomely  cared  for  and  assisted. 

The  Southern  Hotel.— Early  in  1857  efforts 
were  made  by  public-spirited  citizens  to  erect  a  finer 
and  larger  hotel  than  any  that  St.  Louis  could  then 
boast  of.  Meetings  were  held,  propositions  submitted,  a 
company  formed,  a  charter  obtained,  and  subscription 
books  opened.  A  site  was  purchased  and  the  cellar 


walls  built,  but  the  scheme  languished,  and  in  1859 
it  was  seriously  proposed  to  divide  the  property  into 
lots  and  sell  it.  This  was  not  done,  however,  and  in 
the  early  part  of  1860  the  company  obtained  from 
the  Legislature  an  act  exempting  its  property  from 
city  and  county  taxation  for  ten  years.  New  life  was 
infused  into  the  project,  and  Thornton  Grimsley,  John 
A.  Brownlee,  George  Knapp  &  Co.,  Henry  T.  Blow, 
John  J.  Anderson,  Charles  McClaren,  Robert  K. 
Woods,  B.  M.  Runyan,  Belt  &  Priest,  and  Taylor 
Blow  associated  themselves  together  to  finish  the 
hotel.  The  work  was  resumed,  and  continued  with 
long  and  frequent  intervals  of  delay  until  1865.  The 
hotel  fronted  on  Walnut,  Fourth,  Fifth,  and  Elm 
Streets, — on  Walnut  Street,  two  hundred  and  seventy 
feet ;  Fourth  and  Fifth  Streets,  one  hundred  and  thir- 
teen feet  six  inches  each ;  and  on  Elm  Street,  sixty 
feet,  and  was  six  stories  high,  in  the  Italian  style  of 
architecture.  On  Dec.  6,  1865,  it  was  opened  with 
a  ball,  with  Messrs.  Theodore  Laveille,  Charles  P. 
Warner,  and  George  W.  Ford  as  proprietors.  It  was 
sold  in  August,  1866,  to  Col.  Robert  Campbell. 

The  hotel  was  destroyed  by  fire  early  on  the  morn- 
ing of  April  11,  1877.  The  fire  was  discovered  at 
twenty  minutes  past  one  o'clock  in  the  basement  of 
the  hotel.  The  inmates  were  aroused  as  far  as  possi- 
ble, and  an  alarm  was  sounded  through  the  agency  of 
the  district  telegraph.  This  brought  out  the  salvage 
department,  but  the  key  of  the  fire-alarm  telegraph- 
box  having  been  lost  or  mislaid,  it  was  ten  minutes 
before  the  city  fire  department  could  be  notified.  On 
the  first  call  six  engines  and  two  hook-and-ladder 
companies  responded,  but,  the  fire  gaining  rapid  head- 
way, two  subsequent  alarms  were  sent  in,  calling  out 
the  entire  department.  To  the  natural  progress  of 
the  flames  was  added  the  flood  of  gas  from  the  large 
pipe  used  in  supplying  the  hotel,  and  it  was  soon 
found  impossible  to  save  the  building,  which  was 
totally  destroyed.  When  the  department  reached  the 
scene  the  flames  had  gained  such  headway  that  the 
efforts  of  the  firemen  were  directed  particularly  to 
saving  the  lives  of  the  inmates.  Of  these  there  were 
several  hundred,  including  a  number  of  female  do- 
mestics, who  slept  on  the  sixth  floor  of  the  hotel. 
The  fire  was  first  discovered  in  the  store-room,  which 
was  in  the  basement  near  the  passenger  elevator,  and 
the  flames,  ascending  through  the  elevator  shaft, 
spread  immediately  over  the  two  upper  floors,  and 
filled  all  of  the  halls  and  corridors  above  the  ground- 
floor  with  dense  smoke,  which  rendered  escape  a  mat- 
ter of  the  greatest  difficulty.  The  loss  of  life  was  ex- 
clusively among  the  occupants  of  the  fourth,  fifth,  and 
sixth  floors,  who,  their  means  of  escape  being  cut  off 


INSURANCE,  TELEGRAPH,  POSTAL  SERVICE,  GAS,  AND  HOTELS. 


1447 


by  the  fire,  either  fell  or  jumped  into  the  streets  and 
•were  killed.  Many,  however,  were  saved  through  the 
agency  of  the  fire  department  and  citizens  by  means 
of  ladders,  and  there  were  scores  of  rare  instances  of 
heroism  on  the  part  of  rescuers,  whose  efforts  were 
rendered  peculiarly  dangerous  owing  to  the  height  of 
the  burning  building  and  the  inaccessibility  of  the 
upper  floors. 

The  conflagration  was  made  the  subject  of  an  inves- 
tigation by  the  proper  authorities,  the  jury  consisting 
of  John  McNeil  (foreman),  Sylvester  H.  Laflin, 
Walter  C.  Carr,  Jacob  Tanim,  Charles  W.  Irwin,  and 
George  Bain.  Ninety-two  witnesses  were  examined, 
and  in  rendering  their  verdict  the  jury  said,  "  As  to 
the  cause  of  the  fire,  we  have  no  testimony  sufficient 
to  base  an  opinion  on,  but  from  the  dryness  of  the 
woodwork  and  the  inflammable  material  iu  the  store- 
room, wine-room,  and  carpenter-shop,  all  situated  in 
the  basement  of  the  hotel,  it  would  have  required 
only  the  slightest  spark  in  a  very  few  minutes,  if  not 
discovered,  to  have  caused  a  fire  of  such  magnitude 
as  to  be  beyond  ordinary  control." 

The  victims  of  the  fire  were  George  F.  Gouley,  of 
St.  Louis,  secretary  of  the  Grand  Lodge  A.  F.  and 
A.  M.  of  Missouri,  who  was  killed  by  falling  from 
a  fourth-story  window  on  the  Walnut  Street  side. 

Henry  Hazen.  of  New  Castle,  Pa.,  assistant  engi- 
neer Missouri  Pacific  Railroad,  killed  by  falling  from 
a  third-story  window. 

Mrs.  Abbie  Moran,  Mary  Dolan,  and  Kate  Reilly, 
all  domestics  employed  in  the  hotel,  killed  by  falling 
from  a  fifth-story  window  of  the  south  wing. 

Rev.  A.  R.  Adams,  vicar  of  the  parish  of  Stock - 
ross,  Berkshire,  England,  killed  by  falling  from  a 
fourth-story  window  on  the  Fourth  Street  side. 

Mrs.  Jennie  Stewart,  wife  of  W.  S.  Stewart,  of  St. 
Louis,  killed  by  the  breaking  of  an  improvised  rope 
while  being  lowered  by  her  husband  from  a  fifth- 
story  window. 

Charles  A.  Tiernan,  a  well-known  St.  Louis  sport- 
ing man,  killed  while  forcing  his  way  into  the  burninir 
hotel  to  rescue  the  inmates. 

Andrew  Einstraan,  of  Teichmann  &  Co.,  St.  Louis, 
killed  by  falling  from  an  improvised  rope  while  de- 
scending from  the  fifth  floor  at  Fifth  and  Elm  Streets. 

H.  J.  Clark,  formerly  of  North  Adams,  Mass.,  an 
ex-railway  conductor,  found  in  the  ruins  after  the  fire. 

Mrs.  Abbie  E.  Clark,  wife  of  H.  J.  Clark,  and 
child,  found  in  the  ruins  after  the  fire. 

In  addition  to  the  above,  the  body  of  an  unknown 
man  was  found  in  the  ruins,  and  William  F.  Munster, 
of  England,  committed  suicide  a  few  hours  after 
escaping  in  safety  from  the  hotel. 


Two  policemen  reported  that  during  the  earlier 
progress  of  the  fire,  while  engaged  in  rescuing  people 
from  the  burning  building,  they  heard  two  pistol-shots, 
and  on  entering  the  room  where  the  reports  came 
from  saw  the  dead  bodies  of  a  man  and  woman. 
There  were  also  several  persons  missing  who  were 
never  successfully  traced,  but  whose  death  at  the  time 
of  the  fire  has  never  been  clearly  demonstrated. 

The  hotel  building  was  owned  by  Robert  Camp- 
bell, who  estimated  his  loss  at  three  hundred  and 
seventy  thousand  four  hundred  and  twenty  dollars, 
which  was  ninety-two  thousand  dollars  above  the  total 
insurance. 

The  blackened  ruins  and  the  crumbling  walls  re- 
mained a  ghastly  memento  of  this  awful  disaster  for 
two  years,  when,  through  the  untiring  energy  and 
perseverance  of  the  prominent  members  of  the  Mer- 
chants' Exchange  and  other  leading  business  men 
and  citizens,  chief  among  whom  was  George  Knapp, 
senior  proprietor  of  the  Missouri  Republican,  a  pro- 
ject for  rebuilding  the  hotel  took  definite  shape,  and 
was  speedily  urged  to  a  successful  termination.  Hon. 
Thomas  Allen  assumed  the  leading  part  in  the 
movement,  and  to  him  more  than  to  any  other  per- 
son was  due  the  erection  of  the  present  magnificent 
building.  For  the  construction  of  the  hotel  building, 
Mr.  Allen  engaged  Messrs.  George  I.  Barnett  and 
Isaac  Taylor,  architects,  to  carry  out  his  plans,  and 
selected  his  son  George  W.  Allen  as  general  super- 
intendent of  the  whole  work.  The  Southern  Hotel 
occupies  the  block  between  Walnut  and  Elm,  two 
hundred  and  twenty-six  feet,  and  Fourth  and  Fifth 
Streets,  two  hundred  and  seventy-five  feet,  has  three 
fronts  of  stone  on  Walnut,  Fourth,  and  Fifth  Streets, 
and  is  six  stories  high,  with  an  additional  basement 
as  highly  finished  as  any  floor  of  the  house. 

Mr.  Allen  obtained  possession  of  the  block  on  the 
21st  of  May,  1879,  when  the  preliminary  work  was 
commenced,  and  the  building  was  begun  in  August, 
1879.  Mr.  Allen's  first  and  most  solicitous  object 
was  to  erect  a  thorough  fire-proof  house  from  base- 
ment to  roof.  To  this  end  he  bent  all  his  energies, 
and  enlisted  the  ingenuity  of  the  architects  and 
builders.  On  the  principle  that  a  building  is  only 
as  strong  as  its  weakest  part,  he  resolved  that  there 
should  be  no  weak  place,  and  was  constantly  on  his 
guard  against  a  flaw.  Enough  of  the  heaviest  rail- 
road iron  to  lay  seven  miles  of  track  was  used  as 
support  for  the  floors,  which  are  laid  on  solid  cement. 
Besides  the  interior  brick  walls  necessary  to  give 
strength  to  the  structure,  the  apartment  partitions  are 
of  gypsum,  sand,  cement,  and  pulverized  coke,  with 
no  particle  of  wood  in  them.  The  doors,  window- 


1448 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


frames,  and  other  necessary  wood-work  are  of  gum, 
cypress,  and  ash,  hard  wood,  and  of  the  finest  finish. 
Should  fire  occur  in  any  of  the  rooms  it  would  neces- 
sarily stop  with  the  furniture  and  upholstery  of  the 
one  room,  as  there  is  no  chance  of  its  eating  through 
or  crawling  out.  There  is  no  exception  to  this 
thorough  fire-proofing  in  any  part  of  the  building. 
The  builders  pronounce  the  Southern  the  most  thor- 
oughly fire-proof  hotel  structure  in  the  world. 

Among  the  additional  features  of  special  interest 
are  two  engines,  basement  fixtures,  running  machinery 
for  elevators,  electric  light,  and  the  latest  improved 


vators,  two  for  passengers  and  three  for  freight  and 
other  purposes.  It  will  thus  be  seen  the  means  for 
ingress  and  egress  are  abundant. 

The  rotunda  hall,  extending  from  Walnut  to  Elm 
Streets,  is  two  hundred  and  twenty-six  feet  long  and 
sixty  feet  wide  ;  the  cross  hall,  from  Fourth  to  Fifth 
Street,  is  two  hundred  and  seventy-five  feet  long  and 
twenty-six  and  a  half  feet  wide,  and  the  rotunda  ter- 
minates in  a  skylight  at  the  roof,  the  several  floors 
being  guarded  by  balusters.  A  terrace-garden  on  the 
roof  over  the  grand  dining-hall  is  ninety-eight  by  fifty- 
eight  feet  in  extent,  and  safely  guarded  by  an  iron 


J.  H.  Breslin,  President. 

C.  P.  Warner,  Vice-President. 

Thos.  Breslin. 


THE   SOUTHERN   HOTEL. 


G.  W.  Allen,  Secretary  and  Treasurer. 

W.  R.  Allen. 

Chas.  P.  Warner,  General  Manager. 


smoke-consuming  furnaces  in  thebasement  and  kitchen, 
which  also  make  drafts  for  carrying  off  all  impure 
air.  There  are  three  hundred  and  fifty  rooms  for 
guests,  connected  with  the  office  by  a  system  of  elec- 
tric bells,  and  there  is  hot  and  cold  water  throughout 
the  house.  The  building  is  heated  with  steam,  and, 
besides,  there  are  fireplaces  and  grates  in  every  room 
for  coal-  or  wood-fires.  The  public  parlors  are  also 
thus  supplied. 

There  are  three  main  stairways  of  iron  and  slate, 
extending  from  the  ground-floor  to  the  upper  story, 
for  the  uso  of  guests,  ajid  two  iron  stairways  for 
servants.  Besides  these  there  are  five  hydraulic  de- 


railing. The  garden  is  laid  out  with  paths  and  prom- 
enades, and  flowers  and  shrubbery  watered  by  foun- 
tains. The  furniture  was  ordered  and  selected  wholly 
by  James  H.  Breslin  and  Robert  M.  Taylor,  and  the 
entire  outfit,  including  carpets,  drapery,  silverware, 
etc.,  cost  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand  dol- 
lars. On  May  11,  1881,  the  Southern  Hotel  was 
formally  opened  with  a  ball  and  banquet.  Hon.  E.  O. 
Stanard,  chairman  of  the  committee  of  arrangements, 
introduced  Hon.  Thomas  T.  Crittenden,  Governor  of 
Missouri,  who  made  a  brief  address.  On  the  following 
day  the  new  "  Southern"  began  to  receive  guests. 
The  first  non-residents  to  register  were  Governor  and 


BENCH  AND  BAR. 


1449 


Mrs.  Crittenden.     The   entire    block  was  owned    by 
Thomas  Allen. 

The  Southern  is  managed  by  the  Southern  Hotel 
Company,  as  follows :  James  H.  Breslin,  presi- 
dent ;  George  W.  Allen,  secretary  and  treasurer ; 
Charles  P.  Warner,  W.  R.  Allen,  Thomas  Breslin. 
Of  these,  James  H.  Breslin  and  Charles  P.  Warner 
were  identified  with  the  management  of  the  old 
"  Southern,"  and  have  a  wide  public  acquaintance. 
The  various  departments  are  in  charge  of  the  fol- 
lowing persons :  W.  M.  Bates,  general  manager ; 
John  E.  Mulford,  private  office  and  head  book-keeper  ; 
E.  V.  Williams,  cashier,  late  of  Tift  House,  Buffalo, 
N.  Y. ;  M.  W.  Quinn,  chief  room  clerk  ;  Charles  E. 
Myers,  room  clerk,  Tift  House,  Buffalo ;  F.  W.  Lee,  key 
clerk  ;  William  A.  Gilbert,  key  clerk  ;  William  Patton, 
night  clerk ;  Horace  M.  Clark,  steward.  W.  M.  Bates, 
general  manager,  was  placed  in  1859  in  a  responsible 
position  in  the  office  of  the  famous  St.  Nicholas,  New 
York,  where  he  remained  for  years.  Then  he  connected 
himself  with  the  Ocean  House,  Newport,  R.  I.,  when 
he  subsequently  became  a  partner  in  the  business.  In 
1877  he  leased  Congress  Hall,  Saratoga  Springs, 
under  the  firm-name  of  Bates,  Rogers  &  Farnsworth, 
and  since  has  been  connected  with  the  Fifth  Avenue, 
New  York,  and  the  Ocean  House,  Newport,  R.  I. 


CHAPTER    XXXIV. 

BENCH   AND    BAR. 

IN  a  large  sense  it  may  be  said  that  the  history  of 
a  community  is  written  in  the  records  and  traditions 
of  its  courts  of  justice.  If  it  has  grown  rapidly,  and 
from  small  beginnings ;  if  difficulties  have  beset  its 
path,  and  a  stirring,  energetic  people  wrought  great 
things  with  courage  and  foresight ;  if,  above  all, 
diverse  elements  of  language  and  society  have  min- 
gled and  struggled  there,  the  bench  and  bar  will  in- 
evitably reflect  these  characteristics  and  meet  these 
needs,  it  will  be  strong,  brilliant,  and  original,  offer- 
ing high  prizes  to  genius,  but  little  place  for  medi- 
ocre talent.  A  glance  at  the  political  history  of  Upper 
Louisiana,  from  which  Missouri  was  carved,  shows  that 
to  this  battle-ground  young  giants  of  the  law  found 
their  way.  Its  ownership  first  by  France,  then  by 
Spain,  and  afterwards  again  by  France,  .introduced 
into  its  colonial  practice  peculiarities  of  both  the 
Spanish  and  the  French  codes,  and  formed  customs 
which  in  later  times  had  to  be  interpreted  and  regu- 
lated by  the  principles  of  English  law.  When,  in 
March,  1804,  at  St.  Louis,  Commandant  Delassus 


transferred  the  territory  to  Capt.  Stoddard,  represen- 
tative of  the  United  States,  the  throbbing  current  of 
American  life  flowed  unimpeded  into  the  quiet  and 
almost  Arcadian  communities  of  Upper  Louisiana. 
A  wise  policy  prevented  difficulties  and  harmonized 
conflicting  interests,  but  for  years  Missouri  courts  had 
tasks  before  them  which  required  the  utmost  tact, 
judgment,  firmness,  and  acumen.  It  is  easy  to  see 
why  this  should  have  been  so.  Three  distinct  classes 
of  emigration  had,  previous  to  1804,  flowed  into  the 
Territory,  attracted  by  its  fertile  soil,  its  abundant 
game,  its  mild  laws,  and  the  picturesque  simplicity  of 
its  customs.  From  Canada  by  way  of  the  great 
lakes  and  the  network  of  streams  that  cross  Illinois, 
or  floating  down  the  upper  Mississippi,  many  French 
voyageurs  had  found  their  way,  so  that  in  some  dis- 
tricts a  French  patois  was  almost  the  only  language 
spoken.  French  and  Spanish  families  from  New  Or- 
leans ventured  the  voyage  northward,  and  in  some 
districts  the  Spanish  element  predominated.  Sturdy 
Western  hunters,  trappers,  traders,  and  farmers  were 
beginning  to  occupy  points  of  vantage  and  invest  in 
lands,  timber,  and  town  property.  The  rude  border 
life  developed  a  race  of  plainspoken  frontiersmen, 
who  afterwards  carried  into  their  innumerable  legal 
battles  that  necessarily  grew  from  conflicting  land 
grants  and  titles  the  same  courage  and  tenacity  that 
they  showed  in  their  Indian  wars.  The  able  and 
courageous  lawyers  who  won  their  way  to  fame  and 
fortune  in  the  earlier  days  of  Missouri  were  not  only 
trained  athletes  of  the  judicial  forum,  but  their  lives 
were  crowded  with  romantic  incident  and  adventure. 
It  was  absolutely  essential  to  professional  success  that 
a  lawyer  should  be  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the 
Spanish  language  and  civil  law.  As  Hon.  W.  V.  N. 
Bay,  late  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Missouri, 
says  in  his  interesting  reminiscences  of  the  bench  and 
bar  of  that  State,  "  A  want  of  knowledge  of  either 
unfitted  the  claimant  to  legal  honors  to  cope  with 
those  who  had  devoted  years  of  laborious  study  to 
their  acquirement." 

The  St.  Louis  bar  was  from  the  first  a  centre  of 
legal  activity  in  the  Territory,  and  many  of  its  mem- 
bers won  national  reputation.  Among  its  character- 
istic leaders  were  such  men  as  Benton,  the  Lucases, 
Geyer,  Easton,  Gamble,  McGirk,  Hempstead,  Petti- 
bone,  Tompkins,  Darby,  Spalding,  the  Bartons,  Law- 
less, Bates,  Allen,  Mullanphy,  Leslie,  Wright,  Blen- 
nerhassett,  Polk,  Gantt,  Williams,  Bowlin,  Leonard, 
Field,  and  others  who  belonged  in  the  same  brilliant 
coterie.  The  student  of  the  bench  and  bar  of  St. 
Louis  in  its  early  days  will  search  long  for  a  parallel 
in  points  of  force  and  originality.  The  lawyers  of 


1450 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Kentucky,  of  Southern  Ohio,  and  of  Indiana  had 
the  same  extensive  practice  in  profitable  land  litiga- 
tion, and  developed  the  same  rough  and  ready  wit, 
terse,  epigrammatic  speech,  and  Western  eloquence ; 
the  lawyers  of  Texas,  and  at  a  later  date  those  of  the 
southern  portion  of  California  and  of  New  Mexico 
had  to  struggle  in  like  measure  with  the  difficulties  of 
the  Spanish  code  and  Spanish  language ;  but  only  in 
Missouri  were  all  these  complex  and  varied  elements 
mingled  in  stormy  confusion,  in  a  conflict  of  diverse 
creeds,  systems,  and  languages,  whose  struggle  and 
final  harmonious  union  are  written  in  the  pages  of 
court  records  and  legislative  enactments  of  Territory 
and  State. 

There  were  a  few  capable  and  efficient  lawyers,  mostly 
French,  in  St.  Louis  previous  to  1804,  and  they  soon 
found  that  the  American  purchase  meant  for  them 
only  increased  business  activity  and  infinitely  broader 
opportunities,  which  they  were  not  slow  to  embrace. 
In  many  cases  the  wise  policy  of  the  United  States 
retained  the  former  alcaldes  as  justices  of  the  peace 
under  the  new  government.  The  Chouteaus,  the 
Chauvins,  the  Prattes,  and  the  Leducs  were  leaders 
among  the  French  citizens.  In  1764,  Col.  Auguste 
Chouteau  landed  at  what  is  now  the  foot  of  Market 
Street,  St.  Louis,  and  camped  there.  In  1799,  when 
a  census  was  taken,  both  St.  Charles  and  Ste.  Gene- 
vieve  exceeded  St.  Louis  in  population,  and  drew 
much  legal  talent  to  their  courts.  Of  the  four  legal 
and  military  districts  of  St.  Charles,  St.  Louis,  Ste. 
Genevieve,  and  Cape  Girardeau,  no  one  could  in  1804 
foresee  which  would  contain  the  metropolis.  In  that 
year  Col.  Rufus  Easton  and  Edward  Hempstead 
came  to  the  Territory. 

At  this  time  the  district  of  Louisiana,  in  which  St. 
Louis  was  situated,  was  attached  to  the  Territory  of 
Indiana,  whose  courts  exercised  jurisdiction  over  the 
newly-acquired  country.  The  Governor  and  judges 
were  instructed  by  the  act  of  Congress  of  March  26, 
1804,  to  hold  two  courts  a  year  at  St.  Louis  and  enact 
such  laws  for  the  immediate  government  of  the  dis- 
trict as  they  might  find  necessary.  Accordingly,  Wil- 
liam Henry  Harrison,  Governor,  and  Thomas  Terry 
Davis,  Henry  Vanderburgh,  and  John  Griffin,  judges  I 
of  the  Territory  of  Indiana,  adopted  a  code  of  laws 
for  the  government  of  the  district.  The  first  law  in  i 
the  code  established  the  office  of  sheriff,  the  second 
was  one  for  regulating  boatmen,  the  third  established 
recorders'  offices,  the  fourth  was  entitled  "  a  law 
respecting  slaves,"  the  fifth  was  "  a  law  of  defalca- 
tion," and  the  sixth  "  regulating  the  oath  of  office." 

A  copy  of  the  Republican  Register,  a  newspaper 
published  at  that  period  in  Rushville,  Ky.,  dated  June 


20th,  contains  a  letter,  dated  Vincennes,  May  29, 1805, 
which  thus  describes  the  holding  of  the  first  general 
court  in  St.  Louis  : 

"  The  first  general  court  in  and  for  the  district  of  Louisiana 
was  opened  in  the  town  of  St.  Louis  on  Tuesday,  the  6th  of  May 
inst.,  at  about  eleven  o'clock  A.M.  The  judges,  Vanderburgh  and 
Griffin,  being  attended  by  the  sheriff  and  his  deputy,  the  bar, 
and  a  respectable  number  of  citizens,  proceeded  to  the  house  of 
Monsieur  Chouteau.  After  the  grand  jury  (which  was  composed 
of  twenty  odd  of  the  most  respectable  citizens)  were  sworn,  his 
Honor  Judge  Vanderburgh  delivered  a  charge  of  some  length, 
in  which  he  congratulated  them  upon  the  happiness  and  pros- 
perity they  would  experience  from  the  change  of  government. 
The  grand  jury  continued  their  session  from  Tuesday  until  Fri- 
day morning.  They  found  an  indictment  against  one  Davis  for 
murder,  without  malice,  of  his  father-in-law,  and  one  against 
one  Hunter  and  Dennis  for  the  willful  murder  of  one  Clark,  a 
presentment  against  the  inferior  court,  and  one  against  John 
Mullanphy,  Esq.,  as  presiding  justice  of  the  inferior  court  of 
the  district  of  Louis.  Hunter,  upon  traversing  the  indictment, 
was  acquitted ;  Dennis  was  found  guilty  of  manslaughter  and 
punished;  Davis  was  acquitted,  and  so  was  Mullanphy.  The 
Indian  prisoner,  who  was  some  time  in  confinement  in  the  gar- 
rison at  St.  Louis,  in  endeavoring  to  make  his  escape  (a  few 
days  previous  to  the  arrival  of  the  President's  pardon),  was  shot 
by  the  sentinel,  and  from  the  wound  he  received  was  enabled  to 
get  about  six  miles,  where  he  was  found  dead  some  time  after. 
During  the  sitting  of  the  court  the  Sioux  nation  of  Indians 
brought  down  a  prisoner  for  having  killed  two  Canadians. 
There  was  no  confession  by  which  he  was  justified  in  the 
commission  of  the  act.  The  court,  after  a  session  of  fifteen 
days,  during  which  a  variety  of  business  was  done,  adjourned 
till  court  in  course." 

The  letter  mentions  an  "  inferior  court,"  which  ap- 
pears to  have  been  formed  of  a  quorum  of  justices  of 
the  peace,  over  which  John  Mullanphy  presided. 

Courts  of  Quarter  Sessions,  to  hold  four  terms  each 
year,  were  established  for  the  five  sub-districts  into 
which  the  district  was  divided,  with  a  sheriff  and 
recorder  for  each  sub-district,  the  court  at  St.  Louis  to 
meet  on  the  third  Tuesday  of  June,  September,  De- 
cember, and  March.  The  first  session  of  this  court 
in  St.  Louis,  as  stated  elsewhere,  was  an  Oyer  and 
Terminer  held  Dec.  18,  1804,  at  the  tavern  of  Etnil- 
ien  Yosti.  The  justices  present  were  Auguste  Chou- 
teau, Jacques  Glamorgan,  David  Delaunay,  and  James 
Mackay,  and  the  sheriff  was  James  Rankin.  Charles 
Gratiot  was  presiding  justice,  and  Edward  Hemp- 
stead  was  deputy  attorney-general  pro  tern. 

By  the  act  of  March  3,  1805,  Congress  provided 
for  the  appointment  of  three  judges,  who*  with  the 
Governor  should  constitute  the  Legislature  of  the 
newly-created  Territory  of  Louisiana.  These  judges 
were  J.  B.  C.  Lucas,  John  Coburn,  and  Rufus  Easton, 
who  constituted  what  was  known  as  the  Superior 
Court.  Before  the  new  government  was  organized, 
however,  the  Court  of  Quarter  Sessions  had  held 
another  term,  March,  1805,  Charles  Gratiot  presiding. 


BENCH  AND  BAR. 


1451 


In  addition  to  those  already  named,  Alexander  Mc- 
Nair,  of  St.  Louis,  and  Richard  Caulk,  James  Rich- 
ardson, and  John  Allen,  from  the  other  sub-districts, 
(  occupied  seats  on  the  bench.  In  1806  the  judges  of 
.  the  Superior  Court  were  J.  B.  C.  Lucas,  R.  J.  Meigs, 
and  Otho  Strader.  In  June  of  this  year  the  Terri- 
torial Legislature  provided  for  a  general  court  to  be 
held  in  St.  Louis  twice  a  year,  which  exercised  the 
functions  of  a  Court  of  Appeals  or  Supreme  Bench, 
and  in  October  of  the  same  year  for  a  clerk  of  the 
General  Court,  Joseph  V.  Gamier  being  appointed  to 
the  position.  In  1807  the  Legislature  passed  an  act 
reconstructing  the  courts,  which  provided  that  judges 
of  the  Common  Pleas  should  be  appointed  by  the 
Governor  for  each  district  for  four  years,  two  being  a 
quorum  to  hold  court.  There  were  to  be  three  terms 
a  year  in  St.  Louis,  on  the  first  Mondays  of  March, 
July,  and  November.  The  act  also  provided  for  a 
Court  of  Oyer  and  Terminer  (criminal),  to  consist  of 
the  judges  of  the  General  Court  and  the  Common 
Pleas  judges  of  the  respective  districts  when  the  pun- 
ishment involved  life  or  death.  Other  criminal  cases 
were  to  be  tried  in  the  Quarter  Sessions,  with  a  clerk 
for  each  district.  It  was  further  provided  that  a 
Supreme  Court,  called  the  General  Court,  should  sit 
in  St.  Louis  on  the  first  Mondays  of  May  and  Oc- 
tober.1 

In  the  mean  time  the  Common  Pleas  Court  had  been 
in   active   operation.     At    the   March   term,    1806, 
Joseph  Browne  was  presiding  justice,  with  Messrs. 
Chouteau,  Delaunay,  and  Mackay  associates  ;  Andrew 
Steel,  prothonotary.     At  the  special  term  of  Quarter  ; 
Sessions,  in  October  of  the  same  year,  Jacques  Cla-  j 
morgan,  Bernard  Pratte,  and  William  Christy  were  the 
justices  in  attendance.     The  sheriff  at  this  time  was  ' 
Jeremiah  Connor.     In    June,  1807,  Silas   Bent  as-  j 
sumed  the  duties  of  presiding  justice  of  the  Common 
Pleas,  having  been  appointed  to  that  position  by  act-  i 
ing    Governor   Bates.     On  the   19th   of  September,  { 
1808,  a  Court  of  Oyer  and  Terminer  was  held,  J.  B.  j 
C.  Lucas  presiding,  with  Judge  Chouteau  as  associate. 
At  the  February  term  in  1809,  Judge  Lucas'  associ- 
ates were  Judges  Pratte  and  Labeaume. 

The  act  of  Congress  of  June  4, 1812,  provided  that 
there  should  be  three  judges  of  the  Superior  Court,  to 
serve  four  years,  and  by  the  act  of  the  Legislature 
Aug.  20,  1813,  the  old  courts  were  abolished,  and  it 
was  provided  that  three  judges  of  Common  Pleas  for 
each  county  should  be  appointed  by  the  Governor  for 
four  years.  These  courts  were  to  hold  three  terms  a 

1  For  a  full  account  of  the  proceedings  of  this  court  see 
Chapter  XIV.  of  this  work,  vol.  i.  p.  331-34. 


year,  those  for  St.  Louis  on  the  third  Monday  of 
February,  first  Monday  of  June,  and  third  Monday 
of  September.  The  clerks  of  these  courts  were  also 
to  be  recorders  of  deeds.  On  the  4th  of  January, 
1815,  county  courts  were  established  for  each  county 
except  Arkansas ;  the  term  in  St.  Louis  commencing 
on  the  second  Monday  in  March,  June,  September, 
and  January,  the  clerk  for  each  to  be  recorder.  The 
Territory  was  divided  into  two  circuits, — St.  Louis,  St. 
Charles,  and  Washington  constituting  the  northern 
circuit,  and  Ste.  Genevieve,  Cape  Girardeau,  and  New 
Madrid  the  southern,  with  three  terms  a  year,  com- 
mencing in  St.  Louis  on  the  second  Mondays  in  Feb- 
ruary, June,  and  October.  The  old  courts  were 
abolished,  and  a  clerk  for  each  county  was  to  be  ap- 
pointed by  the  judges.  The  Superior  Court  was  to 
hold  one  term  annually  in  St.  Louis,  commencing  on 
the  first  Monday  of  July.  On  the  15th  of  the  same 
month  the  office  of  attorney-general  of  the  Territory 
was  abolished,  and  a  circuit  attorney  for  each  circuit 
provided  for.  An  act  of  Jan.  21, 1816,  directed  that 
the  Superior  Court  should  hold  two  terms  annually  in 
each  circuit  (commencing  in  St.  Louis  on  the  third 
Monday  of  March  and  September),  and  that  a  clerk 
for  each  circuit  should  be  appointed.  The  same  act 
abolished  the  county  courts  and  transferred  their  duties 
to  the  Circuit  Courts.  The  latter  met  in  St.  Louis  on 
the  first  Monday  in  May,  August,  and  November, 
and  the  Superior  Court  on  the  third  Monday  in  March 
and  September.  On  the  1st  of  February,  1817,  the 
Legislature  passed  an  act  changing  the  time  of  hold- 
ing the  courts, — Superior  Court  in  St.  Louis,  northern 
circuit,  fourth  Monday  in  March  and  August ;  Cir- 
cuit Court  in  St.  Louis,  second  Monday  in  February, 
June,  and  October.  In  1818  the  Circuit  Court  of  St. 
Louis  met  on  the  first  Monday  in  April,  August,  and 
December,  and  the  Superior  Court  on  the  fourth  Mon- 
day in  April  and  the  third  Monday  in  September. 
The  following  is  a  list  of  the  presiding  justices, 
clerks,  sheriffs,  etc.,  of  the  Courts  of  Common  Pleas 
under  the  old  organization  : 

PRESIDING  JUSTICES. 

Charles  Gratiot,  appointed  December,  1804,  by  Governor  Har- 
rison. 

Joseph  Browne,  appointed  March,  1806,  by  Governor  Wilkin- 
son. 

Silas  Bent,  appointed  June,  1807,  by  Secretary  Browne. 

William  Christy,  appointed  March,  1813,  by  Governor  Howard. 

CLERKS  OP  THE  COMMON  PLEAS. 

Rufus  Easton,  appointed  December,  1804,  by  Governor  Har- 
rison. 

Thos.  F.  Riddick,  appointed  March,  1805,  by  Governor  Har- 
rison. 

Andrew  Steele,  appointed  March,  1806,  by  Governor  Wilkinson. 


1452 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


William  Christy,  appointed  March,  1807,  by  Secretary  Browne. 

Thomas  F.  Riddick,  appointed  July,  1807,  by  Secretary  F. 
Bates. 

SHERIFFS. 

James  Rankin,  appointed  December,  1804,  by  Governor  Har- 
rison. 

Josiah  McLanahan,  appointed  June,  1805,  by  Governor  Har- 
rison. 

Jeremiah  Connor,  appointed  September,  1806,  by  Governor 
Wilkinson. 

Alexander  MeNair,  appointed  November,  1810,  by  Secretary 
F.  Bates. 

John  W.  Thompson,  appointed  July,  1813,  by  Governor  Clark. 

Joshua  C.  Browne,  appointed  April,  1819,  by  Governor  Clark. 

DEPUTY  ATTORNEYS-GENERAL. 

Edward  Hempstead,  appointed  December,  1804,  by  Governor 
Harrison. 

Rufus  Easton,  appointed  March,  1805,  by  Governor  Harrison. 

Edward  Hempstead,  appointed  June,  1805,  by  Governor  Har- 
rison. 

James  L.  Donaldson,  appointed  December,  1805,  by  Governor 
Wilkinson. 

Edward  Hempstead,  appointed  May,  1809,  by  Governor  Lewis. 

Thomas  T.  Crittenden,  appointed  November,  1810,  by  Governor 
Howard. 

Robert  Wash,  appointed  November,  1811,  by  Secretary  Bates. 

David  Barton,  appointed  March,  1813,  by  Secretary  Bates. 

CORONER  AND  CONSTABLE. 

William  Sullivan,  appointed  December,  1804,  by  Governor  Har- 
rison. 

In  1825  the  Legislature  passed  a  law  establishing 
judicial  districts  and  circuits,  which  prescribed  the 
following  as  the  times  of  holding  the  several  courts 
in  St.  Louis  County  :  The  Supreme  Court  in  the  city 
of  St.  Louis  on  the  fourth  Mondays  of  May  and  No- 
vember ;  the  Circuit  Court  on  the  fourth  Mondays  in 
March,  July,  and  November;  the  Probate  Court  on 
the  first  Mondays  of  March,  June,  September,  and 
December. 

The  St.  Louis  Criminal  Court  was  established  in 
1839  (the  first  term  to  be  held  in  March  of  that  year), 
with  a  view  of  giving  the  Circuit  Court  full  time  to 
transact  the  civil  business  of  the  county,  criminal 
business  having  before  that  time  attached  to  that 
court  alone.  In  progress  of  time  the  Common  Pleas 
Court,  and  even  the  land  commissioners'  court,  was 
created  with  the  design  to  relieve  the  Circuit  Court 
of  a  portion  of  its  labors. 

Soon  after  the  admission  of  Missouri  into  the  Union 
the  entire  State  was  made  one  United  States  district, 
with  a  District  Court  which  sat  twice  a  year,  usually 
for  a  very  few  days,  at  Jefferson  City ;  and  a  Circuit 
Court  for  that  district  sat  twice  a  year  at  St.  Louis, 
the  district  judge  holding  it  either  alone  or  in  conjunc- 
tion with  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  justice 
assigned  to  the  circuit  of  which  Missouri  composed  a 
part.  Prior  to  1852  the  admiralty  jurisdiction  of  the 


United  States  District  Courts  had  been  so  strictly  con- 
strued that  very  few  "  steamboat  suits"  were  brought 
in  that  of  Missouri,  and  litigation  of  that  description 
was  almost  entirely  confined  to  the  State  tribunals. 

But  at  its  December  term  of  1851  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court  made  a  decision,  in  the  "  Genesee 
Chief"  case  (12  Howard,  p.  443),  by  which  the  admi- 
ralty jurisdiction  of  the  United  States  courts,  pre- 
viously regarded  as  confined  to  tide-waters, — the 
"  navigable  waters"  at  common  law, — was  held  to  ex- 
tend to  the  great  lakes  and  rivers,  navigable  in  fact. 
As  such  jurisdiction  was  superior,  in  most  cases,  to 
that  of  any  State  court,  the  Missouri  District  Court 
began  to  be  crowded  with  cases  affecting  steamboats 
and  other  river-craft  and  river  men.  As  the  trial  of 
these  cases  at  Jefferson  City  occasioned  great  incon- 
venience and  expense  to  litigants  residing  at  St. 
Louis,  there  soon  arose  a  very  general  demand  for  the 
establishment  of  a  United  States  District  Court  in  St. 
Louis. 

But  various  difficulties  in  the  way  of  it  were  soon 
discovered.  The  first  suggestion,  as  of  the  most 
economical  plan,  and  therefore  that  most  easily  and 
promptly  to  be  got  through  Congress,  was  that  sessions 
of  the  District  Court  should  be  held  in  St.  Louis  as 
well  as  at  Jefferson  City,  or  that  the  court  should  be 
entirely  transferred  to  the  latter  place.  To  either  of 
these  plans  there  were  serious  objections.  As  the  en- 
tire Indian  country  between  the  western  boundaries 
of  Missouri,  Iowa,  and  Minnesota  was  then  annexed 

',  for  certain  purposes  to  the  Missouri  district,  and  offen- 
ders against  the  laws  in  that  country  were  tried 

I  in  that  district,  the  administration  at  Washington 
objected  to  the  additional  expense  and  trouble  which 
would  arise  from  the  transfer  of  trials  to  St.  Louis, 

!  and  the  steamboat  interests  of  the  upper  Missouri 
River  and  its  tributaries  joined  in  the  objection. 

I  Against  the  holding  of  terms  at  St.  Louis  by  the 
district  judge,  who  resided  at  Jefferson  City,  it  was 
objected  that,  as  an  admiralty  court  is  always  in 
session,  and  the  great  bulk  of  admiralty  business  in 
Missouri  arose  at  St.  Louis,  either  the  judge  would 
have  to  remove  to  St.  Louis,  or  the  lawyers  would  still 
have  to  go  to  him  at  Jefferson  City,  not  then  connected 
by  railroad  with  St.  Louis,  to  attend  to  the  business 
constantly  arising  between  the  regular  terms  of  court. 
The  opinion  of  the  bar  and  of  the  commercial  public 
therefore  soon  settled  upon  the  plan  of  dividing  Mis- 
souri into  two  districts  and  establishing  a  separate  Dis- 
trict Court  at  St.  Louis. 

Senator  Stephen  A.  Douglas  had  about  that  time 
suggested  a  reorganization  of  the  Federal  judiciary, 
and  a  part  of  his  plan  was  to  compose  the  Circuit 


BENCH  AND  BAR. 


1453 


Court  of  all  the  district  judges  within  the  circuit,  sit- 
ting together,  as  an  appellate  court.  This  suggested 
the  plan  which  was  finally  adopted  for  the  organ- 
ization of  the  United  States  Circuit  Court  at  St. 
Louis.  A  bill  was  drafted  by  which  the  old  district 
was  divided  into  the  Eastern  and  Western.  Judge 
Wells  was  assigned  to  the  Western,  in  which  he  had 
so  long  resided,  a  new  district  judge  was  to  be  ap- 
pointed for  the  Eastern,  and  both  judges  were  to  sit 
in  the  Circuit  Court  at  St.  Louis,  the  senior  in  com- 
mission to  preside  in  the  absence  of  the  Supreme 
Court  justice. 

The  bill  above  described  was  introduced  into  the 
United  States  Senate  by  the  senior  Missouri  senator, 
Henry  S.  Geyer,  and  with  the  support  of  his  col- 
league, Senator  James  S.  Green,  and  of  Senators 
Seward,  Fessenden,  and  Douglas,  promptly  passed 
that  body.  It  ran  some  risk  of  delay  under  the  rules 
in  the  House  of  Representatives,  but  through  the  par- 
liamentary skill  and  great  personal  influence  of  Hon. 
John  S.  Phelps  it  was  taken  up  and  promptly  passed 
by  that  body  on  the  last  day  of  the  session,  March  3, 
1857.  It  was  at  once  approved  by  President  Pierce. 
The  Missouri  delegation  in  Congress  presented  to  him 
its  unanimous  recommendation  of  Hon.  Samuel  Treat 
for  the  new  judgeship.  The  President  at  once  made 
the  nomination,  with  the  complimentary  remark  that 
Judge  Treat  was  also  his  own  choice.  Indeed,  so 
general  had  been  the  recognition  of  his  especial  fit- 
ness for  the  distinguished  position,  that  the  name  of 
no  other  person  had  been  mentioned  in  connection 
with  it.  The  Senate  unanimously  confirmed  the 
appointment,  and  his  commission  was  signed  by 
President  Pierce. 

After  devoting  the  necessary  time  to  finishing  up 
the  pressing  business  of  the  St.  Louis  Court  of  Com- 
mon Pleas,  Judge  Treat  took  the  oath  of  office  on 
March  23,  1857,  and  on  the  next  day  organized  his 
District  Court.  At  the  next  term  of  the  new  United 
States  Circuit  Court,  on  April  6,  1857,  he  took  his 
seat  with  Judge  Wells  on  the  bench. 

Up  to  1877  the  courts  of  St.  Louis  exercised  jur- 
isdiction over  both  city  and  county,  but  in  that  year 
a  separate  county  court  was  organized,  and  a  new 
court-house  for  the  county  was  erected  at  Clayton  in 
the  following  year. 

From  1804  to  1812  the  courts  provided  an  abun- 
dance of  work  for  members  of  the  St.  Louis  bar.  The 
treaty  of  cession  stipulated  that  the  "  inhabitants  of 
Louisiana  should  be  protected  in  the  free  enjoyment 
of  liberty,  property,  and  religion."  Congress  passed 
various  acts  to  enforce  these  rights,  but,  as  John  F. 
Darby,  one  of  the  leading  lawyers  of  early  St.  Louis, 


says,  there  were  not,  up  to  1811,  three  perfect  land 
titles  in  all  Upper  Louisiana.  Spanish  grants  and 
conflicting  claims  of  every  sort,  growing  out  of  surveys 
of  a  primitive  kind,  and  judicial  decisions  under 
French,  Spanish,  and  American  law  gave  the  lawyers 
1  enough  business.  A  similar  state  of  affairs  in  Cali- 
i  fornia  has  produced  corresponding  results,  some  of 
j  the  famous  land  cases  there  being  still  in  court  after 
twenty  years  of  conflict  among  opposing  claimants. 
Lawyers  who  won  renown  in  these  entangled  civil 
cases  were  fit  to  cross  weapons  with  the  best  legal 
talent  of  the  country,  and  their  fees  were  correspond- 
ingly large.  It  was  a  time  when  "  homespun  ways" 
ruled  everywhere,  and  judges  who  presided  at  the 
Circuit  Courts  and  young  lawyers  who  pleaded  before 
them  were  trained  in  a  hard,  healthy  school  that  de- 
veloped manhood  and  originality. 

Old  files  of  the  St.  Louis  papers  throw  consider- 
able light  upon  the  state  of  society  in  these  earlier 
years.  Sept.  23,  1808,  the  trial  of  George  Duillard 
for  the  alleged  murder  of  Antoine  Bissonette  came  off 
in  the  District  Court.  Hon.  J.  B.  C.  Lucas  presided, 
and  Hon.  Auguste  Chouteau  was  associate  justice. 
Attorney-General  John  Scott  prosecuted  the  case,  and 
Edward  Hempstead,  W.  C.  Carr,  and  Rufus  Easton 
were  the  prisoner's  counsel.  The  facts  were  briefly 
these :  Manuel  Lisa,  a  wealthy  St.  Louis  trader,  and 
the  prisoner  had,  in  1807,  joined  forces  and  embarked 
merchandise  which,  with  their  outfits  and  equipments, 
were  worth  $16,000,  as  a  venture  on  a  trading  voyage 
to  the  sources  of  the  Missouri.  They  had  engaged 
the  deceased  to  serve  for  three  years,  and  to  do  duty 
not  only  as  a  hunter,  but  also  to  mount  guard,  and  to 
obey  his  employers  in  every  particular.  Bissonette 
also  agreed  that  he  would  not  leave  their  service  on 
any  pretext  whatever.  But  while  near  the  mouth  of 
the  Osage  River  he  deserted,  and  Mr.  Lisa,  com- 
mander of  this  party  of  traders  in  a  hostile  Indian 
country,  sent  Duillard  and  others  in  pursuit,  saying, 
"  Bring  him,  dead  or  alive."  Duillard  found  him, 
and,  after  calling  on  him  to  surrender,  shot  him  in  the 
shoulder,  from  which  wound  he  died  the  next  day, 
after  saying  that  "  no  one  had  treated  him  ill,  and  he 
did  not  know  why  he  deserted."  Every  possible  care 
was  taken  of  him.  The  jury  in  fifteen  minutes  re- 
turned with  a  verdict  of  acquittal. 

All  the  lawyers  who  took  part  in  this  case  became 
noted  afterwards.  John  Scott,  prosecuting  attorney, 
was  born  in  Virginia  in  1782,  graduated  at  Princeton 
in  1802,  first  located  in  Indiana,  but  went  to  Mis- 
souri in  1804. 

Judge  William  C.  Carr,  son  of  Walter  Carr,  was 
born  in  Albemarle  County,  Va.,  April  15,  1783; 


1454 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


studied  law,  and  came  to  St.  Louis  March  31,  1804, 
at  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  being  only  twenty-five  { 
days  on  the  trip  by  water  from  Louisville.1 

After  remaining  a  month  here  he  went  to  Ste.  Gen-  | 
evieve,  then  a  larger  place,  to  settle.     Here  he  mar-  j 
ried  his  first  wife,  Ann,  daughter  of  Aaron  Elliot,  j 
and  remained  one  year,  when  he  returned  to  St.  Louis 
to  settle  permanently. 

He  was  appointed  circuit  judge  by  Governor  John 
Miller,  and  held  the  first  term  of  his  court  July  24, 
1826.  Judge  Carr  retained  this  office  about  eight 
years,  and  then  resigned  it,  retiring  to  private  life, 
and  died  March  31,  1851,  aged  sixty-eight  years. 

Judge  Carr  left  a  numerous  progeny, — by  his  first 
wife  three  daughters,  who  all  married  ;  and  by  the  sec- 
ond, Dorcas,  a  daughter  of  Silas  Bent,  Sr.,  whom  he 

1  Charles  Carr,  brother  of  Judge  William  C.  Carr,  and  father 
of  Walter  C.  Carr,  at  one  time  president  of  the  Boatmen's 
Savings  Institution,  and  R.  E.  Carr,  at  one  time  president  of 
the  Exchange  Bank  of  St.  Louis,  died  near  Lexington,  Ky., 
Nov.  14,  1868.  He  was  born  in  Spottsylvania  County,  near 
Fredericksburg,  Va.,  on  the  29th  of  October,  1774.  His  father, 
following  the  footsteps  of  Daniel  Boone,  removed  to  the  wilder- 
ness of  Kentucky  in  1777,  leaving  Charles,  only  three  years  old, 
with  his  relatives  till  1785,  when  he  accompanied  a  family  over 
the  mountains  to  his  father's  house,  not  far  from  Lexington, 
then  containing  only  a  few  log  cabins. 

At  the  age  of  nineteen  he  volunteered  as  a  soldier,  in  com- 
pany with  Samuel  R.  Combe  and  other  neighbor  boys,  in  a  Ken- 
tucky regiment  under  Gen.  Wayne,  and  was  in  all  his  opera- 
tions against  the  Northwestern  Indians,  terminating  in  a  bloody 
and  decisive  victory  at  the  foot  of  the  Maumee  Rapids,  some 
ten  miles  above  the  present  city  of  Toledo.  He  was  married  in 
1801  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Todd,  daughter  of  Gen.  Levi  Todd,  also 
an  early  emigrant  to  Kentucky,  and  one  of  the  most  distin- 
guished of  her  Indian-fighters  and  hunters.  He  was  for  some 
years  a  merchant  in  Lexington,  and  about  the  year  1808,  in 
conjunction  with  William  R.  Morton,  bought  out  the  sheriff's 
office  from  the  oldest  magistrate  for  two  years,  and  continued  in 
that  office  for  eight  or  ten  years  by  successive  purchases  from 
senior  justices,  who  had  the  right  to  sell,  as  the  law  then  stood. 
In  the  discharge  of  his  various  official  duties  he  was  always 
polite  and  courteous. 

While  holding  this  office  the  disastrous  battle  of  River  Raisin 
was  fought  by  Gen.  Winchester  on  the  22d  of  January,  1813, 
in  which  so  many  gallant  Kentuckians  lost  their  lives.     A  call 
was  made  for  more  troops,  and  Mr.  Carr  was  among  the  first  to 
volunteer  in  Col.  William  Dudley's  regiment.     His  high  char- 
acter and  business  habits  induced  Col.  Dudley  to  appoint  him 
paymaster,  which  office  he  held  throughout  the  campaign  and 
until  the  troops  were  paid  off  according  to  a  special  act  of  Con- 
gress.    He  was  taken  prisoner  at  Dudley's  defeat  opposite  Fort 
Meigs,  on  the  5th  of  May,  1813,  robbed  of  his  hat  and  coat,  as  j 
all  the  prisoners  were,  and  forced  to  run   the  gauntlet  into  old 
Fort  Maumee,  long  before  given  up  by  the  British,  and   then  ; 
rotted  to  the  ground.     In  this  terrible  exploit  many  were  killed 
and  wounded,  but  Mr.  Carr  was  fortunate  in  escaping  without 
an  injury.     Mr.  Carr  returned  home  and  resumed   his  official  , 
duties,  in  which  he  continued  several  years,   and  at  the  close   | 
was  elected  to  the  Legislature.    In  1827  he  removed  to  the  farm 
on  which  he  died. 


married  in  1829,  several  sons  and  daughters.  His 
fifth  daughter,  Eliza  B.,  was  married  to  William  H. 
Ashley,  Lieutenant-Governor  and  member  of  Con- 
gress ;  the  sixth,  Harriet,  to  Capt.  James  Deane, 
United  States  army  ;  and  the  seventh,  Virginia,  to 
the  late  Dr.  E.  Bathurst  Smith. 

The  St.  Louis  Circuit  Court,  of  which  Mr.  Carr 
was  judge,  embraced  five  large  counties,  and  extended 
nearly  to  the  Arkansas  line.  So  large  was  it  that  it 
was  commonly  called  from  its  largest  county  the 
"  State  of  Gasconade,"  and  Dr.  David  Waldo,  clerk 
of  the  courts,  was  usually  called  "  Governor"  of  this 
State.2  There  were  many  saw-mills  in  the  then  ex- 
tensive pineries,  and  the  lumber  was  rafted  to  St. 
Louis.  Circuit  Court  was  held  at  Mount  Sterling  in  a 
log  court-house.  Although  Judge  Carr  stood  high  at 
the  bar,  he  had  personal  enemies,  and  they  succeeded 
in  having  articles  of  impeachment  presented  by  the 
Legislature.  In  the  winter  of  1832  the  trial  occurred, 
he  being  charged  with  neglect  of  duty,  incapacity, 
and  favoritism,  but  he  was  acquitted  after  a  protracted 
investigation.  Among  the  lawyers  who  practiced  in 
this  Circuit  Court  were  Gamble,  Bates,  Geyer,  Darby, 
Cole,  and  others. 

Upon  the  death  of  Judge  Carr  the  members  of  the 
bar,  with  some  of  whom  he  had  been  associated  ior 
over  thirty  years,  passed  the  usual  resolutions  of  re- 
spect. He  had  been  fortunate  in  his  investments  at 
a  time  when  it  required  little  money  to  purchase 
property  in  what  is  now  the  heart  of  the  city.3 

Edward  Hempstead  was  another  of  the  distinguished 
arrivals  of  1804,  and  the  high  place  he  at  once  took 
is  sufficient  proof  of  his  ability.  His  biography  will 
be  found  in  full  elsewhere. 

But  the  man  whose  advent  in  the  struggling  St. 
Louis  of  1804  was,  perhaps,  of  the  greatest  import- 
ance to  the  community  was  Rufus  Easton,  one  of  the 
most  profound  lawyers  of  that  brilliant  era,  when  such 


2  This  Dr.  Waldo,  afterwards  companion  of  the  Bents  and 
Sublettes,  was  an  unusual  man  in  an  age  of  original  characters. 
He  was  self-taught,  but  his  acquirements  would  have  been  re- 
markable anywhere.  At  one  time  he  was  clerk  of  Circuit 
Court,  ex  officio  recorder  of  deeds,  clerk  of  the  county  court, 
justice  of  the  peace,  deputy  sheriff,  postmaster,  major  in  the 
militia,  and  a  practicing  physician.  He  accumulated  a  large 
fortune,  and  was  almost  the  idol  of  the  community  in  which  he 
lived. 

1  Alfred  W.  Carr,  a  nephew  of  Judge  Carr,  was  born  in  1804, 
in  Kentucky  graduated  at  Transylvania  University,  began 
practice  in  Missouri  in  1828,  in  the  St.  Charles  Circuit,  Hon. 
Beverly  Tucker  judge,  and  soon  became  widely  known,  but  died 
in  his  early  manhood,  leaving  a  young  wife,  daughter  of  Maj. 
Graves,  of  Kentucky.  She  afterwards  married  Col.  Chambers, 
a  lawyer,  who  became  editor  and  part  proprietor  of  the  Mis- 
*onri  Bevbliea*, 


BENCH  AND  BAR. 


1455 


luminaries  as  Geyer,  the  Bartons,  Gamble,  Spalding, 
Allen,  Lawless,  Mullanphy,  Bates,  and  Leonard  were 
leaving  their  impress  upon  the  laws,  statutes,  and  in- 
stitutions of  Missouri.  The  fame  of  these  men  filled 
the  State,  and  any  one  of  them  would  have  held  a 
place  in  the  front  rank  of  any  professional  brother- 
hood in  this  country.  Rufus  Easton  was  born  in 
Litchfield,  Conn.,  May  4,  17*74.  His  parents  were 
of  English  descent,  and  some  of  the  family  rendered 
important  services  in  the  Revolutionary  war.  He  re- 
ceived a  good  education  before  entering  upon  the 
study  of  the  law.  In  February,  1791,  he  became  a 
student  in  the  law-office  of  Ephraim  Kirby,  a  promi- 
nent lawyer  of  Litchfield,  and  remained  with  him  two 
years,  completing  his  studies  elsewhere,  and  obtaining 
a  license  to  practice  law.  To  what  extent,  if  any,  he 
practiced  in  Connecticut  does  not  appear ;  but  at  the 
opening  of  the  present  century  he  is  heard  of  at 
Rome,  N.  Y.,  where  he  soon  became  known  as  a 
promising  young  lawyer.  Here  he  attracted  the  at- 
tention of  the  leading  men  of  the  Republican  party, 
and  was  so  deep  in  their  confidence  as  to  be  consulted 
regarding  Federal  appointments  in  Western  New  York, 
as  appears  from  letters  addressed  to  him  by  Gideon 
Granger,  Mr.  Jefferson's  Postmaster-General. 

Mr.  Easton  spent  the  winter  of  1803-4  at  Wash- 
ington. The  subject  of  the  approaching  Presidential 
election  was  beginning  to  attract  attention,  and  De 
Witt  Clinton  was  prominently  mentioned  as  a  candi- 
date, and  was  in  communication  with  the  leading 
Republicans.  Just  before  Mr.  Easton's  departure  for 
the  seat  of  government,  Mr.  Clinton  addressed  him  a 
note,  requesting  him  to  watch  the  progress  of  measures 
and  act  accordingly. 

While  in  Washington  Mr.  Easton  determined  to 
remove  to  New  Orleans,  and  left  for  that  purpose 
early  in  March,  armed  with  a  letter  from  Aaron  Burr 
to  a  gentleman  in  Louisiana.  Th,e  young  lawyer  evi- 
dently had  strongly  impressed  Burr,  for  the  latter 
showed  him  many  attentions,  and  did  much  to  make 
his  stay  in  Washington  a  pleasant  one. 

Mr.  Easton  did  not,  however,  visit  New  Orleans, 
but  decided  to  locate  at  Vincennes,  Ind.  His  stay 
there  was  short,  for  in  the  same  year  he  settled  at  St. 
Louis,  which  became  his  permanent  residence. 

He  again  visited  Washington  in  1804-5,  and  re- 
ceived attention  from  men  of  prominence.  It  was 
during  this  winter  that  Burr  completed  arrangements 
to  carry  out  his  favorite  project  of  establishing  a 
Western  empire  on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi,  with 
New  Orleans  for  its  capital.  It  is  probable  that  he 
then  resolved  upon  securing  the  co-operation  of 
Easton ;  and  in  order  to  increase  Easton's  influence 


with  the  people  of  the  Territory,  as  well  as  to  place 
him  under  obligation  to  himself  personally,  he  pro- 
cured for  him,  in  March,  1805,  the  appointment  of 
judge  of  the  Territory  of  Louisiana;  and  a  few  days 
later  addressed  him  a  letter,  courteously  phrased,  and 
recommending  him  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  Gen. 
Wilkinson,  the  newly-appointed  Governor  of  the  Ter- 
ritory, and  others  who,  Burr  said,  were  about  to  re- 
move to  the  Territory.  In  the  light  of  subsequent 
events  this  letter  was  of  importance  as  foreshadowing 
Burr's  conspiracy  against  the  government,  but  there 
was  nothing  in  it  that  then  excited  the  suspicions  of 
Easton,  who  interpreted  it  as  merely  one  of  the  many 
civilities  which  he  had  received  from  Mr.  Burr. 
That  Burr  and  Wilkinson  had  formed  an  unpatriotic 
alliance  fully  appeared  upon  Burr's  trial  for  treason ; 
but  Easton  was  not  and  could  not  then  have  been 
aware  of  the  fact. 

Burr  spent  that  summer  in  a  trip  down  the  Ohio, 
visiting  Blennerhasset's  Island,  etc.,  and  in  June, 
1805,  was  at  Massac,  where,  in  anticipation  of  visit- 
ing St.  Louis,  he  wrote  Judge  Easton  a  letter  de- 
signed to  establish  the  most  intimate  relations  be- 
tween him  and  Governor  Wilkinson,  which  indicates 
that  he  hoped  to  find  him,  when  he  arrived  in  St. 
Louis,  not  only  in  harmony  but  on  terms  of  confi- 
dence and  friendship  with  that  official. 

Burr  came  to  St.  Louis  in  September,  and  the  ob- 
ject of  his  visit  was  undoubtedly  to  secure  the  co-op- 
eration of  Easton  and  other  prominent  men  of  the 
Territory  in  his  scheme.  He  soon  had  a  conference 
with  Easton,  and  broached  the  subject  of  the  empire, 
but  received  a  decided  and  spirited  refusal,  and  at 
once  broke  off  all  communication  with  him.  After 
Burr  left  St.  Louis,  Wilkinson  expressed  a  strong  dis- 
like for  Easton,  and  circulated  charges  of  official  cor- 
ruption against  him,  which  came  to  the  ears  of 
President  Jefferson,  who,  when  Easton's  commission 
expired,  nominated  another  person  to  the  office. 
Easton  at  once  repaired  to  Washington,  and  sought 
an  opportunity  to  meet  the  charges  against  him.  He 
was  granted  a  personal  interview  with  Mr.  Jefferson 
for  that  purpose,  and  the  latter,  being  satisfied  that 
Wilkinson's  allegations  were  unfounded,  appointed 
Judge  Easton  United  States  attorney.  When  Burr's 
conspiracy  was  officially  disclosed  to  the  President  (in 
October,  1806),  Judge  Easton  was  appealed  to  for 
information  on  the  subject,  and  frankly  revealed  all 
he  knew.  His  own  skirts  were  certainly  clear  of 
complicity  in  the  matter,  for  as  early  as  January, 
1805,  he  wrote  to  Gideon  Granger,  stating  his  belief 
in  the  existence  of  a  traitorous  project  to  divide  the 
Union,  and  in  the  following  October  informed  the 


1456 


HISTORY  OP  SAINT  LOUIS. 


President  that  "  Gen.  Wilkinson  has  put  himself  at 
the  head  of  a  party  of  a  few  individuals  who  are  hos- 
tile to  the  best  interests  of  America."  Judge  Easton 
was  violently  attacked  by  witnesses  in  Burr's  trial  for 
withholding  certain  important  information  regarding 
the  plot  from  the  government,  but  he  filed  a  deposi- 
tion disclaiming  any  knowledge  beyond  what  has  been 
related,  and  was  completely  acquitted  in  the  judgment 
of  the  leaders  of  the  administration.  He  enjoyed  a 
friendly  and  interesting  correspondence  with  Mr. 
Granger  and  many  of  the  leading  men  of  his  time, 
and  was  honored  with  letters  from  Jefferson,  Clinton, 
Calhoun,  Granger,  and  many  others. 

In  1805  a  post-office  was  established  in  St. 
Louis,  and  Judge  Easton  was  appointed  the  first 
postmaster,  a  proof  that  the  government  reposed  the 
utmost  confidence  in  his  patriotism  and  integrity. 
His  popularity  and  influence  in  the  Territory  grad- 
ually increased,  and  in  1814  he  was  elected  delegate 
to  Congress  and  served  four  years.  Upon  the  organ- 
ization of  the  State  government  in  1821  he  was  ap- 
pointed attorney-general,  and  continued  in  that  office 
until  1826.  He  died  at  St.  Charles,  Mo.,  July  5, 1834. 

During  this  long  and  varied  career  Mr.  Easton  was 
actively  engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profession,  and 
was  indisputably  the  leading  lawyer  of  the  Territory. 
He  was  noted  more  for  the  soundness  and  vigor  of 
his  intellect  than  for  eloquence,  although  he  was  not 
without  many  of  the  graces  of  oratory.  He  expressed 
himself  with  extraordinary  clearness  and  force,  and 
would  have  been  esteemed  a  strong  debater  at  any 
bar  in  the  country.  But  his  chief  excellence  con- 
sisted in  his  fine  executive  and  administrative  talents. 
He  discharged  the  duties  of  every  one  of  the  many 
and  important  offices  he  held  with  distinguished 
ability  and  unimpeached  fidelity. 

Judge  Easton  was  a  man  of  very  kind  heart,  and 
was  charitable  to  the  full  extent  of  his  means.  He 
and  his  accomplished  wife  (who  was  a  native  of  New 
York)  dispensed  a  most  generous  hospitality,  and 
few  strangers  of  note  visited  St.  Louis  without  re- 
ceiving an  invitation  to  his  house. 

He  left  a  large  family.  The  oldest  son,  Col.  A.  R. 
Easton,  is  still  living.  There  were  seven  daughters ; 
one  married  the  Hon.  T.  L.  Anderson,  of  Palmyra, 
Mo. ;  another  became  the  wife  of  the  Hon.  H.  S. 
Geyer  ;  the  third  married  Archibald  Gamble,  a  brother 
of  Governor  Gamble ;  another  was  the  wife  of  Major 
Sibley,  of  St.  Charles.  Mrs.  Sibley  was  a  lady  of 
fine  literary  taste,  and  with  her  husband  founded  and 
endowed  the  Lindenwood  Female  Seminary  at  St. 
Charles,  which  became  and  is  yet  noted  as  an  insti- 
tution of  learning. 


Judge  Easton  engaged  largely  in  real  estate  specu- 
lation, his  partner  being  William  Russell,  father-in- 
law  of  the  late   Hon.  Thomas  Allen.     They  owned 
j  the  ground  on  which  the  present  city  of  Alton,  111., 
j  is  situated.     The  city  was  named  after  Judge  Easton's 
oldest  son,  and  several  of  its  streets  after  members  of 
his  family. 

Col.  Easton  was  a  man  of  fine  appearance.  The 
portrait  which  accompanies  this  sketch  is  an  excellent 
likeness,  and  is  from  a  miniature  taken  when  he  was 
about  forty  years  old. 

Col.  Alton  R.  Easton,  the  oldest  son  of  Rufus 
Easton,  was  born  in  St.  Louis,  June  23,  1807.  His 
early  education  was  received  at  a  private  school  con- 
ducted by  Rev.  Salmon  Giddings,  after  leaving  which 
he  spent  two  years  with  the  Rev.  Dr.  Townsend,  a 
cultivated  gentleman,  who  kept  a  select  school  on  his 
farm  on  Shoal  Creek,  a  tributary  of  the  Kaskaskia 
River,  Illinois.  Here  young  Easton  was  instructed 
in  the  ordinary  English  branches  and  the  classics. 
In  1823,  in  company  with  a  son  of  Dr.  Townsend,  he 
was  sent  East  to  complete  his  education.  The  journey 
was  made  by  carriage,  but  the  usual  rate  of  travel  was 
so  slow  that  the  boys  walked  most  of  the  way,  and 
actually  traversed  the  greater  part  of  the  distance 
through  Illinois,  Indiana,  and  Ohio  on  foot.  At 
Cleveland,  desiring  to  enjoy  a  new  phase  of  travel, 
they  took  a  sloop  for  Buffalo,  and  there  rejoined  their 
escort.  The  trip  ended  at  Bloomfield,  N.  J.,  where 
for  a  year  young  Easton  attended  an  academical  school 
taught  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Perrine,  and  then  in  1824 
entered  the  Military  Academy  at  West  Point.  At 
the  end  of  two  and  a  half  years,  however,  owing  to 
a  misunderstanding  with  the  authorities  of  the  insti- 
tution, he  resigned,  and  in  the  winter  of  1827  re- 
turned to  St.  Louis  and  engaged  in  the  study  of  medi- 
cine with  Dr.  Samuel  Merry.  This  well-remembered 
gentleman  was  also  receiver  of  public  money,  and  as 
he  was  in  poor  health,  Easton  was  often  left  in  charge 
of  the  office,  and  ultimately  became  practically  the 
receiver  himself. 

Several  years  of  this  confining  service  affected  his 
health  unfavorably,  and  he  left  the  office  and  for  four 
years  was  engaged  almost  exclusively  in  hunting  and 
fishing.  He  is  wont  to  say  that  this  was  the  most 
pleasant  and  interesting  period  of  his  life.  This 
regimen  and  his  campaigning  in  the  Mexican  war 
fully  restored  his  health,  and  since  the  latter  period 
he  has  scarcely  known  what  sickness  is. 

In  1832  he  started  with  his  rifle,  a  solitary  volun- 
teer, to  engage  in  the  Black  Hawk  war,  but  peace  was 
concluded  before  he  reached  the  field  of  action. 
About  the  year  1833  the  "  St.  Louis  Grays"  were 


BENCH  AND  BAR. 


1457 


organized  and  became  the  crack  company  of  the  city, 
and  Mr.  Easton  was  for  many  years  their  captain. 
The  organization  of  other  companies  in  due  season 
necessitated  the  formation  of  a  regiment,  and  Capt. 
Easton  was  chosen  colonel  of  the  famous  "  St.  Louis 
Legion."  In  May,  1846,  when  Gen.  Taylor,  after  the 
brilliant  battles  of  Palo  Alto  and  Resaca  de  la  Palma, 
appealed  to  Gen.  Gaines  for  reinforcements,  the  Legion 
promptly  responded  to  the  requisition  of  Gen.  Gaines. 
Within  three  days  the  regiment  was  recruited  to  about 
nine  hundred  men  and  was  on  its  way  down  the  river 
for  Mexico,  with  Col.  Easton  in  command.  The  Legion 
spent  the  summer  at  Bureto,  on  the  Rio  Grande,  far 
from  the  theatre  of  war,  and  in  the  fall  returned  to 
St.  Louis,  without  having  participated  in  any  engage- 
ments. 

Early  in  the  following  year  a  requisition  for  volun- 
teers was  made,  and  St.  Louis  raised  a  battalion,  with 
Col.  Easton  in  command,  and  dispatched  it  southward. 
The  force  crossed  the  plains  from  Fort  Leavenworth 
to  Santa  Fe".  While  on  the  march  Col.  Easton  in- 
dulged his  passion  for  hunting,  and  won  much  renown 
among  the  men  of  his  command  by  shooting  buffalo 
and  other  game.  One  of  his  adventures  resembled, 
but  greatly  eclipsed,  Putnam's  exploit  with  the  wolf. 
A  wolf  which  he  was  pursuing  suddenly  disappeared 
in  a  cavern  in  one  of  the  "  salt  licks"  common  to  the 
West.  He  fired  and  killed  him,  and  sent  a  companion 
down  who  dragged  him  out.  A  growl  indicated  the 
presence  of  another  animal,  and  he  shot,  killed,  and 
dragged  out  another.  To  his  great  surprise  another 
savage  demonstration  was  heard  in  the  cavern,  and  a  I 
third  shot  resulted  in  the  death  and  dragging  forth  of  i 
a  third  wolf. 

On  arriving  at  Santa  Fe  affairs  were  found  in  an  > 
extremely  unsettled  condition,  and  Col.  Easton  took  ; 
the  reins  as  military  Governor  and  restored  order. 
On  being  relieved  by  Gen.  Sterling  Price,  he  led  his 
command  to   Chihuahua,   arriving  there  in   March, 
1848.     The  rumors  of  an  armistice  then  prevailing 
prevented  the  battalion  from  engaging  in  any  military 
movements,    although    there    was    brisk    fighting   at  ' 
Santa   Cruz,   only  sixty  miles  away.     Peace  having  ' 
been  declared  the  regiment  was  ordered  home,  and 
was  mustered  out  of  the  service  in  October,  1848. 

Though  in  the  service  for  a  considerable  period  be- 
fore war  was  declared,  and  long  after  the  war  was 
over,  it  so  happened  that  Col.  Easton  saw  no  fight- 
ing whatever,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  in  his 
two  periods  of  service  he  probably  traveled  farther 
for  a  chance  to  fight  than  any  officer  in  the  army. 

Upon  returning  from  Mexico,  Col.  Easton  resumed 
his  field  sports,  and  was  a  familiar  figure  in  all  the  l 


unsettled  portions  of  St.  Louis  and  the  adjacent  coun- 
ties. He  was  particularly  expert  with  the  rifle,  and 
there  were  few  men  in  the  Southwest  who  were  better 
marksmen.  It  is  still  his  delight  to  talk  of  his  ex- 
ploits with  rod  and  gun,  and  even  yet  he  often  in- 
dulges in  his  favorite  pastimes.  It  is  his  custom 
annually  to  go  into  a  "  fall  encampment"  with  certain 
of  his  sporting  friends,  who  have  built  club-houses 
near  Grand  Tower,  Mo.,  and  on  the  Black  River, 
Ark. 

When  the  Territory  of  New  Mexico  was  organized, 
President  Fillmore  offered  him  the  secretaryship,  but 
he  declined  the  honor.  In  1853,  Mr.  Fillmore  ap- 
pointed him  assistant  treasurer  of  the  United  States, 
at  the  request  of  Maj.  H.  S.  Turner,  who  had  re- 
signed, and  he  retained  this  office  until  removed  by 
President  Pierce.  After  the  war  Col.  Easton  was 
strenuously  urged  to  run  for  Congress,  but  declined. 

From  1860  to  1864  he  was  a  member  of  the 
county  court.  During  his  term  the  court-house  was 
finished,  and  the  insane  asylum  was  in  process  of 
building. 

When  the  street  railway  system  was  established  in 
St.  Louis,  Col.  Easton  subscribed  to  the  stock  of 
several  companies,  and  succeeded  B.  Gratz  Brown  in 
the  presidency  of  the  Citizens'  Railway.  From  1861 
to  1864  he  was  inspector-general  of  the  State  of  Mis- 
souri, under  the  celebrated  "  Order  No.  96,"  which 
authorized  the  equipment  and  maintenance  of  a  body 
of  troops  raised  in  Missouri  under  the  authority  of 
the  Federal  government,  and  bearing  allegiance  there- 
to, but  to  be  employed  exclusively  for  the  defense  of 
the  State.  In  this  capacity  Col.  Easton  showed  great 
ability  as  an  organizer,  and  rendered  the  Union  cause 
the  most  indefatigable  and  efficient  service,  his  duties 
at  times  leading  him  into  situations  of  extreme  per- 
sonal peril.  His  commission  was  signed  by  Governor 
Gamble,  and  he  subsequently  learned  with  pride  that 
it  was  the  first  one  issued  by  that  official  undor  the 
order  in  question. 

For  several  years  Col.  Easton  was  the  agent  of  Mrs. 
Tyler,  of  Kentucky,  and  efficiently  managed  that 
lady's  vast  estate.  In  1873  he  was  appointed  assessor 
of  internal  revenue  by  President  Grant,  of  his  own 
motion,  and  without  the  customary  consultation  with 
the  Missouri  delegation.  When  Grant  lived  in  St. 
Louis  and  was  but  a  retired  ajrmy  captain,  Col.  Easton 
had  rendered  him  many  services.  Notably  when  a 
member  of  the  county  court  he  had  advocated  (though 
unsuccessfully)  Grant's  appointment  as  county  engi- 
neer. Col.  Easton  held  this  office  until  it  was  legis- 
lated out  of  existence,  aiJd  soon  after  that  event  was 
appointed  pension  agent  by  President  Grant,  who  was 


1458 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


still  anxious  to  show  his  regard  for  an  old  and  trusty 
friend.  He  was  often  consulted  by  the  President 
concerning  appointments  in  St.  Louis,  and  his  recom- 
mendations were  usually  concurred  in.  To  show  the 
estimation  in  which  he  was  held  by  the  administration 
the  following  graceful  note  is  appended  : 

"TREASURY  DEPARTMENT, 

"  WASHINGTON,  May  7,  1875. 

"DEAR  SIR, — The  President  directs  me  to  tender  you  the 
office  of  collector  of  internal  revenue  at  St.  Louis,  vice  Maguire, 
resigned,  and  I  beg  to  add  an  expression  of  my  official  and  per-  j 
sonal  desire  that  you  may  see  proper  to  accept  the  same. 

"  Please  regard  this  communication  as  confidential,  and  answer 
by  telegraph.     The  word  '  yes'  will  be  regarded  as  acceptance. 
"  Very  truly  yours, 

"B.  H.  BRISTOW,  Secretary. 
"ALTON  EASTON,  ESQ.,  St.  Louis,  Mo." 

Col.  Easton  did  not  accept  the  position,  but  at  the 
expiration  of  his  term  as  pension  agent,  in  1877.  re- 
tired to  private  life,  and  has  spent  the  succeeding  inter- 
val in  the  enjoyment  of  well-earned  ease.  His  years 
considerably  exceed  the  Psalmist's  limit,  but  he  is 
yet  vigorous  in  body  and  mind.  When  in  the  prime 
of  life  he  wandered  and  hunted  over  the  very  spot 
where  his  large  but  modest  residence  now  stands 
in  West  St.  Louis,  on  a  busy  avenue  called  by  his 
name,  and  so  designated  because  of  the  respect  which 
his  townspeople  entertain  for  him  personally  and  their  j 
appreciation  of  his  many  and  distinguished  public  ser- 
vices. Col.  Easton  is  one  of  the  few  remaining  links 
that  connect  the  present  with  the  Territorial  period 
of  the  State,  and  in  a  long  and  singularly  interesting 
career  he  has  won  and  retained  the  high  regard  of 
two  generations  of  his  fellow-men. 

Incidental  reference  has  been  made  to  Judge  Silas 
Bent  as  a  lawyer  of  eminence.  His  father,  also  named 
Silas,  was  born  in  Sudbury,  Mass.,  in  1744,  and  was 
commander  of  the  "  Boston  Tea  Party."  The  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch,  one  of  seven  children,  was  born 
in  1768,  educated  at  Rutland,  moved  to  Ohio  in 
1788,  and  afterwards  to  Virginia,  where  he  married 
Martha  Kerr.  In  1804,  after  holding  various  sur- 
veyorships  and  associate  judgeships,  he  was  appointed 
chief  deputy  surveyor  for  Upper  Louisiana  by  Albert 
Gallatin.  In  1807  he  was  made  first  judge  of  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas  for  the  district  of  St.  1 
Louis.  The  next  year  he  became  auditor  of  public 
accounts.  In  1809,  with  Bernard  Pratte  and  Louis 
Labeaume  as  associates,  he  was  appointed  presiding 
judge  of  the  St.  Louis  court,  and  signed  the  first  ; 
town  charter.  In  1811  he  was  again  public  auditor 
and  first  judge  of  the  courts,  and  in  1813  became 
supreme  judge  of  the  Territory,  was  recommissioned, 
and  held  the  office  until  it  was  abolished  by  the 


admission  of  Missouri.  Then  he  was  appointed 
clerk  of  the  St.  Louis  County  Court,  which  place  he 
retained  until  his  death  in  November,  1827.  His 
public  duties  were  most  onerous,  and  were  ably  and 
honestly  performed.  Of  his  seven  children,  the  third, 
John,  born  in  1803,  and  admitted  to  the  Missouri 
bar  in  1824,  gave  great  promise,  and  was  very  popular 
in  St.  Louis,  where  he  held  the  office  of  circuit  attor- 
ney, and  at  one  time  represented  the  district  in  the 
Legislature.  He  died  in  1845.  Charles  Bent  be- 
came Governor  of  New  Mexico,  and  was  murdered  in 
a  Mexican  outbreak  at  Taos  in  1847.1  Julia  mar- 
ried Governor  Lilburn  W.  Boggs,  during  whose  term 
the  "Mormon  excitement"  occurred,  and  who  in  1849 
moved  to  California,  settling  in  the  Sacramento  valley, 
where  he  died  a  few  years  later.  The  other  children 
were  Lucy,  Dorcas,  WTilliam  W.,  Mary,  George,  Rob- 
ert, Edward,  and  Silas. 

Thomas  Hart  Benton  came  to  St.  Louis  in  1813, 
and  began  the  practice  of  the  law.  How  large  a  part 
he  played  at  the  bar  of  St.  Louis  and  in  the  councils 
of  the  nation  his  biography,  on  another  page,  relates 
in  full.  The  mention  of  Benton  recalls  the  Lucases, 
his  lifelong  enemies,  whose  lives  are  also  given  in  full 
in  another  place.  Charles  Lucas,  the  son,  who  fell 
beneath  Benton's  pistol,  was  of  great  promise  as  a 
young  lawyer,  and  seems  to  have  been  his  father's 
favorite  child  up  to  the  time  of  his  unhappy  fate. 
He,  like  his  brother  James,  began  his  education  at 
Jefferson  College,  Pennsylvania,  passed  the  bar  in 
1814,  was  at  once  elected  to  the  Legislature,  and  soon 
after  appointed  United  States  attorney  for  the  Terri- 
tory. It  was  his  rapid  advancement  in  political  honors 
which  probably  earned  him  the  hatred  of  Benton, 
who  saw  in  him  a  formidable  rival  for  that  senator- 
ship  which  was  the  goal  of  his  own  ambitions.  Judge 
Lucas  at  least  seemed  to  think  so,  and  never  relented 

1  Charles,  William  W.,  and  some  of  the  younger  brothers  were 
among  the  bravest  of  the  mountain  men  who  fought  Indians, 
led  parties  across  the  plains,  pierced  the  loveliest  valleys  and 
climbed  the  steepest  slopes  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Their 
deeds  are  forever  a  part  of  those  stormy  days  of  warfare  with 
Blackfoot,  Comanche,  and  other  tribes  of  fierce  warriors.  They 
rank  with  Milton  Sublette  and  his  brothers  Andrew,  Saul,  and 
William,  with  St.  Vrain  and  Bonneville.  They  were  traders, 
explorers,  heroes,  and  the  men  whom  they  led  were  absolutely 
fearless,  infinitely  fertile  in  resource*  Capt.  Charles  Bent  was 
once  seen  to  charge  alone  and  check  fifty  Indians.  His  genius 
in  Indian  warfare  was  of  the  first  rank.  In  1829,  with  sixty 
men,  he  defeated  over  five  hundred  well-armed  Indians  on  the 
Cimaron  River.  William  W.  Bent  and  two  companions,  while 
trapping  beaver  in  New  Mexico,  were  once  attacked  by  tw6 
hundred  warriors,  but  built  a  breastwork  of  stones,  fought  them 
for  three  day*,  and  finally  drove  off  their  assailants.  It  was  a 
time  when  the  sons  of  the  best  families  of  St.  Louis  were  on  the 
frontiers.  William  W.  Bent  died  in  Colorado,  May  19,  1869. 


BENCH  AND  BAR. 


1459 


in  his  bitter  hostility  to  and  his  relentless  scorn  of 
Benton.  An  instance  of  this  occurred  at  a  ball  at  the 
Planters'  House,  when  Col.  Benton  was  one  of  the 
invited  guests.  Judge  Lucas  was  standing  with  his 
daughter  at  the  head  of  the  room  when  he  saw  Ben- 
ton.  Anxious  friends  endeavored  to  prevent  a  "  scene," 
with  no  avail.  Making  his  way  to  where  Col.  Ben- 
ton  stood,  he  coolly  and  deliberately  surveyed  him 
with  the  most  contemptuous  expression  of  counte- 
nance, and  turning  to  his  son  James,  in  a  distinct 
tone,  and  in  his  slightly  broken  accent,  said,  "  It  is  a 
con-so-la-shion,  my  son,  that  whoever  knows  Measter 
Col.  Thomas  H.  Benton  knows  him  to  be  a  rascail, — 
eh,  my  boy  ?"  Col.  Benton  thought  it  wiser  to  brook 
the  insult  than  to  resent  it,  and  shortly  after  left  the 
room.  There  are  many  stories  told  of  Judge  Lucas. 
He  was  a  man  of  faultless  integrity,  of  immovable 
opinions,  and  of  a  haughty  imperiousness.  Old  citi- 
zens speak  of  him  as  a  little,  bent  old  man,  with  snow- 
white  hair  and  sparkling  jet-black  eyes. 

James  H.  Lucas  assumed  care  of  the  extensive  es- 
tate left  by  his  father,  and  filled  many  positions  of 
trust  and  honor. 

Of  J.  H.  Lucas'  family,  the  eldest  daughter  married 
Dr.  J.  B.  Johnson  ;  another  married  Silas  Hicks,  of 
New  York,  and  some  years  after  his  death  Judge 
Hagar,  of  San  Francisco;  J.  B.  C.  Lucas  possesses 
much  of  his  father's  business  capacity ;  Robert  mar- 
ried Miss  Clara  Kennedy,  daughter  of  Dr.  Kennedy, 
of  the  United  States  army;  William,  the  eldest  son, 
married  a  daughter  of  ex-Governor  Horner,  of  Wis- 
consin, and  is  of  a  decided  literary  turn  ;  James, 
Joseph,  and  Heury  are  the  other  children.  His  do- 
mestic life  was  in  all  respects  a  fortunate  and  happy 
one.  In  1870,  Wilson  McDonald,  the  sculptor,  exe- 
cuted a  bust  of  Mr.  Lucas,  which  was  formally  pre- 
sented to  him  with  a  speech  by  Hon.  John  H.  O'Neil. 

In  the  Territorial  days  of  Missouri  three  brothers, 
Joshua,  David,  and  Isaac  Barton,  sons  of  a  Baptist 
minister,  were  distinguished  for  their  knowledge  of 
the  law,  though  David  possessed  the  most  talent,  and 
was  unquestionably  one  of  the  greatest  men  of  his 
time.  They  were  from  the  mountains  of  East  Ten- 
nessee, where  they  had  studied  English  law.  Alex- 
ander Gray,  James  Peck,  afterwards  United  States 
district  judge  for  Missouri,  and  the  three  McGirk 
brothers,  Matthias,  Andrew,  and  Isaac,  were  also  from 
this  rugged  region.  The  father  of  the  Bartons,  Rev. 
Isaac  Barton,  was  born  in  Maryland  in  1746,  removed 
to  North  Carolina,  and  settled  near  Greenville,  where 
David  was  born  in  1783.  Isaac  Barton,  the  elder, 
afterwards  moved  to  Jefferson  County,  Tenn.,  where 
he  died  in  1831  ;  his  wife  Keziah  survived  until 


1845,  dying  at  the  age  of  ninety-one.  This  worthy 
couple  had  twelve  children  born  to  them.  One  son 
was  killed  in  the  war  of  1812.  David  began  his 
education  at  Greenville  College,  now  in  Tennessee, 
but  then  in  North  Carolina,  Tennessee  being  a  part 
of  that  State  up  to  1796.  The  inscription  on  the 
monument  to  his  memory  erected  by  the  State  says 
he  "  came  to  Missouri  in  1800,"  but  this  is  a 
mistake,  as  he  was  admitted  to  practice  in  1810 
in  Tennessee,  and  reached  St.  Louis  the  following 
year.  In  the  war  of  1812  he  was  an  Indian  ranger, 
as  were  many  of  the  most  noted  lawyers  of  the  day 
in  the  West.  The  memory  of  Jo  Daviess,  of  Ken- 
tucky, yet  lingers  in  the  State  made  famous  by  his 
eloquence  and  consecrated  by  his  life-blood.  The 
leaders  of  the  St.  Louis  bar  in  1804-15  were  no  less 
brave,  though  more  fortunate.  Some  of  them  were 
as  familiar  with  the  rifle,  the  sword,  and  the  dueling 
pistol  as  with  their  Blackstone  and  Kent,  and  were 
notable  figures  at  hunts  in  canebrake  and  forest,  and 
at  turkey  shoots  in  the  villages.  Shortly  after  David 
Barton's  arrival,  Col.  Easton  remarked  that  he  would 
become  a  famous  orator,  and  in  a  few  years  he  was 
one  of  the  best  stump-speakers  of  his  party.  When 
the  first  Territorial  Legislature  met,  of  which  sev- 
eral Tennessee  lawyers  were  members,  an  act  was 
passed  making  the  common  law  of  England  and 
British  statutes,  so  far  as  not  inconsistent  with  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  the  law  of  the 
Territory.  David  Barton  was  immediately  appointed 
circuit  judge  for  St.  Louis.  In  December,  1817,  he 
found  he  could  make  more  money  in  his  private  prac- 
tice, and  resigned  his  office.  The  Superior  Court  and 
the  Circuit  Courts  of  St.  Charles,  Washington,  and 
St.  Louis  often  thereafter  rang  with  his  eloquent 
pleadings.  At  this  time,  and  for  some  years  after,  he 
was  the  most  popular  man  in  the  State.  When  the 
Constitutional  Convention  met  in  June,  1820,  David 
Barton  was  elected  presiding  officer  by  a  unanimous 
vote,  and  so  many  of  the  provisions  of  the  State  Con- 
stitution were  framed  by  him  that  the  instrument  is 
still  known  as  the  "  Barton  Constitution."  That  au- 
tumn, while  his  courtesy  and  administrative  ability 
were  still  fresh  in  the  public  mind,  the  General  As- 
sembly met,  and  the  election  of  David  Barton  as 
United  States  senator  was  by  acclamation.  Then 
followed  that  remarkable  contest  between  Benton  and 
Lucas,  elsewhere  more  fully  described.  As  is  well 
known,  Barton  and  Benton  did  not  take  their  seats  in 
the  Senate  until  the  passage  of  the  Missouri  Compro- 
mise, but  in  1821  their  first  speeches  gave  them  high 
rank  as  debaters,  which  they  afterwards  maintained 
throughout  their  public  life. 


1460 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


In  1823  a  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Adver-  \ 
tiser  gave  the  following  graphic  description  of  these  : 
famous  men  :  "  It  is  striking  to  see  the  shyness  which  j 
these  two  distinguished  senators  exhibit  with  regard  ! 
to  each  other.  On  every  political  subject  they  are 
antipodes,  and  they  seem  to  have  for  each  other  no 
great  personal  friendship.  They  never  converse  or 
associate  either  in  public  or  in  private.  In  debate 
they  are  uniformly  opposed  on  every  subject,  but 
still  they  never,  even  in  direct  and  sharp  replication, 
allude  to  each  other  in  the  ordinary  way,  as  '  my 
honorable  colleague,'  or  '  my  friend,  the  senator  from 
Missouri.'  In  no  way  are  they  ever  known  to  recog- 
nize each  other,  either  in  friendship  and  courtesy  or 
in  avowed  hostility.  In  person  and  mind  they  also 
differ.  Benton  is  tall,  large,  and  erect.  Barton  is 
thin  and  of  rather  low  stature.  Benton's  education 
and  genius  fit  him  for  activity  and  stirring  life ;  Bar- 
ton's for  quiet  and  sedentary  pursuits.  The  former 
is  the  more  laborious,  the  latter  is  the  more  highly 
gifted.  Both  are  literary,  but  the  learning  of  the 
former  is  the  result  of  the  hard  study  of  his  later 
years,  while  that  of  the  latter  grew  with  the  growth 
of  his  own  mind,  and  is  affiliated  with  it.  Benton's 
speeches,  and  particularly  his  writings,  remind  one  of 
extracts,  abridgments,  and  labored  compilations, 
while  Barton's  words  and  ideas  flow  easily  from  a 
native  and  inexhaustible  fountain.  Benton  is  am- 
bitious and  aspiring ;  his  colleague,  on  the  other  hand, 
is  careless  of  political  fame  and  advancement.  Ben- 
ton  is  lofty  and  imposing  in  his  manner,  and  in 
temper  high-toned,  fierce,  and  contentious,  while 
Barton  is  modest  and  unpretending,  but  dignified, 
cool,  and  resolute.  Both  of  these  gentlemen  were 
born  and  educated  in  the  old  States,  but  have  passed 
their  lives  chiefly  in  the  new  regions  of  the  West, 
where  they  have  filled  with  reputation  the  highest 
offices.  Of  the  State  of  Missouri,  which  they  now 
represent,  they  are  eminently  the  founders,  having 
been  among  the  first  to  settle  it,  having  framed  its 
Constitution  and  established  its  laws,  and  having,  as 
it  is  to  be  presumed,  imparted  much  of  their  own 
strong  and  original  character  to  its  institutions  and 
its  population."  It  is  evident  from  this  that  the  per- 
sonal friendship  which  in  1820  made  Barton  throw 
the  whole  weight  of  his  influence  for  Benton's  elec- 
tion had  greatly  waned,  and  that  the  way  was  open- 
ing for  the  estrangement  of  1825,  and  his  subsequent 
philippic  against  his  colleague.  In  reference  to  the 
quotation  just  made  the  St.  Louis  Republican  com- 
mented as  follows :  "  Col.  Benton  \vas  not  a  member 
of  the  convention  which  formed  the  present  Constitu- 
tion of  Missouri,  nor  has  he  ev&r-^qited  in  a  legislative 


capacity  since  his  removal  to  the  State.  He  never 
was  what  is  termed  a  popular  man  with  the  people. 
They  have  always  viewed  him  with  distrust,  and  time 
in  developing  his  character  has  not  served  to  do  away 
their  apprehensions.  The  same  feeling  which  has 
heretofore  existed  would  now  prevent  his  elevation  to 
any  office  which  depends  upon  a  manifestation  of  the 
popular  will." 

In  describing  Barton's  eloquence,  Judge  Bay,  author 
of  the  "  Bench  and  Bar  of  Missouri,"  says  that  his 
wit,  sarcasm,  and  invectives  were  terrible,  and  even 
overpowering.  Benton  was  the  best  logician,  but  was 
far  inferior  in  pathos,  vehemence,  and  imagination. 
For  ten  years  Barton  served  in  the  United  States 
Senate  with  zeal  and  efficiency,  but  the  support  he 
gave  to  Adams  in  1825,  as  against  Jackson,  urging 
John  Scott,  Missouri's  representative,  to  vote  for  the 
former,  was  fatal  to  his  political  future,  and  he  retired 
from  public  life  for  some  years.  Before  this,  how- 
ever, he  delivered  his  great  speech,  which  was  ranked 
at  the  time  with  Webster's  famous  reply  to  Hayne. 
Wrought  up  to  the  passionate  heights  of  fearless  and 
torrent-like  oratory,  he  spared  none  of  his  opponents, 
not  even  Benton,  whom  he  arraigned  for  official  mis- 
conduct. The  speech  remains  to  this  day  a  model  of 
masterly  invective  and  denunciation,  and  at  this  time 
he  received  the  title  of  "  Little  Red,"  which  clung  to 
him  the  rest  of  his  life.  It  was  a  rough-clad  back- 
woodsman from  Western  Missouri  who,  after  hearing 
this  great  speech,  shouted  through  the  Senate  galleries 
and  the  streets  in  wild  excitement,  "  Hurrah  for  the 
Little  Red!"  and  when  asked  for  an  explanation,  said 
he  once  owned  a  little  red  rooster  which  whipped  all 
its  opponents,  and  that  "  was  like  Dave  Barton  !" 
When  public  feeling  turned  so  strongly  against  Bar- 
ton that  he  was  defeated,  the  opposition  press  called 
it  a  national  calamity.  The  earnest  leaders  who  after- 
wards organized  the  Whig  party  spoke  with  universal 
regret  of  his  retirement. 

St.  Louis  journals  of  July  13,  1830,  contain  ac- 
counts of  a  dinner  given  in  his  honor  by  his  personal 
friends  and  those  who  approved  of  his  public  course. 
A  preliminary  meeting  had  been  held  July  7th,  and 
the  following  gentlemen  were  appointed  the  managing 
committee  :  George  Collier,  Josiah  Spalding,  D.  Hough, 
Jesse  G.  Lindell,  Henry  S.  Geyer,  W.  R.  Grimsley, 
F.  L.  Billon,  W.  H.  Hopkins,  D.  B.  Hill,  C.  Wahren- 
dorf,  M.  Tesson,  J.  Baum,  William  K.  Rule. 

On  Saturday,  July  10th,  two  hundred  persons  sat 
down  to  the  banquet  at  the  old  Missouri  Hotel.  Mayor 
Daniel  D.  Page  acted  as  president,  and  William  Rus- 
sell, Thomas  Forsythe,  James  Clemens,  and  Thomas 
Cohen  were  vice-presidents.  David  Barton  delivered. 


BENCH  AND  BAR. 


1461 


an  address  that  occupied  more  than  an  hour.  His 
friends  in  1831  persuaded  him  to  run  for  the  Lower 
House  as  candidate  against  Spencer  Pettis,  of  the 
Jackson  party,  but  the  latter  was  so  overwhelmingly 
in  the  majority  at  that  time  that  all  Barton's  eloquence 
could  not  turn  the  scale.  In  1834-35  he  was  sent 
to  the  State  Senate,  and  assisted  greatly  in  compiling 
the  "  Revised  Statutes."  This  ended  his -public  life. 

Many  stories  are  told  about  David  Barton's  witty 
remarks.  Once,  when  pleading  a  case  before  the  Su- 
preme Court,  the  judge  (George  Tompkins)  stopped 
his  argument  with  "  Do  you  call  that  law  ?"  "  No, 
your  Honor,"  he  replied,  with  suavity,  "  but  I  did  not  j 
know  but  that  the  court  would  accept  it  as  law."  He 
was  short  in  build,  broad-shouldered,  and  had  a  high 
forehead,  and  was  very  careless  in  his  dress.  His 
conversational  powers  were  great.  After  his  death, 
on  the  26th  of  September,  1837,  the  State  named  a 
county  after  him,  and  also  placed  a  marble  shaft  over 
his  grave,  whose  inscription  characterized  him  as  a 
profound  jurist,  an  honest  statesman,  and  a  just 
and  benevolent  man.  The  saddest  fact  in  regard  to 
his  life  is  its  close,  which  was  clouded  by  an  impaired 
judgment  and  by  an  intellect  reduced  almost  to  imbe- 
cility. The  St.  Louis  Republican  of  Oct.  9,  1837, 
says,  "  Such  has  been  the  melancholy  condition  of 
his  mind,  from  which  for  some  time  past  there  has 
been  no  hope  of  his  recovering,  that  we  cannot  but 
look  upon  his  death  as  a  relief  from  a  worse  condi- 
tion. The  deceased  was  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
lawyers  and  politicians  of  the  West.  His  name  is 
particularly  identified  with  the  history  of  Missouri 
from  the  organization  of  the  State  government  to  the 
present  time.  He  was  alike  distinguished  for  his 
eloquence  and  profound  legal  acquirements,  and  un- 
aided by  fortune  or  alliance,  rose  by  dint  of  an  in- 
domitable spirit  and  his  own  capacious  mind  from  rustic 
obscurity  to  fame  and  affluence.  During  the  session  j 
of  the  Legislature  of  1834-35,  Judge  Barton  was 
observed  to  be  unusually  abstracted  and  moody;  a 
slow  but  desponding  melancholy  seemed  to  be  preying 
upon  his  faculties,  which  continued  to  assail  him  until 
he  sunk  at  last  into  hopeless  and  desperate  insanity, 
the  inevitable  symptoms  of  which  were  first  recog- 
nized by  his  friends  in  a  series  of  numbers  which  ap- 
peared in  this  paper  during  the  past  winter  over  the 
signature  of  '  Cornplanter.'  His  malady  increased 
with  the  most  frightful  effects,  leaving  naught  of  the 
once  highly -gifted  statesman  and  critical  jurist  save 
an  emaciated  frame  and  a  ruined  and  distracted 
mind." 

Joshua  Barton,  brother  of  the  preceding,  was  much 
less  of  a  public  speaker  but  far  more  of  a  jurist.     He 
93 


was  born  in  East  Tennessee  about  1788,  though  the 
exact  date  is  unknown.  His  earlier  law  studies  were 
pursued  in  the  office  of  Rufus  Easton,  St.  Louis,  and 
Edward  Bates,  afterwards  his  partner,  and  Attorney- 
General  of  the  United  States  during  Lincoln's  adminis- 
tration, studied  under  the  same  profound  jurist.  After 
the  State  government  was  formed  he  became  Secretary 
of  State,  but  resigned  to  accept  the  United  States  dis- 
trict attorneyship.  He  was  then  in  the  prime  of  his 
powers,  and  Judge  Edward  Bates  used  afterwards  to 
say  that  "  he  had  the  best  legal  mind  at  the  St.  Louis 
bar,  and  was  the  most  accomplished  lawyer  he  had 
ever  met." 

At  this  time  also  the  third  Barton  brother,  Isaac, 
was  holding  the  position  of  clerk  of  the  United  States 
Court  of  Missouri,  which  he  obtained  in  1821,  and 
kept  till  his  death  in  1842.  The  star  of  the  Bartons 
seemed  in  the  ascendant.  David  was  winning  laurels 
in  Washington,  and  few  could  contend  with  Joshua  in 
the  St.  Louis  courts ;  but  in  1823  a  communication 
appeared  in  the  Missouri  Republican  charging  Gen. 
William  Rector,  surveyor-general  of  Missouri,  Illi- 
nois, and  Arkansas,  with  corruption  in  office.  He  was 
absent,  and  his  brother  Thomas  called  on  the  editor, 
learned  that  Joshua  Barton  wrote  the  letter,  and  chal- 
lenged him.  In  their  correspondence  Barton  refused 
to  fight  unless  Rector  would  first  admit  the  truth  of 
the  charges,  and  this  being  done  they  met  on  Bloody 
Island,  where  so  many  duels  had  occurred.  It  was 
June  30,  1823,  weapons  pistols,  distance  ten  paces. 
At  the  first  fire  Barton  fell  dead,  shot  through  the 
heart.  His  body  reposes  in  St.  Charles,  near  where 
the  old  round  stone  fort  stood.  On  the  2d  of  July 
the  St.  Louis  bar  met,  Alexander  Stuart  being  chair- 
man, and  it  was  unanimously  resolved  that,  in  testi- 
mony of  their  respect  for  his  memory,  each  member 
should  wear  crape  on  the  left  arm  for  thirty  days. 

On  March  6,  1859,  the  chords  of  public  sorrow 
were  deeply  touched  by  the  announcement  of  the 
death,  on  the  previous  night,  of  Henry  S.  Geyer,  for 
more  than  forty  years  one  of  the  very  foremost  at 
the  St.  Louis  bar.  All  the  records  of  that  time  give 
evidence  of  the  respect  and  admiration  he  had  inspired, 
and  his  fame  as  an  acute  jurisconsult  was  national. 
The  principal  arguments  and  authorities  presented  in 
the  Dred  Scott  case  were  submitted  by  him.  He  was 
born  of  German  parents  in  Frederick  County,  Md., 
Dec.  9, 1790.  His  early  promise  attracted  the  attention 
of  Gen.  Nelson,  with  whom  he  studied  law.  Another 
early  friend  was  his  uncle,  Daniel  Sheffie,  of  Virginia, 
a  prominent  lawyer  and  politician.  He  began  prac- 
tice in  1811,  but  entered  the  army  in  1812  as  first 
lieutenant,  and  rose  to  the  rank  of  captain  in  active 


1462 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


duty  on  the  frontier.  In  1815  he  re-entered  the  legal 
field  in  St.  Louis,  and  almost  immediately  won  recog- 
nition. At  that  time  the  laws  of  the  Territory  were 
in  a  rudimentary  condition,  and  the  inchoate  titles 
granted  by  Spain  were  being  examined  and  readjusted, 
and  the  most  intricate  problems  were  involved  in  their 
settlement.  Capt.  Geyer  applied  himself  so  assidu- 
ously to  this  department  of  law  that  for  over  forty 
years  hardly  an  important  land  case  was  settled  in 
Missouri  without  his  aid.  But  he  also  possessed  a 
variety  of  legal  accomplishments,  and  was  perfectly  at 
home  in  the  subtile  distinctions  of  commercial  law,  in 
complex  details  of  chancery  cases,  and  in  the  skillful 
management  of  jury  trials,  when  his  examination  of 
witnesses  and  of  the  evidence  was  unequaled.  A 
writer  says  of  him,  "  His 
vigilance,  dexterity,  and 
perfect  presence  of  mind 
were  indescribable."  But 
we  will  let  his  old  associ- 
ates describe  his  valuable 
services  to  jurisprudence. 
When,  March  8, 1859,  the 
St.  Louis  bar  met  to  pass 
resolutions  regarding  their 
loss,  their  sorrow  was  mani- 
fested in  the  most  marked 
degree.  Edward  Bates  was 
president,  and  Albert  Todd 
and  F.  A.  Dick  vice-presi- 
dents. C.  D.  Drake,  J.  M. 
Krum,  J.  K.  Shepley,  C. 
Gibson,  and  T.  C.  Reynolds 
drew  up  the  resolutions, 
which  contained  the  fol- 
lowing: 


"  Through  a  period  of  more 
than  forty-three  years  his  clear, 
acute,  and  logical  mind,  unim- 
paired to  the  last,  dealt  with  all  the  great  questions  which  have 
arisen  in  connection  with  the  peculiar  jurisprudence  of  this 
State,  and  none  has  been  more  distinctly  felt  by  our  State  and 
Federal  judiciary  in  their  elucidation  and  final  determination. 

"  His  influence  upon  the  statute  law  of  Missouri  has  been  no 
less  marked.  When  he  had  been  but  two  years  in  the  then 
frontier  town  of  St.  Louis  he  compiled,  with  rare  accuracy  and 
system,  and  published  a  digest  of  the  laws  then  in  force  in  the 
Territory  of  Missouri,  which  still  bears  his  name,  and  has  al- 
ways held  a  position  of  unquestioned  authority.  In  1818  he 
was  a  member  of  the  Territorial  Legislature  of  Missouri.  In  1821 
he  was  elected  a  representative  in  the  First  Legislature  of  this 
State,  and  on  taking  bis  seat  was  chosen  Speaker  of  the  House. 
He  held  the  same  position  with  distinguished  ability  in  She 
Second  and  Third  General  Assemblies.  Upon  that  which  con- 
vened in  1824-25  devolved  the  difficult  duty  of  making  the  first 
revision  of  the  statute  law  of  Missouri.  He  had  been  by  the 


HENRY    S.  GEYER. 


preceding  Legislature  appointed  one  of  the  revisers,  and  he 
thus  had  an  opportunity  to  do  much  in  moulding  the  legisla- 
tion of  a  young  State,  where  few  men  could  be  found  having 
the  peculiar  qualities  which  he  possessed  in  a  very  eminent  de- 
gree for  such  a  work.  Again  in  1834-35  he  participated  labori- 
ously and  with  great  ability  in  the  enactment  of  the  second 
revision  of  the  statutes.  His  last  legislative  service  was  in  the 
session  of  1838-39.  In  1843  he  was  again  appointed  one  of  the 
revisers  of  the  statutes,  but  declined  the  appointment.  Through- 
out his  legislative  career  he  was  distinguished  for  comprehen- 
sive views,  for  independent  and  accurate  judgment,  for  clear 
perception  of  what  was  required  in  general  legislation,  and  for 
a  remarkable  adaptation  to  the  laborious  and  ill-understood  work 
of  framing  laws. 

"  In  his  service  as  senator  of  the  United  States  in  1851  he  ex- 
hibited the  same  mental  qualities  which  had  distinguished  him 
at  home.  His  mind  was  logical,  acute,  fertile,  elastic,  analyti- 
cal, and  vigorous.  His  legal  learning  was  varied  and  profound, 
and  he  wielded  it  with  a  skill  and  power  equaled  by  few.  His 
forensic  efforts,  whether  before 
a  court  or  a  ju*y,  were  always 
impressive,  and  often  exhibited 
the  highest  order  of  ability." 


The  members  of  the  bar 
voted  to  wear  mourning  for 
the  usual  period,  and  the 
resolutions  were  presented 
to  the  Supreme  Court  and 
to  the  inferior  courts. 

It  is  impossible  within 
the  limits  of  this  brief 
sketch  to  fully  describe  the 
unique  legal  position  of 
Henry  S.  Geyer.  In  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  he  came  into 
contact  with  such  men  as 
Webster,  Ewing,  and  Rev- 
erdy  Johnson,  who  enter- 
tained the  highest  respect 
for  his  ability.  Politically, 
he  was  a  firm  Whig,  and 
an  ardent  admirer  of  Henry 

Clay.  When  that  party  disappeared  he  returned  to 
the  Democratic  ranks.  When  elected  to  the  Senate 
(1851)  it  was  as  the  successor  of  Thomas  H.  Benton. 
His  greatest  reputation  as  a  criminal  lawyer  was 
gained  in  the  trial  of  Darnes  for  the  murder  of  Davis, 
publisher  of  a  St.  Louis  paper,  in  1840.  After 
Dames'  acquittal,  Mr.  Geyer's  profound  argument, 
which  occupied  two  days  in  its  delivery,  and  turned 
upon  the  closest  analysis  of  surgical  evidence,  was 
published  in  book  form  in  Boston.  Rufus  Choate 
expressed  the  highest  admiration  for  its  ability.  In 
one  cpf  his  noted  land  cases,  that  of  Strother  vs.  Lucas, 
William  Wirt  was  his  associate,  and  Chief  Justice 
Marshall,  who  presided,  afterwards  expressed  his  as- 


BENCH  AND  BAR. 


1463 


tonishment  at  Geyer's  legal  acumen.  Indeed,  the 
entire  history  of  the  times  makes  evident  the  fact  that 
he  was  a  formidable  opponent  whom  few  could  safely 
encounter,  and  throws  into  strong  relief  the  admirable 
singleness  of  purpose  and  devotion  to  any  cause  in 
which  he  is  enlisted  that  marks  the  great  lawyer.  Many 
stories  might  be  told  of  his  sparkling,  graphic  sarcasm 
and  pungency  of  retort,  and  he  wielded  a  good  con- 
troversial pen,  writing  many  articles  for  the  St.  Louis 
journals  of  the  day.  His  religious  beliefs  were  de-  • 
cided,  and  he  was  a  consistent  member  of  the  Epis-  i 
copal  Church.  Personally  he  mingled  but  little  with 
the  people,  being  reserved  and  not  intimate  with  any 
one,  but  he  showed  a  great  fondness  for  practical 
joking,  and  there  are  some  capital  stories  of  his  sue-  j 
cess  in  that  line.  Some  time  in  1816  he  exchanged 
shots  with  Capt.  Kennerly,  and  the  latter  was  wounded 
in  the  leg.  The  exact  cause  of  the  duel  has  never 
been  understood,  but  the  difficulty  was  amicably  set- 
tled, and  they  continued  friends. 

Benjamin  B.  Dayton  was  for  years  a  partner  of 
Henry  S.  Geyer.  He  was  born  in  New  York  State 
in  1817,  graduated  at  Union  College  in  1838,  reached 
St.  Louis,  and  at  first  was  with  Ferdinand  W.  Risk. 
About  1844  he  married  Miss  Mary  Jennings,  of  Phil- 
adelphia. In  1855  the  dreadful  Gasconade  bridge 
disaster  occasioned  his  death.  He  was  a  hard  student, 
and  a  man  of  most  exemplary  habits.  The  firm  of 
Geyer  &  Dayton  did  a  large  business  in  land  cases. 

One  of  the  first  judges  of  Missouri  was  Mathias 
McGirk,  a  contemporary  of  the  Bartons.  His  col- 
leagues were  J.  D.  Cook  and  John  R.  Jones.  They 
were  appointed  in  1820.  Judge  McGirk  was  born  in 
1790,  in  Tennessee,  and  reached  St.  Louis  about  1814. 
In  1827  he  removed  to  Montgomery  County,  and 
there  married  a  Miss  Talbot.  In  1816  he  was  author 
of  the  bill  to  introduce  the  common  law  into  Mis-  « 
souri,  and  he  framed  other  important  bills  while  a  ! 
member  of  the  Legislature.  In  1841  he  retired  from 
the  bench,  devoting  himself  to  agriculture.  He  was 
not  a  brilliant  jurist,  but  had  practical  sense,  a  reten- 
tive memory,  and  an  admirable  style,  both  as  conver- 
sationalist and  writer.  In  politics  he  was  a  Whig. 
Little  information  is  obtainable  about  Andrew  and 
Isaac  McGirk,  relatives  of  the  preceding,  who  prac- 
ticed law  in  St.  Louis.  Isaac  died  in  1830.  John 
D.  Cook,  Judge  McGirk's  associate  on  the  bench,  was 
a  member  of  the  State  Constitutional  Convention,  and 
a  jurist  of  excellence.  When  Judge  R.  S.  Thomas1 

1  This  Richard  S.  Thomas  reached  Upper  Louisiana  in  1815. 
In  1817  he  was  appointed  a  circuit  or  district  judge,  but  in 
1824  was  impeached  and  removed.  He  is  said  to  have  been 


was  removed  from  the  Circuit  Court,  Judge  Cook  was 
appointed,  preferring  that  place.  He  presided  there 
many  years,  and  was  a  noted  nisi prius  judge.  He 
had  great  ability,  but  was  too  indolent  to  take  a  com- 
manding place.  Judge  Cook  was  always  a  pleasant 
companion,  and  widely  known  for  his  benevolence  and 
friendliness  to  younger  members  of  the  profession. 

Another  of  the  noted  lawyers  of  the  formative  era 
in  Missouri  was  Judge  Rufus  Pettibone,  who  was 
born  in  Litchfield,  Conn.,  in  May,  1784,  and  grad- 
uated at  Williams  College  in  1805,  taking  high 
honors.  Adopting  the  legal  profession,  he  studied 
in  Central  New  York,  and  afterwards  in  Albany, 
where  he  was  admitted  in  1808.  In  1812,  Oneida 
County  elected  him  to  represent  it  in  the  Legislature, 
and  the  next  year  he  married  Louise  Esther  De  Rus- 
sey.  Five  years  later  he  removed  to  St.  Louis,  and 
on  his  arrival  was  offered  and  accepted  a  partnership 
with  Col.  Rufus  Easton,  then  one  of  the  leaders  of 
the  bar.  Even  at  this  early  date  numbers  of  persons 
in  the  Territory  were  opposed  to  slavery,  and  a  ticket 
was  by  them  presented  when  the  admission  question 
became  prominent.  J.  B.  C.  Lucas,  Rufus  Easton, 
Rufus  Pettibone,  Robert  Simpson,  and  Caleb  Bowles 
were  on  that  ticket,  though  well  aware  they  were  in  a 
hopeless  minority.  When  the  State  government  was 
organized  Rufus  Pettibone  was  appointed  judge  of  the 
Second  Circuit,  embracing  the  counties  of  Gasconade, 
Callaway,  Montgomery,  St.  Charles,  Lincoln,  Pike, 
and  Rails.  In  1823  he  was  appointed  to  the  Su-. 
preme  Bench.  In  the  winter  of  1824-25,  in  con- 
junction with  Henry  S.  Geyer,  he  also  revised  the 
State  laws,  and  prepared  the  same  for  legislative 
enactment.  On  the  last  day  of  July,  1825,  in  the 
fullness  of  his  powers,  he  died,  and  the  State  lost  one 
of  its  most  valued  citizens.  Mr.  Geyer  announced  his 
death  in  the  St.  Louis  Circuit  Court,  and  it,  as  well 
as  the  Supreme  Court,  adjourned  with  the  usual 
marks  of  respect. 

Now  and  then,  in  every  profession,  there  are  lives 
that  tradition  sets  apart  and  crowns  with  peculiar 
sacredness,  seemingly  without  definite  reason,  except 
that  they  were  brief,  brilliant,  and  tragical.  Such  a 
life  was  that  of  Horatio  Cozens,  whom  the  common 
opinion  of  his  time  ranked  as  a  phenomenon  of  rapid 
and  fervent  eloquence.  But  little  is  known  of  his 
boyhood,  birthplace,  and  education.  After  the  ad- 
mission of  Missouri  he  came  to  that  State  from  Vir- 
ginia, and  in  a  few  years  built  up  a  large  and  lucra- 


disagreeable  and  tyrannical,  and  to  have  become  very  intem- 
perate. Some  years  after  his  removal  from  office  he  was  thrown 
from  a  horse  and  killed. 


1464 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


tive  practice.     In  July,  1826,  being  then  but  about 
twenty-six  years  of  age,  he  was  stabbed  and  instantly 
killed  by  French  Strother,  a  dissipated  young  lawyer, 
with  whose  uncle  Cozens  had  had  some  political  con- 
troversy.    It  was  a  brutal,  unprovoked  murder,  and 
caused  the  wildest  excitement.     The  murderer  broke 
jail  a  few  days  later,  fled  to  Mexico,  and  died  of  de- 
lirium tremens.     Mr.  Cozens  left  a- young  wife  and 
two  children.     The  members  of  the  bar  met  a  few 
days  later,  Thomas   H.  Benton   being   in   the   chair, 
and  Henry  S.  Geyer  secretary.     Resolutions  express- 
ing the  deepest  regret  were  adopted,  and  crape  was 
worn  for  thirty  days.     At  a  much  later  day  the  fa- 
mous Edward  Bates  was  wont  to  express  unbounded 
admiration  for  Cozens,  and 
call  him  the  worthy  rival  of 
Geycr  himself.  The  memory 
of  the  gifted,  attractive  ora- 
tor is  forever  linked  with  the 
story  of  his  early,  deplorable 
death. 

Incidentally,  heretofore, 
we  have  mentioned  the  name 
of  Edward  Bates.  His  ca- 
reer covered  the  most  event- 
ful period  of  Missouri's  his- 
tory, and  no  member  of  the 
legal  fraternity  stood  higher 
or  was  more  esteemed.  He 
was  widely  known  and  loved, 
perhaps  more  so  than  any 
of  his  contemporaries,  for  all 
unite  in  admiration  of  the 
gentleness,  kindness,  and 
perpetual,  overflowing  cheer- 
fulness that  made  him  a 

universal  favorite.     Edward  KDWARD  BATES 

Bates  was  born  on  a  farm  in 

Goochland  County,  Va.,  Sept.  4,  1793,  and  received 
an  academic  education,  but,  being  the  youngest  of 
twelve  children,  and  his  father  dying,  his  scholastic 
training  was  defective  through  lack  of  means.  His 
brother  Fleming,  clerk  of  Northumberland  County, 
aided  him  as  far  as  possible.  He  was  offered  a  posi- 
tion as  midshipman  in  the  United  States  navy,  which 
he  declined,  but  while  still  a  lad  he  served  as  a  private 
in  the  war  of  1812.  It  is  also  on  record  that  his 
family  had  been  Quakers,  but  his  father  disobeyed 
their  doctrines  and  joined  the  Revolutionary  patriots.1 

1  It  was  related  of  the  father  of  Mr.  Bates  that  when  Lord 
Cornwallis  offered  him  British  protection,  he  carefully  folded  up 
the  papers  and  returned  thetn,  disdaining  to  accept  the  prof- 
fered advantage. 


In  1814  young  Bates  came  to  St.  Louis,  without 
a  profession,  and  with  very  small  means.  His  elder 
brother,  Frederick  Bates,  was  then  living  in  St.  Louis, 
being  secretary  of  the  Territory  of  Missouri,  to  which 
position  he  had  been  appointed  by  President  Jeffer- 
son, after  holding  a  United  States  judgeship  in  Mich- 
igan, in  order  to  thwart  and  counteract  the  supposed 
schemes  of  Gen.  Wilkinson,  then  Governor,  in  aid  of 
Aaron  Burr's  designs.  He  was  also  first  recorder  of 
land  titles  when  the  office  was  created  in  1806,  and 
secretary  of  the  first  board  of  land  commissioners  in 
1807.  After  the  formation  of  the  State  government 
Frederick  Bates  was  elected  the  second  Governor  of 
the  State,  and  died  in  office  in  1825. 

The  first  thing  Edward 
Bates  did  was  to  enter  Col. 
Rufus  Easton's  law-office, 
where  he  remained  until 
admitted  to  practice  in  1816. 
In  1818  he  was  appointed 
district  attorney  of  the  Ter- 
ritorial government,  and 
commissioned  by  Governor 
Clark.  He  was  chosen  a 
delegate  to  the  Constitu- 
tional Convention  in  1820, 
attorney- general  the  same 
year,  member  of  the  Legis- 
lature in  1822,  United  States 
attorney  for  Missouri  district 
in  1824,  and  was  sent  to 
Congress  in  1827  over  John 
Scott,  but  was  defeated  for 
re-election  by  Spencer  Pettis. 
After  returning  from  Con- 
gress he  was  elected  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Legislature  from 
St.  Charles.  Immediately 

after  this  Mr.  Bates  removed  to  St.  Charles,  and  lo- 
cated on  a  farm  in  the  county  of  St.  Louis,  on  Dar- 
denne  Prairie.  He  still  had  an  extensive  and  profit- 
able practice,  but  used  to  say  that  it  took  all  the  money 
that  Lawyer  Bates  could  make  to  support  Farmer 
Bates.  He  resumed  practice  in  St.  Louis  in  1842, 
until  he  was  elected  judge  of  the  Land  Court  by  popu- 
lar vote,  a  position  which  he  filled  with  great  ability. 
In  1850  he  was  offered  the  secretaryship  of  war 
in  Fillmore's  cabinet,  but  declined  it ;  was  elected 
presiding  officer  of  the  great  National  Whig  Conven- 
tion at  Baltimore  in  1856;  was  honored  by  Harvard 
with  a  degree  in  1858  ;  and  was  chosen  Attorney-Gen- 
eral in  Lincoln's  first  cabinet.  In  these  various  capaci- 
ties his  useful  life  broadened  into  many  channels.  Ill 


BENCH  AND  BAR. 


1465 


health  caused  him  to  leave  the  cabinet,  and  he  died  in 
March,  1869.  It  would  be  difficult  to  find  a  more 
rounded,  complete,  satisfactory  record  of  public  ser- 
vice. During  all  these  years  he  was  indefatigable  in 
his  study  of  law  and  literature,  and  had  the  conduct 
of  many  important  cases.1 

1  Mr.  Bates'  labors  in  behalf  of  the  public  schools  of  St. 
Louis  are  especially  worthy  of  mention,  and  are  thus  described 
by  Col.  T.  T.  Gantt  in  an  address  before  the  United  States  Court 
on  the  occasion  of  Mr.  Bates'  death  : 

"  The  first  cases  in  the  trial  of  which  he  became  conspicuous 
in  the  eyes  of  the  younger  members  of  the  bar,  unfamiliar  ex- 
cept by  tradition  with  his  merits  as  a  barrister,  were  those  which 
tested  the  title  of  the  Board  of  President  and  Directors  of  the 
St.  Louis  Public  Schools  to  lots  of  ground  in  the  township  of 
St.  Louis  equal  in  area  to  one-twentieth  of  all  the  land  included 
in  a  survey  comprising  the  town,  its  common  fields  and  common. 
The  litigation  thus  inaugurated  was,  from  every  point  of  view, 
most  interesting,  not  only  by  reason  of  the  immense  value  of 
the  endowment  given  to  the  public  schools  of  St.  Louis  by  the 
act  of  1812,  but  on  account  of  the  difficulty  of  the  questions  to 
be  decided  before  the  title  could  be  settled:  the  subject  engaged 
the  attention  of  the  profession  as  scarcely  can  be  predicated  of 
any  other  head  of  titles  to  land.  The  first  decision  on  the  title 
of  the  schools  was  given  by  our  Supreme  Court  ip  1843.  Even 
at  this  day  the  school  corporation  is  still  engaged  in  the  asser- 
tion of  a  doubtful  claim  to  some  lands  in  this  city.  But  it  is 
believed  that  all  matters  of  substance  in  this  connection  were 
determined  by  the  court  of  last  resort  in  1861.  With  the  earlier, 
more  difficult,  and  precarious  strife  of  the  first  cases  Mr.  Bates 
was  intimately  connected.  He  was  the  leader  of  the  counsel 
for  the  schools,  and  obtained  from  a  court,  one  of  the  judges  of 
which  was  irreclaimably  hostile  to  the  pretensions  of  that  cor- 
poration, the  decision  which,  after  long  dispute,  has  at  length 
become  the  accepted  law  of  the  land.  I  shall  not,  I  think,  as 
long  as  I  remember  anything,  forget  the  impression  made  upon 
me  by  the  argument  which  Mr.  Bates  made  before  Judge  Engle, 
then  presiding  in  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  upon  the  general 
merits  of  the  school  title  to  lots  of  ground  in  St.  Louis  under 
the  act  of  1812  and  the  acts  supplementary  to  it.  The  theme 
was  a  vast  one.  The  discussion  was  new  to  the  judge  before 
whom  it  was  carried  on,  for.  though  a  man  of  great  learning 
and  ability,  he  had  been  trained  in  a  school  which  had  not 
familiarized  him  with  our  peculiar  system  of  land  titles,  and 
there  was,  especially  at  that  day,  a  complexity  about  these 
which  few,  if  any,  were  able  to  master  who  had  not  an  acquaint- 
ance with  our  local  history,  impossible  of  attainment  except 
after  years  of  residence  among  us.  The  immense  advantage 
of  this  perfect  acquaintance  was,  of  course,  enjoyed  by  Mr. 
Bates,  who  had  almost  been  an  eye-witness  of  the  most  impor- 
tant events  involved,  and  the  matchless  order  in  which  he 
grouped  these  events  and  traced  their  bearing  upon  the  case  at 
the  bar  made  an  abiding  impression  upon  a  young  lawyer  who 
felt  keenly  his  own  want  of  the  peculiar  knowledge  which  en- 
abled Mr.  Bates  to  shine  so  brightly.  After  that  argument  it 
was  my  privilege  to  see  and  hear  him  over  and  over  again,  both 
at  the  bar  of  the  Circuit  and  the  Supreme  Courts,  sometimes  ex- 
hibiting the  tact  which  enabled  him  to  extract  from  even  un- 
willing witnesses  the  facts  which  it  concerned  his  client  to  have 
in  evidence,  sometimes  dealing,  with  an  ability  altogether  his 
own,  with  a  mass  of  conflicting  testimony  in  his  appeal  to  a 
jury,  and  sometimes  wringing  from  a  reluctant  court,  by  irre- 
sistible argument,  a  reconsideration  and  overruling  of  a  hasty 
decision." 


In  politics  he  was  in  early  life  a  Jeffersonian  Re- 
publican;  in  1825  he  supported  Adams ;  afterwards 
he  was  a  strong  Whig,  but  when  that  party  perished 
did  not  join  any  other,  though  in  the  Republican 
Convention  of  1860  he  was  strongly  supported  for  the 
Presidency.  When  the  civil  war  broke  out  he  was 
intensely  loyal,  and  advocated  the  most  decisive  meas- 
ures for  its  suppression.  Brought  up  as  a  member  of 
the  Society  of  Friends,  he  adhered  to  many  of  their 
doctrines,  but  joined  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  1842, 
and  was  for  years  a  presiding  elder. 

In  1823  he  had  married  Miss  Julia  D.  Coalter,  of 
South  Carolina,  one  of  five  sisters,  all  of  whom  were 
united  in  marriage  to  men  of  note.  One  became  the 
wife  of  William  C.  Preston,  of  South  Carolina ;  an- 
other of  Chancellor  Harper,  a  distinguished  judge  of 
the  same  State ;  and  a  third  married  Dr.  Means,  a 
|  wealthy  South  Carolinian,  whose  brother  was  Gov- 
j  ernor.  One  of  them,  in  1827,  became  the  wife  of 
Hamilton  R.  Gamble,  afterwards  provisional  Governor 
of  Missouri  in  war  times.  It  is  of  this  lady  that 
several  biographers  relate  a  romantic  story,  stating 
that  Edward  Bates  fell  deeply  in  love  with  her  and 
proposed,  but  was  refused.  He  continued  his  suit, 
and  her  high  regard  for  him  then  led  her  to  disclose 
to  him  the  fact  that  she  loved  Hamilton  R.  Gamble, 
but  would  never  marry  him  because  of  his  dissipated 
habits.  With  characteristic  magnanimity  Bates  then 
sought  Gamble,  pleaded  with  him,  stood  by  him,  got 
him  to  sign  the  pledge  and  keep  it,  and  in  brief  re- 
formed him,  so  that  he  afterwards,  in  1827,  married 
Miss  Coalter.  If  the  story  is  not  true  it  ought  to  be, 
for  such  devotion  to  duty  and  friendship  was  a  marked 
trait  of  Edward  Bates.  At  his  death  he  left  six  sons 
and  two  daughters.  He  never  sought  wealth,  and  in 
f  fact  owned  hardly  any  property.  Though  he  held  so 
I  many  public  offices,  he  was  always  poorer  when  he  left 
than  when  he  entered  them ;  though  he  earned  such 
large  sums  in  his  practice,  the  demands  of  charity  and 
friendship  kept  equal  pace  with  his  income. 

As  a  lawyer,  Judge  Bates  was  an  earnest,  practical 
reasoner,  and  a  hard  student  upon  his  cases.  The 
finer  graces  of  oratory  were  his,  and  though  Geyer, 
Easton,  Gamble,  and  'Joshua  Barton  probably  pos- 
sessed a  more  strictly  legal  analysis,  no  lawyer  of  his 
time  was  more  persuasively  eloquent.  Some  of  his 
forensic  efforts  may  well  be  classed  among  the  fairest 
blossoms  of  eloquence.  In  public  life  Mr.  Bates  was 
not  a  violent  factionist,  but  he  was  a  strong  adherent 
of  whatever  cause  he  espoused.  For  many  years  he 
was  a  liberal  contributor  to  the  columns  of  the  Mis- 
son  ri  Republican,  and  his  discussion  of  public  questions 
always  attracted  and  commanded  attention  from  the 


1466 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


force  and  vigor  of  his  writings,  which  were  character- 
ized by  a  fresh,  original,  and  captivating  style.  He 
despised  the  arts  of  the  mere  politician  ;  a  demagogue 
found  no  toleration  in  his  sight.  Indeed,  Mr.  Bates, 
by  his  great  abilities,  his  profound  reflection,  his  com- 
prehensive views  of  political  economy,  had  entitled 
himself  to  be  regarded  as  a  just  and  eminent  states- 
man. In  his  youth  he  published  a  violent  denunci- 
atory pamphlet  against  Col.  Benton,  but  in  after-life 
expressed  his  regret.  His  old  friend,  John  F.  Darby, 
says,  "  Mr.  Bates  won  great  distinction  by  presiding 
at  a  meeting  held  at  Chicago  for  commercial  and  in- 
ternal improvement  purposes.  Men  of  genius  and 
cultivated  talents  were  there,  and  they  were  astonished 
to  find  a  man  of  such  splendid  eloquence  and  elegant 
elocution  and  force  of  delivery  among  Western  dele- 
gates. It  is  said,  so  thrilling  was  his  address,  that 
the  reporters  themselves,  pausing  for  a  moment,  were 
so  charmed  that  they  forgot  to  take  down  his  words." 
He  presided  over  the  national  Whig  Convention  in  the 
year  that  President  Buchanan  was  nominated  by  the 
Democracy.  He  then  returned  home  and  followed 
his  professional  pursuits,  and  in  a  measure  retired 
from  politics,  but  he  was  never  withdrawn  so  far  as 
to  cease  to  write  occasional  essays  and  make  public 
speeches.  Though  always  in  a  popular  minority,  he 
did  more  during  the  Jackson  days  to  shape  affairs 
than  any  other  man  in  Missouri.  He  was  small  in 
figure,  wore  the  customary  broadcloth  coat  with  gold 
buttons,  and  ruffled  shirt,  and  seemed  a  notable  per- 
son in  any  assemblage..  With  all  his  modesty,  tact, 
and  suavity,  there  were  times,  in  the  heat  of  party 
conflict,  when  he  was  threatened  with  violence,  but 
his  courage  never  faltered,  and  in  every  instance  he 
quelled  the  rioters. 

Mr.  Bates  never  fought  a  duel,  but  when  in  Con- 
gress, when  Missouri  was  still  a  Territory,  he  promptly 
resented  a  supposed  slight  to  the  constituency  repre- 
sented by  him  by  challenging  George  McDuffie,  the 
eminent  Democratic  orator  and  leader,  of  South  Car- 
olina, who  was  at  that  time  chairman  of  the  Commit-  i 
tee  of  Ways  and  Means.    "  I  see,"  said  Bates,  rising  ', 
in  his  seat,  "  that  the  chair  has  not  the  will  to  protect 
Missouri  from  insult  in  my  person  ;  let  the  gentleman 
avow  himself,  and  I  will  protect  myself,  sir."     Mc- 
Duffie  rose  and  the  challenge  forthwith  passed.     The  , 
South  Carolinian  made  handsome  explanations,  show- 
ing that  he  had  no  purpose  of  insulting  Missouri  or 
aggrieving  Mr.  Bates,  but  was  simply  giving  effect  to  a  | 
parliamentary  stratagem,  and  so  the  hostile  meeting 
was  avoided. 

The   action   taken   by  the  St.  Louis  bar   on    Mr. 
Bates'  death  evinced  the  greatest  regard  for  his  mem- 


ory. Two  meetings  were  held,  and  speeches  were 
made  by  Col.  James  0.  Broadhead,  Samuel  T.  Glover, 
Judge  S.  M.  Breckinridge,  John  F.  Darby,  and  others. 
All  were  glowing  eulogies,  called  forth  by  his  long 
and  splendid  career ;  all  dwelt  with  especial  affection 
on  his  personal  virtues.  One  speaker  closed  by  say- 
ing, "  He  was  a  bold,  brave,  good  man.  In  all  re- 
lations of  life  it  may  be  said  of  Mr.  Bates  that  he 
performed  his  duty  to  his  family,  as  a  citizen, 
and  to  his  God.  It  is  well  to  record  the  fact  that 
here  was  a  man  without  advantages,  without,  as  I  am 
told,  a  classical  education,  without  any  adventitious 
aid,  a  mere  youth  seeking  his  fortune  in  the  West, 
without  pretensions,  without  assumption  or  arrogance, 
but  by  the  native  force  of  his  intellect,  and  by  an 
honest,  conscientious,  upright  life,  mounting  up  from 
the  lowest  to  the  highest  round  of  the  ladder  of 
fame." 

With  all  this  evidence  regarding  the  character  and 
achievements  of  this  great  man,  it  is  a  pity  that  a 
record  of  his  most  famous  speeches  has  not  been 
kept.  There  was,  for  instance,  the  celebrated  Mon- 
tesquieu trial  in  1850,  one  of  the  most  dramatic  and 
widely-known  cases  of  modern  times.  Judge  J.  B. 
Colt  presided.  James  R.  Lackland  and  Uriel  Wright 
represented  the  State,  and  Edward  Bates,  H.  S. 
Geyer,  Wilson  Prirnm,  and  Charles  Gibson  the  defense. 
The  latter,  in  1878,  being  then  the  only  surviving 
counsel,  contributed  an  account  of  the  trial  to  the 
Missouri  Historical  Society.1 

1  No  event  in  the  criminal  annals  of  St.  Louis  ever  created 
such  an  intense  feeling  in  the  community  as  the  Montesquieu 
murder,  or  City  Hotel  tragedy,  as  it  was  popularly  called.  On 
the  morning  of  Sunday,  Oct.  28,  1849,  two  young  French  noble- 
men, Gonsalve  and  Raymond  de  Montesquieu,  arrived  in  St. 
Louis  and  stopped  at  Barnum's  City  Hotel.  They  had  come  to 
this  country  the  preceding  June  for  recreation  and  pleasure, 
and  had  traveled  leisurely  westward,  Chicago  having  been  the 
last  stopping-place.  Gonsalve  was  about  twenty-eight  years 
old,  and  his  brother  was  two  years  his  junior.  Both  were  lib- 
erally supplied  with  money.  Among  their  effects  were  capa- 
cious wardrobes,  a  number  of  guns,  and  an  extensive  hunting 
equipment.  They  were  assigned  a  room  situated  on  a  hall 
leading  from  a  back  piazza.  Directly  opposite,  but  in  a  room 
opening  directly  on  the  piazza,  Albert  Jones,  H.  M.  Henderson, 
and  Capt.  Wm.  Hubbell  slept,  and  in  another  room,  the  window 
of  which  overlooked  the  piazza,  were  T.  Kirby  Barnuin,  nephew 
of  the  proprietor  of  the  hotel,  and  Mr.  Macomber,  the  steward. 

Between  eleven  and  twelve  o'clock  on  the  night  of  Monday, 
October  29th,  while  young  Barnum  and  Macomber  were  pre- 
paring for  bed,  they  were  startled  by  a  tapping  on  the  window- 
pane,  and  the  curtains  being  drawn  aside  they  saw  the  two 
young  Frenchmen  on  the  piazza,  one  of  them  armed  with  a 
gun.  Simultaneously  with  the  discovery  one  of  the  Frenchmen 
fired,  the  contents  mortally  wounding  Barnum  and  giving  Ma- 
comber a  flesh-wound  on  the  wrist. 

Aroused  by  the  report  of  the  gun,  Jones,  Henderson,  and 
Hubbell  opened  the  door  of  their  room,  and  were  immediately 


BENCH  AND  BAR. 


1467 


A  bronze  statue  has  been  erected  to  Edward  Bates' 
memory  in  Forest  Park,  and  the  St.  Louis  Law  Library 
has  a  fine  portrait  of  this  distinguished  advocate.  In 
his  long  life  many  persons  afterwards  noted  were  his 

fired  upon,  Jones  being  instantly  killed,  and  the  others  slightly 
wounded.  The  brothers  returned  to  their  room  after  the  shoot- 
ing, and  were  subsequently  arrested  there. 

The  homicide  was  at  first  regarded  as  a  mystery,  as  the  Mon- 
tesquieus  were  perfectly  sober,  and  had  had  no  intercourse  or 
communication  whatever  with  the  five  men  who  were  shot.  At 
the  time  of  their  arrest  the  younger  brother  stated  that  Gon- 
salve  had  recently  displayed  symptoms  of  insanity,  and  the 
latter,  exculpating  his  brother  from  all  blame,  said  he  was  con- 
trolled by  an  irresistible  inclination  to  kill  two  men ;  that  he 
started  out  to  do  so,  and  that  his  brother  merely  followed  to 
prevent  a  tragedy,  but  it  was  consummated  before  he  (Ray- 
mond) could  interfere. 

After  the  tragedy  public  indignation  ran  so  high  that  the 
jail  was  surrounded,  and  efforts  were  made  to  obtain  possession 
of  the  Montesquieu  brothers,  but  these  were  foiled  by  the  jailer 
and  sheriff,  who,  between  seven  and  eight  o'clock  on  the  even- 
ing of  the  day  succeeding  the  homicide,  and  while  the  crowd 
were  assembling  around'  the  jail  walls,  deeming  it  unsafe  to 
keep  the  prisoners  longer  in  jail,  quietly  took  them  from  their 
cells,  conveyed  them  over  the  back  wall,  through  the  church- 
yard to  Fifth  Street,  where  cabs  were  in  waiting,  and  conveyed 
them  to  Jefferson  Barracks.  On  the  way  to  the  barracks  the 
elder  of  the  two  seemed  perfectly  composed,  and  when  they 
reached  the  gate  took  advantage  of  the  sheriff's  a.bsence  from 
the  cab,  sprang  from  his  seat,  and  made  a  slight  effort  to  es- 
cape. The  younger  appeared  very  much  frightened,  and  used 
every  precaution  while  being  conducted  from  the  jail  to  avoid 
recognition.  Between  one  and  two  o'clock  A.M.  on  the  Friday 
following  they  were  returned  to  the  jail. 

At  the  time  of  their  arrest  the  statements  of  the  Montes- 
quieus  as  to  their  birth  and  social  position  in  France  were  re- 
ceived with  incredulity,  it  being  generally  believed  that  they  were 
desperadoes,  but  a  few  weeks  later  their  claims  were  substan- 
tiated, as  the  following  extract  from  the  Missouri  Republican 
will  show : 

"The  deplorable  and  almost  incomprehensible  event  which 
produced  so  much  sensation  in  the  public  mind  a  few  weeks 
ago,  and  so  much  grief  in  several  families,  seems  to  have  ex- 
cited equal  sensation  and  grief  in  France.  The  last  steamer 
brings  out  from  Mr.  Rives,  our  minister  at  Paris,  a  letter  of  his 
own  to  Senator  Benton,  with  many  letters  and  official  docu- 
ments to  himself  and  others  to  Senator  Benton,  Senator  Cass, 
and  the  Hon.  Mr.  Winthrop,  on  the  subject  of  this  most  melan- 
choly occurrence.  The  letters  make  known  the  fact  that  the 
father  of  these  young  gentlemen  (the  late  Count  Montesquieu) 
labored  under  insanity,  and  destroyed  his  own  life  two  years 
ago,  and  that  their  elder  brother  is  now  insane  in  Paris,  and 
hence  raise  the  irresistible  inference  that  inherited  insanity 
must  have  broken  out  in  the  two  brothers  at  St.  Louis.  All  the 
letters  speak  of  them  in  the  same  terms  as  being  remarkable 
for  the  amiability  of  their  characters  and  their  '  mild  and  inof- 
fensive manners;'  that  they  came  to  the  United  States  for  in- 
formation and  recreation,  and  especially  to  see  the  Western 
country,  and  with  ample  means  and  credit.  They  descend  from  j 
a  family  in  France  not  only  of  great  historic  fame,  but  dis-  | 
tinguished  for  private  virtues. 

"  The  celebrated  Duke  de  la  Rochefoucauld-Liancourt,  author 
of  the  '  Maxims,'  is  their  grandfather  on  the  mother's  side;  the   I 
present  Duke  de  la   Rochefoucauld   writes  in  their  behalf  as   ' 


students,  as  will  be  seen  hereafter.  One  of  these  was 
Col.  Jo  Davis,  of  Fayette,  born  in  1804,  who  died  in 
1871. 

The  Gamble  brothers,  Hamilton  R,.  and  Archibald, 
were  distinguished  for  character  and  ability,  and  upon 
the  first  fell  the  burden  of  state  in  those  "  times  that 


nephews;  the  Gen.  Oudinot,  Duke  of  Reggio,  and  Gen.  Arrigri, 
Duke  of  Padua,  also  in  their  behalf  as  relations.  The  Count 
Montesquieu  himself  belonged  to  the  distinguished  family  of 
that  name.  Many  Americans  in  Paris,  among  them  Mr.  Wil- 
liam H.  Aspinwall,  of  New  York,  also  writes,  and  with  all  the 
deep  feeling  which  the  view  of  the  agonized  condition  of  the 
unhappy  mother  and  relations  so  naturally  inspires.  These 
letters  and  official  attestations  have  all  been  forwarded  to  St. 
Louis,  to  have  their  effect  in  explaining  a  transaction  which 
seemed  to  be  incomprehensible." 

In  the  latter  part  of  December,  1849,  Lewis  Borg,  vice-consul 
of  France  at  the  port  of  New  York,  and  Justin  Paillaird,  of 
Paris,  arrived  at  St.  Louis,  M.  Borg  being  commissioned  to  in- 
vestigate the  Montesquieu  tragedy,  and  his  companion  being  an 
intimate  friend  of  the  young  men  involved  in  the  melancholy 
affair.  The  effect  of  the  letters  from  abroad  and  the  visit  of 
Messrs.  Borg  and  Paillaird  was  to  change  public  sentiment  in 
regard  to  the  guilt  and  character  of  the  accused,  and  it  was  not 
strange  that  in  each  of  two  trials  the  juries  failed  to  agree  upon 
a  verdict.  In  the  first  trial  the  jury  stood  seven  for  acquitting 
and  five  for  convicting  Gonsalve,  and  eight  for  acquitting  and 
four  for  convicting  Raymond.  In  the  case  of  Gonsalve  the  jury 
divided  upon  his  insanity,  and  in  the  case  of  Raymond  they 
divided  upon  the  dying  declaration  of  Barnum  and  Macomber's 
testimony  as  given  before  the  coroner  and  recorder.  Barnum 
and  Macoinber  identified  Raymond  as  the  person  who  fired  into 
their  room,  but  the  fact  that  at  the  time  of  the  shooting  Bar- 
num and  Macomber  were  in  a  lighted  room,  the  defendants  in 
the  dark  upon  the  piazza,  and  the  alarm  of  the  persons  in  the 
room  when  they  saw  a  man  approach  the  window  with  a  gun  in 
his  hand,  their  hasty  observation  and  precipitate  retreat,  the 
similarity  in  the  appearance  of  the  two  brothers,  the  excite- 
ment of  Barnum  and  Macomber  at  the  time  of  recognition  on 
the  night  of  the  occurrence,  the  fact  that  both  were  identified 
at  different  periods  on  that  night  a,s  the  "man"  who  shot,  that 
but  one  gun,  double-barreled,  was  discharged,  and  if  both  shot 
they  would  necessarily  have  had  to  use  the  same  piece,  that  at 
the  time  of  the  arrest  Raymond  denied  he  had  shot,  and  stated 
that  his  brother  did  it,  that  Gonsalve  admitted  he  killed  both 
men,  and  exonerated  his  brother,  were  all  considered  by  the 
jury,  and  caused  the  division  upon  the  conviction  of  Raymond. 

This  first  trial  occupied  four  weeks,  and  was  concluded  April 
20,  1850.  On  the  next  trial,  which  took  place  two  weeks  later, 
the  jury,  after  being  out  forty  hours,  also  disagreed,  the  vote 
being  nine  for  conviction  and  three  for  acquittal  in  the  cases  of 
both  of  the  brothers. 

A  few  weeks  after  the  second  trial  the  Governor  pardoned 
Gonsalve  on  the  ground  of  his  insanity  at  the  time  of  commit- 
ting the  murder,  and  shortly  thereafter  he  pardoned  the  younger 
brother  on  the  ground  of  "  a  general  belief  that  he  did  not  par- 
ticipate in  the  homicide  whereof  he  stands  indicted,  and  that  a 
further  prosecution  of  these  indictments  will  not  accomplish 
any  of  the  objects  of  public  justice,  but  will  result  only  in  re- 
newed trouble  and  increased  expense  to  the  State."  The 
brothers  Montesquieu  sailed  for  France  from  New  York  imme- 
diately after  being  set  free.  Gonsalve  afterwards  died  a  raving 
maniac. 


1468 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


tried  men's  souls"  in  the  early  period  of  the  civil 
war.  Their  ancestry  was  of  sturdy  Virginian  stock. 
The  grandfather  emigrated  from  Ireland  in  1752,  set- 
tling in  Pennsylvania,  but  ten  years  later  returned  to 
Europe.  His  eldest  son  came  back  to  America,  fought 
in  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  afterwards  was  Pro- 
fessor of  Latin  and  Greek  in  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania. A  younger  son,  Joseph,  was  the  father  of 
the  subjects  of  our  sketch.  He,  while  in  Ireland, 
married  Anne  Hamilton,  and  in  1784  reached  Amer- 
ica, settling  in  Winchester,  Va.,  where  seven  children, 
of  whom  Hamilton  Rowan  was  the  youngest,  were 
born  and  reared  under  the  strictest  religious  influences, 
Joseph  Gamble  being  ruling  elder  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  Hamilton's  birth  occurred  Nov.  29,  1798. 
His  education  was  chiefly  obtained  at  Hampden-Sid- 
ney  College,  and  he  was  admitted  to  practice  when  he 
was  but  eighteen  years  of  age ;  before  he  was  twenty- 
one  he  had  been  licensed  as  a  lawyer  in  three  States, 
Virginia,  Tennessee,  and  Missouri,  arriving  in  Mis- 
souri in  1818.  Some  time  previously  his  elder  brother 
Archibald,  a  well-trained  and  successful  young  lawyer, 
had  located  in  St.  Louis,  was  then  clerk  of  the  Circuit 
Court,  and  appointed  Hamilton  as  his  deputy.  At 
that  time  the  entire  territory  north  of  the  Missouri 
River  was  divided  into  two  counties,  Howard  and  St. 
Charles,  and  young  Gamble  soon  removed  to  Old 
Franklin,  the  chief  town  of  the  former,  where  he  was 
appointed  prosecuting  attorney  for  the  circuit.  His 
official  duties  required  thousands  of  miles  of  travel 
on  horseback  each  year,  his  only  law-books  being  such 
as  he  could  carry  in  his  saddle-bags.  Social  tempta- 
tions in  this  frontier  life  were  natural,  and  for  a  time 
the  brilliant  attorney  yielded  to  them,  but,  as  related 
elsewhere,  the  influences  of  love  and  friendship  caused 
a  complete  reform.  Ri  1824  he  was  appointed  by 
Governor  Frederick  Bates  Secretary  of  State,  and 
removed  to  St.  Charles,  the  temporary  seat  of  govern- 
ment. After  the  death  of  Governor  Bates,  which 
soon  occurred,  he  settled  in  St.  Louis,  and  his  great  ! 
success  as  a  lawyer  dates  from  that  period.  He  at  j 
once  became  engaged  in  active  competition  for  profes- 
sional honors  and  rewards  with  such  men  as  Benton, 
Geyer,  the  Bartons,  Robert  Wash,  and  others,  and 
was  fully  their  peer.  Devoting  his  attention  chiefly 
to  land  cases,  he  seldom  addressed  a  jury,  but  was  re- 
tained in  all  the  important  land  suits,  followed  them 
to  the  Supreme  Court,  argued  them  in  person,  and 
became  widely  known  as  a  jurist.  He  was  slow  of 
speech  and  not  eloquent,  but  no  man  had  greater  ca- 
pacity for  clear,  brief,  and  logical  statement  of  facts 
and  law.  Herein  lay  his  strength  and  his  reputation. 
In  1832-33  he  aided  to  defend  Judge  Carr,  then 


under  impeachment ;  in  1846  he  was  sent  to  the 
Legislature  to  assist  in  revising  the  laws,  and  his 
services  were  extremely  useful.  Five  years  later  (in 
1851)  a  place  was  vacant  on  the  Supreme  Bench  of 
the  State,  and  Mr.  Gamble,  though  belonging  to  the 
Whig  party,  then  hopelessly  in  the  minority,  was 
elected,  receiving  over  forty  thousand  Democratic 
votes,  and,  to  still  further  emphasize  this  tribute  to 
his  worth,  his  associates  on  the  bench  chose  him  as 
presiding  judge.  Ill  health  led  to  his  resignation  in 
1855,  after  which  he  only  appeared  in  a  few  import- 
ant cases  in  the  United  States  Supreme  Court.  His 
opinions,  delivered  while  presiding  judge,  were  note- 
worthy both  in  style  and  matter.  About  1858,  Gov- 
ernor Gamble  removed  to  Philadelphia  to  educate  his 
children,  and  was  still  there  when  the  war-clouds  began 
to  gather.  When  the  Legislature  of  Missouri  passed 
an  act  to  call  together  a  "State  Convention,"  Judge 
Gamble  hastened  home,  found  anarchy  impending 
and  dissension  everywhere,  addressed  a  meeting  of  the 
citizens  at  the  court-house  the  very  next  evening  after 
his  arrival,  and  proclaimed  his  unswerving  fidelity  to 
the  Union.  It  is  impossible  to  estimate  the  value  of 
this  one  man's  words  at  such  a  crisis ;  they  rallied  the 
Union  men  and  strengthened  their  cause  immeasurably. 
When  the  convention  met  the  Unionists  had  a  ma- 
jority. Judge  Gamble  took  a  prominent  part  in  the 
deliberations,  and  was  unanimously  chosen  provisional 
Governor  after  the  flight  of  Governor  Claiborne  Jack- 
son. This  was  in  July,  1861.  The  eyes  of  all  Union 
men  turned  to  Hamilton  Rowan  Gamble  as  their 
surest  and  wisest  counselor.  He  shrank  from  the 
difficult  task,  and  accepted  it  only  when  convinced 
that  it  was  his  duty.  This  period  properly  belongs 
to  the  political  history  of  the  State.  It  is  sufficient 
to  say  that  Governor  Gamble  won  fitting  place  in  the 
list  of  "  war  Governors." 

In  1827,  Mr.  Gamble  was  married  at  Columbia, 
S.  C.,  to  Miss  Caroline  J.  Coalter,  sister  of  Mrs. 
Edward  Bates.  He  died  on  Jan.  31,  1864,  worn 
out  by  arduous  duties  and  anxiety.  The  city  build- 
ings, stores,  and  many  residences  of  St.  Louis  were 
draped  in  mourning,  and  business  was  suspended. 
The  funeral  cortege  was  over  a  mile  long.  Rev.  Dr. 
Brooks  delivered  the  sermon,  aud  pulpit  and  the  press 
united  in  expressing  the  general  sorrow.  The  St. 
Louis  bar  assembled  en  masse,  paid  every  possible 
tribute  (Thomas  T.  Gantt  pronounced  the  eulogy), 
and  went  in  a  body  to  his  funeral.  His  full-length 
portrait  hangs  in  the  Mercantile  Library.  Lieuten- 
ant-Governor  Willard  P.  Hall  assumed  the  duties  of 
chief  magistrate,  and  proved  faithful  and  efficient. 
The  Missouri  Republican  said  editorially,  after 


BENCH  AND  BAR. 


1469 


Governor  Gamble's  death,  "  A  purer  patriot,  one 
more  devoted  to  his  country,  a  more  sincere  man,  a 
better  Christian  has  rarely  taken  his  departure  from 
among  us.  If  he  had  not  possessed  these  attributes 
it  is  unlikely  that  he  would  have  endured  the  fiery 
ordeal  with  which  embittered  political  malice  pursued 
him  to  the  last  hour  of  his  life,  for  he  was  not  a 
politician.  But  he  took  upon  himself  the  cares  of 
State  and  the  drudgery  of  office  at  a  time  when  he 
might  well  be  excused  from  it,  and  devoted  all  his 
energies,  his  life,  to  the  redemption  of  the  State  from 
the  troubles  which  encompassed  it.:' 

Governor  Gamble's  brother  Archibald  was  born  in 
Winchester,  Frederick  Co.,  Va.,  in  1791  or  1792,  and 
came  to  St.  Louis  in  1816.  He  was  a  lawyer  ;  served  for 
a  year  as  clerk  of  the  St.  Louis  Bank,  then  as  deputy 
clerk  under  Clerk  Marie  P.  Leduc  in  Judge  David 
Barton's  court.  Governor  William  Clark  appointed 
him  clerk  of  Circuit  Court  and  ex  officio  recorder  of 
deeds  of  St.  Louis  County,  an  office  he  held  for 
eighteen  years,  when  J.  F.  Ruland  succeeded  him. 
In  1822  he  married  Louisa,  third  daughter  of  Col. 
Rufus  Easton.  He  was  long  the  efficient  and  active 
legal  agent  of  the  public  schools.  When  Lafayette 
visited  St.  Louis  in  1825,  he  was  one  of  the  alder- 
men, and  aided  in  the  reception.  In  1836  he  was  a 
leading  spirit  in  the  railroad  building  movement.  At 
one  time  he  had  charge  of  the  St.  Louis  post-office, 
and  was  secretary  of  the  Barton  Convention  in  June, 
1831.  During  the  last  twenty  years  of  his  life,  which 
closed  in  September,  1866,  he  lived  in  comparative 
retirement,  possessing  abundant  means.  Like  his 
br6ther,,he  was  a  strict  and  worthy  member  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  When  in  the  full  vigor  of  his 
manhood  no  person  was  more  closely  identified  with 
business  enterprises  and  the  growth  of  the  community. 

Hon.  John  F.  Darby,  who  flourished  so  long  and  so 
genially,  might  be  treated  as  the  contemporary  of 
almost  any  group  of  lawyers  in  St.  Louis.  His 
period  of  greatest  activity,  however,  was  from  1830 
to  1842.  Mr.  Darby's  name  occurs  in  numerous 
places  in  this  chapter,  and  a  full  biography  of  him 
will  be  found  in  the  record  of  municipal  history,  dur- 
ing his  administration  as  mayor  of  St.  Louis. 

Numbers  of  distinguished  lawyers  have  been 
schcol-teachers  in  their  early  career.  The  comparative 
leisure  afforded  in  small  country  schools  makes  this 
occupation  a  favorite  stepping-stone  from  college  to 
the  bar.  Even  now  the  schools  of  the  West  contain 
many  bright,  ambitious  young  teachers  who  are 
spending  their  evenings  and  Saturdays  in  reading  law, 
and  who  may  be  heard  from  hereafter  as  noted  jurists. 
The  Missouri  bar  has  had  several  shining  lights  whose 


earlier  manhood  was  passed  in  pedagogic  work.  One 
of  these  was  George  Tompkins,  for  many  years  the 
presiding  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court.  Born  in 
Caroline  County,  Va.,  in  March,  1780,  of  sturdy 
Saxon  stock,  and  in  a  family  which  was  one  of  the 
earliest  to  settle  in  that  region,  he  seems  to  have 
lacked  a  college  training,  but  was  a  great  reader  and 
a  hard  student.  About  1801  or  1802  he  left  Vir- 
ginia with  but  one  hundred  dollars,  and  removed  to 
Kentucky,  teaching  school,  and  reading  such  books 
as  he  could  obtain.  He  remained  six  or  seven  years 
in  this  State,  most  of  the  time  in  Jefferson  County. 
Then  he  came  to  St.  Louis,  and  was  the  second  teacher 
in  the  public  school,  having  succeeded  a  man  named 
Ratchford.  The  school  was  in  a  room  on  Market 
Street,  between  Second  and  Third  Streets.  The  popu- 
lation of  the  town  was  not  over  fourteen  hundred, 
chiefly  Creole  French,  there  being  only  two  American 
families  there.  He  still  read  law  in  his  leisure  hours, 
and  made  diligent  use  of  the  few  books  obtainable. 
To  train  himself  and  others  in  the  art  and  practice  of 
public  speaking  he  organized  a  debating  society,  the 
first  on  record  west  of  the  Mississippi.  Joshua  and 
David  Barton,  Edward  Bates,  Maj.  O'Fallon,  and 
other  young  men  who  afterwards  did  good  public 
service  participated  in  the.  discussions.  It  is  a  pity 
that  a  full  report  of  these  meetings  has  not  been  pre- 
served. In  school  and  in  debating  club  young  Mr. 
Tompkins  exercised  influence  over  many  who  after- 
wards became  leading  citizens  of  the  metropolis. 
About  1812  or  thereabouts  his  father's  death  left 
him  heir  to  a  share  of  the  ancestral  estate,  but  there 
were  thirteen  children,  George  being  the  youngest 
but  one,  and  he  refused  to  receive  any  portion  of  it. 
In  the  expressive  phrase  of  the  West,  he  could  easily 
"paddle  his  own  canoe." 

The  law  career  of  Mr.  Tompkins  began  in  1816, 
when  he  was  admitted  and  settled  in  Old  Franklin, 
Howard  Co.  In  those  days  young  attorneys  found 
that  their  surest  road  to  fame  lay  through  politics. 
They  could  in  no  other  way  form  so  wide  a  circle  of 
friends  nor  better  display  their  latent  capacities.  We 
find  that  Lawyer  Tompkins  was  twice  sent  to  the  Ter- 
ritorial Legislature,  then  meeting  at  St.  Charles.  In 
1824  he  was  chosen  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and 
remained  in  that  important  office  until  he  passed  the 
constitutional  limit  of  age  (sixty-five  years),  and  was 
therefore  forced  to  resign.  Two  years  later,  in  April, 
1846,  aged  sixty-seven,  he  died  on  his  fine  farm  near 
Jefferson  City.  No  incompetent  or  weak  person  could 
so  long  have  held  such  a  position.  Judge  Tompkins 
was  eminent  for  ability,  integrity,  and  close  legal  re- 
search, as  all  his  decisions  evince.  Judge  W.  V.  N. 


1470 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


Bay,  late  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Missouri,  in  his 
able  book  upon  the  bench  and  bar,  says  that  Judge 
Tompkins  was  too  great  a  stickler  for  precedent,  and 
in  the  case  of  Lecompte  vs.  Seargent  held  that  "  an 
executor  or  administrator  is  for  every  purpose  owner 
of  the  moneys  of  his  testator  or  intestate  which  have 
come  into  his  hands ;"  in  other  words,  such  funds  are  ' 
liable  for  the  administrator's  personal  debts.  The  | 
judge  was  misled  by  a  reference  in  an  old  English  ] 
digest  he  carried  in  his  saddle-bags.  This  will  serve 
to  show  some  of  the  difficulties  for  lack  of  books 
under  which  the  lawyers  and  judges  of  an  early  day 
labored.  At  a  later  date  Judge  Bay  himself  reversed 
this  decision.  There  are  many  amusing  stories  afloat 
about  Judge  Tompkins ;  he  was  a  whimsical,  original 
genius,  eccentric,  kindly,  and  prone  to  indulge  in  a 
dry  humor  all  his  own.  Sometimes  it  took  the  form 
of  sarcasm,  as  when  a  backwoods  lawyer  named  Men- 
dell,  attired  in  the  most  slovenly  manner,  was  arguing 
a  case  before  him.  Just  before  the  usual  adjournment 
hour  the  judge  said,  "  Mr.  Mendell,  it  is  impossible  i 
for  this  court  to  see  any  law  through  as  dirty  a  shirt 
as  you  have  on.  We  will  adjourn  to  give  you  an  op- 
portunity to  change  your  linen."  Sometimes,  how- 
ever, the  judge  received  back  as  good  as  he  gave,  as  ! 
in  a  tilt  with  Peyton  R.  Hayden,  one  of  the  finest 
lawyers  in  Central  Missouri.  He  was  arguing  a  case 
in  the  Supreme  Court,  and  Judge  Tompkins,  becom- 
ing tired,  said,  "  Mr.  Hayden,  why  do  you  spend  so 
much  time  on  the  weak  points  of  your  case,  to  the 
exclusion  of  the  more  important  ones  ?"  Hayden  was 
equal  to  the  emergency,  and  replied  on  the  instant 
that  it  was  because  he  had  found  during  his  long 
practice  before  that  court  that  the  weak  points  won 
fully  as  often  as  the  strong  ones. 

Like  many  professional  men,  the  judge  was  an  ardent 
lover  of  horticulture.  His  orchards  were  noted  for 
the  fine  fruit  they  bore,  and  he  became  quite  an 
authority  on  the  subject.  It  is  often  the  case  that 
men's  thoughts  turn  as  old  age  approaches  to  quiet 
scenes  and  rural  pursuits.  They  cannot  quite  take  off  ; 
the  armor,  but  they  hunger  for  the  garden,  the  orchard,  i 
the  wide  landscape,  the  rolling  pastures,  the  glades 
and  forests  and  well-tilled  fields.  Almost  everywhere 
the  leaders  of  the  bar  have  owned  and  improved  rural 
estates,  introduced  thoroughbred  stock,  and  aided 
largely  in  the  advancement  of  agriculture.  Bates, 
McGirk,  and  Scott  all  owned  fine  farms.  A  number 
of  other  instances  might  be  given,  but  two  must  suf- 
fice. In  1868,  May  10th,  the  St.  Louis  Republican 
noticed  the  death  of  Adolphe  Renard,  aged  sixty-five, 
for  many  years  United  States  recorder  of  land  titles, 
and  afterwards  in  the  surveyor-general's  office,  but 


during  the  later  years  of  his  life  engaged  in  horticul- 
ture and  grape  culture  near  St.  Louis.  In  1846  the 
same  journal  speaks  of  the  death  of  Col.  Justus  Post, 
at  one  time  judge  of  the  St.  Louis  County  Court, 
afterwards  in  the  Missouri  Senate,  and  still  later  holder 
of  a  staff  appointment  in  the  Mexican  war.  A  native 
of  Vermont,  he  came  to  Missouri  in  1816,  practiced 
law,  and  owned  a  large  farm  in  St.  Louis  County. 
In  1831  he  removed  to  Pulaski  County,  111.,  where 
he  died  on  the  fine  farm  which  he  owned  there. 

Another  of  the  representative  lawyers  of  Southern 
Missouri,  who  is  nevertheless  entitled  to  notice  here, 
was  Gen.  Nathaniel  W.  Watkins,  born  in  Kentucky 
in  1796,  and  a  half-brother  of  Henry  Clay.  Reach- 
ing St.  Louis  in  1820,  he  soon  established  himself  at 
Jackson,  Cape  Girardeau  Co.,  served  several  terms  in 
the  State  Legislature,  and  was  speaker  of  the  Sixteenth 
General  Assembly.  He  also  served  as  a  member  of 
the  St.  Louis  Convention  of  1861.  During  these  years 
he  was  a  noted  horticulturist,  and  divided  his  time  be- 
tween his  office  and  farm.  His  greatest  successes  were 
before  juries,  as  he  was  a  forcible  speaker  and  a  most 
adroit  manager.  He  died  March  20,  1875. 

Returning  to  the  characteristic  men  of  the  early 
St.  Louis  bar,  we  find  Nathaniel  Beverly  Tucker,  who 
was  born  at  Mattox,  Chesterfield  Co.,  Va.,  on  Sept. 
6,  1784.  He  was  the  third  son  of  J.  St.  George 
Tucker,  from  the  island  of  Bermuda,  who  settled  in 
Virginia  previous  to  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  mar- 
ried in  the  year  1778  the  widow  of  John  Randolph. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Randolph  were  the  parents  of  the  cele- 
brated John  Randolph  of  Roanoke,  who  was  thus  the 
half-brother  of  N.  B.  Tucker. 

Mr.  Tucker  came  to  St.  Louis  in  1815,  at  the  age 
of  thirty-one  years,  to  practice  his  profession  of  the 
law,  and  was  appointed  by  Frederick  Bates,  the  secre- 
tary, and  then  acting  Governor,  of  the  Territory, 
judge  of  the  Northern  Circuit,  and  he  held  the  first 
term  of  his  court  at  St.  Louis  on  Monday,  Feb.  9, 
1818.  This  position  he  held  for  about  five  years,  ex- 
cept during  a  brief  absence,  and  was  succeeded  on  the 
bench  by  Judge  Alexander  Stuart  in  June,  1823. 
He  lived  for  a  time  in  Saline  County,  about  1831-32. 
After  a  residence  in  Missouri  for  some  eighteen  years 
or  so  he  returned  to  Virginia,  about  1833  or  1834,  to 
accept  the  chair  of  law  professor  in  William  and 
Mary  College  at  Williamsburg,  James  City  Co., 
which  position  he  filled  about  eighteen  years  until 
his  death  at  Winchester,  Va.,  Aug.  26,  1851,  at  the 
age  of  sixty-seven  years. 

Alexander  Steuart,  from  Virginia,  practiced  law  for 
a  short  time  at  Kaskaskia  about  1806  or  1807,  and 
then  came  over  to  St.  Louis. 


BENCH  AND  BAR. 


1471 


He  was  appointed  by  Governor  McNair  judge  of 
the  Circuit  Court  to  succeed  Judge  Tucker,  and  held 
the  first  term  of  his  court  in  St.  Louis,  June  2,  1823, 
which  place  he  filled  for  three  years,  being  succeeded 
on  the  bench  by  Judge  W.  C.  Carr.  He  died  on  his 
farm  in  the  upper  part  of  the  county  near  Bellefontaine. 

Here,  too,  belongs  the  name  of  Robert  Wash.  He 
was  born  in  Virginia,  Nov.  29,  1790,  was  well  edu- 
cated, graduating  from  college  at  the  age  of  eighteen, 
pursued  a  wide  range  of  legal  studies,  and  after  the 
war  of  1812  removed  to  St.  Louis,  where  he  began 
the  practice  of  law.  He  was  United  States  district 
attorney  during  Monroe's  administration,  afterwards 
a  member  of  the  City  Council,  and  became  a  judge 
of  the  Supreme  Court  shortly  after  the  State  govern- 
ment was  organized.  His  death  occurred  on  the  last  day 
of  November,  1856.  In  May,  1837,  he  had  resigned 
his  seat  on  the  Supreme  Court.  Judicious  real  estate 
investments  secured  him  a  large  fortune.  He  was 
very  fond  of  the  chase,  and  always  kept  a  pack  of 
hounds.  At  the  usual  bar  meeting  after  his  death 
the  Hon.  Edward  Bates  presided,  and  in  the  course 
of  his  remarks  said, — 

"Judge  Wash  was  one  of  the  oldest  members  of  the  St.  Louis 
bar,  much  older,  as  a  member  of  the  bar,  than  any  man  that 
any  one  of  you  have  seen  in  practice  here.  When  I  came  to 
this  place,  in  the  spring  of  the  year  1814,  Judge  Wash  was 
then  one  of  the  junior  members  of  the  bar.  He  was  a  na- 
tive of  Virginia,  from  the  county  of  Louisa.  He  was  an  ed- 
ucated man,  having  all  the  benefits  of  scholastic  instruction, 
being  of  the  ancient  college  of  William  and  Mary,  and  having 
perfected  in  that  honorable  institution  by  teaching  in  the  ca- 
pacity of  a  college  tutor  for  some  time.  He  then  studied  law, 
and  looked  westward.  When  I  came  here  I  found  him  in  a  re- 
spectable and  honorable  position,  a  rising  member  of  the  St. 
Louis  bar,  having  but  some  four  his  seniors  at  that  day.  I 
presume  that  if  he  had  devoted  himself  exclusively  to  the  pro- 
fession that  he  would  have  risen  to  much  higher  rank  and 
have  attained  even  a  greater  and  better  fame  than  he  did.  He 
served  under  Gen.  Howard  as  an  aide-de-camp  in  his  expedi- 
tion from  St.  Louis  to  Peoria,  in  the  Indian  war,  and  he  served 
for  years  after  peace  was  practically  restored  as  secretary  to 
the  commissioners.  He  rose  also  in  his  profession,  for  he  has 
had  the  honor  of  holding  a  seat  for  some  time  on  the  Supreme 
Bench  of  the  State.  His  decisions  are  good,  though  he  did  not, 
perhaps,  rank  higher  than  his  colleagues." 

Hon.  J.  F.  Darby  spoke  of  the  late  judge  as  one 
of  those  who  signed  his  certificate  in  1827.  The 
chair  appointed  Hon.  J.  F.  Darby,  Willis  L.  Wil- 
liams, Charles  E.  Whittelsey,  Philip  C.  Morehead, 
and  Albert  Todd  to  draft  appropriate  resolutions, 
which  were  then  adopted.  H.  R.  Gamble,  John  M. 
Krum,  Judge  Ryland,  and  Willis  L.  Williams  were 
appointed  to  act  as  pall-bearers. 

Judge  Wash  was  twice  married.  His  first  wife, 
Mrs.  Berry,  daughter  of  Maj.  William  Christy,  bore 
him  a  daughter,  afterwards  wife  of  G.  W.  Goode,  of 


the  St.  Louis  bar.  His  second  wife,  Eliza,  was  Col. 
Taylor's  daughter,  and  she  bore  him  four  sons  and 
several  daughters. 

George  W.  Goode,  born  in  Virginia  in  1815,  finely 
educated  and  associated  in  law  with  Hon.  James  A.  Sed- 
don  at  Richmond,  settled  in  St.  Louis,  in  partnership 
with  Tully  R.  Cormick.  His  fees  in  the  land  case  of 
Bissell  vs.  Penrose  were  over  sixty  thousand  dollars. 
He  died  from  softening  of  the  brain  in  1863,  and  had 
some  years  previously  been  compelled  to  give  up  his 
profession  and  retire  to  a  farm.  The  litigant  here  re- 
ferred to  seems  to  have  been  James  Howard  Penrose, 
born  in  Philadelphia,  a  son  of  Clement  B.  Penrose, 
!  one  of  the  board  of  commissioners  appointed  by 
:  President  Jefferson  in  1806  to  adjudicate  the  titles  to 
j  the  lands  granted  by  the  Spanish  government,  and 
who  removed  to  St.  Louis  with  his  family  the  same 
year,  or  else  an  older  brother  of  James  H.,  Charles 
Biddle  Penrose,  who  returned  to  Philadelphia  and 
became  a  prominent  politician.  James  Howard  Pen- 
rose  also  left  St.  Louis  for  parts  unknown,  and  died 
unmarried. 

About  1817,  Josiah  Spalding  graduated  from 
Yale  with  the  highest  honors  of  his  class,  and  in  the 
winter  of  1819-20  settled  at  St.  Louis.  The  two 
years  intervening  had  been  spent  in  studying  law, 
during  which  he  supported  himself  as  a  tutor  in 
Columbia  College,  New  York.  The  bar  of  St.  Louis 
was  not  an  easy  one  for  a  young  man  to  enter,  for 
its  standards  were  high  and  its  requirements  exten- 
sive. Mr.  Spalding  began  a  series  of  articles  in  the 
city  papers,  whose  literary  merit  attracted  attention 
to  him.  The  Republican  of  May  15, 1852,  a  few  days 
after  his  death,  thus  drew  attention  to  his  editorial 
career  :  "  In  1822,  when  the  Constitution  of  the  State 
was  disregarded,  and  the  real  interests  of  the  people 
jeoparded  by  the  enactment  of  the  '  Loan  Office'  and 
'  Stay  Laws,'  Mr.  Spalding  became  the  editor  of  the 
Missouri  Republican,  which  then  passed  into  the 
hands  of  Mr.  Edward  Charless,  and  he  continued  to 
occupy  that  position  until  the  good  sense  of  the  people 
and  the  wisdom  and  integrity  of  the  judges  combined 
'  to  put  down  the  whole  series  of  mischievous  measures. 
When  this  was  accomplished  Mr.  Spalding  ceased  to 
have  any  control  of  the  paper  as  editor,  and  after  that 
time  wrote  little  for  political  or  other  journals." 

On  the  occasion  of  his  death  the  members  of  the 
bar  met  and  passed  resolutions  of  regret.  The  speak- 
ers all  referred  to  the  high  moral  character  of  the  de- 
ceased. He  was  a  consistent  Christian  and  very 
benevolent,  devoted  to  his  family,  and  almost  idolized 
by  them.  As  a  lawyer,  he  was  profuse  in  authorities, 
and  his  briefs  always  attracted  attention.  He  was 


1472 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


not  an  orator,  but  few  men  were  equally  regarded  as 
an  adviser  when  important  interests  were  involved. 
One  of  his  characteristics  was  an  unquenchable 
optimism.  Most  of  his  cases  were  of  a  commercial 
nature,  though  he  did  not  make  a  specialty  of  that 
department.  Judge  Bay  calls  attention  to  the  case 
of  Hamilton  and  Treat,  judges,  vs.  St.  Louis  County 
Court,  which  was  tried  in  1851  ;  the  point  involved 
being  a  constitutional  question  as  to  the  legality  of  a 
legislative  act  requiring  the  payment  of  additional  com- 
pensation to  judges  of  certain  courts  out  of  the  county 
treasury.  The  case  went  to  the  Supreme  Court,  and 
Messrs.  Spalding  and  Field  were  for  the  relators,  and 
Messrs.  Bates  and  Gantt  for  the  county  court.  The 
brief  filed  by  Mr.  Spalding  is  considered  a  choice  ex- 
ample of  his  fine  powers  of  research. 

One  of  the  eminent  jurists  and  pleaders  of  Central 
Missouri  was  Abiel  Leonard,  born  at  Windsor,  Vt., 
in  May,  1797.1  He  spent  three  years  at  Dartmouth 
College,  injured  his  sight  by  hard  study,  and  left  be- 
fore graduation.  His  law  studies  began  at  White- 
boro',  N.  Y.,  in  1816;  in  1818  he  was  admitted,  and 
the  next  year  floated  down  the  Ohio  in  a  skiff,  and 
paddled  up  the  river  to  Sfc.  Louis.  Old  Franklin  then 
had  about  eighteen  hundred  inhabitants,  and  was 
thought  the  best  place  for  a  young  lawyer,  and  so 
Leonard  turned  his  footsteps  thither,  but  his  funds 
gave  out,  and  he  taught  a  country  school  for  six 
months.  He  afterwards  practiced  law  at  Boonville, 
Old  Franklin,  and  New  Franklin,  but  his  eyes  again 
failed,  and  for  some  time  he  employed  a  person  to  read 
to  him.  He  soon  moved  to  Fayette,  the  county-seat 
of  Howard,  began  to  take  high  rank  in  his  profession, 
and  measured  steel  with  the  best  lawyers  of  the  State. 

In  1823  he  became  State  attorney  for  his  judicial 
district,  filling  out  H.  R.  Gamble's  unexpired  term. 
Judge  Bay,  from  whose  valuable  work  these  partic- 
ulars are  obtained,  says  that  the  only  law  partner 
Mr.  Leonard  ever  had  was  Gen.  S.  M.  Bay,  and  this 
continued  until  the  latter  removed  to  St.  Louis.  Some 
time  about  1820,  Mr.  Leonard  had  a  personal  diffi- 
culty with  Maj.  Berry,  who,  under  some  pretense, 


1  Judge  Leonard's  grandfather,  Rev.  Abiel  Leonard,  gradu- 
ated at  Harvard,  and  preached  at  Woodstock,  Conn.  He  wished 
to  enter  the  army  as  chaplain  when  the  Revolution  broke  out, 
but  his  church  would  not  consent.  The  brave  and  persistent 
pastor  then  visited  Washington's  Cambridge  camp,  and  pro- 
cured a  joint  letter  from  Gens.  Putnam  and  Washington  (March 
24,  1776),  begging  the  "congregation  of  Woodstock  to  cheer- 
fully give  up  to  the  public  a  gentleman  so  very  useful,"  which 
they  did  without  more  ado.  Nathaniel  Leonard,  his  son,  and 
Judge  Leonard's  father,  was  born  in  this  ancient  town  in  1768. 
Serving  in  the  war  of  1812,  he  was  commander  of  Fort  Niagara 
when  the  British  took  that  pln<  e. 


cowhided  him  and  was  challenged.  In  the  duel 
which  followed  Berry  was  killed.  Mr.  Leonard  was 
debarred  and  disfranchised,  but  public  opinion  justi- 
fied him,  and  the  next  Legislature  restored  him  to 
citizenship.  In  1830  he  married  Miss  Jeannette 
Reeves,  of  Kentucky.  In  1834  he  assisted  to  revise 
the  Constitution.  When  Governor  Gamble  resigned 
from  the  supreme  bench,  Judge  Leonard  took  his 
place,  and  rendered  decisions  which  compare  well  with 
the  best  of  his  time.  His  death  occurred  March  28, 
1863.  One  of  his  warmest  personal  friends  and  asso- 
ciates was  Peyton  R.  Hayden,  of  Boonville,  Cooper 
Co.,  whom  he  met  for  the  first  time  in  1819  at  a 
small  wayside  tavern.  The  acquaintanceship  thus 
begun  grew  year  by  year  till  Mr.  Hayden's  death  in 
1855.  This  gentleman  was  born  in  Kentucky,  at 
Paris,  Bourbon  Co.,  in  1796,  came  to  Missouri  in 
1817,  taught  school  a  year,  and  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  1819.  Cooper  County  then  had  a  frontier 
population  of  about  seven  thousand.  David  Todd  was 
judge  of  the  Circuit  Court,  and  no  less  than  six  of 
the  lawyers  who  practiced  there  afterwards  sat  in  the 
Supreme  Court. 

Judge  John  F.  Ryland,  afterwards  of  the  Lexing- 
ton bar,  belonged  to  this  circuit,  and  was  a  familiar 
figure  in  early  days  in  St.  Louis,  making  frequent 
visits  to  that  city.  He  used  to  say  that  once  in  1825 
he  was  offered  forty  arpens  of  land  now  in  the  heart 
of  the  city,  and  worth  millions  of  dollars,  in  trade  for 
the  horse  he  was  riding.  The  judge  was  of  Vir- 
ginian birth.  In  1809,  when  he  was  twelve  years  of 
age,  his  father  moved  to  Kentucky.  He  attended 
Forest  Hill  Academy,  afterwards  opened  a  successful 
private  school,  read  law  with  Judge  Hardin,  obtained 
a  license,  and  removed  to  Missouri  in  1819.  From 
1848  to  1857  he  was  a  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court. 
His  death  occurred  in  1873,  and  was  deeply  lamented 
throughout  the  State.  Three  of  his  sons  became 
lawyers.  He  was  an  old  school  Presbyterian.  For 
two  years  he  held  the  Grand  Mastership  of  the  Mis- 
souri Masonic  fraternity. 

Still  another  of  this  noted  Franklin  Circuit  was 
Charles  French,  born  in  New  Hampshire  in  1797, 
where  he  studied  law.  Coming  to  Missouri  in  1817 
or  thereabouts,  he  obtained  his  license.  He  was 
well  read,  and  a  first-rate  special  pleader.  About 
1839  he  settled  in  Lexington,  and  about  1862,  at- 
tacked by  melancholia  and  mental  derangement,  he 
took  his  own  life. 

One  of  the  marked  characters  of  early  St.  Louis 
was  Judge  Frederick  Hyatt,  of  the  county  court, 
afterwards  for  many  years  a  legislator,  and  as  such 
taking  active  part  in  the  most  exciting  political  events. 


BENCH  AND  BAR. 


1473 


Born  in  Madison  County,  Ky.,  in  1790,  and  enjoy- 
ing only  common  school  facilities,  he  came  to  Missouri 
in  1815  or  thereabouts,  and  became  engaged  in  flat- 
boating  on  the  river.  He  settled  in  St.  Ferdinand 
township,  St.  Louis  Co.,  about  1819,  and  was  one  of 
the  first  to  cultivate  the  soil  in  that  garden-spot,  the 
beautiful  Florissant  valley,  now  so  blooming  with 
flowers,  overflowing  with  abundant  crops,  crowded 
with  homes  of  wealth  and  refinement.  He  had  not 
wasted  his  time.  Reading  and  study  gave  him  power 
among  men,  and  his  associates  in  those  earlier  years 
of  the  century  were  among  the  best  of  the  region 
roundabout.  He  was  the  friend  and  companion  of 
the  Chouteaus,  the  Leducs,  the  Chauvins,  the  Prattes, 
the  Bissells,  the  Grahams,  the  Stuarts,  and  the  Mul- 
lanphys.  Barton,  Bates,  Gamble,  Geyer,  Cozens,  and 
Col.  O'Fallon  were  also  among  his  intimates,  not  only 
at  this  time,  but  later  in  the  State  Legislature.  As 
a  farmer,  he  realized  his  duties  to  the  community, 
taking  active  part  in  neighborhood  improvements, 
roads,  bridges,  school-houses,  churches.  Governor 
Alexander  McNair  appointed  him  justice  of  the  peace 
in  St.  Ferdinand  township.  This  was  in  1822  or 
1823.  He  afterwards  became  collector  of  revenues 
and  taxes  for  St.  Louis  County,  and  still  later  judge 
of  the  county  court,  performing  all  these  duties 
efficiently.  While  judge,  the  courts  all  being  held 
in  a  dilapidated  old  building  on  the  southwest  corner 
of  Second  and  Walnut,  he  took  steps  to  build  a  court- 
house on  the  present  Court-House  Square,  which  at 
that  time  was  vacant,  uninclosed,  and  unoccupied 
save  by  a  public  whipping-post,  on  which  malefactors, 
both  male  and  female,  were  publicly  whipped,  receiv- 
ing generally  thirty-nine  lashes  on  their  bare  backs, 
the  sheriff  in  every  instance  being  sworn  to  lay  on 
the  lashes  to  the  best  of  his  ability,  without  "  fear, 
favor,  or  affection."  Judge  Hyatt,  with  the  assist- 
ance of  the  other  two  judges,  removed  that  obnoxious 
emblem  of  the  administration  of  justice,  and  had  the 
contractors,  Laveille  &  Morton,  erect  what  was  then  ! 
considered  not  only  the  finest  court-house,  but  also  j 
the  finest  building  in  the  State,  the  predecessor  of  ! 
the  present  edifice.  Judge  Hyatt  afterwards,  as  a 
legislator,  helped  to  change  the  law  from  stripes,  as  a 
relic  of  barbarism  unworthy  of  a  highly-cultivated 
Christian  people,  to  the  present  penitentiary  system. 
In  1828  he  ran  for  county  sheriff,  but  was  defeated 
by  Dr.  Robert  Simpson.  Judge  Hyatt's  character 
was  never  better  shown  than  in  the  turmoil  which 
followed  the  Constitutional  Convention,  whose  work 
was  adopted  by  the  people  June  12,  1820.  For  four- 
teen months  the  State  was  kept  out  of  the  Union.  It 
was  one  of  the  great  premonitory  struggles  on  the 


slavery  issue,  and  the  battle-ground  was  at  the  capital  of 
the  nation.  Turbulent  spirits  among  the  frontiersmen 
threatened  "to  fight  their  way  into  the  Union,"  but 
Hyatt  and  many  like  him  opposed  and  crushed  these 
rebellious  schemes.  When  the  "  First  General  Assem- 
bly" met  in  the  famous  old  Missouri  Hotel,  Hyatt 
saw  Barton  elected,  saw  the  struggle  against  Benton, 
and  took  part  in  these  eventful  occurrences. 

When  the  first  Legislature  met  at  St.  Charles  and 
passed  the  "  solemn  public  act,"  on  the  26th  of  June, 
1821,  as  a  pre-requisite  for  the  admission  of  Missouri, 
on  the  proclamation  by  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  as  required  by  the  act  of  Congress,  and  under 
which  Missouri  was  admitted  as  a  State  on  the  10th 
of  August,  1821,  Judge  Hyatt  supported  the  measure. 
The  Legislature  was  afterwards  convened  to  pass  relief 
laws,  there  being  no  money  in  the  country  and  the 
people  in  great  distress,  unable  to  pay  their  taxes. 
This  was  done  by  establishing  a  "  loan  office,"  to  issue 
paper  money  in  the  name  of  the  State  of  Missouri, 
based  on  the  credit  of  the  State,  and  to  lend  the  same 
to  enable  the  people  to  pay  their  taxes.  Frederick 
Hyatt  was  a  member  of  the  Legislature,  and  helped 
to  pass  this  law,  but  it  was  afterward  declared  void 
by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  as 
being  a  violation  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  After  the  Legislature  removed  to  Jefferson 
City,  Frederick  Hyatt  was  a  member  from  St.  Louis 
County,  when  the  attempt  was  made  to  remove 
Judge  William  C.  Carr  from  the  Legislature.  Fred- 
erick Hyatt  denounced  the  proceeding  as  "unjust 
political  persecution."  When  the  State-House  was 
burned  down  in  Jefferson  City  and  the  archives  of 
the  State  destroyed,  Frederick  Hyatt,  again  as  a  mem- 
ber from  St.  Louis  County,  took  his  seat  in  the 
Senate.  In  all  Judge  Hyatt  was  a  member  of  the 
Legislature  for  about  twenty  years,  sometimes  as 
senator,  sometimes  as  representative.  He  was  no 
speaker,  but  helped  to  shape  important  legislation  of 
the  State  during  these  busy  years  under  six  Gov- 
ernors. He  was  always  a  Whig,  and  in  the  great 
campaign  of  1840,  when  "  conventions,  log  cabins, 
coon-skins,  and  hard  cider  emblems  were  the  order 
of  the  day,  when  paintings,  banners,  mottoes,  proces- 
sions, barbecues,  songs,  and  speech-making  ruled  and 
swept  over  the  land  with  unobstructed  sway,  Fred- 
erick Hyatt  was  always  on  hand  in  the  procession, 
marching  in  the  ranks  of  his  party."  It  is  also  said 
that  during  the  forty  years  in  which  he  served  the 
State  in  various  capacities  he  performed  jury  service 
under  Judges  Tucker,  Stuart,  Carr,  Lawless,  Mullan- 
phy,  Krum,  Hamilton,  and  other  judges  of  the  State 
courts,  and  under  Judges  Peck,  Wells,  Catron,  and 


1474 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Treat  of  the  Federal  courts.  He  was  married  four 
times,  his  first  wife  being  Miss  Hume,  of  Florissant 
valley,  his  second  wife  a  widow  lady  from  Kentucky, 
his  third  wife  the  widow  of  Maj.  Whistler,  and  his 
fourth  wife  the  widow  of  Thomas  J.  Ferguson.  His 
own  death  occurred  Sept.  10,  1870. 

A  lawyer  of  widespread  fame  was  Judge  Luke  E. 
Lawless,  born  in  Dublin  in  1781.  His  life  was 
checkered  and  romantic.  At  an  early  age  he  en- 
tered the  British  navy,  serving  there  till  after  the 
treaty  of  Amiens.  Afterwards  he  graduated  at  the 
Dublin  University,  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1805, 
and  seemed  likely  to  win  high  standing.  But  he 
was  a  Catholic,  and  the  restriction  laws,  then  in  force, 
presented  what  seemed  insuperable  obstacles  in  the 
way  of  .his  gaining  the  prizes  of  the  profession.  He 
therefore,  in  1810,  entered  the  French  service  under 
his  uncle,  Gen.  William  Lawless,  acted  as  military 
secretary  for  the  Due  de  Feltre,  and  was  promoted  to 
a  colonelcy.  Napoleon's  final  defeat  caused  him  to 
seek  America,  scarred  with  honorable  wounds,  and  in 
1824  he  settled  in  St.  Louis,  where  he  soon  built  up 
a  large  practice,  which  he  enjoyed  till  his  death  in 
1846.  For  three  years  he  was  judge  of  the  St.  Louis 
Circuit  Court,  following  Judge  W.  C.  Carr.  Judge 
Lawless  was  slender,  dignified,  and  always  interesting, 
thoroughly  versed  in  his  profession,  supreme  in  his 
judicial  analysis,  never  eloquent,  but  terrible  in  his 
pungent  sarcasm.  Taking  part  in  a  duel  in  France, 
he  was  rendered  lame  ;  he  also  acted  as  Benton's 
second  in  the  Lucas  duel.  His  wife  was  a  French 
lady. 

The  most  remarkable  judicial  incident  in  Judge 
Lawless'  life  was  his  leadership  in  the  famous  im- 
peachment of  Judge  James  H.  Peck,  of  Missouri, 
before  the  United  States  Senate.  This  Judge  Peck 
was  a  noted  man,  an  accomplished  scholar,  and  a 
thorough  lawyer.  Little  is  known  of  his  early  life, 
but  he  began  the  practice  of  law  in  Tennessee.  He 
came  to  Missouri  about  1820,  and  was  presently 
appointed  judge  of  the  Federal  court,  it  is  said,  at 
the  instance  of  Richard  M.  Johnson,  of  Kentucky. 
In  1826  the  difficulty  with  Judge  Lawless  began, 
the  latter  being  counsel  for  certain  Spanish  land 
claims.  In  April  of  that  year  he  printed  over  the 
signature  "  A  Citizen"  a  respectful  criticism  upon 
one  of  Judge  Peck's  decisions  on  a  case  similar  to 
those  he  represented.  The  judge  ordered  the  pro- 
prietor of  the  paper  to  show  cause  why  an  attachment 
should  not  issue  against  him  for  contempt  of  court. 
A  reply  was  made  denying  jurisdiction,  as  an  appeal 
had  been  taken  in  the  case  criticised,  affirming  that 
it  was  a  fair  and  correct  statement  of  the  decision, 


and  saying  that  Luke  E.  Lawless  was  the  author. 
An  order  was  then  made  on  Lawless,  who  replied  re- 
spectfully, though  denying  jurisdiction,  but  was  sen- 
tenced to  twenty-four  hours'  imprisonment  in  jail,  and 
to  eighteen  months  suspension  from  practice.  De- 
cember 8th  of  that  year  John  Scott  presented  in 
Congress  a  memorial  from  Lawless,  charging  Judge 
Peck  with  tyranny,  oppression,  and  usurpation  of 
power.  The  House  committee  reported  charges  of 
impeachment,  which  came  before  the  Senate  at  the 
following  session.  It  was  one  of  the  most  important 
and  became  one  of  the  most  celebrated  cases  ever 
brought  before  that  body,  the  question  of  the  liberty 
of  the  press  being  so  closely  involved.  The  House 
of  Representatives  chose  five  of  its  prominent  mem- 
bers, including  Buchanan,  of  Pennsylvania,  to  man- 
age the  prosecution,  and  William  Wirt  and  Jonathan 
Meredith,  of  Baltimore,  appeared  for  the  defense. 

Among  the  eminent  jurists  who  were  members  of 
the  high  court  of  impeachment  were  Webster,  Clay- 
ton, Livingston,  King,  Poindexter,  Grundy,  White, 
Forsyth,  Chase,  and  Tazewell.  Half  the  St.  Louis 
bar  were  summoned  as  witnesses,  the  trial  occupied 
six  weeks,  and  the  pleadings,  which  were  prepared  by 
Judge  Peck  and  Mr.  Lawless  respectively,  showed 
the  highest  ability  and  the  most  exhaustive  research. 
Judge  Peck  was  acquitted,  and  the  decision  authori- 
tatively settled  many  questions  relating  to  the  powers 
of  courts  to  punish  for  contempt.1 

1  Hon.  John  F.  Darby  gives  the  following  version  of  this  in- 
teresting controversy  :  "Richard  M.Johnson  and  his  brother 
came  here  with  some  steamboats,  which  were  seized  for  debt, 
and  he  could  get  no  lawyer  to  defend  him  except  Peck,  who  was 
not  a  regular  lawyer.  When  Johnson  went  back  to  Washing- 
ton he  caused  Peck  to  be  appointed  judge  of  the  District  Court. 
Peck  soon  after  went  blind,  and  would  sit  on  the  bench  with  a 
handkerchief  over  his  eyes,  an  animated  imitation  of  the 
heathen  figure  of  justice.  He  passed  upon  the  land  claims 
presented,  and  Edward  Bates  was  the  United  States  district 
attorney.  When  the  court  met  in  the  old  building  at  the 
corner  of  Second  and  Walnut  Streets,  the  people  would  come 
and  present  their  claims.  Judge  Peck  on  one  of  these  occasions 
asked  some  one  to  explain  the  modus  operandi  of  proceeding. 
Judge  Lucas  undertook  to  explain  to  the  judge.  Lawless,  who 
had  filed  a  claim  for  ten  thousand  acres  for  the  Soulards,  pro- 
tested against  Lucas  being  allowed  to  make  the  explanation  to 
the  court.  Judge  Lucas  said  he  was  licensed  by  an  act  of 
heaven,  which  gave  him  a  tongue  to  speak  and  explain ;  that  he 
had  taken  his  degree  in  France,  his  native  country,  and  had 
been  invited  to  emigrate  to  America  by  Franklin  ;  that  when 
Mr.  Lawless  had  applied  for  admission  to  the  bar  he  was  one  of 
the  three  to  examine  him,  and  had  voted  to  pass  him,  while  one 
of  the  others  had  voted  against  him,  and  it  might  be  that  he 
had  done  wrong  in  doing  so.  Lucas  was  very  severe  upon 
Lawless,  who  had  anted  as  the  second  of  Col.  Benton  ki  the 
duel  with  the  son  of  Judge  Lucas,  and  it  was  said  that  Lawless 
had  fled  from  Ireland  to  escape  the  penalty  inflicted  upon  those 
engaged  in  the  rebellion.  Judge  Peck  decided  against  the  claim 


BENCH  AND  BAR. 


1475 


An  idea  of  the  feeling  that  prevailed  in  some  quar- 
ters may  be  obtained  from  a  statement  in  the  Missouri 
Republican  of  Feb.  3,  1837,  to  the  effect  that  in  the 
previous  December  some  members  of  the  St.  Louis 
bar  met  and  passed  a  resolution  to  the  effect  that  their 
objection  to  the  "reappointment  of  Luke  E.  Lawless 
to  the  office  of  judge  of  the  Third  Judicial  District  be 
expressed  to  the  Governor."  The  following  lawyers 
were  present:  Henry  S.  Geyer,  Hamilton  R.  Gamble, 
Beverly  Allen,  Gustavus  A.  Bird,  John  F.  Darby, 
James  L.  English,  Harris  L.  Sproat,  Charles  F. 
Lowry,  Wilson  Primm,  Charles  D.  Drake,  Ferdinand 
W.  Risque,  Alexander  Hamilton,  William  F.  Chase, 
Thomas  B.  Hudson,  John  Bent,  Singleton  W.  Wilson. 
Henry  S.  Geyer  was  chairman. 

Judge  Lawless  died  in  September,  1846,  aged 
sixty-five  years,  leaving  no  children.  The  bar  met 
and  expressed  their  sense  of  his  fine  talents,  and 
of  the  loss  to  the  profession.  Bryan  Mullanphy  was 
chairman,  and  Hon.  A.  Hamilton  secretary.  Lewis 
V.  Bogy,  Edward  Bates,  Alexander  Hamilton,  Thos. 
T.  Gantt,  and  W.  M.  Campbell  drew  up  the  resolu- 
tions. The  Dublin  Nation,  the  exponent  of  "  young 
Ireland,"  published  a  history  of  the  professional  and 
military  life  of  this  distinguished  man,  and  reprinted 
the  proceedings  of  the  St.  Louis  bar  in  memory  of 
his  services.  Tradition  reports  that  he  ranked  among 
the  half  a  dozen  best  lawyers  of  his  time,  but  few 
persons  knew  him  intimately,  as  his  manner  was  re- 
served and  almost  cold.  He  was  called  the  most 
absent-minded  man  in  St.  Louis,  and  if  half  the 
stories  to  that  effect  be  true  richly  deserved  the 
title.  One  of  his  peculiarities  was  a  habit  of  carrying 
into  the  court-room  a  large  green  bag  in  imitation  of 
the  English  and  Irish  barristers. 

John  Delafield,  a  graduate  of  Columbia  College 
(1830),  studied  law  with  Judge  Arius  Nye,  Marietta, 
Ohio ;  was  admitted  in  1833  ;  married  Miss  Edith 
Wallace,  of  Cincinnati,  and  in  1849  settled  in  St. 
Louis.  Here  he  gained  considerable  reputation  in 

of  Lawless,  and  the  latter  published  an  article  in  a  newspaper 
reflecting  upon  the  judge.  Peck  had  the  editor  brought  into 
court  and  made  to  divulge  the  name  of  the  writer.  Peck  had 
Lawless  arraigned  for  contempt,  and  fined  and  debarred  him 
from  practice.  On  his  way  to  jail  Lawless  used  the  most  violent 
language  against  Peck.  For  this  conduct  Congress  impeached 
Peck,  and  he  was  prosecuted  in  the  Senate  by  McDuffie,  of 
South  Carolina,  and  James  Buchanan,  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
was  defended  by  William  Wirt  and  Mr.  Meredith,  of  Baltimore. 
Clay,  Webster,  Calhoun,  and  other  senators  of  the  day  sat  as 
the  jury,  and  the  trial  was  conducted  without  regard  to  polit- 
ical prejudices.  Peck  was  acquitted  because  there  was  not  a 
majority  of  two-thirds  against  him,  but  Congress  passed  the 
claim  of  Lawless  for  ten  thousand  acres  of  land,  a  matter  of 
great  exultation  to  him." 


land  cases,  but  turned  his  attention  to  literary  pursuits, 
and  wrote  several  essays  and  published  books  on 
archaeological  topics.  His  death  occurred  in  Liver- 
pool in  1865,  at  the  age  of  fifty-three.  He  left  a  wife 
and  four  children.  The  three  daughters  married,  and 
the  son  became  a  prominent  business  man  in  St. 
Louis. 

One  of  Mr.  Delafield's  contemporaries  was  L.  M. 
Kennett,  whose  biography  will  be  found  in  the  mu- 
nicipal chapter,  as  he  was  mayor  of  St.  Louis  in  1852. 
Another  was  Judge  J.  M.  Krum,  a  biography  of 
whom  finds  place  in  the  same  chapter  for  the  same 
reason. 

Joseph  B.  Wells  was  a  brother  of  Judge  Carty 
Wells,  of  the  Lincoln  Circuit,  who  was  born  in  1805 
in  Virginia,  and  died  in  1860.  Joseph,  born  in  1806, 
studied  law  with  his  brother,  practiced  in  Warren 
County,  went  to  the  Legislature,  and  in  1845  moved  to 
St.  Louis,  where  he  became  WilRam  M.  Campbell's 
partner.  Iij  1849,  after  Mr.  Campbell's  death,  he 
was  in  partnership  with  Judge  Buckner.  His  health 
failing,  he  went  to  San  Francisco,  and  practiced  there 
with  Judge  J.  B.  Crockett,  since  and  for  many  years 
judge  of  the  State  Supreme  Court,  and  afterwards 
with  Hon.  Henry  H.  Haight.  His  health  became 
worse,  and  he  died  while  visiting  relatives  in  Missouri 
in  1858.  He  was  a  good  lawyer  and  a  genial  gen- 
tleman. His  best  work,  professionally  speaking,  was 
done  on  the  Pacific  coast,  where  he  is  still  remem- 
bered with  affection  and  respect.  Some  extremely 
important  land  cases  were  in  his  hands. 

Judge  Robert  W.  Wells  (not  a  relative  of  the 
preceding)  ranked  with  the  best  jurists  of  the  State, 
and  was  born  in  1795  in  Winchester,  Va.  His  early 
education  was  defective,  but  he  was  ever  an  indefati- 
gable student,  and  became  a  good  classical  scholar. 
About  1818  he  began  practice  in  St.  Charles  ;  in  1821 
was  made  prosecuting  attorney  for  that  circuit  under 
Judge  Rufus  Pettibone,  and  in  1826  was  made  at- 
torney-general of  the  State,  an  office  which  Bates  and 
Easton  had  held  with  credit,  and  which  Judge  Wells 
occupied  with  equal  success  for  ten  years.  Then  he 
became  judge  of  the  United  States  District  Court,  re- 
maining in  this  office  until  his  death,  April,  1865, 
while  visiting  his  married  daughter  at  Bowling  Green, 
Ky.  Twice  married,  his  first  wife  was  Miss  Bancroft, 
daughter  of  Maj.  Barcroft  (State  auditor,  1823-33)  ; 
'  after  her  death  he  married  Miss  Covington,  of  Ken- 
I  tucky.  Five  children  were  left  to  mourn  his  loss. 
Hon.  Thomas  T.  Gantt  presided  over  the  meeting  of 
the  St.  Louis  bar  which  was  held  in  honor  of  Judge 
Wells.  His  tribute  was  a  memorable  one.  Judge 
Wells,  said  he,  "  illustrated  and  adorned  the  judgment 


1476 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


seat."  "  He  has  done  more  than  any  other  judge, 
living  or  dead,  for  the  elucidation  and  correct  exposi 
tion  of  the  United  States  statutes  on  which  land  titles 
in  Missouri  depend."  "  The  State  is  impoverished  by 
his  death."  Such  and  of  similar  import  were  the 
utterances  of  his  long- tried  associates  in  honor  of 
Judge  Wells.  Politically  he  was  a  Democrat,  sup- 
ported the  Union,  and  advocated  a  gradual  system  of 
emancipation  years  before  the  war.  He  was  presid- 
ing officer  of  the  State  Constitutional  Convention  of 
1845. 

A  genial  and  popular  gentleman,  for  many  years 
clerk  of  the  United  States  Circuit  and  District  Courts, 
was  Col.  B.  F.  Hickman,  born  in  Frankfort,  Ky.,  in 
1810,  afterwards  a  deputy  in  Francis  P.  Blair,  Sr.'s 
office,  then  law  student  with  Judge  Saunders;  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  in  1832,  and  representative  from 
Anderson  County  for  two  terms.  Miss  Cunningham, 
his  first  wife,  was  killed  by  being  thrown  from  a  buggy, 
and  Mr.  Hickman  was  severely  injured.  Years  after 
he  married  Miss  Moore,  of  Kentucky.  In  1841  he 
located  in  St.  Louis,  and  afterwards  in  Jefferson 
City,  but  in  1848  assumed  the  court  clerkships, 
which  he  retained  until  February,  1871,  the  time  of 
his  death.  He  could  not,  of  course,  in  his  brief 
practice  win  much  reputation  as  a  lawyer,  but  his 
faithful  efficiency  as  clerk  received  and  retained  the 
friendship  of  every  practitioner  in  the  Federal  courts, 
and  the  usual  tributes  to  his  memory  were  more  than 
ordinarily  earnest.  Judge  Samuel  Treat  was  one  of 
the  speakers  on  this  occasion. 

In  1826  irregular  living  hastened  the  death  of  a 
brilliant  young  lawyer,  Capt.  Alexander  Gray,  who 
fought  in  the  war  of  1812,  and  reached  Missouri  in 
1816.  Soon  after  coming  to  St.  Louis  he  became 
judge  of  the  Circuit  Court,  and  was  afterwards  judge 
of  the  Northern  Circuit  (St.  Charles,  Montgomery, 
and  Howard  Counties).  As  an  advocate,  particularly 
in  criminal  cases,  he  won  a  great  reputation.  Judge 
James  Evans  reached  Missouri  in  1816,  and  secured 
a  large  practice  in  Southeastern  Missouri.  In  1842 
he  was  appointed  judge  of  the  Ninth  Circuit  Court, 
but  his  career  was  short. 

The  list  of  the  leaders  of  the  bar  who  were  born  pre- 
vious to  the  present  century  is  nearly  complete,  and 
some  glimpses  of  the  lesser  currents  of  activity  have 
been  afforded.  One  of  the  really  strong  men  of  that 
early  bar,  of  which  Gamble,  Spalding,  Geyer,  Bates, 
and  Darby  were  exponents,  was  Beverly  Allen,  native 
of  Virginia,  as  were  so  many  of  the  best  Missouri 
lawyers.  He  was  born  in  the  year  1800,  in  Richmond, 
and  having  graduated  at  Princeton,  he  began  his  law 
studies  with  Judge  Upshur,  who  gave  him  letters  of 


the  highest  value  when  he  removed  to  St.  Louis  in 
1827.  For  a  while  he  had  been  located  at  Ste.  Gene- 
vieve,  and  was  John  Scott's  partner  there.  In  St. 
Louis  he  was  for  a  time  a  partner  of  Hamilton  R. 
Gamble.  President  Adams  appointed  him  United 
States  district  attorney,  but  the  next  administration 
removed  him  for  political  reasons.  He  was  afterwards 
in  the  State  Legislature,  was  member  of  the  City 
Council,  and  was  for  a  time  city  attorney.  In  1838 
he  canvassed  the  State  as  a  Whig  congressional  nomi- 
nee. His  death  occurred  Sept.  12,  1845,  on  which 
occasion  the  Republican  said, — 

"  Mr.  Allen  was  a  distinguished  member  of  the 
bar  of  Missouri,  eminent  for  his  talents  and  profes- 
sional abilities,  and  universally  admired  and  esteemed 
for  his  sound  social,  moral,  and  Christian  principles 
and  virtues.  In  a  life  not  prolonged  beyond  the 
medium  age  he  had  won  for  himself,  by  uniform  up- 
rightness of  conduct,  a  reputation  which  will  long 
make  his  memory  cherished  by  all  who  knew  him. 
A  few  months  ago  Mr.  Allen,  accompanied  by  his  wife, 
made  a  visit  to  the  south  of  France  and  Italy,  in  the 
hope  of  effecting  the  restoration  of  his  health.  He 
had  reached  New  York  on  his  way  home,  when  his 
course  was  arrested  and  his  usefulness  cut  off  by 
death." 

Judge  Thomas  T.  Gantt,  whose  memory  is  an  un- 
failing fund  of  interesting  reminiscences,  has  said  of 
Mr.  Allen  that  in  1839  he  was  one  of  the  five  lead- 
ing lawyers  of  St.  Louis.  His  acquaintanceship  with 
land  titles  was  vast  and  exact.  One  of  his  ablest 
reports  was  that  in  justification  of  the  title  of  Caron- 
delet  to  the  common  south  of  the  Reviere  des  Peres, 
which  had  been  unsettled  by  claims  of  the  War  De- 
partment. 

Capt.  Edward  E.  Allen,  for  many  years  a  justice 
of  the  peace  in  St.  Louis,  afterwards  clerk  of  the 
law  commissioners'  court,  and  then  a  successful 
lawyer,  fought  through  the  civil  war,  receiving  wounds 
which  ultimately  caused  his  death  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
one  (in  1878).  He  was  born  in  Norfolk,  Va.,  and 
educated  in  Richmond. 

Judge  James  H.  Birch,  another  of  the  "Virginians 
of  the  ancient  regime"  was  born  in  March,  1804. 
His  early  life  was  spent  in  Kentucky,  where  he  studied 
with  Judge  John  Trimble,  of  the  Supreme  Court.  He 
married  a  daughter  of  Daniel  Halstead,  of  Lexington  ; 
removed  to  St.  Louis  in  1826,  and  assisted  in  editing 
the  Enquirer,  Col.  Ben  ton's  paper.  The  next  year 
he  established  the  Western  Monitor  at  Fayette.  In 
1828  he  was  clerk  of  the  Lower  House,  and  soon  after 
was  sent  to  the  State  Senate.  From  1849  to  1852 
he  was  a  judge  of  the  State  Supreme  Court.  Twice 


BENCH  AND  BAR. 


1477 


he  served  as  register  of  the  Plattsburgh  land  office. 
His  great  ambition  was  to  go  to  Congress,  but  he  failed 
in  accomplishing  this  object.  Stately,  commanding, 
dignified,  conservative,  possessed  of  a  clear,  ringing 
voice  and  a  graceful  delivery,  he  might  have  been  a 
marked  and  useful  public  servant ;  but  the  times  were 
ripe  for  partisans,  and  the  days  of  compromises  had 
long  gone  by.  In  one  of  his  speeches  in  1861  he 
appealed  eloquently  to  "  the  people  of  the  North 
against  the  politicians  of  the  South,"  though  the 
civil  war  had  already  begun. 

The  Bay  family  furnish  examples  of  inherited 
tastes  and  faculties  that  would  have  delighted  Francis 
Galton.  Judge  Elisha  Bay  was  for  forty-nine  years 
judge  of  the  highest  court  in  South  Carolina,  and 
declined  a  seat  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  in  Jefferson's  administration.  His  brother 
was  law  partner  of  Ambrose  Spencer,  chief  judge  of 
the  New  York  Supreme  Court.  A  son  of  this  brother 
was  very  successful  at  the  Columbia  County,  N.  Y., 
bar,  ranking  with  Van  Buren,  Morrell,  and  Edmonds, 
and  his  grandsons,  Samuel  M.  Bay  and  W.  V.  N. 
Bay,  became  noted  in  Missouri  as  talented  advocates 
and  learned  jurists.  Judge  Samuel  M.  Bay,  born  in 
Hudson,  N.  Y.,  in  1810,  studied  some  time  under 
Salmon  P.  Chase,  in  Washington,  engaged  in  mercan- 
tile business,  took  up  law,  and  in  1833  settled  in 
Franklin  County,  Mo.  He  was  soon  sent  to  the 
Legislature,  and  was  afterwards  appointed  attorney- 
general  of  the  State,  proving  a  vigorous  and  successful 
prosecutor.  Removing  to  Jefferson  City,  he  formed 
a  partnership  with  Abiel  Leonard,  of  Howard  County, 
and  this  lasted  until  1846,  when  he  changed  his  resi- 
dence to  St.  Louis,  and  became  attorney  for  the  State 
Bank.  In  July,  1849,  he  fell  a  victim  to  the  cholera. 
A  career  of  rare  promise  was  thus  cut  short.  He 
left  a  widow  and  four  children.  His  brother,  Judge 
W.  V.  N.  Bay,  late  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Missouri, 
is  the  author  of  the  able  work  on  the  "  Missouri  Bench 
and  Bar,"  from  which  we  have  before  quoted. 

Sept.  12,  1839,  a  young  lawyer  of  note,  Albert  G. 
Harrison,  died  in  Fulton.  He  was  born  in  June, 
1800,  in  Kentucky,  educated  there,  and  removed  to 
Missouri  in  1827.  For  a  time  he  was  register  of  the 
St.  Louis  land  office,  and  in  1836  was  elected  to 
Congress,  and  re-elected  in  1838. 

A  man  of  multifarious  eccentricities  was  William 
M.  Campbell,  who  died  in  December,  1849,  aged 
forty-five,  a  native  of  Virginia,  and  a  graduate  of 
Washington  and  Lee  University.  In  1829  he  reached 
Missouri,  settled  in  St.  Charles,  became  very  popular, 
and  was  sent  to  the  Legislature  and  State  Senate,  but 
in  1844  moved  to  St.  Louis  to  edit  a  Whig  news- 


paper.  In  a  few  years  he  went  to  the  State  Senate 
again  from  St.  Louis  County,  and  remained  in  that 
body  until  his  death.  His  talents  were  of  the  high- 
est order,  and  his  reputation  for  honesty  was  unques- 
tioned. Never  seeking  for  office,  it  was  forced  upon 
him  in  every  case.  He  was  absolutely  indifferent  to 
dress  and  money,  and  nothing  ever  ruffled  his  temper. 
Physically  he  was  as  lazy  as  possible,  mentally  a  giant 
of  industry.  He  could  listen  to  a  speech  an  hour 
long,  and  then  write  it  out  from  memory,  a  feat 
almost  beyond  belief.  As  an  editor  he  was  invalu- 
able,— he  could  do  the  work  of  a  dozen  ordinary  men. 
His  political  editorials  were  always  of  a  high  order. 
Though  seldom  appearing  in  court,  his  power  over  a 
jury  was  notable. 

Another  diamond  in  the  rough,  full  of  eccentrici- 
ties and  talents,  was  James  Winston,  born  in  1813. 
His  mother  was  the  youngest  daughter  of  Patrick 
Henry,  and  James  was  the  youngest  of  twelve  chil- 
dren. He  had  little  education,  but  became  a  success- 
ful practitioner,  though  he  seemed  to  have  no  definite 
purpose  in  life.  He  represented  the  Benton  district 
in  the  State  Senate  in  1850.  Two  years  later  he  was 
the  Whig  nominee  for  Governor,  and,  though  defeated, 
the  wit  and  fluency  which  he  exhibited  in  the  canvass 
greatly  increased  his  popularity. 

In  1857  the  bar  lost  one  of  its  efficient  members 
by  the  death  of  Richard  S.  Blennerhassett,  a  noted 
criminal  lawyer,  who  was  born  in  County  Kerry,  Ire- 
land, in  1811,  and  who  was  related  on  his  mother's  side 
to  Daniel  O'Connell  and  to  theSpottswoods  of  Virginia. 
His  father  was  first  cousin  of  Herman  Blennerhassett, 
concerned  in  the  Burr  conspiracy.  In  1831  he  married 
Miss  Byran,  great-granddaughter  of  Rousseau,  came 
to  America,  taught  school,  studied  law,  was  admitted 
j  in  1835,  and  in  1841  reached  St.  Louis.  In  1848, 
|  '49,  and  '50  he  was  city  counselor.  It  is  asserted 
that  he  never  had  a  superior  in  criminal  cases  at 
the  St.  Louis  bar.  He  was  not  as  eloquent  as  Uriel 
Wright,  but  was  a  better  reasoner,  and  his  self-pos- 
session was  perfect.  His  social  qualities  and  un- 
bounded generosity  made  him  a  universal  favorite 
among  his  associates  and  in  private  life.  In  one  of 
his  most  important  cases — the  defense  of  McLean 
for  murdering  Col.  Floyd — he  obtained  four  suc- 
cessive trials  between  1842  and  1845,  at  the  last 
saving  his  client  from  the  gallows.  No  record  has 
been  kept  of  his  most  eloquent  speeches,  but  they 
seldom  failed  to  win  the  jury.  His  management  of 
witnesses  and  analysis  of  testimony  still  live  in 
tradition  as  unsurpassed  among  the  lawyers  of  his 
time. 

Robert  P.  Farris  was  born  in  Natick,  near  Boston, 


1478 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Mass.,  in  the  year  1*794.  He  came  to  St.  Louis  about 
1815-16,  and  entered  upon  the  profession  of  the  law. 
About  the  time  of  the  admission  of  Missouri  as  a 
State,  in  1820-21,  he  was  lieutenant-colonel  of  the 
First  Regiment  Missouri  Militia,  and  upon  the  office 
of  colonel  becoming  vacant,  he  was  elected  to  the 
same  May  25,  1822,  by  a  vote  of  four  hundred  and 
three  over  his  competitor,  Col.  Rene  Paul,  who  re- 
ceived one  hundred  and  thirty-one  votes.  Col.  Farris 
was  appointed  circuit  attorney  for  the  St.  Louis  Circuit 
by  Governor  Alexander  McNair,  and  entered  upon  the 
discharge  of  his  duties  at  the  term  of  the  court  held 
on  the  first  Monday  of  June,  1822,  N.  B.  Tucker 
then  judge.  He  held  the  office  nearly  seven  years, 
being  succeeded  by  Hamilton  R.  Gamble,  March  23, 
1829,  William  C.  Carr  being  then  judge  of  the  circuit. 
Col.  Farris  was  married  to  the  daughter  of  Capt. 
Joseph  Cross,  formerly  of  the  United  States  artil- 
lery. A  contemporary  journal  says, — 

"  Married  at  Potosi,  Washington  Co.,  on  the  31st 
March,  1824,  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Donnelly,  Col.  Robert 
P.  Farris,  of  this  city,  to  Miss  Catharine  Anne  Cross, 
step-daughter  of  Samuel  Perry,  Esq.,  of  the  above 
place." 

The  notice  of  his  death  reads  as  follows : 

"  Died  in  this  city  on  the  27th  December,  1830,  | 
Col.  Robert  P.  Farris."     He  was  buried  in  the  Prot- 
estant graveyard  in  North  St.  Louis,  where  now  stands 
Grace  Church. 

His  wife  died  some  years  previously. 

His  only  son,  the  Rev.  Robert  P.  Farris,  was  born 
in  1826. 

One  of  the  most  eccentric,  liberal,  and  widely-known 
lawyers  of  St.  Louis  was  Bryan  Mullanphy,  of  whom 
the  genial  John  F.  Darby,  in  his  chatty  reminiscences, 
has  an  abundance  to  tell.  He  was  born  in  Baltimore 
in  1809,  and  his  father,  John  Mullanphy,  who  settled 
in  St.  Louis  in  1804,  accumulated  an  immense  for- 
tune, and  did  much  to  develop  the  material  resources 
of  the  West.  Determined  to  give  his  son  every  ad- 
vantage, he  sent  him  to  France,  then  to  England, 
whence  he  returned  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  began  the 
study  of  law,  was  admitted  to  practice,  and  soon  took 
a  creditable  position.  At  his  father's  death  it  was 
found  that  most  of  the  property  was  willed  to  his 
sisters,  but  they  at  once  admitted  him  to  an  equal 
share.  One  of  these  sisters  married  Gen.  Hartley, 
another  became  the  wife  of  Judge  Boyce,  of  Louisi- 
ana, and  a  third  of  Maj.  Thomas  Biddle,  while  the 
other  two  married  Charles  Chambers  and  James 
Clemens,  Jr.,  influential  business  men  of  St.  Louis. 
Bryan  Mullanphy  became  a  fluent  and  impressive 
though  not  eloquent  speaker.  Though  wealthy,  he 


enjoyed  the  practice  of  law,  and  his  wide  range  of 
reading  on  literary  topics  rendered  him  an  agreeable 
companion.  He  was  in  several  noted  trials  the  an- 
tagonist of  the  best  men  of  the  time,  and  showed  fine 
legal  capacity.  In  1840  chosen  judge  of  the  St. 
Louis  Circuit  Court,  he  served  until  1844  with  great 
fidelity,  and  few  of  his  decisions  were  reversed.  His 
successor  was  John  M.  Krum.  In  1847  came  an 
interesting  and  difficult  period  of  his  life,  resulting 
from  his  election  as  mayor  of  the  city.  The  cholera 
prevailed  shortly  after,  and  the  dreadful  sufferings  of 
poor  emigrants  suggested  to  him  the  disposition  he 
afterwards  made  of  his  wealth.  His  death  occurred 
June  15,  1851,  when  he  was  forty-two  years  of  age. 
For  twelve  years  or  more  he  had  filled  important 
offices,  and  for  some  time  he  had  been  director  of 
the  Bank  of  Missouri.  The  bar  met  two  days  after 
his  death,  and  Messrs.  L.  V.  Bogy,  J.  M.  Krum,  M. 
Blair,  S.  Treat,  C.  D.  Drake.  H.  R.  Gamble,  and  J. 
F.  Darby  drafted  the  resolutions,  which  closed  as  fol- 
lows: 

"  As  a  member  of  the  profession,  the  deceased  was 
distinguished  for  every  quality  which  makes  the  gen- 
tleman in  his  intercourse  with  his  brethren,  and  never 
for  a  moment  forgot,  in  the  excitements  which  are 
inseparable  from  the  practice  of  the  law,  his  habitual 
decorum,  either  to  the  highest  or  to  the  lowest  among 
us,  whilst  his  great  legal  attainments  and  varied 
knowledge  made  him  an  ornament  to  the  profession." 
Nevertheless,  this  life,  so  useful  and  full  of  deeds  of 
kindness  and  of  charity,  was  curiously  marred  by 
eccentricities  of  many  sorts,  instances  of  which  abound. 
He  seems  to  have  been  a  quaint,  humorous  oddity, 
and  dressed  with  extreme  carelessness.  His  countless 
gifts  to  the  poor  were  marked  in  nearly  every  instance 
by  some  strange  provision.  His  own  likes  and  dis- 
likes were  strongly  shown.  On  one  occasion  he 
invited  a  noted  actor  to  take  a  drive,  but  drove  off  and 
left  him  twelve  miles  or  so  from  St.  Louis,  being,  it 
is  supposed,  angry  at  something  the  latter  had  said. 
But  all  his  oddities,  and  they  were  many,  are  but  as 
dust  in  the  balance  when  weighed  against  the  upright- 
ness of  his  life  and  the  succession  of  his  charities, 
crowned  at  last  by  his  munificent  gift  to  the  great  city 
where  that  wealth  had  been  accumulated  by  his  father. 
His  property  was  valued  at  six  hundred  thousand 
dollars. 

The  St.  Louis  Republican  of  June  17,  1851,  gives 
an  interesting  account  of  the  character  and  provisions 
of  his  will,  which  was  contested,  but  fully  sustained 
after  a  protracted  litigation.  It  seems  that  after 
Judge  Mullanphy's  death  many  rumors  prevailed  re- 
garding the  disposition  of  his  property,  and  at  first  no 


BENCH  AND  BAR. 


1479 


will  was  found.  But  it  was  known,  however,  that  a 
sealed  package  had  been  deposited  by  him  with  one  of 
the  city  officers.  This  instrument,  it  was  suggested, 
might  be  his  will,  and  as  it  was  supposed,  if  so,  that 
it  might  contain  instructions  as  to  his  funeral,  the 
mayor  notified  the  relatives  of  the  deceased  that 
at  twelve  o'clock  the  package  would  be  opened  in 
the  presence  of  a  portion  of  them,  thus  summoned, 
and  of  other  citizens.  The  package  was  produced  by 
the  city  register  and  opened.  The  outside  envelope 
contained  a  memorandum  of  the  circumstances  under 
which  the  package  was  received,  signed  by  the  then 
mayor,  James  Gr.  Barry,  and  D.  H.  Armstrong,  then 
comptroller.  The  will  was  then  opened,  on  the  out- 
side of  which  was  a  memorandum  in  Judge  Mullan- 
phy's  handwriting,  directing  that  it  should  not  be 
opened  until  after  his  death.  This  memorandum 
bore  date  Aug.  31,  1849.  The  will  itself  was  as  fol- 
lows : 

"  I,  Bryan  Mullanphy,  do  make  and  declare  the  following  to 
be  my  last  will  and  testament : 

"  One  equal  undivided  third  part  of  all  my  property,  real,  per- 
sonal, and  mixed,  I  leave  to  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  in  the  State 
Of  Missouri,  in  trust  and  to  be  and  constitute  a  fund  to  furnish 
relief  to  all  poor  emigrants  and  travelers  coming  to  St.  Louis 
on  their  way  bonafide  to  settle  in  the  West. 

"  I  do  appoint  Felix  Coste  and  Peter  G.  Camden  to  be  execu- 
tors of  this  my  last  will  and  testament,  and  of  any  other  will  or 
executory  devise  that  I  may  leave.  All  and  any  such  document 
will  be  found  to  be  olograph,  all  in  my  own  handwriting. 

"BRYAN  MULLANPHY.  [Seal] 

"  Witnesses  who  have  all  signed  in  presence  of  the  testator 
and  each  other,  and  saw  the  testator  sign  in  presence  of  them 

and  each  of  them. 

"  ADOLPHUS  WISLIZENUS. 

"JOHN  WOLFF. 
"  M.  W.  WARNE. 

"  AUGUSTUS  SCHNABEN." 

This  instrument  was  written  on  the  first  page  of  a 
sheet  of  letter-paper,  which  was  folded  in  letter  form 
and  sealed  with  three  separate  wafers,  over  each  of 
which  was  written  the  word  "  wafer."  On  the  outside 
it  is  indorsed  as  follows  : 

"  ST.  Louis,  31st  August,  1849. — I  leave  this  document  in  the 
hands  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis  by  delivering  the  same  to  the 
mayor.  It  is  not  to  be  opened  until  after  my  death.  It  was 
left  with  the  comptroller,  the  mayor  being  absent. 

"  BRYAN  MULLANPHY." 

June  19th,  Judge  Ferguson  admitted  this  will  to 
probate,  and  P.  G.  Camden  was  appointed  executor. 

The  remaining  two-thirds  of  his  estate  he  left  by 
another  will  to  be  disposed  of  according  to  law.  In 
1855  the  Republican  remarked  that  no  legal  division 
of  the  estate  had  then  been  made,  though  commis- 
sioners had  been  appointed,  had  completed  their  labors, 
and  had  valued  the  estate  at  one  million  five  hundred 
and  sixty-one  thousand  one  hundred  and  fourteen 


dollars,  or  two  and  a  half  times  the  estimate  placed 
upon  it  at  the  time  of  his  death.  In  1860  the  liti- 
gation which  grew  out  of  this  case  was  decided ;  the 
heirs  had  appealed  to  the  Circuit  Court,  hoping  to  ob- 
tain all,  but  were  defeated,  and  took  the  case  to  the 
Supreme  Court,  where  the  judgment  below  was 
affirmed,  thus  securing  to  the  city  of  St.  Louis  this 
trust  fund.  Hopes  were  then  entertained  that  mat- 
ters would  not  be  longer  delayed,  but  in  1867  the 
committee  still  complained  of  the  slowness  with  which 
the  Mullanphy  trust  fund  was  being  made  available. 
At  that  time  it  amounted  to  over  six  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars.  The  City  Council  created  a  board  to 
take  charge  of  the  property,  and  so  managed  it  as  to 
produce  a  satisfactory  annual  income,  to  be  spent  in 
accordance  with  the  donor's  plan.  Thus  used  the 
fund  has  become  one  of  great  usefulness,  and  hun- 
dreds of  persons  on  their  way  to  the  vast  Rocky 
Mountain  region  have  experienced  its  benefits.  It 
may  here  be  noted  that  some  of  the  most  valuable 
gifts,  in  the  way  of  real  estate,  libraries,  and  works  of 
art,  which  American  colleges  and  schools  have  received 
came  from  members  of  the  legal  profession,  but  no 
more  generous  gift  than  this  of  Judge  Mullanphy  is 
on  record  anywhere. 

Charles  B.  Lord,  who  died  in  St.  Louis  Nov.  15, 
1868,  was  the  successor  of  Edward  Bates  as  judge  of 
the  land  court.  At  the  time  of  his  death  he  was 
one  of  the  Circuit  Court  judges.  He  had  held  the 
important  land  court  judgeship  for  two  terms,  begin- 
ning in  1855.  Judge  Lord  was  a  native  of  Thomas- 
ton,  Me.,  born  in  1810,  was  educated  in  Onondaga 
County,  N.  Y.,  studied  law  at  Buffalo,  was  admitted 
in  1833,  and  removed  to  St.  Louis  in  1843.  Mean- 
while he  had  married  Miss  Wiley,  of  Philadelphia. 
His  first  law  partner  in  St.  Louis  was  Myron  Leslie, 
and  when  the  latter  died,  in  1848,  he  was  associated 
with  Isaac  Kiem.  From  1855,  as  noted,  he  held 
judicial  offices,  and  always  with  credit  to  himself.  In 
the  laws  pertaining  to  real  estate  he  was  particularly 
strong.  A  leading  journal,  in  announcing  his  death, 
said, — 

"  Judge  Lord  was  a  man  of  no  ordinary  qualities  of 
mind.  Even  had  he  never  occupied  a  public  position, 
his  eminence  in  his  profession  would  have  given  him 
a  reputation  extending  beyond  local  limits.  But  he 
was  peculiarly  fitted  for  the  bench.  He  possessed  a 
clear,  analytical,  unwarped  judgment  and  a  remarkable 
perception.  We  would  not  assert  that  his  decisions 
as  a  jurist  were  invariably  correct,  but  undoubtedly 
they  were  always  based  upon  his  best  and  most  con- 
scientious interpretation  of  the  law." 

In  court  he  was  often  severe  towards  young  law- 


1480 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


yers,  but  his  uprightness  and  anxiety  to   deal   out 
justice  impartially  were  proverbial. 

Abram  Beck  came  to  St.  Louis  from  Albany,  N.  Y., 
in  1819,  as  a  lawyer  and  land  agent,  and  was  associ- 
ated for  a  brief  period  with  Josiah  Spalding.  He 
died  Sept.  4,  1821,  a  young  man,  unmarried. 

A  son  of  the  Old  Dominion,  who  honored  the  best 
traditions  of  the  courtly  and  cordial  past,  was  Judge 
Henry  Shurlds,  born  in  Gloucester  County,  Nov.  21,  ! 
1796.  He  was  educated  at  college,  and  had  the  ad- 
vantage of  studying  law  at  Richmond  under  the  cele- 
brated William  Wirt,  then  standing  at  the  head  of 
the  Virginia  bar.  In  1819  this  thoroughly-equipped  j 
young  lawyer  came  to  St.  Louis,  this  year  being,  as  j 
the  reader  will  notice,  a  time  when  the  attention  of  . 
many  who  afterwards  won  high  reputation  was  at- 
tracted to  the  brisk,  growing,  and  impetuous  commu- 
nity being  organized  on  the  banks  of  the  mighty 
Mississippi.  Much  has  been  said  of  the  land  litiga- 
tion in  which  many  lawyers  won  fame,  but  it  must 
not  be  forgotten  that  there  were  great  lead,  iron,  and 
coal  interests  beginning  to  develop,  and  law  cases  in 
that  connection  were  abundant.  Potosi,  Washington  i 
Co.,  was  in  the  midst  of  the  mines,  and  here  Judge 
Shurlds  settled,  and  in  1822  married  Miss  Jane  Jami- 
son Bush,  of  that  place  ;  in  1821  he  had  been  ap- 
pointed circuit  judge  of  that  district,  which  office  he 
resigned  to  become  Secretary  of  State.  In  1832  the 
General  Assembly  elected  him  secretary  of  the  Senate, 
and  the  following  year  the  Governor  and  Senate  made 
him  public  auditor,  which  office  he  held  till  March, 
1837.  Meanwhile  the  State  Bank  had  been  organ- 
ized, and  as  the  times  were  financially  gloomy  great 
caution  and  skill  were  needed  to  conduct  it.  Judge 
Shurlds  became  its  cashier,  and  for  fifteen  years  con- 
tributed greatly  to  its  financial  success.  His  death 
occurred  in  1852  near  St.  Louis,  and  his  only  son 
Edward  died  in  1865.  Of  his  five  daughters  one 
married  G.  W.  Dent,  of  San  Francisco,  and  the  others 
were  all  united  to  gentlemen  of  position  in  St.  Louis. 

The  early  files  of  Missouri  papers  contain  many  in- 
cidental references  in  advertisements  and  brief  notices 
which  throw  light  upon  the  bench  and  bar  of  that 
time.  One  of  the  first  to  be  found  is  an  advertise- 
ment in  the  Gazette  of  May  3,  1810,  which  says,  j 
"  William  0.  Allen,  Esq.,  will  continue  to  practice 
law  in  all  the  districts  of  this  Territory  except  Ar- 
kansas, and  he  will  also  attend  the  Illinois  General 
Courts."  Four  years  later,  October  24th,  was  an- 
nounced the  death  of  Gen.  Howard,  Governor  of  the 
Territory,  and  a  man  thoroughly  well  versed  in  law, 
a  summary  of  whose  life  is  given  elsewhere.  Another 
of  the  well-known  men  of  this  era  was  Gen.  Ruland,  • 


a  sociable  and  kindly  man,  who  had  hosts  of  friends. 
His  death,  which  occurred  March  1,  1849,  was  noted 
at  the  time  as  follows  :  "  Gen.  John  F.  Ruland  was 
born  in  the  year  1789,  on  the  banks  of  the  river  Raisin, 
in  what  is  now  the  State  of  Michigan.  At  the  age 
of  nineteen  he  entered  the  Northwestern  army  under 
the  command  of  Gen.  Harrison,  and  served  with  repu- 
tation for  several  years,  as  was  proved  by  his  having 
passed  rapidly  through  several  grades  of  military  station. 
At  the  termination  of  his  military  career,  and  when 
twenty-eight  years  of  age,  Gen.  Ruland  removed  from 
Detroit  to  St.  Louis,  and  engaged  in  the  business  of 
surveying  afterwards.  He  was  the  chief  clerk  in  the 
office  of  the  superintendent  of  Indian  affairs  in  this 
city  by  appointment  of  Gen.  William  Clark.  On  re- 
tiring from  this  position  in  1835  he  was  then  elected 
clerk  of  the  Circuit  Court  and  recorder  of  deeds  of 
St.  Louis  County  for  a  term  of  six  years,  and  being 
re-elected,  was  in  office  for  more  than  twelve  years, 
and  was  the  incumbent  at  the  time  of  his  death." 

David  Thomas  was  brought  to  St.  Louis  from 
Maryland  about  the  time  the  post  was  turned  over  to 
the  United  States,  being  then  but  three  years  old. 
His  father  died  on  the  journey,  and  was  buried  by 
the  wayside.  His  education  was  such  as  the  city 
schools  afforded.  He  practiced  law  some  years,  and 
about  1848  became  county  judge,  filling  the  office 
with  satisfaction  to  the  public.  He  had  much  pro- 
bate business  in  later  years.  His  death  occurred  in 
December,  1874.  Another  judge  of  the  county  court 
in  early  days  was  Peter  D.  Barada,  born  in  1798,  and 
a  pioneer  of  Carondelet.  He  served  at  various  times 
as  justice  of  the  peace  and  member  of  the  City  Coun- 
cil. His  death  occurred  in  August,  1877. 

The  saddest  chapter  of  a  complete  history  of  the 
bench  and  bar  of  any  city  would  be  that  which  tells 
how  men  fail  in  their  early  struggles  and  fall  by  the 
wayside.  Every  old  lawyer  crowned  with  deserved 
honors  will  remember  many  and  painful  instances. 
Usually,  but  not  always,  "  the  fittest  survive."  Prom- 
ising young  attorneys  came  to  the  West  full  of  ardent 
hopes  that  perished  without  fulfillment.  The  Gazette 
of  Sept.  19,  1811,  says,  "Died  at  Cape  Girardeau, 
after  an  illness  of  six  days,  George  C.  Harbison, 
attorney,  aged  thirty-one."  July  16,  1833,  the  same 
paper  says,  "  Died  in  this  place,  in  the  twenty-fifth 
year  of  his  age,  Charles  T.  Parker,  a  native  of  Boston, 
and  a  member  of  the  Missouri  bar."  On  the  30th 
of  the  same  month  it  says,  "  Died,  after  a  short 
illness,  William  F.  Duncan,  a  member  of  the  Missouri 
bar.  Endowed  with  a  highly-cultivated  mind,  he  was 
gifted  with  all  those  endearing  and  social  qualities 
which  never  fail  to  render  their  possessor  an  object 


BENCH  AND  BAR. 


1481 


of  love  and  admiration."  Jan.  12,  1833,  the  sudden 
death  of  Bethel  S.  Farr,  a  young  member  of  the  bar, 
called  forth  the  following  :  "  Resolved,  That  the  death 
of  Mr.  Farr  has  deprived  the  bar  of  a  member  who 
gave  every  indication  of  future  usefulness  and  bril- 
liancy." 

The  most  notable  loss  of  the  bar  in  1839  was  that 
of  Joseph  M.  White,  October  19th.  A  bar  meeting 
was  called,  Judge  Bowlin  presiding,  and  G.  A.  Bird 
acting  as  secretary.  The  resolutions  closed  by  saying, 
"  The  bar  of  St.  Louis  has  lost  one  of  its  brightest 
ornaments,  society  one  of  its  most  valued  members, 
and  the  country  one  of  its  most  gifted  and  patriotic 
sons." 

Another  lawyer  who  already  had  made  considerable 
reputation  died  in  1840.  The  Republican  of  No- 
vember 30th  says,  "  Died,  on  Saturday  last  at  his 
residence,  George  F.  Strother,  Esq.,  formerly  of  Cul- 
peper,  Va.  Mr.  Strother  was  a  member  of  the  bar, 
was  a  member  of  Congress  from  Virginia,  and  since 
his  residence  here  has  held  several  highly  important 
offices,  having  served  several  sessions  in  the  State 
Legislature  as  a  representative  from  this  county." 
In  1841,  Stephen  Lanhan,  a  justice  of  the  county 
court,  died  at  his  residence  near  Manchester.  The 
following  year  (September  23d)  Joseph  W.  Walsh, 
clerk  of  the  St.  Louis  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  died, 
aged  thirty-two.  In  May,  1847,  Judge  Alonzo  Man- 
ning, of  the  St.  Louis  Criminal  Court,  died.  The 
RepuLlu-an  said,  "  Judge  Manning  had  been  for 
many  years  a  citizen  of  St.  Louis,  and  was  endeared 
to  those  who  knew  him  intimately  by  his  many  ex- 
cellent qualities.  In  his  official  capacity  he  was  dis- 
tinguished by  uprightness,  firmness  of  purpose,  and 
a  desire  to  render  strict  and  impartial  justice." 

July  4,  1849,  a  newspaper  announces,  "  Russell 
Prentis,  Esq.,  member  of  the  bar,  was  buried  yester- 
day." On  the  15th  of  the  same  month  it  says,  quite 
as  briefly, — 

"  Died  on  the  14th  instant,  of  the  prevailing  epi- 
demic, William  K.  Titcomb,  Esq.,  aged  twenty-eight 
years,  a  member  of  the  St.  Louis  bar." 

The  same  year,  June  29th,  the  same  journal  spoke 
of  Judge  Schaumburg's  death,  saying  that  he  "  was 
a  Creole  from  New  Orleans,  and  thirty-nine  years  of 
age  at  the  time  of  his  death.  After  graduating  with 
great  >'dat,  at  the  Transylvania  University,  in  Ken- 
tucky, he  studied  law  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of 
Louisiana.  He  was  made  a  parish  judge,  and  soon 
after  married  one  of  the  fair  daughters  of  our  city 
and  became  a  resident  of  St.  Louis.  All  who  knew 
him  well  acknowledged  his  fine  talents,  classical  educa- 
tion, and  bland  manners."  March  30, 1851 ,  occurred 


the  death  of  D.  N.  Hall,  for  ten  years  an  active  and 
estimable  member  of  the  St.  Louis  bar. 

Of  an  altogether  different  sort  is  a  leaf  from  early 
St.  Louis  court  records :  "  On  the  7th  day  of  May, 
1827,  Marie  P.  Leduc  presented  his  commission  as 
justice  from  Governor  Miller,  as  also  did  Hartley 
Lanham,  father  of  Judge  P.  J.  Lanham.  The  court 
was  opened  by  Robert  Simpson,  sheriff.  At  the  next 
meeting  Frederick  Hyatt  appeared  as  associate  justice 
on  the  bench,  and  Marie  P.  Leduc  was  made  presiding 
justice.  The  name  in  French,  Marie,  was  frequently 
given  to  males  as  a  premonition  of  good  luck  by  the 
old  French  habitans.  A  large  part  of  the  business 
done  at  that  time  was  connected  with  probate  mat- 
ters." 

Judge  Marie  P.  Leduc  was  a  distinguished  character 
in  the  early  history  of  the  St.  Louis  bench  and  bar. 
Indeed,  his  may  be  said  to  have  been  an  official  life, 
for  throughout  the  period  of  his  residence  in  the  village 
until  his  resignation,  about  1839,  of  the  position  of 
judge  of  the  county  court,  not  a  year  elapsed  that  he 
did  not  occupy  some  important  public  station. 

Judge  Leduc  was  born  in  St.  Denis,  near  Paris, 
France,  from  whence  he  came  to  this  country  and  lo- 
cated in  1793  at  New  Madrid,  Upper  Louisiana.  St. 
Louis  being  then  the  seat  of  government,  Mr.  Leduc 
removed  here  in  1799,  and  being  a  man  of  superior 
abilities,  his  influence  in  the  affairs  of  the  little  vil- 
lage soon  brought  him  into  marked  prominence. 
Early  in  November,  1799,  Governor  Dehault  Delas- 
sus  appointed  him  secretary  of  the  province,  which 
office  Mr.  Leduc  held  until  the  cession  of  Louisiana 
to  the  United  States.  On  the  10th  of  March,  1804, 
he  was  appointed  by  Capt.  Stoddard  syndic  of  the 
town  and  within  four  miles  of  its  vicinity.  On  the  1st 
of  October  of  the  same  year  he  was  appointed  by  Gov- 
ernor William  H.  Harrison  judge  of  probate,  recorder, 
and  notary  public  of  St.  Louis.  He  was  appointed 
translator  of  the  Board  of  Land  Commissioners  on  the 
14th  of  December,  1805  ;  in  1807  he  was  appointed  by 
acting  Governor  Frederick  Bates  justice  of  the  peace 
and  notary  public,  and  in  1810  to  administer  oaths  of 
office.  In  1812  he  was  reappointed  justice  of  the 
peace,  judge  of  probate,  notary  public,  recorder,  and 
register  of  boatmen,  and  was  also  appointed  clerk  of 
the  Court  of  Common  Pleas. 

In  1815  he  was  appointed  clerk  of  the  County 
Court,  and  in  February  of  the  same  year  clerk  of  the 
Circuit  Court,  which  position  he  held  with  great  ac- 
ceptability to  his  fellow-citizens  until  1818,  when  he 
resigned,  and  received  from  the  presiding  judge  a  note 
expressive  of  ''  the  great  satisfaction  with  which  the 
duties  of  said  office  had  been  discharged."  In  1818 


1482 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Territorial  Assembly, 
and  when  Missouri  was  admitted  into  the  Union  he 
was  re-elected,  and  again  in  1822,  but  soon  after  re- 
signed. In  1825  he  was  commissioned  by  Governor 
Bates  judge  of  probate  for  the  county  of  St.  Louis, 
and  when  that  court  was  abolished  and  the  county 
court  created  he  was  appointed  presiding  justice  of 
the  latter,  and  continued  to  serve  in  that  capacity 
until  he  resigned  about  1839.  In  all  the  various 
offices  of  high  responsibility  conferred  upon  Judge 
Leduc,  he  discharged  his  duties  with  eminent  ability 
and  to  the  general  satisfaction.  He  said  "  he  had  no 
family  until  the  year  1802." 

Judge  Leduc  resigned  his  last  position  on  account 
of  declining  health,  and  continued  to  linger  until  his 
death,  at  the  residence  of  Hypolite  Papin,  "  about 
five  miles  west"  of  St.  Louis,  on  Monday,  Aug.  15, 
1840,  aged  seventy  years. 

Another  old  volume  of  court  records  contains  the 
"marks  and  brands,"  commencing  February,  1831. 
The  first  entry  is : 

"  John  B.  Bavnet,  a  farmer  of  St.  Louis  township, 
adopts  for  his  brand  the  letters  J.  B.  B.,  and  for  his 
ear-marks  of  cattle,  hogs,  sheep,  and  goats  a  crop  of 
left  ear  and  two  notches  under  the  same  and  nothing 
on  right  ear."  The  clerk  of  the  county  court  at  that 
time  was  Henry  Chouteau,  and  the  writing  has  the 
appearance  of  print. 

Another  book  contains  a  list  of  free  negroes  and 
mulattoes  licensed  by  the  county  court  of  St.  Louis 
County,  as  all  such  were  required  to  register.  The 
name,  age,  height,  and  occupation  are  given ;  the 
first  entry  December,  1841,  and  the  last  entry  May 
1,  1863. 

The  salaries  paid  in  those  days  in  St.  Louis  County 
were  liberal  enough,  all  things  considered.  In  1846 
the  State  Legislature  abolished  the  fee  system,  which 
had  made  some  offices  enormously  lucrative,  and  fixed 
salaries  as  follows :  Sheriff,  per  annum,  87000 ;  clerk 
of  Circuit  Court,  $3500 ;  clerk  of  Common  Pleas, 
83000;  clerk  of  Criminal  Court,  $2500;  clerk  of 
County  Court,  $3000;  marshal.  $2500;  law  commis- 
sioner, $1500  ;  each  justice,  $1200 ;  each  constable, 
$1500. 

Some  of  these  clerks  were  lawyers  themselves  and 
deserve  mention.  We  will  advert  to  a  few  in  this 
place  and  this  connection,  without  attempting  to  ar- 
range them  in  chronological  order.  Joseph  V.  Gar- 
nier  was  born  in  France  and  emigrated  to  San  Do- 
mingo. He  came  away  from  there  at  the  insurrection 
of  the  negroes  in  1793  to  New  York,  where  he  was 
for  a  number  of  years  in  the  employment,  in  some 
fiduciary  capacity,  of  Col.  Livingston.  He  came  out 


to  St.  Louis  about  the  period  of  the  transfer  in  1804. 
At  the  incorporation  of  the  borough  town  of  St.  Louis 
in  1809  he  was  appointed  by  the  trustees  the  first  town 
clerk,  and  also  filled  the  office  of  clerk  of  the  Superior 
Court  of  the  Territory.  Subsequently  he  was  a  jus- 
tice of  the  peace  and  notary.  He  came  to  St.  Louis 
a  mason,  and  was  the  first  secretary  of  St.  Louis  Lodge, 
No.  Ill,  and  subsequently  a  member  of  No.  12  and 
No.  1.  His  widow  survived  him,  living  beyond  ninety 
years  of  age,  and  his  only  child,  Harriet,  married  the 
Hon.  John  Hogan. 

Col.  Thomas  Fiveash  Riddick  was  born  at  Suffolk, 
county-seat  of  Nansemond  County,  Va.,  on  June  5, 
1781.  He  removed  to  St.  Louis  about  the  time  of  the 
transfer  of  the  country  to  the  United  States,  and  during 
the  first  fifteen  years  of  his  residence  filled  at  various 
periods  a  number  of  public  offices  of  trust,  as  follows  : 
1807,  July  9th,  appointed  by  Frederick  Bates,  secretary 
of  the  Territory  and  ex  ojficio  acting  Governor,  to  the 
office  of  assessor  of  rates  and  levies  for  the  district  of 
St.  Louis;  1807,  July  10th,  appointed  by  same  to 
the  office  of  clerk  of  the  Courts  of  Common  Pleas, 
Quarter  Sessions,  and  Oyer  and  Terminer  for  the 
district  of  St.  Louis;  1807,  August  20th,  appointed 
by  the  same  a  justice  of  the  peace  for  the  township  of 
St.  Louis;  1808,  May  7th,  also  appointed  by  "  Fred- 
erick Bates,  recorder  of  land  titles  under  the  board  of 
land  commissioners,  about  to  be  absent  from  St.  Louis 
on  official  business  connected  with  his  duties,  his 
deputy  recorder,  to  act  as  such  in  his  absence  ;"  1812, 
December  10th,  reappointed  a  justice  of  the  peace  by 
acting  Governor  Bates;  1813,  March  1st,  reap- 
pointed by  Secretary  Bates  to  the  office  of  clerk  of 
the  before-mentioned  courts;  1815,  January  2d,  ap- 
pointed by  Governor  William  Clark  a  justice  of  the 
peace  for  four  years ;  1817,  when  the  old  "  Terri- 
torial Bank  of  Missouri"  was  chartered,  he  was  one 
of  the  first  directors  of  the  same;  and  in  the  year 
1820  succeeded  Col.  Auguste  Chouteau,  its  first  presi- 
dent, in  that  office,  which  position  he  held  until  the 
collapse  of  the  bank  in  the  summer  of  1822.  Col. 
Riddick  was  for  twenty  years  an  active  and  efficient 
business  man  of  St.  Louis.  Subsequently  he  removed 
to  the  Sulphur  Springs,  in  Jefferson  County,  where  he 
continued  to  reside  until  his  death  on  Jan.  15,  1830, 
at  the  age  of  forty-nine,  leaving  a  widow,  a  sister  of 
Judge  William  C.  Carr,  and  four  children,  two  sons 
and  two  daughters,  who  subsequently  became  the 
wives  of  Charles  J.  Billon  and  Edward  Brooks. 

Ewel  Baker  came  from  Winchester,  Va.,  in  1824, 
a  nephew  of  the  Gambles,  and  during  his  few  years' 
residence  in  St.  Louis  he  was  a  clerk  in  the  office  of 
his  uncle.  Archibald  Gamble,  circuit  clerk. 


BENCH  AND  BAR. 


1483 


One  of  the  best  of  real  estate  lawyers  was  R.  M. 
Field,  who  died  in  July,  1869.  He  was  born  in 
Newfane,  Wyndham  Co.,  Vt.,  in  the  year  1807. 
At  fifteen  years  of  age  he  was  graduated  at  Middle- 
bury  College,  and  at  eighteen  was  admitted  to  the 
bar.  His  legal  and  literary  career  was  marked  by 
great  ability  and  determination,  even  before  he  left 
his  native  State.  In  1839  he  came  to  St.  Louis. 
Field's  name  was  associated  with  coadjutors  or  oppo- 
nents in  nearly  every  important  lawsuit  in  the  State 
during  twenty-five  years.  His  profound  studies  led 
to  the  most  keen  and  acute  judgment,  whether  in  law 
or  literature.  He  was  familiar  with  the  literature 
and  language  of  France,  Spain,  and  Germany,  and  in 
the  ancient  classics  seemed  ever  to  be  as  proficient  and 
ready  as  in  his  college  days.  Mr.  Field  had  few  inti- 
mate companions  but  many  friends,  by  whom  the 
genial  warmth  of  a  generous  nature  was  known  and 
appreciated.  To  the  world  he  perhaps  appeared  aus- 
tere, but  it  was  the  austerity  of  a  profound  intellect 
and  a  deeply  thoughtful  nature.  His  success  as  a 
lawyer  in  his  native  State  was  in  every  way  unusual. 
He  practiced  law  fourteen  years  in  his  native  county, 
and  represented  it  in  the  Vermont  General  Assembly. 
Judge  Story  declared  some  of  his  special  pleas  to  be 
masterpieces.  From  1832  to  1835  he  was  State's 
attorney  for  Wyndham  County.  But  an  event  which 
occurred  in  1838  was  the  leading  motive  of  his  leav- 
ing his  native  State.  Miss  Mary  Ann  Phelps  was 
engaged  to  one  Jeremiah  Clark,  but  secretly  married 
Mr.  Field.  She  returned  home  the  same  day,  and 
soon  after  told  her  family,  wrote  to  Mr.  Field,  de- 
siring to  rescind  her  action  and  refusing  to  see  him, 
and  in  a  few  days  married  Clark.  Clark  and  his  wife 
then  filed  a  bill  to  declare  the  marriage  with  Field 
null  and  void.  The  Chancery  court  so  ruled,  and  the 
Supreme  Court  strongly  supported  this  view.  After 
Mr.  Clark's  death  his  widow  visited  St.  Louis  to 
bring  about  a  reconciliation  with  Mr.  Field,  but  he 
refused  to  see  her.  This  episode  in  his  life  necessarily 
had  a  marked  effect  upon  his  character,  and  for  many 
years  he  avoided  society.  He  finally  married  Miss 
Frances  Reed,  a  relative  of  C.  W.  Pomeroy,  of  St. 
Louis,  who  died  a  few  years  later,  leaving  two  sons, 
one  of  whom  entered  journalism. 

At  one  time  Mr.  Field's  partner  was  Myron  Leslie, 
also  a  native  of  Vermont,  and  a  very  gifted  man. 
He  was  born  near  Bennington,  and  had  little  educa- 
tion, but  his  abilities  were  far  beyond  the  average, 
and  he  picked  up  enough  law  to  pass  an  examination. 
By  1834  he  was  building  up  a  lucrative  practice  in 
Central  Illinois,  and  by  1837  was  in  St.  Louis,  in 
partnership  with  F.  W.  Risque,  who  afterwards  re- 


moved to  Washington.  He  then  joined  forces  with 
Mr.  Field,  and  the  firm  took  high  rank  immediately. 
About  1842  he  became  circuit  judge  for  that  district, 
held  the  office  two  years,  and  then  went  to  the  State 
Senate.  In  1845  he  was  a  member  of  the  Constitu- 
tional Convention.  He  succeeded  Judge  Bowlin  as 
attorney  of  the  old  State  Bank.  As  a  speaker,  he 
was  full  of  energy  and  almost  invincible  when 
aroused,  though  often  he  seemed  slow  and  indolent. 
In  later  years  his  health  failed,  and  he  died  in  1854, 
mourned  deeply  by  all  his  associates. 

Judge  E.  B.  Ewing,  a  prominent  lawyer  and  judge 
of  the  Supreme  Court,  was  born  in  Todd  County, 
Ky.,  in  1819.  His  father  was  Rev.  Finis  Ewiug, 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian 
Church.  He  immigrated  to  Missouri  about  1820. 
He  was  educated  at  Cumberland  College,  Caldwell 
Co.,  Ky.  Studying  the  law,  he  was  admitted  to 
the  profession  at  the  Ray  Circuit  Court  in  1842,  and 
soon  acquired  such  influence  and  reputation  as  to 
bring  him  prominently  before  the  people  of  Missouri. 
In  1848  he  was  appointed  to  the  office  of  Secretary 
of  State,  the  duties  of  which  he  performed  for  four 
years.  Again,  in  1856,  he  was  elected  attorney-gen- 
eral, and  performed  the  duties  of  that  office  until  his 
election,  in  August,  1859,  to  the  Supreme  Bench,  to 
fill  the  vacancy  occasioned  by  the  resignation  of  Judge 
Richardson.  This  position  he  occupied  until  1861, 
when  he  resumed  professional  practice  at  the  bar,  first 
at  Jefferson  City,  and  then  at  St.  Louis,  until  his 
election  as  one  of  the  judges  of  the  St.  Louis  Circuit 
Court  in  1869.  The  labors  of  this  office  so  severely 
taxed  his  energies  that  in  1872  he  was  induced  to 
accept  the  nomination  for  judge  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  to  which  station  he  was  elected,  and  he  took 
his  seat  at  the  January  term,  1873,  but  his  death 
occurred  in  June  of  that  year.  Pleasant,  winning, 
and  earnest  in  his  manners,  though  often  reserved, 
his  uprightness  won  him  the  implicit  confidence  of 
the  public,  and  though  never  brilliant,  his  lucid  and 
well-developed  decisions  were  always  to  the  point, 
were  usually  sustained,  and  commanded  the  respect 
of  his  brothers  of  the  bar.  Rev.  Dr.  Linn,  of  the 
Methodist  Church,  preached  his  funeral  sermon,  and 
the  usual  resolutions  of  regret  were  passed  by  his 
professional  brethren.  One  of  the  interesting  epi- 
sodes of  his  life  was  when,  in  1856,  his  brother, 
Robert  C.  Ewing,  also  an  able  lawyer,  was  nominated 
for  Governor,  in  the  great  triangular  contest  of  that 
year,  but  E.  B.  Ewing  was  running  for  attorney-gen- 
eral on  the  Polk  ticket.  The  brothers  were  political 
antagonists,  but  the  ticket  headed  by  Trusten  Polk 
was  elected. 


148i 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


A  career  which  well  illustrates  the  sterling  qualities 
of  manhood  was  that  of  Hugh  A.  Garland,  who  was 
born  in  Nelson  County,  Va.,  about  1805.  When 
sixteen  he  entered  Harnpden-Sidney  College,  and  did 
such  good  work  there  that  after  his  graduation  he  be- 
came Professor  of  Greek  at  that  institution.  Shortly 
after  he  married  Miss  Anne  P.  Burwell,  daughter  of 
Col.  Armistead  Burwell.  In  1830  he  studied  litera- 
ture and  law  for  a  year  at  the  University  of  Virginia, 
and  then  opened  an  office  in  Boydtown.  Two  years 
later  Mecklenburg  sent  him  to  the  State  Legislature. 
It  was  a  time  of  great  political  turmoil.  He  was  an 
ardent  Jackson  partisan,  and  contributed  considerably 
to  the  controversial  literature  of  the  day.  For  five 
years  he  represented  that  county.  In  1838  he  was 
chosen  clerk  of  the  House  of  Representatives.  About 
1840  he  retired  to  rural  and  literary  pursuits,  but  in 
1845  lost  his  property  through  unfortunate  business 
connections,  removed  to  St.  Louis,  and  resumed  law 
practice  with  an  ardor  and  capacity  which  bore  good 
fruit.  Five  years  later  he  published  a  "  Life  of  John 
Randolph."  His  death  occurred  in  October,  1854. 

Judge  James  Ransom  Lackland  held  high  rank  at 
the  St.  Louis  bar,  though  contending  against  early 
educational  disadvantages,  and  in  later  years  poor 
health.  His  birthplace  was  Montgomery  County, 
Md.,  where  he  was  born  in  January,  1820.  In  1828 
his  parents  removed  to  Missouri,  and  settled  on  a  farm 
near  St.  Louis.  His  early  opportunities  for  education 
were  limited,  until  he  reached  the  age  of  sixteen,  to 
those  which  a  country  neighborhood  could  afford.  He 
then  entered  the  grammar  school  connected  with 
Marion  College,  over  which  Rev.  Dr.  Potts  then  pre- 
sided, remaining  there  three  months.  He  subse- 
quently attended  as  student,  and  afterwards  as  assist- 
ant teacher,  a  school  conducted  by  Rev.  W.  D. 
Shumate,  on  the  St.  Charles  Rock  road,  fifteen  miles 
from  St.  Louis.  Beyond  these  modern  advantages 
his  acquirements  were  the  fruits  of  private  study.  He 
next  obtained  employment  in  the  house  of  Mullikin 
&  Pratt,  wholesale  grocers,  and  was  subsequently  en- 
gaged under  his  relative,  Rufus  J.  Lackland,  as  a  clerk 
on  a  Mississippi  River  steamboat. 

In  the  year  1845  he  became  a  deputy  clerk  of  the 
St.  Louis  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  under  Nathaniel 
Paschall,  then  clerk. 

At  this  time  he  decided  to  adopt  law  as  his  pro- 
fession, and  began  study  in  the  office  of  Hon.  Charles 
D.  Drake,  and  was  admitted  to  practice  in  1846.  He 
had  neither  fortune  nor  influential  friends,  but  his 
indomitable  energy  enabled  him  to  surmount  all 
obstacles.  In  1848  a  vacancy  occurred  in  the 
circuit  attorneyship  of  St.  Louis  County,  and  he  was 


elected  to  fill  it.  This  was  an  important  office,  involving 
great  labor  and  responsibility,  and  brought  the  young 
lawyer  into  conflict  with  the  best  legal  talent  of  the 
day.  As  a  prosecutor,  he  is  described  as  "  bold,  de- 
fiant, and  successful."  In  1852  he  was  again  a  candi- 
date, but  shared  the  defeat  of  the  Whig  party  of  that 
year,  but  meanwhile  (in  1849)  he  had  formed  a 
partnership  with  Mr.  Jamison,1  and  engaged  in  civil 
as  well  as  criminal  practice. 

In  1853,  Judge  Colt  having  resigned  from  the  bench 
of  the  St.  Louis  Criminal  Court,  he  was  elected  to  fill 
the  vacancy,  and  sat  as  judge  of  that  court  during  the 
residue  of  the  term,  which  expired  in  1856.  At  the 
general  election  in  1857  he  was  the  successful  candi- 
date for  judge  of  the  St.  Louis  Circuit  Court,  then 
held  by  one  judge,  and  held  that  office  until  1859, 
when  he  resigned  from  the  bench  and  resumed  the 
general  practice  of  the  law  as  senior  in  the  firm  of 
Lackland,  Cline  &  Jamison.  In  1864,  attacked  by  a 
pulmonary  complaint,  he  undertook  long  journeys  in 
hope  of  recovery,  and  in  1868,  partially  restored,  he 
became  senior  member  of  the  firm  of  Lackland, 
Martin  &  Lackland  (his  brother),  from  time  to  time 
until  the  day  of  his  death,  Oct.  9,  1875,  appearing  in 
important  cases. 

A  St.  Louis  journal  after  his  death  said,  "  The 
professional  career  of  Judge  Lackland  was  distin- 
guished to  an  extraordinary  degree  by  untiring  in- 
dustry, vigorous  common  sense,  learning,  and  integ- 
rity of  the  highest  order.  As  a  lawyer,  he  grasped 
with  unusual  clearness  and  force  the  essential  ques- 
tions of  a  controversy,  and  presented  them  to  court  or 
jury  with  direct  and  powerful  simplicity  of  diction. 
In  the  discharge  of  official  duty  no  man  was  more 
diligent,  more  upright,  or  more  fearless.  No  one 
charged  to  protect  the  community  from  crime  has 
ever  won,  whether  at  the  bar  or  on  the  bench,  a 
higher  or  more  deserved  reputation.  And  to  those 
who  at  first  doubted  whether  a  like  success  would  at- 
tend his  labors  in  his  administration  of  civil  justice, 

1  A  partner  from  1849  till  1852  with  Judge  Lackland,  and  at 
various  times  since,  was  William  C.  Jamison,  a  resident  of  St. 
Louis  since  1843.  Born  in  Tennessee  in  1822,  of  a  family  noted 
in  that  State,  and  educated  at  Union  College,  Murfreesboro',  he 
prosecuted  his  early  law  studies  under  Hon.  John  F.  Darby,  and 
later  with  Messrs.  Todd  &  Krum.  In  1846  he  opened  an  office 
of  his  own,  though  licensed  nearly  two  years  before.  His  first 
partnership  was  with  F.  II.  Dick.  In  1849  it  was  Lackland  <fc 
Jamison;  in  1853,  Cline  &  Jamison;  in  1857,  Lackland,  Kline 
&  Jamison.  In  1863,  Judge  Lackland  retired;  in  1866,  M.  C. 
Day  became  a  member.  Mr.  Jamison  became  administrator  for 
some  of  the  largest  estates  in  St.  Louis  ;  and  is  a  director  in 
many  prominent  companies  and  associations.  Both  as  lawyer 
and  citizen  he  possesses  high  claims  to  regard.  In  1865  he  mar- 
ried Mi*a  Mary  E.  Noe,  of  Norfolk,  Va. 


BENCH  AND  BAR. 


1485 


his  ceaseless  industry  and  honorable  ambition  were 
not  slow  to  furnish  a  reply.  Simplicity,  courage, 
honesty  of  purpose,  scorn  of  everything  mean  or  base, 
and  dauntless  energy,  these  were  his  characteristics. 
As  a  man,  to  these  in  later  years  was  added  earnest 
Christian  faith." 

There  is  little  to  add  to  this  deserved  praise  of  one 
of  the  leaders  of  the  St.  Louis  bar,  whose  power  in 
impressing  a  jury  has  seldom  been  surpassed.  His 
greatest  case  was  that  of  Effie  Carstang  vs.  the  noted 
Henry  Shaw,  of  Shaw's  Gardens,  a  suit  for  alleged 
breach  of  marriage  promise.  She  had  obtained,  with 
Uriel  Wright  and  L.  M.  Shreve  for  her  lawyers,  a 
verdict  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  damages  from 
a  jury,  to  the  utter  astonishment  of  the  whole  city. 
The  verdict  was  set  aside,  and  a  new  trial  granted. 
Mr.  Shaw  retained  Judge  Lackland  and  Mr.  Glover 
(his  former  counsel  had  been  Edward  Bates  and  John 
R.  Shepley),  and  spent,  it  is  said,  twenty  thousand 
dollars  in  the  affair.  The  woman's  earlier  history  was 
searched  into,  and  the  entire  case  prepared  by  Judge 
Lackland.  On  the  second  trial  the  verdict  was  for 
the  defendant.  The  skill  and  energy  displayed  in 
this  famous  case  increased  Judge  Lackland's  already 
great  reputation.  In  social  life  he  was  generous  and 
warm-hearted.  He  was  twice  married,  and  left  several 
children. 

We  have  spoken  of  Uriel  Wright  as  engaged  in 
the  case  of  Carstang  vs.  Shaw,  and  it  is  proper  to  say 
further  of  him  here  that,  all  in  all,  Missouri,  and  in- 
deed the  West,  never  had  a  more  brilliant,  eloquent, 
erratic,  marvelous  genius  than  Maj.  Uriel  Wright. 
Judge  Bay  calls  him  the  "  Prentiss  of  Missouri." 
Born  in  1805  in  Virginia,  mother  of  such  orators  as 
Wirt  and  Henry,  Uriel  Wright,  a  descendant  of  the 
noted  Johnsons  and  Barbours,  showed  great  mental 
power,  and  was  sent  to  West  Point,  but  left  the  in- 
stitution on  his  father's  death,  and  began  the  study  of 
law  with  Judge  Barbour,  of  Orange  County,  also  in 
a  law-school  at  Winchester. 

After  marriage,  in  1833,  he  removed  to  Missouri, 
where  so  many  Virginians  had  taken  high  rank  at 
the  bar,  settling  in  Northeast  Missouri  (Marion 
County).  He  speculated  in  one  of  the  paper  cities 
of  the  era,  and  lost  all  his  means.  About  this  time 
he  served  a  term  in  the  State  Legislature ;  soon  after 
he  removed  to  St.  Louis,  having  gained  reputation  as 
an  orator,  and  found  plenty  of  work  in  criminal  prac- 
tice, in  which  class  of  cases  his  success  was  unpar- 
alleled, saving  the  lives  of  many  hardened  criminals 
by  his  ardent  eloquence,  of  which  no  specimens  have 
been  preserved,  but  which  carried  away  judge,  jury, 
and  audience  alike.  Judge  Bay  says,  "  The  style  of 


Maj.  Wright's  oratory  was  sui  generis;  his  words 
flowed  from  his  lips  like  a  placid  stream  ;  his  voice 
was  clear  and  musical ;  his  invective  scathing."  An- 
other writer  says,  "  His  eloquence,  the  beauty  of  his 
diction,  and  the  keenness  of  his  logic  were  universally 
acknowledged.  As  a  criminal  lawyer,  he  probably 
never  had  a  superior  at  our  bar."  The  greatest 
genius  is,  however,  sometimes  allied  with  the  saddest 
weaknesses.  Maj.  Wright  lacked  will-force,  moral 
power,  and  moral  balance.  On  the  heels  of  a  denun- 
ciation of  gambling  so  fierce  and  yet  pathetic  that 
men  trembled  and  wept  he  might  be  seen  at  a  card- 
table.  Early  in  his  life  he  was  a  Whig  in  politics, 
and  in  1861  was  an  Unconditional  Union  man.  As 
such  he  was  elected  by  a  tremendous  majority  to  the 
State  Convention  of  1861.  He  continued  to  combat 
secession  and  disunion  until  the  capture  of  Camp 
Jackson.  This  roused  his  indignation,  and  from  the 
steps  of  the  Planters'  House  he  declared  on  the  night 
of  the  10th  of  May,  1861,  that  "  if  Unionism  meant 
such  atrocious  deeds  as  had  been  that  day  witnessed 
he  was  no  longer  a  Union  man."  Like  Sterling 
Price  and  hundreds  of  others,  Maj.  Wright  joined 
his  fortunes  with  the  Southern  Confederacy,  and 
served  as  a  staff  officer.  After  the  war  was  over  he 
returned  to  St.  Louis,  where  he  remained  a  short 
time,  but  finally  removed  to  Winchester,  Va.,  where 
he  died  Feb.  18,  1869,  and  "  life's  fitful  fever"  was 
past.  The  St.  Louis  bar  met  and  passed  resolutions 
which  showed  how  highly  he  was  personally  esteemed. 
They  spoke  particularly  of  his  literary  culture  (he  had 
been  a  contributor  to  the  Knickerbocker  Magazine, 
and  was  always  a  great  reader).  With  the  beauties 
of  Shakespeare  he  was  perfectly  familiar,  so  much  so, 
indeed,  that  he  often  unconsciously  spoke  in  the  lan- 
guage of  that  great  author  as  if  he  were  speaking  in 
his  own  copious  diction.  Some  of  his  speeches  prove 
that  he  was  not  unfamiliar  with  the  Greek  tragic 
poets,  Sophocles  and  Euripides. 

Judge  M.  R.  Cullen,  an  intimate  friend,  and  him- 
self a  fine  orator,  said  on  this  occasion,  "No  lawyer 
excelled  Uriel  Wright  in  practical  management  of  a 
case.  As  a  criminal  lawyer,  he  stood  among  us  un- 
rivaled. Discussing  political  questions,  his  eloquence 
was  supremely  in  the  ascendant,  and  the  brilliancy  of 
his  language  won  the  hearts  of  his  hearers."  In 
conversation,  also,  he  had  the  same  unique  combina- 
tion of  wit,  talent,  and  solidity  which  made  his  forensic 
efforts  so  successful.  A  little  more  common  sense 
would  have  undoubtedly  given  this  eloquent  advocate 
a  national  reputation. 

There  is  something  at  least  of  coincidence  in  the 
fact  that  while  Walter  C.  Gantt  was  a  most  promi- 


1436 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


nent  victim  of  the  cholera  in  1866,1  Thomas  T.  Gantt 
was  among  the  most  devoted  combatants  of  the  dis- 
ease in  1849.  During  the  epidemic  the  Committee 
of  Public  Health  was  organized,  with  Thomas  T. 
Gantt  as  chairman.  He  filled  this  position  with  such 
ability  and  thoroughness  that  when  the  scourge  was 
driven  from  the  city  and  the  committee  disbanded 
they  closed  its  existence  with  the  following  resolution  : 

"  That  the  thanks  of  the  committee  are  due,  both 
in  their  own  behalf  and  in  that  of  the  citizens  of  St. 
Louis  generally,  to  Thomas  T.  Gantt,  Esq.,  for  the 
zealous,  able,  efficient,  and  impartial  manner  in  which 
he  has  discharged  the  many  and  arduous  duties  de- 
volved upon  him  as  president  of  the  Committee  of 
Public  Health  during  the  existence  of  said  committee 
as  a  Board  of  Health,  under  the  city  ordinance  'to 
prevent  the  spread  of  cholera.'  " 

Thomas  Tasker  Gantt  bears  the  names  of  two  of 
the  oldest  Maryland  families,  and  was  born  at  George- 
town, D.  C.,  July  22,  1814,  his  mother  being  a  Stod- 
dart.  Young  Gantt  studied  at  Georgetown  College, 
and  then  had  an  appointment  to  West  Point,  which 
after  a  two  years'  course  an  accidental  injury  com- 
pelled him  to  leave.  He  studied  law  in  Upper  Marl- 
boro', Prince  George  Co.,  Md.,  under  Governor  Pratt, 
and  after  passing  the  bar,  came  West  to  St.  Louis  in 
1839.  Since  then  his  career  has  been  thronged  with 
events  and  crowned  with  successes.  In  1845,  Presi- 
dent Polk  made  him  United  States  district  attorney. 
In  1853,  Mayor  How  made  him  city  counselor; 
next  year  the  great  riot  occurred.  Mr.  Gantt,  after 
helping  to  suppress  it  in  the  streets,  drew  the  po- 
lice bill,  which  made  the  recurrence  of  such  mob 
violence  almost  impossible.  Many  other  instances 
of  his  successful  war  upon  public  abuses  are  recor- 
ded. In  1861,  Mr.  Gantt  became  a  leader  among 
the  Unconditional  Union  men  of  St.  Louis ;  served 
as  colonel  and  judge-advocate  in  McClellan's  Army  of 
the  Potomac,  provost-marshal-general  under  Schofield 
in  Missouri,  etc.  Returning  to  his  profession  after 
the  war,  Col.  Gantt  continued  in  active  practice  and 


1  A  St.  Louis  journal   of   Aug.    18,  1866,  thus  notices  Mr. 
Gantt's  death  : 

"  Col.  Walter  C.  Gantt  died  very  suddenly  at  his  residence  in 
this  city  yesterday,  at  two  o'clock  P.M.,  of  cholera.  He  had  at-  ' 
tended  a  meeting  at  the  court-house  on  Thursday  night  of  the 
Society  for  the  Preservation  of  Game,  and  participated  in  the 
proceedings  by  the  delivery  of  a  short  speech,  apparently  in 
his  usual  good  health.  His  wife  and  child  were  absent  on  a 
trip  East.  Col.  Gantt  was  thirty-six  years  old,  a  lawyer  of  re- 
spectable standing  at  the  St.  Louis  bar,  and  had  been  assistant 
circuit  attorney  since  the  fall  of  186-i.  During  the  recent 
troubles  he  volunteered  into  the  Third  Missouri  Cavalry,  and 
was  lieutenant-colonel  of  that  regiment  when  it  was  mustered 
out  of  service."' 


active  political  service  until  1875,  when  Governor 
Hardin  made  him  presiding  judge  of  the  St.  Louis 
Court  of  Appeals.  During  the  same  year  he  was  a 
member  of  the  convention  which  framed  the  present 
Constitution  of  the  State,  and  was  chairman  of  the 
committee  on  the  bill  of  rights,  and  a  member  of  the 
committee  on  the  legislative  department  He  was 
also  the  author  of  Sections  19,  20,  21,  22,  23,  and 
24  of  Article  IX.  of  that  Constitution,  which  sepa- 
rated St.  Louis  from  the  county  and  made  it  a  free 
city.  It  was  the  first  attempt  of  that  nature  in 
American  jurisprudence,  and  its  success  so  far  has 
proved  the  wisdom  of  the  departure.  Col.  Gantt  re- 
turned to  the  bar  in  1877  rather  than  soil  the  ermine 
by  making  a  canvass  for  popular  election.  That  year, 
the  one  of  the  great  strike,  he  was  a  leading  member 
of  the  Committee  of  Safety,  seeking  to  restore  law 
and  order.  Col.  Gantt  is  wealthy,  esteemed,  scholarly, 
distinguished  at  the  bar,  but  most  eminent  as  the 
public-spirited  citizen  to  whom  all  turn,  and  upon 
whom  all  rely  in  danger  and  critical  emergencies. 

In  his  political  career,  while  he  has  never  been  a 
seeker  of  office  nor  asked  for  the  applause  of  his  fel- 
low-citizens, Judge  Gantt  has  consistently  and  per- 
sistently followed  a  straight  course  as  a  constructionist. 
During  the  war  he  was  an  Unconditional  Unionist  and 
a  war  Democrat ;  was  an  opponent  of  the  Drake  Con- 
stitution and  all  radical  or  reconstructive  measures ;  a 
supporter  of  President  Johnson's  policy,  and  being 
opposed  to  the  Democratic  party  in  the  nomination 
of  Mr.  Greeley  in  1872,  voted  for  Charles  O'Conor 
for  President,  but  for  Mr.  Tilden  in  1876.  He 
claims  that  his  political  career  antecedent  to  the  war 
was  consistent,  having  voted  for  Seymour  in  1868, 
for  McClellan  in  1864,  for  Douglas  in  1860,  for  Bu- 
chanan in  1856,  for  Pierce  in  1852,  for  Cassin  1848, 
and  for  Polk  in  1844.  In  1840  he  voted  for  Har- 
rison on  his  pledge  to  reform  the  civil  service ;  but 
when  the  Whig  party  repudiated  that  pledge  he  re- 
turned to  the  Democratic  party,  to  which  he  has 
since  constantly  adhered.  But  in  his  political  views, 
while  tenaciously  clinging  to  his  opinions,  he  has 
ever  been  liberal  toward  others,  and  only  asking  the 
same  liberty  for  himself.  He  never  asked  for  an 
office.  Mr.  Gantt  has  never  been  a  member  of  any 
church,  but  has  since  early  manhood  inclined  toward 
Unitarianism  in  his  religious  belief. 

He  was  married  in  1845  to  Miss  Mary  Carroll 
Tabbs,  a  granddaughter  of  Charles  Carroll,  of  Belle- 
vue,  Md.  In  regard  to  his  professional,  social,  and 
other  characteristics,  an  eminent  gentleman  of  St. 
Louis,  who  has  known  him  long  and  intimately,  says, 
"  He  is  a  man  of  genial  disposition,  honorable  in  his 


BENCH  AND  BAR. 


1487 


dealings  with  his  fellow-men,  being  possessed  of  a 
stern  sense  of  justice,  and  endowed  with  a  keen  and 
discriminating  intellect,  which  enables  him  to  separate 
the  true  from  the  false  and  the  ideal,  being  gifted  in 
an  eminent  degree  with  the  qualities  which  have  distin- 
guished him  as  a  lawyer  and  a  judge.  There  is  no 
man  who,  by  precept  and  example,  has  done  more 
than  he  to  preserve  the  honor  of  the  legal  profession 
in  the  courts  where  he  has  practiced  and  in  the  com- 
munity where  he  has  resided  ;  and  whilst  it  must  be 
admitted  that  among  his  contemporaries  he  is  one  of 
the  most  learned  men  in  the  profession,  it  may  be 
said  that  he  has  not  considered  a  professional  knowl- 
edge of  jurisprudence  at  all  incompatible  with  general 
culture  and  literary  accomplishment,  for  in  spite  of 
the  arduous  duties  of  his  profession,  he  has  not  only 
kept  himself  well  informed  in  the  political  history  of 
his  country,  but  his  literary  attainments  are  of  a  high 
order.  Industrious,  energetic,  and  orderly  in  his 
habits,  the  knowledge  which  he  has  acquired  on  all 
subjects  to  which  he  has  directed  his  attention  is 
peculiarly  accurate  and  reliable,  and  this  may  be  at- 
tributed not  less  to  his  industry  and  close  attention 
than  to  his  natural  love  of  truth  and  justice." 

Another  of  the  men  who,  like  Judge  Lackland, 
were  the  architects  of  their  own  fortune,  and  who 
climbed  with  steady  foot  against  many  disadvantages 
to  a  high  place,  was  Thomas  B.  Hudson.  His 
birthplace  was  Davidson  County,  Tenn.,  the  year  was 
1814.  Academically  educated,  he  began  law  studies 
in  1832,  and  about  1835  removed  to  Tennessee,  and 
began  practice.  About  1840  he  was  a  member  of 
the  City  Council,  and  two  years  later  became  city 
counselor.  He  was  quite  a  politician,  and  in  1840 
occurred  the  Chambers-Hudson  duel.  Hudson  was  a 
candidate  for  the  Legislature  ;  Col.  A.  B.  Chambers 
was  editor  and  part  proprietor  of  the  Republican.  An 
editorial  had  contained  imputations  upon  Mr.  Hudson's 
truth  and  courage ;  he  replied  with  a  challenge.  The 
parties  met  and  exchanged  three  shots  without  effect. 
A  reconciliation  followed,  and  they  became  lifelong 
friends.  In  1842,  Mr.  Hudson  went  to  the  Legisla- 
ture, and  distinguished  himself  as  one  of  the  most 
influential  of  its  members.  At  one  time  he  was 
president  of  the  North  Missouri  Railroad  Company. 
About  1854  he  retired  from  the  more  public  sphere 
in  which  he  formerly  moved,  and  devoted  his  time  to 
the  improvement  of  a  handsome  estate  and  the  pur- 
suits of  agriculture  at  his  home,  Glen  Owen,  in  the 
Florissant  valley,  ten  miles  north  of  St.  Louis. 
During  the  Mexican  war  he  raised  a  cavalry  com- 
pany, was  chosen  captain,  and  was  one  of  the  heroes 
of  the  Doniphan  expedition.  His  wife  was  Miss 


Eliza  Chambers.     Capt.  Hudson's  death  occurred  in 
1867. 

Governor  Trusten  Polk,  one  of  the  ornaments  of 
this  period  of  the  St.  Louis  bar,  which  then  included 
such  men  as  Wilson  Primm,  M.  Blair,  and  J.  B.  Bow- 
lin,  became  widely  known  for  his  adhesion  to  the 
cause  of  the  South.  His  absolute  devotion  to  what 
he  deemed  his  duty  involved  personal  sacrifices  such 
as  earn  for  his  convictions  at  least  respect.  After  the 
war  he  resumed  practice  in  St.  Louis,  and  in  fact  just 
before  his  death,  in  April,  1876,  was  preparing  an 
address  in  the  land  case  of  Glasgow  vs.  the  Lindell 
heirs,  which  case  had  then  been  twenty-three  years  in 
court.  He  was  born  in  Sussex  County,  Del.,  in  1811. 
His  father  was  a  well-to-do  farmer,  and  his  mother 
was  the  sister  of  Governor  Peter  Causey.  His  father 
gave  him  a  university  education  at  Yale  College, 
where  he  graduated  with  high  honors  in  the  class  of 
1831.  Soon  after  he  went  into  the  law-office  of  James 
Rogers,  attorney-general  of  Delaware,  where  he  re- 
mained nearly  two  years,  when  he  returned  to  Yale 
College,  and  attended  a  two  years'  course  of  law  lec- 
tures. Returning  home  again,  he  was  admitted  to  the 
bar,  but  in  1835  removed  to  St.  Louis.  Two  years 
after  his  arrival  he  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss 
Elizabeth  W.  Skinner.  One  of  his  daughters  after- 
wards married  William  F.  Causey,  his  law  partner  and 
nephew.  He  labored  with  brilliant  success  for  nearly 
ten  years,  but  his  health  failed.  In  1845,  while 
absent  on  a  visit  to  Cuba,  he  was  elected  from  St. 
Louis  County  as  one  of  the  members  of  the  conven- 
tion which  assembled  in  1846  to  revise  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  State.  James  0.  Broadhead,  Judge 
Robert  Wells,  William  M.  Campbell,  Myron  Leslie, 
Uriel  Wright,  James  S.  Green,  and  others  were  also 
members. 

In  1848  he  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  Democratic 
Convention  which  nominated  Judge  Austin  A.  King 
for  Congress,  and  in  1848  was  one  of  the  Presidential 
electors  on  the  Cass-Butler  ticket.  In  1856  he  was 
made  the  nominee  of  the  Democratic  party  for  Gov- 
ernor, and  was  elected  after  an  exciting  contest  over 
his  Free-Soil  and  Know-Nothing  opponents.  Receiv- 
ing the  vote  of  his  party  in  the  Legislature  for  United 
States  senator,  he  resigned  the  gubernatorial  seat  soon 
after  his  election  to  the  position  and  entered  Congress. 
With  reference  to  this  eventful  period,  a  prominent 
journal  said  at  the  time, — 

"  Honors  have  clustered  upon  Mr.  Polk  during  the 
past  year.  The  party  he  represents  bore  the  sneers  of 
the  Benton  organ  for  a  number  of  years.  He  himself 
was  taunted  with  having  a  constituency  of  sixty-four 
votes,  and  commiserated  for  the  feeble  signs  of  his 


1488 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


popularity.  Since  then  the  Benton  faction  in  the 
State  has  steadily  declined.  Mr.  Polk,  in  spite  of 
the  Benton  coalition  with  Know-Nothings,  was  elected 
Governor  by  a  very  gratifying  vote ;  and  now,  again, 
in  joint  session  of  the  Legislature,  Mr.  Polk,  by  a 
vote  of  one  hundred  and  one,  is  declared  United 
States  senator  for  six  years,  offset  by  the  mournful 
vote  of  twenty-three  for  Col.  Benton."  Shortly  after 
the  breaking  out  of  the  war  in  1861  he  resigned  his 
seat  in  the  United  States  Senate  and  cast  his  lot  with 
the  Southern  Confederacy.  In  1864  he  was  taken 
prisoner,  and  was  confined  on  Johnson's  Island  until 
exchanged  several  months  afterwards.  During  the 
war  he  held  the  position  of  presiding  military  judge 
of  the  Department  of  the  Mississippi.  At  the  close 
of  the  war  he  returned  to  St.  Louis  to  find  his  prop- 
erty in  the  hands  of  the  government,  but  it  was  after- 
wards restored  to  him.  Governor  Polk  was  again 
offered  positions  of  high  public  trust,  but  invariably 
declined.  He  was  generally  recognized  as  one  of  the 
leading  members  of  the  St.  Louis  bar,  and  was  en- 
gaged in  many  important  cases.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  all  his  life 
showed  consistent  Christian  virtues.  Few  men  had 
fewer  enemies.  His  diligence,  patience,  friendliness, 
and  courtesy  were  the  corner-stones  of  his  success. 

Judge  Wilson  Primm  was  born  Jan.  10,  1810,  in 
St.  Louis,  the  city  which  recognized  his  talents  and 
virtues  in  after-years  by  choosing  him  to  many  offices 
of  trust  and  honor,  and  his  death  occurred  in  the 
same  city,  after  a  long  and  useful  life,  Jan.  17,  1878. 
He  was  twice  married,  leaving  in  all  five  children. 
He  was  the  oldest  of  the  eleven  children  of  Peter 
Primm,  a  Virginian,  and  Mary  La  Rue,  of  French 
descent.  His  second  wife  and  his  mother  survived 
him  a  short  time.  The  latter,  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
six,  recalled  vividly  the  eventful  history  of  St.  Louis, 
and  the  changes  of  government  in  the  early  Terri- 
torial history,  the  American  flag  being  triumphantly 
carried  up  Walnut  Street,  and  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
unfurled  from  the  fort  or  magazine,  on  which  occasion, 
she  said,  all  of  the  French  and  Spanish  inhabitants  of 
that  day,  herself  among  the  number,  shed  tears  of 
misgivings  and  regret.1 

Wilson  Primm  attended  the  village  French  schools, 
and  then  Judge  Tompkins'  English  school,  showing 
great  application  and  capacity.  He  was  then  sent  to 
Bardstown  College,  Ky.,  where  he  graduated,  and  re- 
turned to  read  law  under  Hon.  Edward  Bates,  who 


had  showed  him  many  kindnesses,  and  given  him 
every  encouragement.  At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he 
was  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  became  justice  of  the 
peace  for  a  few  years.  Charles  D.  Drake,  of  Illinois, 
was  his  first  law  partner.  George  R.  Taylor  and 
Charles  C.  Whittlesey  were  subsequent  partners. 
In  his  younger  days  Judge  Primm  was  an  ardent 


1  Judge  Primm's  mother,  grandmother,  and  great-grand- 
mother were  born  in  St.  Louis,  and  Col.  A.  R.  Easton  contributes 
the  remarkable  fact  that  lately  enough  to  come  within  his  dis- 
tinct recollection  they  were  all  living  in  the  city. 


Whig.  In  1834  he  became  a  member  of  the  Board 
of  Aldermen,  and  was  retained  in  that  body  through 
many  administrations,  being  its  president  for  many 
years.  He  was  elected  in  the  fall  of  1834  to  a  seat 
in  the  Missouri  House  of  Representatives,  and  re- 
elected  for  several  terms. 

His  efforts  in  improving  the  harbor  of  St.  Louis 
and  in  fostering  its  educational  interests  were  great 
and  unremitting.  He  urged  the  sale  of  the  "  com- 
mons" and  the  devoting  of  a  part  of  the  proceeds  to 
the  public  schools,  and  assisted  in  organizing  the  first 
Board  of  Education,  of  which  he  was  the  first  secre- 
tary. He  was  long  in  the  habit  of  attending  the 
public  school  examinations  and  addressing  the  chil- 
dren, and  made  some  of  his  happiest  efforts  on  such 
occasions.  In  1846  he  was  an  unsuccessful  candidate 
for  sheriff,  but  some  years  later  was  elected  clerk  of 
the  Circuit  Court.  About  1862  he  was  chosen  judge 
of  the  St.  Louis  Criminal  Court,  and  for  thirteen  busy 
years  filled  that  place  with  uniform  excellence.  For 


BENCH  AND  BAR. 


1489 


a  brief  period  he  returned  to  practice,  but  his  health 
failed,  and  he  retired  permanently.  It  is  difficult  to 
give  any  one  a  proper  idea  of  the  well-rounded 
strength  and  simplicity  of  his  character.  He  was 
called  the  best  linguist  at  the  bar ;  his  social  qualities 
were  almost  of  the  nature  of  genius,  and  he  was  a 
famous  amateur  vocalist,  violinist,  and  elocutionist. 
On  March  3,  1878,  George  R.  Taylor  delivered  an 
eloquent  address  upon  Judge  Primm.  It  shows 
clearly  the  devoted  affection  he  won  from  his  asso- 
ciates. Others  were  -equally  loved,  but  none  better. 
His  professional  capacity  and  his  loyalty  to  right 
were  corner-stones  of  his  life.  In  many  and  import- 
ant cases  the  patriarchs  of  the  bar,  Geyer,  Bates, 
Gamble,  and  Spalding,  were  his  associates  or  oppo- 
nents. Mr.  Taylor  says,  "  As  early  as  1837  he  was 
among  the  members  of  the  bar  which  had  for  its 
object  the  purification  of  the  bench,  alleging  that  the 
judge  of  the  Circuit  Court,  among  other  grievances, 
was  too  passionate  and  impatient  while  on  the  bench 
to  admit  a  calm  and  full  examination  of  cases.  Sub- 
sequently, in  the  impeachment  trial  of  Judge  Peck 
before  the  United  States  Senate,  the  oldest  members 
of  the  bar  were  summoned,  and  among  them  Wilson 
Primm,  who  at  that  early  day  showed  attainments  of 
so  great  and  universal  a  character,  combined  with  the 
blandest  manners,  not  supercilious  or  obtrusive,  with 
a  voice  full,  musical,  and  persuasive,  that  it  is  no 
wonder  he  at  once  took  high  position  among  his 
brethren."  As  a  witness  in  the  Peck  case,  he  was 
called  upon  to  translate  many  of  the  old  French  and 
Spanish  archives,  and  it  is  related  that  he  ^attracted 
universal  attention  in  Washington  by  his  natural 
grace  and  charm  of  manner,  and  electrified  the  social 
circles  by  his  wit  and  accomplishments. 

Judge  Hamilton,  in  after-years,  remarked,  "  None 
knew  better  the  true  use  and  power  of  language,  or 
how  to  match  the  expression  to  the  thought.  It  was 
this  peculiarity,  added  to  soundness  of  judgment,  apt- 
ness and  beauty  of  illustration,  and  a  voice  of  rare 
sweetness  and  variety  of  intonation,  that  made  him  so 
successful  before  the  jury."  Hon.  Gilchrist  Porter 
recently  alluded  to  his  recollections  of  Wilson  Primm's 
eloquence  as  far  back  as  1836  before  the  St.  Charles 
court.  The  resolutions  passed  by  the  St.  Louis  bar 
after  his  death  were  unusual  tributes  of  respect  and 
affection.  In  the  historical  address  before  alluded  to 
Mr.  Taylor  speaks  of  his  many  professional  kindnesses. 
In  1841  a  young  and  promising  lawyer  was  shot  and 
killed;  Judge  Primm  bore  the  funeral  expenses  and 
gave  his  splendid  talent  in  the  murderer's  prosecution, 
and  dozens  of  such  cases  occurred,  notably  in  the 
famous  Montesquieu  trial,  where  his  knowledge  of 


French  was  of  great  service.  lie  aided  largely  in 
establishing  the  insanity  of  the  elder  and  the  innocence 
of  the  younger  brother.  One  of  the  objects  of  his 
peculiar  interest  was  the  old  cathedral,  to  which  so 
many  of  the  old  French  descendants  contributed  years 
of  labor,  love,  and  talent.  Re  was  a  member  of  the  ex- 
ecutive committee  that  built  the  cathedral,  and  organ- 
ized and  for  a  long  time  led  its  choir.  Though  in 
demand  on  public  occasions,  as  an  orator  of  force  and 
grace,  his  masterpiece  in  this  line  was  delivered  on 
Feb.  15,  1847,  when  the  anniversary  of  the  found- 
ing of  St.  Louis  was  celebrated.  From  the  steps  of  the 
court-house  Judge  Primm  thrilled  a  vast  assemblage 
with  his  fervid  and  impetuous  language,  surpassing 
himself,  and  surprising  even  his  closest  friends. 

Judge  Primm  possessed  a  vivid  recollection  of  events 
connected  with  the  progress  of  the  city,  and  his  rem- 
iniscences were  very  interesting.  He  wrote  a  small 
historical  treatise,  which  was  accepted  as  authority  as 
to  the  matters  of  which  it  treated,  and  delivered  nu- 
merous addresses  and  wrote  numerous  articles  for  the 
press  on  the  history  of  St.  Louis. 

Judge  James  B.  Bowlin,  a  contemporary  of 
Judge  Primm,  died  in  July,  1874.  He  was  born 
near  Fredericksburg,  Va.,  in  1804,  and  moved  to 
St.  Louis  in  1833.  In  1837  he  was  married  to 
Miss  Margaret  Colburn.  In  1838  he  represented  St. 
Louis  County  in  the  Legislature,  and  on  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Criminal  Court  he  was  elected  judge, 
being  the  first  to  hold  that  position.  Under  Presi- 
dent Folk's  administration  he  was  minister  to  Bogota, 
New  Grenada,  and  during  the  second  year  of  the  ad- 
ministration of  President  Buchanan  he  was  appointed 
special  commissioner  to  Paraguay,  which  was  the 
last  political  position  he  held.  His  diplomatic  career 
was  a  very  successful  one,  and  he  was  held  in  the 
highest  estimation  abroad.  Much  of  his  success  in 
life  can  fairly  be  attributed  to  the  beauty,  manners, 
and  ability  of  his  wife.  He  mingled  in  politics  a 
good  deal  in  early  years,  and  established  a  Democratic 
paper.  He  served  in  Congress  for  four  terms,  begin- 
ning in  1842,  and  was  very  popular  there.  The  warm 
feelings  manifested  when  the  usual  bar  meeting  was 
held  after  his  death  showed  how  strong  a  hold  upon 
his  associates  Judge  Bowlin  had  gained.  Hon.  John 
F.  Darby,  always  ready,  genial,  and  full  of  reminis- 
cences, said,  on  that  occasion, — 

"  He  had  known  Judge  Bowlin  since  the  latter 
came  to  St.  Louis,  and  although  they  were  on  oppo- 
site sides  in  politics,  they  were  always  warm  friends. 
Judge  Bowlin  was  a  Jackson  man  all  over,  and  swore 
by  Tom  Benton.  The  speaker  was  an  enthusiastic 
Whig.  In  1838  they  were  opposition  candidates  for 


1490 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


Congress.     At  that  time  the  Jackson  party  was  domi- 
nant, and   had   had   unlimited   sway  for  twenty-five 
years.     Previous    to   that  congressmen  were  elected  ( 
by  the  State  at  large,  and  twice  Judge  Bowlin  had 
been  so  elected.     A  nomination  on  the  State  Demo- 
cratic ticket  at  that  day  was  always  regarded  as  equiva-  ; 
lent  to  an  election.     He  recollected  going  out  into 
the  State  to  electioneer  for  his  party,  and  meeting  a 
man  who   told   him   he  was  wasting  his  efforts,  as  ; 
there  were  not  Whigs  enough  there  for  seed.     In  the 
canvass  of  1838,  however,  the  State  had  been  for  the 
first  time  districted,  and  it  happened   that  in    this  i 
district  the  Democratic  party  was  not  in  the  ascend- 
ancy, so  Judge  Bowlin  was  beaten.     Up  to  this  time 
there  were  but  two  courts  in  St.  Louis  County, — the  j 
Circuit    Court   and    County    Court.       The    criminal  j 
business  had  increased  until  it  was  found  necessary 
to  separate  it  from  the  civil  business,  and  the  Criminal 
Court  was  created.      The  Senate  nominated  Judge 
Bowlin,  and  the  Governor  commissioned  him.     He 
was  universally  considered  by  the  bar  as  a  just  and 
impartial  judge,  and  in   the  days  when  Geyer   and 
Allen,  and  Spalding  and  Bates,  and  other  great  men 
practiced  before   his   bar,  he  was  equal   to  dealing  : 
with   all  the   intricate   questions    that  arose.      The  j 
speaker  cited  two  great  cases  that  had  been  tried  be- 
fore him,  which  showed  what  metal   he  was  made  of, 
as  a  lawyer  and  a  man.     In  one  of  these  cases  a 
great  popular  interest  was  excited,  and  much   angry 
feeling.      Judge   and  jury,   defendant    and    counsel, 
witnesses  and  spectators,  all  came  into  court  armed  to 
the  teeth,  and  no  man  could  tell  when  the  case  might 
be  appealed  from  a  court  of  justice  to  one  of  force 
and  violence.     Amid  all  the  excitement,.  Judge  Bow- 
lin sat  unmoved,  coolly  rendering  his  decisions,  and 
satisfying  both  sides  that  he  was  intending  to  do  im- 
partial justice,  and  when  at  length  a  decision  was 
reached  it  was  gracefully  accepted  by  the  losing  side 
without  a  word  of  fault-finding  with  the  judge." 

At  this  meeting  of  the  bar  Hon.  L.  V.  Bogy  pre- 
sided ;  Governor  Polk,  Hon.  S.  Clemens,  and  others 
were    among   the   speakers.     Judge    Bowlin    had    a 
younger  brother,  Richard  H.,  who  entered  the  navy,  ! 
served  with  credit  for  eight  years  or  so,  then  went  to  ! 
San  Francisco,  edited  a  paper,  and  took  part  in  poli- 
tics.    Leaving  this  field  he  studied  for  the  bar,  re- 
turned  to  St.  Louis,  began  practice,  and  was  soon 
elected  to  the  Legislature,  but  his  health  failed,  and 
he  died  in  June,  1859. 

One  of  the  fine  lawyers  and  business  men  of  the 
the  past  was  Hon.  William  M.  McPherson.  Born  in 
Boone  County,  Ky.,  in  1813,  the  recipient  of  limited 
school  advantages,  a  school-teacher  himself,  brought 


up  in  a  rugged  way  on  a  farm,  and  spending  his  spare 
hours  in  reading  law,  this  gentleman  deserved  all  his 
success.  He  studied  in  Lexington  at  the  Transyl- 
vania University,  practiced  in  his  native  place  a  while, 
removed  to  Arkansas,  where  he  met  with  financial 
reverses,  came  to  St.  Louis  (1841),  and  entered  upon 
a  career  that  enabled  him  by  1852  to  pay  up  his 
Arkansas  liabilities.  He  was  known  as  an  excellent 
advocate,  served  two  terms  as  prosecuting  attorney, 
and  one  term  in  the  Legislature.  His  marriage  in 
1843  to  Miss  Mary  Mitchell  was  blessed  with  five 
children.  He  became  in  later  years  an  extensive  and 
successful  operator  in  real  estate,  built  several  busi- 
ness blocks,  was  a  director  of  several  railroads  and 
other  important  companies,  and  Thomas  Allen's  suc- 
cessor as  president  of  the  Missouri  Pacific.  The 
Bellefontaine  Cemetery  was  one  of  his  enterprises,  and, 
in  brief,  the  city,  as  it  stands,  owes  much  to  his  busi- 
ness energy.  His  death  occurred  in  November,  1872. 

In  1834  or  1835,  Charles  D.  Drake,  whose  biog- 
raphy is  given  on  another  page,  began  practice  in  St. 
Louis,  and  soon  after  identified  himself  so  enthusiasti- 
cally with  the  idea  of  establishing  a  law  library  that  it  is 
properly  his  best  memorial.  In  1847,  May  22d,  the 
Law  Association,  in  honor  of  his  efforts,  tendered  him 
a  banquet.  (At  that  time  the  library  had  twelve  hun- 
dred and  eighty-five  volumes,  sixty-nine  members,  and 
an  annual  income  of  six  hundred  dollars.)  Joseph 
B.  Crockett,  president  of  the  association,  presided. 
Forty-five  members  took  their  seats,  and  the  follow- 
ing invited  guests :  Hon.  Thomas  H.  Benton,  Hon. 
Nathaniel  Pope,  district  judge  of  the  United  States 
for  the  district  of  Illinois;  Hon.  Robert  Wash,  for- 
merly judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Missouri ;  Hon. 
Ezra  Hunt,  judge  of  the  Third  Judicial  Circuit  of 
Missouri ;  Hon.  Peter  Ferguson,  judge  of  the  St. 
Louis  Probate  Court.  In  the  course  of  his  speech 
Mr.  Drake  gave  a  resume  of  his  labors  in  behalf  of 
the  library,  saying , — 

"  When  I  made  my  home  in  our  city  it  was  a  town 
of  seven  thousand  five  hundred  people,  now  it  num- 
bers fifty  thousand ;  then  there  were  seventeen  mem- 
bers of  the  bar,  now  they  count  nearly  one  hundred 
and  forty.  Of  these  seventeen,  four  have  passed,  by 
death,  from  our  midst,  four  have  retired  from  the 
active  pursuits  of  the  profession,  two  have  removed  to 
other  homes,  and  seven  remain,  five  of  whom  are  with 
us  this  evening.  I  made  in  1838  the  effort  which 
has  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  our  association. 
First  securing  the  countenance  of  the  seniors  of  the 
bar,  I  went  through  our  ranks  and  obtained  twenty- 
two  signatures  to  the  original  proposals.  Twenty  of 
those  signers  paid  twenty  dollars  apiece,  and  with  the 


BENCH  AND  BAR. 


1491 


four  hundred  dollars  thus  contributed,  barely  enough 
to  purchase  one  hundred  volumes  of  books,  the  law 
library  was  commenced." 

John  F.  Darby,  in  his  reminiscences,  mentions  the 
fact  that  until  1836  large  pasture  and  timber  tracts  had 
lain  waste  near  St.  Louis  on  "  the  common,"  and  were 
the  resort  of  desperadoes.  In  July,  1838,  Judge 
Thomas  M.  Dougherty,  of  the  county  court,  was  mur- 
dered on  the  road  between  St.  Louis  and  Carondelet, 
being  shot  with  seven  buckshot  in  the  head.  His 
friends  offered  a  reward  of  one  thousand  dollars  for 
the  apprehension  of  the  murderers,  and  every  effort 
was  made  to  find  them,  without  success.  In  1840  a 
letter  was  received  in  St.  Louis  from  Texas,  signed 
by  a  Dr.  Hughes,  stating  that  he  committed  the  deed 
to  gratify  his  revenge  for  an  injury  he  imagined  he 
suffered  through  the  agency  of  Judge  Dougherty. 
This  man  Hughes  had  many  years  ago  been  engaged 
in  circulating  counterfeit  money,  and  was  detected  and 
sentenced  in  Kentucky  to  ten  years'  imprisonment, 
which  he  served  out,  and  shortly  after  was  seen  in  St. 
Louis.  Further  than  this  the  entire  tragedy  has 
since  that  time  remained  a  profound  secret.  In  1843 
the  murder  and  robbery  of  a  Santa  Fe"  trader  named 
Chavir  created  considerable  excitement.  Joseph 
Brown  and  John  McDaniel  were  executed  in  1844 ; 
six  or  eight  accessories,  after  confinement  in  jail  for 
some  time,  were  pardoned  by  the  President. 

Williamsboro',  N.  C.,  was  the  birthplace  of  one  of 
the  most  popular  members  of  the  bar,  Willis  L.  Wil- 
liams, who  died  in  March,  1857,  aged  forty-eight. 
He  graduated  at  Amherst,  studied  law  with  Joseph 
Bradley,  at  Washington,  and  daily  attended  the  Con- 
gressional debates,  taking  copious  notes.  His  admira- 
tion of  Clay  and  Webster  was  unbounded,  and  through 
life  he  was  an  ardent  Whig.  After  practicing  at 
Paris,  Tenn.,  for  a  short  time  he  removed  to  St. 
Louis  (1842),  and  became  very  successful.  The  re- 
vising session  of  the  Legislature  of  1844-45  found 
him  an  acknowledged  leader  in  that  body.  Many  as 
were  his  talents,  perhaps  his  powers  of  shining 
supreme  in  the  social  circle  were  most  unusual.  He 
exercised,  and  always  for  good,  a  strange  fascination 
over  every  one  he  met.  A  born  optimist,  he  looked 
on  the  bright  side  of  everything,  and  tried  to  make 
every  one  happy.  When  after  his  death  the  mem- 
bers of  the  bar  assembled,  the  room  was  densely 
crowded,  and  the  oldest  members  of  the  bar  vied  with 
each  other  in  expressing  their  sorrow.  Sobs  were 
heard  and  tears  seen  on  many  faces.  It  was  as  if  a 
loved  relative  had  departed.  Edward  Bates  showed 
much  feeling.  He  said  he  felt  as  if  he  were  walking 
among  the  gravestones  of  his  former  associates.  "I 


have  known  Mr.  Williams,"  he  said,  "  from  the  first 
month  of  his  residence  here, — a  man  of  warm  impulses, 
of  active  heart,  so  to  speak,  sometimes  impulsive,  but 
even  then,  it  occurred  to  me,  his  fault  leant  to  virtue's 
side.  His  success  at  the  bar  shows  at  least  his  quali- 
fication, and  even  when  he  gave  offense,  as  we  all  do 
sometimes,  the  kindness  of  his  heart  won  back  the 
affection  of  him  that  he  may  have  offended.  Mr. 
Williams  belonged  to  a  family  remarkable  for  their 
success  in  life,  many  of  them  eminent  in  their  old  na- 
tive State  of  North  Carolina.  Some  have  flourished 
since  in  South  Tennessee,  and  he  was  pursuing  here  a 
course  that  might  have  rendered  illustrious  his  own 
name." 

Charles  D.  Drake,  Senator  L.  V.  Bogy,  Gen.  Coal- 
ter,  Judge  Albert  Todd,  Judge  Primm,  and  others 
paid  affectionate  tributes  to  the  deceased.  Before  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas,  Mr.  Strong  said,  "  It  would 
be  invidious  and  untrue  to  say  that  he  was  foremost 
in  his  profession,  but  we  all  know  that  in  legal  attain- 
ments, in  the  number  and  magnitude  of  the  cases  in 
which  he  was  engaged,  and  in  the  general  success  of 
his  professional  life,  he  had  secured  a  rank  among 
those  who  are  really  eminent.  Few  men  could  appre- 
ciate more  quickly  or  thoroughly  whatever  is  beauti- 
ful in  thought,  or  elegant  in  expression,  or  striking  in 
sentiment,  or  droll,  grotesque,  and  ridiculous  in  its 
character.  He  possessed  a  great  fondness  for  the 
humorous,  imitated  well,  and  was,  among  his  other 
genial  qualities,  an  admirable  story-teller.  He  had 
that  greatest  glory  of  man  or  woman,  a  large  heart." 

Of  the  members  of  the  St.  Louis  bar  who  devoted 
much  of  their  time  and  talents  to  the  material  devel- 
opment of  the  city,  few,  if  any,  played  a  more  active 
or  more  prominent  part  than  Lewis  V.  Bogy.  His 
family  was  of  French  extraction,  his  grandfather 
having  come  from  Canada  and  settled  at  Kaskaskia, 
where  he  married  Miss  Placy.  About  1786  or  1787 
he  began  to  trade  with  the  Indians  in  what  is  now 
Arkansas,  and  owing  to  the  lack  of  facilities  in  that 
section  of  the  country,  sent  his  son  Joseph,  father  of 
Lewis  V.,  to  New  Orleans  to  be  educated.  In  1805, 
Joseph  Bogy  settled  at  Ste.  Genevieve,  where  Lewis 
V.  Bogy  was  born  on  the  9th  of  April,  1813.  French 
was  the  language  of  the  people,  and  no  English  school 
was  established  there  until  John  D.  Graf  ton,  from 
Connecticut,  opened  one  in  1822.  After  remaining 
at  this  school  for  one  year,  young  Bogy  was  sent  with 
his  brother  Charles  to  a  Catholic  school  at  Perry ville, 
and  while  there  was  attacked  by  a  white  swelling, 
which  interrupted  his  studies  for  several  years.  He 
next  engaged  as  clerk  in  a  store,  investing  all  his 
savings  in  books,  which  he  studied  in  the  evening 


1492 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


after  business  hours.  He  finally  decided  to  study 
law,  and  for  that  purpose  was  admitted,  in  1832,  to 
the  office  of  Judge  Pope,  at  Kaskaskia,  111.  On  leav- 
ing home  he  placed  in  his  mother's  hands  the  follow- 
ing remarkable  paper : 

"STE.  GENEVIEVE,  Jan.  16,  1832. 

''On  this  day  I  left  home,  under  charge  of  Mr.  William  Shan- 
non, an  old  friend  of  my  father,  to  go  to  Kaskaskia,  to  read  law 
in  the  office  of  Judge  Pope.  My  education  is  very  limited,  but 
with  hard  study  I  may  overcome  it.  I  atn  determined  to  try ; 
and  my  intention  is  to  return  to  my  native  State  to  practice 
law,  if  I  can  qualify  myself,  and  while  doing  so  to  work  to  be- 
come United  States  senator  for  my  native  State,  and  to  work 
for  this  until  I  am  sixty  years  old.  I  will  pray  God  to  give  me 
the  resolution  to  persevere  in 
this  intention.  I  have  commu- 
nicated this  to  my  mother,  and 
given  her  this  paper  to  keep. 
So  help  me  God  ! 

"  LEWIS  V.  BOGY." 

His  intention  to  become 
a  United  States  senator  was 
never  lost  sight  of,  and  was 
finally  realized.  In  order 
to  acquire  a  knowledge  of 
Latin,  he  made  an  arrange- 
ment with  Father  Conda- 
mine,  a  Catholic  priest  of 
Kaskaskia,  who  agreed  to 
give  him  lessons  in  return 
for  his  services  as  altar  as- 
sistant. Young  Bogy  served 
as  a  volunteer  in  the  Black 
Hawk  war,  and  upon  the 
cessation  of  hostilities  re- 
turned to  Kaskaskia  and 
resumed  his  studies.  In 
December,  1833,  he  entered 
Transylvania  University,  at 
Lexington,  Ky.,  John  G. 
Miller,  J.  S.  Rollins,  and 
William  M.  McPherson,  all 
of  Missouri,  being  among 
his  classmates.  He  taught  school  a  while,  returned  to 
his  studies,  and  graduated  in  1835.  In  April,  1835, 
having  obtained  a  license  from  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Missouri,  he  opened  a  law-office  in  St.  Louis,  associating 
himself  with  Logan  Hanton.  He  was  elected  to  the 
Legislature  in  1840,  but  devoted  himself  otherwise  to 
his  growing  practice  until  he  decided  to  enter  politics. 
He  removed  to  Ste.  Genevieve,  then  in  the  St.  Louis 
congressional  district,  and  led  the  anti-Benton  party 
there  in  a  very  bitter  campaign,  but  was  defeated. 
At  the  next  election  for  national  representatives  he 
ran  against  Col.  Benton  himself.  Though  Bogy  was 
defeated,  the  talents  he  displayed  increased  his  repu- 


tation. Two  years  later  he  was  again  sent  to  the 
State  Legislature.  In  1848  he  became  interested  in 
the  Pilot  Knob  iron  ores,  but  ten  years'  experiment 
ruined  him  financially,  and  he  was  forced  to  return  to 
his  law  practice.  In  1863  he  was  nominated  for 
Congress  in  St.  Louis  against  Francis  P.  Blair  and 
Samuel  Knox,  but,  as  the  Democrats  were  largely  in 
the  minority,  was  defeated.  In  1867,  President 
Johnson  called  him  to  the  head  of  the  Indian  Bureau, 
but  the  Senate,  being  Republican,  refused  to  confirm 
him,  and  at  the  end  of  six  months  he  retired,  after 
exhibiting  superior  administrative  capacity. 

From  this  time  he  occu- 
pied no  other  public  posi- 
tion until  1873.  In  the 
beginning  of  1873,  Hon. 
Frank  P.  Blair's  term  of 
office  being  about  ended, 
Mr.  Bogy  announced  him- 
self as  candidate  for  the 
place  of  United  States  sen- 
ator. There  were  a  number 
of  candidates  on  the  occa- 
sion of  the  Democratic  cau- 
cus nomination  for  senator, 
the  contest  finally  narrow- 
ing down  to  Bogy  and 
Blair,  and  resulting  in  the 
election  of  the  former  by  a 
vote  of  sixty-four  to  fifty- 
seven.  When  the  election 
by  the  Legislature  took 
place,  Mr.  Bogy  was  elected 
over  the  Republican  can- 
didate, Hon.  J.  B.  Hender- 
son, by  a  majority  of  fifty- 
nine  votes.  In  the  Senate 
Mr.  Bogy  chiefly  devoted 
himself  to  the  question  of 
finance,  and  was  especially 
prominent  in  connection  with  the  silver  bill.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  congressional  commission  which 
visited  different  cities  for  the  purpose  of  securing  in- 
formation upon  the  silver  question,  and  was  also  its 
chairman.  He  was  an  earnest  worker  for  Western  in- 
terests, and  active  in  the  work  of  securing  direct 
trade  with  Brazil.  As  a  member  of  the  Senate,  his 
course  was  marked  by  moderation,  ability,  and  great 
industry,  and  he  speedily  won  the  esteem  and  respect 
of  his  associates.  He  died  at  his  residence  in  St. 
Louis,  Sept.  20,  1877.  His  wife,  who  survived  him, 
was  a  sister  of  Gen.  Bernard  Pratte,  and  he  left  two 
children, — Joseph  Bogy  and  Mrs.  T.  S.  Noonan. 


BENCH  AND  BAR. 


1493 


Mr.  Bogy  was  a  man  of  great  generosity  of  heart, 
charitable  toward  all  who  needed  help,  steadfast  in 
friendship,  vigilant  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties, 
and  altogether  one  of  the  best  citizens  St.  Louis  has 
ever  had. 

Hon.  James  S.  Rollins,  born  in  Kentucky  in  1812, 
became  a  resident  of  Boone  County,  Mo.,  in  1830, 
and  graduated  at  the  Transylvania  Law  School  in 
1834.  He  became  the  political  leader  of  his  section, 
served  many  terms  in  the  State  Legislature  and  in 
Congress,  and  was  particularly  distinguished  as  the 
friend  of  public  schools  and  universities,  and  of  in- 
ternal improvements.  His  services  in  the  Thirty- 
seventh  and  Thirty-eighth  Congresses  were  of  pecu- 
liar importance,  sustaining  as  he  did  the  war  measures 
of  the  government  and  the  famous  Thirteenth  Con- 
stitutional Amendment. 

Another  "  noted  Transylvanian"  was  Greer  W. 
Davis,  born  in  Kentucky  in  1799,  and  for  fifty-seven 
consecutive  years  a  lawyer  in  Cape  Girardeau  County, 
Mo.,  seventeen  of  these  years  being  passed  as  circuit 
attorney.  He  died  in  1878,  the  only  survivor  of  the 
Territorial  lawyers  of  Missouri.  Since  1824  he  had 
been  a  consistent  member  of  the  Methodist  Church. 
His  son  is  now  a  member  of  the  St.  Louis  bar. 

Descendant  of  a  well-known  artist,  graduate  of  a 
New  England  college,  a  lawyer  of  good  standing,  and 
an  officer  in  the  late  civil  war,  Chester  Harding  lived 
an  active  and  useful  life.  His  birthplace  (October, 
1826)  was  Northampton,  Mass.  In  1847  he  began 
his  law  studies  in  St.  Louis,  under  his  brother-in-law, 
Judge  John  M.  Krum,  of  the  Circuit  Court.  The 
next  year  he  entered  the  Harvard  Law  School,  gradu- 
ated in  1850,  returned  to  St.  Louis,  in  1852  became 
Judge  Krum's  partner,  and,  being  diligent  and  capa- 
ble, was  soon  favorably  known.  The  firm  of  Krum 
&  Harding  continued  till  1861,  when  the  junior  part- 
ner entered  the  army  as  colonel,  assigned  to  duty  as 
assistant  adjutant-general  on  Gen.  Lyon's  staff.  He 
was  in  command  at  St.  Louis  for  a  few  months  before 
Fremont's  arrival  in  August,  1861.  After  this  he 
was  in  active  service  in  the  field  until  the  close  of  the 
war.  He  resumed  his  profession  in  St.  Louis,  and 
continued  in  practice  until  his  death,  February,  1875. 
Col.  J.  0.  Broadhead  occupied  the  chair  at  the  bar 
meeting,  sympathetic  resolutions  were  passed,  and  the 
members  of  the  bar  in  a  body  attended  the  funeral. 

Another  lawyer  of  note  who  settled  in  St.  Louis 
about  the  time  that  Gen.  Harding  began  practice 
there  was  Newton  D.  Strong,  son  of  a  Connecticut 
minister,  and  a  graduate  of  Yale  in  1831.  His  elder 
brother  William  afterwards  became  one  of  the  justices 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States.  From 
95 


1834  to  1836,  Newton  was  a  tutor  at  Yale.  About 
1837  he  settled  at  Alton,  111.,  in  law  partnership  with 
Junius  Wall,  a  college  classmate,  and  soon  after  was 
sent  to  the  Legislature.  In  1844  he  married  Miss 
Matilda  Edwards,  of  Alton.  In  1851  he  removed  to 
St.  Louis,  formed  a  partnership  with  his  cousin, 
George  P.  Strong,  and  they  had  an  extensive  client- 
age. But  after  his  wife's  death,  in  1851,  Mr.  Strong's 
abiding  sorrow  drew  him  more  and  more  from  active 
life  into  quiet  and  literary  pursuits.  His  death  oc- 
curred in  August,  1866,  in  his  fifty-seventh  year. 

A  jurist  of  recognized  capacities  and  tried  integrity 
is  Judge  Horatio  M.  Jones,  born  in  Pennsylvania  in 
1826,  of  Welsh  parentage,  graduated  at  Oberlin  Col- 
lege in  1849,  and  at  the  Cambridge  Law  School  in 
1853.  The  next  year  he  reached  St.  Louis  and 
began  practice.  After  serving  several  years  as  re- 
porter of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State,  he  was 
in  1861  appointed  a  Territorial  judge  of  Nevada, 
where  he  made  many  friends.  From  1863  to  1866 
he  had  a  law-office  in  Austin,  Nev.,  in  the  heart  of 
"sage-brush  land."  Returning  to  St.  Louis,  in  1870 
he  was  elected  a  judge  of  the  Circuit  Court,  and  has 
since  retained  that  responsible  position.  He  married 
Miss  Strong,  of  Livingston  County,  N.  Y.,  in  1851. 
Another  Judge  Jones  (William  C.),  a  prominent 
lawyer  at  the  St.  Louis  bar,  has  held  offices  of  im- 
portance. He  is  a  native  of  Kentucky  (Bowling 
Green),  and  his  father,  Cuthbert,  was  a  leading  phy- 
sician of  that  State.  Young  Mr.  Jones  graduated  at 
McKendree  College,  Lebanon,  111.,  in  1852,  read  law, 
and  was  admitted  the  next  year.  After  a  short  prac- 
tice in  Chester,  111.,  where  his  father  then  lived,  he 
came  to  St.  Louis,  entered  in  partnership  with  William 
L.  Sloss,  which  only  lasted  a  year,  and  some  time 
after  with  Judge  Cady.  When  the  war  began  he 
enlisted  in  the  United  States  Reserve  Corps,  and 
served  in  Southwestern  Missouri.  From  1862  until 
November,  1865,  he  was  a  paymaster  of  the  United 
States  army.  He  then  returned  to  civil  life,  entered 
politics,  engaged  in  business  enterprises,  and  in  1868 
resumed  law  practice,  first  with  Charles  G.  Mairo, 
afterwards  with  John  D.  Johnson.  In  November, 
1874,  he  was  elected  judge  of  the  St.  Louis  Criminal 
Court,  proving  eminently  worthy  of  the  honor.  Still 
another  lawyer  of  the  same  name,  Charles  Jones,  of 
the  Franklin  bar,  became  wealthy,  and  spent  the  later 
years  of  his  life  in  St.  Louis.  He  was  born  in  Som- 
erset County,  Md.,  in  1814,  read  law  with  Hon. 
William  H.  Handy,  and  with  Hon.  William  H. 
Collins,  of  Baltimore.  About  1837  he  came  to 
Missouri.  His  secretiveness  was  abnormal ;  it  was 
his  passion  to  hide  his  designs,  even  in  the  most 


1494 


HISTORY  OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


frivolous  matters,  and  from  his  best  friends.  He 
was  very  parsimonious,  regarding  wealth  as  the  chief 
passport  to  happiness ;  but  his  kindness  to  his  slaves, 
whom  he  would  never  sell,  and  never  derived  any 
profit  from,  was  in  unique  contrast  to  his  usual 
habits.  In  July,  1876,  he  died,  leaving  a  widow 
and  four  children. 

Another  eminent  lawyer  and  statesman  of  this 
epoch  is  Hon.  Charles  P.  Johnson,  whose  life  will  be 
found  in  the  chapter  on  Political  Progress. 

The  greatest  loss  that  the  bar  of  St.  Louis  had  sus- 
tained for  years  was  the  death  of  Judge  John  C. 
Richardson,  partner  of  Samuel  T.  Glover,  which  oc- 
curred Sept.  21,  1860.  Although  but  forty-two  ' 
years  of  age,  the  place  he  had  won  by  his  profes- 
sional talents  and  illuminated  by  his  virtues  has 
never  been  more  wisely  filled.  Though  not  an  orator, 
his  clear,  precise,  earnest,  and  convincing  speeches 
gave  him  unbounded  success  with  courts  and  juries. 
"A  model  of  a  good  lawyer  and  of  a  good  citizen"  is 
what  one  of  his  associates  termed  him.  Born  in  Ken- 
tucky in  1817,  and  educated  at  that  Transylvania 
University  which  sent  to  St.  Louis  so  many  well- 
trained  jurists,  young  Mr.  Richardson  spent  the  years 
between  1840  and  1850  in  practice  in  Boonville, 
ranking  with  the  best  lawyers  of  Central  Missouri. 
While  there  he  married  Miss  Lionberger,  who,  with 
several  children,  still  survives  him.  But  as  all  roads 
once  led  to  Rome,  so  in  those  days  the  paths  of  am- 
bitious lawyers  all  led  to  St.  Louis.  The  year  1850 
saw  the  law-office  of  Richardson  &  Kirtley  in  the 
tide  of  success,  but  Sinclair  Kirtley  removed  to  Cali- 
fornia, and  Mr.  Richardson,  with  Samuel  T.  Glover, 
under  the  firm-name  of  Glover  &  Richardson,  began 
to  create  by  their  industry  and  ability  that  reputation 
which  brought  them  an  immense  business,  and  made 
them  known  throughout  the  entire  West.  In  1853, 
Mr.  Richardson  became  city  counselor  for  St.  Louis. 
Four  years  later  a  vacancy  occurred  on  the  bench  of 
the  Supreme  Court.  Hamilton  R.  Gamble  initiated 
an  appeal  from  the  leading  lawyers  of  the  time,  ask- 
ing Mr.  Richardson  to  accept  the  nomination.  The 
people  indorsed  him  with  enthusiasm,  and  he  served 
until  1859,  when  ill  health  compelled  his  resignation, 
and  he  returned  to  practice,  again  in  partnership  with 
Mr.  Glover.  After  his  death  the  members  of  the  bar 
assembled,  Hon.  Edward  Bates  presiding,  Judges 
Wood  and  Lackland  as  vice-presidents,  and  M.  R. 
Cullen  as  secretary.  Judge  C.  D.  Drake  reported 
the  resolutions,  which  were  couched  in  the  most  ten- 
der terms  of  admiration,  affection,  and  sorrow.  "  His 
departure  in  the  prime  and  vigor  of  manhood  is,"  they 
said,  "  a  calamity  to  the  bar  and  the  community." 


Mr.  Glover,  Maj.  Uriel  Wright,  and  others  eulogized 
the  truth,  tenacity,  and  harmonious  development  of 
his  character. 

Samuel  T.  Glover  is  a  man  of  the  period  now 
being  treated  of,  but  we  like  to  think  of  him  as  a 
contemporary  in  the  strictest  sense,  or  rather  as  a 
"  man  for  all  time."  Eminent  as  he  is  at  the  bar,  it 
is  still  in  public  life  that  he  ranks  highest. 

Mr.  Glover  was  especially  prominent  in  the  agita- 
tion for  the  repeal  of  the  "  test  oath"  after  the  close 
of  the  war,  and  his  services  in  that  connection  will 
long  be  remembered  by  grateful  thousands  whose  re- 
enfranchisement  he  helped  to  secure.  Mr.  Glover 
had  been  a  devoted,  self-sacrificing  adherent  of  the 
Federal  government  throughout  the  war,  and  his 
loyalty  was  unimpeachable.  Upon  the  adoption  of 
the  proscriptive  "  Drake  Constitution,"  however,  in 
1865,  he  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  the  movement 
to  resist  those  of  its  provisions  which  were  aimed  at 
citizens  of  Missouri  who  had  sympathized  with  the 
South.  Speaking  of  Mr.  Glover's  legal  arguments  in 
this  connection,  Gen.  Francis  P.  Blair  once  charac- 
terized them  as  "  arguments  characterized  by  exten- 
sive and  accurate  learning,  by  marvelous  power  in 
the  grasp  of  principles  and  irresistible  vigor  in  their 
application,  by  the  highest  order  of  forensic  eloquence, 
by  a  noble  courage,  by  a  passionate  devotion  to  the 
fundamental  doctrines  of  civil  liberty  as  declared  in 
the  immortal  '  Magna  Charta'  and  reproduced  in  the 
American  Constitution.  No  man,"  added  Gen.  Blair, 
'•  has  been  found  to  answer  his  arguments.  The 
judges  who  listened  to  them  had  no  responsive  argu- 
ments to  make,  though  they  ruled  adversely.  With  as 
clear  a  conscience  as  any  man  who  lives  Mr.  Glover 
could  have  taken  the  oath  prescribed,  for  no  man  in  the 
Union  has  more  faithfully  than  he,  in  act,  word,  and 
thought,  at  all  times  and  in  all  circumstances,  fulfilled 
his  obligations  to  the  Union.  But  the  requisitions 
accompanying  that  oath  were  so  at  war  with  every 
principle  of  right  that  he  preferred  to  be  driven  from 
the  forum,  where  he  had  been  the  brightest  ornament, 
rather  than  swear  it.  He  was  great  before,  honored 
for  his  unrivaled  capacity  and  strength  by  all  the 
members  of  the  bar  and  by  judges  on  the  bench. 
He  stands  nobler  and  greater  now  in  public  estima- 
tion and  renown.  Those  precious  and  priceless  argu- 
ments of  his  will  be  read  hereafter  with  a  glow  of 
admiration  for  his  patriotism  and  his  genius,  and  no 
name  in  Missouri  will  be  cherished  in  the  future  in 
more  loving  honor  than  that  of  Samuel  T.  Glover." 

In  September,  1865,  Mr.  Glover  made  a  test  case 
in  his  own  person.  He  was  indicted  for  practicing 
without  taking  the  oath.  This  indictment  was  so- 


BENCH  AND  BAR. 


1495 


licked  by  him,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  following  letter 
addressed  by  him  to  the  circuit  attorney  : 

"Sr.  Louis,  Sept.  11,  1865. 
"J.  P.  VASTINE,  ESQ.,  Circuit  Attorney  : 

"  g1R) — I  am  among  those  who  believe  that  several  provisions 
of  the  new  Constitution  of  Missouri  are  not  only  highly  oppres- 
sive to  the  citizens,  but  in  violation  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States.  Indeed,  so  extraordinary  are  they  that  I  deem 
it  my  duty,  in  person,  to  resist  them,  so  far  as  they  interfere 
with  me,  by  every  means  which  the  law  provides.  With  this 
purpose  in  view  I  have  omitted  to  take  the  oath  prescribed  for 
attorneys  and  counselors-at-law,  and  on  last  Saturday  and  to- 
day I  have  been  practicing  as  an  attorney  in  the  suit  of  Norman 
Cutter  vs.  James  Clemens  et  al.  Nor  is  it  my  intention  to  take 
said  oath  until  I  have  secured  the  means  of  putting  its  consti- 
tutionality to  the  judicial  test  that  I  desire. 

"I  would  thank  you  to  institute  an  indictment  on  the  above 
admission. 

"If  other  proof  is  necessary,  call  on  Samuel  Gaty,  Esq. 

"  I  am  ready  to  save  you  from  any  trouble  in  the  premises 
by  such  further  acts,  admissions,  or  proofs  as  will  enable  you  to 
present  the  matter  fully  and  fairly  to  the  court. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  very  respectfully  yours, 

"S.  T.  GLOVER." 

The  grand  jury,  September  20th,  returned  an  in- 
dictment, and  three  days  later  Judge  Primm  sentenced 
him  to  pay  a  fine  of  five  hundred  dollars.  An  appeal 
to  the  Supreme  Court  was  then  prayed  for,  and  a  stay 
of  execution  was  asked,  and  both  granted,  and  time 
until  the  last  day  of  term  granted  for  defendant  to  file 
his  bill  of  exceptions.  Mr.  Glover  gave  bond  in  the 
sum  of  five  hundred  dollars  for  his  appearance  before 
the  Supreme  Court,  and  to  obey  every  order  and  judg- 
ment that  might  be  entered  against  him,  Abraham  M. 
Gardner  becoming  his  security.  The  October  session 
of  the  Supreme  Court  reversed  the  judgment,  holding 
the  test  oath  null  and  void.  The  question  was  also 
carried  before  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  by 
which,  in  December,  1866,  it  was  decided  that  the 
law  of  Congress  imposing  a  retrospective  oath  of  loy- 
alty as  a  condition  of  being  admitted  to  practice  in  the 
United  States  courts  was  unconstitutional.  Although 
many  and  distinguished  lawyers  and  jurists  were  as- 
sociated in  this  great  struggle,  the  final  success  before 
the  United  States  Supreme  Court  is  due  in  large  de- 
gree to  Hon.  Alexander  J.  P.  Garesche.  It  must  be 
remembered  that  all  these  men  sacrificed  their  exten- 
sive practices,  being  debarred  from  the  courts  until 
this  test  case  was  settled  so  conclusively. 

Another  of  the  many  gentlemen  who  left  the 
law  in  later  years  to  engage,  and  successfully,  in 
mercantile  pursuits  was  Maj.  Ryland,  from  1850  to 
1858,  when  his  death  occurred,  closely  identified  with 
St.  Louis  business  interests,  and  in  1857  chosen  pres- 
ident of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce.  He  was  a  native  of 
Kentucky,  but  located  himself  at  Franklin,  Mo.,  when 
he  was  quite  a  young  man,  and  soon  after  accepted  the 


appointment  of  receiver  of  public  moneys,  which  he 
held  until  the  spring  of  1840.  He  was  "recognized 
as  honest,  faithful,  and  competent,"  or,  in  the  words  of 
Judge  John  C.  Richardson,  "  no  man  ever  held  the 
office  longer  or  left  a  cleaner  record."  In  1847  he 
removed  to  St.  Louis,  formed  a  partnership  with  his 
brother-in-law,  Capt.  Reilly,  an  old  law  partner  of 
Judge  Richardson's,  and  three  years  later,  as  noted,  he 
became  engaged  in  commercial  pursuits.  At  his  death, 
the  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  the  St.  Louis  bar 
passed  appropriate  resolutions  of  regret. 

In  1850,  Judge  Nathaniel  Pope  died  suddenly, 
while  on  a  visit  to  St.  Louis.  He  had  been  for  some 
years  United  States  district  judge  of  Illinois,  and 
was  a  pioneer  of  1808  in  that  State.  Many  leading  St. 
Louis  lawyers  read  law  in  his  office  at  Kaskaskia. 

An  old  member  of  the  St.  Louis  bar  was  Alexander 
Kayser,  a  native  of  Nassau,  born  in  1815.  From 
1833  to  the  time  of  his  death,  1864,  he  was  in  active 
practice.  During  the  month  (October  of  1864)  in 
which  Alexander  Kayser  died,  the  bar  of  St.  Louis 
was  called  upon  to  mourn  three  other  deaths  of  prom- 
inent members, — Wells  and  Coalter  died,  crowned  with 
years  ;  W.  B.  Clarke,  a  native  of  Waltham,  Mass., 
was  cut  off  at  the  threshold  of  many  honors.  He 
had  been  in  St.  Louis  only  seven  years,  but  had  won 
marked  success,  and  profound  sorrow  was  everywhere 
expressed  over  his  loss. 

One  of  the  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  at  this 
time  merits  more  than  a  passing  notice.  Walter  L. 
!  Lovelace,  the  son  of  a  Baptist  minister,  born  in  Vir- 
ginia in  1831,  toiled  in  his  boyhood  to  help  support 
his  mother  and  sisters,  taught  school,  worked  as  a 
farm  hand,  studied  law,  was  admitted  in  1854,  went 
to  the  Legislature  twice,  and  in  1865  was  appointed 
to  the  Supreme  Court.  His  death  occurred  in  1866. 
Most  of  his  life  was  spent  in  Montgomery  County. 
Integrity  and  high  moral  purpose  were  his  character- 
istics, and  the  people  of  that  region  still  venerate  his 
memory. 

Alexander  J.  P.  Garesche,  already  mentioned,  was 
born  in  1823,  on  the  island  of  Cuba.  His  parents 
were  French  refugees  from  San  Domingo  in  1791, 
and  his  early  education  was  obtained  at  Georgetown 
(D.  C.)  College,  and  afterwards  at  St.  Louis  Univer- 
sity, where  he  received  the  highest  honors,  and  ulti- 
mately the  three  degrees  in  the  gift  of  that  institution. 
In  1842  he  began  to  study  law  in  the  office  of  Col. 
Thomas  T.  Gantt,  and  was  admitted  in  1845.  Fervid 
eloquence  and  untiring  energy  were  soon  recognized 
as  his  characteristics,  and  his  practice  became  very 
large.  In  1846  he  served  as  city  attorney,  but  other- 
wise declined  political  preferment. 


1496 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Mr.  Garesche  was  especially  prominent  just  after 
the  war  on  account  of  the  manly  resistance  which  he 
offered  in  the  courts  to  the  unconstitutional  test  oath, 
and  his  name  is  identified  with  those  who,  as  leaders 
in  the  cause,  inspired  the  people  of  the  State  with  a 
resolute  purpose  to  maintain  the  privileges  of  civil  and 
religious  freedom.  He  exhibited  his  devotion  to  the 
cause  by  self-denying  and  expensive  labors  in  order  to 
secure  a  judgment  from  the  Supreme  Court  at  Wash- 
ington declaring  the  oath  unconstitutional. 

In  1849  he  married  Laura,  granddaughter  of  Wy- 
nant  Van  Zandt,  of  the  old  Knickerbocker  stock  of 
New  York,  and  nine  children  were  born  of  this  union. 
A  cousin  of  his,  P.  B.  Garesche,  born  in  Delaware, 
was  for  a  time  his  partner  (1848),  and  in  1855  was 
appointed  public  administrator,  and  afterwards  elected 
to  the  same  office. 

In  1861,  feeling  that  with  his  ideas  of  State  sov- 
ereignty, and  with  his  sympathies  with  the  Southern 
people,  he  could  not  conscientiously  take  the  required 
oath  of  loyalty,  he  resigned  his  office  and  joined  his  for- 
tunes with  the  Confederate  cause,  taking  charge  of  the 
powder-works  of  the  South,  a  position  he  filled  until 
the  close  of  the  war,  after  which  he  returned  to  St. 
Louis,  becoming  senior  member  of  the  firm  of  Gare- 
sche, Bakewell  &  Parish,  but  died  in  November, 
1868.  Alexander  J.  P.  Garesche  still  survives,  hon- 
ored and  successful. 

Edward  T.  Parish,  so  long  a  law  partner  of  the 
Garesches,  was  and  is  one  of  the  conspicuous  men  of 
his  time.  He  was  born  in  Woodville,  Miss.,  in  Au- 
gust, 1836,  his  father  being  a  physician  of  large 
practice,  and  his  mother  a  granddaughter  of  Sir  Wil- 
liam Hamilton.  In  1847  his  parents  died.  Young 
Parish  was  cared  for  by  his  father's  relatives,  and 
graduated  at  the  St.  Louis  University  in  1854.  He 
studied  law  with  Hon.  A.  Fenby,  was  admitted  in 
1856,  and  soon  joined  the  Garesches.  From  1861  to 
1864  he  practiced  on  his  own  account,  then  formed 
professional  relations  with  Hon.  R.  A.  Bakewell, 
afterwards  judge  of  the  St.  Louis  Court  of  Appeals 
(elected  in  1876).  In  1867  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Lily  Garesche,  sister  of  A.  J.  P.  Garesche,  his  former 
partner.  He  is  an  eloquent  speaker,  with  rare  power 
over  his  associates  and  the  jury,  a  cultivated  gentle- 
man, and  a  close  student.  Occasional  contributions 
to  the  press  show  his  polished  literary  talent,  and  his 
social  qualities  make  him  everywhere  a  welcome  guest. 
His  practice  has  been  chiefly  in  civil  cases,  but  on  sev- 
eral memorable  occasions  he  has  entered  the  criminal 
court.  In  the  Britton-Overstolz  contest  for  the  may- 
oralty (1876),  Mr.  Parish  and  Judge  Madill  were 
counsel  for  the  latter,  and  won  a  hard-fought  field. 


For  some  time  Mr.  Parish  was  city  counselor  of  St. 
Louis. 

In  the  ten  years  immediately  following  the  close  of 
the  civil  war  the  bar  lost  several  valued  members. 
Two  Prussians  of  ability  and  fine  legal  training  won 
rank  at  the  St.  Louis  bar,  and  both  died  in  the  same 
year,  1865.  Frederick  Kretschmar  was  for  eleven 
years  clerk  of  the  Criminal  Court.  He  was  a  native 
of  Hagen,  Westphalia,  born  in  1806,  emigrated  in 
1830,  settled  in  Philadelphia,  married  in  1832,  and 
removed  to  Missouri  in  1836.  In  1838  he  began  to 
publish  a  paper  in  St.  Louis,  but  was  chosen  justice 
of  the  peace,  and  held  that  office  for  fifteen  years, 
resigning  it  to  take  the  clerkship  just  mentioned.  At 
a  time  when  party  politics  ran  high,  and  he  was,  as  a 
rule,  in  the  minority,  he  retained  the  esteem  and  sup- 
port of  his  fellow-citizens.  Col.  Christian  Kribben, 
born  in  1821  at  Cologne,  Prussia,  settled  in  St.  Louis 
in  1835  and  studied  law.  He  was  afterwards  a  lieu- 
tenant in  Doniphan's  Mexican  expedition,  and  was  at 
one  time  inspector- general  of  the  State  militia.  About 
1848  he  began  to  take  a  high  rank  at  the  St.  Louis 
bar,  served  two  years  in  the  State  Legislature,  one 
term  as  Speaker  of  the  House.  When  Gen.  McClel- 
lan  was  nominated  at  Chicago  for  President,  he  was  a 
delegate  from  Missouri. 

Here,  if  the  fact  that  these  gentlemen  were  not 
more  prominent  upon  a  broader  stage,  would  be  the 
place  for  the  biographies  of  those  leading  and  contem- 
porary lawyers,  Frank  P.  Blair,  Jr.,  B.  Gratz  Brown, 
Charles  D.  Drake,  James  0.  Broadhead,  Gen.  J.  S. 
Fullerton,  Charles  Gibson,  and  John  W.  Noble,  but 
they  belong  to  the  public,  and  their  biographies  must 
be  sought  in  the  stern  narratives  of  grand  events 
given  elsewhere  in  this  work  in  the  chapters  on  "  Po- 
litical Progress"  and  "  The  Civil  War." 

It  may  not  be  inappropriate  to  mention  here,  how- 
ever, the  fact  that  of  the  members  of  the  St.  Louis 
bar  Charles  Gibson  has  shed  peculiar  lustre  upon  his 
profession.  In  addition  to  the  successful  manage- 
ment of  many  important  cases  at  home,  he  has  ren- 
dered valuable  professional  services  to  foreign  govern- 
ments, which  have  honored  him  in  return  with 
distinctions  such  as  are  seldom  conferred  except  for 
the  highest  merit.  The  decree  and  accompanying 
letter  from  the  Austro-Hungarian  government  con- 
ferring the  commander's  cross  of  the  Franz  Joseph 
Order  are  as  follows  : 

"  837.— K.  F.  J.  0. 

"His  Imperial  and  Royal  Apostolic  Majesty,  Francis  Joseph 
I.,  Emperor  of  Austria,  King  of  Hungary  and  Bohemia,  etc., 
has  by  an  all  highest  decree  of  Dec.  15,  1882,  been  graciously 
pleased  to  confer  upon  Your  Right  Honorable  self  the  Com- 
mander's Cross  of  His  Sovereign  Franz  Joseph  Order. 


BENCH  AND  BAR. 


1497 


"  The  Chancery  of  the  Order  has  the  honor  to  make  known 
this  grant,  and  to  send  inclosed  the  Insignia  of  the  Order 
which  has  been  bestowed. 

"  VIENNA,  the  16th  December,  1882. 

"DR.  BATTIOLI. 
"  Chancery  of  Imperial  Austrian 


Franz  Joseph  Order. 

"  To  MR.  RIGHT  HONORABLE  CHARLES  GIBSON, 
"  Counselor-at-Law,  St.  Louis." 

"  No.  77. 
"  K.  UND  K.  OEST.-UNG.  GESANDTSCHAFT, 

"WASHINGTON,  29th  January,  1883. 

"SiR, — In  recognition  of  your  services  recently  and  so  dis- 
interestedly rendered  to  our  government  in  the  unfortunate  case 
of  our  former  consul  at  St.  Louis,  Mr.  Bechtolsheim,  His 
Majesty  the  Emperor  of  Austria  and  King  of  Hungary  has 
been  graciously  pleased  to  confer  upon  you  the  cross  of  the 
commandership  of  His  Sovereign  Order  Francis  Joseph. 

"In  transmitting  to  you  inclosed  the- respective  decree  to- 
gether with  the  Insignia  I  congratulate  you  on  the  high  dis- 
tinction, and  have  great  pleasure  to  add  that  by  special  favor 
the  decoration  is  not  to  be  returned  as  usual,  but  may  remain 
in  the  family  as  a  gratifying  heirloom. 

"  Accept,  sir,  the  assurance  of  my  high  consideration, 
"  The  I.  and  R.  Austro-Hungarian  Minister, 

"  SCHAEFFER.1 

"  To  THE  HONORABLE  MR.  CHARLES  GIBSON, 
"  K.  V.  S." 

John  B.  Henderson,  another  distinguished  member 
of  the  St.  Louis  bar,  was  born  in  Pittsylvania  County, 

1  The  Si.  Louis  Post-Dispatch  of  Feb.  3,  1882,  thus  notices 
the  formal  act  of  conferring  the  cross  upon  Mr.  Gibson  : 

"  The  emperor  of  Austria-Hungary  has  celebrated  the  six  hun- 
dredth anniversary  of  the  reign  of  the  Hapsburgs,  so  far  as  this 
country  is  concerned,  by  decorating  Hon.  Charles  Gibson,  his 
counsel  in  the  case  against  Baron  von  Bechtolsheim,  late  Austro- 
Hungarian  consul  at  St.  Louis,  as  Knight  Commander  of  the 
Order  of  Franz  Joseph.  The  emperor  himself  is  Chief,  and  the 
Commanders  for  the  inner  circle  are  next  to  himself  in  the  order. 
The  order  itself  is  as  high  as  any  in  the  empire  or  in  Europe.  This 
is  the  highest  honor,  so  far  as  we  are  informed,  ever  conferred 
by  a  great  European  sovereign  on  an  American  lawyer.  After  the 
dismissal  of  Baron  von  Bechtolsheim,  Dr.  Von  Gerlich,  the  Im- 
perial German  consul,  officiated  as  an  international  courtesy  in 
his  stead  until  to-day,  when  Mr.  Diehm,  the  new  consul,  takes 
the  office.  The  last  and  most  pleasing  act  of  Dr.  Von  Gerlich's 
administration  was  to  wait  upon  Mr.  Gibson  at  his  residence  last 
evening,  and  on  behalf  of  the  emperor  to  deliver  to  him  the 
decree  making  the  appointment,  the  official  letter  of  Baron  von 
Schaffer,  Austro-Hungarian  minister  at  Washington,  and  the  j 
high  insignia  of  the  order.  The  knights  of  the  order  wear  j 
their  cross  on  the  lappel  of  the  coat,  but  the  Commander's  in- 
signia is  pendant  to  a  silken  collar  around  the  neck,  making  it 
a  very  striking  personal  ornament.  This  order,  and  especially 
Mr.  Gibson's  position  in  it,  is  not  merely  a  medallion  or  mark  of 
commendation,  but  it  is  a  rank,  and  one  of  the  very  highest 
honors  in  the  empire.  It  was  well  and  fairly  earned  by  Mr. 
Gibson  in  the  line  of  professional  duty." 


Va.,  Nov.  16,  1826.  His  parents  were  James  Hen- 
derson, who  was  born  at  Dandridge,  Jefferson  Co., 
Tenn.,  and  Jane  Dawson,  of  Pittsylvania  County,  Va. 
The  family  resided  in  Pittsylvania  County  until  1832, 
when  they  removed  to  Lincoln  County,  Mo.,  and  set- 
tled there.  When  he  was  nine  years  old  his  parents 
died,  leaving  one  brother  and  two  sisters  younger  than 
himself,  who  naturally  fell  to  his  care  during  his  boy- 
hood. Having  but  small  means,  his  facilities  for  an 
education  were  restricted  at  first  to  the  common 
schools,  and  then  to  academies  taught  by  good  classi- 
cal scholars.  His  tuition  embraced  the  English 
branches,  mathematics,  and  Latin  and  Greek,  and  he 
is  yet  a  good  Latin  scholar.  He  taught  school  for 
several  years,  during  which  time  he  studied  law,  and 
in  1848  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  Pike  County, 
Mo.,  by  Ezra  Hunt,  then  judge  of  that  circuit.  In 
1849  he  commenced  the  practice  of  the  law  at  Louisi- 
ana, Mo.,  and  continued  it  successfully  at  that  place 
until  1861. 

Mr.  Henderson  took  a  strong  interest  in  political 
questions  from  an  early  age,  and  in  1848  was  elected 
to  the  Lower  House  of  the  Missouri  Legislature  as  a 
Democrat  from  Pike  County.  In  1856  he  was  again 
elected  to  the  lower  branch  of  the  Missouri  Legislature 
as  a  Democrat,  and  served  during  the  regular  and 
adjourned  terms.  In  1860  he  was  a  candidate  for 
Congress  in  the  Pike  district  as  a  Union  Democrat, 
but  was  defeated  by  James  S.  Rollins  by  about  two 
hundred  and  forty  votes  in  a  total  vote  of  about 
twenty-five  thousand,  after  a  spirited  and  memorable 
canvass  of  sixty  days,  during  which  the  candidates 
traveled  together  and  engaged  in  joint  debate  through- 
out the  district. 

In  February,  1861,  Mr.  Henderson  was  elected  as 
a  Unionist  to  the  State  Convention  called  in  Missouri 
to  determine  the  question  of  secession.  During  its 
several  sessions,  which  were  held  until  the  summer  of 
1863,  Mr.  Henderson  took  an  active  part  in  all  of  its 
proceedings  as  a  Union  man. 

In  the  summer  of  1861  he  was  appointed  by  Gov- 
ernor Gamble,  then  Provisional  Governor  of  Missouri, 
a  brigadier-general  of  the  State  militia,  and  was  re- 
quested to  organize  a  brigade  of  State  troops  in  North- 
eastern Missouri.  While  he  was  thus  engaged,  and 
after  having  organized  nearly  two  full  regiments  for  the 
defense  of  the  Union  in  that  part  of  the  State,  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor  Willard  P.  Hall,  then  acting  as 
Governor,  commissioned  Mr.  Henderson  as  a  senator 
of  the  United  States  to  fill  the  unexpired  term  of  the 
Hon.  Trusten  Polk,  who  had  been  expelled  for  dis- 
loyalty, and  the  appointment  was  confirmed  by  the 
Legislature  of  1862-63.  The  term  expired  March 


1498 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


4,  1863,  and  Mr.  Henderson  was  then  elected  to  the 
United  States  Senate  for  the  full  senatorial  term 
ending  March  4,  1869. 

During  Mr.  Henderson's  term  in  the  Senate  he 
acted  with  the  Republican  party,  giving  every  possi- 
ble support  to  the  friends  of  the  Union.  He  served 
on  the  following  committees :  Finance,  Foreign  Rela- 
tions, Post-Offices  and  Post-Roads,  Claims,  Contingent 
Expenses  of  the  Senate,  District  of  Columbia,  Indian 
Affairs,  and  others.  He  is  the  author  of  the  amend- 
ment to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  abolish- 
ing slavery,  known  as  the  Thirteenth  Amendment,  and 
immediately  on  its  adoption  in  1865  he  was  among 
the  first  to  propose  the  amendment  granting  suffrage 
without  distinction,  which  finally  took  form  as  the 
Fifteenth  Amendment. 

As  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Indian  Affairs, 
in  1867  he  organized  a  commission,  consisting  of 
Gens.  Sherman,  Terry,  Harney,  Sanborn,  and  others, 
and  went  among  the  hostile  Indians  of  the  upper 
Missouri  River  and  the  plains,  and  succeeded  by 
numerous  treaties  of  peace  in  quelling  disastrous  and 
expensive  wars  then  being  waged  by  the  Sioux,  the 
Cheyennes,  the  Arrapahoes,  the  Kiowas,  and  Co- 
manches. 

While  a  member  of  the  Senate  he  succeeded  in 
having  the  State  of  Missouri  reimbursed  for  its  war 
expenses  from  the  Federal  treasury,  which  enabled 
the  State  to  resume  its  credit,  and  restored  its  old 
condition  of  solvency. 

In  the  Senate  he  acted  rather  on  his  own  judgment 
than  on  the  dictation  of  any  partisan  caucus.  He 
gave  a  remarkable  instance  of  his  independence  when, 
in  opposition  to  the  behests  of  a  caucus,  he  voted  with 
Fessenden,  of  Maine,  Trumbull,  of  Illinois,  and  other 
Republican  senators  against  the  impeachment  of  Presi- 
dent Andrew  Johnson,  and  thereby  defeated  it.  This 
vote  undoubtedly  prevented  his  re-election  to  the 
United  States  Senate  by  the  Missouri  Legislature  of 
1868-69. 

In  1808,  while  a  member  of  the  Senate,  Mr.  Hen- 
derson married,  at  Washington,  Miss  Mary  Newton 
Foote,  a  daughter  of  Judge  Elisha  Foote,  of  New 
York. 

In  1870  he  removed  to  St.  Louis  and  engaged  in 
the  practice  of  the  law,  which  he  has  diligently  pursued 
ever  since.  His  practice  has  chiefly  been  in  the 
Federal,  Circuit,  and  District  Courts,  and  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court,  and  has  been  attended  with 
marked  success. 

In  1872  he  was  the  Republican  candidate  for  Gov- 
ernor, but  was  defeated  by  Silas  Woodson. 

In  May,  1875,  he  was  appointed  assistant  United 


States  attorney  to  aid  in  prosecuting  what  was  then 
known  as  the  "  whiskey  ring,"  which,  mainly  through 
Mr.  Henderson's  efforts,  was  entirely  broken  up. 
During  the  prosecutions  Mr.  Henderson  delivered  a 
speech  which  gave  offense  to  President  Grant,  and  in 
December,  1875,  he  was  dismissed  from  the  service 
of  the  government,  since  which  time  he  has  devoted 
himself  to  his  profession.  Whatever  reputation  he 
has  gained  as  a  lawyer  he  ascribes  to  careful,  diligent 
work.  His  cases  are  prepared  with  great  care  ;  every 
point  is  fortified,  and  no  point  is  deemed  too  unim- 
portant to  receive  attention. 

Gen.  Henderson  is  fond  of  books,  and  has  a  large 
and  well-stocked  library  both  of  law  and  miscellaneous 
works.  He  keeps  up  his  youthful  studies  both  in 
languages  and  mathematics.  He  is  fond  of  public 
discussion,  delights  in  good  society,  and  is  of  a  genial 
and  hospitable  nature.  Gen.  Henderson  is  fortunate 
in  having  a  wife  who  is  also  fond,  of  society,  and 
who  enters  with  him  fully  into  its  pleasures  and  en- 
joyments. Their  house  is  celebrated  far  and  near  for 
its  open-handed  and  unstinted  hospitality. 

Hon.  Thomas  E.  Noell,  born  in  Perry  County,  Mo., 
in  1839,  and  dying  in  April,  1867,  was  another  of 
the  bright  young  men  of  his  time.  His  father,  John 
W.,  had  been  sent  to  Congress  from  the  Third  Mis- 
souri District,  and  the  son  inherited  political  ability 
and  unusual  courage.  Being  well  educated,  he  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  but  volun- 
teered in  the  Union  army  in  1861,  reached  the  rank 
of  major  of  volunteers,  and  in  1862  was  made  captain 
in  the  regulars,  and  served  bravely  in  many  battles. 
Chosen  to  represent  the  Third  Missouri  District  in 
the  Thirty-ninth  Congress,  he  served  there  on  various 
committees,  and  supported  President  Johnson's  policy. 
In  1866  he  was  re-elected,  and  had  just  entered  upon 
his  second  term,  when  his  career  was  cut  short. 

Judge  William  S.  Allen,  for  many  years  an  editorial 
writer  on  the  St.  Louis  Republican,  was  perhaps  the 
greatest  loss  of  that  year,  though  his  active  connec- 
tion with  the  bar  had  long  ceased.  He  was  born  in 
Newburyport,  Mass.,  in  1805,  liberally  educated,  a 
graduate  of  Dartmouth  at  the  early  age  of  nineteen, 
and  in  1832  represented  Essex  County  in  the  State 
Legislature.  He  edited  the  Newburyport  Herald 
a  while,  and  in  1837,  moving"* to  St.  Louis,  became 
connected  with  journals  there.  His  association  with 
the  Republican  began  in  1856,  and  continued  until 
within  a  short  time  of  his  death.  In  1844  he  was 
secretary  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  in  1 849  register 
of  the  land  office,  in  1850  a  member  of  the  State 
Legislature,  in  1851,  and  until  1855,  secretary  ot 
the  Territory  of  New  Mexico,  in  1855  he  was  ap- 


BENCH  AND  BAR. 


1499 


pointed  justice  of  the  St.  Louis  County  Court.  It 
will  be  seen  that  his  life  was  spent  more  in  journalism 
than  in  law,  but  his  wide  and  varied  legal  lore  was  of 
untold  benefit,  and  his  versatility  was  shown  alike  in 
literary,  mercantile,  and  political  articles.  In  the  same 
year  occurred  the  death  of  an  ex-State  senator,  Thomas 
C.  Johnson,  who  before  the  war  had  ranked  as  an  able 
lawyer,  but  had  followed  the  fortunes  of  Governor 
Claiborne  F.  Jackson. 

A  more  than  ordinarily  active  man  of  this  period 
was  Charles  G.  Mairo.  Born  in  Washington  City  in 
1828,  he  removed  to  Missouri  with  his  elder  brother, 
Philip,  in  1840,  studied  law  with  Hon.  Albert  Todd, 
and  entered  into  practice  in  1851 ;  the  next  year  city 
attorney,  in  1856  circuit  attorney,  in  1861  city  coun- 
selor, and  in  1866  appointed  United  States  district 
attorney,  but  not  confirmed  by  the  United  States 
Senate  for  political  reasons,  his  success  in  his  pro- 
fession was  evident.  Generous  and  honest,  his  friends 
were  many,  and  his  death  (in  March,  1873)  was  widely 
mourned. 

In  the  same  month  and  year  the  bar  lost  John 
Decker,  who  was  born  Aug.  29,  1828,  in  Annapolis, 
Md.  He  graduated  at  St.  John's  College,  and  studied 
with  Chancellor  Johnson,  of  Maryland,  and  with 
Joseph  Bradley,  of  Washington,  entering  on  practice 
in  1850.  In  1853  he  reached  St.  Louis  and  joined 
forces  with  Robert  S.  Voorhis,  the  prosperous  firm  j 
continuing  until  1861,  when  Mr.  Decker  joined  the 
Confederate  army,  but  returned  to  St.  Louis  in  1865 
and  resumed  his  practice.  He  was  Grand  Master  of 
the  Masonic  fraternity  in  Missouri  at  the  time  he 
went  into  the  army.  Two  years  later  the  county 
court  lost  Judge  Busby,  aged  forty-four,  a  native  of 
Ireland,  who  had  been  justice  for  four  years. 

In  the  same  year  (1875)  that  Frank  P.  Blair 
(whose  life,  with  that  of  his  brother  Montgomery, 
will  be  found  on  another  page)  passed  from  the  land 
of  the  living,  Fidelio  C.  Sharp,  a  prominent  lawyer 
of  long  standing  at  the  St.  Louis  bar,  also  died,  at  the 
age  of  fifty-four  years.  He  was  a  Kentuckian,  grand- 
son of  Capt.  Thomas  Sharp,  of  Virginia,  a  Revolu- 
tionary soldier.  The  family  was  large,  and  noted 
throughout  Kentucky  for  its  intelligence  and  enter- 
prise. At  the  age  of  twenty-one  young  Sharp  was 
admitted  to  practice;  in  1843  removed  to  Missouri, 
settling  in  Lexington,  in  partnership  with  John  P. 
Campbell,  next  with  Judge  William  T.  Wood,  and 
afterwards  with  Judge  Samuel  Sawyer;  in  1857 
moving  to  St.  Louis,  first  in  practice  with  Mr.  Thomas, 
and  afterwards  with  James  0.  Broadhead.  In  the 
latter  connection  the  firm  was  known  throughout  the 
entire  West  for  its  ability,  and  did  an  immense  busi- 


ness. Col.  Broadhead,  his  partner,  said  that  as  a 
practitioner  Mr.  Sharp  had  not  an  equal  in  the  State, 
— that  is,  in  the  preparation  and  trial  of  a  case  before 
a  nisi  prius  court.  In  speaking  before  the  bar  meet- 
ing which  met  to  express  its  sorrow  over  his  death, 
one  speaker  said,  li  He  was  an  industrious  man,  inde- 
fatigable in  his  exertions  to  win  a  victory  for  his  client, 
yet  was  fair,  open,  candid,  gentlemanly,  and  friendly. 
He  had  a  wonderful  stock  of  good  sense  and  a  strong 
will,  and  accomplished  a  good  deal.  There  was  some- 
thing peculiar  in  his  character.  He  was  not  a  great 
lawyer  in  the  sense  that  Daniel  Webster  and  Rufus 
Choate  were ;  that  culture  which  gave  to  legal  learn- 
ing a  higher  cast  he  did  not  have.  In  jury  cases  and 
all  purely  business  cases  he  had,  during  the  time  I 
knew  him,  no  superiors  and  few  equals."  During  fif- 
teen years  he  was  engaged  in  almost  all  the  important 
cases  which  occupied  the  courts  of  St.  Louis,  and  he 
devoted  himself  to  the  law  with  untiring  assiduity, 
never  for  a  moment  stepping  aside  for  political  prefer- 
ment, and  uniformly  declining  all  proffered  political 
honors.  His  happiness  was  in  his  profession  and  his 
family.  He  married  twice,  his  first  wife  being  Miss 
Wallace,  of  Lexington ;  his  second  wife,  Miss  Maude, 
of  St.  Louis.  Both  were  ladies  of  great  worth  and 
culture.  He  left  six  children. 

This  year  also  witnessed  the  death  of  Charles  C. 
Whittelsey,  who  was  born  in  Connecticut  in  1819,  of 
a  long  line  of  ancestry,  chiefly  clergymen.  In  1838 
he  graduated  from  Yale,  taught  school  for  a  year,  and 
then  entered  a  law-office  in  Middletown,  Conn.,  but 
came  to  St.  Louis  in  1841,  and  devoted  his  time  to 
the  practice  of  law  and  preparation  and  publication  of 
legal  works.  He  was  the  author  of  the  "  Missouri 
Form-Book,"  adapted  to  the  statutes  of  1856.  He 
was  Supreme  Court  reporter  from  1862  to  1868,  in- 
clusive, and  published  Volumes  XXXI.  to  XLIV. 
Missouri  Reports.  From  time  to  time  he  furnished 
articles  for  literary  and  law  magazines  and  for  the  daily 
papers.  In  1870  he  published  a  work  on  General 
Practice,  which  proved  valuable  to  the  profession. 
Insurance  and  commercial  cases  were  his  specialties, 
and  he  was  successful  in  practice,  though  possessing 
no  oratorical  abilities.  He  seems  to  have  enjoyed  the 
utmost  confidence  of  his  legal  brethren  and  of  the 
community,  and  his  capacities  were  such  that  high 
services  as  a  jurist  were  rightfully  expected  from  him. 
In  1854  he  married  Miss  Groome,  a  Maryland  lady, 
and  they  had  six  children. 

In  April,  1875,  James  F.  Maury,  a  young  lawyer, 
who  had  acquired  considerable  reputation  in  Missis- 
sippi, died  in  that  State.  His  connection  with  the 
St.  Louis  bar  was  a  short  one.  Born  in  1842,  in 


1500 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Port  Gibson,  graduated  at  Oxford,  Miss.,  serving 
three  years  in  the  Southern  army,  and  being  cap- 
tured and  sent  to  Johnson's  Island  for  two  years,  his 
study  of  the  law  was  attended  with  unusual  difficul- 
ties. But  in  1867  he  was  admitted,  and  became  a 
partner  with  his  father,  a  lawyer  of  some  note.  In 
1873  he  removed  to  St.  Louis,  and  began  to  build  up 
a  good  practice,  so  that  two  years  later  he  returned 
for  his  family,  and  died  suddenly  while  on  his  jour- 
ney. 

Joseph  N.  Litton  was  born  in  Nashville,  Tenn., 
Feb.  4,  1846.  At  the  age  of  twelve  years  he  en- 
tered Washington  University,  St.  Louis,  as  a  student, 
from  which  he  graduated  with  the  highest  honors  in 
June,  1866.  In  the  same  year  he  began  the  study 
of  law,  when  he  was  admitted  to  practice.  From 
that  time  he  continued  his  general  studies,  inter- 
rupted to  some  extent  by  employment  in  some  im- 
portant cases,  until  April,  1870,  when  he  was  retained 
by  the  Pacific  Railroad  Company  as  its  assistant  at- 
torney, which  position  he  filled  until  the  merging  of 
the  company  in  that  of  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Rail- 
road Company  in  1873,  after  which  he  continued  to 
occupy  a  like  position  under  the  management  of  the 
latter  company,  attending  to  the  law  business  of  both 
companies.  His  duties  from  that  time  were  extremely 
arduous,  testing  to  its  utmost  his  physical  strength,  at 
no  time  very  great.  He  not  only  attended  to  the  or- 
dinary routine  of  his  office,  but  also  took  the  principal 
part  in  the  trial  at  nisi  prim  of  many  important  cases 
in  which  the  company  was  a  party  in  St.  Louis  and 
throughout  the  State,  and  also  rendering  very  valu- 
able assistance  in  the  presentment  of  its  cases  in  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  State  and  in  the  Circuit  and 
Supreme  Courts  of  the  United  States. 

In  1874,  the  two  corporations  having  become 
separated  again,  he  severed  his  connection  with  the 
Pacific  Railroad,  being  at  the  same  time  retained  by 
the  management  of  the  St.  Louis  and  San  Francisco 
Railroad  Company,  successors  of  the  Atlantic  and 
Pacific  Railroad  Company,  as  their  chief  law  officer. 
In  April,  1877,  owing  to  continued  ill  health,  brought 
on  in  large  part,  no  doubt,  by  overwork,  he  was  obliged 
to  resign  his  office  of  attorney  of  the  railroad  company. 
He  went  during  the  summer  to  Colorado,  and  there 
spent  several  months,  whence  he  returned  in  the  fall 
apparently  improved  in  health.  Soon  after,  however, 
his  disease  exhibited  worse  symptoms,  and  from  that 
time  he  was  confined  to  his  room  and  bed  the  greater 
part  of  the  time  until  his  death  on  Thursday,  April 
11,  1878. 

As  a  man,  Mr.  Litton  was  honorable,  modest,  gen- 
erous, brave,  and  just.  In  manner  he  was  quiet, 


grave,  and  dignified.  He  was  easily  approached  by 
others,  but  he  wanted  no  one's  favor.  He  delighted 
in  the  intercourse  of  friends,  and  was  of  a  most  kind 
and  genial  nature.  He  was  possessed  of  bright  wit, 
and  was  a  most  agreeable  companion.  As  a  lawyer, 
he  was  faithful  to  his  clients,  candid,  courteous, 
earnest,  industrious,  learned,  and  able.  His  intellec- 
tual faculties  were  strong.  He  was  a  clear  and  ready 
thinker,  and  endowed  with  great  analytical  power. 
His  judgment  was  sound,  and  his  reason  well  bal- 
anced. He  was  a  close  student,  and  well  grounded 
in  the  principles  of  the  civil  jurisprudence. 

Dec.  2,  1879,  at  Cincinnati,  Hon.  Samuel  Reber, 
of  St.  Louis,  was  found  in  his  room,  dead.  Born  in 
Lancaster,  Ohio,  in  1813,  well  educated,  and  settling 
in  St.  Louis  in  1842,  in  partnership  with  Mr.  Fremon, 
he  soon  gained  a  lucrative  practice.  After  the  Mex- 
ican war  Mr.  Fremon  removed  to  New  Mexico.  Mr. 
Reber  in  1856  was  made  judge  of  the  Court  of  Com- 
mon Pleas,  succeeding  Judge  Treat.  Judge  Reber 
held  this  position  of  honor  and  trust  with  skill,  in- 
tegrity, and  fairness  until  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas 
was  changed  into  the  Circuit  Court.  This  position 
he  also  held  until  1867,  when  he  resigned  for  the 
purpose  of  again  engaging  more  actively  in  practice. 
While  upon  the  bench  he  sustained  the  Constitution 
of  1865,  and  was  the  author  of  the  "  test  oath  de- 
cision." Under  the  administration  of  Mayor  Cole  he 
was  appointed  city  counselor,  and  during  his  term  of 
office  was  actively  engaged  in  defending  many  im- 
portant suits,  among  which  was  the  famous  water- 

j  works  case. 

Another  gentleman  who  took  extreme  views  on  the 
"  test  oath"  under  the  Drake  Constitution  (1865) 
was  ex- Judge  Moody,  but  the  course  he  pursued  had  a 
disastrous  effect  on  his  subsequent  life.  He  was  born 

j  in  Pennsylvania  in  1817,  and  died  in  January,  1880. 
Removing  to  St.  Louis  about  1855,  he  went  into  the 
law  firm  of  Moody,  McClellan  &  Hillyer.  Capt.  U.  S. 
Grant,  while  collecting  bills  as  a  real  estate  agent,  oc- 
cupied a  desk  in  the  office  of  the  firm.  In  the  early 
part  of  the  war  Judge  Moody  was  elected  circuit 
judge  of  St.  Louis  County,  and  for  several  years  dis- 
charged the  duties  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  profession. 
For  a  year  or  two  before  he  left  the  bench  his  politi- 
cal opinions  underwent  a  change,  and  he  became  in- 
tensely hostile  to  the  Drake  Constitution,  and  abso- 
lutely refused  in  his  official  position  to  perform  the 
duties  imposed  upon  him  by  that  Constitution.  He  re- 
fused to  require  the  jurors  and  others  to  take  the 
"  ironclad  oath"  required  by  the  Constitution  and  or- 
dinances of  the  convention.  This  opposition  led  to 

1  his  removal  by  address  by  the  Legislature  in  1866. 


BENCH  AND  BAR. 


1501 


This  year,  1880,  also  took  from  among  the  former 
members  of  the  St.  Louis  bar  Hon.  Logan  Hunton 
and  George  11.  Taylor.  Mr.  Taylor,  a  sketch  of  whose 
life  appears  elsewhere,  was  one  of  the  leading  mem- 
bers of  the  St.  Louis  bar,  and  promoted  many  useful 
measures,  legislative  and  commercial.  His  business 
enterprises  drew  him  from  legal  pursuits  in  later  years. 
Hon.  Logan  Hunton  and  his  brother  Felix  were  law- 
yers of  note.  The  latter  practiced  chiefly  in  the  south- 
west of  Missouri.  His  death  occurred  in  1873. 
Logan  Hunton  was  born  in  Albemarle  County,  Va.,  in 
1806.  Educated  in  Kentucky,  he  became  a  member 
of  the  State  Legislature  there,  but  removed  to  St. 
Louis  in  1837,  and  formed  a  partnership  with  Hon.  L. 
V.  Bogy,  afterwards  United  States  senator.  He 
married  Miss  Mary  Jane  Moss,  daughter  of  the  late 
Mrs.  J.  J.  Crittenden.  In  1843,  Mr.  Hunton  went 
to  New  Orleans,  remained  there  ten  years,  and  held  for 
a  while  the  United  States  district  attorneyship,  also 
built  up  a  large  practice  and  gained  a  competency.  j 
After  spending  some  years  in  travel  in  Europe  with  '•• 
his  family,  he  returned,  in  1859,  to  St.  Louis,  and 
made  his  home  near  Bridgeton,  which  became  the  : 
centre  of  a  generous  and  discriminating  hospitality.  ! 
He  left  a  wife  and  three  children. 

Henry  B.  Belt,  born  in  Huntsville,  Ala.,  in  1815, 
and  dying  in  February,  1881,  had  led  an  eventful  \ 
life.  His  father  was  a  mining  prospector  in  Tennes- 
see, Alabama,  and  Hannibal,  Mo.,  where  he  died  in  i 
1829,  after  which  young  Belt  became  a  clerk  in  the  ! 
sheriff's  office,  then  under  Archibald  Gamble,  circuit 
clerk.  On  the  death  of  his  father,  his  mother  and 
younger  brothers  and  sisters  returned  to  his  mother's 
old  home,  Washington,  Va.,  but  in  1837  he  brought 
the  whole  family  to  St.  Louis.  In  the  cholera  epi- 
demic of  1849  he  lost  his  mother,  one  brother,  and 
two  sisters.  After  this  he  served  as  deputy  sheriff 
under  James  Brotherton,  Marshall  Brotherton,  Wil- 
liam Milburn,  Samuel  Conway,  and  Louis  T.  La- 
beaume.  In  1855  he  was  elected  sheriff  on  the  Whig 
ticket.  He  ran  again,  two  years  later,  and  received  a 
majority  of  votes  cast,  but  was  counted  out.  In 
1853  he  formed  a  real  estate  partnership  with  John 
G.  Priest,  which  lasted  till  his  death.  He  left  a  wife 
and  seven  children. 

Singularly  fortunate  in  examples  of  early  brilliancy  j 
the  bar  of  St.  Louis  seems  to  have  been  ;  eloquence  of  i 
the   highest   order   was    amply    illustrated    in    each 
decade  of  its  history.    But  never  since  Barton,  Uriel 
Wright,  and  their  compeers  were  in  their  prime  did 
a  young  man  of  thirty-four  win  such  praise  as  was 
bestowed  on  the  memory  of  Edward  P.  McCarty,  who 
died  in  June,  1881.    A  native  of  Indiana,  he  studied 


law  in  the  office  of  Judge  Miller,  of  Keokuk,  Iowa, 
and  came  to  St.  Louis  about  the  year  1861.  Under 
Mr.  Fishback  he  was  deputy  clerk  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  and  chief  clerk  after  Mr.  Fishback's  death. 
After  having  been  for  a  time  in  the  office  of  Sharp  & 
Broadhead  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  The  position 
of  city  counselor,  to  which  he  was  appointed  by  Mayor 
Brown,  he  filled  admirably.  He  was  a  Democrat  in 
politics.  His  wife,  nee  Miss  Lydia  Evans,  daughter 
of  the  late  A.  H.  Evans,  and  two  children  sur- 
vive him.  The  bar  association  met  and  passed  reso- 
lutions expressive  of  their  deep  sorrow.  A  few  days 
later  the  St.  Louis  Republican  said  of  him,  "  The 
impression  of  his  genius  is  retained  by  every  one  that 
knew  him  ;  possessed  of  a  graceful  form  and  a  rich 
and  fluent  mind,  he  commanded  attention  as  a  unique 
person  wherever  he  appeared.  He  had  a  mind  of  ex- 
traordinary clearness  and  quickness  of  insight.  On 
legal  questions  his  judgment  was  that  of  '  the  intui- 
tive decision  of  a  thorough-edged  intellect.'  He  was 
rarely  wrong,  and  hence  his  cases  were  nearly  always 
put  in  court  correctly,  involving  no  changes  in  their 
first  presentment.  Col.  Broadhead,  Gen.  Noble,  Mr. 
Chandler,  and  other  mature  practitioners  bore  witness 
to  his  remarkable  natural  gifts,  and  expressed  their 
profound  grief  at  his  premature  departure." 

In  the  early  years  of  the  century,  Dr.  Abel  Slay- 
back  was  a  noted  physician  of  Cincinnati.  His  father 
was  Solomon  Slayback,  a  soldier  at  Valley  Forge. 
His  son,  Alexander  L.  Slayback,  studied  at  Marion 
College,  Missouri,  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1838, 
married  Anna  M.  Minter,  of  Philadelphia,  and  opened 
a  law-office  in  Shelby ville.  In  1847  he  removed  to 
Lexington,  and  died  there  the  following  year,  leaving 
a  widow  and  five  children.  Three  of  his  sons  after- 
wards became  residents  of  St.  Louis.  He  was  a  sin- 
cere Christian  and  a  very  successful  lawyer,  a  favorite 
everywhere,  and  deeply  mourned  by  his  associates. 
Alonzo  W.  Slayback,  his  son,  became  a  prominent 
member  of  the  St.  Louis  bar.  Born  in  July,  1838, 
in  Marion  County,  he  received  a  good  education, 
taught  school,  studied  law,  was  admitted  in  1857,  and 
began  practice  in  St.  Joseph.  The  civil  war  came 
with  its  rendings  and  desolations ;  Slayback  raised  a 
cavalry  regiment,  was  elected  its  colonel,  and  joined 
the  cause  of  the  South.  He  fought  with  the  greatest 
courage  and  skill,  took  part  in  more  than  forty  battles 
and  skirmishes,  and  after  the  cause  was  lost  joined 
Shelby's  romantic  expedition  to  the  land  of  the  Mon- 
tezumas.  No  one  has  yet  written  the  story,  pathetic 
and  well  worth  the  telling,  of  the  man,  self-exiled, 
ardent,  heart-broken,  who  could  not  longer  stay 
under  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  who  went  to  Mexico, 


1502 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


to  Central  America,  to  the  West  Indies,  and  regions 
still  farther  South,  engaging  in  warlike  expeditions, 
in  strange  and  heroic  adventures,  in  vast  commercial 
enterprises,  coffee-planting,  stock-raising,  mining,  and 
a  thousand  other  pursuits,  sometimes  successful,  some- 
times reduced  to  penury  and  suffering.  But  Col. 
Slayback's  career  was  not  to  end  thus.  His  mother, 
a  lady  of  culture,  grace,  and  strong  character,  made 
the  journey  to  Mexico,  sought  long,  found  her  son, 
and  persuaded  him  to  return.  So  in  1866  he  again 
entered  the  law  in  St.  Louis,  meeting  with  marked 
and  increasing  success.  He  became  known  as  an 
orator  of  remarkable  powers  of  persuasion  and  con- 
quest, full  of  liberal  impulses,  and  passionately  loved 
by  his  friends.  The  gift  of  leadership  was  his ;  so- 
cially and  politically,  no  man  seemed  to  have  a  brighter 
future  before  him.  His  practice  became  one  of  the 
largest  in  the  city. 

Col.  Slayback's  tragical  death  in  1882  rallied  his 
friends  and  roused  the  most  impassioned  sympathy. 
The  Merchants'  Exchange,  whose  attorney  he  was, 
placed  on  record  an  almost  unparalleled  tribute  of 
their  personal  sorrow.  Speakers,  after  his  death, 
compared  him  to  a  streak  of  sunshine, — a  man  whom 
all  loved,  the  friend  of  the  poor,  the  helpless,  the 
oppressed.  And  because  of  this  overflowing  charity 
he  left  his  family  in  straitened  circumstances. 
The  citizens  and  his  associates  in  the  law  gave 
liberally,  public  benefits  were  held,  and  in  all  a 
large  sum  was  raised  for  the  widow  and  orphans.  Col. 
Dyer,  ex-Governor  Stanard,  Rev.  Dr.  Snyder,  and 
many  others  aided  in  this  good  work.  Mrs.  Wm. 
McKee  paid  one  thousand  dollars  for  a  private  box  at 
the  first  entertainment,  and  then  had  it  sold  again  for 
one  hundred  dollars,  thus  netting  eleven  hundred 
dollars  for  the  cause.  Col.  Slayback's  wife  was  Miss 
Alice  A.  Waddell,  of  Lexington. 

A  man  whose  youth  was  beset  with  difficulties,  but 
who  won  by  reason  of  his  indomitable  pluck,  was 
Henry  A.  Glover,  still  living  (1882)  to  enjoy  the 
honors  and  wealth  he  has  so  creditably  earned.  In 
1844,  a  poor,  friendless  lad,  he  came  to  St.  Louis,  and 
searched  in  vain  for  employment.  He  was  willing  to 
turn  his  hand  to  anything ;  a  position  in  the  school 
department  was  beyond  his  reach  ;  nor  could  he  pro- 
cure a  clerkship  in  any  store  ;  but  being  a  good  pen- 
man, and  having  read  some  law,  he  at  last  obtained 
copying  and  clerical  work  under  Gen.  Ruland,  clerk 
of  the  Circuit  Court.  Here  he  spent  years  in  toil  at 
a  meagre  salary  ;  refused,  when  Ruland  retired,  the 
place  the  latter  had  held,  and  in  1847  was  admitted 
to  the  bar.  Two  years  later  he  was  city  attorney. 
It  has  taken  but  a  few  words  to  tell  this  story  of  man- 


hood, aspiration,  and  success,  but  there  is  an  eloquence 
finer  than  speech  about  its  steady  progress  from 
friendless  obscurity  to  recognized  position.  In  1851, 
Mr.  Glover  was  sent  to  the  State  Legislature,  and 
from  1852  to  1856  was  circuit  attorney  for  St.  Louis. 
Many  able  and  ingenious  men  have  filled  this  office, 
but  "  it  is  one  of  the  traditions  of  the  Criminal  Court 
that  the  State  never  had  a  prosecutor  whose  work,  in 
point  of  success  or  ability,  compared  with  that  of 
Circuit  Attorney  Glover."  His  treatment  of  wit- 
nesses was  admirable,  and  his  skill  in  conducting  a 
cross-examination  has  rarely  been  surpassed.  In  the 
argument  of  cases  before  juries  he- also  displayed  rare 
excellence.  Judge  Lackland,  who  was  judge  of  the 
Criminal  Court,  said  that  the  only  criticism  to  be  in- 
dulged in  on  Mr.  Glover  as  circuit  attorney  was 
that  he  was  too  successful, — that  he  not  only  convicted 
the  guilty,  but  in  some  instances  verdicts  were  ren- 
dered against  innocent  parties  by  juries  carried  away 
by  the  vigor  and  force  of  his  prosecution.  It  was 
at  this  time  and  in  this  position  that  the  full  strength 
of  the  man  developed  itself,  and  it  was  brought  out 
by  his  conflicts  in  the  Criminal  Court  and  in  the 
Supreme  Court  with  such  men  as  Leslie,  Wright, 
!  Blennerhasset,  Cline,  and  others  who  then  practiced 
at  the  criminal  bar,  whose  reputation  and  efforts 
there  are  well  remembered. 

When  Judge  Lackland  retired  in  1856,  his  succes- 
sor was  Henry  A.  Glover,  who  continued  to  hold  the 
office  until  1864,  when  he  returned  to  his  private 
practice,  became  city  counselor,  and  was  a  member  of 
the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1865,  and  chairman 
of  its  judiciary  committee.  In  1868  he  was  nominated 
judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  by  the  Republicans,  but 
declined  the  nomination,  though  tantamount  to  an 
election,  and  Judge  Currier's  name  was  substituted. 
Since  that  time  his  large  and  extended  private  prac- 
tice has  required  all  his  attention,  and  some  of  the 
heaviest  litigation  in  the  courts  has  been  in  his  hands. 
As  the  legal  adviser  of  the  city  and  county  he  had 
to  deal  with  many  and  important  interests,  such  as 
the  gas  question,  the  Pacific  Railroad  controversy, 
the  long  fight  over  the  school  lands,  the  taxation  of 
shares  in  national  banks.  As  judge  over  the  Crimi- 
nal Court,  no  man  in  the  State  did  more  to  settle  legal 
principles  in  reference  to  crim'es  and  offenses.  Well 
rounded,  crowded  with  achievement,  his  life-record 
merits  the  study  of  young  men  in  hours  of  discour- 
agement. 

Among  the  leading  barristers  of  St.  Louis  now 
living  is  Britton  Armstrong  Hill,  a  lawyer  of  forty- 
two  years'  practice  in  St.  Louis.  He  was  born  in 
Hunterdon  County,  X.  J.,  in  1816,  received  his  early 


BENCH  AND  BAR. 


1503 


education  at  Ogdensburg,  N.  Y.,  and  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  at  Albany,  and  to  the  Court  of  Chancery  at 
Saratoga,  in  that  State,  in  1839.  In  1841  he  came 
to  St.  Louis,  where  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  by 
Judge  Mullanphy.  In  the  same  year  he  formed  a 
partnership  with  John  M.  Eager,  which  was  dissolved 
in  1848.  In  1850  his  brother,  David  W.  Hill,  became 
his  partner,  and  in  1854,  William  N.  Grover  was 
added  to  the  firm,  which  thus  became  Hill,  Grover  & 
Hill.  This  partnership  continued  till  1858,  when  it 
was  dissolved,  and  Mr.  Hill  gave  his  attention  wholly 
to  practice  in  important  land,  insurance,  and  railroad 
cases.  In  1861  he  entered  into  copartnership  with 
the  Hon.  D.  T.  Jewett,  which  continued  about  ten 
years.  In  1863  he,  with  Hon.  Thomas  Ewing,  of 
Ohio,  and  Hon.  Orville  H.  Browning,  of  Illinois, 
formed  a  partnership  in  the  city  of  Washington,  under 
the  firm-name  of  Ewing,  Hill  &  Browning,  for  the 
transaction  of  business  in  the  courts  of  the  United 
States.  This  firm,  which  was  one  of  the  strongest  in 
the  United  States,  was  terminated  in  1865,  when  Mr. 
Hill  returned  to  St.  Louis.  In  1873,  Frank  J.  Bow- 
man, of  Vermont,  became  his  partner,  and  continued 
till  1876.  In  his  extensive  practice  in  the  national 
and  State  courts  Mr.  Hill  became  strongly  impressed 
with  the  dangers  which  seemed  to  him  to  threaten  the 
institutions  of  the  country,  and  in  1873  he  published 
his  first  work,  entitled  "  Liberty  and  Law  under 
Federative  Government." 

In  1876  he  published  two  pamphlets  urging  the 
Democratic  party  to  adopt  his  views  with  regard  to 
absolute  money,  and  early  in  1877  put  forth  another, 
entitled  "  Gold,  Silver,  and  Paper  as  full,  equal,  Legal 
Tenders."  The  system  which  was  advocated  in  this 
pamphlet  was  adopted  in  1878  by  Congress  and  the  ; 
Treasury,  and  the  financial  success  which  has  followed 
is  a  source  of  just  pride  to  its  author.  In  the 
autumn  of  1877  he  called,  at  St.  Louis,  a  State  Con- 
vention, the  object  of  which  was  the  advocacy  of 
measures  for  the  overthrow  of  monopolies,  for  the 
establishment  of  governmental  control  of  railroads,  ' 
telegraphs,  and  other  internal  improvements,  postal 
savings-banks,  international  clearing-houses,  courts 
for  the  settlement  of  all  national  differences  without 
resort  to  war,  and  the  restoration  to  the  people  of  the 
public  domain  that  had  been  given  to  railroads.  In  i 
the  campaign  of  that  year  he  was  active  in  the  advo- 
cacy of  the  principles  set  forth  in  the  platform  of  that 

convention.     His  health  failed  in  1879,  and  he  was 

' 

compelled  to  retire  from  active  political  life.  In  1880 
the  second  edition  of  "  Liberty  and  Law"  was  pub- 
lished, setting  forth  fully  his  views  of  a  complete  sys- 
tem of  popular  government.  This  work  was  highly 


commended  by  the  press,  and  by  members  of  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court  and  of  several  of  the  State 
courts.  In  1882  he  was,  without  his  solicitation, 
made  a  candidate  for  Congress  in  the  Ninth  District 
of  Missouri.  In  this  candidacy  he  was  simply  the 
standard-bearer  of  the  Anti-Monopoly  party,  without, 
of  course,  any  expectation  of  an  election. 

Mr.  Hill  has  retired  from  the  active  practice  of  his 
profession,  with  an  ample  competency,  and  now  only 
engages  as  counselor  in  important  cases. 

His  great  popularity  among  people  of  all  classes 
has  arisen  not  alone  from  his  eminent  intellectual  and 
legal  abilities,  but  from  his  large  humanity,  which  has 
manifested  itself  whenever  circumstances  permitting 
its  exercise  have  arisen.  One  instance  may  be  cited. 
In  1849,  when  St.  Louis  was  visited  by  the  cholera, 
and  the  physicians  of  the  city  were  unable  to  visit 
half  the  sick,  Mr.  Hill,  who  had  been  a  medical 
student,  "  went  daily  for  several  weeks  into  the  poor 
districts,  where  the  scourge  was  most  fatal,  visiting 
the  sick,  laying  out  the  dead,  and  relieving  the  dis- 
tresses of  the  poor  and  unfortunate  by  all  the  means 
in  his  power  at  his  own  expense.'' 

The  great  aim  of  his  life,  as  illustrated  in  his  last 
work  on  "  Liberty  and  Law,"  has  been  to  elevate  the 
laboring  and  producing  classes,  to  abolish  all  corpora- 
tions that  usurp  or  control  the  means  of  public  inter- 
communication, to  remove  the  tax  on  lands  and 
manufactures,  and  to  establish  a  graduated  income 
tax  to  compel  capital  to  bear  its  just  share  of  the 
taxes  now  borne  by  labor. 

The  Empire  State  has  the  honor  of  ranking  among 
its  sons  Judge  Albert  Todd,  who  was  born  March  4, 
1813,  near  Cooperstown,  Otsego  Co.,  N.  Y.  His 
parents  were  Scotch  and  English,  his  Scotch  blood 
coming  through  his  father,  who  was  a  direct  de- 
scendant of  Christopher  Todd,  one  of  the  original 
colonists  of  New  Haven,  Conn.,  and  his  English 
through  his  mother.  Albert  Todd  was  the  fourth  of 
eleven  children.  He  had  the  benefit  of  the  public 
common  schools  at  the  rate  of  four  months  in  the 
year  until  he  was  fifteen  years  old.  While  he  was 
not  engaged  at  school  he  was  trained  to  work  at  some 
of  his  father's  vocations.  His  early  choice  was  that 
of  a  seafaring  life,  but  after  a  brief  experience  in 
coasting,  which  his  parents  allowed  him,  he  gave  it 
up  and  chose  a  professional  life,  with  the  privilege  of 
a  collegiate  education.  He  was  in  his  eighteenth 
year  when  he  began  his  studies  in  Amherst,  Mass., 
and  in  1832  he  matriculated  at  Amherst  College. 
The  next  year  he  left  Amherst  and  became  a  member 
of  the  sophomore  class  of  Yale  College,  and  graduated 
in  1836  with  an  appointment  for  an  oration.  During 


1504 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


the  greater  portion  of  his  senior  year  he  was  engaged 
in  teaching  school,  and  by  this  means  earned  the 
money  to  pay  the  expenses  of  his  senior  year.  On 
leaving  Yale  he  chose  the  profession  of  law,  and 
began  his  studies  in  the  office  of  Judge  Arphaxed 
Loomis,  in  Little  Falls,  Herkimer  Co..  N.  Y.  The  j 
regulations  in  the  State  of  New  York  then  required 
a  seven  years'  course  of  study  before  application 
could  be  made  for  a  license  to  practice  in  the  inferior 
courts  of  record,  and  three  years'  additional  study, 
with  the  previous  admission  to  practice  as  an  attorney, 
before  an  examination  was  allowed  for  a  license  to 
practice  as  counselor  and  solicitor  in  chancery.  Of 
the  first  seven  years,  a  student  was  allowed  a  credit  of 
four  years  if  he  was  a  graduate  of  a  college.  Mr. 
Todd  prepared  himself  for  his  first  license  to  practice, 
and  sought  a  location  in  the  West.  He  selected  St. 
Louis  as  the  place  to  practice  his  profession,  and  ar- 
rived on  the  9th  of  November,  1839.  In  March, 
1840,  he  was  licensed  to  practice  in  the  courts  of 
Missouri  by  Judge  Tompkins.  In  1854,  Mr.  Todd 
was  elected  to  the  Lower  House  of  the  Missouri  Leg- 
islature. During  this  session  he  devoted  his  services 
to  revising  the  laws  of  the  State,  which  duty  was 
performed  that  session. 

In  1860  he  was  a  candidate  for  Congress  on  the 
Bell  and  Everett  ticket.  He  was  a  Whig  in  politics 
until  the  dissolution  of  that  party ;  since  then  he 
has  acted  with  the  Democratic  party. 

Mr.  Todd  was  one  of  the  freeholders  who  provided 
a  scheme  for  the  separation  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis 
from  the  county  of  St.  Louis,  and  to  organize  new 
governments  for  them,  and  he  was  a  member  of  the 
State  Convention  held  in  1875  for  revising  and 
amending  the  Constitution  of  the  State. 

He  has  always  taken  an  active  interest  in  public 
enterprises.  He  is  one  of  the  trustees  of  Washington 
University,  and  has  given  his  services  gratuitously  as 
professor  in  the  Law  Department,  of  which  he  is 
one  of  the  founders.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of 
the  St.  Louis  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  Associa- 
tion, and  of  the  University  Club,  Public  School 
Library,  Mereantile  Library,  and  the  Missouri  His- 
torical Society.  He  was  also  one  of  the  first  members 
of  the  St.  Louis  Bar  Association,  and  is  a  member  of 
the  Academy  of  Sciences,  and  one  of  the  founders  of 
the  first  St.  Louis  Cremation  Society. 

For  the  last  twenty-two  years  Mr.  Todd  has  not 
practiced  in  the  courts,  having  withdrawn  on  account 
of  his  health.  He  continues  an  office  practice  of  a 
limited  character  from  his  attachment  to  the  profes- 
sion. 

Mr.  Todd  has  co-operated  in  nearly  all  enterprises 


undertaken  by  private  corporations  for  promoting  the 
attractions  of  the  city  and  its  facilities  for  trade  and 


commerce. 


A  graduate  of  the  Michigan  University,  W.  H.  H. 
Russell  climbed  to  enviable  prominence  in  his  chosen 
profession  with  surprising  rapidity,  and  has  added  to 
the  technique  of  law  a  fund  of  general  knowledge 
that  few  persons  surpass.  Born  in  Michigan  in  1840, 
of  sturdy  farmer  stock,  student,  after  leaving  the  uni- 
versity, of  the  Ann  Arbor  Law  School,  he  located  in 
1864  at  Memphis,  Tenn.,  entering  the  office  of  W. 
K.  Patson  ;  the  next  year  becoming  counsel  for  Capt. 
John  A.  Morgan  in  a  noted  case  against  the  general 
government,  he  won  it,  received  a  fine  farm  of  six 
hundred  and  forty  acres  in  Arkansas,  and  fixed  at  one 
stroke  his  own  reputation.  The  year  1867  was  spent 
in  travel ;  1868  saw  him  a  resident  of  St.  Louis. 
Maj.  Uriel  Wright,  his  warm  friend,  secured  him 
as  Hon.  R.  S.  Donald's  associate  in  the  murder  case 
of  Dr.  Headlington.  Charles  P.  Johnson  and  J.  P. 
Colcord  were  their  opponents.  The  trial  was  before 
Judge  Wilson  Primm.  The  admiralty  case  of  the 
"  Bright  Star,"  involving  constitutional  questions  of 
importance,  was  shortly  after  placed  in  his  hands. 
Though  his  opponent  was  the  United  States  attorney, 
General  Noble,  a  very  able  lawyer,  Mr.  Russell  won 
his  case.  His  speech  in  the  noted  divorce  suit  of 
Redelia  vs.  Dr.  James  Fischer  was  printed  and  widely 
circulated  for  its  wit  and  sarcasm.  Then  came  that 
long,  strange  romance  of  the  Max  Klinger  trial,  a 
boy  of  seventeen,  who  murdered  his  uncle.  There 
seemed  no  hope  for  him.  Judge  Primm  chose  Mr. 
Russell  as  Klinger's  counsel.  The  case  had  three 
jury  trials,  was  twice  before  the  State  Supreme  Court, 
and  in  1872  was  decided  by  the  United  States  Su- 
preme Court,  after  having  been  unsettled  for  over 
four  years.  Mr.  Russell  has  since  been  engaged  in 
many  important  cases,  and  is  in  great  demand  as  a 
public  speaker.  In  1871  he  visited  Europe,  and 
wrote  letters  to  the  Democrat  and  Republican. 
Ever  an  admirer  of  the  fine  arts,  a  lover  of  out-door 
sports  and  rural  delights,  a  hard  student  in  his  pro- 
fession, he  deserves  his  success  and  his  popularity. 

Blennerhasset's  success  as  a  public  prosecutor  was 
not  equaled  again  in  St.  Louis  until  the  days  of  Col. 
James  C.  Normile,  whose  career  in  this  city  began  in 
1869,  he  then  being  but  twenty-one  years  of  age.  He 
graduated  at  Georgetown  (D.  C.)  College,  and  studied 
law  in  Columbia  Law  School,  Washington,  D.  C.,  and 
under  Hon.  0.  H.  Browning  and  Gen.  Thomas  Ewing, 
then  in  Washington.  The  former  gentleman  took  a 
warm  interest  in  young  Normile,  and  did  much  to  de- 
velop his  powers  and  waken  his  ambition.  The  young 


BENCH  AND  BAR.  1505 


1506 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


It  has  been  said  that  class  valedictorians  never 
amounted  to  much  afterwards.  Josiah  G.  McClellan 
is  evidence  to  the  contrary.  Born  in  1824,  in 
Wheeling,  W.  Va.,  of  New  England  stock,  he  took 
the  highest  honors  in  1847  at  Williams  College, 
began  the  study  of  law,  wrote  articles  for  the  journals, 
and  being  admitted  started  for  St.  Louis  in  1850, 
with  fifty  dollars  in  his  pocket.  He  entered  the  office 
of  Peter  A.  Ladue,  assessor  of  the  county,  and  as 
chief  clerk  familiarized  himself  with  the  land  and 
land-owners  of  the  city.  In  1851  he  began  practice, 
associating  himself  with  Judge  Moody,  afterwards  of 
the  Circuit  Court,  and  Col.  Hilyer,  afterwards  Gen. 
Hilyer,  of  Gen.  Grant's  staff,  Capt.  U.  S.  Grant  at 
that  time  occupying  a  desk  in  the  same  office.  In 
1856,  Mr.  McClellan  married  the  daughter  of  F.  C. 
Sharpe,  a  renowned  Kentucky  lawyer.  The  civil  war 
disrupted  the  firm.  Mr.  McClellan  removed  to  Ken- 
tucky, and  returned  in  1863,  the  disasters  of  the  war 
having  ruined  him  financially,  and  he  had  to  begin 
over  again.  His  practice  grew,  and  turning  his 
attention  to  land  titles,  he  decided  to  make  an  index 
of  titles  to  all  the  real  estate  in  the  county  of  St. 
Louis.  This  was  a  gigantic  task.  There  are  over 
six  hundred  books  of  records  of  deeds  in  the  re- 
corder's office,  averaging  five  hundred  pages  to  a 
volume.  The  various  concessions,  grants,  and  charges 
under  French,  Spanish,  and  English  law  immeas- 
urably increased  the  difficulty  of  this  task,  but  its 
value  to  the  public  needs  no  comment.  It  is  one  of 
those  works  which  remain  as  monuments  of  industry 
long  after  their  projectors  are  dead. 

George  W.  Bailey  was  born  in  St.  Louis  Noy.  27, 
1841.  His  father,  George  Bailey,  familiarly  known 
in  St.  Louis  as  "  the  carriage  man,"  was  a  native  of 
New  York  State,  where  he  was  born  in  1813.  He 
was  left  parentless  and  penniless  at  childhood,  but  by 
energy  and  perseverance  rose  from  poverty  to  an  in- 
dependency. He  learned  the  trade  of  carriage-black- 
smithing  at  Bridgeport,  Conn.,  thence  diligently 
working  his  way  into  a  small  carriage  business,  and 
afterwards  to  a  greater.  In  1837  he  opened  in  St. 
Louis  the  first  carriage  repository  and  manufactory  of 
consequence  established  in  the  Mississippi  Valley. 
The  founders  and  proprietors  of  the  "  Fallon"  and 
"  Wright"  carriage  manufactories  of  St.  Louis  learned 
their  trades  in  the  establishment  of  Mr.  Bailey.  In 
St.  Louis  he  rose  rapidly  to  an  independent  position, 
and  heavily  invested  the  fruits  of  his  enterprise  and 
labor  in  St.  Louis  real  estate,  in  which  he  had  un- 
bounded confidence,  which  he  maintained  to  the  time 
of  his  death  in  March,  1878.  He  was  thus  closely 
identified  with  St.  Louis  interests  for  more  than  forty 


years,  during  which  period  his  business  sagacity  was 
widely  recognized,  and  his  commercial  honesty  was 
without  blemish  or  question.  Mr.  Bailey  left  a  large 
estate  for  equal  distribution  among  his  surviving  heirs, 
five  sons  and  one  daughter.  Most  of  the  sons  are 
prominent  business  men  of  St.  Louis.  Mrs.  Mary 
Bailey,  the  mother  of  these  surviving  children,  was 
a  native  of  Bridgeport,  Conn.  Her  mother  was  a 
Paltner,  hence  her  children  are  members  of  the  cele- 
brated "  Palmer  family,"  whose  reunions  bring  together 
so  many  thousands  from  all  parts  of  the  country. 

George  W.  Bailey,  the  second  son,  who  was  ad- 
ministrator of  his  father's  estate,  was  educated  in  the 
best  schools  afforded  by  New  England,  finishing  his 
course  at  the  New  York  Conference  Seminary  and 
Collegiate  Institute,  of  Charlotteville,  N.  Y.,  after 
which,  entertaining  an  ambition  to  follow  his  father's 
example  to  success  in  the  carriage  business,  he  volun- 
tarily acquired,  as  indispensable  to  success,  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  business  by  learning  the  trade  of  carriage- 
trimming  at  the  establishment  of  Wood  Brothers,  in 
Bridgeport,  of  which  fact  he  is  to-day  justly  proud, 
although  circumstances  caused  a  departure  from  his 
original  ^intention.  His  father  retiring  from  business, 
'  a  regular  collegiate  course  was  then  determined  upon, 
!  but  the  breaking  out  of  the  civil  war  in  1861  pre- 
vented the  execution  of  the  latter  purpose.  Young 
Bailey  promptly  enlisted  as  a  private  soldier  in  the 
first  "  three  years'  "  regiment  from  Connecticut  (the 
Sixth  Infantry),  and  served  as  a  private  for  seventeen 
months,  during  which  period  the  regiment  was  at- 
tached to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  at  Washington, 
and  the  Army  of  the  South  at  Hilton  Head  and 
Beaufort,  S.  C.  With  the  regiment  he  participated 
in  the  expedition  which  sailed  from  Fortress  Monroe, 
Va.,  to  Port  Royal,  S.  C.,  in  November,  1861,  under 
Gen.  W.  T.  Sherman  and  Commodore  Dupont,  and 
which  was  threatened  with  destruction  in  the  terrible 
ocean  storm  off  Cape  Hatteras.  He  witnessed  the 
picturesque  bombardment  of  Forts  Walker  and 
Beauregard,  Nov.  7,  1861,  and  was  among  the  first 
Union  troops  on  South  Carolina  soil, 

He  participated  with  his  regiment  in  the  campaign 
and  expeditions  about  Hilton  Head,  and  witnessed 
the  bombardment  and  reduction  of  Fort  Pulaski,  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Savannah  River,  from  Danfuskie 
Island,  where  the  Sixth  Connecticut  was  stationed, 
prepared  for  an  emergency. 

In  February,  1863.  Mr.  Bailey  was  commissioned 

by  Governor  Gamble  as  second  lieutenant  in  the  Sixth 

Missouri  Infantry,  then  stationed  at  Young's  Point, 

!  La.,  opposite  Vicksburg,  and  a  part  of  the  Fifteenth 

i  Army  Corps  and  Army  of  the  Tennessee.     He  par- 


y*» 


BENCH  AND  BAR. 


1507 


ticipated  in  the  entire  campaign  of  Vicksburg,  com- 
manding his  company  in  the  bloody  assaults  upon 
that  stronghold  on  the  19th  and  22d  of  May,  1863. 
He  was  slightly  wounded,  but  remained  in  the  field 
until  the  surrender  of  the  city,  July  4th.  He  par- 
ticipated in  the  battles  of  Champion  Hills  and  Jack- 
son, and  accompanied  his  command  to  the  relief  of 
Chattanooga,  when  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  under 
Grant,  hastened  to  the  relief  of  the  beleaguered  Army 
of  the  Cumberland,  under  Thomas.  With  the  Fif- 
teenth Army  Corps,  under  Sherman,  he  participated 
in  the  bloody  battle  of  Missionary  Ridge  and  the 
night  pursuit  of  Bragg's  defeated  army.  Thence  he 
proceeded  with  the  Fifteenth  Corps  to  the  hurried  re- 
lief of  Buruside,  besieged  by  Longstreet  at  Knox- 
ville.  After  the  raising  of  the  latter  siege  the  army 
returned  to  winter-quarters  in  Northern  Alabama.  He 
participated  in  the  Atlanta  campaign,  opening  in  May, 
1864,  and  took  an  active  part  in  the  battles  of  Resaca 
and  Dallas,  and  several  minor  engagements  and  skir- 
mishes with  his  company.  When  the  term  of  service 
of  his  regiment  expired  he,  with  most  of  the  regi- 
ment, promptly  re-enlisted  for  "  three  years,  unless 
sooner  discharged."  Shortly  after  he  was  promoted  j 
to  be  first  lieutenant  of  his  company,  and  shortly  ! 
thereafter  detailed  from  the  regiment  to  serve  as  aide- 
de-camp  on  the  staff  of  Maj.-Gen.  Morgan  L.  Smith, 
then  commanding  the  Second  Division  of  the  Fifteenth 
Army  Corps,  in  which  capacity  he  remained  during 
the  rest  of  his  service  in  the  army.  At  the  battle  of 
Kenesaw  Mountain,  Ga.,  he  performed  a  brilliant 
service.  Having  been  directed  to  accompany  the  as- 
saulting lines,  and  report  concerning  the  position  and 
works  of  the  enemy,  he  was  in  the  thickest  of  the  fire 
of  that  terrible  assault,  and  observed  the  insurmount- 
able obstacles  forbidding  the  success  of  the  venture. 
He  picked  his  way  back  among  the  dead  and  wounded, 
and  reported  to  Gen.  Smith  the  causes  of  defeat.  As 
orders  had  been  given  to  "  re-form  and  re-assault  at 
three  P.M.,"  it  was  important  that  Gen.  Logan  (com- 
manding the  Fifteenth  Army  Corps)  should  be  at 
once  apprised  of  the  situation,  and  Lieut.  Bailey  was 
detailed  for  that  purpose.  Mounted,  he  made  his  way 
three  miles  through  the  timber  cover  to  Logan's 
headquarters,  where  he  found  Gen.  Logan  and  Gen. 
McPherson.  He  reported  the  situation,  and  was 
questioned  by  Gen.  McPherson  as  to  his  own  opinion, 
and  modestly  said  that  he  thought  that  any  further 
attempt  to  carry  the  works  by  assault  would  prove 
only  a  useless  sacrifice  of  life.  Thereupon  he  was  di- 
rected to  return  to  Gen.  Smith  with  the  order  that  he 
was  not  to  re-assault  without  further  orders.  Lieut. 
Bailey  dashed  back,  and  on  the  way  was  the  target  of 


batteries,  whose  aim  was  to  intercept  a  solitary  horse- 
man galloping  across  the  open  space,  and  evidently 
the  bearer  of  a  very  important  message.  Eventually 
an  exploding  shell  prostrated  the  horse  and  dismounted 
and  severely  wounded  the  rider.  Regaining  their 
feet,  though  torn  and  bleeding,  rider  and  horse  were 
soon  again  hurrying  to  insure  the  delivery  of  the 
order.  When  he  arrived  the  troops  were  in  line  for 
another  assault.  The  welcome  order  was  delivered, 
the  bugle  sounded  the  halt,  the  troops  cheered,  but 
the  enemy,  mistaking  the  cheers  as  indicating  another 
assault,  opened  a  furious  fire  upon  the  supposed  ad- 
vance. The  "  further  orders  to  assault"  never  came. 
Thus  many  valuable  lives  were  saved  from  useless 
sacrifice. 

At  the  battle  of  Atlanta,  July  22,  1864,  Lieut. 
Bailey  was  assigned  to  the  important  duty  of  ascer- 
taining at  what  point  in  the  Confederate  lines  Hood's 
forces  were  massed  for  the  assault  on  the  Federal 
works,  in  order  that  they  might  be  opposed  by  the 
Union  reserves.  He  selected  an  elevated  position  im- 
mediately in  rear  of  the  Federal  works,  and  awaited 
the  terrible  battle  which  followed,  and  was  captured 
and  taken  into  Atlanta.  While  at  a  point  about  forty 
miles  within  the  Confederate  lines  he  escaped  by  the 
novel  means  of  being  buried  alive,  and  permitting  his 
captors  to  march  off  and  leave  him.  After  two  and 
a  half  months  of  endeavor  to  regain  the  Federal 
lines,  enduring  many  hardships,  and  having  many 
narrow  escapes  and  romantic  experiences,  he  finally 
gained  a  point  within  one  mile  of  the  Federal  pickets, 
where  he  was  captured  by  Confederate  guerrillas,  taken 
into  the  woods,  and  given  "  two  minutes"  to  prepare 
to  die.  By  remarkable  presence  of  mind  and  by  resort- 
ing to  a  ruse  he  again  escaped,  though  shot  at  four 
times,  receiving  a  rifle-ball  through  his  right  lung 
and  shoulder,  which  wound  for  months  after  seriously 
threatened  his  life.  He  regained  the  Federal  lines  at 
Atlanta,  gradually  recovered,  aud  when  Sherman 
"  marched  to  the  sea"  was,  with  other  wounded,  re- 
moved to  St.  Louis,  and  subsequently  promoted  cap- 
tain of  his  company,  but  retained  his  position  on  the 
division  stuff  until  the  close  of  the  war. 

A  graphic  account  of  his  peculiar  experiences  at 
the  battle  of  Atlanta  and  while  within  the  Confeder- 
ate lines  has  been  published  by  Capt.  Bailey  in  a  neat 
little  volume  entitled  "  A  Private  Chapter  of  the  War," 
which  was  highly  commended  by  officers  and  soldiers 
of  the  late  war,  and  referred  to  by  the  press  generally 
throughout  the  country  as  one  of  most  thrilling  and 
absorbing  interest. 

During  the  war  Mr.  Bailey  acted  as  special  artist 
and  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Illustrated  News, 


1508 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


and  his  many  sketches  and  accounts  of  war  incidents  ap- 
pearing in  that  pictorial  work  were  noted  for  a  degree 
of  accuracy  hardly  to  be  expected  from  mere  war  corre- 
spondents and  artists,  whose  duty  required  of  them  no 
exposure  to  extraordinary  dangers. 

After  the  surrender  of  Lee  and  Johnson,  Capt.  - 
Bailey  was  mustered  out  of  the  service  of  the  gov-  ' 
ernment,  and  shortly  after  received  from  Governor 
Fletcher,  of  Missouri,  a  position  on  his  staff,  with  the  ' 
rank  of  first  lieutenant,  and  was  assigned  to  duty  as  ; 
enrolling  officer  of  the  city  and  county  of  St.  Louis, 
and  enrolled  all  citizens  subject  to  military  duty  into 
regiments  of  Missouri  militia.  In  June,  1865,  Mr. 
Bailey  had  sufficiently  recovered  from  his  wound  to 
commence  the  study  of  law  in  the  office  of  Hon. 
Charles  D.  Drake,  of  St.  Louis.  He  completed  his 
legal  studies  in  the  office  of  the  late  Judge  James 
K.  Knight,  of  St.  Louis,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
of  Missouri  in  1866  by  the  late  Judge  Reber,  and  to 
practice  in  the  United  States  courts  by  an  examining 
board  in  1867.  He  has  ever  since  been  practicing 
law  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  enjoying  a  handsome 
practice  in  the  civil  and  appellate  courts,  which  was 
won  only  by  a  strict  and  careful  attention  to  business, 
conscientious  discharge  of  duty,  and  unquestioned 
integrity,  coupled  with  acknowledged  ability. 

In  1870,  Mr.  Bailey  married  Mary  G.,  daughter  of 
Dr.  G.  W.  Scollay,  of  St.  Louis,  of  which  union  three 
children  were  born,  two  of  whom  still  survive.  For 
the  benefit  of  his  family  Mr.  Bailey  established  his 
home  in  Kirkwood,  a  suburban  town  thirteen  miles 
from  the  city  on  the  Missouri  Pacific  Railroad,  where 
he  resided  until  1878,  when  he  removed  to  the  city. 

When  Mr.  Bailey  went  to  Kirkwood  the  town 
court  was  held  in  general  contempt  on  account  of  its 
futile  efforts  to  enforce  the  law  and  command  respect. 
The  orders  and  writs  of  the  court  were  disregarded  and 
remained  unexecuted,  and  the  recorder  was  in  court 
openly  defied  and  insulted  by  some  of  those  who  were 
violent  in  their  opposition  to  the  enforcement  of  the 
town  ordinances  against  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors 
without  a  license.  At  the  earnest  solicitation  of  the 
recorder,  Mr.  Bailey  accepted  the  appointment  of  pros- 
ecuting attorney  for  the  town,  and  grasping  the  situa- 
tion, at  once  inaugurated  a  new  order  of  things.  His 
first  step  was  to  enforce  respect  for  the  law  and  the 
court,  which  having  been  accomplished  by  a  series  of 
energetic  and  masterly  proceedings,  prosecutions  were 
then  vigorously  conducted,  fines  were  collected,  and 
the  guilty  punished,  and  Kirkwood  has  ever  since  had 
a  worthy  court. 

In  1874,  Mr.  Bailey  was  nominated  and  elected  for 
two  years  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives 


of  the  Missouri  Legislature.  His  representative  dis- 
trict extended  entirely  around  the  city  of  St.  Louis, 
from  the  Missouri  to  the  Mississippi  River,  embrac- 
ing three  large  townships.  He  was  elected  as  a 
"  Straight"  Republican,  defeating  both  a  Democratic 
and  a  "  Liberal"  Republican  opponent.  In  the  Legis- 
lature Mr.  Bailey  took  an  active  and  prominent  part 
in  all  measures  of  importance  which  came  before  the 
House,  and,  as  the  most  prominent  Republican  news- 
paper of  the  State  said,  "  made  his  influence  felt  on 
the  right  side  of  almost  every  contest  in  the  House." 
An  incident  illustrating  the  fidelity  of  Mr.  Bailey 
to  his  tried  friends  is  found  in  the  record  of  the  con- 
test between  the  Missouri  Pacific  Railroad  Company 
and  its  colored  passengers  in  1873.  The  latter  were 
sold  only  first-.class  tickets,  but  were  compelled  to  ride 
in  the  smoking-car.  Women  and  children  and  infants 
constituted  no  exception  to  the  requirement.  Finally 
a  colored  girl  attempted  to  enter  the  regular  Kirk- 
wood passenger-car,  but  was  forcibly  opposed  and  mal- 
treated by  the  brakeman.  Her  friends  sought  re- 
dress, but  resident  counsel  were  generally  afraid  to 
take  hold  of  the  case  on  account  of  "  public  senti- 
ment." Mr.  Bailey  was  appealed  to,  and  accepted  the 
case,  ignoring  "public  sentiment,"  and  glad  to  be 
able  to  cancel  a  portion  of  his  indebtedness  to  the 
colored  race  on  account  of  services  gratuitously  ren- 
dered to  him  while  in  the  Confederate  lines.  He 
declared  that  the  requirement  of  the  railroad  company 
was  a  discrimination  against  "  race  and  color,"  and 
was  prohibited  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  and  of  Missouri,  and  secured  the  arrest,  con- 
viction, and  fining  of  the  brakeman  for  assault  and 
battery.  A  civil  suit  for  damages  was  also  prepared, 
but  was  ended  by  the  company  agreeing  formally  to 
acknowledge  the  right  of  colored  passengers  to  ride 
in  first-class  seats  at  first-class  prices.  The  case  at- 
tracted widespread  attention,  the  question  involved 
(the  application  of  the  Fifteenth  Amendment)  being 
put  to  the  test  for  the  first  time  in  Missouri. 
.  During  the  labor  riots  of  1877,  when  mobs  held 
possession  of  St.  Louis,  Mr.  Bailey's  military  knowl- 
edge was  rendered  available,  and  he  was  prominent  in 
effecting  the  military  organization  in  Kirkwood  for 
home  protection  known  as  the  "  Kirkwood  Rifles," 
which  was  composed  of  the  most  prominent  citizens 
of  the  town.  The  company  was  drilled  to  efficiency 
by  Mr.  Bailey  and  others,  and  its  services  were  ten- 
dered to  and  accepted  by  the  town  authorities  to  assist 
in  the  preservation  of  the  public  peace.  Mr.  Bailey 
succeeded  Capt.  Wright  as  commander  of  the  com- 
pany, and  remained  in  command  until  its  services 
were  no  longer  required. 


•> 
O' 


BENCH  AND  BAR. 


1509 


In  politics  Mr.  Bailey  is  an  earnest  Republican. 

He  is  generally  recognized  as  a  skilled  parliamen- 
tarian, and  is  a  prominent  member  of  various  orders 
and  societies, — the  Masonic  fraternity,  the  American 
Bar  Association,  the  national  and  local  Legion  of 
Honor,  the  Society  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  ; 
and  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  etc. 

Mr.  Bailey  is  also  an  enthusiastic  advocate  of  out-  I 
door  recreation,  especially  for  professional  men.    Being 
deprived,  on  account  of  his  wound,  of  even  the  un- 
satisfactory benefits  afforded  by  a  city  gymnasium,  he  I 
has  always  set  apart  convenient  days  for  out-door  ex- 
ercises in  the  hunting-fields,  claiming  that  more  can 
be  accomplished  in  six  days  by  spending  one  in  such 
recreation  than  otherwise.     He  is  an  expert  wing-shot, 
and  an  admirer  of  well-bred  and  well-trained  setters 
and  pointers,  and  attributes  his  present  excellent  state 
of  health    and   power  of  endurance   to  a  naturally 
tough  and  wiry  physical  constitution,  somewhat  shat- 
tered during  the  war,  but  preserved  and  fostered  by 
periodical  and  ample  exercise  in  the  open  air  of  the  j 
country,  which  he  regards  as  a  sure  prevention  of  ! 
most   of  the  complaints  which  mind   and  flesh  are  '. 
heir  to. 

Late  in  the  eighteenth  century  (about  1790)  Robert  i 
Morrison,  of   Philadelphia,   settled    in    ancient    and  ! 
quaint  Kaskaskia.     Fortunate  in  many  things,  most 
of  all  fortunate  in  his  wooing,  he  courted  and  won  ; 
Eliza  A.  Lowry,  daughter  of  Col.  Lowry,  of  Balti-  : 
more,  for  years  afterwards  called  "  the  most  brilliant 
woman   in   the  valley  of  the   Mississippi."     Of  this 
marriage  James  L.  D.  Morrison  was  born,  April  12, 
1816.     His  father  became  the  largest  mail-contractor 
in  Illinois.     When  but  fourteen  young  Morrison  was  ' 
sent  hither  and  thither,  collecting  drafts  and  money, 
and  arranging  business  matters  with  tact  and  fidelity. 
By  1832  he  carried  mail  two  days,  "  kept  store"  one  j 
day,  and  attended  school  three  days  each  week.     That 
year  he  became  midshipman   in  the   United   States 
navy,  cruised  twenty-seven  months  in  the  South  Pa- 
cific, afterwards  in    the  West    Indies,  became  rich, 
studied    law,    and    in    1836,    returning   to    Illinois, 
completed     his    studies    and    was    admitted.       He 
joined  the  Whigs  with  ardor,  stumped  the  State,  and 
became  one  of  its  best-known    leaders,  but  in  later 
years  has  been  a  Democrat.     He  now  resides  in  St. 
Louis.     Col.  Morrison's  second  wife  is  Adele  Sarpy, 
daughter  of  John  B.  Sarpy,  one  of  the  pioneer  St. 
Louis  merchants. 

Richard  Bland,  of  the  first  Continental  Congress, 

had  no  more  notable  descendant  than  Hon.  Peter  E. 

Bland,  born  in  St.  Charles  County,  March  29,  1824. 

He  was  also  connected  with  the  learned  Chancellor 

96 


Bland,  of  Virginia.  Educated  in  the  Methodist  college 
at  St.  Charles,  forced  to  teach  school  for  a  livelihood, 
student  in  Judge  Lackland's  office  till  1849,  young 
Bland  struggled  upwards,  and  when  admitted  opened 
an  office,  and  soon  became  known  as  a  worker,  com- 
manding a  large  practice.  From  1861  to  1863  he 
served  in  the  Union  army  as  colonel  of  a  Missouri 
cavalry  regiment.  Locating  in  Memphis,  Tenn.,  he 
practiced  with  success  ;  in  1868  returned  to  St.  Louis, 
almost  a  stranger,  but  became  connected  with  some 
of  the  most  important  Supreme  Court  cases,  and  his 
services  have  since  been  in  continual  demand.  His 
wife,  Miss  Virginia  Clark,  of  Richmond,  Va.,  whom 
he  married  in  1845,  died  in  1870,  leaving  three  chil- 
dren, all  grown. 

Richard  Aylett  Barret,  son  of  Richard  F.  and 
Maria  Buckner  Barret,  was  born  at  Cliffland,  the 
home  of  his  grandfather,  a  place  of  great  natural 
beauty,  near  Greensburg,  Ky.  The  estate  was  situated 
on  a  plateau,  diversified  by  hill  and  dale,  and  bordered 
on  the  one  side  by  forests  of  beech  and  oak,  and  on 
the  other  by  lofty  cliffs,  composed  of  shelving  rocks, 
to  which  cling  mosses  and  cedars.  At  the  base  of 
the  plateau  winds  the  silvery  course  of  the  Green 
River  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach. 

Richard  A.  Barret  spent  his  early  youth  at  Spring- 
field, 111.,  and  at  St.  Louis,  where  he  attended  the 
school  of  Edward  Wyman  and  the  St.  Louis  Univer- 
sity, and  also  received  instruction  from  Chester  Hard- 
ing, who  entered  him  at  Phillips  Academy,  Exeter, 
N.  H.,  to  prepare  for  Harvard  College,  which  he  en- 
tered in  1852.  On  the  journey  eastward  his  com- 
panions were  Mrs.  Rhodes,  John  Cavender,  J.  S. 
Cavender,  and  Chester  Harding  (the  two  last  men- 
tioned afterwards  rising  to  distinction  as  officers  in 
the  Union  army  during  the  civil  war),  and  the  route 
taken  extended  from  St.  Louis  to  Brownsville,  Pa., 
and  along  the  Monongahela  by  steamboat,  across  the 
Alleghenies  to  Cumberland,  Md.,  by  stages,  and 
thence  by  rail  to  Washington.  In  the  latter  city  his 
uncle,  Aylett  Buckner,  a  member  of  Congress  from 
Kentucky,  was  then  domiciled  opposite  the  Treasury 
Department,  with  Giddiugs,  Greeley,  Lincoln,  and 
Richardson,  while  Clay,  Douglas,  Crittenden,  and 
other  famous  men  of  the  period  were  frequent  visi- 
tors. When  Messrs.  Lincoln  and  Buckner  went  to 
Philadelphia  to  attend  as  delegates  the  convention 
which  nominated  Gen.  Taylor  for  the  Presidency, 
R.  A.  Barret  accompanied  them. 

Having  obtained  the  degrees  of  M.A.  and  M.D., 
the  latter  from  the  Missouri  Medical  College,  March, 
1854,  Mr.  Barret  went  to  Europe  and  studied  at 
Bon,  Munich,  and  Heidelberg,  being  awarded  the 


1510 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


degree    of    Ph.D.     He    belonged    to    the    Swabia 

o  <-' 

"  Burschenschaft,"  and  traveled  on  foot  up  and  down 
the  Rhine,  and  through  the  "  Phalz"  and  "  Swartz- 
wald,"  and  much  of  Italy,  France,  and  Spain.  For 
some  time  he  acted  as  secretary  of  legation  at  Paris 
under  John  Y.  Mason,  minister  at  the  court  of  Na- 
poleon III.  In  1859,  having  returned  to  the  United 
States,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  St.  Louis,  and 
entered  into  the  practice  of  the  law  with  his  uncle, 
Aylett  Buckner.  He  was  immediately  engaged  with 
Stephen  T.  Logan  and  Milton  Hay,  of  Springfield, 
111.,  in  a  suit  in  which  the  Hanks,  of  Decatur,  111., 
the  relatives  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  were  interested, 
and  he  greatly  enjoyed  the  witty  and  pointed  stories, 
the  cheerful  conversation,  and  the  familiar  courtesy 
of  the  future  President. 

In  the  winter  of  1859-60,  Mr.  Barret  was  em-  i 
ployed,  with  Messrs.  Blocker,  Gurley,  and  Coke,  now 
United  States  senator,  in  settling  disputes  as  to  the 
eleven-league  Galindo  claim,  near  Waco,  McLernan 
Co.  In  May,  1860,  his  father  died,  leaving  a  dis- 
tracted and  scattered  business,  and  a  young  and 
expensive  family  to  his  care.  About  this  time  the 
political  skies  became  overcast  with  the  clouds  of  the 
impending  war,  and  in  the  agitation  which  followed 
Mr.  Barret  bore  an  active  and  influential  part.  He 
at  once  took  firm  ground  in  favor  of  the  Union  cause, 
and  became  a  close  and  intimate  friend  of  Capt.  Na- 
thaniel Lyon,  who  was  looked  up  to  as  the  leader  of 
the  anti-secession  element.  Mr.  Barret  was  one  of 
the  leading  actors  in  the  Southwestern  campaign, 
being  attorney  for  the  United  States  government  in 
the  offices  respectively  of  Gen.  Farrar,  general  super- 
visor of  confiscated  and  contraband  property ;  Col. 
James  O.  Broadhead,  city  provost-marshal  ;  and  Gen. 
E.  B.  Alexander,  United  States  provost-marshal  for 
Missouri.  He  also  acted  as  chief  clerk  and  private 
secretary  to  the  latter  until  April,  1866.  Mr.  Barret 
was  thrown  into  contact  with  the  leaders  on  both 
sides,  and  was  personally  acquainted  with  Governor 
Reynolds  and  Gens.  Frost,  Jeff  Thompson,  Buckner, 
and  Price  (the  last  two  being  his  relatives),  whom  he 
believes  to  have  been  actuated  by  unselfish  and  patri- 
otic though  mistaken  motives,  together  with  many 
other  active  participants  in  the  exciting  scenes  of  that 
stormy  period. 

Mr.  Barret  wrote  several  reports  of  the  fairs  of  the 
St.  Louis  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  Association, 
which  were  published  in  book  form,  and  did  much  to 
popularize  the  association  and  advance  its  interests. 
In  1866  he  went  to  Burlington,  Iowa,  to  settle  up  his 
father's  estate,  and  there  purchased  and  edited  the 
Gazette  and  Argus,  the  oldest  paper  in  the  State. 


With  Henry  W.  Starr  and  J.  G.  Foote,  he  was  sent 
as  a  delegate  to  the  Des  Moines  Rapids  Convention  at 
St.  Louis,  which  resulted  in  the  building  of  the  Keo- 
kuk  and  Nashville  Canal,  and  was  selected  by  the  State 
of  Iowa,  together  with  Gen.  A.  C.  Dodge,  formerly 
United  States  senator  and  minister  to  Spain,  Governor 
Gear,  and  Judge  Edmonds,  of  Illinois,  to  urge  upon 
the  business  men  and  capitalists  of  St.  Louis  the  im- 
portance of  the  St.  Paul  and  St.  Louis  Air-Line  Rail- 
road. On  this  occasion  the  Burlington  Hawlceye 
said,  "  Mr.  Barret  is  entitled  to  the  thanks  of  our 
people  for  his  untiring  efforts  and  success  in  directing 
public  attention  to  this  important  road." 

Mr.  Barret  has  been  a  lifelong  member  of  the 
Turner  Association,  and  is  an  ardent  advocate  of 
physical  culture,  having  delivered  addresses  before 
the  Turners  at  Hyde  Park,  Burlington,  Iowa,  in  com- 
pany with  Theo.  Gulich,  Governor  Stone,  and  Sena- 
tor James  W.  Grimes,  and  at  Peoria,  111.,  with  At- 
torney-General ("  Bob")  Ingersoll,  of  Illinois.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  old  "  Central  Verein,"  from  which 
so  many  Union  soldiers  were  recruited  in  St.  Louis 
during  the  spring  and  summer  of  1861,  and  served 
on  the  finance  and  citizens'  committees  for  the  great 
"Turnfest"  of  1881. 

From  1869  to  1872,  Mr.  Barret  was  editor-in-chief 
of  the  St.  Louis  Dispatch,  and  afterward  commercial 
and  then  city  editor  of  the  St.  Louis  Times.  He  was 
also  private  secretary  to  his  brother,  Mayor  Arthur 
B.  Barret,  and  to  Mayor  James  H.  Britton. 

Mr.  Barret  married  Miss  Mary  Finney,  daughter 
of  the  late  William  Finney,  one  of  the  earliest  set- 
tlers and  most  prominent  citizens  and  merchants  of 
St.  Louis.  He  prefers  a  quiet  life,  removed  from  the 
bustle  and  confusion  of  the  world,  and  of  late  his 
private  affairs  and  his  library  have  been  "  dukedom 
large  enough." 

Samuel  B.  Churchill  came  to  St.  Louis  in  1835. 
He  was  born  in  Louisville  in  1812,  a  lineal  descend- 
ant of  the  famous  Churchill  family  of  Virginia,  and 
connected  by  blood  or  marriage  with  the  Armisteads, 
the  Carters,  the  Turners,  Harrisons,  Oldhams,  and 
many  other  of  the  proudest  familes  of  colonial  and 
Revolutionary  days.  Col.  Churchill  practiced  law  but 
two  years.  He  was  in  law  partnership  with  Ferdi- 
nand Risk.  After  1837  joutnalism  and  politics  oc- 
cupied his  entire  time.  Sympathizing  with  the  South, 
he  was  arrested  and  imprisoned  in  1861,  and  in  1863 
was  ordered  to  leave  the  State.  He  returned  to  Ken- 
tucky, took  a  prominent  part  in  politics  there,  serving 
as  Secretary  of  State  from  1867  to  1872. 

Shepard  Barclay  was  born  in  St.  Louis,  Nov.  3, 
1847.  He  is  the  grandson  of  Elihu  H.  Shepard, 


•• 


BENCH  AND  BAR. 


1511 


one  of  the  pioneers  of  St.  Louis,  who  for  many  years 
was  the  leading  school-teacher  of  the  city.  Mr.  Bar- 
clay began  his  education  at  the  public  schools  and 
High  School  of  St.  Louis,  and  afterwards  attended  St. 
Louis  University,  where  he  was  graduated  in  1867. 
He  next  attended  the  University  of  Virginia,  at  Char- 
lottesville,  Va.,  and  was  graduated  with  high  honors 
in  1869.  He  then  visited  Europe,  and  studied  civil 
law  for  two  sessions  at  the  University  of  Berlin, 
Prussia.  During  his  sojourn  on  the  continent  he  ac- 
quired the  French  and  German  languages.  He  then 
returned  to  St.  Louis,  and  began  the  practice  of  law 
June  1, 1872.  During  his  early  practice  he  was  con- 
nected professionally  with  the  press  of  St.  Louis,  as 
editorial  contributor,  and  manifested  decided  aptitude 
for  the  calling. 

In  1873  he  formed  a  law  partnership  with  W.  C. 
Marshall,  and  in  that  connection  continued  to  practice 
law  until  elected  circuit  judge,  Nov.  7,  1882. 

Mr.  Barclay  has  been  connected  with  and  has  suc- 
cessfully managed  some  of  the  most  important  cases 
that  have  come  before  the  courts.  A  ripe  scholar, 
an  able,  faithful,  diligent,  and  untiring  lawyer,  patient, 
polite,  energetic,  careful,  and  honest,  he  seems  by  na- 
ture, education,  and  experience  eminently  fitted  for 
the  judgeship,  and  his  friends  confidently  expect  from 
him  a  brilliant  record  on  the  bench. 

Joseph  G.  Lodge  was  born  in  Gloucester  County, 
N.  J.,  Jan.  27,  1840;  was  educated  in  Gloucester 
County  and  at  Chester,  Pa. ;  at  the  age  of  nineteen 
taught  school,  continuing  in  this  occupation  for  nearly 
two  years,  and  in  1860-62  attended  the  law  school  of 
Michigan  University  at  Ann  Arbor.  He  also  took  at 
this  institution  a  partial  course  in  the  senior  class  of 
the  Literary  Department.  In  1862  he  graduated  in  the 
law  school  with  the  honors  of  his  class,  having  been 
chosen  orator.  He  then  spent  a  year  in  a  law-office 
at  Detroit,  and  in  1863  removed  to  Battle  Creek, 
Mich.  On  his  arrival  in  that  town  he  was  poor  and 
unknown,  but  soon  made  friends  and  rapidly  acquired 
a  lucrative  practice.  He  was  elected  to  several  offices, 
the  most  important  that  of  prosecuting  attorney  for 
the  county,  in  which  capacity  he  managed  many  intri- 
cate cases,  and  was  generally  very  successful,  although 
he  often  had  to  contend  with  some  of  the  leading 
lawyers  of  Michigan.  He  retained  this  office  four 
years,  having  been  re-elected  for  a  second  term. 

In  October,  1866,  he  married  Miss  Mary  S.  Sailer, 
of  Gloucester  County,  N.  J.,  and  in  October,  1871, 
removed  to  St.  Louis.  Here,  as  in  Michigan,  he 
began  as  an  entire  stranger,  but  he  again  quickly 
built  up  a  large  and  lucrative  practice  as  a  criminal 
lawyer.  While  practicing  mostly  in  the  criminal 


courts,  he  has  had  many  important  civil  cases,  and 
in  both  fields  has  shown  himself  an  able  advocate. 
At  present  he  is  a  member  of  the  legal  firm  of  John- 
son, Lodge  &  Johnson,  which  is  generally  conceded  to 
be  one  of  the  first  in  the  West.  In  1882  he  was  a 
candidate  on  the  Republican  ticket  for  judge  of  the 
Criminal  Court,  but  owing  to  dissensions  in  the  party 
was  defeated.  Industrious,  faithful,  attentive,  and 
with  broad  and  comprehensive  views,  he  is  an  earn- 
est and  forcible  advocate,  but  his  analytical  mind 
makes  him  perhaps  more  effective  in  the  argument 
of  legal  propositions  before  a  court  than  in  the  dis- 
cussion of  questions  of  fact  before  a  jury. 

The  bar  of  St.  Louis  at  the  present  day,  as  re- 
flected in  its  living  and  active  members,  both  those 
upon  the  shady  side  of  the  hill  and  those  who  are 
climbing  to  the  summit,  is  not  unworthy  in  any  re- 
spect of  the  distinguished  ancestry  whose  faint  out- 
line has  been  traced  in  the  preceding  pages.  The 
profession  holds  out  the  same  high  rewards  to  honor- 
able industry,  cultivated  talents,  probity  and  integrity, 
and  our  contemporaries  toil  with  an  inherited  zeal  and 
compete  with  an  ardor  transmitted  through  unbroken 
generations  for  the  same  sort  of  distinction  as  that 
which  compensated  Easton  and  Hempstead,  Carr  and 
Benton,  the  Bateses,  the  Bartons,  the  Gambles,  and 
other  illustrious  men.  Those  who  lightly  pretend  to 
believe  that  the  bar  of  St.  Louis  has  degenerated  are 
not  familiar  with  its  past,  or  have  neglected  to  meas- 
ure the  stature  of  its  present  greatness.  They  may 
not  have  forgotten  Gibson,  Hitchcock,  the  Glovers, 
Broadhead,  Henderson,  and  others  of  national  repu- 
tation, but  they  do  not  sufficiently  take  into  account 
such  men  as  D.  Robert  Barclay,  H.  A.  and  A.  C. 
Clover,  R.  Graham  Frost,  James  S.  Garland,  Joseph 
R.  Harris,  Waldo  P.  Johnson,  Edward  P.  Lindley, 
and  many  others.1 

It  will  be  seen,  from  what  has  been  set  forth 
above,  that  the  bar  of  St.  Louis  was  never,  even  in 
the  most  primitive  times  of  its  history,  what  is 
called  a  "  country  bar,"  where  the  simple  disputes  of 
rustics  are  adjudicated  in  an  unpretentious,  rural 
fashion,  and  the  calibre  of  judges  and  counsel  is  as 
light  in  weight  as  the  causes  brought  to  trial.  Where 
the  missiles  are  mountains  and  hills,  the  giants  must 
be  called  in  to  throw  them.  The  big  lawyers  of  the 
country — those  who  felt  that  they  could  become  big, 
that  is — went  to  Missouri,  Kentucky,  Louisiana, 
Texas,  because  the  big  fees  were  there  which  they 

1  The  author  endeavored  without  result  to  obtain  the  ma- 
terial for  biographical  sketches  of  Henry  Hitchcock,  Samuel  T. 
Glover,  and  other  leading  members  of  the  bar,  whose  modesty 
forbade  them  to  supply  the  necessary  facts. 


1512 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


grasped  at.  So  when  a  class  of  fledgling  doctors 
graduates,  the  youth  who  is  content  to  "  tote"  around 
his  saddle-bags  and  pill-box  all  his  life,  because  he  has 
no  greater  faith  in  his  own  capacity,  gets  him  away 
to  some  rural  district,  where  the  doctors  are  as  few 
and  far  off  as  possible,  but  the  really  ambitious  "  saw- 
bones" seeks  the  heart  of  the  great  city,  where  he 
knows  that  one  critical  case  well  conducted  will  bring 
him  into  lucrative  practice.  The  fees  in  any  good  fat 
land  case  in  St.  Louis  County,  paid  in  land,  were 
often  a  fortune  to  the  lawyer  who  won  the  case,  or,  if 
not,  they  pointed  the  way  to  fortune  ;  for  the  people 
took  an  immense  and  enthusiastic  interest  in  courts 
and  law-suits,  and  attended  upon  prominent  trials  as 
one  would  go  to  the  circus  or  the  theatre.  A  murder 
trial  or  a  land  suit  would  bring  a  whole  county,  a 
whole  circuit,  to  the  county-seat.  Thus  the  lawyers 
were  always  in  the  public  eye,  and  their  merits  and 
achievements  instantly  known  ;  and  in  this  way  the 
St.  Louis  lawyer  constantly  had  the  two  greatest 
possible  incentives  to  endeavor  by  which  man  can  be 
urged  on, — large  profits,  and  the  sincere  applause  of 
multitudes. 

In  this  respect  the  Western  courts  were  as  different 
as  possible  from  those  in  the  East.  Hon.  Oliver  H. 
Smith,  some  time  United  States  senator  from  Indiana, 
in  his  very  entertaining  volume,  "  Early  Trials  in  In- 
diana," notes  this  difference  forcibly.  The  people  of 
the  West  in  those  early  days,  he  says,  thought  "  the 
holding  of  a  court  a  great  affair.  They  came  hun- 
dreds of  miles  to  see  the  judges  and  hear  the  lawyers 
'  plead,'  as  they  called  it.  On  one  occasion  there 
came  to  be  tried  before  the  jury  an  indictment  for  an 
assault  and  battery  against  a  man  for  pulling  the  nose 
of  another,  who  had  insulted  him.  The  court-room  was 
filled  to  suffocation.  There  were  two  associate  judges 
on  the  bench.  The  evidence  and  the  pleadings  were 
heard  with  breathless  expectation,  and  when  the  case 
was  concluded,  the  people  returned  home  to  tell  their 
children  that  they  had  heard  the  lawyers  'plead.' 
How  different  this,"  continues  Mr.  Smith,  from  a 
scene  witnessed  by  him  in  Baltimore  in  1828,  when 
he  visited  the  United  States  court-room  there  and  got 
a  seat  from  the  United  States  marshal.  "  There  was 
a  venerable  judge  on  the  bench,  a  lawyer  addressing 
the  court,  another  taking  notes  of  his  speech.  These 
three  and  the  marshal  composed  every  person  but  my- 
self in  the  room.  They  were  all  strangers.  I  asked 
the  marshal  who  they  were.  '  The  judge,'  he  said,  '  is 
Chief  Justice  Marshall,  the  gentleman  addressing  the 
court  is  William  Wirt,  and  the  one  taking  notes  is 
Roger  B.  Taney,' — three  of  the  most  distinguished  men 
in  the  United  States,  and  yet  in  a  city  of  fifty  thou- 


sand souls  they  were  unable  to  draw  to  the  court- 
room a  single  auditor."  Mr.  Smith  seems  utterly 
unconscious  of  the  fact  that  they  were  not  there  to 
"  draw." 

This  necessity  of  Western  eloquence,  "  drawing," 
has  been  very  slow  to  change,  if  it  has  disappeared 
entirely  now.  Nor  have  the  busy  people  quite  ceased 
to  be  drawn  ;  at  least  such  was  the  case  down  to  a  re- 
cent epoch.  We  do  not  wish  to  seem  libelous,  and 
hence  will  not  vouch  for  the  tradition  that  in  Lex- 
ington, Ky.,  upon  occasion  of  the  second  trial  of  one 
of  the  Shelbys  for  murder,  in  1846,  the  trustees  of  the 
Methodist  Church  seriously  and  urgently  debated  as 
to  whether  or  not  a  great  strawberry  and  ice-cream 
festival  of  the  church,  to  which  weeks  of  labor  and 
preparation  had  been  given,  should  not  be  adjourned 
to  a  later  day,  to  enable  the  people  to  go  hear  the  great 
Henry  Clay  "plead."  And  in  the  interesting  ac- 
count, quoted  from  on  a  previous  page,  from  the  pen 
of  Charles  Gibson,  descriptive  of  the  great  St.  Louis 
venue  of  1850,  when  MM.  les  Comtes  de  Montes- 
quieu were  tried  for  the  murder  of  Kirby  Barnum 
and  Albert  Jones,  we  discover  that  this  personal  in- 
terest in  trials  still  at  that  day  pervaded  the  whole 
community.  "The  trial,"  says  Mr.  Gibson,  "was 
largely  attended,  not  merely  by  our  best  citizens,  but 
nearly  the  whole  of  the  spacious  apartment  was  filled 
by  the  most  refined  and  aristocratic  ladies,  old  and 
young,  of  the  city."  The  writer  adds,  in  the  true 
regretful  spirit  of  a  laudator  temporis  acti,  that  "  the 
contrast  between  a  great  criminal  trial  thirty  years 
ago,  in  which  the  entire  community  took  a  profound 
interest,  and  the  proceedings  of  the  present  day  in 
the  Four  Courts  has  to  be  seen  in  order  to  be  under- 
stood and  fully  appreciated." 

The  temples  of  justice,  however,  and  the  instru- 
ments of  punishment  in  those  primitive  days  were 
just  as  poor  and  mean  as  can  be  conceived,  and  very 
little  calculated  to  draw  the  crowds  which  they  had 
no  capacity  to  accommodate.  The  machinery  of  jus- 
tice seems  to  have  advanced  in  complications  and 
magnificence  in  proportion  as  the  public  interest  in 
her  mysterious,  awful  ways  has  diminished  and  grown 
cold.  This  is  the  way  civilization  works,  perhaps. 
We  do  not  say  that  early  St.  Louis  contented  itself 
with  the  corn-crib  court-house  and  the  goods-box  jail 
seen  by  Mr.  Darby  in  his  early  rides  upon  the  circuit ; 
yet  in  1811,  as  Brackenridge  describes,  there  was  no 
jail  but  the  martello  tower  of  the  old  Spanish  fort, 
and  no  court-house  but  the  stone  barrack  in  that 
fort,  where  vermin  must  have  been  plenty,  or  a 
dining-room  in  a  tavern  by  the  river-side.  The 
record-office  and  records  did  not  keep  much  better 


BENCH  AND  BAR. 


1513 


state,  nor  were  the  court  forms  ceremonious  or  intri- 
cate, except  in  the  matter  of  pleas  and  replications 
and  practice,  where  the  Indiana  forms,  which  had  been 
introduced,  were,  like  the  farmer's  worm  fence,  so 
twisted  in  and  out  that  he  could  not  tell  which  side  he 
was  on  for  the  life  of  him.  These  forms  cost  the 
simple  and  ingenuous  French  liabitans  of  St.  Louis 
many  a  dollar  and  many  an  arpent. 

There  may,  perhaps,  have  been  a  litigious  propen- 
sity among  the  primitive  St.  Louisans  in  respect  of 
suits  upon  personal  issues.  The  number  of  slander 
and  scandal  cases  during  the  Spanish  regime  is  no- 
ticeable, and  makes  the  supposition  thrown  out  quite 
probable.  The  early  judges  under  the  American 
regime  probably  thought  it  needful  to  be  severe  in 
order  to  maintain  their  dignity,  at  least  they  were 
severe  in  many  cases.  The  newspaper  court  reporter 
of  the  present  day  had  no  existence  then,  luckily 
for  him,  but  the  courts  appear  to  have  resented  in  a 
very  uppish  manner  not  only  criticism,  but  every 
other  sort  of  reference  to  their  proceedings  and  man- 
ners, and  there  are  several  cases  on  record — the  chief 
of  them  noticed  in  other  parts  of  this  work — in 
which  criticism  and  comment  were  punished  severely 
as  constituting  contempt.  It  usually  happens  that 
these  blows  of  the  courts,  no  matter  whom  they  are 
aimed  against,  light  upon  the  best  and  most  amiable 
citizens,  and  this  has  been  the  case  in  St.  Louis  from 
the  time  of  Joseph  Charless,  the  first  printer,  to  that 
of  Samuel  T.  Glover,  who  in  1865,  as  we  have  seen, 
was  fined  five  hundred  dollars  for  contempt  in  resist-  ' 
ing  an  unjust  statute  that  impaired  his  most  precious 
rights  as  a  citizen. 

As  a  rule,  however,  the  chief  and  characteristic 
trait  of  the  courts  of  St.  Louis  has  been  the  great 
individuality  and  force  of  ability  of  the  bench  and  bar, 
the  important  character  and  intricate  nature  of  the 
issues  joined,  and  the  simplicity  of  the  court's  methods 
and  surroundings.  The  extreme  economy  of  the  ad- 
ministration in  primitive  times  has  already  been  suf- 
ficiently spoken  of.  This  proceeded  in  part  from  the  > 
simple  surroundings  with  which  judge,  jury,  and  bar 
contented  themselves  on  all  occasions,  from  the  low 
salaries  allowed,  and  from  the  doubling  up  of  many 
offices  and  functions  in  one  person.  Thus  the  clerk  of 
the  Circuit  Court  of  St.  Louis  County  was  also  always 
ex  officio  recorder  of  deeds,  and  usually  prothonotary 
or  register  of  wills  and  clerk  of  the  Probate  Court  like-  , 
wise.  An  odd  instance  of  this  consolidation  of  offices 
in  one  person  is  to  be  observed  in  the  case  of  Dr. 
David  Waldo,  of  whom  some  mention  has  already 
been  made  iu  this  chapter.  Said  Mr.  John  F.  Darby, 
"  He  was  clerk  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  Gasconade 


County  and  ex  officio  recorder  cf  deeds  for  the  county  ; 
he  was  also  clerk  of  the  County  Court  of  Gasconade 
County,  justice  of  the  peace,  acting  as  coroner  and 
as  deputy  sheriff,  it  is  said,  as  well  as  postmaster.  He 
held  a  commission  also  as  major  in  the  militia,  and 
was  a  practicing  physician.  The  duties  of  all  these 
offices  David  Waldo  attended  to  personally,  and  dis- 
charged with  signal  and  distinguished  ability.  The 
county  of  Gasconade  at  the  time  took  in  an  immense 
territory,  including  within  its  boundaries  the  scope  of 
country  now  included  in  the  counties  of  Osage,  Maries, 
Phelps,  Pulaski,  Wright,  and  Texas,  and  on  that 
account  it  was  called  by  many  of  the  inhabitants 
'  The  State  of  Gasconade,  David  Waldo,  Governor.' 
In  speaking  of  the  doctor,  even  to  his  face,  very  few 
of  them  saluted  him  as  mister,  doctor,  or  major  ;  they 
all  called  him  '  Dave.'  " 

The  court-room  in  which  this  factotum  exercised 
every  quality  and  degree  of  civil  function  consisted  of 
one  large  hewed  log  house,  with  one  room,  a  kitchen, 
and  some  log  stables,  so  that  all  had  to  eat  and  sleep 
in  the  same  room,  and  after  the  table  for  breakfast  or 
dinner,  as  the  case  might  be,  had  been  cleared  away, 
the  judge  would  take  a  seat  on  one  side  of  the  room 
in  one  of  the  old-fashioned  split-bottomed  chairs  and 
hold  court. 

It  is  to  be  observed  of  Waldo,  moreover,  that  he  was 
a  gentleman,  a  scholar,  and  a  man  of  many  superior 
qualities,  and  that  he  did  all  these  things  for  the  peo- 
ple among  whom  he  lived  and  not  for  himself,  differing 
therein  entirely  from  that  Iowa  family  not  so  many  years 
back,  of  whom  the  tradition  runs  that,  profiting  by 
sundry  convenient  laws  of  the  new  State,  they  moved 
out  into  the  open  prairie,  and  there,  all  by  themselves, 
after  taking  up  no  end  of  government  land,  went 
through  all  the  motions  of  erecting  a  new  county, 
held  an  election,  county,  township,  and  State,  electing 
themselves  to  all  the  offices,  secured  the  benefit  of  the 
school- house,  school,  court-house,  road,  and  other 
county  funds,  and  then  issued  county  bonds  at  a  rate 
to  make  the  Egyptian  Khedive  stare,  selling  them  for 
what  they  would  bring  and  pocketing  the  proceeds. 
Dr.  Waldo's  method  of  serving  the  public  was  much 
more  genuine  and  cheaper  than  the  modern  method, 
and  the  public  service  was  benefited  in  proportion. 

As  the  officers,  so  the  judges,  with  one  or  two  ex- 
ceptions. And  well  was  it  for  early  St.  Louis  and 
Missouri  that  they  possessed  an  honest  and  capable 
judiciary  in  the  face  of  so  much  and  so  many  tempta- 
tions, for  otherwise  corruption  and  villany  would  have 
stalked  abroad. 

As  we  have  said,  the  court's  surroundings  in  St. 
Louis  were  a  little  less  rude  than  in  Gasconade,  yet 


1514 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


primitive  enough  in  all  conscience.  The  first  court- 
house, in  the  tavern  under  the  bank,  where  Emilien 
Yosti  waited  upon  his  boatmen  customers,  the  second, 
in  the  old  fort  on  the  hill,  have  already  been  spoken 
of  sufficiently  in  several  parts  of  this  book,  nor  is 
there  need  to  say  much  of  the  third,  that  on  the  west 
side  of  Third  Street,  between  Spruce  and  Almond 
Streets,  a  little  one-story  house  of  frame,  fronting  on 
Third  Street.  Here,  within  these  lowly  precincts, 
McNair  ruled  upon  the  bench,  Benton  took  his  attor- 
ney's oath  ;  here  sat  Lucas,  here  pleaded  Barton  and 
Easton  and  Pettibone,  and  many  another  of  the  goodly 
names  enrolled  in  the  preceding  pages  among  the  pio- 
neers. The  catalogue  of  buildings  need  not  be  ex- 
tended further.  So  frugal  did  the  people  continue  to 
be  that  even  as  late  as  1827,  when  population  was 
growing  rapidly  and  the  streets  were  being  paved,  the 
city  could  only  spare  eighteen  thousand  dollars  to  build 
a  new  court-house,  and  the  structure  was  erected  com- 
plete within  the  estimates, — two  miracles  in  one ! 

There  is  nothing  more  to  be  said  upon  this  subject 
except  that  the  bench  and  bar  of  St.  Louis  continue 
to  maintain  their  pristine  vigor  and  intelligence,  illus- 
trating the  records  of  the  future,  not  by  extinguishing 
but  by  intensifying  the  lights  of  the  past  upon  them, 
making 

"  Experience  the  arch  wherethrough 
Gleams  that  untraveled  world,  whose  margin  fades 
Forever  and  forever  where  they  go." 

The  Bar  Association  of  St.  Louis. — On  the  eve- 
ning of  the  16th  of  March,  1874,  a  meeting  of  the 
members  of  the  St.  Louis  bar  was  held  in  Circuit 
Court  Room  No.  2  for  the  purpose  of  "considering 
the  propriety  and  feasibility  of  forming  a  Bar  Associ- 
ation in  the  city  of  St.  Louis."  Col.  Thomas  T. 
Gantt  was  made  temporary  chairman,  and  E.  W.  Pat- 
tison  was  chosen  secretary.  Alexander  Martin  stated 
at  length  the  objects  and  purposes  of  the  proposed 
association,  and  on  his  motion  a  committee  consisting 
of  five  members  of  the  bar  was  appointed  by  the  chair 
to  draft  a  suitable  constitution  and  by-laws  and  sub- 
mit the  same  at  an  adjourned  meeting  of  the  bar. 
The  committee  consisted  of  Alexander  Martin,  Henry 
Hitchcock,  R.  E.  Rombauer,  George  M.  Stewart,  and 
Given  Campbell.  The  next  meeting  was  held  on  the 
23d  of  March,  1874,  at  which  a  constitution  and  by- 
laws were  submitted  and  adopted  substantially  as 
presented,  and  the  final  organization  and  incorpora- 
tion effected.  The  in  corporators  were  : 

John  R.  Shepley,  E.  B.  Adams,  Henry  Hitchcock,  G.  A. 
Finkelnburg,  Shepard  Barclay,  Arba  N.  Crane,  Edmund  T. 
Allen,  Edward  T.  Farish,  Thomas  Thoroughman,  E.  W.  Pat- 
tison,  Alex.  Davis,  Amos  M.  Thayer,  Nathaniel  Holmes, 


Alex.    Martin,  H.    T.    Kent,   E.    C.  Kehr,  John  R.  Warfield, 

C.  S.    Hayden,    A.    M.   Gardner,   John    W.    Dryden,   E.     B. 
Sherzer,  George  M.  Stewart,  R.  H.  Spencer,  William  Patrick, 
Charles  T.  Daniel,  W.  F.  Boyle,  Joseph  Shippen,  R.  E.  Rom- 
bauer, Edward  W.  Tittman,  H.  D.  Wood,  J.  N.  Litton,  E.  P. 
McCarty,  D.  W.  Paul,  T.  A.  Post,  J.  B.  Woodward,  Samuel  T. 
Glover,  William  H.  Bliss,  H.  A.  Hanessler,  J.  S.  Fiillerton,  J. 
S.  Garland,  Hugo  Muench,  Preston  Player,  Leonard  Wilcox, 
M.  Dwight  Collier,   Robert  W.  Good,   George  W.  Lubke,  Leo 
Tarlton,  Charles  G.  Singleton,  W.  H.  Holmes,  W.  H.  Lackland, 
R.  Schulenburg,  J.  F.  Maury,  Win.  H.  Clopton,  Lucien  Eaton, 
Braxton  Bragg,  Jr.,  J.  F.  Conroy,  J.  Q.  A.  Fritcbey,  H.  C.  Hart, 
Jr.,  Henry  M.  Post,  David  Goldsmith,  William  C.  Marshall,  D. 

D.  Duncan,  John  C.  Orrick,  William  B.  Thompson,  H.  L.  War- 
ren, J.  S.  Laurie,  John  E.  Jones,  Silas  B.  Jones,  J.  A.  Seddon, 
Jr.,  J.  0.  Broadhead,   A.  M.  Sullivan,   J.  T.  Tatum,   J.  D.  S. 
Dryden,  Samuel  Erskine,  Nathaniel  Meyers,  John  H.  Rankin, 
Charles  C.  Whittlesey,  George  W.  Cline,  M.  J.  Sullivan,  F.  T. 
Martin,  M.  D.  Lewis,  G.  D.  Reynolds,  John  W.  Noble,  B.  L. 
Hickman,  E.  S.  Tittman,  J.  P.  Vastine,  S.  S.  Boyd,  Francis 
Minor,  Given  Campbell,  M.  R.  Cullen,  T.  A.  Russell,  George 

B.  Kellogg,  A.  W.  Slayback,  Thomas  G.  Allen,  C.  0.  Bishop, 
Chester  Harding,  Jr.,  J.  D.  Foulon,  F.  J.  Donovan,  Francis 
Garvey,   William  J.  Richmond,    G.  H.  Shields,    J.  W.  Ellis, 
Henry  M.  Bryan,   J.  D.  Johnson,  James  Taussig,   R.  S.  Mc- 
Donald, Simon  Obermeyer,  J.  K.  Tiffany,  Samuel  Simmons,  A. 
R.  Taylor,  Sherard  Clemens,  A.  W.  Mead,  J.  F.  O'Rourke,  G. 
Pollard,  F.  C.  Sharp,  D.  Tiffany,  F.  N.  Judson,  Leo  Rassieur, 
P.  Donohue,  Melville  Smith,  W.  C.  Jamison,  Theo.   Hunt,  T. 

C.  Fletcher,  W.  C.  Jones,  T.  T.  Gantt,  H.  E.  Mills,  V.  W.  Knapp, 
George  W.  Taussig,  J.  B.  Nicholson,  Clinton  Rowel],  John  M. 
Krum,  AV.  C.  Bragg,  John  G.  Chandler,  J.  G.  Lodge,  F.  wll- 
lizenus,   L.  Bell,   M.  L.  Gray,   A.  D.  Anderson,  and  Julius  E. 
AVithrow. 

The  association  continued  to  meet  in  court-room 
No.  2  until  the  2d  of  November  following,  when  'it 
was  removed  to  the  life  insurance  building  on  the 
northwest  corner  of  Sixth  and  Locust  Streets.  On 
the  21st  of  April,  1876,  it  returned  to  the  court- 
house and  occupied  a  room  on  the  second  floor,  now 
used  by  the  fire-alarm  telegraph,  and  just  opposite 
the  office  of  the  clerk  of  the  Court  of  Appeals.  It 
remained  there  until  the  5th  of  January,  1880,  when 
it  was  again  removed  to  its  present  commodious 
quarters  on  the  ground-floor  in  the  Market  Street 
wing  of  the  court-house,  near  the  office  of  .the  re- 
corder of  deeds.  Since  its  organization  the  presidents 
and  the  date  of  their  election  have  been : 

1874,  John  R.  Shepley;  1875,  James  0.  Broadhead;  1876, 
Samuel  M.  Breckinridge ;  1877,  John  M.  Krum  ;  1878,  George 
W.  Cline;  1879,  Alexander  Martin;  1880-81,  Henry  Hitchcock; 
1882,  Edward  C.  Kehr.  The  first  board  of  officers  were  John 
R.  Shepley,  president;  G.  A.  Finkelnburg,  A.  N.  Crane,  E.  T. 
Farish,  vice-presidents;  E.  W.  Pattison,  secretary;  A.  M. 
Thayer,  treasurer;  Alexander  Martin,  Edward  C.  Kehr,  Charles 
S.  Hnyden,  executive  committee.  The  present  board  is  com- 
posed of  Edward  C.  Kehr,  president;  Edmund  T.  Allen,  James 
Taussig,  S.  M.  Breckinridge,  vice-presidents  ;  James  E.  With- 
row,  secretary  ;  Eugene  C.  Tittman,  treasurer;  G.  A.  Finkeln- 
burg, Alexander  Martin,  John  W.  Dryden,  executive  com- 
mittee. 


THE   MEDICAL   PROFESSION. 


1515 


The  object  of  the  association  is  to  "  maintain  the 
honor  and  dignity  of  the  profession  of  the  law,  to 
cultivate  social  intercourse  among  its  members,  and 
for  the  promotion  of  legal  science,  of  the  administra- 
tion of  justice."  It  has  accomplished  great  good 
in  elevating  the  tone  of  the  legal  profession  in  St. 
Louis. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

THE   MEDICAL    PROFESSION.! 

THE  earliest  physicians  in  St.  Louis  were  the  army 
surgeons  stationed  at  the  military  posts  under  the 
French  and  Spanish  regimes,  who  in  many  instances 
settled  in  the  community  and  identified  themselves 
with  its  interests  and  life.  As  they  were  usually  men 
of  superior  education  and  good  social  position,  they  es- 
tablished a  standard  of  medical  practice  which  has 
ever  since  been  maintained,  and  laid  the  foundations  of 
a  code  of  medical  ethics  which  has  caused  the  profes- 
sion in  St.  Louis  to  occupy  a  foremost  place  in  the 
medical  world.2  The  first  physician  whose  name  is 
found  in  the  early  archives  is 

Dr.  Andre  Auguste  Conde,  a  native  of  Aunis,  in 
France,  who  was  post-surgeon  in  the  French  service 
at  Fort  Chartres  prior  to  the  cession  to  England,  and 
crossed  the  river  with  the  few  soldiers  brought  over 
by  Capt.  St.  Ange  de  Bellerive,  after  placing  the 
British  Capt.  Stirling  in  possession  of  the  other  side, 
Oct.  20,  1765.  Dr.  Conde  had  married  Marie  Anne 
Bardet  de  Laferne,  July  16,  1763,  whom,  with  his 
infant  daughter  Marianne,  he  brought  over  with  him 
to  the  new  post.  He  received  from  Governor  St. 
Ange,  June  2,  1766,  a  concession,  the  fifth  recorded 
in  the  "  Livres  Terriens," — the  "  land-grant  books," — 
of  two  lots  together  in  the  village,  fronting  two  hun- 
dred and  forty  feet  on  Second  Street,  by  one  hundred 
and  fifty  deep,  being  the  east  half  of  the  block  next 
south  of  the  Catholic  Church  block  (now  No.  58). 
OQ  this  lot  he  built  for  his  residence  a  house  of  up- 


1  For  the  preparation  of  the  greater  part  of  this  chapter  the 
author  is  indebted  to  Dr.  E.  M.  Nelson,  editor  of  the  St.  Louis 
Courier  of  Medicine,  who,  we  think  it  will  be  conceded,  has  dis- 
charged his  task  with  great  care  and  with  painstaking  and 
discriminating  accuracy.  The  author  is  also  under  obligation 
to  Dr.  Nelson  for  many  other  kindnesses  in  the  compilation  of 
this  work.  A  number  of  the  biographical  sketches  contained 
in  this  chapter  were  prepared  by  him,  and  those  contributed  by 
other  persons  are  indicated  by  foot-notes. 

*  The  portion  of  this  chapter  relating  to  the  physicians  of  St. 
Louis  in  the  early  French  and  Spanish  days  was  prepared  by 
Mr.  Frederic  L.  Billon. 


right  posts,  with  a  barn  and  other  conveniences, 
where  he  resided  for  some  ten  years,  until  his  death, 
Nov.  28,  1776. 

Dr.  Conde  was  a  gentleman  of  fine  education,  and 
a  prominent  man  in  the  village  in  his  day.  He  had 
an  extensive  professional  practice,  as  well  on  the  west 
as  on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  being  for  a  time  alone 
in  his  profession  at  this  point.  Having  died  intestate, 
the  Governor  appointed  his  relative,  Louis  Dubreuil, 
merchant,  guardian  to  his  two  minor  daughters,  the 
oldest,  Marianne,  mentioned  above,  the  second,  Con- 
stance, born  in  St.  Louis  in  1768.  An  inventory  of 
his  estate,  taken  a  few  days  after  his  death,  includes 
the  names  (numbering  two  hundred  and  thirty-three) 
of  all  those  indebted  to  him  on  both  sides  of  the 
river  for  professional  services  rendered,  comprising 
nearly  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  two  places,  and 
might  almost  serve  for  a  directory  had  such  a  thing 
then  been  needed.  His  widow  married  a  second  hus- 
band, Gaspard  Houbien,  also  a  European,  Sept.  19, 
1777.  They  subsequently  removed  to  St.  Charles, 
where  they  both  died. 

Conde's  eldest  daughter,  Marianne,  was  married  to 
Charles  Sanguinet,  Sr.,  Aug.  1, 1779,  and  the  second, 
Constance,  first  to  Bonaventura  Collell,  a  Spanish  offi- 
cer, in  the  year  1788,  and  secondly  to  Patricio  Lee,  in 
1797.  Each  of  these  ladies  left  a  numerous  pro- 
geny. The  Sanguinets  of  St.  Louis  comprise  the 
Benoists,  the  wife  of  the  Hon.  John  Hogan,  former 
member  of  Congress,  William  H.  Cozens,  etc.,  and 
the  Lees  of  St.  Charles,  Mrs.  Stephen  and  Mrs.  Thomas 
Rector,  the  Rousseaus,  Benjamin  O'Fallon,  and  others. 

Dr.  Jean  Baptiste  Valleau  was  the  second  physician 
who  settled  at  St.  Louis.  A  native  of  France,  in  the 
Spanish  service,  he  came  to  St.  Louis  late  in  the  year 
1767  as  surgeon  of  the  company  sent  up  by  Count 
Ulloa  from  New  Orleans,  under  the  command  of 
Capt.  Rios,  to  receive  possession  of  the  place.  That 
they  had  come  up  expecting  to  remain,  at  least  for  a 
time,  is  evident,  as  immediately  after  his  arrival  in 
the  place  he  made  application  for  a  lot  in  the  village 
upon  which  to  build  a  house  for  his  family,  which  he 
had  left  in  La  Rochelle,  France.  Accordingly,  he 
received  a  concession  (No.  43)  from  St.  Ange,  dated 
Jan.  2,  1768,  of  the  northeast  quarter  of  the  present 
Block  No.  61,  being  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  on 
the  west  side  of  Second  Street  by  one  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  deep  west  up  the  hill  on  the  south  side  of  Pine. 
After  he  received  the  grant  of  his  lot,  it  was  some 
little  time  before  he  could  find  any  one  to  build  his 
house,  owing  to  the  scarcity  of  workmen  in  that  early 
day  of  the  village.  He  then  entered  into  the  follow- 
ing agreement : 


1516 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


"  I,  Peter  Tousignau,  under  my  customary  mark  of  a  cross, 
not  knowing  how  to  sign  my  name,  in  presence  of  Mr.  Labus- 
ciere,  acknowledge  that  I  bind  myself  to  build  for  Mr.  Valleau, 
surgeon  in  the  Spanish  service,  a  house  of  posts  in  the  ground, 
eighteen  feet  long  by  fourteen  wide  on  the  outside,  and  roofed 
with  shingles,  with  a  stone  chimney,  and  a  partition  in  the 
centre  of  small  square  posts,  with  one  outside  door  and  another 
in  the  partition,  two  windows  with  shutters,  well  floored  and 
ceiled  with  hewed  cottonwood  plank  well  jointed.  The  whole  is 
to  be  completed  by  the  loth  July  next,  subject  to  inspection,  to 
be  built  on  the  lot  of  Mr.  Valleau,  adjoining  Mr.  Calve's. 

"In  consideration  of  the  sum  of  sixty  silver  dollars,  which 
Mr.  Valleau  binds  himself  to  pay  to  said  Tousignau  as  soon  as 
the  house  is  completed,  and  to  furnish  all  the  iron  and  nails 
necessary  for  said  house,  but  nothing  else,  the  posts  of  the  house 
to  be  round,  of  red  oak. 

"Thus  covenanted  and  agreed  in  good  faith  between  us,  at 
St.  Louis,  April  23,  1768. 
"  TOUSIGNAU'S  X  MARK.     VALLEAU.     LABUSCIERE,  witness." 

In  due  time  his  house  was  completed  and  he  in  pos- 
session, shortly  after  which  the  quarter  block  south  of 
and  adjoining  his  was  ordered  to  be  sold  by  the  Gov- 
ernor (the  owner,  one  Calve,  having  left  in  the  night 
to  avoid  his  creditors),  and  was  purchased  by  Valleau, 
with  a  small  house  of  posts  some  sixteen  feet  square 
on  it,  for  six  hundred  livres  (about  one  hundred  and 
twenty  dollars),  Sept.  26,  1768,  Valleau  then  owning 
the  east  half  of  said  block  (now  11).  Shortly 
afterwards  having  been  much  exposed  to  the 
effects  of. a  hot  sun  in  a  new  and  to  him  dele- 
terious climate,  in  riding  back  and  forth  between  St. 
Louis  and  Bellefontaine,  on  the  Missouri,  where  Rios' 
men  were  engaged  in  building  a  fort,  he  fell  ill,  and 
died  at  the  close  of  November,  1768,  at  the  house  of 
Joseph  Denoyer,  nearly  opposite  his  own,  within  a 
year  of  his  arrival  in  the  country.  On  finding  his  end 
approaching,  in  conformity  with  a  custom  almost  uni- 
formly followed  by  devout  Catholics  at  that  day,  he 
executed  his  will  on  Nov.  23,  1768.  He  was  but  one 
of  numerous  others  who  fell  victims  to  the  unhealth- 
ful  influences  incident  to  all  newly-settled  countries 
in  certain  latitudes,  particularly  on  water-courses.  So 
universally  was  it  the  custom  at  that  day  in  colonies 
for  a  sick  person  to  execute  his  will,  commending  his 
soul  to  his  Maker,  that  a  man  who  died  without 
having  done  so  was  deemed  to  have  neglected  one  of 
his  most  important  religious  duties.  It  mattered  little 
whether  he  possessed  much  or  no  property  whatever 
to  dispose  of,  the  will  appeared  to  be  an  essential  to 
entitle  him  to  burial  with  all  the  solemnities  of  the 
holy  church  jn  consecrated  ground. 

This  will  was  as  follows : 

"  WILL  OF  JOHN  B.  VALLEAIT,  SURGEON. 

"  Before  the  royal  notary  in  the  Illinois,  province  of  Louisi- 
ana, in  presence  of  the  hereafter-named  witnesses,  was  person- 
ally present  Mr.  John  B.  Valleau,  a  senior  surgeon  of  His  Cath- 
olic Majesty  in  the  Illinois,  being  now  at  the  post  of  St.  Louis, 


in  the  French  part  of  the  Illinois,  lying  sick  in  bed,  in  the 
house  of  Denoyers,  but  sound  of  mind,  memory,  and  under- 
standing, as  appears  to  the  undersigned  notary  and  witnesses, 
who,  considering  there  is  nothing  more  certain  than  death,  nor 
nothing  so  uncertain  as  its  hour,  fearing  to  be  overtaken  by  it 
without  having  disposed  of  the  few  goods  which  God  has  given 
him,  the  said  John  B.  Valleau  has  made  and  dictated  to  the 
notary,  in  the  presence  of  the  undersigned  witnesses,  his  last 
will  and  testament  in  the  following  manner  : 

"  First,  as  a  Christian  and  a  Catholic,  he  commends  his  soul 
to  God  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  beseeching  His  divine 
bounty,  by  the  merits  of  His  passion,  and  by  the  intercession  of 
the  Holy  Virgin,  of  Holy  St.  John,  his  guardian,  and  of  all  the 
spirits  of  the  celestial  court,  to  receive  it  among  the  blessed. 

"  The  said  testator  wishes  and  ordains  that  his  debts  should 
be  paid  and  the  injuries  occasioned  by  him,  if  there  be  any, 
shall  be  relieved  by  his  executor  hereinafter  named. 

"  He  declares,  wishes,  and  ordains  that  Duralde,  employed 
in  the  Spanish  service,  residing  in  this  post  of  St.  Louis,  whom 
he  appoints  his  executor,  shall  take  possession  of  all  his  effects, 
situated  in  this  colony  of  the  Illinois  and  at  New  Orleans,  either 
personal  or  real  property,  goods,  effects,  money,  or  anything 
belonging  to  the  said  testator  at  the  day  of  his  death,  in  what- 
ever part  of  this  colony  they  may  be  situated,  without  any  res- 
ervation, appointing  the  said  Duralde  as  the  executor  of  this 
will,  and  praying  him  to  undertake  the  charge  as  a  last  proof 
of  friendship. 

"The  said  Duralde  shall  make  a  good  and  exact  inventory  of 
the  property  belonging  to  said  testator,  shall  make  the  sale 
thereof,  and  the  money  arising  therefrom  shall  be  sent  by  him 
to  Madame  Valleau  or  to  her  children,  residing  at  La  Rochelle, 
in  the  house  of  Madame  Chotet,  Main  Street,  revoking  all 
other  wills  and  codicils  which  I  might  have  made  before  this 
present  will,  to  which  I  adhere  as  being  my  last  will. 

"  Thus  made,  dictated,  and  declared  by  the  said  testator,  by 
the  said  notary  and  witnesses,  and  to  him  read  and  re-read,  he 
declaring  to  have  well  understood  it,  and  wishing  the  said  last 
will  to  be  executed  according  to  its  tenor. 

"Done  in  the  room  in  which  the  said  testator  keeps  his  bed, 
the  year  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  sixty-eight,  the 
twenty-third  of  November,  about  six  o'clock  P.M.,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  De  Rive  (Rios),  civil  and  military  Governor  of  the 
Missouri  portion  of  the  country,  at  present  in  this  post  of  St. 
Louis,  and  of  Joseph  Papin,  trader  of  this  same  place,  wit- 
nesses summoned  f<ft-  the  purpose,  and  who  have  with  the  notary 
and  the  testator  signed  these  presents  after  the  same  was  read 

conformable  to  the  ordinance. 

"  VALLEAU. 

"  FRANCISCO  RIVE  (Rios). 
"  JOSEPH  PAPIN. 
"LABUSCIEUE,  Notary." 

It  does  not  appear  that  any  inventory  of  his  per- 
sonal property  was  taken,  as  no  mention  of  it  is  to  be 
found  in  the  archives,  nor  of  any  sale,  but  they  may 
have  been  sent  to  New  Orleans,  as  was  sometimes  the 
case  at  that  early  day  in  our  history.  But  his  executor, 
Martin  Duralde,  proceeded  without  delay  to  dispose 
of  his  two  lots,  which  was  done  at  public  sale  on  Sun- 
day, Dec.  11,  1768. 

Dr.  Valleau's  is  the  first  will  on  record.  He  had 
brought  up  with  him  from  New  Orleans  a  box  of  one 
gross  packs  of  playing  cards,  to  assist  him  in  getting 
through  the  long  and  tedious  winter  mouths  of  this 


THE   MEDICAL   PROFESSION. 


1517 


then  out  of  the  way  part  of  the  world.  After  his 
death,  Duralde,  his  executor,  not  finding  sale  for 
them  except  at  great  loss,  kept  the  box  in  his  store 
for  two  or  three  years,  when,  finding  they  were  almost 
ruined  by  water  leaking  from  his  roof  just  over  the 
place  where  he  kept  them,  he  received  permission  from 
the  Governor  to  dispose  of  them  at  auction. 

Dr.  Antoine  Reynal  appears  from  the  archives  to 
have  been  the  third  surgeon  in  St.  Louis,  from  about 
the  year  1776.  In  the  year  1777  he  purchased  from 
one  Jean  Huge  the  west  half  of  the  block  on  the 
east  side  of  Third  Street,  from  Market  to  Chestnut 
Streets,  with  a  log  house  at  the  south  end,  fronting  on 
Market  Street,  opposite  the  Catholic  graveyard.  The  ' 
north  end  of  this  lot,  at  the  southeast  corner  of  Chest-  ; 
nut  and  Third  Streets,  is  now  occupied  by  the  Mis- 
souri Republican  building.  Dr.  Reynal  lived  here 
for  about  twenty-three  years,  and  sold  the  property  to 
Eugenio  Alvarez  in  November,  1799.  He  subse- 
quently removed  to  St.  Charles,  where  he  died. 

Of  Dr.  Bernard  Gibkins,  the  fourth  physician,  we 
know  but  little,  except  that  he  was  in  St.  Louis  in  the 
years  1779  and  1780,  as  we  find  him  the  possessor  of 
a  house  and  lot  at  that  period.  But  of  what  nation- 
ality, where  from,  or  whether  he  died  here  or  removed 
from  the  place,  is  not  found  in  the  archives  of  the 
day. 

Dr.  Claudio  Mercier  came  up  to  St.  Louis  from 
New  Orleans  early  in  1786.  His  native  place  was 
Lavisiere,  Dauphiny,  France,  where  he  was  born  in 
the  year  1726.  He  had  resided  for  a  time  in  New 
Orleans,  where  he  had  acquired  some  property,  and 
left  a  will  there  when  he  came  up  to  St.  Louis,  which 
he  had  executed  in  1784.  He  added  a  codicil  to  this 
will  at  St.  Louis,  dated  May  17,  1786,  in  which  he 
reaffirms  his  first  will,  emancipates  his1  negro  woman 
Frangoise,  gives  one  hundred  dollars  to  the  poor  of 
St.  Louis,  and  appoints  John  B.  Sarpy  his  executor. 
He  died  unmarried  at  St.  Louis,  on  Jan.  20,  1787, 
aged  sixty-one  years.  It  does  not  appear  that  he 
practiced  here. 

Dr.  Philip  Joachim  Gingembre  (Ginger)  came  early 
in  the  year  1792  to  St.  Louis,  and  purchased  a  small 
stone  house  at  the  northwest  corner  of  the  present 
Olive  and  Second  Streets,  where  he  lived  for  some  • 
years.     He  then  went  to  France,  leaving  his  house  ' 
unoccupied  and  closed.     Not   returning    after  some 
years'  absence,  the  house,  which  was  going  to  ruin, 
was  publicly  sold  by  order  of  the  then  Governor,  Tru- 
deau,  to  pay  his  creditors. 

Dr.  Antoine  Franyois  Saugrain,  born  at  Versailles,  ! 
France,  Feb.  17,  1763,  came  to  St.  Louis  to  reside  , 
with  his  wife  and  two  children,  from  Gallipolis, 


Ohio,  in  the  year  1800.  Here  he  continued  in  the 
practice  of  his  profession  until  his  death,  May  20, 
1820,  at  the  age  of  fifty-seven  years.  Dr.  Saugrain 
when  but  a  youth  had  made  the  acquaintance  of  Dr. 
Benjamin  Franklin  in  Paris,  through  whose  repre- 
sentations of  the  country  he  came  to  the  United 
States,  after  the  recognition  of  our  independence. 
After  remaining  a  time  in  Philadelphia,  he,  in  the 
winter  of  1787-88,  being  then  twenty-four  years  of 
age,  proceeded  with  two  other  young  Frenchmen, 
Messrs.  Pique  and  Raguet,  to  Pittsburgh.  Early  in 
the  spring  of  1788,  having  been  joined  there  by  an 
American,  a  Mr.  Pierce,  the  four  left  Pittsburgh  in  a 
flat-boat  or  broad-horn,  then  so  called,  with  their 
horses  and  baggage,  to  descend  to  the  Falls  of  Ohio, 
now  Louisville.  Dr.  Saugrain  subsequently  joined 
those  Frenchman  who,  about  1790-91,  emigrated 
from  France  to  establish  the  new  settlement  of  Gallip- 
olis, in  Ohio,  in  what  is  now  Gallia  County,  then  a 
wilderness.  He  remained  some  nine  or  ten  years  in 
this  locality,  during  which  period  he  was  married  on 
March  20,  1793,  in  Kanawha  County,  Va.,  just 
opposite  the  place,  to  Miss  Genevieve  Rosalie  Michaud, 
the  eldest  of  the  two  daughters  of  John  Michaud, 
Sr.,  one  of  the  settlers  of  Gallipolis,  from  Paris  ; 
and  here  two  of  their  children  were  born,  viz., 
Rosalie  and  Eliza.  The  first  became  in  after-years 
Mrs.  Henry  Von  Phul,  and  the  second  Mrs.  James 
Kennerly,  both  of  St.  Louis.  The  Michaud  and 
Saugrain  families  removed  together  from  this  place, 
Gallipolis,  to  St.  Louis  in  the  year  1800.  Dr.  Sau- 
grain immediately  entered  upon  the  practice  of  his 
profession,  and  at  the  date  of  the  transfer  to  the 
United  States,  1804,  was  the  sole  practitioner  in  the 
village,  and  the  last  of  the  old  French  stock.  In 
addition  to  the  two  daughters  they  brought  with 
them  from  Ohio,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Saugrain  raised  to 
maturity  several  other  children  born  in  St.  Louis, — 
two  sons,  Alfred,  now  deceased,  and  Frederick,  yet 
living;  Harriet,  who  married  Maj.  Thomas  Noel, 
United  States  cavalry,  both  deceased  for  some  years, 
and  Eugenie,  still  living,  the  widow  of  John  W. 
Reel,  a  former  merchant  of  St.  Louis.  The  family 
of  old  John  Michaud,  who  died  June  29,  1819,  aged 
eighty-one,  comprised  several  sons,  all  now  deceased, 
and  two  daughters,  Mrs.  Dr.  Saugrain,  and  a  second 
who  became  the  wife  of  Dr.  Robinson,  formerly  of 
the  medical  corps  of  the  United  States  army.  The 
lineal  descendants  of  Dr.  A.  F.  Saugrain  are  quite 
numerous,  comprising  the  Von  Phuls,  Kennedys, 
Noels,  Reels,  Saugrains,  and  others.  Henry  Von 
Phul,  a  sketch  of  whose  life  appears  elsewhere,  and 
who  married  the  eldest  of  the  daughters  of  Dr. 


1518 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


A.  F.  Saugrain,  was  one  of  the  earliest  of  the  Ameri- 
can merchants  of  St.  Louis,  honored  for  his  upright- 
ness, and  universally  esteemed  by  the  community 
among  whom  he  lived  for  the  largest  portion  of  his 
prolonged  life.  James  Kennerly  was  a  Virginian  by 
birth,  and  a  merchant  in  the  early  days  of  the  Terri- 
tory. The  widows  of  these  two  gentlemen  still  sur- 
vive at  an  advanced  age. 

During  the  early  period  of  Dr.  Saugrain's  residence 
in  St.  Louis  there  was  also  located  here  a  Dr.  Wat- 
kins,  with  reference  to  whom  we  have  been  able  to 
learn  nothing  save  only  the  name.  There  was  also  a 
Jesuit  priest  named  Didier,  who  used  to  prepare  teas 
and  other  simple  remedies  for  any  who  were  ailing,1 
but  who  was  not  an  educated  physician.  Dr.  Saugrain 
had  had  a  thorough  scientific  and  medical  education 
in  Paris,  and  was  fully  qualified  in  all  the  professional 
learning  of  the  day.  He  relied  almost  exclusively 
upon  ptisanes  and  vegetable  remedies,  regarding  calo- 
mel as  a  virulent  poison  that  never  should  be  taken 
into  the  human  system.  He  left  behind  him  the  repu- 
tation of  a  good  physician  and  a  thorough  gentleman. 

Dr.  Saugrain  was  one  of  the  early  advocates  of  vac- 
cination. In  the  Missouri  Gazette  of  June  7,  1809, 
we  find  a  card  in  which  he  calls  attention  to  the  value  of 
vaccination  as  a  preventive  of  smallpox,  and  announces 
his  readiness  to  vaccinate  any  who  should  apply.2 

1  Dr.  Saugrain's  oldest  daughter,  Mrs.  Von  Phul,  states  that 
there  was  very  little  sickness  here  in  those  days,  and  little  occa- 
sion for  calling  upon  a  physician  or  taking  any  medicine. 
Every  one  was  strong  and  healthy. 

J  "The  undersigned  having  been  politely  favored  by  a  friend 
with  the  genuine  vaccine  infection,  has  successfully  communi- 
cated that  inestimable  preventive  of  the  smallpox  to  a  number  of 
the  inhabitants  of  St.  Louis  and  its  vicinity,  and  from  a  sincere 
wish  which  he  entertains  more  widely  to  disseminate  this  bless- 
ing, he  has  taken  the  present  occasion  to  inform  such  physi- 
cians and  other  intelligent  persons  as  reside  beyond  the  limits 
of  his  accustomed  practice  that  he  will  with  much  pleasure, 
on  application,  furnish  them  with  the  vaccine  infection.  The 
following  comparative  view  and  certificate  will  sufficiently  show 
the  high  estimation  in  which  vaccination  is  holden  by  a 
number  of  the  most  learned  and  respectable  physicians  in  our 
country.  Persons  in  indigent  circumstances,  paupers,  and 
Indians  will  be  vaccinated  and  attended  gratis  on  application  to 

"A.  SAVGRAIN. 
"  ST.  Lovis,  May  26,  1809." 

•'A  comparative  view  of  the  natural  smallpox,  inoculated 
.-iiKillpox,  and  vaccination  in  their  effects  on  individuals  and 
society  : 

"1.  It  is  attempting  to  cross  a  large  and  rapid  stream  by 
swimming,  where  one  in  six  perish. 

"2.  It  is  passing  the  river  in  a  boat  subject  to  accidents, 
where  one  in  three  hundred  perish,  and  one  in  forty  suffer  par- 
tially. 

"3.  It  is  passing  over  a  safe  bridge." 

This  was  accompanied  with  a  certificate  of  the  value  of  vac- 
cination from  a  large  number  of  prominent  physicians  of  Phila- 
delphia and  elsewhere. 


A  similar  announcement  by  Drs.  Mason  and  Gebert 
is  found  some  years  later  (in  March,  1823),  viz.  : 

"  Drs.  Mason  and  Gebert  will  be  prepared  on  the  1st  of  April 
to  vaccinate  those  persons  who  wish  to  avoid  that  dreadful  dis- 
ease, smallpox.  The  utmost  punctuality  may  be  relied  on." 

The  next  name  of  a  physician  which  appears  in 
these  early  papers  is  that  of  Dr.  Farrar,  whose  card 
first  appeared  in  the  Gazette  May  24, 1809,  as  follows  : 

"  Dr.  Farrar  will  practice  medicine  and  surgery  in  St.  Louis 
and  its  vicinity.  He  keeps  his  shop  in  Mr.  Robidoux's  house, 
Second  Street." 

Dr.  Farrar  was  a  man  of  considerable  note,  and 
the  most  conspicuous  among  the  early  practitioners 
of  the  city. 

Dr.  Bernard  Gaines  Farrar,3  son  of  Joseph  Royal 
Farrar,  was  born  in  Goochland  County,  Va.,  July  4, 
1785,  but  his  parents  removed  to  Kentucky  in  the 
autumn  of  that  year.  He  commenced  the  study  of 
medicine  at  the  age  of  fifteen  in  the  office  of  Dr. 
Selmon,  of  Cincinnati,  studying  afterwards  with  Dr. 
Samuel  Brown,  of  Lexington.  He  attended  lectures 
in  Philadelphia  at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  in 
1804,  and  subsequently  graduated  from  the  Medical 
Department  of  Transylvania  University,  Lexington, 
Ky.  He  located  first  at  Frankfort,  Ky.,  but  in  the 
fall  of  1806,  at  the  suggestion  of  Judge  Coburu,  one 
of  the  Territorial  judges  of  Missouri,  who  was  his 
brother-in-law,  he  moved  to  St.  Louis,  and  was  the 
first  American  physician  who  permanently  established 
himself  west  of  the  Mississippi.  From  this  fact  and 
the  high  character  which  he  sustained  he  was  in  later 
days  spoken  of  as  the  "  father  of  the  profession  in 
St.  Louis."  He  rapidly  acquired  a  large  practice 
and  extended  reputation,  not  unfrequently  being 
called  upon  to  take  long  journeys  to  see  critical  cases. 
Not  more  by  his  skill  as  a  physician  and  surgeon  than 
by  his  great  kindness  of  manner  and  devoted  atten- 
tion to  his  patients  did  he  win  friends  and  secure 
patrons.  He  was  tender-hearted,  and  suffered  greatly 
in  the  suffering  of  his  patients,  and  yet.  when  there 
was  duty  to  discharge,  when  he  had  aught  to  do  to 
relieve  such  suffering,  none  could  be  firmer  than  he. 
He  excelled  particularly  in  tact,  and  seldom  erred  in 
prognosis.  He  was  bold  and  decided  in  character 
and  prompt  in  execution.  He  was  specially  dextrous 
in  the  various  manipulations  that  are  demanded  in 
obstetric  practice,  which  was  a  department  of  profes- 
sional work  and  study  in  which  he  took  special  pride 


•  For  the  facts  in  regard  to  Dr.  Farrar's  life  we  are  indebted 
to  a  paper  by  Dr.  C.  A.  Pope,  published  in  the  St.  Louis  Medi- 
cal and  Surgical  Journal,  September,  1850. 


THE   MEDICAL   PROFESSION. 


1519 


and  interest.  He  attained  some  distinction  also  as  a 
surgeon. 

One  of  his  first  operations  was  an  amputation  of 
the  thigh,  performed  on  a  man  by  the  name  of  Shan- 
non, who,  when  a  youth,  accompanied  Lewis  and 
Clark  on  their  expedition  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  In 
1807  Shannon  undertook  a  second  expedition,  under 
the  auspices  of  the  general  government,  to  ascertain  the 
sources  of  the  Missouri.  At  a  point  eighteen  hun- 
dred miles  up  that  river  he  was  attacked  by  the  Black- 
feet  Indians,  and  wounded  by  a  ball  in  the  knee. 
He  was  brought  down  to  St.  Louis,  and  successfully 
operated  on  by  Dr.  Farrar.  In  those  times  the  case 
was  considered  as  an  evi- 
dence of  great  skill,  in  view 
of  the  distance  which  the 
patient  had  traveled,  and 
the  low  state  to  which  his 
constitution  had  been  re- 
duced by  the  accident. 
This  same  Mr.  Shannon 
afterwards  received  an  edu- 
cation in  Kentucky,  and 
became  one  of  her  best 
jurists.  He  was  subse- 
quently elevated  to  the 
bench.  Judge  Shannon 
often  said,  and  even  de- 
clared on  his  death-bed, 
that  he  owed  both  his  life 
and  his  honors  to  the  skill 
of  Dr.  Farrar. 

Dr.  Farrar  made  the 
recto-vesical  section  for  the 
removal  of  a  calculus  which 
had  become  attached  to  the 
fundus  of  the  bladder  sev- 
eral years  earlier  than  San- 
som,  who  is  recognized  as 
having  the  prior  claim  by 

virtue  of  having  been  the  first  to  publish  such  a  case. 
In  the  war  of  1812,  Dr.  Farrar  served  as  a  surgeon, 
and  also  as  a  soldier  in  defending  the  State  against  the 
depredations  of  the  Indians.  His  reputation  became 
widely  extended,  and  he  was  offered  a  professorship  in 
his  Alma  Mater,  the  Medical  Department  of  Transylva- 
nia University,  which  was  then  the  only  medical  school 
west  of  the  Allegheny  Mountains,  but  declined  the 
position.  He  was  a  member  of  the  first  Legislature 
under  the  Territorial  form  of  government,  and  very 
active  and  influential  in  the  affairs  of  the  community. 
He  died  of  cholera  July  1,  1849,  being  within  three 
days  of  sixty-four  years  of  age. 


In  the  discharge  of  his  professional  duties,  Dr. 
Farrar  was  both  physician  and  friend.  No  company 
or  amusement  could  make  him  neglect  his  engage- 
ments, and  he  was  ever  ready  at  the  call  of  the  poor. 
Indeed,  with  respect  to  remuneration  for  his  services, 
it  was  in  most  cases  virtually  optional  whether  pay- 
ment was  made  at  all.  The  convenience  of  all  was 
the  rule  that  governed  him.  He  was  always  generous 
and  disinterested,  and  history  can  produce  few  in- 
stances in  which  a  life  of  such  intense  devotion  in 
relieving  the  diseases  incident  to  his  fellow-men  was 
less  rewarded  by  pecuniary  emolument.  This  utter 
want  of  selfishness  and  extreme  pecuniary  careless- 
ness formed  perhaps  one  of 
the  most  distinctive  traits 
of  his  character.  Among 
his  professional  brethren 
he  was  uniyersally  beloved 
and  esteemed.  He  was  a 
gentleman  in  the  highest 
sense  of  the  term,  and 
well  deserved  their  respect 
and  consideration.  His 
acknowledged  professional 
skill,  his  goodness  of  heart, 
his  polished  urbanity,  his 
high  sense  of  honor  and 
his  noble  generosity  of  na- 
ture endeared  him  to  all. 

With  reference  to  a  num- 
ber of  other  physicians 
whose  names  appear  in 
professional  cards  in  the 
early  numbers  of  the  Mis- 
souri Gazette  there  is  little 
to  say.  Some  of  them  were 
men  of  sterling  merit  and 
great  ability,  but  records 
are  wanting  as  to  details  of 
their  lives.  Yet  it  may  be 

a  matter  of  interest  to  note  the  names  of  some  of 
these  pioneers  and  the  wording  of  their  cards. 

A  few  of  them  are  given  in  the  order  in  which 
they  appear  in  the  newspaper  files : 

April  26,  1810. — "  Dr.  William  Reynolds  has  removed  from 
Kaskaskia  to  Cahokia,  and  has  commenced  the  practice  of 
medicine  in  conjunction  with  Dr.  Truman  Tuttle." 

March  14,  1811. — "Dr.  Wilkinson  has  just  opened  a  hand- 
some assortment  of  medicine  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Manuel  Lisa, 
lately  occupied  by  Fergus  Moorhead,  Esq." 

March  21,  1811. — "Dr.  William  Reynolds  has  opened  a  shop 
of  fresh  and  genuine  medicines  in  the  house  of  Maj.  N.  Jarrot, 
Cahokia,  where  he  will  be  found." 

Jan.  4,  1812. — "Dr.  J.  M.  Read,  from  Baltimore,  offers  his 
professional  services  to  the  citizens  of  this  place  and  its  vicinity. 


1520 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


His  residence  is  in  the  north  end  of  Madame  Dubreuil's  house, 
and  next  to  Maj.  Penrose's,  where  he  can  be  found  by  those 
who  may  wish  to  consult  him." 

July  25,  1812. — "Dr.  Simpson  will  practice  medicine  and 
surgery  in  the  town  and  vicinity  of  St.  Louis.  He  keeps  his 
shop  in  the  house  adjoining  Mr.  Manuel  Lisa,  and  formerly  oc- 
cupied by  Fergus  Moorhead,  Esq." 

Oct.  1,  1812. — "Drs.  Farrar  and  Walker  associated  in  the 
practice  of  medicine." 

Sept.  30,  1815. — "Dr.  Quarles  will  practice  medicine  and 
surgery  in  the  town  of  St.  Louis  and  its  vicinity.  He  may  be 
found  at  his  shop  opposite  Mr.  Patrick  Lee's,  on  Main  Street." 

Jan.  13,  1816. — "  Drs.  Simpson  and  Quarles  having  formed 
a  connection,  the  business  will  in  future  be  conducted  under  the 
firm  of  Simpson  &  Quarles.'' 

Dr.  Simpson  was  prominent  in  various  ways,  and 
the  following  additional  facts  in  his  life  will  be  read 
with  interest  : 

Dr.  Robert  Simpson  was  born  in  Charles  County, 
Md.,  in  1785,  of  a  family  which  had  been  long  in 
this  country.  At  an  early  age  he  studied  medicine  in 
Philadelphia,  and  graduated  from  a  college  the  name 
of  which  is  now  forgotten.  In  1809  he  entered  the 
United  States  army  as  assistant  surgeon,  and  was  or- 
dered to  duty  at  St.  Louis.  In  his  official  capacity 
as  assistant  surgeon  he  accompanied  the  troops  that 
established  Fort  Madison,  on  the  upper  Mississippi, 
remaining  there  about  a  year,  when  he  returned  to 
St.  Louis.  In  connection  with  the  late  Dr.  Quarles 
he  established  the  first  drug  store  in  St.  Louis,  and 
about  the  same  time  was  appointed  postmaster.  He 
held  also,  at  various  times,  several  other  offices  of 
honor  and  public  trust.  In  1823  he  was  appointed 
collector  of  St.  Louis  County,  which  position  he  held 
three  years.  In  1826  he  was  elected  sheriff  of  St. 
Louis  County,  and  served  two  terms.  .Subsequently 
he  engaged  in  merchandise,  transacting  business  on 
Main  Street,  between  Market  and  Chestnut  Streets, 
in  the  same  building  with  the  Missouri  Republican. 
Still  later  he  was  elected  city  comptroller,  and  was  also 
cashier  of  the  Boatmen's  Savings  Institution  and 
member  of  the  State  Legislature.  He  had  not  prac- 
ticed medicine  for  a  long  time  prior  to  his  retire- 
ment from  active  business.  Throughout  life  he  was 
remarkably  robust  and  strong.  He  died  at  his  resi- 
dence, No.  2911  Washington  Avenue,  in  the  eighty- 
eighth  year  of  his  age.  In  all  the  relations  of  life 
none  were  more  favorably  known  than  himself  in  St. 
Louis  through  more  than  a  half-century.  The  geniality 
of  his  temper  won  him  hosts  of  friends,  and  his  high 
sense  of  honor  and  incorruptible  integrity  gained  him 
the  admiration  of  all  who  knew  him.  It  is  but  a  few 
years  since  that  he  knew  and  was  known  by  almost 
every  inhabitant  of  the  city  and  the  surrounding  coun- 
try ;  but  the  immense  increase  of  population,  together 


with  the  retirement  demanded  by  his  great  age,  in  his 
late  years  made  him  less  known  to  the  citizens  at  large. 

In  connection  with  the  statement  that  Drs.  Simp- 
son and  Quarles  established  the  first  drug  store  in  St. 
Louis,  it  may  be  noted  that  in  August,  1808,  there 
appeared  in  the  Missouri  Gazette  an  advertisement 
that  Aaron  Elliot  &  Son  had  received  from  New  York 
a  large  supply  of  drugs  and  medicines,  which  they 
offered  to  the  inhabitants  of  Ste.  Genevieve  on  as  good 
terms,  they  claimed,  as  could  be  obtained  anywhere  in 
the  country.  This  was  several  years  before  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  drug  store  in  St.  Louis  by  Drs.  Simp- 
son and  Quarles.  From  the  same  advertisement  it  would 
appear  that  the  supply  of  patent  medicines  for  "all 
the  ills  that  flesh  is  heir  to"  was  as  liberal  in  the  early 
years  of  the  century  as  at  the  present  time.  The  fol- 
lowing list  of  these  articles  is  taken  from  the  adver- 
tisement mentioned  :  "  Church's  Cough  Drops,  Tur- 
lington's Balsam  of  Life,  Bateman  s  Drops,  British 
Oil,  Steer's  Opodeldoc,  Hill's  Balsam  of  Honey,  God- 
frey's Cordial,  essence  of  peppermint,  Lee's  New 
London  Bilious  Pills,  by  the  gross  or  less  quantity, 
Anderson's  do.,  Hooper's  Female  do.,  Liquid  True 
Blue,  Maccaboy  and  Cephalick  snuff,  chemical  fire- 
boxes, '  one  of  the  best  inventions  in  the  known  world 
for  travelers.'  " 

Dr.  Samuel  Merry  was  also  one  of  the  early  prac- 
titioners in  St.  Louis.  He  graduated  in  medicine  at 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  and  in  1833  was  ap- 
pointed receiver  of  public  moneys  at  St.  Louis,  which 
office  he  held  for  twelve  years.  His  time  was  taken 
up  chiefly  with  his  practice,  which  was  large  and 
burdensome,  while  the  duties  of  the  receiver  devolved, 
in  great  part,  upon  his  deputy. 

The  following  are  some  additional  cards  that  are 
found  among  these  early  papers  : 

Nov.  2,  1816. — "Dr.  Edward  S.  Gantt  offers  his  professional 
services  to  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis  and  its  vicinity." 

Aug.  23,  1817.—"  Dr.  G.  P.  Todson  has  the  honor  of  ac- 
quainting the  inhabitants  of  St.  Louis  and  its  vicinity  that  he 
has  taken  possession  of  the  shop  formerly  occupied  by  Mr. 
Alex.  Laforce  Papin,  opposite  Landreville's  stone  building, 
on  Main  Street,  and  determined  on  a  permanent  residence  in 
St.  Louis  to  practice  physic,  surgery,  and  midwifery." 

April  24,  1818. — "  Dr.  Arthur  Xelson  tenders  his  professional 
services  to  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis  and  its  vicinity." 

Jan.  1,  1819. — "Doctor  Gebert  (lately  from  France),  having 
received  a  regular  diploma  from  the  faculty  of  medicine  in 
Paris,  has  the  honor  to  offer  his  services  to  the  inhabitants  of 
St.  Louis  and  its  vicinity  as  a  physician  and  surgeon.  He  lives 
at  the  house  of  Mr.  Benoit,  opposite  Mr.  Paddock's  boarding- 
house." 

Jan.  15,  1819.— "Dr.  William  Carr  Lane's  office  on  Third 
Street,  late  Reed's." 

June  9,  1819. — "Dr.  G.  P.  Todson's  office  in  Perras'  house, 
on  Second  Street,  Block  57. 


THE   MEDICAL  PROFESSION. 


1521 


Feb.  2,  1820. — "Dr.  Mason,  from  Philadelphia,  offers  his 
services  to  the  inhabitants  of  St.  Louis  and  its  vicinity." 

March  19,  1823. — "  Drs.  Mason  &  Gebert  having  formed  a 
copartnership,  respectfully  offer  their  professional  services  to 
the  public." 

Sept.  13,  1824.— "  Medical  Notice.— Elisha  Embree,  M.D. 
Medicine  and  surgery  in  the  city  and  vicinity  of  St.  Louis." 

Jan.  18,  1827. — "Stammering. — Mrs.  Leigh's  St.  Louis  insti- 
tution for  correcting  impediments  of  speech.  Mr.  A.  Yates, 
of  New  York,  assistant  in  conducting  Mrs.  Leigh's  agency  for 
correcting  impediments  of  speech  in  the  Western  States,  in- 
forms the  public  that  he  has  established  an  institution  for  cor- 
recting impediments  of  speech  at  St.  Louis,  Mo." 

Nov.  29,  1827. — "Dr.  Auguste  Masure,  lately  arrived  from 
Europe,  offers  his  professional  services  in  the  different  branches 
of  physic,  surgery,  and  midwifery  to  the  public." 

Aug.  12,  1828. — "Dr.  Harding,  late  of  Kentucky,  tenders  his 
professional  services  to  the  citizens  of  the  city  and  county  of 
St.  Louis." 

March  17,  1829. — "Dr.  H.  Gaither  respectfully  tenders  his 
services  to  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis  and  its  vicinity." 

July  28,  1833. — "  Dr.  Charles  Geiger  respectfully  announces 
to  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis  and  its  vicinity  that  he  has  estab- 
lished himself  in  this  city  with  the  intention  of  devoting  him- 
self to  the  practice  of  medicine,  surgery,  and  midwifery." 

As  the  years  went  on  the  number  and  influence  of 
the  physicians  increased.  We  give  here  sketches  of 
the  lives  of  some  who  were  eminent  in  the  profession, 
of  others  who  became  prominent  in  other  ways,  and 
again  of  others  whose  lives  are  noteworthy  by  reason 
of  their  associations. 

Dr.  Clayton  Tiffin  was  among  the  most  prominent 
of  the  early  practitioners.  He  was  raised  and  edu- 
cated in  and  near  Chillicothe,  Ohio,  mostly  with  his 
uncle,  Dr.  Edward  Tiffin,  who  was  Governor  of  Ohio 
at  an  early  day  and  also  a  physician.  Dr.  Clayton 
Tiffin  left  Chillicothe  as  an  assistant  surgeon  in  the 
war  of  1812,  and  served  as  surgeon  until  the  war 
closed,  when  he  settled  in  St.  Louis.  He  had  great 
energy,  and  was  an  eminently  practical  man.  During 
his  residence  in  St.  Louis  he  carried  on  a  more  exten- 
sive practice  than  any  other  man  who  ever  lived  here, 
becoming  quite  wealthy  through  his  profession.  He 
was  of  a  restless  disposition,  and  after  some  years  of  pros- 
perous practice  went  over  the  plains  to  Utah  and  then 
to  California,  finally  moving  in  1846  to  New  Orleans, 
where  he  again  entered  practice.  Here  he  soon  built  up 
a  large  business,  especially  among  the  river  men,  many 
of  whom  had  been  his  friends  and  patrons  while  he 
was  practicing  in  St.  Louis.  He  was  a  skillful 
surgeon,  and  is  believed  to  have  made  the  first  suc- 
cessful Cocsarian  operation  in  the  Mississippi  valley. 
He  died  in  New  Orleans  about  1856,  and  his  remains 
were  brought  to  St.  Louis  for  interment. 

Dr.  Herman  Laidley  Hoffman,  another  pioneer 
physician,  was  born  Oct.  17,  1796,  in  Winchester 
County,  N.  Y.  Having  had  the  advantages  of  a 


superior  literary  and  medical  education,  Dr.  Hoffman 
left  New  York  in  the  fall  of  1819,  and,  as  he  said, 
"  with  his  doctor's  degree  in  his  pocket  and  his 
worldly  goods  in  a  valise,"  started  for  St.  Louis,  then 
a  place  of  about  four  thousand  inhabitants.  In  those 
days  it  was  necessary  for  a  physician  to  keep  his  own 
drugs  and  medicines.  Dr.  Hoffman  opened  a  drug 
store  on  the  west  side  of  Main  Street,  about  sixty  feet 
north  of  Market  Street.  His  practice  increased  rap- 
idly, and  by  the  time  he  had  been  settled  in  St.  Louis 
four  or  five  years  he  looked  upon  himself  as  a  pros- 
perous man.  In  1826  he  was  one  of  sixty-five  citi- 
zens comprising  the  old  Phoenix  Fire  Company. 
While  in  Illinois  in  1835  the  stage  in  which  he  was 
riding  upset,  and  his  right  hand  was  so  badly  injured 
as  to  necessitate  its  amputation  at  the  wrist.  By  that 
accident  he  was  deprived  of  one  of  the  greatest  enjoy- 
ments of  his  life, — that  of  hunting,  as  he  could  no  longer 
handle  a  gun.  He  soon  learned  to  write  with  his 
left  hand,  his  first  essay  in  that  line  being  the  signing 
of  the  coupons  to  the  city  bonds,  which,  as  treasurer, 
he  was  required  to  do.  The  doctor,  it  appears,  con- 
tinued in  practice  but  a  few  years,  abandoning  it  some 
fifty  years  ago.  He  subsequently  resided  principally 
in  Cincinnati  and  Cleveland,  where  he  carried  on  an 
extensive  vineyard,  but  returned  to  St.  Louis  in  1874. 
He  died  Nov.  5, 1878.  He  was  a  man  of  fine  literary 
ability,  and  an  unpretending,  upright  citizen. 

It  was  from  the  ranks  of  the  medical  profession 
that  the  first  mayor  was  selected  when  the  city  was 
incorporated  in  1823,  and  such  an  efficient  and  pop- 
ular officer  did  Dr.  William  Carr  Lane  prove  himself 
that  he  was  nine  times  elected  to  that  office.  A  sketch 
of  his  life  will  be  found  in  the  municipal  chapter  of 
this  work.1 


1  The  following  fee  bill,  found  among  the  papers  of  Dr.  William 
Carr  Lane,  was  kindly  loaned  the  author  by  Dr.  Lane's  grand- 
son, Dr.  William  C.  Glasgow,  of  St.  Louis : 

"  At  a  meeting  of  the  medical  faculty  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis, 
held  at  the  City  Hall,  on  the  twenty-third  day  of  November, 
1829,  the  following  regulations  for  fees  were  unanimously  en- 
tered into  : 
Charge 

No.    1.  For  the  first  visit  in  the  city $1.00 

"      2.     "     two  or  more  visits  to  regular  patients,  per 

day.... 2.00 

3.  "     a  whole  day's  medical  attention 10.00 

4.  "     a  night  visit  (expressly),  after  nine  o'clock         2.00 

5.  "     a  whole  night's  medical  attention 10.00 

6.  "     application  or  dressing  vesicatories .50 

7.  "     any  other  simple  dressing .50 

8.  "     visit  in  the  country,  per  mile 1.00 

9.  "     consultation 5.00 

10.  "     writing  a  prescription 1.00 

11.  '     verbal  prescription  or  advice 1.00 

12.  '     treating  syphilis 20.00 

13.  '     treating  gonorrhoea 10.00 

14.  '     natural  labors,  from $8.00  to  20.00 

15.  '     preternatural,  difficult,  etc.,  labors,  from 

$30.00  to  40.00 


1522 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Dr.  Hardage  Lane,  another  prominent  physician  of 
that  period,  was  a  cousin  of  Dr.  William  Carr  Lane, 
and  was  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  accomplished 
members  of  his  profession  in  the  State.  He  had  a 
large  and  lucrative  practice  among  the  best  families  of 
the  city,  and  gave  his  attention  closely  to  professional 


duties,  so  that  he  was  less  conspicuous  in  political 
circles  and  not  so  generally  known  as  his  cousin  Mayor 
Lane.  He  died  early  in  July,  1849,  having  practiced 
medicine  in  St.  Louis  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a 
century.  During  the  prevalence  of  cholera  in  that 
year  he  was  employed  day  and  night  in  his  ministra- 
tions to  those  stricken  with  the  pestilence.  He  was  at 
^arge  .  last  forced  to  yield  to  physical  exhaustion  and  disease, 

No.  16.  For  amputating  fingers,  toes,  and  other  small  J  r    J 

members $10.00     and  after  an  illness  of  two  weeks  died,  a  sacrifice  to 

"     17.     "     amputating  arm,  leg,  or  thigh 50.00   '   ,.  .     .  „          ,,      .        ,    ,  ,    .  TT 

«    18.    "    reducing  luxation  of  the  lower  jaw 5.00  .his  convictions  of  professional  honor  and  duty.     He 

"    19.    "  wrist.... n5-'10'  was  very  hospitable,  and  used  to  entertain  a  great  deal 

"     20.     "  "  "  "      elbow-joint 25.00 

«    21.    "          "            "          "     shoulder-joint...  20.00     of  company.     His  wife  was  an  accomplished  woman 

"    23'    «          "           "          "     knee!!!::.'.'!::.'!!!!  20.'oo  i  and  a  leader  in  society,  and  they  frequently  gave  the 

"    24.    "          "           "          "     hip 50.00  j  most  elegant  dinners  and    fashionable  parties.     Dr. 

"     25.     "     reducing  a  simple  fracture  of  the  arm  or  I   T                                                                        .  .         ...     .                - 

leg    ° * 25.00  •  Lane  was  a  great  reader,  and  kept  himself  abreast  of 

"     26.     "     reducing  a  simple  fracture  of  the  thigh...       40.00      the  mogt  recent  progress  in  the  profession. 
«     27.     "  "  clavicle       20.00   I  J      e 

28.    "          "  "  "  patella.      20.00         Dr.  Stephen  W.  Adreon  was  born  in  Baltimore  in 

II:    "    K^Jg^A^^ft^pbiwi;  1806'     His  father  was    Capt.   Christian   Adreon,  a 

not  used $5.00  to  10.00  j  soldier  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  in  the  war  of 

31.  "     introducing  catheter 5.00      1Q1O  .      .       ,      ,-,.„,     T>      .  r  TIT        i      j 

32.  "    vaccinating,  under  three  persons,  each 2.00     1812  a  captain  in  the  Fifth  Regiment  of  Maryland. 

33.  '  over  three  persons,  each i.oo     In   ear]     jif    Dr    Adreon  enjoyed  all  the  requisite 

34.  '    extracting  tooth 1.00  .,.  .        ,  , 

35.  '    cupping i.oo     facilities  for  acquiring  a  liberal  education,  and  after 

37      '    <       ine?  absces's from *$T 00  to  2*00  i  a  protracted  course  of  study  graduated  finally  at  the 

38.     '    visit  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Missis-  ,  University  of  Maryland.     About  1832  he  came  to 

39.  "  giving  an  injection'.*.'.:::*.::::: :::'.::::::::::::::    1:00  st.  Louis,  turning  his  attention  first  to  commercial 

40.  «    every  visit,  per  day,  more  than  two .50     pursuits,  engaging  in  the  wholesale  dry-goods  business. 

41.  " »  amputating  carpus  or  tarsus 60.00      r  ' 

42.  "  "         the  breast 50.00     He  did  not  long  continue  in  mercantile  occupations. 

It    "    ^&<^^"""^"'".'"'''J"""^      sKo     His  tastes  for  professional  life  led  him  to  the  study 

45.  "    removing  polypus  from  uterus $30.00  to  70.00     an(J  practice  of  medicine,  in  which  he  continued  with 

46.  "  "  "          nares $10.00  to  20.00  . 

47.  "    extirpating  testicle 30.00  i  success   to   the  end   of  his   life.     During   his   long 

'     operating  for  fistula  in  ano $30  00  to  50.00      career  in  gt   Louig  he  wag  frequently  Called  to  OCCUpy 

49.  "     aneuriam $10.00  to  20.00  €  n  J        _  _        rj 

50.  '    the  operation  of  tracheotomy 25.00     positions  of   responsibility   in  the    administration   of 

52'     <  «         °r  pMmosis"0818 5'00  1  municipal  affairs.     During  the  incumbency  of  Mayors 

53.  '  hare-lip 25.00     Kennett,  King,  and  Filley  he  was  a  member  of  the 

54.  '  strangulated  hernia 60.00   I    _  ~  _,  .  ,        ,  .  .     .  , 

55.  '    reducing  strangulated  hernia  by  taxis 10.00  i  Common  Louncil.     1"  or  a  considerable  period  he  was 

56.  «    operatmg  for  hydroceie from^O-OO^sO-OO     president  of  th«  Board  of  Health,  discharging  the 

58.  "    applying  a  roller  to  the  leg  or  arm i.oo     responsible    duties  of  that    office  with    fidelity  and 

59.  "     introducing  seton,  or  caustic,  or  pea-issue.         1.00        i  -ii        TT  j    ii  i_i'  n    •      io/?c  ui, 

skill.     He  served  the  public  well  in  1865  as  health 

CHARGES  FOB  MEDICINES.  officer,  and  during  the  last  year  of  his  life  was  one  of 

8 1.  For  a  simple  dose  of  medicine $0.25     the   managers  of  the   House  of  Refuge,  and   ward 

2.     "     a  compound  cathartic  or  emetic .50 

I    all  tinctures   per  ounce 50  For  attending  to  one  person $20.00 

4.  ••     syrups,  mixtures,  and   compositions,  per  „         »  tw()      £,ons_.  25.00 

,    °,un,ce r" "T."; 50  «  threepersons 30.00 

5.  bark  (common),  flowers,  and  bitters,  per  „  four  or  live  persons 40.00 

lce>" •-•"• ' : .•**                   All  over  five  to  ten,  for  each 5.00 

diaphoretic  and  other  powders,  per  dozen                                   All  over  ten,  for  each 3.00 

7.  "     pills,  quinine,  per  dozen 1.00 

8.  "        "     opii,  per  dozen .50  i       "Resolved  (secondly),  That   every   practicing  physician  in 

9.  '        "    common,  per  dozen 50   j  the  city  of  St.  Louis  annex  his  signature  to  the  above  bill  of 

10.      '     quinine     solution    (eight    grains   to   the 

ounce),  per  ounce .50      p    ce?' 

"     11.      '     blistering  plasters from  25  cents  to  1.00  "  We  whose  names  are  hereunto  subscribed  bind  ourselves  to 

"     12.      '     strengthening  plasters from  50  cents  to  1.00   I   observe  the  above  regulations,  under  the  penalty  of  being  de- 

'     common  ointment,  per  ounce..    25      nounced  as  unworthy  members  of  the  medical  faculty: 

"     14.      '     compound  ointment,  more  costly,  per  oz..  .oO 

Signed  by  Breton,  D.M.M. ;  A.  Moran,  Docteur;  B.  Graham, 

"  It  was  also  unanimously  Horace  Gaither,  Samuel   Merry,  C.  Tiffin,  G.  Brun,  Cornelius 

"Resolved,  1st.  That  in  attending  by  the  year  the  following      Campbell,   Stephen  W.  Roszett,  John  Woolfolk,  Hardage  Lane 
charges  be  adopted  :  '  by  Samuel  Merry,  G.  W.  Call,  W.  M.  Millington." 


.    OAL  r 

- 
• 


arti- 
i 
his  reputation  as  a  physician  aud  sci- 

.-  prime  o 

.  • 


•    • 

:  by  his 
home 


1524 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Farrar,  commencing  in  1828,  the  first  student  of 
medicine  west  of  the  Mississippi.  He  graduated  in 
medicine  at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  in  1832, 
and  in  1838  married  a  daughter  of  John  H.  Gay,  of 
St.  Louis.  His  second  marriage  occurred  in  1864, 
his  wife  being  Mrs.  Tracy,  formerly  Miss  Morton,  of 
St.  Louis.  He  commenced  practice  in  1832,  and  was 
at  once  sent  out  to  the  Indian  Territory  to  vaccinate 
the  Indians,  in  which  service  he  was  engaged  for  sev- 
eral months,  returning  to  the  city  at  about  the  close  of 
the  terrible  cholera  visitation  of  that  year.  He  then 
entered  into  general  practice,  and  only  within  a  few 
years  has  withdrawn  from  active  service  in  the  pro- 
fession. He  was  three  times  elected  president  of  the 
St.  Louis  Medical  Society,  viz.,  in  1840,  1842,  and 
1845. 

Dr.  E.  H.  McCabe  was  born  in  Adams  County, 
Pa.,  in  1801 ;  received  his  collegiate  education  at 
Georgetown  College,  and  graduated  in  medicine  at  the 
University  of  Maryland  in  1822.  He  came  to  Mis- 
souri in  the  following  year,  and  practiced  medicine  for 
two  years  at  Fredericktown,  and  then  at  Kaskaskia, 
111.,  for  seven  years.  From  the  year  1833  to  1849 
he  was  engaged  in  practice  in  St.  Louis,  being  asso- 
ciated in  business  with  Dr  Lewis-  F.  Lane,  and  after- 
wards with  Dr.  Hardage  Lane.  He  was  highly  es- 
teemed as  a  physician  and  as  a  Christian  gentleman. 
In  1849  his  health  became  so  seriously  aifected  as  to 
necessitate  his  withdrawal  from  active  professional 
service.  He  died  June  4,  1855,  having  suffered  for 
five  years  from  epithelioma  of  the  face. 

Dr.  William  Beaumont,  whose  name  is  known  all  over 
the  world  in  connection  with  the  observations  made  upon 
the  subject  of  gastric  digestion  in  the  case  of  Alexis 
St.  Martin,  the  Canadian  boatman,  was  for  many  years 
a  resident  of  St.  Louis,  where  he  died  April  25, 1853, 
after  a  painful  illness  of  a  few  weeks'  duration.  At 
the  time  of  his  death  Dr.  Beaumont  was  in  the 
sixty-eighth  year  of  his  age,  having  been  born  in 
Lebanon,  Conn.,  in  the  year  1785.  In  1812,  after 
studying  medicine,  at  St.  Albans,  Vt.,  for  two  years, 
he  joined  the  Sixth  Infantry,  with  the  appointment 
of  assistant  surgeon.  For  more  than  twenty  years 
he  was  a  member  of  the  medical  staff  of  the  regular 
army,  being  stationed  at  various  points  on  the  North- 
ern frontier.  He  served  through  the  war  of  1812 
with  distinction,  being  present,  among  other  occasions 
of  interest,  at  the  capture  of  Fort  George  in  May, 
1813.  In  1830  he  was  stationed  at  Jefferson  Bar- 
racks, and  afterwards  in  the  arsenal  at  St.  Louis. 
Two  or  three  years  later  he  resigned  from  the  army 
and  took  up  his  residence  in  St.  Louis.  For  many 
years  he  was  considered  by  all  odds  the  most  promi- 


nent surgeon  in  the  city,  and  enjoyed  a  large  and 
profitable  practice.  He  was  not  only  popular  among 
the  people,  but  had  an  excellent  reputation  in  the 
profession. 

That  which  has  made  his  name  best  known  to  the 
profession,  however,  is  the  publication  of  his  papers 
on  the  "  Physiology  of  Digestion  and  Experiments  on 
the  Gastric  Juice"  (published  in  Boston  in  1834). 
While  stationed  upon  the  northern  frontier  he  was  so 
fortunate  as  to  be  called  to  attend  a  Canadian  boat- 
man named  Alexis  St.  Martin,  who  had  received  a 
gunshot-wound  in  the  abdomen  that  healed  up  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  leave  a  fistulous  opening.  By 
means  of  this  accidental  fistula  Dr.  Beaumont  was 
enabled  to  make  a  series  of  observations  upon  the 
nature  of  the  gastric  juice,  and  to  solve  many  prob- 
lems with  reference  to  the  subject  of  digestion  which 
had  previously  been  unknown. 

Dr.  George  Engelmann  was  born  at  Frankfort-on- 
the-Main,  Feb.  2,  1809,  was  educated  at  Frankfort, 
Berlin,  Heidelberg,  and  Wiirzburg,  removed  to  the 
United  States  in  1832,  and  settled  in  St.  Louis  in 
1835,  where  he  has  practiced  medicine  ever  since. 
He  was  president  of  the  St.  Louis  Medical  Society  in 
1852.  In  1836  he  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
Western  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  which  held 
regular  sessions  for  several  years.  The  St.  Louis 
Academy  of  Science  was  organized  in  March,  1856, 
and  continues  a  valuable  organization  to  the  present 
time.  Of  this  society  Dr.  Engelmann  was  for  many 
years  the  president,  and  has  contributed  much  to 
the  value  and  interest  of  its  sessions  and  its  pub- 
lications. 

For  many  years  he  carried  on  a  very  large  and 
laborious  practice,  and  was  recognized  as  one  of  the 
leading  practitioners  in  the  city.  He  had  a  large 
midwifery  practice,  and  was  the  first  one  in  St.  Louis 
to  use  the  forceps  in  difficult  cases,  in  which  he  was 
at  first  bitterly  opposed  by  other  practitioners. 

In  addition  to  the  conduct  of  an  arduous  practice, 
he  has  made  original  investigations  which  have  given 
him  a  world-wide  fame  as  a  botanist.  He  made  me- 
teorology an  especial  study,  principally  as  connected 
with  the  sanitary  status,  and  has  kept  a  record  of 
meteorological  observations  now  for  over  forty-seven 
years.  Dr.  Eugelmann  has  practiced  medicine  in  St. 
Louis  longer  than  any  other  physician  now  living. 
At  the  age  of  seventy-four  he  is  still  occupied  with 
study  and  work  which  many  a  younger  man  would 
consider  onerous,  and  manifests  an  enthusiastic  in- 
terest in  professional  and  scientific  affairs  which 
would  put  to  shame  the  indifference  of  those  who  have 
far  less  right  to  rest  upon  their  laurels  than  he  has. 


itflfe 


the 

-,  and  possessed  rare  qu:i 

though 


1  Contributed  by  F.  II.  Burgess. 


97 


of  patients,  fully  account  for  his  extended  popularity 
and  success.     Gifted  with  a  commanding  presence 


1526 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


which  would  distinguish  him  in  any  assembly,  his 
manners  in  ordinary  intercourse  would  be  considered 
rather  reserved  than  otherwise  ;  but  among  his  more 
intimate  friends  this  easily  gives  place  to  a  more 
genial  bearing,  which  discloses  a  mind  well  stored  with 
professional  and  philosophical  information,  and  a  con- 
versation full  of  anecdote  and  reminiscence,  made 
peculiarly  interesting  by  his  long  and  varied  inter- 
course with  distinguished  men.  Strong  in  his  likes 
and  dislikes,  as  men  of  his  type  generally  are,  he 
seems  to  have  adopted  the  advice  of  Polonius  in 
forming  his  friendships,  and  prefers,  rather  than 
dull  his  palm  with  entertainment  with  each  new- 
hatched,  unfledged  comrade,  to  grapple  to  his  soul 
with  hooks  of  steel  those  friends  whom  he  has  tried, 
gathering  about  him  a  coterie  of  strong  and  faithful 
companions,  who,  from  many  a  quiet  and  unheralded 
act  of  kindness  and  generosity,  have  learned  how  to 
estimate  his  sterling  personal  virtues. 

After  a  long,  interesting,  and  active  practice,  Dr. 
Van  Studdiford  is  still  in  the  enjoyment  of  unbroken 
health  and  physical  vigor,  and  of  mental  faculties 
that  give  no  sign  of  impairment,  the  result  of  a 
careful  observance  of  that  moderation,  temperance, 
and  cheerfulness  which  his  profession  inculcates  as  the 
most  effective  agency  of  the  prevention  and  cure  of 
disease.  Indeed,  he  might  still  be  responding  to  the 
calls  of  an  active  and  varied  general  practice  but  for 
the  demands  of  a  large  office  and  consulting  business, 
and  a  desire  to  enjoy  the  society  of  family  and  friends 
and  the  pleasures  of  study  and  research. 

In  looking  over  the  biographical  sketches  of  a  con- 
siderable number  of  the  eminent  living  and  dead 
practitioners  of  medicine  in  St.  Louis,  one  will  be 
struck  with  the  large  number  of  those  who  came  to 
St.  Louis  in  the  course  of  a  few  years,  from  1840  to 
1845.  Among  them  were  Drs.  McDowell,  McPhee- 
ters,  C.  W.  Stevens,  S.  G.  Moses,  J.  B.  Johnson, 
George  Johnson,  John  S.  Moore,  M.  M.  Fallen, 
Linton,  and  Wislizenus,  all  of  whom  have  left  the 
impress  of  their  minds  and  character  upon  the  pro- 
fession by  their  work  as  teachers  or  as  men  of  science. 

Dr.  Joseph  Nash  McDowell,  one  of  the  best-known 
physicians  and  surgeons  who  have  ever  practiced  in 
St.  Louis,  was  born  in  1805,  and  came  to  St.  Louis 
in  the  spring  of  1840  from  Cincinnati,  where  he  had 
been  associated  in  the  Cincinnati  Medical  College 
with  Drs.  Drake,  Gross,  and  other  distinguished  men. 
On  coming  here  he  immediately  set  to  work  to  or- 
ganize a  medical  college.1  He  was  a  fluent  and  eloquent 


1  See  history  of  the  Missouri  Medical   College,  farther  on  in 
this  chapter. 


speaker,  and  was  possessed  of  great  wit.  His  voice 
and  manner  were  like  those  of  John  Randolph,  of 
Virginia.  He  was  a  natural  orator,  and  possessed  a 
remarkable  power  of  adapting  himself  to  his  audience, 
so  that  he  could  entertain  any  company  or  society 
into  which  he  might  be  thrown.  He  had  an  inex- 
haustible fund  of  anecdotes.  It  is  said  of  him  that 
he  had  a  story  for  every  bone,  muscle,  nerve,  and 
vessel  in  the  whole  body,  and  that  he  used  to  enliven 
his  lectures  and  stimulate  the  memory  of  the  students 
by  relating  these  stories,  and  so  fixing  the  anatomical 
facts  in  their  minds. 

He  was  proverbially  careless  and  improvident  in 
pecuniary  matters,  kind  and  charitable  to  the  poor, 
but  ready  to  take  advantage  whenever  opportunity 
afforded  of  those  who  had  abundant  means.  He  was 
very  eccentric  in  some  particulars.  In  the  early  years 
of  his  residence  here  he  delivered  a  number  of  lectures 
against  Jesuitism,  his  ire  being  aroused  against  the 
order,  perhaps,  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  the  Jesuit 
fathers  of  St.  Louis  University  had  allowed  a  rival 
medical  school  to  be  organized  under  the  charter  of 
their  college.  These  lectures  created  some  excitement 
in  the  community,  and  Dr.  McDowell  was  so  im- 
pressed with  the  belief  that  his  life  was  in  danger 
that  he  made  and  wore  a  brass  breast-plate,  and 
always  carried  arms.  The  medical  college  building 
was  so  constructed  as  to  be  a  formidable  fortress,  and 
his  residence  on  the  opposite  corner  was  also  planned 
so  as  to  be  capable  of  resisting  an  assault.  He  formed 
a  plan  to  go  across  the  plains  and  capture  Upper  Cali- 
fornia. For  this  purpose  he  purchased  from  the 
United  States  government  fourteen  hundred  discarded 
muskets  for  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents  each,  which  he 
stored  in  his  house  and  in  the  basement  of  the  college 
building.  He  also  got  together  quantities  of  old  brass 
and  melted  them  up,  and  even  took  down  the  large 
bell  of  the  college  and  had  six  cannon  cast.  All  these 
arms  were  given  by  Dr.  McDowell  to  the  Southern 
Confederacy  at  the  outbreak  of  the  late  war.  It  is 
said  that  several  hundred  young  men,  most  of  them 
graduates  from  the  college,  had  promised  to  accompany 
I  Dr.  McDowell  on  the  proposed  expedition  to  the  Pa- 
cific coast. 

Among  other  strange  fancies  which  he  had  were 

.  . 

those  with  reference  to  the  disposal  of  the  remains  of 

deceased  friends.  Dr.  Charles  W.  Stevens  relates  that 
within  a  day  or  two  after  he  first  came  to  the  city  as 
a  medical  student  he  attended  the  burial  of  one  of 
Dr.  McDowell's  little  children.  The  coffin  was  lined 
with  metal,  and  after  the  body  of  the  child  had  been 
place  in  it,  was  filled  with  alcohol  and  sealed  tight. 
The  grave  was  in  Mr.  Dillon's  orchard.  One  year 


THE   MEDICAL  PROFESSION. 


1527 


afterward  Dr.  McDowell  had  the  coffin  exhumed,  and 
removed  the  body  of  the  child  to  a  copper  vase  of 
suitable  dimensions  and  shaped  just  like  a  diploma- 
case.  This  again  was  filled  with  alcohol  and  hermeti- 
cally sealed.  Two  or  three  children  died  and  were 
thus  disposed  of.  No  religious  ceremony  of  any  sort 
was  held.  The  copper  vases  were  taken  at  night,  and 
a  procession  being  formed  by  the  students  and  other 
immediate  friends  of  the  doctor,  each  one  carrying  a 
light,  were  quietly  deposited  in  a  vault  in  the  rear  of 
the  premises  where  he  resided. 

Once  when  on  a  hunting  excursion  he  was  much 
struck  with  a  beautiful  knoll  at  the  commencement  of 
the  high  ground  just  east  of  Cahokia.  He  purchased 
it,  constructed  a  vault  there,  and  when  his  wife  died 
he  placed  her  remains  in  a  vault  which  he  had  had 
built  there,  where  they  remained  until  after  his  own 
death,  when  their  son  had  them  removed  to  Bellefon- 
taine.  At  another  time  he  purchased  a  cave  near 
Hannibal  and  had  masonry  constructed  with  an  iron 
gate  at  the  entrance.  He  took  a  copper  vase  contain- 
ing the  body  of  one  of  his  little  children  preserved  in 
alcohol  to  this  cave,  and  had  it  suspended  from  the 
roof  of  the  cave  by  means  of  hooks.  The  gate  at 
the  entrance  was  broken  down  and  the  vase  broken  open 
by  a  company  of  roughs  not  long  after,  and  the  doctor 
gave  up  the  idea  of  having  it  used  as  a  place  of  de- 
posit for  the  dead. 

However,  this  method  of  disposal  of  the  dead 
seems  to  have  taken  a  firm  hold  upon  his  mind,  for 
some  time  after,  when  he  was  quite  sick  and  believed 
himself  to  be  at  the  point  of  death,  he  called  to  his 
bedside  his  son,  Drake  McDowell,  and  his  intimate 
friend  and  associate  in  practice,  Dr.  C.  W.  Stevens, 
and  made  them  swear  that  in  case  of  his  death  they 
would  have  his  body  placed  in  a  copper  vase  with  al- 
cohol, and  that  they  would  then  take  it  to  the  Mam- 
moth Cave  of  Kentucky,  and  have  it  suspended  from 
the  roof  of  that  cave,  asserting  that  he  had  already 
made  arrangements  with  the  proprietor  to  allow  it  to 
be  done. 

In  erecting  the  stone  octagon  building  that  served 
so  many  years  for  the  purposes  of  the  college  he 
caused  a  foundation  to  be  laid  in  the  centre  for  a  large 
column  which  was  to  extend  up  to  the  peak  of  the 
roof,  and  in  which  niches  were  to  be  prepared  for  the 
reception  of  copper  vases  containing  the  bodies  of 
himself  and  members  of  his  family. 

It  is  said  that  the  plan  of  the  octagon  building  was 
suggested  to  him  by  the  form  of  a  very  handsome 
stove  which  stood  in  the  amphitheatre  of  the  former 
college  building,  and  which  the  doctor  greatly  ad- 
mired. It  was  his  intention  to  carry  the  structure  up 


eight  stories  high,  and  surround  the  top  with  ramparts, 
making  it  a  regular  fortress  ;  and  the  foundation  walls 
were  laid  six  feet  thick  with  this  in  view.  Lack  of 
means  alone  prevented  him  from  carrying  out  the 
plan. 

When  the  war  broke  out  in  1861,  Dr.  McDowell 
was  very  pronounced  in  the  stand  which  he  took  in 
favor  of  the  cause  of  the  South,  and,  as  already  men- 
tioned, he  turned  over  to  the  authorities  of  the  South- 
ern Confederacy  the  arms  which  he  had  purchased 
and  had  had  manufactured  several  years  previously. 

As  the  result  of  this  his  college  building  was  con- 
fiscated by  the  United  States  authorities,  and  was 
used  for  some  years  as  a  military  prison.  Dr.  Mc- 
Dowell himself  went  South  and  served  as  surgeon  and 
medical  director  at  different  points  during  the  war, 
after  which  he  returned  to  the  city,  reorganized  the 
faculty  of  the  college,  and  practiced  medicine  until  the 
year  1868,  when  he  died.  His  remains  are  interred 
in  Bellefontaine  Cemetery. 

Dr.  John  S.  Moore  was  born  in  Orange  County, 
N.  C.,  in  1807.  He  was  educated  at  Cumberland  Col- 
lege, Princeton,  Ky.,  graduating  in  1826.  He  at- 
tended one  course  of  lectures  at  Miami  University,  in 
Ohio.  He  then  practiced  for  five  years  at  Mount  Ver- 
non  and  Carlisle,  111.,  having  married  Miss  Morrison, 
of  Princeton,  Ky.,  daughter  of  one  of  the  professors  in 
the  college.  He  started  for  Philadelphia  to  complete 
his  medical  education  and  secure  a  diploma,  but 
meeting  Dr.  McDowell  in  Cincinnati,  he  was  per- 
suaded by  him  to  enter  the  first  class  of  the  Cincinnati 
Medical  College,  at  which  he  graduated  in  the  spring 
of  1832.  He  then  practiced  in  Pulaski,  Tenn.  He 
removed  to  St.  Louis  in  September,  1840,  and  took 
part  in  organizing  the  Medical  Department  of  Kemper 
College,  with  which  institution,  under  its  various 
changes  of  name,  he  has  been  identified  to  the  present 
time. 

In  accordance  with  the  usual  custom  in  those  days, 
the  various  professors  gave  public  lectures  as  intro- 
ductory to  their  several  courses.  It  fell  to  Dr.  Moore, 
as  the  youngest  member  of  the  faculty,  thus  to  give 
the  first  medical  lecture  delivered  west  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi River. 

He  was  dean  of  the  college  faculty  and  presi- 
dent of  the  board  of  trustees  for  a  number  of 
years.  In  1869  he  was  elected  vice-president  of 
the  American  Medical  Association.  From  1849  to 
1860,  and  during  the  war,  he  had  a  very  large  prac- 
tice, but  of  late  years  has  withdrawn  from  active 
business. 

Dr.  William  M.  McPheeters,  who  for  more  than 
forty  years  has  been  one  of  the  leading  medical  prac- 


1528 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


titioners  of  St.  Louis,  was  born  in  Raleigh,  N.  C., 
Dec.  3,  1815,  and  was  the  second  son  of  the  Rev.  Wil- 
liam McPheeters,  D.D.,  a  Presbyterian  clergyman  of 
great  prominence  and  ability.  William  M.  McPheeters 
was  educated  at  the  University  of  North  Carolina,  and 
subsequently  studied  medicine  under  Professor  Hugh 
L.  Hodge,  of  Philadelphia.  In  1840  he  graduated 
from  the  Medical  Department  of  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  after  which  he  served  for  one  year  as 
resident  physician  at  the  Blockley  Hospital,  Phila- 
delphia. Upon  relinquishing  this  position  in  the  fall 
of  1841,  he  removed  to  St.  Louis,  where  he  arrived 
October  15th  of  the  same  year. 

In  company  with  Drs.  Charles  A.  Pope,  S.  G. 
Moses,  J.  B.  Johnson,  George  Johnson,  and  J.  I. 
Clark,  Dr.  McPheeters  assisted  in  establishing  the 
first  public  dispensary  west  of  the  Mississippi -River. 
These  gentlemen  also  inaugurated  many  important 
reforms,  and  brought  to  the  practice  of  their  chosen 
profession  a  devotion  and  skill  which  marked  a  new 
era  in  the  medical  history  of  St.  Louis. 

The  high  esteem  in  which  Dr.  McPheeters  was 
held  by  those  most  competent  to  judge  of  his  profes- 
sional abilities  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  he  was  early 
chosen  Professor  of  Clinical  Medicine  and  Patho- 
logical Anatomy,  and  afterwards  of  Materia  Medica 
and  Therapeutics,  in  the  St.  Louis  Medical  College,  in 
which  positions  he  served  faithfully  for  fourteen  years, 
and  until  he  left  home  to  join  the  Confederate  army. 
He  also  occupied  the  same  chair  after  the  war  in  the 
Missouri  Medical  College,  from  1866  to  1874,  when 
he  retired  from  the  professorship  to  accept  the  posi- 
tion of  medical  director  of  the  St.  Louis  Mutual  Life 
Insurance  Company. 

From  1856  to  1861  he  was  surgeon  of  the  United 
States  Marine  Hospital  at  St.  Louis,  and  for  a  num- 
ber of  years  was  physician  in  charge  of  the  medical 
wards  of  the  St.  Louis  Hospital  of  the  Sisters  of 
Charity. 

For  eighteen  years  (from  1843  to  1861)  he  edited 
with  great  ability  and  success  the  St.  Louis  Medical 
and  Surgical  Journal,  in  which  appeared  numerous 
able  articles  from  his  incisive  pen,  among  them  being 
a  history  of  the  cholera  epidemic  in  St.  Louis  in  1849, 
which  attracted  wide  attention,  and  proved  a  valuable 
contribution  to  medical  science.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  Obstetrical  and  Gynecological  Society  of  St.  Louis, 
of  the  St.  Louis  Medical  Society,  and  of  the  Medical 
Association  of  the  State  of  Missouri.  Of  the  two 
latter  societies  he  has  been  president. 

In  1872,  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  American 
Medical  Association,  held  in  Philadelphia,  he  was 
elected  vice-president  of  that  body.  He  is  a  member 


also  of  the  St.  Louis  Medico- Chirurgical  Society,  and 
has  been  elected  an  honorary  member  of  the  State 
Medical  Associations  of  North  Carolina  and  Arkansas. 

During  the  late  war  Dr.  McPheeters'  sympathies 
were  with  the  Southern  Confederacy,  and  for  three 
years  he  served  as  surgeon  in  the  Confederate  army, 
filling  many  important  positions,  among  them  that  of 
medical  director  on  Maj.-Gen.  Sterling  Prices  staff. 
At  the  close  of  the  war  he  returned  to  St.  Louis,  and 
resumed  the  practice  of  his  profession.  He  has  been 
twice  married,  the  first  time  to  Miss  Martha  Selden, 
of  Virginia,  who  died  about  a  year  after  her  marriage ; 
the  second  time  to  Miss  Sallie  Buchanan,  of  St.  Louis, 
who  is  the  mother  of  six  children,  and  who  for  more 
than  a  third  of  a  century  has  made  his  home  one  of 
great  peace  and  comfort. 

Dr.  McPheeters  is  a  man  of  such  decided  Christian 
character  that  a  failure  to  refer  to  that  fact  would 
render  this  outline  of  his  life  conspicuously  incom- 
plete. For  many  years  he  has  been  a  ruling  elder  in 
the  Pine  Street  (now  the  Grand  Avenue)  Presbyterian 
Church,  in  which  position  he  has  served  with  marked 
fidelity.  He  was  the  first  president  of  the  St.  Louis 
branch  of  the  Western  Society  for  the  Suppression  of 
Vice.  Dr.  McPheeters'  learning  and  skill  have  won 
for  him  a  wide  reputation  and  the  confidence  of  the 
entire  medical  profession  wherever  he  is  known,  while 
his  unswerving  devotion  to  the  duties  of  religion  has 
endeared  him  to  thousands  who  have  received  at  his 
hands  not  only  remedies  for  the  ills  that  flesh  is  heir 
to,  but  also  spiritual  advice  and  consolation. 

Dr.  Adolph  Wislizenus  is  a  man  of  note  among  the 
physicians  in  St.  Louis,  having  made  for  himself  a 
name  that  is  known  all  through  the  world  of  science 
by  reason  of  his  original  observations  and  the  careful 
researches  which  he  has  made.  He  was  born  in  liu- 
dolstadt  in  1810.  He  came  to  St.  Louis  in  1840, 
and  was  associated  in  practice  for  five  years  with  Dr. 
George  Engelmann.  He  then  made  a  tour  through 
the  southwestern  part  of  this  country,  and  into  Mex- 
ico, making  a  thorough  exploration  of  the  regions 
through  which  he  traveled,  taking  the  altitudes  of 
different  points,  examining  the  flora,  the  geological 
features,  and  making  other  observations  which  en- 
abled him  on  his  return  to  prepare  a  report  of  such 
value  that  it  was  published  by  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States  in  1846—47.  So  far  as  the  territory  of 
the  United  States  is  concerned,  this  exploration  has 
been  virtually  superseded  by  the  more  exhaustive  re- 
searches of  the  government  surveys  ;  but  Dr.  Wislize- 
nus' report  is  still  the  most  complete  and  reliable  with 
reference  to  the  part  of  Mexico  which  he  traversed. 
His  original  plan  was  to  explore  the  territory  of 


Qt   IHE 


THE   MEDICAL   PROFESSION. 


1529 


Arizona  and  California,  but  he  was  taken  prisoner  at 
Chihuahua,  and  after  being  released  he  joined  the 
United  States  army.  On  his  return  he  spent  some 
time  in  Washington,  and  then  came  back  to  St.  Louis, 
where  he  has  lived  ever  since,  devoting  his  time,  in 
the  intervals  of  leisure  from  the  arduous  duties  of  a 
general  practice,  to  scientific  pursuits,  being  specially 
interested  in  botany  and  meteorology. 

Dr.  Charles  W.  Stevens  was  born  June  16,  1817, 
in  Pompey,  Onondaga  Co.,  N.  Y.  He  was  educated 
as  a  civil  engineer  and  surveyor,  but  having  come 
West,  and  finding  little  encouragement  for  success  in 
that  vocation,  he  com- 
menced the  study  of  medi- 
cine with  Dr.  Rogers,  of 
Rushville,  111.  He  gradu- 
ated in  1842,  at  the  Medi- 
cal Department  of  Kemper 
College  (now  the  Missouri 
Medical  College),  and  lo- 
cated for  practice  in  St. 
Louis.  In  1844  he  was 
elected  Demonstrator  of 
Anatomy  in  the  Kemper 
College,  which  position  he 
held  for  five  years,  when 
he  took  the  same  position 
in  the  St.  Louis  Medical 
College.  In  1855  he  was 
elected  to  the  chair  of  gen- 
eral, special,  and  surgical 
anatomy  in  the  St.  Louis 
Medical  College.  About 
this  time  he  went  to  Eu- 
rope, and  spent  several 
months  in  professional 
study.  After  thirteen  years' 
service  he  resigned  the 
professorship  in  order  to 
take  the  position  of  super- 
intendent and  physician  to  the  St.  Louis  County 
Insane  Asylum.  This  position  he  left  in  1872, 
and  has  since  then  been  engaged  in  practice  in  St. 
Louis,  giving  attention  specially  to  the  treatment 
of  diseases  of  the  nervous  system.  In  1861  he  was 
appointed  coroner  of  St.  Louis  County,  to  fill  a 
vacancy  caused  by  the  resignation  of  Dr.  Boisliniere. 
He  saw  several  months  of  military  service  during  the 
war.  In  1879  he  was  elected  president  of  the  St. 
Louis  Medical  Society. 

Dr.  Charles  Alexander  Pope,  one  of  St.  Louis' 
most  distinguished  surgeons,  was  born  in  the  beauti- 
ful town  of  Huntsville,  Ala.,  March  15,  1818.  His 


father,  Benjamin  S.  Pope,  a  man  of  rare  literary  cul- 
ture himself,  was  careful  that  his  son  should  have  the 
advantages  of  a  complete  education.  After  thorough 
academic  instruction  in  his  native  town,  he  entered  the 
University  of  Alabama,  at  which  institution  he  gradu- 
ated at  a  very  early  age.  Soon  thereafter  he  entered 
upon  the  study  of  medicine  with  the  same  zeal  and  in- 
dustry which  ever  characterized  his  whole  professional 
career.  Attracted  by  the  well-deserved  reputation  of 
Dr.  Daniel  Drake,  then  at  the  height  of  his  popularity 
as  a  teacher  and  lecturer,  he  attended  his  first  course 
of  medical  lectures  in  the  Cincinnati  Medical  College. 
From  Cincinnati  he  went 
to  Philadelphia,  and  en- 
tered the  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  from  which 
institution  he  received  the 
degree  of  M.D.  in  the 
spring  of  1839,  when  just 
twenty-one  years  of  age. 
The  French  school  of  medi- 
cine being  at  that  time  the 
most  celebrated  in  Europe, 
Dr.  Pope  immediately  after 
graduation  went  to  Paris, 
where  for  two  years  he  de- 
voted himself  with  untir- 
ing industry  to  the  special 
study  of  surgery,  for  which 
department  of  medicine  he 
had  a  strong  natural  incli- 
nation, and  for  which  he 
possessed  superior  qualifi- 
cations. After  his  resi- 
dence in  Paris  he  also 
visited  the  great  Conti- 
nental schools,  as  well  as 
those  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland.  On  returning 
from  Europe  he  came  to 

St.  Louis,  then  the  most  attractive  point  in  the  Great 
West,  where  in  January,  1842,  he  commenced  his  pro- 
fessional career.  From  the  first  he  devoted  himself  with 
industry  to  the  study  and  practice  of  surgery,  and  it  was 
not  long  before  his  thorough  medical  training,  studious 
habits,  urbane  manner,  and  high  moral  qualities 
brought  him  permanently  before  the  public  as  a  man 
of  mark  in  his  profession.  His  career  was  one  of  un- 
interrupted progress.  Having  already  acquired  repu- 
tation as  a  judicious,  skillful,  and  successful  operator, 
he  was  in  1843  chosen  Professor  of  Anatomy  in  the 
St.  Louis  Medical  College,  then  the  Medical  Depart- 
ment of  the  St.  Louis  University.  His  knowledge  of 


1530 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


anatomy  was  minute  and  accurate,  and  his  success  as 
a  teacher  undisputed.  In  1847,  in  accordance  with 
his  cherished  desire,  he  was  transferred  from  the  chair 
of  anatomy  to  that  of  surgery,  which  chair  he  con- 
tinued to  occupy  and  adorn  for  many  years.  In  1846 
he  was  married  to  Miss  Caroline,  only  daughter  of 
Col.  John  O'Fallon,  who  as  a  tribute  to  the  merit 
of  his  distinguished  son-in-law  erected  out  of  his  own 
ample  means  the  large  and  handsome  building  known 
as  the  St.  Louis  Medical  College ;  so  that  Dr.  Pope 
was  not  only  a  distinguished  professor  in,  but  also  a 
real  benefactor  to,  this  still  flourishing  medical  institu- 
tion. 

In  1854  he  had  the  high  honor  conferred  upon 
him  of  being  elected  president  of  the  American  Medi- 
cal Association,  and  the  year  following  he  presided  at  ' 
the  meeting  held  in  Philadelphia  with  dignity  and 
acceptance.  This  gave  him  a  national  reputation, 
which  he  well  sustained  by  his  achievements  in  sur- 
gery, being  constantly  called  on  to  perform  all  the 
more  important  and  difficult  operations,  which  he 
always  did  with  eminent  skill  and  success.  He  con- 
tinued in  the  diligent  pursuit  of  his  profession  until 
1865,  when,  reluctantly  yielding  to  the  solicitations  of 
his  family,  he  resigned  his  professorship  and  gave  up 
his  large  and  lucrative  practice  with  the  view  of  spend- 
ing a  few  years  in  European  travel. 

In  1870  he  returned  to  St.  Louis  on  a  visit,  when 
such  a  reception  was  given  him  as  is  rarely  accorded 
to  any  one.  The  whole  city,  as  it  were,  rose  up  to  do 
him  honor,  and  his  entire  visit  was  one  continued 
ovation.  He  returned,  however,  to  Paris  to  join  his 
family,  but  scarce  had  tidings  of  his  arrival  been  re- 
ceived before  the  whole  city  was  startled  by  the  an- 
nouncement of  his  sudden  and  unexpected  death, 
which  occurred  in  the  city  of  Paris,  July  5,  1870,  in 
the  fifty-second  year  of  his  age. 

Dr.  Pope  was  an  accomplished  and  high-toned 
gentleman  and  physician.  He  was  not  impelled  as 
some  men  are  by  strong  passions,  but  the  elements 
were  so  combined  in  him  as  to  form  a  character  at 
once  symmetrical  and  admirable,  a  character  in  which 
urbanity,  suavity,  candor,  and  high  moral  qualities 
constituted  the  Corinthian  column. 

Dr.  Moses  M.  Pallen  died  in  St.  Louis,  Sept.  25, 
1876,  at  the  age  of  sixty-six.  He  took  his  literary 
degree  at  the  University  of  Virginia  and  his  medical 
degree  at  the  University  of  Maryland,  at  Baltimore. 
He  practiced  medicine  for  seven  years  at  Vicksburg, 
Miss.,  and  in  1842  came  to  St.  Louis,  where  he  had 
a  remarkably  successful  career  as  a  practitioner  and 
teacher  of  medicine.  He  teld  the  position  of  Pro- 
fessor of  Obstetrics  in  the  St.  Louis  Medical  College 


for  over  twenty  years,  resigning  about  three  years 
before  his  death  on  account  of  failing  health.  During 
the  Mexican  war  he  held  the  position  of  contracting 
surgeon  at  the  St.  Louis  arsenal.  He  also  performed 
the  duties  of  health  officer  during  Mayor  Pratte's  ad- 
ministration, and  held  that  position  during  the  preva- 
lence of  the  cholera  epidemic  of  1849.  He  was 
one  of  the  founders  and  earliest  presidents  of  the  St. 
Louis  Academy  of  Science,  and  he  was  also  president 
for  several  years  of  the  St.  Louis  Medical  Society. 

Dr.  Pallen  was  a  terse  and  ready  writer,  and  fre- 
quently contributed  articles  to  the  medical  journals 
and  newspapers  on  subjects  of  scientific  and  popular 
interest.  He  left  four  sons  and  two  daughters.  Of 
the  former,  Dr.  M.  A.  Pallen,  of  New  York,  is  well 
known  in  the  profession  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic. 

Dr.  M.  L.  Linton  was  a  native  of  Kentucky,  where 
he  studied  his  profession,  but  finished  his  preparatory 
course  in  Paris  and  Edinburgh.  Having  practiced 
with  success  in  his  native  State,  he  came  to  St.  Louis 
in  1843,  and  was  elected  to  a  professorship  in  the 
Medical  Department  of  St.  Louis  University,  which 
position  he  retained  under  its  re-establishment  as  the 
St.  Louis  Medical  College  until  the  day  of  his  death. 
In  his  distinguished  career  as  a  teacher  he  was  asso- 
ciated both  in  friendship  and  fame  with  Dr.  Pope, 
whose  untimely  decease  he  greatly  mourned,  their 
intimacy  commencing  when  students  together  in 
Paris,  and  continuing  warm  and  unbroken  until  sev- 
ered by  death. 

Dr.  Linton  did  not  confine  himself  exclusively  to 
matters  pertaining  to  medical  science,  occasionally 
taking  active  part  in  the  political  movements  of  the 
day.  He  was  a  conspicuous  member  of  the  Missouri 
State  Convention  in  1861-62,  which  formed  a  pro- 
visional government  for  the  State,  with  Hamilton  R. 
Gamble  as  Governor,  and  he  was  also  a  member  of 
the  convention  of  1865.  As  a  teacher,  he  stood 
with  the  ablest  and  best.  He  was  also  a  philosopher 
and  a  poet.  Dr.  Linton  wa's  an  invalid  for  forty 
years :  his  body  moved  slowly,  and  frequently  re- 
quired a  long  rest ;  his  mind  was  restless,  resistless, 
quick,  brilliant,  and  vigorous ;  his  wit  was  sharp  and 
his  repartee  unrivaled.  His  limited  early  advantages 
were  only  known  to  the  associates  of  his  youth.  He 
had  by  the  force  of  intellect  and  untiring  mental  in- 
dustry become  a  polished  scholar,  learned  in  the  an- 
cient and  modern  languages.  He  died  in  June,  1872, 
in  the  sixty-fifth  year  of  his  age. 

Dr.  George  Johnson  was  born  in  Georgetown,  D. 
C.,  Sept.  12,  1817,  and  in  his  seventeenth  year  came 
to  seek  his  fortune  in  St.  Louis,  which  was  then  just 
beginning  to  attract  attention  as  a  prominent  business 


LIBRARY 
Of  T'Hf 


- 
. 


-eeorh- 


1532 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


basement  of  the  Unitarian  Church  (then  at  the  cor- 
ner of  Fourth  and  Pine  Streets)  for  the  dispensary, 
and  the  institution  was  managed  by  the  above-men- 
tioned physicians,  who  gave  their  services  gratuitously 
for  seven  years,  when  the  city  established  a  dispensary 
of  its  own. 

Dr.  Moses  was  city  health  officer  when  the  Hon. 
Luther  M.  Kennett  was  mayor,  and  assisted  in  organ- 
izing the  sewer  system  and  other  important  sanitary 
measures.  He  was  also  connected  with  the  Medical 
Department  of  Kemper  College  in  1842  as  lecturer 
on  obstetrics  and  diseases  of  women,  assisting  Dr. 
William  Carr  Lane  (who 
held  that  chair  in  the  insti- 
tution), and  was  afterwards 
chosen  professor  of  the  same 
branch  of  studies  in  Mis- 
souri Medical  College.  He 
resigned  this  position  in 
1853.  During  the  civil  war, 
being  known  to  have  South- 
ern sympathies,  and  both  of 
his  sons  being  in  the  Con- 
federate army,  he  was  ar- 
rested at  his  office,  by  order 
of  the  United  States  provost- 
marshal,  and,  after  a  few 
days  spent  in  the  military 
prison,  was,  in  company  with 
other  well-known  citizens, 
sent  under  guard  into  the 
lines  of  the  Confederacy.  He 
at  once  volunteered  his  ser- 
vices, and  assisted  in  caring 
for  the  sick  in  hospitals  at 
Savannah,  Ga.  After  the 
close  of  the  war  he  returned 
to  his  home,  and  at  once  re- 
sumed his  occupation. 

Dr.  Moses  was  one  of  the 

founders  of  the  St.  Louis  Obstetrical  and  Gynecologi- 
cal Society,  and  was  twice  its  president.  He  also 
assisted  in  establishing  the  Medico-Chirurgical  So- 
ciety, and  continues  to  take  an  active  interest  in  the 
affairs  and  debates  of  these  associations.  He  is  also 
a  member  of  the  St.  Louis  Medical  Society. 

In  1835,  Dr.  Moses  married  Miss  Mary  Porter 
Ashe,  of  Wilmington,  N.  C.,  a  daughter  of  Col. 
Samuel  P.  Ashe,  a  planter  and  Revolutionary  soldier, 
who  was  taken  prisoner  at  the  siege  of  Charleston  by 
the  British.  Col.  Ashe  was  a  gentleman  of  high 
standing  and  fine  culture.  By  this  marriage  there 
were  two  sons  and  two  daughters.  The  eldest  son, 


Dr.  Gratz  A.  Moses,  is  associated  with  his  father  in 
the  practice  of  his  profession  ;  the  younger,  John  A., 
is  a  merchant  in  Silver  City,  N.  M. 

In  1855,  Dr.  Moses  married  Mrs.  Marie  Atchison 
(widow),  nee  Papin,  a  native  of  St.  Louis,  and  a  de- 
scendant of  old  French  settlers.  There  have  been  no 
children  by  this  marriage. 

After  forty-seven  years  of  active  practice  of  his 
!  profession,  Dr.  Moses  is  still  in  vigorous  health,  and 
engages    daily    in    the    performance  of  his    arduous 
duties. 

Dr.  John  B.  Johnson  was  born  at  Fair  Haven, 
Mass.,  in  1817.  He  pre- 
pared for  Harvard  College, 
but  his  mother's  ill  health 
interfered  with  his  plans,  and 
he  did  not  complete  his  col- 
lege course.  He  attended 
his  first  course  of  lectures 
at  the  Berkshire  Medical 
College  in  Pittsfield,  but 
not  having  the  facilities  for 
studying  practical  anatomy 
there  which  he  desired,  he 
went  to  Cambridge  and  en- 
tered the  Harvard  Medical 
School,  and  attended  two 
courses  of  lectures.  He  then 
entered  the  competitive  ex- 
amination for  a  position  as 
house  surgeon  to  the  Massa- 
chusetts General  Hospital, 
in  which  he  was  successful, 
and  held  that  position  for  a 
year,  while  the  correspond- 
ing position  of  house  physi- 
cian was  held  by  H.  J.  Bige- 
low.  Being  detained  by  the 
illness  of  a  brother  from  at- 
tending the  examination  pre- 


liminary to  graduation  at  Harvard,  he  passed  the  ex- 
amination at  Pittsfield,  and  received  his  diploma  from 
Berkshire  College  in  1840.  Afterwards  he  received  an 
ad  e.undem  degree  from  Harvard.  He  came  to  St.  Louis 
in  the  spring  of  1841,  and,  as  previously  stated,  was  as- 
sociated with  five  other  young  physicians  in  establish- 
ing the  first  dispensary  organized  in  the  city.  He 
ascribes  much  of  his  success  in  the  early  years  of  his 
practice  here  to  the  kindly  interest  taken  in  him  by 
Theron  Barnum,  who  was  then  the  proprietor  of  the 
City  Hotel,  the  principal  hotel  at  that  time.  Dr. 
Johnson  has  for  many  years  filled  the  chair  of  theory 
and  practice  of  medicine  in  the  St.  Louis  Medical 


THE   MEDICAL   PROFESSION. 


1533 


College,  and  has  had  a  very  large  and  lucrative  prac- 
tice among  the  leading  families  of  the  city.  He  has 
repeatedly  been  a  delegate  to  the  American  Medical 
Association,  and  was  a  constant  member  of  the  State 
Medical  Association,  of  which  society  he  was  the 
president  in  1852.  Dr.  Johnson's  wife  is  a  daughter 
of  the  late  James  II.  Lucas,  and  a  lady  of  rare 
accomplishments  and  graces  of  mind  and  character. 

Dr.  Thomas  Barbour  was  a  son  of  Philip  C.  Bar- 
bour,  of  Virginia,  one  of  the  judges  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States.  He  was  educated  scho- 
lastically  at  the  University  of  Virginia,  and  profes- 
sionally at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  in  Phila- 
delphia. He  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Medicine  in  1830,  and  soon  after  settled  for  practice 
in  Columbia,  Tenn.,  where  he  became  distinguished 
as  a  practitioner  and  as  a  man  of  science.  He  was 
elected  Professor  of  Chemistry  in  Lagrange  College, 
Alabama ;  in  1842,  Professor  of  Materia  Medica  in 
the  Medical  Department  of  Kemper  College  ;  in  1843, 
to  the  chair  of  obstetrics  and  diseases  of  women 
and  children,  and  finally,  in  1846,  when  the  medical 
professors  of  Kemper  College  were  transferred  to  the 
University  of  Missouri,  he  was  elected  to  the  same 
chair,  which  he  continued  to  occupy  with  distinguished 
abilities  until  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred 
in  June,  1849. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  medical  faculty  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  the  State  of  Missouri,  held  on  the  evening  of 
June  23,  1849,  the  following  preamble  and  resolu- 
tions were  unanimously  adopted  : 

"THAT  WHERKAS,  It  has  pleased  an  all-wise  Providence  to 
remove  by  death  from  our  faculty  and  from  his  active  and  dis- 
tinguished career  of  usefulness  Doctor  Thomas  Barbour,  Pro- 
fessor of  Obstetrics  and  Diseases  of  Women  and  Children  in 
this  institution ;  therefore, 

"  Be  it  resolved,  That,  as  co-professors  and  friends  of  the  hum- 
ble dead,  it  gives  us  some  consolation  thus  publicly  to  testify  to 
his  pure  character,  his  high  professional  attainments,  and  his 
distinguished  ability  as  a  teacher,  and  that  we  mourn  sincerely 
the  afflicting  dispensation  which  has  deprived  our  institution 
of  his  talents  and  services,  and  the  community  of  his  useful- 
ness. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  desire  to  be  permitted  to  mingle  our  sor- 
rows with  those  of  his  bereft  wife  and  family  for  the  irreparable 
loss  they  have  sustained  in  the  death  of  one  so  highly  and  so 
justly  esteemed;  and  that  Professor  Barret,  as  the  organ  of  our 
faculty,  address  a  letter  of  condolence  to  Mrs.  Barbour,  and  re- 
quest of  her  the  loan  of  the  portrait  of  her  lamented  husband 
that  a  copy  may  be  taken  and  placed  in  the  medical  hall  of  the 
university. 

"Resolved,  That  the  foregoing  preamble  and  resolutions  be 
published  in  the  city  papers,  and  that  a  copy  thereof  be  sent  to 
the  widow  and  mother  of  the  deceased. 

"JoH.\  S.  MOOHE,  M.D., 

"Dean  Medical  Faculty  of  the  University  of  the  State  of 
Missouri." 


Dr.  Barbour  was  a  man  of  high  professional  at- 
tainments, and  especially  skillful  in  the  treatment  of 
diseases  of  women  and  children. 

Dr.  Simon  Pollak  was  born  in  Prague,  Bohemia, 
April  14,  1816,  and  received  his  medical  education 
in  the  universities  of  Prague  and  Vienna,  graduating 
at  the  latter  place  in  1836.  He  then  spent  some 
months  in  visiting  the  hospitals  of  various  European 
cities,  after  which  he  came  to  the  United  States  and 
located  in  Nashville,  Tenn.,  where  he  resided  some 
years.  He  came  to  St.  Louis  in  1845,  March  14th. 
About  that  time  Dr.  Clark  resigned  his  position  in 
the  dispensary,  and  Dr.  Pollak  was  appointed  to  that 
position.1  This  opened  the  way  for  him  to  a  vast 
amount  of  unremunerative  professional  labor,  and  it 
was  not  until  August  1st  that  he  received  any  com- 
pensation for  services  rendered.  His  first  profes- 
sional fee  was  ten  dollars,  for  attending  a  case  of 
obstetrics.  After  that  time  he  went  on  prosperously, 
and  has  been  a  very  successful  practitioner.  In  1852 
he  secured  the  means  through  personal  solicitation 
from  the  charitably-inclined  citizens  of  St.  Louis 
to  establish  the  Missouri  Institution  for  the  Educa- 
tion of  the  Blind,  which  was  supported  for  five  years 
by  such  voluntary  contributions,  and  then  became  a 
State  institution.  Dr.  Pollak  has  been  the  attending 
physician  to  this  institution  ever  since  its  establish- 
ment. 

Having  visited  Europe  in  1860,  where  he  spent  some 
months  in  the  special  study  of  ophthalmology,  he  re- 
turned|to  St.  Louis,  and  in  1863  established  the  first  eye 
and  ear  infirmary  west  of  the  Mississippi  River.  This 
institution  is  still  maintained  by  Dr.  Pollak,  being 
held  now  at  the  Sisters'  Hospital,  in  the  western  part 
of  the  city,  as  it  had  been  for  years  at  the  same 
institution  when  located  on  Fourth  Street.  Over 
eighteen  thousand  cases  have  been  recorded  as  treated 
in  connection  with  this  infirmary.  Dr.  Pollak  was  a 
member  of  the  United  States  Sanitary  Commission, 
and  of  the  Western  Sanitary  Commission  during  the 
war,  and  also  held  the  position  of  hospital  inspector. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  American  Medical  Association, 
of  the  St.  Louis  Medical  Society  and  Medico-Chirur- 
gical  Society,  and  has  written  many  articles  which 
have  appeared  from  time  to  time  in  the  columns  of 
medical  journals,  especially  those  of  the  St.  Louit 
Medical  and  Surgical  Journal. 

Dr.  B.  F.  Edwards,  who  practiced  for  over  half  a 
century  in  Illinois  and  Missouri,  was  born  at  Darnes- 
town,  Md.,  July  2, 1797.  In  1820  he  removed  from 

1  Dr.  Pollak  says  that  Dr.  Clark  was  the  only  physician  in 
St.  Louis  who  drove  in  a  buggy  when  he  caine  to  the  city  :  all 
the  others  rode  on  horseback. 


1534 


HISTORY  OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


Kentucky  to  Old  Franklin,  in  the  Boone's  Lick  coun- 
try, Mo.,  wjth  Cyrus  Edwards,  his  brother.  There 
were  living  there  Gen.  Duff  Green,  the  Gambles,  and 
many  other  prominent  Kentuckians.  He  then  went 
back  to  Kentucky,  and  after  a  while  removed  to 
Edwardsville,  111.,  where  he  settled,  obtaining  an  exten- 
sive practice.  His  rides  extended  for  forty  miles,  and 
so  constant  day  and  night  were  the  calls  for  his  ser- 
vices that  he  kept  five  horses  as  relays  in  responding 
expeditiously  to  the  demands  on  his  professional  ser- 
vices. He  next  established  himself  for  a  short  period 
in  Alton,  and  in  1846  removed  to  St.  Louis,  where 
his  reputation  gave  him  at  once  an  extensive  practice. 
About  the  year  1850  he  engaged  in  the  California 
speculations,  and  shipped  a  lot  of  frame  houses  from 
St.  Louis  via  the  Horn  to  San  Francisco,  and  erected 
them  on  the  beach  for  sale  to  enterprising  gold-seekers. 
He  returned  to  St.  Louis  and  resumed  his  practice 
until  1867,  when  he  removed  to  Kirkwood,  where  he 
continued  in  practice  till  about  two  years  before  his 
death,  which  occurred  April  27, 1877.  Dr.  Edwards 
was  a  man  of  robust  virtues,  an  humble  Christian, 
and  a  member  of  the  Baptist  Church. 

Dr.  E.  S.  Frazier  was  born  in  Todd  County,  Ky., 
in  1809.  He  was  one  of  the  first  class  which  gradu- 
ated from  the  Medical  Department  of  Kemper  College, 
the  whole  class  numbering  but  three.  He  had  prac- 
ticed for  some  time  before  graduating  in  Salem,  111. 
He  then  located  in  Liberty,  near  Peoria,  and  removed 
thence  to  Springfield.  He  married  Miss  Mary  Moore, 
of  Montgomery  County,  Tenn.,  a  sister  of  Dr.  John 
S.  Moore,  of  St.  Louis.  Through  the  influence  of 
his  brother-in-law,  he  removed  to  St.  Louis  in  1847, 
being  associated  with  Dr.  George  Johnson  as  resident 
physician  of  the  Hotel  for  Invalids.  This  institu- 
tion being  abandoned  after  a  few  years,  he  entered 
general  practice,  and  soon  gained  a  large  and  lucrative 
business.  He  still  continues  to  practice,  though  not 
so  actively  as  in  former  years. 

Dr.  G.  Fischer  has  been  for  a  number  of  years  one  of 
the  most  prominent  German  physicians  of  St.  Louis. 
He  was  born  at  Prague  in  1812,  and  graduated  at  ' 
the  university  of  that  city  in  1837.  He  practiced 
with  eminent  success  in  the  city  of  his  birth,  but  in 
1848,  having  become  involved  in  political  difficulties, 
he  found  it  necessary  to  leave  that  country,  and  deter-  < 
mined  to  come  to  the  United  States,  that  he  might 
rear  his  children  in  a  free  land.  He  has  practiced 
medicine  in  St.  Louis  ever  since  that  time,  and  has 
met  with  remarkable  success,  having  won  the  respect 
and  esteem  of  the  profession  and  achieved  popularity 
among  the  laity,  two  results  by  no  means  always  at- 
tained by  one  man. 


Among  the  great  men  whose  name  and  fame  must 
endure  forever  in  the  annals  of  surgery,  that  of  John 
Thompson  Hodgen  will  stand  deservedly  pre-eminent. 
He  was  born  at  Hodgenville,  among  the  rugged  hills  of 
La  Rue  County,  Ky.,  not  far  from  the  birthplace  of 
Abraham  Lincoln,  on  the  19th  of  January,  1826.  His 
father,  Jacob  Hodgen,  was  an  elder  of  the  Christian 
Church.  His  mother,  Frances  Park  Brown,  was  a 
woman  of  sterling  worth,  who  contributed  greatly  to 
fashion  the  current  of  his  infant  thoughts,  and  to  give 
them  a  healthy  direction.  He  regarded  her  as  the 
chief  source  of  his  aspirations  for  the  good  and  noble, 
and  his  affection  for  her  was  deep,  tender,  and  rever- 
ential. Her  declining  years  were  brightened  by  the 
lustre  of  his  renown,  and  her  dying  moments  soothed 
by  his  tender  and  matchless  skill. 

His  early  years  were  spent  in  the  common  schools 
of  Pittsfield,  Pike  Co.,  111.,  and  his  collegiate  course 
at  Bethany  College,  West  Virginia.  In  childhood  he 
exhibited  a  fondness  for  medicine,  and  in  his  twen- 
tieth year  he  entered  the  Medical  Department  of  the 
University  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  where,  on  the 
threshold  of  his  career,  his  ambition,  industry,  and 
bright  intellect  marked  him  as  a  student  of  unusual 
promise. 

He  graduated  in  March,  1848  ;  was  assistant  resi- 
dent physician  of  the  St.  Louis  City  Hospital  from 
April,  1848,  to  June,  1849,  and  was  demonstrator 
of  anatomy  in  his  Alma  Mater  from  1849  to  1853. 
The  energy  with  which  he  devoted  himself  to  his 
profession  secured  him  the  chair  of  anatomy,  beside 
Joseph  Nash  McDowell,  which  position  he  occupied 
from  1854  to  1858.  From  1858  to  1864  he  filled 
both  the  chairs  of  anatomy  and  physiology. 

In  1864,  the  Missouri  College  building  having  been 
seized  by  the  government  and  transformed  into  the 
Gratiot  Street  prison,  and  Dr.  McDowell,  its  head, 
having  gone  South,  Dr.  Hodgen  led  a  remnant  of  the 
shattered  faculty  in  a  noble  effort  to  preserve  the  life 
of  his  Alma  Mater.  After  earnest  but  ineffectual 
efforts  he  relinquished  the  task,  and  transferred  his 
allegiance  to  the  St.  Louis  Medical  College,  where  he 
filled  respectively  the  chairs  of  physiology  and  of 
anatomy  with  eminent  ability.  In  1875  he  assumed 
the  chair  of  surgical  anatomy,  of  fractures  and  dis- 
locations, and  was  created  dean  of  the  faculty,  which 
position  he  held  at  the  time  of  his  death.  During 
the  eighteen  years  from  1864  to  1882  he  taught 
clinical  surgery  at  the  City  Hospital. 

Meantime  his  valuable  services  were  sought  and 
employed  by  his  country,  then  in  the  throes  of  civil 
strife,  in  the  capacities  of  surgeon-general  of  the 
Western  Sanitary  Commission,  1861  ;  surgeon  United 


THE   MEDICAL  PROFESSION. 


1535 


States  volunteers,  1861  to  1864 ;  and  surgeon-general 
State  of  Missouri,  1862  to  1864.  Upon  the  restora- 
tion of  peace  he  relaxed  neither  resolution  nor  in- 
dustry, and  wherever  honor,  science,  or  philanthropy 
called,  he  was  always  in  the  van.  He  served  as  con- 
sulting surgeon  of  the  City  Hospital  from  1862  to 
1882,  and  was  president  of  the  St.  Louis  Board  of 
Health  from  1867  to  1868,  and  a  member  of  that 
body  until  1871.  In  this  position  he  was  instrumental 
in  organizing  on  an  efficient  basis  the  charity  hos- 
pitals and  dispensaries  of  the  city,  and  in  laying  the 
foundation  of  that  sanitary  improvement  that  has 
since  revolutionized  the  mortuary  record  of  St.  Louis. 
He  was  president  of  the  St.  Louis  Medical  Society  in 
1872,  was  chairman  of  the  surgical  section  of  the 
American  Medical  Association  in  1873,  was  president 
of  the  State  Medical  Association  in  1876,  and  was 
president  of  the  American  Medical  Association  in 
1880. 

Fame  and  emoluments  crowned  his  labors,  but  he 
never  paused  or  halted  in  his  eiforts  to  improve  him- 
self as  physician,  surgeon,  and  scholar.  For  renown 
and  wealth  he  cared  but  little ;  he  never  sought  an 
honor,  and  his  simple  tastes,  unselfish  nature,  and 
busy  habits  suggested  little  thought  of  money.  The 
author  of  brilliant  achievements,  he  never  vaunted  his 
deeds,  while  his  blunders  were  always  in  his  mouth. 
Devotion  to  duty  was  the  mainspring  of  his  life ;  his 
only  boast  that  he  had  never  refused  to  heed  the  call 
of  the  suffering,  had  never  paused  to  consider  the 
reward,  and  had  never  failed  to  do  his  best.  Conserva- 
tive, honest,  earnest,  original,  and  bold,  he  was  emi- 
nently a  man  of  action,  appalled  by  no  difficulty,  and 
superior  to  any  emergency  in  practice.  Quick  and  ; 
clear  in  apprehension,  terse  and  forcible  in  expression,  i 
and  a  master  of  the  elementary  branches  of  the  medi- 
cal science,  he  was  a  powerful  debater,  whom  no 
sophistry  confused,  and  one  who  never  lost  sight  of 
controlling  principles  nor  confounded  ideas  with  facts. 
In  debate  with  the  most  distinguished  surgeons  of  all 
nations,  convened  in  the  International  Medical  Con- 
gress at  Philadelphia  in  1876,  he  won  substantial 
honors,  and  made  a  record  that  stamped  him  as  a 
great  man  in  the  midst  of  the  greatest  the  civilized 
world  could  produce. 

Ho  possessed  decided  mechanical  genius,  but  many 
inventions  worthy  of  note  have  been  lost  to  science 
owing  to  the  fact  that  he  neglected  to  record  them. 
Among  the  most  important  of  those  recorded,  some  of 
which  have  attained  a  world-wide  renown,  are  wire- 
splint  for  fracture  of  the  thigh  ;  suspension-cord  and 
pulleys,  permitting  flexion,  extension,  and  rotation  in 
fracture  of  the  leg ;  forceps-dilator  for  removal  of 


foreign  bodies  from  the  air-passages  without  trache- 
otomy, cradle-splint  for  treatment  of  compound  frac- 
ture of  the  thigh,  wire  suspension-splint  for  injury  of 
the  arm,  double  action  syringe  and  stomach-pump, 
hair-pin  dilator  for  separating  lips  of  the  opening  in 
the  trachea,  and  as  a  guide  to  the  trachea  tube. 

His  chief  contributions  to  medical  literature  were, 
Wiring  the  Clavicle  and  Acromion  for  Dislocation  of 
the  Scapular  End  of  the  Clavicle  ;  Modification  of  Op- 
eration for  Lacerated  Perineum ;  Dislocation  of  both 
Hips  ;  Two  Deaths  from  Chloroform  ;  Use  of  Atropia 
in  Collapse  of  Cholera  ;  Three  Cases  of  Extra-Uterine 
Foetation  ;  Skin-Grafting;  Nerve  Section  for  Neuralgia 
and  Induration  of  Penis ;  Report  on  Antiseptic 
Surgery ;  Shock,  and  Effects  of  Compressed  Air,  as 
observed  in  the  building  of  the  St.  Louis  and  Illinois 
Bridge. 

His  literary,  mechanical,  and  operative  contribu- 
tions made  him  known  in  Europe  and  America,  and 
afford  the  guarantee  that  his  name  and  memory  will 
endure  as  long  as  medicine  and  surgery  are  taught. 

He  died  in  his  fifty-seventh  year,  April  28,  1882, 
of  acute  peritonitis,  caused  by  ulceration  of  the  gall- 
bladder, and  after  a  short  and  painful  illness. 

Remarkable  for  erudition  and  knowledge  of  the  art 
he  professed,  untiring  in  study,  an  extensive  and  thor- 
ough reader,  clearly  digesting  and  appropriating  ideas, 
he  was  noted  for  his  solidity  and  sobriety  of  under- 
standing, the  legitimate  fruit  of  industry  and  appli- 
cation. He  loved  his  profession,  and  knelt  at  its 
shrine  with  the  devotion  of  a  priest.  He  was  quick 
to  cheer  and  help  the  meritorious  and  struggling 
young  student  and  practitioner,  and  of  a  free  and  open 
nature.  He  was  easy  and  familiar  with  the  younger 
members  of  the  profession,  rejoiced  in  their  emolu- 
ments, success,  and  honors,  gave  them  their  full  meed 
of  praise  when  merited,  and  never  sought  to  monopo- 
lize the  honors  of  his  calling.  Broad  and  liberal  in 
his  views,  and  original  and  independent  in  thought 
and  action,  he  was  the  standard-bearer  of  progress  in 
the  medical  profession.  Possessed  of  a  bold  heart 
and  a  clear  head,  he  yet  had  the  keenest  sympathy  for 
suffering  humanity.  The  poor,  the  halt,  the  lame, 
and  the  blind  received  his  ministrations  without  price, 
and  he  made  no  distinction  in  his  treatment  between 
the  rich  and  the  poor. 

In  professional  counsel  and  friendly  intercourse  he 
was  the  comfort  and  help  of  the  young  practitioner. 
No  time  was  too  inconvenient,  no  call  too  sudden,  no 
patient  too  humble  to  claim  immediate  attention. 
Like  the  soldier  on  the  eve  of  battle,  he  was  ever 
ready  to  respond  to  the  bugle-call,  no  matter  when  or 
where  it  sounded. 


1536 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


He  knew  every  medical  man  in  the  city,  and  a  large 
proportion  of  those  in  its  vicinity  and  the  adjoining 
States,  not  merely  by  name  and  reputation,  but  by  the 
estimate  he  had  formed  of  their  personal  and  profes- 
sional qualifications,  and,  remarkable  for  his  knowledge 
of  human  nature,  he  was  rarely  deceived,  save  when 
sympathy  swayed  his  judgment.  His  broad  acquaint- 
ance, great  personal  influence,  and  unselfish  alacrity  to 
serve  others  made  him,  directly  and  indirectly,  the  • 
almoner  of  many  valuable  professional  places  in  the 
governmental  and  municipal  service  and  in  civil  life. 
He  always  had  a  place  for  a  deserving  man,  and  a 
deserving  man  for  a  place.  Numbers  of  medical  men 
now  prosperous  and  honored  owe  their  first  successes 
to  his  disinterested  kindness.  Under  his  apparently  i 
brusque  manner  and  calm  exterior  his  heart  pulsated 
in  sympathetic  unison  with  the  trials  of  all  who  came 
in  contact  with  him.  A  man  in  the  fullest  and  highest 
sense  of  the  word,  ever  true  to  his  convictions  of  ', 
right,  loyal  to  his  friends,  tender  in  sickness  and  sor- 
row, wise  and  cultured  from  extensive  and  thoughtful 
reading,  but  much  more  so  from  direct  and  constant  \ 
insight  into  the  human  frame  in  health  and  disease, 
the  memory  of  John  T.  Hodgen  will  long  be  cherished 
as  an  enduring  honor  to  St.  Louis,  the  city  of  his 
adoption,  and  to  the  profession  which  he  honored  and 
ornamented,  and  to  which  he  was  a  benefactor. 

Dr.  R.  S.  Holmes  was  born  in  Pittsburgh,  Pa., 
Feb.  25,  1814.  At  the  early  age  of  thirteen  he  lost 
his  father,  but  although  deprived  of  parental  guar- 
dianship at  this  important  period,  his  education  was 
not  neglected.  Having  qualified  himself  he  entered 
Jefferson  College,  at  Cannonsburg,  Pa.,  in  which  in- 
stitution he  was  admitted  to  the  degree  of  A.B. 
Sept.  30,  1835,  just  as  he  reached  his  majority.  His 
preliminary  education  having  been  completed,  he  lost 
no  time  in  commencing  the  study  of  his  profession  ; 
and  in  October  of  the  same  year  he  went  to  Cincin- 
nati and  became  the  private  pupil  of  Professor  Gross, 
then  connected  with  the  Ohio  Medical  College,  in 
which  institution  he  attended  his  first  course  of  medi- 
cal lectures  in  the  winter  of  1835.  After  the  close 
of  the  session,  in  the  spring  of  1836,  he  went  to 
Philadelphia,  and  the  following  fall  matriculated  in 
the  Jefferson  Medical  College,  which  was  then  just 
commencing  its  rivalry  with  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania. After  remaining  two  winters  in  connection 
with  this  institution,  he  was  admitted  to  the  degree 
of  Doctor  of  Medicine  in  the  spring  of  1838,  his  in- 
augural thesis  being  on  the  subject  of  chlorosis. 

Immediately  after  graduating,  in  May,  1838,  he 
went  to  Europe,  where  he  spent  a  year  in  visiting  the 
different  capitals  of  the  Old  World,  and  in  pursuing 


his  studies  in  their  various  hospitals.  In  May,  1839, 
he  returned  home,  and  shortly  thereafter  wrote  an 
article  describing  the  church  of  Ste.  Genevieve,  in 
Paris,  which  was  published  in  the  Knickerbocker  for 
1840,  and  which  displayed  both  literary  and  critical 
ability  of  a  high  order.  In  May,  1841,  having  ob- 
tained permission  from  the  Secretary  of  War  to  that 
effect,  he  presented  himself  before  the  board  convened 
in  Philadelphia  for  the  purpose  of  examining  appli- 
cants for  the  post  of  assistant  surgeon  in  the  United 
States  army.  Twenty-two  candidates  presented  them- 
selves, only  fourteen  of  whom  were  admitted  to  an 
examination,  and  of  this  number  six  only  were  ap- 
proved. Dr.  Holmes  ranked  third.  On  the  22d  of 
August  of  the  same  year  he  received  his  commission, 
and  immediately  thereafter  was  ordered  to  Carlisle 
Barracks,  where  he  entered  upon  his  duties  as  assist- 
ant surgeon  of  the  army. 

From  Carlisle  he  went  to  St.  Peter's,  where,  how- 
ever, he  only  remained  a  short  time,  having  been 
ordered  to  join  the  army  in  Florida  during  the  exist- 
ence of  the  Seminole  war.  At  the  close  of  this  war 
he  was  retained  in  that  department  until  1844,  when 
he  was  ordered  to  Fort  Preble,  in  Maine,  and  re- 
mained at  that  post  until  the  succeeding  year,  when 
he  was  again  ordered  with  the  First  Regiment  of  artil- 
lery to  Florida,  and  was  stationed  at  Fort  Pinckney, 
near  Pensacola.  During  his  several  residences  in 
Florida,  as  in  fact  at  other  points  where  he  was  sta- 
tioned, he  occupied  his  leisure  time  in  investigating 
the  geological  character  of  the  soil  and  in  studying 
the  climate  and  diseases  of  those  regions.  The  re- 
sults of  these  investigations  he  gave  to  the  world 
through  the  medical  periodicals  of  the  country. 

On  the  breaking  out  of  the  Mexican  war  he  accom- 
panied the  army  first  into  Texas  and  afterwards  into 
Mexico.  His  stay  here,  however,  was  of  but  short  du- 
ration, for  on  the  28th  of  June,  1847,  while  at  Point 
Isabel,  Texas,  he  resigned  his  commission  as  assistant 
surgeon  in  the  army  on  account  of  the  death  of  his 
mother,  which  rendered  his  presence  at  home  neces- 
sary. His  withdrawal  from  the  army  was  regretted 
by  all  the  officers  with  whom  he  had  been  associated, 
and  by  whom  he  was  highly  esteemed. 

In  the  spring  of  1848  he  came  to  St.  Louis  and 
commenced  the  practice  of  his  profession,  and  in  the 
fall  of  the  same  year  was  chosen  Professor  of  Physi- 
ology and  Medical  Jurisprudence  in  the  St.  Louis 
Medical  College,  then  the  Medical  Department  of  the 
St.  Louis  University.  His  first  course  of  lectures 
was  delivered  during  the  winter  of  1848  and  1849, 
and  although  but  little  time  was  allowed  him  for  prep- 
aration prior  to  entering  upon  the  important  duties  of 


THE   MEDICAL   PROFESSION. 


1537 


his  chair,  he  succeeded  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  ; 
his  colleagues  and  class,  as  is  shown  by  the  fact  that 
at  the  close  of  the  session  a  meeting  of  the  students 
of  the  college  was  held,  at  which  resolutions  were 
adopted  thanking  him  in  the  most  complimentary 
terms  for  his  able  and  instructive  course  of  lectures 
on  physiology,  and  expressing  their  high  appreciation 
of  his  character  as  a  man  and  his  ability  as  a  lecturer. 

In  the  spring  of  1849,  prior  to  the  breaking  out  of 
the  cholera,  he  again  sailed  for  Europe,  where  he 
spent  the  summer  in  professional  pursuits  and  espe- 
cially in  the  study  of  microscopy.  While  in  London 
he  procured  one  of  Rosse's  celebrated  microscopes  of 
high  power,  and  on  his  return  devoted  himself  with 
his  accustomed  zeal  and  industry  to  the  study  of  mi- 
croscopic anatomy,  with  special  reference  to  its  bear- 
ings on  physiology  and  pathology,  in  which  depart- 
ment he  acquired  considerable  expertness. 

During  the  subsequent  four  years  Dr.  Holmes  con- 
tinued to  discharge  the  duties  of  his  chair  with  marked 
ability  and  with  great  acceptance  to  those  who  at- 
tended on  his  instructions.  But  his  career  of  useful- 
ness was  destined  soon  to  be  cut  short.  In  the  month 
of  August,  1854,  worn  out  by  close  application  to 
study  and  by  the  extreme  heat  of  the  weather,  he  was 
suddenly  seized,  while  walking  on  the  street,  with  an 
attack  of  paralysis  affecting  the  right  side.  After 
lingering  for  two  years  the  powers  of  body  and  mind 
began  to  fail  rapidly,  and  continued  to  do  so  until  the 
26th  of  June,  1856,  when  he  died,  in  the  forty-second 
year  of  his  age.  As  a  practitioner  of  medicine,  Dr. 
Holmes  was  bold,  original,  and  successful.  While 
connected  with  the  army  in  Florida  he  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  observing  the  malignant  fevers  of  that  cli- 
mate, and  he  was  among  the  first  to  recommend  and 
carry  out  the  practice  of  administering  large  doses  of 
quinine  in  this  form  of  disease,  a  practice  the  success 
of  which  is  now  universally  acknowledged. 

As  a  medical  writer  he  stood  deservedly  high.  He 
was  a  frequent  contributor  to  the  pages  of  the 
American  Journal  of  Medical  Sciences  and  the 
St.  Louis  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal,  in  which 
he  published  articles  on  the  Climate  and  Diseases  of 
Florida  and  Texas,  on  Quinine,  Malaria,  and  a  number 
of  other  subjects,  all  of  which  showed  him  to  be  a 
close  and  faithful  observer  of  nature,  a  bold  and  original 
thinker,  and  a  clear  and  logical  reasoner.  His  report, 
too,  on  Epidemic  Erysipelas,  read  before  the  Ameri- 
can Medical  Association  at  its  meeting  held  in  May, 
1854,  and  published  in  the  transactions  for  that  year, 
exhibited  marked  ability,  and  attracted  attention  and 
called  forth  complimentary  notices  from  critics  at 
home  and  abroad. 


But  his  talent  as  a  writer  was  not  displayed  in  his 
contributions  on  medical  subjects  alone.  In  the  domain 
of  general  literature,  also,  he  has  left  behind  many 
valuable  evidences  of  the  fertility  of  his  intellect  and 
the  variety  of  his  attainments.  While  in  Europe,  as 
well  as  after  his  return,  he  wrote  frequently  for  the 
leading  literary  journals  of  the  country  ;  among  them 
may  be  mentioned  the  Knickerbocker,  the  New  York 
Literary  New  World,  the  New  York  Mirror,  the 
United  States  Gazette  of  Philadelphia,  the  Phila- 
delphia Inquirer,  the  North  American  of  Philadel- 
phia, the  Pittsburgh  Advertiser,  and  the  St.  Louis 
Republican,  all  of  whose  pages  were  at  different  times 
adorned  by  his  pen.  Many  of  these  contributions  are 
worthy  of  special  notice,  particularly  the  following: 
"  Beauty,  a  use  of  the  Hair ;"  "  Use  of  the  Hair 
among  the  Ancients;"  "The  Birds  of  Florida;" 
"  Sketches  of  American  Character,"  etc. 

Dr.  Louis  Ch.  Boisliniere  was  born  Sept.  2,  1816, 
on  the  island  of  Guadeloupe,  W.  I.,  of  one  of  the 
oldest  families  of  the  islands.  His  father  was  a 
wealthy  sugar-planter,  and  appreciating  the  value  of 
a  thorough  education,  he  took  his  son  to  France  in 
1825  in  order  that  he  might  have  every  advantage 
attainable.  Here  thirteen  years  were  spent  in  scien- 
tific, classical,  and  legal  studies  at  the  most  celebrated 
institutions  of  the  day.  He  took  a  diploma  as  licen- 
tiate-in-law  at  the  University  of  France,  and  returned 
to  Guadeloupe  in  1839,  after  the  death  of  both 
parents.  After  spending  some  months  there,  and  sub- 
sequently making  an  extensive  journey  through  South 
America,  he  determined  to  leave  the  West  Indies  en- 
tirely and  locate  permanently  in  the  United  States. 
In  1842  he  landed  in  New  Orleans,  but  went  almost 
immediately  to  Lexington,  where  he  received  polite 
attention  from  Henry  Clay's  family,  to  whom  he 
had  brought  letters  of  introduction.  He  spent  some 
time  in  this  place,  acquainting  himself  with  the  lan- 
guage and  customs  of  the  country.  He  then  went  to 
Louisville  and  took  charge  of  the  classical  institute 
there,  and  the  school  prospered  under  his  direction. 

In  1847  his  attention  was  attracted  by  the  advan- 
tages that  seemed  to  be  afforded  to  young  men  in  St. 
Louis,  and  after  due  deliberation  he  removed  here.  He 
had  continued  in  Kentucky  his  medical  studies  which 
he  had  commenced  in  France,  and  in  1848  he  grad- 
uated in  medicine  in  the  Medical  Department  of  the 
St.  Louis  University.  He  immediately  entered  into 
practice,  and  has  remained  here  ever  since.  In  1853, 
Dr.  Boisliniere  took  part  in  establishing,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  the  first  Ijing-in 
hospital  and  foundling  asylum  founded  in  America, 
and  he  still  keeps  up  his  connection  with  it. 


1538 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


In  1858  he  was  elected  coroner  of  St.  Louis  County, 
the  first  physician  who  held  that  office.  He  was  re- 
elected  to  the  position  in  1860,  but  resigned  in  Decem- 
ber, 1861.  In  1865  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
Anthropological  Society  of  Paris.  In  1870  he  was 
elected  to  the  Professorship  of  Obstetrics  and  Diseases 
of  Women  and  Children  in  the  St.  Louis  Medical  Col- 
lege. For  a  number  of  years  he  conducted  a  clinic 
for  the  diseases  of  women  at  the  St.  Louis  (Sisters') 
Hospital,  and  now  has  a  clinic  at  the  St.  Louis  Med- 
ical College  Dispensary.  He  was  elected  for  two  suc- 
cessive years  president  of  the  St.  Louis  Obstetrical 
and  Gynecological  Society.  In  1879  he  received  the 
degree  of  LL.D.  from  the  St.  Louis  University.  He 
has  written  a  number  of  medical  and  literary  essays, 
which  have  appeared  in  various  periodicals.  In  a 
ripe  old  age  he  retains  the  mental  faculties  and 
powers  of  his  earlier  manhood  in  full  vigor,  and  is 
still  busy  as  ever  with  the  care  of  a  large  and  burden- 
some practice. 

Dr.  F.  Ernst  Baumgarten  was  born  Dec.  27, 1810, 
at  Nordheim,  kingdom  of  Hanover.  He  studied  at 
Gottingen,  and  passed  the  State  examination  in  sur- 
gery in  1831.  He  was  appointed  "  mining  surgeon," 
a  government  office,  at  Clausthal,  the  centre  of  the 
Harz  Mountains  mining  districts.  Later  he  went  to 
the  University  of  Jena,  where  he  graduated  in  1844. 
He  edited  a  surgical  journal,  Zeitschrift  fiir  Chirurgen 
von  Chirurgen,  also  an  annual  CliirurgiscTie  Alma- 
nack, and  was  permanent  secretary  of  the  Society  of 
North  German  Surgeons.  While  still  engaged  in 
writing  a  text-book  of  surgery,  of  which  only  one 
part  was  published  ("  Lehrbuch  d.  primaer-mechan- 
ischen  Krankheiten."  8vo.  Osterode,  1843),  he  was 
pursuaded  to  emigrate  to  America  in  .1846.  He 
practiced  at  Galveston  until  1849,  when  he  was  in- 
duced, by  repeated  attacks  of  yellow  fever,  from 
which  he  suffered  there,  to  seek  a  home  farther  North. 
He  came  to  St.  Louis  in  May,  1849,  where  he  soon 
acquired  a  large  practice,  chiefly  medical  and  obstet- 
rical. He  was  one  of  the  founders  and  for  many 
years  the  secretary  and  librarian  of  the  German 
Medical  Society  of  St.  Louis.  He  died  Nov.  13, 
1869,  in  consequence  of  injuries  received  by  a  fall 
from  his  buggy  three  days  before. 

Dr.  Thomas  O'Reilly  was  born  in  Virginia,  County 
Cavan,  Ireland,  Feb.  11,  1827.  He  commenced  the 
study  of  medicine  in  1840,  by  apprenticeship  to  a 
druggist.  He  studied  and  attended  lectures  first  at 
the  Apothecaries'  Hall,  Dublin,  and  then  at  what  was 
at  that  time  called  the  Original  School  of  Medicine, 
now  the  Ledwich  School  of  Medicine.  Next  he 
served  three  years  in  the  Meath  Hospital  as  a 


clinical  clerk  to  the  celebrated  Dr.  William  Stokes. 
He  graduated  in  London  at  the  College  of  Surgeons 
in  1849,  and  came  to  this  country  and  to  St.  Louis 
in  the  same  year.  Arriving  here  in  the  midst  of  the 
epidemic  of  cholera,  he  immediately  gained  a  large 
practice,  and  has  been  a  busy  practitioner  ever  since. 

Dr.  Adam  Hammer  was  born  in  the  Grand  Duchy 
of  Baden,  Germany,  Dec.  27,  1818,  and  received  a 
thorough  preliminary  and  medical  education  in  the 
leading  German  universities,  taking  a  special  interest 
in  mathematical  studies.  He  was  most  thoroughly 
informed  in  all  the  literature  of  the  profession.  It 
was  his  ambition  to  be  known  as  a  surgeon,  and  above 
all  things  he  abominated  the  practice  of  midwifery. 
He  was  an  admirable  diagnostician,  and  twice  diag- 
nosticated in  the  living  subject  an  occlusion  of  the 
coronary  artery  of  the  heart,  and  the  diagnosis  was 
confirmed  by  post-mortem  examination.  He  per- 
formed a  number  of  successful  plastic  operations,  and 
in  two  cases  removed  an  entire  upper  extremity,  in- 
cluding the  scapula.  He  came  to  St.  Louis  in  1848. 
He  was  an  enthusiastic  teacher.  He  organized  the 
Humboldt  Medical  College,  and  through  his  personal 
influence  secured  the  means  to  erect  the  building  for 
that  institution,  which  still  stands  on  the  corner  of 
Soulard  and  Closey  Streets.  The  college  was  broken 
up  during  his  absence  in  Europe,  and  on  his  return 
he  was  offered  a  professorship  in  the  Missouri  Medical 
College,  which  he  accepted.  After  a  few  years  he  re- 
turned to  Europe,  and  died  there  Aug.  4,  1878. 

Dr.  Edward  Montgomery  was  born  at  Ballymena, 
near  Belfast,  Ireland,  Dec.  20,  1816.  He  received 
his  preliminary  education  in  Belfast,  and  graduated  in 
medicine  at  the  University  of  Edinburgh  in  1838.  He 
practiced  medicine  for  about  four  years  in  his  native 
town,  but  removed  to  the  United  States  in  1842,  and 
after  spending  some  years  in  the  South,  settled  in  St. 
Louis  in  1849.  Here  he  has  continued  in  the  practice 
of  medicine  ever  since,  and  has  enjoyed  a  very  large 
and  profitable  practice.  He  has  been  an  active  mem- 
ber of  various  medical  societies  and  associations,  hav- 
ing been  president  and  vice-president  of  the  St.  Louis 
Medical  Society,  and  of  the  State  Medical  Association. 
He  has  contributed  papers  on  a  variety  of  medical 
subjects  to  the  medical  journals.  During  the  last  few 
years  he  has  withdrawn  to  some  extent  from  practice 
on  account  of  failing  health,  but  he  still  attends  a 
good  many  of  his  old  families,  who  prefer  his  advice 
to  that  of  any  of  the  younger  practitioners. 

Dr.  Benjamin  Franklin  Shumard,  who  died  on  the 
14th  of  April,  1869,  was  esteemed  as  a  physician, 
having,  during  the  last  years  of  his  life,  filled  the 
chair  of  obstetrics  in  the  Missouri  Medical  College,  • 


THE   MEDICAL   PROFESSION. 


1539 


and  was  far  famed  throughout   the   scientific  world 
as  a  geologist  and  paleontologist.     He  was  a  corre- 
sponding or  honorary  member  of  many  scientific  asso-  i 
ciations  in  the  United  States  and  in  Europe,  and  was  j 
honored  and  beloved  at  home  as  the  president  of  the  i 
Academy  of  Science  of  St.  Louis,  an  office  to  which 
he  was  re-elected  at  the  beginning  of  the  year,  when 
his  lingering  illness  had  already  taken  away  all  hope 
that  he  would  ever  again  personally  preside  over  the 
meetings  of  that  body. 

Dr.  Shumard  was  born  at  Lancaster,  Pa.,  on  the 
24th  of  November,  1820.  His  father  was  a  merchant, 
but  he  inherited  his  scientific  tastes  from  his  maternal 
grandfather,  Mr.  Getz,  well  known  as  an  inventor, 
and  who  made  delicate  scales  used  in  the  Philadelphia 
Mint.  His  father  afterwards  moved  to  Cincinnati, 
and  while  living  there,  Dr.  Shumard  graduated  at 
Oxford,  Ohio,  and  returning  to  Philadelphia,  he  went 
through  one  course  in  the  medical  college  of  that  city. 
His  father  then  moved  to  Louisville,  Ky.,  where 
young  Shumard  completed  his  medical  studies  in 
1846.  He  then  practiced  for  a  short  time  in  one  of 
the  interior  towns  of  Kentucky,  but  subsequently  re- 
moved to  Louisville,  where  he  devoted  his  leisure  to 
the  study  of  the  fossils  and  shells  in  the  adjacent 
county.  He  laid  broad  and  deep,  by  arduous  appli- 
cation, the  foundations  upon  which  his  scientific  repu- 
tation is  built.  His  collection  of  organic  remains  was 
visited  by  Sir  Charles  Lyell  and  Edward  De  Ver- 
neuil  when  those  distinguished  savans  were  in  Louis- 
ville, and  the  last  named  manifested  his  appreciation 
by  the  presentation  of  his  magnificent  work  on  the 
geology  of  Russia. 

He  was  then  appointed  by  Dr.  David  Dale  Owen 
assistant  geologist  in  the  United  States  govern- 
ment survey  of  Iowa,  Wisconsin,  and  Minnesota,  for 
which  he  had  been  commissioned  by  the  national  gov- 
ernment in  1846.  He  remained  in  that  survey  until 
the  fall  of  1856.  The  published  reports  of  this  im- 
portant survey,  in  which  Dr.  Shumard  took  so  promi- 
nent a  part,  will  remain  monuments  of  the  industry, 
acquirements,  and  genius  of  their  author.  Besides 
his  share  in  the  publication  of  the  reports,  Dr.  Shu-  , 
.mard  published  a  monograph,  entitled  "  Contributions  • 
to  the  Geology  of  Kentucky,"  which  abounded  in 
original  observations,  and  which  made  his  name  fa- 
miliar to  European  geologists.  This  work  is  con- 
stantly referred  to  by  home  and  foreign  writers  on 
the  fossils  of  America. 

In  1850,  Dr.  Shumard  was  appointed  by  Dr.  John 
Evans  to  aid  him  in  a  geological  reconnoissance  of 
the  Territory  of  Oregon,  of  which  he  prepared  the 
paleontological  report.  He  spent  eighteen  months  in 


Oregon,  and  returned  to  Louisville  in  1852,  where  he 
occupied  nearly  a  year  in  making  out  the  reports  on 
paleontology  for  his  brother,  Dr.  George  Getz  Shu- 
mard, who  was  employed  under  Capt.  R.  B.  Marcy 
in  the  Red  River  exploration.  In  1853,  Dr.  Shu- 
mard came  to  St.  Louis,  and  was  appointed  assistant 
geologist  and  paleontologist  of  the  Missouri  Geo- 
logical Survey,  under  Professor  Swallow.  He  labored 
,here  until  the  summer  of  1858,  when  he  was  ap- 
pointed State  geologist  for  Texas,  and  made  a  recon- 
noissance of  almost  the  entire  eastern  and  middle 
portions  of  that  State,  and  had  just  got  his  speci- 
mens collected  and  arranged,  when  the  war  broke  out, 
and  he  returned  to  St.  Louis.  In  the  survey  of 
Texas,  he  found  within  the  limits  of  that  State  the 
most  complete  series  of  geological  formations  to  be 
found  in  any  State  in  the  Union,  ranging  as  they  do 
from  the  oldest  paleozoic  strata  to  the  latest  tertiary, 
and  presenting  an  aggregate  thickness  estimated  at 
not  less  than  ten  thousand  feet.  He  succeeded  in 
rescuing  his  library  from  Austin  at  the  end  of  the 
war,  but  never  returned  to  prosecute  the  survey. 

Dr.  S.  T.  Newman  was  born  in  Mississippi  Nov. 
30,  1816.  His  preliminary  education  was  obtained 
in  Augusta  College,  Kentucky,  and  he  graduated  in 
medicine  at  the  Transylvania  University,  Lexington, 
Ky.,  in  1839.  He  practiced  medicine  fof  five  years 
at  Amsterdam,  Miss.,  and  then  removed  to  Richmond, 
Ky.,  where  he  lived  until  1856,  when  he  came  to  St. 
Louis.  He  identified  himself  at  once  with  the  St. 
Louis  Medical  Society,  and  in  1860  was  elected  presi- 
dent of  that  body. 

Dr.  T.  L.  Papin  is  a  grandson  of  Laclede,  who  was 
the  founder  of  St.  Louis.  He  was  born  in  St.  Louis 
in  January,  1825,  and  obtained  his  literary  education 
here,  and  his  medical  education  partly  here  and  partly 
in  Paris.  He  graduated  from  the  Medical  Department 
of  the  St.  Louis  University,  and  then  went  to  Paris, 
where  he  pursued  his  studies  some  years  longer.  He 
has  been  a  teacher  of  medicine  all  through  his  profes- 
sional life.  In  1852  he  was  Professor  of  Clinical 
Medicine  in  the  St.  Louis  Hospital,  and  in  18*73  was 
appointed  Professor  of  Clinical  Gynecology  in  the 
Missouri  Medical  College,  which  position  he  resigned 
last  year. 

He  has  been  the  attending  physician  at  all  the 
Catholic  asylums  of  various  sorts,  and  was  the  origi- 
nator of  St.  John's  Hospital.  After  that  hospital 
was  well  established,  he  suggested  to  some  of  his 
friends  who  were  connected  with  the  Missouri  Medi- 
cal College  that  they  buy  the  property  adjacent  to  the 
hospital  and  erect  a  new  college  building.  This  was 
done,  and  Dr.  Papin  was  chosen  president  of  the 


1540 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Missouri  College  Building  Association.     In  order  to 
raise   the  money  necessary  for  the   building,  he  and 
Dr.  Moore  mortgaged  their  own  property.     The  suc- 
cess of  the  effort,  and  the  remarkable  prosperity  of 
the   college  since   its  removal,  have  been  mentioned  , 
elsewhere.     Dr.  Papin  justly  feels  that  he  contributed 
very  largely  to  the  success  of  the  school,  not  only  by  i 
carrying  out  the  Building  Association  plans,  but  by  i 
the  hospital  facilities  which  he  provided  and  secured  i 
for  them.     He  is  not  now  connected  with  the  college, 
and  only  retains  his  gynecological  clinic  at  the  hos-  ! 
pital,  which  is  probably  the  most  largely  attended  of  j 
any  in  the  city. 

Dr.  James  C.  Nidelet 1  is  descended  from  some  of  i 
the  most  noted  pioneer  families  of  Missouri.     His  ; 
grandfather,  the    well-known   Gen.  Bernard  Pratte, 
was  born  in  Ste.  Genevieve,  Mo.,  and  was  educated  at 
the  Sulsipitian  College,  Montreal  (Canada)  ;   and  re- 
turning to  St.    Louis,  married  Emilie  I.  Labadie,  a 
native  of  the  town,  and  daughter  of  Sylvester  Labadie 
and  Pelagic  Chouteau.    His  father,  Stephen  F.  Nide- 
let, of  French  extraction  and  a  native  of  San  Domingo, 
arrived  in  Philadelphia  when  but  seven  years  old,  and 
ultimately  became  a  member  of  the  prominent  silk 
house  of  Chapman  &  Nidelet.     While  visiting   St. 
Louis  he  met  and  married  on  Aug.  12,  1826,  Celeste  i 
E.,  daughter  of  the  Gen.  Pratte  above  mentioned.    He 
returned  with  his  wife  to  Philadelphia,  where,  on  the  I 
15th  of  January,  1834,  James  C.  Nidelet  was  born.    ; 

Young  Nidelet  acquired  his  early  education  in  Phil-  i 
adelphia,  at  the  classical  school  of  John  D.  Bryant,  a 
famous  instructor  in  that  city.  In  1844  he  was  taken 
by  his  parents  to  St.  Louis,  where  his  father  spent 
the  rest  of  his  life,  dying  in  1856,  after  having  won 
the  respect  of  a  large  circle  of  friends.  His  widow 
is  yet  living,  a  sprightly  and  well-preserved  lady  of 
seventy-three  years.  In  her  day  she  was  one  of  the 
belles  of  St.  Louis,  and,  despite  the  lapse  of  years, 
her  recollections  of  pioneer  times  are  very  distinct 
and  interesting. 

James  C.  Nidelet  attended  the  St.  Louis  University 
for  a  year  or  two,  and  in  1847  and  1848  St.  Mary's 
College,  Emmittsburg,  Md.  In  1849  he  entered  St. 
Louis  University  again,  and  spent  five  years  there, 
but  left  in  1853  while  on  the  point  of  graduating. 
He  then  prepared  for  the  Military  Academy  at  West 
Point,  but  failing  to  receive  an  appointment  as  cadet, 
applied  himself  to  the  study  of  medicine.  His  first 
tuition  was  obtained  in  the  practical  experience  of  a 
drug  store,  and  for  three  years  he  was  employed  in 
the  well-known  houses  of  Bacon,  Hyde  &  Co.  and 

1  Contributed  by  F.  H.  Burgess. 


Barnard,  Adams  &  Co.  He  then  attended  the  St. 
Louis  Medical  College,  under  Dr.  C.  A.  Pope,  and 
the  Missouri  Medical  College,  under  Dr.  Joseph  N. 
McDowell.  He  graduated  in  18(50,  and  began  the 
practice  of  medicine. 

In  December,  1861,  he  joined  the  Confederate 
army,  and  served  as  chief  surgeon  under  Gens.  Price, 
Maury,  and  Forney  in  the  Army  of  East  Tennessee 
and  Mississippi.  During  the  last  year  of  the  war  he 
was  transferred  to  the  Trans-Mississippi  Department. 
His  service  embraced  four  years  of  desperate  and 
bloody  warfare,  and  he  was  in  every  engagement  in 
which  his  army  corps  participated.  Among  the  most 
memorable  of  these  conflicts  may  be  mentioned  those 
attending  the  capture  of  Vicksburg,  and  the  sanguin- 
ary fields  of  Corinth,  Big  Black,  luka,  and  the  famous 
retreat  from  Hatchie.  During  all  this  period  of  ex- 
posure to  the  dangers  and  privations  incident  to  the 
war,  Dr.  Nidelet  was  never  wounded  and  never  lost 
a  day  from  sickness,  his  splendid  constitution  carry- 
ing him  safely  through  trials  to  which  weaker  natures 
would  have  succumbed.  He  was  always  to  be  found 
where  the  danger  was  greatest,  and  where  there  was 
the  greatest  need  of  the  prompt  assistance  of  the 
surgeon.  His  composure  amid  the  storms  of  shot 
and  shell  and  the  awful  distractions  of  the  battle- 
field was  proverbial,  and  repeatedly  Avon  the  com- 
mendation of  his  superiors. 

Frequently,  with  the  din  of  conflict  raging  about 
him,  he  performed  operations  that  would  have  made 
many  a  hospital  practitioner  famous.  His  four  years' 
service  in  the  war  gave  him  a  practically  unlimited 
experience  in  every  branch  of  surgery,  especially  that 
appertaining  to  the  treatment  of  gunshot-wounds,  and 
in  July,  1865,  he  returned  to  St.  Louis  rich  in  knowl- 
edge of  the  surgeon's  art  but  extremely  poor  in  purse. 
The  "  Drake  Constitution,"  which  was  then  in  force, 
forbade  him  to  practice  medicine,  because  he  could 
not  take  the  oath,  and  at  one  time,  while  struggling 
against  adverse  fortune,  he  was  on  the  point  of  leaving 
for  the  Pacific  coast.  During  the  winter  of  1865-66, 
however,  he  formed  an  engagement  with  his  old  Alma 
Mater,  the  Missouri  Medical  College,  and  assisted  in 
gathering  the  scattered  faculty  together  once  more. 
In  the  winter  of  1866-67  the  college  was  reopened, 
and  as  Professor  of  Anatomy  he  was  for  four  or  five 
years  engaged  in  his  favorite  pursuit  of  teaching  med- 
icine. He  had  large  classes,  and  contributed  materi- 
ally towards  bringing  the  historic  old  institution  into 
popular  favor  again.  He  then  engaged  in  the  private 
practice  of  medicine  with  distinguished  success. 

In  1875-76,  Dr.  Nidelet  was  appointed  police  com- 
missioner, and  for  two  of  the  four  years  of  his  term 


. 


THE   MEDICAL  PROFESSION. 


1541 


was  vice-president  of  the  board.  He  signalized  his 
administration  by  a  determined  effort  to  suppress  the 
lottery  business,  which  then  flourished  without  let  or 
hindrance  in  St.  Louis,  and  such  success  crowned  his 
labors  that  more  than  fifty  dealers  were  convicted  and 
fined.  As  a  consequence  he  incurred  the  hostility  of 
the  "  lottery  ring,"  and  charges  of  corruption  were 
made  against  him.  His  indictment  was  sought  at  the 
hands  of  several  successive  grand  juries,  but  he  was 
accorded  a  most  searching  investigation,  which  resulted 
in  the  utter  failure  of  his  enemies  to  make  even  a 
plausible  case  of  official  misconduct  against  him. 

The  following  estimate  of  Dr.  Nidelet's  standing  as 
a  physician  and  surgeon  is  furnished  by  a  gentleman 
who  has  known  him  from  a  boy,  was  several  years  in- 
timately associated  with  him,  and  is  familiar  with  his 
professional  career. 

"  Dr.  Nidelet  is  a  good  physician  in  every  sense  of 
the  word,  being  thoroughly  and  scientifically  educated 
for  his  profession.  His  success  has  been  as  great  as 
that  of  any  practitioner  of  his  years  in  St.  Louis,  and 
he  has  a  very  large  and  growing  patronage.  His 
judgment  is  accurate,  and  in  the  diagnosis  of  diseases 
and  the  selection  of  suitable  remedies  he  is  distin- 
guished. I  cannot  say  that  he  has  any  specialty, 
but  he  strikes  me  as  being  a  fine  specimen  of  the 
symmetrically-developed  doctor.  His  professional 
standing  is  excellent,  and  he  enjoys  the  respect  of  his 
associates  in  the  profession  as  a  high-toned  and  hon- 
orable man." 

Dr.  James  M.  Youngblood  was  born  in  Tennessee 
on  the  16th  of  December,  1833.  He  was  reared  in 
Tennessee  and  Kentucky,  and  graduated  at  the  St. 
Louis  Medical  College,  receiving  also  the  ad  eundem 
degree  from  Dr.  Joseph  N.  McDowell,  of  McDowell 
College. 

On  the  breaking  out  of  the  civil  war  Dr.  Young- 
blood  was  at  heart  and  in  feeling  a  Southern  man, 
but  was  opposed  to  secession  and  in  favor  of  upholding 
the  government.  Hence  he  sought  a  position  iu 
which  he  could  do  the  most  good  on  both  sides.  He 
accordingly  joined  the  army  as  a  surgeon,  and  in  1863 
was  placed  in  charge  of  Gratiot  Street  prison,  and 
served  in  that  capacity  till  1864.  In  that  year  he 
was  sent  South  with  Col.  Thomas  C.  Fletcher's  regi- 
ment, the  Forty-seventh  Missouri,  and  arrived  just 
after  the  battle  of  Nashville.  Dr.  Youngblood  was  a 
man  of  benevolent  disposition  and  charitable  to  the 
poor.  When  his  death,  which  occurred  Jan.  24, 
1879,  became  known  in  the  neighborhood,  many  poor 
children  and  their  parents  called  at  the  office  of  their 
benefactor,  manifesting  regret  for  the  loss  of  a  dear 
friend. 
98 


He  married  a  daughter  of  Edward  J.  Xaupi,  who 
survived  him,  together  with  five  children.  A  few 
months  before  his  death  he  was  chosen  a  member  of 
the  School  Board. 

On  April  1,  1881,  Dr.  A.  B.  Nichols  died  at  his 
home  in  Sparta,  Wis.  Dr.  Nichols  was  well  known 
in  St.  Louis,  where  he  had  many  friends.  He  was 
born  in  Northfield,  Vt.,  in  1842.  After  traveling 
about  the  country  for  some  time  he  settled  at  Racine, 
Wis.,  where  he  studied  and  made  wonderful  progress 
in  medicine.  In  1862  he  entered  the  army  as  an 
aid  to  an  assistant  hospital  surgeon.  He  attended  to 
hospital  duties  for  about  two  years.  Dr.  Nichols  was 
present  at  the  battle  of  Pittsburgh  Landing,  and  his 
skillful  treatment,  during  and  after  the  battle,  of 
wounded  soldiers  gained  him  favor  with  the  surgeon- 
general  and  many  other  high  officers.  In  1864  he 
removed  to  Sparta  and  settled  there,  following  his 
profession  until  his  death.  Dr.  Nichols  left  a  wife 
and  one  child,  a  son. 

That  the  complaint  of  over-crowding  in  the  medical 
profession  is  no  new  thing  is  apparent  from  the  fol- 
lowing paragraphs,  which  appeared  editorially  in  the 
Missouri  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal  of  August, 
1845: 

"We  have  a  list  of  the  names  of  one  hundred  and  forty-six 
persons  who  are  endeavoring  to  obtain  a  livelihood  by  the  prac- 
tice of  the  healing  art  in  this  city,  which  includes  the  homceop- 
athists,  Botanies,  Thompsonians,  etc.  Of  this  number  prob- 
ably ninety  or  one  hundred  hold  diplomas.  With  a  population 
of  forty  thousand,  each  would  have  two  hundred  and  seventy- 
four  persons  to  attend  upon,  supposing  the  whole  number  to  be 
equally  divided;  but  when  we  consider  the  fact  that  about  one- 
third  of  the  number  have  a  large  practice,  we  are  not  surprised 
that  a  large  number  are  not  able  to  collect  enough  to  pay  their 
expenses,  and  the  consequence  is  that  many,  after  spending 
'from  one  to  three  years  and  the  means  which  they  brought  to 
the  city,'  leave  and  settle  in  the  smaller  towns  in  the  surround- 
ing country.  Some,  who  are  favored  by  circumstances,  hold 
on,  hoping  that  with  the  rapid  growth  of  the  city  they  will 
finally  obtain  a  lucrative  practice;  others,  determined  to  be 
employed,  resort  to  whatever  will  obtain  their  ends,  regardless 
of  proper  respect  for  themselves  or  their  profession,  by  giving 
their  professional  services  for  little  or  nothing  and  a  constant 
endeavor  to  build  themselves  up  by  injuring  the  professional 
reputation  of  their  colleagues.  Real  merit  never  goes  lopg 
unrequited,  and  it  is  an  acknowledgment  of  weakness  for  any 
one  to  slander  the  whole  profession  because  forsooth  he  has  not 
sufficient  merit  to  retain  a  lucrative  practice. 

"While  the  facilities  for  obtaining  a  medical  education  in 
St.  Louis  are  not  surpassed  by  those  of  any  city  in  the  West, 
and  the  city  in  its  rapid  strides  to  greatness  has  anything  but 
a  sickly  appearance,  it  cannot  rationally  be  supposed  that  ita 
inhabitants  are  bound  to  sustain  all  the  ambitious  of  the  pro- 
fession who  prefer  to  practice  in  the  West ;  nevertheless  they  are 
always  glad  to  rent  them  offices." 

Medical  Societies. — There  are  a  number  of  med- 
ical societies  in  St.  Louis,  which  will  be  noticed  in. 
the  order  in  which  they  were  organized.  Those  of 


1542 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


the  regular  school  of  medicine  are  the  St.  Louis 
Medical  Society,  the  German  Medical  Society,  the  St. 
Louis  Medico-Chirurgical  Society,  the  St.  Louis  Ob- 
stetrical and  Gynecological  Society,  the  Beaumont 
Medical  Club,  and  the  Scientific  Association  of  Ger- 
man Physicians. 

ST.  Louis  MEDICAL  SOCIETY. — In  1836  a  med- 
ical society  was  organized,  which  was  incorporated  by 
a  special  act  of  the  Legislature  Jan.  25,  1837,  under 
the  name  of  the  Medical  Society  of  the  State  of  Mis- 
souri. For  some  years  its  meetings  were  held 
monthly  from  May  to  November  and  semi-monthly 
from  November  to  May,  but  after  1846  it  virtually 
suspended.  In  1850  a  new  organization  was  formed, 
which,  under  the  name  of  the  St.  Louis  Medical  So- 
ciety, has  done  a  good  deal  of  valuable  work  and 
wielded  a  large  influence.  Its  first  officers  were  B. 
G.  Farrar,  M.D.,  president;  Hardage  Lane,  M.D., 
vice-president;  B.  B.  Brown,  M.D.,  recording  secre- 
tary ;  J.  B.  Johnson,  M.D.,  corresponding  secretary  ; 
Y.  D.  Boiling,  M.D.,  treasurer.  The  presidents  sinco 
its  first  organization  to  the  present  time  have  been 
the  following:  B.  G.  Farrar,  M.D.,  in  the  years 
1836  and  1837;  Hardage  Lane,  M.D.,  in  1838, 
'39,  '43;  Meredith  Martin,  M.D.,  in  1840,  '42,  '45, 
'65;  William  Beaumont,  M.D.,  1841;  Stephen  W. 
Adreon,  M.D.,  1844 ;  Josephus  W.  Hall,  M.D.,  1846  ; 
R.  P.  Simmons,  M.D.,  1850;  David  Prince,  M.D., 
1851 ;  George  Engelmann,  M.D.,  1852  ;  John 
Barnes,  M.D.,  1853;  Thomas  Reyburn,  M.D., 
1854.  '57  ;  John  S.  Moore,  M.D.,  1855 ;  William 
M.  McPheeters,  M.D.,  1856  ;  E.  H.  McGintie,  M.D., 
1858;  M.  L.  Lenton,  M.D.,  1859;  S.  T.  Newman, 
M.D.,  1860  ;  M.  M.  Fallen,  M.D.,  1861  ;  J.  S.  B. 
Alleyne,  M.D.,  1864;  William  Johnston,  M.D., 
1866;  A.  Hammer,  M.D.,  1867;  Edward  Mont- 
gomery, M.D.,  1868  ;  John  H.  Walters,  M.D.,  1869 ; 
John  T.  Hodgen,  M.D.,  1870 ;  E.  H.  Gregory,  M.D., 
1871 ;  E.  F.  Smith,  M.D.,  1872;  Francis  G.  Porter, 
M.D.,  1873;  G.  Hunt,  M.D.,  1874;  J.  M.  Scott, 
M.D.,  1875;  G.  M.  B.  Maughs,  M.D.,  1876;  T.  F. 
Prewitt,  M.D.,  1877;  Thomas  Kennard,  M.D., 
1878  ;  L.  Ch.  Boisliniere.  M.D.,  1879 ;  H.  H.  Mudd, 
M.D.,  1881;  William  Dickinson,  M.D.,  1882;  and 
William  L.  Barret,  M.D.,  1883. 

It  is  a  somewhat  remarkable  fact  that  two  of  the 
greatest  men  in  the  profession  that  the  medical  society 
has  numbered  among  its  members  never  occupied 
the  president's  chair,  viz.  :  Dr.  Joseph  N.  McDowell 
and  Dr.  Charles  A.  Pope,  the  former  being  a  skilled 
surgeon  and  the  founder  and  for  thirty  years  the 
dean  of  the  first  medical  college  established  west  of 
the  Mississippi  River,  the  latter  a  most  skillful  and 


expert  surgeon  and  for  nearly  thirty  years  Professor 
of  Surgery  in  the  St.  Louis  Medical  College. 

The  St.  Louis  Medical  Society,  like  all  such  or- 
ganizations, has  had  its  times  of  special  interest  and 
profit  and  its  periods  of  depression  and  little  value. 
At  times  its  meetings  have  been  fully  attended,  papers 
of  interest  and  scientific  value  have  been  presented, 
and  discussions  have  taken  place  which  attracted 
the  attention  of  physicians  throughout  this  section  of 
country.  At  other  times  its  halls  have  been  the 
scene  of  heated  and  bitter  wrangling,  mutual  recrimi- 
nation, charges  and  counter-charges  of  professional 
discourtesy  or  of  unprofessional  conduct.  On  one  or 
two  occasions  the  bitter  animosities  and  differences  of 
opinion  growing  out  of  personal  antagonism  between 
members  have  nearly  wrecked  the  society ;  but  the 
faithful  work  of  some  loyal  members  has  kept  it  alive, 
and  it  still  continues  to  be  a  valuable  and  profitable 
organization.  Its  meetings  have  been  regularly  held 
on  Saturday  evening  of  every  week. 

For  a  number  of  years  in  the  early  history  of  the  St. 
Louis  Medicaland  SurgicalJournal,  abstract  reports  of 
the  meetings  of  the  Medical  Society  were  published  in 
that  journal.  For  several  years  now  full  reports,  taken 
by  a  short-hand  reporter  and  revised  by  a  committee  on 
publication,  have  formed  a  considerable  and  valuable 
part  of  the  Journal's  contents.  The  meetings  of  the 
society  were  held  in  1835  in  Masonic  Hall,  in  1850 
at  Westminster  Church,  afterwards  in  a  hall  at  the 
corner  of  Fourth  and  Chestnut  Streets,  then  in  the 
commercial  school,  then  for  a  time  in  the  office  of 
Drs.  Jordan  and  Shumard.  When  the  Academy  of 
Science  had  its  building  at  Seventh  and  Myrtle  Streets, 
adjoining  the  St.  Louis  Medical  College,  the  building 
erected  by  Col.  O'Fallon,  the  Medical  Society  held  its 
sessions  in  the  Academy  Hall.  After  the  burning  of 
that  building,  arrangements  were  soon  made  by  which 
the  society  meetings  have  been  held  at  the  Polytechnic 
Building,  at  Seventh  and  Chestnut  Streets,  in  a  room 
well  adapted  for  the  purpose.  One  valuable  feature 
of  the  society  is  the  arrangement  made  some  years 
ago  with  the  Public  School  Library,  by  which  the 
society  turns  over  to  the  library  the  membership  fees 
of  three  dollars  per  annum  for  four  years,  thus  se- 
curing to  the  members  not  only  the  usual  privileges  of 
membership  during  that  time,  but  also  a  life-member- 
ship ticket  after  that  time,  the  library  agreeing  to 
expend  all  money  so  received  for  medical  publications 
under  the  direction  of  the  library  committee  of  the 
Medical  Society. 

Any  reputable  regular  practitioner  resident  in  the 
city  of  St.  Louis  is  eligible  for  membership  in  this 
society.  Application  for  membership  may  be  made 


THE   MEDICAL  PROFESSION. 


1543 


in  writing  by  the  party  seeking  admission,  or  verbally 
by  some  member.  The  application  is  referred  to  the 
committee  on  elections,  to  whom  must  be  exhibited 
the  diploma  of  the  applicant.  A  favorable  report  of 
this  committee  is  equivalent  to  an  election,  although 
formally  a  favorable  vote  of  three- fourths  of  the  mem- 
bers present  is  necessary  in  order  to  constitute  an  ap- 
plicant a  member.  An  admission  fee  of  five  dollars 
is  required,  and  a  payment  of  dues  to  the  amount  of 
three  dollars  each  year  thereafter.  The  present  mem- 
bership of  the  society  is  not  far  from  one  hundred 
and  seventy-five. 

The  officers  of  the  society  for  1883  are  :  President, 
William  L.  Barret,  M.D. ;  Vice-President,  G.  F.  Dud- 
ley, M.D. ;  Recording  Secretary,  A.  H.  Ohmann- 
Dumesnil,  M.D. ;  Corresponding  Secretary,  Garland 
Hurt,  M.D. ;  Treasurer,  W.  E.  Fischel,  M.D. 

THE  GERMAN  MEDICAL  SOCIETY  ("  Deutsche  Med- 
iciuische  Gesellschaft")  was  organized  in  1850.  The 
society  subscribes  to  the  leading  European  medical 
journals,  and  these  circulate  among  the  members  ac- 
cording to  a  definite  plan.  The  membership  is  lim- 
ited to  twenty-five.  The  society  has  accumulated  a 
large  library.  The  present  officers  are  Dr.  G.  Baum- 
garten,  president ;  Dr.  Hugo  Kinner,  secretary ;  Dr. 
W.  E.  Fischel,  treasurer ;  Dr.  George  J.  Engelmann, 
librarian. 

THE  ST.  Louis  MEDICO-CHIRURGICAL  SOCIETY 
was  first  organized  in  1873  under  the  name  of  the 
Medical  Club,  as  a  result  of  a  state  of  affairs  in  the 
St.  Louis  Medical  Society,  which  had  led  a  consider- 
able number  of  members  to  cease  attending  its  ses- 
sions. There  is  no  permanent  presiding  officer  of 
this  society,  some  member  being  chosen  at  each  meet- 
ing to  preside  on  that  occasion.  The  secretary,  treas- 
urer, and  librarian  each  serve  one  year.  The  present 
officers  are  George  Homan,  M.D.,  secretary ;  J.  P. 
Kingsley,  M.D.,  treasurer;  W.  A.  Hardaway,  M.D., 
librarian. 

When  first  organized  the  club  met  in  a  hall  at 
Twelfth  and  Pine  Streets,  then  for  several  years  in 
the  directors'  room  of  the  Mercantile  Library  Asso- 
ciation. Later,  when  an  arrangement  was  made  to 
subscribe  regularly  for  the  most  valuable  European 
journals,  the  meetings  were  held  statedly  at  the  office 
of  the  librarian ;  but  as  the  membership  of  the  so- 
ciety increased  and  the  value  of  the  journal  list  be- 
came more  apparent,  it  was  deemed  best  to  secure 
permanent  quarters  for  the  meetings  of  the  society 
and  for  a  reading-room.  Accordingly,  a  convenient 
hall  was  secured  in  a  most  desirable  location  on  Wash- 
ington Avenue  near  Jefferson  Avenue.  This  has 
been  fitted  up  with  comfortable  chairs,  cases  for 


books  and  periodicals,  tables  for  reading  and  writing, 
etc.  Already  the  nucleus  of  a  valuable  library  has 
been  collected  through  gifts  of  members  and  by  an 
arrangement  with  the  Medical  Journal  and  Library 
Association,  by  which  the  exchanges  of  the  Courier 
of  Medicine  and  the  books  received  by  that  journal 
for  review  are  deposited  in  this  room,  and  are  at  the 
disposal  of  its  members. 

The  following  is  an  alphabetical  list  of  the  mem- 
bers of  this  society:  G.  Baumgarten,  L.  Ch.  Bois- 
iiniere,  J.  K.  Bauduy,  John  P.  Bryson,C.  E.  Briggs, 
N.  B.  Carson,  C.  0.  Curtraan,  D.  V.  Dean,  J.  O'F. 
Delaney,  George  Engelmann,  George  J.  Engelmann, 
W.  E.  Fischel,  W.  H.  Ford,  W.  A.  Frazier,  R.  M. 
Funkhouser,  E.  H.  Gregory,  E.  C.  Gehrung,  D.  C. 
Gamble,  W.  C.  Glasgow,  A.  A.  Henske,  B.  M. 
Hypes,  T.  E.  Holland,  W.  A.  Hardaway,  George 
Homan,  J.  B.  Johnson,  E.  W.  Jamison,  W.  C.  Ken- 
nett,  J.  P.  Kingsley,  A.  P.  Lankford,  James  M. 
Leete,  E.  S.  Lemoine,  I.  N.  Love,  E.  Montgomery, 
J.  M.  B.  Maughs,  C.  E.  Michel,  S.  G.  Moses,  G.  A. 
Moses,  H.  H.  Mudd,  M.  P.  Morrell,  E.  M.  Nelson, 
R.  J.  O'Reilly,  T.  F.  Prewitt,  T.  L.  Papin,  S.  Pollak, 
M.  H.  Post,  P.  G.  Robinson,  E.  W.  Saunders,  P.  V. 
Schenck,  James  M.  Scott,  A.  B.  Shaw,  H.  N.  Spen- 
cer, I.  G.  W.  Steedman,  A.  J.  Steele,  F.  L.  Stuever, 
H.  Tuholske,  C.  A.  Todd,  0.  A.  Wall,  B.  T.  Whit- 
more. 

Applicants  for  membership  must  be  recommended 
by  two  members.  The  name  is  referred  to  the  execu- 
tive committee,  and  posted  for  two  weeks  in  the  hall 
of  the  society.  If  the  executive  committee  report 
favorably  upon  the  application  the  name  comes  before 
the  society,  all  the  members  having  been  notified  by 
postal  card  of  the  election.  Two  adverse  ballots  ex- 
clude an  applicant  from  membership.  No  physician 
is  eligible  for  membership  in  this  society  until  after 
having  practiced  medicine  in  the  city  for  a  period  of 
at  least  two  years.  The  admission  fee  is  ten  dollars, 
and  the  annual  dues  are  the  same  amount.  The 
meetings  of  the  society  are  held  on  alternate  Tuesday 
evenings  throughout  the  year,  and  the  discussions  are 
regularly  reported  in  the  St.  Loin's  Courier  of  Medi- 
cine A  paper  is  read  at  each  meeting  by  some  mem- 
ber of  the  society,  the  order  of  reading  being  deter- 
mined by  lot. 

THE  ST.  Louis  OBSTETRICAL  AND  GYNECOLOGI- 
CAL SOCIETY  was  organized  in  1877.  Meetings  are 
held  on  the  third  Thursday  evening  of  each  month, 
except  July  and  August.  Papers  are  read  by  the 
members  in  turn,  and  discussions  follow  upon  the 
paper  or  verbal  reports  of  cases.  The  discussions  are 
taken  down  by  a  short-hand  reporter,  and  are  pubr 


1544 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


lished  in  the  St.  Louis  Courier  of  Medicine,  and  have 
been  generally  regarded  as  of  very  considerable  in- 
terest and  value. .  The  meetings  are  held  at  the  houses 
of  the  different  members,  and  one  fact  that  has  had  a 
pronounced  influence  in  sustaining  the  interest  and  at- 
tendance upon  the  meetings  has  been  the  custom  of 
adding  a  social  to  a  scientific  interest  by  the  serving 
of  a  supper  to  the  members  after  the  regular  busi- 
ness meeting  has  been  concluded. 

The  officers  of  the  society  for  the  current  year  are 
T.  L.  Papin,  M.D.,  president;  W.  H.  Ford,  M.D., 
vice-president ;  Walter  Coles,  M.D.,  recording  secre- 
tary ;  M.  Yarnall,  M.D.,  corresponding  secretary  ;  T. 
F.  Prewitt,  M.D.,  treasurer. 

The  following  list  embraces  the  present  membership 
of  the  society:  W.  L.  Barret,  L.  Ch.  Boisliniere,  W. 
Coles,  George  J.  Engelmann,  W.  H.  Ford,  E.  C. 
Gehrung,  E.  H.  Gregory,  G.  M.  B.  Maughs,  E.  Mont- 
gomery, S.  G.  Moses,  G.  A.  Moses,  William  McPhee-  < 
ters,  T.  L.  Papin,  T.  F.  Prewitt,  and  M.  Yarnall. 
Drs.  George  Engelmann  and  Adolph  Wislizenus  are 
honorary  members. 

THE  BEAUMONT  MEDICAL  CLUB  was  organized  in 
April,  1879,  by  a  number  of  the  younger  men  of  the 
profession,  for  the  purpose  of  medical  discussion  and 
social  intercourse.  The  meetings  were  held  monthly 
for  a  couple  of  years,  but  have  been  discontinued  of 
late.  The  first  officers  were  I.  N.  Levi,  M.D.,  presi- 
dent ;  W.  H.  Frazier,  M.D.,  secretary ;  and  George 
Homan,  M.D.,  treasurer.  The  officers  last  elected 
were  George  Homan,  M.D.,  president;  E.  M.  Nelson, 
M.D.,  secretary ;  J.  R.  Lemen,  M.D..  treasurer. 

THE  SCIENTIFIC  ASSOCIATION  OP  GERMAN 
PHYSICIANS  ("  Wissenschaftliche  Verein  Deutsche 
Aerzte")  was  organized  in  the  fall  of  1881.  The  so- 
ciety meets  every  other  Friday,  and  at  each  meeting 
an  essay  is  read,  followed  by  discussion,  pathological 
specimens  are  shown,  cases  presented,  and  the  usual 
business  routine  gone  through  with.  Every  member 
is  compelled  to  read  an  essay  when  his  name  is  called 
in  the  alphabetical  order.  The  society  has  commenced 
the  formation  of  a  library,  for  which  there  is  already  a 
respectable  nucleus.  The  present  membership  num- 
bers twenty-one.  There  is  no  permanent  president, 
the  presiding  officer  being  selected  at  each  meeting. 
The  secretary  is  Dr.  George  Richter;  Treasurer,  Dr. 
Joseph  Sprigelhalter ;  Librarian,  Dr.  A.  Alt. 

Medical  Schools. — The  history  of  medical  educa- 
tion in  St.  Louis  is  an  interesting  chapter  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  profession. 

MISSOURI  MEDICAL  COLLEGE. — In  1840,  when 
Joseph  Nash  McDowell  came  to  St.  Louis  from  Cin- 
cinnati, there  was  a  literary  institution  west  of  the 


city,  where  the  old  county  farm  lies  just  east  of  the 
insane  asylum.  Some  of  the  original  stone  buildings 
of  the  college  are  still  standing.  This  institution  was 
incorporated  with  a  university  charter  under  the  name 
of  "  Kemper  College."  It  was  established  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  and  President 
Hutchinson  was  then  at  its  head.  Dr.  McDowell  set 
to  work  with  enthusiasm,  and  organized  a  faculty  of 
medicine  to  work  under  the  charter  of  this  institu- 
tion and  to  be  known  as  the  Medical  Department  of 
Kemper  College.  The  first  course  of  lectures  was 
delivered  in  the  winter  of  1840-41  by  the  following 
faculty  :  Joseph  Nash  McDowell.  Professor  of  Anat- 
omy and  Surgery  ;  John  S.  Moore,  Professor  of  Obstet- 
trics  and  Diseases  of  Women  and  Children  ;  Josephus 
W.  Hall,  Professor  of  Theory  and  Practice  of  Medicine  ; 
John  De  Wolf,  Professor  of  Chemistry ;  Hiram  L. 
Prout,  Professor  of  Materia  Medica  and  Therapeu- 
tics. 

These  lectures  were  delivered  in  a  building  erected 
for  the  purpose  on  the  high  bank  of  Chouteau's  Pond, 
at  the  corner  of  Ninth  and  Cerre  Streets,  where  the 
Wainwright  brewery  now  stands. 

In  1847,  Kemper  College  having  failed,  owing  to 
the  lack  of  financial  backing,  the  Medical  Depart- 
ment became  the  Medical  Department  of  the  State 
University,  and  was  so  conducted  until  the  general 
organization  of  the  State  University,  when  a  separate 
charter  was  procured,  under  which  the  college  is  now 
conducted  as  the  Medical  Department  of  the  Missouri 
Institute  of  Science,  more  commonly  known,  however, 
as  the  Missouri  Medical  College. 

The  stone  octagonal  building  on  the  corner  of  Eighth 
and  Gratiot  Streets  was  erected  for  the  use  of  the 
college,  and  was  occupied  by  it  until  the  war,  when 
it  was  confiscated  by  the  United  States  government 
and  used  as  a  military  prison.  After  the  close  of 
the  war,  when  the  faculty  was  reorganized,  lectures 
were  again  delivered  in  the  same  building  for  three 
or  four  years.  In  1874  a  joint-stock  company  was 
formed  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  a  new  college 
building.  The  capital  stock  of  this  company  amounted 
to  fifty  thousand  dollars,  most  of  which  was  taken  by 
members  of  the  faculty.  The  present  site  was  pur- 
chased, and  an  excellent  building  erected  at  the  north- 
east corner  of  Lucas  Avenue  and  Twenty-third  Street, 
at  a  cost  of  twenty-five  thousand  dollars.  During  the 
last  year  the  building  has  been  improved  and  enlarged 
at  an  expense  of  fifteen  thousand  dollars. 

The  college  is  now  in  a  most  flourishing  condition, 
with  classes  numbering  between  two  hundred  and 
three  hundred  each  year.  The  faculty,  as  constituted 
at  present,  is  as  follows  : 


THE   MEDICAL  PROFESSION. 


1545 


William  M.  McPheeters,  M.D.,  Emeritus  Professor  of  Materia 
Medica  and  Therapeutics;  John  S.  Moore,  M.D.,  Professor  of 
Principles  of  Medicine  and  Hygiene;  G.  M.  B.  Maughs,  M.D., 
Professor  of  Obstetrics  and  Diseases  of  Women ;  P.  Gervais 
Robinson,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Practice  of  Medicine  and  Clinical 
Medicine;  J.  K.  Bauduy,  M.D.,  LL.D.,  Professor  of  Psycho- 
logical Medicine,  Diseases  of  Nervous  System  and  Clinical  Medi- 
cine; Charles  E.  Michel,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Histology  and 
Ophthalmology;  H.  Tuholske,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Clinical  Sur- 
gery and  Surgical  Pathology  ;  Otto  A.  Wall,  M.D.,  Ph.G.,  Pro- 
fessor of  Materia  Medica,  Therapeutics,  and  Pharmacy;  C.  A. 
Todd,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Anatomy  and  Diseases  of  the  Ear  and 
Throat ;  J.  P.  Kingsley,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Physiology  and  Clin- 
ical Professor  of  Diseases  of  Children;  T.  F.  Prewitt,  M.D., 
Dean,  Professor  of  Principles  and  Practice  of  Surgery  and 
Clinical  Surgery;  C.  0.  Curtinan,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Chemis- 
try; P.  V.  Schenck,  M.D.,  Clinical  Teacher  of  Gynecology; 
C.  A.  Todd,  M.D.,  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy  and  Curator  of 
Museum;  Justin  Steer,  M.D.,  Assistant  Demonstrator;  Ad- 
juncts: A.  B.  Shaw,  M.D.,  Adjunct  to  Professor  of  Clinical 
Medicine  and  Lecturer  on  Physical  Diagnosis  ;  F.  Stuever,  M.D., 
Adjunct  to  Professor  of  Ophthalmology;  J.  R.  Lemen,  M.D., 
Clinical  Assistant  to  Chair  of  Surgery. 

Hotel  for  Invalids. — In  the  summer  of  1848  the 
upper  stories  of  the  large  house  situated  on  the  cor- 
ner of  Second  and  Walnut  Streets,  previously  known 
as  the  Paul  House,  were  fitted  up  as  a  "  hotel  for  in- 
valids," which  was  conducted  under  the  supervision 
of  Drs.  W.  L.  Barret  and  John  S.  Moore,  of  Mis- 
souri Medical  College,  as  consulting  physicians,  and 
Drs.  Frazier  and  Johnson,  as  resident  physicians  and 
surgeons. 

Post- Graduate  School  of  the  Missouri  Medical 
College. — The  object  of  this  school  is  to  give  practi- 
tioners of  medicine  and  recent  graduates  facilities  and 
advantages  for  special  studies  and  practical  instruction 
such  as  cannot  be  afforded  in  the  ordinary  courses  of 
lectures.  The  faculty  of  the  Post-Graduate  School  is 
constituted  as  follows : 

Professor  P.  Gervais  Robinson,  M.D.,  Dean  of  the  Faculty, 
Physical  Diagnosis;  Professor  John  S.  Moore,  M.D.,  Malarial 
Disuses;  Professor  A.  B.  Shaw,  M.D.,  Clinical  Medicine;  Pro- 
fessor A.  P.  Lankford,  M.D.,  Surgerj' ;  Professor  H.  Tuholske, 
.M.D.,  Diseases  of  the  Genito-Urinary  Organs;  Professor  T.  F. 
Prewitt,  M.D.,  Surgery;  Professor  T.  L.  Papin,  M.D.,  LL.D., 
Diseases  of  Women ;  Professor  George  J.  Engelmann,  M.D., 
Secretary  of  the  Faculty,  Operative  Midwifery  ;  Professor  J.  P. 
Kingsley,  M.D.,  Diseases  of  Children  ;  Professor  Charles  E. 
Michel,  M.D.,  Diseases  of  the  Eye;  Professor  H.  N.  Spencer, 
M.I>.,  Diseases  of  the  Ear;  Professor  W.  A.  Hardaway,  M.D., 
Direases  of  the  Skin;  Professor  0.  A.  Wall,  M.D.,  Ph.G., 
Urinology. 

The  school  was  organized  in  1880  under  the  charter 
of  the  Missouri  Medical  College,  and  its  classes  are 
held  in  the  building  of  that  college. 

ST.  Louis  MEDICAL  COLLEGE. — In  1836,  after 
frequent  consultations  between  the  trustees  of  the  St. 
Louis  University  on  the  one  hand  and  the  St.  Louis 
Medical  Society  on  the  other,  an  agreement  was  entered 


into  for  the  appointment  of  a  medical  faculty  in  connec- 
tion with  the  university.  A  constitution  was  prepared 
and  ratified  by  both  parties,  and  the  Medical  Society 
selected  as  the  first  faculty  Drs  C.  J.  Carpenter,  J. 
Johnson,  William  Beaumont,  E.  H.  McCabe,  H. 
Lane,  and  H.  King.  A  prospectus  of  the  medical 
lectures  was  published  annually  with  that  of  the  literary 
department  of  the  university,  but  the  medical  depart- 
ment was  not  actually  put  into  operation  until  the 
fall  of  L842.  In  the  mean  time  (in  1841)  the  St. 
Louis  Medical  College  had  been  organized,  and  in 
1842  it  was  chartered  as  the  Medical  Department  of 
the  St.  Louis  University.  In  1855  it  became  inde- 
pendent, and  was  incorporated  under  its  present  name, 
incorporators  being  John  O'Fallon,  James  H.  Lucas, 
Luther  M.  Kennett,  James  Clemens,  A.  L.  Mills, 
Trusten  Polk,  G.  Penn,  W.  G.  Eliot,  James  E. 
Yeatman,  J.  Laughton,  Thomas  Allen,  and  H.  D. 
Bacon. 

It  was  originally  located  on  Washington  Avenue 
facing  Tenth  Street,  where  the  building  still  stands, 
on  the  grounds  of  the  St.  Louis  University.  The 
present  building  is  located  on  the  northeast  corner  of 
Seventh  and  Myrtle  Streets.  It  is  a  large,  well-con- 
structed, and  substantial  building,  which  was  erected 
for  the  use  of  the  college  in  1850  by  the  late  Col.  John 
O'Fallon.  The  whole  building  was  remodeled  and 
renovated  some  three  years  ago,  and  an  addition  built  at 
the  rear  for  the  chemical  laboratory.  There  are  three 
lecture-rooms  and  two  dissecting-rooms  and  a  library, 
besides  the  museum  and  smaller  rooms  set  apart  for 
the  faculty  and  other  uses. 

Last  year  a  building  was  erected  upon  the  adjoin- 
ing lot  especially  for  dispensary  purposes.  On  the 
first  floor  area  drug-room,  waiting-rooms  for  male  and 
female  patients,  consultation-room,  and  amphitheatre 
for  clinical  lectures.  On  the  second  floor  are  the 
rooms  for  the  gynecological  clinic  of  Professor  Bois- 
li  nitre,  and  those  for  the  dental  college,  laboratory,  and 
operating-room.  Several  thousand  patients  have  been 
treated  in  the  year  and  a  half  since  the  dispensary  was 
organized. 

The  faculty  own  the  buildings,  and  supply  the  neces- 
sary appliances  for  teaching  and  illustration  from  the 
income  derived  from  tuition  fees.  There  is  no  en- 
dowment. The  course  of  study  in  this  school  is  a 
graded  one,  extending  over  three  years,  the  first  being 
devoted  to  theoretical  and  demonstrative  branches,  and 
the  practical  subjects  and  specialties  being  taken  up 
in  the  second  and  third  years. 

The  first  dean  of  the  faculty  was  James  V.  Prather, 
M.D.,  the  second  was  Charles  A.  Pope,  M.D.,  the 
third  John  T.  Hodgen,  M.D.,  and  the  fourth  and 


1546 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


present  dean  is  J.  S.  B.  Alleyne,  M.D.     The  faculty 
is  composed  of  the  following  physicians  and  surgeons  : 

A.  Litton,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Chemistry  and  Pharmacy;  J. 
B.  Johnson,  M.D.,  Professor  of  the  Principles  and  Practice  of 
Medicine;  E.  H.  Gregory,  M.D.,  Professor  of  the  Principles  and 
Practice  of  Surgery  and  Clinical  Surgery;  J.  T.  Hodgen,  M.D.,1 
Professor  of  Surgical  Anatomy,  Special  Fractures  and  Disloca- 
tions, and  Clinical  Surgery  at  the  City  Hospital;  J.  S.  B.  Al- 
leyne, M.D.,  Dean.  Professor  of  Therapeutics  and  Materia  I 
Medica  and  Diseases  of  Children  ;  E.  F.  Smith,  M.D.,  Profes-  j 
sor  of  Clinical  Medicine  and  Pathological  Anatomy;  L.  Ch. 
Boisliniere,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Obstetrics;  G.  Baumgarten,  M.D., 
Professor  of  Physiology;  H.  H.  Mudd,  M.D.,  Professor  of  An- 
atomy and  Clinical  Surgery  at  the  City  Hospital :  H.  H.  Mudd, 
M.D.,  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy;  John  Green,  M.D.,  Lecturer 
on  Ophthalmology ;  W.  L.  Barret,  M.D.,  Lecturer  on  Diseases 
of  Women;  J.  M.  Scott,  M.D.,  Lecturer  on  Clinical  Medicine; 
G.  A.  Moses,  M.D.,  Lecturer  on  Clinical  Gynecology ;  N.  B. 
Carson,  M.D.,  Assistant  to  the  Chair  of  Surgery;  W.  C.  Glas- 
gow, M.D.,  Clinical  Lecturer  on  Physical  Diagnosis;  W.  E. 
Fischel,  M.D.,  Lecturer  on  Therapeutics;  J.  Friedman,  M.D., 
Demonstrator  on  Chemistry;  Edward  Evers,  M.D.,  Lecturer  on 
Histology;  R.  Luedeking,  M.D.,  Lecturer  on  Pathological  An- 
atomy ;  J.  P.  Bryson,  M.D.,  Lecturer  on  Diseases  of  the  Genito- 
Urinary  Organs;  W.  A.  McCandless,  M.D.,  Frank  R.  Fry, 
M.D.,  Assistant  Demonstrators  of  Anatomy. 

HUMBOLDT  INSTITUT  ODER  DEUTSCHE. — This  in- 
stitution was  organized  as  a  German  medical  college 
in  1859.  Lectures  were  delivered  regularly,  and  two 
classes  were  graduated.  It  was  discontinued  during 
the  war,  and  in  1866  was  reorganized  as  the  Hum- 
boldt  Medical  College.  The  faculty  included  the 
following :  Dr.  F.  J.  Bernays,  Professor  of  Chemistry 
and  Pharmacy  ;  Dr.  G.  Bernays,  Professor  of  Materia 
Medica  and  Midwifery ;  Dr.  D.  Goebel,  Professor  of 
Physics  and  Higher  Mathematics ;  Dr.  A.  Hammer. 
Professor  of  Anatomy,  Surgery,  and  Diseases  of  the 
Eye ;  Dr.  F.  M.  Hauck,  Professor  of  Physiology ; 
Dr.  T.  C.  Hilgard,  Professor  of  Botany,  Zoology,  and 
Comparative  Anatomy ;  Dr.  C.  Roesch,  Professor  of 
General  and  Special  Pathology  and  Therapeutics  and 
Clinical  Medicine;  Dr.  E.  Schmidt,  Professor  of 
Pathological  Anatomy,  gerichtlichen  Medicine,  and 
Psychiatry. 

The  first  course  of  lectures  was  given  during  the 
winter  of  1866-67.  The  organization  of  the  college 
was  effected  with  a  view  to  promoting  a  higher  stan- 
dard of  medical  education.  In  their  prospectus  the 
faculty  announced  the  purpose  of  having  a  longer 
term  than  that  of  any  other  medical  college  in  the 
country,  of  arranging  a  graded  course,  and  of  afford- 
ing facilities  for  instruction  in  the  different  special- 
ties. 

The  faculty  at  that  time  consisted  of  the  following 
gentlemen :  D.  Goebel,  Ph.D.,  Professor  of  Natural 

1  Deceased. 


Philosophy;  A.  Wadgymar,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Chem- 
istry and  Botany ;  H.  S.  Leffingwell,  M.D.,  Professor 
of  General  and  Descriptive  Anatomy;  D.  V.  Dean, 
M.D.,  Professor  of  Physiology,  Histology,  and  Toxi- 
cology;  G.  M.  B.  Maughs,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Ob- 
stetrics and  Diseases  of  Women  and  Children,  and 
Acting  Professor  of  Materia  Medica  and  Therapeu- 
tics;  I.  P.  Vaughan,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Theory  and 
Practice  of  Medicine ;  A.  Hammer,  M.D.,  Professor 
of  Principles  and  Practice  of  Surgery,  Ophthalmol- 
ogy, and  Clinical  Surgery,  and  Acting  Professor  of 
Pathological  Anatomy ;  Hon.  James  J.  Lindley,  Pro- 
fessor of  Legal  Medicine;  A.  J.  Steele,  M.D.,  Pro- 
sector and  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy  ;  Charles  Heyer, 
Assistant  to  Chair  of  Pathology,  Anatomy,  and  Cu- 
rator of  Museum ;  P.  J.  Lingenfelder,  Assistant  to 
Chair  of  Clinical  Medicine. 

The  building  of  the  Humboldt  College  stood  and 
still  stands  on  the  lot  directly  fronting  the  City  Hos- 
pital, extending  from  Linn  to  Closey  Street,  upon  the 
south  side  of  Soulard  Street.  It  was  an  admirable 
location,  and  the  building  was  convenient  and  well 
arranged  for  the  purpose. 

Lectures  were  delivered  for  three  successive  winters, 
but  after  the  close  of  the  session  of  1868-69  most  of 
the  members  of  the  faculty  resigned,  and  the  college 
was  given  up. 

ST.  Louis  COLLEGE  OF  PHYSICIANS  AND  SUR- 
GEONS.— After  the  abandonment  of  the  Humboldt 
Medical  College  in  1869,  an  organization  was  effected 
under  the  name  of  the  College  of  Physicians  and 
Surgeons,  under  the  leadership  of  Professor  Louis 
Bauer,  who  had  then  recently  come  to  St.  Louis  from 
Brooklyn.  The  faculty  consisted  of 

Louis  Bauer,  M.D.,  M.R.C.S.,  Professor  of  Surgery ;  Mon- 
trose  A.  Fallen,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Gynecology  ;  Augustus  F. 
Barnes,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Obstetrics;  T.  F.  Prewitt,  M.D., 
Professor  of  Surgical  Anatomy  and  Diseases  of  the  Skin  ;  J. 
K.  Bauduy,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Diseases  of  the  Mind  and  Ner- 
vous System  ;  John  Green,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Ophthalmology  ; 
G.  Baumgarten,  M.D.,  Professor  of  General  Pathology  and 
Pathological  Anatomy  ;  I.  G.  W.  Steedman,  M.D.,  Professor 
of  Clinical  Surgery  and  Diseases  of  the  Genito-Urinary  Organs; 
W.  B.  Outten,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Descriptive  Anatomy:  A.  J. 
Steele,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Military  and  Minor  Surgery,  Frac- 
tures and  Dislocations;  F.  H.  McArdle,  M.D.,  Professor  of 
Chemistry  ;  J.  M.  Leete,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Physical  Diagnosis 
and  Diseases  of  the  Chest;  J.  M.  Scott,  M.D.,  Professor  of 
Practice  of  Medicine  ;  Charles  E.  Briggs,  M.D.,  Professor  of 
Physiology  ;  William  L.  Barret,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Diseases 
of  Children  ;  James  F.  Johnson,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Materia 
Medica  and  Toxicology  ;  William  T.  Mason,  LL.B.,  Professor 
of  Medical  Jurisprudence  :  A.  G.  Jackes,  M.D.,  Demonstrator 
of  Anatomy,  and  Curator  of  the  Museum. 

The  second  year  Dr.  Barret  withdrew  from  the 
faculty.  Dr.  Briggs  took  the  Professorship  of  Dis- 


THE   MEDICAL  PROFESSION. 


1547 


eases  of  Children,  and  LeGrand  Atwood,  M.D.,  be- 
came Professor  of  Physiology.  In  the  course  of  this 
second  year  dissensions  sprang  up  between  members 
of  the  faculty,  and  the  scheme  was  abandoned  at  the 
close  of  the  year.  The  building  in  which  the  two 
years'  lectures  were  delivered  stands  on  Locust  Street, 
between  Tenth  and  Eleventh  Streets. 

It  is  believed  that  the  first  endeavor  in  the  way  of 
a  "  practitioners'  course,"  with  reference  to  which  so 
much  has  been  said  and  done  within  the  last  few 
years,  was  made  in  connection  with  the  College  of 
Physicians  and  Surgeons.  Special  courses  of  lectures 
were  delivered  on  Monday,  Wednesday,  and  Friday 
evenings  at  eight  o'clock,  commencing  Monday,  Nov. 
1,  1869  ;  gynecology,  Mondays,  by  Professor  Pallen  ; 
ophthalmology,  Wednesdays,  by  Professor  Green  ;  or- 
thopedic surgery,  Fridays,  by  Professor  Bauer.  Phy- 
sicians and  advanced  students  of  medicine  were  cor- 
dially invited  to  attend. 

The  present  St.  Louis  College  of  Physicians  and 
Surgeons1  was  incorporated  in  1879  by  James  0. 
Broadhead,  William  Hyde,  Louis  Bauer,  M.D..  Isaac 
Cook,  Gustav  Woltman,  Charles  P.  Warner,  L.  M. 
Rumsey,  A.  A.  Millier,  Ellis  Wainwright,  and  A.  S. 
Barnes,  M.D.,  and  a  faculty  was  chosen.  A  building 
was  procured  on  the  southwest  corner  of  North  Market 
and  Eleventh  Streets,  which  had  been  previously  used 
for  similar  purposes.  This  was  fitted  up  conveniently, 
a  dispensary  was  organized,  and  material  was  thus  se- 
cured for  illustration  by  clinical  lectures.  The  regular 
work  of  the  college  was  commenced  in  the  autumn  of 
1879,  a  class  of  five  members  being  graduated  in  the 
spring  of  1880.  Each  succeeding  class  has  increased 
in  numbers. 

This  college  demands  of  its  students  a  certain  amount 
of  knowledge  and  mental  training  as  preliminary  to 
admission,  and  requires  a  three  years'  graded  course  of 
study. 

The  present  faculty  is  composed  of 

Louis  Bauer,  M.D.,  M.R.C.S.,  Eng.,  Dean;  William  B.  Haz- 
ard, M.D.,  Secretary  and  Registrar.  General  Departments: 
Louis  Bauer,  M.D.,  M.R.C.S.,  Eng.,  Professor  of  Principles  and 
Practice  of  Surgery  and  Clinical  Surgery;  Algernon  S.  Barnes, 
M.D.,  Professor  of  Obstetrics  and  Diseases  of  Women;  Robert 
M.  King,  A.M.,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Physiology,  Histology,  and 
Clinical  Medicine;  William  G.  Moore,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Materia 
Medica,  Therapeutics,  and  Clinical  Medicine;  G.  Wiley  Broome, 
M.D.,  Professor  of  Anatomy;  George  AV.  Hall,  M.D.,  Professor 
of  Practice  of  Medicine  and  Clinical  Professor  of  Infantile  Dis- 
eases; Frank  L.  James,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Chemistry  and 
Toxicology.  Special  Departments:  William  B.  Hazard,  M.D., 
Professor  of  General  Pathology  and  of  Nervous  and  Mental 

1  This  institution,  though  having  the  same  name,  is  entirely 
distinct  from  and  independent  of  that  just  mentioned,  which 
still  has  a  legal  though  not  an  actual  existence. 


Diseases;  L.  H.  Laidley,  M.D.,  Professor  of  the  Theory  and 
Practice  of  Gynecology;  R.  A.  Vaughan,  M.D.,  Professor  of 
Diseases  of  Children,  with  Clinic;  Joseph  G.  Lodge,  Esq.,  Pro- 
fessor of  Medical  Jurisprudence ;  John  T.  Larew,  M.D.,  Pro- 
fessor of  Minor  Surgery ;  A.  D.  Williams,  M.D.,  Professor  of 
Ophthalmology  and  Otology;  Edward  F.  Raband,  M.D.,  Lec- 
turer on  Pharmacy;  G.  AViley  Broome,  M.D.,  Demonstrator  of 
Anatomy. 

THE  ST.  Lours  SCHOOL  OF  MIDWIVES  was 
founded  in  1854  as  Mrs.  Carpentier's  School  of  Mid- 
wives,  and  graduated  one  class  after  a  four  months' 
term  of  instruction  each  fall.  It  was  incorporated 
and  placed  under  its  present  director,  Dr.  George  J. 
Engelmann,  in  1874,  with  an  English  and  German 
class.  Dr.  W.  E.  Fischel  was  the  instructor  of  the 
English  class.  This  was  given  up  after  three  years' 
trial,  as  there  seemed  to  be  no  demand  for  instruction 
by  English-speaking  women,  and  now  only  the  Ger- 
man class  is  held.  Two  courses  are  given  annually, 
one  continuing  from  March  1st  to  June  12th,  the 
other  from  September  1st  to  December  18th.  The 
names  of  the  incorporators  were  Dr.  George  J.  En- 
gelmann, Mrs.  L.  Carpentier,  Dr.  G.  Baumgarten, 
Dr.  John  T.  Hodgen,  Dr.  Ph.  Weigel,  Dr.  A.  Wis- 
lizenus,  the  latter  four  constituting  the  board  of  ad- 
visers. The  present  board  consists  of  Dr.  A.  Wis- 
lizenus,  president ;  Dr.  G.  Baumgarten,  secretary ; 
Dr.  Hugo  Kinner,  and  Dr.  George  J.  Engelmann. 
The  school  is  held  at  the  residence  of  Mrs.  Car- 
pentier, 911  Chouteau  Avenue. 

THE  COLLEGE  FOR  MEDICAL  PRACTITIONERS 
was  incorporated  April  11,  1882,  and  its  first  session 
commenced  Nov.  11,  1882.  It  is  intended  to  be 
what  is  indicated  by  the  name,  a  school  for  instruc- 
tion in  special  branches,  but  does  not  grant  diplomas, 
only  certificates  of  attendance  upon  the  lectures  in  one 
or  more  branches  or  in  the  full  course  as  the  case 
may  be.  The  faculty  consists  of  the  following : 
Thomas  F.  Rumbold,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Diseases  of 
the  Nose,  Throat,  Ears,  Lungs,  and  Heart ;  Edward 
Borck,  A.M.,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Diseases  of  Chil- 
dren and  Clinical  Surgery  ;  Hon.  Frederick  T.  Leder- 
gerber,  Professor  of  Law,  Forensic  Medicine,  and 
Toxicology  ;  W.  B.  Outten,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Rail- 
road Surgery;  J.  H.  Mclntyre,  A.M.,  M.D.,  Pro- 
fessor of  Gynecology.  Besides  the  instruction  im- 
parted by  these  members  of  the  faculty  lectures  have 
been  given  by  William  Dickinson,  A.M.,  M.D.,  Pro- 
fessor of  Ophthalmology  ;  B.  Roemer,  M.D.,  Professor 
of  Diseases  of  the  Nervous  System  and  Venereal 
Diseases  ;  Garland  Hurt,  M.D.,  Etiology,  Hygiene, 
and  Management  of  Diseases;  A.  H.  Ohmann- 
Dumesnil,  A.M.,  M.D.,  Skin  Diseases;  H.  Marks, 
M.D.,  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy,  Lecturer  on  Pneu- 


1548 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


raonia.  Non-resident  professors :  David  Prince, 
M.D.,  Plastic  Surgery,  Electro-Therapeutics,  and 
Message;  William  A.  Byrd,  M.D.,  Surgical  Lesions 
of  the  Abdominal  Viscera ;  Hiram  Christopher, 
A.M.,  M.D.,  Medical  Chemistry  and  Urinology  ;  A. 
E.  Prince,  M.D.,  Demonstrator  of  Operative  Ophthal- 
mology. 

THE  ST.  Louis  COLLEGE  OF  PHARMACY  was  or- 
ganized in  the  spring  of  1865.1 

At  first  the  meetings  of  the  college  were  held  in 
the  dispensary  building  of  the  St.  Louis  Medical  Col- 
lege, and  the  chairs  originally  established  were  those 
of  chemistry  and  botany,  materia  medica,  and  phar- 
macy. At  this  time  the  officers  and  faculty  of  the 
college  were : 

President,  A.  Leitch ;  Vice-Presidents,  E.  L.  Massot  and  E. 
Sauder;  Corresponding  Secretary,  J.  O'Gallagher,  M.t>. ;  Re- 
cording Secretary,  C.  L.  Lips,  M.D. ;  Treasurer,  M.  W.  Alex- 
ander; Register,  J.  R.  Coleman,  M.D.;  Board  of  Trustees,  ex 
officio  the  officers  of  the  College,  E.  L.  Massot  (chairman),  J. 
McBride  (secretary),  Col.  J.  O'Fallon,  Henry  Shaw,  I.  II.  Stur- 
geon, Drs.  J.  Barnes,  C.  Roesch,  J.  Laughton,  M.  M.  Pallen, 
G.  Engelmann,  J.  T.  Hodgen,  and  Messrs.  W.  Primm,  H.  Kirch- 
ner,  T.  Kalb,  F.  W.  Sennewald,  E.  Fasold,  W.  D'Oench ;  Faculty, 
A.  Wadgyniar,  Professor  of  Chemistry  and  Botany;  J.  S.  B. 
Alleyne,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Materia  Medica;  J.  O'Gallagher, 
M.D.,  Professor  of  Pharmacy. 

The  college  is  now  located  at  the  southeast  corner 
of  Fifth  and  Olive  Streets,  and  its  officers  are  F.  W. 
Sennewald,  president;  Charles  Getner,  vice-president; 
Edmund  P.  Walsh,  secretary;  W.  C.  Bolm,  corre- 
sponding secretary ;  and  S.  Boehm,  treasurer. 

Hospitals,  Dispensaries,  Medical  Charities.— 

ST.  LOUIS  MULLANPHY  HOSPITAL  (SISTERS'   HOS- 

PITAL). — It  was  in  1828  that  the  Sisters'  Hospital 
was  first  instituted.  In  that  year  John  Mullanphy 
donated  to  Joseph  Rosatti,  then  bishop  of  the  Catho- 
lic diocese,  in  trust  for  this  hospital,  one  hundred  feet 
of  ground  fronting  on  Fourth  Street  and  running  to 
Third  Street,  on  the  south  side  of  Spruce  Street.  A 
small  building  was  erected  at  first,  the  remainder  of 
the  lot  being  devoted  to  a  garden  and  orchard.  As 

1  "The  opinion  has  long  prevailed  among  the  members  of  the 
medical  profession  and  the  body  of  apothecaries  of  St.  Louis 
that  some  measure  should  he  taken  for  the  scientific  development 
of  pharmacy  in  this  city  by  more  highly  educating  the  apothe- 
caries' clerks,  and  protecting  the  interests  of  both  classes  against 
the  baneful  influence  of  illiterate  men.  At  several  preliminary 
meetings  of  physicians  and  apothecaries  to  consider  the  steps 
necessary  for  the  above  purpose  an  organization  was  perfected, 
and  now  we  have  established  among  us  a  College  of  Pharmacv. 
The  institution,  though  yet  in  its  infancy,  bids  fair  to  stand 
firmly,  and,  like  similar  institutions  of  Eastern  cities,  to  exert 
a  highly  beneficial  influence  upon  those  whom  it  most  nearly 
concerns.  Already  its  list  of  members  is  large,  and  rapidly 
increasing  from  day  to  day." — Republican,  April  1,  IM;;,. 


occasion  required  new  buildings  were  erected,  until 
not  only  the  whole  frontage  on  all  three  streets  was 
covered,  but  the  rear  of  the  lot  also,  leaving  a  large 
area  in  the  centre,  used  as  a  promenade  by  convales- 
cent patients.  The  first  building  occupied  by  the  sis- 
ters was  a  log  cabin.  The  four  sisters  who  came  here 
in  1 828  were  Sister  Frances  Xavier,  who  was  the  first 
Lady  Superior  here,  Sister  Rebecca  Dellone,  Sister 
Frances  Regis,  and  Sister  Martina.  They  were  mem- 
bers of  the  order  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity  of  St. 
Vincent  de  Paul,  which  was  established  at  Emmitts- 
burg,  Md.,  in  1809,  by  Mother  Seton,  a  daughter  of 
Dr.  Bailey,  a  celebrated  surgeon  of  New  York  City. 
In  1831  four  more  sisters  joined  the  little  community 
in  St.  Louis. 

In  1831  the  corner-stone  was  laid  of  the  brick 
building  which  stood  so  many  years  on  the  corner  of 
Fourth  and  Spruce  Streets.  It  was  the  first  hospital 
of  the  kind  established  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and 
it  has  acquired  the  unquestioned  confidence  of  the 
community.  It  is  not,  however,  a  public  charity  in 
the  general  acceptation  of  the  term.  The  public  use  it, 
but  it  is  intended  to  be  and  should  be  self-sustaining. 
Those  who  are  able,  go  there  and  pay  for  attendance, 
preferring  it  either  to  a  public  or  a  private  hospital, 
and  strangers  especially  and  persons  who  have  no 
homes  of  their  own  prefer  it  generally  to  other  insti- 
tutions of  the  kind. 

In  the  growth  of  the  city  westward  the  original  lo- 
cation became  an  undesirable  one  for  a  hospital,  and 
in  the  middle  of  July,  1874,  the  patients  were  re- 
moved to  a  fine  new  building  in  the  western  part  of 
the  city,  one  square  east  of  Grand  Avenue.  The 
building  fronts  on  Montgomery  Street,  toward  the 
south  ;  the  north  side  is  on  Cardinal  Street,  the  east 
side  on  Colman  Street,  and  the  west  on  Bacon  Street. 

The  cost  of  the  building  was  not  far  from  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  dollars.  The  area  of  the  site 
was  five  hundred  by  two  hundred  and  fifty-five  feet. 
The  hospital  buildings  present  a  stately  appearance 
as  one  approaches  the  place  along  Grand  Avenue,  the 
vast  pile  of  brick  looming  up,  with  the  white  facings, 
above  the  surrounding  elevations.  The  main  build- 
ings, together  with  the  east  and  west  wings,  are  four 
stories  high,  while  the  connecting  wings  have  a  height 
of  only  three  stories.  The  interior  arrangements  of 
the  hospital  are  all  that  modern  improvements  could 
suggest.  The  buildings  will  accommodate  three  hun- 
dred patients  comfortably,  and  contain  fifty  private 
rooms,  which  are  all  large  and  elegantly  furnished, 
also  large  and  well-ventilated  wards  devoted  to  the 
different  departments  of  medicine  and  surgery.  The 
specialties  are  thoroughly  recognized,  and  we  find 


THE   MEDICAL   PROFESSION. 


1549 


distinct  departments  of  surgery,  general  medicine, 
diseases  of  the  chest  and  throat,  diseases  of  women, 
and  diseases  of  the  eye  and  ear.  In  addition  to  the 
usual  hospital  accommodations,  there  is  also  a  large 
and  rich  polyclinic,  consisting  of  the  departments  of 
surgery,  medicine,  diseases  of  chest  and  throat,  dis- 
eases of  women  and  children,  and  diseases  of  the  eye 
and  ear.  In  these  clinics  patients  are  treated  gratui- 
tously, and  medicine  is  furnished  at  moderate  rates. 

There  are  at  present  twenty  sisters  connected  with 
the  hospital,  the  entire  institution  being  in  charge  of  I 
Sisters  Theresa  and  Servente. 

The  names  of  the  Sisters  Superior  who  have  had 
charge  of  this  hospital,  with  their  terms  of  service, 
are  the  following :  Sister  Frances  Xavier,  for  five 
years;  Sister  Rebecca  Delorne,  for  one  year;  Sister 
Seraphina,  three  years ;  Sister  Alexis,  twenty-five 
years  ;  Sister  Anacaria,  two  years  ;  Sister  Mary  Rosa, 
four  years ;  Sister  Theresa,  one  year.  The  medical 
staff  at  present  comprises  the  following :  E.  H.  Greg- 
ory, M.D.,  surgeon-in-chief;  N.  B.  Carson,  M.D., 
surgeon  ;  P.  Y.  Tupper,  M.D.,  assistant ;  S.  Pollak, 
M.D.,  surgeon  to  department  of  eye  and  ear ;  W.  C. 
Glasgow,  M.D.,  physician  to  department  of  diseases 
of  the  chest  and  throat;  L.  L.  McCabe,  M.D.,  physi- 
cian to  male  medical  department ;  B.  T.  Whitraore, 
M.D.,  assistant;  G.  A.  Moses,  M.D.,  physician  to 
female  medical  department;  F.  A.  Glasgow,  M.D., 
assistant. 

Dr.  E.  H.  Gregory,  surgeon-in-chief  of  the  hospi- 
tal, was  born  near  Russellville,  Ky.,  Sept.  10,  1824. 
He  was  educated  in   Kentucky,  at  an  institution  of 
which  his  father  had  charge.     He  graduated  in  med- 
icine from  the  Medical  Department  of  the  St.  Louis 
University  in  1849,  and  after  practicing  medicine  for  ! 
two  or  three  years  in  Cooper  and  Morgan   Counties, 
Mo.,  removed  to  St.  Louis  in  1852.     He  has  been 
connected  with    the   St.  Louis    Medical    College   as  , 
Demonstrator  of  Anatomy  and  Professor  of  Surgery  ' 
since  1852,  and  has  for  many  years  been  at  the  head  ! 
of  the  medical   organization  of  the  Sisters'  Hospital. 
He  is  a  popular  lecturer,  an  able  surgeon  of  conserv- 
ative tendency,  and  has  had  the  best  success  in  ovari- 
otomy of  any  operator  in  St.  Louis. 

ST.  ANN'S  WIDOWS'   HOME,  LYING-IN  HOSPI- 
TAL, AND  FOUNDLING  ASYLUM. — This  institution 
was   organized   May  12,  1853,  and  was  incorporated  I 
in  March,  1859,  in  the  name  of  the  Sisters  of  Char- 
ity.    It  was  originally  situated  in  the  southern  part 
of  the  city,  on   the   corner  of  Marion   and    Minard 
Streets,  in  a  house  hired  for  the  purpose.     The  pres-  ; 
ent  building  on  the  southeast  corner  of  O'Fallon  and 
Tenth  Streets  was  erected  in  1857-58,  and  was  first 


occupied  Sept.  8,  1858.  The  physicians  who  have 
had  professional  charge  of  the  lying-in  hospital  were 
Dr.  L.  Ch.  Boisliniere,  from  1853  to  1861 ;  Dr.  Shu- 
mard,  1861  to  1865  ;  E.  L.  Feehan,  1865  to  1874 ; 
Dr.  William  Reilly,  1874  to  1879  ;  Dr.  A.  A.  Henske, 
from  1879  to  the  present  time. 

The  ground  on  which  this  building  was  erected 
was  donated  by  Mrs.  Ann  Biddle,  and  the  institution 
takes  its  name  from  her.  The  lying-in  patients  ac- 
commodated in  this  hospital  (including  private  pa- 
tients) number  from  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  to 
one  hundred  and  fifty  per  annum.  The  number  of  in- 
fants received  (born  in  the  house"  and  brought  thither 
as  foundlings)  was  three  hundred  and  eighty-five  in 
the  year  1882. 

ST.  VINCENT'S  INSTITUTION  FOR  THE  INSANE, 
situated  on  the  southeast  corner  of  Marion  and  Deca- 
tur  Streets,  was  founded  Aug.  10,  1858,  by  the  Sis- 
ters of  Charity.  The  archbishop  by  way  of  encour- 
agement gave  them  a  lease  for  ten  years  on  their 
present  building,  which  was  originally  built  for  an 
orphanage.  By  1867  the  sisters  had  paid  for  the 
house.  During  the  next  year  they  built  an  addition 
and  raised  the  old  building  one  story.  There  is  now 
a  centre  building  fronting  on  Decatur  Street  and  two 
wings.  In  1881  the  sisters  were  incorporated  under 
the  name  of  St.  Vincent's  Institution  for  the  Insane, 
under  the  management  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  with 
Sister  Julia  as  superior.  The  building  is  large,  well 
ventilated,  and  fitted  up  with  every  convenience  neces- 
sary for  an  institution  of  that  character.  The  grounds 
on  which  the  building  stands  cover  an  entire  block, 
and  are  laid  out  in  shady  walks.  All  classes  of  in- 
sane persons  and  of  all  denominations,  without  regard 
to  the  duration  of  the  disease  or  its  curability,  are 
admitted ;  also  a  limited  number  of  those  addicted  to 
the  use  of  opium  and  other  stimulants  to  excess.  A 
farm  belonging  to  the  institution,  a  short  distance  in 
the  country,  affords  a  source  of  much  pleasure  and 
recreation  for  the  patients  during  the  spring  and  sum- 
mer. The  asylum  is  private.  Patients  who  are  able 
pay,  and  what  is  left  after  defraying  the  actual  expenses 
goes  towards  the  support  of  the  charity  patients,  of 
whom  there  is  an  average  of  forty-five  in  the  house. 
Dr.  John  A.  Seavy  was  the  first  physician  in  charge 
of  the  institution,  and  its  present  medical  attendants 
are  Dr.  Jerome  K.  Bauduy,  who  has  been  the  at- 
tending physician  for  nearly  a  score  of  years,  and  Dr. 
A.  B.  Shaw,  who  has  recently  been  associated  with 
him. 

DISPENSARY. — As  heretofore  stated,  the  first  free 
dispensary  for  the  gratuitous  treatment  of  the  poor 
was  established  by  Drs.  S.  G.  Moses,  William  Me- 


1550 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Pheeters,  George  Johnson,  J.  B.  Johnson,  C.  A. 
Pope,  and  Joseph  Clark.  Drs.  Beaumont  and  Hard-  j 
age  Lane  were  the  consulting  physicians.  The  six 
young  physicians  first  mentioned  pledged  each  other 
that  they  would  each  give  an  hour  a  day  to  the  work 
at  the  dispensary  and  take  charge  of  out-door  cases 
in  one  of  the  city  wards,  and  that  they  would  carry 
on  the  work  for  five  years.  The  out-door  service  in 
the  different  wards  was  changed  every  six  months,  so 
as  to  equalize  the  work  as  much  as  possible.  Dr. 
Moses  was  president  of  the  organization.  Through 
the  kind  offer  of  Dr.  Eliot,  the  basement  of  the  Uni- 
tarian Church,  which  then  stood  on  the  northwest 
corner  of  Pine  and  Fourth  Streets,  was  placed  at 
their  disposal,  and  was  occupied  for  some  years.  At 
the  end  of  the  first  year  the  dispensary  was  several  j 
hundred  dollars  in  debt.  At  that  time  an  ordinance 
was  passed  by  virtue  of  which  the  president  of  the 
dispensary  was  made  an  honorary  member  of  the 
Board  of  Health,  and  an  appropriation  of  five  hundred 
dollars  per  annum  was  secured,  thus  enabling  them 
to  procure  a  stock  of  medicine  and  lighten  the  ex- 
pense materially.  A  number  of  philanthropic  citizens 
contributed  generously  to  the  support  of  the  under- 
taking, among  whom  the  Mullanphy  family  may  be 
mentioned  specially.  Collections  were  taken  up  in 
the  churches  for  the  same  object.  Gradually  the 
debt  was  extinguished,  and  when  the  dispensary  was 
given  up,  seven  years  after  its  establishment,  it 
owed  nothing.  It  was  discontinued  because  the  city 
established  a  public  dispensary  and  withdrew  the  ap- 
propriation for  medicines  for  this  charity.  The  col- 
leges also  had  established  dispensaries,  and  the  original 
dispensary  seemed  to  be  no  longer  needed. 

CITY  HOSPITAL. — At  the  meeting  of  the  City 
Council  on  the  10th  of  July,  1845,  an  ordinance 
was  passed  directing  the  appointment  of  a  committee 
of  five  to  select  a  building  site  and  cause  plans  to  be 
made  for  a  city  hospital.  The  committee  selected  a  tract 
of  ground,  embracing  about  twenty-eight  acres,  in  the 
city  common,  at  the  head  of  Soulard  Street  and  west 
of  St.  Ange  Avenue,  bounded  north  by  Linn  Street  and 
south  by  Lafayette  Avenue,  the  same  ground  where 
the  hospital  now  stands.  This  site  was  originally  oc-  I 
cupied  by  the  St.  Louis  cemetery.  The  land  was  sur-  i 
veyed  by  Henry  Kayser,  city  engineer,  and  contracts  ! 
were  awarded  in  August  of  that  year  for  the  con- 
struction of  the  building.  The  hospital  was  partly 
completed  (the  original  plans  as  prepared  by  Thomas 
Walsh  were  not  fully  carried  out),  and  was  immedi- 
ately put  to  use  in  August,  1846.  The  building  was 
then  one  hundred  and  eleven  feet  long  by  fifty  and  a 
half  feet  wide,  which  was  but  the  northern  half  of 


the  whole  front,  originally  designed  to  be  two  hun- 
dred and  thirteen  feet  in  length,  with  extended  wings 
on  each  side  running  westwardly.  It  was  three  stories 
in  height,  inclusive  of  stone  basement  nine  feet  above 
ground.  Besides  rooms  for  domestic  purposes  and 
officers'  quarters,  there  were  on  the  principal  floor 
three  wards  for  patients,  and  on  the  second  floor  six 
wards.  The  wards  measured  from  nineteen  by  nine- 
teen and  a  half  to  nineteen  by  thirty-eight  feet.  The 
part  of  the  building  then  completed  cost  $17,068.57. 
Drs.  John  S.  Moore  and  M.  M.  Pallen,  health  officers 
under  Mayor  Bernard  Pratte,  were  appointed  to  take 
charge  of  the  hospital,  and  to  have  the  sick  removed 
from  the  St.  Louis  Hospital,  where  they  had  pre- 
viously been  attended  to  at  the  city's  expense. 

The  succeeding  mayor,  Peter  G.  Camden,  was  em- 
powered to  appoint,  by  and  with  the  consent  of  the 
Council,  a  resident  physician  to  serve  one  year  at  a 
salary  of  two  hundred  dollars  per  annum  ;  four  attend- 
ing physicians,  to  be  selected  from  the  medical  schools 
of  the  city  alternately,  each  physician  to  serve  three 
months ;  four  consulting  physicians  to  serve  one  year, 
and  one  steward  and  one  matron,  at  a  yearly  salary, 
respectively,  of  six  hundred  and  two  hundred  dollars. 

The  hospital  could  accommodate  about  ninety  pa- 
tients, and  was  supplied  with  few  conveniences.  The 
grounds  were  not  inclosed.  The  following  was  the 
staff  of  officers  under  the  first  organization  :  Dr.  David 
0.  Glasscock,  resident  physician  ;  Col.  N.  Wyman, 
steward ;  Mrs.  Susan  F.  Wyman,  matron  ;  Drs.  B. 
Bush  Mitchell,  J.  B.  Johnson,  Charles  A.  Pope,  and 
Thomas  Barbour,  attending  physicians  ;  Drs.  William 
Beaumont,  John  S.  Moore,  Thomas  Reyburn,  and  J. 
N.  McDowell,  consulting  surgeons.  The  second  resi- 
dent physician  was  Dr.  D.  M.  Cooper,  assisted  by  Drs. 
E.  F.  Smith  and  John  T.  Hodgen.  Dr.  David  Prince, 
now  of  Jacksonville,  111.,  was  resident  physician  of 
the  hospital  during  the  cholera  season  of  1849  until 
the  epidemic  had  to  a  great  extent  subsided,  when  he 
was  succeeded  by  Dr.  T.  Y.  Bannister,  who  held  the 
position  until  1857.  He  was  succeeded  by  Dr.  0.  C. 
Johnson,  and  he  by  Dr.  L.  T.  Pine  ;  then  followed  in 
order  Drs.  A.  Jaminet,  J.  V.  L.  Brokaw,  R.  H. 
Paddock,  Charles  Spinzig,  J.  W.  Hall,  E.  D.  Clark, 
J.  G.  Morgan,  T.  F.  Prewitt,  G.  Hurt,  and  D.  V. 
Dean,  who  still  holds  the  position,  and  under  whose 
charge  the  institution  has  been  greatly  improved  in 
efficiency  and  equipment,  while  the  expense  of  admin- 
istration has  been  materially  diminished. 

On  May  15,  1856,  the  hospital  was  almost  wholly 
destroyed  by  fire,  which  broke  out  about  three  o'clock 
in  the  morning  in  the  lecture-room  in  the  southwest 
wing  of  the  building,  and  in  a  few  hours  only  a  ruin 


THE   MEDICAL   PROFESSION. 


1551 


was  left.  The  patients  were  all  removed,  and  those 
who  were  unable  to  assist  themselves  were  carried  to 
the  Sisters'  Hospital  at  Fourth  and  Spruce  Streets, 
where  they  were  cared  for.  Only  one  life  was  lost, 
that  of  an  insane  Italian,  who  rushed  back  into  the 
flames  after  having  been  once  rescued.  Arrange- 
ments were  then  made  for  the  use  of  a  part  of  the 
United  States  Marine  Hospital  and  of  the  buildings 
on  the  county  farm  until  the  hospital  could  be  re- 
built. In  May,  1857,  the  main  building  and  exten- 
sion of  the  hospital  were  completed,  but  were  not 
occupied  until  the  following  July.  The  total  cost  of 
rebuilding  the  hospital  was  $46,079.16;  the  engines, 
outhouses,  fences,  etc.,  cost  about  $16,000. 

The  grounds  of  the  hospital  contain  some  eight 
acres.  An  ornamental  garden  about  forty  feet  wide 
lies  between  the  front  of  the  building  and  Linn  Street, 
on  which  it  fronts.  The  main  building  is  in  the  shape 
of  an  "  L,"  the  wing  facing  toward  Lafayette  Avenue. 

During  the  years  1873-74  a  new  wing  was  erected 
on  the  Lafayette  Avenue  side  of  the  lot  four  stories 
in  height,  including  the  basement.  It  is  "T"-shaped, 
measuring  thirty-four  by  one  hundred  and  twenty 
feet  and  thirty-eight  by  fifty-six  feet.  This  has  re- 
lieved to  a  considerable  degree  the  overcrowded  con- 
dition of  the  hospital,  but  the  building  is  still  inade- 
quate to  the  requirements  of  so  large  a  city  as  St. 
Louis. 

THE  HOUSE  OF  INDUSTRY  was  opened  Oct.  1, 
1872,  for  the  reception  of  patients,  and  was  devoted 
to  the  treatment  of  women  who  were  sent  thither  on 
certificate  of  the  examining  physicians  under  the 
"  social  evil"  registration  law.  Dr.  E.  P.  Powers  was 
the  resident  physician  until  the  spring  of  1875,  when 
Dr.  P.  V.  Schenck  was  appointed  to  that  position, 
and  the  hospital  was  made  a  general  female  hospital 
for  the  reception  of  all  the  female  patients  of  the  city, 
except  such  cases  of  emergency  and  night  cases  as 
cannot  be  carried  to  such  a  distance.  The  building 
is  a  fine  brick  structure,  situated  upon  high  ground  in 
the  western  part  of  the  city,  one  mile  west  of  Tower 
Grove  Park.  The  present  superintendent  is  Dr. 
George  F.  Hulbert. 

THE  UNITED  STATES  MARINE  HOSPITAL/  for  the 
treatment  of  sick  and  disabled  seamen  of  the  mer- 
chant marine,  is  situated  on  Marine  Avenue,  south  of 
the  United  States  Arsenal,  in  the  southern  portion  of 
the  city  overlooking  the  river,  and  is  distant  about 
three  miles  from  the  custom-house.  The  surgeon  in 


1  The  author  is  indebted  for  the  greater  part  of  the  material 
from  which  this  sketch  is  compiled  to  Dr.  Henry  W.  Sawtelle, 
surgeon  in  charge  of  the  United  States  Marine  Hospital. 


charge  is  Dr.  Henry  W.  Sawtelle.  The  local  quaran- 
tine station  is  about  twelve  miles  below  the  city,  and 
during  the  sickly  season  all  vessels  hailing  from  epi- 
demic regions  are  carefully  inspected,  good  accommo- 
dations being  provided  for  those  persons  who  are  de- 
tained for  examination  or  treatment. 

By  the  act  of  3d  March,  1837,  an  appropriation 
was  made,  and  authority  given  the  President  of  the 
United  States  to  cause  to  be  selected  suitable  sites  for 
marine  hospitals  on  the  Western  waters  for  the  benefit 
of  sick  seamen,  boatmen,  and  all  other  navigators  on 
the  Western  rivers  and  lakes,  restricting  the  number 
to  three  on  the  Mississippi,  three  on  the  Ohio,  and 
one  on  Lake  Erie.  To  accomplish  its  provisions  the 
President  was  authorized  to  call  to  his  aid  a  board  of 
the  medical  staff  of  the  army.  The  commission  ap- 
pointed under  the  provisions  of  this  act  reported  in 
November,  1837,  which  report  was  laid  before  Con- 
gress with  the  documents  accompanying  the  Presi- 
dent's message  to  the  second  session  of  the  Twenty- 
fifth  Congress.  In  that  report,  among  other  sites 
selected  and  contracted  for,  was  one  at  St.  Louis,  for 
the  sum  of  seven  thousand  four  hundred  and  sixty- 
eight  dollars. 

The  board  of  surgeons,  in  their  report,  state :  "  From 
the  most  authentic  information  in  their  reach,  there 
were  at  that  time  navigating  the  Ohio  and  Missis- 
sippi Rivers  638  steamboats,  requiring  the  employ- 
ment of  15,950  hands,  and  the  number  of  officers 
and  hands  navigating  those  rivers  in  keel-  and  flat- 
boats  was  estimated  at  30,000,  making  the  aggregate 
number  engaged  in  navigating  those  rivers  45,940 
men."  The  same  report,  when  remarking  on  the  site 
selected  at  St.  Louis,  says,  "  St.  Louis,  as  the  site 
selected  for  the  third  and  last  hospital  on  the  Missis- 
sippi River,  presents  such  superior  and  evident  claims 
over  every  other  town  on  the  upper  portion  of  the 
river  that  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  enumerate  them." 

By  the  act  of  the  29th  of  August,  1842,  Congress 
appropriated  the  sum  of  seven  thousand  four  hundred 
and  sixty-eight  dollars,  the  amount  which  had  been 
stipulated  in  the  contract  made  by  the  board  of  sur- 
geons with  William  C.  Carr  for  the  site  selected  by 
them  at  St.  Louis.  The  money  not  having  been  ap- 
propriated and  paid  within  the  time  stipulated,  Mr. 
Carr  having  declined  executing  the  conveyance,  and 
no  further  action  having  been  taken  by  Congress,  the 
money  appropriated  reverted  back  to  the  treasury. 

The  Treasury  Department,  however,  contracted  for 
the  maintenance  of  patients  at  the  Charity  Hospital 
in  St.  Louis,  at  three  dollars  per  week  for  each  one, 
board,  lodging,  nursing,  medical  attendance,  etc.,  sup- 
plied by  the  hospital.  At  these  prices  the  funds 


1552 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


assigned  went  but  little  way  in  supplying  the  numer- 
ous persons  claiming  aid. 

On  the  13th  of  January,  1846,  Hon.  James  H. 
Relfe  introduced  into  Congress  a  resolution  instruct- 
ing the  Committee  on  Commerce  to  inquire  into  the 
expediency  of  establishing  a  marine  hospital  at  St. 
Louis.  The  necessary  legislation  was  secured,  and  a 
board  of  surgeons  appointed  in  1848  to  select  a  site, 
the  amount  of  the  purchase-money  being  limited  to 
ten  thousand  dollars.  In  1849  the  additional  sum 
of  twenty  thousand  dollars  was  appropriated.  A  site 
was  selected  on  the  ground  known  as  the  Magazine 
lot,  situated  about  half  a  mile  below  the  United  States 
Arsenal,  and  between  Carondelet  Avenue  and  the 
Mississippi  River,  which  was  transferred  to  the  medi- 
cal service  by  the  War  Department  in  1850.  In 
January,  1852,  the  hospital  was  under  roof,  and 
about  the  1st  of  August,  1855,  was  occupied  by  the 
Marine  Hospital  patients,  who  were  then  divided 
between  the  City  Hospital  and  the  Charity  Hos- 
pital. After  the  act  passed  for  the  erection  of  the 
Marine  Hospital,  Dr.  J.  N.  McDowell  was  appointed 
hospital  physician. 

The  building  erected  in  1855  is  a  parallelogram, 
one  hundred  and  eight  feet  by  eighty-seven.  It  has 
three  floors,  a  basement,  an  attic,  and  a  cupola,  and 
the  roof  is  pyramidal.  Each  floor  on  both  east  and 
west  sides  has  open  porticoes,  fifty-four  feet  by  ten, 
which  are  connected  with  the  wards  by  large  central 
and  end  halls.  On  each  floor  are  eight  large  rooms 
or  wards,  with  small  rooms  on  the  extreme  corners, 
which  open  into  the  side  hallways.  The  kitchen, 
convalescents'  and  attendants'  dining-rooms,  dispen- 
sary, office,  and  surgeon's  quarters  are  on  the  first  floor, 
the  wards  for  patients  being  on  the  second  and  third. 
While  the  external  conditions  are  excellent,  the 
grounds  being  high  and  rolling,  with  a  free  circula- 
tion of  air,  the  internal  arrangements,  both  as  re- 
gards ventilation  and  easy  management,  are  defective, 
the  only  escape  for  the  impure  air,  except  through  the 
windows  and  doors,  being  found  in  the  octagonal  cu- 
pola, four  sheet-iron  pipes  passing  through  the  roof, 
six  small  skylights,  and  four  wooden  shafts  opening 
from  the  outside  into  the  east  and  west  attic  rooms, 
with  no  provision  to  convey  the  foul  air  from  the 
wards  to  the  attic. 

During  the  civil  war  the  hospital  was  used  for 
the  sick  and  wounded  of  the  army,  and  to  meet  the 
emergency  temporary  wards  were  constructed  of 
rough  material  after  the  barrack  plan  on  three  sides 
of  a  square  just  north  of  the  main  building,  the 
stone  walls  around  the  court  forming  an  oblong 
square,  within  which  were  built  a  large  stone  powder 


magazine  and  a  wooden  tank-house.  The  wards  are 
four  hundred  and  fifty-one  feet  in  length,  nineteen 
and  one-fourth  in  width,  and  nine  and  one-half  in 
height,  which,  with  the  present  average  number  of 
patients,  gives  sixteen  hundred  and  forty-nine  cubic 
feet  of  air-space  per  man.  They  are  well  ventilated 
by  thirteen  wooden  shafts  passing  through  the  centre 
of  the  roof.  A  piazza  extends  entirely  around  the 
outside  of  the  building. 

Three  experiments  have  been  made  at  heating  the 
main  building.  Originally  hot-air  furnaces  were 
used,  and  subsequently  fireplaces  and  stoves,  which 
in  turn  gave  place  to  a  steam-heating  apparatus. 
Through  some  defect,  however,  sufficient  heat  could 
not  be  maintained  by  the  latter  method,  and  the  ap- 
paratus was  removed  several  years  ago.  Stoves  and 
open  grates  have  since  been  depended  upon.  The 
pavilion  wards  are  also  heated  by  means  of  large 
stoves. 

In  the  autumn  of  1879  the  temporary  pavilion 
wards  were  repaired  sufficiently  to  make  them  suitable 
for  winter  use.  The  walls  were  clap-boarded,  a  new 
composition  roof  and  stone  porches  were  built,  and 
the  open  spaces  under  the  veranda  sheathed.  During 
the  summer  of  the  same  year  an  abundant  water  sup- 
ply was  obtained  by  tapping  the  city  main  on  Marine 
Avenue  in  front  of  the  hospital,  and  the  old  tank- 
house  was  torn  down,  together  with  the  remaining 
portion  of  the  stone  wall  at  the  south  end  of  the 
court  which  originally  formed  the  square.  The  stone 
powder-house  or  magazine  still  remains,  and  is  used  to 
accommodate  the  engine,  boiler,  and  laundry.  Ground 
was  broken  for  the  new  executive  building  of  the 
hospital  Sept.  15,  1881,  and  the  building  was  com- 
pleted and  ready  for  occupation  Feb.  15,  1882.  The 
plans  were  prepared  under  the  direction  of  the  sur- 
geon-general. The  building  stands  on  the  northwest 
portion  of  the  reservation,  commanding  a  fine  view 
of  the  river  and  surrounding  country.  It  is  a  brick 
structure,  forty-four  feet  front  by  forty-two,  with  lime- 
stone caps  for  the  windows  and  doors,  and  a  veranda 
in  front,  and  is  connected  with  the  pavilion  wards  by 
a  covered  way.  It  has  two  floors  and  a  basement, 
attic  and  observatory.  The  basement  rooms  are  used 
principally  for  store-rooms. 

The  surgeon's  office,  reception-room,  dispensary, 
and  operating-room  are  on  the  first  floor,  and  the 
second,  floor  is  occupied  as  quarters  for  the  steward 
and  attendants.  The  main  hall  is  ten  feet  wide,  with 
a  marble-tiled  floor,  and  the  interior  trimmings  are 
of  Eastlake  design.  All  the  doors  have  transoms, 
which  operate  by  patent  fastenings.  The  rooms  are 
provided  with  ventilating  registers  which  open  into 


THE   MEDICAL   PROFESSION. 


1553 


flues  and  terminate  in  the  attic,  from  which  point  tin 
tubes  are  carried  immediately  under  the  slate  roof  to 
the  ventilating  louvres  in  the  roof  lunettes  of  the  ob- 
servatory. The  first  floor  is  heated  by  a  furnace  and 
open  grates,  with  anthracite  coal  as  fuel.  The  second 
floor  is  heated  by  means  of  small  stoves.  The  dis- 
pensary, operating-room,  and  officers'  bath-room  are 
provided  with  hot  water  from  a  cylinder  boiler,  with 
proper  attachments  to  a  small  base-heater.  The  build- 
ing contains  all  the  latest  improvements  and  con- 
veniences, and  is  admirably  adapted  for  its  purposes. 

QUARANTINE  HOSPITAL.  —  Prior  to  1854  the 
quarantine  station  was  on  Arsenal  Island,  but  as  the 
southern  part  of  the  city  became  more  densely 
peopled,  objections  were  made  to  the  hospital  being 
kept  in  that  location,  and  arrangements  were  made 
for  its  removal  to  a  location  some  eleven  and  a  half 
miles  south  of  the  city.  In  1855  two  small,  badly- 
ventilated  buildings  were  constructed  for  the  recep- 
tion of  such  patients  as  might  be  taken  from  the 
boats,  and  a  stone  house  already  upon  the  property 
refitted  for  the  residence  of  the  officers.  In  1867 
four  large  buildings  upon  Arsenal  Island  were  re- 
moved to  quarantine,  and  thus  a  first-class  hospital 
was  established  there.  This  hospital  was  discontinued 
as  a  general  hospital,  but  is  continued  now  as  a  small- 
pox hospital,  and  during  the  yellow  fever  season  of 
1878  yellow  fever  cases  were  taken  there.  Dr.  A. 
Montgomery  was  the  resident  physician  in  1867  ;  in 
1869,  Dr.  Thomas  Fox  had  charge,  and  in  1870,  Dr. 
Robert  A.  Burgess.  Then  followed  Drs.  S.  H.  Bro- 
kaw  and  R.  A.  Anderson.  The  latter  officer  was  in 
charge  of  the  hospital  when  it  was  discontinued  as  a 
general  hospital. 

ST.  LUKE'S  HOSPITAL. — Two  preliminary  meet- 
ings were  held  in  the  early  part  of  the  month  of 
November,  1865,  in  a  room  in  the  Mercantile  Library 
by  a  few  zealous  Episcopalians,  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
sidering the  advisability  and  the  need  of  establishing 
a  hospital  for  the  sick,  and  for  furthering  other  church 
work  in  a  portion  of  the  city  needing  the  labors  of  a 
missionary.  Those  present  were  Rev.  J.  P.  Cannon, 
M.D.,  and  William  H.  Thompson,  R.  H.  Spenger, 
H.  S.  Brown,  J.  R.  Triplett,  E.  H.  Mead,  B.  E. 
Walker,  Charles  Thaw,  R.  M.  Wilson,  W.  T.  Mason, 
E.  A.  Corbett,  E.  P.  Curtis,  M.  N.  Burchard,  J. 
Percival,  F.  A.  Lane,  Henry  Brown,  V.  W.  Knapp, 
Herbert  Bell,  M.  Williams,  James  Mitchell,  W.  B. 
Crittenden,  and  Mr.  Donaldson. 

At  their  suggestion  a  meeting  was  called  by  Bishop 
Hawks  in  the  basement  of  St.  George's  Church  of  the 
rectors  and  members  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  the 
city,  to  which  the  whole  matter  was  referred.  At 


that  meeting  there  were  present  of  the  clergy  the  Rev. 
Drs.  Berkley  and  Schuyler,  and  the  Rev.  Messrs. 
McKim  and  Spencer ;  of  the  laity,  J.  P.  Down,  J. 
W.  Luke,  Edward  Mead,  R.  H.  Franklin,  J.  F. 
Madison,  Francis  Hawks,  H.  S.  Brown,  Charles 
Mauro,  Judge  W.  F.  Ferguson,  and  Dr.  J.  J.  Clark. 
Articles  of  organization  were  approved,  and  the  name 
"  St.  Luke's  Association"  was  adopted. 

A  building  was  erected  for  a  hospital  on  an  elevated 
plateau  with  spacious  grounds  between  Ohio  and 
Sumner  Streets,  and  was  in  many  respects  admirably 
adapted  to  the  purpose.  The  first  patient  was  not  ad- 
mitted until  the  following  April.  The  first  medical 
staff  was  composed  of  Drs.  J.  B.  Johnson,  J.  S.  B. 
Alleyne,  J.  J.  McDowell,  J.  J.  Clark,  E.  S.  Lemoine, 
F.  V.  L.  Brokaw,  T.  F.  Prewitt,  and  James  P.  Gal- 
lagher. 

During  the  summer  of  1866,  St.  Louis  was  visited 
by  that  fearful  scourge,  Asiatic  cholera,  and  St. 
Luke's  Infirmary  was  thrown  open  to  the  public  for 
gratuitous  treatment  of  cholera  patients  during  its 
continuance.  The  history  of  the  hospital  was  for 
years  one  of  financial  embarrassment  and  painstaking, 
earnest  endeavor  on  the  part  of  the  board  of  trustees 
to  secure  and  wisely  dispose  of  the  funds  necessary 
to  make  it  a  success. 

In  September,  1867,  an  important  step  was  taken 
in  the  right  direction.  It  was  resolved  "  that,  for  the 
purpose  of  insuring  greater  efficiency  in  the  house- 
hold management,  a  board  of  lady  visitors  be  consti- 
tuted, to  consist  of  two  ladies  for  each  city  parish." 
The  experience  of  over  three  years  convinced  the 
friends  of  the  hospital  that  in  its  then  location  it  was 
too  far  removed  from  the  centre  of  population,  and 
particularly  inaccessible  for  surgical  patients  brought 
in  from  railroads  and  demanding  immediate  care.  A 
removal  was,  therefore,  determined  upon  and  effected 
in  the  month  of  March,  1870,  to  the  corner  of  Elm 
and  Sixth  Streets. 

Upon  this  removal  rooms  were  furnished  by  the 
ladies  of  Christ  Church  and  St.  George's,  and  also 
the  Good  Samaritan  room  by  Mrs.  Triplett.  A  new  in- 
terested seem  to  be  aroused  among  the  ladies  by  reason 
of  the  nearness  and  accessibility  of  the  hospital.  In 
November,  1873,  Dr.  Pottinger  was  elected  visiting 
physician,  and  Dr.  Hodgen  invited  to  act  as  surgeon- 
in-chief,  and  Dr.  Pallen  as  assistant.  In  June,  1873, 
the  hospital  was  removed  to  a  building  on  the  north 
side  of  Pine  Street,  between  Ninth  and  Tenth  Streets. 

At  the  annual  meeting  in  1874  the  board  reported 
the  hospital  as  entirely  out  of  debt.  For  some  years 
every  effort  has  been  put  forth  to  secure  the  means 
for  erecting  a  building  for  the  hospital.  This  has  at 


1554 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


length  been  accomplished,  and  now  the  hospital  (the 
corner-stone  of  which  was  laid  on  the  26th  of  June, 
1881)  is  located  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Washing- 
ton Avenue  and  Twentieth  Street.  The  structure, 
which  cost  forty-one  thousand  dollars,  is  built  on  land 
donated  by  Henry  Shaw,  and  was  dedicated  on  Whit- 
sunday, May  28,  1882.  Messrs.  Barnett  &  Taylor 
were  the  architects  of  the  building,  in  the  internal 
arrangements  of  which,  under  the  supervision  of  Dr. 
John  Green,  every  device  and  appliance  for  the  care 
of  the  sick  suggested  by  modern  science  has  been 
carried  out.  The  outside  walls  are  double,  with  air- 
chambers  between,  and  the  floors  are  of  marble  or  of 
yellow-pine  stained  and  waxed.  The  other  woodwork 
is  of  sweet-gum,  with  ash  and  cypress,  oiled.  The 
plumbing  and  ventilation  are  in  accordance  with  strict 
sanitary  conditions.  There  is  a  fire-proof  Whittier 
elevator,  large  enough  for  a  cot  and  patient,  and  the 
rooms  are  furnished  luxuriously,  most  of  them  being 
memorial  gifts,  as,  for  instance,  the  reception-room, 
furnished  by  Mrs.  Kennett ;  the  waiting-room,  by 
Mrs.  Sides ;  the  private  parlor,  by  Mrs.  Foster ;  two 
rooms  to  the  memory  of  the  late  Dr.  John  T.  Hodgen, 
by  E.  C.  Simmons  and  Mrs.  Tyler ;  the  Schuyler 
room,  by  Christ  Church  ;  the  Holy  Communion  room, 
by  the  church  of  that  name  ;  Trinity  room,  by  Trinity 
Church ;  Mount  Calvary  room,  by  Mount  Calvary 
Church  ;  the  Susan  R.  Larkin,  St.  Barbara's,  and  Bu- 
chanan memorial  rooms,  by  ladies  who  withhold  their 
names ;  and  other  rooms  by  Mrs.  Wainwright,  Mrs. 
Thornburgh,  Mrs.  Whitelaw,  Mrs.  Pickham,  Mrs. 
Plant,  Mrs.  Dimmock,  Mrs.  Lewis,  and  others.  The 
internal  management  of  the  hospital  since  1872  has 
been  under  the  control  of  the  Sisterhood  of  the  Good 
Shepherd. 

In  that  year  the  Sisterhood  transferred  their  residence 
from  Baltimore  to  St.  Louis,  and  immediately  took 
charge  of  the  internal  management  of  the  hospital. 
They  also  have  control  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Orphans'  Home,  which  they  relinquished  in  1874  to 
establish  the  School  of  the  Good  Shepherd  for  Girls. 
This  was  carried  on  for  three  years  at  1532  Wash- 
ington Avenue,  and  was  then  removed  to  2029  Park 
Avenue,  where  it  is  now.  There  are  now  in  the  order 
eight  full  sisters,  one  probationer,  and  three  asso- 
ciated sisters. 

The  present  medical  staff  of  St.  Luke's  Hospital 
are  Drs.  H.  H.  Mudd,  junior  surgeon  ;  E.  S.  Lemoine, 
J.  S.  B.  Alleyne,  John  Green,  W.  L.  Barret,  W.  E. 
Fischel,  M.  H.  Post,  William  Porter,  R.  H.  Real- 
hofer,  G.  F.  Gill. 

THE  PROTESTANT  EPISCOPAL  ORPHANS'  HOME, 
on  Grand  Avenue,  at  the  head  of  Lafayette  Avenue, 


was  organized  in  1848  by  Rev.  Whiting  Griswold, 
rector  of  St.  John's  Church.  Its  first  site  was  the 
corner  of  Eleventh  and  North  Market  Streets.  Its 
present  home  was  erected  in  1873  at  a  cost  of  forty 
thousand  dollars,  on  land  given  by  Henry  Shaw.  It 
has  endowments  amounting  to  about  forty  thousand 
dollars,  and  provides  for  about  sixty  children  at  a 
time.  Carrie  V.  Burchard  is  matron,  and  Rev.  Ben- 
jamin E.  Reed  is  chaplain. 

THE  ST.  Louis  EYE  AND  EAR  INFIRMARY,  AND 
INFIRMARY  FOR  DISEASES  OF  THE  THROAT,  was 
incorporated  Dec.  23,  1871.  It  was  located  at  Nos. 
1407  and  1409  North  Twelfth  Street  (between 
O'Fallon  Street  and  Cass  Avenue),  and  was  estab- 
lished for  the  gratuitous  treatment  of  all  poor  persons 
suffering  from  affections  of  the  eye,  ear,  and  throat. 
The  dispensary  was  open  daily  (except  Sunday)  from 
1  to  2.30  o'clock  P.M. 

The  following  gentlemen  composed  the  board  of 
trustees : 

James  E.  Yeatman,  president,  William  G.  Eliot,  John  B.  John- 
son, Albert  Todd,  Carlos  S.  Greeley,  Henry  Hitchcock,  William 
Glasgow,  Jr.,  secretary  and  treasurer ;  consulting  physicians, 
J.  B.  Johnson,  M.D.,  William  M.  McPheeters,  M.D.,  T.  L. 
Papin,  M.D.,  John  T.  Hodgen,  M.D.,  E.  H.  Gregory,  M.D.,  G. 
Baumgarten,  M.D. ;  attending  surgeons,  John  Green,  M.D.,  H. 
N.  Spencer,  M.D.,  William  C.  Glasgow,  M.D.,  Charles  A.  Todd, 
M.D. 

After  being  sustained  for  a  couple  of  years  at  the 
site  mentioned,  the  staff  discontinued  their  service  as 
such,  and  Dr.  John  Green  transferred  the  infirmary 
to  St.  Luke's  Hospital,  in  connection  with  which  it 
is  still  carried  on. 

ST.  JOHN'S  HOSPITAL  is  one  of  several  enterprises 
carried  on  under  the  fostering  care  of  the  Sisters  of 
Mercy,  an  order  established  in  the  city  of  Dublin, 
Ireland,  by  Miss  Catherine  McAuley.  The  sisters 
first  came  to  St.  Louis  in  1856,  and  established  a 
school  at  Tenth  and  Morgan  Streets.  As  they  gained 
influence  and  means  they  undertook  other  work,  and 
in  1871,  at  the  suggestion  of  Drs.  Papin  and  Yarnall, 
they  established  an  infirmary  for  women  and  children. 
This  rapidly  grew  and  necessitated  enlargement  of  ac- 
commodations and  extension  of  facilities  until  now, 
besides  the  main  building  on  the  corner  of  Morgan 
and  Twenty-third  Streets,  to  which  they  moved  in 
1861,  wings  have  been  erected  on  each  of  those 
streets,  and  accommodations  are  now  afforded  for  one 
hundred  and  fifty  patients,  which  can  readily  be  in- 
creased to  two  hundred  as  occasion  demands.  The 
medical  service  is  now  under  the  direclion  of  the 
faculty  of  the  Missouri  Medical  College,  whose  fine 
building  on  Twenty-third  Street  and  Lucas  Avenue 
is  directly  connected  with  the  hospital.  One  wing  of 


THE   MEDICAL  PROFESSION. 


1555 


the  building  is  devoted  to  male  aud  another  to  female 
patients,  and  different  wards  are  set  apart  for  surgical 
and  medical  cases,  while  there  is  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  single  rooms  which  patients  can  have  to  them- 
selves with  the  privilege  of  employing  any  physician  , 
whom  they  may  choose.     The  sisters  also  conduct  a  ; 
school  for  poor  girls,  and  an  industrial  school  for  chil- 
dren, and  supply  lodging  for  deserving  women  out  of 
employment.     Mother    De  Pazzi,  the  Superior,  has 
been  with  the  convent  since  its  organization. 

ALEXIAN  BROTHERS'  HOSPITAL.  —  The  order 
which  conducts  this  institution  was  established  in 
Germany  in  the  fourteenth  century,  during  the  prev- 
alence of  the  plague  known  as  the  "  black  death,"  and 
for  the  purpose  of  ministering  to  its  victims.  It  has 
since  been  devoted  to  the  care  of  the  sick  and  insane. 
The  St.  Louis  branch  was  established  in  October,  1869, 
and  chartered  March,  1870,  with  Brother  Stanislaus 
Schwiperich  as  its  first  president,  and  Brother  Prochus  i 
Schutte  as  secretary.  The  first  house  occupied  (a  small 
one)  was  bought  with  the  grounds  in  1870  ;  the  pres- 
ent building  (the  corner-stone  of  which  was  laid  June 
6,  1873)  has  a  front  of  one  hundred  and  seventy-six 
feet  by  a  depth  of  thirty  feet,  and  was  opened  for  pa- 
tients June  4,  1874.  The  building,  which  is  situated 
at  Jefferson  Avenue  and  Osage  Street,  is  of  an  im- 
posing exterior,  and  is  fitted  up  with  every  appliance 
for  the  care  and  comfort  of  its  inmates.  It  will  ac- 
commodate one  hundred  patients.  The  grounds  con- 
tain about  four  and  a  half  acres,  and  bear  eloquent 
testimony  to  the  industry  and  gardening  skill  of  the 
brothers.  During  the  year  1881  nine  hundred  and 
thirty-six  patients  were  treated.  The  hospital  is  open 
to  people  of  all  denominations,  and  the  poor  are  re- 
ceived without  charge,  but  those  able  are  expected  to 
pay.  It  is  mainly  supported,  however,  by  collections 
and  donations.  The  present  officers  are  Brother 
Jodacus  Schiffer,  president ;  Brother  Hubert  Cremer, 
vice-president ;  Brother  Dominicus,  secretary;  Brother 
Prochus,  treasurer.  The  hospital  is  attended  by  Drs. 
Gregory,  Lutz,  and  Wesseler. 

THE  ST.  Louis  LYING-IN  CHARITY  AND  LYING- 
IN  HOSPITAL. — This  charity  was  incorporated  Nov. 
30,  1874,  its  object  being  "  to  inaugurate  an  institu- 
tion whereby  a  mother  with  a  family  of  dependent 
children  could  be,  in  the  hour  of  her  extremity,  at- 
tended to  and  relieved  of  her  suffering,  as  also  one 
whereat  the  sick  and  helpless  of  her  sex  could  at  all 
times  apply  for  medical  and  surgical  aid." 

A  board  of  directors  was  appointed,  consisting  of 
Drs.  John  B.  Johnson,  president ;  George  J.  Engel- 
mann,  secretary;  John  T.  Hodgen,  Philip  Weigel, 
A.  Wislizenus,  and  G.  Baumgarten.  The  medical 


staff  consisted  of  Dr.  George  J.  Engelmann,  physi- 
cian-in-chief ;  Dr.  G.  Baumgarten,  consulting  physi- 
cian ;  and  Drs.  E.  M.  Nelson,  Edward  Evers,  W. 
Wyman,  W.  E.  Fischel,  A.  M.  Bierwirth,  and  I.  N. 
Love,  attending  physicians.  The  members  of  the 
graduating  classes  at  the  St.  Louis  School  of  Mid- 
wives  volunteered  their  services  to  nurse  patients  of 
the  charity  during  the  following  year. 

A  committee  of  prominent  ladies  from  different 
parts  of  the  city  was  organized,  and  took  an  active 
part  in  raising  funds,  and  in  other  ways  extending 
the  influence  and  usefulness  of  the  organization,  while 
the  leading  druggists  filled  gratuitously  prescriptions 
written  by  the  medical  staff  for  patients  of  the 
charity.  The  first  patient  was  attended  at  her  own 
home  under  the  auspices  of  the  charity  Jan.  22, 
1875. 

One  year  after  the  organization  of  the  out-door 
department  it  was  deemed  practicable  to  inaugurate 
the  hospital.  This  was  done  by  renting  the  building 
2834  Franklin  Avenue,  now  occupied  by  the  Chil- 
dren's Hospital,  which  was  partially  furnished  and 
opened  Dec.  1,  1875. 

In  March,  1877,  the  hospital  was  moved  to  the 
building  on  the  northwest  corner  of  Clark  Avenue 
and  Fifteenth  Street,  where  the  work  was  continued 
until  the  close  of  the  year  1879,  when  it  was  found 
necessary  to  give  it  up  for  lack  of  means  to  continue 
it.  During  the  five  years  of  its  existence  a  great 
deal  of  good  was  accomplished. 

THE  MISSOURI  EYE  AND  EAR  INFIRMARY  was 
founded  in  1876  by  Dr.  R.  Gebser,  and  incorporated 
in  August  of  that  year.  Dr.  Gebser  carried  on  the 
infirmary  at  his  own  expense  for  three  and  a  half 
years,  until  his  death,  since  which  time  it  has  been 
kept  up  by  Dr.  W.  A.  Frazier,  who  was  associated 
with  Dr.  Gebser.  The  infirmary  is  located  at  1304 
Chestnut  Street,  and  has  been  the  means  of  affording 
relief  to  a  large  number  of  worthy  poor. 

CONVENT  AND  HOSPITAL  OF  THE  FRANCISCAN 
SISTERS. — In  1865  four  sisters  of  the  Order  of  St. 
Francis  (better  known  as  Franciscan  Sisters)  came 
from  Germany  and  built  a  convent  near  Carondelet, 
south  of  the  River  des  Peres.  This  was  burned  in 
1877,  and  the  sisters  removed  to  St.  Louis,  pur- 
chasing from  Father  Henry,  of  St.  Lawrence 
O'Toole's  Church,  the  lot  (one  hundred  by  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-seven  and  a  half  feet)  on  which  their 
convent  now  stands,  at  the  southeast  corner  of  O'Fal- 
lon  and  Fourteenth  Streets.  The  sisters  who  first 
came  in  1865  afterwards  returned  to  Germany,  but 
not  before  others  had  come  to  supply  their  places. 
In  1877,  Sister  Bernarda  Passman,  banished  from 


1556 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Germany  for  political  reasons,  came  to  St.  Louis,  and 
was  made  Mother  Superior,  which  position  she  has 
since  retained.  In  January,  1878,  the  Order  at  St. 
Louis  was  chartered,  with  Sisters  Bernarda  Passman, 
Alfonsa  Cormann,  and  Cecilia  Hawig  as  incorpo- 
rators.  Their  house  was  erected  in  1878-79,  and 
Pius  Hospital  (as  they  call  it)  received  its  first  pa- 
tient on  Jan.  1,  1880.  The  sisters,  of  whom  there 
are  now  twenty  in  the  establishment,  also  provide 
board  and  lodging  for  servant-girls  out  of  place,  at 
low  rates  and  on  easy  terms  of  payment. 

ST.  Louis  PROTESTANT  HOSPITAL. — In  the  spring 
of  1881  a  "  Medical  Mission"  was  organized  under 
the  supervision  of  a  committee  from  the  board  of  di- 
rectors of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association. 
Rooms  were  fitted  up  in  a  building  that  belonged  to 
the  association,  a  small  stock  of  drugs  was  procured, 
and  a  medical  staff  was  appointed  consisting  of  Drs. 
L.  H.  Laidley,  E.  M.  Nelson,  F.  R.  Fry,  E.  W.  Saun- 
ders,  and  M.  H.  Post.  Circulars  were  sent  out,  and 
one  of  the  physicians  was  in  attendance  at  certain 
hours  every  day.  The  dispensary  work  was  carried  on 
under  this  form  of  organization,  except  that  Dr.  Saun- 
ders  withdrew  from  the  medical  staff,  until  about  the 
end  of  the  year,  when  the  work  was  enlarged  by  fit- 
ting up  the  remaining  rooms  of  the  building  as  a 
hospital  for  the  reception  of  patients.  In  the  autumn 
of  1882  an  organization  was  effected  under  the  name 
of  the  St.  Louis  Protestant  Hospital  Association,  and 
a  charter  was  procured.  The  incorporators  were  E. 
0.  Stanard,  E.  H.  Semple,  Charles  W.  Barstow,  J. 
G.  Chapman,  S.  M.  Dodd,  George  W.  Parker,  W.  P. 
Mullen,  E.  P.  V.  Ritter,  George  A.  Baker,  F.  L. 
Johnston,  George  S.  Edgell,  James  H.  Wear,  and  I. 
M.  Mason. 

The  officers  of  the  Medical  Mission  transferred  to 
the  new  association  all  their  medicines  and  hospital 
stores  and  furnishings.  The  following  gentlemen 
constitute  the  medical  staff  of  the  hospital,  in  connec- 
tion with  which  the  regular  dispensary  service  is  still 
maintained:  Drs.  L.  H.  Laidley,  E.  M.  Nelson,  M. 
H.  Post,  G.  Armstrong,  W.  G.  Moore,  P.  Y.  Tupper, 
and  Frank  P.  Johnson. 

It  is  still  the  day  of  small  things  with  this  institu- 
tion, but  it  promises  to  become  one  of  great  value 
and  usefulness. 

ST.  Louis  INSANE  ASYLUM. — In  St.  Louis  City 
and  County,  up  to  within  a  few  years,  no  provision 
for  the  insane  poor  had  been  made,  and  the  county 
authorities  were  finally  compelled  to  make  such  ar- 
rangements as  enabled  them  to  send  their  insane  to 
the  State  asylum  at  Fulton.  This  plan,  however, 
was  found  expensive  and  inconvenient,  and  the  ne- 


cessity of  having  a  county  insane  asylum  was  plainly 
suggested.  The  matter  came  up  before  the  County 
Court  at  different  times  during  the  years  of  1861  and 
1862,  but  no  definite  action  was  taken  until  the  20th 
of  April,  1864,  when  the  motion  of  Judge  Fisse,  sub- 
mitted Dec.  10, 1863,  to  erect  a  county  insane  asylum, 
was  taken  under  consideration  by  the  court.  The 
original  motion  contemplated  a  building  with  a  ca- 
pacity for  one  hundred  patients,  but  when  the  matter 
came  to  be  discussed  it  was  generally  admitted  this 
was  insufficient  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  county.  In 
the  mean  time,  William  Rumbold,  county  architect, 
was  instructed  to  prepare  plans  to  be  submitted  to  the 
court.  On  the  21st  of  July,  1864,  the  first  allowance 
in  connection  with  the  project  was  made  by  the  court 
for  the  purchase  of  a  tract  of  land  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  county  poor-house,  which  was  deemed  advisable 
to  include  in  the  ground,  consisting  of  one  hundred 
and  forty  arpens.  The  inception  of  the  enterprise 
was  attended  with  the  usual  delays  and  difficulties. 
On  the  21st  of  August,  1864,  the  plan  prepared  and 
submitted  by  Mr.  Rumbold  was  approved,  but  the 
work  did  not  commence  till  late  in  the  fall.  The  site 
chosen  was  an  elevated  piece  of  ground  a  short  dis- 
tance west  of  the  county  poor-house,  being  part  of 
what  is  known  as  the  county  farm,  from  which  there 
is  a  wide  prospect  on  all  sides  of  an  undulating  and 
fertile  country.  The  work  progressed  steadily,  and 
as  the  design  of  the  architect,  in  character  and  ex- 
tent, became  evident  the  magnitude  of  the  under- 
taking began  to  excite  alarm.  Mr.  Rumbold  always 
maintained  that  the  building  could  not  have  been 
made  smaller  and  meet  the  wants  of  the  county,  and 
that  the  future  would  even  render  necessary  a  further 
increase  of  accommodation,  and  time  has  shown  that 
even  he  underestimated  the  demands  that  would  be 
made  upon  the  asylum.  Mr.  Rumbold  died  during 
the  progress  of  the  work,  and  was  succeeded  by  Ed- 
ward Mortimer,  superintendent,  and  John  F.  Durham, 
assistant. 

The  general  appearance  of  the  edifice  is  that  of  a 
massive,  substantial  structure,  built  to  endure,  and  for  a 
practical  purpose  rather  than  for  architectural  display. 
It  consists  of  a  centre  building  five  stories  in  height, 
with  wings  three  stories  in  height  branching  out  at 
the  east  and  west  sides.  Each  of  these  wings  termi- 
nates in  what  architects  call  "  an  arm,"  or,  more  in- 
telligibly, a  building  broader  and  higher  than  the 
body  of  the  wing,  and  forming  a  cross  at  either  end 
of  the  edifice.  The  projections  thus  formed,  and  also 
by  the  centre  building,  which  is  considerably  broader 
than  the  wings,  relieve  the  structure  from  monotony 
of  appearance.  The  centre  building  is  ninety-six. 


THE   MEDICAL  PROFESSION. 


1557 


feet  by  seventy-six  feet.  The  body  of  each  wing  is 
seventy-six  feet  in  length  by  forty-four  feet  wide,  and 
the  arms  are  sixty-seven  feet  in  length  by  forty  feet 
wide.  The  total  length  of  building  is  three  hun- 
dred and  thirteen  feet  ten  inches.  The  foundation 
walls  are  built  of  stone,  and  are  constructed  of  solid 
masonry,  and  descend  six  feet  below  the  surface  of 
the  ground.  The  basement  walls  are  also  of  stone, 
and  are  strong  and  solid ;  their  height  to  floor  of  first 
story  is  eleven  feet.  At  the  highest  point,  the  altitude 
is  one  hundred  and  ninety-four  feet.  In  the  arms  of 
the  wings  there  are  five  stories.  There  are  in  the 
entire  building  about  four  hundred  and  thirty-seven 
windows.  On  the  first  story,  in  either  arm  of  the 
wings,  and  also  in  the  main  buildings,  there  are  large 
windows,  adorned  by  beautiful  stone  pillars  of  the 
Corinthian  order.  The  main  entrance  is  on  the  north 
side,  to  which  there  is  an  approach  of  massive  stone 
steps,  and  is  also  handsomely  ornamented.  The  walls 
are  of  brick,  with  stone  facings,  and  the  stone  used 
in  the  construction  of  the  base  is  all  North  St.  Louis 
limestone,  and  is  a  handsome  and  compact  material. 
All  the  other  cut  stone  is  from  Joliet,  111.  On  the 
south  side  of  the  centre  building  there  is  an  open 
portico,  supported  by  brick  piers  running  up  the 
entire  height  of  the  main  building,  thus  affording 
a  pleasant  out-door  promenade  for  patients  on  each 
story. 

The  lower  part  of  the  dome  is  of  brick,  and  the 
dome  proper  of  iron  rib  work,  similar  to  that  of  the 
court-house,  covered  with  copper.  There  is  also  an 
observatory,  from  which  a  magnificent  view  may  be 
obtained. 

The  interior  of  the  building  is  admirably  arranged 
for  the  treatment  of  insane  persons,  and  is  well  sup- 
plied with  every  convenience.  The  ventilation  is  ex- 
cellent, and  the  water  supply  ample.  The  boilers  and 
engines,  the  main  kitchen,  laundry,  and  officers'  quar- 
ters are  located  in  a  brick  out-building  about  one  hun- 
dred feet  distant  from  the  main  building,  which  is  con- 
nected with  it  by  a  subterranean  railway  running 
through  a  tunnel  of  about  one  hundred  and  four  feet 
in  length,  through  which  food  and  other  necessaries 
are  carried  to  the  main  building.  The  cost  of  con- 
struction, etc.,  was  about  seven  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars. The  building  was  first  occupied  April  23,  1869. 
The  only  fault  to  be  found  with  the  asylum  is  that  it  is 
inadequate  to  the  demands  made  upon  it.  In  the  re- 
port of  N.  de  V.  Howard,  superintendent,  to  Charles 
W;  Francis,  health  commissioner,  April  1,  1881,  he 
says,  "  I  must  again  call  your  attention  to  our  crowded 
condition.  Although  one  hundred  and  nine  patients 
have  been  discharged  and  sixty-six  transferred  to 
99 


other  institutions,  there  are  still  three  hundred  and 
forty-three  in  a  house  which  was  built  to  contain 
two  hundred  and  fifty.  I  can't  pack  them  much 
closer.  The  number  admitted,  two  hundred  and 
fifteen,  is  larger  than  that  of  any  preceding  year. 
It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  an  insane  asylum 
is  not  like  a  hotel  in  that  it  has  '  always  room  for 
one  more.'  If  the  insane  are  herded  together  like 
sheep  they  may  be  expected  to  fight  like  tigers.  If 
the  overcrowding  here  becomes  much  worse  you  must 
prepare  for  the  occurrence  of  homicides  and  other 
serious  accidents  in  spite  of  all  the  surveillance  that 
can  be  exercised,  and  then  the  cry  of  bad  manage- 
ment will  be  raised.  In  my  violent  hall  I  have  only 
five  available  single  rooms :  it  contains  thirty-nine 
patients.  One  small  associate  dormitory  contains 
seven  patients  every  night." 

The  superintendents  have  been  successively  Drs. 
Charles  W.  Stevens,  T.  R.  H.  Smith,  William  B. 
Hazard,  J.  K.  Bauduy,  E.  S.  Frazer,  and  N.  de  V. 
Howard,  the  present  incumbent,  who  has  served  for 
seven  years.  Drs.  Bauduy  and  Frazer  were  what  were 
then  styled  "  visiting  superintendents,"  Drs.  Fichten- 
kamp,  Leffingwell,  and  Howard  being  successively  the 
"  resident  physicians." 

THE  HOUSE  OP  REFUGE. — The  present  building, 
on  Louisiana  Avenue,  between  Gasconade  and  Osage 
Streets,  was  erected  in  1858,  and  cost  about  sixty-four 
thousand  dollars.  It  originally  consisted  of  a  centre 
building  four  stories  in  height,  with  wings  on  the 
east  and  west  sides  of  three  stories  each.  When  the 
institution  was  opened  it  had  a  capacity  of  about 
three  hundred  inmates  and  all  the  necessary  business 
offices  and  apartments.  Previous  to  its  erection,  the 
building  used  for  house  of  refuge  purposes  was  the 
small  structure  some  little  distance  east,  and  now  used 
for  the  female  branch  of  the  institution.  On  the  15th 
of  February,  1865,  the  east  wing  and  centre  of  the 
new  building  were  destroyed  by  fire.  The  value  of 
furniture,  clothing,  and  bedding  was  five  thousand 
dollars.  There  was  an  insurance  of  twenty  thousand 
dollars  on  the  building,  which  was  applied  to  restoring 
the  west  wing.  This  wing  is  the  principal  branch  of 
the  institution,  and  is  occupied  by  the  male  depart- 
ment. The  old  building  is  still  occupied  by  the 
girls'  department.  The  daily  average  of  children  for 
the  year  ending  April  10,  1881,  was  two  hundred 
and  thirty-four.  The  amount  expended  in  the  main- 
tenance of  the  institution  during  the  same  time  was 
about  thirty-five  thousand  dollars.  John  D.  Schaef- 
fer  is  the  superintendent,  and  the  managers  are  the 
mayor,  ex  officio,  Theophile  Papin,  John  Schnell, 
James  E.  Cowan,  and  George  Bain. 


1558 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


LITTLE  SISTERS  OF  THE  POOR. — In  May,  1868, 
several  French  sisters  arrived  in  St.  Louis  and  estab- 
lished the  order  of  Little  Sisters  of  the  Poor.  The 
location  of  their  first  house  was  on  Morgan  Street, 
near  Eighteenth,  but  it  was  subsequently  removed  to 
its  present  location  at  Nineteenth  and  Hebert  Streets. 
The  incorporators  were  Hortense  Marie,  Marie  Bar- 
nard, Barbara  Vackeus,  Elizabeth  Vergne.  Elizabeth 
M.  Neville,  Frances  Schever,  Elizabeth  Stern,  Marie 
Brent,  Marie  Garabalda,  and  Anselme  Bouvidase. 
The  object  of  the  institution  is  to  aid  the  poor  and  care 
for  the  aged  and  infirm.  The  institution  was  char- 
tered July  14,  1870,  and  the  corner-stone  of  the 
present  building  was  laid  in  the  following  year. 
The  structure  was  finished  in  1875,  and  dedicated  Oc- 
tober 24th  of  the  same  year.  Although  commodious, 
it  was  insufficient  on  account  of  the  increasing  num- 
ber of  poor  and  infirm  inmates,  and  in  September, 
1882,  the  corner-stone  of  an  addition  which  nearly 
equals  the  original  house  was  laid.  Sister  Hortense 
Marie  became  first  president  of  the  board  of  officers. 
She  was  followed  by  Sister  Marie  Blanche,  the 
present  manager. 

Medical  Journalism. — The  greatest  part  of  the 
literary  effort  of  St.  Louis  physicians  has  found  ex- 
pression in  the  pages  of  medical  journals,  and  the  St. 
Louis  periodicals  of  this  class  have  contained  much 
of  real  value  to  the  profession.  In  the  order  in  which 
they  were  established,  the  various  medical  journals 
of  the  city  have  been  as  follows: 

St.  Louis  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal. — The 
first  number  of  this  periodical,  which  was  the  first 
medical  journal  published  west  of  the  Mississippi 
River,  was  issued  in  April,  1843.  Many  other  medi- 
cal journals  have  been  staited  in  St.  Louis  since  its 
advent,  but  most  of  them  have  had  a  brief  existence, 
while  the  Journal  has  continued  to  the  present  time, 
increasing  in  influence  and  circulation.  Its  publica- 
tion was  temporarily  suspended  during  the  war,  but 
with  that  exception  and  the  omission  of  one  issue 
at  the  time  of  the  great  fire  that  occurred  during 
the  epidemic  of  cholera  in  1849,  it  has  appeared 
regularly  from  the  time  of  its  establishment  to  the 
present  day.  The  founder  of  the  journal  was  Dr.  M. 
L.  Linton,  who  was  at  first  the  sole  editor  and  pro- 
prietor, but  after  a  time  he  associated  with  himself 
Drs.  McPheeters  and  Fourgeaud,  the  former  of  whom 
continued  to  assist  Dr.  Linton  in  the  management  of 
the  journal  until  the  war.  At  the  close  of  the  war 
the  journal  was  revived  by  Dr.  T.  J.  White,  who  was 
succeeded  in  the  editorial  chair  by  Dr.  G.  Baum- 
garten,  who  conducted  the  publication  with  marked 
ability  for  three  years.  In  1871,  Drs.  Edgar  and  Gill 


assumed  the  editorial  and  business  control.  In  1878, 
Dr.  Edgar  sold  the  journal  to  its  present  proprietor, 
Dr.  Thomas  F.  Rumbold,  under  whose  management 
it  has  been  enlarged  and  its  circulation  greatly  in- 
creased. It  is  at  the  present  writing  in  the  fortieth 
year  of  its  publication,  and  is  in  a  very  prosperous 
condition.  For  three  years  prior  to  1883,  Dr.  A.  H. 
Ohinann-Dumesnil  was  associated  with  Dr.  Rumbold 
in  the  editorial  management.  A  feature  of  special 
interest  and  value  in  the  journal  for  several  years  has 
been  the  publication  of  full  reports  of  the  discussions 
at  the  meetings  of  the  St.  Louis  Medical  Society. 
These  discussions  are  reported  by  short-hand,  and 
then  corrected  and  revised  by  the  publication  com- 
mittee of  the  society,  thus  securing  a  complete  re- 
port of  the  meetings,  and  preserving  in  a  permanent 
form  much  valuable  medical  truth  that  would  other- 
wise fail  to  be  brought  before  the  profession. 

The  Missouri  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal  was 
started  in  May,  1845.  It  was  under  the  editorial 
management  of  Dr.  R.  F.  Stevens,  and  was  a  twenty- 
four-page  monthly,  the  subscription  price  being  two 
dollars  per  annum.  Towards  the  close  of  the  year  it 
passed  into  the  hands  of  Drs.  J.  N.  McDowell  and 
Thomas  Barbour,  the  latter  of  whom  assumed  the 
entire  charge  in  April,  1846,  Dr.  McDowell's  time 
being  taken  up  with  the  preparation  of  a  work  on  sur- 
gery and  surgical  anatomy.  In  May,  1847,  Dr. 
Coons  was  associated  with  Dr.  Barbour  in  the  conduct 
of  the  periodical.  At  the  commencement  of  the 
third  volume  the  proprietors  congratulated  themselves 
on  having  a  subscription-list  of  three  hundred,  and 
upon  the  fact  that  during  the  preceding  few  weeks 
they  had  received  "  some  fifteen  or  more  new  sub- 
scribers." In  September,  1848,  this  journal  was 
merged  into  the  St.  Louis  Medical  and  Surgical 
Journal. 

The  St.  Louis  Probe  was  established  in  1850,  by 
Drs.  Coons  and  Atkinson.  It  had  only  an  ephemeral 
existence,  and  we  have  been  unable  to  learn  any  par- 
ticulars in  regard  to  it. 

The  St.  Louis  Medical  Reporter  was  established  in 
1866  under  the  editorial  management  of  Drs.  0.  F. 
Potter  and  J.  S.  B.  Alleyne.  It  was  a  thirty-two- 

:  page  semi-monthly.  It  continued  for  three  years, 
and  was  then  discontinued.  It  was  ably  edited  and 
well  printed,  and  illustrations  were  liberally  used. 
Changes  in  the  publishing  house  and  editorial  man- 

I  agement  had  an  unfavorable  effect,  and  after  the 
completion  of  the  third  volume  the  publication  was 
discontinued. 

The  Ifumboldt  Medical  Archives  was  established 

1  in   1868  by  Drs.  A.  Hammer  and  J.  C.  Whitehill. 


THE   MEDICAL   PROFESSION. 


1559 


It  was  designed  to  be  an  exponent  of  the  teachings  of 
the  school  of  pathology  of  which  Virchow  was  the 
leader,  and  to  take  an  advanced  position  in  all  pro- 
fessional matters.  Dr.  Hammer's  connection  with 
the  Archives  ceased  at  the  end  of  the  first  year,  but 
Dr.  Whitehill  continued  to  edit  and  publish  it  until 
1874,  about  which  time  he  left  St.  Louis.  During 
a  part  of  this  time  he  was  alone,  but  most  of  the 
time  he  had  assistant  and  associate  editors,  among 
whom  were  Drs.  E.  A.  Clark,  E.  F.  Smith,  E.  H. 
Gregory,  J.  S.  Moore,  L.  Ch.  Boisliniere,  E.  Mont- 
gomery, A.  Hammer,  J.  S.  B.  Alleyne,  and  Thomas 
Kennard.  After  the  first  two  volumes  were  pub- 
lished the  word  '•'  Humboldt"  was  dropped  from  the 
title,  and  the  journal  was  known  simply  as  the  Med- 
ical Archives. 

The  St.  Louis  Clinical  Record  was  established  in 
1874  by  Drs.  W.  A.  Hardaway  and  A.  B.  Shaw,  the 
latter  of  whom  only  remained  in  connection  with  the 
journal  one  year.  After  two  years  the  journal  passed 
into  the  hands  of  Dr.  W.  B.  Hazard,  who  carried  it 
on  until  the  middle  of  1882,  at  which  time  the  pub- 
lication was  discontinued. 

St.  Louis  Courier  of  Medicine. — In  the  fall  of 
1878  a  number  of  physicians  in  St.  Louis,  together 
with  some  of  their  friends,  formed  an  association 
under  the  style  of  the  Medical  Journal  Association  of 
Missouri.  The  object  of  the  association  was  to  estab- 
lish and  sustain  a  first-class  medical  journal,  which 
should  be  devoted  exclusively  to  medical  and  scientific 
matters,  and  maintain  the  highest  possible  standard  of 
literary  merit  with  the  best  attainable  mechanical  ex- 
ecution. The  officers  of  the  association  during  its 
first  year  were  John  T.  Hodgen,  president ;  H.  N. 
Spencer,  secretary  and  treasurer ;  P.  G.  Robinson, 
G.  A.  Moses,  and  John  P.  Bryson,  executive  com- 
mittee. 

The  name  chosen  for  the  new  journal  was  The  St. 
Louis  Courier  of  Medicine  and  Collateral  Sciences. 
The  first  number  appeared  in  January,  1879,  under 
the  editorial  management  of  Dr.  A.  J.  Steele,  with 
Dr.  W.  A.  Hardaway  as  associate  editor,  and  Dr. 
E.  W.  Schauffler,  of  Kansas  City,  as  correspond- 
ing editor.  At  the  end  of  that  year  Dr.  E.  M.  Nel- 
son was  appointed  editor,  and  has  filled  that  position 
ever  since.  Drs.  G.  A.  Moses,  John  P.  Bryson, 
Isaac  N.  Love,  C.  A.  Todd,  W.  A.  Hardaway,  and 
W.  C.  Glasgow  have  been  members  of  the  corps  of 
editors  for  one  or  more  years,  the  present  staff  com- 
prising Drs.  E.  M.  Nelson,  W.  A.  Hardaway,  John 
P.  Bryson,  and  W.  C.  Glasgow,  together  with  several 
corresponding  editors  in  other  leading  Western 
cities. 


At  the  end  of  the  first  year  the  membership  of  the 
association  was  extended  and  the  name  was  changed 
to  "  The  Medical  Journal  Association  of  the  Missis- 
sippi Valley."  In  1881  the  association  was  formally 
incorporated  under  the  name  of  the  Medical  Journal 
and  Library  Association  of  the  Mississippi  Valley. 
In  accordance  with  an  arrangement  made  in  the 
establishment  of  the  Courier  of  Medicine,  the  ex- 
changes and  books  for  review  are  preserved  in  a 
library,  to  which  all  members  of  the  association  have 
free  and  unrestricted  access  for  purposes  of  consulta- 
tion, and  already  quite  a  valuable  reference  library 
has  been  accumulated.  This  is  at  present  kept  with 
the  library  of  the  Medico-Chirurgical  Society  in  the 
hall  of  the  latter.  After  publishing  the  Courier  for 
two  years  an  arrangement  was  made  with  the  medical 

;  publishing  house  of  James  H.  Chambers  &  Co.  by 
which  they  assumed  charge  of  the  business  manage- 
ment, while  the  association  retains  control  of  the  lit- 

1  erary  management,  appointing  the  editor  and  directing 

!  the  general  policy  of  the  Courier. 

The  arrangement  has  proved  a   very  satisfactory 

!  one.  The  influence  of  the  Courier  is  constantly  in- 
creasing, and  it  has  become  a  very  handsome  property, 

J  as  well  as  a  credit  to  those  who  have  been  concerned 

I  in  founding  and  carrying  it  on. 

The  Alienist  and  Neurologist  is  a  journal  devoted 
to  a  consideration  of  affections  of  the  mind  and  ner- 
vous system.  It  is  a  quarterly,  owned  and  edited  by 
Dr.  C.  H.  Hughes,  whom  long  experience  as  super- 
intendent of  the  State  Insane  Asylum  and  years  of 

!  special  study  of  all  forms  of  nervous  disease  have 
qualified  to  edit  such  a  journal  with  credit  to  him- 
self and  satisfaction  to  the  readers.  The  Alienist 
and  Neurologist  is  making  a  fine  success  in  every  way 
and  constantly  gaining  in  reputation  and  value. 

Medical  Books. — The  following  list  comprises  the 
titles  and  authors  of  the  medical  books  which  have 
been  written  by  St.  Louis  physicians  so  far  as  the 
editor  has  been  able  to  ascertain  them : 

A  Practical  Treatise  on  Diseases  of  the  Eye.  By  B.  B.  Carter, 
M.D.  Edited,  with  additions  and  test-types,1  by  John  Green, 
M.D.  Philadelphia  :  Henry  C.  Lea  &  Co.,  1875. 

Outlines  of  General  Pathology.*     By  M.  L.  Linton,  M.D. 

Lectures  on  Diseases  of  the  Nervous  System.  By  J.  K. 
Bauduy,  M.D.  Philadelphia  :  J.  B.  Lippincott  &  Co.,  1874. 

Reports  on  Yellow  Fever.  By  W.  Hutson  Ford,  M.D.  St. 
Louis :  George  0.  Rumbold  <fc  Co.,  1879. 

1  Dr.  Green's  observations  and  writings  on  the  subject  of  as- 
tigmatism have  made  his  name  known  to  the  profession  all 
through  this  country  and  in  Europe  as  well. 

3  This  work  appeared  first  in  the  St.  Louis  Medical  and  Sur- 
gical Journal,  under  the  title  of  Medical  Essays,  by  L.  After- 
wards they  were  reprinted  in  a  volume,  and  a  small  edition 
published  for  the  benefit  of  his  classes. 


1560 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Prolapse  of  the  Umbilical  Cord,  its  Causation  and  Treatment.1  J 
By  George  J.  Engehnnnn,  A.M.,  M.D.,  etc.  New  York :  Wil-  i 
liam  Wood  &  Co.,  1874. 

The  Mucous  Membrane  of  the  Uterus,  with  Special  Refer- 
ence to  the  Development  and  Structure  of  the  Deeiduae.1    By  | 
George  J.  Engelmann,  A.M.,  M.D.    New  York  :  William  Wood  I 
A  Co.,  1875. 

Labor  among  Primitive  Peoples,  showing  the  Development  of  \ 
the  Obstetric  Science  of  to-day  from  the  Natural  and  Instinctive  | 
Customs  of  all  Races,  Civilized  and  Uncivilized,  Past  and  Pres-  ( 
ent.  St.  Louis:  J.  H.  Chambers  &  Co.,  1882. 

The  Nurse  and  Mother.  By  Walter  Coles,  M.D.  St.  Louis : 
J.  H.  Chambers  A  Co.,  1882. 

Lectures  on  Orthopedic  Surgery.     By  L.  Bauer,  M.D. 

Diseases  of  the  Ear.  By  A.  D.  Williams,  M.D.  Cincinnati, 
1873. 

Hygiene  and  Treatment  of  Catarrh.  By  Thomas  F.  Rumbold, 
M.D.  St.  Louis :  George  0.  Rumbold  &  Co.,  1881. 

Essentials  of  Vaccination.  By  W.  A.  Hardaway,  M.D.  Chi- 
cago :  Jansen,  McClurg  &  Co. 

Holmes'  System  of  Surgery.  American  edition.  Sections  on 
Injuries  of  the  Chest,  by  Alfred  Poland;  and  Injuries  of  the 
Abdomen,  by  George  Pollock.  Edited  by  Dr.  John  T.  Hodgen. 

The  American  Encyclopedia  of  Medicine,  now  in  course  of 
publication  by  AVilliain  Wood  &  Co.,  has  articles  on  Measles 
and  Roetheln,  by  Dr.  W.  A.  Hardaway,  and  on  Abortion  and 
its  Importance  to  the  General  Practitioner,  by  Dr.  George  J. 
Engelmann. 

Specialties. — A  noticeable  feature  in  the  history 
of  the  medical  profession  is  the  remarkable  develop- 
ment of  specialism  within  the  past  few  years.  The 
first  department  to  be  differentiated  from  the  rest  as  a 
specialty  was  that  concerned  with  diseases  of  the  eye 
and  ear,  and  for  many  years  this  was  the  only  special 
department  represented  in  St.  Louis.  Then  the  treat- 
ment of  diseases  of  the  throat  became  more  and  more 
prominent  as  a  special  branch  of  practice,  and  still 
later  the  treatment  of  diseases  peculiar  to  women,  of 
diseases  of  the  skin,  and  of  diseases  of  the  genito-  I 
urinary  organs  has  been  made  more  or  less  distinctly 
the  work  of  individuals  whose  peculiar  skill  or  ad- 
vantages have  qualified  them  as  specialists  in  these 
departments.  The  men  whose  success  and  skill  have  : 
so  notably  developed  this  tendency  to  specialism  and 
whose  names  are  identified  with  their  several  depart- 
ments, in  some  cases  with  a  national  or  even  European 
reputation,  are  still  among  the  active  workers  of  the  ' 
day.  They  are  now  making  their  records,  and  their  ' 
fame  is  still  increasing.  They  are  not  yet  a  part  of 
the  history  of  the  profession,  but  when  the  time  shall  ' 
come  in  which  it  may  be  proper  to  commemorate 
their  lives  and  work,  it  will  be  to  the  historian  a 
pleasant  task  to  note  and  record  the  eminent  success 
and  skill  of  a  considerable  number  of  St.  Louis 
specialists. 

In  ending  this  brief  sketch  the  writer  is  aware  that 


1  These  works  are  cited  by  all  recent  writers  on  gynecology 
and  obstetrics  as  authorities  on  the  subjects  treated  in  them. 


many  readers  will  close  the  book  in  disappointment  at 
not  finding  here  the  names  of  the  middle-aged  and 
younger  men  of  the  profession,  who  are  doing  the 
greater  part  of  the  practice  and  are  wielding  the 
strongest  influence  in  the  profession  and  among  the 
laity,  so  far  as  matters  medical  are  concerned,  at  the 
present  time.  But  it  has  seemed  to  him  that  history 
deals  with  work  done  and  records  completed,  and  that 
a  history  of  the  medical  profession  in  St.  Louis  has 
to  do  with  the  men  now  living  and  working  here  only 
so  far  as  these  men  were  associated  more  or  less  inti- 
mately with  those  whose  work  is  done,  or  as  they  are 
identified  with  institutions  which  may  be  considered 
permanent  elements  in  the  life  of  the  city.  In  accor- 
dance with  this  view  it  has  seemed  to  him  best  to 
leave  unsaid  much  that  might  with  truth  and  pleas- 
ure be  said  of  men  with  whom  he  is  daily  in  more  or 
less  intimate  association,  having  full  confidence  that 
when  the  time  shall  come  in  which  their  lives  shall  be 
a  part  of  the  history  of  their  city,  able  pens  will  be 
found  to  delineate  those  lives  and  set  them  in  their 
proper  places. 

Homoeopathy  in  St.  Louis.2 — The  pioneer  of 
homoeopathy  in  Missouri  was  John  T.  Temple,  A.M., 
M.D.,  who  settled  in  St.  Louis  in  1844.  Dr.  Temple 
was  a  native  of  King  William  County,  Va.,  and  had 
a  classical  and  collegiate  education,  obtained  at  Lex- 
ington, Va.  He  graduated  in  medicine  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Maryland  in  18£4,  and  practiced  in  Wash- 
ington, D.  C.,  until  1833,  at  which  time  he  moved 
to  Chicago,  111.,  then  a  frontier  post.  In  1843,  Dr. 
Temple  became  a  convert  to  homoeopathy,  and  in  the 
following  year,  as  stated,  removed  to  St.  Louis.  In 
1848  he  established  the  Southwestern  Homoeopathic 
Journal,  which  he  maintained  for  two  years,  until  he 
went  to  California,  where  he  remained  two  years.  In 
1857  he  assisted  in  founding  the  Homoeopathic  Med- 
ical College  of  Missouri,  and  was  its  dean  and  Professor 
of  Materia  Medicaand  Therapeutics  until  shortly  before 
his  death,  which  occurred  in  1877.  Dr.  Temple  was 
a  skillful  physician  and  worthy  man,  and  was  known 
among  his  fellow-practitioners  in  St.  Louis  as  the 
"  Nestor  of  homoeopathy."  He  was  a  valuable  con- 
tributor to  the  medical  literature  of  the  day,  many  of 
his  articles  being  copied  into  foreign  journals,  and 
was  constantly  on  the  alert  to  defend  the  cause  of 
homoeopathy.  The  next  in  order  of  arrival  was  Dr. 
Spaulding,  who  moved  to  St.  Louis  from  Flatbush, 
N.  Y.,  in  1846.  He  also  was  a  convert  to  homoeop- 
athy, a  man  of  fine  attainments,  and  an  excellent 
physician.  He  died  two  years  after  his  arrival. 

J  Written  for  this  work  by  Dr.  F.  T.  Knox,  of  St.  Louis. 


MEDTHAL    PROFESSION.  1561 


. 
' 


Loui- 

will- 

• 


a  a  keen  rt  all 

I  of  the  community.    A 

• 
rnest 


The 
but 

.. 
. 


rrepureu  oy  i- .  n.  curgess.  1,1^^,.      j.^.^ 


1562 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


edge  of  his  chosen  profession,  but  he  also  has  what 
culture  and  science  do  not  always  give,  a  curious  run  j 
of  luck.     It  seems  to  follow  him  in  all  things.     He 
belongs  to  that  fortunate  class  of  men  to  whom  work 
and  study  come  easily,  and  is  able  to  indulge  in  culti-  | 
vated  tastes  and  beautiful  things.     Feeling  the  need  j 
of  rest  and  change,  he  consigns  his  patients  to  proper 
hands,  drops  all  things,  runs  off  to  Europe,  attends  a 
course  of  lectures  in  London,  Vienna,  or  Paris,  gathers 
up  the  points  of   medical   advancement   there,   and 
comes  back  as  quietly  as  he  went,  and  resumes  an 
immense  practice,  and  all  his  home  work   comes  to 
him  again.     His  ideal  of  a  doctor  seems  to  keep  him 
a  perpetual  student. 

"  A  full,  rounded  intellect,  well  developed,  and  well 
informed,  characterizes  the  doctor.  He  enjoys  society 
and  clubs  and  art,  but  none  the  less  close  application 
to  his  professional  and  literary  studies.  In  the  very 
prime  of  life,  there  can  be  no  reason  why  he  should 
not  continue  to  grow  intellectually,  and  in  full  ripe- 
ness of  his  years  become  one  of  the  leading  physicians 
in  the  West." 

Although  a  general  practitioner,  his  specialty  in 
medicine  is  gynecology,  and  in  this  branch  he  has 
superior  attainments  and  a  large  experience. 

Homoeopathy  made  steady  progress  from  1849  to 
1857,  during  which  time  Drs.  B.  M.  Peterson,  D.  R. 
Luyties,  E.  A.  Fellerer,  and  others  appeared  on  the 
scene. 

It  was  in  1857  that  the  charter  of  the  Homoeo- 
pathic Medical  College  of  Missouri  was  obtained  by 
Drs.  Temple  and  Peterson,  and  in  this  year  also  Dr. 
E.  C.  Franklin  moved  to  St.  Louis  from  Dubuque, 
Iowa.  This  gentleman  was  already  well  and  favor- 
ably known  in  New  York,  San  Francisco,  Panama, 
and  Iowa,  but  his  fame  has  since  become  widespread 
as  the  "  chief  founder,  teacher,  and  acknowledged 
authority  in  homoeopathic  surgery."  It  is  due  largely 
to  his  skill  as  a  surgeon  and  instructor  that  homoeo- 
pathic surgery  has  reached  the  proud  place  it  now  occu- 
pies. Dr.  Franklin  was  converted  to  homoeopathy  by 
being  himself  cured  by  homoeopathic  remedies  when 
all  others  had  failed.  In  1860  he  was  appointed 
demonstrator  of  anatomy  in  the  Homosopathic 
Medical  College  of  Missouri.  In  1861  he  entered 
the  United  States  army  as  surgeon  ;  in  1864  was  ap- 
pointed to  the  chair  of  surgery  in  the  Homoeopathic 
Medical  College  of  Missouri,  and  in  1867  published 
"The  Science  and  Art  of  Surgery."  Soon  after  this 
Drs.  Franklin,  P.  G.  Valentine,  and  others  succeeded 
in  prevailing  upon  the  city  Board  of  Health  to  give 
the  homoeopaths  a  day  to  lecture  in  the  City  Hospital. 
In  1871,  Dr.  Franklin  was  appointed  surgeon  of  the 


Good  Samaritan  Hospital,  and  in  1876  became  dean 
of  the  Homoeopathic  Medical  College  of  Missouri. 
In  1879  he  received  and  accepted  a  call  to  a  profes- 
sorship in  the  Michigan  State  University  at  Ann 
Arbor,  where  he  now  resides. 

In  1858,  Dr.  William  Tod  Helmuth— another 
physician  who  has  since  won  a  national  reputation — 
came  to  St.  Louis  from  Philadelphia.  At  the  age  of 
twenty  (in  1853)  he  graduated  in  medicine  at  the 
Homoeopathic  Medical  College  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
in  two  years  thereafter  was  Professor  of  Anatomy  in 
the  same  college,  which  position  he  held  until  he 
came  West.  In  1855  he  published  a  work  entitled 
"  Surgery,  and  its  Adaptation  to  Homoeopathic  Prac- 
tice," a  late  new  edition  of  which  is  a  large  handsome 
volume,  and  is  a  text-book  in  the  homoeopathic 
colleges.  In  1859  he  was  appointed  to  the  chair  of 
anatomy  in  the  Homoeopathic  Medical  College  of 
Missouri,  and  elected  registrar  of  the  faculty.  He 
held  the  same  chair  until  1865,  when  he  took  the 
chair  of  theory  and  practice.  About  this  time  he 
visited  Europe,  and  on  his  return,  finding  disagree- 
ments in  the  faculty  of  the  college,  he  used  his  influ- 
ence in  1869  to  aid  the  establishment  of  a  new  medi- 
cal school,  to  be  called  the  St.  Louis  College  of 
Homoeopathic  Physicians  and  Surgeons.  In  this 
new  school  he  filled  the  chair  of  surgery  until  1870, 
when  he  accepted  a  call  to  the  chair  of  surgery  in 
the  New  York  Homoeopathic  Medical  College. 

It  would  be  impossible,  in  so  brief  a  history  of  ho- 
moeopathy in  St.  Louis,  to  give  a  sketch  of  all  the 
physicians,  but  no  history  would  be  valuable  for  ref- 
erence or  correct  in  facts  that  did  not  allude  to  one 
other  physician,  Dr.  G.  S.  Walker. 

George  S.  Walker1  was  born  June  19,  1820,  in 
Allegheny  County,  Pa.  His  medical  training  was 
preceded  by  a  thorough  literary  course  in  Jefferson 
College,  Pennsylvania,  from  which  institution  he  was 
graduated  in  1844.  This  preliminary  training  doubt- 
less laid  the  foundation  for  those  eminent  attainments 
in  literature  and  art  by  which  he  has  been  especially 
distinguished  among  the  men  of  his  profession,  and 
which,  while  they  adorn  his  domestic  and  social  life, 
give  added  vigor,  precision,  and  breadth  to  his  medical 
opinions. 

After  leaving  college  he  taught  for  two  years  in  the 
academies  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  thus  con- 
firming and  establishing  his  literary  tastes  and  culture, 
while  at  the  same  time  he  was  constantly  exploring 
the  field  of  professional  knowledge.  To  enlarge  and 
perfect  his  medical  acquirements,  he  devoted  the  years 


1  Prepared  by  F.  H.  Burgess. 


THE   MEDICAL   PROFESSION. 


1563 


of  1846-47  to  attendance  upon  lectures  in  the  schools 
of  Philadelphia,  and  then  began  the  practice  of  his 
profession  near  Pittsburgh.  Soon,  however,  the  gold 
fever  of  1849  broke  out,  and  Dr.  Walker  was  one  of 
its  earliest  subjects.  Yielding  to  the  prevailing  excite- 
ment for  profitable  adventure,  he  became  an  "  Argo- 
naut," and  remained  nearly  three  years  on  the  Pacific 
coast.  With  a  mind  stored  with  reminiscences  of  the 
struggles  of  those  exciting  days,  he  returned  to  the 
States  by  the  Isthmian  route,  entered  upon  another 
course  of  lectures  in  Philadelphia,  and  was  graduated 
in  1852.  In  the  previous  autumn  he  had  been  mar- 
ried to  Miss  A.  C.  McKain,  of  Allegheny  City,  Pa., 
a  lady  whose  high  social  qualities  and  varied  accom- 
plishments, and  especially  her  pure  and  cultivated  taste 
in  music  and  art,  have  long  made  her  the  delight  and  or- 
nament of  the  beautiful  home  over  which  she  so  grace- 
fully presides.  Of  the  four  children  of  this  union 
but  one  survives,  a  promising  boy,  who  inherits  appar- 
ently his  father's  strength,  energy,  and  fine  mental 
balance,  with  his  mother's  refined  and  delicate  tastes. 

While  visiting  St.  Louis,  in  April,  1852,  Dr.  Walker 
was  so  much  impressed  with  its  advantages  as  a  field 
of  professional  labor  that  he  determined  to  make  it 
his  home.  He  was  then  of  the  allopathic  school  in 
medicine,  and  so  remained  until  1860.  The  claims  of 
homoeopathy  having  been  presented  to  his  attention,  he 
candidly  investigated  them  and  became  satisfied  of  their 
validity.  He  did  not  conceal  his  convictions,  and  was 
summoned  by  his  professional  brethren  to  appear  be- 
fore the  medical  society  of  which  he  was  a  prominent 
member  and  answer  to  the  charge  of  infidelity  to 
their  faith.  He  replied  in  a  defense  which  has  be- 
come memorable  as  the  vigorous  protest  of  an  inde- 
pendent mind,  but,  though  unable  to  answer  him,  they 
"  cast  him  out  of  their  synagogue."  This,  however, 
was  an  unintentional  kindness,  for  it  resulted  in  plac- 
ing him  at  the  head  of  the  new  school  of  medicine. 

In   May,   1861,   Dr.   Walker  entered    the  United 
States  army  as  surgeon  of  the  Sixth  Missouri  Infantry  } 
Volunteers,  but  acted  during  the  greater  portion  of  i 
his  service  as  brigade  surgeon  under  Gen.  Sherman. 

He  has  held  the  chair  of  obstetrics,  or  gynecology, 
in    medical    colleges   of    the    city  for   eleven    years,  i 
occupying  prominent  official  positions  in    the  medi- 
cal  societies  of  which   he  has  been   a  member,  and 

' 

has   repeatedly  been    elevated   to  the    presidency  of 
the   Society   of    Homoeopaths.     He   has   also   been  \ 
president  of  the    Western  Academy  and    American 
Institute    of   Homoeopathy,   and   an    honored    mem- 
ber of  the  American  Medical  Association  (allopathic).  ' 
In  these  places  and  relations  his  profound  learning, 
his  sparkling  wit  and  genial   humor,  and  above  all  ' 


his  great  talents  and  accomplishments  have  made  him 
of  the  first  consideration,  and  responsibilities  have  de- 
volved upon  him  which  were  as  honorable  as  they  were 
onerous.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Academy  of  Science 
of  St.  Louis,  and  takes  a  warm  interest  in  all  its  pro- 
ceedings, notwithstanding  the  absorbing  demands  of 
a  large  and  successful  practice.  He  is  also  a  member 
of  the  American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of 
Science.  He  was  for  some  time  associated  with  Dr. 
William  Tod  Helmuth  in  the  editorial  labors  of  the 
Homoeopathic  Observer,  and  with  Dr.  T.  G.  Corn- 
stock  in  the  conduct  of  the  Occidental,  medical  jour- 
nals published  in  St.  Louis.  His  lectures,  addresses, 
and  orations,  of  which  a  number  are  preserved  in 
permanent  form,  have  attracted  the  attention  of  first- 
class  minds  throughout  the  country. 

Dr.  Walker  has  a  fine  physique,  is  exceedingly  fond 
of  field  sports,  and  devotes  to  them  the  brief  intervals 
for  recreation  which  he  is  able  to  snatch  from  absorb- 
ing professional  labor.  He  has  purchased  land  near 
Lake  Detroit,  Minnesota,  on  which  he  is  about  to 
erect  a  cottage  for  summer  resort,  where,  with  his 
family  and  friends,  he  proposes  to  enjoy  his  few  remis- 
sions from  arduous  professional  toil. 

A  career  of  such  unbroken  success  and  distinction 
would  seem  to  lack  none  of  the  conditions  of  happi- 
ness, but  Dr.  Walker  is  no  exception  to  the  common 
rule  of  life.  Death  has  not  spared  his  household 
treasures,  and  he  has  suffered  much  and  keenly  from 
their  loss.  He  has,  however,  had  the  consolation  in 
all  his  afflictions  of  the  wide  and  generous  sympathy 
of  unnumbered  friends. 

With  unimpaired  mental  and  physical  health  and 
vigor,  Dr.  Walker  is  still  devoted  to  the  labors  of  his 
profession. 

There  are  upwards  of  seventy-five  homoeopathic 
physicians  in  St.  Louis,  a  few  of  whom  are  devoting 
their  skill  to  specialties  with  marked  success.  Among 
the  latter  may  be  mentioned  Drs.  J.  A.  Campbell, 
oculist  and  aurist;  J.  Martin  Kershaw,  mental  and 
nervous  diseases ;  and  S.  B.  Parsons,  surgery.  Dr. 
Campbell,  however,  is  the  only  one  who  has  entirely 
given  up  general  practice. 

The  first  homoeopathic  pharmacy  in  St.  Louis  was 
established  by  Dr.  Wesselhoeft,  and  the  next  by  Dr. 
John  T.  Temple.  Subsequently  Dr.  D.  R.  Luyties 
established  one,  which  in  1859  passed  into  the  hands 
of  R.  &  H.  Luyties.  In  1861,  H.  C.  G.  Luyties, 
brother  of  the  doctor,  became  its  proprietor,  and  is 
still  the  owner  of  what  has  grown  from  small  begin- 
nings to  be  one  of  the  finest  homoeopathic  pharma- 
cies in  the  West.  Mr.  Luyties  edits  and  publishes  a 
journal  called  the  Homoeopathic  News. 


1564 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


In  1867,  John  W.  Munson  opened  Munson's 
Western  Homeopathic  Pharmacy.  Under  the  suc- 
cessful management  of  Mr.  Munson  and  his  chief 
assistant,  William  F.  Bockstruck,  who  is  now  a  part- 
ner, this  has  also  become  one  of  the  prominent  phar- 
macies of  the  West.  This  pharmacy  also  publishes 
a  journal  called  Munson  &  Co.'s  Homoeopathic  Bul- 
letin. 

HOMOEOPATHIC  MEDICAL  COLLEGE  OF  MIS- 
SOURI.— On  the  23d  of  November,  1857,  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  Missouri  passed  an  act  to  incorporate 
the  Homoeopathic  Medical  College  of  Missouri,  lo- 
cated at  St.  Louis,  and  appointed  the  following  trus- 
tees :  John  M.  Wimer,  George  R.  Taylor,  Robert 
Renick,  Samuel  C.  Davis,  and  Gen.  Bernard  Pratte. 
This  charter  was  proposed  and  drawn  up  by  Dr.  John 
C.  Morgan,  and  after  revision  was  enacted  through 
the  combined  influence  of  Drs.  John  T.  Temple  and 
H.  B.  Peterson,  who  were  at  that  time  the  leading 
homoeopathic  physicians  in  St.  Louis.  In  1859,  by 
invitation,  several  of  the  most  prominent  representa- 
tives of  homoeopathy  in  the  West  met  in  St.  Louis 
to  make  arrangements  for  the  establishment  of  a  col- 
lege under  the  charter.  In  accordance  therewith  the 
following  persons  were  appointed  professors  in  the 
first  faculty  of  the  college :  R.  E.  W.  Adams,  M.D., 
of  Springfield,  111.,  Professor  of  Theory  and  Practice 
of  Medicine ;  B.  L.  Hill,  M.D.,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio, 
Professor  of  Institutes  and  Practice  of  Surgery ;  J. 
Brainard,  M.D.,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  Professor  of 
Chemistry  and  Medical  Botany;  A.  R.  Bartlett,  M.D., 
of  Aurora,  111..  Professor  of  Physiology  and  General 
Pathology  ;  E.  A.  Guilbert,  M.D.,  of  Dubuque,  Iowa, 
Professor  of  Obstetrics  and  Diseases  of  Women  and 
Children  ;  John  T.  Temple,  M.D.,  of  St.  Louis,  Mo., 
Professor  of  Materia  Medica ;  and  William  Tod  Hel- 
muth, M.D.,  of  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  Professor  of  Anat- 
omy. The  officers  of  the  faculty  were  John  T. 
Temple,  dean,  and  William  Tod  Helmuth,  registrar. 

The  calamity  of  civil  war  determined  the  board  of 
trustees  to  close  the  doors  of  the  college  during  the 
years  of  1860,  '61,  '62,  and  '63.  In  1864  lectures 
were  renewed  under  more  favorable  auspices  than 
during  any  of  the  foregoing  sessions,  and  an  entire 
change  of  organization  was  effected  in  the  faculty  by 
the  appointment  of  resident  professors.  With  but  few 
changes  in  the  faculty  the  college  continued  to  prosper 
and  had  little  to  contend  with  until  the  fall  of  1869, 
when,  as  has  been  previously  mentioned,  Dr.  Helmuth 
organized  the  "  St.  Louis  College  of  Homoeopathic 
Physicians  and  Surgeons,"  with  almost  an  entirely 
new  faculty. 

The  Homoeopathic   Medical  College  of   Missouri, 


however,  still  maintained  its  prestige  and  popularity, 
and  though  the  classes  in  each  were  small,  both  col- 
leges labored  with  determined  zeal  and  vigor  to  be 
foremost  in  the  race  for  educational  preferment.  After 
the  close  of  the  second  year,  in  1871  the  new  college 
succumbed  and  closed  its  doors. 

In  the  spring  of  1872  another  college  sprang  into 
existence  styled  the  "  St.  Louis  Homoeopathic  College 
of  Medicine  and  Surgery  ;"  but  it  met  with  such 
feeble  encouragement  from  the  profession  that  the 
enterprise  was  abandoned  before  the  lecture  season 
opened. 

From  this  time  until  1880  the  college  was  pros- 
perous and  harmonious.  At  the  close  of  the  spring 
session  of  that  year  (1880)  the  managers  of  the  insti- 
tution, for  financial  reasons,  decided  upon  a  change, 
and  obtained  a  new  charter  and  a  new  name,  the  "  St. 
Louis  College  of  Homoeopathic  Physicians  and  Sur- 
geons." This  new  enterprise,  however,  did  not  meet 
with  the  approval  of  all  the  profession,  and  accor- 
dingly some  of  the  friends  of  the  old  college,  under 
the  leadership  of  Dr.  William  C.  Richardson,  issued 
an  announcement  for  the  next  season,  1880-81,  which 
contained  a  "  Note  to  the  Alumni  and  Profession,"  of 
which  the  following  are  extracts :  "  The  faculty  and 
board  of  trustees  to  whom  were  confided,  a  few  years 
since,  the  interests  and  welfare  of  the  Homoeopathic 
Medical  College  of  Missouri  saw  fit  at  the  close  of 
the  last  course  of  lectures,  for  reasons  best  known  to 
themselves,  to  abandon  the  name  and  prestige  estab- 
lished during  an  honorable  and  praiseworthy  career 
of  over  twenty  years.  They  have  organized  an  en- 
tirely new  college,  under  a  new  name,  ignoring  the 
old,  thus  throwing  the  alumni  out  of  an  acknowledged 
Alma  Mater."  ..."  It  is  now  the  intention  of  the 
present  board,  under  a  new  charter,  to  perpetuate  the 
record  and  maintain  the  good  reputation  of  the  old 
institution  and  its  graduates."  Accordingly  the  col- 
lege was  re-established  under  its  old  name,  and  for  two 
years  both  institutions  were  maintained. 

The  number  of  students  in  both  colleges  being 
about  equal  to  and  no  more  than  the  former  classes 
of  the  old  college,  the  faculties  of  both  colleges, 
though  they  had  become  somewhat  estranged,  were 
finally  convinced  that,  divided,  neither  college  was 
likely  to  prosper.  The  union  of  the  two  faculties 
was  therefore  proposed  and  consummated,  and  the 
college,  under  the  old  name,  the  Homoeopathic  Med- 
ical College  of  Missouri,  in  the  fall  of  1882  com- 
menced the  college  term  under  more  promising  aus- 
pices and  with  better  educational  advantages  than  it 
had  ever  had  during  its  long  and  eventful  history. 
The  following  are  the  officers  and  faculty  for  the 


THE   MEDICAL   PROFESSION. 


1565 


present  year,  1882-83,  viz. :  C.  W.  Spalding,  M.D., 
president ;  S.  B.  Parsons,  M.D.,  secretary ;  William 
Collison,  M.D  ,  treasurer;  Philo  G.  Valentine,  A.M., 
M.D.,  business  manager.  Honorary  Board  of  Trus- 
tees, John  M.  Harney,  John  H.  Crane,  Azel  B.  How- 
ard, Gen.  John  W.  Noble,  Hon.  E.  0.  Stanard,  Hon. 
John  B.  Henderson,  Right  Rev.  C.  F.  Robertson, 
D.D.,  Bishop  of  Missouri.  Officers  of  Faculty,  W.  A. 
Edmonds,  A.M.,  M.D.,  dean ;  W.  B.  Morgan,  A.M., 
M.D.,  registrar.  Faculty  of  Medicine,  W.  A.  Ed- 
monds, M.D.,  Professor  of  Diseases  of  Children,  and 
dean  ;  C.  W.  Spalding,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Physiology 
and  Clinical  Surgery;  William  C.  Richardson,  M.D., 
Professor  of  Obstetrics  and  Gynecology ;  J.  Martine 
Kershaw,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Brain,  Spinal,  and 
Nervous  Diseases;  James  A.  Campbell,  M.D.,  Pro- 
fessor of  Ophthalmology  and  Otology  ;  Philo  G.  Val- 
entine, M.D.,  Professor  of  Theory  and  Practice  ; 
Adolph  Ulemeyer,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Materia  Med- 
ica  and  Therapeutics;  W.John  Harris,  M.D.,  Pro- 
fessor of  Clinical  Medicine,  Hygiene, 
and  Sanitation  ;  Irenseus  D.  Foulon, 
A.M.,  LL.B.,  Professor  of  Medical 
Jurisprudence ;  J.  T,  Kent,  A.M., 
M.D.,  Professor  of  Principles  and 
Practice  of  Surgery ;  W.  B.  Morgan, 
M.D.,  Professor  of  Anatomy  and  De. 
monstrator ;  Lee  H.  Dowling,  M.D., 
Professor  of  Chemistry  and  Toxicol- 
ogy. There  have  been  upwards  of 
three  hundred  and  fifty  graduates  of 
this  college  since  its  organization. 

THE  MISSOURI  SCHOOL  OF  MID- 
WIFERY was  chartered  in  1875.  It 
holds  two  sessions  yearly,  each  of 
twelve  weeks'  duration,  and  has  a 
lying-in  hospital  attached,  and  a  course 
for  physicians  desiring  to  pursue  this 
specialty.  The  first  president  was  Al- 
fred E.  Reiss,  M.D.,  now  dead.  He  occupied  the  chair 
of  obstetrics,  and  the  same  chair  in  the  Homoeopathic 
Medical  College  of  Missouri.  He  graduated  from 
the  latter  college  in  1868,  and  went  to  Europe,  where 
he  spent  three  years  in  the  Obstetrical  Department  of 
the  University  of  Vienna,  taking  the  highest  honors. 
He  then  entered  the  Prussian  army  as  assistant  sur- 
geon in  the  Franco-German  war,  was  promoted  to  sur- 
geon, and  had  charge  of  the  general  hospital  at  Sedan, 
for  the  management  of  which  he  received  acknowl- 
edgment and  thanks  from  the  eminent  Dr.  Bilroth. 
As  a  lecturer  he  had  good  command  of  language,  and 
was  altogether  an  excellent  instructor. 

Dr.  Wm.  C.  Richardson  was  the  first  secretary,  and 


is  now  president  of  the  Missouri  School  of  Midwifery, 
and  also  Professor  of  Diseases  of  Women  and  Children, 
which  chair  he  also  held  in  the  Homoeopathic  College 
of  Missouri.  He  graduated  in  the  same  class  with 
Dr.  Reiss.  He  was  for  several  years  editor  of  the 
obstetrical  department  of  the  Western  Homoeopathic 
Observer,  and  was  afterwards  editor  and  proprietor  of 
the  Homoeopathic  Courier.  In  1876  he  published 
a  small  treatise  on  "  Cholera  Infantum,  and  other 
Diseases  of  Children,"  and  in  1878  a  text-book  on 
"  Obstetrics,"  which  has  become  a  standard  authority, 
not  only  in  the  medical  schools  of  this  country  but 
of  Europe.  He  is  a  fine,  free,  and  ready  speaker, 
and  a  very  successful  lecturer. 

THE  GOOD  SAMARITAN  HOSPITAL  was  founded 
in  1857  by  the  Rev.  Lewis  E.  Nollau,  at  that  time 
pastor  of  St.  Peter's  Lutheran  Church.  It  was 
opened  in  a  modest  way,  occupying  a  small  building 
which  contained  about  seven  rooms.  For  the  first 
few  years  it  was  supported  mainly  through  the  per- 


GOOD    SAMARITAN    HOSPITAL. 

sonal  efforts  of  Rev.  Mr.  Nollau,  aided  by  voluntary 
subscriptions  principally  from  among  the  German 
population.  Dr.  E.  A.  Fellerer  was  the  first  phy- 
sician, and  continued  in  charge  until  early  in  1859, 
when  Dr.  T.  G.  Comstock  was  also  appointed  attend- 
ing physician.  These  two  gentlemen  were  the  medi- 
cal attendants  until  1862.  The  hospital  was  first  in- 
corporated in  1859,  when  a  new  hospital  building  was 
begun,  the  corner-stone  being  laid  in  August  of  that 
year  and  finished  in  1861.  The  board  of  trustees,  to 
whom  the  credit  of  erecting  the  new  hospital  was 
due,  were  Samuel  Plant,  Russell  Scarritt,  Francis 
Whittaker,  Adolphus  Meier,  Frederick  Bolte,  Francis 
Hackemeier,  and  Rev.  Louis  E.  Nollau.  The  patients 


1566 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


were  removed  to  the  new  quarters  in  March,  1861. 
The  building  is  situated  on  Jefferson  Avenue,  at  the 
head  of  O'Fallon  Street,  and  is  a  fine  edifice,  capable  of 
accommodating  one  hundred  and  sixty  patients.  It 
was  scarcely  opened  when  the  civil  war  broke  out. 
Soldiers  wounded  at  the  memorable  capture  of  Camp 
Jackson,  and  many  patients  from  the  military  camps, 
who  at  that  time  could  not  be  accommodated  in  the 
military  hospitals,  were  admitted.  In  the  fall  of 
1861  arrangements  were  made  to  care  for  a  larger 
number  of  patients  from  the  army  for  a  reasonable 
compensation  from  the  government.  Afterwards  the 
board  of  directors  rented  the  building  to  the  United 
States  government  for  use  as  a  military  hospital  for 
two  years. 

The  hospital  was  originally  intended  for  a  charita- 
ble institution,  and  during  the  lifetime  of  Mr.  Nollau 
this  idea  was  carried  out  as  far  as  practicable,  but 
there  being  no  permanent  endowment  for  its  support, 
it  is  now  maintained  in  part  by  patients  paying  when 
they  have  the  means,  only  a  limited  number  being 
treated  gratuitously.  Mr.  Nollau,  the  founder,  died 
Feb.  6,  1869. 

Besides  the  two  physicians  mentioned  as  having 
been  connected  with  the  institution  since  its  organi- 
zation, Drs.  Helmuth,  Walker,  Luyties,  Gundelach, 
Franklin,  Parsons,  Campbell,  and  others  have  served 
at  different  periods  as  medical  attendants.  The  hos- 
pital has  a  number  of  well-arranged  rooms,  where 
private  patients  may  be  treated  in  accordance  with 
any  practice  and  by  physicians  of  their  own  selec- 
tion. 

THE  ST.  Louis  HOMOEOPATHIC  DISPENSARY 
was  organized  in  1864,  and  was  opened  in  March, 

1865,  with  the  following  officers,  viz.:    Dr.  C.  W. 
Spalding,    president;    Mrs.    Dr.  William    Tod    Hel- 
muth, treasurer;  and  Dr.  E.  C.  Franklin,  secretary. 
The  board  of  trustees  consisted  of  Drs.  C.  W.  Spald- 
ing, E.  C.  Franklin,  and  T.  J.  Vastine,  Mrs.  T.  G. 
Comstock,  Mrs.  W.  T.  Helmuth,  Mrs.  G-.  S.  Walker, 
and  Mrs.  John  T.  Temple.     A  charter  of  incorpora- 
tion was  procured  from  the  Circuit  Court  in  March, 

1866,  and  a  constitution  and  by-laws  were  adopted 
during  the  same  month.     Dr.  S.  B.  Parsons  was  ap- 
pointed attending  physician  for  the  first  year.     In 
1868,  Dr.  E.  C.  Franklin  was  appointed  to  the  entire 
charge  of  the  dispensary,  the  duties  of  which  position 
he  faithfully  performed  for  a  number  of  years.     The 
dispensary  has  been  carried  on  in  the  building  of  the 
Homoeopathic  Medical  College  of  Missouri,  and  large 
numbers  have   been   treated   daily  by   the   different 
members  of  the  faculty.     At  this  free  dispensary, 
during  the  college  term,  clinics  are  held  daily,  and 


patients  are  examined  and  prescribed  for  before  the 
classes. 

THE  CHILDREN'S  HOSPITAL  was  organized  by  cer- 
tain benevolent  ladies  and  gentlemen  of  St.  Louis, 
with  Dr.  W.  A.  Edmonds  at  the  head  of  the  medical 
department. 

HOMOEOPATHIC  SOCIETIES. — There  are  two  organi- 
zations of  homoeopathic  physicians  in  St.  Louis  which 
are  specially  worthy  of  mention,  the  Hahnemann 
Club  and  the  St.  Louis  Society  of  Homoeopathic  Phy- 
sicians and  Surgeons.  The  former  is  intended  for 
social  as  well  as  literary  purposes.  The  latter,  which 
is  composed  of  physicians  in  the  city  and  vicinity, 
elects  its  officers  quarterly,  except  the  secretary,  who 
is  elected  annually.  The  present  secretary  is  Dr.  W. 
B.  Morgan. 

Of  works  by  homoeopathic  practitioners  we  find  the 
following  from  the  pens  of  St.  Louis  physicians : 

Helps  to  Hear.  By  James  A.  Campbell,  M.D.  12mo,  pp. 
108.  Chicago  :  Duncan  &  Brothers,  1882. 

Diseases  of  Infants  and  Children.  By  W.  A.  Edmonds, 
M.D.,  etc.  8vo,  pp.  293.  New  York :  Boericke  &  Tafel,  1881. 

Richardson's  Obstetrics.  By  William  C.  Richardson,  M.D. 

Diseases  of  the  Brain  and  Nervous  System.  By  J.  M. 
Kershaw,  M.D. 

A  Complete  Minor  Surgery,  the  Practitioner's  Vade-Mecum, 
including  a  Treatise  on  Venereal  Diseases.  By  E.  C.  Frank- 
lin, M.D.,  1882. 

The  St.  Louis  Clinical  Review  is  the  principal 
homoeopathic  journal  of  the  city,  edited  by  Dr.  Philo 
G-.  Valentine.1 

The  Eclectic  School  of  Medicine.2 — Eclecticism 
as  a  distinctive  branch  of  medical  practice  may  be 
said  to  have  first  presented  itself  for  public  recognition 
in  St.  Louis  with  the  incorporation  of  the  American 
Medical  College  of  St.  Louis  in  May,  1873.  The 
first  session  of  the  college  was  held  in  the  fall  of  that 
year  and  the  spring  of  1874.  The  following  gentle- 
men compose  its  board  of  trustees :  J.  S.  Merrell, 
president;  N.  C.  Hudson,  vice-president;  Dr.  P.  D. 
Yost,  secretary ;  Dr.  E.  Younkin,  treasurer ;  Dr.  Al- 
bert Merrell,  A.  Sumner,  Dr.  W.  V.  Rutledge,  Dr. 
John  W.  Thraillkill,  Dr.  George  C.  Pitzer,  Dr.  W. 
W.  Houser,  and  B.  H/Dye,  B.L.  The  faculty  con- 
sists of  the  following  members :  George  C.  Pitzer, 
M.D.,  dean,  Professor  of  Theory  and  Practice  of 
Medicine,  and  Clinical  Lecturer  at  City  Hospital  and 
the  College;  Albert  Merrell,  M.D.,  Professor  of 
Chemistry,  Pharmacy,  and  Toxicology,  and  Clinical 

1  The  writer  of  the  foregoing  outline  of  homoeopathy  in  St. 
Louis  is  largely  indebted  to  Vol.  II.  of  "Transactions  of  the 
World's  Homceopathic  Convention  of  1876"  for  facts,  as  well  as 
to  various  individuals  for  information  furnished. 

2  The  material  for  this  sketch  was  furnished  by  Dr.  A.  B. 
Merrell. 


THE   MEDICAL  PROFESSION. 


1567 


Lecturer  on  Diseases  of  Children  at  the  College ;  P. 
D.  Yost,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Obstetrics  and  Diseases 
of  Women  and  Children,  and  Clinical  Lecturer  on 
Diseases  of  Women  at  the  College ;  E.  Younkin, 
M.D.,  Professor  of  Principles  and  Practice  of  Sur- 
gery and  Clinical  Surgery,  and  Clinical  Lecturer  on 
surgical  cases  at  City  Hospital  and  at  the  College  ;  W. 
V.  Rutledge,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Materia  Medica  and 
Therapeutics;  T.  B.  Owens,  M.D.,  Professor  of 
Anatomy  and  Physiology ;  John  W.  Thraillkill, 
M.D.,  Professor  of  Ophthalmology  and  Otology,  and 
Clinical  Lecturer  on  Ophthalmic  and  Aural  Surgery  ; 
J.  H.  Wright,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Microscopy  and 
Histology ;  B.  H.  Dye,  B.L.,  Professor  of  Medical 
Jurisprudence. 

Professor  Thraillkill  came  to  the  city  in  1861,  and 
has  enjoyed  a  lucrative  practice  up  to  within  a  year, 
when  failing  health  compelled  his  retirement  from 
active  professional  life.  Professor  Rutledge  came  to 
the  city  in  1868,  and  has  been  in  active  practice  ever 
since.  Professor  Merrell  moved  to  St.  Louis  from 
Cincinnati  in  1871,  and  Professor  Yost  came  at  the 
time  the  college  started.  These  gentlemen  have  been 
identified  with  the  college  since  its  foundation,  and 
Professors  Pitzer  and  Younkin  joined  them  shortly 
after  the  first  course  of  lectures. 

The  American  Medical  College  has  enjoyed  uninter- 
rupted prosperity  since  its  foundation,  and  its  gradu- 
ates now  number  but  a  few  less  than  three  hundred 
and  fifty.  The  college  was  first  located  on  the  south- 
east corner  of  Olive  and  Seventh  Streets,  afterwards  at 
913  Pine  Street,  and  now  occupies  a  building  erected 
by  the  faculty  expressly  for  the  purpose  at  310  North 
Eleventh  Street  in  1878,  the  corner-stone  having  been 
laid  July  15,  1878. 

Among  the  practitioners  of  the  eclectic  school,  Dr. 
John  W.  Thraillkill  published  in  1869  a  small  volume 
entitled  "  Essay  on  the  Causes  of  Infant  Mortality ;" 
and  Dr.  George  C.  Pitzer  published  last  year  one  on 
"  Electricity  in  Medicine  and  Surgery." 

The  Dental  Profession.1 — The  early  history  of  the 
dental  profession  in  St.  Louis  is  involved  in  consider- 
able obscurity.  From  the  very  nature  of  the  calling, 
especially  when  St.  Louis  was  in  its  infancy,  it  at- 
tracted but  little  public  attention.  The  profession 
itself  was  only  in  embryo  ;  the  individual  members  of 
which  it  was  finally  composed  were  only  slowly  gravi- 
tating towards  each  other,  and  had  not  as  yet  felt  the 
effects  of  organization  and  associated  action.  But 
the  spirit  of  inquiry  had  taken  strong  hold  of  the  in- 


1  This  sketch  of  the  dental  profession  of  St.  Louis  was  pre- 
pared by  Dr.  Homer  Judd,  of  Upper  Alton,  111. 


dividual  members,  and  where  societies  and  associa- 
tions had  been  formed  for  mutual  consultation  and 
improvement  they  were  stimulated  to  new  exertions 
in  the  direction  of  dental  progress.  The  enthusiasm 
of  the  leading  members  of  the  new  profession  knew 
no  bounds.  No  specialty  of  the  healing  art  had 
more  earnest  or  more  able  seekers  after  truth  in  its 
ranks  than  this. 

The    earliest    regular   practitioner    of   whom    any 
record  remains  is  Dr.  Paul,  who  published  the  follow- 
!  ing  card  in  the  Missouri  Gazette  of  Dec.  21,  1809: 

"  A  well-bred  surgeon  dentist,  Dr.  Paul,  has  the 
honor  of  informing  his  friends  in  particular,  and  the 
public  in  general,  that  he  is  prepared  to  practice  in 
all  the  branches  belonging  to  his  profession,  viz.,  ex- 
tracting, cleaning,  plugging,  and  strengthening  the 
teeth,  also  making  artificial  ones." 

On  the  28th  of  December,  1830,  Dr.  D.  T.  Evans 
informed  "  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis  and  its  vicinity 
that  he  has  established  himself  in  this  place  for  the 
purpose  of  devoting  himself  to  the  practice  of  dental 
surgery." 

When  Dr.  Isaiah  Forbes  settled  in  St.  Louis  in 
1837  there  were  ten  dentists  in  the  city,  including 
Dr.  Forbes.  Most  of  these,  however,  seem  to  have 
been  transient  practitioners,  as  the  next  year  found 
them  all  gone  but  three,  Dr.  Forbes,  Dr.  Edward 
Hale,  Sr.,  and  Dr.  B.  B.  Brown.  Drs.  Hale  and 
Brown  both  remained  long  enough  to  build  up  lucra- 
tive practices.  These  three  dentists  were  the  only 
ones  who  achieved  any  considerable  degree  of  success 
in  the  next  seven  years,  and  in  them  the  dental  fra- 
ternity were  well  represented.  Affable  and  courteous 
in  their  deportment,  skillful  in  all  that  pertained  to 
dental  operations,  and  warmly  attached  to  the  calling 
which  they  had  chosen,  they  exerted  a  benign  influ- 
ence upon  the  future  of  the  profession,  which  has 
reached  down  to  this  day.  Dr.  Brown  left  for  Cali- 
fornia in  1849,  during  the  gold  mania,  and  died  in 
Sacramento  about  1875.  Dr.  Hale  became  known  as 
one  of  the  best  practitioners  in  the  Mississippi  valley, 
and  remained  in  practice  till  about  1864,  when  failing 
health  compelled  him  to  give  up  his  profession,  and  a  few 
years  afterwards  he  died  in  New  Jersey.  About  1840 
Dr.  A.  M.  Leslie  located  in  St.  Louis.  Although  a 
dentist,  he  had  also  been  trained  as  a  gold-beater,  and 
he  soon  turned  his  attention  to  making  gold  foil.  Not 
long  afterwards  he  established  a  dental  depot,  having 
purchased  a  small  stock  of  goods  in  the  dental  line 
which  had  been  sent  out  to  St.  Louis  from  Troy,  N.  Y. 
That  was  the  beginning  of  the  extensive  establishment 
long  known  in  the  entire  West  as  A.  M.  Leslie  & 
Co.'s  Dental  and  Surgical  Depot,  which  has  but  re- 


1568 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


cently  been  transferred  to  the  St.  Louis  Dental  Man- 
ufacturing Company.  Alexander  Heburn  established 
a  dental  depot  in  St.  Louis  in  1877  or  1878,  and  the 
St.  Louis  Dental  Manufacturing  Company  has  the 
consolidated  stocks  of  the  two  former  companies, 
making  one  of  the  largest  dental  establishments  in 
the  West.  Between  1840  and  1845  the  number  of 
dentists  in  the  city  was  increased  by  the  arrival  of 
Drs.  Aaron  Blake,  Isaac  Comstock,  J.  S.  Clark,  and 
Edgerly,  and  in  the  next  few  years  Dr.  Potts,  Dr. 
Samuel  B.  Fithian,  Dr.  H.  J.  McKellops,  Dr.  C. 
W.  Spalding,  and  a  little  later  Dr.  H.  E.  Peebles 
and  Dr.  Dunham.  Many  others  in  the  mean  time 
had  made  more  or  less  persistent  efforts  to  establish 
themselves,  but  failing  to  meet  with  sufficient  encour- 
agement sought  other  fields  of  labor.  Drs.  Potts, 
Blake,  Comstock,  Peebles,  Edgerly,  Dunham,  Barron, 
and  Clark  have  all  passed  away,  while  Drs.  McKellops, 
Spalding,  and  Forbes  are  still  practicing  their  profes- 
sion in  St.  Louis.  These  were  for  the  most  part  men 
of  sterling  worth,  and  it  was  to  a  great  extent  through 
their  efforts,  and  especially  through  their  liberal  and 
enlightened  views  as  regards  the  amenities  and  re- 
sponsibilities of  professional  life,  that  the  St.  Louis 
dentists  canae  to  be  held  in  so  high  repute  among 
their  confreres  in  the  profession  throughout  the  United 
States.  Among  them,  Dr.  John  S.  Clark  was  some- 
what prominent  in  the  advocacy  of  new  methods  of 
practice.  If  not  the  first  who  made  use  of  rolled 
cylinders  of  gold  foil  for  filling  teeth,  he  was  certainly 
entitled  to  the  credit  of  bringing  the  new  method  into 
general  use  and  carrying  it  up  to  a  high  degree  of 
perfection,  but  he  conferred  a  much  greater  boon  upon 
the  profession  by  his  investigations  in  relation  to  the 
treatment  of  teeth  with  dead  pulps.  He  claimed  that 
he  first  made  use  of  barbed  broaches  for  the  removal 
of  dead  and  decaying  pulps,  and  for  carrying  disin- 
fecting agents  into  the  pulp  canals,  thus  preparing 
them  for  being  filled  in  such  manner  as  to  avoid  sub- 
sequent inflammation  and  formation  of  alveolar  ab- 
scess. Dr.  Clark  spent  several  years  in  New  Orleans, 
where  he  published  a  dental  journal,  but  subsequently 
returned  to  St.  Louis,  where  he  died  in  1866.  Dr. 
Forbes  is  at  this  time  the  oldest  practitioner  in  the 
city,  having  been  identified  with  nearly  all  of  the 
beneficent  and  progressive  efforts  of  the  profession  for 
forty-six  years.  He  had  constructed,  upon  plans  fur- 
nished by  himself,  a  dental  chair  in  1838,  which  is 
still  in  existence,  and  which  shows  unmistaken  evi- 
dences of  constructive  ability,  and  adaptation  to  the 
purposes  for  which  it  was  intended.  It  is  now  in 
possession  of  Dr.  Fisher,  on  Washington  Avenue. 
Dr.  C.  W.  Spalding  reached  St.  Louis  April  4, 


1849.  He  was  an  earnest  advocate  of  the  use  of 
cylinders  in  filling  teeth,  and  had  for  a  long  time  a 
lucrative  practice ;  was  for  several  years  a  professor  in 
the  Ohio  College  of  Dental  Surgeons  at  Cincinnati, 
and  was  president  for  one  year  of  the  American 
Dental  Association  during  its  early  history. 

Dr.  McKellops  was  energetic  and  tireless  in  his 
efforts  to  attain  a  high  position  as  an  operator,  and  at 
an  early  period  of  his  professional  career  acquired  an 
enviable  reputation  among  his  St.  Louis  associates, 
which  gradually  extended  throughout  the  United 
States. 

He  has  been  for  many  years  an  active  member  of 
the  American  Association,  of  which  he  has  been 
elected  president.  Although  Dr.  McKellops  was 
closely  associated  with  the  group  which  has  just  been 
considered,  he  is  no  less  closely  identified  with  the 
next  group,  which  comprises  the  active  members  of 
which  the  profession  is  now  composed. 

The  period  from  1840  to  1865  was  one  during 
which  were  wrought  many  changes  of  the  most  vital 
character  in  the  dental  profession,  and  in  no  other 
place  were  these  changes  more  marked  than  in  St. 
Louis.  Before  the  commencement  of  this  period 
dentists  were  to  a  great  extent  unassociated,  and,  as 
an  almost  necessary  consequence,  selfish  and  reticent, 
each  one  claiming  that  he  was  in  possession  of  the 
knowledge  which  enabled  him  to  perform  many  im- 
portant operations  which  others  could  not  perform. 
Operating-rooms  and  laboratories  were  closed  with  the 
most  sedulous  care  against  all  intruders,  lest  some  less 
enlightened  practitioner  should  avail  himself  of  the 
opportunity  of  inspecting  instruments,  and  perhaps 
also  gain  some  knowledge  of  methods  of  manipu- 
lation, and  thus  become  more  formidable  as  a  com- 
petitor in  business. 

The  St.  Louis  dentists,  almost  to  a  man,  discarded 
these  narrow  and  unprofessional  views,  and  no  body 
of  practitioners  in  any  country  exerted  a  greater  in- 
fluence in  bringing  about  those  radical  changes  which 
resulted  in  a  complete  revolution  in  sentiment  and 
practice  throughout  the  whole  profession.  Organ- 
ization into  associations,  thereby  bringing  the  mem- 
bers into  closer  relationship  with  one  another,  aided 
these  beneficent  movements,  and  the  formation  in 
1850  of  the  St.  Louis  Dental  Society  was  an  impor- 
tant step  in  the  development  of  the  profession. 

This  society  was  organized  with   Dr.  Dunham  as 

presiding  officer,  and  has  ever  since  numbered  among 

!  its  members  the  leading  practitioners  of  the  city.     In 

1858  the  American  Dented  Review  was  established 

j  by  A.  M.  Leslie,  and  was  edited  by  C.  W.  Spalding, 

Isaiah   Forbes,  and  Henry  E.  Peebles.     The  Review 


THE   MEDICAL   PROFESSION. 


1569 


was  at  first  a  quarterly,  and  did  good  work  until  1863. 
It  was  conducted  with  ability,  and  exerted  a  powerful 
influence  for  good  upon  the  mass  of  the  profession. 
For  about  a  quarter  of  a  century  the  standing  of  the 
dental  fraternity  was  determined  by  those  who  have 
been  already  mentioned,  but  about  1865  the  influence 
of  a  younger  class  of  practitioners  began  to  be  felt, 
which  has  steadily  increased  as  the  years  have  passed 
by.  Of  these  some  have  attained  a  degree  of  ex- 
cellence and  skill  in  their  operations  which  cannot  be 
surpassed  by  any  other  operators  wherever  found,  and 
although  the  number  of  those  who  have  reached  the 
goal  which  is  nearest  to  perfection  is  small,  it  is  not 
relatively  smaller  than  in  the  most  favored  cities  of 
this  or  any  other  country.  At  the  commencement  of 
this  epoch  in  the  history  of  the  profession,  or  shortly 
afterwards,  societies  of  dentists  had  been  formed  in 
nearly  all  of  the  States  and  cities  in  the  Union,  the 
members  of  which  met  at  stated  periods,  when  every 
practitioner  freely  imparted  what  he  had  gained  by 
experience  and  observation  to  his  fellow-members,  in 
the  true  spirit  of  professional  fraternity.  The  St. 
Louis  dentists  took  an  active  part  not  only  in  the  city 
and  State  societies,  but  also  in  the  American  Associ- 
ation, the  Western  and  Mississippi  valley  societies, 
and  the  State  associations  of  the  neighboring  States. 
The  Missouri  State  Association  was  organized  in 
1865  in  St.  Louis,  principally  through  the  efforts  of 
St.  Louis  dentists,  and  it  is  still  wielding  a  great  in- 
fluence for  good  upon  the  profession  through  the 
State. 

The  Missouri  Dental  College,  of  St.  Louis,  was 
organized  in  July,  1866,  chartered  the  following 
month,  and  reincorporated  April  21,  1881.  The  pres- 
ent officers  are  H.  H.  Mudd,  president ;  A.  H.  Ful- 
ler, secretary;  Gr.  Baumgarten,  treasurer.  The  loca- 
tion of  the  college  .is  on  the  northeast  corner  of 
Seventh  and  Myrtle  Streets,  in  the  building  of  the 
St.  Louis  Medical  College,  and  the  infirmary  is  situ- 
ated on  the  adjoining  lots  on  Myrtle  Street.  The  plan 
of  organization  in  this  school  differed  somewhat  from 
that  of  other  dental  schools  in  that  it  was  more  closely 
connected  with  the  medical  system  of  education,  the 
students  being  required  to  take  the  regular  medical 
course  of  the  St.  Louis  Medical  College,  so  far  as  the 
chairs  of  anatomy,  physiology,  chemistry,  materia 
medica,  and  surgery  were  concerned,  while  the  peculiar 
training  which  was  necessary  to  fit  them  for  the  special 
practice  of  dentistry  was  furnished  by  a  corps  of  pro- 
fessors and  demonstrators  who  were  dental  practi- 
tioners. 

The  dental  school,  however,  was  a  separate  organiza- 
tion, and  managed  its  own  business  concerns,  the  occu- 


pants of  the  medical  chairs  named  above  being  also  mem- 
bers of  the  dental  faculty.  The  theory  upon  which 
the  school  was  founded  was  that  the  proper  basis  of  a 
dental  education  was  the  same  as  of  a  medical  educa- 
tion ;  that  a  knowledge  of  anatomy,  physiology,  chem- 
istry, materia  medica,  and  surgery  was  necessary  in 
both ;  that  the  best  possible  opportunity  for  obtaining 
a  knowledge  of  these  branches  was  found  in  a  medical 
school,  and  that  the  special  instruction  should  com- 
mence where  the  divergence  from  the  courses  in  general 
medicine  took  place  which  led  to  the  studies  that  were 
required  by  the  special  dental  practitioner.  The  impor- 
tance of  this  "  new  departure"  will  be  more  clearly  ap- 
preciated when  we  turn  for  a  moment  to  the  history 
of  the  dental  schools  which  have  been  subsequently 
established. 

A  few  years  after  the  Missouri  School  had  com- 
menced its  operations,  the  Harvard  Dental  School 
was  established  upon  a  similar  basis  in  connection 
with  the  Medical  Department  of  Harvard  University, 
another  essentially  upon  the  same  principle  at  Ann 
Arbor  in  connection  with  the  Medical  Department  of 
Michigan  University,  and  soon  another  connected 
with  the  Medical  Department  of  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  at  Philadelphia,  besides  schools  con- 
nected with  medical  colleges  and  essentially  upon  the 
same  plan  established  at  Indianapolis,  Iowa  City, 
Kansas  City,  Chicago,  and  San  Francisco.  Since 
then  a  majority  of  the  dental  colleges  in  this  country 
have  followed  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  the  example 
set  them  by  the  Missouri  Dental  College.  The  high 
prices  charged  for  admission  to  the  Missouri  School, 
together  with  the  rigid  examinations  to  which  stu- 
dents are  subjected  before  they  can  obtain  a  degree, 
are  not  favorable  to  the  production  of  large  classes, 
but  no  school  has  turned  out  a  larger  proportion  of 
good  operators  or  more  judicious  practitioners  than 
this.  The  first  faculty  of  the  Missouri  Dental  College 
was  made  up  of  the  incumbents  of  the  five  chairs  of 
the  St.  Louis  Medical  College  mentioned  before, 
while  the  three  special  chairs  were  filled  by  Drs. 
Henry  E.  Peebles  and  William  H.  Eames,  and  Dr. 
Homer  Judd,  who  was  also  dean  of  the  faculty. 

The  first  president  of  the  college  was  Dr.  Isaiah 
Forbes,  who  filled  that  position  for  fifteen  years.  His 
successor,  the  present  incumbent,  is  H.  H.  Mudd, 
M.D.  The  present  dean  is  H.  H.  Mudd,  M.D.  The 
first  secretary  was  Frank  White,  M.D.  ;  the  present 
secretary  and  treasurer  have  already  been  named. 

The  faculty  is  constituted  as  follows  :  Isaiah  Forbes, 
D.D.S.,  Emeritus  Professor  o.f  Institutes  of  Dental 
Science ;  A.  Litton,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Chemistry  and 
Pharmacy ;  J.  S.  B.  Alleyne,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Ther- 


1570 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


apeutics  and  Materia  Mcdiea ;  G.  Baumgarten,  M.D., 
Professor  of  Physiology ;  H.  H.  Mudd,  M.D.,  Pro- 
fessor of  Anatomy;  W.  H.  Eames,  D.D.S.,  Professor 
of  Institutes  of  Dental  Science;  A.  H.  Fuller,  M.D., 
D.D.S.,  Professor  of  Operative  Dentistry ;  W.  N.  Mor- 
rison, D.D.S.,  Professor  of  Mechanical  Dentistry;  J. 
G.  Harper,  D.D.S.,  Demonstrator  of  Operative  Den-  ; 
tistry;  C.  Mathiason,  D.D.S.,  Demonstrator  of  Me-  ; 
chanical  Dentistry  ;  J.  Friedman,  M.D.,  Demonstrator 
of  Chemistry ;  H.  H.  Mudd,  M.D.,  Demonstrator  of 
Anatomy. 

The  new  infirmary  erected  one  year  ago,  in  con- 
nection with  the  dispensary  of  the  medical  college,  i 
affords  every  facility  for  practical  laboratory  work; 
and  a  dental  clinic  has  been  organized,  which  has 
already  become  a  valuable  means  of  instruction,  be- 
sides affording  relief  to  a  large  number  of  charity 
patients. 

The  curriculum  is  so  arranged  that  the  dental  stu- 
dent can,  by  the  study  of  a  few  additional  subjects, 
put  himself  in  a  position  to  enter,  at  the  completion 
of  his  dental  course,  the  third  or  senior  class  of  the 
St.  Louis  Medical  College,  and  eventually  obtain  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  by  one  additional  year's 
work. 

In  1869  the  Missouri  Dental  Journal  made  its  first 
appearance.  It  differed  somewhat  from  other  dental 
journals  in  that  each  number  was  divided  into  three 
separate  departments,  each  one  of  which  was  under 
the  supervision  of  one  or  more  members  of  the  edi- 
torial corps.  It  was  hoped  that  by  this  method  each 
department  would  receive  adequate  attention,  and 
that  none  would  be  neglected,  as  had  too  often  been 
the  case  with  the  older  journals.  The  success  of  the 
Missouri  Dental  Journal  in  finding  favor  with  the 
profession  was  demonstrated  by  the  rapid  increase  in 
the  number  of  its  subscribers,  as  in  a  few  years  its 
patrons  were  found  in  nearly  every  State  in  the  Union, 
as  well  as  in  South  America,  Europe,  Asia,  and  else- 
where. The  Journal  was  edited  by  Dr.  Homer  Judd, 
assisted  in  the  operative  department  by  Drs.  Henry 
S.  Chase  and  Edgar  Park,  and  by  William  H.  Eames 
and  William  N.  Morrison  in  the  mechanical  depart- 
ment. 

Most  prominent  as  an  inventor  of  useful  imple- 
ments in  the  profession  of  St.  Louis  stands  the  name  of 
Dr.  James  Morrison,  the  senior  member  of  the  former 
firm  of  Morrison  Brothers.  After  practicing  a  few 
years  in  St.  Louis,  he  turned  his  attention  to  the  con- 
struction of  dental  chairs  and  other  dental  appliances. 
He  went  to  England,  where  he  remained  six  years, 
during  which  time  he  invented  and  patented  a  dental 
chair,  which  was  admirably  adapted  to  meet  the  wants 


of  the  dental  practitioner.  He  then  returned  to  St. 
Louis,  and  from  1869  to  1873  was  engaged  in  con- 
structing an  iron  chair,  for  which  it  is  claimed  that  it 
has  the  greatest  range  of  motions  of  any  chair  brought 
out  before  or  since,  and  which  is  now  in  very  general 
use.  His  next  effort  was  to  construct  a  dental  engine, 
by  means  of  which  a  rotary  motion  could  be  conveyed 
to  a  variety  of  instruments  from  a  fixed  lathe, 
making  use  of  a  flexible  shafting  and  jointed  arm, 
with  belts  and  pulleys,  in  order  to  enable  the  operator 
to  use  the  engine  in  his  operations  within  the  mouth. 
This  effort  was  a  complete  success,  and  a  dental  engine 
constructed  essentially  upon  the  Morrison  plan  is  now 
considered  an  almost  indispensable  appliance  in  every 
dental  office.  Seven  different  patents  were  obtained 
by  Dr.  Morrison  upon  his  various  improvements.  Dr. 
William  N.  Morrison  claims  to  have  constructed  the 
first  gold  crown  of  a  tooth  from  heavy  plate  gold,  and 
he  has  also  been  much  interested  in  testing  the  feasi- 
bility of  replanting  and  transplanting  teeth,  which  has 
attracted  considerable  attention  during  the  last  ten  or 
twelve  years  in  this  country. 

Dr.  Bowman  has  been  quite  prominent  among  the 
dentists  of  the  West  as  an  earnest  advocate  of  the 
use  of  gutta-percha  dissolved  in  chloroform  for  filling 
pulp  canals,  especially  when  the  canals  are  very  small. 

Dr.  Homer  Judd,  whose  name  figures  prominently 
in  the  history  of  the  dental  profession  of  St.  Louis, 
was  born  at  Otis,  Berkshire  Co.,  Mass.,  March  29, 
1820,  the  son  of  Asa  and  Ada  Judd.  The  Judd 
family  emigrated  to  Massachusetts  from  England  at 
an  early  period,  and  a  genealogical  record  of  the 
family  has  been  published  which  embraces  more  than 
eighteen  hundred  names,  and  extends  down  to  the 
year  1845.  Dr.  Judd's  father,  Asa  Judd,  was  a 
farmer  of  respectable  standing,  and  represented  his 
town  several  years  in  the  General  Assembly  of  Massa- 
chusetts. Homer  attended  the  common  schools  of  the 
neighborhood,  and  afterwards  enjoyed  the  higher 
advantages  of  Lee  and  Worthington  academies.  In 
1847  he  graduated  from  the  Berkshire  Medical  Col- 
lege at  Pittsfield,  Mass.  He  was  a  good  student  both 
at  the  academies  and  at  college,  and  in  addition  to 
the  Greek  and  Latin  learned  during  his  scholastic 
course,  has  since  acquired  a  knowledge  of  the  French, 
Spanish,  German,  and  Italian  languages,  and  some 
acquaintance  with  Hebrew  and  Sanscrit.  His  tastes, 
in  fact,  have  always  had  a  literary  cast,  and  he  has 
spent  much  time  in  study  and  research. 

Dr.  Judd  commenced  the  practice  of  medicine  and 
dentistry  at  Ravenna,  Ohio,  but  after  two  years'  resi- 
dence at  that  place  he  removed  to  Santa  Fe,  New 
Mexico,  and  was  the  first  professional  dentist  to  fill 


THE   MEDICAL   PROFESSION. 


1571 


a  tooth  in  that  Territory.  After  remaining  there  one 
summer  he  returned  to  Ohio,  and  subsequently  moved 
to  Warsaw,  111.,  where  he  practiced  medicine  and 
dentistry  for  twelve  years.  At  Warsaw  he  served  as 
a  member  of  the  school  board  for  several  years,  and 
one  year  as  superintendent  of  the  public  schools.  In 
1847  he  became  a  member  of  the  Independent  Order 
of  Odd-Fellows  at  Ravenna,  Ohio,  passed  through  the 
chairs  of  his  lodge  at  Warsaw,  and  was  chosen  as  its 
representative  to  the  Grand  Lodge  which  met  at  Chi- 
cago in  1859.  He  then  removed  to  St.  Louis,  where 
for  many  years  he  was  actively  engaged  in  the  prac- 
tice of  dentistry,  and  was  looked  up  to  as  one  of  the 
leaders  in  his  profession.  Dr.  Judd  has  been  called 
upon  by  his  brethren  to  fill  a  number  of  important 
positions,  among  them  those  of  president  of  the  Ameri- 
can Dental  Association,  Missouri  State  Dental  Asso- 
ciation, and  St.  Louis  Dental  Society,  dean  of  the 
Missouri  Dental  College  for  seven  years,  and  editor 
of  the  Missouri  Dental  Journal  for  five  years. 

During  the  civil  war  he  served  as  acting  assisting 
surgeon,  United  States  army,  on  the  hospital  steamers 
running  to  Vicksburg;  and  after  the  battle  of  Shiloh, 
Dr.  Judd  offered  his  services  and  was  employed  as 
one  of  the  four  surgeons  charged  with  the  care  of 
five  hundred  wounded  soldiers  on  board  a  hospital 
steamer.  His  labors  in  this  connection  were  so  ar- 
duous that  his  health  became  impaired,  and  he  was 
compelled  to  visit  Minnesota  for  rest  and  recreation. 
Subsequently  he  was  appointed  surgeon  of  the  Forr 
tieth  Regiment  Missouri  Volunteers,  and  served  with 
them  at  the  battles  of  Franklin,  Nashville,  and  Spanish 
Fort.  For  some  months  after  the  close  of  the  war  he 
remained  in  the  service,  being  stationed  at  Huntsville, 
Ala.  In  August,  1865,  he  was  honorably  mustered 
out  of  service,  and  returned  to  St.  Louis,  where  he 
resumed  the  practice  of  dentistry. 

Dr.  Judd  now  resides  at  Upper  Alton,  111.,  and  is 
justly  regarded  as  being  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
men  in  his  profession.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
American  Medical  Association,  St.  Louis  Medical 
Society,  St.  Louis  Academy  of  Science,  American 
Dental  Association,  St.  Louis  Dental  Society,  and 
various  other  associations,  being  also  an  honorary 
member  of  the  California,  Illinois,  Iowa,  Sixth  Dis- 
trict of  New  York,  and  other  dental  societies.  In 
March,  1853,  he  was  married,  in  Pittsfield,  111.,  to 
Miss  Emily  F.  Hodgen,  of  that  place.  They  have 
had  three  children, — one  son,  who  died  at  the  age  of 
six  years,  and  two  daughters.1 


1  The  above  sketch  of  Dr.  Judd  was  prepared  by  a  friend  of 
that  gentleman,  at  the  request  of  the  author  of  this  work. 


Public  Health  in  St.  Louis — the  Epidemics  of 
the  City. — St.  Louis  has  become  a  very  healthy  city 
from  a  very  unhealthy  one,  and  this  change,  which 
has  taken  place  since  the  adoption  of  a  system  of  gen- 
eral drainage,  is  probably  due  to  the  fact  that  the 
porous  underlying  rock  on  which  the  city  stands  is 
dry  and  permits  foul  matters  and  poisonous  moistures 
to  filter  through  it  speedily.  There  seems  to  be  a 
general  consent  of  opinion  as  to  the  wholesomeness  of 
the  Mississippi  River  water  for  drinking  purposes,  and 
the  climate  of  the  city,  although  changeable  and  sub- 
ject to  sudden  and  extreme  periods  of  heat  and  cold, 
does  not  appear  to  be  provocative  of  pulmonary  affec- 
tions. Malarial  and  intestinal  disorders  have  very 
generally  baen  ameliorated  with  improved  sewerage 
and  good  water,  and  these  facts  represent  probably 
about  the  sum  of  the  advantages  which  St.  Louis  has 
over  competing  cities  from  a  sanitary  stand-point.  Of 
course  more  is  claimed,  as,  for  example,  this,  from  a 
newspaper  in  April,  1880, — 

"  Dr.  J.  Berrien  Lindsley,  of  Nashville,  Tenn.,  member  of  the 
sanitary  council  of  the  Mississippi  valley,  asks  the  very  perti- 
nent question,  '  How  is  it  that  St.  Louis  is,  by  its  mortality  re- 
ports, shown  to  be  the  most  healthful  large  city  in  the  world?' 

"The  question  of  Dr.  Lindsley,  so  often  asked,  is  certainly 
capable  of  an  answer  which  will  perfectly  elucidate  the  causes, 
and  it  is  worth  being  answered.  In  the  first  place,  the  geo- 
graphical position  of  the  city  favors  its  sanitation.  Near  the 
centre  of  a  valley  extending  from  the  Northwest  mountains  to 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  traversed  by  an  immense  and  rapidly- 
moving  current  of  water,  which  occasions  a  constant  series  of 
atmospheric  currents  of  frequent  alternation  and  in  velocity  of 
from  five  to  seventeen  miles  per  hour, -weekly  mean,  the  pure, 
almost  frosty  air  of  the  mountains  sweeps  to  the  gulf,  alter- 
nating with  the  breezes  from  that  warm  sea  backwards  to  the 
north,  thus  preventing,  as  a  usual  thing,  any  prolonged  season 
of  very  high  or  extremely  low  temperature.  It  is  exceptional 
that  we  suffer  from  prolonged  hot  or  cold  seasons,  although  we 
may  at  times  have  to  contend  for  a  short  space  with  both  ex- 
tremes. While  this  constant  aerial  movement  tempers  the  at- 
mosphere, it  serves  also  to  remove  constantly  the  exhalations  of 
a  large  city,  replacing  the  foul  with  fresh  air,  which,  by  our 
system  of  streets  and  alleys,  permeates  every  nook  of  our 
domiciles. 

"  Our  streetage  is  in  excess  of  any  other  city.  The  squares 
or  blocks  are  small,  few  larger  than  three  hundred  feet  square, 
each  square  or  block  intersected  by  broad  paved  alleys,  which 
secure  free  ventilation  to  the  rear  of  all  dwellings. 

"Secondly,  the  topographical  features  of  the  city  are,  in  the 
main,  most  favorable  both  to  underground  artificial  and  surface 
natural  drainage.  From  the  river-front  westward  the  ground 
rises  in  gradually  increasing  series  of  undulations,  the  surface 
of  porous  clay  resting,  at  varying  depths,  upon  a  limestone  sub- 
stratum. The  elevations  permit  of  an  admirable  system  of  sew- 
age, which  extends  to  a  length  of  about  two  hundred  miles  (the 
last  official  report  is  195.26  miles),  being  daily  extended.  The 
law  requires,  and  the  requirement  is  complied  with,  that  every 
house  shall  be  connected  with  the  sewer  wherever  it  can  be 
reached,  so  that  with  few  exceptions,  and  these  in  the  outskirts 
of  the  city,  all  foul  matter  is  washed  directly  to  the  river  by 


1572 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


twenty-five  million  gallons  of  water,  which  is  daily  furnished 
by  the  water-works,  in  addition  to  the  varying  rainfall. 

"  The  natural  drainage  is  favored  by  our  lack  of  what  is 
called  good  paving,  the  loose  macadam  allowing  rapid  penetra- 
tion to  the  porous  clay,  through  which  the  water  finds  ready  un- 
derground access  to  the  neighboring  streams.  Besides  favoring 
water  drainage,  the  configuration  of  the  city  site,  as  shown  by 
a  physician  of  the  city,  favors  another  very  important  drainage 
in  the  form  of  surface  air-currents,  diurnal,  and  especially  noc- 
turnal, when  the  heavier  air,  falling  to  the  ground,  occasions 
movements  which  simulate  those  of  fluids,  creating,  even  with- 
out wind,  constant  change,  as  the  heavier  atmosphere,  sink- 
ing toward  the  lower  outlets,  is  replaced  by  the  lighter, 
newer  air.  St.  Louis  has  no  need  for  crowding  its  popu- 
lation, and  does  not.  There  are  no  underground  tenements, 
those  lurking-places  and  breeding-nests  of  diseased  minds, 
morals,  and  bodies,  and  indeed  but  very  few  above-ground 
tenements  such  as  most  large  cities  are  cursed  with.  Thou- 
sands of  the  laboring  class  own  their  homes,  and,  with  few 
exceptional  localities,  dense  crowding  is  unknown,  and  even 
then  it  does  not  compare  with  what  is  considered  crowding  in 
other  cities. 

"  Another  most  important  factor  in  causing  good  health  is 
an  abundance  of  water  unequaled  for  healthfulness.  It  is  a 
common  joke  for  the  citizens  of  the  North  and  East  to  ridicule 
the  hue  that  our  drinking-water  at  times  possesses,  but  it  is  a 
fact  well  known  to  seamen  that  no  water  throughout  the  world 
is  as  self-preservative  as  that  which  stains  the  blue  waters  of 
the  gulf  for  miles  beyond  the  jetties.  A  cask  of  Mississippi 
water  may  travel  a  year,  and  at  the  last  be  sweet,  pure,  and 
wholesome.  It  is  consumed  at  the  rate  of  more  than  fifty  gal- 
lons per  diem  to  each  person,  estimating  the  population  at  half 
a  million." 

To  these  things  must  be  added  good  food,  abundant, 
cheap,  and  various ;  a  frugal  working  class,  having 
good  wages,  steady  and  constant  employment,  tem- 
perate habits,  and  the  domestic  ways  of  the  Germans, 
and  thus  securing  a  good  degree  of  exemption  from 
the  nervous  afflictions  of  the  average  American 
people. 

The  claim  that  a  vastly  improved  condition  of  the 
public  health  of  St.  Louis  has  resulted  from  a  more 
effective  sanitary  and  drainage  system  is  certainly 
substantiated  by  the  results  of  the  following  tables, 
when  we  eliminate  from  them  the  vitiated  figures 
which  prove  nothing  whatever.  It  is  to  be  observed 
that  each  of  the  census  years  happens  to  be  bad  for 
comparison,  showing  a  heavier  mortality  bill  than  the 
years  preceding  and  succeeding  it : 

Year.  Population.        Mortality. 


IMi  

1848  

*i,yii 

2425  « 

1849  

63,471 

8423 

1850  

74,438 

4361 

1853  

84,116 

3766 

1855  

95,542 

5122 

1856  

121,813 

3602 

1857  

126,266 

3103 

1858  

135,355 

4104 

1859  

143,800 

4621 

1860  

153,800 

5945 

1861  

5035 

Population. 


Year. 

1862 

1863 157,182 

1864 164,456 

1865 178,690 

1866 204,327 

1867 216,477 

1868 250,000 

1869 284,967 

1870 310,000 

1871 350,000 

1872 375,000 

1873 400,000 

1874 435,000 

1875 460,000 

1876 480,000 

1877 500,000 


Mortality. 
5866 
5744 
6720 
5501 
9465 
6538 
5193 
5884 
6670 
5265 
8047 
8551 
6506 
7532 
6019 
5560 


1  Eight  months. 


2  Eleven  months. 


Here  is  the  evidence  of  a  very  substantial,  not  to 
say  remarkable  improvement,  and  it  accords  with  the 
development  of  the  sanitary  improvements.  The  re- 
turns of  mortality  statistics  only  begin  in  1847,  in 
which  year  we  have  the  data  for  eight  months,  on  the 
basis  of  which  the  deaths  for  twelve  months  that 
year  were  3600  in  a  population  of  48,000,  in  round 
numbers,  equal  to  a  rate  of  75  in  the  1000.  In 
1848  the  rate  was  about  41.6  in  a  thousand  ;  in  1849 
(the  cholera  year)  it  was  132.7  per  thousand,  or  13J 
in  a  hundred.  In  1850  (reflex  cholera  year)  the  rate 
was  58.5 ;  1860,  it  was  38.5  ;  1870,  for  population 
returned,  21.5,  for  actual  population,  26.67;  1880, 
the  total  was  7035  in  a  total  of  350,000,  equal  to 
20.1  per  thousand.  The  steady  and  persistent  ratio 
of  amelioration  is  very  apparent  in  these  figures,  in 
which,  besides,  we  have  presented  the  maximum  of 
adverse  circumstances  and  the  minimum  of  popula- 
Jion. 

The  proper  mortality  statistics  of  St.  Louis,  as  has 
been  observed,  do  not  begin  until  1847,  and  we  have 
only  fragmentary  data  relating  to  antecedent  periods, 
such  as  may  be  gleaned  from  the  meagre  chronicles 
and  from  the  newspapers.  The  only  great  epidemic 
that  has  visited  St.  Louis  was  the  cholera  in  1849, 
when  the  disease  more  than  decimated  the  people. 
The  cholera  was  severe  also  in  1866,  and  its  effects 
were  felt  at  two  or  three  other  dates.  Of  other  epi- 
demics we  have  no  certain  data,  but  on  several  occa- 
sions a  bilious  form  of  malarial  fever  appears  to  have 
prevailed  with  great  severity,  and  to  have  been  very 
fatal.  This  was  the  case  probably  in  1821,  and  the 
Spanish  garrison  seems  to  have  suffered  considerably 
at  times. 

The  smallpox  has  visited  St.  Louis  at  regular  in- 
tervals, and  once  or  twice  has  been  epidemic.  This 
seems  to  have  been  the  case  in  1801,  which  year  is 
known  in  the  annals  of  the  village  as  ''  Vannee  des 
2>icnt<'s,  or  de  la  picote"  (year  of  the  pitted,  or 
smallpox  year).  There  are  no  details  of  this  visita- 
tion, but  it  was  repeated  several  times,  the  Mississippi 
River  providing  a  thoroughfare  for  its  travel,  such  as 


THE   MEDICAL   PROFESSION. 


1573 


this  loathsome  disease  likes  to  take  possession  of. 
Inoculation  began  to  be  susperseded  by  vaccination 
about  the  time  that  St.  Louis  became  an  American 
town.  In  1803  the  doctors  of  Philadelphia  had  is- 
sued a  circular  to  the  whole  profession,  inculcating  the 
virtue  and  duty  of  vaccination.  That  circular  is  as 
follows : 

•'PHILADELPHIA,  April  12,  1803. 

'•  We,  the  subscribers,  physicians  of  Philadelphia,  having 
carefully  considered  the  nature  and  effects  of  the  newly-dis- 
covered means  of  preventing,  by  vaccination,  the  fatal  conse- 
quence of  the  smallpox,  think  it  is  a  duty  thus  publicly  to 
declare  our  opinion  that  inoculation  for  the  kine  or  cowpox  is 
a  certain  preventive  of  the  smallpox,  that  it  is  attended  with 
no  danger,  may  be  practiced  at  all  ages  and  seasons  of  the 
year,  and  we  do,  therefore,  recommend  it  for  general  use. 
John  Redman,  A.  Kuhn,  Benjamin  Rush,  Benjamin  Say,  C. 
Wistar,  Jr.,  John  R.  Coxe,  S.  F.  Conover,  E.  Perkins,  M.  Leib, 
F.  Pascalis,  James  Dunlap,  T.  T.  Hewson,  Charles  Caldwell, 
W.  P.  Dewees,  Isaac  Sermon,  J.  P.  Minnick,  Adam  Seybert, 
W.  J.  Jacobs,  Isaac  Cathrall,  John  Kmeele,  J.  C.  Rousseau, 
Rene  La  Roche,  Elijah  Griffiths,  G.  F.  Alberti,  Joseph  Strong, 
W.  Shippen,  Samuel  Duffield,  Thomas  Parke,  P.  S.  Physick, 
S.  P.  Griffiths,  J.  Woodhouse,  P.  E.  Glentworth,  William  Currie, 
John  Porter,  James  Stuart,  James  Proudfit,  James  Gallaher, 
Thomas  C.  James,  B.  S.  Barton,  George  Pfeiffer,  William  Barn- 
well,  James  Mease,  John  C.  Otto,  J.  Reynolds,  J.  Church,  A. 
Blayney,  William  Budd,  Joseph  Pfeiffer,  Edward  Cutbush." 

"  Philadelphia  Dispensary. — The  attending  and  consulting 
physicians  have  informed  the  managers  '  that  they  had  for 
these  eighteen  months  past  inoculated  for  the  cowpox,  and 
found  it  mild,  unattended  with  danger,  and  a  full  security 
against  the  smallpox,  and  expressing  their  wishes  that  the 
superior  advantages  of  the  cowpox  may  be  fully  experienced 
by  the  objects  of  this  charity.'  Therefore,  Resolved,  That  we 
do  entirely  accord  with  the  sentiments  of  the  physicians,  and 
earnestly  recommend  to  the  poor  of  the  city  to  embrace  the 
means  now  offered  of  preserving  themselves  and  families  from 
a  dangerous  and  loathsome  disease  by  the  newly-discovered  and 
happy  mode  of  inoculation  for  the  cowpox,  which  will  be  daily 
performed  by  the  physicians  at  the  dispensary. 

"  Published  by  order  of  the  board  of  managers, 

"W»r.  WHITE,  Prest. 

"  Aug.  25,  1803." 

Not  long  after  the  establishment  of  the  Missouri 
Gazette,  as  heretofore  stated,  Dr.  Saugrain,  the  lead- 
ing physician  of  St.  Louis,  a  man  of  great  scientific 
attainments  and  liberal  culture,  published  a  card, 
offering  his  services  in  vaccination,  and  alluding  to 
the  above-quoted  circular  as  if  it  were  indeed  (as  it 
was)  a  convincing  and  final  argument. 

On  the  30th  of  October,  1822,  the  Missouri  Ga- 
zette published  the  following  mortuary  statistics  of  St. 
Louis,  the  first  we  have  been  able  to  come  across : 

"  The  number  of  interments  in  this  town  from  the  17th  of 
March  last  to  the  29th  inst.,  in  the  several  burying-grounds, 
amounts  to  one  hundred  and  three,  as  appears  by  the  following 
statement : 

"  Number  of  interments  in  the  Catholic  burying-ground  from 
the  17th  of  March  to  the  29th  of  October: 
100 


Male  adults 16 

Female  adults 9 

Children 28 

''  In  the  burying-grounds  out  of  town  : 

Male  adults 33 

Female  adults 11 

Children 2 

"  From  the  hospital : 

Age  and  sex  not  specified..    


46 
4 


Total 103 

"It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  most  of  the  adults  buried 
in  the  Catholic  churchyard  were  of  an  advanced  age.  Of 
twenty-five,  the  whole  number,  two,  a  man  and  his  wife,  were 
considerably  over  ninety,  three  over  seventy,  and  several  over 
sixty.  It  is  observable  also  that  a  majority  of  burials  in  that 
ground  were  children. 

"  In  the  other  burying-grounds  it  seems  that  almost  the 
whole  number  of  burials  during  the  time  above  specified  were 
of  grown  persons,  and  two-thirds  of  them  males." 

These  are  pretty  good  data,  and  they  do  not  show 
by  any  means  a  good  bill  of  health.  The  population 
of  the  town  in  1822  did  not  exceed  4500.  It  was 
estimated  at  4000  in  1820,  and  103  deaths  for  seven 
months  and  a  half  means  165  deaths  per  annum, 
equal  to  36.66  per  1000  of  population. 

On  Aug.  20,  1823,  was  passed  the  first  ordinance 
of  the  new  city  looking  to  an  effectual  mode  of  gath- 
ering the  actual  statistics  of  mortality.  The  title  of 
this  is  sufficiently  definite, — 

"An  ordinance  to  compel  a  report  of  the  deaths  in  the  city 
of  St.  Louis."  In  this  ordinance  it  was  provided  that  every 
practicing  physician  or  association  of  physicians  within  the 
city  shall,  on  the  Monday  of  each  week  during  the  months  of 
June,  July,  August,  September,  and  October,  and  the  first  day 
of  every  other  month  in  each  year,  make  a  report  in  writing  to 
the  mayor  of  the  city  of  each  death  happening  under  his  or 
their  immediate  notice,  stating  in  such  report  as  accurate  as 
may  be  the  disease  or  cause  of  death,  age,  sex,  name,  and 
length  of  residence  of  deceased  within  the  city. 

This  was  intended  to  give  fuller  effect  to  a  previous 
health  ordinance  looking  to  the  annual  appointment 
of  a  health  commissioner  for  each  ward,  "  whose  duty 
it  shall  be,  under  the  direction  and  superintendence 
of  the  mayor,  to  watch  over  the  health  of  the  city, 
and  to  carry  into  effect"  the  various  ordinances  relat- 
ing to  their  functions. 

In  1832  the  cholera  made  its  first  appearance  in 
this  country,  and  after  devastating  the  Eastern  sea- 
board, traveled  westward  to  the  Mississippi.  Its 
dreaded  approach  was  not  unheeded  by  the  citizens 
of  St.  Louis,  who,  on  September  10th  of  that  year, 
convened  in  town-meeting,  with  the  following  result : 

"Town-meeting,  Monday  evening,  Sept.  10,  1832.  Pur- 
suant to  public  notice  previously  given,  a  large  and  respectable 
meeting  of  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis  assembled  at  the  town  hall 
for  the  purpose  of  taking  into  consideration  measures  for  clean- 
ing the  city,  to  avert  as  far  as  possible  the  dreadful  disease 
called  cholera. 


1574 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


"Gen.  Bernard  Pratte  was  called  to  the  cbair,  and  Dr.  H.  L. 
Hoffman  appointed  secretary.  On  motion  of  Dr.  II.  Lane,  an 
address  from  the  special  medical  Board  of  Health  of  New  York 
was  read  for  the  information  of  the  meeting. 

"  Mr.  Cohen,  Col.  Strothcr,  Mr.  Rule,  N.  Newman,  Esq.,  Mr. 
Grimsley,  and  Dr.  II.  Lane  severally  addressed  the  meeting, 
when,  on  motion  of  J.  Newman,  Esq.,  the  following  resolutions 
were  unanimously  adopted: 

"  llesolved,  That  the  chair  appoint  ft  committee  of  ten  to  re- 
port to  the  Board  of  Aldermen  such  measures  as  they  may  deem 
necessary  for  cleaning  and  purifying  our  city,  and  such  other 
measures  as  they  may  think  requisite  to  avert  the  dreadful  dis- 
ease now  raging  in  our  Eastern  cities,  and  that  Gen.  Prutte  be 
chairman  of  said  committee.  Thereupon  the  chairman  ap- 
pointed the  following  gentlemen:  Dr.  William  Carr  Lane,  Dr. 
C.  Campbell,  T.  Grimsley,  Edward  Tracy,  Thomas  Cohen,  John 
Newman,  Esq.,  Col.  Strother,  N.  Ranney,  and  William  K. 
Rule." 

In  a  short  time  the  disease  invaded  the  town,  and 
the  Missouri  Republican  said,  about  a  month  after 
the  town-meeting,  that, — 

"  we  had  hoped  to  be  able  to  furnish  a  complete  report  of  the 
number  of  cases  and  deaths  since  our  last  publication,  but  we 
find  it  impracticable.  The  physicians,  whose  duty  it  is  to  re- 
port daily,  cannot  obtain  time  from  their  professional  duties  to 
attend  to  this  requisition.  All  of  them  are  unremittingly  en- 
gaged in  the  discharge  of  their  cheerless  labor.  The  whole 
number  of  cases  reported  since  the  9th  instant  up  to  last  even- 
ing is  93,  of  which  33  have  terminated  fatally." 

On  the  6th  of  November  we  find  the  following 
happy  report : 

"  The  cholera  is  rapidly  disappearing  from  among  us,  very 
few  cases  having  occurred  in  the  past  week,  and  those  few  in  a 
comparatively  mild  and  mitigated  form.  Many  of  our  citizens 
fled  from  the  disease,  and  are  scattered  throughout  the  sur- 
rounding country.  We  hope  they  will  find  themselves  in  as 
much  safety  at  home.  Some  of  our  city  officers  have  thought 
it  best  to  retire  to  the  country  nnd  take  care  of  number  one. 
As  they  no  doubt  take  a  lively  interest  in  the  welfare  of  their 
constituents,  and  will  be  glad  to  hear  how  we  get  along  without 
them,  it  is  proper  to  state  that  the  people  of  the  city  have  borne 
the  deprivation  of  their  services  with  fortitude.  The  remain- 
ing public  authorities,  aided  by  the  zealous  charity  of  the  rev- 
erend clergy  and  of  private  individuals,  have  done  much  for  the 
interest  of  the  city  and  for  the  cause  of  humanity.  The  sick 
have  been  '  visited,'  the  dying  comforted,  and  the  dead  decently 
buried. 

"  The  clergy  have  been  active  and  zealous  in  relieving  the 
sufferers,  and  especially  the  Catholic  priests  have  been  untiring 
in  the  work  of  kindness.  Day  and  night  they  followed  close 
upon  the  track  of  the  destroyer,  ready  to  administer  to  the 
sufferers  the  comforts  of  both  worlds.  But,  above  all,  that  pious 
and  self-devoted  band,  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  deserve  and  will 
receive  the  thanks  of  the  community.  In  addition  to  the 
regular  hospital  in  their  care,  they  have  volunteered  to  take 
care  of  the  cholera  patients,  and  while  many  others,  much  more 
responsible  to  society,  thought  only  of  their  own  safety,  these  ex- 
cellent persons  courted  the  danger  and  labor  and  privation,  and 
all  for  '  the  luxury  of  doing  good.'  Truly  their  reward  is  not 
here. 

"  We  should  be  doing  injustice  to  our  own  feelings,  we  should 
do  injustice  to  the  feelings  of  our  whole  community  if  we  were 
to  pass  unnoticed  the  excellent  conduct  of  the  medical  faculty 


throughout  th;s  trying  emergency.  They  were  incessantly  en- 
gaged in  the  duties  of  their  profession,  and  most  of  them  were 
allowed  but  little  rest  during  the  two  weeks  in  which  the  disease 
prevailed  with  the  greatest  violence.  They  as  cheerfully 
visited  the  abodes  of  infamy  and  misery  as  the  residence  of  the 
more  wealthy  citizen,  and  to  all  who  asked  their  time  and  tal- 
ents were  assiduously  devoted,  without  the  prospect  of  fee  or 
reward.  Their  services  will  long  be  remembered  by  our  citi- 
zens." 

And  at  the  end  of  the  next  week  the  last  vestige 
of  the  disease  had  disappeared. 

But  St.  Louis  did  not  escape  so  lightly  when  vis- 
ited by  the  cholera  in  1849.  The  epidemic  of  that 
year  was  terribly  fatal,  and  we  do  not  think  that  even 
the  records  of  mortality  from  yellow  fever  in  New 
Orleans  can  show  a  parallel  degree  of  severity  in  an 
attack  of  pestilence.  This  year  was  one  which  "  old 
inhabitants"  will  not  soon  forget,  for  it  was  fraught 
with  peculiar  disasters.  In  London  the  great  fire 
followed  the  plague  and  did  service  as  a  purifier,  thus 
making  amends  iu  some  degree  for  the  havoc,  ruin, 
and  calamity  it  wrought.  But  in  St.  Louis,  in  1849, 
the  plague  followed  the  fire.  At  least,  although  the 
cholera  had  begun  to  rage  before  that  disaster,  it  did 
not  rise  to  its  greatest  height  until  several  weeks  after. 
The  day  of  the  fire  was  the  17th  of  May  ;  the  cholera 
had  made  its  first  appearance  in  the  last  days  of  De- 
cember, 1848.  The  first  week  of  January,  1849,  there 
were  8  deaths  from  cholera  reported,  one-eleventh  of 
the  total  mortality.  In  the  week  ending  July  2d  there 
were  903  deaths,  619  from  cholera,  showing  a  very 
sickly  season  independent  of  the  epidemic.  For  the 
week  ending  July  16th  the  deaths  were  867;  from 
cholera,  639.  On  the  10th  of  July  the  deaths  from 
cholera  alone  were  145,  a  very  high  death-rate  indeed, 
if  it  was  ever  equaled  in  any  city  of  the  same  popu- 
lation outside  the  tropics.  The  large  increase  of 
deaths  from  other  causes  besides  cholera  proceeded 
from  malaria,  nervous  and  physical  exhaustion  in 
consequence  of  anxiety,  loss  of  rest,  and  nursing,  and 
from  what  the  doctors  called  bilious  diarrhosa,  doubt- 
less the  well-known  choleraic  disorder  of  the  bowels, 
modified  by  climatic  and  malarious  complications, 
which  always  seem  to  attend  upon  an  epidemic  of 
cholera.  During  the  week  of  the  maximum  intensity 
of  the  disease — that  ending  July  16th — the  deaths 
from  cholera  alone  were  at  the  rate  of  36,400  per  an- 
num, 57.3  per  cent,  of  the  entire  population.  The 
deaths  from  all  diseases  were  at  the  rate  of  47,944 
per  annum,  75.5  per  cent,  of  the  entire  population. 

The  contemporary  journals  give  what  is  probably 
the  best,  certainly  the  most  graphic,  history  of  the 
ravages  and  desolations  of  this  epidemic.  But,  pre- 
liminary to  quoting  these,  it  will  be  best  to  give  an 


THE   MEDICAL   PKOFESSION. 


1575 


abstract  of  the  corrected  mortality  statistics  as  they 
are  given,  in  a  revised  form,  in  the  Western  Journal 
for  1851,  pp.  264-65: 

Deaths  in  1849.  Penths  in  1850. 

Week  ending  Total.     Cholera.  Total.     Cholera. 

Jan.     8 77  8  72  7 

"       15 68  3  44 

"      22 77  17  57  2 

"      29 49  5  53  1 

Feb.      5 37  4  45  3 

"       12 65  11  37  1 

"       19 70  4  35 

"      26 69  ...  45  1 

March  6 59  3  39  1 

"     13 64  7  36 

"     20 92  26  44 

"     27 79  25  49 

April    2 65  17  51  2 

"       9 74  16  55  2 

"     16 80  24  56  2 

"     23 106  27  53  2 

"     M 131  41  44 

Mny      7 135  78  72  22 

"      14 273  185  111  33 

"      21 192  127  65  9 

"      28 185  115  57  7 

June    4 144  75  73  24 

"     11 283  191  77  13 

«     18 510  404  100  40 

«     25 763  589  144  44 

July     2 903  619  196  67 

"        9 773  591  244  83 

"      16 867  639  212  77 

"      23 442  269  391  210 

"      30 225  93  217  69 

Aug.     6 152  35  169  25 

"      l:» 117  12  227  20 

"     .20 94  4  167  15 

"      27 73  3  129  7 

Sept.     3 71  4  74  2 

"      10 66  3  84  4 

"      17 88  1  7t  8 

"      24 80  5  66  2 

Oct.       1 77  ...  62  2 

"        8 69  ...  59 

"      15 63  2  64  3 

"      22 44  ...  39  8 

"      29 57  ...  51  7 

Nov.     5 63  1  49  6 

"      12 44  ...  72  17 

"      19 53  ...  75  11 

"      20 39  1  146  5 

Dec.     3 47  2  38  3 

"      10 42  1  41  2 

"      17 46  2  46  1 

"      24 31  ...  46  1 

"      31 36  ...  47 

Total 8445         4285  4595         872 

The  first  mention  of  the  appearance  of  the  disease 
is  in  a  journal  of  the  date  of  January  19th,  in  which 
we  are  told  that, — 

"  Since  our  last  we  have  ascertained  that  five  deaths  from  this 
disease  have  occurred  in  this  city  during  yesterday  and  the 
evening  previous,  and  one  new  case  on  Collins  Street,  reported 
to  the  health  officer.  Two  of  the  deaths  were  in  a  family  on 
Sixth  Street,  between  Locust  and  St.  Charles,  one  at  the  corner 
of  Eighth  and  Wash,  one  on  Wash,  between  Eighth  and  Ninth, 
and  one  at  the  Sisters'  Hospital.  From  two  of  the  families 
where  death  occurred  several  members  were  sent  to  the  hospital, 
prostrated  with  the  disease:  these,  wo  are  informed,  are  cases 
of  local  cholera.  In  view  of  the  appearance  of  this  disease  in 
our  city  four  additional  street  inspectors  were  yesterday  sworn 
in  by  the  recorder." 

But  there  was  no  panic  ;  the  disease  was  allowed  to 
run  along.  There  is  no  further  mention  of  it  until 


May  5th,  when  it  is  simply  said  that  the  sexton  of  a 
single  cemetery  reported  to  the  register  ten  interments 
of  persons  dead  of  cholera  in  twenty-four  hours.  On 
May  llth  the  fact  that  the  disease  was  making  progress 
was  recognized : 

"  The  physicians  report  to  the  register  the  existence  of 
twenty-six  new  cases  of  cholera  from  seven  o'clock  P.M.  of 
Wednesday  to  six  P.M.  of  Thursday.  During  the  same  time 
nine  deaths  from  cholera  were  reported  to  the  register,  but  we 
are  inclined  to  believe  the  entire  return  at  the  end  of  the  week 
from  the  several  places  of  interment  will  show  a  greater  mor- 
tality than  is  here  set  down." 

May  13th,— 

"  Forty-seven  cases  were  reported  to  the  city  register  yester- 
day, of  which  twelve  proved  fatal.  Nine  of  the  above  cases 
were  taken  from  the  boats,  of  which  three  have  died." 

May  14th, — 

"  At  six  o'clock  last  evening  twenty-four  cholera  cases  had 
been  reported  at  the  register's  office,  six  of  which  terminated 
fatally.  This  is  a  falling  off  from  the  average  mortality  of  last 
week  of  four  per  day. 

"The  city  having  purchased  of  John  A.  Stephenson  the 
steamer  '  Hannibal'  for  the  purpose  of  using  her  as  a  quaran- 
tine or  a  hospital  boat,  she  was  towed  down  to  the  quarantine 
station  on  Wednesday  evening  by  the  steamer  '  Whirlwind.' 
One  great  difficulty  which  has  heretofore  been  much  complained 
of  has  been  the  trouble  of  landing  steamboats  at  the  island, 
and  on  this  account  boats  have  sometimes  violated  the  quaran- 
tine regulations.  This  move  on  the  part  of  the  city  will  obvi- 
ate this  difficulty  entirely,  as  it  will  be  as  easy  to  land  beside 
the  quarantine  boat  as  at  the  wharf.  It  is  intended,  we  are  in- 
formed, to  use  the  boat  as  a  hospital  in  case  of  an  epidemic. 
She  is  to  be  moored  at  a  point  near  the  foot  of  Duncan's  Island, 
where  there  is  plenty  of  water  for  the  largest  class  boats  at  any 
season  of  the  year.  The  price  paid  for  the  '  Hannibal'  was 
ten  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  which,  in  addition  to  the  expense 
of  towing  her  down  and  mooring  her,  will  make  her  cost  about 
eleven  hundred  dollars.  The  machinery  of  the  '  Hannibal' 
had  been  removed  previous  to  the  purchase.  Dr.  Leavenworth, 
quarantine  physician,  is  having  his  laboratory  and  lodgings 
removed  to  the  boat,  so  that  at  all  hours  of  the  night  and  at  all 
times  of  the  day  he  will  be  on  hand  for  the  examination  of  ar- 
riving steamers." 

May  16th, — 

"  The  city  register  makes  the  following  statement  in  regard 
to  the  health  of  the  city  : 

"  The  whole  number  of  deaths  from  all  causes  for  the  seven 
days  ending  Sunday  night,  the  13th  inst.,  was  273,  of  which 
181  were  from  cholera.  The  interments  daily  from  the  last  dis- 
ease were  as  follows : 

Monday,  May  7 16 

Tuesday,  May  8. 36 

Wednesday,  May  9 25 

Thursday.  May  10 30 

Friday,  May  11 33 

Saturday,  May  12 19 

Sunday,  May  13 22 

Total  in  seven  days 181 

From  other  diseases 92 

Whole  number 273 

"  The  number  of  deaths  reported  for  Monday,  the  14th  inst., 
was  twenty-one,  being  eleven  less  than  on  the  8th,  the  heaviest 


1576 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


day,  showing  a  decrease  in  this  particular  disease.  The  entire 
number  of  deaths  on  Monday  was  thirty-six.  This  is  really 
frightful  mortality,  and  although  it  may  be  argued  that  the 
pestilence  is  abating  in  the  number  of  its  victims  and  in  its 
virulence,  it  still  has  terrors  enough  to  alarm  most  any  one." 

Next  day  after  this,  Maj  17th,  the  great  fire  took 
place,  and  public  attention  was  so  exclusively  directed 
to  that  as  to  leave  the  cholera  out  of  sight.  Indeed, 
in  a  narrative  written  next  year,  it  was  said  that, — 

"  As  at  the  battle  of  Aboukir  the  blowing  up  of  the  '  L'Ori-  | 
ent'  had  the  effect  of  causing  an  utter  suspension  of  hostilities 
for  the  space  of  half  an  hour,  only  to  be  resumed  with  in- 
creased fury,  at  least  on  the  part  of  the  British,  so  this  confla- 
gration had  the  effect,  for  a  few  days,  of  so  far  drawing  public 
attention  from  the  presence  of  the  cholera  as  almost  to  cause  it 
to  be  generally  believed  to  have  been  actually  superseded  by 
the  fire.     But  this  delusion  was  of  but  short  duration.     In  a  j 
few  days,  the  excitement  caused  by  the  fire  having  subsided,   j 
the  cholera  again  began  to  command  the  public  attention  by,   i 
not  a  return  (for  it  had  not  disappeared,  being  only  tempo- 
rarily merged  and  lost  sight  of  in   the  accompanying   great 
calamity),  but  an  increase  of  virulence." 

The  next  current  mention  of  the  progress  of  the 
disease  is  on  June  15th : 

"The  sexton  of  seven  cemeteries,  viz.:  the  City,  Catholic, 
Methodist,  Holy  Ghost,  Christ  Church,  German  Protestant,  and 
Lutheran,  reported  fifty-nine  interments  during  Tuesday,  forty- 
seven  of  which  were  reported  as  having  died  of  cholera." 

On  the  19th  of  June  the  following  was  the  report : 

"  For  the  week  ending  Sunday  the  number  of  interments,  as 
reported  to  the  register,  was  as  follows: 

"  Monday,  8  cemeteries  reported  48  in  all,  40  of  the  cholera. 

"  Tuesday,  7  cemeteries  reported  60  in  all,  47  of  the  cholera. 

"  Wednesday,  9  cemeteries  reported  83  in  all,  65  of  the 
cholera. 

"  Thursday,  10  cemeteries  reported  68  in  all,  58  of  the 
cholera. 

"  Friday,  9  cemeteries  reported  74  in  all,  62  of  the  cholera. 

"  Saturday,   9    cemeteries    reported    74    in    all,    61    of    the 

i 
cholera. 

"  Sunday,  8  cemeteries  reported  85  in  all,  69  of  the  cholera.     ; 
"Total,  492;  402  of  the  cholera." 

There  was  complaint  at  the  showing  of  these  fig-  i 
ures,  and  a  disposition  to  charge  neglect.  It  was  said  i 
that,— 

"The  cholera  is  still  sweeping  off  its  scores  of  victims  every   i 
day,  and  this  at  a  time  when  the  atmosphere  is  pure  and  elas- 
tic, and  there  appears  to  be  no  good  reason  for  the  prevalence 
of  the  mortality.     It  seems  to  be  well  ascertained,  however,   j 
that  the  epidemic  is  confined  to  particular  localities,  and  that 
efforts  of  a  sanitary  kind  must  be  directed  to  these  districts,  if  ! 
anything  is  to  be  done  at  all,  to  arrest  the  progress  of  the  mal- 
ady.     St.    Charles  Street  and  Washington  Avenue,    west   of 
Eighth,  parts  of  North  St.  Louis,  and  some  localities  in   the 
southern  part  of  the  city  are  represented  to  be  the  principal 
seats  of  the  pestilence.     Efforts  should  now  be  directed  to  the 
purification  of  these  quarters." 

June  24th, — 

"  The  week  previous  to  this  the  mortality  was  224,  and  the   i 
deaths  by  cholera  173,  showing  an  increase  of  49  on  the  whole 
number,  and  26  on  deaths  by  cholera. 


"  The  cholera  proper  appears  to  confine  itself  entirely  among 
the  newly-arrived  immigrants,  who  are  compelled  by  their  re- 
stricted means  to  lodge  in  the  city  suburbs  or  in  low,  unhealthy 
places  in  the  city,  where  disease  very  naturally  is  most  readily 
contracted.  The  strangers  who  visit  us  from  the  neighboring 
States  may,  if  they  take  the  ordinary  precautions,  do  so  with 
impunity.  Nearly  one-third  of  the  deaths,  it  will  be  seen  by 
the  above  table,  occurred  among  children  five  years  of  age  or 
under." 

But  this  did  not  satisfy  the  citizens.  They  deter- 
mined to  take  things  in  their  own  hands,  called  a 
public  meeting,  and  appointed  a  committee  to  look 
after  the  proper  sanitary  measures  which  should  be 
adopted  in  an  emergency  of  this  sort.  On  June  26th, 
as  the  current  report  informs  us, — 

"The  committee  appointed  by  the  chairman  of  the  mass- 
meeting,  at  least  a  portion  of  them,  met  yesterday  morning  at 
the  Planters'  House,  and  an  address  to  the  mayor  and  City  Coun- 
cil, and  an  ordinance  embracing  the  provisions  of  the  recom- 
mendations of  the  mass-meeting  were  adopted,  and  forthwith 
the  committee  in  a  body  waited  upon  the  mayor  at  the  town 
hall  and  laid  them  before  him.  In  response  to  the  address,  the 
mayor  assured  the  committee  of  his  hearty  wish  and  entire 
willingness  to  co-operate  with  the  citizens  and  the  Council  in 
any  measures  that  might  be  adopted  to  stay  the  ravages  of  the 
disease,  or  mitigate  the  sufferings  of  the  destitute  who  might 
be  attacked  with  it.  He  gave  some  painful  and  frightful  ac- 
counts of  what  he  had  already  witnessed,  and  his  inability  to 
do  more  than  he  had  done.  The  two  boards  of  the  City  Coun- 
cil having  adjourned  over  until  Wednesday  evening,  the  mayor 
instantly  summoned  them  to  meet  at  four  o'clock  P.M.  yester- 
day. 

"  Said  ordinance  was  then  taken  up  for  consideration,  and 
after  slight  amendment,  read  three  several  times  and  passed, 
the  vote  being  ayes  eight,  noes  one.  The  ordinance  as  passed 
by  the  aldermen  is  in  substance  as  follows  : 

"  First,  that  in  order  to  check  the  future  spread  of  the  chol- 
era now  raging  among  us,  and  to  carry  into  effect  in  the  best 
manner  the  views  of  our  citizens,  as  expressed  by  them  in  pub- 
lic meeting,  touching  said  disease,  a  committee  shall  be  and 
hereby  is  appointed,  to  be  termed  'the  Committee  of  Public 
Health,'  consisting  of  the  following-named  persons,  heretofore 
named  at  said  public  meeting,  to  wit:  T.  T.  Gantt,  R.  S.  Blen- 
nerhassett,  A.  13.  Chambers,  Isaac  A.  Hedges,  James  Clemens, 
Jr.,  J.  M.  Field,  George  Collier,  L.  M.  Kennett,  Trusten  Polk, 
Lewis  Bach,  Thomas  Gray,  William  G.  Clark." 

But  nothing  could  arrest  the  headway  of  the  dis- 
ease now.  On  June  28th  the  report  said, — 

"The  official  reports  of  interments  for  the  week  ending  Mon- 
day last,  and  including  all  the  cemeteries  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  city,  shows  the  total  number  for  that  period  to  be  763, 
of  which  164  were  children  from  the  age  of  five  and  under.  The 
deaths  from  cholera  for  the  same  period  are  reported  at  589. 

"In  view  of  the  terrible  pestilence  now  prevailing  in  our 
midst,  the  officers  of  Washington  University  have  deemed  it 
expedient  to  bring  their  scholastic  year  to  a  rather  sudden  and 
premature  termination,  and  permit  those  students  residing  at  a 
distnnce  to  return  to  their  homes. 

"  The  clergy  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  this  city  have  set 
apart  this  day  (Thursday)  as  a  day  of  public  fasting,  humilia- 
tion, and  prayer.  All  persons  are  affectionately  invited  to  join 
with  them  in  the  religious  services  of  the  day. 


THE   MEDICAL   PROFESSION. 


1577 


"At  a  meeting  of  the  committee  designated  by  the  ordinance 
passed  by  the  City  Council,  held  yesterday  evening  at  the 
Planters'  House,  were  present  Messrs.  Gantt,  Chambers,  Clark, 
Field,  Hedges,  Gray,  Polk,  and  Blennerhassett.  Absent,  Messrs. 
Clemens,  Collier,  Kennett,  and  Bach.  On  motion,  T.  T.  Gantt, 
Esq.,  was  called  to  the  chair,  and  J.  M.  Field  appointed  secre- 
tary. 

"  The  meeting  being  informal,  they  not  having  been  officially 
advised  of  the  passage  of  the  ordinance,  the  following  address 
and  proceedings  were  had  : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  public  school-house  on  Seventh  Street, 
in  the  First  Ward;  the  public  school-house  in  the  Fifth  Ward, 
on  the  corner  of  Ninth  and  Wash;  public  school-house  near 
Mound  Market,  in  the  Sixth  Ward  ;  and  the  St.  Vincent  school- 
room (Catholic),  in  the  Fourth  Ward,  be  and  they  are  hereby  set 
apart  as  temporary  hospitals,  and  we  request  that  all  destitute 
poor  be  sent  to  those  places.  Arrangements  will  be  made  in 
the  other  wards  as  soon  as  the  city  can  procure  proper  tene- 
ments. 

"Resolved,  That  Messrs.  Blennerhassett,  for  the  First  Ward; 
Polk,  for  the  Fifth  Ward;  William  G.  Clark,  for  the  Sixth 
Ward :  Thomas  Gray,  for  St.  Vincent's  school-room,  in  the 
Fourth  Ward,  be  appointed  to  carry  out  the  above  resolutions, 
and  provide  for  the  temporary  accommodations  of  patients 
until  other  provisions  are  made. 

"  Resolrvd,  That  two  physicians  be  appointed  to  attend  to  each 
of  the  temporary  hospitals  hereby  established,  and  that  they 
be  empowered  to  procure  all  the  medicine  and  attendance  neces- 
sary, and  establish  a  medical  depot  not  only  for  the  sick  in  the 
hospitals,  but  also  for  all  destitute  poor  in  the  ward." 

This  was  the  way  to  fight  the  epidemic,  but  it  would 
not  yield  to  any  such  measures  at  present.  On  June 
29th  we  read, — 

"  We  have  been  flattering  ourselves  that  the  prevailing  epi- 
demic was  abating,  but  on  collecting  the  facts  our  hopes  are 
dissipated.  It  is,  in  fact,  on  the  increase,  and  now  becomes  a 
serious,  and  the  only  question,  '  What  shall  be  done  to  stay  it?' 
By  the  report  below  it  will  be  seen  that,  according  to  the  returns 
of  eleven  cemeteries,  there  were  on  AVednesday  132  interments, 
of  which  109  were  from  cholera,  only  23  from  other  causes. 
These  returns  do  not  include  the  Methodist  cemetery  in  an 
authentic  shape,  nor  the  Hebrew.  We  learn  indirectly  that 
there  were  interments  in  the  Methodist  cemetery,  6  of  which 
were  from  cholera,  and  2  from  other  causes.  If  this  be  true,  it 
gives  a  total  for  Wednesday  of  140  deaths,  of  which  115  were 
by  the  prevailing  sickness,  considerably  exceeding  the  reported 
mortality  of  any  other  day.  Even  if  the  report  from  the 
Methodist  be  not  correct,  those  which  are  known  to  be  so  show 
that  this  disease  is  on  the  increase,  and  give  just  and  sufficient 
cause  to  awaken  all  good  and  humane  men  to  prompt  and  effi- 
cient action." 

June -30th  there  was  a  wail  of  querulous  despond- 
ency,— 

"An  examination  of  the  daily  reports  which  have  been 
published  for  some  weeks  past  of  the  ravages  of  the  cholera  in 
this  city  presents  the  melancholy  fact  that  at  least  three-fourths 
of  the  mortality  is  confined  to  emigrants  from  foreign  countries. 
We  think  that  this  is  quite  a  reasonable  estimate,  and  we  call 
attention  to  it  now  with  the  hope  of  inducing  some  effort  to 
improve  the  condition  of  those  who  seem,  from  local  or  other 
causes,  doomed  to  the  grave. 

"At  least  one-third  of  the  population  of  St.  Louis  is  com- 
posed of  foreigners.  They  have  been  increasing  every  year, 


bringing  much  wealth  to  the  city,  improving  their  own  condi- 
tion, and  enhancing  the  value  of  everything  around  them,  con- 
tracting too  many  of  the  habits  and  enjoying  the  comforts  of 
Americans.  Within  the  last  few  months,  however,  a  greatly 
increased  number  of  foreigners,  principally  from  England  and 
Germany,  have  arrived,  and  thus  they  have  unfortunately 
brought  disease  and  death  with  them  to  such  an  extent  as  to 
carry  alarm  whenever  an  arrival  is  announced." 

July  1st  the  Committee  of  Public  Health  was  vig- 
orously at  work,  employing  every  means  in  its  power, 
as  evidenced  by  the  following : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  special  block  inspectors  observe  the 
following  regulations: 

"  1.  To  visit  and  thoroughly  examine  each  tenement  and  the 
premises  in  their  several  districts  at  least  once  every  day,  and 
notify  the  occupants,  and  also  the  owners  thereof,  forthwith  to 
remove  to  the  most  convenient  street  or  alley  anything  that 
they  may  deem  injurious  or  offensive,  or  that  ought  to  be  re- 
moved. And  if  the  same  shall  not  forthwith  be  removed,  then 
they  will  immediately  remove  the  same,  and  charge  the  ex- 
penses thereof  to  the  occupants  first,  if  they  be  able  to  pay 
them  ;  if  not,  then  to  the  owners  ;  and  if  neither  the  occupants 
nor  the  owners  can  pay  the  same,  then  shall  the  same  be  paid 
by  the  city. 

"2.  That  such  examination  be  made  at  least  once  every 
day. 

"  3.  That  they  procure  a  sufficiency  of  scavenger-  and  slop- 
carts  to  remove  all  the  filth  from  every  part  of  their  district 
once  each  day. 

"4.  To  examine  and  ascertain  the  number  of  persons  occu- 
pying any  tenement  and  their  condition;  and  whenever  the 
number  and  condition  is  such  as  in  the  opinion  of  the  inspec- 
tor endangers  the  health  of  the  occupants  or  the  neighborhood, 
to  report  immediately  the  facts  to  the  president  of  the  com- 
mittee, or  to  the  members  of  the  committee  from  the  ward  in 
which  it  exists. 

"  5.  To  cause  forthwith  all  sick,  destitute  persons  to  be  re- 
moved to  some  one  of  the  hospitals  selected  and  designated  by 
this  committee. 

"6.  Keep  a  strict  account  of  every  expense  necessarily  in- 
curred in  removing  nuisances  or  sick  persons,  and  report  the 
same  to  this  committee. 

"  7.  They  shall  have  power  to  engage  the  necessary  vehi- 
cles and  means  for  carrying  the  sick  to  the  hospitals  above 
specified. 

"  8.  That  all  the  matter  carried  off  by  the  scavenger-  and 
slop-carts  be  hauled  to  the  scavenger-boat  near  the  foot  of 
Walnut  Street* 

"9.  That  such  inspectors  immediately  report  to  the  mem- 
bers of  the  committee  for  their  ward  all  such  persons  as  may 
either  neglect,  refuse,  or  oppose  any  order  or  step  given  or 
taken  to  effect  the  objects  of  their  appointment,  in  order  that 
the  members  of  this  committee  may  effectually  enforce  the 
provisions  and  objects  of  the  ordinance  of  the  27th  June  inst. 

"  NOTICE. — The  attention  of  the  block  inspectors  and  citi- 
zens generally  is  particularly  directed  to  the  order  with  regard 
to  the  disinfecting  fires  to-night,  so  that  the  whole  city  may 
be  thus  purified  at  once.  The  materials  should  be  procured  by 
the  block  inspectors  to-day,  and  deposited  in  prescribed  quan- 
tities at  the  proper  places  ready  for  use  at  8  o'clock  P.M. 

"NOTICE. — The  Committee  of  Public  Health  hereby  give 
notice  that  they  have  made  arrangements  for  the  immediate 
reception  of  all  indigent  persons  suffering  with  cholera  at  the 
Hotel  for  Invalids,  corner  of  Second  and  Walnut  Streets;  at 


1578 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


the  St.  Louis  Hospital,  corner  of  Spruce  and  Fourth  Streets;  at 
the  City  Hospital,  and  at  the  public  school-houses  in  the  First 
and  Sixth  Wards. 

"  Suitable  cars  for  the  conveyance  of  the  sick  will  be  kept 
in  waiting  at  the  various  hospitals,  and  also  at  tho  public 
school-houses  in  the  Fourth  and  Fifth  Ward?,  and  will  be 
sent  immediately  on  application  to  the  parties  in  need  of  them. 
The  block  inspectors  and  all  friends  to  humanity  are  requested 
to  use  their  endeavors  to  have  all  indigent  persons  attacked 
with  the  epidemic  removed  from  their  dwellings  to  the  hos- 
pitals at  the  earliest  possible  moment,  as  upon  this  depends  the 
greatest  chance  of  relief  being  afforded. 

"  The  Committee  of  Health  have  recommended  that  Monday 
(to-morrow)  shall  be  observed  as  a  day  of  humiliation,  fasting, 
and  prayer.  As  a  Christian  community,  and  recognizing  the 
overruling  power  of  Providence,  this  recommendation  will  not 
be  disregarded.  Never  was  there  a  time  in  the  history  of  any 
city  that  more  imperiously  demanded  a  humble  and  contrite 
appeal  to  the  interposition  of  the  Almighty  than  now  exists  in 
St.  Louis.  The  churches  and  all  religious  denominations,  we 
have  no  doubt,  will  cordially  and  zealously  unite  in  observing 
the  recommendation.  All  must  admit  its  propriety  and  ne- 
cessity. 

"  Every  good  and  right-thinking  man  will,  out  of  respect  to  the 
religious  opinions  and  belief  of  his  neighbors,  give  it  his  acquies- 
cence. He  will  close  his  store  or  place  of  business  and  sur- 
render the  day  to  the  purposes  indicated,  and  permit  those  in 
his  employ  to  participate  in  devotional  exercises,  and  to  enjoy 
some  relaxation  from  toil.  The  prompt  and  hearty  co-operation 
of  the  citizens  thus  far  in  all  the  recommendations  and  sugges- 
tions of  the  committee  gives  assurance  that  this  request  will 
be  strictly  observed  by  all. 

"  In  compliance  with  the  recommendation  of  the  Committee 
of  Health,  we  will  not  issue  a  paper  on  Tuesday  morning. 
Advertisers  for  that  day  will  please  send  in  their  favors  to- 


On  July  4th  there  was  the  following  mortality : 

"  Total,  one  hundred  and  sixty  in  all,  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
eight  of  cholera.  This  report  shows  five  more  deaths  from 
cholera  than  has  occurred  any  day  since  the  epidemic  has  pre- 
vailed in  our  city." 

And  new  and  greater  additions  were  made  to  the 
authority  of  the  Committee  of  Public  Health : 

"Yesterday  evening  the  City  Council  passed  an  ordinance 
vesting  in  the  mayor  and  Committee  of  Public  Health  the 
necessary  powers  to  enforce  quarantine  regulations  on  all  emi- 
grants from  shipboard,  and  on  all  sick,  diseased,  infectious,  or 
unclean  persons.  The  ordinance,  we  have  no  doubt,  will  receive 
the  sanction  of  the  mayor." 

The  weekly  report  at  this  time  was  enough  to 
cause  a  panic : 

"  By  the  daily  report  made  to  the  register's  office,  for  the 
week  ending  Sunday  last,  it  appears  the  total  number  of  inter- 
ments was  as  follows : 

In  all.  Cholera. 

Monday 127  99 

Tuesday 114  94 

Wednesday 140  115 

Thursday 155  12?, 

Friday 162  119 

Saturday 122  83 

Sunday 125  100 


Total  for  the  week 

On  July  6th  we  are  told, — 


945 


733 


"  Yesterday  afternoon  His  Honor  the  mnyor,  Dr.  Barret,  the 
visiting  physician,  nnd  several  other  gentlemen  visited  the 
quarantine  grounds,  and  were  well  satisfied  with  the  arrange- 
ment and  condition  of  the  persons  there.  As  yet  the  committee 
have  not  been  able  to  perfect  their  arrangements,  but  in  the 
course  of  to-day  and  to-morrow  they  will  have  accommodations 
erected  on  shore  sufficient  for  any  present  probable  demand. 

"  There  are  now  at  the  quarantine  ground  one  hundred  and 
one  persons,  all  of  whom  are  comfortably  provided  for  on  board 
the  steamboat  '  St.  Louis.'  These  are  all  Germans,  of  whom 
there  were  yesterday  evening  only  four  sick,  two  women  and 
two  children.  An  Englishman  landed  at  the  quarantine  ground 
died  yesterday,  the  only  death  that  had  occurred  up  to  a  late 
hour  last  evening.  Dr.  Haussler,  a  German,  is  resident  physi- 
cian at  quarantine.  Dr.  Carrow  continues  to  perform  the  duties 
of  health  officer.  Ho  is  stationed  at  the  Montesano  House  with 
a  boat  and  crew,  and  boards  all  boats  from  the  South." 

The  point  selected  for  quarantine  was  the  lower  end 
of  Arsenal  Island.  July  16th  the  following  is  re- 
ported : 

"  The  following  shows  the  number  of  interments  daily  for  the 
week  ending  yesterday : 

In  all. 

Monday 125 

Tuesday 184 

Wednesday 144 

Thursday 136 

Friday 110 

Saturday 131 

Sunday 92 


922 


Of  Cholera. 
101 
145 
115 
105 

87 

89 

58 

700 


July  19th, — 

"  The  total  number  of  interments  in  the  several  cemeteries  of 
the  city  for  the  week  ending  Monday,  July  16th,  is  shown  by 
the  following  table,  copied  from  the  register's  official  report : 


Cemeteries.  Of  Cholera. 

City 150 

Holy  Ghost 66 

Lutheran 26 

St.  Vincent 39 

German   Protestant 63 

Catholic  (old) 94 

Catholic  (new) 64 

Wesleyan 52 

Methodist 38 

Christ  Church 26 

Presbyterian 10 

Baptist 9 

United  Hebrew...,  2 


Of  other 
Diseases. 
47 
28 
12 
19 
31 
39 
15 

9 
15 

9 

4 

0 

0 


639  228 

"  Total  for  the  week,  867. 

"Of  the  above  number,  197  were  children  of  the  age  of  five 
years  and  under." 

July  22d,— 

"The  following  table  shows  the  number  of  interments  each 
day  for  the  week  ending  Saturday,  the  2Ist: 

Of  Cholera.  Other  Disease*. 

Sunday 58  34 

Mondny 61  27 

Tuesday 61  23 

Wednesday 50  34 

Thursday 36  30 

Friday 37  29 

Saturday' 33  20 


336 


Cholera. 


197 
336 


533 


THE   MEDICAL   PROFESSION. 


1579 


"  For  the  same  period  last  week  there  were  722  deaths  from 
cholera  and  215  from  other  diseases.     Compared  with  the  same 
period  the  previous  week,  the  above  table  shows  a  decrease  of  i 
386  deaths  from  the  cholera  and  18  from  other  diseases." 

The  disease  now  suddenly  lost  its  terrors,  and  the 
mortality  fell  off  at  once  almost  to  nearly  normal  rates. 
The  causes  of  this  were  (1)  the  new  quarantine  ar- 
rangements ;  (2)  a  general  betterment  in  the  state  of 
the  atmosphere  and  temperature  ;  (3)  a  general  flight 
of  citizens  from  the  place.  This  last  cause  probably 
was  much  more  efficient  than  the  others  in  checking 
the  ravages  of  the  pestilence.  The  proof  that  there 
was  such  a  general  expatriation  at  this  time  is  found 
in  the  sudden  drop  in  the  number  of  deaths  from 
other  diseases  besides  cholera  between  the  middle  of 
July  and  the  middle  of  August. 

On  August  8th,  the  journal  heretofore  quoted 
said,  — 

"  The  following  report  is  copied  from  the  statements  of  the 
several  sextons,  made  to  the  register,  for  the  week  ending  Mon- 
day, the  6th.  It  exhibits  a  greatly  reduced  mortality  in  this  city, 
and  the  almost  total  disappearance  of  the  cholera  from  among  us. 
It  justifies  us,  also,  in  inviiing  the  return  of  our  own  citizens, 
and  the  visits  of  all  who  have  business  or  desire  intercourse 
with  us.  The  re-establishment  of  quarantine  regulations  and 
proper  attention  to  cleanliness  of  our  streets  will  insure  us 
against  any  further  disease  during  the  present  season  : 


Cemeteries. 


Total.   Cholera. 


German  Protestant  ..................  18 

Baptist  ..................................  5 

Methodist  ..............................  6 

Christ  Church  ........................  9 

Wesleyan  ...............................  6 

St.  Vincent  .............................  11 

Presbyterian  ...........................  9 

Lutheran  ...............................  4 

Holy  Ghost  .............................  16 

Catholic  (old)  .........................  20 

"         (new)  ........................  20 

City  ......................................  28 

United  Hebrew  ..................  0 


152         34 


72' 


The  same  paper  reviews  the  facts  and  points  the 
moral  of  the  epidemic  in  the  excellent  article  which 
follows : 

"  We  have  taken  the  trouble  to  procure  from  the  register's 
office  an  authentic  statement  of  the  whole  number  of  interments 
in  the  cemeteries  of  this  city  from  the  23d  day  of  April  to  the 
6th  day  of  August,  1849.  The  laws  of  this  State  in  regard  to 
interments  in  public  burial-grounds  are  very  severe,  and  we 
have  no  reason  to  suppose  that  they  have  been  disregarded  in 
any  instance.  In  some  cemeteries  it  is  understood  that  they 
report  a  greater  number  of  deaths,  for  two  or  three  weeks,  than 
is  here  set  down,  amounting  to  some  fifty  or  sixty,  but  we  ac- 
count for  the  discrepancy  by  supposing  that  there  were  cases 
of  interments  of  persons  dying  at  the  coal-mines,  several  miles 
from  the  city,  and  in  which  no  regular  certificates,  such  as  the 
law  requires,  were  furnished.  It  has  been  stated  that  large 
numbers  of  persons  dying  in  St.  Louis  have  been  interred  in 
Illinois  and  in  the  surrounding  country,  of  which  no  note  has 
been  taken.  We  do  not  believe  this  is  true  to  any  considerable 
extent,  and  we  are  quite  certain  that  more  persons  have  been 


brought  to  the  city  graveyards  from  abroad,  for  the  purpose  of 
interment,  than  have  been  taken  from  the  city  with  a  view  to 
interment  elsewhere. 

"  What  a  fearful  tale  is  told  in  this  chronicle  of  death's 
doings!  In  a  little  over  one  hundred  days  six  thousand  per- 
sons have  been  committed  to  the  grave,  and  this  out  of  a  popu- 
lation of  less  than  sixty  thousand  !  This  is  an  awful  mortality, 
perhaps  greater  than  has  ever  occurred  in  any  city  of  the 
United  States  with  the  same  population.  It  is  to  be  observed, 
however,  that  a  good  many  hundreds  of  these  persons  were  not 
really  citizens  of  St.  Louis,  but  had  just  landed  here,  bringing 
the  seeds  of  death  within  them,  and,  still  more  unfortunate, 
carrying  death  into  whatever  quarter  they  went.  To  this  cause, 
indeed,  is  to  be  attributed  a  vast  portion  of  the  mortality  which 
has  been  recorded ;  and  if  the  people  are  wise  they  will  avoid, 
as  far  as  possible,  contributing  to  similar  epidemics  hereafter, 
by  insisting  upon  greater  regard  to  cleanliness  and  the  proper 
ventilation  of  the  houses  occupied  by  these  people,  and  by  com- 
pelling the  owners  of  all  such  places  as  '  Shepard's  Graveyard'  to 
fill  them  up  and  put  the  houses  in  proper  and  healthy  condition. 
There  are  numberless  such  places  in  the  city,  and  we  only 
specify  this  one  because  the  people  are  more  familiar  with  it 
than  with  others. 

"TABLE  OF  INTERMENTS  in  the  several  public  cemeteries  at- 
tached to  St.  Louis  from  the  23d  day  of  April  to  the  6th  of 
August,  1849. 

Total. 


For 

the  week  ending  April  30 
"              May     7 
"                 "      14 

131 
135 
273 

"                "      21 

192 

'                "      28 

186 

'             June     4 

144 

'                 "      11 

283 

'                 "      18 

510 

'                 "      25 

163 

1              July     2 
"        9 

903 
773 

'                 "      16 

867 

'                "      23 

442 

. 

'                "      30 

.....     225 

Aug.    6. 

152 

5989 

These  figures,  in  fact, 

were  beS 

™  „.      Under 
Cholera.  Five  YeAra. 

41 

50 

78 

28 

185 

46 

127 

24 

115 

44 

75 

34 

191 

72 

404 

106 

589 

164 

619 

230 

591 

192 

639 

197 

269 

140 

93 

94 

34 

72 

4060 


1493" 


frightful  aggregate,  as  the  revised  table  given  in  a 
preceding  page  proves.  The  results  of  this  terrible 
pestilence,  which  retarded  the  city's  progress  tempo- 
rarily, were  important  in  their  bearing  upon  the  im- 
provements made  in  the  city's  sanitary  condition. 
Better  quarantine  arrangements  were  at  once  made ; 
better  provision  for  cleanliness  in  streets  and  high- 
ways, and  improvements  in  every  other  sanitary  re- 
gard. But,  more  than  all,  the  determination  to  give 
St.  Louis  a  thorough  and  effective  sewer  and  drainage 
system  was  a  consequence  of  this  epidemic. 

The  cholera  could  not  be  completely  got  rid  of  for 
several  years.  In  January,  1852,  the  following  table 
was  made  up  from  the  register's  records : 

Table  showing  the  weekly  mortality  of  St.  Louis  during  the 

years  1849-51. 

Total.   Cholera. 

Deaths  in  1849 8431    4144 

"   "  1850 4595     372 

"   "  1851...,  ..  4377     791 


1580 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


There  was  a  slight  outbreak  of  the  cholera  in  1855, 
but  the  disease  did  not  again  visit  St.  Louis  with  any 
violence  until  1866.  In  that  year  it  became  epidemic 
once  more,  and  threatened  at  one  time  to  get  beyond 
control,  as  it  had  done  in  1849. 

The  approach  of  the  disease,  slow  and  gradual,  was  I 
not  unheeded  by  the  citizens  who  bore  1849  still 
fresh  in  their  memories.  The  newspapers  recited  the 
history  of  that  stricken  year  as  an  example,  and  some 
of  the  articles  written  on  the  subject  have  a  positive 
value,  for  example, — 

"  As  early  as  1 847,  the  first  year  of  that  decade  so  remarkable 
for  the  vast  immigration   from   Europe,  there  were  numerous 
cases  of  ship  fever,  some  of  which  were  brought  to  St.  Louis, 
and  communicated  the  contagion  of  that  disease  to  some  of 
our  citizens.     The  next  year,  cholera  prevailing  in  Europe,  the 
emigrant  ships  brought  over  a  great  deal  of  disease,  which  was  j 
pronounced  cholera ;  and  in  the  latter  part  of  the  year  infected 
New  Orleans,  where,  before   January,  1849,  cholera  had  as- 
sumed an  epidemic  form.     The  New  Orleans  Picayune  of  Dec. 
14, 1848,  noticed  the  arrival  of  the  ship  'Swinton,'  from  Havre, 
with   German  emigrants,  after  a  passage  of  only  thirty-nine 
days,  and  sixteen  deaths  on  the  passage,  which  were  subse-   [ 
quently  acknowledged  to  have  been  of  cholera.     On  the  27th 
of  that  month  there  was  an  alarm  in  St.  Louis  on  account  of  f 
deaths   supposed   to   be   from   cholera,  on   board   the   steamer  . 
'Alton,'  from  New  Orleans.     The  cholera  prevailed  through 
the  winter  months  in  New  Orleans,  and  on  all  the  boats  from  j 
thence  going  up  the  Mississippi  and  Ohio  there  were  cases  of  it. 
On  the  17th  of  January  the  St.  Louis  board  reported  six  cases 
of  local  origin,  though  it  was  doubted  whether  so  early  as  this 
there  were  any  cases  not  traceable  to  communication  with  New 
Orleans.     An  ice-blockade  in  February  stopped  navigation,  and 
little  mention  of  the  disease  was  made  until  its  reopening.     On 
the  28th  of  March  the  St.  Louis  Board  of  Health  reported  twenty- 
four  cases  of  cholera  for  the  week  before,  mostly  from  New 
Orleans.     On  the  9th  twenty-six  cases  for  the  week  were  re- 
ported, but  only  four  residents  of  the  city.     During  April  and 
May  the  cholera  broke  out  at  several  points  on  the  Missouri 
River,  and  was  on  every  boat  on  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri. 
On  the  8th  of  May,  in  St.  Louis,  the  weekly  deaths  by  cholera   : 
had  gone  up  to  one  hundred  and  seventy-eight,  and  on  May   ! 
14th  to  one  hundred  and  eighty-five,  but  fell  off  for  two  weeks 
after  the  great  fire." 

And  so  forth,  the  article  concluding  with  a  pretty 
complete  account  of  the  course  and  progress  of  the 
pestilence  by  way  of  warning.  This  article  was 
written  in  April,  but  the  disease  did  not  break  out 
until  July.  On  the  9th  of  August  one  of  the  daily 
journals  reported  the  progress  it  had  made  in  the  fol- 
lowing terms,  which,  though  calm  and  cautious,  give 
evidence  of  the  little  under-current  of  alarm  : 

"  As  was  to  be  anticipated  from  the  prevalence  of  the  disease 
throughout  the  country  and  the  unusual  heat  of  the  weather, 
some  cases  of  sporadic  cholera  have  occurred  in  this  city.  So 
far,  however,  the  cases  have  been  comparatively  few  and  iso- 
lated, and  have  mostly  occurred  among  persons  whose  constitu-  - 
tions  were  weakened  and  deteriorated  by  vicious  or  irregular 
habits,  or  whose  residence  and  modes  of  living  were  unfavorable 
to  health. 


"  Since  the  appearance  of  the  disease  the  members  of  the 
Board  of  Health,  the  mayor,  and  other  city  officers  connected 
with  the  health  department,  have  been  actively  engaged  in 
taking  precautionary  measures,  and  endeavoring  to  improve  the 
somewhat  objectionable  sanitary  condition  of  the  city,  and  to 
this  end,  at  a  recent  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Health,  the  fol- 
lowing address  to  the  citizens  was  promulgated : 

" '  ST.  Louis,  Mo.,  Aug.  8,  1866. 
"'To  THE  CITIZENS  OP  ST.  Louis: 

"  'As  it  is  now  fully  ascertained  by  the  Board  of  Health  of 
the  city  of  St.  Louis  that  there  are  some  cases  of  cholera  among 
us,  and  having  taken  all  the  precautions  in  our  power,  we  would 
most  earnestly  request  of  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis  to  assist  us 
in  carrying  out  the  sanitary  regulations  of  the  city. 

'"JOHN  FINN, 

" '  President  of  Board  of  Health. 

"  '  I  hereby  cordially  concur  in  the  above  recommendations. 
,  "'JAMES  S.  THOMAS, 

"'Mayor  of  St.  Louis.'" 

The  disease  made  progress,  but  active  steps  were 
taken  to  meet  it.  Under  date  of  August  llth  we  read 
that,— 

"The  sudden  and  unusual  coolness  of  Thursday  night,  fol- 
lowed by  the  close  murky  atmosphere  of  yesterday,  resulted,  as 
might  be  expected,  in  a  somewhat  increased  number  of  cases  of 
cholera.  Forty-three  cases  were  reported  at  the  health  office. 
Many  of  these,  however,  were  of  a  mild  character,  yielding 
easily  to  medical  treatment. 

"  The  following  are  the  names  of  the  physicians  appointed 
by  the  board  to  attend  to  those  unable  to  pay  : 

"  First  District.  D.  A.  Roach.  Orders  can  be  left  at  the  drug 
store  on  Carondelet  Avenue  between  Russell  and  Anne. 

"Second  District,  Dr.  William  S.  Golding.  Leave  orders  ut 
his  office,  corner  Fourth  and  Walnut. 

"Third  District,  Dr.  S.  T.  Newman,  corner  of  Washington 
Avenue  and  Fifth  Street. 

"Fourth  District,  Dr.  R.  B.  McAuliff,  corner  of  Broadway 
and  Carr. 

"  Fifth  District,  Dr.  James  0.  Gallaher.  Orders  can  be  left 
at  722  Broadway,  Tenth  Ward,  and  at  James  McBride's  drug 
store,  on  Fifth  between  O'Fallon  and  Biddle. 

"  They  also  resolved  to  appoint  two  drug  stores  in  each  ward 
at  which  medicines  can  be  obtained  by  poor  people  free  of 
charge." 

On  the  16th,  the  following  was  issued: 

"  MAYOR'S  PROCLAMATION. 

"  MAYOR'S  OFFICE, 
"ST.  Louis,  Aug.  15,  1866. 

"  Whereas,  It  has  been  represented  to  me  that  the  wants  of 
those  suffering  from  cholera  might  be  alleviated  and  the  sani- 
tary condition  of  the  city  more  fully  attained  by  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  number  of  citizens  in  each  ward,  whose  duty  it  should 
be  to  inquire  into  the  condition  of  the  infected  neighborhoods, 
to  use  such  remedies  as  necessity  demands  by  supplying  to  the 
poor  medical  advice,  having  medicines  made  up  for  them,  and 
using  disinfectants. 

"  Now,  therefore,  I,  James  S.  Thomas,  mayor  of  the  city  of 
St.  Louis,  do  hereby  appoint  the  following  citizens,  and  request 
them  to  carry  out  the  objects  above  set  forth  : 

"First  Ward,  Col.  Koehler,  Col.  Vahlkamp,  John  C.  Finck, 
Charles  Strittwetter,  Toney  Faust,  George  Meisbach. 

"Medicines  will  be  supplied  at  drug  store  259  Carondelet 
Avenue;  also  at  Mol's  drug  store,  Carondelet  Avenue. 


THE   MEDICAL   PROFESSION. 


1581 


"Second  Ward,  Col.  Chris.  Ploeser,  Julius  Conrad,  Charles 
W.  Gottschalk,  Phil.  Michel,  Capt.  Chris.  Overbeck,  John  Pul- 
lis,  Henry  Amburg,  Charles  R.  Fritsch. 

"Medicines  will  be  supplied  at  Geniff's  drug  store,  35  Ca- 
rondelet  Avenue;  also  at  H.  Distlehorst's,  corner  of  Seventh 
and  Soulard. 

"Third  Ward,  William  Rumbold,  Amadee  Vall6,  C.  C.  Sim- 
mons, William  H.  Maurice,  Edward  Mead,  John  G.  Copelin, 
Dr.  William  Taussig,  E.  P.  Rice,  R.  C.  Rennick,  Frederick 
Heitkamp,  Emile  Winter,  Herman  Schepmaun,  Dr.  T.  F.  Rum- 
bold. 

"Medicines  to  be  supplied  at  drug  store  corner  Seventh  and 
Chouteau  Avenue. 

"  Fourth  Ward,  William  H.  Godfrey,  G.  W.  Dreyer,  Tony 
Niederweiser,  George  Walbrecht,  Frank  Boehm,  D.  C.  L.  Lips, 

Limberg,  Dr.  Thomas  Scott,  J.  C.  Barlow,  P.  Wiles,  W. 

Vanzandt. 

"  Medicines  will  be  supplied  at  drug  store  of  Enno  Sanders, 
corner  of  Fourth  and  Walnut  Streets,  and  at  drug  store  corner 
of  Seventeenth  and  Market. 

"This  committee  is  requested  to  convene  at  Tony  Nieder- 
weiser's  at  ten  o'clock  A.M.  to-day. 

"  Fifth  Ward,  Erastus  Wells,  John  Cairns,  Joseph  Conn,  A. 
J.  P.  Garescbe,  James  Quigley,  John  McBride,  John  Jackson, 
L.  Burns,  John  Ivory,  Hampton  Woodruff.  Medicines  can 
be  supplied  at  drug  store  corner  of  Fifth  and  Market,  and  at 
drug  store  corner  of  Seventeenth  and  Market  Streets. 

••  The  committee  is  requested  to  meet  at  the  hall  of  the  Board 
of  Aldermen  at  ten  o'clock  to-day. 

"Sixth  Ward,  William  G.  Eliot,  B.  R.  Bonner,  Joshua 
Cheever,  James  Blakely,  Charles  G.  Ramsey,  John  S.  Thomp- 
son, Levin  Baker,  Jacob  Merrell,  James  Scollay,  William  II. 
Benton.  Medicines  to  be  supplied  at  Crawford's  drug  store, 
corner  of  Eighth  and  Washington  Avenue,  and  McGintie,  cor- 
ner of  Olive  and  Fifteenth  Streets. 

"Seventh  Ward,  James  T.  Mercer,  C.  F.  Walther,  J.  H.  Ger- 
deniann,  Anson  Coinstock,  John  O'Brien,  William  Laninann,  H. 
Steinberg,  A.  Heute,  Ernst  Krepper.  Medicines  to  be  supplied 
at  Walton  &  Co.,  Morgan  and  Third  Streets,  and  at  the  drug 
store  corner  of  Seventeenth  Street  and  Franklin  Avenue. 

"This  committee  is  requested  to  convene  at  J.  H.  Gerde- 
mann's,  corner  Seventeenth  and  Franklin  Avenue. 

"  Eighth  Ward.  The  committee  of  this  ward  will  be  appointed 
by  Dr.  Horatio  Wood,  and  will  receive  instructions  from  him. 
Medicine  will  be  supplied  at  drug  store  corner  of  Washington 
Avenue  and  Broadway,  and  at  drug  store  corner  of  Seventeenth 
and  Franklin  Avenue. 

"Ninth  Ward,  M.  W.  Hogan,  P.  Driscoll,  D.  McAuliffe,  John 
H.  Neirmeyer,  William  Powers,  John  Amende,  William  Stenke- 
meyer,  Edward  Quinlivan,  H.  J.  Shauhoest,  Phil.  McDonald, 
Casper  Stalle.  Medicines  will  be  supplied  at  James  J.  McBride's 
drug  store,  on  Fifth  Street,  between  Biddle  and  O'Fallon,  and 
at  Knawb's  drug  store,  corner  of  Fifteenth  and  Cass  Ave- 
nue. 

"Tenth  Ward,  Charles  W.  Irwin,  Joseph  Hodgeman,  John 
McGuire,  E.  P.  Gray,  Frank  Overstolz,  Samuel  Gaty,  Charles 
R.  Anderson,  L.  Garnett,  Levy  Ashbrook,  J.  0.  Codding,  L. 
Vanderwater,  N.  Madden,  E.  D.  Jones.  Medicines  will  be  sup- 
plied at  corner  of  North  Market  and  Broadway,  at  drug  store 
corner  of  Ninth  and  Chambers  Streets,  and  at  drug  store  corner 
of  Broadway  and  Salisbury. 

"  The  committee  is  requested  to  convene  at  National  Hall, 
corner  of  Chambers  Street  and  Broadway,  at  ten  o'clock  A.M., 
16th  inst. 

"  The  citizens  named  in  the  above  will  act  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  gentleman  first  named  in  their  respective  wards, 


and  his  action  in  the  premises  will  be  sustained  by  the  chief 
executive. 

"  In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and 
caused  the  seal  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis  to  be  affixed  this  15th 
day  of  August,  1866. 

"JAMES  S.  THOMAS, 

"J.  W.  HEATH,  "Mayor  of  St.  Lou!*. 

"City  Register." 

At  that  time  the  Board  of  Health  was  proceeding 
with  energy,  suppressing  nuisances  and  promoting 
hygienic  measures  of  every  kind.  The  commissioners, 
Messrs.  Belt,  Stifel,  King,  Finn,  Krieger,  and  the 
health  officer,  made  short  work  of  everything  preju- 
dicial to  hygiene  that  was  brought  to  their  attention. 
Stagnant  ponds,  offal,  garbage,  public  and  private  nui- 
sances of  all  sorts  were  dealt  with  by  the  strong  hand. 
One  of  the  hotels  was  declared  a  nuisance,  and  so  were 
slaughter-houses,  alleys,  and  everything  that  was  mal- 
odorous. Many  donations  were  received  ;  much  gratu- 
itous advice  likewise.  It  was  all  gravely  reported,  for 
example, — 

"  Communication  of  James  Lyttle,  in  regard  to  a  cheap  and 
simple  preventive  of  cholera,  received  and  read. 

"This  disease  will  never  spread  among  people  with  sulphur 
in  their  stockings.  Put  half  a  teaspoonful  of  flour  of  sulphur 
into  each  of  your  stockings  and  go  about  your  business ;  never 
go  out  with  an  empty  stomach;  eat  no  fresh  bread  nor  sour 
food. 

"  Not  one  of  the  many  thousand  who  have  followed  this,  my 
advice,  has  been  attacked  by  cholera.  So  says  the  celebrated 
Dr.  Hering  in  his  medical  work  published  some  years  ago. 

"  The  most  powerful  disinfectant  is  sulphuric  acid  gas  (the 
fumes  of  melted  sulphur)." 

Meantime  the  disease  had  become  quite  severe. 

"The  following  is  the  mortuary  report  for  the  week  ending 
Friday,  17th  of  August,  so  far  as  included  in  the  reports  from 
the  different  cemeteries : 

White  males 386 

White  females 365 

Colored  males 6 

Colored  females 11 


Total 


768 


Nativitie 


United  States 434 

Germany 110 

Ireland 188 

France 6 

Italy 7 

Switzerland 5 

Cn nada 4 

England 13 

Nova  Scotia 1 


Total . 


768 


"  Of  the  above,  241  were  children  under  five  years  of  age, 
and  2  still-born.  Deaths  from  cholera,  532. 

"Owing  to  the  press  of  business  at  the  health  office,  the  reg- 
ular mortuary  report  has  not  been  made  up,  and  the  above 


1582 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


figures  comprise  only  the  cemetery  returns,  without  including 
deaths  at  City  Hospital,  quarantine,  and  smallpox  hospital. 
Subsequently  we  were  informed  that  the  report  from  the  city 
cemetery  was  127  deaths,  of  which  all  but  11  were  of  cholera. 
We  were  unable  to  ascertain  whether  this  includes  the  deaths 
occurring  at  quarantine  and  the  smallpox  hospital.  The  total 
number  treated  at  the  City  Dispensary  during  the  week  by  Drs. 
Folsom  and  Grissom  was  489  cases.  The  various  committees 
still  prosecute  their  labors  energetically,  and  lime,  copperas, 
and  other  disinfectants  were  liberally  distributed." 

Among  those  whom  the  pestilence  carried  off  were 
Col.  I.  Weidemeyer,  county  auditor.  He  was  fifty- 
three  years  old,  and  had  served  the  Union  cause 
efficiently  during  the  civil  war,  being  colonel  in  com- 
mand of  the  Forty-first  Missouri  Infantry.  On  Sep- 
tember 24th,  Hampton  Woodruff  succumbed  to  the 
plague.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Delegates 
in  the  City  Council,  and  highly  esteemed.  Since  the 
outbreak  of  the  cholera  he  had  done  great  service  as 
an  active  member  of  the  sanitary  committee  of  his 
ward.  He  was  forty-eight  years  old  at  the  time  of 
his  death,  a  native  of  Baltimore,  Md.,  but  for  twenty- 
five  years  a  citizen  of  St.  Louis.  He  was  a  butcher 
and  wholesale  cattle-dealer,  president  of  the  Butchers' 
Association,  a  "  bright"  Mason,  and  a  man  of  honor- 
able prominence  for  scrupulous  integrity  and  exem- 
plary business  capacity. 

For  the  week  ending  August  24th  the  death  table 
was  as  follows  : 

n.m  Total  Of 

Cemeteries.  T,     .  ™_  . 

Burials.        Cholera. 

Arsenal  Island,  from  City  Eospital.  123  108 

Holy  Ghost 130  112 

Rock  Spring 177  106 

Calvary ,  182  148 

Wesleyan 38  28 

Lutheran '. 9  9 

Bellefontaine 123  118 

Salem 6  6 

St.  Mark 1  1 

St.  Peter 55  44 

St.  Peter  and  Paul 69  45 

Beni  el  Hebrew 5  3 

United  Hebrew 8  6 

St.  John 9  4 

Holy  Trinity 216  175 

Concordia 1  1 

Friedens 4  4 

Total 1156  918 

"  Nativities. — United  States,  526  ;  Ireland,  260 ;  Germany, 
297;  England,  17;  Belgium,  2;  France,  22;  Canada,  14; 
Switzerland,  6;  Italy,  8;  Sweden,  4.  Total,  1156. 

"Seres, — White  males,  647;  white  females,  470;  colored 
males,  28;  colored  females,  11.  Total,  1156.  Of  this  number 
206  were  children  under  five  years  of  age. 

"Admissions  to  the  City  Hospital  during  the  week,  275; 
ditto  to  quarantine,  2;  treated  at  the  dispensary  by  Drs.  Fol- 
som and  Grissom  during  the  week,  290. 

"  The  above  total  of  the  deaths  is  somewhat  below  the  actual 
aggregate,  inasmuch  as  the  returns  from  Arsenal  Island  are 
only  partial,  including  only  those  persons  who  died  in  the  City 
Hospital,  no  return  being  made  as  to  the  number  of  poor  per- 
sons interred  on  the  island  during  the  week  who  died  in  other 


parts  of  the  city.  The  number  of  interments  of  this  nature 
must  at  least  be  over  one  hundred,  which  will  increase  the  total 
mortality  to  nearly  thirteen  hundred.  This  is  somewhat  a 
startling  aggregate  when  compared  to  the  weekly  returns  we 
are  accustomed  to  see  published,  which  rarely  exceed  one-fifth 
of  the  above  number,  but  now  that  the  mysterious  and  merciless 
epidemic,  which  has  caused  so  much  sorrow  and  desolation,  is 
rapidly  subsiding,  it  is  comparatively  easy  to  contemplate  the 
fact  with  calmness,  and  to  realize  that  after  all  the  cholera  has 
paid  us  but  a  flying  visit,  far  less  destructive  and  prolonged 
than  its  former  well-remembered  visitations. 

"By  one  of  the  strange  fluctuations  common  to  our  anoma- 
lous climate,  the  usually  hot,  sultry  weather  incident  to  August 
has  been  exchanged  for  the  cool  atmosphere  and  cloudless  skies 
of  the  Indian  summer.  Within  the  last  few  days  thin  coats  and 
light  pants  have  been  at  a  discount;  people  have  ceased  to  sit 
on  their  door-steps  in  the  evening,  or  to  lie  uncovered  under 
breezy  mosquito-bars,  while  some  have  twinges  of  rheumatism, 
and  others  gloomy  intermittents  and  chills.  We  are  not  dis- 
posed, however,  to  quarrel  with  the  weather  just  now.  Who 
knows  how  much  these  clear,  cool  breezes  have  assisted  in  ex- 
purging  from  the  air  the  invisible  blight  which  has  shed  the 
gloom  of  the  'shadow  of  death'  round  so  many  households? 
Certain  it.  is  that  the  decrease  of  mortality  and  the  cool  weather 
were  simultaneous  in  their  commencement." 

The  press  and  the  people  consoled  themselves  with 
the  reflection  that  things  were  not  nearly  so  bad  as 
they  had  been  in  1849.  They  said, — 

"  The  cholera  this  year  broke  out  on  the  29th  of  July,  the  first 
case  of  which  proved  fatal. 

"  The  mortality  report  for  the  week  ending  July  6th  of  the 
present  year  was :  Total  number  of  deaths,  135,  of  which  89 
were  children  under  five  years  of  age.  Friday,  July  13tb,  122; 
Friday,  July  20th,  183;  Friday,  July  27th,  190;  Friday,  Au- 
gust 3*d,  208.  No  cholera  cases  as  yet  officially  reported. 

"On  the  10th  instant  no  report  was  furnished.  For  the  week 
ending  Friday,  August  17th,  there  were  895  deaths,  of  which 
648  were  from  cholera  ;  for  the  week  ending  Friday,  August 
24th,  there  were  1156  deaths,  of  which  918  were  reported  as 
cholera  cases. 

"During  the  month  of  December,  1848,  the  census  of  the 
city  was  taken  preliminary  to  a  revision  of  the  wards  for  the 
adjustment  of  ward  representation  in  the  City  Council.  It  was 
then  found  to  be  63,781,  and  the  highest  number  of  deaths  from 
cholera  for  one  week  during  1849,  by  the  above  table,  is  found  to 
be  639. 

"The  census,  which  has  lately  been  completed,  gives  us  a 
population  of  over  204,000.  The  deaths  from  cholera  during 
the  past  week,  being  but  918,  in  proportion  to  the  population  of 
the  city  as  compared  with  that  of  1 849.  would  show  that  as  yet 
there  is  no  reason  for  alarm,  and  the  more  especially  so  as  will 
be  seen  from  the  above  table  that  we  are  rapidly  approaching 
the  season  when  the  cholera  ceased  to  be  an  epidemic  in  1849. 
Severe  as  has  been  the  visitation  upon  ovy  city,  it  has  been  far 
less  destructive  than  at  the  time  above  alluded  to.  Vigilance 
should  not  as  yet  be  relaxed;  sanitary  measures  should  still  be 
enforced  with  rigor  until  the  frosty  nights  come. 

"During  the  past  day  or  two  the  cholera  seems  to  be  far  less 
malignant  and  deadly  than  during  the  early  part  of  the  week, 
and  we  have  good  reason  to  believe  that  it  will  soon  disappear 
altogether,  notwithstanding  the  mortuary  report  for  this  week 
shows  an  increase  over  the  past  week." 

The  disease  now  began  to  subside,  as  the  report  for 
September  9th  shows : 


THE   MEDICAL  PROFESSION. 


1583 


Cemeteries. 


Total 
Interments. 

Arsenal  Island,  from  City  Hospital 63 

Rock  Spring 81 

Cnlvary 85 

Wesleyan 24 


Lutheran. 

Bellefontaine 

Salem 

St.  Peter 

SS.  Peter  and  Paul. 

Beni  el  Hebrew 

United  Hebrew 

St.  John.... 


7 
60 

4 
52 
50 

5 


Holy  Trinity 131 

Total  ...  ..  580 


Cholera. 

27 
47* 
51 
14 

4 
43 

3 

31 
27 

2 

4 

2 
73 

329 


"  Nativities. — United  States,  349  ;  Belgium,  2 ;  Sweden,  1 ; 
England,  11;  Canada,  2 ;  Germany,  80;  Ireland,  122;  Italy, 
1;  Norway,  2;  France,  10.  Total,  580. 

"  Sej-es. — White,  males  271,  females  282;  colored,  males  17, 
females  10.  Total,  580.  Of  these  209  were  children  of  five 
years  and  under,  and  13  infants  still-born. 

"Deaths  at  City  Hospital  during  the  week,  61;  St.  Louis,  2; 
Good  Samaritan,  1. 

"Admissions  to  City  Hospital,  132;  Quarantine,  12. 

"  Treated  at  City  Dispensary  during  the  week  by  Drs.  Folsoin 
and  Grissom,  235. 

"The  above  report  is  complete,  with  the  exception  of  the  re- 
turns of  a  few  of  the  cemeteries  which  had  not  been  received  at 
the  health  office  up  to  a  late  hour  Saturday  evening.  It  also  does 
not  include  the  full  number  of  interments  at  Arsenal  Island. 
The  interments  on  the  island  from  the  City  Hospital  are  given, 
but  owing  to  some  confusion  on  the  island,  the  old  clerk  having 
been  discharged,  no  return  was  made  on  Saturday  as  to  the  num- 
ber of  those  who  died  on  the  island  during  the  week,  or  of  those 
bodies  sent  there  for  interment  from  various  parts  of  the  city. 
In  the  absence  of  the  actual  figures,  the  health  office  estimates 
the  number  of  interments  on  the  island,  irrespective  of  those 
from  City  Hospital,  given  above,  as  158,  of  which  about  100 
were  of  cholera.  This  increases  the  total  mortality  arising  from 
the  epidemic  during  the  week  to  429,  which,  even  allowing  for 
the  incompleteness  of  the  cemetery  returns,  must  be  considered 
as  a  very  satisfactory  total  as  compared  with  that  of  the  pre- 
ceding. 

"  The  cemetery  returns  for  Friday  are  embodied  in  the  above 
report,  and  hence  it  is  unnecessary  to  give  the  details.  The 
total  number  of  deaths  from  cholera  was  27,  indicating,  as  on 
previous  days,  the  rapid  decrease  of  the  disease.  The  police 
reports  for  the  twenty  four  hours  ending  Saturday  morning  at 
eight  o'clock  show  29  cases  and  23  deaths." 

The  subsidence  of  the  epidemic  was  officially  an- 
nounced by  the  mayor,  who  issued  the  following 
address : 

"MAYOR'S  OFFICE, 
"ST.  Louis,  Sept.  13,  1866. 

"  Whereas,  from  information  received  from  various  sources, 
and  also  a  resolution  from  the  honorable  the  Board  of  Health, 
and  from  my  own  knowledge,  I  am  gratified  in  being  able  to 
proclaim  to  our  citizens  that  the  cholera  no  longer  prevails  as 
an  epidemic  in  our  midst. 

"  I  desire  to  return  the  sincere  thanks  of  myself  and  the  citi- 


zens of  St.  Louis  to  the  honorable  the  Board  of  Health,  and  to 
the  several  ward  committees,  for  their  efficient  action  in  assist- 
ing the  sick,  aiding  in  the  burial  of  the  dead,  and  disinfecting 
the  houses,  yards,  and  alleys  throughout  the  city. 

"  I  request  the  committees  not  to  desist  from  their  labors, 
but  continue  for  a  while  longer,  and  desire  the  citizens  to  con- 
tinue to  be  watchful  in  regard  to  the  cleanliness  of  their  prem- 
ises and  in  their  diet. 

,__*_,  "  In  testimony  whereof  I  have  hereunto  set  my 

L.s.  hand  and  caused  the  seal  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis 

to  be  affixed  this  13th  day  of  September,  A.D.  1866. 
"Attest: 

"  J.  H.  HEATH,  "  JAMES  S.  THOMAS, 

"  City  Register.  Mayor." 

ABSTRACT  OF  DEATHS  IN  THE  CITY  OF  ST.   LOUIS  FOR  THE 

WEEK  ENDING  SEPT.  14, 1866. 

Cemeteries.  Total.      Cholera. 

City  Hospital 47  25 

Holy  Ghost 54  32 

Rock  Spring 27  13 

German  Protestant 6               6 

Calvary 66  32 

Wesleyan 26               9 

Bellefontaine 43  20 

Salem 6               5 

St.  Mark 14  11 

St.  Peter 26  15 

SS.  Peter  and  Paul 51  33 

Beni  el  Hebrew 3  -  1 

United  Hebrew 1               1 

St.  John 10               6 

Holy  Trinity 98  57 

Friedens 13  12 

Arsenal  Island 21  10 

St.  Paul 11               7 

Total 522  297 

Nativities. 

England '. 14 

Ireland 108 

Germany 125 

United  States 218 

France 3 

Scotland 7 

Unknown 47 

Total 522 

Deaths  at  the  City  Hospital,  33 ;  at  the  St.  Louis  Hospital, 
15  ;  at  the  Good  Samaritan  Hospital,  2. 

Admissions  to  the  City  Hospital,  102;  to  the  Quarantine 
Hospital,  2. 

Treated  at  the  City  Dispensary  by  Drs.  Folsom  and  Grissom, 
213;  treated  at  the  Third  District  Health  Office  by  Dr.  Gill, 
89. 

Next  week  there  was  a  still  further  reduction  of 
the  death  rate: 

"  The  following  is  an  abstract  of  deaths  in  St.  Louis  for  the 
week  ending  Friday,  September  21st : 

Total  Number    Cholera 
of  Deaths.          Cases. 

Total 381  202" 

The  city  in  a  short  time  returned  to  its  customary 
salubrity. 


1584 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


The  following  are  the  mortality  returns  for  St.  Louis  according  to  the  census  of  1880 : 

MORTALITY  BY  AGE,  SEX,  AND  COLOR. 


i 

1* 

1 

•e 

c 

•2 

•o 

S 

•a      '  « 

=        '  3 

•B 

C 

E 

•o 

a 

00 

«      '! 

•o 

a 

£ 

•o 

a 

E 

•9 

• 

i 

a 

a 

« 

cS 

z       a     1  8 

OS 

s 

09 

a        % 

I 

08 

I 

a 

E 

COI.OH. 

1 

I 

Under  One  Ye( 

One  Year. 

Two  Years. 

Three  Years. 

Four  Years. 

Under  Five  Ye 

N 

*0 

o 

E 

*c 
*! 

S 
gc 

Xg 

B« 

8 

e 

''- 

Twenty  Years 
Over. 

Twenty-five  Y 

and  Over. 

E 

« 
o 

| 

H 

Thirty-five  Y 
and  Over. 

2  *: 

«  £ 
o  > 

Ho 
>> 

Forty-five  Y 
and  Over. 

i* 

*0 

g 

£ 

Fifty-five  Y 
and  Over. 

Sixty  Years  a 
Over. 

Sixty-five  Y 
and  Over. 

Seventy  Years 
Over. 

Seventy-five  Y 
and  Over. 

!-• 

>£ 
>.<=> 

I 

5 

Eighty-five  Y 
and  Over. 

Ninety  Years 
Over. 

Ninety-five  Y 
and  Over. 

Unknown. 

, 

V 

3523  1305    248 

76 

57 

40 

1726 

101      56 

71 

102 

129 

166 

138 

178 

1(17 

163 

138 

1W 

104 

57 

34 

24 

2 

2 

3 

II 

F. 

27901022    220 

90 

58  42  1432 

9o      49      84 

126 

131    101    112    101 

99 

74 

75 

70 

78 

66 

54 

25 

12 

3 

1 

2 

( 

M 

394    123      33 

7 

7 

6    176 

16 

3 

9 

33 

26 

21 

28 

19 

11 

11 

9 

9 

6 

4 

7 

2 

1 

1 

2 

328 

107 

25 

19 

4 

,5 

160 

17 

10 

12 

16 

27 

15 

14 

7 

11 

6 

8 

8 

1 

7 

3 

2 

•• 

4 

Totals  

7035 

2557 

526 

192 

126 

n 

3494 

229 

118 

176 

277 

313 

303 

292 

305 

318 

254 

230 

207 

189 

134 

95 

54 

17 

6 

10 

14 

MORTALITY  BY  AGE,  SEX,  AND  MONTH. 


MONTHS. 

X 

A 

"3 

Under  One  Year. 

One  Year. 

Two  Years. 

Three  Years. 

Four  Years. 

Under  Five  Years. 

1 

Efe 

a 

OS 

S-' 

9  > 

fi 

1 

•o 
\ 
E 
8g 

a® 
I 

Twenty  Years  and 

Over. 

Twenty-five  Years 
mid  Over. 

•B 

= 
08 

1 

Thirty-Five  Years 
and  Over. 

•0 

09 

E  . 

8  fe 

>> 

1 

Forty-five  Years 
and  Over. 

•9 
§ 

E 

?  '-' 

Fifty-five  Years 
and  Over. 

•o 

a 

e9 

35 

Sixty-five  Years 
and  Over. 

Seventy  Years  and 
Over. 

Seventy-five  Years 
and  Over. 

•e 

e 
*3i 

— 
tc 

H 

Eighty-five  Years 
and  Over. 

= 

09 
to 

Ij 

p 

B 

Ninety-five  Years 
aud  Over. 

Unknown. 

Jan  
Feb  
March- 
April  ... 
May  
June.... 
July  
Aug.... 
Sept  
Oct  
NOT  
Dec  

M. 

F. 

M. 
F 
M. 
F. 
M. 
F. 
M. 
F. 
M. 
F. 
M. 
F. 
M. 
F. 
M. 
F. 
M. 
F. 
M. 
F. 

205   65 
158   37 
279   82 
223   50 
310   94 
24',)   77 
344  124 
276   86 
319  115 
242   86 
383  213 
313  158 
468  202 
327  168 
384  142 
288  119 
288  103 
269  100 
257   92 
201   64 
:«I3   77 
229   64 
377  119 
343  114 

9 
7 
17 

24 
21 
25 
31 
25 
23 
23 
16 
40 
36 
3'J 
41 
IB 
in 
11 
15 
20 
8 

18 

5 
9 
6 
9 
6 
6 
9 
24 
8 
10 

c 

4 
5 
4 
13 
5 
9 
8 

0 

7 
6 
11 
6 
12 

5 
3 
4 
8 
3 
7 
6 
5 
5 
3 
6 
6 
12 
7 
6 
8 
6 
5 
4 
2 
5 
2 
3 
6 

4 
4 

2 

4 
8 
3 

1 
2 
3 
2 
6 
1 
•1 
5 
4 
5 
4 
6 
4 
8 

87 
60 
113 
84 
131 
115 
172 
149 
156 
127 
247 
186 

217 
206 
174 
145 
137 
116 
93 
112 
91 
155 
159 

2 
10 
10 
8 
13 
10 
7 
11 
12 
13 
14 
8 

4 
10 
7 
12 
S 

it 
12 
11 
13 
11 

4 
3 

5 
3 
6 
4 
4 
5 
6 
1 
1 
7 

10 
5 
4 
11 
6 
6 

\ 

7 
6 

7 
4 
5 
10 
8 
5 
8 
3 
3 
6 
4 
12 
9 
9 
7 
13 
9 
16 

e 

9 

.s 
G 

12 
11 

10 
12 
11 
15 
13 
10 
12 
6 
7 
14 
14 
10 
8 
11 
10 
12 
9 
13 
15 
13 
14 
15 

10 

7 
8 
17 
16 
12 
15 
14 
15 
12 
6 
16 
14 
13 
11 
10 
12 
22 
10 
8 
15 
14 

13 

13 
15 
11 
6 
11 
10 
14 
12 
12 

14 
7 
21 
8 
16 
13 
19 

154 
10 
20 
8 
22 
14 

7 
7 

13 
17 
10 
19 
7 
13 
15 
14 
5 
12 
8 
11 
10 
5 
8 
10 
10 
18 
12 
19 
21 

12 
4 
15 
10 

7 
1-2 
11 
12 
9 
10 
8 
27 
13 
24 
7 
20 
7 
11 
8 
21 
11 
Bl 

ia 

8 
9 
24 
17 
23 
10 
16 
7 
18 
8 
17 
10 
23 
5 

1 

9 
5 
16 
8 
20 

S 

15 

13 

7 
16 
7 
17 
8 
15 
5 
13 
6 
10 
3 
17 
6 
12 
5 
8 
11 
18 
5 
13 
6 

11 

8 
6 
14 
7 
18 
10 
13 
11 
9 
7 
10 

<; 

13 
6 
11 
4 
14 
3 
12 
7 
13 
7 

9 

9 
5 
12 
6 

10 
6 
11 

121 
8 
7 
9 
14 
5 
11 

6 

6 
6 
10 

* 

6 
1 

7 
5 
8 
8 
12 

12 
3 
7 
8 
14 
6 
13 
8 
5 
8 
6 
5 
10 
5 
10 
13 

6 
3 

5 
5 
8 
5 
8 
8 
4 
G 
7 
6 
9 
5 
6 
2 
2 
7 
2 
6 
5 
5 
12 

2 
1 
5 
7 
2 
3 
5 
5 
4 

3 
4 
3 
4 
4 
4 
3 
4 
3 
3 
5 
6 
2 
11 

2 
2 
2 
4 
2 
3 
2 
3 
3 
2 
2 
5 
2 
2 

1 
1 

i 

1 
1 
3 

"i 

'i 

"i 

"i 

"i 

"i 

1 

1 

3 

1 
2 

i 
i 

"i 

i 
i 

2 

1 
1 

1 

1 

"i 

i 

"i 

3 

2 

3 
2 
5 
2 

i 

i 

3 

"2 

3 

14 

i 

3 

"i 
"i 

5 
5 

Males  

3917 
3118 

1428 

11211 

m 

245 

83   64 
109   62 

4(1 
47 

1902 
1592 

117 
112 

59 

59 

80 

1)6 

|86 

142 

155 

158 

187 
116 

166 

126 

108 

208 

110 

174 
80 

147 
83 

129 
78 

110 
79 

61 
73 

41 

54 

26 
28 

12 

•J 

Females  

Totals  

7035 

2557 

•r,26 

192 

12G 

93 

3494 

229 

118 

176 

277 

313 

303 

292 

305 

318 

254 

230 

207 

189 

134 

95 

54 

17 

G 

10 

14 

Among  the  annual  reports  to  the  mayor  and  Coun- 
cil of  St.  Louis  in  May,  1882,  none  are  more  full  and 
interesting  than  those  of  the  clerk  to  the  health  com- 
missioner, from  which  we  abstract  the  following  mat- 
ters of  durable  interest : 

"  During  the  year  1881  there  occurred  in  St.  Louis 
8410  deaths  from  all  causes,  which  sum  total  was  ex- 
ceeded in  the  last  fifteen  years  only  by  that  of  1873, 
when  the  deaths  aggregated  a  sum  of  8551,  and  the 
annual  death-rate  was  30.5  per  thousand.  In  that 


year  837  deaths  occurred  from  smallpox,  and  the 
deaths  from  the  seven  principal  zymotic  causes  were 
29.7  per  cent,  of  the  total  mortality.  In  the  pre- 
ceding year,  with  1591  deaths  from  smallpox,  a  total 
of  8047  deaths  occurred,  and  the  annual  death-rate 
was  29.8  per  thousand.  It  will  become  apparent 
from  a  consideration  of  the  tables  which  will  fol- 
low, that  the  advance  in  the  number  of  deaths  and 
the  annual  death-rates  has  been  universal  throughout 
the  land. 


THE   MEDICAL  PROFESSION. 


1585 


COMPARATIVE  MORTALITY  IN  ST.  LOUIS   DURING   FOURTEEN   YEARS. 


YEAR. 

Population. 

Total  Deaths. 

Death  Rate  per 
Thousand. 

Deaths  under  Five 
Years. 

1  _ 

"Si 

«s 

—  ® 

3« 

k 

f£ 

Smallpox. 

Measles. 

Scarlatina. 

Diphtheria. 

B, 

1 
0 

Whooping-Cough. 

Typlius  and  Ty- 
phoid Fever. 

Diarrhoaal  Diseases, 
under  Five  Years. 

Other  Diarrhoeal 
Diseases. 

Total  from  Fore- 
going Causes. 

Per  Cent,  of  Total 
Deaths. 

Malarial  Fevers. 

3 

15 

H 

"°% 
Jo 

1 

Phthisis  Pulmonum. 

o 

ft 

•  jj 

=  1 

3o 

k 
£ 

Pneumonia. 

Per  Cent,  of  Deaths. 

Still-Births  (not  in- 
cluded in  Mortality). 

1867  

220,000  6538 
230,<X)0  5193 
240.000  5884 
250,001.  !  6070 
200,000  5265 
270,000  8047 
280,000  8551 
290,000  6506 
300,01(0  753-2 
310,000  6019 
3-20,000  '  5(i60 
330,000  6002 
340,000  6167 
350,622  6635 

29.7 
22.5 
24.5 
26.6 
20.2 
29.8 
30.5 
22.4 
25.10 
19.41 
17.68 
18.18 
18.11 
18.92 

2953 

2582 
3225 
3449 
2585 
4058 
4H14 
34(3 
3755 
2840 
2391 
2635 
2666 
2937 

45.1 

49.7 
54.8 
517 
49.0 
50.4 
46.9 
52.7 
49.8 
47.1 
42.2 
43.9 
432 
44.2 

3 

"214 

375 
9 
1591 
837 
447 
603 
90 

28 
8 
112 
32 
39 
57 
35 
51 
70 
55 
1 
35 
25 
55 

27 
28 
55 
263 
68 
47 
22 
87 
508 
124 
40 
36 
39 
47 

48 
35 
49 
75 
68 
76 
61 
56 
160 
167 
165 
156 
141 
113 

68 
44 

51 

92 
79 
66 
78 
53 
1'i 
157 
69 
85 
62 
01 

00 
20 
59 
97 
60 
7 
30 
58 
10 
54 
70 
46 
41 
79 

194 
294 
202 
269 
174 
176 
167 
131 
131 
103 
130 
74 
11-2 
139 

173 
409 
469 
371 
221 
456 
496 
400 
378 
314 
197 
238 
477 
488 

1507 
512 
409 
534 
317 
549 
822 
295 
315 
248 
234 
213 
189 
101 

2098 
1356 
1620 
2108 
1035 
3025 
2548 
1638 
2247 
1312 
906 
883 
1086 
1143 

31.9 
26.1 
27.5 
31.6 
196 
37.5 
29.7 
25.1 
29.8 
21.6 
16.0 
14.7 
17.6 
17.2 

227 
127 
147 
180 
124 
124 
140 
88 
212 
216 
240 
279 
|197 
241 

3.4 
24 
2.4 
2.7 
2.3 
1.5 
1.6 
1.3 
2.8 
3.6 
4.2 
4.6 
3.1 
3.6 

464 
503 
671 
620 
599 
568 
751 
581 
740 
721 
686 
736 
781 
786 

7.1 
9.6 
9.7 
9.2 
11.3 
7.0 
8.7 
8.9 
98 
11.9 
1-2.1 
12.2 
12.6 
11.8 

309 
371 
410 
350 
381 
382 
510 
413 
450 
460 
427 
375 
432 
639 

4.7 
7.1 
6.9 
5.2 
7.2 
4.7 
6.9 
6.3 
5.9 
7.6 
7.6 
6.2 
7.0 
8.1 

371 
481 
421 
407 
363 
630 
514 
510 
421 
401 
467 
434 
541 
561 

1868  

1869  

1870  

1871  

1872  

1873  

1874  

1875  

1876  

1877  

1878  

1879  

1880  

COMPARATIVE  DETAILS  OF   MORTALITY  IN   NINETEEN   CITIES  IN  THE   UNITED  STATES  IN  1881. 


CITIES,  AND  TOTAL 
POPULATION. 

POPULATION, 

CENSUS  1880. 

DEATHS. 

Death  Rate  per  1000, 
Census  1880. 

Death  Rate  per  1000, 
White. 

Death  Rate  per  1000, 
Colored. 

Mortality  under  Five 

Years. 

3 

o 

<M    DO 

0,0 

.  a 
«Q 

3 

k 
<O 
PH 

47.9 
35.8 
47.9 
53.8 
38.0 
42.1 
44.4 
40.3 
27.0 
31.4 
40.9 

46'.6 
50.7 
37.9 
47.0 
33.8 
40.1 

Smallpox. 

Measles. 

Scarlatina. 

Diphtheria. 

Whooping-Cough  . 

Typhus  and  Typhoid 
Fever. 

All  Diarrhoeal  Dis- 
eases. 

1 
H 

>. 

-  ^ 
a 
*i  tt 

C   0 

3* 
1 

Phthisis  Pulmonum. 

I 

o£ 

«•"* 
oC 

3| 
1 

Pneumonia. 

I 

•s* 

*! 

3s 

£ 

•3 

I 

Whites. 

Colored. 

Whites. 

Col'd. 

New  York,  1,206,577  
Philadelphia,  840,980... 
Brooklyn,  566,689  
Chicago,  503,3(4  

1,186,144 

815,182 
558,474 
49(5,620 
356,535 
328,232 

20,433 
31,798 
8,215 
6,084 
6,00(1 
22,290 

38,624 
19,525 
14,533 
13,692 
9,015 
8,410 
8,816 
6,219 
4,178 
6,406 
4,504 
3,727 
3,972 
•2,689 
2,761 
4,49:5 
2,145 
2,049 
1,341 

37,888 
18,362 
14,223 
13,530 
8,812 
7,591 
6,719 
5,939 

"4"  127 
2,386 

"aioo'i 

2,687 
2,000 
4,315 
2,040 
865 
1,018 

736 
1163 
310 
162 
203 
819 
2097 
280 

2279 
2118 

21 
2 
761 
178 
105 
1184 
323 

32.1 
23.0 
25.6 
27.2 
248 
23.9 
205 
247 
17.8 
29.1 
25.0 
23.2 
'25.6 
23.2 
22.3 
'28.7 
20.4 
3-2.1 
31.5 

31.9 

22.6 

2f2 
24.7 
23.1 

23.9 

26.0 
19.8 

25.6 
233 
19.4 
28.3 
20.1 
24.1 
27.4 

36.0 
365 

24.2 
33.8 
36.7 

34"2 

394 
35.3 

24.8 
6.6 
27.5 
43.5 
•28.8 
42.2 
58.9 

17,737 
6,996 
6,907 
7,370 
3,432 
3,541 
3,919 
2,507 
1,136 
2,015 
1,846 

l"854 
1,5-26 
1,049 
2,169 
727 
822 
516 

451 
1336 
35 
854 
6 
5 
11 
60 
70 
5 
'   2 
1 
4 
2 
16 
448 

"io'o 

120 

429 
11 
56 
103 
110 
27 
75 
82 
S 
26 
9 
32 
32 
23 
4 
46 
25 
14 
3 

1964 
486 
651 
189 
34 
108 
215 
65 
11 
197 
23 
90 
162 
137 
10 
382 
45 

39 

2249 
449 
1170 
613 
602 
157 
639 
105 
63 
92 
105 
188 
193 
122 
21 
210 
116 
16 
24 

286 
110 
118 
168 
78 
61 
93 
36 
19 

2{ 

11 
2 
1 
37 
41 
35 
9 

606 
634 
103 
568 
204 
191 
200 
190 
90 
66 
111 
180 
109 
49 
135 
248 
38 
72 
44 

4270  26.5 
975  20.5 
3147  36.3 
1785  31.1 
1615  29.3 
881   10.8 
907  ',  24.2 
585   17.0 
84     8.1 
695  16.8 
492i  16.9 
6091  27.2 
651  29.7 
241   21.4 
234  15.2 
393  39.0 
163  19.9 
190  23.1 
75  23.4 

531213  + 

2758  14  + 
1784112  + 
1034    7.5 
1549  17  + 
913  10.8 
1206  13  + 
1900  14  + 
630  15  + 
900  14  + 
81818  + 
210'  5  + 
357    8  + 
228    8  + 

481:17  + 

382    8  + 
344  16  + 
281  13+ 
193  i  14  + 

3261  8  + 

911  4+ 
1022  7  + 
7075  + 
6847  + 
4755  + 
4665  + 
373  6— 
3087  + 
3275  + 
317  7  + 
1664  + 
253  6  + 
1274  + 
1796  + 
221  4  + 
1738  + 
834+ 
342  + 

Boston,  362.535  
St.  Louis,  350,5-22  
Baltimore  332190 

Cincinnati,  255,708  
San  KrimdHco,  233.056.. 
New  Orleans,  216,140... 
Washington,  180,000.... 
Cleveland,  160,140  
Buffalo.  155,137  

247,538 
210,515 
158,379 
120.0'  K> 
158,094 
154,292 
115,275 
102,842 
182,290 
101.211 
86,756 
37,023 

8,170 
23,441 

57,701 
00,000 
2,040 
845 
303 
20,920 
4,091 
3,646 
28,047 
5,476 

Milwaukee,  115.578  
Louisville,  123,045  
PittKl.nrfrli,  150,381  
Pmvi.letu-e,  104.857  
Richmond,  63,803  
Wilmington,  42,499  

"  The  relative  percentages  of  the  deaths  by  classes 
for  the  past  three  years  is  as  follows : 


1879.  1880.  1881. 

Zymotic  diseases 30.1  27.6  31.7 

Constitutional  diseases 216  20.4  18.8 

Local  diseases 38.9  40.0  37.6 

Developmental  diseases 5.0  7.0  7.1 

Violence  ...                              4.0  4.8  4.6 


"  It  will  be  seen  that  the  zymotic  deaths  have  ad- 
vanced four  per  cent,  in  the  year  1881  over  that  of 
1880.  This  increase  is  due  in  special  to  the  heavy 
mortality  in  1881  from  cerebro-spinal  fever,  from 
which  cause  314  deaths  occurred.  The  mortality 
from  diarrhoeal  diseases  in  children  under  five  years 
of  age  also  largely  increased,  being  686  against  488 
in  1880." 


NATIVITY  OF  PERSONS  DECEASED  IN  ST.  LOUIS  DURING 
THE   CALENDAR  YEAR  1881. 

City  of  St.  Louis 3943 

State  of  Missouri 250 

Other  parts  of  the  United  States 1586 

Canada 31 

England 144 

Scotland 32 

Wales , 3 

Ireland 787 

Germany 1330 

France 44 

Switzerland 52 

Austrian  Empire 55 

Sweden  and  Norway 25 

Russia 3 

Netherlands 3 

Denmark; 5 

Italy   23 

Other  foreign  countries 21 

Unknown 61 

At  sea 


Total. 


8410 


1586 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


STATEMENT  OF  MORTALITY  IN  THE  CITY  OF  ST.  LOUIS  FOR 
THE  CALENDAR  YEAR  1881. 


•?•*•••• 

• 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  TOTAL   MORTALITY,  1881. 


Total  deaths  from  all  causes 1889  2023  2597  1901  8410 

Zymotic  diseases 430j  682    978|  57920(59 

Constitutional  diseases 352    363    449    4181582 

Local  disease- ,  879    729    872!  68fi  3106 

Developmental  diseases 153    146    175    130    604 


Deaths  by  violence 75 

Deaths  from  zymotic  diseases : 

Smallpox 

Measles  

Scarlatina 

Diphtheria 

Croup I     25 

Whooping-cough ;    12 

Typhoid  fever 24 

Cerebro-spinal  lever 90 

Malarial  fevers ;     58 

Puerperal  fever... 24 

Diarrhoaal  disea.es  {^4^-;;;;;;;;;;;;    £ 

Erysipelas 20 

Pyaemia  and  septicaemia 10 

7 

Inanition,  want  of  breast-milk,  etc.. 

Alcoholism 

Other  zymotic  diseases 

Deaths  from  constitutional  diseases: 

Rheumatism  and  gout 7 

Cancer  and  malignant  tumor 33 

Phthisis  and  tuberculosis  pulmon ,  243 

Marasmus  tubes  mesenterica,  and  scrofula...      55 

Hydrocephalns,  tubercular  meningitis,  etc... 

Other  constitutional  diseases 

Deaths  from  local  diseases : 

Bronchitis 

Pneumonia 

Other  diseases  respiiatory  organs 

Diseases  of  the  circulatory  system 

Meningitis  and  encephalitis 

Convulsions  and  trismus 

Heat-stroke 

Apoplexy 

Other  diseases  of  the  brain  and  nervous  sys- 
tem  

Cirrhosis  of  the  liver  and  hepatitis 28 

Enteritis,  gastroenteritis,  peritonitis,  and  gas- 
tritis       76 

Bright's  disease  and  nephritis 26 

Other  diseases  urinary  organs 

Diseases  of  the  generative  organs 

Diseases  of  the  locomotory  organs 

Diseases  of  the  integument 

Deaths  from  developmental  diseases: 

Accidents  of  pregnancy  and  childbirth 

Congenital  debility,  malformation,  etc 

Senility 

Deaths  by  violence  : 

Surgical  operations 

Deaths  by  suicide 

Deaths  by  homicide 

Deaths  by  accident 

Execution  by  warrant  of  law 


103 


12 


28  31 

12  31 

21  59 

187  24 

62  157 

21  22 

9  190  411 

23  90 

12  7 

17  6 

11  4 


88  389 


5 

1  27 

35  108 

07  157 

28  68 
6  61 

87  191 

13  :;14 
116  393 

11  7S 

76  686 

62  195 

5  44 

11,  44 

3  25 

29  162 

14  70 
11  41 


1   2  12 
34   50  158 
2d7  232  91M 
65  174  103  31)7 
62 
40 


51 
36 
76 
89 
181 
105 
23 


07 


475 
182 
304 
304 
529 
108 


350 
147 


294 


28 
352 
224 

6 

84 

203 
1 


TOTAL  DEATHS  FROM  ALL  CAUSES,  BY  CALENDAR  MONTHS. 

1881.  1880.  1879. 

January 598  448  550 

February 550  461  430 

March 691  632  431 

April 725  574  397 

May 526  512  451 

June 765  692  611 

July 1036  702  693 

August 897  637  704 

September 703  551  424 

October 687  524  492 

November 678  493  440 

December...                  654  509  544 


Total 8410         6635         6167 


WARD. 

First 
Quarter. 

Second 
Quarter. 

Third 
Quarter. 

Fourth 
Quarter. 

1  

84 
44 
75 
150 
65 
39 
68 
33 
46 
117 
24 
139 
43 
96 
146 
55 
65 
72 
40 
53 
20 
22 
25 
72 
7 
13 
83 
37 

289 

93 
62 
78 
164 
111 
48 
77 
31 
69 
109 
40 
118 
48 
101 
210 
51 
84 
73 
39 
69 
19 
26 
24 
59 
6 
11 
80 
41 

337 

138 
66 
112 
238 
143 
65 
125 
53 
80 
135 
51 
209 
42 
175 
215 
90 
102 
86 
64 
104 
35 
55 
28 

"I 

12 
86 
59 

393 

100 
65 
84 
169 
98 
36 
79 
21 
79 
128 
43 
153 
33 
99 
197 
70 
70 
87 
27 
78 
30 
29 
17 
87 

12 
92 
62 

347 

2  

3  

4  

5  

6  

7  

8  

9  

10  

11  

12  

13  

14  

15  

16  

17  

18  

19  

20  

21  

22  

23  

24  

25  

26  

27  

28  

Deaths  in 
Pub.  last.. 

Total. 


415 
237 
349 
721 
417 
188 
349 
138 
274 
489 
158 
619 
166 
471 
768 
266 
321 
318 
170 
304 
104 
132 
94 
33fi 
18 
48 
341 
199 


Deaths  in 
Pub.  Inat. 


7 
22 


168 
22 


3 
18 
38 
11 


540 

37 

8 

3 

3 

96 

2 

91 

"22 


270 
1366 


DEATHS,  ABEAS,  AND   CAUSES  IN  1880. 


1 

|3 

2 

0 

|-| 

•D 

C 

•ss-=fs 

c  a 

eg 

c 

T  •-  = 

§ 

-  i  £  1  ^  2 

£ 

cS 

WARD. 

a 

g 

0 

-  fj 

H 

I.           u  =  '3 

^ 

~    IB 

00 

-5  o 

h 

-  -  -  -  '•=  3 

"3 

§"      " 

• 
o 

5^3  = 

C. 

*~~  i  =-r  - 

I 

—to 

• 

*<s(?~ 

0 

^  5  •*  -5'  *  J 

£ 

(2 

«" 

1 

£ 

1  

268.5 

17,435 

64.9 

304 

17.4 

3.3 

2  

233.8 

13,997 

59.8 

223 

lo.'J 

2.2 

3  

247.5 

14,494 

58.5 

233 

160 

2.5 

4  

316.9 

24,502 

77.3 

402 

163 

2.7 

5  

287.1 

19,445 

67.7 

207 

13.7 

2.3 

6  

284.9 

9,9  J9 

34.9 

140 

140 

3.2 

7  

265.6 

13,143 

49.4 

272 

20.6 

3.1 

8  

582.1 

6,058 

11.4 

137 

20.5 

3.7 

9  

462.8 

10,812 

23.3 

139 

12.8 

2.3 

10  

325.4 

26,904 

82.6 

397 

14.7 

2.3 

11  

670.0 

5,584 

8.3 

84 

15.0 

3.0 

12  

391.0 

28,536 

72.9 

558 

19.5 

35 

13  

3168 

8,773 

27.6 

176 

20.0 

2.6 

14  

408.4 

20,333 

49.7 

392 

19.2 

4.0 

15  

443.4 

13,562 

30.5 

161 

11.8 

2.5 

16  

7045 

11.099 

16.6 

165 

14.1 

2.3 

17  

327.1 

17,227 

52.6 

243 

14.1 

2.0 

18  

780.9 

24,073 

31.5 

292 

11.8 

1.8 

19  

864.0 

7,229 

8.3 

128 

17.7 

2.6 

20  

550.7 

12,248 

2-'.0 

137 

11.  1 

2.3 

21  

1012.0 

4,1X7 

4.1 

88 

21.0 

3.6 

22  

1332.0 

3,294 

2.4 

38 

11.5 

30 

23  

5,737 



109 

18.3 

3.8 

24  

1305.0 

12,256 

9.3 

187 

15.2 

2.5 

25  

1,015 

16 

15.7 

1.9 

26  

2,594 

44 

16.9 

4.6 

27  

4,824 

83 

17.2 

4.5 

28  



9,412 



162 

17.2 

Total.. 



350,522 



5573 

...™ 

.... 

Area  within  the  old  city  limits,  acres 12,380.00 

Population  within  the  old  city  limits,  United  States  Census, 

1880 326,940.00 

Persons  to  an  acre  within  the  old  city  limits 26.39 

Death  rate  per  thousand  for  entire  city  (excluding  public 

institution  mortality) 15.89 

Death  rate  per  thousand,  public  institution  mortality 303 

Death  rate  per  thousand,  seven  principal  zymotic  diseases 3.08 


CULTURE  AND  LITERARY   GROWTH   IN  SAINT  LOUIS. 


1587 


NUMBER  OF  BIRTHS   REPORTED   DURING   1881. 


COLOR.                     SEX. 

NATIVITY  OF  PARENTS. 

NAME  OF 

CHILD. 

Nativity  of 

Nativity  of 

u 

Kntlier 

JlotlKT 

8 

£ 

stated  only. 

stated  only. 

"% 

•o 
I 

t£  =A 

i 

i 

C    Q 

c 

c 

• 

0 

g 

•g 

"3 

— 

bo 

> 

boo 

tl  0 

P 

y 

to 

*- 

•a 

£ 

o 

+i 

tS 

e 

^ 

C 

£ 

0 

a< 

£ 

-M 

i 

p 

a 

i 

* 

£ 

i 

1 

£ 

£ 

ft 

ft 

N 

o 

ft 

2036 

1928 

108 

1066 

969 

1 

773 

724 

402 

94 

3 

i 

7 

6 

20 

1731 

305 

IG'JO 

83 

855 

765 

6.r>0 

543 

27S 

87 

6 

15 

11 

3 

27 

236 

2239 

2138 

101 

1110 

1123 

788 

820 

404 

In2 

8 

3 

1C 

2 

30 

2  j'j 

2171 

2101 

70 

1110 

1060 

1 

738 

843 

441 

'J5 

3 

10 

1 

36 

1U10 

255 

8066 

2 

Total  

7704 

362 

4147 

3917 

2949 

2936 

1585 

378 

20 

23 

44 

12 

119 

7027 

1039 

CHAPTER    XXXVI. 

CULTURE    AND    LITERARY  GROWTH    IN    ST.  LOUIS.* 

HENRY  M.  BRACKENRIDGE,  in  his  charming  little 
work,  so  often  quoted  in  this  volume,2  speaking  of 
his  renewal  of  intimacy  with  the  friends  of  his  child- 
hood, the  Beauvois  family,  in  Ste.  Genevieve,  relates 
that  he  was  "  much  amused  one  evening  with  the 
tartness  of  Madame  Beauvois,"  when  a  young  Euro- 
pean merchant,  whom  she  had  taken  as  a  boarder, 
"  adapting  his  discourse  to  the  ignorance  of  his  hear- 
ers, informed  them  '  there  was  once  a  certain  man 
called  Mohammed  who  pretended  to  have  received 
direct  revelations  from  heaven,  who  wrote  a  book  called 
the  Koran,  but  that  he  was  a  great  impostor.'  '  My 
friend,'  said  the  old  lady,  '  I  believe  you  Europeans 
look  upon  us  Creoles  (country  born)  as  no  better  than 
savages,  as  you  regard  the  savages  as  baboons.  As 
you  have  given  us  a  piece  of  news,  I  must  return  the 
favor  by  informing  you  that  there  is  such  a  place  as 
Rome,  somewhere  on  the  other  side  of  the  great  ocean, 
and  that  a  person  called  the  pope,  of  whom,  I  pre- 
sume, you  have  never  heard,  resides  there,  and  is  con- 
sidered by  all  good  Catholics  as  the  head  of  their 
church.'  Monsieur  Beauvois  and  I  laughed  heartily 
at  this  little  sally,  while  the  coxcomb  was  not  a  little 
mortified." 

It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  in  some  parts  of 
the  country  the  opinion  should  exist  that  there  never 
has  been  any  culture  nor  literary  activity  until  very 
recently  in  St.  Louis,  yet  it  is  surprising  that  such 
views  should  be  held  by  a  considerable  body  of  people 

1  The  author  is  indebted  to  Professor  H.  H.  Morgan  for  that 
portion  of  this  chapter,  indicated  in  the  text,  which  treats  of 
the  contemporary  period  of  literary  growth  and  culture  in  St. 
Louis,  beginning  about  1857. 

2  Recollections  of  the  West. 


i  to  the  manner  born.  Such  seems  to  be  the  case,  how 
ever,  and  it  will  be  a  pleasing  task  to  prove  their  error. 
The  mistake  probably  would  not  exist  were  it  not  for 
narrow  and  fallacious  opinions  in  regard  to  what  con- 
stitutes culture  and  literature.  These  cannot  properly 
be  restricted  within  one  class  of  thoughts  in  regard  to 
speculative  science,  morals,  and  art,  and  yet  there 
have  been  times  when  it  was  pretended  that  all  phil- 
osophy was  bounded  by  the  limits  of  Aristotle  and 
Aquinas,  and  other  times  when  it  was  asserted  that 
there  could  be  no  poetry  except  such  as  was  written 
by  the  rules  of  Horace  and  Monsieur  Boileau.  To- 
day, in  St.  Louis,  the  philosophical  school  of  Aquinas 
has  a  distinct  and  coherent  existence  alongside  the 
school  of  Hegel  and  Schelling  and  Kant,  and  the 
comedy  of  the  situation  is  that  each  of  these  schools 
ignores  and  denies  the  existence  of  the  other  with 
perfect  sincerity  and  good  faith. 

The  professors  of  the  St.  Louis  University,  pro- 
gressive as  they  are  in  other  respects,  will  probably 
tell  you,  if  you  press  them  hard,  that  philosophy 
cannot  go  beyond  that  dictum  of  Anselm,  "  credo  ut 
intelligam"  upon  which  rests  the  system  of  scholasti- 
cism perfected  by  Aquinas  and  Duns  Scotus."  On  the 
other  hand,  the  school  which  has  grown  up  around  the 
Journal  of  Speculative  Philosophy  looks  for  truth 
in  the  absolute  consciousness,  the  thought  knowing 
itself,  and  demands  understanding  as  the  root  of  be- 
lief. It  is  not  necessary  to  assume  that  either  school 
is  entirely  right  or  entirely  wrong,  or  that  the  ex- 

8  See  that  excellent  manual,  "Ethics;  or,  Moral  Philosophy," 
by  Walter  H.  Hill,  S.J.,  Professor  of  Philosophy  in  the  St.  Louis 
University.  Professor  Hill  says  in  his  preface  thnt  "those  ven- 
erable philosophers  of  the  oldun  times  reached  their  conclusions 
by  rigorous  logic,  and  their  conclusions  were  right  nnd  true  be- 
cause derived  by  necessary  sequence  from  matter  not  subject  to 
mutation.  .  .  .  Indeed,  there  is  little  doubt  that  nothing  is 
gained  by  theorists  who  reject  the  teachings  and  the  axioms 
received  as  certain  among  those  sagacious  thinkers." 


1588 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


demands  the  extinction  of  the 


istence  of  the  one 
other. 

As  with  philosophy,  so  with  culture,  literature,  and 
art.  The  modern  evolution  does  not  make  it  neces- 
sary to  assume  an  utter  absence  of  progress  in  the 
past.  "  There  were  brave  men  before  Agamemnon," 
and  there  was  culture  in  St.  Louis  before  the  founda- 
tion of  the  schools  of  philosophy  which  originated  with 
Professor  William  T.  Harris.  It  is  true  the  culture  of 
old  St.  Louis  was  not  very  productive  in  the  limited 
direction  of  book-making  and  lecturing  ;  its  motto  was 
prodesse  quani  conspici,  but  it  was  a  genuine,  solid 
culture  nevertheless,  and  in  some  respects  of  a  very 
exquisite  quality,  the  culture  of  the  ancien  regime 
of  France.  It  did  not  produce  nor  aspire  at  produc- 
tion, because  its  modesty  was  satisfied  with  the  mas- 
terpieces of  French,  Latin,  and  Greek  literature.  Why 
should  one  attempt  to  produce  inferior  prose  and  poetry 
when  he  had  the  classics  and  Racine,  Corneille,  Vol- 
taire, Rousseau,  Pascal,  Moliere  to  turn  to?  Why 
seek  deeper  depths  in  philosophy,  science,  and  art 
when  he  could  consult  the  memoirs  of  the  Institute 
and  the  Academy,  the  works  of  the  encyclopaedists 
and  philosophers,  all  at  his  elbow?  The  student,  the 
inquirer,  the  gentleman  of  leisure,  all  found  enough  to 
satisfy  them  in  their  libraries  and  in  the  books  sent  to 
them  by  their  correspondents  in  Paris. 

Nor  were  these  libraries  inferior  or  insignificant. 
H.  M.  Brackenridge,  when  preparing  his  papers  for 
the  Missouri  Gazette  (1811-12),  which  were  after- 
wards gathered  in  the  volume  called  "  Views  of  Loui- 
siana," had  access  to  the  library  of  Auguste  Chouteau. 
"  Here  I  found,"  said  he,  "  several  of  the  early  writers 
of  travels,  and  descriptions  of  Louisiana  and  Illinois, 
such  as  La  Houton,  Lafiteau,  Hennepin,  Charlevoix, 
etc.,  which  I  took  to  my  lodgings  to  read  at  night, 
being  always  a  night-student ;  but  I  spent  some  hours 
in  the  day  in  examining  and  in  perusing  this  fine  col- 
lection." Some  of  the  chapters  in  his  "  Glimpses  of 
Louisiana"  show  that  this  collection,  which,  it  has 
been  conjectured,  included  the  remains  of  the  library 
of  the  Jesuit  College  at  Kaskaskia,  embraced,  in 
adding  to  patriotic  writers,  a  line  of  contributions  to 
"Americana"  such  as  were  not  known  at  all  in  New 
England  at  that  time,  were  not  studied  by  Irving  and 
Prescott,  only  imperfectly  examined  by  Bancroft,  and 
never  completely  brought  to  the  front  of  appreciation 
by  Englibh-speaking  students  until  unearthed  by  Dr. 
O'Callaghan,  and  expounded  by  John  Gilmary  Shea 
and  Francis  Parkman. 

In  fact,  in  Upper  and  Lower  Louisiana,  in  the 
period  between  1760  and  1830,  there  was  a  very  fine 
quality  of  culture  among  the  people  of  the  leisure 


classes.  We  only  have  glimpses  of  this,  because,  as  we 
have  said,  it  was  a  culture  which  did  not  produce,  but 
contented  itself  with  having  information  and  knowl- 
edge for  its  own  use.  But  these  chance  glimpses 
reveal  its  fine  quality.  Note  the  instances  above, 
and  the  fact  that  Brackenridge  studied  Louisiana  law 
from  a  manual  (in  two  volumes,  quarto)  of  the  "  Cou- 
tume  de  Paris,"  which  he  found  in  Mr.  Beauvais' 
two-roomed  "  house  of  posts"  in  Ste.  Genevieve.  So, 
when  James  H.  Lucas  went  to  Arkansas  Post  from 
college,  he  found  there  a  highly-educated  and  accom- 
plished French  gentleman,  whose  influence  probably 
saved  him  from  going  to  the  bad,  and  whose  books 
and  knowledge  made  a  lawyer  of  him. 

Such  gentlemen  were  found  throughout  the  coun- 
try, and  there  were  many  such  in  St.  Louis,  scholarly 
and  highly-educated  French  and  Spanish  gentlemen, 
and  professional  men  from  the  United  States  colleges, 
whose  intercourse  could  attract  and  charm  a  man  so 
accomplished  as  J.  B.  C.  Lucas.  The  odd,  eccentric 
doctor  and  professor,  Shewe,  the  Prussian,  of  whom 
Brackenridge  delights  to  tell,  was  "  a  scholar,  a 
chemist,  a  painter,  a  divine,  a  philosopher,  a  pro- 
fessor of  languages,"  with  six  diplomas,  four  in 
Latin, — "  von  from  de  Eleziac  Academy  from  Baris, 
von  from  de  Gollege  aus  Berlin,  von  from  der  School 
of  Mines  in  Saxony,"  etc.  Dr.  Saugrain,  another  of 
his  friends,  both  in  Galliopolis  and  St.  Louis,  was  a 
man  of  fine  scholarship  and  science,  and  an  original 
microscopist.  Gen.  William  Clark  was  a  man  who 
had  made  great  progress  in  the  pursuit  of  Indian 
archaeological  subjects,  as  the  unique  museum  gath- 
ered by  him  witnessed  sufficiently  well.  What  a  pity 
and  what  a  reflection  it  is  upon  the  generation  that 
succeeded  these  early  settlers  that  that  museum, 
which  attracted  the  inquiries  of  both  hemispheres, 
was  not  retained  in  St.  Louis !  Brackenridge  has 
put  on  record  the  fact  that  Mr.  Bates  (Frederick,  the 
secretary  of  the  Territory)  was  a  man  who  "  had  an 
extensive  library,  and  whose  mind  was  richly  stored 
with  literature."  He  speaks,  too,  of  the  elder  Char- 
less,  the  founder  of  the  Missouri  Gazette,  as  a  man 
capable  of  appreciating  and  forwarding  his  literary 
pursuits. 

Nor  is  this  all.  As  he  goes  up  the  Missouri  River, 
beyond  the  limits  of  civilization,  we  have  glimpses  of 
him  and  the  trapper  and  hunter,  Manuel  Lisa, — the 
man  of  action  par  excellence, — reading  "  Don  Quixote" 
together,  with  the  yells  of  the  wild  Arrapahoes  ringing 
in  their  ears.  In  Moses  Austin's  house  at  Mine  a, 
Breton  he  came  across  copies  of  Cuvier's  ''  Theory  of 
the  Earth"  and  Sir  Humphry  Davy's  "  Agiicultural 
Chemistry,"  books  which  presuppose  both  knowledge 


CULTURE   AND   LITERARY   GROWTH   IN   SAINT   LOUIS. 


1589 


and  taste.  In  New  Madrid  he  lodged  at  the  house 
of  Madame  Peyroux,  widow  of  a  former  commandant 
of  the  place,  and  here  was  also  a  fine  library,  Peyroux 
having  been  a  man  of  literary  standing.  "  Monsieur 
Peyroux  was  the  author  of  several  publications, 
chiefly  geological,  of  considerable  merit.  In  one  of 
his  essays  he  maintains  the  opinion,  with  much  in- 
genuity, that  the  northern  lakes  formerly  discharged 
themselves  into  the  Mississippi,  by  the  Illinois  as  well 
as  by  the  St.  Lawrence." 

It  was  in  St.  Louis  that  Brackenridge  met  the  bot- 
anists Bradbury  and  Thomas  Nuttall.  The  latter,  one 
of  the  most  enthusiastic  and  distinguished  men  in  his 
science,  came  to  this  country  from  Yorkshire,  and  made 
St.  Louis  his  headquarters  while  examining  and  clas- 
sifying the  flora  of  the  regions  west  of  the  Mississippi. 
His  {;  Geological  Sketch  of  the  Mississippi  Valley," 
and  his  "  Travels  in  Arkansas,"  etc.,  are  only  two  of 
the  several  works  which  he  here  found  materials  for 
writing.  At  Baton  Rouge,  again,  our  author  came 
across  "  an  enlightened  Spaniard,  Don  Juan  Lopez, 
an  old  bachelor,  who  resembled  Don  Quixote  in  person, 
and  had  the  same  passion  for  spending  a  considerable 
portion  of  his  income  in  the  purchase  of  books,  not  of 
knight-errantry,  but  embracing  general  literature  in 
its  various  branches."  Here  he  found  the  works  of 
Feejoo,  Mariana,  Ercila,  Cervantes,  and  all  the  Spanish 
and  Latin  writers  on  the  civil  law  and  the  Spanish 
codes  and  institutes. 

Other  similar  glimpses  might  be  afforded  of  this 
high  culture  of  the  leisure  classes  in  Upper  Louisiana, 
but  enough  has  been  given  to  illustrate  the  proposition. 
The  early  French  inhabitants  of  St.  Louis  and  vicinity, 
in  fact,  maintained  a  close  and  constant  intercourse 
with  France,  and  French  culture  in  its  highest  types 
was  reflected  in  their  thought  and  speech.  They  were 
contemporary  with  some  of  the  most  active  and  burn- 
ing epochs  of  the  French  intellect,  beginning  with  the 
scientific  and  politico-economical  revolt  of  the  ency-  j 
clopsedists,  and  ending  with  the  literary  rebellion  of  i 
the  romanticists  under  Hugo  and  Dumas,  and  it  took 
active,  fresh,  inquiring  minds  like  those  of  these  quick 
Frenchmen — men  like  Lucas  and  Gratiot — to  keep 
abreast  of  such  a  rushing  tide.  The  early  American 
inhabitants,  on  the  other  hand, — army  officers,  and  col- 
lege youths  just  endowed  with  their  professions  and 
with  fortunes  and  reputations  both  to  make, — were 
thoroughly  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  English  litera- 
ture before  there  was  any  American  literature  to  speak 
of.  Easton,  Dr.  Simpson,  Col.  Hammond,  the  Bateses, 
Bartons,  Bentons,  Riddicks,  Hempsteads,  Tuckers, 
Lanes,  Charless,  and  the  circle  in  which  they  moved, 
having  classical  tastes  and  a  thorough  acquaintance 
101 


with  the  English  literature  of  Queen  Anne  and  the 
Georges,  were  eager  to  welcome  everything  new  which 
fell  from  the  pen  of  Byron,  Scott,  Campbell,  Edge- 
worth,  Wordsworth,  and  their  followers  and  satellites. 
In  addition  to  this,  St.  Louis  was  a  focal  point  for 
distinguished  European  travelers,  from  Chateaubriand 
and  Talleyrand  to  Lafayette  and  the  Grand  Duke  of 
Weimar.  These  travelers,  after  traversing  the  East, 
came  to  St.  Louis  as  to  a  place  where  they  might  re- 
fresh themselves  once  more  with  a  not  faint  reflection 
of  continental  manners  and  culture,  nor  did  they  (if 
we  may  believe  their  own  testimony)  go  away  unre- 
warded. The  mental  activity  of  at  least  the  early 
lawyers  of  St.  Louis  was  prodigious.  They  were 
giants,  earning  large  fees,  taking  a  large  and  liberal 
interest  in  affairs,  and  studying  hard  in  order  to  be 
able  to  cope  with  one  another.  We  find  Senator  Ben- 
ton  taking  French  lessons  from  Herr  Shewe,  and  giving 
more  time  to  the  midnight  lamp  than  to  the  midnight 
caucus.  Dr.  Linn,  his  colleague  in  the  Senate,  a  man 
of  very  broad  and  generous  culture,  pursued  his  pro- 
fession as  a  science,  and  made  curious  studies  into 
the  natural  phenomena  of  the  strange  region  (New 
Madrid)  in  which  was  his  home.  The  eccentric 
Judge  N.  Beverley  Tucker,  of  St.  Louis  County  Court, 
who  had  his  office,  his  library,  and  his  study  in  the 
stump  of  a  hollow  tree,  did  not  waste  the  intervals  of 
leisure  which  were  spared  him  from  the  bench.  It 
was  in  this  stump  that  he  wrote  "  George  Balcombe," 
one  of  the  best  novels  extant  descriptive  of  Western 
border  life, — "  one  of  the  most  vigorous  of  American 
novels,"  says  Gilmore  Simms,  "  as  a  narrative  of  action 
and  the  delineation  of  mental  power."  Here,  too,  he 
wrote  "  The  Partisan  Leader,"  truly  what  maybe  styled 
"an  epoch-making  book,"  for,  published  in  1837,  it 
yet  anticipated  and  mapped  out,  so  to  speak,  the  entire 
programme  of  the  secession  of  1861  as  clearly  and 
accurately  as  if  he  had  been  in  the  confidence  of  the 
leaders  who  conducted  affairs  at  Montgomery,  Ala., 
in  the  winter  of  1861.  This  book,  always  a  favorite 
at  the  South  and  much  read,  did  a  great  deal  towards 
inclining,  shaping,  and  moulding  the  Southern  mind 
to  secession,  familiarizing  two  generations  with  the 
idea,  the  expediency,  and  the  practicability  of  such  a 
last  political  resort.  It  crystallized  and  gave  a  con- 
crete form  and  body  to  the  abstract  speculations  of 
John  C.  Calhoun,  Robert  Y.  Hayne,  and  others  of 
their  opinions.  Probably  no  single  work  of  fiction, 
except  "  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,"  ever  accomplished  so 
much  in  paving  the  way  for  revolution.  Judge 
Tucker,  who  lived  in  Missouri  from  1815  to  1830, 
always  on  his  farm  in  Florissant,  St.  Louis  Co.,  was  a 
half-brother  to  John  Randolph,  eccentric  as  he,  a 


1590 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


States'  rights  doctrinaire,  but  a  man  of  remarkably 
clear,  logical  mind,  and  of  singularly  fine  reasoning 
powers.  "  In  bis  style,"  says  Mr.  Simms,  "  I  regard 
him  as  one  of  the  best  prose  writers  in  the  United 
States,  at  once  rich,  flowing,  and  classical ;  ornate  and 
copious,  yet  pure  and  classic ;  full  of  energy,  yet  full 
of  grace;  intense,  yet  stately;  passionate,  yet  never  | 
with  a  forfeiture  of  dignity."  After  he  returned  to 
Virginia  from  St.  Louis  he  became  Professor  of  Juris- 
prudence in  William  and  Mary  College. 

In  a  school  where  men  like  Judge  Tucker,  Rufus 
Easton,  John  Scott,  Edward  Hempstead,  and  Carr 
Lane  were  teachers,  and  where  such  talents  and  such 
rivalry  existed  as  at  the  St.  Louis  bar,  it  was  natural, 
nay  more,  it  was  imperative,  that  a  strong  tendency 
towards  high  and  ornate  culture  should  exist  among 
the  members.  Other  things  being  equal,  the  best- 
read  and  most  polished  orator  bore  off"  the  palm.  Ac- 
cordingly we  find  what,  for  a  new  and  wild  Western 
community,  must  be  regarded  as  a  surprising  amount 
of  literature  among  the  earlier  and  later  members  of 
the  St.  Louis  bar,  not  only  a  superficial  smattering  for 
convenience  of  ready  use,  but  deep  draughts  at  the 
fountains  undefiled  of  pure  literature,  and  those  special 
studies  of  particular  authors  and  branches  which  ordi- 
narily only  exist  in  communities  where  there  is  a  very 
advanced  state  of  culture.  Here  and  there  would  be 
a  lawyer  or  a  doctor  who  turned  his  special  attention 
to  Horace,  or  Homer,  or  Catullus,  or  the  Greek  tra- 
gedians or  comic  writers ;  here  one  who  had  read  all 
the  epigrammatists  and  satirists  ;  another  who  was  a 
specialist  in  the  works  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  fathers  ; 
a  third  who  had  made  a  study  of  the  whole  Spanish 
comedy ;  a  fourth  with  a  criiical  knowledge  of  the 
Elizabethan  and  Jacobean  drama  ;  and  a  fifth  with  an 
exhaustive  apprehension  of  the  philosophy  of  Bacon 
and  Locke  and  the  whole  sensationist  school.  One 
had  a  gift  at  quoting  from  the  Latin  poets  in  his  ad- 
dresses to  court  and  jury,  another  had  Sheridan,  the 
Coltnans,  Gibber,  Otway,  and  all  the  dramatists  of 
Charles  and  Anne  at  his  tongue's  tip. 

This  sort  of  thing  gave  a  zest  to  the  oratory  of  the 
bar,  and  influenced  it  and  the  society  collected  about 
it  very  sensibly.  No  one  can  pick  up  Hon.  Thomas 
Hart  Benton's  "  Thirty  Years'  View"  without  detect- 
ing the  fact  that  the  author,  without  being  a  very  ex- 
act or  profound  scholar  himself,  was  one  who  looked 
upon  the  possession  of  scholarship  as  the  greatest  of 
treasures,  and  was  willing  to  toil  unceasingly  and  be- 
stow immense  pains  to  bring  himself  within  the  magic 
circle.  His  work  is  elaborated  as  carefully  as  William 
Wirt's  (another  self-educated  man),  who  thought  cul- 
ture a  gem  more  precious  than  diamonds.  So  Hon. 


Henry  S.  Geyer,  a  lifelong  lawyer,  and  scarcely  aspiring 
to  become  anything  else,  used  to  polish  all  his  speeches 
as  if  they  were  cameos.  Mr.  Geyer,  by  the  way,  was 
one  of  the  earliest  persons  in  St.  Louis  to  publish  a 
book,  his  compilation  of  the  statutes  of  Missouri 
Territory  having  come  out  in  181*7.  We  discover 
the  same  scholarly  tendency  and  desire  for  classical 
decoration  in  the  false  and  egotistical  memoirs  of  Gen. 
James  Wilkinson,  and  in  the  valuable  Tennessee  Re- 
ports of  Return  Jonathan  Meigs,  both  of  them  men  in- 
timately identified  with  St.  Louis,  where  both  lived,  and 
they  are  apparent  also  in  Brackenridge's  "  Views  of 
Louisiana"  and  Stoddard's  "  Sketches  of  Louisiana," 
as  if  they  knew  that  the  people  of  and  for  whom  they 
wrote  were  at  once  scholarly,  critical,  and  capable  of 
criticising  severely  what  was  offensive  to  their  good 
taste. 

This  period  of  fine  culture  among  the  leisure 
classes,  in  the  literary  history  of  St.  Louis,  under  or- 
dinary circumstances  and  in  an  average  state  of 
society,  would  have  been  succeeded  by  a  period  of 
literary  production  and  creation.  But  neither  the 
circumstances  nor  the  state  of  society  were  ordinary. 

The  material  and  actual  crowded  in  and  pressed 
the  intellectual  and  spiritual  into  the  background ; 
flood  after  flood,  wave  after  wave  of  population  and 
material  progress  swept  over  the  germs  of  culture  and 
smothered  them  out  of  sight  under  masses  of  the 
alluvion  of  wealth  fructifying  substance,  and  the 
plants  did  not  seem  to  grow  at  all,  for  they  were 
covered  under  faster  than  they  could  shoot  up.  It 
was  a  period  of  physical  growth  and  of  the  coarse-fed 
toil  which  makes  muscle  swell  and  welter  like  the 
tight,  constricted  fold  of  the  python,  and  this  was 
swiftly  succeeded  by  the  volcanic  period  of  intense 
political  excitement,  bourgeoning  forth  into  civil  war 
and  the  thrilling  strain  of  a  four  years'  struggle  for 
national  existence.  This  whole  period  of  forty  years, 
therefore,  from  1825  to  1865,  was  unfavorable  for  the 
efflorescent  and  fruit-yielding  stage  of  literary  devel- 
opment, which  demands  comparative  restfulness,  ease, 
and  quiet.  The  plowman  in  the  field  does  not 
carve  and  engrave  his  plow-handles,  nor  does  the 
soldier  in  the  battle-front  or  the  bivouac  engrave  his 
sword-blade.  It  was  time  for  felling  the  forest,  for 
preparing  the  glebe ;  it  was  seed-time,  but  not  yet 
harvest. 

The  first  part  of  this  epoch  was  the  period  of  the 
great  irruption  of  immigration,  and  of  the  intense  and 
mighty  toil  necessary  to  clear  the  woods  away  and 
prepare  homes  for  population  in  the  wilderness.  This 
immigration  came  from  the  South,  from  Kentucky, 
Tennessee,  Virginia,  and  Maryland,  from  Indiana, 


CULTURE   AND   LITERARY   GROWTH. IN   SAINT   LOUIS. 


1591 


Illinois,  Ohio,  New  England,  Pennsylvania,  and  New 
York.  There  were  plenty  of  educated  people,  younger 
sons  of  culivated  families,  old  merchants  and  planters 
who  had  failed  in  the  East  and  who  now  essayed  the 
virgin  West,  which  offered  them  a  fair  chance  to 
"pick  flint  and  try  it  again;"  but  the  backwoods 
people  exceeded  those  of  education  and  culture,  and 
the  backwoods  manner,  with  axe  and  saw  and  plow 
and  steamboat,  overcrowded  all  culture  and  education, 
for  it  was  what  the  times  and  the  situation  demanded. 
If  a  man  could  not  put  his  education  and  culture  in 
his  pocket  and  go  to  work  with  his  hands  with  all 
his  might,  he  would  expose  himself  to  what  was  wit- 
nessed a  thousand  times  in  the  flush  days  of  the  early 
gold  excitement  in  California  and  Australia,  where 
the  "  navigators"  and  convicts  and  mechanics  got  out 
the  gold,  and  the  scholars,  divines,  lawyers,  doctors, 
and  statesmen  waited  upon  them  and  did  menial 
service. 

Necessarily  and  essentially  it  was  a  period  of  work, 
of  physical  toil,  of  the  exhaustive  labor  of  building 
an  empire  and  digging  out  roads  to  connect  it  with 
the  rest  of  the  world.  .Yet  this  labor  was  sweetened 
and  this  time  of  toil  prevented  from  degenerating 
into  the  mere  animalism  of  the  drudge  and  the  beast 
of  burden  by  the  strong,  steady  influence  of  the 
educated,  professional  classes,  so  largely  represented  at 
all  times  in  the  history  of  St.  Louis, — a  body  always 
influential,  even  by  mere  force  and  weight  of  num- 
bers, but  trebly  so  by  force  of  strong,  vigorous  in- 
tellect and  fresh,  original  characters. 

After  a  generation  had  passed  away,  and  the  city 
began  to  be  strong  in  numbers  and  solidly  built,  there 
was  a  sufficient  accumulation  of  wealth  in  the  hands  i 
of  the  commercial  and  professional  classes  to  encour- 
age the  cultivation  of  leisure  and  the  arts  and  ameni- 
ties which  wait  upon  it.  The  foundations  began  to 
be  laid  of  American  literary  institutions,  scholarship, 
and  culture  to  supply  the  place  of  the  last  expiring 
embers  of  the  old  European  culture  of  early  St. 
Louis.  Schools,  colleges,  libraries,  historical  societies, 
academies  of  science  and  galleries  of  art,  the  germs 
of  all  these  were  being  planted  in  a  purely  American 
way.  At  this  time,  however  (1848),  the  great  Ger- 
man immigration  to  St.  Louis  began,  in  consequence 
of  the  general  failure  of  the  revolutionary  upheaval  in 
Europe.  The  first  consequence  of  the  introduction  of 
this  new  element  was  disturbance,  in  consequence  of  a 
want  of  coalescence  between  the  new  and  old  factors 
in  St.  Louis  society.  The  original  St.  Louis  people 
were  essentially  and  strongly  conservative  in  politics, 
opinions,  and  morals.  Pioneers  in  enterprise  and  in- 
dustry and  all  material  objects  of  human  effort,  they 


were  anything  but  pioneers  in  thought  and  specula- 
tion. They  would  not  venture  to  lead  here,  and  they 
would  only  consent  to  follow  upon  beaten  and  well- 
known  tracks.  The  German  refugees,  on  the  other 
hand,  were  exacting  and  offensive  in  the  temerity  of 
their  radicalism. 

To  make  things  worse  and  widen  the  gulf  sep- 
arating the  two  classes  of  the  population,  the  anti- 
slavery  agitation  began  to  culminate  soon  after,  the 
Germans  all  taking  sides  with  the  abolitionists,  while 
three- fourths  of  the  remaining  inhabitants  at  first  were 
pro-slavery,  or  at  least  opposed  to  the  methods  and 
the  propaganda  of  abolitionism.  As  this  agitation  in- 
creased and  intensified,  there  was  a  serious  widening 
of  the  breach  between  the  two  classes  of  the  commu- 
nity, and  a  coalition,  political  but  not  social,  was 
formed  between  the  Germans  and  what  may  be 
termed  the  (New  England  element  in  St.  Louis,  con- 
sisting of  either  natives  of  the  Eastern  States  or  their 
descendants,  immigrants  into  St.  Louis  from  every 
part  of  the  West  north  of  the  Ohio  River.  These, 
with  some  idealogues  and  fanatics  among  them,  in- 
cluded many  of  the  thriftiest,  most  enterprising,  and 
most  useful  citizens  of  the  place,  the  men  who  put 
up  the  work-shops  and  built  the  railroads,  who  fos- 
tered industry  and  developed  trade  in  every  direction, 
— men  like  Thomas  Allen,  for  instance. 

The  breach  widened,  the  bitter  feelings  deepened 
and  intensified,  and  when  at  last  the  coalition  secured 
control  of  the  city  government,  there  was  almost  prac- 
tical non-intercourse  between  the  two  elements.  Po- 
litical violence  culminated  in  physical  violence  and  civil 
war,  and  during  four  bitter  years  there  was  almost  an 
entire  suspension  of  all  intellectual  action  and  growth, 
all  energies  concentrated  upon  doing  and  feeling, 
all  brain  and  nerve-force  directed  to  the  one  end  of 
co-operation  with  muscular  force. 

But  it  was  only  a  suspension,  not  a  paralysis  of  in- 
tellectual power,  and  when  the  war  ended  and  all  the 
new  and  fully-developed  energies  of  the  community 
were  turned  back  into  the  old  normal  and  peaceful 
channels,  a  new  epoch  was  found  to  be  inaugurated, — 
that  of  the  present, — one  of  the  strongest  elements  of 
which  was  an  energetic  and  virile  mental  vigor  which 
demanded  and  even  clamored  for  expression.  It  may 
not  have  cried  always  articulately  at  first,  but  there 
can  be  no  mistake  about  its  crying  loudly.  This 
epoch  has  been  characterized  by  a  vast  and  remark- 
able material  and  financial  development  in  St.  Louis, 
splendid  rivalries,  grand  conquests  over  time  and  space, 
far-reaching  connections,  and  ambitious  international 
alliances.  Intellectual  growth  and  expansion  have 
attempted  to  keep  pace  with  this  great  material 


1592 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


growth  and  expansion,  and  thought,  despising  the  old 
grooves  and  refusing  to  work  in  the  used,  familiar 
traces,  has  tried  to  shake  itself  free  from  tradition 
and  leap  at  once  upon  the  new  plane  of  absolute 
originality.  This  we  believe  to  be  a  fair  presentation 
of  what  is  sometimes  called  the  "  St.  Louis  move- 
ment," an  attempt,  naturally  not  always  successful,  to 
give  the  schools  the  go-by,  and  ally  the  thinking 
classes  of  St.  Louis  with  the  most  radical  opinion- 
founders  of  New  England  and  Germany.  The  attempt 
is  entirely  sincere  and  earnest  in  its  purposes  and 
honestly  original  in  its  methods,  and  nothing  but  good 
can  finally  come  out  of  it,  though  in  its  present  stages 
it  is  hampered  by  crudities  and  too  much  absorbed  in 
self-contemplation.  But  of  this  more  presently. 

We  have  preferred  rapidly  to  sketch  the  outline  of 
this  literary  progress  of  St.  Louis  before  descending 
to  the  details.  Let  us  now  go  back  and  glance  at  some 
of  the  writers  whose  names  can  be  fairly  mentioned 
in  connection  with  the  second  period, — that  of  mate- 
rial growth  and  of  the  sweat  and  toil  of  building  up 
the  city.  Neither  the  names  nor  the  written  works 
are  very  numerous, — people  had  no  time  to  spare. 
Yet  in  this  period  the  St.  Louis  University  and  the 
Washington  University  were  founded,  the  Historical 
Society  and  the  Mercantile  Library  and  the  Academy 
of  Science.  The  public  school  system  was  wrought 
out  upon  a  definite  and  comprehensive  plan,  and  all 
the  germs  planted  which  are  now  beginning  to  show 
such  an  orderly  and  stately  growth.  Of  authors 
proper,  the  name  of  Timothy  Flint  must  always  be 
associated  with  that  early  tide  of  immigration  from 
the  East,  of  which  he  was  a  pioneer  and  the  earliest 
chronicler.  Born  and  reared  in  Massachusetts,  his 
Missouri  residence  was  St.  Charles,  and  yet  all  he 
wrote  from  the  West  was  imbued  with  the  true  St. 
Louis  local  flavor.  He  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  J.  M.  Peck 
were  St.  Louisan  authors  by  the  law  of  natural  selec- 
tion, just  as  Drake  and  Hall  were  Cincinnatians. 
Hall  lived  at  Shawneetown,  and  wrote  most  pleasantly 
of  old  and  new  Illinois,  but  Cincinnati  was  the  hub 
of  his  thought,  and  so  Timothy  Flint's  and  John 
Mason  Peck's  cargoes  of  fact  and  fancy  all  broke  bulk 
at  St.  Louis.  Peck  lived  at  Rock  Spring,  111.,  but  St. 
Louis  was  his  centre,  and  his  best  work  was  done  for 
St.  Louis  journals. 

The  place  was  so  active  and  energetic,  so  entirely 
honest  and  naive  in  those  early  days,  that  it  had  a 
great  attraction  for  fresh  minds  bent  upon  frank  and 
free  inquiry.  All  Illinois  at  that  time  was  just t(  over 
the  river,"  and  Kaskaskia,  Belleville,  Kdwardsville, 
Alton  were  tributary  to  St.  Louis.  Robert  Owen 
used  to  come  here  to  escape  from  the  stagnant  pessi- 


mism of  his  impossible  perfection  at  New  Harmony, 
and  here  he  and  Madame  D'Arusmont  (Fanny  Wright) 
used  to  lecture  and  have  seances,  at  which  the  most 
advanced  radicalism  was  disseminated  without  hurting 
any  one  or  even  disturbing  the  general  good  humor, 
any  more  than  if  rose-water  had  been  sprayed  abroad 
upon  the  tolerant  air.  Here,  too,  Governors  Tom 
Ford  and  Tom  Reynolds  and  Ninian  Edwards  used  to 
come,  in  search  of  breezes  that  the  flat  prairie  did  not 
afford.  St.  Louis  was  vacation  to  them  after  Illinois. 
John  James  Audubon  used  to  stroll  in  too,  when  he 
could  escape  from  Louisville,  or  had  time  to  come  out 
of  the  woods  long  enough  to  gaze  and  see  what  civili- 
zation looked  like.  There  was  a  magic  charm  about 
the  town,  and  it  has  not  even  yet  been  civilized  out 
of  that  charm.  It  abounded  in  original  characters, 
such  as  the  active  mind  delights  to  study.  It  was 
here  that "  Mark  Twain"  picked  up  his  Col.  Sellers,  in 
"  The  Gilded  Age,"  and  gave  immortality  to  John  T. 
Raymond.  Sellers  was  a  steamboat  captain,  and 
"  Twain"  probably  clerked  for  him.  Mrs.  Farnham 
here  got  the  characters  for  her  speaking  portraits  of 
emigrant  life,  and  Mrs.  C.  M.  Kirkland  also  picked  up 
some  of  the  fioriture  which  she  needed  to  embellish 
her  comic  pictures  from  the  Michigan  flats. 

Frederic  L.  Billon  has  recorded  the  fact  that  he 
had  no  sooner  arrived  here  in  1818,  with  his  father, 
than  he  began  to  think  of  getting  materials  together 
for  a  portrait  of  the  picturesque  old  town,  and  he  has 
been  employed  upon  that  labor  of  love  ever  since, 
giving  to  it  all  the  antiquarian's  patient  research,  until 
he  is  almost  as  familiar  with  the  ancient  population 
as  he  was  with  his  own  contemporaries,  and  far  more 
so  than  with  the  present  generation.  We  look  upon 
Mr.  Billon's  work  as  almost  unique  of  its  kind,  and  it 
is  so  positively  un-American.  Who  else  in  all  this 
land  has  done,  or  attempted  to  do,  such  work,  except 
Peter  Force,  of  Washington,  D.  C.  ?  It  must  be  in 
his  blood, — the  patient,  careful  devotion  to  minute, 
microscopic  detail  of  the  hereditary  Swiss  watch- 
maker,— for  while  Mr.  Billon's  mother  was  French, 
and  a  refugee  from  insurgent  San  Domingo,  his 
father  was  Swiss,  and  a  watch-maker,  though  born 
in  Paris. 

Mr.  Billon  was  born  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  at 
the  southeast  corner  of  Third  and  Chestnut  Streets, 
on  Thursday,  April  23, 1801.  He  lived  in  and  about 
that  locality,  then  the  business  centre  of  the  city,  for 
more  than  seventeen  years.  During  his  youth  he  went 
to  school  for  some  seven  or  eight  years  to  Peter  Wid- 
dows,  an  Irish  gentleman  of  thorough  education,  a 
Free  Quaker,  who  taught  his  school  in  Church  Alley, 
adjoining  Christ  Episcopal  Church,  and  just  opposite 


CULTURE   AND   LITERARY   GROWTH    IN   SAINT   LOUIS. 


1593 


to  another  school,  under  the  charge  of  Capt.  Talbot 
Hamilton,  formerly  of  the  British  navy,  who  had 
served  with  Nelson  in  the  Mediterranean.  At  that 
day  there  were  but  few  schools  in  the  large  cities  of 
the  United  States  taught  by  Americans,  the  popular 
belief  then  prevalent  among  all  classes  being  that 
thorough  information  could  only  be  obtained  from 
those  of  foreign  birth. 

When  a  school-boy  he  cared  little  for  such  sports 
as  marbles,  tops,  kites,  and  balls,  etc.,  but  delighted 
in  athletic  recreations,  such  as  running  and  jumping, 
swimming,  skating,  rowing,  or  any  amusement  that 
required  activity  of  body  or  limbs,  long  walks,  etc. 
During  his  boyhood  he  was  frequently  indulged  in 
holidays,  and  made  many  excursions  into  the  country 
adjacent  to  the  city  in  all  directions,  even  to  the 
adjoining  counties,  from  which  he  became  familiar 
with  the  surroundings  of  Philadelphia  in  almost 
every  direction  to  the  distance  of  some  thirty  or 
forty  miles  from  the  city. 

During  the  progress  of  the  war  with  England  in 
1812-15,  he  spent  many  evenings  at  home,  reading 
to  his  father,  an  indifferent  English  scholar,  from  the 
papers  of  the  passing  occurrences  of  the  day.  When, 
in  1814,  the  British  took  Washington,  and  attempted 
the  capture  of  Baltimore  by  their  attacks  on  North 
Point  and  Fort  McHenry,  and  ascended  Chesapeake 
Bay  to  its  head,  although  but  a  lad  of  fourteen  years, 
he  was  one  of  those  detailed  by  the  authorities  of  Phil- 
adelphia to  work  on  the  fortifications  erected  south- 
west of  the  city,  below  Gray's  Ferry,  on  the  Baltimore 
turnpike-road,  and  was  on  several  occasions  a  visitor 
at  the  encampments  of  volunteers  at  Kennett  Square, 
Chester  Co. ;  at  Camp  Dupont,  on  the  Brandy  wine ; 
and  at  Marcus  Hook,  Delaware  Co.,  where  some  ten 
thousand  men  were  concentrated. 

Leaving  school  upon  the  conclusion  of  the  war,  in 
1815,  at  the  age  of  fourteen  years,  he  assisted  in  his 
father's  business,  that  of  an  importer  of  watches  and 
clocks  from  his  native  country,  Switzerland,  and  on 
the  occasion  of  his  father's  last  visit  to  his  native 
place,  in  the  summer  of  1815,  following  the  battle  of 
Waterloo  and  the  second  abdication  of  the  first  Na- 
poleon, he  was  left  in  sole  charge  of  his  father's  busi- 
ness during  his  absence  of  some  six  or  eight  months 
in  Europe,  as  also  during  his  father's  frequent  business 
trips  to  New  York,  and  south  as  far  as  Charleston, 
S.  C. 

In  the  summer  of  the  year  1818,  business  being 
completely  prostrated  in  all  the  principal  cities  at  the 
East,  and  many  turning  their  attention  to  the  "  Far 
West"  beyond  the  Mississippi,  his  father,  with  nine 
children  to  set  afloat  in  the  world,  falling  in  with  the 


popular  sentiment  of  the  day,  concluded  to  abandon 
the  city  with  which  he  had  been  identified  for  nearly 
a  quarter  of  a  century  and  seek  a  new  home  for  his 
infant  colony  in  the  West  beyond  the  "  Father  of 
Waters." 

Accordingly,  on  the  morning  of  Sunday,  Aug.  30, 
1818,  accompanied  by  his  oldest  son,  the  subject  of 


FREDERIC    L.  BILLON. 

this  sketch,  then  a  young  man  in  his  eighteenth  year, 
they  left  Philadelphia  in  the  mail-stage  for  Pittsburgh, 
three  hundred  miles,  which  place  they  reached  on 
Friday,  September  4th,  in  six  days.  From  this  point 
they  descended  the  Ohio  in  a  keel-boat,  reaching  Shaw- 
neetown,  one  thousand  miles  from  Pittsburgh,  about 
the  middle  of  October.  Thence  they  proceeded  by 
land  through  Illinois  to'Kaskaskia,  crossing  the  Mis- 
sissippi to  Ste.  Genevieve  in  a  canoe,  and  thence  to 
St.  Louis,  which  .point  they  reached  on  Wednesday, 
October  28th,  having  consumed  just  sixty  days  on  the 
route,  about  the  usual  time  required  for  the  trip  at 
that  day. 

After  spending  the  winter  of  1818-19  in  the  place 
selected  for  their  future  domicile,  and  purchasing  the 
old  stone  mansion  of  the  Labadies,  at  the  northeast 
corner  of  Main  and  Chestnut  Streets,  for  the  reception 
of  his  family  when  he  should  arrive  with  them  in  the 
ensuing  fall,  his  father  set  out  on  his  return  to 
Philadelphia  on  horseback  in  April,  1819,  leaving 
Frederic  in  charge  of  his  business,  and  to  attend  to 
the  alterations  and  improvements  necessary  to  make 
his  purchase  habitable.  He  reached  Philadelphia  in 


1594 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


May,  remained  there  a  couple  of  months,  and  left  with 
his  family  in  July,  arriving  in  St.  Louis  in  September. 
The  family  were  domiciled  in  their  new  home  at  the 
close  of  the  month. 

The  summer  of  1819  was  a  noted  one. in  the  annals 
of  St.  Louis,  for,  notwithstanding  the  great  sickness 
and  mortality  of  that  particular  year,  in  the  shape  of 
bilious  and  intermittent  fevers,  which  prevailed  to  a 
great  extent  throughout  the  settlements  on  the 
Western  waters,  it  was  the  year  of  extensive  military 
operations  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  in  extend- 
ing their  outposts  far  beyond  their  former  limits,  the 
old  frontier  post  at  Bellefontaine,  on  the  Missouri. 
Maj.  Stephen  H.  Long's  scientific  expedition  to  the 
Yellowstone  in  the  "  Western  Engineer;"  Col.  Henry 
Atkinson's  ascent  of  the  Missouri  with  the  Sixth 
Regiment  United  States  Infantry,  to  establish  Fort 
Atkinson,  Council  Bluffs ;  Col.  Josiah  Snelling's  ex- 
pedition with  the  Fifth  Regiment  to  establish  Fort 
Snelling  at  St.  Peter's,  and  other  movements  of  minor 
importance,  requiring  the  use  of  numerous  steamboats 
and  paddle-wheel  barges,  of  which  a  number  were  lost 
in  the  Missouri,  are  vividly  impressed  upon  the 
memory  of  Mr.  Billon,  that  being  his  first  summer 
in  the  then  remote  West. 

Late  in  the  year  1819  the  first  "  uniformed"  com- 
pany of  volunteer  infantry  west  of  the  Mississippi, 
styled  the  "  St.  Louis  Guards,"  was  raised  in  St. 
Louis,  of  which  Mr.  Billon  became  a  member  in  the 
following  year,  and  in  1824  received  his  commission 
as  ensign  of  the  same  from  Gen.  William  H.  Ashley, 
Lieutenant-Governor. 

In  1820  he  witnessed  the  excitements  attending 
the  adoption  of  the  State  Constitution  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  State  government.  In  September, 
1822,  his  father,  Charles  F.  Billon,  Sr.,  died,  leaving 
the  charge  of  his  widow  and  children  to  his  oldest 
son,  F.  L.  Billon,  who  had  just  attained  his  majority. 

His  first  vote  was  cast  for  the  acceptance  of  the 
city  charter  in  February,  1822,  from  which  date  he 
has  been  a  voter  at  every  city  and  State  election  down 
to  the  present  day,  as  also  at  every  Presidential  elec- 
tion in  the  State  from  the  first  in  1824,  and  was  an 
eye-witness  and  participant  in  many  interesting  events 
and  occurrences  connected  with  the  town,  city,  and 
State  governments  in  that  early  period  of  St.  Louis' 
history. 

In  the  year  1827,  while  absent  on  business  in  Phil- 
adelphia, he  was  elected  an  alderman  from  the  central 
ward  of  the  three  into  which  the  city  was  then  di- 
vided, and  in  1828  was  re-elected  to  the  same  posi- 
tion. 

On  May  20,  1829,  his  brothers  and  sisters  being 


mostly  grown  to  maturity  and  disposed  of,  he  him- 
self entered  the  married  state  with  Miss  E.  L.  Geu- 
erelly,  like  himself  a  native  of  Philadelphia  of  French 
parentage.  With  this  lady  he  passed  thirty-six  years 
of  wedded  life  until  her  death,  Feb.  4,  1865.  He 
was  the  father  of  twelve  children,  but  three  of  whom 
survive. 

In  the  year  1834,  his  health  being  materially  im- 
paired by  his  constant  devotion  to  business,  he,  by  the 
advice  of  his  physician,  the  late  Dr.  William  Carr 
Lane,  made  a  trip  to'Santa  Fe  and  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, then  not  a  trifling  undertaking,  requiring  some 
ninety  to  one  hundred  days  in  crossing  the  plains 
with  wagons  and  ox-teams,  and  returned  in  the  fall 
much  improved  in  health. 

In  1851-52  he  was  twice  nominated  by  Mayor 
Luther  M.  Kennett  to  the  position  of  city  comptroller, 
and  on  each  occasion  unanimously  confirmed  by  the 
board. 

In  1853  he  was  appointed  the  first  auditor  and 
general  book-keeper  of  the  Missouri  Pacific  Railroad, 
filling  the  position  for  five  years,  and  then  succeeded, 
in  1858,  to  that  of  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the 
same  company,  resigning  the  office  at  the  close  of  the 
year  1863,  after  some  eleven  years  in  the  service  of 
the  company.  Since  that  period  he  has  devoted 
much  time  to  literary  matters,  more  particularly  to 
the  task  of  gathering  up  the  data  and  materials  for 
an  early  history  of  the  country  bordering  the  Missis- 
sippi in  its  entire  course,  in  the  pursuit  of  which  he 
is  still  occupied  at  the  age  of  eighty-two  years. 

Lewis  C.  Beck  came  to  St.  Louis  in  1820  from 
Albany,  N.  Y.,  looked  around  him  and  took  notes,  and 
then  returning,  published  in  1823  the  first  gazetteer 
of  the  State,  and  the  pioneer  of  many  other  publica- 
tions of  this  hard-working  compiler.  Senator  Ben- 
ton,  besides  his  self-drill  in  his  library  and  that  of 
Congress,  had  a  practical  training  as  editor  before  he 
began  to  write  that  "  Thirty  Years'  View,"  that  pon- 
derous royal  octavo,  of  the  first  volume  of  which  sixty- 
five  thousand  copies  were  sold  almost  on  the  day  of 
publication.  He  used  to  write  the  notices  of  his  own 
speeches,  but  besides  that  he  was  an  editor  in  his  own 
person. 

Sergeant  Hall,  lawyer,  came  from  Cincinnati  early 
in  1817,  and  assumed  charge  of  the  paper  gotten  up 
two  years  previously  in  opposition  to  Charless'  Missouri 
Gazette,  the  first  number  of  which  had  been  issued  by 
Joshua  Norvell,  from  Nashville.  Tenn.,  in  May,  1815, 
under  the  title  of  the  Western  Journal.  Hall  issued 
his  first  number  on  May  17,  1817,  under  the  title  of 
the  Western  Emigrant,  and  two  years  later  still,  in  the 
summer  of  1819,  it  was  again  changed- to  the  St.  Louis 


CULTURE   AND   LITERARY   GROWTH   IN   SAINT   LOUIS. 


1595 


Inquirer,  under  the  management  of  Col.  Thomas  H. 
Benton.  After  the  charge  of  the  paper  passed  from 
Mr.  Hall  he  returned  to  Cincinnati. 

Edmund  Flagg,  born  in  Wicasset,  Me.,  can  show 
one  of  the  most  industrious  and  reputable  literary 
careers  in  the  country.  Graduating  at  Bowdoin  Col- 
lege in  1835,  he  removed  to  St.  Louis  and  established 
a  school,  but  subsequently  studied  law  in  the  office  of 
Hon.  Harrison  Gamble,  and  in  1837  was  admitted  to 
the  bar.  Throughout  this  period  he  wrote  for  the 
Republican,  and  at  the  request  of  A.  B.  Chambers 
made  a  stenographic  report  of  the  speech  of  Daniel 
Webster,  delivered  at  a  barbecue  in  Lucas  Grove  in 
1837.  He  also  wrote  an  ode  which  was  sung  at  the 
Fourth  of  July  celebration  of  that  year.  The  "  New 
Year's  Address"  of  the  Republican  carriers  for  1838 
was  written  by  Mr.  Flagg,  and  in  the  same  year  a  series 
of  articles  on  Western  life  and  scenery,  which  he  had 
contributed  to  the  Republican,  were  compiled  and 
published  by  the  Harpers,  of  New  York,  in  two  vol- 
umes, under  the  title  of  "  The  Far  West,  or  a  Tour 
Beyond  the  Mountains." 

During  1838,  Mr.  Flagg  became  associated  with 
Col.  S.  B.  Churchill  in  the  editorial  management  of 
the  St.  Louis  Bulletin.  Subsequently  he  edited  the 
News- Letter,  published  by  George  D.  Prentice,  at  the 
office  of  the  Louisville  Journal,  in  1840 ;  the  Whig, 
published  at  Vicksburg,  where  he  was  severely 
wounded  in  a  duel  with  Dr.  James  Hagan,  editor  of 
the  Sentinel,  the  Gazette  at  Marietta,  Ohio,  and  the 
Evening  Gazette  at  St.  Louis.  While  at  Marietta, 
in  addition  to  the  discharge  of  his  editorial  duties,  he 
wrote  a  series  of  "  Tales"  and  political  papers  for  the 
New  York  New  World,  published  by  Park  Benjamin, 
in  1842  and  1843.  After  his  removal  to  St.  Louis 
he  became  agent  of  the  Home  Mutual  Insurance 
Company,  and  in  1845  was  appointed  reporter  for 
the  State  Constitutional  Convention  of  Missouri. 
During  all  this  time  (subsequent  to  the  termination 
of  his  connection  with  the  Evening  Gazette)  he  con- 
tinued to  contribute  articles  to  the  Republican.  In 
1847  he  was  appointed  official  reporter  of  the  courts 
of  St.  Louis,  and  afterwards  wrote  several  plays,  one 
of  which,  "  Mary  Tudor,"  was  adapted  to  the  stage  for 
Mrs.  Farren,  and  was  produced  by  Sol  Smith  at 
New  Orleans  and  elsewhere  with  marked  success. 

In  the  spring  of  1848,  in  conjunction  with  Pierre 
C.  Grace,  he  wrote  the  address  for  a  mass-meeting  of 
the  citizens  of  St.  Louis  to  the  revolutionists  of 
Europe,  and  about  the  same  time  produced  the 
"  Howard  Queen,"  a  prize  tale  for  the  St.  Louis 
Union.  Soon  after  this  he  went  abroad  as  secretary 
to  Hon.  Edward  A.  Hannegan,  minister  to  Berlin. 


During  his  stay  at  Berlin  he  corresponded  for  New 
York  papers,  and  wrote  a  sequel,  entitled  "  Edmond 
Dantes,"  to  Dumas'  novel  "  Monte  Christo."  In 
1850  he  wrote  a  prize  tale  for  the  Louisville  Courier. 
For  this  and  an  address  for  the  opening  of  Bates' 
new  theatre  and  the  amphitheatre  he  received  three 
prizes  in  one  month,  aggregating  three  hundred  dol- 
lars. In  1851  he  was  appointed  consul  to  Venice, 
and  on  his  return  became  the  editor  of  the  St.  Louis 
Times.  During  this  year  (1853)  he  wrote  "  Venice, 
the  City  of  the  Sea,"  which  was  published  by  Scrib- 
ner,  of  New  York,  in  two  finely  illustrated  volumes, 
and  in  the  following  year  furnished  a  series  of  articles 
for  Myers'  "  United  States  Illustrated."  About  this 
time  he  was  appointed  superintendent  of  statistics  in 
the  State  Department  by  Secretary  Marcy,  and  while 
occupying  that  position  prepared  four  quarto  volumes 
on  the  commercial  relations  of  the  United  States.  In 
1860  he  resigned  his  position,  and  became  the  Wash- 
ington correspondent  of  the  New  Yorlc  Tribune, 
Louisville  Journal,  and  St.  Louis  Democrat.  He 
was  afterwards  appointed  librarian  of  copyrights  in 
the  Interior  Department,  and  on  the  transfer  of  the 
collection  to  the  Congressional  Library  retired  to 
private  life.  Mr.  Flagg  wrote  the  novels  "  Carraro, 
the  Prime  Minister,"  "  Francis  of  Valois,"  "  The 
Howard  Queen,"  "  Blanche  of  Artois,"  and  several 
other  romances  and  plays,  all  in  print. 

James  D.  Nourse,  who,  while  editor  of  the  St.  Louis 
Intelligencer,  died  of  cholera,  in  1854,  was  an  author 
of  prominence  and  a  contributor  to  many  periodicals. 
He  was  born  in  Bardstown,  Ky.,  in  1816,  studied 
both  law  and  medicine,  and  had  a  wide  and  varied 
editorial  experience.  His  two  novels,  "  The  Forest 
Knight"  and  "  Leavenworth,"  have  both  been  praised 
by  Dr.  R.  W.  Griswold  for  their  accuracy  and  spirit 
in  the  delineation  of  Western  life ;  his  "  Philosophy 
of  History"  won  the  commendation  of  so  fastidious 
a  critic  as  H.  T.  Tuckerman,  and  Horace  Binney 
Wallace  found  weighty  and  original  thinking  in  his 
last  work,  "  Remarks  on  the  Past,  and  its  Relations 
to  American  Society,  or  God  in  History." 

Another  of  the  newspaper  literati  of  St.  Louis  was 
John  S.  Robb  (the  "  Solitaire"  of  the  St.  Louis  Reveille 
and  of  the  New  Orleans  Picayune},  the  humorist, 
who,  in  conjunction  with  Madison  Tensas,  wrote 
"  The  Swamp  Doctor,"  a  book  famous  in  its  day,  and 
which  still  holds  its  own  with  Drake's  "  Mike  Fink," 
Thorpe's  "  Tom  Owen,  the  Bee-Hunter,"  and  Hoop- 
er's "  Simon  Suggs."  Charles  D.  Drake,  by  the  way, 
was  a  St.  Louis  editor  himself,  besides  being  one  of  the 
original  founders  of  the  St.  Louis  Law  Library.  The 
brothers,  Joseph  M.  and  M.  C.  Field,  were  prominent 


1596 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


writers  for  the  brilliant  Reveille,  of  which  Joseph  was 
one  of  the  editors.  Both  were  poets  of  no  common 
order,  and  their  verses  had  a  very  wide  circulation. 
There  was  a  certain  mingled  grace  and  fire  in  their 
timbre  which  was  exceedingly  attractive.  Joseph 
Field  was  one  of  the  favorite  writers  of  the  New 
Orleans  Picayune,  in  which  his  well-known  nom  de 
plume  was  "  Straws."  He  was  a  dramatic  writer  of 
skill,  and  many  of  his  plays  were  successful  upon  the 
boards.  He  was  very  fond  of  the  theatre,  and  was, 
indeed,  the  first  manager  of  the  old  "  Varieties."  It 
was  through  him  that  Solomon  Franklin  ("Sol")  Smith 
first  came  to  write  for  the  press  and  became  a  regular 
contributor  to  the  Reveille. 

John  Hogan  (Rev.)  used  to  be  one  of  the  best- 
known  and  most  useful  writers  for  the  press  in  St. 
Louis.  He  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  born  in  1805, 
and  came  to  this  country  in  1817,  making  his  first 
home  in  Baltimore,  where  he  was  apprenticed  to  a 
shoemaker.  He  taught  himself  to  read  by  spelling 
over  the  columns  of  the  old  Federal  Gazette,  and  so 
may  be  said  to  have  taken  naturally  to  newspapers. 
When  he  grew  up  he  became  an  itinerant  Methodist 
preacher,  and  drifted  westward  to  the  Illinois  Confer- 
ence. After  engaging  in  business  in  Edwardsville 
and  Alton,  he  removed  to  St.  Louis  in  1845,  clerked, 
was  in  the  grocery  business,  and  then  insurance  agent. 
He  began  at  this  time  to  write  those  studied  and 
thoughtful  papers  on  the  resources  of  St.  Louis 
which  attracted  such  attention  and  did  the  business 
interests  of  the  town  so  much  good.  The  merchants 
presented  him  with  a  testimonial  service  of  silver, 
and  his  political  friends  secured  for  him  from  Mr. 
Buchanan  the  appointment  of  postmaster.  Mr.  Ho- 
gan's  "  History  of  Methodism  in  the  West"  is  a  careful 
and  useful  compilation,  prepared  in  his  customary 
painstaking  way. 

The  history  of  the  press  of  St.  Louis  is  given  so 
fully  and  completely  in  another  place  that,  to  avoid 
repetition  here,-  we  are  able  to  say  but  little  concern- 
ing the  writers  who  have  contributed  to  its  re- 
sources. Joseph  Charless,  the  founder  of  the  Gazette, 
not  content  with  being  a  simple  editor,  with  patient 
toil  and  study,  sought  to  grasp  at  his  ideal  of  literary 
excellence  in  scholarship  and  style.  His  successor, 
Nathaniel  Paschall,  had  the  same  thirst  for  letters, 
and  studied  as  patiently  to  excel.  No  editor  ever 
wielded  the  leading  writer's  pen  for  a  longer  time  or 
to  a  better  purpose  than  Mr.  Paschall.  He  was  a 
recognized  force,  an  embodied  influence  in  the  com- 
munity, and  always  for  the  community's  advantage 
and  betterment,  writing  solid  argument  on  the  truth's 
side,  for  the  truth's  sake,  and  without  abuse  or  per- 


sonality. In  this  good  work  George  Knapp  has 
always  been  by  his  side, — a  man,  self-made,  who 
deserved  all  his  successes  and  prosperity. 

Charles  Keemle,  born  in  Philadelphia  in  1800,  was 
as  early  as  1817  in  charge  of  the  St.  Louis  Emigrant, 
the  second  journal  west  of  the  Mississippi,  afterwards 
merged  in  the  Inquirer.  Keemle's  life  bristled  with 
adventure.  He  went  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  as 
clerk  to  the  American  Fur  Company  before  he  had 
attained  his  majority,  and  fought  a  desperate  battle 
on  the  Yellowstone  fifteen  years  before  Custer  was 
born.  He  had  half  a  dozen  newspapers  in  St.  Louis 
at  different  times,  and  filled  many  public  offices.  He, 
with  J.  M.  Field  and  his  brother,  founded  the  Re- 
veille in  1845,  and  during  the  five  years  of  its  exist- 
ence it  was  undoubtedly  the  best  literary  paper  in  the 
West. 

„  The  late  Thomas  Allen  was  what  might  be  called  a 
born  newspaper  man,  and  if  his  fortunes  had  required 
it  he  could  readily  have  made  his  living  as  editor, 
leader-writer,  correspondent,  or  literary  contributor. 
He  had  the  talent,  the  aptitude,  the  training,  and  the 
taste  which  go  to  make  the  first-class  utility  man  for 
the  press.  Part  of  one  of  his  letters  to  An"drew  Jack- 
son Downing,  of  the  Horticulturist,  quoted  in  another 
part  of  this  work,  reveals  what  must  be  considered  as 
a  rare  faculty  for  the  delicate  and  difficult  parts  of 
authorship.  He  was  in  boyhood  a  pupil  of  Mark 
Hopkins,  and  that  great  teacher  never  had  better 
material  put  under  his  hands  to  shape.  Allen  began 
to  write  from  the  jump,  and  edited  a  juvenile  Miscel- 
lany before  he  was  sixteen.  While  studying  law  his 
pen  earned  his  support,  and  he  edited  a  family  maga- 
zine so  well  that  he  ran  it  up  to  twenty  thousand 
subscribers.  In  1837  he  started  a  newspaper  in 
Washington  City,  and  got  the  public  printing,  in  spite 
of  Blair  &  Rives  and  Gales  &  Seaton.  In  1842  he 
came  to  St.  Louis.  Here,  without  identifying  him- 
self with  the  press,  he  wrote  much,  and  his  pamph- 
lets are  notable  for  the  apposite  manner  and  force 
with  which  the  marrow  of  a  subject  is  probed.  None 
ever  knew  better  than  Mr.  Allen  how  to  say  the  right 
thing  in  the  right  place,  and  to  say  it  forcibly  without 
offense,  and  genially  without  dulling  the  edge  of  the 
argument. 

Hon.  John  Fletcher  Darby  rounded  up  the  leisure 
and  slippered  ease  of  a  long  and  useful  life  in  St. 
Louis  by  contributing  his  "  Personal  Recollections" 
to  the  press.  These  were  collected  into  a  neat  and 
comely  volume  before  he  died,  and  this  kindly  and 
single-hearted  old  gentleman  could  not  have  a  more 
appropriate  or  better  monument.  The  book  is  as 
unpretentious  as  it  is  valuable,  such  a  fund  of  rem- 


CULTURE   AND   LITERARY   GROWTH   IN   SAINT   LOUIS. 


1597 


iniscence  as  each  succeeding   age  will  treasure    the 
more  dearly  as  it  recedes  from  the  present. 

Dr.  M.  L.  Linton,  a  professor  in  the  St.  Louis 
University,  medical  department,  and  a  leading  physi- 
cian, established  the  St.  Louis  Medical  Journal  in 
1843,  and  has  written  professional  works  which  bear 
the  stamp  of  great  ability.  Of  such  is  his  "  Out- 
lines of  Pathology,"  a  text-book  in  several  colleges, 
and  consulted  both  East  and  West.  Dr.  Charles  A. 
Pope,  Linton 's  colleague,  classmate,  and  contempo- 
rary, is  at  least  his  equal  in  literary  ability,  and  his  su-  j 
perior  in  wide-spread  surgical  renown.  As  the  eighth 
president  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  he 
took  a  position  which  was  national  in  its  prominence,  j 

It  was  in  the  school  of  Benton,  Geyer,  Easton,  and  j 
the  other  brilliant  luminaries  of  the  St.  Louis  bar 
that  Judge  Wilson  Primni  learned  to  embellish  his 
legal  attainments  with  the  decorative  apparatus  of 
literature.  Well  did  he  weave  the  ornamental  and 
the  useful  together,  so  that  one  could  scarce  distin- 
guish the  essential  from  the  non-essential  in  his 
speeches  and  addresses,  full  of  fire  and  flow,  full 
of  scholarship,  and  full,  also,  of  quaint  antiquarian 
lore,  such  as  only  the  enthusiast  would  think  of 
gathering  together  from  the  disjointed  memories  and 
babbling  lips  of  granddames  and  nurses.  Out  of 
these,  however,  Primm  was  skillful  to  frame  a  con- 
nected and  coherent  narrative,  and  capable  to  launch 
it  with  sensational  effect  upon  his  roused  and  excited 
audiences.  Probably  nothing  ever  did  so  much 
towards  rousing  a  genuine  inquiry  and  a  sympa- 
thetic interest  in  the  cradle  period  of  St.  Louis  as 
the  several  commemorative  addresses  of  Wilson 
Primm,  which,  in  addition  to  their  sincerity  and 
fire,  are  literary  productions  of  merit  and  value,  em-  j 
bellished  with  neat  classical  touches,  and  not  too 
florid  in  style  for  the  theme  and  the  occasion.  It 
was  upon  one  of  these  very  occasions,  by  the  way,  if 
we  mistake  not,  or  a  nearly  similar  one,  that  the  Abbe" 
Adrian  Rouquette,  of  Louisiana,  seminarian  of  New 
Orleans,  and  recluse  of  Mandeville,  St.  Tammany,  de- 
livered his  animated  and  eloquent  French  discourse 
at  the  St.  Louis  Cathedral,  keeping  up  and  re- 
newing, with  singular  appropriateness  and  excellent 
effect,  the  old  connection  and  kinship  between  Upper 
and  Lower  Louisiana.  Judge  John  Marshall  Krum, 
one  of  Primm's  associates  and  contemporaries,  was 
the  author  of  a  most  laborious  work,  "  Missouri  Jus 
tice."  Maun  Butler,  the  original  and  vigorous  his- 
torian of  Kentucky,  was  practicing  law  in  St.  Louis 
at  the  time  he  began  the  preparation  of  his  work,  to 
complete  which  he  had  to  remove  to  Louisville,  in 
order  to  consult  the  State's  records. 


Right  Rev.  Cicero  Stephens  Hawks,  D.D.,  Bishop 
of  Missouri  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  was 
another  scholar  of  comprehensive  and  signal  ability, 
worthy  representative  of  a  family  eminent  in  literature 
and  the  church.  He  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  Mis- 
souri at  the  early  age  of  thirty-two  years,  and  he 
wrote  some  things  which  make  us  regret  that  the 
church  had  superior  claims  upon  him  to  literature. 
Two  of  the  brightest  of  our  early  juvenile  series,  quite 
the  pioneers  in  that  difficult  but  most  fascinating  walk 
of  letters,  were  edited  by  him, — Harpers'  "  Boys'  and 
Girls'  Library"  and  Appleton's  "Library  for  my 
Young  Countrymen,"  the  latter  one  of  the  best  of 
the  kind  ever  published  anywhere.  Dr.  Hawks  also 
wrote  several  of  the  volumes  of  "  Uncle  Philip's  Con- 
versations," and  was  the  author  of  "  Friday  Chris- 
tian, the  First-Born  of  Pitcairn's  Island."  Old  boys 
of  fifty  will  remember  these  books  with  the  kindliest 
and  most  friendly  interest,  as  the  friends  whom  they 
took  to  bed  with  them  that  they  might  hold  converse 
together  by  surreptitious  candle-light. 

Rev.  N.  L.  Rice,  D.D.,  was  pastor  of  the  Second 
Presbyterian  Church  of  St.  Louis.  Dr.  Rice  wrote 
many  tracts  and  pamphlets,  revealing  profound  ac- 
quaintance with  theology,  skill  in  dialectic  fence,  and 
that  gaudia  certaminis  which  drives  so  many  of  his 
brethren  to  plunge  to  the  neck  in  the  hot  waters  of 
polemical  controversy.  His  "  Debates  on  Baptism," 
his  "Debates  on  Slavery  and  Universal  Salvation," 
and  his  tract  against  "  Romanism"  are  still  remem- 
bered by  persons  of  his  way  of  thinking.  Rev.  Wil- 
liam Stephen  Potts,  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  president  of  Marion  College,  etc.,  whose  con- 
nection with  St.  Louis  began  in  1828,  published  many 
sermons  and  addresses,  and  he  is  ranked  very  high 
among  divines  of  literary  ability  by  Dr.  Sprague  in 
his  "  Annals  of  the  Pulpit." 

In  1867  died  Edward  William  Johnston,  a  littera- 
teur and  newspaper  writer  of  very  rare  and  unusual 
talent  and  experience.  He  was  sixty-eight  years  old, 
native  of  Virginia,  brother  of  Gen.  Joseph  E.  John- 
ston, and  a  man  of  very  high  culture  and  delicate 
literary  perceptions.  In  early  youth  he  was  Professor 
of  History  and  Belles-Lettres  in  the  University  of 
South  Carolina,  but  abandoned  the  professor's  chair 
for  journalism.  He  was  first  associated  with  John 
Hampden  Pleasants  in  the  editorial  management  of 
the  Richmond  Whig.  Afterwards,  for  ten  years,  he 
was  associated  with  the  National  Intelligencer  as  lit- 
erary editor  of  that  journal.  He  was  subsequently 
connected  with  the  editorial  staff  of  the  New  York 
Times,  and  is  remembered  for  his  brilliant  correspond- 
ence with  the  Philadelphia  North  American  and  the 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Louisville  Journal.  In  1855  he  came  to  St.  Louis, 
and  was  associated  with  Mr.  Mitchell  in  the  editorial 
direction  of  the  Intelligencer.  When  the  Leader  was 
established,  Mr.  Johnston  was  invited  to  take  the  place 
of  associate  editor  of  that  journal.  He  continued  in 
that  relation  till  the  paper  closed  its  career,  when  he 
was  elected  librarian  of  the  Mercantile  Library  in 
1858,  occupying  that  post  for  three  years.  In  that 
capacity  his  rare  knowledge  of  books  and  his  famil- 
iarity with  the  whole  range  of  literature,  his  judgment 
and  taste  made  him  a  most  valuable  auxiliary  in  build- 
ing up  that  magnificent  library,  and  establishing  its 
character  as  one  of  solid  and  substantial  value  in  the 
various  departments  of  science,  philosophy,  history, 
and  general  literature.  A  catalogue  of  the  library 
was  compiled  by  him,  the  principle  of  its  arrange- 
ment and  classification  being  his  own. 

Mr.  Johnston  was  conspicuous  for  the  versatility 
and  range  of  his  knowledge,  for'  his  refined,  discern- 
ing taste,  and  his  ripe,  masculine  judgment.  He 
thought  robustly,  had  the  courage  of  his  opinions,  and 
could  state  them  with  suave  courtesy  in  a  style  as  cor- 
rect and  graceful  as  it  was  brilliant  and  vigorous. 

The  history  of  St.  Louis  University  is  elsewhere 
written,  but  it  deserves  mention  here  in  connection 
with  the  development  and  promotion  of  literature  and 
culture  in  the  city.  The  people  who  founded  this 
university  were  highly  educated,  and  as  capable  of 
appreciating  the  value  of  education  as  any  religious 
denomination  in  the  world.  The  Jesuit,  indeed, 
counts  upon  ruling  the  world  as  much  by  force  of 
superior  knowledge  and  wisdom  as  by  the  superior 
quality  of  his  faith.  St.  Louis  was  the  Western 
outpost  of  civilization,  and  the  church  and  it  should 
be  strongly  guarded.  Bishop  Dubourg,  Bishop 
Rosatti,  the  neighboring  bishops,  Flaget,  of  Bards- 
town,  and  Brute,  of  Vincennes,  and  Fathers  Van 
Quickenbourne,  Verhaegen,  Vandervelde,  Ellet,  Car- 
roll, Van  Assche,  and  De  Smct^  who  were  all  associ- 
ated with  the  foundation  of  the  university,  were 
men  of  exceptional  learning  and  culture,  well  bred, 
highly  educated,  and  many  of  them  born  to  affluence 
and  rank.  Who  does  not  know  the  history,  the 
labor,  the  toils  and  triumphs  of  De  Smet,  a  Jesuit 
worthy  to  be  the  successor  of  Brebauf  and  L'Alle- 
mand,  of  Jogues  and  Marquette?  His  simple  and 
naive  account  of  his  mission  work  has  all  the  attrac- 
tiveness of  a  romance.  Is  it  not  a  romance, — the 
romance  of  religious  devotion  ?  De  Smet  sleeps  and 
is  at  rest  in  beautiful  Florissant,  but  his  work  goes 
nobly  on.  We  will  not  pretend  to  enumerate  the 
literary  achievements  of  the  professors  and  graduates 
of  St.  Louis  University. 


Does  Oscar  W.  Collet,  now  the  genial  secretary  of 
the  Missouri  Historical  Society,  recollect  the  speech 
which,  in  1837,  while  he  was  still  a  student,  he  fired 
off  at  Daniel  Webster  when  that  statesman  visited 
the  University  ?  It  was  young  then,  like  Mr.  Collet. 
It  has  reached  a  grown  age  now,  like  Mr.  Collet,  and 
doubtless  can  look  back  upon  its  past  career  with  a 
satisfactory  amount  of  complacency.  To-day  the 
institution  is  doing  very  good  work,  never  better, 
and  it  deserves  the  esteem  in  which  it  is  held. 

Among  the  fine  scholars  who  have  taught  in  this 
university  we  may  name  Professor  Rudolph  Leonard 
Tafel,  Ph.D.,  who  emigrated  to  the  United  States  in 
1847,  and  became  Professor  of  Modern  Languages 
and  Comparative  Philology  in  the  university.  He 
has  written  an  "  English  Pronunciation  and  Orthog- 
raphy," translated  Le  Bois  de  Guays'  "  Letters"  into 
German,  and  written  a  volume  on  Emanuel  Sweden- 
borg.  In  conjunction  with  his  father,  he  published  in 
1860  a  work  on  "  Latin  Pronunciation  and  the  Latin 
Alphabet,"  and  he  has  written  several  articles  for  the 
"  Bibliotheca  Sacra."  John  Frederick  Leonard  Tafel, 
his  father,,  has  a  still  more  considerable  record.  He 
too  lived  in  St.  Louis,  after  having  been  Professor 
of  Languages  at  Urbana  (Ohio)  University.  Be- 
fore emigrating  to  the  United  States  he  taught  in 
the  Gymnasiums  of  Ulna  and  Stuttgart  and  the  Acad- 
emy of  Schorndorf,  being  an  alumnus  of  Tubingen. 
In  1836  he  wrote  a  book  in  defense  of  the  Hamil- 
tonian  system  of  teaching,  and  he  published  many 
text-books  on  the  modern  languages  in  accordance 
with  this  system.  The  subject  of  school  reform  and 
radical  changes  in  all  the  principles  and  practices  of 
pedagogy  engaged  his  earnest  attention.  He  edited 
and  published  a  complete  edition  of  Livy,  and  made 
German  translations  of  Xenophon's  Anabasis,  Dio 
Cassius,  the  greater  part  of  Scott's  novels,  with  one 
each  of  Cooper's,  Dickens',  and  Thackeray's.  He 
also  wrote  two  theological  works,  "  Staat  und  Christ- 
enthum"  and  "  Der  Christ  und  der  Atheist,"  and  at 
different  times  was  editor  of  the  Ausland  (published 
by  Cotta),  the  Reichstag  Zeitung.  and  the  Beobachter. 
To  crown  all,  he  published  a  "  New  and  Complete 
English-German  and  German-English  Pocket  Dic- 
tionary." 

We  have  already  alluded  indirectly  to  some  of  the 
work  of  Professor  Walter  H.  Hill,  S.J.,  who  fills  the 
chair  of  moral  philosophy  in  the  St.  Louis  Uni- 
versity. He  has  written  a  treatise  on  "  General 
Metaphysics,  or  Logic  and  Ontology,"  in  addition  to 
his  "  Moral  Philosophy,"  and  is,  moreover,  the  his- 
toriographer of  the  institution, — a  man  profoundly 
read  in  the  works  upon  the  scholastic  philosophy,  and 


CULTURE  AND   LITERARY   GROWTH   IN   SAINT   LOUIS. 


1599 


with  quite  a  faculty  for  direct  logical  statement.  In- 
deed, it  would  be  impossible  for  any  one  to  reason 
more  close  to  the  line.  He  follows  the  syllogism  as 
closely  as  the  plowman  follows  the  plow  in  the 
newly-opened  furrow.  It  is  seldom  that  we  come 
across  text-books  so  learned  as  those  two  tractates  of 
Professor  Hill.  They  are  founded  upon  Aristotle,  to 
the  Latin  versions  of  whom  there  are  continual  mar- 
ginal references  ;  but  the  references  do  not  stop  here. 
They  show  an  acquaintance  with  all  the  commentators 
and  with  all  the  shining  lights  of  the  scholastic  phi- 
losophy. Irenfeus,  Billuart,  Suarez,  Lessius,  Mill, 
Blackstone,  St.  Augustine,  Becanus,  Gonat,  Des 
Charmes,  Gotti,  St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  Gregory  Ni- 
censis,  Jeremy  Bentham,  Brande,  Aulus  Gellius,  Sir 
John  Fortescue,  Kent,  Sir  Francis  Palgrave,  Jus- 
tinian, Tacitus,  Plato,  Seneca,  Isidore,  Paley,  Bar- 
tolus,  Cajalan,  Cardinalis,  Toleti,  Wheaton,  Vattel, 
Judge  Dillon,  Timothy  Walker,  De  Maistre,  Hobbes, 
Rousseau,  Monboddo,  Cornelius  a,  Lapide,  Bellar- 
mine,  Bishop  Ullathorne,  Orestes  A.  Brownson,  Pub- 
lius  Syrus,  Cardinal  Manning,  each  in  his  turn, 
ancient  or  modern,  renowned  or  obscure,  is  made  to 
contribute  something  to  strengthen  the  learned  author's 
argument  or  illustrate  his  position. 

It  must  be  confessed  that  the  above  is  a  rather 
meagre  record  to  cover  the  literary  performances  of 
nearly  forty  years.  But  it  was,  as  we  have  said  be- 
fore, the  period  of  action  and  muscular  growth,  and 
not  the  period  of  brain-work,  and  especially  the  re- 
flective work  of  the  brain.  As  the  eloquent  William 
Henry  Milburn,  the  blind  preacher,  said  in  one  of 
his  lectures,  "  The  demands  upon  American  mind 
have  been  of  too  pressing  and  urgent  a  character  to 
allow  it  to  devote  much  time  or  attention  to  the  spe- 
cific pursuit  of  letters.  Here  was  a  continent  to  sub- 
due ,  a  wilderness  to'  be  reclaimed  ;  mountains  to  be 
scaled  ;  lakes,  oceans,  and  gulfs  to  be  joined  together; 
and  meantime  the  supplies  for  daily  necessity  and 
daily  consumption  to  be  raised  and  conveyed  to  mar- 
ket. Men  must  have  bread  before  books.  Men 
must  build  barns  before  they  establish  colleges.  Men 
must  learn  the  language  of  the  rifle,  the  axe,  and  the 
plow  before  they  learn  the  lessons  of  Grecian  and 
Roman  philosophy  and  history  ;  and  to  these  pursuits 
was  the  early  American  intellect  obliged  to  devote 
itself  by  a  sort  of  simple  and  hearty  and  constant 
consecration.  There  was  no  possibility  of  escape,  no 
freedom  or  exemption  from  this  obligation." 

This  exactly  fits  the  case  of  the  transition  period 
we  have  been  describing  in  the  history  of  the  litera- 
ture of  St.  Louis.  For  the  period  which  succeeded 
it,  the  modern  and  contemporary  period,  we  present 


the  following  record,  prepared  for  the  present  work 
by  Professor  H.  H.  Morgan,  of  St.  Louis.  We  must 
say  that  in  many  instances  we  do  not  accept  Mr. 
Morgan's  conclusions,  and  are  far  from  approving  his 
judgments,  though  we  do  not  for  a  moment  question 
his  sincerity.  But  his  facts  have  been  carefully 
gathered,  and  are  laboriously  put  together  and  skill- 
fully grouped,  and  with  these  facts  before  him  (the 
essential  matter,  after  all)  the  reader  will  easily  be  able 
to  form  his  own  conclusions. 

Mr.  Morgan  thinks  and  contends  that  "  the  lit- 
erary interests  of  St.  Louis  are  recent.  For  a  long 
period  politics,  the  press,  and  occasions  of  cere- 
mony absorbed  all  the  energies  of  our  writers.  To 
be  sure,  there  have  always  been  individual  citizens 
who,  like  Dr.  Eliot,  have  kept  alive  their  enthusiasm 
for  literature  and  the  other  fine  arts ;  but  the  influ- 
ence of  these  individuals,  while  uniformly  great, 
could  not  make  short  the  period  which  elapsed  be-, 
fore  the  results  of  their  labors  should  become  mani- 
fest. Continuous  progress  began  about  1857,  when 
Dr.  W.  T.  Harris  removed  to  St.  Louis  and  formed 
the  acquaintance  of  Governor  Brockmeyer,  whose 
stimulating  influence  has  counted  for  so  much  in  our 
city,  while  at  the  same  time  his  written  work  has 
been  anything  but  voluminous.  This  acquaintance 
led  to  an  active  interest  in  metaphysics,  and  was 
directly  productive  of  the  Philosophical  Society. 
The  original  membership  of  this  body  embraced 
Governor  Brockmeyer,  Dr.  Harris,  D.  J.  Snider, 
Judge  Jones,  Dr.  Hall,  Dr.  Walters,  C.  F.  Childs, 
Professor  Howison,  Dr.  Hammer,  and  B.  A.  Hill, 
and  their  efforts  had  sufficient  validity  to  justify 
visits  from  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  A.  Bronson  Al- 
cott,  Mrs.  Julia  Ward  Howe,  and  others  of  the  spec- 
ulative illuminati  of  the  East.  Out  of  this  society 
there  naturally  grew  the  publication  of  The  Journal 
of  Speculative  Philosophy,  the  earliest  Western  peri- 
odical of  more  than  local  reputation  and  influence. 
Through  his  work  upon  the  Journal,  and  his  ad- 
dresses and  reports  while  acting  as  superintendent  of 
our  public  schools,  Dr.  Harris  gave  to  much  of  the 
literary  effort  of  St.  Louis  a  distinctive  character,  and 
drew  around  him,  either  for  co-operation  or  oppo- 
sition, almost  all  who  were  interested  in  intellectual 
activity.  The  third  step  was  the  publication  of  The 
Western,  in  1875,  a  miscellaneous  magazine,  begun 
by  those  who  1'ecognized  Dr.  Harris  as  the  most  emi- 
nent figure  in  our  local  life.  The  welcome  given 
both  by  the  Journal  and  by  the  Western  to  sterling 
contributions,  irrespective  of  the  section  from  which 
they  proceeded,  soon  made  St.  Louis  known  to  stu- 
dents throughout  the  country. 


1600 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


"  The  fourth  step  in  this  movement  was  the  estab- 
lishment of  clubs,  which  drew  together  men  like  Gov- 
ernor Brockmeyer,  W.  T.  Harris,  F.  L.  Soldan,  Pro- 
fessor Howison,  D.  J.  Snider,  A.  E.  Kroeger,  Thomas 
Davidson,  B.  V.  B.  Dixon,  F.  E.  Cook,  H.  H.  Morgan, 
William  M.  Bryant ;  and  from  among  the  ladies  of 
the  city,  Miss  Mary  E.  Beedy,  Miss  A.  C.  Brackett, 
Miss  Grace  C.  Bibb,  Miss  Fannie  M.  Bacon,  Miss  Sue 
V.  Beeson.  Miss  Julia  A.  Dutro,  Mrs.  E.  S.  Morgan, 
Miss  Gertrude  Garrigues,  and  Miss  Hope  Goodson. 
The  fifth  stage  was  the  formation  of  classes  of  ladies 
by  Dr.  Harris,  D.  J.  Snider,  F.  L.  Soldan,  W.  M. 
Bryant,  B.  V.  B.  Dixon,  Professor  J.  K.  Hosmer,  and 
Rev.  J.  C.  Learned.  These  classes,  having  chosen  one 
of  these  gentlemen  as  director,  studied  the  philosophy 
of  history,  the  philosophy  of  art,  Shakespeare,  Greek 
poetry,  or  German,  French,  and  Italian  literature. 
Simultaneous  with  this  period  was  the  beginning  of 
clubs  which  do  or  do  not  represent  the  direct  influ- 
ence of  Dr.  Harris  and  his  co-laborers.  The  Novel 
Club  flourished  for  several  years,  and,  under  the  lead- 
ership of  Rev.  John  Snyder,  Professor  J.  K.  Hosmer, 
Professor  M.  S.  Snow,  Judge  Thayer,  and  Mrs.  Hope 
Goodson  Reed,  accomplished  much  of  value.  Subse- 
quently, but  sufficiently  near  in  time  to  find  this  a 
proper  place  for  mention,  there  were  formed  numerous 
clubs  of  ladies,  who  met  to  pursue  some  study.  A 
club  met  at  the  house  of  Mrs.  Charles  Nagel  and  pur- 
sued the  study  of  Greek  history,  specially  Greek 
literary  history.  Another  group  of  ladies  gathered 
around  Mrs.  Dr.  W.  E.  Fischel  and  took  up  the 
medieval  history.  Other  associations  of  similar  char- 
acter were  carried  on  at  the  homes  of  Mrs.  Nathan 
Stevens,  Mrs.  Dr.  Briggs,  and  Mrs.  William  Ware. 

"  The  sixth  stage  introduced  classes  which  met 
under  the  special  conduct  of  gentlemen  such  as  Dr. 
Harris,  D.  J.  Snider,  William  M.  Bryant,  Professor 
J.  K.  Hosmer,  F.  L.  Soldan,  and  B.  V.  B.  Dixon. 
Miss  Susie  Blow,  Mrs.  J.  W.  Noble,  and  Mrs.  R.  J. 
Lackland  were  the  most  earnest  movers  for  this  spe- 
cial activity.  The  seventh  and  present  stage  has  in- 
troduced the  formation  of  similar  classes  upon  the 
part  of  gentlemen,  and  these  classes  include  many  of 
our  most  capable  students  as  well  as  large  numbers  of 
our  most  promising  young  men. 

"  These  stages  represent  what  has  sometimes  been 
called  the  '  St.  Louis  movement.'  To  Governor 
Brockmeyer  is  due  the  honor  of  its  inauguration  and 
the  responsibility  for  its  special  characteristics;  to 
Dr.  Harris  is  due  the  credit  of  working  out  in  con- 
crete form  and  upon  a  large  scale  an  influence  which 
in  its  inception  was  wholly  individual.  The  '  St. 
Louis  movement'  may  be  sufficiently  characterized  as 


an  attempt  to  find  the  idea  which  inspires  and  con- 
trols all  rhetorical  and  literary  forms  which  are  not 
empty,  and  this  characteristic  will  be  traceable  in  the 
writings  of  all  the  co-laborers,  no  matter  how  diverse 
the  nature  of  their  specialties. 

' "  The  educational  efforts  to  which  also  St.  Louis 
owes  much  of  its  literary  activity  began  earlier  than 
the  period  which  we  are  considering,  but  owe  much 
of  their  value  to  Dr.  Harris  and  the  others  whom  we 
have  had  occasion  to  mention. 

"  The  earliest  name  of  note  in  our  educational 
history  is  doubtless  that  of  the  Rev.  W.  G.  Eliot, 
whose  direct  efforts  began  during  his  connection  with 
the  Board  of  Public  Schools,  and  have  since  been 
continued  through  his  services  in  connection  with  the 
university  of  which  he  is  the  chancellor.  While 
this  is  not  the  proper  place  for  the  full  discussion  of 
our  educational  history,  yet  as  to  an  unusually  large 
extent  the  laborers  in  the  fields  of  literature  and  art 
have  been  found  among  our  professors  and  teachers, 
the  most  eminent  must  receive  mention.  Beginning 
with  teachers  such  as  Dr.  Eliot,  J.  H.  Tice,  Ira 
Divoll,  W.  T.  Harris,  Miss  Mary  E.  Beedy,  Miss 
Sue  V.  Beeson,  W.  M.  Bryant,  T.  R.  Vickroy,  Miss 
A.  C.  Brackett,  Miss  Grace  C.  Bibb,  Miss  Kate  Wil- 
son, Miss  Hope  Goodson,  Miss  Fannie  M.  Bacon, 
Miss  Julia  A.  Dutro,  F.  L.  Soldan,  Thomas  David- 
son, B.  V.  B.  Dixon,  E.  H.  Long,  D.  J.  Snider, 
George  B.  McClellan,  W.  H.  Rosenstengel,  William 
Deutsch,  Chancellor  Hoyt,  Chancellor  Chauvenet, 
Professor  Waterhouse,  and  Professor  Howison,  the 
incitements  to  intellectual  efforts  were  communicated 
first  to  those  who  were  affected  by  these  teachers,  and 
later  to  those  outside  of  their  direct  influence. 

"  More  recently,  as  the  Washington  University  has 
matured,  it  has  contributed  much  through  the  efforts 
of  Professors  Hosmer,  Snow,  Woodward,  Ives,  Nipher, 
Engler,  and  Curtis.  Popular  lectures  have  been  in- 
augurated by  the  university,  and  for  three  years  our 
Public  Library  has  maintained  a  free  lyceuiu. 

"  The  activity  represented  by  Dr.  Harris  and  those 
who  have  gathered  around  him  has  been  literary, 
philosophical,  and  aesthetic,  dominated,  as  has  been 
said,  by  one  leading  idea.  It  is  probably  no  over- 
statement to  say  that  by  this  activity  St.  Louis  is 
known  away  from  home.  The  services  rendered  by 
Professor  Hosmer,  Professor  Woodward,  and  others 
are,  like  those  of  Judge  Holmes,  special,  and  can  be 
most  fitly  discussed  each  by  itself. 

"  To  this  there  must  be  made  the  exception  of  Dr. 
Eliot  and  of  Professor  Waterhouse,  for  in  time  they 
antedate  Dr.  Harris,  and  share  with  him  the  credit  of 
exciting  all  the  activity  which  has  taken  place  since  they 


CULTURE  AND   LITERARY   GROWTH   IN   SAINT  LOUIS. 


1601 


began  their  labors.  Dr.  W.  G.  Eliot  has,  during  his  long 
residence  in  our  city,  unremittingly  sought  to  build  up 
all  interests,  moral  and  intellectual.  To  him  directly 
is  due  the  residence  of  many  of  our  brain-workers  and 
their  constant  incitement  to  labor. 

"  Professor  Waterhouse  has  not  only  felt  an  ab- 
sorbing interest  in  political  economy,  or  social  science, 
but  through  a  long  period  of  years  he  has,  by  his  pro- 
found comprehension  of  his  subjects  and  his  clear  pre- 
sentment of  his  views,  been  an  influence  as  strong  as 
he  has  been  individual. 

"  To  conclude  this  general  survey,  it  may  be  said 
that  the  past  twenty- five  years  have,  in  spite  of  the 
interruptions  caused  in  our  city  by  the  civil  war,  com- 
prised an  intellectual  history  of  which  any  city  might 
be  proud  ;  and  the  future  can  but  add  to  the  influences 
which  must  make  St.  Louis  well  known  in  circles  other 
than  those  of  commerce. 

"  Separate  mention  is  due  to  such  of  the  gentlemen 
and  ladies  who  most  specifically  represent  the  activity 
whose  history  has  been  recited.  For  this  purpose  it 
will  be  convenient  to  arrange  the  names  in  the  order 
of  the  several  movements. 

"  Dr.  W.  G.  Eliot's  activity  has  been  so  incessant 
and  so  varied  that  his  ready  sympathy  with  the  claims 
of  higher  culture  has  been  but  a  phase  of  his  life. 
His  own  literary  efforts  have  mostly  taken  the  form 
of  sermons  and  addresses,  although  he  has  drawn 
upon  his  scanty  leisure  to  prepare  for  publication 
several  miscellaneous  works.  Through  his  care  as 
chancellor  of  the  university  he  has  gathered  around 
him  a  number  of  earnest,  capable,  and  indefatigable 
workers,  who  have  in  various  ways  contributed  to  the 
intellectual  development  of  our  city. 

"  Since  his  residence  in  St.  Louis,  Dr.  Eliot  has  been 
prominently  identified  with  movements  looking  toward 
the  betterment  of  the  community  to  which  he  belonged. 
It  was  in  connection  with  him  that  Mr.  Wayman 
Crow  and  his  associates  sought  to  realize  in  the  Wash- 
ington University  facilities  for  an  education  for  our 
boys  and  girls  higher  than  could  be  afforded  by  the 
public  schools.  As  Dr.  Eliot's  name  must  occur  in 
various  parts  of  the  history,  it  is  unnecessary  to  repeat 
his  personal  biography,  and  we  may  more  profitably 
characterize  his  services  in  the  direction  of  literary 
effort.  His  peculiar  contribution  has  been  the  excit- 
ing and  directing  of  intellectual  activity  and  an  un- 
usual perception  of  the  fitness  of  instrumentalities. 
Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  he  has  contributed 
several  works  to  our  literature,  yet  his  sermons  and 
addresses  have  absorbed  more  of  his  energy,  while  he 
has  found  his  most  constant  field  of  effort  in  inaugu- 
rating beneficent  enterprises  and  in  stimulating 


specialists  to  devote  their  energies  to  the  maintenance 
of  institutions  thus  begun. 

"  Professor  Sylvester  Waterhouse  is  confessedly 
one  of  our  most  arduous  and  successful  brain-workers, 
and  the  services  rendered  by  him  to  the  city  of  his 
adoption  are  inadequately  represented  by  a  recital  of 
his  writings  or  an  enumeration  of  the  positions  of 
honor  and  trust  which  he  has  been  invited  to  fill.  It 
may  in  all  sincerity  be  said  that  his  many  acquaint- 
ances consider  him  equal  to  any  responsibilities  which 
he  might  choose  to  assume,  and  know  by  experience 
that  when  he  has  felt  at  liberty  to  serve  in  various 
commissions  that  he  has  brought  to  his  task  rare 
qualifications.  Apart  from  an  unusually  clear  and 
analytical  mind  and  a  command  of  diction  which 
enables  him  to  express  concisely  and  lucidly  any  con- 
clusions at  which  he  may  have  arrived,  Professor 
Waterhouse  has  an  unusual  share  of  that  intellectual 
integrity  which  constitutes  the  chief  grace  of  ex- 
ceptional men.  From  1857  to  1883,  Professor  Water- 
house  has  labored  persistently,  not  even  stopping  to 
lay  claim  to  projects  originated  by  himself  and  accred- 
ited to  others.  While  many  a  man  possessing  his 
opportunities  would  have  confined  his  labors  to  de- 
partments which  were  directly  remunerative,  or  would 
at  least  have  used  his  legitimate  opportunities  to  ex- 
tend his  personal  reputation,  Professor  Waterhouse 
has  been  too  much  possessed  by  the  spirit  of  the 
investigator  to  delay  for  any  personal  considerations. 

"  Born  in  Barrington,  N.  H.,  in  1830,  he  was  the  vic- 
tim of  an  accident,  and  when  but  ten  years  of  age  lost 
his  right  leg.  The  effect  of  this  upon  the  life  of  a 
man  of  active  temperament  can  easily  be  imagined, 
but  there  was  too  much  sturdy  manhood  in  the  suf- 
ferer to  admit  of  his  being  discouraged,  even  though 
the  conditions  for  fair  competition  had  become  so 
burdensome.  Persisting,  in  spite  of  the  adversity  of 
fortune,  in  his  determination  to  acquire  an  education, 
he  graduated  with  high  honors  from  Phillips'  Exeter 
Academy  in  1850,  and  matriculating  at  Dartmouth 
College,  soon  changed  to  Harvard,  from  which  insti- 
tution he  graduated  in  1853.  His  collegiate  course, 
as  well  as  his  academic,  was  marked  by  proficiency  in 
scholarship.  The  ensuing  two  years  were  occupied 
in  completing  the  course  in  the  Harvard  Law  School. 

"In  1856  he  was  appointed  Professor  of  Latin 
Language  and  Literature  in  Antioch  College,  whence 
in  1857  he  removed  to  St.  Louis  to  begin  his  long 
career  of  educational  usefulness  as  Professor  of  Greek 
in  the  Washington  University.  He  is  now  the  senior 
professor  in  actual  service,  though  not  in  appointment, 
although  younger  in  years  than  others  of  the  faculty. 
Very  frequently  professors  and  teachers,  like  men  in 


1602 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


all  other  callings,  find  the  routine  of  their  lives  suffi- 
cient for  their  energies.  Far  otherwise  has  it  been 
with  Professor  Waterhouse,  who  has  almost  disre- 
garded the  fatigue  of  his  regular  work,  and  pursued 
his  special  investigations  as  though  there  were  no 
other  strain  upon  his  strength.  It  is  to  his  quiet, 
unconscious  influence  that  St.  Louis  owes  much  of  the 
activity  that  seems  most  directly  to  proceed  from 
other  sources. 

"  In  1867,  Professor  Waterhouse  was  a  member  of 
the  Mississippi  River  Improvement  Convention,  and 
rendered  invaluable  service.  In  1871  he  was  appointed 
by  Governor  Brown  a  member  of  '  The  Bureau  of 
Geology  and  Mines'  for  Missouri.  In  1872  he  was 
elected  secretary  of  the  St.  Louis  Board  of  Trade. 

"In  1873  he  made  a  trip  around  the  world,  and  in- 
creased his  profound  acquaintance  with  the  subjects 
which  had  occupied  his  interest.  In  1875  he  was  a 
member  of  the  National  Railroad  Convention.  In 
1877  he  was  again  sent  as  a  member  of  the  Missis- 
sippi River  Improvement  Convention,  became  the 
secretary  of  its  executive  committee,  and  prepared 
the  memorial  to  Congress.  We  in  St.  Louis  believe 
that  to  this  memorial,  which  was  widely  circulated,  is 
due  the  change  of  sentiment,  and  the  consequent  ap- 
propriation of  amounts  more  adequate  for  the  per- 
formance of  work  much  needed.  In  1878  he  was 
appointed  United  States  commissioner  to  the  Paris 
Exposition.  During  the  civil  war  Professor.  Water- 
house's  pen  was  constantly  in  requisition,  as  he  was 
an  active  participant  in  the  labors  of  the  Western 
Sanitary  Commission. 

"  For  many  years  the  professor  was  called  upon  to 
co-operate  with  the  Missouri  State  Board  of  Immi- 
gration. In  1863  he  was  requested  to  pronounce  a 
eulogy  upon  Chancellor  Hoyt,  and  acquitted  himself 
with  his  customary  ability. 

"  Professor  Waterhouse's  interest  in  our  industrial 
affairs,  while  by  no  means  absorbing  all  of  his  en- 
ergies or  narrowing  his  sympathies,  has  in  the  main 
dominated  his  written  work.  His  articles  upon  iron 
manufacture  in  Missouri  were  partly  at  least  the  cause 
precedent,  if  not  the  cause  efficient,  of  the  great  in- 
dustries which  have  since  been  developed.  His  arti- 
cles upon  the  cultivation  of  jute  in  the  United  States 
have  been  honored  by  the  highest  recognition  upon 
the  part  of  the  United  States  commissioners  of  agri- 
culture. A  very  wide  circulation,  their  translation 
into  French  and  German,  and  the  utilization  of  his 
ideas  by  various  individuals  and  corporations  are 
public  proofs  of  their  value.  All  this  manifold  labor 
Professor  Waterhouse  has  done  without  compensation, 
and  frequently  at  his  own  personal  expense. 


"  Lieutenant-Governor  Henry  C.  Brockmeyer  is, 
as  has  been  already  stated  in  brief,  one  who  has  pow- 
erfully influenced  the  turn  of  thought  upon  the  part 
of  many  who  have  been  largely  responsible  for  St. 
Louis'  intellectual  activity.  Governor  Brockmeyer 
would  be  noticeable  anywhere  for  clearness,  profun- 
dity, and  sanity  of  thought,  and  for  a  remarkable 
power  over  words  that  burn.  While  his  written  work 
is  so  small  in  quantity,  no  one  can  come  in  contact 
with  him  without  being  sensibly  stimulated.  Born  in 
Winden,  Prussia,  in  1828,  he  left  home  when  sixteen 
years  of  age  for  New  York.  He  first  visited  St. 
Louis  in  1848,  but  did  not  at  that  time  make  the  city 
his  permanent  residence.  In  1857  he  returned  to  St. 
Louis,  and  since  1858  has  been  identified  with  it. 
His  energies  have  been  mostly  exercised  in  political 
life. 

"  Dr.  W.  T.  Harris  has  been,  as  already  said,  the 
most  prominent  factor  in  our  intellectual  develop- 
ment. The  incessant  activity  of  his  mind,  his  fertil- 
ity of  resource,  and  his  unquenchable  enthusiasm 
entitle  him  to  a  lasting  and  prominent  place  in  any 
local  history.  Apart  from  the  activity  which  Dr. 
Harris'  efforts  excited,  his  work  may  be  summarized 
as  the  giving  to  St.  Louis  a  high  reputation  in  all 
educational  circles,  and  the  earning  of  foreign  recog- 
nition for  the  metaphysical  work  of  American  students. 
In  the  conduct  of  the  Journal  of  Speculative  Phi- 
losophy, Dr.  Harris  has  opened  generously  its  pages  to 
views  however  different  from  his  own,  and  has  thus 
done  much  towards  the  creation  of  a  sodality  among 
the  students  of  mental  philosophy.  Born  in  Con- 
necticut in  1835,  he  came  to  St.  Louis  in  1857,  and 
while  a  resident  was  always  connected  with  the  public 
school  system,  as  assistant  teacher,  principal  of  a  dis- 
trict school,  assistant  superintendent,  and  finally  as 
superintendent.  Finally  he  changed  his  residence  to 
Concord,  Mass.,  and  his  departure  was  made  the  occa- 
sion of  the  handsomest  honors,  paid  him  by  leading 
citizens,  who  appreciated  his  uninterrupted  and  inval- 
uable services  to  the  city.  Dr.  Harris  has  achieved 
a  national  (if  we  may  not  say  an  international)  repu- 
tation, and  his  friends  expect  much  from  the  greater 
leisure  which  his  present  life  affords.  His  annual 
lecturing  tours  are  looked  forward  to  by  many  zealous 
students  in  Missouri,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Tennessee,  and 
Georgia,  and  identify  him  still  with  the  intellectual 
life  of  the  Southwest. 

"  Denton  J.  Snider  has  stood  next  to  Dr.  Harris, 
and  has  done  much  to  further  interests  already  suffi- 
ciently presented  in  our  discussion  of  Dr.  Harris' 
services.  Since  Dr.  Harris'  removal,  Mr.  Snider  has 
specially  represented  the  metaphysical  interest,  al- 


CULTURE  AND  LITERARY   GROWTH   IN   SAINT   LOUIS. 


though,  in  addition  to  this,  he  has  found  time  to  con 
tribute  to  various  kinds  of  literature  works  whose 
value  will  be  more  and  more  appreciated.  His  '  Sys- 
tem of  Shakespeare's  Dramas'  is  a  work  similar  in 
general  aim  to  those  of  Gervinus,  Ulrici,  Guizot,  and 
takes  rank  with  these.  His  study  of  the  American 
state  goes  in  quite  a  different  direction,  but  can  de- 
tract nothing  from  his  reputation  as  a  successful 
student.  His  '  Delphic  Days'  presents  in  poetical 
form  and  with  remarkable  effect  the  attempt  of  the 
modern  consciousness  to  recreate  the  old  Greek  idyllic 
life.  His  other  works  in  prose  and  verse,  for  our 
present  purpose,  need  no  special  description.  Apart 
from  his  connection  with  the  various  associations, 
such  as  the  Philosophical  Society,  the  High  School 
Society,  the  Concord  School  of  Philosophy,  Mr. 
Snider  has  had  all  of  his  leisure  occupied  by  classes 
of  ladies  and  gentlemen,  who  have  desired  to  have 
his  conduct  in  their  study  of  Homer,  Herodotus, 
Greek  history,  Roman  history,  Shakespeare,  and 
Goethe.  His  impress  upon  St.  Louis  thought  is  in- 
creasingly great. 

"  Born  in  Ohio  in  1841  and  graduated  at  Oberlin 
College,  he  came  to  St.  Louis  in  1864,  and  taught 
first  in  the  College  of  the  Christian  Brothers,  subse- 
quently in  the  High  School.  After  passing  two  fruit- 
ful years  in  European  travel,  Mr.  Snider  returned  to  St. 
Louis  and  resumed  his  position  in  the  High  School, 
until  the  pressure  of  his  literary  work  and  the  nu- 
merous demands  upon  his  time  for  the  conduct  of 
special  classes  caused  him  to  devote  himself  entirely 
to  the  pursuits  of  the  student. 

"  A.  E.  Kroeger  was  an  indefatigable  and  success- 
ful student  and  litterateur,  and  was  identified  with 
the  same  set  of  gentlemen  and  ladies.  His  work  on 
the  '  Minnesingers'  is  recognized  as  a  standard  by 
Longfellow  in  his  '  Poets  and  Poetry  of  Northern 
Europe,'  and  his  other  publications  not  only  merited 
but  received  recognition  as  valid.  Through  the 
press,  through  the  magazines,  through  separate  pub- 
lications, and  above  all,  the  irresistible  force  of  exam- 
ple, Mr.  Kroeger  aided  the  intellectual  development 
of  St.  Louis  to  an  extent  not  to  be  measured  by  the 
shortness  of  his  life. 

"  Born  in  Schwabstedt,  duchy  of  Schleswig,  in 
1837,  his  father  was  a  Lutheran  minister,  who,  with  his 
family,  emigrated  in  1848.  Mr.  Kroeger  closed  his 
school  life  when  only  eleven  years  of  age ;  at  fifteen 
was  employed  in  a  bank  at  Davenport,  Iowa  ;  went 
thence  to  New  York,  and  began  his  residence  in  St. 
Louis  in  1859,  at  which  time  he  was  the  correspondent 
of  the  New  York  Times.  In  1861  he  was  adjutant  on 
the  staff  of  Gen.  Fremont ;  in  1863  assistant  treasurer 


of  the  city  of  St.  Louis;  1865-67,  city  treasurer; 
after  which  he  devoted  himself  to  literature,  so  far  as 
time  was  spared  by  the  demands  of  the  daily  struggle 
for  existence.  Apart  from  the  '  Minnesingers,'  Mr. 
Kroeger's  most  noticeable  literary  work  was  his  studies 
in  German  history  ('  Frederick  Barbarossa,  The  Ho- 
henstauffen'),  '  History  of  the  War,'  and  '  Essay  on 
Chatterton.'  Mr.  Kroeger's  literary  and  personal 
friendship  with  Henry  W.  Longfellow,  Ralph  Waldo 
Emerson,  and  William  Cullen  Bryant  may  indicate 
the  esteem  in  which  his  work  was  held,  and  the  loss 
to  St.  Louis  when,  in  1882,  he  died  at  the  early  age 
of  forty-five. 

"  Mrs.  Ella  S.  Morgan,  while  finding  in  other  direc- 
tions the  field  of  her  greatest  intellectual  activity, 
was  nevertheless  an  important  contributor  to  what 
may  distinctively  be  called  '  the  St.  Louis  movement.' 
Through  her  translations  for  the  Journal  of  Specu- 
lative Philosophy,  through  her  interest  and  personal 
participation  in  all  the  associations  for  mental  improve- 
ment, through  the  stimulus  which  she  was  able  to 
afford,  both  by  precept  and  by  example,  she  merits 
the  honor  of  mention  as  one  of  the  first  of  the  St. 
Louis  ladies  to  appreciate  and  seek  higher  cultivation 
than  was  demanded  by  the  local  social  life,  and  the  ad- 
ditional honor  which  belongs  to  persistent  pursuit  of 
these  interests.  '  Her  literary  taste,'  says  one  both 
able  and  discriminating  in  his  judgment,  'was  very  su- 
perior. As  a  critic  of  books,  her  opinions  had  great 
value.  Through  her  reviews  of  books  in  various 
journals  and  periodicals,  and  especially  in  The  West- 
ern, she  rendered  most  useful  service.  She  possessed 
an  intellectual  insight  quite  unusual,  and  an  excellent 
power  of  presentment.  These  qualities,  combined 
with  her  thorough  mastery  of  German,  give  to  her 
translations  from  the  great  German  metaphysicians  a 
value  quite  extraordinary.  She  grasped  their  mean- 
ing with  rare  penetration,  and  often  gave  a  clear  in- 
terpretation to  the  most  abstruse  and  involved  discus- 
sions.' 

"  Miss  Anna  C.  Brackett,  now  a  resident  of  New 
York,  and  well  known  as  an  educator  and  as  a  success- 
ful writer  for  our  leading  magazines,  began  her  greatest 
activity  in  St.  Louis,  and  belonged  to  the  set  which 
gathered  around  Dr.  Harris.  Directly  through  her 
work  in  the  Normal  School,  and  indirectly  through 
her  unremitting  labors  outside  of  her  school,  Miss 
Brackett  left  an  indelible  impress  upon  St.  Louis,  and 
is  entitled  to  much  of  the  credit  of  work  since  done 
by  those  whose  enthusiasm  she  roused  and  whose 
energies  she  directed. 

"  Miss  Mary  E.  Beedy,  for  many  years  connected 
with  the  High  School,  did  much  through  her  interest 


1604 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


in  mental  improvement  to  awaken  and  strengthen  our 
general  activity.  Her  writings  have  mostly  taken 
the  form  of  lectures,  and  have  been  confined  to  few 
topics,  but  her  influence  in  causing  others  to  appreci- 
ate intellectual  activity  entitles  her  to  a  permanent 
place  in  our  local  records. 

"  Miss  Sue  V.  Beeson,  who  began  her  career  in  our 
public  schools  as  a  pupil,  and  who,  after  the  comple-  j 
tion  of  her  school  education,  entered  upon  her  career 
as  a  teacher  in  the  schools  in  which  she  had  received 
her  instruction,  has  always  been  prominent  among  the 
ladies  interested  in  the  speculative  movement.  For 
several  years,  in  addition  to  her  responsibilities  as  a  i 
teacher  in  the  High  School,  and  to  that  quiet  but 
marked  influence  which  belongs  to  those  whose  spirit- 
ual nature  is  so  strong  as  to  at  once  impress  even  a 
casual  acquaintance,  Miss  Beeson  has  devoted  much 
of  her  time  to  work  in  the  classes  conducted  by  Dr. 
Harris,  Mr.  Snider,  and  Mr.  Bryant,  and  to  the  mu- 
tual improvement  associations  inaugurated  by  Mrs. 
Dr.  Fischel  and  others.  Miss  Beeson's  period  of 
direct  literary  contribution  has  but  begun,  but  the  be- 
ginning promises  much  for  the  future. 

"  Professor  George  H.  Howison,  during  his  con- 
nection with  the  Washington  University,  was  also  an 
associate  of  the  gentlemen  already  named,  and  his 
clear  intellect,  scholarly  attainments,  and  persistent 
earnestness,  added  to  the  tone  of  this  literary  circle 
and  strengthened  its  influence. 

"  Thomas  Davidson,  while  his  floi~uit  belonged  to 
the  intermediate  period  of  Dr.  Harris'  labors,  repre- 
sented the  literary  rather  than  the  philosophical  ele- 
ment. By  his  reputation  as  a  classical  scholar  and  a 
linguist,  by  the  lucidity  of  his  literary  style,  and  by 
his  incessant  activity  in  the  lecture  field,  Mr.  David- 
son did  much  to  excite  and  encourage  intellectual 
activity. 

u  F.  Louis  Soldan  came  into  the  service  of  the  pub- 
lic schools  in  1868,  and  from  that  time  to  the  present 
his  activity  has  been  as  increased  as  varied  and  valuable. 
Associated  with  the  intermediate  period  of  the  move- 
ment which  we  are  describing,  Mr.  Soldan  not  only 
sympathized  actively  with  any  concrete  forms  of  ac- 
tivity, but,  in  addition,  pursued  other  investigations, 
and  through  his  work  in  the  Aristotle  Club,  his  papers 
in  the  High  School  Society,  his  addresses,  educational 
and  other,  vindicated  his  claim  to  an  eminent  place 
among  our  local  brain-workers.  Later,  Mr.  Soldan 
has  acted  as  director  in  numerous  classes  for  the  study 
of  philosophy  and  German  and  Italian  literature, 
while  always  responding  cheerfully  and  ably  to  the 
frequent  appeals  for  special  papers,  lectures,  and 
addresses.  His  publications  have  been  numerous, 


though  mainly  taking  the  shape  of  monographs. 
When  we  consider  that  Mr.  Soldan  has  the  responsi- 
bilities of  our  Normal  School  and  the  cares  of  director- 
ship in  many  associations,  we  can  appreciate  the 
earnestness,  persistency,  and  strength  which  alone  can 
enable  him  to  accomplish  undertakings  so  numerous 
and  so  varied. 

"  Mr.  B.  V.  B.  Dixon's  activity  has  been  varied 
and  constant.  Apart  from  his  daily  work  as  instructor 
in  the  High  School,  he  has  manifested  his  intelligent 
interest  in  the  claims  of  higher  culture,  first,  by 
his  lectures  and  addresses  ;  second,  by  his  monographs, 
contributed  to  magazines  and  journals,  literary  and 
scientific  ;  third,  by  contributions  of  money  and  labor 
towards  the  support  of  enterprises  which  sought  to 
promote  our  literary  and  art  interests ;  fourth,  by 
personal  participation  in  the  various  discussions,  asso- 
ciations, and  classes  which  have  been  the  manifesta- 
tion of  much  of  our  intellectual  effort ;  fifth,  by  his 
intelligent  interest  in  our  industrial  life,  and  his  work 
as  an  analytical  chemist  and  metallurgist ;  sixth,  by 
the  inspiration  of  his  example  and  by  a  rare  ability  to 
win  the  interest  of  others,  and  to  present  the  claims 
of  our  higher  nature  in  a  way  to  stimulate  others. 

"  Miss  Grace  C.  Bibb,  while  in  St.  Louis,  was  con- 
nected as  teacher  with  the  Normal  School,  and  through 
her  efforts  for  the  improvement  of  education  gained 

\  a  reputation  such  as  to  be  invited  to  occupy  the  chair 
of  pedagogics  in  the  State.  University,  a  position  which 
she  still  acceptably  fills.  Miss  Bibb  contributed  to 
the  furtherance  of  our  mental  activity  by  her  example, 

i  by  her  essays  and  lectures,  and  by  her  personal  en- 

:  thusiasm. 

"  William   M.   Bryant  came  to  St.  Louis  mainly 

i  because  of  the  facilities  offered  by  the  city  for  the 
further  pursuit  of  studies  already  more  than  begun. 
Becoming  identified  in  interest  with  the  circle  repre- 
sented by  Dr.  Harris,  he  became  at  once  a  marked 
factor  in  all  of  its  intellectual  progress.  Through  the 
formation  of  classes  for  the  study  of  art  and  philoso- 
phy, through  the  efforts  made  for  the  higher  educa- 
tion of  those  associated  with  him  as  assistant  teachers, 
through  his  ready  response  to  any  calls  upon  his  ser- 
vices as  teacher,  conductor,  or  lecturer,  through  his 
published  works,  and  through  his  unremitting  zeal 
and  enthusiasm  in  the  pursuits  of  the  student,  Mr. 
Bryant  has  been,  and  still  continues  to  be,  one  of  the 
most  potent  influences  in  St.  Louis  life.  His  distinc- 
tive claims  are  similar  in  kind  to  those  of  Mr.  Denton 
J.  Snider,  although  aesthetics  has  more  peculiarly 
been  adopted  as  his  province. 

"  Rev.  R.  A.  Holland,  for  many  years  rector  of 
St.  George's  Episcopal  Church,  was  not  only  an  en- 


CULTURE  AND  LITERARY   GROWTH   IN   SAINT   LOUIS. 


1605 


thusiastic  student  with  Dr.  Harris  and  D.  J.  Snider, 
but  also  an  effective  writer  and  speaker,  whose  labors 
were  not  only  an  addition  to  the  reputation  of  our 
city,  but  a  perceptible  influence  in  exciting  general 
enthusiasm  in  study. 

"  Francis  E.  Cook,  though  belonging  to  the  younger 
generation  of  students,  has  always  displayed  an  in- 
telligent interest  in  the  various  intellectual  activities 
of  our  city,  and  has  contributed  to  these  not  only  a 
warm  sympathy,  but  the  aid  of  his  own  special  labors, 
which  he  has  rendered  available  to  others  through  his 
contributions  to  our  local  magazines,  and  by  his 
lectures  and  addresses. 

"  T.  R.  Vickroy,  who  has  for  many  years  been 
identified  with  our  public  school  system,  was,  like  Mr. 
William  M.  Bryant  and  others,  drawn  to  this  city  by  the 
facilities  which  it  afforded  for  the  pursuit  of  congenial 
studies.  In  addition  to  his  efforts  for  a  new  phonetic 
system,  his  papers,  lectures,  and  addresses,  Mr.  Vick- 
roy has  been  prominently  identified  with  the  Kant  Club, 
the  Society  of  Pedagogues,  and  with  other  enterprises 
which  represented  the  mental  activity  of  our  city,  and 
in  each  of  these  he  has  borne  his  full  share  of  the 
burden. 

"  James  S.  Garland  was  born  in  New  Hampshire 
in  1842,  removed  to  St.  Louis  in  1856,  and  has  since 
been  identified  with  all  that  is  best  in  our  city.  W'hen 
Dr.  Harris  formed  a  Kant  Club,  Mr.  Garland  became 
one  of  its  earliest,  most  active  and  valuable  members, 
and  when  Dr.  Harris  was  engaged  upon  his  translation 
of  Hegel's  Logic,  he  could  find  no  more  acceptable  or 
capable  coadjutor  than  Mr.  Garland,  to  whom,  in  rec- 
ognition of  his  services,  the  book  was  dedicated. 
Apart  from  the  influence  of  his  own  career  as  a  busy 
lawyer  who  still  finds  time  to  cultivate  the  amenities 
of  life,  and  in  addition  to  his  personal  identification 
with  the  various  manifestations  of  the  '  St.  Louis 
movement,'  Mr.  Garland  is  entitled  to  be  considered 
an  important  factor  in  our  literary  life  through  the 
unostentatious  but  always  rationally  generous  aid 
which  he  gives  to  all  literary  and  aesthetic  interests, 
and  to  his  personal  efforts  in  behalf  of  the  educational 
institutions  of  the  city  and  State. 

"  William  R.  Walker  has  found  time  amid  the 
cares  of  a  constantly  busy  legal  life  to  retain  his  in- 
terest in  literature,  and  while  his  essays  have  been 
few,  they  have  been  of  an  excellence  that  most  de- 
cidedly added  to  the  reputation  of  St.  Louis. 

"  Horace  Hills  Morgan1  was  born  at  Auburn,  N.  Y., 
on  Jan.  22,  1839.  Five  years  later  his  father  re- 


1  This  sketch  of  Professor  Morgan  was  prepared  by  James  S. 
Garland. 

102 


moved  with  his  family  to  St.  Louis.     At  the  age  of 
sixteen  he  was  matriculated  as  a  student  in  Hobart 
,  College,  Geneva,  N.  Y.,  but  one  year  later  gave  up 
i  his  connection  with  that  institution  and  entered  Wil- 
liams College,  where  he  was  graduated  with  classical 
honors   in    1859.       In    the   autumn    following    Mr. 
Morgan  was   appointed  to   the  position  of  assistant 
j  teacher  in  the  St.  Louis  High  School.     In  1862  he 
j  was  promoted  to  the  position  of  first  assistant,  and  in 
!  1866  was  made  principal  of  the  school,  which  place 
I  he  has  filled  ever  since  with   great   acceptance  and 
i  ability. 

"  Such  is  the  brief  story  of  a  life  that  has  been 
thus  far  outwardly  uneventful,  but  yet  filled,  in  these 
latter  years  especially,  with  varied  and  unremitting 
activity. 

"  His  best  thought  and  energy  have  been  given  to 
his  vocation,  and  the  high  character  and  standing  of 
the  school  of  which  he  has  been  for  seventeen  years 
the  head  show  how  efficient  his  labors  there  have 
been.  In  his  educational  methods  and  the  quality  of 
the  work  produced  he  has  always  manifested  an  en- 
lightened and  progressive  spirit,  and  has  thus  kept  the 
school  abreast  of  the  most  advanced  educational  move>- 
ment  of  the  time.  On  many  occasions,  with  tongue 
and  pen,  he  has  ably  vindicated  the  claims  of  the 
High  School  in  general  to  its  crowning  position  in 
our  system  of  public  education,  but  the  admirable 
management  of  his  school  in  this  city  has  furnished 
his  best  argument  in  that  behalf. 

"  While  performing  the  engrossing  and  laborious 
duties  of  his  profession  with  rare  fidelity  and  devotion, 
Mr.  Morgan  has  not  been  content  to  play  the  role  of 
the  mere  pedagogue,  but  has  addressed  himself  with 
nearly  equal  zeal  to  those  problems  of  culture  and  so- 
ciety which  ever  claim  the  attention  of  the  earnest 
student   and    public-spirited    citizen.     As    the   New 
I   York  Nation  very  justly  observes,  in  a  notice  of  one 
;  of  his  books,  '  Mr.  Morgan  is  one  of  that  group  of 
I  devoted  students  and  men  of  culture  who  have  done  so 
much  to  elevate  the  character  of  society  and  tone  of 
thought  in  St.  Louis.' 

"  He  has  taken  a  leading  part  in  the  organization 
and  management  of  clubs  and  societies  in  this  city, 
formed  for  the  study  of  art  and  philosophy,  during 
the  past  twenty  years.  A  director  of  the  Public 
School  Library  for  many  years,  he  has  rendered  most 
efficient  service  in  building  up  an  institution  of  ines- 
timable value  to  the  community. 

"  Amid  these  manifold  professional  and  public  en- 
gagements, however,  his  pen  has  not  been  idle.     He 
has  published  several  works  upon  literary  topics. 
"  But  the  more  permanent  productions  of  his  pen 


1606 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


by  no  means  make  up  the  sum  of  his  literary  activity,  j 
He  has  found  time  to  contribute  to  the  pages  of  the  ; 
Journal  of  Speculative  Philosophy,  the  Southern  Law 
Journal,  Education,  American  Journal  of  Education, 
The  Western,  and  other  periodicals.     The  last-named 
magazine  was  for  a  long  time  under  his  editorial  man- 
agement, and  to  him  chiefly  was  due  the  large  measure 
of  success  and  reputation  which  it  achieved.    Its  pub- 
lication was  suspended  in  1882. 

"  Lectures,  essays,  and  addresses  without  number 
upon  a  great  variety  of  topics  have  won  for  him  a 
still  wider  hearing  in  this  and  other  communities. 

"  These  are  some  of  the  results  of  the  labor  of  a 
man  yet  in  the  beginning  of  his  literary  prime.  It 
is  safe  to  say  that,  if  life  and  strength  are  vouchsafed 
to  him,  the  future  has  much  more  and  greater  achieve- 
ments in  store. 

"  Charles  Louis  Bernays  was  born  in  the  city  of  , 
Mentz  in  1815,  and  after  the  fullest  education  which  : 
could  be  furnished  by  wealthy  and  intelligent  parents, 
he  threw  aside  the  profession  of  law  for  that  of 
journalism.  While  still  in  Germany  he  made  a  repu- 
tation by  his  contributions  to  the  Allgemeiner  Augs- 
Imrger  Zeitung  and  the  Deutsch-Franzosische  Jarh- 
biicher,  whose  editor  at  that  time  was  our  own  Dr. 
Henry  Boernstein.  Together  with  Dr.  Boernstein,  he 
founded  the  Vorwaerts,  but  this  being  promptly  sup- 
pressed by  the  French  minister,  the  two  gentlemen 
occupied  their  time  as  correspondents  of  the  German 
newspapers,  and  had  the  honor  of  being  the  first  to 
inaugurate  this  phase  of  journalism.  In  1848,  Col. 
Bernays  concluded  to  emigrate  to  Missouri,  but  reach- 
ing St.  Louis  during  the  cholera  season  of  1849,  he 
and  Boernstein  located  themselves  at  Highland,  111. 
Upon  the  purchase  of  the  Anzeiger  des  Westens  by 
Dr.  Boernstein,  Col.  Bernays  became  its  editor-in- 
chief.  During  the  war  Col.  Bernays  served  as  pay- 
master, and  increased  the  number  of  those  who  had 
had  ex-perience  of  his  ability  and  sterling  probity. 
Returning  after  the  war  to  his  journalistic  career, 
Col.  Bernays  became  the  best  known  of  our  newspaper 
men,  using  the  columns  of  the  Republican  as  well  as 
those  of  the  Anzeiger.  His  writings  have  been  col-  I 
lected,  and  are  to  be  republished  by  so  competent  an 
editor  as  his  lifelong  friend,  Dr.  Boernstein.  Col. 
Bernays  died  in  June,  1879. 

"  Col.  Bernays,  being  a  profound  scholar  with  a  nat- 
ural taste  for  scholarship,  did  not  confine  his  interest  ! 
to  journalism,  but  was  always  actively  engaged  in 
any  gatherings  that  brought  together  earnest  men  and 
women  whose  object  was  intellectual  culture.  It  was 
in  the  role  of  one  whose  own  education  was  both  pro- 
found and  thorough,  and  who  was  ever  alive  to  the 


value  of  earnest  workers,  that  Col.  Bernays,  apart 
from  his  journalistic  services,  was  specially  helpful  to 
our  city. 

"  Professor  J.  K.  Hosmer  was  born  in  Northfield, 
Mass.,  Jan.  29,  1834,  graduated  at  Harvard  Col- 
lege in  1855,  and  came  to  St.  Louis  in  1874.  From 
1860  to  1866,  Professor  Hosmer  was  in  charge  of  the 
Unitarian  Church  at  Deerfield,  Mass.  In  1866  he 
became  connected  with  Antioch  College  as  one  of  its 
professors.  In  1872-74  he  formed  one  of  the  faculty 
of  the  University  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  and  in 
1874  he  accepted  a  professorship  in  the  Washington 
University  of  this  city.  From  1862  to  1863,  Pro- 
fessor Hosmer  was  corporal  in  the  color-guard  of  the 
Fifty-second  Massachusetts. 

"  Professor  Hosmer,  as  an  element  of  St.  Louis  life, 
has  been  with  the  foremost  in  his  interested  activity, 
but  he  has  represented  abilities  peculiar  to  himself. 
His  'Short  History  of  German  Literature,'  although 
appearing  in  a  Western  city  and  at  about  the  same 
time  as  the  one  by  Bayard  Taylor,  took  at  once  so 
high  a  rank  as  to  be  adopted  as  a  book  of  reference 
by  Harvard  and  other  leading  colleges.  His  abilities 
have  been  so  appreciated  that  the  New  York  Nation 
keeps  his  name  enrolled  among  those  whom  it  men- 
tions as  its  contributors.  At  home,  his  services  are 
in  constant  requisition  for  the  delivery  of  lectures  and 
for  the  conduct  of  special  classes  of  ladies  and  gentle- 
men. Apart  from  his  scholarly  attainments,  Profes- 
sor Hosmer  has  a  singular  power  as  a  raconteur,  if  we 
may  be  permitted  to  use  such  a  term  with  reference 
to  a  quality  of  written  style.  At  home,  Professor 
Hosiner's  gifts  are  enhanced  by  the  rare  kindliness 
and  helpfulness  which  is  so  much  a  part  of  his  nature 
as  probably  to  be  unknown  to  himself. 

"  Professor  C.  M.  Woodward  was  born  in  Fitch- 
burg,  Mass.,  in  1837.  After  completing  the  High 
School  course  he  entered  Harvard  College,  from  which 
he  graduated  in  1860.  From  1860  to  1865,  Professor 
Woodward  was  principal  of  the  Newburyport  High 
School,  except  for  a  year,  during  which  he  was  in  the 
army.  In  1865  he  entered  the  service  of  the  Wash- 
ington University  as  assistant  in  the  academic  depart- 
ment. At  the  present  time  he  is  Thayer  Professor  of 
Higher  Mathematics  and  Applied  Mechanics,  as  well 
as  dean  of  the  Polytechnic  Department,  and  direc- 
tor of  the  Manual  Training  School.  Professor  Wood- 
ward's vigorous  enthusiasm  in  the  subjects  which 
specially  absorb  his  interest  is  recognized  by  all  with 
whom  he  comes  in  contact. 

"  Professor  M.  S.  Snow  was  born  at  Hyannis,  Mass., 
in  1842,  and  received  his  collegiate  education  at  Har- 
vard. Subsequently  he  carried  on  a  school  at  Nash- 


CULTURE  AND   LITERARY   GROWTH   IN  SAINT   LOUIS. 


1607 


ville,  Tenn.,  whence,  in  1870,  he  was  called  to  a  pro- 
fessorship in  the  Washington  University,  of  whose 
collegiate  department  he  is  now  the  honored  dean. 
His  published  literary  work  has  taken  the  shape  of  lec- 
tures and  contributions  to  the  more  sterling  magazines. 
Professor  Snow,  as  an  element  of  the  intellectual  life 
of  St.  Louis,  is  not  to  be  judged  by  the  volume,  or 
even  by  the  quality,  of  his  written  work,  for  there 
has  been  no  literary  assembly  since  his  residence  in 
our  city  without  his  contributing  personal  sympathy 
and  encouragement  or  else  active  effort. 

"  William  B.  Potter,  born  at  Schenectady,  N.  Y., 
in  1846,  and  completing  his  technical  course  in  1869, 
has  since  been  connected  with  the  Washington  Uni- 
versity as  Professor  of  Metallurgy.  Professor  Potter's 
attainments  have  caused  his  services  to  be  sought  by 
those  who  control  many  of  our  large  industries,  and 
the  accuracy  of  his  analyses  has  earned  for  him  a  high 
reputation.  Quiet  and  unobtrusive,  Professor  Potter 
has  the  faculty  of  winning  the  kindly  regard  of  those 
who  come  in  contact  with  him,  and  his  intelligent 
sympathy  with  any  efforts  towards  rational  progress 
gives  him  a  marked  influence  in  circles  to  whom  the 
interests  of  metallurgy  are  wholly  unknown. 

"  Professor  Charles  A.  Smith,  though  occupied  with 
investigations  which  directly  belong  to  the  industrial 
world,  has  been  one  of  our  most  energetic  and  success- 
ful brain-workers.  Born  in  the  city,  where  he  still 
resides,  Professor  Smith  became  connected  with  the 
Washington  University  in  1868.  His  papers  upon 
subjects  belonging  to  civil  and  mechanical  engineering 
have  been  both  numerous  and  valuable,  while  his  own 
inventions  have  been  of  the  greatest  value. 

"  Francis  E.  Nipher  was  born  at  Port  Byron, 
N.  Y.,  1847,  and  came  to  St.  Louis  in  1874.  Profes- 
sor Nipher's  publications  have  been  numerous  and  of 
great  value,  but  they  represent  the  least  part  of  an  in- 
cessant activity  in  his  specialty  of  meteorology.  It  is 
impossible  to  characterize  the  work  of  the  specialist, 
except  by  the  respect  paid  to  his  work  by  other  spe- 
cialists, and  a  judgment  formed  in  this  way  must  give 
Professor  Nipher  high  rank. 

"  Miss  Annie  Wall  has  found  time  not  merely  to  win 
success  as  an  instructress,  to  carry  her  own  education 
in  many  directions,  and  to  publish  many  valuable 
magazine  articles,  besides  the  two  books  which  bear 
her  name  on  their  title-pages,  but  also  to  take  an 
active  and  efficient  part  in  the  various  literary  gather- 
ings of  our  city. 

"  Judge  Nathaniel  Holmes  has  always  been  a 
scholar,  and  while  most  of  his  work  has  been  done 
through  the  Academy  of  Science,  he  has  been  no 
unimportant  factor  in  our  intellectual  life. 


"Albert  Todd  moved  to  St.  Louis  in  1839,  and 
through  his  generous  enthusiasm  has  participated  in 
nearly  all  of  the  public  movements  of  the  city.  To 
the  literary  development  Mr.  Todd  has  contributed 
by  his  lectures,  his  writings  for  the  city  press,  and 
even  more  than  by  these  through  the  warm  interest 
which  he  always  takes  in  the  efforts  of  others. 

"  A.  J.  Conant  was  born  in  Vermont  in  1821,  and 
first  came  to  St.  Louis  in  1857.  As  Mr.  Conant  is 
primarily  an  artist,  and  must  receive  his  fullest  consid- 
eration when  we  come  to  the  art  interests  of  the  city, 
we  make  mention  of  him  here  only  because  of  his 
study  and  articles  upon  archaeology.  To  Campbell's 
'  Commonwealth  of  Missouri'  Mr.  Conant  contrib- 
uted the  very  able  chapter  on  the  archaeology  of  Mis- 
souri, and  during  the  meeting  of  the  American  Soci- 
ety for  the  Advancement  of  Science  it  became  evident 
that  Mr.  Conant's  labors  had  had  not  only  interest  for 
himself  but  value  for  the  scientific  world. 

"  Maj.  J.  B.  Merwin  has  for  many  years  been 
known  as  the  editor  of  the  American  Journal  of 
Education,  and  through  this  instrumentality  he  has 
done  much  towards  elevating  and  rationalizing  the 
educational  thought  of  the  Southwest.  In  addition 
to  constant,  ardent,  and  effective  support  of  the  in- 
terests of  general  education,  the  major  has  by  his 
lectures  and  addresses  manifested  his  active  sympathy 
with  movements  which  sought  to  promote  the  best 
interests  of  the  community. 

"  Rev.  J.  C.  Learned,  the  pastor  of  the  Church  of 
the  Unity,  has  been  so  much  to  our  city,  that  when, 
at  one  time,  it  seemed  probable  that  he  would  re- 
move, there  was  a  feeling  almost  of  consternation 
among  those  who  are  interested  in  the  intellectual 
life  and  progress  of  the  city.  Apart  from  the  labors 
of  his  own  calling,  Mr.  Learned  has  found  time 
always  to  be  noticeable  as  a  student,  and  to  give 
freely  of  time  valuable  to  himself  in  answer  to  ap- 
peals from  our  local  lyceums  and  from  classes  of 
ladies  and  gentlemen  who  desired  to  study  Emerson, 
Greek  poetry,  or  other  subjects  under  his  guidance. 
j  His  intellectual  liberality  and  sympathy  have  made 
him  an  active  supporter  of  any  effort  promising  to 
advance  mental  development. 

"  Rev.  W.  Pope  Ycaman  was  born  in  Kentucky  in 
1828,  and  accepted  a  call  from  the  Third  Baptist 
Church  of  St.  Louis  in  1870.  In  addition  to  his 
responsibilities  as  minister  and  pastor,  Dr.  Yeaman 
gave  much  time  and  aid  to  the  interests  of  educa- 
tion, religious  journalism,  and  missions. 

"  Rev.  John  Snyder  was  born  in  Philadelphia  in 
1842,  graduated  at  Meadville  in  1869,  and  had  charge 
of  the  Second  Unitarian  Church  in  Hingham,  Mass., 


1608 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


1869-73.  In  1873,  Dr.  Snyder  removed  to  St.  Louis 
and  became  pastor  of  the  Church  of  the  Messiah. 
During  the  ten  years  of  his  residence  in  this  city  Dr. 
Snyder  has  been  unremittingly  active  in  promoting  i 
all  efforts  to  secure  a  higher  general  culture,  and  his 
success  has  been  such  as  to  promise  yet  larger  results 
in  the  future. 

"  Rev.  T.   M.   Post  was   in    1847    called   to   the  j 
pastorate  of  the  Congregational  Church,  from  whose  ; 
active  ministry  he  has  but  just  resigned.     Dr.  Post's 
ministerial    record    can    find    no    place   here,  but   it  i 
may  be  remarked  that  his  pastorate  has  been  sum-  i 
ciently  long  to   enable  him  to  see  the  results  of  his  , 
labors.     To  our  literature  Dr.  Post  has  been  a  con-  j 
stant  contributor,  but  as  literary  fame  has  in  no  sense 
been  his  motive,  it  has  been  found  impossible  to  pro- 
cure a  satisfactory  list  of  his  publications. 

"  Dr.  Post  has  always  actively  sympathized  with  all 
efforts  at  intellectual  development,  and  a  strong  and 
active  mind,  joined  to  a  peculiarly  fine  imagination, 
and  these  rare  powers  tempered  by  the  most  healthy 
and  sweetest  of  human  sympathy,  has  rendered  his 
work  at  once  unique  and  invaluable. 

"  George  E.  Seymour,  who  was  born  in  Ohio  in  1833, 
and  who  removed  to  St.  Louis  in  1862,  has  always 
been  a  student,  as  well  as  a  man  engaged  in  active 
life.  His  work  in  various  educational  positions  can 
receive  no  notice  here,  but  his  own  mental  power  and 
activity  entitle  him  to  individual  mention. 

"  F.  F.  Hilder  has  won  a  well-deserved  reputation  as 
an  archaeologist  and  a  man  of  general  information. 
His  contribution  to  'The  Premium  Essays  upon  the 
Three  Americas'  Railway'  is  perhaps  his  most  char- 
acteristic work,  and  is  possessed  of  remarkable  interest 
and  power.  Mr.  Hilder  is  one  of  the  number  who  are 
always  appealed  to  for  lectures,  addresses,  and  '  papers.' 
"Rabbi  S.  H.  Sonnenschein  is  one  of  the  most 
active  of  our  citizens,  and  is  distinguished  by  an  un- 
usual eloquence,  which  is  not  the  possession  of  many 
whose  work  is  very  valuable.  In  addition  to  his  du- 
ties in  connection  with  his  congregation,  Rabbi  Son- 
nenschein is  constantly  occupied  with  literary  work, 
much  of  which  takes  the  form  of  lectures. 

"  W.  Gilbert,  one  of  the  most  enterprising  of  our 
successful  business  men,  was  born  in  Columbus,  Ohio, 
in  1835.  Coming  to  St.  Louis  in  1867,  after  ten 
years'  experience  in  the  book  business,  Mr.  Gilbert 
was  for  a  year  the  general  manager  of  the  St.  Louis 
Book  and  News  Company.  In  1868  he  began  his 
career  as  a  publisher  of  law-books, — a  business  which 
he  has  conducted  with  noticeable  energy  and  success. 
Apart  from  his  active  business.  Mr.  Gilbert  has  always 
manifested  an  interest  in  the  intellectual  growth  of  the 


city,  and  has  since  the  destruction  of  his  fine  library 
in  1873  again  brought  together  a  collection  of  four 
thousand  volumes,  one  of  the  largest  and  most  valu- 
able of  our  private  libraries. 

"  George  E.  Leighton  is  one  of  our  capitalists 
whose  naturally  good  intellect  has  been  strengthened 
by  education,  and  whose  prominence  in  enterprises  of 
public  moment  is  due  less  to  his  financial  standing 
than  to  the  broad  intelligence  with  which  he  deals 
with  questions  of  social  importance.  His  inaugural 
address  as  president  of  the  Historical  Society  well 
illustrates  the  peculiar  claims  which  he  has  already 
established  upon  the  community. 

"  Miss  Charlotte  Smith,  now  a  resident  of  Chicago, 
established  and  conducted  the  Inland  Monthly.  While 
it  was  intended  to  be  local  in  the  interests  represented, 
it  received  the  support  of  many  of  our  best  citizens, 
and  Miss  Smith  has  the  respect  and  esteem  of  all  who 
had  occasion  to  know  her  work. 

"  Henry  W.  Williams  was  born  at  Williamsburg, 
Mass.,  1816,  and  came  to  St.  Louis  in  1844.  Pre- 
viously Mr.  Williams  had  practiced  as  a  lawyer,  and 
was  at  one  time  an  editor  in  Michigan.  Among  the 
first  to  organize  the  legal  specialty  of  the  examination 
of  land  titles,  Mr.  Williams  has  during  forty  years  been 
actively  conversant  with  much  of  our  local  history. 
j  From  time  to  time  Mr.  Williams  has  contributed  to 
I  our  city  papers  articles  upon  various  subjects,  some 
1  of  which,  written  in  1877—78,  found  realization  in 
the  subsequent  financial  action  of  the  United  States 
Congress.  Mr.  Williams,  in  spite  of  his  business 
cares,  has  preserved  his  literary  tastes,  and  has  col- 
lected one  of  the  most  valuable  of  our  private  libraries. 
He  is  one  of  the  many  people  who,  prevented  by  the 
cares  of  their  daily  life  from  creative  contribution  to 
literature,  must  yet  outrank  those  whose  only  service 
has  been  the  publication  of  a  valueless  pamphlet  or 
book. 

"  W.  H.  Pulsifer  is  still  too  much  engrossed  with 
business  interests  and  too  modest  to  admit  that  he  has 
a  literary  biography.  At  the  same  time,  by  his  own 
success  in  the  study  of  physical  science,  by  his  partici- 
pation in  efforts  to  sustain  and  improve  our  libraries, 
by  his  intelligent  encouragement  of  any  rational  efforts, 
Mr.  Pulsifer  must  receive  mention,  even  against  his 
will. 

"  Any  summary  would  be  incomplete  if  it  failed  to 
mention  those  who  have  encouraged  and  sustained  our 
literary  enterprises,  although  these  co-laborers  may 
have  contributed  nothing  to  our  published  works. 

"  Gentlemen  such  as  James  S.  Yeatman,  Wayman 

Crow,     M.    J.    Lippman,   James    Richardson,    Col. 

1  Thomas  Richeson,   Henry  T.  Blow,  W.  J.  Gilbert, 


CULTURE   AND   LITERARY   GROWTH   IN   SAINT   LOUIS. 


1609 


Thomas  Allen,  George  E.  Leighton,  A.  J.  P.  Garesche, 
George  T.  C.  Reynolds,  John  Collier,  Henry  Hitch- 
cock, Albert  Todd,  Silas  Bent,  E.  A.  Hitchcock,  Dr. 
Walker,  Gen.  J.  W.  Noble,  John  C.  Orrick,  and 
James  S.  Garland ;  ladies  such  as  Mrs.  R.  J.  Lack- 
land, Mrs.  J.  C.  Learned,  Mrs.  William  Ware,  Mrs. 
Charles  Nagel,  Mrs.  Dr.  W.  E.  Fischel,  Miss  Susie 
Blow,  Mrs.  Beverly  Allen,  Mrs.  D.  Robert  Barclay, 
Mrs.  Isaac  Cook,  irrespective  of  their  own  direct  lit- 
erary labors,  have  been  markedly  important  factors  in 
the  increase  of  our  city's  literary  and  aesthetic  devel- 
opment. 

"  A  very  continuous  and  considerable  activity  has  al- 
ways been  created  and  sustained  by  the  Jesuit  Brothers 
in  charge  of  the  St.  Louis  University,  but  as  it  has  not 
specially  challenged  public  attention,  many  are  not 
aware  of  the  source  of  a  movement  whose  effects  they 
feel.  Of  the  young  men  educated  at  this  institution 
many  have  attained  distinction  in  the  church,  at  the 
bar,  in  the  profession  of  medicine,  and  in  the  less  in- 
dividualized fields  of  rational  activity.  During  the 
past  few  years,  under  the  auspices  of  Father  R.  J. 
Meyer,  president  of  the  faculty,  there  have  been  in- 
augurated courses  of  post-graduate  lectures,  and  the 
attendance  upon  these  has  done  much  to  incite  the 
younger  men  to  an  intellectual  activity  which  shall 
not  be  wholly  absorbed  by  the  cares  of  every-day 
life. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  St.  Louis  authors  and 
their  contributions  to  literature  : 

Alexander,  A.  W.     Contributor  to  the  Inland  Monthly. 

Allen,  Lyraan  W.  Cent,  to  The  Western:  cont.  to  Princeton 
Poets. 

Allen,  Thomas;  born  in  Massachusetts,  1813;  St.  Louis.  1842; 
died  1882.  Family  Magazine  (N.  Y.)  ;  Madisonian  (D. 
C.)  ;  cont.  Western  Journal,  Valley  Monthly  ;  Address  to 
University  Club,  1876 ;  Proposed  Expedition  to  Japan ; 
Address  on  History  and  Resources  of  Missouri. 

Allen,  Mrs.  L.  B.  G.     Bobs  and  Nabobs,  and  other  plays. 

Amson,  Arthur.     Cont.  Journal  Speculative  Philosophy. 

Ashworth,  T.  M.     Toin  Chips. 

Bailey,  George  W.     A  Private  Chapter  of  the  War. 

Bailey,  John  J.     Art,  a  Poem;  cont.  to  The   Western. 

Bateman,  W.  0.     Constitutional  Law  of  the  United  States. 

Bakewell,  E.  A.     Addresses. 

Barclay,  D.  Robert.     Lectures. 

Barret,  Richard  A.     Cont.  Inlnml  Monthly. 

Bay,  W.  V.  N.  Reminiscences  of  the  Bench  and  Bar  of  Mis- 
souri. 

Benton,  Thomas  H.;  born  in  North  Carolina,  1782;  St.  Louis, 
1813;  died  1858.  Editor  St.  Louis  Enquirer;  Thirty 
Years'  View ;  Abridgment  Debates  in  Congress. 

Beck,  James  P.     The  Doctor  and  the  Lawyer. 

Berg,  Franz.     Fisel. 

Beedy,  Mary  E.     Lectures. 

Beeson,  Miss  Sue  V.  Cont.  to  Journal  Speculative  Philosophy 
and  The  Western. 

Bernays,  C.  L. 


Bent,  Silas.  Thermal  Paths  to  the  Pole  ;  cont.  Inland  Monthly; 
Lectures. 

Bernard,  E.  F.  R.     Xenophnnes. 

Bibb,  Miss  Grace  C.  Lectures;  cont.  to  The  Western  Amer- 
ican, 

Blow,  Miss  Susie.  Journal  of  Education  ;  Addresses  on  Kin- 
dergarten System. 

Block,  Lewis  J.  Exile,  a  Poem  ;  cont.  to  The  Western,  Journal 
Speculative  Philosophy,  and  Inland  Monthly. 

Bland,  Peter  E.  Cont.  Western  Journal,  1849  ;  Speeches  on 
Finance  and  Currency. 

Blewett,  Benj.     Cont.  The  Western. 

Boutwell,  Mrs.  Helen  Willis.     Cont.  The  Western. 

Boyd,  Rev.  W.  W.     Lectures. 

Bowman,  Bishop.     Lectures  and  Addresses. 

Boudreaux,  Father  Florentin.     Ascetical  works. 

Brown,  B.  Gratz.  Lectures ;  Gradual  Emancipation  in  Mis- 
souri ;  The  Reform  Movement. 

Brockmeyer,  H.  C. ;  born  in  Prussia,  1828  ;  St.  Louis,  1857.  A 
Foggy  Night  at  Newport;  letter?  on  Faust  in  Journal 
Speculative  Philosophy  ;  Lectures. 

Brookes,  Rev.  J.  N.  Is  the  Bible  True?  How  to  Read  the 
Bible;  Marantha,  or  the  Lord  Cometh  ;  Central  Christian 
Advocate. 

Brackett,  Miss  Anna  C.  The  Education  of  American  Girls; 
Poetry  for  Home  and  School;  Rosenkranz's  Pedagogics; 
cont.  to  Journal  Speculatire  Philosophy,  Atlantic,  New 
Ennland  Journal  of  Education,  American  Journal  of  Edu- 
cation. 

Bryant,  William  M. ;  born  in  Indiana,  1843 ;  St.  Louis,  1873. 
Hegel's  ^Esthetics;  Philosophy  of  Landscape  Painting; 
Lectures  ;  associate  editor  of  The  Western  ;  cont.  to  Jour- 
nal Speculative  Philosophy,  American  Journal  of  Educa- 
tion. 

Bryan,  W.  J.  S.     Associate  editor  The  Western  ;  Addresses. 

Blackwood,  W.  Gardner.     Cont.  Western  Journal. 

Buell,  James  W.  A  Short  Tour  of  St.  Louis ;  Life  of  Jesse 
James  ;  Legend  of  the  Ozarks. 

Burlingham,  Rev.  A.  H. ;  born  in  New  York,  1822;  St.  Louis, 
1866.  Lectures. 

Byers,  W.  N.     Cont.  Valley  Monthly. 

Calmer,  Father  H.  M.    Lectures  on  History  and  Anthropology. 

Carter,  J.  H.  Cont.  city  press  ;  Rollingpin's  Almanacs  ;  Lec- 
tures. 

Campbell,  R.  A.  Commonwealth  of  Missouri;  Missouri  State 
Atlas;  The  Four  Gospels  in  One;  Gazetteer  of  Missouri  ; 
Chiromancy. 

Casselberry,  Evans.     Cont.  Western  Journal. 

Castlehun,  F.  K.     Palms. 

Childs,  C.  F. 

Chauvenet,  Regis.  Chemical  Analysis  of  the  Coals,  Iron  Ores, 
etc.,  of  Missouri. 

Chauvenet,  William.  Manual  of  Spherical  and  Practical  As- 
tronomy; Treatise  on  Elementary  Geometry;  Treatise  on 
Plane  and  Spherical  Trigonometry :  Inaugural  Address, 
Washington  University. 

Clements,  Miss  Hilda  C.     The  Song  of  Steam,  a  Poem. 

Clarke,  Enos.     Lectures. 

Conant,  A.  J.  Archaeology  (Switzler's  History  of  Missouri) ; 
Archaeology  (Commonwealth  of  Missouri) ;  Transactions 
St.  Louis  Academy  of  Science  ;  Lectures. 

Cooper,  Isaac  J.     Cont.  Western  Journal. 

Cook,  Francis  E.  Associate  editor  of  The  Western  ;  Songs, 
Poems,  etc. ;  Readings ;  Lectures. 

Collet,  Oscar  W.     Cont.  The  Western  and  city  press. 

Cole,  Miss  S.  E.     Cont.  The  Western. 


1610 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


Cobb,  H.     Cent.    Western  Journal,   Western  Journal  and  Civ- 
ilian, Inland  Monthly. 

Crane,  Newton.     Cent.  Scribner's  Monthly. 
Crunden,   F.  M.      Lectures;    Readings;    cont.    The    Western, 

American  Library  Journal,  Missouri  Democrat. 
Davidson,  Thomas.     The  Pantheon  and  other  Essays;  editor 
Wettern   Educational   Monthly ;  cont.    The  Western,    The 
Nation,    The    Boston    Advertiser,    Journal  of   Speculative 
Philosophy,  city  press,  American  Journal  of  Education; 
Lectures. 
Darby,  John  F. ;  born  in  North  Carolina,  1803 ;  St.  Louis,  1827  ; 

died  1882.     Personal  Recollections ;  cont.  city  press. 
Dacus,  J.  A.     A  Tour  of  St.  Louis  ;  Annals  of  the  Great  Strikes 

in  the  United  States;  cont.  city  press,  Valley  Monthly. 
Davis,  T.  G.  C.     Cont.  Inland  Monthly. 
D'Arcy,  H.  I.     Associate  editor  The   Western;  'Lectures;  cont. 

Journal  of  Speculative  Philosophy. 
De  Smet,  Father. 
Deutsch,  William.     Exercises   for  Allen's  New  Method  ;  cont. 

The   Western. 
Dixon,  B.  V.  B.     Selections  in  Appleton's  Reader:  associate 

editor  The  Western ;  Lectures. 
Diehl,  Conrad.     System  of  Drawing. 

Diekenga,    I.    E.      The   Worn-Out  Shoe,   a  Poem ;    Between 
Times  ;  Tom  Chips  ;  cont.  Valley  Monthly,  Inland  Monthly. 
Des  Montaignes,  Francis.   Cont.  Western  Journal. 
Bads,  Jas.  B.    Cont.  Transactions  St.  Louis  Academy  of  Science; 
Report  on  Mississippi   Jetties ;    Protest  against   Bill   for 
the  sale  of  Bank  Stock ;  On  the  Jetty  System ;  Physics 
and  Hydraulics  of  the  Mississippi  River. 
Edwards,  Richard.     The  Great  West. 
Eliot,  Miss  Ida  M.     Cont.  Journal  of  Speculative  Philosophy  ; 

Poetry  for  Home  and  School. 

Eliot,  Rev.  W.  G,  Early  Religious  Education  ;  Emancipation 
in  Missouri :  Great  Social  and  Moral  Questions  of  the  Day ; 
Woman's  Work  and  Education  in  America ;  Discipline  of 
Sorrow;  Home  Life  and  Influence;  Dignity  and  Moral 
Uses  of  Labor ;  Discourse  before  the  Old  Guard  of  Mis- 
souri;  Doctrine  of  Christianity;  Lectures  and  Addresses. 
Ellis,  Miss  Anna  C.  Unforgiven. 

Engler,  E.  A.;  born  in  St.  Louis,  1856.     Cont.  American  Jour- 
nal of  Mathematics,  Hardy's  Elements  of  Quaternions,  Pop- 
ular Science  Monthly,  Transactions  St.  Louis  Academy  of 
Science,  Kansas    City  Review  of  Science  and  Industry ; 
Time-Keeping  in  London. 
Engelmann,  Dr.  Geo. 
Eyser,  John.     Liebestrange. 
Fastrl,  Father  Joseph.     Translations. 
Finkelnburg,  G.  A.     Lectures. 
Fitzgibbon,  J.  H.     Cont.   Western  Journal. 
Foy,  Jas.  H.     Moody  vs.  Christ  and  His  Apostles. 
Foy,  Peter  L.     Lectures. 

Frings,  Chas.  H.    Die  Behandlung  der  Amerikanischen  Weine. 
Fulton,  Rev.  John.     Lectures. 
Garland,  Hugh.     Cont.  Western  Journal. 
Garland,  James  S. ;  born  in  New  Hampshire,   1842;  St.  Louis, 

1856.     Translation  Hegel's  Logic;  cont.  to  The  Western. 
Galway,  T.  F.     The  Jesuits  (tr.  Paul  Feval);    cont.  to   The 

Western. 

Garrigues,  Miss  Gertrude.     Cont.  Journal  of  Speculative  Phil- 
osophy and  The  Western. 
Gantt,  Col.  T.  T.     Cont.  to  The  Western. 
Garrett,  Thomas  E.     Freemasonry  and  Education  ;  The  Three 

Stages ;  cont.  to  city  press. 
Glover,  Samuel  T.     Cont.  Inland  Monthly. 
Green,  Dr.  John.     Cont.  to  The  Spectator  ;  Lectures. 


Goebel,  G.     L'anger  als  ein  Menschenleben  in  Missouri. 

Gould,  D.  B.     City  Directories,  1873-83. 

Green,  John.     City  Directories,  1845,  1847,  1850,  1851. 

Goodman,  C.  H.     Cont.  Appleton's  Journal. 

Gibert,  Madame.     French  Readers. 

"Grey,  Ethel."     Cont.  Western  Journal. 

Graham,  Alexander  J.     Cont.  Western  Journal. 

Harrison,  Edwin.     Transactions  of  Academy  of  Science. 

Hamilton,  A.  F.  Lectures ;  cont.  Valley  Monthly,  Western ; 
editor  of  Journal. 

Harts,  Father  M.  M.     Lectures  on  the  Feudal  System. 

Hayes,  Richard.     Transactions  of  Academy  of  Science. 

Hawks,  Bishop  C.  S. ;  born  in  North  Carolina,  1812 ;  St.  Louis, 
1843.  Boys'  and  Girls'  Library;  Library  for  My  Young 
Countrymen  ;  Uncle  Philip's  Conversations  for  the  Young  ; 
Friday  Christian. 

Harris,  William  T.  Journal  of  Speculative  Philosophy  ;  Apple- 
ton's  Readers ;  Hegel's  Logic ;  Lectures  and  Addresses  ; 
cont.  to  The  Atlantic,  The  Western.  North  American  Review, 
New  England  Journal  of  Education,  American  Journal  of 
Education,  Inland  Monthly  ;  Johnson's  Cyclopasdia. 

Hackstaff,  G.  C.     Hackstaff's  Monthly,  1880. 

Haven,  C.  H.     St.  Louis  Monthly  Magazine,  1878. 

Helmuth,  William  T.     Arts  in  St.  Louis. 

Helper,  Hinton  R.  Impending  Crisis;  The  Three  Americas' 
Railway;  Oddments  of  Andean  Diplomacy. 

Hibberd,  S.  S.     Cont.  Journal  of  Speculative  Philosophy. 

Hertwig,  John  G.     Cont.  to  The  Western. 

Heylen,  Father  Louis.     Lectures. 

Hinchman,  Miss  Laura.     Cont.  to  The  Western. 

Hill,  Britton  A.  Cont.  Valley  Monthly,  city  press,  Inland 
Monthly  ;  Liberty  and  Law ;  Absolute  Money. 

Hitchcock,  Henry.     Lectures. 

Hill,  Father  W.  H.  Sketch  of  St.  Louis  University ;  Ethics ; 
Elements  of  Philosophy  ;  Rhetoric. 

Hilder,  F.  F.  Cont.  Transactions  of  Missouri  Historical  So- 
ciety, Kansas  City  Review,  Criterion,  Grain  Review,  St. 
Louis  Sportsman  ;  Prize  Essay,  Three  Americas'  Railway  ; 
Lectures. 

Holmes,  Judge  Nathaniel.  Cont.  Transactions  of  St.  Louis 
Academy  of  Science;  The  Authorship  of  Shakespeare; 
The  Geological  and  Geographical  Distribution  of  the  Human 
Race;  Lectures. 

Howison,  Professor  George  H.  Analytical  Geometry ;  The 
Mutual  Relations  of  the  Department  of  Mathematics ; 
Lectures. 

Holland,  Rev.  R.  A.  Lectures;  cont.  to  Journal  of  Speculative 
Philosophy,  The  Western,  and  city  press. 

Howard,  C.  L.     Geography. 

Hobart,  E.  F.  Western  Educational  Journal,  Western  Educa- 
tional Review. 

Hopewell,  M.     The  Great  West. 

Hosmer,  Professor  James  K.  The  Thinking  Bayonet;  Memoir 
of  Dr.  G.  W.  Hosmer  ;  Short  History  of  German  Literature ; 
A  Corporal's  Notes  of  Military  Service  in  the  Nineteenth 
Army  Corps ;  cont.  to  Atlantic,  The  Western,  New  York 
Nation,  North  American  Review ;  Lectures. 

Hoit,  T.  W.  Cont.  Inland  Monthly  :  Rights  of  American  Sla- 
very ;  The  Model  Man. 

Hoyt,  J.  G.  Relations  of  Culture  and  Knowledge ;  Inaugural 
Address,  Washington  University ;  Lectures  and  Addresses. 

Hotchkiss,  C.  W.     Cont.  Monthly  Journal,  1861. 
Hogan,  John;  born  in  Ireland,  1805;  St.  Louis,  1845.    History 
of  Methodism  in  the  West;    The  Resources  of  Missouri; 
Thoughts  on  St.  Louis;  cont.  Republican,  Christian  Advo- 
cate. 


CULTURE  AND  LITERARY   GROWTH   IN   SAINT   LOUIS. 


1611 


Hubbard,  Mrs.  Clara.     Merry  Games  and  Songs. 

Hughes,  Father  T.     Lectures  on  Natural  Ethics. 

Illsley,  Charles  E.     Lectures;  cont.  to  The  Western. 

Jameson,  H.  W.  Rhetorical  Method ;  Selections  for  Reading  ; 
associate  editor  of  The  Western. 

Jordan,  B.     Cont.  to  The  Western. 

Kargau,  E.  D.     Poems. 

Kendrick,  A.  A.     Central  Baptist,  1870. 

Kennedy,  S.  M.  Home  Circle  and  Temperance  Oracle,  1873; 
home  press,  1860. 

Kennedy,  R.  V.     City  Directories,  1857,  1859-60. 

Keemle,  Col.  Charles;  born  in  Pennsylvania,  1800;  St.  Louis, 
1817.  The  Emigrant ;  St.  Louis  Enquirer,  1825;  Beacon, 
1827-32;  Commercial  Bulletin,  1834;  Saturday  News,  1837; 
City  Directory,  1837. 

Keller,  Father  Joseph  S.     Beveille,  1845-50;  Lectures. 

Killian,  B.  D.      Western  Banner,  1859. 

King,  Dr.  H.     Cont.  Western  Journal. 

King,  Moses.     St.  Louis  Temperance  Monthly,  1873. 

Knox,  T.  N.     City  Directory,  1845,  1854. 

Krum,  John  M.     Cont.  Western  Journal. 

Krura,  Chester  H.     Addresses. 

Kroeger,  A.  E.  The  Minnesingers  of  Germany;  H.  von  Meis- 
sen's Cantica  Canticorum  ;  Fichte's  Critique  of  the  Philo- 
sophical System;  The  Future  of  the  American  Republic; 
cont.  to  The  Western,  city  press,  Journal  of  Speculative 
Philosophy;  correspondent  New  York  Times;  History 
of  the  War;  Essay  on  Chatterton. 

Kayser,  Alexander.     Cont.  Western  Journal. 

Lackland,  Mrs.  R.  J.     Cont.  Journal  Speculative  Philosophy. 

Learned,  Rev.  T.  C.  Unitarianism,  its  History  and  Principle; 
cont.  The  Western ;  Lectures  and  Addresses. 

Leighton,  George  E.     Addresses. 

Litton,  Abram.     Transactions  Academy  of  Science. 

Little,  Arthur  C. 

Loughborough,  J.     Cont.  Western  Journal,  Inland  Monthly. 

Ludlow,  N.  M.     Dramatic  Life  as  T  found  It. 

Lueken,  D.  N.  Der  Deutsche  Sprachschuler ;  Sketch  Maps  for 
Geography. 

Mallinckrodt,  J.  F.      Novissimum  Organon. 

Martling,  James  A.  Poems;  Homer's  Iliad;  cont.  Journal  of 
Speculative  Philosophy. 

Marvin,  Bishop  E.  M.  Cont.  Valley  Monthly;  To  the  East  by 
way  of  the  West ;  Sermons. 

Macartney,  G.  W.     Inland  Monthly,  1819. 

Manford,  Erasmus.     Manford's  Magazine,  1864. 

MacLellan,  George  B.     Cont.  The  Western. 

Mason,  Miss  Helen  M.     Cont.  to  the  magazines. 

McAnally,  D.  R.     Life  and  Letters  of  Bishop  Marvin ;  Lectures. 

Meeker,  J.  R.     Cont.  The  Western. 

Metcalf,  Thomas.     A  System  of  Dictionary  Work. 

Meyer,  Father  R.  J.     Lectures  on  Christian  Ethics. 

Mills,  James  E. 

Mitchell,  Mrs.  Ellen  M.  Cont.  Journal  Speculative  Philosophy, 
and  to  The  Western. 

Morgan,  Horace  H.     Literary  Studies  from  the  Great  British  ; 
Authors;    Topical  Shakesperians ;    Representative  Names  i 
in  English  Literature;  Premium  Essays;  Defense  of  High 
Schools ;  Lectures  and  Addresses  ;  cont.  to  Journal  Specu- 
lative Philosophy,    Western  Educational    Journal,  South- 
ern    Law     Review,     American     Journal     of     Education, 
Education,  Williams'   Athenieum  ;  editor  of  The  Western, 
1875  to  1882. 

Monser,  J.  W.     An  Encyclopaedia  of  the  Evidences. 

Morgan,  Mrs.  E.  S. ;  born  in  St.  Louis,  1847;  died  1883.  Cont. 
Journal  Speculative  Philosophy  ;  The  Western. 


More,  Robert.     Cont.  The  Western ;  Lectures. 

Morrison.     City  Directory,  1852. 

Montague,  William  L.     City  Directories,  1853-55. 

Morris,  Miss  Cora  W.     Cont.  Inland  Monthly,  city  press. 

Nagle,  Charles.     Lectures. 

Nipher,  Francis  E.,  born  in  New  York,  1847 ;  St.  Louis,  1874. 
Cont.  The  School  Laboratory,  American  Journal  of  Science 
and  Arts,  Nature,  Review  of  Science  and  Industry, 
Transactions  St.  Louis  Academy  of  Science,  London  Phil- 
osophical Magazine. 

Nolan,  Miss  Mary.      Central  Magazine,  1873-81. 

Parmer,  Enrique.  Maple  Hall  Mystery ;  cont.  The  Western, 
city  press. 

Paxton,  James  A.     City  Directory,  1821. 

Perry,  John.     Cont.  Western  Journal. 

Perry,  Miss  Mary  E.     Cont.  The  Western. 

Pope,  Dr.  Charles  A. 

Pope,  William  S.     Lectures. 

Post,  Rev.  T.  M.     Skeptical  Era  in  Modern  History. 

Prout,  Dr.  H.  A.     Cont.  Western  Journal. 

Potter,  William  B. ;  born  in  New  York ;  1846,  St.  Louis.  Cont. 
Geological  Survey  of  Ohio;  cont.  Geological  Survey  of 
Missouri ;  Geological  and  Metallurgical  Papers  for  New 
York  Academy  of  Science ;  Earthworks  of  Southeastern 
Missouri;  cont.  Transactions  St.  Louis  Academy  of  Science. 

Pratte,  Bernard.     Cont.  Western  Journal. 

Primm,  Wilson ;  Cont.  Illinois  Monthly  Magazine ;  Orations 
and  Addresses. 

Purinton,  Miss  Julia  M.     St.  Louis  Magazine,  1873-76. 

Randolph,  Frank  Fitz.     Cont.  The  Western,  Inland  Monthly. 

Reed,  Mrs.  Hope  Goodson  (Curtis).     Cont.  The  Western. 

Reavis,  L.  U.  St.  Louis,  the  Future  Great  City  ;  The  Missouri 
Commonwealth;  A  Change  of  National  Empire;  Thoughts 
for  Young  Men  of  America;  cont.  Inland  Monthly. 

Reynolds,  Governor  T.  C.     Lectures ;  Addresses. 

Riley,  C.  V.  Born  in  England,  1843;  St.  Louis,  1868;  Lec- 
tures; Potato  Pest;  cont.  Scientific  American,  American 
Naturalist,  Popular  Science  Monthly,  American  Agricul- 
turist, New  York  Tribune,  Valley  Monthly,  Commonwealth 
of  Missouri,  Johnson's  Cyclopaedia,  Farmers'  and  Plan- 
ters' Cyclopaedia,  Trans.  St.  Louis  Academy  of  Science, 
Atlas  of  Missouri,  Appleton's  American  Cyclopaedia. 

Richardson,  Mrs.  Lucy  S.     Cont.  The  Western. 

Risk,  T.  F.      Western  Journal,  1848. 

Rosenstengel,  William  H.  German  Reader ;  Hilfs  und  Uebungt- 
buch  in  der  Deutschen  Sprache  ;  Addresses  and  Orations ; 
cont.  The  Western. 

Roesler,  Frank.     Cont.  The  Western. 

Robert,  Rev.  P.  G.     Cont.  The  Western,  city  press. 

Robyn,  Henry.     New  Song-Books  for  Schools. 

Royce,  G.  M.     The  Little  Bugler;  Lectures. 

Russell,  W.  H.  H.     Cont.  city  press. 

Sander,  Euno.     Transactions  Academy  of  Science. 

Sandford,  William  F.     Cont.  The  Western. 

Schuyler,  William ;  born  in  St.  Louis,  1855.  Librettos;  cont. 
city  press. 

Schmidt,  Adolf.     Transactions  Academy  of  Science. 

Seaver,  H.  E.     Greek  Readings. 

Seymour,  George  E. ;  born  in  Ohio,  1833;  St.  Louis,  1862. 
Series  of  Arithmetics ;  New  Method  of  Double  Entry  ; 
cont.  to  The  Western,  American  Journal  of  Education, 
Holbrook's  Normal,  Barnes'  Educational  Journal,  Edu- 
cational Reporter ;  cont.  city  press  ;  Lectures. 

Shepard,  Elihu  H. ;  born  in  Vermont,  1795;  St.  Louis,  1821; 
died  in  1876.  Autobiography;  History  of  St.  Louis  and 
Missouri. 


1612 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


Sherman,  Gen.  W.  T.     Memoirs. 

Shaw,  Robert.     Creator  and  Cosmos. 

Shumard,  B.  F.     Transactions  Academy  of  Science. 

Sherrick,  Miss  Fannie  Isabelle.  Love  or  Fame,  and  other 
Poems ;  cont.  Republican. 

Slayback,  A.  W.     Cont.  Valley  Monthly  ;  Addresses. 

Sloss,  J.  L.     City  Directory,  1848. 

Smith,  Sol.  Theatrical  Apprenticeship ;  Theatrical  Manage- 
ment for  Thirty  Years. 

Smarius,  Father.     Lectures. 

Smith,  Spencer.     Transactions  Academy  of  Science. 

Smith,  Charles  A. ;  born  in  St.  Louis,  1846.  Railroad  Gazette  ; 
Graphical  Estimates  of  Earthwork;  Continuous  Guides; 
Engineering  News:  American  Engineer;  Proceedings  of 
the  Master-Mechanics'  Association;  Journal  of  American 
Engineering  Societies. 

Smith,  Miss  S.  F.     Cont.  The  Western. 

Smith,  Miss  Charlotte.  Inland  Monthly,  1872-78;  The  Wasp, 
1873. 

Snyder,  Rev.  John.     Addresses;  Readings;  cont.  city  press. 

Snider,  Denton  J. ;  born  in  Ohio,  1841 ;  St.  Louis,  1864.  System 
of  Shakespeare's  Dramas ;  The  American  State;  Delphic 
Days;  A  Soul's  Journey;  Walks  in  Hellas  (two  series) ; 
Clarence,  a  Tragedy:  Lectures;  cont.  Journal  Specula- 
tive Philosophy  ;  associate  editor  The  Western. 

Snow,  M.  S. ;  born  in  Massachusetts,  1842;  St.  Louis,  1870. 
Cont.  Proceedings  Missouri  State  Teachers'  Association, 
1872;  Encyclopaedia  Britannica;  Lectures  ;  cont.  The  West- 
ern, Southern  Quarterly  Review. 

Soule,  C.  C. ;  born  in  Massachusetts,  1842 ;  St.  Louis,  1869.  Ro- 
meo and  Juliet,  a  Travesty ;  Hamlet  Revamped ;  Lectures. 

Soldan,  F.  Louis.  Amerikanisches  Lesebuch ;  Essay  on  the 
Darwinian  Theory ;  Dante's  Inferno  and  Purgatorio ; 
Grube's  Method  of  Teaching  Arithmetic;  Lectures;  cont. 
Journal  Speculative  Philosophy,  The  Western,  American 
Journal  of  Education. 

Sobolewski,  E.     Cont.  Journal  Speculative  Philosophy. 

Sonnenschein,  Rabbi  S.  H.     German  Poems;  Lectures. 

Spaunhorst,  H.  J. ;  born  in  Hanover,  1828 ;  St.  Louis,  1 836.  Lec- 
tures. 

Strotholte,  Dr.  A.     Cont.  Journal  Speculative  Philosophy. 

Stevenson,  Miss  V.  E.     Cont.    The   Western. 

Sule.   Marshall  Mars. 

Strong,  Miss  M.  E.    Conquered,  a  Novel :  Readings. 

Stevenson,  J.  C.  H.     Lectures. 

Stagg,  Edward.     Cont.  Western  Journal. 

Tanner,  Henry.     City  Directory,  1866. 

Tafel,  R.  L.     Latin  Pronunciation  and  Latin  Alphabet. 

Taylor,  Isaac  W.     Cont.   Western  Journal. 

Tarver,  M.  Western  Journal,  1848-51  (6  vole.) ;  Wfst<rn 
Journal  and  Civilian. 

Thomas,  E.  H. 

Thrailkill,  J.  W.     Cont.  Inland  Monthly. 

Thompson,  Col.  J.  M.     Cont.  The  Western. 

Thomas,  John  E.  Shakesperian  Readings;  History  of  St. 
Louis. 

Thomson,  A.  B.     Addresses. 

Tice,  John  II.  Elements  of  Meteorology ;  cont.  Western 
Journal,  Inland  Monthly,  city  press  :  Relations  Between 
Matter  and  Force. 

Todd,  C.  A.     Cont.  The  Western,  city  press ;  Lectures. 

Todd,  Albert;  born  in  New  York.  1813;  St.  Louis,  1839.  Lec- 
tures; cont.  city  press,  Inland  Monthly. 

Todd,  Mrs.  Albert.     Poems. 

Tracy,  J.  L.     Cont.  Valley  Monthly. 

Tracy,  J.  M.     Cont.  The  Western. 


Twining,  E.  H. :  born  in  Massachusetts,  1829 ;  St.  Louis,  1877. 
Lectures ;  cont.  The  Western. 

Van  de  Velde,  Father  J.     Lectures. 

Verhaegen,  Father  P.  J.     Lectures. 

Vickroy,  T.  R.  Lectures ;  English  Grammar  Circles ;  cont. 
The  Western,  Journal  Speculative  Philosophy. 

Wall,  Miss  Annie.  Is  Lying  Easy?  (translation)  Outlines  of 
English  History  ;  cont.  The  Western. 

Walker,  William  R.  Cont.  Journal  Speculative  Philosophy  and 
The  Western. 

Waldo,  William.     Cont.  The  Western. 

Ware,  Mrs.  William.     Cont.  The  Western. 

Ware,  James  E.      Valley  Monthly. 

Waugh,  Alfred  S.     Cont.  Western  Journal. 

Waterhouse,  Sylvester.  The  Protectorate  of  the  Holy  Places ; 
Reflections  on  the  Southern  Rebellion ;  The  Dangers  of  a 
Disruption  of  the  Union;  Eulogy  on  Chancellor  Hoyt;  The 
Resources  of  Missouri ;  Educated  Labor  in  Missouri ;  Me- 
morial to  Congress  for  the  Improvement  of  the  Missis- 
sippi River;  Commercial  Suggestions:  Papers  on  Jute  in 
United  States  Documents ;  Sketch  of  St.  Louis,  United 
States  Census  1881. 

Weaver,  Rev.  G.  S.  St.  Louis,  1854-60.  Christian  Household  ; 
Hopes  and  Helps;  Aims  and  Aids;  Ways  of  Life. 

Westbrook,  Mrs.  Harriet.     Cont.  Western  Journal. 

Wells,  Mrs.  Erastus.     Madame  Lucas. 

Wherry,  Col.  William  M.     Cont.  The  Western. 

Williams,  Henry  W.     Cont.  city  press. 

Willson,  Z.  G.  Western  Monthly  ;  associate  editor  The  Western  ; 
Lectures. 

Wislizenus,  Fred.     Librettos;  Lectures. 

Witte,  C.     Pronouncing  German  Dictionary. 

Woerner,  J.  G. ;  born  in  Wiirtemburg,  1826;  St.  Louis,  1837. 
Correspondent  New  York  Herald,  German  Tribune; 
Amanda,  the  Slave,  a  Play. 

Woodward,  Calvin  M.  Cont.  Valley  Monthly ;  Pamphlets  on 
Manual  Education;  Lectures;  History  of  the  St.  Louis 
Bridge. 

Wyeth,  Mrs.  George  M. 

Wyman,  Edward.     Cont.   Western  Journal. 

Webb,  Dr.  R.  D.     Cont.  Western  Journal. 

Welling,  Dr.  George.     Cont.  Western  Journal. 

Zuendt,  E.  A.:  born  in  Wiirtemburg,  1819;  St.  Louis.  Lyric 
and  Dramatic  Poems;  Jugurtha,  a  Tragedy;  Dramatic 
Fairy  Tales.1 

"WRITERS  FOR  THE  PRESS,  SECULAR  AND   RELIGIOUS.2 
Abbott,  E.     Valley  Farmer,  1853;  Central  Baptist,  1876. 
Aldrich,  H.  L.     Western  Insurance  Review,  1872-83. 
Allen,  G.  S.     The  Evening  Gazette,  1838. 

Allen,  James  W.  Weekly  Hesperian,  1867 ;  St.  Louis  Evan- 
gelist, 1873. 


1  To  the  above  list  may  be  added  the  names  of  Henry  Boern- 
stein,  publisher  of  the  Anzeiger  des  Westens,  who  has  been 
quite  prominent  in  connection  with  the  German  stage,  both  in 
Europe  and  in  this  country,  having  written  many  successful 
plays,  and  Laura  C.  Redden,  who,  under  the  pseudonym  of 
"  Howard  Glyndon,"  has  an  extensive  reputation  as  a  maga- 
zinist  and  newspaper  writer.  Miss  Redden  was  born  in  Somer- 
set County,  Md.,  but  came  to  St.  Louis  early,  assisted  in  editing 
the  St.  Louis  Presbyterian,  and  wrote  much  for  the  Missouri 
Republican.  Two  of  her  books,  "  Notable  Men  of  the  Thirty- 
seventh  Congress"  and  "  Idyls  of  Battle,"  are  well  and  favorably 
known.— J.  T.  S. 

-  The  more  prominent  journalists  are  indicated  by  a  *. 


CULTURE   AND   LITERARY   GROWTH   IN   SAINT   LOUIS. 


1613 


Allen,  W.  S.     The  Evening  Gazette,  1838. 

Alls,  Karel.     Pozor  Bohemian  Gazette,  1864—67. 

Alexander,  A.  W.     Contributions  city  press. 

*Allison,  R.  D.     Dispatch,  1876. 

Anderson,  Josiah.  People's  Organ,  1850  ;  St.  Louis  Price-Cur- 
rent, 1864-65. 

Baker,  L.  H.     St.  Louis  Christian  Advocate,  1872. 

Baird,  E.  T.  St.  Louis  Presbyterian,  1853-59  ;  St.  Louis  Chris- 
tian Advocate,  1872. 

Barclay,  D.  Robert.     Dispatch. 

Bakewell,  R.  A.     Shepherd  of  the  Valley,  1851-54. 

#Bagly,  Miss  F.  M.     Contributor  to  city  press. 

Babbington,  G.  L.     Children's  Advocate,  1874. 

Beadle,  Hiram.     Education  and  Health  Journal,  1874. 

Beck.  James  P.     St.  Louis  Times. 

Bemis,  Frank  M.     National  Prohibitionist,  1880. 

*Bernays,  C.  L.     Anzeiger,  Republican. 

Birch,  James  H. ;  born  in  Virginia,  1804;  St.  Louis,  1826; 
St.  Louis  Enquirer. 

Bowlin,  J.  B.;  born  in  Virginia,  1804;  St.  Louis,  1833;  Far- 
mers' and  Mechanics'  Advocate,  Missouri  Argus. 

*Boernstein,  Henry;  born  in  Hamburg,  1805;  St.  Louis,  1849. 
Anzeiger  des  Westens. 

Bruere,  M.  G.     Stuats  Zeitung,  1872-73. 

*Brown,  B.  Gratz ;  born  in  Kentucky,  1826;  St.  Louis,  1849. 
Missouri  Democrat,  1854, 

Browne,  W.  W.     Ladies'  Pearl. 

Bradley,  B.  F.     Industrial  Press,  1872-73. 

Budd,  George  K.     New  Era,  1848. 

Buell,  James  W.     City  press. 

Burgess,  F.  H.     Evening  Chronicle. 

Byars,  W.  V.     Republican. 

*Cahill,  John  F.     El  Comercio  del  Valle. 

Campbell,  Wm.  M.     New  Era,  1844. 

*CharIess,  Joseph.     Missouri  Gazette,  1808. 

*Chambers,  A.  B.     Republican,  1837. 

^Churchill,  Samuel  B.     St.  Louis  Bulletin,  1834. 

Chamberlin,  H.     Herald  of  Religious  Liberty,  1844-48. 

Clark.  George  B.     Times. 

Clements,  James.     The  Guardian,  1866. 

Clark,  Wm.  P.     Commercial  Bulletin,  1834-37. 

Corbin,  A.  B.     Missouri  Argus,  1836-37. 

Coons,  Frank  A.     St.  Louis  Monthly,  1873. 

*Colman,  Norman  J.     Rural  World,  1864-83. 

*Coulter,  W.  F.     St.  Louis  Grocer,  St.  Louis  Druggist. 

*Cockerill,  John  A.  Post- Dispatch,  Cincinnati  Enquirer, 
Baltimore  Gazette,  Washington  Post. 

Cortambert,  Louis.     Revue  de  1'Ouest,  1854-65. 

Cox,  Charles  E.     The  Truth,  1870. 

Cox,  A.  F.     St.  Louis  Observer,  1858. 

*Coloney,  Myron.  The  Valley  Review  and  St.  Louis  Journal  of 
Commerce,  1870. 

*Crane,  Newton.     Spectator,  Globe-Democrat,  Democrat. 

Grossman,  R.  B.     Weekly. 

Crockett,  J.  B.     New  Era,  1848, 

Crandall,  F.  A.  The  Valley  Review  and  St.  Louis  Journal  of 
Commerce,  1870. 

Crowell,  Wm.     Western  Watchman  (Baptist). 

Cuddy,  Wm.     St.  Louis  Daily  Express,  1858-59. 

*Cundiff,  J.  H.  R.     Republican. 

Dameron,  Logan  D.     Christian  Advocate. 

*Daenzer,  Carl.  Anzeiger  des  Westens,  Mississippi  Blatter, 
1859-75, 

Davis.     Fountain,  1848-50. 

*Dillon,  John  A.  Evening  Post,  Missouri  Democrat,  Post-Dis- 
patch, Spectator,  Globe-Democrat ;  Lectures. 


Dougherty.     Missourian,  1845. 

Edwards,  Richard.     The  People's  Press. 

*Edwards,  John  N.     St.  Louis  Times. 

Ellis,  V.  P.  Commercial  Bulletin,  1834;  The  Native  American, 
1846. 

Elliott,  Charles.     Central  Christian  Advocate. 

*Ewing,  Henry.     St.  Louis  Times,  1871. 

Faris.     St.  Louis  Times. 

Fayel,  William,     Republican. 

Farr,  D.  B.     St.  Louis  Observer,  1880-83. 

Faerber,  W.     Pastoral  Blatt,  1874-76. 

Farris,  R.  P.  St.  Louis  and  Memphis  Presbyterian,  1876;  St. 
Louis  Presbyterian;  Missouri  Presbyterian,  1866-70. 

Fawcett,  James  L.     Morning  Herald,  1853. 

Ferguson,  P.  G.     Democrat. 

Ferguson,  AVilliam.     Central  Baptist. 

Field,  Joseph.     Reveille,  1845-50. 

Field,  Matthew.     Reveille,  1845-50, 

*Field,  Eugene.     Evening  Journal,  St.  Louis  Times. 

Finney,  T.  M.     Central  Christian  Advocate,  1872. 

*Fishback,  George  W.    Democrat. 

Fishback,  W.  P.     Democrat. 

Fisher,  C.  S.     St.  Louis  Times. 

Fitzgibbon,  J.  H.     The  Practical  Photographer,  1875. 

Finlay,  R.  S.     Liberia  Advocate,  1846-48. 

Fleming.     Herald,  1820. 

Flagg,  E.     Evening  Gazette,  1845. 

Flint,  Weston.     St.  Louis  Daily  Tribune,  1870. 

Fox.     Commercial  Journal. 

Follett,  J.  B. 

Foreman,  S.  B.  St.  Louis  Enquirer,  1825-26 ;  Herald,  1820  ; 
St.  Louis  Times,  1827-32. 

Ford,  Patrick  H.     St.  Louis  Enquirer. 

Ford,  S.  H.     Christian  Repository,  1872-73. 

*Foy,  Peter  L,     Dispatch,  1869-71. 

Foster,  G.  G.     St.  Louis  Pennant. 

Fox,  E.  W.     Exporter  and  Importer. 

Foote,  A.  R.     Home  and  Grange,  1874. 

Frings,  C.  H.     Zymotechnic  News,  1870. 

Garesche,  A.  J.  P.;  born  in  Cuba,  1823;  St.  Louis,  1839.  St. 
Louis  Times,  1869-70. 

Garrett,  Mrs.  E.     Republican. 

Garvey,  Richard.     Daily  Tomahawk. 

Garrison,  J.  H.     The  Christian,  1874. 

Gambs,  E.  F.     Philatelist. 

George,  Rev.  S.  C.     Weekly  Mail. 

Gilson,  George  AY.     Democrat. 

*Gouley,  George  Frank;  born  in  Delaware,  1832  ;  St.  Louis, 
1861.  Freemason,  1867-74;  Voice  of  Freemasonry. 

Gonter,  C.  G. ;  born  in  Pennsylvania;  St.  Louis,  1846.  Morn- 
ing Signal,  1852;  St.  Louis  Letter-Sheet  and  Price-Cur- 
rent, 1852-79. 

Goodrich,  H.  P.  Herald  of  Religious  Liberty,  1844-48;  Foun- 
tain, 1848-50  ;  St.  Louis  Herald,  1850. 

Green,  Gen.  Duff.     St.  Louis  Enquirer,  1823-25. 

Griffith,  B.     Young  Reaper,  1872-73. 

*Grissom,  D.  M.  Daily  Evening  Intelligencer;  Union,  1864; 
Dispatch. 

®Grosvenor,  William  M.     Democrat ;  Addresses. 

Hall,  Sergeant.     Emigrant  and  General  Advertiser. 

Hay,  J.  S.     St.  Louis  Evening  Leader,  1873. 

Harlow,  William  M.     Snatches  and  Sketches,  187.4. 

Harkness,  W.  H.  St.  Louis  Journal  of  Commerce ;  Journal  of 
Agriculture,  1871-72. 

Halpin,  T.  M.     Home  press,  1860. 

Haven,  C.  H.     St.  Louis  Review  and  Chronicle. 


1614 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


Hays,  Samuel.     Fountain,  1848-50. 

Henley,  J.  J.     Fireside  Visitor,  1872-73. 

Hessoun,  Joseph.     Atlas,  1873-83. 

Hermann,  Henry.     Humorist,  1881-83. 

Helmieh,  Anton. 

Henson,  R.  S.     Baptist  Teacher,  1872. 

Heemann,  E.  W.     Westliche  Post,  1864;   Volks  Zeitung,  1866. 

Henry,  Isaac  M.     St.  Louis  Enquirer. 

*Hilpert.     Tribune. 

Hincliffe,  J.  N.     Miner  and  Artisan,  1850. 

Hill,  William.    Missouri  Democrat,  1852 ;  Sentinel,  1850  ;  Union, 

1850. 
Higgins,  R.  S.     People's  Organ,  1841 ;  Daily  Morning  Herald, 

1854. 

Hillgaertner,  George.     Neue  Zeit,  1864. 
Hinton,  J.  T.     Missouri  Baptist,  1844. 
Hodgman,  S.  A.     The  Presbyterian  Casket,  1853. 
Holbrook,  D.  B.     Evening  Gazette,  1838. 
Halton,  H.  H.     St.  Louis  American. 
*Hodnett,  D.  A.     St.  Louis  Times,  1869-71. 
•Howell,  C.  N.     Republican. 
Holt,  Miss  Fanny.     Woman's  Journal,  1872. 
*  Hodges,  William  R.     Spectator. 
Howard,  J.  R.     Bible  Advocate,  1850. 

*Houser,  D.  M.     Missouri  Democrat,  Globe,  Globe-Democrat. 
Husman,  George.     Grape  Culturist,  1870. 
-Hutchins,  Stilson;  born  in  New  Hampshire,  1838;  St.  Louis, 

1865.     North    lowan,    Dubuque  Herald,  St.  Louis  Daily 

Times,  St.  Louis  Dispatch,  1873. 
Huntley,  Stanley.     Republican. 
Huntington,  J.  V. 

*Hume,  George  C.     Evening  Journal,  Dispatch. 
*Hyde,  William.     Republican. 

Hyatt,  H.  S.     Mississippi  Valley  Progress,  1874-76. 
Jameson,  E.  H.  E.     St.  Louis  Times,  1864. 
Jacoby,  L.  S.     Der  Missionsbote,  1873. 
Jackson,  S.  B.     Mississippi  Valley  Grocer,  1881-83. 
Jones,  Jonathan;  born  in  Ohio,  1813;  St.  Louis,  1841;   died, 

1883.     Cent,  city  press. 
*Kargan,  E.  D.     Anzeiger. 
Kennedy,  R.  V.     Home  press,  1860. 
Keilsan,  B.  D.     Western  Banner,  1859. 
King,  Moses.     Temperance  Monthly,  1873;  Lectures. 
*Knapp,  George.     Missouri  Republican. 
*Knapp,  John.     Missouri  Republican. 
*Knapp,  C.  W.     Republican. 
Koch.     Missouri  Handels  Zeitung,  1857. 
Krum,  John  M. ;  born  in  New  York ;  St.  Louis,  1840.   Missouri 

Justice. 
*Keemle,  Col.  Charles.     Commercial  Bulletin,  1843;  Saturday 

News,  1837;  Reveille,  1845-50. 
Lawless,  Luke  E.     St.  Louis  Enquirer,  1826. 
Lange,  Louis.     Die  Abendschule,  1859. 
Lewis,  E.  A.     Daily  Intelligencer,  1854-57. 
Leftwich,  W.  W.     Ware's  Valley  Monthly,  1876. 
Libby,  J.  W.     Gospel  of  Temperance,  1867. 
Lindemann,  J.  C.     Evang.  Luth.  Schulblatt,  1869-72. 
Longuemare,   Eugene.    Evening  Bulletin,   1859 ;    Daily  Bul- 
letin, 1860. 

Lovejoy,  E.  P.     St.  Louis  Observer,  1833. 
Loehr,  Adelbert.     St.  Louis  Daily  Chronicle,  1857. 
Logan,  J.  B.  .Ladies'  Pearl;  Cumberland  Presbyterian,  1852- 

57. 

Loring,  James  M.     Cont.  city  press. 
Luther,  J.  H.     Central  Baptist,  1870-73. 
Lynds,  T.  W.     Gospel  of  Temperance,  1867. 


Maury,  Charles.     St.  Louis  Engineer. 

Mallett,  I.  A.     Commercial  Daily  List,  1859. 

Mantz,  Charles  A.     St.  Louis  Times. 

Mahoney,  D.  A.     St.  Louis  Times,  1866-67. 

Marmaduke,  J.  S.  Public  Opinion  ;  St.  Louis  Journal  of  Agri- 
culture, 1871-72;  St.  Louis  Journal  of  Commerce. 

Marmaduke,  Vincent.     St.  Louis  Journal  of  Commerce. 

Mclntyre,  J.  W.     American  Sunday-School  Worker,  1872-77. 

Manford,  Erasmus.  The  Golden  Age,  1853-57;  The  Golden 
Era,  1855. 

MoCullagh,  J.  B.  Correspondent  Democrat,  Chicago  Repub- 
lican, Democrat,  Globe,  Globe-Democrat;  editor  Cincin- 
nati Enquirer. 

«McKee,  Henry.     Globe-Democrat. 

*McKee,  William.  Evening  Gazette,  Barnburner,  Sentinel, 
Union,  Democrat,  Globe,  Globe-Democrat. 

*McHenry,  Estill.     Dispatch,  St.  Louis  Times. 

*McHenry,  William  H.     Dispatch,  1869-72. 

Mclntosh.     Weekly  Courier,  1867. 

McAnally,  D.  R.     St.  Louis  Christian  Advertiser. 

*McAnal!y,  Rev.  M.     Christian  Advocate. 

*Merwin,  J.  B.     American  Journal  of  Education. 

*Mitchell,  A.  S.  New  Era,  1848  ;  Daily  Evening  News  and 
Intelligencer,  1852. 

Mills,  George.    Times,  Globe-Democrat,  Morning  News. 

Moss,  Lemuel.     National  Baptist,  1872-76. 

Mountfort,  A.     Pioneer  Journal,  1869. 

Moore,  J.  C.     The  Cavalier,  1867. 

Mullin,  William  J.  Catholic  Cabinet ;  Catholic  News-Letter, 
1847. 

Mullin,  Thomas.     Catholic  Banner,  1839. 

Negus,  George.     St.  Louis  Evening  Post,  1869. 

Nettelbaum,  F.     Missouri  Schulbl'atter. 

Norrell,  Joshua.     Western  Journal,  1816. 

*Noxon,  Mrs.  Annie  Robertson.     Cont.  Republican. 

Nollan,  F.     Der  Friedensbote. 

*01shausen,  Arthur.     Westliche  Post. 

#01shausen,  Theo.     Westliche  Post. 

O'Madigan,  Dan.     AVestern  Celt,  1871-75. 

*0'Neill,  F.  R.     Republican. 

Orr,  William.     St.  Louis  Beacon,  1827-32;  The  Herald,  1820. 

*Paschall,  Nathaniel.    Republican,  New  Era. 

Parker,  N.  H.    Valley  Review  and  Journal  of  Commerce,  1880. 

Patton,  J.  H.     Bible  Advocate,  1850. 

Page,  James  N.     St.  Louis  Presbyterian,  1852. 

Paxon,  Stephen.     Sunday- School  World,  1873. 

Peshek.     Pozor  Bohemian  Gazette. 

Peck,  J.  M.     Republican. 

Peckham,  James.     Evening  Bulletin,  1859;  home  press,  1860. 

*Penn,  S.,  Jr.     Missouri  Reporter,  1842-45. 

*Phelan,  Father.     Western  Watchman. 

Pickering,  L.     Union,  1848. 

Pinckard,  P.  M.     Sabbath-School  Star,  1864-70. 

Price,  Celsus.     St.  Louis  Times. 

*Preetorius,  Emil.     Westliche  Post. 

*Preuss,  Edward.- 

*Pulitzer,  Joseph  P.     Post-Dispatch,  Orations  and  Addresses. 

Rainwater,  C.  C.     St.  Louis  Times. 

Ray,  David  B.  Baptist  Battle-Flag,  1876;  American  Baptist 
Flag,  1880. 

*Ramsay,  Charles  G.  Commercial  Bulletin,  1836-37;  New  Era, 
1844-50;  Daily  Evening  News  and  Intelligencer,  1850; 
Evening  News,  1853-66. 

*Reavis,  J.  R.     Spectator. 

*Reefer.     Jewish  Tribune. 

Riley,  C.  V.     American  Entomologist,  1871-76. 


CULTURE  AND  LITERARY  GROWTH   IN   SAINT   LOUIS. 


1615 


Robert,  P.  G.     Church  News,  1873. 

Rombauer,  R.  J.     Neue  Welt,  1871. 

Robbins,  R.  H.  Sunday  Morning,  1873 ;  Knights  of  Honor 
Magazine,  1881-83. 

Ruth.     Evening  Gazette,  1845. 

Ruggles.     Mirror. 

Saler,  Francis.  St.  Louis  Daily  Chronicle  (Ger.),  1857;  Der 
Herald  des  Glaubens,  1853-83. 

Schneider,  F.  A.  H.     Demokratische  Presse,  1853-55. 

*Schurz,  Carl.    Westliche  Post ;   Lectures. 

Schutte,  George  A.     The  La  Salle,  1873. 

Seeman,  A.  C.     The  Mirror. 

Singleton,  William  R.     Daily  Evening  Gazette,  1842. 

Smith,  G.  W.     Daily  Commercial  Bulletin,  1869. 

*Smith,  Arden  R.     Republican,  Evening  Chronicle. 

Smiley,  R.  L.     Temperance  Watchman,  1873. 

Snow,  D.  J.     Temperance  Battery,  1853. 

Sonnens-chein,  S.  H.     Jewish  Tribune,  1881. 

Spitz,  Rabbi.     Jewish  Tribune,  1881. 

*Spalding,  Josiah.     Missouri  Republican. 

Spaunhorst,  H.  J.     Amerika. 

Stone,  P.  P.     Merchant  and  Banker,  1875. 

*Stevens,  W.  B.     St.  Louis  Times,  Globe-Democrat. 

Staley.     People's  Organ,  1850. 

Steele.     Workinginan's  Advocate,  1831. 

Stone,  Mrs.  M.  H.     The  Mirror. 

Stone,  Mrs.  S.  I.     Spectator. 

Sylvester,  R.  H.     St.  Louis  Times. 

Taylor,  J.  D.  St.  Louis  Evening  Post  and  Mystic  Family, 
1845-48. 

Taylor,  John  M.     City  press. 

Teasdale.     Central  Baptist,  1873. 

Temple,  George.     Democrat. 

Thayer.     Democrat. 

Thomas,  William  L.     St.  Louis  Commercial  Gazette,  1875-83. 

Thompson,  H.  M.     American  Inventor,  1881. 

Treat,  Judge  Samuel.     Missouri  Reporter. 

Trotter,  D.  W.  R.     Central  Christian  Advocate. 

Tracy,  J.  L.     Dispatch. 

Ustick,  T.  W.     Watchman. 

Vickroy,  T.  R.     Phonetic  Teacher. 

Vance.     Fountain,  1848-50. 

Van  Antwerp.     Missourian,  1845. 

Valland,  L.  F.     Missouri  Democrat. 

*WaterIoo,  Stanley.     Evening  Chronicle,  Republican. 

Walther,  C.  W.  F.     Der  Lutheraner,  1853-73. 

Walster,  A.  Otto.     Volksstimme  des  Westens,  1878. 

Watson,  Thomas.     St.  Louis  Pennant. 

Western,  H.  J.     Baptist  Quarterly,  1872. 

Wenzell.     Missouri  Blatter. 

Wetmore,  Alphonso.     Saturday  News,  1837. 

Werz,  H.     Missouri  Schulbote,  1861-65. 

Willstaedt,  L.     Figaro,  1874. 

Williams.     Weekly  Courier,  1867. 

Willich,  L.     Puck,  Lantern. 

Wilhartity,  A.     Neue  Welt,  1869-71. 

Widmar,  R.  M.  St.  Louis  Journal  of  Commerce,  St.  Louis 
Handels  Zeitung,  1857-59. 

Willett,  Edward.     St.  Louis  Times. 

Wilbush,  A.     Demokratische  Presse,  1853-55. 

Willis,  M.  W.     City  press. 

*Wolcott,  AV.  V.  Journal  of  Commerce,  Puplic  Opinion,  Jour- 
nal of  Agriculture,  Evening  Journal. 

*Woods,  Dr.  S.  B.     Evening  Chronicle. 

Wolf,  John.     Tribune  Francaise. 

Wull.     Friedensbote,  1849. 


s'Yeaman,  Rev.  W.  Pope;  born  in  Kentucky,  1832;  St.  Louis, 
1870.  Central  Baptist,  1871-72,  1876-77  ;  Lectures. 

Zider,  H.  F.  St.  Louis  Courier,  1874-75  ;  St.  Louis  Dry -Goods 
Reporter  and  Price-Current,  1873-74. 

"  The  private  libraries  of  St.  Louis  have  only  recently 
begun  to  be  considerable,  either  in  extent  or  in  char- 
acter. This  fact  is  largely  due  to  the  mixed  character 
of  our  population.  While  the  French  element  pre- 
dominated, business,  political  life,  and  social  affairs 
elicited  the  chief  interest.  The  German  element  has 
to  a  great  extent  been  composed  of  men  and  women 
whose  energies  were  absorbed  by  industrial  pursuits, 
and  their  artistic  sympathies  found  the  most  satisfac- 
tory expression  through  music.  Hence,  while  in  our 
musical  history  the  Germans  lead  in  representation,  and 
while  names  like  Boernstein  and  Bernays  are  eminent  in 
the  ranks  of  our  local  writers,  yet  the  sympathy  through 
literary  forms  has  not  been  the  commonest  manifesta- 
tion. The  other  elements  of  a  primarily  foreign  popu- 
lation would  naturally  find  their  time  sufficiently 
occupied  without  the  devotion  of  much  time  to  special 
literary  culture.  The  native  American  population  has 
largely  consisted  of  those  to  whom  the  struggle  for 
existence  was  too  immediate  to  leave  leisure  for  exten- 
sive reading. 

"  The  few  individuals  who  had  accumulated  private 
libraries  were  most  frequently  men  of  retired  lives, 
and  the  dispersion  of  their  effects  by  death  or  removal 
has  destroyed  all  but  the  recollection  of  their  collec- 
tions. In  some  cases,  as  in  that  of  Governor  Reyn- 
olds, valuable  libraries  were  confiscated  or  destroyed 
during  our  civil  war. 

"  Using  library  as  a  word  intended  to  express  a 
reasonable  number  of  valuable  books,  collected  with 
reference  to  some  rational  and  distinctive  aim,  private 
libraries  are  owned  by  the  following  ladies  and  gen- 
tlemen : l 

Mrs.  Beverly  Allen,  #Gerard  B.  Allen,  Mrs.  Thomas  Allen, 
Mrs.  D.  Robert  Barclay,  *Dr.  G.  Baumgarten,  Mrs.  Francis  P. 
Blair,  *A.  F.  Blaisdell,  Miss  Susie  Blow,  Rev.  W.  W.  Boyd, 
*Maj.  Bryan,  W.  J.  S.  Bryan,  Mrs.  J.  J.  Cole,  E.  C.  Coleman, 
D.  F.  Colville,  *Newton  Crane,  *F.  M.  Crunden,  *Eugene 
Cuendet,  H.  I.  D'Arcy,  H.  A.  Diamant,  *John  A.  Dillon, 
B.  V.  B.  Dixon,  *William  R.  Donaldson,  W.  B.  Douglas, 
*H.  L.  Dousman,  George  D.  Drake,  John  N.  Dyer,  James 
B.  Eads,  «Lucien  Eaton,  *George  S.  Edgell,  «Dr.  W.  E.  Fis- 
chel,  Rev.  John  Fulton,  Rev.  Dr.  Ganse,  *Col.  T.  T.  Gantt, 
*James  S.  Garland,  James  C.  Ohio,  *W.  J.  Gilbert,  *William  J. 
Glasgow,  *Samuel  T.  Glover,  Dr.  John  Green,  George  D.  Hall, 
W.  G.  Hammond,  *Britton  A.  Hill,  *E.  A.  Hitchcock,  *Henry 


1  The  collections  marked  thus  *  have  special  value,  and  well 
represent  the  ancient  and  modern  classics,  art,  dramatic  litera- 
ture, natural  science,  political  history,  English  literature, 
Shakespeariana,  French  memoirs,  books  relating  to  Napoleon, 
philology,  philosophy,  theology,  Americana,  and  illustrated 
works. 


1616 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


Hitchcock,  Clarence  Hodge,  *James  K.  Hosnier,  Mrs.  G.  L. 
Hughes,  *Halsey  C.  Ives,  *Horatio  Jones,  ^Archbishop  P.  R. 
Kenrick,  *Rev.  F.  M.  Kielty,  Chester  M.  Krum,  Mrs.  R.  J. 
Lackland,  *Rev.  J.  C.  Learned,  *George  E.  Leighton,  J.  H. 
Lionberger,  Henry  Lucas,  Dr.  Karl  Luedeking,  Judge  G. 
Madill,  William  McBlair,  Gustav  V.  R.  Meechein,  *H.  H. 
Morgan,  J.  W.  Noble,  James  O'Fallon,  John  O'Fallon,  John 
C.  Orrick,  C.  S.  Pennell,  John  D.  Perry,  *Rev.  T.  M.  Post, 
*W.  H.  Pulsifer,  *Eben  Richards,  F.  L.  Ridgley,  *L.  B.  Ripley, 
*E.  C.  Robbins,  *Rev.  M.  Schuyler,  *William  L.  Scott,  *George 
E.  Seymour,  J.  H.  Sheets,  «J.  R.  Shepley,  *H.  T.  Simon,  R.  B. 
Smith,  *D.  J.  Snider,  *M.  S.  Snow,  *F.  L.  Soldan,  S.  H.  Son- 
nenschien,  H.  S.  Spaunhorst,  Dr.  A.  Strotholte,  *Maj.  Suteo,  H. 
C.  Thorn,  *George  F.  Toner,  *Charles  H.  Turner,  E.  H.  Twin- 
ing, *Mrs.  W.  H.  Waters,  *Sylvester  Waterhouse,  «H.  W.  Wil- 
liams, *Mrs.  William  Young. 

"  The  publishing  business  in  St.  Louis  has  neither 
employed  large  capital  nor  been  of  more  than  indi- 
vidual importance.  To  this  there  are  notable  excep- 
tions in  the  direction  of  law,  which,  through  the  efforts 
of  F.  H.  Thomas  &  Co.,  George  I.  Jones,  and  W.  J. 
Gilbert,  has  become  an  interest  of  magnitude,  while 
the  publications  have  a  high  reputation.  Mr.  Jones 
has,  furthermore,  done  much  for  the  city  by  the  high 
character  of  his  miscellaneous  publications,  such  as 
Hosmer's  "  History  of  German  Literature,"  Snider's 
"System  of  Shakespeare's  Dramas,"  Morgan's  "Topi- 
cal Shakespeariana,"  Woodward's  "  History  of  the  St. 
Louis  Bridge ;"  and  in  the  direction  of  educational 
publications,  Henry  W.  Jameson  has  done  enough  to 
entitle  him  to  personal  mention." 

Among  the  publishers,  David  B.  Gould1  has 
achieved  a  well-earned  reputation  as  the  directory- 
maker  of  St.  Louis.  He  was  born  in  Caldwell, 
Essex  Co.,  N.  J.,  Sept.  7,  1844.  He  appears  to 
have  inherited  his  faculty  for  book-making,  for  his 
grandfather,  Stephen  Gould,  is  said  to  have  been  the 
first  publisher  of  law  books  in  America.  The  house 
which  he  founded  in  New  York  City  is  still  in  ex- 
istence, being  now  conducted  by  Banks  Brothers, 
his  great-nephews.  The  Goulds  settled  in  New 
Jersey  as  early  as  1700,  and  were  prominent  and 
public-spirited  people  of  that  region. 

Young  Gould  received  the  usual  common-school  edu- 
cation, and  attended  college,  but  did  not  graduate,  being 
impatient  to  mingle  in  the  active  affairs  of  life.  In 
1864  he  went  West  as  clerk  of  the  Ordnance  Depart- 
ment of  the  United  States  army,  and  was  located  at 
Fort  Scott,  Kan.,  where  he  remained  until  the  close 
of  the  war,  when  he  returned  to  his  old  home  ;  but 
finding  the  sphere  too  contracted  for  one  of  his  enter- 
prising disposition,  again  removed  to  the  West,  and 
in  1866  began  at  Chicago  the  compilation  of  directo- 
ries. In  connection  with  this  business  he  was  identi- 


1  Contributed  by  F.  H.  Burgess. 


fied  for  some  years  with  some  of  the  most  important 
places  in  the  West  and  South. 

In  September,  1871,  he  located  permanently  in  St. 
Louis,  and  commenced  the  publication  of  the  "  St. 
Louis  City  Directory,"  which  he  has  issued  annually 
ever  since.  Mr.  Gould  has  given  this  work  his  en- 
tire time  and  attention,  and  for  completeness,  cor- 
rectness, careful  attention  to  details,  etc.,  his  publica- 
tions are  not  surpassed  by  any  similar  works  in 
America.  He  employs  such  system  and  energy  in 
the  business  that,  although  the  growing  population  of 
St.  Louis  compels  the  yearly  addition  of  from  five 
thousand  to  seven  thousand  names  to  the  directory, 
the  period  employed  in  getting  out  the  work  has, 
during  the  past  ten  years,  been  shortened  thirty  days. 
In  addition  to  this  great  undertaking,  he  publishes 
a  "  St.  Louis  Business  Men's  Directory,"  a  "  Blue- 
Book  of  St.  Louis,"  and  a  "  Map  of  St.  Louis." 
Mr.  Gould  has  also  published  directories  of  Peoria, 
Springfield,  and  Bloomington,  111.,  and  it  is  his  in- 
tention to  cover,  as  rapidly  as  practicable,  every  im- 
portant point  in  the  West  and  South. 

Of  his  standing  as  a  business  man  it  may  be  said 
that  he  very  early  secured  the  confidence  and  good 
will  of  the  people  of  St.  Louis,  and  has  retained  them 
ever  since.  He  at  once  identified  himself  with  the 
city,  and  there  has  hardly  been  a  public  movement  of 
any  kind  since  he  established  his  residence  in  which 
he  has  not  taken  a  prominent  and  active  part.  Ques- 
tions of  transportation,  both  by  rail  and  river,  have 
engaged  much  of  his  attention.  He  was  a  delegate 
from  St.  Louis  to  the  River  Improvement  Convention 
at  St.  Paul,  and  was  secretary  of  that  body,  which 
did  more  for  the  improvement  of  the  upper  Missis- 
sippi than  all  previous  agencies.  Upon  this  and 
kindred  topics  he  has  written  much  for  the  public 
press.  There  is  hardly  a  citizen  who  has  devoted 
more  time  and  money,  proportionately  to  his  means,  to 
advance  the  interests  of  St.  Louis,  and  there  is  certainly 
none  who  has  exhibited  such  implicit  and  enthusiastic 
faith  in  the  future  of  the  city,  as  is  shown  by  his 
large  investments,  made  from  the  profits  of  a  prosper- 
ous business.  He  is  an  ardent  promoter  of  the  pend- 
ing scheme  to  reconstruct  the  streets  of  St.  Louis  with 
granite,  and  in  this,  as  in  all  things  else,  displays  the 
earnestness  of  a  man  of  liberal  and  enterprising  views, 
who  has  not  only  the  courage  to  express  them,  but 
the  energy  to  carry  them  out. 

Innumerable  enterprises  claim  and  receive  Mr. 
Gould's  support.  He  was  the  founder  and  father 
of  the  St.  Louis  Club,  and  for  three  years  was  a 
director  and  chairman  of  its  house  committee.  He 
is  a  director  in  the  Provident  Savings  Institution, 


URR.ARY 


ART  AND   ARTISTS. 


1617 


one  of  the  enterprising  and  flourishing  banks  of  the 
city.  He  is  also  a  member  of  many  fraternities,  but 
while  willing  to  do  his  share  of  the  work,  has  pre- 
ferred that  others  should  fill  the  offices  and  enjoy  the 
honors. 

Mr.  Gould's  wife  is  Emma  E.,  the  only  daughter 
of  Dr.  M.  V.  Allen,  of  Chicago,  and  a  direct  descend- 
ant of  Gen.  Ethan  Allen,  the  Revolutionary  hero. 
They  have  three  interesting  children. 

Mr.  Gould  has  a  beautiful  residence  at  3457  Chest- 
nut Street,  St.  Louis,  and  an  elegant  summer  house 
at  Oconomowoc,  Wis.,  where  in  the  intervals  of  busi- 
ness he  enjoys  life  rationally,  finding  no  greater  pleas- 
ure than  in  the  society  of  his  family  and  friends. 

"  The  following  is  a  list  of  the  publishers  of  St. 
Louis : 

"Advocate  Publishing  House,  American  Baptist  Publication 
Society,  American  School  Book  Company,  M.  S.  Barnett,  C. 
R.  Barnes,  Becktold  &  Co.,  Belford,  Clark  &  Co.,  Bollman  & 
Son,  W.  S.  Bryan,  R.  A.  Campbell,  James  H.  Chambers,  Chris- 
tian Publishing  Company,  Norman  J.  Coleman,  Concordia  Pub- 
lishing Company,  Charles  B.  Cox,  Logan  D.  Dameron,  Everts 
&  Co.,  P.J.  Fox,  Gilbert  Book  Company,  David  B.  Gould, 
Historical  Publishing  Company,  E.  F.  Hobart  &  Co.,  G.  I.  Jones 
&  Co.,  Journal  of  Commerce,  Moses  King,  J.  J.  Lawrence,  J.  C. 
McCurdy  &  Co.,  National  Publishing  Company,  Parson  &  Co., 
Review  Publishing  Company,  Scammell  &  Co.,  J.  T.  Smith  &  Co., 
Spectator  Publishing  Company,  St.  Louis  Magazine  Company, 
St.  Louis  Religious  Press  Association,  W.  H.  Stevenson,  Sun 
Publishing  Company,  F.  H.  Thomas  &  Co.,  Thompson,  Tice  & 
Lillington,  N.  D.  Thompson  &  Co.,  William  F.  Wernse  <fe  Co., 
Charles  F.  Anderson,  E.  F.  Gatnbs,  Harker  &  Pritchard,  Charles 
Jennings.  Ferd.  P.  Kaiser,  W.  11.  Kerns,  Louis  Lange,  John  B. 
Lee  &  Bro.,  Frank  McDaritt,  James  H.  Matthews,  George  W. 
Matthews,  McClelland  &  Winter,  Samuel  H.  Soyster,  St.  Louis 
Baptist  Publishing  Company,  St.  Louis  Board  of  Publication, 
Thomas  &  Stone." 


CHAPTER    XXXVII. 

ART    AND    ARTISTS.! 

THE  art  history  of  St.  Louis  has  passed  through 
two  distinct  phases.  This  has  followed  naturally  from 
the  peculiar  characteristics  of  the  inhabitants.  The 
earlier  settlers  were  mainly  French.  These  brought 
with  them  the  inborn  refinement  belonging  to  people 
who  have  grown  up  in  the  midst  of  a  cultivated  so- 
ciety, and  who  have  inherited  through  many  genera- 
tions a  genuine  taste  for  and  lively  appreciation  of 
works  of  art. 

Such  people,  though   doubtless  for  the  most  part 


1  This  chapter  is  the  joint  work  of  Professor  H.  H.  Morgan 
and  W.  M.  Bryant.  In  giving  it  without  material  alteration, 
the  author  does  not  wish  to  be  held  responsible  for  all  its  con- 
clusions, nor  for  the  tone  of  some  of  its  criticisms. 


unable  to  analyze  and  give  an  explicit  account  of  their 
preferences,  must  still  possess,  in  the  form  of  taste,  a 
discriminative  judgment  that  would  well-nigh  unfail- 
ingly select  intrinsically  valuable,  and  as  unfailingly 
reject  valueless  productions.  They  thus  without  hesi- 
tation preferred  a  fair  copy  of  a  really  significant 
work  to  an  original  one  that  possessed  no  vital  mean- 
ing. In  this  way,  it  is  well  known,  there  grew  up  in 
Europe  at  an  early  period  a  demand  for  copies  of  the 
better  class  of  paintings. 

Of  copies  thus  called  into  existence  many  were 
brought  to  St.  Louis  and  the  surrounding  region  by 
the  earlier  French  settlers.  It  doubtless  happened 
also  that  an  occasional  original  picture  by  a  really 
great  artist  found  its  way  over,  though  the  fact  that 
few  specially  wealthy  families  were  counted  among 
these  early  immigrants  reduces  such  probability  to  the 
minimum.'2 

At  the  present  day  many  of  these  old  paintings 
have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  people  who,  for  one  or 
another  reason,  do  not  care  to  retain  them.  It  often 


2  This  scarcely  does  justice  to  the  earlier  inhabitants  of  St. 
Louis.  They  did  not  practice  art  to  any  great  extent,  but  they 
did  encourage  it  by  securing  pictures  abroad  and  by  having 
portraits  painted  at  home.  There  were  a  number  of  very  good 
portrait-painters  in  the  country,  who  every  year  made  winter 
tours  to  the  South,  and  it  was  a  favorite  route  with  several  of 
these  to  pass  up  the  Hudson  to  Albany,  across  country  to  Olean, 
down  the  Allegheny  to  Pittsburgh,  and  thence  to  Cincinnati, 
Louisville,  St.  Louis,  and  New  Orleans.  A  great  number  of  the 
old  portraits  in  St.  Louis  were  painted  by  these  itinerant  limners. 
The  first  directory,  that  of  1821,  mentions  the  fact  that  the  town 
at  that  time  contained  "one  portrait-painter,  who  would  do 
credit  to  any  country." 

Gabriel  Paul  was  then  the  architect  and  building  the  Cathe- 
dral, and  the  compiler  of  the  directory  takes  great  pride  in 
claiming  that  "the  Cathedral  of  St.  Louis  can  boast  of  having 
no  rival  in  the  United  States  for  the  magnificence,  the  value 
and  elegance  of  her  sacred  vases,  ornaments,  and  paintings,  and 
indeed  few  churches  in  Europe  possess  anything  superior  to  it. 
It  is  a  truly  delightful  sight  to  an  American  of  taste  to  find  in 
one  of  the  remotest  towns  of  the  Union  a  church  decorated  with 
the  original  paintings  of  Rubens,  Raphael,  Guide,  Paul  Ver- 
onese, and  a  number  of  others  by  the  first  modern  masters  of 
the  Italian,  French,  and  Flemish  schools.  The  ancient  and 
precious  gold  embroideries  which  the  St.  Louis  Cathedral  pos- 
sesses would  certainly  decorate  any  museum  in  the  world.  All 
this  is  due  to  the  liberality  of  the  Catholics  of  Europe,  who 
presented  these  rich  articles  to  Bishop  Dubourg  on  his  last 
tour  through  France,  Italy,  Sicily,  and  the  Netherlands. 
Among  the  liberal  benefactors  could  be  named  many  princes 
and  princesses,  but  we  will  only  insert  the  names  of  Louis 
XVIII.,  the  present  king  of  France,  and  that  of  the  Baroness 
La  Candele  de  Ghyseghatn,  a  Flemish  lady,  to  whose  munificence 
the  Cathedral  is  particularly  indebted."  Of  course  the  paint- 
ings of  the  old  masters  are  copies,  not  originals.  The.  directory 
also  makes  mention  of  the  fact  that  even  at  that  early  day 
drawing  was  part  of  the  regular  curriculum  of  St.  Louis  Uni- 
versity (then  called  College). — J.  T.  S. 


1618 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


happens,  therefore,  that  one  of  these  is  brought  to 
light  and  offered  for  sale.  Some  of  them  bear  the 
signatures  of  artists  more  or  less  celebrated.  These, 
'which  from  the  nature  of  the  case  in  most  instances 
must  be,  and  very  likely  in  all  cases  are,  copies,  to- 
gether with  many  more  altogether  without  signature, 
are  often  confidently  claimed  to  be  original  works  of 
this  or  that  great  master,  on  no  other  ground,  it 
would  seem,  than  that  .there  is  no  longer  any  clew 
whatever  to  their  origin  !  At  the  same  time,  it  is  not 
to  be  denied  that  many  of  these  works  have  genuine 
merit ;  some  of  them,  indeed,  a  high  order  of  merit. 

It  is  to  be  observed,  however,  that  during  this 
entire  earlier  period  the  absorbing  interests  were  those 
of  a  community  struggling  to  develop  the  resources 
of  a  country  as  yet  in  its  primitive  condition.  It  was 
impossible,  therefore,  that  the  art  interests  of  the 
time  should  be  such  as  to  develop  any  productive 
activity  in  the  field  of  art. 

The  second  phase  of  the  art  history  of  St.  Louis 
presents  characteristics  no  less  marked  than  those  of 
the  first.  The  growth  of  the  city  involved  the  in- 
fusion of  elements  other  than  French,  so  that  in 
course  of  time  the  latter  became  wholly  subordinated, 
both  in  numbers  and  in  influence.  The  transition 
period,  indeed,  is  one  well-nigh  destitute  of  art  inter- 
est of  any  kind.  The  new  elements  entering  into 
the  population  of  the  city  brought  energy,  enterprise, 
thrift,  but  all  this  was  concentrated  almost  wholly  in 
the  direction  of  accumulating  property  in  its  most 
abstract  form, — i.e.,  in  the  form  of  wealth,  money  as 
wealth. 

This  stage,  however,  was  not,  as  it  could  not  be,  a 
permanent  one.  Those  who  had  accumulated  wealth 
began  to  feel  the  necessity  of  its  being  realized  in 
other  forms  than  in  that  of  mere  money,  if  it  was  to 
be  wealth  in  any  true  sense ;  and  no  very  extended 
research  was  required  to  make  clear  to  them  this  fact, 
that  wealth  has  from  time  immemorial  unfailingly 
sought  realization  in  works  of  art. 

Nevertheless,  people  without  art-culture,  and  even 
wholly  destitute  of  traditions  concerning  art,  cannot, 
from  the  very  nature  of  the  case,  safely  rely  upon 
their  own  judgments  in  the  choice  of  works  of  art. 
It  happened,  therefore,  that  the  earlier  collections  in 
this  second  phase  of  our  art  history  were  of  exceed- 
ingly varying  merit.  The  tendency  was,  and  in  some 
degree  still  is,  to  decry  the  art  of  the  renaissance,  and 
to  insist  upon  the  immeasurable  superiority  of  the  art 
of  the  present  over  the  art  of  all  former  time.  Pic- 
tures were  purchased  rather  from  the  celebrity  of  the 
artist  than  from  any  clear  conception  of  the  signifi- 
cance or  value  of  the  pictures  themselves. 


At  the  same  time,  while  the  distance  of  an  artist  in 
time  was  held  to  be  proof  of  his  inferiority,  the  dis- 
tance of  an  artist  in  space  was  but  too  likely  to  be 
taken  as  fairly  conclusive  evidence  of  his  superiority. 
Nor  does  there  appear  to  have  been  the  slightest  sus- 
picion of  the  necessary  incongruity  existing  between 
these  two  tacit  assumptions,  the  former  of  which  was 
but  one  with  the  light  opinion  entertained  of  the  re- 
naissance art,  an  incongruity  sufficiently  apparent 
when  one  considers  that  those  most  distant  and  there- 
fore greatest  artists  are  found  in  France  and  Italy,  the 
very  countries  where  the  richest  traditions  of  the 
renaissance  centre,  and  without  which  the  great  art 
of  the  present  would  have  been  simply  impossible. 

It  must,  however,  be  borne  in  mind  that  this  was 
but  a  preliminary  stage.  With  increase  of  inquiry 
has  come  increase  of  knowledge,  so  that  the  purchases 
of  works  of  art  have  been  steadily  more  and  more 
discriminating,  while  the  evidences  of  defective  judg- 
ment in  the  determination  of  earlier  acquisitions  are 
gradually  disappearing  from  our  galleries. 

The  influences  leading  to  this  marked  improvement 
in  the  art  interests  of  the  city  have  been  many  and 
various.  Among  these  influences  the  art  exhibitions 
held  from  time  to  time  must  be  counted  as  highly 
significant.  The  first  was  held  in  Oak  Hall  in  1857, 
and  this  may  be  regarded  as  the  date  of  the  revival, 
or,  in  an  important  sense,  as  the  date  of  the  origin  of 
a  genuine  art  interest  in  the  city. 

For  a  number  of  years  past  art  exhibitions  have 
constituted  a  special  feature  of  the  St.  Louis  Annual 
Fair  and  Exposition.  These  have  generally  been  made 
up  mainly  of  paintings,  representing  the  best  class  of 
work  of  many  of  the  foremost  artists  of  both  Europe 
and  America. 

Besides  these,  other  occasional  exhibitions  have 
been  held  in  the  Mercantile  Library  rooms,  in  the 
reading-room  of  the  Public  School  Library,  and  latterly 
two  specially  noteworthy  ones  in  the  new  Museum  of 
Fine  Arts.  These  have  all  been  "  loan  exhibitions," 
the  pictures  being  supplied  from  the  private  galleries 
of  the  city.  Much  credit  is  due  to  H.  L.  Dousman 
and  other  collectors  named  below  for  their  public- 
spirited  liberality  on  these  occasions,  which  has  been 
of  great  value  in  educating  the  public  taste. 

Again,  the  collections  that  came  to  be  formed,  as  a 
result  of  the  newly-awakened  interest,  gave  by  reflex 
influence  a  strong  stimulus  to  that  interest.  The  ear- 
liest of  these  collections  worthy  of  mention  began  to 
be  formed  in  the  years  immediately  succeeding  the 
close  of  the  war.  A  number  of  these  have  come  to 
include  not  merely  an  extended  array  of  pictures  for 
which  large  sums  of  money  have  been  paid,  but  pic- 


ART   AND   ARTISTS. 


1619 


tures  which,  with  very  few  exceptions,  are  genuine 
works  of  art  of  a  high  order  of  merit.  Such  are  the 
collections  of  H.  L.  Dousman,  Charles  Parsons,  Daniel 
Catlin,  F.  0.  Day,  John  J.  0  Fallen,  S.  A.  Coale,  J. 
G.  Chapman,  Benjamin  W.  Clark,  Edwin  Harrison, 
George  E.  Leighton,  F.  L.  Ridgeley,  John  A.  Scud- 
der,  John  11.  Shepley,  and  W.  S.  Stuyvesant,  which 
contain  good  and  important  examples  of  the  work  of 
nearly  two  hundred  of  the  most  celebrated  of  modern  : 
painters.  The  works  in  these  collections  have  been 
chiefly,  though  not  entirely,  selected  because  repre- 
sentative of  artists  of  high  repute,  and  together  afford 
the  means  of  study  of  much  of  the  best  of  modern 
art. 

Others,  guided  in  many  instances  by  knowledge 
born  of  real  study  of  art,  and  in  other  instances  by  a 
well-defined  and  cultivated  taste,  have  made  collec- 
tions which  may  be  said  to  exhibit  more  of  the  indi- 
viduality of  the  owners,  notably  EL  C.  Ives,  G.  Baum- 
garten,  Martin  Collins,  S.  M.  Dodd,  W.  W.  Harris, 
Henry  Overstolz,  E.  A.  Hitchcock,  Frank  Desloge, 
W.  J.  Gilbert,  Horatio  M.  Jones,  H.  T.  Simon,  J.  B. 
Henderson,  Thomas  E.  Tutt,  G.  0.  Carpenter,  A.  B. 
Thomson,  L.  M.  Rumsey,  G.  S.  Walker,  M.  Rumsey, 
H.  C.  Wilson,  B.  H.  Brownell,  E.  S.  Warner,  and 
D.  F.  Colville.  Some  of  these  collections  are  the  ex- 
pressions of  taste  or  feeling  in  a  special  direction,  as 
for  engravings-  or  etchings,  and  some  are  composed 
exclusively  of  the  works  of  local  artists. 

Hercules  L.  Dousman,1  who  has  perhaps  the  finest 
private  art  collection  in  St.  Louis,  is  the  only  son  of 
Col.  Hercules  L.  Dousman,  who,  as  one  of  the  lead- 
ing minds  of  the  Northwestern  Fur  Company,  con- 
tributed largely  to  the  opening  up  to  settlement  and 
civilization  the  vast  territories  that  lie  west  and  north- 
west of  Prairie  du  Chien,  Wis.,  as  far  as  the  bounda- 
ries of  the  British  dominions  and  the  mouth  of  the 
Columbia  River.  Col.  Dousman  was  born  in  1800,  in 
the  island  of  Mackinac,  and  after  receiving  a  thor- 
ough commercial  training  in  New  York,  became,  while 
still  quite  a  young  man,  connected  with  the  North- 
western Fur  Company,  of  which  John  Jacob  Astor, 
its  founder,  was  then  manager,  and  in  which  Pierre 
Chouteau,  of  St.  Louis,  was  subsequently  one  of  the 
controlling  spirits.  In  1826,  Col.  Dousman  was  sta- 
tioned by  his  employers  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  under 
the  nominal  control  of  Joseph  Rolette,  a  gentleman 
who  speedily  comprehended  the  great  abilities  of  his 
youthful  friend  and  coadjutor,  and  yielded  to  him  the 
administration  of  the  affairs  of  his  company  in  that 
region.  Thus  at  an  age  when  most  men  are  deliber- 

1  This  sketch  was  contributed  by  F.  H.  Burgess. 


ating  on  the  choice  of  a  career,  Col.  Dousman  became 
the  practical  Governor  of  a  territory  larger  in  area 
than  France  and  Germany  combined,  and  the  potent 
agent  through  which  civilization  has  supplanted  bar- 
barism throughout  a  section  which  bids  fair  to  become 
the  richest  and  most  populous  in  the  republic.  He 
was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  men  of  his  day,  and 
among  the  wild  tribes  of  the  Northwest  his  control 
was  unhesitatingly  admitted.  A  friend  of  his,  Gen. 
Henry  H.  Sibley,  in  a  paper  read  before  the  Histori- 
cal Society  of  Minnesota,  speaking  from  long  years  of 
personal  knowledge,  bore  testimony  to  the  extraordi- 
nary power  he  wielded  among  the  Indians,  who,  while 
they  feared  and  respected  the  determined  will  of  Col. 
Dousman,  revered  him  as  a  man  whose  justice  was 
equaled  by  his  kindness,  and  whose  word  could  be 
relied  on  implicitly  in  all  transactions.  Indeed,  he 
was  their  friend  as  well  as  their  law-giver,  and  his 
rule  was  acknowledged  with  a  hearty  loyalty  that 
could  only  spring  from  warm  personal  affection. 

In  1844,  Col.  Dousman  married  the  widow  of 
Joseph  Rolette,  who  died  in  1842.  This  lady  was 
born  in  1804,  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  where  she  resided, 
with  some  trifling  temporary  absences,  until  her  death, 
which  occurred  Jan.  13,  1882.  She  survived  her 
three  children  by  her  first  marriage,  and  on  April  3, 
1848,  her  only  surviving  child,  Hercules  L.  Dousman, 
was  born.  Throughout  all  her  long  residence  in  her 
Northern  home  Mrs.  Dousman  led  a  life  of  piety 
and  charity,  which  endeared  her  to  the  people  among 
whom  her  lot  was  cast,  and  caused  her  decease  to  be 
mourned  with  a  genuineness  and  spontaneity  of  feel- 
ing such  as  made  it  seem  that  every  family  felt  the 
loss  as  that  of  one  of  its  individual  members. 

Col.  Dousman  died  Sept.  12,  1868,  when  his  son 
was  less  than  twenty-one  years  of  age.  During  his 
business  career  he  had  acquired  vast  possessions,  in- 
cluding property  lying  at  various  points  along  the 
banks  of  the  Mississippi,  from  Carondelet,  where  lie 
owned  thirty  acres  of  city  property,  to  Prairie  du 
Chien,  where  his  lands  faced  for  three  miles  along  the 
river  bluffs,  and  stretched  far  inland.  But  for  the  civil 
war,  during  which  he  raised  and  equipped  at  his  own 
cost  large  bodies  of  troops,  these  estates  would  have 
been  much  more  valuable ;  but,  notwithstanding,  at 
the  time  of  their  owner's  death  they  were  valued  at 
several  millions  of  dollars.  All  these  estates  are  now 
the  property  of  his  son. 

Hercules  L.  Dousman  married  in  November,  1873, 
the  eldest  daughter  of  Gen.  Samuel  D.  Sturgis,  an 
officer  who  distinguished  himself  on  several  occa- 
sions in  important  operations  during  the  war,  and 
who  as  colonel  of  the  Seventh  Cavalry  won  an  en- 


1620 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


viable  record  as  one  of  the  best  Indian-fighters  the 
United  States  array  has  produced.  He  is  at  this, 
writing  governor  of  the  Soldiers'  Home  at  Wash- 
ington. Shortly  after  his  marriage,  and  early  in 
1874,  Mr.  Dousman  accompanied  his  wife  to  St. 
Louis  on  a  visit  to  her  father,  who  was  then  com-  I 
mandant  at  Jefferson  Barracks.  This  visit  led  to  his 
permanent  settlement  in  St.  Louis,  the  decision  being 
reached  in  the  fall  of  that  year.  In  1877  he  pur- 
chased a  handsome  mansion,  which  he  remodeled,  add- 
ing to  it  a  gallery  for  a  collection  of  paintings.  Mr. 
Dousman  had  long  been  a  consistent  and  liberal  patron 
of  the  arts,  purchasing  pictures  and  statuary  whenever 
opportunity  served,  and  gradually  educating  his  judg- 
ment up  from  plane  to  plane,  each  step  being  taken  i 
with  characteristic  caution  and  forethought,  but  all 
tending  towards  the  one  general  purpose  of  making  a 
collection  which  should  comprise  specimens  of  the  best 
efforts  of  modern  genius.  Long  before  his  gallery 
was  completed  the  principal  dwelling-rooms  of  his  resi- 
dence were  crowded  with  the  paintings  he  had  accu-  ' 
mulated.  Subsequently,  from  time  to  time,  additions 
have  been  made,  and  always  with  a  close  regard  to  the 
principle  on  which  the  collection  was  begun,  until 
now,  although  there  are  more  extensive,  there  are  few 
choicer  collections  in  the  country. 

As  soon  as  his  collection  had  approached  its  present 
degree  of  excellence,  Mr.  Dousman  notified  all  in- 
terested in  art,  whether  resident  in  the  city  or  I 
visitors,  that  the  treasures  he  had  gathered  were  at 
their  service  for  either  enjoyment  or  study.  Artists 
were  especially  invited  to  make  use  of  the  opportunity  . 
thus  afforded,  and  the  Dousman  residence  came  to  be 
daily  thronged  with  visitors  whose  only  introduction 
was  a  taste  for  works  of  art.  In  time  this  was  found 
to  be  too  great  a  tax  to  be  permitted  without  restric- 
tion, and  a  regulation  was  made  which  proved  bene- 
ficial to  all.  One  day  in  the  week  was  set  apart  as  a 
general  visitors'  day,  admission  being  by  card,  obtain- 
able by  any  one  of  respectability  on  application,  the 
gallery  being  reserved  on  the  other  days  for  the  use 
of  the  family  and  intimate  friends. 

Probably  one  of  the  most  remarkable  of  the  works 
in  Mr.  Dousman's  gallery  is  the  famous  "  Temptation 
of  St.  Anthony,"  by  Louis  Leloir. 

Gabriel  Max  is  represented  by  two  superb  works, 
"  Maternal  Happiness"  and  "  The  Reverie,"  both  of 
them  perfect  specimens  of  the  best  style  of  this  great 
figure- painter. 

Bouguereau's  work  is  seen  in  a  magnificent  full- 
length,  life-size  painting,  "  Les  Jeunes  Bohemiennes," 
sometimes  called  '•  Les  Soeurs."  and  in  a  cabinet 
picture  of  extreme  delicacy  of  sentiment,  entitled 


"  L'Ange  Gardien,"  where  a  young  mother  is  breath- 
ing a  soft  prayer  over  her  sleeping  infant. 

Victor  Bachereau  has  a  fine  historical  work,  show- 
ing the  last  hours  of  Francis  of  Lorraine,  Duke  of 
Guise,  the  dying  hero  pardoning  his  assassin,  who  has 
been  captured  and  brought  to  his  tent  for  condemna- 
tion. 

"  The  Roll-Call  of  the  Reign  of  Terror,"  by  Charles 
Louis  Miiller,  the  original  of  the  great  canvas  which 
stretches  over  one  of  the  walls  of  the  Palace  of  the 
Luxembourg,  shows  with  awful  skill  all  the  horror  of  a 
morning  in  the  conciergerie  when  the  officer  of  the 
revolutionary  tribunal  is  calling  out  the  daily  list  of 
the  victims  of  the  guillotine. 

Pierre  Jean  Clays  is  represented  by  a  scene  in  the 
harbor  of  Ostend,  painted  in  the  best  style  of  that 
great  marine  artist. 

Benjamin  Constant's  work  appears  on  two  can- 
vases,— "Caesar's  Daughter,"  haughtily  treading  the 
steps  of  the  Roman  amphitheatre,  and  "  The  Sultan's 
Favorite,"  a  strong  piece  of  Eastern  light,  color,  and 
grace. 

Corot's  "  Morning,"  one  of  the  best  works  of  the 
great  landscape-painter,  is  another  feature  of  the 
collection. 

Among  the  other  artists  represented  are  E.  J. 
Aubert,  Czachorski,  De  Haas  and  Van  'Marcke,  who 
appear  at  their  best  in  two  magnificent  cattle  pieces ; 
William  Kray,  of  Vienna,  who  is  represented  by  the 
famous  "  Lorelei,"  and  by  "  The  Swimming  Lesson" 
and  "  The  Fisherman ;''  Jacquet,  whose  work  appears 
in  exquisitely  painted  portraits  of  Mr.  Dousman's  two 
eldest  daughters;  A.  Vely  (Salon  picture  of  1880), 
"  Le  Coeur  S'E  veille,"  a  life-size,  full-length  work,  show- 
ing a  young  maiden  listening  to  her  grandame's  reading 
of  some  story  of  heroic  deeds ;  Lecompte  du  Nouy, 
represented  by  his  famous  Salon  picture,  "  Christian 
Pilgrims  at  the  Tomb  of  the  Virgin ;"  Casanova, 
Madrazo,  Mesgrigny,  Meissonier,  Adrien  Moreau, 
Pierre  Outin,  Palmaroli,  Perrault,  Pinchart,  Richter, 
Rico,  Rossi,  Schenck,  Schreyer,  Alvarez,  Amberg, 
Chelmonski,  Chlebowski,  Carolus  Duran,  Jules 
Dupre,  Diaz,  De  Neuville,  Coomans,  Heilbuth,  Alfred 
Gues,  Hagborg,  Indoni,  Ziem,  Villegas,  Simoni, 
Sjamaar,  Terrassa,  and  a  score  of  others. 

The  citizens  of  St.  Louis  fully  appreciate  the  value 
of  such  an  acquisition  to  their  city  as  the  Dousman 
family.  Its  head  is  always  ready  to  promote  public 
enterprises  with  both  purse  and  influence,  and  his 
home,  under  the  cultured  management  of  Mrs.  Dous- 
man, is  the  centre  of  the  most  graceful  and  refined 
society  the  city  can  boast. 

In  addition  to  the  works  of  art  belonging  to  the  St. 


or  i  HE 

IfMVF 


ART   AND   ARTISTS. 


1621 


Louis  School  of  Fine  Arts,  the  St.  Louis  University, 
the  Mercantile  Library,  and  the  Public  School  Li- 
brary, the  city  contains  a  score  or  more  collections  of 
paintings  worthy  of  mention  in  this  connection,  five 
well  advanced  collections  of  engravings,  three  of  etch- 
ings, and  one  of  photo-gravures  and  autotypes. 

Co-ordinate  with  the  influences  already  mentioned 
tending  to  improvement  in  the  art  interests  of  the  city 
have  been  the  organizations  and  institutions  devoted 
exclusively  to  the  fostering  of  this  special  class  of 
interests. 

The  earliest  of  these  appears  to  have  been  the 
Western  Academy  of  Art.  This  was  established  in 
1860,  with  great  promise  of  permanence  and  useful- 
ness. Hon.  Henry  T.  Blow  was  its  first  president 
and  the  leading  spirit  throughout.  It  had  purchased 
an  extensive  collection  of  casts  of  statuary,  and  had 
made  arrangements  for  the  establishment  of  a  School 
of  Design.  With  the  opening  of  the  war,  however, 
the  existence  of  the  academy  speedily  came  to  an  end. 
The  military  authorities  took  possession  of  the  build- 
ing, and  what  the  organization  had  collected  was 
quickly  scattered  abroad.  The  casts  from  the  antique 
works  now  in  the  reading-room  of  the  Public  School 
Library  are  all  that  remain  of  its  possessions. 

The  Art  Society  was  established  in  1872,  for  the 
express  purpose  of  cultivating  a  taste  for  art,  and  one 
means  adopted  for  the  attainment  of  this  end  was  the 
formation  of  a  collection  of  works  of  art  that  should 
be  open  to  the  public.  The  first  president  of  the  Art 
Society  was  Thomas  Richeson,  after  whom,  for  several 
terms  of  office,  came  J.  R.  Meeher,  H.  H.  Morgan, 
and  Thomas  Davidson.  Dr.  W.  T.  Harris  also  took 
an  active  interest  in  the  organization  and  contributed 
much  to  its  success.  During  the  first  four  or  five  i 
years  of  its  existence,  with  such  men  as  its  supporters, 
the  society  exhibited  great  vigor  and  exerted  a  marked 
influence  upon  the  community.  Dr.  Harris,  Dr.  C. 
L.  Bernays,  D.  J.  Snider,  and  others  infused  a  strong 
element  of  philosophical  criticism,  directing  attention 
specifically  to  the  thought  element  in  works  of  art. 

It  was  this  influence  especially  that  led  to  the  pur- 
chase of  a  large  collection  of  autotype  reproductions 
of  celebrated  works  of  art,  and  the  placing  these  on 
permanent  exhibition  in  the  reading-room  of  the 
Public  School  Library.  The  result  has  been  to  famil- 
iarize the  whole  community  in  greater  or  less  degree 
with  the  typical  productions  of  the  great  epochs  of 
art  activity  in  the  history  of  the  world.  The  collec- 
tion is  especially  rich  in  works  of  the  renaissance 
period,  the  selections  being  made  evidently  with 
reference  to  the  culmination  of  the  expression  of  the 
fundamental  conceptions  of  Christianity,  and  therefore 
103 


the  fundamental  conceptions  of  the  modern  world  in 
art-forms. 

Unfortunately,  however,  in  the  year  1878  the  man- 
agement was  changed,  and  the  real  purpose  of  the 
organization  quite  lost  out  of  sight,  the  natural  result 
being  the  speedy  dissolution  of  the  organization  itself. 
But  this  fact  could  not  invalidate  the  work  actually 
accomplished  by  the  society  that  has  a  permanent 
value,  and  to  its  promoters  is  due  the  gratitude  of  all 
genuine  lovers  of  art  in  the  community. 

The  St.  Louis  Sketch  Club  originated  with  J.  R. 
Meeher  in  1877.  Its  aim  was  primarily  a  profes- 
sional one,  viz.,  the  cultivation  of  the  inventive  and 
creative  powers  of  its  members,  who  were,  of  course, 
artists,  either  professional  or  amateur.  A  further  pur- 
pose was  to  promote  a  professional  spirit  among  the 
artists  of  the  city.  It  began  with  but  three  members, 
and  met  in  turn  at  their  respective  studios.  For  a 
time  the  jovial  artists  found  the  meetings  occasions 
of  genuine  relaxation  and  mirthful  enjoyment,  no 
less  than  of  free  mutual  criticism.  With  increase  of 
numbers,  however,  there  has  been  a  manifest  tendency 
towards  reserve  and  "  decorum,"  until,  with  an  active 
membership  of  twenty-five,  and  an  associate  mem- 
bership of  seventy-five,  its  gatherings  have  become 
somewhat  stated  social  occasions.  The  rooms  of  the 
club  are  well  appointed,  and  its  monthly  receptions 
are  occasions  of  special  interest.  At  these  receptions 
are  exhibited  sketches  by  the  active  members,  illus- 
trating some  appointed  theme.  The  influence  of  the 
club  upon  its  members  has  been  very  great  and  al- 
together valuable,  as  it  promises  to  be  for  the  future. 

The  School  of  Design  was  established  by  Mrs.  John 
B.  Henderson  in  1878.  The  aim  of  this  organiza- 
tion was  mainly  to  give  opportunity  for  learning  the 
methods  and  fundamental  forms  of  decorative  art, 
though  afterwards  instruction  was  also  given  in  paint- 
ing, both  figure  and  landscape.  For  a  time  the  school 
was  popular,  and  seemed  to  meet  a  real  demand.  At 
length,  however,  the  public-spirited  lady  who  estab- 
lished it,  and  who  from  the  first  had  supported  it 
almost  unaided,  gave  it  over  to  other  management. 
Support  failed,  and  the  school  shortly  came  to  an  end. 

There  remains  to  be  noticed  the  School  of  Fine 
Arts  connected  with  the  Washington  University.  In 
a  prospectus  of  the  school  for  1881-82  it  is  stated 
that  "  the  establishment  of  an  art  school  upon  a  broad 
and  permanent  basis  has  always  been  part  of  the  plan 
of  Washington  University."  It  is  also  intimated  that 
art  instruction  had  been  embodied  in  the  course  of 
study  for  nearly  twenty-five  years.  It  would  seem, 
however,  that  it  was  not  until  1875  that  anything 
very  definite  was  done  to  put  in  force  this  part  of  the 


1622 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


general  plan.  In  that  year  "  students  were  admitted 
to  the  drawing  department,"  and  class  and  public 
lectures  were  given  in  art  history.  During  the  same 
year,  too,  an  evening  school  was  opened. 

This  initiatory  step,  properly  speaking,  in  the  real- 
ization of  what  had  so  long  been  included  in  the  ideal 
of  the  university  was  taken  by  Halsey  C.  Ives,  who, 
in  the  face  of  much  discouragement  and  opposition, 
organized  a  free  evening  class  in  a  room  of  the  uni- 
versity and  became  its  sole  teacher.  The  class  num- 
bered eighteen  the  first  evening,  and  increased  to 
forty-three  within  two  months.  During  the  second 
year  the  numbers  were  such  as  to  require  an  assistant, 
and  the  year  following  three  assistants  became  neces- 
sary. At  the  same  time  a  course  of  lectures  was 
given  on  Architecture,  Sculpture,  Art  History,  and 
Music.  These  lectures  were  open  to  the  public,  as 
well  as  to  students,  and  were  largely  attended. 

It  soon  became  evident  that  there  was  demand  for 
day  classes  as  well,  and  accordingly  provision  for  such 
was  made.  Many  at  once  availed  themselves  of  the 
opportunity  thus  offered,  and  the  numbers  have 
steadily  increased  to  the  present  time.  During  the 
past  year  two  hundred  and  eighty-eight  persons  have 
received  instruction  in  the  school,  exclusive  of  stu- 
dents from  other  departments  of  the  university. 
About  one-third  of  the  students  thus  far  have  been 
ladies. 

During  the  first  years  of  the  work  the  instruction 
given  was  for  the  most  part  unpaid.  It  was  an  ex- 
periment, and  largely  the  experiment  of  the  one  man, 
who  looked  steadfastly  through  all  discouragement  to 
the  success  which  he  saw  as  well  as  felt  to  be  certainly 
awaiting  his  efforts. 

The  success  that  followed  his  conviction  was  fol- 
lowed by  the  conviction  of  others,  so  that  "  on  May 
22,  1879,  the  directors  of  the  university  adopted  an 
ordinance  establishing  a  Department  of  Art  in  Wash- 
ington University,"  to  be  known  as  "  The  St.  Louis 
School  of  Fine  Arts."  The  objects  of  the  depart- 
ment were  appropriately  defined,  and  work  was  begun 
at  length  upon  a  thoroughly  secure  basis. 

Of  course  the  man  who  had  proven  the  practica- 
bility and  made  certain  the  success  of  the  school  was 
now  formally  appointed  its  director.  Nor  could  a 
more  fortunate  selection  have  been  made.  Professor 
Ives  has  already  brought  the  school  to  a  degree  of 
maturity  that  gives  it  rank  among  the  foremost  of 
such  institutions  in  the  country.  Altogether  clear  in 
his  convictions,  unswerving  in  his  purpose,  familiar 
with  the  art  and  art  schools  of  both  Europe  and 
America,  and  enthusiastic  in  his  devotion  to  art,  his 
management  promises  to  give  to  the  very  liberal  pro- 


vision now  made  for  the  school  the  utmost  degree  of 
efficiency  in  the  promotion  of  the  art  interests  of  St. 
Louis  and  the  West. 

But  any  notice,  however  brief,  of  the  St.  Louis 
School  of  Fine  Arts  would  be  incomplete  without 
some  mention  of  the  splendid  gift  of  its  most  recent 
and  most  liberal  patron.  On  the  10th  of  May,  1881, 
as  elsewhere  more  fully  stated,  Mr.  Wayman  Crow 
formally  delivered  by  gift  to  the  authorities  of  Wash- 
ington University  the  title  of  a  large,  substantial,  and 
handsomely-furnished  structure,  under  the  name  of 
"  The  St.  Louis  Museum  of  Fine  Arts."  This  con- 
sists of  five  large  galleries,  besides  a  number  of  class- 
rooms, three  large  studios,  and  a  beautiful  auditorium 
capable  of  seating  nearly  a  thousand  people.  With  its 
galleries  once  properly  filled,  we  have  here  the  predes- 
tined focus  of  all  the  genuine  art  interests  of  the  city. 

Here  again,  indeed,  the  energy  of  Professor  Ives 
has  not  been  wanting.  Two  of  the  galleries  were 
immediately  filled  with  a  fine  collection  of  casts, 
which  he  had  already  secured,  representing  the  great 
typical  works  in  sculpture,  from  the  colossal  Egyptian 
statues  to  the  marvelous  Gates  of  Ghiberti.  A  num- 
ber of  paintings  of  a  high  order  of  merit  are  already 
on  the  walls,  together  with  engravings,  etchings,  and 
autotype  reproductions  of  many  great  works  of  art* 
Of  these,  indeed,  he  has  already  secured  a  rare  collec- 
tion for  the  school,  so  that  students  have  constantly 
before  them  both  excellent  original  works  and  also 
faithful  reproductions  of  many  of  the  finest  creations 
in  the  entire  range  of  art. 

There  can  be  no  question  that  the  establishment  of 
the  St.  Louis  School  and  Museum  of  Fine  Arts 
marks  one  of  the  most  important  epochs  in  the  art 
history  of  St.  Louis. 

Finally,  it  ought  not  to  entirely  escape  notice  that 
some  very  intelligent  and  effective  work  in  the  direc- 
tion of  cultivating  a  taste  for  and  developing  a  ra- 
tional judgment  of  art  and  art  history  has  for  a 
number  of  years  been  going  forward  in  the  Central 
High  School,  at  first  under  the  direction  of  Miss 
Mary  E.  Beedy,  and  more  recently  in  the  hands  of 
Miss  Sue  V.  Beeson. 

Two  publications  specifically  devoted  to  art  have 
been  published  in  St.  Louis.  One  of  them,  under  the 
title  of  Art  and  Music,  was  begun  in  1881.  It  gave 
illustrations  of  the  work  of  local  artists,  and  repro- 
duced a  number  of  works  in  local  collections.  It 
failed  to  reach  a  very  high  standard  of  work,  met 
with  very  unsatisfactory  support,  and  after  about 
eight  months  of  precarious  existence  its  office  of 
publication  was  moved  to  Chicago,  where  it  is  now 
issued  as  a  weekly. 


ART   AND   ARTISTS. 


1623 


A  smaller  one  is  published  by  the  students  of  the 
School  of  Fine  Arts,  under  the  name  Palette  Scrap- 
ings. It  has  been  in  progress  but  little  more  than  a 
year,  and  is,  of  course,  to  be  judged  of  from  its  own 
stand-point.  As  students'  work  it  is  very  creditable. 

Two  other  publications,  the  Journal  of  Speculative 
Philosophy,  under  the  editorship  of  Dr.  William  T. 
Harris,  and  The  Western,  under  the  editorial  man- 
agement of  H.  H.  Morgan,  have  devoted  much 
space  to  the  philosophical  discussion  of  art,  both  in 
its  general  compass,  and  also  in  the  special  interpre- 
tation of  individual  works  of  art,  both  ancient  and 
modern.  These  interpretations  have  been  the  out- 
growth of  attempts  to  discover  and  to  formulate  in 
reflective  language  for  the  reason  the  thought  element 
involved  in  given  works  of  art  which,  as  such,  of 
course  appeal  directly  to  the  imagination. 

We  come,  finally,  to  give  some  brief  indication  of 
the  actual  productive  work  accomplished  in  the  field 
of  art  in  St.  Louis,  and  of  those  by  whose  hands  this 
work  has  in  the  main  been  done.  And  it  is  worth 
remarking  that  the  very  fact  of  so  large  a  number  of 
artists  finding  support  here  is  itself  the  best  evidence 
of  the  rapid  growth  in  the  appreciation  of  art  in  the 
community. 

Of  architecture  there  is  little  to  be  said  from  the 
point  of  view  of  art.  Of  church  architecture  there 
are  comparatively  few  specimens  of  really  fine  design. 
One  of  these  is  the  Episcopal  (Christ)  Church  at 
Thirteenth  and  Locust  Streets.  Though  still  unfin- 
ished, the  structure  is  altogether  imposing.  The  plan, 
as  a  whole,  is  marked  by  a  pleasing  degree  of  harmony, 
which  is  greatly  heightened  by  the  sense  of  repose 
given  by  the  appearance  of  massive  solidity.  It  is  a 
good  example  of  the  early  English  Gothic  style. 

The  Presbyterian  Church,  Fourteenth  and  Lucas 
Place,  bears  a  specially  fine  spire,  illustrating  the 
best  phase  of  the  true  pointed  style. 

SS.  Peter  and  Paul's  (Catholic)  Church,  South  St. 
Louis,  is  a  fine  large  edifice  in  stone  of  the  Gothic 
style,  the  external  appearance  of  which,  however,  is 
seriously  marred  by  the  unfinished  state  of  the  spires. 
The  Church  of  St.  Alphousus.  on  Grand  Avenue,  is 
also  a  fine  structure  externally,  though  the  interior  is 
not  sufficiently  high  to  prevent  a  certain  sense  of 
oppression. 

St.  Joseph's  (Catholic)  Church,  Eleventh  and 
O'Fallon  Streets,  is  specially  noticeable  on  account  of 
its  interior  decoration,  as  is  also  the  much  smaller 
Church  of  the  Annunciation,  Seventh  and  Labadie 
Streets,  which  is  nearly  on  the  plan  of  the  Sistine 
Chapel  in  Rome. 

The  Church  of  the  Messiah,  recently  erected  on  the 


corner  of  Garrison  Avenue  and  Locust  Street,  is  a 
beautiful  example  of  the  early  English  style  of  archi- 
tecture. It  has  a  number  of  memorial  windows, 
which  are  considered  the  best  specimens  of  stained- 
glass  work  in  the  city.  The  perfect  adaptation  of 
means  to  ends  of  use,  without  in  any  degree  sacrificing 
any  part  of  the  artistic  motive  of  the  whole,  is  realized 
in  this  structure  to  a  degree  seldom  attained. 

On  the  other  hand,  examples  are  but  too  numerous 
of  large  sums  of  money  expended  only  to  render  bad 
taste  the  more  conspicuous.  This  is  especially  true 
of  a  number  of  churches  but  recently  completed  at 
great  cost,  the  interior  decorations  of  which  are  alto- 
gether unfortunate,  both  in  design  and  in  combination 
of  colors. 

The  Public  Buildings  of  the  city  present  few  ar- 
tistic features  to  detain  us.  The  old  court-house, 
Fourth  and  Market  Streets,  has  a  really  good  dome. 
The  Four  Courts,  Twelfth  Street  and  Clark  Avenue,  is 
a  huge  pile,  gaudy,  French,  and  flimsy. 

The  new  custom-house,  again,  occupying  an  entire 
square  between  Eighth  and  Ninth  Streets  and  Olive 
and  Locust,  is  a  building  of  immense  cost,  and  not 
altogether  destitute  of  pleasing  points.  Viewed  as  a 
whole,  however,  it  is  impossible  to  deny  that  it  lacks 
unity.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  cut  up  into  details  so  as 
to  lose  fatally  in  mass  and  solidity. 

The  Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  Eighteenth  and  Lucas 
Place,  mentioned  elsewhere,  may  be  classed  among 
public  buildings  in  the  more  general  sense.  The  main 
portion  is  of  stone,  the  auditorium  in  the  rear  being 
of  brick.  The  effect  of  the  whole  is  unique  and 
pleasing,  while  the  interior  finish  is  rich  and  fault- 
lessly elegant. 

One  other  building  also  may  be  included  here,  and 
also  serve  as  transition  to  the  class  of  commercial 
buildings.  It  is  the  new  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
Third  and  Chestnut  Streets.  It  is  massive,  sym- 
metrical, beautiful.  Unfortunately,  however,  its  lo- 
cation renders  a  good  view  of  it  well-nigh  impossible. 

The  number  of  commercial  buildings  noticeable  for 
their  architectural  design  is  rapidly  increasing.  One 
of  the  earlier  and  one  of  the  finest  of  these  is  the 
Equitable  building,  Sixth  and  Locust  Streets,  with  its 
admirable  provision  for  light.  Among  others  are  the 
Gas  building,  Third  and  Pine,  brick  finish,  and  the 
Bridge  building,  Eighth  and  Washington  Avenue, 
with  its  handsome  front  in  stone,  each  representing  a 
special  style. 

Among  hotels,  the  Lindell,  Sixth  and  Washington 
Avenue,  is  doubtless  the  finest  from  the  artistic  point 
of  view,  while  of  the  theatres  the  new  Olympic  is 
regarded  as  by  far  the  handsomest. 


1624 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


The  number  of  really  handsome  residences  is  also 
rapidly  increasing.  Among  many  others  may  be 
mentioned  that  of  J.  L.  D.  Morrison,  Twenty- 
eighth  and  Locust  Streets,  entirely  of  stone,  large, 
finely  proportioned,  and  in  refined  taste ;  and  those  of 
John  Whittaker,  Garrison  and  Franklin  Avenues, 
P.  L.  Foy,  Grand  and  Lindell  Avenues,  and  J.  D. 
Perry  and  others  on  Vandeventer  Place.  It  would 
indeed  be  impossible,  as  it  would  be  undesirable,  to 
catalogue  all  the  residences  whose  owners  have  shown 
their  appreciation  of  the  value  of  the  art  element  in 
a  dwelling.  Many,  indeed,  present  little  that  is 
noticeable  externally,  but  are  specially  elegant  within, 
following  the  fashion  of  the  ancient  Greeks. 

In  short,  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  genuine  and 
rapid  increase  of  interest  in  architecture  as  an  art  in 
all  its  branches  on  the  part  of  the  citizens  of  St. 
Louis. 

Among  local  architects,  F.  D.  Lee,  by  whom,  aided 
by  Thomas  B.  Annan,  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  was 
planned,  and  George  I.  Barnett,  have  done  much  thor- 
oughly artistic  work. 

Charles  E.  Illsley  has  also  done  good  work  in  the 
line  of  domestic  architecture. 

In  sculpture  there  is  still  less  that  calls  for  notice. 
In  some  sense  Miss  Harriet  Hosmer  may  be  claimed 
as  belonging  to  the  art  history  of  St.  Louis,  seeing 
that  in  1850  (at  nineteen  years  of  age)  she  became 
a  student  in  a  medical  college  of  this  city,  where  she 
acquired  a  knowledge  of  anatomy  that  has  been  of 
special  service  to  her  in  her  later  artistic  labors.  Two 
beautiful  specimens  of  her  work,  CEnone  and  Beatrice 
Oenci,  are  now  in  the  city,  one  owned  by  the  Mercan- 
tile Library,  and  the  other  by  the  Art  Museum. 

Howard  Kretschmar,  a  native  of  St.  Louis,  became 
conscious  of  his  vocation  as  a  sculptor  through  carv- 
ing a  set  of  chessmen  in  wood.  He  afterwards 
modeled  in  clay  a  bust  of  Mayor  Joseph  Brown, 
which  attracted  attention,  the  result  being  that  he 
went  to  Europe  and  remained  there  four  years,  first 
in  the  Academy  of  Munich,  and  afterwards  as  an  inde- 
pendent student  at  Rome.  Since  his  return  he  has 
been  actively  engaged  in  his  profession.  Among  his 
recent  works  is  a  marble  bust  of  Hon.  Thomas  Allen. 
He  is  at  present  a  teacher  in  the  School  of  Fine 
Arts,  Washington  University. 

Pietro  Pen-in  also  worked  as  a  sculptor  in  St.  Louis 
from  1860  to  1870. 

J.  Wilson  McDonald  commenced  practicing  his 
profession  as  a  sculptor  about  1860,  and  executed 
models  for  the  statue  of  Thomas  H.  Benton  which 
was  to  be  placed  in  Lafayette  Park.  But  he  was  not 
successful  in  the  competition,  as  the  award  was  made 


to  Harriet  Hosmer.  He  afterwards  executed  marble 
busts  of  Benton  and  Mr.  Harrison,  the  iron  merchant, 
both  of  which  now  adorn  the  large  room  of  the  Mer- 
cantile Library.  He  removed  to  New  York  after  the 
close  of  the  war,  and  has  resided  there  ever  since,  ex- 
ecuting various  commissions  for  Eastern  and  Western 
patrons.  A  work  which  brought  him  fame  in  the 
East  was  the  colossal  bust  of  Washington  Irving, 
which  was  placed  in  one  of  the  parks  of  Brooklyn. 
He  was  commissioned  to  execute  a  colossal  statue  in 
bronze  of  Attorney-General  Bates,  which  was  erected 
in  Forest  Park,  St.  Louis,  and  afterwards  competed  for 
the  statues  of  Gen.  Custer  and  Gen.  Francis  P.  Blair. 

W.  H.  Gardner  adopted  the  profession  of  sculptor 
in  St.  Louis,  and  commenced  working  in  the  studio  of 
Howard  Kretschmar  about  1880,  assisting  that  artist 
in  the  execution  of  the  colossal  busts  now  in  position 
on  the  front  of  the  Museum  of  Fine  Arts.  In  1881 
he  exhibited  a  bust  of  President  Garfield  at  the  Fine 
Arts  Hall  in  the  St.  Louis  Fair-Grounds,  which  was 
much  admired,  and  for  which  he  very  justly  received 
a  first  prize.  In  1882  he  competed  for  the  Blair 
monument,  for  which  prizes  had  been  offered  by  the 
Blair  Monument  Association.  In  this  competition 
he  carried  off  the  first  prize,  and  was  commissioned 
to  execute  a  colossal  statue  in  bronze  of  Gen.  Francis 
P.  Blair,  which  he  is  now  working  upon. 

Robert  Bringhurst,  a  young  sculptor  of  decided 
ability,  was  one  of  the  students  at  Washington  Uni- 
versity, and  a  pupil  of  Kretschmar.  He  went  to  Eu- 
rope to  pursue  his  studies,  but  was  only  able  to  stay 
one  year.  Since  his  return  he  has  executed  medal- 
lions and  statuettes  which  have  attracted  attention  and 
placed  him  in  the  position  of  one  who  has  talents  of 
a  high  order.  He  received  the  first  and  second  prizes 
at  the  fair  in  1882,  and  has  since  exhibited  some  ideal 
modeling  at  the  St.  Louis  Sketch  Club  which  displayed 
considerable  imagination  and  excellent  anatomical 
knowledge. 

Painting  has  been  much  more  widely  appreciated 
than  either  of  the  other  forms  of  art.  And  as  there 
is  nothing  in  which  man  has  so  direct  and  deep  an 
interest  as  in  himself,  it  is  but  natural  that  the  por- 
trait-painter should  have  been  the  first  to  receive  cor- 
dial greeting  and  profitable  employment. 

Among  the  earliest  of  the  portrait-painters  con- 
nected with  the  history  of  art  in  St.  Louis  was  Chester 
Harding,  father  of  Gen.  Chester  Harding  and  of  the 
wife  of  Hon.  J.  M.  Krum,  of  this  city.  He  was  born 
in  1792,  and  made  his  first  visit  to  St.  Louis  about 
the  year  1820.  With  rare  energy  he  had  struggled 
through  the  most  adverse  circumstances  into  an  ac- 
knowledged position  as  an  artist.  In  one  of  his  West- 


ART   AND   ARTISTS. 


1625 


ern  journeys  he  painted  the  portrait  of  Gen.  Clark 
(of  Lewis  and  Clark's  expedition  to  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains), and  also  that  of  Daniel  Boone.  The  latter  is 
understood  to  be  now  in  the  possession  of  James  Bis- 
sell,  of  this  city.  In  Boston,  as  early  as  1823,  he 
was  overrun  with  commissions,  and  finally  broke  off 
his  stay  there  abruptly,  with  nearly  a  hundred  appli- 
cations still  awaiting  him,  in  order  to  make  the  visit 
to  Europe  which  he  had  been  long  and  eagerly  look- 
ing forward  to.  In  England  his  power  was  very  soon 
recognized,  so  that  he  was  shortly  occupied  in  painting 
the  portraits  of  a  number  of  more  or  less  celebrated 
personages,  among  them  the  Duke  of  Sussex  and  Al- 
lison, the  historian.  There  are  also  several  portraits 
by  him  of  Daniel  Webster,  and  these  are  regarded  as 
being  of  high  merit. 

During  his  last  visit  to  St.  Louis,  in  1866,  he  painted 
the  portrait  of  Gen.  W.  T.  Sherman.  This  is  one  of 
his  latest,  as  it  is  also  one  of  his  best  works.  He  died 
in  Boston  within  the  same  year.  A  brief  account  of 
his  life  is  given  in  the  Atlantic  Monthly  for  April, 
1867.  He  himself  also  left  a  volume  with  the  quaint 
title  "  Egotistography,"  in  which  he  gave  an  account 
of  his  own  life  and  works. 

About  1840,  Emanuel  de  Franga  came  to  St.  Louis 
from  Philadelphia.  He  soon  acquired  great  popu- 
larity as  a  painter  of  portraits,  and  for  a  time  did 
good  work. 

Ferdinand  T.  L.  Boyle,  another  portrait-painter, 
came  to  St.  Louis  about  the  year  1858.  He  was  dis- 
tinguished for  his  intelligence  and  fine  social  qualities. 
Among  the  portraits  he  painted  were  those  of  Gov- 
ernor Gamble  and  Gen.  Francis  P.  Blair,  the  former  of 
which  is  in  the  collection  of  the  Mercantile  Library. 

Wilkins  was  active  in  the  same  field  about  the 
same  period.  He  was  'an  exponent  of  the  English 
school,  in  which  ladies  were  habitually  represented 
as  shepherdesses. 

It  was  not  far  from  the  year  1858  that  St.  Louis 
was  visited  by  a  portrait-painter  who  is  regarded  by 
good  judges  familiar  with  the  whole  course  of  the 
development  of  art  in  St.  Louis  as  the  best  of  all 
this  class  of  artists  who  can  claim  ;i  place  in  the 
present  history.  This  was  W.  Coggswell,  who,  though 
he  remained  here  but  two  or  three  years,  did 
much  valuable  work,  including  the  portraits  of  such 
citizens  as  Joseph  Charless  and  Peter  Lindell.  On 
quitting  St.  Louis  he  went  first  to  Chicago,  and  after- 
wards to  California,  where  he  now  resides. 

A.  J.  Conant,  born  in  1821,  took  up  his  residence  in 
St.  Louis  in  1857,  and  is  still  in  our  midst.  He  has 
long  been  highly  esteemed  both  as  a  man  and  as  an 
artist.  He  is  specially  successful  in  his  portraits  of  ' 


mature  men.  His  strength  lies  in  the  decidedly 
realistic  character  of  the  likenesses  he  produces. 

Madame  Subit  has  followed  the  profession  of  por- 
trait-painting in  St.  Louis  for  many  years,  and  has 
received  many  commissions,  which  have  been  filled 
quite  to  the  satisfaction  of  those  giving  them.  She 
works  very  minutely,  paying  great  attention  to  the 
elaboration  of  laces  and  drapery. 

A  number  of  other  portrait-painters  are  deserving 
of  mention,  though  it  will  be  impossible  here  to  give 
them  extended  notice.  Col.  Waugh,  of  early  date, 
was  not  only  a  painter,  but  also  made  portrait  busts 
in  marble.  John  Reid,  Brewer,  G.  Mueller,  and 
Powers  also  did  good  work  of  this  class. 

Latterly,  Miss  Georgie  Campbell,  who  was  for  a 
time  a  pupil  of  J.  R.  Meeker  in  landscape,  has  been 
specially  successful  in  portrait-painting.  In  this  field 
she  has  gained  much  from  the  instruction  of  Healy. 
She  is  now  in  Chicago. 

It  should  be  mentioned,  too,  that  Miss  Sarah  M. 
Peale  was  a  popular  painter  of  portraits  in  St.  Louis 
from  1847  to  1878.  Portraits  by  her  of  Daniel  Web- 
ster and  Thomas  H.  Benton  are  in  the  collection  of 
the  Mercantile  Library.1 

1  Miss  Sarah  Middleton  Peale  lived  in  St.  Louis  for  over 
thirty  years,  until  1878,  when  she  returned  to  Philadelphia,  in 
order  to  be  near  her  surviving  kinsfolk. 

Miss  Peale  belongs  to  the  historical  family  of  that  name,  so 
prominent  in  the  art  history  of  the  United  States.  She  is  the 
daughter  of  James  Peale,  the  brother  of  Charles  Wilson  Peale, 
the  founder  of  Peale's  Museum  in  Philadelphia.  Her  uncle 
painted  the  first  picture  of  Washington  in  1772  as  a  Virginia 
colonel.  He  opened  the  first  picture  gallery  in  Philadelphia, 
and  was  for  fifteen  years  the  only  portrait-painter  in  North 
America.  On  her  mother's  side  Miss  Peale's  great-grandfather 
was  a  Claypole,  and  the  grandson  of  Oliver  Cromwell.  John 
Claypole  was  one  who  came  over  with  William  Penn  to  America 
in  1682,  and  his  son,  James  Claypole,  built  the  first  brick  house 
in  Philadelphia. 

.M  iss  Peale  arrived  in  St.  Louis  in  1847,  from  Baltimore,  where 
she  had  spent  several  years  with  a  cousin.  She  came  to  St. 
Louis  at  the  request  of  Mr.  Nathaniel  Child,  who  had  relatives 
in  Baltimore.  She  visited  Washington  several  times,  and  painted 
the  portraits  of  Lafayette,  Caleb  Gushing,  Dixon  H.  Lewis,  of 
Alabama,  Hon.  Lewis  F.  Linn,  of  Missouri,  Judge  Abel  P.  Up- 
shur,  William  R.  King,  Henry  A.  Wise,  Senator  Benton,  and 
others.  The  portrait  of  Benton  was  purchased  by  a  gentleman 
and  presented  by  him  to  the  Mercantile  Library.  The  portrait 
of  Dr.  Linn  was  purchased  by  Mrs.  Capt.  Sears,  a  niece  of  the 
senator. 

During  her  long  sojourn  in  St.  Louis,  Miss  Peale  was  de- 
voted to  her  brush,  and  painted  the  portraits  of  several  distin- 
guished characters,  among  them  that  of  Father  Mathew,  while 
on  his  visit  here.  She  painted  the  portrait  of  Dr.  J.  B.  John- 
son and  other  leading  citizens.  The  walls  of  her  studio  were 
hung  with  a  number  of  original  portraits  and  copies  made  by 
herself.  Among  them  were  Caleb  Cushing,  Dixon  II.  Lewis, 
and  a  few  others.  Latterly  her  skill  was  more  especially  de- 
voted to  the  painting  of  fruit  pieces. — J.  T.  S. 


1626 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


A  number  of  figure-painters  of  much  merit  have 
also  found  a  congenial  field  for  their  labors  in  St. 
Louis.  Among  these,  Deas  lived  and  worked  here 
during  the  years  1840-45.  Besides  figure-pieces  he 
painted  animals  and  landscapes.  He  exhibited  a 
number  of  works  in  the  American  Art  Union. 
Among  these  was  one  representing  frontier  life,  the 
scene  being  a  struggle  between  a  white  hunter  and  an 
Indian.  An  "  Irish  Stag-Hound"  by  him  is  owned 
by  Gen.  Sibley,  of  St.  Paul. 

Thomas  S.  Noble  came  to  St.  Louis  about  1860. 
He  studied  in  Paris  under  Couture.  On  his  return 
he  painted  a  large  composition  entitled  "  The  Last 
Slave-Sale  in  St.  Louis."  During  the  war  he  joined 
the  Southern  army.  Afterwards  he  went  to  New 
York,  where  he  was  elected  an  associate  of  the  Na- 
tional Academy.  Among  works  executed  in  that 
city  were  a  number  the  themes  of  which  were  drawn 
from  slave-life  in  the  South.  Later  he  went  to  Cin- 
cinnati, where  he  was  given  charge  of  the  McMicken 
School  of  Design.  There  he  painted  "  The  Price  of 
Blood"  and  "  John  Brown  led  to  Execution."  He  is 
a  good  draughtsman,  and  some  of  his  work  shows  su- 
perior strength  in  color. 

Charles  F.  Wimar,  born  in  1829,  in  Germany,  gave 
evidence  even  in  childhood  of  absorbing  artistic  in- 
stincts. At  the  age  of  fifteen  he  emigrated  with  his 
parents  to  America  and  settled  in  St.  Louis.  Shortly 
afterward  he  attracted  the  attention  of  the  artist  Pom- 
arede,  who  inquired  the  name  of  the  boy,  sought  out 
his  parents,  and  secured  him  as  a  pupil.  In  1849, 
Pomarede  undertook  the  task  of  painting  a  panorama 
of  the  Mississippi  River.  Wimar  accompanied  him 
on  the  journeys  necessary  to  sketch  these  scenes. 
Here  he  became  intensely  interested  in  the  character- 
istics of  Indian  life.  His  portrayals  of  these  were  so 
faithful  and  full  of  vigor  that  Pomarede  at  once  ad- 
vised him  to  devote  himself  exclusively  to  such  work. 
This  he  did,  though  not  till  he  had  spent  five  years  in 
diligent  preparation  for  the  task  in  Dusseldorf,  under 
the  instruction  of  Leutze.  Nor  did  he  fail  to  make 
trial  of  his  powers  upon  his  favorite  theme  during 
these  years  of  preparation.  The  result  was  the  exe- 
cution of  a  number  of  important  works,  among  which 
was  one  representing  an  emigrant  train  attacked  by 
Indians.  The  design  was  boldly  conceived  and  finely 
wrought  out,  the  completed  picture  creating  great  in- 
terest in  Europe,  and  being  bought  on  its  arrival  in 
this  country  by  the  late  Governor  Gamble.  Wimar 
also  painted,  while  still  at  Dusseldorf,  a  series  of  pic- 
tures representing  the  abduction  by  the  Indians  of 
Daniel  Boone's  daughter.  One  of  these  is  now  in  the 
collection  of  the  Mercantile  Library  of  this  city.  On 


his  return  to  St.  Louis,  Wimar  at  once  set  about  his 
\  central  task,  and  traveled  among  the  Indians,  making 
j  sketches,  taking  photographic  views,  studying  in 
minutest  detail  their  characteristics,  and  afterward 
portraying  on  canvas  in  finished  form  the  completed 
!  conceptions  he  had  thus  worked  out  with  so  much 
enthusiasm  and  labor.  He  also  painted  many  pic- 
tures representing  buffaloes.  His  last  work  was  the 
painting  of  the  historical  scenes  in  the  dome  of  the 
court-house  of  St.  Louis.  Consumption  had  devel- 
oped, and  in  1863,  at  the  age  of  thirty-four  years,  his 
work  and  his  life  ended  together,  as  he  himself  had 
predicted.  Wimar's  gifts  were  of  a  high  order,  as 
his  works  testify,  and  yet  during  his  lifetime  he 
failed  to  receive  the  appreciation  that  was  his  due. 
Now  that  he  is  dead  all  do  him  honor,  and  we  cannot 
without  the  deepest  regret  think  of  a  life  like  his,  cut 
short  while  yet  so  much  remained  for  him  to  do,  and 
just  when  he  seemed  on  the  point  of  realizing  the  out- 
ward as  well  as  the  inward  fruits  of  the  success  he  had 
so  manfully  achieved  in  art.  The  greater  part  of  his 
works  are  owned  in  St.  Louis. 

Conrad  Diehl,  a  pupil  of  Kaulbach  and  Folty  at 
Munich,  and  afterward  of  Gerome  in  Paris,  became 
actively  related  to  the  art  interests  of  St.  Louis  di- 
rectly after  the  great  fire  in  Chicago.  He  was  very 
soon  enabled,  through  the  timely  aid  of  James  E. 
Yeatman,  to  offer  to  his  pupils  the  advantages  of 
day  life-study,  an  advantage  which  drew  a  number  of 
his  former  Chicago  pupils  to  St.  Louis.  Upon  the 
merits  of  the  work  of  this  school  the  Boston  Globe 
of  July  4,  1878,  commented  as  follows  :  "  These  are 
perfectly  marvelous  in  the  beauty  of  their  execution, 
the  firmness  of  touch,  the  perfect  drawing,  the  won- 
derful relief,  and  the  superb  breadth  and  masterly 
vigor  that  characterize  them*  all.  We  are  the  more 
surprised  at  these  drawings  as  there  are  but  few  mas- 
ters who  can  produce  such  thoughtful,  brilliant,  and 
faultless  work.  The  drawings  of  the  New  York  Art 
School,  lately  exhibited  at  the  same  rooms,  are  child- 
ish and  almost  ridiculous  by  the  side  of  these  produc- 
tions of  a  young  school  of  which  we  have  never  before 
heard."  This  school,  which  he  conducted  with  such 
signal  success,  was  but  the  carrrying  out  of  the  deter- 
mination with  which  he  returned  from  his  European 
studies.  That  purpose  was  nothing  less  than  to 
hasten  the  time  when  the  art  student  of  America 
should  no  longer  find  it  necessary  to  seek  in  a  foreign 
land  the  education  he  desired.  We  will  not  here  be 
able  to  trace  his  efforts  in  Chicago,  cut  short  by  the 
great  fire,  nor  to  specify  the  untoward  circumstances 
by  which  the  fruits  of  his  labors  here  were  turned 
into  other  channels,  nor  to  recount  his  prolonged  and 


ART   AND   ARTISTS. 


1627 


intense  labors  in  the  direction  of  securing  a  rational 
method  of  instruction  in  drawing  in  the  public  schools 
of  St.  Louis  and  ultimately  in  the  whole  country.  In 
all  these  efforts  indeed  he  met  with  partial  defeat ;  and 
yet  in  the  best  sense  he  was  truly  successful,  for  the 
principles  he  at  first  seized  only  in  a  general  way  were, 
through  this  intense  and  prolonged  activity,  worked 
out  in  detail  and  formulated  into  what  may  with  jus- 
tice be  styled  the  first  reasoned  system  of  elementary 
instruction  in  drawing  thus  far  presented.  This  system 
the  author  himself  significantly  styles  "  form  study." 
Just  when  this  system  was  fairly  matured  the  op- 
posing forces  succeeded  in  depriving  our  schools  of 
further  benefit  from  it.  At  the  same  time  (1880) 
the  authorities  of  the  State  University  at  Columbia, 
Mo.,  recognizing  the  high  value  of  the  system,  as 
well  as  the  superior  gifts  of  its  author,  called  him 
to  a  chair  in  that  institution,  where  he  has  since  been 
devoting  his  energies  to  the  perfecting  in  detail  and  to 
the  practical  application  of  his  method,  which  he  has 
admirably  summarized  under  the  title  of  "  Grammar 
of  Form-Language"  in  a  work  still  in  manuscript. 

Meanwhile  he  has  not  allowed  his  work  as  artist 
in  the  more  precise  sense  to  stand  still.  Besides  de- 
signs for  arabesque  decorations,  he  has  produced, 
among  other  works,  a  design  for  a  monument  repre- 
senting Christ  at  the  Resurrection,  which  was  pro- 
nounced to  be  the  best  of  a  number  of  competing  de- 
signs, most  of  which  were  by  professional  sculptors. 
At  present  he  is  engaged  in  the  preparation  of 
cartoon  studies  for  what  he  styles  his  "  two  first  pic- 
tures," as  he  regards  all  his  former  large  paintings  in 
the  light  of  studies  merely. 

George  C.  Eichbaum,  portrait  and  genre  painter, 
came  to  St.  Louis  from  Pittsburgh  in  1859.  He  is 
especially  successful  in  portraits  of  women  and  chil- 
dren. Latterly  he  has  painted  a  number  of  pictures 
of  the  genre  type  that  have  been  well  received,  among 
them  especially  "Pickwick  and  Sam  Weller,"  and 
another  entitled  "  Whistle  and  I'll  come  to  you,  my 
lad ;"  this  was  exhibited  in  New  York  at  the  Acad- 
emy, and  sold  for  a  high  price  on  the  opening  day  of 
the  exhibition. 

W.  M.  Chase,  now  well  known  throughout  the 
country,  began  work  in  St.  Louis  in  1870  as  a  fruit- 
painter.  In  1872  he  went  to  Europe,  where  he  was 
under  the  instruction  of  Pilotz,  at  Munich.  On  his 
return  to  America  he  chose  New  York  as  his  field  of 
labor,  and  has  there  gained  an  enviable  reputation. 

J.  W.  Pattison  took  up  landscape-painting  about 
1867.  He  was  for  a  time  in  Mr.  Conant's  studio, 
after  which  he  became  a  teacher  in  the  Mary  Insti- 
tute, and  later  took  charge  of  the  art  department  in 


Washington  University.  In  1872  he  went  to  Europe, 
studied  in  the  schools  of  Dusseldorf  and  Paris,  changed 
his  style  to  genre,  and  has  produced  a  number  of  very 
pleasing  pictures.  He  returned  from  Europe  in  1882. 

Paul  Harney  commenced  his  artistic  career  in  St. 
Louis.  He  spent  two  years  in  Munich,  and  is  now  a 
teacher  in  the  School  of  Fine  Arts,  Washington  Uni- 
versity. His  duties  allow  him  little  time  for  original 
work,  though  what  he  has  done  indicates  the  posses- 
sion of  genuine  talent. 

Carl  Guthertz  has  also  for  several  years  been  con- 
nected with  the  School  of  Fine  Arts,  where  his  ser- 
vices have  been  invaluable.  Besides  acceptable  por- 
traits, he  has  exhibited  a  marked  talent  for  ideal 
compositions,  such  as  the  "Awakening  of  Spring" 
and  "  Midsummer  Night's  Dream."  He  spent  four 
years  as  a  student  in  Paris,  Antwerp,  and  Rome. 

John  Fry,  a  young  man,  has  recently  developed  in 
this  school  unusual  powers  as  an  artist,  and  has  been 
added  to  the  corps  of  teachers.  He  has  shown  rare 
ability  as  a  colorist,  and  with  the  seriousness  of  pur- 
pose and  definiteness  of  conception  characterizing  his 
work  there  is  reason  to  hope  for  much  that  is  excellent 
from  him  in  the  future. 

George  W.  Chambers,  a  former  student  of  the 
School  of  Fine  Arts,  has  spent  two  years  in  Paris 
adopting  the  genre  style.  He  has  already  done  credit- 
able work,  but  has  recently  returned  to  Paris  to  pur- 
sue his  studies  there  further. 

Charles  E.  Moss  came  to  St.  Louis  from  Nebraska 
in  1877,  entering  Meeker's  studio  at  the  age  of  six- 
teen. He  made  rapid  progress  there,  and  at  the  end 
of  two  years  went  to  Paris,  where  he  became  a  pupil 
of  Bonnat.  His  progress  there  has  been  altogether 
remarkable.  At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  painted  his 
first  large  canvas,  which  was  accepted  at  the  Salon, 
and  has  since  been  on  exhibition  in  St.  Louis.  The 
subject  is  the  "  Prodigal  Son,"  which  is  treated  with 
perfect  seriousness  and  with  great  strength.  His 
second  large  canvas  was  accepted  at  the  next  year's 
Salon,  and  found  a  purchaser  before  the  close  of  the 
exhibition.  He  is  counted  as  one  of  the  most  vigor- 
ous and  promising  of  the  American  colony  of  artists 
in  Paris. 

J.  R.  Meeker,  beyond  question  the  leading  land- 
scape-painter of  the  West,  came  to  St.  Louis  in  1859. 
Here  he  has  worked  continuously  up  to  the  present 
time,  with  the  exception  of  three  years  spent  during 
the  war  in  the  capacity  of  paymaster  in  the  United 
States  navy.  These  three  years,  however,  proved  to 
be  peculiarly  fruitful  to  him  as  an  artist.  During 
his  leisure  voyages  on  the  lower  Mississippi  and  other 
streams  of  that  region  he  discovered  the  art  possi- 


1628 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


bilities  of  the  semi-tropical  swainps  ;  and  how  great 
the  discovery  was  none  can  rightly  estimate  save 
those  who  have  had  opportunity  of  enjoying  the  ex- 
quisitely beautiful  dreams  of  the  primeval  world 
which  he  creates  betimes  out  of  the  material  thus 
discovered.  Other  and  charming  work  he  has  pro- 
duced indeed,  representing  scenes  in  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  in  the  Green  Mountains,  in  Minnesota, 
in  Wisconsin,  in  New  York,  and  in  Missouri.  But 
the  work  of  his  that  will  live  longest  is  the  work  that 
is  peculiarly  and  solely  his  own. 

Louis  Schultze  began  work  as  an  artist  about  1855. 
He  assisted  De  Franga  for  several  years.  His  work 
includes  figure-painting  as  well  as  landscape,  in  which 
he  uses  sometimes  oil  paints,  sometimes  water  colors. 

Ritter  was  the  first  teacher  in  the  Art  Department 
of  the  Washington  University.  He  was  a  .skillful 
draughtsman,  though  his  work  was  somewhat  labored 
and  over-minute.  He  had  made  many  elaborate 
studies  of  mountain  scenery  in  Germany  and  Swit- 
zerland, and  painted  several  large  pictures  now  owned 
in  St.  Louis. 

Thomas  Allen,  Jr.,  commenced  the  study  of  lands- 
scarje-painting  with  Pattison  about  1872.  After- 
wards he  went  to  Dusseldorf  and  studied  there  two 
or  three  years.  On  his  return  he  made  special  studies 
of  the  characteristic  scenery  of  New  Mexico,  resulting 
in  a  number  of  works.  He  is  now  a  resident  of 
Paris. 

Since  1879,  W.  L.  Marple  has  spent  the  greater 
part  of  his  time  in  St.  Louis.  A  number  of  his  best 
pictures  show  evident  traces  of  the  influence  of  French 
landscapes  exhibited  here.  He  has  recently  gone  to 
Chicago. 

Henry  Chase  was  born  in  St.  Louis,  and  early 
evinced  a  fondness  for  art.  He  went  to  Europe  in 
1872,  while  still  very  young,  and  returned  thither  in 
1877.  He  was  a  pupil  of  Mesdag,  at  the  Hague.  His 
specialty  is  marine  views,  and  latterly  ships.  Among 
his  earlier  works  is  a  specially  fine  large  one  entitled 
"  Taking  the  Wreck  in  Tow,"  which  is  in  the  posses- 
sion of  Hon.  Henry  Overstolz,  of  this  city.  He  is 
at  present  in  New  York. 

Mrs.  Augusta  S.  Bryant,  for  five  years  a  pupil  of 
J.  R.  Meeker,  has  adopted  landscape-painting  as  a 
profession.  Her  work  has  received  much  favorable 
notice.  Among  her  works,  "  Pilot  Knob"  is  a  strong 
piece  of  realistic  painting,  while  the  "  Road  to  the 
Meadows"  and  a  "  View  on  the  Meramec"  show  a 
fine  sense  of  the  great  beauty  of  summer  days,  with 
their  shimmering  atmosphere  and  tender  foliage  and 
grass.  Quite  recently  from  a  well-observed  reflected 
sunset  she  has  developed  an  ideal  scene  of  marked 


character,  whose  mysterious  light  awakens  a  thought 
of  the  Norse  legends  concerning  Valhalla  and  the  twi- 
light of  the  gods.  These  indications  give  clear  prom- 
ise of  valuable  work  yet  to  be  done  by  this  artist. 

James  M.  Barnsley,  a  young  man  of  excellent 
ability,  received  his  art  education  mainly  in  the  School 
of  Fine  Arts,  and  gives  promise  of  marked  success 
as  a  landscape-painter.  He  is  an  earnest  student  of 
nature,  and  has  a  keen  insight  into  its  beauties.  He 
is  now  studying  in  Paris. 

J.  M.  Tracy  was  for  a  number  of  years  a  pupil  in 
the  schools  of  Paris.  In  1878  he  established  himself 
in  St.  Louis  as  a  portrait-painter.  He,  however, 
painted  landscapes  and  pictures  of  the  genre  type  as 
well.  Several  small  cattle  pieces  by  him  attracted 
special  attention,  the  result  being  that  he  presently 
devoted  himself  to  animal  painting  as  a  specialty.  In 
this  field  he  has  been  increasingly  successful,  his  pic- 
tures of  dogs  and  hunting  scenes  commanding  good 
prices.  His  work  exhibits  marked  improvement 
since  his  adoption  of  this  special  field.  He  removed 
to  New  York  in  1881. 

W.  H.  Howe,  while  clerk  in  a  dry-goods  house, 
began  to  occupy  his  leisure  hours  in  painting,  with 
no  other  teacher  than  pictures  and  occasionally  ob- 
serving artists  at  their  work.  In  1880  he  went  to 
Dusseldorf,  where  he  remained  about  one  year.  He 
is  now  in  Paris,  where  he  is  a  pupil  of  Otto  Van 
Thoren.1 


CHAPTER    XXXVIII. 

MUSIC   AND   MUSICIANS. 

IN  1837  there  came  to  St.  Louis  Professor  Wil- 
helm  Robyn,  a  young  German  musician,  who  had 
been  educated  at  Emmerich,  in  lower  Holland,  his 
instructor  having  been  Bolde,  a  most  capable  mu- 
sician, and  the  contemporary  and  acquaintance  of 
Mozart,  Beethoven,  Haydn,  and  Hummel.  Robyn 
had  expected  much  of  St.  Louis,  having  heard  it  to 
be  a  place  of  thirteen  thousand  people,  with  many 
Germans,  and  was  greatly  disappointed  to  find  that 
there  was  but  little  taste  for  music.  There  was  only 
one  music-teacher  here,  a  man  named  Cramer,  who 
taught  the  piano,  and  of  whom  little  is  now  known, 
except  that  he  was  doing  a  poor  business,  and  soon 


1  We  wish  to  acknowledge  our  indebtedness  for  many  impor- 
tant suggestions  to  Mrs.  A.  B.  Thompson,  and  also  to  Mr. 
J.  S.  Garland,  two  of  the  most  intelligent  friends  of  art  in  the 
citv. 


MUSIC   AND   MUSICIANS. 


1629 


after  left  the  place.  Pianos  were  very  scarce  in  St. 
Louis  in  those  days,  and  only  a  few  of  the  rich  old 
Creole  families  had  them. 

Professor  Robyn  is  full  of  sprightly  recollections 
of  those  days,  and  from  him  we  have  obtained  a  sketch 
of  the  development  of  music  in  St.  Louis. 

Up  to  1839  the  musical  recreations  of  the  people 
had  been  restricted  to  a  concert,  usually  given  by  some 
stray  singing-school  teacher  or  little  band  of  strolling 
musicians,  with  some  local  favorite,  perhaps,  as  the 
star.  The  only  music  in  the  churches  worthy  of 
mention  was  at  the  Cathedral,  which  had  for  organist 
an  Italian  named  Marilano,  brought  to  this  country 
by  Bishop  Rosatti,  who  returned  to  his  native  land. 
There  was  a  very  good  choir  at  the  Cathedral,  and 
among  the  prominent  members  were  Mrs.  Henry 
Chouteau  and  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Mary  Valle ;  Mrs. 
Bogy,  a  sister  of  Gen.  Pratte;  Judge  Wilson  Primm 
and  his  sister,  and  Britton  A.  Hill,  the  well-known 
lawyer,  who  is  still  living.  Judge  Primm  was  a 
fair  violin-player,  and  Robyn  relates  that  they  formed 
an  acquaintance  and  played  together,  the  one  his 
violin  and  the  other  the  piano,  and  although  Primm 
knew  no  German  and  Robyn  no  English,  they  con- 
versed readily  by  means  of  music,  the  "universal 
language." 

In  December  of  1837  Ludlow  &  Smith's  thea- 
tre company  arrived  at  St.  Louis  from  New  Orleans, 
and  musicians  were  wanted  for  the  orchestra.  Mr. 
Robyn,  rather  than  starve,  as  he  says,  engaged  to 
play  the  double  bass  at  twelve  dollars  a  week.  A 
complete  orchestra  was  organized,  with  Herr  Mueller 
as  leader.  Mueller  was  an  accomplished  musician, 
having  been  leader  of  a  band  for  many  years  in  Lon- 
don. There  was  a  young  Englishman  named  Trust, 
who  was  a  fine  solo  trombonist  and  harper,  and  a 
German,  Louis  Schnell,  who  was  a  skillful  performer 
on  the  horn.  Among  the  others  were  John  Brown 
and  Henry  Berg  and  his  brother,  well-known  musi- 
cians, who  played  at  balls,  etc.  Mr.  Robyn  says  that 
the  performance  of  this  orchestra  was  never  excelled 
by  any  similar  organization  subsequently. 

In  1838,  the  theatre  company  having  left,  a  small 
orchestra  was  organized  under  the  leadership  of  Mr. 
Wells,  a  dancing-master  and  a  good  violinist.  Rene 
Paul  was  president  of  the  society.  A  few  concerts 
were  given,  and  resulted  in  the  expression  of  a  general 
desire  for  a  concert  hall.  Subsequently  the  concert 
hall  still  existing  on  Market  Street,  between  Second 
and  Third  Streets,  was  erected.  During  the  same 
year  Prof.  Robyn  was  appointed  teacher  of  music  in 
the  University  of  St.  Louis,  and  soon  organized  the 
Philharmonic  Society,  which  is  still  a  flourishing 


appendage  of  that  institution.  He  had  thirty-five 
pupils,  and  his  monthly  recitals  were  attended  by 
the  elite  of  St.  Louis.  He  was  the  organist  in  the 
chapel,  and  when  the  church  was  built  he  produced 
all  the  great  masses  of  Haydn,  Mozart,  etc.,  and 
created  quite  a  sensation  in  musical  circles. 

The  same  year  (1839)  Charles  Balmer,  still  a  resi- 
dent and  a  well-known  music  publisher  here,  came  to 
St.  Louis.  That  year  Robyn  organized  and  led  a 
brass  band,  no  slight  undertaking,  as  he  was  obliged 
to  write  and  arrange  all  the  music  himself.  Balmer 
was  pianist  at  a  concert  given  by  the  band  for  the 
benefit  of  the  new  hall,  and  among  the  artists  who 
assisted  were  Carriere,  a  graduate  of  the  Paris  Con- 
servatory, who  was  teaching  the  flute  at  the  univer- 
sity ;  Farrell,  an  Irishman,  who  played  the  violin  ; 
and  Martinez,  a  Spaniard,  who  played  the  guitar. 
Miss  Theresa  Weber  was  the  soprano  on  these  occa- 
sions. These  concerts  were  a  financial  failure,  but 
similar  entertainments  were  given  for  some  years 
afterward. 

Miss  WTeber  and  her  brother  Henry  were  members 
of  the  immortal  Weber  family  of  musicians  in  Ger- 
many ;  she  subsequently  married  Mr.  Balmer,  ami 
Henry  became  his  partner  in  the  music  trade.  In 
1840,  Henry  established  a  "  Singakademie." 

In  1842,  Nicholas  Lebrun  came  to  St.  Louis,  and 
was  appointed  leader  of  the  band  of  the  German  mili- 
tary corps  which  was  organized  in  the  following  July. 
He  was  a  Frenchman,  and  arrived  in  St.  Louis  when  only 
twenty- three  years  old.  For  several  years  he  traveled 
with  leading  circuses,  and  his  compositions  attracted 
much  attention.  From  1848  he  resided  in. St.  Louis, 
and  became  the  band-leader  of  most  of  the  popular 
military  organizations.  He  is  now  in  the  music  trade 
in  St.  Louis. 

In  1845  occurred  a  marked  event,  the  founding  of 
the  Polyhymnia  by  Dr.  Johann  Georg  Wesselhoeft, 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  Germans  who  had  yet 
come  to  America.  In  1834  he  was  one  of  the  foun- 
ders of  the  Alten  und  Neuen  Welt,  of  Philadelphia, 
certainly  the  best  German  paper  up  to  that  time  pub- 
lished in  America,  and  while  a  resident  of  that  city 
actively  assisted  in  organizing  the  German  settlement 
at  Hermann,  Mo.  After  a  varied  career  in  the  East, 
>  he  came  to  St.  Louis  in  1844-45,  and  bestirred  him- 
i  self  actively  among  the  Germans  of  the  place.  The 
j  "Polyhymnia"  was  organized  for  the  practice  of  vocal 
and  instrumental  music,  but  chiefly  the  latter  was  un- 
dertaken, for  singers  were  scarce,  and  it  was  next  to 
impossible  to  collect  a  chorus.  Among  the  vocalists 
still  remembered  is  a  German  lady  named  Hoeffel,  who 
occasionally  appeared  as  a  soloist ;  Christian  Kribben, 


1630 


HISTORY  OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


a  German  lawyer,  who  subsequently  was  a  prominent 
politician,  and  Mr.  Romeyn,  also  a  lawyer.  For  lack  of 
a  chorus,  the  vocal  performances  of  the  society  were 
mostly  limited  to  solos,  duets,  and  quartettes;  but 
under  the  leadership  of  Professor  Robyn  it  brought 
out  many  overtures,  symphonies,  and  other  orchestral 
works,  and  its  concerts  were  well  attended.  It  lasted 
some  ten  years  and  then  broke  down.  Among  those 
living  who  still  recall  their  membership  in  the  "  Old 
Polyhymnia"  with  pleasure  are  Drs.  Bngelmann  and 
Wislizenus,  Dr.  S.  Gratz  Moses,  and  Mr.  Karst,  the 
French  consul.  The  "Polyhymnia"  gave  choice  pro- 
grammes, and  afforded  the  people  of  St.  Louis  the 
first  classical  music  they  had  ever  heard  to  any  con- 
siderable extent.  One  of  its  customs  was  to  extend 
courtesies  and  assistance  to  visiting  artists.  It  often 
rendered  them  invaluable  orchestral  assistance,  and 
frequently  "  went  shares"  with  them  in  the  proceeds 
of  the  entertainment.  Among  those  who  visited  St. 
Louis  during  this  period  were  Ole  Bull  and  Max 
Bohrer,  the  violinists,  Thalberg,  Leopold  de  Meyer, 
Madame  Anna  Bishop,  and  Jenny  Lind.  For  several 
years  Heinrich  Kayser,  a  German  politician,  prominent 
i'n  city  affairs,  was  president  of  the  "  Polyhymnia." 
Among  the  other  members  W.  A.  Bode,  Charles  Bal- 
mer,  and  E.  Nennstiel. 

In  1845,  Henry  Robyn  (brother  to  Wilhelm)  came 
to  St.  Louis.  Although  never  prominent  like  his 
brother  as  a  leader,  he  took  high  rank  among  the 
musicians  of  the  city,  and  was  for  many  years  organ- 
ist at  the  Cathedral,  and  St.  Patrick's  Church.  For 
a  long  time  he  was  musical  instructor  at  the  Insti- 
tution for  the  Blind,  and  invented  and  published  a 
method  (still  in  use)  by  which  music  for  the  blind 
could  be  printed.  This  gifted  man  was  lost  in  the 
sinking  of  the  "  Pomerania,"  some  four  or  five  years 
ago. 

During  the  early  years  of  the  Polyhymnia,  Mr. 
Balmer  established  an  "  Oratorio  Society,"  composed 
of  singers  from  all  the  choirs,  and  gave  several  per- 
formances. At  one  of  them  he  brought  out  the 
whole  of  the  "  Creation,"  and  although  his  chorus 
was  not  large,  and  his  orchestral  aids  were  meagre, 
he  produced  an  effect  which  has  never  since  been 
equaled  in  St.  Louis,  even  with  the  most  elaborate 
accompaniments.  Between  the  years  1840  and  1850 
the  musical  societies  were  represented  by  "  The  Cece- 
lian"  and  "  The  Oratorio."  R.  Fuchs  was  the  direc- 
tor of  the  former,  and  C.  Balmer  of  the  latter.  Later 
the  French  musicians  of  noteworthy  ability  were 
connected  with  local  musical  interests ;  these  were 
Miguier,  Fallen,  and  Carriere. 

The  next  important  musical  venture  was  the  estab- 


lishment of  the  "  Philharmonic  Society"  in  1859. 
The  chorus  numbered  about  one  hundred  from  the 
various  choirs,  and  there  were  fifty  or  sixty  pieces  in 
the  orchestra.  It  brought  out  some  very  important 
works,—"  Creation,"  "  Seasons,"  "  St.  Paul,"  "  Eli- 
jah," Schumann's  "  Die  Rose,"  etc.  It  was  first 
under  the  leadership  of  Sobolewski,  an  eccentric  but 
profound  musician.  The  "  Amphions,"  a  glee-club 
of  society  young  men,  and  the  "  Orpheus,"  a  male 
quartette,  often  assisted  at  the  Philharmonic  concerts. 

Sobolewski  deserves  an  additional  word.  He  was 
the  author  of  several  works,  including  a  classic  opera, 
which  Liszt  highly  praised.  It  was  named  "  Courola," 
after  his  daughter,  who  is  still  a  resident  of  St.  Louis, 
and  is  a  well-known  teacher  of  vocal  music.  Most  of 
his  family  of  ten  children  still  live  here. 

To  Mr.  Sobolewski  is  due  the  credit  of  first  gath- 
ering into  close  and  really  harmonious  relationship 
whatever  was  of  real  worth  in  our  musical  circles.  His 
selections  of  musical  compositions  were  guided  by 
sound  judgment  and  refined  taste,  while  the  perform- 
ances themselves  became  genuine  artistic  unities 
through  the  inspiration  of  rare  directive  power. 

Sobolewski  was  a  man  of  rare  genius  as  well  as  of 
the  most  refined  artistic  taste,  and  with  him  in  the 
lead  there  was  the  greatest  promise  for  the  society,  a 
promise  which,  however,  was  not  to  be  realized.  Sobo- 
lewski, notwithstanding  his  enthusiasm  for  the  interest 
of  the  highest  art  elements  in  music,  and  his  unremit- 
ting and  intelligent  labors,  still  failed  of  the  hearty 
appreciation  to  which  his  excellences  would  seem  to 
have  entitled  him. 

Dissatisfaction  led  to  Sobolewski's  resignation,  and 
to  the  transfer  to  other  hands  of  the  management. 
After  a  period  of  decline,  another  conductor  was  sought 
in  Germany,  and  Egmont  Froehlich's  services  having 
been  secured,  the  society,  under  his  management, 
showed  signs  of  revival.  The  musical  elements  of  the 
city,  however,  proved  to  be  not  yet  ready  for  fusion, 
and  the  society  was  dissolved  about  1870. 

After  the  dissolution  of  the  Philharmonic  Society, 
the  Germans  and  the  Americans  became  mutually 
exclusive  in  matters  of  music.  Among  the  Germans 
there  was  found  the  Arion  Society,  of  which  Sobo- 
lewski was  for  a  time  the  director.  The  Arion  con- 
stituted a  male  chorus  of  large  membership,  with  Von 
Deutsch  as  conductor.  During  the  period  of  its  real 
activity  many  fine  choruses,  as  well  as  compositions 
for  mixed  voices,  were  admirably  rendered.  After  a 
time  many  members  withdrew  from  the  Arion  and 
organized  the  Liederkranz  Society,  with  Egmont 
Froehlich  as  director ;  subsequently  the  Arion  became 
merged  in  the  Liederkranz.  The  Liederkranz,  after 


MUSIC   AND   MUSICIANS. 


1631 


several  years  of  more  strictly  musical  effort,  has  be- 
come an  association  in  whose  social  enjoyment  music 
is  a  pronounced   feature  rather   than   the   chief  end. 
The  society  possesses  a  large   and   commodious   hall, 
situated  at  Thirteenth  Street  and  Chouteau  Avenue. 
There  have  been  also  a  number  of  other  male  chorus 
organizations,  notably  the  Saengerbund   and  the  Or- 
pheus, but  these  have  specially  embodied  the  individual 
character   of    the    German    element.      The    Musical 
Union,  organized  by  Dabney  Carr,  has  for  two  years 
represented  American  musical  effort.     In  addition  to  j 
this  there  have  been  given  this  season  Memorial  Hall  , 
Concerts,  which  have  afforded  special  opportunities  for  t 
listening    to  talent  not  local.     Simultaneously  with  | 
these  larger  organizations  a  number  of  trios  and  quar- 
tettes were  formed  by  some  of  the   best  musicians.   : 
These  in   their  weekly   reunions    have  rendered   ac- 
ceptably much   '-chamber  music,"  selected  with  taste 
and  judgment  from  the  great  masters.    Of  such  organ-  ' 
izations  the  Philharmonic  and  the  Mendelssohn  Quin- 
tette Clubs  are  specially  worthy  of  mention. 

The  Philharmonic  has  given  a  series  of  concerts, 
whose  programmes  for  the  most  part  consisted  of  very 
choice  classical  music,  and  these  were  rendered  in  a 
highly  acceptable  manner.  The  members  of  the 
Philharmonic  are  Messrs.  Spiering,  Anton,  Boehmen, 
Meyer,  and  Hanimerstein. 

The  Mendelssohn  is  still  young  as  a  society,  having 
given  but  two  public  performances.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  ability  and  enthusiasm  of  its  members  gives 
the  organization  a  well-defined  standing.  Messrs. 
Heerich,  Schopp,  Schoen,  C.  Froehlich,  and  Alfred 
Robyn  constitute  the  membership. 

As  a  matter  of  course,  the  usual  song  concerts  have  , 
occurred,  and  have  found  special  patronage  among  the 
Americans.  In  these  concerts  in  St.  Louis,  as  else- 
where, the  musical  element  has  too  frequently  been 
subordinated  to  the  idea  of  securing  the  largest  possible 
amount  of  applause. 

Regarding  this  as  a  period  of  mere  transition,  we 
may  assert  that  it  is  passing  away.    While  the  lighter 
operas  are  still  popular,  and   the  night  of  the  great 
singers  rather  than  the  night  of  great  musical  compo- 
sitionsjs  still  provocative  of  the  most  strenuous  struggle 
for  seats,  yet  such  musical  dramas  as  "  Lohengrin"  are  i 
with  each  repetition  more  generally  and  heartily  ap-  ' 
preciated.     There  is,  therefore,  unmistakable  evidence 
that  a  taste  for  genuine  music  in  its  truly  artistic  sig- 
nificance is  rapidly  growing. 

The  reaction  of  this  developing  taste  of  the  public 
upon  local  musicians  could  not  long  be  delayed,  and, 
indeed,  is  already  manifest.  The  impossibility  of 
bringing  musicians  together  into  permanent  and  effi-  ' 


cient  organizations  is  giving  way  before  a  truer  pro- 
fessional spirit,  and  there  is  every  reason  to  look  with 
confidence  to  the  early  organization  of  societies  capa- 
ble of  rendering  in  a  worthy  manner  great  works  re- 
quiring large  choruses.  On  the  other  hand,  church 
music  both  vocal  and  instrumental  is  rapidly  im- 
proving. 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  among  our  local  musicians  a 
number  have  found  time  and  vindicated  their  ability 
to  compose  original  works  of  much  merit.  Sobolewski 
undoubtedly  stands  at  the  head  of  local  composers,  al- 
though his  greatest  works  belong  to  his  pre-Ainerican 
period.  Wm.  H.  Pommer,  a  young  man  of  marked 
ability,  both  as  a  pianist  and  as  a  composer,  is  the 
author  of  many  songs  and  of  several  comic  operas. 
Goldbeck's  vocal  music,  especially  his  quartettes,  is 
widely  known  and  highly  appreciated.  J.  M.  North, 
C.  Balmer,  A.  G.  Robyn,  and  E.  R.  Kroeger  have 
also  been  noticeable  as  composers  of  songs.  Walde- 
mar  Malmene  is  a  composer  of  oratorios  and  ballads, 
and  E.  M.  Bowman  of  pleasing  church  quartettes. 
H.  Strachauer  is  a  composer  of  classical  music ;  he 
was  a  pupil  of  Bode's,  and  his  fine  abilities  caused 
his  removal  to  Boston  to  be  regretted.  Wayman 
McCreery  has  also  composed  some  songs  and  a  light 
opera.  The  Kunkel  brothers  have  had  some  local 
reputation  from  their  compositions. 

Among  interpreters  (of  instrumental  music)  spe- 
cially worthy  of  mention  are  W.  A.  Bode,  Mrs.  Dr. 
Strotholte  (a  specialist  in  Beethoven's  sonatas),  La- 
witzky,  Miss  von  Hoya,  Spiering,  Waldauer,  Schoen, 
Meyer,  Anton,  and  Heerich  (violinists);  Bowman, 
A.  G.  Robyn,  Hammerstein,  Miss  Lina  Anton,  Miss 
Nellie  Strong,  E.  Froehlich,  and  A.  Grauer  (pianists). 

Among  those  who  have  been  prominent  as  directors 
are,  in  addition  to  those  previously  named,  Waldauer, 
C.  Froehlich,  Poppen,  Hans  Balatka,  and  Otten. 

A  very  strong  influence  has  been  exerted  by  several 
non-professional  musical  organizations.  The  Quartette 
Club,  which  meets  at  the  residence  of  Mrs.  Charles 
Nagel,  has  attained  rare  excellence,  and  is  to  be  counted 
as  a  decided  factor  in  the  development  of  local  musical 
taste. 

Another  private  organization  has  included  many  of 
our  best  students  of  vocal  and  instrumental  music, 
and  while  seeking  nothing  but  the  improvement  of  the 
ladies  who  compose  it,  has  had  a  marked  effect  upon 
the  intelligence  of  the  audiences  which  assemble  to 
listen  to  the  efforts  of  professional  musicians. 

The  Meysenberg  Quartette  Club  has  for  years  met 
'regularly  and  worked  industriously,  and  has  had  a 
manifest  influence  in  elevating  the  musical  taste  of 
the  community. 


1632 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


The  work  done  first  by  Henry  Robyn  and  later  by 
Egmont  Froehlich  in  the  High  School  is  also  worthy 
of  mention,  inasmuch  as  many  singers  have  found 
their  first  strong  impulse  while  pupils;  the  number 
of  pupils  and  the  fact  that  the  school  furnishes  a 
mixed  chorus  have  much  bearing  upon  the  character 
of  the  work,  and  consequently  upon  the  nature  of 
its  influence  in  our  musical  history. 

In  addition  to  individuals  already  mentioned,  there  j 
are  teachers  of  music  whose  services  entitle  them  to 
special  notice.  Such  are  Henry  Robyn,  Mrs.  Brainerd, 
H.  M.  Butler,  Charles  Green,  M.  Epstein,  A.  Epstein, 
Mrs.  Ralston,  Carl  Richter,  Madame  Petipas,  Madame 
Caramano. 

The  Polyhymnia  Society  was  organized  in  the 
summer  of  1845,  and  for  several  years  was,  as  we  have  i 
already  stated,  well  and  favorably  known  in  art  and 
musical  circles.  Many  gentlemen,  musicians,  artists, 
and  others  favorable  to  the  encouragement  of  the  arts, 
were  engaged  in  its  organization.  Among  the  most  ac- 
tive of  these  were  Alexander  Kayser,  Dr.  Pollak,  Wil- 
liam and  Henry  Robyn,  and  Messrs.  Beneke,  Obert,  ! 
Ringling,  Burke,  Schnell,  and  Kribben.  The  ob- 
stacles of  comparatively  empty  coffers,  of  occasional 
dissensions  among  the  members,  and  of  inexperience 
were  surmounted  by  the  strenuous  exertions  on  the 
part  of  those  who  had  the  objects  of  the  association 
most  at  heart.  In  the  early  part  of  the  society's  exist- 
ence, some  serious  misunderstanding  among  a  portion 
of  its  members  on  one  or  two  occasions  nearly  brought 
it  to  a  sudden  close.  The  first  president  of  the  Poly-  i 
hymnia  was  Mr.  Wesselhoeft,  who  retained  the  office 
during  a  period  of  two  and  a  half  years.  The  society 
gave  its  first  concert  at  Concert  Hall  on  the  27th  of 
November,  1845.  Its  success  induced  renewed  en- 
ergy, and  a  year  after  that  time  the  society  numbered 
nearly  two  hundred  members.  The  orchestra  con- 
sisted of  twenty  or  twenty-five  performers.  As  hereto- 
fore stated,  the  society  went  out  of  existence  in  1870. 

The  Socialer  Saenger.cb.or. — After  the  failure  of 
the  revolution  in  Germany»in  1848  a  large  number 
of  those  who  had  taken  part  in  it  fled  to  the  United 
States  and  many  settled  in  St.  Louis.  These  emi- 
grants at  once  proceeded  to  organize  societies  for  in- 
tellectual and  bodily  culture  and  social  recreation. 
The  very  earliest  of  these  associations  was  doubtless 
the  St.  Louis  Saengerbund,  organized  in  1849,  which 
after  an  honorable  career  of  some  twenty-five  years 
was  merged  in  the  Orpheus  Saengerbuud  and  ceased 
to  exist.  The  next  was  established  Sept.  13,  1850, 
as  the  "  Saengerchor  des  Arbeiterbildungsverein,"  or' 
the  song  section  of  a  union  for  the  improvement  of  , 
workingmen.  The  next  January  it  took  the  name  of 


"  Socialer  Saengerchor,"  by  which  it  is  yet  known, 
and  is  recognized  as  the  oldest  singing  society  in  St. 
Louis.  It  also  enjoys  the  honor  of  being  about  the 
only  surviving  Saengerbund  of  the  hundreds  which 
were  established  during  that  period  throughout  the 
country,  and  is  certainly  the  only  one  that  remains  of 
those  in  the  West. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  infant  society  was  held  in 
Kossuth  Hall,  on  South  Second  Street,  and  Herr 
Holzmann  was  the  first  president.  The  first  concert 
was  given  Nov.  30,  1850.  In  the  winter  of  1851  a 
library  was  established  ;  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  1852, 
the  society  took  part  in  the  usual  celebration,  and  in 
October,  1852,  a  debating  club  was  formed.  In  Jan- 
uary, 1855,  the  society  gave  a  masked  ball,  the  first 
ever  given  by  a  German  society  in  St.  Louis,  which 
was  the  event  of  the  season  in  German  circles. 

The  society  prospered,  and  was  a  representative 
German  institution  until  the  war,  when,  in  common 
with  its  sister  societies,  it  lost  largely  through  the 
enlistment  of  many  of  its  members  in  both  armies, 
but  chiefly  under  the  Union  flag.  Since  the  war  its 
career  has  been  without  special  incident.  It  has 
been  subjected  to  the  friendly  rivalry  of  younger  or- 
ganizations, but  has  maintained  its  place  as  one  of 
the  leading  German  singing  organizations  of  the  city. 
In  April,  1868,  it  was  incorporated,  the  incorpora- 
tors  being  Clemens  A.  Schnake,  Conrad  Kellermau, 
Henry  Thon,  Philip  A.  Nolting,  Wilhelm  Poking, 
Jacob  Eckhardt,  Wilhelm  Dentz,  Henry  Meyer, 
Charles  Roock,  and  Anton  Helle.  Since  1875  it  has 
been  under  the  efficient  leadership  of  Professor  A. 
Willhartitz.  It  has  taken  the  following  prizes : 

First  prize  at  the  Westliche  Saengerbund  of  North 
America  in  June,  1854. 

A  silk  banner  at  the  fest  at  Highland,  111.,  May, 
1855. 

First  prize  at  the  St.  Louis  Agricultural  and  Me- 
chanical Association,  1856. 

First  prize  at  the  Saengerfest  at  Highland,  111., 
May,  1880. 

The  membership  numbers  about  five  hundred  and 
fifty,  of  whom  eighty  are  active.  The  library,  started 
in  1851,  has  been  well  cared  for,  and  numbers  nearly 
four  thousand  books.  The  society  owns  a  piano,  etc., 
and  has  a  reserve  fund  of  several  thousand  dollars. 
The  present  officers  are  as  follows  :  President,  August 
Blittersdorf ;  Vice-President,  Charles  J.  Bremer  ;  Sec- 
retary, William  Oyentrop  ;  Corresponding  Secretary, 
William  Vogel ;  Financial  Secretary,  John  Tighman  ; 
Treasurer,  Henry  Trieselmann  ;  Musical  Director, 
Max  Ballmann. 

Germania  Saengerbund. — This  excellent  German 


MUSIC   AND   MUSICIANS. 


1633 


singing  society  was  organized  March  19,  1859,  by 
the  two  brothers,  William  and  Adolph  Reisse,  under 
the  name  of  "  Berg  Saengerbund,"  or  "  Mountain 
Saengerbund."  The  society  was  formed  at  Yaeger's 
Garden,  now  Anthony  &  Kuhn's,  in  South  St.  Louis. 
The  first  president  was  William  Reisse ;  the  first 
leader,  F.  Glaser,  who  was  succeeded  by  F.  Boch- 
mann,  Egmont  Froehlich,  Charles  Gottschalk,  Herr 
Sabatzky,  and  Theodore  Abbath.  The  society  has 
been  prominent  at  several  fests,  and  always  won  a 
prize.  It  has  brought  out  the  following  operas:  "  Die 
Wein  probe ;"  "Die  Gerichtsitzung ;"  "Die  Vier 
Glatzkoepfe ;"  "  Der  Vetter  aus  Amerika  ;"  "  Incog- 
nito ;  oder,  Der  Fuerst  wider  Willen." 

The  society  numbers  thirty-two  active  members, 
one  hundred  and  forty-five  passive  members,  and  five 
honorary  members,  embracing  many  of  the  best  Ger- 
man citizens  of  South  St.  Louis. 

For  ten  years  past  the  society's  hall  has  been  in 
the  building  of  the  Lafayette  Bank,  corner  Carondelet 
Avenue  and  Second  Street.  On  the  19th  of  March, 
1882,  it  celebrated  its  twenty-fifth  anniversary  in  the 
same  garden  where  it  was  organized. 

The  Saengerbund  has  property  representing  a  capi- 
tal of  two  thousand  five  hundred  dollars.  It  has 
also  a  select  library  for  the  benefit  of  its  members. 
The  present  officers  are :  President,  Frederick  Schroe- 
der  ;  Vice-President,  A.  Loux  ;  Recording  Secretary, 
Wilhelm  Meyer ;  Financial  Secretary,  F.  Vischwitz  ; 
Manager,  F.  Themeyer;  Leader,  Theodore  Abbath. 

St.  Louis  Philharmonic  Society. — In  pursuance 
of  a  notice  previously  given,  a  meeting  was  held  in 
the  rooms  of  the  Missouri  State  Mutual  Insurance 
Company,  June  21,  1860,  at  which  the  constitution 
of  the  "  St.  Louis  Philharmonic  Society"  was  read  and 
adopted,  and  the  following  officers  and  board  of 
directors  were  chosen :  James  E.  Yeatman,  presi- 
dent ;  Charles  Balmer,  vice-president ;  John  J.  An- 
derson, treasurer;  George  W.  Parker,  recording  sec- 
retary ;  Thomas  Marston,  Jr.,  corresponding  secretary ; 
Board  of  Directors,  L.  A.  Benoist,  William  Robyn, 
William  H.  Benton,  E.  C.  Catherwood,  Henry  T. 
Blow,  Dabney  Carr,  James  B.  Eads,  B.  A.  Bode. 
The  object  of  the  society  was  to  encourage  the  study 
and  elevate  the  taste  of  music  among  the  citizens. 
The  civil  war  came  on  soon  after  the  organization  of 
the  society,  and  put  an  end  to  its  existence. 

Musiker  Unterstuetzungs  Verein. — This  society 
was  organized  in  1863,  and  was  incorporated  in  1864. 
The  first  officers  were:  President,  J.  H.  Keller; 
Secretary,  Louis  Schnell ;  Treasurer,  Charles  Geb- 
hardt.  It  was  originally  designed  as  a  protective 
union,  to  enable  the  musicians  of  the  city  to  obtain 


better  prices  for  furnishing  music  at  concerts,  balls, 
etc.,  but  eventually  was  changed  into  a  beneficiary 
society.  It  pays  six  dollars  per  week  sick  benefits 
and  thirty-five  dollars  for  funeral  expenses.  There  are 
about  sixty  members,  and  the  officers  are :  President, 
Nicholas  Lebrun;  Vice-President,  Michael  Ensinger ; 
Secretary,  George  Zaenglein  ;  Treasurer,  Charles  Geb- 
hardt.  Herr  Gebhardt  has  been  treasurer  continu- 
ously since  the  organization.  . 

Orpheus. — The  Orpheus  Singing  Society  was  organ- 
ized July  16,  1867.    The  first  president  was  William 
Homann.     In  1875  it  was  enlarged  by  the  accession 
of  the  Saengerbund.     It  has  been  one  of  the  most 
efficient  of  the  numerous  German  singing  societies  of 
St.  Louis,  and  in  the  various   musical  contests  has 
taken  its  fair  share  of  prizes.    It  has  sixty  active  mem- 
bers and  one  hundred  and  ninety  passive  members. 
The  present  officers  are  as  follows  :  President,  Nicholas 
Christman  ;  Vice-President,  John  Schorr  ;  Recording 
Secretary,   Louis  Stockstrora  ;   Corresponding  Secre- 
tary, William   H.    Lahrmann ;    Financial    Secretary, 
;  George  R.  Kramer;  Treasurer,  Charles  Schweikardt. 
The  Liederkranz. — In  1870  a  disagreement  among 
the  members  of  the  Arion  des  Westens,  a  German 
:  singing  society  of  some  note,  resulted  in  the  secession 
of  sixteen  members,  among  whom  were  Eugene  Haas, 
Ferdinand  Diehm,  and   Rudolph  Schulenburg,   who 
immediately  issued  a  call  for  a  new  singing  society, 
and   on   the   27th   of  November,    1870,'  thirty  six 
j  united  in  forming  the  Liederkranz.     The  first  direc- 
j  tors  of  the  new  society  were  Eugene  Haas,  Edmund 
|  Wuerpel,  Theodore  Kalb,  Dr.  Nagel,  A.  Link,  Ferdi- 
nand Diehm,  and  A.  Laeffler,  and  the  first  officers 
were  :  President,  Eugene  Hass  ;  Secretary,  A.  Link  ; 
Treasurer,  Ferdinand  Diehm  ;  Musical  Director,  Eg- 
mont Froehlich.     The  latter  was  also  director  of  the 
Arion  des  Westens,  but  during  the  year  he  resigned, 
and  has  continued  uninterruptedly  as  the  director  of 
the  Liederkranz. 

For  some  years  the  society  met  in  the  building  of 
the  People's  Savings  Institution,  Park  and  Carondelet 
Avenues ;  then  it  went  to  Freemasons'  Hall.  From 
1877  to  1880  it  met  at  the  Annunciation  school-house, 
at  Chouteau  Avenue  and  Sixth  Street,  and  Dec.  22, 
1880,  it  occupied  its  present  elegant  quarters. 

From  its  inception  the  Liederkranz  was  conspicu- 
ously prosperous,  and  rapidly  drew  to  itself  the  finest 
musical  talent  among  the  Germans.  It  has  always 
enjoyed  a  high  degree  of  popular  favor.  In  1879  the 
Arion  des  Westens,  which  had  two  hundred  and  fifty 
members,  joined  the  Liederkranz,  and  added  one  hun- 
dred voices  to  it.  This  accession  emphasized  the  need 
of  more  commodious  quarters,  the  want  of  which  had 


1634 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


long  been  felt,  and  at  last  it  was  decided  that  the 
society  might  safely  undertake  the  erection  of  a  hall 
of  its  own.  In  August,  1879,  therefore,  the  Lieder- 
kranz  Building  Association  was  organized.  The 
capital  was  placed  at  fifty  thousand  dollars,  and  the 
Liederkranz  Society  took  three  thousand  five  hundred 
dollars  of  stock,  and  every  member  of  the  society 
became  also  a  member  of  the  building  association, 
which  was  managed  by  the  following  officers :  Presi- 
dent, F.  W.  Sennewald ;  Vice-President,  Charles 
Wezler ;  Secretary,  A.  Link ;  Treasurer,  Ferdinand 
Diehm  ;  Directors,  Louis  Gottschalk,  Lorenz  Lampel, 
W.  J.  Lemp,  Eugene  Haas,  Statius  Kehrmaun,  Fer 
dinand  Herold,  Joseph  Emanuel,  Emil  Donk,  and 
Egmont  Froehlich. 

The  building  association  bought  an  eligibly  situated 
lot  at  Chouteau  Avenue  and  Thirteenth  Street,  and 
on  the  31st  of  July,  1880,  laid  the  corner-stone  of 
the  new  hall.  On  the  22d  of  December,  1880,  the  ; 
building  was  dedicated  with  appropriate  ceremonies. 
The  hall  was  erected  by  Messrs.  Wilhelm  &  Janssen, 
after  plans  procured  from  abroad.  It  has  a  frontage 
of  ninety-four  feet  on  Chouteau  Avenue  and  one  hun- 
dred and  forty  feet  on  Thirteenth  Street,  and  is  two 
stories  high.  The  style  of  architecture  is  the  renais-  \ 
sance.  A  handsome  entrance  at  the  intersection  of  j 
these  streets  conducts  to  the  interior.  The  complete- 
ness of  the  appointments  and  the  entire  absence  of 
any  glaring' or  "  loud"  details  are  the  conspicuous  fea- 
tures which  first  strike  the  eye.  The  special  char- 
acteristics of  the  structure  are  solidity  and  safety,  , 
combined  with  beauty  and  a  complete  adaptability  to 
the  objects  for  which  the  building  was  erected.  The 
grand  hall  is  sixty-five  by  eighty-one  feet,  and  there 
is  a  refreshment-room  one  hundred  and  five  by  twenty- 
four  feet,  besides  a  number  of  toilet-rooms  and  apart- 
ments for  billiards  and  other  games.  The  stage  is 
thirty  by  twenty-five  feet,  and  is  shaped  like  a  shell 
in  order  to  secure  the  best  musical  effect.  The 
acoustic  properties  of  the  hall  are  very  fine.  The  lot 
cost  eight  thousand  dollars,  the  building  thirty-six 
thousand  dollars,  and  the  furniture  six  thousand  dol- 
lars. The  building,  in  spite  of  its  simplicity  and 
modesty  of  style,  is  one  of  the  most  imposing  and 
beautiful  in  the  city,  besides  serving  as  a  cheerful 
home  for  the  society  and  its  friends. 

The  Liederkranz  has  six  hundred  members,  of 
whom  one  hundred  and  thirty  are  active.  It  is  the 
largest  singing  society  in  the  city,  and  its  success  is 
due  chiefly  to  the  high  standard  which  it  has  applied 
to  its  own  performances,  and  to  its  aim  to  introduce 
and  familiarize  the  best  work  of  the  most  eminent 
composers.  Under  the  direction  of  Herr  Froehlich,  it 


has  gained  recognition  as  one  of  the  best  and  most 
proficient  singing  societies  in  the  West.  Among  the 
great  works  which  it  has  brought  out  with  distin- 
guished success  are  Verdi's  "  Requiem,"  Schumann's 
"  Pilgrimage  of  the  Rose,"  Mendelssohn's  "  Wal- 
purgis  Night,"  Gade's  <;  Erl  King's  Daughter,"  Vier- 
ling's  "  Rape  of  the  Sabines,"  Becker's  "  Die  Zigeu- 
nerin,"  Gade's  "  Zion,"  Bruch's  "  Odysseus,"  Hoff- 
man's "  Die  Schoene  Melusine,"  Haydn's  "  Seasons," 
Moehring's  "Auff  Offner  See,"  Erdmannsdoerfer's 
"  Princessin  Use,"  etc. 

The  officers  for  1882  were  :  President.  F.  W.  Sen- 
newald ;  Vice-President,  0.  J.  Wilhelmie ;  Secretary, 
M.  Klaus  ;  Treasurer,  Fred.  Aberold  ;  Corresponding 
Secretary,  F.  W.  Meyer ;  Cashier,  E.  P.  Olshausen  ; 
Musical  Director,  Egmont  Froehlich. 

Schweitzer  Maennerchor. — This  was  originally 
the  Gruelti  Singing  Society,  a  song  section  of  the 
Gruelti  Verein,  the  Swiss  Benevolent  Society ;  but  in 
February,  1874,  it  was  chartered  as  the  "  Schweitzer 
Maennerchor,"  with  the  following  incorporators :  Ul- 
rich  Schwendener,  Francis  Romer,  John  Jacklin, 
Henry  Hotz,  August  Wildberger,  J.  J.  Kiburz,  Sam- 
uel Putscher,  F.  X.  Siedler,  Adolph  Walser,  John 
Boerdin,  and  others.  It  has  about  forty  members. 
The  present  officers  are :  President,  Albert  Bugg ; 
Vice-President,  Rudolf  Bellinger ;  Treasurer,  J.  J. 
Martin  ;  Musical  Director,  J.  B.  Trumbi. 

West  St.  Louis  Liederkranz. — In  1871,  Anton 
Huber,  Frank  Wieser,  August  Gruenewald,  Louis 
Schaefer,  A.  Meyer,  Henry  Pohlmann,  and  Louis 
Wiesler  organized  the  West  St.  Louis  Liederkranz, 
with  headquarters  near  Spring  and  Easton  Avenues. 
Henry  Pohlmann  was  the  first  president,  A.  Meyer 
the  first  secretary,  and  John  Oberreiter  the  frrst  treas- 
urer. Herr  Haar  was  musical  director.  The  society 
prospered,  and  gained  an  enviable  reputation  for  good 
music,  and  in  1880  took  the  second  prize  at  High- 
land, 111.,  competing  with  fifteen  clubs  from  St.  Louis 
and  Southern  Illinois.  It  has  a  membership  of  two 
hundred  and  twenty,  of  whom  twenty  are  active. 
Quite  a  number  of  ladies  belong  to  the  society,  and 
are  its  most  energetic  members.  Frederick  Parten- 
heimer  has  been  director  for  five  years.  The  present 
officers  are :  President,  Otto  Keil ;  Secretary,  Carl 
Golschen  ;  Treasurer,  William  Schroeder ;  Musical 
Director,  Frederick  Partenheimer ;  Trustees,  Louis 
Schaefer,  August  Gruenewald,  George  Kramer,  Theo. 
Hoell,  William  Koehler. 

There  are  many  other  German  song  unions  of  some- 
what lesser  note.  Many  of  them  are  simply  song 
sections  of  German  clubs,  turnvereins,  etc.  Among 
them  may  be  mentioned  the  Rock  Springs  Saenger- 


MUSIC   AND   MUSICIANS. 


1635 


bund,  Camp  Spring  Leidertafel,  Apollo  Gesangverein, 
Teutonia  Gesangverein,  Rheinischer  Frohsinn,  Maen- 
nerchor  der  Hermann  Soehne,  etc. 

The  St.  Louis  Choral  Society  was  organized 
Sept.  1,  1880,  by  Professor  Joseph  Otten.  The  first 
officers  were  :  President,  L.  L.  Tebbetts  ;  Vice-Presi- 
dent, R.  Chauvenet ;  Secretary,  Thaddeus  Smith  ;  Li- 
brarian, A.  A.  Schnuck  ;  Conductor,  Professor  Joseph 
Otten.  During  the  first  year  four  subscription  concerts 
were  given,  and  the  works  rendered  were  "  The  Mes- 
siah," "  The  Fair  Melusine,"  by  Hoffman  ;  "  Dettingen 
Te  Deum,"  by  Handel;  and  fragments  of  "Tann- 
hiiuser."  Beethoven's  Mass  in  C,  etc.  The  society 
has  a  chorus  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  voices,  and  is 
regarded  as  a  promising  young  organization.  The 
present  officers  are  :  President,  Nathaniel  P.  Hazard  ; 
Vice-President,  S.  S.  Leach ;  Secretary,  Richard 
Fenby  ;  Conductor,  Professor  Joseph  Otten. 

Musical  Union. — In  November,  1881,  Professor 
A.  A.  Waldauer  and  Dabney  Carr  organized  the  St. 
Louis  Musical  Union,  an  orchestra  of  nearly  sixty 
pieces,  which  for  two  seasons  past  has  given  con- 
certs of  a  very  high  order  of  merit,  having  performed 
with  great  acceptability  the  most  difficult  works  of 
most  of  the  great  composers. 

Henry  Shaw  Musical  Society. — In  the  fall  of 
1882  was  organized  a  society  with  this  name,  under 
the  lead  of  Professor  R.  S.  Poppen.  Its  first  season's 
performances  were  highly  creditable. 


CHAPTER    XXXIX. 

RELIGIOUS    DENOMINATIONS.^ 

The  Catholic  Church. — The  Catholic  missionaries 
were  the  first  to  preach  the  gospel  in  the  territory 
now  known  as  the  State  of  Missouri,  and,  indeed,  in  | 

1  For  material  assistance  in  preparing  the  sketches  of  the 
churches  of  St.  Louis  the  author  is  greatly  indebted  to  Rt.  Rev. 
C.  F.  Robertson,  D.D.,  Bishop  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Dio- 
cese of  Missouri ;  Rt.  Rev.  P.  J.  Ryan,  D.D.,  Coadjutor  Bishop 
of  the  Catholic  archdiocese;  Rev.  Walter  H.  Hill,  S.J.,  of  St. 
Louis  University;  Lewis  E.  Kline,  of  the  Baptist  Depository; 
Rev.  J.  W.  Allen,  D.D.,  of  the  Presbyterian  Depository;  Rev. 
Timothy  Hill,  D.D.,  of  Kansas  City,  author  of  a  "  History  of 
Presbyterianism  in  Missouri;"  Rev.  Benjamin  St.  James  Fry, 
D.D.,  editor  of  the  Central  Christian  Advocate,  and  his  assist- 
ant, W.  E.  Barns  ;  Rev.  John  E.  Godbey,  D.D.,  editor  of  the 
8<>nthirr»tfrn  Methodist;  as  well  as  to  a  "  History  of  Metho- 
dism in  Missouri,"  by  Rev.  Dr.  D.  R.  McAnally  ;  "  Pictorial  St. 
Louis,"  by  Catnille  N.  Dry,  published  by  Compton  A  Co.,  1876; 
and  the  St.  Louis  Spectator,  in  addition  to  the  pastors  of  the 
various  churches. 


that  now  actually  comprised  in  the  United  States. 
Long  before  the  "  Mayflower"  entered  Massachusetts 
Bay  the  Franciscan  missionaries  had  commenced  their 
sacred  labors  on  the  coast  of  Maine.  Side  by  side 
the  cross  and  the  fleur-de-lis  moved  into  the  wilder- 
ness, marching  not  to  the  sound  of  the  drum,  but  to 
the  solemn  tones  of  the  Gregorian  chant.  The 
Jesuits,  succeeding  the  Franciscans,  carried  on  the 
holy  work,  unchecked  by  snows  or  forests  or  tor- 
rents, until  within  a  few  years  the  vast  basin  of  the 
St.  Lawrence,  from  Quebec  to  Lake  Superior,  was 
dotted  with  rude  chapels,  in  which  the  sacred  wafer, 
"  all  that  the  church  offered  to  the  princes  and  nobles 
of  Europe,  was  shared  with  the  humblest  savage 
neophytes."  '2  And  five  years  before  Eliot,  the  Indian 
apostle  of  New  England,  had  commenced  his  labors 
among  the  red  men  in  the  vicinity  of  Boston,  the 
cross  of  the  Catholic  Church  overlooked  the  valley 
of  the  Mississippi.  The  Indian  proselyte  loved  the 
Catholic  missionary.  The  man  of  learning,  the 
scholar,  and  the  gentleman  became  as  a  brother  to 
the  children  of  the  wilderness.  He  lived  in  their 
wigwams,  smoked  their  pipes,  and  ate  of  their  veni- 
son. He  shared  their  hardships  and  sympathized 
with  their  joys.  In  a  word,  acting  upon  the  apostolic 
rule,  "  with  the  weak  he  became  as  weak,  in  order 
that  he  might  gain  the  weak." 

But  it  is  not  alone  because  the  missionary  adopted 
the  Indian  habits  and  became  as  one  of  the  tribe  he 
was  proselyting  that  he  was  blessed  with  success. 
This  but  furnished  him  with  his  moral  lever.  Instead 
of  demolishing  the  natural  religion  of  the  Indians,  he 
directed  its  energy  and  inspired  it  with  an  object.  In 
his  eyes  it  was  the  rough  block  which  he  was  to  chisel 
into  life  and  beauty.  Nature  furnished  him  with  ma- 
terials ;  it  was  his  business  to  produce  the  image. 
And  with  true  knowledge  of  the  world  and  the  human 
heart,  he  saw  that  the  savages,  possessing  uncultivated 
intellects,  could  only  be  thoroughly  impressed  through 
the  medium  of  their  senses.  Accustomed  as  they 
had  been  to  the  greatness  of  the  material  world,  they 
could  not  at  once  become  spiritual  in  their  aspirations. 
He  therefore  charmed  them  with  the  fascinating 
powers  of  music,  and  took  extraordinary  pains  in  the 
embellishment  of  the  church  and  the  altar.  Fragrant 
woods  of  the  forest  furnished  materials,  which  his 
own  ingenuity  carved  into  seraphs  and  saints.  Fields 
which  had  never  been  broken  by  the  plow  surren- 
dered to  his  pious  exertions  wild  flowers  and  ever- 
greens. Sweet-smelling  gums  exuded  from  trees, 
"  which  spread  an  odor  equally  agreeable  with  that  of 

!  Bancroft. 


1636 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


incense."  Simple  art  and  more  simple  nature  com- 
bined to  decorate  the  log-built  temple ;  and  the  rays 
of  the  morning  sun,  pouring  through  the  window  of 
the  little  chancel,  both  gilded  and  sanctified  the  holy 
work.  "  The  Indians,"  says  an  eminent  Protestant 
writer,  "  felt  that  the  place  was  sacred  ;  that  the  Great 
Spirit,  though  everywhere  present  in  his  creations, 
was  peculiarly  present  here,  invisible  and  holy ;  and 
that  the  cross,  which  was  the  soul  of  baptism  and  the 
sign  of  devotion,  which  was  symbolized  in  every  mo- 
ment of  danger  or  deliverance,  on  lying  down  and  on 
rising  up,  which  sparkled  in  every  constellation  of 
the  heavens,  was  indeed  a  holy  emblem,  significant  of 
the  Great  Sacrifice  made  far  away  in  that  Eastern 
land,  from  which  they  derived  light  both  for  body 
and  soul.  In  this  way  the  Jesuits  succeeded  in  teach- 
ing European  virtues,  and  not  teaching  European 
vices."  l 

The  same  writer  adds, — 

"  Let  all  honor,  then,  be  paid  to  the  memory  of  the  Jesuit  mis- 
sionaries in  America.  They  have  set  a  noble  example  to  their 
fellow-laborers  in  God's  vineyard.  They  have  illustrated  by  their 
lives  the  force  of  that  thrilling  command,  'Go  ye  into  all  the 
world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature ;'  and  the  promise 
which  accompanied  the  command  was  faithfully  kept  in  every  in- 
stance. Though  '  most  of  them  were  martyrs  to  their  faith,'  God 
was  with  them  in  all  their  sufferings  and  trials,  and  their  deaths 
were  scenes  of  peaceful  triumph.  But  the  monuments  of  their 
labors  are  fast  passing  away.  Where  are  the  Hurons,  the  Mo- 
hawks, and  the  Abenakis  ?  Where  are  the  mighty  war-chiefs 
of  the  Five  Nations?  The  sun  shines  upon  their  graves;  their 
tomahawks  are  forever  buried  ;  the  fire  of  their  calumets  forever 
extinguished.  The  wild  forests  of  America  no  longer  resound 
with  hymns  to  the  Virgin,  chanted  in  languages  unknown  to 
civilization.  The  little  bell  of  the  chapel  no  more  rings  matins 
and  even-song  by  the  shore  of  the  inland  lake.  They  have  all 
fled,  and  with  them  has  fled  away  the  glory  of  the  Jesuit  mis- 
sions. But  wherever  history  is  read,  the  names  of  Breboeuf  and 
Jogues,  Raymbault,  Rasles,  Marquette,  Joliet,  and  Lallemand 
shall  be  mentioned  with  honor,  and  wherever  the  Catholic  faith 
is  promulgated  these  heroes  shall  have  what  they  never  sought, 
an  earthly  immortality."2 

As  early  as  1512  the  Spanish  missionaries  preached 
the  gospel  to  the  Indians  of  Florida,  but  Father  Mar- 
quette had  the  honor  of  first  planting  the  cross  in  the 
Illinois  country,  after  he  had,  in  1673,  discovered  and 
explored  the  Mississippi  River.  For  two  months  he 


sailed  down  the  river  in  his  bark  canoe,  and  the  nar- 
rative of  his  extraordinary  voyage,  revealing  to  the 
world  the  fact  that  the  St.  Lawrence  could  commu- 
nicate with  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  by  an  almost  uninter- 
rupted chain  of  lakes,  rivers,  and  streams,  gave 
France  the  first  idea  of  colonizing  Louisiana.  The 


1  Peter  Oliver :  Historical  View  of  the  Puritan  Common- 
wealth. 

s  Ibid.  Also  see  on  the  same  subject  Hazard,  vol.  ii.  pp.  313, 
314,393;  Bancroft;  Kip's  Jesuit  Missions  ;  Hutchinson's  His- 
tory of  Massachusetts,  vol.  i.  p.  158,  n.;  Colden's  Five  Nations, 
vol.  i.  p.  60  ;  Moore's  Life  of  Eliot,  p.  76  ;  British  Review,  Octo- 
ber, 1844;  Wilberforce's  American  Church;  Mercure  de  France, 
1806;  De  Maistre's  Essay  on  the  Generative  Principles  of 
Human  Government,  translated  in  1847  by  a  gentleman  of  Bos- 
ton ;  and  Shea's  Catholic  Missions. 


MARQUETTE    ON    THE    MISSISSIPPI    RIVER. 


Mississippi  valley  soon  beheld  missions  rise  among 
the  Illinois,  Miami,  Yazoo,  Arkansas,  Natchez,  and 
other  tribes.  Jesuits,  Recollects,  and  priests  of  the 
foreign  missions  here  shared  the  rude  toil  of  convert- 
ing the  Indians,  and  the  French  missions  of  North 
America  mingled  and  blended  with  those  of  the 
Spaniards  of  the  South. 

Marquette  was  succeeded  in  the  Illinois  country  by 
Father  Claude  Allouez,  who  labored  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Bishop  of  Quebec.  He  died  about  August, 
1690.  He  was  followed  in  1680  by  Father  Gabriel  de 
la  Ribourde,  the  first  Superior  of  the  Recollects,  who 
was  slain  by  Kickapoo  Indians,  Sept.  19,  1680.  Fa- 
ther Ribourde  labored  with  Father  Zenobius  Menibre, 
who  arrived  in  June,  1675,  and  preached  in  the  Illinois 
country  in  1680.  He  was  also  murdered  by  the  In- 
dians in  1686  or  1687.  The  Jesuits  now  began  their 
missions  in  the  country,  and  Father  James  Gravier, 
S.J.,  who  was  killed  about  1706,  commenced  his 
labors.  He  was  in  Illinois  in  1687,  and  was  followed 
by  Father  Sebastian  Rale,  who  set  out  from  Quebec 
in  1691,  but  who  it  is  believed  did  not  reach  the 
country  until  the  spring  of  the  following  year.  After 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1637 


remaining  two  years  he  was  transferred  to  the  Abe- 
nakis,  his  original  charge,  and  Father  Gravier  took 
his  mission.  Father  Gravier  was  very  successful  with 
his  missionary  labors,  but  was  soon  recalled  to  Macki- 
naw. 

He  was  succeeded  by  Fathers  Julian  Binneteau  and 
Francis  Pinet,  the  latter  of  whom  founded  the  mission 
of  Tamaroa,  or  Cahokia.  In  1700,  Father  Gravier 
descended  to  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  in  order  to 
obtain  supplies  from  French  vessels  for  the  Kaskaskia 
mission,  and  apparently  then  returned  to  the  mission. 
Father  Lymoges,  stationed  at  first  among  the  Oumas 
in  the  lower  Mississippi,  is  supposed  to  have  ascended 
the  river  with  Father  Gravier.  Fathers  Pinet  and 
Bovie  also  labored  at  the  mission,  but  all  of  them, 
except  Father  Pinet,  disappeared  about  1703,  and 
Pinet  died  in  1704.  Gravier  returned  to  Peoria  and 
labored  there,  but  descended  to  Mobile,  where  he  died 
in  January,  1706.  About  1700  the  care  of  the  Illi- 
nois mission  devolved  upon  Fathers  Marest  and  James 
Mermet.  In  the  previous  year  Francis  J.  de  Mon- 
tigny,  vicar-general  of  Quebec,  and  Antoine  Davion 
had  proceeded  to  the  Mississippi,  and  Tamaroa,  or  Ca- 
hokia, the  mission  of  Father  Pinet,  was  placed  under 
their  charge.  The  first  of  the  clergymen  sent  to 
Cahokia  was  the  Rev.  John  Bergier,  but  his  health 
having  failed,  Father  Marest,  who  was  then  stationed 
at  Kaskaskia,  joined  him.  Father  Bergier  soon  after- 
wards died.  In  addition  to  the  Kaskaskia  and  Ca- 
hokia missions,  there  was  one  on  the  St.  Joseph's 
River,  of  which  Father  John  B.  Chardon  took  charge 
in  1711. 

At  this  time  four  missions  were  in  active  opera- 
tion,— one  on  the  St.  Joseph's,  one  at  Peoria,  one  at 
Kaskaskia,  and  one  at  Cahokia.  At  the  last  of  these, 
Father  Dominic  Mary  Varlet  succeeded  Father  Ber- 
gier, about  1712,  and  remained  for  nearly  six  years, 
laboring  zealously  among  the  Illinois.  On  his  return 
•  to  Europe,  about  1718,  Father  Varlet  was  made  Coad- 
jutor Bishop  of  Babylon,  but  having  avowed  Jansen- 
istic  opinions,  was  deposed  and  excommunicated  by 
three  successive  popes.  Contemporaneously  with 
Father  Varlet,  the  Rev.  Philip  Boucher  is  said  to 
have  labored  in  Illinois,  chiefly  at  Fort  St.  Louis. 

The  influence  of  the  missionaries  upon  the  Indians 
was  widespread  and  highly  beneficial.  "  Before  their 
conversion,"  writes  Shea,  "cruel  and  licentious  to  the 
most  frightful  degree,  the  Illinois  had,  under  the  influ- 
ence of  religion,  softened  their  savage  customs  and 
became  so  pure  in  morals  that  the  French  settlers 
frequently  chose  wives  from  the  Indian  villages. 
These  intermarriages  are,  indeed,  represented  as  so 
frequent  that  we  must  consider  the  present  French 
104 


families  of  Indiana  and  Illinois  as  to  some  extent  rep- 
resenting the  Illinois  Indians,  whose  blood  flows  so 
freely  in  their  veins.  The  labors  of  the  missionary 
here,  as  among  the  Abenakis  of  Maine,  had  two  fields, 
— the  villages  at  one  season,  the  hunting-  or  fishing- 
ground  at  others,  being  thus  partly  fixed  and  partly 
nomadic." 

In  the  mean  time  Spanish  missionaries  had  been 
approaching  from  the  southwest.  Cabeza  de  Vaca,  of 
the  Narvaez  expedition,  succeeded  in  reaching  the 
outposts  of  the  Spaniards  of  Mexico  in  Sonora,  and 
his  accounts  of  the  Indian  tribes  excited  the  religious 
zeal  of  Friar  Mark,  of  Nice,  who  in  1539  determined 
to  undertake  a  mission  to  them.  His  experiment 
failed,  but  in  1542  another  expedition  set  out  from 
Mexico,  taking  a  course  towards  the  northeast.  After 
having  reached  the  head-waters  of  the  Arkansas 
River,  the  commander,  Coronado,  decided  to  turn 
back,  and  on  reaching  the  Rio  Grande  to  return  to 
Mexico.  Two  Franciscan  missionaries,  Father  Pa- 
dilla  and  Brother  John  of  the  Cross,  had  accompanied 
Coronado,  and  they  determined  to  remain  in  the 
country  and  undertake  the  conversion  of  the  Indian 
tribes.  While  on  their  way  to  the  town  of  Quivira 
they  were  both  slain  by  the  savages,  and  it  was  not 
until  forty  years  later  that  the  Franciscans  penetrated 
into  New  Mexico,  now  the  diocese  of  Santa  Fe.  De 
Courcy,  in  his  sketch  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  the 
United  States,  says,  "  Before  the  English  had  formed 
a  single  settlement,  either  in  Virginia  or  New  Eng- 
land, all  the  tribes  on  the  Rio  Grande  were  converted 
and  civilized ;  their  towns,  still  remarkable  for  their 
peculiar  structure,  were  decorated  with  churches  and 
public  edifices,  which  superficial  travelers  in  our  day 
ascribe  to  the  everlasting  Aztecs."  Gradually  the 
French  and  Spanish  missionaries  drew  nearer  to  each 
other,  until  at  length  their  efforts  mingled  and  blended. 
In  1721,  Father  Charlevoix  visited  the  missions  on 
the  Mississippi  River.  He  found  the  Miamis  and 
Pottawatomies  nearly  all  Christians.  Father  Marest 
appears  to  have  been  recalled  about  this  time,  and  his 
death  occurred  some  years  later.  The  chief  missions 
were  now  established  on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi 
River, — the  Cahokias  and  Tamaroas  under  the  priests 
of  the  foreign  missions,  the  Kaskaskias,  Peorias,  and 
Metchigameas,  the  latter  a  tribe  which  Marquette  had 
seen  near  the  Arkansas,  under  the  priests  of  the  So- 
ciety of  Jesus.  The  mission  of  Cahokia  was  located 
on  a  small  river,  about  a  mile  from  the  Mississippi,  at 
a  large  Indian  town,  in  which  two  tribes  dwelt.  At 
the  time  of  Charlevoix's  visit  it  was  in  charge  of 
Fathers  Dominic  Thaumur  de  la  Source  and  Le  Mer- 
cier.  The  Kaskaskia  mission  had  been  divided  into 


1638 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


two  distinct  charges.  One,  said  to  have  been  the  more 
numerous,  was  "  about  half  a  league  above  old  Fort 
Chartres,  within  gunshot  of  the  river,"  and  was  under 
the  direction  of  Father  Joseph  Ignatius  le  Boulanger. 
The  latter  translated  into  the  Illinois  dialect  the  cate- 
chism and  instructions  for  hearing  mass  and  approach- 
ino-  the  sacraments,  and  added  for  the  use  of  the  mis- 

O  * 

sionaries  a  literal  translation  into  French  of  the  Illinois 
versions.  In  1721  he  was  assisted  by  Father  De  Kere- 
ben.  At  the  French  village  below  the  fort  Father  De 
Beaubois  was  parish  priest,  and  the  second  Kaskaskia 
mission,  located  at  an  Indian  village  about  six  miles 
inland,  was  under  the  charge  of  Father  John  Charles 
Guymonneau,  who  apparently  was  at  that  time  Supe- 
rior of  the  mission. 

"  Almost  all  the  Illinois,"  we  are  told,  •'  were  now 
Christians,  and  greatly  attached  to  the  French.  They 
cultivated  the  ground  in  their  own  way,  and  had  be- 
come, under  the  influence  of  religion,  very  industrious, 
raising  poultry  and  live-stock  to  sell  to  the  French. 
The  women  were  adroit,  weaving  of  buffalo  hair  a  fine 
glossy  stuff,  which  they  dyed  of  various  colors  and 
worked  into  dresses  for  themselves,  manufacturing  a  I 
fine  thread  with  great  ingenuity."  About  1722  the 
Illinois  of  the  Rock  and  Pimiteony,  owing  to  the 
harassing  attacks  of  the  Foxes,  determined  to  abandon 
their  villages  and  join  the  other  Illinois  tribes  on  the 
Mississippi,  where  they  were  converted  to  Christianity. 
In  the  mean  time  the  Jesuits  had  established  them- 
selves at  New  Orleans,  and  their  Superior  there,  to* 
whom  it  was  transferred  from  the  Superior  at  Quebec, 
had  the  superintendence  of  the  Illinois  mission,  j 
Priests  were  thenceforth  supplied  from  New  Orleans.  | 
In  1725,  Fathers  De  Beaubois  and  De  Ville  ascended  i 
the  river,  followed  in  1727  by  Fathers  Dumas,  Tar- 
tarin,  and  Droutrelau.  The  Illinois  mission  now  be- 
gan to  decline,  owing  to  the  mismanagement  of  the 
French  government  of  Louisiana  and  the  sale  of  liquor 
to  the  Indians  at  the  fort  in  the  Illinois  country.  In 
1750  but  two  Indian  missions  remained,  one  of  them 
embracing  six  hundred  Indians,  under  Fathers  Francis 
Xavier  de  Guienne  and  Louis  Vivier,  and  the  other, 
not  so  large,  under  Father  Sebastian  Louis  Meurin, 
probably  at  Vincennes.  The  priests  of  the  Seminary 
of  Foreign  Missions  no  longer  ministered  to  the  In- 
dians, but  remained  at  Cahokia  as  pastors  for  the 
French.  In  1757  the  French  government  expelled 
the  Jesuits  from  their  colleges,  and  subsequently  the 
possessions  of  France  were  surrendered  to  England 
and  Spain.  The  centre  of  the  Illinois  mission  at  New 
Orleans  was  suppressed  in  1762,  and  the  mission  was 
thenceforth  deprived  of  all  external  aid.  A  portion 
of  the  Jesuit  property  in  the  Illinois  country  was  sold 


by  the  French  government,  and  the  means  of  the 
missionary  priests  were  thus  still  further  reduced. 
The  Fathers  generally  remained  at  their  missions  as 
secular  priests  under  the  authority  of  the  Bishop  of 
Quebec  until  their  death.  Father  Peter  Potier,  said 
to  be  the  last  survivor  of  the  Jesuit  missionaries  in 
the  West,  was  at  St.  Joseph's  in  1751,  and  frequently 
visited  the  Illinois  missions  up  to  the  time  of  his 
death,  which  occurred  at  Detroit  in  1781. 

The  last  of  the  Jesuit  missionaries  who  resided 
regularly  in  the  Illinois  country  was  Father  Sebastian 
L.  Meurin,  who  arrived  at  Post  Vincennes  in  1749, 
and  died  after  1775.  Father  Meurin  held  services 
at  the  then  recently  founded  town  of  St.  Louis  from 
May,  1766,  to  Feb.  7,  1769.  Father  Meurin's  body 
was  removed  to  St.  Louis  at  a  comparatively  recent 
date.  He  was  one  of  the  most  zealous  and  devoted 
of  the  early  missionaries,  who,  if  their  labors  were 
not  crowned  with  that  success  for  which  they  had  so 
ardently  striven,  had  the  satisfaction  of  witnessing  a 
great  and  beneficial  change  among  the  Illinois.  "  More 
than  in  any  other  part,"  writes  Shea,  "  the  settlers 
intermarried  with  the  Indians,  and  there  are  few  of 
the  French  families  in  Illinois  and  Missouri  that 
cannot  boast  their  descent  from  the  noble  tribe  which 
has  given  its  name  to  the  former  State."  The  Osages 
were  frequently  visited  by  the  Illinois  missionaries, 
and,  as  we  have  seen,  Father  Gravier  was  invited  to 
labor  among  them.  In  1720  some  of  the  Missouris 
went  to  France,  and  the  chief's  daughter  embraced 
Christianity  and  married  Sergeant  Dubois.  Soon 
after  their  return,  however,  they  attacked  a  French 
post  and  massacred  all  its  inhabitants.  Father 
Meurin's  successor  at  Vincennes  was  Father  Vivier, 
after  whom  came  Father  Pierre  Gibault,  who  officiated 
at  St.  Louis  from  June,  1770,  to  January,  1772,  and 
who  was  present  at  the  capture  of  Kaskaskia  by  Gen. 
Clark,  on  the  4th  of  July,  1778.  Father  Gibault 
was  "  vicar-general  of  the  Bishop  of  Quebec  for  Illi- . 
nois  and  the  adjoining  counties,"  and  therefore  had 
i  the  supervision  of  all  the  missions  in  the  Illinois 
1  country,  including  the  French  settlement  of  St.  Louis. 
He  appears  to  have  returned  to  Canada  about  1789. 
When  Laclede  and  Chouteau  arrived  at  the  site  of 
St.  Louis,  in  1764,  Father  Meurin  was  stationed  at 
Cahokia.  He  crossed  the  river  in  a  canoe,  and  having 
offered  mass  in  the  forest,  blessed  the  settlers  and  their 
work.  Laclede's  companions  were  mostly  French  or 
of  French  descent,  and  subsequently  were  augmented 
by  the  immigration  of-  Candians,  Spaniards,  Italians, 
i  and  other  nationalities.  The  population,  therefore, 
was  made  up  of  people  from  Catholic  countries,  and 
1  the  established  religion,  both  under  French  and  Spanish 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1639 


rule,  was  the  Catholic.  The  slaves,  both  negroes  and 
Indians,  and  the  free  Indians  living  in  the  town  were 
also  brought  up  in  the  Catholic  Church.  For  some 
time  after  the  settlement  of  Laclede's  party  at  St. 
Louis  the  parish  or  mission  was  supplied  by  priests 
from  Vincennes,  Cahokia,  and  Kaskaskia,  through 
the  instrumentality  most  probably  of  St.  Ange,  the 
French  commandant.  Father  Meurin,  priest  of 
"  Our  Lady  of  the  Kahokias,"  it  is  said,  while  offi- 
ciating at  St.  Louis,  baptized  three  whites,  twelve 
negroes,  and  five  Indians.  The  first  baptism  by 
Father  Meurin  occurred  in  the  early  part  of  May, 
1766.  The  record  (in  French)  is  partly  obliterated, 
but  in  substance  it  reads  as  follows : 

"  In  the  year  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  sixty-six,  on 

the undersigned,  missionary  priest  in   the  county  of  the 

Illinois St.  Louis,  in  a  tent,  for  want  of  a  church,  have 

baptized,  under  condition,  Mary day  of  the  month  of 

September,  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  sixty-five  of  the 

law   John   Baptist  Deschamps  and  of  Mary  Pion,  her 

father  and  mother.  The  godfather  is  Mr.  Reno  Tiercerot  (Kier- 
cereaux),  nnd  the  godmother  Mary . 

"  In  faith  whereof,  I  have  signed  with  the  godfather. 

"  J.  S.  MEURIN,  Priest." 

The  second  child  baptized  by  him  was  Antoine,  son 
of  Lisette,  a  Pawnee  slave.  This  baptism  was  on  the 
9th  of  May,  1766.  Owing  to  the  non-residence  of 
the  priest  in  St.  Louis,  there  is  no  record  of  his  hav- 
ing officiated  at  interments,  which  appear  to  have  been 
attended  to  by  Rene"  Kiercereaux,  the  godfather  of 
Mary  Deschamps,  a  man  of  note  in  the  community, 
whose  name  appears  frequently  in  the  French  and 
Spanish  civil  records.  After  the  first  church  was 
built  he  was  for  a  long  time  "  chantre"  or  singer  of 
the  church,  and  to  the  subsequent  interments  recorded 
by  him  he  signed  his  name  as  "  Chantre  de  cette 
eglise'  ("  chanter  or  singer  of  this  church").  From 
October,  1770,  to  the  17th  of  March,  1772,  Kier- 
cereaux recorded  the  burial  of  nineteen  whites,  ten 
negroes,  and  five  Indians.  The  next  priest  who  vis- 
ited St.  Louis  was  Father  Pierre  Gibault,  previously 
of  Vincennes,  who  styled  himself  "  Priest-Curate  of 
the  Immaculate  Conception  of  Our  Lady  of  the  Kas- 
kaskias,  and  Vicar-General  of  my  Lord  the  Bishop 
of  Quebec,"  who  remained  from  June,  1770,  to  Jan- 
uary, 1772.  From  February,  1772,  until  May  of  the 
same  year  Father  Meurin  also  occasionally  visited  St. 
Louis,  and  during  that  time  baptized  two  whites  and 
three  negroes. 

Until  1770  the  country  was  supposed  to  belong  to 
France,  and  the  clergy  continued  to  act  under  the  di- 
rection of  the  French  Bishop  of  Quebec,  but  upon 
the  arrival  in  that  year  of  the  Spanish  Lieutenant- 
Governor,  the  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  was  trans- 


ferred to  the  Spanish  Bishop  of  Havana.     The  first 
priest  who  resided  permanently  at  St.  Louis  seems  to 
have  been  Father  Valentin,  a  Capuchin  friar,  who  in 
his  official  acts  styled  himself  "  priest  of  the  parish  of 
St.  Louis  and  its  dependencies."     He  remained  from 
May,  1772,  to  June,  1775,  and  during  that  period 
i  baptized  sixty-five  whites,  twenty-four  negroes,  and 
I  eighteen  Indians.     He  also  solemnized  four  marriages 
|  of  whites,  and  officiated  at  the  interment  of  forty-two 
whites,  eleven  negroes,  and  nineteen  Indians.    During 
Father  Valentin's  incumbency  the  body  of  the  com- 
mandant, St.  Ange,  was  buried,  and  the  record,  trans- 
lated into  English,  reads, — 

"In  the  year  1774,  27th  December,  I,  the  undersigned,  have 
interred  in  the  cemetery  of  this  parish  the  body  of  Hon.  Louis 
de  St.  Ange,  captain  attached  to  the  battalion  of  Louisiana, 
administered  of  the  sacraments  of  the  church. 

"Fn.  VALENTIN." 

From  June,  1775,  to  May,  1776,  there  does  not 

appear  to  have  been   any  stationary  priest,  but  the 

j  parish  was  occasionally  visited.      During  two  days, 

I  the  4th  and  5th  of  October,  1775,  Father  Meurin 

j  again  officiated,  and  baptized  four  whites.     On  the 

j  19th  of  March,  1776,  Father  Hilaire,  a  priest  of  the 

!  order  of  Capuchin  friars,  and  apostolic  prothonotary, 

j  baptized  six  whites  and  solemnized  one  marriage.     In 

the  absence  of  a  priest,  R6ne  Kircereaux,  "  singer  of 

the  church,"  recorded  from  July  7, 1775.  to  March  2, 

1776,  the  burial  of  twenty-nine  whites,  five  negroes, 

and  two  Indians.     The  certificate  was  subsequently 

attested  and  approved  by  Father  Bernard  de  Lim- 

pach,  who  succeeded  Father  Valentin  in  the  spring 

of  1776. 

Father  Bernard  had  been  transferred  from  Cuba 
by  Father  Dagobert  de  Longwy,  vicar-general  of 
Louisiana.  His  appointment  to  the  church  at  St. 
Louis  reads  as  follows  : 

"Father  Dagobert  de  Longwy,  principal  Capuchin  priest  and 
vicar-general  of    the  mission  of   Louisiana,  in  the  diocese  of 
Havana  de  Cuba,  to  our  very  dear  brother,  the  Reverend  Father  ' 
Bernard,  de  dix  par,  a  professed  friar  of  that  order,  in  the  prov- 
ince of  Liege,  and  apostolic  missionary  of  this  mission,  greeting  : 

"  Well  and  sufliciently  knowing  your  good  habits  and  capac- 
ity, desirous  also  to  conform  in  all  things  to  the  commands 
of  his  very  Christian  Majesty,  by  his  letters  patent,  regis- 
tered at  the  registry  of  the  Superior  Council  of  this  colony  to 
grant,  in  proper  and  due  form,  appointments  as  curate  to  our 
missionaries  who  merit  it  to  those  parishes  and  posts  which 
the  mission  had  formerly  been  deemed  as  entitled  to,  and  to 
place  them  in  legal  possession,  the  patronage,  emoluments, 
and  all  other  arrangements  being  reserved  to  our  position  as 
the  head  until  his  Catholic  Majesty  should  otherwise  direct, 
we  have  therefore  given  and  conferred,  and  by  these  presents 
do  give  and  confer  on  you  the  curacy  or  parish  church  of  St. 
Louis,  of  Illinois,  post  of  Pain  Court  (short-bread),  with  all  its 
rights  and  appendages,  upon  condition  of  actual  personal  resi- 
dence there,  and  not  otherwise,  until  a  change  or  revocation  by 


1640 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


us  or  our  successors;  requiring  in  consequence  the  services  of 
the  deputy  of  the  king's  attorney  to  see  you  placed  in  actual 
possession  of  said  curacy  of  the  parish  of  St.  Louis,  of  Illinois, 
in  accordance  and  with  the  usual  solemnities. 

"  Granted  at  our  parsonage,  under  the  seals  of  office,  the  18th 
of  February,  in  the  year  of  grace  one  thousand  seven  hundred 

and  seventy-six. 

"FRIAR  DAGOBERT,  Vicar-General. 

"NEW  ORLEANS." 

"  I  certify  that  this  present  document  is  an  exact  copy  of  the 
original  appointment  presented  to  us  by  the  Reverend  Father 
Bernard  de  Limpach,  to  be  deposited  for  safe-keeping  in  the 
archives  of  this  government  office  in  St.  Louis  of  the  Illinois. 

"FRAN'CO  CRUZAT. 

"  May  19,  1776." 

Father  Bernard  was  placed  in  possession  of  the 
parsonage  and  formally  installed  on  the  same  day,  as 
the  following  translation  of  the  Lieutenant- Governor's 
certificate  shows : 

"  In  the  town  of  St.  Louis,  at  nine  o'clock  of  the  morning  of 
Sunday,  the  nineteenth  day  of  the  month  of  May,  in  the  year 
one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  seventy-six,  before  me,  Don 
Francisco  Cruzat,  captain  of  infantry  and  Lieutenant-Governor 
of  these  settlements  of  the  Illinois,  and  the  most  distinguished 
parishioners  of  the  parish  of  said  town,  all  assembled  together 
in  church,  the  Reverend  Father  Friar  Bernardo  de  Limpach, 
Capuchin  priest,  in  virtue  of  the  dispatch  which  he  has  brought 
and  delivered  from  the  Most  Reverend  Father  Dagobert  de 
Longwy,  Capuchin  priest,  Superior  and  Grand  Vicar-General  of 
the  mission  of  this  province  of  Louisiana,  bearing  date  the 
eighteenth  of  February  last  passed,  and  the  letter  of  direction 
which  I,  the  said  Lieutenant-Governor,  have  received  from  the 
Senor  Don  Luis  ne  Unzaga  y  Ameraga,  brigadier  of  the  royal 
armies  and  Governor-General  of  this  province,  bearing  date  the 
28th  of  February  of  the  current  year,  in  which  he  commands 
me  to  recognize  the  above-named  Father  Friar  Bernard  de 
Limpach  as  the  curate  of  the  said  town  of  St.  Louis.  After 
having  performed  all  the  ceremonies  that  are  usual  and  pre- 
scribed by  his  said  Superior,  the  Most  Reverend  Father  Dago- 
bert, he  has  entered  into  and  taken  legal  and  formal  possession  ! 
of  the  cure  of  this  parish  of  St.  Louis  of  the  Illinois;  and  I,  j 
the  said  Lieutenant-Governor,  have  caused  him  to  be  recognized 
publicly,  as  he  is  recognized  by  all  the  parishioners  of  said 
parish,  and  in  order  that  the  same  may  more  fully  appear  and 
that  no  obstacle  may  at  any  time  hereafter  be  interposed  to  the 
exercise  of  his  ministry,  there  shall  be  deposited  in  the  archives 
of  this  government  under  my  charge  the  copy  of  this  dispatch, 
together  with  this  act,  which  the  said  Father  Friar  Bernardo  de 
Limpach  has  signed  with  me,  the  said  Lieutenant-Governor,  and 
the  most  distinguished  persons  of  this  town,  who  by  my  com- 
mand were  assembled  for  this  purpose,  the  same  day,  month, 
and  year  above  mentioned, — P.  F.  Bernard,  Dubreuil,  Perrault, 
Benito  Basquez,  Hubert,  Sarpy,  Laclede  Liguest,  A.  Berard, 
Ene.  Barre,  Labusciere,  Chauvin,  Conde,  Jh.  Conand,  Fran- 
cisco Cruzat." 

Father  Bernard  officiated  as  priest  from  May,  1776, 
to  November,  1789,  during  which  time  he  baptized 
four  hundred  and  ten  whites,  one  hundred  and  six 
negroes,  and  ninety-two  Indians;  solemnized  mar- 
riages of  whites,  one  hundred  and  fifteen  ;  negroes, 
one;  Indians,  two;  mixed  white  and  Indian,  one; 
and  buried  two  hundred  and  twenty-two  whites, 
sixty  negroes,  and  forty-four  Indians. 


On  the  17th  of  April,  1780,  during  the  adminis- 
tration of  Leyba,  he  blessed  "  the  first  stone  of  the 
fort  on  the  hill  back  of  the  church,  and  it  was  named 
Fort  St.  Charles,  in  honor  of  Charles  III.,  king  of 
Spain."  This  was  the  stone  martello  fort  which 
stood  as  late  as  1820  at  the  southwest  corner  of  Wal- 
nut and  Fourth  Streets,  where  the  Southern  Hotel 
now  stands.  The  barracks  for  the  Spanish  troops 
was  a  long  low  stone  building  on  the  north  side  of 
Walnut  Street  and  immediately  opposite  the  location 
of  the  hotel.  After  the  change  of  government  from 
Spain  to  the  United  States,  the  old  fort  was  for  a 
long  time  used  as  a  jail. 

On  the  church  register,  under  date  of  June  28, 
1780,  appears  the  record  of  the  burial  of  Fernando 
de  Leyba,  Lieutenant-Governor.  The  English  version 
reads, — 

"  In  the  year  1780,  the  28th  of  June,  I,  priest,  Capuchin  mis- 
sionary, curate  of  St.  Louis,  country  of  the  Illinois,  province 
of  Louisiana,  bishopric  of  Cuba,  have  interred  in  this  church, 
in  front  of  the  balustrade  on  the  right,  the  body  of  Don  Fer- 
dinand Leyba,  captain  of  infantry  in  the  battalion  of  Louisiana, 
actual  commandant  of  this  post,  administered  of  all  the  sacra- 
ments of  our  mother  the  Holy  Church.  In  faith  whereof,  I 
have  signed  the  day  and  year  as  above. 

"  F.  BERNARD,  Miss." 

Father  Bernard  was  much  beloved  by  his  congrega- 
tion, and  traditions  are  still  preserved  of  his  piety  and 
zeal.  His  successor  was  the  missionary  priest  Ledru, 
who  continued  to  officiate  from  November,  1789,  to 
September,  1793,  during  which  period  he  baptized 
one  hundred  and  sixty-eight  whites,  fifty-five  negroes, 
and  nineteen  Indians ;  solemnized  twenty-nine  marri- 
ages of  whites  and  two  of  Indians  and  whites,  and 
officiated  at  the  interment  of  seventy  whites,  thirty- 
five  negroes,  and  three  Indians. 

On  the  14th  of  March,  1792,  he  interred  the  bone 
of  Pierre  Gladu,  whom  he  describes  in  the  certificate 
of  interment  as  "  a  Canadian,  before  then  buried  in 
the  Little  Prairie,  killed  by  the  Indians,  '  1'annee  du 
coup'  (in  1780),  a  good  man  and  of  known  probity, 
according  to  public  statement  and  report."  1 

1  In  Hon.  Wilson  Primm's  address  before  the  Missouri  His- 
torical Society,  delivered  Sept.  7,  1867,  to  which  the  author  is 
indebted  for  much  valuable  material  concerning  the  early  his- 
tory of  Catholicism  in  St.  Louis,  the  following  paragraph  oc- 
curs: 

"  In  connection  with  this  interment,  it  was  said  by  the  old  in- 
habitants who  lived  at  the  time  and  knew  the  facts  that  shortly 
before  a  man  named  Duquette  came  from  Canada,  sought  out 
the  grave  of  Gladu  in  the  Little  Prairie,  and  caused  the  re- 
mains to  be  disinterred.  He  then  caused  them  to  be  buried  in 
the  graveyard  of  th%  town  with  all  the  solemnities  and  cere- 
monies of  the  Catholic  Church.  There  was  a  large  procession 
from  the  Prairie  to  the  cemetery,  Duquette  walking  near  the 
coffin,  bareheaded,  and  with  a  lighted  taper  in  his  hand.  After 


KELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1641 


Father  Ledru  was  succeeded  by  Pierre  Joseph  Di- 
dier,  a  priest  of  the  religious  order  of  the  Benedic- 
tines, of  the  congregation  of  St.  Maur.  He  officiated 
from  December,  1793,  to  April,  1799,  during  which 
period  he  baptized  two  hundred  and  twenty  whites, 
seventy-nine  negroes,  and  sixteen  Indians.  He  sol- 
emnized seventy-three  marriages  of  whites  and  one 
marriage  of  white  and  Indian,  and  buried  eighty-five 
whites,  sixty-one  negroes,  and  nine  Indians. 

From  October,  1793,  to  March,  1794,  the  inter- 
ments were  made  by  Jacques  Glamorgan,  who  was 
acting  charge  warden,  and  Re'ne  Kiercereaux.  These, 
which  are  exclusive  of  the  interments  at  which  Father 
Didier  officiated,  numbered  seven  whites,  four  ne- 
groes, and  two  Indians.  During  the  latter  part  of 
Father  Didier's  connection  with  the  parish  it  appears 
that  he  did  not  officiate  regularly,  for  the  register 
shows  that  Leander  Lusson,  priest  of  "  St.  Charles  of 
the  Little  Hills  of  the  Missouri,"  and  Jacques  Max- 
well, priest  of  Ste.  Genevieve,  occasionally  officiated 
at  St.  Louis  from  July,  1798,  to  May,  1799,  during 
which  period  there  were  baptized  eight  whites,  one 
negro,  and  there  was  solemnized  one  marriage  of 
whites.  Father  Lusson  appears  to  have  become  the 
regular  priest,  serving  from  May  23,  1799,  to  March 
23, 1800,  during  which  time  he  baptized  twelve  whites, 
eight  negroes,  and  five  Indians,  and  solemnizing  five 
marriages  of  whites.  He  was  succeeded  by  Father 
Pierre  Janin,  who  officiated  from  April  6,  1800,  to 
Nov.  12,  1804,  during  which  time  he  baptized  two 
hundred  and  twenty-five  whites,  one  hundred  and  fif- 
teen negroes,  and  fifty-nine  Indians ;  solemnized  the 
marriages  of  thirty-four  whites,  and  two  whites  and 
Indians,  and  buried  one  hundred  and  thirty-eight 
whites,  fifty-eight  negroes,  and  nineteen  Indians. 

The  large  number  of  interments  recorded  during 
Father  Janin's  pastorate  is  accounted  for  by  the  fact 
that  the  smallpox  made  its  first  appearance  in  St.  Louis 
on  the  15th  of  May,  1801.  From  the  fact  that  no 
record  of  baptisms  appears  from  Nov.  12,  1804,  to 
March  2,  1806,  it  is  to  be  presumed  that  the  parish 
had  no  pastor  during  that  period.  Interments,  how- 
ever, were  recorded  by  Jean  Baptiste  Trudeau.  He  was 
the  schoolmaster  of  the  village,  and  locally  noted  as  a 
stern  disciplinarian,  and  succeeded  Rene"  Kiercereaux 
as  singer  of  the  church.  The  interments  recorded  by 
him  numbered  forty-five  whites,  sixteen  negroes,  and 
twelve  Indians.  After  November,  1806,  the  church 

the  reinterment  he  caused  to  be  placed  at  the  head  of  the  grave 
a  large  cross  bearing  the  name  of  the  deceased,  and  having  ful- 
filled the  last  sad  duties  to  the  deceased  he  quit  the  country, 
leaving  his  connection  with  the  deceased  a  mystery  which  the 
inhabitants  never  could  solve." 


was  supplied  by  priests  from  other  parishes.  From 
March  2,  1806,  to  the  29th  of  May  of  the  same  year 
Father  Maxwell  officiated,  and  on  the  14th  and  15th 
of  September  of  the  same  year,  Father  Donation 
Olivier,  "  missionary  priest  to  the  Illinois,"  officiated 
for  baptisms  only.  Father  Maxwell  baptized  forty-five 
whites,  sixteen  negroes,  one  Indian,  and  solemnized 
three  marriages  of  whites.  Father  Olivier  baptized 
eleven  whites,  five  negroes,  and  one  Indian. 

The  next  registry  of  baptisms  is  dated  Nov.  9, 
1806,  and  the  entry  is  made  in  a  new  volume,  on  the 
first  page  of  which  is  the  following  : 

"  This  register,  containing  ninety-two  pages,  including  this 
one,  marked  and  numbered,  is  intended  for  the  inscription  of 
the  baptisms  of  the  parish  of  St.  Louis,  country  of  the  Illinois, 
under  the  domination  of  the  United  States  of  America,  and  of 
the  bishopric  of  Baltimore.  In  faith  whereof,  we,  Amos  Stod- 
dard,  civil  commandant  of  said  place,  have  signed  said  register, 
the  year  and  day  26th  September,  1804. 

"Amos  STODDARD, 
"  Gapt.  and  First  C.  Comdt.  U.  Louisiana." 

Thomas  Flynn,  of  the  religious  order  of  Capuchins, 
exercised  the  functions  of  parish  priest  from  Nov.  9, 
1806,  to  June  2, 1808,  during  which  time  he  baptized 
eighty-eight  whites,  eleven  negroes,  and  one  Indian, 
solemnized  eleven  marriages  of  whites,  and  buried 
thirty  whites  and  nine  negroes.  From  the  2d  of 
June,  1808,  to  May,  1813,  no  regular  priest  was 
stationed  at  St.  Louis,  but  the  parish  was  visited  by 
the  following  clergymen : 

Father  Maxwell,  from  5th  to  8th  of  June,  1808,  baptizing  23 
whites  and  9  negroes. 

Father  Urbain  Guillet,  a  Trappist  of  the  monastery  of  "  Notre 
Dame  de  Bon  Secours,  near  Kahokias,  in  the  Territory  of  Illi- 
nois," from  20th  July  to  26th  of  August,  1808,  baptizing  15 
whites  and  5  negroes. 

Marie  Joseph  Dunand,  priest  and  prior  of  the  order  of  La 
Trappe,  from  25th  December,  1808,  to  January,  1809,  baptizing 
11  whites,  7  negroes,  and  1  Indian. 

Father  Guillet  again,  from  24th  to  31st  December,  1809,  the 
parish  having  been  without  a  priest  for  nearly  a  year.  He 
baptized  9  whites  and  2  negroes. 

Father  Bernard,  of  whom  mention  has  been  made  before, 
officiated  from  6th  February  to  13th  July,  1810,  baptizing  49 
whites  and  9  negroes. 

Father  Maxwell  again  on  the  30th  of  July,  1810,  baptizing  3 
whites  and  1  negro. 

Father  Dunand  again  on  the  5th  August,  1810,  baptizing  2 
whites  and  2  negroes. 

Father  Maxwell  again,  from  12th  to  15th  August,  1810,  bap- 
tizing 12  whites  and  1  negro. 

Father  Guillet  again,  from  2d  November,  1810,  to  23d  June, 

1811,  baptizing  27  whites  and  9  negroes. 

Father  Dunand  again,  from  30th  July  to  2d  August,  1811 
baptizing  6  whites. 

Father  Guillet  again,  from  9th  August  to  1st  December,  1811, 
baptizing  15  whites,  8  negroes,  and  1  Indian. 

Father  Savigne,  from  llth  December,  1811,  to  15th  December, 

1812,  baptizing  76  whites  and  19  negroes. 


1642 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Father  Dunand  again  on  the  10th  November,  1812,  baptizing 
2  whites. 

Father  Savigne  again  on  the  llth  February,  1813,  baptizing 
1  white. 

Father  Dunand  again,  and  also  Savigne,  on  the  14th  March, 
1813,  each  baptizing  1  white. 

Father  Dunand  again  on  the  16th  March,  1813,  baptizing  2 
negroes. 

From  the  18th  of  December,  1810,  to  the  12th  of  April,  1813, 
in  the  absence  of  officiating  priests,  Trudeau,  as  singer  of  the 
church,  Jean  Louis  Marc,  as  sacristan,  Samuel  Solomon,  Patrick 
Lee,  and  others,  as  church  wardens,  superintended  and  certified 
to  the  burial  of  the  dead.  The  number  of  these  interments  was 
165  whites,  61  negroes,  and  11  Indians. 

Father  Savigne  again  appears  to  have  exercised  permanent 
functions  as  curate  of  St.  Louis  from  the  12th  of  May,  1813,  to 
Oct.  3,  1817,  during  which  time  he  baptized  130  whites,  48 
negroes,  and  1  Indian  ;  solemnized  the  marriages  of  90  whites 
and  2  negroes,  and  interred  135  whites,  40  negroes,  and  3  In- 
dians. 

It  was  during  the  ministry  of  Father  Savigne  that 
St.  Louis  was  visited  by  Benoit  Joseph  Flaget,  Bishop 
of  Bardstown,  Ky.,  who  was  received  with  great  re- 
joicing by  the  Catholic  population.  During  his  stay 
he  baptized  the  children  of  many  of  the  leading 
families,  among  them  Joseph  Simpson,  son  of  Dr. 
Robert  Simpson.  Father  Savigne  was  the  last  priest 
of  the  Canadian  mission  sent  to  St.  Louis  by  the 
Bishop  of  Quebec.  He  is  described  as  having  been 
"  a  man  of  fine  presence,  of  amiable  disposition,  zeal- 
ous in  the  performance  of  his  duties,  and  especially 
kind  to  the  poor  and  those  in  distress." 

On  the  5th  of  January,  1818,  Louis  Guillaume 
Valentin  Dubourg,  Bishop  of  Louisiana,  accompanied 
by  Bishop  Flaget,  of  Kentucky,  and  a  number  of 
missionary  priests,  arrived  at  St.  Louis,  which  was 
made  the  episcopal  seat  for  the  Territory  of  Missouri. 
Bishop  Dubourg  determined  to  remain  in  St.  Louis 
until  affairs  had  become  settled  in  New  Orleans,  which 
was  then  in  a  disturbed  condition.  He  continued  to 
reside  in  St.  Louis  until  1824,  and  was  actively  as- 
sisted in  the  work  of  building  this  portion  of  his  dio- 
cese by  the  priests  who  had  accompanied  him,  Fathers 
De  Andreis,  Rosatti,  Acqueroni,  Ferrari,  and  Caretti, 
the  first  three  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Missions. 

Louis  Guillaume  Dubourg  was  born  at  Cape  Fran- 
yois,  island  of  San  Domingo,  Feb.  14,  1766,  was 
educated  in  France,  and  studied  theology  at  the  Semi- 
nary of  St.  Sulpice.  Subsequently  he  was  placed  in 
charge  of  a  new  Sulpitian  institute  at  Issy,  near 
Paris,  but  was  driven  from  France  by  the  revolution 
of  1792,  and  fled  to  Spain,  whence  he  went  to  Balti- 
more, where  he  arrived  in  December,  1794.  In  the 
following  year  he  became  a  priest  of  the  Order  of  St. 
Sulpice,  and  in  1796  was  made  president  of  St.  Mary's 
Ecclesiastical  Seminary  in  Baltimore,  which,  in  Janu- 


ary, 1805,  he  raised  to  the  rank  of  a  university,  hav- 
ing also  previously  established  colleges  in  Havana  and 
New  Orleans,  which  were  broken  up  by  political  dis- 
turbances. He  established  the  Sisters  of  Charity  in 
Baltimore  in  1809,  and  in  1811  founded  what  is  still 
the  mother-house  of  the  order  for  the  United  States 
at  Emmitsburg,  Md.  In  October,  1812,  he  was  ap- 
pointed administrator  apostolic  of  the  Territory  of 
Louisiana,  and  arrived  in  New  Orleans  towards  the 
close  of  the  year.  In  1815  he  went  to  Rome,  and 
was  there  consecrated  Bishop  of  Upper  and  Lower 
Louisiana,  Sept.  24,  1815.  On  his  return  he  brought 
with  him  five  Lazarist  priests  (among  whom  were 
Fathers  De  Andreis  and  Rosatti)  and  twenty-six 
young  men  belonging  to  the  same  order.  He  arrived 
in  the  United  States  Sept.  14,  1817,  and  proceeded 
to  St.  Thomas'  Seminary  at  Bardstown,  Ky.,  where 
the  priests  remained  until  they  had  acquired  pro- 
ficiency in  the  English  language.  He  reached  Ste. 
Genevieve  Dec.  27,  1817,  in  company  with  Bishop 
Flaget,  who  had  previously  visited  Ste.  Genevieve  and 
St.  Louis  for  the  purpose  of  determining  which  was 
the  more  eligible  site  for  a  seminary.  It  was  finally 
decided  that  St.  Louis  should  be  made  the  seat  of  the 
episcopal  residence,  and  on  the  5th  of  January,  1818, 
;  the  two  bishops  reached  St.  Louis.  Bishop  Dubourg 
at  once  established  his  episcopal  residence  in  St.  Louis, 
and  continued  to  live  there  until  1824,  on  March  25th 
of  which  year  he  consecrated  Father  Rosatti  Coadjutor 
Bishop  of  St.  Louis,  after  which  he  went  to  New  Or- 
leans to  reside.  In  1815  he  founded  in  America  the 
Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith,  and  in  1818 
established,  under  the  charge  of  the  Lazarist  Fathers, 
St.  Mary's  College  and  Seminary  at  the  Barrens, 
which  in  1838  was  transferred  to  Cape  Girardeau, 
where  it  still  flourishes.  Before  leaving  Europe  in 
1817  he  had  applied  to  the  Superior-General  of  the 
Order  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  Madame  Barat,  for  a 
colony  of  religious  ladies  to  establish  a  house  of  the 
order  at  St.  Louis.  The  request  was  complied  with, 
and  in  August,  1818,  the  ladies  of  the  order  arrived 
in  St.  Louis.  During  Bishop  Dubourg's  administra- 
tion the  Sisters  of  Loretto  organized  schools  in  Mis- 
souri, and  in  1819  the  College  of  St.  Louis,  attached 
to  the  Cathedral,  was  established.  He  was  also  active 
in  establishing  missionary  schools  among  the  Indians, 
and  introduced  Jesuits  from  Maryland  into  his  dio- 
cese for  that  purpose.  In  June,  1826,  Bishop  Du- 
bourg left  New  Orleans  for  the  See  of  Montauban,  in 
France,  and  in  February,  1833,  was  made  Archbishop 
of  Besan§on.  He  died  Oct.  10, 1833.  It  is  said  by 
his  biographer  that  he  was  a  San  Doniingan  by  birth, 
a  Frenchman  in  education,  an  American  in  principle, 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1643 


and  a  priest  by  vocation.  Bishop  Dubourg  was  a 
man  of  singular  energy  and  untiring  zeal,  and  con- 
tributed greatly  to  the  growth  of  Catholicism  in  the 
West  and  Southwest. 

At  this  time  (1818)  there  were  in  the  whole  of  ; 
Upper  Louisiana  only  four  priests  and  seven  chapels 
and  about  eight    thousand    Catholics.     The  chapels 
were  at  Ste.  Genevieve,  Kaskaskia,  St.  Louis,  Floris-  j 
sant,  Prairie  du  Rocher,  Cahokia,  and  New  Madrid.  \ 
During   Bishop  Dubourg's   connection  with   the   St.  I 
Louis  Church,  from  1818  to  1826,  Fathers  Pratte,  ' 
De  Neckere,  De  Andreis,  Cellini,  Ilosatti,  Acqueroni,  i 
Ferrari,  Saulnier,  Niel,  Dahmen,  Tichitoli,  Jean-Jean,  j 
and    others   officiated  at  the    Cathedral.     Of  these,  , 
Father  De  Andreis  was  retained  as  vicar-general  in  ; 
St.  Louis  by  Bishop   Dubourg,  and    died    in   1820,  ; 
and    Father    De    Neckere   became    Bishop    of  New 
Orleans  in  1829,  succeeding  Bishop  Dubourg.     He  ; 
died  in  1833  of  yellow  fever. 

Joseph  Rosatti  was  born  at  Sora,  kingdom  of  Naples, 
Jan.  30,  1789,  and  entered,  at  Rome,  the  novitiate 
of  the  "  Congregation  of  the  Priests  of  the  Mission 
of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,"  commonly  known  as  the  ; 
Lazarists.  He  was  induced  by  Bishop  Dubourg  to  I 
come  to  America,  whither  he  preceded  the  bishop,  and 
arrived  in  Baltimore  July  26,  1816.  He  then  re- 
paired to  St.  Joseph's  College,  at  Bardstown,  Ky.,  to 
perfect  himself  in  the  knowledge  of  English,  and  ar- 
rived in  St.  Louis  Oct.  17,  1817.  In  the  year  fol- 
lowing he  took  charge  of  St.  Mary's  College,  which 
had  just  been  established  by  Bishop  Dubourg  at 
what  was  then  known  as  "  the  Barrens,"  in  Perry 
County,  Mo.  This  region  had  originally  been  settled 
in  1797  by  Catholics  from  Maryland  and  Kentucky, 
who  gave  it  the  name  "  Barrens,"  applied  to  the 
prairie  land  of  Southwestern  Kentucky,  but  which  did 
not  imply  an  absence  of  fertility  in  the  soil  in  Perry 
County.  Here  the  Lazarist  Fathers  with  their  own 
hands  built  themselves  a  rude  home,  and  founded 
St.  Mary's  College,  which  was  transferred  to  Cape 
Girardeau  in  1838,  when  the  establishment  in  Perry 
County  was  made  a  preparatory  seminary.  In  1820, 
Father  De  Andreis  died,  and  was  succeeded  as  su- 
perior of  the  Lazarists  by  Father  Rosatti,  who  had 
been  his  pupil  in  Rome.  Father  Rosatti  was  conse- 
crated Bishop  of  Tenegra  in  parfibus,  March  25, 
1824,  and  made  coadjutor  to  Bishop  Dubourg,  being 
left  in  charge  of  Upper  Louisiana,  with  his  residence 
in  St.  Louis,  when  Bishop  Dubourg  left  for  New 
Orleans.  Bishop  Rosatti  transferred  his  residence  to 
New  Orleans  in  1826,  when  Bishop  Dubourg  left 
for  France,  but  returned  to  St.  Louis  in  1827  as 
Bishop  of  Upper  Louisiana.  He  established  in  St. 


Louis  the  Jesuits,  from  Florissant,  in  1829  ;  the  Sis- 
ters of  St.  Joseph,  in  1836,  from  Lyons,  France,  the 
first  of  their  order  in  America;  the  Ladies  of  the 
Sacred  Heart,  in  1827  ;  the  Sisters  of  the  Visitation, 
and  the.  Sisters  of  Charity,  for  whom  he  founded 
St.  Louis  Hospital.  He  also  established  two  colleges 
for  young  men,  three  academies  for  young  ladies,  and 
the  first  orphan  asylum  in  the  city.  He  was  an  active 
member  of  the  first  four  Provincial  Councils  of  Balti- 
more, held  in  1829,  1833,  1837,  and  1840,  and  his 
pastoral  letters  and  sermons  there  awakened  wide  ad- 
miration in  Europe  as  well  as  America  by  their  learn- 
ing and  eloquence.  In  1840  he  was  called  to  Rome, 
and  sent  to-Hayti  by  the  Holy  See  on  a  diplomatic 
mission  to  settle  questions  growing  out  of  the  Haytien 
revolution.  Before  his  departure  for  Rome,  Bishop 
Rosatti  consecrated,  in  1841,  Archbishop  Kenrick,  and 
settled  him  as  coadjutor  over  the  diocese  of  St.  Louis. 
Bishop  Rosatti  s  diplomatic  success  in  Hayti  was  so 
signal  that  he  was  reappointed  on  other  missions,  in 
the  discharge  of  which  he  continued  until  his  death 
in  Rome,  Sept.  25,  1843.  He  was  buried  at  Monte 
Citario,  in  a  chapel  dedicated  to  St.  Vincent  de  Paul, 
whose  order  he  had  so  highly  adorned,  in  the  Church 
of  the  Lazarists. 

In  1843,  Rt.  Rev.  Peter  Richard  Kenrick.  D.D., 
succeeded  as  bishop  of  the  diocese.  Archbishop 
Kenrick  was  born  in  Dublin,  Ireland,  in  1806,  and 
was  educated  at  Maynooth  College,  near  that  city. 
He  was  ordained  in  Dublin  in  1831,  by  Archbishop 
Murray,  and  served  as  curate  in  Dublin,  and  subse- 
quently as  president  of  the  Theological  Seminary,  and 
vicar-general  in  Philadelphia.  On  the  9th  of  De- 
cember, 1841,  he  was  consecrated  at  St.  Mary's 
Church,  St.  Louis,  Bishop  of  Drasis,  and  coadjutor  to 
the  Bishop  of  St.  Louis.  There  were  four  bishops  pres- 
ent,— Bishop  England,  Bishop  Rosatti,  Bishop  Ken- 
rick, and  Bishop  Lefevre, — besides  Archbishop  Du- 
bois,  of  Baltimore.  Bishop  Rosatti  officiated  as  con- 
secrator,  and  Bishop  England  preached  the  sermon. 
Bishop  Kenrick  succeeded  Bishop  Rosatti  in  1843, 
and  on  the  erection  of  the  diocese  of  St.  Louis  into 
an  archdiocese  became  archbishop. 

Archbishop  Kenrick  is  one  of  the  most  distin- 
guished prelates  in  the  American  Church,  a  learned 
theologian,  an  able  administrator,  and  a  man  of  the 
greatest  generosity  and  benevolence.  In  1858  he 
received  a  handsome  bequest,  but  used  it,  or  a  great 
part  of  it,  in  endowing  the  hospital  of  the  Sisters  of 
Charity,  and  making  it  free  to  all,  regardless  of  creed 
or  color.  At  the  Ecumenical  Council  of  1868  he  took 
strong  ground  against  the  definition  of  papal  infallibil- 
ity, and  his  speech,  prepared  for  the  occasion,  was  pub- 


1644 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


lished  in  Naples  in  1870,  and  in  New  York  in  1872. 
He  subsequently,  however,  acquiesced  in  the  dogma, 
and  promulgated  it  in  his  archdiocese.  He  is  the 
author  of  a  work  on  "  Anglican  Ordinations,"  which 
is  regarded  as  the  leading  authority  on  the  subject, 
also  of  the  "  Month  of  Mary,"  which  has  been  repub- 
lished  in  London,  with  an  introduction  by  the  cele- 
brated Father  Faber,  besides  translations  and  devo- 
tional works.  He  is  an  accomplished  linguist,  know- 
ing well  the  Hebrew,  Greek,  Latin,  French,  German, 
Italian,  and  Spanish  languages,  and  an  excellent  sci- 
entific scholar.  During  his  administration  of  the  dio- 
cese, and  subsequently 
of  the  archdiocese  of 
St.  Louis,  he  has  been 
called  upon  to  deal 
with  three  great  crises, 
— the  cholera  epidemic 
of  1849,  the  civil  war, 
and  the  Fenian  agita- 
tion of  1865.  His 
course  throughout  all 
these  trying  periods 
was  courageous,  but 
conservative  and  pru- 
dent, and  his  guidance, 
both  of  clergy  and  peo- 
ple, firm  and  unfalter- 
ing. On  the  12th  of 
January,  1861,  the  fol- 
lowing notice  was  pub- 
lished : 

"  To  the  Roman  Catho- 
lics of  St.  Louis  :  Beloved 
brethren,  in  the  present 
distressed  state  of  the  pub- 
lic mind,  we  feel  it  our 
duty  to  recommend  you  to 
avoid  all  occasions  of  pub- 
lic excitement,  to  obey  the 
laws,  to  respect  the  rights 
of  all  citizens,  and  to  keep 
away,  as  much  as  possible, 

from  all  assemblages  where  the  indiscretion  of  a  word  or  the 
impetuosity  of  a  momentary  passion  might  endanger  public 
tranquillity.  Obey  the  injunction  of  the  Apostle  St.  Peter, 
'  Follow  peace  with  all  men,  and  holiness,  without  which  no  man 
can  see  God.' 

"  PETER  RICHARD, 
"Archbishop  of  St.  Louis." 

The  archbishop's  course  with  regard  to  the  Fenian 
movement  was  outspoken  and  unequivocal,  as  is 
shown  by  the  following : 

"  To  the  Roman  Catholics  of  St.  Louis:  The  undersigned  has 
read  in  the  Republican  of  this  morning  an  announcement  of  a 
funeral  to  take  place  next  Sunday  from  St.  Patrick's  Church,  in 


this  city,  of  a  deceased  member  of  the  Fenian  Brotherhood,  who 
died  at  St.  Paul,  Minn.,  on  the  24th  instant.  The  occasion  is 
evidently  made  for  a  display  on  the  part  of  those  in  St.  Louis 
who  are  members  of  that  association,  hence  the  deferred  inter- 
ment, and  the  pageant  which  is  to  accompany  the  burial.  The 
connection  of  St.  Patrick's  Church,  where  the  religious  service 
is  announced  as  to  take  place,  and  where,  without  any  authority 
from  the  pastor  of  that  church,  it  would  appear,  an  oration,  by 
a  gentleman  of  this  city,  is  to  be  delivered,  imposes  on  me  the 
obligation  of  forbidding,  as  I  have  done,  the  pastor  of  that 
church  to  permit  any  funeral  service  or  other  religious  ceremony 
to  take  place  on  that  occasion.  I  have  furthermore  directed 
the  superintendent  of  the  Calvary  Cemetery  not  to  admit  any 
procession  of  men  or  women  bearing  insignia  of  Fenianism 
within  the  gate  of  the  cemetery.  I  use  this  occasion  to  state 

publicly,  what  I  have  uni- 
formly stated  in  private 
conversation,  that  the 
members  of  the  Fenian 
Brotherhood,  men  or  wo- 
men, are  not  admissible 
to  the  sacraments  of  the 
church  as  long  as  they  are- 
united  with  that  associa- 
tion, which  I  have  always 
regarded  as  immoral  in  its 
object,  the  exciting  of  re- 
bellion in  Ireland,  and  un- 
lawful and  unlegal  in  its 
means,  a  quasi  military 
organization  in  this  coun- 
try while  at  peace  with 
England,  to  be  made  effec- 
tive in  the  event  of  war 
with  that  power. 

"  PETER  RICHARD, 
Archbishop  of  St.  Louis." 
"ST.  Louis,  Aug.  30, 1865. 

In  1868,  during  the 
absence  of  the  arch- 
bishop at  the  Ecumen- 
ical Council,  Father 
Patrick  J.  Ryan,  then 
pastor  of  St.  John's 
Church,  was  appointed 
by  the  Holy  See  to  take 
temporary  charge  of 
the  diocese,  with  the 

title  of  Bishop  of  Tricomia,  and  in  April,  1872,  he 
was  consecrated  in  St.  John's  Church,  and  has  con- 
tinued to  act  ever  since  as  coadjutor  bishop. 

Right  Rev.  P.  J.  Ryan  was  born  at  Thurles,  Tip- 
perary  County,  Ireland,  in  1831,  and  attended  a  school 
in  Dublin.  At  an  early  age  he  evinced  a  predilection 
for  the  sacred  calling,  and  in  1847  he  entered  Carlow 
College,  near  Dublin,  where  he  received  a  thorough 
ecclesiastical  training.  At  this  institution  he  filled 
the  position  of  prefect  of  the  lay  house,  and  was  or- 
dained a  sub-deacon  while  still  very  young.  After 
leaving  college  his  attention  was  attracted  to  the 


KELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1645 


United  States  as  being  a  promising  field  of  labor,  and 
he  determined  to  emigrate  to  this  country.  He  ar- 
rived in  St.  Louis  in  1852,  and  for  some  three  months 
was  stationed  at  St.  Patrick's  Church  with  Father 
Wheeler,  but  his  rare  oratorical  powers  procured  him 
an  invitation  to  preach  at  the  Cathedral,  though  not 
then  in  priestly  orders.  About  this  time  he  was  ap- 
pointed Professor  of  English  Literature  and  Elocu- 
tion in  Carondelet  Theological  Seminary,  a  position 
which  he  filled  with  remarkable  success  until  in  1853, 
shortly  after  attaining  his  majority,  he  was  ordained 
priest  and  appointed  assistant  pastor  at  the  Cathedral, 
being  associated  with  Fathers  Heims,  A.  S.  Paris,  E. 
Saulnier,  James  Duggan, 
and  P.  R.  Donnelly.  He 
remained  at  the  Cathedral 
until  1860,  when  he  took 
charge  of  the  Church  and 
Parochial  School  of  the 
Annunciation,  which  were 
erected  through  his  exer- 
tions. While  pastor  of  the 
Church  of  the  Annuncia- 
tion, during  the  war,  he 
was  appointed  by  Arch- 
bishop Kenrick  chaplain 
of  the  Gratiot  Street  mili- 
tary prison,  where  he  la- 
bored earnestly,  minister- 
ing to  the  prisoners  and 
baptizing  as  many  as  six 
hundred  of  them. 

Through  the  recommen- 
dation of  Gen.  Blair  to 
the  authorities  at  Wash- 
ington, Father  Ryan  and 
Rev.  Dr.  Schuyler  (rector 
of  Christ  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church)  received 

commissions  as  chaplains  in  the  United  States  army. 
Father  Ryan  declined  the  appointment,  but  continued 
to  perform  the  labors  of  a  chaplain  at  the  prison. 
Subsequently  he  was  transferred  from  the  Church  of 
the  Annunciation  to  St.  John's  Church,  as  successor 
to  Rev.  P.  T.  Ring,  who  had  had  charge  of  that  church 
after  the  departure  of  Father  Bannon  for  the  South, 
to  act  as  chaplain  in  the  Confederate  army.  Subse- 
quently Father  Ryan  visited  Europe,  and  spent  a  year 
in  Ireland,  France,  Germany,  and  Italy.  He  was  in 
Rome  during  the  celebration  of  the  papal  centenary, 
and  during  the  following  Lent  was  invited  by  the  Pope 
to  preach  the  English  sermon,  an  honor  which  had 
been  bestowed  upon  Cardinal  Wiseman,  Archbishop 


Hughes,  the  celebrated  Father  Burke,  and  other  promi- 
nent divines.  In  1866  the  University  of  New  York 
conferred  on  him  the  degree  of  LL.D.,  and  during 
the  same  year  he  preached  before  the  second  Plenary 
Council,  at  Baltimore,  on  "  The  Sanctity  of  the 
Church."  Two  years  later  (1868)  he  was  appointed 
vicar-general  of  the  archdiocese,  and  during  the 
absence  of  Archbishop  Kenrick  acted  as  bishop, 
having  previously  been  made  Bishop  of  Tricomia  in 
partibus.  On  the  14th  of  April,  1872,  he  was  con- 
secrated bishop  in  St.  John's  Church  (his  former 
pastoral  charge),  and  made  coadjutor  of  Archbishop 
Kenrick.  Bishop  Ryan  is  one  of  the  most  eloquent 
prelates  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  and  as  an  admin- 
istrator is  careful,  pains- 
taking, and  indefatigable. 

The  growth  of  the  Cath- 
olic Church  under  a  succes- 
sion of  able  and  energetic 
bishops  has  been  healthful 
and  rapid,  and  from  the  nu- 
cleus of  Father  Meurin's 
mission  has  sprung  a  great 
and  flourishing  diocese.  In 
the  city  of  St.  Louis  there 
are  now  thirty-six  parish 
churches,  twenty-seven  par- 
ish schools,  five  Catholic 
hospitals,  six  convents, 
three  Catholic  colleges, 
seven  Catholic  orphan  asy- 
lums, three  female  protec- 
torates and  reformatories, 
with  about  sixty  secular 
priests  and  forty-five  priests 
belonging  to  orders,  all  ac- 
tively at  work ;  and  there 
are  thirteen  female  and 

seven  male  religious  orders,  and  twenty-four  Confer- 
ences of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,  numbering  over  twelve 
hundred  active  members,  and  distributing  each  year  in 
systematic  and  judicious  charity  nearly  thirty  thou- 
sand dollars  ;  the  Catholic  population  now  numbering 
over  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand.  The  archdio- 
cese of  St.  Louis,  comprising  all  that  part  of  Missouri 
east  of  Chariton  .River  and  of  the  west  line  of  Cole, 
Maries,  Pulaski,  Texas,  and  Howell  Counties,  was 
created  in  1847,  and  Bishop  Kenrick  was  made  its 
first  archbishop. 

The  ecclesiastical  government  of  the  archdiocese 
is  composed  of  Most  Rev.  Peter  Richard  Kenrick, 
archbishop ;  Right  Rev.  Patrick  J.  Ryan,  coadjutor 


1646 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


bishop ;  Very  Rev.  H.  Muhlsiepen,  vicar-general ; 
Council  of  the  Archbishop,  Right  Rev.  P.  J.  Ryan, 
Very  Rev.  H.  Muhlsiepen,  Rev.  C.  Ziegler  (secretary), 
Rev.  H.  Van  der  Sanden  (chancellor). 

The  Jesuits  in  Missouri. — One  of  the  first  steps 
taken  by  Bishop  Dubourg  after  assuming  charge  of 
the  diocese  of  Upper  and  Lower  Louisiana  was  to 
secure  missionaries  for  the  religious  and  secular  in- 
struction of  the  Indian  tribes.  The  whole  of  the 
country  west  of  the  Mississippi  was  in  his  jurisdiction, 
and  consequently  the  Indians  were  especially  within 
the  purview  of  his  efforts.  Soon  after  reaching  St. 
Louis  he  applied  to  Father  Anthony  Kohlmann,  at 
that  time  provincial  of  the  Jesuits  in  Maryland,  to 
send  out  Fathers  to  establish  a  college  and  act  as  mis- 
sionaries to  the  Indians.  Owing  to  the  fact  that  there 
were  not  more  members  of  the  society  than  were 
needed  for  the  work  in  that  State,  Father  Kohlmann 
was  not  then  able  to  comply  with  the  request.  Early 
in  1823,  Bishop  Dubourg  had  an  interview  at  Wash- 
ington with  President  Monroe  and  the  Secretary  of 
War,  John  C.  Calhoun,  on  the  subject  of  educating 
and  civilizing  the  Indians,  and  at  Mr.  Calhoun's  sug-  j 
gestion  he  requested  Father  Charles  Neale,  provincial  j 
of  the  Jesuits  of  Maryland  and  the  District  of  Colum-  j 
bia,  to  supply  him  with  missionaries.  Two  years 
before,  in  1821,  Rev.  Charles  Nerinckx,  founder  of 
the  Loretto  Society  of  Nuns  in  Kentucky,  had  re- 
turned from  a  trip  to  Belgium,  accompanied  by  a 
company  of  novices  who  intended  to  devote  themselves 
to  the  work  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  Among  them 
were  F.  J.  Van  Assche,  P.  J.  de  Smet,  J.  A.  Elet, 
F.  L.  Verreydt,  P.  J.  Verhaegen,  J.  B.  Smedts,  and  j 
F.  De  Maillet,  all  of  whom  with  the  exception  of  De  ; 
Maillet  were  Belgians.  These  young  men,  who, 
with  other  novices,  had  received  a  course  of  instruc- 
tion at  the  Jesuit  Seminary  at  White  Marsh,  Prince 
George's  Co.,  Md.,  decided  to  accept  the  invitation  of 
Bishop  Dubourg. 

On  the  llth  of  April,  1823,  they  set  out  under  the 
charge  of  Rev.  Charles  Van  Quickenborne,  Superior, 
and  Rev.  Peter  J.  Timmermans,  his  assistant,  accom- 
panied by  three  lay  brothers, — Peter  de  Meyer,  Henry 
Reisselman,  and  Charles  Strahan.  They  made  the 
journey  on  foot  to  Wheeling,  with  wagons  to  transport 
their  effects,  and  to  rest  such  as  should  become  ill  or 
disabled.  They  carried  their  own  bedding  with  them, 
lodging  at  night  where  they  best  could,  and  generally 
cooked  their  own  meals.  Father  Van  Quickenborne 
was  the  only  exception ;  he  rode  a  handsome  roan 
horse  that  had  been  presented  to  him  by  Father  Mc- 
Elroy,  of  Frederick,  Md.  At  Wheeling  they  pur- 
chased two  flat-boats  and  floated  down  the  Ohio,  the 


boats  lashed  together,  and  drifting  day  and  night.  At 
Shawneetown,  a  small  village  below  the  mouth  of  the 
Wabash  River,  they  sold  their  flat-boats,  sent  their 
heavy  baggage  by  steamboat  to  St.  Louis,  and  started, 
accompanied  by  a  light  spring-wagon,  on  foot  across 
the  prairies.  They  reached  St.  Louis  Saturday,  May 
31,  1823,  and  on  the  day  after  their  arrival,  being 
Sunday  within  the  octave  of  Corpus  Christi,  Father 
Van  Quickenborne  carried  the  Blessed  Sacrament  in 
procession  through  the  streets,  with  music  and  firing 
of  cannon.  In  June  following  the  Jesuits  took  pos- 
session of  the  farm  near  Florissant  which  had  been 
tendered  them  by  Bishop  Dubourg,  it  having  been 
ceded  to  them  by  Mr.  O'Neil,  magistrate  of  Florissant, 
although  his  lease  was  yet  unexpired.  In  the  mean 
time  they  had  been  hospitably  entertained  by  the 
Sisters  of  the  Sacred  Heart  at  Florissant,  who  lodged 
and  fed  them  in  their  school-house. 

Florissant,  or  St.  Ferdinand  township,  seventeen 
miles  northwest  of  St.  Louis,  had  been  settled  shortly 
after  the  founding  of  St.  Louis,  and  the  adjacent 
country  was  beautiful  and  fertile.  In  extending  the 
invitation  to  the  Jesuits  of  Maryland,  Bishop  Du- 
bourg had  proposed  not  only  to  give  them  his  farm 
at  Florissant,  but  also  his  own  church  and  residence 
in  St.  Louis.  The  latter  offer,  however,  had  been 
declined.  The  houses  on  the  farm  were  merely  log 
cabins,  small,  and  of  the  rudest  construction,  and  the 
first  efforts  of  the  missionaries  were  directed  to  the 
enlargement  of  their  quarters.  For  this  purpose 
they  hewed  the  timber,  going  for  it  to  an  island  in 
the  Missouri  River,  which,  on  the  night  after  they  had 
hauled  the  last  load  needed,  was  totally  washed  away, 
not  a  vestige  of  it  being  left.1 

Shortly  after  the  mission  had  been  established, 
Rev.  Charles  Delacroix,  who  was  then  stationed  at 
Florissant,  made  over  the  church  there  to  Father 
Van  Quickenborne,  and  departed  for  Louisiana. 
About  the  same  time  Father  Van  Quickenborne  was 
made  spiritual  director  of  the  Community  of  the 
Sacred  Heart.  An  incident  of  the  early  days  of  the 
mission  was  a  visit  from  the  venerable  Father  Ne- 
rinckx, who  had  brought  the  young  missionaries  over 
from  Europe,  and  who  spent  some  days  with  his 
Belgian  friends  at  Florissant.  Father  Nerinckx 


1  The  island  stood  a  short  distance  above  the  Charbonniere, 
a  bluff  on  the  Missouri  River  some  three  hundred  feet  high, 
and  so  called  from  a  layer  of  coal  that  underlies  it,  but  which, 
being  nearly  on  a  level  with  the  surface  of  the  water  and  of  in- 
ferior quality,  has  been  little  worked.  Above  the  bluff  there  is 
visible,  in  low  water,  a  bed  of  reddish  stone,  which  extends  far 
out  into  the  river,  and  may  have  been  the  seat  of  the  island. 
Possibly  the  concussions  and  disturbances  caused  by  felling  the 
trees  precipitated  the  washing  away  of  the  land. 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1647 


died  at  Ste.  Genevieve  on  the  12th  of  August,  1824. 
Francis  De  Maillet  and  Charles  Strahan,  of  the  original 
band,  had  separated  from  the  Jesuit  society  shortly 
after  their  arrival  in  Missouri,  and  had  engaged  in 
other  occupations.  By  the  death  of  Father  Timmer- 
mans  the  community  was  still  further  reduced,  and 
now  numbered  nine  members.  In  1825,  Father  De 
Theux  and  lay  Brother  O'Connor  arrived  from  Mary- 
land and  joined  the  mission,  the  former  as  assistant 
to  Father  Van  Quickenborne.  In  the  same  year  the 
missionaries  opened  a  school  for  Indian  boys,  and  in- 
duced the  Sisters  of  the  Sacred  Heart  to  establish  a 
similar  school  for  girls.  Despite  their  persevering 
labors,  however,  the  attendance  did  not  increase  be- 
yond fourteen  children  at  either  school.  In  1830 
the  school  for  boys  was  finally  closed.  In  the  mean 
time",  J.  B.  Smedts  and  P.  J.  Verhaegen  were,  about 
the  beginning  of  1825,  raised  to  the  priesthood,  and 
in  1827,  P.  J.  de  Smet,  J.  F.  Van  Assche,  J.  A. 
Elet,  and  F.  L.  Verreydt  were  ordained,  Bishop  Ro- 
satti  officiating  on  both  occasions.  Fathers  Verreydt 
and  Smedts  were  transferred  to  St.  Charles,  and 
Father  Van  Quickenborne  made  an  excursion  to  the 
Osage  Indians.  He  subsequently  (in  1829  and 
1830)  paid  other  visits  to  the  same  tribe,  but  it 
was  not  until  1847  that  the  Jesuit  mission  among 
the  Osages  was  established.  Having  satisfied  them- 
selves that  they  could  labor  much  more  profitably  and 
accomplish  more  tangible  results  among  the  white 
population  than  with  the  savages,  the  Jesuit  Fathers, 
upon  the  invitation  of  Bishop  Rosatti,  in  1828  re- 
moved to  St.  Louis  and  established  the  St.  Louis 
University.  On  the  24th  of  March,  1836,  Father 
Verhaegen,  who  had  been  chosen  first  president  of 
the  university,  was  made  Superior  of  the  Jesuit 
mission  in  Missouri,  as  it  was  then  called, — a  branch 
of  the  province  of  Maryland, — and  resigned  to  Father 
Elet  the  presidency  of  the  university.  The  mission- 
house  at  Florissant  was  now  abandoned  as  the  resi- 
dence of  the  Superior,  who  thenceforth  lived  in  St. 
Louis. 

The  Florissant  institution  is  now  known  as  St. 
Stanislaus  Novitiate.  On  the  3d  of  December,  1839, 
the  mission  was  raised  to  the  rank  of  a  vice-province, 
and  Father  Verhaegen  to  that  of  vice-provincial ;  he 
became  provincial  of  Maryland,  and  was  succeeded 
in  St.  Louis  by  Rev.  James  Van  de  Velde,  Sept.  17, 
1843.  Father  Van  de  Velde  was  made  Bishop  of 
Chicago,  and  subsequently  transferred  to  Natchez, 
where  he  died  of  yellow  fever  on  the  13th  of  No- 
vember, 1855.  His  remains  were  removed  to  St. 
Stanislaus  Novitiate,  near  Florissant,  and  reinterred 
there  on  the  20th  of  November,  1874.  Rev.  John 


A.  Elet  became  vice-provincial  June  3,  1848;  Rev. 
William  S.  Murphy,  Aug.   15,   1851;    Rev.  J.  B. 
Druyts,  July  6,   1856  (he  died  of  softening  of  the 
|  brain  June  18,  1861);  Rev.  W.  S.  Murphy,  tempo- 
1  rarily,  February,  1861  ;  Rev.  Ferdinand  Coosemans, 
;  July  16,  1862.     On  Dec.  3,  1863,  the  vice-province 
was  elevated  to  the  rank  of  a  province,  and  Father 
Coosemans  became  provincial.     Rev.  Thomas  O'Neil 
succeeded  July  31,  1871 ;  Rev.  Edward  A.  Higgins, 
Jan.  1,  1879;  Rev.  Leopold  Bushart,  May  4.  1882. 
The  original  intention  of  Indian  missions  was  never 
wholly  abandoned,  but  was  pursued  actively  by  Father 
j  Van   Quickenborne  and    others    after   him    through 
!  many  years;  but  when  in  1837  Father  Van  Quicken- 
borne  returned  from  the  Kickapoo  mission,  near  Fort 
Leavenworth,  which  he  had  started  the  year  before, 
he  succumbed  to  the  hardships  he  had  endured,  and 
died  Aug.  17,  1837.     His  remains  were  interred  in 
the  garden  of  the  novitiate,   near  Florissant,  where 
they  are   now  surrounded   by  those  of  all  but  one  of 
his  early  companions  in  Missouri.1    From  the  mother- 

1  Charles  Van  Quickenborne,  one  of  the  prominent  missionaries 
of  Missouri,  was  born   in  the  diocese  of  Ghent,  Belgium,  Jan. 
21,  1786.     He  joined  the  Jesuit  Society  April  14,  1815,  came  to 
Maryland  in  1817,  and  to  St.  Louis  in   1823,  and  in   the  same 
year  was  made  spiritual  director  of  the  Sacred  Heart  commu- 
nity at  Florissant  and  pastor  of  the  church  there.     Father  Van 
Quickenborne  died  at  Portage  des  Sioux,  Aug.  17,  1837.    Peter 
J.  Timmermans  was  born  in  Belgium,  July  20, 1 783 ;  joined  the 
Jesuits  Aug.  18,  1817;  was  made  pastor  of  the  churches  at  St. 
Charles  and  Portage  des  Sioux  in  June,  1823,  and  died  June  1, 
1824.     Judocus  F.  Van  Assche  was  born  May  29,  1800,  at  St. 
Amand,  near  Antwerp.     He  came  to  Maryland  and  entered  the 
Jesuit  Novitiate  at  White  Marsh,  Oct.  6,  1821,  an  elder  brother 
having  preceded  him  thither  in  1817.    He  remained  at  St.  Stan- 
lislaus  Novitiate,  near  Florissant,  when  the  other  priests  removed 
to  St.  Louis  to  establish  their  college,  and  after  his  ordination  be- 
came pastor  of  the  church  there,  continuing  in  its  charge,  ex- 
cepting short  absences,  until  he  died,  June  26,  1877.     John  A. 
Elet  was  born  Feb.  19,  1802;  was  president  of  St.  Louis  Uni- 
versity, and  later  of  St.  Xavier  College,  Cincinnati,  and  vice- 
provincial  of  Missouri,  which  position  he  resigned  on  account 
of  ill  health,  and  died  Oct.  2',  1851.     Peter  J.  Verhaegen  was 
born  June  21,  1800,  and  he  was  the  most  thoroughly  educated 
of  the  original  band  of  novices.     He  was  pastor  at  St.  Charles' 
in  1826,  and  successively  the  first  president  of  St.  Louis  Uni- 
versity, Superior,  then  vice-provincial  of  Missouri,  provincial  of 
Maryland,  and  president  of  St.  Joseph's  College  in  Kentucky. 
He  died  at  St.   Charles,  Mo.,   July  21,  1868.     Felix  Verreydt 
was  born  Feb.  19,  1798;  went  to  Portage  des  Sioux  in  1831; 
to    the    Kickapoo    mission    near    Fort    Leavenworth    in   1837; 
began  a  mission  among  the  Pottawatotnie  Indians  at  Council 
Bluffs  in  1838 ;  went  to  Sugar  Creek  Indian  mission  in  Kansas 
in  1841  ;  moved  with  the  Indians  to  St.  Mary's  mission  in  Kan- 
sas in  1848;  was  transferred  to  St.  Louis  in   1859,  and  resided 
at  College  Hill,  North  St.  Louis,  until  1869,  when  he  went  to 
St.   Xavier  College,  Cincinnati,  where  he  still  lives  (October, 
1882),  being  now  nearly  eighty-five  years  old  and  the  sole  sur- 
vivor of  the  original  band.     John  B.  Smedts  was  born  April  1 1 , 
1801,  and  was  stationed  at  St.  Charles'  from  1827    until  Oct.  3, 


1648 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


house  near  Florissant  have  sprung  eight  colleges,  one 
boarding-school  in  the  country,  twelve  churches  in 
the  West  and  Northwest,  with  their  attached  parochial 
schools,  eight  churches,  with  residences,  besides  mis- 

1843,  when  he  was  made  master  of  novices  at  St.  Stanislaus  No- 
vitiate, near  Florissant,  where  he  remained  until  July  23,  1849, 
after  which  he  resided  successively  at  St.  Charles',  Florissant, 
and  St.  Louis  University,  where  he  died  Feb.  19,  1855.  Peter 
de  Meyer  was  born  Nov.  30, 1793  ;  came  to  America  with  Father 
Nerinckx,  and  entered  White  Marsh  Novitiate  Aug.  5,  1817. 
He  continued  to  reside  as  a  lay  brother  at  St.  Stanislaus  until 
he  died  there,  Sept.  1,  1878.  Henry  Reisselman,  also  a  lay 
brother,  was  born  March  12,  1784,  and  came  to  the  United 
States  in  1807,  and  joined  the  Trappist  monks  in  Casey  County, 
Ky.  He  removed  with  them  to  Missouri  in  1809  ;  resided  one 
year  at  Florissant,  then  moved  to  Monk's  Mound,  on  Cahokia  > 
Creek,  and  when  this  station  was  abandoned  joined  the  Jesuits 
at  Georgetown,  D.  C.,  Nov.  5,  1813,  and  removed  to  Missouri 
in  1823.  Subsequently  he  spent  some  time  in  Maryland,  but 
returned  to  Missouri,  and  died  at  St.  Stanislaus  Novitiate,  June  i 
21,  1857. 

Of  all  the  little  band  of  missionaries  the  most  illustrious  per- 
haps, and  certainly  the  best  known,  was  Peter  J.  de  Smet,  emi- 
nent alike  as  a  missionary  of  undaunted  energy  and  zeal,  and  | 
as  a  scholar  of  varied  learning  and  many  accomplishments.  He  ' 
was  born  at  Dendermonde,  in  Belgium,  on  the  31st  of  January, 
1801,  and  was  educated  with  the  view  of  devoting  himself  to 
the  priesthood.  In  July,  1821,  in  company  with  a  number  of 
other  novices,  under  the  charge  of  Father  De  Nerinckx,  he  left  ! 
his  native  land  for  the  United  States.  By  agreement  they  all 
met  at  Amsterdam,  and  having  eluded  the  vigilance  of  the  au- 
thorities, who  had  given  strict  orders  for  their  arrest,  they  left 
Amsterdam  in  a  small  boat,  and  succeeded  in  reaching  Texel, 
where  they  procured  lodging  in  the  house  of  a  Catholic  who  ' 
had  been  notified  of  their  coming.  At  last,  on  the  15th  of  ; 
August,  they  got  on  board  the  brig  "  Columbia,"  having  gained 
the  open  sea  in  a  small  pilot-boat,  which  had  passed  out  of  the  ' 
harbor  without  being  observed  by  the  police.  After  a  voyage 
of  forty  days,  De  Smet  and  his  companions  arrived  at  Phila- 
delphia, whence  they  proceeded  to  Baltimore  and  then  to  White 
Marsh,  Maryland,  where  they  began  their  novitiate.  As 
previously  stated,  he  formed  one  of  the  party  of  mission- 
aries, led  by  Van  Quickenborne,  who  in  1823  established  the 
colony  of  Florissant,  and  immediately  after  their  arrival  at  St. 
Louis,  De  Smet  entered  actively  upon  a  career  of  missionary 
labors  which,  with  brief  intervals,  were  destined  to  extend  over 
nearly  half  a  century.  After  toiling  at  Florissant,  and  subse- 
quently assisting  in  the  founding  of  the  St.  Louis  University, 
he  was  compelled  in  1832  to  return  to  Belgium  for  the  benefit  of 
his  health.  While  in  Europe  he  procured  a  number  of  valuable 
instruments  for  the  department  of  physics  in  the  St.  Louis  Uni- 
versity, together  with  many  volumes  for  the  library,  and  a  col- 
lection of  minerals,  which  he  presented  to  the  college.  His 
health  having  been  restored  he  returned  in  1837  to  St.  Louis, 
which  he  made  his  home  for  the  remainder  of  his  life.  In  183S, 
Father  De  Smet  began  his  wonderful  career  as  a  missionary 
among  the  Northwestern  Indians.  He  first  established  a  mis- 
sion among  the  Pottawatomies,  who  then  dwelt  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Council  Bluffs,  Iowa,  opposite  the  city  of  Omaha. 
Two  years  later  (1840)  he  made  his  first  journey  to  the  Rocky 
Mountains  and  through  Oregon,  preparing  the  way  for  the  mis- 
sionaries who  were  to  take  up  his  work  in  later  years.  Among 
both  the  Pottawatomies  and  the  Sioux  De  Smet  was  received  with 
kindness,  but  his  journeys  through  the  wilderness  were  marvels 


sions  and  congregations  formed,  and  churches  and 
residences  built  and  paid  for,  which  were  then  trans- 
ferred to  the  ordinary  having  jurisdiction  over  the 
district  in  which  they  were  situated.  From  the  little 


of  ardent  zeal  and  patient  devotion.  His  progress  among  the 
Pottawatomies  was  particularly  gratifying.  A  little  chapel 
twenty-four  feet  square,  with  a  steeple,  was  soon  erected,  and 
near  by  log  huts  were  built  for  the  residences  of  the  mission- 
aries. A  school  was  opened,  and  the  building,  which  could  only 
accommodate  thirty  pupils,  was  soon  thronged  with  Indians. 
In  the  first  three  months  one  hundred  and  eighteen  were  bap- 
tized. During  his  expedition  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  he  ac- 
companied Gen.  Harney  on  an  expedition  to  the  Flathead  and 
Shoshone  Indians  on  the  Columbia  River.  The  Indians  had 
been  committing  depredations,  and  Gen.  Barney's  expedition 
was  sent  out  with  the  expectation  that  war  would  ensue. 
Through  the  mediation  of  Father  De  Smet,  however,  the  In- 
dians were  placated  and  peace  was  assured. 

His  journey  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  in  1840  was  made  in 
connection  with  the  annual  expedition  of  the  American  Fur 
Company,  which  started  from  Westernport,  Mo.,  and  from  this 
time  until  within  a  year  of  his  death  he  continued  to  labor 
among  the  savage  tribes,  including  among  others  the  Shoshones, 
Blackfeet,  Pawnees,  Mandans,  Pottawatomies,  and  Sampeetches. 
In  Oregon,  among  the  Flatheads,  his  mission  was  conspicuously 
successful.  In  the  camp  of  Peter  Valley  sixteen  hundred  Flat- 
heads  and  Ponderas  assembled  to  receive  him,  and  at  the  close 
of  the  day  two  thousand  Indians  congregated  before  the  mis- 
sionary's tent  to  recite  an  evening  prayer  and  chant  a  hymn. 
On  the  second  day  of  his  sojourn  among  them,  De  Smet,  with 
the  assistance  of  an  interpreter,  translated  the  Lord's  Prayer, 
the  Creed,  and  the  Commandments,  and  in  two  weeks  the  Flat- 
heads  had  all  learned  to  recite  the  prayer.  Within  two  months 
six  hundred  of  the  tribe  were  baptized.  On  his  return  to  St. 
Louis  the  dauntless  missionary  passed  through  the  country  of 
the  Blackfeet,  Gros  Ventres,  and  Sioux,  all  of  whom  were  hostile 
to  the  Flatheads.  Upon  one  occasion  he  and  his  party  were 
surrounded  by  a  fierce  band  of  Blackfeet,  who,  however,  on 
seeing  his  crucifix  and  gown,  expressed  their  joy  at  beholding 
a  missionary,  and  carried  him  in  state  to  their  village.  He  was 
treated  with  great  kindness,  and  permitted  to  resume  his  jour- 
ney unmolested.  In  the  spring  of  1841,  Father  De  Smet  re- 
turned to  Oregon,  accompanied  by  two  other  priests  and  three 
lay  brothers,  and  established  the  mission  of  St.  Mary's  among 
the  Flatheads.  He  then  labored  among  the  Creur  d'Alenes, 
Kalispels,  and  Koetenays,  baptizing  one  hundred  and  ninety 
persons,  twenty-six  of  whom  were  adults.  •  His  work  at  the 
Flathead  mission  was  then  resumed  with  encouraging  results, 
and  when  he  started  on  the  return  to  St.  Louis  sixteen  hundred 
and  fifty-four  savages  had  been  baptized.  On  reaching  St. 
Louis,  De  Smet  was  instructed  by  his  Superior  to  proceed  to 
Europe  in  order  to  obtain  assistance  in  the  work  of  civilizing 
and  Christianizing  the  Indian  tribes.  His  success  in  Europe 
was  unequivocal,  and  on  the  12th  of  December,  1843,  he  sailed 
from  Antwerp,  accompanied  by  several  priests  and  six  Sisters  of 
the  Congregation  of  Our  Lady,  who  had  volunteered  to  assist 
him  in  his  missionary  work,  and  arrived  at  Fort  Vancouver  in 
1844.  The  Oregon  mission  expanded  rapidly,  and  De  Smet 
transferred  his  labors  to  the  water-shed  of  the  Saskatchewan 
and  Columbia,  and  obtained  many  converts  among  the  far  North- 
western tribes.  Father  De  Smet  made  five  journeys  to  the 
Rocky  Mountains  in  the  course  of  his  eventful  career,  and 
crossed  the  ocean  seven  times  to  obtain  in  Europe  assistance  for 
his  missionary  work.  On  his  last  trip  to  Belgium  he  was  ere- 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1649 


band  of  1823,  numbering  twelve  persons,  the  Jesuits 
in  the  Missouri  province  have  increased  to  three  hun- 
dred and  thirty-five,  of  whom  seventy-six  are  members 
of  the  community  near  Florissant.1 

St.  Louis  Cathedral. — The  first  church  erected 
by  the  Catholics  of  St.  Louis  was  evidently  built  soon 
after  the  arrival  of  Laclede  and  his  companions,  and 
probably  at  an  early  period  of  Father  Meurin's  pas- 
torate, which  extended  from  1764  (irregularly)  to 
February,  1769.  Father  Gibault,  the  successor  of 
Father  Meurin,  records  that  on  the  24th  of  June, 
1770,  the  feast  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  he  blessed 
"  the  church,  built  of  wood,"  and  in  1774  Father 
Valentin  made  an  entry  in  the  register,  of  which  the 
following  is  a  translation  : 

"  In  the  year  1774,  the  24th  of  December,  I,  the  undersigned, 
have  baptized  with  the  ordinary  ceremonies  of  the  church  a 
new  bell,  which  was  named  Pierre  Joseph  Felicite,  and  the 
godfather  of  which  was  the  honorable  Pierre  Joseph  de  Pier- 
nas, captain  in  the  Louisiana  battalion  and  Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor  of  the  Illinois,  and  the  godmother,  Lady  Felicitg  de 
Piernas  de  Portneuf,  who  have  signed  with  me,  the  day  and 
year  as  above. 

"  PEDRO    PIERNAS,   FELICITE   PORTNEUF   PIERNAS,   BAROY,  | 
BKNITO  BASQUEZ. 

"  FR.  VALENTIN,  Priest." 

Prior  to  this  time  the  congregation  had  been  called 
to  their  devotions  by  means  of  a  large  iron  mortar, 
which  was  beaten  with  a  heavy  iron  pestle,  producing  ; 
a  sound  loud  enough  to  be  heard  by  most  of  the 
parishioners. 

In  the  contract  for  the  construction  of  the  presby- 

ated  a  knight  of  the  Order  of  Leopold  as  a  recognition  of  his 
great  merits,  the  decoration  of  the  order  being  bestowed  by 
King  Leopold  the  Second.  For  some  years,  and  up  to  the  time 
of  his  death,  he  held  the  position  of  treasurer  of  the  province, 
which  included  all  the  Jesuit  houses  from  the  Alleghenies  to 
the  Rocky  Mountains. 

Father  De  Smet  was  a  graceful  and  vigorous  writer,  and  his 
letters  giving  an  account  of  his  adventures  and  labors  among  the 
savages  are  marked  by  great  simplicity  of  style  and  force  of 
expression.  He  published  several  works  on  the  subject  of  In- 
dian missions,  the  principal  of  which  are  "  Western  Missions 
and  Missionaries,"  "  Oregon  Missions,"  and  "  Letters  and 
Sketches."  He  was  familiar  with  science  and  a  proficient  in  ! 
botany,  having  classified  the  plants  of  St.  Louis  many  years 
ago.  He  was  also  an  excellent  draughtsman  and  topographical  > 
engineer,  and  executed  a  number  of  maps  and  surveys  of  the 
Oregon  and  Ilocky  Mountain  regions.  While  returning  home 
from  Europe  in  1872,  Father  De  Sinet  fell  on  shipboard  and 
was  injured  internally,  three  of  his  ribs  also  being  broken.  He 
succeeded  in  reaching  St.  Louis,  and  lingered  for  more  than  a 
year,  dying  at  the  St.  Louis  University  on  the  23d  of  Ma}', 
1873. 

1  The  author  is  indebted  to  the  "  Historical  Sketch  of  the  St. 
Louis  University,"  by  Rev.  Walter  H.  Hill,  S.J.,  for  valuable 
information  concerning  the  labors  of  the  Jesuit  missionaries  in 
Missouri. 


tery,  or  priest's  house,  which  it  was  determined  at  a 
meeting  of  the  congregation  held  Sept.  1,  1776,  to 
erect,  it  was  provided  that  the  materials  of  the  old 
house  should  be  used  in  building  the  new  one,  show- 
ing that  there  was  a  parochial  residence  and,  pre- 
sumably, a  church.  Tradition  asserts  that  the  first 
church  was  a  small  wooden  chapel,  with  a  presbytery 
attached. 

On  the  26th  of  December,  1774,  the  inhabitants 
of  St.  Louis  assembled  in  the  government  chamber, 
in  the  presence  of  Don  Pedro  Piernas,  the  Lieutenant- 
Governor,  Father  Valentin,  pastor,  and  Mr.  Sarpy, 
church  warden,  and  determined  upon  the  erection  of 
a  new  church.  It  was  decided  that  the  dimensions 
of  the  building  were  to  be  sixty  by  thirty  feet,  and 
that  it  was  to  be  constructed  of  white-ash  posts 
eighteen  feet  long,  and  hewed  on  both  sides  above 
ground,  to  the  width  of  six  inches.  The  inhabitants 
were  to  furnish  all  the  wood  and  materials  "  according  to 
an  assessment  to  be  made  on  each  white  and  black  per- 
son of  the  age  of  fourteen  years  and  upwards,  ex- 
cepting widows  and  persons  of  sixty  years  of  age,  who 
shall  be  exempt  as  to  their  persons  only."  Pierre 
Baron,  who  was  present,  accepted  the  position  of 
"  superintendent  of  the  building  and  of  the  assess- 
ment," and  promised  "  to  do  his  duty."  Associated 
with  him  in  the  direction  of  the  work  were  Rene  Kier- 
cereaux,  Antoine  Riviere,  dit  Bacanet,  Joseph  Taillon 
and  Jacques  Noise,  "  who  must  be  present  at  the  as- 
sessment and  at  the  furnishing  of  the  materials." 

The  proceedings  of  the  meeting  were  signed  by 
Rene"  Kiercereaux,  Cotte,  Jean  Tardif,  Amable  Guion, 
Laclede  L.  Liguest,  Lardoise,  Becquet,  Du  Breuil, 
Sarpy,  Baron,  Benito  Basquez,  Labusciere,  Sans 
Soucy,2  Bagnete,2  Bizet,2  Bacaliot,2  Gamscha,  Jacques 
Noise,2  Duffand,2  Joseph2  Taillon,  Francis2  Bissonet, 
Ride,2  Louis  Chancelier,  Jacob2  Marechal,  Laurant,2 
Hunan,2  Picart,2  Fr.  Valentine  (cure),  Pedro  Piernas. 

Nothing  further  appears  to  have  been  done  during 
that  winter  beyond  maturing  the  plans  for  the  con- 
struction of  the  building,  but  on  the  19th  of  April, 
1775,  the  contract  for  the  work  was  awarded,  as  the 
following  translation  of  the  original  document  attests  : 

"Agreement  of  the  inhabitants  of  St.  Louis  to  build  a 
church,  and  the  contract  and  specifications  therefor.  April 
19,  1775,  the  third  festival  of  Easter. 

"  Before  me,  Don  Pedro  Piernas,  Lieutenant-Governor  of  the 
establishments  of  the  Illinois  and  its  dependencies,  belonging 
to  His  Catholic  Majesty,  in  presence  of  the  Reverend  Father 
Valentin,  Capuchin  missionary,  curate  of  the  parish  of  St. 
Louis,  and  of  Messrs.  Sarpy  and  Benito  Basquez,  wardens  of  said 
parish  of  St.  Louis,  at  the  conclusion  of  the  parochial  mass  of 
said  place,  all  the  artisans  and  inhabitants  composing  the  said 

1  "  His  mark." 


1650 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


parish  assembled  to  award  to  the  lowest  bidder  the  contract  for 
the  workmanship  on  the  projected  church  at  this  post.  Said  in- 
habitants and  artisans  being  all  assembled,  and  having  maturely 
deliberated  among  themselves,  agreed  that  said  church  should 
be  constructed  as  follows,  to  wit : 

"The  church  to  be  sixty  feet  long,  of  posts  planted  three 
feet  in  the  ground,  and  to  be  thirty  feet  wide,  with  a  gallery 
or  porch  six  feet  wide  all  around,  with  a  pent-house  ten  feet 
wide  the  length  of  the  gable  end,  two  church  doors,  and  two 
windows  to  the  pent-house,  with  shutters,  and  sash  of  four 
lights  high  and  three  wide. 

"  The  church  to  have  fourteen  windows  of  twenty-eight 
lights,  arched  three  inches  at  the  top,  seven  lights  high  by 
four  wide,  with  their  shutters,  the  contractor  to  put  in  all  the 
iron-work.  At  the  other  gable,  in  the  inside  of  the  church,  a 
Jobbj'  or  gallery  ten  feet  wide,  the  length  of  the  gable,  with 
stairs  and  a  door  to  the  lobby.  The  front  entrance  door  to  the 
church  to  be  twelve  feet  high,  arched,  and  six  wide,  the  floors 
above  and  below  to  be  well  jointed,  the  sanctuary  to  be  raised 
six  inches  above  the  floor,  the  two  doors  of  the  sanctuary  to  be 
dovetailed,  and  that  of  the  lobby  plain,  the  large  door  pan- 
eled. The  belfry  to  be  a  St.  Andrew's  cross,  shingled,  the 
church  to  be  shingled  in  six-inch  courses.  Windows  four  feet 
above  the  floor,  the  two  front  ones  eight  feet  high.  The  rafters 
on  the  girders  at  ten  feet  apart,  with  ridge-pieces  above  and 
below,  a  bracket  at  each  of  the  four  corners  and  cross-pieces 
to  support  the  gables.  The  joists  from  five  to  six  feet  apart. 

"All  the  materials  to  be  delivered  to  the  contractor  on  the 
ground  of  the  above  church,  who  is  to  furnish  all  the  labor 
only.  The  inhabitants  are  to  furnish,  also,  the  iron-work, 
nails,  and  mud-walling,  and  to  assist  the  contractor  in  raising 
the  heavy  wood-work  and  timbers,  the  foregoing  work  to  be 
subject  to  an  examination  by  skilled  persons. 

"  The  aforesaid  church  is  to  be  completely  finished  for  ser- 
vice by  the  month  of  of  this  present  year,  under 
the  penalty  of  forfeiting  all  pay  for  the  work  he  may  have 
done  if  not  completed  in  the  time  specified,  nor  will  it  be  re- 
ceived from  him  until  completely  finished. 

"  The  inhabitants  to  supply  him  the  materials  as  fast  as 
needed,  so  as  not  to  delay  him  in  the  work,  under  the  penalty 
of  paying  him  for  the  time  he  may  have  lost  through  their 
delay,  the  contractor  to  engage  himself  all  the  workmen  he 
may  find  necessary,  who  are  to  be  paid  first  out  of  the  contract 
price. 

"  And  after  the  above  specified  conditions  were  read  and 
proclaimed  in  a  loud  and  intelligible  voice,  and  clearly  ex- 
plained to  the  assembled  people,  the  above  work  was  awarded 
to  Pierre  Lupien,  alias  Baron,  carpenter  and  joiner,  at  the 
price  of  twelve  hundred  livres,  in  deer-skins  at  the  current 
value. 

"  This  bid  having  been  cried  out  at  several  different  times, 
and  no  one  proposing  to  underbid  him,  after  waiting  until 
sundown,  the  same  Lupien  demanded  his  right,  and  that  the 
work  be  awarded  him  for  the  said  sum  of  twelve  hundred 
livres,  according  to  the  above  specified  conditions,  which  was 
granted  him  by  Don  Pedro  Piernas,  in  the  presence  of  as  be- 
fore stated  witnesses,  and  with  the  approval  of  all  the  inhabi- 
tants, said  contractor  binding  himself  to  execute  all  the  stipu- 
lations of  the  contract,  and,  as  security  for  the  same,  mortgaging 
nil  his  property  now  and  in  future. 

"Done  and  executed  at  the  room  of  the  presbytery  the  10th 
day  of  April,  third  feast  of  Easter,  in  the  year  seventeen  hun- 
dred and  seventy-five,  which  we  have  all  signed,  those  nut 
knowing  how  to  write  having  made  their  crosses  after  being 
read  to  them,  before  me,  the  Lieutenant-Governor. 

"  PEDRO  PIERNAS." 


The  signers  of  the  agreement  to  build  the  church 
included  nearly  all  the  householders  in  St.  Louis  at 
that  day ;  they  numbered  seventy-nine,  all  told,  and 
it  will  be  observed  that  only  thirty-five  signed  their 
names,  all  the  rest  (those  inclosed  in  parenthesis) 
affixing  their  marks, — fifty-five  per  cent,  of  these 
best  citizens  being  illiterate.  The  names  are 

Antoine  Bereda,  Alexis  Cotte,  John  B.  Becquet,  (Jacques 
Labbe),  (Chausel),  Amable  Guion,  Pothier,  (Kierq  Desnoyer), 
(Amable  Brunet),  (Jean  B.  Deschamps),  (Francois  Liberge), 
Rone  Kiercereaux,  (Joseph  Fayon),  (Toussaint  Hunot),  (Fran- 
cois Bissonet),  (Langevin,  dit  Baguette),  (Francis  Dele~n),  (Jo- 
j   seph  Dechenes),  (Pepin  Lachance),  Louis  Chancellier,  Larche, 
(John    B.  Savoie),    (John    B.  Gamache),    (August    Karcelet), 
I   John  Baptiste  Tardif,  Louis  Dubreuil,  Rouqueer,  Antoine  Be- 
I   rard,  (Daniel),  (Antoine  Riviere;,  (Jacques  Marechal),  (John 
B.    Dufaux),    (Joseph    Moreau),    (Nicholas    Guion),    Joseph 
,  Segond,    Cottin,    Benito     Basquez,    Joseph     Labrosse,    Petil, 
,   Michel    Rollet   de   Laderout,  J.  J.  A.  Motard,  (Simon    Cou- 
I  sotte),    (Nicholas    Beaugenou),   (Pierre   Caillon),    Gilles   Che- 
min,    (Pierre     Roy),    Belisle,    (Francois     Henrion),     (Louis 
Ride),  >S.  S.  Martigny,  (John   B.  Provercher),  Francois    De- 
noyers,  (Joseph  St.  Francois),  (Charles  Routier),  (Louis  Bis- 
|  sonnet),    (Alexis   Picart),    (Antoine   Roussel),   John    Baptiste 
:   Ortes,  Joseph    Chancellier,  G.   R.  Gerame,  (Ignace   Laroehe), 
(Francis  Hebert),  (Falardeau),  Michel  Lamq,  Louis  Vaclard, 
A.  A.  Conde,  (Pierre  Lapointe),  (Nicholas  Royer),  (Antoine 
Ladouceur),    (Joseph    Chartrand),    (Paul    Getard),    (Joseph 
Calve),  J.  B.  Sarpy,  Alexis   Marie,  Laclede  Liguest,  Jacques 
Chauvin,  Antoine  Reehle,  Laville,  Pedro  Piernas. 

Pierre  Baron,  the  contractor,  died  on  the  10th  of 
October  following,  and  as  there  was  no  one  to  repre- 
sent him  in  the  continuation  of  the  work,  the  inhab- 
itants assembled  at  the  Government  Hall,  by  order  of 
the  Lieutenant-Governor,  Francisco  Cruzat,  on  the 
28th  of  January,  1776,  to  award  the  contract.  At 
this  meeting  it  was  unanimously  agreed  that  the  work 
already  begun  should  proceed,  and  that  it  should  be 
let  out  to  the  lowest  bidder,  who  was  to  be  bound  by 
the  original  specifications.  Juan  or  Jean  Cambas 
proved  to  be  the  lowest  bidder,  at  the  sum  of  fourteen 
hundred  and  eighty  livres,  in  shaved  deer-skins,  with 
the  condition  that  the  building  should  be  completed 
by  the  end  of  the  month  of  May  of  the  current  year. 

The  contract  was  signed  by Tardif,  J.  B.  Ortes, 

A.  Bernard,  Sarpy,  Conde,  Dubreuil,  Benito  Peril, 
Amable  Guion,  Rene  Kiercereaux,  Ene.  Barre  Lajoy, 
William  Duralde,  Cambas,  J.  Motard,  Francisco 
Cruzat. 

Exactly  at  what  time  the  work  was  finished  does 
not  appear,  but  the  building  was  evidently  occupied 
not  long  after  the  date  set  for  its  completion.  It 
stood  very  near  the  site  of  the  present  Cathedral,  on 
what  was  then  "  the  north  half  of  the  church  block 
(No.  59),"  and  attached  to  it  was  a  cemetery.  Speak- 
ing of  the  old  church  and  parsonage,  Judge  Wilson 


RELIGIOUS  DENOMINATIONS. 


1651 


Primm,  m  an  address  before  the  Missouri  Historical 
Society,  said, — • 

"My  recollection  of  these  buildings  is  very  distinct.  The 
gallery  around  the  church,  supported  by  cedar  posts,  notched 
and  whittled  by  the  village  urchins,  the  swallow's  nest  under 
the  eaves,  the  little  belfry  and  its  bell,  always  rung  by  old 
Alexis  Lalande  (the  bedenu),  bell-ringer,  at  morning,  noon,  and 
sunset,  all  these  are  at  this  moment  as  present  to  me  as  they 
were  nearly  half  a  century  ago. 

"When  that  old  church  was  demolished  in  1820,  I  think  its 
bell  was  sent  to  Carondelet,  for  the  use  of  the  church  there,  and 
is  still  to  be  found  there  in  the  belfry  of  the  school-house  of  the 
Christian  Brothers.  In  St.  Mary's  Church  at  Carondelet  can 
still  be  found  the  remains  of  the  pews  and  benches  which  were 
used  in  the  old  church  at  St.  Louis." 

In  the  summer  of  1776  a  project  for  the  erection 
of  a  parochial  residence  was  set  on  foot,  and  on  the 
1st  of  September  of  that  year  a  meeting  of  the  inhab- 
itants was  held  for  the  purpose  of  deciding  on  the 
character  of  the  structure,  its  cost,  etc.  The  official 
record  of  this  meeting,  translated  from  the  Spanish 
archives,  is  as  follows  : 

"  Agreement  of  the  inhabitants  of  St.  Louis  to  build  a  per- 
manent residence  for  the  curate  of  the  parish,  Sept.  1,  1776. 

"On  this  day,  the  first  of  the  month  of  September,  one  thou- 
sand seven  hundred  and  seventy-six,  at  the  close  of  the  high 
mass  at  this  parish  of  St.  Louis,  the  inhabitants  thereof  assem- 
bled in  the  old  parsonage  house,  in  the  presence  of  the  Lieu-  ; 
tenant-Governor  Don  Frans.  Cruzat,  to  consider  the  expediency 
of  building  a  new  residence  for  the  occupation  of  the  reverend 
father  officiating  in  this  parish. 

"  Being  assembled,  they  agreed  unanimously  that  said  new 
residence  should  be  built  of  stone,  of  the  dimensions  of  forty- 
five  feet  in  length  by  twenty-seven  feet  in  width,  to  be  com- 
menced in  the  coming  spring  and  carried  on  without  interrup- 
tion to  its  completion,  the  Reverend  Father  Bernard,  the  present 
incumbent  of  the  parish,  offering  to  contribute  the  sum  of  four  ', 
hundred  and  thirty-seven  livres  in  peltries  to  aid  in  its  con-   i 
struction,  which  sum  had  been  furnished  him  at  New  Orleans 
in  the  payment  of  his  passage  from  that  place  to  St.  Louis. 
Jean  Cambas  and  John  Ortes,  carpenters,  were  appointed  as 
trustees  to  receive  the  materials  and  make  such  equitable  .as-   ; 
sessments  upon  each  person  according  to  his  ability  to  pay,  and 
to  give  to  each  individual  a  receipt  for  his  assessment,  which 
he  must  produce  to  avoid  being  called  upon  a  second  time;  said 
house  to  be  built  with  mortar  made  of  clay,  and  all  the  timbers 
in  the  old  house  shall  be  used  in  the  construction  of  the  new  i 
one  so  far  as  they  -are  suitable  for  the  purpose. 

"The  assessment  to  be  made,  as  in  the  case  of  the  church, 
upon  all  persons  exceeding  the  age  of  fourteen,  without  any 
exception. 

"  It  is  so  understood  and  ordered.     St.  Louis,  this  1st  day  of  ' 
September,    1776.      L.    Chevalier,    Labusciere,   S.    Labbadie, 
Tayon,  A.  Condo,  Peret,  Motard,  Barada,  Benito,  Terraute,  J. 
Conaud,  Becquct,  Hebert,  Poure,  A.  Berard,  Joseph  Labrosse,   | 
Dubreuil,  Picote  de  Belestre,  Pothier,  Cliauvin,  Law  Gagner,1 
Sans  Soucy,1  Rondeau,1  Baccaunet,1  Jacques  Labbe,1  Francois  ' 
Bissonnet,1    Am.   Guion,    Laclede    Liguest,   Father    Bernard,   ! 
curate. 

"  FRANCISCO    ClUiZAT. 


1  "  His  mark." 


"  Specifications  in  the  Contract. — The  house,  thirty-eight  feet 
long  by  twenty-seven  wide  and  thirteen  high,  to  be  built  of 
stone  with  earth  mortar,  one  and  a  half  feet  in  the  ground;  a 
pent-house  or  shed  at  end  of  ten  feet  wide  and  of  the  length 
of  the  gable  end,  twenty-seven  feet,  to  be  six  and  one-half  feet 
high  ;  the  floor  to  be  four  feet  above  ground,  and  the  upper  floor 
eight  and  one-half  feet  above  the  lower,  with  a  partition  wall,  to 
make  a  parlor  and  a  chamber ;  the  walls  of  the  house  to  be  two 
feet  thick  below  the  floor,  and  eighteen  inches  above,  the  par- 
tition wall  one  foot  thick;  a  front  and  rear  door  to  the  parlor 
and  two  windows,  two  doors  between  the  parlor  and  chamber, 
and  three  windows  in  the  chamber,  one  front,  rear,  and  end ; 
two  cellar  doors  and  a  small  window  in  the  loft;  a  double  chim- 
ney between  the  parlor  and  shed,  and  a  flue  in  the  partition 
wall ;  a  door  and  two  windows  to  the  pent-house;  square  gables 
with  a  small  window.  After  the  floors  are  laid  the  house  to  be 
rough-cast  and  whitewashed,  and  the  hearth  laid  by  the  con- 
tractor for  the  stone-work,  who  will  furnish  his  own  help  and 
deliver  it  ready  to  receive  the  roof  by  the  8th  day  of  Septem- 
ber next,  under  the  penalty  of  forfeiting  two  hundred  livres  of 
his  compensation;  and  if  before  the  expiration  of  the  said  term 
he  should  abandon  the  contract,  he  will  forfeit  all  his  labor  done 
to  that  period,  except  in  case  of  sickness,  to  be  certified  by  the 
surgeon.  The  contractor  is  also  to  furnish  himself  with  every- 
thing necessary,  his  own  tools,  scaffolding,  ropes,  barrels,  mor- 
tar, picks  and  shovels,  in  a  word,  all  he  may  require  to  complete 
his  job.  Payment  will  be  made  in  the  course  of  the  next  spring 
(1778),  in  peltries  at  the  current  rate,  and  will  also  receive  from 
the  Reverend  Father  Bernard  one  hundred  livres  in  peltries  at 
the  completion  of  his  work,  part  of  the  amount  he  is  to  con- 
tribute." 

According  to  the  custom  of  the  day,  the  letting  of  the  work 
was  proclaimed  at  the  church  door,  after  high  mass  at  noon,  for 
three  successive  Sundays,  June  15,  22,  and  29, 1777,  and  on  this 
last  day  was  awarded  to  the  following  parties  as  the  lowest  bid- 
ders for  the  same : 
"  The  stone-work  as  described  in  the  specifications, 

to  Benito  Basquez  for 1400  livres. 

"The  carpenters'  work,  including  the  timber  and 
lumber,  joists,  rafters,  shingled  roof  with  iron 
nails,  frames  for  eight  doors,  eight  windows, 

etc.,  to  Francois  Delan  for 550 

"  The  joiners'  work,  laying  floors,  two  board  parti- 
tions, doors,  windows  with  sashes  and  shutters, 
putting  on  fastenings,  etc.,  to  Joseph  Verdan 
for 299  " 

Total 2249      " 

•'  In  presence  of  FRANCISCO  CRUZAT. 

"AXTOINK    CUTIAN, 

"  ROQUES  JACINTO,  Corporals. 
"  COTLIN,  Constable." 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  name  of  Chouteau  does 
not  appear  in  the  list  of  signers  to  the  agreements  for 
erecting  the  church,  nor  in  that  for  building  the  par- 
sonage. He  was  probably  away  among  the  Indians. 

On  the  arrival  of  Bishop  Dubourg  at  St.  Louis  in 
1818,  he  found  the  wooden  church  in  a  dilapidated 
condition,  or,  to  quote  the  language  of  Father  De 
Andreis,  one  of  the  priests  who  accompanied  him, 
"  falling  into  ruins."  He  determined  at  once  to 
begin  the  construction  of  a  new  church  of  brick, 
the  first  Cathedral  of  St.  Louis,  and  on  the  29th  of 


1652 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


March,  1818,  less  than  three  months  after  the 
bishop's  arrival,  the  first  stone  was  laid  by  Bishop 
Dubourg.  This  stone  is  described  as  having  been 
"  hollowed  in  the  form  of  a  chest  to  contain  and  pre- 
serve to  the  latest  generations  the  names  of  benefac- 
tors, coins  of  various  descriptions,  and  some  memoirs 
of  the  present  time."  Notice  had  previously  been 
given  (March  6th)  to  stone-masons,  bricklayers,  and 
carpenters  that  the  work  was  about  to  be  begun,  and  the 
construction  of  the  edifice  proceeded  until  its  comple- 
tion in  the  spring  of  1820,  announcement  being  made 
on  the  15th  of  March  of  that  year  that  the  Cathedral 
would  be  opened  for  divine  service  in  April,  probably 
at  Easter.  On  the  27th  of  August,  1823,  an  ad- 
vertisement appeared  in  the  Missouri  Republican, 
in  which  it  was  stated  that  John  K.  Walker  had 
been  appointed  trustee  to  conduct  the  sale  of  so 
much  of  that  part  of  the  ground  on  which  the 
Catholic  Church  stood,  situated  south  of  the  church 
and  south  of  the  graveyard  appurtenant  thereto,  as 
would  be  needed  to  raise  the  sum  of  four  thousand 
five  hundred  dollars,  for  the  purpose  of  repaying  to 
Auguste  Chouteau  and  others,  commissioners  of  the 
Catholic  Church,  money  which  they  had  advanced 
on  account  of  the  church. 

The  new  church  was  located  south  of  the  present 
Cathedral,  and  had  considerable  pretensions  to  archi- 
tectural effect.  It  was  first  used  for  service  on  Christ- 
mas-day, 1819,  though  not  then  finished.  During 
his  European  tour  in  1815,  Bishop  Dubourg  had 
been  presented  by  generous  Catholics  with  many  rich 
and  rare  gifts,  among  which  are  mentioned  a  large 
painting  of  St.  Louis,  the  tutelary  saint  of  the  Ca- 
thedral, a  gift  from  Louis  XVIII.  of  France;  ancient 
and  precious  gold  embroideries,  and  a  large  and  hand- 
some organ,  sent  to  the  church  by  the  Baroness  Le 
Caudele  de  Ghysegheru,  a  Flemish  lady. 

The  present  Cathedral,  situated  on  the  north  side 
of  Walnut  Street,  between  Second  and  Third  Streets, 
Rev.  Miles  W.  Tobyn,  pastor,  was  erected  at  the  sug- 
gestion and  mainly  through  the  efforts  of  Bishop 
Rosatti,  who,  on  Sunday,  March  28,  1830,  requested 
from  the  pulpit  that  the  congregation  should  hold  a 
meeting  at  an  early  day  and  adopt  measures  for  build- 
ing a  new  church.  Accordingly,  on  the  4th  of  April, 
1830,  a  meeting  was  held,  at  which  the  bishop  pre- 
sided, and  Marie  Philip  Leduc  acted  as  secretary. 
Among  those  present  were  Judge  Wilson  Primm, 
Capt.  Elihu  H.  Shepard,  and  Hon.  John  F.  Darby. 
A  subscription  was  immediately  raised.  Bishop  Ro- 
satti contributing  eight  thousand  dollars.  The  dead 
having  been  removed  from  the  old  cemetery  in  order 
to  provide  a  site  for  the  building,  the  corner-stone  was 


laid  on  the  1st  of  August,  1831,  and  on  the  26th  of 
October,  1834,1  the  edifice  was  consecrated  "  to  the 
honor  of  the  most  Holy  Trinity,  under  the  invocation 
of  Saint  Louis  of  France,"  by  the  Right  Rev.  Joseph 
Rosatti,  Bishop  of  St.  Louis,  assisted  by  the  Bishops 
of  Bardstown  and  Cincinnati.2 

Though  erected  almost  in  the  infancy  of  the  diocese 
of  St.  Louis,  the  Cathedral  is  a  noble  and  imposing 
structure,  conspicuous  for  the  symmetry  and  beauty 
of  its  architecture.  The  length  of  the  whole  building 
is  one  hundred  and  thirty-six  feet  and  its  breadth 
eighty-four.  The  front  is  of  polished  freestone,  and 
rises  to  a  height  of  fifty  feet,  the  fagade  being  broken 
by  a  portico  forty  feet  wide,  supported  by  four  Doric  col- 
umns, with  corresponding  entablature,  frieze,  cornice, 
and  pediment.  On  the  frieze  is  the  following  in- 
scription in  bas-relief:  "  In  honorem  S.  Ludovici. 
Deo  Uni  et  Trino.  Dicatum,  A.D.  MDCCCXXXIV." 
On  each  side  of  the  porch  is  inscribed,  both  in  Eng- 
lish and  French,  "  My  house  shall  be  called  the  house 
of  prayer."  There  are  three  entrances  from  the 
porch,  and  between  the  three  doors  and  three  cor- 
responding windows  are  three  slabs  of  Italian  marble, 
with  the  inscription,  Ecce  tabernaculum  Dei  cum 
hominibus,  et  habitabit  cum  eis,  a  text  taken  from 
the  twenty-first  chapter  of  the  Apocalypse,  and  which 
is  also  inscribed  in  French  and  English.  Originally  the 
porch  was  inclosed  by  an  iron  railing,  and  was  reached 
by  flights  of  steps  rising  from  the  east  and  west,  but  sub- 
sequently this  arrangement  was  changed,  and  a  flight 
of  steps  was  constructed  rising  from  the  pavement  the 
whole  length  of  the  porch.  The  cornice,  with  its 
frieze  and  entablature,  together  with  the  battlements, 
extends  along  the  front  to  the  corners  and  about 
twenty  feet  along  the  sides,  and  the  battlements  are 
surmounted  by  six  candelabra  about  nine  feet  in 
height. 

The  effect  of  this  fagade  is  simple  but  imposing. 
On  a  stone  tower,  forty  feet  in  height  above  the  pedi- 
ment and  twenty  feet  square,  rests  the  spire,  an  oc- 
tagon in  shape,  surmounted  by  a  gilt  ball  five  feet  in 
diameter,  from  which  rises  a  cross  of  brass  ten  feet 
high.  In  the  steeple  there  is  a  chime  of  six  bells, 
the  three  larger  ones  weighing  respectively  two  thou- 

1  The  last  stone  on  the  belfry  tower  is  said  to  have  been  placed 
in  position  by  a  colored  man  named  William  Johnson.     None 
of  the  workmen  cared  to  run  the  risk  of  performing  this  dan- 
gerous feat,  and  Johnson  volunteered  to  undertake  it.     He  ac- 
cordingly ascended  the  tower  and  fixed  the  stone  in  its  place, 
receiving  on  his  descent  the  congratulations  of  the  bishop. 

2  The  musical  portion  of  the  services  was  under  the  direction 
of  Professor  Marallano,  then  a  famous  teacher  in  St.  Louis,  who 
set  an  ode,  composed  by  one  of  the  city  priests,  and  a  hymn, 
"  written  by  a  local  bard,"  to  music  for  the  occasion. 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1653 


sand  six  hundred,  nineteen  hundred,  and  fifteen  hun- 
dred pounds,  having  been  made  in  Normandy,  and  a  ! 
large  clock,  constructed  in  Cincinnati,  which  indicates 
the  hours  on  the  four  sides  of  the  tower  and  strikes 
them  on  the  bells.     The  interior  is  divided  into  a 
nave  and  two  aisles  by  two  rows  of  five  columns  each 
on  either  side  of  the  nave.     These  columns  are  in  the  I 
Doric  style,  four  feet  in  diameter  and  twenty-six  feet  ! 
hio'h,  and  built  of  brick  covered  with  stucco.     The 

O       ' 

ceiling  is  elliptic,  and  is  divided  into  eighteen  richly- 
decorated  panels.  The  width  of  the  centre  aisle  is 
forty  feet  and  that  of  each  side  aisle  twenty  feet. 
Above  the  front  doors  are  two  galleries.  Beneath  j 
one  of  them  are  the  baptismal  fonts,  and  here  also 
hangs  a  beautiful  painting  of  the  Saviour's  baptism. 
The  sanctuary  is  forty  by  thirty  feet  in  size,  and  is  \ 
elevated  nine  steps  from  the  floor.  Its  sides  are  • 
adorned  with  pilasters  painted  in  imitation  of  marble, 
and  with  panels  decorated  with  festoons  of  ears  of 
wheat  and  vines,  symbolic  of  the  Holy  Eucharist. 
The  spaces  between  the  pilasters  are  occupied  by 
arches,  two  of  which  have  galleries,  one  for  the  use 
of  the  Sisters  of  Charity  and  the  other  for  the  use  of 
the  choir.  In  the  centre  of  the  sanctuary  is  the  altar, 
which  is  richly  and  beautifully  decorated.  The  altar- 
piece  is  a  large  painting,  representing  the  Crucifixion, 
on  either  side  of  which  are  two  fluted  Corinthian 
columns  of  blue  marble,  with  gilt  capitals  supporting 
a  rich  entablature,  which  is  surmounted  by  a  pedi- 
ment, broken  in  the  centre  to  admit  before  a  window, 
elliptical  in  shape,  a  transparent  painting  representing 
the  dove,  the  emblem  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  surrounded 
by  a  glory,  and  cherubs  appearing  in  the  clouds.  On 
the  top  of  the  pediment,  at  either  side,  the  figure  of 
an  angel  supports  the  tables  of  the  old  law  and  of  the 
gospel.  On  the  western  side  of  the  sanctuary,  in  an 
arch  near  the  balusters,  is  the  bishop's  chair,  with  a 
handsome  mahogany  canopy,  and  in  a  similar  arch 
just  opposite  is  a  valuable  painting, — a  portrait  of 
St.  Louis,  titular  saint  of  the  cathedral, — which  was 
presented  to  the  diocese  by  Louis  XVIII.  of  France. 
At  the  extremity  of  each  side  aisle  is  a  small 
chapel,  both  of  which  are  elevated  five  feet  above  the 
floor  of  the  church.  The  eastern  chapel  is  adorned 
by  an  altar-piece  representing  St.  Patrick  in  pontifi- 
cal robes.  Above  the  altar-piece  are  two  paintings, 
one  representing  the  centurion  kneeling  before  the 
Saviour,  and  said  to  be  by  Paul  Veronese ;  the  other 
the  marriage  of  the  Virgin  with  Joseph.  The  western 
chapel  has  for  its  altar-piece  a  picture  of  St.  Vincent 
de  Paul,  founder  of  the  Order  of  Sisters  of  Charity, 
rescuing  an  abandoned  child.  Near  the  side  doors 
are  two  other  valuable  paintings,  one  representing 
105 


the  martyrdom  of  St.  Bartholomew,  the  other  the 
Virgin  Mary  holding  the  infant  Jesus  in  her  arms. 
Beneath  the  side  altars  two  flights  of  steps  descend 
to  the  lower  chapel,  whose  dimensions  are  eighty- four 
by  thirty  feet.  The  organ  was  constructed  in  Cincin- 
nati at  a  cost  of  five  thousand  dollars,  and  is  placed  in 
a  loft  behind  the  altar  of  St.  Patrick,  communicating  with 
the  choir  gallery  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  sanctuary. 
On  either  side  of  the  church  are  seven  arched  windows 
eighteen  feet  high,  adorned  with  scenes  from  the  life 
of  the  Saviour.  The  interior  decoration  of  the  Cath- 
edral is  warm  and  attractive,  and  the  appearance  of  the 
ancient  edifice  on  festival  occasions  is  always  gorgeous 
and  imposing.  >•  In  the  rear  of  the  Cathedral  is  a  free 
school  building  under  the  charge  of  the  Sisters  of 
Loretto.  On  the  28th  of  April,  1871,  the  prelimi- 
nary steps  were  taken  for  the  incorporation  of  a 
society  having  for  its  object  the  erection  of  a  new 
Cathedral.  The  movement  was  inaugurated  under 
the  auspices  of  Archbishop  Kenrick,  Bishop  Ryan, 
and  Vicar-General  Muhlsiepen,  and  was  supported 
by  prominent  capitalists.  The  ground  upon  which  it 
was  contemplated  to  erect  the  building  was  City 
Block  915,  between  Twenty -second  and  Twenty-third 
Streets  and  Chestnut  and  Pine  Streets,  which  was 
secured  for  the  purpose  by  the  archbishop.  The 
association  was  composed  of  the  following  members : 
Most  Rev.  Archbishop  Kenrick ;  Very  Rev.  P.  J. 
Ryan,  coadjutor  bishop  ;  Very  Rev.  Henry  Muhl- 
siepen, vicar-general ;  James  H.  Lucas,  Henry  S. 
Turner,  Joseph  O'Neil,  John  Withnell,  Nicholas 
Schaeflfer,  H.  J.  Spaunhorst,  J.  B.  Ghio,  Bernard 
Crickhard,  M.  B.  Chambers,  Julius  S.  Walsh,  John 
Byrne,  Jr.,  Bernard  Slevin,  Charles  P.  Chouteau, 
Charles  Slevin,  James  Maguire,  and  Joseph  Garneau. 
A  certificate  of  incorporation  was  granted  to  these 
gentlemen  by  Judge  Lucas,  and  the  association  was 
incorporated  under  the  name  of  the  St.  Louis  Cathe- 
dral Building  Association.  Pending  the  erection  of 
the  new  building,  however,  the  venerable  edifice  of 
1834  continues  to  rear  its  massive  front,  and  with 
the  alterations  and  repairs  which  were  made  in  1876 
the  Cathedral  is  still  a  noble  and  imposing  house  of 
worship. 1 

1  The  Cathedral  was  entered  by  burglars  early  on  the  morn- 
ing of  Aug.  27,  1845,  but  they  only  succeeded  in  securing  the 
contents  of  several  charity  boxes,  amounting  in  all  to  abou 
twenty-five  dollars. 

On  the  first  Sunday  of  October,  1855,  the  first  Provincial 
Council  of  St.  Louis  was  opened  at  the  Cathedral  with  imposing 
ceremonies.  The  bishops  composing  the  Council  were  Arch- 
bishop Kenrick,  of  St.  Louis,  and  Bishops  Miles,  of  Nashville, 
O'Regan,  of  Chicago,  Henni,  of  Milwaukee,  Cretin,  of  Minne- 
sota, and  Loras,  of  Dubuque.  After  the  mass,  the  music  being 


1654 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


In  1876  the  Cathedral  was  repaired  and  the  inte- 
rior redecorated  under  the  direction  of  T.  W.  Brady, 
architect.  The  exterior,  with  the  exception  of  the 
steeple,  which  underwent  extensive  improvements, 
was  left  unchanged.  The  entire  interior  was  painted 
and  frescoed  by  George  Couch  and  Charles  F.  Krue- 
ger,  gray  being  the  prevailing  tint  of  the  background, 
relieved  by  rich  but  quiet  ornamentation.  The  spaces 
between  the  windows  were  adorned  with  .figures  (more- 
than  life-size)  of  St.  Malachi,  St.  Boniface,  St.  Pat- 
rick, St.  Ignatius,  St.  Francis  de  Sales,  St.  Kevin,  St. 
Lawrence  O'Toole,  and  St.  Bridget.  The  walls  of  the 
sanctuary  were  likewise  adorned  with  figures  of  St. 
Louis,  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,  and  other  saints.  The 
old  paintings,  "  The  Descent  from  the  Cross,"  and 
"  St.  Louis  at  his  Devotions,"  which  had  been  familiar 
to  frequenters  of  the  church  for  many  years,  remained 
in  their  accustomed  places,  and  were  brought  out  in 
clearer  relief  by  the  added  freshness  and  brightness 
of  their  surroundings.  The  year  1876  being  the 
centennial  year  of  the  foundation  of  the  parish,  a 
meeting  was  held  at  the  parochial  residence  July 
llth,  and  the  following  resolution  was  adopted: 

"  Whereat,  Our  country  is  ringing  throughout  its  length  and 
breadth  with  the  shouts  of  our  citizens  for  this,  the  hundredth 
anniversary  of  our  political  independence;  and,  whereas,  this 
year  is  the  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  foundation  of  the 
Cathedral  parish;  therffore  be  it  Resolved,  That  in  this  two- 
fold centennial  we  celebrate  with  all  the  pomp  we  can  the  feast 
of  our  church  on  August  27th." 

rendered  by  a  choir  whose  leading  members  were  Miss  Julia 
Pratte,  Mrs.  Ringling,  Miss  Maginnis,  Dr.  Boisliniere,  and  Mr. 
Young,  Rev.  Father  Murphy,  vice-provincial  of  the  Society 
of  Jesus,  preached  the  sermon. 

The  promoter  of  the  Council  was  Very  Rev.  J.  Duggan,  V.  G. ; 
notary,  Rev.  E.  Saulnier;  secretary,  Rev.  J.  Banino;  master 
of  ceremony,  Rev.  P.  J.  Ryan  ;  theologians  of  the  archbishop 
and  bishops,  Rev.  P.  Patschouski,  Rev.  E.  Rolando,  Rev.  Father 
Feehan,  Rev.  P.  O'Brien,  Rev.  P.  J.  Ryan,  Rev.  E.  Vignonet, 
Rev.  J.  Iligginbotham,  Rev.  P.  de  Sinet,  Rev.  A.  Damen, 
Rev.  P.  Larkin,  Rev.  J.  Heis?,  Rev.  W.  Wheeler,  Rev.  J.  Vil- 
lars,  Rev.  P.  R.  Donelly. 

Very  Rev.  D.  Masenou  represented  the  Lazarist  religious 
congregation  ;  Very  Rev.  Father  Murphy,  the  Jesuits  ;  Rev.  Vin- 
cent Smyth,  the  Trappists;  Rev.  E.  Jarboe,  the  Dominicans; 
and  Rev.  S.  A.  Paris,  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph. 

On  the  3d  of  May,  1857,  the  Cathedral  was  the  scene  of 
another  imposing  ceremony,  the  consecration  of  the  Right  Rev. 
James  Duggan,  Bishop  of  Antigone  iu  partibus  iiifiJelium, 
to  be  Coadjutor  Bishop  of  Chicago,  with  right  of  succession, 
and  the  Right  Rev.  Clement  Smyth,  Bishop  of  Appanasia  in 
parlilms,  to  be  coadjutor  of  the  Bishop  of  Dubuque;  and  again 
in  Miiy,  1  859,  the  occasion  being  the  consecration  of  Right  Rev. 
Dr.  AVhelan  as  coadjutor  to  the  Bishop  of  Nashville,  and  Right 
Rev.  Dr.  O'Gorman  as  Vicar  Apostolic  of  Nebraska.  The  cere- 
mony was  performed  by  Archbishop  Kenri'ck,  assisted  by 
Bishops  Miege,  of  Kansas,  and  Junker,  of  Alton.  Bishop  Smyth, 
of  Dubuque,  preached  the  sermon.  Bishop  Duggan,  of  Chicago, 
also  participated  in  the  services. 


A  committee  consisting  of  Rev.  David  J.  Doherty 
and  John  H.  O'Neill  was  appointed  at  the  same  meet- 
ing for  the  purpose  of  preparing  from  such  data  as 
were  procurable  an  address  to  the  parishioners  and 
people  of  St.  Louis,  which  should  embody  a  history 
of  the  Cathedral  parish,  and  which  should  be  pub- 
lished in  pamphlet  form.  In  accordance  with  these 
instructions  the  address  was  prepared  and  published, 
and  the  centennial  services  at  the  Cathedral  were 
held  Aug.  27,  1876.  The  front  of  the  building  was 
trimmed  with  evergreens  in  honor  of  the  occasion, 
and  an  immense  assemblage  was  attracted  to  the 
scene.  Among  those  present  inside  the  building,  to 
which  entrance  was  only  to  be  obtained  by  means  of 
cards  of  admission,  were  Judge  Wilson  Primm,  who 
many  years  before  had  been  leader  of  the  Cathedral 
choir,  Senator  Bogy,  Col.  J.  0.  Broadhead,  Hon. 
Thomas  E.  Reynolds,  Capt.  Thorwegen,  John  F. 
Gibbons,  and  Col.  A.  W.  Slayback.  The  altars  were 
ablaze  with  light,  and  the  decorations  unusually  rich 
and  brilliant.  High  above  the  altar,  in  letters  formed 
by  gas-jets,  was  the  inscription,  Gloria  in  Excekis 
Deo.  The  orchestra  opened  the  services  with  the 
prelude  to  a  mass  by  Giorza,  and  the  procession  of 
clergy  marched  into  the  sanctuary.  It  was  composed 
of  three  acolytes,  twenty-five  priests  and  monks,  and 
three  bishops.  The  grand  high  mass  was  celebrated  by 
Right  Rev.  Bishop  Ryan,  with  Very  Rev.  H.  Muehl- 
siepen,  V.  G.,  as  archdeacon  of  honor;  Rev.  Joseph 
Henry,  of  St.  Lawrence  O'Toole's,  as  deacon;  Rev. 
j  P.  L.  McEvoy,  of  St.  Kevin's,  as  sub-deacon  ;  and 
Rev.  C.  Smith  as  master  of  ceremonies. 

In  the  sanctuary  were  the  following  clergymen : 
Right  Rev.  Bishop  Hennessy,  of  Dubuque,  attended 
by  Rev.  Andrew  Eustace,  of  St.  Michael's  ;  Right 
Rev.  Bishop  Hogan,  of  St.  Joseph,  attended  by  Rev. 
William  Walsh,  of  St.  Bridget's;  Very  Rev.  P.  J. 
O'Halloran,  V.  G.,  of  East  St.  Louis;  Rev.  T.  M. 
Keilty,  of  the  Holy  Angels ;  Rev.  P.  P.  Brady,  of  the 
Annunciation ;  Rev.  M.  Reilly,  of  St.  Columbkill's ; 
Rev.  R.  Hayes,  of  St.  Lawrence  ;  Rev.  T.  Hanlon,  of 
St.  Michael's  ;  Rev.  M.  W.  Tobyn,  pastor  of  Cathedral 
parish;  Rev.  George  Watson,  Rev.  D.  S.  Phelan,  of 
St.  Aloysius ;  Rev.  Father  Maurice ;  Rev.  Fathers 
Rosenbauer,  Murphy,  and  Luytelaar,  of  St.Alphonsus'; 
Rev.  E.  Fenlon,  of  St.  Bridget's ;  Rev.  H.  Kelly,  of 
Cheltenham  ;  Rev.  T.  Burke,  of  St.  Vincent's  ;  Rev. 
G.  Powers,  of  St.  John's;  Rev.  M.  Brennan,  of  St. 
Malachi's ;  Rev.  P.  Morrissey,  of  the  Annunciation  ; 
Rev.  F.  Ward,  S.J.,  College  Church ;  Rev.  Father 
Servatius,  O.S.F. ;  Brother  Virgil,  of  the  Christian 
Brothers. 

The  music,  under  the  direction  of  Professor  Campi, 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1655 


was  very  fine,  the  choir  being  composed  of  the  fol- 
lowing :  Misses  Peake,  Pomarede,  Overstolz,  Whip- 
pie,  E.  Schumacher,  B.  Schumacher,  De  Kalb,  Mul- 
holland,  De  Campi,  and  Keller,  Mrs.  Coester,  Mrs. 
Kreiter,  and  Mrs.  Johnson,  and  Messrs.  Allman, 
Diehm,  A.  Wiseman,  J.  Wiseman,  Singer,  Dierkes, 
Schraubstadter,  Sexton,  Overstolz,  and  Field. 

Just  before  the  delivery  of  the  sermon,  Father 
Doherty  read  a  statement  of  the  cost  of  the  repairs 
to  the  Cathedral,  which  had  just  been  completed. 
The  renovation  of  the  roof  and  steeple,  he  said,  had 
cost  $2618,  the  remodeling  and  repair  of  the  win- 
dows $1100,  the  renovation  and  fresco-work  in  the 
interior  $2600,  making  a  total  of  $6318.  The  amount 
already  paid  on  this  score,  together  with  the  cash  still 
on  hand  for  that  purpose,  was  $3300,  leaving  the  con- 
siderable sum  of  $3000  still  to  be  raised.  It  was 
this  fact  which  led  to  the  adoption  of  the  plan  of 
selling  seats  for  the  celebration,  and  it  was  this  which 
also  determined  the  finance  committee  to  take  up  a 
collection.  They  did  this,  added  Father  Doherty, 
with  a  full  realization  of  the  fact  that  there  were  few 
St.  Louisans,  either  Catholic  or  Protestant,  who  did 
not  love  the  very  stones  of  which  the  old  Cathedral 
was  built. 

Rev.  G.  Powers,  of  St.  John's  Church,  then  deliv- 
ered the  sermon,  his  text  being  taken  from  the  twenty- 
first  chapter  of  St.  John's  Apocalypse,  in  which  occur 
the  words,  Ecce  tabernaculum  Dei  cum  hominibus, 
et  h<ili!t<it  cum  eis  ("  Behold  the  tabernacle  of  God 
with  men,  and  He  will  dwell  with  them"),  inscribed  on 
the  mural  slab  over  the  main  entrance  to  the  church. 
After  the  sermon  the  collection  referred  to  by  Father 
Doherty  was  taken  up. 

At  the  close  of  the  mass  the  altar  was  rearranged 
and  the  service  of  the  benediction  followed,  Bishop 
Ryan  still  officiating.  After  the  benediction  the  or- 
ohrstra  and  chorus  rendered  with  grand  effect  Haydn's 
"  Te  Deum  Laudamus,"  with  which  the  exercises 

closed. 

• 

PASTORS  OP  CATHEDRAL  PARISH. — On  a  pre- 
vious page  we  have  given  the  succession  of  early 
pastors  a'nd  priests  who  officiated  in  the  Cathedral 
parish,  but  for  purposes  of  reference  we  recapitulate 
them  here. 

List  of  priests  who  officiated  in  St.  Louis  from  the 
foundation  of  the  city  up  to  about  the  time  of  Bishop 
Dubourg's  arrival : 

Fathers  Meurin,  from  May,  1766,  to  Feb.  7,  1769;  Gibault, 
June,  1770,  to  January,  177-';  Valentin,  May,  1772,  to  June, 
1775;  Meurin,  Oct.  4  and  5,  1776;  Hilaire,  March  19,  1776; 
Bernard,  Mny,  1776,  to  1789;  Ledru,  November,  1789,  to  Sep- 
tember, 1793;  Didier,  December,  1793,  to  April,  1799  ;  Lusson 
and  Maxwell,  July,  1798,  to  May,  1799;  Lusson,  March  23, 


1799,  to  March  23,1800;  Janin,  April  6,  1800,  to  Nov.  12, 1804; 
Maxwell,  March  2  to  May  29,  1806;  Olivier,  Sept.  14  and  15, 
1806;  Flynn,  Nov.  9,  1806,  to  June  2,  1808;  Maxwell,  June  5 
and  8,  1808  ;  Guillet,  July  20  to  Aug.  26,  1808;  Dunand,  Dec. 
23,  1808,  to  Jan.  18,  1809;  Guillet,  Dec.  24  to  31,  1809;  Ber- 
nard, Feb.  6  to  July  13,  1810;  Maxwell,  July  30,  1810;  Du- 
nand, Aug.  5,  1810;  Maxwell,  Aug.  12  to  15,  1810;  Guillet, 
Nov.  2,  1810,  to  June  23,1811;  Dunand,  July  30,  1811,  to  Aug. 
2,  1811;  Guillet,  Aug.  9,  1811,  to  Dec.  1,  1811;  Savigne,  Dec. 
11,  1811,  to  Sept.  15,  1812;  Dunand,  Nov.  10,  1812;  Savigne, 
Feb.  11,1813;  Dunand  and  Savigne,  March  14,  1813;  Dunand, 
March  17,  1813;  Savigne,  May  12,  1813,  to  Oct.  3,  1817. 

In  January,  1818,  there  arrived,  in  company  with 
Bishop  Dubourg,  Rev.  Fathers  De  Andreis,  Rosatti 
(afterwards  Bishop  of  St.  Louis),  Acqueroni,  Ferrari, 
and  Carretti,  and  these  priests  officiated  at  the  Cathe- 
dral and  labored  in  the  parish.  Up  to  1826  the  fol- 
lowing additional  clergymen  officiated  from  time  to 
time  at  the  Cathedral :  Fathers  Pratte,  De  Neckere 
(afterwards  Bishop  of  New  Orleans),  Cellini,  Saulnier, 
Neil,  Damen,  Titchitoli,  and  Jean-Jean.  During 
the  administration  of  Father  Rosatti,  from  1824 
to  1843,  many  priests  officiated  at  the  Cathedral, 
among  them  being  Fathers  Timon  (afterwards  Bishop 
of  Buffalo),  Lutz,  Loisel,  Verhaegen,  S.J.,  Doutre. 

i  lingue,  Paguin  (afterwards  sent  to  the  mission  of 
Texas,  where  he  died  of  yellow  fever),  Roux,  Conda- 
mine,  Borgua,  Lefevre  (afterwards  Bishop  of  Detroit), 

1  Tucker,  St.  Cyr  (now  over  seventy-two  years  of  age, 
blind,  and  an  inmate  of  the  Convent  of  St.  Joseph, 

J  in  South  St.  Louis),  Fontbonne,  Jamison,  Fischer, 

!  Odin  (later  Archbishop  of  New  Orleans),  P.  R.  Don- 
elly,  Hamilton,  and  others. 

In  1847  the  Cathedral  received  its  crowning  honor 
by  being  made  a  metropolitan  church,  Bishop  Kenrick 
being  raised  to  the  archiepiscopacy.  Under  him, 
during  the  earlier  days,  served  Fathers  Lutz,  Saulnier, 
Carroll,  Cotter  (who  was  killed  while  attending  a  sick 
call  in  Washington  County),  Paris,  and  Heim.  The 
epitaph  on  the  grave  of  Father  Heim  in  Calvary  Cem- 
etery tells  that  he  was  "  The  Priest  of  the  Poor." 
In  1861  the  Redemptorist  Fathers  arrived  in  St.  Louis 
on  invitation  of  the  archbishop,  and  had  charge  of 
the  Cathedral  until  1868,  when  they  removed  to  their 
own  beautiful  St.  Alphonsus  Church. 

In  addition  to  those  already  mentioned  who  have 

:  left  the   Cathedral   to   become  bishops  are   Fathers 
Feehan,  Hennessy,  Duggan,  Hogan,  and  Ryan. 
The  first  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  Society  on  the  banks 

j  of  the  Mississippi,  and  perhaps  the  first  in  America, 
was  organized  Nov.  20,  1845,  the  first  meeting  being 
held  in  the  little  school-house  on  Second  Street,  at- 
tached to  the  Cathedral,  a  building  afterwards  de- 
stroyed by  the  great  fire  of  1849.  The  second  meet- 
ing was  held  on  the  27th  of  the  same  month.  Among 


1656 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


the  first  members  were  Bryan  Mullanphy,  Father 
Heim,  Father  John  O'Neil,  John  Haverty,  John 
Everhart,  John  Ennis,  John  Dorack,  Robert  Mitchell, 
Joseph  O'Neil,  Michael  O'Keefe,  Dr.  Linton,  Dr. 
O'Loughlin,  James  Maguire,  John  Byrne,  Jr.,  Dennis 
Galvin,  John  Amend,  Francis  Saler,  and  Joseph 
Murphy.  Prominent  among  these  were  the  venerable 
Father  Heim  and  Judge  Mullanphy,  who  were  prac- 
tically the  founders  of  the  organization.  John  Hav- 
erty and  Robert  Mitchell  also  became  very  active  in 
the  subsequent  work  of  the  society. 

St.  Francis  Xavier  Church,  otherwise  known  as 
the  "  College  Church,"  was  the  sixth  in  the  series  of 
structures  erected  by  the  Jesuits  in  charge  of  St.  Louis 
University.     It  was  located  on  the  lot  originally  given 
by  Jeremiah   Conner  to  Bishop  Rosatti  for  college 
purposes,  and  made  over  by  the  bishop  to  the  Jesuits 
in  1828.     The  corner-stone  was  laid  in  the  spring  of 
1840,  Rev.  G.  A.  Carrell,  afterwards  president  of  the 
university,  addressing  the  people  from  the  eastern 
balcony  of  the  college,  and  the  building  was  dedicated 
and  occupied  on  Palm  Sunday,  1843.     It  is  a  sub- 
stantial brick  structure,  Romanesque  in  style,  with 
sixty -seven  feet  front  on  Ninth  Street  by  one  hundred 
and  twenty-seven  feet  on  Christy  Avenue,  extending 
back  to  the  eastern  end  of  the  old  college  building. 
It  has  a  large  basement,  in  which  the  parochial  school 
was  conducted  until  its  removal,  in  1846,  to  a  house 
built  expressly  for  it.     On  the  19th  of  May,  1851, 
the  church  was  transferred  by  the  vice-provincial  of 
the  Society  of  Jesus  in  Missouri  to  the  control  of 
the  St.  Louis  University,  which  assumed  an  uncan- 
celed  debt  on  the  building  of  thirty-eight  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.     The  church  has  a 
seating  capacity  of  three  thousand,  and  is  often  filled 
to  its  utmost  capacity,  people  from  all  parts  of  the  city 
making  up  the  congregations.     The  interior  is  impo- 
sing and  richly  decorated,  and  its  walls  are  hung  with 
paintings,  many  of  which  are  considered  to  be  of  great 
value.     Among  the  interesting  incidents  connected 
with  the  history  of  this  church  were  the  consecration, 
Feb.  11,  1849,  of  Father  J.  Van  de  Velde,  Bishop  of 
Chicago,  on  which  occasion  the  officiating  clergy  were 
Archbishop    Kenrick,   Bishop    Loras,   of   Dubuque ; 
Bishop  Mills,  of  Nashville  ;  and  Bishop  De  St.  Palais, 
of  Vincennes,  and  the  consecration,  March  25,  1851, 
of  Father  Meige,  Bishop  of  Kansas.     At  the  latter 
ceremony  Archbishop  Kenrick  and   the   Bishops  of 
Vincennes  and  Chicago  officiated. 

The  services  in  commemoration  of  the  Golden  Ju- 
bilee of  the  university  on  the  26th  of  June,  1879, 
were  also  conspicuous  among  the  imposing  ceremonies 
which  have  been  held  from  time  to  time  in  this  church. 


The  rectors  or  presidents  of  the  university  have 
always  been  ex  officio  pastors  of  the  church.  They 
have  had  for  assistants,  since  1843,  Fathers  George  A. 
Carrell  (afterwards  Bishop  of  Covington,Ky.),  Arnold 
Damen,  Cornelius  F.  Smarius,1  John  O'Neil,  Michael 
Corbett,  Edward  Higgins,  Patrick  J.  Ward,  the  pres- 
ent assistant  pastor.  The  principal  societies  connected 
with  the  church  are  the  Young  Men's,  St.  Joseph's, 
Young  Ladies',  and  St.  Anne's  Sodalities.  There  are 
two  Sunday-schools,  attended,  in  the  aggregate,  by 
twenty-eight  teachers  and  eight  hundred  scholars. 

THE  YOUNG  MEN'S  SODALITY  was  instituted  by 
Rev.  Arnold  Damen,  S.  J..  in  1846.  under  the  protec- 
tion of  the  Virgin.  The  first  sodality,  after  which 
all  the  others  are  patterned,  was  organized  in  Rome  in 
1563,  by  Father  John  Leonius,  S.J.,  then  a  teacher 
in  the  Roman  College.  It  consisted  at  first  of  youths, 
who  were  placed  under  the  special  protection  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  but  it  found  favor  with  Pope  Gregory 
XIII.,  who  by  an  encyclical  letter  in  1584  gave  it  the 
papal  sanction,  and  commended  its  example  to  the 
Catholic  world,  vesting  powers  of  direction  and  indul- 
gences in  the  Jesuits  who  should  establish  branches. 
From  this  beginning  sodalities  have  been  organized 
wherever  the  Society  of  Jesus  has  colleges  or  churches, 
while  the  mother  or  Roman  Sodality  has  numbered 
in  its  membership  popes,  cardinals,  bishops,  priests, 
and  saints,  as  well  as  temporal  princes,  magistrates, 
and  distinguished  men  in  every  class  of  society.  The 
sodality  attached  to  St.  Francis  Xavier's  Church  has 
for  its  object  the  promotion  of  sociability  and  broth- 
erly love,  and  the  practice  of  virtuous  principles  among 
its  members.  It  meets  every  Sunday  morning  at  a 
quarter  past  nine,  except  on  the  last  Sunday  in  the 


1  Father  Cornelius  F.  Smarius  was  born  on  the  3d  of  March, 
1823,  in  Tilburg,  province  of  North  Brabant,  Holland.  When 
yet  a  child  hi*  parents  died,  and  his  education  was  undertaken 
by  his  relative?,  who  at  the  proper  time  placed  him  in  the 
smaller  seminary  of  St.  Michael's,  Gestel,  where  he  pursued  hit 
classical  studies  with  zeal  and  industry.  He  early  gave  token 
of  his  wonderful  oratorical  powers,  which  appear  to  have  been 
hereditary,  his  father  having  been  an  eminent  speaker.  The 
young  student  was  even  more  distinguished  for  his  piety  and 
missionary  zeal  than  for  his  genius.  He  was  at  the  head  of 
every  pious  association,  and  often  gathered  his  fellow-students 
around  him  and  exhorted  them  to  the  practice  of  virtue. 
Having  completed  his  classical  studies,  he  came  to  this  country 
in  1841  to  devote  his  life  to  missionary  labor.  After  the  cus- 
tomary trials  of  the  Jesuit  novitiate,  he  filled  the  office  of  a  col- 
lege professor  in  Cincinnati,  and  at  the  St.  Louis  University. 
Between  these  duties  and  the  completion  of  the  longer  course 
of  studies  usually  performed  by  the  Jesuits  he  spent  his  time 
up  to  1858,  when  he  was  made  pastor  of  St.  Xavier's  (College) 
Church.  In  1860  he  was  sent  to  the  missionary  house  of  the 
Society  of  Jesus  at  Chicago,  and  died  on  the  1st  of  March, 
1870. 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1657 


month,  when  it  meets  at  seven  o'clock  and  proceeds  in 
a  body  to  St.  Xavier's  Church  to  partake  of  the 
Communion.  Frequent  social  gatherings  are  held  at 
stated  times.  Sodality  Hall,  on  the  southeast  corner 
of  Ninth  Street  and  Christy  Avenue,  was  erected  by 
St.  Louis  University  in  1855,  and  besides  rooms  for 
meetings,  contains  a  library  of  two  thousand  volumes 
and  a  reading-room  supplied  with  local  and  Catholic 
periodicals.  In  1880  a  new  class  of  members,  known 
as  the  Veteran  Corps,  was  organized  within  the  sodal- 
ity, its  object  being  to  recall  such  of  its  earlier  mem- 
bers as  had  withdrawn  from  active  fellowship.  Fif- 
teen years'  membership  constitutes  eligibility  to  the 
corps,  and  it  has  now  about  two  hundred  names  on  its 
roll.  The  total  present  active  and  honorary  member- 
ship of  the  sodality  numbers  six  hundred  and  thirty- 
four,  and  its  officers  are  a  spiritual  director,  prefects 
(first  and  second),  secretary,  treasurer,  librarian, 
and  twelve  consultors,  all  of  whom  form  the  council 
of  the  sodality. 

ST.  JOSEPH'S  SODALITY,  for  married  men,  was  or- 
ganized by  Father  O'Neil  about  fifteen  years  ago. 
It  meets  in  Sodality  Hall  at  two  o'clock  on  Sunday 
afternoons. 

THE  YOUNG  LADIES'  SODALITY  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  Mary  was  organized  by  Rev.  A.  Damen,  S.  J., 
Aug.  15,  1848,  with  twenty-eight  members.  Since 
then  fifteen  hundred  names  have  been  enrolled,  and 
the  present  active  membership  numbers  five  hundred. 
On  the  first  Sunday  of  every  month  the  members 
approach  the  Holy  Communion  in  a  body,  their  average 
attendance  being  three  hundred  and  fifty.  On  other 
Sundays  they  meet  to  recite  the  offices  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  Mary,  with  an  average  attendance  of  three 
hundred.  The  sodality  occupies  one  story  of  Sodal- 
ity Hall,  and  possesses  a  fine  library  of  over  eighteen 
hundred  volumes.  It  also  has  a  burial  lot  in  Calvary 
Cemetery.  A  Mutual  Benevolent  Association,  which 
is  very  flourishing  and  productive  of  great  good,  is 
sustained  by  its  members.  Rev.  F.  J.  Boudreaux  is 
the  present  director. 

ST.  ANNE'S  SODALITY  for  married  women  was 
organized  under  the  title  of  the  Immaculate  Concep- 
tion Sodality,  Dec.  8,  1875,  by  Rev.  P.  J.  Ward,  S.J., 
who  was  chosen  at  the  time,  and  has  since  remained 
its  spiritual  director.  St.  Anne  was  selected  as  sec- 
ondary patron,  hence  the  name  afterwards  adopted. 
The  officers  at  first  consisted  of  prefect,  first  and  sec- 
ond assistants,  secretary,,  sacristan,  treasurer,  and 
twelve  consultors ;  but  the  growth  of  the  sodality 
rendering  others  necessary,  there  are  now  in  addition 
to  the  above  three  assistant  secretaries,  an  assistant 
sacristan,  assistant  treasurer,  two  medal-bearers,  and 


six  regulators.  These  officers  are  elected  by  the  vote 
of  the  whole  sodality  at  the  annual  meeting  in  April. 
The  regular  meeting  takes  place  every  Sunday  after- 
noon (except  the  third  Sunday)  for  reciting  the  offices 
of  the  Blessed  Virgin  and  instruction.  On  every 
third  Sunday  the  sodality  attends  the  Holy  Commu- 
nion. An  annual  retreat  of  one  week  is  also  given,  and 
all  who  attend  it  are  admitted  to  membership,  dis- 
pensing with  the  three  months'  probation  usually 
required  of  postulants.  The  retreat  is  closed  by  mass 
and  Communion,  followed  by  the  act  of  consecration 
for  postulates,  and  its  renewal  for  old  members,  with 
closing  instruction  and  benediction.  High  masses  of 
requiem  for  deceased  members  are  said  both  during 
retreat  and  as  soon  as  possible  after  the  death  of  any 
member.  The  average  monthly  number  of  commu- 
nicants during  the  past  year  has  been  three  hundred 
and  five.  The  sodality  began  in  1875  with  ninety- 
six  members,  and  on  the  1st  of  January,  1882,  num- 
bered five  hundred  and  sixty-five  members.  Several, 
however,  have  since  been  dropped  for  non-attendance, 
leaving  the  actual  membership  four  hundred  and  fifty. 
Since  the  beginning  there  have  been  twenty-seven 
deaths. 

St.  Joseph's  Church.,  at  the  northeast  corner  of 
Eleventh  and  Biddle  Streets,  Rev.  Lambert  Etten, 
S.J.,  pastor,  was  established  for  the  use  of  German 
Catholics  by  the  members  of  the  Society  of  Jesus 
attached  to  the  St.  Louis  University.  The  congrega- 
tion first  met  for  worship  in  1840,  in  St.  Aloysius 
Chapel,  on  the  grounds  of  the  university  on  Washing- 
ton Avenue,  and  when  St.  Francis  Xavier  Church 
was  finished  this  chapel  was  given  up  to  them.  The 
ground  for  St.  Joseph's  Church  was  given  by  Mrs. 
Ann  Biddle,  and  work  was  begun  March  1,  1844. 
The  corner-stone  was  laid  in  April,  1844,  and  the 
building,  which  was  eighty  by  one  hundred  and 
twenty  feet,  was  finished  and  dedicated  Aug.  2,  1846. 
The  building  was  in  the  Ionic  style  of  architecture, 
and  was  surmounted  by  a  spire  one  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  in  height.  The  interior  was  divided  into  a  nave 
and  two  aisles,  and  was  finished  after  the  Corinthian 
order.  George  Purves  was  the  architect.  The  parish 
grew  very  rapidly,  and  under  the  pastorate  of  Father 
Weber,  S.J.,  the  church  was  greatly  enlarged  and 
improved.  The  corner-stone  of  a  new  building  was 
laid  in  the  latter  part  of  June,  1865,  and  the  com- 
pleted structure  was  dedicated  Dec.  30,  1866.  In 
1880  the  present  front  with  the  steeples  was  added, 
making  the  dimensions  of  the  whole  edifice  one  hun- 
dred and  twelve  by  one  hundred  and  eighty  feet.  As 
it  now  stands,  with  its  massive  proportions  and  lofty 
towers,  it  is  one  of  the  most  spacious  and  imposing 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


church  edifices  in  the  country.  It  will  seat  two  thou- 
sand six  hundred  persons,  but  as  many  as  four  thou- 
sand five  hundred  have  been  contained  within  its 
walls.  The  exterior  is  in  the  Romanesque  style  of 
architecture,  and  the  interior  is  magnificently  deco- 
rated, the  grand  altar  having  cost  ten  thousand  dollars. 
In  the  semi-dome  are  five  panels,  each  of  which  con- 
tains colossal  figures  in  natural  colors,  representing 
the  Virgin  Mary,  SS.  Ann  and  Joachim,  Abraham 
and  David,  surrounded  by  appropriate  emblems. 
These  are  again  crowned  by  another  composition,  as 
is  seen  through  the  eye  of  the  first  dome,  representing 
the  Holy  Trinity.  The  diffused  light  produced  by 
mechanical  combinations  reflected  on  these  figures 
has  a  magnificent  effect. 

The  nave  is  separated  from  the  aisles  by  a  range 
of  Corinthian  columns  of  Sienna  marble  supporting 
semi-circular  arches,  and  terminating  with  a  semi- 
dome,  or  apse,  inclosing  the  high  altar.  These  col- 
umns and  arches  support  a  clear-story,  which  is 
perforated  by  windows,  and  separated  from  the  arches 
by  a  crowning  entablature,  which  forms  the  base  sus- 
taining the  semi-circular  arches  spanning  the  nave. 
The  spaces  or  bays  between  the  columns  and  walls 
forming  the  side  aisles  are  covered  by  small  domes, 
giving  to  each  section  a  separate  compartment.  On 
south  end  of  the  interior  is  the  styolate  sustaining  the 
choir  and  galleries.  The  parochial  schools  are  located 
in  three  brick  buildings,  three  stories  high,  on  Eleventh 
Street,  between  Cass  Avenue  and  O'Fallon  Street, 
built  in  1857,  1860,  and  1862,  and  are  under  the 
charge  of  the  Sisters  de  Notre  Dame  and  of  secular 
teachers.  The  buildings  and  ground  cost  about  sixty 
thousand  dollars ;  and  the  schools  are  conducted  by 
eleven  teachers,  and  attended  by  nine  hundred  pupils. 
The  successive  pastors  of  the  church  have  been  Rev. 
Fathers  J.  Getting,  1840;  Hofbauer,  1846;  Seisl, 
1847;  Patschowski,  1851;  Joseph  Weber,  1859; 
Tschieder,  1870;  Fr.  Hagemann,  1876;  L.  Etten, 
1881,  all  of  the  Society  of  Jesus;  Fathers  Joseph 
Weber  (who  has  been  attached  to  the  church  for 
twenty-nine  years),  -F.  X.  Whippern,  and  Francis 
Braun,  all  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  are  assistant  pastors. 
The  parish  comprises  eight  hundred  families  and  two 
thousand  communicants,  and  the  Sunday-school  has 
four  teachers  and  four  hundred  pupils.  The  congre- 
gation is  exclusively  German,  and  has  connected  with 
it  a  Young  Men's  Sodality  of  two  hundred  members ; 
Young  Ladies'  Sodality,  two  hundred  and  thirty  mem- 
bers ;  Married  Men's  Sodality,  organized  1881,  one 
hundred  and  twenty  members ;  St.  Joseph's  Benevo- 
lent Society,  two  thousand  members  ;  St.  Vincent  de 
Paul  Society,  and  others. 


St.  Mary  of  Victories,  another  German  Church, 
was  organized  by  the  Rev.  Peter  Fischer,  its  first  pas- 
tor, in  1843,  its  original  members  being  a  portion  of 
the  Cathedral  congregation.  The  deed  of  the  church 
property  bears  the  date  of  Feb.  8,  1843.  The  cor- 
ner-stone of  the  present  church,  which  is  located  at 
the  northeast  corner  of  Third  and  Mulberry  Streets, 
was  laid  June  25,  1843,  and  the  building  was  blessed 
on  the  15th  of  September,  1844.  In  1859-60  an 
addition  to  the  church  on  the  east  side,  increasing  it 
more  than  one-half  its  former  size,  and  the  tower  were 
built,  and  on  the  13th  of  May,  1860,  the  church  was 
consecrated.  Archbishop  Kenrick  officiated,  assisted 
by  Rev.  R.  Niederkorn,  S.  J.,  of  St.  Joseph's  Church  ; 
Rev.  Dr.  Salzman,  of  Milwaukee ;  Rev.  Mr.  Goiter, 
of  the  Church  of  SS.  Peter  and  Paul ;  and  Rev.  Mr. 
Ziegler,  Fathers  De  Smet,  S.  J.  Bannon,  and  others. 
The  second  pastor  was  Very  Rev.  Joseph  Melcher, 
V.  G.,  1847  to  1868  ;  the  third,  Very  Rev.  Henry 
Muhlsiepen,  V.  G.,  March  to  August,  1868  ;  the 
fourth  and  present  pastor,  Rev.  William  Faerber, 
S.J.,  was  appointed  August,  1868.  The  church  owns 
the  west  half  of  the  block  on  which  it  stands  (ex- 
cept twenty-two  feet  on  the  northwest  corner),  or  two 
hundred  and  twenty-five  by  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet. 
Theparochial  school,  a  two-story  brick  building,  eighty- 
two  by  seventy-six  feet,  adjoins  the  church  on  the  north. 
It  was  established  in  1855,  and  is  under  the  charge  of 
one  secular  teacher  and  five  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame. 
It  is  attended  by  four  hundred  pupils.  About 
two  thousand  persons  (adults  and  children)  are  con- 
nected with  this  congregation.  The  Sisters  of  Notre 
Dame,  of  whom  there  are  several  in  the  city,  in 
charge  of  different  parish  schools,  have  a  small  con- 
vent or  residence  at  742  South  Third  Street,  on  a 
part  of  the  church  lot. 

St.  Patrick's  Church. — The  corner-stone  of  St. 
Patrick's  Church,  situated  at  the  northwest  corner  of 
Sixth  and  Biddle  Streets,  was  laid  in  1843,  and  the 
building  was  dedicated  in  1845.  It  is  a  Gothic 
brick  structure,  seventy-five  by  one  hundred  and 
twenty  feet,  with  a  spire  one  hundred  and  ninety  feet 
high,  and  its  interior  is  highly  decorated.  The  main 
altar,  of  Italian  marble  and  highly  artistic  workman- 
ship, is  one  of  the  costliest  and  handsomest  in 
America.  The  parochial  schools  are  located  on  the 
west  side  of  Seventh  Street,  between  Biddle  and 
Carr,  on  a  lot  one  hundred  and  twenty  by  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-seven  and -a  half  feet.  The  building 
is  a  large  three-story  brick  structure,  the  corner-stone 
of  which  was  laid  Oct.  29,  1871.  The  cost  of  erec- 
tion was  seventy-five  thousand  dollars.  The  schools 
are  conducted  by  the  Christian  Brothers  and  Sisters 


RELIGIOUS  DENOMINATIONS. 


1659 


of  St.  Joseph.  This  parish  is  the  largest  in  the 
city,  and  contains  nineteen  hundred  families,  fully 
eight  thousand  people  attending  the  different  Sunday 
services.  The  successive  pastors  have  been  Revs. 
Fathers  Lutz,  Hamilton,  William  Wheeler,  P.  A. 
Ward,  John  Higginbotham,  William  Wheeler  (again), 
James  Fox,  James  J.  Archer,  James  McCaffrey,  as- 
sisted by  Fathers  Healy  and  J.  R.  Hayes. 

Father  Wheeler,  who  is  conspicuously  identified 
with  the  history  of  St.  Patrick's  parish,  died  at 
Munich,  Bavaria,  Feb.  27,  1870.  Father  Wheeler 
was  born  a  short  distance  from  Dublin,  Ireland.  His 
father  was  an  Englishman,  a  convert  to  Catholicism, 
and  his  mother  of  Irish  parentage.  He  came  to  this 
country  about  the  year  1845,  with  a  band  of  students, 
and  landing  in  New  York,  repaired  to  St.  Louis, 
where  he  was  subsequently  ordained.  The  first  min- 
isterial charge  of  Father  Wheeler  was  in  connection 
with  St.  Patrick's  Church,  and  with  the  exception  of 
a  few  brief  interruptions,  he  was  identified  with  this 
parish  for  twenty-two  years.  He  first  discharged  the 
duties  of  assistant,  and  then  became  pastor  of  the 
church.  During  the  interruptions  alluded  to  in  his 
connection  with  St.  Patrick's  Church  he  officiated  at 
the  Cathedral  for  a  short  time,  and  subsequently  acted 
as  pastor  of  St.  Michael's  Church.  These,  however, 
were  but  episodes  in  his  career,  which  was  mainly 
associated  with  St.  Patrick's  parish.  Previous  to  his 
connection  with  the  Cathedral  he  visited  Europe,  in 
company  with  Father  Higginbotham,  who,  however, 
did  not  return  with  him. 

In  November,  1870,  Father  Wheeler  again  left  for 
Europe  to  attend  the  Council  of  the  Vatican.  His 
position  in  that  body  was  that  of  theologian  for  Bishop 
Feehan,  of  Nashville,  whom  he  accompanied  to  Rome. 
He  left  St.  Louis  about  the  1st  of  February,  and  in  a 
letter  to  Father  Ryan  stated  that  he  proposed  mak- 
ing a  short  tour  through  Germany  and  other  portions 
of  Continental  Europe,  and  expected  to  return  to  St. 
Louis  about  the  1st  of  May.  Previous  to  his  de- 
parture for  Rome  his  parishioners  gave  him  a  ban- 
quet, and  otherwise  expressed  their  respect  and  esteem. 
Father  Wheeler  was  a  hard-working  and  devoted  di- 
vine, and  during  the  cholera  epidemic  of  1849  he 
labored  ceaselessly  in  his  ministrations  among  the  sick 
and  dying.  He  was  between  fifty-five  and  sixty  years 
of  age.1 


St.  Vincent  de  Paul's  Church,  for  both  German- 
|  and  English-speaking  congregations,  is  situated  at  the 
i  southwest  corner  of  Decatur  Street  and  Park  Avenue, 
j  and  the  pastor  is  Rev.  James  McGill,  C.M.     The 
j  parish  was  founded  by  Rev.  John  Timon,  afterwards 
'  Bishop  of  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  and  is  presided  over  by  the 
priests  of  the  Congregational  Mission,  established  by 
St.  Vincent  de  Paul.     The  building  was  begun  in 
1843,  and  consecrated  in  1845.     It  is  a  massive  brick 
edifice  of  Roman  architecture,  with  a  large  cupola  in 
the  centre  of  the  roof,  and  is  sixty-four  by  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  feet.     The  total  cost  of  construction 
was    thirty  thousand    dollars.     The  congregation    is 
composed    of  English    and    Germans,    and   separate 
masses  are  said  for  each.     Both  languages  are  taught 
in  the  parochial  schools,  of  which  that  for  boys,  under 
the  charge  of  the  Christian  Brothers,  is  held  in  a 
brick  building,  corner  of  Park  Avenue,  adjoining  the 
church,   which    was   erected    in    1859    for    fourteen 
thousand  dollars,  and  has  over  five  hundred  pupils. 
I  The  girls'  school  is  situated  on  the  northwest  corner 
of  Marion  and  Eighth  Streets  (one  block  east  of  the 
church),  and  is  conducted  by  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph, 
who  reside  in  the  building.     Father  James  McGill  is 
Superior  and  pastor  of  the  English-speaking  portion  of 
the  congregation,  and  Rev.  J.  G.  Uhland,  C.M.,  is 
pastor  of  the  Germans;  Rev.  D.  W.  Kenrick  and  A.  P. 
Kreuz,  C.M.,  are  assistants.     The  parochial  residence 
is  just  south  of  the  church.     About  six  thousand  per- 
sons attend  worship  regularly  at  St.  Vincent  de  Paul's. 
Church  of  SS.  Peter  and  Paul.— The  congre- 
gation   of  SS.    Peter   and    Paul    was    organized    in 
1848  by  its  first  pastor,  Rev.  Simon  Sigrist.      Its 
first  church  was  a  frame  building  on  the  site  of  the 
present  church,  at  the  corner  of  Allen  Avenue  and 
Seventh  and  Eighth  Streets,  and  the  second,  situated 
on  the  same  lot,  was  of  brick,  with  a  seating  capacity 
of  seven  hundred.     Its  corner-stone  was  laid  Oct.  1, 
1851,  and  the  building  was   dedicated   in   October, 
1854.     On  the  17th  of  June,  1873,  the  demolition 
of  the  structure  was  begun,  and  on  the  12th  of  April, 
1874,  was  laid  the  corner-stone  of  the  present  edifice, 
which    was   consecrated    Dec.  12,  1875.     It    fronts 
eighty-three  feet  on  Eighth  Street,  and  extends  two 
hundred  and  four  feet  from  Seventh  to  Eighth,  the 
entire  depth  of  the  block,  with  a  transept  ninety  feet 


1  A  meeting  of  the  Catholic  societies  was  held  in  St.  Patrick's 
school-house  adjoining  the  church  June  18,  1870,  to  arrange 
for  the  celebration  on  the  following  Sunday  of  the  twenty-fifth 
anniversary  of  the  coronation  of  Pope  Pius  IX.  D.  Donovan 
was  president  of  the  meeting.  M.  H.  Phelan  was  secretary,  and 
the  following  societies  were  represented  :  Holy  Trinity  Pari.su 


Benevolent  Society,  Young  Men's  Sodality  of  the  College,  St. 
Joseph  Sodality  of  St.  Xavier  Church,  Shamrock  Benevolent 
Society,  Father  Muthew  Young  Men's  Total  Abstinence  and 
Benevolent  Society,  Roman  Catholic  Total  Abstinence  and  Be- 
nevolent Society,  Hibernian  Benevolent  Society,  United  Sons 
of  Erin  Benevolent  Society,  St.  Bridget's  Young  Men's  Sodality, 
and  St.  Aloysius'  Society  of  the  Annunciation  Church. 


1660 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


in  length.  It  is  of  uncut  Grafton  limestone,  of  the 
fourteenth  century  Gothic  style,  and  is  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  and  imposing  churches  in  the  city. 
The  structure  is  surmounted  by  a  steeple  three  hun- 
dred and  fourteen  feet  high.  The  building  is  con- 
structed in  the  most  substantial  manner,  and  with 
studied  care  to  secure  the  best  effects  of  interior  deco- 
ration. The  church  is  well  lighted  with  stained-glass 
windows,  and  the  three  altars  are  exceedingly  beau- 
tiful, the  altar  to  St.  Mary  having  figures  of  the 
Virgin,  St.  Catherine,  and  St.  Elizabeth.  The  altar 
of  St.  Joseph  has  also  figures  of  St.  Boniface  and  St. 
Francis  de  Sales.  The  church  will  seat  three  thou- 
sand people,  and  cost  two  hundred  thousand  dollars. 
It  was  built  without  assistance  from  any  fair,  picnic, 
dance,  or  other  festival,  although  the  congregation 
(all  Germans)  was  almost  exclusively  of  the  working 
classes.  The  consecration  services  were  conducted  by 
the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  P.  J.  Ryan,  D.D.,  assisted  by 
Rev.  Father  Groeinbaum,  deacon  ;  Rev.  William  Klei- 
bibghaus,  sub-deacon ;  Rev.  H.  Groll,  assistant  deacon  j 
Very  Rev.  H.  Muhlsiepen,  V.  G.,  master  of  ceremo- 
nies; also  Rev.  Father  Ruesse,  Rev.  C.  Wahpelhorst, 
Rev.  H.  Vandersauten,  chancellor;  Rev.  William 
Faiber,  of  St.  Mary's;  and  Rev.  H.  Krabler,  C.M. 
Pontificial  high  mass  was  conducted  by  the  Right 
Rev.  Bishop  Heiss,  D.D.,  of  La  Crosse,  Wis.,  assisted 
by  Very  Rev.  H.  Muhlsiepen,  V.G.,  archdeacon ; 
Rev.  Father  Hoeynck,  of  St.  Liborius,  deacon ;  Rev. 
Father  Schilling,  of  Lowell,  sub-deacon  ;  Very  Rev. 
C.  Wahpelhorst,  master  of  ceremonies.  A  sermon  in 
English  was  delivered  by  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Fitz- 
gerald, D.D.,  of  Little  Rock,  and  one  in  German  by 
the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Krautbauer,  D.D.,  of  Green 
Bay,  Wis. 

Pastor  Sigrist  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Francis  Goller 
on  Jan.  1,  1858,  and  since  1870  he  has  had  for  as- 
sistants Rev.  Fathers  H.  Groll,  W.  Klevinghaus,  and 
F.  Ruesse.  The  parochial  school  is  conducted  under 
the  charge  of  the  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame,  in  a  large 
three-story  brick  building  adjoining  the  church  on 
Eighth  Street ;  it  has  sixteen  teachers  and  twelve 
hundred  pupils.  The  entire  church  property  is  valued 
at  three  hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  principal 
societies  connected  with  the  congregation  (which 
numbers  about  one  thousand  families)  are  the  St. 
Paul's  Benevolent  Society,  of  six  hundred  members, 
with  a  cash  capital  of  twenty  thousand  dollars ;  the 
Young  Men's  Sodality,  of  two  hundred  members;  and 
the  Young  Ladies'  Sodality,  of  three  hundred  mem- 
bers. The  pastoral  residence  adjoins  the  church  on 
South  Seventh  Street.  The  cemetery  belonging  to 
the  church  is  situated  on  Gravois  road. 


St.  Michael's  Church.,  northeast  corner  of  Elev- 
enth and  Exchange  Streets,  Rev.  Andrew  Eustace, 
pastor,  was  founded  by  Rev.  Father  Hogan,  after- 
wards Bishop  of  St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  and  the  present 
brick  building,  forty-five  by  ninety  feet,  which  was 
built  in  1855,  at  a  cost  of  twenty  thousand  dollars, 
took  the  place  of  an  old  building  that  had  been  occu- 
pied by  the  congregation  for  many  years  previous. 
The  parochial  school  is  located  at  the  northwest  corner 
of  Eleventh  and  Benton  Streets,  in  a  large  brick  build- 
ing erected  in  1859,  at  a  cost  of  thirty  thousand  dol- 
lars, which  will  accommodate  five  hundred  pupils. 
It  is  conducted  by  the  Sisters  of  Loretto.  About 
four  hundred  families  (two  thousand  persons)  are  con- 
nected with  the  congregation. 

Holy  Trinity  (German)  Church,  situated  at  the 
south  west  corner  of  Mallinckrodt  and  Eleventh  Streets, 
Rev.  Frederick  Brinkhoff,  pastor,  was  organized,  and 
its  first  house  of  worship  built  in  1851,  by  Father 
Lorenz,  its  first  pastor.  In  1858  the  church  was  de- 
molished and  the  present  structure  erected.  It  is  a 
large  brick  structure  of  the  Romanesque  style  of 
architecture,  fifty-four  by  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet, 
and  the  church  lot,  which  is  one  hundred  and  seventy 
feet  square,  also  contains  a  fine  parochial  residence. 
The  parish  school,  a  three-story  brick  building  sixty 
by  fifty  feet,  on  a  lot  eighty  by  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
five  feet,  stands  on  the  corner  opposite  to  the  church. 
It  was  built  in  1871,  the  school  having  previously 
been  conducted  in  the  basement  of  the  church.  Father 
Devanny  succeeded  the  first  pastor  and  preceded  the 
present;  Rev.  Paul  Weis  is  assistant  pastor.  The 
parish  comprises  four  hundred  and  fifty  families,  with 
fifteen  hundred  communicants ;  and  there  are  seven 
teachers  and  four  hundred  and  fifty  pupils  in  the 
Sunday-school. 

St.  Bridget's  Church.— The  first  St.  Bridget's 
Church  was  erected  in  1853,  and  the  corner-stone  of 
the  present  building,  which  adjoins  it,  and  which  is 
situated  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Carr  Street  and 
Jefferson  Avenue,  was  laid  by  Archbishop  Kenrick 
on  the  7th  of  August,  1859.  The  building  was  fin- 
ished during  the  pastorate  of  Rev.  David  Lillis,  its 
first  rector,  at  a  cost  of  thirty-five  thousand  dollars. 
It  has  a  front  of  seventy-five  feet  on  Jefferson  Ave- 
nue, with  a  depth  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  feet, 
and  its  architecture  is  a  mixture  of  the  Gothic  and 
Byzantine  orders.  The  old  church,  erected  in  1853, 
is  now  used  as  the  boys'  parochial  school,  in  charge  of 
the  Christian  Brothers.  The  parochial  school  for 
girls  is  situated  on  the  northwest  corner  of  Jefferson 
Avenue  and  Carr  Street,  in  a  handsome-brick  build- 
ing of  four  stories  and  a  basement,  which  contains 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1661 


twelve  rooms,  and  is  capable  of  accommodating  seven 
hundred  scholars.  The  school  is  in  charge  of  the 
Sisters  of  St.  Joseph.  The  parish  contains  about  five 
thousand  persons,  and  nearly  twelve  hundred  children 
attend  the  Sunday-schools.  The  pastor  of  St.  Brid- 
get's is  Rev.  W.  Walsh,  and  his  assistants  are  Revs. 
F.  R.  Gallagher  and  J.  J.  Harty. 

St.  John  of  Nepomuk  (Bohemian)  Church  was, 
established  in  1854  by  the  first  pastor,  Rev.  Henry 
Lipoosky,  who  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Francis 
Trojan  in  1856,  and  by  the  present  pastor,  Rev. 
Joseph  Hessoun,  in  1865.  A  frame  building,  thirty- 
five  by  seventy  feet,  was  erected  on  the  site  of  the 
present  church  (northwest  corner  of  Soulard  and 
Rosatti  Streets),  and  dedicated  in  1854.  In  the 
spring  of  1870  the  frame  structure  was  torn  down, 
and  a  church  erected  after  plans  prepared  by  Adol- 
phus  Druiding,  architect.  The  corner-stone  was  laid 
May  15,  1870,  and  the  building  was  dedicated  Nov. 
27,  1872.  It  is  a  handsome  brick  structure 'of  the 
Gothic  order,  sixty  by  one  hundred  and  fourteen  feet, 
and  is  capable  of  seating  five  hundred  and  twenty 
persons.  The  ground  on  which  the  church  stands 
was  presented  to  the  congregation  by  Father  Renaud, 
a  French  priest.  The  church  now  owns  seven  lots, 
and  its  property  is  valued  at  sixty  thousand  dollars. 
The  parochial  school  was  organized  in  1866,  and  the 
school  buildings  (two  in  number)  are  located  on  Ro- 
satti Street  near  the  church.  Six  Sisters  of  Notre 
Dame  and  one  secular  teacher  have  charge  of  the 
school,  which  numbers  five  hundred  and  twenty 
pupils.  Connected  with  the  church  are  the  following 
societies :  St.  Wenceslaus  Benevolent  Society,  with 
two  hundred  and  fifty-two  members ;  St.  John  of 
Nepomuk  Benevolent  Society,  one  hundred  and  four 
members  ;  St.  Joseph  Benevolent  Society,  seventy-six 
members ;  Knights  of  St.  John  of  Nepomuk,  forty- 
six  members  ;  St.  Vincent  Conference  for  the  Poor, 
fifty-eight  members ;  St.  Aloysius  Young  Men's  Be- 
nevolent Society,  sixty-seven  members ;  St.  Stanislaus 
Young  Men's  Society,  sixty-five  members ;  St.  Ann's 
Ladies'  Benevolent  Society,  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  members ;  St.  Ludmilla's  Ladies'  Benevolent  So- 
ciety, one  hundred  and  fourteen  members ;  St.  Mary's 
Young  Ladies'  Society,  one  hundred  and  two  mem- 
bers ;  St.  Agnes  Young  Ladies'  Society,  seventy  mem- 
bers. About  five  hundred  families  are  connected  with 
the  parish,  and  the  actual  membership  numbers  one 
thousand  six  hundred  persons,  but  the  church  is 
attended  largely  by  Bohemian  families  beyond  the  ! 
limits  of  the  parish. 

St.  Liborius  (German)  Church,  Nineteenth  and 
Monroe  Streets,  Rev.  E.  Hoeynek,  pastor,  was  erected 


in  1855,  at  a  cost  of  fifty  thousand  dollars,  by  Rev. 
Stephen  Schiveihoff,  founder  of  the  parish,  who  died 
in  1869,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  present  pastor. 
The  church  is  a  fine  Romanesque  brick  structure, 
sixty  by  ninety  feet,  but  is  becoming  too  small  for  the 
rapidly  increasing  congregation,  which  contemplates 
the  building  of  a  larger  and  finer  edifice.  The  pa- 
rochial schools,  which  occupy  a  three-story  brick 
building  on  Nineteenth  Street  near  the  church,  erected 
in  1856,  at  a  cost  of  ten  thousand  dollars,  are  under 
the  charge  of  the  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame  (who  reside 
in  the  building)  and  of  one  secular  teacher.  Rev. 
Henry  Schrage  is  the  assistant  pastor.  The  con- 
gregation comprises  about  six  hundred  families  and 
thirteen  hundred  communicants.  Fully  two  thousand 
persons  attend  the  regular  Sunday  services. 

St.  Lawrence  O'Toole's  Church. — Rev.  James 
Henry,  the  present  pastor  of  St.  Lawrence  O'Toole's 
Church,  was  appointed  on  the  7th  of  February,  1853, 
assistant  pastor  of  St.  Patrick's  Church,  and  while 
serving  in  that  capacity  carried  on  mission  work  in  the 
outlying  districts  of  the  parish,  which  extended  to  the 
old  reservoir,  and  which  in  those  days  were  an  open 
prairie  and  almost  a  wilderness,  Seventeenth  Street 
being  then  the  limit  of  the  city.  In  April,  1855,  he 
was  authorized  by  Archbishop  Kenrick  to  organize  a 
congregation  and  establish  a  new  parish,  to  be  taken 
from  St.  Patrick's,  and  to  be  known  as  St.  Lawrence 
O'Toole's.  A  lot,  eighty-four  feet  three  inches  by  one 
hundred  and  twenty-five  feet,  at  the  northwest  corner 
of  O'Fallon  and  Fourteenth  Streets,  was  presented  for 
the  purpose  by  Miss  Jane  Graham,  a  member  of  the 
Mullanphy  family,  and  upon  this  site  a  church  thirty- 
eight  by  eighty-six  feet  was  erected  and  dedicated  Dec. 
16,  1855.  Mrs.  Jane  Chambers,  only  surviving  child 
of  John  Mullanphy,  gave  an  additional  lot  in  the  rear 
of  the  church  lot,  thirty-five  feet  on  O'Fallon  Street 
by  eighty-four  feet  three  inches  in  depth,  on  which 
was  erected  a  building  (still  occupied),  twenty-nine  by 
seventy-four  feet,  for  the  parochial  school,  which  was 
opened  under  the  charge  of  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph 
in  1858.  Father  Henry  slept  in  the  basement  of  the 
church,  in  a  small  space,  hardly  to  be  called  a  room, 
under  the  bell-tower,  considerably  exposed  to  the  ele- 
ments. The  tower  was  open,  and  the  boys  of  the 
neighborhood  were  much  addicted  to  ringing  it  at 
night,  startling  good  Father  Henry  and  the  whole 
neighborhood  with  false  alarms  of  fire. 

In  1864  the  church  lot  was  exchanged  for  the  one 
now  occupied  on  the  southwest  corner  of  Fourteenth 
and  O'Fallon  Streets,  and  the  old  church  was  demol- 
ished and  its  materials  used  in  the  construction  of  a 
new  edifice.  The  corner-stone  was  laid  by  Archbishop 


1662 


HISTORY  OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


Kenrick  on  the  31st  of  January,  1864,  and  the  occa- 
sion was  made  memorable  by  the  presence  of  Gen. 
Rosecrans,  who  had  just  been  appointed  to  the  com- 
mand of  the  Department  of  the  Missouri,  and  who, 
in  the  presence  of  the  ten  thousand  spectators  assem- 
bled, knelt  down  to  receive  the  archbishop's  blessing. 
The  building  had  progressed  to  the  roofing,  when  it 
was  entirely  destroyed  by  a  cyclone.  Work  was  at 
once  begun  anew,  and  the  completed  structure  was 
consecrated  by  Archbishop  Kenrick  in  the  summer  of 
1865.  Its  dimensions  are  seventy-five  by  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  feet,  and  it  has  held  two  thousand 
five  hundred  persons  sitting  and  standing.  The  main 
altar,  of  white,  blue-veined  marble,  beautiful  in  itself, 
is  still  further  embellished  by  three  medallions  of  white 
marble  (executed  by  a  sculptor  who  accompanied  Maxi- 
milian to  Mexico),  the  central  one  of  which  is  the  head 
of  Christ  crowned  with  thorns  in  high  relief,  and  de- 
serving to  rank  among  the  most  exquisite  gems  of 
modern  art.  There  are  two  altars,  one  on  each  side 
of  the  main  altar,  and  similar  to  it  in  style  and  mate- 
rial, both  of  which  were  erected  by  Mrs.  Hudson  as 
memorials  of  her  husband,  Thomas  B.  Hudson,  and 
of  her  niece,  Lizzie  Hudson  Thatcher.  A  fourth  altar, 
dedicated  to  St.  Joseph,  was  also  a  gift  of  Mrs.  Hud- 
son. The  size  of  the  present  church  lot  is  one  hun- 
dred by  one  hundred  and  eighty-six  feet,  and  on  the 
rear  portion,  adjoining  the  church,  stands  a  commo- 
dious parsonage.  Another  lot,  eighty-two  by  one 
hundred  and  twenty-five  feet,  on  Fourteenth  Street 
near  Biddle,  is  owned  by  the  church,  and  upon  it  a 
new  parochial  school,  sixty  by  one  hundred  feet,  is  in 
course  of  construction.  The  parish  contains  a  popu- 
lation of  thirty  thousand,  of  which  five  thousand  are 
connected  with  this  church.  Its  Sunday-school  is 
attended  by  thirty-five  teachers  and  eleven  hundred 
scholars,  and  the  parochial  school  has  seven  teachers 
and  four  hundred  and  fifty  pupils.  Connected  with 
the  church  are  a  number  of  religious  and  benevolent 
societies. 

St.  Malachy's  Church. — The  congregation  of  St. 
Malachy's  Church,  southwest  corner  of  Clark  and 
Summit  Avenues,  Rev.  Charles  Zeigler,  pastor,  was 
organized  on  the  30th  of  October,  1859,  by  Rev. 
John  O'Sullivan,  its  first  pastor,  who  received  his  ap- 
pointment Oct.  23, 1858,  and  was  succeeded  by  Rev. 
M.  W.  Tobyn,  April  26,  1862,  and  by  the  present 
pastor  Oct.  20, 1869.  The  corner-stone  of  the  church 
was  laid  Oct.  24,  1858,  and  it  was  occupied  Oct. 
22,  1859,  and  dedicated  "Sept.  2,  1860.  It  is  English 
Gothic  in  style,  and  built  of  brick  and  stone,  with 
fifty-five  feet  frontage  on  Clark  Avenue  by  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  feet  in  depth.  The  interior,  richly 


frescoed,  is  of  very  imposing  appearance,  the  vaulted 
roof  being  supported  by  a  double  row  of  fluted  col- 
umns. The  church  lot  measures  one  hundred  and 
thirty  by  one  hundred  and  sixty  feet,  and  contains, 
adjoining  the  church  on  Clark  Avenue,  the  parochial 
school  for  boys,  a  two-story  brick  building,  fifty  by  one 
hundred  and  twenty-nine  feet,  with  a  seating  capacity 
of  six  hundred.  The  school  is  under  the  charge  of 
the  Christian  Brothers,  and  has  six  teachers  and  four 
hundred  pupils.  The  parochial  school  for  girls  is  con- 
ducted in  St.  Philomena's  Orphan  Asylum  and  School, 
opposite  the  church,  and  is  attended  by  four  teachers 
(Sisters  of  Charity)  and  three  hundred  scholars.  The 
schools  are  supported  by  voluntary  contributions,  and 
the  tuition  is  free.  The  societies  connected  with  the 
congregation  are  St.  Malachy's  Total  Abstinence  and 
Benevolent  Society,  organized  in  1870.  now  number- 
ing one  hundred  and  thirty-two  members  ;  St.  Vincent 
de  Paul  Society,  organized  in  1864,  fifty-seven  mem- 
bers ;  Young  Men's  Sodality,  sixty-two  members ; 
Boys'  Sodality,  eighty-three  members ;  and  eight 
other  exclusively  religious  associations.  About  six 
hundred  families  are  connected  with  the  church,  the 
actual  membership,  largely  composed  of  single  men, 
numbering  five  thousand.  The  Sunday-school  is  at- 
tended by  twenty-seven  teachers  and  nearly  eight 
hundred  scholars.  Rev.  M.  S.  Brennan  is  assistant 
pastor. 

Church  of  St.  John  the  Evangelist. — The  corner- 
stone of  the  first  church  of  St.  John  the  Evangelist, 
at  the  corner  of  Sixteenth  and  Chestnut  Streets,  was 
laid  on  the  22d  of  August,  1847,  Father  Timon 
officiating.  On  the  2d  of  February,  1859,  the  con- 
struction of  a  new  church  was  begun,  and  on  the  1st 
of  May  following  the  corner-stone  was  laid  by  Arch- 
bishop Kenrick.  The  building  was  completed  in 
October,  1860,  and  was  dedicated  on  the  first  Sunday 
of  the  following  month.  Its  architecture  is  of  the 
Romanesque  order,  and  its  dimensions  sixty-six  and  a 
half  by  one  hundred  and  thirteen  feet.  The  height  of 
the  structure  is  sixty-four  and  a  half  feet,  and  the 
front  is  flanked  by  two  towers  of  five  stories,  fifteen 
feet  square,  rising  to  a  height  of  about  one  hundred 
feet.  The  interior  was  frescoed  by  Mr.  Hoifman  with 
scenes  from  the  Apocalypse,  and  is  otherwise  richly 
!  adorned.  The  parochial  residence  adjoins  the  church 
on  the  east.  Bishop  Ryan  was  pastor  of  the  church 
for  some  time  prior  to  his  consecration,  and  still 
preaches  in  it  frequently.  The  regular  pastor,  Rev. 
John  J.  Hennessey,  has  for  assistants  Revs.  M.  J. 
Gleeson  and  Francis  Jones.  The  parochial  schools 
are  situated  at  the  southeast  corner  of  Sixteenth  and 
Walnut  Streets,  in  a  three-story  brick  building,  with 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1663 


accommodations  for  seven  hundred  scholars,  and  are 
conducted  by  the  Christian  Brothers  and  the  Sisters 
of  St.  Joseph.  The  building,  which  stands  on  a  lot 
valued  at  ten  thousand  dollars,  was  erected  in  1874, 
at  a  cost  of  twenty-seven  thousand  dollars.  The 
parish  is  one  of  the  most  numerous  in  the  city,  con- 
taining about  eighteen  hundred  families,  or  nearly 
nine  thousand  persons.  Six  hundred  children  attend 
the  Sunday-school. 

Annunciation  Church. — Annunciation  parish  was 
organized  in  1859  by  Rev.  (now  Bishop)  Patrick  J. 
Ryan,  by  whose  personal  exertions  the  funds  for  the 
erection  of  a  church  were  raised.  The  corner-stone 
of  the  structure,  which  is  one  of  the  finest  in  the  city, 
was  laid  Nov.  27,  1859,  and  the  building  was  dedi- 
cated Sunday,  Dec.  16,  1860.  The  exercises  on  this 
occasion  were  conducted  by  Archbishop  Kenrick,  as- 
sisted by  Bishop  Juncker,  of  Alton,  111.  The  dedi- 
catory sermon  was  delivered  by  Father  Ryan.  The 
dimensions  of  the  church,  which  is  situated  at  the 
northwest  corner  of  Sixth  and  Labadie  Streets,  are 
sixty  by  one  hundred  and  thirty-six  feet,  and  the  total 
cost  was  about  one  hundred  thousand  dollars.  Its 
architecture  is  of  the  Roman  order,  and  the  appear- 
ance of  the  building  is  massive  and  imposing.  The 
interior  is  richly  frescoed  and  adorned  by  costly  paint- 
ings, one  of  which,  the  "  Marriage  of  Joseph  and 
Mary,"  was  presented  by  Louis  XVIII.  of  France 
to  Bishop  Dubourg  in  1818.  A  colonnade  of  Corin- 
thian pillars  supports  the  arched  roof,  and  the  altars, 
three  in  number,  are  of  the  purest  Italian  marble  and 
very  costly.  The  successive  pastors  of  the  church 
have  been  Revs.  P.  J.  Ryan,  David  S.  Phelan,  and 
the  present  pastor,  Rev.  Philip  J.  Brady,  who  is  as- 
sisted by  Rev.  David  J.  Dougherty.  The  Annuncia- 
tion Free  School  for  boys  is  conducted  under  charge 
of  the  Christian  Brothers  in  a  two-story  brick  build- 
ing on  the  southeast  corner  of  Sixth  Street  and 
Chouteau  Avenue  (nearly  opposite  the  church).  The 
girls'  free  school  is  conducted  by  the  ladies  of  the 
Sacred  Heart  in  their  convent  near  by.  There  are 
about  five  hundred  families  or  fourteen  hundred  per- 
sons in  the  parish,  two  hundred  and  ten  communi- 
cants and  over  three  hundred  children  in  the  Sunday- 
school.  Identified  with  this  church  there  are  two 
benevolent  societies,  three  purely  religious  societies, 
an  orphan  association,  two  temperance  organizations, 
and  the  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  Society,  a  benevolent 
organization. 

Church  of  the  Assumption. — The  parish  of  the 
Assumption  was  organized  in  1862  by  Rev.  Bernard 
O'Reilly,  and  the  corner-stone  of  the  present  Church 
of  the  Assumption,  at  the  northwest  corner  of  Sidney 


and  Eighth  Streets,  was  laid  early  in  May,  1862. 
The  dimensions  of  the  building  are  forty  by  one 
hundred  feet,  and  its  cost  was  about  nine  thousand 
dollars.  The  architect  was  Robert  S.  Mitchell. 
Rev.  Bernard  O'Reilly  was  succeeded  in  the  pastor- 
,  ate  by  Rev.  F.  O'Reardon  in  1864;  Rev.  F.  Kava- 
;  naugh,  1866 ;  Rev.  James  Fox,  1868 ;  Rev.  Edward 
!  Shea,  1870 ;  and  Rev.  C.  A.  Smith,  the  present  pas- 
tor, in  1873.  The  church  property  has  a  front  on 
i  Sidney  Street  of  one  hundred  feet,  on  which  are 
erected  the  church  edifice,  the  parsonage,  and  the 
parochial  school.  It  is  valued  at  thirty  thousand 
dollars.  The  school  is  taught  by  the  Ursuline  nuns, 
and  has  an  average  attendance  of  three  hundred 
pupils.  The  congregation  numbers  fifteen  hundred 
persons,  an  increase  of  five  hundred  in  the  last  three 
years.  Connected  with  it  are  two  societies,  both  or- 
ganized by  the  present  pastor, — the  St.  Vincent  de 
Paul  (charitable  and  benevolent),  organized  in  1873, 
present  membership,  twenty-five ;  and  Branch  No. 
169  of  the  Catholic  Knights  of  America,  organized 
in  1880,  and  now  numbering  seventy  members. 

Church  of  St.  Anthony  of  Padua. — On  the  5th 
of  February,  1863,  the  Franciscan  Fathers  or  Friars 
Minor,  called  Recollects,  organized  the  parish  of  St. 
Anthony  of  Padua,  in  connection  with  their  monas- 
tery in  the  suburbs  of  St.  Louis,  near  the  Work- 
house Station,  Iron  Mountain  Railroad.  Divine  ser- 
vice was  held  at  first  in  a  frame  house  belonging  to 
I  John  Whitnell,  who  presented  to  the  order  the 
ground  upon  which  their  buildings  now  stand.  The 
monastery  was  completed  and  services  held  in  its 
chapel  Aug.  2, 1863.  The  corner-stone  of  the  present 
church,  at  Meramec  Street  and  Kansas  Avenue,  was 
laid  by  Archbishop  Kenrick,  April  10,  1864,  and 
that  part  of  the  church  which  is  now  used  as  the 
sanctuary  and  oratory  of  the  monastery  was  completed 
June  24,  1865,  and  services  were  thenceforth  held  in 
it  until  the  main  church  was  built  and  consecrated, 
Oct.  10,  1869,  the  rite  of  consecration  being  per- 
formed, in  the  absence  and  with  the  consent  of 
Archbishop  Kenrick,  by  Right  Rev.  John  J.  Hogan, 
Bishop  of  St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  assisted  by  Father  Kilian, 
Provisional  Superior  of  the  Order  of  Franciscan 
Fathers.  The  building  was  erected  at  a  cost  of  fifty- 
six  thousand  dollars,  and  its  external  dimensions  are : 
Length,  one  hundred  and  forty-three  feet;  width, 
i  forty-five  feet.  Internal :  auditorium,  length,  one 
i  hundred  and  five  feet ;  width,  forty-five  feet ;  height, 
!  fifty  feet.  Sanctuary,  length,  thirty-eight  feet;  width, 
thirty  feet ;  height,  forty-three  feet. 

The  pastors,  with  the  dates  of  their  appointment, 
•  have  been  Rev.  Servatius  Altmicks,  O.S.F.,  who  or- 


1664 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


ganized  the  parish  Feb.  5,  1863,  and  who  is  now 
superior  of  the  Indian  Mission  at  Keshina,  Wis. ; 
Rev.  Alardus  Andrescheck,  O.S.F.,  Dec.  5,  1869 ; 
Rev.  Ferdinand  Bergmeyer,  O.S.F.,  Sept.  2,1871  ; 
Rev.  Vincent  Halbfas,  O.S.F.,  Jan.  14,  1877  ;  and 
the  present  rector,  Rev.  Liborius  Schaefermeyer,  ap- 
pointed July  2,  1879.  The  church  building  (in- 
cluding the  steeple)  is  of  stone,  in  pure  Gothic  style, 
and  is  one  of  the  largest  and  handsomest  church  edi- 
fices in  the  city.  The  parochial  school  for  boys  was 
established  when  the  parish  was  organized,  but  the 
building  in  which  it  is  now  held  was  not  completed 
until  1870.  The  parochial  school  for  girls  is  at  pres- 
ent conducted  by  the  ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart, 
Maryville.  In  1872  the  monastery  adjoining  the 
church  was  enlarged  and  made  a  theological  seminary 
for  the  students  of  the  order.  The  number  of  stu- 
dents varies  from  twenty  to  thirty,  the  number  of 
priests  from  fifteen  to  twenty,  including  such  students 
as  towards  the  close  of  their  studies  are  ordained, 
although  not  invested  with  full  priestly  functions,  and  : 
there  are  about  ten  lay  brothers.  Since  1879  this 
monastery  has  been  the  ordinary  residence  of  the 
Superior  Provincial  of  the  newly-formed  Franciscan 
province  of  "  The  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus"  in  the 
United  States,  comprising  about  one  hundred  priests 
in  the  various  monasteries  and  residences  of  the 
Western  States  and  the  Indian  missions  in  Wisconsin. 
The  present  provincial  is  the  Very  Rev.  Vincent 
Halbfas,  O.S.F.  The  Fathers  of  this  monastery  per- 
form divine  service  and  attend  to  spiritual  wants  for 
the  novitiate  of  the  Christian  Brothers,  the  convent 
and  academy  of  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  in  South 
St.  Louis  and  at  Nazareth,  and  the  convent  of  the 
Sacred  Heart,  Maryville,  as  well  as  for  the  Catholic 
inmates  of  the  various  city  institutions,  the  sick  at 
the  Marine  Hospital,  etc.  They  also  furnish  retreats 
to  various  other  religious  societies,  and  missions  to 
Catholic  congregations  in  several  parts  of  the  United 
States.  Connected  with  the  congregation  are  the  ! 
following  societies :  Society  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of  i 
Jesus,  for  boys  and  girls  who  have  made  their  first 
communion  ;  St.  Aloysius'  Young  Men's  Society,  St. 
Clare's  Young  Ladies'  Society,  St.  Mary's  Ladies' 
Society,  St.  Anthony's  Men's  Society,  and  St.  An- 
thony's Orphan  Society.  There  are  over  three  hun- 
dred families  and  nine  hundred  communicants  in  the 
parish,  and  about  one  hundred  children  attend  the 
Sunday-school. 

St.  Elizabeth's  Church,  for  colored  people,  is  situ- 
ated at  the  corner  of  Fifteenth  and  Gay  Streets,  and 
the  pastor  is  the  Rev.  Ignatius  Panken,  S.J.  The 
building,  which  is  a  small  Gothic  structure  of  brick, 


was  erected  about  1849,  by  the  Southern  Methodists, 
and  was  known  as  Asbury  Chapel.  It  was  sold  in 
December,  1864,  to  the  Jesuits,  who  devoted  it  to 
the  use  of  the  colored  Catholics.  The  building  was 
renovated  and  refitted,  and  will  now  seat  about  three 
hundred  persons.  The  pastor  resides  at  St.  Louis 
University,  but  devotes  his  whole  time  to  the  duties 
of  his  parish  and  its  schools.  About  eight  hundred 
persons  compose  the  congregation,  and  all  attend  the 
Sunday  services  with  considerable  regularity. 

St.  Teresa's  Church,  Grand  Avenue,  between 
North  Market  and  Summer  Streets,  Rev.  W.  H. 
Brantner,  pastor,  was  organized  in  October,  1865,  by 
Rev.  F.  P.  Gallagher,  its  first  pastor,  who  was  ap- 
pointed Oct.  1,  1865,  with  Rev.  E.  J.  Fitzpatrick  as 
assistant.  The  corner-stone  was  laid  on  the  14th  of 
May,  1865,  and  the  building  was  dedicated  Sept.  23, 
1866.  It  was  thirty-two  by  sixty-five  feet  in  size, 
and  had  a  capacity  of  three  hundred  sittings.  An 
addition,  forty-eight  by  sixty-five  feet,  was  subse- 
quently built,  and  dedicated  Dec.  22,  1878,  raising 
the  seating  capacity  to  seven  hundred.  The  building 
is  of  brick,  in  the  Byzantine  style,  and  the  church  lot 
is  two  hundred  and  thirty-six  by  three  hundred  and 
fifteen  feet.  The  church  property  is  valued  at  fifty 
thousand  dollars.  Father  Brantner  succeeded  the 
first  pastor  Sept.  1,  1875.  On  the  1st  of  August, 
1876,  the  congregation  was  incorporated  under  the 
laws  of  Missouri  as  "  St.  Teresa's  Roman  Catholic 
Parish  Association,"  with  nine  trustees.  The  societies 
connected  with  the  church  are  the  St.  Teresa's  Con- 
ference ;  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  Society,  organized  in 
1868,  and  now  numbering  forty  members  ;  Young 
Ladies'  Sodality  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  organ- 
ized Dec.  8,  1881,  ninety  members;  Holy  Name 
Society,  organized  May,  1879,  sixty-five  members; 
Married  Ladies'  Sodality,  organized  Feb.  2,  1882, 
forty-two  members ;  Confraternity  of  the  Holy  Ro- 
sary, organized  Oct.  1,  1875,  one  hundred  and  sev- 
enty members ;  Confraternity  of  the  Sacred  Heart, 
organized  June  1,  1878,  one  hundred  and  eighty 
members;  St.  Teresa's  Branch,  No.  99,  Catholic 
Knights  of  America,  organized  Dec.  1,  1879,  one 
hundred  and  thirty-one  members;  St.  Teresa's  Coun- 
cil, No.  7,  Knights  of  Father  Mathew  of  Missouri, 
organized  Aug.  10,  1881,  seventy-five  members; 
St.  Teresa's  Altar  Society,  for  providing  all  things 
pertaining  to  the  altar  and  sanctuary,  organized  No- 
vember, 1875,  two  hundred  members;  St.  Teresa's 
Purgatorian  Association,  organized  Nov.  2,  1875, 
one  hundred  and  fifty  members.  The  parochial 
school  was  organized  in  1870,  and  is  conducted  by 
four  teachers.  It  is  located  in  a  building,  thirty- 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1665 


five  by  seventy  feet,  which  is  situated  in  the  rear  of 
the  church,  and  which  accommodates  three  hundred 
pupils,  the  number  now  attending  the  school.  Since 
the  organization  of  this  parish  four  other  parishes 
have  been  formed  within  its  boundaries, — St.  Augus- 
tine's (German),  Church  of  the  Holy  Ghost  (German) , 
St.  Alphonsus'  (Redemptorist),  and  Church  of  the 
Visitation.  The  present  boundaries  of  St.  Teresa's 
parish  are  from  Natural  Bridge  road  and  Salisbury 
Street  on  the  north  to  Lucas  and  Easton  Avenues  on 
the  south,  and  from  Jefferson  and  Garrison  Avenues 
on  the  east  to  Goode  Avenue  on  the  west.  On  the 
15th  of  October,  1882,  the  church  celebrated  the 
tri-centenary  of  the  death  of  St.  Teresa,  its  patron- 
ess, in  the  presence  of  a  vast  concourse  of  Catholics 
from  all  parts  of  the  city.  About  two  hundred  and 
sixty  families  are  connected  with  the  congregation, 
and  the  Sunday-school  is  attended  by  twenty-one 
teachers  and  four  hundred  and  fifteen  children.  The 
present  officers  of  the  board  of  trustees  are  Hon. 
Henry  F.  Harrington,  president;  John  L.  Zwart, 
secretary  ;  John  Staunton,  treasurer.  They  reported 
$6923.45  as  the  amount  of  church  collections  for 
1882,  and  a  church  debt  of  $9245.85. 

Church  of  the  Holy  Angels.  —  The  congrega-  j 
tion  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Angels,  St.  Ange 
Avenue,  between  Chouteau  Avenue  and  La  Salle 
Street,  Rev.  Francis  M.  Keilty,  pastor,  was  organ- 
ized by  Rev.  M.  Welby,  its  first  pastor,  under  direc- 
tion of  Archbishop  Kenrick,  in  1866.  The  corner- 
stone was  laid  on  the  1st  of  July,  1866,  and  the 
building  was  dedicated  by  Archbishop  Kenrick  on  | 
the  1st  of  January,  1867.  It  is  a  neat  brick 
structure  of  Gothic  architecture,  and  will  seat  four 
hundred  and  fifty  persons.  The  dimensions  of  the 
church  lot  are  one  hundred  and  eighty-nine  feet  eight 
inches  by  one  hundred  and  thirty-six  feet.  The  con- 
gregation numbers  about  thirteen  hundred  persons, 
and  the  Sunday-school  is  attended  by  twelve  teachers 
and  one  hundred  and  eighty  scholars.  No  parochial 
school  has  as  yet  been  established  in  the  parish. 

St.  Nicholas  Church. — The  corner-stone  of  St. 
Nicholas  (German)  Church,  northeast  corner  of 
Twentieth  Street  and  Lucas  Avenue,  Rev.  Joseph  J. 
Schaefers,  pastor,  was  laid  by  Archbishop  Kenrick  on 
the  29th  of  April,  1866.  and  the  building  was  dedi- 
cated on  the  19th  of  May ,.1867,  in  the  presence  of  an 
immense  concourse  of  people,  including  the  different 
Catholic  societies  in  regalia.  The  architecture  of  the 
church  is  in  the  early  English  Gothic  style,  and  the 
building  is  of  brick,  its  dimensions  being  eighty  by 
one  hundred  and  forty  feet.  From  a  tower  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty  feet  high  rises  a  spire  to  an  altitude 


of  one  hundred  feet.  The  interior  is  divided  into  a 
nave  and  aisles  by  a  series  of  clustered  columns,  from 
which  spring  moulded  Gothic  arches,  and  is  beauti- 
fully finished.  The  architects  were  Mitchell  &  Des- 
lonne.  The  building  and  ground  are  valued  at  one 
hundred  and  ten  thousand  dollars.  The  parochial 
schools  are  located  on  Christy  Avenue,  between  Twen- 
tieth and  Twenty-first  Streets,  in  a  brick  building  of 
two  stories  and  basement,  which,  with  the  grounds, 
cost  twenty-four  thousand  dollars,  and  are  under  the 
charge  of  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph,  who  live  in  the 
building,  and  a  secular  teacher.  Rev.  Charles  Brock- 
meier  is  assistant  pastor.  The  congregation  numbers 
about  four  hundred  families,  or  two  thousand  persons, 
and  three  hundred  and  fifty  children  attend  the  Sun- 
day-school. 

St.  Alphonsus  Church,  Grand  Avenue,  between 
Finney  and  Cook  Avenues,  Rev.  Michael  Miiller, 
pastor,  is  one  of  the  stateliest  and  most  imposing 
buildings  in  the  city.  It  was  erected  under  the  direc- 
tion and  is  still  in  charge  of  the  Redemptorist  Fathers, 
by  one  of  whom,  Father  Louis  Dold,  the  original 
plans  for  the  structure  were  prepared.  Subsequently 
these  plans  were  modified  by  the  architect,  Thomas 
Walsh.  The  corner-stone  was  laid  Nov.  3,  1867,  by 
Very  Rev.  Joseph  Melcher,  vicar-general  of  the  arch- 
diocese of  St.  Louis,  and  the  building  was  first  occu- 
pied, although  in  an  unfinished  condition,  Nov.  30, 
1868.  About  this  time  Rev.  L.  Dold,  its  first  rector, 
with  three  lay  brothers,  removed  from  the  Cathedral, 
of  which  they  had  charge  since  1861,  and  occupied 
temporary  residences  which  had  been  erected  on  the 
site.  On  the  4th  of  August,  1872,  the  church  was 
dedicated  by  Bishop  Ryan,  in  the  presence  of  many 
priests  and  an  immense  concourse  of  people  from  all 
parts  of  the  city  and  surrounding  country.  It  re- 
mained a  mission  church  until  Sept.  1,  1881,  when  it 
was  erected  into  a  parish  by  Most  Rev.  Archbishop 
Kenrick.  Its  pastors  have  been  Revs.  L.  Dold,  E. 
Grimm,  W.  Meredith,  and  (since  July,  1880)  Michael 
Miiller.  The  ground  on  which  it  stands  fronts  three 
hundred  and  eighty-nine  feet  on  the  east  side  of 
Grand  Avenue,  with  a  depth  of  four  hundred  and 
thirty  feet  on  Cook  Avenue,  and  three  hundred  and 
ninety-six  feet  on  Finney  Avenue.  The  building  is 
eighty  feet  in  width,  and  one  hundred  and  eighty  feet 
in  length  to  the  sanctuary,  and  has  a  seating  ca- 
pacity (including  the  gallery)  of  thirteen  hundred 
and  fifty.  It  is  pure  Gothic  in  style,  built  of  rough- 
dressed  white  limestone  (whence  its  popular  name  of 
the  "  Rock  Church"),  and  above  the  principal  en- 
trance rises  a  main  tower  two  hundred  and  twenty-five 
feet  in  height,  flanked  by  two  smaller  towers,  each 


1666 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


seventy-five  feet  in  height,  above  the  entrances  to  the 
aisles.  The  main  entrance  under  the  middle  tower  is 
a  Gothic  arch  twelve  feet  wide  and  forty  feet  high. 
The  church  contains  five  altars,  the  most  important  of 
which  are  the  main  or  high  altar,  under  which  rests  the 
body  of  St.  Abundius,  a  Roman  martyr,  and  the  altar 
of  "Our  Lady  of  Perpetual  Help."  The  entire  cost 
of  the  structure  amounted  to  about  two  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars.  As  soon  as  the  mission  became  a  parish 
it  was  determined  to  build  a  parochial  school,  and  the 
corner-stone  of  a  school  building  (not  yet  finished)  was 
laid  on  the  6th  of  August,  1882.  The  building  (of 
brick)  will  be  fifty-nine  by  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
nine  feet,  three  stories  in  height,  will  contain  on  the 
lower  and  second  floors  each  six  rooms,  twenty-two 
by  thirty-six  feet,  and  on  the  third  floor  a  hall  the 
full  size  of  the  building.  It  stands  thirty  feet  back 
from  Grand  Avenue,  and  forty  feet  from  the  church, 
and  will  be  one  of  the  largest  parochial  schools  in  the 
city.  The  cost  of  its  construction  will  amount  to 
about  forty  thousand  dollars.  The  school  will  prob- 
ably be  under  the  charge  of  the  Christian  Brothers 
for  the  boys'  department,  and  of  the  Sisters  of  Notre 
Dame  for  that  of  the  girls.  There  are  now  about 
three  hundred  families  in  the  parish,  and  the  average 
attendance  at  masses  and  at  evening  service  on  Sunday 
is  about  four  thousand.  Many  of  the  congregation 
come  from  other  parishes.  The  Sunday-school,  of 
which  Rev.  Jos.  Distler  is  director,  is  attended  by 
twenty-four  teachers  and  four  hundred  children. 

THE  REDEMPTORIST  FATHERS,  or  Congregation  of 
the  Most  Holy  Redeemer,  established  a  branch  of  their 
order  in  St.  Louis  in  1861.  The  order,  founded  by 
St.  Alphonsus  de  Liguori  in  1732,  and  approved  by 
Pope  Benedict  XIV.  Feb.  25,  1749,  has  for  one  of 
its  principal  objects  the  giving  of  retreats  and  the 
holding  of  missions  for  priests,  religious  communities, 
and  the  people,  but  in  this  country  the  members  of 
the  order  have  also  charge  of  parishes  and  perform 
the  work  of  secular  priests.  From  Naples,  where 
it  originated,  the  order  has  spread  in  every  direc- 
tion, and  has  attained  gigantic  proportions.  The 
first  Fathers  to  settle  in  America  came  to  this  country 
in  1832,  and  established  houses  in  Baltimore,  Roches- 
ter, New  York,  New  Orleans,  Philadelphia,  Pitts- 
burgh, Chicago,  etc.,  and  in  1861,  at  the  invitation  of 
Archbishop  Kenrick,  visited  St.  Louis  in  order  to  hold 
a  mission  in  the  Cathedral.  The  archbishop  was  so  well 
pleased  with  their  labors  that  he  offered  them  a 
foundation  in  St.  Louis  and  requested  them  to  take 
temporary  charge  of  the  Cathedral,  which  they  did, 
remaining  there  until  their  removal  to  their  own  (St. 
Alphonsus')  church.  Until  1875  all  the  houses  of 


the  order  in  the  United  States  and  Canada  formed 
but  one  province,  but  in  that  year  the  province  was 
divided  into  the  Eastern  and  Western  Provinces,  with 
Baltimore  as  the  residence  of  the  provincial  of  the 
Eastern,  and  St.  Louis  of  the  Western  Province.  To 
the  latter  belong  St.  Louis,  New  Orleans,  Chicago, 
Kansas  City,  and  Detroit.  Very  Rev.  Nicholas 
Jaeckel  was  the  first  provincial  in  the  West,  and  has 
twice  been  reappointed  for  terms  of  three  years  each. 
The  convent  of  the  order  stands  in  the  rear  of  the 
church,  and  is  a  large  building,  having  twenty-two 
dwelling-rooms,  a  library,  recreation  hall,  refectory, 
kitchen,  etc.  Its  cost  was  thirty  thousand  dollars. 
There  are  continually  from  ten  to  twelve  Fathers  at- 
tached to  the  house,  and  from  five  to  six  lay  brothers. 

St.  Francis  de  Sales  Church,  northwest  corner 
of  Gravois  road  and  Ohio  Avenue,  Rev.  P.  J.  Lotz, 
pastor,  was  organized  in  1867,  as  an  offshoot  from 
SS.  Peter  and  Paul  parish,  by  a  number  of  families 
resident  near  the  present  location,  and  was  for  a  time 
without  a  priest  and  struggling  under  the  pressure  of 
a  heavy  debt,  which  is  now  being  gradually  reduced. 
The  property,  comprising  about  one-fourth  of  the  en- 
tire block,  was  purchased  at  the  time  of  the  organi- 
zation of  the  parish,  and  the  church  was  erected 
before  a  pastor  had  been  appointed.  Rev.  L.  Lay, 
the  first  pastor,  added  the  pastoral  residence  in  the 
rear  of  the  church,  and  Rev.  P.  Wigger,  his  succes- 
sor, built  and  organized  the  parochial  school  in  1874, 
which  is  now  taught  by  one  secular  teacher  and  four 
sisters,  and  has  three  hundred  scholars.  The  build- 
ing stands  north  of  the  church,  and  is  a  fine  brick 
structure  with  accommodations  for  three  hundred  and 
fifty  pupils.  The  third  and  present  pastor  took  charge 
in  1878.  He  enlarged  the  church  and  added  to  it  a 
spire  and  a  new  slate  roof,  at  a  cost  of  seven  thousand 
dollars.  Rev.  F.  Reuther  is  his  assistant.  The  parish 
contains  about  three  hundred  and  fifty  families  and 
seven  hundred  communicants,  and  connected  with  the 
church  are  the  St.  Joseph's  Benevolent  Society,  Society 
of  Christian  Mothers,  St.  Mary's  Sodality  for  Young 
Men,  and  Young  Ladies'  Sodality. 

St.  Bonaventura's  Church,  devoted  to  the  use  of 
the  Italian  Catholics  of  St.  Louis,  is  situated  on  the 
southeast  corner  of  Sixth  and  Spruce  Streets,  and  the 
pastor  is  the  Rev.  Nazareno  Orfei.  The  building 
was  purchased  in  1871  by. Vicar-General  Muhlsiepen 
from  the  congregation  of  St.  John's  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church,  by  whom  it  had  been  erected  in  1853. 
At  the  time  of  its  purchase  there  were  about  five  thou- 
sand Italian  Catholics  in  St.  Louis.  The  amount  paid 
for  it  by  Vicar-General  Muhlsiepen  was  fifteen  thou- 
sand dollars.  It  is  a  handsome  structure  of  brick, 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1667 


forty-three  by  one  hundred  and  ten  feet,  and  after 
being  adapted  to  the  uses  of  the  congregation  was 
blessed  by  the  vicar-general  on  the  21st  of  April, 
1872.  At  that  time  Rev.  John  B.  Salvatelli,  of  the 
Black  Franciscan  Brothers,  was  the  pastor,  with  Rev. 
N.  Graziani  as  assistant.  The  church  did  not  prosper 
under  their  charge,  and  in  1877  the  building  was 
closed  and  trustees  made  over  the  property  to  the 
archbishop,  who  called  the  present  pastor  from  New 
Orleans  to  revive  the  enterprise.  Father  Orfei  arrived 
in  St.  Louis  July  14,  1877,  and  by  his  exertions 
soon  restored  the  activity  of  the  church.  The  sum 
of  twenty  thousand  dollars  (in  addition  to  the  pur- 
chase-money) was  expended  in  preparing  the  church 
for  Catholic  worship.  The  building  is  modeled 
after  the  Church  of  St.  Lawrence,  outside  the  walls 
of  Rome,  and  has  a  seating  capacity  of  eight  hun- 
dred. Father  Orfei  has  organized  in  connection  with 
his  congregation  a  society  known  as  the  Third  Order 
of  St.  Francis,  now  composed  of  sixty  members  of 
both  sexes,  which  meets  on  the  last  Sunday  of  every 
month  at  four  P.M.  The  congregation  is  composed  of  j 
about  three  thousand  persons,  and  there  are  two 
teachers  and  fifty  scholars  in  the  Sunday-school.  The 
present  location  of  the  church  became  unsuitable 
long  since,  owing  to  its  remoteness  from  the  centre  of 
residence  of  the  parishioners,  and  a  removal  to  a 
more  eligible  site  is  contemplated. 

Church,  of  the  Immaculate  Conception. — The  j 
original  Church  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  stood 
at  the  corner  of  Eighth  and  Chestnut  Streets.  The 
corner-stone  was  laid  on  the  8th  of  December,  1854, 
and  the  church  was  dedicated  by  Archbishop  Ken-  j 
rick  in  1855.  The  work  of  construction  was  con- 
ducted by  Fathers  Bannon  and  Duggan,  the  latter  of 
whom  was  afterwards  Bishop  of  Chicago,  and  subse- 
quently by  Fathers  Feehan  (afterwards  Bishop  of 
Nashville),  Keilty,  Cronin,  and  O'Reilly.  In  1874 
the  congregation  removed  to  the  southeast  corner  of 
Jefferson  Avenue  and  Locust  Street,  where  a  frame 
chapel  capable  of  seating  five  hundred  persons  was 
erected  and  dedicated  on  the  7th  of  June  of  that  year. 
The  parish  comprises  about  two  thousand  persons,  and  j 
the  Sunday-school  is  attended  by  two  Sisters  of  Lo- 
retto  and  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  scholars. 

Church  of  the  Sacred  Heart. — In  1871  a  brick 
chapel  was  erected  for  the  use  of  the  then  newly-or- 
ganized Church  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  at  the  southeast 
corner  of  University  and  Twentieth  Streets,  and  was 
dedicated  on  the  28th  of  May,  1871,  the  sermon 
being  preached  by  the  pastor,  Rev.  J.  J.  McCabe. 
In  1882  the  chapel  was  enlarged,  and  it  is  intended  ulti- 
mately to  build  a  large  church  of  stone.  The  parochial 


residence  adjoining  the  church  is  an  elegant  stone 
structure  of  Gothic  architecture.  The  parish  school 
is  located  temporarily  in  the  old  Reservoir  Market 
building,  on  Eighteenth  Street,  near  Warren,  and  is 
under  the  charge  of  the  Sisters  of  Loretto.  There 
are  about  one  hundred  families  in  the  parish,  embrac- 
ing three  hundred  regular  communicants.  The  pas- 
tors are  Revs.  J.  J.  McCabe  and  J.  M.  McCabe. 

Church  of  Our  Lady  of  Mount  Carmel. — In 
October,  1872,  the  Church  of  Our  Lady  of  Mount 
Carmel  was  organized  by  the  present  pastor,  Rev. 
D.  S.  Phelan,  for  the  English-speaking  Catholics  of 
the  northern  portion  of  the  city.  The  corner-stone 
of  the  church,  which  is  situated  on  the  east  side  of 
Church  Street,  near  north  city  limits,  was  laid  on  the 
16th  of  October,  1872,  and  the  building  was  dedi- 
cated on  the  4th  of  May,  1873.  It  is  a  Gothic  brick 
structure,  fifty,  by  seventy-five  feet,  and  stands  upon 
a  lot  containing  about  half  an  acre,  the  property 
being  valued  at  fifteen  thousand  dollars.  The  parochial 
school,  organized  in  September,  1874,  is  conducted 
in  a  brick  building  thirty-five  by  fifty  feet,  situated 
near  the  church,  and  has  two  teachers  and  ninety 
scholars.  There  are  four  societies  (religious  or  be- 
nevolent) connected  with  the  church,  having  from 
thirty  to  seventy-five  members  each.  The  congrega- 
tion numbers  about  one  hundred  families  and  four 
teachers,  and  about  one  hundred  pupils  attend  the 
Sunday-school.  Rev.  William  Noonan  is  assistant 
pastor,  and  also  chaplain  of  Calvary  Cemetery. 

St.  Agatha's  German  Church;  northwest  corner 
of  Utah  and  Eighth  Streets,  Rev.  William  Hinssen, 
pastor,  was  dedicated  by  Bishop  Ryan  on  the  14th 
of  July,  1872,  mass  being  celebrated  by  Very  Rev. 
H.  Muhlsiepen,  S.J.  It  is  a  brick  structure  forty  by 
one  hundred  feet,  with  two  stories  and  basement,  the 
first  story  being  used  as  the  parish  school,  which  is 
conducted  by  four  Sisters  of  the  Precious  Blood  and 
one  secular  teacher,  and  numbers  about  four  hundred 
scholars.  The  main  auditorium  on  the  second  floor 
will  seat  about  four  hundred  and  fifty  persons,  and 
is  filled  every  Sunday  beyond  its  seating  capacity. 
There  are  about  seven  hundred  communicants  in  the 
parish.  The  church  lot  comprises  about  one-fourth 
of  the  block,  and  its  northeastern  extremity  is  occu- 
pied by  a  substantial  parochial  residence. 

Church  of  Our  Lady  of  Perpetual  Succor. — 
The  congregation  of  Our  Lady  of  Perpetual  Succor 
(Fourteenth  Street  and  Linton  Avenue,  North  St. 
Louis,  Rev.  A.  Schilling,  pastor)  was  organized  in 
1873  by  forty  families  from  Holy  Trinity  parish. 
The  corner-stone  of  the  present  building  was  laid 
Oct.  6,  1873,  and  the  church  was  dedicated  May  17, 


1668 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


1874.  It  is  a  brick  building,  of  Romanesque  archi- 
tecture, eighty  by  forty  feet,  with  four  basement-rooms, 
in  which  the  parochial  school  is  conducted  by  five 
Sisters  of  Notre  Dame.  The  school  was  established 
Sept.  1,  1873,  and  has  now  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  pupils.  The  church  has  a  seating  capacity  of  five 
hundred,  and,  with  the  pastoral  residence,  is  valued  at 
thirty  thousand  dollars.  The  congregation  is  growing 
so  rapidly  that  it  is  proposed  to  erect  in  a  few  years 
a  second  building,  with  a  front  of  two  hundred  and 
sixty-three  feet  and  a  depth  of  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
eight  and  a  half  feet,  at  a  cost  of  not  less  than  fifty 
thousand  dollars.  There  are  several  social  and  benev- 
olent societies  connected  with  the  congregation,  which 
has  increased  from  the  original  forty  to  one  hundred 
and  sixty  families. 

St.  Augustine's  Church  (southeast  corner  of 
Twenty-second  and  Hebert  Streets,  Rev.  H.  V. 
Kalmer,  pastor)  is  a  German  congregation,  and  was 
organized  in  1874.  The  corner-stone  of  the  building 
was  laid  Oct.  4,  1874,  and  the  church  was  dedicated 
June  6,  1875.  It  is  of  brick,  forty-seven  by  eighty- 
five  feet,  with  two  stories  and  a  basement,  the  latter 
being  used  as  a  play-room  for  the  pupils  of  the  paro- 
chial school,  which  is  conducted  in  four  class-rooms 
on  the  first  floor.  The  school  was  organized  in  Septem- 
ber, 1875,  with  seventy-five  pupils,  and  now  numbers 
two  hundred  pupils,  under  the  charge  of  three  Sisters 
of  the  Precious  Blood  and  one  secular  teacher.  A 
two-story  brick  parsonage,  eighteen  by  thirty-two  feet, 
was  built  in  1875.  The  church  property  measures 
three  hundred  and  seventy-five  feet  on  the  south  side 
of  Hebert  Street.  The  first  pastor  was  Rev.  H. 
Jaegering,  who  was  succeeded  by  Father  Kalmer 
June  15,  1881.  Connected  with  the  congregation, 
which  numbers  about  six  hundred  persons,  are  the 
St.  Augustine's  Benevolent  Society  (organized  1880), 
Orphan  Association  (organized  1882),  St.  Aloysius 
Society  (organized  1875),  Ladies'  Altar  Association 
(organized  1876),  Young  Men's  Sodality  (organized 
1876),  and  Ladies'  Sodality  (organized  1876).  There 
is  no  Sunday-school  conducted  by  the  church. 

St.  Kevin's  Church. — The  congregation  of  St. 
Kevin's  Church,  Compton  Avenue  and  Sarah  Street, 
Rev.  Edward  J.  Shea,  pastor,  was  organized  in  Janu- 
ary, 1876,  by  Rev.  P.  L.  McEvoy,  its  first  pastor, 
who  was  succeeded  by  the  present  incumbent,  Aug.  1 , 
1879.  The  church  owns  five  lots,  with  a  total  front 
of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet  by  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  feet  in  depth.  The  church  building 
is  eighty  by  forty  feet,  and  has  a  seating  capacity  of 
three  hundred  and  twenty.  The  parochial  school 
building  is  a  two-story  structure,  has  five  large  class- 


rooms, and  can  seat  three  hundred  and  fifty  scholars. 
The  school,  established  at  the  organization  of  the 
parish,  is  under  the  care  of  the  Sisters  of  Loretto,  and 
has  four  teachers  and  one  hundred  and  sixty  pupils. 
The  Sunday-school  is  attended  by  seven  teachers  and 
two  hundred  scholars.  The  value  of  the  entire  church 
property  is  estimated  at  twelve  thousand  dollars. 
There  are  one  hundred  and  fifty  families,  or  about 
six  hundred  persons,  in  the  parish,  and  five  hundred 
communicants. 

The  Church  of  the  Holy  Name,  Grand  Avenue 
near  Fourteenth  Street,  Rev.  Thomas  Bonacum,  pas- 
tor, was  established  about  1876  by  Rev.  P.  J.  Gleason, 
its  first  pastor,  mainly  with  a  congregation  that  had 
some  years  before  been  organized  by  the  Jesuits  as 
St.  Thomas'  Church,  and  had  had  a  house  of  worship 
on  O'Fallon  Avenue,  but  had  dispersed.  The  church 
is  a  Gothic  brick  structure,  sixty  by  one  hundred  and 
thirty  feet,  and  will  seat  one  thousand  persons.  The 
church  lot  is  two  hundred  by  one  hundred  and  fifty 
feet,  and  on  it  is  situated  a  commodious  parochial 
residence  of  two  stories  and  basement,  comprising 
eight  rooms.  The  total  cost  of  the  ground  and 
buildings  was  about  twenty-seven  thousand  dollars. 
About  three  hundred  families  are  connected  with  the 
congregation,  and  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  chil- 
dren attend  the  Sunday-school.  No  parish  school 
has  yet  been  organized.  Rev.  George  A.  Watson  is 
assistant  pastor. 

St.  Stanislaus  Kostka  (Polish)  Church,  Twenty- 
third  Street,  between  Cass  Avenue  and  O'Fallon 
Streets,  is  the  first  Polish  congregation  in  the  city. 
It  was  organized  in  St.  Joseph's  Church  in  1879,  and 
worshiped  in  the  basement  of  St.  Patrick's  School 
until  the  erection  of  the  present  building,  which  was 
consecrated  by  Bishop  Ryan  on  Sunday,  Nov.  12, 
1882.  It  cost  thirteen  thousand  dollars,  and  has  a 
front  of  seventy-five  feet.  The  first  floor  is  occupied 
by  school-rooms,  the  church  services  being  held  on  the 
second  floor.  Adjoining  the  church  is  the  parochial 
residence.  The  congregation  numbers  one  hundred 
and  forty  families,  besides  a  number  of  unmarried 
persons. 

St.  Thomas  Aquinas  is  a  new  parish,  the  forty- 
fifth  organized  by  Catholics  in  St.  Louis.  The  con- 
gregation worshiped  for  some  time  in  St.  Joseph's 
Chapel,  Alexian  Brothers'  Hospital,  but  on  Sunday, 
Oct.  8,  1882,  the  corner-stone  of  a  church  was  laid 
at  the  northwest  corner  of  Osage  Street  and  Iowa 
Avenue,  in  the  presence  of  an  immense  assemblage. 
The  building  is  of  Gothic  architecture,  and  its  dimen- 
tions  are  forty-two  by  seventy-five  feet. 

St.  Boniface  (German)  Church,  Carondelet.— 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1669 


The  corner-stone  of  St.  Boniface  (German)  Church, 
on  Fourth  Street  near  Schirmer,  Carondelet,  was  laid 
on  the  first  Sunday  in  September,  1860,  by  the  Bishop 
of  Minnesota,  attended  by  Father  Ryan,  of  the  Cathe- 
dral, and  Vicar-General  Muhlsiepen.  There  were  also 
present  Rev.  J.  Gamber,  pastor,  Rev.  T.  Hendericx, 
pastor  of  the  English  congregation  of  Carondelet, 
Father  Smarius,  S.J.,  Rev.  F.  Bruhl,  S.J.,  Rev.  F. 
Tobin,  and  Father  Meester,  S.J.  Addresses  were  de- 
livered by  Fathers  Smarius  and  Bruhl.  The  church 
is  in  the  Romanesque  style  of  architecture,  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  by  twenty-six  feet,  with  two 
towers  each  one  hundred  feet  high,  and  its  estimated 
cost  was  sixteen  thousand  dollars.  The  architect  was 
Thomas  W.  Brady.  About  three  hundred  and  fifty 
families  (seventeen  hundred  and  fifty  persons)  are 
connected  with  the  church. 

St.  Mary's  and  St.  Joseph's  Church  is  situated 
on  Third  Street  near  Kansas,  Carondelet,  and  the 
pastor  is  Rev.  Thomas  G.  Daley,  his  assistant  being 
Rev.  W.  T.  Stackasst.  The  corner-stone  was  laid  on 
the  29th  of  May,  1859,  and  the  sermon  was  preached 
by  Father  (afterwards  bishop)  Ryan,  of  the  Cathe- 
dral. There  are  about  two  hundred  families  in  the 
parish,  and  the  parochial  schools,  numbering  about 
three  hundred  and  fifty  pupils,  are  conducted  by  the 
Christian  Brothers  and  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph. 

St.  Columbkille's  Church,  was  organized  in  1872, 
at  Fourth  and  Davis  Streets.  The  corner-stone  was 
laid  June  23,  1872,  and  the  church  was  dedicated  in 
February,  1873.  Rev.  M.  O'Reilly  has  had  charge 
of  the  church  since  its  organization. 

There  are  a  number  of  suburban  Roman  Catholic 
Churches  in  the  vicinity  of  St.  Louis,  the  principal 
being  St.  James',  Cheltenham,  Rev.  T.  A.  Butler, 
pastor;  Holy  Cross,  near  Calvary  Cemetery,  Rev. 
Hermann  Wigger,  pastor ;  Holy  Ghost,  Elleardsville, 
Rev.  M.  Busch,  pastor;  St.  Bernard's,  Tesson  near 
Sarpy  Avenue,  Rev.  Henry  Willenbrink,  pastor;  Our 
Lady  of  the  Visitation,  southwest  corner  St.  Charles 
Rock  road  and  Taylor  Avenue ;  and  St.  Gornan's,  at 
the  junction  of  the  Manchester  and  Chouteau  Avenue 
Rock  road. 

In  addition  to  the  parish  churches  enumerated  there 
are  a  number  of  chapels,  which  are  attended  as  fol- 
lows :  Christian  Brothers,  attended  from  the  Cathe- 
dral ;  Sisters  of  Charity,  Father  Wachter,  chaplain ; 
St.  Joseph's  Chapel,  Alexian  Brothers  Hospital,  Rev. 
George  A.  Watson ;  Ursuline  Convent,  Very  Rev. 
H.  Muhlsiepen,  V.  G. ;  Sacred  Heart  Convent,  Fifth 
Street,  from  Annunciation  Church ;  Convent  of  the 
Visitation,  from  St.  Bridget's  Church  ;  Loretto  Con- 
vent, from  St.  John's ;  Good  Shepherd  Convent,  by 
106 


the  Jesuit  Fathers;  Male  Orphan  Asylum,  from 
Holy  Angels'  Church ;  German  Orphan  Asylum, 
from  St.  Joseph's ;  Carmelite  Convent,  from  Mount 
Carmel ;  Notre  Dame  Convent,  from  SS.  Peter  and 
Paul;  St.  Joseph's  Convent,  from  St.  Columbkille's; 
Sacred  Heart  Convent,  Maryville,  by  Franciscan 
Fathers;  Widows'  Home,  from  St.  Lawrence  O'Toole  ; 
Female  Orphan  Asylum,  by  Jesuit  Fathers ;  Little 
Sisters  of  the  Poor,  from  the  Church  of  the  Sacred 
Heart ;  St.  Vincent's  Institute,  by  the  Lazarist  Fa- 
thers;  Half-Orphan  Asylum,  by  Jesuit  Fathers; 
House  of  the  Angel  Guardian,  by  Lazarist  Fathers; 
Sisters  of  Mercy,  by  Jesuit  Fathers. 

BAPTIST   CHURCHES. 

The  First  Protestant  Congregation. — To  the 
Baptists  belongs  the  credit  of  having  organized  the 
first  Protestant  society  and  of  having  built  the  first 
Protestant  house  of  worship  west  of  the  Mississippi 
River.  The  first  Baptist  minister  who  preached  in 
Missouri  appears  to  have  been  the  Rev.  John  Clark. 
This  pioneer  preacher  was  born  in  the  parish  of  Petty, 
near  the  city  of  Inverness,  Scotland,  Nov.  29,  1758. 
His  father  worked  a  small  farm,  which,  later  in  life, 
having  become  intemperate,  he  neglected.  In  1778 
John  Clark  went  to  sea  in  a  transport  ship,  and  sub- 
sequently served  in  American  privateers.  He  rose  to 
the  rank  of  mate,  was  taken  prisoner,  and  exchanged 
after  nineteen  months'  duress,  was  twice  impressed 
into  the  British  naval  service,  and  finally  escaped. 
After  having  suffered  almost  incredible  hardships,  he 
succeeded  in  passing  the  British  lines  and  obtained 
the  protection  of  Gen.  Francis  Marion,  the  famous 
Revolutionary  leader  in  South  Carolina.  He  again 
went  to  sea,  but  in  1785  abandoned  this  calling  and 
engaged  in  teaching  school  in  the  back  settlements  of 
South  Carolina.  In  1786  he  became  a  member  of 
the  Methodist  denomination  in  Georgia,  where  he 
again  taught  school  and  became  a  class-leader.  In 
1788  he  visited  his  birthplace  in  Scotland,  and  found 
all  the  family  except  one  sister  dead.  He  then  studied 
under  Wesley,  returned  to  Georgia  in  1789,  was  re- 
ceived on  trial,  and  appointed  a  circuit  by  the  Confer- 
ence of  1791,  and  in  1793  was  fully  ordained.  In 
1795  he  was  ordained  elder,  and  in  1796  dissolved 
his  connection  with  the  Conference  and  started  on  foot 
for  Kentucky,  and  thence,  always  on  foot,  for  Illinois, 
where  he  finally  settled.  In  1807-8  he  went  down 
the  Mississippi  alone  in  a  small  canoe,  camping  in  the 
woods  at  night,  on  a  mission  to  the  territory  now 
known  as  Louisiana,  and  returned  home,  still  alone 
and  on  foot,  through  a  country  infested  by  hostile  In- 
dians and  white  marauders.  During  this  journey  he 


1670 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


preached  wherever  he  found  a  settlement.  Mr.  Clark 
continued  to  labor  as  a  missionary  until  his  death, 
making  during  the  last  ten  years  of  his  life  a  monthly 
circuit  of  two  hundred  and  forty  miles,  always  on 
foot,  though  his  friends  made  several  unsuccessful  at- 
tempts to  induce  him  to  accept  and  use  a  horse.  He 
died  in  1833,  at  the  age  of  seventy-five,  and  was 
buried  in  the  Cold  Water  neighborhood,  the  scene  of 
his  first  missionary  efforts  in  Missouri,  where  a  mod- 
est gravestone  marks  his  resting-place.  Mr.  Clark 
organized  a  number  of  Baptist  congregations  in  St. 
Louis  County,  Mo.,  and  in  St.  Clair,  Madison,  and 
Greene  Counties,  111. 

Mr.  Clark  arrived  in  Missouri  in  1798,  and  estab- 
lished himself  near   Bridgetown,  St.  Louis   County. 
He  became  a  Baptist,  and  a  Methodist  named  Tal- 
bot   having   adopted   the   same   opinions,    they   im- 
mersed each  other.     Mr.  Clark  presided  and  taught 
school    in    the  "  American   Bottom,"  Illinois,  about 
1796,  but  afterwards  removed  to  New  Design,  situ- 
ated on  an  elevated  plateau,  about  thirty  miles  above 
Kaskaskia.     When  he   first  came  to    Missouri   the 
country  west  of  the  Mississippi  was  under  the  con- 
trol of  the  Spanish  authorities,  who  did  not  tolerate 
the  Protestant  religion.     It  was  his  custom  to  ascend 
the  eastern  shore  to  nearly  opposite  what  was  called 
"  Wood  River,"  and  wait  there  until  night,  when  a 
man  from  the  western  shore  would  cross  the  river  in 
a  canoe,  and  transport  Mr.  Clark  to  the  opposite  side. 
During  the  night  meetings  would  be  held  at  one  or 
another   of  the   small    settlements,    and    Mr.   Clark 
would  return  in  the  same  manner  to  the  eastern  bank 
before  daylight.     In  the  latter  days  of  Spanish  rule, 
however,  less  caution  was  needed.    Commandant  Tru- 
deau  was  a  man  of  liberal  mind,  and  while  the  laws 
required  every  new  settler  to  be  "  un  bon  Catholique," 
would  content  himself  with  catechising  new-comers 
as  to  their  belief  in  the  main  tenets  of  Christianity, 
and   these  satisfactorily  answered,  would    pronounce 
them  "  good  Catholics,"  and  admit  them  to  citizen- 
ship.    It  is  stated  that  he  would  pay  no  attention  to 
Clark's  visiting  and  preaching  in  the  province  until 
his  tour  for  the  occasion  was  nearly  completed,  when 
he  would  send  him  a  message  to  the  effect  that  if  he 
did  not  leave  the  Spanish  territory  within  three  days 
he  would  be  imprisoned,  and  this  message,  always  in 
the  same  or  similar  language,  is  said  to  have  been  re- 
peated so  often  that  it  became  a  pleasant  jest  with 
Clark  and  his  friends.      On   one  occasion  Abraham 
Musick,  a  Baptist,  who  was  well  acquainted  with  the 
commandant,  asked  permission  to  have  meetings  held 
at  his  house  by  Clark.    The  commandant  replied  that 
his  petition  was  contrary  to  the  laws,  and  could   not 


be  granted.  "  That  is,  I  mean,"  said  he,  "  you  must 
not  put  a  bell  on  your  house  and  call  it  a  church,  nor 
suffer  anybody  to  christen  your  children  except  the 
parish  priest,  but  if  your  friends  choose  to  meet  at 
your  house,  to  sing,  pray,  and  talk  about  religion,  you 
will  not  be  molested,  provided  you  continue,  as  of 
course  you  are,  '  a  good  Catholic.' " 

In  1801  the  Rev.  Thomas  R.  Musick,  of  Kentucky, 
visited  his  relatives  in  Missouri  and  preached  a  series 
of  sermons.  He  was  born  Oct.  17,  1756,  and  spent 
his  early  life  in  North  Carolina.  In  1803,  after  the 
acquisition  of  the  country  from  France,  he  came  to 
Missouri  with  his  family  and  took  up  his  residence 
in  St.  Louis  County.  In  1807  he  organized  the  Fee 
Fee  Church  in  St.  Louis  County,  among  the  constit- 
uent members  of  which  were  Adam  Martin  and  his 
wife  Mary,  Richard  and  Jane  Sullens,  Thomas  R. 
Musick  and  his  wife  Sarah.  Elder  Brown,  from  Ken- 
tucky, and  John  Clark  labored  with  Mr.  Musick,  who 
died  in  1842.  He  is  buried  in  the  church  grounds  at 
Fee  Fee,  and  the  old  people  who  remember  him  still 
cherish  his  memory.  Fee  Fee  is  now  the  oldest 
Protestant  Church  in  Missouri.  Cold  Water,  the 
next  church  in  the  county,  was  organized  by  Musick 
in  1809. 


FIRST   BAPTIST    CHURCH    BUILDING  IN   MISSOURI. 

During  1807  an  organization  of  Baptists  was  per- 
fected near  Jackson,  Cape  Girardeau  Co.,  and  a 
church  was  built  thruugh  the  instrumentality  of  David 
Greene.  The  building  was  a  one-story  log  cabin,  the 
corner  log  of  which  had  been  laid  in  1806. 

Zion  Church,  in  Howard  County,  was  formed  about 
1810,  near  Loutre  Island,  Montgomery  Co.,  but  the 
inhabitants  moved  farther  west  in  1815,  and  it  was 
reorganized.  The  Indians  were  very  troublesome 
during  the  war  of  1812,  and  no  others  were  formed 
for  some  years.  In  1818,  five  churches  with  five 
ministers  were  constituted  into  Mount  Pleasant  Asso- 
ciation, in  what  was  called  "  Boone's  Lick  country." 
Several  of  the  leading  men  in  this  region  had  re- 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1671 


moved  from  Kentucky.  Col.  Benjamin  Cooper, 
afterwards  a  member  of  the  Territorial  Council,  and 
chosen  commander-in-chief  to  fight  the  hostile  In- 
dians, Capt.  Callaway,  a  grandson  of  Daniel  Boone, 
and  Stephen  and  William  T.  Cole,  in  memory  of 
whom  Cooper,  Callaway,  and  Cole  Counties  were 
named,  were  active  and  influential  members  of  the 
community.  A  brother  of  Col.  Cooper  and  Callaway 
and  Cole,  together  with  many  other  persons,  were 
afterwards  slaughtered  by  the  Indians.  In  June, 
1816,  Bethel  Association  was  organized  at  the  Bethel 
Church,  near  the  present  site  of  Jackson.  It  com- 
prised six  churches  and  seven  ministers.  Most  of  the 
members  had  removed  from  the  Carolinas,  and  had 
been  several  years  in  the  country.  The  churches 
were  located  in  Perry,  Cape  Girardeau,  Washington, 
and  Wayne  Counties. 

In  November,  1817,  the  Missouri  (now  St.  Louis) 
Baptist  Association  was  formed,  with  the  following  as 
constituent  churches  :  Fee-Fee,  Cold  Water,  Boeuf, 
and  Negro  Fork,  in  St.  Louis  County,  and  Femme 
Osage,  St.  Charles  Co.,  and  Upper  Cuiver,  in  Lincoln 
County,  with  an  aggregate  membership  of  one  hun- 
dred and  forty- two  persons. 

In  1811,  Stephen  Hempstead,  one  of  the  pioneers 
of  Presbyterian  ism  in  Missouri,  heard  a  sermon 
preached  by  a  Baptist  minister,  the  occasion  being 
the  funeral  of  a  child.  From  these  facts  it  is  evi- 
dent that  the  Baptist  denomination  was  established  in 
St.  Louis  at  a  very  early  day,  and  that  its  organiza- 
tion there  was  perfected  prior  to  that  of  any  other 
Protestant  congregation.  Its  growth  appears  to  have 
been  slow  at  first,  for  when  in  the  fall  of  1817  the 
Rev.  John  M.  Peck  and  James  E.  Welch,  missionaries 
sent  out  by  the  Baptist  General  Convention,  arrived  in 
St.  Louis,  they  found  only  seven  Baptists  in  the  vil- 
lage. They  at  once  began  holding  services  in  the 
stone  house  of  Joseph  Robidoaux,  on  the  east  side 
of  Main,  north  of  Myrtle  Street.  In  a  year  their 
congregation  had  increased  to  thirteen,  just  one-half 
of  all  the  professed  Protestants  in  the  village.  On 
the  18th  of  February,  1818,  they  organized  the  First 
Baptist  Church,  with  eleven  members.  In  1818  the 
church  began  the  building  of  the  first  Protestant 
house  of  worship  erected  in  St.  Louis,  which  was 
situated  at  the  southwest  corner  of  Market  and 
Third  Streets.  It  was  never  fully  completed,  but 
was  occupied  for  worship  and  was  also  used  for  a  time 
as  a  court-house.  On  the  10th  of  November,  1819, 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Ward,  an  Episcopalian  minister,  was 
announced  to  preach  the  annual  sermon  of  the  Mis- 
souri Bible  Society,  "  in  the  Baptist  meeting-house 
this  evening  at  early  candle-light." 


The  building  was  forty  by  sixty  feet,  and  three 
stories  in  height.  It  was  entered  in  the  second  story 
from  Market  Street,  and  was  the  only  building  on  the 
south  side  of  Market  Street  from  the  river  to  Fourth 
Street.  It  cost  six  thousand  dollars,  of  which  sum 
Mr.  Welch  advanced  twelve  hundred  dollars,  and  John 
Jacoby,  the  treasurer,  six  hundred  dollars.  In  1821 
the  city  decided  to  widen  Market  Street,  a  measure 
which  would  cut  off  twelve  by  eighty  feet  of  the 
church  lot.  The  congregation  endeavored  to  have  the 
portion  condemned  assessed  at  a  fair  valuation,  but 
did  not  succeed  in  doing  so.  Soon  afterwards  a  furious 
hail-storm  broke  all  the  windows  on  the  Market  Street 
side,  and  the  mayor  would  not  permit  the  glass  to  be 
put  in,  because  that  portion  of  the  church  had  been 
condemned  as  public  property.  The  building  was 
thereupon  abandoned  and  sold  for  twelve  hundred 
dollars,  of  which  Mr.  Jacoby's  widow  received  six 
hundred  dollars,  and  Mr.  Welch  six  hundred  dollars, 
half  the  amount  loaned  by  him. 

At  a  meeting  held  Aug.  29,  1830,  Rev.  J.  M. 
Peck  reported  that  in  consequence  of  the  death  of 
Mr.  Jacoby,  one  of  the  trustees  of  the  church,  the  title 
had  become  involved,  and  that  the  city  had  taken  to 
widen  the  streets  twelve  feet  off  the  building,  and,  as 
the  church  was  not  known  in  law,  the  trustees  could 
not  recover  damages.  Consequently  they  had  been 
left  without  funds  to  repair  the  building,  and  under 
these  circumstances  had  sold  the  property  to  pay 
the  debts.  A  part  of  the  debt,  however,  appears  to 
have  remained,  and  to  have  assisted  in  the  rapid 
decline  of  the  society,  which  in  1832  was  reduced  to 
seventeen  members,  and  in  1833  became  extinct,  trans- 
ferring all  but  its  debts  to  the  Second  Church,  then 
newly  organized.  There  are  now  seven  white  and 
eight  colored  Baptist  Churches  in  the  city,  with  a  total 
membership  of  nearly  five  thousand. 

In  1831  a  three  days'  meeting  was  held  by  the 
Baptist  Church,  commencing  on  Friday,  April  1st, 
aided  by  the  Rev.  J.  E.  Welch.  Rev.  John  Mason 
Peck,  D.D.,  who  did  so  much  to  build  up  the  Baptist 
Church  in  St.  Louis,  spent  nearly  forty  years  of  his 
life  in  missionary  work  in  the  West,  and  was  one  of 
the  most  prominent  citizens  of  St.  Louis.  He  was 
born  in  the  parish  of  Litchfield,  South  Farms,  Conn., 
Oct.  31,  1789.  He  first  united  with  the  Congrega- 
tional Church  in  Litchfield.  In  1811  he  removed  to 
Windhani,  Greene  Co.,  N.  Y.,  and  became  acquainted 
with  the  Baptists  through  the  church  at  that  place, 
and  Rev.  H.  Harvey  in  the  adjoining  town  of  New 
Durham.  He  united  with  the  Baptist  Church  in 
New  Durham  on  Sept.  14,  1811,  and  preached  his 
first  sermon,  and  was  immediately  licensed.  In  1813 


1672 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


he  was  ordained  as  pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  in 
Catskill,  but  after  a  brief  pastorate  there  and  another 
at  Amenia,  in  Dutchess  County,  N.  Y.,  he  accepted 
an  agency  in  behalf  of  foreign  missions,  laboring  under 
the  guidance  of  Rev.  Luther  Rice.  He  then,  1816- 
17,  had  a  year  of  study  under  Dr.  Staughton,  of 
Philadelphia.  He  was  then  appointed  a  missionary 
of  the  board  of  the  Triennial  Convention  to  labor  in 
St.  Louis  and  vicinity.  On  July  25,  1817,  he  set 
out  with  his  wife  and  three  children,  in  a  covered 
wagon,  upon  the  long  western  journey  of  twelve  hun- 
dred miles  to  his  field  of  labor,  and  on  the  1st  of 
December  reached  St.  Louis.  His  associate,  Rev. 
James  E.  Welch,  had  reached  the  field  before  him. 
In  1822,  Rev.  Mr.  Peck  became  a  resident  of  Rock 
Spring,  111.,  and  this  remained  his  home  until  his 
death. 

At  Rock  Spring,  Dr.  Peck,  in  connection  with  his 
missionary  labors,  now  under  the  appointment  of  the 
Massachusetts  Baptist  Missionary  Society,  established 
a  seminary  for  general  and  theological  education, 
being  aided  in  his  enterprise  to  some  extent  by  East- 
ern friends.  The  seminary  was  a  success,  and  at  one 
time  contained  over  one  hundred  students.  In  due 
time  the  seminary  became  united  with  the  one  at 
Upper  Alton,  now  known  as  Shurtleff  College.  In 
addition  to  his  ministerial  labors,  Dr.  Peck  contributed 
frequently  to  newspapers  and  other  periodicals,  and 
published  several  works  on  the  West. 

On  April  25,  1828,  he  began  the  publication  of  a 
newspaper  called  the  Western  Pioneer  and  Baptist. 
Aside  from  other  labors,  he  also  wrote  "  A  Biography 
of  Father  Clark,"  "  Emigrant's  Guide,"  "  Gazetteer 
of  Illinois,"  "  Annals  of  the  West,"  and  other  works. 
He  frequently  visited  the  Eastern  States  in  the  inter- 
est of  his  church,  and  was  throughout  his  ministerial 
career  one  of  the  most  active  and  energetic  of  the 
ministers  of  the  Baptist  denomination.  His  publica- 
tions in  the  East  concerning  the  resources  of  the 
Western  country  attracted  many  persons  thither,  and 
materially  aided  its  development.  He  was  a  recog- 
nized authority  as  to  the  local  history  of  the  Western 
communities,  and  collected  a  great  mass  of  material, 
much  of  which  was  subsequently  destroyed  by  fire. 
Some  of  it  was  left  at  his  death  in  such  a  fragmentary 
condition  that  it  could  not  be  utilized.  He  died  at 
Rock  Spring,  111.,  March  24,  1857,  in  the  sixty- 
eighth  year  of  his  age. 

The  Rev.  James  Eley  Welch,  Dr.  Peck's  colleague, 
was  born  near  Lexington,  Ky.,  Feb.  28,  1789.  In 
October,  1810,  he  was  baptized  by  Rev.  Jeremiah 
Vardeman,  and  taken  into  the  fellowship  of  the  Bap- 
tist Church  at  Davis'  Fork.  In  1815  he  entered  the 


ministry,  and  in  the  following  year  studied  theology 
with  Rev.  Dr.  William  Staughton,  of  Philadelphia, 
and  acted  as  pastor  of  the  church  in  Burlington, 
N.  J.,  where  he  was  eminently  successful.  In  1817 
he  tendered  his  services  to  the  Board  of  Missions  at 
Philadelphia,  and  in  May  of  that  year  they  were 
accepted  as  a  missionary  to  St.  Louis,  Mo.  He 
reached  his  destination  after  more  than  two  months' 
travel.  St.  Louis  then  contained  about  fifteen  hun- 
dred inhabitants.  The  only  paved  sidewalk  at  that 
time  was  on  Main,  between  Chestnut  and  Market 
Streets.  The  pavement  was  of  brick.  The  only 
house  west  of  Fifth  Street  was  Judge  Lucas',  on  the 
spot  where  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  on  Four- 
teenth Street  now  stands.  The  old  First  Presby- 
terian Church  then  stood  on  the  ground  where  Phil- 
harmonic Hall  was  afterwards  situated,  on  the  corner 
of  Washington  Avenue  and  Fourth  Street.  The  whole 
square  was  offered  in  1818  to  Mr.  Welch  by  the 
owner,  Mr.  Conner,  for  one  hundred  dollars.  On  the 
southeast  corner  of  Chestnut  and  Fourth  Streets  a 
small  frame  building  was  standing,  which,  with  the 
lot,  was  offered  for  two  hundred  dollars.  Mr.  Welch 
commenced  his  missionary  work  by  erecting,  in  1818,  a 
brick  meeting-house  at  the  corner  of  Third  and  Market 
Streets,  on  the  site  of  the  St.  Clair  Hotel,  which  was 
opened  for  service  in  July,  1819,  but  after  three  years 
of  laborious  struggles  and  varied  success  the  board 
discontinued  the  mission,  and  Mr.  Welch  returned  to 
Burlington,  N.  J.  For  more  than  twenty  years  he 
was  agent  for  the  American  Sunday-School  Union. 
He  removed  from  Burlington  in  September,  1848,  to 
Warren  County,  Mo.,  where  he  labored  constantly  for 
the  promotion  of  the  interests  of  the  Baptist  Church 
until  1875,  when  he  settled  at  Warrensburg,  Mo. 
In  1876  he  revisited  his  old  home  in  Burlington, 
N.  J.,  and  on  the  18th  of  July,  while  with  an  ex- 
cursion party  of  Baptists  at  the  sea-shore,  he  was 
seized  with  apoplexy,  which  ended  a  long  and  useful 
life. 

The  Baptist  Headquarters,  St.  Louis  Branch 
House  and  General  Depository  of  the  American 
Baptist  Publication  Society,  1109  Olive  Street, 
Lewis  E.  Kline,  manager,  is  one  of  the  most  flourish- 
ing institutions  of  its  type  in  the  country.  The  St. 
Louis  Baptists  having  paid  to  the  General  Publication 
Society  $5000  towards  the  purpose,  the  St.  Louis 
Branch  was  opened  about  Nov.  1,  1868,  with  Rev. 
G.  J.  Johnson,  D.D.  (for  five  years  previously  West- 
ern agent  of  the  society),  as  manager.  It  was  located  at 
209  North  Sixth  Street,  and  proved  successful  from  the 
start.  During  the  first  four  months  the  sales  amounted 
to  $2356.38,  and  in  the  following  year  to  024,373.- 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS.  1673 


- 

' 
«» 

: 
- 
. 

^ 


'lin- 

rved  two 
• 
a  n  ambush  at  Fish 


• 

••is  ia 

,nkly  told 

:   be- 

-'  UP 

• 


. 


1674 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


one  seemed  desirous  of  having  a  man  without  the  use 
of  his  right  arm.    He  thereupon  entered  a  commercial 
college,  and  studied  telegraphy  and  book-keeping,  at  j 
the  same  time  seeking  work. 

At  length,  in  1866,  his  perseverance  was  rewarded  ' 
with  a  position  as  cashier  and  book-keeper  in  the  j 
then    largest  religious  publishing  house   and   book-  [ 
store  in   the  city.      For  three  years  he  performed  [ 
the  various  duties  of  his  place  with  his  left  hand,  ! 
with  which  he  had  learned  to  write,  working  hard  by  i 
day  and  studying  at  night.      He  succeeded  beyond 
his  most  sanguine  expectations ;  but  it  was  at  the  ex- 
pense of  his  general  health.     A  brief  vacation  in  the 
East  became  a  necessity,  and  on  his  return,  with  im- 
proved health,  two  places  were  open  to  him, — one  a 
position  in  the  Treasury  Department  at  Washington, 
D.  C.,  the  other  as  chief  clerk  and  book-keeper  of  the 
American  Baptist  Publication  Society.     He  accepted 
the  latter  place  in  1869,  and  was  appointed  manager 
Jan.  1,  1876.     He  still   retains   this   position,  and 
during  the  past  six  years  has  performed  in  addition 
the  duties  of  district  secretary  of  the  society.     His 
position  during  the  last  fourteen  years  has  been  one 
requiring  unusual  tact,  good  judgment,  perseverance, 
and  close  application.     Under  his  management  the 
business  of  the  house  has  increased  with  great  regu- 
larity and   steadiness.      Although   he   has  had   the 
hardest  field  to  cultivate  in  the  interests  of  the  Pub- 
lication  Society,  owing   to   the   fact   that   both  the 
Northern  and  Southern  elements  of  the  Baptist  de- 
nomination come  into  contact  in  St.  Louis,  and  must 
be  harmonized  and  conciliated,  he  has  succeeded,  with- 
out loss  of  principle  or  self-respect,  in  winning  the 
confidence  and  esteem  of  all  classes  of  his  patrons. 

Although  the  youngest  manager  in  the  service  of 
the  society,  he  has  developed  a  business  equaled  by 
no  other  depository,  and  now  superintends  the  finest 
building  and  equipments,  as  well  as  the  largest  trade, 
to  be  found  in  any  of  the  branch  establishments. 
His  store,  No.  1109  Olive  Street,  is  the  "  Baptist 
Headquarters"  not  only  for  St.  Louis,  but  the  entire 
Southwest.  In  the  management  of  his  business  his 
distinguishing  characteristics  are  promptness,  punctu- 
ality, systematic  attention  to  details,  scrupulous  hon- 
esty, and  generous  treatment  of  all  his  patrons  alike. 
In  religion,  Mr.  Kline  is  a  strict  Baptist,  having 
united  with  the  Second  Baptist  Church  in  1866,  and 
has  filled  in  different  churches  the  various  offices  in 
the  Sunday-school,  in  the  church,  and  in  the  local 
and  State  boards  of  denominational  work.  He  is  an 
active  member  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  Shurtleff 
College,  Upper  Alton,  111.,  in  whose  prosperity  he  is 
greatly  interested,  and  whose  museum  he  has  enriched 


with  a  most  valuable  collection  of  ancient  coins  and 
curios,  gathered  in  his  tours  in  this  country  and 
through  Europe  in  1871.  In  the  local  affairs  of  St. 
Louis  he  is  deeply  interested,  and  has  filled  with  honor 
to  himself  and  profit  to  those  whom  he  has  served  the 
offices  of  secretary  of  various  institutions  and  orders, 
and  of  Generalissimo  in  the  commandery  of  Knights 
Templar. 

The  estimation  in  which  he  is  held  by  his  fellow 
Knights  Templar  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  he  was 
presented  by  them  with  an  engrossed  and  illuminated 
testimonial  of  rare  design  and  great  beauty,  a  compli- 
ment seldom  bestowed  upon  a  member  of  that  order. 
Mr.  Kline  has  also  been  president  in  the  Temple  of 
Honor,  Good  Templars,  and  Band  of  Hope.  Benev- 
olent institutions  and  enterprises  have  been  aided  by 
him  with  a  liberal  hand. 

On  his  return  from  a  vacation  in  Europe  in  1871, 
Mr.  Kline  was  married  to  Miss  Sallie  E.  Mason.  la 
domestic  as  in  public  life,  he  is  true  and  upright, 
and  his  career  throughout  has  been  singularly  pure 
and  simple.  Deprived  in  youth  by  ill  health  of  the 
advantages  of  early  education,  he  has  by  close  study 
of  men  and  books  acquired  a  thorough  training  and 
exceptional  readiness  in  the  application  of  his  knowl- 
edge. Mr.  Kline  is  in  the  best  sense  of  the  term  a 
self-made  man,  and  one  who,  having  risen  from  the 
lowest  round  of  the  ladder  by  his  own  rare  deter- 
mination, is  both  sympathetic  in  helping  those  who 
are  working  their  own  way  up  in  life,  and  worthy  of 
the  highest  confidence  and  regard  of  all  who  rever- 
ence honest  merit  and  genuine  success. 

Fee-Fee  Baptist  Church  is  situated  on  the  St. 
Charles  Rock  road,  fourteen  miles  west  of  St.  Louis, 
in  St.  Louis  County.  Rev.  Luther  Green  is  the  pas- 
tor. Of  this,  the  oldest  Protestant  organization  west 
of  the  Mississippi  River,  the  early  records  down  to 
1834  were  unfortunately  burned  while  in  the  posses- 
sion of  Rev.  John  M.  Peck.  What  follows,  to  that 
date,  has  been  mainly  gathered  from  the  memories  of 
the  original  members  and  from  Mrs.  Catharine  Martin, 
who  joined  the  society  in  1815  and  is  still  living.  The 
church,  as  heretofore  stated,  was  organized  in  1807  at 
the  residence  of  one  of  its  members,  near  where  the 
first  meeting-house  was  built,  by  Rev.  Thomas  R. 
Musick,  with  the  following  members :  Adam  and 
Mary  Martin,  Abraham,  Terrell,  and  Prudence  Mu- 
sick, John,  Jane,  Richard,  and  Susan  Sullens.  John 
and  Joyce  Howdershell.  The  first  house  built  for 
worship  was  a  log  cabin,  situated  on  a  lot  of  three 
acres  deeded  by  James  Richardson  for  church  and 
cemetery  purposes,  on  the  old  St.  Charles  road.  It 
was  replaced  by  a  brick  house  built  on  the  same  lot 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1675 


in  1828,  which  still  stands  in  the  midst  of  the  old  Fee- 
Fee  Cemetery,  which  has  been  much  enlarged,  and 
which,  in  1876,  was  conveyed  to  a  board  of  trustees 
composed  of  four  members  of  the  Mizpah  Presbyterian 
Church,  four  from  the  Bridgeton  Methodist  Church, 
and  four  from  the  Fee-Fee.  The  first  grave  was  dug 
in  1822.  The  cemetery  has  recently  been  greatly  im- 
proved and  adorned.  In  1870  the  third  and  present 
house  of  worship  was  built,  under  the  ministry  of  Rev. 
John  Hickman,  on  a  lot  of  five  acres,  situated  on  the 
St.  Charles  Rock  road,  one  quarter  of  a  mile  north 
of  the  old  church,  and  given  to  the  congregation  by 
Erastus  Post.  It  is  a  brick  structure,  forty  by  sixty 
feet,  with  a  seating  capacity  of  three  hundred  and 
sixty,  and  a  basement  for  the  Sunday-school.  It 
cost  thirteen  thousand  dollars,  and  was  dedicated  July 
24,  1870,  Dr.  W.  Pope  Yeaman  preaching  the  ser- 
mon. The  succession  of  pastors  cannot  be  accurately 
given,  but  among  them  are  named  Rev.  John  Clark, 
the  pioneer  of  Protestantism  in  Missouri,  and  Rev. 
John  M.  Peck,  the  first  Baptist  missionary  to  Mis- 
souri. The  membership  of  Fee-Fee  Church  now 
numbers  seventy-two,  and  its  Sunday-school  is 
attended  by  forty  children. 

Second  Baptist  Church. — This  church,  the  parent 
of  the  Baptist  congregations  in  St.  Louis,  is  situated  at 
the  northwest  corner  of  Locust  and  Beaumont  Streets. 
Rev.  W.  W.  Boyd,  D.D.,  is  the  pastor.  In  September, 
1832,  the  American  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society 
sent  to  St.  Louis  Rev.  Archer  B.  Smith,  of  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia,  who  obtained  a  room  on  Market 
Street  below  Second  and  began  holding  meetings. 
He  found  the  society  of  the  First  Church  utterly  dis- 
organized, only  seventeen  members  remaining,  six  of 
whom  obtained  letters  of  dismissal,  and,  joining  with 
six  others,  met  Jan.  6,  1833,  in  the  school-house 
of  Elihu  H.  Shepard,  on  Fourth  Street,  opposite  the 
court-house,  and  organized  "  The  Second  Baptist 
Church  of  St.  Louis,"  so  styling  the  new  society,  in 
order  not  to  be  saddled  with  the  debts  of  the  First. 
Among  the  original  members  were  H.  Budlony,  C.  W. 
Cozzens,  Moses  Stout,  Archer  B.  Smith,  Sarah  Orme, 
E.  Williams,  Edith  Kerr,  M.  A.  Francis.  Emily  W. 
Cozzens,  and  others.  Their  number  were  soon  after 
augmented  by  the  remaining  members  of  the  First 
Church,  who  on  the  10th  of  February,  1833,  voted 
themselves  letters  of  dismissal  and  disbanded,  trans- 
ferring to  the  new  society  the  money  and  subscrip- 
tions that  had  been  obtained  for  erecting  a  new  church. 
Rev.  William  Hurley  had  conducted  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  new  congregation,  but  Rev.  Archer  B. 
Smith  was  chosen  pastor.  He  resigned  and  returned 
East  in  September,  1833,  and  Rev.  W.  Hurley  sup- 


plied the  pulpit  until,  in  March,  1835,  an  application 
was  made  to  the  Home  Missionary  Society  for  a 
pastor,  and  for  aid  to  sustain  him.  In  June,  1835, 
the  society  sent  Rev.  Thomas  P.  Greene,  of  North 
Carolina,  who  remained  one  year.  During  his  pastor- 
ate a  lot  at  the  northwest  corner  of  Morgan  and  Sixth 
Streets  was  purchased,  on  which  a  foundation  was  laid 
before  the  winter  rendered  further  work  impossible ; 
but  in  the  spring  of  1836  the  lot  was  sold,  and  in 
June,  1836,  the  society  purchased  the  Episcopalian 
Church  building,  situated  at  the  northwest  corner  of 
Third  and  Chestnut  Streets,  for  twelve  thousand  dol- 
lars, the  understanding  being  that  possession  was  to 
be  given  within  one  year  from  the  date  of  sale. 
During  this  interval  the.  congregation  worshiped  at 
Shepard's  school-house,  but  in  May,  1837,  it  took 
possession  of  the  building,  which  it  had  purchased 
from  the  Episcopalians.  While  services  were  being 
held  in  the  school-house  sermons  were  preached  occa- 
sionally by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Baker. 

On  the  6th  of  August,  1839,  the  public  were  no- 
tified that  the  choir  of  the  Baptist  Church  would 
give  a  grand  sacred  concert  at  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  on  the  evening  of  the  7th  of  August,  the 
proceeds  to  be  applied  to  the  purchase  of  an  qrgan. 
Rev.  B.  A.  Brabrook,  of  Newton  Theological  Semi- 
nary, served  as  pastor  from  May,  1837,  to  August, 

1839,  resigning  on  account  of  ill  heath,  and  the  pulpit 
was  supplied  by  different  preachers  until  February, 

1840,  when  Rev.  R.  E.  Pattison,  D.D.,  of  Providence, 
R.  I.,  became  pastor.     At  the  end  of  the  year  he  was 
recalled  to  his  former  charge,  and  Rev.  John  M.  Peck, 
D.D.,  of  Rock  Spring,  111.,  and  Rev.  E.  Rogers,  of  Up- 
per Alton,  111.,  alternately  supplied  the  pulpit.     Rev. 
Isaac  Taylor  Hinton,  of  Chicago,  111.,  was  pastor  from 
July,  1841,  to  December,  1844.     Under  his  minis- 
trations the  church  grew  so  rapidly  that  in  1842  the 
seating  capacity  of  the  building  was  nearly  doubled 
by  throwing  a  portion  of  the  vestibule  into  the  audi- 
ence-room and  erecting  galleries.     During  Mr.  Hin- 
tori's  pastorate  one  hundred  persons  were  added  to 
the   membership   by  baptism,  and   nearly  two  hun- 
dred by  letter.     Mr.  Hinton  died  of  yellow  fever  in 
New  Orleans  in  1847,  and  his  remains  were  removed 
to  Bcllefontaine  Cemetery,  St.  Louis.     He  was  suc- 
ceeded by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Peck  (supply)  for  one  year. 
Rev.   S.    W.   Lynd,   D.D.,   of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,   as- 
sumed   the   pastorate    in    December,    1845,   and    re- 
signed  December,  1848,  to  take  charge  of  the  Bap- 
tist Theological  Institution  at  Covington,  Ky.     Rev. 
Dr.  Peck  again   took  charge  of  the  church  as  sup- 
ply, and    continued    to    officiate  until    the    Rev.    J. 
B.  Jeter,  D.D.,  of  Richmond,  Va.,  assumed  the  pas- 


1676 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


torate.  Dr.  Jeter  was  called  April  30,  1849,  and 
entered  upon  the  discharge  of  his  duties  on  the  first 
Sunday  in  October  following.  He  resigned  in  July, 
1852,  and  in  May,  1853,  the  Rev.  Daniel  Read,  D.D., 
of  Medina,  N.  Y.,  was  called  to  the  pastorate.  Dr. 
Read  resigned  in  October,  1856,  to  become  president 
of  Shurtleff  College,  at  Upper  Alton,  111.,  and  was 
succeeded  by  the  Rev.  E.  H.  Page,  of  Massachusetts. 
In  January  and  February,  1858,  Elder  Jacob  Knapp, 
the  famous  revivalist,  labored  with  success,  and  in 
May,  1858,  the  Rev.  Galusha  Anderson,  D.D.,  of 
Zanesville,  Wis.,  was  called  to  the  pastorate.  He 
took  charge  on  the  second  Sunday  in  September, 
1858,  and  resigned  in  July,  1866,  on  account  of  ill 
health.  During  a  portion  of  Dr.  Anderson's  pastor- 
ate the  Rev.  Dr.  Kendrick  was  associated  with  him. 
Dr.  Anderson's  successor  was  the  Rev.  A.  H.  Bur- 
lingham,  D  D.,  of  New  York,  who  took  charge  in 
December,  1866,  and  resigned  in  April,  1877,  in 
order  to  become  pastor  of  a  congregation  in  New 
York  City.  Rev.  W.  W.  Boyd  was  called  to  the 
pastorate  in  1877,  and  commenced  his  ministration 
on  the  1st  of  June  in  that  year. 

From  the  church  at  Third  and  Chestnut  Streets 
the  society  removed  to  a  second  edifice  erected  by 
it  on  the  corner  of  Sixth  and  Locust  Streets, 
which  cost,  with  the  site,  nearly  forty  thousand  dol- 
lars, and  was  dedicated  Aug.  13,  1848.  The  dimen- 
sions of  the  building  were  fifty-six  by  ninety  feet,  and 
the  material  was  brick,  with  a  cut-stone  basement  in 
front.  The  audience-room  seated  seven  hundred  per- 
sons, and  the  basement  from  three  hundred  to  four 
hundred.  On  the  llth  of  March,  1849,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  thousands  of  Germans,  Dr.  Peck  baptized 
sixteen  Hollanders,  who  had  seceded  from  the  Pres- 
byterian faith.  During  the  pastorate  of  Dr.  G.  An- 
derson (1858-66)  great  activity  prevailed  in  the 
church,  and  one  hundred  and  forty-nine  persons  were 
added  by  baptism  and  two  hundred  and  ninety-seven 
by  letter.  Dr.  Anderson  devoted  much  of  his  time 
and  attention  to  the  cause  of  church  extension.  He 
organized  the  Church  Extension  Society  in  1865, 
which  furnished  material  aid  in  building  new  churches 
and  relieving  others  from  debt,  and  assisted  largely  in 
promoting  the  growth  of  Baptist  congregations  in  St. 
Louis.  The  church  record  states  that  "  he  was  \he 
organizer  of  the  Baptist  forces  of  the  city ;  he  was 
their  great  leader,  and  his  retirement  was  regretted 
by  all."  The  present  site  of  the  church  was  selected 
by  William  M.  McPherson,  E.  G.  Obear,  D.  B.  Gale, 
Thomas  Pratt,  and  Nathan  Cole,  a  committee  chosen 
for  the  purpose,  ft  was  purchased  on  the  10th  of 
July,  1872,  is  one  hundred  and  eighty  by  one  hun- 


dred and  thirty-five  feet  in  area,  and  cost  about  thirty 
thousand  dollars.  Ground  was  broken  June  19, 1873. 
The  chapel  was  occupied  on  Christmas-day,  1874,  but 
was  not  dedicated  (owing  to  the  pastor's  illness)  until 
a  month  later.  On  Dec.  17,  1877,  it  was  decided  to 
erect  at  once  the  main  edifice,  and  it  was  nearly  ready 
for  occupancy  when  (Jan.  3,  1879)  it  was  destroyed 
by  fire.  The  work  of  rebuilding  was  begun  at  once, 
and  the  chapel  was  again  occupied  Aug.  10,  1879.- 
In  the  mean  time  the  congregation  had  worshiped 
in  the  Jewish  synagogue,  or  Temple  of  the  Gates  of 
Truth,  at  Seventeenth  and  Pine  Streets,  by  invitation 
of  the  rabbi,  Dr.  Sonnenschein.  The  completed  edi- 
fice was  dedicated  Nov.  26,  1879,  with  services  of  a 
very  interesting  and  impressive  character.  Hon. 
Nathan  Cole,  one  of  the  deacons,  presided,  and  Rev. 
George  B.  Taylor  and  Rev.  Dr.  J.  B.  Jeter  conducted 
the  preliminary  service.  William  M.  Page,  another 
deacon  of  the  church,  then  delivered  an  historical 
discourse,  tracing  the  growth  of  the  church  up  to 
that  period,  and  was  followed  by  the  Rev.  A.  H. 
Burlingham,  of  New  York,  former  pastor  of  the  con- 
gregation, who  described  the  embarrassments  and  dif- 
ficulties which  had  attended  the  erection  of  the  build- 
ing. Dr.  J.  B.  Jeter,  of  Richmond,  Va.,  who  had 
also  been  pastor  of  the  church,  Rev.  George  B.  Taylor, 
of  Rome,  Italy,  Rev.  Dr.  Boyd,  Rev.  J.  F.  Cook,  presi- 
dent of  Lagrange  College,  Rev.  J.  V.  Schofield,  D.D., 
and  Rev.  J.  L.  Burrows,  D.D.,  of  Cincinnati,  also  de- 
livered addresses.  Another  session  was  held  in  the 
evening,  at  which  the  more  formal  dedication  services 
were  held.  George  T.  Cram  rendered  the  report  of 
the  building  committee,  and  transferred  the  new 
church  formally  to  the  possession  and  control  of  the 
board  of  trustees. 

The  trust  was  accepted  by  the  Hon.  Nathan  Cole, 
president  of  the  board,  who  made  a  few  remarks,  in 
the  course  of  which  he  mentioned  in  terms  of  warm 
commendation  the  munificence  of  Samuel  C.  Davis, 
of  Boston,  "  who  had  at  a  critical  moment  come 
forward  with  a  donation  so  liberal  that  it  lightened 
their  anxieties,  and  made  easy  that  which  seemed 
almost  impossible."  The  122d  Psalm  was  then  read 
by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Sawyer,  after  which  the  dedicatory 
sermon  was  preached  by  the  Rev.  John  A.  Broadus, 
D.D.  The  prayer  of  dedication  was  offered  by  the 
Rev.  Dr.  A.  H.  Burlingham,  and  the  benediction  was 
pronounced  by  the  Rev.  C.  L.  Goodell.  The  build- 
ing was  modeled  after  that  of  Emanuel  Baptist 
Church,  at  Albany,  N.  Y.,  the  architect  being  C.  C. 
Nichols,  of  that  city.  The  total  amount  expended 
upon  it  was  two  hundred  and  sixty-seven  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  thirty-four  dollars  and  forty-eight 


RELIGIOUS    DENOMINATIONS. 


1677 


cents.    The  main  building  is  seventy-one  by  one  hun-  the  style  is  a  highly   ornate  English  Gothic.     The 

dred  and  eight  feet,  and  has  a  tower  and  spire  two  organ  was  contributed,  at  a  cost  of  ten  thousand  dol- 

hundred  feet  high.    The  ceiling  of  the  audience-room  lars,  by  Mrs.  D.  B.  Gale  as  a  memorial  to  her  hus- 

is  fifty-two  feet  high.     The  chapel  is  forty-six  by  one  band,  who  was  for  many  years  treasurer  of  the  church, 

hundred  and  sixteen  feet,  and  contains  a  lecture-room,  The   organist   is   Professor   E.  M.  Bowman,  and  the 


SECOND    BAPTIST    CHURCH. 


Sunday-school  rooms,  pastor's  reception-room,  parlors,  singers  composing  the  choir  are  among  the  leading 

baptistery,  reading-room,  etc.,  with  a  dining-room  and  musicians  of  the  city.     The  present  membership  of 

kitchen  in  the  basement.     The  material  of  the  build-  the  church  numbers  nine  hundred  persons,  and  the 

ing  is  St.  Louis  limestone,  laid  up  in  ashlar,  trimmed  membership  of  the  various  Sunday-schools  connected 

with  Missouri  gray  sandstone  from  Warrensburg,  and  with  the  church  numbers  fifteen  hundred. 


1678 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


Rev.  W.  W.  Boyd,D.D.,  pastor  of  the  Second  Baptist 
Church,  was  born  in  Chernung,  Chemung  Co.,  N.  Y., 
Nov.  22,  1843.  When  he  was  about  two  years  old 
his  parents  removed  to  Saco,  York  Co.,  Me.,  where 
for  many  years  his  father  was  superintendent  of  the 
York  Manufacturing  Company,  an  extensive  estab- 
lishment for  the  manufacture  of  cotton  goods.  Being 
an  extremely  sensitive  child,  he  was  put  under  a  tutor, 
instead  of  being  sent  to  the  public  schools,  until  he 
was  fitted  to  enter  the  High  School.  At  the  age  of 
thirteen  he  was  ready  for  college,  but  his  health  being 
delicate  he  relinquished  study  for  several  years.  In 
1858  he  united  with  the  First  Congregational  Church 
in  Saco  on  profession  of  faith. 

In  1859  his  parents  moved  to  Spring  Vale,  Me., 
and  in  1861,  on  the  death  of  his  father,  he  was  put 
in  his  place  as  superintendent  of  the  Spring  Vale 
Manufacturing  Company.  Although  a  youth  of 
eighteen,  he  succeeded  in  conducting  the  business  to 
the  entire  satisfaction  of  the  corporation,  most  of  the 
members  of  which  resided  in  Boston,  Mass. 

To  afford  the  operatives  of  the  mills  some  oppor- 
tunities for  religious  cultivation,  he  reopened  a  little 
Baptist  Church  in  the  village,  long  closed  for  want  of 
a  minister,  and  began  on  Sunday  mornings  to  conduct 
a  Sunday-school  and  read  a  sermon  from  Spurgeon 
or  Beecher  to  the  congregation.  At  their  solicitation 
he  soon  began  to  address  them  in  his  own  thoughts, 
and  for  nearly  three  years  preached  regularly  both 
morning  and  evening  on  Sundays. 

A  deep  religious  interest  was  awakened,  a  new 
church  was  erected,  and  many  persons  asked  to  be 
baptized.  He  was  still  a  Congregationalist,  and  felt 
unwilling  to  forsake  the  church  of  his  parents,  in 
which  he  had  been  reared,  but  after  mature  delibera- 
tion he  united  with  the  little  Baptist  Church,  in  com- 
pany with  thirteen  others,  who  had  been  won  to  the 
faith  by  his  sermons. 

In  1866  his  mother,  a  most  estimable  woman,  died, 
.and  the  way  now  being  open  to  pursue  his  long-cher- 
ished desire  for  a  collegiate  education,  he  resigned  his 
business  position,  reviewed  his  studies,  and  in  1867 
entered  the  freshman  class  of  Harvard  College.  For 
four  years,  by  preaching  and  teaching,  he  succeeded 
in  paying  his  expenses,  and  was  graduated  in  1871, 
with  special  honors  in  philosophy.  In  his  sophomore 
year  he  received  the  first  prize  for  excellence  in  ora- 
tory.. 

Immediately  upon  his  graduation  he  went  to  Ger- 
many, spending  one  semester  in  Berlin  University,  one 
in  Heidelberg,  one  in  Gottingen,  and  two  in  Ziirich, 
pursuing  special  courses  in  theology,  Greek,  and  phil- 
osophy. 


On  his  return  he  was  appointed  a  proctor  of  Harvard 
College,  where  for  a  year  he  taught  as  a  private  tutor, 
continuing  his  special  studies  in  Hebrew  and  theology. 

In  1873  he  was  ordained  pastor  of  the  First  Bap- 
tist Church  of  Charlestown  District,  Boston,  Mass., 
in  which  pastorate  he  continued  until  called  to  St. 
Louis  in  June,  1877.  His  work  in  Charlestown  re- 
sulted in  the  addition  of  nearly  four  hundred  members 
to  the  church. 

On  his  arrival  in  St.  Louis  he  found  the  Second 
Baptist  Church  worshiping  in  a  chapel,  and  imme- 
diately began  to  agitate  the  question  of  erecting  the 
main  edifice.  The  large  increase  of  the  congregation 
soon  made  this  movement  a  necessity,  and  on  Jan.  3, 
1879,  the  magnificent  building,  nearly  ready  for  occu- 
pancy, took  fire  from  the  carelessness  of  a  workman, 
and  with  the  exception  of  the  walls  was  completely 
destroyed.  On  the  very  afternoon  of  the  fire,  while 
the  ruins  were  yet  burning,  the  building  committee 
voted  to  rebuild  and  gave  out  two  of  the  contracts, 
and  on  Nov.  26,  1879,  the  reconstructed  edifice,  free 
of  debt,  was  dedicated. 

In  June,  1878,  Shurtleff  College,  Upper  Alton,  111., 
conferred  upon  him  the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Divinity.  He  is  a  trustee  of  Shurtleff  College,  and 
of  La  Grange  College,  La  Grange,  Mo.,  and  holds 
many  official  denominational  positions. 

June  2,  1880,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Cora  A. 
Dunham,  daughter  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  S.  Dun- 
ham, of  St.  Louis. 

Dr.  Boyd's  pastorate  in  St.  Louis  has  been  one  of 
great  and  uniform  success,  the  membership  having 
increased  from  about  four  hundred  to  one  thousand. 
He  is  a  gentleman  of  great  energy  and  executive 
ability,  and  as  a  pulpit  orator  is  conceded  a  foremost 
rank  among  the  array  of  able  clergymen  now  officiat- 
ing in  St.  Louis.  His  congregations  are  uniformly 
large,  and,  as  pastor  of  the  largest  white  Baptist  Church 
in  the  State,  no  man  occupies  a  more  honorable  or 
responsible  position  in  the  Baptist  denomination  of 
Missouri.  Still  a  young  man  himself,  his  influence 
with  the- young  is  very  great,  and  he  is  in  the  full  en- 
joyment of  all  his  youthful  energies.  Although,  as  a 
Baptist,  he  holds  strongly  to  the  cardinal  doctrines  of 
the  faith,  he  manifests  in  matters  not  essential  the 
utmost  catholicity,  and  crosses  denominational  lines 
with  the  greatest  freedom,  if  by  any  means  he  may  do 
good.  He  takes  an  active  interest  in  the  affairs  of  the 
community,  and  is  frequently  summoned  to  address 
his  fellow-citizens  on  matters  of  a  public  character. 
During  his  residence  in  St.  Louis  he  has  made  a  deep 
impression,  not  only  upon  the  religious  thought  of  the 
city,  but  also  upon  its  intellectual  life  and  spirit. 


RELIGIOUS  DENOMINATIONS. 


1679 


North  Baptist  Church.— On  the  20th  of  July, 
1842,  another  Baptist  Church  was  organized  in  St. 
Louis.  The  council  consisted  of  Rev.  I.  T.  Hinton, 
of  St.  Louis  ;  Rev.  Dr.  G.  B.  Perry,  of  Alton,  111. ; 
and  Rev.  J.  C.  Herndon,  of  St.  Louis  County.  Dr. 
G.  B.  Perry  delivered  the  sermon  and  charge  to  the 
church,  and  Rev.  I.  T.  Hinton  gave  the  hand  of  fel- 
lowship to  the  new  body.  Rev.  J.  C.  Herndon  de- 
livered the  concluding  prayer.  A  church  building 
was  erected  on  what  is  at  present  Christy  Avenue, 
and  the  congregation  was  known  as  the  North  Bap- 
tist Church.  Rev.  Gideon  B.  Perry  was  the  pastor. 
He  was  succeeded  by  Elder  S.  H.  Ford,  who  was  fol- 
lowed by  Elder  W.  F.  Nelson,  Professor  in  Coving- 
ton  Theological  Seminary.  In  1846,  however,  this 
church  merged  back  into  the  Second,  in  view  of  the 
movement  to  erect  a  new  building  in  the  vicin- 
ity. 

The  First  German  Baptist  Church,  southwest  cor- 
ner of  Fourteenth  and  Carr  Streets,  Rev.  J.  M.  Hoefflin, 
pastor,  was  organized  in  January,  1850,  by  Elder  S. 
H.  Ford,  D.D.,  Rev.  J.  B.  Jeter,  D.D.,  Rev.  A.  Sher- 
wood, D.D.,  and  Rev.  John  M.  Peck,  D.D.,  with  nine- 
teen members  from  the  Second  Church,  the  majority  of 
whom  were  Hollanders,  and  the  remainder  Germans. 
Of  these  two  were  at  once  ordained  to  the  ministry, — 
C.  Schoemaker  for  the  Dutch,  and  F.  W.  Glatfeld  for  the 
Germans.  The  church  building  was  erected  in  1863,  but 
was  not  finished  and  dedicated  until  May,  1865,  the 
congregation  having  had  a  hard  struggle  against  debt 
and    difficulties.       It  has  a  seating  capacity  of  five 
hundred,  and  cost  fifteen  thousand  dollars.     Rev.  Mr. 
Glatfeld  resigned  soon  after  his  appointment,  and  Rev. 
Mr.  Schoemaker  preached  to  both  Dutch  and  Ger- 
mans until  the  fall  of   1852.     Rev.  S.  E.  Kiipfer 
served  the  church  for  six  months  in  1850,  and  in  May, 
1853,  Rev.  C.  West  became  pastor.     From  March, 
1855,  until  May,  1857,  the  church  was  without  a  pas- 
tor.   In  1857,  Rev.  A.  Hausler  was  appointed,  but  for 
two  years  subsequent  to  the  fall  of  1860  the  pastorate 
was   again  vacant.     Rev.   J.   S.    Gubelmann,   under 
whose  leadership  the  church  was  built,  took  charge  in 
that  year,  and  remained  until  September,  1868.    Rev. 
J.  C.  Haselhuhn  assumed  the  pastorate  in  January, 
1869,  and  resigned  December,  1871,  to  take  charge 
of  the  Baptist  journal   Der  Sendbote ;    the   church 
was  then  successively  supplied  by  Revs.  C.  Koos,  W. 
C.  Kahe,  E.  Tschirch,  and  H.  Gellert.     Rev.  C.  Ohl- 
gart  was  pastor   from  June,  1876,  until   September, 
1879,  and  the  present  pastor  took  charge  on  the  1st 
of  April,  1881.  The  present  membership  of  the  church 
numbers  one  hundred  and  forty-two  persons,  and  it  is 
doing  extensive  mission  work,  having  two   mission 


stations  and   three  Sunday-schools,  with  about  four 
hundred  scholars. 

The  Third  Baptist  Church,  Fourteenth  Street 
and  Clark  Avenue,  Rev.  J.  P.  Greene,  pastor,  was 
organized,  Dec.  29, 1850,  as  a  colony  from  the  Second 
Church  (then  situated  at  the  corner  of  Sixth  and 
Locust  Streets),  whose  pastor,  Rev.  J.  B.  Jeter,  D.D., 
thought  that  there  ought  to  be  a  Baptist  Church  "  in 
the  western  part  of  the  city."  It  is  a  significant  fact 
in  the  history  of  the  growth  of  St.  Louis  that  when, 
a  quarter  of  a  century  later,  the  Second  Church  de- 
cided to  remove  to  a  more  central  part  of  the  city  it 
chose  a  site  some  ten  or  twelve  blocks  west  of  where 
the  Third  Church  planted  itself  and  still  remains  at 
this  location.  At  first  the  new  colony,  composed  of 
thirty  members,  with  Rev.  Joseph  Walker  as  pastor, 
met  for  worship  in  a  hall  on  Market  Street,  between 
Centre  and  Thirteenth  Streets,  and  was  sustained 
during  the  first  three  years  of  its  existence  by  the 
joint  aid  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention  and  the 
General  Association  of  Missouri. 

Samuel  C.  Davis  was  the  first  superintendent  of 
the  Sunday-school.  The  first  baptism  was  performed 
on  the  evening  of  Feb.  7,  1851. 

The  second  pastor  was  Rev.  John  Teasdale,  who 
succeeded  in  April,  1854,  after  a  vacancy  of  nine 
months  (Rev.  J.  Walker  having  resigned  to  accept  a 
call  as  secretary  of  the  Board  of  Missions).  Mr. 
Teasdale  was  a  man  of  great  earnestness  and  power, 
and  was  among  the  most  regretted  of  the  victims  of 
the  Gasconade  disaster.  He  raised  the  money  with 
which  was  purchased  the  ground  on  which  the  church 
now  stands,  and  of  which  (besides  what  was  purchased) 
about  fifty  feet  front  on  Clark  Avenue  was  given  by 
Judse  Marshall  Brotherton,  D.  B.  Gale,  and  Hon. 
W.  M.  McPherson.  During  his  pastorate  was  built 
what  is  now  the  chapel,  Sunday-school,  etc.,  which 
was  dedicated  for  worship  Dec.  31, 1854.  Rev.  Wil- 
liam Crowell  became  the  church  supply  fifteen  months 
later,  and  served  for  ten  months.  Rev.  Washington 
Barnhurst  became  pastor  in  October,  1856.  Failing 
health  caused  him  to  resign  July  8,  1860,  and  he  died 
April  29,  1862.  Rev.  Elias  John  Foote  began  to 
supply  the  church  in  August,  1860,  and  on  Feb.  17, 
1861,  became  pastor.  He  resigned  in  April,  1862. 
Rev.  J.  V.  Schofield  (now  pastor  of  the  Fourth 
Church)  was  called  June  20,  1862.  During  his 
pastorate  the  present  church  edifice  was  erected.  It 
was  dedicated  May  12,  1866,  and  cost  forty-five 
thousand  dollars.  It  was  dedicated  on  the  15th  of 
April,  1866.  Its  seating  capacity  was  about  eight 
hundred,  and  the  lecture-room  accommodated  two 
hundred  and  fifty  persons.  Mr.  Schofield  resigned  in 


1680 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


1869.  Rev.  W.  Pope  Yearaan,  D.D.,  served  as  pastor 
from  April,  1870,  until  October,  1876.  Rev.  George 
A.  Lofton,  D.D.  (now  pastor  of  Park  Avenue  Church), 
was  his  successor,  and  preached  his  farewell  sermon 
July  16,  1882,  in  which  he  said,  "  During  the  less 
than  six  years  of  my  pastorate  I  have  attended  over 
one  hundred  funerals,  married  one  hundred  and  sixty 
couples,  baptized  over  two  hundred  converts,  welcomed 
as  many  into  your  midst  by  letter.  When  I  came 
you  were  struggling  with  the  trials  of  division,  debt, 
and  declension  ;  you  have  paid  off  over  ten  thousand 
dollars  indebtedness,  and  we  have  grown  in  every  form  j 
of  active  development."  Rev.  J.  P.  Greene  began 
his  pastorate  Nov.  1,  1882.  The  present  member- 
ship of  the  church  numbers  five  hundred,  and  about 
six  hundred  scholars  and  teachers  attend  the  Sunday- 
schools,  which  are  held  morning  and  afternoon. 

The  Fourth.  Baptist  Church  is  situated  on  Twelfth 
Street,  between  Benton  and  North  Market  Streets. 
Rev.  J.  V.  Schofield  is  the  pastor.  The  society  had 
its  origin  in  the  missionary  efforts  of  Rev.  Dr.  J.  B. 
Jeter  and  the  members  of  the  Second  Baptist  Church. 
On  the  26th  of  January,  1857,  the  members  of  the  \ 
Second  Church  selected  Rev.  J.  B.  Jeter  and  Messrs.  I 
S.  C.  Davis,  P.  G.  Camden,  D.  J.  Hancock,  and  • 
A.  P.  Coons  as  a  committee  to  choose  a  missionary 
for  the  northern  part  of  the  city.  In  July,  1851, 
Rev.  E.  J.  Owen  was  employed  as  a  missionary,  at  a 
salary  of  seven  hundred  dollars  per  annum,  two- 
sevenths  of  which  he  gave  to  the  society  for  church- 
building  purposes.  He  preached  his  first  sermon  July 
3d.  On  the  19th  of  September  of  that  year  twenty- 
four  persons  withdrew  from  the  Second  Baptist  Church 
to  constitute  the  new  society.  Only  sixteen  were 
admitted,  namely,  Robert  S.,  Elizabeth,  and  Harriet 
Graham,  Mary  Beach,  Sylvanus  and  Margaret  Har- 
low,  Caroline  Tice,  Charlotte  A.  Boggs,  Sarah  Hen-  | 
derson,  David,  Martin,  David  L.  and  Emma  Latour- 
ette,  Phoebe  Twigg,  Nathan  and  Rebecca  Cole. 

The  permanent  organization  was  effected  on  the 
21st  of  September,  1851,  and  was  styled  "  Zion 
Baptist  Church,"  but  subsequently  the  name  was 
changed  to  that  of  the  Fourth  Baptist  Church.  The 
constituent  members  of  the  organization  were  William 
Jones,  Mr.  Graham,  Dr.  Martin,  Miss  Mary  Martin, 
Mrs.  Eleonora  Caymore,  Dr.  Claggett,  Mrs.  Gordon, 
Miss  Harriett  Graham,  Charles  Conway,  Mrs.  E. 
Conway.  For  the  first  seven  years  the  society  wor- 
shiped in  Sturgeon  Market.  The  Second  Baptist 
Church  assisted  the  enterprise  as  far  as  practicable, 
but  the  congregation  experienced  several  nearly  fatal 
financial  struggles,  from  which  it  was  rescued  by  the 
perseverance  of  the  lady  members  of  the  society,  in 


consequence  of  which  it  was  known  as  "  the  Sisters'  " 
Church.  The  corner-stone  of  the  church  building 
was  laid  on  the  7th  of  July,  1858,  and  the  basement 
story  was  dedicated  April  24,  1859.  On  the  1st  of 
January,  1861,  the  two  Sunday-schools  connected  with 
the  church  were  consolidated,  and  were  thenceforward 
known  as  the  Benton  Mission,  E.  D.  Jones  being  the 
superintendent.  The  main  building  was  dedicated  on 
the  9th  of  November,  1862.  The  lot  has  a  frontage 
of  ninety  feet  on  North  Market  and  Benton  Streets, 
and  a  side  front  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  feet 
on  Twelfth  Street,  and  is  among  the  lots  which  sur- 
round one  of  the  three  circles  in  North  St.  Louis. 
The  dimensions  of  the  building  are  seventy  by  eighty- 
five  feet.  The  main  audience-room  seats  six  hundred 
persons,  and  the  conference-room  four  hundred.  The 
structure  is  of  brick,  substantially  built,  with  a  large 
wooden  stairway  leading  to  the  audience-room  in  the 
second  story. 

The  pastors  have  been  Revs.  Edward  J.  Owen, 
October,  1851,  to  March,  1855;  Thomas  Morton, 
December,  1855,  to  February,  1856  ;  George  Howell, 
for  eight  months  from  June,  1856  ;  George  Mitchell, 
December,  1857,  to  May,  1859  ;  E.  G.  Taylor,  for 
five  months  from  October,  1860;  W.  B.  Bolton, 
August,  1861 ;  Thomas  Morton,  October,  1861,  to 
May,  1862 ;  A.  C.  Osborn,  December,  1862,  to  Feb- 
ruary, 1869;  D.  T.  Morrill,  May  9,  1869,  to  1875  ; 
H.  M.  Pogson,  1875  to  1876 ;  J.  V.  Schofield,  ap- 
pointed November,  1876.  Connected  with  the  church 
are  a  Ladies'  Aid  Society,  organized  in  1879  ;  Ladies' 
Missionary  Society,  organized  in  1880  ;  and  a  Young 
Ladies'  Society,  organized  in  1881.  The  present  mem- 
bership numbers  about  three  hundred  persons.  The 
average  attendance  is  two  hundred  and  fifty,  of  whom 
two-thirds  are  females.  The  Sunday-school,  of  which 
Hiram  H.  Post  is  superintendent,  was  formerly  held 
in  the  afternoon,  with  an  average  attendance  of  three 
hundred  and  twenty-five.  A  change  to  morning  ses- 
sions resulted  in  a  falling  off  in  numbers,  there  being 
now  somewhat  less  than  two  hundred  children,  with 
twenty-five  to  thirty  teachers.  A  regular  Sunday 
evening  collection  realizes  three  hundred  dollars. 
During  the  past  five  years  the  church  has  been  re- 
lieved of  a  heavy  mortgage. 

The  Beaumont  and  Bernard  Streets  Baptist 
Churches. — In  1859,  Dr.  Galusha  Anderson,  pastor 
of  the  Second  Church,  and  the  zealous  promoter  of 
church  extension,  established  the  Jefferson  Mission  at 
Twenty-fifth  Street  and  Franklin  Avenue,  out  of  which 
grew  the  Beaumont  Street  Church,  organized  in  1866, 
with  fifty-seven  members,  of  whom  fifty-five  were  dis- 
missed for  the  purpose  from  the  Second  Church. 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1681 


It  met  for  several  years  in  a  chapel  on  the  northeast 
corner  of  Morgan  and  Beaumont  Streets.  Rev.  A.  A. 
Kendrick,  D.D.,  president  of  Shurtleff  College,  Upper 
Alton,  111.,  was  its  first  pastor,  and  under  his  ministry 
it  attained  a  large  membership.  Rev.  J.  C.  C.  Clarke 
was  the  pastor  two  years.  The  congregation  was 
without  a  pastor  in  1876,  and  was  soon  after  merged 
into  the  Second  Church.  The  church  edifice  was  a 
small  one-story  brick  building,  seventy  by  forty  feet.  ! 
and  seated  about  five  hundred  persons.  The  building 
was  rented  on  Jan.  1,  1878,  to  the  congregation  of  ' 
Bethlehem  Evangelical  Church,  and  in  1879  was 
sold  to  the  Turners,  who  now  occupy  it  as  their  hall. 

Bernard  Street  Church  was  organized  in  1868,  and  ; 
occupied  a  small  frame  chapel  on  the  southeast  corner 
of  Bernard  and  Emily  Streets.     Rev.  J.  C.  Hickman 
was  its  pastor  in  1875.     The  church  has  since  ceased 
to  exist. 

Park  Avenue  Baptist  Church  is  situated  on  the 
north  side  of  Park  Avenue,  between  Stoddard  Avenue  j 
and  Morton  Street.  Rev.  George  A.  Loftonj  D.D., 
is  the  pastor.  In  1867  the  Baptist  Church  Exten-  ! 
sion  Society  purchased  from  the  Presbyterians  the 
property  now  occupied  by  this  church,  and,  after 
enlarging  the  building,  established,  in  June,  1867, 
the  Park  Avenue  Mission  Sunday-school,  with  A.  J. 
Conant  as  superintendent.  At  the  end  of  the  first 
year  it  numbered  three  hundred  scholars.  In  the 
fall  of  1868,  Rev.  J.  M.  C.  Breaker,  of  South  Caro- 
lina, began  preaching,  and  shortly  after  organized  the 
present  church,  with  seven  members  from  the  Second 
Church  (Messrs.  A.  J.  Gonsalves,  W.  P.  Hancock, 
E.  H.  E.  Jameson,  John  W.  Allen,  Mrs.  Allen,  Miss 
Mary  Kelley,  and  Mrs.  Margaret  W.  Jameson)  and 
five  converts  from  the  mission.  Col.  E.  H.  E. 
Jameson  was  for  many  years  superintendent  of  the 
Sunday-school,  and  was  subsequently  licensed  to 
preach,  and  supplied  the  Park  Avenue  pulpit  for 
several  years.  In  the  spring  of  1876  he  was  or- 
dained and  became  pastor  of  the  church,  but  resigned 
May  1,  1876.  Assisted  by  Messrs.  D.  B.  Gale,  Wil- 
liam M.  Page,  D.  J.  Hancock,  and  a  few  others,  he 
kept  the  church  alive  through  many  seasons  of  trial 
and  despondency.  The  Church  Extension  Society 
went  out  of  existence  before  the  property  was  paid 
for,  and  the  latter  was  sold  to  D.  B  Gale,  who  gave  its 
use,  rent  free,  to  the  society  until  his  death,  since  which 
time  it  has  continued  to  occupy  it  at  a  nominal  rent.  ' 
The  pastorate  of  the  church  has  been  successively 
filled  by  the  Revs.  J.  M.  C.  Breaker,  George  Kline, 
M.  L.  Laws,  E.  H.  E.  Jameson,  J.  V.  Schofield 
(supply),  D.  T.  Morrill,  after  whom,  for  two  and  a 
half  years,  the  pulpit  was  supplied  by  William  E. 


Stephens,  a  lay  preacher,  and  others  until  the  ap- 
pointment, in  July,  1882,  of  the  present  pastor.  The 
church  now  reports  one  hundred  members,  and  the 
Sunday-school  has  sixteen  officers  and  teachers,  and 
an  average  attendance  of  nearly  two  hundred  and  fifty 
scholars.  The  superintendent  is  W.  L.  C.  Brey,  who 
has  been  connected  with  mission  Sunday-school  work 
since  1856,  when  Rev.  George  Kline  started  such  a 
school  at  Soulard  Market. 

Carondelet  Baptist  Church. — The  Carondelet 
Church  is  situated  at  the  corner  of  Fifth  and 
Taylor  Streets,  South  St.  Louis.  Rev.  G.  L.  Tal- 
bot  is  the  pastor,  and  C.  S.  Purkitt  is  the  clerk.  It 
was  organized  as  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  Caron- 
delet, Nov.  3,  1867,  at  the  residence  of  Deacon  C.  S. 
Barrett,  corner  of  Second  and  Taylor  Streets,  Caron- 
delet, by  Rev.  Adiel  Sherwood,  D.D.,  and  Rev.  J.  V. 
Schofield,  D.D.,  of  the  Third  Baptist  Church  of  St. 
Louis,  now  of  the  Fourth  Church.  The  organic  mem- 
bers were  C.  S.  Purkitt,  M.D.,  Nathan  B.  Jones, 
Mrs.  Meroe  Andrews,  Mrs.  Charlotte  P.  Purkitt,  and 
Miss  Antoinette  Purkitt.  The  corner-stone  was  laid 
in  October,  1871.  The  building  was  first  used  July 
4,  1872,  and  was  formally  dedicated  Dec.  15,  1872, 
by  Rev.  Dr.  Burlingham,  of  the  Second  Church,  and 
the  Rev.  W.  Pope  Yeaman,  of  the  Third  Church  of 
St.  Louis.  The  pastors  have  been  Revs.  Frederick 
Bower,  appointed  April,  1868;  J.  H.  Luther,  D.D., 
appointed  March,  1869;  Thomas  Hudson,  appointed 
July,  1871  ;  John  Seage  (pro  fern.),  appointed 
March,  1873;  J.  H.  Breaker,  appointed  Nov.  2, 
1873 ;  T.  J.  Koetzli  (pro  fern.),  appointed  Sept.  15, 
1875  ;  A.  F.  Randall,  appointed  Feb.  4,  1876  ;  E.  L. 
Schofield,  appointed  Sept.  23,  1877  ;  G.  L.  Talbot, 
appointed  Jan.  1,  1882.  In  August,  1874,  the 
church  sent  out  a  colony  of  about  thirty  members  to 
form  a  new  church  called  the  Welsh  Mission,  or 
Second  Baptist  Church,  which  flourished  for  about 
two  years  and  then  dissolved,  most  of  the  members 
returning  to  the  Carondelet  Church.  Connected  with 
it  are  the  Sunday-school,  organized  four  or  five  years 
earlier  than  the  church  and  now  having  nine  teachers 
and  over  one  hundred  scholars  ;  a  Ladies'  Industrial 
Society,  organized  April  1,  1869,  and  still  flourishing 
and  steadily  increasing  in  usefulness ;  a  Ladies'  For- 
eign Missionary  Society  ;  the  Baptist  Literary  Society, 
organized  in  December,  1877 ;  and  the  Mite  Society, 
organized  in  January,  1882.  A  Young  Ladies'  Pas- 
toral Aid  Society  was  organized  Feb.  9, 1876,  but  only 
remained  in  existence  one  year.  The  congregation 
numbers  about  forty  families,  or  one  hundred  and 
fifty-seven  persons.  In  May,  1882,  there  were  one 
hundred  and  six  communicants. 


1682 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Garrison  Avenue  Baptist  Church,  corner  of 
Morgan  Street  and  Compton  Avenue,  Rev.  J.  H.  Curry, 
D.D.,  pastor,  was  organized  March  29,  1877,  with 
Rev.  W.  Pope  Yeaman,  D.D.,  as  pastor,  by  thirty- 
nine  members,  most  of  whom  had  obtained  letters  of 

t 

dismissal    from    the    Third   Baptist  Church.     Their 
first  place  of  worship  was  on  Garrison  Avenue,  be- 
tween Lucas  Avenue  and  Morgan  Street  (hence  the  ; 
name  of  the  church),  and  in  it  on  the  8th  of  April, 
1877,  the  dedicatory   services   were   held.     In    the  i 
early  part  of  1879  the  church  building  was   removed 
to  its  present  site  at  a  cost  of  five  hundred  dollars,  j 
Dr.  Yeaman  resigned  the  pastorate  Dec.  22,  1878,  to 
accept  an  appointment  from  the  General  Baptist  Asso- 
ciation of  Missouri,  after  which  the  church  depended 
upon  supplies   until  Jan.  26,  1879,  when  Rev.  J. 
C.   Armstrong   became    the   pastor.       He    resigned 
Dec.    1,   1881,  to  take   editorial  charge  of  the  Cen- 
tral Baptist.     Dr.  Curry,  the  present  pastor,  who  was 
visiting  the  city  at  the  time,  was  invited  to  occupy  the 
pulpit  on  the  2d  of  April,  1882.     Two  weeks  later 
he  received  a  unanimous  call  to  the  pastorate  of  the 
church,  and  resigned  the  charge  of  a  flourishing  con-  j 
gregation   at   Dallas,  Texas,  in   order   to  accept  it. 
The  first  deacons  of  the  church  were  George  L.  Bab- 
ington  and  William  H.  Curtis,  chosen  at  the  time  of  i 
organization,  and  M.   S.  Clemens  and  John  Herget,  j 
appointed  later.     Gabriel  Long  was  the  first  clerk, 
and  James  S.  McClellan,  Gabriel  Long,  Mr.  Stilwell, 
and  Samuel  V.  Monks  composed  the  first  board  of 
trustees.      The  Sunday-school  was  organized  at  the 
same  time  as  the  church,  with  fifteen  scholars,  and 
William  H.  Curtis  as  superintendent.     It  now  num- 
bers one  hundred  children,  and  the  membership  of 
the  church  has  increased  from  thirty-nine  to  ninety. 

Colored  Baptist  Churches. — The  colored  Baptists 
of  St.  Louis  organized  themselves  into  a  congrega- 
tion about  1833,  and  the  establishment  of  their  church 
was  almost  contemporaneous  with  that  of  the  Second 
Baptist  Church.  They  adopted  the  name  of  the 
First  Baptist  Church  (the  white  congregation  under 
that  title  having  become  extinct).  The  pastor 
of  the  Colored  Baptist  Church  was  Rev.  Berry 
Meacham,  an  energetic  colored  man.  He  was  for- 
merly a  slave  in  Virginia,  and  having  purchased  his 
freedom,  removed  to  St.  Louis,  where  he  followed  the 
occupation  of  cooper.  He  bought  the  freedom  not 
only  of  himself,  but  as  he  prospered  in  business  that 
of  his  wife,  children,  and  father.  In  the  same  way  he 
secured  the  liberation  of  fifteen  slaves,  who  worked 
for  him  in  his  cooper-shop  until  they  had  paid  the 
money  thus  advanced.  In  1836,  Berry  Meacham 
was  the  owner  of  two  brick  houses  in  St.  Louis,  a  ' 


farm  in  Illinois,  the  estimated  value  of  which  was  ten 
thousand  dollars,  and  two  steamboats. 

THE  FIRST  AFRICAN  CHURCH,  Almond,  between 
Fourth  and  Fifth  Streets,  Rev.  J.  R.  Young,  pastor, 
now  has  now  a  membership  of  six  hundred  and 
twenty- four. 

THE  EIGHTH  STREET  (or  SECOND)  CHURCH  is 
situated  on  the  southwest  corner  of  Eighth  Street  and 
Christy  Avenue.  Rev.  S.  P.  Lewis  is  the  pastor.  On 
the  22d  of  March,  1846,  Elders  Richard  Sneethen  and 
J.  R.  Anderson  commenced  preaching  in  a  hall  adjoin- 
ing Liberty  Engine  House,  and  in  June  following  peti- 
tioned for  letters  of  dismissal  from  the  First  African 
Church.  These  were  granted,  and  on  the  3d  of  Au- 
gust, 1846,  the  Second  Church  was  organized  with 
twenty-two  members  dismissed  from  the  First.  It 
was  recognized  by  the  council  Oct.  24,  1847.  On 
the  17th  of  June,  1851,  the  present  lot  was  pur- 
chased for  four  thousand  five  hundred  dollars,  and 
the  erection  of  the  building  was  begun  Aug.  1, 1851. 
The  basement  was  first  occupied  in  October  following, 
and  the  building  was  completed  and  dedicated  Aug. 
22,  1852.  It  was  enlarged  by  an  addition  of  twenty- 
five  feet,  in  accordance  with  a  vote  of  the  congrega- 
tion taken  Feb.  5,  1858.  Its  present  membership  is 
five  hundred  and  fifty. 

UNIVERSITY  CHURCH. — On  the  llth  of  December, 
1867,  Elder  Edward  Wills1  began  to  preach  in  a  small 
room  on  University  Street,  between  Twenty-second 
and  Twenty-third  Streets,  and  in  1869  organized  the 
present  church  at  University  Street  and  Jefferson 
Avenue.  He  continued  pastor  until  the  close  of 
1881,  when  the  church  became  involved  in  legal  diffi- 
culties, and  sued  its  pastor,  as  trustee,  for  possession 
of  the  property.  The  church  was  closed  during  the 
first  four  months  of  1882,  and  reports  only  forty-five 
members  to  the  Association.  The  other  Colored  Bap- 
tist Churches  are  the  Chambers  Street  Church,  at  the 
corner  of  Tenth  and  Chambers  Streets,  Rev.  W.  B. 
Jones,  pastor,  membership  160;  Mount  Zion  Church, 
Papin  Street,  between  Pratte  Avenue  and  High  Street, 

1  Edward  Wills,  one  of  the  oldest  preachers  in  St.  Louis,  was 
born  of  a  slave  mother  in  1811,  on  the  farm  of  Willis  Wills,  in 
Logan  County,  Ky.  In  1836  he  was  removed  to  Virginia  and 
hired  out  to  work,  and  two  years  later  was  brought  to  St.  Louis. 
In  ISio  he  was  licensed  to  preach,  and  officiated  at  different 
times  at  seven  different  churches, — the  Garrison,  Concord,  Cold 
Water,  Musick's,  Kirkwood,  Gravois,  and  Belleville  (III.).  He 
was  fully  ordained  in  September,  1866,  and  organized  succes- 
sively the  Platte  Creek  Church,  at  Fish  Lake,  III.;  Elder  Will.-' 
Church,  in  the  American  Bottom  :  University  Church,  St.  Louis; 
and  others  in  St.  Charles  and  Brigham,  Mo.  After  a  pastorate 
of  fourteen  years  the  church  in  St.  Louis  not  only  turned  from 
him,  but  sued  him  for  possession  of  the  property  which  he  held 
as  trustee. 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1683 


Ilev.  Lewis  Lane,  pastor,  the  membership  numbering 
70  persons  ;  Antioch,  Edwardsville,  membership  65  ; 
Bethel,  North  St.  Louis,  membership  33  ;  South  St. 
Louis,  Carondelet  road,  near  River  des  Peres,  Rev. 
T.  Jackson,  pastor,  membership  54 ;  St.  Paul,  Rev. 
C.  Landers;  pastor,  which  meets  in  the  Jewish  Syn- 
agogue, membership  43  ;  Rock  Spring,  Rev.  William 
J.  Brown,  pastor,  membership  80 ;  Compton  Hill, 
Compton  Avenue  and  Caswell  Street,  Rev.  C.  Deca- 
tur,  pastor,  membership  138. 

METHODIST   CHURCHES. 

Methodism  in  Missouri. — Rev.  John  Clark  was 
the  first  Methodist  minister  to  settle  in  Missouri.  He 
arrived  about  1798,  but  soon  after  became  a  member 
of  the  Baptist  denomination  and  organized  a  number 
of  congregations  under  the  auspices  of  that  church. 
When  the  territory  was  ceded  to  the  United  States 
(in  1804)  and  restrictions  on  Protestantism  removed, 
missionaries  turned  their  attention  to  Missouri,  and 
Joseph  Oglesby  in  1805  reconnoitred  the  Missouri 
country  to  the  extremity  of  the  settlements,  and  "  had 
the  pleasure  of  seeing  Daniel  Boone,  the  mighty 
hunter."  In  1806  the  Western  Conference  (emT 
bracing  the  entire  Mississippi  valley,  from  the  Alle- 
ghenies  westward)  appointed  William  McKendree 
(afterwards  bishop)  to  the  presiding  eldership  of 
Cumberland  District  (which  included  Indiana,  Illinois, 
West  Tennessee,  Missouri,  and  Arkansas),  and  John 
Travis  to  the  Missouri  Circuit,  a  sparsely-settled 
region,  extending  from  Pike  County  on  the  north  to 
Pemiscot  County  on  the  south,  and  from  thirty  to 
fifty  miles  westward  of  the  river.  McKendree  and 
Travis  traveled  over  their  territory  on  horseback,  and 
carried  their  provisions  in  their  saddle-bags.  They 
often  slept  on  the  ground,  and  swam  or  forded  rivers. 
Travis  divided  Missouri  into  two  circuits,  the  Missouri 
River  being  the  dividing  line,  and  reported  fifty-six 
members  in  the  Northern  (or  Missouri)  Circuit,  and 
fifty  in  the  Southern  (or  Meramec).  In  1809,  Cold 
Water  Circuit  was  added ;  it  included  St.  Louis,  and 
contained  thirty-nine  members.  In  1821,  St.  Louis 
became  a  separate  circuit,  with  two  hundred  and 
fifteen  members,  and  Rev.  Isaac  N.  Piggot  as  minis- 
ter. Missouri,  as  stated,  was  in  1807  a  circuit  of 
Cumberland  District,  Western  Conference;  in  1809 
its  circuits  belonged  to  Indiana  District;  in  1812  to 
Illinois  District;  in  1813  they  became  part  of  the 
Tennessee  Conference;  in  1814,  Missouri  became  a 
district;  in  1816  it  was  attached  to  the  Ohio  Confer- 
ence; in  May,  1816,  the  Missouri  Conference  was 
created  by  the  General  Conference  sitting  in  Balti- 
more, and  embraced  Missouri,  Illinois,  and  a  large  part 


of  Indiana.  Its  first  session  was  held,  commencing 
Sept.  23,  1816,  at  Shiloh  meeting-house,  in  Illinois, 
— the  first  church  built  by  Methodists  so  far  West.  It 
consisted  of  nine  members,  and  there  were  twenty-two 
preachers  to  be  stationed,  of  whom  twelve  were  in 
Illinois  and  ten  in  Missouri.  There  were  eight  hun- 
dred and  seventy-five  white  and  fifty-nine  colored 
members  in  the  Missouri  District,  which  was  then 
divided  into  seven  circuits.  In  September,  1820,  at 
the  fifth  meeting  of  the  Missouri  Conference,  Missouri 
was  divided  into  two  districts, — Missouri  and  Cape 
Girardeau ;  St.  Louis  Circuit  being  in  the  former, 
which  was  divided  into  eight  circuits,  with  a  total 
membership  of  seven  hundred  and  sixty-three,  of 
whom  two  hundred  and  fifteen  were  in  St.  Louis  Cir- 
cuit. On  the  24th  of  October,  1822,  the  Missouri 
Conference  met  for  the  first  time  in  St.  Louis,  where 
the  building  of  the  First  Methodist  Church  had  just 
been  completed,  and  the  town  of  St.  Louis  was  made 
a  separate  station,  with  Rev.  Jesse  Walker  as  the 
minister. 

In  1824,  Illinois  and  Indiana  were  organized  into 
a  new  Conference,  and  the  Missouri  Conference  was 
made  to  include  the  State  of  Missouri  and  Arkansas 
Territory.  In  1836  the  Arkansas  Conference  was  or- 
ganized, and  the  Missouri  Conference  was  made  to  in- 
clude the  State  of  Missouri  and  that  part  of  Missouri 
territory  which  lies  north  of  the  Cherokee  line.  At 
the  fifteenth  session  of  the  Missouri  Conference,  held 
in  St.  Louis,  beginning  Sept.  16,  1830,  it  was  re- 
districted  into  four  districts, — Missouri,  St.  Louis, 
Cape  Girardeau,  and  Arkansas  ;  the  St.  Louis  Dis- 
trict being  divided  into  St.  Louis  station  and  seven 
circuits.  The  latter  were  Union,  Gasconade  Mis- 
sion, Salt  River,  Palmyra,  Buffalo,  and  Missouri. 
Prior  to  1822  the  congregations  were  served  by  mis- 
sionaries or  circuit-riders.  These,  with  the  dates  of 
their  appointment,  were  John  Travis,  1807  ;  Edward 
Wilcox,  1808 ;  John  Crane,  1809 ;  Isaac  Linsey, 
1810  ;  George  A.  Collins,  181 1 ;  Daniel  Fraley,  1812 ; 
John  M.  McFarland,  1813;  Richard  Conn,  1814; 
Jacob  Whitesides,  1815;  Benjamin  Proctor,  1816; 
John  Scripps,  1817 ;  John  Harris,  1818  ;  Samuel 
Glaze,  1819  ;  Thomas  Wright,  1820;  Isaac  N.  Pig- 
got,  1821  ;  Jesse  Walker,  1822.  The  presiding 
elders  since  the  establishment  of  St.  Louis  District 
have  been  Andrew  Monroe,  1830,  1832-36 ;  Alex- 
ander McAllister,  1831  ;  Silas  Comfort,  1836-37, 
James  M.  Jameson,  1838-40;  Wesley  Browning, 
1841-43 ;  William  W.  Redman,  1844.  The  bishops 
presiding  at  the  Missouri  Conference  since  its  organi- 
zation have  been  William  McKendree,  1816,  1818, 
1823  ;  Robert  R.  Roberts,  1817,  1820-22,  1824-27, 


1684 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


1830-31,  1834-36,  1842;  Enoch  George,  1819; 
Joshua  Soule,  1828-29,  1832,  1837-38  ;  Thomas  A. 
Morris,  1839-40;  Beverly  Waugh.  1840  ;  James  0. 
Andrew.  1843. 

In  1844-45  occurred  the  great  secession  of  the 
Southern  Methodists,  which  left  the  Northern  mem-  | 
bers  for  a  time  without  "  a  local  habitation  or  a  name" 
in  Missouri,  and  without  a  Conference  in  the  State  or 
a  church  in  the  city.  A  few  ministers,  however,  the 
more  prominent  of  whom  were  Rev.  Anthony  Bew- 
ley  (who  in  1860  was  hung  by  a  mob  at  Fort  Worth, 
Texas),  Rev.  Mark  Robertson,  Rev.  Nelson  Henry,  ; 
Rev.  Peter  Akers,  and  Rev.  Joseph  Tabor,  continued 
to  labor  in  connection  with  the  old  denomination.  In 
1845  a  small  church,  called  Ebenezer,  was  erected,  ; 
which,  in  1862,  became  the  Union  Methodist  Church  | 
of  St.  Louis.  In  1848  the  Missouri  Conference  was  ] 
reorganized,  meeting  with  the  Illinois  Conference  at 
Belleville,  and  was  made  to  include  Kansas  and 
Arkansas.  In  1852  the  Arkansas  Conference  was 
set  off,  and  in  1856  the  Kansas  Conference  was  formed. 
In  1861,  when  the  civil  war  commenced  and  the  fate 
of  Missouri,  as  to  its  connection  with  the  Union  or 
the  Southern  Confederacy,  trembled  in  the  balance, 
the  Northern-  Methodists  were  again  disorganized, 
many  of  the  ministers  being  compelled  to  leave  their 
posts  throughout  the  State.  In  May,  1861,  their 
services  were  suspended  everywhere  except  in  St.  : 
Louis,  and  Ebenezer  Chapel  (St.  Louis)  was  seized 
for  debt  and  closed,  Bedding  Chapel  was  dissolved, 
and  only  a  nucleus  of  worshipers  remained  at  Simp- 
son Chapel.  During  this  period  presiding  elders  and 
ministers  either  left  the  State  or  entered  the  army  as 
chaplains  or  soldiers.  In  the  latter  part  of  1861, 
owing  to  the  occupation  of  the  State  by  the  Northern 
troops,  the  Southern  wing  of  the  church  in  turn  be- 
came disorganized  and  scattered.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  old  Methodist  organization  began  to  recover  its 
lost  ground,  and  has  continued  to  flourish  ever  since. 
The  Missouri  Conference  was  reorganized  in  May, 
1862,  as  the  Missouri  and  Arkansas  Conference.  In 
1868  it  was  divided  into  the  Missouri  Conference 
(north  of  Missouri  River)  and  St.  Louis  Conference 
(south  of  the  river  and  including  Arkansas),  and  in 
May,  1872,  the  Arkansas  Conference  was  cut  off  and 
established  as  a  separate  body. 

The  first  church  of  the  denomination  established 
in  St.  Louis  was  organized  by  the  Rev.  Jesse  Walker 
in  the  fall  of  1820,  and  the  first  systematic  preaching 
was  begun  about  the  middle  of  December  of  that 
year.  The  first  Sunday-school  was  commenced  in 
December  of  the  following  year,  and  its  first  super- 
intendent was  Col.  John  O'Fallon.  In  1845,  owing 


to  the  dissension  which  had  arisen  concerning  the 
question  of  slavery,  the  congregation  separated  from, 
the  regular  Methodist  organization  and  joined  the 
Methodist  Church  South.  It  then  became  known 
as  the  First  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South,  and 
consequently  there  is  nominally  no  "  First  Church"  of 
the  old  organization  in  St.  Louis. 

The  bishops  of  Missouri  Conference  from  1849  until 
1868,  and  of  St.  Louis  Conference  since,  have  been 
as  follows:  E.  S.  Janes,  1849,  1852,  1858,  1869; 
C.  J.  Houts,  pro  tern.,  1850  ;  B.  Waugh,  1851 ;  T.  A. 
Morris,  1853,  1861 ;  E.  R.  Ames,  1854, 1857, 1860, 
1863,  1867,  1871  ;  Matthew  Simpson,  1855,  1862, 
1877  ;  0.  C.  Baker,  1856,  1864;  Levi  Scott,  1859, 
1865,1872;  C.  Kingsley,  1866;  E.  Thomson,  1868  ; 
Davis  W:  Chirk,  1870;  Thomas  Bowman,  1873, 
1878;  Edward  G.  Andrews,  1874;  Stephen  M. 
Merrill,  1875  ;  Jesse  T.  Peck,  1876  ;  Isaac  W.  Wiley, 
1879;  Randolph  S.  Foster,  1880:  John  F.  Hurst, 
1881 ;  Henry  W.  Warren,  1882.  The  St.  Louis  Con- 
ference is  now  divided  into  St.  Louis,  Sedalia,  Kansas 
City,  Springfield,  and  Missouri  Districts.  St.  Louis 
District  has  twenty  stations  or  circuits,  the  presiding 
elders  over  which  since  the  reorganization  in  1848 
(with  the  dates  of  the  Conferences  appointing  them) 
have  been  George  W.  Robbins,  1848 ;  J.  J.  Buren, 
1849-50 ;  David  N.  Smith,  1851 ;  C.  J.  Houts,  1852- 
54;  J.  H.  Hopkins,  1855-56;  Nathan  Shumate, 
1857  ;  Samuel  Huffman,  1858-61  ;  J.  C.  Smith, 
1862-64  ;  M.  Sovin,  1865-68  ;  J.  L.  Walker,  1869- 
71  ;  A.  C.  George,  1872  ;  T.  H.  Hagerty,  1873-75  ; 
C.  A.  Van  Anda,  1876 ;  F.  S.  Beggs,  1877-80 ;  T.  H. 
Hagerty,  1881-82.  The  reorganized  Missouri  Con- 
ference started  in  1848  with  1538  members  and  26 
traveling  and  24  local  preachers,  Arkansas  being  in- 
cluded in  these  figures.  The  St.  Louis  Conference 
held  in  March,  1882,  reported  18,080  members  and 
probationers,  168  local  preachers,  171  Sunday-schools, 
with  1562  teachers  and  13,169  scholars,  191  churches, 
and  65  parsonages.  St.  Louis  Station  (or  City)  re- 
ported 1187  members  and  probationers,  8  local  preach- 
ers, 7  churches,  7  Sunday-schools,  with  158  teachers 
and  1655  scholars. 

The  Western  Methodist  Book  Concern,  1101 
Olive  Street,  was  organized  in  1865,  with  Rev.  Ben- 
jamin St.  James  Fry,  D.D.,  as  manager,  in  rented 
rooms  at  No.  413  Locust  Street,  and  later  removed  to 
913  North  Sixth  Street,  which  property  had  been 
bought  and  is  still  owned  by  the  concern,  being  now 
used  for  manufacturing  purposes.  John  H.  Cam- 
eron was  manager  from  1872,  when  Dr.  Fry  took  the 
editorial  management  of  the  Central  Cliristian  Advo- 
cate until  1880,  and  was  then  succeeded  by  the  pres- 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1685 


ent  manager,  Samuel  H.  Pye,  from  the  Cincin- 
nati Book  Concern.  In  the  third  story  of  the  pres- 
ent quarters  are  the  editorial  office  of  Dr.  Fry,  and 
the  room  where,  every  Monday  morning,  are  held  the 
meetings  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Ministers'  Asso- 
ciation. The  Book  Concern  moved  into  its  present 
quarters  in  1881. 

Benjamin  St.  James  Fry,  D.D.,  was  born  in  Rut- 
gers, East  Tennessee,  in  1824,  but  spent  his  childhood 
and  early  manhood  in  Cincinnati.  He  was  educated 


subsequently  re-elected,  and  continues  to  hold  that 
position.  He  was  a  reserve  delegate  of  the  General 
Conference  of  1868,  and  served  part  of  the  session, 
and  was  secretary  of  the  Committee  on  Sunday- 
schools.  At  the  General  Conference  of  1876  he 
was  the  secretary  of  the  Committee  on  Education. 
Dr.  Fry  has  been  a  frequent  contributor  to  period- 
ical literature,  and  is  the  author  of  several  volumes 
of  Sunday-school  books,  including  lives  of  Bishops 
Whatcoat,  McKendree,  and  Roberts.  He  was  also 


HISHOr   McKKNDBEE. 


at  Woodward  College,  Cincinnati,  and  was  received 
into  the  Ohio  Conference  in  1847.  Among  his  ap- 
pointments in  that  Conference  were  Portsmouth,  New- 
ark, Chillicothe,  and  Zanesville.  He  was  president  of 
the  Worthington  Female  College  for  four  years,  and 
served  three  years  as  chaplain  in  the  Union  army.  In 
1865  he  was  placed  in  charge  of  the  depository  of 
the  Methodist  Book  Concern  at  St.  Louis,  and  con- 
ducted its  business  until,  in  1872,  he  was  elected 
editor  of  the  Central  Christian  Advocate.  He  was 
107 


the  author  of  "  Property  Consecrated,"  one  of  the 
prize  volumes  issued  by  the  church  on  systematic 
beneficence. 

William  McKendree,  one  of  the  early  bishops  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  was  born  in  King 
William  County,  Va.,  on  the  6th  of  July,  1757.  He 
was  a  soldier  during  the  Revolutionary  war,  entering 
the  army  as  a  private,  and  rising  to  the  rank  of  adju- 
tant. He  was  placed  in  the  commissary  department, 
and  was  present  at  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis  at 


1686 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Yorktown.  In  1787  he  was  converted  to  religion, 
and  soon  began  to  take  a  prominent  part  in  public 
meetings.  In  1788  he  was  received  on  trial  for  the 
ministry,  and  continued  to  labor  in  his  vocation  until 
November,  1792,  when,  having  been  influenced  by 
Mr.  O'Kelly  to  join  in  certain  measures  of  alleged  re- 
form, he  was  greatly  disappointed  by  their  failure  at 
the  General  Conference.  Mr.  O'Kelly  withdrew  from 
the  church,  and  Mr.  McKendree  sympathizing  with 
him,  sent  in  his  resignation  as  a  minister,  but  the 
Conference  agreed  that  he  might  still  preach  among 
the  societies.  Mr.  McKendree  soon  obtained  leave  to 
travel  with  Bishop  Asbury,  in  order  that  he  might 
ascertain  for  himself  whether  his  impressions  had 
been  well  founded.  In  a  short  time  he  became  satis- 
fied that  he  had  been  deceived.  In  1796  he  became 
presiding  elder,  and  in  1801  was  sent  to  the  West  to 
take  the  supervision  of  the  societies  in  Ohio,  Ken- 
tucky, Tennessee,  Western  Virginia,  and  part  of  Illi- 
nois. In  1806  he  was  appointed  to  the  Cumberland 
District,  embracing  Arkansas,  Missouri,  Illinois,  and 
half  of  Tennessee,  and  during  the  same  year  traveled 
extensively  in  Illinois.  He  himself  records  that  in 
1807  "we  attended  a  camp-meeting  across  the  Missis- 
sippi River,  which  was  the  first  meeting  of  the  kind 
ever  held  on  that  side  of  the  river,  and  we  walked 
about  forty  miles  to  get  to  it."  In  1808  he  was 
called  to  preach  before  the  General  Conference,  and 
discharged  this  task  so  ably  that  Bishop  Asbury  said 
at  its  close,  "  That  sermon  will  make  McKendree 
bishop."  This  prediction  was  realized  by  his  election 
as  bishop  by  the  same  Conference  (1808).  In  1816, 
during  which  year  he  presided  at  the  first  session  of 
the  Missouri  Conference,  he  became  the  senior  bishop. 
He  died  on  the  5th  of  March,  1835,  at  the  residence 
of  his  brother,  near  Nashville,  Tenn.  Bishop  Mc- 
Kendree' was  a  popular  preacher,  and  a  zealous  and 
laborious  minister.  He  was  careful  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  discipline,  and  introduced  system  into  all  i 
the  operations  of  the  church.  His  influence  was 
potent  everywhere,  but  especially  was  he  regarded  as 
the  father  of  Western  Methodism,  to  which  he  had 
given  years  of  earnest  labor,  and  in  the  success  of  | 
which  he  felt  a  deep  and  abiding  interest. 

Jesse  Walker  was  born  in  North  Carolina  (the 
exact  date  is  uncertain),  and  was  admitted  as  a 
traveling  preacher  in  1802.  Subsequently,  for  four 
years,  he  traveled  in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee.  In 
1806  he  was  appointed  missionary  to  Illinois,  and  at 
the  end  of  his  first  year  of  labor  reported  that  he  had 
secured  two  hundred  and  eighteen  members  to  the 
church  in  that  region.  He  continued  his  missionary 
labors  in  Illinois  and  Missouri  until  1812,  when  he  ; 


was  made  presiding  elder  over  the  church  in  both 
those  Territories.  In  1820  he  was  appointed  Con- 
ference missionary,  with  leave  to  select  his  own  field 
of  work,  and  chose  St.  Louis,  where  he  established 
the  First  Methodist  Church,  of  which  he  remained 
pastor  for  two  years.  On  the  24th  of  October,  1822, 
he  again  obtained  the  appointment  of  Conference  mis- 
sionary, and  in  1823  began  to  labor  among  the  In- 
dians. In  1834  failing  health  compelled  him  to 
retire  to  his  farm  in  Cook  County,  111.,  where  he 
died  on  the  5th  of  October,  1835. 

John  Travis  was  born  of  Presbyterian  parents,  in 
Chester  District,  S.  C.,  Nov.  3,  1773.  He  was  ap- 
pointed to  Missouri  Circuit  in  1806,  at  which  date 
he  was  first  received  on  trial  by  the  Western  Con- 
ference, and  traveled  from  five  to  seven  hundred 
miles  on  horseback  to  reach  his  circuit.  Two  years 
later  he  was  received  into  full  connection,  and  in  1812 
was  ordained  as  elder.  He  remained  in  charge  of 
different  circuits,  nearly  as  wild  and  thinly  settled  as 
the  first,  until  1815,  when  he  married,  and  retired  to 
a  farm  in  Livingston  (now  Crittenden)  County,  Ky., 
where  he  studied  and  subsequently  practiced  medi- 
cine. He  preached  occasionally  until  his  death.  He 
became  totally  blind  fourteen  years  before  his  death, 
which  occurred  in  his  eightieth  year,  Nov.  11,  1852. 

Among  the  early  ministers  of  the  Methodist  Church 
in  St.  Louis.  Rev.  John  W.  Springer  and  Rev.  Joseph 
Boyle,  D.D.,  were  also  prominent.  Mr.  Springer  was 
born  in  Fayette  County,  Ky.,  in  1808,  and  arrived  in 
St.  Louis  in  1848,  and  took  charge  of  the  St.  Louis 
mission.  Besides  the  mission,  he  had  charge  of  a 
number  of  circuits.  He  was  married  three  times, 
his  first  wife  being  Eliza  Pilcher,  of  Fayette  County, 
Ky.,  the  second  Eliza  Lueller,  and  the  third  Minerva 
D.  Pilcher,  sister  of  the  first  Mrs.  Springer.  He  was 
a  faithful  aud  active  minister,  and  labored  industri- 
ously for  many  years,  but  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
which  occurred  on  the  17th  of  October,  1879,  was 
on  the  superannuated  list. 

Joseph  Boyle  was  born  in  Baltimore  on  the  12th 
of  May,  1812.  The  field  of  his  first  ministerial 
labors  was  Pittsburgh,  but  in  1842,  at  his  request,  he 
was  transferred  to  St.  Louis,  and  became  pastor  of  the 
First  Church.  He  was  a  delegate  to  the  Louisville 
General  Conference  of  1844,  at  which  the  Methodist 
Church  was  divided  into  two  bodies,  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  and  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  South,  and  labored  earnestly  for  reconciliation. 
Until  his  death,  which  occurred  on  the  3d  of  May, 
1872,  Dr.  Boyle  continued  in  the  active  discharge  of 
his  ministerial  duties.  In  1870  he  was  placed  upon 
the  retired  list  as  a  supernumerary  at  the  First 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1687 


Methodist  Church,  on  Eighth  Street.  He  did  not, 
however,  relax  his  ministerial  labors,  but  continued  to 
preach  and  work  for  the  cause  to  which  he  had  de- 
voted his  energies.  He  preached  his  last  sermon  at 
Lexington,  Mo.,  on  the  Sunday  preceding  his  death. 

Dr.  Boyle  was  distinguished  by  his  learning  and 
eloquence,  as  well  as  by  the  elevated  tone  of  his  char- 
acter and  the  simplicity  of  his  life.  He  was  ex- 
tremely popular  with  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis,  and 
for  a  number  of  years  was  one  of  the  most  promi- 
nent and  useful  members  of  the  community. 

Trinity  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. — This 
church,  situated  at  the  southwest  corner  of  Tenth 
and  North  Market  Streets,  Rev.  R.  R.  Pierce,  pastor, 
had  its  origin  in  Simpson  Chapel,  which  was  organ- 
ized about  1857.  Simpson  Chapel  was  the  only 
Northern  Methodist  Church  that  continued  to  hold 
services  in  St.  Louis  during  the  stormy  period  at  the 
beginning  of  the  war,  when  all  the  kindred  Methodist 
congregations  in  Missouri  became  disorganized.  When, 
however,  toward  the  close  of  the  year  1861,  the 
Northern  Methodist  Church  in  Missouri  began  to  re- 
vive, Simpson  Chapel  shared  in  its  prosperity  and  in- 
creased rapidly  in  numbers  and  influence.  Its  pastors 
were  J.  L.  Conklin,  appointed  in  1858  ;  Thomas  H. 
Mudge,  1859 ;  J.  C.  Smith,  1860  ;  Wm.  C.  Stewart, 
1861  ;  (the  church  was  "  supplied"  by  different 
ministers  in  1862)  L.  M.  Vernon,  1863 ;  sup- 
ply, 1864-65 ;  T.  J.  Williams,  1866  ;  R.  R.  Pierce, 
1867-68 ;  J.  N.  Pierce,  1869.  In  1870  it  became 
Trinity  Church,  whose  pastors  have  been  J.  N. 
Pierce,  1870-71;  J.  L.  Walker,  1872-73-74;  0. 
M.  Stewart,  1875-76-77;  H.  R.  Miller,  1878;  G. 
W.  Hughey,  1879-81 ;  R.  R. 'Pierce,  1882.  Simp- 
son Chapel  reported  fifty-seven  members  in  1858, 
and  Trinity  Church  had  in  the  first  year  of  its  organ- 
ization one  hundred  and  sixty  members.  Connected 
with  the  Sunday-school  were  twenty-five  teachers  and 
one  hundred  and  eighty  scholars.  In  March,  1882, 
it  had  a  membership,  including  probationers,  of  two 
hundred  and  eighty-eight,  and  there  were  thirty-eight 
teachers  and  four  hundred  scholars  in  the  Sunday- 
school. 

Union  Church  (southwest  corner  of  Garrison  and 
Lucas  Avenues,  Rev.  C.  E.  Felton,  D.D.,  pastor)  was 
the  first  fruits  of  the  reorganization  of  the  Northern 
Methodist  Church,  after  its  dispersion  on  the  break- 
ing out  of  the  war  in  1861.  Prior  to  that  time  the 
Methodists  (North)  had  had  three  congregations  in 
St.  Louis,  known  as  Hedding,  Ebenezer,  and  Simp- 
son Chapels.  Ebenezer  Chapel  had  been  organized 
in  1852,  and  was  served  by  Rev.  L.  B.  Bemis,  ap- 
pointed 1852;  Rev.  T.  I.  R.  Davis,  1853;  Rev. 


N.  Shumate,  1855;  Rev.  Thomas  Williams,  1858; 
Rev.  William  Hanley,  1860  ;  Rev.  Joseph  Brooks, 
1861.  During  Dr.  Brooks'  pastorate  the  church  was 
closed  on  account  of  a  debt  due  for  rent,  and  was 
never  reopened.  In  1852  there  were  one  hundred 
and  thirty-five  members,  but  at  the  close  of  1861  not 
more  than  thirty  members  of  the  congregation  re- 
mained in  the  city.  On  the  2d  of  January,  1862,  a 
meeting  was  held  at  the  office  of  Rev.  Dr.  Charles  D. 
Elliott,  editor  of  the  Central  Christian  Advocate,  by 
a  few  Methodists  whom  business  had  brought  to  St. 
Louis,  and  they,  uniting  with  the  remnants  of  Eben- 
ezer Church,  organized  a  new  society  and  invited  Rev. 
Dr.  Henry  Cox,  of  Chicago,  to  become  their  pastor. 
Dr.  Cox  was  a  man  of  great  zeal  and  energy,  and  the 
congregation  prospered  under  his  care.  The  Union 
Presbyterian  Church  (an  independent  organization) 
had  built  the  church  (now  occupied  by  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association)  at  Eleventh  and  Locust 
Streets  ;  and  this  building  was  purchased  by  the  Union 
congregation  for  thirty-seven  thousand  three  hundred 
dollars  on  the  14th  of  March,  1862.  Before  that  date, 
however,  Dr.  Cox  had  succeeded  in  raising  six  thousand 
dollars,  by  the  payment  of  which,  on  the  first  install- 
ment of  the  purchase-money,  the  Missouri  Conference 
was  enabled  to  hold  its  session  in  the  building,  begin- 
ning Feb.  26,  1862.  In  the  following  summer  Dr. 
Cox  visited  the  East  and  obtained  six  thousand  dol- 
lars towards  reducing  the  church  debt.  In  1865  the 
indebtedness  was  entirely  canceled.  In  1863  the 
membership  had  grown  to  two  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  persons,  and  at  the  beginning  of  1865  it  was  re- 
ported at  four  hundred,  together  with  an  attendance 
of  four  hundred  in  the  Sunday-school.  Dr.  Cox  was 
an  uncompromising  advocate  of  Northern  principles, 
and  made  it  a  condition  of  church  membership  that 
candidates  should  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the 
United  States,  swearing  them  in  with  the  Stars  and 
Stripes  floating  over  them  and  an  open  Bible  before 
them.  The  church  was  dedicated  by  Bishop  Simp- 
son, March  16,  1862.  It  was  at  that  time  one  of  the 
most  capacious  churches  in  the  city,  and  seated  about 
sixteen  hundred  persons, — a  substantial  brick  building 
one  hundred  and  four  feet  long,  sixty-eight  feet  wide, 
and  seventy-five  feet  high  to  the  centre  of  the  nave. 

The  succession  of  pastors,  with  the  dates  of  their 
appointment,  has  been  as  follows  ;•  Henry  Cox,  1862- 
63;  supply,  1864;  A.  C.  George,  1865-67;  J.  W. 
Langley,  1868-69  ;  B.  St.  J.  Fry,  1870  ;  C.  E.  Felton, 
1871-73,  and  again  in  1880-82;  C.  A.  Van  Anda, 
1874-76;  R.  C.  Houghton,  1877-79.  On  the  14th 
of  May,  1880,  the  church  on  Eleventh  Street  was  sold 
to  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  and  in  the 


1688 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


following  June  the  present  lot,  ninety-five  by  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-four  feet,  was  purchased.  Ground 
was  broken  July  12,  1880,  and  the  corner-stone  was 
laid  Oct.  26, 1880.  The  Sunday-school  room  was  first 
occupied  Oct.  30,  1881,  and  the  church  was  dedicated 
May  18, 1882,  by  Bishop  Simpson.  It  is  of  modified 
Gothic  architecture,  and  cruciform  in  shape,  and  is 
built  of  rubble-stone  and  brick.  Its  dimensions  are 
eighty  by  one  hundred  and  one  feet.  In  the  basement 
are  a  kitchen  and  dining-rooms,  and  on  the  ground- 
floor  are  the  office  of  the  church,  parlor,  and  Sunday- 
school  rooms,  the  latter  with  a  seating  capacity  of  six 
hundred.  The  main  auditorium  contains  seats  for  one 
thousand  persons,  and  is  amphitheatrical  in  shape.  In 
the  rear  of  the  auditorium  are  the  pastor's  study  and 
the  music-room.  The  total  cost  of  the  church  was 
$75.527.16,  of  which  $11,685  was  paid  for  the  lot 
and  $63.842.16  for  building  and  furnishing.  This 
sum  was  realized  from  the  following  sources :  Sale 
of  old  church,  $37,500 ;  subscriptions  and  interest, 
$35,898.66;  Ladies' Aid  Society,  $2069.51 ;  Young 
Men's  Union,  $466.85,— a  total  of  $75,935.02,  or 
$407.86  more  than  the  property  cost.  August 
Beincke  was  the  architect.  The  Young  People's 
Lyceum  of  the  Union  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
organized  by  the  pastor  in  1871  for  purposes  of  liter- 
ary and  social  intercourse,  was  the  first  society  of  its 
kind  established  in  St.  Louis.  The  membership  of 
the  church  numbers  four  hundred  and  forty  persons, 
and  there  are  thirty-one  teachers  and  three  hundred 
and  fifty-four  scholars  connected  with  the  Sunday- 
school. 

Central  Church. — In  the  minutes  of  the  Missouri  ; 
Conference  for  1865  appears  for  the  first  time  the 
name  of  the  Second  Union  Church,  with  Rev.  Henry 
Cox,  D.D.  (the  organizer  of  Union  Church),  as  pastor. 
In  1866  it  reported  one  hundred  and  thirteen  mem- 
bers, and  forty  teachers  and  five  hundred  pupils  in  the 
Sunday-school.  Dr.  Cox  was  reappointed  in  1866, 
and  N.  P.  Heath  succeeded  him  in  1867,  in  which 
year  its  name  was  changed  to  that  of  Sixth  Street 
Mission.  This  mission  occupied  the  publishing-house 
at  913  North  Sixth  Street,  and  reported,  in  1868,  one 
hundred  and  eighteen  members,  and  five  hundred  and 
forty  children  in  the  Sunday-school.  Rev.  A.  C. 
George  was  pastor  in  1868,  and  Rev.  J.  W.  Johnson 
in  1869-70,  after  which  date  the  name  of  the  organi- 
zation disappeared  from  the  minutes.  Central  Church 
(which  was  organized  in  1869,  in  a  hall  on  Eighteenth 
and  Wash  Streets)  having  grown  out  of  and  absorbed 
it.  The  new  organization  reported  in  the  spring  of 
1870  a  membership  of  seventy  persons,  and  an  at- 
tendance at  the  Sunday-school  of  twenty  teachers  and 


one  hundred  and  twenty  children.  It  continued  to 
meet  in  the  hall  at  Eighteenth  and  Wash  Streets  until 
February,  1871,  when  its  present  church  building, 
situated  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Twenty-fourth 
and  Morgan  Streets,  was  dedicated.  The  foundation 
stone  of  this  edifice  was  laid  on  the  2d  of  September, 
1869,  and  the  exercises  were  witnessed  by  a  large  as- 
semblage. Hon.  Nathan  Cole,  mayor  of  the  city,  pre- 
sided. On  the  1st  of  February,  1871,  the  edifice  was 
used  by  the  congregation  for  the  first  time.  It  has  a 
front  of  fifty-seven  feet  on  Morgan  Street,  and  a  depth 
of  ninety-three  feet  on  Twenty-fourth  Street,  and  is  a 
substantial  brick  building,  with  lecture-room,  class- 
rooms, and  pastor's  study  on  the  first  floor,  and  on 
the  second  floor  the  main  audience-room,  with  a  seat- 
ing capacity  of  six  hundred.  The  church  lot  meas- 
ures sixty-five  by  one  hundred  and  ten  feet,  and  the 
property  is  valued  at  thirty-five  thousand  dollars. 
The  pastors  have  been  Revs.  A.  C.  George  (who  or- 
ganized it),  1869-71 ;  J.  J.  Bentley,  1872 ;  A.  C. 
Williams,  1873-75;  J.  W.  Bushong,  1876-78;  W. 
K.  Marshall,  1879-81 ;  F.  S.  Beggs,  1881-82.  The 
church  reports  a  membership  of  two  hundred  and 
twenty  persons,  with  twenty-eight  teachers  and  two 
hundred  and  seventy-five  pupils  in  the  Sunday-school. 
St.  Luke's  Church  grew  out  of  a  mission  Sunday- 
school  which  was  organized  by  Rev.  R.  S.  Stubbs  at 
the  residence  of  Mrs.  Dr.  Brock,  May  20,  1874,  and 
which  then  numbered  fifteen  scholars.  The  church 
was  organized  with  twelve  members,  Jan.  17,  1875, 
in  the  chapel  of  the  mission,  a  frame  building  on  Jef- 
ferson Avenue,  between  Chippewa  and  Keokuk 
Streets,  which  was  purchased  by  the  congregation. 
This  building  was  twenty-five  by  forty  feet  in  size, 
and  seated  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  persons. 
Rev.  R.  S.  Stubbs,  Rev.  B.  St.  James  Fry,  Rev.  C. 
A.  Van  Anda,  and  other  ministers  participated  in  the 
organization.  The  building  was  sold  in  November, 

1881,  and   was  converted   into   a  shoe-store.      The 
present  building  stands  upon  a  lot  one  hundred  and 
one  by  one  hundred  and  eighteen  feet,  at  the  north- 
east corner  of   Potomac  Street  and  Texas  Avenue. 
Its  corner-stone  was  laid  Sept.  15,  1881,  and  the 
completed  structure  was  dedicated  by  Rev.  C.  E.  Fel- 
ton,  D.D.,  on  the  5th  of  March,  1882.     It  is  built  of 
brick,  with  stone  trimmings,  and  its  dimensions  are 
forty  by  sixty  feet,  its  seating  capacity  being  three 
hundred  and  fifty  persons.     The  architecture  is  semi- 
Gothic.     The  church  has  had  four  pastors,  Rev.  R. 
S.  Stubbs,   1874-76;  Rev.  L.  Hallock,  1876-79; 
Rev.  J.  F.  Corrington,  1879-82  ;  and  Rev.  A.  Jump, 

1882.  Connected  with  the  congregation  are  a  Ladies' 
Aid  Society,  organized  in  1875,  and  a  Woman's  For- 


RELIGIOUS  DENOMINATIONS. 


1689 


eign  Missionary  Society,  organized  in  1881.  Each  of 
them  has  about  twelve  members.  There  are  now 
forty-one  families  (about  two  hundred  persons)  con- 
nected with  the  church,  and  of  these,  thirty-four  per- 
sons are  communicants.  The  Sunday-school  has 
twelve  teachers  and  one  hundred  and  twenty  pupils. 

Water-Tower  Church. — Hedding  Chapel,  estab- 
lished in  1852  with  twenty-five  members,  survived 
until  1861,  when,  owing  to  the  political  troubles  of 
that  period,  the  congregation  became  disorganized  and 
finally  extinct.  The  first  regular  pastor  was  the  Rev. 
Daniel  H.  May,  appointed  in  1853,  and  his  succes- 
sors were  Rev.  J.  M.  Chevington,  1854 ;  Rev.  J.  L. 
Conkling,  1855;  Rev.  John  Hageman,  1858;  and 
Rev.  A.  C.  McDonald,  1860-61.  Different  ministers 
officiated  as  supplies  during  the  years  not  named.  The 
church  building  was  a  small  structure,  situated  in  the 
northern  part  of  the  city.  In  1879  some  of  the  former 
members  of  the  congregation,  with  other  Methodists, 
organized  a  mission  in  the  vicinity  of  the  water-tower. 
At  first  the  congregation  worshiped  in  the  German 
Presbyterian  Church,  Grand  Avenue  and  Thirteenth 
Street,  but  it  subsequently  purchased  a  lot  at  the 
northwest  corner  of  Fourteenth  Street  and  Obear 
Avenue,  one  block  north  of  and  opposite  the  water- 
tower,  from  which  the  congregation  takes  its  name, 
and  erected  a  neat  Gothic  structure  of  brick,  forty- 
eight  by  twenty-five  feet,  which  will  seat  two  hundred 
persons.  The  dimensions  of  the  lot  are  fifty  by  one 
hundred  and  forty  feet,  and  the  property  is  valued  at 
two  thousand  five  hundred  dollars.  The  congregation 
occupied  the  church  for  the  first  time  in  March,  1881, 
and  the  building  was  dedicated  on  the  27th  of  that 
month.  The  successive  pastors  have  been  Rev.  L. 
Hallock,  1879;  Rev.  J.  W.  Newcomb,  March,  1880; 
Rev.  Cyrus  Brough,  assistant,  March,  1880;  pastor, 
March,  1881  ;  Rev.  J.  F.  Corrington,  March,  1882. 
The  church  reports  seventy-five  members  and  proba- 
tioners and  twenty  teachers,  and  an  average  attendance 
of  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  pupils  in  the  Sunday- 
school.  The  usual  devotional,  missionary,  and  chari- 
table societies  are  maintained  by  the  congregation. 

Goode  Avenue  Church. — This  church,  situated  at 
Goode  Avenue  and  North  Market  Street,  Rev.  M.  B. 
Wood,  pastor,  was  organized  by  Rev.  R.  S.  Stubbs  in 
1875,  and  the  corner-stone  of  the  church  building 
was  laid  Oct.  1,  1875.  The  church,  a  small  frame 
structure,  with  a  seating  capacity  of  one  hundred  and 
seventy,  was  dedicated  Nov.  15,  1875.  The  lot  is 
fifty  by  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  feet  in  size,  and 
the  property  is  valued  at  two  thousand  dollars.  The 
pastors  have  been  Revs.  R.  S.  Stubbs,  C.  A.  Van 
Anda,  J.  W.  Bushong,  A.  H.  Parker,  J.  W.  New- 


comb  (1879-81),  M.  B.  Wood,  1882.  The  church 
has  a  membership  of  fifty-six  persons,  and  the  Sun- 
day-school numbers  sixty  pupils. 

Goode  Avenue  Mission  first  appears  on  the  Confer- 
ence minutes  in  1877,  with  Rev.  A.  H.  Parker  as 
supply.  Mr.  Parker  was  reappointed  in  1878.  Rev. 
J.  W.  Newcomb  was  appointed  to  this  charge,  in  con- 
junction with  that  of  Rock  Spring,  in  1879,  and  that 
of  Tower  Grove  mission  in  1880-81.  Rev.  M.  B. 
Wood  was  appointed  in  1882.  The  mission  has  a 
membership  of  forty-four  persons,  with  eight  teachers 
and  sixty  children  in  the  Sunday-school. 

METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH  SOUTH. 

In'the  General  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  of  1844,  attention  was  called  to  the  fact 
that  Bishop  James  0.  Andrew,  of  Georgia,  had  mar- 
ried a  lady  who  was  the  owner  of  slaves.  As  no  bishop 
in  the  Methodist  Church  had  ever  been  connected  with 
slavery,  this  fact  produced  great  excitement.  Accord- 
ing to  a  law  of  the  church  adopted  in  1800,  it  was 
provided  that  when  any  traveling  preacher  became  an 
owner  of  a  slave  or  slaves  by  any  means  he  should 
forfeit  his  ministerial  character  in  the  church,  unless 
he  executed,  if  it  were  practicable,  a  legal  emancipa- 
tion of  such  slaves  conformable  with  the  laws  of  the 
State  in  which  he  lived.  The  committee  of  the  Con- 
ference on  episcopacy  waited  upon  the  bishop,  who 
informed  them  that  his  wife  had  inherited  slaves  from 
her  former  husband,  who  had  secured  them  to  her  by 
a  deed  of  trust,  and  that  she  could  not  emancipate 
them  if  she  desired  to  do  so.  The  embarrassments  of 
the  case  were  deeply  felt  by  all  parties,  but  after  a 
protracted  discussion  the  General  Conference,  by  a 
vote  of  one  hundred  and  ten  to  sixty-eight,  adopted 
the  following  resolution :  "  Resolved,  That  it  is  the 
sense  of  this  General  Conference  that  he  desist  from 
the  exercise  of  his  office  so  long  as  this  impediment 
remains." 

The  prevailing  opinion  in  the  Conference  was  that 
it  was  possible  for  the  bishop  to  remove  from  Georgia, 
where  manumission  was  impracticable,  to  a  State 
where  emancipation  might  be  made.  Bishop  An- 
drew would  willingly,  it  was  understood,  h»ve  yielded 
to  the  opinions  of  the  General  Conference,  but  his 
brethren  in  the  South  thought  it  his  duty  to  stand 
by  them  on  a  question  which  they  considered  to  be 
one  involving  their  rights,  and  he  accordingly  acqui- 
esced in  their  desire.  Soon  after  this  action  of  the 
Conference  resolutions  were  framed  proposing  a  sep- 
aration between  the  free  and  slave  States,  and  were 
adopted  by  a  vote  of  one  hundred  and  forty-two  to 
twenty-two.  A  conference  of  Southern  delegates  was 


1690 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


called,  and  held  in  Louisville  May  1,  1845.  It  was 
composed  of  one  hundred  and  two  delegates,  who, 
with  only  three  dissenting  voices,  voted  for  the  pro- 
posed separation,  and  organized  the  General  Conference 
South.  The  Missouri  Conference  sent  as  delegates  to 
the  convention  Andrew  Munroe,  Jesse  Green,  John 
Glauville,  Wesley  Browning,  William  Patton,  John 
H.  Linn,  Joseph  Boyle,  and  Thomas  Johnson,  and 
the  Fourth  Street  (now  the  First)  Church  of  St. 
Louis,  by  resolutions  bearing  date  Jan.  12,  1845, 
gave  emphatic  utterance  against  the  division.  When 
the  almost  unanimous  action  of  the  Louisville  Con- 
vention was  learned,  however,  the  Fourth  Street 
Church,  at  a  meeting  held  July  30,  1845,  deter- 
mined to  join  the  Southern  Conference  by  a  vote  of 
one  hundred  and  thirty-two,  subsequently  increased 
to  two  hundred  and  six,  a  majority  of  all  the  mem- 
bers, who  then  numbered  three  hundred  and  eighty- 
seven,  thus  determining  the  status  of  the  Methodists 
in  St.  Louis,  and  therefore  in  Missouri,  and  leaving 
the  Northern  Methodists  for  several  years  without  a  j 
Conference,  and  almost  without  a  church.  The 
Church  South  continued  for  fifteen  years  to  prosper 
and  increase.  In  1858  the  State  was  divided  into 
two  Conferences, — the  Missouri,  north  of  the  Missouri 
River,  and  the  St.  Louis  Conference,  south  of  it.  In 
1861  the  Southern  proclivities  of  the  church  exposed 
its  organization  to  the  hostility  of  the  Federal  au- 
thorities, and  its  organ,  the  St.  Louis  Christian 
Advocate,  was  suppressed,  and  its  editor,  Dr.  Mc- 
Anally,  imprisoned.  Outside  of  St.  Louis,  its  mem- 
bers were  dispersed  and  many  of  its  ministers  were 
compelled  to  leave  the  State.  The  work  of  the  church 
in  Missouri,  in  fact,  was  almost  wholly  suspended 
during  the  war. 

The  St.  Louis  Conference  assembled  at  Arrow  Rock, 
Mo.,  Sept.  25, 1861,  and,  there  being  no  bishop  pres- 
ent, called  Rev.  Daniel  A.  Leeper  to  the  chair.  It 
was  forced  to  adjourn  to  Waverly,  and  there  finished 
its  session.  No  record  of  its  proceedings  was 
published,  and  no  further  attempt  to  hold  a  Con-  ! 
ference  in  Missouri  was  made  until  after  the  war, 
when  the  Advocate  was  revived  and  the  church  re- 
organized. .  In  1870,  St.  Louis  Conference  was  sub- 
divided and  made  to  consist  of  that  part  of  the  State 
which  lies  south  of  the  Missouri  River  and  east  of 
the  Gasconade  and  Big  Piney  Rivers  and  the  eleventh 
meridian.  It  is  divided  into  St.  Louis,  Charleston, 
Salem,  and  Poplar  Bluffs  Districts,  and  St.  Louis 
District  is  sub-divided  into  twelve  stations  and  circuits. 
The  bishops  presiding  at  the  Missouri  and  St.  Louis 
Conferences,  so  far  as  their  names  appear  on  the 
general  minutes,  have  been  Joshua  Soule,  1845 ;  H. 


H.  Kavanaugh,  1854,  '60, '68;  John  Early,  1855; 
George  F.  Pierce,  1856,  '58,  69,  '72,  '79,  '81 ;  James 
0.  Andrew,  1857  ;  Robert  Paine,  1859  ;  Enoch  M. 
Marvin,  1867,  '77 ;  H.  N.  McTyeire,  1870,  '76  ;  D. 
S.  Doggett,  1871,  '78;  W.  M.  Wightman,  D.D., 
1873;  John  C.  Keener,  1874,  '75,  '80.  The  pre- 
siding elders  of  St.  Louis  District  have  been  William 
W.  Redman,  1845  ;  Newton  G.  Berryman,  1846-48 ; 
James  Mitchell,  1849-50  ;  Wesley  Browning,  1851- 
54 ;  Robert  A.  Young,  1855-56 ;  John  R.  Bennett, 
1857-59  ;  Joseph  Boyle,  1860,  '68,  '69  ;  Thomas  M. 
Finney,  1866-67;  J.  W.  Lewis,  1870,  '76,  '77; 
William  M.  Leftwich,  1871-73;  A.  T.  Scruggs, 
1874-75;  W.  V.  Tudor,  1878-79;  J.  G.  Wilson, 
1880-82. 

The  Woman's  Missionary  Society  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church  South  was  organized  in 
1878,  and  its  St.  Louis  local  conference  in  1879.  It 
is  now  represented  by  2  stations  in  China,  1  in  Brazil, 
and  2  in  Mexico,  and  maintains  5  boarding  and  10 
day  schools.  It  has  under  its  charge  31  conference  so- 
cieties, 932  auxiliary  societies,  and  180  young  people's 
and  juvenile  societies,  with  a  total  membership  of 
26,556.  The  total  collections  in  the  four  years  of  its 
existence  have  amounted  to  $62,761.78.  The  St. 
Louis  local  conference  has  15  auxiliary  societies  with 
404  members,  and  3  juvenile  societies  with  142  mem- 
bers. The  officers  of  the  society  are  Mrs.  George 
Baker,  president ;  Mrs.  Samuel  Cupples,  first  vice- 
president  ;  Mrs.  Dr.  Walker,  of  Salem,  Mo.,  second 
vice-president;  Mrs.  John  Garton,  Longtown,  Mo., 
third  vice-president;  Mrs.  John  Robinson,  fourth 
vice-president ;  Mrs.  Lanius,  recording  secretary ; 
Mrs.  E.  Avis,  corresponding  secretary ;  and  Mrs.  J. 
W.  Lewis,  treasurer. 

First  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South. — This 
church  is  the  oldest  Methodist  organization  in  St. 
Louis,  and  was  formerly  known  as  the  First  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church.  In  1845,  however,  it  with- 
drew from  the  General  Conference  and  attached  itself 
to  the  General  Conference,  then  newly  organized,  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South.  The  Mis- 
souri Conference,  which  met  at  Shiloh,  St.  Clair  Co., 
111.,  Sept.  13,  1820,  appointed  Elder  Jesse  Walker 
Conference  missionary,  with  liberty  to  select  his  own 
field  for  work.  He  chose  St.  Louis,  and  proceeded 
thither  at  once,  accompanied  by  two  young  ministers. 
Their  reception  was  so  discouraging  that  they  set  out 
almost  immediately  for  different  points,  but  Walker, 
after  having  ridden  eighteen  miles,  determined  that 
he  would  go  back  alone  and  "  take  the  town."  He 
accordingly  returned  and  obtained  a  lodging  in  a 
cheap  tavern,  and  afterwards  preached  once  or  twice 


RELIGIOUS  DENOMINATIONS. 


1691 


in  the  Baptist  meeting-house.  He  succeeded  in  rent- 
ing an  unfinished  house  on  Fourth  Street  for  ten 
dollars  a  month,  and  having  obtained  some  benches 
that  had  been  removed  from  the  court-house  to  make 
way  for  new  ones,  fitted  up  the  largest  room  for  meet- 
ings and  resided  in  the  others.  He  proceeded  at  once 
to  organize  a  congregation,  of  which  the  original  mem- 
bers were  Amariah  Burns  and  wife,  John  Finney, 
John  Armstrong,  and  Joseph  Piggott. 

Mr.  Walker  began  preaching  in  December,  1820, 
and  permanently  established  the  church  early  in  Jan- 
uary, 1821.  He  invited  the  children  of  the  poor  and 
servants  to  come  on  week-days  and  evenings  to  learn 
to  read  and  spell,  and  by  means  of  this  and  similar 
expedients,  supplemented  by  his  earnest  and  arduous 
labors,  he  succeeded  in  laying  broad  and  deep  the 
foundations  of  Methodism  and  of  the  First  Meth- 
odist Church  in  St.  Louis.  The  owner  of  the  house 
in  which  the  meetings,  had  been  held  having  died, 
Mr.  Walker  was  forced  to  vacate  the  premises.  Meet- 
ings were  then  held  in  the  old  court-house,  situated 
on  Third  Street  below  Elm,  and  the  early  growth  of 
the  congregation  appears  to  have  been  rapid.  Mr. 
Walker  set  to  work  at  once  to  procure  the  erection  of 
a  house  of  worship.  He  was  allowed  to  cut  logs 
without  paying  for  them  on  the  eastern  side  of  the 
river,  and  with  the  timber  thus  secured  began  the 
construction  of  a  church  near  what  is  now  the  corner 
of  Fourth  and  Myrtle  Streets.  The  ladies  of  the 
congregation  defrayed  the  cost  of  building  the  pulpit, 
and  the  Episcopalians,  who  had  disbanded  as  a  con- 
gregation, gave  the  church  their  Bible,  cushions, 
and  seats.  As  the  result  of  his  first  year's  work, 
Mr.  Walker  reported  to  the  Conference  that  a  chapel 
had  been  erected  and  paid  for ;  that  he  was  main- 
taining a  flourishing  school,  and  that  the  member- 
ship of  the  church  numbered  eighty-seven  persons. 
The  chapel  is  described  as  having  been  a  neat  frame 
structure,  thirty-five  by  twenty-five  feet,  with  side 
galleries,  and  capable  of  holding  nearly  five  hundred 
persons.  The  Missouri  Conference  assembled  in  it  on 
the  24th  of  October,  1822,  and  the  congregation  con- 
tinued to  occupy  it  until  the  20th  of  September,  1830, 
when  it  removed  to  a  new  brick  church  which  had  been 
erected  on  a  lot  (given,  together  with  five  hundred  dol- 
lars, by  Col.  John  O'Fallon)  on  Fourth  Street  and 
Washington  Avenue.  The  dimensions  of  this  build- 
ing were  fifty  by  sixty  feet,  with  a  basement  story  ten 
feet  in  the  clear.  The  dedicatory  sermon  was  preached 
by  the  founder  of  the  congregation,  Rev.  Jesse  Walker. 

At  this  time  the  pastor  of  the  church  was  the  Rev. 
Andrew  Monroe.  Mr.  Monroe  was  appointed  to  the 
St.  Louis  District  by  the  Missouri  Conference  in  July, 


1824.  At  first,  owing  to  the  poverty  of  the  congre- 
gation, he  was  compelled  to  reside  alone  in  a  lodging, 
but  subsequently  a  house  was  rented  for  him  and  he 
was  joined  by  his  family.  It  was  known  as  the  rec- 
\  tor's  house,  and  the  rent  was  five  dollars  per  month. 
It  contained  but  one  room,  about  sixteen  feet  square. 
Before  the  expiration  of  the  first  month  of  his  occu- 
pancy, however,  the  congregation  decided  that  this 
sum  was  more  than  it  could  afford  to  pay,  and  Mr. 
Monroe's  wife  determined  to  remove  to  Main  Street 
and  open  there  a  boarding-house.  At  that  time  the 
membership  comprised  forty-three  white  and  forty- 
four  colored  persons. 

In  December,  1852,  a  lot,  ninety-five  by  one  hun- 
dred  and   sixteen   feet,  situated   on   the   northwest 
!  corner  of  Washington  Avenue   and   Eighth  Street, 
!  was  bought  from  Silas  Wood,  of  New   York,   for 
!  thirteen  thousand  dollars,  and  in  April  following  the 
I  Fourth  Street  property  was  sold  to  W.  G.  Clark  for 
I  fifty  thousand  dollars.     The  building  on  the  new  site 
,  seats  nine  hundred  persons,  and  was  dedicated  Dec. 
:  31,  1854,  by  Rev.  C.  B.  Parsons.    On  the  2d  of  July 
1  preceding  the  congregation  had  met  in  the  old  Fourth 
!  Street  Church  for  the  last    time.     On  this  occasion 
I  Rev.  John   Hogan,  who  had  been  among  the  most 
i  active  of  the  members  of  the  church,  delivered  an  ad- 
dress, after  which  the  congregation  and  Sunday-school 
formed  in  procession  and  marched  to  the  basement  of 
the  new  church.     Services  preliminary  to  the  dedica- 
tion were  performed  by  the  Rev.  R.  A.  Young,  after 
which  Mr.  Hogan  read  a  communication  from  Col. 
John   O'Fallon,  first  superintendent  of  the  Sunday- 
school,  expressing  regret  at  his  inability  to  be  present 
i  and  participate  in  the  exercises.    Rev.  Dr.  Cummings 
introduced  the  dedicatory  exercises  by  reading  a  se- 
lection from  chap.  viii.  of  1st  Kings,  and  offered  the 
dedicatory  prayer  and  pronounced  the  benediction. 
I  The  dedicatory   sermon  was  preached   by  the   Rev. 
I  Charles  B.  Parsons,  D.D.,  of  Louisville,  Ky.     The 
building  was  of  brick,  and  its  dimensions  were  one 
1  hundred  and  six  by  sixty-five  feet.     It  was  forty-five 
i  feet  in   height,  and   had  a   tower  one  hundred  and 
forty-three  feet  high.     In  the  basement  there  was  a 
;  large  room,  used  for  holding  minor  services,  society 
meetings,  etc.,  three  class-rooms,  and  the  minister's 
office.     The    architect  was    G.  I.  Barnett,  and    the 
;  building  committee  John  Finney,  Levin  A.  Baker, 
and  J.  T.  Dowdall.     The  ground,  church,  and  par- 
sonage cost  about  fifty-five  thousand  dollars. 

The  congregation,  which  had  previously  been  known 
'  as  the  Fourth  Street  Church,  adopted  the  designa- 
i  tion  of  the  First  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  An 
1  adjoining  lot,  fronting  twenty-seven  feet  on  Wash- 


1692 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


ington  Avenue,  was  subsequently  purchased  and  a 
parsonage  erected  on  it.  In  1874-75  the  vacant 
space  around  the  church  was  built  up  for  busi- 
ness purposes,  the  additions,  in  the  Tudor  style, 
becoming  part  of  the  edifice  and  giving  it  a  cas- 
tellated appearance.  Early  in  1882  the  property 
was  sold  to  Messrs.  Leighton  &  Chapman,  who 
began  in  March,  1882,  to  tear  it  down  for 
the  purpose  of  erecting  on  its  site  a  number  of  ware- 
houses. The  congregation  met  for  a  time  in  Dr. 
Post's  old  church,  now  occupied  by  the  Young  Men's 
Temperance  Union,  at  Tenth  and  Locust  Streets,  and 
afterwards  in  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association's 
church  at  Eleventh  and  Locust  Streets.  The  con- 
struction of  a  handsome  stone  edifice  for  the  use  of 
this  congregation,  situated  at  the  corner  of  Glasgow 
Avenue  and  Dayton  Street,  was  commenced  in  1882. 
The  successive  pastors  of  the  church,1  with  the  dates 
of  the  Conferences  appointing  them,  have  been  : 

Jesse  Walker,  1821:  William  Beauehamp,  1822;  John 
Scripps,  1823;  Andrew  Monroe,  1824-25;  John  Dew,  1826; 
Alexander  McAlester,  1827;  Andrew  Monroe,  1828-29;  Joseph 
Edmondson,  1830;  John  S.  Barger,  1831:  Joseph  Edmondson, 
1832;  Edmund  W.  Sehon,  1833;  Thomas  B.  Drummond,1  L. 
B.  Stateler,  1834:  George  W.  Bewley,  L.  Janes,  1835;  Thomas 
Wallace,  1836  ;  Edward  R.  Ames,  1837  ;  Silas  Comfort, 
William  M.  Dailey,  George  Smith,  1838;  George  C.  Light, 
William  M.  Dailey,  1839 ;  Wesley  Browning,  James  L. 
Forsythe,  1840 ;  William  Patton,  1841 ;  Joseph  Boyle,  D.  W. 
Pollack,  1842;  Joseph  Boyle,  George  Smith,  1843;  AVesley 
Browning,  E.  M.  Marvin,  1844;  C.  B.  Parsons,  1845-46;  J. 
H.  Linn,  W.  T.  Cardwell,  1847  ;  J.  H.  Linn,  1848-49,  succeeded 
by  J.  A.  Hennlng,  June,  1849 ;  F.  A.  Morris,  Abraham  Milice, 
1849;  Joseph  Boyle,  J.  N.  W.  Springer,  1850-51 ;  W.  R.  Bab- 
cock,  1852;  R.  A.  Young,  1853-54;  C.  B.  Parsons,  1855-56: 
Enoch  M.  Marvin,  1857  ;  E.  M.  Marvin,  William  F.  Compton, 
1858;  F.  A.  Morris,  1859-63  (served  supply  as  the  first 
year) ;  Joseph  Boyle,  1864-66 ;  W.  F.  Camp,  1867 ;  George 
H.  Clinton,  1868-69;  W.  M.  Leftwich,  G.  H.  Clinton  (supply), 
1870;  J.  W.  Lewis,  1871 ;  L.  M.  Lewis,  1873;  T.  M.  Finney, 
1874-76;  J.  E.  Godbey,  1877-78  ;  E.  M.  Bounds,  1879;  W.  G. 
Miller,  1880-81 ;  J.  C.  R.  Hicks,  1S82. 

The  church  reported  to  the  Conference  which  met 
in  the  fall  of  1881  that  its  membership,  including 
probationers,  numbered  one  hundred  and  eighty-eight 
persons,  and  that  there  were  twenty-four  teachers  and 
two  hundred  and  twenty-five  scholars  connected  with 
the  Sunday-school.  The  latter  was  organized  in  1822 
by  Rev.  Jesse  Walker,  John  and  William  Finney, 
Mrs.  Kells,  R.  D.  Sutton,  and  several  others.  The 
value  of  the  church  property,  as  reported  to  the  Con- 
ference of  1881,  was  one  hundred  thousand  dollars. 


1  Where  two  names  appear  in  the  same  year  the  second  is  that 
of  the  pastor  of  the  African  Church,  which  was  regarded  as  part 
of  the  Fourth  Street  charge. 

1  Mr.  Drummond  died  soon  after  taking  charge  of  his  work. 
He  was  a  man  of  brilliant  talents  and  fervent  zeal. 


St.  Paul's  Church.— On  the  2d  of  March,  1838, 
the  trustees  of  the  Fourth  Street  (First)  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  resolved  "  that  it  is  expedient  to 
build  two  new  Methodist  Churches  in  St.  Louis,"  and 
appointed  two  committees  to  select  sites.  Of  these 
churches  the  first  erected  was  afterwards  known  as 
St.  Paul's,  and  the  second  as  the  Centenary.  St. 
Paul's,  then  known  as  Mound  Chapel,  was  built  in 

:  1839,  and  was  situated  "a  little  north  of  the  mound" 
on  Broadway.  Previous  to  this  the  congregation  had 
worshiped  in  Mound  Market.  In  1850  the  second 
church,  located  at  Tenth  and  Chambers  Streets,  and 
known  as  Mound  Church,  was  erected,  but  in  1865 
the  property  was  sold,  and  a  lot  at  Twelfth  and  North 
Market  Streets  was  purchased,  but  no  church  was 
built  on  the  proposed  site.  A  chapel  was  subse- 

!  quently  erected  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Tenth  and 
Benton  Streets,  and  the  name  of  the  congregation 
changed  to  that  of  St.  Paul's.  The  building  was 
a  one-story  brick  structure,  and  seated  about  three 
hundred  persons.  The  site  of  the  present  church,  on 
St.  Louis  Avenue  near  West  Sixteenth  Street,  was 
purchased  about  1871  for  five  thousand  dollars.  It 
fronts  one  hundred  feet  on  St.  Louis  Avenue,  and 

I  has  a  depth  of  one  hundred  and  forty  feet.  The 
erection  of  the  building  was  commenced  in  1874, 
and  the  completed  edifice  was  dedicated  in  June, 
1875,  by  Rev.  Dr.  Young,  of  Nashville,  Tenn.  It 
cost  about  fifteen  thousand  dollars,  and  its  dimensions 
are  forty  by  eighty  feet,  the  seating  capacity  being 
three  hundred  and  eighty  persons.  The  first  regular 
pastor  of  St.  Paul's  Church,  as  appears  by  the  min- 
utes of  Conference,  was  Rev.  W.  T.  Ellington,  ap- 
pointed in  1868,  the  congregation  having  in  previous 
years  teen  served  by  supplies.  Since  1868  its  pas- 
tors have  been  Revs.  E.  M.  Bounds,  1873,  1875-78, 
1880-82 ;  W.  M.  Leftwich,  1874 ;  B.  W.  Key,  1879. 
The  present  pastor  is  Rev.  E.  M.  Bounds.  The  mem- 
bership of  the  church  numbers  one  hundred  and  thir- 
teen, and  the  Sunday-school  has  sixteen  teachers  and 
one  hundred  and  fifty  scholars. 

Centenary  Church. — This  church  was  one  of  the 
two  congregations  organized  in  accordance  with  the 
action  of  the  trustees  of  the  Fourth  Street  Church, 
taken  on  the  2d  of  March,  1838.  At  the  meeting 
of  the  trustees  on  this  occasion  committees  were 
appointed  to  select  sites  for  two  new  Methodist 
Churches,  one  of  these  committees  being  instructed 
to  choose  a  location  on  Fifth  Street,  not  farther  south 
than  Poplar.  In  the  autumn  of  1839  the  centenary 
of  Methodism  was  celebrated  by  the  Methodists  of 
St.  Louis,  then  numbering  three  hundred  and  thirty- 
five  white  and  one  hundred  and  forty-eight  colored 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1693 


members,  embraced  in  three  stations, — Fourth  Street, 
Mound  (afterwards  St.  Paul's),  and  African.  The 
exercises  were  held  at  the  Fourth  Street  Church,  and 
on  this  occasion  the  sum  of  three  thousand  dollars 
was  subscribed  for  the  erection  of  a  new  church  to  be 
known  as  the  "  Centenary,"  in  commemoration  of  the 
event.  On  the  9th  of  November,  1841,  Rev.  Wes- 
ley Browning,  then  presiding  elder  of  the  St.  Louis 
District,  appointed  William  Burd,  John  H.  Gay, 
Trusten  Polk,  James  Tabor,  and  John  and  David 
Goodfellow  trustees  to  conduct  the  management  of 
the  enterprise.  The  amount  originally  subscribed  was 
found  to  be  inadequate,  and  in  order  to  raise  an 
additional  sum  the  ladies  of  the  congregation  organ- 
ized "  The  Female  Centenary  Society  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church."  Through  the  efforts  of  this 
association  two  thousand  dollars  was  secured  and  ex- 
pended in  part  payment  for  a  lot,  sixty-five  by  eighty- 
five  feet,  at  the  southwest  corner  of  Fifth  and  Pine 
Streets,  the  total  cost  of  which  was  ten  thousand  five 
hundred  dollars.  On  this  site  was  erected  a  brick 
building  with  a  cut-stone  basement,  the  latter  devoted 
to  school  purposes.  The  corner-stone  was  laid  on  the 
10th  of  May,  1842,  with  Masonic  rites,  and  the 
officiating  ministers  were  Bishop  Roberts  and  Rev. 
E.  R.  Ames.  While  the  building  was  in  course  of 
construction  services  were  held  in  a  small  frame  house 
which  had  been  purchased  by  the  congregation.  The 
basement  of  the  new  edifice  was  first  occupied 
Dec.  31,  1843,  watch-night  services  being  held,  and 
the  structure  was  completed  and  dedicated  in  1844. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  members  of  the  congregation 
in  the  spring  of  1867,  it  was  decided  to  dispose  of 
the  church  property  and  select  a  more  eligible  site. 
The  lot  at  the  northwest  corner  of  Sixteenth  and 
Pine  Streets,  on  which  the  church  now  stands,  was 
finally  chosen  and  purchased  for  thirty-eight  thousand 
dollars.  In  October,  1868,  the  old  church  and  grounds 
were  sold  to  J.  J.  Roe  &  Co.  for  one  hundred  and 
forty-two  thousand  dollars,  but  the  congregation  re- 
tained the  use  of  the  buildings  until  the  new  church 
was  ready  for  occupancy.  The  board  of  trustees  at 
that  time  was  composed  of  Trusten  Polk,  John  Hogan, 
John  Kennard,  John  W.  Burd,  W.  H.  Markham,  Mr. 
Maxwell,  C.  C.  Anderson,  W.  C.  Jamison,  and  P.  M. 
Loekwood.  The  building  committee  consisted  of 
Trusten  Polk,  John  Hogan,  W.  H.  Markham,  John 
Kennard,  and  John  W.  Burd.  The  corner-stone  was 
laid  on  the  10th  of  May,  1868,  and  the  building  was 
dedicated  on  the  28th  of  May,  1871.  Bishops  C.  K. 
Keener,  of  New  Orleans,  and  E.  M.  Marvin,  of  Mis- 
souri, and  Rev.  D.  McAnally  and  the  pastor,  Rev. 
C.  D.  N.  Campbell,  took  part  in  the  exercises.  Bishop 


Keener  preached  the  sermon.  The  total  cost  of  the 
structure  was  one  hundred  and  twenty- five  thousand 
dollars.  The  building  is  of  Gothic  architecture,  and 
the  material  composing  the  walls  is  St.  Louis  prairie 
limestone,  with  De  Soto  stone  trimmings.  The  main 
entrance  is  on  Sixteenth  Street,  where  there  are  five 
large  doorways.  The  entrance  is  through  a  vestibule 
fourteen  feet  wide  by  ninety  long,  containing  four  stair- 
ways. Black  walnut,  oak,  ash,  and  yellow-pine  are  the 
woods  principally  used  in  fitting  up  the  interior,  which 
has  a  very  elegant  appearance.  The  auditorium  is 
sixty  feet  wide  by  one  hundred  and  six  long.  Under 
this  there  is  a  lecture-room  and  a  school-room.  Ad- 
joining the  church  on  Pine  Street  there  are  two  other 
buildings,  containing  the  pastor's  office,  library-rooms, 
and  a  young  men's  Methodist  room  for  literary  pur- 
poses. The  pastor's  residence  is  west  of  these,  and 
contains  sixteen  rooms.  The  church  and  parsonage 
cover  an  area  of  one  hundred  and  nine  feet  by  one 
hundred  and  sixty.  Thomas  Dixon,  of  Baltimore,  was 
the  architect,  and  J.  B.  Legg,  of  St.  Louis,  superin- 
tended the  erection  of  the  building. 

The  first  regular  pastor  was  the  Rev.  John  H.  Linn, 
who  was  transferred  in  the  autumn  of  1842  from  the 
Kentucky  Conference  and  appointed  to  the  charge  of 
Centenary  Church.  Mr.  Linn  was  succeeded  by  the 
Rev.  John  T.  W.  Auld,  who  was  followed  by  the  Rev. 
Joseph  Boyle,  appointed  in  1844,  who  remained  until 
1846.  In  that  year  Mr.  Boyle  was  succeeded  by  the 
Rev.  Thomas  H.  Capers,  who  had  been  transferred 
from  South  Carolina.  The  other  pastors  have  been 
Rev.  Messrs.  W.  H.  Lewis,  appointed  in  1848  ;  W. 
M.  Prottsman,  1849 ;  J.  C.  Berryman,  1850 ;  D.  R. 
McAnally,  1851 ;  M.  F.  Treslow,  1855;  E.  M.  Marvin, 
1858;  C.  B.  Parsons,  John  Whittaker,  Evan  Ste- 
pheuson,  E.  M.  Marvin,  W.  Anderson,  and  Jesse  H. 
Cummins  acting  as  "supplies"  during  1858,  1859, 
and  1860;  J.  Boyle,  1861;  T.  A.  Morris,  1863; 
W.  A.  Smith,  1865 ;  C.  N.  D.  Campbell,  1868-69 ; 
J.  H.  Linn,  Joseph  Boyle  (supply),  1870;  J.  H. 
Linn,  1873;  W.  V.  Tudor,  1874-77;  J.  W.  Lewis, 
1878-81;  W.  V.  Tudor,  1882.  The  church  reported 
to  the  Conference  of  October,  1881,  a  membership  of 
five  hundred  and  ten  persons,  with  thirty-five  teachers 
and  four  hundred  and  twenty-five  pupils  in  the  Sun- 
day-school. 

St.  John's  Church  is  situated  at  the  northwest 
corner  of  Ewing  Avenue  and  Locust  Street,  and  its 
pastor  is  the  Rev.  J.  W.  Lewis.  In  1844  the  Fourth 
Street  Church  appointed  a  committee  to  select  a  lot 
for  a  new  church  in  Christy's  addition,  and  on  the 
19th  of  May,  1845,  instructed  the  committee  to  build 
a  church  as  soon  as  their  means  permitted.  The  result 


1694 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


was  the  erection,  some  three  or  four  years  later,  of 
Asbury  Chapel,  at  the  corner  of  Fifteenth  and  Gay 
Streets.  About  the  year  1864,  Nathan  Coleman  or- 
ganized a  Sunday-school  in  Stoddard's  addition,  and  of 
this  St.  John's  Church  is  the  outgrowth.  On  the  5th  of 
December,  1864,  the  Quarterly  Conference  of  the  First 
Church  ordered  the  sale  of  Asbury  Chapel,  the  pro- 
ceeds to  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  joint  committee 
to  be  appointed  by  the  Quarterly  Conferences  of 
Asbury  Chapel,  First  and  Centenary  Churches.  Sub- 
sequently, during  the  presiding  eldership  of  the  Rev. 
T.  M.  Finney,  a  congregation  of  seventy-five  persons 
was  organized  as  St.  John's  Church,  and  the  chapel 
was  sold  for  the  use  of  the  colored  Catholics,  and  is 
now  St.  Elizabeth's  Church.  The  money  thus  ob- 
tained, supplemented  by  large  subscriptions,  was  used 
in  the  erection  of  a  church  and  chapel  on  the  present 
site.  The  corner-stone  of  these  buildings  was  laid 
June  26,  1867,  with  Masonic  ceremonies,  and  the 
chapel  was  completed  and  dedicated  on  the  9th  of 
May,  1869.  Bishop  Pierce  preached  the  sermon  on 
that  occasion,  and  the  Hon.  John  Hogan  and  the 
venerable  minister,  Andrew  Monroe,  delivered  ad- 
dresses. At  this  time  the  congregation  had  increased 
to  two  hundred  members. 

In  the  winter  of  1879  extensive  alterations  and  im- 
provements were  made,  and  on  the  6th  of  April  of  that 
year  the  church  was  re-dedicated  and  used  for  the  first 
time.  Its  site  has  a  frontage  of  one  hundred  feet  on 
Locust  Street  and  a  depth  of  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
four  feet  eight  inches  on  Ewing  Avenue,  and  it  has  a 
seating  capacity  of  eight  hundred  persons.  The  pas- 
tors have  been  Revs.  T.  A.  Morris,  1868-71 ;  J.  W. 
Lewis,  1872-75;  J.  G.  Wilson  (now  presiding  elder), 
1876-79 ;  W.  V.  Tudor,  1880-81 ;  J.  W.  Lewis, 
1882.  Connected  with  the  congregation  are  a  La- 
dies' Sewing  Society;  the  "Busy  Bees,"  composed  of 
young  ladies  and  children  ;  the  Women's  Missionary 
Society,  and  other  organizations.  The  membership 
in  October,  1881,  was  reported  at  three  hundred  and 
sixty-five,  with  thirty-three  teachers  and  four  hundred 
and  ten  scholars  in  the  Sunday-school. 

First  Church,  Carondelet. — The  First  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  South  in  Carondelet,  known  also  as 
the  South  St.  Louis  First  Church,  is  situated  at  the 
southwest  corner  of  Fifth  and  Nebraska  Streets. 
It  was  organized  by  Rev.  D.  R.  McAnally,  D.D.,1 


with  nine  members,  in  June,  1857,  in  the  pres- 
ent building,  which  had  been  erected  and  dedi- 
cated on  the  17th  of  May,  1857.  The  rules  of  the 
church  Conference  require  that  pastors  of  churches 
shall  be  changed  at  least  once  in  four  years,  but  to 
this  church  no  pastor  was  appointed  by  the  Confer- 
ence for  twelve  years,  it  being  left  from  year  to  year 
"  to  be  supplied."  It  thus  happened  that  Dr.  Mc- 
Anally's  connection  with  the  church,  as  virtual  though 
not  nominal  pastor,  remained  unbroken  during  the 
whole  period,  his  name  meanwhile  only  appearing  in 
the  Conference  minutes  as  editor  of  the  St.  Louis 
Christian  Advocate.  In  1869,  when  Rev.  T.  M. 
Finney  succeeded  him  as  editor  of  the  Advocate,  Dr. 
McAnally  was  appointed  pastor  of  the  church,  and 
was  successively  reappointed  until,  in  1872,  he  again 
became  editor  of  the  Advocate.  He  "  supplied"  the 
church  until  1874,  when  the  Conference  appointed  J. 
W.  Robinson  to  its  pastorate.  The  congregation  had 
become  deeply  attached  to  its  pastor,  and  was  loth  to 
sever  a  connection  that  had  lasted  continuously  for 
over  seventeen  years  and  to  be  brought  under  the  rule 
of  itinerancy.  In  1875  the  Conference  appointed 


1  D.  K.  McAnally  was  born  in  Granger  County,  Tenn.,  Feb. 
17,  1810,  and  is  descended  from  an  old  Scotch  family  which 
came  to  this  country  before  the  Revolution,  and  settled  in  Ten- 
nessee when  it  was  still  a  wilderness.  He  worked  occasionally 
on  his  father's  farm,  but  received  a  good  education  at  a  private 
school.  He  commenced  the  study  of  law,  but  abandoned  it  for 


that  of  the  ministry,  and  on  the  31st  of  August,  1829,  he  was 
authorized  to  preach.  In  December,  1829,  he  was  received  on 
trial  by  the  Annual  Conference,  and  appointed  to  a  circuit.  In 
November,  1831,  he  was  ordained  with  full  powers  of  the  min- 
istry, and  preached  in  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  Tennessee, 
Georgia,  South  Carolina,  and  other  States  until  1843,  when  he 
was  appointed  president  of  the  East  Tennessee  Female  Insti- 
tute, at  Knoxville.  In  1851,  at  the  invitation  of  the  St.  Louis 
and  Missouri  Annual  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  South,  Dr.  McAnally  removed  to  St.  Louis  in  order  to 
conduct  the  St.  Louis  Christian  Advocate,  and  to  take  charge  of 
the  book  publishing  interests  of  his  church.  Dr.  McAnally  re- 
mained in  the  editorial  management  of  the  Advocate  until  the 
outbreak  of  the  war  in  1861.  In  May  of  that  year  the  Advo- 
cate was  suppressed  and  its  editor  imprisoned,  as  being  inimi- 
cal to  the  Union,  by  the  military  authorities.  In  July,  1861, 
he  was  tried  by  a  court-martial,  the  verdict  of  which  was  sent 
to  Washington  but  never  returned,  and  during  the  remainder  of 
the  war  he  was  kept  on  parole  and  forbidden  to  leave  St.  Louis 
County.  He  was  frequently  real-rested,  imprisoned,  and  released. 
After  the  war  the  Advocate  was  revived,  with  Dr.  McAnally 
in  the  editorial  chair,  and  he  remained  in  charge  of  the  paper 
until  just  previous  to  the  formation  of  the  .Southwestern  Book 
and  Publishing  Company  in  1869,  when  he  resigned  and  en- 
gaged in  an  educational  enterprise  in  Carondelet.  The  academy 
he  established  there  proved  successful,  and  assisted  by  several 
other  teachers  he  maintained  it  for  nearly  four  years.  Dr.  Mc- 
Anally's  successor  in  the  editorship  of  the  Advocate  was  the 
Rev.  T.  M.  Finney,  but  in  1872  the  Southwestern  Book  and 
Publishing  Company  recalled  Dr.  McAnally  to  the  editorship, 
and  he  has  remained  in  charge  ever  since.  Dr.  McAnally  cele- 
brated the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  his  entrance  into  the  ministry 
at  the  Carondelet  Church  on  the  31st  of  August,  1879.  He  has 
written  a  number  of  works,  among  them  being  a  biography  of 
"  Martha  Lawrence  Ramsay,"  "  Life  and  Times  of  Mr.  William 
Patton,"  "  Sunday-School  Manual,"  etc. 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1695 


Wesley  Browning  pastor,  and  in  1876,  John  Garton, 
but  the  congregation  refused  to  recognize  the  last  ap- 
pointment or  to  support  the  minister.  Consequently 
in  1877  the  church  was  cut  off  from  its  connection 
with  the  Conference,  and  continued  as  an  independent 
organization,  with  Dr.  McAnally  as  pastor.  The 
church  lot  measures  one  hundred  and  ten  by  one  hun- 
dred and  fifteen  feet,  and  the  church  building  twenty- 
six  by  forty-five  feet.  The  property  is  valued  at 
three  thousand  dollars,  and  the  membership  is  reported 
at  three  hundred  persons.  The  Sunday-school  is  at- 
tended by  from  eight  to  ten  teachers  and  from  eighty 
to  one  hundred  and  thirty  scholars. 

Chouteau  Avenue  Church. — In  September,  1841, 
a  class-meeting  was  organized  at  the  house  of  Reuben 
Russell,  on  Convent  Street,  and  this  formed  the 
nucleus  of  Wesley  Chapel.  In  1842,  Wesley  Brown- 
ing being  then  the  presiding  elder  of  the  St.  Louis 
District,  the  extreme  northern  and  southern  portions 
of  the  city  were  formed  into  a  station,  which  was 
placed  in  charge  of  Rev.  T.  W.  Ould,  and  in  the  fol- 
lowing year  the  southern  charge  was  constituted  a 
separate  station  and  designated  as  the  South  St.  Louis 
Church,  Rev.  W.  M.  Rush,  pastor.  In  1844  a  church 
building  known  as  Wesley  Chapel  was  erected  on  Paul 
Street,  between  Chouteau  Avenue  and  Hickory  Street, 
and  was  dedicated  by  the  Rev.  Jonathan  Stamper. 
The  pastor,  according  to  the  Conference  reports  of 
1844,  was  the  Rev.  John  A.  Tutt.  In  1848  the  con- 
gregation removed  to  a  lot  at  the  northeast  corner  of 
Chouteau  Avenue  and  Eighth  Streets,  and  began  the 
erection  of  another  building,  which,  however,  before 
being  completed  was  demolished  by  a  storm.  The 
structure  was  rebuilt  and  dedicated  by  Rev.  D.  S. 
Doggett  in  1850.  It  was  a  plain  two-story  brick 
building  forty  by  seventy  feet,  and  seated  about  three 
hundred  persons.  The  building  was  demolished  in 
1873,  and  the  present  edifice,  a  neat  brick  structure, 
with  a  capacity  for  seating  three  hundred  and  fifty 
persons,  was  erected  at  the  same  locality.  The  name 
was  changed  at  this  time  from  Wesley  Chapel  to  that 
of  Chouteau  Avenue  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
South.  The  pastors  since  then  have  been  Revs.  J. 
H.  St.  Clair,  1873;  F.  A.  Owen,  1874-75;  W.  M. 
Williams,  1876;  J.  J.  Watts,  1877-79;  B.  W. 
Key,  1880 ;  W.  R.  Mays,  1881-82.  The  report  of 
October,  1881,  showed  that  the  congregation  then 
numbered  seventy-three  members,  and  that  there  were 
thirteen  teachers  and  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
pupils  in  the  Sunday-school. 

Marvin  Mission,  2629  Menard  Street,  Rev.  D. 
Q.  Travis,  pastor,  grew  out  of  a  Sunday-school  organ- 
ized by  a  Mr.  Ray  in  a  blacksmith's  shop  in  1859. 


A  room  was  afterwards  rented,  and  the  school  con- 
tinued for  four  years  under  the  care  of  its  founder 
and  Simon  Boogher.  It  had  a  checkered  career, 
being  frequently  closed  for  months  at  a  time  and  re- 
opened, until  the  formation  of  the  present  organiza- 
tion. The  mission  now  owns  a  lot  fronting  thirty-five 
feet  on  Menard  Street,  and  a  frame  building  for  wor- 
ship with  a  seating  capacity  of  two  hundred  and  sixty- 
five,  which  was  dedicated  Dec.  29,  1874.  The  prop- 
erty is  valued  at  three  thousand  dollars.  The  pastors 
have  been  Revs.  Wesley  Browning,  J.  W.  Robertson, 

Staunton,  J.  J.  Watts  (appointed  September, 

1875),  W.  R.  Mays  (appointed  September,  1877), 
D.  Q.  Travis,  appointed  September,  1881.  The  mem- 
bership of  the  church  is  one  hundred  and  forty ;  the 
Sunday-school  has  nineteen  teachers,  and  an  attendance 
of  between  two  hundred  and  three  hundred  scholars. 
Page  Avenue  Church,  was  organized  in  1877  with 
twelve  members.  J.  T.  Dowdall,  E.  S.  Greenwood, 
and  Rev.  J.  T.  Watson  were  the  first  official  board, 
and  Rev.  R.  F.  Chew  was  the  first  pastor.  Rev.  B. 
F.  Key  succeeded  him  in  1878,  and  was  followed  in 
1879  by  Rev.  J.  E.  Godbey,  who  has  been  pastor 
since.  The  erection  of  a  church  building  is  contem- 
plated, but  in  the  mean  time  the  congregation  occu- 
pies a  chapel  on  Page  Avenue  near  Grand  Avenue. 
The  membership  numbers  seventy-four  persons,  and 
the  average  attendance  at  the  Sunday-school,  of  which 
R.  M.  Scruggs  is  superintendent,  is  two  hundred  and 
forty. 

THE  GERMAN  METHODISTS. 

Prior  to  1841  there  was  no  organization  of  German 
Methodists  west  of  Indiana,  but  in  that  year  the  Mis- 
souri Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
established  the  Belleville  mission  in  Illinois,  and  the 
St.  Louis  and  Pinckney  missions  in  Missouri.  Rev. 
L.  S.  Jacoby  was  appointed  to  the  St.  Louis  mission, 
and  took  charge  of  it  in  August,  1841.  He  rented 
a  meeting-house  from  a  Presbyterian  organization,  and 
commenced  preaching  with  great  success.  At  the 
close  of  his  first  year's  labors  he  reported  one  hundred 
and  fourteen  members,  besides  numerous  others  who 
had  joined  the  society  but  had  removed  to  other  places. 
He  was  reappointed  for  a  second  year,  during  which  he 
greatly  strengthened  the  foundations  of  the  prosperous 
German  societies,  of  which  there  are  now  four  in  the 
city.  St.  Louis  District  was  in  1845,  with  the  other 
missions  in  Missouri  and  Illinois,  transferred  from  the 
Missouri  to  the  Illinois  Conference,  with  L.  S.  Jacoby 
and  William  Nast  as  presiding  elders. 

Dr.  Nast  was  extensively  known  as  the  father 
of  German  Methodism,  and  labored  with  great  suc- 
cess in  St.  Louis.  He  was  a  native  of  Germany, 


1696 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


where  he  had  been  highly  educated,  and  as  a  young 
man  emigrated  to  America.  His  attention  was  at- 
tracted to  the  subject  of  religion  by  the  preaching  of 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Romer  on  the  banks  of  the  Hudson 
River.  He  was  then  teaching  in  West  Point,  and 
subsequently  became  a  professor  in  Kenyon  College, 
Ohio.  After  three  years  of  mental  conflict  he  was 
converted  in  January,  1835.  Through  the  agency  of 
Dr.  Adam  Poe  he  was  induced  to  become  a  minister, 
and  in  the  same  year  was  sent  as  missionary  to  Cin- 
cinnati. Through  his  efforts  German  Methodist 
publications  were  commenced,  the  first  issues  being 
the  General  Rules,  Articles  of  Faith,  and  the  Wes- 
leyan  Catechism.  The  Christian  Apologist  was  soon 
issued  under  his  editorial  supervision,  and  he  re- 
mained the  editor  for  more  than  forty  years.  Under 
his  preaching  in  Cincinnati  John  Swahlen  was  con- 
verted, becoming  afterwards  an  efficient  and  successful 
evangelist,  and  Dr.  Jacoby,  who  subsequently  associated 
with  him  in  the  missionary  work  in  Missouri  and  Illi- 
nois, was  also  among  his  early  converts.  Dr.  Nast 
organized  the  first  German  Methodist  Society  in  1838, 
and  reported  to  Conference  thirty  members. 

Ludwig  S.  Jacoby,  D.D.,  was  born  on  the  21st  of 
October,  1813,  in  Old  Strelitz,  Mecklenburg,  Ger- 
many, and  died  in  St.  Louis  on  the  21st  of  June, 
1874.  He  received  a  good  education,  especially  in 
the  ancient  languages,  and  in  1835  was  baptized  by 
a  Lutheran  clergyman.  In  1839  he  emigrated  to 
America,  and  located  in  Cincinnati  as  a  physician. 
He  also  devoted  himself  to  teaching.  While  at- 
tending the  religious  services  held  by  Dr.  Nast  on 
Christmas-day  his  interest  in  religion  was  awakened, 
and  he  was  converted  on  the  following  watch-night. 
In  August,  1841,  he  was  sent  to  St.  Louis  by  Bishop 
Morris  to  start  the  first  German  mission  in  that  city, 
and  his  labors  were  rewarded  with  great  success.  In 
1849,  owing  to  his  desire  for  the  conversion  of  his 
native  countrymen,  Bishop  Morris,  with  the  co-opera- 
tion of  the  Missionary  Board,  sent  him  to  Germany 
to  begin  evangelistic  work  in  Bremen.  His  labors 
there  resulted  in  the  formation  of  a  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Society.  In  his  work  in  Germany  he  labored 
faithfully  as  presiding  elder,  pastor,  editor,  book  agent, 
and  superintendent.  Having  spent  twenty-two  years 
in  that  work  he  returned  to  the  United  States,  and 
was  transferred  to  the  Southwestern  German  Con- 
ference, and  stationed  at  the  Eighth  Street  German 
•  Church,  St.  Louis.  He  was  a  delegate  from  the 
Germany  and  Switzerland  Conference  to  the  General 
Conference  of  1872. 

In  1864  three  German  Conferences  were  established, 
called  the  Central,  Northwestern,  and  Southwestern, 


St.  Louis  District  being  included  in  the  Southwestern. 
In  1879  the  St.  Louis  Conference  was  organized,  com- 
prising St.  Louis,  Belleville,  and  Quincy,  111.,  and 
Burlington,  Iowa,  Districts.  It  reported  8344  mem- 
bers, 130  churches,  112  local  preachers,  67  parsonages, 
157  Sunday-schools,  with  1555  officers  and  teachers 
and  8471  scholars.  The  value  of  the  church  property 
was  estimated  at  $400,000.  The  presiding  bishops 
of  the  Southwestern  Conference  were :  Edmund  S. 
Janes,  1864,  1868,  1871 ;  Edward  R.  Ames,  1865, 
1875  ;  Matthew  Simpson,  1866,  1870  ;  Levi  Scott, 
1867,  1874;  Edward  Thompson,  1869;  Gilbert 
Haven,  1872;  Thomas  Bowman,  1873;  Isaac  W. 
Wiley,  1876 ;  Jesse  T.  Peck,  1877  ;  Stephen  M. 
Merrill,  1878 ;  of  St.  Louis  Conference,  Thomas 
Bowman,  1879;  Edward  G.  Andrews,  1880;  John 
F.  Hurst,  1881.  The  presiding  elders  of  St.  Louis 
District  since  1864  have  been  Revs.  Philip  Kuhl, 
1864;  John  Kost,  1865;  Gerhard  Timkin,  1866; 
Frederick  Stoffregen,  1867-70  ;  Henry  Pfaff,  1871- 
72;  L.  S.  Jacoby,  1873;  Wm.  Schwind,  1874-77; 
J.  M.  De  Wein,  1878-81. 

First  German  Church. — The  First  German  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  situated  at  the  southwest 
corner  of  Sixteenth  and  Wash  Streets,  Rev.  Charles 
Holtkamp,  pastor,  was  organized  in  1841  by  Rev.  L. 
S.  Jacoby,  who  was  its  pastor  during  the  first  two 
years  of  its  existence.  His  successors  since  1864 
have  been  Revs.  John  Schlagenhauf,  1864-65 ; 
Henry  Pfaff,  1866-68;  Charles  Heidel,  1869-71; 
supply,  1872  ;  Henry  Pfaff,  1873-75  ;  Charles  Hei- 
del, 1876  ;  Henry  Schuetz,  1877-79  ;  Charles  Holt- 
kamp, 1880-82.  The  church  is  in  a  prosperous 
condition,  the  average  attendance  being  about  seven 
hundred.  The  first  place  of  worship  built  by  the 
congregation  stands  on  Wash  Street,  between  Tenth 
and  Eleventh  Streets.  It  was  sold  to  the  colored 
Methodists,  and  is  now  occupied  and  known  as 
Wesley  Chapel.  It  is  a  two-story  brick  building, 
forty  by  seventy  feet,  and  seats  about  two  hundred 
and  fifty  persons.  The  present  church  building 
was  erected  in  1872.  It  is  a  two-story  structure, 
sixty  by  one  hundred  and  ten  feet,  with  lecture- 
and  class-rooms  on  the  first  floor.  The  main  audi- 
torium, including  the  gallery,  will  seat  eight  hun- 
dred persons.  The  church  lot  measures  seventy-five 
by  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet.  The  cost  of  the  prop- 
erty was  for  lot,  sixteen  thousand  dollars  ;  for  church, 
fifty  thousand  dollars ;  and  for  parsonage,  nine  thou- 
sand dollars. 

Benton  Street  German  Church. — This  church 
was  organized  in  1854,  and  since  1864  has  had  for 
pastors  Revs.  Henry  Waumann,  1864-66  ;  Aug.  Korf- 


RELIGIOUS  DENOMINATIONS. 


1697 


hage,  1867-68;  Henry  Ellenbeck,  1869-71 ;  Henry 
Schuetz,  1872-74;  George  Buehner,  1875-77;  H. 
Lahrmann,  1878-80 ;  and  Charles  Rodenberg,  1881 
-82.  The  church  building  is  situated  at  the  south- 
west corner  of  Thirteenth  and  Benton  Streets.  It 
was  erected  in  1850,  and  seats  about  two  hundred 
persons.  There  are  seventy-five  families  and  two 
hundred  and  twenty  members  connected  with  the 
congregation,  and  twenty-six  teachers  with  over  two 
hundred  pupils  in  the  Sunday-school. 

Eighth  Street  German  Church  was  organized 
about  1864,  since  when  the  pastors  have  been  Revs. 
J.  M.  Winkler,  1864-65;  R.  Havighorst,  1866; 
Jacob  Feisel,  1867-68;  Henry  Pfaff,  1869-70;  supply, 
1871;  L.  S.  Jacoby,  1872;  Charles  Heidel,  1873- 
75;  Henry  Pfaff,  1876;  J.  P.  Miller,  1877-78;  Fred- 
erick Stoffragen,  1879 ;  Henry  Schuetz,  1880-82.  The 
membership  numbers  two  hundred,  and  the  morning 
Sunday-school  is  attended  by  nine  teachers  and  about 
eighty  scholars.  The  building,  situated  at  the  south- 
west corner  of  Eighth  and  Soulard  Streets,  is  a  two- 
story  brick,  with  lecture-  and  class-rooms  on  the  first 
floor.  St.  Paul's  Church,  on  Sophia  Street,  between 
Pestalozzi  and  Arsenal  Streets,  which  was  established 
in  1874,  and  had  Rev.  J.  Louis  Kessler  for  pastor  in 
1876-78,  is  now  used  exclusively  as  the  afternoon  j 
Sunday-school  of  the  Eighth  Street  Church,  under  j 
the  supervision  of  Henry  Meyer,  with  ten  teachers 
and  an  average  attendance  of  one  hundred  scholars. 

AFBICAN   METHODIST   EPISCOPAL   CHURCHES. 

Up  to  1816  the  colored  Methodists  had  no  separate  ; 
organization,  but  in  April,  1816,  a  convention  of  col-  | 
ored   delegates   was   held    in    Philadelphia,  and    the  ! 
African    Methodist    Episcopal   Church   was    formed. 
Richard  Allen,  the  first  colored  minister  ordained  in  | 
the  United  States  (ordained  by  Bishop  Asbury  in  j 
1799),  was  consecrated  bishop  of  the  new  church  on 
the  llth  of  April,  1816.     The  General  Conference 
of  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  is  now 
divided  into  nine   Episcopal  districts,  the  fourth   of 
which  includes  the  Missouri,  North  Missouri,  Kansas, 
and    Illinois    Conferences,  and   is   presided   over   by 
Bishop  T.  M.  D.  Ward,  D.D.,  who  was  elected  and 
consecrated  to  that  office  at  the  General  Conference 
sitting  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  in   May,   1868.      In 
1866  the  General  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  South  established  several  colored  Annual 
Conferences,  which  organized  a  colored  General  Con- 
ference, which  first  met  at  Nashville,  Tenn.,  Dec.  16, 
1870.     There  were  at  the  time  some  colored  churches 
in  St.  Louis  in  connection  with  this  General  Confer- 
ence South,  but  they  have  dwindled  away,  and  now 


all  the  colored  Methodist  Churches  in  the  city  (with 
one  exception)  belong  either  to  the  African  Confer- 
ence above  named  or  to  what  is  known  as  the  Zion 
Conference. 

Wesley  Chapel  (Colored),  1008  Wash  Street,  Rev. 
J.  W.  Hughes,  pastor,  was  organized  in  1858  with 
seventy-five  members,  and  its  pastors  since  1866  (up  to 
which  time  it  depended  on  supplies)  have  been  Revs. 
E.  W.  S.  Peck,  1867-69  ;  E.  Pitts,  1871-72  ;  F.  H. 
Sinall,  1873-75;  R.  H.  Smith,  1876-78;  E.  Pitts, 
1879  ;  J.  W.  Hughes,  1880-82.  This  is  the  only 
colored  church  in  St.  Louis  that  is  connected  with  the 
St.  Louis  Methodist  Episcopal  Conference  (white).  It 
reports  four  hundred  and  thirty  members,  one  hun- 
dred and  four  probationers,  fifteen  teachers,  and  one 
hundred  and  eighty  children  in  the  Sunday-schools, 
and  a  church  and  parsonage  valued  at  about  three 
thousand  dollars. 

St.  Peter's  Church. — The  corner-stone  of  St. 
Peter's  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  situated 
at  the  corner  of  Elliott  Avenue  and  Montgomery 
Street,  was  laid  on  the  18th  of  May,  1874,  and  the 
building,  a  one-story  brick  structure,  was  completed 
in  1865.  On  the  29th  of  October,  1882,  the  corner- 
stone of  a  large  building  to  occupy  the  same  lot  was 
laid.  The  church  is  well  attended,  and  attached  to  it 
is  a  flourishing  Sunday-school.  The  pastor  is  the  Rev. 
J.  I.  Lowe. 

St.  Paul's  Church,  situated  at  the  corner  of 
Eleventh  Street  and  Christy  Avenue,  is  the  largest 
colored  Methodist  congregation  in  the  city,  and  wor- 
ships in  a  large  and  handsome  brick  building  which 
was  erected  in  1872,  under  the  pastorate  of  Rev. 
John  Turner.  It  is  of  St.  Louis  brick,  ninety-seven 
by  fifty-eight  feet,  and  reflects  great  credit  on  the 
architect,  A.  T.  Berthe,  a  colored  man.  The  building, 
which  cost  twenty-eight  thousand  dollars,  was  dedi- 
cated on  the  4th  of  August,  1872.  The  congregation 
embraces  five  hundred  families,  with  two  thousand 
two  hundred  names  enrolled  on  the  church,  list  and 
twelve  hundred  communicants.  There  are  thirty-two 
teachers  and  four  hundred  scholars  in  the  Sunday- 
school,  and  the  pastor  is  the  Rev.  T.  M.  Henderson. 

Quinn  Chapel,  Market  and  Third  Streets,  Caron- 
delet,  Rev.  B.  W.  Stewart,  pastor,  has  an  average 
congregation  of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty. 

Washington  Zion  Chapel. — This  congregation, 
situated  at  2627  Morgan  Street  (Rev.  A.  J.  Warner, 
pastor),  has  in  its  connection  three  hundred  and  fifty 
families,  about  one  thousand  attendants,  and  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  communicants.  There  are  twenty-five 
teachers  and  nearly  two  hundred  scholars  in  the  Sun- 
day-school. 


1698 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


Washington  Zion,  St.  Mark's  Branch,  Morgan 
Street,  between  Eighteenth  and  Nineteenth  Streets, 
Rev.  Anthony  Bunch,  pastor,  has  a  membership  of 
fifty  families,  sixty  communicants,  and  seven  teachers 
and  fifty  scholars  in  the  Sunday-school. 

PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCHES. 

Early  History. — Among  the  American  Protestants 
who  emigrated  to  St.  Louis  after  the  cession  of  the 
territory  to  the  United  States  was  Stephen  Hemp- 
stead,  of  New  London,  Conn.  He  arrived  in  St. 
Louis  on  the  12th  of  June,  1811,  with  his  family, 
and  settled  on  a  farm  which  is  now  part  of  Belle- 
fontaine  cemetery.  He  was  in  his  fifty-eighth  year, 
and  had  been  a  soldier  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution, 
and  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  for  twenty- 
four  years.  The  first  sermon  heard  by  him  in  his 
new  home  was  preached,  seven  months  after  his  ar- 
rival, by  a  Baptist  minister.  In  1812,  Revs.  S.  J. 
Mills  and  J.  F.  Schermerhorn  were  sent  out  by  the 
missionary  societies  of  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut 
on  an  exploring  expedition  to  the  South  and  West, 
and  from  Fort  Massac,  near  Shawneetown,  111.,  they 
wrote  to  Mr.  Hempstead,  who,  in  reply,  spoke  so  con- 
fidently of  the  prospect  for  ministerial  labor,  that  in 
1814  Mr.  Mills,  with  Rev.  Daniel  Smith,  repaired  to 
St.  Louis  as  agents  of  the  Philadelphia  Bible  and 
Missionary  Societies.  They  remained  a  short  time, 
during  which  they  preached  frequently.  They  or- 
ganized a  Bible  society,  and  collected  some  three 
hundred  dollars  for  it,  and  their  labors  marked  the 
beginning  of  Presbyterianism  in  Missouri.  Hemp- 
stead  soon  after  wrote  to  Dr.  Channing,  of  Boston, 
earnestly  entreating  that  ministers  be  sent  to  Mis- 
souri. "  I  think,"  he  says,  "  the  number  of  families 
in  the  Territory  which  removed  from  the  States  that 
have  been  born  and  educated  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church  is  not  less  than  one  thousand,  and  not  a 
Presbyterian  minister  or  society  in  the  country."  In 
the  autumn  of  1816,  Dr.  Gideon  Blackburn  visited 
St.  Louis,  and  remained  a  short  time,  preaching  in 
the  theatre  on  Main  Street  below  Market.  But 
the  real  pioneer  of  Presbyterianism  in  Missouri 
was  Salmon  Giddings,  who  was  induced  by  the  re- 
ports of  Mills  and  others  to  choose  Missouri  as  his 
field  of  missionary  labor.  He  was  commissioned  for 
this  work  by  the  Connecticut  Home  Missionary  So- 
ciety, and  left  Hartford  in  December,  1815.  He 
made  the  journey  of  twelve  hundred  miles  on  horse- 
back in  the  winter,  and  on  April  6,  1816,  reached 
St.  Louis,  where  he  found  no  Protestant  Church  of 
any  kind  in  existence.  He  administered  the  Lord's 
Supper,  July  21,  1816,  to  Stephen  Hempstead  and 


his  wife  and  daughter,  and  probably  to  Thomas  Os- 
borne,  as  the  latter  and  Hempstead  were  in  the  follow- 
ing year  made  elders  of  the  first  church  organized  in 
the  city.  This  was  the  first  time  the  rite  had  been 
administered  by  Presbyterian  hands  west  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi. At  Bellevue  settlement,  Washington  Co., 
about  eighty  miles  from  St.  Louis,  four  Presbyterian 
elders  from  North  Carolina  had  maintained  religious 
service  since  1807,  and  here  Mr.  Giddings  organized, 
Aug.  2,  1816,  the  first  Presbyterian  congregation  in 
Missouri.  It  was  called  Concord  Church,  and  num- 
bered thirty  members.  To  this  little  congregation, 
and  a  large  concourse  of  persons  who  did  not  belong 
to  it,  he  preached  in  the  open  air  on  Sunday,  August 
4th.  In  two  years  the  communicants  had  increased 
in  number  to  forty-eight.  In  the  autumn  of  1817 
the  Rev.  Thomas  Donnell  removed  to  the  Territory 
from  Kentucky,  and  received  a  call  from  the  church 
to  become  the  pastor.  On  the  25th  of  April,  1818, 
he  was  installed,  with  the  understanding  that  he  was 
to  divide  his  time  in  ministering  to  this  congregation 
and  to  adjacent  settlements.  During  his  ministry 
many  additions  to  the  church  were  made.  Mr.  Don- 
nell died  on  the  8th  of  February,  1843.  Owing  to 
frequent  removals  of  members  to  other  portions  of  the 
Territory,  the  congregation  in  1823  numbered  only 
forty-five  persons. 

On  the  16th  of  October,  1876,  Mr.  Giddings  or- 
ganized a  church  of  seventeen  members  at  Bonhomme, 
St.  Louis  Co.  One  of  the  constituent  members 
was  Stephen  Hempstead,  Sr.  For  some  years  the 
church  was  without  a  regular  pastor,  receiving  only 
occasional  visits  from  different  ministers.  Among 
these  the  most  frequent  in  attendance  was  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Giddings.  Meetings  were  usually  held  in  the 
log  cabins  of  the  settlers,  and,  owing  to  the  unsettled 
state  of  the  country,  the  early  growth  of  the  congre- 
gation was  not  encouraging.  In  two  years  four  per- 
sons were  received  on  profession  of  faith,  and  five 
were  dismissed,  owing  to  their  removal.  Up  to  1824 
ten  persons  had  been  received,  yet  owing  to  deaths 
and  removals  only  ten  remained.  During  1824  and 
1825,  Rev.  John  Ball  preached  occasionally  for  the 
congregation. 

Rev.  Timothy  Flint,  the  second  Presbyterian  min- 
ister who  settled  in  Missouri,  arrived  at  St.  Charles 
Sept.  10,  1816,  and  remained  there  several  years. 
Rev.  John  Matthews  was  the  next,  who  arrived  in 
May,  1817.  He  established  himself  near  the  site  of 
the  present  city  of  Louisiana,  and  organized  the  Buf- 
falo Church. 

Mr.  Matthews  had  previously  been  a  resident  of 
Erie  County,  Pa.  With  his  duties  as  minister  of  the 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1699 


church  he  combined  those  of  an  itinerant  missionary, 
under  the  patronage  of  the  Connecticut  Missonary 
Society  (Congregationalist)  and  the  General  Assembly 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  In  1821  the  church  had 
increased  to  thirty  members.  In  March,  1825,  Mr. 
Matthews  removed  from  that  region  to  Cape  Girardeau 
County,  and  from  thence  to  Illinois.  Subsequently  he 
became  pastor  of  the  church  in  Bonhomme  settlement. 
The  fourth  Presbyterian  Church  established  west 
of  the  Mississippi  was  the  First  Presbybertian  Church 
of  St.  Louis,  which  was  organized  on  the  15th  of  No- 
vember, 1817,  by  the  Rev.  Salmon  Giddings.  The 
congregation  consisted  of  nine  members,  of  whom  the 
ruling  elders  were  Stephen  Hempstead  and  Thomas 
Osborne.  The  church  at  St.  Charles  was  established 
Aug.  29,  1818,  by  Rev.  S.  Giddings  and  Rev.  John 
Matthews.  On  the  18th  of  December,  1817,  the 
Presbytery  of  Missouri  (organized  by  the  Synod  of 
Tennessee),  consisting  of  the  four  ministers  and  four 
churches  just  named,  held  its  first  meeting  in  St.  Louis. 
Its  territory  comprised  all  that  portion  of  Illinois  west 
of  a  meridian  drawn  through  the  mouth  of  Cumber- 
land River  and  running  north,  nearly  the  whole 
State,  together  with  all  Missouri.  The  first  sermon  j 
printed  in  Missouri  was  preached  by  Mr.  Giddings,  ; 
on  the  death  of  Edward  Hempstead,  Territorial  rep-  j 
resentative  in  Congress,  and  son  of  Stephen  Hemp-  j 
stead.  The  second  was  by  the  same  minister,  on  the 
first  installation  west  of  the  river,  that  of  Thomas 
Donnell  as  pastor  of  Concord  Church,  April  25, 
1818.  During  the  nine  years  that  followed,  Pres- 
byterian ministers  labored  industriously  and  organ- 
ized churches  throughout  the  State  as  far  north  as 
Louisiana,  as  far  west  as  Chariton,  and  as  far  south 
as  Apple  Creek,  while  Giddings  continued  his  work 
of  organizing  churches  throughout  Missouri  and  Illi- 
nois. On  the  7th  of  December,  1818,  he  installed  as 
pastor  of  the  church  at  St.  Charles  the  Rev.  C.  S. 
Robinson,  who  had  come  from  Massachusetts  as  a 
missionary  in  1816,  and  of  whom  it  is  related  that  he 
was  at  one  time  "  entirely  out  of  money  and  out  of 
food  for  his  family,  but  just  when  his  need  was  great- 
est he  found  a  silver  dollar  imbedded  in  the  earth, 
which  sufficed  for  all  his  wants  until  a  more  perma- 
nent supply  came," — a  picture  of  the  trials  and  diffi- 
culties of  the  pioneer  preachers  of  those  days.  Dur- 
ing the  same  year  the  Territory  was  visited  by  two 
young  missionaries,  Nicholas  Patterson  and  a  Mr. 
Alexander,  who  had  been  sent  out  under  the  patron- 
age of  the  Board  of  Missions  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  They  traveled  ex- 
tensively in  the  counties  along  the  Missouri  River. 
Union  Church  of  Richwoods,  Jefferson  Co.,  was  or- 


ganized by  Mr.  Giddings  on  the  17th  of  April,  1818, 
but  in  a  few  years  became  extinct.  The  church  at 
Dardenne  was  constituted  Sept.  19,  1819,  by  the  Rev. 
Charles  S.  Robinson. 

An  interesting  episode  in  the  denominational  his- 
tory of  this  period  is  the  organization  of  a  mission  to 
the  Osage  Indians,  which  was  established  in  1820  at 
Harmony,  near  the  line  of  Vernon  and  Bates  Coun- 
ties. The  company,  consisting  of  three  ministers,  a 
physician,  farmers,  mechanics,  a  schoolmaster,  and 
twelve  ladies,  had  to  ascend  the  Arkansas  River  and 
pass  through  the  Cherokee  country  to  reach  their 
destination.  Two  of  the  ladies  died  on  the  way. 
Two  years  later  a  church  was  organized  with  twenty 
members,  to  which  only  two  others  were  added  in  ten 
years.  In  April,  1821,  the  Rev.  Edward  Hollister 
organized  a  church  at  Franklin,  opposite  Boonville, 
which  survived  only  a  few  years.  The  church  of 
Apple  Creek,  in  Girardeau  County,  was  constituted 
May  21,  1821,  by  the  Rev.  Salmon  Giddings.  In 
1825  the  congregation  had  increased  from  forty-one 
(the  original  number)  to  fifty-four  members,  and  the 
Rev.  John  Matthews  became  the  pastor. 

The  first  ordination  in  Missouri  was  that  of  the 
Rev.  W.  S.  Lacy,  March,  1824,  by  the  presbytery, 
which  held  its  sessions  in  the  Baptist  Church  in 
St.  Louis,  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Charles  S.  Robinson,  Jesse 
Townsend,  Salmon  Giddings,  and  Thomas  Donnell 
taking  part  in  the  exercises.  The  second  ordination 
was  that  of  John  S.  Ball,  a  State  senator,  who,  having 
been  converted,  resigned  his  position,  received  instruc- 
tion from  Mr.  Giddings,  and  was  licensed  in  1824  and 
ordained  June  12,  1825,  being  then  fifty-two  years  of 
age.  The  officiating  ministers  at  the  ordination  were 
Rev.  John  Matthews,  of  Pike  County,  Rev.  Salmon 
Giddings,  and  Rev.  W.  S.  Lacy. 

Mr.  Giddings  died  Feb.  1,  1827,  in  the  forty-fifth 
year  of  his  age.  Salmon  Giddings,  as  we  have  seen, 
was  the  pioneer  of  Presbyterianism  in  Missouri,  and  for 
many  years  a  conspicuous  minister  and  educator  in  St. 
Louis.  He  was  born  in  Hartford,  Conn.,  on  the  2d 
of  March,  1782.  His  parents  were  Congregational- 
ists  by  education  and  habit,  though  not  regular  mem- 
bers of  the  church.  In  January,  1807,  he  united 
with  the  Congregational  Church  in  his  native  parish, 
and  soon  afterwards  entered  Williams  College.  After 
graduating  he  remained  for  some  time  at  that  institu- 
tion in  the  capacity  of  tutor,  and  then  repaired  to 
Andover  Theological  Seminary  for  the  purpose  of 
completing  his  theological  studies.  He  left  the  semi- 
nary in  September,  1814,  and  was. ordained  to  the 
ministry  on  the  20th  of  December  following.  During 
1815  he  served  as  an  itinerant  minister  in  Massachu- 


1700 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


setts  and  Connecticut,  and  in  December  of  that  year 
received  a  commission  from  the  Missionary  Society  of 
Connecticut  to  labor  in  the  Western  country,  but 
more  particularly  in  St.  Louis  and  its  vicinity.  He 
arrived  in  St.  Louis  on  the  6th  of  April,  1816,  and, 
as  previously  stated,  was  the  first  Presbyterian  minis- 
ter who  established  himself  west  of  the  Mississippi. 
Two  Presbyterian  ministers  had  visited  the  country 
and  had  preached  six  times,  but  neither  of  them  had 
remained  permanently. 

As  we  have  seen,  Mr.  Giddings  organized  on  the 
2d  of  August,  1816,  the  congregation  at  Bellevue  set- 
tlement, and  on  the  15th  of  November,  1817,  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church  of  St.  Louis.  For  more 
than  a  year  previous  to  this  he  had  conducted  a 
school  (opened  Oct.  12,  1816)  "  in  the  two-story 
frame  (house)  on  the  hill,  built  by  James  Sawyer,  ( 
south  side  of  Market,  above  Fourth,  just  opposite  the 
south  entrance  to  the  present  court-house,  subsequently 
used  for  long  years  as  the  county  court  and  clerk's  j 
office."  On  the  3d  of  January,  1818,  he  was  also 
conducting  a  school  for  girls,  which  was  situated,  ap-  j 
parently,  on  the  same  location,  the  south  side  of  I 
Market  Street,  above  Fourth.  In  the  Republican  of  ' 
Nov.  16, 1816,  appeared  the  announcement  that  Mr. 
Giddings  would  preach  at  the  theatre  on  the  follow- 
ing day,  but  it  would  seem  that  services  were  also 
held  at  his  school-room,  for  on  the  23d  of  October, 
1818,  notice  was  given  that  the  Rev.  Green  P.  Rice 
would  deliver  a  sermon  at  the  school-room  on  the  fol- 
lowing Sunday.  On  the  20th  of  September,  1818,  a 
meeting  was  held  at  the  residence  of  Mr.  Giddings, 
"  to  take  into  consideration  the  expediency  of  erect- 
ing a  Protestant  house  for  divine  worship."  The 
building  was  dedicated  on  the  26th  of  June,  1825, 
and  on  the  19th  of  November  following  Mr.  Gid- 
dings was  installed  as  pastor.  He  did  not,  however, 
restrict  himself  to  this  field  of  labor,  but  worked 
diligently  on  both  sides  of  the  Mississippi,  and 
established  twelve  churches,  six  in  Missouri  and  six 
in  Illinois.  His  longest  and  most  arduous  journey 
was  that  which  he  made  as  the  agent  of  the  mission- 
ary society  to  the  Omaha,  Pawnee,  and  other  Indian 
tribes,  and  which  consumed  three  months.  Mr. 
Giddings  was  also  an  earnest  and  active  agent  in  the 
distribution  of  Bibles  and  Sunday-school  and  tract 
publications.  The  preliminary  meeting  to  form  the 
first  society  for  the  circulation  of  the  Bible  west  of 
the  Mississippi  was  held  in  his  school-room  on  the 
8th  of  December,  1818.  Mr.  Giddings  died  on  the 
15th  of  February,  1828.  He  was  a  man  of  untiring 
energy,  lofty  purity  of  character,  and  indomitable 
zeal  in  the  cause  of  his  religion.  He  was  succeeded 


as    pastor  of  the    First  Church    and    leader  of  the 
Presbyterian  movement  by  William  S.  Potts,  D.D. 

In  1830  a  band  of  seven  young  men,  graduates  of 
Auburn  Seminary,  repaired  as  missionaries  to  Mis- 
souri, and  settled  at  various  points.  In  the  same 
year  also  Dr.  David  Nelson,  author  of  "  The  Cause 
and  Cure  of  Infidelity,"  appeared  as  a  worker  in  the 
field  of  Missouri  Presbyterianism.  Dr.  Nelson  set- 
tled in  Northeastern  Missouri,  but  owing  to  his  oppo- 
sition to  slavery  was  compelled  by  a  mob  to  flee  from 
the  State.  A  similar  fate  befell  Rev.  Elijah  P.  Love- 
joy,  who  was  ordained  by  the  St.  Louis  Presbytery 
in  June,  1834.  Mr.  Lovejoy  was  for  some  time  pas- 
tor of  the  Des  Peres  Church,  and  afterwards  editor 
of  the  St.  Louis  Observer,  the  first  religious  journal 
started  west  of  the  Mississippi.  He  was  a  bitter  and 
uncompromising  opponent  of  slavery,  and  in  1837 
his  press  was  destroyed,  and  himself  driven  out  of 
the  city  by  a  mob.  Before  the  end  of  the  year  he 
was  killed  by  another  mob  at  Alton,  111.  Dr.  W.  W. 
Hall,  better  known  as  the  editor  of  HalTs  Journal  of 
Health,  was,  about  this  time,  pastor  of  the  St.  Charles 
Church  for  two  years.  The  colored  people  received 
earnest  attention  from  the  first  missionaries  and  their 
successors.  Meetings  were  held,  and  churches  and 
schools  organized  especially  for  them.  The  schools 
met  with  some  opposition,  but  not  of  a  serious  nature. 
The  cause  of  temperance  also  received  its  share  of 
attention.  The  congregation  of  the  Second  Church 
in  St.  Louis,  under  Dr.  Hatfield,  was  pledged  to  entire 
abstinence,  and  in  a  district  in  Southeast  Missouri, 
where  there  were  forty  distilleries,  many  of  the  latter 
were  speedily  closed,  and  one  of  them  was  transformed 
into  a  church.  In  1831  the  presbytery  was  divided 
into  three  distinct  organizations, — Missouri,  St.  Louis, 
and  St.  Charles, — and  these  in  1832  were  erected 
into  a  Synod,  there  being  then  in  the  State  twenty- 
three  churches  and  eighteen  ministers,  of  whom  thir- 
teen were  in  the  pay  of  the  American  Home  Mission- 
ary Society,  although  most  of  them  had  been  sent 
out  by  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Missions.  The 
reason  for  the  change  was  that  the  former  fixed  their 
salaries  at  four  hundred  dollars,  whereas  the  board 
paid  its  agents  one  hundred  dollars  a  year,  with  the 
understanding  that  they  were  to  obtain  whatever  ad- 
ditional compensation  they  could  from  the  little  mis- 
sion churches  to  which  they  preached. 

In  April,  1838,  Dr.  Artemas  Bullard  arrived  in 
St.  Louis  to  assume  the  pastorate  of  the  First 
Church,  vice  Dr.  Potts,  then  president  of  Marion 
College.  He  at  once  took  a  front  rank  among  the 
Presbyterian  ministers  of  the  West.  The  contro- 
versy which  led  to  the  division  of  the  church  into 


RELIGIOUS  DENOMINATIONS. 


1701 


Old  and  New  School  was  raging  in  the  Eastern 
States,  and  making  itself  felt  throughout  the  West, 
although  the  actual  separation  did  not  take  place  in 
Missouri  until  1841.  At  this  time  Dr.  Potts  was 
recognized  as  the  leader  of  the  Old  School  and  Dr. 
Bullard  as  the  leader  of  the  New.  Each  of  the  two 
schools  went  on  its  own  way,  organizing  new  churches, 
forming  new  presbyteries,  and  carrying  on  missionary 
work, — the  Old  School  through  the  Board  of  Mis- 
sions, and  the  New  through  the  American  Home 
Missionary  Society.  Between  the  years  1830  and 
1840  a  remarkable  religious  agitation  occurred  in 
the  western  part  of  Germany,  especially  in  the  duchy 
of  Lippe-Detmold.  In  nearly  every  village  and  town 
the  people  left  the  established  Lutheran  Church  and 
formed  themselves  into  conventicles,  prayer-meetings, 
and  worshiping  assemblies.  They  were  severely  per- 
secuted by  the  ruling  clergy,  and  in  1849  a  num- 
ber of  peasant  families  emigrated  and  settled  in  Gas- 
conade County,  Mo.  They  were  not  acquainted  with 
the  character  of  the  religious  denominations  in  the 
country,  but  were  at  length  directed  to  the  Presby- 
terian Church  as  the  one  with  which  they  most  nearly 
affiliated.  Soon  afterwards  they  were  organized  into 
the  Bethel  Church  by  the  Presbytery  of  St.  Louis, 
Old  School.  Since  then  they  have  grown  to  large 
proportions  as  a  denomination. 

In  1857  began  the  long  series  of  troubles  growing 
out  of  the  question  of  slavery,  to  which  institution 
the  New  School  was  known  to  be  opposed,  whereas  in 
the  Old  School  there  was  but  little  discussion  on  the 
subject.  Hence,  in  Missouri,  many  persons  left  the 
New  School  for  the  Old,  and  the  New  School  was 
gradually  cut  off  from  all  missionary  work.  During 
the  war  it  dwindled  to  such  insignificant  proportions 
that  the  total  extinction  of  its  Synod  in,  Missouri  was 
generally  expected ;  but  when  the  war  had  ended  it 
was  still  intact,  and  started  anew  with  fresh  life  and 
undiminished  zeal.  When  the  secession  of  the  South- 
ern States  from  the  Union  took  place  the  Presbyte- 
rians in  those  States  organized  a  Southern  General 
Assembly,  and  in  1866  the  Missouri  Presbyterians  of 
Southern  sympathies  separated  from  the  Old  School 
Synod  and  organized  the  Independent  Synod  of  Mis- 
souri, which  is  now  connected  with  the  Southern 
General  Assembly.  In  1870  the  Old  and  New  School 
branches  of  the  General  Assembly  came  together  and 
reorganized  as  one  body,  and  in  the  same  year  the 
same  reunion  was  effected  in  the  Missouri  Synod. 
The  Synod  of  Missouri  is  now  divided  into  the  fol- 
lowing presbyteries  :  St.  Louis  (southeastern  part  of 
the  State),  Ozark  (southwestern  part),  Osage  (cen- 
tral part,  Jefferson  City  to  Kansas  City),  Platte 
108 


(northwestern  part),  and  Palmyra  (northeastern 
part).  According  to  the  last  report  this  Synod  has 
215  churches,  134  ministers,  11,667  members,  and 
15,702  Sunday-school  members,  and  had  expended 
during  the  year  $19,657  for  congregational,  and  $37,- 
336  for  benevolent  and  other  uses.  The  Presbytery 
of  St.  Louis  reported  50  churches,  44  ministers,  4183 
members,  6714  Sunday-school  members,  $88,126 
spent  for  congregational,  and  $27,293  for  benevolent 
and  missionary  uses.  The  Independent  (or  Southern) 
Synod  reported  129  churches,  74  ministers,  7761 
members,  4100  Sunday-school  members,  $52,316  for 
congregational,  and  $15,672  for  benevolent  uses.  It 
is  divided  into  the  St.  Louis,  Lafayette,  Missouri, 
Palmyra,  and  Potosi  Presbyteries.  St.  Louis  Pres- 
bytery reported  24  churches,  17  ministers,  1513 
members,  902  Sunday-school  members,  $19,297  for 
congregational,  and  $5387  for  other  uses. 

An  important  institution  of  the  denomination  in 
St.  Louis  is  the  Depository  of  the  Presbyterian  Board 
of  Publication,  1107  Olive  Street,  which  was  estab- 
lished as  a  missionary  department  of  the  board  in 
1874  under  charge  of  Rev.  R.  Irwin,  D.D.  Dr.  Irwin 
was  succeeded,  Sept.  1,  1880,  by  the  Rev.  J.  W. 
Allen,  D.D.,  up  to  that  date  editor  and  publisher  of 
the  St.  Louis  Evangelist  (which  he  established  in 
1874),  and  of  which  he  continues  to  be  the  publisher. 
At  the  Synod  which  met  in  October,  1882,  the  scope 
of  the  institution  was  enlarged,  and  from  a  missionary 
department  it  was  raised  to  the  rank  of  a  branch 
depository  of  the  board  of  publication,  with  a  capital 
stock  of  fifteen  thousand  dollars.  In  the  upper  rooms 
of  the  spacious  building  are  held  the  Monday  morning 
meetings  of  the  Presbyterian  Ministerial  Association, 
and  the  meetings  of  the  Woman's  Presbyterian  Board 
of  Missions  for  the  Southwest,  which  was  organized 
about  six  years  ago  and  has  now  about  two  hundred 
and  fifty  auxiliaries. 

The  First  Presbyterian  Church,  situated  at  the 
northwest  corner  of  Fourteenth  Street  and  Lucas 
Place,  Rev.  Hervey  D.  Ganse,  D.D.,  pastor,  was  organ- 
ized by  Rev.  Salmon  Giddings,  Nov.  15,  1817,  at 
which  date  the  following  document  was  drawn  up  and 
signed  :  '•  Being  desirous  of  enjoying  the  benefits  of 
the  ordinances  of  religion  which  God  has  instituted, 
and  in  order  to  maintain  divine  and  public  worship, 
live  more  to  His  glory,  and  promote  each  other's  grace 
and  spiritual  comfort,  we,  the  undersigned,  mutually 
unite  together  in  church  relation  and  covenant,  known 
by  the  name  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  St. 
Louis.  We  also  solemnly  covenant,  before  God,  to 
be  the  Lord's  ;  to  watch  over  each  other  in  the  Lord ; 
to  conduct  as  God  shall  give  us  grace,  in  the  spirit  of 


1702 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Christian  meekness  ;  to  walk  as  becometh  saints  be- 
fore the  world ;  to  maintain  the  worship  of  God  in 
our  families,  and  to  attend  to  all  the  ordinances  and 
means  of  grace  which  God  hath  appointed  to  be  ob- 
served in  His  church.  We  take  the  Scriptures  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments  for  the  rule  of  our  faith  and 
practice,  arid  the  Confession  of  Faith,  as  revised  and 
adopted  by  the  Presbyterian  Churches  in  America,  as 
the  best  summary  and  explanation  thereof."  The 
paper  was  signed  by  ten  persons:  Stephen  Hempstead, 
Mary  Hempstead,  Britannia  Brown,  Chloe  Reed,  Mary 
Keeny,  Magdalen  Scott,  Thomas  Osborne,  Susanna 
Osborne,  Susan  Gratiot,  and  Sarah  Beebe.  Hempstead 
and  Osborne,  the  only  male  members,  were  ordained 
ruling  elders  on  November  23d,  and  the  services  of  the 
church  were  thenceforth  regularly  held  in  Rev.  Salmon 
Giddings'  school-room,  on  Market  Street  opposite  the 
court-house. 

On  the  20th  of  September,  1818,  a  meeting  was 
held  at  the  residence  of  Mr.  Giddings  to  take  into 
consideration  the  expediency  of  building  a  Protestant 
house  of  worship,  and  on  the  llth  of  January,  1819, 
another  meeting  was  held  to  devise  means  for  erect- 
ing the  proposed  building.  Stephen  Hempstead  was 
chosen  chairman,  and  Thomas  H.  Benton,  clerk. 
Col.  Alexander  McNair,  Rev.  Salmon  Giddings,  and 
Nathaniel  Beverly  Tucker  were  appointed  a  commit- 
tee to  draft  a  subscription  paper,  which  was  circulated 
not  only  in  St.  Louis,  but  also  in  New  York,  Phila- 
delphia, and  Washington.  John  Quincy  Adams  con- 
tributed twenty -five  dollars,  and  subscriptions  were  re- 
ceived from  people  of  all  denominations,  including 
several  Catholics.  The  heaviest  contribution  was  that 
of  two  hundred  dollars  from  Matthew  Kerr.  The 
total  subscription  was  three  thousand  dollars. 

The  enterprise  thus  begun  was  not  completed  for 
many  years,  notwithstanding  strenuous  exertions  on 
the  part  of  the  pastor,  who  made  its  completion  a 
personal  matter,  collecting  funds,  laboring  with  his 
own  hands,  and  borrowing  money  on  his  personal 
security  for  its  completion.  His  untiring  efforts  were 
at  last  successful.  The  lot  on  which  "  Veranda 
Row"  was  subsequently  built,  extending  on  Fourth 
Street  from  St.  Charles  Street  to  Washington  Avenue, 
was  bought  for  three  hundred  and  twenty-seven  dol- 
lars, and  the  building  was  erected  at  what  was  then 
the  enormous  cost  of  eight  thousand  dollars  (leaving 
a  debt  of  five  thousand  dollars),  and  was  dedicated  on 
the  26th  of  June,  1825.  It  was  a  brick  building, 
forty-six  by  sixty-five  feet,  two  stories  in  height, 
with  a  cupola  and  spire. 

On  the  19th  of  November,  1826,  Mr.  Giddings  was 
formally  installed  "  over  the  Presbyterian  Church  and 


congregation  of  St.  Louis"  by  the  Presbytery  of  Mis- 
souri. The  introductory  prayer  was  offered  by  the 
Rev.  Hiram  Chamberlain,  and  the  call  of  the  congre- 
gation was  read  by  the  Rev.  John  S.  Ball.  The 
sermon  was  then  delivered  by  the  Rev.  Charles  S. 
Robinson.  The  charge  to  the  pastor  was  made  by 
the  Rev.  John  Matthews,  and  the  charge  to  the  con- 
gregation by  the  Rev.  Thomas  Donnell.  The  con- 
cluding prayer  and  benediction  were  delivered  by  the 
Rev.  William  S.  Lacy.  Mr.  Giddings  died,  as  here- 
tofore stated,  Feb.  1,  1827,  and  his  funeral  was  at- 
tended by  a  concourse  of  persons  numbering  two 
thousand. 

His  successor  was  the  Rev.  William  S.  Potts,  D.D., 
who  reached  St.  Louis  on  the  14th  of  May,  1828, 
and  was  prdained  by  the  Presbytery  of  Missouri,  and 
installed  as  pastor  Oct.  26,  1828.  On  this  occa- 
sion the  sermon  was  preached  by  the  Rev.  William 
S.  Lacey,  and  the  ordination  prayer  was  offered  by 
the  Rev.  John  Matthews.  The  charge  to  the  pastor 
was  pronounced  by  the  Rev.  John  S.  Ball,  and  the 
charge  to  the  people  by  the  Rev.  Solomon  Hardy. 

Next  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Giddings,  Dr.  Potts  was 
more  prominently  identified  with  the  cause  of  Presby- 
terianism  in  Missouri  than  any  other  minister.  He 
was  born  at  Trenton,  N.  J.,  in  1804.  His  parents, 
members  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  desired  that  he 
should  learn  the  trade  of  printing,  but  before  finishing 
his  apprenticeship  he  turned  his  attention  to  the  study 
of  the  law.  Soon  after  this,  however,  he  determined 
to  devote  himself  to  the  ministry,  and  in  1825  en- 
tered the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton,  N.  J. 
In  1828  he  was  licensed  as  a  probationer,  and,  being 
in  delicate  health,  determined  to  go  South,  in  the  hope 
not  only  of  being  benefited  by  the  less  rigorous  cli- 
mate, but  of  performing  effective  work  among  the 
Indians.  He  remained  in  this  field  of  labor  but  a 
short  time,  and  in  May,  1828,  by  direction  of  the 
Board  of  Missions,  under  whose  supervision  he  then 
acted,  he  repaired  to  St.  Louis  and  preached  for  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church,  over  which  he  was  in- 
stalled pastor  by  the  Presbyterian  Mission  the  autumn 
following.  Dr.  Potts  remained  in  charge  of  the  First 
Church,  which  developed  rapidly  under  his  active  and 
efficient  ministration,  until  the  26th  of  June,  1835, 
when  he  resigned  the  pastorate  in  order  to  assume 
the  presidency  of  the  newly- organized  Marion  College. 
This  institution  was  established  for  the  purpose  of 
training  young  men  for  the  ministry.  A  charter  was 
obtained  and  the  college  organized  at  Marion  City, 
Mo.,  but  it  did  not  prove  successful,  and  Dr.  Potts  ac- 
cepted a  call  to  the  pastorate  of  the  Second  Presby- 
terian Church,  and  was  installed  Oct.  5,  1839.  He 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1703 


remained  in  charge  of  the  church  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  on  the  28th  of  March,  1852,  after  a 
lingering  illness,  and  while  the  church  bell  was  call- 
ing the  children  to  Sunday-school. 

Dr.  Potts  was  a  man  of  great  learning  and  exalted 
piety,  and  enjoyed  the  respect  and  confidence  not  only 
of  his  own  denomination,  but  of  the  community  at 
large.  His  successor  at  the  First  Church  was  the  Rev. 
Dr.  William  Wisner,  who  was  called  July  23, 1835,  but 
was  never  formally  installed,  and  resigned  on  account 
of  ill  health  in  May,  1837.  Dr.  Artemas  Bullard  (than 
whom  no  minister  ever  exerted  a  more  widespread 
influence  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Missouri) 
was  called  April  2,  1838,  installed  June  27,  1838, 
and  perished  in  the  Gasconade  disaster  in  1855. 
Dr.  Henry  A.  Nelson,  who  took  charge  in  October, 
1856,  was  installed  Nov.  23,  1856,  and  resigned  in 
the  spring  of  1868  to  accept  the  chair  of  pastoral 
theology  in  Lane  Theological  Seminary,  Cincinnati, 
Ohio.  Rev.  Charles  A.  Dickey,  of  Allegheny  City, 
Pa.,  who  began  his  pastoral  work  in  May,  1869,  was 
installed  July  4, 1869,  and  resigned  in  October,  1875, 
to  accept  a  call  to  Philadelphia.  Dr.  H.  D.  Ganse, 
of  New  York  City,  was  called  in  December,  1875, 
and  is  still  the  pastor.  In  1832,  John  Shackford,  of 
Washington,  who  styled  himself  "a  friend  of  missions," 
wrote  to  Dr.  Peters,  then  secretary  of  the  American 
Home  Missionary  Society,  saying,  "  I  wish  to  add  to 
the  laborers  already  in  the  field  in  Missouri.  I  have 
concluded  to  devote  to  that  purpose  one  hundred  and 
four  dollars  per  quarter,  however  much  my  circum- 
stances may  be  thereby  straitened  or  my  deprivations 
increased.  I  have  determined  to  preach  the  gospel 
by  proxy  for  two  years,  if  not  for  life,  and  I  am  un- 
willing to  be  persuaded,  however  avarice,  ease,  cupid- 
ity, comfort,  or  convenience  may  plead,  to  accept  a 
proposition  by  which  the  sum  furnished  would  be  re- 
duced. I  desire  you  to  send  the  missionary  to  St. 
Louis."  In  consequence  of  this  offer,  Rev.  E.  F. 
Hatfield  was  sent  out,  and  organized  Nov.  23,  1832, 
the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  of  St.  Louis,  for 
which  purpose  a  colony  of  twenty-nine  members 
was  dismissed  by  the  First  Church,  the  mem- 
bership of  which  had  increased  to  two  hundred 
and  fifty.  Mr.  Hatfield  remained  two  years  and  a 
half,  when,  in  consequence  of  the  death  of  his  wife, 
he  returned  East,  and  as  it  was  not  convenient  for  him 
to  resume  his  labors  in  St.  Louis,  the  church  became 
disorganized  and  was  dissolved,  reuniting  with  the 
First  Church  in  February,  1837,  and  bringing  back 
fifty-four  members  in  place  of  the  twenty-nine  who 
had  been  dismissed. 

Subsequently  other  churches  were  formed  as  colo- 


nies of  the  First  that  have  had  a  longer  existence, 
to  wit:  the  Second  (in  October,  1838),  Walnut  Street, 
Thircl  (now  the  First  Congregational),  Washington 
Avenue  (now  the  Pine  Street),  North,  High  Street 
(now  Grand  Avenue),  and  others. 

The  building  now  occupied  by  the  congregation, 
opposite  Missouri  Park,  is  a  memorial  of  the  foresight 
and  great  executive  ability  of  Rev.  Dr.  Artemas  Bul- 
lard. It  was  dedicated  on  Oct.  21, 1855,  although  the 
lecture-room  had  been  occupied  for  some  time  previous. 
Rev.  Dr.  Beeman,  Rev.  Mr.  Wisner,  and  Rev.  Dr. 
Bullard  took  part  in  the  exercises.  After  the  sermon, 
preached  by  Dr.  Beeman,  a  funeral  hymn  was  sung, 
and  during  the  singing  the  remains  of  the  first  pas- 
tor of  the  congregation,  the  Rev.  Salmon  Giddings, 


FIRST  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

were  taken  into  the  church,  and  deposited  in  a  vault 
immediately  before  the  pulpit.  Among  the  pall- 
bearers were  Col.  John  O'Fallon,  Asa  Wilgus, 
Jesse  Lindell,  Matthew  Carr,  and  George  K.  Budd, 
members  of  the  First  Church  in  its  early  days.  The 
building,  which  is  of  brick  and  stone,  cost  over  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  its  dimensions  are 
eighty-four  by  one  hundred  and  thirty  feet ;  the 
tower  is  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet  high  ;  the 
main  audience-room  contains  one  hundred  and  fifty 
pews,  and  there  are  attached  to  the  church  a  chapel, 
Sunday-school  rooms,  a  pastor's  study,  and  ladies' 
parlors.  There  is  also  a  parsonage  (No.  1413  Lucas 
Avenue),  valued,  with  the  lot  on  which  it  stands,  at 


1704 


HISTORY  OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


about  fifteen  thousand  dollars.  In  1855  the  lot  on 
Fourth  Street,  which  cost  in  1825  three  hundred  and 
twenty-seven  dollars,  was  sold  for  sixty-two  thousand 
dollars,  and  the  proceeds  helped  to  defray  the  cost  of 
the  new  edifice.  Dr.  Ganse,  the  present  pastor,  says, 
"  No  history  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of 
St.  Louis  would  be  at  all  complete  which  should  not 
commemorate,  in  connection  with  all  its  direct  re- 
ligious work,  the  influence  which,  under  its  patriotic 
pastor,  Dr.  Nelson,  it  exerted  for  the  Union  during 
the  civil  war."  Connected  with  the  church  are  a 
Ladies'  and  a  Young  Ladies'  Missionary  Society,  a 
Sunday-school,  and  the  Tabernacle  Mission  School. 
About  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  families  are  ac- 
tively connected  with  the  church,  and  there  are  three 
hundred  and  ninety-seven  communicants,  and  the 
Sunday-schools  are  attended  by  thirty-five  teachers 
and  about  five  hundred  scholars.  On  the  15th  of 
November,  1867,  the  semi-centennial  anniversary  of 
Presbyterianism  in  St.  Louis  was  celebrated  in  this 
church  with  appropriate  exercises. 

The  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  northwest 
corner  of  Seventeenth  Street  and  Lucas  Place,  Rev. 
Samuel  J.  Nicolls,  pastor,  was  organized  Oct.  10, 
1838,  by  sixty  members  from  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  and  two  from  other  churches.  Its  first  elders 
were  Hamilton  R.  Gamble,  Wyllys  King,  and  Wil- 
liam Holcombe.  A  temporary  building  was  erected 
for  worship  at  the  corner  of  Pine  and  Fifth  Streets, 
but  the  lot  on  the  northwest  corner  of  Fifth  and  Wal- 
nut Streets  (where  the  Temple  building  now  stands) 
was  bought  soon  after  from  Pierre  Chouteau  for  810,- 
800,  and  in  March,  1839,  the  erection  of  a  permanent 
house  of  worship  was  begun.  In  January,  1840, 
the  lecture-room  of  the  new  building  was  hastily 
fitted  up,  and  the  congregation  abandoned  the  tem- 
porary edifice.  The  completed  building  was  dedi- 
cated Oct.  11,  1840.  Rev.  C.  W.  McPheeters,  Rev. 
J.  F.  Cowan,  and  Rev.  W.  P.  Cochran  took  part  in 
the  services,  and  the  dedication  sermon  was  preached 
by  the  Rev.  H.  P.  Goodrich,  D.D.  The  dedication 
prayer  was  offered  by  the  Rev.  Nathan  A.  Hall,  and 
the  benediction  was  pronounced  by  the  Rev.  W.  S. 
Potts,  pastor  of  the  church.  The  cost  of  the  build- 
ing was  about  forty-two  thousand  dollars.  It  was 
occupied  for  the  last  time  on  June  28,  1868,  having 
been  sold  to  David  Nicholson.  For  some  months  the 
congregation  worshiped  with  that  of  the  First  Church. 
The  lot  on  which  the  church  now  stands  costs  thirty 
thousand  dollars,  and  the  erection  of  the  building  was 
begun  in  1857,  and  the  corner-stone  was  laid  on  the 
23d  of  March,  1869. 

The  board  of  trustees  consisted  of  Sullivan  Blood, 


chairman ;  James  E.  Yeatman,  A.  M.  Gardiner,  Geo. 
S.  Drake,  C.  S.  Greeley,  secretary  and  treasurer  ;  and 
the  building  committee  of  C.  S.  Greeley,  chairman  ; 
George  S.  Drake,  Rev.  S.  J.  Niccolls,  James  E.  Yeat- 
man, Daniel  B.  Clark,  William  Downing,  Samuel 
Bonner,  Thomas  Lowery,  Henry  Hitchcock,  and 
Samuel  Copp.  The  chapel  was  completed  and  first 
occupied  Dec.  27,  1868.  The  main  building  was 
dedicated  Dec.  25,  1870.  It  is  an  elegant  structure 
of  rough,  unhewn  stone,  and  cost  one  hundred  and 
sixty  thousand  dollars. 

On  the  organization  of  the  church  the  pulpit  was 
first  supplied  by  Rev.  A.  T.  Norton,  then  a  city  mis- 
sionary in  St.  Louis.  In  February,  1839,  Rev.  Wil- 
liam S.  Potts,  then  president  of  Marion  College  (an 
institution  that  had  proved  a  failure),  who  had  for- 
merly been  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church, 
was  called  to  the  pastorate.  He  entered  upon  his 
duties  in  July,  was  regularly  installed  Oct.  5,  1839, 
and  died  March  28,  1852.  During  the  thirteen  years 
of  Dr.  Potts'  charge  upwards  of  nine  hundred  per- 
sons united  with  this  church,  four  hundred  and 
seventy  of  them  on  profession.  Rev.  Robert  P.  Farris 
(since  of  Peoria)  supplied  the  pulpit  during  the  year 
following.  Rev.  Nathan  L.  Rice,  D.D.,  of  Cincin- 
nati, was  unanimously  called  Jan.  26,  1853.  The 
call  was  opposed  by  the  Cincinnati  Presbytery,  but 
was  unanimously  repeated  March  9th,  and  finally  ac- 
cepted. Dr.  Rice  entered  upon  his  duties  April  25, 
1853,  was  installed  October  9th  following,  and  re- 
signed Sept.  15,  1857,  to  take  the  chair  of  theology 
in  the  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Northwest.  Rev. 
James  H.  Brooks,  D.D.,  though  never  installed  as 
pastor,  served  as  such  from  February,  1858  (having 
been  called  two  months  previous),  until  July,  1864, 
when  he  became  pastor  of  the  colony  that  formed  the 
Walnut  Street  (now  Compton  Avenue)  Church.  Rev. 
Samuel  J.  Niccolls,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  called  Oc- 
tober, 1864,  began  his  labors  January  1st,  and  was  in- 
stalled March  5,  1865.  This  church  has  sent  out  the 
following  colonies:  Central  (or  Fourth)  in  1844; 
Westminster  (afterwards  Pine  Street),  1846;  Park 
Avenue  (afterwards  Chouteau  Avenue)  ;  First  Ger- 
man, 1863  ;  Walnut  Street,  1864 ;  and  Grace  Church 
(afterwards  united  with  Chouteau  Avenue),  1868. 
It  has  also  contributed  largely  to  the  membership  of 
churches  in  Carondelet,  Kirkwood,  and  elsewhere. 

This  church  supports  four  Sunday-schools, — a  morn- 
ing school,  Henry  T.  Nash,  superintendent;  an  after- 
noon school,  E.  Anson  More,  superintendent;  the 
Memorial  Tabernacle,  or  Biddle  Market  Mission,  a 
gift  from  Carlos  S.  Greeley,  Thomas  Morrison,  super- 
intendent;  and  Kossuth  Avenue  Mission,  near  the 


RELIGIOUS  DENOMINATIONS. 


1705 


Fair  Grounds,  Henry  A.  Smith,  superintendent. 
These  schools  have  an  aggregate  attendance  of  about 
two  thousand  children.  It  also  supports  a  foreign 
mission  at  Siam  and  a  city  missionary,  Rev.  William 
Portcus.  Altogether  the  church  contributes  about 
forty  thousand  dollars  annually  to  benevolent  and  con- 
gregational uses.  A  Ladies'  Aid  Society  and  Young 
People's  Working  Society  are  connected  with  the 
congregation.  The  congregation  numbers  nearly 
eight  hundred  active  members,  with  a  connection  of  j 
two  hundred  and  twenty  families,  or  twelve  hundred 
persons,  among  whom  are  many  of  the  most  promi- 
nent and  influential  members  of  St.  Louis  society. 

Grand  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church. — In  Feb- 
ruary, 1844,  Washington  Avenue  Church,  New 
School,  was  organized,  under  the  direction  of  Rev. 
Dr.  Bullard,  by  a  colony  of  fifty  members  from  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church,  who  first  met  for  wor- 
ship in  the  State  tobacco  warehouse  on  the  northeast 
corner  of  Sixth  Street  and  Washington  Avenue. 
Rev.  James  Gallaher  first  supplied  the  pulpit  for 
about  one  year,  when  Rev.  J.  B.  Townsend  was  in- 
stalled as  pastor.  Mr.  Gallaher  died  in  the  autumn 
of  1853.  A  church  was  subsequently  built  on  the 
southwest  corner  of  Eighth  Street  and  Washington 
Avenue,  and  was  occupied  until  the  removal  of  the 
society  to  a  second  edifice  on  the  northwest  corner  of 
Eleventh  and  Pine  Streets,  the  ground  for  which  was 
bought  in  1849.  The  basement  of  the  new  building 
was  occupied  in  1851,  and  the  church  was  dedicated 
in  1853.  The  first  pastor,  Mr.  Townsend,  resigned 
on  account  of  ill  health  in  the  fall  of  1850.  Rev. 
Mr.  Long  took  charge  in  1851,  and  remained  about 
a  year.  Rev.  J.  W.  Hall,  D.D.,  of  Alabama,  as- 
sinned  the  pastorate  in  April,  1853,  but  only  re- 
mained six  months.  After  his  departure  the  church 
was  left  without  a  pastor.  During  the  summer  of 
1853  the  church  building  was  completed  and  dedi- 
cated, under  the  eldership  of  John  Whitehill  and 
Martin  Simpson. 

Westminster  Church,  Old  School,  was  organized 
on  April  25,  1846,  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Potts,  with  eigh- 
teen members,  and  Rev.  H.  P.  Goodrich,  D.D.,  as 
"  stated  supply."  The  first  place  of  worship  was  the 
hall  of  the  medical  college,  on  Washington  Avenue 
opposite  Tenth  Street. 

The  church  was  originally  known  as  the  West- 
minster Mission.  Its  first  elders  were  Thomas  Can- 
non and  Leverett  Mills.  In  the  latter  part  of  1846 
the  congregation  moved  from  the  medical  college  to 
the  basement  of  Benton  Public  School  house  on  Sixth 
Street,  near  St.  Charles.  Thence  it  removed  to  the 
Odd-Fellows1  Hall,  at  Fourth  and  Locust  Streets, 


which  it  occupied  jointly  and  alternately  with  St. 
George's  Episcopal  Church  until  October,  1848,  when 
it  purchased  an  edifice  at  the  corner  of  Locust  and 
Fifth  Streets,  erected  by  the  Associate  Reformed 
Presbyterians  in  1841.  Dr.  Goodrich  resigned  July 
1,  1848,  and  Rev.  James  A.  Lyon,  D.D.,  became 
pastor  Nov.  15,  1848.  A  number  of  the  members  of 
the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  transferred  their 
membership  to  the  Westminster,  and  Thomas  Cannon, 
Joseph  Charless,  Leverett  Mills,  David  Keith,  and 
Alexander  C.  Donaldson  were  appointed  elders.  Rev. 
Dr.  Lyon  resigned  the  pastorate  on  the  10th  of 
November,  1850,  and  Rev.  S.  B.  McPheeters,  of 
Virginia,  was  called  Jan.  31,  1851.  He  accepted, 
and  was  installed  Dec.  14,  1851,  at  which  time  the 
congregation  numbered  thirty-four  families  and  eighty- 
nine  communicants. 

In  November,  1853,  a  union  of  the  Pine  Street 
and  Westminster  Churches  was  suggested.  The  for- 
mer was  without  a  pastor,  and  both  organizations  were 
struggling  with  debt.  The  proposal  commended  itself 
to  the  members  of  both,  and  on  the  30th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1853,  the  Pine  Street  Church  united  with  the 
Westminster  Church  in  accordance  with  an  agreement 
adopted  by  W.  W.  Greene,  Theodore  Poindexter,  D. 
K.  Ferguson,  G.  Gorin,  John  Whitehill,  and  Robert 
Dougherty  in  behalf  of  the  Pine  Street  Church,  and 
Joseph  Charless,  Robert  M.  Henning,  and  George  P. 
Strong  in  behalf  of  the  Westminster  Church. 

The  congregation  adopted  the  name  of  Pine  Street, 
and  in  accordance  with  a  condition  of  the  union  iden- 
tified itself  with  the  Old  School  Presbytery  and 
Synod.  Rev.  Dr.  McPheeters  was  elected  pastor,  and 
Joseph  Charless,  W.  W.  Greene,  David  Keith,  Wm. 
Low,  Alexander  Marshall,  Leverett  Mills,  Martin 
Simpson,  George  P.  Strong,  and  John  Whitehill 
were  chosen  elders  of  the  new  organization. 

The  Westminster  Church  property  was  sold  in  the 
spring  of  1854,  and  the  proceeds  went  to  the  united 
congregation.  In  April,  1854,  there  were  reported 
two  hundred  and  thirty-one  members,  and  in  1861 
three  hundred  and  twenty-seven  members,  with  one 
hundred  and  sixty  pupils  in  the  Sunday-school  and 
seven  hundred  in  Biddle  Market  Sunday-school,  es- 
tablished by  this  church.  During  the  war  the  church 
was  agitated  by  political  strife,  and  the  Union  mem- 
bers removed  Mr.  McPheeters  from  the  pastorate,1 
after  which  the  church  remained  for  several  years 
without  a  minister,  and  was  often  closed.  At  last  the 
difficulty  was  settled  by  the  withdrawal  of  three  of 


1  In  January,  1866,  a  call  was  again  extended  to  Rev.  Dr. 
McPheeters,  but,  greatly  to  the  regret  of  the  congregation,  was 
declined  by  him,  owing  to  his  illness. 


1706 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


the  ruling  elders.     In  1872  the  church  united  with 
the  Independent   or  Southern   Synod    of   Missouri. 
The  pastors  since  the  reopening   of  the  church  have 
been  Revs.  J.   C.   Thorn,   of  Waynesburg,  Pa.,  ap-  j 
pointed  July,  1865,  died  November  28th  following; 
Rev.  B.  T.  Lacy,  D.D.,  appointed  in   1866,  resigned 
November,  1870 ;  Rev.  A.  P.  Foreman,  D.D.,  1871- 
72 ;  Rev.  E.  H.  Rutherford,  D.D.,    of  Petersburg, 
Va.,  installed  in  May,  1874.     Just  previous  to  Dr.  ' 
Rutherford's  installation,  the  presbytery  and  Synod 
with  which  the  church  was  connected  formed  ecclesi- 
astical relations  with  the  Southern  Presbyterian  As-  i 
sembly.     Dr.  Rutherford   resigned   the  pastorate  of 
this  church  in   March,  1881,  to  accept  a  call  to  the 
Presbyterian  Church  at  Paris,  Ky.     By  invitation  of 
the  session,  Rev.  Francis  L.   Ferguson  supplied  the  j 
pulpit  for  six  months  from  May,  1881. 

In  January,  1882,  Rev.  A.  Nelson  Hollifield,  pas- 
tor of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Huntingdon,  Pa., 
was  called  to  the  pastorate,  and  was  installed  in  the 
month  of  April  by  a  committee  of  the  Presbytery  of 
St.  Louis. 

In  1879  the  congregation  purchased  a  site  for  a  new 
church  on  the  west  side  of  Grand  Avenue,  opposite 
Washington  Avenue,  on  an  elevation  about  seventy- 
five  feet  higher  than  Washington  Avenue,  at  Third 
Street,  and  from  which  a  beautiful  view  of  that  por- 
tion of  the  city  is  obtained.  The  site  is  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  square.  In  March,  1880,  the 
erection  of  the  chapel  was  begun  in  accordance  with  j 
plans  prepared  by  the  architect,  Francis  D.  Lee.  The 
chapel  was  completed  within  six  months.  It  is  of 
limestone  with  white  sandstone  trimmings,  and  is  con- 
structed in  the  pure  English  Gothic  style.  It  is  lo- 
cated at  the  west  end  of  the  lot,  and  fronts  on  the 
western  extension  of  Washington  Avenue. 

The  chapel  has  a  seating  capacity  for  four  hundred 
persons,  and  is  still  occupied  by  the  congregation, 
pending  the  completion  of  the  church.  The  building 
was  dedicated  on  the  7th  of  November,  1880,  the 
officiating  ministers  being  the  Rev.  Dr.  Rutherford, 
pastor,  Rev.  R.  P.  Farris,  Rev.  G.  H.  Rout,  and  Rev. 
Dr.  Brank.  On  this  occasion  the  name  of  the  church 
was  changed  from  that  of  Pine  Street  to  that  of  Grand 
Avenue  Presbyterian  Church.  Its  officers  at  that 
time  were :  Pastor,  Rev.  E.  H.  Rutherford,  D.D. ;  ' 
Elders,  William  G.  Clark,  D.  K.  Ferguson,  John  J. 
Holliday,  James  McQ.  Douglas,  Isaac  B.  Kirtland, 
Dr.  William  M.  McPheeters,  Dr.  H.  N.  Spencer, 
William  Webb,  and  James  H.  Wear;  Deacons,  Elliott 
W.  Douglas,  Edward  F.  Chappell,  Hugh  Ferguson, 
James  Rosebrough,  J.  W.  McLanahan,  J.  M.  Cooper, 
and  A.  N.  Craig.  The  corner-stone  of  the  main  ' 


building  was  laid  Oct.  14,  1882.  The  new  church 
will  be  a  superb  Gothic  structure  of  St.  Louis  lime- 
stone, with  five  gable-ends,  one  hundred  feet  high,  and 
large  windows  of  stained  glass.  The  main  entrance 
will  be  ornamented  with  moulded  arches  and  columns 
of  cut  stone.  The  auditorium  will  be  in  the  form 
of  an  amphitheatre,  and  will  accommodate  twelve 
hundred  persons,  its  size  being  one  hundred  and  fif- 
teen by  one  hundred  feet.  It  is  expected  that  the 
building  will  be  ready  in  the  summer  of  1883,  and 
will  cost  one  hundred  and  ten  thousand  dollars.  The 
architect  is  Francis  D.  Lee.  The  church  reports  a 
membership  of  two  hundred  and  eleven,  with  two 
hundred  and  thirty-eight  in  the  Sunday-school. 

The  officers  of  the  church  at  present  are  Rev.  H. 
Nelson  Hollifield,  D.D.,  pastor  ;  Elders,  W.  G.  Clark, 
D.  K.  Furguson,  E.  S.  Frazer,  James  McQ.  Douglass, 
I.  B.  Kirtland,  W.  M.  McPheeters,  H.  N.  Spencer, 
William  Webb,  James  H.  Wear;  Deacons,  J.  T.  Chap- 
pell,  Archibald  Crary,  Elliott  W.  Douglas,  Hugh 
Furguson,  J.  W.  McLanahan,  James  Rosebrough. 

Among  the  ministers  prominently  identified  with 
the  old  Pine  Street  Church  was  the  Rev.  Charles  D. 
Simpson.  Mr.  Simpson  was  a  native  of  St.  Louis, 
and  received  his  early  education  at  St.  Louis  Univer- 
sity. He  pursued  a  course  of  study  at  Illinois  Col- 
lege, Jacksonville,  and  received  from  that  institution 
the  degrees  of  Bachelor  and  Master  of  Arts.  He 
then  studied  theology  at  Lane  Seminary,  Cincinnati, 
under  the  instruction  of  Lyman  Beecher,  D.D..,  and 
Professor  Stowe.  He  was  regarded  as  an  exception- 
ally close  and  thorough  student,  and  his  attainments 
in  mathematical  science  were  remarkable.  He  was 
ordained  a  minister  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
1843,  and  at  once  entered  upon  the  duties  of  his 
clerical  life  at  Glasgow,  Mo.  Subsequently  he  be- 
came a  professor  in  the  City  University,  and  also 
officiated  at  Pine  Street  Church.  Mr.  Simpson  died 
early  in  September,  1866. 

Central  Presbyterian  Church. — This  congrega- 
tion was  organized  April  18,  1844,  by  Dr.  William  S. 
Potts  and  Rev.  William  Gilbreath,  as  the  Fourth 
Presbyterian  Church  (Old  School),  with  thirty-two 
members,  nearly  all  of  whom  had  obtained  letters  for 
the  purpose  from  the  Second  Church.  '  On  the  fol- 
lowing day  the  first  session  was  elected,  consisting  of 
Philip  Skinner,  George  W.  Meyers,  and  John  Suydam, 
and  on  the  following  Sunday,  April  21st,  Messrs. 
Meyers  and  Suydam  were  ordained,  and  the  session 
was  installed.  The  first  communion  of  the  church 
was  celebrated  on  the  same  day.  The  congregation 
met  in  a  small  frame  building  on  the  southeast  corner 
of  Sixth  and  St.  Charles  Streets.  Rev.  Joseph  Tern- 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1707 


pleton  first  supplied  the  pulpit,  but  on  May  12,  1845, 
Rev.  Alexander  Van  Court  was  chosen  pastor.  He 
began  his  duties  in  July  following.  He  labored  with 
great  diligence  and  success,  and  during  his  ministry  | 
the  church  grew  and  prospered.  In  July,  1849,  he  ; 
suddenly  fell  a  victim  to  the  cholera  which  raged  in 
that  year.  In  1845  the  church  elected  as  its  first 
board  of  trustees  John  M.  Wimer,  John  Huylman, 
and  Taylor  Blow,  to  whom,  in  1846,  were  added 
David  W.  Wheeler,  Oliver  Bennett,  and  S.  Ridgely. 
Thomas  Osborne  and  Dr.  Thomas  Barbor  were  also 
added  to  the  session,  and  in  November,  1846,  Othneil 
Cannon  and  Charles  N.  Lewis  were  elected  the  first 
deacons.  In  the  spring  of  1846  the  name  was 
changed  by  the  presbytery  to  that  of  the  Central 
Presbyterian  Church  of  St.  Louis.  About  the  same 
time  a  lot  at  the  northwest  corner  of  Locust  and 
Eighth  Streets  was  purchased,  whither  the  congrega- 
tion removed  in  the  fall  of  1848.  It  worshiped  at 
first  in  the  basement.  During  the  following  winter 
Rev.  Dr.  Hall  held  a  series  of  protracted  meetings  \ 
which  added  largely  to  the  membership.  The  build- 
ing was  finished  in  1849.  It  had  two  stories,  with 
rooms  for  the  pastor's  use  and  for  other  purposes  in 
the  basement.  The  audience-room,  eighty-five  by 
fifty  feet,  seated  about  six  hundred  persons.  After 
the  death  of  Mr.  Van  Court  the  church  remained  for 
eighteen  months  without  a  paster.  Revs.  Samuel 
Pettigrew,  John  N.  Hall,  and  William  M.  Ruggles 
served  as  stated  supplies,  and  the  congregation  was 
greatly  troubled  by  dissensions  among  its  members 
and  other  causes  until  (Dec.  11,  1850)  Rev.  S.  J. 
P.  Anderson,  of  Virginia,  was  called.  Mr.  Ander- 
son entered  upon  his  duties  Jan.  20,  1851.  He  at 
once  restored  harmony  to  the  church,  which  under 
his  pastorate  soon  became  prosperous.  In  March, 
1851,  its  membership  had  increased  to  two  hundred 
and  forty-three,  and  all  who  were  officially  connected 
with  the  society  labored  zealously  for  its  welfare.  In 
1858  nearly  one  hundred  new  members  were  added, 
but  during  the  civil  war  the  church  declined.  The 
pastor  was  arrested  and  tried  by  the  military  authori- 
ties, and  the  congregation  diminished  in  consequence. 
The  return  of  peace,  however,  brought  a  return  of 
prosperity,  but  on  the  25th  of  May,  1868,  Mr.  An- 
derson's failing  health  compelled  him  to  resign,  and 
the  church  remained  again  without  a  pastor.  For  some 
time  it  was  served  by  Rev.  Henry  Branch  as  stated 
supply. 

Dr.  Brank,  of  Lexington,  Ky.,  the  present  pastor, 
was  called  in  January,  1869,  but  did  not  signify  his 
acceptance  until  May  31,  1869.  Soon  after  the 
present  site  was  purchased,  and  a  temporary  chapel 


erected,  in  which  an  afternoon  Sunday-school  was 
opened  in  the  spring  of  1870.  Weekly  prayer-meet- 
ings were  held  in  the  same  building  during  the  winter 
of  1871-72.  In  the  spring  of  1873  the  congregation 
removed  to  this  chapel,  their  building  on  Locust 
Street  having  become  unsafe  owing  to  the  construc- 
tion of  a  tunnel  under  it.  Soon  after  this  the  struc- 
ture was  demolished.  On  June  8,  1874,  a  building 
committee  was  appointed  consisting  of  Messrs.  B.  H. 
Batte,  I.  M.  Veitch,  S.  N.  Holliday,  D.  P.  Rowland, 
Dent  G.  Tutt,  and  Samuel  Barren,  and  a  plan  pre- 
pared by  C.  K.  Ramsey,  architect,  was  accepted.  The 
chapel  was  removed  to  an  adjoining  lot,  and  the  erec- 
tion of  the  present  edifice  was  begun.  It  was  finished 
in  1876.  It  is  built  in  strict  accordance  with  the 
early  English  style,  with  two  towers  in  front,  one  at 
each  corner,  the  first  one  hundred  and  ninety-two, 
and  the  other  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  in  height. 
The  transepts  are  each  twenty -six  feet  wide,  with  ten 
feet  projection.  The  roof  is  open-timbered,  richly 
decorated  with  trusses  supported  by  stone  corbels, 
constructed  of  broken  ashlar,  with  cut-stone  trimmings 
from  Warrensburg.  The  building  occupies  a  lot  one 
hundred  and  nine  by  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  feet. 
The  auditorium  is  fifty-eight  by  ninety  feet.  At  the 
rear  is  a  chapel,  with  lecture-room,  class-room,  library, 
parlors,  etc.  The  construction  of  this  edifice  involved 
the  church  so  heavily  in  debt  that  in  the  summer  of 
1879  it  found  itself  in  great  difficulties.  Propositions 
were  made  to  sell  the  church  and  abandon  the  enter- 
prise, and  the  pastor  tendered  his  resignation,  which 
was  not,  however,  accepted.  Early  in  1880,  one 
Sunday  morning  the  pastor  made  an  earnest  appeal 
for  aid  to  the  congregation,  and  the  sum  of  twenty- 
one  thousand  dollars  was  subscribed  on  the  spot,  and 
afterwards  punctually  paid.  There  are  at  present 
about  one  hundred  and  thirty  families  and  three  hun- 
dred and  fifty  communicants  connected  with  the  con- 
gregation, and  twenty-seven  teachers,  with  nearly 
three  hundred  pupils  in  the  Sunday-school.  The 
present  church  edifice  is  situated  at  the  northeast 
corner  of  Lucas  and  Garrison  Avenues,  .and  the  Rev. 
Robert  G.  Brank,  D.D.,  is  the  pastor. 

The  North  Presbyterian  Church  was  organized 
by  a  colony  of  nine  members  from  the  First  Pres- 
byterian Church,  together  with  nine  others,  on  the 
27th  of  March,  1845.  The  present  church,  situated 
at  the  northwest  corner  of  Eleventh  and  Chambers 
Streets,  was  built  in  1857.  It  was  a  two-story  brick 
building,  sixty  by  ninety  feet,  the  upper  story  being 
used  as  a  church,  and  the  lower  story  for  the  purposes 
of  the  Sunday-school.  It  seated  about  eight  hundred 
persons.  During  the  summer  of  1882  the  interior 


1708 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


was  entirely  remodeled  and  redecorated,  the  seats 
were  rearranged  in  amphitheatrical  form,  the  organ 
was  removed  to  the  back  of  the  auditorium  and  en- 
larged, and  stained  glass  replaced  the  former  plain 
panes  of  the  windows.  The  church  thus  renovated 
was  rededicated  Oct.  15,  1882.  The  congregation 
numbers  about  five  hundred  persons,  actual  members 
two  hundred,  and  the  Sunday-school  has  twenty-five 
teachers  and  three  hundred  and  seventy  scholars.  The 
pastor  is  the  Rev.  S.  H.  Williams. 

Carondelet  Presbyterian  Church,  Fourth  and  Mar- 
ket Streets,  South  St.  Louis,  Rev.  James  H.  Shields, 
pastor,  was  organized  about  1850  by  Hon.  Henry  T. 
Blow  and  wife,  Dr.  Ashbel  Webster  and  wife,  Francis 
Quinnette  and  wife,  and  others.  The  first  house  of 
worship  was  located  on  Main  Street  between  Kansas 
and  Illinois  Streets.  It  was  sold  in  1864  and  con- 
verted into  a  dwelling,  and  the  society  removed  to  its 
present  quarters.  The  successive  pastors  have  been 
Revs.  Hiram  P.  Goodrich,  D.D.,  R.  S.  Finley,  John 
T.  Cowen,  S.  A.  Mutchmore,  1862-65  ;  C.  H.  Dun- 
lap,  1867,  '68 ;  Samuel  Hay,  1868,  '69  ;  R.  A.  Con- 
dit,  appointed  November,  1869 ;  Henry  S.  Little, 
appointed  September,  1874;  James  H.  Shields,  ap- 
pointed November,  1879.  Hope  Mission  Chapel, 
corner  of  Third  and  Taylor  Streets,  is  an  offshoot  of 
this  church.  It  has  a  congregation  of  six  hundred 
persons,  and  a  Sunday-school  attended  by  four  hun- 
dred and  twenty  scholars.  The  present  officers  of 
the  church  are  :  Session,  or  Board  of  Elders  (in  charge 
of  spiritual  interests),  the  pastor,  chairman,  ex  officio, 
Leonard  R.  Woods,  William  D.  Starke,  Frederick  H. 
Williams,  James  M.  Gayley ;  Board  of  Deacons  (in 
charge  of  the  poor  and  of  benevolent  work),  J.  P. 
Richardson,  John  Fitzpatrick ;  Board  of  Trustees 
(in  charge  of  temporal  concerns),  Charles  A.  McNair, 
S.  M.  Bayless,  Dr.  E.  E.  Webster,  F.  W.  Mott,  J.  P. 
Richardson,  Leonard  R.  Woods,  Frederick  H.  Wil- 
liams, James  M.  Gayley.  Connected  with  the  con- 
gregation are  a  Ladies'  Missionary  Society,  organized 
in  1874,  of  which  Mrs.  A.  Shawk  has  been  president, 
and  Miss  R.  Woods,  secretary,  from  the  beginning  to 
date ;  also  a  Young  People's  Literary  Society,  organ- 
ized in  1881 ;  R.  A.  Hill,  president;  H.  A.  Chapin, 
secretary.  About  one  hundred  and  sixty  families 
constitute  the  parish,  of  whom  one  hundred  and  sixty  • 
persons  are  communicants.  The  morning  Sunday- 
school  is  attended  by  twenty  teachers  and  two  hundred 
and  fifty  scholars. 

Des  Peres  Presbyterian  Church  was  organized 
in  the  latter  part  of  March,  1833,  by  Rev.  William 
S.  Potts  and  Dr.  Ingraham,  in  the  dwelling-house  of 
Rev.  Mr.  Granville  (Methodist),  which  was  rented 


for  the  occasion.  The  members  of  the  congregation 
at  that  time  were  Thomas  D.  Yeates,  Matilda  Yeates, 
Amanda  Yeates,  Rebecca  McCutchan,  George  Reed, 
Mary  Reed,  James  Reed,  Thomas  Reed,  Ellen  Parks, 
Mary  Parks,  George  Y.  Andrew,  Ann,  Mary,  and 
Baldwin  King.  The  elders  were  Thomas  D.  Yeates, 
George  Reed,  and  George  Y.  King.  During  the 
next  year  (1834)  three  acres  of  land  were  given — 
one  acre  each  by  David  Small,  David  Hartshorn,  and 
Stephen  Maddox — for  a  building  site  for  a  church  and 
a  graveyard.  A  building  of  stone  was  commenced  the 
same  year  and  progressed  so  far  as  to  be  inclosed,  in 
which  condition  it  was  used  for  public  worship  until 
1840.  In  the  troubles  that  divided  the  church  into 
the  Old  and  New  School  bodies,  this  church  cast  its  lot 
with,  and  has  recognized  the  ecclesiastical  authority 
and  control  of,  the  Old  School  Church.  Of  the  records 
of  this  church  from  its  organization  down  to  Sept.  6, 
1837,  none  remain  or  are  known  of  to  the  present 
officers  of  the  church.  Between  the  years  1833  and 
1837  the  pulpit  was  filled  by  Rev.  William  S.  Potts, 
Dr.  Ingraham,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Lovejoy.  Gary  Hick- 
man,  a  licentiate,  was  in  charge  of  the  pulpit  when 
the  present  records  commence.  In  1840  the  present 
building  was  completed.  Since  Mr.  Hickman  left,  the 
pulpit  has  been  filled  by  the  following  ministers:  M. 
Hodges,  John  N.  Gilbreath,  H.  A.  Booth,  Joseph 
Fenton,  William  J,  Lapsley,  H.  T.  Morton,  William 
C.  Claggett,  William  H.  Parks,  A.  Shotwell,  and  J. 
A.  Smith.  Rev.  J.  N.  Gilbreath  was  pastor  more 
than  thirty  years. 

The  elders  elected  since  its  organization  have  been 
Zachariah  Barron,  Jonas  Geyer,  Ninian  B.  Barren, 
William  B.  Harwood,  Frederick  Des  Combes,  William 
McKnight,  Ralph  Clayton,  Henry  Barron,  Ottawa  B. 
Harwood,  Edward  Fitzgerald,  Charles  Snyder,  and 
Charles  R.  Black. 

The  deacons  have  been  Cornelius  D.  Demorest, 
Thomas  M.  Barron,  Charles  Lovercheck,  Thomas  H. 
Ennis,  and  David  L.  Des  Combes.  Since  1837  the 
church  has  received  by  letter  and  on  profession  of 
faith  one  hundred  and  sixty-one  members. 

Providence  Presbyterian  Church. — In  1859  the 
Rev.  William  Parks  organized  an  Old  School  congre- 
gation, known  as  Providence  Presbyterian  Church, 
which  worshiped  for  some  time  in  a  hall  on  Broadway 
between  O'Fallon  and  Cass  Avenues.  Subsequently 
it  removed  to  a  hall  over  what  was  known  as  the 
Mound  Market,  standing  in  the  middle  of  Broadway 
near  Howard  Street.  In  the  fall  of  1859  a  church 
organization  was  effected  by  the  committee  of  the 
presbytery,  consisting  of  Rev.  Dr.  McPheeters,  Rev. 
Dr.  Brooks,  and  Mr.  Parks.  Subsequently  Mr.  Parks 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1709 


was  forced  on  account  of  ill  health  to  relinquish  the 
pastorate,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Sluder, 
under  whose  administration  a  lot  at  Webster  and 
Twelfth  Streets  was  purchased,  and  a  two-story  brick 
building  erected.  The  lower  story  was  used  for  the 
Sunday-school,  and  the  congregation  also  worshiped 
there  until  the  church  was  completed. 

Washington  and  Compton  Avenues  Presby- 
terian Churches. — The  Second  Presbyterian  Church, 
then  located  at  Fifth  and  Walnut  Streets,  decided  in 
1859  to  send  out  a  colony  to  establish  a  church  in  the 
western  part  of  the  city,  and  for  this  purpose  bought 
a  lot  on  the  northeast  corner  of  Walnut  and  Six- 
teenth Streets,  and  commenced  building  thereon.  The 
lecture- room  was  still  unfinished  in  1861,  when  the 
war  came  on  and  funds  gave  out,  necessitating  the 
stoppage  of  the  work.  The  Union  Presbyterian  (In- 
dependent) Church  sold,  in  March,  1862,  to  the 
Union  Methodist  Church  its  building  at  Eleventh  and 
Locust  Streets,  and  leased  for  two  years,  from  July  1, 
1862,  the  unfinished  building  at  Walnut  and  Six- 
teenth Streets.  This  congregation  completed  the  lec- 
ture-room at  a  cost  of  six  thousand  dollars,  which  was 
repaid  when,  on  the  expiration  of  its  lease,  it  vacated 
the  premises.  From  this  time  the  Union  Church 
ceased  to  exist  as  a  separate  organization.  It  had 
been  organized  twelve  years  previous  (in  January, 
1849)  with  about  thirty-five  members,  and  worshiped 
for  some  time  in  Wyman's  Hall.  In  1852  the  con- 
gregation determined  to  erect  a  church  at  the  corner 
of  Eleventh  and  Locust  Streets,  and  in  a  little  over  a 
year,  Jan.  8,  1854,  the  building  was  completed  and 
dedicated.  Its  dimensions  were  sixty- nine  by  one 
hundred  and  fourteen  feet,  but  the  extreme  measure- 
ments, including  the  towers,  were  eighty  by  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-one  feet.  At  the  southeastern  corner 
was  a  tower  fifteen  feet  square,  which  ascended  to  the 
height  of  one  hundred  and  forty-five  feet,  having  a 
massive  projecting  base  of  cut  limestone.  At  this  time 
the  Rev.  William  Homes  was  the  pastor. 

In  June,  1864,  the  original  idea  of  a  colony  was 
revived.  Dr.  Brookes,  then  pastor  of  the  Second 
Church,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  its  members 
withdrew,  and  on  July  4,  1864,  were  organized  by  a 
committee  of  the  St.  Louis  Presbytery  (in  connection 
with  the  Northern  General  Assembly)  as  the  Walnut 
Street  Presbyterian  Church,  the  Second  Church 
making  over  to  them  the  property  which  they  then 
began  to  occupy.  Within  three  months  one  hundred 
members  of  the  Second  Church  joined  them,  and  on 
the  25th  of  December,  1864,  they  first  occupied  the 
completed  church,  the  erection  of  which  they  had 
begun  immediately  after  their  organization. 


The  lot,  which  is  one  hundred  by  one  hundred  and 
twenty  feet  in  extent,  cost,  with  the  church  included, 
about  eighty  thousand  dollars.  It  will  seat  about  fif- 
teen hundred  persons.  The  congregation  also  had  a 
chapel  on  the  corner  of  Twenty-second  Street  and 
Gamble  Avenue,  a  frame  building  seventy  by  forty 
feet.  The  church  was  a  two-story  brick  building. 
In  1866,  owing  to  certain  political  action  of  the 
Northern  General  Assembly  on  the  subject  of  slavery, 
the  Walnut  Street  Church  united  with  others  in  or- 
ganizing the  Independent  Synod  of  Missouri,  but  in 
May,  1874,  the  Northern  General  Assembly  took  such 
steps  as  led  to  a  reunion  with  it  of  this  church,  which 
has  since  remained  connected  with  it. 

In  process  of  time  the  location  of  the  church  be- 
came unsuitable,  owing  to  the  removal  to  western  and 
southwestern  parts  of  the  city  of  the  bulk  of  its  mem- 
bers, and  by  1878  this  unsuitableness  had  led  to  the 
organization  of  Lafayette  Park  Church,  which  went 
out  as  a  colony  from  Walnut  Street.  In  1877  the  pres- 
ent site,  southwest  corner  of  Washington  and  Comp- 
ton Avenues,  was  bought  from  Mrs.  Edgar  Ames 
for  fifteen  thousand  dollars.  The  lot  is  one  hundred 
and  forty  by  one  hundred  and  fifty-two  feet.  Ground 
was  broken  July  4,  1877,  the  corner-stone  was  laid 
Oct.  27,  1877,  and  the  lecture-room  was  occupied 
May  1,  1879.  On  the  5th  of  December,  1880,  the 
first  services  in  the  completed  edifice  were  held.  This 
building  is  ninety-four  by  one  hundred  and  thirty-six 
feet,  English  Gothic  in  style,  and  of  St.  Louis  lime- 
stone, pitch-faced  broken  ashlar,  trimmed  with  sand- 
stone, with  stone  towers  at  the  four  corners,  and  an 
imposing  entrance,  embellished  by  moulded  and  pol- 
ished columns  of  Maine  granite  and  buttresses  and 
steps  of  the  same.  The  architect  was  John  H.  Mau- 
rice, and  the  building  committee  was  composed  of 
Thomas  E.  Tutt,  president;  John  R.  Lionberger,  vice- 
president;  J.  L.  Sloss,  treasurer;  and  William  T. 
Barron.  The  main  auditorium  is  eighty-four  by 
eighty-eight  feet  and  forty-one  feet  eight  inches  high. 
The  pews  are  arranged  in  amphitheatrical  form,  and 
the  seating  capacity,  including  a  gallery  at  the  front 
end,  is  fifteen  hundred.  The  windows  are  of  large 
cathedral  style,  rich  in  decoration,  and  several  are 
memorial.  The  organ  is  set  in  a  deep  recess  back  of 
the  pulpit,  under  which  are  the  pastor's  study  and 
reception-room.  The  lecture-room,  under  the  main 
floor,  is  sixty-one  feet  square  and  fourteen  feet  high, 
with  a  seating  capacity  of  five  hundred.  It  can  be 
enlarged  to  dimensions  of  eighty-five  by  eighty-three 
feet  by  opening  folding-doors  and  throwing  into  it  the 
two  rooms  used  for  Bible  classes.  The  infant  Sunday- 
school  class-room  and  the  ladies'  parlors  are  on  this 


1710 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


floor.  The  building  on  Walnut  Street  is  still  owned 
by  the  church,  though  offered  for  sale,  and  is  used 
for  Sunday-school  purposes  and  religious  meetings. 
The  church,  through  its  pastor,  Rev.  J.  H.  Brookes, 
D.D.,  reported  to  the  Synod  of  1882  a  membership  of 
five  hundred  and  twenty-seven,  with  five  hundred  and 
fifty-four  pupils  in  the  Sunday-school,  an  expenditure 
for  the  year  of  ten  thousand  six  hundred  and  twenty- 
two  dollars  for  congregational  and  five  thousand  two 
hundred  and  eleven  dollars  for  benevolent  uses,  and 
an  average  congregational  attendance  of  about  seven 
hundred. 

Glasgow  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church. — This 
congregation,  whose  present  church  edifice  is  situated 
at  the  southeast  corner  of  Glasgow  Avenue  and 
Dickson  Street,  Rev.  William  R.  Henderson,  pastor, 
grew  out  of  a  conversation  held  at  Webster  Groves, 
Sunday,  May  11,  1873,  between  Rev.  Thomas  Mar- 
shall, visiting  that  place  on  ministerial  duty,  and  L. 
E.  Alexander,  a  resident  there,  who  called  the  min- 
ister's attention  to  the  field  now  occupied  by  this 
church  and  assured  him  of  his  support  in  case  the 
enterprise  should  be  attempted.  Thursday  evening 
prayer-meetings  were  established  soon  afterwards 
at  the  "  old  Garrison  mansion,"  corner  of  Page  and 
Easton  Avenues,  and  a  little  later  Laclede  Hall,  cor- 
ner of  Garrison  and  Easton  Avenues,  was  rented, 
the  first  services  being  held  there  on  June  22,  1873, 
with  a  congregation  of  forty  persons.  About  the 
same  number  also  attended  the  Sunday  school  in  the 
afternoon.  On  the  22d  of  March,  1874,  the  church 
was  organized,  with  thirty-seven  members,  as  the  Gar- 
rison Avenue  Church  by  a  committee  of  the  presby- 
tery, consisting  of  Revs.  Thomas  Marshall,  J.  J. 
Marks,  D.D.,  C.  H.  Foote,  D  D.,  and  Elders  E.  A. 
Moore  and  George  W.  Shaw.  Rev.  Thomas  Mar-  ! 
shall,  the  first  pastor,  was  installed  July  5,  1874. 
He  resigned  November,  1881,  having  been  elected 
synodical  missionary  for  the  State  of  Missouri. 
Rev.  William  R.  Henderson,  of  Harrodsburg,  Ky., 
was  called  as  his  successor  in  March,  1882,  and  | 
duly  installed  May  21st.  On  the  2d  of  August, 
1874,  the  congregation  assembled  on  the  lot  it  now 
holds,  and  which  it  had  bought  for  four  thousand  nine 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars  from  Charles  Morgan,  of 
New  York  City.  Services  were  held  and  the  work  of 
building  was  commenced  by  the  pastor  turning  the 
first  spadeful  of  earth,  and  on  Dec.  19,  1875,  the 
church  removed  from  Laclede  Hall  and  held  services 
in  the  basement  of  the  present  chapel,  the  name  of  the 
church  being  then  changed  to  its  present  designation. 
On  the  14th  of  November,  1880,  the  completed 
chapel  was  dedicated,  Revs.  Dr.  Ganse.  Niccolls, 


Marquis,  Rhodes,  Brank,  Brookes,  Porteus,  and 
Allen,  in  addition  to  the  pastor,  taking  part  in  the 
exercises.  The  church  lot  is  eighty  by  one  hundred 
and  eighteen  feet  in  area.  The  basement,  chapel,  and 
furniture  cost  thirteen  thousand  dollars.  The  main 
edifice  will  occupy  the  corner  of  the  lot,  and  will 
probably  be  built  within  the  next  two  or  three  years. 
The  number  of  communicants  now  connected  with 
the  church  is  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five, 
and  the  Sunday-school  has  an  enrolled  attendance  of 
about  three  hundred.  Connected  with  the  regular 
church  organization  are  a  Ladies'  Missionary  Society, 
a  Children's  Missionary  Society,  called  "  Seed-Sowers," 
a  Young  People's  Prayer- Meeting,  etc. 

Westminster  Presbyterian  Church,  southeast  cor- 
ner of  Pestalozzi  and  James  Streets,  Rev.  J.  G.  Reaser, 
pastor,  was  organized  Dec.  31, 1873,  by  Revs.  A.  Van 
der  Lippe  and  I.  N.  Cundall.  and  Elder  J.  E.  Cowan, 
assisted  by  Rev.  J.  W.  Allen.  The  congregation 
worshiped  in  rented  rooms  at  No.  3500  Carondelet 
Avenue  until  their  removal  to  their  present  church 
edifice,  the  corner-stone  of  which  was  laid  Aug.  10, 
1875.  Rev.  W.  Howell  Buchanan  was  the  first 
pastor,  the  present  incumbent  succeeding  him  April 
1,  1880.  The  building  is  of  brick,  about  forty-five 
by  seventy  feet,  and  with  the  lot  is  valued  at  ten 
thousand  dollars.  The  Sunday-school  was  organized 
Oct.  19,  1873,  and  is  now  attended  by  two  hundred 
and  twenty  scholars.  There  are  a  Ladies'  Aid  Society 
and  Young  People's  Society  connected  with  the  church. 
The  congregation  numbers  two  hundred  and  fifty  per- 
sons, and  the  communicants  one  hundred  and  thirty. 
Since  1880  fifty-four  new  members  have  been  added, 
and  the  attendance  at  worship  has  doubled. 

South  Presbyterian  Church. — In  1868  a  mission 
Sunday-school  was  established  at  No.  1322  South  Sec- 
ond Street,  and  a  chapel  was  erected,  which  is  still 
used  by  the  congregation.  The  church,  now  known 
as  the  South  Presbyterian,  Rev.  H.  B.  Holmes,  pas- 
tor, was  organized  in  May,  1875.  It  is  a  chartered 
corporation  and  owns  its  chapel,  which,  however,  occu- 
pies leased  ground.  The  church  has  never  had  a  regu- 
larly settled  pastor,  but  has  been  supplied  by  several 
ministers,  notably  by  Rev.  James  R.  Dunn,  who  re- 
mained four  and  a  half  years,  and  the  present  minister, 
who  has  had  charge  nearly  two  years.  A.  S.  Pettigrew, 
the  leading  elder  of  the  society,  has  been  from  its 
inception  the  main  prop  of  the  struggling  organiza- 
tion, defraying  its  expenses,  paying  the  minister's 
salary,  etc.  The  membership  is  reported  at  about 
sixty,  and  the  Sunday-school  is  attended  during  the 
winter  by  from  two  hundred  to  two  hundred  and 
fifty  scholars,  and  by  half  that  number  in  summer. 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1711 


The  Second  German  Presbyterian  Church,  Grand 
Avenue  and  Thirteenth  Street,  Rev.  Frederick  Auf  der 
Heide,  pastor,  was  organized  in  1876,  and  worships 
in  a  brick  chapel.  It  reports  a  congregation  of  about 
tbirty-six  men,  women,  and  children,  a  membership  of 
twelve,  and  a  Sunday-school  enrollment  of  one  hun- 
dred. 

Lafayette  Park  Presbyterian  Church  (Lafayette 
Church),  situated  on  Missouri  Avenue,  between  Park 
and  Lafayette  Avenues,  Rev.  D.  C.  Marquis,  D.D., 
pastor,  was  organized  in  1878  as  a  colony  from  Wal- 
nut Street  (now  Washington  and  Compton  Avenues) 
Church  by  one  hundred  of  its  members  who  lived  too 
far  from  the  parent  church  to  attend  its  services.  The 
congregation  worships  as  yet  in  the  lecture-room  of  its 
unfinished  church,  and  numbers  over  six  hundred 
members.  The  Park  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church, 
organized  as  a  colony  from  the  Second  Church,  sold 
its  property  (now  the  Park  Avenue  Baptist  Church) 
in  1867,  and  was  merged  into  the  Chouteau  Avenue 
Church,  worshiping  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Chou- 
teau Avenue  and  Eleventh  Street.  The  church 
building  was  erected  in  1867.  It  was  forty  by  sev- 
enty feet  in  size,  built  of  brick,  and  very  neat  and 
attractive  in  appearance.  Its  seating  capacity  was 
about  four  hundred.  Grace  Church,  organized  in 
1868  as  a  colony  from  the  Second  Church,  was  also 
consolidated  with  the  Chouteau  Avenue  Church. 
In  1875  the  property  was  sold  to  the  B'nai  El 
Hebrew  congregation,  and  the  society  dissolved.  Its 
members  worshiped  at  different  churches  until  the 
organization  of  the  Lafayette  Park  Church,  with 
which  most  of  the  members  of  the  three  short-lived 
churches  became  affiliated.  The  membership  of  this 
church  numbers  three  hundred  and  three,  and  its 
Sunday-school  six  hundred  scholars.  Its  expendi- 
tures for  1881  amounted  to  twenty  thousand  nine 
hundred  and  twenty-three  dollars  for  congregational, 
and  six  hundred  and  ninety-seven  dollars  for  benevo- 
lent uses.  The  main  church  building  is  in  process 
of  erection. 

First  German  Presbyterian  Church.  —  This 
church,  situated  at  Autumn  and  Tenth  Streets,  Rev. 
Adalbert  van  der  Lippe,  pastor,  was  organized  May 
18,  1863,  in  the  basement  of  the  Second  Presbyterian 
Church,  on  Fifth  and  Walnut  Streets,  where  the  Tem- 
ple building  now  stands,  by  Rev.  J.  H.  Brookes,  Rev. 
W.  H.  Parks,  and  Elder  A.  G.  Edwards.  The  con- 
gregation held  its  meetings  at  first  in  the  South  Mis- 
sion Sabbath-school,  on  Marion  and  Ninth  Streets. 
The  corner-stone  of  the  lecture-room  of  the  present 
edifice  was  laid  Oct.  14,  1866,  and  of  the  church 
itself  March  1, 1871.  The  latter  was  dedicated  Sept. 


17,  1871.  The  first  and  only  pastor  was  elected  Oct. 
23,  1863.  A  Ladies'  Sewing  Society  was  organized 
March  1,  1864,  and  a  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation Oct.  1,  1872.  The  parish  contains  about  fifty 
families  and  two  hundred  and  seventy-five  people. 
There  are  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  communi- 
cants. The  Sunday-school  has  seventeen  teachers  and 
over  one  hundred  and  fifty  scholars. 

Memorial  Tabernacle. — The  Protestant  Free 
School  Association,  composed  mainly  but  not  exclu- 
sively of  Presbyterians,  was  organized  in  1840,  with 
five  teachers  and  twenty  scholars,  Thomas  F.  Webb, 
superintendent,  and  met  in  a  small  frame  house  at 
Sixth  and  Carr  Streets.  From  this  germ  sprang  the 
Biddle  Market  Mission.  In  1846,  the  owner  of  the 
land  on  which  it  stood  having  objected  to  its  use,  the 
building  was  placed  on  trucks  and  removed  to  a  lot 
at  Fourteenth  and  Carr  Streets,  belonging  to  Judge 
Carr,  and  was  enlarged  to  a  seating  capacity  of  three 
hundred  and  fifty.  On  the  llth  of  July,  1848, 
Thomas  Morrison  was  made  superintendent,  and  under 
his  zealous  care  the  mission  increased  to  such  propor- 
tions that  larger  accommodations  were  rendered  ne- 
cessary, and  Biddle  Market  Hall,  Thirteenth  and 
Biddle  Streets,  was  secured  for  the  use  of  the  mission. 
The  hall  was  enlarged  and  adapted  to  its  new  purpose 
at  a  cost  of  five  thousand  dollars.  After  the  removal 
to  this  location  the  school  continued  to  grow  until 
the  average  attendance  of  scholars  numbered  one  thou- 
sand. On  the  12th  of  July,  1864,  a  congregation 
was  organized  by  Rev.  H.  C.  McCook,  known  as  the 
"  First  Independent  Church  of  St.  Louis,"  the  con- 
stituent members  being,  by  certificate  from  other 
churches,  Thomas  Morrison,  Mrs.  Eliza  Morrison, 
Jennie  Morrison,  J.  Burt  Turner,  Mrs.  Mary  R. 
Turner,  John  Ifinger,  Mrs.  L.  Becker,  Mrs.  M.  Co- 
burn,  Elizabeth  Ferguson,  Mrs.  A.  Kelly,  Mrs.  S. 
McLean,  Mrs.  W.  Noerr,  Ann  M.  Palmer,  Mattie 
Palmer,  Mrs.  J.  L.  Smith,  Mrs.  M.  Urquhart ; 
by  profession  of  faith,  Mrs.  D.  Dickinson,  John  D. 
Eves,  Emma  Fontanna,  Frederick  B.  Haus,  J.  M. 
Key,  Mary  Lowney,  Fannie  Marsh,  Allen  A.  Wat- 
kins,  Mrs.  Amanda  McClure,  Jennie  McFadden, 
Frederick  Plitsch,  Mrs.  Henrietta  Plitsch,  Mrs.  Eliz- 
abeth Schott,  John  Wallace,  Mrs.  Catherine  Wallace. 

Mr.  Morrison  subsequently  sold  his  dwelling-house 
for  six  thousand  dollars,  and  having  added  two  thou- 
sand dollars  to  this  sum,  purchased  the  lot  at  the 
northwest  corner  of  Sixteenth  and  Carr  Streets,  on 
which  the  Tabernacle  now  stands.  The  corner-stone 
was  laid  about  May,  1865,  but  after  Mr.  Morrison 
had  expended  thirty-seven  thousand  dollars  in  the 
erection  of  the  building  it  was  sold,  while  still  unfin- 


1712 


HISTORY  OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


ished,  under  foreclosure  of  a  mortgage,  for  twenty 
thousand  dollars.  At  this  juncture  Carlos  S.  Greeley 
purchased  the  property  from  the  mortgagee,  and  headed  | 
a  subscription  to  finish  the  building.  The  congrega- 
tion of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  and  others 
made  up  the  remainder.  On  Sunday,  Nov.  28,  1880, 
the  Sunday-school  met  for  the  last  time  in  Biddle 
Market  Hall,  and  proceeded  thence  to  the  completed 
Tabernacle,  where  Mr.  Greeley  presented  to  the  trus- 
tees of  the  mission  a  deed  of  gift  of  the  property.  Dr. 
Niccolls,  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  at  the 
same  time  gave  it  its  present  name,  in  memory  of  the 
donor's  deceased  wife.  It  is,  perhaps,  the  largest  and 
finest  building  for  Sunday-school  purposes  in  the 
United  States,  and  is  modeled  after  the  famous  Spur- 
geon  Tabernacle  in  London.  The  building  is  of  brick, 
one  hundred  by  sixty  feet,  and  will  seat  two  thousand 
people.  The  dimensions  of  the  lot  are  one  hundred 
by  seventy-five  feet,  and  the  church  property  is  valued 
at  forty  thousand  dollars.  The  congregation  comprises 
about  one  hundred  families,  with  one  hundred  and 
fifty  communicants,  and  the  average  attendance  at  the 
morning  Sunday-school  is  one  hundred  and  sixty,  and 
that  at  the  afternoon  Biddle  Market  Mission  from  one 
thousand  to  twelve  hundred.  A  Young  People's  Union 
meets  every  Monday  evening,  and  a  prayer-meeting  is 
held  every  Friday  evening.  The  pastors  have  been 
Revs.  H.  C.  McCook,  elected  Feb.  28,  1865  ;  Lemuel 

Jones,  elected  Nov.  7,  1865  ;  Gillum,  date  of 

election  unknown ;  Dr.  Langdon,  elected  in  1868 ; 
William  Porteus,  elected  Jan.  1,  1869,  and  remained 
until  July  1, 1881  ;  and  the  present  incumbent,  Rev. 
William  H.  Clagett,  who  took  charge  July  1,  1881. 

In  addition  to  the  foregoing,  several  mission  Sun- 
day-schools are  conducted  by  the  Presbyterians, 
notably  the  Kossuth  Avenue  Mission,  two  blocks 
west  of  the  Fair  Grounds,  Henry  A.  Smith,  superin- 
tendent, supported  by  the  Second  Presbyterian 
Church,  where  Rev.  William  Porteus,  city  mission- 
ary, holds  Sunday  services.  The  Bethel,  at  Main 
and  Commercial  Streets,  where  the  Sunday-school  is 
attended  by  twenty-two  teachers  and  two  hundred 
scholars,  is  largely  supported  by  Presbyterians,  and 
there  are  other  missions  at  Soulard  Market  and  else- 
where. 

The  First  United  Presbyterian  Church,  situated 
at  the  northwest  corner  of  Twentieth  and  Morgan 
Streets,  was  organized  in  March,  1840,  and  its  first 
place  of  worship  was  at  the  southwest  corner  of  Fifth 
and  Pine  Streets.  The  first  church  edifice,  a  brick 
structure  of  the  Ionic  order,  fifty  by  seventy-five  feet, 
with  a  seating  capacity  of  five  hundred,  was  erected  ! 
about  1841  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Fifth  and  ' 


Locust  Streets,  and  was  subsequently  sold  to  the  Singer 
Sewing-Machine  Company.  The  present  church  at 
Twentieth  and  Morgan  Streets  was  erected  in  1873, 
and  is  a  handsome  structure  of  brick,  the  dimensions 
of  the  lot  being  one  hundred  and  five  feet  six  inches 
by  one  hundred  and  forty-four  feet  seven  inches.  The 
total  cost  of  the  church  property  was  fifty-five  thousand 
dollars.  There  are  seventy-five  families  connected  with 
the  church,  embracing  one  hundred  and  eighty-six 
communicants,  and  the  average  attendance  at  Sunday- 
school  is  eighteen  teachers  and  one  hundred  and 
seventy  scholars.  A  Woman's  Missionary  Society 
and  a  Pastor's  Aid  Society  are  maintained  by  the  con- 
gregation. Rev.  John  A.  Wilson,  appointed  July  28, 
1876,  is  the  present  pastor  of  the  church,  and  his 
predecessors  have  been  Revs.  Henry  M.  Johnston,  ap- 
pointed in  1845  ;  Thomas  M.  Cunningham,  appointed 
Oct.  12,  1852;  John  McLean,  appointed  Sept.  30, 
1857  ;  James  G.  Armstrong,  appointed  Dec.  3, 1863  ; 
and  Henry  W.  Crabb,  appointed  July  6,  1869. 

In  December,  1881,  the  church  established  a  mis- 
sion Sunday-school  on  Grand  Avenue  near  Clark,  in 
a  building  thirty-one  by  fifty-six  feet,  which  is  capable 
of  seating  two  hundred  and  fifty  persons.  The  average 
attendance  is  nine  teachers  and  seventy  scholars.  The 
First  United  is  the  only  congregation  in  the  city  con- 
nected with  the  United  Presbyterian  General  Assembly 
of  the  United  States,  a  large  and  influential  body  dif- 
fering in  minor  matters  of  faith  and  forms  of  worship 
from  other  Presbyterians. 

The  Cumberland  Presbyterians  commenced 
work  in  St.  Louis  in  1848,  an  organization  being 
effected  by  Rev.  J.  G.  White,  under  appointment  of 
the  Board  of  Missions  of  the  denomination.  He  was 
succeeded  in  1860  by  Rev.  L.  C.  Ransom.  The 
church  building  was  situated  at  the  corner  of  Eleventh 
and  St.  Charles  Streets,  but  it  passed  out  of  the  hands 
of  the  denomination  during  the  war,  and  the  congre- 
gation of  about  two  hundred  persons  was  dispersed. 
In  1866,  under  the  leadership  of  Rev.  F.  M.  Gilliam, 
a  second  effort  was  made  to  establish  the  church.  A 
small  congregation  was  gathered,  and  subsequently  a 
consolidation  was  effected  with  a  body  of  independents, 
who  had  built  up  a  large  Sunday-school,  conducted  by 
Thomas  Morrison,  at  Biddle  Market,  making  a  mem- 
bership of  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five.  Mr. 
Gilliam  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  W.  L.  Langdon.  In 
1868  the  independent  element,  being  in  the  majority, 
seceded  and  placed  themselves  under  the  control  of 
the  Northern  Presbyterians.  The  building  which  had 
been  occupied  by  the  congregation  was  subsequently 
sold  to  pay  a  debt  of  twenty  thousand  dollars,  and  the 
Cumberland  Presbyterians  lost  over  eight  thousand 


RELIGIOUS  DENOMINATIONS. 


1713 


dollars.  The  Northern  Presbyterians  still  control  the 
seceding  congregation,  which  occupied  the  building 
now  known  as  Memorial  Tabernacle. 

Lucas  Avenue  Cumberland  Presbyterian 
Church. — In  1874  a  third  attempt  on  the  part  of  the 
Board  of  Missions  resulted  in  the  organization  of  this 
church,  with  Rev.  C.  H.  Bell  as  pastor.  Friends  of 
the  enterprise  in  the  city  and  surrounding  country  con- 
tributed seventeen  thousand  dollars,  and  the  present  lot, 
situated  on  Lucas  Avenue,  at  the  corner  of  Channing 
Avenue,  was  purchased  and  the  building  erected. 
The  latter,  all  the  property  being  free  from  debt,  was 
consecrated  Dec.  2,  1877.  The  organization,  consist- 
ing of  twenty-eight  members,  was  perfected  Feb.  6, 
1878.  Mr.  Bell,  owing  to  impaired  health  and  the 
necessary  duties  of  his  office  as  president  of  the  gen- 
eral Board  of  Missions,  resigned  the  pastorate  Feb.  1, 
1881,  and  the  Rev.  W.  H.  Black  was  called  in  his 
place.  The  church  is  self-sustaining  and  prosperous, 
and  the  enrolled  membership  numbers  eighty-eight. 
The  pupils  enrolled  in  the  Sunday-school  number  one 
hundred  and  thirty-five. 

First  German  Cumberland  Presbyterian 
Church  (Gethsemane  Congregation). — This  con- 
gregation was  organized  Dec.  13,  1857,  in  Biddle 
Market  Hall,  by  its  present  pastor,  the  Rev.  Fred- 
erick Lack.  The  first  church  building  stood  on  the 
northwest  corner  of  Fourteenth  and  Chambers 
Streets,  and  was  dedicated  Dec.  25,  1857.  In 
August,  1866,  the  congregation  removed  to  the 
northwest  corner  of  Jefferson  and  Wash  Streets,  and 
erected  a  one-story  brick  building  seating  about  three 
hundred  persons.  In  August,  1879,  having  sold  this 
property,  the  congregation  established  itself  at  the 
northeast  corner  of  Sullivan  Avenue  and  Twentieth 
Street.  There  are  fifteen  families  in  the  parish  and 
sixty  regular  communicants.  The  Sunday-school  is 
attended  by  seven  teachers  and  over  one  hundred 
pupils. 

The  Second  German  Cumberland  Presbyterian 
Church. — This  congregation,  which  worships  at  the 
southwest  corner  of  Eighteenth  and  Montgomery 
Streets,  was  organized  during  the  civil  war.  Rev. 
Charles  Landel  having  been  forced  to  leave  his 
charge  in  the  interior  of  the  State,  owing  to  the 
condition  of  affairs  there,  removed  to  St.  Louis  and 
established  a  school  in  the  market-house  at  Eighteenth 
and  Warren  Streets,  now  the  parochial  school  of  the 
Catholic  Church  of  the  Sacred  Heart.  In  1867  he 
organized  the  present  congregation.  After  a  time 
the  school  was  abandoned.  The  congregation  is 
composed  of  about  ten  families,  with  eighteen  regu- 
lar communicants.  The  Sunday-school,  which  is 


known  as  the  Anchor  Band  of  Hope,  No.  5,  is  con- 
ducted by  Messrs.  Frederick  Ingalls  and  H.  Baker, 
with  fifty  scholars.  Rev.  William  Goessling  is  pastor 
of  the  church. 

Reformed  Presbyterian  Church. — This  church, 
situated  at  the  northwest  corner  of  Twenty-first  Street 
and  Gamble  Avenue,  Rev.  J.  R.  Hill,  pastor,  is  the 
only  representative  in  St.  Louis  of  this  wing  of  the 
denomination.  The  building,  a  two-story  brick  struc- 
ture forty-five  by  ninety  feet,  was  erected  in  1854  and 
seated  about  three  hundred  and  fifty  persons.  The 
Rev.  Joseph  McCracken  was  pastor  of  the  church  in 
1868.  The  services  are  attended  by  about  sixty  men, 
women,  and  children,  and  the  Sunday-school  by  about 
fifty  scholars.  The  church  also  supports  the  McKee 
Mission,  on  New  Manchester  road,  and  a  colored 
mission  at  Nineteenth  and  Morgan  Streets,  which  is 
attended  by  eight  teachers  and  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  pupils. 

PROTESTANT    EPISCOPAL   CHURCHES. 

Diocese  of  Missouri. — The  first  Protestant  Epis- 
copal parish  organized  west  of  the  Mississippi  River 
was  founded  by  the  Rev.  John  Ward,  of  Lexington, 
Ky.,  in  the  autumn  of  1819.  Mr.  Ward  arrived  at 
St.  Louis  in  the  latter  part  of  September,  but  having 
been  prostrated  by  sickness  was  unable  to  officiate 
until  some  weeks  later.  In  the  Missouri  Gazette  of 
October  6th  it  was  announced  that  Mr.  Ward  would 
preach  at  the  Baptist  Church  on  the  following  Sun- 
day, but  the  first  regular  service  was  held  on  the  24th 
of  October,  in  a  one-story  frame  building  on  the 
southwest  corner  of  Second  and  Walnut  Streets, 
which  was  also  occasionally  used  as  a  court-house  and 
as  a  dancing-room.  Mr.  Ward  officiated,  and  six 
persons  composed  his  congregation,  only  two  of  whom 
are  said  to  have  been  supplied  with  prayer-books  and 
prepared  to  respond.  These  two  individuals  were 
James  Clemens,  Jr.,  and  Joseph  V.  Gamier,  both  of 
whom  were  made  members  of  the  first  vestry  that  was 
formed.  This  was  the  first  public  service  by  a  clergy- 
man of  the  Episcopal  Church  west  of  the  Mississippi 
of  which  any  record  remains. 

A  subscription-paper,  drawn  up  by  Col.  Thomas  F. 
Riddick,  and  bearing  date  Nov.  1,  1819,  was  soon 
after  circulated.  It  read  as  follows :  "  We,  the  under- 
signed, taking  into  view  the  great  benefits  that  our- 
selves and  our  families  would  derive  from  the  estab- 
lishment of  an  Episcopal  Church  in  the  town  of  St. 
Louis,  do  hereby  form  ourselves  into  a  congregation, 
and  bind  ourselves  to  pay  over  to  such  person  or  per- 
sons as  shall  be  appointed  by  the  vestry,  hereafter  to 
be  chosen,  all  such  sums  of  money  as  shall  be  found 


1714 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


opposite  to  our  names,  to  be  applied  towards  the  sup- 
port of  the  church  for  one  year  from  this  date."  This 
document  obtained  forty-seven  signatures.  These, 
with  the  amount  subscribed  by  each,  were  the  fol- 
lowing : 

Thomas  F.  Riddick,  $100;  S.  Hammond,  $100 ;  John  Hall, 
$100;  A.  Nelson,  $50;  D.  B.  Hoffman,  $50;  J.  Clemens,  Jr., 
$100;  F.  Dent,  $50;  Clement  March,  $50  ;  J.  R.  Ober,  $50;  R. 
Wash,  $50;  Wilson  P.  Hunt,  $50 ;  William  Rector,  $50 ;  Henry 
Von  Phul,  $50 ;  William  Stokes,  $50 ;  J.  V.  Gamier,  $50 ;  W. 
Christy,  $50;  M.  Wherry,  $15;  R.  H.  Price,  $60;  Theo.  Hunt, 
$50 ;  A.  Rutgers,  $50 ;  D.  C.  Boss,  $30 ;  W.  Carr  Lane,  $10 ; 
Abijah  Hull,  $15 ;  William  S.  Hamilton,  $25  :  Josiah  Bright, 
$25;  J.  W.  Hoyt,  $10;  Peter  Ferguson,  $10;  Rufus  Pettibone, 
$10;  James  Kennerly,  $25;  John  Nicholson,  $10;  William  H. 
Ashley,  $20;  A.  McNair,  $50;  Thomas  H.  Benton,  $50;  J.  G. 
Lindell,  $10;  A.  V.  Vaughan,  $10;  H.  L.  Hoffman,  $10;  Na- 
thaniel Sandburn,  $5 ;  James  Loper,  $10  ;  Joseph  M.  Yard,  $10  ; 
I.  Eckstein,  $5;  Theo.  L.  McGill,  $5;  D.  V.  Walker,  $10;  Wil- 
liam Clark,  $34:  B.  G.  Farrar,  $50;  John  O'Fallon,  $50;  Elias 
Rector,  $20 ;  Peter  Haldeman,  $20. 

Among  these  are  many  names  that  are  prominent 
in  the  history  of  the  city  and  State.  The  move- 
ment led  to  the  organization  of  the  parish  of  Christ 
Church,  of  which  the  Rev.  Mr.  Ward  continued  in 
charge  a  little  over  one  year,  after  which,  for  several 
years  only  irregular  services  were  held.  In  1824-25, 
Rev.  Thomas  Horrell  visited  and  held  services  in 
Madison,  Washington,  Jefferson,  and  Cape  Girardeau 
Counties,  and  reported  that  "  respectable  congrega- 
tions attended,  and  many  came  to  partake  of  the  sac- 
raments." In  December,  1825,  he  became  rector  of 
Christ  Church.  In  1831,  Rev.  L.  H.  Corson  held 
services  in  Manchester  and  other  places  in  St.  Louis 
County,  and  reported  that  he  had  found  a  number  of 
church  people,  and  had  baptized  many  children. 

In  1835  the  attention  of  the  vestry  of  Christ 
Church  was  directed  to  the  fact  that  the  Rev.  Jackson 
Kemper,  of  Connecticut,  had  been  selected  as  the 
missionary  Bishop  of  the  Northwest,  comprising  the 
States  of  Missouri  and  Indiana,  and  as  it  seemed 
probable  that  St.  Louis  would  be  chosen  as  his  place 
of  residence,  it  was  decided  to  call  him  to  the  rector- 
ship of  Christ  Church.  A  call  was  therefore  extended 
to  him  on  the  20th  of  September,  1835,  and  he  was 
consecrated  bishop  on  the  25th  of  the  same  month. 
In  their  letter  to  Bishop  White,  of  Pennsylvania,  an- 
nouncing the  decision  of  the  vestry  with  regard  to 
Bishop  Kemper,  the  wardens  of  Christ  Church,  Wilson 
P.  Hunt  and  Christopher  Saunderson,  stated  that 
they  had  invited  the  bishop  to  become  their  rector 
with  the  understanding  that  the  General  Missionary 
Society  would  furnish  him  an  assistant  minister. 
They  requested  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Minard  be  ap- 
pointed such  assistant.  This  request  was  granted, 


and  Mr.  Minard  reached  St.  Louis  a  month  in  ad- 
vance of  Bishop  Kemper.  On  the  5th  of  October, 
Messrs.  Doan  and  English  were  appointed  a  com- 
mittee to  provide  suitable  lodgings  for  the  accommo- 
dation of  the  rector  and  his  assistant  upon  their 
arrival.  Bishop  Kemper,  accompanied  by  his  friend, 
the  Rev.  S.  R.  Johnson,  started  from  Philadelphia 
on  the  3d  of  November,  and  arrived  in  St.  Louis 
some  time  in  December.  Soon  after  the  bishop  took 
charge  of  this  portion  of  his  extensive  diocese 
services  were  begun  at  St.  Charles,  Boonville,  Jef- 
ferson City,  Fayette,  Lexington,  Palmyra,  and  Han- 
nibal, in  several  of  which  places  parishes  were  organ- 
ized and  clergymen  settled.  At  a  meeting  of  the 
vestry  in  1838  a  resolution  was  offered  by  Josiah 
Spalding  to  the  effect  that  "  the  vestry  highly  appre- 
ciate the  services  of  Bishop  Kemper  at  the  West,  and 
particularly  in  this  church,  and  that  they  should 
deeply  regret  his  removal  from  this  station  should  he 
accept  of  his  appointment  as  Bishop  of  Maryland." 
Bishop  Kemper  remained  at  his  post,  but  on  the  21st 
of  September,  1839,  he  tendered  his  resignation  as 
rector  of  the  parish  in  consequence  of  the  pressure 
of  his  episcopal  duties.  This  resignation  was  respect- 
fully declined  by  the  unanimous  vote  of  the  vestry. 
At  this  time  a  second  parish  (St.  Paul's)  had  been 
established  in  St.  Louis.  On  the  20th  of  April,  1840, 
Bishop  Kemper  renewed  his  resignation,  which  was 
accepted  with  expressions  of  regret  by  the  vestry,  who 
thanked  him  "  for  his  unwearied  endeavors  to  pro- 
mote the  welfare  and  prosperity  of  our  parish  in  a 
season  of  much  difficulty  and  embarrassment,"  and 
assured  him  "  that  as  churchmen  we  do  entertain  the 
most  lively  sense  of  the  self-denying  devotedness  of 
Bishop  Kemper  to  the  great  cause  of  the  church,  and 
that  with  pleasure  we  do  attest  her  gradual  and  effect- 
ual growth  under  his  auspices."  In  March,  1840, 
just  previous  to  Bishop  Kemper's  resignation,  at  an 
informal  meeting  of  a  few  clergymen  and  laymen,  it 
was  determined  to  call  a  primary  convention  for  the 
purpose  of  organizing  the  different  parishes  of  the 
State  into  a  regular  diooese.  On  Monday,  Nov.  16, 
1840,  the  convention  assembled  at  Christ  Church. 
Bishop  Kemper  presided,  and  eight  clergymen  were 
reported  as  entitled  to  seats,  all  of  whom  were  pres- 
ent. Four  parishes  were  represented  by  lay  delegates 
also, — Christ  Church  and  St.  Paul's,  St.  Louis ;  St. 
Paul's,  Palmyra;  and  St.  Paul's,  St.  Charles.  At 
this  time  Grace  Church,  Jefferson  City,  and  Christ 
Church,  Boonville,  were  organized.  A  constitution 
and  canons  were  adopted,  and  the  diocese  formally 
established. 

Bishop  Kemper  continued  to  administer  its  affairs 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1715 


until  1843.  His  duties  had  then  become  so  extensive 
and  burdensome  that  he  was  compelled  to  ask  that  a 
portion  of  the  field  be  assigned  to  another.  He  pro- 
posed that  the  clergy  of  the  diocese  and  the  vestry  of 
Christ  Church  should  select  a  clergyman  agreeable  to 
them  respectively  as  bishop  and  rector  of  the  church, 
and  then  petition  the  General  Convention  to  appoint 
him  bishop  for  the  diocese  of  Missouri.  In  accord- 
ance with  this  plan  the  Diocesan  Convention  which 
met  at  Christ  Church  parsonage  Sept.  27,  1843,  de- 
cided to  recommend  the  Rev.  C.  S.  Hawks,  of  Buffalo, 
N.  Y.,  for  bishop.  Dr.  Hawks,  the  first  Bishop  of 
Missouri,  was  consecrated  Oct.  20, 1844.  Having  been 
elected  rector  of  Christ  Church,  he  assumed  the  pastor- 
ate in  January,  1844,  and  continued  to  act  as  rector 
in  addition  to  the  exercises  of  his  episcopal  functions. 
Bishop  Hawks  remained  in  pastoral  charge  until  Feb. 
1,  1854.  When  he  assumed  charge  of  the  diocese 
there  were  in  the  State  only  seven  resident  Episcopal 
clergymen  and  only  three  church  buildings, — Christ 
and  St.  Paul  in  St.  Louis,  and  one  at  Jefferson  City. 
When  Bishop  Hawks  died  (April  19,  1868)  there 
were  in  the  diocese  twenty- four  clergymen  canon ically 
resident,  nineteen  church  buildings,  and  six  parson- 
ages, and  there  had  been  confirmed  during  his  epis- 
copate three  thousand  and  sixty-one  persons.  On  May 
29,  1868,  the  Diocesan  Convention  elected  as  bishop 
of  the  diocese  Right  Rev.  D.  S.  Tuttle,  D.D.,  then 
missionary  Bishop  of  Montana,  but  he  declined  the 
office.  At  a  special  convention  called  Sept.  4, 1868, 
and  held  in  St.  George's  Church,  Rev.  Charles  F. 
Robertson,  D.D.,  of  New  York,  was  elected.  He 
was  consecrated  second  Bishop  of  Missouri,  Oct.  25, 
1868,  and  officiated  for  the  first  time  in  the  State  in 
Christ  Church,  Nov.  8,  1868.  There  were  at  that 
time  reported  eighteen  hundred  communicants  in  the 
diocese.  The  years  since  have  been  marked  by  great 
vigor  and  growth.  In  the  spring  of  1869  was  pur- 
chased, at  a  cost  of  about  eighteen  thousand  dollars, 
the  handsome  episcopal  residence  at  No.  2727  Chest- 
nut Street.  In  1882  there  were  sixty-five  clergymen  j 
and  nearly  six  thousand  communicants  in  the  diocese,  ! 
seventy-one  church  buildings,  and  eleven  rectories,  i 
There  have  been  five  thousand  nine  hundred  and  six  i 
confirmations.  In  St.  Louis  there  are  fifteen  parishes  i 
and  missions  and  fourteen  church  buildings.  The 
church  property  in  the  diocese  is  valued  at  something 
more  than  one  million  dollars.  During  the  last  few 
years  between  two  and  three  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars of  church  debts  have  been  paid  off,  and  about 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars  are  annually  raised  for 
church  purposes.  There  are  two  general  charitable 
institutions  under  the  care  of  the  church  (both  in  St. 


Louis), — the  Orphans'  Home  and  St.  Luke's  Hospital ; 
there  are  also  the  School  of  the  Good  Shepherd  for 
girls  in  St.  Louis,  and  St.  Paul's  College,  Palmyra. 
The  latter  owed  its  origin  to  George  R.  H.  Clark,  a 
parishioner  of  Christ  Church,  who  in  1844  presented 
to  the  diocese  three  hundred  and  thirty-three  acres  of 
land  in  Montgomery  County,  Mo.,  for  the  purpose  of 
establishing  a  mission,  which  was  named  after  the 
father  of  the  donor,  "  The  Governor  Clark  Mission." 
A  mission  school  was  established  in  1848,  and  was 
subsequently  transformed  into  St.  Paul's  College. 
During  the  civil  war  (in  1862)  the  college  passed  out 
of  the  hands  of  the  diocese,  but  was  repurchased  by 
the  church  authorities  in  1869,  and  the  preparatory 
department  was  carried  on  until  1879,  when  the 
school  was  sold,  to  be  continued  as  a  private  enter- 
prise. St.  James'  Academy,  Macon,  established  in 
1876  by  the  Rev.  Ethelbert  Talbot,  is  also  conducted 
under  church  auspices,  and  there  are  several  parochial 
schools. 

Jackson  Kemper,  D.D.,  was  the  first  missionary 
bishop  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church.  He  was 
born  in  Pleasant  Valley,  Dutchess  Co.,  N.  Y.,  Dec.  24, 
1789,  and  died  at  Delafield,  Waukesha  Co.,  Wis.,  May 
24,  1870.  He  was  ordained  deacon  in  1811,  and 
priest  in  1812.  For  twenty  years  after  his  ordination 
he  labored  in  the  ministry  in  Philadelphia,  but  sub- 
sequently removed  to  Connecticut,  and  while  rector 
of  a  church  at  Norwalk,  in  that  State,  was  consecrated 
(Sept.  25,  1835)  missionary  Bishop  of  the  Northwest 
(Missouri  and  Indiana).  For  many  years  he  resided  at 
St.  Louis,  acting  until  April  20,  1840,  as  rector  of 
Christ  Church,  but  his  diocesan  charge  having  devel- 
oped more  rapidly  than  was  expected,  he  requested 
the  Diocesan  Convention  to  relieve  him  by  the  erection 
of  Missouri  into  a  separate  See  and  the  appointment 
of  another  bishop.  Accordingly  on  the  27th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1843,  the  convention  of  the  diocese  determined 
to  request  the  General  Convention,  "  by  and  with 
the  consent  of  the  Right  Rev.  Jackson  Kemper, 
D.D.,  to  appoint  a  bishop  for  the  diocese  of  Missouri." 
This  request  was  granted,  and  the  Rev.  Cicero  S. 
Hawks,  of  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  as  heretofore  stated,  was 
appointed  bishop.  After  Bishop  Hawks  took  charge 
of  the  diocese  Bishop  Kemper  was  transferred  to  the 
missionary  See  comprised  in  the  States  of  Wisconsin, 
Iowa,  Minnesota,  Kansas,  and  Nebraska.  In  1854  he 
wa^  elected  Bishop  of  Wisconsin,  and  in  1868  he  at- 
tended the  General  Council  of  bishops  in  London. 

Rev.  Cicero  S.  Hawks,  D.D.,  first  BLsliop  of  Mis- 
souri, was  born  in  Newborn,  N.  C.,  May  26,  1812, 
and  was  the  youngest  of  nine  children.  He  graduated 
from  the  University  of  North  Carolina  with  the  de- 


1716 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


gree  of  A.B.,  and  studied  law  in  Newbern,  and 
later  in  New  York,  but  decided  to  abandon  the 
law  and  enter  the  ministry.  He  studied  theology 
under  his  celebrated  brother,  Rev.  Dr.  F.  L.  Hawks, 
of  New  York ;  was  ordained  deacon  in  December, 
1834,  by  Right  Rev.  B.  T.  Onderdonk,  D.D.,  Bishop 
of  New  York  ;  was  soon  after  ordained  priest  by  the 
same  bishop,  and  was  appointed  rector  of  Saugerties 
parish,  Ulster  Co.,  N.  Y..  where  he  remained  two 
years.  He  was  next  rector  of  Trinity  Church,  Buffalo, 
until  December,  1843.  On  Sept.  27,  1843,  the  con- 
vention assembled  in  Christ  Church  parsonage,  St. 
Louis  (Bishop  Kemper,  of  Missouri  and  Indiana, 
presiding),  adopted  resolutions  asking  the  General 
Convention  to  give  Missouri  a  bishop.  It  was  also 
decided  that  the  following  communication  should  be 
addressed  to  Bishop  Kemper,  and  signed  by  all  the 
clerical  and  lay  delegates  present :  "  We,  the  under- 
signed, members  of  the  convention  of  the  diocese  of 
Missouri,  take  the  liberty  of  making  known  to  you 
our  preference  for  the  Rev.  Cicero  S.  Hawks,  rector  of 
Trinity  Church,  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  as  bishop  of  the  said 
diocese,  and  request  that  you  will  inform  the  General 
Convention  that  he,  the  said  Cicero  S.  Hawks,  is  one 
whom  the  said  diocese  would  prefer  for  that  office.1' 

This  action  was  taken  in  the  convention  in  an- 
swer to  a  communication  from  the  vestry  of  Christ 
Church,  presented  by  Alexander  Hamilton,  which 
read  as  follows : 

"  Resolved,  That,  as  a  measure  of  expediency,  and  one  which 
is  highly  desirable  under  the  peculiar  circumstances  in  which 
this  church  and  the  diocese  are  at  present  situated,  we,  the 
vestry  of  Christ  Church,  are  perfectly  willing,  and  do  hereby 
consent  to  call  as  rector  thereof  the  Rev.  Cicero  S.  Hawks,  of 
Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  provided,  however,  that  the  convention  of  this 
diocese,  now  in  session,  shall  unite  in  procuring  or  applying  for 
his  appointment  to  the  episcopate  thereof,  under  the  canon  for 
that  purpose,  Sec.  1,  Can.  1,  of  1838." 

Accordingly,  Dr.  Hawks  assumed  the  rectorship  of 
Christ  Church  on  Jan.  1, 1844,  and  at  the  next  meet- 
ing of  the  General  Convention  was  consecrated  and 
appointed  Bishop  of  Missouri,  Oct.  20,  1844. 

In  his  first  report  to  the  convention  Bishop  Hawks 
said, — 

"  I  took  charge  of  this  parish  on  the  1st  of  Janu- 
ary, 1844,  and  found  it  in  a  sad  condition.  ...  It 
was  at  that  time  embarrassed  with  a  debt  of  seventeen 
thousand  dollars.  I  thank  God  that  the  parish  has 
been  able  and  willing  to  liquidate  a  large  portion  of 
this  debt.  My  trust  is  that  before  winter  the  amount 
of  our  indebtedness  may  not  exceed  five  thousand 
dollars." 

As  early  as  1847  measures  were  taken  in  the  con- 
vention to  relieve  the  bishop  from  a  parochial  charge, 


and  in  answer  to  a  communication  from  the  standing 
committee  of  the  diocese  it  was,  on  the  part  of  the 
vestry  of  Christ  Church, 

"Resolved,  That  the  vestry  of  this  church  will  pay  for  the 
current  year  for  the  support  of  the  Bishop  of  Missouri  the  sum 
of  fifty  dollars;  and  the  members  of  this  vestry  will,  as  mem- 
bers of  Christ  Church,  use  their  influence  to  have  the  same 
sum  paid  annually  by  this  church  until  sufficient  money  can  be 
raised  by  other  means  for  the  support  of  the  bishop  of  this  dio- 

1   cese.     This  resolution  to  take  effect  when  the  bishop  ceases  to 

|  be  rector  of  Christ  Church." 

It  was  found,  however,  in   the  weak  state  of  the 
;  diocese,    utterly    impossible    to    raise    any    sufficient 
amount  for  the  bishop's  support. 

In  1867,  Bishop  Hawks  experienced  the  first  shock 
of  the  disease  which,  in  the  year  following,  proved 
fatal.  On  April  5, 1868,  he  attended  public  worship 
for  the  last  time,  and  was  present  in  the  chancel  of 
Christ  Church  while  Bishop  Vail,  of  Kansas,  then  on 
a  visit,  administered  confirmation,  but  he  took  no  part 
in  the  service.  His  last  attack  occurred  on  Saturday 
evening,  April  18th,  from  which  time  he  was  uncon- 
scious till  he  died,  at  6.30  P.M.  on  Sunday,  April  19, 
1868.  On  the  23d  the  remains  were  taken  to  Christ 
Church,  where  they  lay  in  state  until  the  following 
day,  when  the  funeral  services  were  held.  Bishops 
Whitehouse,  Lee,  and  Vail  officiated,  and  Bishop 
Whitehouse  pronounced  the  funeral  discourse.  The 
standing  committee  were  present  as  mourners,  and 
the  remaining  clergy  of  the  diocese  as  honorary  pall- 
bearers. 

In  February,  1835,  Dr.  Hawks  married  his  first 
wife,  a  Miss  Jones,  of  Hillsboro',  N.  C.,  by  whom  he 
had  one  daughter.  This  lady  died  in  July,  1855, 
and  her  child,  Isabel,  died  in  June,  1864.  The 
bishop's  second  wife  was  Ada,  daughter  of  Judge 
Abiel  Leonard,  of  Howard  County,  who  survived  him 
with  two  children.  In  1849,  during  the  cholera 
scourge  in  St.  Louis,  the  parishioners  of  Christ 
Church,  appreciating  his  self-sacrificing  services,  pre- 
sented him  with  three  thousand  dollars  in  money, 
and  afterwards  on  the  same  account  the  property  on 
Paul  Street  where  he  lived. 

Bishop  Hawks  was  a  man  of  recognized  learning 
and  piety,  and  one  of  the  ablest  administrators  of  his 
period  in  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church.  As  a 
preacher  he  was  greatly  admired,  and  in  private  life 
was  extremely  popular.  Besides  furnishing  reviews 
and  contributions  to  various  periodicals,  he  edited  the 
"  Boys  and  Girls  Library"  of  the  Messrs.  Harper,  of 
New  York,  and  the  "  Library  for  My  Young  Country- 
men," published  by  Appleton  &  Co.,  the  latter  in- 
cluding "  Uncle  Phelps'  Conversations  for  the  Young," 
several  volumes  of  which  were  from  his  pen,  as  was 


- 


C.J. 


RELIGIOUS  DENOMINATIONS.  1717 


• 

- 


• 

• 


x  id)     i.o 


iuy 


1718 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


relics.  The  first  vestry,  elected  Dec.  6,  1819,  was 
composed  of  Thomas  F.  Iliddick  and  Wilson  P.  Hunt, 
wardens;  Samuel  Hammond,  Henry  Von  Phul, 
James  Kennerly,  James  Clemens,  Jr.,  William  Stokes, 
Joseph  V.  Gamier,  A.  Rutgers,  and  Frederick  Dent. 
The  first  meeting  of  the  vestry  was  held  Jan.  10, 
1820,  on  which  occasion  Rev.  John  Ward,  of  Lex- 
ington, Ky.,  was  called  to  the  rectorship  at  a  salary  of 
one  thousand  dollars  per  annum,  to  date  from  Novem- 
ber 1st  previous.  He  remained  until  April,  1821,  and 
then  returned  to  Lexington,  where,  with  his  wife,  he 
conducted  a  young  ladies'  seminary  with  great  suc- 
cess. He  died  at  Lexington  in  his  eighty-first  year, 
and  was  buried  May  3,  1860.  The  infant  parish  had 
worshiped  in  a  one-story  frame  building  on  the 
southwest  corner  of  Second  and  Walnut  Streets, 
which,  known  as  "  the  long  building,"  had  been  used 
for  various  purposes,  among  others  as  a  blacksmith- 
shop,  and  which  it  had  suitably  fitted  up;  but  on 
being  abandoned  by  its  pastor,  Mr.  Ward,  the  congre- 
gation became  disorganized,  and  on  Aug.  21,  1821, 
formally  surrendered  its  place  of  meeting,  and  sold  its 
pulpit,  desk,  and  pews  to  the  Methodist  Society. 
During  nearly  four  years  no  Protestant  Episcopal 
service  was  held  in  St.  Louis,  save  on  the  occasion  of 
chance  visits  of  clergymen  from  abroad. 

Among  those  who  thus  officiated  was  the  Rev. 
Amos  Baldwin,  of  Western  New  York.  In  the  fall 
of  1825,  Rev.  Thomas  Horrell,1  of  Virginia,  who 
had  been  engaged  in  missionary  work  in  various  parts 
of  Missouri,  visited  St.  Louis,  and  collected  the  scat- 
tered elements  of  the  parish.  A  new  vestry  was 
elected  Dec.  2,  1825,  and  on  Jan.  31,  1826,  an  ar- 
rangement was  effected  for  holding  services  alternately 
with  the  Methodists  in  their  meeting-house,  and  after- 
wards occasionally  also  in  the  Baptist  Church,  corner 
of  Third  and  Market  Streets.  About  this  time  James 
Clemens,  Jr.,  at  the  request  of  the  parishioners,  made 
a  journey  to  the  Eastern  States  with  the  view  of  col- 
lecting the  means  for  the  erection  of  a  church.  He 
called  upon  Bishop  White,  in  Philadelphia,  but  the 
bishop's  response  to  his  appeal  was  so  discouraging 
that  he  made  no  further  effort.  On  the  24th  of  June, 
1826,  it  was  decided  to  purchase  a  lot  for  four  hun- 
dred dollars  from  Messrs.  Lucas  &  Hunt,  on  the  cor- 
ner of  Third  and  Chestnut  Streets,  to  contract  with 


1  Thomas  Horrell  was  born  in  Calvert  County,  Md.,  Sept.  19, 
1789,  was  educated  at  Charlotte  llall,  and  entered  the  ministry 
at  the  age  of  twenty- five  years.  He  served  as  a  minister  in 
Maryland  and  Virginia,  removed  to  Jackson,  Mo.,  in  1824,  and 
thence  to  St.  Louis  in  1825.  He  removed  to  Cincinnati,  Ohio, 
in  1831,  and  afterwards  to  Columbia,  Tenn.,  returned  to  St. 
Louis  in  1842,  and  died  there  in  February,  1850. 


Messrs.  Laveille  &  Mcrton  for  the  erection  upon  it  of 
a  church  building,  and  to  invite  Mr.  Horrell  to  become 
permanently  rector  of  the  parish.  The  building  cost 
about  seven  thousand  dollars,  and  was  completed  in 
1829.  It  is  described  as  having  been  "  a  neat  little 
edifice  in  the  centre  of  the  city,  but  looking  more 
like  an  academy  than  a  church,  having  forty-eight 
pews  capable  of  seating  two  hundred  and  fifty  per- 
sons, with  a  gallery  at  one  end,  in  which  is  a  most 
excellent  organ."  It  is  recorded  that  to  the  liberality 
of  James  Clemens,  Jr.,  and  to  the  pecuniary  sac- 
rifices of  the  rector  the  erection  of  the  building  was 
mainly  due.  On  the  10th  of  November,  1829,  Wil- 
liam H.  Ashley,  H.  L.  Hoffmann,  and  Thomas  Biddle, 
a  committee  of  the  vestry,  announced  that  they  would 
"  offer  for  sale  on  Thursday  morning  at  ten  o'clock, 
on  the  premises,  the  pews  in  the  Episcopal  Church  of 
St.  Louis,  at  the  corner  of  Chestnut  and  Third.  The 
church,  which  is  handsomely  finished,  will  be  opened 
on  that  day,  and  the  terms  of  sale  then  made  known." 
This  is  believed  to  have  been  the  first  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  erected  west  of  the  Mississippi. 

Mr.  Horrell  resigned  March  22,  1831.  Rev.  Mr. 
Davis,  a  school-teacher,  was  called  April  25,  1831, 
and  served  three  months.  Rev.  L.  H.  Corson,  deacon 
and  missionary,  served  about  one  year.  Up  to  the 
expiration  of  Mr.  Corson's  term  of  service  there  had 
been  no  parish  register,  and  no  record  of  baptisms, 
marriages,  or  funerals.  In  a  letter  of  the  vestry 
dated  March  3, 1832,  to  Rev.  N.  H..Cobb,  afterwards 
Bishop  of  Alabama,  inviting  him  to  the  rectorship  of 
the  church,  it  was  stated  that  there  were  at  that  time 
about  thirty  communicants. 

On  the  4th  of  September,  1832,  the  Rev.  William 
Chaderton,2  of  Philadelphia,  was  called  to  the  rec- 
torship. He  at  once  opened  a  parish  register  in 

1  William  Chaderton  was  born  in  the  island  of  Barbadoes  in 
1788,  was  graduated  at  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  Scotland, 
and  was  ordained  deacon  in  1813,  and  soon  after  priest.  He  re- 
turned to  the  West  Indies,  and  held  appointments  successively  in 
the  islands  of  Antigua  and  Tortosa,  then  came  to  the  United 
States,  and  was  for  a  time  assistant  to  Bishop  White,  of  Philadel- 
phia. He  became  rector  of  Christ  Church,  St.  Louis,  in  October, 
1832,  resigned  June  8,  1835,  went  to  Northampton,  Mass.,  and 
towards  the  close  of  1836  was  appointed  by  the  Bishop  of  Mon- 
treal to  the  chaplaincy  of  St.  Peter's  in  Quebec,  where  he  died 
July  15,  1847.  He  was  a  man  of  rare  zeal  and  devotion,  but 
also  of  an  equally  rare,  almost  morbid,  sensitiveness  of  con- 
science. He  was  obliged  to  leave  the  Danish  island  of  Santa 
Cruz  because  he  refused  to  accept  unworthy  persons  as  spon- 
sors, preferring  to  wander  as  a  poor  missionary  in  a  strange 
land.  He  also  left  Christ  Church  in  St.  Louis  because  he 
feared  his  ministrations  were  not  productive  of  sufficient  results, 
although  the  vestry  were  satisfied  with  him,  his  parishioners 
loved  him,  and  he  had  infused  new  life  into  the  parish  and  in- 
creased the  number  of  its  communicants  from  thirty  to  seventy. 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1719 


proper  form,  and  made  suitable  records  of  all  his  offi- 
cial acts.  Mr.  Chaderton  entered  upon  the  discharge 
of  his  duties  in  October,  1832,  and  resigned  June  8, 
1835.  The  prospects  of  the  parish  must  have  greatly 
improved  under  Mr.  Chaderton's  rectorship,  for  at  a 
meeting  of  the  vestry  in  1833  a  proposition  was  made 
to  enlarge  the  church,  though  at  the  time  there  was 
a  debt  of  some  three  thousand  five  hundred  dollars 
existing  against  it.  When  Mr.  Chaderton  resigned 
he  left  "  the  State  of  Missouri  with  only  one  organ- 
ized Protestant  Episcopal  parish,  one  church  built,  and 
no  officiating  clergyman, — not  a  very  large  result  for 
sixteen  years  of  growth." 

Right  Rev.  Jackson  Kemper,  D.D.,  missionary 
bishop-elect  of  Missouri  and  Indiana,  was  called  Sept. 
20.  1835,  and  began  his  pastorate  in  December  follow- 
ing, with  Rev.  P.  R.  Minard  as  assistant,  who  began 
one  month  before  the  bishop.  In  May,  1836,  Mr. 
Minard  made  the  following  report  to  Bishop  Kemper : 

"Upon  my  arrival,  in  November  last,  I  found  a  church  edifice, 
neat  in  appearance,  but  more  like  an  academy  than  a  house  of 
public  worship,  capable  of  containing  about  two  hundred  and 
fifty  persons.  It  was  well  furnished,  and  contained  a  small 
but  fine-toned  organ.  The  church  had  been  built  for  about  six 
thousand  dollars,  for  one  of  which  the  vestry  are  still  in  debt. 
On  the  parish  register,  which  I  found  in  good  order,  there  were 
forty-five  communicants  who  could  be  found.  There  were  en- 
rolled as  belonging  to  the  congregation  in  all  one  hundred  and 
ninety  persons.  A  Sunday-school  had  been  continued  until  I 
arrived.  The  first  day  it  was  visited  by  me  it  contained  eigh- 
teen scholars.  The  average  attendance  at  that  time  was  from 
twenty  to  thirty.  Our  school  now  has  a  constant  attendance  of 
sixty  or  seventy.  The  church  now  contains  forty-eight  pews, 
and  it  is  the  opinion  of  the  vestry  that  fifty  more  could  be  let 
if  they  had  them.  For  this  reason  the  vestry  have  determined 
to  build  a  larger  house,  and  already  think  they  have  the  means 
within  their  control.  They  intend  to  build  a  house  about  sixty 
by  ninety,  with  a  gallery,  in  a  part  of  which  the  negroes  can 
be  accommodated." 

Mr.  Minard  resigned  in  February,  1839,  to  take 
temporary  charge  of  Kemper  College. 

He  was  assistant  in  the  parish  for  a  period  of  about 
three  and  a  half  years,  and  during  his  ministry  the 
register  shows  one  hundred  and  thirty-nine  baptisms, 
thirty-nine  marriages,  fifty-seven  burials,  and  sixty- 
three  confirmations. 

The  Rev.  W.  G.  Heyer  succeeded  him,  and  remained 
but  for  a  period  of  about  six  months,  during  which 
time  there  were  twelve  baptisms,  five  marriages,  and 
twenty-three  burials. 

The  Rev.  F.  F.  Peake  succeeded  the  Rev.  W.  G. 
Heyer,  and  for  six  months  officiated  in  the  capacity 
of  assistant,  during  which  time  there  were  twenty-one 
baptisms,  six  marriages,  twenty-two  burials,  and 
twenty-five  confirmations. 

Bishop  Kemper  resigned  on   the  20th  of  April, 


1840,  having  served  the  parish  as  rector  for  four 
years  and  a  half,  giving  to  it  as  much  time  as  his 
arduous  duties  as  missionary  bishop  "  of  two  States, 
two  Territories,  with  a  large  portion  of  the  Indian 
country,"  would  allow.  On  several  occasions  the 
vestry  gave  expression  to  their  gratitude  to  his  "  very 
useful  and  indefatigable  service,"  and  the  generous 
sacrifices  made  from  time  to  time  in  their  behalf,  hav- 
ing refused  all  remuneration  from  the  parish,  and 
giving  to  his  assistant  the  full  salary  pledged  to  the 
rector. 

Rev.  F.  F.  Peake,1  who  had  succeeded  Rev- 
Mr.  Minard  as  assistant  to  the  bishop,  was  called  to 
the  rectorship  Aug.  19,  1840.  He  began  his  pastor- 
ate September  5th  following,  and  resigned  Oct.  27, 
1842.  During  his  incumbency  of  the  parish  there 
were  ten  baptisms,  thirty-two  marriages,  thirty-seven 
burials,  and  twenty-eight  confirmations. 

Rev.  E.  C.  Hutchinson,  D.D.,  was  called  Oct.  31, 
1842,  but  declined,  his  friends  being  unwilling  that 
he  should  leave  Kemper  College,  of  which  he  was 
president.  Bishop  Kemper  resumed  charge  until 
March,  1843,  when  Rev.  Mr.  Horrell  returned,  and 
served  until  Jan.  1,  1844,  when  Rev.  Cicero  S. 
Hawks,  of  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  who  had  been  called  to 
the  rectorship  Sept.  27,  1 843,  took  charge.  Bishop 
Hawks  had  as  assistants  Rev.  Charles  Tomes,  for 
nearly  a  year  from  January,  1848,  and  Rev.  William 
A.  Leach,  called  in  the  fall  of  1849,  and  resigned  No- 
vember, 1851,  to  become  rector  of  St.  Paul's.  Bishop 
Hawks  resigned  the  rectorship  Nov.  30,  1853,  to  take 
effect  Feb.  1,  1854,  and  the  parish  pledged  itself  to 
contribute  a  sufficient  sum  annually  for  five  years  to 
secure  him  a  salary  of  two  thousand  five  hundred  dol- 
lars. Rev.  D.  G.  Estes  next  served  until  Easter,  and 
Rev.  Mr.  Harrison  for  a  short  time  after.  Then  the 
church  and  parsonage  were  closed  some  months  for 
repairs,  and  on  Oct.  1,  1854,  Rev.  Montgomery 
Schuyler,  D.D.,2  took  charge  of  the  parish.  He 

1  F.  F.  Peake  graduated  at  the  Protestant  Episcopal  General 
Theological  Seminary,  New  York,  in  1836,  and  the  same  year 
went  as  missionary  to  Boonville,  Mo.,  whence  he  was  called  to 
the  rectorship  of  Christ  Church  in  1840.     From  St.  Louis  he 
went  to  Pensacola,  Fla.,  where  he  built  up  a  flourishing  parish 
and  established  the  West  Florida  Collegiate  Institute.     He  died 
of  consumption  in  1846. 

2  Montgomery  Schuyler  was  born  in  New  York  City,  Jan.  9, 
1814.    He  is  descended  of  old  Dutch  stock,  his  remote  ancestor, 
Philip  Pieterse  Van  Schuyler,  having  come  from  Holland  soon 
after  the  establishment  of  the  Dutch  colony  on  the  Hudson,  and 
settled  at  where  is  now  the  city  of  Albany.     "  The  Flats,"  first 
occupied  by  him,  is  still  in  the  possession  of  the  family,  one 
of  the  oldest  homesteads   in  the  country.      The  present  Dr. 
Schuyler  entered  Geneva  (now  Hobart)  College,  but  was  grad- 
uated at  Union  College,  Schenectady,  in  1834,  after  which  he 


1720 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


has  had  as  assistants  Rev.  D.  W.  C.  Loop,  appointed 
in  1856 ;  Rev.  T.  I.  Holcombe,  deacon,  from  June 
28,  1858,  till  Oct.  1,  1859,  when  he  went  as  mis- 
sionary to  Springfield,  Mo. ;  and  Rev.  W.  W.  Sil- 
vester, who  still  fills  the  position. 

The  church,  which  had  been  built  in  1829,  was 
consecrated  May  25,  1834,  by  Right  Rev.  B.  B. 
Smith,  Bishop  of  Kentucky,  this  being  the  first  visit 
to  St.  Louis  of  a  bishop  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church,  and  the  first  occasion  on  which  the  rite  of 
confirmation  was  administered  by  a  Protestant  Epis- 
copal bishop  in  Missouri.  In  May,  1836,  the  parish 
(after  sixteen  years  of  growth)  numbered  only  one 
hundred  and  ninety  persons  in  the  congregation,  forty 
communicants,  and  from  sixty  to  seventy  children  in 
the  Sunday-school.  On  the  29th  of  June  of  that 
year  it  was  decided  to  erect  a  new  and  larger  building, 
sixty  by  ninety  feet.  A  lot  at  the  corner  of  Fifth 
and  Chestnut  Streets,  eighty-five  by  one  hundred  and 
thirty-five  feet,  was  purchased  for  ten  thousand  two 
hundred  dollars  (one  hundred  and  twenty  dollars  per 
foot),  and  the  old  building  and  lot  were  sold  to  the 
Baptist  Society  for  twelve  thousand  dollars,  possession 
to  be  given  in  a  year's  time.  The  basement  of  the 
new  building  was  occupied  in  March,  1838,  and  the 
completed  edifice  was  consecrated  by  Bishop  Kern  per 
on  the  17th  of  February,  1839.  Josiah  Spalding, 
on  behalf  of  the  wardens  and  vestry,  read  and  pre- 
sented to  the  bishop  the  instrument  of  donation. 
The  sentence  of  consecration  was  read  by  the  Rev. 
P.  R.  Minard.  There  were  present  of  the  clergy,  be- 


studied  law  for  two  years,  then  turned  his  attention  to  theology, 
and  entered  the  ministry  in  1841.  He  was  for  three  years  rector 
of  Trinity  Church,  Marshall,  Mich. ;  for  a  year  and  a  half  rector 
of  Grace  Church,  Lyons,  N.  Y. ;  for  nearly  ten  years  rector  of 
St.  John's  Church,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. ;  and  has  been  for  over 
twenty-eight  years  rector  of  Christ  Church,  St.  Louis.  He  has 
been  twice  married,  first  in  1843  and  again  in  1854,  and  has  a 
large  family.  A  son,  Rev.  Louis  S.  Schuyler,  died  in  1879,  at 
the  age  of  twenty-seven,  a  self-devoted  victim  of  yellow  fever, 
in  Memphis,  whither  he  had  voluntarily  hastened  in  response  to 
the  cry  for  ministerial  help,  dying  as  he  had  lived,  a  hero  in  the 
cause  of  religion  and  a  martyr  to  his  own  zeal.  During  the  civil 
war  Dr.  Schuyler  promptly  espoused  the  cause  of  the  Union,  in 
the  face  of  unpopularity  and  the  desertion  of  friends,  ministering 
to  the  sick  and  wounded  in  the  military  hospitals,  when  such 
ministrations  were  regarded  as  evidences  of  antagonism  to  the 
South  and  resented  as  such  by  Southern  sympathizers;  but 
when  Confederate  soldiers  began  to  fill  the  hospitals  and  prisons 
and  Dr.  Schuyler  was  found  to  be  as  zealous  in  his  ministra- 
tions to  them  as  to  those  of  the  Union  armies,  the  nobility  of 
his  character  began  to  be  appreciated  and  the  clouds  of  unpop- 
ularity broke  away.  During  his  pastorate  in  St.  Louis  he 
has  been  several  times  called  to  other  fields  and  twice  back  to  his 
old  parish  in  Buffalo,  but  has  always  declined  to  abandon  his 
post.  There  is  probably  to-day  in  St.  Louis  no  pastor  more 
thoroughly  venerated  or  beloved  by  his  congregation. 


sides  the  bishop  and  his  assistants,  the  Rev.  Messrs. 
Dresser,  of  Springfield  ;  Darrow,  of  Collinsville  ;  and 
Homan,  of  Kemper  College. 

The  church  it  had  been  estimated  would  not  cost 
more  than  $40,000,  but  when  all  the  claims  had  been 
presented  the  aggregate  was  swelled  to  $70,000,  leav- 
ing the  parish  $20,000  in  debt.  On  the  day  follow- 
ing that  of  the  consecration  (Monday)  the  pews  were 
sold.  The  building  is  described  by  Rev.  Dr.  Schuyler 
as  being  "  a  nondescript,  of  which  nothing  can  be 
said  save  that  it  furnished  uncomfortable  sittings  for 
about  six  hundred  people." 

At  the  time  of  the  completion  of  the  church  the 
wardens  were  Wilson  P.  Hunt  and  H.  L.  Hoffman, 
and  the  vestrymen  were  J.  P.  Doan,  Daniel  Hough, 
H.  Von  Phul,  Edward  Tracy,  Asa  Wilgus,  R.  M. 
Strother,  A.  Hamilton,  H.  S.  Coxe,  and  Josiah 
Spalding. 

In  March,  1839,  Bishop  Kemper  announced  that 
a  body  of  Lutherans  who  had  been  persecuted  by  the 
government  of  Saxony,  and  who  had  arrived  in  St. 
Louis  about  three  months  before,  desired  to  hold  ser- 
vices in  the  church,  and  that  he  had  granted  their 
request.  This  congregation  continued  to  worship  in 
the  basement  of  the  church  until  1842. 

In  the  autumn  of  1839  a  burial-ground  was  pur- 
chased for  the  use  of  the  parish  for  the  sum  of  three 
thousand  dollars,  and  steps  were  taken  for  laying  out 
and  ornamenting  the  grounds.  In  the  fall  of  1848 
the  church  edifice  was  repaired  at  a  cost  of  about  five 
thousand  dollars,  and  the  church  was  closed  for  four 
months.  In  September  of  the  same  year  a  handsome 
marble  font  was  presented  to  the  church  by  Hon.  L. 
M.  Kennett. 

On  the  9th  of  May,  1853,  a  committee  was  ap- 
pointed to  inquire  where  a  new  church  lot  could  be 
bought,  and  for  what  the  old  could  be  sold,  but  no 
further  action  was  taken  until  March  12,  1859,  when 
the  building  and  lot  on  Fifth  Street  were  sold  to 
Messrs.  Crow  &  McCreery  for  eighty  thousand  dollars, 
with  the  condition  that  the  consecrated  walls  should 
never  be  applied  to  any  secular  use,  but  should  be  at 
once  torn  down.  The  amount  of  the  original  pur- 
chase by  the  parish  in  1836  was  ten  thousand  two 
hundred  dollars.  On  April  10,  1859,  the  present  lot, 
one  hundred  and  seventy-five  feet  on  Locust  Street 
by  one  hundred  and  six  feet  four  inches  on  Thirteenth 
Street,  was  bought  of  James  H.  Lucas  for  forty-three 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  The  plans 
for  the  new  building  furnished  by  Leopold  Eidlitz,  of 
New  York,  were  adopted  July  11, 1859,  and  contracts 
were  given  out  and  work  at  once  begun.  The  esti- 
mated cost  was  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1721 


dollars.  The  last  service  in  the  old  church  was  held 
Jan.  22,  1860.  During  the  interval,  before  the  com- 
pletion of  the  new  church,  service  was  held  at  Mer- 
cantile Library  Hall,  until  April  7,  1861,  when  the 
congregation  united  for  worship  with  that  of  St. 
Paul's  Church,  which  was  then  without  a  rector. 

The  corner-stone  of  the  new  edifice  was  laid  April 
22, 1860.  Bishop  Hawks  conducted  the  ceremonies, 
assisted  by  Rev.  Montgomery  Schuyler,  D.D.,  rector 
of  Christ  Church  ;  Rev.  F.  J.  Clerc,  of  Grace  Church ; 
Rev.  E.  F.  Berkley,  of  St.  George's  Church ;  Rev. 
John  Coleman,  D.D.,  of  St.  John's  Church ;  Rev.  R. 
E.  Terry,  of  St.  Paul's  Church;  and  Rev.  E.  C. 
Hutchison,  of  Trinity  Church.  Among  the  contents 
of  the  corner-stone  were  those  which  had  been  depos- 
ited in  the  corner-stone  of  the  old  church.  After  the 
usual  ceremonies,  Bishop  Hawks  delivered  an  address. 
The  chapel  was  completed  early  in  May,  1862,  but  owing 
to  the  delays  and  embarrassments  caused  by  the  civil 
war  the  main  building  was  not  finished  until  five 
years  later.  The  walls  had  progressed  to  the  height 
of  some  ten  feet,  and  it  was  hoped  that  they  would  be 
ready  for  the  roof  by  July,  1861,  but  when  the  ap- 
proach of  winter  necessitated  a  stoppage  of  the  work, 
it  was  found  that  the  funds  had  been  exhausted.  On 
the  4th  of  December,  1861,  a  resolution  was  passed 
by  the  vestry  directing  the  building  committee  to 
notify  the  contractors  to  proceed  no  further  with  the 
main  body  of  the  church,  and  to  cancel  the  contracts, 
if  possible.  Towards  the  close  of  1861  it  was  decided 
that  a  strenuous  effort  should  be  made  to  complete 
the  chapel,  and  mainly  through  the  exertions  of 
Alfred  Mackey,  secretary  of  the  vestry,  this  work 
was  accomplished  in  the  spring  of  1862.  It  was  es- 
timated that  sixty-five  thousand  dollars  would  be 
needed  to  put  the  main  building  in  condition  for  wor- 
ship, and  on  the  8th  of  February,  1864,  thirteen  thou- 
sand dollars  of  the  fifteen  thousand  dollars  required  to 
make  up  this  sum  was  pledged  by  members  of  the 
congregation.  Early  in  the  spring  of  1864  work  on 
the  walls  was  resumed.  It  soon  became  evident  that 
more  money  would  be  required,  and  in  the  following 
autumn  a  fair  was  held,  which  realized  the  sum  of 
ten  thousand  and  twenty-five  dollars.  On  the  22d 
of  February,  1866,  a  parish-meeting  was  held  to  con- 
sult upon  the  best  plan  for  raising  funds  to  complete 
the  church.  According  to  the  estimate  of  the  archi- 
tect $40,120.50  would  be  required.  It  was  agreed 
by  the  meeting  that  the  vestry  should  be  empowered 
to  mortgage  the  property  of  the  church  for  a  sum 
sufficient  to  finish  and  furnish  the  building.  On  the 
14th  of  May,  1866,  another  parish-meeting  was  held 
for  the  purpose  of  organizing  as  a  religious  corpora- 


tion under  the  State  Constitution.  Articles  of  asso- 
ciation were  adopted,  and  it  was  agreed  to  borrow  the 
sum  of  fifty  thousand  dollars  to  complete  the  church. 
After  several  failures  the  loan  was  negotiated,  and  the 
work  went  on.  The  contributions  to  the  building 
fund  on  Easter-day,  1867,  amounted  to  twenty-one 
thousand  five  hundred  and  forty-seven  dollars,  and 
the  construction  of  the  edifice  was  now  pushed  more 
rapidly.  In  June,  1867,  a  proposition  was  made  by 
Davis  and  Ritchie  to  erect  galleries  in  the  north  and 
south  transepts,  on  the  condition  that  they  should  receive 
the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  these  pews  and  their  rental 
for  two  years,  the  rental  after  that  period  to  revert  to 
the  church.  The  sum  of  five  thousand  four  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars  was  also  realized  in  the  presentation 
to  the  church  by  different  individuals  of  twenty  memo- 
rial windows.  The  church  was  first  used  for  public 
worship  on  Christmas-day,  1867.  During  the  interval 
the  congregation  had  worshiped  in  the  chapel,  which  was 
itself  a  church  of  moderate  dimensions,  and  had  been 
built  as  nearly  as  possible  in  accordance  with  the  orig- 
inal plans.  It  was  of  the  Gothic  style  of  architecture, 
and  its  interior  finish  was  elegant  and  beautiful. 

In  its  completed  form,  Christ  Church  is  undoubtedly 
one  of  the  noblest  edifices  of  its  kind  in  the  country. 
The  architecture  is  Gothic,  of  the  ornate  early  English 
style,  and  the  arrangement  is  that  of  a  nave  and 
!  aisles.  The  nave  is  one  hundred  and  twenty-six  feet 
i  long,  thirty-six  feet  wide,  and  ninety-three  feet  high, 
i  twenty-five  feet  higher  than  that  of  Trinity  Church, 
and  only  ten  feet  lower  than  that  of  Westminster 
|  Abbey.  The  north  and  south  aisles  are  each  sixty- 
eight  by  fourteen  feet  wide,  and  the  north  and  south 
transepts  each  eighteen  by  thirty-six  feet.  The  chan- 
cel is  thirty-five  feet  deep  by  thirty-seven  and  a  half 
feet  wide,  and  is  separated  from  the  nave  by  a  hand- 
some arch.  The  total  interior  length  is  one  hundred 
and  sixty-one  feet.  At  the  north  side  is  a  vestry- 
room,  into  which  a  door  opens  from  the  chancel,  and 
above  the  vestry-room  there  is  a  rector's  study.  A 
gallery  is  placed  across  the  north  and  south  transepts, 
and  also  at  the  west  end  of  the  nave,  where  the  organ 
is  situated.  At  the  northwest  corner  of  the  building 
is  the  tower,  -as  yet  uncompleted.  The  structure  is 
built  in  the  most  substantial  manner  throughout.  All 
the  stone  used  in  the  building  is  the  Illinois  sand- 
stone. The  roof  of  the  nave  and  chancel  is  open- 
timbered,  massive  in  its  framing  and  mouldings,  and 
richly  decorated.  The  uncompleted  tower  is  to  be 
one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  high  without  spire,  and 
handsomely  ornamented.  A  stone  porch  and  flying 
buttresses  are  also  yet  to  be  built.  The  walls  and 
buttresses,  and  the  mullions  and  tracery  of  the  win- 


1722 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


dows,  are  all  of  stone.  The  heavy  stone  arches  of  the 
chancel,  transepts,  and  nave  rest  on  four  columns 
four  feet  in  diameter,  octagonal  in  shape  and  without 
capitals,  a  feature  which  adds  to  their  apparent 
height  and  the  grace  of  the  arches.  The  lofty  clear- 
story is  supported  by  octagonal  pillars  two  feet  ten 
inches  in  diameter.  The  seating  capacity  (including 
the  transept  galleries)  is  fifteen  hundred.  The  chapel 
attached  will  seat  three  hundred  persons,  and  has 
connected  with  it  rooms  for  Sunday-school,  library, 
ladies'  charitable  meetings,  choir  rehearsals,  and  social 
gatherings.  The  windows  of  the  church  and  chapel 
are  of  stained  glass,  and  the  pews  and  interior  fittings 
throughout  are  of  black  walnut.  The  pulpit  is  octago- 
nal and  of  handsome  design,  as  are  also  the  altar,  chan- 
cel rail,  stalls,  and  prayer-desks.  The  edifice  cost  two 
hundred  and  thirty-five  thousand  dollars,  and  is  un- 
equaled  in  the  city,  and  almost  in  the  United  States, 
for  the  massive  grandeur  of  its  interior.  The  rector 
reported  during  1882  four  hundred  and  thirty-four 
communicants,  and  an  attendance  at  Sunday-school 
of  two  hundred  and  thirty-nine  scholars. 

The  congregation  of  Christ  Church  celebrated  the 
semi-centennial  anniversary  of  its  organization  on  the 
1st  of  November,  1869.  The  sermon  was  preached 
by  the  rector,  Rev.  Dr.  Schuyler. 

St.  Paul's  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  was  the 
second  Episcopal  congregation  established  in  St.  Louis. 
On  the  5th  of  November,  1839,  a  preliminary  meet- 
ing was  held  in  the  basement  of  Christ  Church,  at 
which  Bishop  Kemper  presided,  to  take  into  consid- 
eration the  expediency  of  establishing  a  new  parish. 
It  was  decided  that  such  action  was  expedient,  and  a 
committee  of  thirteen  of  the  leading  members  of 
Christ  Church  was  appointed  to  co-operate  with  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Minard  in  carrying  the  resolution  into  effect. 
The  movement  was  regarded  as  being  of  a  missionary 
character,  and  the  church  was  usually  spoken  of  as  the 
Mission  Church.  St.  Paul's  Church  was  organized, 
and  the  first  vestry  were  elected  on  the  20th  of  April, 
1840.  Its  first  rector  was  the  Rev.  Peter  R.  Minard, 
previously  assistant  at  Christ  Church,  whose  pastorate 
lasted  from  1840  to  1846.  Mr.  Minard's  successors 
were  William  B.  Corbyn,  1846-48;  David  P.  San- 
ford,  1850-51 ;  William  A.  Leach,  1851-54;  D.  Gor-  • 
don  Estes,  1854-55 ;  R.  E.  Terry,  1856-60.  During 
Mr.  Terry's  pastorate  a  new  church  edifice  was  con-  ' 
secrated.  The  congregation  had  worshiped  since  its 
organization  in  a  building  at  the  corner  of  Fifth  and 
Wash  Streets,  for  which  five  thousand  dollars  was 
paid,  but  in  1856  this  property  was  sold,  and  in  the 
following  year  lots  were  purchased  at  the  southwest 
corner  of  Olive  and  Seventeenth  Streets.  On  this 


site  a  church  and  rectory  were  built  at  a  cost  of  sixty- 
four  thousand  dollars,  the  work  of  construction  having 
been  begun  in  March,  1857,  and  the  corner-stone  laid, 
Bishop  Hawks  officiating,  May  10, 1857.  The  church 
was  finished  and  consecrated  on  the  19th  of  June,  1859. 
Dr.  Hawks  began  the  service  by' reciting  the  24th 
Psalm,  and  was  followed  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Clerc,  of 
Grace  Church,  who  read  the  usual  form  of  request  for 
consecration.  The  rector,  Rev.  Mr.  Terry,  read  the 
sentence  of  consecration,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Weller,  of  Jef- 
ferson City,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Dunn,  of  Hannibal,  read 
the  prayers.  The  lessons  were  read  by  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Clerc,  of  Grace  Church.  Bishop  Hawks  preached 

;  the  consecration  sermon,  after  which  the  communion 
was  celebrated.  The  location  of  the  church  was  at 
that  time  more  westerly  than  that  of  any  other  Prot- 

\  estant  Church  in  the  city.  It  was  of  Gothic  archi- 
tecture, with  a  front  of  sixty  feet  and  a  depth  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty  feet.  The  tower  rose  to  a  height 

!  of  eighty  feet,  and  the  front  elevation  was  fifty  feet 
from  the  pavement.  An  organ  "  of  the  workmanship 
of  Messrs.  Pilcher  &  Brother,"  of  St.  Louis,  was 
placed  in  the  building. 

Rev.  R.  E.  Terry,  rector  of  the  church,  studied  law 
in  the  office  of  Henry  S.  Geyer,  of  St.  Louis,  and  prac- 
ticed his  profession  for  two  years  in  Howard  County. 
He  then  studied  theology,  and  was  ordained  a  minis- 
ter of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church.  On  assuming 
the  pastorate  he  found  that  the  number  of  commu- 
nicants had  dwindled  to  thirty-five.  The  congre- 
gation soon  removed  from  Fifth  and  Wash  Streets, 
where  it  had  previously  been  established,  to  the  hall 
of  the  Washington  University,  and  services  were  held 
at  the  latter  place  until  plans  could  be  matured  for  the 
erection  of  the  proposed  new  church.  Through  Mr. 
Terry's  energetic  labors,  seconded  by  those  of  the  con- 
gregation, the  erection  of  the  new  building  was  pushed 
rapidly  to  completion.  In  1861  the  church  had  be- 
come so  heavily  encumbered  with  debt  that  the  con- 
gregation was  forced  to  sell  the  property,  and  St. 
Paul's  became  extinct. 

St.  Paul's  Church  (P.  E.),  Third  near  Lafayette 
Street,  South  St.  Louis  (Carondelet),  Rev.  Joseph  De 
Forest,  rector,  was  organized  in  the  summer  of  1868, 
and  held  its  first  services  August  30th  of  that  year. 
The  service  was  read  by  Rev.  Charles  Stewart,  and  the 
sermon  was  preached  by  Rev.  E.  F.  Berkley.  The 
congregation  worshiped  in  rented  halls  until  its  present 
church  was  built.  The  property  cost  about  five  thou- 
sand dollars.  The  rectors  have  been  the  Revs.  Charles 
Stewart,  1868-69;  W.  G.  Spencer,  D.D.,  1869-70  ; 
M.  S.  Woodruff,  1870-72  ;  0.  H.  Staples,  1873-79  ; 
J.  P.  T.  Ingraham,  1879-81  ;  and  the  present  pas- 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1723 


tor  since  1881.  The  church  reports  thirty-eight 
families  and  seventy-five  communicants  connected 
with  the  congregation,  and  three  teachers  with  sixty 
children  in  the  Sunday-school. 

St.  John's  Protestant  Episcopal  Church. — A 
meeting  of  Episcopalians  in  favor  of  forming  a  parish 
in  the  southern  part  of  St.  Louis  was  held  in  Christ 
Church  Oct.  12,  1841.  Rev.  Mr.  Minard  was  chosen 
chairman,  and  J.  W.  Twitchell  acted  as  secretary.  On 
the  28th  of  December,  1861,  St.  John's  Church  was 
formally  organized  and  the  first  vestry  elected.  At 
the  same  time  the  Rev.  Whiting  Griswold  was  chosen 
rector.  Services  were  held  at  first  on  the  upper  floor 
of  an  engine-house,  on  Second  Street  south  of  Plum, 
it  being  deemed  inexpedient  to  build  a  church  at  that 
time,  owing  to  the  financial  embarrassment  of  the 
mother  parish,  —  Christ  Church.  Subsequently  a 
brick  edifice  was  erected  on  leased  ground  at  the 
corner  of  Fifth  and  Spruce  Streets.  This  was  re- 
placed by  another  brick  structure,  seating  five  hundred 
persons,  erected  at  the  southeast  corner  of  Sixth  and 
Spruce  Streets,  which  was  consecrated  by  Bishop 
Hawks  in  the  latter  part  of  August,  1853.  This 
property  was  sold  in  1871  for  fifteen  thousand  dollars, 
for  the  use  of  the  Italian  Catholic  congregation. 

Rev.  Whiting  Griswold,  first  rector,  died  on  the 
24th  of  July,  1849,  from  congestion  of  the  brain, 
superinduced  by  overwork  during  the  yellow  fever 
pestilence.  At  the  time  of  Mr.  Griswold's  death  a 
lot  had  been  purchased  at  Eighth  and  Gratiot  Streets 
and  the  foundation  laid  for  a  new  church  edifice. 
After  that  clergyman's  death  the  vestry  were  com- 
pelled to  sell  the  lot,  but  in  1852,  during  the  pastorate 
of  the  Rev.  Francis  J.  Clerc,  they  purchased  the 
property  at  Sixth  and  Spruce  Streets  and  erected  a 
small  church,  as  previously  stated.  Over  the  chancel 
a  mural  tablet  was  placed  in  memory  of  Mr.  Griswold. 

The  erection  of  the  present  edifice  was  begun  in 
1870,  and  the  corner-stone  was  laid  by  the  Right 
Rev.  C.  F.  Robertson,  bishop  of  the  diocese,  on  the 
1st  of  August,  1871.  The  new  church,  situated  at 
the  northeast  corner  of  Hickory  and  Dolman  Streets, 
was  completed  in  1872,  after  designs  by  F.  W.  Reader. 
The  building  is  of  brick,  and  is  one  of  the  most  beau- 
tiful churches  in  the  city.  Besides  the  main  struc- 
ture, it  has  Sunday-school-  and  lecture-rooms,  rector's 
study,  library,  etc.  Its  rectors  have  been  the  Revs. 
Whiting  Griswold,  1841-49  ;  Francis  J.  Clerc,  1849- 
57  ;  William  R.  Johnson,  1858  ;  John  Coleman,  D.D., 
1859-61;  William  G.  Spencer,  1861-68;  J.  P.  T. 
Ingraham,  D.D.,  1868-79  ;  and  the  present  pastor, 
Rev.  Joseph  T.  Wright,  since  1880.  The  communi- 
cants reported  for  1882  number  two  hundred  and 


thirty-seven,  and  the  Sunday-school  had  nine  teachers 
and  an  average  attendance  of  one  hundred  scholars. 

Grace  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  Eleventh 
and  Warren  Streets,  Rev.  J.  P.  T.  Ingraham,  rector, 
I  was  organized  in  May,  1844.  Its  site  was  a  lot  of 
i  ground  in  the  Chambers  tract,  North  St.  Louis.  This 
property  was  orignally  owned  by  Col.  William  Cham- 
bers, of  Kentucky,  an  officer  of  the  United  States 
army  stationed  in  St.  Louis,  who  purchased  it  in 
1816.  Several  years  later  Col.  Chambers  sold  one- 
third  of  the  tract  to  Maj.  Thomas  Wright,  and  an- 
other third  to  William  Christy,  father-in-law  of  Maj. 
Wright.  Soon  after  the  admission  of  Missouri  as  a 
State,  Messrs.  Chambers,  Wright,  and  Christy  united 
in  a  plan  for  the  establishment  of  a  town  upon  their 
property.  A  plat  of  the  proposed  town  was  made, 
and  four  parcels  of  land  were  dedicated  to  the  general 
use  of  the  city.  One  of  these,  designated  as  "  Circle 
No.  3,"  was  set  apart  "  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  a 
!  house  of  worship  and  a  burying-ground,  to  be  opened 
for  the  interment  of  all  denominations  of  religious 
persons."  The  street  around  this  circle  was  named 
Church  Street,  but  was  afterwards  known  as  Marion 
Alley.  The  circle  afterwards  became  the  site  of 
Grace  Church  and  graveyard.  It  was  about  three 
hundred  feet  in  diameter,  and  contained  nearly  one 
and  three-quarter  acres  in  area.  Subsequently  the 
heirs  and  assigns  of  the  proprietors  disputed  the  title 
of  Grace  Church  to  the  cemetery  lot,  and  litigation 
followed.  Bishop  Hawks,  in  an  address  to  the  Dio- 
cesan Convention  in  1860,  gave  the  following  account 
of  the  organization  of  Grace  Church : 

"  Acting  by  the  advice  of  my  friend,  that  learned  member  of 
the  bar,  Mr.  Josiah  Spalding,  then  senior  warden  of  Christ 
Church,  of  which  I  was  rector,  and  with  the  hearty  co-operation 
of  the  Rev.  P.  R.  Minard,  then  rector  of  St.  Paul's  Church,  St. 
Louis,  and  Mr.  Calvin  Case,  a  zealous  layman  in  North  St. 
Louis,  all  of  whom  are  now  deceased,  I  caused  a  subscription  to 
be  raised  in  North  St.  Louis,  to  which  two-thirds  of  the  inhab- 
itants subscribed,  to  build  an  Episcopal  Church  upon  that 
ground.  Having  obtained  this,  I  filed  the  record  and  inclosed 
the  ground.  Grace  Church  was  then  organized,  and  soon  a 
small  church  building  was  erected.  Messrs.  Cressy,  AVeller, 
and  Woodward  were- the  successive  pastors  in  this  weak  enter- 
prise. At  length  the  Rev.  Mr.  Clerc  became  the  rector,  and 
under  him  the  old  edifice  was  beautifully  enlarged,  and,  thus 
enlarged,  it  was  my  comfort  to  consecrate  it.  The  property,  in 
the  day  when  it  was  given,  was  considered  of  little  value,  but 
with  the  growth  of  our  city  has  become  very  valuable.  It  is 
not  far,  too,  from  our  Orphans'  Home,  and,  from  its  position 
alone,  has  become  almost  the  chapel  and  the  guardian,  as 
spiritual  things,  of  that  institution." 

The  charter  of  Grace  Church  recites  that,  whereas 
Circle  No.  3,  "just  west  of  Sixth  Street,"  had  been 
set  apart  for  the  erection  of  a  house  of  worship  thereon, 
and  the  inhabitants  of  North  St.  Louis  had  organized 


1724 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


an  association  for  worship  according  to  the  forms  and 
discipline  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  there- 
fore "  the  undersigned,  proprietors  and  representatives" 
of  the  original  proprietors,  agreed,  in  consideration  of 
the  premises  and  of  one  dollar  paid  to  them  by  Martha 
T.  Christy,  of  North  St.  Louis,  to  relinquish  and  con- 
vey to  her  all  their  right  and  title  to  the  property  in 
question.  This  instrument  was  executed  on  the  31st 
of  May,  1844,  and  was  signed  by  M.  T.  Christy, 
Mary  A.  Wright,  M.  N.  Taylor,  and  M.  F.  Christy. 
A  supplementary  agreement  was  entered  into  to  the 
effect  that,  inasmuch  as  the  property  for  the  church 
edifice  had  been  secured  and  a  vestry  organized,  the 
subscribers  would  pay  to  Calvin  Case,  treasurer  of 
the  vestry,  the  sums  set  opposite  their  names.  The 
signatures  of  one  hundred  and  ten  persons  were  sub- 
scribed to  this  document,  attached  to  which  was  the 
acknowledgment  of  Archibald  Carr,  justice  of  the 
peace,  that  Calvin  Case  had  sworn  that  the  list  of  sub- 
scribers comprised  two-thirds  of  the  heads  of  families 
residing  in  North  St.  Louis  on  the  9th  of  April,  1845. 
The  Mrs.  Martha  T.  Christy  mentioned  in  the  charter 
as  trustee  for  the  property  was  the  widow  of  William 
Christy,  and  the  most  active  of  the  persons  engaged 
in  the  work  of  organizing  the  church  and  establish- 
ing the  cemetery.  Among  the  members  of  the  first 
vestry  and  most  of  the  successive  vestries  were 
Dr.  Alfred  Heacock,  Dwight  Durkee,  Hon.  Isaac 
H.  Sturgeon,  Thomas  L.  Sturgeon,  Daniel  A.  Rollins, 
Benjamin  O'Fallon,  Joseph  Branch,  and  John  Hal- 
sell.  Henry  Overstolz,  afterwards  mayor  of  the  city, 
was  a  vestryman  of  this  church  in  1850,  and  Hon. 
Erastus  Wells  was  a  member  of  the  vestry  in  1854. 
The  cemetery  was  consecrated  by  Bishop  Hawks,  and 
the  erection  of  the  church  edifice  was  begun  in  1846. 
The  building  was  not  completed  until  1851,  but  ser- 
vices were  held  in  it  without  intermission  after  its 
construction  had  been  sufficiently  far  advanced  to  per- 
mit of  its  use.  It  was  a  wooden  structure,  in  the 
form  of  a  cross,  and  with  a  steeple,  and  stood  on  ele- 
vated ground,  the  entrance  being  reached  by  a  long 
flight  of  steps.  In  I860  the  building  was  enlarged, 
and  on  the  15th  of  April  of  that  year  was  conse- 
crated by  Bishop  Hawks,  assisted  by  Rev.  Dr.  Schuy- 
ler,  of  Christ  Church,  Rev.  Dr.  Coleman,  of  St. 
John's,  Rev.  Mr.  Terry,  of  St.  Paul's,  Rev.  Mr. 
Berkley,  of  St.  George's,  Rev.  Mr.  Clark,  of  Calvary, 
and  Rev.  Mr.  Clerc,  rector  of  the  parish.  The  con- 
secration sermon  was  preached  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Cole- 
man. In  1881  the  ground,  which  was  twenty  feet 
above  the  grade  of  the  street,  was  cut  away,  and  the 
church,  which  had  faced  the  east,  was  let  down  and 
turned  so  as  to  face  the  south,  and  was  greatly  im- 


proved. It  will  now  seat  seven  hundred  persons.  The 
parsonage,  which  stood  a  few  steps  from  the  church, 
was  erected  during  the  pastorate  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Woodward.  The  renovated  church  was  reconsecrated 
Sunday,  May  28,  1882.  As  it  had  once  been  for- 
mally consecrated  by  the  bishop,  it  was  deemed  un- 
necessary to  repeat  the  ceremonies  in  full,  and  a  con- 
secration prayer  merely  was  therefore  offered.  The 
services  were  conducted  by  the  pastor,  Rev.  Dr. 
Ingraham,  and  his  assistant,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Phelps. 
Dr.  Ingraham  preached  the  consecration  sermon,  in 
the  course  of  which  he  stated  that  the  amount  re- 
quired to  defray  the  cost  of  the  alterations,  payment 
of  the  old  debt,  etc.,  was  ten  thousand  five  hundred 
dollars.  Of  this  sum  five  thousand  dollars  had  been 
given  and  pledged  by  Joseph  W.  Branch,  and  over 
five  thousand  dollars  more  by  the  parishioners,  leav- 
ing an  indebtedness  still  remaining  of  one  thousand 
three  hundred  and  thirty  dollars. 

The  rectors  of  St.  John's  have  been  the  Revs.  E. 
H.  Cressy,  1845-48;  R.  H.  Weller,  1850-51;  W. 
H.  Woodward,  1851-58  ;  Francis  J.  Clerc,  1858-60  ; 
Bishop  C.  S.  Hawks,  D.D.,  1863-67;  William  L. 
Githens,  1868-73;  William  N.  Webbe,  1873-74; 
William  L.  Githens,  1874-77 ;  Abiel  Leonard,  1877 
-78 ;  J.  Gierlow,  Ph.  D.,  1878-81 ;  J.  P.  T.  Ingraham, 
1881.  Dr.  Ingraham  is  still  the  rector.  Rev.  Philip 
McKim  and  Benjamin  O'Fallon  were  respectively  as- 
sistant rector  and  lay  reader  of  the  church  in  its  early 
days.  According  to  the  report  of  the  rector  for  1882, 
there  were  ninety  communicants  and  sixteen  teachers 
and  one  hundred  and  sixty  children  in  the  Sunday- 
school. 

St.  George's  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  is 
situated  at  the  northwest  corner  of  Beaumont  and 
Chestnut  Streets,  Rev.  John  Fulton,  D.D.,  rector. 
The  organization  of  this  parish  grew  out  of  the  loss 
of  Kernper  College,  which  was  sold  for  debt  in  1845, 
while  Rev.  E.  Carter  Hutchinson  was  its  president. 
Some  time  before  Bishop  Hawks  was  invited  to  be- 
come rector  of  Christ  Church,  Mr.  Hutchinson  had 
received  a  call  from  the  vestry,  but  had  declined  it, 
his  friends  wishing  him  to  remain  at  the  head  of  the 
college.  When  the  college  was  sold,  many  who  were 
attached  to  him,  in  order  to  retain  him  in  the  diocese, 
proposed  to  organize  a  parish  of  which  he  should  be 
the  rector,  and  under  date  of  March  22,  1845,  ad- 
dressed to  Bishop  Hawks  the  following  petition  : 

"  The  undersigned,  being  anxious  to  advance  the  interests  of 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  this  growing  city,  beg  leave 
to  state  that  the  medical  faculty  of  the  St.  Louis  University  have 
generously  offered  the  use  of  their  hall,  on  Washington  Avenue, 
between  Tenth  and  Eleventh  Streets,  as  a  house  of  religious  wor- 
ship, during  the  spring,  summer,  and  autumn  months.  As  there 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1725 


is  a  rapidly  increasing  population   in   that  neighborhood,  we 
deem  it  important  that  a  speedy  effort  should  be  made  to  pre- 
sent the  claims  of  the  church  there.     We  understand  there  is  a 
canon  of  the  church  forbidding  a  clergyman  to  officiate  within 
the  limits  of  a  city  where  there  are  regularly  organized  churches 
without  the  consent  of  the  settled   rector  or  rectors.     We  do, 
therefore,  most  respectfully  and  earnestly  solicit  your  permis- 
sion  and  co-operation  in  the  furtherance  of  our  wishes.     We 
have  understood  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hutchinson,  late  president 
of  Kemper  College,  will  probably  spend  some  months  in  this 
vicinity  for  the  purpose  of  arranging  some  matters  of  business,   ' 
and  although  he  has  not  been  advised  with  by  us  on  the  sub- 
ject, we  are  not  without  hope  that  his  services  may  be  procured 
in   aid   of  this   important   object."      Signed,    James    Hutton, 
Robert  Ranken,  James  Gresham,  Robert  C.  Greer,  David  H. 
Armstrong,  Frederic  L.  Billon,  Isaiah  Forbes,  W.  Carr  Lane,  II .   j 
S.  Geyer,  B.  H.  Randolph,  Edward  Tracy,  Thomas  Shore,  Samuel 
B.  Churchill,  H.  W.  Chambers,    Thomas    T.  Russell,    Charles  j 
Pettit,  Z.  B.  Curtis,  T.  S.  Rutherford,  P.  H.  McBride,  Edward  j 
E.  Archer,  B.  H.  Batte,  Henry  C.  Hart,  David  M.  Hill,  Henry  ! 
B.  Belt,  Josiah  Spalding,  Britton  A.  Hill,  M.  S.  Gray,  J.  O'Fal- 
lon,  W.  H.  Pritchartt,  Henry  Von  Phul,  G.  Erskine,  Edward 
Mead,  William    Glasgow,  R.  Wash,  Win.  Smith,   H.  S.  Case, 
Thomas  Skinker,  Edward  Stagg,  J.  S.  B.  Alleyne,  Julius  Mo-   ! 
rise,  Edward  Charless,  John  D.  Daggett,  Dr.  John  Shore,  F.   • 
W.  Southack. 

The  necessary  consent  having  been  obtained,  a 
meeting  was  held  in  the  hall  of  the  St.  Louis  Lyceum, 
Gen.  William  Milburn  presiding,  and  a  new  parish 
organized,  with  the  Rev.  E.  C.  Hutchinson  as  rector, 
and  John  O'Fallon,  Henry  S.  Geyer,  William  Milburn, 
Thomas  Shore,  James  Henry,  Josephus  W.  Hall,  and 
Josiah  Dent  as  vestrymen.  The  name  of  St.  George  j 
was  given  to  the  church  by  the  rector,  after  a  church 
of  the  same  name  in  New  York,  in  charge  of  Dr. 
Milnor,  a  leader  of  the  Evangelical  school,  the  doc-  ] 
trines  of  which  were  indorsed  by  Mr.  Hutchinson.  j 
On  May  13,  1846,  the  church  was  admitted  into  the 
Diocesan  Convention,  and  reported  fifty-five  commu- 
nicants. For  nearly  two  years  the  services  were  held 
in  the  morning  at  the  public  school-house  on  Sixth 
Street,  and  in  the  afternoon  at  the  Methodist  Church 
on  Fifth  Street.  The  first  church  building  erected 
by  the  parish  stood  on  Locust  Street  near  Seventh, 
and  was  dedicated  April  13,  1847.  In  1851,  Rev. 
S.  G.  Gassaway,  of  Georgetown,  D.  C.,  was  chosen 
assistant  rector.  Questions  which  had  arisen  as  to 
the  administration,  and  afterwards  as  to  the  loss  of 
Kemper  College,  of  which  Mr.  Hutchinson  was  one 
of  the  creditors,  caused  much  feeling  and  division, 
and  although  St.  George's  Church  was  built  expressly 
for  its  first  rector,  and  many  of  his  friends  thought 
that  he  should  have  remained  and  outlived  the  oppo- 
sition which  had  begun  to  be  manifested,  after  an 
assistant  minister  had  been  called  Mr.  Hutchinson 
resigned,  in  1852,  and  three  years  later  organized 
Trinity  Church.  Mr.  Gassaway  then  became  rector.  | 
He  was  one  of  the  victims  of  the  explosion  of  the  I 


St.  Louis  and  Alton  packet,  just  after  it  had  left  the 
St.  Louis  wharf,  Feb.  16,  1854.  His  many  virtues 
and  zealous  devotion  to  his  parish  had  greatly  en- 
deared him  to  his  parishioners,  who  presented  his 
family  with  five  thousand  dollars,  and  erected  to  his 
memory  a  marble  tablet,  which  was  placed  in  the 
church,  and  subsequently  removed  to  the  walls  of  the 
new  building  and  placed  near  the  font. 

The  rectors  of  the  church  since  then  have  been 
Rev.  William  Colvin  Brown,  deacon,  ordained  priest 
Dec.  10,  1854;  Rev.  T.  A.  Hopkins,  son  of  Bishop 
Hopkins,  of  Vermont,  called  July  8,  1855,  resigned 
in  the  fall  of  1857 ;  Rev.  Edward  F.  Berkley,  D.D.,  of 
Lexington,  Ky.,1  took  charge  Nov.  20, 1858,  resigned 
Dec.  5,  1871 ;  Rev.  Robert  A.  Holland,  of  Baltimore, 
called  Jan.  1,  1872,  resigned  Nov.  1,  1879,  to  take 
charge  of  Trinity  Church.  Chicago ;  Rev.  S.  W. 
Young,  of  Canada,  had  temporary  oversight  of  the 
parish  until  the  present  rector  entered  upon  his  duties 
(April  4,  1880).  After  the  death  of  Mr.  Gassaway, 
St.  George's  parish  fell  off  from  one  hundred  and 
fifty-five  communicants  to  sixty-eight ;  the  indebted- 
ness increased  from  six  thousand  nine  hundred  dollars 
to  over  ten  thousand  dollars,  and  in  February,  1855, 
a  number  of  the  members  withdrew  to  form  Trinity 
Church.  In  1856,  however,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hopkins 
reported  one  hundred  and  sixty-six  communicants  and 
the  church  free  from  debt.  In  1857  the  church 
bought  a  lot  in  Bellefontaine  cemetery  for  the  inter- 
ment of  its  indigent  communicants.  In  1860  the 
organ  which  is  still  in  use  was  bought  for  four  thou- 
sand three  hundred  dollars.  At  the  close  of  the  war, 
in  1865,  the  church  was  in  debt  to  the  extent  of  fif- 
teen thousand  dollars,  but  this  was  fully  paid  off  in 
1866.  In  September,  1868,  the  Diocesan  Conven- 
tion, which  elected  Bishop  Robertson,  was  held  in 
this  church.  In  1871  the  present  site  of  the  church 
was  bought  for  eighteen  thousand  six  hundred  and 
fifty-six  dollars,  and  in  1872  the  first  church  build- 
ing and  lot  on  Locust  Street  were  sold  to  John  R. 
Shepley  for  fifty  thousand  dollars,  although  services 


1  A  controversy  having  arisen  as  to  the  mode  in  which  Henry 
Clay,  the  Whig  statesman,  was  baptized,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Berkley, 
who  had  officiated  at  that  ceremony  and  who  also  read  the  fu- 
neral service  at  the  interment  of  Clay  at  Lexington,  Ky.,  was 
appealed  to  by  W.  A.  Beil,  of  Paducah,  Ky.,  for  information  on 
the  subject.  Mr.  Berkley  replied  that  Mr.  Clay  was  baptized 
in  his  parlor  at  Ashland  on  the  22d  of  June,  1847,  in  the 
form  ordinarily  observed  in  the  Episcopal  Church, — i.e.,  "by 
pouring  a  handful  of  water  on  his  head  in  the  name  of  the 
Holy  Trinity."  One  of  bis  daughters-in-law  and  four  of  his 
granddaughters  were  baptized  in  the  same  way.  It  had  been 
asserted  that  Mr.  Clay  had  been  baptized  by  immersion,  but  this 
statement  was  specifically  denied  by  Mr.  Berkley. 


1726 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


continued  to  be  held  there  until  the  chapel  of  the  new 
building  was  completed,  May  1,  1873.     The  corner- 
stone of  the  present  church  edifice  was  laid  May  30, 
1873,  and  the  first  services  in  the  completed  church 
were  held  on  Easter  Sunday,  1874.     The  building  is 
cruciform,  the  nave  being  one  hundred  and  fourteen 
by  fifty-five  feet,  and  the   transepts  seventy-seven  by 
twenty-five  feet.     The  height  from  the   street  to  the 
finial  of  the  spire  is  one  hundred  and  forty-five  feet. 
The  seating  capacity  is  eight  hundred.     The  property 
cost  in  all  one  hundred  and  fifteen  thousand  dollars,  ! 
and  a   debt  of  fifty-nine  thousand  dollars  which   re-  j 
mained  at  the  time  of  completion  was  entirely  canceled 
in  May,  1879.     The  present  officers   of  the  church 
are  :  Senior  Warden,  John  W.  Luke ;  Junior  Warden, 
Joseph    W.    Branch ;    Secretary,    D.    E.    Garrison  ;  ' 
Treasurer,  M.  W.  Alexander ;  Vestry,  Edwin  Harri-  ! 
son,  Isaac  M.  Mason,  Hugh  Rogers,  John  G.  Wells, 
H.  T.  Simon,  H.  H.  Curtis,  John  D.  Pope,  John  C. 
Orrick,  and  Western  Bascome.     The  number  of  com- 
municants in  1882  was  two  hundred  and  seventy-five, 
and  the   Sunday-school  pupils  numbered   four  hun-  i 
dred. 

Trinity  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  is  situ- 
ated at  the  northwest  comer  of  Washington  Avenue 
and  Eleventh  Street.  Rev.  George  C.  Betts  is  its 
rector.  In  the  sketch  of  St.  George's  Church  it  was 
stated  that  Rev.  E.  Carter  Hutchinson,  D.D.,  resigned 
the  rectorship  of  that  parish  in  1852,  much  against 
the  wishes  of  a  large  number  of  his  friends.  These 
friends  at  once  conceived  the  project  of  organizing  a 
new  parish  for  him,  but  nearly  three  years  elapsed 
before  their  efforts  were  successful.  In  February, 
1855,  however,  Trinity  parish  was  organized,  mainly 
by  members  of  St.  George's,  who  withdrew  for  the 
purpose,  and  who  elected  as  the  first  vestry,  James 
W.  Finley,  senior  warden;  T.  S.  Rutherford,  junior 
warden ;  and  L.  Levering,  C.  Derby,  N.  Phillips,  T. 
Skinker,  W.  M.  Price,  M.  Moody,  S.  0.  Butler,  T. 
Griffiths,  L.  P.  Perry,  E.  Barry,  and  J.  Y.  Page, 
vestrymen.  The  new  congregation  met  at  first,  and 
for  some  months,  in  St.  Paul's  Church,  corner  of 
Fifth  and  Wash  Streets.  A  hall  was  then  rented 
from  the  Cumberland  Presbyterians,  at  Eleventh  ' 

and  St.  Charles  Streets,  and  later  a  building  which  : 

'  ~ 

had  been  used  by  the  Congregationalists  on  Locust 
between  Tenth  and  Eleventh  Streets.  The  present 
site  of  the  church  was  leased  for  a  term  of  forty  years 
from  Feb.  1,  1859,  Messrs.  Derby,  Powell,  and 
Shands  being  the  selecting  committee,  and  in  October, 
1859,  the  erection  of  the  building  was  begun.  The 
corner-stone  of  the  church  was  laid  with  impressive  ; 
services  by  Bishop  Hawks,  assisted  by  several  other  ' 


clergymen,  on  March  14,  1860,  and  the  rector,  Dr. 
Hutchinson,  preached  his  first  sermon  in  the  com- 
pleted building,  then  considered  one  of  the  finest  in 
the  city,  on  June  20,  1861.  The  structure  was  sixty- 
six  feet  long,  forty-seven  feet  wide,  and  fifty-six  feet 
high.  The  number  of  communicants  June  20,  1861, 
was  one  hundred  and  thirty.  On  Jan.  22,  1865,  the 
church  was  burned  down,  but  was  immediately  re- 
built and  again  consecrated  Aug.  27,  1865.  It  is  a 
neat  stone  edifice,  with  a  seating  capacity  of  nearly 
seven  hundred,  and  has  a  chapel  and  Sunday-school 
room  in  the  rear.  Dr.  Hutchinson  resigned  the  rec- 
torship Feb.  1,  1869,  and  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  J. 
D.  Easter,  D.D.,  who  served  until  1872.  During 
this  period  the  parish  suffered  greatly  from  financial 
embarrassments  and  the  withdrawal  of  its  members, 
several  of  whom  joined  in  organizing  the  Church  of 
the  Holy  Communion.  Rev.  Joseph  Cross,  D.D., 
served  as  rector  for  a  few  months  in  1872,  but  on  the 
15th  of  November,  1872,  Bishop  Robertson  assumed 
the  rectorship,  with  Rev.  Edwin  Coan  as  assistant, 
and  under  their  management  strenuous  efforts  were 
made  to  clear  off  the  debt.  Several  changes  were  in- 
troduced, one  that  remains  yet  being  the  substitution 
for  the  paid  choir  of  one  composed  of  surpliced  men 
and  boys,  whose  music  has  become  justly  celebrated. 
The  present  rector  entered  upon  his  duties  on  Easter, 
1876.  Under  his  ministrations  the  church  has  pros- 
pered, and  is  now  in  a  fair  way  to  clear  off  all  incum- 
brances.  When  the  lease  expires  in  1899,  or  perhaps 
sooner,  the  parish  will  probably  be  prepared  for  a  re- 
moval farther  west.  The  congregation  at  present 
numbers  about  one  hundred  families,  or  four  hundred 
and  fifty  persons,  with  two  hundred  and  seventy-five 
communicants.  The  Sunday-school  is  attended  by 
ten  teachers  and  eighty  scholars. 

The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  the  Holy 
Communion,  situated  at  the  northwest  corner  of 
Twenty-eighth  Street  (Leffingwell  Avenue)  and  Wash- 
ington Avenue,  Rev.  P.  G.  Robert,  rector,  grew  out 
of  a  mission  Sunday-school  in  connection  with  Trinity 
Church  (Rev.  Dr.  Hutchinson,  rector),  with  William 
H.  Thomson  superintendent,  which  was  held  in  a 
brick  school-house  on  Morgan  Street,  near  Garrison 
Avenue.  This  building  had  been  fitted  up  for  relig- 
ious purposes,  and  services  were  held  in  it  thence- 
forward every  Tuesday  evening,  the  city  clergy 
officiating  in  turn.  After  several  unsuccessful  efforts 
the  parish  was  finally  organized  Jan.  24,  1869, 
its  first  vestry  consisting  of  Francis  Webster  and 
William  T.  Mason,  wardens  ;  Francis  Carter,  James 
Wilgus,  N.  G.  Hart,  William  J.  Lewis,  R.  W.  Powell, 
R.  M.  Wilson,  H.  G.  Isaacs,  L.  E.  Alexander,  Wil- 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1727 


liam  H.  Thomson,  Elijah  Welles,  and  J.  T.  Utter- 
back.  Francis  Carter  was  elected  clerk,  and  L.  E.  Alex- 
ander treasurer.  Rev.  P.  G.  Robert,  then  at  Little 
Rock,  was  chosen  rector,  and  preached  his  first  ser- 
mon June  6,  1869.  A  lot  was  bought  on  the  corner 
of  Washington  and  Ewing  Avenues,  which  was  sub- 
sequently exchanged  for  the  present  site,  which  is 
eighty  and  three-twelfths  feet  in  width,  and  cost  twelve 
thousand  dollars.  Ground  was  broken  June  15, 
1870,  and  a  chapel  (now  the  transept)  was  built  and 
first  occupied  Dec.  18,  1870.  The  little  school- 
house  on  Morgan  Street,  which  this  congregation  had 
up  to  this  period  used,  was  the  property  of  William 
J.  Lewis  (one  of  the  vestrymen),  who  had  given  the 
use  of  it,  rent  free,  for  five  years.  Its  site  is  now  oc- 
cupied by  a  residence.  Work  on  the  nave  was  begun 
June  15,  1876,  the  first  stone  was  laid  July  2,  1876, 
and  the  whole  church  was  opened  for  service  on  Easter 
Eve,  March  31,  1877.  The  building  is  of  stone,  and 
one  hundred  and  twenty -five  feet  in  depth,  and  it 
contains  seven  hundred  and  two  sittings.  In  this 
church  no  pews  are  sold,  and  the  singing  is  congre- 
gational, these  having  been  two  of  the  conditions 
upon  which  the  rector  took  charge  of  the  parish. 
Nearly  all  the  furniture  and  ornaments  of  the  church 
are  memorials  of  deceased  persons.  The  sacred  ves- 
sels were  manufactured  from  silver  relics  of  departed 
friends,  some  of  the  articles  being  nearly  two  hundred 
years  old,  contributed  for  the  purpose  by  members 
of  the  congregation.  The  communion-plate  was 
first  used  Jan.  2,  1876,  and  the  alms-basin  on  the 
Easter  following.  While  the  nav,e  of  the  church 
was  building  the  congregation  worshiped  in  a  wooden 
chapel  which  they  had  purchased  from  Dr.  Brank's 
congregation.  The  parish  began  with  twenty-three 
communicants,  and  now  numbers  four  hundred  and 
seven.  Its  membership  embraces  two  hundred  and 
twenty  families.  The  Sunday-school  has  twenty- 
seven  teachers  and  an  attendance  of  two  hundred  and 
seventy-five  pupils.  Connected  with  the  church  are 
the  Parish  Aid  Society,  Maternity  Society  for  assist- 
ing poor  women,  Young  Ladies'  Sewing  Circle,  and 
the  Parish  Missionary  Society,  all  in  vigorous  opera- 
tion, and  the  Parish  Guild.  The  Parish  Record,  a 
four-page  monthly  journal,  is  published  by  an  asso- 
ciation of  members  of  the  parish.  Its  first  number 
was  issued  Nov.  28,  1880. 

Mount  Calvary  Protestant  Episcopal  Church, 
southwest  corner  of  Lafayette  and  Jefferson  Avenues, 
Rev.  Benjamin  E.  Reed,  rector,  was  organized  Sept. 
6,  1870,  in  Compton  Hill  Mission  school-house,  a 
small  frame  building  on  Henrietta  Street,  north  of 
Lafayette  Avenue.  Prominent  among  its  founders 


were  George  D.  Appleton,  Wells  Hendershott,  Lewis 
Lipman,  James  0.  Broadhead,  T.  A.  Hutchins, 
David  Davis,  and  Hugh  Davis.  Henry  Shaw  gave 
a  lot,  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  by  four  hundred 
feet,  at  the  head  of  Lafayette  Avenue,  on  Grand  Av- 
enue, and  on  this,  through  the  munificence  of  George 
D.  Appleton,  who  defrayed  nearly  the  entire  cost,  a 
beautiful  church  was  built  at  an  expenditure,  for  build- 
ing, furniture,  etc.,  of  about  twelve  thousand  dollars. 
It  was  consecrated  in  1871.  C.  B.  Clark  was  the  arch- 
itect. The  rectors  have  been  Rev.  W.  0.  Jarvis,  who 
took  charge  Jan.  23,  1871,  resigned  Jan.  31,  1872; 
Rev.  Dr.  Hedges  (pro  fern.),  resigned  Sept.  30, 1872  ; 
Rev.  Benjamin  E.  Reed,  took  charge  Dec.  25,  1873. 
In  the  spring  of  1877,  the  congregation  having  grown 
too  large  for  the  building,  and  the  remoteness  of  the 
situation  rendering  its  removal  advisable,  a  joint-stock 
company  was  formed,  under  the  title  of  "  The  Mount 
Calvary  Building  Association,"  which  having  pur- 
chased a  lot  seventy-five  by  one  hundred  and  forty 
feet  on  Lafayette  and  Jefferson  Avenues,  erected 
(1877-78)  a  chapel  with  a  seating  capacity  of  three 
hundred  and  fifty,  and  at  a  cost  of  ten  thousand  dol- 
lars. This  also  has  since  proved  too  contracted,  and 
the  parish  is  contemplating  the  building  of  a  large 
and  handsome  church  capable  of  seating  from  eight 
hundred  to  one  thousand.  The  present  rector  is  also 
chaplain  of  the  Episcopal  Orphans'  Home.  The 
property  on  Grand  Avenue  still  belongs  to  the  parish. 
There  are  several  societies  belonging  to  the  congrega- 
tion,— a  Humane  Society  (organized  in  1872)  for  the 
relief  of  the  poor,  that  has  done  important  work,  dis- 
tributing in  gifts  about  six  hundred  dollars  per  annum  ; 
a  Sewing  Society,  Young  Ladies'  Association,  Parish 
Library,  Young  Men's  Guild,  and  a  Missionary  So- 
ciety. In  1882  there  were  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
six  communicants,  and  the  Sunday-school  was  attended 
by  over  thirty  teachers  and  three  hundred  scholars. 

Calvary  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  an  off- 
shoot from  Christ  Church,  was  organized  in  August, 
1859,  by  the  Rev.  J.  W.  Clark.  Mr.  Clark  under- 
took the  work  with  the  understanding  that  there  was 
to  be  no  charge  for  pews  or  seats.  At  first  the  con- 
gregation worshiped  in  Veranda  Hall,  but  soon  after 
its  organization  steps  were  taken  for  the  erection 
of  a  church  building  at  the  corner  of  Morgan  and 
Twenty-first  Streets,  after  designs  by  George  Mitchell, 
of  St.  Louis.  The  corner-stone  was  laid  on  Sunday, 
June  4,  1860.  The  architecture  was  Gothic,  of  the 
early  English  style,  and  the  exterior  dimensions  of 
the  building,  including  vestibule,  porch,  and  bell-gable, 
were  to  be  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven  by  fifty  feet, 
affording  about  one  thousand  sittings.  The  material 


1728 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


to   be  used  was  brick  with  stone  dressings,  and  the  j 
estimated  cost  was  ten  thousand  dollars.    Had  it  been 
completed  it  would  have  been  the  largest  Episcopal 
Church  in  St.  Louis,  with  the  exception  of  the  new 
Christ   Church.     The  building  committee  was  com-  i 
posed  of  E.  Morgan,  James  Duncan,  E.  J.  Cubbage, 
and  Samuel  Spencer.     The  church  was  never  built. 
In  his  historical  address,  at  the  semi-centennial  anni- 
versary of  Christ  Church  in  1869,  Rev.  Dr.  Schuyler 
stated  that  the  enterprise  "  soon  died  out." 

St.  James  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  El- 
leardsville,  Rev.  C.  S.  Hedges,  D.D.,  rector,  was  or- 
ganized in  1870  (services  having  been  held  for  a  year 
before  that),  in  which  year  the  building  of  the  church 
was  begun.  The  edifice  was  completed  and  conse- 
crated by  Bishop  Robertson,  May  29,  1871.  The 
rectors  have  been  Revs.  J.  I.  Corbyn,  1870-74 ; 
Louis  S.  Schuyler,  1874-75  ;  D.  E.  Barr,  1875-76 ; 
and  the  present  pastor  since  1876.  In  1882  there 
were  twenty  communicants,  and  forty  pupils  in  the 
Sunday-school. 

The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  the  Holy 
Innocents,  Oak  Hill,  Rev.  Thomas  H.  Gordon,  rec- 
tor, was  organized  in  the  spring  of  1871,  Rev.  Edwin 
Wickins  holding  the  first  services.  The  rectors  have 
been  the  Revs.  A.  I.  Samuels,  M.D.,  1871-72 ;  J. 
N.  Chestnutt,  1872-73  ;  Louis  S.  Schuyler,  1873- 
78  ;  A.  Batte,  1879-80  ;  Thomas  H.  Gordon  since 
1881.  The  church  has  no  building  of  its  own.  The 
last  report  of  the  rector  stated  that  there  were  fifty- 
five  communicants,  and  ninety  individuals  connected 
with  the  Sunday-school. 

The  Protestant  Episcopal  Mission  Church  of 
the  Good  Shepherd,  Eighth  Street,  between  Lan- 
caster and  Pestalozzi  Streets,  Rev.  H.  A.  Grantham, 
rector,  was  organized  in  March,  1871,  in  a  building 
on  Seventh  Street,  near  Sidney,  where  the  congrega- 
tion worshiped  until  the  completion  of  the  present 
chapel  in  1873.  This  building  has  since  been  en- 
larged. The  rectors  have  been  the  Revs.  Edwin 
Wickins,  1871-73  ;  M.  A.  Hyde,  1873-75  ;  H.  D. 
Jardine,  1875-79  ;  and  the  present  rector  since  1881. 
The  communicants  number  one  hundred  and  five,  and 
the  Sunday-school  is  attended  by  five  teachers  and  fifty 
pupils. 

St.  Peter's  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  Grand 
Avenue,  between  Olive  Street  and  Washington  Ave- 
nue, Rev.  Edward  F.  Berkley,  D.D.,  rector,  was  or- 
ganized by  its  present  rector  in  1872,  in  a  hall  on 
the  northeast  corner  of  Jefferson  Avenue  and  Olive 
Street,  where  worship  was  continued  until  the  chapel 
now  occupied  was  finished,  in  the  fall  of  1873.  This 
chapel  is  of  stone,  of  Gothic  architecture,  and  will 


seat  two  hundred  and  fifty  persons.  It  stands  in  the 
rear  of  the  lot  bought  by  the  church  in  1872,  on  the 
northeast  corner  of  Olive  Street  and  Washington 
Avenue,  the  front  part  of  which  was  sold  after  the 
erection  of  the  chapel,  fifty-five  by  one  hundred  feet 
being  retained.  The  rector  reports  about  sixty  com- 
municants, and  one  hundred  and  twenty  pupils  in  the 
Sunday-school. 

The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  the  Good 
Samaritan,  Rev.  Cassius  M.  C.  Mason,  rector,  was 
organized  in  1873  by  Rev.  James  E.  Thompson,  for 
colored  members  of  the  church.  It  was  then  called 
the  Mission  of  our  Saviour,  and  worshiped  in  the 
chapel  of  Trinity  Church  until  1875,  when  the  old 
Jewish  Synagogue,  on  Sixth  Street,  near  Cerre",  was 
purchased  for  its  use.  This  building,  however,  was 
abandoned  in  1881,  the  location  having  proved  un- 
suitable, and  the  congregation  now  meets  for  worship 
in  Trinity  Church,  at  Eleventh  Street  and  Wash- 
ington Avenue.  The  second  and  present  rector 
(appointed  Sept.  26,  1880)  reports  forty-four  families, 
or  two  hundred  persons,  with  seventy  communicants, 
as  being  connected  with  his  church,  and  five  teachers 
with  ninety  pupils  in  the  Sunday-school. 

The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  the  Ad- 
vent, Twentieth  Street,  near  Wash,  Rev.  J.  N. 
Chestnutt,  rector,  was  formed  out  of  a  mission  Sun- 
day-school which  was  organized  in  1871  and  met  in 
the  Masonic  Hall,  corner  of  Wash  and  Eighteenth 
Streets,  until  1876,  when  the  present  building  wa# 
bought  from  the  Presbyterians.  It  has  since  been 
much  improved.  The  rectors  have  been  the  Revs. 
D.  E.  Barr,  1875-76  ;  L.  E.  Brainerd,  1876-77  ;  and 
the  present  pastor  since  1877.  There  are  eighty- 
three  communicants,  and  ten  teachers  and  seventy- 
five  pupils  in  the  Sunday-school. 

St.  Luke's  Protestant  Episcopal  Mission  was 
begun  in  1881  in  a  hall  at  the  corner  of  Garrison 
and  Easton  Avenues,  where  its  services  are  still  held. 
Rev.  John  Gierlow,  Ph.D.,  is  the  rector. 

UNITARIAN   CHURCHES. 

Church  of  the  Messiah. — In  the  summer  of  1830, 
Rev.  Dr.  John  Pierrepont,  an  eminent  Unitarian 
divine,  poet,  and  temperance  advocate,  visited  St. 
Louis  and  preached  in  the  market-house  at  Main  and 
Market  Streets.  Three  years  later  Rev.  George  Chap- 
man, a  Unitarian  minister  from  Louisville,  Ky., 
preached  three  times  in  the  parlor  of  the  National 
Hotel,  corner  of  Market  and  Third  Streets,  then  just 
built.  There  existed  in  St.  Louis  at  the  time  a  small 
band  of  Unitarians,  recent  immigrants  from  New  Eng- 
land, and  among  these  Christopher  Rhodes,  James 


RELIGIOUS  DENOMINATIONS. 


1729 


Smith,  and  George  H.  Callender  specially  interested 
themselves  in  raising  funds  to  provide  for  the  rent  of 
a  room  or  hall  and  the  board  and  lodging  expenses  of 
a  minister.  Their  efforts  resulted  in  the  establishment 
in  November,  1834,  of  regular  religious  exercises  in 
Elihu  H.  Shepard's  school-rooms,  opposite  the  court- 
house. The  minister  was  Rev.  W.  G.  Eliot,  Jr.,  then 
a  recent  graduate  of  the  Harvard  University  Divinity 
School,  and  afterwards  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
preachers  and  educators  of  St.  Louis.  On  the  26th 
of  January,  1835,  "  The  First  Congregational  Society 
of  St.  Louis"  was  organized,  with  C.  Rhodes  as  presi- 
dent, and  Joseph  M.  Chadwick  as  secretary  and  treas- 
urer. On  the  1st  of  November  of  that  year  the  society 
removed  from  the  school-rooms  to  the  third  story  of 
the  Masonic  Hall,  at  the  corner  of  Main  and  Locust 
Streets,  over  John  Riggins'  store.  This  building  is 
still  standing,  being  one  of  the  few  business  structures 
spared  by  the  great  fire  of  1849.  Previous  to  this, 
however,  the  society  had  purchased  a  lot  at  the  corner  ; 
of  Fourth  and  Pine  Streets.  The  corner-stone  of  the  > 
first  church  located  on  this  site  was  laid  in  May,  1836, 
and  the  building  was  dedicated  on  the  29th  of  Octo- 
ber, 1837.  In  1842  it  was  enlarged,  the  addition 
being  half  the  original  size  of  the  building,  which,  as 
remodeled,  presented  the  appearance  of  a  Grecian 
temple  of  the  Doric  order.  In  the  winter  of  1835-36 
an  informal  association  for  the  care  of  the  poor,  which 
has  continued  in  active  operation  ever  since,  was  or- 
ganized. The  first  communion  service  was  held  at 
Easter,  1836,  eight  persons  participating,  and  two 
years  later,  the  number  of  communicants  having 
doubled,  a  regular  church  covenant  was  adopted.  In 
1836  the  first  attempt  was  made  to  establish  a  Sun- 
day-school, but  it  failed ;  eight  teachers  appeared,  but 
no  scholars.  In  the  spring  of  1837,  however,  a  very 
small  Sunday-school  was  organized,  which  in  1839 
was  put  under  the  care  of  Seth  A.  Ranlett  as  superin- 
tendent, who  served  as  such  until  1870.  In  the  fall 
of  1840  a  "ministry  at  large"  was  established,  Revs. 
Charles  H.  A.  Dall,  Mordecai  De  Lange,  Carlos  G. 
Ward,  and  Thomas  L.  Eliot,  a  son  of  Dr.  Eliot,  now 
settled  at  Portland,  Oregon,  successively,  but  irregu- 
larly, filling  the  position,  and  in  November,  1841,  the 
church  members  resolved  themselves  into  a  charitable 
association,  with  the  minister  at  large  as  agent,  for 
the  conduct  of  schools  for  the  poor,  sewing  and  in- 
dustrial schools,  etc.  For  the  use  of  these  schools 
some  years  later  a  house  and  lot  on  Eighth  Street, 
between  Locust  and  St.  Charles,  were  secured  at  a  cost  | 
of  fifteen  thousand  dollars.  In  1879-80  the  present 
mission  house,  a  beautiful  structure,  situated  at  the 
southwest  corner  of  Ninth  and  Wash  Streets,  was 


erected  and  endowed,  with  provision  for  twenty-five 
constant  inmates,  orphans  or  neglected  children.  Here 
are  conducted  a  day  school  of  fifty  children,  for  whom 
dinner  is  regularly  supplied,  and  who  receive  more  or 
less  aid  during  the  winter ;  a  sewing-school,  which 
meets  on  Saturdays,  with  two  hundred  and  sixty 
scholars ;  and  a  Sunday-school  with  an  attendance  of 
nearly  three  hundred.  Occasional  Sunday  services  are 
held,  although  no  minister  at  large  is  now  employed. 
On  the  1st  of  May,  1 850,  ground  was  broken,  and 
on  the  1st  of  July  following  the  corner-stone  of  a 
second  church  edifice  was  laid  at  the  northwest  corner 
of  Olive  and  Ninth  Streets,  and  the  building,  though 
not  quite  completed,  was  dedicated  Dec.  7,  1851.  It 
cost,  when  finished,  one  hundred  and  five  thousand 
dollars,  nearly  half  of  which  remained  as  a  debt.  For 
the  purpose  of  devising  a  plan  for  the  liquidation  of 
this  debt,  a  meeting  of  twenty  gentlemen  was  held 
at  the  house  of  John  Tilden,  Oct.  19,  1852.  Sub- 
sequently, by  means  of  contributions  varying  from 
one  hundred  to  three  thousand  dollars,  several  persons 
borrowing  the  money  they  gave,  and  the  sale  of  pews, 
the  whole  amount  was  raised,  and  when  all  obligations 
were  canceled  a  small  amount  remained  over.  The 
new  church  was  a  beautiful  edifice  of  brick  with 
stone  cappings,  and  having  a  seating  capacity  of 
twelve  hundred.  It  was  situated  on  a  lot,  the  dimen- 
sions of  which  were  one  hundred  and  five  by  one 
hundred  and  fifty-two  feet,  and  had  two  fronts  of 
seventy  and  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  respectively. 
The  style  of  architecture  was  nominally  "  mixed 
Gothic,"  but  possessed  features  original  with  the  archi- 
tect. Its  general  effect  was  that  of  breadth,  solidity, 
and  spaciousness.  The  building  was  regarded  at  the 
time  as  a  model  of  good  workmanship,  and  as  being 
one  of  the  finest  and  most  durable  church  edifices  in 
the  city.  The  steeple  was  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
seven  feet  in  height,  and  was  covered  with  thick 
copper  plates  from  its  base  on  the  tower  to  its  top. 
The  church  was  sold  in  June,  1879,  for  seventy  thou- 
sand dollars,  and  was  converted  into  Pope's  Theatre. 
Dr.  Eliot  continued  as  pastor  of  the  society  until  the 
close  of  1872,  when  he  retired  to  become  chancellor 
of  Washington  University,  but  at  various  times  the 
pulpit  was  filled  for  continuous  terms  by  other  clergy- 
men, either  in  the  absence  of  the  pastor  or  as  his  as- 
sociates. Rev.  W.  0.  White,  of  Keene,  N.  H.,  served 
for  several  months  in  1846-47,  and  Rev.  Robert 
Hassal  was  chosen  as  "colleague"  during  1850,  and 
Rev.  Carlton  A.  Staples  served  in  the  same  capacity 
from  1857  till  October,  1861.  Rev.  Thomas  Lamb 
Eliot  was  ordained  as  associate  pastor  in  1865,  and 
continued  as  such  until  December,  1867.  Rev.  John 


1730 


HISTORY  OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


Snyder,  of  Hingham,  Mass.,  was  unanimously  elected 
to  succeed  Dr.  Eliot  as  pastor,  and  was  installed  April 
20,  1873,  Rev.  Dr.  Henry  W.  Bellows  preaching  the 
installation  sermon.  On  the  6th  of  July,  1879,  the 
last  services  were  held  in  the  old  church,  after  which 
the  congregation  worshiped  first  in  a  small  chapel  on 
Beaumont  Street,  then  at  Pickwick  Hall,  and  then  in 
the  Mission  House  at  Ninth  and  Wash  Streets.  In 
November,  1879,  ground  was  broken  on  the  site  of 
the  new  edifice,  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Garrison 
Avenue  and  Locust  Street.  The  corner-stone  was 
laid  Feb.  1,  1880,  and  the  finished  building  was  ded-  j 
icated  Dec.  16,  1881  (although  it  had  been  occupied, 
in  an  unfinished  condition,  since  Dec.  26,  1880),  the 
sermon  being  preached  by  Rev.  Dr.  Henry  W.  Bel-  | 
lows.  This  discourse  was  the  last  from  the  gifted  pen  j 
of  that  eminent  minister,  who  died  Jan.  30,  1882,  in 
New  York  City. 

The  church  is  situated  on  a  natural  plateau  one 
hundred  and  thirty-five  feet  square,  raised  several  feet 
above  the  surrounding  streets,  to  which  the  ground 
descends  in  terraces.  It  is  built  in  the  early  English 
Gothic  style,  of  blue  limestone,  quarried  within  the 
limits  of  St.  Louis,  laid  in  ashlar,  and  relieved  by 
horizontal  string-courses  of  drab  sandstone  from  War- 
rensburg,  Mo.,  which  was  also  used  for  the  facings  of 
the  doors  and  windows.  The  spire,  of  stone,  is  one 
hundred  and  forty-two  feet  in  height,  and  about  it  the 
different  parts  of  the  church  are  picturesquely  arranged 
so  as  to  give  them  the  appearance  of  a  group  of  build- 
ings. The  furniture  is  of  native,  unpainted  yellow 
pine,  and  the  roof  is  of  open  timber-work,  resembling 
that  of  Westminster  Hall.  The  windows  are  nearly 
all  memorial, — Hudson  E.  Bridge,  Emily  Frances 
Partridge  Eaton,  Georgiana  C.  Louderman,  Ebenezer 
and  Theoline  Richards,  Henry  S.  Reed,  and  Edward 
Y.  and  Susan  A.  Ware  being  thus  memorialized. 
To  the  memory  of  James  Smith  a  brass  tablet  has 
been  erected  in  an  arch  of  the  eastern  wall,  and  por- 
traits of  Seth  A.  Ranlett  and  of  Henry  Glover  have 
been  hung  in  the  Sunday-school  room.  The  church 
and  ground,  exclusive  of  the  memorial  windows,  cost 
nearly  one  hundred  and  nine  thousand  dollars,  and  no 
debt  remains  upon  them.  In  addition  to  the  main 
building,  which  has  a  seating  capacity  of  seven  hun- 
dred, there  are  a  chapel  which  is  used  for  the  Sunday- 
school,  class-  and  library-rooms,  sewing-room,  pastor's  \ 
study,  a  dining-room,  and  kitchen.  The  Church  of  the  j 
Messiah  has  always  borne  a  prominent  and  active  part 
in  benevolent  and  educational  work,  and  there  is  no 
charity  in  the  city,  Protestant,  Catholic,  or  secular, 
to  which  its  members  have  not  been  contributors.  ; 
During  the  last  twenty-five  years  the  congregation  has 


annually  given  for  extra  religious  work  over  forty 
thousand  dollars.  There  are  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  families  connected  with  the  congregation,  and  the 
Sunday-school  has  an  average  attendance  of  ten  teach- 
ers and  one  hundred  and  fifty  scholars.  Rev.  John 
Snyder  is  still  pastor. 

The  history  of  the  Church  of  the  Messiah,  as  will 
be  seen  from  the  foregoing  narrative,  is  conspicuously 
identified  with  that  of  the  ministry  of  the  Rev.  W. 
G.  Eliot,  D.D.,  president  of  the  Washington  Univer- 
sity, who  was  pastor  of  the  congregation  from  Novem- 
ber, 1834,  until  the  close  of  1872.  Dr.  Eliot's  career 
in  St.  Louis  has  been  one  of  remarkable  energy,  use- 
fulness, and  self-denying  zeal.  Both  as  pastor  of  the 
Church  of  the  Messiah  and  head  of  the  Washington 
University,  he  has  been  a  prominent  figure  before  the 
public  of  St.  Louis  for  many  years,  and  one  of  the 
ablest  and  most  untiring  promoters  of  religious,  benevo- 
lent, educational,  and  reformatory  enterprises,  as  well 
as  of  the  moral  and  social  progress  of  the  community 
at  large.  He  has  been  called  "  the  most  accomplished 
and  successful  beggar"  for  charitable  objects  of  modern 
times ;  and  while  competency  after  competency  has 
been  presented  to  him  unconditionally,  he  has  invaria- 
bly disposed  of  them  in  such  manner  as  he  deemed 
most  likely  to  produce  permanently  good  results. 

Church  of  the  Unity.— The  Church  of  the  Unity 
(Unitarian)  is  situated  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Park 
and  Armstrong  Avenues,  and  the  pastor  is  Rev.  J.  C. 
Learned.  In  May,  1868,  a  few  gentlemen,  antici- 
pating the  formation  of  a  new  Unitarian  Society,  pur- 
chased for  twelve  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  a  lot 
of  ground  at  the  above  location,  having  a  frontage  of 
one  hundred  and  sixty-five  feet  on  Armstrong  Avenue. 
When,  in  the  following  June,  the  congregation  was 
organized  and  incorporated,  the  ground  was  conveyed 
by  its  purchasers  at  cost  to  the  society,  the  incorpora- 
tors  of  which  were  William  H.  Pulsifer,  E.  S.  Rowse, 
William  H.  Maurice,  J.  S.  Cavender,  F.  B.  Homes, 
C.  L.  Dean,  William  N.  Hinchman,  J.  P.  Young,  and 
C.  L.  Bush.  The  trustees  set  apart  for  sale  seventy- 
five  feet  of  the  rear  of  the  lot  fronting  on  Park 
Avenue,  and  reserved  the  corner  lot,  fronting  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  feet  on  Armstrong  Avenue,  for  the 
erection  of  a  large  church  edifice.  Upon  the  remain- 
ing forty- five  feet  they  built  a  neat  Gothic  chapel, 
thirty-five  by  sixty  feet,  and  capable  of  seating  two 
hundred  and  fifty  persons.  The  corner-stone  was  laid 
Aug.  5,  1869,  Rev.  Mr.  Staples,  of  Chicago,  formerly 
associate  of  Dr.  Eliot  in  the  pastorship  of  the  Church 
of  the  Messiah,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Harrison,  of  Blooming- 
ton,  111.,  officiating.  The  .building  was  dedicated 
May  15,  1870,  the  cost  of  its  erection  having  been 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1731 


;about  ten  thousand  dollars.  Rev.  John  C.  Learned 
ihas  been  pastor  since  his  appointment  in  April,  1870. 
This  church  is  an  offshoot  of  the  Church  of  the 
Messiah,  and  its  creed  is  based  not  upon  a  declaration 
of  belief,  but  upon  an  acknowledgment  of  duties. 
About  one  hundred  families  are  connected  with  the 
church,  and  eighteen  teachers  with  one  hundred 
scholars  compose  the  Sunday-school. 

EVANGELICAL   CHURCHES. 

The  earliest  German  Protestant  organization  in  St. 
Louis  was  that  of  the  "  German  Evangelical  Church 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  which  was  established  in  1834. 
Its  membership  embraced  both  the  Lutheran  and  Re- 
formed denominations,  which  continued  to  worship 
together  for  nine  years.  In  the  year  1842,  however, 
dissensions  arose  on  points  of  doctrine,  and  in  July, 
1843,  the  pastor  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
Rev.  G.  W.  Wall,  with  Messrs.  Buenemann,  Schmidt, 
W.  Schrader,  Jacob  Westerman,  and  seventy-two 
others,  who  adhered  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Reformed 
denomination,  withdrew,  and  on  the  31st  of  July  or- 
ganized the  "  German  Evangelical  Congregation  of 
St.  Louis."  They  worshiped  in  the  Benton  school- 
house  on  Sixth  Street,  between  Locust  and  St.  Charles 
Street,  until  1845,  when  they  erected  two  churches, 
one  called  the  North  Church,  afterwards  St.  Peter's 
German  Evangelical  Church,  at  Carr  and  Fifteenth 
Streets,  and  the  other  known  as  South  Church,  after- 
wards St.  Marcus'  or  St.  Mark's  Church,  at  the  corner 
of  Jackson  and  Soulard  Streets.  Both  were  alike  in 
size  and  design,  each  being  thirty  by  forty  feet  in 
dimensions,  and  remained  the  common  property  of  the 
congregation  until  1856,  when  a  division  was  effected, 
and  two  distinct  churches  were  organized.  "  The  Ger- 
man Evangelical  Congregation  of  St.  Louis,"  organized 
in  July,  1843,  formed  the  nucleus  of  the  "Evangel- 
ical Synod  of  the  West,"  which  has  since  spread 
over  the  United  States.  This  Synod,  in  conjunction 
with  a  few  congregations  in  Canada,  is  called  "  The 
German  Evangelical  Synod  of  North  America,"  and 
being  the  American  Branch  of  the  Prussian  State 
Church,  it  receives  biennially  the  interest  on  a  large 
fund  which  was  subscribed  some  twenty  years  ago  by 
the  Evangelical  congregations  of  Prussia  for  the 
benefit  of  their  brethren  in  this  country.  The  Ger- 
man Protestant  Orphans'  Home,  formerly  within  the 
city  limits,  but  now  ten  miles  from  the  court-house 
on  St.  Charles  Rock  road,  was  organized  by  the  Ger- 
man Evangelical  Synod,  as  was  also  the  Good  Sa- 
maritan Hospital,  Twenty-fifth  and  O'Fallon  Streets. 
The  same  Synod  is  about  to  erect  near  St.  Louis  a 
building  for  its  theological  seminary.  This  seminary, 


under  the  name  of  the  Missouri  College,  has  been 
located  for  about  thirty-five  years  at  Femme  Osage, 
in  St.  Charles  County,  Mo.,  but  will  soon  be  removed 
to  St.  Louis.  A  building-site  of  eighteen  acres  has 
been  secured  on  the  St.  Charles  Rock  road,  seven 
miles  from  the  court-house,  just  on  the  edge  of  the 
city  limits,  at  an  expense  of  nine  thousand  eight  hun- 
dred dollars.  Plans  for  the  main  building  have  been 
prepared,  and  the  work  is  under  way.  The  main 
building  will  have  a  front  of  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
four  feet,  basement,  three  stories  and  attic,  with  tower. 
It  will  contain  all  the  modern  improvements,  and 
have  room  for  one  hundred  students.  The  cost,  with- 
out furniture,  will  be  fifty -six  thousand  dollars,  and 
it  will  be  completed  by  the  fall  of  1883.  Rev.  Louis 
Haeberle  is  inspector  of  the  institution,  and  Rev.  C. 
Kungmann  the  first  professor,  besides  other  teachers 
from  the  city.  The  Synod  is  divided  into  seven  dis- 
tricts, and  has  four  hundred  and  fifty  ministers  and 
upwards  of  five  hundred  congregations.  It  owns 
another  college  for  ministers  and  teachers  at  Edin- 
burgh, Page  Co.,  111.,  sixteen  miles  northwest  of 
Chicago. 

The  Independent  Evangelical  Church  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  was  the  outgrowth  of  the  original  Ger- 
man Evangelical  Church  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which, 
as  previously  stated,  was  organized  in  1834,  and  com- 
prised both  the  Lutheran  and  Reformed  congregations. 
The  old  congregation  first  met  in  the  Methodist  build- 
ing at  Fourth  Street  and  Washington  Avenue,  but  in 
January,  1839,  removed  to  the  directory  of  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church,  on  Fourth  Street,  between  Wash- 
ington Avenue  and  St.  Charles  Street.  It  had  pre- 
viously purchased  a  lot  at  Seventh  Street  and  Clark 
Avenue,  and  here  a  building  was  erected  and  dedi- 
cated on  the  9th  of  August,  1840.  Rev.  G.  W.  Wall 
had  been  appointed  pastor  in  December,  1836,  and 
was  assisted  at  the  dedication  by  the  Rev.  Louis  E. 
Nollau,  pastor  of  what  was  then  known  as  the 
Gravois  settlement.  In  1843  the  division  of  the 
congregation,  resulting  from  the  withdrawal  of  the 
adherents  of  the  Reformed  Evangelical  Church,  led 
to  the  organization  of  the  remaining  members  of  the 
congregation  into  the  Independent  Evangelical  Church, 
which  has  continued  as  such  ever  since.  In  1858  the 
present  church,  situated  at  the  corner  of  Eighth  and 
Walnut  Streets,  and  known  for  some  years  as  Pastor 
Krebs'  Church,  was  erected.  It  is  a  substantial  brick 
building,  with  a  Gothic  front,  seating  about  two  thou- 
sand persons,  and  has  a  parochial  residence  attached. 
In  1869  three  schools  had  been  organized  in  connec- 
tion with  the  church, — one  in  the  basement  of  the 
building  on  Eighth  Street,  with  one  hundred  and 


1732 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


seventy-five  scholars ;  one  on  Eleventh  Street,  be- 
tween Carr  and  Biddle,  with  four  hundred  scholars ; 
and  the  third  on  Decatur  Street,  between  Geyer 
Avenue  and  Ann  Street,  with  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  scholars.  The  church  is  now  so  far  from 
the  residence  centre  of  the  city  that  a  removal  farther 
west  will  doubtless  soon  be  effected.  The  congrega- 
tion numbers  two  hundred  and  fifty  families,  with 
five  hundred  communicants,  and  there  are  six  teach- 
ers and  sixty  scholars  connected  with  the  Sunday- 
school.  Rev.  J.  G.  Eberhard  is  the  pastor. 

St.  Marcus  or  St.  Mark's  German  Evangelical 
Church.,  situated  at  the  corner  of  Soulard  and  Jack- 
son Streets,  Rev.  John  H.  Nollau,  pastor,  was  one  of 
the  three  churches  which  sprang  from  the  old  Ger- 
man Evangelical  Church  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  his- 
tory of  which,  with  which  its  own  is  identical  until 
July,  1843,  has  already  been  narrated.  On  the  31st 
of  that  month  Pastor  Wall  and  seventy-six  members 
of  the  original  congregation  withdrew  and  organized 
the  German  Evangelical  congregation,  from  which 
subsequently  sprang  both  St.  Mark's  and  St.  Peter's 
Churches.  A  building  known  as  the  South  Church 
was  erected  at  Soulard  and  Jackson  Streets,  and  was 
dedicated  on  the  14th  of  December,  1845.  Its  di- 
mensions were  thirty  by  forty-five,  and  it  remained, 
together  with  the  North  Church,  the  joint  property 
of  the  association  until  1856.  In  that  year  the  con- 
gregation was  divided,  and  the  church  at  Soulard  and 
Jackson  Streets  was  thenceforth  known  as  St.  Mark's. 

Pastor  Wall  was  called  to  the  Gravois  settlement, 
and  Pastors  Cavizel,  Ries,  and  Baltzer  preached  at 
both  city  churches  until  the  separation  in  1856,  when 
Pastor  Baltzer  remained  with  St.  Mark's  until  Sep- 
tember, 1848,  and  was  followed  by  Pastor  Meier, 
until  May,  1849,  and  Rev.  W.  Binner,  until  May, 
1850,  who  resigned  to  take  the  presidency  of  the 
Evangelical  Seminary  at  Marthasville.  Pastor  Wall 
was  then  recalled,  and  remained  until  his  death,  April 
20,  1867.  During  his  pastorate  of  seventeen  years 
he  twice  represented  the  American  congregations  at 
the  General  Synod  held  in  1852  at  Bremen,  Germany, 
(Rev.  C.  Nestel  supplying  the  pulpit  in  his  absence), 
and  in  1864  at  Altenburg,  Germany.  During  his 
absence  on  this  occasion  Rev.  P.  F.  Meusch  offi- 
ciated at  St.  Peter's.  In  the  spring  of  1866  the  first 
church  building  was  torn  down  and  the  present  one 
erected  on  its  site.  The  corner-stone  was  laid  Auir. 
12,  1866,  and  the  building  dedicated  Aug.  4,  1867. 
It  is  a  two-story  brick  building  with  stone  ornamenta- 
tion, and  its  dimensions  are  fifty  and  one-half  feet  by 
ninety  feet.  Its  seating  capacity  is  eight  hundred 
persons,  and  its  whole  cost,  including  organ  and  fur- 


nishing, was  thirty  thousand  three  hundred  and  twelve 
dollars.  The  church  lot  is  one  hundred  feet  square, 
and  contains  also  a  parsonage  and  three  large  class- 
rooms, in  which  a  parochial  school  is  conducted. 
Pastor  Meier,  a  student  of  the  seminary,  preached  for 
a  few  months  after  the  death  of  Pastor  Wall,  and 
subsequently  Rev.  Henry  Braschler  became  pastor, 
and  remained  until  May,  1875.  He  was  succeeded 
by  Rev.  J.  Hoffman,  who  served  until  the  fall  of 
1877,  and  Rev.  J.  H.  Nollau,  who  has  been  pastor 
since  Dec.  10,  1877.  In  1856  this  church  bought  a 
cemetery,  known  as  St.  Mark's,  on  Gravois  road,  seven 
miles  from  the  court-house,  and  containing  about 
thirty-seven  acres.  Before  this  it  owned,  in  common 
with  St.  Peter's  Church,  a  cemetery  on  Cherokee 
Street  and  Lemp  Avenue,  which  has  not  been  used 
for  burial  purposes  since  1857.  Connected  with  the 
church  are  a  Benevolent  Ladies'  Society,  reorganized 
October,  1877,  and  having  now  one  hundred  and  one 
members ;  a  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  or- 
ganized 1879  ;  a  Young  Ladies'  Society,  organized 
February,  1882,  and  having  forty-five  members  ;  a 
day  school,  established  when  the  congregation  was 
first  organized,  and  which  is  attended  by  from  sixty 
to  one  hundred  pupils,  under  the  charge  of  C. 
Braeutigam,  and  a  Sunday-school  with  twenty-three 
teachers  and  six  hundred  and  fifty  pupils,  organized 
in  1873,  the  pastor  being  its  superintendent.  The 
congregation  numbers  about  one  hundred  and  twenty 
families. 

St.  Peter's  German  Evangelical  Church  was  one 
of  the  two  Reformed  congregations  founded  by  Pas- 
tor Wall,  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  1843. 
It  was' organized  in  1844,  and  the  first  building  occu- 
pied was  erected  at  the  corner  of  Sixth  Street  and 
Franklin  Avenue  in  1846,  but  was  torn  down  on  the 
removal  (in  1850)  of  the  congregation  to  the  present 
building  at  Fifteenth  and  Carr  Streets.  It  is  a  plain 
brick  structure,  with  a  steeple,  and  its  dimensions  are 
thirty  by  forty-five  feet,  with  a  seating  capacity,  in- 
cluding the  gallery,  of  about  one  thousand.  The  first 
pastor  was  the  Rev.  Mr.  Ries,  the  elders  at  that  time 
being  W.  Shrader,  H.  Saeger,  F.  Riecke,  W.  Leune- 
brink,  F.  Dieckmann,  D.  Voepel.  W.  Shrader  was 
also  trustee.  Since  the  pastorate  of  Mr.  .Ries  the 
ministers  in  charge  have  been  Louis  E.  Nollau,  ap- 
pointed Sept.  6,  1852  ;  A.  W.  Roeder,  appointed 
Oct.  10,  1860  ;  E.  Roos,  appointed  Sept,  26,  1870 ; 
A.  B.  P.  J.  Thiele,  appointed  March  1,  1880.  The 
Sunday-school,  organized  in  1851,  has  now  twenty- 
five  teachers  and  three  hundred  and  seventy-five 
scholars.  The  average  attendance  at  the  services 
numbers  nearly  six  hundred  persons.  A  Young 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1733 


Men's  Christian  Association,  organized  in  1853 ;  a 
Ladies'  Aid  Association,  organized  in  the  same  year ; 
a  Young  Ladies'  Aid  Association,  organized  in  1872 ; 
and  Men's  Aid  Society  (consisting  only  of  members 
of  the  church),  organized  Feb.  19,  1872,  are  con- 
nected with  St.  Peter's  Church. 

St.  Paul's  German  Evangelical  Church,  corner 
of  Decatur  Street  and  Lafayette  Avenue,  was  organ- 
ized Oct.  23,  1848,  by  Messrs.  Jacob  Kleiber,  Wil- 
liam Hogan,  John  Machenheimer,  Frederick  Chris- 
topher, George  Henkler,  Henry  Hirb,  Chr.  Dietrich, 
Melchior  Siemann,  Jacob  Schleyer,  Martin  Uebel, 
Frederick  Weber,  and  Jacob  Kleiber,  Sr.,  with  Rev. 
A.  Baltzer  as  pastor.  The  present  lot,  one  hundred 
and  thirty  by  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet,  was  pur- 
chased and  the  erection  of  a  building  was  begun  dur- 
ing the  same  year.  The  church  was  completed  and 
dedicated  in  1849.  It  was  a  two-story  brick  building 
with  school-rooms  in  the  basement,  and  seated  about 
five  hundred  persons.  Pastor  Baltzer  was  succeeded 
by  the  following  :  Revs.  I.  Will  (who  served  ten  years), 
J.  C.  Seybold,  Dr.  R.  Yohn  (who  served  fifteen  years), 
C.  A.  Richter,  Otto  Telle  (served  ten  months),  Jacob 
Irion,  and  J.  F.  Rowing  (acting  temporarily  in  1882). 
The  society  was  incorporated  Jan.  23,  1877,  with 
H.  H.  Schweer,  J.  E.  Brandenburger,  Henry  Spenge- 
mann,  Henry  Roth,  John  H.  Baumann,  and  Henry 
Wiebusch  as  corporators,  under  the  title  of  "  The 
German  Evangelical  St.  Paul's  Congregation  at  St. 
Louis."  Upon  the  lot  are  situated,  besides  the  church, 
a  parsonage,  a  young  men's  hall,  and  a  parochial 
school  which  numbers  sixty  pupils.  Connected  with 
the  congregation  are  a  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation of  sixty  members ;  a  Ladies'  Missionary  So- 
ciety, sixty  members ;  and  a  Young  Ladies'  Society, 
fifty  members.  About  four  hundred  people  compose 
the  congregation,  and  the  Sunday-school  has  twelve 
teachers  and  three  hundred  and  fifty  scholars.  The 
church  property  is  valued  at  sixty  thousand  dol- 
lars. 

St.  John's  German  Evangelical  Church. — This 
church,  situated  at  the  southeast  corner  of  Madison 
and  Fourteenth  Streets,  Rev.  Gottlieb  Mueller,  pastor, 
was  organized  in  1855,  and  has  grown  to  be  a  large 
congregation.  The  church  building,  erected  about 
the  same  year,  is  a  fine  Gothic  brick  structure,  forty 
by  seventy-five  feet,  with  a  spire,  and  is  situated  on  a 
lot  ninety  by  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  feet.  Ad- 
joining the  church  is  a  commodious  parsonage,  The 
parochial  school  is  attended  by  four  teachers  and  about 
four  hundred  and  fifty  pupils. 

German  Evangelical  Friedens  Church  was  or- 
ganized in  March,  1858,  by  its  present  pastor,  Rev. 
110 


John  M.  Kopf,  and  first  met  for  worship  in  the 
Fairmount  Presbyterian  Church  building,  at  Ninth 
Street  and  Penrose  Avenue,  which  was  subsequently 
sold  to  the  Congregationalists  and  is  now  Hyde 
Park  Church.  The  corner-stone  of  the  present 
building,  which  is  situated  at  the  southwest  corner 
of  Newhouse  Avenue  and  Thirteenth  Street,  was 
laid  in  August,  1860,  and  the  building  was  dedi- 
cated in  April,  1861.  It  is  a  handsome  Gothic 
structure  of  brick,  forty-six  by  seventy-five  feet,  with 
a  tall  spire,  and  has  a  seating  capacity  for  one  thousand 
persons.  On  the  church  lot,  the  dimensions  of  which 
are  one  hundred  by  one  hundred  and  twenty-three 
feet,  are  also  situated  the  pastoral  residence  and  the 
parochial  school  building.  Connected  with  the  latter 
I  are  three  teachers  and  two  hundred  and  twenty  pupils. 
The  congregation  comprises  one  hundred  and  fifty 
families,  numbering  fifteen  hundred  persons,  and  there 
are  about  eight  hundred  communicants.  The  Sunday- 
school  comprises  fourteen  teachers  and  five  hundred 
scholars.  Several  societies  are  maintained  by  the  con- 
gregation, among  them  the  ladies',  young  men's,  and 
singing  societies,  and  an  association  for  the  relief  of 
widows  and  orphans.  The  church  property  is  valued 
at  thirty-seven  thousand  dollars. 

Bethania  German  Evangelical  Church  was  or- 
ganized on  the  15th  of  May,  1867,  by  Rev.  Chris- 
topher F.  Stark,  now  pastor  of  Bethlehem   Church, 
in  a  hall    at  the  southeast  corner  of  Twenty-third 
Street  and  Franklin  Avenue.     It  worshiped  at  first 
in  a  small  chapel   situated   at  the  southwest  corner 
of    Twenty-fourth    and    Carr    Streets,  where    Carr 
Lane  School  now  stands,  which  was  purchased  from 
the  Methodist  denomination,  the  price  paid   for  the 
building  and  lot  (one  hundred  by  seventy-five  feet) 
being  six  thousand  dollars.     The  chapel  was  a  low 
one-story  brick   building,   thirty  by   forty  feet,   and 
seating  about  three  hundred  persons,  in  the  rear  of 
which  the  congregation    erected  a  substantial  brick 
school-house.     The  erection  of  the  present  building 
at  the  northeast  corner  of  Twenty-fourth  and  Wash 
Streets  was  begun  in   1874  and  finished  in  1875. 
Rev.  Mr.  Stark  resigned  Jan.  1,  1878,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Rev.  M.  Herberg,  who  served  less  than  a 
1  year,  the  present  pastor,  Rev.  Lewis  Austmann,  suc- 
1  ceeding   towards    the    close   of   1878.     The  church 
property,  including  lot  fifty  by  one  hundred  feet,  ia 
valued  at  thirty  thousand  dollars.     Connected  with 
the  congregation  are  about  eighty  members,  a  Sunday- 
school  with  twelve  teachers  and  one  hundred  pupils, 
a  parochial  school  with  two  teachers  and  fifty  pupils, 
a  singing  society  of  twenty  members,  and  Bethania 
Cemetery  of  sixteen  acres,  situated  on  St.   Charles 


1734 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Rock  road,  seven  miles  from  the  court-house,  estab-  j 
lished  about  1871. 

Independent  Evangelical  Protestant  Church 
(German). — This  congregation,  which  numbers  from  ' 
six  hundred  to  eight  hundred  members,  worshiped 
originally  in  a  church  at  the  corner  of  Mound  and 
Eighth  Streets,  which  was  purchased  by  it  from  the 
Presbyterians  in  1856.  The  building  occupied  a  lot 
seventy-five  by  seventy-six  feet,  and  its  own  dimen- 
sions were  fifty-four  by  thirty-six  feet,  affording  a 
seating  capacity  for  about  five  hundred  persons.  The 
lower  story  was  used  by  a  primary  school,  which  num- 
bered one  hundred  and  fifty  children.  The  building 
was  of  brick  and  had  a  small  steeple.  About  1868 
the  building  was  sold  to  an  independent  Baptist  or- 
ganization, and  the  German  congregation  erected  a 
new  church  edifice  ninety-two  by  fifty-six  feet,  with 
a  steeple  one  hundred  and  seventy-four  feet  high, 
on  the  lot  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Webster  and 
Thirteenth  Streets,  which  is  still  occupied  by  the 
congregation.  Rev.  P.  Godfrey  Gerber  was  the  pas- 
tor in  1869,  and  the  present  pastor  is  the  Rev.  John 
F.  Jonas.  There  is  no  Sunday-school  connected 
with  the  church. 

Carondelet  German  Evangelical  Church  was 
organized  by  the  Rev.  John  Will,  who  served  as  its 
first  pastor,  on  the  7th  of  November,  1869.  It  is 
situated  at  Fourth  Street  and  Koeln  Avenue,  South 
St.  Louis,  and  the  present  pastor  is  the  Rev.  E. 
Berger.  The  corner-stone  was  laid  in  November, 
1869,  and  the  completed  building  was  dedicated  in 
November,  1870.  It  is  a  brick  structure  forty -two 
by  seventy-two  feet.  Connected  with  the  church  are 
one  hundred  and  fifty  families,  two  hundred  and 
seventy-seven  communicants,  nine  teachers,  and  one 
hundred  and  twelve  pupils  in  the  Sunday-school,  an 
Evangelical  Young  Men's  Society,  organized  in  1880, 
and  a  parochial  school,  organized  in  1882,  with  thirty- 
eight  pupils. 

Zion's  German  Evangelical  Church,  Rev.  J. 
Henry  Klerner,  pastor,  is  located  at  the  corner  of 
Beuton  and  Twentieth  Streets.  It  was  organized  in 
1869,  in  the  hall  of  a  market-house  at  Eighteenth 
and  Montgomery  Streets,  the  incorporators  being  J.  j 
H.  Lippelman,  Henry  Klages,  G.  Frederick,  and  i 
Rev.  A.  Miiller.  The  first  building  occupied  by  the 
congregation  stood  at  the  corner  of  Nineteenth  and 
Montgomery  Streets.  Its  corner-stone  was  laid  in 
the  fall  of  1869,  and  the  church  was  dedicated  in 
the  fall  of  1870.  It  was  converted  into  a  dwelling- 
house  after  the  congregation  had  removed  to  its  pres- 
ent location,  in  the  fall  of  1872.  The  pastors  have 
been  Revs.  A.  Miiller,  F.  Koewing,  and  J.  H.  Kler- 


ner. A  Christian  Aid  Society,  Ladies'  Society,  and 
Young  Men's  Society  are  maintained  in  connection 
with  the  regular  organization  of  the  church. 

St.  Lucas  German  Evangelical  Church,  situated 
at  the  northeast  corner  of  Scott  and  Jefferson  Avenues, 
Rev.  Henry  Walser,  pastor,  was  organized  in  1870  by 
Pastor  Reusch,  who  was  succeeded  by  Pastor  Jungk, 
and  in  1881  by  the  present  incumbent.  A  small 
chapel  was  first  erected  on  the  rear  portion  of  the 
church  lot,  which  is  now  used  as  the  parish  school. 
An  addition  to  it,  which  is  used  as  the  teacher's 
residence,  has  been  built,  and  the  school  is  attended 
by  seventy-five  pupils.  The  present  elegant  Gothic 
church  edifice,  of  brick,  forty  by  seventy  feet,  with  a 
seating  capacity  of  eight  hundred,  was  built  in  1878. 
The  parsonage,  on  Jefferson  Avenue  adjoining  the 
church  lot,  was  erected  in  1882,  and  is  a  neat  and 
commodious  dwelling.  The  membership  of  the 
church  numbers  nearly  two  hundred  persons,  and 
the  Sunday-school  is  attended  by  fifteen  teachers  and 
seventy-five  scholars. 

St.  Matthew's  German  Evangelical  Church  was 
organized  Nov.  14,  1875,  at  the  private  school-rooms 
of  G.  H.  Braeutigam,  on  Carondelet  Avenue  near 
Anna  Street,  the  incorporators  being  Henry  Brasch- 
ler,  Nicholas  Frank,  William  Kollmeyer,  John  Voepel, 
and  Louis  Hunt.  Besides  these,  P.  HuefFner,  P.  H. 
Sauerwein,  W.  Winefeld,  G.  Schildroth,  and  a  few 
others  were  the  first  members.  The  corner-stone  of 
the  church  building,  3331  South  Seventh  Street,  was 
laid  Nov.  28,  1875,  and  the  building  was  dedicated 
March  5,  1876.  Rev.  Henry  Braschler  has  been  the 
pastor  from  the  first.  The  choir  and  Sunday-school 
were  organized  in  March,  1876.  The  latter  now 
numbers  over  three  hundred  scholars.  The  pastor 
resides  in  the  church  building,  in  which  is  also  main- 
tained a  day  school  attended  by  fifty  scholars,  and 
conducted  by  Rev.  Henry  Drees,  assistant  pastor  of 
the  church.  It  was  organized  in  1879.  The  parish 
numbers  about  fifty  families. 

ST.  MATTHEW'S  CEMETERY,  Pennsylvania  Avenue 
and  Morgan  Ford  road,  is  connected  with  St.  Mat- 
thew's German  Evangelical  Church.  The  corpora- 
tion was  chartered  April  18,  1878,  with  Charles 
Bauer,  Henry  Braschler,  William  Kollmeyer,  Wil- 
liam Habighorst,  and  Conrad  Brinkmann  as  incor- 
porators. It  is  distant  three  miles  from  the  church, 
contains  twelve  acres,  and  is  handsomely  laid  out  and 
ornamented.  The  sale  of  lots  is  not  confined  to  mem- 
bers of  the  church,  but  is  open  to  all. 

Bethlehem  Church. — The  congregation  of  Beth- 
lehem German  Evangelical  Church  was  organized  by 
its  present  pastor,  the  Rev.  C.  F.  Stark,  with  twenty- 


RELIGIOUS  DENOMINATIONS. 


1735 


five  members,  on  the  6th  of  January,  1878,  in  the 
church  built  by  the  Beaumont  Street  Baptist  congre- 
gation, at  the  northeast  corner  of  Morgan  and  Beau- 
mont Streets.  The  Evangelical  congregation  rented 
the  building,  and  occupied  it  for  about  one  year  and  a 
half,  at  the  expiration  of  which  it  was  sold  to  the 
Turners.  Their  present  building,  situated  at  the 
northwest  corner  of  Elliott  Avenue  and  Wash  Street, 
was  purchased  in  January,  1881,  from  the  congrega- 
tion of  St.  Mark's  English  Lutheran  Church,  which 
had  erected  it  at  a  cost  of  twenty-two  thousand  dol- 
lars. It  is  a  brick  edifice  forty-six  by  eighty  feet, 
with  a  capacity  for  seating  five  hundred  persons,  and 
has  two  stories,  the  first  of  which  is  used  by  a  day 
school,  attended  by  one  teacher  and  thirty  pupils,  and 
a  Sunday-school  of  seventy-five  scholars,  under  the 
charge  of  the  pastor  and  one  teacher,  and  as  a  lecture- 
room.  The  lot  is  fifty  by  one  hundred  and  thirty-five 
feet.  About  fifty  families  compose  the  congregation, 
and  the  communicants  number  seventy. 

EVANGELICAL  LUTHERAN  CHURCHES. 

In  1838  a  body  of  Lutherans  who  had  been  sub- 
jected to  persecution  by  the  government  of  Saxony 
on  account  of  their  adherence  to  the  doctrines  of  the 
Augsburg  Confession  of  Faith  emigrated  to  this  coun- 
try and  settled  partly  in  St.  Louis  and  partly  in  Alten- 
burg,  Perry  Co.,  Mo.  Those  who  made  St.  Louis 
their  home  arrived  there  in  the  winter  or  early  spring 
of  1839,  and  applied  to  the  rector  of  Christ  Church 
for  permission  to  use  the  church  building  for  their 
services.  The  request  was  granted,  as  appears  from 
the  following  notice,  which  was  read  by  the  rector, 
Bishop  Kemper,  in  the  church  one  Sunday  in  March 
of  that  year : 

"  NOTICE. — A  body  of  Lutherans,  having  been  persecuted  by 
the  Saxon  government  because  they  believed  it  their  duty  to 
adhere  to  the  doctrines  inculcated  by  their  great  leader  and  con- 
tained in  the  Augsburg  Confession  of  Faith,  have  arrived  here 
with  the  intention  of  settling  in  this  or  one  of  the  neighboring 
States,  and  having  been  deprived  of  the  privilege  of  public 
worship  for  three  months,  they  have  earnestly  and  moat  re- 
spectfully requested  the  use  of  our  church  that  they  nniy  again 
unite  in  all  the  ordinances  of  our  holy  religion.  I  have  there- 
fore, with  the  entire  approbation  of  the  vestry,  granted  the  use 
of  our  church  for  this  day  from  2  P.M.  until  sunset  to  a  denomi- 
nation whose  early  members  were  highly  esteemed  by  the  Eng- 
lish Reformers,  and  with  whom  our  glorious  martyrs  Craniuer, 
Ridley,  and  others  had  much  early  intercourse." 

This  congregation  of  Lutherans  occupied  the  base- 
ment of  the  church  for  three  years  from  1839  to  1842. 

They  established  the  first  Evangelical  Lutheran 
congregation  of  the  Unaltered  Augsburg  Confession 
in  St.  Louis,  which  soon  began  to  grow  rapidly  in 
membership  and  wealth.  In  1869  four  congregations 
had  been  established,  with  two  large  churches  and  over 


six  hundred  communicants.  There  are  now  twelve 
churches  of  this  denomination  in  St.  Louis  subject  to 
the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Synod  of  Missouri,  Ohio, 
and  other  States,  which,  with  three  other  Synods,  con- 
stitutes the  "  Synodical  Conference."  The  Synod  of 
Missouri,  etc.,  is  now  divided  into  eleven  districts,  with 
over  eight  hundred  ministers,  and  owns  and  maintains 
the  Concordia  College  and  Theological  Seminary  in 
St.  Louis,  Concordia  College  at  Fort  Wayne,  Ind., 
the  Theological  Seminary  at  Springfield,  111.,  and  the 
Teachers'  Seminary  at  Addison,  111.  It  also  possesses 
an  extensive  printing  establishment  and  book-store, 
situated  on  the  northwest  corner  of  Miami  Street  and 
Indiana  Avenue,  which  is  the  central  supply  depot  of 
the  Synod,  and  at  which  are  published  Der  Luther- 
aner,  Lehre  und  Wehre,  and  Evangelischeslulher- 
isches  Schulblatt  (three  semi-monthly  journals), 
Magazin  fur  Evangelischelutherische  Homiletik 
(monthly),  the  St.  Louis  Theological  Monthly,  and 
The  Lutheran  Witness.  Members  of  this  denomina- 
tion settled  in  the  vicinity  of  Concordia  College  and 
the  Church  of  the  Holy  Cross  form  a  large  and 
wealthy  community. 

Concordia  College  and  Theological  Seminary 
was  established  jointly  by  the  congregations  of  St. 
Louis  and  Alteuburg,  Mo.,  in  1842,  and  was  located 
at  Altenburg^but  in  1850  it  was  removed  to  St.  Louis, 
where  the  first  college  building  had  just  been  erected. 
The  dedication  of  this  structure  took  place  July  11, 
1850.  In  1851  the  ownership  of  the  college  was 
transferred  by  the  joint  congregations  to  the  Synod  of 
Missouri,  Ohio,  etc.  In  the  summer  of  1882  the 
first  college  building  was  demolished,  and  on  its  site 
is  being  erected  a  much  larger  and  more  imposing 
edifice,  the  corner-stone  of  which  was  laid  Oct.  1, 
1882.  It  is  to  be  of  Gothic  architecture,  with  a  cen- 
tral steeple  one  hundred  and  thirty-six  feet  in  height, 
and  the  main  building  and  two  wings  will  have  a  front- 
age of  two  hundred  and  thirty-four  feet.  The  depth 
will  be  sixty-four  feet,  and  the  buildings  will  contain 
a  vestibule,  a  class-room  for  one  hundred  students,  four 
class-rooms  for  sixty-eight  students,  a  library-  and  read- 
ing-room, a  number  of  smaller  dwelling  and  sleeping 
apartments,  bath-rooms,  etc.  In  the  basement  of  the 
tower  there  will  be  a  gymnasium  sixteen  feet  in  height. 
The  college  will  accommodate  two  hundred  students. 
It  was  attended  during  1882  by  ninety-two  students, 
and  has  a  faculty  of  five  professors.  The  college 
grounds,  which  are  three  hundred  and  fifty  by  two 
hundred  and  twenty -five  feet  in  size,  are  situated  on 
Jefferson  Avenue  and  Winnebago  Street,  and  in  addi- 
tion to  the  main  building,  are  occupied  by  several 
smaller  houses  connected  with  the  institution. 


1736 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


Lreinigkeits  Church,  U.  A.  C.1 — It  has  already 
been  related  how,  in  1839,  a  body  of  Lutheran  im- 
migrants procured  permission  from  Bishop  Kemper 
to  hold  religious  services  in  the  basement  of  Christ 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  and  how  the  congrega- 
tion  continued  to  worship  there   until   1842.     This 
society  of  Lutherans  was  organized  under  the  name 
of  the  "  Dreinigkeits"    (or  Trinity)    Church   of  the 
Evangelical  Lutheran  denomination,  and  was  the  first 
or  original   congregation,  from  which   sprang  all  the 
other  German  Lutheran  Churches  of  St.  Louis.     In 
1842  the  congregation  removed  to  a  building  of  its 
own,  on  Lombard  Street.    The  present  building,  at  the 
southeast  corner  of  Lafayette  and  Eighth  Streets,  was 
erected  in  1865.     It  is  a  handsome  brick  structure 
in  the  Gothic  style,  and  has  a  tower  two   hundred 
feet  high.     The  nave  measures  sixty  by  one  hundred 
and  ten  feet,  and  the  transepts  forty-five  by  ninety 
feet,  and  the  building  is  capable  of  seating  fifteen  | 
hundred   persons.     The   dimensions   of  the   lot,  on  j 
which  a  fine  parsonage  is  situated,  are  one  hundred  j 
and  fifty  by  one  hundred   and  forty  feet.     The  total  i 
cost  of  the  ground  and  buildings  was  one  hundred  ! 
and  twenty  thousand  dollars. 

The  pastors  have  been  Revs.  Hermann  Walther, 
Z.  F.  W.  Walther  (brother  to  the  former),  Pastors 
Wienigen,  Schaler,  Brauer,  and  the  present  pastor, 
Rev.  Otto  Hanser.     The  parochial  schools  are  con-  ! 
ducted  in  two  buildings,  one  on  Victor  Street  and  the  ! 
other  at  Eighth  and  Barry  Streets.     They  are  at-  ( 
tended  by  six  teachers  and  four  hundred  scholars, 
who,  in  lieu  of  attending  Sunday-school,  assemble  at 
stated  periods  for  instruction  and  examination  in  re- 
ligious  subjects.      The  congregation   embraces    two  i 
hundred  and  twenty-five  families. 

Immanuel's  Church,  U.  A.  C. — Immanuel's  Evan- 
gelical Lutheran  Church,  U.  A.  C.,  situated  at  the 
southeast  corner  of  Morgan  and  Sixteenth  Streets, 
was  organized  in  1848  by  the  Rev.  F.  Buenger,  its 
first  pastor,  who  died  Jan.  23,  1882.  His  successor 
was  the  Rev.  Gustavus  Wangerin,  who  took  charge 
on  the  16th  of  August  following,  and  is  still  the 
pastor.  The  first  church  erected  by  the  congregation 
stood  at  the  corner  of  Eleventh  Street  and  Franklin 
Avenue.  It  was  destroyed  by  fire  on  the  9th  of  De- 
cember, 1865,  the  walls  only  being  left  standing. 
These  were  at  once  roofed  over,  and  the  building  was 
still  used  for  worship  until  the  present  edifice  was 
ready  for  occupancy,  when  the  former  property  was 


1  The  initials  U.  A.  C.  are  an  abbreviation  of  the  term  Un- 
altered Augsburg  Confession,  used  to  distinguish  this  particular 
branch  of  Lutherans. 


sold  and  converted  to  business  purposes.  The  present 
church  was  dedicated  March  22,  1868,  and  the  exer- 
cises were  continued  on  the  following  day,  Monday, 
March  23d.  It  is  a  noble  Gothic  edifice  of  brick, 
sixty  by  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  feet,  and  will 
seat  fifteen  hundred  persons.  The  steeple  is  two 
hundred  and  nine  feet,  and  rises  from  the  main  portal. 
Situated  on  the  same  lot  are  a  handsome  pastoral 
residence  and  a  fine  parish  school  building  sixty  feet 
square  and  two  stories  high,  capable  of  seating  three 
hundred  and  eighty-four  scholars.  There  are  three 
teachers  and  one  hundred  and  eighty-eight  pupils 
connected  with  the  school.  The  cost  of  the  ground 
and  buildings  was  about  one  hundred  and  eighteen 
thousand  six  hundred  dollars.  The  congregation 
comprises  one  hundred  and  eighty  families  and  a 
membership  of  five  hundred  persons.  The  Nor- 
wegian Evangelical  Lutheran  Church,  Rev.  J.  Jo- 
hansen,  pastor,  a  small  congregation  of  about  twenty 
families,  assemble  for  worship  in  the  parish  school 
building  on  Sundays. 

Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  of  the  Holy 
Cross  (Saxon). — This  congregation,  whose  church  is 
located  on  Miami  Street,  between  Texas  and  Ohio 
Avenues,  Rev.  G.  Stoeckhardt,  pastor,  was  organized 
in  1 858  as  the  Third  District  of  the  First  Evangelical 
Lutheran  Congregation  of  the  Unaltered  Augsburg 
Confession  in  St.  Louis,  and  until  the  erection  of  the 
present  church  building  held  its  religious  services  at 
Concordia  College.  The  corner-stone  of  the  church 
building  was  laid  on  Trinity  Sunday,  1867.,  and  the 
edifice  was  dedicated  on  the  second  Sunday  in  Advent, 
1867.  It  is  located  on  the  old  cemetery  of  the  con- 
gregation, which  is  no  longer  used  for  burials,  this 
church,  together  with  Dreinigkeits  Church,  now  own- 
ing a  cemetery  near  Gravois  road.  The  old  graveyard 
is  three  hundred  by  five  hundred  feet  in  area,  and  the 
church  building  is  forty-five  by  sixty-five  feet,  and 
has  five  hundred  seats.  It  cost  thirty  thousand  dol- 
lars, and  is  a  handsome  edifice  of  modernized  Gothic 
architecture.  The  tower  and  steeple  are  one  hundred 
and  seventy-five  feet  in  height,  and  the  general  ap- 
pearance of  the  structure  is  very  pleasing.  The  par- 
sonage on  Texas  Avenue  stands  on  a  lot  fifty  by 
seventy-five  feet,  and  the  house  and  lot  are  valued  at 
two  thousand  dollars.  The  church  has  had  two  pastors, 
— Rev.  Theodore  Brohm,  appointed  June  22,  1858, 
and  Rev.  G.  Stoeckhardt,  Oct.  13, 1878.  The  parish 
comprises  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  families,  or 
about  six  hundred  and  fifty  persons,  in  addition  to 
the  students  of  Concordia  College,  and  there  are  five 
hundred  communicants.  No  Sunday-school  is  con- 
ducted by  the  church,  but  the  parish  maintains  a 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1737 


flourishing  day  school,  attended  by  three  teachers  and 
one  hundred  and  eighty  pupils.  It  was  established 
in  1850,  and  first  occupied  a  building  erected  for  the 
purpose  in  1851  in  the  Concordia  College  grounds. 
The  present  school-house  is  situated  on  the  northwest 
corner  of  Ohio  Avenue  and  Potomac  Street.  It  was 
|  built  in  1872,  is  thirty-five  by  sixty  feet  in  size,  and 
will  seat  two  hundred  and  ten  pupils. 

St.  Trinity  Church  (German),  U.  A.  C.,  east 
side  of  Sixth  Street,  between  Robert  and  Koeln  j 
Streets,  South  St.  Louis,  Rev.  C.  F.  W.  Sapper,  pas- 
tor, was  organized  in  1860,  and  the  first  house  of 
worship  was  dedicated  on  the  third  Sunday  in  Ad- 
vent of  that  year.  It  is  a  two-story  brick  building, 
twenty-eight  by  forty  feet,  situated  opposite  the 
present  church.  It  was  used  both  for  worship  and 
school  purposes,  but  is  now  entirely  occupied  by  the 
school.  The  present  edifice  was  dedicated  on  the 
third  Sunday  after  Trinity,  1873.  It  is  a  handsome 
Gothic  structure  of  brick,  forty  five  by  one  hundred 
feet,  with  a  spire  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  high,  and 
will  seat  six  hundred  persons.  The  lots  owned  by 
the  church  measure  two  hundred  by  one  hundred  and 
fifty  feet,  and  the  property  is  valued  at  twenty-five 
thousand  dollars.  The  pastors  have  been  Rev.  0. 
Hanser,  appointed  in  1860 ;  Rev.  M.  Hamann,  ap- 
pointed in  1862,  and  the  present  pastor,  who  has 
served  since  1866.  This  was  the  first  German,  and 
is  still  the  only  Lutheran  congregation  in  Caron- 
delet.  It  embraces  one  hundred  and  twenty  families, 
with  one  hundred  and  five  voting  members,  and  eight 
hundred  communicants.  The  parochial  school,  estab- 
lished simultaneously  with  the  church,  is  conducted 
by  two  teachers,  and  attended  by  one  hundred  and 
twenty  pupils.  The  cemetery  connected  with  the 
church  is  located  on  Lami  Ferry  road,  two  miles 
south  of  Carondelet. 

Zion  Church,  U.  A.  C.  (German),  situated  on 
the  southeast  corner  of  Warren  and  Fifteenth  Streets, 
Rev.  George  Link,  pastor,  was  organized  in  1860  by 
Rev.  Frederick  Boese,  its  first  pastor.  The  present 
pastor  was  appointed  in  August,  1873.  The  church 
is  a  brick  edifice,  forty-five  by  seventy-five  feet,  of 
two  stories,  with  a  lecture-room  on  the  first  floor.  A 
fine  parsonage  adjoins  the  church  on  the  east.  The 
parochial  school  building,  erected  in  1868,  stands  in 
the  rear  of  the  church,  and  the  school  comprises  four 
teachers  and  two  hundred  and  twenty  pupils.  The  ' 
church  lot  is  one  hundred  by  one  hundred  and  eight 
feet.  Two  hundred  and  twenty  families  compose  the 
parish,  and  the  communicants  number  twelve  hun- 
dred. As  is  frequently  the  case  in  this  denomination, 
no  regular  Sunday  school  is  conducted,  but  the  chil- 


dren of  the  parish  school  are  required  to  attend  a 
class  for  instruction  and  examination  in  the  catechism, 
the  pastor  conducting  it  in  person. 

St.  PauPs  Church  (German),  U.  A.  C.— The 
Evangelical  Lutheran  St.  Paul's  Church  (German) 
was  organized  in  1862  at  Lowell,  North  St.  Louis, 
and  first  assembled  for  worship  in  a  hall  on  what  is 
now  De  Soto  Avenue  and  Benedict  Street,  and  in 
1863  built  a  small  frame  church,  which  has  since 
been  converted  into  a  dwelling.  Rev.  G.  R.  A.  Glaus, 
who  organized  the  congregation,  was  its  first  pastor. 
The  corner-stone  of  the  present  building,  which  is 
situated  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Prairie  Avenue 
and  Von  Phul  Street,  was  laid  on  Sunday,  July  28, 
1872,  and  the  completed  structure  was  dedicated  May 
25,  1873,  Rev.  J.  H.  Ph.  Graebner,  of  St.  Charles, 
Mo.,  preaching  the  sermon.  On  this  occasion  the 
second  pastor  of  the  church,  Rev.  I.  Achilles,  was 
installed.  It  is  a  brick  building  with  a  steeple,  and 
its  dimensions  are  thirty-four  by  sixty-eight  feet.  In 
the  first  story  the  parochial  school  is  located,  with  two 
teachers  and  one  hundred  and  two  pupils.  The  pres- 
ent pastor,  Rev.  C.  C.  E.  Brandt,  was  installed  on  Nov. 
5,  1876,  Revs.  Professor  G.  Schaller,  George  E.  Link, 
0.  Lenk,  and  M.  Hein  being  the  officiating  clergymen. 
There  are  now  one  hundred  and  five  families,  about 
five  hundred  persons,  connected  with  the  church,  of 
whom  fifty-two  are  members  (voters),  and  three  hun- 
dred and  forty-five  communicants.  There  are  a  Young 
Men's  and  Young  Ladies'  Society  in  full  vigor,  and  in 
lieu  of  Sunday-school  the  pastor  conducts  a  catechism 
class  and  examinations  on  Sunday  afternoons. 

St.  John's  Church  (German),  U.  A.  C.,  corner  of 
Morgan  Ford  road  and  Chippewa  Street,  was  organ- 
ized in  1865  by  Professor  August  Craemer,  its  first 
pastor.  The  congregation  worshiped  in  the  Epis- 
copal Church  until,  in  1866,  it  began  to  occupy  its 
present  building,  a  frame  structure  with  a  seating 
capacity  of  one  hundred  and  fifty.  The  church  owns 
one  acre  of  land,  and  is  about  to  erect  a  second  and 
larger  building.  Rev.  Hermann  Bartels,  its  second 
and  present  pastor,  was  ordained  and  installed  by 
Professor  Craemer,  Aug.  1,  1875.  About  sixty  fam- 
ilies, with  two  hundred  communicants,  are  connected 
with  the  congregation.  The  Sunday-school  has  eighty 
pupils,  and  the  parochial  school  the  same  number. 

Bethania  Church,  U.  A.  C.  (German),  Natural 
Bridge  road,  near  Spring  Avenue,  Rev.  M.  Martens, 
pastor,  was  organized  in  1872,  by  Mr.  Mangold,  who 
had  previously  conducted  a  private  school,  which  then 
became  the  school  of  the  parish.  Rev.  Mr.  Heine 
was  the  first  pastor.  The  congregation  numbers  about 
sixty  members,  and  there  are  seventy  pupils  connected 


1738 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


with  the  day  school.  The  building  is  a  frame  chapel, 
which  is  also  used  for  the  day  school,  under  the 
charge  of  H.  Papke. 

St.  Mark's  English  Lutheran  Church. — St.  Mark's 
English  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  was  organized 
on  the  14th  of  May,  1867,  at  the  residence  of  John  A. 
J.  Shultz,  No.  1116  North  Twentieth  Street,  by  John 
A.  J.  Shultz,  D.  C.  Siegrist,  R.  R.  Honeyman,  and 
their  wives,  with  others.  Their  first  house  of  wor- 
ship was  situated  at  the  corner  of  Wash  Street  and 
Elliott  Avenue.  Its  corner-stone  was  laid  Sept.  6, 
1868,  and  the  completed  building  was  dedicated  on 
the  21st  of  January,  1872.  The  edifice  was  of 
brick,  of  Doric  architecture,  and  its  erection  was 
superintended  by  G.  W.  Berry,  after  designs  by  C.  S. 
Artaugh.  The  dimensions  of  the  building  were  forty- 
five  by  sixty  feet,  and  those  of  the  lot  on  which  it 
stood  fifty  by  one  hundred  and  thirty-two  feet.  The 
exterior  was  plain,  but  the  interior  is  described  as 
having  been  neat  and  attractive.  Rev.  Mr.  Rhodes 
officiated,  and  the  music  was  rendered  by  the  "  St. 
Cecilia  Vocal  Union,"  directed  by  Professor  Malmene. 
The  building  cost  twenty-two  thousand  dollars,  and 
was  sold  in  1881  for  seven  thousand  five  hundred  dol- 
lars. The  church  has  had  three  pastors, — Rev.  S.  W. 
Harkey,  D.D.,  Professor  J.  B.  Corbet,  and  Rev.  M. 
Rhodes,  D.D. 

At  the  beginning  of  Dr.  Rhodes'  pastorate,  ten 
years  ago,  the  congregation  numbered  only  twenty 
members,  and  the  church  was  embarrassed  with  a  debt 
of  twelve  thousand  dollars.  This  has  since  been  paid 
off,  and  the  membership  has  increased  tenfold.  The 
congregation  is  in  a  highly  prosperous  condition,  and 
during  the  last  ten  years  has  contributed  thirty  thou- 
sand dollars  to  the  benevolent  operations  of  the  church. 
The  lot  at  the  southwest  corner  of  Bell  Street  and 
Cardinal  Avenue,  on  which  the  present  edifice  stands, 
is  most  eligibly  situated  for  its  purpose.  It  is  seventy- 
five  by  one  hundred  and  thirty-four  feet  in  area,  and 
was  purchased  in  1880  for  five  thousand  two  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars.  The  corner-stone  of  the  building 
was  laid  May  29, 1881,  and  the  lower  or  lecture-room 
was  first  occupied  Feb.  19,  1882.  The  completed 
church  was  formally  dedicated  Sunday,  Oct.  1,  1882, 
on  which  occasion  the  exercises  were  participated  in 
by  a  number  of  ministers  from  other  churches,  among 
whom  were  Rev.  Drs.  W.  V.  Tudor,  James  H. 
Brooks,  W.  W.  Boyd,  C.  E.  Felton,  C.  L.  Goodell, 
H.  D.  Ganse,  T.  M.  Post,  and  Rev.  W.  H.  Black,  of 
St.  Louis  ;  Rev.  Dr.  S.  A.  Ort,  president  of  Wittenberg  j 
College,  Springfield,  Ohio  ;  Rev.  Dr.  G.  F.  Stelling, 
of  Omaha,  Neb. ;  Rev.  Dr.  F.  Springer,  president  of 
the  Synod  of  Central  Illinois,  and  others.  The  edi- 


fice, which  is  entirely  unique  among  the  churches  of 
the  city,  was  designed  and  erected  under  the  super- 
vision of  C.  K.  Ramsey,  architect,  and  combines  several 
styles  of  architecture,  English  Gothic  predominating. 
The  exterior  dimensions  of  the  building  are  seventy- 
five  by  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet.  The  main 
auditorium  is  sixty-five  by  ninety-five  feet  and  thirty- 
six  feet  in  height,  and  is  arranged  in  the  form  of  an 
amphitheatre ;  it  will  accommodate  eight  hundred 
persons,  and  is  noted  for  the  excellence  of  its  acoustic 
properties.  The  walls  are  frescoed  in  oil,  and  the  win- 
dows are  of  cathedral  glass,  rich  in  color  and  design. 
The  church  is  furnished  in  walnut  richly  carved,  and 
the  organ  is  built  in  an  alcove  to  the  left  of  the  pulpit, 
with  a  balcony  extending  for  the  choir.  The  base- 
ment contains  three  furnaces,  a  dining-room,  kitchen, 
and  other  rooms.  The  lecture-room  seats  four  hun- 
dred and  fifty  persons,  and  there  are  also  class-rooms, 
a  library,  and  other  apartments  for  the  use  of  the 
pastor  and  congregation.  Altogether  St.  Mark's  is 
one  of  the  most  complete  and  thoroughly  appointed 
church  structures  in  the  country.  As  its  pastor,  Rev. 
M.  Rhodes,  D.D.,  says,  "  The  whole  edifice  is  a  pic- 
ture, a  harmony,  a  magnificent  tribute  to  the  skill  of 
the  designer  and  the  liberality  of  a  joyous  and  favored 
people."  The  entire  cost  of  the  lot,  building,  and 
furnishing  was  a  little  over  sixty  thousand  dollars. 
The  present  membership  of  the  church  numbers 
three  hundred  persons,  and  the  Sunday-school  is 
attended  by  two  hundred  and  eighty  pupils.  A 
week-day  school  is  conducted  in  the  building,  and  is 
attended  by  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  scholars. 

HEBREW  CONGREGATIONS. 

United  Hebrew  Congregation. — The  oldest  re- 
ligious association  of  Hebrews  in  St.  Louis  is  that  of 
the  "  United  Hebrew  Congregation,"  Rev.  Henry  J. 
Messing,  rabbi,  located  at  the  southeast  corner  of 
Olive  and  Twenty-first  Streets.  Its  organization  was 
effected  in  the  spring  of  1839,  at  the  house  of  H. 
Marx,  on  Locust  Street,  between  Third  and  Fourth 
Streets.  A.  Weigel  was  elected  president,  and  ser- 
vices were  held  at  first  in  a  house  on  Carondelet  Ave- 
nue, in  the  section  then  known  as  Frenchtown.  In 
September,  1848,  the  society  removed  to  a  brick 
building  on  Fifth  Street,  between  Washington  Ave- 
nue and  Green  Street,  which  was  consecrated  on  the 
27th  of  the  same  month.  In  1855  a  lot  on  the  east 
side  of  Sixth  Street,  between  Locust  and  St.  Charles 
Streets,  was  purchased  from  Judge  W.  Beirne  for  the 
sum  of  six  thousand  two  hundred  and  forty  dollars, 
on  which  a  synagogue  was  erected.  The  work  of 
construction  was  commenced  in  1856,  and  the  build- 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1739 


ing  was  consecrated  on  the  17th  of  June,  1859,  Rev. 
Dr.  Raphael,  of  New  York,  officiating.  It  was  a  sub- 
stantial and  elegant  structure  of  brick  with  cut-stone 
foundations,  and  school-rooms  in  the  basement,  stained 
windows,  a  gallery  around  the  whole  audience -room, 
and  seats  for  about  nine  hundred  persons.  It  was 
in  the  Romanesque  style  of  architecture,  forty-two 
feet  front  and  eighty  feet  two  inches  in  depth,  and 
cost  twenty-one  thousand  dollars.  Its  erection  was 
specially  due  to  the  energetic  labors  of  A.  J.  Latz, 
aided  by  other  members  of  the  congregation. 

The  Sixth  Street  property  was  sold  in  1879.  The 
synagogue  now  occupied  by  the  congregation  (at  the 
corner  of  Olive  and  Twenty-first  Streets)  was  com- 
pleted in  1880,  and  is  a  lofty  and  handsome  structure 
of  brick,  its  dimensions  being  sixty  by  ninety-six 
feet. 

In  1844,  A.  J.  Latz  purchased  a  lot  on  Pratte 
Avenue  for  a  Hebrew  cemetery,  which  was  deeded  to 
the  trustees  of  the  society  by  John  Farrell,  and  was 
used  for  burial  purposes  until  1856,  when  Mount 
Olive  Cemetery,  in  Central  township,  was  given  to  the 
society  by  the  B'nai  Jeshurem  congregation,  which 
had  purchased  it  in  1854.  The  present  owners  have 
erected  on  it  a  building  costing  five  thousand  dollars, 
and  have  greatly  improved  and  beautified  it.  A.  Ger- 
shon  has  been  its  superintendent  for  many  years. 
The  society  now  numbers  one  hundred  and  thirty 
members,  and  its  officers  are  P.  F.  Myers,  president ; 
Abraham  Spiro,  vice-president ;  Falk  Levi,  treasurer ; 
M.  P.  Silverstone,  secretary ;  H.  Rosinski,  M.  Kempf, 
Joseph  Davis,  Simon  Zork,  Joseph  Rheinholdt,  A.  B. 
Jach,  and  Hermann  Levi,  trustees. 

B'nai  El  Congregation,  northeast  corner  of  Chou- 
teau  Avenue  and  Eleventh  Street,  Rev.  M.  Spitz,  D.D., 
rabbi,  was  established  about  1839  or  1840.  It  wor- 
shiped subsequently  in  a  building  at  Sixth  and  Cerre" 
Streets,  which  was  finished  in  1855,  and  consecrated 
on  the  7th  of  September  of  that  year.  It  formed  an 
octagon  of  about  seventy-five  feet  in  diameter,  and 
terminated  in  a  cupola.  The  seating  capacity  was  about 
three  hundred  persons.  In  1875  the  present  building 
(at  Chouteau  Avenue  and  Eleventh  Street)  was  pur- 
chased from  the  Chouteau  Avenue  Presbyterian 
Church  for  fourteen  thousand  dollars,  and  was  re- 
fitted so  as  to  be  adapted  to  Hebrew  forms  of  wor- 
ship. About  the  same  time  the  Sixth  Street  prop- 
erty was  sold  to  the  Episcopalians  for  the  Good 
Samaritan  Church  (colored). 

Temple  of  the  Gates  of  Truth..— In  1866  an  as- 
sociation of  some  seventy  wealthy  Israelites  of  St. 
Louis  was  chartered  under  the  name  of  the  St.  Louis 
Temple  Association.  The  first  president  was  Alex- 


ander Suss,  and  the  other  officers  were  Isaac  Hoff- 
heimer,  vice-president ;  T.  Rosenfield,  secretary ; 
Joseph  Weil,  corresponding  secretary ;  and  Bernard 
Singer,  S.  Schiele,  T.  L.  Bothahn,  Isaac  Hellman,  M. 
Lansdorf,  L.  R.  Strauss,  Leopold  Steinberger,  M.  L. 
Winter,  P.  Seligmann,  S.  Marx,  and  Levi  Stern, 
directors.  They  were  all  laymen,  and  in  the  forma- 
tion of  their  association  were  guided  by  the  desire  to 
"  escape  dogmatic  discussions  and  dissensions,"  and 
to  "  bring  the  Israelitish  form  of  worship  into  harmony 
with  the  views  and  principles  of  modern  society." 
With  this  object  in  view  they  introduced  the  organ 
and  choral  singing  into  their  services,  and  ordered 
that  "  the  old  oriental  habit  of  entering  the  audience- 
room  with  covered  heads  be  abandoned." 

T.  W.  Brady  was  selected  as  the  architect  for  the 
house  of  worship,  which  it  was  decided  to  build  at  the 
northeast  corner  of  Seventeenth  and  Pine  Streets,  and 
on  the  24th  of  June,  1867,  the  corner-stone  of  the 
structure  was  laid  with  Masonic  ceremonies  by  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Missouri.  Dr.  Wise,  of  Cincinnati, 
was  the  orator  of  the  occasion.  The  building,  which 
is  still  used  by  the  congregation,  has  a  frontage  of 
seventy-one  feet  on  Seventeenth  Street  and  a  depth  of 
one  hundred  feet  on  Pine  Street,  the  dimensions  of 
the  lot  being  one  hundred  and  ten  by  one  hundred 
feet.  The  temple  is  a  handsome  edifice,  its  architec- 
ture being  modeled  after  the  Moorish  style,  and  the 
fagade  is  flanked  by  two  towers,  each  fifteen  feet  six 
inches  square.  The  building  was  dedicated  in  August, 
1869.  At  that  time  the  trustees  of  the  congregation 
were  Isaac  Hoffheimer,  president ;  M.  Lansdorf, 
vice-president;  Levi  Stern,  treasurer;  Joseph  Ros- 
enfield, secretary ;  and  A.  Kramer,  •  B.  Hysinger,  A. 
Wise,  Joseph  Weil,  H.  S.  Winter,  L.  M.  Hellman,  S. 
Sandfelder,  B.  Singer,  M.  Friede,  L.  Steinberger,  and 
A.  Suss.  Six  months  previously  the  old  society  had 
been  organized  into  a  congregation  under  the  name  of 
the  "  Gates  of  Truth  congregation,"  and  the  follow- 
ing trustees  elected:  B.  Hysinger,  president;  A. 
Kramer,  vice-president ;  A.  Frank,  treasurer ;  and 
Messrs.  Hoffheimer,  Steinberger,  Rosenfield,  Wise, 
D.  Dillenberg,  S.  Schiele,  and  M.  Lansdorf. 

While  adhering  to  the  essentials  of  the  Jewish 
faith,  the  congregation,  as  indicated  above,  has  dis- 
carded many  of  the  ancient  forms  and  ceremonies  of 
the  Jewish  ritual.  Rev.  S.  H.  Sonneschein,  the 
present  rabbi,  is  a  man  of  wide  and  liberal  culture, 
and  has  been  a  frequent  lecturer  on  historical  and 
other  topics.  He  has  repeatedly  tendered  the  use  of 
his  temple  to  Christian  congregations,  and  is  emi- 
nently popular  among  Christian  ministers,  as  well  as 
foremost  in  all  public  charities  and  reformatory  move- 


1740 


HISTORY  OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


ments.     The  society  is  a  large  one,  and  connected 
with  it  is  a  well-attended  Sabbath-school. 

Congregation  "Scheerish"  Israel,  926  North 
Sixth  Street,  is  a  religious  association  of  Hebrews  | 
who  occupy  a  rented  room  and  worship  according  to 
the  most  ancient  forms.  The  present  officers  are 
M.  Harris,  president;  H.  Abrahams,  vice-president; 
L.  Lipman,  secretary;  J.  H.  Abrahams,  treasurer; 
D.  Priver,  L.  Michael,  H.  Rosenberg,  A.  Cohen,  M. 
Schuchat,  and  P.  Whol,  trustees. 

Chebra  Kadish  Congregation  meets  for  worship 
on  Seventh  Street,  between  Franklin  Avenue  and 
Wash  Street.  Rev.  M.  Leberstin  is  rabbi. 

BETHEL   ASSOCIATION. 

The  St.  Louis  Bethel  Association,  located  at  300 
and  302  North  Commercial  Street,  Rev.  Peter  Kitwood, 
chaplain,  is  an  auxiliary  of  the  Western    Seamen's 
Friend  Society.      The  headquarters  of  this   society 
are  at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  its  ramifications  extend 
throughout  the  West.     The  work  in  St.  Louis  was 
commenced  in  1841,  a  meeting  having  been  held  on 
the  16th  of  June  of  that  year  for  the  purpose  of  de- 
vising measures  for  the  establishment  of  "  a  Bethel 
Church  for  the  use  of  the  boatmen  and  watermen  of 
the  Mississippi."     Rev.  Wesley  Browning  presided,  j 
and  resolutions  were  adopted  to  the  effect  that  the  ! 
work  be  undertaken  without  delay,  and  that  two  com- 
mittees be  appointed,  one  to  procure  a  room  and  en- 
gage a  minister,  and  the  other  to  prepare  a  constitu- 
tion for  an  association  to  be  called  "  The  St.  Louis 
Port   Society,"   under  whose   control   the   proposed 
Bethel  Church  should  be  placed.     The  committee  ap- 
pointed to  secure  the  minister  and  a  room  was  com- 
posed of  F.  W.  Southack,  Dr.  Knox,  John  H.  Gay, 
John  Thompson,  Samuel  C.  Davis,  J.  P.  Sarpy,  and 
L.  Farwell.     The  committee  chosen  to  draft  the  con-  j 
stitution  consisted  of  George  K.  Budd,  George  Kings-  j 
land,   Edward  Tracy,  Theodore   Labeaume,  Joseph  j 
Tabor,  M.  De  Lange,  A.  Hamilton,  Edward  Dobyns,  j 
J.  G.  Dinnies,  and  C.  D.  Drake. 

The  mission  does  not  appear  to  have  been  perma- 
nently successful,  for  in  December,  1848,  a  meeting  j 
was  held  at  the  Westminster  Presbyterian  Church,  of 
which  Rev.  W.  S.  Potts,  D.D.,  was  chairman,  for  the  : 
purpose  of  forming  an  association  for  the  promotion 
of  the  moral  and  physical  interests  of  the   Western 
boatmen.     The  meeting  resulted  in  the  formation  of 
the  •'  Western  Boatmen's  Union  of  St.  Louis,"  to  the  j 
chaplaincy  of  which  the  Rev.  Charles  S.  Jones  was  \ 
unanimously  elected.     Mr.  Jones  entered   upon   the  : 
discharge  of  his  duties  on  the  22d  of  April,  1849.  ! 
His.  first  sermon  to  boatmen  was  preached  to  a  con-  > 


gregation  of  some  eight  or  nine  persons  in  a  Metho- 
dist Church.  Subsequently  the  use  of  Westminster 
Church  was  procured  for  afternoon  service,  in  which 
building  he  continued  to  preach  until  the  great  fire  of 
May  17,  1849.  He  then  departed  for  the  East,  and 
commenced  a  vigorous  canvass  of  the  Eastern  churches 
for  funds  to  aid  in  the  building  of  a  Boatmen's  Church. 
In  this  mission  he  was  so  far  successful  as  to  collect 
some  fifteen  hundred  dollars.  On  his  return  he  com- 
menced divine  services  in  the  ."  Odd-Fellows'  Hall." 
Subsequently  a  lot  of  ground  was  leased,  on  which  an 
edifice  was  erected  at  a  cost  of  fifteen  thousand  dollars, 
capable  of  accommodating  between  six  and  seven  hun- 
dred persons,  and  fitted  up,  embellished,  and  arranged 
so  as  to  be  ostensibly  and  peculiarly  a  "  Boatmen's 
Church."  This  building  was  located  on  Green  Street, 
between  Second  and  Third,  near  the  river,  and  was 
said  to  be  the  first  organized  church  of  the  kind  west 
of  the  lakes.  It  was  dedicated  on. the  21st  of  March, 
1852.  The  officiating  ministers  were  the  pastor,  Rev. 
Charles  J.  Jones,  Rev.  J.  C.  Abbott,  Rev.  Dr.  Ka- 
vanaugh,  and  Rev.  J.  A.  Lyon. 

The  mission  proved  successful  during  the  time  it 
was  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Jones,  but  the  church 
became  involved,  Mr.  Jones  was  called  to  New  York, 
and  the  institution  practically  collapsed,  the  building 
being  appropriated  to  other  purposes.  It  was  also  too 
remote  from  the  Levee  for  convenience  of  the  class  in- 
tended to  be  benefited  by  it.  Matters  thus  remained 
until  1868,  but  in  that  year  the  enterprise  was  revived, 
and  a  room  in  the  Boatmen's  Building,  on  the  north- 
west corner  of  Vine  Street  and  the  Levee,  was  rented 
for  the  purpose  of  establishing  regular  religious  ser- 
vices and  a  Sunday-school  for  boatmen  and  their 
families  and  others  near  the  Levee  not  provided  for  by 
the  city  churches.  The  hall  was  dedicated  March  14, 
1869,  the  exercises  being  under  the  management  of 
Gen.  C.  B.  Fisk,  president  of  the  association,  assisted 
by  the  directors,  a  number  of  clergymen,  and  boatmen 
from  St.  Louis  and  other  cities.  The  following  were 
the  officers  of  the  institution  at  that  time:  Managers, 
E.  D.  Jones,  William  C.  Wilson,  George  Partridge, 
John  G.  Copelin,  E.  0.  Stanard,  Nathan  Ranney, 
Clinton  B.  Fisk,  Samuel  Cupples,  Austin  R.  Moore, 
Thomas  Morrison,  Joseph  Brown,  James  Richardson, 
Isaac  M.  Mason,  Thomas  Rutherford,  Nathan  Cole. 
Officers,  C.  B.  Fisk,  president;  Samuel  Cupples,  vice- 
president;  Austin  R.  Moore,  secretary ;  William  C. 
Wilson,  treasurer ;  Executive  Committee,  Joseph 
Brown,  William  G.  Wilson,  Samuel  Cupples,  C.  B. 
Fisk,  I.  M.  Mason ;  Chaplain  and  District  Superin- 
tendent, Rev.  M.  Himebaugh  ;  Corresponding  Secre- 
tary, Rev.  A.  Wheeler,  D.D.,  of  Cleveland  ;  President 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1741 


and  General  Superintendent  Western  Seamen's  Friend 
Society,  Rev.  B.  Frankland,  of  Cincinnati. 

In  1875  the  mission  was  removed  to  300  North  j 
Commercial  Street,  and  in  the  spring  of  1882  the  ad-  j 
joining  building  was  added,  doubling  its  capacity,  j 
The  buildings  are  in  the  centre  of  the  wholesale  busi-  j 
ness  portion  of  the  city  and  of  the  steamboat  traffic. 
They  were  erected  and  had  been  used  for  stores,  and 
front  both  on  Commercial  Street  and  the  Levee,  four 
stories  on  the  former  and  five  on  the  latter.  The  two  ! 
stores  on  the  first  floor  (Commercial  Street)  have  j 
been  thrown  into  one  and  constitute  the  chapel,  in 
which  a  congregation  of  one  thousand  people  have 
assembled.  The  floor  beneath  (entered  from  the 
Levee)  is  used  as  a  restaurant,  where  poor  working- 
men  may  obtain  bread  and  a  bowl  of  coffee  for  five 
cents,  or  a  meal  for  ten.  The  upper  stories  are  used  as 
class-rooms,  sewing- rooms,  etc.,  and  (the  highest  floor 
of  all)  as  a  dormitory,  where  over  one  hundred  men 
find  nightly  lodgings  at  a  cost  of  ten  cents.  The  work 
of  the  Bethel  is  divided  into  two  classes,  religious  and 
secular.  The  religious  work  comprises  a  Sunday- 
school,  held  in  the  afternoon  (no  services  are  held 
on  Sunday  mornings),  attended  during  the  winter 
months  by  forty  to  fifty  teachers  and  over  eight  hun- 
dred scholars ;  a  regular  church  service  on  Sunday 
evenings,  attended  by  an  average  congregation  of  from 
two  hundred  to  three  hundred,  of  whom  about  one 
hundred  are  communicants ;  separate  classes  for  relig- 
ious and  secular  instruction,  on  Sundays  and  week- 
days, for  white  mothers,  colored  mothers,  colored 
boys,  and  colored  girls,  and  several  weekly  prayer- 
meetings.  The  secular  work  is  under  the  superin- 
tendence of  David  Crofton,  and  embraces  the  man- 
agement of  the  restaurant  and  dormitory  above 
mentioned,  where  deserving  objects  of  charity  are  fed 
and  lodged  gratuitously  ;  maintenance  of  outside 
charities  among  the  worthy  poor,  for  whom  rent  is 
paid,  and  to  whom  food  and  clothing  are  supplied, 
and  of  a  sort  of  savings  institution,  consisting  only  of 
an  iron  safe,  in  which  poor  roustabouts  and  others  are 
induced  to  deposit  their  earnings  for  safe-keeping  in- 
stead of  squandering  them,  and  the  deposits  in  which 
now  amount  to  about  two  thousand  two  hundred  dol- 
lars ;  and  finally  the  work  of  the  Ladies'  Bethel 
Association,  who  conduct  sewing-classes  for  girls  and 
for  mothers,  teaching  them  to  sew,  and  rewarding 
them  with  the  fruits  of  their  industry,  the  ladies 
themselves  devoting  one  day  of  the  week  (Friday)  to 
making  garments  and  distributing  them  among  the 
poor.  Over  one  thousand  children  were  clothed  in 
1882,  and  the  Saturday  sewing-school  is  attended 
during  the  winter  by  fully  three  hundred  girls. 


The  officers  of  the  Ladies'  Bethel  Association  are 
Mrs.  J.  A.  Allen,  president;  Miss  Ellen  Budd,  vice- 
president  ;  Mrs.  George  S.  Edgell,  secretary ;  Mrs. 
Chapman,  treasurer.  Two  lady  city  missionaries  are 
employed,  Mrs.  Margaret  Skinner  and  Miss  R.  A. 
Manning,  whose  chief  work  is  among  the  poor.  The 
managers  of  the  Bethel  are  Nathan  Cole,  president ; 
G.  S.  Paddock,  vice-president ;  J.  C.  Hall,  secretary ; 
George  A.  Baker,  treasurer  ;  Isaac  M.  Mason,  J.  H. 
Wear,  John  W.  Larhnore,  H.  N.  Spencer,  E.  E. 
Souther,  George  S.  Edgell,  W.  W.  Carpenter,  D.  R. 
Wolfe,  Leonard  Matthews,  D.  Crawford,  Jos.  Specht, 
and  P.  Kitwood,  directors.  The  Bethel  is  supported 
by  voluntary  contributions,  and  extends  its  benefits  to 
all  the  poor,  regardless  of  creed  or  color,  the  white  and 
colored  people  having  separate  rooms  for  classes  and 
lodging.  It  is  affiliated  with  no  religious  denomina- 
tion, but  is  aided  by  all.  Its  chaplain,  Mr.  Kitwood, 
is  a  man  of  untiring  energy,  and  devotes  his  efforts 
specially  to  elevating  the  morals  of  the  people  in  his 
field  of  labor. 

SWEDENBORGIAXS. 

The  First  New  Jerusalem  Society  of  St.  Louis, 
Lucas  Avenue  near  Ewing  Avenue,  was  organized  by 
Rev.  T.  0.  Prescott,  of  the  Cincinnati  New  Church, 
at  the  house  of  Charles  Barnard,  druggist,  on  Morgan 
Street,  between  Tenth  and  Eleventh  Streets,  on  Sun- 
day, Nov.  20,  1842,  with  the  following  constituent 
members:  Joseph  Barnard,  Francis  B.  Murdock, 
Charles  R.  Anderson,  Eliza  B.  Anderson,  Susan  Bar- 
nard, Margaret  Barnard,  John  H.  Barnard,  and  Tim- 
othy Keith.  On  the  following  evening,  at  the  house 
of  John  H.  Barnard,  on  Morgan,  between  Ninth  and 
Tenth  Streets,  a  constitution  was  adopted,  and  Joseph 
Barnard  was  elected  reader  and  F.  B.  Murdock  secre- 
tary. It  was  decided  that  the  congregation  should 
meet  for  worship  alternately  at  the  houses  of  Charles 
and  John  H.  Barnard  and  F.  B.  Murdock,  the  latter 
being  at  the  southeast  corner  of  Fifth  and  Elm  Streets. 
From  a  paper  bearing  date  March  27,  1843,  it  ap- 
pears that  a  number  of  persons  subscribed  the  sum  of 
sixty-three  dollars,  in  amounts  ranging  from  one  dol- 
lar to  five  dollars,  for  the  purchase  of  New  Church 
books,  and  on  the  llth  of  May,  1843,  a  "society 
for  the  examination  of  the  writings  of  Emanuel 
Swedenborg''  was  established,  with  Elijah  C.  Eads, 
J.  H.  Barnard,  C.  R.  Anderson,  Charles  Barnard, 
Timothy  Keith,  and  Joseph  C.  Edgar  as  constituent 
members.  To  these  were  subsequently  added  twenty- 
two  others,  among  whom  were  Thomas  H.  Perry,  B. 
G.  Child,  George  F.  Lewis,  J.  H.  Brotherton,  Rich- 
ard Rushton,  George  I.  Barnett,  John  Warden,  and 
Charles  Gleim.  The  society  continued  to  meet  in 


1742 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


private,  and  rented  rooms  for  reading  and  discussion, 
and  assembled  for  the  last  time  "  at  the  school-rooms 
of  the  late  Professor  T.  H.  Perry,  former  secretary  of 
the  society,"  May  17,  1849,  and  "  was  adjourned  in- 
definitely." The  New  Jerusalem  Society,  however, 
continued  to  exist,  and  in  October,  1847,  reported 
twelve  members,  one  of  the  original  number  having 
died,  and  a  Sunday-school,  organized  Sept.  19,  1847, 
with  fifteen  scholars.  On  the  5th  of  December,  1847, 
a  room  was  rented  for  meetings  at  the  corner  of  Wash- 
ington Avenue  and  Fifth  Street,  and  Professor  T.  H. 
Perry,  licentiate,  preached  every  Sunday.  On  the 
20th  of  August,  1848,  Thomas  H.  Perry  was  ordained 
to  the  ministry  in  Peoria,  111.,  by  Rev.  J.  R.  Hibbard, 
and  was  installed  pastor  of  the  St.  Louis  Society,  but 
died  in  May,  1849.  In  the  winter  of  1849-50,  Rev. 
George  Field  delivered  a  course  of  lectures  in  St. 
Louis,  and  on  the  20th  of  April,  1850,  he  was  elected 
pastor  of  the  society,  the  election  to  date  from  Octo- 
ber 1st  following.  He  was  installed  Oct.  27,  1850, 
and  resigned  October,  1852.  Soon  after  his  installa- 
tion he  insisted  on  a  change  in  the  constitution  which 
should  make  baptism  by  a  New  Church  minister  es- 
sential to  membership  or  admission  to  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per. On  this  question  the  society  divided,  the  major- 
ity, seventeen  in  number,  indorsing  the  pastor.  They 
seceded  with  him,  and  formed,  April  17, 1851,  the  St. 
Louis  New  Church  Society.  The  minority  (of  twelve 
members)  met  once.  May  9,  1851,  after  the  division, 
but  there  is  no  record  of  their  existence  since  that 
time.  On  the  20th  of  May,  1850,  a  stock  company 
was  formed  for  the  purpose  of  building  a  church,  and 
on  the  10th  of  October,  1850,  the  society  met  in  its 
own  hall,  at  the  southeast  corner  of  Sixth  and  St. 
Charles  Streets.  This  property  passed  into  the  hands 
of  the  seceding  society,  of  which  Dr.  C.  W.  Spalding 
was  the  leading  member,  being  chosen  at  the  first 
election  president,  superintendent  of  Sunday-school, 
and  leader  of  the  choir. 

On  the  1st  of  June,  1852,  a  lease  for  the  lot  at 
Sixth  and  St.  Charles  Streets  was  executed  to  the 
society  by  George  F.  Lewis,  and  on  the  14th  of  June 
a  building  committee  was  appointed  for  the  erection 
of  a  two-story  building,  the  lower  part  to  be  rented  as 
a  store,  and  the  second  story  to  be  used  as  a  hall  for 
worship.  After  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Field,  the 
meetings  were  for  the  most  part  suspended  until  Aug. 
30,  1856,  when  nineteen  persons  appeared  at  a  called 
meeting,  abolished  the  obnoxious  baptismal  require- 
ment, and  reorganized  the  society  on  a  basis  of  first 
principles.  Late  in  1857  the  society  fell  into  pecu- 
niary embarrassments,  and  the  hall  was  rented  to  other 
parties.  On  the  26th  of  January,  1858,  nine  mem- 


bers withdrew,  and  but  a  precarious  existence  was 
maintained,  with  occasional  visits  from  Revs.  George 
Field,  Chauncey  Giles,  C.  A.  Dunham,  and  others, 
until  January,  1864,  when  regular  meetings  were 
resumed  and  conducted  by  John  Jay  Bailey  as 
reader,  to  which  office  he  was  elected  July  7,  1864. 
He  was  licensed  to  preach  by  the  General  Convention, 
Oct.  19,  1864,  and  resigned  the  leadership  of  the  so- 
ciety Jan.  11,  1866,  at  which  time  it  had  increased 
to  forty  active  members.  Rev.  Charles  Harden  was 
elected  pastor  March  14,  1866,  and  resigned  June 
24,  1867.  Rev.  Mr.  Brickman  supplied  the  pulpit 
during  the  fall  of  1867,  and  Rev.  J.  B.  Stuart  was 
elected  pastor  Jan.  9,  1868,  and  resigned  June  1, 
1871.  He  reorganized  the  society  and  gave  it  the 
name  of  "  The  First  Parish  of  the  New  Church  in  St. 
Louis,"  by  which  title  it  was  incorporated  March  28, 
1868,  with  forty-six  members.  Its  government  was 
vested  in  a  board  of  wardens,  the  first  elected  mem- 
bers of  which  were  William  Chauvenet,  John  H. 
Barnard,  George  W.  Simpkins,  John  Warden,  E.  C. 
Sterling,  George  F.  Lewis,  G.  B.  Stone,  R.  L.  Tafel, 
John  Jay  Bailey,  C.  S.  Kauffman,  David  R.  Powell, 
and  Charles  R.  Anderson.  In  May,  1868,  Mr. 
Stuart  called  a  convention  of  New  Church  Societies 
in  Missouri,  and  organized  them  into  the  diocese  of 
Missouri,  of  which  he  was  made  bishop.  After  his 
departure  a  return  to  first  principles  was  inaugurated, 
and  on  the  6th  of  May,  1874,  the  "  Missouri  Associ- 
ation" (as  the  "diocese"  had  come  to  be  called)  was 
finally  dissolved.  On  the  21st  of  October,  1877,  the 
"  parish"  was  reorganized  as  the  original  First  Society 
of  the  New  Jerusalem  in  St.  Louis,  and  was  chartered 
March  8,  1878.  On  the  16th  of  March  following  the 
"  parish"  transferred  to  the  society  all  its  possessions 
and  became  extinct.  The  lease  of  the  church  lot  ex- 
pired June  1,  1872,  and  the  building  was  sold  for  two 
thousand  dollars,  a  lot  forty  feet  front  (the  present 
site)  purchased  for  four  thousand  dollars,  and  a 
chapel  capable  of  seating  one  hundred  persons  erected 
on  it  at  a  cost  of  nine  thousand  and  fifty  dollars.  The 
building  was  first  occupied  Sept.  29,  1878.  During 
1873-74,  Rev.  James  E.  Mills  officiated  as  leader  of 
the  society,  and  services  were  subsequently  conducted 
by  a  reader.  On  the  3d  of  December,  1878,  Rev.  E. 
A.  Beaman  was  employed  to  preach  two  Sundays  in 
the  month,  and  on  the  1st  of  October,  1882,  Rev.  A. 
F.  Frost  commenced  an  engagement  as  preacher,  but 
no  regular  pastor  was  chosen.  The  constitution  of 
the  parish  received,  all  told,  one  hundred  and  six  signa- 
tures. The  present  society  has  had,  in  all,  thirty-eight 
active  members,  now  reduced  by  deaths  to  thirty-four, 
and  the  congregation  numbers  about  seventy  persons. 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1743 


The  Sunday-school  has  five  teachers  and  about  forty 
pupils. 

The  German  New  Jerusalem  Society,  corner  of 
Twelfth  and  Webster  Streets,  was  organized  in  1854, 
and  at  one  time  worshiped  at  the  corner  of  Howard 
and  Fourteenth  Streets.  Its  congregation  numbers 
about  two  hundred,  and  about  one  hundred  children 
attend  the  Sunday-school. 

CHRISTIAN   CHURCHES. 

The  Christians,  or  Disciples  of  Christ,  m'ore 
popularly  known  as  "  Campbellites,''  from  Alexander 
Campbell,  their  foremost  leader,  who  professed  to  re- 
store the  simple  faith  and  worship  of  the  primitive 
Christians,  and  discarding  all  creeds,  to  take  the  Bible 
for  the  sole  guide  in  life  and  doctrine,  have  now  three 
organizations  in  St.  Louis,  viz. : 

First  Church,  southwest  corner  of  Olive  and  Sev- 
enteenth Streets,  Elder  W.  T.  Tibbs,  pastor. 

Central  Church,  northeast  corner  of  Washington 
Avenue  and  Twenty- third  Street,  Rev.  J.  H.  Foy, 
D.D.,  pastor. 

North  St.  Louis  Church,  southwest  corner  of 
Eighth  and  Mound  Streets,  Elders  George  Anderson 
and  G.  Jacknian,  pastors. 

These  three  congregations  sprang  successively  from 
a  small  gathering  of  Campbellites,  originally  only 
seven  members,  which  met  on  Sundays  at  a  private 
residence,  and  which  in  1842  had  increased  in  num- 
ber to  twenty-seven  persons,  with  Elder  Robert  H.  Fife 
as  leader.  They  next  rented  a  small  school-room  on 
Morgan  Street,  and  a  year  lated  rented  Lyceum  Hall, 
and  called  to  the  pastorate  Dr.  W.  H.  Hbpson,  then 
a  young  man,  who  afterwards  became  one  of  the  most 
prominent  ministers  in  the  denomination.  Owing  to 
his  energy  and  activity  the  congregation  increased  so 
rapidly  that  in  1845  it  removed  to  a  more  commo- 
dious building  on  Sixth  Street  and  Franklin  Avenue. 
Elder  Jacob  Creath  was  the  next  pastor  for  two  years, 
and  was  succeeded  by  Elder  Joseph  Patton,  who  died 
in  1850.  The  church  next  purchased  a  lot  on  Fifth 
Street,  between  Franklin  Avenue  and  Wash  Street, 
and  erected  a  building  at  a  cost  of  twenty-five  thou- 
sand dollars,  which  was  dedicated  Aug.  15,  1852,  by 
the  pastor,  Elder  Samuel  S.  Church.  The  structure 
was  of  the  early  English  Gothic  style  of  architecture, 
and  its  dimensions  were  sixty  by  one  hundred  and 
seven  feet  six  inches,  the  seating  capacity  being  about 
eight  hundred  persons.  Mr.  Church  died  some  years 
later,  and  was  followed  by  Elder  Proctor,  whom  ill 
health  caused  to  resign  in  1861.  In  June,  1863,  the 
church  purchased  from  D.  A.  January  the  building 
now  occupied,  at  the  southwest  corner  of  Olive  and 


Seventeenth  Streets.  It  had  been  St.  Paul's  Prot- 
estant Episcopal  Church,  but  was  closed  and  sold  for 
debt  in  1861.  It  was  dedicated  in  July,  1863,  by 
the  pastor,  Elder  Benjamin  H.  Smith,  whose  suc- 
cessors in  the  pastorate  have  been  Elders  Henry  H. 
Haley,  Henry  Clark,  John  A.  Brooks,  0.  A.  Carr, 
Dr.  W.  H.  Hopson,  their  first  minister,  who  returned 
in  1874  and  remained  one  year;  T.  P.  Haley,  who 
took  charge  in  1875  and  resigned  in  November, 
1881,  leaving  the  church  without  a  pastor  until  the 
appointment  of  Elder  W.  T.  Tibbs,  of  Kentucky,  early 
in  1882.  In  1870  the  question  as  to  whether  an 
organ  should  be  placed  in  the  church  caused  dissen- 
sions in  the  congregation,  and  in  June,  1871,  a  large 
number  who  favored  instrumental  music  withdrew 
and  formed  a  new  congregation,  now  called  Central 
Church.  They  met  in  a  hall  at  Fourteenth  and  St. 
Charles  Streets,  and  in  1875  purchased  the  lot  on 
which  they  erected  their  present  house  of  worship, 
which  they  supplied  with  an  organ  and  an  efficient 
choir.  Their  first  pastor,  Elder  Enos  Campbell,  was 
called  to  the  charge  at  the  time  of  the  secession  from 
the  First  Church  and  remained  until  1879,  when  the 
present  pastor  was  called.  The  congregation  at  Eighth 
and  Mound  Streets  has  long  been  a  small  and  strug- 
gling one,  but  now,  under  its  two  able  leaders,  is  be- 
ginning to  increase  and  flourish.  The  First  Church 
reports  a  membership  of  one  hundred  families  and 
three  hundred  communicants,  and  twelve  teachers  and 
seventy-five  pupils  in  the  Sunday-school ;  the  Cen- 
tral has  two  hundred  members,  and  fifteen  teachers 
and  one  hundred  scholars  in  the  Sunday-school ;  and 
the  North  St.  Louis  comprises  about  sixty  families 
and  one  hundred  members,  with  nine  teachers  and 
one  hundred  children  in  the  Sunday-school. 

CONGREGATIONAL   CHURCHES. 

First  Congregational  Church. — The  first  Con- 
gregational Society  established  in  St.  Louis  was  organ- 
ized in  the  spring  of  1852,  and  was  an  offshoot  from  the 
Third  Presbyterian  Church.  In  1847,  Rev.  Truman 
M.  Post,  D.D.,  arrived  in  St.  Louis  under  an  engage- 
ment for  four  years  as  pastor  of  what  was  then  the 
Third  Presbyterian  Church,  whose  members  wor- 
shiped on  Sixth  Street,  between  Franklin  Avenue 
and  Wash  Street.  This  congregation  had  been  or- 
ganized in  April,  1842,  by  eighty-five  members  of  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church,  who  had  been  dismissed 
for  that  purpose,  and  Dr.  Post  continued  to  serve  as 
its  pastor  until  about  the  time  of  the  organization  of 
the  Congregational  Society.  At  the  request  of  several 
leading  citizens,  Dr.  Post  preached,  on  the  llth  of 
January,  1852,  a  discourse  on  Congreeationalism  and 


1744 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


the  expediency  of  forming  a  Congregational  Church 
in  St.  Louis,  and  on  the  14th  of  March  following  the 
First  Congregational  Society  was  organized  by  sixty- 
seven  members  of  the  former  Third  Presbyterian 
Church  and  ten  others.  The  interest  of  the  other 
owners  in  the  building  on  Sixth  Street  was  purchased, 
and  the  new  organization  continued  to  worship  there 
with  Dr.  Post  as  pastor.  Shortly  afterwards  the  sum 
of  twenty  thousand  dollars  was  raised  by  subscription, 
and  a  lot  at  the  northwest  corner  of  Tenth  and  Locust 
Streets  was  purchased.  On  the  western  edge  of  this 
lot  a  chapel  was  eredted,  into  which  the  congregation 
moved  in  December,  1855,  having  sold  the  Sixth 
Street  property  and  with  the  proceeds  liquidated  the 
debt  incurred  in  building  the  chapel.  The  corner- 
stone of  the  main  church  edifice  was  laid  in  the 
spring  of  1858,  and  the  basement  was  occupied  on 
the  16th  of  October,  1859.  The  chapel  was  then 
rented  to  the  Homoeopathic  Medical  College,  and  on 
the  4th  of  March,  1860,  the  church  was  dedicated, 
its  entire  cost  being  fifty-five  thousand  dollars.  Since 
1879  the  building  has  been  rented  to  the  Young 
Men's  Temperance  Union.  Its  dimensions  are  one 
hundred  by  seventy  feet,  and  it  occupies  a  lot  one 
hundred  and  two  by  eighty  feet.  It  is  a  brick  struc- 
ture, with  a  solid  stone  basement.  In  1863  the  con- 
gregation found  itself  burdened  with  a  debt  of  forty 
thousand  dollars,  and  at  the  annual  meeting  of  that 
year  it  was  determined  to  liquidate  it.  The  sum  of 
ten  thousand  dollars  was  subscribed  on  the  spot,  ten  ! 
thousand  dollars  more  was  obtained  by  subscription 
soon  afterwards,  and  in  1864  the  chapel  property  was 
sold,  the  society  being  thus 'lifted  out  of  debt.  Pil- 
grim Church  was  founded  as  a  colony  from  the  First  | 
in  1866,  and  during  the  same  year  several  members 
withdrew  for  the  purpose  of  forming  the  Webster 
Grove  Church.  The  location  of  the  First  Church 
became  from  year  to  year  more  and  more  unsuitable, 
owing  to  the  removal  of  population  westward,  and 
finally  the  present  site  of  the  church  (Delmar  and 
Grand  Avenues)  was  purchased,  and  a  wooden  chapel 
erected,  which  the  congregation  first  occupied  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1879,  and  in  which  it  still  continues  to  wor- 
ship. In  January,  1872,  Dr.  Post  tendered  his  res- 
ignation as  pastor,  but  withdrew  it  at  the  urgent 
request  of  his  congregation,  and  on  the  1st  of  Janu- 
ary, 1882,  he  was  allowed  to  retire  from  the  active 
duties  of  his  charge,  his  congregation,  however,  con- 
tinuing him  in  honorary  connection  with  the  pastorate, 
under  the  title  of  Pastor  Emeritus.  The  present 
pastor  is  the  Rev.  J.  G.  Merrill. 

Rev.  Truman  M.  Post  was  born  in  Middlebury, 
Vt.,  June  3,  1810.     His  father,  a  lawyer,  died  before 


he  was  a  year  old,  and  his  training  devolved  upon  his 
mother.  He  attended  the  common  schools  of  his 
native  place,  but  studied  and  read  independently  of  his 
teachers,  his  progress  being  so  rapid  that  at  the  age  of 
fifteen  he  entered  Middlebury  College,  a  self-taught 
and  rather  precocious  young  man.  He  graduated 
from  this  institution  when  only  nineteen  years  old,  as 
valedictorian  of  his  class.  He  was  then  engaged  for 
a  year  as  principal  of  the  Castleton  Academy,  and  for 
two  years  as  a  tutor  at  Middlebury  College.  He  then 
began  the  study  of  law,  but  he  had  also  a  decided 
bias  for  theological  investigation,  and  in  1831,  while 
a  tutor  at  Middlebury,  he  was  led  to  change  his  pur- 
pose. Accordingly,  in  the  autumn  of  1832,  he  went 
to  Andover.  with  the  view  of  pursuing  a  course  of 
study  for  the  Christian  ministry,  but  when  about  to 
make  profession  of  Christianity  he  found  himself  de- 
barred from  communions  which  seemed  genuinely 
representative  by  creeds  which  required,  as  conditions 
of  membership,  categorical  statements  of  belief  which 
seemed  to  him  speculative,  and  as  to  which  he  had  no 
positive  convictions.  These  difficulties  not  yielding, 
he  turned  again  to  the  law,  and  in  the  prosecution  of 
his  studies  spent  the  winter  of  1832—33  in  Wash- 
ington, where  he  was  a  constant  attendant  upon  the 
sessions  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  a  deeply-interested 
spectator  of  the  exciting  oratorical  contests  between 
Webster,  Calhoun,  and  other  giants  of  the  period, 
which  marked  the  close  of  the  old  regime  and  the 
inauguration  of  a  new  political  era. 

While  yet  in  doubt  as  to  his  future  course,  Mr. 
Post  was  persuaded  by  Gen.  (afterwards  Governor) 
Duncan,  of  Illinois,  to  visit  the  West,  and  in  the 
spring  of  1833  started  thither,  passing  a  few  days  at 
Cincinnati,  where  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  Salmon 
P.  Chase,  then  a  young  lawyer,  whose  friendship  he 
retained  through  life,  and  of  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher, 
who  advised  him  as  to  his  religious  difficulties.  He 
arrived  at  St.  Louis  in  May  of  that  year,  and  made 
arrangements  to  enter  the  law-office  of  H.  R.  Gamble. 
Before  settling  down  to  his  new  career,  however,  he 
visited  his  friend,  Gen.  Duncan,  at  Jacksonville,  111., 
and  soon  after  his  arrival  there  was  prevailed  upon  to 
accept  a  temporary  engagement  as  assistant  instructor 
in  Illinois  College,  at  that  point.  This  temporary 
arrangement  was  soon  made  permanent,  and  resulted 
in  a  stay  of  fourteen  years  at  Jacksonville. 

In  the  fall  of  1833  he  made  his  first  formal  public 
profession  of  faith  in  Christianity  (his  religious  diffi- 
culties having  been  partly  removed),  and  joined  a 
little  Congregational  Church  then  being  formed.  In 
1835  he  revisited  Middlebury,  his  native  place,  and 
married  a  daughter  of  the  Hon.  Daniel  Henshaw,  a 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1745 


prominent  citizen  of  Vermont.     The  union  proved  a  ; 
singularly  happy  one. 

In  the  financial  revulsions  of  1837-38  the  funds 
of  the  college  failed,  and  pecuniary  considerations 
urged  Mr.  Post  to  return  to  the  law.  But  while  con- 
sidering the  problem  he  was  besought  by  the  church 
to  "  take  license"  and  become  its  pastor.  Eventually 
he  acceded  to  the  request,  but  on  appearing  before 
the  association  for  examination  he  expressly  repudi- 
ated the  term  "  licensing"  or  "  being  licensed,"  and 
the  implied  assumption  of  spiritual  authority  over 
preacher  or  congregation.  The  association  was  star- 
tled, but  on  examination  of  Mr.  Post's  historical  ref- 
erences it  conceded  his  position,  and  granted  him 
merely  a  recommendation  as  a  preacher.  For  several 
years  he  combined  the  classical  instruction  and  his- 
torical lectures  of  the  class-room  with  the  labors  of 
the  pulpit  and  the  pastorate. 

But  the  revenue  from  both  sources  was  still  insuf- 
ficient to  satisfy  his  pecuniary  necessities,  and  a  change 
became  imperative.  Meanwhile  he  had  been  repeat- 
edly solicited  to  remove  to  St.  Louis,  to  assume  charge 
of  the  Third  Presbyterian  Church,  and  in  1847  he 
received  a  specially  urgent  call.  He  was,  however, 
deeply  attached  to  the  college,  and  was  also  extremely 
unwilling  to  live  in  a  community  in  which  slavery  j 
existed.  He  finally  accepted  the  invitation  on  the 
express  condition  that  his  letter  of  acceptance  should 
be  read  publicly,  and  then  the  question  of  renewing 
the  call  be  submitted  to  the  people.  In  this  letter  he 
stated  that  he  regarded  holding  human  beings  as  prop- 
erty as  a  violation  of  the  first  principles  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion,  and  that  while  he  did  not '  require  the 
church  to  adopt  his  views,  he  thought  every  Chris- 
tian should  be  alive  to  the  question  of  slavery  ;  and 
as  for  himself,  he  must  be  guaranteed  perfect  liberty 
of  opinion  and  speech  on  the  subject,  otherwise  he 
did  not  think  God  called  him  to  add  to  the  number 
of  slaves  already  in  Missouri.  The  church  heard  the 
letter  and  unanimously  renewed  the  invitation,  where- 
upon Professor  Post,  in  the  fall  of  1847,  became  the 
pastor  of  the  Third  Presbyterian  Church  of  St.  Louis, 
limiting  the  engagement  to  four  years,  in  the  hope 
that  he  might  be  able  to  return  to  the  college  at  the 
expiration  of  that  period. 

But  at  the  close  of  the  allotted  term,  the  church 
with  great  unanimity  voted  to  become  a  Congrega- 
tional Church,  and  chose  Rev.  Mr.  Post  as  its  pastor, 
a  position  which  under  the  circumstances  he  was 
constrained  to  accept,  and  which  he  held  uninter- 
ruptedly until  his  resignation,  which  took  effect  Jan. 
1,  1882.  Under  his  pastorate  the  church  prospered, 
and  became  the  rallying-point  for  opinions  that  later 


became  potential  in  the  great  civil  war.  During  that 
period  Mr.  Post  did  not  forbear  to  assert  the  suprem- 
acy of  those  principles  of  personal  liberty  and  respon- 
sibility which  he  had  brought  with  him  from  New 
England,  but  did  so  with  so  much  courtesy  as  well  as 
courage,  that  he  commanded  the  entire  respect  of  a  con- 
gregation and  community  of  widely  differing  opinions. 


REV.  TRUMAN    M.  POST,  D.D. 

Outside  of  the  duties  immediately  pertaining  to 
his  pastorate,  he  became  closely  identified  with  the 
development  of  the  educational  and  charitable  enter- 
prises of  the  city,  and  labored  with  an  energy  and 
catholicity  of  spirit  not  excelled  by  any  in  his  pro- 
fession. The  abolition  of  slavery  removed  a  great 
barrier  to  the  spread  of  Congregationalism,  and  the 
subsequent  rapid  planting  of  churches  of  that  faith 
in  this  portion  of  the  Mississippi  valley  was  greatly 
aided  by  his  counsels. 

His  resignation  as  pastor  of  the  First  Congrega- 
tional Church  was  accepted  with  reluctance,  and,  as 
previously  stated,  in  recognition  of  his  years  of  service, 
the  title  of  Pastor  Emeritus  was  conferred  upon  him. 
Many  years  ago  his  Alma  Mater,  Middlebury  Col- 
lege, bestowed  upon  him  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Divinity. 

Force  and  effectiveness  are  the  characteristics  of  Dr. 
Post  as  a  preacher.  He  possesses  a  brilliant  and 
poetic  fancy,  and  his  historical  studies  enable  him  to 
analyze  events  with  a  philosophic  eye.  This  perhaps 
was  the  secret  of  his  power  and  influence  in  the  agita- 
tion preceding  and  attending  the  civil  war.  Many 


1746 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


of  his  discourses  and  addresses  were  widely  circulated, 
and  contributed  greatly  to  strengthening  the  hands  of 
the  Unionists.  He  also  aided  the  cause  by  frequent 
contributions  to  the  press. 

Although  a  prominent  actor  in  the  local  agitation 
of  the  period,  Dr.  Post  was  never  lacking  in  the  per- 
formance of  any  of  the  usual  duties  of  a  pastor,  and 
his  nearly  thirty-five  years  in  the  ministry  in  St. 
Louis  were  singularly  faithful  and  useful  ones. 

In  1873,  while  in  Europe,  he  was  summoned  home 
by  the  death  of  his  estimable  wife.  Their  union  had 
resulted  in  three  sons  and  three  daughters,  all  living ; 
two  of  the  sons  are  lawyers  and  one  is  a  physician, 
all  of  them  occupying  a  creditable  position  in  their 
several  callings. 

Pilgrim  Congregational  Church,  corner  of 
Washington  and  Ewing  Avenues,  Rev.  C.  L.  Goodell, 
D.D.,  pastor,  grew  out  of  Pilgrim  Sabbath-school,  or- 
ganized in  1853,  by  Rev.  F.  A.  Armstrong,  of  Ten- 
nessee, temporarily  residing  in  St.  Louis.  The  school 
was  established  in  the  upper  room  of  a  two-story 
frame  house  at  the  northwest  corner  of  Garrison 
Avenue  and  Morgan  Street,  where  the  residence  of 
William  Ballentyne  now  stands.  After  conducting 
the  school  one  Sunday  Mr.  Armstrong  was  called 
away,  and  Stephen  M.  Edgell,  a  member  of  the 
First  Congregational  Church,  continued  it,  chiefly  at 
his  own  expense.  For  about  twelve  years  he  had  per- 
sonal care  of  the  school-room,  and  in  winter  brought 
coal  and  kindling-wood  from  his  own  home,  acting 
both  as  instructor  and  janitor.  In  1854,  the  school 
having  become  too  large  for  its  quarters,  Mr.  Edgell 
leased  a  lot  where  now  stands  the  residence  of  D.  P. 
Rowland,  2910  Morgan  Street,  and  erected  on  it  a 
one-story  brick  building,  in  which  besides  the  school 
religious  services  were  held.  On  the  22d  of  Septem- 
ber, 1865,  an  informal  meeting  was  held  at  the  house 
of  William  Colcord,  2800  Morgan  Street,  to  consider 
the  question  of  erecting  a  permanent  building  for  the 
Sabbath-school  and  of  organizing  a  new  congregation. 
In  June,  1866,  S.  M.  Edgell  and  James  E.  Kaime 
purchased  a  lot  fronting  eighty  and  eight- twelfths  feet 
on  Washington  Avenue,  and  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
four  and  three-twelfths  feet  on  Ewing  Avenue,  for 
$7620,  and  presented  it  for  the  "  uses  of  an  orthodox 
Congregational  Church."  Pilgrim  Chapel,  a  brick 
building,  capable  of  seating  four  hundred  people,  and 
costing  $14,460.80,  was  erected  on  this  lot  during 
the  same  year.  On  the  5th  of  December,  1866,  the 
proposed  church  was  organized  as  a  colony  from  the 
First  Congregational  Church,  thirty-six  of  whose 
members  had  been  dismissed  for  the  purpose.  The 
chapel  was  dedicated  on  the  22d  of  December,  1866, 


the  22d  being  known  as  "  Forefathers'  day,"  the  an- 
niversary of  the  day  on  which  the  Pilgrim  Fathers 
landed  at  Plymouth  Rock.  A  council  of  Congrega- 
tional Churches  was  convened  for  the  occasion,  with 
Rev.  J.  M.  Sturtevant,  Jr.,  of  Hannibal,  as  moderator, 
and  Rev.  J.  M.  Bowers,  of  Sedalia,  Mo.,  as  scribe. 

In  1 867  the  foundations  of  the  present  stone  build- 
ing were  built,  at  a  cost  of  three  thousand  and  forty 
dollars  and  forty-five  cents,  and  Dec.  21,  1867,  the 
corner-stone  was  laid  with  appropriate  services  at  the 
northeast  corner.  In  1871  the  erection  of  the  pres- 
ent edifice  was  commenced,  and  on  the  22d  of  De- 
cember, 1872  (Forefathers'  day),  the  building  was 
formally  dedicated.  The  total  cost,  including  that  of 
organ  and  furniture,  was  fifty-six  thousand  three 
hundred  and  forty-eight  dollars  and  nine  cents.  S.  M. 
Edgell  and  D.  F.  Kaime  were  the  building  committee, 
and  Henry  L.  Isaacs  was  the  architect.  The  church 
is  capable  of  seating  thirteen  hundred  and  twenty 
persons.  The  spire  and  tower  were  finished  in  1876, 
and  in  the  latter  is  the  "  Oliphant  chime"  of  ten  bells, 
presented  at  Christmas,  1876,  by  Dr.  R.  W.  Oliphant, 
in  memory  of  his  deceased  wife  and  son.  In  con- 
nection with  the  chimes  is  a  tower  clock,  striking  the 
famous  Cambridge  University  quarters,  the  first  of 
its  kind  in  America.  The  bells,  clock,  etc.,  cost  ten 
thousand  dollars.  The  pastors  have  been  Revs.  John 
Monteith,  Jr.,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  began  Nov.  1, 1866, 
dismissed  with  seventy-one  other  members  to  form  a 
colony,  March  15,  1869;  W.  C.  Martyn,  of  Union 
Presbyterian  Theological  Seminary,  appointed  June 
24,  1869,  resigned  Sept,  1,  1871 ;  H.  C.  Haydn,  ap-  . 
pointed  Dec.  1,  1871,  resigned  April  1,  1872;  C.  L. 
Goodell,  called  Sept.  12,  took  charge  Nov.  27,  1872, 
and  formally  installed  June  5,  1873,  the  installation 
having  been  delayed  by  his  illness. 

In  December,  1871,  S.  M.  Edgell  presented  the 
two-story  brick  dwelling-house  and  twenty-five  feet  of 
land  adjoining  the  church  for  a  parsonage. 

The  brick  chapel  was  rebuilt  in  the  autumn  of 
1873,  with  a  stone  front,  and  raised  to  the  height  of 
the  main  edifice,  and  was  fitted  up  with  sewing-rooms, 
parlors,  etc.,  at  a  cost  of  $13,229.80,  and  dedicated 
Jan.  21,  1874.  The  entire  church  property  has  cost 
$106,207.89.  This  was  the  first  church  erected  west 
of  Seventeenth  Street,  and  out  of  it  have  grown  the 
Third,  Plymouth,  Fifth,  and  Hyde  Park  Churches. 
It  has  also  dismissed  several  members  to  unite  with 
the  Congregational  Church  at  Webster  Grove.  About 
fifteen  hundred  persons  are  connected  with  the  church, 
and  there  are  seven  hundred  and  fifty  communicants. 
The  Sunday-school  has  seventeen  officers,  fifty-four 
regular  teachers,  and  a  reserve  corps  of  nineteen  others. 


RELIGIOUS  DENOMINATIONS. 


1747 


During  the  year  1881  the  whole  number  of  scholars 
was  seven  hundred  and  fifty,  the  additions  seventy- 
five,  number  of  classes  fifty-six,  and  number  of  vol- 
umes in  the  library  five  hundred  and  forty-two.  Con- 
nected with  the  church  are  a  Young  Ladies'  Mission- 
ary Society,  a  Ladies'  Home  Missionary  Society,  a 
Woman's  Board  of  Missions,  the  Pilgrim  Workers,  a 
Flower  Mission,  etc.,  while  the  congregation  is  also 
largely  represented  in  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association,  missionary  work  in  the  jail,  and  several 
other  religious  and  benevolent  enterprises.  During 
1881  the  church  contributed  in  outside  benevolence 
$26, 638.85,  and  during  the  year  previous  $25,- 
882.87. 

Rev.  Constans  L.  Goodell,  D.D.,  pastor  of  Pilgrim 
Church,  is  descended  from  Robert  Goodell,  one  of  the 
early  settlers  of  Salem,  Mass.,  who  came  from  Eng- 
land in  the  ship  "Elizabeth,"  landing  there  in  1634, 
six  years  after  the  founding  of  that  town  and  fourteen 
years  after  the  Pilgrims  landed  at  Plymouth.  One  of 
his  descendants,  Aaron  Goodell,  emigrated  to  Calais, 
Vt.,  where  Constans  L.  Goodell  was  born  March  16, 
1830.  He  belongs  to  a  race  which  has  contributed 
much  to  the  growth  of  Christianity  in  our  own  and 
other  lands.  His  mother,  Elvira  Bancroft,  was  of  a 
family  which  for  five  successive  generations  furnished 
a  deacon  in  each  (of  the  same  name)  for  the  church 
in  Lynn,  Mass.  Eleven  of  his  ancestors  chose  the 
ministry  for  their  life-work,  including  the  eminent 
Dr.  William  Goodell,  for  forty-two  years  a  missionary 
of  the  American  Board  in  Turkey. 

Dr.  Goodell  is  a  graduate  of  the  University  of  Ver- 
mont, class  of  1855,  and  of  Andover  Theological  Semi- 
nary, 1858.  The  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  was 
conferred  by  his  Alma  Mater  in  1874. 

He  married,  May  5,  1859,  Miss  Emily  Fairbanks, 
daughter  of  Governor  Erastus  Fairbanks,  and  sister  of 
Governor  Horace  Fairbanks,  of  St.  Johnsbury,  Vt. 
Mrs.  Goodell  has  had  a  large  share  in  his  remarkable 
success,  and  few  women  have  exercised  so  wide  and 
valuable  an  influence  on  the  life  of  a  great  city.  All 
the  rich  gifts  of  her  generous  heart  and  cultured  mind 
are  fully  consecrated  to  the  work  to  which  his  life  is 
devoted.  She  is  beside  her  husband  in  all  his  labors, 
and  all  movements  for  the  advancement  of  the  church 
and  for  reaching  and  comforting  the  uncared-for  and 
afflicted  are  planned  by  the  two  together.  His  first 
pastorate  was  at  New  Britain,  Conn.,  wkere  he  was 
settled  over  the  South  Congregational  Church  in  1859, 
and  where  he  remained  fourteen  years. 

On  Nov.  27,  1872,  he  commenced  his  pastorate  in 
St.  Louis,  and  this  date  marks  the  commencement  of 
that  rapid  growth  which  has  placed  Pilgrim  Church 


among  the  great  evangelizing  forces  of  the  city.  That 
his  work  has  been  successful  is  clearly  shown  by  its 
effects.  The  high  position  universally  accorded  him  is 
the  result  of  the  labor  which  has  developed  a  church 
of  ninety-two  members  into  one  of  eight  hundred,  and 
increased  its  benevolence  from  three  thousand  dollars 
a  year  to  nearly  thirty  thousand  dollars,  all  in  the 
short  space  of  ten  years.  He  uses  no  sensational 
methods,  but  depends  on  quiet  and  effective  labor. 
When  asked  once  what  was  the  secret  of  his  success, 
from  a  human  stand-point,  he  replied,  "  Eternal  vigi- 
lance." He  is  remarkably  successful  in  inspiring  others 
with  a  love  for  Christian  effort. 

His  belief  is  thoroughly  evangelical,  and  what  is 
technically  known  as  the  "New  England  theology," 
and  he  preaches  only  his  convictions.  No  one  has 
ever  heard  doubts  ventilated  from  Pilgrim  pulpit  while 
he  has  occupied  it.  He  is  thoroughly  consecrated  to 
the  work  of  the  pastorate.  He  knows  his  people 
thoroughly,  and  is  as  well  known  by  them.  A  stranger 
at  one  of  the  services  said  that  when  the  preacher 
rose  in  the  pulpit  he  knew  at  once  that  he  was  the 
pastor  of  that  church ;  his  manner,  his  prayers,  and 
his  preaching  all  showed  that  he  was  the  shepherd  of 
the  flock.  In  the  church  of  which  he  is  the  pastor 
people  of  all  sects  and  circumstances  are  perfectly  at 
home. 

Many  churches  in  St.  Louis  have  felt  the  impulse 
of  Dr.  Goodell's  work,  and  through  him  have  gained 
courage  to  go  forward.  There  are  several  organiza- 
tions in  the  city  besides  Pilgrim  Church  that  are  now 
strong,  and  becoming  more  vigorous  and  useful  every 
year,  which  might  not  be  in  existence  but  for  him. 
At  least  three  new  churches  have  been  organized 
within  the  city  limits  as  the  direct  result  of  his  wise 
planning  and  generous  help ;  and  they  have  all  been 
set  in  motion  with  such  a  liberal  spirit  that  their  suc- 
cess was  assured  from  the  start.  Numerous  churches 
in  various  parts  of  the  State  afford  the  same  evidence 
of  the  thoughtful  care  and  wise  generosity  of  Dr. 
Goodell.  His  influence  on  his  brethren  in  the  min- 
istry is  great,  and  not  only  by  his  example,  but  by 
his  active  sympathy  and  sound  advice,  has  he  saved 
them  from  many  grave  mistakes,  and  contributed 
greatly  to  their  success. 

In  educational  matters  he  has  always  been  active. 
Drury  College  owes  much  of  its  prosperity  to  his  la- 
bors as  a  trustee  and  an  earnest  friend.  There  are 
many  who  believe  that  but  for  him  the  college  could 
never  have  survived  the  trials  through  which  it  has 
passed.  Illinois  College  and  other  similar  institutions 
have  also  felt  the  effects  of  his  efforts  and  counsel. 

Dr.  Goodell's  life  is  an  eminently  peaceful  one.     He 


1748 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


studiously  avoids  all  controversies,  believing  that  the 
plain  preaching  of  the  truth  and  earnest  work  form 
the  best  answer  to  any  attack  or  criticism.  It  natu- 
rally follows  that  his  influence  in  unifying  and  har- 
monizing Christian  work  is  great.  The  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  has  always  found  in  him  a 
faithful  and  practical  ally.  The  different  branches  of 
union  effort  in  the  city  have  representatives  and  ac- 
tive workers  from  his  membership,  and  look  with 
confidence  to  the  pastor  of  Pilgrim  Church  for  help 
and  advice.  During  the  time  that  Rev.  E.  P.  Ham- 
mond, the  evangelist,  labored  in  St.  Louis,  and  later 
when  D.  L.  Moody  held  his  meetings,  Dr.  Goodell 
was  foremost  in  the  work.  The  Evangelical  Alli- 
ance has  learned  to  expect  from  him  words  of  peace  j 
and  wisdom  on  difficult  points,  and  one  of  its  pleas- 
antest  and  most  helpful  years  was  that  in  which  he  was 
its  president. 

In  his  own  denomination  Dr.  Goodell  is  recognized 
as  a  leader  and  has  great  influence.     At  the  meeting  I 
of  the  National  Council  of  Congregational  Churches 
in  Detroit,  in  1877,  his  paper  on  "  Woman's  Work  as 
a  Part  of  the  Religious  Movement  of  the  Time"  was 
regarded  as  one  of  the  wisest  and  most  timely  utter- 
ances ever  made  on  that   difficult  subject.     In   1881,  , 
in  his  sermon  before  the  American  Home  Missionary  \ 
Society  at  its  annual  meeting  in  New  York  City,  he  j 
asked  for  "  one  million  dollars  a  year  for  home  mis-  i 
sions,"  and   the  churches  seem   likely  in  the  near  fu- 
ture to  meet  this  demand.     He  is  a  member  of  the 
committee  of  twenty-five,  appointed  for  the  purpose 
of  framing  a  new  statement  of  Christian  doctrine,  and  ( 
occupies  many  other  positions  of  trust  and  influence. 
There  have  been  several  efforts  to  draw  Dr.  Goodell 
away  to  other  pastorates  and  positions  of  great  im- 
portance, but  his  response  in  each  case  has  been  that 
his  work  was  in  St.  Louis. 

Third  Congregational  Church. — On  the  22d  of  | 
December,  1867,  the  Young  People's  Association  of  ' 
Pilgrim  Congregational  Church  organized  the  May- 
flower Mission  Sabbath -school,  which  was  located  at 
the  corner  of  Luckey  Street  and  Grand  Avenue.  In 
the  fall  of  1868  a  lot  on  Boston  Street,  between  Grand 
and  Spring  Avenues,  was  purchased,  and  a  chapel  forty 
by  fifty  feet  erected.  The  building  was  completed 
and  dedicated  June  13,  1869  ;  a  colony  of  sixty-two 
members  from  Plymouth  Church,  to  whom  the  chapel 
was  transferred,  having  on  the  15th  of  March  previous 
organized  a  new  church,  with  the  name  of  Mayflower 
Church.  The  pastors  of  Mayflower  Church  have 
been  Rev.  John  Monteith,  who  assisted  in  the  first 
organization,  and  resigned  on  account  of  ill  health, 
April  26,  1871,  but  continued  to  officiate  until  re- 


lieved by  his  successor  ;  Rev.  E.  P.  Powell,  appointed 
April  26,  1871,  took  charge  Sept.  17, 1871,  resigned 
Sept.  12,  1873  ;  Rev.  W.  S.  Peterson,  appointed  Jan- 
uary, 1874,  resigned  January,  1875;  Rev.  William 
Twining  served  as  supply  three  months  in  1875  ;  Rev. 
Theodore  Clifton,  appointed  Oct.  12,  1875.  During 
the  last  quarter  of  1873,  the  congregation  being  with- 
out a  pastor,  lost  so  many  members  that  in  January, 
1874,  it  reorganized,  and  closed  the  year  with  sixty- 
six  members,  of  whom  thirty-nine  had  belonged  to 
the  former  organization.  In  1875  it  suffered  from 
the  same  cause,  and  the  organization  was  only  pre- 
served by  the  determination  of  a  few  individuals.  In 
December,  1875,  when  the  present  pastor,  Rev.  The- 
odore Clifton,  took  charge,  only  twenty-five  resident 
members  remained,  the  services  during  the  interval 
having  been  conducted  by  a  reader,  and  a  debt  of  one 
thousand  dollars  had  accumulated. 

Since  then,  however,  the  congregation  has  prospered. 
On  the  12th  of  April,  1876,  the  church  united  with 
the  St.  Louis  Congregational  Association,  and  Oct. 
1,  1876,  its  name  was  changed  to  that  of  "Third 
Congregational."  In  November,  1876,  S.  M.  Edgell, 
of  Pilgrim  Church,  presented  the  church  with  fifty 
feet  of  ground  on  Francis  Street,  and  in  the  fall  of 
1877  the  Boston  Street  lots  were  sold,  the  debt  was 
paid,  and  the  building  was  removed  to  the  new  location 
on  Francis  Street,  and  enlarged,  repaired,  and  refur- 
nished at  a  cost  of  $2015.35,  of  which  $1350  was  given 
by  the  Pilgrim  and  First  Congregational  Churches. 
The  remainder  was  raised  by  the  members  of  the 
Third  Church.  The  edifice  was  rededicated,  free  of 
debt,  Dec.  19,  1877,  by  Revs.  C.  S.  Goodell  and  Dr. 
T.  M.  Post.  In  June,  1882,  the  lot  occupied  by  the 
present  church,  at  the  southeast  corner  of  Grand 
and  Page  Avenues,  was  purchased  from  D.  R.  Garri- 
son for  the  sum  of  twelve  thousand  dollars.  Its 
dimensions  are  one  hundred  and  twelve  by  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  feet,  and  on  it  is  situated  a  handsome 
residence,  which  was  included  in  the  purchase  and  is 
now  the  parsonage.  The  church,  a  neat  Gothic  frame 
building,  was  removed  to  the  new  site,  and  two  thou- 
sand dollars  was  expended  in  refitting  it.  A  lecture- 
room  and  other  apartments  were  added  as  a  basement, 
and  the  building,  which  is  capable  of  seating  five 
hundred  persons,  was  formally  reopened  on  the  10th 
of  November,  1882.  The  membership  numbers  over 
two  hundred.  There  are  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
families  connected  with  the  church,  and  the  average 
attendance  is  about  one  hundred  and  fifty.  The  Fair 
Ground  Mission  Sunday-school  was  organized  July 
17,  1870,  and  formally  recognized  as  a  mission  of  the 
church  Dec.  19,  1877.  It  has  fifteen  teachers  and 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1749 


two  hundred  scholars.  The  Ladies'  Aid  Society, 
Young  People's  Christian  Association,  and  Children's 
Missionary  Society,  called  "  Coral  Workers,"  are  active 
auxiliaries  of  the  church. 

Plymouth  Church.. — The  fourth  of  the  Congre- 
gational Churches  of  St.  Louis,  in  point  of  organiza- 
tion, is  Plymouth  Church,  situated  on  the  west  side 
of  Belle  Glade  Avenue,  north  of  Parsons  Street,  Rev. 
James  A.  Adams,  pastor.  It  grew  out  of  a  Sunday- 
school  called  the  "  Hope  Mission  School,"  which  was 
organized  in  1865  by  Rev.  William  Porteus,  city 
missionary,  at  Elleardsville,  then  a  suburb  of  St.  Louis. 
His  connection  with  it  lasted  only  a  few  months,  and 
it  dwindled  away  until,  in  the  fall  of  1868,  Mrs. 
Lucy  J.  Moody  appealed  to  Pilgrim  Church  for 
laborers  to  sustain  the  school.  The  church  in  re- 
sponse sent  out  Deacons  Wm.  Colcord  and  Lyman 
B.  Ripley,  the  latter  of  whom  was  soon  compelled 
by  the  pressure  of  his  church  duties  to  leave  the 
enterprise  in  the  hands  of  the  former,  to  whose  ef- 
forts and  pecuniary  aid  the  school  owed  its  growth, 
and  Plymouth  Church,  perhaps,  its  existence.  Mrs. 
Lucy  J.  Moody  gave  the  school  a  lot  thirty-three 
by  one  hundred  and  forty  feet,  and  the  erection  of  a 
building  upon  it  was  commenced  in  1868,  when  in 
response  to  appeals  for  aid  the  First  Pilgrim  and 
Webster  Grove  Congregational  Churches  pledged 
each  five  hundred  dollars  towards  the  erection  of  a 
suitable  building.  These  subscriptions  were  made 
with  a  view  to  organizing  a  church  in  connection 
with  the  school,  and  as  further  aid  was  promised  from 
other  sources  the  idea  was  adopted.  The  contract  for 
the  building  was  executed  in  March,  1869,  and  the 
structure  was  completed  and  dedicated  July  1 1,  1869. 
On  Saturday,  July  31,  1869,  a  meeting  was  held  and 
the  church  organized,  its  first  communion  occurring 
on  the  following  day.  The  building  is  of  frame, 
thirty  by  sixty-two  feet,  with  a  seating  capacity  of 
three  hundred.  In  1879  a  lecture-room  of  the  same 
.seating  capacity  was  erected  beneath  the  superstruc- 
ture. An  additional  lot,  thirty-three  by  one  hundred 
and  forty  feet,  has  been  added  to  the  first,  and  the 
property  is  now  valued  at  five  thousand  dollars.  The  ! 
successive  pastors  have  been  Revs.  W.  H.  Warren,  a 
graduate  of  Harvard  College  and  Andover  Seminary, 
ordained  and  installed  Dec.  7,  1869,  resigned  Sept. 
25,  1872  ;  Win.  Perkins  (supply),  May  4  to  Nov. 
30,  1873  ;  then  an  interval  without  a  pastor  ;  W.  B. 
Millard,  a  graduate  of  Chicago  Seminary,  installed 
June  26,  1874;  resigned  April  11,  1875  ;  Alex.  S. 
McConnell,  May  16  to  Nov.  16, 1875  ;  J.  E.  Wheeler, 
November,  1875,  to  September,  1877  ;  J.  H.  Har- 
wood,  a  graduate  of  Williams  College  and  Union 
111 


Seminary,  Oct.  10,  1877,  to  Aug.  15,  1880;  James 
A.  Adams,  a  graduate  of  Knox  College  and  Union 
Seminary,  called  September  4th,  ordained  and  in- 
stalled Dec.  3,  1880.  Associated  with  the  church 
are  a  Ladies'  Aid  Society,  organized  in  1878,  and  a 
Ladies'  Missionary  Society,  organized  in  1879.  The 
church  numbers  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  mem- 
bers, and  its  Sunday-school  is  attended  by  three  hun- 
dred pupils. 

Fifth  Congregational  Church,  southwest  corner 
of  Clark  Avenue  and  High  (or  Twenty-third)  Street, 
Rev.  George  C.  Adams,  pastor,  is  the  third  child  of 
Pilgrim  Church,  and  was  originally  the  High  Street 
Mission  Sunday-school.  It  was  established  by  Pil- 
grim Church,  Oct.  31,  1880,  and  carried  on  until 
May  1,  1881,  when  Rev.  George  C.  Adams  took 
charge  of  it  and  began  holding  regular  services.  On 
the  3d  of  July,  1881,  the  Fifth  Church  was  organ- 
ized. It  was  recognized  by  council  Oct.  11,  1881, 
and  Mr.  Adams  was  installed  as  pastor.  The  build- 
ing now  occupied  was  erected  by  the  High  Street 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  was  purchased  for  the  Fifth 
Church  by  Pilgrim  Church,  which  up  to  Jan.  1, 1882, 
had  spent  six  thousand  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars 
for  the  new  society.  It  is  cruciform,  the  nave  being 
seventy-eight  feet  in  length  and  the  transept  eighty 
feet.  The  dimensions  of  the  lot  are  one  hundred  and 
thirty- four  by  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet,  and 
the  property  is  valued  at  nine  thousand  dollars.  The 
congregation  maintains  in  connection  with  its  church 
work  the  Ladies'  Aid  Society,  organized  March,  1882; 
the  Young  People's  Home  Missionary  Society,  organ- 
ized September,  1881 ;  and  the  Youths'  Christian 
Association,  organized  in  January,  1882.  The  church 
membership  embraces  one  hundred  and  fifty  families, 
one  hundred' and  thirty-one  communicants,  and  an 
attendance  of  four  hundred  at  the  Sunday-school. 

Hyde  Park  Church  was  the  sixth  Congregational 
Church  organized  in  St.  Louis,  and  the  fourth  offshoot 
from  Pilgrim  Church.  It  is  situated  at  the  north- 
west corner  of  Bremen  Avenue  and  Twelfth  Street, 
and  the  pastor  is  Rev.  L.  L.  West.  In  April,  1881, 
a  church  building  which  stood  on  Ninth  Street,  be- 
tween Farrar  and  Salisbury,  and  which  had  been 
known  as  the  Fairmount  Presbyterian  Church,  was 
purchased  for  its  use.  The  building  was  removed  to 
its  present  location  opposite  Hyde  Park,  refitted,  and 
dedicated  July  10,  1881.  The  society  was  organized 
with  twenty-one  members,  July  25,  1881,  and  the 
present  pastor,  who  is  from  Chicago  Theological  Semi- 
nary, was  elected.  The  building,  removal,  and  re- 
pairing cost  Pilgrim  Church  $3848.27.  In  May, 
1882,  the  congregation  comprised  one  hundred  and 


1750 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


forty  families  and  fifty-six  communicants,  and  there  j 
were   seventeen   teachers  and  between  one  hundred 
and  fifty  and    two  hundred    pupils   in  the  Sunday- 
school. 

In  addition  to  the  Congregational  Churches  named, 
the  Fair  Ground  Mission  Sunday-school,  belonging 
to  the  Third  Church,  is  conducted  under  the  superin- 
tendence of  Garden  Hepburn.  The  Ministers'  Meet- 
ing is  held  every  Monday  at  eleven  A.M.,  in  the  par- 
lors of  Pilgrim  Church,  and  the  St.  Louis  District 
Association  of  Congregational  Ministers  and  Churches 
meets  twice  a  year,  in  April  and  October.  Its  regis- 
trar is  0.  L.  Whitelaw,  617  North  Second  Street. 
There  is  also  a  State  Central  Home  Missionary  Com- 
mittee, composed  of  Rev.  T.  M.  Post,  D.D.,  Rev.  C. 
L.  Goodell,  D.D.,  Rev.  Henry  Hopkins,  Rev.  Theo- 
dore Clifton,  Rev.  J.  C.  Plumb,  Rev.  E.  B.  Burrows, 
and  S.  M.  Edgell. 

CEMETERIES. 

Early  in  the  present  century  we  find  that  portions 
of  Col.  Auguste  Chouteau's  property  were  used  as  i 
burial-places,  and  on  Oct.  12,  1815,  he  gave  notice  ! 
"  forbidding  any  further  interments  in  his  land,  near 
the  court-house  in  the  town  of  St.  Louis,  under  penalty 
of  prosecution."  On  the  1st  of  June,  1816,  James 
Sawyer  announced  that  "  having  purchased  the  lot 
No.  6  in  Col.  Chouteau's  addition  to  the  town  of 
St.  Louis,  on  which  there  are  some  graves,  and  being 
about  to  build  thereon,  the  friends  and  connections 
of  the  departed  are  hereby  notified  that  he  will 
have  no  objection  to  their  removing  the  remains  of 
their  connections;  or  if  they  prefer  leaving  them 
where  they  are,  every  respect  shall  be  paid  to  them 
on  my  part  of  which  the  case  will  admit.  •  The 
conditions  on  which  Col.  A.  Chouteau  sold  this  and 
all  the  lots  in  his  addition  expressly,  prohibit  the 
purchasers  from  permitting  the  interring  of  the  dead 
thereon  for  the  future,  under  the  penalty  of  forfeiting 
the  lot ;  this  inconvenience  he  hopes  will  be  effectually 
remedied,  as  Messrs.  Chambers,  Christy  &  Co.  have 
set  apart  a  high  and  handsome  situation  in  the  vicinity 
of  St.  Louis  for  the  use  of  a  church  and  burying- 
ground,  of  which  they  have  made  a  donation  to  the 
public,  under  the  express  conditions  that  it  is  at  all 
times  to  remain  open  for  the  interment  of  the  dead  of 
all  religious  denominations." 

The  public  burying-ground  here  referred  to  was 
that  which  was  afterwards  known  as  "the  old  Grace 
Church  graveyard,"  at  Warren  and  Eleventh  Streets. 
Col.  William  Chambers,  of  Kentucky,  an  officer  in  the 
United  States  army,  was  the  original  purchaser,  and 
afterwards  sold  a  third  each  to  Maj.  Thomas  Wright 
and  William  Christy.  As  an  inducement  for  wealthy 


persons  to  settle  in  that  section,  these  gentlemen 
set  apart  four  parcels  of  land  for  public  uses,  and 
among  them  a  "  circle"  containing  about  one  and 
three-fourths  acres,  "  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  a 
house  of  worship,  and  a  burying-ground  to  be  opened 
for  the  interment  of  all  denominations  of  religious  per- 
sons." This  circle  was  used  as  a  burying-ground  as 
early  as  1825,  but  it  was  not  until  1844  that  a  grave- 
yard was  regularly  established. 

In  the  latter  year  a  number  of  Episcopalians  or- 
ganized a  church  society,  and  induced  other  persons 
of  various  Protestant  denominations  to  unite  with 
them  in  establishing  a  burying  ground,  which  re- 
mained under  the  control  of  the  vestry  of  Grace  Prot- 
estant Episcopal  Church,  the  church  and  ground 
being  originally  consecrated  by  Bishop  Hawks. 
During  the  cholera  epidemic  of  1849  the  number  of 
interments  here  was  so  large  that  the  grounds  were 
closed  in  1851.  A  large  number  of  the  bodies  were 
afterwards  transferred  to  Bellefontaine  cemetery.  The 
subsequent  improvements  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
graveyard,  such  as  grading  and  opening  new  streets, 
etc.,  disturbed  many  of  the  graves,  and  the  contents 
of  others  were  exposed  by  crumbling  of  the  hill  on 
which  the  graveyard  was  situated,  and  in  such  in- 
stances the  bones  were  removed  to  the  basement 
under  the  church.  Among  the  graves  thus  disturbed 
was  that  of  Governor  Howard.  This  circumstance 
was  brought  to  the  notice  of  the  City  Council,  who 
authorized  the  reinterment  of  Governor  Howard's  re- 
mains in  Bellefontaine  cemetery.  Years  ago  the 
cemetery  circle  had  trees  on  it,  and  the  place  was  a 
popular  resort  in  summer  and  autumn  evenings  for 
loving  couples,  and  the  old  people  who  lived  in  the 
vicinity  amused  their  friends  by  narrating  roman- 
tic and  ghostly  stories  concerning  courtship  adven- 
tures in  the  old  graveyard.  It  was  customary  in 
those  days  for  displeased  parents  and  jealous  parties 
to  get  up  ghost  scenes  to  scare  the  young  people 
when  promenading  or  seated  in  the  place. 

In  February,  1823,  the  trustees  of  the  town  passed 
an  ordinance  "  prohibiting  the  burial  of  dead  within 
its  limits." 

On  June  28,  1824,  Messrs.  J.  B.  Belcour,  M. 
Murphy,  G.  Paul,  and  J.  McGovern,  trustees  of  the 
Catholic  Church,  gave  notice  as  follows:  "The  in- 
habitants of  St.  Louis  and  its  vicinity  are  made  ac- 
quainted that  a  public  graveyard,  under  the  superin- 
tendence of  the  wardens  of  the  Catholic  congregation, 
and  adjoining  their  burial-ground,  is  now  opened,  and 
that  burials  may  hereafter  take  place  by  conforming 
with  the  following  resolutions  passed  by  the  commit- 
tee :  Applications  for  burials  to  be  made  to  the  warden 


RELIGIOUS   DENOMINATIONS. 


1751 


in  office  for  the  year.  The  price  of  burial  to  be  ten 
dollars,  five  dollars  for  children  under  ten  years  of 
age.  Persons  who  would  fence  in  a  particular  spot 
for  their  family,  each  burial  to  be  twenty  dollars,  and 
ten  dollars  for  children  under  ten  years  of  age.  The 
amount  of  burial  to  be  settled  with  the  church  warden 
before  the  burials  take  place.  No  grave  to  be  dug 
but  by  the  digger  appointed  for  that  purpose,  and  ac- 
cording to  the  regulations  for  said  graveyard.  The 
warden  in  office  for  this  year  is  Mr.  J.  B.  Belcour." 

In  1827  we  find  that  orders  for  graves  in  the  city 
graveyard,  and  digging  them,  were  received  by  the 
sexton,  living  next  to  it,  and  by  A.  Rutgers,  on  Church 
Street,  between  Plum  and  Poplar  Streets,  and  are  told 
that  a  lot  for  twelve  coffins  cost  twenty  dollars;  for 
one  coffin,  five  dollars;  price  for  digging  a  grave,  two 
dollars. 

In  1833  the  city  authorities  set  apart  a  tract  of 
ten  acres,  a  portion  of  the  commons  belonging  to  St. 
Louis,  lying  southwest  of  the  city,  for  the  purpose  of 
a  burial-ground,  but  inclosed  only  one  acre,  which  was 
"  deemed  sufficient  for  the  purpose  for  some  years  to 
come." 

The  Bellefontaine  cemetery  was  incorporated  as 
"  the  Rural  Cemetery,"  under  an  act  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  Missouri,  approved  March  7,  1849,  the 
incorporators  being  Messrs.  John  F.  Darby,  Henry 
Kayser,  Way  man  Crow,  James  E.  Yeatman,  James 
Harrison,  Charles  S.  Ranriels,  Gerard  B.  Allen,  Phil- 
ander Salisbury,  William  Bennett,  Augustus  Brew- 
ster,  and  William  McPherson.  On  May  24,  1849, 
the  "  Rural  Cemetery  Association"  was  organized  by 
the  election  of  Dr.  William  Carr  Lane,  president ; 
A.  G.  Farwell,  secretary  ;  and  a  committee,  consisting 
of  Messrs.  Wayman  Crow,  John  O'Fallon,  J.  B. 
Crockett,  Christian  Rhodes,  John  F.  Darby,  John 
Smith,  John  Kerr,  Nathan  Ranney,  and  N.  E.  Jan- 
ney,  was  appointed  on  the  selection  of  a  site  for  the 
cemetery  and  permanent  organization.  Upon  this 
committee  reporting  the  permanent  organization  was 
effected  by  the  election  of  James  Harrison,  president; 
Wayman  Crow,  treasurer;  William  M.  McPherson, sec- 
retary. The  capital  stock  was  fixed  at  fifty  thousand 
dollars,  and  a  tract  of  land  comprising  one  hundred 
and  thirty-eight  acres  was  purchased  from  Luther 
M.  Kennett,  on  the  Bellefontaine  road,  at  two  hun- 
dred dollars  per  acre.  On  the  15th  of  May,  1850, 
it  was  dedicated  as  the  "  Bellefontaine  Cemetery." 
Hon.  John  F.  Darby  presided  at  the  dedicatory 
ceremonies,  which  were  participated  in  by  Rev.  Mr. 
Bullard,  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church;  Rev.  Mr. 
Hutchinson,  of  St.  George's  Episcopal  Church ; 
Rev.  Mr.  Eliot,  of  the  Unitarian  Church ;  Rev.  Mr. 


Jeter,  of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  and  Rev.  T.  M. 
Post.  A  hymn  composed  by  Mrs.  F.  M.  Brotherton, 
and  an  ode  composed  by  William  J.  Blackwood,  were 
sung  by  the  choir.  At  the  close  of  the  ceremonies 
lots  to  the  amount  of  thirteen  thousand  seven  hun- 
dred and  seventy-seven  dollars  were  sold.  The 
first  interment  in  the  cemetery  was  made  May  19, 
1850.  On  November  4th  the  first  annual  meeting 
of  the  association  was  held,  and  the  following  board 
of  trustees  was  elected :  John  F.  Darby,  William  M. 
McPherson,  Gerard  B.  Allen,  Augustus  Brewster, 
William  Bennett,  Wayman  Crow,  James  Harrison, 
Luther  M.  Kennett,  John  R.  Shepley,  John  O'Fal- 
lon, and  James  E.  Yeatman.  Up  to  Jan.  1,  1878, 
two  thousand  four  hundred  and  seventy-two  lots  had 
been  sold,  and  there  had  been  nineteen  thousand  nine 
hundred  and  seventy-one  interments.  At  this  time 
the  resources  of  the  association  amounted  to  one  hun- 
dred and  thirteen  thousand  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
six  dollars,  and  the  income  for  the  preceding  year 
was  twenty-six  thousand  and  seventy-three  dollars. 
The  cemetery  at  present  comprises  nearly  three  hun- 
dred and  fifty  acres.  The  present  officers  are  James 
E.  Yeatman,  president ;  George  S.  Drake,  vice-presi- 
dent; Samuel  Copp,  secretary  and  treasurer;  A. 
Hotchkiss,  superintendent. 

The  Wesleyan  Cemetery  Association  was  incorpo- 
rated under  an  act  of  the  Legislature  of  Missouri, 
approved  Feb.  28,  1851.  An  amendatory  act  of 
March  5,  1855,  provided  that  no  street  or  highway 
shall  be  opened  through  any  part  of  the  Wesleyan 
cemetery.  By  a  subsequent  act,  passed  in  1874,  the 
Wesleyan  Cemetery  Association  was  authorized  to  re- 
move the  bodies  buried  therein  and  to  sell  and  dispose 
of  the  property.  The  association  disposed  of  their  old 
property  in  the  city  and  removed  the  remains  therein 
to  the  new  Wesleyan  cemetery. 

In  1852  the  St.  Louis  Republican,  in  speaking  of 
the  cemeteries  and  graveyards  of  the  city,  said,  "  The 
old  French  cemetery,  at  the  corner  of  Second  and 
Market  Streets,  is  still  fresh  in  our  memory,  and  this 
thoroughfare  is  now  one  of  the  busiest  in  the  city. 
So,  too,  of  the  burying-place  at  the  corner  of  Fourth 
and  Market  Streets,  started  at  a  later  period.  The 
public  cemetery,  on  Park  Avenue,  west  of  Carondelet, 
is  to  be  recognized  to-day  only  by  the  three  or  four 
broken  tombstones  which  are  left.  Not  a  single  trace 
of  the  inclosure  exists,  and  as  a  new  cellar  is  excavated 
or  an  adjacent  street  improved,  the  remains  of  the  dead 
are  taken  up  carelessly,  to  be  placed  in  this  or  that  cem- 
etery. Nay,  the  cemeteries  on  Franklin  Avenue, 
which  were  only  a  short  time  ago  believed  to  be  far 
beyond  the  encroachments  of  city  improvements,  to- 


1752 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


day  form  the  centre  of  a  populous,  busy  district,  and 
their  removal  is  already  contemplated,  as  they  retard 
in  a  measure  the  progress  of  necessary  improvements." 

In  1854  a  new  Catholic  cemetery  was  laid  out  near 
the  Bellefontaine  cemetery,  to  which  the  name  of  Cal- 
vary was  given. 

In  1865  the  St.  Louis  City  Council  passed  an 
ordinance  for  the  removal  of  bodies  buried  in  the 
old  city  cemetery  to  the  quarantine  burying-ground. 
The  ordinance  provided  that  the  bodies  shall  be  re- 
moved by  the  city  by  the  15th  day  of  March  follow- 
ing, but  that  persons  claiming  the  remains  of  friends 
or  relatives  buried  might  remove  them. 

In  1866,  during  the  prevalence  of  the  cholera,  the 
city  authorities  decided  to  bury  the  victims  of  the 
scourge  on  Arsenal  Island,  where  the  smallpox  hos- 
pital was  situated.  The  bodies  were  conveyed  to  the 
foot  of  Miller  Street  in  ambulances,  and  were  trans- 
ferred thence  to  the  island  in  skiffs. 

On  June  22, 1873,  the  corner-stone  of  a  new  chapel 
in  Mount  Sinai  cemetery  was  laid,  Rev.  Drs.  Wolfen- 
stein  and  Sonneschein  officiating. 

In  1827  a  post  cemetery  was  established  a  short 
distance  south  from  Jefferson  Barracks,  on  land  be- 
longing to  the  United  States  government,  and  the 
first  interment  was  made  there  in  1828.  This  cem- 
etery included  an  area  of  one  and  one-fourth  acres, 
and  in  it  seven  hundred  and  fifty  interments  were 
made  prior  to  1863.  In  that  year  a  national  cem- 
etery was  established  there,  including  twenty  and  one- 
half  acres,  and  in  1877  additions  were  made  to  this, 
so  that  now  the  area  of  the  cemetery  is  forty-five  acres. 

Forest-trees  at  first  covered  the  ground,  but  these 
have  been  removed,  the  surface  has  been  graded,  and 
ornamental  trees,  shrubs,  vines,  etc.,  to  the  number 
of  several  thousand  have  been  planted,  so  that  the 
grounds  have  now  the  appearance  of  a  well-kept  sub- 
urban cemetery.  There  are  here  eleven  thousand  five 
hundred  and  eight  graves  ;  one  thousand  one  hundred 
and  six  are  those  of  Confederate  soldiers,  marked 
with  cedar  head-boards.  All  graves  of  United  States 
soldiers  are  designated  by  marble  regulation  head- 
stones, or  by  monuments  which  the  friends  of  those 
who  lie  entombed  there  have  erected.  Here  repose 
the  remains  of  the  nation's  heroes,  and  the  lines  of 
the  soldier-poet,  which  are  inscribed  on  a  modest 
tablet  near  the  entrance,  are  peculiarly  appropriate, — 

"  On  fame's  eternal  camping-ground 

Their  silent  tents  are  spread, 
And  memory  guards  with  solemn  round 
The  bivouac  of  the  dead." 

The  national  flag  floats  constantly  over  this  ceme- 
tery, and  thousands  of  patriotic  and  grateful  peo- 


ple come  here  annually  to  bedeck  the  graves  with 
flowers. 

In  addition  to  the  foregoing  there  are  a  number  of 
other  cemeteries  near  the  city,  most  of  them  being 
connected  with  the  different  religious  denominations. 


CHAPTER  XL. 

RELIGIOUS,   BENEVOLENT,   SOCIAL,   SECRET,    AND 
OTHER  ORGANIZATIONS. 

ST.  Louis  has  always  been  justly  famed  for  its  public 
and  private  philanthropy,  and  its  history  is  distin- 
guished by  a  multitude  of  class  or  religious  organiza- 
tions, having  for  their  sole  object  the  relief  of  the 
needy,  the  destitute,  and  the  suffering;  yet  it 
was  not  until  within  the  past  twenty  years  that  the 
city,  officially,  made  any  movement  to  supplement  the 
good  work  that  was  being  accomplished  by  religious 
denominations,  associations,  and  private  individuals. 
This,  however,  may  be  accounted  for,  in  a  great  meas- 
ure, by  the  fact  that  the  system  of  philanthropy  re- 
ferred to  has  been  of  the  most  disinterested  and  the 
broadest  character,  and  whenever  the  field  was  found 
to  be  in  need  of  more  extensive  or  general  work,  the 
citizens  arose  spontaneously  and  by  energetic  action 
and  liberal  charity  met  fully  the  requirements  of  the 
hour.  So,  all  the  way  down  from  the  second  decade 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  we  find  at  intervals  evi- 
dences of  this  commendable  spirit  on  the  part  of  the 
citizens.  The  first  instance  of  this  kind  occurs  in 
1824,  the  ladies  of  St.  Louis  banding  themselves  to- 
gether for  the  purpose  of  "  relieving  the  poor  of  every 
description  in  this  city."  This  organization  was  called 
the  "  Female  Charitable  Society,"  and  at  its  head  as 
officers  were — 

Mrs.  Hough,  who  was  first  directress;  Mrs.  Robinson,  second 
directress;  Mrs.  Coursault,  treasurer;  Mrs.  Agnes  P.  Spalding, 
secretary  ;  Managers,  Mrs.  J.  Smith,  Mrs.  R.  Paul,  Mrs.  \Vah- 
rendorff,  Mrs.  Landreyville,  Mrs.  Brazeau,  Mrs.  Spencer,  Mrs. 
0.  C.  Smith,  Mrs.  G.  Paul,  Mrs.  Tracy,  Mrs.  Forsyth,  Mrs. 
Shackford,  Mrs.  Papin. 

Again,  in  the  early  part  of  1838,  when  the  suffer- 
ings of  the  poor  demanded  extraordinary  recognition, 
the  St.  Louis  Samaritan  Society  was  formed.  It  em- 
braced the  ladies  of  the  city,  who  associated  them- 
selves for  the  purpose  of  making  up  and  supplying 
clothing  free  of  cost  to  those  who  could  not  get  it  in 
any  other  way,  and  who  were  not  cared  for  by  any 
charitable  institution.  The  officers  of  this  society 
were  :  First  Directress,  Mrs.  Jones  ;  Second  Directress, 
Miss  Berrien  ;  Secretary,  Mrs.  Ross  ;  Treasurer,  Mrs. 


RELIGIOUS,  BENEVOLENT,  SOCIAL,  SECRET,  AND   OTHER   ORGANIZATIONS.     1753 


Whitehill ;  Managers,  Miss  Page,  Miss  Patterson, 
Miss  Learned,  Miss  Strother,  Miss  Van  Zandt,  Miss 
Marks,  Mrs.  Nourse,  Mrs.  Nevitt,  Mrs.  Stibbs,  Mrs. 
Ranlett,  Mrs.  Wiswell,  and  Miss  Smith.  On  Feb.  6, 
1840,  a  meeting,  at  which  Beverly  Allen  presided, 
was  held  in  the  court-house  for  the  purpose  of  de- 
vising means  to  relieve  the  suffering  poor  within  the 
city,  at  which  it  was  deemed  expedient  to  take  up  a 
collection  for  the  suffering  poor  of  the  city,  and  for 
this  purpose  a  committee  of  three  from  each  ward 
was  appointed  by  the  chair  to  obtain  subscriptions, 
and  a  committee  of  five  was  appointed  to  properly 
distribute  the  moneys  thus  obtained.  A  few  days 
later  a  "  Society  for  the  Diffusion  of  Alms"  was 
formed,  which  announced  that  "  We,  the  undersigned, 
do  resolve  ourselves  into  a  society  for  the  general  dif- 
fusion of  alms,  and  without  heeding  anything  of  the 
poor,  save  their  honest  poverty,  do  pledge  our  exer- 
tions to  bestow  our  mite  upon  them  with  impartial 
observance."  The  officers  of  the  society  were — 

M.  P.  Leduc,  president;  Christopher  Garvey,  first  vice-presi- 
dent; Stewart  Matthews,  second  vice-president;  L.  A.  Benoist, 
treasurer;  A.  W.  Manning,  secretary.  Collectors,  First  Ward, 
JoJin  Picher,  Francis  Mallet,  John  O'Rourke,  and  James  P. 
Barry ;  Second  Ward,  Baptiste  Belcour,  Joseph  W.  Walsh, 
Michael  Tesson,  and  L.  V.  Bogy;  Third  Ward,  John  Timon, 
Patrick  Walsh,  P.  A.  Berthold,  and  L.  T.  Lebeaume;  Fourth 
Ward,  Christopher  Garvey,  Matthew  Lyon,  M.  Hogan,  and 
John  Walsh.  Distributors,  First  Ward,  H.  O'Neil  (chairman), 
R.  A.  Darst,  John  T.  Mitchell,  Peter  Weizenecker;  Second 
Ward,  William  Tighe  (chairman),  John  McEvoy,  J.  C.  Dinnis; 
Fourth  Ward,  Austin  Piggot  (chairman),  Edward  Walsh,  Hugh 
O'Brien.  Physicians,  Dr.  Vitali,  Dr.  Luthy,  Dr.  H.  Lane. 
Counselors,.  B.  Mullanphy,  T.  Polk. 

In  December,  1842,  a  public  meeting  for  the  relief 
of  the  poor  was  held  at  the  court-house.  Nathan 
Ranney  presided,  and  Martin  Thomas  was  secretary. 
The  following  committee  was  appointed  to  solicit  do- 
nations:  First  Ward,  William  B.  Wood,  Henry  C. 
Lynch,  Phineaa  Bartlett ;  Second  Ward,  Matthias 
Steitz,  H.  L.  Hoffman,  Capt.  W.  Greene,  Warrick 
Tunstall ;  Third  Ward,  Jesse  Little,  Robert  B.  Fife, 
Dr.  Robert  R.  Simmons ;  Fourth  Ward,  Asa  Wilgus, 
John  C.  Dinnis,  Henry  S.  Coxe;  Fifth  Ward,  Na- 
thaniel Childs,  T.  0.  Duncan,  Martin  Thomas,  George 
K.  Budd,  John  Whitehill,  William  C.  Christy  ;  Town- 
ship, James  H.  Lucas,  S.  H.  Robbins.  The  following 
committee  was  appointed  on  distribution,  with  James 
Clemens  treasurer :  First  Ward,  W.  H.  Wood  ;  Second 
Ward,  Thomas  Cohen;  Third  Ward,  D.  D.  Page; 
Fourth  Ward,  Wayman  Crow;  Fifth  Ward,  H. 
O'Brien  ;  Township,  Rev.  N.  Childs. 

In  the  spring  of  1844  the  Mississippi  overflowed 
its  banks  and  rendered  hundreds  of  families  destitute 
and  homeless.  To  relieve  their  suffering  and  destitu- 


tion a  meeting  of  citizens  was  held  in  front  of  the 
court-house,  and  on  motion  of  A.  B.  Chambers,  Ber- 
nard Pratte  was  called  to  the  chair,  and  Henry  B. 
Belt  was  appointed  secretary.  It  was  then  resolved 
that  a  committee  of  twenty  should  be  appointed  to 
carry  out  the  objects  of  the  meeting,  and  the  follow- 
ing gentlemen  were  appointed  for  the  purpose,  viz. : 
John  M.  Wimer,  John  Sefton,  W.  Glasgow,  John 
Simonds,  Ferdinand  Kennett,  T.  B.  Targee,  Asa  Wil- 
gus, Rene  Paul,  A.  Gamble,  Charles  C.  Whittlesey, 
Dr.  Simmons,  A.  B.  Chambers,  Frederick  Kretsch- 
mar,  W.  Furness,  Dr.  Adreon,  William  Lowe,  T. 
Polk,  W.  C.  Jewett,  W.  R.  Dawson,  and  Henry 
Singleton. 

The  committee,  after  consultation,  recommended 
that  application  should  be  made  to  the  City  Council 
to  appropriate  some  funds  for  the  relief  of  the  sufferers, 
and  that  a  committee  of  five  should  be  appointed  to 
solicit  subscriptions  in  each  ward.  The  suggestions 
of  the  committee  were  acted  upon,  and  the  following 
gentlemen  were  nominated  to  collect  gratuities : 

For  First  Ward,  Matthias  Steitz,  H.  G.  Soulard, 
John  Dunn,  William  Horine,  and  John  Withnell. 
For  Second  Ward,  Hiram  stiaw,  S.  M.  Sill,  J.  G. 
Barry,  George  Morton,  and  John  J.  Anderson.  For 
Third  Ward,  John  B.  Sarpy,  J.  B.  Brua,  A.  L.  Mills, 
T.  B.  Targee,  and  Gibson  Corthron.  For  Fourth 
Ward,  George  A.  Hyde,  Col.  George  Mead,  Robert 
P.  Clark,  J.  B.  Camden,  and  Jacob  Hawkins.  For 
Fifth  Ward,  N.  Aldrich,  A.  Carr,  John  Leach,  John 
Whitehill,  and  J.  G.  Shands.  For  Sixth  Ward, 
Dennis  Marks,  W.  Field,  James  Gordon,  and  T.  O. 
Duncan.  There  was  also  a  committee  appointed  to 
distribute  among  the  sufferers  the  sums  collected  from 
private  bounty. 

On  Dec.  3,  1845,  another  public  meeting  was  held, 
at  which  George  Collier  presided,  and  Henry  B.  Belt 
was  secretary.  A  committee,  consisting  of  Hon. 
Bryan  Mullanphy,  Gen.  Nathan  Ranney,  Unit  Raisin, 
Capt.  Connoly,  Edward  Bredell,  H.  D.  Bacon,  Ed- 
ward Tracy,  M.  De  Lange,  Maj.  A.  Wetmore,  Mr. 
Meyers,  Alex.  Kayser,  Dr.  R.  P.  Simmons,  was  ap- 
pointed to  inquire  into  the  condition  of  the  poor  of 
the  city.  The  committee  reported  to  an  adjourned 
meeting  the  following  day  that  a  supply  of  fuel  was 
more  needed  than  anything  else,  as  that  the  article 
was  selling  at  eight  dollars  per  cord  for  wood,  and 
twenty  cents  per  bushel  for  coal.  The  following  gen- 
tlemen were  appointed  for  the  several  wards  to  inquire 
into  the  cases  of  suffering  and  want  in  the  same  : 

First  Ward,  A.  Wetmore;  Second  Ward,  N.  Ranney;  Third 
Ward,  Edward  Tracy;  Fourth  Ward,  Capt.  Connolly;  Fifth 
Ward,  Alex.  Kayser;  Sixth  Ward,  B.  Mullanphy. 


1754 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


This  led  to  provisions  for  ample  relief  at  that  time. 
A  meeting  of  the  citizens  was  held  at  the  court-house 
Jan.  7,  1847,  for  the  purpose  of  adopting  some  meas- 
ures of  relief  for  the  suffering  poor.  John  Simonds 
was  called  to  the  chair,  and  C.  C.  Cady  appointed 
secretary.  The  meeting  resulted  in  the  appointment 
of  a  committee  of  seventy  to  take  whatever  measures 
were  necessary  for  the  relief  of  the  destitute.  The 
committee  was  composed  of — 

Sixth  Ward,  William  Vandeventer,  Col.  A.  P.  Field,  Peter 
Brooks,  Gregory  Byrne,  Charles  B.  Anderson,  D.  W.  Dixon,  Dr. 
E.  B.  Smith,  Calvin  Case,  Maj.  Dobyns,  John  Sigerson,  Larkin 
Denver,  A.  P.  Ladew;  Fifth  Ward,  Dr.  Reuben  Knox,  Lyman 
Farwell,  John  Leach,  John  B.  Carson,  John  Whitehill,  Samuel 
Gaty,  David  Tatum,  Capt.  Sparhawk,  Laurason  Riggs,  William 
Brannagan;  Fourth  Ward,  George  Collier,  J.  B.  Brant,  H.  T. 
Darrah,  C.  B.  Parsons,  Samuel  H.  Peacke,  AVm.  T.  Christy, 
Way  man  Crow,  William  Nesbit,  Asa  Wilgus,  Demetrius  A. 
Magahan,  N.  E.  Janney;  Third  Ward,  Bernard  Pratte,  Dr. 
Anderson,  Dr.  Linton,  Col.  L.  V.  Bogy,  H.  L.  Patterson,  George 
K.  McGunnegle,  Edward  Walsh,  W.  P.  Fisher,  P.  B.  Tiffany, 
Edward  Bredell,  Col.  Keemle,  Col.  A.  P.  Field,  B.  Mullanphy ; 
Second  Ward,  John  Wolff,  John  Simonds,  Patrick  Ryder, 
Robert  Campbell,  Dr.  Julius  Henry,  Charles  S.  Rannels,  John 
H.  Watson,  D.  D.  Page,  George  R.  Taylor,  A.  B.  Chambers, 
Charles  Jacoby;  First  Ward,  Col.  P.  M.  Dillon,  H.  Milking- 
ton,  C.  Urici,  Charles  HutHJ  Wm.  Glasgow,  Jr.,  Judge  David 
Chambers,  John  Black,  D.  B.  Hill,  Matthias  Steitz,  John  Dunn, 
D.  D.  Donovan;  township,  R.  Earth,  Ernest  Angelrodt,  Adol- 
phus  Meier,  Col.  J.  P.  Thompson,  H.  D.  Bacon,  Henry  Chou- 
teau,  Neree  Valle",  Isaac  McHose,  John  Withnell,  H.  Paddle- 
ford. 

This  committee  made  collections,  and  a  second  com- 
mittee was  appointed  on  distribution,  consisting  of — 

First  Ward,  David  P.  Hill,  treasurer;  Charles  Huth,  C. 
Ulrich,  H.  Pilkington,  B.  Soulard.  Second  Ward,  G.  H.  Tay- 
lor, treasurer;  Nathan  Ranney,  Charles  S.  Rannels,  David 
Keith,  Henry  Keyser.  Third  Ward,  Henry  Von  Phul,  treas- 
urer ;  Adam  L.  Mills,  Charles  R.  Hall,  J.  C.  Bredell,  Henry  T. 
Blow.  Fourth  Ward,  William  C.  Christy,  treasurer;  Theron 
Barnum,  Wayman  Crow,  H.  R.  Singleton,  C.  C.  Whittlesey. 
Fifth  Ward,  Laurason  Riggs,  treasurer;  Dr.  R.  Knox,  John 
Whitehill,  L.  Farwell,  Joshua  Tucker.  Sixth  Ward,  Dr. 
Donelson,  treasurer;  Col.  William  Chambers,  A.  P.  Ladew, 
W.  Vandeventer,  G.  Byrne.  Township,  Robert  Earth,  treas- 
urer; Adolphus  Meier,  John  Withnell,  H.  D.  Bacon,  Augustus 
H.  Evans. 

During  the  prevalence  of  the  cholera  in  St.  Louis 
in  1849,  Mayor  John  M.  Krum  called  a  public  mass- 
meeting  to  adopt  measures  for  the  relief  of  the  sick 
and  suffering  poor,  and  later  in  the  year  another 
mass-meeting  was  held  "  for  the  relief  of  the  chil- 
dren made  destitute  by  the  prevailing  epidemic."  At 
the  latter  meeting  ample  measures  were  adopted  by  a 
committee  consisting  of  Hiram  Shaw,  John  H.  Gay, 
Waldemar  Fisher,  T.  B.  Hudson,  W.  W.  Greene, 
W.  D.  Skillman,  A.  J.  P.  Garesch6,  John  S. 
Blane,  Edward  Hale,  Francis  Toncray,  John  R. 
Hammond,  Rudolph  Birch  er,  A.  Riddle,  John 


R.  Hammond,  and  Nathaniel  Childs,  who  operated 
under  the  supervision  of  the  Committee  of  Public 
Health,  comprised  of  R.  S.  Blennerhassett,  Trusten 
Polk,  G.  Thomas,  A.  B.  Chambers,  Isaac  A.  Hedges, 
J.  M.  Field,  L.  M.  Kennett,  Lewis  Bach,  William. G. 
Clark,  T.  T.  Gantt,  H.  L.  Patterson,  and  Thomas 
Dennis. 

The  following  extract  from  a  local  paper  in  1852 
shows  the  feeling  existing  among  the  citizens  of  St. 
Louis  regarding  charity  and  benevolence : 

"  The  present  year  has  been  one  of  signal  instances  of  noble- 
hearted  contributions  to  objects  of  general  utility  and  public 
benevolence.  There  was  the  subscription  of  twenty  thousand  dol- 
lars by  II.  D.  Bacon  to  the  Mercantile  Library  Association,  then 
Col.  O'Fallon  built  and  donated  to  the  Medical  College  the  elegant 
edifice  at  the  corner  of  Seventh  and  Spruce  Streets,  at  a  cost  of 
more  than  twenty  thousand  dollars,  for  the  purposes  of  a  dispen- 
sary for  the  use  of  the  poor.  He  has  also  made  provision  for 
the  perpetual  payment  of  one  thousand  dollars  per  annum  for 
the  support  of  the  dispensary.  Recently  the  lady  of  one  of  our 
citizens  has  been  instrumental  in  securing  ten  thousand  dol- 
lars for  the  purpose  of  erecting  an  asylum  for  poor  widows,  or  a 
'  widows' home.'  In  this  ten  thousand  dollars  there  are  six 
one-thousand-dollar  subscriptions ;  and  it  may  be  mentioned, 
to  the  high  honor  of  Col.  O'Fallon,  that  in  addition  to  a  sub- 
scription of  one  thousand  dollars  to  this  object  he  subscribed 
fifteen  acres  of  valuable  land  near  the  city  to  the  same.  It  is 
a  noticeable  fact  in  St.  Louis  that  our  young  men  are  among  the 
most  generous  contributors  to  benevolent  objects.  Of  the  six  who 
subscribed  one  thousand  dollars  each  to  the  Widows'  Home, 
three  are  among  our  young  business  men,  Messrs.  H.  T.  Blow, 
William  Belcher,  and  H.  D.  Bacon.  The  same  week  that  Mr. 
Belcher  subscribed  to  this  object  he  subscribed  one  thousand 
dollars  to  the  church  under  charge  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Homes,  and 
Mr.  Bacon,  as  is  well  known  to  many,  has,  with  unbounded 
liberality,  entered  into  the  same  enterprise." 

The  general  periodical  movements  on  the  part  of 
the  citizens  culminated  in  the  formation  of  the  St. 
Louis  Provident  Association  in  1862,  with  the  object 
of  looking  after  the  interests  of  the  poor  of  the  city 
not  otherwise  provided  for  by  churches  or  other  be- 
nevolent bodies,  of  providing  them  with  suitable  em- 
ployment when  expedient,  and  of  otherwise  aiding 
them  in  such  ways  as  might  be  deemed  most  judicious. 
As  an  organization  it  depended  almost  entirely  for  its 
support  on  public  confidence  in  its  directory  and  the 
principles  upon  which  it  was  governed,  which  were, 
briefly,  to  relieve  no  case  except  upon  personal  inves- 
tigation, and  only  through  the  visitor  of  the  appli- 
cant's district,  and  then  to  give  only  necessary  articles, 
to  prevent  interference  with  the  sphere  of  churches 
and  charitable  associations,  and  to  prevent  applicants 
from  receiving  assistance  from  various  charities  at  the 
same  time.  In  1863  the  association  was  incorporated 
by  an  act  of  the  Legislature.  During  the  epidemic 
which  prevailed  in  the  city  in  1866  the  calls  upon  the 
association  greatly  increased.  The  County  Court,  with 


RELIGIOUS,  BENEVOLENT,  SOCIAL,  SECRET,  AND  OTHER  ORGANIZATIONS.     1755 


commendable  liberality,  gave  five  thousand  dollars  to 
assist  the  poor,  to  be  dispensed  by  the  Provident  As- 
sociation. The  officers  of  the  association  then  were 
Joshua  Cheever,  president ;  William  Downing,  vice- 
president  ;  S.  A.  Ranlett,  treasurer ;  and  J.  W.  Mc- 
Intyre  and  Levin  H.  Baker,  secretaries.  The  direc- 
tors were  William  Downing,  Levin  H.  Baker,  Joshua 
Cheever,  Henry  C.  Yeager,  Thomas  Morrison,  James 
P.  Fiske,  J.  W.  Mclntyre,  John  R.  Lionberger,  J. 
P.  Doane,  and  D.  K.  Ferguson.  The  incorporators 
of  the  association  in  1863  were  M.  M.  Harrison,  J. 
W.  Mclntyre,  T.  B.  Edgar,  R.  I.  Lockwood,  John 
R.  Lionberger,  Joshua  Cheever,  Thomas  Morrison, 
Edward  D.  Jones,  William  Downing,  and  Levin  H. 
Baker.  Its  officers  in  1882  were — 

George  Partridge,  president ;  George  H.  Morgan,  secretary ; 
Directors,  George  Partridge,  Henry  S.  Platt,  John  W.  Donald- 
son, John  W.  Larimore,  Charles  Forthwein,  R.  M.  Scruggs, 
Dwight  Durkee,  John  R.  Lionberger,  George  S.  Drake,  S.  M. 
Dodd,  Augustus  Knight,  Robert  Dougherty,  T.  B.  Chamberlain, 
John  T.  Davis,  Charles  W.  Barstow,  Joseph  W.  Branch,  John 
C.  Fischer,  James  M.  Corbitt,  G.  Sessinghaus,  George  A. 
Baker. 

The  depot  of  the  association  is  at  No.  1416  Cham- 
bers Street.  From  its  organization  until  Nov.  1, 
1881,  the  association  had  expended  for  the  poor  of 
St.  Louis  $418,657.42. 

In  1867  an  association  of  Protestant  ladies  was  organ- 
ized in  St.  Louis  for  the  gratuitous  maintenance  and 
liberal  education  of  Southern  female  children  whom  the 
calamities  of  war  have  deprived  of  other  means  of  edu- 
cation. The  best  schools  of  such  different  Protestant 
denominations  as  were  desired  by  parents  or  guardians 
were  selected,  as  near  the  respective  homes  of  the 
pupils  as  eligible,  and  every  care  was  taken  to  secure 
the  welfare  and  happiness  of  those  committed  to  the 
association.  The  officers  of  the  association  were : 
President,  Mrs.  Jane  E.  Lewis;  Treasurer,  Mrs. 
Archibald  Robinson  ;  Recording  Secretary,  Mrs.  Wil- 
liam N.  Beall ;  Corresponding  Secretary,  Miss  Pamela 
H.  Cowan. 

Bible  and  Tract  Societies. — In  the  year  1814 
two  missionaries,  Messrs.  Mills  and  Smith,  mentioned 
elsewhere,  visited  St.  Louis  and  awakened  an  interest 
in  the  minds  of  several  persons  regarding  the  circula- 
tion of  the  Bible  in  the  city  and  State,  but  at  that 
time  nothing  was  accomplished  to  this  end.  In  1817 
the  first  Bible  Society  west  of  the  Mississippi  was  es- 
tablished in  Washington  County,  Mo.  On  Dec.  15, 
1818,  a  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis  was  called 
at  the  court-house  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a  Bible 
Society.  It  was  largely  attended,  Col.  Rufus  Easton 
presiding,  and  John  Simonds  being  secretary.  A  con- 
stitution was  adopted  declaring  that,  "  impressed  with 


the  importance  of  a  general  circulation  of  the  sacred 
Scriptures,  we.  the  undersigned,  agree  to  form  ourselves 
into  a  society  designated  by  the  name  of  the  Missouri 
Auxiliary  Bible  Society."  On  December  22d  follow- 
ing an  adjourned  meeting  of  the  society  was  held  at 
the  residence  of  Rev.  Salmon  Giddings,  at  which  the 
following  officers  were  chosen  : 

Nathaniel  B.  Tucker,  president;  Stephen  Hempstead,  Col. 
Alexander  McNnir,  and  Rev.  James  E.Welsh,  vice-presidents; 
Col.  Samuel  Hammond,  treasurer;  Rev.  S.  Giddings,  secretary ; 
Col.  Rufus  Easton,  Rufus  Pettibone,  Rev.  John  M.  Peck,  John 
Jacoby,  Charles  W.  Hunter,  John  Simonds,  Thomas  Jones, 
directors. 

In  an  annual  report  a  few  years  later  the  executive 
of  the  society,  referring  to  the  original  formation  of 
the  organization,  said, — 

"  It  is  fully  in  the  recollection  of  some  present  that  at  that  pe- 
riod irreligious  principles  and  contempt  for  the  holy  Scriptures 
were  openly  avowed.  Societies  for  their  circulation  met  with 
sneers  and  ridicule.  Those  who  ventured  forward  in  the  Bible 
cause  counted  the  cost.  They  enlisted  with  the  determination 
to  persevere." 

In  1819  an  auxiliary  Bible  Society  was  established 
at  St.  Charles,  and  accomplished  good  results  in  the 
country  in  the  forks  of  the  Missouri  and  Mississippi 
Rivers,  and  "  among  the  soldiers  at  Council  Bluffs." 

For  several  years  the  society,  as  stated  at  that  time, 
did  little  more  "  than  to  be  almoners  of  the  bounty  of 
the  parent  institution,  and  to  circulate  a  box  of  Bibles, 
barely  retaining  its  existence."  In  1825  efforts  were 
made  to  revive  it,  and  the  following  well-known  citi- 
zens were  associated  with  it  as  officers : 

Col.  John  O'Fallon,  president;  Rev.  Andrew  Monroe,  Rev. 
Thomas  Horrell,  Hon.  Thomas  II.  Benton,  vice-presidents ;  Rev* 
James  Keyte,  secretary ;  Rev.  J.  M.  Peck,  assistant  secretary; 
Rev.  Salmon  Giddings,  treasurer;  Charles  S.  Hempstead,  Jo- 
siah  Spalding,  Joseph  V.  Gamier,  Thomas  Essex,  Dr.  II.  L. 
Hoffman,  Dr.  John  Young,  managers. 

The  latter  part  of  the  following  year  found  many 
of  those  who  had  been  identified  with  the  Bible  So- 
ciety interesting  themselves  in  the  formation  of  a 
tract  society.  This  movement  resulted  in  the  organ- 
ization, on  Dec.  11,  1826,  of  the  Missouri  and  Illi- 
nois Tract  Society,  auxiliary  to  the  American  Tract 
Society  in  New  York,  the  object  of  which  was  "  to 
promote  evangelical  religion  and  morality  by  the  cir- 
culation of  religious  tracts,  and  to  aid  the  parent  so- 
ciety in  extending  its  operation."  The  officers  of  this 
society  for  the  first  year  were — 

Rev.  Thomas  Horrell,  president;  William  Collins,  vice-presi- 
dent; Rev.  S.  Giddings,  corresponding  secretary;  John  Rus- 
sell, recording  secretary;  Rev.  James  Keyte,  treasurer  and 
agent;  Rev.  J.  M.  Peek,  Rev.  John  Drew, Stephen  Hempstead, 
executive  committee. 


1756 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


In  February,  1843,  in  accordance  with  a  public 
notice  read  in  the  pulpits  of  the  various  Evangelical 
Churches,  a  meeting  was  held  in  the  Fourth  Street 
Methodist  Church,  having  for  its  object  the  formation 
of  an  evangelical  association.  On  motion  of  Rev.  Dr. 
Bullard,  Rev.  Dr.  Potts  was  called  to  the  chair,  and 
stated  the  object  of  the  meeting  and  the  character  of 
the  society  to  be  formed.  H.  M.  Field  was  chosen 
secretary.  A  committee,  consisting  of  Messrs.  Boyle, 
Bullard,  and  Wall,  was  appointed  to  report  a  constitu- 
tion, which  they  did  in  a  short  time,  and  the  title  of 
"  The  Evangelical  Society  of  St.  Louis"  was  adopted, 
its  objects  as  stated  being  to  "  promote  the  moral  and 
spiritual  interests  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  city  by  the 
distribution  of  Bibles,  religious  books  and  tracts,  and 
personal  visitation."  The  following  officers  were  elected : 

President,  Capt.  John  Simonds :  Vice-Presidents,  Revs.  A. 
Bullard,  D.D.,  William  S.  Potts,  D.D.,  I.  T.  Hinton,  J.  H.  Linn, 
Joseph  Boyle,  H.  M.  Field,  G.  Smith,  W.  M.  Rush,  D.  W.  Pollock, 
L.  S.  Jacoby,  G.  W.  Wall ;  Superintendent,  Rev.  Dr.  Heath ;  Sec- 
retary, Moses  M.  Pallen,  M.D.;  Treasurers.  A.  Kellogg;  Ex- 
ecutive Committee,  Rev.  Nathaniel  Childs,  Jr.,  William  M.  Mc- 
Pherson,  David  Keith,  J.  A.  Ross,  R.  R.  Field,  Seymour  Kellogg, 
John  Schoettler. 

The  society  was  in  existence  several  years,  and  ac- 
complished much  good. 

In  1847  the  Missouri  Bible  Society  was  established, 
and  among  its  promoters  were  Hon.  Peter  G.  Gam- 
den,  Hon.  Edward  Bates,  Trusten  Polk,  George  K. 
Budd,  J.  B.  Crockett,  H.  S.  Geyer,  Nathaniel  Childs, 
David  Keith. 

The  St.  Louis  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion.— On  Thursday  evening,  Oct.  13, 1853,  twenty- 
three  young  men  from  various  churches  of  this  city 
met  in  the  lecture-room  of  the  Second  Baptist  Church 
to  deliberate  upon  the  expediency  of  the  formation  of 
a  St.  Louis  Young  Men's  Christian  Association.  At 
this  meeting  it  was  unanimously  decided  that  an  or- 
ganization should  be  effected,  and  a  committee  of  five, 
consisting  of  George  W.  Tracy,  S.  B.  Johnson,  Charles 
C.  Salter,  Henry  W.  Rice,  and  John  T.  Campbell, 
with  the  chairman,  was  appointed  to  draft  a  con- 
stitution and  by-laws,  to  be  presented  at  an  adjourned 
meeting  to  be  held  one  week  thereafter  in  the  lecture- 
room  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church.  This  com- 
mittee met  from  evening  to  evening  in  pursuance  of 
its  duty,  and  finally,  on  Oct.  1,  1853,  permanently 
organized  under  the  title  of  "  The  St.  Louis  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association,"  at  the  Westminster 
Church,  by  the  election  of  E.  W.  Blatchford,  presi- 
dent;  A.  Henry  Fondan,  secretary;  Isaac  Wyman, 
treasurer.  On  Sunday  evening,  November  13th,  the 
first  public  meeting  was  held  in  the  Second  Presbyte- 
rian Church.  The  evangelical  churches  throughout 


the  city  were  closed,  and  the  clergymen  representing 
eight  different  denominations  participated.  The  pres- 
i  ent  association  of  the  same  name  was  permanently 
organized  Dec.  16,  1875,  after  a  preliminary  meeting 
November  4th  preceding  in  the  pastor's  study  of  the 
then  Union  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  now  the  prop- 
erty and  home  of  the  association.  The  original  officers 
were  H.  C.  Wright,  president ;  F.  L.  Johnston  and 
Dr.  L.  H.  Laidley,  vice-presidents  ;  Charles  C.  Nich- 
olls,  recording  secretary ;  S.  J.  Junkin,  registering 
secretary ;  E.  D.  Shaw,  corresponding  secretary ;  E. 
Anson  Moore,  treasurer.  The  early  meetings  were 
held  in  a  small  room  in  a  hotel  corner  of  Twelfth  and 
St.  Charles  Streets,  kept  by  Mrs.  L.  H.  Baker,  until 
early  in  1876,  during  the  meetings  conducted  by 
Messrs.  Whittle  and  Bliss  at  the  Rink,  and  through 
their  agency  the  association  made  such  progress  that 
on  March  30,  1876,  with  a  membership  of  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty,  rooms  were  rented  in  the  Singer 
Building,  corner  of  Fifth  and  Locust  Streets.  Soon 
after  this  it  became  practicable  to  employ  a  general 
secretary,  and  Walter  C.  Douglass,  then  a  young 
convert,  was  appointed  to  the  position,  which  he  con- 
tinues to  fill.  In  September,  1876,  the  growing 
membership  and  increasing  work  necessitated  a  sec- 
ond removal  to  620  Locust  Street,  in  which  building 
were  fitted  up  a  pleasant  reading-room,  a  large  hall 
for  prayer  and  business  meetings,  social  gatherings, 
lectures,  concerts,  etc.,  and  an  office  for  the  general 
secretary.  The  association  was  chartered  Nov.  30, 
1877,  Messrs.  E.  Anson  Moore,  F.  H.  Bacon,  and 
H.  M.  Blossom  being  the  in  corporators. 

In  January,  1878,  a  third  removal  was  made  into 
more  commodious  rooms  at  704  Olive  Street.  As  the 
result  of  efforts  on  the  part  of  Rev.  D.  L.  Moody,  at 
the  close  of  his  labors  in  St.  Louis  during  the  winter 
of  1879-80,  and  through  the  aid  of  citizens,  the  as- 
sociation was  enabled  to  purchase,  May  4, 1880,  from 
the  trustees  of  the  Union  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
the  property  which  it  now  occupies,  at  a  cost  of  thirty- 
seven  thousand  five  hundred  dollars. 

The  building  was  erected  by  the  Union  Presbyte- 
rian Church  (an  independent  organization),  and  Messrs. 
Page  &  Bacon,  then  the  leading  bankers  of  the  city, 
were  the  principal  contributors  to  its  erection,  as  well 
as  to  the  support  of  Rev.  Mr.  Homes,  its  pastor ;  but 
when  this  banking  firm  failed,  and  Mr.  Homes  retired 
from  the  ministry,  the  congregation  became  disorgan- 
ized and  eventually  dissolved.  On  March  14,  1862, 
they  sold  their  church  to  the  Methodists,  who  paid 
them  for  it  thirty-seven  thousand  three  hundred  dol- 
lars. It  had  cost  to  build,  including  parsonage  and 
furniture,  ninety  thousand  dollars. 


RELIGIOUS,  BENEVOLENT,  SOCIAL,  SECRET,  AND   OTHER  ORGANIZATIONS.      1757 


The  lot  has  a  frontage  on  Eleventh  Street  of  one 
hundred  and  two  and  a  half  feet  by  a  depth  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty-one  feet.  The  building  fronts  on 
Eleventh  Street,  and  runs  back  on  Locust  Street  the 
entire  length  of  the  lot.  The  square  tower  at  the 
southeast  corner  of  the  building  is  one  hundred  and 
forty  five  feet  in  height,  and  commands  a  fine  view  of 
the  city.  On  the  first  floor  of  the  building  is  a  large 
and  commodious  reading-room.  Directly  in  front  of 
the  main  entrance  and  to  the  left  of  this  are  the  offices 
of  the  general  secretary,  assistant  secretary,  and  sec- 
retary of  the  German  branch. 

To  the  left  of  the  side  entrance  to  the  building  on 
Locust  Street  is  a  large,  pleasant,  airy  hall,  in  which 
are  held  all  the  noon-meetings,  the  Sunday-school,  etc. 
The  upper  floor,  formerly  the  main  auditorium  of  the 
church,  is  used  for  concerts,  lectures,  larger  gospel 
meetings,  and  as  a  public  hall  for  outside  lectures.  It 
is  handsomely  carpeted,  and  has  a  capacity  for  one 
thousand  persons. 

The  former  church  parsonage,  a  building  of  ten 
rooms,  adjoining  the  main  building  on  the  north,  has 
been  converted  into  a  free  dispensary  for  the  relief  of 
the  indigent  sick  from  all  parts  of  the  city.  The 
German  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  united 
with  the  general  association  on  July  16,  1880,  with  a 
membership  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five.  The 
association  has  two  branches  for  railroad  work,  one  in 
East  St.  Louis,  where  a  handsome  and  commodious 
building  has  been  erected  on  ground  leased  for  a  nom- 
inal sum  from  the  Vandalia  Railroad.  The  building 
was  put  up  at  a  cost  of  two  thousand  dollars,  which 
was  defrayed  by  the  several  railroad  and  transporta- 
tion companies  centring  here,  and  they  also  unite  in 
providing  for  its  maintenance.  It  contains  a  reading- 
room,  wash-rooms,  barber  shop,  etc.  The  other  branch 
is  in  the  Union  Depot  building,  where  the  association 
has  established  a  reading-room,  with  checker-boards, 
dominoes,  and  chess. 

E.  Anson  Moore  was  the  second  of  the  three 
presidents  whom  the  association  has  thus  far  had. 
The  present  board  of  officers  consists  of  F.  L.  Johnston, 
president ;  H.  C.  Wright  and  I.  M.  Mason,  vice-pres- 
idents; H.  H.  Wright,  recording  secretary;  H.  E. 
Knox,  registering  secretary  ;  W.  H.  Mason,  corre- 
sponding secretary  ;  E.  P.  V.  Ritter,  treasurer.  Paid 
officers  :  Walter  C.  Douglass,  general  secretary  ;  Geo. 
W.  Jones,  assistant  secretary  ;  Jacob  Kessler,  secre- 
tary German  branch. 

The  St.  Louis  Women's  Christian  Association 
was  organized  November,  1868,  and  chartered  Jan. 
5,  1870,  Jane  E.  Allen,  Mary  A.  Edgar,  Anna  C. 
Moore,  Clarice  C.  Partridge,  Emily  R.  Stevens, 


and  C.  R.  Springer  being  the  incorporators.  Its 
object  was,  at  first,  the  care  of  young  industrial  women, 
but  this  care  has  since  been  extended  to  aged  men  and 
their  wives.  The  Women's  Christian  Home  was  first 
located  in  rented  rooms  on  the  corner  of  Fifth  and 
Poplar  Streets.  The  corner-stone  of  the  present 
building,  No.  1812  Washington  Avenue,  was  laid  in 
May,  1876,  and  the  building  occupied  in  January, 
1877.  There  is  also  a  Branch  Memorial  Home  at 
Grand  and  Magnolia  Avenues.  The  presidents  of 
the  association  have  been  Mrs.  J.  E.  Allen,  1869  to 
1875;  Mrs.  C.  R.  Springer,  1875  to  1882.  The 
first  board  of  directors  consisted  of  Mrs.  J.  E.  Allen, 
president;  Mrs.  A.  H.  Burlingham,  corresponding 
secretary ;  Mrs.  C.  R.  Springer,  recording  secretary  ; 
and  six  vice-presidents.  The  present  board  is  com- 
posed of  Mrs.  C.  R.  Springer,  president ;  Mrs.  D. 
Arnold,  corresponding  secretary ;  Mrs.  Q.  J.  Drake, 
recording  secretary  ;  and  six  vice-presidents. 

Colonization  Societies. — In  March,  1825,  a  pub- 
lic meeting  was  held  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  to  take  into  consideration  the  propriety  of 
establishing  in  St.  Louis  an  auxiliary  to  the  American 
Colonization  Society.  Rev.  Salmon  Giddings  was 
chairman,  and  Rev.  James  Keyte  secretary.  .  On 
motion  of  Hon.  William  Carr  Lane,  it  was  resolved 
that  it  was  expedient  to  form  the  society,  and  Messrs. 
A.  Monroe,  S.  Giddings,  and  J.  Keyte  were  named 
as  a  committee  to  draft  a  constitution.  The  perma- 
nent organization  was  not,  however,  effected  until 
1828,  when  Hon.  William  C.  Carr  was  chosen  presi- 
dent; Col.  John  O'Fallon,  Hon.  James  H.  Peck,  Dr. 
William  Carr  Lane,  and  Edward  Bates,  vice-presidents ; 
Theodore  Hunt,  Edward  Charless,  Henry  S.  Geyer, 
Charles  S.  Hempstead,  Thomas  Cohen,  Robert  Wash, 
H.  L.  Hoffman,  John  Smith,  Joseph  C.  Laveille, 
Salmon  Giddings,  John  H.  Gay,  and  John  M.  Peck, 
managers ;  Josiah  Spalding,  corresponding  secretary  ; 
D.  Hough,  recording  secretary ;  H.  Von  Phul,  treas- 
urer. The  title  of  this  organization  was  the  St. 
Louis  Colonization  Society,  auxiliary  to  the  American 
Society.  In  1831  the  officers  of  the  society  were — 

William  C.  Carr,  president;  William  Carr  Lane,  first  vice- 
president  ;  Henry  S.  Geyer,  second  vice-president ;  A.  McAl- 
ister,  third  vice-president;  A.  Gamble,  fourth  vice-president; 
Henry  Von  Puhl,  treasurer;  Beverly  Allen,  corresponding  sec- 
retary ;  D.  Hough,  recording  secretary  ;  Managers,  Henry  S. 
Potts,  Thomas  Cohen,  John  Shackford,  John  Finney,  J.  V. 
Garnier,  John  H.  Gay,  H.  R.  Gamble,  John  K.  Walker,  A.  L. 
Johnson,  Edward  Bates,  N.  Ranney,  E.  J.  Phillips. 

We  find  no  further  record  of  this  organization.  On 
the  26th  of  July,  1839,  the  friends  of  the  American 
Colonization  Society  met,  pursuant  to  adjournment, 
at  the  Methodist  Church.  The  committee  to  which 


1758 


HISTORY  OP  SAINT  LOUIS. 


was  assigned  the  duty  of  preparing  a  constitution  for 
the  Missouri  State  Colonization  Society,  and  furnish- 
ing a  list  of  candidates  for  the  same  by  its  chair- 
man, Logan  Hunton,  presented  a  constitution  and 
list  of  officers.  The  officers,  who  were  unanimously 
elected  by  the  meeting,  were — 

President,  Beverly  Allen;  Vice-Presidents,  Hon.  William 
C.  Carr,  Right  Rev.  Jackson  Kemper,  Rev.  A.  BuIIard,  Rev. 
William  M.  Daily,  Rev.  W.  S.  Potts,  Hon.  William  Carr  Lane, 
Gen.  Ranney,  of  C;ipe  Girardeau ;  Hon.  D.  Dunklin,  Washing- 
ton County  ;  S.  L.  Hart,  Jefferson  City ;  Hon.  David  Todd,  Boone 
County  ;  Maj.  W.  Blakely,  Marion  County.  Managers,  II.  R. 
Gamble,  II.  S.  Geyer,  P.  G.  Camden,  John  C.  Dinnies,  Rev. 
Joseph  Tabor,  George  K.  Budd,  Wayman  Crow,  Josiah  Spald- 
ing;  Treasurer,  J.  B.  Camden;  Secretary,  Trusten  Polk. 

The  Missouri  State  Colonization  Society  continued 
in  existence  for  several  years.     Its  annual  meeting, 
held  Nov.  14,  1844,  in  the  Centenary  Church,  was 
addressed  by  Charles  C.  Whittlesey,  Rev.  R.  S.  Fin- 
ley,  Artemas  Bullard.  I.  T.  Hinton,  Joseph  Boyle,  J.  . 
H.  Linn,  Mr.  Heath,  and  Dr.  F.  Knox.    Gen.  N.  Ran- 
ney presided,  and  the  following  officers  were  elected  ; 
for  the  ensuing  year : 

President,  Hon.  Edward  Bates;  Vice-Presidents,  Hon.  J.  C.  I 
Edward?,  Gen.  N.  Ranney,  Rev.  A.  Bullard,  I.  T.  Hinton,  Wil-   ' 

liam  S.  Pott?,  II.  II.  Johnson,  Wesley  Browning, Good-   j 

rich,  of  Jefferson  City;  Right  Rev.  C.  S.  Hawks,  Hon.  James  j 
Young,  and  Abiel  Leonard,  of  Howard  County ;  Secretary,  Rev. 
Robert  S.  Finley  ;  Treasurer,  Charles  C.  Whittlesey;  Managers, 
Rev.  James  Boyle,  H.  II.  Field,  William  G.  Eliot,  Wyllys  King,   j 
John  Camden,  Archibald  Gamble,  William  Burd,  Trusten  Polk, 
William  M.  McPherson,  Thomas  Shore,  John  Whitehill,  Wm.   j 
M.  Campbell. 

On  Jan.  11,  1848,  "we  find  that  at  the  meeting  of 
the  Young  Men's  Colonization  Society,  held  at  the 
Unitarian  Church,  John  F.  Darby  was  called  to  the 
chair,  and  William  Glasgow,  Jr.,  appointed  secretary.  ' 
On  motion  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Finley,  a  committee  of 
three  was  appointed  to  nominate  officers  for  the  en- 
suing year;    whereupon   the    following  nominations  | 
were  made  and  confirmed:  President,  Rev. 'William 
G.  Eliot ;  Treasurer,  H.  S.  Woods ;  Secretary,  J.  R.  ; 
Barret ;  Board  of  Managers,  Rev.  Mr.  Finley,  Josiah 
Dent,  Barton  Bates,  R.  F.  Barret,  John   Henderson, 
Mr.  Jamison,  William  Warder,  and  C.  Carroll. 

The  Erin  Benevolent  Society. — About  the  1st  j 
of  February,  1818,  "  a  meeting  of  Irishmen  to  form 
a  benevolent  society"  was  held  at  the  house  of  Jer- 
emiah Conner,  of  which  Thomas  Brady  was  chair-  I 
man,  and  Thomas  Hanly,  secretary.    A  committee  on  ; 
organization   was  appointed,  consisting  of  Jeremiah 
Conner,  John  Mullanphy,  James  McGunncgle,  Alex- 
ander Blackwell,  and  Arthur  Maginnis.     From  this 
on  to  Oct.  10,  1819,  no  progress  appears  to  be  made.  : 
On  that  date  another  meeting  was  called  at  the  office  of 


Jeremiah  Conner,  who  was  called  to  the  chair.  James 
Nagle  was  chosen  secretary.  A  committee  of  seven 
was  appointed  to  draft  a  constitution  for  the  "  Erin 
Benevolent  Society,"  for  the  "  relief  of  those  of  our 
countrymen  who  may  be  in  distress."  The  meeting 
then  adjourned  to  the  15th,  when  the  committee  re- 
ported a  constitution,  which  was  adopted,  and  the 
following  officers  were  elected  : 

President,  Jeremiah  Conner ;  Vice-President,  Thomas 
Hanly ;  Treasurer,  Hugh  Rankin ;  Secretary,  Lawrence 
Ryan ;  Standing  Committee,  Robert  H.  Catherwood,  Thomas 
English,  Hugh  O'Neil,  Joseph  Charless,  Sr.,  and  James  Timon  ; 
Visiting  Committee,  John  Timon,  Robert  Rankin,  and  Francis 
Rochford. 

The  French  Benevolent  Society  was  established 
about  1840,  and  after  languishing  until  April,  1851, 
was  reorganized  with  M.  Cortambert  as  president. 
It  now  meets  at  408  Washington  Avenue. 

The  St.  Andrew's  Society. — A  meeting  of  the 
natives  of  Scotland  resident  in  St.  Louis  was  held 
in  the  school-room  of  Mr.  Brown  on  the  night  of 
Sept.  31,  1839,  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a  benev- 
olent association.  John  S.  Thompson  presided,  and 
T.  T.  Stewart  was  secretary,  and  on  motion  of  T.  S. 
Rutherford,  an  organization  was  effected  under  the 
title  of  "  The  St.  Andrew's  Society  of  St.  Louis,  the 
object  of  which  will  be  not  only  to  cherish  and  keep 
alive  that  kindly  feeling  which  ought  to  subsist  be- 
tween natives  of  the  same  country,  but  also  to  render 
aid  to  those  whose  circumstances  require  it " 

Mechanics'  Benevolent  Society. — An  associa- 
tion of  this  name  was  organized  April  10,  1817, 
with  Joseph  Charless,  president ;  Abraham  Keys,  sec- 
retary. 

The  American  Sunday-School  Union,  the  main 
house  of  which  is  located  at  No.  1122  Chestnut  Street, 
Philadelphia,  was  first  represented  in  St.  Louis  in 
1867,  when  a  branch  house  was  established,  with  S. 
Paxson  &  Co.  as  agents.  It  was  continued  as  the  de- 
pository of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  until 
1879,  when  a  change  was  made  in  its  management, 
and  A.  L.  Paxson  succeeded  to  the  business  as  merely 
resident  agent  for  the  Union.  Stephen  Paxson,  during 
his  connection  with  the  American  Sunday-School  Union 
fora  period  of  thirty  years,  established  thirteen  hundred 
and  fourteen  Sunday-schools,  containing  eighty-one 
thousand  teachers  and  scholars. 

St.  Louis  Prison  Discipline  Society. — In  1848 
a  society  of  this  name  was  organized,  with  the  follow- 
ing officers:  Hon.  James  B.  Townsend,  president; 
David  N.  Hall,  vice-president ;  Charles  H.  Haven, 
corresponding  secretary ;  Spencer  Smith,  recording 
secretary ;  Franklin  Fisher,  treasurer.  It  began  its 


RELIGIOUS,  BENEVOLENT,  SOCIAL,  SECRET,  AND   OTHER   ORGANIZATIONS.      1759 


labors  with  a  library  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  volumes 
in  the  county  jail,  and  carried  on  a  beneficial  work 
among  the  prisoners. 

The  Catholic  Orphan  Association,  of  St.  Louis, 
was  founded  Feb.  13,  1841,  the  founders  being  An- 
gela Hughes,  Frances  McEnnis,  Prudentia  Dorsey, 
Winnifred  Mullen,  Milonel  Doyle,  and  Bibiana 
O'Malley.  The  board  of  managers  included  John 
B.  Sarpy,  Edward  Walsh,  Bryan  Mullanphy,  Ama- 
dee  Valle,  Joseph  Murphy,  John  Haverty,  Thomas 
Gray,  Thomas  Flaherty,  and  Patrick  J.  Ryder.  Under 
this  management  it  was  incorporated  in  1849  as  the 
Roman  Catholic  Male  and  Female  Orphan  Asylum  of 
St.  Louis.  On  Sept.  17,  1849,  the  managers  assem- 
bled for  the  purpose  of  organizing.  John  B.  Sarpy 
was  elected  president ;  John  Haverty,  vice-president ; 
Amadee  Valle,  treasurer;  and  Thomas  Flaherty, 
secretary.  The  first  location  of  the  asylum  was  on 
Walnut  Street,  near  the  Cathedral.  The  building 
was  torn  down  in  1841,  and  a  home  for  female  or- 
phans was  established  shortly  after  on  a  lot  donated 
by  Mrs.  Ann  Biddle,  at  Tenth  and  Biddle  Streets.  A 
male  department  was  established  at  Fifteenth  Street 
and  Clark  Avenue,  in  a  house  built  by  the  managers. 
St.  Bridget's  Half-Orphans'  Asylum  for  Girls  was  es- 
tablished on  Lucas  Avenue  and  Beaumont  Street  in 
1858.  Sister  Seraphine  is  the  present  Superior  of 
the  latter  house.  Half-orphans  from  five  to  twelve 
years  old  are  placed  here  by  the  surviving  parent. 
In  connection  with  the  asylum  there  is  a  Catholic 
protectorate  at  Glencoe,  under  the  management  of  the 
orphan  board.  Orphans  over  nine  years  old  are  sent 
there  from  the  city  institutions,  and  are  taught  farm- 
ing and  trades.  The  three  asylums  are  under  the 
management  of  the  board,  which  meets  on  the  second 
Thursday  of  each  month.  The  present  officers  are 
Rev.  P.  J.  Ryan,  president ;  Rev.  William  Walsh, 
vice-president ;  Rev.  Philip  P.  Brady,  secretary ;  Jo- 
seph O'Neil,  treasurer;  Rev.  James  Henry,  Rev. 
M.  W.  Tobin,  Rev.  John  J.  Hennessy,  Rev.  James 
McCaffrey,  Rev.  Andrew  Eustace,  Messrs.  M.  Dough- 
erty, Alexander  J.  P.  Garesche,  Charles  Slevin,  J. 
B.  C.  Lucas,  Patrick  Fox,  and  John  F.  Gibbons, 
directors. 

St.  Vincent's  Seminary,  at  Grand  and  Lucas 
Avenues,  conducted  by  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  was 
established  in  1843,  at  Tenth  and  St.  Charles  Streets, 
where  it  remained  for  many  years.  When  the  busi- 
ness portion  of  the  city  had  spread  beyond  the  semi- 
nary, and  the  number  of  pupils  increased,  the  sisters 
sought  another  location,  and  the  present  site  was 
chosen,  and  in  November,  1875,  the  sisters  moved 
into  the  extensive  building  which  had  been  com- 


pleted for  them.  Sister  Olympia,  who  died  in  1875, 
was  the  first  Superior ;  she  was  succeeded  by  Sister 
Lucina.  The  office  was  next  filled  by  the  present 
incumbent,  Sister  Mary  Elizabeth.  The  seminary  is 
managed  by  twelve  sisters,  and  is  self-sustaining. 
The  old  building  on  St.  Charles  Street  is  owned  by 
the  sisters,  and  leased  as  a  glass-factory. 

The  Convent  of  the  Good  Shepherd  is  lotated 
at  Seventeenth  and  Pine  Streets.  The  Sisterhood 
of  Our  Lady  of  Charity,  better  known  as  Sisters  of 
the  Good  Shepherd,  was  organized  in  France  some 
two  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago  by  a  band  of  ladies 
belonging  to  the  nobility,  and  its  members  are  drawn 
from  the  very  flower  of  Catholic  maidenhood,  and 
must  be  in  independent  circumstances,  for  the  work 
brings  no  pay.  The  work  of  the  order  in  St.  Louis 
was  begun  in  January,  1849.  Its  first  location  was 
on  Decatur  and  Marion  Streets ;  the  corner-stone  of 
the  present  convent  was  laid  in  1852,  and  it  was  dedi- 
cated in  1854,  having  since  been  enlarged  by  succes- 
sive additions ;  the  land  on  which  it  was  built  was 
donated  by  Mrs.  L.  Hunt.  The  objects  of  the  insti- 
tution are  the  reformation  of  fallen  women  and  the 
preservation  of  young  girls  in  danger.  Its  inmates 
are  divided  into  four  classes,  which  are  kept  entirely 
separate  in  occupation,  recreation,  worship,  and  living, 
as  follows :  (1)  the  Industrial  Class,  or  orphans  of 
respectable  parentage ;  (2)  the  Class  of  Preservation, 
or  young  girls  rescued  from  danger  and  the  beginnings 
of  evil ;  (3)  the  Penitents,  or  class  of  reformed 
women  ;  (4)  the  Magdalens,  or  such  of  the  reformed  as 
choose  to  remain  in  the  institution,  some  of  whom 
have  been  there  twenty  and  some  even  thirty  years. 
The  order  in  St.  Louis  was  chartered  under  the  name 
of  Sisters  of  the  Good  Shepherd  in  1869.  Rev. 
Mother  Provincial,  Sister  Mary  of  the  Sacred  Heart, 
has  been  in  charge  of  the  order  since  1861  ;  Sister 
Frances  Patrick  is  her  assistant.  In  the  spring 
of  1882-  they  were  divided  as  follows:  inmates, 
First  class,  forty-two  ;  second  class,  one  hundred  and 
twenty-one ;  third  class,  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  ;  fourth  class,  sixty-six.  In  all  these  classes  in- 
dustry, education,  and  religion  are  brought  to  bear. 

The  Convent  of  the  Sisters  of  St.  Mary  was 
founded  by  Mother  Odilia,  who,  with  six  sisters  of 
the  order  of  the  Servants  of  the  Divine  Heart  of 
Jesus,  commonly  called  Sisters  of  St.  Mary,  arrived 
in  St.  Louis  from  Germany  in  November,  1872,  and 
were  chartered  in  1873,  under  the  corporate  name 
of  Servants  of  the  Divine  Heart  of  Jesus,  Sisters 
Margaret  Mary,  Bernadine,  Clara,  Elizabeth,  and 
others  being  the  incorporators.  The  community  is 
devoted  to  nursing  and  visiting  the  sick  and  poor  in 


1760 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


their  own  homes.  The  convent  of  the  order  is  located 
at  the  corner  of  Third  and  Mulberry  Streets ;  it  was 
built  in  1873  on  a  lot  of  ground  donated  by  Arch- 
bishop Kenrick.  They  have  also  a  hospital  on  Papin 
Street,  between  Fifteenth  and  Sixteenth  Streets, 
known  as  St.  Mary's  Infirmary,  which  was  established 
in  1877.  The  first  president  of  the  community 
was  Mother  Odilia,  who  died  Oct.  17,  1880, 
and  was  succeeded  by  Mother  Seraphia.  The  pres- 
ent board  of  officers  consists  of  Mother  Seraphia, 
president ;  Sister  Margaret  Mary,  mother  assistant 
and  mistress  of  novices ;  Sister  Cecilia,  secretary  and 
treasurer. 

The  House  of  the  Guardian  Angel. — In  1859, 
Archbishop  Kenrick  gave  the  Sisters  of  Charity  a 
small  two-story  building  on  the  corner  of  Marion  and 
Menard  Streets.  In  this  little  house,  with  four  rooms, 
the  sisters  opened  a  female  protectorate.  In  a  few 
years  their  work  extended,  and  a  larger  building 
was  erected  on  the  same  lot.  In  1882  another  ad- 
dition was  made.  There  are  about  fifty  children  in 
the  house.  Sister  Mary  Rose  is  the  Superior. 

The  Convent  of  Carmelite  Nuns,  at  Second  Ca- 
rondelet  Avenue  and  Victor  Street,  was  built  in  the 
year  1877.  This  community  was  declared  incor- 
porated under  the  name  and  style  of  "  The  Carmel  of 
St.  Joseph"  in  the  year  1873.  The  incorporators 
were  Louise  J.  Roman,  Jane  B.  Edwards,  Mary  J. 
Smith,  Ella  M.  Boland,  Elizabeth  Dorsey,  Mary 
Eliza  Tremoulet,  Anna  M.  Wise,  and  others.  The 
corner-stone  of  the  present  building  was  laid  in  1873. 
They  had,  previous  to  the  year  1877,  occupied  the 
country  residence  of  Archbishop  Kenrick,  west  of 
Calvary  Cemetery.  They  elect  one  of  their  own 
number  as  Prioress  every  three  years.  The  present 
Mother  Prioress  is  Mother  Mary. 

St.  Vincent's  German  Orphan  Asylum,  on  Twen- 
tieth Street,  between  O'Fallon  Street  and  Cass  Avenue, 
was  organized  June  13,  1851,  and  incorporated  the 
same  year.  The  incorporators  were  John  Mountel, 
F.  L.  Stuver,  Francis  Sturwald,  F.  J.  Heitkamp,  J. 
H.  Grefenkamp,  Francis  Saler,  and  S.  F.  Blattarr. 
The  original  officers  were  F.  L.  Stuver,  president ; 
Charles  F.  Blattarr,  secretary  ;  Francis  Saler,  treas- 
urer. Present  chief  officers :  Fred.  Arndes,  president  of 
society;  H.  J.  Spaunhorst,  president  of  board  of  trus- 
tees. The  corner-stone  of  the  building  was  laid  in 
September,  1850.  The  object  of  the  asylum  is  to 
receive,  maintain,  and  educate  orphans  of  German 
parentage.  The  institution  has  one  hundred  and 
seventy-eight  children,  in  charge  of  the  Sisters  of  St. 
Joseph,  who  receive  a  small  annual  compensation  from 
the  society.  The  entire  expense  is  borne  by  members 


of  the  St.  Vincent's  Society  of  German  Catholics,  and 
by  semi-annual  collections  in  the  German  Catholic 
Churches.  The  improvements  and  grounds  cost  over 
sixty  thousand  dollars.  The  boys  receive  two  hun- 
dred dollars  when  they  become  of  age,  and  the  girls 
fifty  dollars. 

Western  Female  Guardian  Society. — In  May, 
1866,  a  number  of  ladies  resolved  to  establish  a 
society,  the  object  of  which  should  be  to  protect  the 
unprotected,  house  the  homeless,  save  the  erring,  and 
help  the  tempted  and  destitute  women  in  obtaining  an 
honest  livelihood.  The  society  was  to  consist  of  those 
persons  who  would  annually  contribute  one  hundred 
dollars  to  its  treasury,  or  give  five  years'  faithful  ser- 
vice to  its  board  of  managers.  It  was  some  time  be- 
fore a  suitable  location  could  be  decided  upon  for  such 
a  home  as  was  needed.  In  June  the  Weimar  mansion, 
fronting  on  Brooklyn  Street,  near  Twelfth,  with  a 
depth  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet  and  three 
stories  high,  was  bought  for  the  sum  of  fourteen 
thousand  five  hundred  dollars,  and  nearly  five  thou- 
sand dollars  more  were  spent  upon  it  for  repairs. 
Immediately  after  its  opening  the  house  was  filled  to 
its  utmost  capacity. 

The  Home  of  the  Friendless,  Carondelet  road, 
south  of  Meramec  Street,  Mrs.  Mary  S.  Burroughs, 
matron,  had  its  origin  in  the  circumstance  of 
the  death  at  the  county  poor-house  of  an  elderly 
lady,  who  from  a  position  of  wealth  and  refinement 
had  fallen  into  poverty.  Thereupon  Mrs.  Joseph 
Charless  undertook  to  establish  a  retreat  for  other 
ladies  who  might  be  similarly  afflicted.  She  obtained 
from  her  husband  five  hundred  dollars  as  a  nucleus, 
and  from  Henry  D.  Bacon  a  subscription  of  one  thou- 
sand dollars,  conditioned  on  her  securing  a  total  sub- 
scription of  ten  thousand  dollars.  She  did  secure  sub- 
scriptions to  the  amount  of  thirteen  thousand  dollars, 
whereupon  the  Home  was  organized  and  incorporated 
by  charter  bearing  date  Feb.  3,  1853,  and  designating 
as  the  corporation  "  all  such  persons  of  the  female  sex 
as  heretofore  have,  or  hereafter  may,  become  contrib- 
utors of  pecuniary  aid  to  said  institution."  As  the 
managers  are  required  to  be  corporators,  the  male  sex 
is  entirely  excluded  from  active  participation  in  the 
affairs  of  the  Home.  The  first  board  of  trustees  con- 
sisted of  Mary  0.  Darrah,  first  directress  ;  Sarah  B. 
Brant,  second  directress;  Amanda  M.  Park, treasurer; 
Helen  C.  Annan,  secretary;  and  Anna  M.  Perry, 
Mary  S.  Bennet,  Julia  A.  Bacon,  Mary  H.  Belcher, 
Sophia  Gay,  Charlotte  T.  Charless,  Louisa  Pratt, 
Angelica  P.  Lockwood,  Minerva  Blow,  Rebecca  M. 
Sire,  Susan  M.  Simonds,  Amelia  J.  Ranney,  and  Caro- 
line O'Fallon,  managers.  The  charter  authorized  the 


RELIGIOUS,  BENEVOLENT,  SOCIAL,  SECRET,  AND  OTHER  ORGANIZATIONS.     1761 


city  of  St.  Louis  to  give  to  the  Home  thirty  thousand 
dollars  in   land   or  bonds,  and   the  county    to    give 
twenty  thousand  dollars  in  bonds.     The  county  court 
did  give  the  amount  so  authorized,  and  the  present  ; 
site  of  the  Home  was  bought  for  eighteen  thousand 
dollars,  soon  after  the  issue  of  the  charter.    The  house  \ 
had  been  built  for  a  Swiss  Protestant  College,  but  the 
enterprise  fell  through.     Two  years  ago  an  addition  ; 
of  twenty  rooms  was  made  to  the  original  building ; 
they  were  dedicated  in  December,  1880.     They  are  j 
largely  the  product  of  memorial  offerings,  and  on  the 
doors  of  many  of  them  may  be  read  the  names  of 
those  who  are  thus  memorialized. 

The  Home  now  contains  sixty-four  rooms  for  in- 
mates and  six  rooms  for  offices ;  the  grounds  contain 
over  seven  acres,  and  are  beautifully  laid  out.  Every 
comfort,  almost  every  luxury,  of  life  is  provided  for 
the  inmates,  who  now  number  fifty-five ;  the  location 
of  the  Home  and  the  views  from  its  windows  are 
truly  delightful.  The  rules  provide  that  no  one 
under  the  age  of  fifty  (except  such  as  are  disabled) 
shall  become  an  inmate  ;  that  all  shall  pay  an  admission 
fee  of  one  hundred  dollars,  and  shall  further  covenant  to 
reimburse  the  Home  for  their  maintenance  in  the  case 
of  their  subsequently  acquiring  property.  Since  its 
establishment  the  Home  has  furnished  shelter  to  six 
hundred  old  ladies ;  its  total  income  last  year  was  ten 
thousand  two  hundred  and  seventy-seven  dollars  and 
forty-three  cents,  of  which  five  hundred  and  six  dol- 
lars was  from  annual  subscriptions  of  the  corporators, 
seven  hundred  and  fifty-nine  dollars  and  seventy-seven 
cents  from  cash  donations,  and  the  balance  from  vested 
funds,  legacies,  etc.  The  principal  subscribers  to  the 
original  fund  for  the  establishment  of  the  Home  were 
as  follows:  Subscribers  of  $1000,  Henry  D.  Bacon, 
Henry  T.  Blow,  William  H.  Belcher,  Pierre  Chou- 
teau,  John  Gay,  Wyllys  King,  William  M.  McPher- 
son ;  subscribers  of  $500,  Joseph  Charless,  Oliver 
Bennett,  Edw.  J.  Gay,  John  Simonds,  Bernard 
Pratte,  William  M.  Morrison,  Alfred  Vinton,  Ann 
M.  Perry  ;  of  $300,  Andrew  Christy,  R.  J.  Lock- 
wood,  D.  A.  January  ;  of  $250,  J.  B.  Brant ;  of 
$200,  Taylor  Blow,  W.  H.  Barksdale,  Wayman 
Crow,  0.  D.  Filley,  James  E.  Yeatman,  Loker, 
Renick  &  Co.  ;  $150,  George  R  Robinson  ;  the 
rest  being  subscribed  in  amounts  of  $100  and  less. 
Other  benefactions  have  been  as  follows :  County  of 
St.  Louis,  in  September,  1853,  bonds  which  sold  at 
par  $20,000,  used  in  purchase  of  the  Home  ;  and  the 
following  legacies:  1862,  Mrs.  Jane  Wilgus,  $2500; 
1867,  Asa  Wilgus,  $5000  ;  1869,  Andrew  Christy, 
$500  ;  187-4-82,  Maj.  William  H.  Bell  (one-eighth 
of  estate),  $16,500;  1875,  Mrs.  R.  W.  Oliphant, 


$500;  1876,  Hudson  E.  Bridge,  $5000;  1876, 
Clara  B.  Ridgway,  $6000;  1881,  Mrs.  Henrietta 
Jaccard,  $1124.07.  John  O'Fallon  and  wife  in 
1858  gave  to  the  Home  fifteen  arpens  of  land  just 
west  of  the  Fair  Grounds,  estimated  value  $15,000 
to  $20,000.  The  successive  first  directresses  of  the 
Home  have  been  Mrs.  Henry  T.  Darrah,  February, 
1853,  to  November,  1854;  Mrs.  Joseph  Charless,  to 
April,  1865  ;  Mrs.  George  Partridge,  to  November, 
1866  ;  and  Mrs.  Charles  Holmes,  from  November, 
1866,  to  the  present  time.  The  second  directresses 
have  been  Mrs.  Sarah  B.  Brant,  Mrs.  George  Par- 
tridge, Mrs.  Rebecca  M.  Sire,  Mrs.  Charles  Holmes, 
Mrs.  George  Partridge,  Mrs.  William  Downing,  Mrs. 
Henry  T.  Blow,  Miss  Martha  Smith,  Mrs.  A.  F. 
Shapleigh.  Secretaries,  Mrs.  Helen  C.  Annan,  Mrs. 
Henry  T.  Darrah,  Mrs.  George  Banker,  Mrs.  James 
Fiske,  Mrs.  L.  N.  Bonham,  Miss  Martha  Smith,  Mrs. 
J.  G.  Chapman  (since  1873).  Treasurers,  Mrs.  An- 
drew Park,  1853  to  1864  ;  Mrs.  Samuel  Copp,  1864 
to  the  present  time.  There  now  sixty-two  inmates. 
The  officers  are — 

Mrs.  Charles  Holmes,  first  directress;  Mrs.  A.  F.  Shapleigh, 
second  directress;  Mrs.  J.  Gilbert  Chapman,  secretary;  Mrs. 
Samuel  Copp,  treasurer;  and  Mrs.  Henry  Kennedy,  Mrs.  Wil- 
liam Stobie,  Mrs.  Thomas  Howard,  Mrs.  Gerard  B.  Allen,  Mrs. 
E.  C.  Copelin,  Mrs.  E.  A.  Hitchcock,  Mrs.  E.  E.  Webster,  Mrs. 
John  C.  Vogel,  Mrs.  S.  F.  Humphreys,  Mrs.  G.  Mattison,  Mrs. 
J.  C.  Krafft,  Mrs.  D.  C.  Young,  Mrs.  John  T.  Davis,  Mrs.  Wil- 
liam H.  Benton,  Miss  Jennie  Glover,  Mrs.  L.  M.  Collier,  Mrs. 
S.  C.  Cummins,  board  of  trustees. 

The  Girls'  Industrial  Home. — In  1854  a  number 
of  the  ladies  of  St.  Louis  established  a  charitable  in- 
stitution called  "  The  Industrial  School  and  Temporary 
Home  for  Destitute  Children,"  for  the  purpose  of  re- 
claiming and  teaching  habits  of  industry  to  and 
educating  orphan  children  and  the  children  of  desti- 
tute parents.  In  1855,  Mrs.  Mary  B.  Homes,  Mrs. 
Mary  Ann  Ranlett,  Mrs.  Mary  B.  Murray,  and  Mrs. 
Caroline  E.  Kasson,  as  incorporators,  obtained  from 
the  Legislature  a  charter  under  the  name  of  "  The 
Girls'  Industrial  Home,"  by  which  name  it  has  since 
been  known.  The  Home  is  now  situated  at  the  cor- 
ner of  Nineteenth  and  Morgan  Streets,  to  which  place 
it  was  removed  in  1867.  Its  first  president  was  Mrs. 
Mary  Ann  Ranlett,  but  for  the  past  twenty-five  years 
Mrs.  John  S.  Thomson  has  filled  that  position.  Its 
present  officers  are — 

Mrs.  John  S.  Thomson,  president;  Mrs.  Robert  Anderson, 
first  vice-president;  Mrs.  Jonathan  Jones,  second  vice-presi- 
dent ;  Mrs.  E.  W.  Clarke,  recording  secretary ;  Mrs.  Ed- 
ward Morrison,  corresponding  secretary ;  Mrs.  W.  A.  Jones, 
treasurer.  Managers,  Mrs.  Clara  Barnard,  Mrs.  S.  Cupples, 
Mrs.  A.  S.  W.  Goodwin,  Mrs.  J.  M.  Corbett,  Miss  M.  P.  Sim- 
mons, Mrs.  E.  A.  Morse,  Mrs.  J.  Arnot,  Mrs.  R.  E.  Briar,  Mrs. 


1762 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


George  A.  Madill,  Mrs.  M.  C.  Libby,  Mrs.  F.  B.  Chamberlain, 
Mrs.  J.  0.  Talbot,  Mrs.  E.  N.  Leeds,  Mrs.  J.  H.  Alexander, 
Mrs.  E.  0.  Stanard,  Mrs.  W.  H.  Gregg,  Mrs.  M.  M.  Buck,  Miss 
Mary  Ganse,  Mrs.  Charles  H.  Smith,  Mrs.  John  A.  Snaithers, 
Mrs.  S.  Pepper,  Mrs.  H.  D.  Waterman,  Mrs.  William  Mitchell, 
Mrs.  W.  F.  Brinck,  Mrs.  E.  G.  Obear,  Mrs.  J.  S.  Dunham,  Miss 
Anna  Pulliam,  Mrs.  F.  S.  Waters,  Mrs.  G.  L.  Joy.  Sewing 
Committee,  Miss  Ella  Fairrnan,  Miss  Belle  Anderson,  Miss 
Laura  Anderson,  Miss  Ewald.  Advisory  Committee,  A.  F. 
Shapleigh,  S.  Cupples,  E.  G.  Obear,  E.  Morrison.  Counsel, 
Henry  Hitchcock,  S.  P.  Gait.  Physicians,  J.  F^Stevens,  J.  M. 
Stevens. 

The  Working  Women's  Home  and  Home  for 
Blind  Girls. — The  Working  Women's  Home  was  or- 
ganized in  1875,  under  the  direction  of  the  Western 
Sanitary  Commission,  comprising  George  Partridge, 
C.  S.  Greeley,  James  E.  Yeatman,  and  J.  B.  John- 
son. The  object  of  this  institution  was  to  supply  a 
home  for  working  women  and  a  day  nursery.  In 
connection  with  the  Working  Women's  Home  a 
Home  for  Blind  Girls  was  established  in  1879.  The 
latter  was  founded  because  it  was  found  that  many  of 
the  girls  on  leaving  the  Missouri  Institution  for  the 
Blind  were  left  without  a  place  of  refuge.  A  society 
was  organized  among  the  blind  girls  of  the  institution, 
known  as  the  Blind  Girls'  Band.  At  a  meeting  held 
by  them  for  raising  a  fund  the  collections  amounted 
to  one  dollar  and  sixty-two  cents.  The  band  went  to 
work,  and  by  their  exertions,  with  a  few  donations,  suc- 
ceeded in  raising  a  fund  of  six  thousand  five  hundred 
dollars.  The  Western  Sanitary  Commission  offered 
the  band  the  use  of  a  portion  of  the  Working  Wo-  J 
men's  Home  free  of  charge,  and  they  established  an 
Industrial  Home  for  the  benefit  of  poor  blind  girls. 
Mrs.  M.  A.  Evans  has  long  presided  over  the  man- 
agement of  the  Home.  The  Home  is  on  Twelfth 
Street,  between  Cass  Avenue  and  0' Fallen  Street. 
The  buildings  are  owned  by  the  Sanitary  Fund. 

The  Worthy  Woman's  Aid,  1712  North  Tenth 
Street,  is  a  home  institution,  conducted  by  Mrs.  Hariot 
for  women  who  are  out  of  employment.  Shelter  is 
given  them,  and  situations  are  sought  for  worthy  ap- 
plicants. Mrs.  Hariot  conducts  the  Home,  which  has 
twenty  inmates,  without  the  aid  of  any  organized 
charity. 

The  Methodist  Orphans'  Home. — In  1865, 
William  H.  Markham  determined  to  establish  an 
orphans'  home.  His  object  was  to  take  care  of  the 
helpless  orphan  children  of  Methodist  parents,  and  if 
able  to  receive  and  provide  for  any  destitute  orphans, 
without  regard  to  the  religion  of  the  parents,  to  edu- 
cate them  at  the  public  schools  so  far  as  necessary  for 
business,  trades,  etc.  Mr.  Markham  proposed  to  bear 
the  responsibility  for  all  necessary  expenses,  but  no 
one  was  prohibited  from  contributing  to  the  enter- 


prise. In  1866  a  building  known  as  the  Chamburg 
House,  on  the  southwest  corner  of  Twelfth  and  Mon- 
roe Streets,  was  rented  and  furnished.  It  was  soon 
found  that  this  house  was  too  small,  and  the  Dobyn 
mansion  being  then  for  sale,  it  was  purchased  by  Mr. 
Markham  for  about  thirteen  thousand  dollars.  The 
Home  is  located  on  the  southwest  corner  of  Twelfth 
and  Brooklyn  Streets,  and  both  the  house  and  the 
grounds  are  admirably  adapted  to  its  purpose.  In 
1867  the  control  of  the  Home  was  transferred  to  the 
keeping  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South, 
by  which  it  was  reorganized,  and  went  into  operation 
with  the  following  officers : 

William  H.  Markham,  president;  Levin  H.  Baker,  first  vice- 
president;  Hiram  Shaw,  second  vice-president;  Austin  R. 
Moore,  permanent  secretary;  and  Hon.  Trusten  Polk,  Wil- 
liam T.  Gay,  Robert  Baker,  James  Bissell,  and  John  C.  Bull, 
Mrs.  William  Finney,  Mrs.  J.  G.  Shelton,  Mrs.  William  T. 
Gay,  Mrs.  C.  C.  Anderson,  Mrs.  Levin  H.  Baker,  Mrs.  P.  H. 
Lockwood,  Mrs.  John  O'Fallon,  Mrs.  Trusten  Polk,  Mrs.  Sam- 
uel Cupples,  Mrs.  Edwards,  Mrs.  Jesse  Arnot,  Mrs.  Dr.  Br3rant, 
Mrs.  M.  R.  Collins,  Mrs.  Bissell,  Mrs.  Capt.  Logan,  Mrs.  Jesse 
Boogher,  Mrs.  A.  McCamant,  Mrs.  J.  B.  Coleman,  Mrs.  Nathan 
Coleman,  Mrs.  W.  C.  Goodwin,  Mrs.  Dr.  AVilliam  Johnston, 
Mrs.  0.  G.  Rule,  Mrs.  James  Merriman,  Mrs.  Barbee,  Mrs. 
Mary  Avis,  Mrs.  Higgins,  Mrs.  Jos.  Patterson,  Mrs.  Gates, 
Mrs.  W.  L.  Larimore,  Mrs.  Vandever,  Mrs.  T.  F.  Drake,  Mrs. 
Smizer,  Mrs.  James  Miller,  Mrs.  J.  C.  Bull,  Mrs.  McCausland, 
Mrs.  Dr.  Penn,  directors. 

After  the  reorganization  the  Home  was  removed  to 
3533  Laclede  Avenue,  its  present  location. 

Mullanphy  Emigrant  Relief  Fund. — Bryan 
Mullanphy,  a  philanthropic  citizen  of  St.  Louis,  who 
died  June  5,  1851,  left  the  following  will: 

"  I,  BRYAN  MULLANPHY,  do  make  and  declare  the  following 
to  be  my  last  will  and  testament : 

"One  equal  undivided  third  of  all  my  property,  real,  per- 
sonal, and  mixed,  I  leave  to  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  in  the  State 
of  Missouri,  in  trust,  to  be  and  constitute  a  fund  to  furnish  re- 
lief to  all  poor  emigrants  and  travelers  coming  to  St.  Louis,  on 
their  way,  bona  fide,  to  settle  in  the  West. 

"I  do  appoint  FELIX  COSTE  and  PETER  G.  CAMDEN  execu- 
tors of  this  my  last  will  and  testament,  and  of  any  other  will 
or  executory  devise  that  I  may  leave;  all  and  any  such  docu- 
ment will  be  found  to  be  olograph,  all  in  my  own  hand- 
writing. 

"In  testimony  whereof,  witness  my  hand  and  seal. 

"BRYAN  MULLANPHY.  [SEAL.] 
"  Witnesses  present : 

"  ADOLPHUS  WISLIZENUS. 

"JOHN  WOLFF. 

"M.  W.  WARNE. 

"  D.  AUGUST  SCHNABEL." 

The  city  of  St.  Louis  accepted  the  trust,  but  the 
will  was  contested  by  relatives  of  the  deceased.  After 
litigation  for  several  years,  the  will  was  declared  valid, 
and  the  terms  of  the  instrument  have  been  carried 
into  effect.  The  fund  consists  of  real  estate  altogether 


KELIGIOUS,  BENEVOLENT,  SOCIAL,  SECRET,  AND   OTHER   ORGANIZATIONS.      1763 


and  the  income  from  it,  and  it  is  now  estimated  at 
nearly  $600, 000.  It  is  managed  by  a  board  of  thir- 
teen commissioners  appointed  by  the  City  Council,  the 
mayor  being  ex  officio  a  member  of  the  board.  An 
immense  amount  of  good  is  being  done  for  poor  emi- 
grants and  travelers  through  the  distribution  of  this 
fund.  Commissioners  are  appointed  every  three  years, 
but  their  terms  of  office  do  not  expire  at  the  same 
time,  three  being  chosen  each  year.  The  present 
board  is  composed  of  August  Frank,  president ;  Al- 
exander Cameron,  vice-president;  G.  H.  Boecken- 
kamp,Dr.  Frederick  Hill,  Adam  Linck,  H.  C.  Meyer, 
C.  H.  Miller,  L.  W.  Mitchell,  William  Nichols,  E.  J. 
O'Connor,  D.  T.  Parker,  Philip  Stock,  and  R.  M. 
Scruggs.  William  H.  Block  is  secretary  of  the 
board,  and  the  general  office  is  located  at  No.  807 
Locust  Street. 

The  Home  for  Aged  and  Infirm  Israelites  of 
St.  Louis. — About  twenty  years  ago  the  Hon.  Isidor 
Bush  and  others  endeavored  to  establish  in  St.  Louis 
a  Jewish  hospital.  The  city  authorities  donated  a 
block  of  ground  near  the  Marine  Hospital  for  that 
purpose,  conditioned,  however,  that  the  hospital  be 
erected  within  two  years  thereafter.  The  Jewish 
community  being  unable  to  raise  the  requisite  means 
to  build  the  hospital,  and  other  difficulties  arising,  the 
property  reverted  to  the  city.  No  action  was  there- 
after taken  to  further  the  object  until  Oct.  13,  1878, 
when  at  the  suggestion  of  the  late  Bernard  Singer, 
its  president,  the  United  Hebrew  Relief  Association 
of  St.  Louis  subscribed  sixteen  hundred  and  twenty 
dollars  in  annual  meeting  in  aid  of  a  home  for  old  and 
infirm  Israelites,  and  appointed  a  committee,  consisting 
of  Rev.  Dr.  Sonneschein,  Jacob  Furth,  and  A.  Bins- 
wanger,  to  draft  an  appeal  to  all  Israelites  of  the  city 
to  meet  at  Harmonie  Club  Hall  Oct.  27,  1878,  for 
the  purpose  of  organizing  a  Jewish  Hospital  Associa- 
tion. The  appeal  was  issued ;  a  large  number  of  per- 
sons convened,  and  the  association  adopted  as  its  name 
the  title  of  u  Jewish  Infirmary  and  Hospital  Associa- 
tion of  St.  Louis."  At  this  meeting  eight  hundred  and 
seventy  dollars,  additional  to  the  sixteen  hundred  and 
twenty  dollars  before  contributed,  were  subscribed, 
with  the  understanding  that  no  part  of  said  subscrip- 
tions were  to  be  collected  until  the  sum  of  five  thou- 
sand dollars  was  subscribed.  The  association  organ- 
ized by  electing  Jacob  Furth  as  president,  William 
Goldstein  as  treasurer,  and  A.  Binswanger  as  secretary. 
After  this  there  appeared  to  be  a  lack  of  interest  in 
the  subject,  and  the  Relief  Association,  in  view  of  this 
fact,  concluded  to  establish  a  home  for  aged  and  infirm 
persons,  with  a  hospital  as  an  appendage,  thereby  re- 
versing the  plan  previously  adopted,  and  making  the 


hospital  an  appendage  to  "  the  Home."  To  carry  out 
this  purpose  they  annually  set  aside  from  the  proceeds 
of  grand  charity  balls  of  the  Relief  Association  cer- 
tain sums  of  money  until  the  sum  thus  set  apart 
amounted  to  seven  thousand  two  hundred  dollars. 
For  about  twenty  years  there  had  existed  an  asso- 
ciation known  as  "  The  Ladies'  Widows  and  Orphans 
Society,"  which  had  been  organized  to  aid  in  estab- 
lishing an  orphan  asylum  here.  The  asylum  being 
located  at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
order  of  B'nai  B'rith,  the  Ladies'  Widows  and  Or- 
phans Society  kept  its  fund  intact,  but  donated  the 
interest  thereof  annually  to  the  Cleveland  Orphan 
Asylum.  In  1882  it  had  a  fund  of  ten  thousand  dol- 
lars in  its  treasury.  The  president  of  the  Relief 
Association  conceived  the  idea  of  persuading  the 
society  to  donate  its  fund  to  establishing  a  home  for 
aged  and  infirm  persons,  and  after  much  deliberation 
the  fund  of  the  Ladies'  Widows  and  Orphans  So- 
ciety was  equally  divided  between  the  Cleveland  Or- 
phan Asylum  and  this  association. 

The  Ladies'  Zion  Society,  through  its  president, 
Mrs.  Joseph  Wolfort,  was  next  enlisted  in  this  be- 
half, and  it  generously  promised  to  contribute  fifteen 
hundred  dollars.  Then  the  young  ladies  of  the  city, 
under  the  leadership  of  Misses  Flora  Isaacs,  Clara 
Maas,  Josie  Bush,  Sophie  Glaser,  and  Sarah  Schiele, 
organized  an  association  called  the  Young  Ladies' 
Hospital  Aid  Society,  whose  chief  purpose  was  to  raise 
means  to  furnish  the  hospital  when  erected.  They 
raised  the  handsome  sum  of  fourteen  hundred  dollars, 
which  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  Jacob  Furth  and 
Joseph  Wolfort  as  trustees.  The  idea  of  establishing  a 
hospital  having  been  abandoned,  they  agreed  to  con- 
tribute this  fund,  which  had  swelled  to  the  sum  of 
eighteen  hundred  dollars,  towards  establishing  a 
"  Home."  The  property  No.  3652  Jefferson  Street 
was  purchased  in  April,  1882,  by  the  United  Hebrew 
Relief  Association,  and  a  society  was  permanently  or- 
ganized as  "  The  Home  for  Aged  and  Infirm  Israel- 
ites of  St.  Louis,"  with  B.  Hysinger,  president; 
A.  Binswanger,  secretary.  The  home  was  formally 
dedicated  May  28,  1882.  The  contributors  to  the 
purchase  and  equipment  of  the  institution  were  the 
United  Hebrew  Relief  Association,  $7777 ;  the 
Ladies'  Widow  and  Orphan  Society  with  $5000;  the 
Young  Ladies'  Aid  Society  with  $2000  ;  the  Ladies' 
Pioneer  Society  with  $1000;  the  Ladies'  Zion  So- 
ciety with  $1500;  the  Ladies'  Hebrew  Relief  Society 
with  $300  ;  L.  M.  Hellman,  $1000  ;  Mrs!  Lewis  Beau- 
man,  $1000  ;  Nicholas  Scharff  and  wife,  $500  ;  Mar- 
cus Bernheimer  and  wife,  $500  ;  Albert  Fischer,  $250 ; 
'  M.  Fraley,  $100 ;  and  Albert  Fishel,  of  Pittsfield, 


1764 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


111.,  $50.  The  house  and  lot  cost  $10,500,  the  im- 
provements necessary  to  fit  the  building  for  a  home 
cost  $2000,  the  furniture  and  carpet  cost  $3500,  and 
other  incidentals  cost  $500;  total,  $16,500.  The 
grounds  are  two  hundred  and  eighteen  by  two  hun- 
dred and  seventy-nine  feet,  and  are  tastefully  laid  out 
and  carefully  kept.  The  house  is  a  brick  structure, 
three  stories  in  height  with  a  basement.  Fifty  per- 
sons can  be  cared  for  in  the  Home,  and  only  infirm 
Israelites  over  sixty  years  of  age  and  of  good  moral 
standing  are  admitted.  The  present  officers  are  B. 
Hysinger,  president ;  Mrs.  Albert  Fischer,  vice-presi- 
dent ;  August  Binswanger,  secretary ;  Benjamin  Eise-  \ 
man,  treasurer;  and  L.  M.  Hellman,  N.  Scharff, 
Mrs.  A.  Frank,  Miss  B.  Langsdorf,  Mrs.  J.  Wolfort, 
Mrs.  M.  Fraley,  W.  Goldstein,  Mrs.  L.  Stern,  M. 
Loewenstein,  directors. 

The  German  General  Protestant  Orphans'  As- 
sociation of  St.  Louis  was  organized  Feb.  13, 1877, 
and  located  on  Natural  Bridge  road,  near  White  Av- 
enue. The  names  of  the  incorporators  are  Philip 
Krieger,  Sr.,  Charles  G.  Stifel,  Heinrich  Hertz,  Fritz 
Zelle,  Francis  H.  Krenning,  Claus  Kiehts,  William 
Lefmann,  John  H.  Conrades,  Adolph  Fischer,  Gerhard 
Boeckenkamp,  Ernst  Knickmeyer,  August  Schulen- 
berg,  Nicholas  Berg,  Friedrick  Dietroeger,  Otto  Pe- 
ters, Casper  Prange,  William  Reipschlaeger,  Hugo 
Starkeoff,  and  John  Woestmann.  The  object  of 
the  association  is  to  receive,  as  far  as  possible,  all 
poor  orphans  and  educate  them  without  charge,  also 
to  receive  half-orphans  and  orphans  with  means 
provided  by  the  surviving  parent  or  guardian.  The 
first  president  was  Philip  Krieger,  Sr.,  who  resigned 
May  26,  1879.  His  successor,  who  is  now  holding 
the  office,  is  John  H.  C.  Conrades.  The  corner- 
stone of  the  building  was  laid  Sept.  6,  1877.  On 
Oct.  20,  1878,  it  was  dedicated,  and  occupied  by  the 
first  orphans  a  few  days  after  its  dedication.  The 
present  officers  are  John  H.  C.  Conrades,  president ; 
Charles  G.  Stifel,  vice-president ;  Ernst  Knickmeyer, 
secretary  ;  Frederick  Zelle,  financial  secretary  ;  Francis 
Krenning,  treasurer ;  Adolph  Fischer,  William  Reip- 
schlaeger, William  Lefmann,  William  Noelker,  Fred- 
rich  Dickroeger,  H.  Bloebaum,  Gerhard  Boecken- 
kamp, Theador  Lessinghaus,  Claus  Kiehts,  Claus 
Grote,  H.  W.  Moermann,  Conrad  Fath,  August 
Gehner,  and  C.  Hager,  directors. 

The  German  Emigrant  Aid  Society  was  organ- 
ized Feb.  6,  1851,  and  was  chartered  under  an  act  of 
the  Legislature  of  Missouri,  Feb.  27,  1851.  The 
original  incorporators  were  Robert  Hanning,  Arthur 
Olshausen,  William  Sturnpf,  Ferdinand  Overstoltz, 
and  others.  Its  object  is  the  relief  of  German  im- 


migrants after  their  arrival  in  this  country,  by  fur- 
nishing them  with  money,  supplies,  etc.  The  present 
officers  are  Arthur  Olshausen,  president ;  C.  J.  Sti- 
fel, vice-president;  H.  T.  Wilde,  recording  secretary; 
Dr.  H.  Kenney,  corresponding  secretary;  and  C.  R. 
Fritsch,  treasurer. 

The  Farmers'  and  Mechanics'  Mutual  Aid 
Association  of  St.  Louis  was  incorporated  Sept. 
22,  1878,  with  J.  F.  C.  Fagg,  F.  M.  Doan,  A.  V. 
Cobb,  J.  S.  Brown,  F.  K.  Doan,  S.  R.  Peters,  and  G. 
Hurt,  incorporators,  as  a  beneficial  association.  Its 
present  officers  are  Hon.  Thomas  J.  C.  Fagg,  presi- 
dent ;  Nathan  Shumate,  vice-president ;  F.  M.  Doan, 
secretary;  J.  S.  Brown,  treasurer;  Frank  K.  Doan, 
general  manager ;  S.  R.  Peters,  counsel ;  Garland 
Hurt,  medical  director. 

Covenant  Hall  Association. — This  organization 
was  incorporated  in  December,  1877,  by  A.  Kramer, 
Isidor  Bush,  S.  Wolfenstein,  H.  Newland,  Jacob 
Furth,  and  David  Loewer,  for  the  purpose  of  pro- 
viding and  furnishing  a  suitable  meeting-place  for 
the  different  Jewish  benevolent  societies.  It  is  lo- 
cated in  the  Druid  Hall  building,  corner  of  Ninth 
and  Market  Streets.  Its  present  officers  are  H.  New- 
land,  president;  and  Isidor  Bush,  secretary  and  treas- 
urer. 

The  Mullanphy  Emigrant  Home. — This  build- 
ing, situated  on  Fourteenth  Street,  between  Mullan- 
phy and  Howard  Streets,  was  erected  in  1867,  at  a 
cost  of  thirty  thousand  dollars,  partly  supplied  from 
the  Mullanphy  Fund.  The  Home  was  maintained 
until  1877,  when  the  trustees,  finding  that  it  was 
less  expensive  to  carry  out  the  provisions  of  the 
devisee  in  other  ways,  leased  it  to  the  school  board, 
by  whom  it  is  now  used  for  school  purposes. 

The  St.  Paul's  Benevolent  Society  was  incor- 
porated May  16,  1868,  by  Frederick  Arendes,  Nich- 
olas Helmbacher,  G.  L.  Gretz,  A.  Geisel,  Louis  Metts, 
and  others.  The  membership  numbers  nearly  six 
hundred.  The  object  of  this  society  is  to  render  aid 
to  its  members  in  case  of  sickness  or  death.  The  offi- 
cers are  Frederick  Arendes,  president;  Julius  Peter- 
son, treasurer;  P.  W.  Bergs,  secretary. 

Ancient  Order  of  Hibernians. — In  1847  some 
Irish -Americans  of  New  York  City  organized  the 
Ancient  Order  of  Hibernians,  to  relieve  the  distresses 
of  the  thousands  of  their  countrymen  who  in  that 
period  were  fleeing  to  this  country  to  escape  the 
horrors  of  the  memorable  famine  in  Ireland.  It  is 
said  they  patterned  it  after  some  of  the  numerous 
patriotic  secret  societies  which  for  centuries  have 
flourished  on  Irish  soil.  The  order  gradually  spread 
to  other  States,  and  finally  assumed  a  beneficial  char- 


RELIGIOUS,  BENEVOLENT,  SOCIAL,  SECRET,  AND   OTHER   ORGANIZATIONS.      1765 


acter.  In  St.  Louis  the  first  division  was  established 
in  1870  by  John  Tigh,  Andrew  Ferry,  Peter  Leonard. 
Patrick  Coughlin,  and  others.  Divisions  2  and  3 
were  organized  during  the  same  year,  and  others  fol- 
lowed until  at  the  present  time  every  district  in  the 
city  is  supplied. 

The  order  provides  sick  benefits,  and  a  death  benefit 
of  one  thousand  dollars.  Members  must  be  Irish,  or 
of  Irish  descent,  and  must  also  be  Catholics.  The 
opposition  to  the  order  on  the  part  of  the  church  au- 
thorities in  some  sections  has  never  been  manifested 
in  St.  Louis;  on  the  contrary,  it  has  always  had  their 
sanction  and  support. 

In  1870  a  State  Division  was  also  established. 
There  are  now  sixteen  divisions  in  Missouri,  with 
about  nine  hundred  members.  The  present  State 
officers  are :  State  Delegate,  P.  J.  Kelley,  St.  Louis ; 
State  Secretary,  John  J.  Granfield,  Kansas  City ; 
State  Treasurer,  Charles  Landers,  St.  Louis. 

The  affairs  of  the  order  in  St.  Louis  are  managed 
by  a  board  of  five  officers  from  each  subordinate  di- 
vision. The  present  County  Delegate  is  James  Gar- 
rigan ;  County  Treasurer,  J.  A.  Flynn. 

The  divisions  in  St.  Louis  are  as  follows : 


Divisi 
Tott 

)n  No.    1  

Membership. 
135 

2    

120 

150 

4  

80 

5  

75 

6  

58 

7  

114 

8  

119 

9  

89 

10  

100 

il.... 

..  1040 

The  Helvetia  Huelfs-Gesellschaft  is  an  associa- 
tion of  Swiss  residents  of  St.  Louis,  organized  in  1873 
to  relieve  the  distress  of  needy  immigrants  or  travel- 
ers of  that  nationality,  as  well  as  the  wants  of  any  of 
its  members.  It  has  about  fifty  members.  It  is  sup- 
ported by  fees  and  dues,  and  by  appropriations  from 
the  Swiss  government  and  Swiss  cantons.  The  yearly 
receipts  are  about  one  thousand  dollars.  During  the 
last  year  two  hundred  and  forty-six  persons  were  re- 
lieved. The  officers  are :  President,  Rev.  J.  G.  Eber- 
hard  ;  Vice-President,  F.  T.  Ledergerber ;  Secretary, 
H.  Graf;  Treasurer,  Jacob  Buff.  While  an  inde- 
pendent body,  it  is  in  affiliation  and  correspondence 
with  similar  associations  in  Philadelphia,  Chicago,  and 
New  Orleans. 

Marine  Engineers'  Association,  No.  6. — The 
Marine  Engineers'  Association,  No.  6,  was  organized 
Feb.  25,  1875,  for  the  purpose  of  the  mutual  im- 
provement of  its  members.  It  obtained  a  charter 
April  25th  of  the  same  year.  It  was  located  at  first 
112 


on  the  corner  of  Eleventh  Street  and  Franklin  Ave- 
nue, but  afterwards  removed  to  No.  411  North  Third 
Street,  where  it  is  now  situated.  Its  presiding  offi- 
cers have  been  J.  W.  Shea,  Hunt  Owen,  and  Thomas 
H.  Nelson.  Its  present  secretary  is  James  H.  Harris. 
The  association  numbers  three  hundred  and  fifty  mem- 
bers. There  are  thirty-four  similar  associations  in  the 
United  States. 

Millwrights'  Assembly. — This  assembly  was  or- 
ganized March  7,  1880,  for  the  purpose  of  improving 
the  condition  of  its  members  and  obtaining  legitimately 
for  their  labor  as  high  wages  as  possible.  It  was 
chartered  in  April,  1880,  with  Porter  Pleasant,  C.  F. 
Metz,  F.  0.  Sernn,  and  J.  O'Connell,  incorporators, 
and  located  at  No.  902  South  Fourth  Street.  Its 
presiding  officers  have  been,  successively,  A.  Landgraf, 
P.  Pleasant,  J.  McClure,  and  J.  C.  Booth.  Its  pres- 
ent officers  and  directors  are  A.  Landgraf,  A.  J. 
Burns,  C.  F.  Metz,  F.  Woehne,  C.  Schmidt,  H. 
Bernch,  and  T.  Hill,  with  Thomas  Howard,  secre- 
tary. 

United  Sons  of  Erin  Benevolent  Society. — this 
is  an  open  association  of  Irishmen  who  are  Catholics 
for  mutual  assistance.  It  was  organized  in  1866,  and 
among  the  early  members  and  promoters  were  Rev. 
James  Henry,  Francis  Noonan,  Dr.  W.  H.  Brennan, 
James  Bligh,  and  others.  It  is  the  only  association 
of  the  name  in  St.  Louis,  is  confined  to  the  city,  and 
has  about  two  hundred  members.  It  pays  six  dollars  a 
week  for  sick  benefits,  and  in  the  event  of  a  member's 
death  the  heirs  receive  one  dollar  from  each  surviving 
member.  The  officers  for  1882  were — 

Spiritual  Director,  Rev.  Father  Henry;  President,  M.  Wha- 
len;  Secretary,  John  Costello;  Treasurer,  Richard  O'Neill; 
Medical  Examiner,  Dr.  W.  N.  Brennan. 

Gruetli  Verein. — By  18-45-48  quite  a  colony  of 
Swrss  had  settled  in  St.  Louis,  and  in  1848-49  (some 
say  a  year  or  two  earlier)  the  "  Swiss  Benevolent  So- 
ciety" was  formed.  It  appears  to  have  been  subordi- 
nate to  the  National  Gruetli  Verein,  which  was  or- 
ganized in  1848.  About  the  same  time  the  Gruetli 
Gesangverein  was  organized,  and  after  some  years  the 
two  societies  consolidated.  Both  had  good  libraries, 
and  the  benevolent  society  had  three  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars.  The  association  was  known  as  the  Gruetli 
Verein,  and  its  objects  were  beneficiary.  Ultimately 
the  song  section  withdrew  and  became  the  Swiss 
Maennerchor. 

The  Gruetli  Verein  was  one  of  the  first  of  the 
foreign  societies  to  parade  in  St.  Louis,  and  its  ap- 
pearance in  public  on  the  4th  of  July  and  November 
17th,  when  the  "  Gruetli  Oath"  was  celebrated,  occa- 
sioned much  comment.  One  of  its  conspicuous  mem- 


1766 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


bers  was  John  Bachman,  who  was  dressed  as  William 
Tell,  and  whose  gray  beard  fell  to  his  knees. 

In  1861  the  Gruetli  Verein  was  chartered,  the  in- 
corporators  being  J.  C.  Brandenberger,  Francis  J. 
Ackerman,  J.  J.  Kiburz,  John  Rudy,  Gregor  Meury, 
Ole  F.  Schneider,  J.  C.  Kaiser,  Noel  Kiburz,  and 
Charles  Ehrmann. 

During  the  war  it  lost  many  members  who  fought 
on  the  side  of  the  Union.  Since  then  its  career  has 
been  without  special  incident.  It  has  about  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  members,  and  pays  six  dollars  a  week 
for  sick  benefits,  and  three  hundred  dollars  in  case  of 
death.  Of  late  years  it  has  worked  independently  of 
any  outside  authority. 

The  present  officers  are:  President,  J.  C.  Mueller; 
Vice-President, '  John  Meyer;  Secretary,  G.  Hegg  ; 
Financial  Secretary,  John  Grob ;  Treasurer,  Conrad 
Hippenmeier  ;  Librarian,  J.  Schlach. 

Sons  of  Temperance. — This  order  originated  in 
New  York  in  1842,  and  in  February,  1844,  A. 
Spalding,  of  St.  Louis,  petitioned  the  National  Di- 
vision for  a  charter  for  a  division  in  St.  Louis,  which 
was  granted,  and  St.  Louis  Division,  No.  1,  was  organ- 
ized, probably  during  the  same  year.  In  1846,  Henry 
Stagg,  the  Recording  Scribe  of  the  division  (a  well- 
known  lawyer),  and  W.  F.  Chase  represented  Mis- 
souri in  the  National  Division.  On  the  5th  of  May, 
1847,  the  Grand  Division  of  Missouri  was  instituted 
by  William  S.  Stewart,  Deputy  M.  W.  P.  Five  di- 
visions existed  in  Missouri,  and  Rev.  C.  B.  Parsons, 
D.D.,  was  the  first  Grand  Worthy  Patriarch.  Among 
the  prominent  members  of  that  body  were  Bernard 
Bryan,  Ira  Vail,  J.  R.  Lackland,  Rev.  W.  Z.  Protts- 
man,  Jonathan  Jones,  James  Spore,  John  B.  Higdon, 
William  A.  Lynch,  Isaac  N.  Hedges,  and  T.  H.  Cav- 
anaugh.  William  S.  Stewart  was  a  prominent  Odd- 
Fellow,  and  had  been  Grand  Master  of  the  I.  0.  0.  F. 
Grand  Lodge. 

The  records  of  the  Grand  Division  of  Missouri  are 
lost,  and  details  of  the  progress  of  the  order  in  the 
city  are  very  meagre.     Bernard   Bryan   represented 
the  State  in  the  National  Division  in  1848,  and  re- 
ported two  thousand  two  hundred  and  eight  members  ;  j 
in  1849  three  thousand  three  hundred  and  seventy  j 
members  were  reported.     At  one  period  before  the  i 
war  there  were  one  hundred  divisions  in  the  State,  j 
with  perhaps  fifteen  thousand  members,  but  the  war 
nearly  destroyed  the  order,  leaving  but  eight  or  ten 
divisions,  with  only  about  two  hundred  members.    In 
St.  Louis  there  were  ten  divisions  before  the  war,  with 
a  membership  of  one  thousand  to  fifteen   hundred. 
There  is  now  but  one  St.  Louis  division,  No.  1,  about 
fifty  members.     There  are  six  divisions  in  Missouri,  ' 


with   some   three   hundred    members.     The    present 
Grand  Division  officers  are — 

G.  W.  P.,  P.  R.  Ridgeley,  Palmyra;  G.  W.  A.,  Miss  R.  E. 
Anderson,  Palmyra;  G.  S.,  J.  J.  Garver,  St.  Louis;  G.  T., 
Mrs.  F.  E.  Lane,  Palmyra ;  G.  Chap.,  Rev.  M.  M.  Hawkins, 
Palmyra;  G.  Con.,  N.  W.  Dunn,  Philadelphia;  G.  Sent.,  J.  W. 
Tattman,  Philadelphia;  E.  II.  Hulin,  Palmyra,  P.  G.  W.  P. 

Catholic  Total  Abstinence  and  Benevolent  So- 
ciety.— This  society  was  the  pioneer  of  all  the  Catho- 
lic temperance  societies  which  have  sprung  up  within 
the  past  thirty  years.  It  was  organized  on  the  15th 
of  August,  1848,  by  the  Rev.  John  Higginbotham, 
a  retired  chaplain  of  the  British  army.  He  was  the 
pastor  of  St.  John's  Catholic  Church,  and  built  the 
new  St.  John's  Church,  and  remained  at  the  head  of 
the  society  until  he  left  St.  Louis,  which  was  about 
1855.  He  went  to  Halifax,  N.  S.,  and  started  a 
similar  and  flourishing  society  there,  and  then  re- 
entered  the  British  service.  After  some  years  he 
was  retired,  and  is  now  living  in  England  with  the 
rank  of  colonel. 

The  second  president  of  the  society  was  Rev.  James 
Bannon,  who  in  1861  or  1862  entered  the  Confeder- 
ate service  as  chaplain,  and  after  the  war  returned  to 
Dublin,  where  he  is  living,  a  Jesuit  Father,  and 
regarded  as  one  of  the  ablest  preachers  in  Ireland. 
The  third  president  was  the  Rev.  James  O'Brien,  who 
in  1863  or  1864  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Father 
Henry,  who  has  been  the  president  uninterruptedly 
ever  since.  Father  O'Brien  is  reported  to  be  teach- 
ing in  a  college  in  Illinois. 

The  first  officers  of  the  society  were — 

President,  Rev.  John  Higginbotham ;  Vice-President,  Michael 
McEnnis;  Secretary,  Thomas  Lawless;  Treasurer,  Michael 
Hogan ;  Grand  Marshal,  Col.  Joseph  Kelley. 

Of  these  officers,  Father  Higginbotham,  as  previ- 
ously stated,  is  still  living.  Mr.  McEnnis  is  also  still 
alive,  and  in  1881  was  president  of  the  Merchants' 
Exchange.  He  was  succeeded  by  Dennis  Kehoe,  who 
is  dead.  James  Mulholland  was  the  second  secretary, 
and  the  third  secretary  was  Patrick  Sullivan,  who  has 
filled  that  office  for  many  years.  Michael  Hogan  was 
treasurer  for  a  number  of  years,  and  then  Michael 
Whelan.  Both  are  dead.  The  next  treasurer  was 
Edmund  Burke,  and  the  next  was  Michael  E.  Smith, 
who  was  succeeded  by  Michael  Clary,  who  has  held 
the  office  for  nearly  a  decade. 

Until  the  civil  war  the  society  had  seasons  of  great 
prosperity,  and  at  one  time  nearly  one  thousand  mem- 
bers were  enrolled.  The  war  caused  a  serious  divis- 
ion, and  many  of  the  members  enlisted,  some  on 
the  side  of  the  Confederacy,  but  the  great  majority 
in  the  Union  army.  After  the  war  the  society  was 


RELIGIOUS,  BENEVOLENT,  SOCIAL,  SECRET,  AND  OTHER   ORGANIZATIONS.      1767 


subjected  to  loss  by  reason  of  the  establishment  of 
numerous  beneficiary  orders,  which  attracted  tho 
young  men  ;  consequently  it  is  now  composed  princi- 
pally of  middle-aged  and  old  members.  Originally 
established  purely  as  a  temperance  society,  relying  on 
moral  inducements,  it  was  found  expedient  some  years 
ago  to  adopt  certain  beneficiary  features,  viz.  :  Funeral 
benefits  of  one  dollar  per  capita  on  the  death  of  a 
member  ;  seventy-five  dollars  on  the  death  of  a  mem- 
ber's wife,  and  five  dollars  per  week  sick  benefits. 
The  society  is  not  secret,  and  it  is  confined  to  Catho- 
lics. The  present  membership  numbers  nearly  three 
hundred,  and  the  present  officers  are — 

President,  Rev.  Father  James  Henry;  First  Vice- President, 
Robert  Kelleher;  Second  Vice-President,  Thomas  J.  Donahue; 
Secretary,  Patrick  Sullivan;  Treasurer,  Michael  Cleary;  Mar- 
shal, James  Duffy  ;  Messenger,  Dennis  Daly. 

In  relieving  distress  and  in  assisting  those  of  in- 
firm will  to  escape  the  bondage  of  drink,  the  society 
has  done  an  amount  of  good  that  cannot  be  estimated. 

Independent  Order  of  Good  Templars. — This 
popular  temperance  organization  originated  in  Central 
New  York  in  1852,  and  was  the  first  society  of  any 
kind  to  admit  women  to  every  position  of  official  dig- 
nity and  honor  on  equal  terms  with  men.  The  first 
lodge  in  Missouri  was  established  at  Booneville,  April 
25,  1854,  by  B.  F.  Mills,  a  prominent  member  of 
the  Sons  of  Temperance,  who  during  a  visit  to  the 
East  in  the  interest  of  that  order  was  initiated  into  a 
Good  Templars'  lodge,  and  returned  full  of  enthusiasm 
for  this  new  temperance  institution.  The  first  lodge 
in  St.  Louis  was  instituted  early  in  1855,  and  soon 
after,  in  the  order  named,  St.  Louis  Lodge,  Lily  of 
the  Valley  Lodge,  and  Mound  Lodge  were  established. 
Mr.  Mills  was  the  instituting  officer  of  all  these. 

On  the  14th  of  March,  1855,  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
Missouri  was  established  in  St.  Louis.  .  So  rapidly 
had  the  order  grown  that  there  were  seventy-seven 
lodges  and  several  hundred  Good  Templars  in  the 
State,  yet  at  the  institution  of  the  Grand  Lodge  only 
eleven  lodges  were  represented,  located  in  Alexandria, 
Columbia,  California,  Farmington,  Paris,  Platte  City, 
Springfield,  Warsaw,  two  at  Warrenton,  and  one 
(Mound  Lodge)  at  St.  Louis,  the  delegate  from  the 
latter  being  Mrs.  Jane  P.  Moon,  still  a  resident  of 
St.  Louis,  who  has  been  uninterruptedly  a  member  of 
the  order.  The  first  Grand  Worthy  Chief  Templar 
of  Missouri  was  Col.  William  F.  Switzler,  of  Colum- 
bia, and  of  the  fifteen  members  of  that  Grand  Lodge 
he  and  Mrs.  Moon  are  believed  to  be  the  only  sur- 
vivors. The  first  officers  of  the  Grand  Lodge  were — 

Grand  Worthy  Chief  Templar,  Col.  William  F.  Switzler, 
Columbia;  Vice-Templar,  Mrs.  Jane  Walker;  Counselor,  R. 


E.  Blakeley  ;  Secretary,  B.  H.  Mills;  Treasurer,  E.  E.  Pleasant; 
Chaplain,  Rev.  W.  M.  Rush  ;  Marshal,  H.  B.  Callahan. 

Up  to  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  the  order  flour- 
ished in  St.  Louis,  and  among  its  promoters  were 
John  F.  Grandy  (now  dead),  who  became  Grand  Sec- 
retary and  Grand  Worthy  Chief  Templar  ;  John  Libby 
(now  dead),  who  became  Grand  Secretary,  and  who  at 
one  time  edited  a  temperance  paper ;  John  Campbell, 
now  of  Moberly  Mound,  who  also  became  Grand 
Worthy  Chief  Templar  ;  C.  S.  Barrett,  a  lumber  mer- 
chant of  Carondelet ;  R.  R.  Scott,  still  living,  and  for 
several  years  one  of  the  most  energetic  Grand  Secre- 
taries the  Grand  Lodge  ever  had ;  and  Timothy  Par- 
sons, an  active  member  of  several  other  temperance 
societies. 

When  the  war  broke  out  the  Good  Templars  had 
nearly  five  hundred  lodges  in  Missouri,  but  that  con- 
test nearly  broke  the  order  up,  and  when  the  first 
Grand  Lodge  met  after  the  war  only  about  twenty- 
five  lodges  responded  to  the  call.  In  St.  Louis,  how- 
ever, the  order  did  not  greatly  suffer,  as  the  lodges 
were  recruited  from  the  numerous  bodies  of  soldiers 
in  the  city,  and  one  of  the  most  flourishing  lodges 
was  the  one  in  connection  with  the  camp  at  the  Fair 
Grounds.  The  Good  Templars  reached  their  greatest 
prosperity  in  St.  Louis  after  the  war,  when,  under 
R.  R.  Scott's  Grand  Secretaryship,  there  were  eleven 
lodges  in  the  city,  with  about  twelve  hundred  mem- 
bers. There  are  now  eight  lodges  in  St.  Louis,  as 
follows : 

Anchor,  No.  1 ;  Lily  of  the  Valley,  No.  5;  Resolute,  No.  216; 
Our  Neighbors,  No.  233 ;  Hope,  No.  963 ;  Western  Star,  No.  58  ; 
North  Star,  No.  904 ;  Lone  Star,  No.  44 ;  Meramec,  No.  46. 

The  present  officers  of  the  Grand  Lodge  are  as 
follows : 

G.  W.  C.  T.,  W.  F.  Switzler,  Columbia,  Mo. ;  G.  W.  C.,  J.  T. 
Nesbit,  Paris,  Mo.;  G.  W.  V.  T.,  Mrs.  Mary  J.  Alexander,  St. 
Louis;  G.  W.  Sec.,  W.  D.  Crandali,  Brookfield,  Mo.:  G.  W. 
Treas.,  Mrs.  Ann  W.  Broughton,  Paris,  Mo. ;  G.  W.  Chap.,  T.  J. 
Hutchinsou,  Springfield,  Mo. ;  G.  M.,  R.  Brookes,  Frederick- 
town,  Mo.;  Supt.  of  Juvenile  Templars,  Mrs.  Jane  P.  Moon, 
St.  Louis. 

Several  attempts  have  been  made  to  organize  lodges 
among  the  colored  people  of  St.  Louis,  but  without 
much  success. 

The  order  has  not  been  beneficial,  but  in  1881  the 
Grand  Lodge  authorized  the  organization  of  a  Mutual 
Benefit  Association,  and  in  May,  1882,  the  "  Good 
Templars'  Mutual  Bepefit  Association  of  America" 
was  reported  organized,  with  headquarters  at  Colum- 
bia, Mo.  It  embraces  insurance  for  one  thousand, 
two  thousand,  three  thousand,  four  thousand,  and  five 
thousand  dollars. 

The    Shamrock    Society. — In    the   summer    of 


1708 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


1854  a  riot  occurred  in  St.  Louis,  continuing  three 
days,  and  among  the  victims  were  many  Irishmen. 
While  engaged  in  caring  for  their  injured  country- 
men, some  of  the  leading  Irishmen  of  that  period  pro- 
jected the  establishment  of  a  permanent  society  to 
relieve  the  wants  of  their  distressed  compatriots,  and 
in  September,  1854,  the  Shamrock  Society  was  or- 
ganized. The  meeting  was  held  at  the  house  of  Pat- 
rick Moran,  Eighth  and  Biddle  Streets,  and  among 
those  participating  were  M.  J.  Dolan,  William  Hughes, 
William  Delehunt,  Patrick  O'Neill,  Edward  Lester, 
Martin  Keary,  and  several  others.  Edward  Lester 
was  the  first  president.  The  object  of  the  society 
was  declared  to  be  beneficial,  embracing  sick  benefits 
of  five  dollars  per  week,  and  an  assessment  of  one 
dollar  per  member  in  case  of  death.  The  society 
flourished  up  to  the  war,  and  at  one  time  had  nearly 
three  hundred  members.  During  the  war  it  suffered 
from  political  divisions,  but  since  that  period  has  had 
a  prosperous  but  unostentatious  career,  and  now  num- 
bers about  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  members. 
It  is  not  a  secret  society.  While  exclusively  a  St. 
Louis  organization,  it  is  in  correspondence  with  the 
Irish  Catholic  Benevolent  Union,  and  traveling  mem- 
bers receive  help  if  needed.  Safeguards,  however, 
are  provided  for  the  protection  of  the  society  against 
fraud.  The  present  officers  are — 

President,  Patrick  Monahan  ;  Vice-President,  Richard 
Reddy ;  Recording  Secretary,  Thomas  Cullinane;  Financial 
Secretary,  John  Walsh;  Treasurer,  John  Hall. 

Chapter  of  Temperance  and  Wisdom.— On 
Sept.  5,  1859,  some  young  men  who  had  been  mem- 
bers of  a  temperance  order  for  young  people  in  Buffalo, 
N.  Y.,  organized  Mount  Vernon  Chapter  of  Temper- 
ance and  Wisdom  of  St.  Louis.  The  charter  members 
were  D.  R.  Mason,  H.  D.  Moore,  C.  F.  Parsons,  M. 
Dole,  David  Daniels,  M.  D.  Degge,  Charles  C.  Lacey, 
Franklin  Lacey,  A.  J.  Fox,  Henry  Fox,  and  D.  R. 
Mason  was  the  first  presiding  officer  (or  king).  In 
1860  the  Grand  Chapter  of  Missouri  was  organized, 
the  Grand  King  being  Timothy  Parsons.  This  chap- 
ter assumed  supreme  functions,  and  issued  charters 
for  chapters  in  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  and  Springfield,  Mo., 
besides  organizing  several  chapters  in  St.  Louis, — 
Perseverance  Chapter,  in  1870;  North  Star  Chapter, 
in  1872;  and  Silver  Star  Chapter,  in  1873.  All 
these  chapters  were  very  successful  for  a  season,  and 
had  at  one  time  five  hundred  members  in  the  aggre- 
gate, but  eventually  all  died  except  one,  which  has 
about  one  hundred  members.  The  order  was  specially 
designed  for  the  young,  and  the  ritual  was  showy  and 
attractive.  The  existing  chapter  has  the  following 
officers : 


Grand  King,  H.  D.  Moore;  Grand  Queen,  Emma  R.  Barnes; 
Grand  Marshal,  J.  W.  Barnes  ;  Grand  Recorder,  J.  J.  Garver; 
Grand  Treasurer,  Alexander  McAllister. 

The  Catholic  Knights  of  America,  organized  at 
Nashville,  Term.,  about  the  year  1874,  for  mutual 
aid  and  support,  is  a  beneficiary  order,  paying  two 
thousand  dollars  death  benefits,  and  sick  benefits  at 
the  option  of  the  subordinate  branch.  In  St.  Louis 
the  first  branch  of  the  order  was  organized  Sept.  4, 
1879,  by  J.  W.  Mertz,  J.  W.  Rooney,  P.  O'Brien, 
James  Mullen,  A.  R.  Rivet,  Robert  Parkinson, 
F.  W.  Stephens,  J.  P.  Kane,  and  Daniel  Gray. 
Among  other  prominent  promoters  of  the  order  in 
St.  Louis  are  J.  St.  Cyr,  J.  W.  O'Connell,  J.  Guig- 
non,  P.  Monahan,  Dr.  F.  Lutz,  M.  J.  Brennan,  A. 
Finney,  John  J.  O'Neill,  J.  Moran,  M.  Haughey,  F. 
A.  Rogers,  Henry  McCabe,  M.  W.  Hogan,  and  others. 
There  are  thirteen  branches  in  St.  Louis,  with  about 
nine  hundred  members.  The  membership  in  Mis- 
souri is  about  fourteen  hundred.  The  State  Council 
was  organized  April  12,  1882,  with  the  following 
officers : 

Spiritual  Director,  Rev.  W.  II.  Brantner,  St.  Louis;  Presi- 
dent, John  J.  Thompson,  St.  Louis;  Vice-President,  H.  B. 
Denker,  St.  Charles ;  Secretary,  P.  O'Brien,  St.  Louis ;  Treas- 
urer, James  Glass,  Sedalia. 

The  Band  of  Hope. — The  Chapter  of  Temperance 
and  Wisdom  may  justly  be  regarded  as  the  parent  of 
an  important  and  useful  organization  among  the  young 
known  as  "  Bands  of  Hope."  To  these  youth  of 
both  sexes  are  admitted,  and  the  pledge  enjoins  absti- 
nence from  tobacco,  profanity,  and  intoxicating  liquors. 
The  first  band  was  organized  April  14,  1861,  and  the 
chief  promoter  was  H.  D.  Moore,  who  had  been  a 
prominent  worker  in  all  the  temperance  orders  of 
the  period.  Five  small  boys  were  all  that  could  be 
mustered  for  charter  members.  One  of  them  was 
chosen  president,  but  soon  Mr.  Moore  was  elected 
to  that  position,  and  has  occupied  it  continuously 
until  the  present.  The  society  grew  rapidly,  and  at 
intervals  has  had  five  hundred  members,  and  for  the 
past  ten  years  has  averaged  three  hundred.  It  has 
assisted  in  the  organization  of  numerous  societies  of 
a  similar  character,  many  of  which  flourished  for  a 
season  and  finally  died,  but  several  still  live  and  are 
doing  well. 

The  band  was  organized  at  the  corner  of  Wash- 
ington Avenue  and  Fourth  Street,  over  what  was 
then  Tichnor's  clothing-store;  it  met  here  a  year, 
and  subsequently  for  six  years  at  Dr.  Post's  church, 
Tenth  and  Locust  Streets ;  it  then  made  several 
changes,  and  occupied  the  "  old  Ebenezer  Church," 
Seventh  Street  and  Washington  Avenue,  where  it  was- 


RELIGIOUS,  BENEVOLENT,  SOCIAL,  SECRET,  AND  OTHER   ORGANIZATIONS.      1769 


burned  out.  After  one  or  two  more  removals  it 
located  in  il  Avenue  Hall,"  northeast  corner  of  Wash- 
ington Avenue  and  Ninth  Streets,  in  a  building  erected 
by  Mr.  Moore  himself,  but  the  Lindell  Hotel  having 
been  destroyed  by  fire,  and  Washington  Avenue  greatly 
impaired  for  business  purposes,  Mr.  Moore's  invest- 
ment proved  a  poor  one,  and  the  society  had  to 
abandon  the  hall  and  returned  to  Dr.  Post's  church, 
which  it  has  occupied  for  ten  or  twelve  years. 

The  society  is  claimed  to  have  accomplished  an  im- 
mense amount  of  good.  It  is  asserted  that  fully  one- 
half  of  the  members  of  the  adult  temperance  societies  are 
graduates  from  the  Band  of  Hope.  More  than  sixty 
of  the  female  teachers  in  the  St.  Louis  public  schools 
were  members  of  the  band,  and  the  boys  who  have 
graduated  from  the  same  organization  are  now  num- 
bered among  the  best  of  St.  Louis'  young  business 
men,  and  are  prominent  in  temperance  and  church 
work  in  the  city,  and  in  this  and  neighboring  States. 

The  list  of  those  who,  as  superintendents,  have  as- 
sisted Mr.  Moore  embraces  the  names  of  John  Libby, 
a  well-known  citizen,  now  dead  ;  Mrs.  S.  S.  Gannett, 
a  lady  noted  for  her  philanthropy ;  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cof- 
land ;  Dr.  T.  H.  Hammond ;  H.  Eberly,  a  promi- 
nent real  estate  broker,  and  J.  W.  Barnes,  a  well- 
known  builder,  the  last  of  whom  has  been  superin- 
tendent for  several  years. 

In  addition  to  Mount  Vernon  Band,  which  is  the 
pioneer,  there  are  five  bands  in  various  parts  of  the 
city.  The  full  list  is  as  follows : 

Name  and  Number.  Where  Located.  Membership. 

Mount  Vernon,  No.  1 Central  St.  Louis 300 

Fainnount,  No.  2 Salisbury  St.,  North  St.  Louis...  600 

Anchor,  No.  :', St.  Louis  Avenue  and  18th  St....  400 

Central,  No. -1 Twenty -fourth  anil  Morgan 300 

Washington,  No.  ."> North  St.  Louis 450 

Western  Star,  No.  0 Elleardsville,  West  St.  Louis 250 

Total 2300 

Anchor  Band  of  Hope  is  composed  largely  of  youth 
of  German  parentage.  Its  superintendent  is  Charles 
Goessling,  a  young  German. 

Father  Mathew  Young  Men's  Total  Absti- 
nence and  Benevolent  Society. — The  object  of 
this  association  is  to  inculcate  and  encourage  temper- 
ance, and  provide  a  fund  for  the  families  of  deceased 
members,  etc.  Members  are  pledged  to  total  absti- 
nence. It  is  named  after  Father  Mathew,  the  distin- 
guished Irish  temperance  apostle,  who  visited  St. 
Louis  in  the  spring  of  1850,  and  its  members  are 
of  Irish  lineage.  This  society  was  instituted  in  St. 
Louis  in  1870,  and  among  the  charter  members  were 
Thomas  Fox,  Edward  Devoy,  James  Hagerty,  John 
D.  Hagerty,  James  McGraw,  James  J.  McGeary, 
Francis  Lacey,  Charles  F.  Irving,  and  Martin  Duddy. 


It  is  confined  to  St.  Louis,  and  there  is  but  one  coun- 
cil of  the  order  in  the  city.  A  benefit  of  two  dollars 
from  each  member  is  paid  on  the  death  of  a  member. 
In  1873  the  council  was  most  prosperous,  having 
thirteen  hundred  members ;  the  membership  now  is 
about  three  hundred  and  fifty.  The  present  officers 
are — 

President,  Jeremiah  Sheehan  ;  First  Vice-President,  Matthew 
Bond;  Second  Vice- President,  James  Hennessy ;  Recording 
Secretary,  S.  M.  Ryan  ;  Financial  Secretary,  James  Hagerty ; 
Treasurer,  Patrick  Cassidy. 

United  Hebrew  Relief  Association. — This  as- 
sociation of  the  Hebrews  of  St.  Louis  originated  in 
1871,  when  the  great  fire  in  Chicago  scattered  thou- 
sands of  the  Jews  of  that  city.  Hundreds  of  them 
sought  shelter  in  St.  Louis.  They  found  the  He- 
brews of  the  city  totally  unprepared  to  meet  the  un- 
expected draft  upon  their  energies.  Nevertheless  a 
number  of  young  unmarried  Hebrews  hastily  organ- 
ized a  temporary  relief  committee,  with  Augustus 
Binswanger  as  chairman,  and  among  the  other  mem- 
bers the  names  of  Lewis  Hutzler,  Nathaniel  Myers, 
and  Simon  Popper  have  been  recorded.  A  call  for 
a  meeting  to  organize  permanently  to  relieve  the 
distressed  Hebrews  from  Chicago  was  seconded  by 
Abraham  Kramer,  president  of  Congregation  Shaare 
Emeth  ;  Adolph  Isaac,  president  of  United  Hebrew 
Congregation ;  and  L.  R.  Straub,  president  of  Con- 
gregation B'nai  El.  Pursuant  thereto  a  meeting  was 
held  Oct.  17,  1871,  at  the  synagogue,  then  at  the 
corner  of  St.  Charles  and  Sixth  Streets,  and  the 
United  Hebrew  Relief  Association  was  organized. 
The  officers  were  as  follows : 

President,  B.  Singer;  Vice-President,  A.Jacobs;  Treasurer, 
William  Goldstein;  Secretary,  Augustus  Binswanger;  Corre- 
sponding Secretary,  Nathaniel  Myers ;  Directors,  William 
Keller,  Isaac  Baer,  Moses  Fraley,  Lewis  Hutzler,  Simon  Popper, 
Joseph  Baum. 

The  association  pushed  forward  with  great  energy 
the  work  of  relieving  the  needs  of  the  Chicago  suf- 
ferers, and  took  its  place  as  one  of  the  established  and 
permanent  Jewish  institutions  of  the  city,  its  province 
being  to  care  for  indigent  Hebrews,  whether  transient 
or  resident.  It  has  also  established  and  maintained 
an  employment  bureau,  which  has  proved  of  great 
benefit.  For  the  ten  years  from  1871  (when  it  was 
organized)  until  1881  the  association  disbursed  thirty- 
eight  thousand  one  hundred  and  ninety  dollars  and 
thirty-five  cents  for  relief,  besides  laying  aside  seven 
thousand  two  hundred  dollars  for  a  Home  for  Aged 
and  Infirm  Israelites. 

During  the  winter  of  1881-82  the  association  un- 
dertook the  work  of  caring  for  such  Hebrew  refugees, 


1770 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


the  victims  of  Russian  persecution,  as  might  be  sent 
thither,  and  afforded  relief  and  found  situations  for 
a  large  number  of  immigrants. 

The  present  officers  of  the  association  are — 

President,  B.  Hysinger;  Vice-President,  L.  M.  Ilellman; 
Secretary,  Augustus  Binswanger;  Treasurer,  M.  Levy;  Direc- 
tors, B.  Eisemann,  A.  Fisher,  George  Lewis,  B.  Cohen,  A.  Rosen- 
thai,  Rev.  Dr.  Rosenthal,  Rev.  Dr.  M.  Spitz,  Rev.  H.  J.  Mes- 
sing, 11.  Weil;  Superintendent,  L.  Wolfner;  Medical  Staff,  Dr. 
Bernard  Block,  Dr.  M.  J.  Epstein,  Dr.  J.  Friedman,  Dr.  H.  Tu- 
holske,  Dr.  Moritz  Block,  Dr.  W.  E.  Fischel,  Dr.  F.  Kolbeu- 
heyer,  Dr.  S.  Pollitzer. 

Knights  of  Father  Mathew. — This  order  was 
instituted  on  Ascension  Thursday,  May  9,  1872, 
under  the  title  of  "  Knights  of  Father  Mathew,  St. 
Louis,  Mo.,"  with  Thomas  Fox  as  president;  Thomas 
E.  Phelan,  vice-president ;  John  Rohlf,  corresponding 
secretary;  John  McGrath,  financial  secretary;  and 
John  B.  Haggerty,  treasurer.  Total  abstinence  was 
the  corner-stone  of  the  organization.  All  members 
were  required  to  appear  in  uniform  on  public  occa- 
sions, and  to  be  thoroughly  drilled.  The  organization 
continued  in  its  original  form  for  some  nine  years, 
with  an  average  membership  of  about  one  hundred. 
On  the  18th  of  July,  1881,  the  order  was  incorpo- 
rated under  the  title  of  "  Knights  of  Father  Mathew 
of  Missouri,"  with  the  following  charter  members : 
Rev.  P.  F.  O'Reilly,  Thomas  Fox,  Patrick  Long, 
Daniel  O'C.  Tracy,  John  B.  Haggerty,  James  Hagerty, 
Michael  Larisey,  Patrick  Mulcahy,  Michael  J.  Ratch- 
ford,  James  Walsh,  John  H.  Gamble,  James  Meegan, 
James  Hardy,  Festus  J.  Wade.  An  insurance  fea- 
ture of  two  thousand  dollars  was  added  to  the  provi- 
sions requiring  members  to  be  Catholics  and  to  prac- 
tice total  abstinence.  The  "  new  departure"  proved  j 
immensely  popular.  Within  a  year  the  membership  i 
was  increased  to  nearly  one  thousand,  and  but  one  • 
death  had  occurred. 

There  are  twelve  councils  in  St.  Louis,  as  follows : 

St.  Louis,  No.  1 ;  St.  John's,  No.  2 ;  Annunciation,  No.  3  ; 
St.  Patrick's,  No.  4:  St.  Lawrence  O'Toole's,  No.  5;  St.  Mala- 
chy's,  No.  6 ;  St.  Teresa's,  No.  7 ;  St.  Bridget's,  No.  8 ;  St. 
Mary  and  St.  Joseph's,  No.  9;  Emerald,  No.  10;  Immaculate 
Conception,  No.  11;  Cathedral,  No.  12. 

Connected  with  the  order  is  a  literary  and  debating 
society,  which  holds  frequent  debates  and  other 
exercises.  D.  O'C.  Tracy  is  its  president.  There 
is  a  ritual  appropriate  and  special  to  the  order. 
While  the  society  is  in  no  sense  a  secret  one,  as 
commonly  understood,  it  claims  and  exercises  the 
right  of  legitimate  privacy  in  all  its  affairs.  Father 
John  O'Neil,  S.J.,  of  the  St.  Louis  University,  was 
the  first  spiritual  director.  His  successors  were  Father 
E.  A.  Noonan  and  Rev.  Father  P.  F.  O'Reilly.  The 


following  are  the  officers  and  members  of  the  Supreme 
Council : 

Supreme  Chief  Sir  Knight,  Rev.  P.  F.  O'Reilly;  Deputy  Su- 
preme Chief  Sir  Knight,  Patrick  Mulcahy;  Supreme  Recorder, 
Charles  C.  Concannon;  Supreme  Banker,  John  B.  Haggerty; 
Supreme  Financial  Recorder,  Thomas  Morris;  Supreme  Medi- 
cal Examiner,  Dr.  E.  L.  Feehan;  Supreme  Sentinel,  Thomas 
Fox.  Members  of  Executive  Board,  Daniel  O'Connell  Tracy, 
John  Clark,  James  Hennessy,  Richard  T.  Sheehy.  Members  of 
Supreme  Council,  Festus  J.  Wade,  Thomas  P.  Culkin,  James 
Hardy,  James  Meegan,  M.  J.  Ratchford,  Michael  Larisey, 
Dennis  Dunn,  Thomas  Carroll,  John  H.  Gamble,  James  Hag- 
gerty, James  Walsh,  J.  B.  Hagerty,  John  W.  O'Connell, 
John  Marriner,  Patrick  Long,  John  Hunt,  Thomas  F.  Doyle, 
John  Coughlin,  James  K.  Grace,  P.  J.  Harris,  Thomas  Horan. 

The  Central  St.  Louis  Unterstuetzungs  Verein 
is  a  secret  benevolent  socrety  of  German  ladies,  organ- 
ized Jan.  28, 1878,  and  with  one  hjmdred  and  twenty- 
five  members.  The  officers  are — 

President,  Katrine  Zilek ;  Vice-President,  Marie  Vindel ; 
Secretary,  Mrs.  Sophia  Krage;  Financial  Secretary,  Mrs.  Ka- 
trine Roesner;  Treasurer,  Mrs.  Sophia  Brown. 

The  Spiritual  Association  was  incorporated  in 
November,  1882,  by  John  B.  Crocker,  president;  C. 
H.  Crocker,  vice-president;  E.  M.  Moore,  secretary; 
and  S.  T.  De  Wolf,  treasurer ;  Miss  May  Bangs,  C. 
Burrows,  E.  E.  Weber,  August  Wobe,  and  William 
F.  Burrows.  The  objects  of  the  association  are  to 
ameliorate  all  conditions  of  suffering  and  distress  by 
establishing  retreats  for  the  infirm,  and  hygienic  in- 
stitutions for  the  prevention  as  well  as  cure  of  all 
physical  diseases  and  moral  disturbances,  "  to  afford 
material  aid  and  protection  in  the  exercise  of  those 
spiritual  gifts  and  mediumistic  qualities  with  which  its 
members  may  be  endowed,  and  to  guarantee  the  rights 
of  private  judgment,  liberty  of  conscience,  and  uni- 
versal toleration  in  matters  of  opinion."  The  Spiritu- 
alists established  themselves  in  St.  Louis  in  1860. 
Their  meetings  are  held  at  the  Mercantile  Library  Hall. 
Charles  Tuckett  is  the  president. 

The  Liberal  League  was  incorporated  in  1871. 
The  meetings  are  held  in  a  hall  on  the  corner  of 
Eleventh  and  Olive  Streets.  The  membership  num- 
bers about  three  hundred.  Charles  Kershaw  is  presi- 
dent;  Mrs.  Jackson,  secretary;  and  John  Penibling, 
treasurer. 

The  Turnverein. — As  stated  elsewhere,  the  failure 
of  the  German  revolution  of  1848  and  the  vehement 
persecution  of  the  men  engaged  in  it  drove  to  this 
country  thousands  of  the  most  advanced  thinkers  and 
most  energetic  spirits  of  Germany.  Most  of  them 
had  been  schooled  in  the  celebrated  gymnasium  (or 
turnschukn)  of  "  Father  Jahn,"  and  they  at  once 
proceeded  to  establish  that  system  of  training  in  their 
adopted  country. 


RELIGIOUS,  BENEVOLENT,  SOCIAL,  SECRET,  AND  OTHER   ORGANIZATIONS.      1771 


Ou  the  12th  of  May,  1850,  Carl  Speck,  F.  Roeser, 
L.  Barthels,  Carl  B.  Dieckride,  Johann  Bolland, 
Theodor  Hildebrandt,  Wilhelm  Meyer,  Willibald 
Moll,  and  Wilhelm  Grahl  met  and  organized  a  gym- 
nastic society  (or  turnvereiii),  and  called  it  Bestrebung 
(or  Endeavor),  but  soon  afterwards  they  gave  it  the 
name  of  St.  Louis  Turnverein.  For  two  or  three 
years  the  young  society  had  modest  quarters  at  or 
near  Collins  and  Cherry  Streets,  but  being  cramped 
for  room  the  leasehold  of  a  lot  on  Tenth  Street  near 
Market  was  secured,  a  stock  company  was  organized, 
and  on  the  12th  of  November,  1855,  the  corner-stone 
of  the  present  Central  Turnhalle  was  laid.  In  Novem- 
ber, 1858,  the  building,  a  spacious  one  for  those  days 
and  considering  the  size  of  the  society,  was  dedi- 
cated. 

In  1852  the  Verein  was  divided,  and  the  Missouri 
and  Germania  Associations  were  successively  organ- 
ized;  but  they  were  short-lived,  and  many,  of  the 
seceders  returned  to  the  mother  organization,  which 
went  into  the  new  building  with  one  hundred  and 
fifty  members. 

When  the  war  broke  out  five  hundred  names  were 
enrolled,  but  on  the  fijst  call  for  troops  many  of  the 
members  enlisted,  and  as  the  conflict  progressed 
hardly  enough  Turners  were  left  to  keep  the  society 
in  existence.  The  first  Turner  platform  obligated 
every  member  to  oppose  slavery  in  every  form  with 
all  his  power,  and  it  was  therefore  natural  that  the 
Turner  should  heartily  espouse  the  cause  of  the 
Union.  Long  before  hostilities  were  declared,  their 
hall  was  a  gathering-place  where  the  members  prepared 
for  the  contest  which  many  felt  was  imminent,  and 
their  stanch  advocacy  of  Union  principles  in  those 
early  days,  as  well  as  their  readiness  to  go  forth  and 
fight  for  them,  first  directed  general  attention  to  the 
Turners  and  their  system,  and  caused  them  to  be  re- 
garded with  much  greater  interest  than  had  hitherto 
been  the  case.  Whole  companies  of  volunteers,  and 
almost  whole  regiments,  were  composed  of  Turners, 
and  among  the  most  gallant  of  them  was  the  famous 
Seventeenth  Missouri,  or  the  "  Western  Turners' 
Regiment." 

When  the  war  was  over  the  Turnbund  was  organ- 
ized. The  St.  Louis  Verein  again  prospered,  its  only 
losses  being  the  depletions  it  has  sustained  from  the 
formation  of  six  additional  organizations. 

This  union  has  four  hundred  and  sixteen  members 
and  a  school  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  pupils.  Its 
hall  is  valued  at  twenty-five  thousand  seven  hundred 
dollars,  and  is'  clear  of  debt ;  and  it  has  a  library  of 
two  thousand  one  hundred  and  thirty-two  volumes, 
and  a  song  section  of  twenty-two  voices. 


The  verein  pays  sick  benefits  of  five  dollars  per 
week  and  funeral  benefits  of  one  hundred  dollars. 

The  present  officers  are  :  President,  C.  A.  Stifel, 
who  has  been  a  member  since  the  second  year ;  Vice- 
President,  Henry  Braun  ;  Recording  Secretary,  Louis 
Kaufman ;  Corresponding  Secretary,  Herman  Um- 
rath  ;  First  Cashier,  George  Klein  ;  Second  Cashier, 
William  Muegge  ;  Librarian,  Hugo  Gollmer. 

South  St.  Louis  Turnverein.  —  In  1865  the 
verein  established  a  turn-school  in  South  St.  Louis. 
During  that  year,  through  the  exertions  of  Messrs.  A. 
Krieckhaus,  C.  A.  Stifel,  and  Charles  Speck,  money  was 
raised  to  build  a  turnhalle,  and  in  the  fall  the  edifice 
was  ready.  It  was  located  at  the  corner  of  Ninth  and 
Julia  Streets.  For  four  years  it  served  as  the  train- 
ing-place for  the  youth  of  the  St.  Louis  Turnverein. 
On  Sunday,  Sept.  12,  1869,  some  members  of  the 
parent  verein  assembled  at  the  hall  and  formed  a 
new  turnverein,  the  second  organized  in  this  city. 
The  number  of  members  was  fifty-one,  and  the  first 
officers  were :  President,  F.  P.  Becker ;  Vice-Presi- 
dent, Jacob  von  Gerichten ;  Treasurer,  F.  Dietz ; 
Recording  Secretary,  F.  C.  P.  Tiedeman  ;  Corre- 
sponding Secretary,  John  Mohrstadt.  Of  the  original 
fifty-one  only  the  following  remain  with  the  union  : 
T.  Faust,  Henry  Rauth,  George  Loebs,  Theodore 
Rassieur,  Jacob  von  Gerichten,  C.  H.  Vortriede,  F. 
P.  Becker,  and  F.  C.  P.  Tiedemanu. 

The  society  rapidly  grew,  and  proved  a  great  con- 
venience to  Turners,  whom  distance  prevented  from 
frequently  visiting  the  Central  Turnhalle.  Eventually 
the  need  of  a  larger  hall  was  felt,  and  finally  a  lot  was 
bought  at  Tenth  and  Carroll  Streets,  and  on  May  15, 
1881,  the  corner-stone  of  a  new  building  was  laid, 
and  on  May  6, 1882,  the  new  hall  was  dedicated  with 
appropriate  exercises,  most  of  the  German  societies 
in  the  city  participating.  The  building  is  a  stately 
one,  and  is  one  hundred  and  seventeen  by  eighty-four 
feet,  two  stories  in  front  and  four  in  the  rear,  has  a 
large  hall  thirty  feet  high,  with  dressing-rooms,  a  bil- 
liard-room, etc.,  and  cost  twenty-one  thousand  dollars. 
It  was  built  by  stock  subscription,  and  there  is  a  debt 
of  eight  thousand  dollars  on  the  property. 

The  verein  has  two  hundred  and  seventy-seven 
members  and  a  school  of  three  hundred  and  fifty-seven 
pupils.  It  maintains  a  fund  for  sick  and  distressed 
members. 

The  present  officers  are  Francis  P.  Becker,  presi- 
dent; Francis  P.  Troll,  vice-president;  F.  C.  P.  Tiede- 
niann,  secretary;  William  Merkens,  treasurer. 

Socialer  Turnverein. — On  the  8th  of  October, 
1872,  a  dozen  Turners  organized  the  Socialer  Turn- 
verein, the  first  president  being  Charles  Wedig.  For 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


some  years  the  society  met  at  Sixteenth  and  Montgom- 
ery Streets,  but  had  a  struggling  life  until  it  gained 
prominence  by  the  occupancy  of  Sturgeon  Market  Hall. 
On  the  8th  of  September,  1878,  it  laid  the  corner- 
stone of  a  new  hall  at  Thirteenth  and  Monroe  Streets, 
and  on  Jan.  8,  1879,  the  building  was  dedicated. 
This  is  regarded  as  in  some  respects  the  finest  build- 
ing of  the  kind  in  the  city.  Its  dimensions  are  eighty 
by  one  hundred  and  twelve  feet,  and  its  gymnasium 
and  dance  hall  are  noteworthy  for  being  free  from 
pillars  and  resting  entirely  on  the  walls,  supported  by 
trusses.  The  hall  was  built  by  a  stock  association. 
It  cost  about  eighteen  thousand  dollars,  and  is  free  of 
debt.  The  society  has  also  personal  property  amounting 
to  nearly  three  thousand  dollars.  The  membership 
numbers  217  ;  scholars,  239 ;  library,  240  volumes. 
It  also  has  an  excellent  song  section  of  some  thirty 
voices.  The  society  levies  one  dollar  per  member  in  case 
of  death  for  the  benefit  of  the  heirs  of  the  deceased. 

The  present  officers  are :  President,  Henry  Over- 
schelp ;  Vice-President,  Mr.  Lammersick ;  Record- 
ing Secretary,  Mr.  Knoch  ;  Corresponding  Secretary, 
Odo  Stifel;  Cashier,  F.  W.  Wiesehahn ;  Second 
Cashier,  Charles  Link. 

Concordia  Turnverein. — In  December,  1875,  some 
thirty-two  persons,  mostly  members  of  the  Central 
Turnverein,  but  who  lived  too  far  from  the  Central 
Hall  to  conveniently  attend  the  society,  signed  a  call 
for  a  meeting  to  organize  a  turnverein  in  extreme 
Southern  St.  Louis,  and  on  Jan.  8,  1875,  the  society 
was  organized,  with  E.  F.  Schreiner,  president ;  Nich- 
olas Berg,  vice-president ;  J.  R.  Ballinger,  recording 
secretary;  C.  F.  Groffman,  corresponding  secretary; 
and  C.  C.  Goelde,  treasurer.  On  June  1, 1875,  articles 
of  incorporation  were  granted  C.  Schreiner,  R.  Glaess- 
ner,  J.  H.  Kassing,  C.  H.  L.  Hoffman,  and  Richard 
Fischer.  On  the  13th  of  October.  1876,  the  society 
was  incorporated  by  William  Hahn,  G.  W.  Hall,  C. 
F.  Vogel,  W.  J.  Lemp,  Hermann  Stamm,  and  C.  C. 
Goedde,  and  on  Jan.  24,  1877,  the  corner-stone  of  a 
new  hall  was  laid  at  Arsenal  and  Carondelet  Streets. 
On  the  18th  of  November,  1877,  the  building  was 
dedicated.  It  cost  nineteen  thousand  five  hundred  dol- 
lars, on  which  a  debt  of  two  thousand  dollars  remains. 
The  society  has  also  personal  property  valued  at  two 
thousand  three  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  The  mem- 
bership numbers  410;  pupils,  445  ;  library,  300  vol- 
umes; song  section,  15;  singing-school,  125. 

The  present  officers  are — 

President,  Oscar  Hoefer;  Vice-President,  Julius  Hertz;  Re- 
cording Secretary,  R.  Bennecke ;  Corresponding  Secretary, 
Bernhardt  Keuss ;  Cashier,  Jacob  Walter;  Treasurer,  Nicholas 
Berg;  Book-keeper,  C.  F.  Laitner;  Turnwart,  Fred.  Hahn: 
Second  Turn  wart,  Alexander  Lifka;  Librarian,  H.  Ruppelt. 


The  Carondelet  Turnverein  was  organized  April 
4,  1875,  and  the  corner-stone  of  the  present  hall  at 
Fourth  and  Taylor  Streets,  Carondelet,  was  laid  Sept. 
4,  1875.  The  building  was  dedicated  March  11, 
1876.  The  hall  cost  about  eighteen  thousand  dollars, 
on  which  is  a  debt  of  twelve  thousand  three  hundred 
dollars.  The  verein  has  about  twelve  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars  in  personal  property.  The  membership 
is  eighty-five,  pupils  thirty-four,  library  about  fifty 
books.  Connected  with  the  society  is  a  very  efficient 
ladies'  and  dramatic  club. 

The  present  officers  are — 

President,  Herr  Hinsmann ;  Vice-President,  Christian  Koeln  ; 
Recording  Secretary,  Charles  Bruno  ;  Corresponding  Secretary, 
Rudolph  Giebermnnn;  Cashier,  F.  W.  Dauth;  Second  Cashier, 
E.  G.  Hofmann ;  Turnwart,  John  Wette ;  Second  Turnwart, 
Thomas  Ahrens  ;  Zeugwart,  Martin  Stein ;  Chairman  of  the 
Literary  Committee,  Dr.  H.  M.  Stackloff. 

Vorwaerts  Turnverein. — This  society  was  organ- 
ized Dec.  21, 1878,  and  once  had  forty  members.  It 
never  accomplished  much,  and  after  a  flickering  career 
was  disbanded  in  1881. 

West  St.  Louis  Turnverein. — For  some  years  there 
flourished  a  "  Schiller  Club,"  at  Franklin  and  Leffing- 
well  Avenues,  and  during  the  summer  of  1 879  one 
hundred  and  twenty -eight  of  the  members  agreed  to 
merge  the  society  into  a  turnverein.  An  organization 
was  effected  Sept.  22,  1879,  and  Dec.  19,  1880,  the 
corner-stone  of  the  present  hall  was  laid  at  Beaumont 
and  Morgan  Streets.  The  property  was  occupied  by 
the  Second  Baptist  Church  as  a  mission,  and  the 
verein  proceeded  to  put  up  an  additional  building, 
making  the  hall  seventy-five  by  thirty-six  feet.  The 
building  was  dedicated  May  8,  1881.  It  was  erected 
by  a  stock  association,  of  which  J.  J.  Suller  was  presi- 
dent ;  A.  W.  Straub,  vice-president ;  John  Denberger, 
secretary ;  J.  F.  Conrad,  treasurer ;  and  J.  H.  Tror- 
licht,  John  Nies,  J.  L.  Bernecker,  F.  W.  Henze,  John 
Schoenke,  Julius  Hirschfeld,  and  Louis  J.  Holthaus 
directors.  The  building  and  its  equipments  cost  about 
five  thousand  dollars,  on  which  a  debt  of  less  than 
one  thousand  dollars  remains.  The  membership 
numbers  five  hundred,  the  largest  in  the  city ;  pupils, 
four  hundred  and  thirty-six ;  library,  three  hundred 
volumes  ;  song  section,  twenty-five  voices. 

The  present  officers  are — 

President,  Emil  A.  Becker;  Vice-President,  Adolph  Braun ; 
Recording  Secretary,  Christ.  F.  Hertwig  ;  Corresponding  Secre- 
tary, George  Scherer;  Cashier,  L.  II.  Hasselbarth ;  Treasurer, 
J.  F.  Conrad;  Turnwart,  Otto  Keil ;  Second  Turnwart,  George 
Powell ;  Zeugwart,  Theodore  Klipstein. 

The  membership  of  the  St.  Louis  Turners'  Asso- 
ciation is  classified  as  follows  : 


RELIGIOUS,  BENEVOLENT,  SOCIAL,  SECRET,  AND  OTHER   ORGANIZATIONS.      1773 


Members. 

St.  Louis  Turoverein 416 

South  St.  Louis  Turnverein 277 

Socialer  Turnverein 217 

Concordia  Turnverein 410 

West  St.  Louis  Turnverein 506 

North   St.  Louis  Turnverein 185 

Carondelet  Turnverein 85 


Active 
Members. 

149 
140 
120 

39 
200 
125 

25 


U.S. 
Citizens. 

366 
241 
190 
410 
475 
180 
75 


Total 2096  798  1937 

The  St.  Louis  associations,  with  those  at  High- 
land, Trenton,  Belleville,  Nashville,  Alton,  and 
Quincy  (all  in  Illinois),  constitute  the  "  St.  Louis 
Turn  Circuit,"  which  is  the  largest  district,  numeri- 
cally, in  the  country,  although  several  others  own 
more  property.  St.  Louis  Turnbezirk  has  thirteen 
societies,  with :  Members,  2623 ;  active  Turners,  1 102 ; 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  2431  ;  scholars,  boys, 
1549 ;  scholars,  girls,  700 ;  value  of  property, 
$158,485;  debts,  841,670;  excess  of  property  over 
debts,  8116,815;  volumes  in  the  libraries,  7302. 
Eleven  of  the  societies  own  their  halls. 

The  present  officers  of  St.  Louis  Bezirk  are — 

President,  Francis  P.  Becker  ;  Vice-President,  Einil  Mueller ; 
Recording  Secretary,  C.  H.  Hertwig ;  Treasurer,  Ernst  Eisch- 
mann  ;  Turnwart,  Mazzini  Kruer  ;  Directors,  Herman  Ruppelt, 
IS.  von  Gerichten,  Rudolph  Geibermann,  C.  J.  Trebers,  John 
Schoenle. 

The  St.  Louis  Microscopical  Society  was  organ- 
ized in  1869,  the  officers  consisting  of  Homer  Judd, 
M.D.,  president;  D.  V.  Dean,  M.D.,  vice  president ; 
W.  H.  Eames,  D.D.S.,  treasurer ;  T.  H.  Hammond, 
M.D.,  recording  secretary;  T.  F.  Rumbold,  M.D., 
corresponding  secretary ;  H.  Z.  Gill,  M.D.,  librarian. 
It  was  incorporated  Aug.  17,  1872,  with  Drs.  H.  Z. 
Gill,  Homer  Judd,  Thomas  F.  Rumbold,  R.  J.  Steele, 
and  D.  V.  Dean  as  the  first  officers  under  the  act  of 
incorporation.  The  society  is  still  in  existence,  and 
has  quite  a  sum  of  money  in  the  treasury,  but  has 
not  held  regular  meetings  for  two  or  more  years. 

The  Western  Rowing  Club  was  organized  in  1867, 
and  chartered  in  1870,  with  John  F.  Johnson,  Jacob 
L.  Reinhardt,  Paul  M.  Hunt,  Leo  Ilassieur,  Charles 
Hilliker,  Thomas  Hilliker,  and  E.  H.  Vordtriede  as 
incorporators,  to  cultivate  the  art  of  rowing.  Its 
boat-house  is  located  on  the  river  front,  between  Har- 
per and  Dorcas  Streets.  Leo  Rassieur  has  been  the 
president  since  its  formation.  This  club  is  the  oldest 
of  the  kind  in  St.  Louis,  and  is  the  parent  of  the 
half-dozen  clubs  now  in  existence.  As  far  back  as 
1819,  however,  there  is  a  record  that  Capt.  George 
H.  Kennerly,  Alexander  St.  Cyr,  the  Arnold  brothers, 
and  others  formed  a  boat  club  which  had  its  house  on 
the  banks  of  Chouteau's  Pond,  about  three  hundred 
yards  north  of  Chouteau's  mill.  The  members  of  the 
club  wore  a  uniform  of  Scotch  plaid. 


St.  Louis  Institute  of  Architects. — In  January, 
1870,  a  number  of  St.  Louis  architects  met  and  de- 
cided to  form  an  association  for  the  purpose  of  "  uniting 
in  fellowship  the  architects  of  the  city  and  vicinity, 
and  combining  their  efforts  so  as  to  promote  the  ar- 
tistic, scientific,  and  practical  efficiency  of  the  profes- 
sion." As  a  result  of  this  meeting  the  St.  Louis 
Institute  of  Architects  was  incorporated  during  the 
same  month  by  George  I.  Barnett,  John  F.  Mitchell, 
J.  C.  Edgar,  Thomas  Walsh,  A.  Grable,  G.  W.  Os- 
borne>  George  D.  Rand,  J.  W.  Herthel,  E.  Jungen- 
feld,  S.  M.  Randolph,  C.  B.  Clark,  and  others.  A 
permanent  organization  was  immediately  effected  by 
the  election  of  the  following  officers  : 

Thomas  Walsh,  president;  George  I.  Barnett,  M.  Randolph, 
John  F.  Mitchell,  trustees;  R.  Desbonne,  treasurer;  George  D. 
Rand,  secretary. 

Since  its  inception  the  institute  has  been  success- 
fully sustained,  and  has  been  very  influential  in  its 
operations.  The  meetings  were  first  held  in  the  office 
of  Randolph  Brothers,  northwest  corner  Walnut  and 
Fifth  Streets.  Subsequently  rooms  at  320J  North 
Third  Street  were  occupied  until  an  arrangement  was 
made  with  the  Board  of  Public  Schools,  whereby  the 
session-room  of  the  Polytechnic  Building  was  secured, 
and  has  been  used  ever  since.  The  several  presidents 
of  the  institute  have  been  Thomas  Walsh,  George  I. 
Barnett,  John  F.  Mitchell,  J.  C.  Edgar,  C.  B.  Clarke, 
J.  W.  Herthel,  J.  H.  McNamara,  F.  W.  Raeder,  John 
Beattie,  A.  Druiding.  The  present  officers  are — 

President,  A.  Druiding;  Trustees,  A.  Grable,  T.  J.  Furlong, 
J.  H.  McNamara;  Treasurer,  C.  B.  Clarke;  Secretary,  J.  F. 
Mitchell  ;  Board  of  Managers,  A.  Druiding,  A.  Grable,  T.  J. 
Furlong,  J.  H.  McNamara,  J.  F.  Mitchell,  C.  B.  Clarke. 

The  North  St.  Louis  Turnverein. — This  society 
was  organized  in  1868  as  the  North  St.  Louis  Turn- 
schule  and  Kindergarten,  reorganized  Oct.  25,  1870, 
and  in  February,  1874,  incorporated  as  the  North  St. 
Louis  Turnverein.  The  society  had  their  hall  at  first 
at,  the  corner  of  Bremen  Avenue  and  Broadway,  and 
afterwards  in  a  hall  at  the  corner  of  Bremen  Avenue 
and  Fifteenth  Street.  In  1879  the  society  decided  to 
have  a  permanent  hall.  A  lot  on  the  southeast  corner 
of  Salisbury  and  Fourteenth  Streets  was  purchased 
for  four  thousand  dollars,  and  a  building  sixty-five  feet 
front  on  Salisbury  Street,  with  a  depth  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  feet  on  Fourteenth  Street,  was  erected. 
The  building,  which  cost  eighteen  thousand  four  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  dollars,  was  erected  under  the 
supervision  of  H.  W.  Kirchner,  architect.  The  board 
of  directors  and  building  committee  of  the  society 
were  as  follows  :  Francis  H.  Brinkman,  chairman  ; 
Charles  E.  Kircher,  treasurer;  Charles  J.  Doerr,  sec- 


1774 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


retary  ;  and  Henry  Schmidt,  Louis  Hammer,  Anthony 
Noake,  J.  F.  Voyt,  Charles  Kohlberg,  William 
Shreiber,  Herman  Schwartze,  E.  0.  Haus,  Aug. 
Allershausen,  and  Matthias  Herman.  The  society 
has  one  hundred  and  eighty-five  members,  one  hundred 
and  forty  pupils,  a  song  section  thirty  strong,  a  ladies' 
dramatic  section  of  about  sixty,  a  corps  of  drummer- 
boys,  and  a  library  of  about  three  hundred  and  fifty 
volumes.  Its  presidents  have  been  L.  Edward  Witte, 
L.  W.  Tenteberg,  Albert  Haeseler,  W.  H.  Inderwark, 
Herman  Umrath,  Louis  K.  Hammer,  Francis  H. 
Brinkman,  Anthony  Nacke,  and  Hugo  Muench. 
The  officers  in  1882  were— 

President,  Hugo  Muench ;  Vice-President,  Henry  C.  Schmidt; 
Recording  Secretary,  William  Yost;  Corresponding  Secretary, 
Charles  C.  Trebers;  Cashier,  C.  E.  Kircher;  Second  Cashier, 
L.  Kohlberg:  Librarian,  Charles  Stoelting  ;  Turn  wart,  L.  Herb- 
ster;  Second  Turn  wart,  Charles  Steiner ;  Zeugwart,  Charles  H. 
Bluinentrill. 

The  Missouri  Gymnastic  Society. — This  society 
was  organized  in  1857  by  a  few  clerks  in  a  small  room 
in  the  old  city  buildings,  Commercial  Alley.  The 
membership  increased  so  rapidly  that  it  was  necessary 
to  proeure  a  larger  hall,  which  they  did  at  Fourth 
Street  and  Washington  Avenue,  from  there  they  re- 
moved to  Seventh  Street  and  Washington  Avenue. 
A  stock  company  was  then  formed,  and  through  the 
efforts  of  Joshua  Cheever,  James  C.  Maginniss,  and 
others  they  secured,  in  1867,  on  leased  ground  their 
present  building,  No.  814  St.  Charles  Street,  which 
they  entered  with  a  debt  of  four  thousand  dollars, 
all  of  which  has  been  paid.  In  1877,  John  L. 
Stockwell  was  elected  superintendent,  and  under  his 
management  the  society  at  once  became  a  success.  In 
1878  it  was  reincorporated  under  the  same  name  by 
J.  M.  Chambers,  J.  A.  Dillon,  W.  J.  Blakely,  J.  D. 
Phillips,  W.  J.  Gilbert,  A.  J.  Hyde,  M.  L.  Holman, 
J.  Schaeffer,  and  J.  L.  Stockwell  as  incorporators. 
Its  officers  and  board  of  directors  in  1882  were — 

James  M.  Chambers,  president;  J.  A.  St.  Johns,  vice-presi- 
dent; John  D.  Phillips,  treasurer:  John  L.  Stockwell,  secretary 
and  manager;  Directors,  W.  J.  Gilbert,  John  A.  Dillon,  R.  A. 
Barret,  M.  L.  Holman,  Eug.  Sailor. 

The  St.  Louis  Natatorium,  corner  of  Nineteenth 
and  Pine  Streets,  was  built  in  May,  1881.  The  in- 
corporators were  George  B.  Thompson,  Joseph  Frank- 
lin, John  T.  Davis,  Charles  A.  Fowee,  E.  C.  Sim- 
mons, and  W.  L.  Huse.  The  building  is  sixty-six 
feet  front  and  two  hundred  and  seventeen  feet  in 
length ;  bathing-pool  forty  feet  wide  and  one  hundred 
and  forty  feet  long,  with  a  depth  of  two  to  eleven  feet. 
During  the  summer  season  it  is  a  fashionable  resort 
for  those  who  are  fond  of  aquatic  sport,  and  in  winter 
it  is  fitted  up  for  roller-skating. 


The  St.  Louis  Long-Range  Rifle  Association 
was  incorporated  Dec.  26,  1882.  The  incorporators 
were  William  P.  Schaaf,  C.  A.  B.  Battee,  J.  M.  Bat- 
tee,  J.  W.  Rannels,  Julian  J.  Laughlin,  F.  W.  Rock- 
well, H.  C.  Bagby,  J.  P.  Foster,  C.  B.  Smith,  W.  F. 
de  Cordova,  E.  H.  Gorse,  P.  B.  Leach,  S.  S.  Black- 
well,  H.  E.  Weber,  J.  B.  Martin,  H.  C.  Pierce,  Au- 

;  gust  Bengel,  and  Henry  Hitchcock.  The  object  for 
which  the  association  is  formed  is  practice  at  rifle- 

:  shooting  at  long  range.  Phineas  B.  Leach  is  presi- 
dent; William  F.  de  Cordova,  secretary;  C.  B.  Smith, 
treasurer  ;  J.  J.  Laughiin,  captain  ;  and  W.  P.  Schaaf, 
coacher.  The  association  has  at  present  forty-five 

\  members. 

The  Society  of  Pedagogy  has  for  its  object  the 
free  discussion  of  all  educational  topics. 

SECRET    SOCIETIES. 

Masonic  Order.1 — Before  the  acquisition  of  Louis- 
iana by  the  United  States,  in  1804,  there  was  nothing 
in  the  shape  of  organized  Masonry  in  St.  Louis,  the 
early  inhabitants  being  nearly  all  of  French  origin, 
and  almost  universally  of  the  Catholic  faith,  which 
does  not  tolerate  secret  associations.  There  might 
have  been,  and  no  doubt  was,  among  those  who 
came  from  other  places  occasionally  a  member  of  the 
order ;  but  not  until  after  the  transfer  to  the  United 
States  did  there  seem  to  arise  any  occasion  for  intro- 
ducing it  in  an  organized  state. 

Among  the  most  prominent  of  the  early  Americans 
who  came  from  other  localities  and  established  them- 
selves in  the  three  villages  of  Kaskaskia,  Ste.  Gene- 
vieve,  and  St.  Louis  were  a  number  of  members  of 
the  order,  and  these,  shortly  after  the  change  of  gov- 
ernment, took  the  incipient  steps  to  introduce  it  by 
the  establishment  of  lodges. 

On  the  9th  of  March,  1805,  a  petition  was  pre- 
sented to  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Pennsylvania  of  An- 
cient York  Masons  for  a  dispensation  to  open  a  lodge 
at  Kaskaskia,  Indiana  Territory,  signed  by  the  fol- 
lowing Master  Masons  :  Robert  McMahan,  of  Stanton 
Lodge,  No.  13,  Virginia;  William  Arundel,  of  St. 
Andrew's  Lodge,  No.  2,  Quebec,  Canada;  James 
Edgar,  of  Lodge  No.  9,  Philadelphia  ;  Michael  Jones', 
of  Lodge  No.  45,  Pittsburgh,  Pa. ;  James  Galbraith, 
of  Lodge  No.  79,  Chambersburg,  Pa. ;  Rufus  Easton, 
of  Roman  Lodge,  No.  82,  Rome,  N.  Y. ;  Robert  Rob- 
inson, of  Stanton  Lodge.  No.  13,  Virginia. 

In  compliance  with  the  petition,  the  Grand  Master 
of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Pennsylvania,  the  Most  Wor- 

1  For  the  accompanying  sketch  of  the  Masonic  order  in  St. 
Louis  the  author  is  largely  indebted  to  Frederic  L.  Billon. 


RELIGIOUS,  BENEVOLENT,  SOCIAL,  SECRET,  AND   OTHER   ORGANIZATIONS.      1775 


shipful  Israel  Israel,  attested  by  the  seal  of  the  Grand 
Secretary,  George  A.  Baker,  issued  his  dispensation 
for  six  months,  dated  at  the  city  of  Philadelphia, 
Sept.  24,  1805,  authorizing  James  Edgar,  a  Past 
Master,  and  his  associates  to  open  a  lodge  as  prayed 
for;  and  on  Saturday,  Dec.  14,  1805,  the  persons 
named  above  assembled,  and  proceeded  to  open  their 
new  lodge,  to  which  they  gave  the  name  of  Western 
Star  Lodge,  Messrs.  Jones  and  Robinson  being  ap- 
pointed a* committee  to  prepare  a  code  of  by-laws  for 
its  government.  This  lodge  worked  under  the  dis- 
pensation until  the  24th  of  March,  1806,  the  date  of 
its  expiration,'  when  the  dispensation  was  returned, 
with  a  copy  of  the  lodge's  proceedings  under  it,  to 
the  Grand  Lodge,  which,  having  approved  of  the 
same,  issued  a  charter,  as  follows : 

"To  Western  Star  Lodge,  No.  107,  registry  of 
Pennsylvania,  dated  June  2,  1806,  to  James  Edgar, 
Worshipful  Master,  Michael  Jones,  Senior  Warden, 
and  James  Galbraith,  Junior  Warden,  and  their  as- 
socia^tes,  etc.,  signed  by  Right  Worshipful  James  Mil- 
nor,  Grand  Master,  and  attested  by  George  A.  Baker, 
Grand  Secretary,  with  the  seal  of  the  Grand  Lodge ;" 
and  on  Saturday,  Sept.  13,  1806,  they  held  their  first 
meeting  under  their  charter. 

The  last  meeting  of  this  lodge,  as  appears  from 
the  record-book,  was  held  on  Dec.  9,  1820,  arid  its 
last  return  to  the  parent  Grand  Lodge  of  Pennsylva- 
nia was  in  the  year  1822,  after  which  date  it  was 
stricken  from  the  registry  of  that  Grand  Lodge. 

This  was  the  first  Masonic  lodfre  established  in  the 
upper  portion  of  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  there 
being  two  lodges  in  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  Nos.  90 
and  93,  already  in  existence,  established  also  by  the  \ 
Grand  Lodge  of  Pennsylvania. 

Ste.  Genevieve,  being  nearly  opposite  to  Kaskaskia, 
and  some  thirty  years  older  than  St.  Louis,  was  for 
many  years  the  largest  place  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
river,  and  even  at  the  date  of  the  transfer  to  the 
United  States  had  a  larger  population.  It  was  not 
until  the  period  of  the  war  with  Great  Britain,  1812 
-15,  that  St.  Louis  began  to  outstrip  Ste.  Genevieve, 
her  growth  resulting  in  a  great  measure  from  the  large 
number  of  troops  stationed  at  Bellefontaine,  then  the 
westernmost  military  post  of  the  United  States.  The 
Grand  Lodge  of  Pennsylvania,  upon  the  application 
of  a  number  of  Masons  residing  in  and  about  Ste. 
Genevieve,  granted  them  a  charter  for  a  new  lodge  to  ; 
be  held  at  that  place,  dated  July  17,  1807,  under  the 
title  of  Louisiana  Lodge,  No.  109,  appointing  Aaron 
Elliott,  Worshipful  Master ;  Andrew  Henry,  Senior 
Warden  ;  and  George  Bullitt,  Junior  Warden.  But 
little  or  nothing  is  known  at  the  present  day  of  the 


work  of  this  lodge,  nothing  to  show  who  were  the  pe- 
titioners, date  of  dispensation,  etc.  The  last  return 
to  the  parent  Grand  Lodge  was  made  in  1815. 

The  transfer  of  the  upper  portion  of  Louisiana  to 
the  United  States  took  place  on  the  10th  of  March, 
1804,  at  St.  Louis.  The  few  villages  in  the  Territory 
at  that  time  comprised  St.  Louis,  St.  Charles,  Ste.  Gen- 
evieve, Mine  a  Breton  (now  Potosi),  Cape  Girardeau, 
New  Madrid,  etc.,  the  largest  containing  but  a  few 
hundred  inhabitants.  Before  this  time  there  was  not 
a  Masonic  lodge  in  the  country.  The  few  merchants 
in  those  villages  at  that  day  usually  procured  their 
small  stocks  of  goods  from  New  Orleans ;  but  after 
that  period,  having  become  citizens  of  the  United 
States  by  the  transfer,  they  commenced  making  an- 
nual visits  to  the  city  of  Philadelphia  to  purchase 
their  goods,  and  as  they  were  mostly  of  French  de- 
scent, several  of  them  were  made  Masons  in  that  city 
in  the  French  Lodge  1'Amenite,  No.  73  of  the  regis- 
try of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Pennsylvania.1 

In  a  few  years,  as  the  population  of  some  of  these 
places  and  the  country  generally  gradually  increased, 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  Pennsylvania  chartered  several 
lodges  in  this  then  remote  region,  viz. :  Western  Star 
Lodge,  No.  107,  at  Kaskaskia,  111.  ;  Louisiana  Lodge, 
No.  109,  at  Ste.  Genevieve ;  and  St.  Louis  Lodge,  No. 
Ill,  at  St.  Louis.  After  an  existence  of  a  few  years 
these  lodges,  owing,  doubtless,  to  the  sparseness  of  the 
population,  followed  shortly  after  their  organization  by 
the  war  with  England,  in  1812,  gradually  ceased  work, 
in  a  few  years  became  extinct,  and  were  erased  from 
the  registry  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Pennsylvania. 

The  charter  of  St.  Louis  Lodge,  No.  Ill,  dated  Sept. 
15,  1808,  was  granted  to  Merriwether  Lewis  as  Wor- 
shipful Master,  Thomas  Fiveash  Riddick,  Senior 
Warden,  and  Rufus  Easton,  Junior  Warden,  as  the 
first  officers,  and  to  their  associate  brethren.  This 
lodge  comprised  in  its  membership  a  number  of  the 
most  prominent  of  the  early  citizens  of  the  place, 
many  of  whom  then  and  subsequently  filled  important 
official  positions  in  the  Territorial  and  State  govern- 
ments. Among  them  were 

Capt.  Merriwether  Lewis,  first  Governor  of  Louisiana  Terri- 
tory, Worshipful  Master. 

Col.  Thomas  F.  Riddick,  who  held  various  civil  offices,  Senior 
Warden. 

Col.  Rufus  Easton,  first  postmaster  and  attorney-general, 
Junior  Warden. 

Joseph  V.  Gamier,  clerk  of  the  Supreme  Court,  Secretary. 

Gen.  William  Clark,  Territorial  Governor  and  superintendent 
of  Indian  affairs. 


1  Among  the  well-known  early  residents  of  St.  Louis  who  re- 
ceived their  degrees  in  this  lodge  were  Charles  F.  Billon  and 
Gabriel  and  Een6  Paul. 


1776 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Frederick  Bates,  secretary  of  the  Territory,  recorder,  Secre- 
tary of  State,  and  Governor. 

Col.  Alexander  MoXair,  first  Governor  of  the  State  of  Mis- 
souri. 

Joseph  Charless,  editor  and  proprietor  of  the  Missouri  Gazette. 

Jeremiah  Conner,  sheriff  of  St.  Louis. 

Maj.  Wm.  Christy,  first  register  of  lands. 

Judge  Wm.  C.  Carr,  judge  of  Circuit  Court. 

Dr.  Bernard  G.  Farrar,  judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas. 

Capt.  Risdon  H.  Price,  merchant. 

Alexander  Stuart,  circuit  judge. 

Silas  Bent,  presiding  judge  Common  Pleas  and  county  clerk, 
as  also  a  number  of  the  United  States  military  officers  then 
stationed  at  the  military  post  at  Bellefontaine  cantonment.1 

The  lodge  occupied  an  old  French  house  of  upright 
timbers  of  twenty  by  forty  feet,  one  of  the  first  in  the 
village,  built  in  1765  by  Jacques  Denis,  a  joiner,  for 
a  billiard-room,  and  occupied  as  such  during  the  whole 
of  the  Spanish  regime.  It  was  situated  on  the  east 
side  of  Second  Street,  next  below  the  corner  of  Wal- 
nut Street.  The  lodge  was  in  existence  but  a  few 
years,  and  made  no  return  whatever  to  the  parent 
Grand  Lodge.  This  fact,  in  connection  with  the  suicide 
of  the  Worshipful  Master,  Hon.  Merriwether  Lewis,  in 
1809,  leads  to  the  conclusion  that  it  had  accomplished 
but  little,  if  anything,  in  the  way  of  Masonic  labor. 
After  the  death  of  its  principal  officer,  the  lodge  gradu- 
ally fell  into  decay,  and  was  eventually  stricken  from 
the  roll  of  the  Grand  Lodge  about  the  time  of  the 
war  of  1812. 

The  following  advertisements  in  the  Louisiana 
(afterwards  Missouri'")  Gazette  show  that  the  lodge 
celebrated  the  Masonic  festival  of  St.  John  the  Bap- 
tist on  at  least  two  occasions  with  a  public  dinner : 

"The  St.  Louis  Lodge,  No.  Ill,  will  celebrate  the  festival  of 
St.  John  the  Baptist  on  Saturday,  the  24th  instant,  at  their 
lodge-room  in  St.  Louis.  Such  brethren  (not  members  of  the 
lodge)  as  may  wish  to  join  in  the  celebration  of  this  festival 
are  requested  to  attend. 

"The  procession  will  form  at  the  lodge-room  at  twelve  o'clock 

1  Shortly  after  the  acquisition  of  the  country,  "one  Wil- 
liam Massey  sold  to  Gen.  James  Wilkinson,  for  the  United 
States,  April  20,  1806,  for  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars, 
five  acres  of  land  at  Bellefontaine,  on  the  Missouri  River, 
including  the  old  Indian  factory  and  buildings  and  the  use 
for  five  years  of  the  adjoining  land,  on  which  troops  were 
then  cantoned.  On  this  tract  the  United  States  subsequently 
erected  barracks  for  the  troops,  and  it  was  for  a  number  of  years 
the  westernmost  military  post  of  the  United  States.  Of  the 
United  States  military  at  Bellefontaine  cantonment,  several 
officers  of  rank  died  during  these  years,  and  doubtless  some  of 
them  were  Masons,  as  was  pretty  much  the  case  with  army 
officers  during  and  after  the  Revolution.  Among  those  who 
died  there  were  Maj.  Russell  Bissell,  commandant,  who  died  in 
1807 ;  Col.  Thomas  Hunt,  First  Regiment,  commanding  the 
fort,  an  officer  of  the  Revolution,  who  died  July  17,  1808  (his 
wife  died  six  months  after  him,  in  January,  1809) ;  Lieut.  Joseph 
Dorr,  died  Dec.  31,  1808  (his  wife  two  months  previously) ;  and 
others  whose  names  are  not  to  be  found  on  record  at  this  day. 


precisely,  and  march  from  thence  to  the  church,  where  a  Ma- 
sonic oration  will  be  delivered  by  a  brother. 
"  Dinner  on  the  table  at  three  o'clock. 

"By  order  of  the  lodge, 

"  JOSEPH  V.  GAUNTER,  Secretary. 
"June  20,  1809." 

"  Monday,  the  24th  instant,  being  the  festival  of  St.  John 
the  Baptist,  such  brethren  (not  members  of  the  lodge)  as  are 
desirous  to  celebrate  the  above  festival  are  notified  that  St. 
Louis  Lodge,  No.  Ill,  will  assemble  at  their  room  in  the  morn- 
ing of  said  day,  and  march  from  thence  to  Brothe*  Christy's, 
where  a  dinner  will  be  provided  for  them. 

"ALEXANDER  McNAtR, 
"JEREMIAH  CONNER, 
"JOSEPH  V.  GARNIER, 
"  Committee  of  Arrangements. 
"June  11,  1811." 

There  was  also  a  celebration  by  this  lodge  of  the 
festival  of  St.  John  the  Evangelist,  Dec.  27,  1811, 
at  which  was  sung  a  Masonic  ode  composed  expressly 
for  the  occasion  by  Lieut.  Joseph  Cross,2  of  the  United 
States  artillery,  which  is  to  be  found  in  the  Louisiana 
Gazette  of  Jan.  18,  1812. 

No  further  notice  of  this  lodge  is  found  in  the 
Gazette,  and  as  the  war  broke  out  shortly  afterwards, 
and  nearly  every  man  in  the  village  was  enrolled  in 
the  military  service,  the  members  became  scattered, 
and,  as  stated  above,  the  lodge  became  extinct. 

During  the  continuance  of  the  war  the  general  gov- 
ernment kept  a  large  body  of  troops  at  St.  Louis.  Many 
of  the  officers  and  men  were  Masons,  and  at  the  termi- 
nation of  the  War,  and  after  the  reduction  of  the  army 
to  the  peace  establishment,  a  large  number  of  them 
remained  and  established  themselves  in  and  about  St. 
Louis,  which  had  at  the  close  of  the  war  reached  a 
population  of  about  fifteen  hundred  souls.  The  re- 
turn of  peace,  therefore,  found  a  large  number  of  the 
Masonic  fraternity  from  various  localities  identified 
with  St.  Louis,  far  the  larger  part  of  whom  were  gen- 

*  Joseph  Cross  was  born  about  1776,  and  entered  the  United 
States  army  in  1797,  being  attached  to  the  First  Regiment  of 
Artillery.  About  the  close  of  1807,  Lieuts.  Joseph  Cross  and 
Hannibal  M.  Allen,  of  Vermont  (a  graduate  of  West  Point  in 
1807),  were  married  at  Niagara,  N.  Y.,  to  two  sisters,  the 
Misses  Ann  and  Catharine  Lowe,  who,  it  is  thought  by  Rev. 
R.  P.  Farris,  of  St.  Louis,  a  grandson  of  Capt.  Cross,  were  born 
in  Westmoreland  County,  Pa.  Capt.  Cross'  first  child,  Catha- 
rine Ann,  was  born  in  Fort  Pitt  (Pittsburgh),  in  1808.  He 
catne  to  St.  Louis  with  troops  for  Bellefontaine  in  1810,  went 
below  in  the  fall  to  Natchez,  where  the  United  States  troops 
were  concentrating  for  the  purpose  of  taking  forcible  possession 
of  Baton  Rouge,  illegally  withheld  by  the  Spanish  authorities, 
and  went  around  by  sea  to  the  East.  He  came  a  second  time 
to  St.  Louis  in  1811,  where  his  second  child,  the  late  H.  N. 
Cross,  was  born  in  that  year.  During  Capt.  Cross'  sojourn  in 
St.  Louis,  being  a  Mason,  he  participated  in  the  transactions  of 
old  St.  Louis  Lodge,  Xo.  111.  He  left  the  service  of  the  United 
States  in  1813,  with  the  rank  of  captain  of  artillery. 


RELIGIOUS,  BENEVOLENT,  SOCIAL,  SECRET,  AND   OTHER   ORGANIZATIONS.      1777 

tlemen  of  position,  intelligence,  and  education.  There 
being  then  no  lodge  in  existence,  it  was  determined 
to  establish  one,  and  accordingly  a  petition  was  pre- 
sented to  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Tennessee  for  a  dis- 
pensation. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Tennessee, 
held  Oct.  3,  1815,  a  dispensation  was  issued  to  Joshua 
Norvell,1  John  Pilcher,  and  Thomas  Brady  to  open  a 
lodge  in  St.  Louis  to  be  called  Missouri  Lodge.  This 
dispensation  was  signed  by  Robert  Searcy,  G.  M. ; 
James  Trimble,  S.  G.  W.  ;  David  Irwin,  J.  G.  W. ; 
Wilkins  Tannehill,  G.  Sec.;  J.  C.  McLemore,  G. 
Treas. 

On  the  8th  of  October,  1816,  the  by-laws  and  pro- 
ceedings of  the  lodge  under  the  dispensation  were  re- 
ceived and  approved,  and  a  charter  was  issued  by  the 
Grand  Lodge,— M.  W.  Robert  Searcy,  G.  M. ;  0.  B. 
Hayes,  D.  G.  M.  pro  tern. ;  James  Trimble,  S.  G.  W. ; 
and  Wilkins  Tannehill,  Grand  Sec., — dated  Nash- 
ville, Oct.  8,  1816,  which  constituted  Joshua  Pil- 
cher, W.  M. ;  Thomas  Brady,  S.  W. ;  and  Jeremiah 
Conner,  J.  W.,  and  their  associated  brethren  into  a 
regular  lodge  of  Master  Masons,  to  be  held  at  the 
town  of  St.  Louis,  Territory  of  Missouri,  under  the 
name  of  "  Missouri  Lodge,  No.  12." 

The  first  secretary  of  No.  12  was  Judge  William 
C.  Carr,  the  first  records  being  in  his  handwriting. 
He  had  been  initiated  into  the  order  in  the  old  lodge, 
No.  Ill,  the  most  of  the  members  of  which  still  re- 
maining in  the  place  affiliated  themselves  with  the 
new  lodge.  Among  them  were  Governor  William 
Clark,  Col.  Thomas  F.  Riddick,  Governor  Frederick 
Bates,  Judge  Alexander  Stuart,  Judge  Robert  Wash, 
Joseph  V.  Gamier,  William  Christy,  Alexander  Mc- 
Nair,  and  others. 

Missouri  Lodge,  No.  12,  worked  under  this  charter 
from  Tennessee  for  about  five  years,  until  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Missouri  in  1821, 
when  by  the  right  of  seniority  it  received  charter  No. 
1  under  the  new  jurisdiction  of  Missouri. 

During  these  five  years,  owing  to  the  great  increase 
of  populatiop  of  the  place  after  the  war,  the  lodge  was 
in  a  very  flourishing  condition,  adding  largely  to  its 
membership  by  initiations  into  the  order  and  admis- 
sions of  members  from  other  localities.  Among  these 
were  the  following  : 

Maj.  Thompson  Douglass,  Maryland,  paymaster  U.  S.  A.  ; 
Capt.  Risdon  H.  Price,  Eastern  Shore,  Md.,  merchant;  Judge 
Nathaniel  B.  Tucker,  Virginia,  judge  Circuit  Court;  Col. 
Thomas  H.  Benton,  Nashville,  Tenn.,  lawyer;  Capt.  Peter  Fer- 


1  Joshua  Norvell  removed  from  Nashville  to  St.  Louis  in  1815 
to  conduct  the  Wextcrn  Journal  in  opposition  to  Charless'  Ga- 
zette. 


\  guson,  Norfolk,  Va.,  afterwards  judge  of  probate;  Dr.  Edward 
j  S.  Gantt,  surgeon  U.  S.  A.;  John  Rice  Jones,  judge  Supreme 
Court,  Ste.  Genevieve;  Capt.  Henry  S.  Geyer,  Hagerstown,  Md., 
lawyer  ;  Sergeant  Hall,  Cincinnati,  lawyer  and  editor  ;  Jonathan 
Guest,  Philadelphia,  merchant;  William  H.  Hopkins,  Philadel- 
phia, merchant;  William  Renshaw,  Sr.,  Baltimore,  merchant; 
David  B.  Hoffman,  New  York,  merchant;  Abraham  Beck, 
Albany,  N.  Y.,  lawyer:  Moses  Scott,  Ireland,  justice  of  the 
peace;  George  H.  C.  Melody,  Albany,  N.  Y. ;  Joseph  C.  Laveille, 
architect,  Harrisburg,  Pa.;  Daniel  C.  Boss,  Pittsburgh,  Pa., 
merchant;  William  G.  Pettus,  Virginia. 

Among  those  who  received  their  degrees  in  Mis- 
souri, No.  12,  were  the  following: 

Edward  Bates,  Virginia,  lawyer;  Stephen  Rector,  surveyor; 
James  Kennerly,  Virginia,  merchant;  James  Howard  Penrose, 
Philadelphia;  John  F.  Ruland,  Detroit;  Amos  J.  Bruce,  Vir- 
ginia; John  D.  Daggett,  Massachusetts;  George  Morton,  Scot- 
land ;  Thomas  Andrews,  Pittsburgh;  Thornton  Grimsley,  Ken- 
tucky; John  Walls;  Walter  B.  Alexander,  Virginia;  Joseph 
C.  White;  William  L.  Long,  Gravois;  William  K.  Rule,  Ken- 
tucky: Robert  P.  Farris,  Natick,  Mass.;  Isaac  A.  Letcher,  Vir- 
ginia; William  Clarkson,  Virginia;  James  F.  Spencer;  Thorn- 
ton Grimsley,  Kentucky;  William  Stark,  Kentucky;  John  E. 
Tholozan,  France;  Peter  Haldeman,  Kentucky;  John  Jones, 
David  Kneeland,  Hart  Fellows,  Henry  Rollins,  William  Leneve, 
Philip  Rocheblave,  William  Hughes,  Joseph  Walters,  George 
Blanchard,  John  Hay,  John  Wallace,  Phineas  James,  John  J. 
Douberman,  Zenas  Smith,  Thomas  Berry,  Moses  B.  Wall,  Joseph 
M.  Yard. 

In  1816,  Gen.  William  Clark  built  on  the  east  side 
!  of  Main  Street  (now  in  block  No.  10,  between  Pine 
I  and  Olive  Streets)  a  two-story  brick  house,  the  sixth 
i  brick  structure  in  St.  Louis,  of  twenty-one  feet  front 
by  about  thirty-two  deep.     The  lower  floor  was  occu- 
pied by  a  store  and  counting-room,  with  a  staircase  in 
the  southeast  corner,  and  the  second   story  was  di- 
vided into  two  rooms.     On  this  floor  Missouri  Lodare, 

O     > 

No.  12,  had  its  lodge-room  for  about  two  years,  until 
its  removal  into  "  Douglass'  new  house,"  on  Elm  Street, 
late  in  1817.  This  building  had  been  erected  during 
that  year  by  Maj.  Thompson  Douglass,  and  was  lo- 

j  cated  on  the  north  side  of  the  present  Elm  Street, 
between  Main  and  Second  Streets,  a  two-story  brick 
dwelling-house  of  about  thirty-eight  feet  square,  di- 

',  vided  into  four  rooms  on  each  floor.  While  the  build- 
ing was  in  progress  of  erection,  the  room  then  occu- 
pied by  the  lodge  in  Clark's  house  being  poorly 
adapted  for  Masonic  purposes  and  inconveniently 
located,  Douglass,  then  Worshipful  Master,  and  a 
zealous  Mason,  was  induced  to  add  an  attic  or  third 
stofy  for  a  lodge-room  for  No.  12.  This  room  was 
used  for  Masonic  purposes  for  about  sixteen  years, 
until  the  close  of  1833,  when  Missouri  Lodge,  No.  1 
(the  successor  of  No.  12),  under  the  pressure  of  cir- 
cumstances, ceased  its  labors  for  a  time,  and  the 
Grand  Lodge  was  removed  to  Columbia,  Boone  Co. 
In  this  room  Missouri  Royal  Arch  Chapter,  No.  lr 


1778 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


was  organized  and  commenced  operations,  as  was  also 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  Missouri,  and  it  was  here  that  on 
Friday,  April  29,  1825,  the  Grand  Lodge  was  hon- 
ored by  a  visit  from  the  distinguished  Revolutionary 
soldier  and  French  patriot,  Gen.  Lafayette. 

Missouri  Lodge,  No.  12,  unlike  its  predecessor,  St. 
Louis  Lodge,  No.  Ill,  did  not  as  a  rule  make  public 
displays  on  the  occasion  of  the  Masonic  festivals  of 
St.  John.  The  only  observance  of  which  any  rtecord 
remains  occurred  Dec.  27,  1819,  on  which  occasion 
there  was  a  procession  from  the  lodge-room  to  "  the 
long  room  at  Bennett's  Hotel,"  where  an  oration  was 
delivered.  Among  the  Masonic  interments  in  which 
No.  12  participated  was  that  of  Capt.  Thomas  Ram- 
say, Aug.  17,  1818,  of  the  First  Regiment  United 
States  Rifles,  killed  in  a  duel  by  Capt.  Martin  of  the 
same  regiment. 

After  the  establishment  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
Missouri,  Missouri  Lodge  deposited  its  old  charter, 
No.  12,  with  the  new  Grand  Lodge,  and  being  the 
senior  of  the  three  lodges  that  participated  in  the  or- 
ganization of  the  Grand  Lodge,  received  a  new  charter, 
as  heretofore  stated,  numbered  one  under  the  new 
jurisdiction,  under  which  it  continues  to  work. 

The  charter  thus  granted  reads  as  follows : 

"  Sit  Lux  et  Lux  Fuit. 

"  The  Most  Worshipful 
"  Thomas  F.  Riddick,  Esq.,  Grand  Master. 

"  To  all  and  every,  our  Right  Worshipful  and  Loving  Brethren, 
Honorable  Society  of  Free  and  Accepted  Masons  in  the  State  of 
Missouri,  send  greeting  : 

"Know  ye,  That  we,  at  the  petition  of  our  Right  Worship- 
ful and  well-beloved  brethren,  Edward  Bates,  John  D.  Daggett, 
and  John  Walls,  and  several  other  brethren  residing  at  and 
near  St.  Louis,  in  the  State  of  Missouri,  do  hereby  constitute 
the  said  brethren  into  a  regular  lodge  of  Free  and  Accepted 
Masons,  to  be  opened  at  St.  Louis,  by  the  name  of  '  Missouri, 
No.  1,'  and  do  further,  at  the  said  petition  and  of  the  great 
trust  and  confidence  reposed  in  the  above-named  three  brethren, 
hereby  appoint  Edward  Bates,  Master:  John  D.  Daggett,  Senior 
Warden ;  and  John  Walls,  Junior  Warden,  for  opening  the  said 
lodge,  and  for  such  further  time  only  as  may  be  thought  proper 
by  the  brethren  thereof.  It  being  our  will  that  this  our  ap- 
pointment shall  in  nowise  affect  any  future  election  of  officers 
of  that  lodge,  but  that  the  same  shall  be  according  to  the,  regu- 
lations of  the  lodge,  and  consistent  with  the  general  laws  of  the 
society  contained  in  the  book  of  constitutions.  And  we  do 
hereby  require  you,  the  said  Edward  Bates,  to  take  special  care 
that  all  and  every  of  the  said  brethren  are  or  have  been  regu- 
larly made  Masons,  and  that  they  do  perform,  observe,  and 
keep  all  the  rules  and  orders  contained  in  the  book  of  constitu- 
tions, and  also  such  as  may  from  time  to  time  be  transmitted  to 
you  by  us.  And,  further,  that  you  do  from  time  to  time  cause 
to  be  entered  in  a  book  to  be  kept  for  that  purpose  an  account 
of  your  proceedings  in  the  lodge,  together  with  such  regulations 
as  shall  be  made  for  the  good  government  thereof,  a  copy  of 
which  you  are  in  nowise  to  omit  laying  before  the  Grand  Lodge 
once  in  every  year,  together  with  a  list  of  the  members  of  the 
lodge.  That  you  annually  pay  into  the  grand  treasury  the  sum 


of dollars  towards  the  grand  charity.  And,  moreover,  we 

hereby  will  and  require  of  you,  the  said  worshipful  Edward 
Bates,  as  soon  as  conveniently  may  be  to  send  an  account  in 
writing  of  what  shall  be  done  by  virtue  of  these  presents. 

"  Given  at  St.  Louis  under  our  hand  and  seal  of  Masonry  this 
fourth  day  of  September,  A.L.  5821,  A.D.  1821. 

"  Attested : 


"  WILLIAM  RENSHAW, 

"  Grand  Secretary. 


"THOMAS  F.  RIDDICK,  G.  M. 
"JAMES  KE.VNERLY,  S.  G.  Warden. 
"  WILLIAM  BATES,  J.  G.  Warden." 

The  following  is  the  roll  of  the  members  of  Mis- 
souri Lodge,  No.  12,  at  the  date  of  the  organization 
of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Missouri,  April,  1821 : 

Edward  Bates,  W.  M. ;  John  C.  Daggett,  S.  W. ;  John  Walls, 
J.  W.  :  Peter  Haldeman,  Treasurer:  William  K.  Rule,  Secretary; 
Isaac  A.  Letcher,  S.  D. ;  Thomas  Andrews,  J.  D. ;  Joseph  White, 
Steward ;  John  C.  Potter,  Tyler ;  Thomas  F.  Riddick,  Thomas 
H.  Benton,  William  Renshaw.  George  H.  C.  Melody,  John 
Jones,  Stephen  Rector,  Hart  Fellows,  William  Leneve,  Risdon 
II.  Price,  Nathaniel  B.  Tucker,  James  Kennerly,  David  B.  Hoff- 
man, Joseph  V.  Gamier,  William  Clarkson,  David  Kneeland, 
Amos  J.  Bruce,  Henry  Rollins,  Thornton  Grimsley,  Daniel  C. 
Boss,  William  Stark,  Joseph  C.  Laveille,  Philip  Rocheblave, 
Robert  P.  Farris,  William  Hughes,  Joseph  Walters,  George 
Morton,  James  P.  Spencer,  Moses  Scott,  George  Blanchard, 
John  E.  Tholozan,  John  Hay,  William  L.  Long,  Jonathan  Guest, 
John  Wallace,  Phineas  James,  Zenas  Smith,  John  J.  Douber- 
man,  Thomas  Berry,  Moses  B.  Wall,  Joseph  M.  Yard,  Walter 
B.  Alexander. 

The  following  is  a  full  list  of  all  those  who  received 
degrees  in  old  Missouri  Lodge,  No.  1,  from  June, 
1821,  to  October,  1833,  inclusive,  with  the  date  when 
"  raised" : 

Walter  B.  Alexander,  June  12,  1821;  William  Robertson, 
Oct.  16,  1821 ;  James  Conner,  Oct.  30,  1S21  ;  Samuel  Stebbins, 
Nov.  16,  1821  ;  Paul  M.  Gratiot,  Jan.  16, 1822  ;  Lewis  C.  Beck, 
Jan.  22,  1822;  Theodore  L.  McGill,  Jan.  30,  1822;  Francis 
Mason,  March  23,  1822;  Sullivan  Blood,  March  23,  1822; 
Daniel  Blair,  April  2,  1822  ;  Richard  Milligan,  June  10,  1822  ; 
Asa  Wheeler,  April  4, 1823  :  Frederic  L.  Billon,  Dec.  10,  1823  ; 
Lawrence  Taliaferro,  Feb.  3,  1824;  James  D.  Earl,  July  9, 
1S24;  Charles  Bent,  Aug.  9,  1824;  William  Spickernagle,  Aug. 
2,  1825  ;  Ewil  Baker,  Oct.  4,  1825 ;  John  Sirnonds,  Sept.  30, 
1826;  Edward  Klein,  Sept.  30,  1826;  Phineas  Block,  Sept.  10, 
1S27  :  John  M.  Causland,  Feb.  22,  1S28;  Chris.  M.  Price,  Feb. 
22,  1S2S;  Bernard  Pratte,  Jr.,  Feb.  22,  1828;  Nicholas  War- 
nock,  Nov.  5,  1828;  II.  B.  DeWitt,  March  '.',,  Is 211;  George 
Wilson,  March  3,  1829;  Washington  Hood,  March  28,  1829; 
David  Waldo,  May  5,  1829;  Beriah  Graham,  June  24,  1829; 
John  M.  Pollock,  Dec.  lit,  182!) :  James  R.  Pullen,  Dec.  4,  1830; 
Thomas  H.  West,  Feb.  1,  1831  ;  John  B.  D.  Valeria,  Sept.  7, 
1831;  Ruel  Bryant,  Sept.  7,  1831;  Alpha  0.  Abby,  Sept.  8, 
1832;  Bernard  McAnulty,  Sept.  8,  1832. 

Admitted  to  membership  :  Abram  S.  Platt,  March  4,  1823  ; 
John  Shackford,  Feb.  .">,  L822 ;  Hamilton  R.  Gamble,  Nov.  2, 
1824;  Jacob  Cooper,  Feb.  2,  1825;  Robert  Wash,  Feb.  7, 1826; 
James  S.  Lane,  April  8,  1826;  Hardage  Lane,  July  8,  1826; 
David  E.  Cuyler,  Aug.  1,  1826;  John  Russell,  April  3,  1827; 


RELIGIOUS,  BENEVOLENT,  SOCIAL,  SECRET,  AND  OTHER  ORGANIZATIONS.      1779 


Adam  L.  Mills,  July  3,  1827  ;  Augustin  Kennerly,  Jan.  12, 
1828;  George  Maguire,  Jan.  12,  1828;  Dugald  Ferguson,  Jan. 
12,  1828;  William  T.  Smith,  Jan.  12,  1828;  George  Knox,  Jr., 
May  6,  1828;  John  Woolfolk,  Dec.  14,  1830  ;  R.  W.  Coan,  Dec. 
i4,  1830  ;  Cornelius  Campbell,  June  7, 1831 ;  Archibald  Gamble, 
Dec.  27,  1831 ;  John  Haverly,  Jan.  3,  1832  ;  John  M.  Raulston, 
Jan.  3,  1832;  Jesse  Little,  May  1,  1832;  J.  G.  A.  McKinney, 
May  1,  1832. 

Fellow-craftsmen:  Edward  Moore,  March  9,1822;  John  J. 
Lacroze,  May  18, 1822 ;  French  Strother,  Feb.  7, 1826  ;  Richard 
H.  Woolfolk,  Dec.  4,  1827;  Valen  J.  Peers,  Dec.  4,  1827. 

Entered  apprentices :  Otis  Tiffany,  Aug.  6,  1822  ;  John  F.  A. 
Sanford,  Dec.  16,  1825;  William  Orr,  Sept.  3,  1822:  Francis 
W.  Hopkins,  April  28,  1826;  James  Sterritt,  Oct.  14,  1826; 
Peter  R.  Pratte,  Aug.  22, 1829  ;  Joseph  Rudisell,  Oct.  13, 1829; 
Charles  Cabanne,  May  8,  1830;  E.  T.  Christy,  June  31,  1831. 


Up  to  October,  1833,  the  statistics  were  : 


Members  of  old  lodge,  No.  12  ............... 

Admitted  to  membership  .....................  23) 

Raised  to  Master  Mason  in  No.  1  ...........  37  J 


49 


Total  of  Master  Masons  ................. 

Demissions  ................................................  37 

Stricken  from  roll  ......................................    17 

Suspensions  ..............................................     3 

Interred  ...................................................     5 

Removals,  etc  ............................................   19 


109 


Total 


81 


Members  remaining  October,  1833 28 

The  officers  of  Missouri  Lodge,  No.  1,  from  1821 
to  1833  were — 


Worshipful  Masters. 

Senior  Wardens. 

Junior  Wardens. 

Treasurers. 

Secretaries. 

1820. 
1S21. 
1S22. 
1823. 

Edward  Bates. 
u 

John  C.  Daggett. 
John  Walls. 
Thornton  Grimsley. 

John  Walls. 
Thomas  Andrews. 
Sullivan  Blood. 

Peter  Haldeman. 
Thornton  Grimsley. 
Joseph  C.  Laveille. 

William  K.  Rule. 
John  D.  Daggett. 

14 

1824. 
1825. 

John  D.  Daggett. 

James  P.  Spencer. 
Frederic  L.  Billon. 

Daniel  Blair. 
John  J.  Douberman. 

Thornton  Grimsley. 

Frederic  L.  Billon. 
Ewel  Baker. 

1826. 

Hamilton  R.  Gamble. 

« 

" 

u 

Theodore  L.  McGill. 

1S27. 

« 

H 

" 

" 

" 

1828. 
1829., 
1830., 

Frederic  L.  Billon. 
Edward  Bates. 
u 

George  Knox. 
Thomas  Andrews. 

John  Simonds. 
A.L.  Mills. 
Bernard  Pratte,  Jr. 
James  P.  Spencer. 

Theodore  L.  McGill. 

u 
u 

Bernard  Pratte,  Jr. 
George  Maguire. 
Augustin  Kennorly. 
John  B.  D.  Valois. 

1832. 

In  the  year  1824,  Charles  S.  Hempstead,  trustee  of 
the  estate  of  Jeremiah  Conner,  deceased,  conveyed  to 
John  D.  Daggett  a  lot  or  square  of  ground  in  Con- 
ner's addition,  outside  the  then  city  limits  (Seventh 
Street),  and  considered  a  long  distance  "  in  the  coun- 
try," and  on  April  2.  1824,  John  D.  Daggett  sold 
this  lot  to  Missouri  Lodge,  No.  1,  Edward  Bates  and 
Archibald  Gamble,  trustees,  for  four  hundred  dollars, 
for  a  Masonic  burial-ground. 

On  the  12th  of  April,  1824,  the  body  of  Dr. 
Richard  Mason,  late  of  Philadelphia,  was  there  in- 
terred by  the  lodge,  the  procession  being  escorted  by 
Capt.  Archibald  Gamble's  troop  of  City  Cavalry,  of 
which  the  deceased  was  a  member.  The  ground 
being  found  too  wet  and  swampy,  and  otherwise  un- 
suitable for  the  purpose  designed,  the  body  was  subse- 
quently removed,  and  the  trustees  were  instructed  to 
dispose  of  the  lot.  This  they  accomplished  after  a 
few  years,  selling  it  to  Peter  Ferguson  on  Sept.  1, 
1831,  for  the  sum  of  seven  hundred  and  fifty  dollars, 
then  a  fair  price  for  it.  That  lot  is  now  "  City  Block 
No.  179,"  two  hundred  and  seventy  feet  front  on  the 
south  side  of  Washington  Avenue,  from  Tenth  to 
Eleventh,  by  one  hundred  and  fifty  deep,  south  to  St. 
Charles  Street,  opposite  the  St.  Louis  University,  and 
is  now  the  property  of  Peter  Ferguson's  son,  William 
F.  Ferguson. 

After  many  vicissitudes  and  fluctuations  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  lodge,  resulting  mainly  from  the  political 
anti-Masonic  excitement  then  existing  in  various  por- 


tions  of  the  Union,  the  few  active  remaining  members 
arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  it  was  best  for  the  in- 
terests of  the  institution  to  suspend  its  labors,  for  a 
time  at  least. 

On  the  18th  of  October,  1831,  the  Grand  Lodge 
submitted  to  the  subordinate  lodges  a  proposition  to 
dissolve  the  grand  and  subordinate  lodges  in  the 
State,  and  when  the  proposition  came  before  this 
lodge  on  the  evening  of  Dec.  12,  1832,  the  following 
was  adopted : 

"  Resolved,  That  it  is  the  wish  of  Missouri  Lodge,  No.  1,  that  the 
Worshipful  Masters  and  Wardens  of  said  lodge  attend  the  Grand 
Lodge  on  the  next  Monday,  the  19th,  and  that  it  is  the  sense 
and  wish  of  this  lodge  that  said  Worshipful  Masters  and  War- 
dens vote  against  the  dissolution  or  suspension  of  said  Grand 
Lodge,  or  the  lodges  subordinate  thereto." 

Edward  Bates,  Worshipful  Master,  offered  the  fol- 
lowing : 

''  Whereas,  Under  existing  circumstances,  and  in  view  of  the 
high  excitement  which  unhappily  prevails  in  mnny  parts  of  the 
United  States  on  the  subject  of  Freemasonry,  many  good  and 
virtuous  persons  having  been  led  to  doubt  whether  the  benefi- 
cent effects  resulting  from  the  exercise  of  our  rules  do  more 
than  counterbalance  the  evils  inflicted  upon  society  by  the  pas- 
sions and  prejudices  brought  into  action  by  our  continuing  to 
act  in  an  organized  form  ;  and  while  we  feel  an  undiminished 
reverence  for  the  excellent  principles  inculcated  by  the  order, 
and  an  unshaken  belief  in  the  many  and  great  services  it  has 
rendered  mankind ;  nevertheless, 

"  Be  it  liesolred,  That  immediately  after  the  close  this  even- 
ing this  lodge  shall  cease  to  act  as  an  organized  body,  and  that 
its  charter  be  surrendered  and  returned  to  the  Grand  Lodge." 


1780 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Many  of  the  members  becoming  dissatisfied  with 
the  course  of  the  mover  of  this  resolution  during  the 
preceding  months,  had  already  "  demitted,"  and  on 
the  5th  of  October,  1833,  the  lodge  surrendered  its 
charter  to  the  Grand  Lodge,  and  ceased  its  labors  for 
the  time. 

Having  nearly  six  hundred  dollars,  a  large  sum 
then,  in  the  treasury,  it  made  the  following  disposition 
of  its  surplus  funds  : 

To  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  who  had  then  but  re- 
cently erected  their  hospital  building,  at  Fourth  and 
Spruce  Streets,  two  hundred  dollars ;  to  the  St. 
Louis  Library  Association,  then  just  set  on  foot,  two 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  The  balance,  one  hundred 
and  twenty-eight  dollars,  was  applied  to  the  payment 
of  rent,  Grand  Lodge  dues,  and  other  incidentals. 

Following  the  return  of  the  charter  of  Missouri 
Lodge,  No.  1,  to  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Missouri,  in 
October,  1833,  some  few  of  its  members,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  others,  in  1834  petitioned  the  Grand  Lodge 
for  a  charter  for  a  new  lodge  in  St.  Louis,  to  be  called 
Lafayette.  The  Grand  Lodge  changed  the  name, 
and  in  1836  granted  a  charter  to  the  lodge  as  St. 
Louis,  No.  20. 

On  Tuesday,  Oct.  18,  1842,  at  the  annual  meeting 
of  the  Grand  Lodge,  Priestly  H.  McBride,  M.  W. 
G.  M.,— 

"  The  petition  of  Brothers  Jesse  Little,  Thornton  Grimsley, 
William  Renshaw,  John  D.  Daggett,  Augustin  Kennerly, 
Thomas  H.  West,  A.  L.  Mills,  James  S.  Lane,  George  Wilson, 
and  Frederic  L.  Billon,  late  members  of  Missouri  Lodge,  No. 
1,  praying  that  the  Grand  Lodge  grant  them  the  liberty  of  re- 
suming their  Masonic  labors  and  the  enjoyment  of  Masonic 
privileges,  under  and  by  virtue  of  their  former  charter,  as  a 
regular  lodge  of  Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  was  presented. 

"  Thereupon,  upon  motion  of  Brother  Carnegy,  it  was  unani- 
mously ordered  that  the  prayer  of  said  petitioners  be  granted." 

Pursuant  to  the  above  the  following  members  of 
Missouri  Lodge,  No.  1,  assembled  at  the  hall  Oct.  20, 
1842,  and  proceeded  to  reopen  Missouri  Lodge,  No. 
1,  viz. :  Jesse  Little,  Thornton  Grimsley,  John  Si- 
monds,  Adam  L.  Mills,  Augustin  Kennerly,  George 
Wilson,  S.  W.  B.  Carnegy,  P.  G.  M.,  Joseph  Foster, 


S.  G.  W.,  John  M.  De  Bolle  and  Esrom  Owens; 
Joseph  Foster  as  W.  M.  ;  John  Simonds,  S.  W. ; 
Thornton  Grimsley,  J.  W.  ;  Augustin  Kennerly, 
Treas.  ;  S.  W.  B.  Carnegy,  Sec.  ;  George  Wilson,  S. 
D. ;  Jesse  Little,  J.  D.  ;  Esrom  Owens,  Tyler. 

It  was  unanimously  resolved  to  accept  the  privi- 
leges granted  by  the  Grand  Lodge,  and  the  lodge 
then  proceeded  to  an  election  of  officers,  which  re- 
sulted in  the  choice  of  the  following  :  John  Simonds, 
W.  M.  ;  John  D.  Daggett,  S.  W. ;  Thornton  Grims- 
ley, J.  W.  ;  Frederic  L.  Billon,  Sec.  ;  Augustin 
Kennerly,  Treas;  George  Wilson,  appointed  S.  D.  j 
Jesse  Little,  appointed  J.  D.  ;  Esrom  Owens,  ap- 
pointed Tyler.  These  officers  were  installed  the  same 
evening  by  P.  G.  Master  S.  W.  B.  Carnegy.  The 
transaction  of  business  was  proceeded  with,  and  thus 
the  old  lodge  was  revived. 

Following  is  a  list  of  the  members  initiated  in  Mis- 
souri Lodge,  No.  1,  from  1842  to  1848,  inclusive: 

Initiated.  Passed.  Raised. 

John  M.  Eager Dec.  1,  1842.  Dec.  13, 1842.  Feb.  8,  1843. 

E.Carter  HiitcMiison...Dec.  9, 1842.  April  14,  1843.  Oct.  11,  1843. 

James  M.  Martien Dec.  9,  1842. 

Joseph  B.  Walke.r Jan.  26,  1843.  March  10, 1843.  April  7,  1843. 

Henry  Caldwell Feb.  6,  1843.  March  10, 1843.  April  6,  1843. 

Anthony  Bennett March  6,  1843. 

James  Gresham Oct.  10,  1843.  Oct.  24, 1843.  Nov.  2,  1843. 

Isaiah  Forbes Dec.  7,  1843.  Jan.  4,  1844.  Feb.  1, 1844. 

Edwin  T.  Deuig Aug.  30,  1844. 

T.  C.  Hovaker Oct.  3,  1844.  Nov.  16,  1844  Dec.  2,  1844. 

Daniel  Meloy Dec.  7,  1844.  Jan.  2,  1845.  Jan.  23,  1845. 

David  Levison Jan.  2,  1845.  Jan.  23,  1845.  Feb.  6,  1845. 

Damassus  Gezzi Feb.  12,  1845.  March  6,  1845.  April  11,  1845. 

\Vm.H.Merritt Marcn  11, 1845.  April  3  1845.  May  13,  1845. 

Philip  Ewald June  13,  1845. 

Gabriel  Hains June  13, 1845.  July  15,  1845.  Aug.  28,  1845. 

Enistus  Wells July  3,  1845.  Aug.  12,  1845.  Oct.  8, 1845. 

Thomas  Davenport Sept.  4,  1845.  Oct.  2, 1845.  Dec.  22,  1845. 

Gnstavus  W.  Dreger....Sept.  12,  1845. 

Napo'n  Koscialo\vski...March  5,  1846.  April  24,  1846.  Aug.  31,  1846. 

Isaac  H.  Keim April  2,  1846.  May  12,  1846.  June  12,  1846. 

Micajah  Littleton April  19, 1846.  April  20,  1846.  April  20, 1846. 

Lee  Curtis May  7,  1846.  July  3,  1848.  July  6, 1848. 

Ed.  S.  Polkowski May  7,  1846. 

Conrad  Smith June  4,  1846. 

Thomas  Dndman Aug.  6,  1846.  Feb.  4,  1847. 

Theodore  Baker Dec.  11,  1846.  June  14.  1847.  Aug.  23, 1847. 

H.  W.  Leffiugwell Jan.  12,  1847.  Feb.  4, 1847.  Feb.  27,  1847. 

Wm.  F.  Chase Jan.  12,  1847.  Feb.  4,  1847.  Feb.  27,  1847. 

Thomas  Ryan April  16,  1847. 

B.  Liverniau Ian.  6, 1848.  March  15,1848.  May  26,  1848. 

John  Libby April  6,  U48.  Oct.  5,  1848.  March  1, 1849. 

William  H.  Latham.... Aug.  18,1848. 

Isaac  N.  Barnes Sept.  7,  1848.  Dec.  29,  1848.  Dec.  29,  1848. 

Edmund  Flagg Sept.  7.  1848.  Feb.  26,1849.  March  28,1849. 

Ed.  C.Blackburn Nov.  2,  1848.  Feb.  1,  1855. 

The  elective  officers  of  Missouri  Lodge,  No.  1,  from 
1842  to  1882,  inclusive,  have  been  : 


Worshipful  Masters. 

Senior  Wardens. 

Junior  Wardens. 

Treasurers. 

Secretaries. 

1842  , 

,John  Simonds. 

John  D.  Daggett. 

Thornton  Grimsley. 

Augustin  Kennerly. 

Frederic  L.  Billon. 

1843  

* 

*' 

" 

Win.  Renshaw,  Sr. 

« 

1844  

.Frederic  L.  Billon. 

John  D.  Taylor. 

Jesse  Little. 

James  Gresham. 

1845  

John  D.  Taylor. 

Isaiah  Forbes. 

James  Ciresham. 

M 

Frederic  L.  Billon. 

1846  , 

" 

" 

•' 

H 

M 

1847  , 

" 

James  Gresham. 

Isaac  H.  Keim. 

ll 

U 

1848  

" 

••' 

William  F.  Chase. 

It 

tt 

1849  

.James  Gresham. 

Samuel  F.  Currie. 

Thos.  Davenport. 

John  D.  Daggett. 

John  D.  Taylor. 

1850  

.Isaiah  Forbes. 

" 

John  B.  Coleman. 

<< 

(i 

1851  

.John  D.  Taylor. 

" 

Clark  Winsor. 

« 

Isaiah  Forbes. 

1852..'..., 

.Samuel  F.  Currie. 

John  Libbey. 

Win.  M.  McLean. 

« 

R.  Peyinghaus. 

1853  

.John   Libbey  and  W. 

Wm.  M.  McLean  and 

M.  McLean. 

C.  M.  Brooks. 

Bernard  A.  Prntte. 

n 

John  D.  Taylor. 

1854  

.Wm.  H.  McLean. 

C.  M.  Brooks. 

John  B.  Turnbull. 

it 

1855  , 

John  D.  Taylor. 

Judah  A.  Hart. 

William  Burden. 

n 

Wm.  McLean. 

1856  , 

'* 

Wm.  Burden. 

John  Goodin. 

tt 

R.  S.  Voorhis. 

RELIGIOUS,  BENEVOLENT,  SOCIAL,  SECRET,  AND   OTHER  ORGANIZATIONS.     1781 


Worshipful  Masters. 

Senior  Wardens. 

Junior  Wardens. 

Treasurers. 

1857.... 

..John  D.  Taylor. 

John  Goodin. 

Robert  S.  Voorhis. 

John  D.  Daggett. 

1858.... 

..John  Goodin. 

Robt.  S.  Voorhis. 

A.  Newmark. 

John  J.  Outley. 

1S59.... 

" 

" 

Francis  Turnbull. 

John  D.  Daggett. 

I860.... 

..Robert  S.  Voorhis. 

Henry  Hudson. 

John  Moyses. 

a 

1861.... 

..John  Goodin. 

« 

Judah  A.  Hart. 

" 

1862.... 

" 

J.  J.  Outley. 

" 

Jos.  Crawshaw,  Sr. 

1863.... 

..Judah  A.  Hart. 

James  0.  Alter. 

D.  N.  Burgoyne. 

H.  S.  Lansdell. 

1864.... 

..James  0.  Alter. 

D.  N.  Burgoyne. 

Rossington  Elms. 

" 

1865.... 

..D.  N.  Burgoyne. 

Geo.  F.  Gouley. 

John  McKittrick. 

Judah  A.  Hart. 

1866.... 

..Geo.  F.  Gouley. 

John  McKittrick. 

Wm.  A.  Prall. 

« 

1867.... 

..John  McKittrick. 

Win.  A.  Prall. 

John  D.  Melvin. 

« 

1868.... 

..Win.  A.  Prall. 

John  D.  Melvin. 

Javnes  H.  Tolman. 

John  D.  Daggett. 

1869.... 

..John  Goodin. 

Jnmes  H.  Tolman. 

Sol.  B.  Beliew. 

a 

1S70.... 

..James  H.  Toltnan. 

John  D.  Melvin. 

Geo.  J.  King. 

a 

1871.... 

..George  T.  King. 

Charles  Garvin. 

David  Goodfellow. 

" 

1872.... 

..Charles  N.  Garvin. 

David  Goodfellow. 

James  X.  Allen. 

a 

1873.... 

..David  Goodfellow. 

James  X.  Allen. 

M.  W.  Eagan. 

a 

1S74.... 

..James  X.  Allen. 

M.  W.  Eagan. 

Joseph  Nutt. 

" 

1875.... 

..Michael  W.Eagan. 

Wm.  Douglas. 

H.S.  Roebuck. 

Isaiah  Forbes. 

1876.... 

..Wm.  Douglas. 

Chas.  F.  Vogel. 

A.  B.  Pearson. 

" 

1877.... 

..Chas.  F.  Vogel. 

AVm.  H.  Goodin. 

V.  0.  Saunders. 

a 

1878.... 

.  V.  0.  Saunders. 

Wm.  H.  Mayo. 

John  H.  Deems. 

a 

1879.... 

..Wm.  H.  Mayo. 

John  H.  Deems. 

T.  S.  Funkhouser. 

n 

1880.... 

..John  H.  Deems. 

Win.  Gillespie. 

V.  S.  Colbert. 

a 

1881.... 

H 

" 

M.  H.  Beck. 

Chas.  F.  Vogel. 

1882.... 

..Win.  Gillespie. 

Henry  L.  Rogers. 

Alphonse  F.  Perrier. 

a 

Missouri  Lodge,  No.  1,  has  recommended  to  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Missouri  the  granting  of  the  follow- 
ing petitions  for  charters  for  new  lodges  in  the  city  of 
St.  Louis,  viz. : 

1845.  Dec.  4th,  petition  of  E.  G.  Simons  and  associates  for  a 
new  lodge  to  be  called  "  Polar  Star." 

1848.  Oct.  5th,  petition  of  William  H.  Merritt,  Erastus 
AVells.  and  associates  for  a  new  lodge  in  the  northern  part  of 
the  city  to  be  called  Beacon  Lodge. 

1850.  May  2d,  petition  of  Mr.  Baumgartner  and  associates 
for  a  new  lodge  in  the  southern  part  of  the  city  to  be  called 
Irwin  Lodge. 

1854.  Oct.  5th,  petition  of  Messrs.  Brennan,  Brooks,  Hall, 
and  others  for  a  new  lodge  to  be  called  Tyrian  Lodge. 

1857.  Jan.  15th,  petition  for  a  new  lodge  in  the  city  to  be 
called  Pride  of  the  AVest. 

1865.  March  16th,  petition  of  Messrs.  Wannell,  Dozier,  Shorn, 
and  associates  for  Keystone  Lodge. 

1867.  Sept.  5th,  petition  of  Messrs.  Gibson,  Butts,  and  others 
for  a  new  lodge  to  be  called  Aurora. 

1868.  Feb.  20th,  petition  of  Messrs.  AA'olke,  Sues,  Sears,  etc., 
Cosmos  Lodge. 

1869.  Oct.  21st,  petition  of  B.  Goldschmidt,  Charles  Buechel, 
and  J.  Hafke,  for  Meridian  Lodge;  afterwards  rescinded;  no 
signatures  to  the  petition. 

1870.  Feb.  17th,  Petition    of   Thomas    C.   Ready   and   fifty 
others  for  Tuscan  Lodge. 

1871.  June  15th,  petition  of  R.  A.  AVaters,  B.  A.  Dozier,  F. 
J.  Rice,  and  others  for  Cache  Lodge,  at  Carondelet. 

1871.  Sept.  21st,  petition  of  Edward  Nathan,  J.  J.  Fischer, 
and  Adolph  Klemtepf,  for  Itaska  Lodge. 

1872.  Feb.  loth,  petition  of   C.    C.  Rainwater,  Thomas  R. 
Garrard,  and  R.  M.  Hubbard,  for  Anchor  Lodge. 

1872.  March  7th,  petition  of  John  M.  Collins,  S.  F.  Rams- 
dell,  and  M.  H.  B.  Atkins,  for  Westgate  Lodge. 

1872.  June  20th,  petition  of  A.  B.  Barbee,  William  T.  Mc- 
Cutcheon,  and  James  J.  Denny,  for  Lambskin  Lodge. 

The  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  date  of  the  charter 
to  Missouri  Lodge,  No.  12,  was  celebrated  by  Mis- 
souri Lodge,  No.  1,  Oct.  8,  1866.     The  following 
113 


Secretaries. 
James  0.  Alter. 
Judah  A.  Hart. 
John  D.  Taylor. 
Wm.  A.  Prall. 
G.  S.  Ensell. 
Edw.  Crawshaw. 
Geo.  F.  Couley. 
John  McKittrick. 
Win.  A.  Prall. 
Geo.  C.  Deane. 
Geo.  W.  Ferris. 


Chas.  F.  Vogel. 


Wm.  H.  Mayo. 
Chac.  F.  Vogel. 
AVm.  H.  Mayo. 


account  of  the  proceedings  was  obtained  from  the 
record  book  : 

"  A  called  communication  of  Missouri  Lodge,  No.  1,  was  held 
at  Masonic  Hall,  northeast  corner  of  Chestnut  and  Third  Streets, 
on  Oct.  8,  1866;  present,  George  Frank  Gouley,  W.  M.;  John 
McKittrick,  S.  W.;  William  A.  Pratt,  J.  AV. ;  Judah  A.  Hart, 
Treas. ;  George  C.  Deane,  Sec.;  James  H.  Tollman,  S.  D. ; 
Joseph  Nutt,  J.  D. ;  George  B.  Brua,  Tyler ;  John  Goodin,  P. 
M. ;  James  0.  Alter,  P.  M. ;  Ross  Elms,  John  D.  Melvin,  George 
W.  Ferris,  William  N.  Morrison,  John  Geekie,  J.  M.  Broom- 
field,  Alonzo  B.  Pearson,  William  H.  Goodin,  J.  J.  Outley,  R. 
M.  Mather,  D.  L.  M.  Robinson,  A.  Newmark,  L.  Kingsland, 
Jacob  Kuhn,  James  X.  Allen,  Richard  L.  Parker,  John  W. 
Reeder,  Lewis  Holden,  John  Brooke,  Charles  H.  Rochow,  thirty 
members,  and  the  following  visitors  :  J.  A.  H.  Lampton,  P.M. ; 
James  Merry,  John  Glenny,  T.  H.  Russell,  S.  D.  Howard,  J.  K. 
Dalmas,  AVilliam  H.  Stone,  W.  F.  Dieterichs,  Jr.,  of  George 
AVashington  Lodge,  No.  9;  Theodore  Nagle,  AVilliain  W.  Wor- 
stall,  of  St.  Louis  Lodge,  No.  20;  John  C.  Bloomfield,  AVilliam 

B.  Parker,  of  Napthali,  No.  20;  Henry  Cupps,  of  Pride  of  the 
West  Lodge,  No.  179;  J.  B.Austin,  W.  M. ;  AVilliam  B.  Buck- 
land,  J.  AV.;  A.  B.  M.  Thompson,  Sec.;  Martin  Collins,  P.  M.; 
William  N.  Loker,  P.  M. ;  AVilliam  Bosbyshell,  J.  H.  Case,  John 
King,  brevet  major  II.  S.  A. ;  AV.  AV.  Wallace,  James  Buckland, 
E.  W.  Klipstein,  H.  Silvester,  Dr.  George  H.  Blickhahn,  Thomas 
Richeson,  W.  A.  Miller,  R.  M.  L.  McEwen,  James  McArthur, 
of  Occident  Lodge,  No.  163;  Frederick  Volmer,  Sec.;  B.  H. 
Miles,  of  Keystone  Lodge,  No.  243;  AVilliam  C.  Defriez,  W. 
M.;  John  AV.  Luke,  P.  M. ;  AVilliam  P.  Curtis,  Sec.;  Charles 

C.  AVhittelsey,  Samuel    D.   Hendel,  of   Polar  Star,    No:    79; 
Thomas  Jessop,  Hermitage  Lodge,  No.  356,  Illinois ;  Morand 
Smith,  Sacramento  Lodge,  No.  40,  California;  J.  AV.  McDonald, 
W.  M. ;  Kansas  City  Lodge,  No.  220 ;   L.  AVright,  Columbian 
Lodge,  No.  484,  New  York;  William  M.  Fisher,  Kane  Lodge, 
No.  454,  New  York;  N.  D.  Rogers,  Palmyra,  No.  128,  New 
York,  seventy-three  present. 

"George  F.  Gouley,  W.  M.,  presiding,  delivered  an  address, 
giving  a  brief  history  of  the  lodge  for  the  fifty  years  of  its  ex- 
istence, so  far  as  he  had  been  able  to  gather  it  from  the  limited 
sources  of  information  in  his  possession  as  Grand  Secretary 
(the  records  from  1816  to  1833,  inclusive,  have  been  lost  or  de- 
stroyed at  the  death  of  John  B.  D.  Valois,  the  secretary,  in 
1834)." 


1782 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Among  the  public  demonstrations  in  which  Mis- 
souri Lodge,  No.  1,  has  participated  are  the  fol- 
lowing : 

1823.  Dec.  27,  St.  John  the  Evangelist's  day,  observed  by 
the  installation  of  the  officers  in  the  lodge-room,  and  "  a  colla- 
tion in  the  room  on  the  second  floor  below." 

1825.  Dec.  27,  St.  John  the  Evangelist's  day,  procession  to 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  northwest  corner  Fourth  and 
St.  Charles  Streets;  divine  services  by  Revs.  Salmon  Giddings 
and  J.  M.  Peck,  and  an  oration  by  Hamilton  R.  Gamble. 

1827.  June  24,  St.  John  the  Baptist's  day,  procession  to  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  divine  services,  and  an  oration  by  Rev. 
Joshua  T.  Bradley  (a  member  of  the  order),  of  the  Episcopal 
Church,  New  York.    Among  those  present  was  the  distinguished 
officer,  Maj.-Gen.  Jacob  Brown.1 

1828.  Dec.  27,  St.  John  the  Evangelist's  day,  procession  to 
the  Presbyterian  Church  and  a  discourse  by  the  pastor,  Rev. 
William  Potts,  followed  by  the  usual  dinner. 

1829.  Dec.  27,  St.  John  the  Evangelist's  day,  procession  to 
Christ  Episcopal  Church,  where  divine  services  were  held. 

1844.  June  2-1,  festival  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  was  observed 
by  the  four  lodges  of  St.  Louis — Missouri,  No.  1;  St.  Louis, 
No.  20;  Napthali,  No.  25;  and  Coleuian,  No.  40 — by  a  proces- 
sion to  the  Methodist  Church,  under  the  direction  of  Missouri, 
No.  1,  as  the  senior  lodge,  where  an  oration  was  delivered  by 
Willis  L.  Williams. 

1847.  Feb.  15,  the  eighty-third  anniversary  of  the  founding 
of  St.  Louis,  was  celebrated  by  the  people  of  the  city,  the  vari- 
ous societies,  associations,  and  organizations,  and  the  military 
of  the  place  uniting  in  the  affair,  by  a  public  display,  a  pro- 
cession to  the  court-house,  oration,  firing  of  cannon,  dinner, 
and  ball,  the  Masonic  bodies  joining  in  the  procession  by 
special  invitation  from  the  authorities. 

1852.  Nov.  4,  the  centennial  anniversary  of  the  initiation  of 
Gen.  George  Washington  into  the  Masonic  order,  was  publicly 
celebrated  by  the  fraternity  in  St.  Louis,  under  the  auspices  of 
Missouri  Lodge,  No.  1,  by  a  procession  to  Centenary  Methodist 
Church,  northwest  corner  of  Washington  Avenue  and  Fourth 
Street,  with  exercises  and  ceremonies  appropriate  to  the  occa-  ; 
sion. 

The  procession  assembled  at  the  hall,  Third  and  Chestnut 
Streets,  and  formed  with  the  right  resting  on  Fourth  and  Chest- 
nut Streets,  in  the  following  order: 

Sixth  Infantry  Band. 

Meridian  Lodge,  No.  12. 

Irwin  Lodge,  No.  120. 

Beacon  Lodge,  No.  3. 

George  Washington,  No.  9. 

Polar  Star,  No.  20. 
Mount  Morinh,  No.  40. 

Napthali,  No.  25. 
St.  Louis  Lodge,  No.  79. 

1 "  Maj.-Gen.  Jacob  Brown,  accompanied  by  his  aid,  Lieut. 
Yinton,  of  the  United  States  artillery,  arrived  at  Jefferson 
Barracks  on  June  20,  1827,  on  a  tour  of  inspection  of  the  mili- 
tary posts  of  the  United  States.  On  the  22d  he  reviewed  the  ! 
troops  there, — six  companies  of  the  First  Regiment,  six  of  the 
Third,  and  the  whole  of  the  Sixth  Regiment, — twenty-two 
companies.  On  the  23d,  with  Gen.  Atkinson,  he  visited  the 
arsenal  at  Bellefontaine.  On  Sunday,  the  24th,  he  attended 
divine  service  at  the  Presbyterian  Church  on  the  occasion  of  the 
anniversary  of  St.  John  the  Bnptist.  On  the  25th  a  dinner  was 
given  by  the  officers  at  the  barracks.  He  left  on  the  27th,  in 
the  '  Herald,'  for  Louisville." — Republican,  June  28,  1827. 


Missouri  Lodge,  No.  1. 
Transient  Brethren. 

Alton  Lodges. 

Belleville  Lodges. 

Orator  and  Chaplain. 

Royal  Arch  Chapters. 

Knight  Templar  Encampments. 

N.  Wall,  chief  marshal ;  H.  J.  B.  McKellops,  aid ;  J.  J.  An- 
derson, assistant  marshal ;  J.  W.  Crane,  assistant  marshal ;  Ber- 
nard Pratte,  assistant  marshal. 

Arrived  at  the  church,  Past  Grand  Masters  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Missouri  E.  M.  Ryland  and  A.  B.  Chambers  presided. 
Rev.  Mr.  Newland  opened  the  exercises  with  prayer,  after  which 
Rev.  Mr.  Kavanaugh  delivered  an  address.  R.  W.  G.  C.  Libby 
then  pronounced  the  benediction.  The  procession  again  formed, 
and  after  marching  through  several  streets  returned  to  the  lodge- 
room,  where  it  was  dismissed.  At  three  o'clock  a  large  number 
of  the  order,  with  many  ladies,  partook  of  a  dinner  at  Odd- 
Fellows'  Hall. 

1864.  Dec.  27,  dedication  of  the  hall  of  Occidental  Lodge, 
No.  191,  by  a  procession  of  the  fraternity  and  appropriate  cere- 
monies and  exercises  at  the  new  hall. 

1874.  June  6,  Missouri  Lodge,  No.  1,  with  the  other  city 
lodges,  joined  in  the  procession  formed  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
Missouri  for  the  purpose  of  laying  the  corner-stone  of  the  new 
Merchants'  Exchange. 

As  may  be  seen  from  the  foregoing  pages,  the  early 
membership  of  the  lodge  included  many  of  the  lead- 
ing citizens  of  St.  Louis,  some  of  whom  occupied 
prominent  and  influential  places  in  the  councils  of 
the  nation.  Among  these  may  be  mentioned  Senator 
Thomas  H.  Benton,  Hon.  Hamilton  E.  Gamble,  Gov- 
ernor of  Missouri ;  Edward  Bates,  Attorney-General 
of  the  United  States ;  Hon.  John  D.  Daggett,  mayor 
of  St.  Louis ;  James  Kennerly,  William  Renshaw, 
Hardage  Lane,  Thornton  Grimsley,  Thomas  An- 
drews, Archibald  Gamble,  Frederic  L.  Billon,  Wil- 
liam K.  Rule,  Thomas  F.  Riddick,  Nathaniel  B. 
Tucker,  Joseph  V.  Gamier,  Sullivan  Blood,  Jesse 
Little,  and  many  others. 

GRAND  LODGE  OP  MISSOURI. — When  Missouri 
was  organized  as  a  State  (in  1820)  there  were  three 
chartered  lodges  within  the  limits  of  her  territory,  all 
working  under  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Tennessee.  These 
lodges  were  Missouri  Lodge,  No.  12,  at  St.  Louis; 
Joachim  Lodge,  No.  25,  at  Herculaneum,  Jefferson 
Co.,  and  St.  Charles  Lodge,  No.  28,  at  St.  Charles. 

It  being  deemed  expedient  to  establish  a  Grand 
Lodge  for  the  new  State,  and  having  the  necessary 
number  of  lodges  required  by  the  ancient  constitu- 
tions for  the  purpose,  at  the  invitation  of  Missouri 
Lodge,  No.  12,  delegates  from  the  three  lodges  met 
in  convention  at  St.  Louis  on  Thursday,  Feb.  22, 
1821,  and  appointed  a  committee  of  three — William 
Bates,  of  Joachim,  No.  25  ;  Nathaniel  Simonds,  of  St. 
Charles,  No.  28  ;  and  Edward  Bates,  of  Missouri,  No. 
12 — to  draft  a  constitution  for  the  government  of  the 
new  Grand  Lodge,  to  be  submitted  to  the  lodges  for 


RELIGIOUS,  BENEVOLENT,  SOCIAL,  SECRET,  AND   OTHER  ORGANIZATIONS.      1783 


their  consideration.  The  lodges  then  adjourned  to 
meet  at  the  same  place  on  the  23d  of  April  following. 
Pursuant  to  this  adjournment  the  three  lodges  again 
met,  with  the  following  representatives:  Missouri 
Lodge,  No.  12,  Edward  Bates  and  John  D.  Daggett; 
Joachim  Lodge,  No.  25,  William  Bates  and  T.  F. 
Riddick;  St.  Charles  Lodge,  No.  28,  A.  S.  Platt 
and  H.  Hunt,  and  decided  to  proceed  with  the 
organization  of  the  Grand  Lodge.  After  filling  the 
various  stations  with  officers  pro  tern.,  they  opened 
in  form,  and  on  the  following  day  elected  the  follow- 
ing officers : 

Brother  Thomas  F.  Riddick,  M.  W.  Grand  Master;  Brother 
James  Kennerly,  R.  W.  G.  Sr.  Warden  ;  Brother  William  Bates, 
R.  W.  C.  -Tr.  Warden;  Brother  Archibald  Gamble,  W.  G.  Treas- 
urer; Brother  William  Renshaw,  W.  G.  Secretary. 

On  Friday,  May  4,  1821,  the  first  public  demon- 
stration of  the  new  Grand  Lodge  took  place, — a  pro- 
cession to  the  Baptist  Church,  where  the  officers  were 
installed  and  the  Grand  Lodge  duly  consecrated  by 
Thompson  Douglass,  of  Missouri  Lodge,  No.  1. 

On  the  5th  of  May,  1821,  the  following  persons 
were  appointed  a  committee  to  draft  a  code  of  by- 
laws for  the  government  of  the  Grand  Lodge  :  Thomp- 
son Douglass,  W.  G.  Pettus,  and  J.  V.  Gamier,  which 
duty  they  performed,  and  on  the  same  day  the  code 
presented  by  them  was  adopted. 

On  the  evening  of  Oct.  10,  1821,  the  Grand  Lodge 
being  in  session,  a  Past  Master's  Lodge  was  opened, 
and  the  M.  W.  Nathaniel  B.  Tucker  was  installed 
Grand  Master  of  the  Masons  of  the  State  of  Missouri. 

Having  been  placed  in  Supreme  Masonic  authority 
in  the  State  of  Missouri,  the  Grand  Lodge  proceeded 
to  recharter  the  lodges  under  its  jurisdiction,  and  Mis- 
souri Lodge  being  the  oldest,  received,  as  we  have 
seen,  first  place  as  No.  1,  pursuant  to  its  riew  charter 
on  the  4th  of  September,  1821  ;  Joachim  became  No. 
2,  and  Hiram,  of  St.  Charles,  No.  3. 

In  1831  a  resolution  was  offered,  but  afterwards 
withdrawn,  to  dissolve  the  grand  and  subordinate 
lodges  in  the  State. 

The  following  was  unanimously  adopted : 

"  Resolced,  That  the  Grand  Lodge  in  the  State  of  Missouri 
will  earnestly  support  the  interest  and  dignity  of  the  fraternity, 

Grand  Masters. 

April,  1821  ...Thomas  F.  Riddick. 
Oct.     1*21... Nathaniel  B.  Tucker 

"       1822...  "  " 

"       182:5...  " 

"       1824...  "  " 

"      182.">...Edward  Bates. 

"       182li...       " 

"       18-^7...       "  " 

•'      ls2S...IIardage  Lane. 

"      1829...         "          " 

11      1X30...         "          " 
Dec.    18:51. ..Kdwiird  Hates. 
Oct.     18i2...Ham.R.  Gamble. 

"      183 1... Sinclair  Kirtley. 

Frederick  Bates  elected  second  Grand  Master,  October,  1822,  declined. 


and  will  strictly  require  of  the  subordinate  lodges  under  this 
jurisdiction  a  vigilant  and  faithful  discharge  of  their  duties; 
and  that  it  is  inexpedient  either  to  dissolve  or  suspend  the 
grand  and  subordinate  lodges." 

In  April,  1832,  the  Grand  Lodge  adopted  a  resolu- 
tion that  "  hereafter  this  Grand  Lodge  shall  hold  one 
communication  in  the  year." 

Owing  to  the  anti-Masonic  agitation,  which  reached 
its  climax  in  1833,  the  Grand  Lodge  in  October  of 
that  year  changed  its  place  of  meeting  to  Columbia, 
Boone  Co.,  Mo.,  the  date  fixed  for  its  first  meeting 
being  December  2d,  but  when  the  storm  had  spent  its 
fury  the  Grand  Lodge,  which  had  held  three  annual 
communications  (in  the  years  1834,  1835,  and  1836) 
at  Columbia,  found  it  expedient  to  remove  back  to  St. 
Louis,  which  was  accordingly  done,  and  the  annual 
meeting  of  Oct.  2, 1837,  was  held  in  St.  Louis,— S.  W. 
B.  Carnegy,  M.  W.  G.  Master ;  John  D.  Daggett,  R. 
W.  Dep.  G.  Master ;  and  Richard  Dallam,  G.  Secre- 
tary. 

The  lodges  chartered  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Mis- 
souri from  its  organization  in  1821  to  the  date  of  its 
removal  to  Columbia,  in  October,  1833,  were — 

No.  1,  Missouri,  at  St.  Louis,  1821. 

No.  2,  Joachim,  at  Herculaneuui,  Jefferson  Co.,  1821. 

No.  3,  Hiram,  at  St.  Charles,  St.  Charles  Co.,  1821. 

No.  4,  Harmony,  at  Louisiana,  Pike  Co.,  October,  1821. 

No.  5,  Olive  Branch,  at  Alton,  111.,.  April  3,  1822. 

No.  6,  Unity,  at  Jackson,  Cape  Girardeau  Co.,  April  3,  1822. 

No.  7,  Franklin  Union,  at  Franklin,  Howard  Co.,  April  3, 
1822.'  Charter  forfeited  December,  1831. 

No.  8,  Vandalia,  at  Vandalia,  111.,  Oct.  8,  1822;  Grand  Lodge 
of  Illinois,  1824.  James  M.  Duncan,  W.  M.;  J.  Warnock, 
S.  W.;  W.  Sec.,  D.  Ewing,  J.  W.  in  district. 

No.  9,  Sangarnon,  at  Springfield,  111.,  Oct.  9,  1822. 

No.  10,  Union,  at  Jonesboro,  111.,  Oct.  24,  1822. 

No.  11,  Eden,  at  Covington,  111.,  Oct.  8,  1822. 

No.  12,  Tyro,  at  Caledonia,  Washington  Co.,  April,  1825. 

No.  13,  Tucker,  at  Ste.  Genevieve,  October,  1826. 

No.  14,  Booneville,  at  Boonville,  April,  1827. 

No.  15,  Perseverance,  at  Louisiana,  Pike  Co.,  April,  1828. 

No.  16,  Columbia,  at  Columbia,  Boone  Co.,  October,  1830. 

No.  17,  Clarksville,  at  Clarksville,  Pike  Co.,  October,  1830. 

No.  18,  Palmyra,  at  Palmyra,  Marion  Co.,  April,  1831. 

The  following  were  the  elected  grand  officers  of  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Missouri  from  1821  to  1833: 


G.  Sr.  Wardens.' 

G.  Jr.  Wardens. 

Grand  Treasurers. 

Grand  Secretaries 

Deputy  G.  Masters. 

James  Kennerly. 

William  Bates. 

Archibald  Gamble. 

William  Renshaw 

Edward  Bates. 

"            " 

' 

" 

u               u 

Thomas  Douglass. 

11           it 

William  G.  Pettus. 

| 

** 

it               it 

n               it 

William  G.  Pettus. 

Thornton  Grimsley. 

', 

• 

Thomas  Douglass. 

George  H.  C.  Melody. 

"                " 

ii                u 

' 

" 

John  D.  Daggett. 

ii                      u 

Martin  Ruggles. 

John  F.  Ryland. 

Rich 

d  T.  McKinney 

11                               U 

Hardage  Lane. 

"           " 

H.  R.  Gamble. 

Thoi 

ntou  Grimsley. 

ii               ii 

ii             » 

Ham.  R.  Gamble. 

Adam  L.  Mills. 

i               u 

ii               u 

George  H.  C.  Melody. 

"               " 

"            " 

Bern 

urd  Pratte,  Jr. 

"               " 

Frederic  L.  Billon. 

Sinclair  Kirtley. 

Thomas  Andrews. 

F.  L.  Billon. 

George  H.  0.  Melody. 

Oliver  Parker. 

Aug.  Jones. 

" 

" 

u        ii 

M.  J.  Noyes. 

M              II 

" 

" 

u        ii 

ii                      it 

John  Wilson. 

G.  A.  Tuttle. 

G.  H 

.  C.  Melody. 

John  Garnett. 

1784 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


The  Grand  Masters  of  the  Grand  Lodge  from  1834 
to  1867,  inclusive,  were: 

Sinclair  Kirtley,  Columbia  Lodge,  No.  16;  elected  December, 
1833  and  1835. 

A.  B.  Chambers,  St.  Louis  Lodge,  No.  20 ;  elected  November, 
1834. 

S.  W.  B.  Carnegy,  Palmyra  Lodge,  No.  18 ;  elected  October, 
1836-38. 

Priestly  II.  McBride,  Paris,  Union  Lodge,  No.  19;  elected 
October,  1839-43. 

J.  W.  S.  Mitchell,  Fayette  Lodge,  No.  47 ;  elected  October, 
1844-45. 

John  Kails,  New  London  Lodge,  No.  21 ;  elected  October, 
1846. 

Joseph  Foster,  Napthali  Lodge,  No.  25;  elected  October, 
1847-48. 

John  F.  Ryland,  Lafayette  Lodge,  No.  32;  elected  May, 
1849-50. 

Benjamin  W.  Grover,  Johnson's  Lodge,  No.  85;  elected  May, 
1851-52. 

Wilson  Brown,  St.  Mark's  Lodge,  No.  93 ;  elected  May,  1853. 

L.  S.  Cornwell,  Johnson  Lodge,  No.  85 ;  elected  May,  1854-55. 

Benjamin  Sharp,  Danville  Lodge,  No.  72;  elected  May,  1856. 

Samuel  H.  Saunders,  Relief  Lodge,  No.  105;  elected  May, 
1857-58. 

Marcus  Boyd,  United  Lodge,  No.  5 ;  elected  May,  1859. 

Marcus  H.  McFarland,  Ashley  Lodge,  No.  75;  elected  May, 
1860. 

William  R.  Penick,  St.  Joseph  Lodge,  No.  78;  elected  May, 
1861. 

George  Whitcomb,  Constantine  Lodge,  No.  129 ;  elected  May,   j 
1862. 

John  H.  Turner,  Fulton  Lodge,  No.  48;  elected  May,  1863. 

John  F.  Houston,  Wakauda  Lodge,  No.  78;  elected  May, 
1864-65. 

John  D.  Vincil,  Hannibal  Lodge,  No.  188 ;  elected  May,  1866. 

The  Deputy  Grand  Masters  from  1821  to  1867 
were: 

Thompson  Douglass,  St.  Charles  Lodge,  No.  3 ;  elected 
1821-23.  ' 

George  H.  C.  Melody,  Missouri  Lodge,  No.  1 ;  elected  1823- 
25,  1828,  1830-32. 

Hardage  Lane,  Missouri  Lodge,  No.  1 ;  elected  1826-27. 

Frederic  L.  Billon,  Missouri  Lodge,  No.  1 ;  elected  1829, 
1844. 

A.  B.  Chambers,  St.  Louis  Lodge,  No.  20;  elected  1833, 1835,   j 
1839. 

Sinclair  Kirtley,  Columbia  Lodge,  No.  16  ;  elected  1834. 
John  D.  Daggett,  Missouri  Lodge,  No.  1;  elected  1836-38. 
Joseph  Foster,  Napthali  Lodge,  No.  25;  elected  1840,  1843. 
Joab  Bernard,  St.  Louis  Lodge,  No.  20;  elected  1841-42. 
John  D.  Taylor,  Missouri  Lodge,  No.  1 ;  elected  1845-46. 
E.  S.  Ruggles,  Tyro  Lodge,  No.  12;  elected  1847-49,  1851. 

B.  W.  Grover,  Johnson  Lodge,  No.  85;  elected  1850. 
Samuel  F.  Curry,  Missouri  Lodge,  No.  1 ;  elected  1852. 
Love  S.  Cornwell,  Johnson  Lodge,  No.  85;  elected  1S53. 
D.  P.  Wallingford,  Weston  Lodge,  No.  53;  elected  ls.,4. 
0.  F.  Potter,  Arrow  Rock  Lodge,  No.  55 ;  elected  1855. 

W.  A.  Cunningham,  St.  Joseph  Lodge,  No.  78  ;  elected  1856.   ' 

Philander  Draper,  Perseverance  Lodge,  No.  92 ;  elected  1857.   I 

Marcus  Boyd,  United  Lodge,  No.  5 ;  elected  1858. 

M.  II.  McFarland,  Ashley  Lodge,  No.  75;  elected  1859. 

W.  R.  Penick,  St.  Joseph  Lodge,  No.  78;  elected  1860. 

John  Decker,  Napthali  Lodge,  No.  25;  elected  1861. 


John  H.  Turner,  Livingston  Lodge,  No.  51;  elected  1862. 
William  N.  Loker,  Occidental  Lodge,  No.  163;  elected  1863. 
John  D.  Vincil,  Hannibal  Lodge,  No.  188;  elected  1864-65. 
Wm.  E.  Dunscomb,  Jefferson  Lodge,  No.  43 ;  elected  1866. 

The  Grand  Lodge  has  participated  in  most  of  the 
important  public  demonstrations  in  St.  Louis  since  its 
organization.  Among  the  events  of  this  character  in 
its  history  may  be  mentioned  the  following : 

On  Aug.  31,  1823,  the  Grand  Lodge  laid  the 
"  foundation-stone"  of  a  Presbyterian  Church,  G.  M. 
N.  B.  Tucker  presiding. 

At  a  special  meeting  of  the  Grand  Lodge,  held  on 
the  29th  of  April,  1825,  present  R.  W.  G.  H.  C.  Mel- 
ody, D.  G.  M.  and  G.  M.  P.  ;  R.  W.  Thornton 
Grimsley,  G.  S.  W. ;  Rt.  W.  John  D.  Daggett,  G. 
J.  W.  P.;  A.  Gamble,  G.  Treasurer;  Thompson 
Douglass,  G.  Secretary,  and  a  large  number  of  visit- 
ing brethren,  the  Grand  Lodge  opened  in  Third 
Degree  in  solemn  form. 

It  being  stated  by  the  Grand  Master  that  Gen.  La- 
fayette, a  brother  Mason  and  officer  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, had  arrived  in  the  city,  on  motion  of  Bro.  Gam- 
ble, it  was  "  ordered  that  a  ballot  be  now  taken  on  the 
election  of  Brother  Lafayette  as  an  honorary  member 
of  this  Grand  Lodge,"  whereupon  he  was  duly 
elected. 

On  motion  of  Brother  Gamble,  it  was  "  ordered 
that  a  committee  be  appointed  to  wait  upon  Brother 
Lafayette,  inform  him  of  his  election  as  an  honorary 
member  of  this  Grand  Lodge,  and  solicit  his  attend- 
ance at  the  present  meeting.'1 

Brosthers  Melody,  Douglass,  and  Atwood  were  ap- 
pointed the  committee,  and  after  a  short  absence  re- 
turned, accompanied  by  Gen.  Lafayette  and  his  son, 
George  Washington  Lafayette,  who  were  received 
by  the  lodge  standing,  and  an  address  delivered  by 
Archibald  Gamble,  to  which  Gen.  Lafayette  replied, 
and  was  then  conducted  to  a  chair  in  the  east. 

On  motion  of  Brother  Gamble,  it  was  "  ordered  that 
the  ballot  be  taken  on  the  election  of  Brother  George 
Washington  Lafayette  as  an  honorary  member  of 
this  Grand  Lodge,  whereupon  he  was  duly  elected." 

Gen.  Lafayette  then  again  addressed  the  lodge, 
and  with  his  son  withdrew. 

On  the  21st  of  October,  1839,  at  the  request  of  the 
County  Court,  the  Grand  Lodge  laid  the  corner-stone 
of  the  court-house  in  St.  Louis,  Col.  A.  B.  Chambers, 
then  D.  G.  Master,  presiding. 

In  1841  the  Grand  Lodge  concluded  to  build  a 
college,  which  was  first  started  in  Marion  County, 
where  it  failed  ;  subsequently  it  was  removed  to  Lex- 
ington, where  it  again  failed,  and  after  years  of  dis- 
asters and  troubles  it  was  finally  got  rid  of  by  being 


RELIGIOUS,  BENEVOLENT,  SOCIAL,  SECRET,  AND   OTHER  ORGANIZATIONS.      1785 


donated  by  the  Grand  Lodge  to  the  State  for  a  mili- 
tary school,  for  which  purpose  it  was  never  used. 

On  the  9th  day  of  May,  1842,  the  Grand  Lodge 
laid  the  corner-stone  of  Methodist  Episcopal  Centen- 
ary Church,  Rev.  Joab  Bernard,  D.  G.  Master,  pre- 
siding. 

In  February,  1843,  the  Grand  Lodge  was  incorpo- 
rated by  the  Legislature  of  the  State.  On  the  28th 
of  June,  1845,  the  Grand  Lodge  united  with  the  cit- 
izens and  public  bodies  in  St.  Louis,  the  Grand  Lodge 
leading,  in  public  ceremonies  consequent  upon  the 
death  of  Gen.  Andrew  Jackson. 

The  subordinate  lodges  in  St.  Louis  are — 

Mi^ouii  Lodge,  No.  1;  Meridian  Lodge,  No.  2;  Beacon 
Lodge,  No.  3 ;  George  Washington  Lodge,  No.  9 ;  St.  Louis 
Lodge,  No.  20 ;  Napthali  Lodge,  No.  25 ;  Mount  Moriah  Lodge, 
No.  40;  Polar  Star  Lodge,  No.  79;  Erwin  Lodge,  No.  121 ;  Oc- 
cidental Lodge,  No.  163;  Orient  Francais  Lodge,  No.  167; 
Pride  of  the  West  Lodge,  No.  179 ;  Good  Hope  Lodge,  No.  218 ; 
Keystone  Lodge,  No.  243;  Aurora  Lodge,  No.  267;  Cosmos 
Lodge,  No.  282;  Corner-Stone  Lodge,  No.  323;  Tuscan  Lodge, 
No.  360;  Cache  Lodge,  No.  416;  Itaska  Lodge,  No.  420; 
Anchor  Lodge,  Xo.  443 ;  West  Gate  Lodge,  No.  445 ;  Lainb- 
skin  Lodge,  No.  460. 

ROYAL  ARCH  MASONS. — In  the  year  1820,  a 
sufficient  number  of  Royal  Arch  Masons  being  resi- 
dent in  St.  Louis  and  its  vicinity  to  constitute  a 
chapter,  a  petition  was  sent  to  Hon.  De  Witt  Clinton, 
General  Grand  High  Priest  of  the  General  Grand 
Chapter  of  the  United  States,  at  Albany,  N.  Y.,  pray- 
ing a  dispensation  for  that  purpose.  Their  petition 
was  granted,  and  he  issued  to  them  the  following 

"  DISPENSATION. 

"To  all  Royal  Arch  Masons  to  whom  these  presents  shall 
come,  greeting : 

"  Be  it  known  that  I,  De  Witt  Clinton,  General  Grand  High 
Priest  of  the  General  Grand  Royal  Arch  Chapter  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  do  authorize  and  empower  our  worthy  com- 
panions, Amos  Wheeler,  Thompson  Douglass,  Abraham  Beck, 
Bennett  Palmer,  Justus  Post,  Abraham  S.  Platt,  John  G.  Saw- 
yer, Derrick  Van  Pelt,  William  H.  Hopkins,  and  their  associ- 
ates, to  form,  open,  and  hold  a  chapter  of  Royal  Arch  Masons 
at  St.  Louis,  in  Missouri,  until  the  next  meeting  of  the  General 
Grand  Royal  Arch  Chapter,  by  the  name  of  Missouri  Chapter; 
and  I  do  hereby  appoint  our  worthy  companion,  Amos  Wheeler, 
to  be  the  first  High  Priest,  Thompson  Douglass  to  be  the  first 
King,  and  Abraham  Beck  to  be  the  first  Scribe  of  the  said 
chapter,,  investing  them  with  full  powers  to  assemble  upon 
proper  occasions  and  advance  Master  Masons  to  the  degrees  of 
Mark  Master,  Past  Master,  and  Most  Excellent  Master,  and 
exalt  them  to  that  of  a  Royal  Arch  Mason  ;  and  also  to  do  and 
perform  all  such  acts  as  have  been  and  ought  to  be  done  for  the 
honor  and  advantage  of  the  art,  conforming  in  all  their  pro- 
ceedings to  the  constitution  of  the  General  Grand  Royal  Arch 
Chapter,  otherwise  this  power  to  be  void. 

"  Given  under  my  hand  and  privy  seal,  at  the  city  of  Albany, 
this  24th  day  of  July,  A.I,.  5820. 

[SEAL.]  "  DE  WITT  CLINTON." 


In  pursuance  of  the  foregoing  authority,  a  convo- 
cation of  Royal  Arch  Masons  was  held  on  the  2d  day 
of  October,  1820,  in  the  hall  of  Missouri  Lodge,  No. 
12,  when  Companions  Beck  and  Canfield  were  ap- 
pointed a  committee  to  procure  quarters  for  the  ac- 
commodation of  the  chapter.  Oct.  14, 1820,  a  Mark 
Master's  Lodge  was  opened,  additional  companions 
present  being  Clement  B.  Fletcher,  David  Lawrence, 
James  C.  Canfield,  Samuel  G.  J.  De  Camp,  and  Wil- 
liam G.  Pettus.  Companions  Beck,  Pettus,  Law- 
rence, and  Canfield  were  appointed  a  committee  to 
prepare  a  code  of  by-laws  and  procure  the  necessary 
furniture  and  implements  for  a  Mark  Master's  Lodge. 

On  the  6th  of  January,  1821,  the  committee  re- 
ported a  bode  of  by-laws,  which  were  severally  read 
'  and  adopted.  The  committee  to  procure  rooms  re- 
ported "  that  they  had  procured  from  Missouri 
Lodge,  No.  12,  the  use  of  their  rooms,  the  rent  to 
commence  on  Dec.  20, 1820."  Agreed  to.  On  Oct. 
30,  1821,  the  following  officers  were  elected  : 

Thompson  Douglass,  H.  P.;  Amos  Wheeler,  King;  George 
H.  C.  Melody,  Scribe;  Samuel  G.  J.  De  Camp,  C.  II.;  William 
H.  Hopkins,  P.  S.;  William  H.  Pococke,  R.  A.  C. ;  Daniel  C. 
Boss,  G.  M.  3d  V.;  Hugh  Rankin,  G.  M.  2d  V.;  Thomas 
Bothick,  G.  M.  1st  V. ;  William  G.  Pettus,  Treas. ;  Archibald 
Gamble,  Sec. ;  John  C.  Potter,  Tyler  and  Steward. 

There  being  some  doubt  as  to  the  authority  of  the 
chapter  to  elect  officers  under  their  dispensation,  it 
was  thought  best  to  address  the  General  Grand  High 
Priest  for  his  opinion  on  the  subject.  He  replied  as 
follows  : 

"  ALBANY,  7th  December,  1821. 
"  E.  C. : 

"In  answer  to  your  letter,  this  moment  received,  I  have  to 
state  that  in  my  opinion  you  may  hold  your  election  under  the 
dispensation,  precisely  in  the  same  way  as  if  you  acted  under 
a  warrant  or  charter;  the  powers  granted  are  the  same,  the  only 
difference  is  as  to  duration.  I  think  that  the  officers  ought  to 
be  installed.  For  this  purpose  I  annex  an  authority. 

"  With  my  best  wishes  for  the  prosperity  of  your  members, 
individually  and  collectively, 

"  I  am  yours,  fraternally, 

"  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 
"THOMPSON  DOUGLASS,  ESQ." 

"  ALBANY,  7th  December,  A.L.  5821. 

"I,  De  Witt  Clinton,  General  Grand  High  Priest,  etc.,  do 
hereby  authorize  Edward  Tyler,  Jr.,  Esq.,  of  Louisville  Chapter, 
to  install  the  officers  of  Missouri  Chapter,  and  to  act  in  my 
stead  on  this  occasion  with  the  same  powers  as  I  should  exer- 
cise if  I  were  personally  present. 

(Signed)  "  DE  WITT  CLINTON." 

Upon  the  receipt  of  these  documents  the  former 
election  was  declared  informal,  and  Jan.  31,  1822, 
a  new  election  took  place,  resulting  as  follows : 

Thompson  Douglass,  H.  P.;  John  Walls,  King;  George  H. 
C.  Melody,  Scribe;  William  Arnold,  C.  H.;  Thornton  Grimsley, 
P.  S. ;  James  P.  Spencer,  R.  A.  C. ;  Hugh  Rankin,  G.  M.  3d  V. ; 


1786 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


William  II.  Pococke,  G.  M.  2d  V.;  Archibald  Gamble,  G.  M. 
1st  V. ;  S.  G.  J.  De  Camp,  Treas.;  W.  B.  Alexander,  Sec.; 
John  C.  Potter,  Tyler  and  Steward. 

Companion  Thompson  Douglass,  High  Priest  elect, 
was  installed  April  29,  1822,  as  such,  and  duly 
anointed  and  received  into  the  order  of  High  Priest- 
hood by  Edward  Tyler,  Jr.,  High  Priest  of  Louis- 
ville Chapter,  No.  5,  all  the  companions,  except 
High  Priests,  having  previously  retired  for  that  pur- 
pose, after  which  they  returned  to  the  chapter,  and 
the  remaining  officers  elect  were  duly  installed. 

In  August,  1826,  the  time  being  near  at  hand  for 
the  Septennial  Communication  of  the  General  Grand 
Royal  Arch  Chapter  of  the  United  States  at  New 
York,  at  which  time  the  chapter's  dispensation  would 
expire,  Hardage  Lane  was  appointed  to  draft  a  me- 
morial, and  Frederic  L.  Billon  to  transcribe  the 
proceedings  to  be  submitted  to  that  body.  On  Satur- 
day, August  5th,  Dr.  Lane  submitted  his  memorial 
and  the  following : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  memorial  presented  by  the  committee 
appointed  to  that  duty  be  received,  and  that  a  fair  copy  of  it 
be  made  out  and  signed  by  the  H.  P.  and  forwarded  to  the 
Most  Eminent  General  Grand  Royal  Arch  Chapter  of  the 
United  States. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  companions  of  Missouri  Royal  Arch 
Chapter,  No.  1,  now  working  under  dispensation,  pray  that  a 
charter  may  be  granted  them,  if  upon  examination  of  the 
transcript  of  their  proceedings  by  the  General  Grand  Royal 
Arch  Chapter  of  the  United  States  they  shall  be  found  worthy. 

"Revolved,  That  a  copy  of  the  foregoing  resolutions  be 
forwarded,  with  the  memorial,  to  the  Most  Eminent  General 
Grand  Royal  Arch  Chapter  of  the  United  States." 

The  memorial  .was  approved  and  resolutions  adop- 
ted, and  George  H.  C.  Melody  was  appointed  to  pre- 
sent the  same  to  the  General  Grand  Chapter. 

On  Monday,  Aug.  7, 1826,  the  last  meeting  of  the 
chapter  under  the  dispensation  was  held. 

The  members  of  the  chapter  when  it  disbanded 
were — 

•  Thornton  Grimsley,  H.  P.;  James  P.  Spencer,  K.;  Richard 
T.  McKinney,  S. ;  Thompson  Douglass,  P.  S. ;  Isaac  A.  Letcher, 
R.  A.  C. ;  David  Lawrence,  G.  M.  2d  V.;  F.  L.  Billon,  George 
H.  C.  Melody,  William  M.  Hopkins,  George  Morton,  William 
McDonald,  John  D.  Daggett;  Sullivan  Blood,  Treas. 

Mr.  Melody  was  at  the  East  a  year  with  the  charter 
in  his  possession.     After  his  return  a  convocation  of  < 
Royal  Arch  Masons  was  held  in  the  chapter-room  of 
Missouri  Royal  Arch  Chapter,  No.  1,  on  the  13th  i 
day  of  August,  1827,  the  following  gentlemen  being  ! 
present : 

Members,  Thornton  Grimsley,  H.  P.;  James  P.  Spencer, 
King;  Richard  T.  McKenney,  Scribe;  Thompson  Douglass, 
P.  S. ;  F.  L.  Billon,  Sec. ;  George  H.  C.  Melody,  William  H. 
Hopkins,  William  McDonald,  John  D.  Daggett. 

Visitors,  Hardage  Lane,  E.  H.  Shepard,  William  H.  Po- 
cocke, Rev.  Joshua  Bradley;  A.  L.  Mills,  Vincennes,  No.  1: 


Phil.  G.  Randolph,  Potomac,  No.  8  ;  William  J.  Freeland,  Eu- 
reka, No.  10,  Lynchburg,  Va. 

The  chapter  was  opened  in  due  and  solemn  form. 
A  communication  from  Lebbeus  Chapman,  secretary 
of  the  General  Grand  Royal  Arch  Chapter  of  the 
United  States,  to  Thornton  Grimsley,  High  Priest  of 
Missouri  Chapter,  informing  him  that  a  warrant  or 
charter  for  the  continuation  of  the  chapter  had  been 
granted  by  said  General  Grand  Royal  Arch  Chapter, 
was  read  ;  whereupon  Mr.  Melody  informed  the  meet- 
ing that  he  was  the  bearer  thereof,  and  was  authorized 
by  the  Most  Eminent  De  Witt  Clinton,  General  Grand 
High  Priest  of  the  General  Grand  Royal  Arch 
Chapter  of  the  United  States,  to  install  the  officers  of 
the  said  chapter,  and  producing  his  authority  read  as 
follows : 

"  We,  the  General  Grand  Royal  Arch  Chapter  of  the  United 
States  of  America  of  the  most  ancient  and  honorable  fraternity 
of  Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  according  to  ancient  usage,  duly 
established,  constituted,  and  organized  for  the  said  United 
States  of  America,  agreeably  to  the  resolutions  and  by  au- 
thority of  a  General  Grand  Convention,  held  at  Hartford,  in  the 
State  of  Connecticut,  in  the  year  of  Masonry  5798,  do  hereby 
constitute  and  appoint  our  trusty  and  well-beloved  companions, 
Thornton  Grimsley,  H.  P.;  James  P.  Spencer,  King;  and 
Richard  T.  McKinney,  Scribe,  of  a  new  Royal  Arch  Chapter, 
by  the  name  and  style  of  Missouri  Chapter,  to  be  held  at  St. 
Louis,  in  the  State  of  Missouri.  And  we  do  hereby  authorize 
and  empower  our  said  trusty  and  well-beloved  companions  to 
hold  their  chapter  at  the  place  hereby  directed  and  appointed 
at  such  times  as  they  shall  deem  necessary  and  convenient,  and 
agreeably  to  the  General  Grand  Constitution  of  this  General 
Grand  Royal  Arch  Chapter,  and  to  admit  and  advance  regular 
Master  Masons  to  the  ancient  and  honorable  degrees  of  Mark 
Masters,  Past  Masters,  Most  Excellent  Masters,  and  exalt  to 
the  august  and  sublime  degree  of  Royal  Arch  Masons  according 
to  the  more  ancient  and  honorable  custom  of  the  royal  craft  in 
all  ages  and  nations  throughout  the  known  world. 

"And  we  do  further  authorize  and  empower  our  said  com- 
panions and  their  associates  to  hear  and  determine  all  and  sin- 
gular matters  and  things  relating  to  the  craft  within  the  juris- 
diction of  the  said  Missouri  Chapter,  conforming  in  all  things 
to  the  rules  and  regulations  of  our  General  Grand  Constitution. 
And,  further,  we  do  hereby  further  authorize  and  empower  our 
said  trusty  and  well-beloved  companions  to  install  their  succes- 
sors in  office,  to  whom  they  shall  deliver  the  warrant,  and  invest 
them  with  all  their  powers  and  dignities  as  such,  and  in  like 
manner  their  successors  in  office  during  the  continuance  of  the 
said  Royal  Arch  Chapter  forever.  .  .  . 

"  Provided,  always,  that  the  said  above-named  companions 
and  their  successors  shall  do  and  faithfully  perform  all  and  every 
act  and  thing  required  by  the  General  Grand  Constitution  of 
this  General  Grand  Royal  Arch  Chapter,  otherwise  this  warrant 
shall  be  void  and  of  no  effect. 

"  In  testimony  whereof,  we,  the  General  Grand  Royal  Arch 
Chapter  aforesaid,  have  caused  our  seal  to  be  hereunto  affixed, 
and  our  most  excellent  General  Grand  High  Priest  to  subscribe 
his  name  at  the  city  of  New  York,  this  eighteenth  day  of  Sep- 
tember, in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  twenty-six,  and  of  Masonry  5826. 

"  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 

"  Attest : 

•'  LEBBKUS  CHAPMAN,  G.  G.  $e<-retary.'' 


RELIGIOUS,  BENEVOLENT,  SOCIAL,  SECRET,  AND   OTHER  ORGANIZATIONS.     1787 


"To  all  Royal  Arch  Masons  to  whom  these  presents  shall 
come,  greeting  : 

"Be  it  known,  that  I,  De  Witt  Clinton,  General  Grand  High 
Priest  of  the  General  Grand  Royal  Arch  Chapter  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  by  virtue  of  the  high  power  in  me  vested  by 
the  third  section  of  the  fourth  article  of  the  constitution  of  the 
General  Grand  Royal  Arch-Chapter  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  do  hereby  authorize  and  empower  our  worthy  com- 
panion, George  H.  C.  Melody,  to  install  the  officers  of  Missouri 
Chapter,  No.  1,  holden  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  and  county  of 
St.  Louis,  and  State  of  Missouri,  according  to  the  constitution 
of  the  General  Grand  Royal  Arch  Chapter  aforesaid;  and  I  do 
hereby  require  of  you  to  make  due  returns  to  me  of  your  pro- 
ceedings on  or  before  the  next  meeting  of  the  General  Grand 
Chapter. 

"  Given  under  my  hand  and  seal  at  the  city  of  Albany,  State 
of  New  York,  this  23d  day  of  January,  A.L.  5827. 

"  DE  WITT  CLINTON." 

Thornton  Grimsley  was  then  duly  invested  by  Mr. 
Melody  with  the  degree  of  High  Priest  and  installed 
as  such,  all  but  the  High  Priests  having  retired. 
After  their  return  to  the  hall,  Mr.  Melody  proceeded 
to  install  James  F.  Spencer,  King,  and  Richard  T. 
McKenney.  Sribe. 

On  the  death  of  De  Witt  Clinton,  at  Albany,  N.  Y., 
Feb.  11,  1828,  the  Royal  Arch  Missouri  Chapter 
passed  a  series  of  resolutions,  embodying  their  appre- 
ciation of  his  services  and  their  veneration  of  his  char- 
acter, and  determined  to  wear  a  badge  of  mourning 
for  thirty  days.  They  also  recommended  all  Royal 
Arch  Masons  in  the  State  to  do  the  same,  and  re- 
quested the  Rev.  J.  Bradley  to  deliver  an  appropriate 
address. 

The  following  is  a  roll  of  the  Companion  Royal 
Arch  Masons  who  took  part  in  the  first  organization 
of  the  chapter  under  the  "  dispensation,"  in  October, 
1820: 

Amos  Wheeler,  died  June  8,  1822. 

Thompson  Douglass. 

Abraham  Beck,  died  Sept.  4,  1821. 

Bennett  Palmer,  St.  Charles,  died  Aug.  17,  1821. 

.lu.-tus  Post,  never  participated. 

Abraham  S.  Platt,  St.  Charles,  Tyler  until  April,  1825. 

John  Y.  Sawyer,  Edwardsville,  demitted  April  21,  1824. 

Derrick  Van  Pelt,  died  in  1821  or  1822. 

William  H.  Hopkins. 

James  C.  Canfield,  not  found  after  February,  1821. 

Samuel  G.  J.  De  Camp. 

Clem.  B.  Fletcher,  Herculaneum,  demitted  Jan.  10,  1824. 


David  Lawrence. 

William  G.  Pettus,  demitted  April  21,  1824. 

Archibald  Gamble,  demitted  Dee.  13,  ]823. 

The  last  meeting  held  by  the  old  chapter,  No.  1, 
before  its  cessation  consequent  upon  the  anti-Masonic 
excitement  of  the  day,  was  one  convened  especially 
for  the  advancement  of  Bernard  Pratte,  Jr. ;  on  Mon- 
day, March  2,  1829,  at  which  time  he  received  the 
degrees  of  Mark  and  Past  Masters.  The  roll  of 
members  had  then  been  reduced  to  nineteen. 

After  this  the  chapter  lay  dormant  for  seven  years 
and  eight  months, — no  meeting  during  this  time, — 
but  revived  in  1836,  when  the  opposition  to  Masonry, 
which  had  assumed  a  political  complexion  in  many 
of  the  States,  had  very  materially  subsided,  and  the 
institution  began  to  flourish  again.  Some  four  or  five 
of  the  members,  with  a  few  others  who  in  the  interval 
had  become  residents  of  St.  Louis,  revived  the  old 
chapter,  which  was  opened  t>y  J.  D.  Daggett,  H.  P., 
Nov.  5,  1836. 

At  this  meeting  G.  W.  Call,  E.  H.  Shepard,  and 
D.  T.  Lee  were  appointed  a  committee  to  report  upon 
the  propriety  of  a  resumption  of  labor.  That  com- 
mittee reported  on  the  10th  substantially  as  follows, 
viz. : 

"  That  under  the  charter  granted  by  the  General  Grand  Chap- 
ter in  1826  the  chapter  continued  its  labor  until  the  shock  which 
Freemasonry  sustained  in  1829  began  to  be  severely  felt  in  Mis- 
souri; that  its  operations  ceased  through  the  non-assembling 
of  the  craft  for  work,  but  without  any  definite  action  of  the 
chapter  as  a  body  on  the  subject.  NQ  meeting  was  had  from 
that  time  until  the  regular  meeting  on  the  5th  November,  1836, 
when  it  was  opened  in  ancient  and  solemn  form  by  Companion 
J.  D.  Daggett,  High  Priest  thereof. 

"  That  your  committee  have  fully  discussed  the  propriety  of 
proceeding  to  work  under  the  present  charter,  and  are  unani- 
mously of  the  opinion  that  the  chapter  is  competent  and  fully 
authorized  to  do  so,  and  that  the  prosperity  of  Freemasonry  in 
Missouri  demands  it." 

This  report  was  adopted,  the  chapter  declared  re- 
organized, and  a  copy  of  the  report  ordered  to  be  sent 
to  the  General  Grand  Chapter,  by  whom  it  was  sub- 
sequently approved. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  High  Priests,  Kings, 
Scribes,  Secretaries,  Treasurers,  and  Guards  from  1820 
to  1849,  inclusive: 


High  Priests. 

King*. 

Scribes. 

Secretaries. 

Treasurers. 

Guard  or  Tylers. 

1820. 

..Amos  Wheeler. 

Thompson  Douglass, 

,    Abraham  Beck. 

Jan. 
Dec. 

1822. 
1822. 

..Thompson  Douglass. 
..William  Arnold. 

John  \Viills. 
T.  Douglass. 

George  H.  C.  Melody. 
Thornton  Grirn-sley. 

W.  B.  Alexander. 

S.  G.  J.  De  Camp. 
G.  II.  C.  Melody. 

John  C.  Potter. 
Abram  S.  Platt. 

" 

1823. 

..W.  11.  Hopkins. 

<;.  H.c.  Melody. 

W.  B.  Alexander. 

T.  Donirlas*. 

S.  P.  Striker. 

" 

Feb. 

1825. 

..E.  H.  Shepard. 

George  Morton. 

I.  A.  Letcher. 

F.  L.  Billon. 

James  Douglass. 

« 

April, 

1826. 

..Thornton  Grimsley. 

James  P.  Spencer. 

KicharU  T.  McKinney. 

Sullivan  Blood. 

Geo.  H.  C.  Melody. 

Dec. 

1827. 

.. 

** 

James  S.  Lane. 

** 

Isaac  A.  Letcher. 

Benjamin  Walker. 

Feb. 

1829. 

..John  D.  Daggett. 

R.  T.  McKinney. 

Adam  L.  Mills. 

« 

James  S.  Lane. 

Dec. 

1837. 

" 

George  W.  Call. 

Bernard  Pratte,  Jr. 

RichardB.  Dallam. 

G.  H.  C.  Melody. 

Esrom  Owens. 

" 

1838. 

" 

B.  Prat  te,  Jr. 

George  W.  Call. 

" 

1839. 

..Joseph  Foster. 

John  Pimonds,  Jr. 

Stephen  Price. 

« 

«« 

« 

" 

1840. 

..              u 

E.  Il.Shi-pard. 

Joab  Bernard. 

H 

ii 

u 

" 

1841. 

..  Joab  Bernard. 

Ivl  ward  Klein. 

William  S.  Stewart. 

II 

Louis  Jaccard. 

u 

" 

1842. 

..Gilbert  Nouise. 

Joab  Bernard. 

Henry  L.  Clark. 

« 

" 

" 

1843 

..Joseph  Foster. 

John    Sinionds. 

John  D.  Daggett. 

" 

Joab  Bernard. 

" 

1788 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


High  Priests. 

Dec.    1844...  Joseph  Foster. 
"        1845...John  D.  Stvgl. 


Kings. 
John  S.  Watson. 


1847...  Rev.  E.  C.  Hutchinson.    B.  B.  Brown. 
1848.  ..Joseph  Foster. 


1849...Esrom  Owens. 


John  Shore. 


Scribes. 
John  Hall. 

William  H.  Gagle. 

Edward  G.  Simons. 
Joseph  Rowe. 


Secretaries. 
Richard  B.  Dallam. 

F.  L.  Billon. 

Treasurers. 
James  L.  Jamison. 
F.  L.  Billon. 

Edward  G.  Simons. 
John  S.  Watson. 

Guard  or  Tylers. 
Esrom  Owens. 

John  D.  Taylor. 


Charles  Paynter. 


The  High  Priests,  Kings,  and  Scribes  from  1850 
to  1867,  inclusive,  were: 


High  Priests. 

Kings. 

Scribes. 

1850. 

..John  D.  Tavlor. 

J.  W.  Crane. 

John  Hall. 

1851. 
1852. 
1853. 

..J.  W.  Crane. 
..John  D.  Taylor. 

J.  D.  Daggett. 
Jeremiah  McKay. 
J.  W.  Crane. 

R.  B.  Dallam. 
J.  Farrar. 
Jesse  Little. 

1854. 

" 

James  Harrison. 

G.  B.  Brua. 

1855. 

..William  McLean. 

C.  M.  Brooks. 

u 

1856. 
1857. 
1858. 
1859. 
1860. 

..H.  Dusenbury. 
..Isaiah  Forbes. 
..John  D.  Taylor. 
..Joseph  Foster. 
..William  Burden. 

« 
John  D.  Taylor. 
William  Burden. 
T.  G.  Comstock. 
« 

Isaiah  Forbes. 
F.  Dings. 
G.  B.  Brua. 
Samuel  Brown. 
F.  Dings. 

1861. 

'• 

H 

M 

1862. 

a 

11 

" 

1863. 
1864. 

..Isaiah  Forbes. 

D.  N.  Burgoyne. 
M.  L.  Cohn. 

G.  W.  Ford. 
C.  M.  Brooks. 

1865. 
1866. 

..D.  N.  Burgoyne. 
..M.  L.  Cohn. 

•  " 
J.  0.  Alter. 

G.  Babcock. 
A.  Newmark. 

1867. 

..James  0.  Alter. 

James  H.  Tolman. 

Wm.  A.  Prall. 

In  October,  1838,  the  chapter  and  the  two  lodges 
then  in  St.  Louis,  Nos.  20  and  25,  occupied  the  same 
rooms,  each  paying  one-third  of  the  rent.  On  'the 
21st  of  April,  1841,  the  recommendation  of  the 
chapter  was  given  to  the  petition  of  Royal  Arch  Ma- 
sons of  St.  Louis  for  a  new  chapter,  to  be  called  St. 
Louis  Chapter.  Feb.  8,  1847,  the  petition  of  Com- 
panions Nathaniel  Childs,  Henry  L.  Clark,  J.  W. 
Crane,  Thomas  H.  Capers,  Richard  Bond,  N.  G. 
Berryman,  I.  I.  Montgomery,  Charles  Levy,  B.  I. 
Vancourt,  George  Meyers,  Alexander  Vancourt,  and 
J.  W.  S.  Mitchell  to  the  General  Grand  Chapter  of 
the  United  States  for  the  establishment  of  a  new 
chapter,  to  be  called  St.  Louis,  was  read  asking  the 
recommendation  of  the  chapter,  whereupon 

"  Resolved,  That  the  chapter  do  recommend  the  same." 

GRAND  ROYAL  ARCH  CHAPTER  OF  MISSOURI. — 
Pursuant  to  an  invitation  from  Missouri  Chapter,  No. 
1,  Royal  Arch  Masons,  a  convention  of  the  several 
chapters  in  Missouri  was  held  in  St.  Louis  on  the 
16th  of  October,  1846,  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a 
Grand  Chapter  for  the  State. 

At  this  convention  were  represented  Missouri  Chap- 
ter, No.  1,  Boonville  Chapter,  No.  5,  Palmyra  Chapter, 
No.  2.  Fayette  Chapter,  No.  6.  Elihu  H.  Shepard, 
High  Priest  of  Missouri.  No.  1,  presided,  and  Stanton 
Buckner,  of  No.  2,  acted  as  secretary. 

The  convention  upon  being  organized  proceeded  to 
the  formation  of  a  Grand  Chapter  by  the  adoption  of  the 
following  resolution,  presented  by  Companion  Daggett : 

"  Resolved,  That  we,  the  officers  and  proxies  of  the  chapters 
aforementioned,  deeming  it  expedient  and  necessary  for  the 
better  government  of  the  craft,  do  now  establish  and  constitute 


a  Grand  Royal  Arch  Chapter  for  the  State  of  Missouri,  agree- 
ably to  the  constitution  of  the  General  Grand  Chapter  of  the 
United  States." 

The  Grand  Chapter  having  been  duly  organized  by 
the  adoption  of  a  constitution  and  by-laws,  the  fol- 
lowing gentlemen  were  elected  the  first  grand  officers  : 
J.  W.  S.  Mitchell,  G.  H.  P. ;  William  Hurley,  Dep. 
G.  H.  P.  ;  Parker  Dudley,  G.  K. ;  Joseph  Megquier, 
G.  S. ;  Frederic  L.  Billon,  G.  Sec. ;  John  S.  Watson, 
G.  Treas. ;  Rev.  E.  C.  Hutchinson,  G.  Chap. ;  John 
D.  Daggett,  G.  Marshal. 

Consequent  upon  this  action  the  allegiance  of  Mis- 
souri Chapter,  No.  1,  was  transferred  from  the  Gen- 
eral to  the  State  Grand  Chapter.1 

The  officers  of  the  Grand  Chapter  elected  in  May, 
1882,  are— 

Erwin  Ellis,  of  Lebanon,  G.  H.  P. ;  A.  M.  Dockery,  of  Gal- 
latin,  Dep.  G.  H.  P. ;  C.  C.  Wood,  of  Kansas  City,  G.  K.;  Lee 
A.  Hall,  of  St.  Louis,  G.  S. ;  John  W.  Luke,  of  St.  Louis,  O. 
Treas.;  William  H.  Mayo,  of  St.  Louis,  G.  Sec. 

Appointed  officers : 

Rev.  George  W.  Penn,  of  Fulton,  G.  Chap. ;  R.  F.  Stevenson, 
of  Clinton,  G.  Capt.  of  H.;  Reuben  Barney,  of  Chillicothe,  G. 
P.  S.;  William  B.  Wilson,  of  Cape  Girardeau,  G.  R.  A.  C. : 
James  B.  Austin,  of  St.  Louis,  G.  M.  3d  V.;  Lewis  Slaughter, 
of  Richmond,  G.  M.  2d  V.;  J.  C.  Hearne,  of  Hannibal,  G.  M. 
1st  V. ;  J.  W.  Owen,  of  St.  Louis,  G.  G. 

The  chapters  of  Royal  Arch  Masons  in  St.  Louis 
in  1882,  with  their  officers  and  the  number  of  mem- 
bers, were  : 

1  On  the  22d  of  February,  1882,  at  the  Laclede  Hotel,  St.  Louis, 
occurred  the  death  of  Samuel  H.  Owens,  Grand  High  Priest  and 
Past  Grand  Master  of  Masons.  He  was  born  in  May,  1835, 
near  Springfield,  111.  During  his  infancy  his  parents  removed 
to  Missouri,  and  he  was  raised  to  manhood  on  a  farm  in  Cole 
County,  near  Jefferson  City.  He  was  educated  at  the  State 
j  University  at  Columbia,  Mo.  His  profession  was  that  of  the 
i  law,  and  it  is  no  usual  compliment  to  him  to  say  that  he  honored 
his  profession.  This  he  did  by  study,  energy,  ability  to  grasp 
intricate  questions,  and  above  all  by  his  high  sense  of  honor  in 
i  the  practice  of  his  profession.  He  never  sought  to  deceive  the 
court,  or  do  a  wrong  that  he  might  win  his  case.  As  a  Ma.^on, 
he  had  risen  gradually  from  the  humblest  position  to  that  of 
Grand  Master  of  Masons,  to  which  he  was  chosen  in  1872.  His 
administration  was  eminently  successful  and  practically  bene- 
ficial to  the  craft.  Subsequently  he  was  chairman  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Grievance  in  the  grand  body.  No  decision  of  his 
was  ever  reversed,  and  his  reports  contributed  much  to  the 
Masonic  standing  of  Missouri  in  other  grand  jurisdictions.  In 
1881  he  was  unanimously  elected  M.  E.  Grand  High  Priest  of 
the  Grand  Chapter. 


RELIGIOUS,  BENEVOLENT,  SOCIAL,  SECRET,  AND   OTHER   ORGANIZATIONS.      1789 


Missouri,  No.  1,  Joseph  Mountain,  H.  P. ;  William 
H.  Mayo,  Sec. ;  one  hundred  and  eighteen  members. 

St.  Louis,  No.  8,  Henry  A.  Krueger,  H.  P. ; 
James  Harrocks,  Sec. ;  one  hundred  and  eighty-nine 
members. 

Bellefontaine,  No.  25,  John  R.  Parson,  H.  P. ; 
E.  V.  Kyte,  Sec. ;  one  hundred  and  thirty-one  mem- 
bers. 

O'Sullivan,  No.  40,  E.  W.  League,  H.  P. ;  H.  F. 
Hoppius,  Sec. ;  seventy-seven  members. 

Kilwiuning,  No.  50,  J.  Percival  Smith,  H.  P. ; 
John  T.  McCoy,  Sec. ;  one  hundred  and  eighteen 
members. 

Temple,  No.  51,  George  Lawson,  H.  P.;  John 
K.  Bellinger,  Sec.  ;  fifty-one  members. 

Oriental,  No.  78,  R.  Watson,  H.  P.;  William 
Crouch,  Sec. ;  fifty-seven  members. 

The  membership  of  the  chapters  (eighty-seven  in 
all)  subordinate  to  the  Grand  Chapter  of  Missouri,  as 
returned  in  1882,  numbered  four  thousand  persons. 

ORDER  OP  HIGH  PRIESTHOOD. — Very  little,  if 
anything,  was  known  of  this  impressive  degree  of 
Masonry  in  Missouri  prior  to  1853,  in  which  year 
George  H.  C.  Melody,  P.  G.  H.  P.,  received  the  work 
of  the  order  from  Robert  P.  Dunlap,  of  Maine,  then 
General  Grand  High  Priest  of  the  General  Grand 
Chapter  of  the  United  States.  At  a  meeting  of 
High  Priests,  held  in  the  Masonic  Hall,  St.  Louis, 
May  20,  1854,  there  were  present  George  H.  C. 
Melody,  Thornton  Grimsley,  John  D.  Daggett,  Hon. 
S.  W.  B.  Carnegy,  A.  Patterson,  John  F.  Ryland, 
Richard  F.  Rees,  Joseph  Foster,  A.  O'Sullivan. 
George  H.  C.  Melody  presjded,  and  A.  O'Sullivan 
acted  as  secretary.  After  the  object  of  the  meeting 
had  been  stated  by  the  chairman,  a  resolution  was 
adopted  to  the  effect  that  a  Convention  of  High 
Priests  for  Missouri  be  organized. 

The  following  officers  were  then  elected : 

George  H.  C.  Melody,  president ;  Thornton  Grimsley,  vice- 
president  ;  Joseph  Foster,  conductor;  Richard  R.  Rees,  marshal  ; 
A.  O'Sullivan,  secretary. 

At  a  meeting  held  on  the  26th  of  May,  1855,  "  a 
constitution  for  the  Grand  Convention  of  High  Priests 
of  the  State  of  Missouri"  was  adopted,  and  under 
this  permanent  organization  the  following  officers 
were  elected : 

M.  E.  Comp.  George  H.  C.  Melody,  president;  M.  E.  Comp. 
Archibald  Patterson,  vice-president;  M.  E.  Comp.  Rev.  J.  F. 
Truslow,  chaplain ;  M.  E.  Comp.  D.  De  Haven,  herald  ;  M.  E. 
Comp.  William  McLane,  steward;  M.  E.  Comp.  F.  A.  H.  Gar- 
lichs,  master  of  ceremonies;  M.  E.  Comp.  Solomon  Houch, con- 
ductor ;  M.  E.  Comp.  A.  O'Sullivan,  secretary ;  M.  E.  Comp. 
J.  W.  Chenoweth,  guard. 


The  following  is  the  first  list  of  members  of 
anointed  High  Priests  of  the  State  that  could  be 
found  after  careful  search  through  all  preceding 
records  of  the  Grand  Chapter  of  the  State,  viz. : 

George  H.  C.  Melody,  Thornton  Grimsley,  John  D.  Daggett, 
S.  W.  B.  Carnegy,  A.  Patterson,  Hon.  John  F.  Ryland,  Joseph 
Foster,  A.  O'Sullivan,  Richard  R.  Rees,  Priestly  H.  McBride, 
T.  E.  Shepherd,  Thomas  Miller,  D.  P.  Wallingford,  Rev.  J.  F. 
Truslow,  John  W.  Chenoweth,  D.  De  Haven,  Solomon  Houch, 
F.  A.  H.  Garlichs,  William  McLane,  John  S.  Tisdale,  Edward 
Lea,  Marcus  Boyd,  W.  A.  Cunningham,  Stephen  Stafford, 
James  Cloudsley,  George  A.  Kise. 

After  May  25,  1866,  a  break  occurs  in  the  history 
of  the  order.  The  connecting  link  seems  to  have 
been  lost,  for  diligent  search  and  inquiry  fail  to  prop- 
erly connect  it.  There  is  no  record  of  any  meeting 
from  May  25,  1866,  until  the  record  starts  again, 
with  new  officers  and  several  new  names,  Oct.  7, 
1869. 

From  the  best  obtainable  information  it  seems  that 
after  the  death  of  Companion  McDaniel,  the  presi- 
dent, and  Companion  O'Sullivan,  the  secretary  of  the 
convention,  in  1866,  no  one  had  the  work  of  the 
order  until  1868,  when  Companion  J.  H.  Fairchild, 
a  Past  High  Priest,  of  New  York,  communicated  the 
work  to  M.  E.  Companion  Thomas  E.  Garrett  and 
others,  who  conferred  the  order  on  several  members, 
who  held  meetings  during  that  year.  M.  E.  Com- 
panion Garrett  was  elected  president,  which  office  he 
has  held  continuously  ever  since. 

M.  E.  Companion  George  H.  C.  Melody  was  presi- 
dent from  the  organization  until  1860,  the  year  of  his 
death.  M.  E.  Companion  Joseph  Foster  was  presi- 
dent until  1865,  and  M.  E.  Companion  James  Mc- 
Daniel was  president  in  1866  ;  M.  E.  Companion  D. 
T.  Wainwright  in  1867. 

In  1882  the  officers  were — 

Thomas  E.  Garrett,  M.  E.  P. ;  Allan  McDowell,  E.  V.  P. ; 
Isaiah  Forbes,  E.  C.;  John  R.  Parson,  E.  T.;  William  H. 
Mayo,  E.  R. ;  W.  R.  Stubblefield,  E.  M.  of  C. ;  James  B. 
Austin,  E.  Cond.;  Joseph  S.  Browne,  E.  H. ;  William  H. 
Dale,  E.  Steward ;  A.  Newmark,  E.  Sentinel. 

THE  COUNCILS  OP  ROYAL  AND  SELECT  MASTERS 
located  in  St.  Louis  are — 

St.  Louis  Council,  No.  1,  John  D.Vincil,  M. ;  R.  H.  Mather, 
recorder. 

Hiram  Council,  No.  10  :  John  E.  Jones,  M. ;  L.  J.  Clark,  re- 
corder. 

KNIGHTS  TEMPLAR  COMMANDERIES. — The  Grand 
Commandery  of  Knights  Templar  in  Missouri  was 
organized  by  a  convention  which  assembled  on  the 
22d  of  May,  1860  ;  Benjamin  M.  Runyan,  president, 
and  Ludwell  R.  Ringo,  recorder.  The  officers  of  the 
Grand  Commandery  up  to  the  present  time  (1882) 
have  been — 


1790 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Date. 
May,  I860... 
"     1861... 

Grand  Commanders.    DC 
George  W.  Belt. 

puty  Grand  Commanders 
R.  M.  Henderson. 
W.  R.  Penick. 
B.  M.  Runynn. 
Thomas  M.  Wannall. 
Geo.  Frank  Gouley. 
Lewis  F.  Weimer. 
a 

John  D.  Vincil. 

Joseph  M.  Fox. 
Wilbur  F.  Tuttle. 
John  Ure. 
Samuel  A.  Gilbert. 
John  C.  Bloomfield. 
Frederick  B.  Young. 
AV.  W.  Anderson. 
Thomas  W.  Park. 
W.  W.  Garth. 
William  G.  Hall. 
William  J.  Terrell. 
R.  E.  Anderson. 

Grand  Junior  Wardens. 
George  W.  Culver. 
James  H.  Matheny. 
E.  0.  Sayle. 
John  Glenny. 
J.  A.  H.  Lampton. 
B.  F.  Newhouse. 

Washington  Jones. 
G.  W.  Tindall. 
D.  W.  Wei  Is. 
J.  J.  McElwee. 
Wm.  W.  Anderson. 
Burwell  G.Wilkerson. 

David  Goodfellow. 
« 

H.  C.  Frost. 
Wm.  H.  Hotchkiss. 
J.  R.  Hardy. 
George  Lambert. 

George  F.  Rogers. 

« 

Grand  Warders. 
A.  D.  Hoy. 
Joseph  S.  Browne. 
D.  N.  Burgoyne. 
W.  T.  Woods. 
William  H.  Stone. 

u 

u 
II 

Oren  Root,  Jr. 
Win.  W.  Anderson. 
John  A.  Dollman. 
Henry  C.  Frost. 
John  R.  Parson. 

Jeff.  W.  Bedford. 
Sol.  E.  Waggoner. 
Robert  McCulloch. 
George  F.  Rogers. 
H.  C.  Litchfield. 
John  T.  Ruffin. 

Grand  Generalissimos. 
John  W.  Crane. 
Jacob  C.  Rinehard. 
William  N.  Loker. 
Geo.  Frank  Gouley. 
Josiah  Hunt. 
James  F.  Aglar. 

James  Carr. 

William  H.  Stone. 
John  Ure. 
Samuel  A.  Gilbert. 
John  C.  Bloomfield. 
Frederick  B.  Young. 
Win.  W.  Anderson. 
Thomas  W.  Park. 
James  N.  Burns. 
John  B.  Maude. 
William  J.  Terrell. 
John  A.  Sloan. 
J.  R.  Hardy. 

Grand  Treasurers. 
John  D.  Daggett. 

u 

William  N.  Loker. 
u 

a 

i 

i 

i 

i 

i 
i 

John  R.  Pardon. 

William  P.  Mullen. 
tt 

it 

Grand  Sentinels. 

H.  T.  Shlossner. 
« 

A.  Stille. 
« 

Thomas  Harris. 

George  B.  Brua. 
John  Geekie. 

M 

James  X.  Allen. 

a 

George  Thorp. 

a 
u 
John  W.  Owen. 

H 

Grand  Captain-Generals.        Grand  Prelates. 
Henry  Flynt.                  Ludwell  R.  Ringo. 
John  W.  Crane.             Edward  S.  Dulin. 
W.  A.  Cunningham.     Thomas  E.  Garrett. 
James  F.  Aglar.                       " 
"                            John  D.  Vincil. 
James  McDaniel. 
James  Carr.                    P.  M.  Pinkard. 
D.  P.  Wallingford.                   " 
Samuel  Russell.             William  M.  Rush. 
Francis  M.  Tufts.                       " 
Oren  Root,  Jr.               John  D.  Vincil. 
John  C.  Bloomfield.      R.  L.  M.  McEwen. 
Frederick  B.  Young.    William  Wilmott. 
Win.  W.  Anderson.       C.  H.  Foote. 
Thomas  W.  Park.         George  C.  Betts. 
John  R.  Parson.                       " 
AV.  W.  Garth.                             " 
Win.  H.  Hotchkiss.                  " 
John  A.  Sloan.                           " 

F.  J.  Tygard.                  George  W.  Penn. 

tt                                        K 

Grand  Recorders.        Grand  Standard-Bearers. 
E.  G.  Heriot.                 0.  F.  Potter. 
"                           Robert  Hale. 
A.  O'Sullivan.               John  E.  Ryland. 
"                           J.  A.  H.  Lampton. 
"                          Hampton  Woodruff. 
ii                                       a 

A.  B.  M.  Thompson.     Peter  B.  Grant. 
Geo.  Frank  Gouley.     F.  H.  Lewis. 
"                          William  Bosbyshell. 

a                                     it 

"                         John  C.  Bloomfield. 
"                           Burwell  G.  Wilkerson. 
"                          John  H.  Brown. 

a                                     it 
a                                     a 

"                         S.  E.  Waggoner. 
William  H.  Mayo.        J.  H.  Brown. 
"                          William  J.  Terrell. 
"                          C.  E.  Ballard. 
"                          George  J.  Tyrrell. 
"                          William  A.  Hall. 

Foreign  Correspondents.      Grand  Drill-Masters. 
A.  O'Sullivan. 
James  N.  Burns. 
A.  O'Sullivan.               A.  O'Sullivan. 

a                                   it 

it                                   n 
A.  B.  M.  Thompson.     James  F.  Aglar. 
Geo.  Frank  Gouley.     John  D.  Vincil. 
t                                      if 

1                          C.  B.  Randolph. 
'                          William  H.  Stone. 
<                          C.  B.  Randolph. 

i                                     tt 

i                                      a 
'                          Thomas  M.  Wannall. 
'                            C.  B.  Randolph. 
William  H.  Mayo.        C.  J.  Atkins. 
"                            E.  J.  Nickerson. 
"                           John  R.  Parson. 
Allan  McDowell. 
"                            John  A.  Sloan. 

"     186:O. 
"     1864.. 

n 

"     1865... 

Thomas  M.  Wannall. 

"     1866... 

Geo.  Frank  Gouley. 

Oct.    1867... 

"     1868... 

James  F.  Aglar. 

"     1*69... 

"     1870 

"     1871.  . 

Francis  M.  Tufts. 

"     1872... 

Oren  Root,  Jr. 

"     1873... 

....John  Ure. 

"     1874  . 

Samuel  A.  Gilbert. 

"     1875   . 

.  .  John  C.  Blootnfield. 

"     1876... 

Frederick  B.  Youn<". 

"     1877... 
"     1878... 

....John  R.  Parson. 
....C.  J.  Atkins. 

May,  18801. 
"     1881... 

Sol.  E.  Wageoner. 
William  G.  Hall. 

"     1882... 

Date. 
May,  1860... 

....William  J.  Terrell. 

Grand  Senior  Wardens. 
William  N.  Loker. 

"     1861... 

Paris  S.  Pfouts. 

"     18631. 
"     1864... 

James  F.  Aglar. 
D.  N.  Burgoyne. 

"     1865... 

Martin  Collins. 

"     1866... 

Oct.    1867... 

Samuel  Hardwick. 

"     1868... 

Peter  B.  Grant. 

"     186V)... 

....  William  K.  Spinney. 

"     1870... 

John  Ure. 

1871... 

William  Bosbvshell. 

1872... 

Frederick  B.  Youn"1. 

1873... 

Win.  W.  Anderson. 

1874... 
1875... 

Burwell  G.Wilkerson. 
u 

1876... 

« 

1877.. 

1878... 

John  B.  Maude. 
Sol.  E.Waggoner. 

M  y,  1880  i. 
1881... 

James  Carroll. 
E.  H.  Mix. 

1882... 

it 

Date. 
May,  I860... 

Grand  Sword-Bearers. 
Samuel  M.  Hays. 

"      1861... 

George  W.  Beardslee. 

"      18631. 
"      1864... 

Edward  Button. 
Edward  G.  Brooke. 

"      1865... 
"      1866... 
Oct.     1867.. 

James  McDaniel. 
William  Bosbyshell. 

"      1868.  . 

u 

"      1869... 

J.  E.  R.  Miller. 

"      1870... 

J.  S.  McElwee. 

'      1871... 

Fred.  B.  Young. 

'      1872 

J.  A.  Tyler. 

'      1873.. 

William  E.  Whiting. 

'      1874.. 
'      1875.. 

'      1876... 
'      1877.. 
'      1878... 
May,  188()i. 
"      1881... 
"      1882... 

T.  W.  Letton. 
Henry  C.  Frost. 
M.  S.  Clernmens. 
E.  J.  Nickerson. 
....  John  A.  Sloan. 
R.  0.  Carscadin. 
Erwin  Ellis. 
Robert  Taubman. 

No  conclave  in  1862  or  1879. 


The  Grand  Commandery  was  incorporated  under 
the  style  of  "  The  Grand  Commandery  of  Knights 
Templar  and  the  Appendant  Orders,"  on  the  petition 
of  John  D.  Vincil,  J.  M.  Fox,  William  H.  Stone, 
Francis  M.  Tufts,  William  M.  Rush,  John  Ure,  D. 
W.  Wells,  William  N.  Loker,  George  Frank  Gouley, 
William  Bosbyshell,  J.  J.  McElwee,  0.  Root,  Jr., 


and  John  Geekie,  by  the  Circuit  Court  of  St.  Louis 
County  at  the  June  term  of  1871. 

The  commanderies  located  in  St.  Louis  in  1882, 
with  their  officers  and  membership,  were — 

St.  Louis,  No.  1,  William  H.  Dale,  Eminent  Com- 
mander ;  John  T.  McCoy,  Recorder ;  one  hundred  and 
twenty-one  members. 


RELIGIOUS,  BENEVOLENT,  SOCIAL,  SECRET,  AND   OTHER   ORGANIZATIONS.      1791 


Ivanhoe,  No.  8,  H.  L.  Aldrich,  Eminent  Com- 
mander ;  R.  M.  L.  McEwen,  recorder  ;  eighty-four 
members. 

Ascalon,  No.  16,  John  H.  Krippen,  Eminent  Com- 
mander ;  Frederick  Williamson,  recorder ;  seventy- 
four  members. 

St.  Aldemar,  No.    18,  William   Richardson,  Emi-  , 
nent  Commander  ;    James  Bailey,  recorder ;  eighty- 
one  members. 

COLORED   FREEMASONS. — The   colored   people  of  j 
the  United  States  have  a  Masonic  organization;  dis-  j 
tinct  in  its  workings  from  that  of  other  Masons  of  this 
country.    Their  charter  was  derived  from  York,  Eng-  ; 
land,  in  1784,  and  a  lodge  was  established  in  Boston,  i 
They  are  called  "  Free  and  Accepted  Ancient  York 
Masons."     Other  lodges  were   soon   after  started  in 
Philadelphia  and  New  York,  and  these  three  formed 
a  Grand  Lodge  in  Philadelphia.     Lodges  were  formed 
in  different  parts  of  the  country  under  the  authority 
of  this  Grand  Lodge  until  1847,  when  delegations  from 
different  parts  of  the  Union  met  in  Boston   and  or- 
ganized the  national  Grand  Lodge.     From  that  time 
the  craft  has  prospered.     The  government  of  the  order 
is  on  an  independent  basis,  and  vested  in  a  national 
Grand  Lodge,  under  which  the  State  Grand  Lodges 
work,  and  under  these  the  subordinate  lodges. 

The  first  Grand  Lodge  in  Missouri  was  established  in 
St.  Louis  in  1865,  with  H.M.  Alexander  as  Grand  Mas- 
ter, and  George  Phillips  as  Junior  and  John  Sexton  as 
Senior  Grand  Wardens,  though  subordinate  lodges 
had  been  working  here  under  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Ohio 
for  about  twenty  years.  In  1869  there  were  seven- 
teen lodges  in  Missouri,  four  of  them  in  St.  Louis,  and 
also  a  Royal  Arch  Chapter  (St.  John's),  working  under 
the  Grand  Chapter  of  Pennsylvania,  and  Western  Star 
Encampment  of  Sir  Knights,  working  under  authority 
from  the  Grand  Encampment  of  Pennsylvania.  In 
1869  the  order  officiated  at  the  laying  of  the  corner- 
stone of  a  colored  church,  called  Carondelet  Chapel,  in 
the  then  city  of  Carondelet.  The  officers  of  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Missouri  then  were — 

Moses  Dickinson,  G.  M. ;  William  P.  Brooks,  D.  G.  M. ;  Francis 
Robertson,  Sr.  G.  W. ;  William  Robertson,  Jr.  G.  W. ;  R.  0. 
Smith,  G.  Sec.;  Alexander  Clark,  G.  Treas. 

There  are  now  about  ninety  lodges  in  Missouri, 
with  two  thousand  members,  while  in  St.  Louis  there 
are  six  lodges.  The  present  Grand  Lodge  officers 
are — 

Grand  Master,  Willis  N.  Brent,  Boonville,  Mo. ;  Deputy  Grand 
Master,  J.  M.  M.  Stokes,  St.  Louis;  Senior  Grand  Warden,  J. 
C.  C.  Owens,  Haunibal,  Mo. ;  Junior  Grand  Warden,  W.  H. 
Jones,  St.  Joseph,  Mo.;  Grand  Treasurer,  J.  J.  Bruce,  Bruns- 
wick, Mo.;  Grand  Secretary,  Robert  0.  Smith,  St.  Louis;  Grand 


Chaplain,  James  Madison;  Grand  Lecturer,  Rev.  Moses  Dick- 
son,  Higginsville,  Mo. 

There  are  four  commanderies  in  St.  Louis,  with 
two  hundred  and  fifty  members.  In  1881  a  Grand 
Commandery  was  formed  by  the  union  of  the  "  Grand 
Commandery  of  the  State  of  Missouri"  and  the 
"  African  Grand  Commandery,"  and  the  following 
officers  were  elected : 

R.  E.  G.  C.,  Milton  F.  Fields,  St.  Louis;  V.  E.  D.  G.  C.,  Wil- 
liam T.  Mumford,  St.  Louis;  E.  G.  Gen.,  Wm.  T.  Scott,  Cairo, 
111.;  E.  G.  C.  G.,  Richard  A.  Barret,  St.  Louis;  E.  G.  P.,  J. 
C.  C.  Owens,  Hannibal,  Mo. ;  E.  G.  S.  W.,  James  A.  Johnson, 
St.  Louis;  E.  G.  J.  W.,  Edward  Mitchell,  Kansas  City;  E.  G. 
T.,  John  Pride,  St.  Louis ;  E.  G.  R.,  Richard  H.  Cole,  West  St. 
Louis. 

This  Grand  Lodge  has  established  an  endowment 
fund  of  one  thousand  dollars  for  the  heirs  of  deceased 
members,  and  is  gathering  funds  to  establish  a  Grand 
Lodge  library. 

The  Colored  Masonic  Hall  is  located  at  409  Wash- 
ington Avenue. 

MASONIC  HALL. — That  a  building  was  set  apart 
and  used  for  Masonic  purposes  at  an  early  period  ap- 
pears from  the  fact  that  in  the  Missouri  Gazette  of 
July  5,  1809,  an  account  was  printed  of  a  Fourth  of 
July  dinner  given  "  by  Capt.  R.  Webster  in  Lee's 
Orchard,  and  a  ball  at  night  in  the  Masonic  Hall." 
On  the  15th  of  March,  1817,  there  appeared  in  the 
same  paper  the  following  advertisement  of  a  lottery 
to  raise  funds  for  the  erection  of  a  Masonic  Hall : 

"  By  authority  :  Scheme  of  a  lottery  for  building  a  Masonic 
lodge  in  the  town  of  St.  Louis, — 


1  pri 
2priz 
10 
20 
25 
200 
310 
1000 
2550 

se  of  

$5000  is  iSfi.onn 

esof  

1000 

2000 

600 

6,000 

200 

4,000 

100 

2,500 

50 

.   10  000 

20 

6,200 

10 

10,000 

6 

..  ift.ann 

$60,000 

"  Less  than  two  blanks  to  a  prize.  Part  of  the  prizes  to  be 
determinable  as  follows,  viz. : 

"  1st.  Drawn  number  on  the  first,  second,  third,  fourth,  fifth, 
sixth,  seventh,  eighth,  ninth,  and  tenth  day's  drawing,  each  to 
be  entitled  to  one  of  the  above  six  hundred  dollar  prizes,  paya- 
ble in  part  by  one  hundred  tickets,  beginning  with  No.  7001  to 
No.  8000  inclusive.  The  first  one  hundred  tickets  for  the  first 
drawn  number  on  the  first  day,  and  so  on  in  regular  succession 
for  the  rest.  All  other  prizes  floating.  Prizes  subject  to  a  de- 
duction of  fifteen  per  cent.,  payable  in  sixty  days  after  the 
drawing  is  completed. 

"To  be  drawn  three  times  a  week,  five  hundred  tickets  each 
day.  Tickets  in  the  above  lottery  may  be  had  at  the  following 
places,  viz. :  At  the  stores  of  Riddick  &  Pilcher,  Th.  Hanly, 
Simpson  &  Quarles,  Moses  Scott,  and  James  Kennerly,  St.  Louis; 
E.  A.  Elliot,  Ste.  Genevieve;  John  Jones,  Mine  a  Breton  ;  Wil- 
liam Bates,  Herculaneum  ;  at  the  office  of  Michael  Jones,  Esq., 


1792 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


Kaskaskia:  at  the  office  of  John   Hay,  Esq.,  Cahokia,  and  at 

the  store  of  John  Rochester,  St.  Charles. 

"  J.  Pilcher,  T.  Brady,  T.  Douglass,  D.  V.  Walker, 
T.  Hanly,  commissioners  appointed  by  the 
Legislature  for  superintending  the  drawing 
of  the  above  lottery." 

This  scheme  does  not  appear  to  have  succeeded,  for 
we  find  (as  elsewhere  stated)  that  the  different  Masonic 
bodies  occupied  the  Clark  building,  and  afterwards 
that  erected  by  Maj.  Thompson  Douglass  on  the 
north  side  of  the  present  Elm  Street,  between  Main 
and  Second  Streets,  until  1833.  In  1822  committees 
were  appointed  by  Missouri  Royal  Arch  Chapter,  and 
Missouri  Lodge,  No.  1,  for  the  purpose  of  procuring 
funds  to  build  a  Masonic  Hall,  but  this  project  also 
appears  to  have  been  a  failure. 

On  the  18th  of  October,  1849,  the  fourth  floor  of 
the  building  at  the  corner  of  Third  and  Chestnut 
Streets  was  dedicated  to  Masonic  uses.  The  Grand 
Lodge  was  opened  by  the  Grand  Master,  and  a  prayer 
was  offered  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Libby,  which  was  fol- 
lowed by  the  customary  exercises  of  the  order,  during 
which  the  exordium  was  delivered  by  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Libby.  Subsequently  the  doors  were  closed  upon  all, 
excepting  the  members  of  the  order,  and  the  cere- 
mony of  dedicating  the  hall  was  performed.  The 
procession  then  formed  on  Chestnut  Street,  and 
marched  through  the  principal  streets  to  Concert  Hall, 
where  the  ceremonies  were  opened  by  prayer  offered 
by  the  Grand  Chaplain  of  the  order.  An  ode  was 
then  sung  by  the  choir  of  the  Unitarian  Society,  who 
volunteered  their  services  for  the  occasion,  which  was 
followed  by  the  delivery  of  the  oration  by  Judge 
Ryland,  the  Grand  Master.  An  ode  was  then  sung 
by  the  choir,  which  was  followed  by  the  benediction. 

About  1853  it  was  determined  to  erect  a  hall  which 
should  be  in  keeping  with  the  prosperity  and  strength 
of  the  order,  and  on  the  12th  of  February,  1853,  a 
perpetual  charter  was  granted  to  John  D.  Daggett, 
Benjamin  M.  Runyan,  John  J.  Anderson,  William 
Renshaw,  Jr.,  Daniel  G.  Taylor,  J.  R.  Barret,  David 
C.  Tuttle,  Joseph  Foster,  and  T.  E.  Courtney,  as  cor- 
porators of  an  association  organized  to  carry  out  that 
object. 

The  first  board  of  directors  elected  consisted  of  B. 
M.  Runyan,  T.  A.  Buckland,  D.  G.  Taylor,  F. 
Dings,  John  W.  Luke,  Thomas  Richeson,  John  A. 
Brownlee,  James  H.  McCord,  and  A.  B.  Sheder.  In 
June,  1858,  the  board  purchased  from  Mrs.  Anne  L. 
Hunt  for  fifty-five  thousand  dollars,  being  a  deduc- 
tion by  Mrs.  Hunt  of  twenty  thousand  dollars  from 
its  estimated  value,  the  lot  on  which  the  present  build- 
ing stands,  measuring  one  hundred  and  nine  feet  on 
Seventh  Street,  and  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  feet 


on  Market  Street.  After  various  delays  the  money 
was  secured  for  the  purchase  of  the  lot,  and  on  the 
|  30th  of  May,  1866,  the  corner-stone  of  the  present 
edifice  was  laid  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  the  State. 
The  cost  of  the  building  was  about  one  hundred 
and  ninety-five  thousand  dollars,  which,  with  the  lot, 
made  a  total  cost  of  two  hundred  and  forty  thousand 
dollars. 

The  building  was  erected  under  the  supervision  of 
the  following  board  of  directors :  Erastus  Wells,  presi- 
dent; Samuel  Gaty,  vice-president;  William  N.  Loker, 
treasurer;  Thomas  Richeson,  Daniel  G.  Taylor,  John 
W.  Luke,  William  H.  Stone,  John  D.  Daggett,  T.  A. 
Buckland.  Much  of  the  success  of  the  undertaking 
was  due  to  the  active  member  of  the  building  com- 
mittee, William  H.  Stone,  and  the  president,  Mr. 
Wells. 

The  building  stands  on  the  northwest  corner  of 
Seventh  and  Market  Streets.  The  front  on  the  latter 
street  is  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  feet,  and  on  Sev- 
enth eighty-four  feet.  It  is  four  stories  high,  meas- 
uring ninety-six  feet  from  the  line  of  the  sidewalk  to 
the  cornice.  The  general  architectural  design  is  after 
the  Florentine  Italian  style.  It  is  not  heavily  orna- 
mented, but  plain  and  substantial,  and  is  built  of  Joliet 
marble,  nearly  white.  Near  the  entrance  on  Seventh 
Street  is  the  corner-stone  of  the  building,  on  which 
there  is  the  following  inscription  : 

"  To  the  glory  of  God,  the  Grand  Architect  of  the  Universe, 
to  whom  be  all  honor,  praise,  and  glory :  This  foundation-stone 
of  Freemasons'  Hall  was  duly  laid  by  the  M.  W.  Grand  Lodge 
of  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  May  30th,  1866,  A.L.  5866.  John  F.  Hous- 
ton, M.  W.  Grand  Master;  A.  O'Sullivan,  G.  S." 

This  inscription  was  written  by  the  Grand  Secretary, 
A.  O'Sullivan,  who  was  a  leading  spirit  in  the  under- 
taking, but  died  before  the  building  was  completed. 

The  lower  floor  is  occupied  by  stores ;  on  the  second 
floor  is  the  office  of  the  Grand  Secretary  of  the  State  of 
Missouri  and  the  library.  This  is  a  very  handsomely- 
i  furnished  room,  and  the  ceiling  is  of  unusual  height.  A 
I  flight  of  stairs  leads  up  to  a  gallery  on  which  the  library 
i  cases  open.  There  is  also  in  this  apartment  a  spacious 
fire-proof  safe,  for  the  preservation  of  the  records  of  the 
State.  One  feature  to  be  seen  here  are  well-executed 
oil-paintings  of  the  Grand  Masters  of  the  State  from 
the  time  of  organization.  On  this  floor  also  is  the 
audience-room  or  hall.  It  measures  one  hundred  feet 
in  length  by  sixty-five  feet  in  width,  and  is  twenty-two 
feet  in  height  from  the  floor  to  the  ceiling.  Eight 
Corinthian  columns  support  the  ceiling,  which  is  hand- 
somely painted  and  ornamented.  At  the  west  end  of 
the  hall  is  a  spacious  stage,  intended  for  speakers 
or  other  purposes. 


KELIGIOUS,  BENEVOLENT,  SOCIAL,  SECRET,  AND   OTHER  ORGANIZATIONS.      1793 


The  third  floor  of  the  building  is  mainly  occupied 
by  the  three  degree  rooms,  attached  to  which  are  va- 
rious committee-rooms  and  small  halls,  intended  for 
Masonic  festivities  and  other  purposes.  The  fourth 
floor  is  divided  somewhat  similarly  to  that  below,  but 
the  rooms  are  devoted  to  the  administration  of  the 
higher  degrees.  The  Royal  Arch  Chapter  chamber 
is  on  this  floor,  and  is  the  most  costly  and  splendid 
room,  in  decoration  and  arrangement,  of  its  character 
in  the  building.  The  ceiling  is  vaulted  and  colored 
blue,  with  other  hues  assisting  in  the  ornamentation. 

The  building  was  erected  under  the  supervision 
and  direction  of  James  H.  McClaren,  architect.  The 
building  committee  was  composed  of  the  following 
gentlemen :  Erastus  Wells,  ex  officio,  president ;  W. 
H.  Stone,  secretary;  Thomas  Richeson,  and  Samuel 
Gaty.  Committee  for  furnishing  the  halls  and  car- 
pets, etc. :  William  H.  Stone,  William  N.  Loker,  and 
J.  W.  Luke. 

The  building  was  dedicated  on  the  14th  of  October, 
1868,  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Missouri,  W.  E.  Duns- 
comb,  Grand  Master,  on  which  occasion  an  oration 
was  delivered  by  Thomas  E.  Garrett.  One  of  the 
principal  features  of  the  dedication  was  the  procession, 
which  was  organized  at  the  Occidental  Hall,  Seven- 
teenth and  Market  Streets.  The  following  was  the 
order  observed : 

Headed  by  sixteen  mounted  police,  Capt.  Kohlhund. 

Boehm's  Band. 

St.  Louis  Commandery,  Knights  Templar. 
Ivanhoe  Commandery,  Knights  Templar. 

Herwig's  Band. 

Lodges  in  following  order : 

No.  243,  Keystone  Lodge,  A.  F.  and  A.  M. 

No.  218,  Good  Hope  Lodge. 

No.  179,  Pride  of  the  West  Lodge. 

No.  167,  Orient  Franjais  Lodge. 

No.  163,  Occidental  Lodge. 

No.  121,  Erwin  Lodge. 

No.  80,  Bridgeton  Lodge. 

No.  79,  Polar  Star  Lodge. 

No.  45,  Bonhomme  Lodge. 

No.  40,  Mount  Moriah  Lodge. 

No.  25,  Napthali  Lodge. 

No.  20,  St.  Louis  Lodge. 

No.  9,  George  Washington  Lodge. 

No.  3,  Beacon  Lodge. 
No.  2,  Meridian  Lodge. 
No.  1,  Missouri  Lodge. 

Band. 

Grand  Lodge  of  the  State  of  Missouri  and  Grand  Officers. 
Carriages,  judges  of  courts,  city  and  county  officials,  City 

Council,  etc. 

Grand  Marshals,  Col.  James  Coff,  N.  G.  Elliott. 

Aids,  S.  B.  Stanard,  George  Rinkel,  Jr.,  William  Freadenau, 

A.  W.  Henry,  James  Denny. 

After  the  dedication  ceremonies  the  lodges,  com- 
manderies,  etc.,  proceeded  to  Bellefontaine  Cemetery 


to  dedicate  a  monument  to  Anthony  O'Sullivan,  who 
had  recently  died.1 

The  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Monument, 
Martin  Collins,  delivered  the  monument  over  to  the 
Grand  Lodge  and  reported  the  work  done,  whereupon 
Mr.  Garret  spoke  as  follows  : 

"BRETHREN  OF  THE  GRAND  LODGE  OF  MISSOURI, — We  stand 
in  this  city  of  the  dead,  above  the  mouldering  remains  of 
many  with  whom  we  have  associated  in  life,  to  unveil  a  monu- 
ment erected  to  the  memory  of  Anthony  O'Sullivan,  one  of  the 
fathers  of  Masonry  in  Missouri.  The  mortal  part  of  one  whom 
we  knew  and  loved  as  a  brother  rests  beneath  this  stone.  We 
are  now  about  to  perform  the  last  public  ceremony  of  respect  to 
departed  worth,  and  inaugurate  a  monument  commemorative  of 
his  virtues  and  the  position  he  held  in  life." 

The  Grand  Master  then  unveiled  the  monument, 
and  Thomas  E.  Garrett,  Grand  Orator,  delivered  a 
eulogy  on  Mr.  O'Sullivan's  character. 

The  monument  is  of  Italian  marble,  sixteen  feet  in 
height,  consisting  of  a  broken  column  standing  on  a 
pedestal  of  three  steps,  the  first  step  representing  the 
working  tools  of  an  entered  apprentice;  second,  of 
the  fellow-craft ;  third,  of  the  Master  Mason.  On  the 
front  is  the  inscription,  "  Erected  to  the  memory  of 
Anthony  O'Sullivan  by  the  Grand  Chapter  and  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Missouri."  On  the  east  side  is  the 
seal  of  the  Grand  Lodge,  and  on  the  west  different 


1  Anthony  O'Sullivan  was  born  in  the  county  of  Kerry,  Ire- 
land, on  Nov.  29,  1808,  emigrated  to  America  about  the  year 
1838,  and  resided  in  New  York  City  one  year,  when  he  removed 
to  New  Orleans,  where  he  was  married,  Jan.  30,  1841.  He  re- 
moved to  Missouri  and  settled  in  Arrow  Rock,  Saline  Co., 
March  17,  1841.  He  was  initiated  in  Arrow  Rock  Lodge,  No. 
55,  on  May  9,  1846,  and  raised  June  30th  the  same  year.  He 
was  exalted  a  Royal  Arch  Mason  in  Boonville  Chapter,  No.  5, 
Boonville,  Cooper  Co.,  Mo.,  in  1849,  and  received  the  degree  of 
Royal  and  Select  Master  in  the  same  chapter.  He  was  cre- 
ated a  Knight  Templar  in  St.  Louis  Commandery,  No.  1,  on 
the  1st  of  August,  1852,  and  received  the  degree  of  the  Ancient 
and  Accepted  Scottish  rite  in  the  Southern  jurisdiction  in  1859, 
at  a  meeting  called  in  Chicago,  111.  He  was  then  made  a  33d, 
and  Sovereign  Grand  Inspector-General  of  Missouri  and  border- 
ing States.  In  the  year  ]852  he  removed  to  St.  Louis,  where 
he  resided  until  1860,  when  he  removed  to  Springfield,  Mo., 
and  remained  there  until  1863,  in  which  year  he  returned  to 
St.  Louis  and  remained  till  the  close  of  his  life.  He  was  elected 
Grand  Secretary  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Missouri  in  May,  1852  ; 
Grand  Secretary  of  the  Grand  Royal  Arch  Chapter  in  April, 
1854  ;  Grand  Recorder  of  the  Grand  Commandery  in  May,  1863  ; 
;  :md  Grand  Puissant  of  the  Grand  Council  in  May,  1864.  From 
the  organization  of  the  order  of  High  Priesthood  he  was  its 
secretary.  All  these  offices  he  held  until  the  day  of  his  death. 
He  was  Grand  Secretary  of  the  Grand  Lodge  under  fourteen 
Grand  Masters,  always  re-elected  with  scarcely  any  opposition, 
and  sometimes  by  acclamation.  He  was  also  Grand  Lecturer 
of  the  lodge  and  chapter  during  most  of  these  years,  and  the 
chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Correspondence,  in  which 
field  he  particularly  distinguished  himself,  and  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  fraternity  at  large. 


1794 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Masonic  emblems  of  different  degrees.  A  Grand  Sec- 
retary's jewel  is  suspended  at  the  top  pf  the  broken 
column.  The  monument  stands  on  the  Masonic  lot 
in  the  cemetery. 

The  following  were  the  Grand  Chapter  Committee 
on  Monument:  Isaiah  Forbes,  William  E.  Glenn, 
R.  E.  Anderson,  and  Martin  Collins,  from  the  Grand 
Lodge;  John  D.  Vincel,  William  N.  Loker,  John 
W.  Luke,  and  C.  A.  Rowley.  Martin  Collins  acted 
as  chairman  of  the  committee,  and  John  W.  Luke 
as  secretary. 

On  the  10th  of  November.  1873,  the  property  was 
sold  under  deed  of  trust,  the  Life  Association  of 
America  becoming  the  purchaser.  The  ground  and 
building  brought  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  dol- 
lars, subject  to  a  deed  of  trust  for  one  hundred  and 
forty  thousand  dollars,  with  accrued  interest  amount- 
ing to  about  eighteen  thousand  dollars.  The  one 
hundred  and  twenty-seven  dollars  was  only  intended 
to  cover  the  expenses  of  the  sale. 

The  property  was  again  sold  under  a  deed  of  trust 
on  the  28th  of  April,  1881,  by  the  trustee,  Calvin  F. 
Burnes.  Auctioneer  Lanham  announced  that  the  sale 
would  be  subject  only  to  a  lien  for  two  years  back 
taxes.  Joel  Wood,  of  Wood  &  Lee,  and  Mr.  Car- 
penter, a  real  estate  agent,  who  represented  the  Hon. 
Thomas  Allen,  were  the  most  active  bidders.  The 
purchasing  bid  of  seventy-one  thousand  two  hundred 
dollars  was  made  by  Mr.  Wood,  who  bid  in  the  prop- 
erty for  the  majority  bondholders, — Messrs.  Joel 
Wood,  W.  H.  Lee,  M.  A.  Rosenblatt,  and  Mrs. 
Eugene  Benoist.  The  purchase  deed  was  made  to 
George  H.  Goddard,  cashier  of  the  Valley  National 
Bank,  and  Louis  Bauman,  as  trustees.  To  the  cost 
of  Masonic  Hall,  erected  by  the  Masonic  fraternity 
in  1869,  had  been  added  twenty-five  thousand  dollars 
by  the  Life  Association  of  America  for  the  erection 
of  an  additional  building  on  Seventh  Street,  together 
with  steam  elevator  and  steam-heating  apparatus. 
There  was  a  first  mortgage  of  one  hundred  and  forty 
thousand  dollars,  for  which  the  sale  was  made.  The 
building  is  still  used  by  the  various  Masonic  organ- 
izations. 

On  the  22d  of  October,  1868,  the  Odd-Fellows 
and  Freemasons  of  St.  Louis  united  in  laying  the 
foundation-stone  of  a  new  hall,  to  be  built  by  the  United 
Hall  Association,  at  the  corner  of  Benton  Street  and 
Broadway.  The  building  (known  as  Union  Hall) 
was  dedicated  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Missouri,  Oct. 
13,  1869,  having  been  erected  for  the  joint  use  of 
Masons  and  Odd-Fellows.  It  is  a  three-story  struct-, 
ure,  stone  front ;  the  first  story  rented  for  stores  and 
the  second  for  offices,  the  hall  and  three  ante-rooms 


being  located  in  the  third  story.  The  dimensions  of 
the  hall  are:  Length,  ninety  feet;  width,  forty  feet; 
height,  twenty-two  feet;  and  its  cost,  fifty  thousand 
dollars.  The  lodges  of  the  Independent  Order  of 
Odd-Fellows  first  using  it  were  the  Schiller  and  the 
Wingenund  Lodges  and  the  Mound  City  Encamp- 
ment. 

The  lodges  of  Masons  which  met  in  it  were  Beacon, 
No.  3  ;  Aurora,  No.  267  ;  and  Bellefontaine  Chapter, 
Royal  Arch,  No.  25. 

The  officers  and  directors  of  the  Union  Hall  Asso- 
ciation, which  erected  the  building,  were  Joseph  W. 
Branch,  president;  George  H.  Rice,  vice-president; 
John  Balmann,  secretary ;  Directors,  John  H.  Mar- 
quard,  Philip  Stremmel,  W.  K.  Patrick,  John  Colo- 
nius,  H.  W.  Coppleman,  and  Frank  Wilmeyer. 

Independent  Order  of  Odd-Fellows, — The  first 
lodge  of  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd-Fellows  in 
St.  Louis  was  established  on  the  3d  of  June,  1835, 
under  a  warrant  granted  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  the 
United  States  at  its  session  held  in  Baltimore  in 
September,  1834.  There  were  seven  petitioners  for 
the  warrant,  made  up  from  transient  brethren  of  the 
order  then  residing  in  and  about  St.  Louis.  One  of 
them  was  from  London,  England;  two  from  Louis- 
ville, Ky. ;  three  from  Pittsburgh,  Pa. ;  and  one 
from  Baltimore,  Md.  By  the  time  the  lodge  was 
organized  all  these  petitioners,  except  the  first  named, 
had  disappeared  and  others  were  substituted.  The 
commission  to  institute  the  lodge  was  committed  to 
Samuel  L.  Miller,1  a  member  of  Harmony  Lodge, 
No.  3,  of  Baltimore,  who  was  about  to  remove  to 
Alton,  111. 

Considerable  delay  occurred  in  finding  a  sufficient 
number  of  members  of  the  order  to  supply  the  number 
of  five  requisite  to  constitute  the  lodge.  This  was 
not  effected  until  June  3,  1835,  when  he  instituted 
the  lodge  under  the  name  of  Traveler's  Rest  Lodge, 
No.  1.  The  original  members  were  Thomas  Max- 
well, Henry  Woolford  (afterwards  of  Louisville,  Ky.), 
William  Pickett,John  F.  Nagle,  George  B.  O'Connor, 
Matthias  Obert,  and  Joseph  Lespie.  The  place  of 
the  first  meeting  was  in  a  small  house  situated  on  the 


1  Samuel  L.  Miller  settled  in  Madison  County,  111.,  in  1835, 
and  lived  there  until  his  death,  July  25,  1879.  He  became  an 
Odd-Fellow  in  18.30,  joining  Harmony  Lodge,  No.  3,  Baltimore, 
Md.,  and  in  1836  became  a  charter  member  of  Western  Star 
Lodge,  at  Alton,  III.  At  the  time  of  his  death  he  was  doubt- 
less the  oldest  Odd-Fellow  in  the  West.  He  instituted  the  first 
Odd-Fellow's  Lodge  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  lived  to  see  three 
hundred  and  thirty-one  lodges  in  Missouri,  and  sixteen  hundred 
lodges  west  of  the  "Father  of  Waters,"  with  a  membership  of 
eighty  thousand,  comprising  fully  one-sixth  of  all  the  Odd- 
Fellows  in  the  world. 


RELIGIOUS,  BENEVOLENT,  SOCIAL,  SECRET,  AND   OTHER  ORGANIZATIONS.     1795 


north  side  of  Olive  Street,  between  Main  and  Second. 
A  lodge-room  was  then  fitted  up  on  the  east  side  of 
Main  Street,  between  Olive  and  Locust,  and  in  this 
room  the  lodge  met  for  the  first  time  on  the  first  Sat- 
urday in  June.  At  this  meeting  eight  were  added  to 
the  membership  by  initiation,  and  at  the  next  meeting 
fourteen  were  initiated.  The  first  officers  of  the  lodge 
were  Samuel  L.  Miller,  N.  G-. ;  Thomas  Maxwell,  V. 
G. ;  B.  B.  Brown,  Sec.  and  Treas.  The  place  of 
meeting  was  changed  in  1836  to  the  hall  over  the 
Central  Engine  House,  south  side  of  Chestnut  Street, 
between  Third  and  Fourth.  Here  the  lodge  continued 
to  meet  for  about  three  years,  and  then  moved  to  the 
southwest  corner  of  Main  and  Olive  Streets,  over  the 
book-store  of  J.  C.  Dinnies  &  Co. 

The  first  public  display  of  Odd-Fellows  in  St. 
Louis  took  place  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  1836.  After 
marching  through  the  principal  streets  of  the  city  in 
regalia,  with  emblems  and  music,  the  lodge  proceeded 
to  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  on  the  corner  of 
Fourth  Street  and  Washington  Avenue,  where  an 
address  was  delivered  by  Col.  Charles  Keemle.  An 
original  ode,  composed  by  Lewis  T.  Thomas,  was  sung 
on  this  occasion,  and  the  celebration  closed  with  a 
banquet.  During  the  first  year  of  its  existence  in  St. 
Louis  the  order  had  increased  to  one  hundred  and 
fifteen  members,  and  during  the  second  year  there  was 
a  small  increase  over  this  number. 

In  December,  1836,  some  of  the  members  of 
Travelers'  Lodge  met  to  petition  for  a  new  lodge. 
John  W.  Paulding  presided,  and  Charles  Keemle,  a 
well-known  editor,  was  secretary.  Their  petition  was 
signed  by  J.  W.  Paulding,  Charles  Keemle,  Henry 
Lynde  Sproat,  Thomas  S.  Tucker,  P.  T.  McSherry, 
B.  B.  Brown,  W.  D.  Marrigan,  Robert  Allen,  A.  J. 
Corney,  and  Charles  Soule.  The  request  was  granted 
by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  1837.  In  June,  1838,  St. 
Louis  had  the  honor  of  a  visit  from  Thomas  Wildey, 
the  founder  of  the  order.  On  June  12th  he  insti- 
tuted Wildey  Lodge,  No.  2,  with  the  following  charter 
members :  Charles  Keemle,  W.  D.  Marrigan,  A.  T. 
Corney,  P.  T.  McSherry,  B.  B.  Brown,  Robert  Allen, 
Charles  Soule,  and  Thomas  S.  Tucker. 

The  original  officers  were — 

Noble  Grand,  Robert  Cathcart;  Vice  Grand,  Benjamin  F. 
McKinney;  Secretary,  Robert  Breeze;  Treasurer,  Harris  L. 
Sproat. 

Among  the  early  members  of  the  lodge  were  Wil- 
liam Blackburn,  afterwards  the  second  Grand  Master 
of  the  State  ;  William  S.  Stewart,  third  Grand  Master, 
and  later  a  prominent  member  of  the  Sons  of  Temper- 
ance ;  and  Charles  Pickering  and  Thomas  M.  War- 
mall.  John  Dawson,  who  subsequently  became  the 


first  Grand  Master,  was  book-keeper  of  both  lodges. 
Within  the  first  year  the  lodge  had  fifty-two  members. 

On  June  13,  1838,  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Missouri, 
composed  of  the  past  officers  of  the  two  lodges,  was 
instituted  by  P.  G.  Sire  Wildey,  and  the  following 
were  the  first  officers  of  that  body :  John  Dawson, 
Grand  Master;  William  Blackburn,  Deputy  Grand 
Master ;  Robert  Catchcart,  Grand  Secretary  ;  Ben- 
jamin M.  Backensto,  Grand  Treasurer ;  William  Met- 
calf,  Grand  Warden  ;  Nimrod  Snyder,  Grand  Con- 
ductor; William  S.  Stewart,  Grand  Chaplain. 

At  the  close  of  the  year  1839  the  Grand  Secretary 
reported  to  the  Grand  Lodge  of  the  United  States 
that  during  the  previous  year  there  had  been  seventy- 
five  initiations,  and  that  the  membership  was  one  hun- 
dred and  ninety-nine  in  the  two  lodges  in  Missouri. 

The  room  for  holding  lodge-meetings  was  in  the 
following  year  changed  to  quarters  in  the  buildings 
on  the  east  side  of  Main  Street,  between  Vine  Street 
and  Washington  Avenue.  On  Nov.  30,  1838,  a 
charter  was  granted  for  a  degree  lodge,  and  July  26, 
1840,  a  new  lodge  was  chartered  in  St.  Louis, — Ger- 
mania  Lodge,  No.  3.  On  Aug.  29,  1840,  the  first 
lodge  outside  of  St.  Louis  was  chartered — Far  West 
Lodge,  No.  4 — at  Boonville.  This  year  closed  the 
first  five  years  of  the  order  in  Missouri,  and  there 
were  four  lodges,  with  a  membership  of  two  hundred 
and  sixty-one. 

In  May,  1841,  a  charter  was  asked  for  St.  Louis 
Lodge,  No.  5,  but  the  lodge  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  organized  immediately,  for  at  the  Grand  Lodge 
session  of  June  30,  18-11,  four  lodges  were  reported 
in  the  jurisdiction,  namely:  No.  1,  with  seventy-six 
members;  No.  2,  sixty-eight ;  No.  3,  fifty-five;  No.  4, 
thirty-two ;  total,  two  hundred  and  thirty-one  mem- 
bers. 

On  the  1st  of  January,  1841,  the  Odd-Fellows  of 
St.  Louis  held  a  celebration,  consisting  of  a  proces- 
sion and  ceremonies  at  the  lodge.  The  route  of  the 
procession  was  from  the  lodge-room  down  Main  Street 
to  Elm,  up  Elm  Street  to  Second,  up  Second  to 
Market,  up  Market  to  Fourth,  and  up  Fourth  Street 
to  the  Methodist  Church,  where,  after  the  rendering 

77  O 

of  an  Odd-Fellows'  hymn  and  ode  and  prayer,  an 
oration  was  delivered  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Maffitt.  An 
anthem  was  then  sung  and  benediction  pronounced, 
after  which  the  procession  returned  to  the  lodge.  The 
officers  of  the  celebration  were  R.  Cathcart,  chief 
marshal ;  Committee  of  Arrangements,  Benjamin  F. 
McKinney,  Louis  T.  Lebeaume,  Jacob  Smith,  E.  H. 
Shepard,  B.  M.  Backensto,  Esrom  Owens,  Robert 
Cathcart. 

On  Dec.  12,  1842,  Western  Light  Lodge,  No.  6, 


1796 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


at  Weston,  was  organized,  and  at  this  time  the  six 
lodges  established  in  Missouri  numbered  three  hun- 
dred and  twenty-six  members. 

On  April  26,  1843,  the  city  lodges  had  a  public 
parade  in  celebration  of  the  anniversary  of  the  found- 
ing of  the  order,  and  the  Rev.  J.  H.  Linn  delivered 
an  address. 

On  the  22d  of  February,  1843,  the  Legislature 
passed  an  act  to  charter  the  Grand  Lodge.  The  list 
of  incorporators  embraced  the  names  of  Thomas  B. 
Hudson,  William  S.  Stewart,  Louis  T.  Lebeaume,  Ge- 
rard B.  Allen,  William  H.  Remington,  Warren  C. 
Corley,  Robert  Cathcart,  W.  M.  McPherson,  B.  F. 
McKinney,  William  Blackburn,  William  Childs,  and 
others. 

In  1844  four  more  lodges  were  instituted  in  the 
State,  one  each  at  Lexington,  Fayette,  St.  Louis,  and 
Hannibal.  In  the  succeeding  year  three  lodges  were 
organized,  one  each  at  Platte  City,  Weston,  and  Sa- 
vannah. The  end  of  this  year  was  the  close  of  the 
first  decade  of  the  order  in  Missouri.  The  one  lodge 
had  increased  to  fourteen,  and  the  five  original  mem- 
bers to  six  hundred  and  sixty-six,  and  the  outlook  was 
hopeful  and  encouraging.  In  the  next  ten  years  there 
was  an  increase  of  seventy-three  lodges,  making  in  all 
eighty-seven  lodges,  with  an  aggregate  membership  of 
three  thousand  four  hundred  and  nineteen.  The  total 
revenue,  exclusive  of  interest  on  investments,  was 
$238,664.01.  The  amount  paid  out  for  relief  was 
870,054.30. 

On  the  28th  of  April,  1843,  the  Grand  Lodge  began 
to  agitate  for  the  building  of  a  new  hall  in  St.  Louis, 
and  subscriptions  were  made  by  the  lodges  in  the  city. 
On  the  28th  of  July,  the  same  year,  the  committee 
was  instructed  to  purchase  a  lot,  forty  by  eighty  feet, 
on  the  northwest  corner  of  Fourth  and  Locust  Streets, 
which  was  offered  at  ninety  dollars  per  foot.  About 
the  same  time  Col.  John  O'Fallon,  in  order  to  forward 
the  enterprise,  gave  the  order  a  valuable  lot  on  Seventh 
Street.  It  remained  in  possession  of  the  Grand  Lodge, 
and  a  source  of  considerable  income  for  more  than 
twenty  years.1 

It  was  not,  however,  until  the  10th  of  May,  1844, 
that  it  was  deemed  prudent  to  begin  the  building  of 
the  new  hall.  On  that  day  the  building  committee 
advertised  for  proposals,  and  in  August  they  were 
authorized  to  make  a  loan  of  five  thousand  dollars. 
The  work  then  progressed  rapidly,  and  on  the  26th  of 
April,  1845  (the  anniversary  of  the  order),  the  corner- 


1  On  the  8th  of  August,  184.3,  a  charter  was  granted  to  Cov- 
enant Lodge,  No.  7,  at  Warsnw:  and  Nov.  15,  1844,  Missouri 
Lodge,  No.  11  (the  fifth  lodge  in  St.  Louis),  was  chartered. 


stone  of  the  edifice  was  laid  with  appropriate  cere- 
monies. There  was  a  grand  procession,  and  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Chamberlain,  the  Presbyterian  minister  at  St. 
Charles,  delivered  an  address. 

The  hall  was  dedicated  on  the  27th  of  October, 
1846.  At  nine  o'clock  the  members  of  the  order,  in 
full  regalia,  assembled  in  the  hall  to  receive  a  banner 
made  by  Mrs.  Anna  Maria  Evans,  and  presented  by 
the  ladies  of  Centenary  Church.  The  presentation 
was  made  on  behalf  of  the  donors  by  Hon.  John 
Hogan,  a  well-known  citizen  of  St.  Louis,  and  the 
banner  was  received  by  Dr.  John  S.  Moore.  The 
ceremony  having  ended,  the  order,  headed  by  Kor- 
pony's  Band,  moved  up  Fourth  Street  in  procession  to 
Morgan  Street,  and  thence  down  Fifth  Street  to  Cen- 
tenary Church,  where  the  exercises  consisted  of  prayer 
and  reading  of  the  Scriptures  by  Rev.  Mr.  Pollock, 
the  singing  of  an  ode  composed  for  the  occasion,  and 
an  oration  by  Rev.  Charles  B.  Parsons.  Several  na- 
tional airs  were  then  executed  by  the  band,  and  the 
benediction  was  pronounced.  After  leaving  the  church 
the  procession  passed  down  Fifth  Street  to  Myrtle, 
thence  to  Fourth  Street,  and  up  Fourth  Street  to  the 
hall,  where,  in  the  presence  of  the  members  of  the 
Grand  Lodge,  in  secret  conclave,  the  ceremonies  of  the 
dedication,  performed  by  Elihu  H.  Shepard,  Grand 
Master,  took  place.  The  new  hall  was  situated  at 
the  corner  of  Fourth  and  Locust  Streets,  and  formed 
the  southern  termination  of  "  that  fine  block  of  build- 
ings known  as  Glasgow's  row,"  occupying  that  side  of 
the  square  for  its  entire  length.  This  was  the  loftiest 
block  in  the  city  at  the  time,  and  "  the  new  temple," 
we  are  told,  "  towering  as  it  does  above  the  roofs  of  the 
adjoining  structures,  presents  a  prominent  object  in 
approaching  the  city,  alike  imposing  and  ornamental." 
The  dimensions  of  the  building  were  forty  feet  front 
on  Fourth  Street  by  eighty  feet  on  Locust,  and  the 
extreme  altitude  from  the  pavement  to  the  peak  of 
the  pediment  was  eighty-five  feet.  The  order  of  ar- 
chitecture of  the  external  edifice  was  Corinthian  from 
the  Temple  of  Tivoli,  at  Rome.  The  basement  of  the 
superstructure  was  about  fifteen  feet  in  height,  and 
was  constituted  in  front  of  stone-work  neatly  orna- 
mented. The  hall  proper  was  two  stories  high,  the 
walls  strengthened  by  pilasters  and  ornamented  with 
raised  paneling  in  masonry,  and  the  whole  surmounted 
by  a  lofty  attic  rising  above  a  heavy  cornice.  The 
window  ledges  and  caps  were  of  stone  neatly  sculp- 
tured, and  the  facade  presented  four  pilasters  orna- 
mented with  raised  panels  and  surmounted  by  appro- 
priate entablatures.  In  the  centre,  upon  a  stone  tab- 
let, was  sculptured  "  Odd-Fellows'  Hall,"  while  upon- 
the  right  and  left  on  other  tablets  were  inscribed 


KELIGIOUS,  BENEVOLENT,  SOCIAL,  SECRET,  AND   OTHER  ORGANIZATIONS.      1797 


"  Instituted  June  13, 1838,"  and  "  Incorporated  Feb. 
2,  1843." 

On  one  of  the  walls  were  engraved  in  gold  the 
words,  "  We  command  you  to  visit  the  sick,  relieve 
the  distressed,"  and  on  the  other,  likewise  in  gold, 
was  the  injunction,  "  Bury  the  dead,  and  educate  the 
orphan." 

The  basement  was  leased  by  S.  Rimmer  for  a  con- 
fectionery establishment,  known  as  the  "  Washington 
Saloon,"  and  the  second  story  was  leased  for  a  term 
of  years  to  Monsieur  Korpony,  dancing-master,  as  a 
ball-  and  concert-room. 

The  third  story  was  divided  into  three  apartments, 
one  of  which  was  designed  for  a  library  and  reading- 
room  for  the  order,  and  the  other  for  the  meetings  of 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  Missouri  and  the  Encampment. 
In  the  fourth  story  was  a  large  hall  for  the  accommo- 
dation of  the  six  subordinate  lodges  in  St.  Louis,  one 
of  which  could  assemble  here  each  night  of  the  week. 

The  cost  of  the  building  and  lot  was  about  nineteen 
thousand  dollars.  The  erection  of  the  hall  was  largely 
due  to  the  energy  of  Gerard  B.  Allen,  and  it  required 
much  persistent  work  to  push  the  project  through,  for 
when  the  agitation  commenced  there  were  but  four 
lodges  in  the  city,  with  only  two  hundred  and  sixty- 
three  members,  and  most  of  these  were  poor.  The 
building  was  a  large  and  convenient  one,  and  was  a  i 
credit  to  the  order  and  an  ornament  to  the  city.  On 
the  31st  of  March,  1863,  it  was  injured  by  fire.  The 
upper  portion  was  burned,  and  six  lodges  lost  their 
charters.  The  damage  was  so  great  that  the  walls 
were  taken  down  and  the  present  building  was  erected, 
entailing  a  cost  of  $33,557.94  for  rebuilding  and  re- 
furnishing. The  new  edifice  was  occupied  July  1, 
1864. 

In  recognition  of  his  labors  in  inaugurating  this 
great  work,  Mr.  Allen,  who  is  still  a  leading  and 
honored  citizen  of  St.  Louis,  was  in  1845  elected 
Grand  Master,  a  position  he  held  uninterruptedly  for 
seventeen  years. 

Later  lodges  in  St.  Louis  were  organized  as  follows : 
Excelsior  Lodge,  No.  18,  Sept.  9,  1846;  Laclede 
Lodge,  No.  22,  May  4,  1847  ;  Washington  Lodge, 
No.  24,  in  South  St.  Louis,  May  22,  1847 ;  Win- 
genund  Lodge,  No.  27,  Sept.  29,  1847. 

During  the  fearful  visitation  of  cholera  in  1849 
the  order  vindicated  its  claim  to  be  considered  one  of 
the  great  philanthropic  institutions  of  the  city,  and 
its  members  were  foremost  in  performing  the  deeds  of 
mercy  which  the  appalling  occasion  demanded.  Many 
of  its  members  were  stricken  down,  among  them  the 
Rev.  Alexander  Van  Court,  the  gifted  pastor  of  the 
Central  Presbyterian  Church,  a  true  Odd-Fellow,  and 
114 


a  gentleman  of  whom  the  most  fragrant  recollections 
are  still  cherished. 

The  Encampment  Branch  of  the  order  in  St. 
Louis  dates  from  1838,  Wildey  Encampment,  No.  1, 
having  been  organized  in  that  year. 

On  the  21st  of  October,  1853,  Goethe  Lodge,  No. 
59,  of  St.  Louis,  was  chartered. 

In  1849  the  order  celebrated  at  several  central 
points  in  the  State  the  fortieth  anniversary  of  Ameri- 
can Odd-Fellowship.  At  St.  Louis  an  imposing 
pageant  was  presented  by  the  order,  and  the  oration 
was  delivered  by  Past  Grand  Representative  Hon. 
Schuyler  Colfax,  of  Indiana. 

In  1856  the  order  in  St.  Louis  purchased  a  large 
lot  in  Bellefontaine  Cemetery,  some  three  hundred 
feet  in  diameter,  for  the  burial  of  members  of  the 
order  who  might  die  in  the  city  while  visiting  it. 
This  lot  is  under  the  supervision  of  a  joint  relief 
committee  of  the  lodges  in  St.  Louis,  whose  duty  it  is 
to  attend  to  the  sick  brethren  from  other  towns  who 
are  taken  sick  in  St.  Louis,  and  bury  them  should 
they  die. 

The  order  in  Missouri  continued  to  prosper  with 
unabated  progress  until  the  breaking  out  of  the 
civil  war.  At  the  close  of  the  year  1860  there  had 
been  organized  one  hundred  and  forty-eight  lodges, 
with  a  membership  of  four  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  eighty,  being  an  increase  in  five  years  of  sixty- 
one  lodges  and  one  thousand  four  hundred  and  sixty- 
one  members.  In  the  succeeding  four  years  no 
progress  was  made. 

Many  of  the  lodges  were  broken  up  and  the  mem- 
bers dispersed.  Their  lodge-rooms  were  burnt  or 
were  otherwise  ruined,  or  were  taken  possession  of  by 
troops  of  the  contending  sides,  and  their  papers  were 
burned  or  lost.  Some  idea  of  the  depression  which 
resulted  may  be  obtained  from  the  fact  that  in  1863 
there  were  only  one  hundred  and  thirty-eight  initia- 
tions in  the  whole  State.  At  the  beginning  of  1860 
there  were  one  hundred  and  thirty  lodges  in  Missouri, 
with  four  thousand  nine  hundred  and  eighteen  mem- 
bers ;  in  1864  there  were  but  sixty-two  that  made 
returns,  and  only  seventy-five  that  were  regarded  as 
in  existence,  with  a  nominal  membership  of  two  thou- 
sand six  hundred  and  twenty-three.  The  war  does 
not  appear  to  have  affected  the  St.  Louis  lodges  to  as 
great  an  extent.  In  1860  there  were  eighteen  lodges 
in  the  city  and  one  at  Bridgeton,  with  seventeen  hun- 
dred and  sixty-six  members,  and  in  1864  there  was 
but  one  less,  and  the  membership  was  thirteen  hun- 
dred and  sixty-three. 

Upon  the  conclusion  of  peace  the  order  began  to 
revive  and  to  recover  the  ground  lost  during  the  war. 


179S 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


The  Grand  Sire,  the  national  head  of  the  order,  was 
Isaac  M.  Veitch,  a  resident  of  St.  Louis,  and  as  soon 
as  hostilities  had  ceased  he  issued  a  proclamation  in- 
viting the  lodges  in  the  troubled  districts  to  put 
themselves  at  once  into  affiliation  with  the  order,  and 
assuring  them  of  a  fraternal  greeting.  The  procla- 
mation closed  with  the  "  hope  that  our  brotherhood 
may  come  forth  from  the  severe  ordeal  to  which  it 
has  been  subjected  unscathed  and  reinvigorated  by 
its  trials,  and  that  its  great  heart  may  ever  vibrate  in 
unison  with  the  teachings  of  charity." 

The  year  1865  completed  the  third  decade  of  Odd- 
Fellowship  in  Missouri.  In  the  period  of  thirty  years 
of  its  existence  one  hundred  and  forty-eight  lodges  had 
been  chartered,  the  initiations  footed  up  to  9955,  and  the 
remaining  membership  was  3915.  The  total  receipts 
of  lodges,  not  counting  interest  on  investments,  was 
8468,904.12.  The  amount  paid  out  for  benefits  and 
relief  to  members  was  $101,810.73,  and  the  amount 
of  investments  888,879.65. 

In  1867  was  begun  an  agitation  for  a  new  hall,  the 
present  building  being  insufficient  for  the  demands 
constantly  made  upon  it.  There  were  then  in  St. 
Louis  nineteen  lodges,  with  1938  members.  In 
1871  a  Grand  Lodge  committee  reported  having 
bought  a  lot  at  the  southwest  corner  of  Ninth  and 
Olive  Streets,  fronting  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven 
and  a  half  feet  on  Olive  and  eighty-six  and  two-thirds 
feet  on  Ninth.  It  was  proposed  to  build  thereon  a 
splendid  Odd- Fellows'  Temple,  but  for  various  rea- 
sons the  idea  has  not  been  carried  out,  although  it  is 
still  the  purpose  to  do  so  at  some  future  time.  Most 
of  the  stock  for  the  enterprise  has  been  taken.  It  is 
held  by  lodges  No.  1,  2,  3,  5, 11,  and  18,  and  Wildey 
Encampment,  No.  1. 

In  1868  the  lodges  in  St.  Louis  established  an  Odd- 
Fellows'  Library,  which  was  endowed  in  1871  by  the 
Grand  Lodge,  which  appropriated  three  hundred  dol- 
lars yearly,  and  assessed  each  member  fifty  cents  a 
year  and  each  person  initiated  the  same  amount. 
The  yearly  revenues  of  the  library  are  now  nine 
hundred  and  seventy-seven  dollars.  There  are  three 
thousand  three  hundred  and  fifty-five  books  on  the 
shelves,  and  the  institution  is  governed  by  representa- 
tives from  the  several  St.  Louis  lodges.  The  library 
officers  for  the  current  year  are:  Chairman,  M.  C. 
Libby ;  Secretary,  M.  Hoffman;  Treasurer,  J.  H. 
Crane;  Librarian,  J.  J.  Archer. 

This   library  is  well   patronized   by  Odd-Fellows, 

Daughters  of  Rebekah,  and  their  families,  and  is  one 

of  the  most  useful  institutions  of  the  kind  in  the  city. 

On  the  4th  of  October,  1869,  Union  Hall,  corner 

of  Broadway  and  Benton  Streets,  was  dedicated  with 


the  usual  ceremonies  by  the  Odd-Fellows  of  St.  Louis. 
After  the  rendering  of  several  musical  selections  and 
the  singing  of  hymns,  an  oration  was  delivered  by 
Charles  G.  Manro,  P.  G.  M.,  followed  by  an  oration 
in  German  by  C.  Evers,  D.D.,  G.  M.,  and  the  pres- 
entation of  a  banner  by  the  Rebekah  Society  of 
Schiller  Lodge.1 

The  celebration  of  the  Semi-Ceutennial  of  Ameri- 
can Odd-Fellowship  was  very  generally  observed 
throughout  Missouri  on  the  26th  of  April,  1869.  At 
St.  Louis  the  celebration  was  worthy  of  the  occasion. 
Six  lodges  and  encampments  joined  in  the  procession, 
composed  of  three  thousand  five  hundred  members  in 
regalia.  The  city  presented  a  holiday  aspect,  as  the 
result  of  the  mayor's  proclamation  suspending  business. 
The  exercises  were  at  Jackson  Place  Rink,  and  the 
address  was  delivered  by  Hon.  William  Wallace,  of 
Indiana.  A  large  social  gathering  of  the  order  and 
their  families  took  place  at  the  Southern  Hotel  in  the 
evening. 

The  following  table  will  show  (in  addition  to  other 
important  particulars)  the  amounts  expended  for  re- 
lief in  1881-82 : 


NAME  AND  NUMBER. 

Belief 
Paid. 

Money  in 
Treasury. 

Invest- 
ments. 

Mem- 
bership. 

Travelers'  Best,  No.  1  
Wildey  No  2   

$535.00 
26600 

$224.63 

89,199.99 
24  631  29 

80 

77 

2  308  75 

11314 

8  18000 

201 

St.  Louis,  No.  5  
Missouri    No  11         

3,522.20 
850  25 

152.40 
473  13 

78,858.82 
15  160  00 

274 
217 

350  00 

157  67 

15  660  00 

60 

440  00 

720  57 

30000 

103 

Washington   No  24  

883  00 

251  .58 

3  MX)  00 

133 

Wingenund,  No.  27  

360.00 

1,203.25 

1  IHKI.OO 

90 

Goethe,  No.  59  

1,594.50 
649.65 

853.15 

4,000.00 

97 
115 

Schiller  No  89  

1,255  50 

1,034.38 

8  70000 

191 

De  Soto,  No.  90  

273,00 

99.10 

40000 

45 

Golden  Rule,  No.  109  
Carondelet  No  114  

2,154.90 
1  082  70 

432.55 
387  SO 

4,891.00 
1  2fi5  00 

163 
119 

Jefferson   No.  119  

254  00 

1  191  75 

1  l!7.">  60 

80 

Concordia,  No.  128  

1,360.40 

163.35 

•'  3HMX) 

132 

I'ride  of  the  West,  No.  138... 
Home  No  158  

1.175.55 
317  45 

268.30 
18886 

2,000.00 
30000 

138 
69 

Cosmos,  No.  190  
Keystone  No  214     

91.00 

308  65 

1,274.40 
648.20 

50000 

47 
46 

l  iiA  .(;.•> 

261.15 

1  '  i.-.i  i  i  H  i 

86 

Mound  City   No.  276  

560.80 

106.80 

i  loooo 

103 

Summit  No  277      

31665 

28500 

1  100  00 

71 

Aurora  No  298  

25400 

50000 

65 

Anchor  No  322  

69.00 

471»  50 

1,50950 

98 

Arcadian   No  332 

101  50 

44870 

20000 

51 

4O600 

247.80 

15000 

32 

Iliirniniiie  N»  353  

374  00 

624  95 

1  40000 

83 

Templar  No  388 

181  00 

37230 

80000 

98 

13 

Total  

$23,417.15 

813,536  26 

S190811  20 

3157 

*  Instituted  in  1881. 

This  does  not,  however,  embrace  all  the  relief  af- 
forded, for  in  St.  Louis  the  various  lodges  are  required 
to  contribute  to  the  maintenance  of  a  board  of  relief, 
which  cares  for  the  wants  of  indigent  Odd-Fellows, 
and  yearly  disburses  a  considerable  sum. 

1  The  Odd-Fellows'  Hall  at  Elleardsville  was  dedicated  Jan.  7,. 
1875. 


RELIGIOUS,  BENEVOLENT,  SOCIAL,  SECRET,  AND   OTHER  ORGANIZATIONS.      1799 


As  previously  stated,  the  order  owns  a  handsome 
lot  in  Bellefontaine  cemetery,  where  homeless  and 
friendless  Odd-Fellows  are  buried.  In  May,  1881, 
the  lodges  in  Carondelet  (South  St.  Louis)  dedicated 
a  beautiful  "  Odd-Fellows'  Cemetery,"  which  is  man- 
aged by  the  South  St.  Louis  Odd-Fellows'  Cemetery 
Association.  But  the  glory  of  Odd-Fellowship  is  in 
its  care  for  the  suffering  living,  and  in  this  respect 
the  Odd-Fellows  of  St.  Louis  have  not  been  behind 
any  in  the  land. 

The  Odd-Fellows  of  Missouri  have  also  been  prompt 
to  respond  liberally  to  appeals  for  aid  from  abroad. 
In  1871  occurred  the  memorable  conflagration  in 
Chicago,  111.,  and  the  order  in  Missouri  evinced  their 
ready  liberality  by  substantial  aid  to  the  sufferers  in 
large  contributions  of  money.  In  1874  the  city  of 
Memphis,  Tenu.,  was  devastated  by  the  yellow  fever, 
and  in  response  to  the  appeal  of  the  Grand  Master  of 
Missouri  the  lodges  in  the  State  contributed  several 
thousand  dollars  for  the  relief  of  that  city. 

The  lodges  in  St.  Louis  have  been  remarkably  vig- 
orous ;  not  a  single  one  that  has  ever  been  organized 
has  been  obliged  to  disband,  and  there  is,  it  is  thought, 
but  one  instance  where  a  suspension  has  ever  taken 
place,  and  that  was  but  temporary. 

During  the  forty-seven  years  of  the  order  in  Mis- 
souri there  have  been  organized  426  lodges,  with  a 
present  membership  of  15,200.  The  initiations  were 
48,413 ;  lodge  revenue,  $2,066,136.38  ;  number  of 
brothers  relieved,  21,654 ;  number  of  widowed  fami- 
lies relieved,  6183 ;  total  amount  of  relief  paid, 
$173,030.10. 

In  January,  1881,  the  lodges  in  the  jurisdiction 
received  a  new  impetus  through  the  new  ritual,  new 
work,  etc.,  which  involved  a  reduction  of  degrees,  and 
since  then  the  order  in  this  jurisdiction  has  greatly 
flourished.  There  are  351  lodges  in  Missouri,  with 
a  revenue  in  1881-82  of  $104,135.65,  and  $67,- 
315.82  in  the  treasury,  and  $368,859.10  in  invest- 
ments. During  the  year  $44,537.15  was  paid  in  the 
relief  of  families,  sick  benefits,  education  of  orphans, 
and  burial  of  the  dead.  The  present  grand  officers 
(1882-83)  are— 

M.  W.  G.  M.,  T.  B.  Gannaway,  Paris ;  R.  W.  Dep.  G.  M., 
C.  D.  Lucas,  Kansas  City;  R.  W.  G.  W.,  Henry  Cadle,  Prince- 
ton; R.  W.  G.  Sec.,  E.  M.  Sloan,  St.  Louis;  R.  W.  G.  Treas., 
W.  H.  Thompson,  St.  Louis  ;  R.  W.  G.  Rep.,  James  A.  Price, 
Weston;  R.  W.  G.  Rep.,  W.  H.  Woodward,  St.  Louis;  W.  G. 
Chap.,  Rev.  H.  J.  La  Tour,  Rockport;  W.  G.  Marshal,  J.  T. 
Johnston,  Clarkton;  W.  G.  C.,  A.  A.  Wheeler,  Miami;  W.  G. 
G.,  W.  J.  Missemer,  St.  Joseph;  W.  G.  H.,  Charles  Mulford, 
St.  Louis;  G.  Lee.,  George  C.  Brown,  Paris. 

The  subordinate  lodges  of  St.  Louis,  with  the  list 
of  officers  of  each,  for  1881-82  were — 


Traveler's  Rest,  No.  1.— A.  G.  Lawrence,  N.  G. ;  Guido 
D'Oench,  V.  G. ;  Samuel  Hemingway,  Sec. ;  William  Bryan, 
Per.  Sec. ;  W.  P.  Gettys,  Treas. 

Wildey,  No.  2.— C.  W.  Fitch,  N.  G.;  Lewis  C.  Lame,  V.  G.; 
Charles  E.  Branson,  Sec.;  Charles  Mulford,  Per.  Sec.;  B.  Van 
Blarcom,  Treas. 

Germania,  No.  3. — D.  Hasekamp,  N.  G. ;  W.  H.  Henselmeyer, 
V.  G.;  F.  Rose,  Sec.;  W.  H.  Sabath,  Per.  Sec.;  B.  Rohde, 
Treas. 

St.  Louis,  No.  5.— H.  A.  Barmeier,  N.  G. ;  J.  J.  W.  Thursby, 
V.  G.;  Thomas  W.  Curley,  Sec.;  John  R.  Williams,  Per.  Sec.; 
William  B.  May,  Treas. 

Missouri,  No.  11. — S.  D.  Conway,  N.  G. ;  Frank  H.  Meiser, 
V.  G. ;  John  Yerkes,  Sec. ;  W.  A.  Hequembourg,  Per.  Sec.  ; 
Samuel  R.  Fairchild,  Treas. 

Excelsior,  No.  18. — George  W.  Baumhogg,  N.  G. ;  William 
Bauer,  V.  G. ;  Robert  L.  Little,  Sec. ;  Paul  H.  Bierman,  Per. 
Sec. ;  David  W.  Sadler,  Treas. 

Laclede,  No.  22.— Thomas  H.  Woody,  N.  G. ;  Cyrus  Hall,  V. 
G. ;  Conrad  Farner,  Sec. ;  P.  C.  Egan,  Per.  Sec. ;  J.  A.  J. 
Arnold,  Treas. 

Washington,  No.  24.— M.  E.  Williamson,  N.  G. ;  Henry 
Walther,  V.  G. ;  John  Nolde,  Sec.;  Otto  Kung,  Per.  Sec.;  John 
Deininger,  Treas. 

Wingenund,  No.  27. — Frederick  Packard,  N.  G. ;  Alexander 
Gillespie,  V.  G. ;  Thomas  M.  Grayson,  Sec.;  J.  D.  Shields, 
Per.  Sec. ;  J.  M.  Bixler,  Treas. 

Goethe,  No.  59.— Freiderich  Herkert,  N.  G. ;  Edward  Kaub, 
V.  G.;  Henry  Norris,  Sec.;  Franz  Krein,  Treas. 

Bellefontaine,  No.  73.— J.  T.  Bagot,  N.  G. ;  George  H.  Ellis, 
V.  G.;  Joseph  Simpson,  Sec.;  E.  F.  Smith,  Per.  Sec.;  George 
Platt,  Treas. 

Schiller,  No.  89. — John  Stegmann,  N.  G. ;  Jacob  Goeres,  V. 
G. ;  William  Friedrichs,  Sec. ;  John  Colonius,  Per.  Sec. ;  Jus- 
tus Teuteberg,  Treas. 

De  Soto,  No.  90. — Paul  Ertelt,  N.  G. ;  Adam  Heinselmann, 
V.  G. ;  J.  L.  Botticher,  Sec. ;  Fred.  Kranim,  Per.  Sec. ;  John 
Devoto,  Treas. 

Carondelet,  No.  114. — David  Hughes,  N.  G. ;  Alexander  Mc- 
Kay, V.  G. ;  John  Gausraann,  Sec. ;  Matthew  Leen,  Per.  Sec.  ; 
W.  S.  Patrick,  Treas. 

Jefferson,  No.  119. — Charles  Meyer,  N.  G.;  Fred.  Bieger, 
V.  G. ;  Ernil  Simon,  Sec.;  J.  W.  Linhardt,  Per.  Sec.;  George 
Vogler,  Treas. 

Concordia,  No.  128. — Max  Brunjes,  N.  G. ;  Henry  Engelking, 
V.  G.;  J.  Herold,  Sec.;  Gustav  Kunsemuller,  Per.  Sec.;  John 
Olfermann,  Treas. 

Pride  of  the  West,  No.  138.— George  Bobb,  N.  G.;  August 
Krackauer,  V.  G. ;  William  Seimens,  Sec. ;  E.  W.  Evert,  Per. 
Sec. ;  Fridolin  Spraul,  Treas. 

Home,  No.  158.— M.  Keating,  N.  G.;  W.  M.  Smith,  V.  G.; 
Benjamin  Hurl,  Sec.;  James  P.  McKay,  Per.  Sec.;  J.  Ruppen- 
thal,  Treas. 

Cosmos,  No.  196. — J.  J.  Ehrhardt,  N.  G. ;  F.  M.  Easterday, 
V.  G. ;  Richard  Jones,  Sec.;  J.  G.  R.  Wintennann,  Per.  Sec.; 
M.  Hoffmann,  Treas. 

Benton,  No.  275. — Herman  Hover,  N.  G. ;  Louis  Ost,  V.  G.; 
C.  C.  Goedde,  Sec. ;  Nicholas  Berg,  Per.  Sec. ;  Charles  Rein- 
hardt,  Treas. 

Mound  City,  No.  276.— Edwin  S.  Pike,  N.  G. ;  J.  T.  Even, 
V.  G. ;  F.  A.  Kelber,  Sec. ;  William  C.  McCormack,  Per.  Sec. ; 
Charles  E.  Wulfert,  Treas. 

Summit,  No.  277.— Robert  Vernell,  N.  G. ;  Joseph  Heine, 
V.  G. ;  W.  K.  Hoffman,  Sec. ;  Thomas  Moore,  Per.  Sec. ;  Chris- 
topher Ehlen,  Treas. 

Anchor,  No.  322.— John  Reed,  N.  G. ;  John  F.  Pierson,  V.  G. ; 


1800 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Philip  Schnurr,  Sec.;  J.  W.  Chapman,  Per.  Sec. ;  Alexander 
Kilpatrick,  Treas. 

Arcadian,  No.  332. — John  Green,  N.  G.;  Henry  Breemer, 
V.  G.;  John  T.  Boles,  Sec.;  John  T.  Bell,  Per.  Sec.;  George 
\V.  Otto,  Treas. 

Harmonic,  No.  353.— John  Schmid,  N.  G. ;  U.  Harder,  V.  G.  ; 
F.  J.  Wimmer,  Sec.;  F.  C.  Wolpert,  Per.  Sec.;  J.  C.  Schulte, 
Treas. 

Templar,  No.  388.— F.  W.  Doering,  N.  G. ;  C.  C.  Fouke,  V.  G. ; 
W.  J.  Metzgar,  Sec. ;  Charles  Becke,  Per.  Sec. ;  J.  J.  Krehor, 
Treas. 

There  are  also  in  St.  Louis  four  degree  lodges  of 
the  Daughters  of  Rebekah, — Naomi,  No.  2,  eighty- 
one  members  ;  Faith,  No.  29  (South  St.  Louis)  ;  Lily 
of  the  West,  No.  32,  thirty-one  members ;  Martha 
Washington,  No.  45,  eighty-six  members.  There  are 
twenty-six  Rebekah  Lodges  in  the  State,  with  one 
hundred  and  eighty-eight  members.  This  feature 
of  the  order  has  not  prospered  in  this  jurisdiction 
as  in  others,  and  the  Grand  Lodge  of  1882  directed 
that  no  more  lodges  of  the  kind  be  authorized. 

There  are  also  in  St.  Louis  six  encampments,  a 
branch  of  the  order  quite  independent  of  the  Grand 
Lodge,  and  established  for  the  conferring  of  the 
"  Sublime  Degrees."  These  are  as  follows : 

Name  and  Number.  Membership. 

Wildey,No.  1 108 

St.  Louis,  No.  13 32 

Washington,  No.  18 58 

Mound  City,  No.  19 65 

Missouri,  No.  59 27 

Carondelet,  No.  64 38 

Total 328 

The  first  encampment  (Wildey,  No.  1,  of  St. 
Louis)  was  instituted,  as  heretofore  stated,  by  Mr. 
Wildey,  in  June,  1838 ;  the  second  (Frontier  En- 
campment, at  Weston)  in  1844.  In  1845  a  Grand 
Encampment  was  authorized,  and  the  same  was  insti- 
tuted Feb.  25,  1846.  There  are  seventy-seven  en- 
campments in  Missouri,  with  nineteen  hundred  and 
thirty-nine  contributing  members. 

The  headquarters  of  the  Grand  Encampment  are  | 
in  St.  Louis,  and  the  officers  are — 

M.  W.  G.  P.,  G.  D.  Gray,  Glenwood;  M.  E.  G.  P.,  Lewis  L. 
L.  Allen,  Peirce  City ;  R.  W.  G.  S.  W.,  A.  J.  Blackford,  Clinton ; 
R.  W.  G.  S.,  C.  C.  Archer,  St.  Louis;  R.  W.  G.  Treas.,  M.  C. 
Libby,  St.  Louis;  R.  W.  G.  J.  W.,  H.  H.  Noland,  Independ- 
ence; R.  W.  G.  Rep.,  J.  C.  Herms,  Neosho;  R.  W.  G.  Rep., 
D.  A.  Shepherd,  Brookfield  ;  W.  G.  M.,  D.  A.  Smith,  Carthage; 
W.  G.  I.  S.,  John  H.  Biggs,  Canton ;  W.  G.  0.  S.,  Charles  A. 
Linck,  St.  Louis. 

The  Odd-Fellows'  Mutual  Aid  Association  of  Mis- 
souri is  an  institution  organized  under  the  laws  of  the 
State,  to  afford  members  of  the  order  safe  and  cheap 
insurance.  It  has  about  two  thousand  five  hundred 
members. 


Colored  Odd-Fellows. — There  is  also  extant  in 
St.  Louis  an  order  of  colored  Odd-Fellows,  with  sev- 
eral lodges. 

Independent  Order  of  Good  Fellows  is  a  Ger- 
man beneficiary  society,  whose  origin  is  involved  in 
doubt,  and  which  is  supposed  to  have  taken  root  in 
St.  Louis  in  1852.  There  are  ten  lodges  in  the  city. 

The  Maccabees. —This  order  originated  in  Lon- 
don, Ontario,  several  years  ago,  and  had  several  flour- 
ishing tents  in  St.  Louis.  Dissensions  in  the  order 
caused  a  falling  off,  and  now  there  are  but  one  or  two 
tents  in  the  city. 

The  Iron  Hall,  a  beneficiary  secret  order,  origi- 
nated in  Indianapolis  in  April,  1881.  There  are 
several  branches  in  St.  Louis. 

The  Ancient  Order  of  Druids  originated  in  Lon- 
don, England,  in  1771,  and  was  introduced  in  this 
country  by  Thomas  Wildey,  the  father  of  American 
Odd-Fellowship.  The  first  grove  in  the  West  was 
organized  at  St.  Louis,  Sept.  11,  1848,  by  William 
Gebhardt,  who  had  been  a  member  in  New  York.  It 
was  called  ''  Missouri  Grove,  No.  1,"  and  the  charter 
members  were  William  Gebhardt,  Philip  Censor, 
Jacob  Kothengatter,  K.  Pfennig,  and  Ch.  Lohmann. 
This  grove  is  still  alive  and  vigorous.  Among  its 
earliest  members,  and  probably  the  only  one  now 
living,  was  Philip  Stremmel,  then  a  leading  German, 
and  since  prominent  in  public  affairs.  On  the  9th 
of  April,  1849,  Herr  Stremmel  and  a  few  others  in- 
stituted "  Teutonia  Grove,  No.  2."  The  objects  of  the 
order  were  of  a  social  and  benevolent  character. 

The  next  grove  to  organize  was  "  United  Brothers 
Grove,  No.  3,"  and  Aug.  17,  1850,  delegates  from 
these  three  groves  assembled  and  instituted  the  Grand 
Grove  of  Missouri. 

The  order  grew  slowly.  It  met  with  much  opposi- 
tion, chiefly  because,  being  secret,  its  objects  were  not 
understood.  Some  writer  in  the  Herald  des  Glau- 
bens  attacked  the  order,  and  provoked  a  vigorous  reply 
in  a  paper  published  at  Belleville,  111.  The  groves 
were  in  the  habit  of  appearing  in  regalia  and  burying 
their  dead  members.  Such  a  proceeding  had  never 
been  known  in  St.  Louis  before,  and  caused  consider- 
able comment.  Finally  the  opposition  ceased,  and 
the  progress  of  the  order  was  more  rapid  and  satisfac- 
tory. In  1855  it  was  strong  enough  to  undertake 
the  erection  of  a  hall.  Stock  was  subscribed  by  the 
respective  groves,  and  much  interest  was  manifested. 
At  a  meeting  held  on  the  15th  of  April,  1857,  the 
Druids'  Hall  Association  was  organized,  and  on  the 
4th  of  May  following  the  first  election  of  directors 
was  held  at  the  hall  corner  of  Second  and  Spruce 
Streets.  On  May  llth  the  board  of  directors  elected 


RELIGIOUS,  BENEVOLENT,  SOCIAL,  SECRET,  AND  OTHER   ORGANIZATIONS.      1801 


the  following  officers :  John  Keil,  president ;  Louis 
Frey,  vice-president ;  Frederick  Spies,  secretary  ;  H. 
H.  Freese,  treasurer.  On  the  llth  of  June  the 
shareholders  voted  to  purchase  from  John  Simonds 
the  lot  on.  the  southeast  corner  of  Ninth  and  Market 
Streets  for  twenty-one  thousand  dollars,  and  the  pur- 
chase was  ratified  on  the  1st  of  July,  1857.  On  the 
29th  of  January,  1858,  it  was  decided  to  erect  a 
three-story  building,  to  be  used  as  a  meeting  hall  for 
the  different  groves,  and  work  was  accordingly  com- 
menced, and  the  structure  finished. 

On  the  5th  of  December,  1875,  the  board  of  di- 
rectors resolved  to  build  a  new  hall,  the  cost  of  which 
should  not  exceed  fifty  thousand  dollars.  The  corner- 
stone of  this  structure  was  laid  on  the  17th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1876.  The  officers  of  the  association  at  the 
time  were  Henry  Ziegenheim,  president ;  E.  H.  Kort- 
kamp,  vice-president ;  Nicholas  Berg,  secretary ;  Wil- 
liam Hahn,  treasurer.  The  building  committee  con- 
sisted of  Aug.  Bohn,  H.  Heitman,  and  Hermann 
Holzgrebe.  Louis  Kledus  was  the  architect  and 
superintendent. 

The  building  was  completed  and  dedicated  Dec.  16, 
1877.  It  has  a  front  of  forty-three  and  one-half  feet 
on  Market,  and  one  hundred  and  forty  and  one-half 
feet  on  Ninth  Street,  and  is  a  stately  structure  of 
brick,  four  stories  high,  costing  sixty  thousand  dol- 
lars, a  splendid  monument  to  the  enterprise  of  the 
Druids  of  St.  Louis. 

Up  to  the  commencement  of  the  war  the  order 
continued  to  prosper,  its  membership  being  at  one 
time  two  thousand  three  hundred  ;  but  the  war  scat- 
tered the  members,  and  many  of  them  fought  and 
died  in  that  conflict.  Since  the  war  the  progress 
has  been  steady,  but  the  former  prosperity  has  not  as 
yet  returned.  At  present  there  are  in  existence  the 
following  groves : 


Name  and  Number. 


Members. 


Missouri,  No.  1 48 

Teutonia,  No.  2.. 78 

United  Brothers,  No.  3 74 

George  Washington,  No.  6 36 

Western,  No.  7 49 

St.  Louis,  No.  8 51 

Laclede,  No.  9 71 

Franklin,  No.  10 82 

Excelsior,  No.  11 70 

Coneordia,  No.  12 38 

De  Soto,  No.  14 44 

Jackson,  No.  15 127 

Jefferson,  No.  17 ;~>s 

Union,  No.  20 62 

Schiller,  No.  24 49 

Lincoln,  No.  26 44 

Walhalla,  No.  28 107 

Oak,  No.  30 53 

Lessing,  No.  31 43 

Canton.  No.  36 23 

South  St.  Joseph,  No.  37 29 


Total. 


1236 


The  present  officers  of  the  Grand  Grove  are — 

N.  G.  A.,  Henry  Duve,  St.  Joseph ;  D.  G.  A.,  P.  Schaffmitt, 
St.  Louis ;  G.  S.,  Henry  Grupe,  St.  Louis  ;  G.  T.,  H.  Ziegen- 
hein,  St.  Louis  ;  G.  G.,  J.  Rueger,  St.  Louis ;  G.  M.,  H.  Koelke- 
beck,  St.  Louis ;  G.  H.,  J.  W.  Wirth,  Kansas  City. 

The  present  officers  of  Druids'  Hall  Association 
are — 

President,  E.  F.  Rethwilen ;  Vice-President,  H.  Ruppelt ; 
Secretary,  Henry  Grupe  ;  Treasurer,  W.  Hahn. 

During  the  past  year  the  order  relieved  one  hun- 
dred and  ninety-seven  sick  members,  and  paid  them 
$4992.70  in  benefits.  During  the  same  period 
$19,993.10  was  paid  to  widows  and  orphans  of  de- 
ceased members.  The  groves  have  a  capital  of 
$37,626.50,  besides  owning  Druids'  Hall,  which  cost 
$60,000. 

Knights  of  Pythias. — This  order  was  established 
at  Washington,  D.  C.,  in  1864.  The  first  lodge  in 
Missouri  was  instituted  at  Kansas  City,  May  5, 
1870.  The  second  was  instituted  at  St.  Louis 
May  7,  1870,  by  I.  Q.  Cross,  P.  C.,  and  the  charter 
members  were  J.  Sare,  R.  S.  Wallington,  R.  C. 
Silence,  Joseph  Schiller,  Casper  Brenner,  John  H. 
Weder,  Samuel  J.  Ruoff,  C.  B.  Vail,  and  Patrick 
Maher.  The  Grand  Lodge  of  Missouri  was  instituted 
at  St.  Louis,  July  7, 1871,  seven  lodges  participating. 
Samuel  Reed,  Supreme  Chancellor,  was  the  instituting 
officer.  W.  H.  H.  Russell,  a  prominent  lawyer  of  St. 
Louis,  was  elected  Grand  Chancellor.  There  are  now 
fifty-four  lodges  in  Missouri,  with  about  three  thousand 
four  hundred  members.  The  lodges  in  St.  Louis  are 
as  follows : 

Name  and  Number.  When  Instituted.  ^hkT" 

Missouri,  No.  2 May  7,  1870 62 

Germania,  No.  6 March  10, 1871 113 

St.  Louis,  No.  7 April  7,  1871 30 

Crescent,  No.  10 Oct.  19,  1871 30 

Lincoln,  No.  18 Feb.  9,  1872 39 

Excelsior,  No.  19 April  5,  1872 77 

Pride  of  the  West,  No.  24 June  29,  1872 49 

Damon,  No.  28 Oct.  28,  1872 148 

Red  Cross,  No.  54 July  5,  1878 82 

Brilliant,  No.  55 Aug.  11,  1878 101 

Paragon,  No.  58 v Aug.  7,  1880 80 

Golden  Crown,  No.  62 Aug.  19,  1880 114 

Aurora,  No.  64 May  13,  1881 23 

Scandia,  No.  67 Sept.  24, 1881 28 

Monitor,  No.  68 Jan.  31,  1882 43 

Chevalier,  No.  70 Feb.  24,  1882 52 

Total 1071 

This  order  has  "  endowment  sections,"  paying  death 
benefits  of  one  thousand,  two  thousand,  and  three 
thousand  dollars  ;  and  "  uniform  divisions,"  in  which 
members  enjoy  the  advantage  of  a  rigid  military  drill. 
The  present  Grand  Lodge  officers  are — 

G.  C.,  R.  II.  Maybury,  Kansas  City ;  G.  V.  C.,  W.  A.  Radcliffe, 
Sedalia;  G.  P.,  Rev.  John  Gierlow,  St.  Louis;  G.  K.  of  R., 
T.  R.  Gelwicks,  St.  Louis;  G.  M.  of  E.,  Adam  Theis,  Hannibal ; 
Supreme  Representatives,  R.  E.  Cowan,  Judge  John  A.  Lacey. 


1802 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Colored  Knights  of  Pythias. — The  first  lodge  of 
Knights  of  Pythias  (colored)  was  organized  in  1880, 
and  the  second  in  1881.  The  membership  of  the 
two  is  about  one  hundred.  There  is  but  one  other 
lodge  in  Missouri,  at  Kansas  City ;  and  there  is  no 
State  Grand  Lodge.  The  Supreme  Lodge  is  repre- 
sented by  W.  T.  Mumford,  Deputy  Supreme  Chancel- 
lor Commanding. 

The  Ancient  Order  of  United  Workmen,  a 
secret  beneficial  organization,  which  pays  two  thousand 
dollars  on  the  death  of  members,  collected  on  the  "  co- 
operative" or  "  mutual  assessment"  plan  of  one  dollar 
from  each  member,  as  may  be  needed,  originated  in 
Pennsylvania  in  1868,  and  quite  early  found  a  foot- 
hold in  St.  Louis,  the  first  lodge  (St.  Louis  Lodge, 
No.  1)  having  been  organized  May  12,  1875,  by  R. 
L.  Miller.  Within  the  next  year  five  more  lodges 
were  started  in  the  city,  and  April  25,  1876,  the 
"  Grand  Lodge  of  Missouri"  was  organized  by  11.  L. 
Miller,  D.D.,  S.  M.  W.,  six  lodges  participating.  The 
first  officers  of  the  Grand  Lodge  were — 

P.  G.  M.  W.,  R.  L.  Miller;  G.  M.  W.,  Hermann  Kramer;  G. 
G.  F.,  E.  Roband;  G.  0.,  William  Brenneke;  G.  G.,  J.  0. 
Hubler :  G.  R.,  William  C.  Richardson ;  G.  Rec.,  E.  F. 
Schreiner;  G.  W.,  R.  L.  Mueller:  Trustees,  C.  W.  Thiel,  Wil- 
liam Von  Ahnen,  F.  Krage. 

The  object  of  the  order  is  partly  beneficiary  and 
partly  educational,  and  for  the  latter  purpose  the  in- 
fant Grand  Lodge  proceeded  to  raise  funds  for  estab- 
lishing a  library  by  enacting  that  one-tenth  of  its 
gross  receipts  should  yearly  be  set  aside  for  that  ob 
ject,  and  that  each  subordinate  lodge  should  annually 
be  assessed  one  dollar  for  every  member  for  the  same 
end.  This  project  was  ultimately  abandoned,  and  the 
order  confined  itself  chiefly  to  its  benevolent  aims  and 
attained  a  great  popularity,  there  being  now  in  the 
Missouri  jurisdiction  about  two  hundred  and  forty- 
five  lodges,  with  seven  thousand  nine  hundred  and 
ten  members. 

In  August,  1878,  the  Missou-ri  lodges,  having  at- 
tained a  membership  exceeding  two  thousand,  were 
accorded  "  separate  jurisdiction ;"  and  in  October, 
1878,  the  Grand  Lodge  was  legally  chartered,  the  in- 
corporators  being  Dr.  William  C.  Richardson,  A. 
Willhartitz,  and  William  Brenneke.  In  order  to 
afford  members  of  the  order  insurance  to  an  amount 
exceeding  two  thousand  dollars,  the  Grand  Legion  of 
Select  Knights,  an  endowment  rank,  was  in  March, 
1880,  organized;  it  allows  three  thousand  dollars  ad- 
ditional insurance,  and  there  are  twenty-four  legions 
and  about  seven  hundred  and  fifty  members  in  this 
jurisdiction.  Since  the  order  was  established  in  Mis- 
souri it  has  had  two  hundred  and  eight  deaths,  and 


has  disbursed  four  hundriid  and  sixteen  thousand 
dollars  to  the  widows  and  children  of  deceased  mem- 
bers, at  an  average  yearly  cost  of  fifteen  dollars  and 
fifty  cents  per  two  thousand  dollars  insurance. 

The  present  officers  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Mis- 
souri are — 

G.  M.  W.,  H.  L.  Rogers,  St.  Louis ;  G.  F.,  D.  H.  Shields,  Han- 
nibal;  G.  0.,  W.  D.  Crandall,  Brookfield  ;  G.  Recorder.  W.  C. 
Richardson,  St.  Louis :  G.  Receiver,  John  D.  Vineil,  St.  Louis ; 
G.  G.,  S.  A.  Underwood,  Joplin  ;  G.  W.,  W.  C.  Smith,  Holden; 
P.  G.  M.  W.,  J.  A.  Brooks,  Warrensburg;  G.  Med.  Ex.,  William 
C.  Richardson,  M.D.,  St.  Louis;  G.  L.,  P.  P.  Ellis,  New  Flor- 
ence, Mo. ;  Reps,  to  Supreme  Lodge,  William  C.  Richardson,  J. 
A.  Brooks,  H.  L.  Rogers. 

The  following  table  gives  a  list  of  the  lodges  in  St. 
Louis  City  and  County,  with  date  of  institution,  etc. : 


Name  and  Number. 


When  Instituted. 


Member- 
ship. 


St.  Louis,  No.  1  May  12,  1875 83 

Germania,  No.  2 July.  1875 73 

United,  No.  3 October,  1875 89 

Missouri,  No.  4 March,  1S76 72 

Enterprise,  No.  5 March,  1876 97 

Washington,  No.  6 March,  1876 70 

Franklin,  No.  8 May  15,  1876 47 

Schiller,  No.  9 August,  1876 73 

American,  No.  10 Oct.  15,  1876 46 

Chouteau  Valley,  No.  11 Jan.  26,  1877 58 

Concordia,  No.  13 March  12,  1877 65 

Jefferson,  No.  14 March  9,  1877 203 

Welcome,  No.  16 March  27,  1877 94 

Meta,  No.  19 May  27,  1877 60 

Union,  No.  20 May  25,  1877 5s 

Security,  No.  44 Jan.  18,  1875 87 

Covenant,  No.  50 Feb.  25,  1878 85 

Prospect,  No.  52 March  16,  1878 55 

Globe,  No.  54 March  30,  1878 263 

Central,  No.  57  April  23,  1878 110 

Peateom,  No.  59 June  5,  1878 78 

Beckville,  No.  06 July  S,  1878 28 

Anvil,  No.  75 Aug.  24,  1878 80 

Standard,  No.  80 Oct.  3,  1878 98 

Fenton,  No.  180 Feb.  11,  1880 21 

Lindell,  No.  211 Dec.  7,  1880 34 

Lyon,  No.  222 July  30,  1881 97 

Helvetia,  No.  234 Oct.  31.  1SS1 58 

North  Star,   Xo.  24o March  24.  1882 36 

Total....                                                                     .  2318 


Knights  and  Ladies  of  Honor. — This  is  a  secret 
benevolent  institution  to  assist  the  sick  and  distressed. 
It  was  organized  at  Louisville,  Ky.,  in  1878,  origin- 
ally for  the  benefit  of  members  of  the  Knights  of 
Honor  and  their  female  relatives,  but  lately  the  re- 
striction has  been  removed,  and  any  persons  of  "  rep- 
utable profession,  business,  or  occupation"  may  be  ad- 
mitted. It  pays  death  benefits  ranging  from  one  thou- 
sand dollars  to  three  thousand  dollars,  and  is  believed  to 
be  the  first  society  of  its  kind  to  admit  female  mem- 
bers to  insurance  on  equal  terms  with  men.  The 
first  lodge  in  St.  Louis  was  organized  Jan.  21,  1876, 
by  T.  W.  Seymour,  Supreme  Deputy.  The  Grand 
Lodge  of  Missouri  was  instituted  in  August,  1878, 
with  the  following  officers,  all  of  St.  Louis : 


RELIGIOUS,  BENEVOLENT,  SOCIAL,  SECRET,  AND  OTHER   ORGANIZATIONS.      1803 


P.  G.  P.,  W.  H.  Haskell ;  G.  P.,  Thomas  R.  Dunn ;  G.  V.  P., 
€.  M.  Riley;  G.  See.,  Robert  Herries ;  G.  Treas.,  W.  H.  Has- 
kell; G.  Chap.,  W.  A.  Halstead;  G.  G.,  W.  L,  Graydon ;  G. 
Guard,  J.  C.  Zabriski;  G.  S.,  E.  J.  Williamson;  G.  Trustees, 
George  Cochrane,  Edw.  C.  Winter,  F.  D.  Macbeth  :  Supreme 
Representatives,  Freeman  Wright,  C.  M.  Riley. 

The  executive  Grand  Lodge  officers  are — 

G.  P.,  J.  M.  Thomas,  St.  Louis;  G.  Sec.,  Freeman  W  right, 
St.  Louis;  G.  Treas.,  Mrs.  E.  A.  Graydon,  St.  Louis. 

Freeman  Wright,  of  St.  Louis,  is  also  Supreme 
Secretary,  and  Mrs.  E.  A.  Graydon  is  also  Supreme 
Chaplain. 

There  are  twenty-four  lodges  in  Missouri,  with 
fourteen  hundred  and  ninety-six  members.  St.  Louis 
has  the  following : 


Name  and  Number. 

Initial.  No.  1 

Protection,  No.  19 

Rachel,  No.  30 

Concordia,  No.  48 

West  Gate.  No.  56 

St.  Ange,  No.  172 

Germania,  No.  210 

Amelia,  No.  211 

Ivy,  No.  237 

Eintracht,  No.  316 

Olive  Branch,  No.  319 

Jewel  of  the  West,  No.  349.... 

North  Star,  No.  392 

Victoria,  No.  393 

Pride  of  St.  Louis,  No.  409.... 

Era,  No.  511 

Garfield,  No.  516 

Martha  Washington,  No.  472. 

Mutual,  No.  529 

Golden  Crown,  No.  531 


When  Instituted. 

..Jan.  21,  1876.... 
,.Feb.  23,  1878.... 

,. April  1,  1878 

,.May  27,  1878.... 
..June  20,  1878... 
..Aug.  29,  1878... 

,.Dec.  5, 1879 

..Dec.  13, 1879 

.Feb.  3,  1880 

..May  27,  1880.... 
.May  14,  1881.... 
.July  31,  1880.... 
..Feb.  15,  1SS1.... 
..Feb.  21,  1881.... 
..March  21,  1881. 
..April  8,  1882.... 
..April  14,  1882... 
..Jan.  27,  1881.... 
..April  7,  1882..... 
April  28,  1882... 


80 
102 
60 
84 
81 
74 
78 
34 
66 
316 
47 
66 
33 
92 
48 
32 
73 
79 
33 
62 


Total 1540 

Improved  Order  of  Red  Men. — The  order  of  Red 
Men  is  peculiarly  an  American  institution,  originating, 
according  to  the  records  of  the  Great  Council  of  the 
United  States,  in  1812,  at  Fort  Mifflin,  Pa.,  on  the 
Delaware.  This,  however,  is  denied  by  Judge  George 
W.  Lindsay,  of  Baltimore,  who  claims  that  lodges  of 
the  society  of  Red  Men  existed  in  Annapolis,  Md.,  as 
early  as  1771.  However  this  may  be,  the  order  ranks 
among  the  oldest  protective  and  benevolent  societies 
of  the  country.  The  Tammany  Society,  of  Annapolis, 
Md.,  which  is  supposed  to  be  the  first  society  of  Red 
Men,  celebrates  May  1st  as  the  anniversary  of  the 
order.  This  society  had  its  origin,  or  was  an  offshoot 
of  a  society  known  as  the  "  Sons  of  Liberty,"  which 
took  active  part  against  the  Stamp  Act.  May  1st  was 
celebrated  for  many  years  by  the  Annapolis  Red  Men, 
and  on  these  occasions  it  was  the  custom  of  the  mem- 
bers to  clothe  themselves  as  children  of  the  forest  and 
perform  the  "  war-dance"  and  imitate  many  other  In- 
dian customs.  On  the  20th  of  May,  1835,  the  Great 
Council  of  the  Improved  Order  of  Red  Men  of  Mary- 
land was  organized,  and  in  1847  the  Great  Council  of 
the  United  States  first  met. 


The  first  tribe  in  Missouri  (Minnehaha  Tribe)  was 
established  in  St.  Louis  about  1858,  and  Mohawk  and 
Cherokee  Tribes  were  soon  after  instituted.  These 
seem  to  have  been  the  only  tribes  until  after  the  war. 
Two  of  them  worked  in  the  English  tongue  and  the 
other  in  German.  There  is  no  record  of  any  new 
tribes  in  the  city  until  about  1870,  when  the  existing 
lodges  began  to  be  instituted. 

The  present  offiSers  of  the  Great  Tribe  are — 

Sachein,  Eugene  Hirsch,  St.  Louis;  Senior  Sagamore,  Henry 
Strattman,  St.  Louis  :  Junior  Sagamore,  Jacob  Frank,  St.  Louis ; 
Prophet,  C.  A.  Brennmehl,  St.  Louis;  Record-Keeper,  Joseph 
Witzel,  St.  Louis;  Wampum-Keeper,  Philip  Neu,  St.  Louis. 

There  are  nine  tribes  of  this  order  in  St.  Louis,  all 
working  in  German,  and  having  about  four  hundred 
and  fifty  members.  The  society  is  beneficiary,  with 
death  and  sick  benefits. 

Independent  Order  of  Eed  Men. — This  society 
was  started  by  the  withdrawal  of  certain  members  in 
Baltimore  from  the  Improved  Order  of  Red  Men  in 
1850.  The  Grand  Tribe  of  the  Independent  Order 
of  Red  Men  was  chartered  June  llth  of  that  year. 
At  one  period  the  order  flourished  in  St.  Louis,  and 
within  but  a  year  or  two  there  were  perhaps  a  dozen 
lodges,  but  all  traces  have  been  lost. 

American  Legion  of  Honor. — This  is  a  secret 
benevolent  order,  established  at  Boston,  Mass.,  in 
1878,  and  incorporated  in  1879.  It  embraces  a 
membership  ranging  from  eighteen  to  sixty-five  years, 
and  pays  death  benefits  of  five  hundred,  one  thousand, 
two  thousand,  three  thousand,  four  thousand,  and  five 
thousand  dollars.  Assessments  are  graded  according 
to  age  of  candidate  upon  becoming  a  member.  The 
order  was  introduced  into  St.  Louis  June  16,  1880, 
when  the  first  council  was  instituted  by  Michael 
Brooks,  of  St.  Louis,  representative  of  the  Supreme 
Council.  On  Sept.  19,  1881,  the  Grand  Council  of 
Missouri  was  instituted  with  the  following  charter 
members:  Michael  Brooks,  Andrew  B.  Barbee,  M.D., 
Wilber  B.  Cook,  Thomas  S.  Hogan,  James  S.  Han- 
nan,  Asa  B.  Ecoff,  James  J.  Dockery,  Edward  F. 
Schulz,  W.  Mardorf,  M.  Tuhbesing,  Charles  J.  Wend- 
ling,  John  C.  Rivers,  John  M.  Collins,  and  Dr.  Ed- 
ward W.  Dewees.  The  first  and  present  officers  of 
the  Grand  Council  are — 

G.  C.,  Michael  Brooks,  St.  Louis  ;  G.  V.  C.,  A.  B.  Barbee,  M.D., 
Tower  Grove ;  G.  0.,  Wilbur  B.  Cook,  St.  Louis  :  G.  Sec.,  Thomas 
S.  Hogan,  St.  Louis;  G.  Treas.,  W.  Mardorf,  St.  Louis;  P.  G.  C., 
James  S.  Hannan,  St.  Louis ;  Trustees,  John  M.  Collins,  St. 
Louis;  J.  Walter  Bayse,  Bowling  Green;  Charles  J.  Wendling, 
St.  Louis;  Supreme  Representative,  Michael  Brooks,  St.  Louis: 
Alternate,  J.  C.  Rivers,  St.  Louis. 

There  are  fourteen  councils  in  St.  Louis,  all  insti- 
tuted by  Michael  Brooks : 


1804 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Name  and  Number. 


When  Instituted. 


Member- 
ship. 

George  Washington,  No.  214.. ..June  16,  1880 33 

George  Peabody,  No.  269 •..Aug.  21,  1880 28 

Tower  Grove,  No.  279 Sept.  4,  1880 29 

Franklin,  No.  295 Sept.  25,  1880 25 

Stephen  Girard,  No.  340 Nov.  16,  1880 24 

Lafayette,  No.  392 Jan.  21,  1881 25 

Huuiboldt,  No.  495 April  4,  1881 32 

Jefferson,  No.  527 April  19,  1881 18 

Marquette,  No.  590 May  27,  1881 30 

Columbia,  No.  632 June  25,  1881 24 

Daniel  Webster,  No.  678 Aug.  4,  1881 22 

Exchange,  No.  291 Jan.  26,  1882 56 

Vidette,  No.  853 Feb.  22,  1882 36 

De  Soto,  No.  896 March  29,  1882 70 

Total 452 

Legion  of  Honor. — This  is  a  society  originating 
in  St.  Louis,  and,  considering  its  age,  one  of  the  most 
successful  on  record.  It  was  organized  in  May,  1879, 
by  John  H.  Terry,  Henry  Feuerbach,  John  W.  Barnes, 
W.  A.  Edmonds,  I.  R.  Trask,  C.  M.  Whitney,  George 
W.  Simpkins,  N.  G.  Pierce,  James  L.  Carlisle,  P.  H. 
Cronin,  A.  S.  Barnes,  M.  N.  Burchard,  and  S.  S. 
Scott,  thirteen  gentlemen  who  had  been  members  of 
an  order  which  had  succumbed  to  bad  management 
and  the  yellow  fever  losses  of  the  preceding  year.  In 
July,  1879,  these  gentlemen  obtained  a  charter  and 
organized  a  Supreme  Council,  with  the  following 
officers : 

S.  C.,  John  H.  Terry;  V.  C.,  M.  M.  Burchard ;  S.  R.,  James 
L.  Carlisle ;  S.  Treas.,  N.  G.  Pierce ;  S.  Chap.,  P.  H.  Cronin  ; 
S.  M.  D.,  Dr.  A.  S.  Barnes;  S.  0.,  J.  W.  Barnes;  S.  S.,  H.  Feu- 
erbach. 

The  order  was  established  to  provide  a  death  ben- 
efit of  two  thousand  dollars,  and  it  was  determined, 
by  rigid  examinations  and  closely  guarding  the  ad- 
mission to  membership,  to  build  up  an  order  of  high 
social  character.  In  both  respects  its  success  has 
been  beyond  all  precedent  in  the  history  of  secret  so- 
cieties. In  three  years  a  membership  of  nearly  three 
thousand  has  been  obtained,  embracing  the  foremost 
men  of  the  city  in  every  department  of  trade  and  every 
profession.  Its  roster  contains  the  names  of  the  mayor 
and  most  of  the  leading  city  officials,  the  most  prom- 
inent members  of  the  Merchants'  Exchange,  leading 
bankers,  judges,  lawyers,  and  clergymen,  etc.,  and  the 
society  is  composed  substantially  of  all  those  elements 
that  have  made  St.  Louis  what  it  is,  and  have  given 
it  prominence  abroad.  It  is  one  of  the  city's  repre- 
sentative institutions,  and  its  reunions  and  other  pub- 
lic entertainments  prove  that  it  is  popularly  so  re- 
garded. Its  membership  and  operations  are,  and  prob- 
ably will  be,  confined  to  the  city  of  St.  Louis.  It  is 
now  engaged  in  raising  money  for  a  new  hall  and 
Academy  of  Music,  for  council  rooms  and  a  general 
headquarters.  This  building  will  be  situated  at  the 
corner  of  Olive  Street  and  Garrison  Avenue,  will  be 


sixty  by  one  hundred  and  thirty-four  feet,  four  stories 
high,  and  rising  to  an  altitude  of  eighty-five  feet. 
It  will  cost  sixty-five  thousand  dollars. 

The  officers  of  the  Supreme  Council  are  — 

S.  C.,  C.  M.  Whitney  ;  S.  V.  C.,  Charles  E.  Slayback  ;  S.  R., 
L.  C.  Haynes;  S.  Treas.,  I.  R.  Trask;  S.  M.  Ex.,  R.  J.  Hill, 
M.D.  ;  S.  Chap.,  A.  F.  Harvey  ;  S.  G.,  F.  A.  Johann  ;  S.  0.,  A.  G. 

Peterson  ;  S.  S.,  John  E.  Jones. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  Councils,  with  mem- 
bership, etc.  : 


Name  and  Number. 


When  Instituted. 


Alpha,  No.  1 May  19,  1879 299 

Irving,  No.  2 July  12,  1879 335 

Carondelet,  No.  3 Aug.  16,  1879 49 

Hyde  Park,  No.  4 April  3,  1880 123 

Franklin,  No.  5 Sept.  17,  1879 97 

St.  Louis,  No.  6 Sept.  23,  1879 481 

West  End,  No.  7 Nov.  26,  1880 169 

Kirkwood,  No.  8 Oct.  6,  1879 89 

Compton  Hill,  No.  9 Oct.  22,  1879 235 

Victoria,  No.  10 , April  6,  1881 156 

Empire,  No.  11 Dec.  11,  1879 194 

Grove,  No.  12 Dec.  15,  1879 33 

Commercial,  No.  13 Jan.  7,  1880 136 

Stella,  No.  14 Jan.  17,  1880 103 

Bonaparte,  No.  15 Feb.  27,  1880 212 

Shakespeare,  No.  16 Feb.  28,  18.10 102 

Excelsior,  No.  17 Jan.  3,  1882 42 

Ivanhoe,  No.  18 Jan.  16,  1882 24 

Total 2879 

Deutsch  Orden  Harug-ari. — The  German  order 
Harugari  originated  in  the  East  about  1846  with 
some  German-Americans,  and  its  object  is  officially 
declared  to  be  "  to  preserve  and  diffuse  the  German 
tongue  in  the  United  States,  and  wherever  the  order 
directs,  and  to  afford  the  German-speaking  citizens  of 
the  country  opportunity  to  advance  their  mental  and 
material  interests,  and  to  elevate  and  ennoble  their 
social  conditions."  This  is  sought  to  be  accomplished 
by  the  fraternity  of  the  lodges.  There  is  a  benefi- 
ciary department,  offering  death  benefits  of  $500, 
$1000,  and  $2000,  also  $200  upon  death  of  the  wife 
of  a  member,  and  five  dollars  per  week  in  case  of 
sickness. 

The  Grand  Lodge  of  the  United  States  was  organ- 
ized in  1847,  but  the  first  lodge  in  Missouri  does  not 
seem  to  have  been  organized  until  some  ten  years  later. 

There  are  now  thirty-three  subordinate  lodges  in 
this  jurisdiction,  two  degree  lodges,  and  one  Grand 
Lodge.  The  total  membership  is  2176.  In  1881-82 
death  benefits  amounting  to  $28,800  were  paid,  and 
86745.80  in  sick  benefits.  The  revenues  of  the 
lodges  were  $32,428.15,  and  they  had  a  reserve  fund 
of  $16,020.57.  The  officers  of  the  Grand  Lodge  are— 

G.  B.,  Wilhelm  Weiler,  St.  Louis;  D.  G.  B.,  Charles  Thomas, 
Kansas  City  ;  G.  Auf.,  Paul  Yosehen,  St.  Louis ;  G.  Sec.,  Ernst 
Knickmeyer,  St.  Louis;  G.  Treas.,  Gottfried  Guckes,  St.  Louis; 
G.  Chap.,  C.  Seibert,  St.  Louis ;  G.  Marshal,  P.  Gundlack,  Jr., 
St.  Louis;  G.  Rep.,  Henry  Hienmnz,  Ernest  Knickmeyer;  Trus- 
tees, Henry  Hiemenz,  Wilhelm  Knickmeyer,  Jacob  Gruen. 


RELIGIOUS,  BENEVOLENT,  SOCIAL,  SECRET,  AND  OTHER   ORGANIZATIONS.      1805 


In  St.  Louis  there  are  twenty-nine  lodges,  as  fol- 
lows; Germania,  No.  70;  Hermann,  No.  73;  Colum- 
bus, No.  112;  St.  .Louis,  No.  113;  Harmony,  No. 
125;  Goethe,  No.  158;  Concordia,  No.  164;  Hura- 
boldt,  No.  170;  Teutonia,  No.  174;  Lincoln,  No. 
190  ;  Cimbria,  No.  204  ;  Walhalla,  No.  236 ;  Schiller, 
No.  240 ;  Allemania,  No.  248 ;  Bavaria,  No.  261 ; 
Eintracht,  No.  263 ;  Washington,  No.  274  ;  Arndt, 
No.  311 ;  Barbarossa,  No.  331 ;  Fortschritt,  No.  341 ; 
Deutsche  Eiehe,  No.  366;  Hertha,  No.  370;  Pes- 
talozzi,  No.  412  ;  Far  West,  No.  456  ;  Schiller  Degree 
Lodge,  No.  16;  Cherusker  Degree  Lodge,  No.  50; 
Gutenberg  Mannie,  No.  32  ;  Robert  Bluin  Mannie, 
No.  49. 

Seven  Wise  Men  is  the  name  of  a  secret  benevo- 
lent order  which  originated  in  New  Orleans  about 
1852,  and  was  established  in  St.  Louis  in  1853  or 
1854  by  Henry  Bishop,  who  had  been  a  member  in 
the  former  city.  Several  conclaves  were  instituted, 
and  in  1859  the  Grand  Lodge  was  organized.  At 
one  time  there  were  from  five  hundred  to  one  thou- 
sand members  in  St.  Louis.  During  the  war  the 
membership  greatly  diminished,  and  communication 
with  New  Orleans  being  cut  off,  the  Northern  con- 
claves declared  their  independence,  and  have  since 
refused  allegiance  to  the  Southern  fountain  head. 
The  present  membership  is  mainly  in  New  York, 
Pennsylvania,  etc.,  and  is  estimated  at  about  ten 
thousand.  There  are  three  conclaves  in  St.  Louis, 
the  only  ones  in  Missouri : 

Name  and  Number.  Membership. 

St.  Louis.  No.  74 75 

George  Washington,  No.  48 50 

Harmonic,  No.  51 45 

Total 170 

The  present  officers  of  the  Grand  Conclave  of  Mis- 
souri are — 

G.  M.,  Edward  Holtz ;  G.  C.,  Joseph  Kolb;  G.  P.,  August 
Warnecke ;  G.  Sec.,  Henry  Koch  ;  G.  Treas.,  John  H.  Koch ; 
G.  H.,  Fred.  Mence ;  G.  G.,  Charles  Taake. 

The  order  pays  a  sick  benefit  of  from  three  to  five 
dollars  per  week,  and  a  death  benefit  of  five  hun- 
dred dollars. 

Ancient  Order  of  Foresters. — This  order  origi- 
nated in  England  in  1745,  and  is  established  in  most 
English-speaking  parts  of  the  world.  Its  object  is 
the  protection  and  assistance  of  its  members  in  sick- 
ness and  distress,  the  burial  of  members  and  their 
wives,  and  the  payment  of  five  hundred  dollars  or  one 
thousand  dollars  to  the  surviving  families  of  deceased 
members.  Benefits  are  collected  on  the  "  mutual 
assessment"  plan.  It  has  been  established  in  America 
some  thirty  years,  and  was  introduced  into  St.  Louis 


in  1875,  when  the  first  court  was  organized  by  John 
Waters,  of  St.  Louis,  who  represented  the  Sub-High 
Court  of  the  United  States*  Among  the  early  pro- 
moters of  the  order  were  Gardner  Hepburn,  Robert 
Herries,  J.  J.  Gower,  Dr.  Hamilton,  and  others.  In 
1877  the  District  Court,  comprising  Missouri,  Kansas, 
and  a  portion  of  Illinois,  was  organized,  with  head- 
quarters in  St.  Louis.  The  district  officers  are — 

D.  C.  R.,  Gardner  Hepburn,  St.  Louis;  Sub.  D.  C.  R.,  A.  M. 
Osborn,  St.  Louis;  D.  C.  Sec.,  T.  I.  Rankin,  St.  Louis;  D.  C. 
Treas.,  J.  M.  Parks,  St.  Louis. 

There  are  thirteen  courts  in  this  jurisdiction,  ten 
of  them  in  St.  Louis,  as  follows : 

Court  and  Number.  Membership. 

Pioneer  of  the  West,  No.  5925 138 

Missouri,  No.  6179 68 

St.  Louis.  No.  6204 124 

George  AYashington,  No.  6259 60 

Berlin,  No.  6346 90 

Hope  of  the  West,  No.  6847 46 

Edwin  Forrest,  No.  6455 94 

Benton,  No.  6456 96 

Future  Great,  No.  6461 58 

Diana,  6801 62 

Total 836 

The  Sons  of  Herman  is  a  secret  society  composed 
exclusively  of  Germans,  which  was  established  in 
New  York  in  1840.  Its  object  is  social  and  beneficial, 
and  to  afford  German-speaking  people  in  the  United 
States  assistance  in  advancing  their  material  and 
moral  interests.  The  first  lodge  in  St.  Louis  was  not 
instituted  until  1867,  and  the  charter  members  were 
Alexander  Bergfeld,  Hermann  Huss,  L.  Kusehagen, 
Heinrich  Wiecke,  and  A.  M.  Beck. 

The  Grand  Lodge  of  Missouri  was  founded  Feb. 
28,  1868,  with  the  following  officers  from  the  three 
St.  Louis  lodges  then  existing :  Grand  President,  A. 
Bergfeld  ;  Grand  Vice- President,  H.  W.  Lindemann ; 
Grand  Secretary,  W.  H.  Mueller;  Grand  Treasurer, 

F.  Zoll ;  Grand  Guide,  Hermann  Huss ;  Grand  Sen- 
tinel, Louis  Kusehagen. 

The  present  Grand  Lodge  officers  are  as  follows : 
Matthew  Buchler,  Grand  President;  Henry  Alewei, 
Grand  Vice-President ;  Louis  Schafer,  Grand  Treas- 
urer ;  F.  Diekroeger,  Grand  Secretary ;  C.  H.  Offer, 

G.  Con. ;  John  Meir,  G.  I.  T. ;   Chris.  Thiemers,  G. 
O.  T. ;    John   Kreh,   Phil.   Bamberger,   and   H.  H. 
Schwartze,  Grand  Trustees. 

The  order  pays  sick  benefits,  and  seven  hundred 
dollars  death  benefits.  There  are  twenty-two  lodges 
in  Missouri,  with  fourteen  hundred  and  thirteen 
members.  The  receipts  of  the  Grand  Lodge  (as  per 
report  of  1882)  were  $13,109.99;  $19,210  was 
paid  in  death  benefits,  and  $4965  for  sick  benefits. 
The  Grand  Lodge  has  a  reserve  fund  of  $8489.15. 

The  St.  Louis  lodges  are  as  follows : 


1806 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Name  and  Nnmber. 


When  Instituted. 


Total. 


69.9 


Knights  of  Labor. — This  is  a  secret  colored  social 
organization,  whose  origin  dates  from  1855  at  Galena, 
111.  It  has  recently  been  reorganized  so  as  to  em- 
brace a  death  benefit  of  two  thousand  dollars.  The 
membership  is  mainly  in  Missouri  and  the  neighbor- 
ing Southern  States.  There  are  nearly  eighty  tem- 


Member- 
ship. 

St.  Louis,  No.  1 June  7,  1867 110 

Pride  of  the  West,  No.  2 .'...July  18,  1867 97 

Humboldt,  No.  3 Feb.  21,  1868 147 

Walhalla,  No.  4 101 

Teutoberg,  No.  5 Nov.  22,  1872 121 

Armin,  No.  6 March  12,  1871 66 

Gerinania,  No.  7 Oct.  11,  1871 58 

Schiller,  No.  8 March  6,  1872 78   | 

Harmonie,  No.  9 April  11,  1872 48 

Eintracht,  No.  10 May  29,1872 62 

Freundschaft,  No.  11 Sept.  28,  1872 34 

Felaen.No.  12 Oct.  26,  1872 25   ! 

Fortschritt,  No.  13 Jan.  11,  1873 138 

Teutonia,  No.  14 Feb.  19,  1873 53   ] 

Einigkeit,  No.  15 April  11,  1873 67 

Goethe,  No.  16 May  27,  1873 26 

Hansa,  No.  18 Sept.  23,  1873 69 

Arndt,  No.  22 Dec.  22, 1873 39   ! 

Barbarossa,  No.  24 June  30,  1874 21   j 

Total 1360 

Order  of  Mutual  Protection. — This  is  a  secret 
society  which  originated  in  St.  Louis,  and  was  incor- 
porated Dec.  16,  1878,  by  Theo.  H.  Thomas,  Frank 
D.  Macbeth,  George  W.  Hall,  W.  A.  Edmonds,  and 
J.  M.  Thomas.  Its  object  is  to  provide  for  in- 
surance in  sums  of  one  thousand,  two  thousand,  three 
thousand,  and  four  thousand  dollars,  collectable  by 
assessment.  It  has  now  about  fifteen  hundred  mem- 
bers in  good  standing  in  Missouri,  Kansas,  Iowa, 
Illinois,  and  Pennsylvania.  The  present  supreme 
officers  are — 

Supreme  President,  Dr.  0.  A.  Wall,  St.  Louis  ; 
Supreme  Vice-President,  J.  H.  Cook,  Ottawa.  Kan. ; 
Supreme  Secretary,  G.  L.  Kennedy,  St.  Louis ;  Su- 
preme Treasurer,  R.  A.  Long,  Holden,  Mo. ;  Supreme 
Medical  Examiner,  Dr.  T.  E.  Holland,  St.  Louis  ; 
Supreme  Supervisors,  Freeman  Wright,  St.  Louis ; 
W.  A.  Brawner,  St.  Louis  ;  Asa  Maddox,  Kansas 
City. 

The  St.  Louis  lodges  are  as  follows : 

Kame  and  Number.  Membership. 

Missouri,  No.  2 31 

St.  Louis,  No.  3 63 

Concordia,  No.  4 49 

Lyon,  No.  5 52 

Star,  No.  6 118 

Washington,  No.  8 32 

Lafayette,  No.  10 83 

Wayne,  No.  13 41 

Jefferson,  No.  17 i's 

Lincoln,  No.  22 37 

Garfield.  No.  23 30 

Italia,  No.  26 29 

Garrison,  No.  37 33 

Benton,  No.  41 20 

Mount  Olive,  No.  42 53 


pies  and  tabernacles  in  Missouri,  and  the  aggregate 
membership  in  the  one  hundred  and  eight  temples 
and  one  hundred  and  twenty-six  tabernacles  under  the 
supreme  supervision  is  about  seven  thousand.  The 
head  of  the  order  is  Rev.  Moses  Dickson,  Chief 
Grand  Mentor,  at  Higginsville,  Mo.  Both  sexes  are 
admitted,  the  men  as  Knights  of  Labor,  associated 
in  temples,  and  the  women  as  Daughters  of  the 
Tabernacle,  meeting  in  tabernacles.  The  first  temple 
in  St.  Louis  was  established  in  1878,  and  the  first 
tabernacle  in  May,  1878.  There  are  eight  temples 
and  seventeen  tabernacles  in  the  city,  with  a  mem- 
bership of  two  thousand  five  huudred.  This  is  the 
most  popular  colored  society  in  the  city. 

The  Independent  Order  Free  Sons  of  Israel  is 
a  secret  beneficiary  organization  which  originated  in 
New  York  about  1853.  Membership  is  exclusively 
confined  to  Hebrews.  The  order  pays  one  thousand 
dollars  to  the  heirs  of  deceased  members,  and  such 
sick  and  funeral  benefits  are  paid  as  individual  lodges 
may  determine. 

The  order  nourished  mainly  in  the  East  until  after 
the  war.  The  first  society  in  St.  Louis  was  estab- 
lished in  1872.  There  are  four  lodges  in  St.  Louis, 
embracing  the  most  prominent  and  progressive  He- 
brews of  the  city.  There  is  also  a  ladies'  lodge,  dif- 
fering from  the  male  lodges  in  paying  no  death  bene- 
fits. The  lodes  in  St.  Louis  are  as  follows  : 


Name  and  Number. 


When  Instituted. 


Progress,  No.  53  .....................  Sept.  6,  1872 

Judah  Tomo,  No.  4  .................  April  15,1873 

George  Washington,  No.  82  .....  Jan.  14,  1877 

Pride  of  the  West,  No.  96  .......  Dec.  14,  1881 


120 
75 
37 
26 


Total  ............................................................     258 

The  ladies'  lodge,  Fortscliritts  Tochter,  or  "  Daugh- 
ters of  Progress,"  was  instituted  April  27,  1873,  and 
has  twenty-six  members.  The  only  other  lodge  of 
this  character  in  the  West  is  at  Chicago. 

The  lodges  in  Missouri  belong  to  Grand  Lodge  Dis- 
trict No.  2,  embracing  Indiana  and  the  States  west 
and  north.  The  District  Grand  Lodge  was  instituted 
Oct.  8,  1876,  and  the  present  Grand  Lodge  officers 
are  — 

G.  M.,  Philip  Stein,  Chicago;  Dep.  G.  M.,  William  Katzen- 
stein,  Milwaukee;  Dep.  Treas.,  Israel  Von  Baalen,  Chicago; 
Dep.  Sec.,  William  Deutsch,  St.  Louis  ;  Dep.  W.,  Morris  Levy, 
Chicago;  Dep.  Tyler,  George  Jacoby,  Minneapolis. 

In  the  interim  between  the  Grand  Lodge  sessions 
the  order  is  governed  by  a  general  committee,  com- 
posed of  Anthony  Lichtenhein  and  Louis  J.  Lippett, 
of  St.  Louis,  and  Simon  Greenebaum,  Morris  Oester- 
reicher,  and  Hermann  Goldsmith,  of  Chicago.  There 
are  about  eleven  hundred  members  in  this  district, 
and  nearly  ten  thousand  members  in  all. 


RELIGIOUS,  BENEVOLENT,  SOCIAL,  SECRET,  AND  OTHER   ORGANIZATIONS.      1807 


Knights  of  the  Golden  Rule.  —  This  is  a  secret 
beneficiary  order  which  originated  at  Louisville,  Ky., 
in  1879,  and  was  incorporated  in  that  State  August 
16th  of  that  year,  and  in  St.  Louis  November  18th 
of  the  same  year.  There  were  then  two  castles  in  St. 
Louis.  It  provides  insurance  ranging  from  five  hun- 
dred dollars  to  six  thousand  five  hundred  dollars;  and 
there  is  also  a  "  Degree  of  Ruth"  for  ladies,  with  an 
endowment  of  two  thousand  dollars.  There  are  seven 
castles  in  Missouri,  with  about  three  hundred  and 
seventy  members.  The  St.  Louis  castles  are  — 


Name  and  Number. 


When  Instituted. 


Washington,  No.  4  .................  Aug.  26,  1879  ..................  95 

Excaliber,  No.  7  .....................  Aug.  29,  1879  ..................  93 

St.  Louis,  No.  117  .................  March  16,  1881  ................  81 

Yeteve,  No.  200  .....................  Jan.  20,  1882  ..................  29 

Total  ...........................................................  298 

The  entire  membership  of  the  order  is  about  eight 
thousand  in  twenty-five  different  State?.  There  is  no 
Grand  Lodge  in  Missouri,  but  the  functions  of  such 
a  body  are  performed  by  William  C.  Streetor,  of  St. 
Louis,  Grand  Commander.  Sir  Knight  Frank  D. 
Macbeth,  of  St.  Louis,  is  the  Supreme  Secretary  of 
the  order,  and  Dr.  E.  J.  Williamson,  also  of  St.  Louis, 
is  one  of  the  Supreme  Trustees.  The  membership  in 
St.  Louis  embraces  some  of  the  leading  men  of  the 
city. 

The  Benevolent  and  Protective  Order  of  Elks 
was  established  in  New  York  City,  Feb.  16,1868.  by 
a  number  of  members  of  the  theatrical  profession, 
who  modeled  it  after  the  analogous  order  of  Buffaloes 
in  England.  There  had  been  a  social  club  previous 
to  this  known  as  the  "  Jolly  Corks,"  and  from  them 
the  nucleus  of  the  order  of  the  Elks  was  obtained. 
The  main  object  of  the  Elks  was  the  cultivation  of 
sociability  among  its  members,  but  in  about  six  months 
the  feature  of  benevolence  was  introduced,  and  has 
since  been  carried  to  a  high  degree  of  perfection. 
Sick  and  death  benefits  are  paid,  and  traveling  mem- 
bers who  are  in  distress  are  relieved.  It  was  originally 
confined  to  members  of  the  -theatrical  and  kindred 
professions,  but  subsequently  was  enlarged  to  admit 
members  of  any  profession. 

On  March  10,  1871,  the  Legislature  of  New  York 
granted  a  charter  for  a  Grand  Lodge,  and  subsequently 
the  order  spread  rapidly  throughout  the  country,  and 
one  or  more  lodges  was  established  in  every  city  of 
prominence.  St.  Louis  Lodge,  No.  9,  was  founded 
in  June,  1878,  and  has  been  one  of  the  most  suc- 
cessful and  progressive  lodges  in  the  order.  On  the 
5th  of  December,  1878,  it  was  chartered.  Its  first 
meetings  were  held  at  the  Olympic  Theatre  ;  subse- 
quently the  sessions  were  held  at  Druids'  Hall,  and 


on  Sept.  25,  1881,  the  lodge  occupied  its  present 
beautiful  quarters,  "  Elks'  Hall,"  in  the  People's 
Theatre  building.  The  first  presiding  officer  (Ex- 
alted Ruler)  was  Thomas  E.  Garrett,  the  dramatic 
editor  of  the  Republican,  who  served  for  two  terms ; 
then  Joseph  A.  Robertson  served  one  term,  and  John 
W.  Norton  is  serving  his  second  term. 

The  St.  Louis  representative  of  the  order  in  the 
Grand  Lodge  is  Thomas  E.  Garrett,  who  enjoys  the 
honor  of  having  been  elected  the  first  Exalted  Grand 
Ruler  of  that  body  after  it  became  a  delegated  body. 
He  was  elected  in  December,  1880,  and  was  re-elected 
in  December,  1881. 

The  charity  fund  of  the  order  is  recruited  by  an- 
nual benefits  and  balls,  which  are  given  under  the 
auspices  of  the  prominent  members  of  the  theatrical 
profession.  Among  the  actors  who  are  or  have  been 
members  may  be  mentioned  John  McCullough,  Law- 
rence Barrett,  T.  W.  Keene,  Nat  Goodwin,  the  late 
Charles  R.  Thome,  Jn,  James  O'Neil.  and  Baker  and 
Farron,  besides  a  host  of  others  who  are  known 
throughout  the  country. 

The  career  of  the  order  has  been  one  of  unprece- 
dented success,  a  success  almost  entirely  due  to  the 
happy  blending  of  benevolence  and  sociability  which 
distinguishes  it.  The  following  is  a  tabulated  list 
of  the  lodges  and  their  members : 

Name  and  Number.  Membership. 

New  York,  No.  1 500 

Philadelphia,  No.  '2 250 

San  Francisco,  No.  3 175 

Chicago,  No.  4 175 

Cincinnati,  No.  5 125 

Baltimore,  No.  7 150 

St.  Lou i*,  No.  9 300 

Boston,  No.  10  350 

Pittsburg,  No.  11 125 

California,  No.  12 175 

Iiulianiipolis,  No.  13 200 

Providence,  No.  14 150 

Washington,  No.  15 125 

Illinois,  No.  16 75 

Denver,  No.  17 110 

Total  (about) 2985 

This  list  represents  only  those  in  active  affiliation. 
If  the  inactive  members  were  included  they  would 
bring  the  number  up  to  over  three  thousand  one  hun- 
dred. 

The  Knights  of  Honor,  a  secret  beneficial  organi- 
zation, paying  a  death  benefit  of  two  thousand  dollars, 
collected  on  the  mutual  or  co-operative  assessment 
plan,  was  established  at  Louisville,  Ky.,  June  30, 
1873.  The  first  lodge  in  Missouri  was  St.  Louis 
Lodge,  No.  13,  instituted  March  12,  1874.  The 
Grand  Lodge  of  Missouri  was  instituted  in  St.  Louis, 
Sept.  10,  1875,  and  in  1876  was  incorporated,  the 
following  being  the  charter  members :  Thomas  W. 
Seymour,  W.  F.  Conner,  W.  H.  Rudolph,  Francis 


1808 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Paule,  Peter  Kieffer,  Philip  Hantke,  C.  Helmund,  A. 
L.  Aubin,  C.  Randow,  R.  Hodgins,  Thomas  Haynes, 
J.  N.  Ayres,  V.  J.  Matthews,  Charles  W.  Van  Dillen. 
There  are  eighty-eight  lodges  in  this  jurisdiction,  with 
five  thousand  six  hundred  and  fifty  members.  One 
hundred  and  forty-one  deaths  have  occurred,  involving 
the  disbursement  of  two  hundred  and  eighty-one 
thousand  dollars  benefits.  The  average  cost  of  in- 
surance has  been  eight  dollars  and  thirty-one  cents 
per  thousand  dollars.  The  officers  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Missouri  are — 

A.  C.  Sheldon,  Louisiana,  G.  D.;  E.  W.  Fowler,  Edina,  A.  D.  ; 
J.  L.  Torrey,  St.  Louis,  G.  V.  D. ;  Peter  Kieffer,  St.  Louis,  G.  R. ; 
S.  C.  Bunn,  St.  Louis,  G.  Treas.;  Rev.  J.  C.  Maple,  Marshall, 
G.  Chap.;  E.  S.  Hill,  St.  Louis,  G.  G. ;  W.  W.  Nail,  Ironton, 
G.  Guard ;  W.  H.  Hawkins,  Springfield,  G.  Sent. ;  T.  E.  Hol- 
land, M.D.,  St.  Louis,  G.  M.  Ex.;  Grand  Trustees,  David 
Thomas,  D.  S.  Harriuian,  M.  B.  Merriman  ;  Representatives 
to  Supreme  Lodge,  Joseph  W.  Branch,  Judge  N.  M.  Givan. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  lodges,  etc.,  in  St.  Louis 
City  and  County : 


Lodge  and  Number. 


When  Instituted. 


Member- 
ship. 

St.  Louis,  No.  13 March  12,  1874 317 

Germania,  No.  17 April  6.  1874 123 

Oak,  No.  100 April  16,  1875 174 

Seymour,  No.  118 June  7,  1875 206 

Anchor,  No.  114 Aug.  7,  1875 130 

Missouri,  No.  227 Feb.  12,  1876 118 

Bremen,  No.  254 March  24,  1876 186 

Unity,  No.  351 Sept.  2, 1876 65 

Washington,  No.  361 Sept.  26, 1876 178 

Schiller,  No.  400 Nov.  27,  1876 87 

Lafayette,  No.  415 Dec.  23,  1876 173 

Centennial,  No.  417 Dec.  28,  1876 202 

Lincoln,  No.  430 Jan.  23.  1877 186 

Manchester,  No.  435 Jan.  29,  1877 45 

Ludwig,  No.  456 Feb.  9,  1877... 205 

Olive  Branch,  No.  812 Nov.  26,  1877 151 

Mount  Olive,  No.  848 Jan.  14,  1878 243 

Bellefontaine,  No.  1278 Dec.  11,  1878 104 

Banner,  No.  1466 March  12,  1879 146 

Webster  Grove,  No.  1729 Aug.  21,  1879 56 

Humboldt,  No.  1735 Aug.  2fi,  1879 107 

Benton,  No.  1822 Oct.  20,  1879 101 

Jupiter,  No.  1843 Oct.  31, 1879 69 

Laclede,  No.  2392 March  18,  1881 68 

West  End,  No.  2398 March  24,  1881 35 

Aurora,  No.  2719 April  11,  1882 26 

Total 3501 

Scottish  Clans. — In  May,  1878,  James  McCash, 
with  two  or  three  other  Scotchmen  of  St.  Louis,  formed 
the  nucleus  of  an  organization  to  mould  into  one  homo- 
geneous whole  the  scattered  independent  Scottish  clubs 
in  every  part  of  the  United  States  and  Canada,  and, 
finally,  on  St.  Andrew's  day  (November  30th),  1878, 
the  Royal  (or  Supreme)  Scottish  Clan  was  instituted. 
The  object  of  the  association  was  declared  to  be  to 
unite  Scotchmen  and  descendants  of  Scotchmen,  em- 
bracing all  who  could  claim  Scottish  ancestry  within 
a  reasonable  limit ;  to  cultivate  fond  recollections  of 
Scotland,  its  customs  and  amusements  ;  "  to  be  subject 
to  the  laws  of  God  and  of  the  land  in  which  we  live," 


and  to  establish  a  fund  for  the  benefit  of  the  heirs  of 
deceased  members,  death  benefits  being  fixed  at  one 
and  two  thousand  dollars.  The  first  Royal  Chieftain 
was  James  McCash,  the  second  was  Hon.  George  Bain, 
one  of  the  most  prominent  Scotchmen  of  the  West. 
Dugald  Crawford,  a  leading  merchant  of  St.  Louis, 
was  elected  Vice-Royal  Chieftain.  The  present  su- 
preme officers  are  — 

R.  C.,  George  Bain,  St.  Louis;  V.  R.  C.,  P.  H.  Lawson,  Mas- 
sachusetts; R.  Chap.,  Peter  C.  Peterkin,  St.  Louis;  R.  Sec., 
Richard  A.  Skues,  Kansas  City;  R.  Treas.,  John  D.  Cruik- 
shanks,  St.  Louis. 

On  Dec.  13,  1878,  the  Grand  Clan  of  Missouri 
was  organized.  The  present  officers  are  — 

G.  C.,  John  W.  Mitchell,  St.  Louis;  V.  G.  C.,  James  C.  Ken- 
neth, St.  Louis;  P.  G.  C.,  Robert  R.  Scott,  St.  Louis;  G.  Chap., 
James  C.  Dodds,  St.  Louis  ;  G.  Sec.,  Robert  N.  Brodie,  St.  Louis  ; 
G.  Treas.,  Peter  C.  Peterkin,  St.  Louis. 

There  are  two  subordinate  clans  in  St.  Louis,  —  Clan 
Campbell,  No.  1,  instituted  Dec.  20,  1878,  which  has 
one  hundred  and  thirty-one  members  ;  and  Clan 
Douglas,  No.  3,  instituted  Feb.  27,  1880,  which  has 
sixty-six  members. 

Independent  Order  of  Chosen  Friends.  —  A  se- 
cret benevolent  order  with  the  above  name  originated 
at  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  in  1879.  It  pays  one  thousand, 
two  thousand,  and  three  thousand  dollars  death  benefits, 
and  admits  women  on  the  same  footing  as  men.  The 
first  council  in  St.  Louis  was  instituted  March  5,  1881, 
by  Freeman  Wright,  of  St.  Louis,  the  present  Supreme 
Secretary  of  the  Knights  and  Ladies  of  Honor.  It 
was  named  St.  Louis  Council,  No.  2.  Freeman  Wright 
was  the  first  Chief  Councilor,  and  J.  H.  Williamson 
the  first  Secretary.  During  1881  four  more  councils 
were  established  ;  but  Banner  Council  (instituted  Au- 
gust 24th)  has  dissolved.  The  councils  existing  in 
St.  Louis  are  — 


Name  and  Number. 


When  Instituted. 


M  e 


St.  Louis,  No.  2 
Benton,  No.  5 
Missouri,  No.  7 
Garfield,  No.  8 


March  5,  1881  .................  92 

May  7,  1881  ...................  80 

Nov.  5,  1881  ...................  41 

Nov.  5,1881  ...................  52 


Total  ....................................................................  265 

There  is  no  Grand  Council  in  the  State  ;  the  Su- 
preme Council  is  represented  by  H.  G.  Wilson,  Deputy 
Supreme  Councilor. 

American  Protestant  Association.  —  This  is  a 
secret  society,  originating  in  Philadelphia  about  1850. 
Its  primary  object  is  the  promotion  of  Protestantism, 
and  hence  the  membership  is  restricted  to  Protestants. 
The  society  advocates  civil  and  religious  liberty  and 
the  public  school  system,  and  antagonizes  foreign  inter- 
ference in  the  affairs  of  the  United  States  government. 
It  pays  sick  benefits,  and  five  hundred  dollars  on  the 


RELIGIOUS,  BENEVOLENT,  SOCIAL,  SECRET,  AND   OTHER   ORGANIZATIONS.      1809 


death  of  members,  collected  by  assessments.  The 
first  lodge  in  St.  Louis  was  instituted  July  26,  1856, 
and  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Missouri  was  organized  in 
St.  Louis,  July  4,  1863,  with  the  following  charter 
members  :  James  C.  Campbell,  Charles  Myer,  August 
Heusnerr,  Julius  C.  Schmidt,  Frederick  Damschroe- 
der,  Frank  Hussmann,  Charles  E.  Boehmer,  Ernest 
Koenig,  August  Timke,  John  Conzelmen,  Fred.  Stein- 
brecher,  and  Henry  Gerhold.  Some  fifteen  lodges 
with  about  eleven  hundred  members  were  established, 
but  the  interest  declined  to  some  extent,  and  there 
are  now  but  eight  lodges  working  in  Missouri.  Lat- 
terly the  membership  in  St.  Louis  has  been  restricted 
to  the  Germans,  and  the  lodges  work  in  the  German 
language.  The  officers  of  the  Grand  Lodge  for  1882- 
83  are— 

G.  M.,  William  Wrieden,  St.  Louis  ;  W.  V.  G.  M.,  Louis  G. 
Hoffman,  St.  Louis;  .G.  Sec.,  G.  C.  T.  Seidlitz,  St.  Louis; 
G.  A.  Sec.,  Henry  Kassing,  St.  Louis  ;  G.  Treas.,  H.  G.  Grote, 
St.  Louis;  G.  Chap.,  A.  Grund,  St.  Louis. 

The  councils  in  St.  Louis  are  — 


Name  and  Number. 


When  Instituted. 


Union,  No.  1  ..............................  July  26,  1856  .............  74 

Von  Hutten,  No.  2  ......................  Nov.  27,  1856  .............  47 

Gustavus  Adolphus,  No.  3  ............  Feb.  4,  1861  ...............  58 

Washington,  No.  4  .........  .  ............  Feb.  20,  1861  .............  64 

Martin  Luther,  No.  5  ..................  Feb.  27,  1861  .............  88 

John  Huss,  No.  10  .......................  Aug.  17,  1867  ............  77 

Jefferson,  No.  12  .........................  Dec.  17,  1874  ............  .  30 

St.  Louis,  No.  14  ........................  Nov.  18,  1874  .............  34 

Total  ..................................................................  472 

Last  year  the  Grand  Lodge  disbursed  six  thousand 
dollars  in  death  benefits  and  nine  hundred  dollars  in 
sick  benefits.  It  owns  a  four-story  building  and  hall, 
at  the  corner  of  Fourteenth  Street  and  Franklin 
Avenue,  St.  Louis,  managed  by  the  American  Prot- 
estant Hall  Association,  chartered  April  12,  1869, 
the  incorporators  being  C.  F.  Seidlitz,  William  Stind- 
ler,  George  Winginan,  and  others.  The  property 
cost  twenty-three  thousand  dollars,  but  is  now  worth 
much  more,  and  is  entirely  free  from  incumbrance. 
St.  Louis  has  furnished  two  Grand  Masters  to  the 
National  Lodge,  James  C.  jCampbell  and  F.  Die- 
kroeger. 

Good  Ladies.  —  Freundschafts  Versamlung,  A.  0. 
K.  L.,  is  the  title  of  a  secret  society  of  German 
women,  popularly  known  as  Good  Ladies.  The  order 
originated  in  Philadelphia,  and  the  first  lodge  in  St. 
Louis  was  established  in  1859  by  Herr  August 
Etling,  a  well-known  German  of  that  period.  Several 
lodges  soon  sprang  up,  embracing  both  German-  and 
English-speaking  ladies,  but  the  Freundschafts  Ver- 
samlung is  the  only  one  remaining.  It  uses  the  Ger- 
man language,  but  long  ago  declared  its  independence 
of  any  foreign  authority,  and  is  thought  to  be  the 


only  surviving  lodge  of  an  order  once  quite  strong. 
It  pays  four  dollars  a  week  sick  benefits  and  fifty 
dollars  funeral  expenses,  and  now  has  nearly  fifty 
members.  The  present  officers  are — • 

G.  M.,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Krone;  V.  G.  M.,  Miss  Elizabeth 
Delport;  Sec.,  Mrs.  Sophia  Krage;  Trens.,  Mrs.  Marie  Meyer; 
F.  S.,  Mrs.  Katrine  Roesner ;  Chap.,  Mrs.  Louise  Klaus. 

United  States  Benevolent  Fraternity. — A  secret 
benevolent  order  under  the  above  title  was  instituted 
at  Baltimore,  Md.,  Feb.  22,  1881.  It  pays  death 
benefits  ranging  from  one  thousand  to  five  thousand 
dollars.  There  are  three  councils  in  St.  Louis, — 
Pride  of  the  West  Council,  No.  7,  instituted  Oct.  15, 

1881,  with   twenty-four   charter  members;    George 
Washington    Council,   No.   16,   instituted    March  2, 

1882,  with  twenty-three  charter  members;   and  St. 
Louis  Council,  No.  21,  instituted  May  20, 1882,  with 
twenty-three    charter    members,    all    instituted    by 
Michael   Brooks,  Deputy   Supreme   President,   who 
represents    the    Supreme    Council,    there    being    no 
Grand  Council  in  Missouri. 

Royal  Templars  of  Temperance  is  the  name  of 
a  society  organized  in  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  Feb.  3,  1877, 
to  assist  in  the  suppression  of  the  liquor  traffic  and  to 
furnish  members  with  insurance.  Benefits  are  col- 
lected by  assessments,  and  two  thousand  dollars  is 
paid  on  the  death  of  a  male  member  and  one  thousand 
dollars  on  the  death  of  a  female  member.  An  endow- 
ment degree,  recently  added,  allows  these  sums  to  be 
doubled.  There  are  about  fifteen  select  councils  in 
Missouri,  with  an  aggregate  membership  of  about 
five  hundred.  The  first  Missouri  council  was  St. 
Louis  Council,  No.  1,  instituted  Jan.  12,  1880,  by 
Thomas  Kerns,  Supreme  Lecturer  of  Illinois,  with 
the  following  charter  members :  Robert  Herries, 
Thomas  B.  Kerwin,  Dr.  R.  M.  King,  Adam  Woerth- 
age,  Charles  Scollay,  George  Cochrane,  James  H. 
Dailey,  William  Parks,  Larkin  D.  Price,  Gardner 
Hepburn,  C.  J.  Helms,  H.  W.  Spreen,  F.  W.  Still, 
William  Galloway,  and  others.  Councils  in  St. 
Louis  are  as  follows : 


Name  and  Number. 

St.  Louis,  No.  1  
Star  of  the  West,  No.  3  

When  Instituted. 

Jan.  12,  1880.... 
....Feb.  13,  1880...., 

Member- 
ship. 

.........     66 

Selah,  No.  7  
Martha  Washington,  No.  14  

....March,  1880  
....Sept.  10,  1880..., 

Many  of  the  St.  Louis  Royal  Templars  are  also 
prominent  and  active  members  of  the  Temple  of 
Honor,  Sons  of  Temperance,  and  Good  Templars. 

United  Foresters. — A  disagreement  among  the 
Ancient  Order  of  Foresters  resulted  in  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Independent  Foresters,  Court  No.  1  being 
instituted  at  St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  early  in  1876,  and  Mound 


1810 


HISTORY  OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


City  Court,  No.  2,  of  St.  Louis,  in  April,  1876.  The 
High  Court  of  Missouri  was  chartered  in  September, 
1878,  with  some  sixteen  courts  and  about  five  hun- 
dred members.  In  September,  1881,  the  Supreme 
body  changed  the  name  to  the  "  United  Foresters." 
There  are  now  twenty-one  courts  in  the  Missouri 
jurisdiction.  The  St.  Louis  courts  are — 

Name  and  Number.  Membership. 

Mound  City,  No.  16 82 

Cech,  No.  47 33 

Bellefontaine,  No.  64 30 

Pike,  No.  85 112 

Unit}-.  No.  87 62 

Benton,  No.  91 16 

St.  Louis,  No.  95 179 

Robin  Hood,  No.  97 40 

Ben  Franklin,  No.  108 74 

Sherwood,  No.  129 65 

Concordia,  No.  136 23 

Future  City,  No.  138 64 

Emerald,  No.  142 54 

Progress,  No.  147 24 

Lafayette,  No.  149 33 

Harmony,  No.  152 26 

Total 917 

The  Grand  Court  officers  for  1882-83  are— 

H.  C.  R.,  James  A.  McMillan ;  H.  V.  C.  R.,  J.  J.  Isaacs ; 
H.  Sec.,  C.  A.  Sargent;  H.  Treas.,  H.  M.  Paul ;  H.  P.,  Dr.  W. 
0.  Young;  Reps,  to  Supreme  Court,  Louis  A.  Steber;  Alternate, 
A.  S.  Partridge. 

This  order  is  beneficial.  It  pays  death  benefits  of 
one  thousand,  two  thousand,  and  three  thousand  dol- 
lars. 

Patriotic  Sons  of  America. — This  order  origin- 
ated in  Philadelphia  in  1847,  and  had  a  large  mem- 
bership in  St.  Louis  before  the  war.  During  the  war 
it  declined  in  St.  Louis,  and  was  not  revived  until 
Dec.  9,  1881,  when  Camp  Washington,  No.  1,  was 
instituted.  It  has  about  sixty  members,  and  is 
the  only  camp  of  this  order  in  Missouri.  Dr.  J.  C. 
Nidelet  is  president,  and  J.  H.  Moore  is  secretary. 
Its  principal  object  is  the  cultivation  of  patriotism. 
Members  must  be  native-born,  and  must  favor  free 
education,  and  oppose  the  union  of  the  church  and 
State  and  foreign  interference  in  the  affairs  of  this 
government.  It  also  provides  death  benefits  of  five 
hundred,  one  thousand,  and  one  thousand  five  hun- 
dred dollars. 

B'nai  B'rith.. — Fraternal  organizations  (chevrotJi) 
had  their  origin  with  the  dispersed  children  of  Israel 
a  great  many  centuries  ago.  In  every  country,  in 
every  town  where  ten  or  more  of  them  dwelt,  they 
formed  a  "  chewrah"  (fraternity)  for  mutual  aid,  for 
attending  the  sick,  burying  the  dead,  and  providing 
for  their  widows  and  orphans.  Corning  to  New  York 
from  the  various  countries  of  Europe,  and  dispersing 
thence  over  the  wide  territory  of  the  United  States, 
they  had  long  felt  the  desire  to  form  one  great  frater- 


nal union,  organized  similar  to  those  of  the  Masons, 
Odd-Fellows,  and  like  charitable  organizations,  whereby 
the  Israelites,  regardless  of  former  nationalities  or  lit- 
urgical differences,  could  be  united  for  charitable  pur- 
poses, and  better  promote  their  interests  and  those  of 
humanity.  Thus  the  order  B'nai  B'rith  (Sons  of  the 
Covenant)  was  organized  about  forty  years  ago  in  New 
York  City,  and  slowly  but  steadily  extended  its  lodges 
over  the  country,  now  embracing  three  hundred  and 
thirty  lodges,  with  about  twenty-five  thousand  mem- 
bers, sub-divided  into  seven  District  Grand  Lodges. 
Missouri  belongs  to  District  Grand  Lodge  No.  2, 
which  was  organized  just  thirty  years  ago,  with  its 
seat  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  In  1855  the  first  lodge  of 
this  order  in  St.  Louis  was  instituted  under  the  name 
of  Missouri  Lodge,  No.  22 ;  it  has  now  one  hundred 
and  fifty  members.  In  1863  the  second  lodge  in  St. 
Louis,  Ebn  Ezra,  No.  47,  was  established ;  its  present 
membership  is  one  hundred.  It  was  followed  in  1872 
by  Achim  Lodge,  No.  175,  and  in  1873  by  Julius 
Fiirst  Lodge,  No.  196.  There  are  now  four  lodges, 
with  about  four  hundred  members,  in  St.  Louis. 
Three  more  lodges  of  this  order  are  now  in  the 
State  of  Missouri,  viz. :  one  each  in  Kansas  City, 
Sedalia,  and  Louisiana,  Pike  Co.,  with  about  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  members  in  all ;  yet,  small  as 
this  number  is,  the  work  accomplished  and  amount 
of  charities  bestowed  by  the  little  band  of  brethren 
are  remarkable. 

The  Widows'  and  Orphans'  Fund  of  this  district, 
giving  to  the  family  of  each  member,  in  caseof  hisdeath, 
one  thousand  dollars,  to  no  one  more  or  less,  and  to 
which  every  member  contributes  fifteen  dollars  annu- 
ally, has  now  a  reserve  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
thousand  dollars.  It  pays  annually  over  thirty  thou- 
sand dollars  to  its  members'  widows,  etc.,  besides  large 
amounts  of  other  benefits  and  donations  to  non-mem- 
bers and  other  charities.  The  district  has  now  three 
thousand  members,  and  consists  of  the  seven  States  of 
Ohio,  Kentucky,  Indiana,  Missouri,  Kansas,  Colorado, 
and  New  Mexico.  It  has  its  orphans'  asylum,  located 
at  Cleveland,  which  was  established  in  1868,  and  is 
now  sheltering  and  educating  two  hundred  and  sixty- 
four  orphans,  irrespective  of  membership  or  non- 
membership  of  the  deceased  parent.  This  institution 
is  acknowledged  to  be  the  model  orphan  asylum  of 
the  country,  and  is  often  liberally  endowed  by  lega- 
cies. 

Among  the  promoters  and  prominent  members  of 
the  order  are  the  following  grand  officers  from  St. 
Louis : 

Isidor  Bush,  member  of  the  executive  committee 
of  the  National  or  Constitution  Grand  Lodge,  which 


RELIGIOUS,  BENEVOLENT,  SOCIAL,  SECRET,  AND  OTHER   ORGANIZATIONS.      1811 


consists  of  one  member  only  from  each  of  the  seven 
districts.  He  has  been  a  member  of  this  order  since 
1849,  was  president  of  the  Grand  Lodge'in  1872,  was 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  orphan  asylum,  and  is 
chairman  of  the  endowment  fund  of  the  district. 

Abraham  Kramer,  one  of  the  first  members  of 
Missouri  Lodge,  its  representative  to  the  District 
Grand  Lodge,  whose  president  he  also  was  in  1878, 
and  for  several  years  trustee  of  the  orphan  asylum. 

Jacob  Furth,  comparatively  a  young  member,  but 
already  distinguished  by  his  activity  and  influence  in 
promoting  the  work  of  the  order.  He  is  the  present 
trustee  of  the  Cleveland  Orphan  Asylum  from  St. 
Louis.  Mrs.  Goldschmidt  and  Mrs.  A.  Fisher  are 
St.  Louis  directresses  of  the  same  institution. 

Dr.  S.  Wolfenstein,  the  efficient  superintendent  of 
that  asylum,  is  also  a  St.  Louisan.  I.  Koperlik,  a 
past  president  of  Missouri  Lodge,  and  for  twenty 
years  its  secretary,  has  also  been  secretary  of  the 
endowment  fund  of  the  District  Grand  Lodge  since 
its  organization.  Rev.  Dr.  S.  H.  Sonneschein  is  also 
one  of  the  prominent  St.  Louis  members  of  this  order. 

Royal  Arcanum, — A  secret  benevolent  order, 
known  as  the  Royal  Arcanum,  was  organized  in  Bos- 
ton, Mass.,  June  23,  1877.  It  pays  a  death  benefit 
of  three  thousand  dollars,  collected  from  members  in 
proportion  to  age.  There  is  no  Grand  Lodge  in 
Missouri,  but  the  Supreme  Lodge  is  represented  by 
W.  E.  Robinson  and  L.  A.  Steber,  of  St.  Louis, 
Deputy  Supreme  Regents.  There  are  eight  councils 
in  Missouri,  with  from  six  to  seven  hundred  members. 
The  councils  in  St.  Louis  are — 

Name  and  Number.  When  Instituted.  ^hip" 

Missouri,  No.  107 June  17,  1878 110 

Benton,  No.  183 Sept.  7, 1878 SO 

Valley,  No. 446 Feb.  20,  18SO 325 

Compton  Hill,  No.  535 Jan.  27,  1881 30 

Victoria.  No.  446 Feb.  11,  1882 25 

Laclede,  No.  665 April  3,  1882 30 

Kirkwood,  No.  6f>6 April  4,  1882 20 

Carr  Lane,  No.  668 April  10,  1882 25 

Total 645 

The  Cosmopolitans. — There  is  one  lodge  of  this 
order  in  St.  Louis,  Mound  City  Lodge,  No.  1,  estab- 
lished May  7,  1882.  Dr.  Daniel  White  is  W.  G.  D. 
C.  C.  The  society  originated  in  New  England  several 
years  ago,  and  has  lodges  in  all  parts  of  the  world. 
Its  object  is  semi-religious,  being  the  investigation  of 
spiritism.  No  member  is  admitted  who  does  not  sub- 
scribe to  a  belief  in  communion  with  the  "  so-called 
dead."  It  is  beneficial  to  the  extent  that  local  lodges 
may  provide  for  the  relief  of  sick  or  distressed  mem- 
bers, either  its  own  or  traveling  ones. 

Treu  Bund. — The  society  from  which  the  Inde- 
pendent Order  Treu  Bund  descended  is  of  great 


antiquity ;  it  originated  when  the  Swiss  were  organ- 
izing to  resist  the  tyranny  of  Albert  I.,  emperor  of 
Austria,  and  took  the  world-famous  "  Gruetti  oath." 
The  new  order  spread  all  over  Europe  under  different 
names  and  generally  having  a  political  purpose.  It 
was  introduced  into  A.merica  in  1858  by  George 
Ackers,  an  enthusiastic  member  of  the  European 
order,  and  St.  Louis  was  the  birthplace.  The  only 
lodges  are  in  Missouri  and  Illinois,  and  the  aggregate 
membership  is  about  one  thousand.  The  objects  are 
social  and  beneficiary ;  five  hundred  dollars  is  paid  on 
the  death  of  a  member,  and  one  hundred  dollars  for 
funeral  benefits  in  case  the  wife  of  a  member  dies. 
Sick  benefits  are  also  permitted.  There  are  fourteen 
lodges  in  Missouri,  and  eleven  in  St.  Louis,  the  latter 
as  follows : 

Name  and  Number.  Membership. 

Washington,  No.  2 65 

Lincoln,  No.  3 38 

Liberty,  No.  4 61 

Union,  No.  6 52 

Pride  of  the  West,  No.  8 68 

Wilhelm  Tell,  No.  9 19 

Central  St.  Louis,  No.  11 25 

Goethe,  No.  18 50 

Jefferson,  No.  20 56 

Germania,  No.  36 43 

South  St.  Louis,  No.  37 49 

Total 526 

There  is  a  Grand  Lodge,  with  headquarters  at  St. 
Louis. 

G.  T.  M.,  John  Diren,  St.  Louis ;  G.  Sec.,  Hermann  Weiterer, 
St.  Louis:  G.  Treas.,  George  P.  Schnur,  St.  Louis. 

Cesko  -  Slovansky  Podporujici   Spolek,  —  The 

"  Bohemian -Slavonic  Benevolent  Association"  is  a 
secret  order,  originating  among  the  Bohemians  of  St. 
Louis  in  1854.  For  eighteen  years  there  was  but 
one  lodge  in  the  city,  and  then  (1872),  under  the 
Supreme  Secretaryship  of  Anthony  Klobasa,  a  very 
intelligent  man  of  that  nationality,  the  order  grew 
rapidly,  and  now  has  over  seventy  lodges  distributed 
in  all  the  large  cities  of  the  country.  The  total  mem- 
bership numbers  about  four  thousand.  The  order 
pays  seven  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  death  benefits, 
and  sick  benefits  of  five  dollars  a  week.  The  supreme 
officers  of  the  order  are — 

President,  James  Svojse,  Chicago;  Vice-President,  Joseph 
Staukovsky,  St.  Louis;  Sec.,  F.  Hrabacka,  St.  Louis;  Finan- 
cial Sec.,  Anthony  Klobasa,  St.  Louis;  Treas.,  William  Kleis- 
ner,  St.  Louis. 

There  are  five  lodges  in  St.  Louis  as  follows : 

Name  and  Number.  Members. 

Slovan,  No.  1 60 

Missouri,  No.  '2 95 

Washington,  No.  11 52 

Sumavan,  No.  21 23 

Sokol,  No.  23 48 

Total ..  278 


1812 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


National  Americans.  —  This  society  was  estab- 
lished in  St.  Louis  in  1878,  and  was  incorporated  in 
January,  1879,  by  Rosswell  D.  Grant,  Dr.  Francis  0. 
Drake,  John  C.  Ralston,  Dr.  Albert  Merrell,  Dr.  W. 
S.  Wartman,  Lorenzo  Browning,  and  others,  residents 
of  that  city.  It  is  composed  of  native-born  American 
citizens  only,  and  has  death  benefits  of  one  thousand 
and  two  thousand  dollars,  collected  by  assessments. 
Subordinate  associations  have  been  established  in  sev- 
eral States.  Those  in  St.  Louis  are — 


Name  and  Number. 


When  Instituted. 


Member- 
ship. 

Columbia,  No.  1 Feb.  1,  1879 54 

Continental,  No.  2 January,  1880 58 

Washington,  No.  3 Feb.  27,  1880 33 

Mount  Vernon,  Xo.  5 Feb.  13.  1880 33 

American,  No.  9 April  27,  1880 24 

Fulton,  No.  14 Jan.  20,  1881 62 

Putnam,  No.17 April  9,  1881 71 

Florissant  Valley,No.  19 17 

Bunker  Hill,  No'.  27 April  18,  1882 26 

Carondelet,  No.  28 15 

.  Total 393 

The  officers  of  the  National  Association  for  1882-83 
are  as  follows  : 

National  President,  J.  C.  Ralston,  St.  Louis ;  National  Vice- 
President,  John  D.  Vincil,  St.  Louis;  National  Advocate,  A.  B. 
Parson,  St.  Louis ;  National  Sec.,  Lorenzo  Browning,  St.  Louis  ; 
National  Treas.,  Dr.  F.  0.  Drake,  St.  Louis;  National  Chap., 
Dr.  W.  S.  Wortman,  St.  Louis;  National  Med.  Exam. -in-Chief, 
Dr.  Albert  Merrell,  St.  Louis ;  National  Trustees,  William  Riley, 
William  Hamilton,  E.  E.  Allen. 

In  July.  1882,  the  American  Nationalist,  an  organ 
of  the  order,  was  established. 

Kosmos. — In  September,  1882,  certain  members 
of  the  order  of  the  Knights  of  the  Golden  Rule 
withdrew  from  that  fraternity  and  organized  a  new 
beneficiary  order  called  "  Kosmos."  Its  officers  are — 

S.  C.,  J.  M.  Webster;  S.  V.  C.,  Z.  C.  Lavat;  S.  Sec.,  Francis 
D.  Macbeth;  S.  Treas.,  S.  F.  Silence;  S.  G.,  C.  Niehouse;  S. 
Guard,  Alexander  Gillanders;  S.  S.,  E.  0.  Bartholomew  ;  P.  S. 
C.,  Judge  W.  C.  Jones. 

During  the  winter  of  1882-83  several  lodges  were 
instituted. 

Kesher  Shell  Barzell  is  the  name  of  a  Hebrew 
secret  beneficial  order  which  originated  in  the  East 
about  1868.  It  was  introduced  into  St.  Louis  some 
four  years  later,  Lebanon  Lodge,  No.  10,  being  the 
first  to  organize.  There  are  six  lodges  in  Missouri, 
all  in  St.  Louis,  as  follows : 

Name.  Membership. 

Lebanon,  No.  10 70 

Isaac,  No.  70 65 

Ben  Jacob,  No.  94 100 

St.  Louis,  No.  115 50 

Missouri,  No.  126 40 

Wessely,  No.  128 45 

Total....  ...  370 


These  lodges  are  governed  by  "  District  Grand 
Lodge  No.  4,"  embracing  most  of  the  Western  States, 
with  headqmfrters  at  Cleveland.  This  body  has  es- 
tablished a  Home  for  Aged  and  Infirm  Israelites  at 
Cleveland,  at  a  cost  of  twenty-five  thousand  dollars. 
Rev.  Dr.  Sonneschein,  of  St.  Louis,  is  one  of  the 
trustees  of  the  institution. 

Temple  of  Honor. — This  order  was  established  in 
1845  by  some  members  of  the  Sons  of  Temperance 
in  New  York  as  an  exalted  degree  of  that  order,  but 
the  National  Division  refused  to  recognize  it.  It  was 
then  maintained  independently,  and  the  excellence  of 
its  work  and  the  worth  of  its  teachings  gave  it  for 
many  years  great  popularity.  The  exact  date  of  its 
introduction  into  St.  Louis  is  npt  known,  but  is 
supposed  to  be  about  1853,  as  in  June,  1854,  a 
Grand  Temple  was  organized  with  four  temples, 
namely :  Louisiana  Temple,  No.  1,  of  Louisiana,  Mo. ; 
Union  Temple,  No.  2,  of  St.  Louis ;  Bard  Temple, 
No.  4,  of  Hannibal ;  and  Carroll  Temple,  No.  8,  of 
Carrolton,  Mo.  W.  A.  Lynch,  of  St.  Louis,  was  the  in- 
stituting officer.  The  first  grand  officers  were — 

G.  W.  T.,  William  A.  Lynch,  St.  Louis;  G.  W.  V.  T.,  J.  H. 
Harris,  Hannibal ;  G.  W.  R.,  J.  D.  Guiley,  Louisiana ;  G.  W. 
T.,  J.  S.  Markley,  Louisiana;  G.  W.  Chaplain,  B.  F.  Rankin, 
Carrolton. 

There  were  present  from  St.  Louis  on  this  occasion 
G.  W.  Lynch,  W.  A.  Lynch,  J.  B.  Higdon,  Richard 
Ivers,  and  T.  S.  Warne. 

The  growth  of  the  order  was  greatest  just  after 
the  war,  when  there  were  seven  temples  in  St. 
Louis.  Of  late  years  the  interest  has  declined,  and 
now  there  are  but  six  temples  in  the  State,  one  each 
at  Hannibal,  Springfield,  and  St.  Joseph,  and  three 
in  St.  Louis,  viz. : 

Name  and  Number.  Members. 

Union,  No.  2 17 

Franklin,  No.  3 51 

Mount  Olive,  No.  4 15 


Total . 


83 


The  Grand  Temple  (July,  1882)  elected  the  fol 
lowing  officers : 

G.  W.  T.,  George  W.  Salter,  St.  Louis;  G.  W.  V.  T.,  William 
Hartrey,  St.  Louis;  G.  W.  R.,  J.  J.  Garver,  St.  Louis;  G.  W. 
T.,  Robert  Herries,  St.  Louis;  G.  W.  Chap.,  Garden  Hepburn, 
St.  Louis;  G.  W.  U.,  Fred.  M.  Easterday,  St.  Louis;  G.  W.  G., 
Alfred  Appleton,  St.  Louis;  P.  G.  W.  T.,  Timothy  Parsons. 

Lasalle  Frauen  Unterstuetzungs  Verein  is  an 
association  of  German  ladies  which  pays  death  bene- 
fits of  fifty  dollars  on  the  death  of  a  member  or  a 
member's  husband,  and  sick  benefits  of  four  dollars  a 
week.  The  officers  are :  President,  Miss  Anstedt ; 
Vice-President,  Julia  Reier ;  Secretary,  Consadine 
Kreutzberg. 


RELIGIOUS,  BENEVOLENT,  SOCIAL,  SECRET,  AND  OTHER   ORGANIZATIONS.      1813 


ST.  LOUIS   AGRICULTURAL   AND   MECHANICAL   AS- 
SOCIATION AND   JOCKEY   CLUB. 

Fairs  or  exhibitions  of  agricultural  and  mechanical 
objects  were  held  in  St.  Louis  at  irregular  intervals 
for  many  years  prior  to  1855,  when  an  organization 
was  formed  for  the  purpose  of  holding  annual  exhibi- 
tions. Agricultural  societies  had  existed  from  time 
to  time,  beginning  as  early  as  1822,  but  none  of  them 
were  permanent.  At  first  agricultural  and  "  me- 
chanics' "  fairs  were  distinct  and  separate,  but  on 
the  formation  of  the  Agricultural  and  Mechanical 
Association  the  two  interests  were  merged,  and  sub- 
sequently the  exhibitions  were  held  together.  On 
the  first  Tuesday  of  November,  1841,  the  fair  of  the 
Agricultural  Society  of  St.  Louis  County  was  opened 
at  the  St.  Louis  race-course,  and  on  the  24th  of  the 
same  month  the  Mechanics'  Fair  was  inaugurated  "  in 
the  buildings  recently  occupied  by  Mr.  Lucas,  on 
Fourth  Street,  in  front  of  the  Planters'  House,"  con- 
tinuing three  days.  The  committee  of  arrangements 
was  composed  of  William  Bird,  S.  V.  Farnsworth, 
C.  Pullis,  D.  Weston,  J.  W.  McMurray,  T.  B.  Edgar, 
N.  Phillips,  Joseph  Charless,  D.  L.  Holbrook,  D.  B. 
Smith,  George  Wool,  0.  M.  Vinton,  D.  Woodman. 

For  some  time  prior  to  1855  the  subject  of  com- 
bining the  agricultural  and  mechanical  interests  of  St. 
Louis  for  the  purpose  of  holding  annual  fairs  was 
agitated,  and  among  those  who  were  especially  active 
in  support  of  the  proposition  were  Hon.  J.  R.  Barret, 
Henry  T.  Blow,  Col.  Thornton  Grimsley,  Henry  C. 
Hart,  T.  T.  January,  Charles  Todd,  Charles  L.  Hunt, 
Andrew  Harper,  John  Withnell,  Benjamin  O'Fallon, 
Henry  S.  Turner,  Thomas  B.  Hudson,  John  Sapping- 
ton,  John  M.  Chambers,  Frederick  Dings,  and  Nor- 
man J.  Coleman.  It  was  finally  decided  to  organize 
a  society,  and  Hon.  J.  R.  Barret  procured  the  passage 
by  the  Missouri  Legislature,  of  which  he  was  a  mem- 
ber, of  an  act  incorporating  the  St.  Louis  Agricultural 
and  Mechanical  Association,  which  was  approved 
Dec.  7,  1855.  The  incorporators  were  Andrew  Har- 
per, John  O'Fallon,  Martin  Hanna,  Walter  H.  Dor- 
sett,  Robert  Martin,  Oily  Williams,  John  Sigerson, 
Andrew  Christy,  John  M.  Chambers,  John  Hartnett, 
Thornton  Grimsley,  H.  I.  Bodley,  Henry  C.  Hart, 
Thomas  T.  January,  John  Renfrew,  John  Withnell, 
Gerard  B.  Allen,  John  Sappington,  and  William  C. 
Jenks. 

The  objects  of  the  association  were  declared  to  be 
the  promotion  of  improvements  in  all  the  various  de- 
partments of  agriculture,  including  not  only  the  great 
staples  of  industry  and  trade,  but  also  fruits,  vegeta- 
bles, and  ornamental  gardening,  the  promotion  of  the 
mechanic  arts  in  all  their  various  branches,  the 
115 


improvement  of  breeds  of  all  useful  and  domestic 
animals,  the  general  advancement  of  rural  economy 
and  household  manufactures,  and  the  dissemination  of 
useful  knowledge  upon  these  subjects. 

At  a  meeting  of  persons  interested  in  the  enter- 
prise, which  was  held  on  the  4th  of  February,  1856, 
it  was  decided  that  books  should  be  prepared  at  once, 
and  the  public  invited  to  take  the  stock  of  the  cor- 
poration. All  the  stock  was  soon  subscribed  for,  and 
on  the  4th  of  May  the  following  persons  were  elected . 
the  first  board  of  directors  :  Andrew  Harper,  Thomas 
T.  January,  Henry  C.  Hart,  John  Withnell,  Thorn- 
ton Grimsley,  Frederick  Dings,  James  M.  Hughes, 
Henry  S.  Turner,  Charles  L.  Hunt,  John  M.  Cham- 
bers, Henry  T.  Blow,  Norman  J.  Coleman,  and  J.  R. 
Barret. 

On  the  following  day  the  board  elected  the  follow- 
ing officers  :  President,  J.  R.  Barret ;  Vice-Presidents, 
Thornton  Grimsley,  Andrew  Harper,  and  Henry  Clay 
Hart ;  Treasurer,  Henr}r  S.  Turner ;  General  Agent 
and  Recording  Secretary,  G.  0.  Kalb  ;  Corresponding 
Secretary,  0.  W.  Collet.  P.  McAndrew  was  ap- 
pointed superintendent.  It  was  determined  to  hold 
a  fair  some  time  during  the  following  autumn,  but 
considerable  delay  was  experienced  in  choosing  a  loca- 
tion for  the  grounds.  Finally,  however,  fifty  acres  of 
land  at  the  northwest  corner  of  Grand  Avenue  and 
Natural  Bridge  plank-road,  about  three  miles  from  the 
court-house,  was  purchased  from  Col.  John  O'Fallon 
for  fifty  thousand  dollars,  the  company  being  given 
twelve  years  in  which  to  pay  the  principal,  the  first 
two  years'  interest  to  be  taken  in  stock.  The  grounds 
possessed  natural  advantages  for  the  purpose,  and  being 
contiguous  to  the  water-works,  were  conveniently  lo- 
cated for  obtaining  an  abundant  supply  of  water.  A 
fence  nine  feet  high  inclosing  them  was  speedily 
erected,  and  although  the  plans  for  the  buildings  were 
not  matured  until  July,  the  work  was  pushed  forward 
so  vigorously  that  the  managers  were  enabled  to  open 
the  fair  on  the  13th  of  October.  In  the  short  space 
of  three  months  the  grounds  were  graded,  walks  and 
avenues  laid  out,  and  a  number  of  buildings  erected. 
The  latter  included  an  amphitheatre,  a  building  for 
the  mechanical  department,  a  floral  hall,  and  a  ma- 
chine-shop, together  with  three  hundred  and  fifty 
horse  and  cattle  stalls  and  a  number  of  pens  for  sheep 
and  swine.  Water  from  the  reservoir  was  also  intro- 
duced, and  the  grounds  were  ornamented  with  a  num- 
ber of  fountains.  For  the  purchase  of  the  ground 
and  erection  of  the  buildings  the  sum  of  thirty  thou- 
sand dollars,  afterwards  increased  to  forty  thousand 
dollars,  was  appropriated  by  the  directors.  The  build- 
ing committee  was  composed  of  J.  R.  Barret,  Henry 


1814 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT-  LOUIS. 


C.  Hart,  Henry  T.  Blow,  and  Andrew  Harper,  assisted 
by  A.  L.  Lyle. 

The  fair  opened  Oct.  13,  1856,  and  the  attendance 
was  very  large,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the 
weather  was  inclement.  At  eleven  o'clock  the  Na- 
tional Guards  arrived  on  the  grounds,  and  were  fol- 
lowed by  the  Washington  Guards  and  the  Grays. 
Hon.  Sterling  Price,  Governor  of  Missouri,  who  was 
present  on  horseback,  reviewed  these  organizations, 
after  which  there  were  track  exhibitions  of  horses.  T. 
T.  January  was  superintendent  of  the  fair  on  the  open- 
ing day,  and  the  committees  on  awards  consisted  of 
gentlemen  from  different  States.  The  premium  list 
amounted  to  ten  thousand  dollars,  and  the  receipts  from 
the  gate,  entrance  fees,  and  other  sources,  to  twenty- 
five  thousand  dollars.  The  success  of  the  fair  was 
very  marked,  and  as  it  was  in  great  measure  due  to 
the  labors  of  Hon.  J.  R.  Barret,  president  of  the  as- 
sociation, those  most  interested  decided  to  present 
him  with  a  testimonial  of  his  services.  Accordingly 
in  December  following  a  handsome  silver  service  was 
purchased  and  presented  to  Mr.  Barret. 

In  1857  the  second  fair  of  the  association  was  held, 
and  was  even  more  successful  than  the  first  one.  The 
premiums  were  increased  to  sixteen  thousand  dollars, 
and  the  receipts  amounted  to  over  twenty-eight  thou- 
sand dollars.  A  handsome  Gothic  structure,  known 
as  the  Fine  Art  Hall,  for  the  exhibition  of  statuary 
and  paintings,  and  a  gallinarium  of  wire  network, 
three  stories  high,  and  divided  into  ninety  compart- 
ments, were  erected  for  this  exhibition.  At  the  third 
annual  fair,  which  began  on  the  7th  of  September, 
the  attendance  was  greater  than  at  either  of  its  prede- 
cessors, and  St.  Louis  was  visited  by  a  concourse  of 
strangers  greater  than  it  ever  witnessed  before.  From 
the  report  of  the  secretary  of  the  association  from  its 
organization  to  Dec.  1,  1858,  it  appears  that  the  cap- 
ital stock  was  sixty-nine  thousand  one  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars,  and  the  sum  of  sixty-eight  thousand  six 
hundred  and  fifty-five  dollars  and  ninety-six  cents  had 
been  expended  for  improvements  on  the  grounds. 
The  contract  with  Col.  O'Fallon  gave  the  association 
twelve  years  in  which  to  pay  for  the  land,  but  as  there 
was  a  surplus  the  directors  made  a  payment  Nov.  30, 
1858,  of  ten  thousand  dollars.  The  dimensions  of  the 
buildings  then  on  the  ground  were:  Amphitheatre, 
diameter,  three  hundred  and  five  feet;  circumference, 
nine  hundred  and  fifteen  feet ;  arena  within  the  am- 
phitheatre, diameter,  two  hundred  and  twenty-five 
feet ;  circumference,  six  hundred  and  seventy-five  feet. 
Floral  Hall,  diameter,  seventy-six  feet ;  circumference, 
two  hundred  and  twenty-eight  feet.  Art  Hall,  an 
oval  building,  eighty-five  feet  iu  length.  Agricul- 


tural Department,  two  hundred  by  thirty  feet.  Me- 
chanical Department,  seventy-nine  by  thirty-one  and 
a  half  feet.  Machinery  Department,  two  hundred 
by  forty  feet.  Pagoda,  forty-five  feet  in  height,  and 
divided  into  three  stories,  the  pole  around  which  it 
was  built  being  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  high. 

In  addition  to  these  structures  there  were  a  num- 
ber of  other  buildings,  including  a  large  carriage  de- 
partment, a  gallinarium,  and  a  handsome  Gothic 
cottage,  with  reception-rooms  for  ladies.  The  amphi- 
theatre seated  twelve  thousand  persons,  and  the  two 
promenades,  one  at  the  base  and  the  other  at  the  top 
of  the  seats,  afforded  accommodations  for  twenty-four 
thousand  more. 

The  exercises  at  the  opening  of  the  fair  of  1858 
were  accompanied  as  usual  by  a  parade  of  the  military 
organizations  of  St.  Louis,  commanded  by  Brig. -Gen. 

1  D.  M.  Frost,  and  including  the  Light  Artillery  Bat- 
talion, Col.  Henry  Almstedt ;  the  Mounted  Rifle  Bat- 
talion, Maj.  Schaeffer;  the  First  Regiment  of  In- 

i  fantry,  commanded  by  Col.  J.  M.  Pritchard,  and 
composed  of  six  companies,  viz. :  St.  Louis  Grays, 
Capt.  John  Knapp ;  Missouri  Guard,  Capt.  George 
W.  West;  the  Washington  Guards,  Capt.  Patrick 
Gorman  ;  the  National  Guard,  Capt.  John  B.  Gray ; 
the  Emmet  Guards,  Capt.  Thomas  F.  Smith  ;  and 
the  Washington  Blues,  Capt.  Joseph  Kelley  ;  and 
the  Rifle  Battalion,  under  the  command  of  Maj. 
John  C.  Smith,  composed  of  two  companies,  the 
Union  Rifles,  Capt.  Kohr,  and  the  Missouri  Rifles, 
Capt.  Schultz. 

The  premium  list  was  enlarged  from  year  to  year 
until,  in  1860,  it  aggregated  the  sum  of  twenty-five 
thousand  dollars,  but  the  receipts  continued  to  increase, 
and  in  that  year  amounted  to  forty-five  thousand 
dollars.  During  the  civil  war  the  exhibitions  were 
suspended,  but  in  1866,  through  the  efforts  of  the 
president,  A.  B.  Barret,  and  others,  they  were  re- 
sumed. 

In  October  of  that  year  a  fair  was  held,  and  pre- 
miums amounting  to  thirty  thousand  dollars  were 
awarded.  Since  then  the  association  has  continued 
to  grow  and  prosper  until  it  has  now  become  one  of 
the  greatest,  if  not  the  greatest,  organizations  of  its 
kind  in  the  country.  One  of  the  characteristic 
features  of  the  association  is  that  its  stock  does  not, 
nor  was  it  ever  intended  to,  pay  any  dividends. 
The  stock  amounts  to  eighty-two  thousand  and  fifty 
dollars,  and  is  so  well  distributed  (the  individual 
holders  numbering  one  thousand  and  fifty-seven)  that 
on  the  average  no  single  holder  has  more  than  two 

I  shares.     The  only  privilege  that  stockholders  have  is 

'  that  of  free  admission  to  the  grounds  at  all  times. 


RELIGIOUS,  BENEVOLENT,  SOCIAL,  SECRET,  AND   OTHER  ORGANIZATIONS.      1815 


In  this  way  the  association  is  enabled  out  of  its  sur- 
plus to  improve  and  embellish  its  grounds  and  erect 
the  necessary  buildings.  The  amphitheatre,  which 
was  first  built,  was  reconstructed  in  1870,  and  devoted 
to  the  display  of  manufactured  goods  and  textile 
fabrics  until  1876,  when  it  was  taken  down,  and  a 
new  mechanical  hall,  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  wide 
and  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long,  having  two  spans  of 
forty-five  feet  each,  and  a  central  span  of  sixty  feet, 
was  erected.  These  improvements  were  completed  in 
1877,  when  an  exposition  was  combined  with  the 
usual  annual  fair,  and  proved  a  success  beyond  the 
expectations  of  the  most  sanguine.  The  building 
is  lighted  by  large  skylights  running  through  the 
centre.  The  interior  diameter  of  the  new  amphi- 
theatre, in  which  stock  displays  are  made,  is  four 
hundred  and  fifty  feet.  The  track  is  half  a  mile 
in  length.  The  .original  fifty  acres  have  been 
increased  to  eighty-three  and  fifty-six-hundredths 
acres,  costing  over  one  hundred  thousand  dollars, 
and  in  1876  a  brick  building,  covering  an  area  of 
twenty  thousand  square  feet,  was  built  for  the  floral 
department,  and  a  zoological  garden  was  erected  at  a 
cost  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  in  connection 
with  which  a  school  of  drawing  was  established. 
The  grounds  of  the  association,  when  first  purchased, 
were  embellished  with  fine  trees  of  natural  growth, 
and  to  their  attractions  have  been  added  handsome  ; 
buildings,  and  all  the  beauties  that  can  be  created  by 
the  highest  art  of  the  landscape  gardener  and  horti- 
culturist. The  imposing  structures  and  handsome 
surroundings  make  up  a  picture  of  unusual  attrac- 
tiveness and  beauty.  The  grounds  are  eligibly 
located  on  Grand  Avenue,  within  the  city  limits,  and 
are  easy  of  access  from  all  quarters. 

The  association  has  proved  one  of  the  most  im-  '• 
portant  of  the  factors  in  the  industrial  growth  of  St. 
Louis,  and,  indeed,  in  the  development  of  the  agri- 
cultural and  mechanical  resources  of  the  entire  State. 
During  the  twenty-six  years  of  its  existence  it  has 
expanded  beyond  the  most  sanguine  expectations  of 
its  founders,  and  at  the  present  time  enjoys  a  national 
reputation. 

The  money  expended  on  improvements  since  1856 
amounts  to  over  one  million  dollars,  and  the  buildings 
thus  erected  are  the  most  commodious  and  the  most 
conveniently  arranged  structures  of  their  kind  to  be 
found  in  any  fair  inclosure  in  the  United  States,  every  I 
class  of  exhibition  being  located  in  a  separate  hall 
or  iuclosure  especially  adapted  to  the  purpose  for 
which  it  is  intended.  The  Zoological  Garden  is  con- 
stantly increasing  in  size  and  attractiveness,  every  year 
witnessing  the  erection  of  new  buildings  for  the  re- 


ception of  additions  to  the  collection.  The  grounds 
are  kept  in  admirable  condition  during  the  entire  year, 
and  the  spacious  drives  make  them  one  of  the  popular 
resorts  of  the  city,  even  when  not  occupied  by  the 
annual  fair,  which  occurs  in  October,  lasting  six  days. 
The  premium  list  of  the  Fair  Association  has  always 
been  generous,  and  is  constantly  increasing,  and  the 
lively  competition  thus  created  has  raised  the  standard 
of  stock  and  productions  of  all  kinds,  not  only  in  the 
State  of  Missouri,  but  throughout  the  entire  Missis- 
sippi valley. 

The  attendance  at  the  Fair  Grounds  during  fair  week 
averages  forty  thousand  daily,  and  fifty  thousand  dol- 
lars is  distributed  in  premiums. 

The  chief  officers  of  the  society  from  1856  to  1875 
were — 

1856-59.  J.  Richard  Barret,  president,  and  Henry  S.  Tur- 
ner, treasurer.  G.  0.  Kalb,  the  present  secretary,  has  been 
acting  in  that  capacity  since  1856. 

1860.  A.  Harper,  president. 

1861-65.  Charles  Todd,  president;  Benjamin  O'Fallon,  treas- 
urer for  1861,  and  D.  G.  Taylor  from  1862  to  1866. 

1866-73.  A.  B.  Barret,  president;  with  Benjamin  Sanford, 
treasurer  for  1867-68,  and  B.  M.  Chambers  from  1869  to  1873. 

1874.  Julius  S.  Walsh,  president;  E.  M.  Lackland,  treas- 
urer. 

The  present  officers  are — 

Charles  Green,  president ;  R.  P.  Tansey,  first  vice-president ; 
E.  A.  Filley,  second  vice-president ;  Hercules  L.  Dousman, 
third  vice-president;  John  J.  Menges,  treasurer;  and  G.  0. 
Kalb,  secretary  and  superintendent.  The  present  directors  are 
A.  B.  Pendleton,  Julius  S.  Walsh,  Charles  Green,  James  C.  Ed- 
wards, R.  P.  Tansey,  Johnston  Beggs,  M.  Fraley,  George  Bain, 
David  Clarkson,  John  G.  Prather,  L.  M.  Rumsey,  John  J.  Men- 
ges, Ed.  Harrison,  D.  P.  Rowland,  Hercules  L.  Dousman,  John 
Scullin,  S.  M.  Dodd,  E.  A.  Filley,  A.  B.  Ewing,  William  W. 
Withnell,  and  James  S.  Farrar. 

From  the  secretary's  report  for  the  fiscal  year  be- 
ginning Dec.  1,  1880,  and  ending  Dec.  1,  1881,  it 
appears  that  the  value  of  the  improvements  was 
$204,897.95,  and  that  of  the  real  estate  3135,880.16. 
Stock  had  been  issued  to  the  amount  of  $82,050,  and 
bonds  to  the  amount  of  $160,000.  The  total  assets 
of  the  company  amounted  to  $459,768.32. 

In  1874,  Charles  Green  became  a  leading  stock- 
holder in  the  St.  Louis  Agricultural  and  Mechanical 
Association,  and  served  as  director  until  January, 
1880,  when  he  was  elected  president.  He  has  been 
re-elected  to  this  position  every  year  since.  Under 
his  management  the  St.  Louis  Fair  has  increased 
in  attractiveness,  and  has  taken  so  strong  a  hold 
upon  public  favor  that  it  is  hardly  an  exaggeration 
to  say  that  it  has  become  the  great  yearly  festival  of 
the  Southwest. 

Charles  Green  was  born  near  Ballinasloe,  County 
Galway,  Ireland,  in  1838.  His  family  possessed  a 


1816 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


large  landed  estate,  including  the  historically  celebrated 
Green  Hills,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  places  in 
the  Emerald  Isle,  and  cherished  with  pardonable 
family  pride  the  traditions  of  their  ancestral  home  and 
of  its  profuse  hospitality.  Young  Green  was  sent  to 
school  at  a  neighboring  town,  and  at  the  age  of  fifteen 
entered  the  college  at  Galway,  making  his  home  with 
a  gentleman  named  Rochford,  a  distinguished  lawyer 
of  that  region.  He  remained  at  Galway  about  two 
years,  and  in  the  intervals  of  study  read  law. 

When  he  was  seventeen  his  father  died,  involving 
a  change  in  his  fortunes.  He  relinquished  the  elegant 
surroundings  to  which  he  had  been  accustomed,  and 
in  1857  emigrated  to  America,  and,  in  response  to  an 
invitation  from  his  brother  Thomas,  settled  in  St. 
Louis,  where  his  brother  was  established  in  mercan- 
tile business.  He  was  placed  by  Thomas  in  the  St. 
Louis  University,  where  he  finished  his  education. 
It  was  intended  that  he  should  study  law,  but  his 
health  failed  under  the  severe  course  at  the  univer- 
sity, and  when  he  left  that  institution  he  accepted  a 
position  in  the  post-office  under  Peter  L.  Foy.  He 
remained  in  this  capacity  about  a  year,  and  then  for 
four  years  filled  the  position  of  book-keeper  in  the 
State  Savings  Association.  When  the  Merchants' 
Union  Express  Company  established  itself  in  St.  Louis, 
he  was  offered  and  accepted  the  position  of  cashier, 
but  in  about  a  year  relinquished  it  to  engage  in  busi- 
ness on  his  own  account.  In  1866  he  established  the 
real  estate  firm  of  Green  &  La  Motte,  which  is  still 
the  title  of  the  house,  although  his  partner,  F.  X.  La 
Motte,  a  college  friend,  died  in  1868. 

Mr.  Green's  fidelity  to  all  trusts  reposed  in  him,  and 
his  prompt  and  energetic  method  of  transacting  busi- 
ness commended  him  to  the  favor  of  the  public,  and 
soon  brought  him  a  prosperous  and  continuously  in- 
creasing patronage.  He  has.  perhaps,  been  intrusted 
with  the  administration  of  more  large  estates  than  any 
other  citizen.  He  was  commissioner -for  the  Benoist 
estate,  and  is  now  the  executor  of  the  estate  of  John 
Withnell.  In  his  will  Mr.  Withnell  expressly  stipu- 
lated that  Mr.  Green  should  not  be  required  to  give 
bond.  These  trusts,  and  many  similar  ones,  he  has 
so  managed  as  to  earn  the  gratitude  of  those  whom  he 
has  served. 

His  clear  and  exact  knowledge  of  real  estate  values 
was  recognized  by  the  County  Court  of  St.  Louis 
County  in  1873,  when  he  was  elected  by  that  body 
president  of  the  Board  of  Assessors.  In  this  delicate 
and  responsible  position,  requiring  such  nice  and  care- 
ful exercise  of  judgment,  and  so  much  firmness,  he 
reduced  the  business  of  the  office  to  one  of  perfect 
system,  and  such  a  spirit  of  fairness  characterized  his 


administration  as  to  win  for  him  the  good  will  and 
esteem  of  the  public.  The  popular  estimate  of  his 
services  appears  from  the  fact  that  he  was  unanimously 
re-elected  to  the  same  position  for  four  successive 
terms. 

Mr.  Green  has  also  served  the  public  in  other 
important  capacities.  He  was  a  commissioner  for  the 
condemnation  of  the  Forest  Park  property  and  of  the 
Northern  Park,  and  was  also  commissioner  to  value 
the  property  of  the  Columbia  Life  Insurance  Com- 
pany. He  was  appointed  receiver  of  the  Central 
Savings- Bank,  and  the  next  day  filed  his  bond  for 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  on  which  occasion  the 
court  (Judge  Krekel)  praised  the  promptness  with 
which  the  document  had  been  prepared,  and  the  ex- 
traordinary high  character  of  the  names  it  bore,  and 
complimented  Mr.  Green  upon  the  high  financial  and 
social  standing  which  enabled  him  to  furnish  a  bond 
for  so  large  an  amount  in  so  short  a  time,  with  such 
exceptional  indorsements. 

A  similar  but  even  more  creditable  experience  was 
his  when,  a  year  or  two  since,  he  was  elected  assignee 
of  the  Keokuk  and  Northern  Line  Packet  Company. 
He  was  notified  of  his  appointment  on  Saturday,  and 
on  the  following  Monday  morning  his  bond  for  three 
hundred  and  seventy-six  thousand  dollars  was  filed 
and  approved.  Besides  the  several  interests  men- 
tioned above,  Mr.  Green  has  charge  of  many  estates 
owned  by  the  wealthiest  citizens  of  St.  Louis,  and  the 
confidence  reposed  in  him  is  almost  unbounded.  Not 
only  has  he  managed  the  estates  of  others  with  suc- 
cess and  to  their  perfect  satisfaction,  but  he  has  in- 
vested his  own  means  in  real  estate  so  judiciously 
that  he  has  gained  a  fortune. 

As  a  public-spirited  and  enterprising  citizen,  Mr. 
Green  occupies  a  foremost  rank.  He  was  a  large 
subscriber  to  the  company  that  built  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce,  one  of  the  city's  chief  ornaments,  and  has 
been  a  director  therein  since  1875.  He  has  also  a 
large  interest  in  the  various  street  railway  companies, 
and  is  a  director  in  several  of  these  corporations.  He 
aided  prominently  in  the  organization  of  the  Real 
Estate  Exchange,  and  has  been  its  president  since 
April,  1880.  In  1879  he  formed  one  of  a  syndicate 
that  bought  the  Carondelet  Gas  Company,  and  is  the 
vice-president  of  the  corporation. 

In  1868,  Mr.  Green  was  married  to  Miss  Henrietta 
Prenatt,  the  daughter  of  a  prominent  merchant  of 
Madison,  Ind.,  by  whom  he  has  had  seven  children. 

Mr.  Green's  personal  characteristics  are  a  firm  de- 
termination, keen  foresight,  a  rigid  integrity,  and  a 
steady  judgment.  Although  born  rich,  he  inherited 
no  fortune,  but  beginning  life  as  a  poor  boy,  he  easily 


RELIGIOUS,  BENEVOLENT,  SOCIAL,  SECRET,  AND  OTHER   ORGANIZATIONS.      1817 


amassed  a  competence,  and  at  the  same  time  won  the 
honor  and  respect  of  his  fellow-citizens. 

The  St.  Louis  Jockey  Club. — Horse-racing  was 
very  popular  in  St.  Louis  at  an  early  period  of  the 
city's  history,  and  to  the  pony  contests  of  the  colonial 
period  succeeded  the  trials  of  speed  between  thor- 
oughbreds, which  attracted  large  assemblages  to  the 
"  prairie  horse-track"  on  the  north  side  of  the  St. 
Charles  Rock  road,  immediately  opposite  the  ground 
on  which  the  Abbey  track  was  subsequently  estab- 
lished by  Henry  Doyer.  One  of  the  famous  races  on 
this  course  was  the  four-mile  heat  race  in  1848  be- 
tween the  runners  "  Doubloon"  and  "  Emily,"  which 
was  won  by  the  latter,  ridden  by  the  well-known  jockey 
Gilpatrick.  A  jockey  club  was  organized  in  1828, 
and  the  races  of  that  year  commenced  on  Thursday, 
October  9th,  and  continued  three  days, — first  day, 
three  miles  and  repeat,  for  a  purse  of  two  hundred 
dollars ;  second  day,  two  miles  and  repeat,  for  a  purse 
of  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars ;  third  day,  one  mile 
and  repeat,  for  a  purse  of  one  hundred  dollars,  free 
for  any  horse,  mare,  or  gelding.  The  racing  was  gov- 
erned by  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the  association, 
of  which  Benjamin  Ames  was  the  secretary. 

On  the  23d  of  September,  1848,  a  new  jockey 
club  was  organized  at  the  Prairie  House.  Among 
the  prominent  patrons  of  the  turf  about  this  time 
were  George  W.  Goode,  Col.  D.  D.  Mitchell,  William 
L.  Sublette,  Henry  Shacklett,  Col.  A.  B.  Chambers, 
of  the  Republican;  Capt.  White,  of  St.  Charles, 
trainer  of  the  race-horse  "St.  Louis;"  Thomas  Moore, 
Benjamin  Ames,  proprietor  of  the  track  ;  James  Bissell, 
Benjamin  Payne,  the  importer  of  '' Altorf;"  Charles 
Keemle,  of  the  Reveille;  Gen.  Bernard  Pratte,  Charles 
L.  Hunt,  Archibald  and  William  C.  Taylor,  Matthew 
Shaffner,  Robert  O'Blenis,  George  Marshall,  Dr. 
William  Hammond,  U.S.A.,  Maj.  R.  E.  Lee,  U.S.A., 
Thornton  Grimsley,  B.  W.  Alexander,  Gen.  Ruland, 
Basil  Duke,  Walter  Dorset,  Thomas  J.  Payne,  Fer- 
dinand Kennett,  Charles  Gilpin,  Clay  Taylor,  Leon- 
idas  Walker,  Col.  Samuel  B.  Churchill,  Howard 
Christy,  Judge  Wash,  Uriel  Wright,  Church  Black- 
burn, Judge  James  B.  Bowlin,  and  Gen.  William 
Milburn. 

A  track  was  laid  out  in  an  inclosure  of  eighty  acres, 
three  miles  from  St.  Louis,  on  the  macadamized  road 
to  Manchester,  and  bounded  on  the  south  by  the  Pa- 
cific Railroad.  The  races  on  this  track  commenced 
on  the  8th  of  October,  1848. 

The  present  St.  Louis  Jockey  Club  Company  was 
organized  in  1877,  with  a  capital  stock  of  fifty  thou- 
sand dollars,  the  charter  having  been  granted  on  the 
27th  of  August  of  that  year.  The  incorporators  were 


John  M.  Harney,  H.  L.  Dousman,  J.  B.  McCul- 
lough,  Julius  S.  Walsh,  William  Patrick,  Edwin 
Harrison,  Ellis  Wainwright,  C.  B.  Greeley,  and 
Samuel  Ecker.  About  forty-five  thousand  dollars  of 
the  stock  was  promptly  subscribed,  and  the  ground 
afterwards  known  as  the  Cote  Brilliante  track  was 
purchased  and  adapted  to  the  purposes  of  racing,  at 
a  cost  of  seventy  thousand  dollars.  The  track  was 
opened  to  the  public  on  the  4th  of  June,  1877. 
Trotting  races  were  given  at  intervals,  but  did  not 
prove  financially  successful,  the  St.  Louis  public  pre- 
ferring the  running  contests.  The  company  was  re- 
organized in  February,  1880,  and  another  charter 
was  granted  in  February,  1882.  The  club  is  one  of 
the  leading  turf  organizations  of  the  country,  and  has 
done  much  to  elevate  the  standard  of  racing  in  the 
West.  Its  membership  comprises  many  representa- 
tive citizens  of  St.  Louis,  and  the  association  is  now 
in  a  flourishing  condition. 

Its  rooms  are  located  at  No.  18  South  Fifth 
Street,  and  the  track  is  situated  on  Lucas  and  Hunt's 
addition  to  Cote  Brilliante,  bounded  on  the  north  by 
the  St.  Charles  Rock  road,  on  the  south  by  Page 
i  Avenue,  on  the  west  by  Union  Avenue,  and  on  the 
!  east  by  King's  Highway.  The  grounds  are  within 
the  city  limits,  about  four  and  one-half  miles  west  of 
the  court-house.  The  race-track  is  a  full  mile  in  cir- 
cumference, and  is  said  to  be  very  fast.  The  grand 
stand  is  capable  of  seating  six  thousand  persons.  The 
stables  are  located  both  inside  and  outside  of  the  in- 
closure, and  contain  stalls  for  the  accommodation  of 
two  hundred  horses.  The  grounds  and  surroundings 
are  very  handsome,  and  are  said  to  surpass  any  racing 
grounds  in  the  country.  Annual  meetings  are  held, 
lasting  from  seven  to  eight  days,  in  June. 
The  officers  of  the  association  are — 


John  M.  Harney,  president;  H.  L.  Dousman  and  J.  B.  Mc- 
Cullough,  vice-presidents;  Ellis  Wainwright,  treasurer;  and 
Lewis  A.  Clarke,  secretary;  Directors,  John  M.  Harney,  J.  B. 
McCullough,  H.  L.  Dousman,  Julius  S.  Walsh,  William  Pat- 
rick, Edwin  Harrison,  Ellis  Wainwright,  C.  B.  Greeley,  and 
;  Samuel  Ecker. 

CLUBS. 

The  Harmonic  Club  is  an  association  of  Hebrews, 
;  organized  in  1857  for  the  promotion  of  social  inter- 
course. Among  the  founders  and  promoters  were  M. 
Hellman,  Julius  Klyman,  B.  Singer,  and  L.  Hell- 
mann.  The  original  membership  numbered  about 
twenty-five,  but  it  comprised  the  leading  men  of  the 
race  then  living  in  the  city,  and  the  club  has  always 
been  a  representative  Hebrew  society.  M.  Hellman 
was  the  first  president,  and  his  successors  were  L. 
Hellmann,  L.  Steinberger,  A.  Langsdorf,  August 


1818 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Frank,  and  Nathan  Frank.  August  Frank  was  pres- 
ident the  longest  period,  six  years. 

For  fifteen  years  the  club  had  rooms  on  Market 
Street,  between  Fourth  and  Fifth,  and  for  ten  years 
it  has  occupied  quarters  on  Fourth  Street,  between 
Plum  and  Myrtle  ;  but  lately  the  desire  for  a  more 
central  location  has  led  to  the  purchase  of  a  lot,  eighty 
by  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  feet  on  the  northeast 
corner  of  Eighteenth  and  Olive  Streets,  and  the  club 
is  now  erecting  a  building  which  is  designed,  when 
completed,  to  be  one  of  the  finest  structures  of  the 
sort  in  the  country  outside  of  New  York.  It  will  be 
a  three-story  pressed -brick  building,  with  stone  cap- 
pings,  will  cost  nearly  fifty  thousand  dollars,  and  is 
intended  to  be  an  architectural  ornament  to  the  city 
and  a  monument  of  the  enterprise  and  taste  of  the 
Hebrews  of  St.  Louis. 

The  present  membership  of  the  club  numbers  about 
one  hundred  and  ten.  The  officers  are — 

President,  Nathan  Frank;  Vice- President,  A.  Langsdorf; 
Secretary,  M.  Linz ;  Treasurer,  J.  Meyberg;  Directors,  J.  L. 
Singer,  S.  Meyer,  W.  Hernstien,  M.  Kahn,  M.  Michels,  J. 
Frank,  H.  Binswanger. 

The  Concordia  Club. — When  the  Harmonic  Club 
selected  its  new  location  in  Western  St.  Louis,  it  was 
seen  that  the  change  would  inconvenience  many  of  the 
members  living  in  the  southern  part  of  the  city ;  con- 
sequently in  the  spring  of  1882  a  number  of  its  mem- 
bers seceded,  and  on  the  26th  of  May  the  Concordia 
Club  was  organized  with  some  thirty  members  and 
the  following  officers : 

President,  Leopold  Steinberger;  Vice-President,  Albert 
Frankenthal ;  Secretary,  Samuel  Steiner ;  Treasurer,  L.  E. 
Green  ;  Directors,  Dr.  M.  Spitz,  Frank  Block,  M.  H.  Holzman, 
S.  A.  River,  R.  Weil. 

The  University  Club. — In  January,  1872,  some 
twenty  college-bred  men  met  and  organized  "  The 
University  Club."  Among  the  incorporators  were 
Thomas  C.  Reynolds,  James  S.  Garland,  Charles 
Branch.  Edward  Wyman,  John  W.  Noble,  S.  Water- 
house,  Charles  H.  Goodman,  C.  C.  Whittlesey,  Alex- 
ander Martin,  J.  S.  Fullerton,  Thomas  Davidson, 
Charles  A.  Todd,  John  A.  Dillon,  E.  H.  Carvier, 
Frank  J.  Donovan,  D.  J.  Snider,  and  George  S. 
Edgell. 

The  articles  of  association  declare  the  purpose  of 
the  society  to  be  "  to  promote  literature,  science,  and 
art,  and  secure  a  closer  union  and  co-operation  of  col- 
lege and  university  men  and  graduates,  with  a  view 
to  a  broader  and  higher  culture,"  etc.  At  first  the 
idea  of  a  large  club,  with  those  concomitants  which 
the  word  "  club"  implies,  was  not  suggested,  but  the 
organization  prospered  to  such  an  extent  that  a  build- 


ing was  soon  felt  to  be  an  imperative  necessity.  In 
like  manner  it  was  found  expedient  to  abolish  the 
restriction  making  a  collegiate  education  the  test  of 
membership.  Still  the  club,  while  becoming  more  of 
a  social  institution  than  was  perhaps  contemplated, 
has  always  been  under  the  control  of  former  collegians, 
and  has  preserved  the  traditions  of  its  early  life  in 
the  high  character  of  its  members.  It  now  em- 
braces in  its  membership  the  leading  professional 
and  business  men  of  the  city.  The  first  officers 
were  :  President,  Hon.  Thomas  Allen  ;  Vic^-Presi- 
dents,  Thomas  C.  Reynolds,  Albert  Todd,  Samuel 
Treat,  Dr.  M.  M.  Fallen,  Dr.  J.  B.  Johnson,  Lewis 
B.  Parsons ;  Secretary,  James  S.  Garland ;  Treas- 
urer, M.  Dwight  Collier ;  Directors,  Edward  Wy- 
man, Charles  H.  Goodman,  Charles  Branch,  Newton 
Crane,  Thomas  Davidson,  J.  S.  Fullerton,  E.  T. 
Merrick,  John  W.  Noble,  Sylvester  Waterhouse. 

Of  the  above  officers,  the  Hon.  Thomas  Allen 
served  continuously  as  president  until  his  death  at 
Washington,  March,  1882,  while  a  member  of  Con- 
gress, and  Mr.  Garland  has  been  secretary  for  the 
whole  period,  one  year  excepted. 

For  three  years  the  club  occupied  quarters  at  911 
Olive  Street.  It  then  removed  to  1125  Washington 
Avenue,  where  it  has  had  a  well-arranged,  well- 
furnished,  and  very  commodious  building.  For  two 
or  three  years  past  there  has  been  a  growing  feeling 
that  the  club  was  too  far  "  out  of  town"  for  the  con- 
venience  of  the  members,  and  during  the  winter  of 
1881-82  these  views  formally  prevailed,  and  quarters 
are  being  prepared  in  the  large  building  on  the  north- 
east corner  of  Fifth  and  Olive  Streets,  on  a  scale 
commensurate  with  the  standing  and  means  of  the 
club. 

At  the  annual  meeting  in  January,  1882,  Prof. 
M.  S.  Snow,  secretary  of  the  board  of  directors,  gave 
an  interesting  sketch  of  the  history  of  the  club.  The 
beginnings  were  modest, — ten  dollars  initiation  fee  and 
ten  dollars  yearly  dues  disclose  the  unambitious  char- 
acter of  the  society.  Few  of  the  members  had  any 
idea  of  the  nature  and  functions  of  a  club.  But  in 
spite  of  various  drawbacks  and  the  constant  raising  of 
the  fees  and  dues  until  they  are  now  about  one  hun- 
dred dollars  a  year,  the  active  and  useful  membership 
has  constantly  increased,  and  now  numbers  about 
three  hundred  and  fifty,  with  applications  constantly 
being  received. 

The  present  officers  of  the  University  Club  are — 

President,  Samuel  M.  Breckinridge;  Vice-Presidents,  William 
II.  Pulsifer,  Charles  Speck,  Marshall  S.  Snow,  Heber  Liver- 
more,  Allan  B.  Pendleton,  Arthur  Lee;  Secretary,  James  S. 
Garland  ;  Treasurer,  Huntington  Smith  ;  Directors,  Estill  Me- 


RELIGIOUS,  BENEVOLENT,  SOCIAL,  SECRET,  AND  OTHER   ORGANIZATIONS.      1819 


Henry,  John  0.  F.  Delaney,  N.  S.  Chouteau,  II.  S.  Brookings, 
Joseph  S.  Fullerton,  S.  E.  Hoffman,  D.  F.  Colville,  Newton 
Crane,  Henry  S.  Potter. 

St.  Louis  Commercial  Club. — This  club  was  or- 
ganized in  October,  1880,  and  was  modeled  after  the 
Boston  Commercial  Club,  which  was  the  first  of  its 
class.  Its  objects  are  purely  social,  the  design  being 
to  cultivate  a  feeling  of  fraternity  among  all  classes  of 
business  men,  and,  by  affiliating  with  similar  clubs 
elsewhere,  to  promote  a  feeling  of  fellowship  among 
the  business  men  of  widely-separated  sections.  The 
membership  is  limited  to  sixty  persons,  who  em- 
brace the  representative  men  of  St.  Louis  in  the 
various  departments  of  trade  and  manufactures,  and 
meetings  are  held  monthly,  at  which,  with  a  banquet, 
are  discussed  matters  pertaining  to  the  commercial 
advancement  of  the  city.  In  October,  1882,  the 
club  entertained  the  Commercial  Clubs  of  Boston, 
Chicago,  and  Cincinnati.  The  following  have  been 
the  officers  of  the  club  from  its  foundation : 

President,  Gerard  B.  Allen  ;  Vice- President,  E.  0.  Stanard; 
Treasurer,  Joseph  Franklin  ;  Secretary,  Newton  Crane ;  Execu- 
tive Committee,  Edwin  Harrison,  E.  C.  Simmons,  S.  M.  Dodd. 

Germania  Association. — The  Germania  Associa- 
tion was  chartered  Feb.  16,  1865,  by  special  act  of 
the  Legislature,  the  incorporators  being  James  Taus- 
sig,  Charles  F.  Meyer,  Charles  Euslin,  Julius  Con- 
rad, Louis  Holm,  Charles  F.  Eggers,  William  D'Oench, 
J.  F.  Zisemann,  William  Hunicke,  August  Waldauer, 
Charles  Balmer,  Ignatius  A.  Day,  and  Moritz  H. 
Lemcke.  The  first  directors  were  Julius  Conrad,  C. 
F.  Meyer,  Felix  Coste,  Charles  De  Greek,  William 
D'Oench,  John  L.  Fiala,  Louis  Holm,  William  J. 
Romyn,  F.  W.  Rosenthal,  James  Taussig,  and  J.  F. 
Zisemann.  The  first  officers  were :  President,  Charles 
F.  Meyer ;  Vice-President,  Louis  Holm ;  Secretary, 
Charles  De  Greek  ;  Treasurer,  William  Hunicke. 

Mr.  Meyer  has  been  president  uninterruptedly  up 
to  the  present  time,  and  there  have  been  few  changes 
in  the  rest  of  the  officers,  who  are  now  as  follows : 

President,  Charles  F.  Meyer;  Vice-President,  Julius  Conrad ; 
Secretary,  Rudolph  Fritsch  ;  Treasurer,  E.  C.  Priber. 

In  1865-66  the  association  built  a  club-house  at 
the  corner  of  Eighth  and  Gratiot  Street,  and  furnished 
it  elegantly  at  a  total  cost,  for  building,  grounds,  etc., 
of  SI  10, 000.  The  association  has  always  embraced 
the  leading  Germans  of  the  city,  and  in  intelligence 
and  refinement  has  always  been  recognized  as  a  repre- 
sentative German  institution.  Its  objects  are  social 
recreation  and  esthetic  and  scientific  culture,  and  these 
are  prosecuted  by  singing,  lectures,  dramatic  enter- 
tainments, dancing,  games,  etc.  In  order  more  satis- 
factorily to  accomplish  these  objects  the  association  in 


1881  was  remodeled,  the  old  organization  retaining 
its  corporate  existence  and  ownership  of  the  hall,  and 
the  new,  the  Germania  Club  and  Association  (Gesell- 
schaft},  having  charge  of  the  social  and  educational 
features.  The  result  was  immediately  seen  in  a  very 
large  increase  of  membership.  There  are  now  about 
four  hundred  and  twenty  members.  The  officers  of 
the  club  and  association  are — 

President,  Charles  Speck  ;  Secretary,  E.  C.  Priber  ;  Treasurer, 

B.  T.  Eisenhardt;  Directors,  R.  Schulenburg,  E.  D.  Meier,  E. 

C.  Priber,  Charles  Nagel,  Dr.  Frerichs,  I.  G.  Kappner,  Charles 
Schmieding,    L.    Methudy,    N.   Eisenhardt,  C.   R.  Fritsch,  R. 
D'Oench,  and  W.  D.  Orthwein. 

The  Mercantile  Club. — During  1881  it  began  to 
be  apparent  that  the  existing  club-houses  were  not 
situated  at  points  convenient  for  the  numerous  busi- 
ness men  who  might  otherwise  be  disposed  to  patron- 
ize their  facilities,  and  a  "  down-town"  club  was 
advocated.  With  this  in  view  the  Mercantile  Club 
was  organized,  the  incorporators  being  A.  G.  Peterson, 
T.  B.  Boyd,  C.  M.  Adams,  W.  B.  Dean,  D.  M. 
Houser,  William  McMillan,  W.  H.  Gardner,  Melville 
Sawyer,  0.  L.  Brigham,  S.  G.  Scarritt.  George  T. 
Parker,  George  B.  Thomson,  Charles  A.  Fowle, 
E.  Hayden,  A.  A.  Paton,  S.  M.  Kennard,  Jr.,  J.  R. 
Holmes,  and  I.  R.  Trask,  well-known  and  enterprising 
business  men  of  the  city.  The  officers  were — 

President,  Edwin  Hayden  ;  Vice-President,  George  B.  Thomp- 
son; Secretary,  S.  G.  Scarritt;  Treasurer,  A.  G.  Peterson;  Di- 
rectors, Edwin  Hayden,  G.  B.  Thompson,  S.  G.  Scarritt,  T.  B. 
Boyd,  S.  M.  Kennard,  William  McMillan,  C.  M.  Adams,  M. 
Sawyer,  A.  G.  Peterson. 

During  the  succeeding  winter  the  club  secured 
quarters  in  the  "  Sumner  Building,"  on  Locust  Street, 
between  Seventh  and  Eighth  Streets,  and  after  ex- 
pending about  eighteen  thousand  dollars  in  remodeling 
the  edifice  and  furnishing  it,  held  an  informal  "  open- 
ing" on  the  evening  of  May  12,  1882.  The  rooms 
embrace  gentlemen's  and  ladies'  parlors,  dining-rooms, 
reading-rooms,  a  billiard  hall,  etc.,  and  are  decorated 
and  furnished  in  the  most  elegant  and  attractive  man- 
ner. A  novel  feature  of  the  club  is  the  admission  of 
the  wives  of  members  to  its  privileges, — a  departure 
from  the  ordinary  usage  of  clubs  that  has  already  be- 
come very  popular.  Although  scarcely  six  months 
had  elapsed  from  the  organization  of  the  club  to  the 
opening  of  the  house,  the  membership  limitation  to 
four  hundred  residents  of  St.  Louis  had  been  reached, . 
— a  rapidity  of  growth  that  has  seldom,  if  ever,  been 
equaled  in  the  history  of  similar  organizations.  The 
officers  for  1882-83  are- 
President,  S.  M.  Kennard ;  Vice-President,  George  B.  Thomp- 
son :  Secretary,  S.  G.  Soarritt;  Treasurer,  William  McMillan; 
Directors,  S.  M.  Kennard,  G.  B.  Thompson,  S.  G.  Scarritt,  Wil- 


1820 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


liam  McMillan,  Ewing  Hill,  W.  C.  Steigers,  E.  S.  AVarner,  A. 
G.  Peterson,  I.  R.  Trask. 

St.  Louis  Club. — In  1878  some  enterprising  young 
business  men  of  St.  Louis  conceived  the  idea  of  estab- 
lishing another  club,  and  in  the  fall  of  that  year  or- 
ganized the  St.  Louis  Club.  The  first  officers  were 
as  follows:  President,  George  H.  Rae;  Vice-Presi- 
dent, Gen.  John  \V.  Noble  ;  Secretary,  A.  B.  Chever; 
Treasurer,  Thomas  A.  Stoddard.  The  club  secured 
as  its  quarters  the  "  old  Finney  mansion,"  at  1532 
Washington  Avenue,  and  fitted  up  one  of  the  finest 
club-houses  in  the  country,  the  building  being  spa- 
cious and  conveniently  arranged,  and  the  grounds 
roomy  and  attractive.  The  appointments  of  the  house 
were  and  continue  to  be  of  the  most  elaborate  and 
elegant  character.  The  establishment  was  opened 
Sept.  23,  1879,  with  a  public  reception  and  an  ad- 
dress by  the  Hon.  J.  W.  Noble.  The  subsequent 
career  of  the  club  has  been  prosperous,  and  the  mem- 
bership numbers  over  three  hundred.  The  present 
officers  are  as  follows  : 

President,  John  T.  Davis ;  Vice-President,  E.  C.  Simmons ; 
Secretary,  E.  S.  Scranton;  Treasurer,  A.  B.  Thompson;  Di- 
rectors, John  T.  Davis,  E.  C.  Simmons,  Joseph  Franklin,  Geo. 
B.  Hopkins,  Dwight  Tredway,  Daniel  Catlin,  G.  J.  Plant. 

Spanish-American  Club. — El  Club  Comercial 
Hispano- Americano  was  organized  in  February,  1882, 
the  inspiring  mind  being  John  F.  Cahill,  editor  of  El 
Comercio  del  Valle,  the  Spanish-American  paper. 
Mr.  Cahill  was  the  first  president,  but  soon  resigned. 
The  officers  of  the  club  for  1882  are — 

President,  Thomas  Howard ;  Secretary,  J.  L.  Corrigan ; 
Treasurer,  E.  C.  Smith ;  Executive  Committee,  Pedro  Leon, 
Frank  Trayer,  Richard  Smith,  Emilio  Guignon,  E.  R.  Quarles. 

The  objects  of  the  club  are  the  promotion  of  good- 
fellowship  and  sociability  among  those  interested  in  the 
trade  with  Mexico,  Central  America,  and  other  Span- 
ish-speaking countries  of  America,  and  to  encourage 
intercourse  with  those  lands  in  every  legitimate  way. 

The  Century  Club  is  the  principal  literary  associa- 
tion of  St.  Louis.  Among  the  prominent  members  are 
Hon.  Henry  L.  Rogers,  Mrs.  Virginia  L.  Minor,  J. 
R.  Meeker,  W.  G.  Eliot,  D.D.,  Albert  Todd,  A.  C. 
Bernays,  M.D.,  Mrs.  E.  P.  Johnson,  Louis  C.  Haynes, 
Professor  E.  L.  McDowell,  J.  C.  Learned,  D.D.,  Mrs. 
N.  E.  A.  Rogers,  C.  W.  Stevens,  M.D.,  Miss  Fannie 
Isabella  Sherrick,  D.  "W.  Blount,  M.D.,  and  Francis 
Minor.  The  executive  officers  for  the  season  of 
1882-83  are  F.  F.  Hilder,  president ;'  Miss  Ida  E. 
Dyer,  vice-president ;  Hannibal  Loevy,  treasurer  ;  and 
E.  W.  Banister,  secretary.  The  board  of  directors  is 
composed  of  these  officers,  and  Misses  Thekla  M. 
Bernays  and  Mary  E.  Thorn,  and  Messrs.  C.  M. 


Whitney,  George  W.  Lewis,  George  C.  Hackstaff,  F. 
E.  Cook,  J.  M.  Jordan,  D.  F.  Hulburt,  and  F.  W. 
Ruckstuhl.  The  direct  management  of  the  club  is  en- 
trusted to  the  programme  committee,  which  consists  "of 
Hannibal  Loevy,  chairman,  in  charge  of  essays  and 
readings,  and  Miss  Julia  F.  Lynch  and  F.  W.  Ruck- 
stuhl, in  charge  of  music.  Among  those  who  have 

|  delivered  essays  before  the  club  are  Hon.  Henry  L. 
Rogers,  Hon.  C.  M.  Whitney,  Rev.  John  Snyder, 
Mrs.  Virginia  L.  Minor,  Professor  John  H.  Tice, 
Rev.  S.  H.  Sonneschein,  J.  M.  Jordan,  Rev.  W.  W. 
Boyd,  Rev.  P.  G.  Robert,  Mrs.  E.  P.  Johnson,  Pro- 
fessor Denton  J.  Snider,  Hon.  Nathaniel  Holmes, 
Professor  H.  H.  Morgan,  Rev.  C.  E.  Felton,  Pro- 
fessor B.  B.  Minor,  F.  E.  Cook,  Rev.  M.  W.  Willis, 
J.  R.  Meeker,  Francis  Minor,  James  Richardson,  Dr. 

I  Charles  0.  Curtman,  F.  F.  Hilder,  Hon.  A.  W.  Alex- 
ander, and  Professor  C.  M.  Woodward. 

Deaf  Mute  Club. — In  the  summer  of  1882  the 
Deaf  Mute  Social  Club  was  organized,  with  D.  A. 
Simpson,  president;  W.  E.  Guss,  vice-president;  J. 
J.  Smith,  secretary ;  A.  H.  Kohinetz,  treasurer  ;  J. 
H.  Wolf,  sergeant-at-arms.  Its  rooms  are  located  at 
420  Market  Street. 


CHAPTER    XLI. 

PROMINENT  EVENTS— MOBS  AND  RIOTS— DUELS- 
MILITARY— THE  TOWNS  OF  CARONDELET,  HER- 
CULANEUM,  AND  EAST  ST.  LOUIS. 

IN  September,  1806,  St.  Louis  was  excited  by  the 
return  of  Lewis  and  Clark,  who  had  traced  the  Mis- 
souri to  its  source,  passed  through  a  defile  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  and  followed  the  Columbia  to  the 
Pacific  Ocean.  They  had  been  absent  two  years  and 
a  half,  and  their  arrival  at  St.  Louis,  on  their  return 
to  Washington,  was  an  important  event.  The  Indian 
chiefs  who  accompanied  them  were  fe'ted  by  the  chief 
inhabitants  of  the  city,  and  so  well  were  Lewis  and 
Clark  pleased  with  the  people  that  they  both  became 
residents  of  St.  Louis,  and  filled  high  public  offices. 

The  first  execution  that  ever  took  place  in  the  Ter- 
ritory of  Louisiana  was  on  Sept.  16,  1808,  when  a 
young  man.  was  hung  for  the  murder  of  his  stepfather. 
At  that  time  hanging  was  very  simple.  Two  posts 
were  planted  a  short  distance  apart,  with  a  fork  at  the 
uppermost  ends,  and  on  the  forks  a  stout  beam  rested, 
over  which  was  swung  a  rope.  The  convict  was 
driven  to  the  gallows  in  a  cart,  seated  in  a  chair,  upon 
which  he  stood  when  the  rope  was  adjusted  to  his 
neck.  When  all  was  ready  the  cart  was  driven  away, 
and  the  condemned  was  left  to  die  by  strangulation. 


PROMINENT  EVENTS. 


1821 


In  the  Missouri  Gazette  mention  is  made  of  a 
Fourth  of  July  celebration  at  St.  Charles  in  1808. 
Timothy  Kirby  was  president  of  the  day,  and  Francis 
Saucier  vice-president.  In  the  following  year  (1809) 
a  similar  celebration  was  held  at  Harrisonville,  St. 
Clair  Co.,  at  the  house  of  Capt.  Tabor  Washburn. 
Shadrack  Bond  presided,  and  Abijah  Ward  was  vice- 
president.  Peter  Darling  and  other  citizens  fired  a 
salute  at  daybreak,  and  at  one  o'clock  u  Mr.  Murphy 
sang  a  hymn  and  delivered  an  appropriate  prayer," 
after  which  Jacob  Boyes  made  an  address.  A  dinner 
followed  with  seventeen  regular  toasts  and  "  a  number 
of  volunteer  sentiments,  beginning  with  the  ladies." 
Among  the  latter  who  were  toasted  were  Mrs.  Mc- 
Clure,  Miss  Jane  McClure,  Mrs.  Coats,  and  Mrs. 
Blair.  Jabez  Warner,  afterwards  constable  of  St. 
Louis,  was  at  this  celebration.  He  lost  an  arm  (pre- 
sumably by  an  explosion)  on  a  similar  occasion.  At 
St.  Louis,  in  the  same  year,  the  Fourth  of  July  was 
celebrated  by  a  dinner  given  by  Capt.  Webster  in 
Lee's  orchard  (block  No.  37),  and  a  ball  at  night  in 
the  Masons  Hall. 

1810.  The  Fourth  of  July  was  observed  with  a 
dinner  at  Maj.  Christy's  tavern.     On  Monday,  the 
24th  of  September,  a  public  dinner  was  given  by  the 
citizens  of  St.  Louis  to  Governor  Howard.     There 
was  a  ball  in  the  evening  at  the  Assembly  Room. 

1811.  Fourth  of  July  dinner  at  Christy's  tavern, 
Governor   Howard   presiding.     August  3d,   William 
H.  Ashley's  presence  in  Ste.  Genevieve  is  mentioned. 
On  the  19th  of  September  announcement  was  made 
of  the  reappointment  of  Gen.  William  Clark  as  brig- 
adier-general of  the  Territorial  militia. 

On  the  14th  of  December  mention  is  made  of  the 
arrival  in  St.  Louis  of  "  Governor  Howard  and  lady 
in  good  health."  On  the  following  Monday,  Decem- 
ber 16th,  St.  Louis  and  the  surrounding  country  were 
visited  by  a  violent  earthquake.  The  first  shock  was 
felt  about  2.30  A.M.,  and  lasted  about  one  and  three- 
fourths  minutes.  Windows,  doors,  and  furniture  were 
in  tremulous  motion,  and  there  was  a  distant  rumbling 
noise  resembling  that  made  by  "a  number  of  carriages 
passing  over  a  pavement."  The  sky  was  obscured  by 
a  thick  fog,  and  there  was  not  a  breath  of  air.  The 
temperature  was  about  thirty-five  or  forty  degrees 
Fahrenheit.  At  2.47  A.M.  another  shock  occurred, 
unaccompanied  by  any  rumbling  noise  and  much  less 
violent  than  the  first.  It  lasted  about  two  minutes. 
At  3.34  A.M.  a  third  shock,  nearly  as  violent  as  the 
first,  but  without  as  much  noise,  was  felt.  It  lasted 
about  fifty  seconds,  and  a  slight  trembling  continued 
for  some  time  afterwards.  There  was  a  fourth  shock 
shortly  after  daylight,  less  violent  than  any  of  the 


others,  and  lasting  nearly  one  minute,  and  about  eight 
o'clock  there  was  a  fifth  shock,  almost  as  violent  as 
the  first.  It  was  accompanied  by  the  usual  noise,  and 
lasted  about  half  a  minute.  The  morning  was  very 
hazy,  and  unusually  warm  for  the  season.  "  The 
houses  and  fences  were  covered  with  a  white  froth, 
but  on  examination  it  was  found  to  be  vapor,  not  pos- 
sessing the  chilling  cold  of  frost.  Indeed,  the  moon 
was  enshrouded  in  awful  gloom."  At  11.30  A.M. 
another  slight  shock  was  observed,  and  about  the 
same  hour  on  the  following  day  "  a  smart  shock"  oc- 
curred. No  lives  were  lost,  and  the  houses  did  not 
sustain  much  injury.  A  few  chimneys  were  thrown 
down  and  a  few  stone  houses  split.  The  earthquake 
appears  to  have  covered  an  extensive  area  in  South- 
east Missouri,  "  seaming  the  face  of  the  country  with 
yawning  gulfs  and  submerging  it  with  new  lakes." 
The  destruction  was  especially  severe  at  New  Madrid. 
There  was  a  volcanic  eruption,  and  gulfs  or  fissures 
from  four  to  ten  feet  deep,  and  running  north  and 
south  parallel  with  one  another,  were  opened  for 
miles,  in  some  instances  for  five  of  them.  Oa  the 
night  of  Jan.  7,  1812,  there  was  another  earthquake, 
which  inflicted  much  greater  damage.  Until  the  17th 
of  February  slight  shocks  were  felt  from  time  to  time. 
On  the  17th  occurred  another  terrible  convulsion, 
which  exceeded  in  fury  all  the  previous  ones.  Gulfs 
and  fissures  broader  and  deeper  were  opened,  "until 
high  land  was  sunk  into  hollows,  hollows  made  high 
land,"  lakes  emptied  into  the  fissures,  and  where  there 
had  previously  been  dry  land  "  broad,  sheeted  lakes" 
created.  The  residents  were  panic-stricken,  and, 
abandoning  nearly  all  their  cattle  and  household 
property,  fled  from  the  scene  of  desolation.  "  Wreck- 
ers" flocked  to  the  deserted  town  and  surrounding 
country,  and  carrying  off  the  abandoned  property  in 
flat-boats,  conveyed  it  to  Natchez  and  New  Orleans 
and  sold  it.  The  extent  of  country  visited  by  the 
earthquake  embraced  a  circumference  of  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  miles,  taking  the  Indian  town  of 
Little  Prairie,  near  Carruthersville,  as  the  centre. 
The  loss  of  human  life  was  small.  A  Mrs.  Lafont 
died  from  fright,  and  a  Mrs.  Jarvis  was  crushed  by  a 
falling  log.  Flat-boats  on  the  river  were  found  wrecked 
for  miles  and  their  cargoes  ruined.  It  is  believed 
that  some  members  of  their  crews  were  drowned. 
There  were  no  indications  of  any  previous  earthquake 
in  this  section,  and  no  tradition  of  any  such  visitation 
existed  among  the  Shawnees,  Cherokees,  or  Dela- 
wares.  Since  1812  there  have  been  no  violent 
shocks  of  earthquake,  but  at  intervals  slight  commo- 
tions have  been  experienced. 

In  May,  1812,  the  chiefs  of  the  Great  and  Little 


1822 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT   LOUiS. 


Osage,  the  Sacs,  Renards,  the  Shawnees,  and  Dela- 
wares  met  at  St.  Louis  to  accompany  Gen.  William 
Clark  to  Washington  City. 

On  the  Fourth  of  July,  Capt.  McNair's  troop  of 
horse  and  Col.  Mustek's  company  of  rifles  paraded. 
The  Declaration  of  Independence  was  read  by  Ed- 
ward Hempstead,  and  an  oration  was  delivered  by 
James  T.  Hull,  after  which  dinner  was  served  by 
Maj.  Christy.  Silas  Bent  presided,  and  Bernard 
Pratte  was  vice-president. 

1813.  A  Fourth  of  July  celebration  took  place  as 
usual,  but  no  account  of  it  has  been  preserved. 

1814.  June  18th,  a  large  number   of  citizens  of  ' 
St.  Louis  assembled  at  the  Missouri  Hotel  to  greet 
the  return  of  Governor  Clark  "  to  the  bosom   of  his 
friends  and  family." 

1817.  February  22d,  the  first  celebration  of 
Washington's  birthday  took  place.  A  dinner  was 
given  at  T.  Kibby's  "  new  boarding-house,"  at  the 
southwest  corner  of  Main  and  the  present  Pine  Streets, 
preceded  by  a  public  meeting  held  at  Washington 
Hall,  at  which  Governor  William  Clark  presided,  and 
Col.  Alexander  McNair  was  vice-president.  At  the 
dinner  a  number  of  appropriate  toasts  were  drunk, 
and  "  volunteer  sentiments"  were  proposed  by  the 
president  and  vice-president,  Majs.  Morgan,  Graham, 
and  Dorman,  Capts.  H.  S.  Geyer  and  N.  Moore,  L. 
W.  Boggs,  and  Thomas  Hanly. 

This  year  was  an  eventful  one  for  St.  Louis.  Among 
the  more  conspicuous  occurrences  were  two  duels  be- 
tween Thomas  H.  Benton  and  Charles  Lucas.  The 
first  meeting  took  place  on  the  12th  of  August,  when 
Lucas  was  slightly  wounded  in  the  neck,  and  the 
second  on  the  27th  of  September,  resulting  in  the 
death  of  Lucas.  On  the  evening  of  the  following  day, 
Sunday,  September  28th,  an  affray  occurred  in  front 
of  Kibby's  boarding-house,  between  William  Smith, 
a  prominent  merchant,  and  William  Thorp,  which 
resulted  in  the  death  of  Smith.  During  the  year  St. 
Louis  made  a  sudden  advance  in  improvements.  In 
the  old  section  of  the  town,  on  Main  Street,  four  or 
five  brick  houses  were  erected  by  Dr.  Simpson  and  j 
Messrs.  Pratte,  Bird,  Douglass,  and  Thomas  McKnight.  ( 
About  a  dozen  frame  structures  were  also  built.  On 
the  hill,  in  Chouteau  and  Lucas'  addition,  laid  off 
during  the  previous  year,  frame  dwellings  were  erected 
by  M.  Tesson,  James  Sawyer,  Moses  Scott,  and  Wil-  j 
Ham  Scott,  and  a  small  brick  building,  the  first  on 
the  hill,  for  his  law-office,  by  Matthias  McGirk,  on 
the  west  side  of  Fourth  Street,  above  Walnut.  In 
the  same  year  was  commenced  the  erection  of  the 
stone  jail  at  the  southeast  corner  of  Sixth  and  the 
present  Chestnut  Streets.  William  Christy  laid  off 


his  addition  to  the  old  town,  northwest  of  the  present 
Broadway  and  Christy  Avenue,  and  Lisa,  Bates,  and 
Smith  their  addition  along  the  river  north  of  Biddle 
Street. 

The  Fourth  of  July  celebration  of  this  year  took 
place  at  Mr.  Didier's  orchard  (afterwards  Block  54). 
A  dinner,  prepared  by  Mr.  Mills,  was  served,  at  which 
Col.  Samuel  Hammond  presided,  with  Silas  Bent, 
vice-president. 

September  13th,  return  announced  of  Auguste 
P.  Chouteau,  Jules  de  Mun,  Robert  McKnight, 
James  Baird,  J.  Harro,  and  others,  after  forty-eight 
days'  imprisonment  at  Santa  Fe. 

In  the  latter  part  of  December  two  soldiers  named 
Milner  and  Goodwin  were  drowned  while  attempting 
to  cross  the  Mississippi,  which  was  very  rough  at  the 
time,  in  a  small  boat.  A  Mr.  Criswell,  "  formerly 
residing  at  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,"  was  also 
drowned  about  the  same  time. 

1818.  On    the   9th   of  February  an    Irish   Emi- 
grant and   Corresponding  Society  was    formed.     At 
the  preliminary  meeting,  held  at  the  house  of  Jere- 
miah   Conner,    Thomas    Brady    was    chairman,    and 
Thomas    Hanly   secretary.     The    initiation    fee    was 
fixed  at  five  dollars,  and  Jeremiah  Conner,  John  Mul- 
lanphy,   James    McGunnigle,  Alexander   Blackwell, 
and  Arthur  McGinniss  were  appointed  a  committee 
on  resolutions. 

On  the  1st  of  April,  1818,  the  first  sale  of  lots  of 
the  town  of  Hannibal,  which  had  been  just  laid  out, 
took  place  in  St.  Louis.  The  proprietors  of  the  town 
were  Stephen  Rector,  Thompson  Baird,  Thomas  Rec- 
tor, William  V.  Rector,  Richard  Gentry,  and  M.  D. 
Bates.  The  location  was  well  suited  for  a  town,  and 
Hannibal  is  now  one  of  the  most  thriving  cities  in 
Northeastern  Missouri. 

July  4th,  the  St.  Louis  Mechanics'  Benevolent 
Society,  together  with  other  citizens,  celebrated  Inde- 
pendence-day. Joseph  Charless  presided,  and  Charles 
W.  Hunter  was  vice-president.  Col.  Thomas  F. 
Riddick  read  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  Din- 
ner was  then  served  by  Mr.  Horrocks.  In  the 
evening,  "  in  honor  of  the  day,"  Edward  Hook's 
"  very  celebrated  melodrama,  called  '  Tekeli,  or  the 
Siege  of  Mongatz,'  "  was  performed  at  the  theatre. 

1819.  June  9th,  meeting  of  citizens  at  Col.  Rid- 
dick's  auction-house  to  prepare  for  the  reception  of 
President  James   Monroe,  then   on  a  Western  tour, 
and    expected   to   visit   St.  Louis.      After   reaching 
Nashville,  Tenn.,  however,  he  was  recalled  to  Wash- 
ington. 

Fourth  of  July  celebration  in  Pierre  Didier's 
orchard.  Col.  Auguste  Chouteau  presided  at  dinner  ; 


PROMINENT   EVENTS. 


1823 


William  C.  Carr,  Dr.  Pryor  Quarles,  and  Col.  Miller; 
vice-presidents.  There  was  a  portrait  of  Washington 
over  the  president's  chair,  surmounted  by  a  live 
eagle. 

Another  celebration  took  place  at  Lucas'  Spring, 
where  dinner  was  provided.  James  Loper  presided  ; 
David  B.  Hill,  vice-president. 

July  28th,  William  H.  Reno  and  wife  were  killed  ! 
by  lightning  on  the  Sunday  preceding  this  date,  near  ! 
the  house  of  James  Berry,  about  five  miles  from  St. 
Louis.    They  had  taken  shelter  under  a  tree  to  avoid 
the  rain. 

1820.  March  17th,  first  celebration  of  St.  Patrick's 
day  in  St.  Louis.  There  was  an  elaborate  dinner, 
but  no  public  display. 

1825.  On  the  29th  of  April,  Gen.  Lafayette  was 
publicly  received  by  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis,  on  the 
occasion  of  his  visit  to  the  United  States.  The  an- 
nouncement of  the  proposed  visit  of  this  distinguished 
hero  to  this  country  was  received  by  the  citizens  of 
St.  Louis  as  early  as  the  previous  September.  On 
the  evening  of  Friday,  the  10th  of  that  month,  pur- 
suant to  notice,  a  number  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
city  of  St.  Louis  assembled  at  the  office  of  the  reg- 
ister "  for  the  purpose  of  making  arrangements  for 
some  public  demonstration  of  their  feelings  upon  the 
arrival  in  the  United  States  of  Gen.  Lafayette." 
Gen.  Bernard  Pratte  was  appointed  chairman,  and  j 
Thompson  Douglass  secretary.  It  was  resolved  that  ! 
Daniel  Bissell,  William  Christy,  Auguste  Chouteau,  \ 
Pierre  Chouteau,  Sr.,  Bernard  Pratte,  Stephen  Hemp- 
stead,  Sr.,  Alexander  McNair,  William  Rector,  Wil- 
liam Carr  Lane,  Henry  S.  Geyer,  and  Archibald 
Gamble  "  be  a  committee  to  superintend  and  direct  all  \ 
arrangements  for  the  reception  and  accommodation  of 
Gen.  Lafayette  should  he  determine  to  visit  this 
city,  and  that  they  be  authorized  to  call  such  future 
meetings  as  they  may  deem  proper."  On  the  Wed- 
nesday evening  following,  "  in  pursuance  of  above 
resolution,  a  national  salute  was  .fired,  and  a  display 
of  fireworks  and  a  general  illumination  took  place  in 
the  evening."  On  the  20th  of  September,  1824, 
Daniel  Bissell,  chairman  of  the  committee  of  arrange- 
ments, wrote  Gen.  Lafayette  at  Philadelphia,  ten- 
dering a  welcome  on  behalf  of  the  citizens,  "  with  an 
earnest  hope  that  a  visit  by  you  to  this  most  western 
city  of  the  United  States  will  not  be  incompatible 
with  either  your  time  or  your  inclination."  To  this 
Gen.  Lafayette  replied  from  Washington,  under  date 
of  Feb.  5,  1825: 

"  The  resolutions  which  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis  and 
of  the  State  of  Missouri  have  been  pleased  to  take  in 
my  behalf  could  not  but  excite  the  most  lively  and 


deep  feelings  of  gratitude.  It  has  ever  been  my  in- 
tention to  visit  the  Southern  and  Western  States,  and 
to  be  a  happy  witness  of  the  wonders  produced  by  the 
spirit  of  republican  freedom  and  virtuous  industry  in 
your  part  of  the  Union.  Obliged  as  I  am  not  to  leave 
this  city  before  the  24th  of  February,  and  to  be  in  Bos- 
ton for  the  anniversary  day  of  the  battle  of  Bunker's 
Hill,  where  the  corner-stone  of  a  monument  is  to  be 
laid,  my  journey  must  be  more  rapid  than  I  would 
wish  ;  but  I  hope  to  have  it  in  my  power  to  present 
the  citizens  of  Missouri,  St.  Louis,  and  particularly 
you,  sir,  and  the  gentlemen  of  the  committee,  with  my 
affectionate  and  respectful  acknowledgments."  Gen. 
Lafayette,  about  midnight  on  April  25, 1825,  withdrew 
from  a  brilliant  ball  that  was  being  given  in  his  honor 
at  Natchez  by  citizens  of  Mississippi,  and  departed 
for  St.  Louis.  On  the  evening  of  the  28th  the  steam- 
boat "  Natchez,"  with  Lafayette  on  board,  arrived  at 
Carondelet,  five  miles  below  St.  Louis,  and  remained 
there  overnight.  On  the  following  morning,  about 
nine  o'clock,  the  "  Natchez"  arrived  at  Market 
Street  with  the  distinguished  visitor  on  board.  In- 
telligence of  Lafayette's  arrival  at  Carondelet  having 
reached  the  city  the  night  before,  almost  the  entire 
population,  with  large  numbers  of  inhabitants  from 
the  surrounding  country,  were  congregated  on  and 
about  the  wharf.  Lafayette,  accompanied  by  his  son, 
George  Washington  Lafayette,  Mr.  Levasseur,  his 
secretary,  and  Mr.  De  Lyon  ;  Col.  Morse,  Col.  Ducros, 
Mr.  Prieur,  recorder  of  New  Orleans,  and  Mr.  Caire, 
secretary  to  the  Governor  of  Louisiana,  from  New 
Orleans  ;  Col.  Scott,  from  the  State  of  Mississippi ; 
and  Gen.  Gibbs,  Col.  Stewart,  Maj.  Rutledge,  and  Mr. 
Balch,  from  the  State  of  Tennessee,  left  the  steam- 
boat and  was  formally  received  by  Mayor  William 
Carr  Lane  and  the  citizens'  reception  committee. 
After  an  address  of  welcome  by  Mayor  Lane,  and  a 
response  by  Lafayette,  the  visitors  were  escorted  to 
the  mansion  of  Major  Pierre  Chouteau,  where  a  public 
reception  was  held.  Gen.  Lafayette  was  transferred 
from  the  steamer  in  an  open  barouche  drawn  by  four 
white  horses  belonging  to  Major  Thomas  Biddle  and 
Judge  James  H.  Peck.  Mayor  Lane,  Stephen  Hemp- 
stead,  an  old  Revolutionary  soldier,  and  Col.  Auguste 
Chouteau  occupied  the  barouche  with  him.  The  popu- 
lace followed  on  foot  and  were  most  enthusiastic,  as 
they  were  not  only  at  the  time  of  the  arrival,  but 
during  the  period  of  Lafayette's  stay.  Capt.  Archi- 
bald Gamble's  horse  troop  was  also  present  at  the  recep- 
tion. After  greeting  those  who  desired  to  see  him, 
Gen.  Lafayette  visited  Gen.  William  Clark,  super- 
intendent of  Indian  affairs,  and  inspected  his  museum 
of  Indian  curiosities.  Then  he  was  conducted  around 


1824 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


the  city,  and  visited  the  lodge  of  Freemasons,  of 
which  he  and  his  son  were  made  honorary  members. 
He  was  dined  at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  At 
night  a  ball  was  given  in  his  honor,  from  which  he 
retired  about  twelve  o'clock  and  returned  to  the  steamer 
"Natchez,"  where  he  slept.  The  steamer  lay  at  the 
wharf  during  the  night,  and  at  an  early  hour  the 
next  morning  steamed  off  down  the  Mississippi  for 
Kaskaskia  en  route  to  Nashville.  After  the  visit  of 
Lafayette  to  St.  Louis  we  are  told  that  there  was  a 
"  general  propensity  to  bestow  his  name  upon  every- 
thing. There  were  Lafayette  hats  and  Lafayette 
dresses,  etc.  It  happened  that  a  couple  of  men  who  \ 
had  been  celebrating  the  occasion  undertook  in  the 
evening  to  settle  a  dispute  in  a  summary  way  with 
the  fist.  It  was  at  once  a  Lafayette  fight."1 

1826.  May  4th,  news  received  of  the  loss  of  a  : 
keel  boat  during  a  heavy  gale  a  few  miles  above  St.  j 
Louis.  Lewis  Musick  and  wife  and  one  of  the  men  ' 
were  drowned. 

July  28th.   Proclamation    by    the    mayor    of    St.  ' 
Louis,  W.  Carr  Lane,  announcing  the  death  of  ex-  ! 
Presidents  John  Adams  and  Thomas  Jefferson,  and 
calling  a  public  meeting  to  take  action  thereon.     At  ; 
this  meeting  it  was  decided  to  honor  the  deceased  by  , 
firing  minute-guns  from  twelve  to  one  o'clock  P.M. 
on  the  following   Monday.     It  was  also   decided   to 
hold  a  funeral   service  "  in   the   new   Presbyterian 
meeting-house"  on  Sunday,  and  that  the  service  should 
be  commenced  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Horrell,  to  be  followed 
by  a  discourse  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Giddings,  and  to  be 
concluded  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Monroe.     Hon.  James  H. 
Peck,  Henry  S.  Geyer,  Edward  Bate*,  Edward  Tracy, 
and  Joseph  C.  Laveille  were  appointed  a  committee 
to  carry  the  decisions  of  the  meeting  into  effect. 

In  September  the  jail  was  broken  open  by  the  pris- 
oners, and  among  the  number  who  escaped  was  John 
Brewer,  who  was  to  have  been  hanged  the  day  follow- 
ing for  perjury.  He  was  never  recaptured. 

In  1826  an  act  was  passed  by  Congress  for  the 
erection  of  an  arsenal  somewhere  near  St.  Louis. 
Some  time  in  the  following  year  it  was  commenced, 
but  it  was  many  years  after  before  the  buildings  con- 
nected with  it  were  completed  in  South  St.  Louis, 
where  it  still  stands. 

In  1830  a  bridge  was  erected  across  Mill  Creek, 
at  the  intersection  of  Fourth  and  Fifth  Streets,  and 


1  At  the  time  of  Lafayette's  visit  to  St.  Louis  there  was  an  old 
Frenchman  living  there  named  Alexander  Bellisiine,  who  had 
been  a  soldier  under  Lafayette  in  the  Revolutionary  war.  Bel- 
lisitne  made  himself  known  to  his  old  commander,  who  em- 
braced him  with  much  feeling,  and  the  scene  which  ensued  is 
described  as  very  affecting. 


St.  Louis  at  that  time  gave  indications  of  rapid  ad- 
vancement. 

1832.  In  July,  1832,  on  the  reception  of  the 
news  that  President  Jackson  had  vetoed  the  bill  pro- 
viding for  the  recharter  of  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  there  was  an  indignation  meeting  of  the  citi- 
zens of  the  county  and  city  of  St.  Louis  held  at 
the  court-house.  Dr.  William  Carr  Lane  presided, 
and  James  L.  Murray  was  secretary.  Resolutions 
were  drafted  strongly  expressive  of  indignation  by  a 
committee  consisting  of  Messrs.  Edward  Bates,  Pierre 
Chouteau,  Jr.,  George  Collier,  Thornton  Grimsley, 
Henry  S.  Geyer,  and  Nathan  Ranney.  Dr.  George 
W.  Call  aqd  Messrs.  Frederick  Hyatt,  Matthew  Kerr, 
Asa  Wilgus,  Thomas  Cohen,  and  R.  H.  McGill  also 
took  an  active  part  in  the  meeting. 

1835.  In  this  year  the  citizens  opened  an  active  cam- 
paign on  the  gamblers,  idlers,  and  other  characters 
whose  influence  was  pernicious  to  society.  An  ordi- 
nance was  secured  from  the  City  Council,  and  several 
of  the  leading  offenders  were  imprisoned.  This  proved 
effectual,  and  the  city  was  soon  freed  of  the  dissolute 
class. 

In  the  same  year  a  meeting  of  the  citizens  was 
called,  in  pursuance  of  a  proclamation  by  John  F. 
Darby,  the  mayor,  for  the  purpose  of  memorializing 
Congress  to  let  the  Great  National  road,  which  was 
then  being  built,  cross  the  Mississippi  at  St.  Louis 
in  its  extension  to  Jefferson  City.  The  mayor  pre- 
sided, and  George  K.  McGunnegle  was  secretary.  A 
committee  was  appointed  to  draft  the  memorial. 

Immediately  following  the  railroad  convention  in 
1835  a  murder  was  committed  in  St.  Louis  which 
aroused  the  citizens  to  such  a  degree  that  the  offender 
was  burned  at  the  stake.  The  murderer  was  a  power- 
ful mulatto  named  Mclntosh,  who  had  been  arrested 
for  interference  with  officers  while  in  the  discharge  of 
their  duty.  On  the  way  to  the  jail,  in  charge  of 
Deputy  Sheriff  George  Hammond  and  Deputy  Con- 
stable William  Mull,  the  negro  released  himself,  and 
drawing  a  long  knife,  stabbed  Mull ;  Hammond,  on 
attempting  to  assist  his  brother-officer,  was  also  at- 
tacked by  the  prisoner,  who  at  a  single  blow  cut  the 
officer's  throat,  killing  him  instantly.  Mclntosh  then 
fled,  pursued  by  Mull,  and  citizens  joining  in  the 
chase  he  was  soon  recaptured  and  imprisoned.  The 
news  of  the  murder  spread  throughout  the  city  and 
created  intense  excitement  and  indignation,  which 
was  increased  by  the  waitings  of  the  wife  and  children 
of  the  murdered  man,  who  gathered  about  his  corpse 
as  it  lay  in  the  street.  Citizens  to  the  number  of  a 
thousand  soon  collected  and  proceeded  to  the  jail  for 
the  purpose  of  hanging  the  murderer,  but  deeming 


PROMINENT   EVENTS. 


1825 


that  the  crime  justified  a  greater  requital,  the  senti- 
ment changed  in  favor  of  burning.  The  negro  was 
accordingly  dragged  to  the  bank  of  the  river,  where 
he  was  tied  to  a  tree,  and  a  pile  of  dry,  resinous  wood 
was  arranged  about  him.  This  was  ignited,  and  thus 
the  negro  expiated  his  atrocious  crime  by  being 
burned  alive.  The  place  where  the  negro  was  burned 
is  now  Tenth  and  Market  Streets,  then  a  common. 

1833.  June  27th,  a  destructive  storm  passed 
over  the  city  about  8.30  P.M.  Houses  were  blown 
down  and  unroofed,  walls  demolished,  trees  uprooted, 
etc.  The  damage  was  confined  to  the  Middle  and 
North  Wards.  The  cupola  of  the  Episcopal  Church 
was  blown  off,  and  the  North  Ward  market-house  was 
leveled  with  the  ground.  A  portion  of  the  Methodist 
Church  was  also  carried  away.  One  colored  woman 
was  killed  by  lightning  and  several  persons  were 
injured. 

1837.  August   9th,   J.    Sylvester's  jewelry  store 
was  robbed  of  from  fifteen  hundred  to  two  thousand 
dollars'  worth  of  jewelry  while  the  proprietor  was  ab- 
sent at  dinner. 

October  12th,  Mrs.  Hamilton,  widow  of  Alexander 
Hamilton,  arrived  in  St.  Louis  on  her  way  East  from 
a  visit  to  her  son,  Col.  William  S.  Hamilton,  of  Wis- 
consin. 

1838.  February    22d,    subscriptions   asked    for   a 
dinner  to  be  given  to  Gen.  Gaines  at  the  City  Hotel 
on  the  following  day.     The    committee  of  arrange- 
ments were  William  Glasgow,  Col.  William  Chambers, 
Aug.  Kennerly,  F.  W.  Risque,  J.  C.  Dennis,  T.  L. 
Fontaine,  John  R.  Scott,  Henry  Smith,  J.  W.  Folger, 
Col.  J.  W.  Johnson,  Col.  J.  C.  Laveille,  G.  K.  Mc- 
Gunnegle,  S.  W.  Wilson.     At  the  dinner,  which  is 
described  as  having    been  a  brilliant    aft'air,   Mayor 
William  Carr  Lane  presided,  assisted  by  Gen.  John 
O'Fallon.     Gen.  Gaines  responded  to  a  toast  in  his 
honor. 

October  12th,  a  ball  was  given  by  the  citizens  of 
St.  Louis  at  the  City  Hotel  in  honor  of  Governor 
Boggs. 

1838.  In  the  summer  of  1838,  Judge  Thomas  M. 
Dougherty,  of  the  County  Court,  accompanied  by 
Linton  Sappington,  was  coming  to  St.  Louis,  but 
the  latter  stopped  at  the  grocery  store  of  Mr.  Bus- 
sel,  immediately  upon  the  road.  A  few  moments 
later,  when  Mr.  Sappington  rode  onward,  about  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  store,  he  discovered  Judge 
Dougherty  weltering  in  his  blood  a  little  distance 
from  the  roadside.  He  was  breathing  heavily,  and 
died  before  he  could  be  removed.  There  was  much 
excitement  regarding  the  murder,  and  although  a 
thousand  dollars  was  offered  for  the  discovery  and 


conviction   of   the    murderer,   he    was   never  appre- 
hended. 

1840.  In  this  year,  Andrew  J.  Davis,  proprietor  of 
the  Argus,  was  assaulted  with  an  iron  cane  by  Wil- 
liam P.  Darnes,  in  consequence  of  a  personal  attack 
made   on  the   latter  in   the   columns   of  the   paper. 
Mr.  Davis   died  from  the  effects  of  these  wounds. 
Mr.  Darnes  was  tried,  convicted  of  manslaughter  in 
the  fourth  degree,  and  was  fined  five  hundred  dollars. 

1841.  August  14th,  Mr.  Hobart  ascended  in  "a 
balloon  of  mammoth  dimensions"  from  an  inclosure 
in  the  upper  portion  of  the  city. 

November  8th,  a  meeting  of  "  the  friends  of  Ire- 
land" was  held  at  the  court-house  for  the  purpose  of 
organizing  an  association.  Hon.  Luke  E.  Lawless 
presided.  The  following  officers  were  elected :  Col. 
John  O'Fallon,  president;  L.  E.  Lawless,  James 
Clemens,  Jr.,  vice-presidents ;  Julius  D.  Johnston, 
corresponding  secretary ;  John  P.  McNeal,  recording 
secretary  ;  Edward  Walsh,  treasurer. 

A  constitution  and  by-laws  were  adopted,  and  the 
following  committee  to  solicit  subscriptions  was  ap- 
pointed :  First  Ward,  D.  Carton,  John  Corcoran ; 
Second  Ward,  J.  G.  Barry,  P.  M.  Dillon ;  Third 
Ward,  William  Tighe,  Michael  Kelly;  Fourth  Ward, 
John  Donald,  John  Rice  ;  Fifth  Ward,  Hugh  O'Brien, 
Mathew  Hogan. 

In  November  of  this  year  the  Prince  de  Join- 
ville  and  suite  arrived  in  the  city  from  the  upper 
Mississippi,  and  left  five  days  later  on  board  the  steam- 
boat "  Boston"  for  Louisville  and  Pittsburgh.  During 
his  short  sojourn  he  was  waited  upon  by  many  of  the 
citizens,  especially  the  French. 

1842.  In  June  ex-President   Martin  Van   Buren 
visited  St.  Louis  and  was  accorded  a  public  recep- 
tion, incident  to  which  there  was  a  civic  and  military 
parade. 

1843.  March    29th,  a   meeting   held   at    Concert 
Hall  to  explain  and  defend  the  doctrines  of  Millerism 
was  broken  up  by  a  riotous  assemblage,  which  pelted 
the  speaker  with  eggs.     June  3d,  Dr.  Lardner,  the 
scientist,  arrived  in  St.  Louis. 

On  the  8th  of  May,  Col.  R.  M.  Johnson,  the 
popular  Kentucky  veteran,  reached  St.  Louis  and 
was  received  with  a  popular  demonstration,  in  which 
the  military  were  most  conspicuous.  Col.  Johnson 
remained  until  the  12th,  and  was  feted  constantly 
during  his  stay.  The  committee  on  reception  weie 
Messrs.  N.  Ranney,  C.  Mullikin,  T.  H.  Holt,  A.  Wet- 
more,  William  Palin,  John  O'Fallon,  William  Mil- 
burn,  John  M.  Wimer,  J.  B.  Col,  J.  C.  Lawless, 
Hardage  Lane,  0.  D.  Filley,  J.  B.  Bowlin,  F.  Ken- 
nett,  John  M.  Krum.  In  May  other  distinguished 


1826 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


visitors  were  in  the  city,  among  the  number  Hon. 
John  J.  Crittenden,  senator,  and  William  J.  Graves, 
member  of  Congress  from  Kentucky,  the  Hon.  J. 
Philips  Phoenix,  member  of  Congress  elect  for  the 
city  of  New  York,  Professor  Silliman,  the  eminent 
scientist,  Josiah  Quincy,  Jr.,  and  Charles  F.  Adams, 
of  Massachusetts. 

1845.  December  22d,  the  two  hundred  and 
twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  the  landing  of  the  Pil- 
grims at  Plymouth  Rock  was  celebrated  at  the  Sec- 
ond Presbyterian  Church. 

1847.  In  1847  a  meeting  of  "the  friends  of  Ire- 
land'' was  called,  at  which  Col.  John  O'Fallon  pre- 
sided and  Christopher  Garvey  was  secretary.  The 
meeting  was  for  the  relief  of  the  sufferers  in  Ireland, 
and  to  carry  out  its  object  the  following  were  chosen 
as  committee:  Col.  J.  O'Fallon,  Col.  Joshua  B.  Brant, 
George  Collier,  Judge  Bryan  Mullanphy,  Capt.  John 
Simonds,  Edward  Walsh,  John  Finney,  Col.  Robert 
Campbell,  Eugene  Kelley,  William  Lindsay,  Col.  T. 
Grimsley,  H.  Von  Phul,  R.  M.  Rennick,  A.  Elliott, 
George  Buchanan,  George  K.  McGunnegle,  A.  Vin- 
ton,  J.  E.  Yeatman,  A.  Piggott,  P.  Slevin,  and  Capt. 
William  Rowe. 

There  were  meetings  held  also  of  Scotch  citizens 
and  those  of  Scotch  descent  to  relieve  the  destitution 
of  that  country.  Taking  the  lead  for  the  relief  of 
Scotland  was  Kenneth  Mackenzie,  Col.  A.  D.  Stuart, 
H.  Ogden,  T.  M.  Taylor,  T.  S.  Rutherfurd,  Thomas 
Webster,  John  S.  Thompson,  W.  B.  Barber,  James 
Moffat,  Thomas  Primrose,  N.  E.  Janney,  William 
Strachan,  Judge  Ferguson,  and  D.  A.  Marshall. 

Anniversary  Celebration  of  the  Founding  of 
St.  Louis. — On  the  evening  of  22d  of  January,  1847, 
a  large  meeting  of  citizens  was  held  at  the  Planters' 
House  to  consider  the  expediency  of  celebrating  the 
anniversary  of  the  founding  of  St.  Louis,  Feb.  15, 
1764.  On  motion  of  L.  V.  Bogy,  Archibald  Gamble 
was  appointed  chairman,  and  Judge  A.  W.  Manning 
secretary.  Col.  Bogy  explained  the  object  in  view, 
and  the  following  resolution  was  adopted  : 

*'  Resolved,  That  we  will  celebrate  the  approaching  anniver- 
sary of  the  founding  of  St.  Louis,  on  the  loth  of  February,  by 
a  public  oration,  dinner,  and  ball." 

On  motion  of  Col.  T.  Grimsley,  the  following  committee  of 
arrangements  was  appointed  :  Col.  Thornton  Grimsley,  Hon.  B. 
Pratte,  Ed.  Walsh,  Ed.  Tracy,  P.  M.  Dillon,  Archibald  E.  Orme, 
Martin  Thomas,  Asa  Wilgus,  Samuel  Treat.  Robert  Campbell, 
William  Risley,  Peter  Ferguson,  Sullivan  Blood,  J  unes  J.  Purdy, 
John  F.  Darby,  John  Finney,  Louis  A.  Lebeaume,  II.  F.  Christy, 
Wilson  Primm,  D.  B.  Hill,  Pascal  Cerre,  George  Collier,  Henry 
Von  Phul,  John  B.  Sarpy,  Thomas  Andrews,  Charles  Keemle. 
J.  M.  Field,  A.  B.  Chambers,  L.  V.  Bogy,  David  Tatuui,  Henry 
S.  Geyer,  John  Shade,  Edward  Bates,  James  Clemens,  Jr., 
Nathan  Ranney,  Edward  Charless,  John  O'F->,Hon,  Fred.  R. 


Conway,  Capt.   Gregory  Byrne,   C.  C.  Cady,  J.    D.  Learned, 
William  C.  Lane,  P.  G.  Camden,  Ferdinand  Kennett. 

A  committee  was  also  appointed  to  wait  on  the 
venerable  Pierre  Chouteau,  Sr.,  brother  of  Auguste 
Chouteau,  who  assisted  Laclede  in  laying  out  the 
town,  and  invite  him  to  participate  in  the  celebration. 
The  committee  consisted  of  John  O'Fallon,  William 
C.  Carr,  and  William  Milburn.  A  motion  was  adopted 
that  the  city  newspapers  be  requested  to  publish  the 
proceedings  of  the  meeting.  At  a  meeting  of  the 
committee  appointed  to  take  charge  of  the  necessary 
preparations,  held  at  the  Planters'  House,  subsequent 
to  the  meeting  above  mentioned,  Col.  Thornton  Grims- 
ley in  the  chair,  and  J.  M.  Field  acting  as  secretary, 
it  was  "  Resolved,  That  a  meeting  of  the  committee 
be  held  at  the  Planters'  House  the  following  evening, 
to  take  action  on  the  subjects  confided  to  their 
charge."  At  a  meeting  of  the  same  committee,  held 
several  days  later,  definitive  action  was  taken  on  all 
the  propositions  submitted  except  the  dinner,  and 
consideration  of  that  subject  was  postponed.  The  an- 
nouncement was  made  that  Wilson  Primm,  a  descend- 
ant of  one  of  the  founders  of  St.  Louis,  and  him- 
self a  distinguished  lawyer,  had  accepted  the  appoint- 
ment of  orator  of  the  day,  and  it  was  determined 
:  that  there  should  be  a  procession  through  the  prin- 
cipal streets  to  the  rotunda  of  the  court-house,  where 
the  oration  was  to  be '  delivered.  Col.  Thornton 
Grimsley  was  appointed  chief  marshal,  and  it  was 
agreed  that  there  should  be  a  ball  in  the  evening 
at  the  Planters'  House. 

Considerable  opposition  to  the  proposed  ball  was 
developed,  and  it  found  expression  in  a  meeting  called 
"  to  consider  the  propriety  of  striking  out  that  part  of 
the  programme  (relating  to  the  dinner  and  ball)  and 
adding  such  other  measures  as  will  give  all  an  oppor- 
tunity of  participating."  In  pursuance  of  this  call,  a 
meeting  was  held  at  the  Planters'  House  on  the  28th 
of  January,  George  Knapp  presiding,  and  A.  P. 
Ladew  acting  as  secretary.  Resolutions  were  adopted 
to  the  effect  that  the  programme  as  originally  agreed 
upon,  embracing  an  ovation,  a  public  dinner,  and  a 
ball,  was  "  the  most  appropriate  and  fitting  for  the 
occasion."  It  was  also  agreed  that  those  present 
should  use  every  means  in  their  power  to  render  the 
festival  worthy  of  the  occasion  and  the  city.  This 
seems  to  have  finally  disposed  of  the  objections  raised, 
as  we  hear  of  no  further  opposition.  In  order  to  pro- 
vide against  the  contingency  of  unfavorable  weather, 
it  was  decided  that  should  the  day  prove  inclement 
the  place  for  the  delivery  of  the  oration  should  be 
changed  from  the  rotunda  of  the  court-house  to  the 
theatre.  The  precaution,  however,  proved  unnecessary, 


PROMINENT   EVENTS. 


1827 


as  the  day  of  the  celebration,  according  to  contem- 
porary chroniclers,  was  mild  and  clear.1 

At  eight  o'clock,  Col.  Thornton  Grimsley,  grand 
marshal,  accompanied  by  the  aids  and  assistant  mar- 
shals, all  on  horseback,  the  volunteer  artillery  com- 
pany, Lieut.  Holzscheiter  commanding ;  a  portion  of 
the  Phoenix  Fire  Company,  under  the  direction  of 
Henry  Pilkington  and  bearing  the  banner  of  the  com- 
pany, on  which  was  a  representation  of  the  landing  of 
Laclede  ;  the  Washington  Brass  Band,  directed  by  Mr. 
Barkley,  and  a  fife  and  drum  corps,  under  the  com- 
mand of  Drum-Major  Roques,  assembled  on  Water 
Street,  about  midway  of  the  block  between  Market 
and  Chestnut,  on  the  spot  where  Laclede  landed  on 
his  return  from  Fort  de  Chartres  in  1764.  At  the 
same  hour  a  national  salute  of  twenty-nine  guns  was 
fired,  and  was  followed  by  salutes  in  honor  of  Laclede, 
Thomas  Jefferson  (two  guns),  and  the  cession  of 
Louisiana  to  the  United  States  (three  guns).  These 
salutes  were  responded  to  by  salvos  from  the  boat- 
yards in  the  upper  part  of  the  city.  After  the 
national  salute  the  Washington  Band  played  the 
"St.  Louis  Imperial  March,"  composed  for  the  occa- 
sion. About  nine  o'clock  the  following  officers  of  the 
celebration  had  assembled  at  the  Planters'  House : 

Committee  of  Arrangements. — Col.  T.  Grimsley,  B.  Pratte, 
Edward  Walsh,  Edward  Tracy,  P.  M.  Dillon,  A.  E.  Orme,  Mar- 
tin Thomas,  Asa  Wilgus,  S.  Treat,  Col.  R.  Campbell,  William 
Risley,  P.  Ferguson,  S.  Blood,  J.  J.  Purdy,  J.  F.  Darby, 
J.  Finney,  L.  A.  Lebeaume,  Edward  Charless,  H.  F.  Christy, 
W.  Primm,  D.  B.  Hill,  Pascal  Cerre,  George  Collier,  Henry  Von 
I'hul,  John  B.  Sarpy,  Thomas  Andrews,  Charles  Keeinle,  J.  M. 
Field,  A.  B.  Chambers,  L.  V.  Bogy,  D.  Tatum,  Henry  S.  Geyer, 
John  Shade,  Edward  Bates,  James  Clemens,  Jr.,  Nathan  Ran- 
ney,  John  O'Fallon,  Fred.  R.  Conway,  Capt.  Gregory  Byrne, 
C.  C.  Cady,  Gen.  J.  D.  Learned,  Dr.  William  C.  Lane,  P.  G. 
Camden,  Ferdinand  Kennett,  J.  A.  Sire. 

Grand  Murnhal,  Aids,  and  Assistants. — Col.  Thornton  Grims- 
ley, grand  marshal;  Aids,  Col.  Charles  Keemle,  Hon.  David 
Chambers  ;  Assistant  Marshals,  First  Ward,  B.  A.  Soulard,  Alli- 
son Merrill,  E.  W.  Paul,  D.  B.  Hill,  John  Fulton,  Henry  C.  Lynch, 
F.  W.  Beckwith,  Samuel  H.  Pilkington,  John  Dunn;  Second 
Ward,  G.  G.  Presbury,  M.  L.  Cerr6,  Henry  Almsted,  A.  Lemp, 
Adolphe  Paul,  AVin.  Cozzens,  Richard  Dowling,  C.  A.  Schnabel, 
Fred.  Kretchsmar,  Dr.  John  Shore;  Third  Ward,  Thomas 
Campbell,  Daniel  Finch,  John  Hanson,  Thomas  Gray,  C.  L. 
Hunt,  John  J.  Anderson,  A.  Brewster,  V.  Staley,  George  A. 
Colton;  Fourth  Ward,  Dr.  B.  B.  Brown,  H.  J.  Clayton,  David 
Tatum,  Robert  Earth,  Nathaniel  Coleman,  J.  B.  Gerard,  Win. 
A.  Lynch,  Charles  Walton,  Charles  H.  Peek,  William  C.  Essex  : 
Fifth  Ward,  James  M.  Allen,  H.  M.  Snyder,  J.  G.  Shands,  A. 
H.  Glasbj',  Charles  E.  Loring,  Daniel  R.  Garrison,  J.  E.  D. 
Cozens,  Charles  P.  Pond,  George  A.  Gannett,  Wm.  0.  Shands; 


1  "The  morning,"  says  the  St.  Louis  Republican  of  February 
17th,  "opened  mild,  with  a  hazy  and  dense  atmosphere,  not 
unlike  a  morning  in  Indian  summer,  and  the  streets  generally 
were  dry  and  the  walking  pleasant.  Nature  seemed  to  have 
given  just  such  a  day  as  suited  the  occasion." 


Sixth  Ward,  R.  B.  Austin,  S.  V.  Farnsworth,  W.  G.  Clark,  C. 
W.  Lightner,  N.  Aldrieh,  Peter  Brooks,  C.  W.  Schauruburg,  C. 
R.  Anderson,  Gregory  Byrne,  John  R.  Hammond. 

In  addition  to  the  above  were  the  following  invited 
guests,  men  who  were  residents  of  St.  Louis  or  the 
surrounding  country  at  a  very  early  day,  some  of  them 
before  the  transfer  of  the  Territory  to  the  United 
States : 

Pierre  Chouteau,  Pierre  Choute.au,  Jr.,  Paul  L.  Chouteau, 
Simon  Sanguinet,  R.  Dufrene,  Vincent  Guion,  H.  Sappington, 
J.  Baptiste  Hortiz,  G.  S.  Chouteau,  J.  Baptiste  Belcour,  John 
Perry,  Antoine  Schmidt,  L.  S.  Martin,  Louis  Lemonde. 

A  number  of  other  gentlemen,  including  the  Gov- 
ernor, State  officers,  and  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
were  unable,  owing  to  ill  health  and  other  causes,  to 
be  present.  The  various  organizations  which  were  to 
take  part  in  the  procession  appeared  at  the  points  of 
formation  at  an  early  hour,  and  the  spectacle,  as  they 
marched  through  the  streets,  was  very  enlivening. 
Flags  and  festoons  were  suspended  from  the  windows 
of  many  buildings,  and  the  decorations  along  the  route 
of  the  procession  were  especially  handsome  and  pro- 
fuse. Business  was  almost  entirely  suspended,  and 
the  streets  were  thronged  with  interested  spectators. 
The  assemblage  in  front  of  the  court-house,  where  the 
oration  was  delivered,  was  immense.  The  formation 
of  the  line  commenced  at  ten  o'clock,  and  the  proces- 
sion moved  half  an  hour  later  in  the  following  order : 

The  Chief  Marshal  and  his  Aids. 
The  Washington  Brass  Band. 

The  military  as  follows  : 

St.  Louis  Grays,  under  command  of  Capt.  West. 

N.  A.  Rangers,  under  command  of  Lieut.  Barnes. 

Fusileers,  under  command  of  Capt.  AVagener. 

Jaegers,  under  command  of  Capt.  Korponay. 

Artillery,  under  command  of  Lieut.  Holzscheiter. 

Dragoons,  under  command  of  Lieut.  Steitz. 

The  whole  of  the  military  under  the  immediate  command  of 

Lieut.-Col.  Kennett,  of  the  St.  Louis  Legion. 

Following  the  military  came  the  Apprentices'  Li- 
brary Association,  Joseph  F.  Schiefer,  marshal.  This 
association  carried  the  banner  of  the  committee  of  ar- 
rangements. In  the  front  of  the  line  it  bore  the 
national  flag  with  a  streamer,  on  which  was  the  name 
of  the  association,  and  in  the  rear  the  banner  presented 
to  the  committee  of  arrangements  by  the  ladies  of  St. 
Louis,  through  S.  Rimmer.  This  banner  was  of  satin, 
with  the  name  "  Laclede"  embroidered  on  one  side, 
and  the  words  "  Our  City"  on  the  other.  Next  in 
order  after  the  Apprentices  came  the"  committee  of 
arrangements,  two  and  two,  wearing  red  badges,  and 
following  them  the  invited  guests.  In  an  open  car- 
riage was  seated  the  aged  Pierre  Chouteau,  president 
of  the  day.  Mr.  Chouteau  was  then  considerably 
over  ninety  years  of  age.  He  was  accompanied  by 


1828 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


his  sons,  Pierre  Chouteau,  Jr.,  and  Paul  Ligueste 
Chouteau,  and  by  Gabriel  S.  Chouteau.  Four  In- 
dians mounted  on  horses  acted  as  a  guard  of  honor 
to  Mr.  Chouteau.  In  the  next  carriage  were  the 
Hon.  William  C.  Carr,  Col.  J.  O'Fallon,  and  Gen. 
William  Milburn,  the  committee  of  invitation  to  Mr. 
Chouteau.  Then  followed  in  another  carriage  other 
invited  guests.  The  next  feature  of  the  procession 
was  a  representation  of  the  "  General  Pike,"  the  first 
steamboat  that  arrived  at  St.  Louis.1 

In  the  wake  of  the  "  General  Pike"  marched  a  long 
procession  of  boatmen  and  boys,  after  whom  followed 
a  model,  drawn  on  wheels,  of  the  steamer  "  Laclede," 
then  considered  to  be  one  of  the  finest  vessels  on 
the  Mississippi  River.  The  "  Laclede"  was  named 
for  the  founder  of  St.  Louis,  and  was  built  in  that 
city.  After  this  model  came  the  mayor  and  city  offi- 
cers, two  and  two,  followed  by  the  various  companies 
of  the  fire  department  in  uniform  and  in  the  order  of 
their  incorporation,  which  was  as  follows : 

1st.  The  Central  Hose  Company,  preceded  by  their 
officers,  with  flags ;  next  their  engine,  drawn  by  four 
black  horses. 

2d.  The  Union,  No.  2,  Hose  Company,  their  hose 
dressed  in  blue,  corresponding  with  the  uniform  of  the 
men,  and  their  engine,  drawn  by  the  company. 

3d.  The  Washington  Hose  Company,  and  the  en- 
gine, drawn  by  four  gray  horses,  bearing  a  banner,  on 
which  was  the  likeness  of  General  Washington ;  dress, 
yellow. 

4th.  Tiger  Hose  Company,  which  was  attached  to 
the  St.  Louis  Engine  Company,  in  scarlet  uniform. 
They  carried  with  them  a  triangle  and  gong,  "  with 
which  they  saluted  the  public  as  they  passed." 

5th.  The  Missouri,  preceded  by  their  banner.  Fol- 
lowing this  were  a  number  of  Indians  in  full  costume  ; 
then  the  hose  company,  and  the  engine,  drawn  by 
four  gray  horses. 

1  This  vessel,  commanded  by  Capt.  Jacob  Reed,  arrived  at  St. 
Louis  in  July,  1817.  The  miniature  representation  was  about 
twenty  feet  long,  and  its  hull  was  that  of  a  barge.  The  wheels 
were  exposed,  and  she  was  propelled  by  a  low-pressure  engine, 
with  a  single  chimney  and  a  large  walking-beam.  The  crew 
were  supplied  with  poles,  and  when  the  current  was  too  strong 
for  the  vessel's  steam-motor  they  used  the  poles  to  assist  in  pro- 
pelling her.  The  model  was  mounted  on  wheels  and  drawn  by 
eight  horses,  and  was  manned  by  a  crew  of  steamboat  captains. 
Capt.  Throckmorton  paced  the  deck,  telescope  in  hand,  and  di- 
rected the  movements  of  the  little  vessel.  From  the  log-book 
of  the  "  voyage"  it  appears  that  the  crew  was  made  up  as  fol- 
lows : 

J.  Throckmorton,  master;  George  Ransom,  mate;  Thomas 
Nelson,  pilot ;  Charles  La  Barge,  steersman  ;  J.  C.  Burkinbine, 
starboard  deck  hand;  Charles  Connoyer,  larboard  deck  hand; 
John  Lee  and  N.  J.  Eaton,  firemen  on  the  first  watch;  and 
Hugh  Campbell  and  John  Shaw,  firemen  on  the  second  watch. 


6th.  The  Liberty,  preceded  by  their  banner.  The 
carriage  was  dressed  with  flowers,  and  the  men  wore 
handsome  uniforms.  The  engine  was  drawn  by  six 
dun  horses. 

7th.  The  Phoenix,  preceded  by  a  banner  provided 
for  the  occasion.  On  the  front  was  represented  the 
landing  of  Laclede.  He  occupied  the  foreground. 
To  his  left  was  a  surveyor,  who  had  drawn  a  plot  of 
the  town,  and  was  exhibiting  it  on  the  ground.  Be- 
hind him  stood  a  number  of  hunters  and  trappers,  and 
in  the  rear  was  the  rocky  bluff  that  once  showed  itself 
along  the  shore.  On  the  left  the  disembarkation  of 
the  goods  and  effects  of  the  pioneers  was  going  on, 
and  in  the  rear  an  interpreter  was  endeavoring  to 
make  friends  with  the  Indians.  In  a  scroll  above  was 
the  name  of  Laclede,  and  below  the  date  of  his  land- 
ing. On  the  reverse  of  the  banner  was  a  phoenix 
rising  from  its  ashes,  with  the  name  of  the  company 
and  the  date  of  its  incorporation. 

8th.  The  Franklin,  preceded  by  a  banner  with  the 
portrait  of  Franklin  upon  it.  The  hose  company  and 
members  made  a  fine  appearance,  their  yellow  fire-hats 
and  black  capes  with  gilt  letters  making  them  very 
conspicuous.  Their  engine  was  drawn  by  four  bay 
horses. 

Next  in  order  was  the  Hunting  Club,  all  the  mem- 
bers being  in  full  hunters'  costume,  and  provided 
with  horns,  buck-tails,  and  double-barreled  shot-guns. 
Capt.  Macdouough's  horse  supported  on  his  head  a 
large  pair  of  buck's  horns.  The  club  was  headed  by 
the  president  and  vice-president,  Capt.  Cohen  and 
Green  Erskine,  respectively.  Following  the  Hunting 
Club  came  the  Hibernian  Society,  preceded  by  a  band 
of  music,  and  wearing  green  sashes,  and  carrying 
their  banner,  the  harp  of  Erin.  To  this  organization 
succeeded  a  procession  of  maskers,  in  carriages  and 
on  horseback,  wearing  grotesque  costumes.  Next 
came  an  omnibus  drawn  by  four  horses  and  filled  with 
citizens.  The  omnibus  was  followed  by  Henry  Dolde's 
car,  heavily  laden  with  bread,  and  next  in  order  were 
the  public  schools.  School  No.  3,  under  D.  Arm- 
strong, headed  the  line.  It  was  followed  by  the 
Sixth  Ward  school,  and  the  rear  was  brought  up  by 
School  No.  1. 

In  the  line  was  borne  a  banner  prepared  for  the 
occasion,  and  presented  to  the  schools  by  the  Board 
of  School  Directors.  It  was  decorated  with  a  paint- 
ing of  Minerva,  goddess  of  wisdom,  and  appropriate 
emblems  and  inscriptions.  After  the  schools  came 
the  lodges  of  Masons  and  Odd-Fellows,  both  orders 
being  in  full  regalia,  and  bearing  a  number  of  hand- 
some banners.  The  Odd-Fellows  numbered  three 
hundred,  and  were  under  the  command  of  their  chief 


PROMINENT   EVENTS. 


1829 


marshal,  C.  M.  Valleau.  The  city  lodges  marched  in 
the  order  of  seniority,  as  follows  :  Excelsior,  No.  18  ; 
Missouri,  No.  11;  St.  Louis,  No.  5;  Germania,  No. 
3  ;  Wildey,  No.  2  ;  and  Travelers'  Rest,  No.  1.  Next 
came  the  encampment,  under  the  immediate  control 
of  the  Most  Worthy  Grand  Chief  Patriarch,  Gerard 
B.  Allen.  Lastly  came  the  Right  Worthy  Grand 
Lodge.  The  Most  Worthy  Grand  Master,  Isaac  M. 
Veitch,  brought  up  the  rear. 

The  Odd-Fellows  were  followed  by  a  deputation 
of  brewers,  the  firms  of  Lemp,  McHose  &  English, 
G.  Snyder  and  Winckelmeier  being  represented.  At 
the  head  of  the  procession  was  a  mammoth  cask, 
drawn  by  four  gray  horses,  on  which  was  seated  a 
representation  of  the  king  of  Flanders  and  Brabant, 
the  reputed  inventor  of  beer,  bearing  a  pitcher  of  the 
foaming  beverage.  There  were  also  three  large  casks 
surrounded  by  the  implements  of  brewing.  Behind 
the  brewers  marched  the  coopers.  At  the  head  of 
their  line  was  an  immense  cask  on  a  car  drawn  by 
four  horses.  Seated  on  the  cask  was  a  master- 
cooper,  and  several  coopers  walked  on  either  side 
holding  ribbons  attached  to  the  cask.  After  them 
marched  along  line  of  coopers,  bearing  implements 
of  their  trade.  Next  followed  a  wagon  belonging 
to  D.  Colver's  brewery,  and  behind  it  came  the  free 
school  of  St.  Louis  University,  numbering  seven 
hundred  pupils,  which,  in  turn,  was  succeeded  by 
the  students  of  the  university.  Following  these  was 
Mr.  Wyman's  High  School,  numbering  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy-five  scholars,  and  bearing  several 
handsome  banners,  one  of  which  had  been  presented 
by  the  pupils  of  "  Edgewater  Seminary."  Then 
followed  the  Evangelical  German  Lutheran  School, 
and  a  printing-press  in  a  car,  with  several  boys  engaged 
in  printing  and  distributing  an  ode  composed  for  the 
occasion  on  behalf  of  the  Typographical  Association 
by  John  P.  Shannon.  Following  the  press  came  a 
long  line  of  printers,  including  the  St.  Louis  Typo- 
graphical Association,  after  whom  marched  the 
Society  of  Saddle,  Harness,  and  Trunk-Makers,  Oscar 
F.  A.  Scruggs,  marshal.  They  were  followed  by  the 
St.  Cecilia  Society  in  carriages,  and  by  citizens  in  car- 
riages and  on  horseback. 

The  procession  moved  from  Fourth,  along  Market, 
into  Fifth  Street,  down  Fifth  to  Carondelet  Avenue, 
where  it  wheeled  into  Second  Street ;  up  Second 
Street  to  Spruce,  along  Spruce  to  Fourth,  up  Fourth 
to  Washington  Avenue,  along  Washington  Avenue 
to  Fifth,  up  Fifth  to  Franklin  Avenue,  along  Frank- 
lin Avenue  to  Sixth,  down  Sixth  to  Washington 
Avenue,  along  Washington  Avenue  to  Fifth,  down 
Fifth  to  Chestnut,  along  Chestnut  to  Fourth,  where 
116 


the  line  was  countermarched.  When  the  head  of 
the  procession,  on  its  way  down  Fifth  Street,  reached 
the  centre  of  the  block  between  Chestnut  and  Pine, 
the  rear  was  at  the  hospital,  corner  of  Fourth  and 
Spruce  Streets.  After  marching  as  far  as  practica- 
ble, for  it  was  soon  evident  that  the  width  of  the 
street  did  not  admit  of  the  whole  line  making  this 

O 

evolution,  the  procession  was  dismissed. 

The  Washington  Band  then  played  the  "  Marseil- 
laise," after  which  the  pupils  of  School  No.  3,  who  had 
occupied  a  position  in  front  of  the  speakers'  stand, 
sang  an  ode  written  for  the  occasion  and  set  to  the 
tune  of  "  The  Old  Granite  State."  The  band  then 
rendered  a  march  specially  composed  for  the  celebra- 
tion. 

A  stand  had  been  erected  on  the  sidewalk  on  the 
east  side  of  Fourth  Street,  fronting  the  court-house. 
An  immense  assemblage  filled  the  street  from  Market 
to  Chestnut  Streets,  and  back  to  the  court-house  and 
the  court-house  yard.  On  the  platform  were  seated 
among  others  the  four  Indians  who  constituted  Mr'. 
Chouteau's  body-guard.  When  the  music  had  ceased, 
the  grand  marshal,  Col.  Thornton  Grimsley,  intro- 
duced Wilson  Primm  as  the  orator  of  the  day. 

Mr.  Primm  began  his  address  with  a  historical  re- 
view of  French  conquest  and  colonization  in  the  val- 
ley of  the  Mississippi,  and  then  proceeded  to  describe 
the  cession  of  that  country's  territory  in  the  valley  to 
Spain,  and  subsequently  to  the  United  States,  the 
surrender  of  Fort  de  Chartres  to  England,  and  the 
settlement  of  St.  Louis,  and  narrated  at  length  the 
political  and  economic  history  of  the  city. 

After  the  oration  the  committee  of  arrangements, 
the  invited  guests,  the  marshal  and  his  aids  and  as- 
sistants, and  a  number  of  citizens  assembled  at  the 
Planters'  House,  where  a  collation  had  been  prepared. 
At  the  table  the  following  officers  presided  : 


Gen.  John  Ruland,  President. 

VICE-PRESIDENTS. 


John  F.  Darby. 
H.  Von  Phul. 
F.  R.  Conway. 
Dr.  B.  G.  Farrar. 
Edward  Bates. 


Asa  Wilgus. 
Dr.  Robert  Simpson. 
Col.  John  O'Fallon. 
Wyllis  King. 
Col.  J.  B.  Brant. 


Col.  Charles  Keemle,  Toast-master. 

The  sub-committee  on  the  dinner  consisted  of  Col. 
F.  Kennett,  Joseph  M.  Field,  Edward  Walsh,  Henry 
S.  Geyer,  John  F.  Darby,  Samuel  Treat. 

Pierre  Chouteau,  president  of  the  day,  was  seated 
immediately  on  the  right  of  Gen.  Ruland.  The 
vice-presidents  presided  at  the  different  tables.  Prep- 
arations had  been  made  to  seat  twelve  hundred 
persons,  but  owing  to  the  belief  that  there  would  be 
too  great  an  assemblage  for  comfort,  many  were  de- 


1830 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


terred  from  attending,  and  there  were  not  more  than 
four  hundred  persons  present.  John  F.  Darby,  first 
vice-president,  called  the  meeting  to  order.  After 
dinner  was  over,  the  first  toast,  "  The  Founders  of  St. 
Louis,"  was  read  by  Col.  Charles  Keemle,  toast-master, 
and  repeated  by  D.  Armstrong.  It  was  responded  to 
by  L.  V.  Bogy,  on  behalf  of  Mr.  Chouteau,  and  Mr. 
Bogy  proposed,  in  the  name  of  Mr.  Chouteau,  a  toast 
to  the  memory  of  Pierre  Ligueste  Laclede,  the  foun- 
der of  St.  Louis.  After  the  toast  had  been  drunk  in 
silence  and  standing,  Mr.  Chouteau  rose,  and  in  a  few 
remarks  in  the  French  language  bore  testimony  to 
the  purity,  simplicity,  and  honesty  of  the  early  in- 
habitants of  St.  Louis.  The  band  then  played  the 
"  Laclede  March,"  composed  for  the  celebration. 

The  toast  "Missouri"  was  not  responded  to, 
owing  to  the  absence  of  Governor  Edwards,  and  Col. 
Campbell,  the  Governor's  aid,  proposed  the  sentiment 
"  The  City  of  St.  Louis, — one  of  the  many  instances 
in  which  we  are  indebted  to  the  sagacity  of  Indian 
traders  for  the  selection  of  the  site  of  a  commercial 
city."  G.  W.  Jones,  of  Iowa,  responded  to  the  toast 
"  The  Union,"  after  which  a  letter  was  read  from  the 
Hon.  R.  W.  Wells,  regretting  his  inability  to  be 
present.  Another  toast  to  St.  Louis  was  responded 
to  by  William  C.  Carr  and  Mayor  P.  G.  Camden. 
The  following  toasts  were  also  drunk  :  "  The  Orator 
of  the  Day,"  responded  to  by  Wilson  Primm ;  "  The 
Western  Hunter  and  Trapper,"  responded  to  by  Hon. 
Thomas  Allen  and  Mr.  Crockett ;  "  Our  Army, — the 
Volunteers  and  Regulars,"  responded  to  by  Col.  Fer- 
dinand Kcnnett ;  and  "The  Press,"  responded  toby 
A.  B.  Chambers.  After  the  toast  to  "  Law  and  Medi- 
cine," Mr.  Chouteau,  the  guest  of  the  evening,  who 
was  in  feeble  health,  rose  to  retire,  and  was  greeted 
with  three  cheers  twice  repeated.  As  he  withdrew 
the  band  played  "  Hail  to  the  Chief,"  and  the  com- 
pany remained  standing.  Edward  Bates  replied  to 
the  toast  "  Law  and  Medicine,"  and  the  remaining 
toasts  and  those  who  responded  were  the  following : 
"  Public  Education,"  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Goodrich ; 
"  Thomas  Jefferson,"  by  Mr.  Polk  ;  "  Western  Boat- 
men," by  Capt.  Eaton ;  and  "  The  Mothers  of  St. 
Louis,"  by  John  F.  Darby.  A  letter  of  regret  at  his 
inability  to  attend,  owing  to  indisposition,  was  read 
from  S.  Labadie.  Col.  Thornton  Grimsley  then  an- 
nounced that  the  Laclede  banner,  made  by  the  ladies 
of  St.  Louis,  would  be  presented  to  Pierre  Chou- 
teau, the  only  person  living  who  had  seen  Laclede. 
Mr.  J.  S.  Robb  made  a  humorous  speech,  and  brief 
addresses  were  made  by  Col.  John  O'Fallon,  Gen. 
Ruland,  who  gave  the  health  of  Grand  Marshal 
Grimsley,  G.  R.  Taylor,  and  Mr.  Treat,  of  the  Union 


newspaper ;  Mr.  Polk,  who  proposed  a  toast  to  the 
memory  of  Governor  William  Clark  ;  Mann  Butler, 
who  toasted  the  memory  of  George  Rogers  Clark  ; 
Col.  Brant,  the  memory  of  Gen.  Henry  Atkinson  ; 
Gen.  Ranney,  the  memory  of  Capt.  Reed  ;  Mr.  Field, 
who  proposed  the  health  of  "  our  worthy  host,"  S. 
Rimmer ;  Nathaniel  Paschall,  who  toasted  the  mem- 
ory of  Col.  Auguste  Chouteau ;  Mr.  Cady,  the  health 
of  Nathaniel  Paschall,  "  one  of  the  pioneers  of  the 
St.  Louis  press ;"  Mr.  Curtis,  the  memory  of  Joseph 
Taylor,  the  companion  of  Laclede,  and  who  first 
built  a  mill  in  St.  Louis ;  N.  E.  Janney,  who  offered 
a  toast  to  "  Romulus  and  Laclede ;  and  J.  S.  Robb, 
who  proposed  the  health  of  Col.  Keemle,  the  oldest 
printer  west  of  the  Mississippi.  Dr.  Linton  and  J. 
M.  Holmes  also  made  addresses.  The  health  of 
Henry  Von  Phul,  the  oldest  merchant  in  St.  Louis, 
was  drunk  with  enthusiasm.  After  several  more 
toasts  had  been  offered  the  banquet  terminated. 

Between  eight  and  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening  the 
ball,  with  which  the  celebration  closed,  commenced  at 
the  Planters'  House.  There  was  a  very  large  attend- 
ance, and  the  entertainment  is  described  as  having 
been  of  a  most  brilliant  and  successful  character. 

The  managers  of  the  ball  were — 

Joseph  A.  Sire,  Bernard  Pratte,  Charles  Chouteau,  Frederic 
L.  Billon,  Amedee  VallS,  Michael  L.  Cerre,  Charles  Cabann6, 
William  L.  Ewing,  Joseph  Boujou,  Henry  Von  Phul,  S.  B. 
Churchill,  James  Clemens,  Jr.,  H.  S.  Geyer,  G.  W.  Goode,  Jef- 
ferson R.  Clarke,  Charles  F.  Tracy,  N.  Berthoud,  AV.  H.  Belcher, 
D.  B.  Morehouse,  John  H.  Ferguson,  Richard  Brewster,  Gen. 
Milburn,  Thomas  Andrews,  John  G.  Shelton,  David  D.  Hill, 
John  Withnell,  R.  M.  Parks,  John  S.  Watson,  A.  B.  Chambers. 

The  sub-committees  were — 

Sub-Committee  of  the  Committee  on  Arrangements,  having 
special  charge  of  the  preparations  for  the  ball,  George  Collier, 
John  B.  Sarpy,  Gen.  B.  Pratte,  E.  Charless,  J.  Clemens,  Jr.,  C. 
C.  Cady,  Col.  T.  Grimsley. 

Sub-Committee  on  Invitations,  A.  B.  Chambers,  F.  R.  Con- 
way,  J.  B.  Sarpy,  H.  Von  Phul. 

Sub-Committee  on  Finance,  Col.  R.  Campbell,  Capt.  S.  Blood, 
William  Risley,  Capt.  J.  A.  Sire. 

Sub-Committee  on  Procession  and  Oration,  Col.  Lewis  V.  Bogy, 
Asa  Wilgus,  Col.  Charles  Keemle,  Gen.  N.  Ranney,  Capt.  G. 
Byrne,  David  Tatum. 

1847.  In  August,  Gen.  Phil  Kearney  arrived  in 
the   city   and   received   his   friends  at  the  Planters' 
House. 

1848.  January  21st,  a  mass-meeting  of  Germans, 
for  the  organization  of  a  society  for  the  furtherance 
of   the   republican    cause  in  Germany,  was   held  at 
the  court-house.     William   Palm  was  elected  chair- 
man,  and   William   D'Oench,   Charles    Huth,   John 
Kern,  L.  Braun,  Louis  Bach,  Joseph  Pfeiffer,  George 
A.  Krug,  Dr.  Wiebe,  and  Charles  Muegge,  vice-presi- 


PROMINENT   EVENTS. 


1831 


dents,  and  Arthur  Olshausen,  secretary.  At  a  previous 
meeting,  held  Dec.  27,  1847,  an  address  had  been 
delivered  by  Frederick  Hecker.  Subsequently  an 
address  to  the  German  nation  was  prepared  and  for- 
warded to  Germany.  The  following  officers  were 
elected :  President,  William  Palm  ;  Vice-President, 
Col.  Waldemar  Fischer;  Recording  Secretary,  0. 
Beckendorff;  Corresponding  Secretary,  Dr.  A.  Ham- 
mer; Treasurer,  John  Kern. 

1852.  July  12th,  many  houses  draped  in  mourning 
for  Henry  Clay,  who  died  June  29th.  At  night  there 
was  an  immense  torchlight  procession.  The  officers 
were:  Grand  Marshal,  Thornton  Grimsley;  Aids, 
Col.  A.  B.  Chambers,  C.  Kribben ;  Assistant  Mar- 
shals, Henry  N.  Hart,  Isaac  H.  Sturgeon,  Basil  Duke, 
Frederick  Kretschmar,  Augustus  H.  Linn,  Leo  D. 
Walker,  D.  T.  Wright,  J.  C.  Edgar,  Lucien  Carr,  J. 
T.  Camp,  Dr.  John  Shore. 

The  procession  moved  down  Fifth  Street  to  the 
intersection  of  Fourth  and  Fifth  Streets,  up  Fourth 
to  Locust,  up  Locust  to  Fifth,  up  Fifth  to  Washing- 
ton Avenue,  up  Washington  Avenue  to  Eighth,  down 
Eighth  to  Olive,  up  Olive  to  the  Lucas  Place. 

The  following  was  the  order  of  procession  : 

Marshal  and  his  Aids. 

St.  Louis  Brass  Band. 

St.  Louis  Grays,  Capt.  Knapp. 

Missouri  Jaegers,  Capt.  Schaeffer. 

(With  their  respective  banners  furled,  shrouded  in  crape.) 

Bishop  C.  S.  Hawks,  Chaplain,  and  Uriel  Wright,  Orator. 

Rev.  S.  S.  Gassaway,  Hector  of  St.  George's;  Rev.  Mr.  Leech, 

Rector  of  St.  Paul's. 

Then  came  the  pall-bearers  in  twenty  carriages.  They  were 
Col.  Thomas  H.  Benton,  John  D.  Daggett,  Thomas  Andrews, 
Matthew  Kerr,  Robert  Simpson,  Gabriel  Chouteau,  Edward 
Tracy,  F.  Dent,  P.  Chouteau,  Jr.,  J.  B.  Sarpy,  Henry  Von  Phul, 
Peter  Lindell,  Jesse  G.  Lindell,  Beriah  Cleland,  Maj.  Richard 
Graham,  Sullivan  Blood,  John  Smith,  Thornton  Grimsley,  V.  J. 
Peers,  George  H.  Kennerly,  Gen.  William  Milburn,  William 
Waddinghara,  David  B.  Hill,  John  Finney,  Col.  John  O'Fallon, 
William  Finney,  Lewis  Bissell,  Edward  Walsh,  J.  Clemens,  Jr., 
Archibald  Gamble,  John  K.  Walker,  Peter  Ferguson,  Hamilton 
R.  Gamble,  Phineas  Bartlett,  H.  G.  Renard,  Charles  Chambers, 
Robert  Wash,  John  Goodfellow,  James  J.  Purdy,  Emanuel 
Block,  Isaac  A.  Letcher,  Andrew  Elliott,  James  C.  Button,  Mar- 
shall Brotherton,  Louis  A.  Lebeaume,  Bernard  Pratte,  L.  A. 
Benoist,  John  H.  Gay,  James  II.  Lucas,  Henry  Shurlds,  P.  D. 
L'apin,  John  Simonds,  William  Glasgow,  William  Renshaw,  Jr., 
William  G.  Pettus,  Joseph  A.  Sire,  Nathaniel  Paschall,  Charles 
Keemle,  Elkanah  English,  Michael  S.  Cerro,  Henry  Chouteau, 
John  Rice,  Samuel  Hawken. 

Immediately  behind  the  hearse  was  the  American  flag,  furled 
and  shrouded  in  crape,  and  borne  by  three  members  of  the 
United  Order  of  American  Mechanics,  viz. :  State  Councilor, 
M.  B.  Laughlin  ;  Vice  State  Councilor,  J.  L.  Faucett ;  Secre- 
tary, I.  L.  Bailey.  Afterwards  followed  the 

Funeral  Car,  drawn  by  six  horses. 
Committee  of  Arrangements. 

Mayor. 
City  Council  and  Executive  Officers  of  the  city. 


Judges  of  all  the  Courts. 

Members  of  the  Bar  and  Officers  of  the  Courts. 
Officers  of  the  Army  and  Navy  of  the  United  States. 

Union  Swiss  Guards,  Capt.  Fry. 
Lafayette  Guards,  Capt.  Vanhover. 

Washington  Grenadiers. 

(With  their  respective  banners  furled  and  shrouded  with  crape.) 
Order  of  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Masons. 

Independent  Order  of  Odd-Fellows. 

United  Order  of  American  Mechanics. 

Hibernian  Benevolent  Association. 

German  Benevolent  Society. 

All  other  Scientific,  Literary,  and  Charitable 

Associations,  in  the  order  they  arrived 

on  the  ground. 

St.  Louis  Fire  Companies, 

in  the  order  in  which  they  arrived. 

Citizens  on  foot. 

Missouri  Dragoons,  Capt.  Brinkman. 
Missouri  Artillery,  Capt.  Almstead. 

Citizens  in  carriages. 
Citizens  on  horseback. 

Besides  these  were  the  association  of  German  Gym- 
nastics, the  students  of  St.  Louis  University,  the  so- 
ciety of  steamboat  engineers,  and  various  other  bodies. 
A  number  of  transparencies  were  borne  in  the  pro- 
cession, among  them  one  by  the  "  St.  Louis  Printers' 
Union,"  T.  G.  Forster,  marshal.  Several  of  the 
engines  and  carriages  of  the  fire  department  were 
handsomely  decorated.  On  the  13th  a  large  assem- 
blage gathered  in  the  space  in  front  of  Yeatman's 
Row  to  listen  to  a  eulogy  upon  the  character  of  the 
dead  statesman,  delivered  by  Maj.  Wright. 

In  1848,  at  a  time  when  excitement  ran  high  over 
the  victories  of  the  American  army  in  Mexico,  the 
intelligence  of  the  revolution  in  Paris  was  received 
with  great  enthusiasm,  and  there  was  a  large  meeting 
held  on  April  19th  ;  Judge  John  M.  Krum  was  chosen 
president,  and  Alexander  Kayser,  David  Chambers, 
Judge  Bryan  Mullanphy,  and  John  F.  Darby,  vice- 
presidents,  and  C.  E.  Lebeaume,  Lewis  Cortambert,  and 
Alexander  J.  P.  Garesche,  secretaries.  The  meeting 
was  largely  attended,  but  it  was  only  preliminary 
to  a  general  mass-meeting  that  was  in  contemplation, 
for  which  a  committee  was  appointed  to  prepare  an 
address  and  suitable  resolutions,  consisting  of  R.  S. 
Blennerhassett,  James  Leraen,  Daniel  H.  Donovan, 
John  F.  Darby,  Wilson  Primm,  James  G.  Barry, 
Col.  L.  V.  Bogy,  Capt.  Deegan,  D.  A.  Magehan, 
Lewis  Bach,  Robert  Cathcart,  J.  S.  Hall,  Reuben  B. 
Austin,  P.  G.  Camden,  Judge  Schaumburg,  Judge 
Mullanphy,  and  William  Weber.  The  address  at  the 
mass-meeting  was  delivered  by  Pierce  C.  Grace. 
'  About  the  same  time  the  French  citizens  also  held  a 
meeting,  at  which  Dr.  John  Rivereau  presided,  and 
Wilson  Primm  was  secretary. 

1852.  In  March,  Louis  Kossuth,  the   Hungarian 


1832 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


patriot,  visited  St.  Louis,  and  not  only  obtained  very 
substantial  contributions  in  aid  of  the  cause  whicb  he 
represented,  but  was  received  with  popular  and  dis- 
tinguished honors.  He  was  accompanied  by  Madame 
Kossuth  and  a  suite  of  thirteen  persons.  He  was 
received  on  March  9th,  on  landing  from  the  steamer 
"  Emperor,"  by  a  citizens'  committee  of  one  hundred) 
of  which  Mayor  Kennett  was  chairman,  and  was 
escorted  by  the  military  and  populace  to  the  Planters' 
House,  where  he  held  a  reception.  On  March  12th 
there  was  a  grand  military  and  civic  parade  in  his 
honor.  During  his  stay  Kossuth  was  the  object  of 
marked  attention,  and  was  visited  by  delegations 
from  the  cities  of  Missouri  and  other  Western  States, 
and  invited  to  visit  them  also. 

1854.  In  March  a  prominent  event  occurred  in 
the  history  of  St.  Louis  in  the  reception  and  enter- 
tainment by  the  city  authorities  and  commercial 
bodies  of  the  Governor,  judiciary,  and  Legislature  of 
Illinois.  The  banquet  was  given  March  2d  in  the 
Mercantile  Library  Hall,  Mayor  John  How,  of  St. 
Louis,  presiding.  On  June  12th,  ex-President  Mil- 
lard  Fillmore  visited  St.  Louis,  and  received  a  grand  ova- 
tion from  its  citizens.  The  intelligence  of  his  coming 
was  received  on  Sunday,  the  previous  day,  and  prep- 
arations were  at  once  made  for  his  reception.  A 
committee  on  reception,  escorted  by  two  companies 
of  military,  proceeded  on  a  steamboat  up  the  Missis- 
sippi to  meet  the  distinguished  guest.  On  the  arrival 
at  the  city,  Mr.  Fillmore  was  received  by  Mayor 
How  and  the  city  authorities,  and  was  escorted  by  a 
procession  of  military  and  citizens  to  the  Planters' 
House,  where  he  was  formally  received  and  made  a 
speech.  The  next  day  he  gave  a  public  reception, 
and  was  the  city's  guest  until  Wednesday,  14th. 

April  27th,  a  terrific  hail-storm  swept  over 
the  city  and  inflicted  considerable  damage.  A  local 
account  asserts  that  the  streets  looked  as  though  they 
had  been  "  paved  with  crystallized  pebbles."  The 
storm  was  even  more  severe  at  Jefferson  Barracks,  and 
the  destruction  of  property  was  considerable.  In 
Bonhomme  township  fences  and  out-houses  were 
prostrated  in  every  direction,  and  at  Carondelet  some 
twenty  or  thirty  houses  were  unroofed  or  injured  in 
some  other  way.  No  lives  were  lost. 

May  14th,  the  death  was  announced  of  the  "  Soap 
Grease  Man,"  a  local  celebrity  who  earned  his  liveli- 
hood by  going  from  house  to  house  and  purchasing 
.grease  for  soap.  He  went  about  in  a  wagon,  and  wore 
a  cockade  in  his  hat  and  a  sword  at  his  side. 

1857.  In  April  of  this  year  George  Peabody,  the 
banker  and  philanthropist,  visited  St.  Louis,  and  was 
received  by  the  Chamber  of  Commerce. 


1858.  May  4th,  a  number  of  United  States  offi- 
cers arrived  in  St.  Louis  on  their  way  to  Utah  to  sup- 
press the  rebellion  there.     Among  them  were  Gen. 
W.  S.  Harney,  Gen.  P.  F.  Smith,  Col.  J.  E.  John- 
ston, Maj.  N.  C.  Macrea,  Maj.  J.  W.  W.  Chapman, 
Capt.    A.    A.    Humphreys,  and    Capt.   A.    Pleason- 
ton. 

1859.  May  10th,  a  prize-fight  took  place  near  the 
Abbey    Race-Course,   between  James   Smith,    alias 
"  Bendigo,"  of  Philadelphia,  and  Pat  Curley,  of  St. 
Louis,  for   twenty-five   dollars    a   side.      Eighty-six 
rounds  were  fought,  and  Curley,  who  was  badly  pun- 
ished, threw  up   the  sponge,  and    the  victory  was 
awarded  to  Smith. 

July  1st,  Professor  John  Wise,  the  famous 
balloonist,  accompanied  by  John  Lamountain,  aero- 
naut, of  Troy,  N.  Y.;  0.  H.  Gager,of  Bennington,  Vt., 
who  defrayed  the  cost  of  the  experiment,  and  William 
Hyde,  local  editor  of  the  St.  Louis  Republican,  started 
from  St.  Louis  in  the  balloon  "  Atlantic,"  with  the 
view  of  making  an  aerial  voyage  to  the  Atlantic  sea- 
board. The  "  Atlantic"  adventurers  were  accom- 
panied part  of  the  way  by  S.  M.  Brooks,  of  St.  Louis, 
in  the  balloon  "  Comet."  The  "  Atlantic"  landed  on 
the  afternoon  of  the  following  day  near  the  residence 
of  T.  0.  Whitney,  at  Henderson,  Jefferson  Co.,  N.  Y., 
having  made  the  trip,  eleven  hundred  miles,  in  nine- 
teen hours  and  forty  minutes.  The  balloon  therefore 
traveled  at  the  average  rate  of  fifty-six  miles  an  hour. 
It  crossed  Lake  Erie,  a  distance  of  two  hundred  and 
fifty  miles,  in  three  hours,  making  eighty-three  and  a 
half  miles  an  hour.  The  ascension  was  made  at  five 
minutes  before  seven  P.M.,  from  Washington  Square, 
corner  of  Clark  Avenue  and  Twelfth  Street,  St.  Louis, 
and  was  witnessed  by  an  immense  concourse  of  spec- 
tators. 

July  30th,  Professor  Wise  and  his  son  Charles 
made  another  ascension  from  Washington  Square,  St. 
Louis,  in  the  balloon  "  Jupiter." 

November  30th,  the  south  end  of  Lucas  Market 
was  blown  down  by  a  tornado.  Many  houses  were 
unroofed,  and  other  damage  done. 

November  10th,  the  centennial  anniversary  of  the 
birth  of  Frederick  von  Schiller,  the  German  author, 
was  celebrated.  A  salute  of  one  hundred  guns  was 
fired  at  sunrise,  and  the  firing  was  kept  up  at  intervals 
throughout  the  day.  The  German  military  companies, 
benevolent  societies,  Saengerbund,  and  other  associa- 
tions paraded,  and  in  the  evening  (commencing  at  five 
o'clock)  there  was  an  enjoyable  entertainment  at  the 
Mercantile  Library  Hall.  Many  houses  and  other 
buildings  were  brilliantly  illuminated,  and  there  was 
a  handsome  display  of  fireworks. 


PROMINENT   EVENTS. 


1833 


1860.  August  llth,  the  Chicago  Zouaves  visited 
St.  Louis. 

1861.  In  September  of  this  year  Prince  Napoleon 
and  suite  visited  St.  Louis.    During  his  visit  he  called 
upon   Gen.    Fremont,  and,   accompanied    by  Mayor 
Taylor,  made  a  trip  to  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri, 
and  along  the  river  front. 

1864.  January  1st,  intensely  cold   in    St.  Louis. 
Before  daylight  the  thermometer  indicated  22°  below 
zero,  and  at  seven  o'clock  1 9.5°  below ;  such  a  degree 
of  cold  was  without  a  parallel  in  St.  Louis  for  at  least 
thirty-one  years.     For  twenty-two  winters  during  that 
period  the  mercury  had  sunk  to  or  below  zero.     In 
seven   of  those  winters   it   fell   below   ten    degrees, 
viz.,  in  January,  1834;    February,  1835  ;  January, 
1841;    January,  1852;   February,  1856;  January, 
1857  ;    and  January,  1864  ;   but  at  no  time  before 
1864  had  it  indicated  so  intense  a  degree  of  cold  as 
on  the  1st  of  January. 

On  the  29th  of  January  a  dinner  was  given 
to  Maj.-Gen.  U.  S.  Grant  at  the  Lindell  Hotel,  at 
which  there  were  three  hundred  guests.  Judge  Samuel 
Treat,  of  the  United  States  Court,  presided,  assisted 
by  Messrs.  John  O'Fallon,  Wayman  Crow,  Adolphus 
Meier,  Judge  Samuel  Reber,  James  Archer,  George 
R.  Taylor,  and  Barton  Able  as  vice-presidents.  Among 
the  military  guests  were  Maj.-Gen.  Schofield,  and 
Brig.-Gens.  James  Totten,  John  B.  Gray,  John 
McNeil,  E.  B.  Brown,  Clinton  B.  Fisk,  and  A.  G. 
Edwards. 

1865.  April  15th,  the  news   of  the  assassination 
of  President  Lincoln  reached  the  city.     As  soon  as 
the  official  confirmation  of  the  President's  death  was 
received  the  entire  city  was  draped  in  mourning.      At 
the   Levee  many  of  the  steamboats  displayed   flags 
dressed    in    crape.     Public    notice  had   before    been 
given  that  different  congregations  of  various  Chris- 
tian denominations  would  unite    together   on   April 
16th  for  a  thanksgiving  celebration  of  victories  in 
certain  churches  which  were  named.     The  decorations 
in    these  churches  were  bordered  in  crape,  and  the 
buildings  put  into  mourning.     The  exercises  were  also 
of  the  most  solemn  character.     April   17th   a  meet- 
ing of   merchants   and    business   men    was   held  on 
'Change.      There   was   a  large    attendance,   and  the 
meeting  was   called  to  order  by  Barton   Able,   who 
stated  the  object  of  the  assembly  in  a  brief  but  suit- 
able  manner.     He    was    followed    and    seconded    in 
addresses    by    Hon.    Henry    T.   Blow,   William    M. 
McPherson,  and  Brig.-Gen.  Clinton  B.  Fisk. 

The  following  preamble  and  resolutions,  introduced 
by  George  Partridge,  were  then  read  and  unanimously 
adopted : 


"  Whereas,  The  people  of  the  United  States  have  been  sud- 
denly called  upon,  in  the  midst  of  their  rejoicing  for  victories 
won  and  coming  peace,  to  deeply  mourn  the  loss  of  their  Chief 
Magistrate  by  an  untimely  and  cruel  death  by  assassination ; 
therefore  be  it 

"Resolved,  That  in  the  death  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Presi- 
dent of  these  United  States,  the  nation  has  lost  a  noble  patriot, 
a  wise  statesman,  a  just  and  honest  man. 

"  Resolved,  That  our  heartfelt  sympathies  are  tendered  to  his 
family  in  this  hour  of  their  deepest  affliction. 

"Resolved,  That  although  an  attempt  has  been  made  to  de- 
stroy the  life  of  this  nation  by  the  assassination  of  its  chief 
officers,  yet  we  confidently  believe  that  Divine  Providence  will 
more  fully  establish,  preserve,  and  perpetuate  the  integrity, 
honor,  and  glory  of  this  nation,  by  the  enforcement  of  law,  lib- 
erty, and  freedom  among  this  people,  than  ever  before. 

"  Resolved,  That  it  is  the  duty  of  every  loyal  man  to  stand 
pledged  to  uphold  and  strengthen  the  hands  of  Andrew  John- 
son, upon  whom  the  Presidential  office  now  devolves,  and  to 
ask  God  to  give  him  wisdom,  discretion,  and  counsel  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  official  duties. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Union  Merchants'  Exchange  of  St. 
Louis  will,  by  their  delegates,  unite  with  such  others  as  may  be 
appointed  by  the  County  Court,  the  Common  Council,  and  the 
military  authorities  of  this  city  in  attending  the  funeral  at 
Springfield  in  honor  of  the  late  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  nation. 

"  Resolved,  That  this  hall  be  draped  in  mourning  for  thirty 
days." 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Common  Council,  April  18th, 
the  following  resolutions,  introduced  by  Mr.  Stagg  im- 
mediately before  adjournment,  were  read  by  the  clerk 
and  unanimously  adopted  : 

"  Whereas,  In  the  midst  of  rejoicing  over  the  splendid  vic- 
tory of  the  Union  against  armed  rebels  and  traitors,  the  sad  in- 
telligence of  the  death  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the 
United  States,  by  the  hand  of  a  brutal  assassin,  has  reached 
us  ;  therefore  be  it 

"  Resolved,  By  the  Common  Council  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis, 
that  we  deeply  mourn  the  irreparable  loss  to  the  Union  of  its 
most  worthy  Chief  Magistrate,  and  mingle  our  tears  of  sorrow 
with  those  of  the  nation  upon  the  death  of  so  great  and  good  a 
man. 

"Resolved,  That  in  the  death  of  Abraham  Lincoln  the  nation 
is  deprived  of  the  eminent  services  of  one  whose  wisdom,  pru- 
dence, and  statesmanship  have  guided  successfully  the  ship  of 
State  through  the  most  gigantic  and  causeless  rebellion  the 
world  has  ever  known. 

"  Resolved,  That  in  the  acts  of  our  late  Chief  Magistrate  we 
recognize  the  highest  virtues  that  belong  to  the  Christian 
patriot  and  sage. 

"  Resolved,  That  highest  on  the  roll  of  fame,  history  will  write 
the  name  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  the  friend  of  human  liberty  and 
preserver  of  the  American  Union. 

"  Resolved,  That  as  a  token  of  our  heartfelt  grief,  the  hall  of 
the  Common  Council  be  appropriately  draped  in  mourning  for 
the  space  of  thirty  days,  and  that  the  American  flag  be  raised 
half-mast. 

"  Resolved,  That  our  heartfelt  sympathies  are  tendered  to  his 
family  in  this  the  hour  of  their  deepest  affliction. 

"  Revolved,  That  a  committee  of  five,  in  conjunction  with 
the  mayor,  be  appointed  to  make  all  proper  arrangements  for 
the  funeral  obsequies  of  our  lamented  Chief  Magistrate,  and 
that  the  Common  Council  as  a  body,  in  conjunction  with  the 
mayor  and  heads  of  departments,  attend  the  funeral  of  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  at  Springfield,  111. 


1834 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


"  Resolved,  That  all  the  bells  of  the  city  be  tolled  at  the  hour 
of  twelve  o'clock  M.  on  Wednesday,  during  the  assembling  of 
the  citizens  at  the  different  places  of  worship. 

"  Jiesolred,  That  it  is  the  duty  of  the  authorities  at  Washing- 
ton to  ferret  out  the  authors  of  the  brutal  assassination  of  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  and  Secretary  Seward,  and  if  it  be  found  that  any 
of  the  leaders  of  the  Rebellion  are  responsible,  either  directly 
or  indirectly,  for  the  act,  they  cause  them  to  be  summarily  exe- 
cuted when  caught." 

On  the  18th  Mayor  Thomas  also  issued  the  follow- 
ing proclamation : 

"MAYOR'S  OFFICE,  ST.  Louis,  April  18,  1865. 

"  WHEREAS,  The  Hon.  William  Hunter,  Acting  Secretary  of 
State,  has  announced  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  that 
the  funeral  ceremonies  of  the  lamented  Chief  Magistrate  will 
take  place  at  the  Executive  Mansion,  Washington,  D.  C.,  at 
twelve  o'clock  noon  on  Wednesday,  the  19th  inst.,  and  has  in- 
vited the  various  religious  denominations  throughout  the  coun- 
try to  meet  in  their  respective  places  of  worship  at  that  hour, 
for  the  purpose  of  solemnizing  the  occasion  with  appropriate 
services ; 

"  AND  WHEREAS,  After  waiting  until  one  o'clock  P.M.  for 
answer  to  a  telegram  without  receiving  any  ; 

"  Now,  therefore,  I,  James  S.  Thomas,  mayor  of  the  city  of 
St.  Louis,  request  that  due  observance  be  given  by  all  citizens 
to  the  wishes  of  the  Secretary  of  State  as  set  forth  in  said 
proclamation,  and  for  the  purpose  of  more  fully  carrying  out 
his  wishes  and  showing  due  respect  to  the  memory  of  Abraham 
Lincoln,  late  President  of  the  United  States,  request, 

"1st,  That  on  said  day  (Wednesday,  the  19th  inst.)  all  busi- 
ness be  suspended. 

"  2d,  That  all  saloons  and  drinking-houses  be  closed  from 
nine  A.M.  to  nine  P.M.  on  said  day. 

"  3d,  That  all  theatres  and  other  places  of  amusement  be 
closed,  and  remain  so  until  Monday,  the  24th  inst. 

"  I  am  gratified  to  state  that  the  managers  of  all  the  theatres 
have  already  acquiesced  in  this  request,  and  hope  that  all  other 
places  of  amusement  will  do  the  same. 

"JAMES  S.  THOMAS,  Mayor. 

"  Attest :  J.  W.  HEATH,  Register." 

The  Episcopal  Bishop  of  Missouri  also  issued  an 
address  to  the  Episcopal  Churches.  On  the  19th,  the 
day  of  the  burial  of  the  remains  of  President  Lincoln 
at  Springfield,  religious  exercises  were  held  in  the 
churches  designated,  and  the  bells  were  tolled. 

An  order  was  issued  by  the  County  Court  for  the 
erection  of  a  cenotaph  in  the  court-house  rotunda. 
This  was  done  by  Mr.  Rumbold,  the  county  architect. 
It  was  a  canopied  octagonal  pedestal,  with  appropriate 
architectural  decorations,  upon  which  a  coffin  remained 
during  the  period  of  mourning,  to  symbolize  the  re- 
mains of  the  President  lying  in  state. 

1866.  March  llth,  the  following  correspondence, 
which  passed  between  a  committee  of  prominent  citi- 
zens and  Maj.-Gen.  Sherman,  was  made  public  through 
the  Missouri  Republican  : 

"ST.  Louis,  Aug.  15,  1865. 
"  MAJ.-GEN.  SHERMAN  : 

"Dear  Sir, — Your  friends,  citizens  of  St.  Louis,  have  ap- 
pointed us  a  committee  to  express  their  gratification  in  having 
you,  after  four  years*  absence,  once  more  among  them  as  a 


fellow-citizen,  and,  in  token  of  their  appreciation  of  your  great 
service  tendered  to  the  Union,  ask  you  to  receive  from  them  the 
sum  of  thirty  thousand  dollars,  now  in  the  hands  of  their  treas- 
urer, John  E.  Yore,  Esq.,  and  subject  to  your  order,  with  the 
wish  that  you  will  with  it  purchase  a  home  in  our  midst. 

"  Believe  us,  general,  no  pleasanter  duty  has  ever  been  before 
given  us. 

"  John  J.  Roe,  William  M.  McPherson,  0.  Garri- 
son, John  How,  Barton  Able,  John  E.  Yore." 

"  HEADQUARTERS  MIL.  Div. 

OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI, 
"ST.  Louis,  Mo.,  Aug.  15,  1865. 
"  MESSRS.  JOHN  How,  BARTON  ABLE,  JOHN  J.  ROE,  W.  M.  Mo 

PHERSON,  0.  GARRISON,  and  JOHN  E.  YORE,  ST.  Louis,  Mo. : 

"  Gentlemen, — I  am  this  morning  in  receipt  of  your  kind 
note,  in  which  you  inform  me  that  you  have  placed  the  sum  of 
thirty  thousand  dollars  to  my  credit  with  which  to  enable  me  to 
procure  a  home  in  your  midst.  I  can  hardly  find  words  ade- 
quate to  convey  to  you  my  sense  of  obligation,  both  for  the  sub- 
ject matter  and  the  manner  in  which  it  is  done.  This  sum  of 
money  exceeds  all  that  I  have  received  from  the  government  of 
the  United  States  for  four  years  of  labor  in  the  midst  of  danger 
and  trouble,  and  I  can  hardly  suppose  I  merit  so  valuable  a  re- 
ward from  personal  friends.  But  I  confess  it  comes  to  me  in 
such  a  shape  as  to  encourage  a  belief  that  it  will  provide  me  with 
what  I  most  need,  a  home  for  my  family,  and  will  therefore 
increase  my  usefulness  in  the  future.  I  therefore  accept  it 
with  grateful  thanks,  and  shall  proceed  to  invest  the  amount  in 
the  purchase  of  a  good  house  and  lot,  and  will  furnish  it  to  the 
extent  of  every  cent,  when  I  will  report  to  you  the  exact  result. 
The  property  thus  acquired  shall  be  the  '  home'  of  myself  and 
family  as  long  as  I  possibly  can  command  my  time,  which  I  hope 
will  be  for  life. 

"  Again  thanking  you  most  kindly,  and  through  you  the 
friends  who  have  made  up  this  sum, 

"  I  am,  with  great  respect,  your  friend  and  servant, 

"WILLIAM  T.  SHERMAN, 
"Maj.-Gen.  United  States  Army." 

Gen.  Sherman  subsequently  notified  the  committee 
that  he  had  personally  examined  a  great  many  places 
that  were  held  for  sale,  and  gave  preference  to  a 
house  on  Garrison  Avenue,  near  the  corner  of  Frank- 
lin, the  property  of  David  Nicholson,  it  fronting  eighty- 
four  feet  on  Garrison  Avenue,  with  a  depth  of  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  feet,  and  held  at  twenty-five  thousand 
five  hundred  dollars,  whereupon  the  committee  made 
the  purchase  and  handed  Gen.  Sherman  the  deed, 
and  placed  the  balance,  four  thousand  five  hundred 
dollars,  to  his  credit  in  the  Union  National  Bank 
of  St.  Louis.  Gen.  Sherman  subsequently  reported 
that  he  had  completely  and  comfortably  furnished  his 
house  in  all  respects,  at  a  cost  but  little  exceeding 
the  sum  thus  provided. 

On  September  8th,  Andrew  Johnson,  President  of 
the  United  States,  reached  St.  Louis,  in  response  to 
an  invitation  from  the  city  authorities  and  citizens. 
After  a  week  of  preparation  a  fleet  of  thirty-six 
steamboats  laden  with  citizens  of  St.  Louis  steamed 
up  to  Alton,  111.,  and  receiving  the  Chief  Executive 
escorted  him  to  St.  Louis,  where  he  became  the 


MOBS   AND   HIOTS. 


1835 


guest  of  the  city.  President  Johnson  was  accom- 
panied by  Secretary  Seward  and  Secretary  Welles  of 
his  cabinet,  Admiral  Farragut  and  Gen.  Grant. 

1869.  April  20th,  St.  Louis  was  visited  by  a 
fearful  hail-storm.  It  is  asserted  that  hail-stones  an 
inch  in  diameter  descended.  Over  twenty  thousand 
dollars'  worth  of  glass  was  destroyed,  and  funerals 
were  dispersed  and  hearses  overturned. 

1871.  March  8th,  East  St.  Louis  and  the  eastern 
shore  of  the  Mississippi  River  were  devastated  by  a 
tornado.  The  storm,  which  did  not  last  more  than 
three  minutes,  seemed  to  come  from  the  south-south- 
west, and  swept  eastward  of  the  city  proper.  It  touched 
the  Illinois  shore  first  at  the  elevator,  and  passed 
along  the  river  bank,  inclining  to  the  eastward,  and 
terminating  at  the  track  of  the  Toledo,  Wabash  and 
Western  Railroad,  nearly  at  the  head  of  Bloody 
Island.  Its  velocity  is  estimated  to  have  been  from 
sixty  to  seventy  miles  an  hour,  and  its  destructive 
force  was  almost  irresistible.  Seven  men  were  killed 
and  more  than  fifty  persons  wounded.  A  portion  of 
the  elevator  was  demolished,  and  the  steamer  "  Mollie 
Able,"  the  ferry-boats  "  Edwardsville,"  "  Milwaukee," 
and  "  America,"  the  ram "  Vindicator,"  the  Van- 
dalia  Railroad  freight-house,  and  the  St.  Louis  and 
Southeastern  Railroad  freight-house  and  depot  were 
badly  wrecked.  A  locomotive  and  a  Pullman  car  and 
nine  ordinary  passenger-cars  were  hurled  from  the  track, 
and  many  buildings  in  East  St.  Louis  were  demol- 
ished. The  handsome  passenger  depot  of  the  Chicago 
and  Alton  Railroad  and  two  freight-houses  and  other 
buildings  suffered  great  damage.  Three  freight-houses 
belonging  to  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Railroad  were 
blown  from  their  foundations  and  demolished. 

Gen.  Ranney,  the  general  freight  agent  of  the 
Memphis  and  St.  Louis  Packet  Company,  was  stand- 
ing on  the  wharf-boat  looking  at  the  cable  chains 
which  held  the  head  of  the  boat.  The  wind  lifted 
him  suddenly  from  his  feet,  and  carried  him  some 
little  distance  and  dropped  him  into  the  river.  He 
succeeded,  however,  in  reaching  land  in  safety.  Be- 
tween sixty  and  seventy  dwellings  in  East  St.  Louis 
were  destroyed,  and  the  loss  thus  caused  amounted  to 
about  seventy  five  thousand  dollars.  The  destruction 
of  other  property  was  enormous.  Considerable  damage 
was  inflicted  at  Alma,  Brooklyn,  Nameoka,  and  other 
towns  and  at  various  points  in  St.  Clair  County. 

1871.  June  25th,  the  twenty -fifth  anniversary  of 
the  elevation  of  Pope  Pius  IX.  to  the  pontificate 
was  celebrated  in  St.  Louis  with  imposing  ceremonies. 
There  was  a  parade  of  the  Catholic  societies  four  miles 
in  length,  and  a  general  illumination  of  the  city  at 
night.  Wreaths  of  evergreen  with  portraits  of  the 


pope  were  conspicuously  displayed  from  many  private 
dwellings.  Pyrotechnic  displays  and  bonfires  were 
also  features  of  the  demonstration.  Maj.  Henry  S. 
Turner  was  the  grand  marshal  of  the  procession.  The 
aids  to  the  grand  marshal  were  Maj.  John  P.  McGrath, 
John  H.  Tracy,  Capt.  William  Albright,  William  H. 
Lee,  Theodore  Hunt,  and  James  L.  Patterson.  The 
assistant  marshals  were  John  Fletcher,  William  L. 
Ewing,  B.  M.  Chambers,  Richard  Ennis,  J.  J.  Fitz- 
william,  Augustus  Lamping,  Henry  Rechtien,  George 
Kauf  hold,  James  Gorman,  J.  F.  Grefenkamp,  Charles 
W.  Hogan,  J.  F.  Conroy,  Patrick  Ahearn,  Julius  S. 
Walsh,  Col.  C.  Maguire,  Hon.  John  Finn,  William 
Henry,  Capt.  Henry  Hannibal,  Col.  Arnold  Beck, 
F.  Arendes,  Patrick  Monahan,  John  Busby,  Hon.  P. 
J.  Pauley,  Richard  Walsh,  Thomas  P.  Gleason,  and 
Dr.  James  C.  Cogan. 

1872.  On  the  night  of  January  5th  the  Russian 
Grand  Duke  Alexis  and  suite  reached  St.  Louis  from 
Chicago,  and  remained  in  the  city  several  days.     He 
occupied   a   suite  of   rooms   at  the  Southern    Hotel, 
where  a  ball  was  given  in  his  honor  on  the  night  of 
January  8th. 

1873.  October  12th,  a  joint  Catholic  celebration 
of  the  anniversary  of  the  birth  of  Father  Mathew, 
the  famous  temperance  orator,  took  place,  on    the 
occasion  of  laying  the  corner-stone  of  the  Carmelite 
Convent,  at  Second  Carondelet  Avenue  and  Victor 
Street.     The  anniversary  occurred  on  the  10th,  but 
the  12th  was  chosen,  as  it  was  a  more  convenient 
day. 

1874.  May  28th,  a  tornado  struck  St.  Louis,  and 
inflicted  great  damage  upon  buildings  and  the  vessels 
along  the  river  front. 

MOBS   AND   RIOTS.i 

On  the  afternoon  of  Feb.  25,  1844,  some  boys  were 
playing  ball  on  the  common  in  the  immediate  vicinity 
of  the  Medical  College  building  of  the  St.  Louis  Uni- 
versity. This  building  is  still  standing  on  Washington 
Avenue,  near  Eleventh  Street,  a  two-story  brick  struc- 
ture, dingy  with  age,  the  front  entrance  of  which  has 
been  walled  up  for  years,  effectually  precluding  any 
access  to  it  from  the  street.  The  boys  in  their  play 
knocked  their  ball  over  the  fence  into  the  grounds  of 
the  university,  and  in  their  search  for  it  stumbled  upon 
the  opening  into  the  vault,  where  were  thrown  the 
remains  of  several  bodies  that  had  been  used  for  the 
purpose  of  dissection.  They  ran  away  and  reported 
toother  boys  and  to  their  parents  the  discovery  which 
they  had  made.  Others  came  and  looked,  and  soon 

1  For  the  account  of  the  Medical  College  riot  the  author  ia 
indebted  to  Dr.  E.  M.  Nelson. 


1836 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


the  wildest  stories  were  in  circulation.  Crowds  began 
to  assemble  about  the  building,  until  by  three  o'clock 
over  one  thousand  people  were  gathered  together. 
The  greatest  excitement  prevailed,  and  efforts  were 
repeatedly  made  by  the  ringleaders  to  excite  the  people 
to  violent  action,  and  to  tear  down  the  building.  By 
six  o'clock  the  crowd  had  increased  to  three  thousand 
or  four  thousand,  and  the  mayor  ordered  out  the  mil- 
itia. The  mayor  and  city  marshal  and  other  officers 
and  prominent  citizens  were  on  the  grounds  the  whole 
afternoon,  making  every  endeavor  to  quell  the  disturb- 
ance and  prevent  it  from  becoming  more  serious. 
Several  of  the  leaders  were  arrested  and  placed  in  the 
calaboose.  Up  to  that  time  no  damage  had  been  done 
to  the  building  except  that  the  windows  had  been 
broken  by  throwing  bricks  and  fragments  of  rock. 
Speeches  were  made  to  the  crowd  by  Messrs.  A.  Kay- 
ser,  James  Mahon,  and  Blennerhassett,  and  Judge 
Mullanphy,  urging  them  to  refrain  from  any  violent 
demonstrations.  Finally,  as  the  result  of  a  conference 
between  the  mayor  and  a  committee  appointed  from 
the  crowd,  it  was  arranged  that  the  militia  should  be 
withdrawn,  and  the  men  who  had  been  arrested  should 
be  released,  and  the  crowd  should  disperse.  A  com- 
mittee of  twelve  was  appointed  to  guard  the  college 
building,  and  the  mob  adjourned  to  the  court-house. 

Later,  however,  the  rioters  reassembled  at  the  col- 
lege more  enraged  than  ever,  and  excited  by  their 
leaders  to  a  perfect  frenzy.  Bones  and  fragments  of 
bodies  were  brought  up  from  the  pit  into  which  they 
had  been  thrown.  The  sight  of  these  soon  inflamed 
the  passions  of  the  mob  to  such  a  degree  that  they 
were  prepared  for  any  deeds  of  violence.  They  broke 
down  the  doors,  made  their  way  into  all  the  rooms  of 
the  college  building,  tore  down  and  destroyed  all  the 
furniture,  demolished  all  the  valuable  material  that 
had  been  prepared  with  much  care  and  at  great  ex- 
pense for  the  museum,  and  in  fact  left  nothing  of  the 
equipment  of  the  institution  save  only  the  bare  walls 
and  roof. 

The  shout  then  was  raised  to  go  to  the  other  col- 
lege, the  Missouri  School.  Here  the  demonstrator 
of  anatomy  and  some  of  the  professors  and  students 
had  made  preparations  to  receive  such  a  visit.  The 
dissecting-room  was  cleared  out,  every  trace  of  blood 
or  other  indication  of  the  purposes  to  which  it  was 
applied  was  removed  with  care  from  the  floor  and 
tables.  The  opening  into  the  vault,  which  was  ar- 
ranged in  the  side  of  the  room  like  an  old-fashioned 
fireplace,  with  an  opening  downward  instead  of  a 
chimney-flue  upward,  was  closed  up  with  a  sheet-iron 
fender,  and  a  cooking-stove  was  moved  in  and  set 
before  it,  as  if  it  were  really  a  fireplace  and  chimney. 


By  dint  of  hard  work  this  was  all  accomplished  before 
the  rioters  arrived  there.  On  their  approach  the 
doors  were  thrown  open,  and  they  were  invited  to 
come  in  and  see  for  themselves  that  all  was  right. 
Some  of  the  number  went  all  through  the  building, 
and  as  they  did  not  think  to  look  behind  the  sheet- 
iron  fireboard  that  filled  up  the  supposed  chimney- 
place,  they  discovered  nothing  to  find  fault  with,  and 
so  reported  to  the  rest.  Accordingly  the  mob  left  with- 
out doing  any  damage  there. 

In  April,  1844,  a  city  election  was  held,  which  was 
signalized  by  a  disturbance  and  riot  in  the  Fifth 
Ward.  In  the  afternoon  a  fight  occurred  between 
some  members  of  the  opposing  parties,  which  led  to 
the  collection,  at  a  later  hour,  of  a  large  number  of 
the  friends  of  both,  when  a  much  more  serious  dis- 
turbance took  place.  Several  well-known  citizens 
who  had  no  part  in  the  affair  were  seriously  injured. 
As  Joseph  Jones  was  passing  T.  Maher's  tavern,  he 
was  fired  upon  and  shot  in  the  shoulder,  it  was  said, 
by  some  one  in  the  house.  When  this  was  reported 
to  the  assemblage  that  had  gathered  upon  Franklin 
Avenue,  it  immediately  started  for  the  tavern,  broke 
in  the  doors  and  windows,  and  threw  the  furniture, 
liquor,  beds,  and  all  the  contents  into  the  street. 
This  terminated  the  disturbance.  Mr.  Jones  died 
April  5th  from  the  effects  of  his  wound. 

On  Sunday  morning,  July  29,  1849,  a  fire  broke 
out  in  the  engine-room  of  the  steamer  "  Algoma," 
which  had  arrived  the  evening  before  from  the  Mis- 
souri River  with  a  large  cargo.  The  origin  of  the 
fire  is  unknown.  From  the  "  Algoma"  it  quickly 
communicated  to  the  "  Mary,"  the  "  Phoenix,"  the 
"  Dubuque,"  and  the  "  San  Francisco,"  all  of  which 
were  destroyed.  The  "  San  Francisco"  was  cut  loose 
and  floated  out  into  the  stream,  but  was  carried  by 
the  force  of  the  current  against  the  stern  of  the 
"  Mary,"  where  she  hung  until  she  took  fire  and  was 
consumed.  The  boats  lay  above  the  foot  of  Vine 
Street,  and  below  Morgan.  While  the  firemen  were 
still  at  work  upon  the  fire,  and  about  half-past  five 
|  A.M.,  a  difficulty  took  place  between  a  bystander  and 
a  member  of  one  of  the  fire  companies,  which  in  the 
beginning  amounted  to  nothing  more  than  a  blow  or 
two.  It  was,  however,  the  signal  for  a  general  fight, 
in  which  every  possible  kind  of  missile  was  used. 
The  bystanders  retreated,  closely  followed  by  the  fire- 
men of  several  companies,  and  took  refuge  in  a  coffee- 
house kept  by  J.  O'Brien,  89  Levee.  When  the  fire- 
men and  their  friends  attempted  to  enter  by  forcing 
the  doors  of  the  house,  they  were  assailed  with  fire- 
arms from  the  windows  above,  and  two  or  three  of 
their  number  were  slightly  wounded.  It  was  now 


MOBS   AND   RIOTS. 


1837 


their  turn  to  fall  back,  and  while  doing  so  some 
fifteen  or  twenty  men  issued  from  O'Brien's  door 
and  fired  upon  the  retreating  mass.  A  few  shots 
were  returned  by  the  firemen,  and  then  a  rush  was 
made  and  the  Levee  soon  cleared.  The  men  who 
had  issued  from  O'Brien's,  with  their  friends,  form- 
ing a  mob,  which  was  largely  composed  of  river  boat- 
men, retreated  up  Morgan  Street,  taking  refuge  in 
houses  farther  up  the  Levee.  The  firemen  and  their 
friends  now  numbered  several  hundred,  many  of  them 
under  arms. 

The  mayor  and  the  police  succeeded  after  great  dif- 
ficulty in  arresting  a  number  of  the  rioters  upon  both 
sides  and  conducting  them  to  the  calaboose,  but  the 
work  of  destruction  soon  commenced.  In  a  few  min- 
utes O'Brien's  house  was  carried  by  assault ;  every- 
thing it  contained  was  broken  into  pieces  and  thrown 
into  the  streets,  and  the  windows  and  doors  were 
torn  out.  Almost  simultaneously  with  the  attack 
upon  O'Brien's,  the  coffee-  and  boarding-houses  of 
Dennis  Murphy,  No.  104  Battle  Row,  and  B.  Shan- 
non, No.  14  Green  Street,  were  attacked  and  their 
contents  destroyed.  Shortly  after  the  destruction  of 
the  houses  on  the  Levee  a  large  detachment  marched 
up  Cherry  Street  to  the  coffee-house  of  James  Gilli- 
gan,  which  was  also  completely  demolished.  It  next 
proceeded  to  the  corner  of  Fifth  and. Morgan  Streets, 
and  destroyed  everything  in  the  coffee-house  occupied 
by  Terrence  Brady.  After  the  destruction  of  the  last- 
named  house  the  rioters  began  to  disperse  and  several 
further  arrests  were  made  by  the  police.  The  mayor 
appointed  an  additional  police  force,  and  fifty  citizens 
were  detailed  to  preserve  order  during  the  night.  The 
St.  Louis  Grays  also,  at  the  mayor's  request,  held  them- 
selves in  readiness.  Nothing  of  a  serious  nature  oc- 
curred during  the  afternoon.  About  nine  o'clock  in 
the  evening  a  large  party  of  excited  firemen  and  their 
friends,  to  the  number  of  two  or  three  hundred,  pro- 
ceeded to  the  wharf  at  the  foot  of  Morgan  Street  with 
a  howitzer,  which  was  placed  so  as  to  rake  Battle  Row, 
in  which  were  the  sailor  boarding-houses,  in  the  event 
of  an  outbreak.  Some  of  the  party  had  contrived  to 
get  possession  of  an  old  six-inch  howitzer  belonging 
to  the  steamboat  "  Missouri,"  which  was  lying  in  the 
yard  attached  to  the  foundry  of  Gaty,  McCune  & 
Glasby.  It  was  loaded  with  slugs  and  boiler-iron 
punchings,  and  was  said  to  have  been  in  good  order  to 
do  execution.  The  mob  remained  on  the  wharf  with 
the  howitzer  for  some  time,  and  the  mayor  and  police 
made  several  ineffectual  attempts  to  get  possession  of 
it.  Those  who  had  control  did  not  evince  much  dis- 
position to  use  it,  and  when  rain  commenced  to  fall, 
about  half-past  ten  o'clock,  the  mob  started  with  the 


gun  for  the  Missouri  Engine- House,  where  it  was  de- 
posited under  guard.  Afterwards  the  gun  was  removed 
from  the  engine-house  and  the  doors  closed.  The 
police  made  a  descent  upon  it  in  its  new  position, 
captured  the  cannon  and  those  who  had  it  in  charge, 
and  placed  the  gun  in  the  jail-yard  and  the  prisoners 
in  the  calaboose. 

The  Missouri  Fire  Company  authorized,  as  a  body, 
a  disclaimer  of  any  participation  in  the  events  of  the 
night,  and  particularly  in  relation  to  the  cannon. 

About  ten  o'clock  on  the  night  of  the  25th  of  May, 
1850,  a  mob  of  about  five  hundred  persons  assembled 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Third  and  Almond  Streets, 
and  proceeded  to  make  an  attack  upon  several  houses 
of  ill-fame  in  the  vicinity.  They  succeeded  in  de- 
stroying entirely  all  the  furniture  and  contents  of  four 
of  these  houses  and  slightly  injuring  one  other  before 
the  efforts  of  the  mayor  and  police  could  disperse  the 
mob.  Several  of  the  ringleaders  were  arrested. 

On  Monday,  April  5,  1852,  St.  Louis  was  again 
the  scene  of  a  serious  election  riot.  The  election  was 
for  mayor  and  city  officers,  and  after  a  heated  and 
angry  campaign,  in  which  the  feelings  of  both  parties 
were  wrought  up  to  a  high  pitch,  the  day  of  election 
arrived.  Early  in  the  forenoon,  while  the  voting  was 
progressing  quietly  in  the  five  upper  wards  of  the 
city,  a  disposition  was  strongly  evinced  among  those 
surrounding  the  ballot-boxes  of  the  First  Ward  to  throw 
impediments  in  the  way  of  the  Whig  voters.  Later 
these  persons,  who  were  sufficiently  numerous  to  over- 
awe the  more  respectable  and  better- disposed  citizens, 
abused  and  maltreated  a  number  of  persons,  some 
barely  escaping  with  their  lives.  Mayor  Kennett,  in 
company  with  other  gentlemen,  repaired  to  the  polls, 
and  was  received  with  repeated  groans  and  hisses. 
Finally,  Mr.  Kennett  and  his  friends  retired.  Joseph 
Jecko,  the  Democratic  candidate  for  the  office  of  city 
attorney,  then  addressed  the  rioters  and  warned  them 
against  the  consequences  of  their  violence.  His  speech 
was  effective  in  preventing  an  immediate  repetition  of 
their  acts. 

The  report  that  the  Germans  had  taken  possession 
of  the  polls  in  the  First  Ward  reached  the  other 
wards  about  two  o'clock.  Accounts  followed  each 
other  rapidly  of  the  outrages  which  were  being  per- 
petrated. About  three  o'clock  large  numbers  of 
American  citizens,  Whigs  and  Democrats,  the  greater 
portion,  however,  being  composed  of  the  former,  be- 
gan to  move  towards  Soulard's  Market,  where  the 
First  Ward  polls  were  held.  In  that  vicinity,  the  side- 
walks of  Seventh  and  Fifth  Streets,  and  Park  Avenue 
were  densely  crowded  with  Germans.  Numerous  at- 
tacks were  made  on  the  Americans  as  they  passed 


1838 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


down ;  stones  and  other  missiles  were  thrown,  and  oc- 
casionally shots  were  fired  from  the  houses.  A  squad 
of  Americans  numbering  about  two  hundred  at  last 
arrived  opposite  the  market-house,  and,  led  by  a  few 
men  who  were  well  armed,  marched  with  a  shout  for 
"free  suffrages"  to  the  building,  and  took  possession 
of  the  polls  without  resistance.  The  Germans  dis- 
persed, and  took  refuge  in  the  coffee-houses  along  the 
street  above  and  below.  The  Americans  continued 
to  flock  down  from  the  upper  wards  until  their  force 
amounted  to  some  thousands.  Nearly  as  large  a 
number  of  Germans  was  gathered  here  and  there,  as 
spectators  or  participants,  in  knots  on  adjacent  streets. 

As  soon  as  the  Americans  had  permanent  posses- 
sion of  the  Soulard  Market  building,  Mr.  McDonough, 
a  Whig,  addressed  the  assemblage,  and  invited  all 
citizens  of  the  First  Ward  who  had  not  voted,  Whig 
or  Democrat,  German,  American,  or  Irish,  to  come 
forward  and  deposit  their  votes.  He  explained  that 
the  reason  of  the  presence  of  so  many  Americans 
from  other  portions  of  the  city  was  to  secure  them 
their  free  suffrages.  Mr.  Abeles,  one  of  the  judges 
of  the  election,  followed  Mr.  McDonough.  He  spoke 
in  German,  and  repeated  in  substance  what  Mr.  Mc- 
Donough had  said.  On  this  a  number  of  persons  ap- 
proached the  polls  and  deposited  their  ballots. 

Personal  collisions,  in  the  mean  time,  were  occur- 
ring among  those  who  were  congregated  in  the  vicin- 
ity, and  several  persons  were  wounded  by  fire-arms 
discharged  from  the  windows  and  doors  of  the  houses. 
At  last  a  portion  of  the  mob  began  to  demolish  the 
beer-houses,  whose  tenants  had  been  most  active  in 
the  assault. 

The  Soulard  Market- House  was  riddled,  as  also 
a  house  at  the  corner  of  Park  Avenue  and  Fifth 
Street,  and  the  tavern  of  Mr.  Neumeyer,  at  the  corner 
of  Park  Avenue  and  Seventh  Street.  Some  persons 
had  at  an  early  stage  of  the  proceedings  taken  refuge 
in  this  house,  and  through  the  windows  occasionally 
pelted  the  passers-by  with  stones.  The  mob  besieged 
the  tavern,  and  having  broken  a  panel  of  the  door, 
was  about  to  enter  when  a  gun  was  placed  through 
the  aperture  and  fired,  the  contents  lodging  in  the 
breast  of  a  young  man  named  Joseph  Stevens,  a 
member  of  the  St.  Louis  Fire  Company.  Stevens 
staggered  a  short  distance  across  the  street  and  fell 
dead.  His  death  infuriated  the  mob.  The  house  was 
immediately  entered,  the  furniture,  bar  fixtures,  etc., 
demolished,  and  the  building  fired.  The  flames  spread 
rapidly  and  the  house  was  soon  destroyed. 

The  firing  and  fighting  with  stones  continued  until 
after  dark.  It  having  become  known  that  the  can- 
non of  Capt.  Almstedt's  artillery  were  in  an  armory 


near  by,  the  mob  started  to  procure  them,  and  soon 
returned  with  two  brass  six-pounders.  These  were 
carefully  charged  and  rolled  to  the  corner  of  Park  and 
Carondelet  Avenues,  where  they  were  placed  so  as  to 
sweep  with  murderous  certainty  either  side  of  Second 
Street,  on  the  sidewalks  of  which  were  immense 
crowds  of  Germans.  The  fight  was  still  kept  up 
with  pistols  and  stones,  and  the  party  having  posses- 
sion of  the  cannon  were  awaiting  the  proper  provo- 
cation to  use  them.  Affairs  were  in  this  alarming 
state  when  Marshal  Phelps,  accompanied  by  Capt. 
Almstedt,  arrived,  and  by  dint  of  argument  and  per- 
suasion prevailed  on  the  belligerents  to  desist.  Mr. 
Phelps  happened,  fortunately,  to  be  acquainted  with 
many  of  the  parties,  and  his  personal  influence  effected 
what  no  official  authority  could  have  accomplished. 
The  crowd  dwindled  away  gradually,  and  by  midnight 
that  portion  of  the  city  had  resumed  its  wonted  quiet. 

About  ten  o'clock  at  night,  however,  a  demonstra- 
tion was  made  against  the  Anzeiger  des  Western  print- 
ing-office by  a  mob  numbering  from  fifteen  hundred 
to  two  thousand,  the  provocation  being  the  pub- 
lication of  certain  articles  in  that  paper.  By 
nightfall,  however,  by  direction  of  the  mayor,  the 
company  of  Grays  and  the  Riflemen  had  been  gotten 
together  and  were  drawn  up  in  two  lines  to  prevent 
access  to  the  building.  The  rioters  made  no  attempt 
to  break  the  ranks  of  the  military,  and  late  at  night 
they  dispersed.  Eight  or  ten  persons  were  severely 
and  about  twenty-five  slightly  wounded. 

The  most  serious  riot  that  had  yet  occurred  in  St. 
Louis  took  place  on  Monday,  Aug.  7,  1854,  and  as 
usual  arose  out  of  an  election  contest.  Many  per- 
sons, principally  foreign-born,  upon  presenting  them- 
selves at  the  polls  to  vote,  were  declared  disqualified. 
This  enraged  them,  and  as  they  increased  in  numbers 
they  gathered  in  knots  and  vented  their  anger  in 
various  ways.  At  length  at  the  Fifth  Ward  polls  a 
boy  was  stabbed  by  an  Irishman,  who  immediately 
fled  towards  Morgan  Street.  A  portion  of  the  crowd 
rushed  after  him  and  followed  him  into  the  Mechan- 
ics' Boarding- House,  Second  and  Morgan  Streets, 
which  was  immediately  assailed  with  stones  and  bricks. 
Several  other  houses  in  the  vicinity  were  attacked, 
their  windows  riddled  and  furniture  broken.  Firing 
commenced  here,  there  having  been  none  at  the  polls. 
Guns  and  pistols  were  fired  by  unseen  hands  from 
windows,  and  some  firing  was  returned  from  the 
street.  In  half  an  hour  after  the  riot  commenced  the 
crowd  at  the  scene  of  disturbance  probably  reached  five 
thousand  persons.  As  the  forces  increased  the  in- 
mates of  the  houses  attacked  were  all  routed.  From 
Second  and  Morgan  Streets  the  mob  proceeded  to 


MOBS   AND   RIOTS. 


1839 


Cherry  Street,  and  on  Second  Street  above  Cherry 
about  a  dozen  houses  were  stripped  of  their  contents. 
There  was  scarcely  a  house  in  this  neighborhood  in- 
habited by  Irishmen  that  was  not  assailed  by  the 
crowd. 

Finally  the  mob  returned  to  Morgan  Street.  Here 
the  firing  was  renewed,  and  a  large  body  of  levee-men 
was  stationed  at  the  foot  of  Morgan  Street  to  prevent 
the  rioters  from  passing  to  the  Levee,  which  it  was  their 
evident  intention  to  do.  The  levee-men  had  collected 
a  quantity  of  arms,  and  held  their  ground  with  deter- 
mination. The  attacking  party  was  several  times 
driven  back,  and  two  men  were  killed  and  several 
wounded.  At  length  a  solid  column  was  formed  and 
a  charge  made,  each  man  with  two  stones  in  his  hand, 
which  were  used  with  some  effect.  The  blockade 
gave  way,  and  the  whole  mob  poured  down  the  Le- 
vee. The  residents  of  Battle  Row  scattered  in  every 
direction  panic-stricken,  but  finally  rallied.  A  con- 
siderable number  took  refuge  in  their  houses,  and  a 
continuous  firing  was  kept  up  from  the  windows, 
while  the  thousands  in  the  streets  were  pelting  their 
houses  with  stones  and  bricks.  The  residents  at 
length  were  forced  to  retire  and  leave  their  houses  to 
the  mercy  of  the  mob. 

.  Every  Irish  establishment  between  Morgan  and 
Locust  Street,  a  distance  of  three  squares,  was  at- 
tacked, and  the  windows  and  furniture  broken  and 
destroyed.  About  five  o'clock  a  boatman,  who  was 
not  engaged  in  the  fight,  but  was  standing  with  some 
of  his  companions  looking  on,  was  killed  by  a  shot 
fired  from  one  of  the  houses  in  Battle  Row. 

The  work  of  destruction  continued  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Battle  Row  until  dusk.  The  mob  then  pro- 
ceeded on  its  way,  destroying  houses  on  Cherry,  Mor- 
gan, Fifth,  and  Green  Streets.  About  ten  o'clock  it 
had  reached  the  corner  of  Franklin  Avenue  and  Eighth 
Street,  where,  after  destroying  Drayman's  Hall,  it  sep- 
arated into  small  companies  and  attacked  every 
drinking-house  it  could  find  on  Green,  Seventh,  and 
Morgan  Streets,  and  Franklin  Avenue.  About  this 
time  the  mayor  with  &  posse  of  police  arrived  on  the 
ground  and  endeavored  to  restore  order,  but  in  vain. 
The  mayor  then  ordered  out  the  military.  The  Na- 
tional Guards  and  Continentals  and  St.  Louis  Grays 
were  soon  in  readiness,  and  through  their  efforts  the 
larger  bodies  of  the  rioters  were  dispersed  without 
bloodshed.  Small  bodies  of  men,  however,  roamed 
through  the  streets  of  the  Fifth  Ward  all  night. 
About  noon  of  the  following  day,  a  large  crowd  of 
Irishmen  from  the  Levee  collected  about  the  corner 
of  Morgan  Street  and  Levee.  There  was  considerable 
noise  in  the  vicinity  all  day,  but  the  police  preserved 


order.  A  rumor  got  afloat  that  two  large  bodies  of 
Irishmen  were  on  their  way  to  the  city  to  reinforce 
their  countrymen,  and  on  the  strength  of  this  rumor 
the  mayor  ordered  the  military  organizations  to  hold 
themselves  in  readiness.  Assemblages  gathered  upon 
the  street  corners  in  various  sections  of  the  city  during 
the  day,  and  as  night  fell  the  excitement  and  tumult 
were  intensified.  About  ten  o'clock  heavy  firing  was 
heard  from  some  quarter  up-town,  and  the  military 
moved  in  that  direction.  They  marched  up  Green 
Street,  and  at  the  corner  of  Fifth  and  Green  came 
upon  a  mob  which  was  engaged  in  conflict  with  a 
similar  mob  at  the  corner  of  Sixth  and  Green  Streets. 
The  street  was  entirely  blockaded  at  both  corners. 
The  crowd  at  Fifth  Street  opened  and  permitted  the 
Continental  company  to  pass  through.  The  Grays 
were  just  in  the  rear.  About  midway  the  square  the 
Continentals  were  fired  into  by  the  mob  at  Sixth 
Street  and  from  the  houses  around.  The  Continen- 
tals returned  the  fire,  scattering  the  mob,  and  the 
police  succeeded  in  making  some  arrests.  Two  of 
the  Continentals,  Messrs.  Spore  and  Holliday,  were 
wounded,  as  were  several  of  the  mob.  The  Grays 
also  fired  into  a  mob  in  an  alley  between  Sixth  and 
Seventh  Streets  and  wounded  several.  At  midnight 
this  quarter  was  comparatively  quiet,  but  the  riot 
still  raged  in  other  sections.  At  the  corner  of 
Seventh  and  Biddle  Streets,  and  near  St.  Patrick's 
Church,  a  man  was  flourishing  a  pistol  and  making 
free  use  of  it,  when,  an  attempt  was  made  to  disarm 
him  by  several  of  the  bystanders,  among  whom  was 
E.  R.  Violett,  of  the  firm  of  E.  R.  Violett  &  Co.  In 
the  struggle,  or  directly  after,  Mr.  Violett  received 
three  shots  in  the  shoulder.  He  died  instantly. 

Soon  after  this  an  affray  occurred  at  the  corner  of 
Broadway  and  Ashley  Streets,  in  front  of  the  Hum- 
boldt  House,  kept  by  a  man  named  Snyder.  Three 
persons  were  dangerously  wbunded,  and  Snyder  was 
instantly  killed  by  a  shot  through  the  head. 

In  this  way  collisions  were  occurring  constantly  in 
all  quarters  of  the  city,  but  especially  in  the  Fifth 
Ward,  and  so  continued  the  entire  night.  At  day- 
light on  Wednesday  morning  the  streets  were  full  of 
men,  some  in  companies  of  fifteen  or  twenty,  shouting 
and  calling  on  Americans  to  protect  their  lives  and 
homes.  During  the  night  the  mayor  issued  a  procla- 
mation calling  a  meeting  of  the  citizens  at  twelve 
o'clock  on  Wednesday,  to  take  measures  to  restore 
peace  and  quiet  to  the  city.  At  eleven  o'clock  the  mer- 
chants met  at  the  Exchange,  and  devoted  the  business 
hour  to  the  consideration  of  the  existing  riots  and 
their  suppression.  The  meeting  was  organized  by 
calling  James  H.  Lucas  to  the  chair,  and  appointing 


1840 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Hudson  E.  Bridge  secretary.  After  brief  addresses 
by  Messrs.  Lucas,  Blennerhasset,  and  P.  G.  Camden, 
on  motion  of  Walter  B.  Carr,  the  following  resolu- 
tions were  unanimously  adopted : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  mayor  be  requested  to  issue  his  procla- 
mation, calling  upon  all  citizens  of  the  city  to  abstain  from  as- 
sembling at  any  of  the  places  where  disturbances  have  recently 
taken  place,  and  to  remain  at  their  homes  at  night  during  the 
existing  excitement. 

"  Ketah-ed,  That  the  mayor  be  requested  to  suspend  for  the 
present  the  existing  police,  and  to  detail  a  temporary  patrol 
force  from  among  the  citizens,  to  be  composed  of  discreet  and 
reputable  men,  and  that  they  be  authorized  to  use  such  author- 
ity as  may  be  vested  by  the  laws  to  arrest  offenders  against  the 
peace  and  quiet  of  the  city." 

The  meeting  immediately  adjourned  to  the  court- 
house, where  another  meeting  was  held,  at  which 
Mayor  How  and  the  Hon.  Edward  Bates  addressed 
the  people.  Joseph  Charless,  after  a  few  remarks, 
offered  the  following  resolutions  : 

"  Resolved,  That  it  is  the  duty  of  every  good  citizen  in  a 
crisis  like  the  present  to  support  the  mayor  in  preserving  the 
peace  and  quiet  of  the  city,  and  that,  in  the  opinion  of  this 
•meeting,  the  object  can  be  most  effectually  accomplished  by  the 
selection  by  the  mayor,  from  the  ranks  of  the  oldest  and  best- 
known  citizens,  of  one  thousand  persons  to  act  as  a  special  po- 
lice and  committee  for  the  restoration  of  order,  whose  duty  it 
shall  be  to  patrol  the  city,  and  disperse  all  assemblages  of  per- 
sons manifesting  a  disposition,  as  well  by  moral  suasion  as  the 
exercise  of  force  where  it  may  be  found  necessary. 

"  Kenolved,  That  the  supremacy  of  the  law  shall  be  sustained 
and  the  spirit  of  disorder  quelled  at  whatever  cost,  that  the  fair 
name  of  our  city  may  no  longer  be  disgraced  by  bloodshed  and 
murder,  and  to  that  end  we  pledge  ourselves  to  sustain  the  mayor 
in  maintaining  the  public  peace  as  proposed  in  the  above  reso- 
lution." 

These  resolutions  were  unanimously  carried. 

Gen.  Ranney  proposed  that  N.  J.  Eaton  be  ap- 
pointed captain  of  the  new  police  force.  It  was  also 
proposed  that  the  proprietors  of  the  drinking  estab- 
lishments should  close  their  doors  at  dark,  and  that 
parents,  guardians,  and  'masters  should  restrain  the 
boys  under  their  control  from  roaming  the  streets  at 
night. 

Mr.  Bates  then  asked  the  citizens  before  him  to 
volunteer  one  thousand  efficient  men,  and  the  meeting 
adjourned  to  the  City  Hall  to  carry  these  practical 
suggestions  into  effect.  The  regular  police  organiza- 
tion was  temporarily  suspended  by  order  of  the  mayor, 
and  Capt.  Eaton  was  appointed  to  take  charge  of  the 
special  police.  A  meeting  of  persons  who  had  en- 
rolled their  names  during  the  afternoon  was  called  at 
five  o'clock  at  the  court-house,  and  about  seven  hun- 
dred met  at  the  appointed  time.  Capt.  Eaton  read 
the  names  of  thirty-three  well-known  citizens  who 
were  requested  to  act  as  captains.  He  then  assigned 
to  each  of  the  captains  twenty  men,  from  whom  he  was 


to  select  his  lieutenants  ;  the  captains  and  lieutenants 
all  to  be  mounted.  The  military  were  also  ordered  to 
hold  themselves  in  readiness,  if  additional  force  should 
be  required.  Capt.  Eaton  appointed  Maj.  M.  L. 
Clark  to  take  charge  of  the  outdoor  operations,  and 
made  such  other  disposition  of  his  force  as  was  neces- 
sary. These  timely  and  vigorous  efforts  completely 
crushed  the  riots,  and  at  midnight  the  city  was  quiet. 

As  nearly  as  could  be  ascertained,  about  ten  persons 
were  killed  and  about  thirty  wounded. 

The  mayor,  after  an  informal  consultation  with  the 
Board  of  Aldermen,  appointed  Messrs.  Foster,  Knott, 
and  Moore,  all  competent  builders,  to  examine  into 
the  nature  and  report  the  amount  of  damage  sus- 
tained. This  duty  they  performed,  and  reported  the 
names  of  those  whose  property  was  injured  by  the 
rioters  as  numbering  about  ninety-three,  and  assessed 
the  total  amount  of  damages  at  $4250.80.  Some  of 
the  assessments  were  as  low  as  two  dollars,  and  the 
highest  about  four  hundred  dollars. 

The  mayor,  in  a  communication  to  the  City  Coun- 
cil on  October  10th,  said, — 

"Anxious  as  I  am  to  erase  from  my  memory  all  recollection 
of  a  time  so  discreditable  to  the  fair  fame  of  our  city,  I  still 
cannot  depart  from  this  subject  without,  in  a  becoming  manner, 
alluding  to  some  of  those  whose  assistance  was  so  cheerfully 
given  in  sustaining  the  laws,  and  in  particular  to  the  military 
organizations  urxler  command  of  Cols.  Renick  and  Knapp.  To 
these  gentlemen,  and  the  members  of  their  respective  commands, 
I  am  deeply  indebted.  It  became  my  unpleasant  duty  to  order 
the  Continentals,  under  Capt.  Blackburn,  and  the  Washington 
;  Guards,  under  Lieut.  Deegan,  to  fire  upon  the  mob;  and  the 
:  promptness  with  which  they  discharged  their  disagreeable  task 
'  showed  that  they  were  fully  alive  to  the  duties  and  responsibilities 
i  of  the  citizen-soldier,  and  were  determined  to  perform  their 
|  duties  at  any  hazard.  In  this  case  five  of  these  brave  men, 
members  of  the  Continentals,  were  wounded,  some  of  them 
severely.  I  am  also  under  many  obligations  to  the  companies 
of  Capts.  Pritchard,  Prosser,  Byrne.  Morrow,  English,  Suebott, 
Allen,  and  Steife,  for  the  valuable  and  efficient  aid  rendered  me 
in  those  the  most  anxious  hours  of  my  life.  If  the  mob  was 
not  suppressed  at  once,  it  was  not  for  want  of  assistance  from 
these  gallant  men,  but  owing  to  the  continually  changing  scene 
of  their  operations, — hardly  quelled  at  one  point  before  disturb- 
ances would  burst  forth  at  another  and  a  more  distant  one, — and 
not  until  a  general  meeting  of  the  citizens  authorized  me  to 
enroll  a  volunteer  police  force  of  one  thousand  men,  under  com- 
mand of  Capt.  N.  J.  Eaton,  was  the  public  peace  restored.  This 
large  force,  a  portion  of  which  was  mounted,  was  distributed  in 
various  parts  of  the  riotous  district,  and  completely  put  an  end 
to  the  existing  disturbance.  In  alluding  to  them,  I  can  only 
say  that  they  were  worthy  of  their  gallant  commander,  whose 
cool  judgment  and  promptness  of  action  well  qualified  him  as  a 
valuable  auxiliary  in  a  time  of  doubt  and  danger." 

On  a  Sunday  morning  in  May,  1853,  a  riot  occurred 
which  resulted  in  the  death  of  two  men.  A  member 
of  Franklin  Fire  Company  interfered  in  a  dog-fight 
which  was  going  on  under  the  patronage  respectively 
of  the  residents  of  Green  and  Cherry  Streets.  His 


MOBS   AND  RIOTS. 


1841 


interference  was  resented  by  the  owner  of  the  dog  and 
resulted  in  a  fight.  Being  reinforced  by  some  of  his 
fellow-members  and  others,  an  attack  was  made  upon 
the  dog-owner  and  his  friends.  They  drove  their  op- 
ponents through  their  houses  and  up  into  the  city. 
Some  of  the  houses  in  which  the  rioters  had  taken 
refuge  were  partly  demolished,  and  the  refugees  when 
caught  were  severely  beaten.  One  man  was  killed 
outright,  and  another  so  badly  beaten  that  he  died  a 
few  days  afterwards. 

The  neighborhood  of  Almond  and  Poplar  Streets, 
between  Main  and  Fourth,  previous  to  July,  1860, 
had  been  inhabited  by  a  number  of  degraded  men  and 
women,  whose  habits  excited  the  popular  indignation 
to  such  a  pitch  that,  on  the  night  of  July  25th,  a  gen- 
eral assault  was  made  upon  their  dwellings.  When 
the  attack  upon  the  first  place  was  begun  there  were 
some  two  or  three  hundred  men  and  boys  engaged  in 
it,  which  number  was  rapidly  increased  to  a  thousand. 
Bricks  and  stones  were  hurled  at  the  windows,  on  the 
roof,  and  against  the  walls,  driving  the  occupants  into 
the  back  yard,  and  from  thence  to  whatever  shelter 
they  could  find.  The  commotion  soon  brought  a 
dozen  or -more  policemen  to  the  scene,  who  endeav- 
ored, without  any  plan  or  system,  to  quell  the  disturb- 
ance, but  their  efforts  were  wholly  ineffectual. 

After  breaking  all  the  windows,  doors,  furniture, 
etc.,  at  this  place,  the  mob  continued  on  its  course, 
driving  out  the  occupants  and  destroying  and  burn- 
ing beds,  furniture,  garments,  etc.  It  attacked  simul- 
taneously eleven  houses,  and  heaped  all  their  furniture 
in  the  street  and  set  fire  to  them.  The  work  of  dem- 
olition went  on  until  more  than  twenty  houses  had 
been  robbed  of  their  contents,  after  which  the  mob 
dispersed.  Policeman  Kennedy,  on  returning  to  his 
beat  from  the  scene  of  excitement,  fell  down  opposite 
Wyman's  Hall  and  died  in  a  short  time  from  ex- 
haustion. 

Railroad  Riot  of  1877. — The  period  of  inflation 
and  factitious  prosperity  that  immediately  succeeded 
the  war  was  followed,  as  all  painfully  know,  by  a  long 
term  of  depression.  The  burden  naturally  fell  heaviest 
on  the  working  classes,  among  whom  privation  begot 
discontent  and  distress. 

The  great  lines  of  railroad,  of  course,  suffered  with 
the  rest  in  the  general  stagnation.  To  afford  all  the 
facilities  in  their  power  to  the  manufacturers  and  pro- 
ducers, they  reduced  their  freight  charges  to  so  low  a 
point  as  scarcely  to  cover  the  cost  of  transportation. 
The  force  of  hands  employed  at  this  time  by  the  Bal- 
timore and  Ohio  Railroad  was  about  three  times  as 
large  as  was  necessary  for  the  business  of  the  road, 
and  with  the  greatly  reduced  revenue  of  the  line  it 


was  absolutely  necessary  to  make  some  reduction  in 
this  branch  of  expense.  This  could  easily  have  been 
done  by  discharging  the  superfluous  hands,  but  in 
view  of  the  great  suffering  that  such  a  step  would 
cause  it  was  thought  better  to  keep  on  as  large  a  force 
as  possible  and  reduce  the  wages,  and  it  was  hoped 
that  the  men  themselves  would  see  it  in  that  light. 

On  July  11, 1877,  a  circular  was  issued  by  the  road 
(after  the  other  great  competing  lines  had  taken  the 
same  action)  giving  notice  that  the  wages  of  all  hands 
earning  more  than  a  dollar  a  day  would  be  reduced 
ten  per  cent,  from  July  16th.  At  this  the  brake- 
men  and  firemen  of  the  freight-trains  began  to  make 
preparations  to  resist,  and  on  the  appointed  day  they 
refused  to  work  along  the  whole  line.  At  once  ap- 
plications were  made  in  Baltimore  by  men  out  of 
work  to  take  their  places,  and  though  a  disposition 
was  shown  to  drive  off  these  men,  they  were  protected 
by  the  police,  and  the  freight  trains  were  moved  out 
of  Baltimore.  The  passenger-trains  were  not  inter- 
fered with  on  that  day. 

Martinsburg,  W.  Va.,  was  one  of  the  company's 
principal  relay-stations,  where  the  hands  and  engines 
of  the  freight- trains  were  changed.  The  population 
was  to  a  large  extent  composed  of  employe's  and 
dependants  of  the  road,  and  in  sympathy  with  the 
strikers.  When  the  trains  from  Baltimore  reached 
this  point  all  the  firemen  abandoned  them.  Others 
offered  to  take  their  places,  but  these  were  forced 
from  the  engines  by  the  strikers,  who  openly  declared 
that  no  more  freight-trains  should  be  run  until  the 
former  scale  of  wages  was  restored. 

As  the  Martinsburg  authorities  were  powerless, 
Vice-President  King,  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Rail- 
road, telegraphed  to  Governor  Matthews,  of  West 
Virginia,  asking  his  assistance  to  suppress  the  riot. 
The  Governor  ordered  his  aid,  Col.  Faulkner,  to 
take  the  necessary  steps ;  but  the  latter  soon  found 
that  the  Berkeley  Guards,  whom  he  had  called  out, 
were  too  much  in  sympathy  with  the  rioters  to  be 
depended  on  for  any  efficient  service.  Governor 
Matthews  then  telegraphed  to  President  Hayes  for 
the  assistance  of  the  United  States  forces.  The  Presi- 
dent at  first  hesitated,  doubting  whether  the  emer- 
gency justified  Federal  interference ;  but  on  receiving 
a  dispatch  from  President  Garrett,  of  the  Baltimore 
and  Ohio  Railroad,  showing  the  serious  character  of 
the  disturbance  and  the  rapidly-increasing  danger,  he 
issued  a  proclamation  commanding  the  rioters  to  dis- 
perse, which  was  printed  in  hand-bill  form  and  dis- 
tributed all  along  the  line.  At  the  same  time  he 
ordered  eight  companies  of  artillery,  serving  as  in- 
fantry, under  the  command  of  Gen.  French,  to  pro- 


1842 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


ceed  from  Fort  McHenry  and  Washington  to  Mar- 
tinsburg,  where  they  arrived  on  the  morning  of  the 
19th.  The  presence  of  the  military  overawed  the 
strikers  and  prevented  violence.  The  trains  might 
now  have  been  sent  on  had  not  the  threats  of  the 
strikers  so  intimidated  those  who  would  have  served  > 
that  they  were  afraid  to  come  forward,  and  only  two 
trains  were  moved  that  day,  one  eastward,  which 
reached  Baltimore  in  safety,  and  one  westward,  which 
was  stopped  at  Keyser. 

By  this  time  the  strike  had  extended  to  the  Ohio  ; 
Division  of  the  road,  and  alarming  reports  were  re- 
ceived as  to  the  intentions  of  the  men  on  the  Pitts- 
burgh and  other  Western  roads,  among  the  rest  the  j 
Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago,  the  Lake  Shore  and  Mich- 
igan Southern,  Ohio  and  Mississippi,  etc.    The  West- 
ern Division  of  the  Pennsylvania  was  blocked,  and 
there  was  trouble  on  the  Erie.    Troops  were  called  out 
in  both  Pennsylvania  and  New  York.    The  apparently 
vast  extent  of  the  combination  caused  extreme  alarm, 
and  there  was  an  almost  total  paralysis  of  trade  in 
Baltimore  and  towns  along  the  road.     The  direct  loss  ' 
was  also  very  great,  many  of  the  cars  detained  being 
loaded  with  perishable  goods,  and  others  with  live-stock 
that  were  dying  with  hunger  and  thirst. 

Thus  far  no  act  of  malicious  violence  had  been 
done,  and  it  is  probable  that,  beyond  the  stopping  of 
the  trains,  none  was  originally  intended,  and  even  this 
design  was  confined  to  a  part  of  the  whole  force,  i 
But,  as  is  always  the  case,  the  turbulent  and  unruly,  ! 
the  vicious  and  idle    gathered  around  the  strikers,  j 
swelled  their  forces,  and  could  not  be  restrained  from 
violence  and  outrage. 

In  St.  Louis,  while  there  was  no  bloodshed,  there 
were  many  violent  demonstrations,  and  for  several  days 
the  situation  was  threatening  in  the  extreme.  The 
first  symptoms  of  trouble  were  manifest  on  the  morn-  i 
ing  of  July  21st,  when  it  was  announced  that  the 
brakemen  on  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Railway  had 
determined  to  strike  on  the  following  Monday  (July 
23d),  in  consequence  of  a  reduction  in  wages  on  the 
16th  of  that  month.  This  movement  was  antici- 
pated on  July  21st  by  a  strike  on  the  Central  Division 
of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Road  at  Vincennes.  East 
St.  Louis  being  the  real  western  terminus  of  the  roads 
centring  in  St.  Louis  from  the  East,  and  their  several 
freight-yards  and  depots  being  there,  the  strike  began 
there  in  a  meeting  on  the  night  of  July  21st,  which 
adjourned  to  meet  the  following  day.  On  the  latter 
date  day  and  night  meetings  were  held,  and  the  strike 
was  formally  inaugurated  by  the  employes  of  the 
Ohio  and  Mississippi,  Indianapolis  and  St.  Louis,  St. 
Louis  and  Southeastern,  Vandalia  Line,  Rockfbrd  and 


Rock  Island,  Cairo  Short  Line,  and  the  Cairo  and  St. 
Louis  Railroad  Companies,  and  the  Union  Transit 
and  Railway  Company,  which  controlled  the  traffic 
over  the  bridge.  An  executive  committee  was  ap- 
pointed, consisting  of  one  representative  from  the  em- 
ployes of  each  road,  with  power  to  appoint  sub-com- 
mittees from  the  different  branches  of  railroad  service 
represented  in  the  strike.  A  resolution  was  adopted 
cautioning  all  of  the  men  against  the  use  of  intoxi- 
cating liquors.  On  this  day  also  meetings  of  working- 
men  in  St.  Louis  and  Carondelet  were  held,  and 
resolutions  sustaining  the  Eastern  strikers  were 
adopted.  The  St.  Louis  meeting  adjourned  in  a  body, 
and  attended  one  of  the  meetings  of  the  disaffected 
railroad  men  in  East  St.  Louis. 

On  July  23d  the  strikers'  executive  committee  had 
complete  control  of  all  the  railroad  property  on  the 
east  side  of  the  river,  and  compelled  or  persuaded  the 
employes  of  the  railroad  shops  and  stock-yards  to 
join  them.  They  placed  sub-committees  in  the  vari- 
ous depots  and  yards,  and  guarded  the  railroad 
property  at  all  such  points.  On  this  day  the  commit- 
tee issued,  under  date  of  July  22d,  its  "  General 
Order  No.  1"  :  "  Freight-trains  are  forbidden  to  leave 
any  of  the  yards  after  twelve  M.  to-night,  and  em- 
ployes are  cautioned  against  interfering  with  express-, 
mail-,  or  passenger-trains." 

In  conformity  with  this  order  all  freight  traffic  was 
stopped,  and  the  strikers  seized  two  yard  engines  for 
use  in  frustrating  any  attempt  to  get  freight-trains 
away.  On  this  day  also  the  Missouri  Pacific  Railroad 
Company  acceded  to  the  demands  of  its  employes  for 
the  restoration  of  wages  to  the  old  figures,  and  there 
was  a  large  demonstration  of  laboring  men. 

On  July  24th  the  cigar-makers,  coopers,  and  one  or 
two  other  branches  of  trade  went  on  a  strike,  and 
paraded  the  public  streets  of  St.  Louis.  Delegations 
of  railroad  strikers  visited  the  city  from  East  St. 
Louis,  and  compelled  the  employes  of  the  Missouri 
Pacific  and  the  St.  Louis,  Kansas  City  and  Northern 
Railroads,  who  had  resumed  work  on  an  increase  of 
pay,  to  stop,  as  did  also  the  Harrison  wire-workers. 
Six  companies  of  the  Twenty-third  United  States  In- 
fantry, with  two  Catling  guns,  under  command  of 
Gen.  Jefferson  C.  Davis,  reached  St.  Louis  for  the 
purpose  of  protecting  government  property.  The 
Vandalia,  Indianapolis  and  St.  Louis,  Chicago  and 
Alton,  Ohio  and  Mississippi,  Cairo  Short  Line,  and 
St.  Louis  and  Southeastern  Railroad  suspended  pas- 
senger traffic.  In  East  St.  Louis  everything  was 
quiet  and  orderly,  and  the  saloons  were  closed.  The 
executive  committee  of  the  strikers  issued  "  General 
Order  No.  2,"  as  follows : 


MOBS   AND   RIOTS. 


1843 


"  No  person  or  persons  are  empowered  to  settle  with  any  road, 
except  the  executive  committee.  '  All  or  none'  of  the  employes 
on  the  strike  to  go  to  work.  We,  the  strikers,  will  maintain 
order  at  all  hazards." 

Up  to  this  time  the  demonstrations  in  St.  Louis 
had  been  confined  to  public  mass-meetings  and  pa- 
rades, in  which  a  few  labor  agitators,  styling  them- 
selves the  "International  Executive  Committee  of  the  i 
Workingmen,"  were  the  ruling  and  directing  spirits.  ! 
They  had  worked  on  the  sympathies  of  some  working- 
men,  and  incendiary  and  inflammatory  speeches,  added 
to  the  startling  events  attending  the  riots  in  Pitts- 
burgh, Baltimore,  and  other  points  in  the  East,  had 
resulted  in  the  enlistment  of  many  mechanics  and 
laborers.  But  there  were  very  few,  if  any,  railway  ', 
men  identified  with  the  agitation  in  St.  Louis  proper, 
although  these  had  at  times  given  their  moral  support; 
the  mass  of  the  disaffected  in  St.  Louis  were  tramps 
and  irresponsible  persons,  idlers  and  curiosity-seekers. 
On  Wednesday,  July  25th,  however,  the  demonstra- 
tions culminated  in  open  violence.  The  beginning  of 
the  outbreak  occurred  at  a  meeting  called  for  eight 
A.M.,  to  be  followed  by  a  labor  procession.  The 
meeting  was  held  under  the  auspices  of  the  Inter- 
nationalists' Executive  Committee,  which  had  prepared 
a  list  of  industrial  institutions  at  which  the  procession 
was  expected  to  call  and  compel  the  employes  to  stop 
work.  The  procession,  which  subsequently  degener- 
ated into  a  mob,  started  from  the  Lucas  Market, 
after  hearing  speeches  from  several  of  the  execu- 
tive committee.  Prominent  in  the  ranks  were  a 
number  of  colored  roustabouts  from  the  Levee,  who 
had  been  invited  by  the  executive  committee  to  join 
in  the  demonstration.  This  they  had  done  after  com-  j 
pelling  the  captains  of  such  steamboats  as  were  lying  \ 
along  the  Levee  to  advance  the  wages  of  their  colored  i 
workmen. 

After  marching  up  and  down  Lucas  Market  Place, 
the  procession  passed  down  Locust  Street  to  Fifth,  to 
Poplar,  to  Twelfth,  to  the  Four  Courts.  At  the  ! 
corner  of  Twelfth  and  Spruce  Streets  a  stop  was  made 
at  the  Phoenix  Planing- Mills,  and  the  proprietor  was 
allowed  fifteen  minutes  to  close  up,  which  he  did. 
The  demand  was  made  by  a  committee  of  spokesmen 
previously  appointed  from  the  ranks.  While  at  this 
point  the  rank  of  the  procession  was  broken  and  was 
not  reformed.  The  St.  Louis  Bagging-Factory,  at 
Twelfth  and  Austin  Streets,  was  the  next  place  vis- 
ited. The  crowd  dashed  over  the  Twelfth  Street 
bridge  in  great  confusion,  shouting  and  yelling  and 
alarming  the  employes  of  the  bagging-factory,  who 
hastened  to  close  the  doors  and  windows  before  the 
mob  arrived.  The  spokesmen  were  met  at  the  en- 


trance by  Henry  Odell,  the  superintendent,  who  at 
once  acceded  to  a  demand  for  instant  stoppage  of  the 
works.  Before  he  had  had  an  opportunity  to  do  this 
the  mob  clambered  over  the  fences,  and  yelling  and 
hooting,  created  a  scene  of  confusion  as  the  employes, 
one  hundred  of  whom  were  females,  were  being  dis- 
missed. 

While  at  this  place  the  negro  roustabouts  forced 
themselves  to  the  front,  and  during  the  remainder  of 
the  day  they  were  most  conspicuous  in  the  scenes 
of  disorder  and  riot  whic.h  ensued.  All  of  the 
places  on  the  programme  having  received  previous 
notice  from  the  executive  committvee  to  close,  the  mob 
regarded  it  as  an  insult  when  they  were  found 
open,  and  was  apparently  greatly  incensed  thereat. 
At  the  foundry  of  Shickle,  Harrison  &  Co.,  a  square 
farther  west,  similar  scenes  were  enacted,  and  the 
rioters  took  possession  of  the  works  and  compelled 
the  engineer  to  shut  off  steam.  At  the  Douglass 
Bagging  Company's  works,  1030  Stoddard  Avenue, 
the  disorder  was  even  greater.  Windows  were  broken, 
the  door  of  the  engine-room  was  burst  in,  and  the 
engineer,  under  threats  against  his  life,  was  compelled 
by  the  negroes  to  shut  off  steam.  There  were  a  great 
many  females  employed  here,  and  they  were  peremp- 
torily ordered  to  quit  work,  and  in  some  instances 
received  rude  treatment  at  the  hands  of  the  negroes. 
Samuel  Wainwright's  malt-house,  south  of  the  Ba<*- 

°  o 

ging  Company's  works,  was  visited  by  a  crowd  of 
negroes,  who  finding  only  a  few  carpenters  at  work, 
compelled  them  to  leave.  A  heavy  shower  of  rain 
now  drenched  the  mob,  but  did  not  check  its  progress 
in  the  least.  The  employes  of  the  Park  Foundry  of 
Christopher,  Simpson  &  Co.,  on  Park  Avenue,  were 
next  driven  away,  and  a  number  of  rioters  directed 
their  attention  to  a  small  grocery  kept  by  a  man 
named  Kaemper,  which  the  negro  element  were  only 
prevented  from  sacking  by  the  threats  of  a  committee- 
man  to  place  them  under  arrest.  The  mills  of  the 
Southern  Bagging  Company,  at  Decatur  and  Barry 
Streets,  were  closed  by  a  committee  of  rioters,  who 
drew  the  fires  in  the  engine-room  and  forced  the  em- 
ployes to  leave.  The  St.  Louis  Trunk- Factory  was 
next  closed,  and  the  main  body  of  the  mob  then 
desisted  and  started  on  the  return.  The  negroes, 
however,  attended  by  a  few  disorderly  white  charac- 
ters, continued  east  on  Lombard  Street  as  an  inde- 
pendent mob.  They  closed  the  Saxony  Mills  and  the 
Southern  White-Lead  and  Color  Works,  with  threats 
of  burning  if  operations  were  resumed.  Thence  the 
mob,  ripe  for  any  disorder,  swept  on  to  the  Plum 
Street  Depot,  where  the  negroes  attempted  to  stop  a 
passenger-train  which  was  on  the  eve  of  departure, 


1844 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


and  grossly  insulted  the  passengers,  but  were  finally 
induced  to  leave  by  two  or  three  speeches  from  their 
white  colleagues.  The  Atlantic  Mills  next  received  a 
visit,  and  George  Bain,  who  was  in  the  engine  room, 
being  insulted  by  a  negro,  knocked  him  down,  where- 
upon another  negro  assaulted  Mr.  Bain  with  a  hatchet, 
and  the  latter  only  escaped  by  flight.  After  stopping 
a  few  bricklayers,  at  work  on  a  new  building,  the  mob 
raided  a  small  cooper-shop  on  Third  Street,  where 
they  sawed  a  number  of  hoop-poles  into  clubs,  and) 
with  threats  of  murder  and  arson,  influenced  the  em- 
ployes to  leave.  At  Third  and  Poplar  Streets  the 
little  shop  of  a  poor  widow  was  raided  by  negroes, 
who  were  about  to  sack  it  when  compelled  to  leave  by 
others  in  the  mob.  Page  &  Kraus'  zinc-works  were 
next  closed,  and  the  rioters,  many  of  them  fired 
with  drink,  continued  northward,  their  passage  being 
marked  by  similar  outrages.  At  Garneau's  bakery,  at 
Seventeenth  and  Morgan  Streets,  and  the  Great 
bakery,  on  Morgan,  between  Sixth  and  Seventh 
Streets,  they  carried  off  whatever  they  desired  and 
destroyed  a  quantity  of  stock. 

At  Ninth  Street  and  Franklin  Avenue  a  store  was 
raided,  and  dry-goods,  soap,  etc.,  were  thrown  into 
the  street,  "  so  that  poor  people  might  pick  them  up." 
The  Park  Mills,  at  Thirteenth  and  Market  Streets, 
and  Halteman  &  Co.'s  millwright-shop  were  also  closed. 
The  scenes  of  disorder  and  outrage  continued  until 
late  in  the  day.  While  these  two  mobs  were  com- 
mitting their  acts  of  violence,  a  small  contingent  of 
the  rabble  attended  a  member  of  the  International 
Executive  Committee  to  the  steam  bakery  of  Dozier, 
Weyl  &  Co.,  at  Sixth  and  Pine  Streets,  where  there 
were  about  thirty  employe's,  male  and  female.  The 
bakery  was  closed,  and  the  retail  portion  was  broken 
into  and  its  contents  appropriated  by  the  mob. 

Meanwhile  the  authorities  were  not  idle,  but  being 
supported  only  by  the  city  police,  which,  while 
efficient,  was  unable  to  cope  with  the  law-breakers, 
they  could  not  take  any  effective  measures  at  this 
time.  In  this  emergency  the  city  authorities  called 
upon  the  law-abiding  citizens  for  their  co-operation  in 
preventing  destruction  of  life  and  property.  The  re-  j 
sponse  was  prompt,  and  Mayor  Oyerstolz  found  him- 
self supported  at  once  by  two  or  three  score  of  the 
most  prominent  citizens,  among  whom  were  Gen. 
Marmaduke.  Gen.  Cavender,  Gen.  A.  J.  Smith,  Gen. 
Noble,  Maj.  H.  S.  Turner,  Walter  C.  Carr,  and  others 
equally  well  known.  These  counselors  advised  that 
a  meeting  of  the  better  class  of  citizens  be  called  for 
organization  and  defense.  The  proposed  meeting  was 
held  at  the  Four  Courts,  and  Mayor  Overstolz  pre- 
sided. The  following  report  of  the  executive  com- 


mittee, previously  appointed,  was  unanimously  adop- 
ted: 

"  Resolved,  That  there  is  hereby  appointed  the  following- 
named  persons  to  recruit  and  organize  the  citizens  in  their  re- 
spective wards  to  aid  the  mayor,  as  a  posse  comitatus,  for  the 
preservation  of  life  and  property  and  the  due  and  prompt  en- 
forcement of  the  law  and  the  rights  of  all  the  people. 

"First  Ward  [headquarters],  court-house,  north  door.  Gen. 
John  S.  Marmaduke,  Gen.  Oliver  P.  Gooding,  Maj.  Eugene 
Weigel,  Joseph  Lawrence,  J.  R.  Harding,  A.  C.  L.  Haase. 

"  Second  Ward,  Fourth  and  Morgan  Streets.  Joseph  Craw- 
shaw,  Gen.  Fullerton,  Col.  T.  W.  Hemm,  George  Mills. 

"  Third  Ward,  Convent  Market.  Capt.  Charles  Stressmeyer, 
Capt.  Adolph  Knipper,  Capt.  Frank  Conway,  C.  A.  Stifel, 
Charles  A.  Pratt. 

"  Fourth  Ward,  Ninth  and  South  Cass  Avenue.  Capt.  Henry 
Bishop,  John  McManus,  F.  A.  Churchill,  Thomas  Foley. 

"  Fifth  Ward,  Soulard  Market.  Capt.  Charles  Ploesser, 
David  Murphy,  J.  H.  Arnelung. 

"  Sixth  Ward,  Broadway  and  North  Market.  Christ.  Winkel- 
meyer,  George  Hannibal,  John  G.  Rubelman,  W.  C.  Van  Dil- 
len,  Thomas  Foley. 

"  Seventh  Ward,  C.  H.  Reighmann. 

"  Eighth  Ward,  Broadway  and  Saulsbury.  Capt.  E.  D. 
Meier,  P.  Gundlach,  S.  B.  Stannard. 

"  Ninth  Ward,  Maj.  De  Gress,  E.  Vortriede. 

"  Tenth  Ward,  Col.  T.  T.  Gantt,  Frank  Backof,  R.  H.  Spencer. 

"  Eleventh  Ward,  Capt.  Charles  C.  Soule,  A.  N.  De  Menil. 

"Twelfth  Ward,  Capt.  John  I.  Martin,  John  J.  O'Brien,  Pat- 
rick Sullivan,  James  Collins,  Sr.,  Thomas  Morrison,  Richard 
Brown. 

"  Thirteenth  Ward,  C.  H.  Albers,  John  Williams,  C.  N.  Mc- 
Dowell, Christ.  Staehlin,  F.  Mansfield. 

"  Fourteenth  Ward,  Conrad  Beck,  Henry  Brockman,  H.  C. 
Meyer. 

"  Fifteenth  Ward,  corner  Mississippi  and  Park  Avenues^ 
Gen.  John  S.  Cavender,  Col.  F.  Burnham,  Capt.  John  Woods, 
Dr.  Frank  Porter,  Given  Campbell,  S.  D.  Barlow,  A.  W.  Kel- 
sey,  George  Bain,  W.  B.  Ryder. 

"Sixteenth  Ward,  Col.  L.  S.  Metcalf,  Otto  Kulage. 

"  Seventeenth  Ward,  Rink.  Col.  T.  A.  Meysenburg,  Alfred 
W.  Henry,  Patrick  McGrath,  Robert  Mcllvaine. 

"  Eighteenth  Ward,  Garrison  Avenue  and  Olive  Street.  Gen. 
John  W.  Noble,  Moses  Fraley,  Gen.  John  W.  Turner,  Preston 
Player,  J.  P.  Krieger,  Sr.,  Maj.  Cabell  Breckenridge,  George 
Updike,  P.  C.  Bulkley,  John  J.  Sutler. 

"Nineteenth  Ward,  Governor  Thomas  Fletcher,  Capt.  J.  But- 
ler, William  H.  Clopton,  Conrad  Rose,  George  Brunaugh, 
Joseph  Gafford. 

"  Twentieth  Ward,  B.  Gratz  Brown,  R.  G.  Frost,  W.  F.  Co- 
zens, John  Finn. 

"Twenty-first  Ward,  Joseph  T.  Tatum,  W.  L.  Ewing,  Jr. 

"Twenty-second  Ward,  D.  K.  Ferguson,  R.  L.  Jones,  Henry 
W.  Williams,  Capt.  Bart.  Guion,  John  R.  McDonough,  Matthew 
Brennan,  James  Morgan. 

"Twenty-third  Ward,  Lewis  Xolte. 

"  Twenty-fourth  Ward,  P.  O'Brien,  A.  L.  Bergfeld. 

"  Twenty-fifth  Ward,  Richard  Merkle. 

"Twenty-sixth  Ward,  Maj.  Philip  Bamberger,  A.  P.  Barbec. 

"  Twenty-seventh  Ward,  Jacob  Thorp,  G.  W.  Parker. 

"Twenty-eighth  Ward,  Christ.  Conrades,  John  A.  Scudder, 
C.  0.  Dutcher,  Miles  Sells,  W.  H.  Scudder. 

"  Reso Iced,  That  all  well-disposed  citizens  who  wish  to  pre- 
serve the  supremacy  of  law,  and  the  lives  and  property  of 
our  people,  are  requested  to  assemble  at  nine  o'clock  to-morrow 


MOBS   AND   RIOTS. 


morning  at  their  several  voting  precincts  to  enroll  themselves  ] 
under  the  direction  and  command  of  the  aforesaid  officers  of 
their  wards,  and  such  aids  as  they  may  appoint. 

"  Resolved,  That  Gen.  A.  J.  Smith,  elected  by  the  Committee 
of  Safety,  be  and  is  hereby  appointed  commander  of  the  citizens 
under  the  direction  of  the  mayor. 

"  Resolved,  That   any   company  or  body  now  organized,  or  , 
which  may  hereafter  be  organized,  report  through  its  command-  ' 
ing  officer  forthwith  to  Gen.  A.  J.  Smith,  at  Police  Commis- 
sioners' room,  in  Four  Courts  building." 

After  this  meeting  another  was  called  for  immedi- 
ate organization,  at  which  Gen.  A.  J.  Smith  was 
elected  chairman.  The  following  persons  were  then 
elected  to  take  charge  of  companies  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Gen.  Smith  :  A.  W.  Kelsey,  H.  S.  Turner, 
W.  H.  Clark,  John  E.  Bloomfield,  Thomas  C.  Flet- 
cher, Capt.  McMurtry,  J.  T.  Butler,  C.  E.  Salomon, 
C.  C.  Slag,  J.  R.  Claiborne.  The  persons  designated 
proceeded  at  once  to  the  work  of  organization,  and 
their  efforts  were  assisted  in  a  great  measure  by  the 
following  proclamation  of  Mayor  Overstolz,  under  date 
of  July  24th : 

"In  the  present  distressed  condition  of  affairs  in  this  city,  it 
becomes  my  duty  as  mayor  to  warn  all  persons  against  the  com- 
mission of  acts  calculated  to  excite  disturbances  and  violate  the 
public  peace,  and  to  invite  the  co-operation  of  all  good  citizens 
in  the  maintenance  of  law  and  order.  With  the  points  in  dis- 
pute between  the  railroad  managers  and  their  employes  the  city 
government  has  neither  the  right  nor  the  desire  to  interfere; 
but  the  scenes  of  violence  and  plunder  recently  enacted  in  the 
city  of  Pittsburgh  and  elsewhere  illustrate  the  terrible  conse- 
quence that  may  result  from  such  difficulties.  We  do  not  re- 
gard the  railroad  employes  and  workmen  of  St.  Louis  as  en- 
couraging or  countenancing  these  disorders,  but  it  is  a  fact  that 
cannot  be  denied  that,  taking  advantage  of  these  complications 
and  of  the  opportunity  afforded  by  prevailing  confusion  and  ex- 
citement, a  mob  of  reckless  and  lawless  men  have  perpetrated 
the  most  outrageous  depredations. 

"The  government  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis  is  determined  to 
spare  no  effort  to  promptly  suppress  riot,  to  protect  life  and  prop- 
erty, to  vindicate  our  fame  as  a  law-abiding  and  self-reliant 
people.  With  this  object  in  view,  I  deem  it  necessary  to  invite 
to  the  aid  of  the  government  the  volunteer  services  of  all  citi- 
zens in  favor  of  law  and  order  within  their  respective  wards  for 
such  police  duty  as  may  hereafter  be  assigned  to  them.  In 
order  to  make  such  assistance  available,  and  to  promote  a  proper 
organization,  the  following  citizens  have  been  selected  as  a  Com- 
mittee on  Public  Safety,  viz. : 

"Gen.  A.  J.  Smith.  Judge  Thomas  T.  Gantt,  Gen.  James  S. 
Marmaduke,  Gen.  John  S.  Cavendcr,  Gen.  John  D.  Stevenson, 
Gen.  John  W.  Xoble.  This  committee  has  designated  Gen.  A. 
J.  Smith  as  commanding  officer  of  all  organizations  of  citizens 
formed  under  this  proclamation.  In  order  to  avoid  causes  of 
disturbance,  all  unnecessary  assemblages  of  citizens  are  forbid- 
den. Parents  are  requested  to  keep  minors  under  their  per- 
sonal control.  The  headquarters  of  Gen.  A.  J.  Smith  will  be  at 
the  Four  Courts,  where  all  reports  will  be  directed." 

On  the  following  day,  at  the  request  of  the  Mer- 
chants' Exchange,  Mayor  Overstolz   issued   another 
proclamation,  calling  upon  merchants  to  suspend  busi- 
ness temporarily,  and  directing  the  closing  of  all  places 
117 


where  intoxicating  liquors  were  sold.  On  the  same 
day  Sheriff  Finn,  at  the  instance  of  the  Board  of 
Police  Commissioners,  issued  summonses  for  a  posse 
comitatus  of  five  thousand  men.  The  responses  for 
volunteers  to  the  committee's  call  were  very  liberal. 
Meetings  were  held  in  the  various  wards,  and  as  fast 
as  companies  were  enrolled  they  were  armed  at  the 
Four  Courts,  where  the  mayor  had  also  established 
his  headquarters,  and  which  was  transformed  into  a 
huge  barrack  for  the  citizen  soldiery.  On  Thursday, 
the  26th  of  July,  the  plans  for  the  defense  and  pro- 
tection of  the  city  had  been  so  far  systematized  that 
Mayor  Overstolz  issued  the  following  proclamation  : 

"WHEREAS,  The  general  suspension  of  the  business  of 
the  city  on  July  25,  1877,  has  afforded  ample  opportunity  to  all 
citizens  to  perfect  their  organizations  in  aid  of  the  city  author- 
ities in  suppressing  the  riotous  and  unlawful  action  of  evil- 
disposed  persons  which  still  prevails  throughout  the  city  ;  and 

"  WHEREAS,  I  am  now  fully  prepared  to  effectually  end  all 
further  opposition  to  the  peace  and  good  order  of  this  com- 
munity, 

"  Now,  therefore,  I,  Henry  Overstolz,  mayor  of  the  city  of 
St.  Louis,  do  direct  and  order  as  follows  : 

"  .first,  That  business  and  laboring  men  of  all  classes,  ex- 
cept such  as  are  enrolled  among  the  forces  at  my  disposal,  do 
at  once  resume  their  lawful  occupations,  and  refrain  as  far  as 
practicable  from  traversing  or  congregating  upon  the  public 
streets  of  the  city. 

"Second,  All  persons  are  prohibited  from  interference  by  in- 
timidation or  otherwise  with  the  employes  or  employers  of  any 
mill,  factory,  business  or  business  establishment,  or  railway. 
Any  such  interference  is  hereby  declared  to  be  at  the  peril  of 
the  person  or  persons  offering  it,  and  will  be  promptly  resisted 
with  all  the  force  at  my  disposal.  All  offenders  in  this  behalf 
will  be  at  once  arrested  and  punished  to  the  fullest  extent  of 
the  law. 

"  Third,  Citizens  of  all  occupations  and  pursuits  are  ordered 
to  abstain  from  any  conduct  calculated  to  disturb  the  peace  and 
good  order  of  the  city.  It  is  earnestly  desired  to  avoid  the  ne- 
cessity of  resort  to  force,  but  the  majesty  of  the  law  will  be 
asserted,  the  honor  and  peace  of  the  city  maintained,  and  the 
property  and  lives  of  the  citizens  preserved.  Laboring  men, 
of  whatever  occupation,  dissatisfied  with  the  wages  paid  them, 
have  the  right  to  abandon  their  employment,  but  they  have  no 
legal  right  to  interfere,  nor  can  they  justify  such  interference, 
with  those  who  are  content  with  their  wages  and  desire  to  con- 
tinue their  employment.  To  do  so  is  to  degrade  the  dignity  of 
labor  and  destroy  the  freedom  of  the  laborer  himself.  The  city 
government,  sustained  by  all  good  citizens,  has  determined  that 
such  interference  cannot  and  shall  not  be  tolerated.  The  re- 
sponsibility for  any  collision  which  may  result  from  the  dis- 
passionate but  firm  execution  of  this  determination  must  rest 
upon  those  who  force  it  upon  the  public  authorities  by  their 
violation  of  the  law." 

On  the  same  day  that  the  mayor  issued  the  above 
proclamation,  Governor  Phelps  and  Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor Brockemyer  arrived  in  the  city,  and  the  Gover- 
nor issued  the  following  proclamation  : 

"WHEUEAS,  A  large  number  of  men  have  for  several  days  been 
unlawfully  and  riotously  assembled  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis; 
and 


1846 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


"  WHEREAS,  It  has  been  represented  to  me  that  said  men  have 
unlawfully  compelled  other  men  to  quit  and  abandon  the  pur- 
suits by  which  they  supported  themselves  and  their  families, 
thus  to  give  up  against  their  wish  their  usual  employment ;  and 

"WHEREAS,  Said  men  have  impeded  the  prosecution  of  the 
internal  commerce  of  the  country  by  assembling  in  force  and 
preventing  the  transportation  of  the  products  of  the  agricultu- 
rist, the  artisan,  and  the  manufacturer,  thereby  materially  en- 
hancing the  cost  of  the  support  of  all  persons  in  a  time  of  finan- 
cial distress ;  and 

"WHEREAS,  Other  disturbances  and  disorders  are  threatened 
in  this  city  and  elsewhere  in  this  State, 

"Now,  therefore,  I,  John  S.  Phelps,  Governor  of  the  State  of 
Missouri,  do  hereby  require  said  bands  of  men  so  unlawfully 
assembled  to  disband  and  return  to  their  usual  pursuits  and 
avocations,  and  not  further  to  molest  the  good  citizens  of  this 
State,  or  to  interfere  with  their  industrial  pursuits.  And  I  do 
assure  the  people  of  Missouri,  and  especially  of  this  city,  that  j 
I  am  here  for  the  purpose  of  seeing  that  the  laws  are  faith- 
fully executed  and  enforced,  and  that  the  rights  of  all  shall  be 
respected ;  that  order  shall  be  maintained ;  that  all  assemblages 
of  evil  men  shall  be  dispersed,  and  that  quiet  and  tranquillity  | 
in  future  shall  be  preserved ;  and  with  the  aid  of  the  good  people 
of  this  State,  I  do  solemnly  declare  these  pledges  shall  be  re- 
deemed, so  far  as  in  me  lies  as  their  Chief  Executive,  not  only 
for  the  peace  and  welfare  .of  this  city,  but  for  every  part  of  this 
Commonwealth." 

Independent  of  the  efforts  of  the  authorities  to 
organize  a  competent  armed  force,  the  merchants  of 
the  city  held  a  meeting  on  Thursday,  July  26th,  at 
Armory  Hall,  to  effect  a  similar  organization.  W. 
A.  Hargadine,  of  Crow,  Hargadine  &  Co.,  was  elected 
chairman,  and  Goodman  King,  of  Mermod,  Jaccard  & 
Co.,  was  chosen  secretary.  As  a  result  of  the  meeting 
a  fund  of  twenty  thousand  dollars  was  raised,  and  a 
regiment  of  one  thousand  men,  armed  with  rifles  and 
navy  revolvers,  and  officered  by  ex- soldiers,  was  re- 
cruited and  placed  under  the  direction  of  the  mayor 
for  guard  duty  in  the  business  portion  of  the  city.  * 
The  general  organization  continued,  and  did  not  cease 
until  the  authorities  had  five  fully-equipped  regiments 
in  the  field,  including  two  hundred  cavalry  from  be- 
yond the  suburbs,  whose  services  were  tendered  and 
accepted  through  Judge  James  S.  Farrar  and  James 
C.  Edwards,  a  company  of  marines,  who  did  efficient 
service  along  the  river  front,  and  a  company  of  artil- 
lery, in  all  about  four  or  five  thousand  men.  Several 
companies  were  composed  of  employes  of  the  St. 
Louis  and  Southeastern,  the  Iron  Mountain,  and  other 
railroads,  who  were  particularly  effective.  In  addition 
ward  patrols  were  organized  throughout  the  city  and 
suburbs,  but  these  confined  themselves  to  special  police 
duty.  The  citizen  military  were  utilized  for  several 
days  in  guarding  public  and  private  property  and 
protecting  points  threatened  by  especial  danger. 

Meantime  the  rioters,  directed  by  an  executive 
committee  which  made  its  headquarters  at  Schuler's 
Hall,  at  the  intersection  of  Fifth  and  Biddle  Streets, 


continued  their  reign  of  terror,  accompanied  by  public 
mass-meetings  and  parades  back  and  forth  before  the 
Four  Courts,  where  the  city  authorities  and  citizens' 
committees  had  their  headquarters.  On  Thursday, 
July  26th,  the  day  following  their  most  flagrant  out- 
rages, the  mob  visited  the  extreme  northern  section  of 
the  city,  the  majority  being  negroes,  who  were  led  by 
one  of  their  number,  a  large  man  "  on  a  yellow  horse." 
They  visited  a  number  of  industrial  institutions,  and 
were  even  more  insulting  and  disorderly  than  on  the 
preceding  day.  Finding  Filley's  foundry  closed  and 
under  guard,  they  stoned  the  guards  and  left.  Bel- 
cher's sugar-refining  works  being  also  closed,  they 
broke  open  the  gates,  raked  the  fires,  and  broke  some 
windows.  After  this  they  had  several  collisions  with 
the  police,  but  the  latter,  being  armed  with  guns  and 
bayonets,  were  uniformly  successful.  During  the  day 
a  destructive  fire  occurred,  and  was  attributed  to  the 
rioters.  By  this  conflagration  a  vacant  house  at  the 
northwest  corner  of  Second  and  Madison  Streets,  be- 
longing to  Amos  Page,  was  burned,  and  a  lumber- 
yard belonging  to  A.  Boeckeler  &  Co.  was  partially 
destroyed.  On  this  day  the  following  extraordinary 
communications  were  issued  by  the  executive  com- 
mittee : 

"  To  THE  HON.  J.  S.  PHELPS,  Governor  of  the  State  of  Missouri, 
and  all  Citizens  : 

"We  request  your  speedy  co-operation  in  convening  the 
Legislature  and  calling  for  the  immediate  passage  of  the  eight- 
hour  law,  its  stringent  enforcement,  and  penalty  for  all  viola- 
tions of  the  same. 

"The  non-employment  of  all  children  under  fourteen  years 
of  age  in  factories,  shops,  or  other  uses  calculated  to  injure 
them. 

"  Your  attention  is  respectfully  called  to  the  fact  that  a  prompt 
compliance  with  this  our  reasonable  demand,  and  that  living 
wages  be  paid  to  the  railroad  men,  will  at  once  bring  peace  and 
prosperity  such  as  we  have  not  seen  for  the  last  fifteen  years. 
Nothing  short  of  a  compliance  to  the  above  just  demand,  made 
purely  in  the  interest  of  our  national  welfare,  will  arrest  this 
tidal-wave  of  revolution.  Threats  or  organized  armies  will  not 
turn  the  toilers  of  this  nation  from  their  earnest  purpose,  but 
rather  serve  to  inflame  the  passions  of  the  multitude  and  tend 
to  acts  of  vandalism. 

"  Yours,  in  the  nation's  welfare, 

"EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE, 
"  UNITED  WOKKIXGMEX  OF  ST.  Louis." 

"To  THE  HON.  HENRY  OVERSTOLZ,  Mayor  of  St.  Louis: 

"  Sir, — We,  the  authorized  representatives  of  the  industrial 
population  of  St.  Louis,  have  called  upon  you  to  request  your 
co-operation  in  devising  means  to  procure  food  for  those  actually 
in  a  destitute  condition. 

"  In  order  to  save  a  useless  waste  of  your  time,  it  is  necessarv 
that  we  at  once  say  that  all  offers  of  work  during  this  national 
strike  cannot  be  considered  by  us  as  a  remedy  under  the  present 
circumstances,  for  we  are  fully  determined  to  hold  out  until  the 
principles  we  are  contending  for  are  carried. 

"  It  is  the  earnest  desire  of  every  honest  toiler  in  St.  Louis  to 


MOBS  AND   RIOTS. 


1847 


accomplish  this  their  purpose  in  as  orderly  a  way  as  this  dire 
contingency  will  allow. 

"The  stringency  of  food  is  already  being  felt:  therefore,  to 
avoid  plunder,  arson,  or  violence  by  persons  made  desperate  by 
destitution,  we  are  ready  to  concur  with  Your  Honor  in  taking 
timely  measures  to  supply  the  immediate  wants  of  the  foodless, 
and  respectfully  offer  the  following  suggestions,  namely :  if  it 
is  not  in  your  power  to  relieve  this  distress,  we  request  that  a 
convention  of  merchants  be  called  by  Your  Honor  to  meet  and 
confer  with  us  as  to  the  best  way  to  procure  food  for  our  dis- 
tressed brothers  and  their  families. 

"  Each  member  of  all  labor  organizations  will  hold  themselves 
individually  and  collectively  responsible  to  pay  for  all  food  pro- 
cured by  their  order. 

"  That  we,  the  unfortunate,  toiling  citizens,  desire  to  faith- 
fully maintain  the  majesty  of  the  law  while  we  are  contending 
for  our  inalienable  rights. 

"Therefore,  we  in  good  faith  give  you  our  earnest  assurance 
to  assist  you  in  maintaining  order  and  protecting  property. 
Further,  in  order  to  avoid  riot,  we  have  determined  to  have  no 
large  processions  until  our  organization  is  so  complete  as  to  posi- 
tively assure  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis  of  a  perfect  maintenance 
of  order  and  full  protection  to  life  and  property. 

"  In  the  name  of  all  workingmen's  associations,  by  the  Ex- 
ecutive Committee  of  the  United  Workingmen's  party  of  St. 
Louis." 

Another  paper,  signed  by  "  the  Executive  Commit- 
tee," notified  physicians  and  surgeons  that  they  would 
be  "  professionally  regarded  during  the  present  strike 
by  wearing  a  white  badge  four  inches  long  and  two 
inches  broad,  encircling  the  left  upper  arm,  bearing  a 
red  cross,  the  bars  of  which  to  be  one  inch  wide  by 
three  inches  long,  crossing  each  other  at  right  angles, 
allowing  the  bars  to  extend  one  inch  each  way."  A 
few  hours  after  the  issuing  of  these  communications  a 
mass-meeting  was  held  at  Lucas  Market  under  the 
auspices  of  the  committee  which  signed  them,  at 
which  incendiary  speeches  were  made,  the  rioters 
being  urged  to  arm  and  organize  themselves  into 
small  companies,  and  intimations  were  thrown  out 
that  the  forces  of  the  authorities  were  to  be  attacked. 
This,  however,  appeared  to  be  the  climax  of  the  riotous 
proceedings  in  St.  Louis.  The  news  from  the  East  of 
the  cessation  of  the  labor  troubles,  the  judicious  dis- 
tribution of  volunteer  militia,  the  effective  action  of 
the  police,  the  energetic  movement  of  citizens,  the 
failure  of  the  agitators  who  were  directing  the  rioters 
to  inaugurate  determined  efforts,  and  the  lack  of  sub- 
stantial results  all  contributed  to  assist  in  the  final  and 
peaceful  repression  of  the  mob  on  the  following  day, 
Friday,  July  27th.  The  enrollment  of  the  citizen  mil- 
itary had  been  prompt  and  effective,  and  in  three  days 
about  four  thousand  had  been  recruited  and  equipped  ; 
some  had  been  put  into  active  service,  and  all  were 
under  arms  and  ready. 

Such  was  the  condition  of  things  when  the  mayor 
and  his  counselors  determined  to  make  an  attempt  to 
arrest  the  ringleaders,  otherwise  the  "Executive  Com- 


mittee," at  Schuler's  Hall.  Accordingly,  on  July  27th, 
the  following  order  was  issued  through  the  Board  of 
Police :  "  Capt.  William  Lee  is  hereby  assigned  to  the 
command  of  the  police  battalion  detailed  for  the  pro- 
tection of  life  and  property,  and  more  particularly  for 
the  capture  of  the  violators  of  the  law  now  assembled 
in  Schuler's  Hall.  In  effecting  the  arrest  of  said  un- 
lawful assemblage  you  will  use  your  best  judgment, 
and  should  forcible  resistance  be  offered,  such  as  you 
cannot  control  without  damage  to  your  command, 
open  fire  on  them.  If  arrested,  files  of  soldiers  will 
be  in  readiness  to  aid  you  in  bringing  them  to  these 
headquarters." 

The  raid  on  Schuler's  Hall  was  made  by  a  battalion 
of  mounted  police  and  patrolmen  and  soldiery  with 
cannon,  and  attended  by  the  mayor  and  prominent  cit- 
izens. The  mounted  police  led  the  procession,  and  on 
arriving  at  the  hall  cleared  the  street  by  charging  the 
masses  who  had  gathered  there,  effectually  dispersing 
them.  A  number  of  rioters  and  idlers  who  were  in 
the  hall  were  arrested,  but  the  executive  committee, 
having  been  warned  of  the  approach  of  the  police  and 
military,  leaped  from  the  third  story  of  the  building 
to  the  roof  of  an  adjoining  house  and  thence  escaped, 
but  were  subsequently  captured  and  punished.  This 
action  completely  broke  up  the  riot,  and  although  the 
police  prevented  the  holding  of  meetings,  and  the 
services  of  the  soldiery  were  availed  of  a  few  days 
longer,  there  was  no  further  disorder. 

The  railroad  strike  in  East  St.  Louis  during  this 
period  had  remained  in  statu  quo.  The  disaffected  men 
were  quiet  and  orderly,  and  at  no  time  joined  the  St. 
Louis  mob.  On  the  contrary,  they  sent  word  to  the  St. 
Louis  leaders  to  "  leave  them  alone."  They  confined 
themselves  to  parades  and  meetings,  and  wisely  kept 
the  liquor  saloons  closed,  but  at  the  same  time  com- 
pelling the  total  suspension  of  business  of  all  railroads 
terminating  there.  The  beginning  of  the  end  in  East 
St.  Louis  came  with  the  rising  of  the  sun  on  Saturday, 
July  28th,  the  day  succeeding  the  raid  on  Schuler's 
Hall  in  St.  Louis.  At  this  hour  twelve  companies 
of  the  Twenty-third  United  States  Infantry,  regulars, 
under  the  command  of  Gen.  Jeff.  C.  Davis,  came  up 
the  river  on  the  steamer  "  Elon  G.  Smith,"  which  with 
an  armament  of  guns  had  been  in  service  along  the 
river  front  during  the  St.  Louis  riots,  and  surrounded 
the  Relay  Depot,  which  they  at  once  occupied,  the  few 
rioters  who  were  there  at  that  hour  beating  a  hasty  re- 
treat. The  surprise  was  complete,  and  in  a  short  time 
eight  of  the  companies  were  sent  back  to  the  arsenal. 
An  hour  or  two  after  the  capture,  Governor  Cullom, 
of  Illinois,  arrived  from  Springfield,  accompanied  by 
United  States  Marshal  E.  R.  Roe,  Col.  Merriam,  Col. 


1848 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


R.  D.  Lawrence,  Capt.  A.  Orendorff,  Judge  William 
Prescott,  Maj.  James  A.  Connolly,  Col.  S.  H.  Jones, 
Major  Ray,  and  a  number  of  prominent  citizens  of 
Springfield.  Subsequently  the  Governor  issued  the 
following  proclamation  : 

"WHEREAS,  Certain  persons,  active  in  violation  of  the  law, 
have  assumed  to  interfere  and  prevent  the  movement  of  rail- 
road trains  in  this  State,  and  have  sought  to  intimidate  honest 
workingmen,  engaged  in  the  avocations  by  which  they  earn 
their  daily  bread,  and  to  compel  them  to  cease  their  labor; 
and 

"WHEREAS,  This  condition  of  affairs  continues,  and  is  in- 
tolerable, entailing  as  it  does  disastrous  consequences,  the  na- 
ture and  extent  of  which  it  is  impossible  to  foresee, 

"  Therefore,  I,  Shelby  M.  Cullom,  Governor  of  the  State  of 
Illinois,  acting  under  and  by  authority  of  the  laws  of  this  State, 
do  command  all  such  riotous  and  disorderly  persons  to  desist 
and  return  to  their  homes,  and  do  call  upon  all  sheriffs,  mayors, 
and  other  officers  charged  with  the  execution  of  the  laws  to 
break  up  all  conspiracies  against  the  rights  of  property,  and 
persons,  and  to  this  end  to  employ  every  lawful  means  in  their 
power,  and  to  enjoin  upon  all  citizens  to  assist  in  bringing  about 
the  restoration  of  order,  resumption  of  business,  moving  of 
trains,  and  revival  of  manufactures. 

"I  further  give  notice  that  the  entire  military  force  at  my 
disposal,  as  commander-in-chief  of  the  military,  will  be  em- 
ployed for  the  support  of  the  civil  authorities  in  this  endeavor, 
and  that  orders  will  be  given  to  troops  to  use  whatever  amount 
of  force  may  be  necessary  to  compel  obedience  to  the  law." 

As  soon  as  Governor  Cullom  reached  East  St.  Louis 
he  telegraphed  for  the  Belleville  Guards,  of  Belle- 
ville, 111.,  Capt.  Andel  commanding,  who  reached  the 
scene  of  trouble  early  in  the  afternoon.  Their  arrival 
was  supplemented  by  that  of  six  or  seven  hundred 
more  of  the  Illinois  militia,  who  came  in  a  body,  as 
follows :  Brig.-Gen.  E.  N.  Bates,  commanding;  Lieut.- 
Col.  J.  N.  Reece,  'assistant  adjutant-general ;  Assist- 
ant Inspector,  Maj.  G.  S.  Dana.  Fifth  Regiment, 
Colonel,  S.  H.  Barclay  ;  Lieutenant-Colonel,  Cornelius 
Rourke ;  Major,  William  C.  Gilbreth ;  Adjutant,  C. 
F.  Mills;  Surgeon,  J.  N.  Dixon  ;  Sergeant-Major,  J. 
H.  C.  Irwin.  Company  C  (Governor's  Guards),  of 
Springfield,  Capt.  G.  S.  Johnson  ;  Company  D  (Cul- 
lom Guards),  of  Williamsville,  Capt.  I.  F.  Constant ; 
Company  I  (Morgan  Cadets),  of  Jacksonville,  Capt. 
Harrison  ;  Company  K  (Light  Guards),  of  Jackson- 
ville, Capt.  J.  N.  Swails. 

Eighth  Regiment,  Capt.  E.  B.  Hamilton,  com- 
manding; W.  L.  Distin,  adjutant;  Francis  Aid,  quar- 
termaster ;  R.  W.  McMahan,  surgeon;  William  L. 
Ryan,  sergeant-major.  Quincy  Guards,  of  Quincy, 
Lieut.  R.  A.  Cox,  commanding;  Keokuk  Junction 
Guards,  Lieut.  Wm.  Hanna ;  Carthage  City  Guards, 
Capt.  C.  Long ;  Mount  Sterling  Guards,  Capt.  M.  H. 
Lawler ;  Augusta  Guards,  Capt.  E.  Gillett ;  Quincy 
Veterans,  Capt.  L.  Bort ;  Clayton  Guards,  Capt.  H.  A. 
Horn. 


These  troops  found  the  city  free  from  disorder  and 
in  the  possession  of  the  military,  which  had  previ- 
ously arrived,  and  beyond  the  ill-concealed  disgust  of 
the  rioters  at  the  march  which  had  been  stolen  on 
them,  and  disappointment  which  found  expression 
only  in  words  and  private  discussions,  there  was  little 
to  indicate  the  situation  of  a  few  hours  before. 

On  the  arrival  of  the  National  Guards  the  follow- 
ing military  order  was  issued  : 

"  HEADQUARTERS  SECOND  BRIGADE, 

FIRST  DIVISION,  ILLINOIS  NATIONAL  GUARD, 

"EAST  ST.  Louis,  ILL.,  July  28,  1877, 
"  General  Order  No.  6. 

"Having,  in  compliance  with  orders  from  the  Governor  and 
commander-in-chief  of  the  forces  of  the  State,  assumed  com- 
mand of  the  Illinois  National  Guard  at  East  St.  Louis,  for  the- 
purpose  of  aiding  the  civil  authorities  of  St.  Clair  County  and 
the  city  of  East  St.  Louis  in  preserving  the  peace  and  protect- 
ing property  therein,  to  effectually  execute  this  order,  acting 
with  the  peace  officers  of  said  county  and  city,  I  hereby  com- 
mand all  persons  within  the  said  county  and  city  to  observe 
the  peace  and  aid  in  the  execution  of  the  laws.  Riotous  and 
other  unlawful  assemblages  are  hereby  prohibited,  and  will  be 
promptly  dispersed.  Private  citizens  in  any  considerable- 
number,  appearing  in  public  armed  with  weapons  of  anv  kind, 
will  be  regarded  as  rioters  and  dealt  with  accordingly. 

"The  streets  of  the  city  and  thoroughfares  of  the  county  will 
be  kept  free  from  crowds,  and  all  boisterous  and  unruly  persons 
will  be  arrested  and  punished  as  provided  by  law. 

"  Citizens  and  corporations  with  whose  business  any  person 
interferes,  by  the  use  of  violence  or  the  intimidation  of  their 
employes,  reporting  the  fact  to  these  headquarters,  will  be  pro- 
tected by  the  forces  of  this  command  in  the  peaceful  pursuit  of 
their  several  avocations. 

"By  order  of  Brig.-Gen.  E.  N.  BATES,  commanding  Illinois 
National  Guards. 

"J.  N.  REECE,  A.  A.  G." 

On  the  following  day,  Sunday,  July  29th,  the  mili- 
tary was  further  reinforced  by  the  Fourth  Regiment,. 
Illinois  National  Guard,  a  company  from  Peoria,  and 
one  from  Henry,  Stark,  and  Knox  Counties.  A 
number  of  gatherings  of  idlers  and  strikers  were  dis- 
persed, and  there  were  a  great  many  arrests,  indi- 
vidual and  collective.  There  was  no  trouble  in  East 
St.  Louis  after  this,  and  on  the  ensuing  day  a  large 
majority  of  the  strikers  returned  to  work,  the  move- 
ment of  freight  became  general,  and  all  of  the  rail- 
roads resumed  operations.  The  military  remained  in 
occupation  of  the  city  a  few  days  longer,  and  with 
their  assistance  a  number  of  ringleaders  were  appre- 
hended and  sent  to  Springfield  for  punishment. 

On  Tuesday,  July  31st,  the  people  of  St.  Louis 
witnessed  a  fitting  finale  to  the  labor  troubles  in  a 
parade  of  all  of  the  volunteer  forces  that  had  rallied  to 
their  protection  a  few  days  before,  in  which  such  com- 
panies as  still  remained  in  East  St.  Louis  participated. 
The  parade  started  at  half-past  four  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  over  a  line  of  march  embracing  Twelfth, 


FAMOUS   DUELS. 


1849 


Street,  from  Clark  Avenue  to  Pine  Street,  to  Four- 
teenth, to  Lucas  Place,  to  Eighteenth  Street,  to  Mor- 
gan, to  Seventh,  to  Carr,  to  Fifth,  to  Clark  Avenue, 
to  the  Four  Courts,  and  was  composed  as  follows : 

Gen.  A.  J.  Smith  and  staff:  Col.  Leigh  0.  Knapp,  adjutant- 
general;  Col.  J.  S.  Fullerton,  assistant  adjutant-general ;  Col. 
R.  H.  Spencer,  chief  of  ordnance ;  Cols.  C.  AV.  Thomas,  David 
Murphy,  Eugene  F.  Weigel,  J.  B.  Gondolfo,  R.  H.  Brown,  T. 
W.  Heman,  Edgar  Miller,  aides-de-camp ;  Col.  W.  F.  Mel- 
bourne, aide-de-camp  and  acting  quartermaster;  Col.  Louis 
Dorsheimer,  aide-de-camp  and  acting  commissary  subsistence. 

First  Brigade. 
Knights  Templar  Band. 

Company  A,  Missouri  National  Guard,  St.  Louis,  Capt.  Chas. 
E.  Pearce;  Quincy  Grays,  Quincy,  111.,  Capt.  E.  B.  Hamilton; 
Peoria  Veteran  Light  Guards,  Peoria,  111.,  Capt.  Thomas  Cos- 
grove  ;  Peoria  National  Blues,  Peoria,  111.,  Capt  James  M.  Price  ; 
Belleville  Guards,  Belleville,  111.,  Capt.  Casimir  Andel. 

Merchants'  Regiment,  St.  Louis :  Company  A,  Capt.  H. 
Duncker;  Company  B,  Capt.  Fairbanks;  Company  C,  Capt.  J. 
D.  Brutche;  Company  F,  Capt.  Robert  McCulloch;  Company 
D,  Capt.  William  Harrigan  ;  Company  E,  Capt.  Joshua  Brown; 
Company  G,  Capt.  Robert  Cunningham;  Company  H,  Capt. 
Joseph  K.  Byers. 

Second  Brigade. 

Gen.  John  W.  Noble,  commanding,  and  staff:  Capts.  Silas 
Bent,  J.  R.  McBeth,  W.  M.  McPherson,  and  J.  R.  Currie. 

Eighteenth  Ward  Battalion,  Capt.  F.  B.  Davidson,  command- 
ing :  Company  A,  Lieut.  G.  C.  Castleman ;  Company  B,  Capt. 
R.  R.  Hutehinson  ;  Company  C,  Capt.  J.  D.  Slocum  ;  Court- 
House  Guard,  Capt.  S.  F.  Adreon ;  Phelps  Guard,  Capt.  C.  L. 
White;  Capt.  William  C.  Marshall's  company. 

Bremen  Battalion,  Capt.  E.  D.  Meier,  commanding  :  First 
€ompany,  Lieut.  R.  B.  Stuart;  Second  Company,  Capt.  S.  B. 
Stannard;  Third  Company,  Capt.  Buchanan. 

Capt.  Jefferson  Clark's  company. 

Capt.  Rothford's  company. 

Third  Brigade. 

Gen.  W.  U.  R.  Beall,  commanding,  and  staff:  Maj.  W.  F. 
Haines,  assistant  adjutant-general;  Capt.  George  H.  West, 
lieutenant-colonel ;  Maj.  N.  II.  Clark  and  F.  W.  Molt,  aides-de- 
camp. 

Company  A,  Fifteenth  Ward,  Lieut.  II.  F.  Messengale. 

Squires'  Battery,  Col.  Charles  Squires  commanding. 

Excelsior  Guards,  Capt.  H.  W.  Steirman. 

Mayor's  Guard,  Capt.  Wm.  Bull. 

Real  Estate  Guards,  Capt.  E.  G.  Obear. 

Company  A,  Carondelet  Militia,  Capt.  J.  J.  Frey. 

Company  D,  Carondelet  Militia,  Capt.  W.  H.  Fagley. 

Capt.  Thomas  G.  Fletcher's  company. 

Fourth  Briya.de. 

Col.  David  Murpby,  commanding. 

Mnj.  Soule's  battalion,  Maj.  Charles  C.  Soule,  commanding: 
Adjutant,  F.  L.  Shaw;  Sergeant-Major,  W.  P.  Minor;  Commis- 
sary-Sergeant, Stephen  D.  Barlow,  Jr. ;  Company  A,  Capt.  W.  S. 
Long;  Company  B,  Capt.  C.  M.  Woodward;  Capt.  C.  II.  Krurn's 
company,  Capt.  W.  P.  Nelson's  company,  Capt.  P.  H.  Cronin's 
company,  Capt.  Davenport's  company,  Capt.  Scbamitz's  com- 
pany, Capt.  Berzey's  company,  Csipt.  Gondolpho's  company, 
Capt.  Stevens'  company,  Capt.  George  H.  Shields'  company, 
Capt.  Kirk's  company,  Capt.  Cunningham's  company,  Capt. 
Brownell's  company,  Capt.  Halm's  company. 


Fifth  Brigade. 

Gen.  D.  M.  Frost,  commanding,  and  staff:  Col.  H.  J.  McKel- 
lops,  adjutant;  Maj.  N.  Wall,  quartermaster. 

Cosmopolitan  Band. 

Detachment  United  States  Artillery,  Lieut.  Bolton,  command- 
ing. 

Marine  Corps  of  St.  Louis  Volunteers,  Capt.  F.  C.  Moore- 
head. 

Tenth  Ward  Guards,  Lieut.  C.  II.  Stone. 

Iron  Mountain  Railway  Guards,  Capt.  J.  H.  Woodward. 

Southeastern  Railway  Guards,  Capt.  Harry  M.  Kenderdine. 

Twelfth  Ward  Guards,  Capt.  A.  B.  Glove. 

The  parade  consisted  of  the  exigency  militia  of  St. 
Louis,  with  the  exception  of  Company  A,  Missouri 
National  Guard,  the  Illinois  State  troops,  and  the 
United  States  artillery,  and  numbered  about  five 
thousand  muskets.  A  number  of  other  companies  of 
citizen  troops  were  absent  on  guard  duty. 

Thus  ended  the  great  riot  of  1877  in  St.  Louis,  and 
considering  the  fact  that  at  the  time  of  its  inception 
there  was  only  one  company  of  State  troops  in  Mis- 
souri, the  State  and  city  authorities  and  the  citi- 
zens of  St.  Louis  deserve  great  commendation  for  the 
prompt  and  pacific  suppression  of  the  disorder  that 
reigned  throughout  the  city. 

FAMOUS    DUELS. 

One  of  the  most  celebrated  dueling-grounds  in  the 
United  States  was  the  well-known  "  Bloody  Island," 
in  the  Mississippi  River,  opposite  St.  Louis,  which 
gained  its  name  from  three  fatal  encounters  there  in 
1817,  1823,  and  1831.  The  first  duel  near  St.  Louis 
that  we  have  any  record  of  occurred  in  December, 
1810,  between  Mr.  Farrar  and  Mr.  Graham,  but  ac- 
counts are  meagre,  and  it  is  uncertain  when  they  met. 
Neither  of  the  parties  was  injured.  The  duel  that 
first  gave  Bloody  Island  its  right  to  that  incarnadined 
title  was  that  between  Col.  Benton  and  Charles 
Lucas,  in  1817,  in  which  the  latter  was  wounded,  and 
at  a  second  meeting  killed.  The  entire  record  of  this 
duel,  which  io  some  respects  overrode  the  accepted 
laws  of  the  code,  and  which  seems  to  have  been  char- 
acterized by  a  bloodthirsty  spirit  on  the  part  of  one  of 
the  chief  actors,  can  be  found  in  the  Missouri  Gazette 
for  that  year,  and  in  the  letters  of  the  principals  on  the 
subject. 

An  extended  sketch  of  Charles  Lucas,  published 
Nov.  1,  1817,  throws  much  light  on  his  character 
and  on  the  training  young  Western  men  had  in  those 
days.  Born  Sept.  25,  1792,  near  Pittsburgh,  of  Nor- 
man parents,  who  had  settled  there  in  1784,  he  fol- 
lowed them  to  St.  Louis  in  1805,  returned  to  Penn- 
sylvania in  1806,  and  spent  five  years  in  study  at 
Jefferson  College.  Young  Lucas  is  said  to  have 
shown  from  his  childhood  penetration,  judgment, 


1850 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


originality,  independence,  tempered  in  all  things  with 
a  kindly  regard  for  the  rights  and  feelings  of  others. 
After  completing  his  classical  education  he  returned 
to  St.  Louis,  entering  the  office  of  Col.  Rufus  Easton 
to  study  law.  As  soon  as  the  war  of  1812  was  fairly 
begun  he  joined  a  company  of  volunteers  raised  at  St. 
Louis,  and  served  in  a  campaign  up  the  Illinois  River. 
The  next  winter  he  aided  in  forming  a  company  of 
artillery,  which  tendered  their  services  to  the  Gov- 
ernor, and  were  placed  on  an  island  near  Portage  des 
Sioux.  Their  captain  was  Robert  Lucas,  and  when 
he  resigned  to  enter  the  regular  army,  Charles  Lucas 
was  appointed  in  his  place.  The  post  was  important, 
and  an  attack  deemed  probable.  Lucas  had  displayed 
zeal,  courage,  and  ability,  but  no  encounter  with  the 
enemy  occurred  during  the  season.  Later  that  sum- 
mer he  was  sent  to  punish  hostile  Indians  near  St. 
Charles,  but  the  report  proved  false,  and  he  returned 
to  St.  Louis  to  resume  his  law  studies,  was  admitted 
the  following  spring,  and  a  few  months  after  was 
elected  representative  from  St.  Louis  County  to  the 
Assembly,  filling  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  death  of 
Mr.  Emmons,  of  Bonhomme.  He  proved  a  useful 
and  worthy  member.  In  order  to  extend  his  knowl- 
edge he  made  a  tour  in  the  winter  of  1816—17  through 
parts  of  the  West,  and  visited  the  Atlantic  States.  In 
1817  he  was  appointed  United  States  attorney  for 
Missouri,  which  office  he  held  at  the  time  of  his 
death.  All  contemporary  evidence  goes  to  show  that 
young  Lucas  was  earnest,  industrious,  and  worthy, 
both  in  public  and  in  private  life.  The  family  then, 
as  ever  since,  was  one  of  great  mark  and  power  in 
St.  Louis,  and  every  member  of  it  seemed  gifted  with 
more  than  ordinary  courage,  public  spirit,  and  energy. 
It  was  a  time  when  no  man  could  refuse  to  fight  a 
duel  and  escape  social  ostracism,  and  a  faithful  attor- 
ney often  gave  umbrage  to  men,  whose  reply  was  a 
challenge.  In  1817,  Congressman  John  Scott  de- 
murred at  an  article  written  by  Charles  Lucas,  con- 
cerning the  election  at  which  the  former  had  won, 
but  the  dispute  was  amicably  settled. 

The  difficulty  with  the  famous  Thomas  H.  Benton  ! 
grew  out  of  political  reasons,  was,  at  least  on  one 
side,  unrelenting,  and  through  its  fatal  results  colored 
and  affected  St.  Louis  politics  for  a  third  of  a  cen- 
tury after.     It  may  justly  be  ranked  as  the  great 
political  duel  of  Missouri.     We  shall  first  give  the  '• 
account  written  by  Charles  Lucas  on  the  night  be- 
fore his  first  meeting  with  Benton,  and  found  among 
his  papers : 

"The  causes  of  difference  between  T.  H.  Benton  ami  me  were 
as  follows:    At  October  court  of  last  year  (1816)   Mr.  Benton   | 
and  I  were  employed  on  adverse  sides  in  a  cause.     At  the  close  : 


of  the  evidence  he  stated  that  the  evidence  being  so  and  so,  he 
requested  the  court  to  instruct  the  jury  to  find  accordingly.  I 
stated,  in  reply,  that  there  was  no  such  evidence,  to  my  remem- 
brance. He  replied,  '  I  contradict  you,  sir.'  I  answered,  '  I 
contradict  you,  sir.'  He  then  said,  '  If  you  deny  that,  you 
deny  the  truth.'  I  replied,  '  If  you  assert  that,  you  assert  what 
is  not  true.'  He  immediately  sent  me  a  challenge,  which  I 
declined  accepting,  for  causes  stated  in  my  correspondence. 
The  jury  in  a  few  minutes  returned  a  verdict  for  me,  and  in 
opposition  to  his  statement.  He  never  even  moved  for  a  new 
trial.  Since  that  time  we  have  had  no  intercourse  except  on 
business.  On  the  day  of  the  election  at  St.  Louis,  4th  August, 
1817,  I  inquired  whether  he  had  paid  a  tax  in  time  to  entitle 
him  to  vote  ;  he  was  offering  his  vote  at  the  time.  He  applied 
vehement,  abusive,  and  ungentlemanly  language  to  me,  and  I 
believe  some  of  it  behind  my  back,  all  of  which  he  declined  to 
recant,  to  give  me  any  satisfaction  other  than  by  the  greatest 
extremities.  This  is  the  state  of  the  dispute  between  T.  H. 
Benton  and  myself.  I  make  this  declaration  that,  let  things 
eventuate  as  they  may,  it  may  be  known  how  they  originated." 

The  letter  Lucas  sent  to  Benton  after  the  chal- 
lenge in  1816  from  Benton  was  as  follows: 

"ST.  Louis,  Nov.  15,  1816.— T.  H.  Benton,  present :  SIR,— 
Your  note  of  this  afternoon  was  received.  On  proper  occasions, 
or  for  proper  causes,  I  would  give  the  kind  of  satisfaction  you 
appear  to  want,  but  for  such  causes  as  the  one  you  complain  of, 
under  all  the  existing  circumstances,  I  would  not  feel  justified 
in  placing  myself  in  such  a  situation  as  to  be  under  the  neces- 
sity of  taking  your  life  or  jeopardizing  my  own.  I  will  not 
suffer  the  free  exercise  of  my  rights  or  performance  of  my  duties 
at  the  bar  to  be  with  me  the  subject  of  private  disputes,  nor 
will  I  allow  it  to  others  for  doing  my  duty  to  my  clients,  more 
particularly  to  you. 

"In  this  case,  who  made  the  first  breach  of  decorum,  if  one  was 
made?  You  complain  of  my  having  given  you  the  lie  direct,  and 
have  as  much  right  to  complain  of  the  whole  jury,  who  on  their 
oaths  found  a  verdict  in  direct  contradiction  to  what  you  stated 
to  be  the  evidence.  My  object  was  that  no  misstatement  of  the 
testimony  should  be  made  in  hearing  of  the  jury  without  being 
contradicted.  This  was  my  duty  to  my  client  and  to  myself. 
The  verdict  of  the  jury  verifies  the  statement  I  made  of  the 
evidence,  and  I  will  not,  for  supporting  that  truth,  be  in  any 
way  bound  to  give  the  redress  or  satisfaction  you  ask  for  to  any 
person  who  may  feel  wounded  by  such  exposure  of  truth. 
"  Yours,  etc., 

"  CHARLES  LUCAS." 

After  the  difficulty  in  August,  1817,  at  the  polls, 
Benton  refusing  to  listen  to  any  mediator,  Lucas 
arranged  his  affairs  and  sent  his  enemy  a  challenge, 
which  was  at  once  accepted.  Under  date  of  August 
llth  a  letter  found  among  his  papers  said, — 

"DEAR  FATHEH, — Embarked  as  I  am  in  a  hazardous  enter- 
prise, the  issue  of  which  you  will  know  before  you  see  this,  I 
am  under  the  necessity  of  bidding  you,  my  brothers,  sisters, 
friends,  adieu.  May  my  brothers  and  sisters  procure  to  you 
that  consolation  which  I  cannot  render  ...  I  request  my 
brothers,  William  and  James,  to  pursue  their  studies  with  as- 
siduity, preserving  peace  and  good  will  with  all  good  men. 
Father,  sister,  brothers,  and  friends,  farewell. 

(Signed)  "  CHARJ.KS  LUCAS." 

On  the  following  morning  they  met.  Luke  E. 
Lawless,  the  famous  and  pugnacious  lawyer,  and  Maj. 


FAMOUS  DUELS. 


1851 


Pilcher  were  Benton's  seconds,  and  Dr.  Farrar  his 
surgeon.  Joshua  Barton,  the  eloquent  and  popular 
advocate  and  politician,  and  Col.  Clemson  acted  as 
seconds  for  Lucas,  and  Dr.  Quarles  as  surgeon.  The 
moment  the  signal  was  given  the  two  men  fired  simul- 
taneously. Dr.  Quarles,  in  his  written  statement  to 
John  B.  C.  Lucas,  said, — 

"  Mr.  Lucas  appeared  to  be,  previous  to  and  at  the  time  of 
his  taking  the  ground  or  distance,  cool  and  collected.  At  the 
first  fire  your  son  was  wounded;  the  ball  struck  obliquely  on 
the  left  side  of  his  windpipe,  in  the  immediate  neighborhood 
of  what  is  called  the  thyroid  cartilage;  it  buried  itself,  and 
having  passed  obliquely  downward,  came  out  at  the  distance  of 
about  an  inch  and  a  quarter  from  where  it  entered  ;  in  its  pas- 
sage it  opened  the  external  jugular  vein.  As  it  was  my  opinion 
that  the  wound  which  he  had  received  disabled  him  from  fighting 
with  equal  advantages,  I  dissuaded  him  from  taking  another 
fire.  In  this  opinion  I  was  afterwards  confirmed,  for  he  fainted 
soon  after  getting  into  the  boat." 

Joshua  Barton,  the  second  of  Charles  Lucas,  made 
the  following  statement  in  a  letter  addressed  to  John 
B.  C.  Lucas: 

"  In  answer  to  vour  last  inquiry,  I  assure  you  that  Charles  at 
both  interviews  appeared  perfectly  cool  and  collected  before 
and  after  taking  his  position  to  fire.  At  the  first  meeting, 
when  Col.  Benton  demanded  another  fire  or  a  second  meeting, 
Charles  told  me  to  reload,  that  he  could  stand  another  fire. 
This  I  hesitated  to  do,  under  a  belief,  which  I  have  never 
changed,  that  to  let  him  shoot  again  would  have  been  on  my 
part  a  wanton  exposure  of  the  life  of  a  man  who,  to  judge  from 
the  profuse  discharge  of  blood,  had  received  a  wound  which 
might  prove  mortal.  He  requested  me  to  propose  shortening 
the  distance,  which  I  declined  for  the  same  reasons.  It  was  at 
the  solicitation  of  Dr.  Quarles  and  myself  that  he  consented  to 
adjourn  that  meeting.  We  supported  him  to  the  boat,  soon 
after  getting  into  which  he  fainted." 

Not  until  September  18th,  or  nine  days  before  the 
second  meeting,  was  any  statement  made  by  the  Ben- 
ton  side,  though  rumors,  charges,  and  countercharges 
were  abundant.  Col.  Lawless  then  made  a  statement, 
which,  after  saying  that  Mr.  Lucas  was  not  satisfied, 
but  found  his  wound  more  severe  than  he  thought, 
concludes  thus : 

"  I  again  demanded  of  Mr.  Lucas  if  he  was  satisfied,  and  if 
he  wished  for  another  meeting  with  Col.  Benton.  To  this  ques- 
tion he  replied  that  he  was  satisfied,  and  that  he  did  not  require 
a  second  meeting.  Having  reported  this  answer  to  Col.  Benton, 
he  declared  aloud  that  he  '  was  not  satisfied,  and  required  that 
Mr.  Lucas  should  continue  to  fight  or  pledge  himself  to  come 
out  again  as  soon  as  his  wound  should  be  in  a  state  to  permit 
him.'  This  promise  was  accordingly  given,  and  the  parties 
pledged  themselves  by  their  seconds  to  perform  it." 

This  statement  was  confirmed  by  a  letter  from 
Joshua  Barton.  As  the  case  now  stood,  Col.  Benton 
had  insulted  Mr.  Lucas  ;  the  latter  had  asked  for  re- 
dress and  been  refused.  They  met,  and  Lucas,  the 
challenger,  was  wounded.  He  desired  another  meet- 
ing, but  waived  his  rights  under  the  so-called 


"  Code  of  Honor,"  and  said  he  did  not  wish  another 
meeting.  Then  Col.  Benton,  who  had  every  advan- 
tage on  his  side,  declared  with  his  famous  energy  and 
determination  that  "  he  was  not  satisfied," — that  is, 
he  meant  to  try  to  kill  Lucas,  for  there  is  no  doubt 
but  that  Benton  was  known  as  the  better  shot,  and 
the  odds  were  all  in  his  favor.  It  is  a  sad  thing  to 
say,  but  impartial  history  must  write  it  thus  :  At  the 
point  when  the  demand  for  a  second  meeting  was 
made,  even  the  poor  excuse  of  the  duello  was  left  be- 
hind. 

Mr.  Lucas  recovered  rapidly,  though  his  wound 
was  severe,  and  the  heat  of  the  season  very  unfavor- 
able. When  his  friends  came  to  see  him,  and  asked 
of  the  talked-of  second  meeting,  he  said  frankly  that 
if  he  must  meet  Col.  Benton  again  the  distance  must 
be  shortened  to  better  equalize  their  chances.  August 
22d  he  told  Barton  that  he  was  ready  to  meet  his  foe. 
In  a  letter  dated  October  3d  Barton  says, — 

"  On  Friday,  the  22d  of  August,  about  eight  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  I  waited  on  Col.  Lawless  for  that  purpose.  After  con- 
versing a  while  on  different  subjects,  Col.  Lawless  inquired 
after  Mr.  Lucas'  health  and  his  state  of  convalescence,  to  which 
I  replied  that  he  was  then  sufficiently  recovered  to  meet  Col. 
Benton.  Col.  Lawless  asked  when  he  would  be  ready  to  go  out, 
to  which  I  answered  the  next  morning,  or  at  whatever  time 
should  be  thought  best.  Col.  Lawless  then  informed  me  that 
he  was  going  that  day  to  Herculaneum  on  important  business 
of  his  own,  and  should  not  return  before  the  next  Sunday  even- 
ing or  Monday  morning,  and  mentioned  something  of  Col.  Ben- 
ton's  calling  on  another  friend  in  case  the  meeting  should 
take  place  next  morning.  I  professed  my  willingness  to  post- 
pone it  till  his  return,  if  Col.  Benton  was  willing.  Col.  Law- 
less not  seeming  disposed  to  agree  to  anything  without  previous 
consultation,  we  conversed  freely  on  everything  connected  with 
the  affair,  and  particularly  on  the  prospects  of  peace  resulting 
from  an  attempt  which  had  been  made  a  few  days  before.  Col. 
Lawless  did  not  know  at  that  time  whether  his  friend  would 
drop  it  in  the  way  which  had  been  proposed,  but  said  '  he 
(Mr.  Lawless)  would  make  another  trial  of  him.'  We  parted 
with  an  understanding,  as  I  thought,  that  Col.  Benton  was  to 
be  informed  of  what  had  passed,  who  could  then  either  withdraw 
his  demand  for  a  second  meeting,  call  on  another  friend,  or  wait 
Col.  Lawless'  return.  I  was  surprised  at  not  hearing  from  them 
sooner,  and  afterwards  asked  Mr.  Lawless  if  he  had  not  in- 
formed his  friend  before  going  to  Herculaneum,  who  told  me  he 
called  for  that  purpose,  but  did  not  find  him  at  home.  I  con- 
sidered that  a  sufficient  notice  was  given." 

With  reference  to  the  attempts  to  bring  about  a 
reconciliation  at  this  juncture,  the  evidence  will  be 
taken  entirely  from  Col.  Lawless'  statements.  His 
letter  of  September  18th,  already  quoted  from,  throws 
a  flood  of  light  on  the  proceedings.  This  was  pub- 
lished at  a  time  when  Lawless  thought  harmony  had 
been  secured.  His  object  was  to  justify  his  principal. 
He  says, — 

"The  earnest  representations  of  Col.  Benton's  friends  and  his 
own  generous  disposition  had  considerably  weakened  those  in- 
dignant feelings  which  on  the  ground  had  impelled  him  to 


1852 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


exact  from  his  antagonist  a  promise  of  another  interview.  His 
cooler  reflection  informed  him  that,  having  wounded  the  man 
who  had  challenged  him,  and  who,  notwithstanding  the  wound, 
declared  himself  satisfied,  in  pursuing  Mr.  Lucas  further  his 
conduct  would  assume  an  aspect  of  vengeance  foreign  from  his 
heart,  and  that  the  sympathies  and  opinions  of  his  fellow-citi- 
zens would  probably  be  roused  against  him.  On  these  consider- 
ations he  had  almost  determined  to  withdraw  the  demand  of  a 
second  meeting,  and  did  not  conceal  this  feeling  from  those 
persons  with  whom  he  was  in  habits  of  intercourse.  Col.  Ben- 
ton,  in  thus  yielding  to  the  entreaties  of  friendship  and  to  the 
dictates  of  his  conscience,  did  not  imagine  that  he  was  furnish- 
ing a  means  of  calumny  to  his  enemies,  or  that  the  motives  of 
his  conduct  could  possibly  be  misunderstood.  In  this  idea  he 
found  himself  disappointed,  and  was  in  a  very  few  days  assailed 
by  reports  of  the  most  offensive  nature  to  his  feelings  and  repu- 
tation. Col.  Benton  then  saw  the  necessity  of  disproving  those 
reports,  either  by  another  meeting  or  by  the  explanation  of  Mr. 
Lucas,  from  whom  or  from  whose  friends  he  supposed  them  to 
have  proceeded.  He  accordingly  determined  to  await  the  mo- 
ment when  Mr.  Lucas  should  be  sufficiently  recovered  to  come 
to  the  field,  and  then  to  give  him  an  opportunity  of  justifying 
or  contradicting  the  reports  in  circulation.  About  this  time 
Mr.  Barton  called  on  me,  whether  in  the  capacity  of  Mr.  Lucas' 
second  or  not  I  cannot  say,  and  in  the  course  of  conversation,  in 
reply  to  a  question  of  mine,  informed  me  that  Mr.  Lucas  was 
sufficiently  recovered  to  meet  Col.  Benton." 

Two  days  later  Col.  Lawless,  having  seen  Col.  Ben- 
ton,  called  on  Mr.  Barton.  His  statement  continues, — 

"  As  I  was  one  of  those  who  were  of  opinion  that  he  should 
release  Mr.  Lucas  from  the  pledge  he  had  given,  I  felt  consider- 
able regret  that  the  generous  intentions  of  my  friend  should  be 
affected  by  reports  which  might  have  been  circulated  without 
the  knowledge  of  Mr.  Lucas,  and  considered  it,  therefore,  my 
duty  to  exert  myself  in  every  way  consistent  with  the  honor  of 
Col.  Benton  to  avert  a  result  which  would  certainly  prove  more 
or  less  calamitous.  With  this  view,  I  stated  to  Mr.  Barton  the 
motives  that  might  have  disposed  Col.  Benton  to  release  Mr. 
Lucas  from  his  promise  to  meet  him  and  the  causes  that  counter- 
acted this  disposition.  I  then  proposed  that  Mr.  Lucas  should 
sign  a  declaration  disavowing  the  reports  in  question.  To  this 
proposition  Mr.  Barton  assented,  and  a  declaration  to  the  above 
effect  was  drawn  up  and  agreed  to  by  us.  This  declaration, 
which  appeared  to  me  sufficiently  full,  was  submitted  to  Mr. 
Lucas,  who  consented  to  sign  it.  Col.  Benton,  however,  did  not 
consider  it  as  sufficiently  explicit,  and  rejected  it.  This  decision 
appeared  to  leave  no  other  alternative  than  a  meeting,  which 
was  accordingly  agreed  upon  between  me  and  Mr.  Barton." 

The  Lawless  account  proceeds  as  follows : 

"  In  this  situation  matters  remained  for  three  or  four  days, 
during  which  my  own  reflection,  and  the  opinion  of  several  hon- 
orable and  sensible  men  whom  I  consulted,  convinced  me  that 
the  cause  of  quarrel  at  present  being  perhaps  ideal,  I  should  omit 
no  effort  to  prevent  the  fatal  consequences  of  the  intended 
meeting.  In  this  opinion  the  personal  safety  of  my  friend  was 
my  least  consideration,  as  upon  such  occasions  it  ever  has  been. 
With  this  view  I  drew  up  a  second  declaration  more  explicit 
and  full  than  the  former,  precluding  all  possibility  of  mistake 
as  to  the  motives  or  conduct  of  either  party,  and,  as  it  upi 
to  me,  consistent  with  the  honor  of  both.  Mr.  Barton  having 
examined  and  approved  of  it,  obtained  from  Mr.  Lucas  his 
consent  to  sign  it.  I,  on  my  part,  submitted  it  Col.  Benton, 
and,  supported  by  his  other  friends,  succeeded  in  inducing  him 
to  accept  it." 


The  terms  of  this  declaration  are  as  follows : 

"  In  consequence  of  reports  having  reached  Col.  Benton  of 
declarations  coming  from  me  respecting  the  shortness  of  the 
distance  at  which  I  intended  to  bring  him  at  our  next  meeting, 
I  hereby  declare  that  I  never  said  anything  on  that  subject 
with  a  view  to  its  becoming  public,  or  of  its  coming  to  the 
knowledge  of  Col.  Benton,  and  that  I  have  never  said  or  in- 
sinuated, or  caused  it  to  be  said  or  insinuated,  that  Col.  Benton 
was  not  disposed  and  ready  to  meet  me  at  any  distance,  and  at 
any  time  whatsoever. 

(Signed)  "CHARLES  LUCAS." 

The  object  of  this  publication  was  to  show  that 
with  honor  to  both  parties  the  entire  matter  had  been 
closed.  It  proves  beyond  question  that  here  the 
whole  matter  should  have  ended.  It  fixes  the  blame 
of  subsequent  events  on  Col.  Benton.  On  this  point 
J.  B.  C.  Lucas  said  afterwards, — 

"  My  son  thought  he  had  attained  his  object,  which  was  to 
silence  his  enemies,  to  convince  the  world  that  he  dared  to  meet 
a  renowned  duelist,  his  superior  in  the  art  and  mystery  of  kill- 
ing men,  and  give  him  a  full  chance  to  shoot  at  him ;  but  he 
dreaded  nothing  more  than  the  idea  of  sliding  into  the  char- 
acter which  he  most  abhorred,  that  of  a  common  duelist.  He 
apprehended  that  in  pursuing  that  course  any  further  he  would 
soon  forfeit  the  esteem  and  confidence  of  the  sober  and  virtuous 
part  of  the  community.  He  thought  it  was  high  time  for  him 
to  retrace  his  steps,  and  consented,  with  the  advice  of  his 
friends,  to  sign  the  declaration." 

But  there  was  a  determination  to  force  a  second 
meeting.  Whether  Col.  Benton  was  most  to  blame, 
or  whether  evil-minded  friends,  knowing  his  disposi- 
tion, misrepresented  the  facts,  cannot  be  easily  de- 
cided. September  26th,  on  his  return  from  Superior 
Court,  Lucas,  to  his  surprise,  received  a  peremptory 
challenge  dated  three  days  before.  It  read  as  follows : 

"  SIR, — When  I  released  you  from  your  engagement  to  return 
to  the  island,  I  yielded  to  a  feeling  of  generosity  in  my  own 
bosom  and  to  a  sentiment  of  deference  to  the  judgment  of  others. 
From  the  reports  which  now  fill  the  country  it  would  seem  that 
yourself  and  some  of  your  friends  have  placed  my  conduct  to 
very  different  motives.  The  object  of  this  is  to  bring  the  calum- 
nies to  an  end  and  to  give  you  an  opportunity  of  justifying  the 
great  expectation  which  has  been  excited.  Col.  Lawless  will 
receive  your  terms,  and  I  expect  your  distance  not  to  exceed 

nine  feet. 

(Signed)  '•  T.  H.  BEXTO.N." 

Young  Lucas  blazed  with  indignation,  and  responded 
as  follows : 

"  Although  I  am  conscious  that  a  respectable  man  in  society 
cannot  be  found  who  will  say  he  has  heard  any  of  those  reports 
from  me,  and  that  I  think  it  more  probable  they  have  been 
fabricated  by  your  own  friends  than  circulated  by  any  who  call 
themselves  mine,  yet,  without  even  knowing  what  reports  you 
have  heard,  I  shall  give  you  an  opportunity  of  gratifying  your 
wishes  and  the  wishes  of  your  news-carriers.  My  friend,  Mr. 
Barton,  has  full  authority  to  act  for  me. 

(Signed)  "  CHARLES  LUCAS." 

They  met  the  next  morning  on  Bloody  Island. 
The  distance  was  ten  feet.  Benton  had  a  barely  per- 


FAMOUS   DUELS. 


1853 


ceptible  advantage  in  quickness,  and  his  bullet,  pass- 
ing through  Lucas1  arm,  gave  him  a  mortal  wound  in 
the  region  of  the  heart.  He  died  in  a  few  minutes. 
Col.  Benton  was  unhurt. 

Mr.  Barton  stated  that  "  at  the  last  interview  Lucas 
appeared  equally  cool  and  deliberate  ;  both  of  them 
presented  and  fired  so  nearly  together  that  I  could 
not  distinguish  two  reports."  It  was  remarked  that 
Lucas  raised  his  pistol  in  a  good  direction,  hence  it  is 
supposed  that  the  ball  of  his  adversary  reached  his 
arm  before  or  at  the  time  his  pistol  went  off. 

Col.  Benton,  as  is  customary  in  such  cases,  ap- 
proached the  fallen  man  and  expressed  his  sorrow. 
Lucas  replied,  "  Col.  Benton,  you  have  persecuted 
me  and  murdered  me.  I  don't,  or  cannot,  forgive 
you."  And  he  repeated  these  words.  Finding,  how- 
ever, that  his  end  was  fast  approaching,  he  added, 
"  I  can  forgive  you, — I  do  forgive  you,"  and  he  gave 
Col.  Benton  his  hand. 

This  is  a  plain  account  of  a  dreadful  affair,  which 
ought  never  to  have  been  permitted.  The  seconds  of 
both  parties  appear  to  have  been  much  to  blame. 
They  should,  after  the  first  meeting,  have  declared 
that  sufficient  had  been  done  to  satisfy  all  concerned. 
The  second  meeting  was  forced  in  spite  of  reason  and 
humanity,  and  thus  a  young  man  of  high  character 
and  great  promise  was  lost  to  the  service  of  his  State. 
A  letter,  printed  in  1817,  from  Col.  Ruf'us  Easton, 
one  of  the  most  prominent  lawyers  in  St.  Louis  at 
that  time,  throws  further  light  on  the  affair.  After 
saying  that  a  report  had  been  industriously  circulated 
in  St.  Louis  to  the  effect  that  he  had  instigated  the 
challenge  from  Lucas,  Col.  Easton  proceeds, — 

"A  sense  of  justice  and  a  respect  for  truth  induce  me  to 
-state  that  this  report  is  utterly  false.  I  attest  that  I  traveled  ! 
with  Charles  Lucas  from  the  village  of  Prairie  du  Rocher  to  St. 
Louis,  on  his  return  from  attending  the  Superior  Court  for  the 
Southern  Circuit;  that  we  arrived  together  ut  St.  Louis  on  the 
26th  of  last  month,  at  about  eight  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing; that  on  his  arrival  he  expressed  much  astonishment  at 
seeing  in  the  Miss<nii-i  Gazette,  under  the  name  of  L.  E.  Lawless, 
a  statement  not  only  containing  a  long  series  of  facts,  but  also 
what  were  pretended  to  be  the  thoughts,  motives,  and  intentions 
of  Col.  Benton.  Mr.  Benton  was  represented  in  this  statement 
in  glowing  colors  and  occupying  a  very  high  ground,  and 
Charles  Lucas  was  standing  on  a  low  one.  Notwithstanding  all 
these  apparent  advantages  on  the  side  of  Col.  Benton,  some- 
thing was  still  wanting,  he  was  not  satisfied, — Charles  Lucas  was 
yet  breathing." 

The  coolness  and  high  courage  of  Mr.  Lucas  at 
both  meetings  was  proved  by  irrefragable  evidence. 
He  was  but  twenty-five  years  old  at  the  time  of  his 
death.  After  the  fatal  result  the  Missouri  Gazette 
remarked, — 

"  The  infernal  practice  of  dueling  has  taken  off  this  morning 
one  of  the  first  characters  in  our  county,  Charles  Lucas,  Esq., 


attorney-at-law  ;  his  death  has  left  a  blank  in  society  not  easily 
filled  up." 

The  party  factions  of  1817  are  long  ago  forgotten 
and  outgrown,  except  in  the  memory  and  record  of 
such  events  as  this  Benton-Lucas  duel. 

In  August,  1818,  occurred  the  next  duel  of  which 
any  distinct  account  is  preserved.  It  was  that  of 
Capt.  Martin  and  Capt.  Thomas  Ramsay,  of  the  First 
Regiment  United  States  Rifles.  It  took  place  near 
St.  Louis,  the  exact  locality  not  being  recorded,  and 
at  the  first  fire  Capt.  Ramsay  was  fatally  wounded. 
He  was  buried  with  Masonic  honors  August  17th. 

On  the  30th  of  June,  1823,  occurred  the  death  of 
Hon.  Joshua  Barton,  shot  in  a  duel  by  Thotnas  C. 
Rector,  brother  of  the  surveyor-general  of  the  Terri- 
torial district.  Barton,  second  in  the  Benton-Lucas 
duel,  and  one  of  the  ablest  and  best-loved  men  in  the 
community,  was  at  the  time  attorney-general  for  the 
district  of  Missouri,  and  his  brother  was  United 
States  senator.  In  the  Missouri  Republican  of  June 
25,  1823,  Joshua  Barton,  over  the  signature  "  Philo," 
criticised  the  official  conduct  of  William  Rector,  the 
surveyor  general.  The  editor  said,  in  the  same 
issue, — 

"  We  have  inserted  the  communication  signed  '  Philo'  on  the 
principle  that  men  in  office  are  bound  to  answer  to  the  people 
for  the  manner  in  which  they  discharge  their  public  duties, 
and  that  if  charges  are  made  against  them  from  a  respectable 
and  responsible  source,  and  are  couched  in  decorous  terms,  the 
press  would  defeat  the  object  of  its  institution  if  it  refused  to 
permit  them  to  come  before  the  public." 

Barton's  complaint  was, — 

"  That  the  surveyor-general  indulged  in  the  practice  of  giving 
out  the  largest  and  best  contracts  for  surveying  to  his  family 
connections  and  personal  friends,  who  sub-let  them,  and,  with- 
out incurring  any  particular  labor,  responsibility,  or  risk,  were 
enabled  to  pocket  considerable  emoluments." 

After  the  duel  (July  16th),  Edward  Bates,  one  of 
the  most  distinguished  men  St.  Louis  has  ever 
claimed  as  a  citizen,  gave  his  public  pledge  to  sub- 
stantiate this.  He  then  showed  that  no  less  than 
twelve  relatives  and  connections  of  Surveyor-General 
Rector  had  received  from  him  appointments  as  dep- 
uty surveyors,  and  had  sub-let  contracts  at  enormous 
profits  to  themselves.  In  the  year  1822  alone,  out 
of  two  hundred  and  fifty-four  townships  surveyed, 
one  hundred  and  ninety-five  were  given  to  his  own 
kindred.  Bates  concluded  his  exposure  in  the  fol- 
lowing sensible  manner :  "  If  Gen.  Rector  should 
take  offense  at  what  I  have  written,  the  courts  are 
open  to  him,  and  if  I  have  wronged  him,  the  laws  will 
afford  him  a  vindictive  remedy.  If  he  will  venture 
to  take  this  course,  I  will  justify  these  statements  and 
prove  the  facts  upon  him  before  a  jury." 


1854 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


But  the  Rector  blood  was  aroused  when  the  mem- 
bers of  the  family  read  Barton's  letter.  The  general 
was  in  Washington  attending  to  his  political  interests, 
for  his  place  was  in  jeopardy.  Though  expected  to 
return  in  a  few  days,  his  brother  Thomas  could  not 
wait,  hut  having  secured  the  name  of  the  writer  he 
challenged  him.  The  meeting  took  place  at  six  P.M. 
June  30th.  Both  fired  at  the  word,  Barton  dying  in 
a  few  moments,  and  Rector  escaping  unhurt.  On 
July  1st  Gen.  Rector  returned,  and  issued  a  card 
requesting  suspension  of  public  judgment.  He  also, 
losing  his  temper,  wrote  angrily  to  the  editor  of  the 
journal  that  had  published  "  Philo's"  communication. 
A  week  later  he  published  a  general  denial  of  the 
charges  against  him.  Public  sentiment  could,  under 
these  circumstances,  have  but  one  opinion,  and  the 
Rectors  lost  caste.  Thomas  was  killed  in  a  brawl 
some  years  later,  and  William  died  in  poverty  and 
misery  in  Illinois. 

On  the  17th  of  September,  1823,  the  Republican 
remarked,  "  Two  more  persons  have  been  killed  in 
duels  near  St.  Louis.  Their  names  are  Messrs. 
Waddle  and  Crow.  It  must  be  a  vicious  state  of 
society  in  which  the  pistol  is  the  umpire  in  every  con- 
troversy." Two  of  the  three  fatal  duels  fought  in 
1823  near  St.  Louis  occurred  on  Bloody  Island. 

Undeterred  by  these  tragical  events,  and  yielding 
weakly  to  an  evil  public  sentiment,  fatal  encounters 
continued.  In  1831  the  doubly  disastrous  Biddle- 
Pettis  duel  occurred.  This  also  originated  in  politi- 
cal causes,  and  had  its  sources  in  the  war  against  the 
United  States  Bank,  at  whose  head  was  Nicholas 
Biddle,  a  conspicuous  figure  of  the  time.  The  con- 
flict grew  fierce  and  acrimonious.  In  St.  Louis  re- 
sided Maj.  Thomas  Biddle,  a  gallant  officer  of  the 
war  of  1812,  brother  of  Nicholas,  and  Spencer  Pettis, 
an  ardent  supporter  of  the  Jacksonian  policy.  The 
former  was  paymaster  of  the  army,  and  had  recently 
been  married.  The  latter,  a  lawyer  and  representa- 
tive in  Congress,  desired  re-election,  and  in  his  canvass 
was  very  severe  in  his  criticisms  of  Nicholas  Biddle. 
Maj.  Biddle  attacked  Pettis  in  a  newspaper  article,  and 
Pettis  replied  in  strong  terms.  Maj.  Biddle  then  re- 
solved to  cowhide  his  opponent,  sought  his  lodgings 
early  in  the  morning,  was  shown  to  his  room,  found 
him  in  his  night-clothes  and  asleep,  and  proceeded  to 
chastise  him  unmercifully.  Outsiders  rushed  in  and 
put  a  stop  to  the  disgraceful  scene.  Mr.  Pettis  was 
in  feeble  health,  and  great  sympathy  was  felt  for  him. 
He  took  no  immediate  steps  towards  redress ;  his 
friends  and  partisan  newspapers  said  all  they  could, 
and  at  the  election  he  was  chosen  by  a  large  majority. 
But  the  night  before  the  election,  Pettis,  thinking  that 


Biddle  might  attack  him  upon  the  street,  procured 
his  arrest  on  a  peace  warrant,  and  Judge  Ferguson, 
reasonably  thinking  that  under  the  circumstances  too 
much  peace  was  better  than  too  little,  also  bound  Mr. 
Pettis  over.  This  action  has  been  variously  criticised. 
Its  causes  were  purely  political.  David  Barton  was 
Pettis'  opponent,  and  a  giant  to  contend  against.  Col. 
Benton  himself  took  the  matter  in  hand,  and  told 
Pettis  that  if  they  met  and  he  was  shot,  there  was  no 
time  to  bring  out  another  candidate.  "  Therefore," 
he  said,  "  arrest  Biddle,  print  the  facts,  and  after  the 
election  vindicate  your  honor."  After  the  election, 
for  nearly  a  month,  the  parties  were  engaged  in  official 
business. 

On  August  21st  or  22d  the  challenge  was  carried 
by  Capt.  Thomas  to  Maj.  Biddle.  They  met  at 
Bloody  Island  at  five  o'clock  on  Friday  afternoon, 
August  27th.  The  intelligence  of  the  duel  spread 
through  St.  Louis,  and  an  immense  concourse  of  peo- 
ple lined  the  river  shore  to  witness  it.  The  windows 
and  the  tops  of  the  houses  were  crowded  with  specta- 
tors. Owing  to  the  nearsightedness  of  Maj.  Biddle, 
the  distance  was  fixed  by  him  at  five  feet.  Both 
parties  behaved  intrepidly.  When  they  presented 
their  pistols  they  overlapped.  At  the  word  Pettis 
suddenly  stooped,  with  the  evident  purpose  of  shoot- 
ing in  the  abdomen  of  his  adversary.  In  this  he 
succeeded,  but  was  himself  hit  in  the  side,  the  ball 
passing  entirely  through  his  body.  Both  were  mor- 
tally wounded.  When  assured  of  this  fact,  they  ex- 
changed forgiveness,  and  were  borne  from  the  ground. 
Mr.  Pettis  died  the  next  afternoon.  Maj.  Biddle 
survived  until  the  following  Tuesday,  and  was  buried 
with  the  honors  of  war  at  Jefferson  Barracks.  His 
widow  died  in  1851.  She  was  possessed  of  large 
wealth,  and  devoted  herself  and  her  fortune  to  public 
and  private  charities.  In  her  will  she  left  provision 
for  a  Widows'  and  Infants'  Asylum,  a  noble  benefac- 
tion, which  stands  at  the  corner  of  Tenth  and  Biddle 
Streets,  in  St.  Louis.  In  the  grounds  of  this  institu- 
tion the  remains  of  herself  and  husband  reposed  for 
many  years,  and  until  their  removal  to  the  new  Cath- 
olic cemetery  in  the  vicinity  of  the  city.  On  the 
old  monument  was  this  touching  inscription, — 

"TRAY  FOU  THOMAS  Axn    v\x   BIDPLE." 

The  officers  of  Maj.  Biddle's  regiment  passed  a 
glowing  tribute  to  his  memory,  and  the  associates  of 
Spencer  Pettis  at  the  bar  did  the  same.  At  the  meet- 
ing to  arrange  for  the  latter's  funeral  Hon.  Thomas  H. 
Benton  presided,  and  Augustin  Kennedy  was  ap- 
pointed secretary.  The  following  gentlemen  were 
chosen  to  compose  the  committee  of  arrangements : 


FAMOUS   DUELS. 


1855 


Joseph  C.  Laveille,  Edward  Dobyns,  T.  Andrews, 
John  Shade,  Charles  Keemle,  Capt.  J.  Ruland,  R.  H. 
McGill,  Daniel  Miller.  Mr.  Pettis  was  buried  on 
Sunday,  August  29th,  and  old  inhabitants  still  speak 
of  the  funeral  as  the  largest  they  ever  witnessed. 

Some  time  passed  before  another  duel  occurred  near 
St.  Louis.  The  Republican  of  July  7,  1838,  de- 
scribes an  affair  which  took  place  near  Alton,  111., 
August  4th,  between  a  Mr.  Le  Lange  and  R.  G.  Tates, 
on  account  of  some  personal  difficulty  which  occurred 
in  St.  Louis.  They  met  by  moonlight,  eight  yards 
distant,  and  at  the  first  fire  Mr.  Le  Lange  was  wounded 
in  the  arm.  Here  the  matter  ended. 

The  duels  thus  far  described  were  fought  with  the 
traditional  pistols,  but  during  the  last  week  in  Sep- 
tember, 1845,  Bloody  Island  witnessed  a  broadsword 
duel  between  two  German  gentlemen.  Mr.  Heister- 
hogen  wounded  his  adversary,  Mr.  Kibbe,  in  the  face, 
and  blood  being  drawn,  the  matter  was  brought  to  a 
close,  much  after  the  fashion  in  vogue  at  the  German 
universities. 

This  brief  record  of  some  of  the  most  interesting 
duels  fought  near  St.  Louis  would  be  incomplete  with- 
out reference  to  an  amusing  farce  in  which  Francis 
P.  Blair  took  part.  The  Missouri  Republican  of 
March  6,  1849,  contained  the  following  item,  which 
explains  the  result  of  what  most  persons  at  the  time 
supposed  would  be  a  tragic  event :  "  We  understand 
that  F.  P.  Blair,  Jr.,  yesterday  evening,  for  the  first 
time  since  the  recent  publications  in  the  newspapers, 
met  Mr.  L.  Pickering,  editor  of  the  Union,  on  Second 
Street,  and  gave  him  a  personal  chastisement.  The 
meeting,  we  are  told,  was  entirely  accidental,  and  but 
for  the  system  of  non-resistance  adopted  by  the  latter 
might  have  been  serious." 

A  full  account  of  the  causes  which  led  to  the 
bloodless  affair  would  involve  a  history  of  Missouri 
politics  at  the  time.  Blair  was  a  defender  and  ally 
of  Benton.  The  Union,  which  Loring  Pickering 
then  edited,  had  long  been  somewhat  hostile  to  the 
Benton  party.  The  difficulty  with  Blair  began  in 
January,  1849.  A  letter  published  from  him  in  the 
Republican  of  February  1st  gives,  as  shown  by  the 
concurrent  testimony  of  Col.  George  Knapp,  of  St. 
Louis,  and  Thomas  T.  Gantt,  the  noted  lawyer,  a  fair 
account  of  "  the  duel  that  did  not  come  off."  Col. 
Blair  says, — 

"I  published  a  series  of  articles  in  the  Republican,  which 
were  scrupulously  devoted  to  a  criticism  upon  political  events, 
and  couched  in  the  most  respectable  phraseology  when  individ- 
uals were  referred  to.  This  is  the  testimony  of  men  of  all  shades 
of  political  opinion  who  have  read  them.  They  have  had,  in 
some  measure  I  believe,  the  effect  I  designed.  The  parties 
against  whom  they  were  directed  soon,  at  least,  became  uncom- 


fortable, and  let  off  repeated  explosions  of  wrath  and  ribaldry 
against  the  author.  As  I  kept  the  even  tenor  of  my  way,  how- 
ever, something  else  must  be  done.  To  this  end  Mr.  Pickering 
was  put  forward  to  demand  my  name  from  the  editor  of  the 
Republican,  on  the  pretense  that  I  had  made  a  personal  attack 
on  him.  As  a  preliminary,  however,  to  the  surrender  of  my 
name,  the  editor  of  the  Republican  required  Mr.  Pickering  to 
pledge  himself  that  he  desired  my  name  because  he  considered 
the  article  a  personal  attack,  and  that  he  would  hold  me  '  per- 
sonally responsible.'  This  is  the  language  of  Mr.  Pickering's 
note,  which  I  subjoin ;  but  that  there  might  be  no  mistake  as  to 
the  meaning  of  phrases,  it  was  then  explained  and  assented  to 
that  he  would  either  prosecute  me  in  a  suit  at  law,  or  require 
satisfaction  at  my  hands  under  the  code  of  honor.  Mr.  Cham- 
bers (editor  of  the  Republican')  informed  me  by  note  of  the  de- 
mand, and  I  forthwith  assented  to  its  being  complied  with,  and 
awaited  a  call  from  Mr.  Pickering.  But  it  seems  that  such  was 
not  his  purpose.  It  was  only  a  trick  he  had  invented  to  get 
my  name,  that  he  might  discharge  his  wrath  upon  me  by  name 
in  his  newspaper  in  a  senseless  string  of  epithets.  This  conduct 
sufficiently  exhibited  him  both  as  a  knave  and  poltroon,  but  in 
order  to  display  him  in  still  broader  relief  I  asked  my  friend, 
Mr.  Gantt,  to  take  a  note  to  him  for  me.  ...  I  must  prefix, 
however,  one  or  two  circumstances  of  unwritten  history.  Mr. 
Ladew,  who  brought  Mr.  Pickering's  notes,  told  Mr.  Gantt  that 
Pickering  had  at  first  thought  of  making  it  a  running  fight 
with  bowie-knives,  but  had  settled,  finally,  on  the  place  of 
meeting  on  the  corner  of  Fourth  and  Pine  Streets.  I  think, 
however,  it  will  be  obvious  to  all  that  the  last  was  as  clear  an 
evasion  of  the  meeting  as  the  running  fight  would  have  been, 
for  no  man  of  true  courage  would  appoint  a  place  of  combat  so 
liable  to  interruption,  and  especially  when  the  danger  to  other 
people  would  be  so  imminent  as  in  one  of  the  crowded  streets 
of  a  city.  In  this  light  Mr.  Gantt  treated  it,  and  replied  that 
he  was  a  contemptible  poltroon.  I  do  not  make  this  publication 
vaingloriously,  for  I  do  confess  I  had  felt  very  much  ashamed 
whilst  I  put  on  a  warlike  aspect  towards  Pickering,  and  it  has 
been  a  subject  of  mirth  with  me  and  my  friends  during  the 
whole  progress  of  the  correspondence  " 

The  entire  correspondence  on  the  subject  is  con- 
tained in  a  five-column  article  in  the  St.  Louis  Re- 
publican of  Sept.  2,  1875.  An  incident  known  as 
the  "  umbrella  affair"  occurred  a  month  later,  and 
both  parties  published  their  versions,  Pickering's  being 
as  follows : 

"  I  recognized  F.  P.  Blair,  Jr.,  as  the  person  who  had  jostled 
me,  and  asked  him  what  he  meant  by  the  supposed  insult.  He 
said  something  in  reply  which  I  did  not  comprehend,  and  in- 
stantly struck  at  me  with  his  umbrella,  the  point  of  which  en- 
tered my  left  eye  near  the  inner  angle,  partially  blinding  me. 
I  immediately  returned  the  blow  with  my  umbrella,  when  the 
assailant  retreated  some  ten  steps  and  stopped,  at  the  same  time 
placing  his  right  hand  in  his  bosom  as  if  to  draw  a  weapon.  I 
also,  at,  that  moment,  seized  the  handle  of  my  bowie-knife,  but 
Judge  Blair,  exclaiming  to  his  brother,  '  Come  along,'  or  words 
to  that  effect,  the  assailant  turned  and  quickly  walked  off  up 
the  street." 

On  March  10th,  after  a  political  meeting,  while 
returning  home,  Blair  was  hailed  and  fired  at  three 
times  before  he  could  unbutton  his  overcoat  and  secure 
his  own  weapon.  His  assailant  was  about  ten  feet 
distant,  but  as  soon  as  Blair  returned  the  fire  the 


1856 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


former  fled.  Circumstances  pointed  to  Pickering,  and 
he  was  indicted  before  the  grand  jury,  charged  with 
an  assault  with  intent  to  kill.  Blair,  on  mature  re- 
flection, declined  to  prosecute. 

MILITARY   ORGANIZATIONS. 

St.  Louis  has  been  from  the  earliest  period  of  its 
history  the  scene  of  great  military  activity  at  different 
epochs.  Bellefontaine  Cantonment  and  afterwards 
Jefferson  Barracks  was  an  important  point  for  the 
concentration  of  troops,  and  the  presence  of  United 
States  officers  and  their  active  participation  in  the 
social  life  of  St.  Louis  has  greatly  aided  in  keeping 
alive  the  military  spirit.  Among  these  officers  none 
was  more  highly  esteemed  than  Gen.  Daniel  Bissell, 
who  built  the  cantonment  at  Bellefontaine. 

Gen.  Bissell  was  born  in  Connecticut  about  the 
year  1768.  His  ancestors,  of  English  stock,  were 
early  settlers  of  Connecticut,  and  related  to  many  of 
the  oldest  and  best  families  of  New  England.  His 
father  was  a  Revolutionary  veteran,  who  served  with 
gallantry  for  eight  years  in  the  colonial  army. 
Though  barely  old  enough  to  shoulder  a  musket, 
Gen.  Bissell  ardently  embraced  the  cause  of  the 
patriots,  and  rose  by  his  bravery  through  the  vari- 
ous grades  of  promotion  from  a  private  to  the  rank  of 
brigadier-general.  His  five  brothers  served  with  dis- 
tinction throughout  the  Revolutionary  struggle,  and 
four  of  them  afterwards  in  the  regular  army.  One 
of  them  died  on  board  a  prison-ship,  and  one,  Maj. 
Russell  Bissell,  died  at  Fort  Bellefontaine,  near  St. 
Louis,  in  1807,  where  he  had  been  stationed  for 
many  years.  No  finer  record  of  service  by  a  single 
family  can  be  shown  than  that  of  his  father,  brothers, 
and  himself,  whose  military  service  amounted  in  the 
aggregate  to  one  hundred  and  twenty  years. 

Gen.  Bissell,  while  a  young  officer  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, was  once  assigned  the  duty  of  carrying  important 
dispatches  from  Philadelphia  to  Pittsburgh.  He 
made  the  journey  on  foot,  unattended,  and  was  often 
compelled  to  secrete  himself  from  the  hostile  Indians, 
to  go  without  food  and  endure  bitter  cold,  to  swim 
streams,  etc.  He  delivered  the  dispatches  safely,  and 
won  the  hearty  thanks  and  praise  of  the  commanding 
officer,  who  could  scarcely  believe  that  he  had  made 
the  perilous  journey  without  an  escort.  His  military 
career  was  an  unusually  active  and  brilliant  one.  As 
an  officer  of  the  regular  army,  he  participated  in 
many  of  the  important  battles  on  the  Western  fron- 
tier, and  was  with  St.  Glair  in  his  memorable  defeat. 
While  he  was  in  command  of  Fort  Massac,  an  im- 
portant military  post  on  the  Ohio  River  above  Cairo, 
and  during  the  administration  of  Thomas  Jefferson, 


the  province  of  Louisiana  was  ceded  by  France  to 
the  United  States.  He  was  immediately  appointed 
military  commander  of  that  portion  of  the  Territory 
now  embraced  in  the  States  of  Missouri  and  Illinois. 
As  heretofore  stated,  he  built  by  government  order 
the  "  cantonment  of  Bellefontaine,"  and  was  after- 
wards for  several  years  commandant  of  that  post. 

As  military  commander,  he  was  intrusted  with  both 
military  and  civil  functions,  and  he  left  the  indelible 
impress  of  his  strong  and  honest  character  upon  the 
measures  leading  up  to  the  organization  of  the  great 
States  of  Missouri  and  Illinois.  He  was  a  warm  per- 
sonal friend  of  Daniel  Boone,  and  as  military  com- 
mander extended  to  Lewis  and  Clark  in  their  famous 
expedition  the  hospitality  of  the  Territory,  aiding 
them  greatly  by  his  ripe  counsel  and  experience. 

Gen.  Bissell,  after  leaving  Fort  Bellefontaine,  was 
commander  of  many  important  points  in  the  South, 
among  which  were  Mobile,  Baton  Rouge,  and  New 
Orleans.  He  had  the  honor  of  commanding  in  the  last 
battle,  that  of  Lyon's  Creek,  of  the  war  of  1812.  He 
was  mustered  out  of  service  in  1821  at  Baton  Rouge. 

After  his  retirement  from  the  army,  he  was  strongly 
urged  to  accept  prominent  civil  positions  under  the 
government,  but  declined  to  do  so.  He  entered  a 
large  tract  of  land  near  St.  Louis,  on  the  Bellefontaine 
road,  to  which  he  added  from  time  to  time  by  pur- 
chase until  his  estate  numbered  two  thousand  three 
hundred  acres. 

He  married  about  the  year  1793,  at  Middletown, 
Conn.,  Deborah  Seba,  the  daughter  of  Jacob  Seba, 
who  was  a  native  of  Holland  and  a  prominent  citizen 
of  Middletown.  Gen.  Bissell's  children  were  Eliza 
Seba,  who  married  William  Morrison,  of  Kaskaskia  ; 
Mary,  who  married  Risdon  H.  Price,  one  of  the  pio- 
neer merchants  of  St.  Louis ;  Cornelia,  who  married 
Maj.  Douglass,  of  the  regular  army  ;  James,  who  died 
in  infancy  ;  and  James  R.,  now  residing  on  the  old 
homestead.  Gen.  Bissell  died  of  pneumonia  at  his 
farm  on  the  15th  of  December,  1833.  His  wife  died 
Nov.  15,  1843.  Both  are  interred  in  the  family 
burying-ground  on  the  farm. 

James  Russell  Bissell  was  born  in  Middletown, 
Conn.,  Sept.  12,  1808,  and  came  to  St.  Louis  while  a 
child  in  1810.  He  attended  school  at  Mount  Airy, 
near  Philadelphia,  and  afterwards  entered  Transylvania 
University,  at  Lexington,  Ky.,  from  which  he  was 
graduated.  He  married  March  7,  1849,  Anna  Haight 
Christopher,  who  was  born  July  10,  1824,  and  was 
the  daughter  of  James  Matthews  Christopher  and 
Elizabeth  Lewis,  a  daughter  of  Elisha  and  Anna  (nee 
Haight)  Lewis,  both  of  Satterson,  Dutchess  Co.,  N.  Y. 
Her  father  was  born  April  25,  1799,  at  Rochester, 


.... 

••'-' 


MILITARY. 


1857 


N.  Y.  Mrs.  Bissell  is  a  cousin  of  Governor  Haight, 
of  California,  and  is  connected  with  many  of  the  old 
Revolutionary  families  of  the  East. 

The  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bissell  are  Daniel, 
born  May  4,  1850;  Elizabeth,  born  Aug.  14,  1852, 
married  to  Charles  E.  Ware,  of  St.  Louis  ;  Sextus 
Shearer,  born  Nov.  16,  1856  ;  Anna  Haight,  born 
Jan.  29,  1855,  died  Jan.  1,  1856  ;  Cornelia  Douglass, 
born  Jan.  7,  1859;  French  Rayburn,  born  March 
30,  1861  ;  Cora  Mary,  born  May  10,  1863  ;  Eloise 
Morrison,  born  Aug.  21,  1865. 

Mr.  Bissell  has  given  his  children  the  advantages  of 
a  liberal  education,  and  has  always  been  a  strong  ad- 
vocate of  education  and  public  improvements.  For 
twenty  years  he  has  been  a  leading  member  of  the 
Bellefontaine  Methodist  Church.  Politically  he  is  a 
firm  Democrat,  but  in  local  matters  always  supports 
those  who  in  his  opinion  are  best  fitted  for  the  posi- 
tions sought.  He  is  a  large  landholder  and  a  success- 
ful farmer. 

A  complete  history  of  the  militia  organizations  of 
St.  Louis  would  of  itself  fill  a  volume.  Since  the  year 
1808  until  the  present  time  the  military  organizations 
have  borne  an  active  and  prominent  part  in  local 
affairs,  and  on  many  occasions  they  have  been  called 
upon  to  render  dangerous  service  in  the  interests  of 
city  or  the  State,  always  responding  with  true  mili- 
tary zeal  and  promptitude.  If  it  so  happened  that 
there  was  no  organization  at  the  time  of  the  demand, 
companies  and  regiments  were  immediately  formed, 
and  did  their  duty  like  veterans.  In  1808  some  of 
the  townspeople  subscribed  for  the  purpose  of  forming 
a  volunteer  company  of  infantry,  and*  at  a  meeting 
held  at  Yosti's  tavern  on  August  21st,  Benjamin 
Wilkinson  was  elected  captain ;  Risdon  H.  Price, 
lieutenant;  John  Voorhees,  ensign;  and  Francois  Vin- 
cent Bouis,  quartermaster.  At  this  time  Capt.  Pierre 
Chouteau  commanded  a  troop  of  horse.  In  the  same 
month  Governor  Merriwether  Lewis  issued  general 
orders  to  the  militia  of  the  Territory  to  muster  accord- 
ing to  law.  In  November,  Governor  Lewis,  in  com- 
pliance with  the  requisition  of  the  Secretary  of  War, 
ordered  a  uniform  draft  of  the  militia  throughout  the 
districts  of  the  Territory  of  Louisiana  to  be  made. 
The  quota  of  the  Territory  of  the  one  hundred  thou- 
sand men  ordered  by  the  President  of  the  United 
States  was  three  hundred  and  seventy-seven,  and  of 
these  the  district  of  St.  Louis  was  required  to  furnish 
ninety-eight  men, — seventy -seven  infantry  and  nine- 
teen riflemen.  In  April,  1809,  the  companies  of 
Capts.  Ellis  and  Bouis,  of  Cape  Girardeau  district, 
Capt.  Oth o  Shrader,  of  Ste.  Genevieve,  Capt.  Pierre  | 
Chouteau,  of  St.  Louis,  and  Capt.  Mackey  Wherry, 


of  St.  Charles,  were  ordered  to  rendezvous  at  St.  Louis. 
July  26,  1809,  Governor  Lewis  issued  his  proclama- 
tion, discharging  the  militia  of  the  Territory  held 
under  his  requisition  of  Nov.  28,  1808,  to  be  again 
enrolled  as  before  with  the  ordinary  militia.  In  1812, 
Capt.  Nathan  Boone  was  commissioned  by  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  to  raise  a  company  of 
mounted  rangers  for  service  on  the  frontier.  In  the 
same  year  St.  Louis  boasted  of  five  companies  of  mil- 
itia, commanded  respectively  by  Capts.  Joseph  Con- 
way,  Joseph  H.  Burkhart,  James  Musick,  Charles 
Lucas,  William  Smith,  and  David  Musick,  com- 
prising almost  every  man  in  the  place.  With  the 
close  of  the  war  the  necessity  for  their  existence  also 
passed  away,  and  it  was  not  until  1819  that  any  other 
efforts  were  made  in  that  direction.  In  December  of  that 
year  a  company  of  light  infantry,  called  the  St.  Louis 
Guards,  was  formed,  with  the  following  officers :  Henry 
W.  Conway,  captain  ;  George  H.  Kennerly,  first  lieuten- 
ant ;  Amos  J.  Bruce,  second  lieutenant ;  Josiah  Bright, 
third  lieutenant ;  John  B.  Sarpy,  ensign  ;  Charles 
Wahrendorff,  orderly  sergeant ;  Charles  Keemle,  sec- 
ond sergeant ;  William  Renshaw,  third  sergeant ;  David 
B.  Hoffman,  first  corporal ;  S.  Rector,  second  cor- 
poral ;  Wilson  McGunnegle,  third  corporal ;  William 
Renshaw,  treasurer.  In  1823,  Alexander  Gamble  com- 
manded the  St.  Louis  troop.  In  1832  the  St.  Louis 
Grays  were  organized,  with  Martin  Thomas  as  captain. 
He,  however,  did  not  serve  actively,  and  First  Lieut. 
A.  R.  Easton  became  captain.  Frederic  L.  Billon 
and  John  P.  Reilly  were  also  lieutenants.  Upon  the 
death  of  the  latter,  James  S.  Thomas  (afterwards 
mayor  of  the  city)  became  lieutenant,  as  did  also 
James  Dougherty.  In  1848  the  Grays  were  reor- 
ganized, numbering  about  sixty  members,  and  at  an 
election  held  June  6th  the  following  officers  were 
chosen  :  Captain,  George  W.  West ;  first  lieutenant, 
George  Knapp  ;  second  lieutenant,  Alexander  T.  Drys- 
dale.  In  1843,  Montgomery  Blair  commanded  the 
Montgomery  Guards,  and  in  the  same  year  an  artil- 
lery company,  under  the  command  of  Capt.  Kretsch- 
mar,  was  organized.  In  1844  the  battalion  known  as 
the  St.  Louis  Legion  was  formed.  Of  this  command 
the  Grays  formed  part,  being  then  officered  by  Capt. 
L.  O.  Coleman,  First  Lieut.  George  W.  West,  Second 
Lieut.  George  Knapp.  As  elsewhere  stated,  a  bat- 
talion was  formed  from  this  material,  and  volunteered 
for  service  in  Mexico,  with  the  following  officers :  A. 
R.  Easton  as  colonel,  Ferdinand  Kennett  (now  de- 
ceased) as  lieutenant-colonel,  and  F.  Schoentellar, 
also  dead,  as  major.  Col.  John  Knapp  was  a  com- 
pany officer. 

Upon  the  return  from  Mexico  the  St.  Louis  Graya 


1858 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


were  reorganized,  with  George  W.  West  as  captain, 
and  he  so  served  three  or  four  years.  Upon  resign- 
ing, he  was  succeeded  as  captain  by  George  Knapp. 
After  the  disbandment  of  the  Grays'  battalion,  of 
which  George  Knapp  had  become  lieutenant-colonel,  i 
and  John  Knapp  captain  of  a  company,  an  organiza- 
tion was  effected  of  the  "  First  Regiment,  National 
Guard  of  Missouri,"  and  John  Knapp  became  lieu- 
tenant-colonel, the  command  being  still  vested  in  Col. 
Easton.  Martin  Burke  was  a  line  captain.  This 
organization — Lieut.-Col.  John  Knapp  being  in  com- 
mand— surrendered  to  Gen.  Lyon,  of  the  United 
States  army  forces,  when  Camp  Jackson,  commanded 
by  Gen.  Frost,  was  captured. 

The  old  "  St.  Louis  National  Guard,"  which  was 
the  pride  of  every  St.  Louisan  in  the  olden  time,  was 
organized  in  1852.  On  the  16th  of  July  of  that  year 
a  few  persons,  actuated  by  the  desire,  as  expressed  in 
their  resolutions,  of  improving  themselves  in  military 
exercise  and  discipline,  met  at  the  office  of  the  Lum- 
bermen and  Mechanics'  Insurance  Company,  and 
effected  a  temporary  organization  by  electing  James 
H.  Patterson  chairman,  and  Frank  H.  Tucker  secre- 
tary. 

A   committee,    consisting   of    Messrs.    Pritchard, 
Obear,  Field,  Cook,  and  West,  was  appointed  to  re- 
port a  constitution  and  by-laws,  upon  the  adoption  of  ' 
which  the   company,  which  had  hitherto  borne  the 
name  of  "  St.  Louis  City  Guard,"  was,  on  the  29th  of 
July,  1852,  fully  organized  under  the  name  and  style  , 
of  the  "St.  Louis  National  Guard,"  with  the  follow- 
ing elective  officers :  Davis  Matlack,  president ;  James  ' 
H.  Patterson,  vice-president ;   Alexander  J.  P.  Gar- 
esche,  secretary ;  Frank  H.  Tucker,  treasurer ;    and 
C.  J.  Jackson,  Nathaniel  M.  Parker,  Isaac  Field,  and 
George  West,  directors. 

At  a  subsequent  meeting,  on  the  12th  of  August, 
Robert  M.  Renick  was  chosen  captain,  John  N.  Prit- 
chard first  lieutenant,  Frank  H.  Tucker  second  lieu- 
tenant, Edward  S.  Wheaton  third  lieutenant,  and  Jo- 
siah  H.  Obear  fourth  lieutenant.  Organized  under 
such  favorable  auspices,  and  animated  with  that  cxjn-if 
de  corps  which  ever  characterized  the  Guards,  both 
officers  and  men  vied  with  each  other  in  their  zeal  to 
place  the  company  upon  a  substantial  basis  by  a  care- 
ful selection  of  good  men,  the  adoption  of  a  company 
and  a  fatigue  uniform,  and  such  other  requirements 
as  were  necessary  for  a  perfect  company.  Upon  the 
formation  of  the  First  Regiment  of  Missouri  Volun- 
teers, Capt.  Renick  was  promoted  to  the  colonelcy, 
and  Lieut.  Pritchard  called  to  the  command  of  the 
Guards,  and  subsequently,  upon  the  organization  of  the 
brigade  in  the  First  Military  District,  under  the  com- 


mand of  Brig.-Gen.  Frost,  Capt.  Pritchard  was  elected 
colonel  of  the  infantry  regiment,  and  Sergt.  John  B. 
Gray  was  chosen  captain  of  the  National  Guards. 
The  martial  bearing  and  thorough  drill  of  the  corps 
was  sufficient  testimony  of  the  soldierly  qualities  of 
Capt.  Gray,  and  the  high  encomiums  which  the 
Guards  received,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  were  the 
surest  evidence  that  the  reputation  and  honor  of  the 
company  were  safe  in  his  hands.  It  was  the  good  for- 
tune of  the  Guards,  in  their  excursions  to  Lexing- 
ton, Ky.,  to  Cincinnati,  and  to  Quincy,  to  be  placed 
in  line  with  the  best  volunteer  companies  in  the 
country,  and  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  on.  every 
such  occasion  they  sustained  their  good  name  and  the 
honor  of  St.  Louis. 

The  officers  of  the  Guards  in  July,  1859,  were  Wil- 
liam R.  Biddlecome,  president;  John  Decker,  Jr., 
vice-president ;  E.  B.  Sayres,  secretary ;  Henry  Mars- 
ton,  assistant  secretary ;  John  L.  Lewis,  treasurer ; 
and  Messrs.  Cabot,  Hatch,  Childs,  Nolen,  Senter,  and 
Marsh,  directors  ;  with  John  B.  Gray,  captain  ;  Wil- 
liam B.  Haseltine,  first  lieutenant ;  W.  H.  Finney, 
second  lieutenant ;  and  William  S.  Cuddy,  third  lieu- 
tenant. 

As  evidence  of  the  military  standing  of  the  Guards, 
and  of  the  estimation  in  which  they  were  held  at  this 
time,  it  may  be  stated  that  in  the  brigade  staff  of 
the  First  Military  District  they  numbered  among 
their  members  Lieut., Col.  H.  J.  B.  McKellops,  as- 
sistant adjutant- general ;  Maj.  William  D.  Wood, 
aide-de-camp;  Maj.  N.  Wall,  commissary;  Maj.  Gary 
Gratz,  quartermaster  ;  Maj.  John  J.  Anderson,  pay- 
master ;  Maj.  W.  R.  Biddlecome,  judge-advocate- 
general  ;  and  in  the  staff  of  the  First  Infantry,  Col. 
J.  N.  Pritchard,  Maj.  E.  S.  Wheaton,  Capt.  W. 
R.  Buchanan,  adjutant;  Capt.  N.  Hatch,  commis- 
sary ;  Capt.  Edgar  Ames,  paymaster ;  and  Capt.  H. 
W.  Williams,  quartermaster,  being  eleven  superior 
officers  in  the  brigade  and  regimental  staffs. 

The  company  uniform  was  greatly  admired  for  its 
brilliancy  and  martial  effect,  and  was  almost  identical 
with  that  of  the  Queen's  Household  Guards,  which  is 
reckoned  the  flower  of  the  British  army.  They  num- 
bered seventy-eight  active  and  one  hundred  and  sixty 
honorary  members.  Their  armory  was  on  the  corner 
of  Third  and  Pine  Streets. 

Among  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis  who  interested 
themselves  in  maintaining  an  efficient  militia  organi- 
zation, Col.  Thornton  Grimsley  was  especially  promi- 
nent. Col.  Grimsley  for  forty  years  cultivated  and 
promoted  a  military  taste  and  spirit,  and  was  at  differ- 
ent times  in  command  of  the  various  military  grades 
of  the  volunteer  service  of  the  city.  He  filled  all  of 


MILITARY. 


1859 


the  stations,  from  an  orderly  to  division  inspector.  In 
1832  he  raised  a  volunteer  company  and  tendered  its 
services  to  the  Governor  of  Illinois  during  the  Black 
Hawk  war,  and  in  1836  received  from  Gen.  Jackson 
a  captain's  commission  in  the  dragoons  of  the  United 
States  army,  which  he  declined.  In  1846,  in  less 
than  twenty  days,  he  enrolled  a  regiment  of  eight  hun- 
dred men  for  the  Mexican  war,  but  as  the  govern- 
ment already  had  a  sufficient  number  of  troops  in  the 
field  the  services  of  the  volunteers  were  declined. 

Col.  Grimsley,  whose  father,  Nimrod  Grimsley, 
came  from  Fauquier  County,  Va.,  to  Kentucky,  was 
born  on  the  20th  of  August,  1798,  in  Bourbon  County 
of  the  latter  State,  and  at  seven  years  of  age  lost  both 
parents.  Three  years  afterwards  he  was  apprenticed 
to  the  saddlery  business,  and  served  his  master  faith- 
fully for  eleven  years,  the  only  compensation  he  re- 
ceived being  three  months'  schooling  ;  yet,  by  diligent 
application  to  business,  and  possessing  a  superior  mind, 
he  soon  won  the  respect  and  confidence  of  his  master, 
and  in  1816  was  sent  to  St.  Louis  in  charge  of  a 
valuable  assortment  of  goods,  where  he  completed  his 
term  of  indenture.  On  reaching  his  majority  the 
first  act  he  performed  was  to  return  to  Kentucky  and 
expend  his  apprenticeship  savings  in  six  months' 
schooling ;  then  receiving  an  invitation  from  his  old 
employer  in  St.  Louis  he  returned,  and  took  charge 
of  his  business  for  some  fourteen  months,  and  in  1822 
opened  a  store  on  his  own  account,  associating  with 
him  William  Stark.  He  married  Miss  Susan  Stark, 
of  Bourbon  County,  Ky.,  the  same  year.  Several 
years  of  ill  health,  and  the  destruction  by  fire  of  his 
three  years'  accumulations  left  him  in  a  distressed 
condition,  but  he  did  not  waste  time  in  idle  regrets, 
but  resolutely  set  to  work  to  re-establish  his  business, 
and  very  shortly  was  again  advancing  prosperously. 

The  frankness  of  his  disposition  and  natural  good- 
ness of  heart  made  him  hosts  of  friends,  and  in  1826  i 
he  was  elected  an  alderman,  and  was  the  author  of  the 
movement  to  grade  the  wharf  in  front  of  the  city,  and 
strongly  advocated  that  the  western  edge  should  be 
raised  three  feet  higher.  In  1828,  Col.  Grimsley  was 
called  to  the  Legislature  of  the  State,  where  he  was 
a  useful  and  efficient  member.  He  advocated  the  I 
completion  of  the  national  road  to  Jefferson  City,  and 
urged  other  important  measures.  In  1835  he  was 
again  elected  alderman,  and  did  much  towards  settling 
satisfactorily  the  important  claim  of  the  St.  Louis 
commons.  From  this  tract  was  selected  Lafayette 
Park  and  the  spacious  avenues  about  it,  and  from  its 
liberal  dimensions  some  of  the  short-sighted  citizens 
called  it "  Grimsley's  Folly  ;"  now  it  is  one  of  the  chief 
ornaments  of  St.  Louis.  So  useful  was  Col.  Grimsley 


in  his  political  life,  that  in  1838  he  was  sent  to  the 
State  Senate,  and  used  his  influence  in  the  passage  of 
the  bill  for  the  construction  of  the  Iron  Mountain  Rail- 
road, and  also  for  the  establishment  of  a  workhouse. 

In  1839  he  was  tendered  the  nomination  to  Con- 
gress by  the  Whig  party,  when  the  election  was 
throughout  the  State  at  large,  and  made  his  canvass 
with  great  credit  to  himself,  running  far  ahead  of  his 
party  at  a  time  when  the  whole  State  was  overwhelm- 
ingly Democratic.  In  all  public  measures  affecting 
the  improvement,  the  growth,  the  interests  and  pros- 
perity of  the  city  for  forty  years,  Col.  Grimsley  took 
an  active  and  conspicuous  part.  Generous,  impulsive, 
active,  and  energetic,  he  was  at  all  times  in  the  front 
rank,  taking  a  decided  part  in  whatever  was  calculated 
to  promote  the  public  welfare,  whether  connected  with 
the  mechanical,  commercial,  or  agricultural  interest, 
or  conducive  to  the  public  improvement  and  advance- 
ment of  the  State. 

As  a  manufacturer  of  saddles,  Col.  Grimsley  enjoyed 
an  extensive  reputation  in  the  business  world.  He 
invented  and  had  patented  the  military  or  dragoon 
saddle,  which  was  universally  approved  by  the  officers 
of  the  United  States  army,  and  did  more  work  at  his 
manufactory  for  the  government  at  that  time  than  any 
other  factory  of  the  kind  in  the  country. 

He  was  a  prominent  member  of  the  Masonic  order, 
having  been  made  a  Mason  in  Missouri  Lodge,  No. 
12,  and  elected  Grand  Treasurer  in  October,  1827,  and 
again  in  1828. 

Col.  Grimsley  was  well  informed  on  all  the  political 
questions  of  the  day,  having  read  much  and  kept  pace 
with  the  events  of  forty  years.  In  early  life  he  es- 
poused and  advocated  the  principles  of  the  Whig 
party,  and  was  the  stanch  friend  of  Henry  Clay. 
He  was  also  well  acquainted  with  most  of  the  promi- 
nent statesmen  of  his  day,  with  many  of  whom  he 
corresponded  and  held  personal  relations  and  inter- 
course. No  man  of  his  day  sacrificed  more  of  his 
time  and  money  in  behalf  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis 
than  did  Col.  Grimsley.  He  died  Dec.  22, 1861,  leav- 
ing two  married  daughters, — Mrs.  Henry  T.  Blow 
and  Mrs.  George  Stansbury,  —  and  a  son,  John 
Grimsley. 

The  Missouri  Dragoons  were  organized  by  Matthias 
Steitz,  Charles  Muller,  and  others  in  1846.  On  the 
1st  of  December,  1852,  a  military  parade  took  place. 
In  the  line  were  the  Missouri  Dragoons,  Capt.  Brinck- 
man  ;  the  St.  Louis  Grays,  Capt.  George  Knapp  ;  the 
Missouri  Jaegers,  Capt.  Laibold ;  the  Union  Rifle- 
men, Capt.  J.  W.  Crane ;  and  the  National  Guards, 
Capt.  Renick, — the  two  last  companies  having  been 
organized  during  the  year.  The  Union  Riflemen  were 


1860 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


officered  by  Capt.  J.  W.  Crane,  First  Lieut.  James 
Gordon,  Second  Lieut.  E.  E.  Allen,  Third  Lieut.  E. 
Alcon,  Fourth  Lieut.  J.  G.  Phillips,  and  Orderly 
Sergeant  N.  J.  Roff.  The  National  Guards  were 
officered  by  Capt.  R.  N.  Renick,  First  Lieut.  J.  N. 
Pritchard,  Second  Lieut.  J.  H.  Tucker,  Third  Lieut. 
E.  S.  Wheaton,  Fourth  Lieut.  J.  Obear,  First  Ser- 
geant W.  G.  Savage,  Second  Sergeant  H.  J.  B.  Mc- 
Kellops,  Third  Sergeant  N.  W.  Parker,  Fourth  Ser- 
geant George  W.  West,  Fifth  Sergeant  Isaac  N.  Field. 

During  1853-54  the  "St.  Louis  Cadets,"  composed 
of  the  students  of  the  St.  Louis  University,  Capt. 
William  Kenny,  and  Lieuts.  John  I.  Ainslie,  Victor 
Pujos,  and  Joseph  Bienve ;  the  "  Light  Guards," 
Capt.  John  C.  Smith,  Lieuts.  Daniel  Byrne,  S.  H. 
Smith,  and  Peter  R.  Cavanaugh  ;  and  the  "  Washing- 
ton Guards,"  Capt.  D.  M.  Frost,  Lieuts.  P.  Deegan, 
Joseph  Kelly,  and  Francis  Burke,  were  organized. 

There  appeared  on  parade  on  the  anniversary  of 
Washington's  birthday,  1854,  the  following  com- 
panies : 

Washington  Guards,  Capt.  D.  M.  Frost. 
National  Guards,  Capt.  J.  N.  Pritchard. 
Light  Guards,  Capt.  J.  C.  Smith. 
Continentals,  Capt.  E.  C.  Blackburn. 
Missouri  Riflemen,  Capt.  Bernhard  Laibold. 
Black-Plumed  Riflemen,  Capt.  E.  E.  Allen. 
Missouri  Dragoons,  Capt.  F.  Brinckman. 
Lancers,  Capt.  Jackson. 

St.  Louis  Grays,  Company  A,  Capt.  Henry  Prosser. 
St.  Louis  Grays,  Company  B,  Capt.  E.  0.  English. 
St.  Louis  Grays,  Company  C,  Capt.  D.  I.  Morrow. 
Missouri  Artillery,  Capt.  Henry  Alinstead. 
Union  Riflemen,  Capt.  Louis  Frey. 
Mounted  Riflemen,  Capt.  Frederic  Walter. 

The  following  were  the  regimental  officers  :  Col. 
Renick,  Lieut.-Col.  George  Knapp,  Maj.  Smith,  Adjt. 
John  Knapp. 

In  1858  a  new  act  of  the  Legislature  reorganizing 
the  militia  was  passed,  and  many  of  the  old  companies 
reorganized  under  it,  and  some  new  ones  were  formed, 
among  which  were  the  Washington  Blues,  Capt.  Jo- 
seph Kelley,  Lieuts.  P.  E.  Burke,  John  R.  Drew,  and  j 
C.  W.  Hogan  ;  the  Washington  Guards,  Capt.  D.  M.  j 
Frost,  and  Lieuts.  Patrick  Gorman,  Robert  Tucker,  i 
and  Patrick  O'Connor;  the  Emmet  Guards,  Capt.  J. 
C.  Smith,  and  Lieuts.  Edward  Byrne,  Philip  Coyne, 
and  Edward  Mulholland  ;  the  St.  Louis  Grays,  Capt.  j 
John  Knapp,  and  Lieuts.  Edward  Cooper,  Augustus 
Pasquier,  and  Martin  Burke.     The  City  Guard  was 
also  organized  in  this  year,  with  George  A.  Schaeffer 
as  captain,  and  A.  G.  Hequemberg,  J.  J.  Morrison, 
and    B.    Davidson,  lieutenants;    also    the    Missouri 
Guards,  with  George  W.  West  as  captain,  and  Frank 
H.  Tucker,  Solomon  Scott,  and  A.  C.  Bernondy  as 


lieutenants  ;  National  Guard,  B.  E.  Walker,  captain  ; 
L.  H.  Garnett,  John  W.  Amiss,  and  Thomas  W. 
Bandon,  lieutenants. 

In  1860  the  militia  was  ordered  to  proceed  to  the 
Kansas  border  to  suppress  Montgomery  and  his  band. 
The  order  was  received  on  Friday,  November  23d, 
and  everything  was  in  readiness  to  move  within 
twenty-four  hours  afterwards. 

On  Sunday  morning,  November  25th,  the  troops 
left  St.  Louis,  and  endured  for  three  weeks  all  the 
rigors  and  hardships  of  a  winter  campaign  with  re- 
markable resolution  and  courage.  The  objects  of  the 
expedition  were  accomplished  without  bloodshed,  but 
the  troops  showed  such  discipline  and  zeal  as  proved 
that  they  lacked  only  the  name  to  become  "  regulars" 
in  fact.  The  following  is  a  list  of  the  staff  officers 
and  the  officers  of  the  various  companies : 

GENERAL  STAFF  OFFICERS. 

Brig. -Gen.  D.  M.  Frost,  commanding;  Lieut.-Col.  J.  S. 
Bowen ;  Maj.  W.  D.  Wood,  aide-de-camp;  Maj.  Carey  Gratz, 
quartermaster;  Maj.  John  J.  Anderson,  paymaster;  Maj.  N. 
Wall,  commissary  ;  Maj.  R.  S.  Voorhis,  judge-advocate-general ; 
Maj.  Florence  M.  Cornyn,  surgeon. 

FIRST  REGIMENT  INFANTRY,  M.  V.  M. 
Lieut.-Col.  John  Knapp,  commanding. 
llegimental  Staff. 

Capt.  H.  W.  Williams,  quartermaster;  Capt.  Samuel  Hatch, 
commissary;  John  R.  Drew,  Paymaster;  Joseph  T.  Scott, 
Surgeon. 

Corps  of  Engineers,  National  Guards. 
Lieut.  McKellops,  commanding, — 100  men. 
St.  Louis  Grays,  Company  A. 

Martin  Burke,  captain;  S.  0.  Coleman,  first  lieutenant;  R. 
TJ.  Leonori,  second  lieutenant, — 36  men. 

Sartfteld  Guards,  Company  B. 

Charles  L.  Rogers,  captain;  Thomas  Curley,  first  lieutenant; 
Hugh  McDermot,  second  lieutenant;  Felix  A.  McDonald,  third 
lieutenant, — 45  men. 

Washini/ton  Guards,  Company  C. 
P.  Gorman,  captain ;  R.  Tucker,  first  lieutenant, — 60  men. 

Emu: et  Guards,  Company  D. 

William  Wade,  captain;  E.Byrne,  first  lieutenant;  M.  Park, 
second  lieutenant;  Philip  Coyne,  third  lieutenant, — 44  men. 

Washington  JJlucs,  Company  E. 

P.  E.  Burke,  first  lieutenant,  commanding;  Patrick  Lanigan, 
second  lieutenant;  L.  Phillibert,  third  lieutenant, — 40  men. 

Missouri  Guard,  Company  G. 

G.  W.  West,  captain ;  Sol.  Scott,  Jr.,  second  lieutenant, — 42 
men. 

City  Guard,  Company  I. 

J.  J.  Morrison,  captain;  H.  W.  Sandford,  second  lieutenant, — 
40  men. 

Montgomery  Guards,  Company  K. 

Patrick  Naughton,  captain ;  John  R.  Carroll,  second  lieuten- 
ant; C.  A.  Ghio,  third  lieutenant, — 30  men. 


MILITARY. 


1861 


Independent  Guards. 

George  A.  Schaffer,  captain ;  Charles  H.  Fredericks,  first  lieu- 
tenant,— 36  men. 

Squadron  of  Cavalry. 

Maj.  Schaffer,  commanding;  Lieut.  W.  Jackson,  adjutant: 
A.  Jaeger,  sergeant-major, — 40  men. 

Missouri  Light  Infantry. 

William  Jackson,  commandant;  G.  Reinhardt,  first  lieuten- 
ant; Henry  Betz,  second  lieutenant;  Joseph  Snyder,  third 
lieutenant, — 36  men. 

After  the  war  there  were  various  independent 
militia  companies  and  some  recognized  by  the  State, 
but  it  was  not  until  the  labor  riots  of  1877  that  the 
necessity  for  a  well-organized  militia  force  was  popu- 
larly recognized.  When  danger  threatened  at  that 
time,  a  mayor's  guard,  police  reserves,  and  other  vol- 
unteer forces  were  speedily  organized,  Maj. -Gen.  A. 
J.  Smith  commanding.  This  force,  co-operating  with 
a  brigade  of  Illinois  militia,  Gen.  E.  N.  Bates  com- 
manding, and  stationed  at  East  St.  Louis,  succeeded 
in  preventing  further  disorder.  There  was  no 
bloodshed,  but  much  threatening,  and  on  a  hot 
Sunday  afternoon  the  Illinois  militia,  led  by  a  vol- 
unteer aid  to  Gen.  Bates,  Capt.  J.  H.  C.  Irwin 
(since  a  St.  Louis  journalist),  captured  seventy-nine 
railroad  strikers  who  were  ringleaders  of  a  mob  of 
thousands  endeavoring  to  prevent  the  departure  of  the 
first  trains. 

After  the  riots  the  call  for  an  effective  militia  force 
in  St.  Louis  was  so  urgent  that  Gen.  Squires  and  Col. 
J.  L.  Torrey,  his  chief  of  staff,  met  with  much  en- 
couragement in  their  work  of  organization  and  disci- 
pline. So  well  sustained  were  they  and  others,  that  the 
present  force  has  become  a  credit  to  the  city  and  State. 

The  construction  of  a  new  armory  at  the  corner  of 
Pine  and  Seventeenth  Streets  was  commenced  in  Au- 
gust, 1881,  and  in  May,  1882,  it  was  formally  opened 
by  a  grand  encampment  arranged  by  the  Ladies'  Mili- 
tary Association.  The  building  fronts  two  hundred  feet 
on  Pine  Street,  with  a  depth  of  one  hundred  and  nine 
feet.  There  is  a  large  arena,  seventy-four  by  one 
hundred  and  thirty-five  feet,  designed  for  cavalry  and 
artillery  drill.  The  building  is  three  stories  high, 
and  is  admirably  arranged  for  all  its  purposes.  On 
the  third  floor  is  an  immense  hall,  one  hundred  and 
four  feet  by  one  hundred  and  ninety-four  feet,  with  a 
height  at  the  side  walls  of  twenty-three,  and  over  sixty 
feet  clear  in  the  centre  to  the  arched  roof.  In  No- 
vember, 1881,  the  First  Regiment  Police  Reserves, 
which  had  been  in  existence  about  four  years,  under 
the  command  of  Col.  J.  G.  Butler,  was  mustered  into 
the  service  of  the  State,  and  became  the  Third  Regi- 
ment, National  Guard  of  Missouri. 
118 


The  following  is  a  carefully  corrected  roster  of  the 
general,  field,  staff,  and  line  officers  of  the  St.  Louis 
militia : 

Governor  Thomas  T.  Crittenden,  commander-in-chief. 

Brig. -Gen.  John  B.  Waddill,  adjutant-general. 

Governor's  Staff  in  St.  Louis. — Brig. -Gen.  L.  T.  Pirn,  surgeon- 
general;  Brig.-Gen.  R.Graham  Frost,  judge-advocate-general ; 
Col.  Leigh  0.  Knapp,  inspector-general;  Lieut. -Col.  Fergus 
McRee,  aide-de-camp. 

Eastern  Military  District  of  Missouri,  Brig.-Gen.  Charles  W. 
Squires,  commanding. 

Brigade  Staff. — Lieut. -Col.  Jay  L.  Torrey,  assistant  adjutant- 
general  and  chief  of  staff;  Lieut. -Col.  Thomas  E.  Holland,  M.D., 
medical  director;  Maj.  Edgar  C.  Lackland,  quartermaster  ;  Maj. 
Samuel  Cupples,  commissary  ;  Maj.  Robert  Buchanan,  assistant 
inspector-general;  Capt.  Jacob  D.  Goldman,  aide-de-camp. 

FIRST  REGIMENT  INFANTRY,  N.  G.  M. — Col.  George  J.  Chap- 
man, commanding ;  major,  Leland  F.  Prince. 

Staff. — Maj.  Joseph  H.  Leslie,  M.D.,  surgeon;  Capt,  A,  L, 
Shapleigh,  adjutant;  Capt.  William  C.  Marshall,  judge-advo-- 
cate  ;  Capt.  James  F.  Coyle,  quartermaster;  Capt.  W.  G.  Smythr 
commissary;  Capt.  Ed.  Batdof,  ordnance  officer. 

Company  A,  Capt.  William  P.  Hazard,  First  Lieut.  D,  Princer 
Second  Lieut.  W.  H.  Scott. 

Company  C,  Capt.  E.  W.  Duncan,  First  Lieut.  T.  S.  Slaughter.- 

Company  D,  First  Lieut.  William  H.  Gregg,  Jr.,  commanding; 
Second  Lieut.  Walter  Graham. 

Company  E,  Capt.  Jacob  S.  Beck,  First  Lieut.  George  A. 
Simmons. 

Company  F  (at  St.  Charles,  Mo.),  Capt.  Joseph  W.  Ruenzi, 
First  Lieut.  T.  S.  Cunningham,  Second  Lieut.  J.  B.  Martin. 

Company  G,  Capt.  F.  S.  Lawrence,  First  Lieut.  R.  R.  Tilley, 
Second  Lieut.  W.  J.  Marshall. 

Company  K,  Capt.  George  H.  Platt,  First  Lieut.  Charles  M. 
Munroe,  Second  Lieut.  T.  J.  Brown. 

ST.  Louis  LIGHT  ARTILLERY,  BATTERY  A. — Capt.  Samuel  D. 
Winter,  First  Lieut.  P.  H.  Skipwith,  First  Lieut.  R.  E.  Williams, 
Second  Lieut.  R.  D.  Saunders. 

THIRD  REGIMENT  INFANTRY,  N.  G.  M. — Col.  James  G.  Butler, 
commanding;  Lieut.-CoI.  Edward  D.  Meier. 

Staff. — Maj.  W.  A.  McCandless,  M.D.,  surgeon;  Capt.  George 
C.  Belts,  chaplain;  Capt.  Pierre  Chouteau,  adjutant;  Capt. 
Charles  E.  Slayback,  commissary  and  quartermaster. 

Company  A  (Lafayette  Guard),  Capt.  Shepard  Barclay, 
First  Lieut.  F.  J.  McMaster,  Second  Lieut.  Frank  Lowery. 

Company  B,  Capt.  Daniel  C.  Bordley,  First  Lieut.  C.  B. 
Bordley,  Second  Lieut.  John  G.  Meara. 

Company  D,  Capt.  C.  P.  Walbridge,  First  Lieut.  Charles  D. 
Comfort,  Second  Lieut.  L.  M.  Hall. 

Company  E  (Mayor's  Guard),  Capt.  William  Bull,  First 
Lieut.  Walter  Johnson,  Second  Lieut.  L.  C.  Brandon. 

Company  F  (Allen  Guard),  Capt.  Fitz  W.  Guerin,  First  Lieut. 
Walter  H.  Martin. 

Company  G  (Branch  Guards),  First  Lieut.  M.  Fritz. 

Company  H  (West  End  Guards),  Capt.  Huntington  Smith, 
First  Lieut.  N.  G.  Edwards,  Second  Lieut.  John  S.  J.  Mil- 
ler. 

ST.  Louis  LIGHT  GUARDS. — Frank  Halliday,  first  lieutenant, 
commanding  ;  Theodore  Hunt,  second  lieutenant. 

BAIN  ZOUAVES. — Capt.  Robert  E.  M.  Bain,  First  Lieut.  T. 
R.  Roe,  Second  Lieut.  Charles  B.  Gaunt. 

ATTUCK  GUARDS  (Colored). — Capt.  W.  H.  Berzey,  First  Lieut. 
Louis  Phillips,  Second  Lieut.  Theodore  Williams. 

SUMNKR  GUARD  (Colored). — Capt.  James  G.  Horton,  Second 
Lieut.  Peyton  W.  Randolph. 


1862 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


There  are  also  two  independent  companies  of  Irish- 
American  extraction,  the  Emmet  and  Montgomery 
Guards,  and  the  aggregate  of  rank  and  file  in  the 
St.  Louis  district  is  thus  brought  up  to  about  one 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty,  with  promise  of 
speedily  filling  the  regiments  and  companies  to  the 
full  legal  limit. 

Gen.  George  Poole  Dorriss  was  born  in  Robinson 
County,  Tenn.,  Oct.  16, 1807.  His  father  was  a  well- 
to-do  merchant,  but  the  family  being  large,  young 
Dorriss  was  soon  taught  the  importance  of  making  his 
own  way  in  the  world.  He  enjoyed  the  advantages 
of  a  course  at  Cumberland  College,  and  while  still  a 
young  man,  being  affected  by  the  excitement  which 
resulted  from  the  discovery  of  the  lead-mines  at  Ga- 
lena, 111.,  determined,  with  others,  to  try  his  luck  at 
mining.  His  father  having  offered  him  a  farm  if  he 
would  cultivate  it,  he  turned  his  attention  to  agricul- 
ture, but  being  late  in  getting  in  his  crop,  an  early 
frost  ruined  it,  and,  disheartened,  he  concluded  farm- 
ing was  not  his  forte.  Soon  after  an  opportunity 
offered  for  engaging  in  the  mercantile  business  in 
Frankfort,  Southern  Illinois,  and  having  obtained  a 
stock  of  goods  on  credit  in  St.  Louis,  and  at  Louis- 
ville, Ky.,  he  established  himself  in  that  town.  In 
1831,  while  engaged  in  business  at  Frankfort,  he 
married  Miss  Sarah  Henderson,  in  Todd  County,  Ky. 
Mr.  Dorriss  remained  about  two  years  in  Frankfort, 
where  his  business  was  not  very  successful  owing  to 
the  expensive  stock  of  goods  which  he  insisted  on 
carrying.  About  that  time  the  famous  "  Platte  pur-  | 
chase"  occurred,  and  Gen.  Dorriss  having  pre-empted 
a  valuable  tract  of  land,  removed  with  his  wife  and 
effects  to  Missouri,  settling  in  Martiusville,now  known 
as  Platte  City.  He  was  among  the  first  to  locate 
there,  and  built  the  first  brick  house,  which  was  con-  j 
sidered  at  that  time  an  important  venture.  Mr.  Dor- 
riss found  full  scope  in  the  new  country  for  his  ex- 
cellent business  qualities.  His  indomitable  energy 
and  enterprise,  combined  with  a  sound  judgment  and 
keen  foresight,  won  him  a  prominent  place  in  the 
community,  in  which  he  was  regarded  as  a  leader. 
Being  of  an  ambitious  temperament,  he  took  an  ac- 
tive interest  in  public  affairs,  especially  in  politics,  and 
was  elected  to  the  General  Assembly,  once  as  a  mem-  ' 
ber  of  the  Lower  House,  and  again  to  the  State  Senate. 

Aside  from  his  mercantile  ventures  he  engaged  in 
speculative  enterprises,  and  invested  largely  in  real 
estate,  at  one  time  owning  thousands  of  acres.  In- 
cluded in  the  property  he  acquired  was  a  large  planta- 
tion, cultivated  by  hundreds  of  slaves.  When  the 
gold  fever  in  California  broke  out,  Mr.  Dorriss  fitted 
up  a  train  of  forty  wagons  and  started  overland  for 


the  Pacific  slope.  For  two  years  he  traded  in  the 
mining  region  near  Sacramento,  and  was  very  suc- 
cessful, realizing  handsome  profits.  He  was  among 
the  first  to  ship  goods  to  California  via  Cape  Horn. 

At  the  expiration  of  the  period  named  he  returned 
to  Platte,  where  he  remained  until  after  the  civil  war 
broke  out,  and  then  removed  to  St.  Louis.  In  1863, 
Mr.  Dorriss  engaged  in  business  in  Montana  Territory, 
and  for  four  years  was  located  at  Helena.  He  con- 
ducted a  highly  lucrative  trade  with  the  miners,  and 
made  several  business  ventures  which  yielded  hand- 
some returns.  After  concluding  his  transactions  in 
Montana  he  resumed  his  residence  in  St.  Louis,  re- 
tiring from  active  business  pursuits,  and  devoting 
most  of  his  time  and  attention  to  his  real  estate 
interests. 

Eight  years  ago  he  purchased  some  fifty  acres  of 
fine  land  on  the  Olive  Street  road  and  King's  High- 
way, upon  which  he  erected  the  large  dwelling  that 
he  and  his  family  occupied.  The  Dorriss  mansion  is 
an  imposing  structure,  and  is  considered  one  of  the 
most  palatial  residences  in  or  near  St.  Louis.  The 
interior  appointments  are  luxurious  in  the  extreme, 
and  the  surroundings  are  in  keeping.  Beautiful  drives 
and  artistically  laid  out  walks  lead  in  every  direction 
over  the  extensive  and  well-kept  grounds,  and  the 
entire  premises,  with  the  lovely  lawn  in  front,  wooded 
knoll  at  the  rear,  and  massive  iron  gates  and  porter's 
lodge,  are  a  model  of  elegant  taste  and  picturesque 
beauty. 

Gen.  Dorriss  had  in  all  five  children,  of  whom  three 
were  living  at  the  time  of  his  death — Mrs.  Haider- 
man,  Mrs.  Whisker,  and  Thomas  Dorriss, — and  seven 
grandchildren.  Mrs.  Whisker  has  since  died,  Jan. 
17,  1883. 

Gen.  Dorriss,  while  never  courting  political  honors, 
was  several  times  elected  to  positions  of  trust  and  re- 
sponsibility, and  was  a  member  of  the  Charleston  Con- 
vention at  the  time  when  the  nomination  of  Stephen 
A.  Douglas  to  the  Presidency  was  strongly  urged.  So- 
cially he  was  very  popular,  being  a  pleasant  companion 
and  a  generous  entertainer  and  friend.  In  August, 
1882,  his  health  began  to  fail,  and  he  went  to  Eureka 
Springs,  but  was  afforded  no  relief.  He  was  now  in 
a  feeble  condition,  but  at  his  earnest  entreaty  that  he 
might  be  permitted  to  end  his  days  among  familiar 
scenes,  he  was  removed  to  his  home. 

His  death  occurred  Nov.  29, 1882,  and  his  remains 
are  buried  In  Bellefontaine  Ceme'tery. 

His  daughter,  Mrs.  A.  B.  Halderman,  who  was  the 
almost  constant  companion  of  her  father  for  the  last 
few  years  of  his  life,  owns  and  occupies  at  present  the 
Dorriss  mansion.  Her  children  now  living  are  Sallie, 


i   Of 


sNOlS- 


CARONDELET   AND   EAST  SAINT  LOUIS. 


1863 


born  in  St.  Louis  Aug.  7,  1864 ;  Georgie,  born  in 
Leavenworth  Feb.  3,  1874 ;  and  Annie,  born  in 
Leavenworth  July  26,  1875. 

CARONDELET  AND   EAST   ST.   LOUIS. 

Owing  to  the  fact  that  they  have  been  identified 
with  the  history  of  St.  Louis  from  an  early  period, 
the  towns  of  Carondelet,  or  South  St.  Louis,  and  Illi- 
noistown,  or  East  St.  Louis,  are  entitled  to  brief  men- 
tion in  this  work. 

The  settlement  of  Carondelet1  dates  from  1767,  in 
which  year  a  Clement  Delor  de  Treget,  a  native  of 
Quercy,  near  Cahors,  ancient  province  of  Guienne 
and  Perigord,  France,  of  an  old  family  of  position, 
and  an  officer  in  the  service  of  France,  came  up  from 
Ste.  Genevieve  to  establish  himself  near  St.  Louis, 
and  selecting  the  location  hereinafter  described,  built 
a  stone  house  for  his  residence.  The  high  limestone 
bluffs,  commencing  at  a  short  distance  below  the 
arsenal  grounds,  bordering  the  western  shore  of  the 
Mississippi  for  a  couple  of  miles  in  a  southwest  direc- 
tion, at  an  elevation  of  some  two  hundred  feet  above 
the  river,  terminate  in  an  almost  abrupt  descent  to 
the  low  grounds  south,  at  a  distance  of  five  and  one- 
half  miles  from  the  court-house.  At  this  point  the 
river  in  its  southern  course  changes  its  direction  to 
nearly  due  south,  and  the  land  along  its  shores  is 
nearly  level,  with  a  very  slight  descent  to  the  mouth 
of  the  River  des  Peres,  which  at  this  day  is  the 
southern  extremity  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  about 
seven  miles  from  Market  Street,  the  city's  centre. 
Here,  at  the  south  foot  of  this  rocky  bluff,  at  the 
northern  commencement  of  this  level.  Delor  built  his 
house,  which  became  in  time  the  nucleus  of  the 
little  village,  at  first  called  the  village  of  Catalan's 
Prairie,  which  slowly  and  gradually  grew  up  around 
him,  numbering  not  oxer  twenty  families  in  a  period 
of  the  same  number  of  years,  and  at  the  date  of  the 
transfer  to  the  United  States  (1804),  as  we  learn 
from  Stoddard,  containing  some  fifty  houses  and  a 
population  of  about  two  hundred  and  fifty.  The 
whole  country  along  the  water-courses  being  in  its 
primitive  state,  heavily  covered  with  timber,  the  few 
prairie  spots  on  this  side  being  back  from  the  rivers, 
the  first  settlers  had  to  clear  their  lots  and  lands  for 
their  habitations.  The  only  street,  or  rather  road,  in 
the  place  for  many  years  was  the  Main  Street,  run- 
ning north  and  south,  parallel  to  the  river,  at  about  a 
hundred  yards'  distance  from  it,  it  being  the  road 
from  St.  Louis  to  the  country  south.  The  houses 

1  The  accompanying  sketch  of  Carondelet  was  mainly  pre- 
pared by  Frederic  L.  Billon. 


were  scattered  along  this  road,  most  of  them  on  the 
east  side  near  the  river,  but  a  few  on  the  west  side. 

As  the  little  village  grew  in  size  and  population  it 
extended  a  few  blocks  farther  south  along  the  Main 
Street,  and  west.  Towards  the  upper  end  of  the 
hamlet  a  ravine  crossed  the  road,  down  which  the 
water  from  the  high  grounds  emptied  into  the  river. 

The  original  village  consisted  of  about  a  dozen 
blocks,  from  the  present  E  or  Elwood  Street  on  the 
north  to  about  L  or  Lafayette  Street  on  the  south, 
embracing  the  present  blocks  Nos.  7,  8,  9, 10,  11,  and 
12,  lying  east  of  Main  Street,  between  it  and  the 
river,  and  blocks  Nos.  35,  36,  37,  38,  39,  and  40, 
!  west  side  of  the  road,  between  it  and  Second  Street. 
There  were  no  houses  south  of  L  Street,  north  of  E 
Street,  nor  west  of  Second  Street  for  many  years,  and 
to  this  day  the  surface  of  the  ground  remains  un- 
changed, no  grading  having  ever  been  done  in  this 
primitive  portion  of  the  village,  except  the  grading  of 
i  the  descent  of  the  road  from  St.  Louis  down  to  the 
;  Main  Street,  which  was  only  done  after  the  incorpora- 
i  tion  of  the  town  to  avoid,  as  in  the  olden  day,  the  cir- 
cuitous descent  to  the  village  around  by  Second  Street. 
Elwood  Street,  the  former  north  line  of  the  village, 
ascends  a  gradual  plane  from  Main  to  Fourth  Street. 
Second  Street  descends  gradually  from  Elwood,  going 
south  to  where  G  Street  is  marked  down  on  the  town 
plat,  between  blocks  Nos.  38  and  39,  where  the  sur- 
face-water drains  to  the  river,  this  being  the  lowest 
cross  street  of  the  old  village.  Second  then  rises 
abruptly  to  Illinois  Street.  Blocks  Nos.  34  and  35 
were  originally  very  high  ground  when  purchased  and 
built  on  by  Louis  G.  Picot  after  1850,  but  have  been 
cut  down  some  twedty-five  to  thirty  feet  to  the  grade 
of  Main  Street  by  the  Iron  Mountain  Railroad  Com- 
pany, which  needed  the  earth  elsewhere.  These  two 
blocks  are  the  only  places  where  the  natural  soil  has 
been  disturbed  in  the  old  portion  of  the  village. 
There  is  no  G  cross  street,  the  ground  not  having 
been  left  for  it,  but  where  it  appears  on  the  plat  the 
water  drains  to  the  river  through  a  culvert  under  the 
Main  Street.  The  land  west  of  Second  Street,  in  this 
hollow,  commences  to  rise  again  very  abruptly  west 
I  and  south  to  the  high  ground  at  Illinois  and  Third 
Streets,  the  site  of  the  present  brick  Catholic  Church, 
built  about  1860,  on  block  No.  57,  where  stood  the 
first  of  upright  timbers  built  in  1835.  On  block  No. 
58,  next  south  between  Kansas  and  Lafayette  Streets, 
stands  the  Convent  of  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph,  estab- 
lished in  the  same  year  as  the  erection  of  the  first  log 
church  (1835). 

For  many  years  after  the  first  settlement  of  the 
village,  the  road  down  the  hill  on  the  north,  owing 


1864 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


to  the  abrupt  termination  of  the  limestone  bluffs  at 
the  present  Dover  Street,  made  a  circuit  around  by 
Second  Street,  coming  again  into  Main  at  Elwood. 

In  the  year  1817  a  few  persons  commenced  making 
improvements  on  this  high  ground  north  of  the  vil- 
lage, then  thickly  covered  with  timber,  on  both  sides 
of  this  old  road  down  the  hill,  which  was  then  aban- 
doned, and  a  new  one  of  easier  descent  was  made  west 
of  the  old  one,  which  intersected  the  Second  or  back 
street  of  the  village  at  the  brow  of  the  hill. 

After  the  incorporation  of  the  town  in  1832,  it  was 
surveyed  for  the  first  time,  and  the  lines  of  the  streets 
and  blocks  established.  In  laying  off  the  plat  of  this 
north  part  from  Dover  Street,  the  then  northern  end 
of  the  village,  Main  Street  was  prolonged  nearly 
on  the  line  of  the  old  road,  which  had  been  aban- 
doned in  1817,  running  parallel  with  the  river,  at 
about  eighty  yards  distant  from  it,  and  Second, 
Third,  and  Fourth  Streets  parallel  to  the  First  or  Main 
Street,  making  the  blocks  three  hundred  French  feet 
square,  as  they  were  in  the  old  original  village.  This 
survey  cut  diagonally  through  the  few  places  then 
newly  made  on  this  north  hill,  which  had  been  set- 
tled on  without  other  title  than  the  taking  possession, 
as  had  been  the  custom  in  the  early  Spanish  days. 

Carondelet,  when  incorporated  as  a  borough  town 
in  1832,  had  been  a  village  for  about  sixty-five  years 
from  its  first  establishment  by  Delor  de  Treget  in 
1767,  under  its  different  appellations, — first  of  "  Prai- 
rie Catalan,"  from  one  Louis  Catalan  ;  afterwards,  from 
about  1790,  "  Louisbourg ;"  and  finally,  from  1794, 
"  Carondelet,"  after  the  Baron  de  Carondelet,  Gover- 
nor-General at  New  Orleans  from  that  date.1  No 
survey  establishing  the  lots  and  street  lines  had  ever 
been  made.  Until  then  it  was  an  appendage  of  St. 
Louis.  In  the  Spanish  days  its  head  was  a  syndic  or 
deputy  of  the  commandant  at  St.  Louis ;  it  had  no 
archives  or  records  distinct  from  those  of  St.  Louis, 
and  whatever  papers  and  documents  relate  in  any 
manner  to  its  affairs  are  intermingled  with  those  of 
St.  Louis. 

The  village  was  incorporated  by  the  County  Court 
of  St.  Louis  County,  Judge  M.  P.  Leduc  presiding, 
on  Monday,  Aug.  20,  1832,  aud  its  first  ordinance, 
"regulating  dram-shops,"  was  approved  Sept.  3, 
1832,  by  John  Eugene  Leitensdorfer,  chairman  of 


1  The  nickname  "  Vide-Poche"  (empty  pocket),  as  we  have 
before  stated,  was  derived  from  the  general  poverty  of  its  in- 
habitants, whose  sole  supply  of  ready  cash  with  which  to  pay 
for  the  two  most  important  items  in  their  current  expenditures, 
"coffee  and  fiddle-strings,"  was  obtained  by  the  sale  of  fire- 
wood in  St.  Loui?,  with  which  they  were  abundantly  supplied 
for  long  years  for  miles  around. 


the  board  of  trustees.  The  new  town  was  surveyed 
for  the  first  time  by  Laurentius  M.  Eiler,  a  deputy 
county  surveyor,  in  November,  1832,  and  the  first 
plat  of  the  town  was  made  by  him,  after  which  the 
cross  streets  were  named  by  calling  them  after  the  let- 
ters of  the  alphabet,  beginning  with  A  at  the  north 
and  V  at  the  south  end  of  the  town.  This  plat  and 
survey  added  to  the  old  village  five  additional  cross 
streets  to  the  north  end  of  the  town,  several  south, 
and  Third  and  Fourth  to  the  west,  being  the  east 
boundary  line  of  the  Spanish  common  field  lots,  and 
making  the  town  about  a  mile  and  a  half  long,  north 
and  south,  by  a  fourth  of  a  mile  wide, — four  rows  of 
blocks  of  twenty-three  each,  numbered  from  one  to- 
ninety-two,  and  twelve  at  the  southeast  corner  on  the 
river,  lettered  from  A  to  M.  The  additional  cross- 
streets  at  the  north  end  of  the  town,  A,  B,  C,  and  D, 
although  laid  down  on  the  plat  to  extend  to  the  river, 
were  never  opened  east  of  the  high-road  between  the 
same  and  the  river,  and  were  doubtless  abandoned,, 
as  the  land  is  occupied  to  this  day  with  fine  private 
residences,  overlooking  the  country  far  and  wide. 
The  main  road  down  the  hill  was  in  time  graded 
to  the  head  of  the  Main  Street,  and  the  roundabout 
descent  by  Second  Street  abandoned. 

In  the  course  of  subsequent  years  several  additional 
surveys  of  out-lots  north,  west,  and  south  from  the 
common  fields  were  made  at  various  times,  and  finally 
the  common  south  of  the  Des  Peres  was  sub-divided 
and  sold  or  leased. 

Carondelet,  after  it  had  existed  for  some  twenty 
years  as  a  borough  town,  its  population  having  largely 
increased  and  many  new  houses  having  been  erected,, 
a  number  of  them  of  brick  (the  first  of  this  descrip- 
tion in  1839),  was  incorporated  by  act  of  the  Legisla- 
ture, approved  March  1, 1851,  and  divided  into  three- 
wards,  with  a  City  Council  of  two  members  from  each 
ward.  James  B.  Walsh  was  the  first  mayor,  and  the 
first  City  Council  assembled  April  9,  1851.  The 
names  of  the  streets  were  changed  from  initials  to 
full  names  in  October,  1854.  The  act  of  incorpora- 
tion, extending  the  northern  boundary  to  the  com- 
mons of  St.  Louis  and  the  southern  to  the  mouth  of 
the  River  des  Peres,  gave  Carondelet  a  river-front  on 
the  Mississippi  of  nearly  three  miles  in  extent,  now 
embraced  in  the  corporate  limits  of  the  city  of  St. 
Louis. 

The  main  road  from  St.  Louis  down  the  hill,  rough- 
graded  while  a  town,  was  greatly  improved  after  its 
incorporation  as  a  city,  but  since  the  extension  of  the 
city  southwardly  to  the  River  des  Peres,  over  more 
favorable  ground,  this  old  portion  of  the  village  is  in 
a  great  measure  deserted,  and  at  present  is  in  a  ruin- 


w 

I 

c* 
W 

S 

o 

M 
tq 
n 

H 

H 

O 

H 

CB 

w 


feftoliaBn  li  \  ™\1 


CARONDELET   AND   EAST   SAINT   LOUIS. 


1865 


ous  and  dilapidated  condition.  There  are  a  few  brick 
houses  scattered  among  the  lots  north  of  Elwood 
Street,  being  of  the  oldest  brick  structures  of  the 
place,  but  they  are  almost  hidden  from  the  main  road 
by  the  trees  and  shrubbery  which  has  been  permitted 
to  grow  up  in  this  comparatively  deserted  part  of  the 
old  town.  There  were  no  houses  in  the  old  village 
north  of  E  Street  in  the  French  days. 

Carondelet  had  no  church  nor  parish  priest  for  over 
half  a  century.  Shortly  after  the  commencement  of 
the  settlement,  as  already  stated,  in  the  year  1767,  a 
piece  of  ground  on  the  ascent  of  the  hill,  immediately 
back  of  the  centre  of  the  village,  was  set  aside  for  a 
cemetery  and  the  future  church.  When  the  village 
was  surveyed  for  the  first  time  after  its  incorporation 
as  a  town,  and  the  blocks  were  numbered  on  the  town 
plot,  this  one  became  No.  57.  It  is  bounded  by 
Second  and  Third  and  Illinois  and  Kansas  Streets. 
The  eastern  half  of  this  block  was  used 
for  interments  for  about  sixty  years, 
but  the  village  was  so  small  and  the 
inhabitants  so  few  for  many  years  that 
they  could  not  support  a  resident  priest, 
consequently  the  most  devout  of  them 
attended  mass  in  St.  Louis. 

Early  in  the  year  1823  a  parish  named 
St.  Mary  and  St.  Joseph  was  established 
by  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Louis  Wil- 
liam Dubourg,  of  the  diocese  of  St. 
Louis,  and  a  small  temporary  church  of 
logs  was  put  up  at  the  northeast  corner 
of  the  west  half  of  the  block  which  had 
been  reserved  for  the  church. 

The  first  curate  of  the  new  parish  was 
Father  Jean  Audissio,  who  was  succeeded  by  Fathers 
L.  De  Neckere.  Joseph  A.  Lutz,  R.  Loisel,  S.  P. 
Doutrelingue,  and  Condamine,  with  occasional  visits 
at  intervals  from  Father  Edmond  Saulnier  from  the 
Cathedral  parish  at  St.  Louis,  who  officiated  at  times 
until  he  became  the  permanent  curate,  about  1833-34. 

In  March,  1823,  the  inhabitants  of  the  village, 
about  a  hundred  families,  raised  by  subscription  the 
sum  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  with  which  they 
purchased  a  half-block  of  ground  on  the  west  side  of 
Third  Street,  across  from  the  church,  with  a  small 
house  of  posts  on  it  for  the  residence  of  the  priest, 
which  was  used  for  that  purpose  for  a  number  of 
years. 

In  the  year  1835,  Father  Saulnier  replaced  the 
temporary  log  church  of  1823  by  a  new  and  much 
larger  one  of  hewed  upright  timbers,  situated  on  the 
southwest  corner  of  block  No.  57,  fronting  on  Third 
Street.  This  second  church,  after  having  served  its 


purpose  for  some  twenty-five  to  thirty  years,  was  in 
turn  replaced  by  the  present  one  of  brick,  and  very 
much  larger,  erected  a  little  north  of  the  other  on 
the  same  block,  where  also  stands  the  neat  brick  resi- 
dence of  the  curate  of  the  parish.  An  entry  in  the 
church  register  by  Father  Saulnier,  dated  March  12, 
1840,  states  that  five  hundred  bodies  had  been  in- 
terred in  the  original  cemetery  to  the  date  of  its 
abandonment  in  1839. 

The  academy  and  convent  of  the  Sisters  of  St. 
Joseph  at  Carondelet  occupies  block  No.  58,  next 
south  of  the  church  block,  and  separated  from  it  by 
Kansas  Street.  It  originated  and  was  established 
under  the  auspices  of  Bishop  Rosatti,  in  1837,  by 
Sisters  Marie  Pomarel  (afterwards  styled  Madame 
Celestine,  the  first  Lady  Superior),  Antoinette  Font- 
bonne,  Marie  Fontbonne,  and  Marguerite  Bonte,  all 
from  France,  who  were  the  first  to  conduct  its  affairs 


VIEW  OF  CARONDELET   IN   1840. 

in  wooden  buildings,  which  in  time  made  way  for  the 
large  and  commodious  brick  edifices  that  now  cover 
the  grounds. 

When  the  United  States  established  Jefferson  Bar- 
racks, which  is  located  on  the  southeast  portion  of  the 
land  claimed  by  the  inhabitants  of  Carondelet  as  the 
commons  of  the  French  and  Spanish  period,  the  title 
to  the  land  had  not  yet  been  definitely  settled  by  the 
United  States  authorities,  consequently  the  purchase 
by  the  United  States  from  the  people  of  Carondelet 
was  only  a  conditional  one,  to  be  determined  thereafter. 
A  deed  from  the  inhabitants  of  Carondelet  to  the 
United  States,  July  8,  1826,  recited  that  for  the  sum 
of  five  dollars  paid  by  Col.  J.  B.  Brant,  assistant 
quartermaster  United  States  army,  a  certain  tract  of 
land  lying  in  the  county  of  St.  Louis,  bounded  as  fol- 
lows :  east  by  the  Mississippi  River,  north  by  land  of 
Julian  Chouquette  and  Benjamin  Patterson,  west  by 
the  public  road  leading  from  Carondelet  to  Hercula- 


1866 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


neum,  south  partly  by  the  south  line  of  the  Caron- 
delet  commons,  and  partly  by  the  tract  marked  on  the 
general  plat  as  No.  3,  quantity  undetermined,  had 
been  conveyed  to  the  United  States.  Should  the 
United  States  cease  to  occupy  it  for  military  purposes 
at  any  time  before  the  title  to  the  same  was  definitely  de- 
termined, it  should  revert  to  the  parties  of  the  first  part, 
with  the  same  rights  they  then  possessed,  the  United 
States  reserving  the  right  of  disposing  of  the  improve- 
ments they  might  deem  necessary  to  put  on  the  land. 
This  deed  was  signed  by  Samuel  Solomon,  George 
Schoultz,  Antony  Barada,  Antony  Motie,  Hyacinthe 
Pigeon,  St.  Amant  Michau,  Louis  Constant  (his  mark), 
Alexis  Page  (his  mark),  Joseph  Menard  (his  mark), 
Aug'n  Dube,  John  B.  Shoultz,  Dominique  Fortneuf. 
M.  P.  Lcduc,  witness.  Recorded  Book  No.  113. 

The  south  line  of  the  Barracks'  tract  is  the  south 
line  of  the  Carondelet  commons,  and  the  north  line 
of  J.  B.  Martigny  survey,  No.  3779,  in  townships  43 
and  44  north,  ranges  6  and  7  east. 

The  most  prominent  of  the  early  settlers  of  Caron- 
delet, many  of  whose  posterity  still  reside  in  the 
county,  were  : 

Delor  de  Treget,  original  pioneer,  Antoine  Barada,  John  B. 
Boucher,  Joseph  Chartrand,  Sr.,  Julian  Chouquet,  Sr.,  Gabriel 
Constant,  Louis  Courtois,  Sr.,  Louis  Catalan,  J.  M.  B.  Chatil- 
lon,  Joseph  and  Louis  Desnoyers,  Augustin  Dube,  Louis  Du- 
breuil,  Francois  Fournier,  John  B.  Gamache,  Sr.,  Nicholas  Gais, 
dit  Gravar,  Amable  Guion,  Joseph  Guienard,  Toussaint  Hunaud, 
Louis  Tesson  Honore",  Sr.,  Charles  Hotte,  Etienne  Lalande, 
Pierre  La  Puente,  Joseph  Le  May,  Laurent  Lefebvre,  Alexis 
Loise,  Joseph  Loisel,  Pierre  Martin  Ladouceur,  Sr.,  Antoine 
Marechal,  Alexis  Michel  Marie,  John  B.  and  Louis  Menard, 
Joseph  Moitier,  dit  Rondin,  John  B.  Petit,  Hyacinthe  Pigeon, 
Sr.,  John  P.  Pourcelli,  Sr.,  John  B.  Pujol,  Antoine  Rivirre, 
Charles  and  Paul  Robert,  Charles  Roche,  Charles  and  Francois 
Roy,  Lambert  Salle,  dit  Lajoie,  Christopher  Sehultz,  Sr.,  Joseph 
Hubert  Tabeau,  Claude  Tinon,  Charles  Vall6,  John  B.  Yien. 

In  1870  Carondelet  was  incorporated  with  and 
became  part  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis.  A  contempo- 
rary account,  under  date  of  April  8,  1870,  thus  de- 
scribes the  act  of  taking  formal  possession : 

"Yesterday  morning  Capt.  Fuchs,  city  register,  accompanied 
by  City  Engineer  Bishop  and  his  clerk,  visited  Carondelet  for 
the  purpose  of  taking  formal  possession  of  the  books,  records, 
archives,  money,  and  other  property  of  that  ex-corporation, 
now  a  part  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis.  Capt.  Fuchs  was  armed 
with  a  written  order  from  Mayor  Cole,  directing  the  officers  of 
Carondelet  to  make  a  full  delivery  of  all  the  documents,  etc., 
connected  with  their  respective  offices.  The  delegation  were 
absent  nearly  all  day.  Capt.  Fuchs  returned  to  St.  Louis  proper 
late  yesterday  evening.  According  to  his  statement,  he  found 
things  in  a  singularly  confused  condition,  and  the  ex-officials 
did  not  appear  prepared  to  furnish  precise  information  respect- 
ing their  departments.  At  the  office  of  Auguste  William  (',-.:- 
maehe,  city  treasurer,  Capt.  Fuchs  found  that  the  cash  assets  of 
Carondelet  consisted  of  one  dollar,  in  two  fifty-cent  no'cs.  of 
which  he  formally  took  possession,  lie  also  found  a  quantity 


of  canoeled  city  warrants,  which  he  appropriated.  Mr.  Dough- 
erty, ex-register,  declined  to  give  the  key  of  the  safe  to  Capt. 
Fuchs,  but  said  be  would  keep  it  until  a  settlement  was  made. 
During  the  day  some  cupboards,  containing  papers  and  records, 
two  old  maps,  and  a  few  boxes  and  books  were  sent  up  to  the 
court-house  in  a  wagon  and  deposited  in  the  city  register's 
office  to  be  examined.  To-day  Sergt.  Prescott  and  four  police 
officers  of  the  Carondelet  sub-district  attended  Capt.  Fuchs  and 
Mr.  Bishop  in  their  investigations,  and  remain  in  charge  of  the 
office,  and  will  permit  nothing  to  be  moved  until  the  transfer  is 
completed  to-day.  Capt.  Fuchs  states  that  various  claims  to 
articles  and  documents  were  preferred  by  different  parties,  but 
that  he  took  possession  of  everything  he  could  find  belonging 
to  the  city,  leaving  the  claims  of  individuals  to  be  settled  by 
the  proper  authorities.  The  safe  was  left  in  charge  of  the  police. 
The  records  of  the  city  do  not  appear  to  have  been  very  elab- 
orately kept,  and  only  one  book  was  found  at  the  city  treasurer's 
office. 

"  Under  the  order  of  Mr.  Bishop,  all  work  on  streets  was  sus- 
pended until  further  orders,  as  defects  were  apparent  in  the 
matter  of  breadth  and  grade." 

HERCULANEUJH. — A  history  of  early  St.  Louis 
would  be  incomplete  without  a  brief  notice  of  the 
now  almost  extinct  town  of  Herculaneum,1  Joachim 
township,  the  former  county-seat  of  Jefferson  County, 
and  the  present  site  of  Crystal  City,  where  extensive 
plate-glass  works  are  now  established.  Some  thirty 
miles  below  St.  Louis,  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, an  open  space  of  about  a  mile  in  extent  in 
the  almost  perpendicular  limestone  bluffs,  which  rise 
to  the  height  of  some  two  hundred  feet  above  the 
stream,  bordering  the  west  bank  of  the  river  for  miles 
above  and  below,  affords  an  outlet  through  which  the 
Joachim  Creek,  a  considerable  stream,  having  its- 
sources  in  the  southern  part  of  the  county,  and  fol- 
lowing a  north  by  east  course,  discharges  itself  into 
the  Mississippi.  In  the  early  days  of  the  settle- 
ments several  of  the  old  French  inhabitants  made 
selections  and  established  themselves  along  the  flat 
lands  for  some  miles  up  this  creek,  followed  after 
a  few  years  by  a  few  Americans.  After  the  transfer 
of  the  country  to  the  United  States  and  the  extensive 
development  of  lead  mineral  throughout  all  this  region 
back  from  the  river,  two  enterprising  Americans.  Col. 
Samuel  Hammond,  Sr.,  of  St.  Louis,  and  Moses  Aus- 
tin, of  Ste.  Genevieve,  perceiving  the  advantages  of 
this  point  for  an  extensive  lead  business  from  its 
nearer  proximity  to  the  mines  than  Ste.  Genevieve, 
then  the  only  point  of  shipment  on  the  river,  pur- 
chased from  one  Judathan  Kendall,  on  Jan.  9,  1809, 
a  tract  of  four  hundred  arpens  of  land  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Joachim  Creek,  and  immediately  laid  off  their 
plat  of  the  town  of  Herculaneum,  which  consequently 
was  an  American  enterprise,  and  proceeded  to  the  sale 
of  a  number  of  the  lots. 

1  Contributed  by  Frederic  L.  Billon. 


CARONDELET   AND   EAST   SAINT   LOUIS. 


1867 


Early  in  the  year  1809,  immediately  after  the  new 
town  was  laid  off,  John  N.  Macklot,  of  St.  Louis,  a 
son-in-law  of  Charles  Gratiot,  Sr.,  commenced  the 
erection  of  a  shot-tower  on  the  rocky  bluff  south  of 
the  mouth  of  the  creek,  at  the  south  end  of  the  town, 
and  on  its  completion,  in  the  fall  of  the  year,  entered 
extensively  into  the  manufacture  of  lead  and  shot, 
the  first  establishment  of  the  kind  west  of  the  Alle- 
ghenies. 

In  that  and  the  two  following  years,  1810  and  1811, 
a  number  of  lots  were  sold,  and  the  place  took  a  start 
by  the  erection  of  a  goodly  number  of  buildings  ;  but 
the  war  with  England  of  1812-15  interfered  mate- 
rially with  its  progress,  as  it  did  with  everything  else 
in  this  region,  and  checked  its  further  advance  for  a. 
time. 

On  the  restoration  of  peace  in  1815  it  again  began 
to  grow,  and  for  a  time  improved  quite  briskly,  so 
that  in  1817  the  brothers  Elias  and  William  Bates, 
who  had  become  residents  of  the  place,  felt  justified 
in  erecting  a  second  shot-tower  and  lead-works,  which 
they  established  at  the  northeast  angle  of  the  village. 
These  two  establishments,  as  also  some  others  erected 
subsequently  at  points  on  the  Mississippi,  did  an  ex-  i 
tensive  and  flourishing  business  for  some  years,  ex- 
porting from  the  country  a  large  amount  of  shot  and 
balls,  and  pig  and  bar  lead. 

Western  Americans  in  those  primitive  days  were  so 
enthusiastically  patriotic  that  they  seldom  permitted 
the  national  anniversary  to  pass  over  without  its  due 
observance.  They  had  a  Fourth  of  July  celebration 
in  1816  at  Ellis'  tavern,  Col  Samuel  Hammond  presi- 
dent, and  Dr.  John  Finley  vice-president,  at  which 
many  from  Harrisonville,  on  the  Illinois  side,  came 
over  and  participated  in  the  festivities  of  the  day. 

An  evidence  of  the  rising  importance  of  the  place 
in  population  and  business,  is  the  fact  that  a  lodge 
of  Freemasons  was  organized  in  1818  under  the  I 
Grand  Lodge  of  Tennessee,  with  Wm.  F.  Roberts, 
W.  M. ;  Seth  Converse,  S.  W. ;  Wm.  Bates,  J.  W. ; 
Henry  Cellinger,  James  S.  Beaumont,  and  others. 
It  was  one  of  the  three  that  participated  in  the  organ- 
ization of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Missouri  in  1821,  there 
being  at  that  day  but  two  others  in  the  State. 

In  the  Spanish  days  this  region  formed  the  south- 
ern portion  of  the  "  district"  of  St.  Louis.  After 
our  acquisition  of  the  country  and  the  term  "  county" 
had  been  substituted  for  "  district,"  it  formed  the 
township  of  Joachim,  St.  Louis  Co.,  extending  along 
the  Mississippi  from  the  mouth  of  the  Meramec  to 
the  Platin  Creek,  six  or  eight  miles  below  Hercu- 
laneum,  about  twenty  miles  of  river-front,  including 
all  of  what  is  now  Jefferson  County.  Governor 


Trudeau  made  a  number  of  grants  of  land  to  Amer- 
icans from  1795  to  1799  in  this  township. 

The  county  of  Jefferson,  taken  from  the  southern 
portion  of  St.  Louis  County,  was  organized  by  act  of 
the  Territorial  Legislature  Dec.  8,  1818,  and  Hercu- 
laneum  established  as  its  county-seat.  The  first  term 
of  its  Circuit  Court  was  held  here  on  March  25,  1819, 
by  Nathaniel  B.  Tucker,  judge  of  the  Northern  Cir- 
cuit ;  Samuel  Woodson,  clerk ;  and  Andrew  Scott, 
sheriff. 

The  place  reached  its  climax  about  the  time  that 
Missouri  became  a  State,  when  rival  points  for  the 
shipment  of  lead,  its  main  business,  springing  up 
along  the  river,  mainly  Selma  and  Rush  Tower,  far 
more  favorable  sites,  some  six  or  eight  miles  below,  'it 
began  to  decline,  and  after  the  removal  of  the  county- 
seat  in  1836-37  to  Monticello  (subsequently  called 
Hillsboro',  its  present  name),  a  more  central  location 
in  the  interior  of  the  county,  it  gradually  ceased  to 
exist,  and  was  lost  sight  of  until  the  recent  establish- 
ment within  a  few  years  of  the  extensive  plate-glass 
works,  under  its  new  cognomen  of  Crystal  City,  seems 
likely  to  again  bring  it  into  view.  The  population  of 
Jefferson  County  in  1820  was  eighteen  hundred  and 
thirty-five,  and  in  1830  two  thousand  five  hundred 
and  ninety-two. 

Among  the  more  noted  residents  of  Herculaneutn 
in  early  days,  besides  those  already  mentioned,  were 
John  W.  Honey,  Capt.  R.  P.  Guyard,  Mr.  Ellis, 
C.  C.  Fletcher,  and  others.  When  in  1820,  the 
first  chapter  of  Royal  Arch  Masons  in  the  Missis- 
sippi valley  was  established  in  St.  Louis,  so  few  of 
that  degree  were  found  in  the  country  that,  to  pro- 
cure the  necessary  nine  to  the  petition,  the  Masons 
were  compelled  to  make  drafts  on  two  or  three  points 
in  the  surrounding  country.  St.  Louis  furnished  four 
or  five,  St.  Charles  and  Edwardsville,  111.,  a  couple 
each,  and  from  Herculaneum  they  had  the  name  of 
Clement  C.  Fletcher.  This  veteran  Mason  rarely  failed 
for  several  years  to  attend  the  stated  monthly  meetings 
of  the  chapter,  riding  up  on  horseback  from  Hercu- 
laneum, thirty  miles  over  a  broken  country,  crossing  the 
Meramec,  remaining  in  St.  Louis  a  night,  and  return- 
ing home  on  the  following  day,  devoting  two  days  to 
his  trip.  This  gentleman  was  the  father  of  Governor 
Thomas  C.  Fletcher. 

EAST  ST.  Louis,1  situated  on  the  Illinois  shore 
opposite  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  had  its  origin  in  a  set- 
tlement made  by  Capt.  James  Piggott,  who  in  1797 

1  For  materials  used  in  the  preparation  of  this  sketch  the 
author  is  indebted  to  a  "  History  of  East  St.  Louis,"  by  Robert 
A.  Tyson,  and  to  a  lecture  delivered  by  Dr.  Isaac  N.  Piggott 
before  the  Historical  Society  of  East  St.  Louis. 


1868 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


established  a  ferry  at  this  point  between  the  east  and 
west  banks  of  the  river.1 

Previous  to  this  Capt.  Piggott  had  established,  in 
1783,  a  fort  not  far  from  the  bluffs,  in  the  American 
Bottom,  west  of  the  present  town  of  Columbia,  in 
Monroe  County,  which  was  called  Piggott's  Fort,  or 
the  fort  of  the  Grande  Risseau,  or  Great  Run.  This 
was  the  largest  fortification  erected  by  the  Americans 
in  Illinois  at  that  day,  and  was  well  defended  with 
cannon  and  small-arms.  Upon  the  petition  of  Capt. 
Piggott  and  forty-five  inhabitants  of  this  fort,  an  act 
of  Congress  was  passed  granting  to  every  one  on  the 
public  land  in  Illinois  four  hundred  acres,  and  a  militia 
donation  of  one  hundred  acres  to  each  man  enrolled  in 
the  militia  service  of  that  year.  Governor  St.  Clair, 
knowing  the  character  of  Capt.  Piggott's  services  in 
the  army  of  the  Revolution,  appointed  him  the  pre- 
siding judge  of  the  court  of  St.  Clair  County.  The 
then  county-seat  was  at  Cahokia.2 

1  For  a  full  description  and  history  of  this  ferry  the  reader  is 
referred  to  the  sub-chapter  on  ferries  in  another  portion  of  this 
work. 

2  Dr.  Isaac  N.  Piggott.     The  petition  referred  to  above  was 
addressed  to  Governor  St.  Clair,  and  was  as  follows : 

"GREAT  RUN,  May  23,  1790. 

"To  His  EXCELLENCY  ARTHUR  ST.  CLAIR,  ESQ.,  Governor  and 
Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Territory  of  the  United  States 
nui-tlncest  of  the  River  Ohio  : 

"  We,  your  petitioners,  beg  .leave  to  represent  to  your  Excel- 
lency the  state  and  circumstances  of  a  number  of  distressed  but 
faithful  subjects  of  the  United  States  of  America,  wherein  we 
wish  to  continue,  and  that  under  your  immediate  government ; 
but  unless  our  principal  grievance  can  be  removed  by  your  Ex- 
cellency's encouragement,  we  shall  despair  of  holding  a  resi- 
dence in  the  State  we  love.  The  Indians,  who  have  not  failed 
one  year  in  four  past  to  kill  our  people  and  steal  our  horses, 
and  at  times  have  killed  and  drove  off  numbers  of  our  horned 
cattle,  render  it  impossible  for  us  to  live  in  the  country  any 
way  but  in  forts  and  villages,  which  we  find  very  sickly  in  the 
Mississippi  bottom.  Neither  can  we  cultivate  our  land  but 
with  a  guard  of  our  own  inhabitants  equipped  with  arms;  nor 
have  we  more  tillable  land  for  the  support  of  seventeen  families 
than  what  might  easily  be  tilled  by  four  of  us  ;  and  as  those 
lands  whereon  we  live  are  the  property  of  two  individuals,  it  is 
uncertain  how  long  we  may  enjoy  the  scanty  privileges  we  have 
here ;  nor  do  we  find  by  your  Excellency's  proclamation  that 
those  of  us,  which  are  the  major  part,  who  came  to  the  country 
since  the  year  1783  are  entitled  to  the  land  improved  at  the  risk 
of  our  lives  with  the  design  to  live  on.  These,  with  many  other 
difficulties,  which  your  Excellency  may  be  better  informed  of  by 
our  reverend  friend,  James  Smith,  hath  very  much  gloomed  the 
aspect  of  a  number  of  the  free  and  loyal  subjects  of  the  United 
States.  In  consideration  of  which  your  petitioners  humbly 
request  that  by  your  Excellency's  command  there  may  be  a 
village,  with  in-lots  and  out-lots,  sufficient  for  families  to  subsist 
on,  laid  out  and  established  in  or  near  the  Prairie  de  Morivay. 
We  know  the  other  American  settlers  near  the  Mississippi  to 
be  in  equally  deplorable  circumstances  with  ourselves,  and  con- 
sequently would  be  equally  benefited  by  the  privileges  we  ask. 


With  regard  to  the  topography  of  the  country  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  present  East  St.  Louis,  as  it  ap- 
peared in  1799,  and  the  history  of  its  settlement,  Dr. 
Isaac  N.  Piggott  says, — 

"  Cahokia  Creek,  or  the  River  L'Abbe,  as  it  was  formerly  called, 
did  not  run  into  the  Mississippi  where  it  now  does,  but  formed 
a  junction  south  of  Piggott's  addition  to  Illinoistown  with  the 
Slough,  which  then  ran  at  the  head  of  an  island,  described  in 
the  'Western  Annals'  as  being  opposite  South  St.  Louis,  and 
with  said  Slough  ran  past  the  village  of  Cahokia,  below  which 
the  only  ferry  from  Illinois  to  St.  Louis  could  then  be  kept. 
By  reference  to  the  seventy-second  page  of  Mr.  Butler's  'His- 
tory of  Kentucky'  it  will  be  seen  that  Cahokia  Creek  was  knee- 
deep  in  front  of  Col.  Clark's  camp  at  Cahokia,  where  he  treated 
with  the  Indians,  in  September,  1778.  But  so  great  has  been 
the  change  that  neither  Slough  Creek  nor  island  can  now  be 
properly  recognized  at  that  place.  The  late  Auguste  Chouteau, 
when  speaking  of  the  first  settlement  of  St.  Louis,  says, — 

'"At  that  time  a  skirt  of  tall  timber  lined  the  bank  of  the 
river,  free  from  undergrowth,  which  extended  back  to  a  line 
about  the  range  of  Eighth  Street.  In  the  rear  was  an  exten- 
sive prairie;  the  first  cabins  were  erected  near  the  river  and 
market;  no  "  Bloody  Island"  or  "Duncan's  Island''  then  ex- 
isted. Directly  opposite  the  old  Market  Square  the  river  was 
narrow  and  deep,  and  until  about  the  commencement  of  the 
present  century  persons  would  be  distinctly  heard  from  the  op- 
posite shore.  Opposite  Duncan's  Island  and  South  St.  Louis 
was  an  island  covered  with  heavy  timber  and  separated  from 
the  Illinois  shore  by  a  slough.  Many  persons  are  now  living 
(1850)  who  recollect  the  only  ferry  from  Illinois  to  St.  Louis 
was  from  Cahokia  below  the  island,  and.  landed  on  the  Mis- 
souri shore  near  the  site  of  the  United  States  arsenal.' 

"  Although  that  description  is  correct  as  far  as  it  goes,  it  does 
not  attempt  to  describe  the  landscape  at  this  place,  nor  when 
and  how  Duncan's  Island  and  Bloody  Island  were  formed,  and 
why  so  named  ;  nor  why  the  only  ferry  from  Illinois  to  St.  Louis 
had  to  be  from  Cahokia  below  the  island,  opposite  South  St. 
Louis,  and  landed  on  the  Missouri  shore  near  the  site  of  the 
United  States  arsenal;  nor  when  and  by  whom  the  Wiggins 
Ferry  at  this  point  was  first  established.  A  ferry  at  this  point 
at  that  date  would  have  been  worse  than  useless,  because  it 
could  not  have  been  reached  by  the  inhabitants  of  Illinois  until 
a  road  was  made,  and  the  River  L'Abbe  was  bridged  above  its 
junction  with  the  Slough,  which  then  ran  at  the  head  of  said 
island,  and  which  is  now  known  as  Cahokia  cpiumons,  south  of 
East  St.  Louis.  And  all  the  space  above  the  Slough,  between 
the  rivers  Mississippi  and  L'Abbe,  including  the  Ferry  Division 
of  East  St.  Louis  and  what  is  now  known  as  Bloody  Island, 
and  the  dike  and  ponds  of  water  in  that  vicinity,  was  then 
bottom  land,  covered  with  majestic  forest  timber,  interspersed 
with  pea-vine,  rushes,  and  winter-grass,  upon  which  stock  kept 
fat  all  the  seasons  of  the  year.  The  distance  between  the  two 
rivers  was  then  half  a  mile  in  width.  This  was  also  used  as  the 
common  camping-ground  for  all  the  friendly  Illinois  Indians 
that  traded  at  St.  Louis,  and  sometimes  by  hostile  Indians. 
Therefore  to  build  the  first  bridge  and  make  the  first  road  was 
not  only  costly  and  laborious,  but  an  extremely  dangerous  un- 

And  that  those  of  us  who  came  to  the  country  and  improved  land 
since  1783  may  be  confirmed  in  a  right  of  pre-emption  to  their 
improvements  is  the  humble  request  of  your  petitioners.  And 
we,  as  in  duty  bound,  shall  ever  pray. 

"JAMES  PIGGOTT, 
"  and  forty-jive  others." 


CAKONDELET   AND   EAST   SAINT   LOUIS. 


1869 


•dertaking;  for  although  Col.  Clark,  in  1778,  had  taken  all  the 
Territory  northwest  of  the  river  Ohio  from  the  British  Lion, 
yet  that  country's  allies,  the  Indians,  like  tigers  thirsting  for 
blood,  still  claimed  aud  occupied  and,  like  lords  of  the  forest, 
roamed  through  this  vast  region  of  wild  country.  .  .  .  Except- 
ing a  few  French  villages  in  this  bottom,  the  whole  country 
northwest  of  the  Ohio  River  was  the  abode  of  ferocious  beasts 
and  wild  men.  Those  first  heroes  of  the  West  were  without 
roads,  bridges,  newspapers,  or  mail-carriers.  Many  of  them 
had  assisted  in  the  erection  and  defense  of  Fort  Jefferson  in 
1780-81,  and  had  come  with  their  captain  and  had  formed  the 
first  purely  American  settlement  at  the  Great  Run. 

"  When  Governor  St.  Clair,  in  1790,  first  organized  civil  gov- 
•ernment  in  Illinois,  be  held  council  with  the  people,  and  in  view 
of  the  prospective  importance  of  this  place,  he  advised  his  newly- 
made  judge  (Piggott)  to  establish  himself  at  this  place.  To 
look  at  the  surroundings  of  the  country,  it  had  very  much  the 
appearance  of  a  forlorn  hope,  but  the  Governor  knew  his  man. 
The  inhabitants  of  both  sides  of  the  Mississippi  felt  the  great 
need  of  such  a  ferry  and  co-operated  heartily  in  it.  At  that 
time  there  was  no  other  man  willing  to  take  the  risk.  In  the 
summer-time  men  could  not  work  here.  In  the  winters  of 
1792-93,  while  the  River  L'Abbe  was  frozen,  Judge  Piggott 
erected  two  log  cabins  at  this  point,  and  continued  every  winter 
to  carry  on  his  improvements  till  1795.  After  Gen.  Wayne  had 
conquered  and  treated  with  the  hostile  Indians,  he  then  removed 
his  family  from  his  fort  at  the  Great  Run  to  this  point,  among 
the  friendly  Indians. 

"  As  soon  as  the  judge  had  completed  his  road  and  bridge 
and  established  his  ferry  from  the  Illinois  to  the  Missouri  shore, 
he  petitioned  (15th  day  of  August,  1797)  for  and  obtained  the 
exclusive  right  to  collect  ferriage  in  St.  Louis  (at  that  time  a 
Spanish  province).1' 

With  regard  to  the  changes  in  the  course  of  the 
Mississippi  and  the  Cahokia  Creek,  the  same  authority 
adds, — 

"  The  main  channel  of  the  Mississippi  in  1800  ran  nearly 
straight  from  the  Chain  of  Rocks,  supposed  to  be  about  nine 
miles  above  St.  Louis,  toward  and  close  to  the  old  western 
boundary  of  the  Cabanne  Island,  and  from  thence  striking  the 
rocky  shore  of  Missouri  above  St.  Louis,  near  where  the  Stur- 
geon Market  now  is,  thence  running  deepest  against  said  rocky 
shore  to  Market  Street,  below  which  a  sand-bar  formed  which  grew 
into  what  is  now  called  Duncan's  Island,  causing  the  current  to 
deflect  to  Cahokia  Island,  and  carried  oft'  a  great  part  thereof. 
Meanwhile  accretions  accumulated  on  the  west  side  of  the 
Cabanne  Island.  This  caused  the  current  to  carry  off  a  great 
deal  of  the  Missouri  shore,  and  formed  what  was  culled  the  Saw- 
yer Bend,  above  what  is  called  Bissell's  Point.  In  the  fall  of 
1798  a  sand-bar  was  formed  in  the  Mississippi  similar  to  the  one 
now  opposite  this  place  and  near  the  same  locality.  It  increased 
rapidly,  and  soon  became  an  island,  covered  with  willow  and 
cottonwood.  In  time  this  island  received  the  prefix  '  Bloody,' 
from  the  many  bloody  duels  it  was  the  theatre  of. 

"In  the  progress  of  time  the  main  channel  for  steamboat 
navigation  ran  east  of  Bloody  Island,  and  the  current  thus 
deflecting  against  the  Illinois  shore  it  was  worn  away  rapidly. 
I  believe  the  whole  Mississippi  River  would  ere  now  have  been 
running  east  of  this  place  had  it  not  been  prevented  by  diking. 
But  before  dikes  proved  a  success  the  Mississippi  had  washed 
away  all  the  laud  heretofore  described  as  the  Indian  camping- 
ground,  lying  between  the  rivers,  and  filled  up  the  bed  of  the 
old  Miry  Creek  at  the  southwest  corner  of  Illinoistown,  and 
turned  the  channel  thereof  from  its  former  route  past  Cahokia 


to  opposite  St.  Louis.  For  some  time  the  ferry-boats  landed  a* 
Illinoistown  about  the  northwest  end  of  Main  and  Market 
Streets  and  a  mile  below  it.  Various  and  expensive  efforts  were 
made  to  force  the  Mississippi  back  to  its  old  channel  west  of 
this  island.  After  several  dikes  or  rock  piers  had  been  made 
along  the  Illinois  shore  so  far  as  to  deflect  the  current  towards 
the  Missouri  shore,  and  also  Dike  Avenue  having  stopped  the 
current  from  running  on  the  east  of  this  place,  the  slough 
which  had  run  there  has  been  rapidly  filling  up. 

"An  examination  of  the  old  plat  of  Illinoistown  shows  that 
at  the  northwest  end  of  Main  and  Market  Streets  is  the  place 
where  the  bridge  and  road  made  in  1795  crossed  the  River 
L'Abbe,  which  is  now  in  the  bed  of  the  slough.  .  .  .  The 
slough  at  the  head  of  the  island  is  already  filled  up.  It  is  again 
attached  to  the  mainland,  and  the  other  part  of  it  is  diked  in 
several  places  and  rapidly  filling  up.  Properly  speaking,  this 
place  is  no  longer  Bloody  Island,  but  the  law-abiding  Ferry 
Division  of  the  city  of  East  St.  Louis." 

After  the  establishment  of  the  ferry  by  Capt.  Pig- 
gott, various  attempts  were  made  to  establish  towns, 
some  of  which  were  laid  out  immediately  on  the  shore 
of  the  river,  and  soon  washed  away.  Among  these 
were  Washington  and  Jacksonville.  The  present 
city  of  East  St.  Louis  is  built  in  part  on  Cahokia 
common,  which  extended  from  the  old  village  of  Ca- 
hokia to  the  east  bank  of  Cahokia  Creek.  Illinois- 
town,  as  East  St.  Louis  was  originally  named,  was 
laid  out  in  the  autumn  of  1817,  as  is  shown  by 
the  following  advertisement  in  the  Missouri  Gazette 
of  October  25th  of  that  year : 

"Illinois  City,  situate  in  the  prairie  near  the  mounds,  oppo- 
site to  the  upper  end  of  St.  Louis,  laid  out  on  an  extensive 
and  liberal  plan,  the  principal  streets  being  ninety-nine  and 
none  less  than  seventy-one  and  a  half  feet  wide ;  eight  lots  of 
one  hundred  and  four  and  a  half  by  one  hundred  and  ninety- 
seven  feet  in  a  square,  each  square  divided  by  an  alley  of  twenty 
feet  in  width. 

"There  will  be  offered  at  public  sale  on  Saturday,  the^lst  day 
of  November  next,  at  Savage's  tavern,  sundry  lots  in  the  above- 
mentioned  place.  The  terms  will  be  made  known  on  the  day  of 
sale,  the  sale  to  commence  at  eleven  o'clock  A.M. 

"JoHX   HAYS, 
"  N.  JARROT, 
"  J.  B.  THOMAS, 
"JOHN  HAY, 
"  M.  TUKCOTTE, 

"  Commiwi<inern." 

The  land  belonged  to  John  McKnight  and  Thomas 
Brady,  merchants  of  St.  Louis,  and  had  formerly 
been  owned  by  Etienne  Pensonau,  and  occupied  and 
possessed  by  one  Vanorsdall.1  The  town  was  laid  out 
by  Col.  Thomas  F.  Riddick,  agent  for  McKnight  & 
Brady.  On  Monday,  Nov.  3,  1817,  an  auction  sale 
of  the  lots  advertised  took  place  in  St.  Louis,  but 
some  of  the  lots  were  disposed  of  at  private  sale  be- 
fore and  afterwards.  The  town  thus  provided  for 
formed  the  southeast  portion  of  what  is  now  the  city 

1  History  of  East  St.  Louis,  p.  24. 


1870 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


of  East  St.  Louis.  Soon  after  this  transaction  Illinois 
City  was  platted  and  laid  out  on  land  once  known  as 
a  part  of  Cahokia  common.  The  whole  area  sur- 
veyed was  about  three  hundred  and  sixty-nine  acres, 
including  streets  and  a  public  square.  There  were 
sixty-three  squares  and  four  hundred  and  ninety-six 
lots.  The  survey  was  located  in  what  is  now  the 
northwestern  portion  of  the  city.  The  plot  was 
recorded  in  1825.  In  1837  the  town  of  St.  Clair 
was  platted  by  the  county  surveyor,  John  M.  Mes- 
singer,  in  the  employ  of  John  L.  St.  John.  The 
surveyor's  certificate  was  dated  April  13,  1837,  and 
the  record  made  by  Mr.  St.  John,  April  19,  1837.  It 
comprised  what  is  now  the  central  part  of  the  city. 

In  1859  the  town  of  East  St.  Louis  was  platted 
and  entered  of  record  (November  28th).  It  was  a 
sub-division  of  lands  belonging  to  Samuel  L.  Barlow, 
Henry  Chauncey,  William  H.  Aspinwall,  and  Samuel 
W.  Comstock,  lying  within  United  States  surveys  No. 
626,  in  the  name  of  Richard  McCarty ;  No.  625,  in 
that  of  Jean  F.  Perry;  Nos.  131  and  132,  in  that 
of  A.  Chouteau ;  No.  130,  in  the  name  of  Jean  St. 
Germain;  and  No.  129,  in  the  name  of  Gregoire 
Sarpy.  It  extended  from  the  central  to  the  northern 
part  of  the  city,  and  included  a  tract  once  owned  by 
John  Jacob  Astor.  In  April,  1865,  Henry  Holbrook, 
St.  Clair  County  surveyor,  in  the  employ  of  the  Wig- 
gins Ferry  Company,  surveyed  and  laid  out  seven 
hundred  and  thirty-four  town  lots,  under  the  name  of 
the  Ferry  Division  of  East  St.  Louis.  Other  divis- 
ions have  since  been  added.  On  the  20th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1872,  Oebike  and  Kase  Addition  of  sixty-seven 
lots  was  platted  and  surveyed.  The  town  was  incorpo- 
rated as  Illinoistown  Feb.  19,  1859,  and  at  the  first 
town  election,  April  4,  1859,  W.  J.  Enfield,  Samuel 
W.  Toomer,  Andrew  Wettig,  and  Henry  Jackeisch 
were  elected  trustees,  and  William  Hamilton  police 
magistrate  and  ex  ojficio  president  of  the  board  of  trus- 
tees. George  Johnson  was  appointed  marshal  by  the 
trustees,  who  held  their  first  meeting  April  16,  1859. 
At  an  election  held  on  the  1st  of  April,  1861,  the 
citizens  changed  the  name  of  the  town  from  Illinois- 
town  to  that  of  East  St.  Louis.  The  following  officers 
were  elected  :  President  of  Town  Council,  Samuel  W. 
Toomer ;  Town  Council,  Samuel  B.  Walker,  Florence 
Sullivan,  John  Moneghan,  and  Francis  Karle ;  Police 
Magistrate,  John  B.  Bowman  ;  Town  Marshal,  John 
Henessy. 

On  the  17th  of  January,  1865,  the  Council  ap- 
pointed a  committee,  consisting  of  the  president,  S. 
W.  Toomer,  and  Messrs.  Oebike,  Bowman,  Kase,  and 
Millard,  to  draft  a  city  charter.  Subsequently  the  new 
charter  was  submitted  and  approved,  and  a  motion 


to  change  the  name  of  the  city  to  St.  Clair  defeated. 
In  the  same  year  (April  3d),  at  the  first  election  for 
mayor.  J.  B.  Bowman  was  chosen. 

In  March,  1865,  a  St.  Louis  journal  said, — 

"  The  people  of  East  St.  Louis  have  obtained  from  the  Illinois 
Legislature  charters  for  a  gas  company,  water- works,  and  a  grain 
elevator.  A  weekly  newspaper  is  also  about  to  be  established 
there.  Mr.  James  L.  Fawcett,  formerly  well  known  as  the  pro- 
prietor of  the  St.  Louis  Herald,  has  moved  his  printing  material 
across  the  river,  and  intends  issuing  in  a  short  time  the  first 
number  of  the  East  St.  Louis  Weekly  Herald." 

Since  then  the  city  has  attained  a  remarkable  de- 
velopment, and  being  the  centre  of  a  vast  railroad 
system,  enjoys  a  steadily  increasing  prosperity.  Con- 
nected with  St.  Louis  by  the  great  bridge,  its  interests 
are  identical  with  those  of  the  metropolis,  to  whose 
trade,  commerce,  and  industries  it  is  a  most  important 
contributor. 


CHAPTER    XLII. 

COUNTY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 

ALTHOUGH  the  present  city  of  St.  Louis  was  the 
place  where  the  first  settlement  in  the  region  was 
made,  other  points  in  the  vicinity  were  settled  soon 
afterward,  if  not  contemporaneously  with  it.  The 
trading-posts  and  missionary  stations  that  were  first 
established  soon  became  the  nucleuses  of  agricultural 
settlements,  which  gradually  extended  as  the  danger 
from  predatory  attacks  of  the  savages  diminished. 
The  increase  of  the  population  was  not  at  first  rapid, 
although  the  fertile  soil  gave  ample  returns  for  the 
little  labor  bestowed  on  it ;  there  was  no  near  market 
for  the  surplus  produce,  and  the  ample  facilities  for 
transportation  to  distant  markets  which  now  exist 
were  not  then  dreamed  of. 

The  earliest  settlers  were  French,  and  although 
the  territory  was  under  the  dominion  of  Spain  till  the 
beginning  of  the  present  century,  the  French  char- 
acter of  the  inhabitants  was  retained,  and  the  habits 
and  customs  of  the  people  were  such  as  they  brought 
with  them  from  their  native  country,  only  modified 
by  the  different  circumstances  which  here  surrounded 
them. 

"At  the  outset  French  husbandry1  was  limited  to 
the  production  of  food  for  home  consumption.  The 
farms  were  small.  Near  the  beginning  of  the  present 
century  a  tract  of  eighty  arpeus  was  said  to  be  the 

1  This  portion  of  this  chapter,  relating  to  the  early  agriculture 
,   of  St.  Louis  County,  was  prepared  for  this  work  by  Professor 
S.  Waterhouse. 


COUNTY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


1871 


largest  inclosed  farm  in  the  country.1     No  adjacent 
villages  afforded  a  market  for  surplus  crops,  a-nd  the 
French  were  too  fond  of  leisure  to  raise  more  than 
was  necessary  for  the  satisfaction  of  their  own  wants.  I 
At  first  maize  was  the  principal  grain  crop,  but  in  a  j 
few  years  after  the  erection  of  Laclede's  water-mill 
they  added  wheat  to  their  breadstuffs. 

"  The  costliness  of  foreign  goods,  together  with  the 
poverty  of  the  people,  led  to  the  cultivation  of  cotton. 
Most  of  the  inhabitants  were  clad  in  homespun  gar- 
ments. Enough  cotton  was  raised  to  supply  the 
domestic  wants  of  the  colony.2  The  cloth  woven  in 
their  rude  looms  was  indeed  coarse,  but  it  was  also 
strong,  and  answered  well  the  needs  of  the  simple 
villagers. 

"  The  common  vegetables — potatoes,  beans,  peas, 
turnips,  pumpkins,  melons,  cabbages,  and  radishes — 
were  raised  in  abundance.  The  village  orchards 
yielded  a  partial  supply  of  good  apples.  Small  quan- 
tities of  tobacco  and  sugar  were  also  produced.3 

"  The  early  inhabitants  devoted  themselves  more  to 
gardening  than  to  farming.  No  hay  was  stacked  for 
domestic  animals.  The  wild  prairie  grasses  were 
plentiful  and  nutritious.*  In  winter  the  horses  and 
cattle  were  allowed  to  graze  at  will  on  alluvial  lands, 
and  they  always  contrived  to  keep  themselves  in  good 
condition.  A  bountiful  supply  of  beef,5  poultry, -and 
eggs  measurably  relieved  the  early  settlers  of  the  irk- 
some labors  of  agriculture.  In  a  country  abounding 
with  game,  a  race  of  men  naturally  fond  of  hunting 
would  not  be  apt  to  devote  themselves  to  the  severe 


1  In  the  neighborhood  of  the  Merarnec,  "  Thomas  Tyler  had 
eighty  arpens  under  fence,  forty  planted  with  tobacco  and 
corn,  then  (about  1790)  considered  the  largest  farm  in  the 
country." — John  Doli,  July  30,  I860,  CoininiHniotu-ra'  Minutes, 
vol.  i.  p.  438. 

*  Reynolds'  My  Own  Times,  pp.  14-38,  71.     According   to 
this  authority  goods  woven  by  machinery  were  not  introduced 
into  the  Illinois  settlements  till  about  1818. 

"Sixty  years  ago  Gervais  cultivated  tobacco  in  the  Little 
I'rairie.'' — An;/.  ChoutP.au,  June  1,  1825,  Hunt's  Minutes,  vol.  ii. 
p.  4. 

s  "  Since  ten  years  ago  John  Boli  made  sugar  every  year  on  the 
MeiMinec  River." — Jari/m*  ('/« umrijan,  July  ] 7,  1806,  Conimin- 
sioners'  Minutes,  vol.  i.  p.  410. 

"In  1799  there  was  a  sugar-camp  established  on  Soulard's 
land,  on  the  Missouri  River,  and  sugar  (maple)  made." — Gre- 
goire  Snrpy,  Sept.  7,  1806,  Ib.,  vol.  ii.  p.  7. 

*  Hunt's  Minutes,  vol.  ii.  p.  109. 

5  Reynolds,  speaking  of  the  Illinois  colonists,  says,  "  The 
French  scarcely  ever  troubled  themselves  with  milking  cows, 
but  turned  the  calves  out  with  the  other  cattle,  and  made  little 
or  no  butter." — My  OICH  Time*,  p.  91. 

From  the  similarity  of  the  French  methods  of  farming  in  the 
different  settlements,  it  is  probable  that  the  same  indifference 
to  milk  and  butter  existed  in  St.  Louis. 


and  monotonous  toils  of  farming.6  All  the  neighbor- 
ing forests  were  full  of  game.  Deer  have  been  shot 
near  the  site  of  the  Planters'  House,  in  St.  Louis 
City.  Every  adjacent  stream  was  alive  with  fish. 
Chouteau's  Pond  was-  a  favorite  resort  for  fishing 
prior  to  the  great  flood  of  1844.  In  1803  beef  was 
worth  from  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents  to  three  dollars 
a  hundred.  At  the  time  of  the  cession  some  of  the 
French  farmers  already  owned  hundreds  of  cattle  and 
swine.7 

"  The  farming  tools  were  rough,  awkward,  and 
heavy.8  The  plows  9  had  wooden  furrow-boards,  and 
the  snaths  were  either  straight  or  conveniently  bent 
by  the  accident  of  growth.  The  harness  of  the  ponies 
was  a  rude  combination  of  straps  and  ropes,  fastened, 
in  lieu  of  buckles,  with  strings  of  buckskin.  The 
oxen  were  yoked  in  a  primitive  oriental  fashion.  A 
strip  of  wood  about  three  inches  square  and  five  feet 
long  was  strapped  to  the  horns,  and  the  tongue  of  the 
cart  was  attached  to  the  centre  of  this  yoke.  The  re- 
sistance was  encountered  with  the  neck  and  not  with 
the  shoulders.10  The  only  article  in  the  country  on 
wheels  for  long  years  was  a  charrctte,  a  primitive  cart, 
constructed  of  two  pieces  of  scantling  some  ten  or 
twelve  feet  long,  joined  together  by  two  or  more 
cross-pieces,  upon  one  end  of  which  the  body  of 
wicker-work  was  placed,  and  the  front  ends  rounded 
to  serve  as  the  shafts,  and  the  whole  set  on  the  axle- 
tree  of  the  wheels.  Almost  the  only  use  they  had 
for  it  was  to  haul  in  their  corn  and  hay  to  their  barns 
back  of  the  village.  It  was  sometimes  used  to  take 
ladies  and  children  out  riding.  All  the  males  and 
most  of  the  females  rode  on  horseback. 

"  Laclede  brought  up  his  family  from  Fort  Char- 
tres  in  1764  in  one  of  these  carts,  and  F.  L.  Billon 
rode  up  in  one  from  Ste.  Genevieve  in  1818. 


6  Reynolds'  My  Own  Times,  p.  38.  It  is  a  singular  fact 
that  while  the  first  settlers  of  St.  Louis  were  mostly  hunters, 
boatmen,  or  traders,  the  inhabitants  of  Carondelet  were  all 
farmers.  "  About  twenty-five  years  ago  there  were  about  thirty 
families  of  farming  people  in  Carondelet  who  had  no  other  pur- 
suit."— Anguste  CVioi<fea«,  July  9,  1808,  C<niiiniHnn,nci-n'  Minutes, 
vol.  iii.  p.  217. 

"Carondelet  contained,  twenty-five  years  ago,  about  forty 
families,  all  farmers." — J.  B.  Provenche,  July  9,  1808,  Ib.,  p. 
•>  1  s. 

?  Reynolds  :  My  Own  Times,  p.  38. 

8  One  of  the  farmers  had  an  ingenious  device.  By  a  portable 
lodge  he  provided  convenient  quarters  for  himself  and  a  place 
of  security  for  his  tools.  "  Nic  Barsaloux  cultivated  a  piece 
of  land  south  of  Mill  Creek.  Barsaloux  had  a  small  house 
built  upon  wheels,  and  used  to  have  it  hauled  on  said  piece  of 
land  when  he  wanted  to  work  on  the  same." — Ren'  Dodier, 
March  5,  1803,  ComniiHuioners'  Minutes,  vol.  vi.  p.  110. 

»  Reynolds'  My  Own  Times,  p.  38.  10  Ibid.,  p.  39. 


1872 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


"  The  division  of  lands,  originally  derived  from  the 
mother-country,  was  sanctioned  by  the  exigencies  of 
the  New  World.  The  system  combined  convenience 
of  fellowship  with  facility  of  defense.  Generally  it 
began  in  the  village  itself  with  a  patriarchal  arrange- 
ment of  the  homestead.  Often,  in  imitation  of  the 
old  French  custom,  the  abode  of  the  father  stood  in 
the  centre  of  the  lot,  and  the  cottages  of  his  married 
children  were  ranged  on  either  side.  Sometimes  sev- 
eral generations  of  descendants  were  grouped  around 
the  patriarchal  household.  Occasionally  the  village 
lot  contained  one  or  two  acres,  but  at  St.  Charles  the 
usual  size  was  one  hundred  and  twenty  by  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  French  feet.  Some  of  these  features, 
so  characteristic  of  most  French  settlements,  were  ex- 
ceptional in  St.  Louis.  In  addition  to  this  house-lot, 
each  villager  had  an  equal  right  in  the  commons  and 
a  proportionate  share  in  the  common  fields.  The 
latter  were  lands  which  the  Governor  granted  to  the 
petitioners  for  the  purpose  of  tillage.1  The  shape  of 
the  tract  was  long  and  narrow.  The  common  fields 
at  St.  Charles  were  one  arpent,  or  one  hundred  and 
ninety-two  and  a  half  feet,  in  width  ;  and  a  single  lot, 
measuring  one  arpent  by  four,  embraced  about  thirty- 
four  acres.  The  length  of  the  strip  was  determined 
by  the  number  of  farmers.  Every  inhabitant  owning 
a  lot  in  the  village  was  entitled  to  a  section  of  the 
common  fields  proportioned  to  the  size  of  his  family 
and  to  his  means  of  cultivation.  His  tenure  was 
absolute.  Invested  with  the  fee-simple,  the  owner 
was  subject  to  no  restraints  in  the  disposal  of  his  land. 
The  first  common  fields  were  adjacent  to  the  village, 
but  as  the  growth  of  the  place  required  more  land  for 
cultivation  other  and  more  remote  fields  were  in- 
closed. 

"  The  common  was  also  situated  conveniently  near 
the  village.  This  tract  was  not  devoted  to  tillage. 
It  was  the  public  pasture  and  wood-lot.  There  were 
no  sub-divisions  and  no  exclusive  rights.  Its  benefits 
were  alike  free  to  all  who  were  entitled  to  their  enjoy- 
ment.2 These  grants  were  sometimes  very  extensive. 

1  It  was  the  duty  of  the  villagers  alternately  to  guard  thier 
growing  crops.     "The  inhabitants   in   those  days  (forty  years 
ago)  who  had  a  common  field  lot  had  a  fence  to  keep  the  cattle 
of  the  town  from  injuring  their  grain   growing  in  their  field 
lots.     It  was  the  custom  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  to  take 
it  in  turns  to  go  out  and  tend  their  cattle  and  keep  them  from 
doing  injury  to  the  same." — li<ii>t!xti-  Jtiritre,   Jr.,   July  30, 
1825,  Hunt's  Minutes,  vol.   ii.  p.  113;  Monette's  History  of  the 
MitMtlippi   Valley,  vol.  i.  p.  184. 

2  "The  common  was  first  fenced  in  the  year  1764,  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  inhabitants,   who   always  kept  it  in  repair,  and 
every  person,  inhabitant  of  the  village,  was  in  the  habit  of  pas- 
turing his  cattle  in  the  same  and  cutting  wood." — Auguste  Chou- 
tean,  May  10,  1806,  Commissioner*'  Minutes,  vol.  i.  p.  289. 


The  Cahokia  common  was  some  three  miles  long. 
The  Ste.  Genevieve  common  contained  about  four 
thousand  acres.  The  St.  Louis  commons,  compris- 
ing some  half  a  dozen  prairies  under  distinct  names, 
extended  to  the  common  fields  of  Carondelet.3  Ac- 
cording to  the  survey  of  1806,  the  whole  tract  em- 
braced four  thousand  two  hundred  and  ninety-eight 
arpens.  By  the  later  and  probably  more  exact  sur- 
vey of  1833  the  area  of  the  St.  Louis  commons  was 
four  thousand  five  hundred  and  ten  arpens.  The 
lands  thus  reserved  for  tillage  and  pasturage  were  in- 
closed at  the  public  expense,  but  the  tax  raised  for 
the  purpose  of  making  the  fence  and  keeping  it  in 
repair  could  be  paid  in  manual  labor.  Every  minute 
detail  was  regulated  by  law.*  As  in  some  of  the 
French  villages,  even  the  form  of  the  door-yard  and 
garden  was  determined  by  enactment ;  so  the  method 
of  building  and  repairing  the  fences  of  the  common 
fields,  the  penalty  for  the  neglect  of  these  duties  or 
for  an  encroachment  upon  the  rights  of  others,  and 
the  time  for  plowing,  planting,  and  harvesting  were 
all  prescribed  by  public  ordinance.  The  system  of 
common  fields  was  well  adapted  to  the  circumstances 

i  of  colonial  life.  It  strengthened  a  feeling  of  mutual 
dependence  and  social  attachments.  It  also  afforded 
a  safeguard  against  the  incursions  of  the  Indians.  All 
the-  farmers  being,  by  the  requirement  of  law,  en- 
gaged simultaneously  in  the  cultivation  of  their  adja- 
cent fields,  could  quickly  assist  each  other  in  the  event 
of  an  attack.  While  the  community  of  interests  de- 
veloped a  sense  of  common  brotherhood,  the  indi- 
vidual ownership  of  real  estate  prevented  the  evils  of 
tenantry  and  the  growth  of  a  landed  aristocracy. 
There  could  be  no  distraint  of  tenants  where  all  alike 
were  landlords." 

New  County  of  St.  Louis. — By  an  act  of  the 
Legislature  of  Missouri,  passed  in  1875,  the  town- 

|  ships  of  St.  Ferdinand,  Central,  Bonhomme,  Meramec, 
and  Carondelet  were  separated  from  the  city  of  St. 
Louis  and  erected  into  a  county  bearing  the  same 
name.  The  act  extended  the  limits  of  the  city,  de- 

8  "  A.J).  1790  there  was  a  common  fence  that  connected  with 
the  common  field  fence  of  Carondelet,  and  extended  so  as  to  go 
round  and  include  Prairie  des  Noyes,  Cul  de  Sac,  and  the  Big 
Prairie,  and  the  land  inclosed  within  this  was  generally  culti- 
vated."— Au'jiixre  Chunteait,  June  1,  1825,  Hunt's  Minutes,  vol. 
ii.  p.  4. 

"  When  he  first  came  to  St.  Louis  the  common  extended  to 
the  River  des  Peres,  but  after  that,  when  Carondelet  was  laid 
out,  there  was  an  agreement  between  the  inhabitants  of  St. 
Louis  and  the  inhabitants  of  Carondelet  that  the  common  field 
fence  of  St.  Louis  should  join  the  common  field  of  Carondelet." 
— John  Baptiste  Lorain,  <SV.,  Nov.  23, 1825,  Hunt's  Minutes,  vol. 
iii.  pp.  82-85. 

*  Monette's  Hist,  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  vol.  i.  p.  184. 


COUNTY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


1873 


fined  the  boundaries  or  line  between  the  city  and 
county,  and  made  provisions  for  the  organization  of 
the  county  and  the  appointment  of  its  first  officers. 
The  newly-appointed  county  judges  under  the  act 
were  Henry  Xi.  Sutton,  presiding  judge  ;  Joseph  Con- 
way  and  James  C.  Edwards,  associates.  A  meeting 
of  the  judges  was  held  at  the  house  of  Judge  Sut- 
ton on  the  22d  of  January,  1877,  and  the  work  of 
organizing  the  county  was  entered  on.  The  constitu- 
tional oath  of  office  was  administered  to  the  justices 
by  Thomas  Thomas,  notary  public,  and  orders  were 
made  that  William  D  Clayton  be  appointed  clerk  of 
the  County  Court  and  ex  offitio  recorder  of  deeds, 
also  that  Alfred  Carr  be  appointed  sheriff  of  the 
county  and  ex  officio  collector.  Thomas  T.  January 
was  appointed  county  treasurer,  and  the  amount  of 
the  bonds  of  all  these  officers  was  prescribed.  It 
was  then  ordered  "  that  the  presiding  justice  of  this 
court  inform  the  presiding  justice  of  the  old  County 
Court  that  the  new  county  government  is  now  organ- 
ized in  manner  as  provided  by  law,  and  has  assumed 
the  control  of  the  affairs  of  the  county  of  St.  Louis 
in  the  newly-established  limits  as  fixed  and  deter- 
mined by  scheme  and  charter."  By  another  order 
the  presiding  justice  was  directed  to  surrender  to  the 
mayor  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis  the  county  buildings 
and  property  belonging  to  the  old  county  and  located 
within  the  extended  limits  of  the  city,  as  those  limits 
were  fixed  by  the  scheme  and  charter. 

A  committee,  consisting  of  the  presiding  justice, 
sheriff,  and  clerk,  was  appointed  to  select  a  suitable 
place  for  a  temporary  county-seat,  and  Frank  J. 
Bowman  was  appointed  special  counsel  for  the  county 
in  all  matters  pertaining  to  its  organization.  It  was 
ordered  that  the  seal  of  the  new  county  should  be  in 
all  respects  similar  to  the  one  previously  used  by  the 
County  Court  of  St.  Louis  County,  except  that  the 
word  "  new"  should  be  prefixed  to  the  word  "county" 
on  such  seal.  The  special  counsel  was  directed  to 
take  measures  for  determining  the  validity  of  the  new  \ 
organization,  and  the  police  commissioners  of  the  city 
of  St.  Louis  were  requested  to  continue  the  police 
regulations  in  the  county  till  further  arrangements 
were  made.  The  machinery  of  the  new  county  gov- 
ernment was  thus  set  in  motion. 

The  temporary  county-seat  was  fixed  at  the  Mount 
Olive*  House,  on  the  Olive  Street  Rock  road,  nine 
miles  from  the  old  court-house.  The  owner  of  this 
house,  Samuel  Ecker,  offered  the  same,  with  all  the 
necessary  rooms,  for  the  use  of  the  County  Court,  all 
the  county  offices,  and,  when  needed,  accommodation 
for  the  Circuit  and  Probate  Courts.  This  offer  was 
accepted,  and  the  first  meeting  there  of  the  court  was 


held  on  the  12th  of  March,  1877.  This  house  had 
been  erected  for  a  summer  resort  seventeen  years  pre- 
viously. It  was  a  fine  three-story  brick  building,  con- 
taining thirty-seven  rooms  and  a  hall  forty  by  forty- 
four  feet,  amply  capacious  for  a  court- room. 

The  region  was  pleasant,  and  the  West  End 
Narrow- Gauge  Railroad  ran  within  a  mile  of  the 
place.  Here  the  county  business  was  transacted  till 
the  completion  of  the  buildings  at  the  county-seat. 
Of  this  house  the  St.'  Louis  Republican  of  April 
23,  1878,  said  — 

"  The  Mount  Olive  House,  the  temporary  seat  of  justice  for 
St.  Louis  County,  had  every  inch  of  available  space  occupied 
yesterday. 

"  It  is  questionable  whether  another  public-house  of  the  same 
size  in  America  was  ever  put  to  as  many  uses  in  the  same  space 
of  time — six  hours — as  was  this  house  yesterday. 

"  In  this  house  is  located  all  the  county  offices  inseparable  to 
the  municipal  government  of  a  count}'  with  forty  thousand  in- 
habitants,— a  post-office,  a  large  bar-room,  where  attorneys  do 
not  room,  a  Circuit  Court  room,  a  County  Court  room,  a  Pro- 
bate Court  room,  private  offices,  a  large  printing-office,  where 
the  county  paper  is  published,  and  a  number  of  sleeping-rooms. 
The  house  is  also  serving  as  a  hotel,  and  to-day  some  part  of  it 
will  be  used  as  a  jail,  where  prisoners  will  be  temporarily  con- 
fined until  their  cases  are  called. 

"  Four  different  organized  bodies — the  Circuit  Court,  the 
County  Court,  the  Probate  Court,  and  the  Court  of  Equaliza- 
tion— held  sessions  and  transacted  business,  notwithstanding 
that  the  rain  poured  down  and  the  wind  roared  like  a  tor- 
nado." 

A  commission,  consisting  of  Robert  Gr.  Coleman, 
Thomas  J.  Sappington,  and  Wm.  M.  Henderson,  M.D., 
was  appointed  to  select  a  suitable  place  for  a  p£r- 
manent  county-seat.  These  commissioners  met  on  the 
7th  of  May,  1877,  and  agreed  that  the  best  interest 
of  the  county  demanded  the  location  of  the  county- 
seat  on  a  plat  of  ground  belonging  to  William  Pat- 
rick, lying  south  of  the  Olive  Street  road,  and  west 
of  the  Watson  road,  at  the  point  where  the  Signal 
Service  station  was  previously  located. 

This  selection  proved  unsatisfactory  to  the  people, 
and  the  commissioners  annulled  it  on  the  plea  that 
they  had  not  qualified  before  entering  on  their  duties, 
and  that  the  selection  was  therefore  void.  The  St. 
Loin's  Republican  of  Sept.  25,  1877,  stated, — 

"The  St.  Louis  commissioners,  Messrs.  Coleman,  Sappington, 
nnd  Henderson,  appointed  by  the  board  of  freeholders  to  locate- 
the  permanent  county-seat  for  St.  Louis  County,  met  yesterday 
at  Mount  Olive  and  agreed  upon  a  location.  The  proposals 
offered  comprised  three  from  Mr.  Clayton,  the  Mount  Olive, 
Mrs.  Patrick's,  near  Strattman's,  Denny,  Buntville,  Kirkwood, 
and  St.  Ferdinand.  The  commissioners  held  their  meeting  in 
private,  and  finally  settled  on  what  is  locally  known  as  the  third 
proposition  of  Ralph  Clayton,  comprising  one  hundred  and  four 
acres  of  ground  on  the  Hanley  road.  Mrs.  Hanley  gives  four 
acres  and  Mr.  Clayton  one  hundred  acres.  The  land  has  been? 
held  at  a  valuation  of  three  hundred  dollars  per  acre,  aggrega- 


1874 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


ting  over  thirty-one  thousand  dollars  in  total  value.  The  Han- 
ley  road  starts  from  Barthold's,  on  the  Manchester  road,  and  : 
running  north  crosses  successively  the  Clayton  road,  Bonhomme 
road,  Olive  Street  road,  and  the  St.  Charles  Rock  road.  The  lo- 
cation as  fixed  upon  by  the  commissioners  is  at  the  junction  of 
the  Hanley  road,  bounding  it  on  the  east,  and  the  projected  St. 
Louis  Narrow-Gauge  Railroad,  bounding  it  on  the  west,  and 
running  through  Forest  Park,  and  from  which  road  the  St. 
Louis,  Kansas  City  and  Northern  Railroad  secured  the  right  of 
way  into  the  Union  Depot.  The  proposed  Narrow-Gauge  Road 
is  already  graded  past  the  newly-located  county-seat.  The 
property  is  about  eight  and  a  half-miles  from  the  city  court- 
house, and  is  accessible  from  all  the  thoroughfares  in  the  county, 
which  approach  each  other  as  they  near  the  city.  The  location 
is  about  a  mile  and  a  quarter  southeast  of  the  present  tempo- 
rary county-seat  at  Mount  Olive,  the  Hanley  road  passing 
around  Olive  Street  road  a  short  distance  east  of  Mount  Olive. 
The  location  is  three  miles  north  of  Barthold's,  and  about  two 
miles  west  of  Forest  Park,  or  the  city  limits." 

On  the  4th  of  December,  1877,  an  election  was 
held  to  determine  the  question  of  location  of  the 
county-seat,  and  the  recommendation  of  the  commis- 
sioners was  indorsed  by  a  small  majority. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  County  Court,  held  at  Mount 
Olive,  March  4,  1878,— 

"  it  was  ordered  that  the  commissioner  of  county-seat  pro- 
ceed at  once  to  have  the  square  or  block  of  ground  reserved  for 
county  buildings  cleared  of  all  timber,  brush,  stumps,  etc.,  that 
in  his  judgment  should  be  removed,  preserving  all  forest-trees 
that  will  not  obstruct  nor  be  in  the  way  of  the  construction  of 
said  buildings  on  said  square. 

"  It  was  ordered  further  that  as  soon  as  the  county  surveyor 
has  completed  an  accurate  measurement  of  the  grounds  and  the 
sub-division  of  the  same,  in  accordance  with  the  map  of  plat  ap- 
proved by  this  court  and  ordered  filed  in  the  county  clerk's 
office,  the  said  commissioner  shall  immediately  cause  at  least 
one  thousand  lithographed  copies  of  the  same  to  be  made  for 
distribution,  headed  with  the  name  of  '  Clayton,  St.  Louis 
County  Court-House  Donation,'  in  large  letters,  with  the  four 
avenues  bordering  the  court-house  square  and  inclosing  the 
same  named  and  lettered  on  said  map,  as  follows,  viz. :  the  one 
running  north  and  south  on  the  east  side  of  said  square  shall 
be  named  and  lettered  Central  Avenue;  the  one  on  the  north 
side  of  said  square,  running  east  and  west,  named  and  lettered 
St.  Ferdinand  Avenue  ;  the  one  on  the  south  side  of  said  square, 
running  east  and  west,  named  and  lettered  Carondelet  Avenue; 
the  one  on  the  west  side  of  the  square  shall  be  named  and  let- 
tered Meramec  Avtnue,  and  the  one  immediately  south  of 
Carondelet  Avenue  shall  be  named  and  lettered  Bonhomme 
Avenue. 

•'  The  original  of  said  lithographic  plats,  with  the  names  of 
said  avenues  thereon,  shall  be  matters  of  record,  and  all  of  the 
before-mentioned  avenues  are  hereby  dedicated  for  public  use, 
together  with  all  other  avenues,  streets,  and  alleys  shown  on 
Baid  original  map  or  plat  as  recorded  and  named  by  the  said 
commissioner  of  the  county-seat. 

"  It  was  further  ordered  that  the  avenue  running  north  and 
south  on  the  western  boundary  of  said  plat  shall  be  named  and 
lettered  Coleman  Avenue. 

"  The  avenue  running  east  and  west  along  the  northern 
boundary  on  said  plat  shall  be  named  and  lettered  Henderson 
Avenue. 

"  The  avenue  running  north  and  south  and  immediately  east 


of  Central  Avenue  shall  be  named  and  lettered  St.  Louis 
Avenue. 

"And  the  avenue  running  with  and  parallel  to  the  St.  Louis 
County  Railroad  shall  be  named  and  lettered  Sappington 
Avenue. 

"  All  of  which  are  hereby  dedicated  to  publip  use,  together 
with  the  other  avenues,  streets,  or  alleys  marked  out  and  shown 
upon  said  plat." 

On  the  18th  of  July,  1877,  the  last  act  in  the  sepa- 
ration of  the  city  and  county  governments  was  accom- 
plished, and  the  old  County  Court  adjourned  forever. 
The  Board  of  Finance,  consisting  of  R.  C.  Allen,  justice 
Sixth  District;  C.  Conrades,  justice  Fifth  District; 
Henry  Overstolz,  mayor ;  E.  L.  Adreon,  comptroller, 
presented  their  report.  The  old  court  had  no  objec- 
tion to  interpose,  and  the  warrants  were  drawn  upon 
the  treasurer  for  the  amounts  due  the  city  and  county 
respectively. 

At  this  meeting  the  following  was  offered  by  Judge 
Finney : 

"  Ordered,  That,  in  pursuance  of  the  provisions  of  Section 
9  of  the  scheme,  the  clerk  of  this  court,  the  county  treasurer, 
and  the  county  auditor  be  and  they  are  hereby  instructed  to 
transfer  to  the  proper  officers  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis  all  records, 
books,  papers,  etc.,  now  in  the  office  of  this  court  or  under  their 
control. 

"  And  it  is  further  ordered  that  the  furniture,  books,  and 
papers  in  the  offices  of  the  county  auditor  and  treasurer  and 
County  Court  room,  and  all  other  property  belonging  to  the 
former  county  of  St.  Louis  not  heretofore  transferred,  be  and 
the  same  are  hereby  turned  over  and  formally  transferred  to  the 
city  of  St.  Louis. 

"  And  that  the  assessor  be  instructed  to  transfer  to  the  new 
County  Court  all  books,  plats,  etc.,  now  in  his  possession,  and 
which  by  the  terms  of  the  scheme  have  become  their  property." 

Adopted. 

Judge  Allen  moved  that  the  seal  of  the  old  County 
Court  be  turned  over  to  the  new  County  Court. 
Judge  Speck  thought  there  were  some  objections,  but 
Judge  Edwards,  of  the  new  County  Court,  who  was 
present,  explained  that  the  transfer  would  be  merely 
as  a  piece  of  property,  and  it  was  agreed  to. 

Judge  Finney  then  offered  the  following : 

"  WHKRKAS,  The  Board  of  Finance  appointed  under  the  scheme 
and  charter  for  the  purpose  of  adjusting  the  relations  between 
the  old  county  of  St.  Louis  and  the  city  of  St.  Louis  and  the 
new  county  of  St.  Louis  have  this  day  reported  to  the  court 
that  they  have  completed  their  labors,  and  all  appropriate  or- 
ders having  been  made  and  passed  :  it  is  therefore 

"  Ordered,  That  the  functions  of  this  court  having  ceased 
and  its  powers  ended,  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  Of  Sec- 
tion 9  of  the  scheme,  it  is  hereby  adjourned  sine  die." 

The  resolution  was  adopted,  the  vote  being  as  fol- 
lows:  Ayes,  Judges  Speck,  Heller,  Finney,  and 
Conrades ;  Noes,  Judges  Allen  and  Dailey. 

The  following  figures  afford  a  brief  summary  of  the 
report  of  the  Board  of  Finance.  The  funded  debt  of 


COUNTY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


1875 


the  former  county,  assumed  by  the  city,  was  declared 
to  be  $6,824,000  ;  all  other  claims  against  the  county, 
$9065.35.  The  necessary  current  expenses  of  the 
county  prior  to  Oct.  22,  1876,  were  $92,575.83,  and 
•the  receipts  from  Oct.  21  to  May  31,  1877,  exclusive 
of  special  funds,  $547,704.11;  total,  $640,279.94. 
To  ascertain  the  divisible  balance  there  must  be  de- 
ducted from  this  sum  as  follows :  Current  expenses 
and  other  claims  accrued  and  paid  from  Oct.  21,  1876, 
to  May  31,  1877,  $423,291.07,  arid  amount  of  out- 
standing claims,  $30,079.92,  leaving  the  balance  to 
be  divided  $186,908.95.  On  the  basis  of  the  as- 
sessed valuation  of  city  and  county  for  1876,  this 
balance,  divided  proportionately,  gives :  City's  share, 
$164,414.30,  and  the  county's  share,  $22,491.65. 

The  location  of  the  county-seat  at  Clayton  led  to 
some  annoying  litigation.  An  injunction  was  sought 
to  restrain  the  county  authorities  from  the  erection  of 
buildings  there,  on  the  ground  that  the  place  had  not  ! 
been  legally  selected  as  the  county-seat.  After  due 
hearing,  however,  the  application  for  an  injunction 
was  refused. 

The  following  extracts  from  a  St.  Louis  journal 1 
shows  what  were  the  views  entertained  by  some  at 
the  time  concerning  the  separation,  and  the  effect  at 
first  on  the  taxes  levied  in  the  new  county  : 

"  Our  neighbors  of  the  county  have  good  reasons  for  the  con- 
gratulations they  indulge  in  over  their  condition.  Their  court- 
house will  not  cost  them,  it  is  said,  over  thirty  thousand  dollars, 
and  they  have  the  means  to  pay  for  it  already  on  hand.  It  and 
the  jail  connected  with  it  will  furnish  ample  accommodations 
for  the  public  business  for  half  a  century  to  come.  Clayton  is 
only  about  eight  miles  from  this  city,  and  will  in  a  year  or  two  be 
connected  with  it  by  a  narrow-gauge  railroad.  The  new  county 
possesses  many  marked  advantages, — the  suburban  boundary, 
twenty-five  miles  in  extent,  of  a  great  and  growing  city,  seventy 
miles  of  completed  railroad,  seventy-five  miles  of  gravel  and 
macadamized  road,  a  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  of  good 
common  highway  with  bridges  and  culverts,  a  population  of  forty 
thousand,  and  a  taxable  wealth  of  over  twenty  million  dollars,  and 
along  water-line  formed  by  three  rivers,  whose  valleys  and  bluffs 
afford  a  fertility  of  soil  and  a  beauty  of  scenery  which  together 
can  hardly  be  equaled  in  any  similar  area  in  the  United  States. 

"The  people  of  the  county  have  no  regrets  to  waste  over 
separation,  even  though  it  has  deprived  them  of  the  three  hun- 
dred thousand  to  three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  per 
aim  urn  which  the  old  County  Court  was  accustomed  to  expend 
on  their  roads  and  bridges.  They  find  that  they  are  able  to  keep 
up  their  highways  with  one-tenth  of  this  enormous  expenditure, 
while  the  decided  advantages  of  having  control  of  their  own 
administration  are  brought  out  in  every  day's  experience.  All 
things  considered,  they  have  made  a  good  beginning  in  self- 
government,  and  if  they  keep  on  as  they  have  begun,  will  have 
increasing  reasons  for  rejoicing  at  the  severance  of  a  connection 
whieh  had  become  injurious  to  both  city  and  county. 

•'  The  St.  Louis  County  Court  has  fixed  the  tax  levy  for  county 
purposes  for  the  present  year  at  thirty-five  cents  on  the  one 


l  St.  Louts  Itepublicaii,  May  10  and  22,  1878. 


hundred  dollars, — ten  cents  for  roads  and  bridges  and  twenty- 
five  cents  for  other  purposes.  This  is  a  reduction  of  five  cents 
on  the  levy  of  last  year.  The  State  taxes  (for  revenue  and 
interest)  are  forty  cents;  the  total  rates,  therefore,  are  seventy- 
five  cents  on  the  one  hundred  dollars.  This,  however,  does  not 
include  the  school  tax,  which  is  fixed  by  the  district  school 
boards,  and  varies  from  twenty-five  to  fifty  cents.  The  taxable 
property  in  the  county  is  twenty-two  million  dollars.  The  tax 
rate  fixed  upon  will  therefore  yield,  theoretically,  seventy-seven 
thousand  dollars,  of  which  about  twenty-two  thousand  dollars 
will  go  to  the  maintenance  of  roads  and  bridges,  and  fifty-five 
thousand  dollars  for  other  county  purposes. 

''  Under  the  old  reyime  the  people  of  the  county  were  accus- 
tomed to  pay  about  forty-five  cents  county  tax  and  seven  and 
one-half  cents  back  tax,  making  a  total  of  fifty-two  and  one-half 
cents  on  the  one  hundred  dollars.  The  present  rate  of  thirty- 
five  cents  is  seventeen  and  one-half  cents  less,  and  this  although 
the  new  county  is  engaged  in  erecting  its  public  buildings." 

COUNTY  BUILDINGS. — John  Snyder  was  appointed 
superintendent  of  public  buildings,  and  under  his 
supervision  the  court-house  and  jail  were  erected  by 
Rude  and  Luke,  of  St.  Louis.  The  corner-stone  was 
laid  on  the  9th  of  May,  1878,  and  the  ceremony  was 
witnessed  by  more  than  three  thousand  people.  The 
Masons  of  St.  Louis  had  been  invited  to  take  charge 
of  the  affair. 

There  were  portions  of  four  commanderies  of  the 
Templars,  in  full  regalia,  commanded  by  John  S. 
Parsons,  Grand  Commander.  Among  them  was  the 
committee  of  Knights  Templar  of  the  county,  com- 
posed of  Judge  Henderson,  T.  E.  Garrett,  and  F.  V. 
Westlake ;  also  W.  H.  Goodin,  E.  C. ;  Robert  Mc- 
Culloch,  E.  C. ;  Arle  De  Jong,  E.  C. ;  Thomas  M. 
Wannall,  P.  G.  M. ;  and  John  A.  Sloan,  E.  C. 
Among  the  Masons  were  Missouri  Lodge,  No.  1  ; 
St.  Louis  Lodge,  No.  20  ;  Kirk  wood  Lodge,  No.  484  ; 
Bonhomme  Lodge,  No.  45  ;  Fenton  Lodge,  No.  28 ; 
Bridgton  Lodge,  No.  80  ;  Lambskin  Lodge,  No.  460  ; 
Eureka  Lodge;  and  Occidental  Lodge,  No.  163.  The 
following  officers  were  present :  Thomas  G.  Reddy, 
G.  M.  of  the  State ;  Joseph  B.  Austin,  G.  M. ;  John 
W.  Luke,  D.  G.  M. ;  D.  N.  Burgoyne,  S.  G.  W. ; 
W.  H.  Stone,  J.  G.  W.;  William  H.  Mayo,  G.  S. ; 
W.  H.  Fox,  S.  G.  D. ;  D.  0.  Butterfield,  J.  G.  D. ; 
M.  Eli,  S.  G.  S. ;  G.  W.  Sellers,  J.  G.  S. ;  John  W. 
Davis,  Bearer  of  Lights  ;  John  C.  Bloomfield,  G.  M. ; 
George  Thorp,  G.  Treas. ;  Thomas  H.  Benton,  P.  G. 
M. ;  Frederic  L.  Billon,  P.  G.  T.  and  S. 

On  arriving  at  the  ground,  Judge  J.  C.  Edwards 
called  the  assemblage  to  order,  and  nominated  Judge 
Hunton,  who  was  chosen  to  preside. 

Alfred  Carr  was  elected  secretary,  and  then  Hon. 
John  F.  Darby  presented  to  the  secretary  an  old  Bible 
and  asked  that  an  inscription  therein  be  read.  It  was 
read,  as  follows:  "In  1830  two  young  men,  George 
Cornwell  and  Richard  Tunis,  came  to  the  State  of 


1876 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Missouri  as  merchants  from  Philadelphia.  When 
George  Cornwell  left  home  his  mother  gave  him  this 
morocco-bound  Bible.  He  died  in  St.  Louis  in  1832, 
and  before  he  died  he  gave  this  Bible  to  his  friend, 
Richard  Tunis,  and  he,  in  turn,  gave  it  to  John  F. 
Darby,  who  has  had  it  in  his  possession  forty-six 
years  this  9th  day  of  May,  1878.  John  F.  Darby 
deposited  with  his  own  hands  this  Bible  in  the  place 
for  the  reception  of  mementoes  in  this  corner-stone 
of  the  new  court-house  of  St.  Louis  County." 

It  was  ordered  that  the  book  be  so  deposited. 

The  ceremony  of  laying  the  corner-stone  was  then 
performed,  after  the  ritual  of  the  Masonic  order, 
and  a  brief  address,  appropriate  to  the  occasion,  refer- 
ring chiefly  to  Masonry,  was  delivered  by  Thomas  G. 
Reddy,  Grand  Master,  who  presided  at  the  cere- 
monies. 


ST.   LOUIS   COUNTY    COURT-HOUSE. 

The  contents  of  the  box  were  as  follows:  1.  Deed  of  Ralph 
Clayton  to  the  county  for  one  hundred  acres  of  land.  2.  Deed 
of  M.  F.  Hanley  and  wife  to  the  county  for  four  acres.  3.  Re- 
port of  the  committee  which  selected  the  site  for  county-seat. 
4.  Order  for  election  under  said  report,  o.  Report  of  county 
clerk  on  said  election.  6.  Constitution  of  State  Grange.  7. 
Communication  from  Grand  Master  of  State  Grange  with  refer- 
ence to  grangers  in  St.  Louis  County.  8.  First  and  last  copies 
of  the  Connty  Mail.  9.  List  of  directors  and  pupils  of  Clayton 
schools.  10.  Constitution  of  State.  11.  Scheme  and  charter. 
12.  Constitution  of  Grand  Lodge  of  State  of  Missouri,  A.  F.  and 
A.  M.  13.  Proceidings  of  Grand  Lodge  of  State  in  1877.  14. 


Two  ancient  coins,  presented  by  Ralph  Clayton.  15.  Copies  of 
Republican,  Times,  and  Globe-Democrat.  16.  Holy  Bible,  pre- 
sented by  Mr.  Darby.  17.  Copy  of  St.  Louis  Herald.  18.  New 
silver  dollar,  with  name  of  Judge  J.  C.  Edwards  and  wife  en- 
graved. 19.  Photographs  of  Judge  Edwards  and  Henry  T. 
Mudd.  20.  Contributions  from  Judge  Conway,  as  follows  :  one 
Continental  bill  for  thirty  dollars,  issued  under  act  of  Congress 
of  January,  1799  ;  one  bill  for  a  shilling,  issued  by  New  Jersey 
in  1776  ;  one  bill  for  a  shilling,  issued  by  Connecticut  in  1776; 
one  United  States  gold  quarter  of  a  dollar,  a  dime,  a  half- 
dime,  three  three-cent  pieces  and  a  copper,  a  lot  of  stamps. 
21.  Copy  of  Declaration  of  Independence.  22.  Two-thirds  of 
a  dollar  scrip  of  Aug.  14,  1776,  presented  by  John  P.  Helfen- 
stein.  23.  Copy  of  Journalof  Agriculture.  24.  A  silver  quarter. 

After  the  box  was  in  place,  John  Studdert,  con- 
tractor for  the  masonry,  stepped  forward  and  per- 
formed the  mechanical  part  of  the  work. 

Addresses  were  delivered  by  Judge  Hunton,  Mr. 
Eshbaugh,  of  the  State  Grange,  Patrons  of  Hus- 
bandry, Lieutenant-Governor  Brockmeyer, 
Col.  N.  Claiborne,  R.  H.  Kern,  Gen. 
Shields,  R.  Graham  Frost,  and  Judge  Ed- 
wards. Among  those  present  were  noted 

Judge  W.  C.  Jones,  Judge  Charles  F.  Cady,  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor Brockmeyer,  H.  Clay  Sexton, 
George  Knapp,  Waldo  P.  Johnson,  John  G.  Kelly, 
John  Knapp,  Judge  W.  W.  Edwards,  Hon.  John 
F.  Darby,  Judge  James  C.  Edwards,  L.  R.  Beach, 
Capt.  Conway,  John  Belleville,  James  Doyle,  Capt. 
Henry  Burgess,  Capt.  Warren  Fox,  Capt.  William 
Lee,  Judge  John  F.  Farrar,  Judge  H.  L.  Sutton, 
Joseph  T.  Tatum,  Deputy-Marshals  Lenori,  Coff, 
Reinstaedtler,  Blanchard,  and  Overbeck,  J.  R.  Clai- 
borne, N.  C.  Claiborne,  Michael  Fortin,  Aldermen 
Henry,  Barbee,  Updike,  Crawshaw,  and  Conrades, 
Councilmen  Campbell  and  Rude,  Dr.  Wortman,  L. 
Harrigan,  Dr.  P.  S.  Yost,  Capt.  Joseph  A.  Brown, 
A.  P.  Johnston,  Henry  Eshbaugh,  Rev.  Dr.  Booth, 
M.  A.  Rosenblatt,  T.  B.  Estep,  J.  M.  Loring,  S.  H. 
Laflin,  Andrew  J.  Clabby,  William  Pfister,  Erastus 
Wells,  Franklin  Ftz,  Eugene  Streble,  Nicholas  Bell, 
Col.  Butler,  Charles  Costello,  Joseph  L.  Hyatt,  A. 
W.  Mead,  Judge  Henderson,  T.  T.  January,  W.  H. 
H.  Russell,  Ashton  P.  Johnson,  William  D.  Clay- 
ton, John  McMennamy,  Samuel  James,  Louis 
Kessler,  Dr.  William  Cousland,  Alex.  McElhany, 
Thomas  Fitzwilliams,  Joseph  Maher,  M.  D.  Lewis, 
Dr.  O'Brien,  Dr.  Isaiah  Forbes,  Dr.  Diggs,  Willis 
Hord,  Alfred  Carr,  Leon  De  Lisle,  William  N.  Belt, 
H.  B.  Belt,  Capt.  I.  M.  Mason,  Gen.  Marmaduke,  V. 
T.  Crawford,  Charles  L.  Hunt,  Judge  Lanham,  William  Sutton, 
Charles  Heussler,  Robert  W.  Goode,  Dr.  A.  'C.  Robinson,  T.  J. 
Sappington,  John  I.  Martin,  W.  H.  Swift,  C.  E.  Wells,  J.  C. 
Marshall,  John  Finn,  Max  Gumpert,  Judge  Wielandy,  William 
Krciter,  Judge  Wolff,  Judge  Walton,  William  Drake,  John  W. 
Drake,  John  F.  Ryan,  Thomas  J.  Henly,  R.  Molencott,  Fred. 
Huey,  Thomas  Cleary,  Robert  Mcllvaine,  Judge  Studt,  M.  W. 
Hogan,  W.  A.  Brawner,  Henri  Chomeau,  John  A.  Massey, 
Henry  T.  Mudd,  J.  P.  Thomas,  Lyinan  Thomas,  James  Hardy, 
Dr.  Henderson,  Emil  Bessehl,  F.  D.  Turner,  D.  D.  Duncan, 
Col.  Benjamin  Emmons,  William  A.  Alexander,  William  L. 
Yosti,  Albert  Matlack. 


COUNTY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


1877 


The  court-house  was  first  occupied  Dec.  9,  1878. 
Its  size  is  one  hundred  and  six  feet  front  centre,  wings 
project  ten  feet,  the  side-fronts  of  the  end  wings  are 
fifty-two  feet,  and  the  centre  wing  is  seventy-three 
feet  deep.  It  has  two  stories  above  the  basement, 
which  is  nine  feet  in  height ;  the  first  story  has  a 
height  of  fourteen  feet  six  inches,  and  the  second  of 
seventeen  feet  six  inches.  From  the  ground  to  the 
top  of  the  cornice  is  forty-five  feet,  and  to  the  top  of 
the  dome  is  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet.  In 
the  basement  are  rooms  for  storage  and  three  offices. 
The  first  floor  is  divided  into  offices  and  the  Probate 
Court  room,  and  the  upper  story  includes  the  Circuit 
and  County  Court  rooms,  the  offices  of  the  prosecuting 
attorney  and  the  circuit  clerk,  the  judges'  rooms,  and 
the  necessary  jury-rooms.  It  is  a  brick  structure, 
and  is  tastefully  finished. 

The  jail,  which  stands  near  the  court-house,  is  con- 
nected with  it  by  a  corridor  ten  feet  wide  and  sixteen 
feet  long.  This  is  also  a  brick  building,  two  stories 
in  height,  thirty-two  by  thirty-five  feet  in  size.  It 
has  two  corridors,  and  the  cells  are  of  iron.  The 
cost  of  the  two  buildings  was  thirty-eight  thousand 
dollars. 

CIVIL  LIST. — The  officers  of  St.  Louis  County 
since  its  separation  from  the  city  have  been : 

PRESIDING  JUDGES  OP  COUNTY  COURT. — Henry  L.  Sutton, 
1877-78;  George  W.  Brouster,  1879-82;  William  A.  Hequem- 
bourg,  1883-86. 

ASSOCIATK  JUDGES. — First  District,  James  C.  Edwards,  1877- 
78 ;  Robert  C.  Schencko,  1879-80 ;  Fritz  Kraut,  1881-84.  Second 
District,  Joseph  Conway,  1877-78;  Francis  Rewwe,  1879-82; 
John  A.  Shore,  1883-84. 

PROBATE  JUDGES. — James  A.  Henderson,  1877-82;  George 
W.  Brouster,  1883-86. 

PROSECUTING  ATTORNEYS. — Joseph  A.  Brown,  1877-80;  John 
R.  Warfield,  1881-84. 

SHERIFFS. — John  A.  Watson,  1877-80;  Robert  Schencko, 
1881-84. 

COUNTY  CLERKS. — William  D.  Clayton,  1877-78 ;  E.  L.  Dosen-   j 
bach,  1879-86. 

CIRCUIT  CLERKS.— John  A.  McMinamy,  1877-78;  E.  H.  Ly-   | 
cett,  1879-82;  Christian  D.  Wolff,  1883-86. 

ASSESSORS.— William    F.    Poster,    1877-80;    Green    Baxter,  I 
1881-82;  Francis  Rewwe,  1883-84. 

TREASURERS.— T.  T.  January,  1877-78  ;  F.  A.  Heidorn,  1879-  j 
82  (died);  James  C.  Edwards,  1882;  George  H.  W.  Heidorn, 
1883-84. 

RECORDERS. — William  D.  Clayton  (ex  officio),  1877-78;  E.  L. 
Dosenhaeh  (ex  nfficio),  1879,  until  July ;  William  D.  Clayton, 
1879-80;  Francis  Ruehl,  1881-86. 

SURVEYOR. — Henri  Chomeau,  1877-84. 

COMMISSIONERS  OF  ROADS  AND  BRIDGES. — John  A.  Massey, 
1877-78;  Robert  C.  Allen,  part  of  1879,  county  surveyor  since. 

SCHOOL  COMMISSIONERS. — J.  R.  Evans,  1877-79;  J.  B.  Breier, 
1880-84. 

The  population  of  St.  Louis  County,  according  to 
the  census  of  1880,  was  31,888.     Of  this  number  i 
119 


there  were:  males,  16,988;  females,  14,900;  natives, 
25,299  ;  foreign-born,  6589  ;  white,  28,008 ;  colored, 
3880. 

A  comparison  of  the  sum  of  the  population  in  the 
townships  in  1860  with  the  population  of  the  county 
in  1880  shows  an  increase  in  twenty  years  of  more 
than  fifty  per  cent. 

WEST  END  NARROW-GAUGE  RAILROAD. — In 
1871,  James  C.  Page  and  Hon.  Erastus  Wells  con- 
ceived the  project  of  building  a  railroad  to  their  prop- 
erty, five  and  a  half  miles  distant  from  the  borders  of 
the  thickly  inhabited  part  of  St.  Louis.  Others  were 
associated  with  them,  and  measures  were  initiated  for 
the  accomplishment  of  the  work ;  but  the  charter  was 
found  to  be  defective,  and  the  attempt  failed.  The  pro- 
ject was  renewed  in  1872,  but  the  panic  of  1873  ar- 
rested proceedings,  which  were  not  again  renewed  till 
the  summer  of  1874.  On  the  9th  of  January,  1875, 
the  road  was  advertised  for  sale  under  a  deed  of  trust, 
and  on  the  23d  of  the  same  month  it  was  reorganized 
under  its  present  name,  with  the  following  directors : 
Erastus  Wells,  president ;  J.  Lindenschmit,  vice-presi- 
dent; W.  J.  Lewis,  treasurer;  J.  C.  Page,  C.  D. 
Blossom,  D.  K.  Furguson,  and  M.  Collins.  The  work 
of  construction  was  prosecuted,  and  on  the  llth  of 
June,  1875,  the  first  train  passed  over  the  road  to 
Kienlau  Avenue,  five  miles ;  in  October,  1876,  it  was 
open  to  Normandy,  eight  miles  ;  and  on  the  1st  of 
October,  1878,  the  first  train  ran  to  Florissant,  sixteen 
miles. 

In  March,  1879,  the  road  was  sold  under  a  deed 
of  trust,  and  the  Missouri  Horse  Railroad  Company 
became  its  purchaser.  In  the  same  month  it  was 
again  organized,  under  the  same  name,  with  a  capital 
stock  of  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  and  the  fol- 
lowing directors:  Erastus  Wells,  president;  J.  R. 
Lionberger,  vice-president;  Rolla  Wells,  superinten- 
dent ;  W.  D.  Henry,  secretary  and  treasurer ;  and 
James  Clark. 

The  total  cost  of  the  road  has  been  three  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  of  which  less  than  fifty  thousand 
dollars  has  been  paid  for  right  of  way  and  depot 
grounds,  while  the  donated  way  is  worth  more  than 
five  hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  road  is  not  now 
incumbered  with  a  mortgage.  Hon.  Erastus  Wells 
and  Dr.  J.  C.  Page  have  been  active  workers  in  this 
road  from  the  first. 

LACLEDE  AND  CREVE  CCEUR  LAKE  RAILROAD. — 
This  company  was  incorporated  Nov.  26,  1880,  with  a 
capital  stock  of  two  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  dollars. 
The  construction  of  the  road,  the  termini  of  which  are 
indicated  by  its  title,  was  commenced  immediately  after 
the  incorporation  of  the  company,  and  the  first  trains 


1878 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


passed  over  it  July  4, 1881.    Its  total  cost  was  two  hun- 
dred and  eighty  thousand  dollars.  It  was  leased  to  and  is 
operated  by  the  Missouri  Pacific  Railroad  Company. 
The  principal  business  of  the  road  is  the  conveyance 
of  passengers  to  and  from  the  pleasure  resort  at  Creve 
Coeur  Lake  in  summer,  and  the  transportation  of  ice  ! 
in  winter  directly  from  the  lake,  and  in  summer  from 
the  mammoth  ice-houses  that  have  been  built  on  its  ! 
shore.    The  directors  of  this  road  have  been  from  the 
time  of  its  incorporation  Charles  B.  Shedd,  H.  H.  ! 
Stephens,  E.  A.  Shedd,  J.  S.  Field,  and  A.  B.  Corey.  i 
E.  A.  Shedd  is  president;  John  S.  Field,  vice-presi-  ! 
dent ;  Charles  B.  Shedd,  secretary ;  and  H.  A.  Ste- 
phens, general  manager. 

The  company  has  expended  twenty-five  thousand 
dollars  in  improving  and  beautifying  the  grounds  on 
the  east  or  bluff  side  of  Creve  Coeur  Lake,  and  the 
place  is  now  one  of  the  most  attractive  pleasure  resorts  | 
in  this  region.     Hotels  and  further  improvements  are  j 
contemplated,  and  when  these  are  completed  the  citi- 
zens of  St.  Louis  will  enjoy  privileges  to  which  they 
have  hitherto  been  strangers. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  lake  immense  ice-houses 
have  been  built,  and  others  are  in  process  of  construc- 
tion, for  the  utilization  during  the  warm  season  of 
the  ice  which  forms  on  the  surface  of  the  lake  in  the 
winter.  This  enterprise  is  conducted  by  an  organiza- 
tion known  as  the  "  Creve  Cosur  Lake  Ice  Company." 

ST.  Louis  SEMINARY  for  young  ladies  was  projected 
in   1871.     Property  possessing  great  natural  beauty, 
valued  at  ten  thousand  dollars,  was  subsequently  im-  j 
proved  at  an  expenditure  of  eleven  thousand  dollars,  ! 
and   other   improvements   render   its   present   value  i 
twenty-five  thousand  dollars.     The  site  is  a  command-  j 
ing   eminence  north  of  the   city  of  St.  Louis,  three- 
fourths  of  a  mile  from  city  limits,  on  the  Wabash, 
St.  Louis  and  Pacific  Railway,  overlooking  the  city 
and  the  Mississippi  River,  and  is  only  a  few  hundred 
yards  from  Woodland  Station.     The  location,  though 
so  near  the  city,  is  remarkably  quiet,  there  being  no  : 
business  houses  near,  and  is  surrounded  by  beautiful 
suburban  homes. 

The  spacious,  well- constructed  building  is  sur- 
rounded by  a  shady  lawn  of  eight  acres,  tastefully  < 
laid  out  with  walks,  bordered  with  flowers  and  orna- 
mental shrubbery,  all  conspiring  to  render  the  place 
an  attractive  home.  The  large,  well-ventilated  rooms 
have  all  been  arranged  with  a  view  to  health  and 
comfort. 

The  school  is  the  property  of  B.  T.  Blewett,  LL.D.,  ] 
and  is  select  in  its  character,  receiving  only  a  lim- 
ited number  of  those  desiring  a  high  grade  of  schol- 
arship.    Though  no  sectarian  influence  is  brought  to 


bear  upon  the  pupils,  their  religious  welfare  and  moral 
training  are  most  studiously  guarded,  and  every  en- 
deavor is  made  to  render  the  school  a  Christian  home. 
The  limited  number  allows  each  pupil  to  be  individu- 
alized and  to  receive  that  special  attention  requisite  to 
her  culture,  affording  a  great  advantage  over  schools 
in  which  large  numbers  are  crowded  together.  The 
seminary,  up  to  this  period,  has  sent  out  only  thirteen 
graduates.  The  grade  of  scholarship  is  designed  to 
be  thorough,  affording  the  very  best  literary  advan- 
tages. Vocal  and  instrumental  music,  painting  in  oil 
and  water  "colors,  drawing,  sketching,  and  whatever  else 
may  be  needful  in  the  thorough  culture  of  a  young 
woman,  are  most  carefully  attended  to  in  this  sem- 
inary. 

There  will  soon  be  added  to  the  accommodations, 
already  inviting,  spacious  and  airy  school-rooms,  with 
all  the  desired  appliances.  An  important  feature  in 
this  school  is  that  the  year  opens  in  September  and 
closes  the  middle  of  May,  before  the  enervating  heat 
of  summer  oppresses,  and  all  the  arrangements,  as  well 
as  the  eligibility  of  the  location,  contribute  to  the 
health  and  the  general  welfare  of  the  pupils.  The 
principal  has  a  select  library  of  fifteen  hundred  vol- 
umes, to  which  the  young  ladies  have  access,  besides 
which  they  have  the  advantage  of  the  libraries  of  the 
city,  and  the  art  galleries,  museums,  lectures,  concerts, 
and  other  appliances  for  their  culture. 

Benjamin  Turner  Blewett  was  born  in  Warren 
County,  Ky.,  Sept.  17,  1820,  and  was  the  eldest  son  of 
Edward  Blewett,  a  Kentucky  farmer.  He  early  evinced 
a  strong  desire  for  the  acquirement  of  a  thorough 
education,  and  although  his  opportunities  were  few, 
and  the  circumstances  by  which  he  was  surrounded 
discouraging,  yet  by  the  exercise  of  great  energy  and 
indomitable  courage  he  succeeded  in  overcoming  all 
obstacles  and  accomplishing  his  object.  At  the  age  of 
twelve  years  he  spent  a  winter  in  teaching  the  younger 
members  of  his  father's  family,  and  in  his  fifteenth  year 
taught  some  of  the  children  in  the  neighborhood  be- 
sides, the  fees  being  allowed  him  by  his  father  to  pay  his 
school  expenses  for  the  remaining  months  of  the  year. 
In  this  way  he  spent  two  years,  when  a  larger  school 
was  offered  him,  which  he  accepted  and  taught  success- 
fully for  two  years  more.  He  thus  amassed  a  suf- 
ficient sum  to  attend  an  academy  in  Bowling  Green, 
Ky.,  taught  by  Josiah  Pillsberry,  to  whom  he  was 
largely  indebted  for  that  thoroughness  in  scholarship 
which  has  been  the  key  to  his  success  in  life.  He 
attended  this  academy  one  year,  and  then  accepted 
the  charge  of  a  school,  which  he  conducted  suc- 
cessfully for  a  year.  At  this  time  an  event  occurred 
which  changed  his  plans  for  life.  While  deliberating 


COUNTY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


1879 


whether  to  read  law  or  to  complete  his  course  of  study 
he  became  convinced  of  the  truth  of  religion.  He 
now  felt  it  his  duty  to  fit  himself  for  the  ministry,  and 
in  his  twentieth  year  he  entered  Georgetown  College, 
Kentucky,  which  was  then  under  the  presidency  of 
Howard  Malcom,  D.D.,  one  of  the  most  celebrated 
theologians  and  scholars  of  the  day.  At  the  close  of 
his  sophomore  year  his  means  were  exhausted ;  but 
about  this  time  there  occurred  a  vacancy  in  the  prin- 
cipalship  of  the  academy  connected  with  the  college, 
to  which  he  was  appointed  on  the  recommendation  of 
the  president  and  trustees.  He  discharged  the  duties 
of  this  responsible  position  satisfactorily  for  two  years, 
and  then  re-entered  college,  and  was  graduated  in 
1846.  He  was  at  once  reappointed  principal  of  the 
academy,  and  brought  it  to  a  higher  state  of  efficiency 
and  prestige  than  it  had  ever  attained  before.  In  the 
mean  time  he  superintended  a  large  Sabbath-school, 
to  which  he  devoted  nearly  every  Saturday  and  Sun- 
day, and  often  several  evenings  of  the  week. 

Mr.  Blewett  married  in  July,  1848,  Miss  Aris 
Hedge,  of  Augusta,  Me.,  and  their  union  has  proved  an 
unusually  pleasant  and  happy  one.  About  this  time 
he  was  solicited  to  take  charge  of  the  High  School  at 
Russellville,  Ky.,  which  was  conducted  under  the  aus- 
pices of  an  association  of  Baptists.  As  this  opened 
to  him  a  wider  and  more  independent  field  of  labor, 
he  sent  in  his  resignation  to  the  trustees  of  George- 
town College,  which  was  very  reluctantly  accepted, 
and  in  January,  1853,  removed  with  his  family  to 
Russellville.  He  entered  upon  the  discharge  of  his 
new  duties  under  very  discouraging  circumstances. 
The  school  building  was  unfinished,  having  only  just 
been  roofed,  and  was  open  and  surrounded  by  rubbish. 
The  ten  thousand  dollars  which  had  been  secured  for 
the  enterprise  having  been  expended,  the  structure  as 
it  stood  was  offered  him  by  the  trustees,  on  condition 
that  he  finish  and  furnish  it.  He  was  to  retain 
the  occupancy  of  it  for  five  years  free  of  rent,  and  to 
conduct  it  at  his  own  expense  for  the  education  of 
young  men.  To  attempt  to  do  this  was  considered  a 
rash  and  almost  impossible  undertaking,  but  Mr. 
Blewett,  determined  to  succeed,  at  once  engaged  a 
contractor  to  finish  the  building  within  a  year,  at  a  cost 
of  six  thousand  dollars,  and. gave  his  personal  obliga- 
tion for  the  money.  He  spent  the  year  in  superin- 
tending the  structure  and  soliciting  funds  for  the  enter- 
prise in  a  community  which  had  not  been  educated  to 
liberality,  and  which  had  been  thoroughly  canvassed 
before,  but  by  persevering  effort  the  building  was  fin- 
ished and  furnished  at  a  cost  of  eight  thousand  dol- 
lars in  one  year.  In  January,  1854,  the  school  was 
formally  opened  with  twenty-five  pupils,  the  fees  for 


the  first  term  barely  paying  the  assistant.  Mr.  Blew- 
ett had  now  been  arduously  at  work  for  a  year  and  a 
half 'without  any  remuneration.  There  was  so  little 
faith,  even  on  the  part  of  friends  of  the  enterprise, 
in  its  ultimate  success  that  many  hesitated  to  give  it 
their  confidence.  The  school  year  opened  in  Sep- 
tember with  about  fifty  pupils,  which  number  increased 
during  the  year,  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  second 
year  it  opened  with  one  hundred  pupils. 

During  this  year  the  school  was  converted  into  a 
college,  chartered  under  the  name  of  Bethel  College, 
and  Mr.  Blewett  became  its  president.  The  new  re- 
sponsibility, although  attended  with  all  the  hardships, 
annoyances,  and  difficulties  incident  to  enterprises  of 
the  kind,  was  unhesitatingly  accepted  by  Mr.  Blewett. 
The  institution  was  deeply  in  debt,  but  Mr.  Blewett 
succeeded  in  effecting  its  reorganization  and  in  win- 
ning the  public  favor  by  means  of  earnest,  patient, 
and  unyielding  effort.  At  this  juncture  the  son  of 
Chief  Justice  Ewing,  of  Kentucky,  bequeathed  to  the 
institution  $10,000  in  cash  and  real  estate  valued  at 
$20',000,  on  condition  that  in  addition  to  his  $10,000 
the  trustees  raised  $30,000.  The  president  went  into 
the  field,  leaving  the  management  of  the  college 
largely  to  his  efficient  wife,  to  whose  energy  and  cul- 
ture he  is  greatly  indebted  for  his  success,  and  after 
eighteen  months  of  patient  labor  secured  the  neces- 
sary $30,000.  In  the  mean  time  Chief  Justice 
Ewing  died,  leaving  the  college  $3000  in  cash  and 
real  estate  valued  at  $60,000. 

At  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  in  1861,  President 
Blewett  resigned,  the  college  having  disbanded,  and 
was  thus  turned  away  by  the  events  of  the  war  from 
a  work  in  which  his  best  energies  had  been  employed. 
During  this  period  the  institution  had  graduated  sev- 
eral young  men,  who  have  since  filled  prominent  posi- 
tions in  various  professions  and  industries.  The 
edifice  had  cost  $16,000  (paid  for),  and  $100,000  in 
endowments  had  been  secured. 

Mr.  Blewett  then  went  to  Augusta,  Ky.,  and  took 
charge  of  Augusta  College,  which  he  conducted  with 
success  up  to  1871,  when  he  was  invited  to  assume 
the  management  of  the  young  ladies'  seminary  located 
at  Jennings,  an  inviting  suburb  of  St.  Louis.  The 
establishment  of  this  school  required  energy  and  pa- 
tient perseverance,  but  Mr.  Blewett's  experience  gave 
him  special  fitness  for  the  work.  All  the  obstacles 
which  confronted  him  at  first  have  given  way,  and 
after  twelve  years  of  earnest  labor  his  school  is  now  a 
complete  success. 

In  1875,  Mr.  Blewett  received  the  following  letter, 
announcing  that  the  honorary  degree  of  LL.D.  had 
been  conferred  upon  him  : 


1880 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


"  RUSSELLVILLE,  IVY.,  June  10,  1875. 
"PRESIDENT  B.  T.  BLEWETT: 

"  Sir, — At  the  annual  session  of  the  board  of  trustees  of 
Bethel  College,  by  authority  of  its  charter  and  the  amendments 
thereto,  the  degree  of  LL.D.  was  by  special  order  of  the  board 
conferred  upon  you. 

"  It  affords  me  especial  personal  gratification,  my  dear  sir,  to 
make  this  communication.  I  trust  it  will  refresh  memories  yet 
dear  to  us  all. 

"  Very  truly,  etc., 

"  RAND  H.  CALDWELL, 

"  Secretary  B.  T.  B.  C. 

"Our  commencement  exercises  were  far  the  best  since  ante- 
bellum days,  and  augur  well  for  our  future." 

Mr.  Blewett  has  four  children, — two  sons  and  two 
daughters.  One  of  his  sons  is  a  graduate  of  Colby 
University,  Maine ;  the  other  of  Washington  Univer- 
sity, St.  Louis.  Both  are  principals  of  prominent 
schools  in  St.  Louis.  His  daughters  are  highly  cul- 
tivated, and  assist  him  in  the  seminary.  Mr.  Blew- 
ett is  in  the  sixty-third  year  of  his  age,  still  vigorous, 
and  as  earnest  in  his  labors  as  ever.  He  conducts  a 
private  select  school  of  high  grade,  which  is  filled 
with  the  daughters  of  representative  families,  and  de- 
rives a  keen  pleasure  from  devoting  his  best  energies 
in  the  evening  of  his  life  to  the  education  of  young 
women. 

In  the  vicinity  of  St.  Louis  will  be  found  some  of 
the  handsomest  suburban  residences  in  the  country. 
Among  these  one  of  the  most  noticeable  is  the  coun- 
try-seat of  William  L.  Black,  one  of  the  leading  bus- 
iness men  of  St.  Louis. 

TOWNSHIP  OF  CARONDELET.i 
Carondelet,  which  took  its  name  from  Baron  Caron- 
delet,  is  the  southeastern  township  of  St.  Louis  County. 
The  township  of  Central  and  the  city  of  St.  Louis 
bound  it  on  the  north,  St.  Louis  and  the  Mississippi 
River  are  east  of  it,  the  tortuous  Meramec  River, 
which  separates  it  from  Jefferson  County,  forms  its 
southern  and  southwestern  boundary,  and  a  portion  of 
Bonhomme  township  lies  directly  west  from  it.  As 
originally  constituted  it  embraced  congressional  town- 
ships 42,  43,  and  44  north,  ranges  6  and  7  east;  but 
when  the  town  of  Carondelet  was  organized  the  north- 
east corner  of  the  township  was  taken  off,  and  when 
the  city  of  Carondelet  was  absorbed  by  St.  Louis  the 
latter  city  extended  its  limits  so  far  as  to  include  a 
large  portion  of  the  township  besides. 

Gravois  Creek  drains  the  northern  part  of  the  town- 
ship, and  unites  with  Des  Peres  River  in  South  St. 
Louis,  and  Mattis  Creek,  an  affluent  of  Meramec  River, 
is  the  principal  stream  in  the  southern  part. 

1  With  acknowledgments  to  John  F.  Long  and  Thomas  J. 
Sappington  for  valuable  assistance. 


Prior  to  the  commencement  of  the  railroad  era 
highway  communication  with  St.  Louis  was  a  matter 
of  the  first  importance  to  the  farmers,  millers,  and 
others  in  the  township,  and  the  county  authorities, 
recognizing  this  necessity,  adopted  measures  for  the 
establishment  and  improvement  of  avenues  to  and 
from  the  city.  These  roads  were  either  graveled  or 
macadamized,  forming  what  are  ordinarily  known  as 
rock  roads.  Such  are  the  Gravois  road,  which  leads 
to  Fenton  and  Hillsboro',  the  Lemay,  Tesson,  Tele- 
graph, Watson,  and  Denny  roads,  and  others. 

The  township  has  railway  connection  with  St.  Louis 
by  the  Missouri  Pacific,  which  crosses  the  north- 
western corner;  by  the  Carondelet  and  Kirkwood 
Branch  of  the  same  road,  which  passes  through  the 
northern  part,  and  by  the  St.  Louis  and  Iron  Moun- 
tain Railroad,  which  runs  along  the  shore  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi River. 

The  settlement  of  Carondelet  township  commenced 
when  the  country  was  under  Spanish  rule.  Farms  and 
stock  pastures  were  developed,  and  grist-mills  and  saw- 
mills were  established  in  various  parts  of  the  township. 
Many  of  the  grinding-mills  were  propelled  by  horse- 
power, and  a  large  portion  of  these  were  tread- 
mills. 

Among  the  early  settlers2  were  De  Lor,  Sapping- 
ton, Mackay,  the  Fines,  Musick,  Long,  Wells,  St. 
John,  Bowles,  Parke,  Barada,  Guion,  Le  Brond, 
Tesson,  soon  followed  by  the  McCormicks,  Hunt, 
Dent,  Cromwell,  Smith,  Pipkin,  Sale,  Grens,  Berry, 
Richardson,  Cowen,  Eads,  Lovejoy,  and  others. 

John  Sappington,  Sr.,  erected  a  horse-mill  for 
grinding  grain,  the  first  in  the  township.  Z.  Sap- 
pington, M.  Tesson,  and  William  L.  Long  each 
built  grist-mills  of  two  horse-power.  Jonah  and  John 
Sappington,  Jr.,  built  a  large  and  profitable  tread-null 
for  grinding  grain  and  sawing  lumber.  A  large  stone 
water-mill  was  built  by  G.  Sarpy  on  the  Des  Peres 
River,  at  the  Gravois  road  crossing.  This  mill  was  a 
great  convenience  to  the  farmers  in  the  counties  of 
St.  Louis  and  Jefferson. 

Capt.  James  Mackay,  for  a  time  in  Territorial  au- 
thority under  Don  Zenon  Trudeau,  purchased  and  set- 
tled on  survey  No.  3066,  and  opened  a  farm,  on  which 
he  made  many  improvements.  He  resided  on  this 
farm  till  his  death.  He  was  a  land  surveyor.  His 
son,  Zenon  Mackay,  now  resides  on  this  farm,  and 
owns  a  large  portion  of  the  tract  which  his  father  pur- 
chased. 

Joseph  Wells  settled  on  the  western  part  of  survey 
No.  9  in  1806,  and  was  a  successful  farmer  and  stock- 

1  Pioneer  history  furnished  by  J.  F.  Long. 


COUNTY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


1881 


raiser.     His  life  was  long  and  useful,  and  he  left  many 
descendants  worthy  of  his  good  name. 

John  Long  and  family  came  from  Bonhomme  to 
the  central  part  of  the  same  survey  in  1807.  He 
entered  adjoining  lands,  and  was  a  successful  farmer  to 
,the  time  of  his  death  in  1826. 

Philip  Fine,  Sr.,  located  on  survey  No.  50,  near 
the  mouth  of  Meramec  River.  He  established  Lov- 
ering's  Ferry,  so  called  after  his  son-in-law,  Lawson 
Lovering. 

David  Fine  opened  a  farm  on  his  grant,  No.  1988. 
He  and  his  wife,  with  Eli  Musick  and  wife  and  Judge 
Joseph  Sale,  organized  the  first  Baptist  Church  in  the 
township,  now  known  as  Concord  Church. 

G.  St.  John  resided  many  years  and  died  on  survey 
No.  3065,  on  the  Meramec1  River.  After  his  death 
his  son-in-law,  Dr.  Butler,  lived  on  the  place  and 
practiced  his  profession  with  success. 

In  1818,  Commodore  Theodore  Hunt  purchased  of 
William  S.  Long  the  eastern  portion  of  survey  No.  9. 
He  resided  on  and  improved  this  during  about  three 
years,  then  sold  it  to  Col.  Frederick  Dent,  the  father 
of  Mrs.  Gen.  Grant.  Mr.  Dent  remained  on  this 
farm,  making  valuable  additions  and  improvements, 
till  1865,  when  he  removed  to  Washington  City, 
where  he  died  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-seven 
years.  His  remains  were  brought  to  St.  Louis  by 
Gen.  Grant,  and  buried,  with  those  of  his  wife,  in 
Bellefontaine  cemetery.  Col.  Dent  was  an  active  pro- 
moter of  the  public  schools  in  the  county,  and  to  his 
efforts  the  people  are  largely  indebted  for  the  efficiency 
'  of  the  public  schools.  He  was  at  one  time  treasurer. 
His  youngest  son,  Judge  Lewis  Dent,  erected  a  neat 
and  costly  residence  on  a  high  commanding  swell  of 
the  same  tract,  and  named  it  "  Wish-ton-wish."  It 
was  accidentally  burned  in  1871. 

Jonah  Parke,  a  pioneer  from  Madison  County,  Ky., 
in  1804,  settled,  in  1807  or  1808,  on  survey  No.  2995, 
and  there  passed  a  long  and  happy  life,  loved  and 
honored  by  all  who  knew  him.  At  his  death  his  two 
youngest  sons,  Charles  and  Samuel,  sub  divided  the 
tract,  a  large  portion  of  which  is  owned  by  Judge 
Shore,  of  the  St.  Louis  County  Court. 

Col.  Philip  Pipkin,  a  colonel  under  Gen.  Jackson 
in  the  Creek  and  Seminole  wars,  came  from  Tennessee 
in  1830,  and  in  1836  purchased  a  part  of  the  David 
Fine  survey,  No.  1988,  erected  a  comfortable  dwelling 
and  other  buildings,  and  opened  a  profitable  farm. 
He  was  highly  honored  and  respected  for  his  gallantry 
as  a  soldier  and  his  integrity  as  a  citizen.  He  died 
in  1841,  lamented  by  a  large  circle  of  acquaintances 
and  friends. 

Anderson  Bowles  came  from  Virginia  at  an  early 


day,  and  located  near  the  present  site  of  Kirkwood. 
His  amiable  wife  was  one  of  the  first  members  of  the 
Methodist  Church,  and  was  widely  known  as  "  Mother 
Bowles." 

These  pioneers  have  passed  away,  but  those  of 
their  descendants  who  remember  them  recall  with 
pride  the  sterling  virtues  which  adorned  their  char- 
acters, their  high  moral  worth,  their  stern  integrity, 
and  their  active  benevolence. 

The  population  of  the  township  was,  in  1850, 
2354;  1860,7831;  1870,5387;  1880,5691. 

Concord  Farmers'  Club. — This  association  was 
first  organized  on  the  5th  day  of  April,  1873,  at  the 
residence  of  Mr.  Adam  Schuetz,  on  the  Tesson  Ferry 

|  road,  by  the  farmers  in  the  immediate  vicinity.  Sept. 
21,  1874,  a  certificate  of  incorporation  was  issued  to 

|  C.  D.  Wolff,  J.  Henry  Zelch,  Henry  Crecelieus,  C.  J. 
Tautphoeues,  George  Schaedler,  Otto  Theiss,  Henry 
Horst,  Christopher  Heim,  and  others.  During  the 
same  year  a  building  site  of  about  two  acres  was  pur- 
chased on  the  Concord  School  road,  one-fourth  of  a 
mile  west  of  the  Tesson  Ferry  road,  and  one  and"  one- 
half  miles  south  of  the  Gravois  Rock  road  and  town 
of  Sappington  (it  being  a  part  of  what  is  known  as 
the  Saugrain  tract),  on  which  the  present  "  Farmers' 

i  Club   Hall"  was  erected  at  a  cost  of  two  thousand 

|  two  hundred  dollars,  to  which  improvements  to  the 
amount  of  several  hundred  dollars  have  been  added 
since.  The  building  is  a  frame  structure,  two  stories 
in  height,  seventy-five  by  thirtyflve  feet,  size  of  main 
hall  forty-five  by  thirty-five  feet,  the  whole  building 
consisting  of  nine  separate  apartments. 

The  object  of  the  club  is  the  improvement  of  its 
members  in  everything  pertaining  to  agriculture,  hor- 
ticulture, and  domestic  economy.  No  sectarian  or 
political  discussions  are  permitted  to  be  introduced  in 
the  club.  Only  practical  farmers  and  horticulturists 
of  good  moral  character  are  eligible  for  active  member- 
ship, but  persons  engaged  in  other  pursuits  may  be- 
come honorary  members.  The  present  number  of 
active  members  is  one  hundred  and  three,  number  of 
honorary  members  thirteen,  making  the  total  mem- 
bership one  hundred  and  sixteen.  The  club  has  a 
library  of  over  five  hundred  volumes,  with  an  addi- 
tional yearly  appropriation  of  one  hundred  dollars  for 
books.  The  regular  meetings  of  the  club  are  held  on 
the  first  Saturday  of  each  month  from  April  to  Sep- 
tember, inclusive,  at  eight  o'clock  P.M.,  and  on  the  first 
and  third  Saturdays  of  each  month  from  October  to 
March,  inclusive,  at  seven  o'clock  P.M.  Its  officers 
are  elected  at  the  first  meeting  in  January  of  each 
year,  and  it  is  officered  at  present  as  follows :  Presi- 
dent, Thomas  J.  Sappington ;  Vice-Presidents,  Henry 


1882 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


Crecelieus  and  George  Schaedler ;  Recording  Secre- 
tary, William  H.  Sappington  ;  Corresponding  Secre- 
tary, Jacob  Schaedler ;  Secretary  of  Finance,  Lewis 
Crecelieus ;  Treasurer,  C.  J.  Tautphoeus ;  Librarian, 
C.  Heim;  Assistant  Librarian,  William  Nebe;  and  an 
executive  committee  consisting  of  five  members. 

The  Farmers'  Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Company 
of  St.  Louis  County,  Mo.,  was  organized  by  members  of  j 
the  Concord  Farmers'  Club,  and  a  few  other  farmers  | 
in  the  neighborhood,  in  the  months  of  February  and  ! 
March,  1875,  and  duly  incorporated  on  the  1st  of 
April,  in  the  same  year,  under  an  act  of  the  General  \ 
Assembly  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  entitled  "  An  Act  \ 
providing  for  the  incorporation  and  management  of 
local    insurance    companies,"    approved    March    27,  j 
1874.     The  following-named  gentlemen  were  elected 
the  first  board  of  directors  :  Thomas  J.  Sappington, 
C.  D.  Wolff,    William  A.  Weinrich,  John  P.   Litz- 
inger,  John   H.  Horst,  Charles  Mehl,  Martin  Rott, 
and  Henry  Crecelius.    At  a  meeting  held  by  the  said 
board  of  directors,  April  3,  1875,  Thomas  J.  Sap- 
pingfon  was  elected  president,  C.  D.  Wolff  secretary, 
J.  Henry  Zelch  vice  president,  and  Martin  Rott  treas- 
urer.    The  first  policies  were  issued  on  the  12th  day  of 
June,  1875,  and  since  that  time  the  business  of  the 
company  has  been  steadily  increasing.     They  have  at 
risk  nearly  half  a  million  of  dollars,  extending  all  over 
the  county  of  St.  Louis,  and  they  hold  premium  notes 
amounting  to  over  one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  be-  I 
sides  the  sum  of  foi^  thousand  dollars  cash,  and  no  | 
liabilities.     There  are  now  one  thousand  policies  in  ! 
force.     The  success  of  this  company  is  chiefly  due  to  j 
the  good  management  of  the  board  of  directors  and 
the  efficiency  of  the  president,  Thomas  J.  Sappington.  ; 
The  present  board  is  composed  of  twelve  directors, —  ! 
Thomas  J.  Sappington,  C.  D.  Wolff,  John  Heintz, 
Frederick    W.  Sternes,  Henry    Crecelius,   John    P. 
Litzinger,  George  Greb,  James  A.  Eddie,  J.  Henry 
Zelch,   Martin   Rott,  Perry  Sappington,  and   Julius 
Nolte. 

The  officers  are  Thomas  J.  Sappington,  president; 
J.  Henry  Zelch,  vice-president ;  C.  D.  Wolff,  secre- 
tary ;  and  Henry  Crecelius,  treasurer. 

German  Evangelical  St.  Paul's  Church. — In 
1838  this  society  was  organized,  one  mile  west  from 
Oakville,  on  the  Baumgartner  road.  In  1845  the 
present  church  building  was  erected.  It  is  a  log  struc- 
ture, thirty  by  forty  feet  in  size,  and  the  congregation 
worshiped  in  it  as  it  was  originally  builc  during  many 
years.  In  1840  it  was  weather-boarded  outside,  ren- 
ovated and  ceiled  within,  and  a  gallery  was  added, 
making  the  seating  capacity  three  hundred,  and  it  has 
now  the  appearance  of  a  framed  structure.  It  stands 


in  a  cemetery,  which  was  established  at  the  time  the 
church  was  erected.  It  is  furnished  with  a  pipe-organ, 
the  cost  of  which  was  four  hundred  and  twenty  dol- 
lars. The  present  number  of  constitutional  members 
of  the  congregation  is  sixty-two.  The  pastors  of  this 
church  have  been  Revs.  E.  L.  Nollau,  1838  ;  G.  W. 
Wajl,  1846;  Gotthilf  Weitbrecht,  1852;  J.  M. 

Kopf,  1853; Jung,  1858;    William  Fromm, 

1860;  John  Will,  1864;  Heinrich  Schmitz,  1867; 

Schmidt,  1878 ;  and  the  present  pastor,  C.  V. 

Wargowski,  1881. 

A  parochial  school,  taught  in  the  German  language, 
has  been  maintained  from  the  first.  It  is  kept  in  the 
basement  of  the  parsonage.  The  church  has  no  debt. 

Church  of  the  Assumption  of  the  Blessed  Vir- 
gin.— This  is  located  near  Mattis  Creek,  where  as 
early  as  1842  mass  was  celebrated  by  Rev.  Father 
Fischer,  of  St.  Louis.  In  that  year  seven  acres  ot 
land  on  the  Mattis  road,  one  mile  from  the  Lemay 
Ferry  road,  were  purchased,  and  a  log  church  was 
built.  The  congregation  at  that  time  consisted  of 
seven  families,  and  was  supplied  by  Father  Fischer, 
from  St.  Mary's  Church,  St.  Louis,  during  two  years. 
In  February,  1844.  Rev.  Joseph  Melcher  became  resi- 
dent pastor,  and  in  that  year  a  log  parsonage  was  built. 
This  was  afterward  used  as  a  school-house,  then  as  -a 
teachers'  residence,  then  as  a  stable,  and  in  1879  it 
was  burned.  Father  Melcher  was  succeeded  in  1846 
by  Rev.  Father  Zeller,  who  was  followed  in  1847  by 
Rev.  Simon  Sigrist.  In  1849,  Rev.  Joseph  Blaarer 
came,  and  was  succeeded  in  the  same  year  by  Rev. 
Remegius  Gebhart,  who  died  in  1852,  and  was  fol-- 
lowed  in  1853  by  Rev.  John  Reis.  In  1858,  Rev. 
Matthias  Leutner  became  pastor,  and  in  1859,  Rev. 
Henry  Broekhagen  came.  He  remained  till  1871, 
and  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Henry  Plebs,  who  re- 
mained two  years.  In  1873,  Rev.  Peter  Bremerich 
took  charge,  and  in  1875  he  was  followed  by  Rev. 
William  Sonnenschein,  who  left  in  1878,  and  was 
succeeded  by  the  present  pastor,  Rev.  Joseph  Pope. 

The  original  log  church  was  used  till  1848,  when 
the  present  brick  church  was  built,  and  the  log  house 
became  a  school-house,  for  which  it  is  still  used.  The 
present  church  has  a  seating  capacity  of  two  hundred. 

In  1871  a  brick  parsonage  near  the  church  was 
built  at  an  expense  of  sixteen  hundred  dollars,  and 
in  1874  a  teacher's  residence,  also  of  brick,  was 
erected  at  a  cost  of  five  hundred  dollars. 

From  the  first  a  parochial  school  has  been  main- 
tained by  this  congregation,  and  it  is  now  under  the 
charge  of  the  Franciscan  Sisters.  In  this  school  in- 
struction is  given  in  both  the  German  and  English 
languages.  The  parish  has  no  debt. 


COUNTY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


1883 


German  Evangelical  St.  John's  Church. — 
This  is  located  on  the  Concord  School  road,  one  mile 
northeast  from  Mehlville.  It  was  organized  Jan.  29, 
1849,  with  fifteen  members.  The  first  church  edifice 
was  a  log  building,  and  was  erected  the  same  year  the 
society  was  organized.  The  parsonage,  also  a  log 
house,  was  built  the  same  year.  A  log  school-house 
was  erected  in  1865.  All  these  buildings  were  after- 
wards weather-boarded  and  painted. 

In  1868  a  new  church  was  erected  on  the  site  of 
the  old  one.  It  is  a  brick  structure,  with  a  seating 
capacity  of  four  hundred,  and  its  cost  was  $1 0,000. 
A  new  bell  was  placed  in  the  tower  in  1883,  at  a  cost 
of  $300.  A  pipe-organ  was  purchased  in  1881  at  a 
cost  of  $550. 

The  parsonage  is  used  as  a  teacher's  residence,  and 
the  same  old  school-house  is  still  in  use.  A  parochial 
school  has  been  kept  here,  first  in  the  church,  then  in 
the  parsonage,  and  since  1865  in  the  school-house. 
The  present,  pastor,  Rev.  John  Will,  was  the  teacher 
during  fourteen  years.  A  teacher  is  now  employed 
in  this  school,  in  which  the  instruction  is  given  in  the  j 
German  language.  It  has  an  average  of  fifty  pupils,  j 

The    membership  of  the   church  is  one  hundred  i 
heads  of  families.     The  pastors  have  been  Revs.  G.  j 
W.  Wall,  1849  ;  E.  L.  Nollau,  1850  ;  William  Ramp- 
meier,  1853 ;  Frederick  Judt,  1856 ;  I.  G.  Stanejer, 
1860 ;  and  the  present  pastor,  John  Will,  1863. 

German  Evangelical  St.  Lucas  Church. — This 
society  was  organized  in  1880,  with  eighteen  constit- 
uent members.     They  first  worshiped  in   the  Rock  i 
school-house  near  Sappington,  but  in  1881  their  pres- 
ent church  edifice  was  built.     It  is  a  frame  house, 
thirty  by  forty-five  feet  in  size,  and  its  cost  was  three  | 
thousand  five  hundred  dollars. 

The  first  pastor  was  Rev.  Joseph  A.  Steinhardt,  ! 
followed  in  1882  by  the  present  pastor,  Rev.  S.  Kruse.  I 

A  parochial  school,  in  which  instruction  is  given 
in  the  German  language,  is  taught  in  a  part  of  the 
church.  The  attendance  at  this  school  is  an  average 
of  twenty-five. 

Church  of  Jesus  Christ. — In  August,  1881,  Rev. 
Charles  H.  Ganthier  organized  a  Sunday-school  in  the 
McKenzie  school-house  near  Afton  post-office.  This 
school  was  conducted  by  him  during  a  year,  when 
successful  efforts  to  erect  a  church  and  organize  a  par- 
ish were  made  by  Mr.  Ganthier  and  several  members 
of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  that  vicinity.  In  August, 
1882,  a  church  building  was  commenced,  and  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  next  month  services  were  first  held 
in  it.  It  is  a  wooden  structure  of  the  Gothic  order 
of  architecture,  twenty  by  thirty  feet  in  size,  and  its 
cost  was  twelve  hundred  dollars.  Mr.  Ganthier  has 


been  the  rector  from  the  first,  and  his  labors  here  have 
been  crowned  with  great  success.  The  parish  has  no 
debt. 

Convent  of  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  at  Naza- 
reth.— This  convent,  a  branch  of  the  convent  at 
Carondelet,  was  established  on  the  Kinger  road,  two 
and  a  half  miles  southwesterly  from  Jefferson  Bar- 
racks, in  1872.  It  was  designed  as  a  home  for  the 
aged  and  infirm  sisters  of  the  order,  and  for  this  pur- 
pose it  has  b.een  used.  The  establishment  comprises 
a  farm  of  eighty  acres,  on  which  the  convent  was 
erected  in  the  year  before  named.  It  is  of  brick, 
three  stories  in  height,  and  it  forms  three  sides  of  a 
courtyard.  It  is  fitted  up  with  special  reference  to 
the  comfort  of  those  who  have  become  infirm  from 
age  or  any  other  cause.  It  has  a  capacity  for  thirty 
patients,  and  an  average  of  fifteen  is  the  attendance. 
Mother  St.  John  was  the  Superior  of  this  house  till 
1879,  when  the  present  Superior,  Mother  De  Chantan, 
took  charge. 

Glendale  School  for  Boys  was  opened  Nov. 
1,  1882,  at  Glendale,  on  the  Missouri  Pacific  Rail- 
road, eleven  miles  west  from  St.  Louis,  by  E.  A. 
Haight,  A.M.  He  purchased,  for  the  purposes  of  his 
school,  a  large  mansion  with  fourteen  acres  of  ground, 
known  as  the  Col.  Leighton  property.  The  school 
opened  with  two  scholars,  and  from  this  small  begin- 
ning it  steadily  increased  till,  at  the  beginning  of  1883, 
it  numbered  twenty-two.  It  is  particularly  designed 
as  a  boarding-school  for  boys,  for  which  its  pleasant 
and  healthful  location  and  its  easy  communication 
with  the  city  of  St.  Louis  admirably  fit  it. 

Mount  Sinai  Cemetery. — In  1849  the  B'nai 
El  congregation  purchased  an  acre  of  ground  on 
the  Gravois  road,  just  beyond  the  present  city  limits, 
and  there  interments  were  made  till  1868.  In  that 
year  the  Mount  Sinai  Cemetery  Association  was  in- 
corporated under  tbe  general  law,  and  an  addition  to 
this  of  six  and  a  half  acres  was  purchased  and  laid  out. 
Three  years  later,  or  in  1872,  a  brick  building  was 
erected  there  for  a  chapel  and  sexton's  residence. 
This  is  a  tasteful  building,  and  the  chapel  is  elegantly 
finished,  frescoed,  and  ornamented.  In  this  chapel 
the  funeral  services  of  those  interred  in  the  cemetery 
are  held.  Splendid  monuments  are  scattered  through 
the  cemetery,  which  is  well  kept  and  cared  for.  By 
the  regulations  of  the  association  all  members  of  the 
congregations  B'nai  El  and  Shaare  Emeth  and  their 
families  are  entitled  to  free  burial  in  this  cemetery, 
as  are  also  the  poor.  The  cost  of  the  cemetery  with 
its  improvements  has  amounted  to  eighteen  thou- 
sand dollars.  The  first  president  of  the  association 
was  D.  Singer,  followed,  in  1870,  by  L.  R.  Straus, 


1884 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


and  he,  in  1872,  by  the  present  incumbent  of  the 
office,  Louis  J.  Singer. 

Public  Schools. — The  inhabitants  of  the  township 
of  Carondelet  have  not  been  unmindful  of  the  im- 
portance of  education  as  a  means  for  developing  and 
moulding  the  characters  of  their  children.  In  many 
parts  of  the  township  may  still  be  seen  the  primitive 
log  school-house,  which  sprang  into  existence  as  soon  as 
there  were  a  sufficient  number  of  children  in  a  neigh- 
borhood to  constitute  a  school.  These  unpretentious 
temples  of  science  were  reared  long  before  the  public 
school  system  was  established,  and  when  this  system 
was  provided  they  were  utilized  under  it  as  district 
school-houses.  As  time  has  gone  on  and  better  edu- 
cational facilities  have  come  to  be  necessary,  larger 
and  more  tasteful  buildings  have  been  erected,  and 
now  the  traveler  through  the  township  sees  in  differ- 
ent localities  houses  that,  in  capacity,  convenience, 
and  elegance,  will  compare  favorably  with  those  of 
any  region  in  the  country. 

In  accordance  with  the  customs  in  their  native 
lands,  many  of  the  foreign  immigrants  have  main- 
tained parochial  schools  for  the  education  of  their 
children  in  their  own  cherished  faith,  but  these  have 
not  been  permitted  to  supersede  the  public  schools. 

St.  Louis  Quarantine  Hospital.1 — In  1854  the 
city  of  St.  Louis  purchased  from  Augustus  Langkopt 
fifty-eight  acres  of  land  on  the  western  shore  of  the 
Mississippi  River,  a  mile  and  a  quarter  south  from 
Jefferson  Barracks,  and  twelve  miles  from  St.  Louis. 
On  this  ground  stood  an  inn,  which  is  now  used  as 
the  residence  of  the  superintendent  of  the  quarantine. 

Buildings  were  erected  for  hospital  purposes  near 
the  river.  They  were  one-story  wooden  buildings, 
and  were  at  first  used  for  general  hospital  purposes. 
On  the  occurrence  of  the  yellow  fever  in  1878  these 
were  used  for  the  reception  and  treatment  of  yellow 
fever  patients,  and  upward  of  one  hundred  cases  were 
received  and  treated  here.  A  recurrence  of  the 
disease  was  expected  the  next  year,  and  it  was  de- 
termined to  erect  buildings  farther  from  the  river 
and  on  more  elevated  ground,  for  the  reception  of 
patients.  These  buildings  were  therefore  burned  early 
in  the  summer  of  1879,  and  six  new  pavilions  were 
erected  about  three  hundred  yards  west  from  the 
river,  on  ground  sixty  feet  higher  than  that  on  which 
the  ones  burned  stood.  These  pavilions  or  wards  are 
each  twenty-five  by  fifty  feet,  and  have  excellent 
facilities  for  ventilation.  They  are  supplied  with 
water  from  a  reservoir  that  was  built  that  year,  and 


1  Information  furnished  by  Daniel  O'Madigan,  present  super- 
intendent. 


which  has  a  capacity  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  thou- 
sand gallons.  Into  this  reservoir  water  is  pumped 
from  the  river,  and  from  it  distributed  to  all  parts  of 
the  grounds  where  water  is  needed.  On  the  river- 
bank  stands  a  bath-room,  to  which  patients  are  con- 
veyed from  boats,  stripped  of  their  infected  clothing, 
and  after  a  warm  or  cold  bath,  as  their  condition 
requires,  they  are  wrapped  in  clean  .new  clothing  and 
conveyed  to  the  wards.  A  short  distance  from  this 
is  a  fumigating-house,  where  various  disinfectants  and 
appliances  for  fumigating  boats,  trunks,  bedding,  and 
clothing  are  kept.  About  two  hundred  yards  up  the 
river  from  this  is  the  place  where  the  infected  bed- 
ding and  clothing  of  patients  is  taken  to  be  burned. 
About  three  hundred  yards  west  from  the  wards 
spoken  of,  on  still  higher  ground,  stand,  two  small- 
pox wards  that  had  been  previously  erected.  These 
have  a  capacity  for  fifty  patients  each,  and  they  are 
at  all  times  kept  in  readiness  for  the  reception  of  cases 
as  they  may  occur.  In  addition  to  these  the  neces- 
sary buildings  for  the  use  of  the  superintendent,  phy- 
sicians, employes,  nurses,  etc.,  have  been  erected,  and 
the  establishment  is  considered  complete  in  all  its 
parts.  It  is  used  as  a  quarantine  whenever  it  is  neces- 
sary to  enforce  quarantine  regulations,  and  at  all  other 
times  as  a  hospital  for  the  treatment  of  patients  af- 
fected with  infectious  diseases. 

A  few  years  prior  to  the  yellow  fever  epidemic  a  gen- 
eral desire  was  felt  to  dispense  with  the  quarantine, 
because  of  its  expensiveness  and  the  belief  that  it  was 
unnecessary.  Better  counsels  prevailed,  however,  and 
the  experience  of  that  year  fully  demonstrated  the 
utility  of  the  establishment  and  silenced  the  clamor 
for  its  abolition.  The  necessity  for  its  maintenance 
at  all  times  was  shown  by  the  experience  of  1882, 
during  which  year  five  hundred  cases  of  smallpox 
were  treated  in  its  wards. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the  National  Board  of 
Health  visited  this  quarantine  station  in  1881,  and  pro- 
nounced it  the  best  in  the  Mississippi  valley,  and 
second  to  none  in  the  United  States. 

The  superintendents  of  the  establishment  have  been 
Dr.  R.  S.  Anderson,  Dr.  H.  C.  Davis,  who  died  of 
yellow  fever  here  in  1878,  and  since  that  time  the 
present  superintendent,  Daniel  O'Madigan. 

TOWNSHIP  OF   ST.  FERDINAND. 

St.  Ferdinand  is  the  northeastern  township  of  St. 
Louis  County.  It,  as  well  as  the  church  at  Floris- 
sant, was  named  in  honor  of  one  of  the  kings  of  Spain, 
to  which  country  the  territory  belonged  during  many 
years  after  its  settlement.  Its  boundaries  are  the 
Missouri  River  on  the  north  and  west,  Mississippi 


COUNTY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


1885 


River  and  the  city  of  St.  Louis  on  the  east,  Central 
township  and  St.  Louis  city  on  the  south,  and  a  small 
portion  of  Bonhomme  township  on  the  west.  It  is 
drained  by  Cold  Water,  or  St.  Ferdinand  Creek,  which 
rises  near  its  southern  boundary  and  pursues  a  ser- 
pentine course  northeasterly,  to  discharge  its  waters 
into  the  Missouri  River,  and  by  Maline  Creek,  which 
also  rises  near  the  south  line  of  the  township,  and 
passes  eastward,  then  southward,  and  empties  into  the 
Mississippi.  Fee-Fee  Creek  crosses  a  small  portion 
of  the  southwestern  corner  of  the  township. 

The  surface  is  rolling  and  the  soil  fertile.  Agri- 
culture is  the  principal  industry  of  the  township,  and 
Indian  corn  and  wheat  are  the  staple  crops. 

The  principal  roads  which  traverse  the  township 
and  converge  toward  the  city  of  St.  Louis  are  the 
Bellefontaine  road,  which  leads  to  Spanish  Pond,  a 
little  lake  lying  north  from  St.  Louis,  and  the  Hall's 
Ferry  road,  which  leads  across  the  township  in  a  north- 
westerly direction,  and  touches  the  Missouri  River 
below  Mullanphy  Island.  The  latter  was  once  a  plank- 
road,  but,  as  in  case  of  other  roads  of  that  kind,  its 
planks  have  been  worn  out  or  removed  and  replaced 
by  other  materials.  The  old  Hall's  Ferry  road 
diverges  from  this  toward  the  east  at  a  point  a  few 
miles  from  the  city,  and  pursues  a  tortuous  course 
toward  the  same  point  on  the  Missouri.  The  Natural 
Bridge  road  extends  in  a  nearly  direct  line  from  St. 
Louis  to  Bridgeton,  and  thence  to  its  junction  with 
the  St.  Charles  Rock  road.  A  branch  also  extends 
northward  from  Normandy  to  Florissant.  These 
roads  were  constructed  as  plank-roads  by  a  company 
about  1850,  but  after  a  few  years  they  became  county 
roads,  and,  as  in  other  cases,  the  planks  were  removed. 
The  St.  Charles  Rock  road  crosses  the  southwestern 
portion  of  the  township  in  a  northwesterly  direction, 
and  terminates  on  the  Missouri  River  at  Brotherton, 
opposite  St.  Charles. 

The  St.  Louis,  Kansas  City  and  Northern  Railroad 
crosses  the  township  between  St.  Louis  and  St. 
Charles.  College  View  Hill,  Ferguson,  Ashland, 
Graham,  Bridgeton,  Bonfils,  and  Brotherton  Stations 
on  this  road  are  in  this  township. 

The  West  End  Narrow-Gauge  Railroad  has  its 
northern  terminus  at  Florissant,  and  gives  that  city 
direct  communication  with  St.  Louis.  This  road  has 
stations  in  this  township  at  Carsonville,  Scudder,  Gra- 
ham's, Taylor  Road,  and  Florissant. 

St.  Ferdinand  was  first  settled  by  French  immi- 
grants, and  although  soon  after  its  settlement  the 
entire  French  possessions  west  of  the  Mississippi 
came  under  the  dominion  of  Spain,  it  continued  to 
be  essentially  a  French  settlement.  By  an  examina- 


tion of  the  baptismal  register  of  the  Church  of  St. 
Ferdinand,  the  family  names  of  most  of  the  original 
or  early  settlers  may  be  found,  and  of  these  a  large 
portion  are  still  represented  in  the  township,  either 
in  the  paternal  or  maternal  line.  Among  them  are 
the  names  of  Lefevre,  Riviere,  De  Hetre,  Primault, 
Marechal,  Mercier,  Lachasse,  Dubreuil,  Rapun, 
Menard,  De  Lisle,  Martin,  Dejarlais,  Carico,  Billiot, 
Peltier,  Tesson,  Hubert,  Montreuil,  Moreau,  Crilis, 
Aubuchon,  Ouvrey,  St.  Germain,  Brant,  Tourville, 
Bennet,  Payant,  La  Bonne,  Alair,  Wedington,  Ba- 
rada,  Thibaut,  Courtois,  Gendrom,  Bourk,  St.  Cin, 
Beaudoin,  Presse,  Musick,  James,  Burk,  Chovin, 
Brazeau,  Chaput,  Derosier,  Lorain,  Miles,  Pera, 
Smith,  Robidou  Vasquez,  Fortin,  Gailloux,  Tayon, 
Latoure,  Weaver,  Clement,  Sanguinette,  Chouteau, 
Walton,  Brisette,  Pilaire,  Denoyer,  Dolson,  Read, 
Castello,  St.  Cyr,  Mullanphy,  Chambers,  La  Violette, 
Hodromont,  L'Esperance,  Beaufils,  Laramie,  Bellville, 
Vacha,  Mulhall,  Stevenson,  Geno,  Goss,  Graham, 
Dillon,  Taylor,  Rapreux,  Hyatt,  Clark,  Stergers, 
Higgins,  Fremont,  Hanly,  McMenemy,  Grace,  Har- 
nett.  Other  pioneers  were  Magill,  Brown,  Arch- 
ambault,  Richardson,  Long,  Hubbard,  Hume,  Bates, 
Harris,  Stuart,  Jamison,  Hodges,  Seely.  Patterson, 
Sullivan,  Utz,  Howdeshell,  Carter,  Evans,  Putnam, 
Reardon,  Todd,  Fugate,  Quick,  Whiteside,  Hall, 
Walker,  Yosti,  and  Worthington. 

The  father  of  Judge  Hyatt  was  an  early  settler  in 
St.  Ferdinand,  and  both  father  and  son  have  been 
prominent,  active,  and  useful  citizens.  James  Rich- 
ardson and  Thomas  Musick,  if  not  the  first,  were  very 
i  early  settlers  in  the  southern  part  of  the  township. 
The  first  came  from  Virginia,  and  he  was  instrumental 
in  bringing  here  many  American  settlers,  whom  he 
aided  in  many  ways.  He  was  a  saddler,  and  it  is 
said  that  he  once  presented  to  the  Spanish  alcalde  a 
side-saddle  for  his  wife,  for  which  the  alcalde  in  return 
presented  him  a  grant  of  a  thousand  arpens  of  land, 
of  which  Patterson's  Settlement  is  a  part.  He  came 
to  be  a  very  large  landholder. 

The  early  inhabitants  of  this  township,  and  even 
those  living  here  at  a  comparatively  recent  period,  had 
primitive  habits  and  customs.  Their  wants  were  few 
and  easily  supplied  ;  the  fruitful  soil  of  the  region  en- 
abled them  to  raise  the  necessaries  of  life  easily,  and 
the  mild  climate  did  not  necessitate  those  preparations 
for  winter  that  are  required  in  more  northern  lati- 
tudes. St.  Louis  afforded  a  market  for  the  wood  or 
little  surplus  produce  which  they  wished  to  exchange 
for  the  few  luxuries  in  which  they  indulged,  and  they 
pursued  the  even  tenor  of  their  way,  undisturbed  by 
the  bickerings  and  jealousies  which  creep  into  mod- 


1886 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


ern  society,  or  by  the  vanities  which  fashion  engen- 
ders. Each  rejoiced  in  the  prosperity  of  his  neigh- 
bor, or  sympathized  with  him  in  his  adversity.  They 
were  contented  and  happy,  and  in  their  dealings  with 
each  other  they  were  honest  to  an  extent  hardly 
known  in  modern  times.  It  is  said  that  the  first  im- 
migrant who  placed  a  lock  on  his  smoke-house  excited 
a  high  degree  of  indignation  among  the  inhabitants 
by  that  act.  They  looked  on  the  lock  as  a  standing 
insult,  equivalent  to  a  direct  accusation  of  dishonesty, 
and  were  disposed  to  remove  it  from  their  sight  by 
summary  process.  The  population  of  the  township 
was  in  I860,  4289  ;  1870,  7214;  1880,  7923. 

Fort  Bellefontaine,  or  Old  "Fort  St.  Charles, 
the  Prince." — Fort  Bellefontaine  was  established  at 
the  mouth  of  Cold  Water  Creek,  or  St.  Ferdinand 
River,  in  1806,  by  Gen.  Wilkinson,  then  Governor  of 
the  newly-acquired  Territory  of  Louisiana-  It  was 
during  many  years  the  frontier  military  post,  and  it 
was  from  this  point  that  Lewis  and  Clark  left  the  bor- 
ders of  civilization  on  their  celebrated  tour  of  explora- 
tion. It  was  occupied  by  the  United  States  till  the 
establishment  of  Jefferson  Barracks,  in  1827,  when 
the  troops  stationed  there  were  removed  to  the  latter 
post.  The  works  have  gone  to  decay,  and  the  exact 
location  of  the  fort  is. not  now  discernible. 

The  following  memoranda,  gleaned  from  different 
sources,  give  a  history  of  the  earlier  and  later  trans- 
fers of  the  land  on  which  stood  this  fort : 

"  Governor  Xenon  Trudeau  granted  to  one  Hezekiah  Lard 
(or  Lord)  a  concession  of  one  thousand  arpens  (850.77  acres)  of 
land  on  the  Missouri  River,  in  the  north  part  of  this  county, 
through  which  runs  the  Cold  Water  Creek,  dated  Sept.  10,  1797. 
H.  Lard  built  a  house,  etc.,  a  saw-  and  grist-mill,  and  made  a 
farm  of  the  land,  and  died  on  it  late  in  1799.  At  the  request 
of  the  widow,  an  inventory  of  the  estate  was  taken  by  James 
Mackay,  commandant  of  St.  Andrew's,  by  order  of  the  Gov- 
ernor, Nov.  9,  1799,  as  follows  :  One  thousand  arpens  of  land, 
seven  hundred  dollars,  with  house  and  farm,  saw-  and  grist- 
mill and  apparatus,  five  hundred  dollars  ;  personal,  eight  hun- 
dred and  seventy-three  dollars, — two  thousand  and  seventy- 
three  dollars. 

"The  w4dow,  whose  maiden  name  was  Catherine  Sullivan 
Purcell,  subsequently  married  one  Morris  James,  and  John 
Lard,  brother  of  the  deceased,  having  an  interest  in  the  mill  and 
farm,  the  parties  petitioned  the  Governor  for  a  settlement  of  the 
estate.  With  his  consent  the  widow  appointed  Wm.  Musick  and 
John  Patterson  to  act  for  her,  and  John  Lard  appointed  Richard 
Chitwood  and  John  Allen  on  his  part.  The  Governor  named 
James  Richardson  umpire,  April  2,  1803. 

"  These  parties  met  at  the  place  on  April  23,  1803,  in  pres- 
ence of  Joseph  Hortiz,  notary,  to  superintend  and  record,  and 
Samuel  Soloman  to  interpret,  sent  up  by  the  Governor  for  that 
purpose.  They  decided  that  the  farm  and  land  belonged  to  the  es- 
tate of  lie/ekiah  Lard,  deceased,  and  that  John  Lard  was  entitled 
to  two  hundred  and  fifty-nine  dollars.  '  John  Lard,  when  he  lived 
with  his  brother  on  the  farm,  sold  a  horse  for  eight}'  dollars  and  a 
bull  for  thirty-five  dollars,  which  they  leave  to  the  Governor  to 


decide  whether  he  shall  repay  it;  and  sixteen  hundred  feet  of 
boards  sold  by  John  Lard  he  must  pay  for  to  the  estate.  Signed 
by  all  the  parties,  John  Lard,  Morris  James,  C.  Sullivan  Pur- 
cell  James,  John  Allen,  AVm.  Musick,  Richard  Chitwood,  John 
Patterson,  James  Richardson,  Joseph  Hortiz,  notary.  Costs 
of  arbitration  :  Hortiz,  $5.50 ;  Governor,  $2 ;  deed,  $4 ;  total, 
$11.50.' 

"  The  sale  of  the  property  of  the  estate  took  place  on  the  10th 
and  24th  of  the  month. 

Six  hundred  arpens  of  land  at  the  point,  house,  farm, 

saw-  and  grist-mill,  etc.,  to  William  Massey,  for....  $1650 

Two  hundred  arpens  to  Mrs.  Morris  James,  for 250 

Two  hundred  arpens  to  Vincent  Carrico,  for 290 

Total $2190 

Hortiz's  Bill  of  Sule. 

Three  days  of  judge,  $5.50 $16.50 

Four  days  of  horse-hire,  $1.50 6.00 

Decree  and  signature 2.00 

Three  signatures,  in  bills,  50  cents 1.50 

Seven  leaves  of  writing,  25  cents 1.75 

Heading  and  footing 1.00 

Decree  and  sign  to  appraisers 2.00 

For  the  petition 2.00 

Four  days  in  country,  $4 16.00 

Three  witnesses,  each  three  days 16.50 


For  a  copy. 


$71.25 
4.50 


Total $75.75 

"  The  auctioneer  to  be  paid  by  the  estate.     April  26,  1803. 

"  JOSEPH  HORTIZ. 

"1.  William  Massey  to  the  United  States,  April  20,  1806,  for 
two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  paid  by  Gen.  James  Wilkinson, 
United  States  army,  five  acres  of  this  land,  with  the  factory 
and  buildings,  called  Bellefontaine,  and  the  use  for  five  years 
of  the  ground  now  used  for  the  cantonment,  with  the  buildings, 
gardens,  woodland,  etc.,  part  of  Lard's  survey  of  one  thousand 
arpens. 

"  2.  William  Massey  to  Gen.  James  Wilkinson,  July  29, 1806, 
for  two  thousand  five  hundred  dollars,  about  five  hundred  ar- 
pens of  land,  called  Bellefontaine,  except  the  five  acres  sold  to 
the  United  States,  and  which  lies  within  the  said  tract. 

"There  is  a  deed  of  William  Tharp  to  Gen.  James  Wilkinson, 
April  21,  1806,  for  the  above  five  hundred  arpens  for  the  same 
consideration,  two  thousand  five  hundred  dollars,  Book  A,  269, 
but  as  Tharp  had  no  title  to  the  land  it  must  have  been  for 
Massey  while  absent. 

"  3.  State  of  South  Carolina,  James  Wilkinson,  general 
United  States  army,  to  the  United  States,  March,  1809,  for  two 
thousand  five  hundred  dollar?,  the  Bellefontaine  tract,  com- 
mencing at  the  mouth  of  Coldwater  Creek  ;  up  said  creek,  east 
side,  to  the  back  line  of  Lard's  grant;  thence  east  on  said  line 
to  line  of  Morris  James;  thence  north  on  said  line  to  the  Mis- 
souri; thence  with  the  meanders  of  said  river  to  the  beginning, 
less  the  five  acres  bought  by  the  United  States  from  William 
Massey,  about  five  hundred  French  acres,  with  the  appurte- 
nances thereon. 

"  4.  United  States,  by  Gen.  Cass,  Secretary  of  War,  to  James 
Samuel,  Dunham  Spalding,  II.  N.  Davis,  and  E.  T.  Langham, 
at  Washington,  Sept.  29,  1836,  for  $1880.10,  the  above  tract, 
etc.,  now  called  219.47  acres.  They  laid  out  the  town  of  Belle- 
fontaine in  1836." 

City  of  St.  Ferdinand. — This  city,  the  corporate 
name  of  which  is  as  above,  is  spoken  of  in  some  early 
histories  as  "  Fleurissant,"  but  now  bears  the  com- 
mon designation  of  "  Florissant."  It  was  settled  at 


COUNTY  OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


1887 


about  the  same  time  that  the  first  adventurers  lo- 
cated at  St.  Louis,  and  was  at  first  an  Indian  trading- 
post  and  a  Jesuit  mission.  Father  Meurin,  S.J.,  is 
believed  to  have  been  the  earliest  missionary  who 
labored  among  the  natives  at  this  point. 

But  little  of  the  history  of  the  station  during  the 
first  thirty  years  of  its  existence  is  known.  In  1793 
it  had  acquired  sufficient  importance  to  be  placed 
under  the  especial  care  of  the  government,  as  the  fol- 
lowing translation  of  a  decree  issued  by  the  Governor 
of  the  province  will  show  : 

"The  Baron  of  Carondelet,  Knight  of  the  Order  of  St.  John, 
Colonel  of  the  Royal  Armies,  Governor,  Intendant-General, 
Vice-Patron  of  the  Provinces  of  Louisiana,  Western  Florida, 
and  Inspector  of  their  Troops,  etc. 

"  Inasmuch  as  His  Majesty,  whom  God  preserve,  by  his  royal 
edict  of  the  17th  of  August  of  1772,  has  been  pleased  to  con- 
cede to  this  government  the  authority  to  grant  titles  to  special 
lieutenants  of  this  province,  and  there  having  been  formed  in 
the  district  of  Ylinoa  a  new  settlement  by  the  name  of  St.  Fer- 
nando, and  it  being  necessary  to  provide  for  the  civil  and  mili- 
tary government  of  the  same,  because  of  good  conduct,  dis- 
tinguished zeal,  exactitude,  probity,  and  disinterestedness, 
which  are  requisite  to  insure  confidence  in  the  administration 
of  public  affairs,  and  these  special  qualifications  being  united 
in  Mr.  Blanchete,  therefore,  exercising  the  authority  in  me 
vested  by  the  said  royal  decree,  I  declare  and  nominate  for 
special  lieutenant,  with  the  rank  of  captain  of  militia  of  the 
said  settlement  of  St.  Fernando,  its  boundaries  and  jurisdiction, 
the  said  Mr.  Blanchete,  immediately  subordinate,  however,  to 
the  captain  commandant  of  the  establishment  of  Ylinoa,  whom 
I  command  to  have  him  recognized  as  such,  and  to  the  neigh- 
bors, sojourners,  and  inhabitants  of  the  said  post  that  they  re- 
spect and  obey  him  as  such  civil  and  military  commander  in  all 
matters  within  the  scope  of  his  authority,  awarding  and  caus- 
ing to  be  awarded  to  him  the  honors  and  deference  to  which  he 
is  entitled  by  reason  of  his  office. 

"  These  presents  given,  signed  with  my  hand,  sealed  with 
the  seal  of  my  arms,  and  countersigned  by  the  underwritten 
secretary  of  His  Majesty  for  this  government  and  intendancy. 

"At  New  Orleans,  the  30th  of  January,  of  one  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  ninety-three. 

[Eagle  and  lion  seal.]         "  EL  BARON  HE  CARONDEI.KT, 

ANDRKS  LOPEZ  ARMESTO, 

"  W.  P." 

In  1829  the  place  was  first  incorporated  as  a  town, 
but  after  a  few  years  the  charter  was  allowed  to  lapse 
by  neglect  of  the  people  to  select  officers.  In  1843 
it  was  again  incorporated,  and  its  existence  as  a  town 
continued  till  1857,  when  it  was  chartered  as  a  city 
by  an  act  of  the  Legislature. 

After  its  settlement  the  Spanish  government,  in  ac- 
cordance with  its  custom,  granted  to  the  inhabitants 
of  the  village  five  thousand  arpens  (or  four  thousand 
two  hundred  and  fifty  acres)  of  common  lands,  which 
have  since  been  known  as  the  St.  Ferdinand  com- 
mons. These  were  for  fuel  and  pasturage,  and  they 
were  used  as  common  lands  till  the  time  of  the  second 
incorporation  of  the  town,  when  they  were  leased  to 


the  inhabitants  for  long  periods  of  time  (usually  one 
thousand  years),  in  forty-acre  lots,  at  a  nominal  rent. 

What  was  known  as  the  common  fields  was  com- 
posed of  parcels  granted  by  the  Spanish  government 
to  settlers  in  the  town.  These  were  each  one  arpent, 
or  about  sixty-four  yards  in  width,  and  extended 
"  from  river  to  river,"  or  from  Cold  Water  Creek  to 
the  Missouri  River. 

By  reason  of  their  characteristic  sociability,  and  for 
mutual  protection  against  the  Indians,  the  first  set- 
tlers had  their  dwellings  in  the  town,  and  their  farms 
were  in  this  long,  narrow  shape,  so  that  as  they  went 
to  and  returned  from  their  daily  labors  they  were  to- 
gether, and  were  thus  able  the  better  to  defend  them- 
selves in  case  of  sudden  attacks.  The  titles  to  the 
commons  and  the  common  fields,  which  were  thus  ac- 
quired under  Spanish  rule,  were  confirmed  by  an  act 
of  Congress  in  1812,  and  the  people,  or  their  legal 
representatives,  who  had  thus  acquired  lands  in  these 
common  fields  (so  called  because  of  the  way  of  in- 
closing and  working  them)  received  deeds  or  certifi- 
cates of  confirmation  by  complying  with  certain  pre- 
scribed formalities  and  making  the  necessary  proofs 
of  occupancy,  etc.  These  long,  narrow  tracts  have 
mostly  disappeared,  or  assumed  forms  more  in  accord- 
ance with  modern  customs. 

The  precautions  which  the  pioneer  settlers  adopted 
for  protection  against  the  savages  were  not  unneces- 
sary, as  their  subsequent  experience  proved.  Among 
the  Creole  population  at  Florissant  there  are  numerous 
traditions  of  murders  by  Indian  marauders,  either 
singly  or  in  small  bands,  and  without  doubt  these  tra- 
ditions have  truthful  foundations,  though  they  may 
have  become  much  distorted  in  their  details  by  oral 
transmission. 

The  difficulties  and  embarrassments,  present  and 
prospective,  arising  out  of  the  renting  of  the  St. 
Ferdinand  commons  led  the  people,  in  1856-57,  to 
seek  a  remedy  for  the  evil,  and  this  was  finally  found 
in  an  act  of  the  Assembly  incorporating  the  town  as 
a  city.  The  act  was  approved  Feb.  11,  1857,  and 
contained  along  with  the  usual  provisions  of  city 
charters  one  authorizing  the  legislative  department  of 
the  city  "  to  provide  for  the  inclosing  and  improving, 
settling  and  conveying  of  all  property,  real  and  per- 
sonal, belonging  to  said  city,  and  especially  for  the 
sale  and  conveyance  of  all  the  lands  embraced  within 
the  United  States  survey  No.  1202."  This  survey 
was  made  under  the  act  of  confirmation  passed  by 
Congress  in  1812.  Under  this  provision  of  the 
charter  about  six-sevenths  of  these  commons  have 
been  sold. ' 

Owing   to  the    loss   of    the    records,    the    officers 


1888 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


under  the  first  incorporation,  which  continued  from 
1829  till  1832,  and  of  the  second,  which  was  in  force 
from  1843  till  1857,  cannot  be  given.     Under   the 
city  charter  the  mayors  have  been  as  follows  :    Greg-  ' 
oire    Aubuchon,    1857 ;     Michael    Powers,    1858 ;  • 
Golvin    Musick,    1860 ;    Joseph    C.    Vrand,    1861  ;  ; 
Julian    Bates,  1862;  Leonard   Adams,  1863;  Wil- 
liam J.  A.  Smith,    1864;  and   the  present   mayor, 
Charles  Castello,  1865. 

Charles  Castello  is  of  remote  Spanish  descent, 
though  his  grandfather  came  to  this  country  from 
Ireland.  He  was  born  at  Mineral  Point,  Wis., 
May  22,  1839,  but  his  parents  removed  to  Florissant, 
Mo.,  when  he  was  an  infant.  He  received  a  common 
school  education  and  was  Teased  as  a  farmer.  At  the 
age  of  twenty  he  went  to  Colorado,  where  he  was 
engaged  during  a  year  and  a  half  in  mining.  He 
then  returned  to  Florissant  and  became  a  clerk  in  a 
store,  where  he  remained  during  several  years.  He 
afterwards  became  an  operator  in  real  estate,  and  thus 
acquired  a  handsome  competency.  He  continues  to 
deal  in  real  estate,  and  is  also  a  conveyancer  and 
notary. 

In  1865  he  was  elected  mayor  of  the  city  of  St. 
Ferdinand,  and  has  been  re-elected  to  that  office  at 
every  subsequent  municipal  election.     He   has    also  j 
been  during  many  years  an  efficient  member  of  the  I 
school  board.     He  now  holds  the  office  of  public  ad-  j 
ministrator   in  St.  Louis  County.     He    has    always  j 
been  a  Democrat,  politically,  though  during  the  war 
of  1861-65  he  was  a  firm  supporter  of  the  Union. 
In  his  religious  faith  he  is  a  Catholic. 

In  1868,  Mr.  Castello  was  married  to  Miss  Dora 
Menke,  of  Florissant,  and  they  have  had  four  chil- 
dren, two  of  whom  are  living. 

As  an  evidence  of  the  place  which  Mr.  Castello 

holds  in  the  esteem  of  his  fellow-citizens,  it  is  only 

.      i 
necessary  to  point  to  his  long  term  of  service  as  chief  . 

magistrate  of  the  city  of  St.  Ferdinand. 

Of  the  members  of  the  Council  of  St.  Ferdinand 
three  are  chosen  each  year,  and  in  view  of  the  fact 
that  the  office  is  altogether  unprofitable,  the  incum- 
bents have  been  many.     For  like  reasons  the  office 
of  clerk  and  register  has  been  filled  by  many,  often 
by  several  in  the  same  year.     The  treasurers  have  ; 
been  Samuel  James,  Lewis  R.  Brand,  George  Grotz-  ' 
inger,  Charles  W.  Smith,  and  William  Mreen.     Of  ' 
these  Samuel  James  has  held  the  office  three-fourths 
of  the  entire  period. 

Mr.  James'   father,  who  was   of  Welsh    descent,  i 
removed  from  Kentucky  to  Florissant  in  1793.     His 
mother,  whose  maiden  name  was  Julia  Crilis,  was  a 
French  Creole,  born  in  Cahokia.       Mr.  James  was 


born  in  Florissant,  in  the  house  where  he  now  resides, 
Sept.  16,  1817.  He  received  his  education  in  such 
schools  as  were  kept  in  the  country  before  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  public  school  system,  was  reared  a 
farmer,  and  has  always  followed  that  occupation.  He 
became  by  purchase  the  owner  of  the  farm  which  had 
been  the  property  of  his  father,  and  he  still  owns  a 
large  portion  of  that  estate.  Between  1840  and  1850 
he  was  engaged  in  the  business  of  shipping  cattle  and 
hogs  to  New  Orleans.  In  1850  he  went  to  California, 
where  he  engaged  for  a  short  time  in  mining.  Aside 
from  this  his  life  has  been  passed  at  Florissant. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-one  Mr.  James  was  elected  a 
trustee  of  the  town  of  St.  Ferdinand,  and  served  in 
that  capacity  during  several  years.  He  was  made 
treasurer  of  the  town  in  1854,  and  held  that  office  in 
the  town  and  city  until  1881.  He  became  treasurer 
of  the  school  board  at  the  same  time,  and  still  holds 
that  position.  In  August,  1860,  he  was  elected  one 
of  the  judges  of  the  County  Court  of  St.  Louis  County, 
and  served  in  that  capacity  until  the  enactment  of  the 
ordinance  vacating  the  office  in  the  State.  During 
his  term  of  office  the  St.  Louis  County  Insane  Asy- 
lum was  established. 

Judge  James  has  always  held  the  Catholic  faith, 
in  which  he  was  reared,  and  in  politics  has  acted  with 
the  Democratic  party. 

He  was  married  Feb.  18,  1838,  to  Miss  Virginia 
Robertson,  of  Bridgeton,  St.  Louis  Co.,  and  they  have 
had  eleven  children,  eight  of  whom  are  now  living. 

Judge  James  has  always  maintained  an  unblem- 
ished character  for  integrity,  and  is  a  respected  and 
influential  citizen. 

The  situation  and  surroundings  of  Florissant  have 
not  been  such  as  to  lead  to  the  establishment  there  of 
any  important  manufactories  or  shops,  beyond  what 
have  been  required  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  people 
in  the  immediate  vicinity.  The  round-house  and 
machine-shop  of  the  West  End  Narrow-Gauge  Rail- 
road is  located  here,  at  the  terminus  of  that  road.  It 
is  the  repair-shop  of  the  road,  and  it  has  facilities  for 
making  all  the  repairs  on  the  rolling-stock,  and  build- 
ing locomotives  when  necessary.  The  machinery  is 
driven  by  an  engine  of  twenty-five  horse-power,  and 
eight  men  are  employed.  E.  D.  Church  is  the  fore- 
man and  master-mechanic. 

The  city  has  now  six  general  stores,  two  hotels, 
three  wagon-  and  blacksmith-shops,  four  shops,  three 
tailor-shops,  two  harness-shops,  one  shoe  manufactory, 
one  tin-shop,  and  two  physicians.  Its  population, 
according  to  the  census  of  1880,  was  eight  hundred 
and  seventeen. 

Florissant  Valley   Lodge,    No.   19,   National 


»iW^' 


COUNTY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


1889 


. 


.13 
.Oh, 

/  the 
Regis ; 


1890 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Madame  Duchesne,  Superioress,  having  donated  the 
said  corner-stone,  Madame  Octavia  Berthold  and  Ma- 
dame Eugenie  Ande  being  present,  as  also  the  pupils 
and  many  persons  from  the  village."  The  church  was 
blessed  by  Father  Delacroix,  Nov.  20,  1821,  and  was 
dedicated  by  Bishop  Rosatti,  Sept.  5,  1823. 

On  the  20th  of  June,  1823,  the  church  was  made 
over  to  Rev.  Charles  Van  Quickenborne,  S.J.,  and 
it  has  ever  since  remained  in  charge  of  the  Jesuit 
Fathers.  The  priests  in  charge  have  been,  since  Fa- 
ther Van  Quickenborne,  Rev.  F.  De  Theux,  1827 ; 
Rev.  J.  F.  Van  Assche,  1829 ;  Rev.  G.  L.  Gleizal, 
1838" ;  Father  Van  Assche,  1840;  Rev.  F.  J.  Sau- 
tois,  1853  ;  Father  Van  Assche,  1857,  who  remained 
till  his  death  in  1877  ;  since  then  the  present  pastor, 
Rev.  A.  Hayden. 

In  1879  the  church  was  enlarged,  a  new  steeple 
was  erected,  and  the  interior  was  renovated,  the  whole 
at  an  expense  of  five  thousand  dollars.  The  old  cem- 
etery became  too  full  for  further  use,  and  in  1876  a 
new  and  tasteful  cemetery  was  laid  out.  It  is  located 
on  a  hill  about  a  mile  south  from  the  city. 

Church,  of  the  Sacred  Heart. — The  parish  of 
the  Sacred  Heart  was  organized  in  1866,  in  June  of 
which  year  the  corner-stone  of  the  church  edifice  was 
laid.  It  was  organized  that  some  forty  German  fam- 
ilies who  had  become  residents  in  this  vicinity  might 
worship  together  in  their  native  language.  The 
house  was  completed  and  dedicated  in  October,  1867. 
It  is  a  brick  edifice,  fifty  by  one  hundred  feet,  and 
its  cost  was  twenty-five  thousand  dollars.  The  first 
pastor  was  Rev.  Ignatius  Panken,  who  was  succeeded 
in  1867  by  Rev.  Ignatius  Pankert,  and  he,  in  1876, 
by  the  present  pastor,  Rev.  John  Banhans.  The 
parish  now  consists  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  fam- 
ilies. 

A  parochial  school  was  established  a  year  prior  to 
the  erection  of  the  church,  and  a  brick  building,  with 
a  capacity  for  one  hundred  pupils,  was  erected. 
About  1870  another  school  building  was  built,  prin- 
cipally for  boys.  The  school  is  under  the  charge  of 
the  Sisters  of  the  Precious  Blood,  of  whom  three  are 
resident  here,  and  one  secular  teacher  is  employed. 
In  this  school  instruction  is  given  in  both  the  Eng- 
lish and  German  languages,  and  the  pupils  average 
one  hundred  and  twenty. 

The  sisters  under  whose  charge  this  school  has 
been  placed  belong  to  an  order  the  vocation  of  which 
is  the  education  of  children  and  youth,  and  in  this 
they  have  proved  themselves  highly  efficient. 

Sacred  Heart  Order. — The  order  of  the  Sacred 
Heart  was  first  established  in  America  in  1818.  In 
the  previous  year  Right  Rev.  Father  Dubourg,  Bishop 


of  Upper  and  Lower  Louisiana,  made  application  to 
Madame  Barat,  the  Superior-General  of  the  order, 
for  a  colony  of  the  sisters  to  establish  a  home  in  his 
diocese.  Accordingly  five  of  these  ladies — Madame 
Phillipine  Duchesne,  Superior,  and  Sisters  Octavie 
Berthold,  Eugenie  Ande,  Catherine  Lamarre,  and  Mar- 
guerite Manteau — sailed  from  France  in  March,  1818. 
They  arrived  in  New  Orleans  late  in  May,  and  at  St. 
Louis  on  the  22d  of  August  in  that  year.  Early  in 
the  next  month  they  opened  a  school  in  St.  Charles, 
but  after  a  trial  of  a  year  it  was  found  that,  by  reason 
of  the  poverty  or  indifference  of  the  people,  they 
could  not  maintain  themselves  there,  and  arrangements 
were  made  for  their  removal  to  Florissant,  for  which 
place  they  departed  on  the  3d  of  September,  1819. 
Their  transit  was  thus  described  by  Mother  Duchesne  : 
"  Sister  Octavie  and  two  of  our  pupils  next  embarked. 
I  was  to  close  the  march  in  the  evening,  with  Sister 
Marguerite,  the  cows  and  the  hens ;  but  the  cows 
were  so  indignant  at  being  tied,  and  the  heat  was  so 
great,  that  we  were  obliged  to  put  off  our  departure 
to  the  cool  hours  of  the  morning.  Then,  by  dint  of 
cabbages,  which  we  had  taken  for  them  in  the  cart, 
they  were  induced  to  proceed.  I  divided  my  atten- 
tion between  the  reliquaries  and  the  hens.  We 
crossed  the  Missouri  opposite  Florissant.  On  land- 
ing, Marguerite  and  I  drew  up  our  charges  in  a  line 
— she  the  cows  and  I  the  hens — and  fed  them  with 
a  motherly  solicitude.  The  Abbe  Delacroix  came  on 
horseback  to  meet  us.  He  led  the  way,  galloping 
after  our  cows  when,  in  their  joy  at  being  untied,  they 
darted  into  the  woods.'' 

Of  the  region  into  which  these  poor  but  devoted  sis- 
ters, with  their  scant  effects,  came  the  Abbe  Beau- 
nard  says,  "  This  country  has  now,  in  summer,  the 
appearance  of  a  sea  of  verdure,  studded  with  oaks  of 
various  sorts,  walnut-trees,  planes,  and  all  kinds  of 
forest-trees,  among  which  stand  a  number  of  pretty 
houses  and  ornamented  villas;  but  in  1820  not  a 
single  cabin  was  to  be  seen  between  St.  Louis  and 
Florissant,  nothing  but  a  bouadless  expanse  of  wav- 
ing grass,  and,  to  complete  the  resemblance  of  this 
green  plain  to  the  ocean,  storms  often  swept  over  it 
with  sudden  violence. 

"The  Spanish  colonist  who  had  originally  drawn  the 
plan  of  this  village  had  given  it  the  name  of  St.  Ferdi- 
nand, in  honor  of  the  sovereigns  of  his  country,  and 
it  is  often  so  called  in  Madame  Duchesne' s  correspond- 
ence. A  little  church  had  been  built  there,  under 
the  shadow  of  which  a  band  of  Trappists,  driven  away 
from  France  by  the  revolution,  had  taken  shelter,  and 
remained  there  till  1812.  The  cure  of  this  place,  M. 
Dunand,  was  the  last  survivor  of  this  little  community, 


COUNTY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


1891 


and  he  was  still  known  in  the  village  as  the  Father 
Prior.  He  had  undertaken  to  arrange  the  humble 
abode  which  the  nuns  were  to  occupy,  but  as  it  was 
not  yet  finished,  they  had  yet  to  live  in  a  farm  which 
the  bishop  had  bought  in  the  midst  of  a  wild  solitude, 
surrounded  by  forests.  The  Rev.  M.  Delacroix  re- 
sided there,  and  directed  the  tillage  and  cultivation  of 
the  neighboring  land.  He  was  the  priest  who  had 
come  on  horseback  to  meet  the  sisters  at  the  river- 
side." 

Father  Delacroix  gave  up  his  own  abode  to  the 
nuns  and  made  his  quarters  in  a  hut  of  matting,  the 
entrance  to  which  served  both  as  a  door  and  a  window, 
and  which  had  not  sufficient  space  for  a  chair.  The 
nuns  lived  as  farm  servants,  looked  after  the  cattle, 
planted  and  harvested  maize,  cultivated  vegetables, 
gathered  their  firewood,  etc.  They  subsisted  during 
several  months  on  some  flour  which  they  bought  on 
credit,  and  on  a  small  bull  salted.  Father  Beaunard 
says,  "  The  bishop  used  to  laugh  when  he  saw  the 
nuns  engaged  in  their  homely  labors,  and  asked 
Madame  Ande  if  it  was  at  Napoleon's  court  she  had 
learned  to  milk  the  cows." 

Their  house  at  Fleurissant  was  made  ready  for  them 
in  the  latter  part  of  December,  1819,  and  the  sisters 
went  to  it,  walking  in  the  snow  knee-deep,  wrapped  in 
blankets,  but  shivering  with  the  cold  and  covered  with 
icicles,  driving  their  cattle,  guided  only  by  the  tracks 
of  the  pigs  and  other  animals.  Mother  Duchesne 
wrote  of  their  removal :  "  The  cold  deprived  us  almost 
of  the  pDwer  of  motion.  Having  tried  in  vain  to  lead 
with  a  rope  one  of  our  cows,  I  hoped  to  make  her  fol- 
low us  out  of  her  own  inclination  by  filling  my  apron 
with  maize,  with  which  I  tried  to  tempt  her  on ;  but 
she  preferred  her  liberty,  and  ran  about  the  fields  and 
brushwood,  where  we  followed  her,  sinking  into  the 
snow,  and  tearing  our  habits  and  veils  amidst  the 
bushes.  At  last  we  were  obliged  to  let  her  have  her 
own  will  and  make  her  way  back  to  the  farm.  I 
carried  in  my  pocket  our  money  and  papers,  but  the 
strings  broke,  and  everything,  including  a  watch,  fell 
in  the  snow.  The  wind  having  blown  the  snow  on 
my  gloves  they  were  frozen  on  my  hands,  and  I  could 
not  take  hold  of  anything.  Eugenie  had  to  help  me 
pick  up  my  bag,  and  also  my  pocket,  which  I  was 
obliged  to  carry  under  my  arm." 

The  first  year  at  Fleurissant  was  one  of  great  labor 
and  privation.  At  one  time  Mother  Duchesne  wrote  : 
"  There  was  a  moment  this  month  when  I  had  in  my 
pocket  only  six  sous  and  a  half,  and  debts  besides." 
Gradually,  however,  their  condition  and  prospects  im- 
proved, and  in  May,  1820,  the  number  of  their 
scholars  had  reached  twenty-one,  and  the  idea  of  estab- 


lishing a  novitiate  began  to  be  entertained.  In  the 
autumn  of  that  year  Mother  Duchesne  was  afflicted 
with  a  serious  illness,  and  one  of  the  sisters  had  the 
misfortune  to  break  her  arm.  On  the  22d  of  Novem- 
ber their  first  postulant,  Mary  Layton,  was  received, 
and  on  the  19th  of  March,  1821,  Emilie  St.  Cyr  and 
Mary  Ann  Sumner  took  the  veil.  They  were  fol- 
lowed by  Eulalie  Hamilton  on  the  first  Friday  in 
May,  and  by  her  sister  Mathilda  on  the  16th  of 
June,  1821.  These  accessions  greatly  encouraged  the 
sisters,  and  when,  soon  afterward,  the  offer  was  made 
of  a  house  and  its  furniture  at  Grand  Coteau,  near 
the  Opelousas,  it  was  accepted,  and  Madame  Eugenie 
Ande,  as  Superior,  and  Sister  Mary  Layton  were  sent 
to  the  place,  of  which  they  took  possession  on  the  28th 
of  August,  1821.  They  were  reinforced  the  same 
autumn  by  two  nuns  from  France.  Thus  was  estab- 
lished the  first  branch  from  the  mother-house  at 
Fleurissant.  In  the  autumn  of  1825  another  house, 
at  St.  Michael,  was  established,  and  in  1827  the 
house  at  St.  Louis,  and  in  1828  those  at  Bayou  La 
Fourche  and  St.  Charles. 

From  that  time  to  the  present  houses  have  multi- 
plied, till  in  different  portions  of  the  United  States, 
in  Canada,  and  in  South  America  are  to  be  found 
many  flourishing  and  magnificent  institutions  of  this 
order,  which  had  its  humble  origin  in  this  place  in 
1819.  The  novitiate  here  continued  till  the  spring  of 
1847,  when  it  was  abandoned  by  the  Sisters  of  the 
Sacred  Heart. 

Sisters  of  Loretto. — June  21,  1847,  six  Sisters 
of  Loretto,  Mother  Eleonora  Clarke,  Superior  ;  Sister 
Philoinena,  directress  of  studies ;  and  Sisters  Theo- 
dosia,  Vincentia,  Ambrosia,  and  Stanislaus,  assistants, 
took  possession  of  the  establishment  which  the  Sisters 
of  the  Sacred  Heart  had  abandoned,  and  which  then 
consisted  of  a  two-story  brick  house  that  had  been 
built  by  Father  Dunand,  and  some  old,  dilapidated 
cabins.  These,  with  three  acres  of  land,  they  at  first 
rented  for  one  year  at  two  hundred  dollars.  They  sub- 
sequently purchased  the  buildings  and  five  acres  of 
ground  for  one  thousand  dollars. 

It  is  proper  here  to  remark  that  the  order  of  the 
Sisters  of  Loretto  was  founded  by  Rev.  Charles 
Nerinckx,  in  1812,  at  Hardin's  Creek,  Washington 
Co.,  Ky.  At  that  place  Miss  Mary  Rhodes,  a  pious 
young  lady,  first  gathered  a  little  school  of  girls  in  a 
dilapidated  cabin,  the  abandoned  residence  of  a  former 
tenant.  Success  crowned  her  efforts,  and  she  was 
soon  joined  by  Miss  Christina  Stuart,  and  subse- 
quently by  Miss  Nancy  Havern.  The  three  pursued 
their  self-sacrificing  labors  for  a  time,  and  were  joined 
by  two  others,  Miss  Nellie  Morgan  and  Miss  Nancy 


LS92 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Rhodes.  A  small  tract  of  land  was  purchased  and 
some  rude  cabins  erected,  and  soon  afterward  a  sixth 
young  lady,  Miss  Sally  Havern,  joined  them.  They  ex- 
pressed to  Father  Nerinckx  a  desire  to  become  nuns 
and  devote  themselves  to  the  work  of  educating  young 
ladies.  Their  wish  met  the  approbation  of  Father 
Nerinckx  and  the  bishop,  and  they  were  first  made 
postulants,  with  a  few  simple  rules  for  their  guidance. 
On  the  25th  of  April,  1812,  the  first  three  postulants 
— Mary  Rhodes,  Christina  Stuart,  and  Nancy  Havern 
— took  the  veil  at  the  Church  of  St.  Charles,  near  the 
infant  convent,  and  they  were  followed  on  the  29th 
of  June  by  Ann  Rhodes  and  Sarah  Havern.  On  the 
same  day  Sister  Ann  Rhodes  was  constituted  "  Su- 
perior of  the  novices,  and  of  the  Society  of  the  Friends 
of  Mary  at  the  Foot  of  the  Cross."  On  the  same  day 
also  was  commenced  the  erection  of  some  log  build- 
ings for  a  convent,  school,  etc.,  and  when  these  were 
completed  the  place  received  the  name  of  Loretto,  in 
honor  of  "  Our  Lady  of  Loretto,"  in  Italy.  Thus 
originated  the  order  of  the  Sisters  of  Loretto,  whose 
labors  have  been  crowned  with  such  eminent  success. 

In  1823  application  was  made  by  the  Rev.  Joseph 
Rosatti  for  a  community  of  the  Sisters  of  Loretto  to 
establish  a  boarding-school  for  girls  in  Perry  County, 
Mo.,  near  the  seminary  of  the  Barrens  ;  and  in  May 
of  that  year  five  of  these  sisters,  under  Mother  Bene- 
dicta  Fenwick,  arrived  at  that  place  and  soon  opened 
a  school.  The  sisters  of  the  order  subsequently  es- 
tablished schools  at  Ste.  Genevieve,  Frederickstown, 
and  Cape  Girardeau.  They  have  now  several  flour- 
ishing schools  in  Missouri,  and  others  in  many  of  the 
Western  States  and  Territories. 

During  the  thirty-six  years  of  its  existence  the 
establishment  at  Florissant  has  steadily  increased  in 
usefulness  and  importance,  and  additions  have  from 
time  to  time  been  made  to  the  buildings  as  such  addi- 
tions have  become  necessary,  and  now  the  community 
here  numbers  thirty-five  sisters.  As  its  school  has 
increased  better  facilities  for  instruction  have  been 
added,  till  in  1880  it  was  deemed  advisable  to  erect  a 
new  school  building.  Accordingly,  on  the  1st  of 
August  in  that  year,  the  erection  of  a  new  academy 
was  commenced,  under  the  supervision  of  Mother 
Ann  Joseph,  then  Superior  of  the  convent,  but  in 
August,  1882,  elected  Superior  of  the  order. 

The  building  was  completed  in  1882,  and  dedicated 
on  the  8th  of  September  in  that  year.  It  is  of  brick, 
and  covers  an  area  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  by 
eighty  feet.  It  is  five  stories  in  height,  including 
the  basement.  The  latter  has  the  refectory,  the  cul- 
inary department,  a  recreation-room  for  junior  scholars, 
and  the  heating  and  lighting  apparatus.  It,  as  well 


as  all  the  other  stories,  is  traversed  each  way  centrally 
by  corridors  -ten  and  twelve  feet  in  width.  On  the 
first  floor,  above  the  basement,  are  the  study  halls, 
class-rooms,  and  music-rooms.  On  the  second  are  the 
dormitories,  oratory,  library,  and  music-rooms.  On 
the  third  are  the  exhibition-room,  the  studio,  and  the 
infirmary.  On  the  fourth  are  the  young  ladies'  ward- 
robe, the  museum,  and  the  astronomical  and  philo- 
sophical apparatus,  and  on  the  top  is  an  astronomical 
observatory.  The  house  is  heated  by  steam,  lighted 
by  gas,  has  water  distributed  to  all  parts  of  it,  and, 
in  short,  is  furnished  with  all  the  improvements  which 
modern  ingenuity,  guided  by  long  experience,  has 
been  able  to  suggest.  Two  features  are  particularly 
noteworthy :  the  excellent  ventilation  and  the  facili- 
ties for  egress  in  case  of  fire.  The  sisters  of  the  in- 
stitution planned  the  building,  and  its  construction 
was  under  their  supervision.  The  architect  was  Mr. 
Lowery,  of  St.  Louis. 

The  present  Superior  is  Mother  Dafrose. 
Novitiate  of  St.  Stanislaus. — As  early  as  1818 
Bishop  Dubourg  requested  the  provincial  of  the  Jes- 
uits in  Maryland  to  send  some  of  the  order  to  this 
part  of  his  diocese,  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  col- 
lege and  taking  charge  of  and  conducting  missionary 
work  among  the  Indians.  Circumstances  prevented 
a  compliance  with  his  request  at  that  time,  but  in 
1823  it  was,  at  the  suggestion  of  John  C.  Calhoun, 
then  Secretary  of  War,  renewed  and  favorably  con- 
sidered. Indeed,  at  this  time  the  provincial  was  de- 
liberating about  .the  removal  of  the  novices  to  another 
locality,  and  he  readily  accepted  the  offer  of  Bishop 
Dubourg  to  donate  a  farm  near  Florissant.  Rev. 
Charles  Van  Quickenborne,  master  of  novices  at  the 
establishment  in  Maryland,  was  appointed  Superior, 
Rev.  Peter  J.  Timmermans  assistant,  and  seven 
novices,  six  of  whom  were  Belgians,  who  had  come 
to  America  with  the  view  of  joining  the  Jesuits  and 

i  engaging  in  missionary  work  among  the  Indians,  were 
designated  to  come  here.  Their  names  were  F.  J.  Van 

i  Assche,  P.  J.  De  Smet,  J.  A.  Elet,  F.  L.  Verreydt, 
P.  J.  Verhaegen,  J.  B.  Smedts,  and  J.  De  Maillet. 
These,  with  three  lay  brothers  and  some  negro  ser- 
vants, started  on  the  llth  of  April,  1823.  They 
journeyed  overland  to  Wheeling,  sleeping  in  dwellings 
or  outhouses,  and  generally  cooking  their  own  meals. 
After  a  brief  delay  they  embarked  on  two  flat-boats 
and  descended  the  Ohio  River  to  Shawneetown,ashort 
distance  below  the  mouth  of  the  Wabash.  Thence 
they  sent  their  heavy  luggage  by  steamboat  to  St. 
Louis,  and  crossed  the  prairies  of  Southern  Illinois 
with  a  light  wagon,  the  young  men  performing  the 
journey  on  foot.  This  severe  part  of  their  trip  was 


COUNTY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


1893 


accomplished  in  seven  days.  They  arrived  at  St. 
Louis  May  31st,  six  weeks  from  the  time  of  starting. 
On  the  3d  of  June  the  last  of  the  party  reached  their 
destination  at  Florissant,  and  were  temporarily  the 
guests  of  the  Sisters  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  who  were 
already  established  there. 

Rev.  Walter  H.  Hill,  S.J.,  in  his  "  History  of 
St.  Louis  University,"  gives  the  following  description 
of  the  Florissant  valley  at  this  time,  and  of  the  home 
to  which  these  Jesuit  Fathers  and  the  novices  came : 

"  Florissant,  or  St.  Ferdinand  township,  was  first  settled 
shortly  afler  St.  Louis  was  founded.  At  the  beginning  of  this 
century  the  fields  around  the  village  supplied  nearly  all  the 
grain  purchased  in  the  St.  Louis  market.  Florissant  valley 
was  famous  from  the  beginning  for  its  beauty  and  fertility. 

"  When  this  region  was  under  the  government  of  Spain,  or 
before  the  end  of  the  last  century,  and  till  a  short  time  be- 
fore it  was  transferred  to  the  United  States,  Florissant  was  for 
a  time  the  home  of  the  Spanish  Intendant  or  Governor.  His 
dwelling,  which  was  constructed  of  cedar  logs  planted  upright 
on  sleepers,  into  which  they  were  firmly  mortised,  was  torn 
down  only  a  few  years  ago,  its  timbers  being  still  perfectly 
sound.  Its  position  was  nearly  in  front  of  the  present  church 
at  Florissant,  and  distant  from  it  little  more  than  a  hundred 
and  fifty  yards.  This  house  was  occupied  by  the  Trappist 
monks  in  1809,  who  had  that  year  closed  their  two  houses  in 
Kentucky,  one  in  Nelson  County,  the  other  in  Casey  County, 
and  removed  to  Missouri.  In  1810  these  monks  again  moved, 
this  time  to  Looking-Glass  Prairie,  on  Cahokia  Creek,  111.,  and 
settled  upon  a  mound  six  miles  from  the  present  bridge  at  St. 
Louis,  on  the  Collinsville  plank-road,  this  mound  still  bearing 
the  name  of  '  Monks'  Mound.'  Sickness  and  loss  by  death,  to- 
gether with  misfortune  caused  by  fire,  compelled  the  survivors 
to  abandon  this  malarial  district  in  the  spring  of  1813,  and 
they  then  returned  to  France,  whence  they  had  originally  come 
in  1804.  Their  prior,  Rev.  Joseph  M.  Dunand,  remained  seven 
years  longer  in  America,  or  till  1820,  residing  most  of  this  time 
at  Florissant. 

"Father  Van  Quickenborne  and  companions  took  possession 
of  their  farm  in  June,  1823,  Mr.  O'Neil,  magistrate  of  Floris- 
sant, having  moved  from  it  for  the  purpose,  kindly  ceding  his 
right  to  retain  it  longer,  although  his  lease  had  not  expired. 
The  land  lying  northwest  from  Florissant  slopes  gently  upward 
from  Cold  Water  Creek,  near  the  village,  till  it  reaches  the 
highest  table  of  the  bluffs  overlooking  the  Missouri  River,  two 
and  a  half  miles  away.  Commencing  at  the  upland,  a  mile 
from  the  river,  and  declining  southeast  towards  St.  Louis,  lay 
the  pretty  little  farm  now  to  be  their  home,  and  on  one  of  the 
highest  nnd  most  lovely  spots  of  all  this  scene  of  rich  prairie 
and  rolling  woodland  stood  the  humble  cabin  that  was  to  shelter 
them.  The  prospect  from  this  elevated  position  is  both  exten- 
sive and  beautiful,  reaching  far  over  the  charming  valley  in 
which  the  village  is  embosomed  to  the  town  of  St.  Charles,  on 
the  banks  of  the  Missouri,  seven  miles  distant,  and  to  the  white 
line  of  rolling  cliffs,  crowned  with  trees,  that  stretch  from  Alton 
along  the  Mississippi  River.  Throughout  this  entire  Florissant 
valley  the  soil  is  of  inexhaustible  fertility,  rewarding  even 
moderate  care  and  industry  with  plentiful  crops  of  corn,  wheat, 
timothy,  and  every  variety  of  garden  vegetables  suited  to  the 
climate.  Moreover,  it  is  not  only  a  pleasant  district  to  live  in, 
but  it  is  very  healthy,  as  the  numerous  instances  of  longevity 
among  the  people  there  spending  their  long  lives  conclusively 
show. 

120 


"The  dwelling  given  up  to  them  by  Squire  O'Neil  was  a  log 
cabin,  containing  one  room,  which  was  sixteen  by  eighteen  feet 
in  dimensions,  and  over  it  was  a  loft,  but  not  high  enough  for 
a  man  to  stand  erect  in  it,  except  when  directly  under  the  comb 
of  the  roof.  This  poorly-lighted  and  ill-ventilated  loft  or 
garret  was  made  the  dormitory  of  the  seven  novices,  their  beds 
consisting  of  panels  spread  upon  the  floor.  The  room  below  was 
divided  into  two  by  a  curtain,  one  part  being  used  as  a  chapel 
Mid  the  other  serving  as  a  bedroom  for  Fathers  Van  Quicken- 
borne  and  Timmermans.  This  main  room  of  the  cabin  had  a 
door  on  the  southeast  side  or  front,  a  large  window  on  the  north- 
west side,  without  sash  or  glass,  but  closed  with  a  heavy  board 
shutter ;  on  the  southwest  side  it  had  a  small  window  with  a  few 
panes  of  glass,  and,  finally,  on  the  northeast  side  was  a  notable 
chimney,  with  a  fireplace  having  a  capacity  for  logs  of  eight 
feet  in  length.  At  the  distance  of  about  eighty  feet  to  the 
northeast  of  this  dwelling  were  two  smaller  cabins,  some  eight 
feet  apart,  one  of  which  was  made  to  serve  both  as  study  hall 
for  the  novices  and  as  common  dining-room  for  the  community  ; 
the  other  was  used  as  kitchen  and  for  lodging  the  negroes. 
These  rude  structures  were  covered  with  rough  boards  held  in 
place  by  weight-poles ;  the  floors  were  '  puncheons,'  and  the 
doors  were  of  riven  slabs,  and  their  wooden  latches  were  lifted 
with  strings  hanging  outside." 

A  portion  only  of  the  farm  was  then  under  culti- 
vation, though  in  front  of  the  house  there  was  a  bear- 
ing orchard.  They  at  once  commenced  the  work  of 
enlarging  and  adding  to  their  house,  performing  the 
labor  with  their  own  hands.  The  timber  for  these 
additions  and  enlargements  was  cut  on  an  island  in 
the  Mississippi  River,  a  short  distance  above  the 
Charbonniere. 

Rev.  Father  Van  Quickenborne  became  the  spiritual 
director  of  the  community  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  and 
the  church  at  Florissant,  which  was  not  then  finished, 
was  relinquished  to  him  by  Rev.  Father  Delacroix, 
who  had  laid  the  corner-stone  on  the  19th  of  Febru- 
ary, 1821. 

By  the  withdrawal  of  two  of  the  lay  brothers  and 
the  death  of  Father  Timmermans,  which  occurred  in 

1824,  the  number  of  the  community  was  reduced  to 
nine  ;  but  in  1825,  Rev.  Father  De  Theux  and  Mr. 
O'Connor,  from  Maryland,  were  added,  and  in  1827, 
James  A.  Yates  and  George  Miles,  of  Kentucky,  were 
admitted  as  novices. 

In  1825  a  school  for  Indian  boys  was  opened, 
under  the  charge  of  the  novices,  and  one  for  girls,  in 
charge  of  the  Sisters  of  the  Sacred  Heart.  These, 
in  1827,  came  to  number  about  fourteen  children 
each. 

Of  the  novices  who  first  came  to  Florissant,  J.  B. 
Smedts  and  P.  J.  Verhaegen  were  ordained  priests  in 

1825,  and  P.  J.  De  Smet,  J.  F.  Van  Assche,  J.  A. 
Elet,  and  F.  L.  Verreydt  in  1827. 

The  missionary  work  among  the  Indians,  which 
these  men  had  come  hither  to  engage  in,  was  then 
entered  on  with  energy,  but  a  few  years  sufficed  to 


1894 


HISTORY  OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


demonstrate  the  fact  that  the  good  thus  accomplished 
did  not  meet  the  expectations  of  those  who  had  hoped 
to  be  able  to  Christianize  and  civilize  these  indolent 
savages,  and  although  missionary  labor  was  continued, 
attention  was  directed  to  the  promotion  of  education 
among  the  white  population  of  the  country. 

The  following  history  of  the  novitiate  from  1830 
to  the  present  time  was  written  for  this  work  by  Rev. 
Walter  H.  Hill,  S.J.,  who  was  a  novice  at  the  insti- 
tution : 

"  Rev.  Charles  Van  Quickenborne  was  Superior  of  the 
mission  and  of  the  novitiate  from  his  arrival  in  1823 
till  Feb.  4,  1831.  Rev.  Theodore  De  Theux  suc- 
ceeded him,  and  was  Superior  till  March  24,  1836. 
At  this  last  date  Father  P.  J.  Verhaegen  became 
Superior,  but  resided  at  the  St.  Louis  University,  ex- 
cept from  the  summer  of  1837  to  the  spring  of  1838, 
when  he  was  master  of  novices  at  the  novitiate. 
Father  De  Theux  was  master  of  novices  de  facto 
from  1827  to  1831,  and  de  jure  from  Feb.  4,  1831, 
till  the  summer  of  1837.  Father  Judocus  F.  Yan 
Assche  occupied  the  position  from  1838  till  1839, 
when  Father  De  Vos  was  made  master  of  novices, 
filling  the  office  till  Oct.  3,  1843.  Father  De  Vos 
was  followed  by  Rev.  J.  B.  Smedts,  who  remained  in 
office  till  July  23,  1849,  when  he  was  succeeded  by 
Rev.  John  Gleizel,  who  remained  till  July  3,  1857. 
Then  followed  Rev.  Isidor  Boudreaux,  who  filled  the 
office  till  Jan.  17,  1880,  when  he  was  succeeded  by 
Rev.  Leopold  Bushart.  July  9,  1882,  Rev.  Fred- 
erick Hageman  became  master  of  novices,  and  he  still 
fills  the  office,  Father  Bushart  having  been  made 
provincial.  The  master  of  novices  is  appointed  by 
the  general  of  the  society,  and  is  removable  by  him, 
though  he  is  usually  not  removed  before  filling  a  term 
of  three  years. 

"  The  farm  on  which  the  novitiate  is  situated  was 
given  to  Father  Van  Quickenborne  and  companions  in 
1823,  and  it  contained  two  hundred  and  thirty  acres. 
Adjoining  lands  were  subsequently  purchased,  so  that 
it  now  contains  six  hundred  and  fifty-five  acres,  and 
besides  the  institution  owns  another  farm  of  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-eight  acres  two  miles  distant  'from  it. 
The  land  extends  from  Cold  Water  Creek  to  the  Mis- 
souri River,  just  above  the  Charbonniere,  a  distance  of 
more  than  two  miles.  More  than  half  of  this  land  is 
under  cultivation  ;  it  is  naturally  fertile,  is  well  cared 
for,  and  is,  perhaps,  the  best  farm  in  the  Florissant 
valley. 

"  The  original  cabins  were  occupied  till  the  summer 
of  1849,  when  all  except  the  "  Indian  Seminary" 
were  demolished.  The  Indian  Seminary,  a  frame 
building,  forty  feet  by  thirty  feet,  was  moved  on 


rollers  about  eighty  feet  to  the  northeast  of  its  former 
site,  and  it  still  stands. 

"  In  1844  the  foundation  for  a  three  and  a  half  story 
stone  building  was  dug ;  the  stones  for  it  were  quar- 
ried by  the  lay  brothers  at  Musick's  Ferry,  seven 
miles  down  the  Missouri  River.  This  building  was 
not  finished  till  the  summer  of  1849.  I  found  its 
walls  built  to  the  top  of  the  basement  when  I  reached 
the  novitiate,  Feb.  3,  1847.  In  the  spring  of  1848 
the  Creoles  of  Florissant  and  the  surrounding  farms 
were  invited  to  give  one  day  with  their  wagons  and 
teams  to  haul  the  stone  for  the  building  from  the 
quarry ;  they  did  so  with  kindness  and  hilarity,  and 
a  large  portion  of  the  stone  was  placed  on  the  spot 
in  one  day. 

"  The  present  little  mound  in  the  garden  at  the 
novitiate,  in  which  the  dead  are  buried,  was  origi- 
nally covered  with  forest-trees.  It  was  cleared  and 
perfected  in  shape  for  its  present  purpose  in  1839, 
when  the  remains  of  the  few  who  had  previously  died 
were  transferred  to  that  spot.  There  are  now  eighty- 
eight  graves,  —  thirty -seven  priests,  thirty -two  lay 
brothers,  and  nineteen  scholastics.  Among  the  dead 
there  buried  are  Father  Van  Quickenborne,  founder 
of  the  mission ;  his  companions,  Fathers  De  Smet, 
Verhaegen,  Van  Assche,  etc. ;  also  Father  Meurin, 
who  died  at  Prairie  du  Rocher  in  February,  1777  ; 
of  Bizhop  Van  de  Velde,  who  died  in  Natchez,  Nov. 
13,  1855,  etc. 

*'  The  '  Indian  Seminary,'  founded  by  Father  Van 
Quickenborue  in  1825,  was  finally  closed  in  1830,  or 
the  year  after  the  opening  of  the  new  college  in  St. 
Louis,  the  St.  Louis  University.  The  Indian  school 
had  not  proved  a  success,  the  Indian  boys  preferring 
the  liberty  of  a  wild  life  in  the  woods  to  the  restraints 
of  civilized  society  ;  they  would  make  their  escape  and 
join  their  tribes  roving  over  the  prairies.  When  the 
cholera  was  at  its  worst  in  1832,  the  students  of  the 
St.  Louis  University  were  removed  for  a  time  to  the 
Indian  Seminary  at  the  novitiate. 

"  The  first  novices  received  at  St.  Stanislaus  Noviti- 
ate were  William  Yates  and  George  Miles,  both  natives 
of  Kentucky.  They  entered  in  1827.  Brother  Miles 
still  survives,  and  is  residing  at  St.  Charles,  Mo.  The 
first  scholastic  novices  were  sent  for  their  probation  to 
the  novitiate  at  White  Marsh,  Prince  George's  Co., 
Md.  Those  received  in  1835  and  thenceforth  were  at 
the  St.  Stanislaus  Novitiate.  The  novices  received 
during  the  first  twenty  years  after  the  commencement 
of  the  novitiate  were,  with  few  exceptions,  Belgians 
and  Hollanders,  many  of  them  being  drawn  to  the 
United  States  by  the  influence  of  the  illustrious  mis- 
sionary, Father  De  Smet. 


COUNTY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


1895 


"  In  July,  1834,  however,  four  novices  were  called 
to  Missouri  from  White  Marsh,  in  order  to  begin  a 
novitiate  at  St.  Stanislaus.  They  were  Revs.  John 
Schoenmakers  and  Cornelius  Wathis,  who  were 
priests,  and  Revs.  J.  B.  Druyts  and  J.  B.  Duerinck, 
not  yet  ordained  priests ;  they  were  all  Belgians. 
Rev.  Mr.  Schoenmakers,  aged  seventy-six  years,  still 
survives,  and  he  lives  at  the  Osage  Mission,  Kan., 
which  he  founded  in  1847.  At  a  later  period,  and 
especially  after  the  death  of  Father  De  Smet,  which 
took  place  May  23,  1873,  most  of  the  novices  were 
sons  of  German  and  Irish  parents,  but  born  in  the 
United  States.  Among  the  novices  was  one  who  was 
the  descendant  of  a  distinguished  Delaware  chief,  the 
eloquent  Father  Bushart,  now  of  San  Francisco.  A 
small  number  of  Anglo-Americans  from  Maryland, 
Virginia,  Kentucky,  Ohio,  Missouri,  etc.,  were  novices 
here  at  different  periods. 

"  The  novitiate  has  no  endowment,  and  no  source  of 
regular  income  except  its  excellent  farm.  It  has  re- 
ceived donations  of  money  from  Belgium.  Mainly 
through  the  influence  of  Father  De  Smet,  a  gift  of 
thirty  thousand  dollars  in  1869  enabled  the  institu- 
tion to  erect  a  large  three-story  brick  building,  the 
foundation  of  which  was  dug  in  1871,  but  the  corner- 
stone of  which  was  not  laid  till  July  31,  1873.  This 
additional  building  was  finished  in  1874,  and  the 
novices  moved  into  it  July  2d  of  that  year.  It  is 
parallel  to  the  stone  building,  about  sixty  feet  from  it, 
and  the  two  are  connected  by  a  covered  bridgeway 
which  stands  on  pillars  and  joins  the  second  stories. 

"  The  novitiate  was  incorporated  in  accordance  with 
a  general  law  in  1870,  under  the  name  and  title  of 
'  the  St.  Stanislaus  Seminary.'  It  is  subject  to  the 
provincial  of  '  the  Missouri  province,'  as  are  all  the 
institutions  and  residences  of  the  same  province.  The 
provincial  resides  ordinarily  at  the  St.  Louis  Univer- 
sity, and  the  Missouri  province  includes  institutions 
in  Missouri,  Chicago,  Cincinnati,  Detroit,  Milwaukee, 
and  in  the  States  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska.  There 
are  in  the  Missouri  province  seven  colleges  for  supe- 
rior education,  having  not  less  than  fifteen  hundred 
students  in  actual  attendance.  The  novitiate  is  the 
mother-house  of  all  these  establishments,  but  by  a 
misnomer  the  St.  Louis  University  is  often  styled  the 
mother-house,  because  the  provincial  resides  there." 

Town  of  Bridgeton.1 — Bridgeton  is  a  small  town 
fifteen  miles  northwest  from  the  court-house  in  the 
city  of  St.  Louis.  It  was  incorporated  as  a  town  by 
an  act  of  the  Legislature  in  1843.  The  present  board 
of  trustees  consists  of  Walter  B.  Morris,  John  L. 

1  General  history  of  Bridgeton  by  D.  V.  Baber. 


Martin,  Patrick  O'Malley,  George  H.  W.  Heidorn, 
Thomas  J.  Baber,  and  David  V.  Baber.  W.  B.  Mor- 
ris, chairman  ;  David  V.  Baber,  secretary  ;  and  George 
H.  W.  Heidorn,  treasurer.  John  A.  Martin,  not  a 
member  of  the  board,  is  collector  of  revenue. 

The  town  has  four  churches, — a  Catholic,  a  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church  South,  a  Colored  Methodist, 
and  a  Colored  Baptist.  There  is  also  the  Bridgeton 
Academy,  the  board  of  trustees  -of  which  consists  of 
nine  members,  six  chosen  from  the  town  and  three 
from  the  commons,  both  town  and  commons  being 
embraced  in  the  district.  There  is  also  a  colored 
school,  which  is  a  branch  of  the  academy  and  is 
under  the  control  of  the  board  of  trustees.  There 
are  also  in  the  town  one  general  store,  one  grocery- 
store,  one  saloon,  one  blacksmith-shop,  one  wagon- 
shop,  and  one  hotel.  The  population  of  the  town 
was  in  1880  one  hundred  and  sixty-seven. 

Bridgeton  is  an  old  place.  It  was  settled  at  about 
the  same  time  St.  Louis  was  founded,  and  was  first 
peopled  by  French  and  Spanish  settlers.  For  defense 
against  the  Indians  there  was  here  in  early  times  a 
fort,  of  which  William  Owens  was  the  commanding 
officer,  and  from  him  the  place  was  called  Owens' 
Station  till  the  time  of  its  incorporation.  Among 
the  French  of  this  region  it  was  known  in  early  times 
as  "  Ville  de  Roberts,"  and  as  "  Marais  des  Leards," 
from  a  marsh  in  its  vicinity.  The  original  survey  of 
the  town  was  made  in  1786  by  a  Frenchman  named 
St.  Germain. 

The  commons  of  Bridgeton  consist  of  one  thou- 
sand acres,  granted  to  the  town  by  the  Spanish  gov- 
ernment, and  confirmed  by  the  act  of  Congress  of 
1812.  In  1852  these  were  leased  to  individuals  for 
the  term  of  nine  hundred  and  ninety-nine  years,  at 
rents  varying  from  ten  to  twenty-five  cents  per  acre. 

BRIDGETON  ACADEMY. — In  1864  the  Bridgeton 
Academy  was  incorporated  by  an  act  of  the  Legisla- 
ture. The  district  of  this  institution  includes  the 
town  and  the  commons,  the  revenues  from  which  are 
appropriated  to  the  support  of  the  school,  which  is 
free  to  all  scholars  residing  within  the  district.  The 
first  school-house  was  a  church  building,  erected  by 
the  Episcopalians,  and  sold  by  them  to  the  board  of 
trustees.  This  was  exchanged  for  the  house  of  wor- 
ship of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Society,  which  is  now 
the  academy.  A  colored  school  is  kept  as  a  branch 
of  this  academy. 

BRIDGETON  LODGE,  No.  8,  F.  AND  A.  M. — This 
lodge  was  organized  under  a  dispensation  in  1845. 
It  received  its  charter  Oct.  14,  1846,  with  James 
McClure,  W.  M. ;  Benjamin  B.  Edmondson,  8.  W. ; 
and  Henry  Cole,  J.  W.  The  lodge  first  held  its 


1896 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


meetings  in  the  house  of  James  McClure,  but  in 
1849  the  present  lodge-room  on  Main  Street  was 
fitted  up. 

The  Worshipful  Masters  since  James  McClure 
have  been  Benjamin  B.  Edmondson,  R.  T.  Edmond- 
son,  George  R.  Moke,  J.  H.  Garret,  R.  E.  Bland, 
D.  L.  Bassett,  C.  L.  Young,  T.  T.  Craig,  and  the 
present  Master,  J.  H.  Garrett.  The  Senior  Warden 
is  S.  W.  Henley ;  Junior  Warden,  D.  V.  Baber ; 
Secretary,  Jefferson  Van  Gundy  ;  Treasurer,  John  D. 
Parsons.  The  lodge  has  enjoyed  uniform  prosperity 
from  the  .time  of  its  organization.  The  present  mem- 
bership is  thirty- three. 

ST.  MARY'S  CHURCH  (CATHOLIC). — Mass  was 
first  celebrated  in  Bridgeton  by  the  Jesuit  Father  J. 
L.  Gleizel,  in  1851,  in  the  house  of  Dr.  Moore,  now 
owned  by  Judge  Henderson.  In  1852  a  mission  was 
established  and  attended  by  the  following  priests : 
Revs.  Dennis  Kennedy,  1852;  James  Murphy,  1856; 
Park  Brady,  1858;  Thomas  Clary,  18H2;  L.  Smith, 
1864 ;  J.  B.  Jackson,  18G5  ;  B.  Messelis,  S.J.,  1867  ; 
P.  J.  Clark,  1868 ;  M.  Welby,  1869 ;  Patrick  Healy, 
1871;  E.  Smith,  1873;  James  Dougherty,  1874; 
F.  P.  Gallagher,  1876;  J.  D.  Powers,  1877;  Jos. 
Schrocder,  the  present  pastor,  1878.  The  church 
edifice  was  erected  by  Father  Gleizel  in  1852.  It  is 
a  brick  structure,  fifty  by  forty- four  feet  in  size.  A 
parsonage  was  erected  near  it  in  1868  by  Rev.  Father 
Messelis.  The  cemetery  adjoins  the  church. 

BRIDGETON  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH 
SOUTH. — It  is  not  known  that  there  was  any  society 
of  Methodists  here  prior  to  1842,  though  there  were 
members  of  that  denomination  residing  here.  At 
about  that  time  a  society  was  organized,  and  it  wor- 
shiped at  first  in  the  old  school-house  on  the  com- 
mons. In  1 844  a  brick  church  edifice,  forty  by  sixty 
feet  in  size,  was  erected,  and  in  1855  this  was  ex- 
changed for  the  old  P^piscopal  Church,  which  had 
been  purchased  for  school  purposes.  This  is  a  brick 
building,  with  a  seating  capacity  of  two  hundred  and 
fifty.  The  society  has  no  debt.  This  was  a  charge 
on  a  circuit  till  1872,  when  it  was  made  a  station. 
Since  that  time  the  following  clergymen  have  been  in 
charge  here:  Revs.  F.  A.  Morris,  1872;  J.  R.  Fra- 
zier,  1876;  B.  R.  Thrower,  1878;  F.  A.  Morris, 
1878  ;  Joseph  Dines,  1881 ;  and  the  present  pastor, 
W.  II.  Hensley,  1882. 

ST.  JOHN'S  BAPTIST  CHURCH  (COLORED). — This 
society  was  organized  in  1870,  with  forty  members 
and  Rev.  William  Dorsch,  pastor.  Mr.  Dorsch  was 
succeeded  in  the  pastorate  in  1873  by  Rev.  James 
W.  Powell,  who  left  in  1875,  since  which  time  the 
society  has  been  without  a  pastor.  The  present 


membership  is  forty-two.  In  1873  a  framed  church 
edifice,  with  a  seating  capacity  of  two  hundred,  was 
erected.  The  church  has  no  debt. 

METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH  (COLORED)  OP 
BRIDGETON. — This  was  organized  in  1874.  The 
first  place  of  worship  was  the  Ferguson  school-house, 
on  the  St.  Charles  Rock  road ;  then  the  house  of 
J.  H.  Woolfolk,  in  Bridgeton.  In  1882  a  wooden 
house  of  worship,  twenty-six  by  thirty-six  feet  in 
size,  was  erected  in  Bridgeton.  The  pastors  have 
been  Revs.  J.  H.  Woolfolk,  1874;  W.  E.  Wilson, 

1878  ;  A.  Coleiuan,  1880  ;  C.  M.  Keeton,  1881 ;  and 
the  present  pastor,  B.  Pullum,  1882.     The  member- 
ship is  twenty,  and  the  church  has  no  debt. 

Pattonville. — This  village  is  located  on  the  St. 
Charles  Rock  road  at  its  junction  with  the  Fee-Fee 
road,  fourteen  miles  from  St.  Louis.  A  post-office 
had  been  in  existence  here  under  the  name  of  Fee- 
Fee,  which  is  said  by  some  to  be  a  French  corruption 
of  the  word  fife,  which  was  the  original  name  of  Fee- 
Fee  Creek.  No  village  existed  here  prior  to  1869. 
A  blacksmith-shop  was  started  by  T.  T.  Lucas  in 
1860.  In  1866  this  shop  was  converted  into  a  car- 
riage manufactory,  and  in  1869  a  church  and  store 
were  built,  and  within  a  year  another  church  was 
erected.  These  buildings,  with  a  few  residences,  com- 
prise the  present  village.  A  post-office  was  established 
in  1876.  It  was  named  Pattonville,  from  a  family  by 
the  name  of  Patton  that  resided  here.  In  1879  a 
fine  school  building  was  erected  near  the  village,  in 
which  an  excellent  school  is  maintained. 

The  Lucas  carriage-factory  at  Pattonville  was  first 
a  small  blacksmith-shop,  started  by  Thomas  T.  Lucas 
in  1860.  In  1865  this  shop  was  removed  and  en- 
larged, and  the  manufacture  of  carriages,  at  first  on  a 
small  scale,  was  commenced.  From  that  time  to  the 
present  the  business  has  steadily  increased,  till  now 
sixty  vehicles  of  all  kinds  are  annually  made.  In 

1879  the  manufacture  of  sulky  plows  was  added  to 
the   business,  and  since   that  time  two    hundred   of 
these  have  been  turned  out  from  the  establishment. 

MIZPAH  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH,  at  Pattonville, 
was  organized  Nov.  20,  1842.  The  original  con- 
stituent members  were  James  Patton,  Agnes  Patton, 
George  Patton,  James  Quinsenburg,  George  L.  Lack- 
land, Eliza  E.  Lackland,  Ann  Lackland,  Jacob  Brown, 
Ellen  B.  Brown,  Joseph  Brown,  and  Sarah  McClure. 

The  place  of  worship  during  nearly  thirty  years 
was  the  old  Fee- Fee  Baptist  Church,  half  a  mile  from 
Pattonville.  In  1869  the  name  of  the  society  was 
changed  to  its  present  designation.  The  present  house 
of  worship  at  Pattonville  was  erected  in  1870.  It  is 
a  brick  structure  with  a  stone  basement,  and  it  covers 


COUNTY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


1897 


an  area  of  fifty-five  by  thirty-eight  feet.     In  1870  a 
parsonage  was  erected  near  the  church.     Ten  acres  of  | 
ground  are  included  in  the  lot  on  which  these  build-  \ 
ings  stand,  and  the  cost  of  the  property  was  ten  thou- 
sand dollars.     The  society  has  no  debt. 

The  pastors  of  this  church  have  been  Revs.  R. 
Finley,  1843;  John  Ly on,  1847;  -  -  Beebe,  1848; 

-  Pettigrew,  1849;  H.  A.  Booth,  1850;  — 
Noble,  1857;  T.  C.  Smith,  1860;  W.  J.  Lapsley, 
1868  ;  Alfred  E.  Grover,  1876  ;  William  M.  Stratton, 
1878;  and  the  present  pastor,  T.  C.  Barrett,  1880. 

Ferguson. — Ferguson  Station  is  at  the  junction  of 
the  Wabash,  St.  Louis  and  Pacific  Railroad  with  a 
branch  running  to  Union  Depot,  St.  Louis.  The 
place  had  little  importance  previous  to  1878,  but  at 
about  that  time  a  rapid  growth  commenced,  and  now 
it  contains  about  sixty  families.  It  has  a  post-office, 
a  hotel,  two  stores,  three  machine-shops,  and  two 
churches.  The  population  is  largely  composed  of 
railroad  employes  and  their  families,  who  find  here  a 
convenient  and  pleasant  place  of  residence.  By  reason 
of  the  absence  of  marshes  in  the  vicinity  and  the 
excellent  quality  of  the  water,  the  village  is  remark- 
ably healthy. 

ST.  JOHN'S  CHURCH. — Of  the  churches  in  Fergu- 
son, St.  John's  (Catholic)  is  now  (1882)  in  process 
of  erection.  It  will  be  a  neat  wooden  structure,  with 
a  seating  capacity  of  three  hundred  and  fifty.  Rev. 
Father  D.  S.  Phelan  is  the  pastor. 

PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH.  —  The  Presbyterian 
Church  at  Ferguson  Station  was  erected  about  1873. 
It  is  a  tasteful  frame  edifice,  with  a  seating  capacity 
of  between  three  and  four  hundred.  The  society  has 
been  supplied  by  different  clergymen,  and  with  com- 
mendable liberality  it  has  opened  the  doors  of  its 
house  of  worship  to  other  denominations. 

PUBLIC  SCHOOL. — In  1877-78  a  brick  building 
was  erected  for  a  public  school.  It  has  two  school- 
rooms on  the  first  floor,  and  in  the  second  story  a 
hall,  which  is  to  be  divided  into  school-rooms  as  future 
exigencies  require.  The  cost  of  the  building  was 
fifty-six  thousand  dollars.  A  Kindergarten  school  is 
also  kept  in  the  village. 

The  place  has  one  physician  and  three  attorneys, 
one  of  whom,  T.  G.  Allen,  is  a  State  senator,  and 
another,  C.  P.  Ellerby,  is  a  member  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  in  the  State. 

In  1882  a  cheese-factory  was  erected  in  the  village, 
with  all  the  latest  improved  machinery  and  appliances 

for  establishments  of  that  kind.     It  has  facilities  for 

i 

handling  three  thousand  gallons  of  milk  daily,  and 
for  cooling  the  milk  it  has  an  ice-machine  with  a  daily 
capacity  of  three  tons  of  ice. 


It  is  the  property  of  a  stock  company,  with  J.  C. 
Cabanne  manager.  This  company  has  adopted  the 
plan  of  furnishing  farmers  in  the  vicinity  with  cows 
on  conditions  arranged  between  the  parties. 

Black  Jack,  about  three  miles  east  from  Florissant, 
is  a  hamlet  containing  two  stores  and  two  mechanics' 
shops.  It  has  a  post-office,  and  is  in  a  fine  farming 
region.  It  was  named  from  the  abundance  of  the 
species  of  oak  known  in  common  parlance  as  "black 
jack"  which  grows  there. 

Brotherton  was  formerly  a  small  village  on  the 
bank  of  the  Missouri  River,  opposite  to  St.  Charles. 
It  was  named  from  Marshall  Brotherton,  who  owned 
the  land  and  established  a  ferry  there  between  St. 
Charles  and  the  terminus  of  the  St.  Charles  Rock 
road.  The  river  has  so  encroached  on  the  land  that 
the  little  village  has  nearly  disappeared. 

Boufils  is  a  post  office  on  the  Wabash  and  Kansas 
City  Railroad,  sixteen  miles  from  St.  Louis. 

BONHOMME   TOWNSHIP. 

The  township  of  Bonhomme  lies  between  St.  Fer- 
dinand, Central,  and  Carondelet  townships  on  the 
east  and  Meramec  on  the  west.  The  Missouri  River 
forms  its  extreme  northern  boundary,  and  it  joins 
Jefferson  County  on  the  south.  Its  greatest  length 
between  north  and  south  is  sixteen  miles,  and  it  has 
an  average  width  of  eight  and  one-half  miles,  and  it 
includes  an  area  of  about  one  hundred  and  twenty 
square  miles. 

Its  surface  is  rolling,  but  while  it  is  more  uneven 
than  that  of  the  townships  lying  east  of  it,  it  is  less 
hilly  than  that  of  Meramec  on  the  west.  A  water- 
shed divides  it  between  north  and  south,  passing 
through  nearly  its  central  portion.  Its  northern 
part  is  drained  by  Creve  Coaur  Creek,  the  waters 
of  which  pass  through  the  lake  of  the  same  name,  to 
empty  into  the  Missouri  River.  Meramec  River 
pursues  a  tortuous  course  through  the  southern  part 
of  the  township,  and  receives  affluents  on  both  sides. 
Creve  Coeur  Lake  is  in  the  northern  part,  about  one 
mile  from  the  Missouri  River.  This  lake  has  a  length 
of  between  two  and  three  miles,  and  an  average  width 
of  about  half  a  mile.  A  short  distance  west  from 
this  is  a  smaller  body  of  water  known  as  Upper  Creve 
Coeur  Lake,  connected  with  its  larger  neighbor  by  a 
small  stream.  The  origin  of  the  name  of  this  lake, 
like  that  of  the  township,  is  involved  in  uncertainty. 
Many  legends  have  been  written  or  told  concerning 
both,  but  all  these  bear  such  unmistakable  evidences 
that  imagination  rather  than  reality  was  a  prominent 
factor  in  their  production  that  even  their  partial  ac- 
ceptance must  be  with  many  grains  of  allowance. 


1898 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


Elsewhere  an  account  is  given  of  the  improvements 
that  have  recently  been  made  at  this  lake,  and  the 
prediction  is  safe  that  this  will  become  an  important 
point  in  the  not  distant  future. 

The  township  is  traversed  by  several  highways, 
which  pass  through  it  from  west  to  east,  and  converge 
toward  the  city  of  St.  Louis.  The  Central  or  Olive 
Street  road  passes  westwardly  through  the  northern  | 
part  of  the  township,  and  unites  near  its  western 
boundary  with  the  Conway  road,  which  comes  from 
St.  Louis  and  traverses  the  township  farther  south. 
Through  the  central  portion  passes  the  Manchester 
road,  which  is  the  principal  avenue  of  travel  and 
transportation  for  the  people  living  some  distance 
north  and  south  from  it.  The  Clayton  road  passes 
through  the  township  between  the  Manchester  and 
Conway  roads,  and  unites  with  the  latter  in  Central 
township.  The  Gravois  road  crosses  the  southeastern 
corner  of  the  township.  These  are  rock  roads,  and 
are  the  avenues  of  transportation  to  market  for  the  ! 
produce  that  is  raised  in  the  township. 

The  Missouri  Pacific  Railroad  crosses  the  southern  [ 
portion  of  the  township,  running  for  some  distance 
nearly  parallel  with  the  Meramec  River.     This  is  of 
course  the  great  avenue  of  communication  between 
that  part  of  the  township  and  St.  Louis. 

The  early  settlers  in  the  northern  portion  of  the 
township  were  Joseph  Conway,  who  was  scalped  by 
the  Indians  in  Kentucky  during  the  Revolution,  but 
who  recovered,  migrated  to  this  township,  and  was 
the  progenitor  of  the  Conway  family  here  ;  James 

Kincaid,  Jonathan  Wiseman, Smith,  Greene  B. 

Baxter,  Hempstead,  Hibler,  Cor- 

dell,   Frederick    Bates,   afterwards    Governor  of  the 

State  ;  Lanhatn,  John  Ball,  Henry  Mason,  one 

of  the  first  magistrates  ;  William  Baeon,  William 
Hannah,  and  others  whose  names  cannot  be  recalled. 

In  the  southern  part  were Eoff,  George  and 

Robert  King,  John  Hardecker,  James  Richardson, 
Archibald  Harbison,  Thomas  Keebly,  Nathan  Shot- 
well,  Thomas  Williams,  George  Sipp,  Caleb  Bowles, 

Rudder, Longwith,  Samuel  T.  Vandover, 

John  McLaughlin,  Jabez  Ferris,  Peter  Breen, 

Kuntz,  Samuel  Stowey,  Richard  Low,  Jones, 

and  others.  These  early  settlers  were  mostly  immi- 
grants from  Kentucky  and  Virginia.  At  the  time 
they  settled  here  the  township  was  principally  prairie, 
and  the  wild  denizens  of  the  region  abounded.  All 
these  people,  as  they  slept  in  their  cabins,  were  seren- 
aded by  the  wolves,  and  their  corn-fields  and  pig-pens 
were  often  invaded  by  bears.  The  wants  of  these 
early  inhabitants  were  not  as  numerous  as  those  of 
people  in  later  times,  and  the  abundant  resources  of 


the  fertile  soil  readily  supplied  the  few  which  they 
felt,  and  they  were  contented  and  happy.  The  popu- 
lation of  the  township  was  in  1850,  1842;  1860, 
3629;  1870,  6162;  1880,7043. 

The  pioneer  mills  in  the  township  were  what  were 
known  as  horse  mills.  They  were  introduced  at  a 
very  early  date,  and  took  the  place  of  the  primitive 
mortars  for  grinding  corn.  They  were  established  in 
various  parts  of  the  township,  and  it  was  not  till  a 
comparatively  recent  period  that  steam-mills  took  their 
place.  A  short  distance  from  Fenton  a  steam  grist- 
mill was  erected  by  William  Head  about  1854.  It 
existed  only  a  few  years.  In  1852,  Smizer's  grist- 
mill and  distillery  was  erected  on  the  Meramec  River, 
a  mile  south  from  Meramec  Station.  This  establish- 
ment ceased  to  be  operated  twenty  years  since,  and 
the  building  has  been  converted  into  a  barn. 

At  Meramec  Station,  on  the  Missouri  Pacific  Rail- 
road, is  located  the  Meramec  Mill.  This  was  first 
built  in  1874  by  G.  H.  Timmerman,  with  two  run 
of  stones,  one  for  flour  and  one  for  corn.  It  was  both 
a  custom  and  a  merchant  mill,  and  another  run  of 
stones  was  soon  added.  C.  F.  Leonard  afterward 
purchased  the  mill,  and  added  to  it  another  run  of 
stones  for  grinding  wheat.  In  June,  1881,  H.  B. 
Eggers  purchased  the  establishment,  and  added  to  its 
former  machinery  seven  sets  of  rollers,  with  other 
machinery,  for  the  manufacture  of  roller  flour.  The 
machinery  is  driven  by  an  engine  of  eighty  horse- 
power, and  the  daily  capacity  of  the  mill  is  two  hun- 
dred barrels  of  flour.  It  is  wholly  a  merchant  mill. 
A  cooperage  is  attached  to  it,  and  eighteen  hands  are 
employed  at  the  establishment.  An  elevator  is  in 
process  of  construction,  and  this,  when  completed, 
will  have  a  capacity  of  thirty  thousand  bushels. 

Bonhomme  Presbyterian  Church. — Bonhomme 
Church  was  organized  by  Rev.  S.  Giddings,  Oct.  16, 
1816,  with  sixteen  members.  It  was  the  second 
Presbyterian  Church  that  was  established  west  of  the 
Mississippi  River,  Concord  (Bellevue)  Church  having 
been  organized  on  the  3d  of  the  preceding  August. 

During  ten  years  the  church  had  a  hard  struggle 
for  existence.  Its  membership  in  1825  was  fourteen, 
and  in  1827  it  was  dissolved  and  its  members  united 
with  the  church  at  St.  Louis.  It  was  reorganized, 
with  ten  members,  by  Rev.  John  S.  Ball,  Nov.  5, 
1828,  and  in  1831  the  membership  had  increased  to 
fifteen. 

The  records  of  the  church  were  burned  some  years 
since,  but  it  is  remembered  that  during  many  years 
it  owned  no  house  of  worship,  and  that  its  services 
were  held  in  private  residences  and  school-houses. 
The  present  church  edifice,  which  stands  at  the  June- 


COUNTY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


1899 


tion  of  the  Conway  and  White  roads,  eighteen  miles 
from  St.  Louis,  was  erected  about  1840  by  Messrs. 
James  Sappington  and  John  Baxter,  under  the  su- 
perintendence of  Judge  Joseph  Conway.  It  is  a  stone 
building  with  a  basement,  and  its  size  is  thirty  by 
forty-four  feet.  Services  have  been  regularly  held  in 
this  building  since  its  erection. 

The  first  clergyman  who  ministered  to  this  church 
was  Mr.  Giddings,  who  visited  it  from  St.  Louis  from 
time  to  time.  Soon  after  its  reorganization  in  1828, 
a  young  licentiate  named  Hodges  was  engaged  to 
preach  to  the  congregation  for  a  year,  but  he  died 
before  the  expiration  of  that  time.  The  next  preacher 
was  Rev.  John  Gilbreath,  under  whose  ministrations 
the  church  grew  and  prospered  during  a  number  of 
years.  He  was  followed  by  a  Mr.  Beebe,  who  re- 
mained but  a  short  time.  Next  came  Rev.  John 
Lyon,  a  native  of  Philadelphia,  and  a  young  man  of 
great  promise,  but  his  health  soon  failed,  and  he  was 
taken  by  his  friends  to  the  place  of  his  nativity,  where 
he  soon  afterwards  died.  He  was  succeeded  by  Rev. 
R.  P.  Farris,  of  St.  Louis,  a  talented  preacher  and 
an  able  writer.  Revs.  Henry  A.  Booth,  William  H. 
Parks,  A.  Shotwell,  and  James  A.  Smith  followed  in  ' 
order.  The  present  membership  of  the  church  is  fifty. 

Evangelical  Lutheran  St.  John's  Church  is 
located  at  Ellisville,  a  hamlet  on  the  Manchester  road, 
in  the  western  part  of  Bonhomme  township.  It  was 
organized  in  1852  with  only  a  few  constituent  mem- 
bers, and  services  were  first  held  at  Ballwin  in  private 
houses.  In  1854  a  small  log  church  was  built  a 
mile  and  a  half  southwest  from  Ballwin,  and  in  this 
the  society  worshiped  during  seventeen  years.  In 
1871  a  brick  church  edifice,  thirty  by  fifty  feet,  was 
erected  on  the  south  side  of  the  Manchester  road  at 
Ellisville.  The  building  cost  four  thousand  three 
hundred  dollars,  and  it  is  not  encumbered  with  a 
debt.  In  1872  a  brick  parsonage  was  built  at  a  cost 
of  eleven  hundred  dollars.  A  parochial  school  build- 
ing was  erected  near  the  church  in  1878.  A  parochial 
school  had  been  maintained  during  fifteen  years  prior 
to  the  erection  of  this  building,  and  in  this  school 
instruction  has  been  given  in  the  German  and  Eng- 
lish languages,  and  now  forty  scholars  on  an  average 
are  taught  in  it. 

The  clergymen  who  have  served  this  congregation 
have  been,  in  succession,  Revs.  J.  A.  F.  W.  Mueller, 

Lehmann,  F.  P.  Pennekamp,  Theodore  Burzin, 

August  Schnessler,  and  the  present  pastor,  E.  T. 
Richter.  The  membership  is  fifty. 

St.  Monica's  Church.  (Catholic)  at  Creve  Coeur 
was  erected  and  the  parish  organized  in  1872,  and 
mass  was  first  celebrated  on  Christmas  of  that  year. 


The  parish  was  founded  and  the  church  erected  by 
Rev.  H.  Muhlsiepen,  vicar-general.  The  church 
edifice  is  a  neat  brick  structure,  with  a  seating  capac- 
ity of  one  hundred  and  twenty,  and  its  cost  was  two 
thousand  five  hundred  dollars.  In  1873  the  Francis- 
can Fathers  took  charge  of  the  parish,  and  continued 
till  1881,  when  Rev.  Joseph  Diel  became  resident 
pastor.  In  June  of  the  same  year  Rev.  H.  S.  Aert- 
ler,  the  present  pastor,  assumed  charge.  The  parson- 
age was  erected  in  the  autumn  of  1881,  at  a  cost  of 
two  thousand  dollars.  A  parochial  school  was  estab- 
lished in  1873,  and  a  brick  school  building  was  erected 
near  the  church.  In  this  a  school  has  ever  since  been 
maintained,  and  the  average  attendance  is  forty.  In- 
struction is  given  in  both  the  German  and  English 
languages.  The  congregation  consists  of  sixty-five 
families. 

Christian  Church,  of  Creve  Coeur. — A  society  of 
this  denomination  was  organized  in  the  vicinity  of 
Creve  Coeur  in  1875,  with  twenty  members.  It  has 
built  no  house  of  worship,  but  has  held  services  in  the 
Creve  Coeur  school-house.  The  pastors  of  the  society 
have  been  Revs.  J.  H.  Garrison,  1875 ;  J.  H.  Stuart, 
1878  ;  and  the  present  pastor,  J.  H.  Owen,  1880. 

Manchester l  was  settled  very  early  in  the  present 
century,  but  for  many  years  it  was  only  a  small  vil- 
lage. The  first  settler  in  the  town  was  an  Indian 
named  Bryson  O'Hara,  who  built  a  cabin  at  Man- 
chester Spring,  and  resided  there  several  years,  sub- 
sisting by  hunting,  making  ox-bows,  ox-yokes,  etc. 
The  place  was  first  called  Hoardstown,  from  Jesse 
Hoard,  who  came  quite  early  from  Kentucky  and 
located  on  the  corner  of  the  Manchester  road  and 
Creve  Cceur  Street.  The  place  was  called  by  that 
name  till  about  1825,  when  it  began  to  be  spoken  of 
by  its  present  title.  An  Englishman  who  settled 
there  about  that  time  christened  it  Manchester,  from 
the  place  of  his  residence  in  England,  and  it  gradu- 
ally came  to  be  thus  designated  by  every  one.  A 

store  was  established  there  at  an  early  date  by 

Douglass,  on  the  north  side  of  the  rock  road,  a  short 
distance  east  from  Creve  Coeur  Street,  in  a  log  build- 
ing, which  was  at  the  same  time  a  store  and  a  resi- 
dence. By  the  side  of  this  store  was  a  blacksmith- 
shop,  which  was  carried  on  by  William  Triplet,  who 
came  here  in  1816  or  1817  from  Kentucky.  He 
was  a  blacksmith  in  Manchester  till  his  death,  and 
was  an  active,  influential  citizen. 

Caleb  Carman  came  from  Kentucky  to  Manchester 
in  1818,  and  established  a  saddlery  and  harness-shop, 
where  he  conducted  the  business  during  many  years. 

1  Data  for  early  history  furnished  by  John  Shotwell. 


1900 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


He  was  an  excellent  mechanic,  and  to  the  manufac- 
ture of  saddles  and  harnesses  he  afterwards  added  the 
business  of  carriage  trimmings. 

About  one  hundred  yards  east  from  Creve  Coaur 
Street,  on  the  south  side  of  the  rock  road,  Isaac  Mc- 
Fadden  established  a  shoe-shop  in  1818  in  a  log 
house,  which  was  also  a  dwelling.  He  was  the  only 
shoemaker  in  Manchester  during  many  years.  He 
died  at  the  house  of  John  Shotwell  in  1856. 

Samuel  Hindman  came  from  Kentucky  and  set  up 
a  tannery.  This  tannery  came  to  be  the  property  of 
Robert  Buchanan  and  Henry  Rollins,  who  carried 
on  tanning  extensively,  and  in  connection  with  it  the 
manufacture  of  boots  and  shoes.  At  times  they 
employed  as  many  as  twelve  men  in  the  business. 
The  tannery  ceased  to  be  operated  in  1860. 

Between  Carman's  saddlery  and  Triplet's  black- 
smith-shop Starks  Cockrill  resided  in  a  log  house,  a 
portion  of  which  is  still  standing,  and  kept  a  house  of 
entertainment  for  travelers.  This  was  the  first  tavern 
in  Manchester. 

Samuel  Berry,  also  a  Kentuckian,  and,  as  well  as 
the  others,  from  May's  Lick,  Mason  Co.,  in  that 
State,  carried  on  the  manufacture  of  brick  as  early  as 
1822.  His  yard  was  on  the  south  side  of  the  rock 
road,  east  from  Creve  Coeur  Street.  He  not  only 
moulded  and  burned  bricks,  but  was  a  bricklayer,  and 
built  most  of  the  chimneys  that  were  erected  in  this 
vicinity  during  many  years. 

In  1820  a  carding-machine  was  brought  from  Ken- 
tucky by  James  Neale  and  put  in  a  log  building  that 
was  erected  for  the  purpose  in  the  rear  of  Mr.  Trip- 
let's house,  which  stood  in  the  rear  of  his  blacksmith- 
shop.  This  machine  was  propelled  by  an  inclined 
wheel  that  was  turned  by  the  weight  of  horses.  It 
was  used  till  1839,  when  the  building  was  converted 
into  a  church. 

Martin  Shelton  resided  in  the  house  that  was  built 
by  Mr.  Hoard,  and  followed  the  business  of  teaming. 
In  those  days,  and  for  many  years  afterwards,  all  the 
goods  that  were  sold  in  Manchester  and  other  places 
that  sprang  up  in  its  vicinity  were  brought  by  teams 
of  horses  or  oxen  from  St.  Louis  over  what  is  now 
the  Manchester  Rock  road,  and  produce  was  con- 
veyed to  market  in  the  same  manner.  Mr.  Shelton 
followed  this  business,  which  would  now  be  called 
freighting,  during  many  years. 

In  addition  to  these  an  old  man  named  Kuntz  and 
his  wife  resided  here  in  1826,  and  these  constituted 
the  sum  total  of  the  families  in  the  place  at  that  time. 
This  Mr.  Kuntz  was  from  Pennsylvania,  and  had 
located  at  what  is  now  Meramec  Station  many  years 
before,  and  carried  on  a  distillery  there. 


In  1830, Burns  established  the  first  tailor's 

shop  in  Manchester.  His  shop  was  a  log  building 
near  Cockrill's  log  tavern,  on  the  same  side  of  the 
street.  These  were  the  pioneers  in  the  different  kinds 
of  business  in  the  town.  Its  growth  was  during 
many  years  slow ;  as  the  country  around  it  became 
settled  it  had  a  gradual  increase,  but  in  1880  its 
population  numbered  only  three  hundred  and  six. 

The  first  frame  building  in  Manchester  was  erected 
in  1830  by  James  Robinson  for  a  hotel,  and  it  was 
kept  as  such  during  many  years.  It  is  now  known 
as  the  "  Old  Hotel,"  and  stands  on  the  south  side  of  the 
road,  east  from  Creve  Coeur  Street. 

No  great  manufacturing  industry  ever  sprang  up 
in  this  place,  and  there  has  been  only  a  local  trade  to 
make  it  a  town.  The  travel  that  formerly  passed 
through  the  town  has  since  the  Missouri  Pacific 
Railroad  went  into  operation  been  diverted  from  this 
route,  and  only  local  travel  passes  through  it  now. 

In  1850  a  brewery  was  established  in  Manchester 
by  a  Mr.  Spoeri.  It  was  located  on  the  south  side  of 
the  road,  at  the  corner  of  Church  Street.  It  was 
conducted  a  few  years  by  Mr.  Spoeri,  and  then  pur- 
chased by  a  Mr.  Hock.  After  the  death  of  Mr.  Hock 
the  establishment  was  idle  for  a  time,  and  was  then 
started  by  Tobias  Fisher.  He  was  succeeded  by  F. 
Heim  &  Co.,  who  purchased  the  property  and  con- 
ducted the  business  during  two  years,  at  the  end  of 
which  they  were  succeeded  by  Michael  Hollocker. 
He  sold  the  establishment  in  1866  to  F.  Smith,  who 
carried  on  the  business  till  1867,  when  the  building 
was  destroyed  by  fire.  It  was  immediately  rebuilt, 
smaller,  and  the  business  was  conducted  by  Mr.  Smith 
till  1870,  when  it  was  again  burned,  and  was  never 
rebuilt. 

A  saw-mill  was  erected  on  the  present  site  of  the 
Monitor  Flouring-Mill  in  1855  by  Frederick  Barton. 
It  was  not  long  used  as  a  saw-mill,  but  additions  were 
made  to  it  and  it  was  converted  into  a  grist-mill  the 
next  year.  About  ten  years  later  it  was  burned,  and  an  - 
other  and  larger  mill  was  erected  in  its  place  by  Jacob 
Schriner.  This  was  a  merchant  mill,  and  had  four 
run  of  stones.  It  was  burned,  and  was  succeeded  by 
the  Monitor  Roller-Mill,  which  was  erected  by  John 
Gregg  in  1881  on  the  site  of  the  mill  that  was 
burned.  It  is  a  frame  building,  thirty-two  by  sixty 
feet  in  size  and  three  stories  in  height  above  the 
basement.  It  has  three  run  of  stones  and  six  sets  of 
rollers,  and  its  capacity  is  one  hundred  and  fifty  barrels 
of  flour  in  twenty-four  hours.  The  machinery  is  pro- 
pelled by  an  engine  of  sixty-five  horse-power.  It  is 
wholly  a  merchant  mill,  and  about  one-half  the  flour 
manufactured  in  it  is  sold  in  the  surrounding  country. 


COUNTY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


1901 


The  balance  is  sent  to  St.  Louis.  A  cooperage  is  at- 
tached to  the  mill,  and  the  total  number  of  hands  em- 
ployed in  the  establishment  is  eight. 

Manchester  now  has  two  general  stores,  two  gro- 
ceries, one  variety  store,  one  drug-store,  one  flour  and 
feed  store,  one  boot  and  shoe  store,  one  hotel,  three 
blacksmith-shops,  two  tin-shops,  one  tailor-shop, 
three  shoe-shops,  two  wagon-shops,  one  cabinet-shop, 
one  meat-market,  and  one  physician. 

METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH  SOUTH. — In  the 
absence  of  any  records  of  an  earlier  date  than  1867, 
it  is  not  possible  to  learn  the  early  history  of  this 
society.  It  is  known  that  services  by  Methodist 
clergymen  were  held  at  a  very  early  date  in  private 
houses  and  barns,  before  a  school-house  was  erected  in 
this  vicinity.  A  society  was  formed  long  since,  and 
preaching  was  supplied  by  circuit  preachers.  This 
has  at  times  been  a  station  and  again  a  charge  on  a 
circuit  as  changing  circumstances  have  required.  A 
house  of  worship  for  this  society  was  first  fitted  up  in 
1827,  when  John  Ball  purchased  a  building  that  had 
been  used  for  a  carding-machine,  and  seats  and  a  gal- 
lery were  arranged  in  it.  It  was  used  as  a  church  till 
1839,  when  it  was  sold  to  Mr.  Triplet,  and  by  him 
converted  into  a  barn.  In  that  year  a  small  framed 
church  was  erected  near  the  site  of  the  present  house 
of  worship  of  the  society.  It  was  used  till  1859, 
when  the  present  edifice  was  built.  It  is  of  brick 
with  a  stone  basement,  and  is  forty  by  sixty  feet  in 
size.  It  is  pleasantly  located  on  an  elevation  a  short 
distance  from  the  Manchester  road. 

ST.  MALACHY'S  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  was  organized 
in  1839  with  only  a  few  members.  During  many 
years  it  was  visited  by  priests  from  the  Cathedral  at 
St.  Louis,  and  afterwards  from  St.  Peter's  Church  at 
Gravois  (Kirkwood).  Among  those  who  ministered 
to  this  congregation  may  be  named  Revs.  Jacob  Meller 
and  H.  Van  der  Senden.  In  1869,  Rev.  H.  V.  Kal- 
mer  was  appointed  parish  priest,  followed  by  Revs. 
James  Becker,  1874  ;  A.  Mayer,  1875  (died)  ;  P. 
Bonaventura,  O.S.F.,  and  P.  Matthias,  O.S.F.,  1875  ; 
H.  V.  Kalmer,  1876;  J.  F.  M.  Diel,  1881. 

The  present  church  building  was  erected  in  1851. 
In  1869  a  parsonage  was  purchased  for  twelve  hun- 
dred dollars,  and  the  next  year  an  organ  was  procured 
at  a  cost  of  six  hundred  dollars,  and  a  lot  for  a  ceme- 
tery was  bought  for  eight  hundred  and  twenty-five 
dollars. 

A  parochial  school  has  been  maintained  by  this 
congregation  since  1851,  first  in  the  church,  then  in 
a  room  in  the  pastor's  residence,  and  in  1871  a  build- 
ing for  the  purpose  was  erected.  The  present  teacher 
is  J.  H.  L/Kotthoff. 


ST.  JOHANNES'  EVANGELICAL  LUTHERAN 
CHURCH  was  organized  in  1867  with  fifteen  members. 
The  first  place  of  worship  was  a  dwelling-house  that 
was  purchased  and  fitted  up  for  the  purpose  on  the 
site  of  the  present  church,  a  short  distance  from  the 
rock  road.  In  1869  the  present  church  edifice  was 
erected  at  an  expense  of  two  thousand  dollars.  It  is 
a  tasteful  wooden  structure,  thirty  by  fifty  feet  in 
size.  A  parsonage  near  the  church  was  built  in  1871 
at  a  cost  of  five  hundred  dollars.  The  present  mem- 
bership is  thirty-two.  The  pastors  have  been  Revs. 
Frederick  Koeving,  1867  ;  Armen  Hauf,  1869  ;  - 
Ries,  1869  ;  William  Stoeffer,  1871  ;  and  the  present 
pastor,  Frederick  Schmidt,  1878. 

MAENNERCHOR  AND  OTHER  SOCIETIES. — At  a  pic- 
nic held  on  the  4th  of  July,  1880,  by  the  German  popu- 
lation of  Manchester,  the  subject  of  forming  a  sing- 
ing society  was  agitated,  and  as  a  result  a  meeting  for 
the  purpose  was  held  on  the  8th  of  the  same  month, 
at  which  the  Maennerchor  was  organized  by  the 
adoption  of  a  constitution  and  the  election  of  the  fol- 
lowing officers :  William  Schroeder,  president ;  Charles 
Schroeder,  vice-president ;  William  Kruse,  treasurer  ; 
and  Henry  Seibel,  secretary.  The  object  of  the  so- 
ciety, as  set  forth  in  its  constitution,  was  "  the  culti- 
vation of  vocal  music  and  a  refined  social  intercourse 
among  its  members." 

For  the  want  of  a  better  place  the  society  met 
during  a  year  and  a  half  in  a  room  over  a  black- 
smith's shop.  In  1881  a  Saenger  Hall,  thirty-six  by 
fifty  feet  in  size,  was  erected,  finished  in  appropriate 
style,  and  dedicated  on  Christmas-day  of  that  year. 

The  society  was  incorporated  on  the  14th  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1882,  and  it  has  since,  as  well  as  before,  been 
highly  prosperous,  and  an  addition  to  the  hall  has  be- 
come necessary.  It  was  the  pioneer  institution  of  the 
kind  in  the  county  of  St.  Louis.  The  present  num- 
ber of  members  is  seventy-four.  The  presidents  of 
the  society  have  been  William  Schroeder,  Charles 
Schroeder,  and  the  present  incumbent  of  the  office, 
Henry  Steffen.  The  musical  directors  have  been 
Caspar  Roesslein  and  the  present  director,  H.  W. 
Dreyer. 

On  the  4th  of  July,  1882,  the  society  was  pre- 
sented by  the  ladies  of  Manchester  with  a  silk  ban- 
ner, the  cost  of  which  was  one  hundred  dollars. 

Bonhomme  Lodge,  No.  45,  F.  and  A.  M.,  was 
organized  in  the  early  part  of  1841,  with  Peter  Kin- 
caid,  W.  M. ;  A.  C.  Tindal,  S.  W. ;  Lewis  Dozier, 
J.  W.  ;  I.  F.  Hale,  Sec.  ;  William  Bassett,  Treas.  ; 
Frederic  L.  Billon,  S.  D. ;  Vespian  Ellis,  J.  D. ; 
and  Caleb  Carman,  Tyler. 

The  first  lod"e-room  was  in  the  old  hotel  that  was 


1902 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


built  in  1830.  The  Past  Worshipful  Masters  have 
been,  in  succession,  Peter  Kincaid,  Dr.  William  Bas- 
set, I.  F.  Hale,  H.  H.  Duval,  John  Shotwell,  Dr.  A. 
B.  Barbee,  W.  D.  Clayton,  Vincent  Henderson,  Dr. 
James  H.  Hall,  Thomas  Ennis,  James  M.  Brewer, 
John  H.  Brewer,  Charles  McQuerry,  and  Dr.  G.  W. 
Wyatt. 

The  present  officers  are  Kennett  Shotwell,  W.  M. ; 
Dr.  Clay  Wyatt,  S.  W. ;  James  M.  Brewer,  Sec. ; 
John  D.  Woody,  Treas. ;  John  H.  Brewer,  Tyler. 
The  lodge  has  been  prosperous  from  the  first. 

Manchester  Lodge,  No.  435,  K.  of  H.,  was  insti- 
tuted Jan.  29,  1877,  with  ten  members.  The  first 
officers  were  George  Straszer,  P.  D. ;  James  M. 
Brewer,  D. ;  William  Overbeck,  V.  D. ;  C.  H.  Cor- 
bin,  A.  D. ;  R.  Padenstecher,  R. ;  R.  M.  Higgins, 
F.  R.  The  P.  D.'s  have  been,  in  succession,  J. 
Brewer,  R.  M.  Higgins,  Henry  Dietrich,  George 
Straszer,  Jacob  S.  Gates,  Jacob  Eschenbrenner,  J.  H. 
Schaberg,  and  William  Overbeck.  The  present 
officers  are  J.  H.  Schaberg,  P.  D. ;  William  Over- 
beck,  D. ;  Jacob  S.  Gates,  V.  D. ;  Henry  Seibel, 
A.  D. ;  George  Straszer,  R. ;  Henry  Dietrich,  F.  R. 
The  lodge  has  a  membership  of  thirty-eight,  and  has 
a  surplus  of  two  hundred  dollars  in  its  treasury. 

St.  George's  Branch,  No.  24,  of  the  Catholic 
Knights  of  America,  was  organized  June  5,  1882, 
with  thirteen  members.  The  officers  are  Victor 
Nichols,  president;  S.  J.  Clark,  vice-president;  Wil- 
liam Kurtenback,  secretary ;  and  Bernard  Schuh, 
treasurer.  It  is  a  life  insurance  and  general  aid  society. 

Ballwin  is  a  town  of  three  hundred  inhabitants 
on  the  Manchester  road,  twenty  miles  west  from  St. 
Louis.  It  derived  its  name  from  John  Ball,  who 
in  1804  came  here  and  located  a  farm  where  the 
village  now  is.  In  1837  he  laid  out  the  town  in 
blocks,  each  two  hundred  and  nine  feet  square,  and 
consisting  of  four  lots.  One  of  these  blocks  was  re- 
linquished to  the  town  for  a  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  and  another  adjoining  it  for  a  burial-ground. 
The  lots  thus  laid  out  were  sold  as  they  were  required 
by  those  who  came  to  make  the  town  their  residence, 
but  the  early  growth  of  the  place  was  not  rapid.  Ten 
years  after  it  was  founded  there  was  a  store  here,  kept 
by  Thomas  Nichols,  also  a  tavern  by  John  C.  Hart- 
man,  and  a  blacksmith-shop,  carried  on  by  Henry 
Harman.  At  that  time  there  were  twelve  dwellings 
in  the  town.  Since  then  its  growth  has  been  gradual 
and  steady  till  it  has  reached  its  present  size.  An 
addition  to  the  town  of  nine  blocks  has  been  made, 
and  all  have  been  sold.  There  are  now  here  four 
general  stores,  two  hotels,  a  saddler,  two  shoemakers, 
a  cabinet-maker,  and  two  blacksmiths. 


In  1849,  Frederick  Schelp  established  at  Ballwin 
a  manufactory  of  wagons  and  agricultural  implements 
in  a  small  way.  The  business  gradually  increased  till 
1854,  when  the  establishment  was  burned.  It  was 
immediately  rebuilt  on  a  larger  scale  and  the  business 
continued. 

In  1873  a  new  and  larger  shop  was  rebuilt  in  place 
of  this,  which  was  demolished.  Since  that  time 
facilities  have  been  added  as  the  business  has  in- 
creased, till  nine  hands  are  constantly  employed. 
The  manufacture  of  light  carriages  has  been  added 
to  the  business,  for  the  supply  of  the  home  market 
and  for  shipping.  Since  1881  the  business  has  been 
conducted  by  the  firm  of  F.  Schelp  &  Sons. 

METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. — A  Methodist 
Episcopal  Society  was  first  organized  here  in  1846, 
consisting  of  twelve  members.  The  first  place  of 
worship  was  a  small  log  building  erected  by  Mr.  Ball 
for  church  and  school  purposes.  In  1855  a  frame 
church  building,  twenty-four  by  thirty  feet,  was  erected 
at  a  cost  of  one  thousand  dollars.  This  was  used  till 
1870,  when  it  was  converted  into  a  public  school- 
house,  and  the  present  tasteful  brick  edifice  was 
erected.  This  stands  on  the  Main  Street  of  the  town, 
is  thirty-five  by  fifty-five  feet  in  size,  and  cost  four 
thousand  five  hundred  dollars.  The  society  owes  no 
debt. 

The  pastors  who  have  served  this  society  have  been 
Revs.  H.  Hahman,  1846;  John  Keck,  1848;  John 
Hoebner,  1849;  H.  Ellerbeck,  1850;  C.  Hoeck, 
1851;  W.  Bollert,  1853;  H.  Toelle,  1854;  C. 
Bonn,  1855 ;  H.  W.  Schmidt,  1857 ;  W.  Koenicke, 
1858  ;  W.  Floreth,  1860  ;  G.  Boeseng,  1862  ;  John 
Roelle,  1864 ;  Henry  Meyer,  1867  ;  U.  Roeder,  1868 ; 
W.  Schwind,  1871;  C.  Ska,  1873;  J.  M.  Dewein, 
1874;  H.  Pfaff,  1877 ;  W.  Schwind,  1879;  Th. 
Hehner,  1881.  The  membership  is  eighty-one. 

MISSIONARY  BAPTIST  CHURCH  (COLORED)  of 
Ballwin  was  organized  about  thirty-five  years  since.  In 
the  absence  of  records  but  little  can  be  learned  of  its 
history.  It  has  a  framed  house  of  worship,  and  about 
twenty  members.  The  pastors  that  are  remembered 
were  Revs.  Emmanuel  Cartwright,  Willis  Stafford, 
and  Tinley  Lucas. 

ST.  MATTHEW'S  LODGE,  F.  AND  A.  M.  (Colored), 
was  organized  in  June,  1881,  with  Moses  G.  Mass, 
W.  M. ;  Samuel  Taggart,  S.  W. ;  and  Frank  Darby, 
J.  W.,  and  five  members.  It  has  now  sixteen  mem- 
bers, and  James  Powell  is  W.  M. ;  Frank  Darby,  S. 
W.,  and  Thomas  Salerne,  J.  W. 

Fenton. — The  town  of  Fenton  was  laid  out  early 
in  the  present  century  by  William  Long,  and  was 
named  in  honor  of  the  female  branch  of  his  family. 


COUNTY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


1903 


During  many  years  it  had  very  little  the  appearance 
of  a  village ;  no  more  than  two  families  resided  there 
till  1838.  In  that  year  a  store  and  a  saw-mill  were 
erected  at  this  place  by  James  Hibbert,  and  in  1842, 
Samuel  T.  Vandover  and  David  Sigler  established 
small  stores  (Mr.  Hibbert  having  removed)  in  log 
buildings,  neither  of  which  is  now  standing.  At 
about  the  same  time  when  Mr.  Vandover  opened  his 
store  he  started  the  first  blacksmith-shop  here,  and 
during  many  years  the  village  consisted  of  no  more 
than  six  families.  In  1833,  Mr.  Vandover,  Caleb 
Bowles,  Samuel  Rudder,  and  several  other  residents 
of  the  vicinity  established  a  private  ferry  over  the 
Meramec  River,  on  the  south  side  of  which  the  town 
is  located,  and  in  1835,  Jabez  Ferris  established  at 
this  point  the  first  public  ferry,  which  he  conducted 
till  his  death  in  1848,  after  which  Mr.  Vandover  and 
Mr.  Bowles  carried  it  on  till  the  erection  of  the  bridge 
over  the  river  here.  This  bridge  was  built  in  1854- 
55  by  a  company  that  was  chartered  by  the  Legisla- 
ture. Of  this  company  Samuel  T.  Vandover  was  the 
first  president,  followed  in  1862  by  Isaac  Sullens. 
The  bridge  was  built  by  J.  C.  Hall,  contractor,  and 
its  cost  was  nineteen  thousand  dollars.  By  a  pro- 
vision in  the  charter  the  county  might  at  any  time 
become  the  owner  of  this  bridge  by  paying  for  the 
stock  held  by  individuals.  This  was  done  in  1874, 
and  the  bridge  became  free.  It  is  a  wooden  Howe- 
truss  bridge,  built  on  piers,  and  it  has  a  length  of  four 
hundred  and  eighty  feet.  This  bridge  affords  a  cross- 
ing for  the  Gravois  road,  which  connects  Fenton  di- 
rectly with  St.  Louis.  The  town  has  grown  to  its 
present  size  (about  one  hundred  and  fifty  inhabitants) 
within  the  last  twelve  years.  In  1882  a  fire  oc- 
curred which  consumed  four  buildings  in  the  centre 
of  the  town. 

Fenton  was  incorporated  Dec.  28,  1874.  The  first 
board  of  trustees  was  composed  of  Jacob  Fritschle, 
James  M.  Bowles,  Charles  Williams,  Henry  Temper, 
and  E.  J.  Thurman.  The  presidents  of  the  board 
have  been  Jacob  Fritschle,  1874;  E.  J.  Thurman, 
1876;  Henry  Temper,  1877;  John  Desalme,  1879; 
Henry  Temper,  1880;  John  Desalme,  1882.  The 
clerks  of  the  board  have  been  James  M.  Bowles, 
1874  ;  Anthony  Roberts,  1876  ;  and  Frederick  Weh- 
meyer,  1879.  The  town  has  two  stores,  one  hotel, 
one  drug-store,  one  wagon-shop,  one  blacksmith-shop, 
one  shoe-shop,  and  two  physicians. 

Many  years  since  a  saw-mill  was  built  at  Fenton. 
On  the  foundation  of  this,  in  1872,  James  Halpine 
erected  a  corn-  and  flour-mill,  and  this  he  sold  to 
Henry  Temper  in  1875.  On  the  site  of  this  Mr. 
Temper  in  1878  erected  the  present  Fenton  Flouring- 


Mill.  It  is  a  frame  building,  forty-two  by  twenty- 
four  feet,  besides  the  stone  engine-house  which  ad- 
joins it.  It  has  three  run  of  stones  and  a  set  of 
rollers,  and  the  machinery  is  driven  by  an  engine  of 
fifty  horse-power.  It  is  a  merchant  mill,  and  the 
flour  manufactured  here  is  sold  in  St.  Louis  and  in 
various  other  markets  in  this  region.  About  twenty 
thousand  barrels  of  flour  are  annually  manufactured 
in  this  mill.  The  barrels  for  this  flour  are  made  in  a 
cooperage  which  is  carried  on  by  Mr.  Temper.  Twelve 
hands  are  constantly  employed  at  this  establishment. 

FENTON  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH  SOOTH. 
— At  an  early  day  a  class  was  in  existence  in  the 
vicinity  of  Fenton,  and  the  name  of  William  Brock  is 
remembered  as  one  of  the  early  leaders  of  this  class. 
Thomas  Williams  is  remembered  as  the  first  local 
preacher  here. 

A  society  was  organized  about  1830,  and  services 
were  held  in  the  houses  of  Thomas  Williams  and 
others  in  the  vicinity.  A  small  log  church,  which  is 
still  standing,  was  erected  on  the  Gravois  road  pre- 
vious to  1840,  and  here  the  society  worshiped  till 
1860.  In  that  year  the  present  church  edifice  was 
erected  in  Fenton.  It  is  a  neat  frame  building, 
thirty  by  thirty-five  feet  in  size,  and  its  cost  was  one 
thousand  dollars,  which  was  paid  before  the  dedication 
of  the  church,  and  the  society  has  now  no  debt. 

In  1844  the  society  became  divided,  a  portion  affili- 
ating with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  North. 
This  schism  has  ceased  to  exist.  A  portion  of  the 
records  of  this  society  have  been  lost  or  mislaid,  but 
the  following  names  of  preachers  who  have  served  the 
church  are  remembered  :  Revs.  J.  N.  W.  Springer, 
William  Alexander,  T.  M.  Cobb,  George  W.  Horn, 
Nathaniel  Talbott,  John  W.  Robinson,  and  J.  M. 
Clayton.  Others  whose  names  cannot  be  recalled  have 
officiated  here. 

ST.  PAUL'S  (CATHOLIC)  CHURCH,  FENTON. — A 
church  building  was  erected  in  Fenton  in  1879,  and 
services  were  first  held  in  it  on  Christmas  in  that  year. 
It  is  a  wooden  building,  thirty-two  by  twenty-six,  and 
its  cost  was  thirteen  hundred  dollars. 

The  congregation  consists  of  about  forty  families, 
one-half  of  whom  are  German,  and  services  are  held 
in  both  German  and  English.  The  congregation  is 
served  by  the  pastor  of  St.  Peter's  Church  in  Kirk- 
wood.  Although  this  is  a  young  organization,  it  has 
no  debt. 

FENTON  LODGE,  No.  281,  F.  AND  A.  M.,  was  or- 
ganized May  2,  1868.  The  charter  members  were 
H.  S.  Jacobi,  W.  M. ;  -  -  Stelham,  S.  W. ;  A. 
Bowles,  J.  W. ;  T.  S.  Long,  S.  D. ;  James  Bowles, 
J.  D. ;  John  R.  Vandover,  Sec. ;  William  L.  Pipkin, 


1904 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Treas. ;  John  T.  Hawkins,  Tyler;  William  Barnett, 
Martin  C.  Helterbrandt,  Thomas  Byrns,  Leonidas 
Wilson,  Larkin  Williams,  W.  A.  Pratt,  and  S.  B. 
Belew,  nearly  all  of  whom  came  from  Bonhomme 
Lodge,  No.  45,  at  Manchester. 

The  Past  Masters  have  been  H.  S.  Jacobi,  Ander- 
son Bowles,  T.  S.  Long,  James  A.  Bowles,  Samuel  T. 
Vandover,  H.  F.  Steinhauer,  B.  F.  Holcombe,  E.  J. 
Thurman. 

The  present  officers  are  H.  F.  Steinhauer,  W.  M. ; 
William  Stafford,  S.  W.  ;  David  Bowles,  J.  W. ;  John 
H.  Wilkins,  Sec. ;  Henry  Temper,  Treas. ;  George  W. 
Anderson,  S.  D. ;  Jeremiah  Strickland,  J.  D. ;  and 
John  McDonald,  Tyler. 

The  lodge  has  always  met  in  its  own  hall.  It  has 
one  thousand  dollars  invested.  The  present  member- 
ship is  fifty-one. 

FENTON  LODGE,  No.  180,  A.  0.  U.  W.,  was  or- 
ganized in  February,  1880,  with  the  following  charter 
members :  Frank  Stowe,  P.  M.  W. ;  George  W.  An- 
derson, M.  W. ;  John  Brummer,  F. ;  Albert  Cable, 
0. ;  William  Brethold,  R. ;  Frederic  Schisler,  F. ; 
Peter  Brossard,  R. ,  Frank  Weber,  G. ;  Andrew  Payne, 
I.  W. ;  William  Kohler,  0.  W. ;  Peter  Barton,  Charles 
Heller,  Henry  Hoffmeister,  William  Schisler,  Otto 
Spitz,  William  Young,  and  John  Zufall. 

The  presiding  officers  of  the  lodge  have  been  George 
W.  Anderson,  Frank  Stowe,  John  H.  Wilkins.  The 
present  officers  are  Cornelius  Dillon,  M.  W. ;  Otto 
Spitz,  F. ;  John  Stouse,  0. ;  William  Brethold,  R. 
and  F. ;  Peter  Brossard,  R. 

One  death  has  occurred  in  the  lodge  since  its  or- 
ganization. The  membership  is  twenty-five,  and  the 
lodge  is  prosperous. 

Kirkwood.1 — "  The  town  of  Kirkwood  was  founded 
in  the  early  part  of  the  year  1853.  During  that 
year  the  Pacific  Railroad  was  in  process  of  construc- 
tion. H.  W.  Leffingwell,  R.  S.  Elliott,  and  others, 
being  impressed  with  the  necessity  of  a  suburban  home 
for  families  who  desired  pure  air,  and  to  rear  their 
children  away  from  the  contaminating  influences  of  a 
large  city,  initiated  a  movement  to  build  a  town  on 
some  high,  healthy  locality  on  the  line  of  the  Pacific 
Railroad,  a  short  distance  from  and  easily  accessible 
to  St.  Louis. 

"  An  association  was  organized  composed  of  forty 
persons,  including  many  of  the  best  men  of  St.  Louis, 
for  the  purpose  of  selecting  and  purchasing  a  site  for 
the  town.  This  duty  was  by  the  association  assigned 
to  H.  W.  Leffingwell  and  William  R.  Pry.  They  ex- 


1  This  sketch  of  this  town  was  prepared  by  W.  S.  Stewart  in 
1 875,  and  embraces  the  main  facts  in  its  history  to  that  time. 


amined  several  eligible  localities  east  of  the  one  finally 
selected,  but  at  last  determined  to  '  cast  their  lots' 
among  the  beautiful  groves  where  since  has  grown  the 
pleasant  and  substantial  town  of  Kirkwoud. 

"  They  purchased  of  Owen  Collins  one  hundred  and 
twenty  acres  for  twelve  thousand  dollars,  of  Thomas 
Wash  eighty  acres  for  six  thousand  four  hundred  dol- 
lars, and  A.  S.  Mitchell  forty  acres  for  three  thousand 
dollars,  making  two  hundred  and  forty  acres  for  the 
town  site,  at  a  cost  of  twenty-one  thousand  four  hun- 
dred dollars. 

"  The  grounds  were  then  surveyed  and  divided  into 
forty  blocks,  and  these  blocks  sub-divided  into  lots, 
and  wide  avenues  and  one  street  were  laid  out  at  right 
angles,  as  follows :  Beginning  on  the  north  and  going 
south  were  established  the  avenues  named  Washing- 
ton, Adams,  Jefferson,  Madison,  and  Monroe,  with 
Main  Street  located  between  Jefferson  and  Madison 
Avenues;  on  the  west  and  going  east,  Jackson,  Van 
Buren,  Harrison,  Clay,  Webster,  Taylor,  and  Fillmore 
Avenues,  leaving  off  the  names  of  some  of  our  illus- 
trious Presidents  and  substituting  the  no  less  illus- 
trious names  of  Clay  and  Webster. 

"  The  hotel  block  they  then  located  on  the  west  side 
of  the  town  block  bounded  by  Webster,  Jefferson, 
and  Taylor  Avenues  and  Main  Street,  and  a  hotel  of 
rare  architectural  beauty,  fronting  on  Main  Street,  was 
erected  at  a  cost  of  fourteen  thousand  dollars.  This 
hotel  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  December,  1867. 

"  The  lots  were  sold  at  auction  May  26,  1853,  the 
prices  ranging  from  two  hundred  dollars  to  seven  hun- 
dred dollars  per  acre.  The  name  of  the  town  was 
then  to  be  selected,  and  the  very  appropriate  and 
euphonious  name  of  '  Kirkwood'  was  proposed  by  Mr. 
R.  S.  Elliott  and  adopted  by  the  association,  partly 
from  respect  to  James  P.  Kirkwood,  then  chief  engi- 
neer of  the  Pacific  Railroad,  and  partly  in  view  of  the 
fact  that  the  building  of  churches  (kirks)  in  the  wood 
or  groves  of  the  town  was  already  contemplated,  thus 
suggesting  Kirkwood. 

"  The  year  following  there  were  added  to  the  town 
blocks  on  the  east  and  south,  divided  by  the  following 
streets  and  avenues  :  On  the  east,  Smith  and  Walker 
Streets  and  Clark  and  Holmes  Avenues;  on  the 
south,  Scott,  Elliott,  and  Leffingwell  Avenues. 

"  The  first  charter  incorporating  the  town  was 
granted  by  the  Missouri  General  Assembly,  Feb.  20, 
1865,  and  amended  Feb.  27,  1869." 

In  1870  the  population  of  the  town  was  twelve 
hundred.  In  1880  it  was  reported  by  the  census 
marshal  at  twelve  hundred  and  eighty,  but  this  was 
believed  to  be  less  than  the  true  number.  It  is  now 
(1883)  estimated  at  two  thousand. 


COUNTY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


1905 


The  following  have  been  officers  of  the  town  since 
its  incorporation  : 

TRUSTEES. — 1865,  H.  W.  Leffingwell,  Albert  G.  Edwards, 
Richard  S.  Elliott,  William  T.  Essex,  Lucius  D.  Moore,  Francis 
Berg,  Henry  T.  Mudd;  1866,  J.  W.  Sutherland,  Francis  Berg, 
Albert  G.  Edwards ;  1868,  Richard  Holme,  John  Pitman,  Joshua 
L.  Tracy,  August  Metzelfeldt;  1869,  Thomas  L.  Mills,  Armstead 
0.  Grubb;  1871,  Lemuel  G.  Pardee,  Theodore  Hegee,  Michael 
Higgins;  1872,  John  Pitman,  Joseph  R.  Matthews,  William 
Armintrout;  1874,  A.  B.  Garrison,  Matthew  W.  Leet,  Levi 
House;  1876,  John  W.  Andrews,  William  T.  Essex,  Joseph  R. 
Matthews;  1878,  James  B.  Roberts,  Henry  A.  Hyatt,  Charles 
A.  Lawton,  George  W.  Tracy,  Matthew  W.  Leet;  1880,  George 
H.  Gill,  John  W.  Andrews,  Dr.  John  Pitman;  1882,  H.  A. 
Hyatt,  George  W.  Tracy,  M.  W.  Leet. 

CLKRKS  AND  EX  OFFICIO  TREASURERS. — 1865,  Francis  Berg; 
1871,  Thomas  L.  Mills;  1872,  Lemuel  G.  Pardee;  1873,  Niram 
H.  Allen. 

CLURK.— 1874,  Niram  H.  Allen. 

TREASURER. — 1874,  Niram  H.  Allen. 

MARSHALS. — 1865,  Henry  S.  Allen;  1866,  Lemuel  G.  Pardee; 
1869,  James  Martin;  1871,  James  W.  Musick ;  1873,  John  W. 
Matthews;  1876,  William  Armintrout;  1878,  John  C.  Farris; 
1882,  John  H.  Hayes. 

RECORDERS. — 1869,  Lemuel  G.  Pardee,  Egbert  W.  Halsey, 
John  W.  Sutherland;  1871,  Lemuel  G.  Pardee;  1873,  Hugo  S. 
Jacobi;  1878,  Cortez  A.  Kitchen,  William  S.  Stewart. 

ATTORNEYS. — 1873,  James  S.  Cornwell;  1875,  William  S. 
Stewart;  1877,  William  S.  Bodley. 

The  town  has  two  general  stores,  five  grocery  and 
variety  stores,  two  drug-stores,  two  boot  and  shoe 
stores,  three  restaurants,  one  bakery,  one  wagon-shop, 
two  blacksmith-shops,  one  barber,  one  livery -stable, 
two  wood  and  coal  yards,  one  jeweler,  two  tin-shops, 
two  attorneys,  and  two  physicians. 

THE  ATHEN^EUJM  in  Kirkwood  was  erected  by  a 
joint-stock  company  called  the  Kirkwood  Hall  Asso- 
ciation. The  capital  stock  of  this  company  was  fifteen 
thousand  dollars,  in  shares  of  one  hundred  dollars  each. 
It  was  erected  in  1874,  on  the  corner  of  Webster  and 
Adams  Avenues.  It  is  two  stories  in  height,  and  the 
second  story  has  a  large  hall,  with  stage  and  scenery, 
and  is  designed  for  lectures,  dramatic  entertainments, 
etc.  The  first  floor  is  fitted  up  for  entertainments 
of  a  different  character,  such  as  fairs  and  festivals. 
Prominent  among  the  promoters  of  this  enterprise 
were  George  H.  Gill,  Enos  Clark,  John  W.  Andrews, 
and  A.  W.  Fleming. 

KIRKWOOD  LODGE,  No.  484,  F.  AND  A.  M.,  was 
organized  under  dispensation  on  the  4th  of  November, 
1873,  with  the  following  members:  M.  D.  L.  Buel, 
W.  M  ;  John  W.  Wade,  S.  W. ;  W.  H.  Fanning,  J. 
W. ;  Theodore  Heege,  Treas. ;  Henry  T.  Mudd.,  Sec. ; 
Wesley  P.  Reckart,  S.  D. ;  Oswald  Sturdy,  J.  D. ;  Ed- 
ward N.  Moody,  Tyler ;  and  Edwin  B.  Sprague  and 
Charles  Rossington. 

The  Worshipful  Masters  since  the  organization  of 
the  lodge  have  been  Henry  T.  Mudd,  1876 ;  Hugo  S. 


Jacobi,  1877;  Peter  C.  Somers,  1879;  Benjamin  L. 
Hickman,  1880 ;  James  B.  Wilde,  1882.  The  pres- 
ent officers  are  William  C.  Bragg,  W.  M. ;  George 
C.  Brand,  S.  W. ;  Edward  H.  Lycett,  J.  W. ;  Theo- 
dore Heege,  Treas. ;  Hugo  S.  Jacobi,  Sec. ;  Jacob  H. 
Hawkins,  S.  D. ;  John  Wilson,  J.  D. ;  Rudolph  Pach- 
enstecher,  Tyler.  The  lodge  has  a  fund  of  several 
hundred  dollars  invested. 

MORNING  STAR  LODGE  (COLORED),  F.  AND  A.  M., 
was  organized  in  the  summer  of  1879,  with  N.  B. 
Morris,  W.  M. ;  Daniel  Oakes,  S.  W.  ;  and  James 
Beyers,  J.  W.  The  lodge  met  first  on  the  corner  of 
Webster  and  Madison  Avenues,  then  on  the  corner  of 
Main  Street  and  Clay  Avenue,  then  at  its  present  hall, 
on  Madison  Avenue,  between  Clay  and  Webster  Ave- 
nue?. 

The  present  W.  M.,  N.  B.  Morris,  has  served  the 
lodge  in  that  capacity  from  the  first.  Stephen  Thur- 
man  is  S.  W.,  and  Alexander  Fletcher,  J.  W.  The 
lodge  has  now  eighteen  members. 

KIRKWOOD  COUNCIL,  No.  8,  LEGION  OF  HONOR, 
is  an  order  which  was  founded  in  St.  Louis  in  1879. 
It  is  at  the  same  time  a  social  and  beneficiary  as  well 
as  mutual  life  insurance  association.  Its  jurisdiction 
is  limited  to  the  city  and  county  of  St.  Louis,  and  it 
now  (1883)  numbers  about  three  thousand  two  hun- 
dred members.  This  council  was  organized  in  Octo- 
ber, 1879,  with  twenty  charter  members,  of  whom 
James  B.  Wilde  was  chancellor.  The  present  chan- 
cellor is  William  C.  Bragg.  The  council  has  been 
quite  prosperous,  and  has  lost  by  death  only  one 
member. 

KIRKWOOD  COUNCIL,  No.  616,  ROYAL  ARCANUM, 
was  organized  in  April,  1882,  with  seventeen  charter 
members.  The  officers  are  Henry  Hough,  Regent ; 
E.  H.  Lycett,  Vice-Regent ;  H.  A.  Hyatt,  Past  Re- 
gent;  William  Dingo,  Recorder;  and  Samuel  Snead, 
Treasurer.  The  council  numbers  twenty-two  mem- 
bers. 

ST.  PETER'S  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. — The  records  at 
this  church  do  not  show  when  a  mission  was  estab- 
lished at  this  point,  but  from  records  in  existence  at 
St.  Mary's  Church,  St.  Louis,  it  is  learned  that  it 
was  early  visited  by  Rev.  Philip  Borgna,  C.M.,  vicar- 
general  of  St.  Louis. 

In  1838  it  was  visited  by  Rev.  Bernard  Allen,  S.J., 
and  in  1839  Rev.  Peter  R.  Donnelly  became  the  first 
resident  priest.  From  1841  to  1854  it  was  visited 
by  various  priests,  among  whom  were  Fathers  John 
Baptist  Fischer,  Joseph  Mehlville,  and  John  Hen- 
nessy,  present  Bishop  of  Dubuque.' 

In  1854,  Rev.  James  O'Hea  resided  at  Kirkwood. 
In  the  summer  of  1855,  Rev.  James  Meller  became 


1906 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


resident  pastor,  and  remained  till  1863,  when  Rev. 
H.  Van  der  Lenden  succeeded  him,  and  remained  till 
1874.  After  him  came  Rev.  Thomas  Bonacum,  fol- 
owed  by  Rev.  James  J.  Dougherty,  who  was  suc- 
ceeded in  1878  by  Rev.  G.  D.  Power.  The  present 
pastor  is  Rev.  B.  G.  Stemker. 

In  1834  a  rock  church  existed  in  Kirkwood  (then 
called  Gravois),  and  it  is  probable  that  it  was  built  in 
1832.  About  1850  it  was  enlarged,  and  in  1863  a 
school-house  was  built  and  a  parochial  school  estab- 
lished. In  1865  the  site  of  the  present  church  was 
purchased,  and  on  the  26th  of  May,  1867,  the  cor- 
ner-stone was  laid  by  Very  Rev.  Joseph  Melcher, 
vicar-general.  The  Most  Rev.  Bishop  of  St.  Louis 
had  promised  to  dedicate  the  church  on  the  19th  of 
July,  1868,  but  being  ill  and  unable  to  do  so,  it  was 
then  occupied  without  dedication.  It  was  blessed  by 
Bishop  Ryan,  July  4,  1875,  while  yet  unfinished. 

PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. — In  October,  1854,  Rev. 
J.  F.  Fenton  organized  this  church  with  the  following 
constituent  members  :  Henry  Singleton,  Mrs.  Marsena 

Singleton,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Beman,  Robert  Yates, 

Mrs.  Fenton,  and  Dr.  William  Sale.  The  elders  were 
H.  Singleton,  Robert  Yates,  and  Mr.  Beman.  This 
was  during  three  years  the  only  Protestant  Church  in 
the  town.  The  first  place  of  worship  was  a  small  log 
school-house,  but  in  1856  the  present  church  edifice 
was  erected.  It  is  a  brick  structure,  with  a  seating 
capacity  of  three  hundred.  The  exterior  of  this 
building  is  plainly  finished,  but  the  interior  has  re- 
cently been  fitted  up  by  the  ladies  of  the  congregation 
in  very  fine  style.  The  first  pastor  was  Rev.  J.  F. 
Fenton,  who  was  succeeded  in  1858  by  Rev.  Edward 
Sickles,  and  he,  in  1862,  by  Rev.  Allen  Maxwell, 
who  remained  about  three  and  a  half  years.  The 
church  was  then  without  a  regular  pastor  till  July, 
1867,  when  the  present  pastor,  Rev.  John  R.  Warner, 
was  called.  The  society  has  from  its  organization 
been  generally  prosperous,  and  it  has  now  no  debt. 
The  worshipers  number  about  two  hundred. 

GRACE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. — The  first  Episcopal 
services  in  Kirkwood  were  conducted  by  H.  I.  Bod- 
ley,  a  lay  reader,  in  his  house,  in  1854.  He  continued 
to  hold  such  services  in  Kirkwood  till  April,  1859, 
when  a  parish  under  the  above  name  was  regularly 
organized,  with  A.  S.  Mitchell,  H.  W.  Hough,  II.  I. 
Bodley,  R.  S.  Elliot,  H.  Clay  Hart,  James  Riley, 
and  Thomas  Kelly,  Jr.,  as  vestrymen. 

The  corner-stone  of  the  church  was  laid  in  August, 
1859,  and  it  was  consecrated  on  Whitsunday,  1860.  It 
is  a  stone  edifice,  thirty-five  by  seventy-eight  feet,  with 
a  spire  eighty-three  feet  in  height,  and  its  cost  was 
twelve  thousand  dollars.  A  rectory  was  built  in  1866, 


on  ground  purchased  for  the  purpose,  at  a  total  cost 
of  six  thousand  dollars. 

Mr.  Bodley  continued  to  conduct  lay  services  till 
September,  1864,  when  Rev.  George  K.  Dunlap  was 
called  as  rector.  He  continued  till  October,  1880, 
when  he  was  elected  Bishop  of  Arizona,  and  was 
succeeded  by  the  present  rector,  Rev.  F.  B.  Scheetz. 

At  the  time  Bishop  Dunlap  became  rector  the  num- 
ber of  communicants  was  twenty.  The  present  num- 
ber is  one  hundred  and  fifty-two.  The  parish  has  no 
debt.  Additions  and  alterations  to  the  church,  the 
cost  of  which  will  be  one  thousand  dollars,  are  now 
(1883)  in  progress. 

METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH  SOUTH. — This 
church  was  organized  in  1869,  with  eighteen  members, 
by  Rev.  W.  D.  Shumate,  in  a  hall.  Rev.  John  N. 
Robinson  served  the  church  three  years,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Revs.  J.  S.  Frazier  and  B.  R.  Thrower 
during  the  next  three  years.  Then  followed  J.  B. 
McFerrin  and  Rev.  William  M.  Leftwich,  each  one 
year;  Rev.  J.  D.  Johnson,  one  year;  then  Rev.  J. 
L.  Spencer,  three  years ;  Rev.  J.  C.  Berryman,  one 
year ;  Rev.  J.  J.  Watts,  one  year,  and  the  present 
pastor,  Rev.  J.  Dines,  who  came  in  1882.  By  reason 
of  the  fluctuating  population  here  the  membership 
has  varied  greatly.  At  present  (1883)  it  is  fifty,  and 
the  society  is  prosperous. 

The  congregation  first  worshiped  in  Armintrout's 
Hall,  on  Main  Street,  and  subsequently  in  a  church 
on  Clay  Avenue.  The  present  church  edifice,  on  the 
corner  of  Clay  and  Adams  Avenues,  was  built  in 
1877.  It  is  a  frame  structure,  with  a  seating  ca- 
pacity of  two  hundred,  and  its  total  cost  was  two 
thousand  dollars.  The  church  has  no  debt. 

BAPTIST  CHURCH. — Prior  to  1870  no  Baptist 
Church  organization  existed  in  Kirkwood,  though  a 
few  members  of  the  denomination  resided  in  the  town. 
July  30th  of  that  year  the  church  was  organized  with 
the  following  constituent  members:  Dr.  B.  F.  Ed- 
wards, Mrs.  Eliza  Edwards,  James  Dunham,  Mrs. 
Jane  Dunham,  Miss  Mary  Dunham,  Allen  Jack, 
Mrs.  Maria  Jack,  J.  W.  Finley,  Mrs.  Ellen  Finley, 
P.  H.  Abrams,  Mrs.  Angelina  Burns,  and  Mrs.  M. 
W.  Leet. 

The  first  place  of  worship  was  a  rented  room  in  a 
building  now  owned  by  Dr.  Pitman,  on  Webster 
Avenue,  next  to  the  railroad,  afterward  in  an  upper 
room  of  a  building  on  the  corner  of  Webster  Avenue 
and  Main  Street.  The  present  church  edifice  was 
completed  and  first  occupied  in  May,  1874.  It  is  a 
brick  building,  with  a  seating  capacity  of  three  hun- 
dred. It  stands  on  the  corner  of  Webster  and  Wash- 
ington Avenues.  Its  cost  was  four  thousand  dollars. 


COUNTY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


1907 


The  first  pastor  was  Rev.  J.  R.  Downer,  followed, 
in  1873,  by  Rev.  E.  H.  Sawyer,  and  he,  in  1875,  by 
Rev.  T.  C.  Coffey,  who  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Wil- 
liam Elmer  in  1876,  and  he  by  Rev.  T.  J.  Davis  in 
1878.  The  present  pastor,  Rev.  J.  D.  Biggs,  was 
called  in  1881.  The  present  membership  is  forty-five. 
The  church  has  no  debt. 

CONCORDIA  EVANGELICAL  LUTHERAN  CHURCH. 
— In  the  spring  of  1873,  Peter  Bopp,  a  citizen  of 
Kirkwood,  erected  at  his  own  expense  a  church 
edifice  on  Madison  Avenue,  between  Clay  and  Web- 
ster Avenues.  The  cost  of  this  building  was  one 
thousand  dollars.  In  this  in  May  of  that  year  the 
Evangelical  Lutheran  Society  was  organized.  The 
use  of  the  house  was  given  to  the  society  free  of  rent 
during  three  years,  at  the  end  of  which  time  the  con- 
gregation purchased  it.  Its  size  is  twenty  by  thirty 
feet,  and  its  seating  capacity  is  one  hundred.  At  its 
organization  the  society  numbered  twelve,  and  the 
number  of  worshipers  is  now  about  seventy-five.  A 
parochial  school,  in  which  the  German  and  the  Eng- 
lish languages  are  taught,  has  been  maintained  dur- 
ing a  portion  of  the  time  since  the  church  existed 
here.  Professor  Martin  Guenther  has  been  the  pas- 
tor from  the  first. 

ROSE  HILL  BAPTIST  CHURCH  (COLORED). — The 
records  of  this  church  are  lost,  but  from  the  recollec- 
tions of  members  it  is  learned  that  the  society  was 
organized  in  1870  by  Rev.  Emmanuel  Cartwright, 
with  Willis  Mitchell,  Mary  Hale,  Jane  Rome,  Kirke 
Gray,  Maria  Gray,  and  Alouzo  Thomas  as  constituent 
members.  During  the  same  year  the  present  house  of 
worship  was  erected  at  a  cost  of  six  hundred  and  thirty 
dollars. 

The  pastors  of  the  church  have  been  Revs.  Enoch 
Bolden,  1870  ;  Willis  Stafford,  1872 ;  John  Grant, 
1874  ;  Jerry  McClandinghain,  1876  ;  John  Johnson, 
1881  ;  W.  E.  Wilson,  1881 ;  C.  W.  Lewis,  1882  ;  and 
the  present  pastor,  Finley  Lewis,  1882.  The  society 
has  no  debt. 

THE  SECOND  BAPTIST  CHURCH  (COLORED)  was 
organized  in  1878  with  thirty-three  constituent  mem- 
bers. During  two  years  the  society  worshiped  in  a 
rented  house,  but  in  1880  a  frame  church  building 
was  erected  -at  a  cost  of  one  thousand  dollars,  all  of 
which  has  been  paid. 

The  pastors  have  been  Revs.  George  Clark,  1878  ; 
and  the  present  pastor,  Frederick  McKinney. 

A.  M.  E.  CHURCH. — In  the  absence  of  records  it 
cannot  be  learned  when  this  society  was  organized,  or 
when  its  house  of  worship  was  erected.  It  has  at 
different  times  been  a  charge  on  the  same  circuit  with 
one  at  Carondelet,  and  with  another  at  Labadie,  but 


in  1879  it  became  a  station.  Its  house  of  worship  is 
a  frame  structure,  forty-two  by  twenty-two.  Its  esti- 
mated value  is  one  thousand  dollars,  and  the  society 
has  no  debt. 

The  following  clergymen  are  known  to  have  served 
this  society:  Revs.  J.  W.  Early,  1864;  J.  C.  Em- 
bury, 1865  ;  Moses  Dickson,  1868  ;  James  Madison, 
1870  ;  I.  N.  Triplet,  1872  ;  W.  A.  Dove,  1874;  W. 
H.  Sexton,  1875;  D.  W.  Oaks,  1879;  Hubbard 
Casper,  1881 ;  and  the  present  pastor,  N.  S.  Parks, 
1882. 

KIRKWOOD  DISTRICT  SCHOOL. — Prior  to  the  in- 
corporation of  the  Kirkwood  School  District  the 
schools  were  conducted  under  the  public  school1  sys- 
tem of  the  State.  By  an  act  approved  Feb.  17, 1865, 
the  town  was  made  a  special  school  district  with  a 
board  of  six  directors,  two  to  be  chosen  annually,  and 
to  serve  during  three  years; 

In  1866  a  lot  was  purchased  at  a  cost  of  two  thou- 
sand dollars,  and  a  temporary  school  -building  was 
erected  at  an  expense  of  two  thousand  five  hundred 
dollars,  and  a  church  building  was  rented  for  a  colored 
school.  In  1869  a  brick  school-house  with  four 
school-rooms  was  erected  on  Jefferson  Avenue,  be- 
tween Clay  and  Harrison  Avenues,  at  a  cost  of  eight 
thousand  five  hundred  dollars,  and  school  was  first 
opened  in  this  in  December  of  that  year.  In  1870 
a  lot  was  purchased  and  a  building  fitted  up  on  it  for 
a  colored  school.  In  1876  two  rooms  were  added  to 
the  brick  school-house  at  a  cost  of  sixteen  hundred 
dollars,  and  in  1880  an  addition  was  made  to  the 
colored  school  building  at  a  cost  of  seven  hundred 
dollars.  The  school  property  has  now  an  estimated 
value  of  twelve  thousand  dollars. 

In  these  houses  good  schools  are  maintained,  under 
five  teachers  in  the  white  and  two  in  the  colored  de- 
partment. The  average  attendance  is  three  hundred, 
though  the  number  of  children  of  school  age  is  much 
greater  than  this. 

The  people  of  Kirkwood  look  with  a  laudable  pride 
on  the  schools  which  they  maintain,  where  the  chil- 
dren of  the  wealthy  and  the  indigent  alike  may  re- 
ceive such  an  education  as  to  prepare  them  to  fill  with 
honor  any  ordinary  position  in  life. 

KIRKWOOD  SEMINARY. — Sept.  5,  1861,  this  insti- 
tution was  founded  on  as  modest  a  scale  as  ever  a 
school  started.  It  opened  with  seven  scholars,  sup- 
plied with  different  text-books,  in  a  little  room  filled 
with  heterogeneous  furniture.  Kirkwood  was  then 
a  small  village,  twelve  miles  from  St.  Louis,  founded 
only  a  few  years  previously,  and  with  no  school  of 
any  description.  Its  churches  were  struggling  into 
existence.  The  civil  war  had  divided  its  population 


1908 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


into  bands,  and  brought  an  element  of  discord  into 
what  had  been  a  happy  and  neighborly  suburb.  No 
one  who  has  not  passed  through  such  scenes  can 
realize  the  bitterness  of  feeling  that  separated  old, 
attached  neighbors.  Kirkwood  being  outside  of  the 
forts  and  guns  of  St.  Louis,  there  was  a  possibility 
of  danger ;  and  the  occasional  visits  of  United  States 
soldiers,  hunting  for  spies  and  rebel  mails,  the  drilling 
of  the  Union  militia,  and  the  presence  of  bush- 
whackers, real  and  supposed,  all  constituted  an  at- 
mosphere in  which  it  was  hard  for  a  school  flying 
the  Union  flag  to  receive  the  support  of  the  entire 
community.  Good  hard  work  had  to  be  done  at  the 
foundation,  and  the  discipline  and  thoroughness  of 
the  school  had  to  be  such  as  to  command  the  regard 
of  the  community  in  spite  of  bitter  sectional  preju- 
dices. In  the  first  year  the  school  quadrupled  its 
numbers,  and  for  three  years  rented  rooms  as  it 
could  get  accommodations  for  its  increasing  numbers, 
when  the  citizens  of  Kirkwood,  thinking  that  the 
school  should  be  put  on  a  permanent  basis,  subscribed 
in  1864  for  a  small  building.  Among  the  early  and 
stanch  friends  of  the  school  were  John  A.  Allen,  of 
the  firm  of  Claflin  &  Allen,  T.  J.  Albright,  Hudson 
E.  Bridge,  John  Hoffman,  and  Gen.  A.  G.  Edwards, 
of  the  United  States  treasury,  St.  Louis.  Hudson 
E.  Bridge,  of  the  firm  of  Bridge,  Beach  &  Co., 
selected  the  site  and  purchased  the  ground,  giving  to 
the  principal  a  bond  that  she  might  purchase  it  at 
any  time  at  the  price  which  he  had  paid.  When 
the  land  had  appreciated  four  hundred  per  cent,  in 
value  it  afforded  his  generous  nature  great  pleasure 
to  sell  it  to  the  principal  at  exactly  the  original  price, 
less  one  hundred  dollars  donated  to  the  school. 

The  following  year,  the  school  having  increased  so 
that  the  principal,  Miss  Anna  E.  Sneed,  could  not  do 
justice  to  all,  it  was  deemed  advisable  to  add  another 
room  to  the  building,  and  Miss  Mary  C.  Sneed  took 
charge  of  the  musical  and  primary  departments.  The 
house  was  then  a  little  brown  structure  in  the  woods 
with  two  rooms.  The  squirrels,  rabbits,  and  birds  in  j 
the  woods,  the  wild-flowers  all  around,  and  the  total 
absence  of  fences  were  very  pleasant  features  in  those 
days. 

Dr.  Henry  T.  Mudd,  of  St.  Louis,  cut  through  the 
scrub-oaks  a  path  which  extended  over  the  lots  where 
are  now  the  Catholic  Church,  public  school,  and  many 
private  residences. 

In  1866,  Miss  Hattie  E.  Sneed  was  added  to  the 
corps  of  sisters  that  made  the  faculty  of  the  school, 
and  as,  in  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Bridge,  it  was  unad- 
visable  to  add  another  room,  as  "  it  would  make  Kirk- 
wood Seminary  look  too  much  like  a  ropewalk,"  it  was 


judged  best  to  discard  the  small  building  altogether, 
and  erect  one  large  enough  to  accommodate  the  school 
for  some  years.  A  year  was  spent  in  planning,  and 
the  summer  of  1868  saw  a  two-story  building,  with  a 
large  audience  hall,  recitation-  and  music-rooms,  oc- 
cupying its  place. 

The  school  was  incorporated  under  a  liberal  charter" 
that  empowered  it  to  confer  degrees  and  diplomas, 
and  conveyed  to  it  all  powers  and  rights  necessary. 

The  original  corporators  were  Hon.  E.  W.  Fox, 
president ;  Rev.  S.  R.  Sneed,  vice-president ;  Rev. 
John  R.  Warner,  secretary ;  Hudson  E.  Bridge,  Dr. 
B.  F.  Edwards,  Gen.  A.  G.  Edwards,  T.  J.  Albright, 
W.  S.  Woods,  John  Hoffman,  and  Anna  C.  Sneed. 

Some  years  later  the  faculty  was  strengthened  and 
new  departments  were  added  to  the  curriculum  of 
study,  till  it  was  as  full  as  that  of  any  college  in  the 
West  for  young  ladies. 

A  building  for  a  boarding  department  began  to  be 
very  greatly  needed.  Just  then  the  square  of  four 
acres  north  of  the  seminary  hall,  containing  a  large 
stone  dwelling,  beautiful  grounds,  and  the  outbuild- 
ings, stables,  servants'  house,  etc.,  came  into  the  mar- 
ket. It  was  the  property  of  the  late  William  Mc- 
Pherson,  and  it  had  long  been  desired  for  the  semi- 
nary. It  was  purchased  in  the  summer  of  1873,  and 
fitted  up  as  a  home  for  young  ladies. 

Rev.  Samuel  R.  Sneed,  who  had  been  for  fifty-four 
years  an  influential  and  devoted  minister  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  Kentucky  and  Indiana,  now  gave 
up  his  home  and  came  to  spend  the  evening  of  his 
life  under  his  daughters'  roof,  laying  down  all  bur- 
dens of  care  and  responsibility,  but  still  blessing  his 
family  and  the  school  with  his  influence  and  prayers. 
Here  in  the  summer  of  1876  he  breathed  his  last, 
full  of  years  and  honor,  and  mourned  by  all,  from  the 
highest  to  the  lowest  in  the  community,  as  a  man  of 
faith  and  prayer  and  good  works. 

In  1878  a  cousin  of  the  principal's  father,  Maj. 
James  Hite,  of  Terre  Haute,  an  old  soldier  of  the  war 
of  1812,  and  an  elder  in  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
made  a  liberal  donation,  and  lifted  the  greater  part  of 
the  incumbrancc  resting  upon  the  property.  The 
seminary  had  now  good  property,  suited  to  educa- 
tional purposes,  ample  grounds,  furniture,  musical 
instruments,  library,  the  beginning  of  an  art  gallery, 
and  the  experience  and  reputation  derived  from  eigh- 
teen years  devoted  exclusively  and  uninterruptedly  to 
teaching  by  its  principal.  It  had  suffered  the  loss  of 
several  of  the  original  corporators,  Hudson  E.  Bridge 
and  Dr.  B.  F.  Edwards  by  death,  and  others  by  re- 
moval. Hon.  E.  W.  Fox,  who  for  many  years  had 
been  president  of  the  corporation,  had  resigned. 


COUNTY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


1909 


It  was  deemed  advisable  that,  while  the  school  was 
unsectarian  in  its  character,  it  should  be  distinctly 
guided  by  Christian  counsel  from  the  different  denomi- 
nations interested  in  its  prosperity,  and  a  new  board 
was  constituted,  largely  consisting  of  leading  ministers 
and  citizens  in  St.  Louis.  This  board  favored  the 
institution  with  its  wise  counsel  for  the  term  of  elec- 
tion, four  years;  and  consenting  to  serve  again,  their 
numbers  were  increased,  and  the  following  constitute 
the  present  advisory  board  of  the  corporation  : 

Rev.  H.  D.  Ganse,  D.D.,  president,  pastor  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  St.  Louis ;  Rev.  S.  J.  Niceolls,  D.D.,  vice-president, 
pastor  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  St.  Louis ;  Right  Rev. 
Bishop  G.  K.  Dunlop,  vice-president,  Santa  Fe,  N.  M.  ;  Rev. 
C.  L.  Goodell,  D.D.,  secretary,  pastor  Pilgrim  Congregational 
Church,  St.  Louis  ;  Rev.  M.  Rhodes,  D.D.,  pastor  St.  Mark's 
English  Lutheran  Church,  St.  Louis  ;  Rev.  W.  V.  Tudor,  D.D., 
pastor  St.  John's  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South,  St.  Louis; 
Rev.  W.  W.  Boyd,  D.D.,  pastor  Second  Baptist  Church,  St. 
Louis ;  Rev.  C.  E.  Felton,  D.D.,  pastor  Union  Methodist 
Church,  St.  Louis ;  Hon.  John  B.  Henderson,  St.  Louis ;  Col. 
George  E.  Leighton,  St.  Louis  ;  Carlos  S.  Greeley,  St.  Louis : 
Capt.  Thomas  W.  Fitch,  St.  Louis  ;  John  Hoffman,  Kirkwood ; 
0.  A.  Grubb,  Kirkwood;  C.  H.  Olcott,  Rock  Hill;  Dr.  H.  F. 
Steinhauer,  Sappington;  Anna  C.  Sneed  (ex  officio),  Kirk- 
wood. 

The  long  financial  depression  over  the  country  was 
passing  away,  and  in  1880  it  was  found  necessary  to 
build  a  small  addition  to  the  stone  dwelling  to  accom- 
modate the  ever-increasing  number  of  boarders.  This 
was  not  sufficient,  and  it  was  deemed  advisable  to 
erect  a  large  building,  with  suitable  parlors,  dining- 
room,  and  accommodations  for  a  family  of  fifty. 

The  annual  report  of  the  principal,  April  25,  1881, 
said, — 

"  Last  year  we  were  compelled  to  build  sufficiently  to  accom- 
modate fifty  per  cent,  more  boarding  pupils  than  before,  and 
hardly  had  we  finished  before  the  dear  ones,  who  came  up  to 
us  from  different.  States  and  Territories  in  our  broad  West,  were 
crying  in  our  ears,  'The  place  is  too  strait  for  me;  give  place 
to  me  that  I  may  dwell.' 

"We  therefore  considered  our  needs  deliberately  during  the 
past  winter,  have  planned  leisurely,  with  the  aid  of  a  skillful 
architect,  J.  G.  Cairns,  Esq.,  St.  Louis,  submitting  his  drawings 
and  estimates  to  different  members  of  our  board  from  time  to 
time,  and  so  great  has  been  the  prosperity  of  the  school  and 
the  whole  country  that  we  have  determined,  with  your  ap- 
proval, to  provide  accommodations  for  twice  the  present  num- 
ber of  pupils.  The  drawings,  perspective,  etc.,  have  been  laid 
before  you  at  the  former  meeting,  and  our  contracts  only  await 
your  approval,  and  then  we  '  will  arise  and  build.'  " 

Ground  was  broken  for  the  new  building  April  26, 
1881,  and  when  the  3d  of  September  came  the  stately 
new  structure  was  not  only  complete,  but  the  carpets, 
curtains,  furniture,  and  even  the  immense  furnaces 
were  in  place.  This  was  the  summer  of  1881,  re- 
markable for  its  intense  heat  and  sunstrokes,  and  the 
short  time  in  which  the  building  was  erected  is  truly 
121 


complimentary  to  the  energy  of  the  -architect,  the 
contractors,  and  the  principal. 

Since  then  the  building  has  been  filled  to  its  utmost 
capacity  with  enthusiastic  teachers  and  devoted  and 
faithful  pupils. 

This  institution,  in  its  training,  aims  to  give  effi- 
ciency and  earnestness  to  character,  deepen  conscien- 
tiousness, and  make  faithful,  devoted,  unselfish,  and 
energetic  women  of  those  committed  to  its  care,  rank- 
ing these  things  as  of  higher  value  than  its  excellent 
and  thorough  training  in  the  arts  and  sciences  and 
all  the  branches  of  a  liberal  education  ;  and  as  a  bright 
testimony  to  its  success  it  may  point  to  its  honored 
graduates,  educated  women  and  true  ladies,  serving 
their  generation  as  wive's,  mothers,  and  teachers  in 
many  States.  The  faculty  of  the  seminary  have  given 
especial  attention  to  instruction  in  fine  art,  as  a  glance 
at  the  specimens  hanging  in  the  parlor,  and  at  the 
carved  mantel-piece  which  reaches  to  the  ceiling,  all 
the  designs  and  work  of  the  principal,  will  show. 

This  brief  sketch  is  appropriately  closed  with  the 
following  report  of  the  board,  made  in  1882,  the 
twenty-first  year  of  the  institution  : 

"  During  the  summer  of  the  last  year  Kirkwood  Seminary 
was  thoroughly  rebuilt,  greatly  enlarged,  and  made  convenient 
nnd  attractive  in  every  way.  Its  homelike  interior  has  espe- 
cially attracted  our  attention.  The  year  following  has  been 
marked  by  greater  numbers,  more  enthusiastic  work,  and  in- 
creased efficiency  in  all  departments  of  the  school.  It  is 
delightfully  situated  near  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  combining 
the  privileges  of  the  city  with  country  scenes  of  unusual  love- 
liness and  culture. 

"  Its  course  of  study  is  well  arranged,  its  teachers  are  excel- 
lent and  earnest  in  their  work,  and  the  results  of  the  year's 
work  are  highly  satisfactory. 

"  We  recommend  this  institution  to  parents,  not  only  for  the" 
value  of  its  training,  but  also  for  its  marked  Christian  charac- 
ter, and  we  believe  that  those  who  intrust  their  daughters  to  its 
careful  nurture  will  be  well  pleased. 

"  C.  L.  GOOWELL,  Secretary." 

The  faculty  is  as  follows : 

Miss  Anna  C.  Sneed,  Principal ;  Miss  Mary  C.  Sneed,  Vocal 
and  Instrumental  .Music:  Miss  Jeannctte  McLagan,  Advanced 
Department  and  Penmanship:  Miss  Lily  M.  Bruner,  English 
Branches  and  Music;  Mrs.  Helen  E.  Barr,  Primary  Depart- 
ment; Miss  Ottilie  Holtcamp,  Primary  Assistant;  Miss  Alice 
Lathrop,  Vocal  and  Instrumental  -Music;  Miss  Mary  M.  Barr, 
Music  and  Kindergarten;  Miss  Nettie  Scheetz,  Instrumental 
Music;  Miss  Bessie  Barr,  Kindergarten  Assistant:  Rev.  F.  B. 
Scheetz,  Examiner  in  Latin;  Madame  L.  Tinling,  French; 
Madame  M.  Steiffel,  German;  Miss  Anna  C.  Sneed,  Art  De- 
partment; Professor  II.  M.  Butler,  Violin ;  Mrs.  S.  K.  Sneed, 
Boarding  Department. 

TOWNSHIP   OF    CENTRAL. 

Central  township,  so  named  because  of  its  position 
in  St.  Louis  County  prior  to  its  division,  has  St.  Fer- 
dinand township  for  its  northern  boundary,  the  city 
of  St.  Louis  on  the  east,  the  township  of  Carondelet 


1910 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


aud  a  part  of  Bonhomme  on  the  south,  and  Bon- 
homme  on  the  west.  It  has  a  length  of  about  nine 
miles  between  north  and  south,  and  an  average  width 
of  «ight  miles.  It  has,  like  the  other  townships  in 
the  county,  a  rolling  surface,  and  like  them  a  fertile 
soil. 

A  branch  of  the  Des  Peres  River  drains  the  south- 
ern part  of  the  township,  and  the  northern  and  eastern 
part  is  drained  by  another  branch  of  the  same  stream. 
Fee-Fee  (said  to  be  a  French  corruption  of  the  name 
"  Fife")  Creek  takes  its  rise  in  the  northwestern  part, 
and  discharges  its  waters  into  the  Missouri  River. 

Several  rock  roads  traverse  the  township  and  con- 
verge towards  St.  Louis,  affording  more  facilities  for 
travel  and  transportation  to  and  from  that  city  than 
are  enjoyed  by  any  other  township  in  the  county. 
Natural  Bridge  and  St.  Charles  roads  cross  the  north- 
eastern corner  of  the  township,  the  Central  or  Olive 
Street  road  and  the  Clayton  road  pass  through  the 
central  part,  and  the  Manchester  road  traverses  the 
southern  portion  of  the  township.  Prior  to  the  era 
of  railroads  these  rock  roads  were  not  only  avenues 
of  communication  between  this  township  and  the  city 
of  St.  Louis,  but  were  thoroughfares  over  which 
passed  constant  streams  of  emigration  towards  the 
great  West.  This  was  especially  true  of  the  St. 
Charles  road,  which  was  the  greatest  western  thor-  I 
oughfare. 

The  township  is  also  traversed  by  four  different 
railroads.  The  Missouri  Pacific  crosses  the  south- 
eastern corner,  the  St.  Louis,  Kansas  City  and  North- 
ern and  the  West  End  Narrow-Gauge  Roads  run 
through  the  northeastern  corner,  and  the  Laclede  and 
Creve  Coeur  Lake  Railroad  passes  across  the  south- 
western corner. 

With  the  establishment  of  the  great  Western  rail- 
road system  through  travel  on  the  rock  roads  ceased, 
but  to  the  easy  communication  with  the  city  which 
they  afford  the  prosperity  of  the  township  is  largely 
due. 

Although  in  close  proximity  to  St.  Louis,  Central 
township  was  not  settled  and  brought  under  cultiva- 
tion earlier  than  other  portions  of  the  county.  Of 
the  first  settlers  here,  as  in  some  other  portions  of  the 
county,  many  were  emigrants  from  Kentucky  and 
Virginia.  Of  those  who  came  prior  to  1820  the 
names  are  remembered  by  the  oldest  inhabitants  of 
the  Waltons,  sons  of  John  Walton,  Moores,  Sullens, 
Links,  Musicks,  Robert  Wash,  Douglasses,  Cabannes, 
Watsons,  Murphys,  Gratiots,  Freemores,  Larimores, 
Polaskes,  Charlevilles,  Bumparts,  Tessons,  Mattocks, 
Kings,  McKutchens,  Calverts,  Carsons,  Tyheans, 
Warfields,  Berrys,  Curries,  Brothertons,  Browns, 


Gormans,  McDonalds,  Longs,  Lockharts,  Smiths, 
Padgetts,  Clarks,  Buchanans,  and  Timons  (of  the 
family  of  Bishop  Timon). 

Of  those  who  came  about  1820  or  soon  afterwards 
were  the  Fitzgeralds,  Moseleys,  Hunnemans,  Claytons, 
Dennys,  Wyatts,  McCoys,  McCoslands,  Suttons,  Tay- 
lors, Lewises,  Marshalls,  Phillipses,  Harrisons,  Humes, 
Breckenridges,  Shumates,  Lacklands,  Vaughns,  Un- 
derwoods, Hangemeads,  Hartshornes,  Beards,  Mc- 
Knights,  Hucksteps,  Howsers,  Wares,  Blackwells, 
Descomes,  Prices,  Darbys,  Finks,  Smalls,  Bennets, 
Bruzes,  Guins,  Gibsons,  Browns,  Picketts,  Hender- 
sons, Edmundses,  Boyntons,  McGees,  Davises,  Bar- 
rows, Adamses,  Williamses,  Robinsons,  Barrs,  Ever- 
itts,  Hanleys,  Nays,  McKelders,  and  Truesdells.  The 
population  of  Central  township  was  in  1850,  1133; 
1860,5848;  1870,8923;  1880,7845. 

The  pioneer  grist-mill  in  the  township  was  estab- 
lished in  the  southwestern  part,  by  David  Huckstep, 
in  1825.  It  was  what  was  known  as  a  horse-mill, 
propelled  by  a  wheel  that  was  turned  by  four  horses, 
and  it  had  one  run  of  rock  stones. 

.In  1830,  George  Gordon  built  a  steam  grist-mill  in 
the  northwestern  part  of  the  township.  It  had  a  run 
of  rock  and  another  of  burr  stones.  It  was  burned 
after  about  twelve  years. 

Olive  Street  Mill,  three  miles  east  from  Creve 
Coeur  Lake,  was  built  in  1873  by  a  stock  company, 
of  which  E.  H.  Stratman  was  the  president.  It  after- 
wards became  the  property  of  Henry  Stratman,  and 
in  1880,  J.  A.  and  J.  F.  Hibbert,  under  the  firm- 
name  of  Hibbert  Brothers,  became  owners.  In  1881, 
J.  F.  Hibbert,  the  present  owner,  became  sole  pro- 
prietor. 

The  mill  is  a  substantial  brick  building  with  two 
run  of  stones,  and  it  has  a  daily  capacity  of  fifty  bar- 
rels of  flour.  The  machinery  is  driven  by  an  engine 
of  forty-five  horse-power.  It  is  a  merchant  mill. 
The  proprietor  is  about  to  introduce  rollers  and  in- 
crease the  capacity  of  the  mill  to  one  hundred  barrels 
daily. 

The  first  tannery  was  established  in  the  north- 
western part  of  the  township,  by  a  Mr.  Moore,  about 
1815.  It  had  ten  vats,  and  was  operated  till  1832, 
when  it  was  abandoned.  In  1821,  Ralph  Clayton 
erected  a  tannery  near  the  present  town  of  Clayton. 
It  had  eighteen  vats,  and  it  was  worked  by  Mr.  Clay- 
ton till  1856,  when  it  ceased  to  be  operated  because  of 
the  failure  of  water.  A  shoe-shop  was  also  carried 
on  by  Mr.  Clayton  during  many  years,  or  till  ready- 
made  shoes  and  boots  deprived  country  shoemakers  to 
a  large  extent  of  their  occupation. 

It  is  believed  that  the  first  blacksmith  in  the  town- 


COUNTY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


1911 


ship  was  George  Carson,  whose  shop  was  half  a  mile 
west  of  the  present  court-house.  Other  early  black- 
smiths were  James  Sutton,  on  the  Manchester  road, 
Mr.  McCormick,  and  Martin  F.  Hanley. 

The  pioneer  shoe-shop  was  that  of  Mr.  Clayton. 
It  was  during  several  years  the  only  shoe-shop  in 
the  township.  Fewer  mechanics'  shops  came  into  ex- 
istence in  Central  township  at  an  early  day  than  would 
have  been  established  because  of  its  proximity  to  the 
city  of  St.  Louis,  where  shops  and  mills  were  set  up 
at  a  very  early  period,  even  before  this  township  was 
settled  to  any  extent. 

Clayton. — Previous  to  the  location  of  the  county- 
seat  no  town  existed  where  Clayton  now  is.  When 
the  location  of  the  county  buildings  was  under  con- 
sideration, Ralph  Clayton  proposed  to  donate  for  the 
purpose  one  hundred  acres  of  land.  His  offer  was 
accepted,  as  well  as  that  of  Mrs.  Hanley,  who  donated 
four  acres,  and  the  county  buildings  were  located  there, 
in  accordance  with  the  will  of  the  people,  expressed 
at  an  election  held  Dec.  4, 1877.  Since  that  time  the 
town  has  come  to  include  twenty  dwellings,  three 
hotels,  one  grocery,  three  printing-offices,  three  attor- 
neys, one  singing  hall,  and  the  county  buildings.  A 
rapid  growth  in  the  future  is  inevitable. 

Ralph  Clayton,  whose  name  the  town  bears,  was 
born  Feb.  22,  1788,  in  Augusta  County,  Va.,  of 
English  parents.  He  resided  at  his  native  place  till 
1820,  when  he  removed  to  what  is  now  Central  town- 
ship, and  located  seven  hundred  acres  of  land.  He 
at  once  established  a  tannery,  and  at  the  same  time 
commenced  the  cultivation  of  his  farm.  He  con- 
tinued the  business  of  tanning  till  1856,  and  he  still 
resides  on  the  farm  that  he  first  located.  He  was 
prominently  identified  with  all  that  has  tended  to  the 
progress  of  improvement  in  this  region.  He  is  now, 
at  the  age  of  ninety-five,  in  good  health,  and  is  quite 
active.  He  was  married  in  1831  to  Rosanna  Mc- 
Causland,  who  died  in  1862,  leaving  three  children, 
who  are  all  now  living. 

Mount  Olive  Saengerbund. — This  society  was 
incorporated  Sept.  4,  1882.  Its  purpose,  as  set  forth 
in  its  constitution,  is  "  the  culture  of  vocal  music 
and  social  improvement."  The  society  now  consists 
of  thirty  active  and  sixty  passive  members.  The 
meetings  have  been  held  in  the  Mount  Olive  House, 
but  a  new  hall  at  Clayton  is  nearly  completed.  It  is 
sixty  by  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet,  and  is  divided 
into  principal  hall,  dining-room,  dressing-rooms,  library, 
etc.,  and  its  cost  is  four  thousand  dollars. 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  South  of  Clayton. 
— Prior  to  1881  the  Methodists  in  the  vicinity  of 
Clayton  worshiped  at  Mount  Olive.  In  that  year  the 


!  Mount  Olive  Society  was  transferred  to  Clayton,  which 
had  become  the  county-seat. 

The  society  was  organized  at  Mount  Olive  in  1860, 
and  in  that  year  a  house  of  worship  was  erected  on 
land  donated  by  Martin  F.  Hanley  and  Gyrene  C. 
!  Hanley,  his  wife.  This  house  was  for  the  use  of  all 
Protestant  societies  and  for  school  purposes.  The 
trustees  for  its  erection  were  William  B.  Woodson, 
Jesse  B.  Underwood,  and  John  Suter.  In  this  house 
'  the  society  worshiped  till  the  removal  to  Clayton.  It 
is  a  brick  structure,  with  a  basement  for  school  pur- 
poses, and  the  seating  capacity  of  the  auditorium  is 
two  hundred  and  fifty. 

The  basement  is  used  for  a  school,  and  the  upper 
room  is,  according  to  the  terms  of  the  deed,  for  the 
use  of  any  Protestant  denomination  desiring  to  hold 
services  in  it. 

Of  the  clergymen  who  have  officiated  at  that  place, 
the  names  are  remembered  of  Revs.  D.  D.  Shumate, 

Scruggs,  J.  S.  Frazier, •  Treadwell,  John  A, 

Robinson,  and  A.  T.  Tidwell. 

During  two  years  after  its  removal  the  society  WOT* 
shiped  in  a  school-house  at  Clayton,  but  in  1882  a 
house  of  worship  was  erected,  and  dedicated  on  the 
7th  of  January,  1883.  It  is  a  frame  structure, 
twenty-eight  by  forty-two  feet  in  size  ;  its  cost  was  two 
thousand  dollars,  and  it  is  unencumbered  with  debt. 
The  membership  is  twenty-seven. 

The  clergymen  who  have  served  this  society  since 
its  removal  are  Revs.  B.  R.  Thrower,  J.  R.  Hicks,  J. 
W.  Cunningham,  and  William  Tyler. 

Clayton  Democrat. — In  the  latter  part  of  Janu- 
ary, 1877,  the  Weekly  Mail  was  established  at  Kirk- 
wood  by  a  company,  with  William  L.  Thomas  as  pub- 
lisher. After  a  time  the  establishment  was  purchased 

by  Johnson,  then  in  succession  by  Thaddeus 

M.  Gardiner,  Lewis  &  Stevens,  and  Thomas  P.  Diggs, 
and  June  10,  1881,  the  present  editor  and  publisher 
purchased  the  office.  While  Mr.  Thomas  was  pub- 
lisher the  office  was  removed  to  Mount  Olive,  and  by 
Mr.  Gardiner  it  was  taken  to  Clayton,  where  the  jour- 
nal has  since  been  published.  It  is  a  weekly,  and,  as 
its  name  indicates,  it  supports  the  principles  of  the 
Democratic  party. 

The  Star-Republican. — The    Western  Star  was 

first  published  in  the  fall  of  1877  by  B.  B.  Grossman 

at  West  St.  Louis.     In  August,  1878,  Mr.  Grossman 

commenced  the  publication  of  the  St.  Louis  County 

Republican  at  Kirk  wood,  and  in  1879  the  two  were 

consolidated  under  the  name  of  the  Star- Republican 

1  and  published  at  Clayton,  to  which  place  the  office 

was  removed  in  December,  1880,  and  it  has  since  been 

'  published  at  that  place.     The  journal  is  the  firm  and 


1912 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


fearless  advocate  of  the  principles  of  the  Republican 
party  and  of  temperance. 

The  St.  Louis  County  Waechter.— In  1876, 
William  Raine  established  this  journal  in  St.  Louis, 
and  continued  its  publication  during  two  years.  It 
was  then  purchased  by  C.  W.  Eck,  who  removed  the 
office  to  Clayton  in  1880,  and  has  since  continued  its 
publication  there.  It  has  from  the  first  been  pub- 
lished in  the  German  language,  and  it  is  the  organ  of 
the  German  Republicans  in  St.  Louis  County.  The 
Waechter  is  the  only  German  paper  in  the  county. 

The  St.  Louis  County  Watchman. — In  the 
spring  of  1881,  F.  W.  Rauchenstein  became  joint 
proprietor  of  the  office  of  the  Waechter,  and  in  the 
autumn  of  the  same  year  the  firm  commenced  the 
publication  of  the  St.  Louis  County  Watchman,  a 
Republican  journal  in  the  English  language.  Both 
journals  have  since  been  published  by  the  firm  of 
Eck  &  Rauchenstein  from  the  same  office  in  Clayton. 

The  first  power-press  in  St.  Louis  County  was 
brought  here  by  this  firm  in  the  fall  of  1881,  and  the 
first  number  of  the  Watchman  was  printed  on  it. 

Webster  Groves. — In  1861,  where  is  now  the 
town  of  Webster  Groves,  stood  only  the  railroad  depot 
and  a  small  store  kept  by  Augustus  Moody.  A  few 
residences  also  were  scattered  in  the  vicinity.  All  the 
land  north  from  Lockwood  Avenue,  except  here  and 
there  a  lot,  was  owned  by  John  C.  Marshall.  South 
from  that  avenue  J.  P.  Helfenstein,  Edward  M. 
Avery,  William  Gore,  William  M.  Prant,  J.  Richard- 
son, and  Edward  Lancaster  were  the  owners  of  the 
ground. 

Mr.  Marshal  had,  a  few  years  previously,  laid  out 
a  portion  of  his  land  in  town  lots.  In  1861,  Charles 
Connon  purchased  four  of  these  lots  near  the  depot, 
and  in  1862  erected  a  greenhouse,  to  which  he  has 
since  added  eight  others.  South  from  Lockwood 
Avenue  the  owners  of  the  land  have  since  laid  out 
town  lots,  most  of  which  were  promptly  sold. 

In  1863-64  an  impulse  was  given  to  settlement 
here,  and  the  town  commenced  a  more  rapid  growth. 
Real  estate  advanced  greatly  in  price,  and  men  of 
business  in  St.  Louis  established  homes  for  their  fam- 
ilies here.  The  town  received  its  name  of  Webster 
from  Webster  College,  which  had  been  located  near  it, 
and  which  was  named  in  honor  of  the  great  statesman, 
Daniel  Webster.  When  a  post-office  was  established 
here  it  was  found  there  was  another  town  of  Webster 
in  the  State,  and  the  word  "  Groves"  was  added. 

Since  1864  the  town  has  had  a  steady  growth,  till 
now  there  are  within  the  limits  of  the  school  district 
which  includes  it  (one  square  mile)  fifteen  hundred 
inhabitants.  The  place  has  three  physicians,  three 


groceries,  one  drug-store,  one  shoe-shop,  one  tailor's 
shop,  three  meat  markets,  and  one  blacksmith-shop. 
Of  course  the  nearness  of  the  town  to  St.  Louis  and 
the  excellent  facilities  for  communication  prevent  the 
large  development  of  business  establishments  here. 

EMMANUEL  CHURCH  (EPISCOPAL). — This  parish 
was  organized  in  1866,  and  in  that  year  Richard 
Lockwood  erected,  at  the  intersection  of  Lockwood 
Avenue  and  Big  Bend  road,  a  church  edifice,  which 
he  presented  to  the  parish.  It  is  a  neat  stone  build- 
ing, with  a  seating  capacity  of  two  hundred,  and  the 
parish  has  no  debt.  A  rectory  was  subsequently 
built  near  the  church. 

The  rectors  of  the  parish  have  been  Revs.  P.  N. 
Meade,  Dr.  Easter,  A.  Battle,  Charles  Ganthier,  and 
the  present  rector,  Rev.  Mr.  Griffith. 

BAPTIST  CHURCH  (COLORED). — This  was  organ- 
ized in  1867,  with  thirty  members.  The  society  has 
a  house  of  worship  capable  of  seating  about  one  hun- 
dred. The  present  membership  is  forty.  The  church 
has  not  enjoyed  the  ministrations  of  a  pastor  during 
many  years,  till,  in  the  latter  part  of  1882,  Rev. 
Samuel  Lot  was  called. 

CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCH. — Jan.  31,  1866,  this 
society  was  organized  with  ten  constituent  members. 
The  first  place  of  worship  was  a  building  known  as 
the  chapel,  that  had  been  erected  for  school  purposes 
by  William  M.  Prant,  R.  P.  Strudley,  and  J.  P. 
Helfenstein.  The  growth  of  the  congregation  neces- 
sitated a  larger  place  of  worship,  and  in  December, 
1869,  they  removed  to  the  public  school-house,  where 
they  worshiped  during  two  years.  In  1871  the  present 
church  edifice,  on  Lockwood  Avenue,  between  Elm 
and  Gore  Avenues,  was  built.  It  is  a  stone  structure, 
with  two  hundred  and  fifty  sittings,  and  its  cost  was 
sixteen  thousand  dollars.  The  society  has  no  dej)t. 
The  pastors  have  been  Revs.  Henry  M.  Grant,  James 
Cruikshanks,  Robert  Kerr,  Leroy  Hand,  and  E.  B. 
Burrows.  The  membership  is  ninety. 

PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. — In  March,  1866,  this 
society  was  organized  by  Henry  A.  Nelson,  D.D., 
with  twenty-five  members.  Until  the  erection  of 
their  church  edifice  the  society  worshiped  with  Rock 
Hill  Presbyterian  Church,  but  in  1867  their  house  of 
worship  was  completed,  and  dedicated  February  10th 
of  that  year.  It  is  a  frame  structure,  with  three 
hundred  sittings,  and  it  stands  on  the  corner  of  Lock- 
wood  and  Gore  Avenues.  It  is  not  encumbered  with 
debt.  Their  pastors  have  been  Revs.  Raphael  Kessler, 
J.  Marks,  D.D.,  and  the  present  pastor,  P.  H.  K.  Mc- 
Comb.  The  church  has  been  uniformly  prosperous, 
and  the  present  membership  is  one  hundred  and 
twenty. 


COUNTY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


1913 


WEBSTER  GROVES  PUBLIC  SCHOOL. — Before  1868 
no  public  school  was  nearer  to  Webster  than  Rock 
Hill,  one  mile  distant.  In  that  year  a  district  of  one 
mile  square,  including  the  town,  was  constituted,  and 
a  school  building  was  erected.  It  is  a  frame  struc- 
ture, forty  by  sixty  feet  in  size,  and  its  cost  was  ten 
thousand  dollars.  With  a  wise  provision  for  the 
future  growth  of  the  town,  this  house  was  made  of  a 
capacity  double  the  requirements  of  the  population  at 
that  time  ;  four  school-rooms  were  finished,  only  two 
of  which  were  at  first  used.  The  full  capacity  of  the 
house  is  now  required,  and  the  question  of  adding  to 
the  existing  facilities  is  under  consideration.  Four 
teachers  are  employed,  and  the  aggregate  annual  at- 
tendance is  three  hundred.  A  colored  school,  with 
one  teacher,  is  kept  in  another  part  of  the  town. 

SOCIETIES. — Webster  Groves  Lodge,  No.  1729, 
K.  of  H.,  was  organized  in  August,  1879,  with  forty- 
three  members,  and  Charles  Connon,  P.  D.,  Dr.  B.  G. 
Bristol,  D.,  N.  D.  Thompson,  V.  D.,  Charles  Knight, 
R.,  and  Charles  Babbington,  F.  R.  The  presiding 
officers  have  been  B.  G.  Bristol,  H.  Leven.  The 
present  officers  are  Adrian  De  Young,  D. ;  William 
Jackson,  V.  D. ;  H.  L.  Peterson,  R. ;  and  Charles 
Babbington,  F.  R.  The  present  membership  is  fifty- 
five.  One  member  of  the  lodge  has  died. 

Grove  Council,  Legion  of  Honor,  was  organized 
on  the  15th  of  December,  1879,  with  fifteen  charter 
members.  The  officers  were  George  B.  Waters, 
C. ;  William  Moore,  V.  C. ;  Robert  H.  Thompson, 
R. ;  J.  M.  Steere,  T.  The  Chancellors  since  have  been 
M.  B.  Williams,  F.  D.  Booth,  and  the  present  incum- 
bent of  the  office,  A.  De  Young.  The  other  officers 
are  D.  S.  Willard,  V.  C. ;  James  MacCausland,  R. ; 
and  J.  M.  Steere,  T.  The  present  membership  is 
thirty-two. 

Des  Peres  Presbyterian  Church. — This  is  located 
on  the  Geyer  Maddox  road,  three  miles  north  from 
Kirkwood.  The  present  house  of  worship  was 
erected  about  1832.  It  is  a  stone  edifice,  with 
about  one  hundred  sittings.  Of  the  original  constitu- 
ent members  of  this  church  only  Mrs.  Rebecca 
McCutchen,  now  ninety-two  years  of  age,  survives. 
Rev.  J.  N.  Gilbreath  was  the  pastor  of  this  church 
during  about  twenty-five  years.  Besides  him  the  ( 
names  are  remembered  of  the  following  pastors : 
Revs.  John  Lyons,  Joseph  Fenton,  H.  A.  Booth, 
William  Lapsley,  William  Claggett,  A.  Shotwell, 
William  II.  Parks,  H.  Moreton,  and  the  present  pas- 
tor, J.  Addison  Smith.  A  parsonage  has  recently 
been  erected  near  to  the  church.  The  society  has  a 
membership  of  fifty,  and  no  debt. 

German  Evangelical  Zion's  Church. — As  early  as 


1838  a  society  existed  and  worshiped  in  a  log  church 
between  the  Clayton  road  and  Des  Peres.  In  this 
building  the  society  continued  to  worship  till  1871, 
when  the  present  church  was  erected,  near  the  inter- 
section of  the  Ballas  and  Clayton  roads.  It  is  a  fine 
brick  structure,  forty  by  sixty  feet  in  size,  and  its  cost 
was  eight  thousand  dollars.  There  is  no  debt  on  the 
church  property.  A  school-house  and  teacher's  or 
pastor's  residence  are  near  the  church,  and  a  parochial 
school  is  maintained  during  a  portion  of  each  year. 

The  pastors  of  the  church  have  been  Revs.  E.  L. 
Nollau,  1838  ;  E.  Arenlarius,  1841 ;  I.  Knaus,  1845  ; 
John  Wettle,  1846;  W.  Schueueman,  1850;  I.  F. 
Roewing,  1854  ;  C.  F.  Doehring,  1860  ;  N.  Joseph, 
1864;  I.  G.  Neuschnud,  1870;  F.  Delveau,  1874; 
Philip  Karbach,  1880  ;  and  the  present  pastor,  Chris- 
tian Irion,  1880. 

German  Evangelical  Lutheran  Reformed 
United  Church  of  Central. — This  society  was  or- 
ganized in  1844,  at  a  place  then  called  the  Bon- 
i  homme  road,  now  Olive  Street,  eleven  miles  from  St. 
Louis,  with  about  twenty  members.  A  log  building 
was  erected,  and  in  this  services  have  since  been  held. 
It  has  a  gallery,  and  its  seating  capacity  is  two  hun- 
dred. In  1869  the  church  was  renovated  and  changed 
by  increasing  the  height,  adding  the  gallery,  ceiling 
the  inside,  and  weather-boarding  and  painting  the 
outside.  A  belfry  and  steeple  were  also  added,  and 
the  building  has  now  the  appearance  of  a  frame 
house.  These  repairs  were  made  at  an  expense  of 
five  hundred  dollars.  The  house  is  also  furnished 
with  an  organ,  the  cost  of  which  was  two  hundred 
dollars. 

Several  years  before  the  church  was  repaired  a  par- 
sonage was  built.  It  is  also  a  log  building,  covered 
with  weather-boards.  The  church  has  no  debt. 

The  following  are  the  names  of  the  pastors  who 
have  served  this  church  :  Revs.  William  Schueneman, 
Henry  Knetterer,  Michael  Kruse,  and  the  present 
pastor,  S.  Payn. 

A  parochial  school  has  from  the  first  been  main- 
tained in  this  church,  and  instruction  is  given  in  both 
the  German  and  English  languages. 

Evangelical  Lutheran  Emanuel's  Church  of 
Central. — In  1844  this  society  was  organized  on  the 
old  Bonhomme  road,  eleven  miles  from  St.  Louis. 
In  that  year  a  small  log  house  of  worship  was 
erected,  and  the  congregation  has  worshiped  in  this 
till  the  present  time.  It  has  a  gallery,  and  its  seat- 
ing capacity  is  one  hundred.  Some  years  since  the 
outside  was  weather-boarded,  but  a  new  church  is 
needed,  and  the  congregation  is  about  to  erect  one  a 
short  distance  from  this,  on  the  Olive  Street  road,  at 


1914 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


a  cost  of  five  thousand  dollars.  The  society  purchased 
an  organ  in  1872  at  a  cost  of  five  hundred  dollars. 
The  church  has  no  debt.  The  membership  is  fifty. 

A  log  parsonage  was  many  years  since  built.  A 
parochial  school  has  been  maintained  by  this  congre- 
gation since  its  organization.  For  this  school  a  neat 
brick  house  was  erected  in  1881,  having  accommoda- 
tions for  fifty  scholars.  The  average  attendance  at 
this  school,  at  which  both  German  and  English  are 
taught,  is  forty.  The  following  names  are  remem- 
bered of  pastors  who  have  served  this  church  :  Revs. 

I.  F.  Buenger,  J.  A.  Mueller,  Harms,  C.  W. 

Frederking,  H.  F.  Meyer,  W.  Hallerberg,  T.  Land- 
graf,  A.  Cordes,  and  the  present  pastor,  R.  Winkler. 

Rock  Hill  Presbyterian  Church. — This  is  on  the 
Manchester  road,  ten  miles  from  St.  Louis  and  one 
mile  north  from  Webster  Groves.  A  society  was  or- 
ganized here  in  1844,  with  nine  constituent  members. 
The  congregation  first  worshiped  in  the  house  of 
James  C.  Marshall,  then  in  a  storehouse  on  his  land. 
In  1845  the  present  church  building  was  erected  on 
land  donated  by  Mr.  Marshall,  and  the  erection  of  the 
building  was  superintended  by  him.  It  is  a  stone 
structure  with  a  seating  capacity  of  two  hundred, 
and  it  is  unincumbered  by  debt.  In  1867  a  parsonage 
was  built  contiguous  to  the  church  at  a  cost  of  three 
thousand  dollars,  and  on  this  there  is  no  debt.  The 
land  on  which  it  stands  was  donated  by  Mrs.  Elizabeth 
Marshall,  widow  of  James  C.,  who  died  in  1864. 
The  names  of  the  pastors  who  have  served  this 
church  are  Revs.  William  Holmes,  William  Gros- 
venor,  Albert  De  Shiel,  James  Darrah,  David  Di- 
mond,  S.  H.  Hyde,  Benjamin  Mills,  Henry  B. 
Holmes,  William  Wilson,  and  the  present  pastor,  John 
Leighton.  The  membership  is  forty. 

St.  Martin's  Church  (Catholic)  of  Central. — 
This  parish  was  organized  at  a  very  early  date,  and  it 
was  the  mother-church  from  which  many  others  have 
gone  out.  R.  D.  Watson  donated  the  ground  on 
which  the  church  and  parsonage  were  built.  These 
are  brick  buildings,  and  the  church  has  a  seating  ca- 
pacity of  one  hundred  and  fifty.  The  names  are  re- 
membered of  the  following  pastors  who  have  had 
charge  of  this  congregation  :  Rev.  Fathers Don- 
nelly, James  Murphy,  James  Higgins,  Dennis  Ken- 
nedy, Patrick  Brady,  Thomas  Cleary,  Lawrence 
Smith,  and  the  present  pastor,  J.  B.  Jackson,  who 
entered  on  his  duties  in  1865. 

Evangelical  Lutheran  St.  Paul's  Church,  II. 
A.  C.  (Unaltered  Augsburg  Confession),  at  Des 
Peres. — This  church  was  organized  in  1848,  with 
twenty-five  members.  The  congregation  first  wor- 
shiped in  a  log  church  that  is  now  used  for  the  pa- 


rochial school.  The  present  church,  which  is  of  brick, 
with  a  seating  capacity  of  four  hundred,  and  has  a 
steeple,  bell,  and  organ,  was  erected  at  a  cost  of  nine 
thousand  dollars,  on  the  corner  of  the  Manchester 
and  Ballas  roads,  in  1866.  The  congregation  has  also 
a  parsonage  and  a  residence  for  the  teacher  of  the 
parochial  school,  which  has  been  maintained  since 
1848,  and  in  which  instruction  is  given  in  German 
and  English.  The  attendance  at  this  school  averages 
seventy.  The  Lutheran  congregations  at  Ellisville 
and  Kirkwood  went  out  from  this  church. 

The  first  pastor  of  this  society  was  Rev.  I.  A.  F. 
W.  Mueller,  succeeded  in  1856  by  Rev.  A.  Lehman, 
who  died  in  1875,  and  was  followed  by  the  present 
pastor,  Rev.  Theodore  Messier.  The  membership  of 
the  church  is  sixty-six.  The  society  has  a  cemetery 
near  the  present  church.  It  includes  two  acres  of 
ground,  and  its  cost  was  three  hundred  dollars. 

Eden  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South. — This 
society  was  organized  in  1852.  The  first  place  of 
worship  was  the  Ritner  school-house,  but  soon  after 
the  organization  the  present  house  was  built  on  the 
St.  Charles  Rock  road  where  it  is  crossed  by  the 
Wabash,  St.  Louis  and  Pacific  Railroad.  It  is  a 
frame  building,  with  a  seating  capacity  of  four  hun- 
dred, and  it  is  unincumbered  with  debt.  The  following 
names  of  preachers  who  have  officiated  here  are  re- 
membered :  Revs.  W.  D.  Shumate,  J.  W.  Lewis,  J. 
E.  Godbey,  J.  S.  Frazier,  I.  R.  Hicks,  J.  W.  Cun- 
ningham, J.  W.  Robinson,  B.  R.  Thrower,  Wesley 
Browning,  and  F.  A.  Morris. 

St.  Ann's  Church  (Catholic)  at  Normandy. — 
In  1855,  Mrs.  Ann  Hunt  donated  to  the  Jesuits  ten 
arpens  (eight  and  a  half  acres)  of  land  at  Normandy 
on  which  to  build  this  church.  In  that  year  a  church 
building,  which  is  at  present  used  as  a  library,  was 
erected.  Two  years  later,  or  in  1857,  the  growth  of 
the  congregation  necessitated  the  erection  of  a  larger 
house  of  worship,  and  the  present  stone  structure  was 
built.  In  1872  it  was  enlarged  and  renovated,  in 
1875  a  steeple  was  added,  and  from  year  to  year  since 
statuary,  paintings,  and  fixtures  have  been  added,  till 
now  it  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  tasteful  churches 
in  the  United  States.  Its  seating  capacity  is  three 
hundred  and  fifty,  and  its  value  is  twenty-seven  thou- 
sand dollars.  In  1868  a  brick  parsonage  was  erected 
at  a  cost  of  five  thousand  dollars.  A  parochial  school 
was  established  in  1857,  and  a  school  building  was 
then  erected.  This  was  enlarged  in  1874,  and  again 
enlarged  in  1882,  and  its  present  capacity  is  one  hun- 
dred pupils.  Three  teachers  are  employed,  and  the 
average  attendance  is  sixty. 

The  pastors  have  been  Revs.  P.  J.  De  Smet,  who 


COUNTY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


1915 


established  the  parish, 


Van  Hulst, 


Con- 


don, previously  pastor  of  St.  Xavier,  and  the  present 
pastor,  F.  X.  Kuppens,  S.J.     All  these  were  Jesuits. 

Mount  Zion  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  South. 
— Although  many  Methodists  resided  in  the  vicinity 
of  Creve  Cosur,  no  society  existed  there  prior  to  1870. 
In  that  year  a  society  was  organized,  with  about  seventy- 
five  members,  and  the  present  house  of  worship  was 
built  on  the  corner  of  the  Olive  Street  and  Ballas 
roads.  It  is  a  brick  structure,  with  two  hundred 
sittings,  and  its  cost  was  two  thousand  dollars. 

The  pastors  who  have  served  this  society  have  been 
Revs.  Walter  D.  Shumate,  who  was  mainly  instru- 
mental in  organizing  the  society  and  building  the 

church,   F.    S.    Frazier,   Treadwell,  John   W. 

Robinson,  A.  T.   Tidwell,   and    the    present   pastor, 
William  Tyler. 

Evangelical  Theological  College. — This  institu- 
tion was  established  thirty  years  since,  in  Warren 
County,  Mo.  In  1882  measures  were  taken  to  re- 
move it  to  St.  Louis  County.  A  lot  of  eighteen  acres 
was  purchased  at  the  intersection  of  St.  Charles  road 
and  Hunt  Avenue,  and  there  college  buildings  are  in 
process  of  erection.  The  estimated  cost  of  these 
buildings  is  eighty-five  thousand  dollars. 

Protestant  Orphan  Asylum. — In  1850  the  late 
Rev.  Dr.  A.  Bullard,  who  was  strongly  impressed  with 
the  importance  of  establishing  an  institution  of  learn- 
ing under  the  patronage  and  control  of  the  Presby- 
terian denomination,  put  forth  active  efforts  for  the 
establishment  of  such  an  institution  here.  The  result 
was  the  erection  and  partial  endowment  of  the  Webster 
College,  so  named  in  honor  of  the  great  statesman 
Daniel  Webster.  A  farm  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  acres 
was  donated  for  this  purpose  by  the  late  John  C.  Mar- 
shall, and  ten  thousand  dollars  were  given  by  Carlos 
S.  Greeley  toward  the  erection  of  a  college  building. 
Other  enterprising  individuals  also  donated  large  sums 
for  the  purpose,  and  the  stone  building  which  was  in- 
tended as  the  residence  of  the  president  of  the  college 
was  erected.  In  this  a  school  which  was  expected  to 
develop  into  a  prosperous  college  was  established,  j 
The  professors  in  this  school  were  Rev.  David  Diruond  [ 
and  Rev.  James  A.  Darrah.  The  school  continued 
during  four  years,  when  the  death  of  Dr.  Bullard, 
who  was  killed  by  the  railroad  accident  at  Gasconade 
River,  deprived  it  of  its  most  influential  supporter, 
and  it  soon  ceased  to  be  used  as  a  college,  though 
hopes  were  entertained  of  its  subsequent  revival. 
These  hopes  were  blasted  by  the  breaking  out  of  the 
civil  war. 

In  1857  a  boys'  boarding-school  was  established  in 
the  building  by  Professor  Edward  M.  Avery,  and 


successfully  conducted  during  five  years,  or  till  the 
war  commenced,  when  it  was  abandoned,  and  the 
building  was  closed.  The  farm  then  reverted  to  Mr. 
Marshall,  and  the  house,  with  ten  acres  of  land,  be- 
came the  property  of  Mr.  Greeley.  The  Sanitary 
Commission  subsequently  came  in  possession  of  it, 
and  added  to  it  a  large  brick  building.  The  estab- 
lishment then  became  a  Soldiers'  Orphans'  Home, 
under  the  patronage  and  control  of  the  Sanitary  Com- 
mission, aided  by  the  State.  It  was  conducted  for 
this  purpose  till  1869,  when  it  was  donated  to  the  St. 
Louis  Protestant  Orphan  Asylum,  on  condition  that 
twenty-four  thousand  dollars  should  be  raised  for  its 
endowment,  which  was  promptly  done.  Possession  of 
the  buildings  was  taken  in  December  of  that  year,  and 
the  children  of  the  asylum  were  removed  hither. 

This,  which  was  the  first  orphan  asylum  in  St.  Louis, 
was  established  in  1834,  and  had  maintained  a  pros- 
perous existence  till  its  removal.  It  brought  hither 
all  its  inmates,  and  here  its  benevolent  work  has  since 
been  carried  on. 

The  affairs  of  the  asylum  are  administered  by  a 
board  of  sixteen  lady  managers,  and  its  income  is  de- 
rived from  the  interest  of  its  endowment,  which  is  in- 
vested, and  the  voluntary  contributions  of  its  benevo- 
lent friends.  Twenty  acres  have  been  added  to  the 
grounds,  and  the  whole  is  cultivated  for  the  benefit  of 
the  institution.  The  average  number  of  orphans 
cared  for  here  is  one  hundred. 

Mrs.  George  K.  Budd  has  been  the  efficient  presi- 
dent of  the  board  of  managers  since  the  removal  of 
the  asylum  to  Webster  Groves.  The  other  officers 
are  Mrs.  Edward  M.  Avery,  vice-president;  Mrs. 
Anna  L.  Blood,  treasurer ;  and  Mrs.  Rebecca  H. 
Morton,  secretary.  The  matron  is  Mrs.  George  R. 
Pegram. 

German  Protestant  Orphan  Asylum. — In  1858 
Rev.  L.  E.  Nollau  found  on  a  boat  a  child  whose 
parents  had  died  on  their  passage  to  this  country 
from  Germany.  This  child  he  placed  under  the  care 
of  Mrs.  Wilhelmina  Meyer,  in  rooms  which  he  set 
apart  for  the  purpose  in  the  Good  Samaritan  Hospital, 
which  he  had  just  then  established  on  Carr  Street, 
between  Sixteenth  and  Seventeenth.  This  was  the 
commencement  of  the  German  Protestant  Orphan 
Asylum. 

The  number  of  children  in  the  establishment  thus 
founded  rapidly  increased,  and  larger  accommodations 
became  necessary.  Rooms  were  accordingly  rented  on 
the  corner  of  Jefferson  and  Dayton  Avenues,  and  to 
these  the  children  were  removed,  though  they  con- 
tinued to  board  at  the  Good  Samaritan  Hospital.  On 
the  breaking  out  of  the  civil  war  in  1861  the  gov- 


1916 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


eminent  took  possession  of  this  building  for  a  soldiers' 
hospital,  and  the  children  were  removed  to  a  house  on 
the  corner  of  Carr  and  Sixteenth  Streets,  where  they 
remained  till  near  the  close  of  the  war,  when  they 
were  taken  back. 

In  the  autumn  of  1866  a  farm  of  sixty-five  acres 
on  the  St.  Charles  road,  nine  miles  from  St.  Louis, 
was  purchased  at  a  cost  of  twenty-three  thousand  five 
hundred  dollars,  and  to  the  large  dwelling  on  this 
farm  the  orphans,  then  fifty-five  in  number,  were  re- 
moved. In  1870  a  wing  was  added  on  the  east  of 
this  building,  and  in  1874  another  wing  was  added 
on  the  west,  and  a  tower  was  erected  in  front.  The 
cost  of  these  additions  was  fifty  thousand  dollars. 

Jan.  18,  1877,  the  entire  establishment  was  burned, 
and  one  child  perished  in  the  flames.  The  children 
were  removed  to  the  Good  Samaritan  Hospital  again 
till  spring,  when  they  were  quartered  in  temporary 


GERMAN  PROTESTANT  ORPHANS  HOME. 

shanties  on  the  farm.  During  the  summer  the  present 
asylum  was  erected,  and  was  first  occupied  November 
18th  of  that  year.  It  is  a  brick  structure,  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  by  seventy  feet  in  size,  and  three 
stories  in  height  above  the  basement.  It  is  fitted  up 
with  all  the  modern  conveniences  for  an  institution  of 
this  kind,  and  it  is  believed  to  be  one  of  the  best-ar- 
ranged asylums  in  the  country.  Its  cost  was  fifty 
thousand  dollars.  There  have  also  been  erected  a 
teachers'  residence,  bakery,  laundry,  ice-house,  and 
stable,  all  of  brick,  and  their  total  cost  was  twenty 
thousand  dollars.  In  December,  1882,  twenty  acres 
were  added  to  the  farm,  and  the  cost  of  this  addition 
was  two  thousand  dollars.  The  grounds  have  been 
improved  and  beautified,  and  the  place  is  now  more 
attractive  than  any  other  of  the  kind  in  the  vicinity. 
On  March  23,  1861,  the  institution  was  incor- 
porated by  an  act  of  the  Legistature,  with  Lewis  E. 
Nollau,  Frederick  Maschmeier,  T.  Frederick  Mass- 


man,  Michael  Voepel,  and  Francis  Hackemeier  as  cor- 
porators. This  board  has  been  increased  to  the  max- 
imum number  allowed  by  the  charter. 

The  presidents  of  the  board  have  been  Frederick 
Bolte,  Michael  Voepel,  Christian  Knickmeier,  and 
Mr.  Voepel  again.  The  management  of  the  asylum 
devolved  wholly  on  its  founder,  Rev.  Mr.  Nollau,  till 
his  death  in  1869,  until  which  time  Mrs.  Meyer  con- 
tinued to  discharge  the  duties  of  matron.  On  the 
death  of  Mr.  Nollau,  the  present  superintendent, 
Franz  Hackemeier,  entered  on  his  duties,  and  Mrs. 
Hackemeier  became  matron. 

In  the  Asylum  no  sectarian  distinction  is  made, 
but  the  children  of  Jew  and  Gentile,  Catholic  and 
Protestant,  alike  are  received  and  cared  for.  The 
asylum  is  not  endowed,  but  is  dependent  for  its  sup- 
port entirely  on  the  contributions  of  benevolent 
people.  It  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  the  first  dona- 
tion was  made  in  1858  by  a  child  four 
years  of  age,  Charles  H.  Hackemeier,  who 
gave  the  sum  of  one  dollar  from  his  little 
savings.  The  next  contributor  was  Mr. 
Voepel,  who  gave  ten  dollars. 

From  its  humble  beginning  with  one 
orphan  in  1858  its  benevolent  work  has 
increased  till  now  it  has  two  hundred  and 
thirty-five  inmates.     To  the  watchful  care 
and  efficient  labors  of  Mr.  Nollau  the  early 
success  of  the  institution  was  largely  due. 
Franz  Hackemeier,  the  superintendent 
of  the  Asylum,  was   born   in    Hanover, 
Germany,  May  8,  1831.    He  received  an 
ordinary  education  in  the  schools  of  his 
native  place,  but  did  not  acquire  a  trade 
or  profession.      In   the  autumn   of  1844,  with   his 
parents,  he  left  the  land  of  his  nativity,  and  on  the 
1st  of  January,  1845,  they  arrived  in  St.  Louis. 

During  their  first  summer  here  he  and  his  father 
labored  in  a  brick-yard ;  then  they  were  employed  in 
a  lead-factory  until  the  death  of  his  father  in  the  fall 
of  1846.  The  support  of  four  brothers  and  sisters 
devolved  on  him,  and  he  continued  for  a  year  to  labor 
in  the  factory  by  day,  and  at  night  sold  newspapers. 
He  then  learned  the  business  of  a  tobacconist,  which 
he  followed  until  1849.  In  the  spring  of  that  year 
he  entered  the  clothing  house  of  Young  &  Brothers, 
first  as  an  errand-boy.  He  soon  came  to  be  superin- 
tendent of  the  store,  and  continued  in  that  capacity 
until  1856,  except  during  a  short  interval.  In  that 
year  he  and  his  brother-in-law  embarked  in  the  dry- 
goods  and  clothing  trade  on  Franklin  Avenue,  in 
which  they  continued  until  1861.  He  then  during  a 
year  collected  funds  for  the  Good  Samaritan  Hospital, 


COUNTY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


1917 


after  which,  on  account  of  his  health,  he  engaged 
until  1869  in  farming.  On  the  death  of  Rev.  L. 
Nollau,  he  became  superintendent  of  the  German 
Protestant  Orphan  Asylum,  which  position  he  has 


<2% 


L^  / 

^V?<rt>fa? 


since  continued  to  fill.  He  has  been  a  director  of  the 
Good  Samaritan  Hospital  and  of  the  Orphan  Asylum 
from  the  commencement  of  those  institutions. 

His  mother  died  in  June,  1849,  and  he  was  mar- 
ried in  1851  to  Miss  Mary  Piper,  who  is  now  matron 
of  the  Orphan  Asylum.  They  have  one  son,  Charles 
H.  Hackemeier. 

The  poverty  and  hardships  of  Mr.  Hackemeier's 
early  life  served  to  strengthen  the  benevolence  and 
sympathy  with  the  unfortunate  with  which  he  was  en- 
dowed by  nature,  and  to  fit  him  for  the  career  of  use- 
fulness which  it  has  been  his  good  fortune  to  pursue. 

Lutheran  Orphans'  Home. — The  German  Evan- 
gelical Lutheran  Orphans'  Home  ("  Zum  Kindlein 
Jesu"),  with  which  is  connected  an  asylum  for  aged 
and  indigent  members  of  the  denomination,  was 
erected  in  1867  by  the  German  Evangelical  Lutheran 
Hospital  Association  of  St.  Louis.  This  association 
was  incorporated  in  1863  by  an  act  of  the  Missouri 
Legislature.  The  first  building  erected  was  a  log 
house,  which  is  still  in  use.  In  1873  a  brick  build- 
ing forty-five  by  fifty-five  feet  in  size,  three  stories  in 
height,  with  a  Mansard  roof,  was  erected,  and  dedi- 


cated on  the  8th  of  June  in  that  year.  In  1882  a 
frame  building  for  an  orphan  school  was  erected. 

Since  the  erection  of  the  first  building  three  hun- 
dred and  eighty  children  have  been  cared  for  in  the 
Home.  The  present  number  is  one  hundred,  and 
there  are  ten  aged  and  infirm  men  and  women  cared 
for  at  the  establishment. 

The  Home  is  located  at  Des  Peres,  on  the  Man- 
chester road,  fifteen  miles  from  St.  Louis.  Forty 
acres  of  land  belong  to  the  Home,  and  the  value  of 
the  whole  is  ten  thousand  dollars. 

The  first  president  of  this  asylum  was  the  late 
Rev.  Johann  Freidrich  Buenger,  who  at  his  death  in 
1882  was  succeeded  by  the  present  president,  Rev. 
Christlieb  C.  E.  Brandt,  pastor  of  the  Evangelical 
Lutheran  St.  Paulus'  Church  of  St.  Louis. 

The  first  superintendent  of  the  asylum  was  the 
late  Rev.  E.  H.  Lehman,  of  Des  Peres.  The  present 
superintendent  is  Ernst  Leirbner.  The  teacher  is 
Heinrich  Keller. 

MERAMEC   TOWNSHIP.1 

Meramec  township  is  composed  of  United  States 
townships  43  (north  of  the  Meramec  River),  44,  and 
45  of  range  3  east,  and  the  two  western  ranges  of 
sections  in  range  4  east,  having  the  Meramec  River 
as  its  southern  boundary  till  Antire  Creek  is  reached, 
thence  through  Bunkum  on  the  line  of  township  43. 
Its  western  line  joins  Franklin  on  the  line  of  range 
2  east,  a  distance  of  twelve  miles.  At  a  very  early 
period  in  the  history  of  the  State  the  township  was  a 
locality  of  great  importance,  owing  to  the  fact  that  it 
was  the  frontier  of  advancing  civilization  and  a  breast- 
work for  the  protection  of  the  growing  Western  em- 
porium, and  the  key  to  its  gates.  The  irregular  char- 
acter of  most  of  its  surface,  composed  of  great 
heights  and  deep  ravines,  gave  it  great  strategic  im- 
portance in  the  struggles  with  the  Indians.  From  it 
the  upper  Missouri  country  was  explored,  and  in  it  a 
citizens'  guard  was  formed  to  repress  the  Indians  and 
the  no  less  to  be  dreaded  white  marauders.  Great 
encouragement  was  given  by  the  French  and  Spanish 
governments,  and  subsequently  by  that  of  the  United 
States,  to  the  formation  of  frontier  volunteer  com- 
panies and  scouts,  and  deeds  of  daring  and  danger  and 
cases  of  suffering  and  sacrifice  were  common,  and 
stamped  the  character  of  the  people  with  open-hearted 
hospitality,  and  were  rewarded  by  liberal  grants  of 
land. 

The  origin  of  the  name  is  involved  in  obscurity, 
and  quite  a  number  of  different  versions  are  current 

1  Written  especially  for  this  work  by  William  Muir. 


1918 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


among  the  traditions  of  the  early  settlers.  Mahr-ah- 
mec  is  given  as  the  Indian  for  the  water  of  the  bitter 
springs,  with  no  point  obvious  to-day.  Again,  Mah- 
ah-mac  refers  in  the  Indian  to  the  waters  of  death, 
from  the  reputed  unhealthiness  of  its  banks  in  mala- 
rial seasons  and  to  its  fatality  to  swimmers,  tempted 
into  its  beautiful  waters,  to  be  caught  in  a  cold  stream 
flowing  from  numerous  springs,  by  inducing  cramps 
and  death  by  drowning.  Some  trace  the  name  to  the 
river  of  the  smoking  springs,  from  the  spring  in  which 
it  originates  and  from  the  numerous  columns  of  vapor 
seen,  in  the  frosty  air  of  winter,  from  the  surrounding 
hills.  Others  say  it  means  catfish  stream,  and  yet 
others  trace  it  to  the  Merrimac  of  New  Hampshire. 
A  very  pleasing  and  plausible  version  is  based  on  a 
very  early  and  rare  house  of  entertainment  near  the 
site  of  the  present  town  of  Franklin  and  near  the  St. 
Louis  County  line,  kept  by  Mac  Young.  This  was 
the  great  rendezvous  of  the  scout,  hunter,  trapper, 
fisher,  trader,  and  settler.  In  its  management  he  was 
ably  assisted  by  a  noble-hearted  wife  named  Mary, 
and  it  was  talked  of  as  a  rendezvous,  base  of  opera- 
tions, source  of  supplies,  as  Mary  and  Macs,  till  the 
brief  appellation  was  applied  to  the  entire  river  and 
adjacent  country.  The  Youngs  are  historic  characters, 
and  Robert  Young  King,  born  in  1812,  and  now 
postmaster  of  Oakfield,  takes  his  middle  name  from 
them. 

Indian  relics,  implements,  camps,  and  trails  are 
quite  numerous.  On  the  line  of  the  old  King's 
Highway,  the  oldest  road  known,  running  along  the 
south  edge  of  the  township  (on  the  first  bluff)  are 
numerous  well-marked  "  mounds"  containing  pottery, 
arrow-heads,  etc.,  of  which  William  H.  Coleman  and  j 
his  brother,  State  Senator  R.  G.  Coleman,  have  fine  j 
collections.  In  the  excavations  for  the  senator's  new  [ 
residence  many  fine  specimens  of  pottery  were  found. 
On  Tavern  Creek,  just  west  of  the  county  line,  is  a 
large,  well-defined  fortified  village,  with  a  circle  of  de- 
fensive out-works.  The  cave  in  Tavern  Rock  has 
numerous  inscriptions  and  remains.  A  cave  in  the 
bluff  opposite  the  Boxley  bridge,  sections  9,  45,  4 
east,  is  another  place  rich  in  relics,  and  no  doubt  con- 
nected with  the  mounds  on  the  bluff.  On  the  south 
edge  of  the  township,  between  the  mouth  of  Flat 
Creek,  sections  30,  44,  3  east,  and  L.  D.  Votaw's, 
along  the  bank  of  the  Meramec  was  an  old  village, 
and  great  quantities  of  pottery  used  to  be  plowed  up. 
The  Shawnees  were  here  till  1812,  and  single  fami- 
lies much  later.  A  curious  cave  exists  on  the  west 
fork  of  Fox  Creek,  sections  30,  31,  44,  3  east,  con- 
taining Indian  remains,  and  traditions  say  it  is  con- 
nected by  a  subterranean  communication  with  Tavern 


Cave  on  the  Missouri  River,  and  one  of  the  numerous 
caves  on  the  Meramec.  Arrow-heads,  axes,  pelt- 
knives,  and  other  implements  of  stone  are  very  fre- 
quently turned  up  by  the  plow,  and  there  are  few 
farmers  who  have  none  of  them.  George  Letterman, 
of  Allen  town,  makes  a  specialty  of  collecting  them. 
The  Shawnees  frequented  this  locality,  and  were  quiet 
and  generally  liked.  The  Delawares  were  also  peace- 
able. The  Pawnees,  Cherokees,  and  Osages  were  not 
trusted,  but  the  Kickapoos  were  thievish,  cruel,  and 
generally  dreaded.  They  frequently  visited  and 
camped  at  the  large  springs  as  late  as  1832.  John 
Ball,  from  Kentucky,  one  of  the  very  earliest  settlers, 
tells  of  an  Indian  prophecy  in  1780.  In  that  year 
honey-bees  began  to  be  seen  on  the  wild-flowers,  and 
an  old  Indian  told  him  that  when  "the  white  man's 
fly'' appeared,  the  Indian  had  to  move;  "that  the 
white  man  would  push  out  the  red  race,  and  the 
black  man  would  in  turn  take  the  country  from  the 
white  race." 

The  Koonce  massacre  was  an  incident  associated 
with  one  of  the  oldest  families  of  the  neighborhood. 
Towards  the  close  of  the  last  century,  perhaps  1795, 
a  band  of  Kickapoos  and  Omahas  murdered  nearly 
all  the  Koonce  family,  in  the  town  of  St.  Charles, 
then  the  principal  city  west  of  the  Mississippi  River, 
and  took  a  baby  boy,  the  youngest  of  the  family, 
away  with  them.  The  boy's  niece,  Mary  Koonce, 
became  the  wife  of  John  Votaw,  and  mother  of  L.  D. 
Votaw,  and  settled  on  the  old  "  Votaw  place."  The 
Shawnees  had  their  village  near,  and  a  band  of  them 
lived  beside  them  till  about  1820.  The  head  man, 
"  George,"  was  very  friendly,  and  on  intimate  terms 
with  the  family,  and  knew  of  their  relationships. 
About  1826  a  band  of  Shawnees  visited  their  old 
haunts,  and  the  head,  or  the  interpreter,  was  "  George." 
He  informed  the  Votaw  family  that  he  had  found 
young  Koonce,  now  a  "  brave,"  and  would  try  to  per- 
suade him  to  visit  them  when  he  returned  to  his 
tribe.  He  kept  his  word,  and  Koonce  and  several 
children  visited  his  relations,  and  remained  a  year 
among  them,  but  finally  returned  to  his  tribe  among 
the  Omaha  Indians  in  Wyoming  in  1831,  and  has 
never  been  heard  of  since. 

On  the  north  edge  of  the  township,  and  running  nearly 
parallel  with  the  Missouri  River,  there  still  exists  the 
great  ''  Indian  trail"  adopted  by  the  Spanish  adven- 
turer and  silver-hunter,  then  named  the  "  King's 
Highway,"  which  led  to  the  "  Upper  Missouri 
Country,"  as  all  west  of  St.  Louis  County  was  then 
called,  to  Santa  Fe  and  the  West.  It  commences 
near  Bellefontaine,  and  passing  Creve  Coeur  takes 
the  continuation  of  the  Olive  Street  road  on  the 


COUNTY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


1919 


bluffs,  St.  Charles  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river 
being  then,  and  till  1826,  the  principal  city  of  the 
State.  The  rich  bottom-lands  of  the  Missouri  River 
presented  extraordinary  inducements  for  settlement, 
and  this  desire  was  cordially  met  and  encouraged  by 
the  early  commandants  as  creating  a  cheap  and 
efficient  protection  to  the  other  portions  of  the  county, 
and  to  the  city  itself.  The  traders,  voyageurs,  and 
Indians  grazed  their  fattening  cattle  in  these  rich 
bottom-lands  to  fit  them  for  the  consumption  of  the 
city  and  military  posts ;  hence,  we  find  the  Spanish 
grants  running  from  102,  James  McDonald,  122, 
124,  132,  133,  134,  and  upward.  Among  these 
grants  were  those  in  Florissant,  the  garden  spot  of 
the  county,  and  the  celebrated  prairies  of  Carondelet 
township,  between  the  Meramec  and  Mississippi 
Rivers,  in  surveys  110,  111,  and  403.  Many  of 
these  grants  bear  the  signature  of  Zenon  Trudeau  in 
1796,  and  the  direct  descendants  of  most,  of  the 
grantees  are  still  in  possession  of  portions  of  them. 

Along  the  south  side  of  the  township,  at  irregular 
distances  from  the  Meramec  River,  ran  the  old  "  State 
road,"  traced  by  the  Indians,  used  by  the  French 
hunters,  trappers,  and  adventurers,  and  the  Courtois, 
Moreaus,  Bitticks,  Poilevres,  Fortins,  and  Farrahs, 
antedating  the  time  when  the  Spanish-French  posses- 
sions became  territory  of  the  United  States.  This 
old  State  road  ran  in  behind  St.  Paul,  past  the  Ninian 
Hamilton  place,  now  the  Catholic  Protectorate,  north 
of  Eureka,  Allenton,  and  Dozier's,  to  Mary  and  Mac's, 
and  then  far  beyond  was  the  key  that  opened  the 
south  side  of  the  township.  As  the  upper  ends  of 
the  hollows  and  intervales  from  the  two  rivers  and 
pathways  were  settled,  pathways  were  opened  up  on 
the  great  "  backbone"  of  the  Osage  range,  and  the 
centre  of  the  township  was  opened  through  its  whole 
length  by  the  great  State  or  Rock  road.  Jefferson 
City  became  the  capital  of  the  State  in  1826,  with  a 
tri-weekly  mail,  carried  on  horseback.  In  1836  a 
daily  mail  was  granted  between  Jefferson  and  St. 
Louis,  which  opened  the  way  for  the  stages  started 
by  Thomas  L.  Price,  of  Jefferson  City.  The  road 
was  graded  and  graveled  in  1852-58  as  part  of 
a  plan  of  public  improvement  championed  by  Oily 
Williams,  of  the  St.  Louis  County  Court,  and  is  to-day 
the  just  pride  of  every  citizen.  The  stage  that  de- 
stroyed the  horseback  "  mail  courier"  was  itself  in 
turn  supplanted  by  the  locomotive  on  the  opening  of 
the  Missouri  Pacific  Railroad. 

The  connecting  link  between  the  Missouri,  Mer- 
amec, and  Mississippi  Rivers  was  an  "  Indian 
trail"  from  St.  Albans,  on  the  Missouri  River,  through 
Melrose,  through  the  grounds  of  William  Muir, 


thence  on  the  divide  between  Clifty  and  Fox  Creeks, 
where  it  was  joined  by  the  mail  route  from  Samuel 
Harris',  thence  above  and  parallel  with  Clifty  Creek 
to  Eureka  and  the  mouth  of  Big  River,  and  the 
Meramec  to  Hillsboro'  and  Herculaneum,  on  the 
Mississippi. 

For  many  years  after  Upper  Louisiana  was  ceded 
to  the  United  States  the  nearest  flour- mill  was 
that  at  Chouteau's  Pond,  on  Ninth  and  Poplar  Streets, 
St.  Louis,  whence  the  breadstuff's  were  transported  on 
horses,  as  there  were  neither  wagons  nor  wagon-roads 
in  the  country.  Many  were  the  races  and  stratagems 
to  avoid  the  Indians,  and  many  the  tale  of  hunger 
and  of  hardship  in  the  settler's  family  from  the 
bread-bearer  being  overhauled  by  the  robber  race. 

Ninian  Hamilton  set  up  a  horse-mill  on  survey 
766,  which  was  supplanted  by  a  water-mill  and  bark- 
mill  for  tanning  by  Henry  McCullough,  who  carried 
on  along  with  his  tannery  a  shoemaking' establish- 
ment that  not  only  supplied  the  surrounding  country, 
but  enabled  him  to  ship  large  quantities  to  a  brother 
in  the  South,  often  employing  eight  men.  Afterwards 
Samuel  Harris  erected  a  mill  at  the  original  Fox 
Creek  post-office  and  tavern,  section  19,  44,  3  east, 
and  a  mill  was  also  built  by  Adolph  Kehr,  near 
Chesterfield.  Several  small  mills  were  set  up  at  dif- 
ferent points.  In  1854,  T.  R.  Allen  built  a  grist- 
and  saw-mill  with  wool  cards  at  Allenton.  About 
the  same  time  a  grist-  and  saw-mill  was  built  by 
Woods,  Christy  &  Co.,  of  St.  Louis,  at  Glencoe,  and 
run  by  Messrs.  Bushy,  Cyrus  Turner,  Parr,  and 
others  till  about  1868.  Fenn's  mill  and  broom- 
handle  factory  was  erected  near  Howell's  Ferry, 
and  burned  down  about  1867.  Robert  Eatherton, 
along  with  Messrs.  Eickerman  &  Woolsey,  of  St. 
Louis,  erected  a  splendid  mill  with  all  the  modern  ap- 
purtenances and  improvements  at  Orrville,  at  a  cost  of 
thirty-two  thousand  dollars,  which  ran  about  a  year, 
and  was  burned  down  in  1868  and  never  rebuilt.  In 
1872,  Frederick  Hencken  put  up  a  neat  grist-  and 
saw-mill  on  the  State  road  at  Fox  Creek,  with  two 
sets  of  burrs  and  a  circular  saw  (since  sold),  at  a  cost 
of  about  three  thousand  five  hundred  dollars.  In 
1880  a  saw-mill  was  set  up  at  Allenton,  run  a  short 
time,  and  removed  to  Fox  Creek  bottom.  Besides 
these,  quite  a  number  of  small  mills  are  run  by 
thresher  engines.  About  1818  a  distillery  was 
operated  on  the  McCourtenay  tract.  The  cider  of  a 
fine  orchard  planted  there,  and  now  in  the  channel  of 
the  Missouri  River,  was,  along  with  corn,  used  in 
distillation.  Andrew  Hamilton  had  a  distillery  pn 
his  place,  as  is  previously  noted. 

The  Glencoe  Valley  Lime-Works  are  situated  in 


1920 


HISTORY  OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


sections  10,  14,  44,  3  east,  and  call  into  economic  use 
and  give  value  to  several  natural  products  that  have 
for  years  been  regarded  as  worthless.  About  1868, 
Samuel  Terry,  from  Ohio,  bought  the  Mulligan  tract, 
in  this  valley.  Close  examination  and  test  revealed 
great  beauty  and  durability  in  the  rock  of  the  bluffs, 
which  present  vast  mural  formations  on  each  side.  So 
promising  were  the  prospects  that  a  joint-stock  com- 
pany (the  Glencoe  Marble  Company)  was  formed,  a 
side-track  laid  from  Glencoe  Station,  Missouri  Pacific 
Railroad,  and  fine  steam  machinery  procured  to  saw 
the  rock  into  slabs,  etc.,  which  were  greatly  admired. 
The  track  was  afterwards  extended  to  fine  variegated 
gravel  and  paint-clay  deposits  farther  up  the  valley. 
William  Gowans,  familiarly  known  as  "  Tennessee," 
put  in  the  first  blasts  with  single-drill  bores  ;  now  six 
to  ten  cans  of  powder  is  no  uncommon  charge.  The 
cost  of  transportation  so  embarrassed  operations  that 
the  Marble  Company  gave  up  business  in  a  few  years. 
In  1868,  John  Oliver,  then  manager  of  the  Bagot 
farm,  experimented  with  the  several  strata  of  rocks 
with  a  view  to  the  production  of  lime,  and  a  small 
kiln  was  erected  on  the  Bagot  place,  which  gave  such 
assurances  of  success  that  a  large  kiln  was  built  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  valley  in  1876. 

The  quarries  of  the  Marble  Company  were  leased  by 
a  company  for  lime-burning,  and  a  kiln  put  up.  The 
lime  was  so  well  received  that  other  kilns  were  added 
to  keep  pace  with  the  demand,  and  the  works  fell 
into  the  hands  of  Cobb,  White  &  Case,  of  Portland, 
Me.  The  lower  kiln,  operated  by  Fink  &  Oliver,  was 
bought  out  by  the  same  firm,  and  has  John  Oliver  as 
resident  manager,  while  David  Thomas  manages  the 
upper  works.  The  kilns  produce  about  four  hundred 
bushels  of  lime  every  twenty-four  hours,  which  is  in 
demand  all  over  the  West  and  South.  About  seven 
cords  of  wood  are  consumed  by  each  every  twenty- 
four  hours,  about  one  hundred  men  are  employed, 
and  twenty-nine  thousand  dollars  of  working  capital 
represented. 

The  managers  have  about  three  hundred  head  of  i 
sheep  to  graze  the  lands.  A  prosperous  village  has 
sprung  up,  with  a  population  of  about  one  hundred  in- 
habitants. Never-failing  springs  abound ;  building 
and  dimension  rock  is  worked  ;  sand-rock  is  shipped 
to  St.  Louis  to  use  in  bottoms  of  steel-melting  pots ; 
the  schist  or  flints  are  used  to  mix  with  fire-clays  at 
the  retort-works  ;  paint-clays  of  several  colors  are  dug, 
and  gravel  of  several  kinds  forms  mosaic  walks  for 
the  landscape  gardener,  and  the  common  gravel,  every- 
where abounding,  forms  almost  indestructible  roads. 

John  Oliver,  resident  manager  and  originator  of  the 
lower  lime-works,  to  whose  restless  energy  much  of  the 


success  of  the  industrial  enterprises  of  the  valley  can  be 
traced,  was  born  in  Northampton  County,  Pa.,  in  1833. 
He  came  to  Missouri  in  1856,  and  began  his  lime  exper- 
iments in  1868,  while  managing  the  farm  of  his  father- 
in-law,  Joseph  Bagot,  of  the  St.  Louis  Glass-Works, 
and  to  whose  knowledge  of  metallurgic  chemistry  and 
financial  liberality  much  of  the  success  of  the  indus- 
tries of  the  valley  is  traceable.  Mr.  Bagot  died  May 
28,  1867,  in  the  prime  of  active  life,  with  a  high 
record  and  within  easy  grasp  of  affluence. 

Mr.  Oliver  has  never  mingled  with  active  political 
life  or  held  office,  has  been  a  promoter  of  industry, 
the  active  patron  of  agricultural  and  horticultural 
progress,  a  practical  farmer,  and  a  thorough  family 
man. 

Andrew  Crawford  opened  a  quarry  on  quite  an  ex- 
tensive scale  near  Eureka.  He  had  a  side-track  and 
all  the  needed  appliances,  and  worked  for  several  years 
getting  out  building  rock.  The  cost  of  transportation 
and  competition  of  rock  nearer  the  city  compelled 
him  to  relinquish  the  enterprise. 

A  fine  quality  of  building  rock  is  found  north  of 
Allenton,  which  was  used  with  fine  effect  in  the  con- 
struction of  the  county  farm  buildings. 

T.  M.  Hunt  worked  a  fine  sand-face  on  the  county 
line  near  Pacific.  It  produces  a  fine  quality  of  pure 
glass-sand  that  is  shipped  to  St.  Louis,  Pittsburgh, 
and  other  points  for  making  glass.  The  railroads  cut 
through  a  hill  of  this  sand-rock  of  remarkable  char- 
acter in  this  vicinity. 

Mineralogical  specimens  of  great  interest  and  value 
are  frequently  found.  Ores  of  zinc  and  lead,  contain- 
ing silver,  iron,  barytes,  are  found  in  some  localities 
in  quantity.  Large  slabs  of  shells,  forming  beautiful 
tablets,  are  found  abounding  on  the  highest  hills,  and 
rare  specimens  are  obtained  in  the  quarries.  In  the 
debris  of  the  ravines  fine  specimens  of  pebble,  car- 
nelian,  onyx,  and  other  gems  are  found. 

Agricultural  pursuits  occupy  the  large  proportion 
of  the  people,  and  many  large,  productive  farms  exist. 
Wheat,  corn,  and  potatoes  of  very  high  quality  are 
produced,  with  rye,  hay,  millet,  etc.  Hemp  and  to- 
bacco, formerly  staples,  are  now  given  up. 

Horticulture  has  received  great  attention,  and  is 
found  both  a  pleasant  and  profitable  investment. 
Apples  and  peaches  are  the  staples.  The  apricot  has 
done  well  where  tried,  and  has  in  some  places  been 
found  quite  profitable.  The  pear,  cherry,  and  plum 
are  moderately  successful,  and  the  small  fruits  can 
always  be  depended  on.  Wild  native  fruits  are  abun- 
dant. The  service-berry,  persimmon,  mulberry,  and 
papaw  are  of  high  character,  and  persistent  efforts  are 
being  put  forth  to  domesticate  them,  and  with  the 


COUNTY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


1921 


most  flattering  success.  Some  new  fruits  of  especial 
excellence  have  originated  here.  A  fine  yellow  October 
peach,  the  "  Pond,"  originated  in  the  Essen  orchard 
at  the  Pond  Store,  and  is  widely  disseminated.  "  Aunt 
Susan's  Favorite"  is  a  fine  large  showy  striped  apple, 
ripening  in  the  end  of  August.  It  came  from  seed 
planted  in  1837  by  Mrs.  Susannah  Tippett  at  "Cedar 
Groves,"  on  the  State  road.  It  has  gained  a  wide 
celebrity. 

On  the  farm  of  William  II.  Coleman  is  one  of  the 
very  largest  of  apples  (yellow,  overspread  with  russet, 
ripens  in  October),  of  very  rich,  high  flavor.  It  came 
from  seed  sown  by  a  colored  man  in  1856.  The  seed 
come  from  Spencer  Tyler,  in  St.  Charles  County. 

The  seedless  persimmon  obtained  by  William 
Muir,  on  the  edge  of  the  county,  is  a  wildling  of 
very  high  character,  and  will  be  appreciated  as  a  new 
departure  in  native  fruits. 

Two  nurseries  are  established  in  the  township. 
Erich  Essen,  near  Orrville,  makes  peaches  and  grapes 
a  specialty,  and  William  Muir,  on  the  Allenton-Glen- 
coe  and  State  roads,  makes  "  native  plants"  a  specialty, 
along  with  a  general  nursery  and  ornamental  stock. 

A  few  native  animals  still  exist  here.  The  red  fox, 
wild-cat,  mink,  skunk,  opossum,  and  raccoon  are  com- 
mon. The  musk-rat  still  frequents  the  creeks  and 
ponds.  Occasionally  a  colony  of  beavers  appears  on 
the  Missouri  River.  Last  season  a  number  have  set- 
tled in  a  belt  of  cottonwood  on  the  land  of  William 
H.  Coleman  and  cut  down  quite  large  trees.  There 
have  been  three  trapped,  and  the  skins  sold  at  a  high 
figure.  The  gray  and  fox  squirrels,  chipmunk,  and 
rabbit  abound.  Deer  are  often  seen,  sometimes  killed. 
Several  have  been  killed  this  winter. 

The  turkey,  quail,  and  pheasant  still  haunt  the 
woods  and  fields,  but  are  too  recklessly  killed,  even  in 
violation  of  stringent  laws  and  protective  societies. 

Fine  fishing  is  had  on  the  Meramec,  which  is  still, 
as  of  old,  much  frequented  by  parties  for  pleasure. 
Besides  the  common  native  varieties,  several  fine 
kinds  have  been  introduced  by  the  State  Fish  Com- 
missioners, and  all  are  wisely  protected  by  law.  The 
cold  spring  streams  of  the  Meramec  are  well  adapted 
to  the  varieties  of  trout.  The  fresh-water  mussel  is 
common,  and  fine  pearls  are  sometimes  obtained  from 
them.  The  honey-bee  is  still  found  in  the  woods,  but 
is  not  a  great  success  in  domestication.  Honey-dews 
are  very  copious  some  seasons. 

The  edible  morell  {Phallus  esculentus),  erroneously 
but  commonly  called  here  the  "  mushroom,"  abounds 
in  April,  in  the  open  woods  near  old  post-oak  or 
hickory-trees,  and  in  old  apple-orchards.  The  culti- 
vated mushroom  {Agaricus  campestris}  has  followed 


in  the  wake  of  pastoral  occupations,  and  is  abundant 
in  old  meadow  lands  in  August  in  favorable  seasons. 

Red  and  white  clover  did  not  exist  in  the  county 
at  its  early  settlement,  and  it  was  felt  to  be  a  great 
want  by  stockmen.  At  an  early  date  Absalom  Link, 
of  Fee-Fee,  made  a  visit  to  Kentucky,  and  with 
other  articles  brought  clover-seed,  which  he  sowed 
and  tended  till  it  became  a  large  crop  in  common  use. 

The  towns  and  villages  in  this  township  are  not 
large  in  themselves,  but  possess  in  an  eminent  degree 
that  rural  feature  of  large  populations  clustering  around 
and  tributary  to  them. 

Ashland,  at  the  mouth  of  Fox  Creek,  on  the  north 
bank  of  the  Meramec,  was  a  purely  paper  town,  laid 
off  by  a  party  from  Pittsburgh  at  a  very  early  date, 
with  beautiful  plats  of  steamboats,  mills,  hotels,  etc., 
but  never  a  building.  Several  of  the  owners  of  corner 
lots  have  visited  the  place  and  bewailed  the  scene,  and 
although  long  ago  sold  out  for  taxes  it  has  still  an  ex- 
istence on  the  maps. 

Allenton  is  a  pleasant  village  thirty-two  miles  west 
of  St.  Louis,  on  the  Missouri  Pacific  and  the  San 
Francisco  Railroads.  It  is  situated  in  a  strikingly 
beautiful  valley,  extending  from  Pacific  to  the  mouth 
of  Flat  Creek,  a  distance  of  about  eight  miles,  and 
presents,  especially  at  its  western  end,  some  striking 
marks  of  "  water-wear"  on  the  rocks  that  form  the 
edges  of  the  valley.  The  view  from  the  hills  on  the 
north  is  serene  and  lovely  in  a  high  degree.  The 
town  was  laid  out  by  Thomas  R.  Allen  in  1852  upon 
the  north  edge  of  the  Courtois  tract. 

Among  the  original  owners  of  lots  were  John  De- 
rnier, John  Des  Moulins,  W.  C.  Turner,  William  J. 
Meyers,  Richard  Ivers,  John  Fleming,  Louis  Leud- 
wig,  C.  S.  Prongue,  James  S.  Phelps,  Mrs.  Chamber- 
lain. On  the  north  side  of  the  railroad  track  were 
several  buildings  not  within  the  charter  limits.  The 
mill  erected  by  Mr.  Allen  has  been  noticed.  The 
buildings  are  generally  neat  and  clean,  and  display 
much  floral  taste.  I.  C.  Brown  has  a  fine  residence 
on  the  east  side  of  the  town,  and  a  large  farm  close 
adjoining,  with  an  extensive  orchard.  The  store  and 
post-office  kept  by  F.  Wengler  is  large  and  commo- 
dious, with  a  large  brick  addition.  George  W.  Foster 
erected  a  fine  brick  building  on  the  site  of  the  Phelps 
house.  Nelson  W.  Allen  occupies  the  old  family  man- 
sion. There  are  several  fine  residences  within  view, 
those  of  the  late  William  Harris  and  the  Hon.  R.  C. 
Allen  being  most  conspicuous.  Besides  the  store  and 
post-office,  there  are  a  saloon  and  meat-shop  and  a 
blacksmith-shop.  There  is  a  fine  district  school  build- 
ing in  the  village,  and  a  colored  school  is  kept  in  the 
old  school  building  to  the  west.  There  is  a  literary 


1922 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


society,  and  the  village  is  noted  for  the  sociability  and 
intelligence  of  its  inhabitants.  G.  Letterman,  the 
teacher,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  has  occupied  that 
position  for  thirteen  years,  and  is  a  botanist,  geologist, 
and  antiquarian. 

The  county  farm-buildings,  just  north  of  the  vil- 
lage, on  the  Lawler-McPherson  land,  sections  33,  34, 
44,  3  east,  were  projected  before  the  separation  of  the 
city  and  county,  on  a  magnificent  scale,  the  estimated 
cost  being  two  millions  of  dollars.  Work  -was  sus- 
pended after  the  foundation  and  first  stories  had 
been  built,  and  the  ruins  remain,  a  stupendous  waste 
of  labor  and  capital. 

The  fruit  farm  of  the  Allen  heirs,  one  of  the 
largest  and  best  in  the  county,  is  on  a  portion  of  the 
Courtois  tract,  just  south  of  the  town. 

Thomas  Rowland  Allen,  who  laid  off  the  town,  was 
born  in  Frederick  County,  Va.,  on  the  5th  of  March, 
1815.  His  father,  Robert  L.  Allen,  died  there  at 
the  age  of  eighty-four.  In  1838  he  married  Diana 
Snapp  and  came  to  Missouri,  in  1839  settling  near 
Chesterfield,  and  taught  school.  In  1846  he  re- 
moved to  St.  Louis  and  entered  business  as  a  whole- 
sale and  retail  grocer.  In  1851  his  wife  died  of 
cholera.  By  her  he  had  five  children,  all  of  whom 
are  now  dead.  In  1853  he  married  Dorothea  Adelia, 
daughter  of  Capt.  Wash,  of  Virginia,  then  living  near 
Kirkwood.  When  he  laid  out  Allenton  he  built  and 
removed  his  family  there.  The  mill  is  noticed  in 
another  place.  He  was  justice  of  the  peace  about 
1854,  and  township  assessor  in  18G1.  While  in 
that  office  at  his  own  expense  he  collected  the  first 
agricultural  and  horticultural  statistics  of  the  town- 
ship, and  this  led  to  the  appointment  of  a  State  com- 
missioner of  statistics  in  18(i6.  He  was  an  original 
member  of  the  Meramec  Horticultural  Society,  and 
on  the  25th  of  August,  1870,  became  a  charter  mem- 
ber and  master  of  the  first  grange  in  Missouri — 
Meramec,  No.  1,  organized  by  0.  H.  Kelly,  of 
Washington,  D.  C.,  secretary  of  the  National  Grange. 
He  was  appointed  general  State  deputy  in  1871.  In 
1872  the  State  Grange  was  organized,  and  he  was 
elected  master.  He  was  elected  in  1872  for  a  second 
term,  and  in  1876  was  elected  chaplain.  He  died 
Feb.  3,  1878.  His  wife  and  three  sons  survive. 

Isaiah  Clark  Brown,  whose  large  property  and  fine 
residence  adjoins  Allenton,  was  born  near  Dozier's. 
His  grandfather,  John  Brown,  came  from  Kentucky 
in  1796,  and  settled  in  Florissant,  upon  a  grant  from 
the  Spanish  Government  He  moved  to  Fox  Creek, 
on  the  Leonard  Farrah  survey,  No.  148,  in  1812,  sold 
it  to  Doty,  who  in  turn  sold  it  to  William  Harris  in 
1825 ;  moved  to  near  Kirkwood,  and  died  in  1840. 


Benjamin  Griffin  Brown,  one  of  two  sons  who 
reached  maturity,  was  born  in  1796,  married  a  daugh- 
ter of  William  Inks,  and  moved  to  the  Bittick  sur- 

i  vey,  No.  2010,  in  1840.  Bittick  sold  to  William 
Inks,  who  came  from  Kentucky  with  the  Votaws  and 

j  others,  and  settled  on  the  farm  now  owned  by  Au- 
gustus Wengler,  in  1802.  B.  G.  Brown  taught 
school  for  many  years.  The  first  school-house  was 
built  on  the  William  Harris  place,  and  taught  by  Mr, 

;  Edwards.     Mr.  Brown  was  justice  of  the  peace  for 

!  several  years,  and  township  assessor  from  1844  to 
1848.  He  died  at  his  home  on  the  15th  of  March, 

j  1872  ;  his  wife,  born  in  1801,  having  died  the  day 
before.  Both  were  buried  at  the  same  time.  The 
orchard  he  planted  in  1816  still  exists  and  bears  some 
good  fruit.  The  children  were  Isaiah  C.,  John  T.r 
Martha  (who  died  young),  Cyrus,  and  Andrew. 

Isaiah,  the  oldest,  was  born  in  1825.  He  was  de- 
puty sheriff  of  St.  Louis  for  three  years,  during  the 
terms  of  Lebeaume  and  Maddox ;  was  two  years  in 
the  county  marshal's  office  under  David  McCullough  ; 
was  coroner  in  1852-54 ;  dram-shop  collector  one 
year;  and  superintendent  of  the  county  farm  nine 
years.  He  married  in  St.  Louis,  and  has  two  chil- 
dren grown. 

Fox  Creek,  near  by  on  the  west,  was  so  named  by 
an  early  hunter  from  Bridgeton,  who  shot  a  very 
large  fox  there.  Foxes  are  still  numerous  in  that 
vicinity. 

Frederick  Wengler,  postmaster  and  store-keeper  of 
Allenton,  came  with  his  father,  William  Wengler, 
from  near  Dusseldorf,  on  the  Rhine,  with  Paffrath 
Steines  and  others,  in  1834.  The  father  settled  near 
Fiddle  Creek,  and  died  of  cholera  in  1849.  His 
family  were  William,  Frederick,  Augustus,  Albert, 
Minnie,  and  Otto.  Frederick  went  to  Judge  Mc- 
Cullough in  1836  to  learn  tanning  and  shoemaking. 
He  married  Agnes  Pyatt  in  1842.  He  held  a  pre- 
emption and  located  one  hundred  and  fifty-seven 
acres  in  section  33,  44,  3  east,  which  he  still  farms. 
The  remainder  of  the  valley  was  taken  up  by  John 
Pyatt.  He  opened  a  store  in  1854,  and  in  1861 
bought  the  present  store  from  F.  R.  Allen ;  was 
appointed  postmaster  in  1860,  was  mail  agent  on  the 
Missouri  Pacific  Railroad  for  several  years  about  1864, 
and  was  superintendent  of  the  county  farm  from  1870 
to  1874.  He  has  quite  a  large  family,  of  whom  Wil- 
liam C.  is  the  oldest.  He  was  for  several  years  sta- 
tion agent,  then  deputy  United  States  collector  in  St. 
Louis,  deputy  sheriff  of  the  county  under  Robert 
Schnecks,  and  is  now  deputy  county  clerk.  The 
oldest  daughter  is  the  wife  of  the  Hon.  R.  C.  Allen. 
William  C.  Inks,  son  of  William  Inks,  who  came 


COUNTY  OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


1923 


with  the  Votaws  from  Kentucky  in  1803,  lived  on  ! 
the  old  place  on  survey  2010.     He  owned  consider- 
able property,  and  laid  off  Pacific  City,  in  Franklin 
County.      He   married  Ann   Eliza  King,  from  near 
Manchester,  and  had   a   large   family  of  daughters.  | 
He  died  on  the  24th  of  September,  1864. 

William  Harris,  the  oldest  son  of  Samuel  Harris, 
of  Fox  Creek,  was  born  at  Fee-Fee  in  1809.  He 
married  Easter,  youngest  daughter  of  Josiah  McClure, 
born  March  31,  1816.  He  bought  the  pre-emption 
of  the  home  place,  section  33,  44,  3  east,  from  Joseph 
Inks.  He  also  bought  one  hundred  and  fifty  acres  from 
Doty,  section  3,  44,  3  east  (the  Benjamin  G.  Brown 
place),  with  its  fine  orchard.  He  opened  a  store 
near  the  creek  near  the  railroad  bridge  in  1851-52, 
and  sold  out  to  John  T.  Brown.  He  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  State  Legislature  in  1854-55,  along 
with  Francis  P.  Blair,  B.  Gratz  Brown,  Thomas  H.  j 
Benton,  and  other  celebrities,  and  polled  a  larger  vote 
than  Col.  Benton.  His  family  consisted  of  two  sons 
and  two  daughters,  of  whom  only  one  survives,  Mis- 
souri Frances,  wife  of  I.  J.  Collins.  He  was  an  en- 
thusiastic farmer  and  fruit-grower,  a  great  reader,  and 
an  original  thinker.  He  died  March  28,  1881,  and 
was  buried  in  the  McClure  cemetery.  His  brother 
Joseph  was  •killed  in  the  Gasconade  railroad  bridge 
disaster,  in  November,  1856.  He  was  twice  married. 
His  son  by  the  first  wife,  James  Rennick,  is  a  cord- 
wood  merchant  in  St.  Louis. 

Josiah  McClure  came  from  Bowling  Green,  Ky., 
in  1819.  He  remained  for  a  time  at  Fee-Fee,  and 
bought  property  on  Fox  Creek,  in  section  4,  44,  3  east.  | 
He  married  Sarah  Harris  in  Virginia,  April  16, 1793. 
The  family  consists  of  eight  daughters  and  one  son. 
Of  these,  Easter,  the  youngest,  is  the  widow  of  Wil- 
liam Harris.  He  died  in  1826.  He  donated  an 
acre  of  ground  as  a  public  cemetery  at  a  very  early 
date.  It  still  bears  his  name. 

Andrew  McClure,  the  sixth  child  of  Josiah,  was 
born  Oct.  21,  1805.  He  was  a  widely-known  citizen, 
and  died  on  Nov.  1,  1877,  leaving  one  son,  William, 
and  three  daughters  still  alive. 

Hon.  Robert  C.  Allen  owns  and  farms  the  McClure 
place.  He  has  a  handsome  brick  residence,  with 
grove  and  lawn  convenient  to  the  farm  buildings,  and 
near  the  railroad  bridge  over  Fox  Creek.  He  was 
born  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  in  1836,  was  in  Iowa  a 
short  time,  and  came  to  Missouri  in  1857.  On  the 
breaking  out  of  the  war  he  assisted  Gen.  Francis  P. 
Blair  to  raise  a  battalion,  and  in  1861  was  chosen 
captain  of  Co.  A,  and  was  United  States  mail  agent 
on  the  Missouri  Pacific  Railroad  in  1862—63.  At 
the  time  of  Gen.  Price's  raid  he  joined  the  Fortieth 


Missouri  Regiment,  and  was  captain  of  Co.  K.  He 
was  mustered  out  in  the  spring  of  1865,  and  was 
appointed  judge  of  the  County  Court  by  Governor 
Thomas  C.  Fletcher.  In  1866  he  was  elected  judge 
of  the  County  Court,  and  re-elected  to  the  same  office 
three  terms  in  succession  ;  was  commissioner  of  roads 
and  bridges  in  the  new  county  in  1879,  and  has  been 
elected  to  represent  the  Second  District  in  both  the 
Thirty-first  and  Thirty  second  General  Assemblies. 

He  married  Minnie,  eldest  daughter  of  Frederick 
Weugler,  and  has  six  children  living  and  two  dead. 

Eureka  is  thirty  miles  west  of  St.  Louis,  on  the 
Missouri  Pacific  Railroad,  in  the  corner  of  survey 
3206,  part  of  the  Louis  Courtois,  Jr.,  tract.  It  was 
laid  out  in  1858  by  Meesrs.  Strodt  &  Shands,  of  St. 
Louis.  It  has  a  fine  business  position,  the  country 
roads  to  Bunkum,  Big  River,  Antire,  Bald  Hill, 
Glencoe,  Allenton,  and  Clifty  Creek,  all  centring 
there.  It  is  surrounded  by  a  fine  agricultural  and 
fruit  country.  There  are  about  one  hundred  houses 
in  and  immediately  surrounding  the  village.  There 
is  a  church  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South)r 
the  foundation  is  laid  for  a  Catholic  chapel,  and  an. 
Episcopal  chapel  is  being  subscribed  for.  There  are 
also  a  district  school,  Freemasons'  Hall,  post-offices, 
three  stores,  two  blacksmiths  and  wagon-makers,  and 
a  saloon.  The  Methodist  Church  is  a  very  neat  frame 
building,  cost  about  one  thousand  two  hundred  dollars, 
besides  donations  and  labor,  and  was  dedicated  by  the 
venerable  Dr.  McAnally,  Aug.  8,  1880.  The  mem- 
bership numbers  about  forty,  and  has  a  flourishing 
Sunday-school.  The  Catholic  families  number  about 
fifteen.  The  sites  for  both  churches  were  donated  by 
Peter  M.  Brown. 

The  Masonic  Hall  is  a  large,  substantial  frame 
building  owned  by  a  joint-stock  company  of  Masons, 
and  represents  two  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  of 
stock.  Meramec  Lodge,  No.  95,  meets  there.  It 
was  organized  Nov.  22,  1877,  with  the  following 
officers  and  charter  members :  Samuel  R.  Woods, 
W.  M. ;  Daniel  Cleary,  S.  W. ;  August  Guttermuth, 
J.  W. ;  Charles  Vanhorn,  S.  D.;  David  Horn,  J.  D. ; 
Frederick  Wengler,  Treas. ;  George  Hornecker,  Sec. ; 
Samuel  G.  Trower,  Tyler;  R.  C.  Allen,  James  Ev- 
erett, J.  B.  H.  Beale,  R.  A.  Lewis,  John  Weiss, 
Charles  Paffrath. 

Thomas  Thomas,  postmaster,  store-keeper,  and  no- 
tary public,  was  born  in  Manchester,  England,  in- 
1822 ;  came  to  the  United  States  in  1844  ;  enrolled 
as  a  volunteer  in  the  Mexican  war  in  Buffalo,  N.  Y., 
in  1846,  and  served  till  its  close,  and  located  a  bounty 
warrant  on  Big  River  in  1848.  He  moved  to  Eureka 
in  1856  ;  served  in  the  Fifth  Missouri  Cavalry  for  two- 


1924 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT   LOUIS. 


years  during  the  civil  war;  was  justice  of  the  peace 
for  three  terms ;  is  married,  and  has  a  family  mostly 
grown  up. 

George  Hornecker  was  born  in  Haguenau,  Alsace, 
in  1830  ;  came  to  St.  Louis  in  January,  1853,  and 
graduated  in  Roher's  Commercial  College.  He  began 
business  in  Eureka  as  a  general  merchant  in  1865  ; 
was  elected  justice  of  the  peace  in  1878;  has  for 
years  been  a  prominent  Mason,  holding  high  positions 
in  the  lodge ;  is  married,  and  has  a  young  family. 
His  father  came  to  the  United  States  in  1855,  and  is 
yet  living. 

Several  distinguished  men  have  been  residents  in 
this  vicinity.  Edward  William  Johnston,  brother  of 
Gen.  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  lived  from  1860  to  1866 
on  his  farm  at  Waldstein's  Switch.  He  was  a  bril- 
liant political  writer,  and  died  in  St.  Louis  in  1867. 
His  wife  died  the  day  after  him,  and  they  were  buried 
together.  The  venerable  Maj.  Beale  was  a  native  of 
Virginia;  was  a  veteran  of  1812;  lived  for  many 
years  with  his  son,  Dr.  J.  B.  H.  Beale,  and  was  for 
many  years  justice  of  the  peace  ;  he  died  in  December, 
1881. 

James  Brown  and  Peter  M.  Brown,  brothers,  are 
two  of  the  leading  citizens  of  the  county.  They  took 
up  their  permanent  residence  in  Eureka  in  1865,  on 
giving  up  their  life  occupation  of  farmers.  They  came 
to  Missouri  with  their  father,  Russell  Brown,  from 
Virginia  in  1818,  James  being  twelve  and  Peter  M. 
ten  years  old.  They  traveled  from  Bellefontaine  by 
the  "  old  King's  Highway,"  and  settled  near  Labadie, 
on  the  Missouri  River,  where  they  remained  till  1839. 
At  that  time  they  moved  to  a  New  Madrid  grant  in 
Jefferson  County,  on  the  Meramec  River,  opposite 
Eureka.  James  married  Melinda  Cochrane,  of  Lin- 
coln County,  on  the  9th  of  April,  1829.  She  died 
March  5, 1874,  having  lived  together  nearly  forty-five 
years.  His  father  died  in  1843.  Of  the  family  two 
are  still  alive,  Miss  Henrietta  and  Joseph  A.,  justly 
esteemed  for  the  wisdom  of  his  counsels  on  the  criti- 
cal questions  arising  out  of  the  separation  of  the  city 
and  county.  At  that  time  he  filled  the  office  of 
county  counselor  and  prosecuting  attorney. 

Lorenzo  Dow  Votaw  is  the  representative  of  two  of 
the  oldest  families  in  the  State.  His  grandfather, 
John  Votaw,  came  from  Kentucky  in  1803,  accom- 
panied by  his  sons  John,  Henry,  and  Isaac,  and  his 
brother-in-law,  William  Inks.  George  Smith,  Mc- 
Keage,  Williams,  and  Benjamin  Terry  came  about  two 
years  after.  John  Votaw  died  in  1828,  and  was 
buried  in  St.  Louis.  John,  the  oldest  son,  was  born 
in  Kentucky  in  1797  ;  entered  United  States  land  in 
section  32,  44,  3  east,  and  married  Mary  Koonce,  born 


in  St.  Charles  City  in  1794.  His  family  consisted  of 
seven  sons, — Lorenzo  Dow,  Silas  P.  (in  California), 
Felix  A.  (died  in  St.  Louis  when  quite  young),  John 
A.  (in  California),  George  Wash  (died  in  Texas  in 
1866),  Nicholas  Marion  (died  in  McDonald  County 
in  1878),  Landon  J.  (died  in  Texas  in  1868). 

Lorenzo  Dow,  baptized  and  named  after  the  cele- 
brated Methodist  missionary  preacher  of  that  name, 
was  born  Oct.  25,  1820.  He  married  Pauline  Keat- 
ley,  of  Franklin,  Dec.  29,  1841,  by  whom  he  had  a 
son,  Alonzo  W.  She  died  in  1852.  He  then  mar- 
ried Eliza  Robertson,  of  Manchester,  Mo.,  who  had 
a  daughter,  Laura  A.,  and  died  in  1859.  He  married 
Elizabeth  H.  Davis,  who  died  Jan.  5, 1883.  The  elder 
Votaw  planted  an  orchard  of  seedlings  about  1816, 
of  which  a  few  proved  of  great  value,  especially  the 
Walton.  The  trees  are  almost  entirely  gone.  When 
quite  young  he  went  a  few  days  to  a  school  kept  on 
Clifty  Creek  by  a  man  named  Mcllvain,  who  was 
killed  in  a  cave  on  the  Mississippi  River  a  few  years 
after.  When  a  boy  he  helped  to  make  whiskey  for 
the  traders  at  Christmas-time,  ran  races,  and  traded 
among  the  Indians  along  with  his  uncle,  and  was  a 
great  favorite  and  on  intimate  terms  with  them.  The 
year  of  running  off  the  Indians  is  often  referred  to  by 
the  old  settlers,  and  was  1814-16,  when  the  settlers 
united  and  went  out  to  punish  the  Indians  in  the 
upper  Missouri  country  and  in  Illinois  for  numerous 
thefts,  murders,  and  general  insubordination. 

Samuel  Pruitt  settled  on  survey  1975,  the  site  of 
St.  Paul,  and  was  regarded  as  the  oldest  settler  on 
this  edge  of  the  county. 

Glencoe,  a  station  and  small  village  on  the  Missouri 
Pacific  Railroad,  twenty-six  miles  west  of  St.  Louis, 
where  Hamilton  Creek  empties  into  the  Meramec, 
was  laid  out  about  1854  by  Woods,  Christy  &  Co., 
of  St.  Louis,  and  is  the  switch-point  of  the  Glencoe 
valley  track.  It  contains  a  few  houses  and  small 
store,  but  for  about  a  year  has  had  no  post-office. 
There  are  some  fine  residences  in  its  immediate  neigh- 
borhood. "  Glencoe  Heights,"  northeast  of  the  depot, 
was  built  by  Robert  K.  Woods  about  1855,  and  is 
now  the  property  of  William  L.  Ewing.  It  is  a  fine 
frame  pavilion,  with  the  finest  ornamental  trees  and 
plants  and  a  choice  orchard.  Northwest  of  it  is  the 
fine  concrete  residence  of  Alfred  Carr,  with  a  stately 
lawn  and  fine  meadows.  It  has  one  of  the  finest  or- 
chards in  the  county.  Southwest  of  the  depot,  and 
almost  overhanging  it,  is  the  summer  residence  of  B. 
W.  Lewis,  of  St.  Louis,  with  a  fine  orchard.  Still 
farther  south  is  "  River  Craig,"  the  imposing  concrete 
house  built  by  A.  W.  Alexander,  from  which  a  mag- 
nificent view  is  obtained. 


COUNTY  OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


1925 


The  Orphan  Protectorate,  a  charitable  institution 
for  the  care  of  orphan  boys,  is  about  a  mile  north  of 
the  depot.  It  was  founded  and  is  principally  main- 
tained by  the  Catholics  of  St.  Louis.  From  sixty  to 
one  hundred  boys  are  there  cared  for  and  educated. 
The  establishment  is  in  charge  of  the  Christian 
Brothers,  and  was  opened  in  1872,  and  was  under  the 
care  of  Brother  Leo,  as  managing  director,  in  1876- 
78.  He  was  the  pioneer  of  the  Protectorate  at  West- 
chester,  N.  Y.  Brother  Tertullian  relieved  Brother 
Leo  in  1878,  and  continued  till  1882,  when  Brother 
Leo  was  again  put  in  charge.  A  lay  board  of  direc- 
tors in  St.  Louis  manages  the  finances,  and  gives  direc- 
tion to  the  operations  of  the  institution.  There  is  a 
resident  priest  at  the  Protectorate,  and  regular  daily 
morning  services  are  held  besides  the  Sunday  services. 
There  are  about  five  regular  assistants,  and  farm 
hands  are  employed  as  needed.  The  boys  work  on 
the  farm,  and  attend  school  in  relays. 

The  lands  consist  of  about  three  hundred  and 
twenty  acres,  of  which  two  hundred  are  under  culti- 
vation. There  is  a  fine  garden,  orchard,  and  vineyard 
attached,  and  the  usual  farm  crops.  Early  vegetables 
are  raised  in  quantity,  and  fine  milk  is  made  a  spe- 
cialty. Everything  is  done  to  render  the  institution 
as  nearly  self-sustaining  as  possible,  and  to  aid  in  fin- 
ishing its  buildings,  aud  extending  its  capacity  for 
good.  The  buildings  consist  of  offices,  reading-room, 
dormitories,  dining-room,  etc.,  in  a  concrete  building 
erected  by  James  E.  Yeatman.  A  splendid  stone 
building  for  chapel,  lecture-room,  schools,  etc.,  is  only 
partly  finished.  The  old  Hamilton  rock  house,  the 
fine  concrete  dairy-house,  aud  large  barns  are  apart 
from  the  principal  buildings,  and  are  in  use  in  the 
agricultural  operations.  Some  of  the  original  Ninian 
Hamilton  orchard  trees  still  exist,  and  a  neat,  partly 
artificial  pond  in  front  adds  to  the  attractiveness  of 
the  retreat.  The  Protectorate  property  is  situated  in 
the  northern  portion  of  the  Ninian  Hamilton  grant. 

Ninian  Hamilton  came  from  Kentucky  in  1803  along 
with  his  father,  also  Ninian,  who  located  survey  one 
hundred  and  twenty-four.  Ninian  was  born  in  Ken- 
tucky, 1783,  and  settled  on  survey  seven  hundred  and 
sixty-six,  where  the  old  State  road  crossed  the  valley. 
He  built  a  house,  and  was  one  of  the  most  enter- 
prising men  of  the  times.  He  married  and  had  five 
sons  and  four  daughters,  and  died  about  1834.  Ninian 
(2)  was  born  in  1809,  and  died  in  1856.  His  grand- 
mother died  in  1851,  aged  one  hundred  and  four. 
The  heirs  sold  to  A.  S.  Mitchell,  who  in  turn  sold  to 
James  E.  Yeatman,  who  erected  the  fine  concrete 
house,  and  the  first  in  the  neighborhood,  about  1856. 
To  aid  in  the  construction  of  the  house  a  lime-kiln 
122 


was  erected,  by  the  creek,  and  fine  lime  made,  which 
was  the  inception  of  the  extensive  lime-works  in  the 
valley.  Andrew  Hamilton,  fourth  son  of  Ninian  (1), 
bought  the  Spanish  grant,  survey  two  thousand  and 
twenty-three,  and  operated  a  distillery.  He  sold  to 
John  Whitsett,  of  North  Carolina,  whose  heirs  sold 
to  Thomas  F.  Ackerman,  M.  D.  Heltzell,  and  others. 

Judge  Henry  McCullough  was  born  in  Kentucky 
in  1788,  and  married  Priscilla  Smith,  born  in  1787, 
and  the  sister  of  Ninian  Hamilton's  wife.  He  was 
married  three  times,  and  had  a  very  large  family.  He 
entered  land  in  sections  14,  44,  3  east,  and  bought  a 
fractional  40  from  N.  Hamilton  for  a  mill-site.  He 
had  a  tannery,  shoe-factory,  and  bark-  and  grist-mill, 
and  was  a  most  enterprising  man.  He  was  justice  of 
the  peace  about  thirty  years,  and  judge  of  the  county 
court  from  1849  to  1852.  He  died  July  6,  1853. 
His  last  wife,  nee  Delila  Hamilton,  was  killed  by  a  car 
on  the  Glencoe  Valley  Road,  opposite  her  own  door, 
Aug.  23,  1876,  in  the  seventy-sixth  year  of  her  age. 
His  son  David  was  for  many  years  marshal  of  the  city 
of  St.  Louis. 

John  Stoy  was  born  in  St.  Louis  in  1801,  a  son  of 
Dr.  Stoy,  who  had  a  ferry  at  Carondelet.  Dr.  Stoy 
settled  beside  Peter  Breen  at  Barret's  Station.  John 
settled  on  the  road  above  Glencoe,  sections  5,  44,  4 
east.  He  had  a  large  family,  and  died  May  2, 
1882. 

Bunkum  is  a  settlement  across  the  river  from 
Glencoe,  forming  the  segment  of  a  circle,  with  the 
base  extending  from  near  Acker's  Ford  to  opposite 
St.  Paul,  and  flanked  by  the  Antire  hills.  The  land 
in  the  vicinity  is  very  rich,  and  is  thickly  settled. 
There  are  two  schools  in  Bunkum,  and  the  Lewis 
Chapel,  built  and  maintained  for  the  greater  part  by 
the  Lewis  family. 

Martrom  Lewis  was  one  of  the  earliest  settlers. 
He  located  in  the  northeast  portion  of  the  county ; 
lived  at  Lewis  Ferry  about  1816 ;  married  Margaret, 
daughter  of  Elijah  Brockman,  of  Virginia,  and  sister 
of  John  and  William  Brockman.  She  died  without 
family,  and  he  afterwards  married  Elizabeth  Darby, 
by  whom  he  had  three  sons  who  grew  to  manhood, — 
Rufus  A.,  Philander  P.,  and  Martrom  D.  He  built 
a  frame  residence  on  the  bank  of  the  river  opposite 
Glencoe,  aud  was  the  first  station  agent  there.  He 
cultivated  a  very  large  and  fine  farm. 

Rufus  A.  Lewis  married  the  daughter  of  Ander- 
son Bowles,  justice  of  the  peace,  who  died  April, 
1877,  leaving  quite  a  large  family.  He  represented 
the  county  in  the  State  Legislature  in  1852—54,  and 
was  township  assessor.  He  is  an  excellent  and  ex- 
tensive farmer. 


1926 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT  LOUIS. 


Philander  P.  Lewis  married  Mary  Clark,  and  re- 
sides in  Bunkum. 

Martrom  D.,  the  youngest  son,  succeeded  his  father 
as  station  agent,  and  studied  and  practiced  law  in  St. 
Louis,  but  still  owns  property  here.  lie  married 
Susan,  daughter  of  the  Hon.  Judge  Tippett,  and  has 
for  years  been  public  administrator  of  St.  Louis. 

Starting  out  anew  at  the  west  end  of  the  State  road, 
we  begin  with  Samuel  Harris,  who  was  born  in  Vir- 
ginia in  1787,  went  to  Kentucky  with  his  parents  in 
1796,  and  came  to  near  Fee-Fee  in  1808.  He  mar- 
ried Sarah  Inks ;  went  against  the  Indians  with  the 
Missouri  volunteer  scouts  in  1812-16;  bought  out 
Lambert  at  the  edge  of  the  county,  in  section  19,  44, 
3  east,  in  1827;  was  a  carpenter,  and  kept  a  tavern 
and  post-office.  This  was  the  first  office  west  of  St. 
Louis,  and  he  distributed  the  mail  by  rider  to  Jeffer- 
son County,  by  Hillsboro'  and  Herculaneum.  He 
erected  a  small  mill ;  his  wife  died  in  1836,  leaving 
William,  Joseph,  Lefremsier  (in  California),  James, 
Wash,  and  Isaiah  C.  He  married  Mrs.  Ann  Thomas, 
n&e  Brawley,  by  whom  he  had  two  sons  and  three 
daughters.  He  died  in  1851. 

Isaiah  Clark,  his  youngest  son,  was  baptized  by  and 
named  after  Rev.  John  Clark,  the  early  Baptist  mis- 
sionary. He  married  Miss  Turpin,  of  Allenton,  by 
whom  he  has  a  large  family,  and  lives  near  Fox 
Creek. 

Dutch  Hollow. — The  next  point  east  of  the  "  Sam 
Harris  place"  is  a  picturesque  valley  on  the  line  of 
the  State  road,  and  embraces  portions  of  sections  17, 
19,  20,  44,  3  east.  In  the  upper  portion  is  a  neat 
hamlet,  known  by  the  same  name,  and  containing  a 
store,  shoemaker's,  harness-maker's,  two  blacksmiths', 
and  a  carpenter's  shop,  and  a  commodious  tavern,  with 
a  number  of  farm-houses  quite  near.  During  the 
California  and  Kansas  emigration  this  was  a  cele- 
brated camping-place.  It  was  a  relay  point  for  the 
Jefferson  City  stages,  and  has  suffered  by  the  rail- 
road. It  is  about  thirty-one  miles  from  St.  Louis. 

Charles  Paffeath,  known  far  and  wide  as  "  mine 
host,  Dutch  Charley,"  was  born  in  Lichtlin,  Prussia, 
in  1809,  and  came  with  an  uncle,  Herman  Stein,  and 
others  to  the  United  States  in  1834.  He  entered 
land  in  section  17,  44,  3  east.  His  uncle  died  the 
same  year  of  cholera,  and  he  married  the  widow,  his 
senior  one  year,  who  died  in  1871.  He  sold  out  his 
original  entry  to  Joseph  Henseller  in  1845,  opened 
store  and  tavern  in  "  Dutch  Hollow,"  and  gave  it  the 
name.  He  graded  and  graveled  the  State  road  from 
the  county  line  to  Judge  Tippett's,  and  in  1858 
rented  his  place  and  paid  a  visit  to  Europe.  He  had 
bought  a  fine  piece  of  land  from  Miner  Ferris,  which 


he  greatly  improved.  The  cultivation  of  fine  fruits 
and  vines  is  with  him  a  passion.  He  has  a  fine  frame 
house,  in  which  he  still  lives. 

Melrose  is  a  small  hamlet  that  forms  the  terminus 
of  mail  route  28,457  from  St.  Louis.  It  is  about 
three  miles  south  of  the  Missouri  River,  on  one  of 
the  highest  points  on  sections  7,  8,  44,  3  east.  It 
was  laid  out  by  Charles  H.  Haven  with  great  care, 
as  the  nucleus  of  a  great  "  Park  of  Fruits  of  One 
Thousand  Acres,"  about  1851.  The  first  store  was 
opened  by  Charles  Wetter,  and  the  first  dwelling- 
house  erected  by  John  Ratford.  The  home  dwelling, 
"  Woodlawn,"  was  a  tasteful  Gothic  cottage,  with 
grounds  laid  off  and  planted  in  the  highest  style  of  art. 
The  vineyards  and  orchards  were  truly  fine,  and  cost 
in  all  about  fifteen  thousand  dollars. 

The  seminary  was  a  capacious  frame  building,  three 
stories  high,  and  was  intended  as  a  day  and  boarding- 
school  for  young  ladies.  It  was  occupied  by  Mrs. 
Pinckne}7,  of  Philadelphia,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Finlay, 
of  Pennsylvania,  for  some  time.  It  has  also  been 
used  as  a  Catholic  chapel  and  a  tenement-house.  The 
property  was  sold  by  the  sheriff  in  1879,  and  the 
home  grounds  and  lands  were  bought  by  John  Wild; 
berger,  of  Cheltenham.  Many  of  the  original  build- 
ings have  decayed.  The  store  and  post-office  is  a 
handsome  new  frame  building,  owned  by  Herman 
Kreinkamp,  and  occupied  by  Louis  Wackher,  the 
postmaster. 

The  road  from  Melrose  enters  the  State  road  about 
twenty-nine  miles  from  St.  Louis,  and  opposite  the 
beautiful  residence  of  John  Letcher,  oldest  son  of 
Isaac  and  Julia  (Bobbs)  Letcher,  of  St.  Louis.  He 
was  born  in  St.  Louis  in  1823,  and  was  one  of  the 
pupils  of  Elihu  H.  Shepard.  He  married  Cornelia, 
daughter  of  George  C.  Frazier  and  Priscilla  Caulk. 
He  taught  school  for  several  years,  and  purchased  hi» 
present  place,  section  16,  44,  3  east,  in  1858,  while  it 
was  still  in  woods,  and  has  brought  it  up  to  the  pres- 
ent fine  condition  of  "  Rose  Mount."  He  is  a  lover  of 
fine  fruits  and  flowers,  and  is  a  principal  supporter  of 
Bethel  Church  and  Sunday-school,  and  an  active 
member  of  the  Good  Templars. 

Fox  Creek  is  a  hamlet  on  the  State  road,  and  de- 
rives its  name  from  being  the  location  of  the  post- 
office  that  has  so  long  borne  that  name,  although  itself 
on  the  head-waters  of  Wild  Horse  Creek.  The  land 
in  section  9,  44,  3  east,  was  entered  by  Martin  Hencken 
in  1838,  and  subsequently  added  to  by  purchase  from 
Nathaniel  Bacon.  Mencken  came  from  Breraerhaven 
in  1836  with  his  wife  and  family,  and  at  the  time  of  his 
death  left  a  family  of  five  sons  and  two  daughters,  all 
of  whom  live  in  the  neighborhood  except  Martin,  who- 


COUNTY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


1927 


is  in  New  York.  His  wife  died  on  March  4,  1879, 
aged  eighty-one.  Frederick  Hencken,  his  youngest 
son,  began  store-keeping  in  1859,  and  was  appointed 
postmaster  of  Fox  Creek  post-office  in  1860.  He 
married  Mary  H.  Becker,  and  has  a  young  family. 
He  built  a  steam  mill,  noticed  elsewhere. 

There  are  now  quite  a  number  of  buildings  in  and 
around  Fox  Creek,  together  with  a  blacksmithy,  car- 
penter, wagon-maker,  and  undertaker-shops,  and  a 
tavern,  besides  the  store  and  post-office. 

Cedar  Grove  was  the  residence  of  Judge  Peregrine 
Tippett,  long  and  well  known  as  one  of  the  most  active 
and  intelligent  citizens  of  the  county.  He  came  from 
Maryland  about  1832,  remained  a  few  years  in  St. 
Louis,  and  entered  land  in  section  3,  44, 3  east,  in  1835  ; 
laid  out  a  farm,  planted  a  large  orchard  of  choicest 
fruit,  and  was  an  authority  as  a  farmer  and  pomolo- 
gist.  "  Aunt  Susan's  Favorite"  apple  originated  here 
from  seed  sown  in  1837  by  Mrs.  Tippett,  nee  Susanna 
Lee.  In  the  original  orchard,  near  the  site  of  the 
"  old  cabin,"  stands  a  service-berry  tree  of  gigantic 
proportions,  at  least  one  hundred  feet  high  and  beau- 
tifully balanced,  in  early  spring  a  veritable  "  moun- 
tain of  snow." 

The  judge  in  early  times  kept  a  store  and  wayside 
inn,  was  justice  of  the  peace  for  many  years,  and 
judge  of  the  County  Court  from  1858  to  1864.  He 
moved  to  Mississippi  and  died,  leaving  two  sons  and 
a  daughter.  One  son,  Henry,  is  dead,  and  the  other, 
Philip  Lee,  lives  in  Jackson,  Miss.  His  only  daughter, 
Susan,  is  married  to  M.  D.  Lewis,  public  administra- 
tor of  St.  Louis  City.  The  property  is  now  owned 
by  Joel  R.  Frazier,  his  nephew-in-law. 

Philip  Tippett  bought  the  farm  adjoining  his 
brother,  Judge  Tippett,  from  Mark  Stevenson.  He 
was  born  in  Maryland  in  1804,  came  to  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Chesterfield  about  1837,  and  taught  school 
for  many  years.  He  was  justice  of  the  peace  several 
years,  and  clerk  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  in 
St.  Louis  from  1846  to  1850.  He  married  the  widow 
of  George  C.  Frazier  in  1844,  by  whom  he  had  one 
son,  Josiah,  now  in  Colorado.  He  was  accidentally 
drowned  in  the  Meramec  at  Glencoe  while  fishing, 
along  with  his  son,  in  April,  1870.  Mrs.  Tippet 
died  March  7,  1875. 

Joel  Richards  Frazier  is  the  son  of  George  C. 
Frazier.  from  Kentucky,  and  Priscilla,  daughter  of 
Richard  Caulk,  born  July  3,  1804.  He  was  educated 
in  Central  College,  Missouri,  and  taught  school  for 
many  years.  He  married  his  cousin,  Katherine  Fra- 
zier, of  Kentucky.  He  owns  the  Judge  Tippett 
property  and  the  adjoining  Walter  Shields  land,  in 
section  3,  44,  3  east.  He  was  township  assessor  in 


1877-80.  He  is  an  active  supporter  and  officer  in 
Bethel  Church  and  Sunday-school,  and  an  earnest 
promoter  of  the  Law  and  Order  Association.  His 
father,  George  C..  was  a  man  of  superior  ability  and 
education,  taught  school  near  Chesterfield,  and  in  St. 
Charles  County  was  justice  of  the  peace  for  several 
years  about  1837,  and  died  about  1841. 

Pond,  or  Speers'  Pond,  is  a  small  but  noted  set- 
tlement, on  the  State  road,  twenty-six  miles  from  St. 
Louis.  It  has  a  store,  and  post-office  of  the  same 
name.  The  land,  section  2,  44,  3  east,  was  pre-empted 
by  John  Brockman,  from  Virginia,  in  1835,  and  was 
sold  to  Cyrus  Speers  (son-in-law  of  George  Ferris), 
who  kept  a  store  and  tavern  for  many  years.  This 
was  for  a  long  time  the  "  voting-place"  for  the  town- 
ship, and  the  scene  of  many  a  political  fracas.  Mr. 
Speers  sold  his  property  to  Mr.  Hilkenkampf ;  he  to 
Frederick  Dreinhofer,  from  Osnabruck,  Germany. 

A  new  store  was  put  up  by  Frederick  Essen,  whose 
widow  married  Charles  Hillebrand.  The  store  was- 
burned  down,  and  a  fine  new  one  erected,  which,  with 
the  post-office,  is  managed  by  the  widow  of  C.  Hille- 
brand. 

James  Wright  came  from  Virginia  about  1840, 
and  settled  in  section  31,  45,  3  east.  He  exchanged 
lands  with  Louis  Bartrow,  who  settled  on  sections  11 
and  12,  44,  3  east.  Mr.  Wright  married  Miss  Swee- 
ney, of  Maryland,  by  whom  he  had  one  son  and 
daughter,  Margaret,  wife  of  John  T.  Brown.  Mrs. 
Wright  died  Jan.  8,  1859,  aged  fifty-three,  and  he 
died  April  4,  1872,  aged  sixty-nine. 

Thomas  M.  owns  a  portion  of  the  property,  which 
he  has  greatly  improved.  He  married  Martha,  daugh- 
ter of  John  Howell,  and  has  a  rising  family. 

William  Eatherton  was  born  in  Spottsylvania 
County,  Va.,  in  1807,  and  came  to  Missouri  in  1839, 
settling  in  Gasconade  County.  He  came  to  the  pres- 
ent place,  section  6,  44,  3  east,  in  1844,  and  kept  store 
for  several  years.  He  married  Frances  Pendleton, 
who  died  in  1856.  In  1858  he  married  Virginia  A., 
daughter  of  B.  F.  Lipscomb,  who  came  from  Virginia 
I  in  1839,  and  settled  on  Wild  Horse  Creek. 

John  W.  Doss  came  from  Kentucky  about  1844, 
i  settled  in  section  31,  45,  4  east,  and  was  justice  of  the 
peace  for  several  years. 

Ellisville  is  twenty-two  and  one-half  miles  from  St. 
Louis,  in  section  32,  45,  4  east.  The  post-office,  store, 
and  quite  a  number  of  buildings  are  over  the  line  in 
Bonhomme  township.  It  was  settled  by  Capt.  Harvey 
Ferris,  from  Kentucky,  before  1837.  He  built  the 
large  "  brick  house,"  then  a  notable  structure,  and 
which  is  still  standing.  Capt.  Ferris  sold  to  Ves- 
puccio  Ellis,  afterwards  United  States  consul  to  Vene- 


1928 


HISTORY   OF   SAINT  LOUIS. 


zuela,  and  closely  associated  with  the  events  that  cul- 
minated in  the  Mexican  war.  Mr.  Ellis  sold  to  Mr. 
Hereford,  from  Virginia,  father  of  Dr.  Hereford,  of 
Bridgeton,  and  Mrs.  Dr.  Beale,  of  Eureka.  In  1842 
he  secured  the  location  of  a  post-office  at  this  point, 
and  named  it  Ellisville,  after  his  old  post-office  in 
Virginia.  He  sold  to  Samuel  Wilson,  and  he  to  Maj. 
Clarkson,  of  Kentucky,  who  in  turn  sold  to  Capt. 
Hutchinson,  of  steamboat  fame,  who  laid  off  a  large 
training  course,  with  fine  stables,  and  engaged  in  the 
raising  of  fine  horses.  He  planted  extensive  orchards, 
and  greatly  improved  the  surroundings  and  the  stock 
of  the  country  at  large.  He  was,  however,  disap- 
pointed in  the  results,  and  subdivided  his  farm  into 
small  lots.  Adam  Doehring  purchased  the  brick 
house  and  a  considerable  portion  of  the  land. 

Leaving  the  State  road  and  turning  to  the  western 
edge  of  the  township,  we  find  the  following  early 
settlers : 

Baldwin  Locker,  located  near  the  Wild  Horse  road, 
was  born  in  Louisa  County,  Va.,  March  15,  1803; 
married  Annie  Carpenter,  of  same  county,  born  in 
1804.  He  came  to  Missouri  in  1838,  and  entered 
United  States  land  in  section  5,  44,  3  east.  He  had 
four  sons, — Louis  (dead),  Robert,  Thomas,  and  John 
(in  Montana).  He  died  in  1875,  and  his  wife  in 
April,  1877.  Both  buried  in  Bethel  Cemetery. 

Herman  Steines  came  along  with  C.  Paffrath  and 
others  in  1834.  He  settled  on  section  6,  44,  3  east, 
and  adjoining  lands  in  Franklin  County.  He  taught 
school  for  many  years,  was  justice  of  the  peace  during 
several  terms,  and  was  assessor  of  the  township  for 
some  years.  He  died,  leaving  a  widow  and  a  number 
of  grown  children. 

His  son  Frederick  is  now  justice  of  the  peace,  and 
lives  on  a  portion  of  the  Wm.  Hamilton  survey,  385. 

Rev.  Robert  G.  Coleman  came  from  Spottsylvania 
County,  Va.,  in  1837,  the  year  of  the  flood  in  the 
Missouri  bottom.  The  "  great  flood"  occurred  in 
1844,  and  forms  an  important  epoch  in  the  history 
of  Bonhomme  bottom,  its  marks  being  yet  dis- 
tinctly visible  and  a  long  lake  formed  where  culti- 
vated fields  existed.  The  water  was  up  to  the  wagon- 
bed  bottom  in  crossing  over  from  the  Lewis  Ferry. 
In  1837,  Mr.  Coleman  bought  a  part  of  the  McCourt- 
enay  tract,  and  later,  portions  of  the  Bell,  Caughlin, 
Henry,  and  Mackay  tracts.  This  tract  bears  date 
from  Zeuon  Trudeau,  1798.  Alexander  McCourtenay 
deeded  survey  152  to  his  brother  John,  and  John 
subsequently  to  his  son  Martin.  The  Rev.  II.  G. 
Coleman  had  four  sons,  William  H.,  Spencer  G.  (in 
Franklin  County),  John  M.  (died  in  1849),  and 
Robert  G.  He  died  about  1842. 


William  H.  Coleman  was  born  in  1815  in  Virginia, 
came  to  Missouri  with  his  father  in  1837,  was  mar- 
ried to  Hardinia  Bromley  Goodwin,  daughter  of  K. 
Goodwin,  of  Lexington,  Ky.,  in  1839.  He  erected 
a  log  house  on  the  place,  and  in  1848  the  present  sub- 
stantial brick  mansion. 

The  river  is  cutting  away  the  bottom  lands  here 
with  fearful  rapidity,  and  unless  its  direction  is 
changed  it  will  sweep  on  to  the  bluff.  W.  H.  Cole- 
man has  lost  at  least  thirty  acres,  and  Senator  Cole- 
man as  much. 

Mr.  Coleman  has  held  no  public  office,  but  has  ever 
been  the  active  promoter  of  public  enterprises.  He 
is  an  earnest  Granger,  and  Bonhomme  Grange  Hall, 
built  by  a  joint  stock  company,  is  on  his  land  on  the 
Bly  place.  The  Bacon  school-house,  one  of  the  earli- 
est in  the  township,  was  located  near  the  same  spot. 

Robert  Goodwin  Coleman,  ex-State  senator,  the 
youngest  son  of  the  Rev.  R.  G.  Coleman,  married 
his  cousin,  Eliza,  daughter  of  Henry  Tyler.  The 
oldest  son,  John,  married  Mary,  daughter  of  John 
Orr,  and  the  oldest  daughter  married  her  cousin,  Dr. 
Robert  G.  Coleman.  He  built  his  first  house  in  1844, 
and  his  present  residence  in  1869.  He  was  elected 
State  senator  in  1857,  and  again  in  1877.  He  was 
one  of  the  first  Good  Templars  in  the  county,  in  the 
lodge  organized  at  Antioch,  in  1856,  of  which  he  was 
Grand  Templar. 

Henry  Tyler  came  from  Caroline  County,  Va.,  in 
1837,  and  bought  some  large  tracts  of  land  in  the 
Mackay  grant  1 955.  He  had  five  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters,— Mrs.  Senator  Coleman  and  Mrs.  Edmond  A. 
Nickerson,  of  St.  Louis.  Capt.  William  Tyler,  brother 
of  Henry,  came  about  1835,  and  bought  a  portion  of 
the  Graham  grant  134.  He  had  four  sons, — Zachary, 
John  S.  (now  dead),  Dr.  B.  R.  (now  removed  from 
the  county),  and  Alexander  L.,  of  St.  Louis.  He 
represented  the  county  in  the  State  Legislature  about 
1840-42,  and  died  in  Virginia  about  1864.  James 
R.  Eatherton  now  owns  the  property.  Along  with 
Capt.  Tyler  there  came  Zachary  Tyler  and  Dr.  Halli- 
day,  and  about  the  same  time  William  Boxley,  Massey, 
and  Daniel  Coleman,  from  Caroline  County,  Va. 
William  Boxley  purchased  the  Darby  property,  which 
he  sold  again,  and  went  to  Southwest  Missouri.  Dr. 
R.  H.  Stevens  and  his  brother  came  about  1838,  and 
bought  largely  in  the  Musick  &  McDonald  tracts, 
surveys  122  and  150,  which  he  ultimately  subdivided 
and  sold,  and  removed  to  near  Creve  Coaur. 

Orrville  is  a  small  hamlet  on  the  edge  of  the  The- 
oplulus  McKinnon  survey  163,  in  the  beautiful  Bon- 
homme Creek  bottom,  and  takes  its  name  from  the 
Orr  family,  long  settled  there.  It  has  a  store  and 


COUNTY   OP  SAINT  LOUIS. 


1929 


post-office,  kept  by  Gustave  Hoppenberg,  a  school, 
blacksmith  and  wagon-maker,  and  a  number  of  other 
buildings.  The  residence  of  William  P.  Bacon  is  a 
fine  frame  building,  and  he  is  the  representative  of  an 
old  line  of  settlers. 

John  Orr  and  James  Orr,  brothers,  came  from  the 
Cow.  Caddens,  Glasgow,  Scotland,  and  bought  the 
Richardson  survey  134.  John  married  Maude 
Eleanor  Graham,  daughter  of  Alexander  Graham, 
part  of  whose  farming-lands  now  form  Wild  Horse 
Lake.  They  had  four  children,  James,  Mary,  John, 
and  Robert.  He  died  about  1829.  William  Bell,  of 
survey  909,  was  Mrs.  Bell's  uncle  and  also  from  Scot- 
land. 

James  married  Elizabeth  C.  Breckenridge,  and  died 
without  children. 

John  Orr,  the  second,  married  Margaret,  daughter 
of  Parks  Bacon.  His  children  are  William  T.,  Mary, 
Walter,  and  Julia,  all  married  in  the  neighborhood. 

Robert  Orr  was  born  in  1829,  and  bought  the  The- 
ophilus  McKinnon  survey  163.  In  1849  he  mar- 
ried Laura,  daughter  of  Thomas  Caulk.  He  was  jus- 
tice of  the  peace  for  six  years.  He  sold  to  John 
Hockersmith.  He  has  three  sons  and  four  daughters 
alive. 

Richard  Caulk  came  from  Maryland  ;  was  an  officer 
in  the  Spanish  army,  and  obtained  a  grant  of  four 
thousand  arpens  of  land.  He  settled  on  survey  125  ; 
married  Sallie,  daughter  of  Lawrence  Long,  and  had 
six  children, — Ruenna,  Thomas,  Priscilla  (Mrs.  Fra- 
zier-Tippett),  Ann  Eliza  (Mrs.  Hugh  Miller,  now  in 
Colorado),  Isaac  (dead),  and  Sarah  (Mrs.  Alton 
Long). 

Thomas  Caulk,  the  oldest  son,  was  born  in  this 
county  in  1800.  and  received  a  grant  of  six  hundred 
arpens  in  Pike  County  for  that  fact ;  he  settled  on 
survey  126  under  Charles  Kyle;  he  married  Miss 
Worthington  ;  was  assessor,  and  was  in  the  State 
Legislature  in  1837,  and  went  to  the  Indian  nation. 

The  Bacon  brothers  came  from  Virginia  about 
1812.  They  were  William,  Ludwille,  Nathaniel,  and 
Nicholas.  Ludwille  entered  land  at  the  mouth  of 
Bonhomme  Creek  ;  he  married  a  Long  ;  his  son  Parks 
married  Elizabeth  C.  Breckenridge,  by  whom  there 
were  four  children,  of  whom  Willam  P.  Bacon  and 
Mrs.  Margaret  Orr  still  reside  in  the  vicinity.  Nancy, 
daughter  of  Ludwille  Bacon,  married  Robert  Lewis, 
from  Loutre  Island,  and  had  a  family,  among  them 
Garland  and  Warner  Lewis,  the  well-known  lawyer 
and  editor. 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  C.  Hyatt  (nee  Breckenridge)  is  one  of 
the  most  notable  residents  of  the  neighborhood.  She 
was  born  in  Kentucky  in  1797  ;  married  Parks  Bacon, 


noted  before,  and  was  left  a  widow  ;  she  then  married 
James  Orr,  uncle  of  John  and  Robert  Orr,  by  whom 
she  had  a  son  James.  Again  widowed,  she  married 
N.  Ferguson  and  had  two  daughters,  Mrs.  Hocker- 
smith and  Mrs.  Humes ;  left  a  widow  for  the  third 
time,  she  married  Judge  Hyatt,  of  Florissant,  and 
is  yet  again  a  widow,  hale,  bright,  and  entertaining. 

James  Ball  lives  on  Bonhomme  Creek,  sections  22, 
45,  3  east,  and  is  the  representative  of  one  of  the 
earliest  settlers  in  the  township.  His  father,  James 
Ball,  came  from  Kentucky  with  Daniel  Boone,  and 
was  for  many  years  his  close  companion.  He  was  an 
intelligent  man,  his  library  in  these  "  wild  woods" 
comprising  about  fifty  volumes,  and  he  had  the  first 
family  Bible  and  clock  in  the  township.  His  family 
record  is  most  minute  and  distinct.  Although  a 
small  man,  he  was  brave  and  daring  in  the  extreme. 
He  had  a  large  family  of  daughters ;  the  youngest  is 
the  wife  of  J.  Robert  Eatherton,  who  has  been  a  con- 
spicuous and  highly  enterprising  citizen,  and  owns  the 
Capt.  Tyler  farm. 

Lawrence  Long  came  to  Missouri  from  Virginia 
along  witli  Samuel  Conway  about  1796.  He  settled 
on  a  Spanish  grant  of  one  thousand  arpens,  including 
the  site  of  Chesterfield.  His  descendants  are  mostly 
in  Bonhomme  township.  His  children  were  Lawrence 
(married  Sarah  Post),  James  (married  Leah  Fitz- 
water),  Alton  (married  Sarah  Caulk). 

James  and  Leah  Long  were  main  supporters  of 
Chesterfield  Church. 

Chesterfield  is  on  the  very  edge  of  the  township, 
and  is  as  much  in  Bonhomme  as  in  Meramec.  It  con- 
tains about  a  dozen  dwellings,  church,  and  school,  and 
has  a  long  and  interesting  history.  It  has  lately  ob- 
tained a  post-office  at  Wetzell's  store,  with  Henry 
Wetzell  as  postmaster.  C.  Andrae  is  an  old  settler. 

The  town  was  laid  off  by  Col.  Justus  Post  in  1817. 
Elihu  H.  Shepard  says  of  him,  "  He  was  one  of  the 
best  informed  and  wealthiest  citizens  of  the  Territory, 
had  been  educated  at  West  Point,  was  a  profound, 
practical  mathematician,  and  had  served  with  credit 
in  the  United  States  army  during  the  war  of  1812. 
He  was  possessed  of  an  estate  of  one  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars,  mostly  in  cash,  purchased  large  tracts  of 
land,  built  a  country  residence  and  a  mill  in  Bon- 
homme (Meramec)  township,  made  other  improve- 
ments, and  gave  embellishment  to  the  country  and 
life  to  business  around  him.  .  .  .  He  became  director 
in  the  Missouri  Bank,  and  became  involved,  .  .  .  left 
Missouri  and  settled  in  America,  111.,  and  died,  having 
disposed  of  his  large  estate  in  St.  Louis  County  for  a 
trifle  when  he  left,  which,  if  held  to  his  death,  would 
have  left  his  two  sons  millionaires."  The  bricks  for 


1930 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


the  mansion  of  Col.  Post  were  made  by  Letcher  & 
Bobb,  of  St.  Louis,  in  1822.  Many  well-known 
names  cluster  there, — Albert  Worthington,  Dr.  Kin- 
caid,  Dr.  James  Hall,  etc. 

The  Darby  family  came  from  North  Carolina  in 
1830,  and  bought  land  in  the  Bell  &  Mackay  grant. 
They  sold  to  William  Boxley  about  1837.  Hon.  John 
F.  Darby  was  a  member  of  this  family. 

Bonhomme  Post-Office,  with  its  fine  homesteads 
and  closely-settled,  fertile  land,  is  an  attractive  spot. 
The  store  and  post-office  are  kept  by  Charles  Boiselier. 
The  daily  mail-stage  on  the  Olive  route  makes  this  its 
terminal  point.  It  is  quite  near  Howell's  Ferry,  an 
important  crossing  to  St.  Charles  County,  and  is  in  an 
affluent  neighborhood.  Charles  Boiselier  owns  the 
store,  and  is  postmaster.  His  father  and  uncle  re- 
moved from  France  to  Germany  from  political  causes 
about  1839  ;  emigrated  to  Missouri  and  bought  land. 
Thomas  Boyer  came  from  Fulda  in  1836.  He 
found  a  few  German  families  already  here.  C.  An- 
gelrodt  and  four  others  had  settled  a  short  dis- 
tance above,  and  were  known  as  the  "  Bremen  Com- 
pany," whose  widely-extended  influence  in  Europe 
attracted  considerable  emigration.  Mr.  Angelrodt  has 
long  been  known  as  senior  member  of  the  firm  of 
Angelrodt  &  Barth,  consular  agents,  St.  Louis.  He 
bought  a  large  tract  of  land  in  the  Mackay  survey  at 
sheriff's  sale  for  taxes,  that  had  been  owned  by  a  Dr. 
Eden,  non-resident.  Mr.  Angelrodt  sub-divided  and 
sold  it. 

Adam  Bates  came  here  about  1823.  He  had  a 
large  family,  a  portion  of  them  in  St.  Charles  County. 
Henry  lives  on  the  homestead,  and  was  justice  of  the 
peace.  Adam  Wardenberg  came  about  1833.  He 
bought  some  of  the  Eden  land,  and  settled  on 
survey  414.  S.  Dachreden  lives  on  the  old  Wor- 
thington  place,  and  came  here  about  1834,  as  did 
the  Krennings,  Krums,  and  Adolph  Kehr,  of  Kehr's 
Mill.  'Rapphoff,  Ficke,  and  E.  Becker  came  about 
1837.  John  Howell,  of  Howell's  Island,  is  son  of 
Thomas  Howell,  born  in  1783,  and  settled  on  the  land 
known  as  the  Governor  Bates  farm.  He  sold  to  Gov- 
ernor Bates,  and  removed  to  St.  Charles  County.  John 
married  a  daughter  of  Martin  McCourtenay,  and  had 
a  large  family, — Rudolphus,  Orlando,  Martin,  Martha 
(Mrs.  T.  M.  Wright),  Minerva,  and  Hulduh.  His 
first  wife  died,  and  he  married  a  Miss  Iden.  Martin 
McCourtenay,  nephew  of  Alexander  McCourtenay, 
came  from  Pittsburgh  in  1837.  He  had  two  sons, 
who  both  left,  and  two  daughters,  Mrs.  J.  Howell, 
noted  above,  and  Mrs.  Mary  Link,  who  resides  in 
the  vicinity  and  has  a  large  family,  mostly  grown  up. 
St.  Andrew's  was  laid  off  by  John  Henry  early  in 


the  century,  but  never  gained  much  note.  It  is  now 
about  eight  hundred  yards  from  the  bank  of  the 
Missouri  River,  engulfed  in  the  bed  of  that  destruc- 
tive stream,  which  is  now  destroying  the  richest  lands 
of  the  vicinity. 

The  settlement  of  the  township  presents  three 
distinct  waves.  A  few  adventurous  spirits,  mostly 
Kentuckians  and  French,  explored  the  land  and  ob- 
tained grants  previous  to  1800.  Another  influx  from 
Kentucky  occurred  from  1800  to  1820.  Then  came 
a  lull  incident  to  the  settlement  of  the  State  govern- 
ment, which  continued  until  1830.  Between  1830 
and  1840  came  the  great  wave  of  wealth  from  Vir- 
ginia, supplemented  by,  but  not  commingling  with,  the 
great  German  emigration  of  that  period. 

The  first  German  settler  known  of  in  the  town- 
ship was  Worth,  who  came  about  1818  and  settled  on 
sections  5  and  6,  44, 3  east,  on  the  Beckemeyer  place, 
now  owned  by  Frederick  Ossenfort.  He  served 
in  the  great  European  war  with  Napoleon,  and  came 
to  the  United  States  at  its  close. 

The  first  colored  man  that  owned  land  in  the 
township  was  Jesse  Hubbard.  He  belonged  to 
Nancy  Bacon,  then  Mrs.  Robert  Lewis,  and  went 
with  Mr.  Lewis  to  California  in  1849-54.  They  re- 
turned with  fifteen  thousand  dollars,  which  was 
divided  between  them.  The  share  of  Jesse  was  then 
divided  by  his  mistress,  who  gave  him  his  freedom 
along  with  his  share,  and  he  bought  land  from  James 
Orr  and  settled  on  it. 

The  "  Old  Church  by  the  Lake"  was  a  log  build- 
ing at  its  east  end,  which  for  many  years  sheltered  a 
throng  of  rough  but  earnest  worshipers.  It  was  built 
by  the  Baptists,  but  its  doors  were  open  to  ministers 
of  every  denomination.  Its  cemetery  alone  remains. 

Chesterfield  Church  took  its  place,  and  has  already 
been  noticed. 

Old  Baptist  Antioch  Church  is  situated  on  the 
old  King's  Highway,  in  section  15,  45,  3  east.  It 
was  erected  mainly  by  the  Coleman  and  Tyler  fami- 
lies. It  was  dedicated  May  29,  1841,  and  constituted 
a  Baptist  Church  by  Noah  Flood  and  John  H.  Thomp- 
son. John  Wright  was  ordained  deacon,  B.  F.  Lips- 
comb  clerk,  and  Abuer  Bly  treasurer.  As  many  as 
thirty-three  persons  were  baptized  by  immersion  at 
one  time.  The  Rev.  J.  M.  Peck,  of  St.  Louis,  fre- 
quently preached  here. 

New  Antioch  Church  was  dedicated  on  Dec.  25, 
1860,  by  William  Crowell,  of  St.  Louis,  assisted  by 
Mr.  Hicknian,  and  the  old  church  building  was  given 
up  for  the  use  of  the  colored  members.  In  1872, 
Robert  G.  Coleman,  John  Hockerstnith,  and  A.  J. 
Cumming  were  ordained  deacons.  William  H.  Cole- 


COUNTY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


1931 


man  was  appointed  clerk  in  1846,  and  still  fills  the 
same  office.  A  Sunday-school  meets  in  the  church, 
and  a  cemetery  is  attached. 

Rock  Bethel  was  built  on  Wild  Horse  Creek  by  the 
Methodists,  at  a  cost  of  two  thousand  dollars.  It  was 
dedicated  in  1859  by  Rev.  Dr.  Finney,  assisted  by 
Wesley  Browning,  the  preacher  in  charge.  A  short 
time  after  opening  it  was  discovered  that  it  was  placed 
on  the  wrong  survey,  and  the  owner,  Mr.  Solf,  re- 
fusing to  sell  the  land,  the  building  was  lost. 

Log  Bethel,  or  Little  Bethel,  was  built  on  section 
4,  44,  3  east,  for  the  Sunday-school  and  as  a  tempo- 
rary preaching-place  till  a  better  could  be  built,  but 
was  never  formally  dedicated. 

New  Bethel  Methodist  Church  was  erected  on 
the  State  road,  section  3,  44,  3  east,  and  is  a  fine 
frame  building,  with  rock  basement  for  Sunday-school 
purposes.  It  cost  four  thousand  seven  hundred  dol- 
lars, and  was  dedicated  by  Rev.  Dr.  McAnally,  as- 
sisted by  Wesley  Browning  and  J.  S.  Frazier,  on 
April  8, 1875.  It  has  a  membership  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  and  a  flourishing  Sunday-school. 

Bethel  Cemetery  is  a  beautiful  spot,  regularly  laid 
out  and  tastefully  ornamented.  The  first  burial  was 
that  of  William  Atwell,  who  was  born  June  16,  1854, 
and  was  killed  by  striking  against  the  roof  of  Laclede 
bridge  on  the  night  of  Aug.  29,  1873. 

Eureka  and  Lewis  Chapel  have  been  noticed  in 
their  respective  locations ;  the  Protectorate  Chapel 
has  also  been  referred  to.  A  cemetery  has  been  laid 
out  in  connection  with  the  institution  ;  the  McCul- 
lough  burial-ground  has  been  given  up,  and  most  of 
the  bodies  have  been  removed  to  Bethel  or  the  Pro- 
tectorate Cemeteries.  The  Inks  Cemetery  is  situated 
at  Augustus  Wengler's,  and  is  a  public  burying- 
place.  The  McClure  Cemetery  is  located  on  Judge 
Allen's  farm,  and  contains  the  dust  of  many  pioneers. 

Meramec  Preaching  Circuit  was  part  of  Manchester  pre- 
vious to  1859.  In  1859  it  was  separated  and  called  Allenton 
Circuit,  with  Wesle}'  Browning,  preacher,  who  was  succeeded  by 
Rev.  Jacob  Liitzeler.  Rev.  J.  N.  W.  Springer  was  preacher  in 
1860-61.  It  was  without  a  preacher  in  1862-63,  but  occa- 
sional services  were  held  by  the  Revs.  W.  Alexander  and  Atkin- 
son, of  Manchester.  In  1864,  Rev.  Mr.  Compton  took  charge, 
and  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  J.  E.  Godbey.  In  1866  the  circuit 
was  united  with  Union,  with  the  Rev.  William  M.  Williams, 
preacher.  In  1868  the  name  was  changed  to  Meramec  Cir- 
cuit and  Allenton  dropped.  The  Union  and  Meramec  Circuits, 
J.  E.  Godbey,  C.  P.,  and  L.  W.  Powell,  assistant,  were  com- 
posed of  Union,  Franklin,  Eureka,  Lewis  Chapel,  and  Little 
Bethel.  In  1872  the  Franklin  County  places  were  separated 
and  Fenton  added.  In  1875  Fenton  was  dropped,  and  Eureka 
and  Lewis  Chapel  was  united  in  Meramec  Circuit. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  Meramec  Circuit  preachers  :  Wes- 
ley Browning,  1859;  Jacob  Ditzeler,  1859-60;  J.  W.  N.  Sprin- 
ger, 1860-61;  Compton,  1864;  W.  M.  Williams,  1866; 


J.  E.  Godbey,  1865-68;  L.  W.  Powell,  1868;  H.  C.  Watts, 
1870;  J.  H.St.  Clair,  1872;  R.  F.  Chew,  1873;  L.  W.  Powell, 
1873  ;  Abram  Slater,  1874  ;  I.  R.  Hicks,  1875-79 ;  J.  W.  Johns- 
ton, 1879-81 ;  J.  W.  Robertson,  1881-82. 

Among  the  early  ministers  who  labored  in  this 
field  may  be  mentioned 

Revs.  John  Clark,  Methodist  (afterwards  Baptist) ;  Lorenzo 
Dow,  Methodist;  J.  M.  Peck,  Baptist,  St.  Louis;  Robert  G. 
Coleman,  Baptist;  Jacob  Hudspeth,  Francis  Brownley,  and 
John  R.  Brown,  Cumberland  Presbyterians ;  Lemmon  and 
Hardeman,  Baptists ;  Garvin,  Presbyterian ;  Jesse  Green,  T. 
A.  Morris,  R.  A.  Bennett,  and  Robert  A.  Young,  Methodists. 

Societies,  Orders,  etc. — Meramec  Horticultural  Society,  es- 
tablished in  1859,  held  monthly  meetings  at  the  houses  of  the 
members  and  annual  exhibitions  at  different  points.  It  was 
supplanted  by  the  Patrons  of  Husbandry.  Meramac  Grange, 
No.  1,  the  first  in  the  State,  was  organized  by  0.  H.  Kelley, 
Washington,  D.  C.,  August,  1870,  and  met  near  Glencoe.  Pa- 
cific Grange  meets  near  Eureka  ;  Bonhomme  Grange  meets  in 
the  hall  at  Wild  Horse ;  Arville  Grange  near  Pond.  The  last 
two  are  dormant. 

A  lodge  of  Good  Templars  was  organized- at  Antioch  in  1856, 
and  another  was  organized  at  Glencoe,  1857.  Meramec  Lodge, 
146,  meets  at  Bethel  and  has  forty-four  members.  Lone  Star 
Lodge  meets  at  Eureka  and  has  twenty-five  members.  Ma- 
sonic Lodge  meets  at  Eureka.  Harigari  (German)  meets  at 
Wetzell's  Store,  near  Chesterfield. 

Following  is  a  list  of  ex-justices,  etc.,  resident  in 
the  township : 

Richard  Caulk,  as  Spanish  officer;  William  Harding; 

Post,  1820;  Henry  McCullough,  1820-50;  J.  P.  Lawler,  1850; 
George  C.  Frazier,  1837;  Robert  Lewis,  1849;  Hugh  Miller, 
Philip  Tippett,  Perigrine  Tippett,  Benjamin  G.  Brown,  T.  R. 
Allen,  Robert  Orr,  W.  S.  Holloway,  James  Sappington,  John 
W.  Doss,  Maj.  Beale,  Herman  Steines,  Thomas  Thomas,  Henry 
Dreinhofer,  Henry  Bates,  Fred.  Storren,  John  Quirk,  Geurge 
Hoenecker,  William  Muir. 

ASSESSORS. — Thomas  Caulk,  Benjamin  G.  Brown,  1844-48 ; 
William  S.  Holloway,  R.  A.  Lewis,  Herman  Steines,  Thomas 
Thomas,  T.  R.  Allen,  Joel  II.  Frazier,  Green  B.  Baxter. 

LEGISLATORS. — Thomas  Caulk,  Capt.  William  Tyler,  Rufus 
A.  Lewis,  William  Harris. 

CONSTABLES. — Albert  Worthington,  Green  Baxter,  Wash. 
Bacon,  D.  S.  Warfield,  William  Stosberg. 

COUNTY  OFFICERS,  1883.— Robert  C.  Allen,  State  Legislature; 
Frank  Rewwe,  county  assessor;  William  C.  Wengler,  deputy 
county  clerk;  Justices  of  the  Peace,  F.  W.  Steines,  Herman 
Heinze;  Public  Notaries,  Thomas  Thomas,  D.  C.  Taylor;  Con- 
stable, Samuel  G.  Trower;  Post-offices  and  Postmasters,  Allen- 
ton,  Frederick  Wengler;  Bonhomme,  Charles  Boiselier;  Eureka, 
Thomas  Thomas ;  Fox  Creek,  Frederick  Hencken ;  Gumbo, 
Henry  Wetzell;  Glencoe,  wanting;  Melrose,  Louis  Wackher; 
Orrville,  Gustave  Hoppenberg;  Pond,  Mrs.  Eliza  Hillebrand. 

Among  the  early  physicians  of  the  township  were — 

Drs.  Peter  Kincaid,  Edward  Zoller,  Eberwine,  Keuckelhahn, 
Toney,  James  Hall,  Wilson,  Swartz,  A.  W.  McPherson,  Dunn, 
L.  D.  Morse,  Wyatt,  Galny,  Alexander,  S.  R.  Woods. 

Physicians,  1883. — Dr.  J.  B.  II.  Beale,  born  West  Virginia, 
1819;  graduated  Cincinnati  College,  Ohio,  1846;  located  in 
Eureka,  1854. 

Gustave  Strieker,  born  Oberkirch,  Baden ;  graduated  Heidel- 
berg College  in  1852;  located  near  Fox  Creek  in  1856. 


1932 


HISTORY   OF  SAINT   LOUIS. 


Robert  G.  Coleman,  born  St.  Louis  County,  1840;  graduated 
Cincinnati  College,  Ohio,  1867 ;  located  near  Orrville  in  1867. 

Samuel  Rush  Loing,  born  Petersburg,  Va.,  1852 ;  graduated 
Louisville,  Ky.,  College  in  1874 ;  located  on  Wild  Horse  road 
in  1876. 

Lee  Earnest  Munroe,  born  St.  Louis  County,  1860;  graduated 
Pope's  College,  St.  Louis,  in  1880;  located  at  Glencoe  in  1881. 


In  the  township  there  are  sixteen  district  schools, 
"  Druhes  School,"  on  State  road,  section  6,  44,  4 
east,  Catholic ;  Protectorate  School,  near  Glencoe, 
Catholic. 

Meramec  township  had  in  1850  a  population  of 
1921 ;  in  1860,  2468;  1870,  3436;  1880,  7923. 


INDEX. 


A. 

America,  first  discoverers  of,  4. 

Agricultural  and  Mechanical  Association,  1813. 

Alexis,  Grand  Duke,  1835. 

Authors,  1609. 

American  Protestant  Association,  1808. 

Arsenal,  157, 161,  202,  398,  400,  534, 1057, 1824. 

Art  and  artists,  1617. 

Arsenal  Island,  1074. 

Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  898. 

American  Bottom,  44,  95, 100,  292, 1061. 

Armory,  712, 1861. 

Armstrong,  D.  H  ,  386,  414,  423,  426,  636,  680, 

744,  759,  836. 

Atkinson,  Gen.  H.,  526,528. 
Amusements,  62, 156,  208,  282,  959. 
Anheuser,  E.,  133:5. 
Alkire,  J.,  1239. 
Archaeology,  78. 

Affair  of  1780,  119, 138,- 202,  223. 
Adreon,  S.  W.,  1522. 
Advertisements,  120. 
Anderson,  R.,  125. 
Admission  of  Missouri,  561. 
Allen,  Thomas,  91,  160,  161,  410,  428,  594,  638, 

1143, 1148, 1158, 1596. 
Assessments  of  real  estate,  1028,  1035. 
Arpent,  meaning  of,  135. 
Aldermen  of  St.  Louis,  720. 
Archives,  171. 

Ashley,  Gen.  W.  H.,  196,  315,  565,  569. 
Able,  B.,  438, 450, 457,  600,  603,  1079. 
Accident  at  Gasconade  Bridge,  1159. 
Asylums,  1752. 

Insane,  129. 

Asylum  Home,  447. 

St.  Philomena's.884. 

Guardian  Angel,  1760. 

St.  Vincent's  German  Orphan,  1760. 

Western  Female  Guardian,  1760. 

Home  of  the  Friendless,  1760. 

Girls'  Industrial  Home,  1761. 

Working-Women  and  Blind  Girls',  1762. 

Methodist  Orphans'  Home,  17C.-J. 

Mullanphy  Emigrant  Relief,  1762. 

Home  for  Aged  and  Infirm  Israelites,  1763. 

German  General  Protestant  Orphans'  As- 
sociation, 1764. 

German  Emigrant  Aid  Society,  1964. 

Protestant  Orphan,  1915. 

German  Protestant  Orphan,  1915. 

Lutheran  Orphans'  Home,  1917. 

Orphan  Protectorate,  Glencoe,  1925. 
Ashland,  town  of,  1921. 
Allenton,  town  of,  1921. 
Assessments  on   Southern   sympathizers,   397, 

398,  422,  426,  433,  434,  435,  447. 
Academies: 

St.  Joseph's,  883. 

Convent  of  the  Nuns  of  the  Visitation,  883. 

Ursuline  Convent,  884. 

St.  Elizabeth,  884. 

St.  Philomena's,  884. 


Academies: 

Loretto,  884. 

City  University,  884. 
Additions  to  St.  Louis,  131,  135,  136,  155, 157, 

160, 164. 
Ashland,  164. 

Ames,  E.,  450,  599,  618, 1347,  1349. 
Ames,  H.,  599,  617,  893, 1444. 

B. 

Biographies : 

Able,  B.,  603. 

Adseon,  S.  W.,  1522. 

Allen,  B.,  1476. 

Allen..  E.  E.,  1476. 

Allen,  Thomas,  638. 

Allen,  W.  S.,  1498. 

Alkire,  J.,  1239. 

Ames,  E.,  618. 

Ames,  H.,  617. 

Anheuser,  E.,  1333. 

Armstrong,  D.  H.,  637. 

Ashley,  Gen.  W.  H.,  196. 

Atkinson,  Gen.  H.,  528. 

Bacon,  H.  D.,  1374. 

Barclay,  S.,  1510. 

Barnett,  G.  I.,  1434. 

Barret,  A.  B.,  708. 

Barret,  Dr.  R.  F.,  676. 

Garret,  R.  A.,  1509.    •*•*" 

Bailey,  G.  W.,  1506. 

Barbour,  T.,  1533. 

Barton,  D.,  1459. 

Bates,  F.,  556. 

Bates,  E.,  1464. 

Baumgarten,  F.  E.,  1538. 

Bay  family,  1477. 

Beaugenon,  169. 

Beaumont,  William,  1524. 

Beck,  L.  C.,  1594. 

Becquet,  J.  B.,  170. 

Belcher,  W.  H.,  1245. 

Belt,  H.  B.,  1501. 

Henton,  T.  H.,  588. 

Bent,  Joseph  K.,  1365. 

Bent,  S.,  1458. 

Benoist,  L.  A.,  1375. 

Berthold  family,  196. 

Bernays,  C.  L.,  1606. 

Billon,  F.  L.,  15<J3. 

Bissell,  Lewis,  355. 

Bissell,  Gen.  D.,  1856. 

Bissette,  G.,  169. 

Birch,  J.  H.,  1470. 

Blair,  Gen.  F.  P.,  Jr.,  625. 

Blair,  M.,  627. 
— •  Bland,  P.  E.,  1509. 

Blennerhassett,  R.  S.,  1477. 

Blewett,  Benjamin  Turner,  1878. 

Blood,  S.,  1400. 

Blow,  H.  T.,  607. 

Bofinger,  John  N.,  1120. 

Bogy,  Lewis  V.,  14'j-J. 


Biographies: 

Boisliniere,  L.  C.,  1537. 

Boyd,  W.  W.,  1678. 

Boyle,  J.,  1686. 

Bowles,  William  A.,  244. 
r-=-Bowlin,  J.  B.,  1489. 

Branch,  Joseph  W.,  1270. 

Brazeaus,  168. 

Bridge,  H.  E.,  605. 

Britton,  James  H.,  709. 

Broadhead,  James,  601. 

Brookmire,  J.  H.,  1239. 

Brotherton,  M.,  1073. 

Brown,  A.  S.,  1317. 

Brown,  B.  G.,  633. 

Brown,  Capt.  H.,  529. 

Brown,  Joseph,  707. 

Brown,  J.  C.,  1177. 

Buck,  M.  M.,  1274. 

Buckner,  A.,  570. 

Budd,  G.  K.,  680. 

Buet,  R.,  169. 
—  Byrne,  John,  Jr  ,  1036. 

Cabanne,  J.  P.,  195. 

Carr,  W.  C.,  1454. 

Carr,  C.,  1454. 

Carr,  A.  W.,  1454. 

Carson,  John  B.,  688. 

Castello,  Charles,  1888. 

Campbell,  W.  M.,  1477. 

Campbell,  Col.  R.,  369. 

Campbell,  W.  M.,  896. 

Campbell,  Hugh,  372. 

Camden,  P.  G.,  675. 

Charless,  E.,  909. 

Charless,  Jos.,  1390. 

Chambers,  A.  B.,  914. 

Chenie,  A.,  358. 

Chouteau  family,  180. 

Christy,  William,  193. 

Churchbill,  S.  B.,  1510. 

Christy,  A.,  1071. 

Clark,  W.  G.,  1326. 

Cockerill.J.  A,  938. 

Colburn,  F.  M.,  799. 

Coie,  Nathan,  704. 

Collins,  J.,  1259. 

Comstock,  T.  G.,  1561. 

Conde,  Dr.  A.  A.,  1515. 

Conant,  A.  J.,  1607. 

Conn.J.  H.,  577. 

Crow,  W.,  871. 
—  Cnmmings,  J.  K.,  1282. 

Cundiff,  J.  H.  R.,  923. 

Darby,  John  F.,  669. 

Daggett,  J.  D.,  670. 

Daviu,G.  W.,  HO::. 

Davidson,  W.  F.,  1117. 

Dayton,  B.  B.,  1463. 

De  Bar,  B.,  980. 

De  Volsay,  P.  F.,  175. 

Decker,  J.,  1499. 
Deegan,  Capt.  P.,  689. 


1933 


1934 


INDEX. 


Biographies  : 

Biographies  : 

Biographies  : 

Delafield,  J.,  1475. 

Hoffman,  H.  L.,1521. 

MarcheteaiiH,  168. 

Divoll,  I.,  843. 

""-Hogan,  J.,  1596. 

Mason,  I.  M.,  718. 

Dorris,  G.  P.,  1862. 

Holmes,  R.  S.,  1536. 

Marquette,  27. 

Dousman,  H.  L.,  1619. 

Homes,  William,  916. 

Mason,  Gen.  E.  B.,  528. 

Dozier,  J.,  1236. 

Horn,  C.  W.,  1419. 

—  '  Martin,  M.,  1523. 

Drake,  Charles  D.,  632. 

Hortiz,  J.  B.,  170. 

*-  Martin,  E.,  1307. 

Drake,  C.  D.,  1484. 

Hosiner,  J.  K  ,  1606. 

Marshall,  A.,  1525. 

Dubourg,  Bishop,  1642. 

Houser,  D.  M.,  930. 

Mairo,  C.  G.,1499. 

Dyer,  D.  P.,  1505. 

Howard,  B.,  340. 

Maury,  J.  F.,  1499. 

Eads,  J.  B.,  lO.lo. 

Hoyt,  Joseph  G.,  866. 

McLean,  James  H.,  641. 

Easton,  A.  K.,  1456. 

Hudson,  T.  B.,  1487. 

McKee,  Wm.,  927. 

Easton,  E.,  1454. 

Hunton,  L.,  1501. 

McKendree,  Wm.,  1685. 

Edwards,  B.  F.,  1533. 

Hutchins  S.,  '.124. 

McPherson,  W.,  1490. 

Engelman,  G.,  1524. 

Hyatt,  F.,  1472. 

r"  McDonough,  J.,  745. 

Ewing,  H.,  924. 

Tlyile,  William,  918. 

-McCarty,  E.  P.,  1501. 

Ewing,  E.  B.,  1483. 

Jaccard,  D.  C.,  1320. 

•*-McCabe,  E.  H.,  1524. 

Ewing,  Hon.  W.  L.,716. 

^Jackson,  J.,  1227. 

-^McPheeters,  W.  M.,  1527. 

Farrar,  J.  S.,  1505. 

James,  Samuel,  1888. 

McDowell,  J.N.,  1526. 

Farrar,  B.  G.,  1519. 

Jamison,  W.  C.,  1484. 

McClellan,  J.  G.,  1506. 

Farish,  E.  T.,  1496. 

January,  D.  A.,  1351. 

Meier,  A.,  1215. 

"'Ferguson,  P.,  652 

Johnson,  C.  P.,  634. 

Merry,  S.,  1520. 

Fishback,  G.  W.,  926. 

Johnson,  G.,  1530. 

Meyer,  C.  F.  G  ,  1290. 

Filley,  0.  D.,  692. 

Johnston,  E.  W.,  1597. 

Mercier,  C.,  1517. 

Filley,  G.  F.,  600. 

Jones,  H.  M.,  1493. 

Merrell,  J.  S.,  1288. 

Foreyth,  E.,  1293. 

Judd,  H.,  1570. 

Mitchell,  A.  S.,  940. 

Frost,  D.  M.,  501. 

Kayser,  A.,  1495. 

Miller,  S.  L.,  1794. 

Fullerton,  Gen.  J.  S.,  405. 

""^Kearney,  S.  W.,  386. 

Moore,  J.  P.,  1527. 

Fan-is,  E.  P.,  1477. 

Keemle,  C.,  919,  1596. 

Morrison,  J.  L.  D.,  1509. 

Field,  E.  M.,  1483. 

Kemper,  J.,  1715. 

Morgan,  H.  H.,  1605. 

Fischer,  G.,  1534. 

Kempe'r,  Bishop,  1714. 

M".-es,  S.  G.,  1531. 

Flad,  H.,  1075. 

Kenrick,  P.  R.,  1G43. 

Montgomery,  E.,  1538. 

Flagg,  E.,  1595. 

Kennard,  John,  1303. 

Moody,  Judge,  1500. 

Frazier,  E.  S.,  1534. 

Kennett,  L.  M.,  686. 

•^Jttullanphy,  B.  &  J.,  147S. 

Fry,  B.  St.  James,  1685. 

Kiergereau,  170. 

Mun,  Jules  de,  1209. 

Gale,  D.  B.,  1237. 

King,  W.,  688. 

Newman,  S.  T.,  1539. 

Garrison,  D.  E.,  1169. 

Kingsland,  P.,  1261. 

Nidelet,  J.  C.,  1540. 

Gantt,  T.  T.,  1486. 

Kline,  L.  E.,  1673. 

Nicholson,  J.  H.,  1241. 

Gaty,  S.,  666. 

Kuapp,  J.,  919. 

Nicholson,  David,  1242. 

Gamble,  H.  E.  and  A.,  1467. 

Knapp,  G.,907. 

Nipher,  F.  E.,  1607. 

Garland,  H.  A..  1484. 

Kretschmar,  F.,  1496. 

Noble,  Gen.  J.  W.,  619. 

Garland,  J.  S.,  1605. 

Krum,  J.  M.,  678. 

«*formile,  J.  C.,  1504. 

Gast,  A.,  1335. 

Labaume,  L.  A.,  647. 

Noell,  T.  E.,  1498. 

Geyer,  H.  S.,  1462. 

Labusciere,  J..  ":). 

Nourse,  J.  D.,  1595. 

Gibkins,  B.,  1517. 

Laclede,  P.,  64. 

\0'Falloii,  John,  343. 

Gibson,  C.,  611. 

Lackland,  J.  R.,  1484. 

\)'Sullivan,  A.,  1793. 

Giddingg,  Eev.  S.,  1700. 

Lackland,  E.J.,  1401. 

S)'Eeilly,  T.,  1538. 

Ginjembre,  P.  J.,  1517. 

Lacroix,  J.,  1(50. 

Owens,  S.  H.,  1788. 

Glover,  H.  W.,  1502. 

Ladew,  A.  P.,  1321. 

Overstol/,  H.,  712. 

Glover,  S.  T.,  1494. 

Laflin.S.  H.,  702. 

Page,  D.  D.,  1375.    . 

Goodell,  C.  F.,  1747. 

Lane,  William  C.,  654. 

Fallen,  M.  M.,  1530. 

Gould,  D.  B.,  1616. 

Lami,  M.,  1'ls. 

Papin,  T.  L.,  1539. 

Goode,  G.  W.,  1471. 

Langlois,  169. 

Papin  family,  752. 

Gould,  E.  W.,1121. 

Larimore,  J.  W.,  1230. 

Pai'-ons,  C.,  1398. 

Greeley,  C.  S.,  549. 

Lariinore,  N.  G.,  1229. 

Paramore,  J.  W.,  1198. 

Green,  C.,  1815. 

La  Salle,  32. 

Paschiill,  N.,  910. 

Green,  James  S.,  599. 

LaMjrhton,  J.,  1525. 

Paul,  G.,  Gi1,!. 

Green,  W.  W.,  1104. 

Lawless,  L.  E  ,  1474. 

Paul,  Rene,  661. 

Grimsley,  T.,  1858. 

Lefebvre,  J.,  72. 

Peale,  S.  M..  1625. 

Harkemeier,  Franz,  1916. 

Lee,  Col.  F.,  530. 

Peckham,  James,  958. 

v^Haggerty,  \V.  H.,  1306. 

-,  E.  N.,  1418. 

Peters,  Joseph,  1328. 

Haines,  W.  F.,  144'.. 

Lcduc,  M.  P.,  1481. 

Penn,  S.,  !i-4. 

Hall,  S.,  1594. 

Lc.-lie,  M.,  14S3. 

Pettibune,  1!.,  14C,:',. 

Hammer,  A.,  1538. 

Leonard,  A.,  1  172. 

Pettus,  W.  G 

Harding,  C.,  1493. 

Leyh,  E.,  942. 

Pike,  Ceu.  /.  M..  1096. 

Harris,  0.,  910. 

Lionberger,  John  R.,  1086. 

Plant,  G.  P.,  1232. 

Harrison,  J.,  1264. 

Litton,  J.  N.,  1500. 

Polk,  T.,  1487. 

Harrison,  A.  G.,  1477. 

Linn,  L.  F.,  574. 

Pollak,  S.,  1 

Harrison,  E.  H.,  1265. 

Limlley,  J.  .1 

Pope,  Dr.  C.  A.,  1530. 

Hawken,  S.,  809. 

Lord,  C.  B.,  1479. 

Pope,  N.,  1495. 

Hawks,  C.  S.,  1597,  1715. 

Long,  J.  F.,  579. 

P,*t,  T.  M.,  1744. 

Heacock,  A.,  15:;  I. 

Lov<-laee,  W.  L.,  1-195. 

.  W.  I).,  1607. 

Helmuth,  W.  T.,  1562. 

Lucas,  J.  B.  C.,  1410. 

Powell,  H.  W.,  1419. 

Henderson,  J.  B.,  1497. 

Lucas,  James  II.,  1410. 

1'ratte,  15.,  l: 

Hempstead,  E.,  :131. 

Lupien,  P.  I.,  109. 

Pratt,  T.,  1439. 

Hill,  B.  A.,  K,o2. 

Lyon,  Gen.  N.,  504. 

Preetorius,  Dr.  E.,  942. 

Hodgen.J.  T.,  1534. 

Lyon,  M.,  558. 

Price,  Gen.  S.,  513. 

INDEX. 


1935 


Biographies : 

Primm,  W.,  1488. 
Pulitzer,  J.,  936. 
Quickenborne,  C.  V.,  1647. 
Rayburn,  F.,  1260. 
Reavis,  J.  R.,  944. 
Reber,  S.,  1500. 
Renshaw,  W.,  Sr.,  1416. 
Reynal,  Dr.  A.,  1517. 
Rice,Jlev.  N.  L.,  1597. 
Richardson,  J.  C.,  1494. 
Richardson,  James,  894. 
Ride,  L.,  103. 
Riddick,  T.  F.,  1482. 
*Ttiley,  Gen.  B.,  389. 
Robertson,  C.  F.,  1717. 
Robb,  J.  S.,  1595. 
Robidoux,  A.,  558. 
Robidoux,  Joseph,  558. 
Roe,  J.  J.,  015. 
Rollins,  J.  S.,1493. 
Rosatti,  J.,  1643. 
Rubelmann,  G.  A.,  1279. 
Russell,  W.  H.  H.,  1504. 
Ry IM nd,  J.  F.,  1472. 
R.vlan.l.  Maj. ,1495. 
Rviin,  1'.  J.,  1045. 
Saugrain,  A.  F ,  1517. 
Sarpy,  .1.  1!.,  5SO. 
Sellew,  U.,  853. 
Senter,  W.  M.,  1363. 
Si-xton,  11.  ('.,  Sn2. 
Sexton,  John,  803. 
Schotten,  William,  1245. 
Scholten,  J.,  13:;4. 
Schnaider,  J.,  1333. 
Schaefer,  F.,  !i:;:;. 
Schuiv.,  C.,  942. 
SchuJeiiburg,  R.,  1324. 
Scruggs,  R.  M.,  1299. 
Scudder,  John  A.,  1118. 
Shaw,  II.,  754. 
Shapleigh,  A.  F.,  V278. 
Sharp,  F.  I'.,  1499. 
Shumard,  B.  F.,  1539. 
Shurlds,  II.,  1  Iso. 
Simpson,  J.  E.,  11'.):!. 
Simmons,  K.  C.,  127s. 
Simpson,  R  ,  152ii. 
Sir.',  Joseph  A.,  i 
SlavlMck,  A.  W.,  1501. 
Smith,  Mark,  969. 
Smith,  K.  I!  . 
Smith,  S.,  967. 
Smith,  Col.  J.,  187. 
Smith,  II.  W.,  1117. 
Smith,  James,  s77. 

.  i'.  .!••.  lois. 
Snyder,  J.,  : 
Snow,  M.  S. 
Snider,  D.  J.,  loo.'. 
Spalding,  J.,  1471. 
Stanard,  K.  <).,  o::o. 
Stevens,  C.  W.,  1 
Strong,  X.  1).,  U'.i:;. 
St.  Cir,  II.. 
St.  Francois,  17'). 
St.  Louis,  08. 
Sw,,n,  .1.  C.,  1101. 
Tafel,  R.  L.,  1598. 
Talmage.  A.  A.,  110:>. 
Taylor,  D.  < ;  . 
Taylor,  (J.  I;. 
Tayon.J.  M.,  171. 
Thomas,  James  S.,  698. 
Thomas,  D.,  1480. 
Thouipkins,  G.,  1469. 


Biographies: 

Throckmorton,  J.,  1122. 

Tiffin.  C.,  1521. 

Todd,  Maj.  John  W.,  533. 

Todd,  A.,  1503. 

Travis,  J.,  1686. 

Trudeau,  J.  B.,  823. 

Tucker,  N.  B.,  1470. 

Turner,  H.  S.,  1407. 

Vachard,  L.,  169. 

Valleau,  J.  B.,  1515. 

Von  Phul,  H.,  657. 

Vastine,  J.  T.,  1461. 

Vogel,  J.  C.,  410. 

Van  Studdiford,  H.,  1525. 

Walker,  Jesse,  16S6. 

Walker,  G.  S.,  1562. 

Watkins,  N.  W.,  1470. 

Walsh,  E.,  1162. 
~7»  Walsh,  Julius  S.,  1208. 

Wash,  R.,  1471. 

Waterloo,  S.,  944. 

Weaver,  J.  B.,  1122. 

Wells,  J.  B.,  1475. 

Wells,  E.,  629. 

Wells,  R.  W.,  1475. 

Westermaim,  II.,  1285. 

\Vaterhonse,  S.,  1601. 

Win  (taker,  F.,  614. 

Whittelsey,  C.  C.,  1499. 

Widmar,  R.  M.,  953. 

Wiggins,  W.  C.,  1072. 

Wiggins,  S.  B.,  1072. 

Williams,  W.  L.,  1491. 

Wimar,  C.  F.,1626. 

Winston,  J.,  1477. 

Wislizenus,  A.,  1528. 

Woerner,  J.  G.,  694. 

Wood,  W.  D.,  1416. 

Woodward,  0.  M.,  1606. 

Wolff,  M.  A.,  1036. 

Wright,  U.,  1485. 

Yeainnn,  W.  P.,  1607. 

Yeatman,  J.  K.,  552. 

Youngblood,  J.  H.,  1541. 

Bench  and  Bar,  62,  74,  109,  137,  188,  192,  194, 
81,  335,  :'.4n,  :!57,  612,  620,  625,  634, 
Of.:!,  07S,  72S,  90S,  1512,  1S25. 

HiMory  of,  1449. 
Balloon  ascension,  1825,  1832. 
r.enevi.lcnt  I'l-otective  Order  of  Elks,  1807. 
Benevolent  Societies,  17.V2. 
Bible  and  Tract  Societies,  1755. 
Bellefuntaine  Cemetery,  1751. 
P.oard  of  Trade,  l:!04. 
Blacksmithing,  I2.v). 
Buck,  M.  M.,  1274. 

.  \V.   II.,  I -45. 
I'... linger,  John  N.,  112(1. 

ton,  M.,  lu7:;. 

Britton,  James  11.,  7<)9. 

Blow,  H.  T.,  441,  450,  GOO,  007,1079, 1288,  1345, 

Brown,  J.  C.,  1177. 

I'.elrher'.s  Sugar  Uelinery,  129,  425,  1243. 

Hire, J.  II.,  124H. 
Bakers,  13:i,  1  In. 

Bent.  Silas,  1:!5,  lt!o,  192,  :;:;7,  :!5r,,  590,  1458. 
Bowles,  W.  (i.,  -J1I. 
Boone,  Daniel,  1st;. 
liaden,  164. 

Bertlu.ld,  1S3,  196,313. 
Brazeaus,  10*. 
Bec.jnet,  J.  1!.,  170. 
Burials,  17:). 
liees,  212. 
Bissell,  Gen.  D.,  199. 


Barton,  Joshua,  356. 

Bridge,  H.  E.,  200,  392,  394,  396,  428,  441,  458, 

600,  605,  693,  865,  879,  888,  1153,  1159,  1260. 
Boatmen,  295,  308. 
Boatmen's  Exchange,  1366. 
Bacon,  H.  D.,  1375. 
Benoist,  L.  A.,  1375. 
B'nai  B'rith,  1810. 
Benton,  T    H.,  98,  187,  311,  341,  380,  526,  588, 

673,  830,  834,  1054,  1458, 1474,  1850. 
Bunkum,  town  of,  1925. 
Budd,  G.  K.,  666,  680,  891,  935,  1144,  1146, 1343, 

1373,  1400,  1425,  1703. 
Bissell,  Lewis,  161,  355,  665. 
Billiards,  314,  649. 

Brewers  and  breweries,  195,  198,  200,312,1330. 
Ballwin,  town  of,  1902. 
Bissell,  Gen.  D.,  1856. 
Beef-canning,  1314. 
Barr,  William  &  Co.,  1295. 
Bowen,  Maj. -Gen.,  436. 
Barton,  D.,  98,  311,  1459. 
Butchers,  138,  199,  1310. 
Barclay,  S.,  1510. 
Banks  and  bankers,  140, 198,  405,  425,  4:::',,  451, 

990,  1007,  1013,  1124,  1367,  1404,  1413, 1824. 
Bank  of  Missouri,  198,  371,  425,  433, 1370, 1397. 

St.  Louis,  198,  357,  433, 1370. 

Merchants',  371,  425,  433. 

Boatmen's,  425,  433,  1399. 

Mechanics',  425,  4:>:i. 

German  Savings,  425, 1403. 

Southern,  425,  433. 

State  Savings,  425,  433, 1397. 

Exchange,  425,  433. 

Franklin,  1397. 

Laclede,  1397. 

Valley  National,  1398. 

German-American,  1399. 

Provident  Savings,  1403. 

Union  Savings,  1403. 

Safe  Deposit  Company,  1403. 

Bremen  Savings,  1404. 

Citizens'  Savings.  1404. 

Mnllanphy  Savings,  1404. 

Northwestern  Savings,  1404. 

James  II.  Lucas  &,  Co.,  1407. 

Clearing-IIousu,  1413. 

Billon,  F.  L.,62,  05,  70,  71,84,  132,136,  138,141, 
172, 175,  177,  180,  185, 192,  198,  223,  296,  566, 
662,  897,  1318,  1368,  1460,  1515,  1593,  1857. 

Blond,  s.,  MOO. 

Brown,  B.  G.,  457,  459,  460,  633,  706,  842, 1457, 

H',10. 

Bent,.).  K.,  1 
Byrne,  John,  Jr.,  1036. 
lirnadhead,   James  O.,  394,  396,  428,  438,  441, 

450,  454,  157,  477,  4S6,  599,  GOO,  623,  627,  693, 

895,  89S,  90S,  1079,  1496. 
Beaumont  Medical  Club,  1544. 
Baptisms,  70,  171. 
Big  Mound,  95. 

B,  139. 

Black  Hawk,  121,  122,527. 
Bastions,  138. 

Belief.. ntaine,  137,  139,  157,310,  31 
Boot  and  shoe  trade,  1332. 
Bates,  F.,  145,  164,  192,  324,  355,  357,  66fl 

569. 

Branch,  J.  W.,  1270. 
Bloody  Island,  156,  589,  1054. 
Brown,  A.  S.,  1317. 
Brick,  195,  198,  1032, 1286. 
Beaugenou,  169. 
Bissette,  169. 
Buet,  R.,  169. 
Births,  171,  309. 


1936 


INDEX. 


Bates,  E..  288,  352,  536,  565,  56fi,  611,  676, 1154, 

1464. 

Beer-bottling,  1333. 
Builders,  195. 
Bailey,  G.  W.,  1506. 
Boot  and  shoe  makers,  195. 
Bureau  of  Labor  and  Statistics,  1367. 
Boyd,  W.  W.,  1678. 
Bar  Association,  1514. 
Baptist  Churches,  156, 1669. 

Publication  Depository,  1672. 

Second,  130, 1675. 

African,  202. 

Fee-Fee,  1674. 

North,  1679. 

First  German,  1679. 

Third,  1679. 

Fourth,  1680. 

Beaumont  and  Bernard  Streets,  1680. 

Park  Avenue,  1681. 

Caroudelet,  1681. 

Garrison  Avenue,  1682. 

Colored  churches,  1682. 

First  African,  1682. 

Second  African,  1682. 

University,  1682. 
Ball  of  Governor  Clark,  315. 
Bridge,  706, 1074. 
Bridgeton,  town  of,  1895. 
Blair,  F.  P.,  Jr.,  394,  404,410,453,457,461,483, 

486,  516,  599,  693, 760, 1425, 1855. 
Bethel  Association,  1740. 
Brown,  Joseph,  707. 
Busch,  I.,  391,  396. 
Bonhomme  post  office,  1930. 
Brackett,  Col.  A.  G.,  524,  531,  534. 
Barret,  A.  B.,  708. 

Benton,  Camp,  400,  401,  424,  439,  544. 
Barret,  Dr.  R.  F.,  676. 
Bread  and  crackers,  1235. 
Barclay,  D.  B.,  414,  423,  426. 
Barnett,  G.  I.,  1420, 1434. 
Barret,  J.  R.,  414, 626. 
Barret,  R.  A.,  1509. 
Bogy,  L.  V.,  1492. 
Blair,  M  ,627. 
Blewett,  B.  T.,  1878. 
Black  Jack,  village  of,  1897. 
Brotherton,  village  of,  1897. 
Boufils,  village  of,  1897. 

C. 

California  gold  fever,  1020. 

Chemicals  and  drugs,  1287. 

Canada,  6, 19. 

Comstock,  T.  G.,  1561. 

Camp  Jackson,  459,  483. 

Cundiff,  J.  H.  R.,  '.>. 

Councilmen  of  St.  Louis,  722. 

Cabanne,  130,  145,  183,  191,  195,  313,324,526, 

583,  649. 

Chambers,  Wm..  157, 194. 
Cantonment,  137, 138. 
Cote  Brilliante,  162,  164. 
Cheltenham,  162,  164. 
City  Halls,  128,  72C. 
Cold  weather,  77. 
Cartier,  Jacques,  8. 
Corn,  86,  1223. 

Collier  White-Lead  Company,  1254. 
Clark,  Gen.  George  R.,  108,  206,  249,  268. 
Champlain,  20. 
Crozat,  62. 
Carondelet,  94, 141,  162, 164, 199,  281,  287,  337, 

393,  525,  540, 1863. 
Goronado,  11. 
Climatology,  78,  91. 


Cahokia,  44,  47,  50,  62,  64,  70,  77,  78,  96, 98, 103, 
105, 167, 199,  205,  208,  218,  223,  264,  268,  270, 
286,  308, 1061,  1072, 1430, 1869. 
Chosen  Friends,  order  of,  1808. 
Cattle  trade,  1311. 
China,  1280. 
Custom-house,  1138. 
Chauvin  land  claim,  1026. 
Chartres,  50,  61,  64, 167. 
Cockerill,  J.  A.,  938. 
Coal,  94,  1011. 

Cotton  Compress  Companies,  1218, 1220. 
Cosmopolitans,  1811. 
Cummings,  J.  K.,  1282. 
Christian  Associations,  1756, 1757. 
Catholic  Churches,  52,  138,  203,  208,  285,  303, 
1635. 

history  of,  1635. 

schools,  880. 

Cathedral,  130, 134, 171, 173, 185,  202, 1617, 
1649. 

St.  Patrick's,  130, 1658. 

St.  Alphonsus,  130, 1665. 

missionaries,  1635. 

St.  Francis  Xavier,  1656. 

St.  Joseph's,  1657. 

Sodalities,  1656. 

St.  Mary  of  Victories,  1658. 

St.  Vincent's,  1659. 

SS.  Peter  and  Paul,  1659. 

Holy  Trinity,  1660. 

St.  Bridget's,  1660. 

St.  John  of  Nepomuk,  1661. 

St.  Liborious,  1661. 

St.  Lawrence  O'Toole's,  1661. 

St.  Malachy's.  1661. 

St.  John  the  Evangelist,  1662. 

Annunciation,  1663. 

Assumption,  16G:i. 

St.  Anthony  of  Padua,  1663. 

St.  Elizabeth's,  1664. 

St.  Teresa's,  1664. 

Holy  Angels,  1665. 

St.  Nicholas,  1665. 

St.  Francis  de  Sales,  1666. 

St.  Bonaventnra's,  1666. 

Immaculate  Conception,  1667. 

Sacred  Heart,  1667. 

Our  Lady  of  Mount  Carmel,  1667. 

St.  Agatha's,  1667. 

Our  Lady  of  Perpetual  Succor,  1667. 

St.  Augustine,  1668. 

St.  Kevin's,  1668. 

St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  1668. 

Holy  Name,  1668. 

St.  Stanislaus  Kostka,  1668. 

St.  Boniface,  1668. 

St.  Columbkill's,  1669. 

St.  Mary's  and  St.  Joseph's,  1669. 

Assumption  of  Blessed  Virgin  near  Mattis 
Creek,  1882. 

St.  Ferdinand,  1889. 

Sacred   Heart   (St.   Ferdinand    township), 

1890. 

Chouteaus,  180, 189, 191, 196,  219,  287,  302,  315, 
324,  526. 

mill,  128,  l.VT,  i:>S,  1416. 

Pond,  127,  156,  15S,  106,  195,  198,  316. 

mansion,  127,  199,  :H)7. 

Auguste,  61,  63,  64,  65,  121,  122,  130,  136, 
138, 139,  155,  150,  158,  160,  163,  167,  1M>, 
340,  558,  648,  737,  830,  1007,  1025,  1830. 

Pierre,  61,  64,  66,  121,  130,  181,  192,305, 
338,  340,  571,583,661,728,  831,1143,1180, 
1251, 1827. 

Gabriel  S.,  65,  67, 128,  160,  162,  204,  1344, 
1831,  1827. 


Chouteau  : 

Edward,  160. 

Charles  P.,  184,  631,  759,  888,  897, 899, 1345, 
1425. 

Henry,  159, 160. 
Clayton,  town  of,  1911. 

newspapers,  1911, 1912. 
Cesko-Slavansky  Podporujici  Spolek,  1811. 
Chesterfield,  1929. 
Cedar  Grove,  1927. 
Commerce  and  trade,  989,  991,  993, 1094,  1123, 

1127, 1213. 
Cholera,  698. 
Collins,  J.,  1259. 
Chenies,  313,  358,  661. 
College  Hill,  162. 
Clay,  95. 

Collier  White-Lead  Works,  159. 
Collet,  0.  W.,  103,  898, 1598, 1813. 
Carriages,  193,  649. 
City  directrix,  128. 
Clay,  Henry,  1831. 
Clarfc,  Wm.  G.,  1326. 
Conant,  A.  J.,  102. 
Conner,  131, 156, 192, 198,  338. 
Collier,  G.,  199,  571,  582,  666,  676,  888,  1143, 
1150,  1153, 1254, 1293,  1342,  1373,  1414, 1460, 
1830, 1827. 

Colonization  Societies,  1757. 
Courts,  62,  74,  109, 129,  135,  137, 139,  156,  159, 
188, 192,  302,  331, 335,  336,  340,  357,  432, 
439,  728,  906, 1512, 1873. 

history  of,  1449. 
Cotton  Exchange,  1361. 
Congregational  Churches,  202, 1743. 

Pilgrim,  130, 1746. 

First,  1743. 

Third,  1748. 

Plymouth,  174. 

Fifth,  174. 

Hyde  Park,  174. 

Clark,  Gen.  William,  103, 135, 140,  190,  315. 
Camden,  P.  G.,  392,  675, 1343, 1830,  1831,  1827. 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  129,  425,  428, 1340. 
Copper  and  tin  trade,  1335. 
Carpet-house,  1303. 
Custom-house,  129,  424, 1430. 
Culture  and  literary  growth,  1587.  . 
Cerre,  G.,  288,  290,  305,  526.  728, 1831. 
Common  fields,  163,  lojs. 
Capital  Moving  Convention,  1005. 
Currency,  291. 
Chambers,  A.  R.,  366. 
Colleges,  129. 

Missouri  Dental,  1569. 

Christian  Brothers,  129,  880. 

St.  Louis  University,  162,  444,  858. 

Mi-Powell's  Medical,  398,  418,  425. 

Washington  University,  865. 

Kemper,  885,  1544. 

Mixourt  Medical,  1544. 

St.  Louis  Medical,  l,~>4."i. 

Hmnbolt  Institute,  l.Yi<:. 

Physicians'  and  Surgeons',  1546. 

School  of  Midwiven,  1:,17. 

Medical  Pnu-titi.mers,  1547. 

Hoiiwopathic  Medical,  1564. 

Missouri  Si-h»:>l  of  Midwifery,  1564. 

Cotton,  993,  1215. 

Concordia  Seminary,  17:55. 
Cemeteries,  134,  139, 157,  334,  1582,  1750, 1883, 

1931. 

County  of  St.  Louis,  134,  156, 162,  165,  271,  566, 
585,  6:34,  6:i7,  740,  858,  1870. 

new  county  of  St.  Louis,  1872. 

new  county  court-house,  1.-7C. 

new  county,  civil  list  of,  1877. 


INDEX. 


1937 


Cavalry  Bureau,  444. 

Charless,  Jos.,  188,  198,  339,  356,  566,  594,  747, 
888,  902,  919, 1015, 1153,  1288, 1342, 1590, 
1596. 

Edward,  201,  662,  909, 1471, 1827. 
Campbell,  Col.  R.,  353,  362,  3GO,  450,  583,  594, 
659,  759,  879,  888,  1079,  1143,  1377,  1446,  1827. 
Crow,  Waynian,  392,  583,  590,  594,  700,  760,  868, 
879,  888,  890, 1142,  1148, 1149, 1300, 1343, 1357, 
1364,  1373,  137*,  1417,  1-125,  1751. 
Campbell,  Hugh,  372,  405,  428. 
Civil  list,  645,  718,  1451. 
Christian  Brothers,  129,  880,  901. 
Christy,  A.,  392,  1071,  1075,  1173,  1180. 
Coluurn,  F.  M.,799. 
Christy,  William,  140, 155, 156, 157, 191,192, 193, 

199,  313,  337,  354,  356,  565,  649,  737,  1451. 
Castello,  Charles,  1888. 
Camp  of  instruction,  400,  401. 
Civil  war,  history  of,  390,  599,  1129. 
Conn,  J.  H.,  577. 
Coal  Exchange,  1366. 
Cole,  N.,  701,  704,  897, 1417. 
Court-house,  728. 

county  court-house,  new,  1876. 
Chambers,  A.  B.,  914, 1015, 1140,  1342. 
Convents,  164. 

Sacred  Heart,  882. 

Nuns  of  the  Visitation,  882,  900. 

St.  Joseph's  Academy,  883. 

Ureuline,  884,  900. 

Franciscan  Sisters,  1555. 

Good  Shepherd,  1759. 

Sisters  of  St.  Mary,  1759. 

Carmelite  Nuns,  1760. 

Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  at  Nazareth,  1883. 

Sacred  Heart,  Florissant,  1890. 

Sisters  of  Loretto,  Florissant,  1891. 
Christian  Churches,  1743. 

First,  1743. 

Central,  1743. 

North  St.  Louis,  1743. 

Confederates,  397,  417,  427,  435,  441,  450,  453. 
Confederate  military  roster,  482,  512. 
Clubs,  1817. 

Press,  959. 

Western  Rowing,  1773. 

Harmonic,  1*17. 

Concordia,  1818. 

University,  IMS. 

Commercial,  1819. 

Germaiiin,  1819. 

Mercantile,  1819. 

St.  Louis,  1820. 

Spanish-American,  1820. 

Century,  1820. 

Concord  Farmers',  1881. 

Deaf  Mutes',  1820. 
Crystal  City,  1867. 
Creve  Coeur  Lake,  1878. 

D, 

De  Soto,  2, 15,  62. 
Divoll.I.,843,892. 
Drake,  C.  D.,  632. 
Dodd,  Brown  &  Co.,  700, 1302. 
Druids,  Ancient  Order  of,  1800. 
Discoverers,  2, 19,  36,  41,  43,  253. 
Drugs  and  chemicals,  1287. 
Destiny  of  St.  Louis,  1005. 
Duels,  98,  188, 1849,  1822. 
Dispensary,  1549,  1566. 
Delegates  of  St.  Louie,  720. 
Dress,  62,  278,  298. 
Dubourg,  Bishop,  1642. 
Duke,  Basil  W.,  486,  493. 
Dancing,  315. 


Delassus,  Don  C.  D.,  259. 

De  Volsay,  175. 

De  Mun,  Jules,  145, 191,  201,  831, 1209, 1822. 

Dyer,  John  N.,  65,  889,  891. 

Darby,  John  F.,  98,  311,  352,  353,  590,  669,1140, 

1596. 

Dental  profession,  1567. 
Dowling,  R.,  156,  195,  590,  897. 
Davis,  Jefferson,  125,  310,  486,  517. 
Dozier,  James,  1236. 
Duncan's  Island,  133. 
Directory,  first,  174,  360. 
Dyer,  D.  P.,  1505. 

Davis,  Samuel  C.,  458,  700,  810,  1296. 
Distilleries,  271,  312,  1328. 
Day,  F.  0.,  1297,1353. 
Davidson,  William  F.,  1117. 
Dred  Scott  case,  595. 
Dry-sroods,  1291. 
Dousman,  H.  L.,  1619. 
Daggett,  John  D.,  395,  566,  594,  662,  663,  665, 

670,  897, 1173, 1343, 1415,  1438,  1831. 
Don-is,  George  Poole,  l*i;2. 
Dent,  Col.  Frederick,  1881. 
Dutch  Hollow,  1926. 

E. 

Explorations,  2,  19,  21,  36,  41,  43,  189,  253. 
Engraving  and  photography,  1334. 
Earthquakes,  84,  88,  327,  1821. 
Extension  of  city  limits,  131, 135, 136, 155, 157, 

162,  164. 

Essex,  James  C.,  353. 
Elleardsville,  16^. 
Education,  62,  1465. 

St.  Louis  University,  858. 

history  of,  823. 

German,  English,  851. 

high  school,  852. 

graded  schools,  852. 

kindergarten  schools,  854. 

deaf  mutes,  855. 

normal  school,  855. 

public    schools   of    Carondelet    township, 
1884. 

public  school  of  Florissant,  1889. 

St.  Stanislaus  Novitiate,  1892. 

St.  Louis  seminary,  1878. 

Kirkwood  seminary,  1907. 
Exchanges,  1340. 
East  St.  Louis,  1867. 
Eclectic  School  of  Medicine,  156G. 
Eye  and  bar  Infirmary,  1554. 
Epidemics  of  St.  Louis,  1571. 
Ellisville,  1927. 
Eureka,  town  of,  1923. 
Elevators,  129,  1227. 
Express  companies,  9'JO. 
Executions,  444,  446,  747,  836. 
Elections,  436,  5(10,  666,  586,  673,  691,  694,  698. 
Engelman,  Dr.,  366. 
Eads,  James  B.,  162,  447,  536,  697,  897, 898,  908, 

105U,  1204,  135K,  1377,  1420. 
Evans'  place,  liy. 
Easton,  R.,  192,  314,  316,  334,  335,  357,  363,  556, 

559,  747,  144'J,  1454,  1463. 
Easton,  A.  R.,  378,  413,  488,  569,  594,  732,  801, 

1401,  1456,  1857. 
Ewing,  William  L.,  716,  717. 
Episcopal  Churches,  1713. 

St.  George's,  130,  1724. 

Christ,  201,  202,  1717. 

Diocese  of  Missouri,  1713. 

St.  I 'a  ill's,  1722. 

St.  John's,  1723. 

Grace,  172:1. 

Trinity,  1726. 


Episcopal  Churches: 

Holy  Communion,  1726. 

Mount  Calvary,  1727. 

Calvary,  1727. 

St.  James',  1728. 

Holy  Innocents,  1728. 

Good  Shepherd,  1728. 

St.  Peter's,  1728. 

Good  Samaritan,  1728. 

Advent,  1728. 

St.  Luke's,  1728. 
Eliot,  Rev.  William  G.,  542,  549,  552,  554,  590, 

857,  865,  869,  879,  892,  895,  897,  1359, 1600. 
Evangelical  Churches,  1731. 

Holy  Ghost,  1731. 

St.  Mark's,  1731. 

St.  Peter's,  1732. 

St.  Paul's,  1733. 

St.  John's,  1733. 

Friedens,  1733. 

Bethania,  1733. 

Independent,  1734. 

Carondelet,  1734. 

Zion's,  1734. 

St.  Lucas,  1734. 

St.  Paul's,  near  Oakville,  1882. 

St.  John's,  near  Mehlville,  1883. 

St.  Lucas  (Carondelet  township),  1883. 

F. 

French  traders,  273. 

explorations,  1,  45. 

settlers,  20,  60,  271,  297. 

voyageurs,  49,  51,  272. 
Foresters,  order  of,  1805, 1809. 
Furniture  exchange,  1366. 
Famous  Shoe  and  Clothing  Company,  1317. 
Forsyth,  T.,  1293. 
Flad,  H.,  1075. 

Fremont  Relief  Society,  405. 
Fishback,  G.  W.,  926. 
Flat-boats,  1088. 
Finances,  338,  716,  763. 
Fire-brick,  1280. 
Fuel,  335. 

Freight,  296,  992,  998, 999, 1010. 
Fair  Grounds,  130,  400,  401,  544. 
French  laud  grants,  318. 
Fairmount,  102. 

Four  Courts,  127, 129,  159,  712,  733. 
Florida,  12,  16,  17,  19,  60. 
Founding  of  St.  Louis,  (,_'. 
First  house,  139. 
Forts,  55,  136,  138, 140,  265,  1866. 

St.  Louis,  44. 

Chartres,  50,  55,  62,  64,  69,  203,  270,  308. 

Orleans,  .r>4. 

Armstrong,  123. 

Charles  the  Prince,  185,313. 

Jefferson,  231. 
Ferguson  Station,  1897. 
Fenton,  town  of,  1902. 
Fox  Creek,  town  of,  1926. 
Fur-traders,  51,  61,  188,  196,  288,  289. 
Florissant,  858,  1887,  1893. 
Flour,  198,  671,  993,  1231. 
Freight,  992. 

Flowers  and  fruits,  92,  130,213. 
Fossils,  93. 
Fire-bricks,  95. 

Fires,  121,  129,  683,  788,  819,  836, 1110, 1837. 
Freedman's  Orphans'  Home,  548. 
Ferries,  156,  334,  335,  1068. 
Furniture,  IS 
Florissant,  1647. 
Floods,  129,  210,  672,  1060. 
Ferguson,  P.,  652,  662,  1831,  1827. 


1933 


INDEX. 


Fire  companies,  138, 198,386,788,798,  806,  816, 

817,  1828,  1837. 
volunteer,  806. 
paid,  798. 
Fire  wardens,  816. 
Firemen's  Fund  Association,  817. 
Fire  Association,  817. 
Fille.v,  G.  F.,  394,  433,  457,  486,  494,  599.  600, 

627,  856,  1262, 1377. 
Filley,  0.  P.,  394,  450,  454,  457,  483,  486,  594, 

599,  689,  691,  692, 1144, 1377. 
Fullerton,  Gen.  J.  S.,  405, 1496. 
Fitrnir,  Dr.  B.  G.,  1518. 
Farrar,  Col.  B.  G.,  415,  424,  430,  432,  436,  477, 

495,  600. 
Frost,  Gen.  D.  M.,  427,  485,  487,  491,  501,  597. 

G. 

Grist-mill,  76. 

Geology,  78, 131,  896. 

Gas,  670, 1438. 

German  Medical  Society,  1543. 

Groceries,  1237. 

Grand  jury,  the  first,  332. 

Gratiot  family,  131, 155, 184, 191, 192,  205,  217, 

225, 287,  302,  329,  335,  336,  343,  526,  734,  747, 

1054. 

Grand  Lodge,  1782. 
Glass,  1280. 
Greene,  W.  \V.,  1104. 
Grimsley,  Col.  T.,  381, 1154, 1858. 
Greeley,  Burnham  &  Co.,  1239. 
Gibson,  C.,  162,  600,  611,  623, 1466, 1496. 
Graveyard,  139. 
Goodell,  C.  F.,  1747. 
Government  House,  140. 
Gamble,  H.  R.  &  A.,  1467. 
Giddings,  Rev.  S.,  198. 
Grand  Lodge  of  Missouri,  1782. 
Globe-Democrat,  138,  141, 157. 
Giddings,  Rev.  S.,  1698. 
Gould,  D.  B.,  1616. 
Garrett,  John  W.,  1188. 
Garrett,  R.,  1184, 1188. 
Genet,  Citizen,  248. 
Gamier,  J.  V.,  192,  201,  336. 
Grist-mill,  195. 
Geyer,  H.  S.,  1461. 

Grant,  U.  S.,  281,  315,  352,  554,  596,  1004,  1833. 
Good  Ladies,  1809. 
Green,  Charles,  lsr>. 
Glcncoe,  town  of,  1924. 
Gaty,  S  ,  3!)2.  395,  4:17,  66'),  G66,  1075, 1144, 1146, 

1258,  1377. 
Glover,  S.  T.,  394,  450,  454,  457,  486,  594,  599, 

623,  603,  896,  898,  1494,  1513. 
Giuiti.  T.  T.,  396, 435,  436, 450,  458, 477, 690,  600, 

(Jit,  027.  714,  87U,  1377,  1425,  1465,  1475,  1470, 

14SG,  1514,  1806. 
German  immigration,  1017. 
Greeley,  C.  S.,  428,  432,  441,  450,  458,  542,  549, 

654,  842,  879,  892,  1239, 1347,  1349, 1353, 1397, 

1403,  1416,  1554. 
Gale,  D.  B.,  458,  547, 1237. 
Garrison,  D.  R.,  433,  1169,  1418. 
Cast,  A.,  1335. 
Gunboats  at  St.  Louis,  536. 
Grain,  993,  998,  1000, 1002,  1131, 1138,  122:;. 

H. 

Hides  and  leather,  1315. 

Huguenots,  17,21,  45,51. 

Iloyt,  .!.<;., 

Hennepiu,  36,  63. 

Houses,  130, 132,  140, 141, 142, 145, 148, 149, 151, 

279,  307, 1032. 
Hilder,  F.  F.,  103, 1608. 


Hempstead,  E.,  192,  331,  340,  357,  737. 
Hawken.S.,  809,  1145. 
Hospitals,  129,  440,  1548. 

United  States  Marine,  161, 1551. 

Military,  during  civil  war, 404, 428, 440, 542. 

St.  Ann's  Widows'  Hume,  1549. 

St.  Vincent's,  1549. 

Dispensary,  1549, 1506. 

City,  1550. 

Children's,  1506. 

House  of  Industry,  1551. 

Good  Samaritan,  1565. 

Quarantine,  1553, 1S84. 

St.  Luke's,  1553. 

Protestant  Episcopal  Orphans'  Home,  1554. 

Eye  and  Ear  Infirmary,  1554. 

St.  John's,  1554. 

Alexian  Brothers',  1555. 

Lying-in  charity,  1556. 

Missouri  Eye  and  Ear  Infirmary,  1555. 

Franciscan  Sisters,  1555. 

Protestant,  1556. 

Insane  asylum,  1556. 

Little  Sisters  of  the  Poor,  1558. 
Humphrey  &  Co.,  1307. 
Hotels,  140, 156, 198,  202,  311,  412, 420, 451, 591, 

990,  440. 

Hagerty,  W.  H.,  1306. 
Hargadine,  W.  A.,  1079,  1846. 
Hammond,  Col.,  314. 
Howard,  B.,  340,  557. 
Harrison,  Gen.  W.  H.,  345,  352. 
Hemp,  bagging,  and  tow,  1222. 
Horse  and  mule  trade,  1314.    . 
Hunt,  Mrs.  A.  L.,  161,  1G2,  294,  341, 1024, 1353, 

1407, 1411. 

Hyde,  William,  597,  918,  1832. 
Hickman,  B.  F.,1476. 
Hancock,  Gen.  W.  S.,  555. 
Hail-storm,  1832,  1835. 
Hart,  0.  A.,  441,  683,  1439. 
Hardware,  995, 1012,  127t>. 
Harbor  of  St.  Louis,  440,  672,  683, 1053. 
Henderson,  J.  B.,  1497. 
House  of  Industry,  1551. 
Harrison,  James,  428,  1153,  1173,  1264,  1377, 

1751. 

Haines,  W.  F.,  1445. 
Home  Guards,  459,  494. 
Harugari,  order  of,  1804. 
Hortiz,  J.  A.,  170. 
Hill,  B.  A.,  393,  1502. 
Homoeopathy,  1500. 
Health  of  St.  Louis,  1571. 
Hitchcock,  H.,  394,  39G,  428,  453,  600,  875,  879, 

1403,  1514, 1554. 
Hill.W.  11.,  1587, 1598. 
Haniey,  Gen.  W.  11  ,  :HJS,  402,  485,  517. 
Hackemeier,  Franz,  1916. 
Ilodgen,  Dr.  John  T.,  418,  425,  438,  542,  1534. 
Holmes,  11.  S.,  1536. 
Hi. user,  1).  .M.,  454,  '.Kid. 
Harrison,  E.  11.,  702,  879,  898,  1265. 
Herculaneum,  I8i',ii. 
Hebrew  congregations: 

United,  17:18. 

B'nai,  101,  I7::s. 

Temple  of  the  Gates  of  Truth,  1739. 

N-hceiish,  174U. 

Chebra  Kadish,  1740. 

I. 

Indians,  2,  17,  24,  32,  34,  50,  67,104,110,122, 
138, 185,  202,  211,  22(1,  200,  269,  343,  354,  358, 
578,  1821. 

Osage,  34,  54,  104,  111,  122,  212. 

Iroquois,  39,  104. 


Indians : 

Illinois,  47,  51,  104. 

Miamis,  49, 104. 

Missouri,  54,  70, 104,  111. 

Natchez,  105. 
Ironclads,  537. 

Invasion  b3'  Confederates,  442. 
Intrigues  in  the  West,  228. 
Immigration,  185. 
Illinois  Land  Company,  108. 
Insane  Asylum,  1556. 
Intermarriages,  179. 
Inhabitants,  early,  174,  309. 
Irish,  166,  185, 198, 1015,  1822. 
Interments,  171, 172,  309. 
Iron-works,  159,  1258. 
Institute  of  Architects,  1773. 
Ice-gorge,  1112. 
Ice  company,  1333. 
Insurance,  273,  683,  806, 1414. 

Phoanix,  433. 

Marine,  433,  1416. 

Atlantic,  433. 

St.  Louis,  433. 

Union,  433. 

United  States,  433. 

Merchants'  Mutual,  433. 

Citizens',  433, 1415. 

Lumberman's  and  Mechanics',  433. 

Hope  Mutual,  433,  1418. 

Globe  Mutual,  433. 

Franklin,  433, 1419. 

Pacific,  433. 

Missouri  State  Mutual,  1416. 

Home  Mutual,  1416. 

St.  Louis  Mutual,  1416. 

American  Central,  1417. 

Covenant  Mutual,  1417. 

Mound  City,  1417. 

Washington,  1418. 

German,  1418. 

Laclede,  1419. 

Jefferson,  1420. 

Equitable,  1420. 

North  St.  Louis,  1420. 

St.  Louis  Life,  1420. 

German  Mutual,  1421. 

Carondelet  Home,  1421. 

Marine  Underwriters,  1421. 

Fire  Underwriters,  1421. 

J. 

Jesuits,  19,  20,  22,  34,  43,  1635, 1646. 

Jaccard,  D.  C.,  1320. 

Joliet,  28,  34,  38,  41,  63. 

Johnson,  C.  P.,  450,  634,  926. 

Jetties,  1050. 

Jackson,  John,  1227. 

Jtfterson  Barracks,  125,  288,  310,  315,  367,  368, 

"1,524,543. 
Jockey  Club,  1817. 
January,  D.  A.,  102,392,  395,  450,594,879,1244, 

1351,  1:558,  1377,  1417. 
Judd,  Dr.  H.,  15i;7. 
Johnston,  A.  S.,  125,  526. 
Jail,  137,  138, 139, 150,  188,  332,  446,  734, 1824. 
James,  Samuel,  1888. 
Jaccard,  E.,  200,  1319, 1403. 
Johnson,   Dr.  J.  B.,  542,    549,    552,  554,  1411, 

1532,  1542,  1553,  1 
Jewelry  trade,  1318. 

K. 

Kaskaskia,  34,  48,  50,  56,  70,  73,  78,  104, 108, 
165,  185,  210,  223,264,  268,  270,  286,308,1026, 
1061,  1093. 

Kossuth,  1831. 


INDEX. 


1939 


Knights  and  Ladies  of  Honor,  1802, 1807. 

Knights  of  Pythias,  1801. 

Knights  of  the  Golden  Rule,  1807. 

Knights  Templar,  1789. 

Kesher  Shell  Barzell,  1812. 

Kline,  L.  E.,  1673. 

King,  \V.,  688. 

Kosmos,  1812. 

Kuapp,  G.,  365,  307,  378,  475,  590,  591,  665,  890, 

897,907,  1079,  1345,  1353,  1354,   1415,  1425, 

1858,  1860,  1826. 

Knapp,  Charles  W.,  763,  1012,  1226, 1309. 
Knights  of  the  Golden  Horse-Shoe,  55. 
Kearney,  Gen.  S.  W.,  386. 
Knapp,  John,  365,  367,  433,  435,  475,  477,  490, 

493,  760,  907,  914,  1155, 1345, 1814, 1858, 1860. 
Keel-boats,  156,  294,  1088. 
Ki!tiri<;k,  Archbishop,  1643. 
Knights  of  Labor,  1806. 
Kniniin,  Judge  J.  M.,  288,  386,  393,  435,  475, 

678,  772,  865, 1180, 1831. 
Kiergerau,  P.,  170. 
Kennett,  Col.  F.,  366. 
Keunard,  John,  426, 1303. 
Keemle,  C.,  919. 
Kennett,  L.  M.,  686. 
Kingsluml,  P.,  1261. 
Kirkwood,  town  of,  1904. 
Kirkwood  Seminary,  1907. 

L. 

La  Salle,  2,  19,  26,  32,  36,  41,  42,  49,  63. 

Lyon,  Gen.  N.,  48fi,  504,  626. 

Legion  of  Honor,  1803,  1804. 

Leyh,  E.,  942. 

Labaume,  L.  A.,  647. 

Laughton,  J.,  1525. 

Louisiana,  34,  41,  60. 

transfer  to  United  States,  137, 213, 251,  329. 

Leeds,  E.  N.,  1418. 

Livery -stables,  990. 

Ladies'  National  League,  548. 

Lowell,  164. 

Labusciere,  J.,  72. 

Lefebvre,  J.,  72. 

Linn,  L.  F.,  88,  1x7,352,574. 

Lewis,  John,  186. 

Latitude  and  longitude  of  St.  Louis,  126. 

Louis  IX.,  68. 

Law,  John,  53. 

Language,  62. 

Lowell,  town  of,  102. 

Liicledp,  P.,  01,  02,  63,  64,  65,  139,  158,  167, 179, 
204. 

Little  Sisters  of  the  Poor,  1558. 

Larimore,  N.  G.,  1229. 

Legislature,  the  first,  3.37. 

Land  titles,  141,  145,  150,  157,  212,  316,  1025. 

Lincoln,  A.,  125,  4:17,  510,  554,  1833. 

Lewis,  M.,  103,  120,  187,  339. 

Lee,  R.  E.,  1040,  inf. 4. 

Liiidell  Hotel,  129,  451,  1443. 

Larimore,  J.  W.,  1 

Lime-burners,  195. 

Lami,  M.,  168. 

Lupren,  P.  I.,  169. 

Luivglois,  1G9. 

Lacroix,  169. 

Lionberger,  J.  R.,  891, 1057,  1086,  1403,  1414. 

Lodge,  J.  G.,  1.111. 

Lucas  family,  137,  313,  364,  1408,  1849. 

John  13.  C.,  i:;l,  13:;,  155,  lot!,  157,  159,160, 
164,  192,  193,  198, 199,  201,  294,  312,  315, 
330,  334,  341,  343,  556,  559,  565,  589,  728, 
734,  759,  1007,  1024,  1025,  1029,  1079, 
1357,  1408,  1451,  1458,  1463,  1474,  1588, 
1851. 


Lucas  family : 

James  H.,  161,  162,  380,  392,  395,  428,  432, 
451,  676,  726,  879,  888,  897,  1075,  1143, 
1149 , 1153,  1158,  1180,  1283,  1345,  1353, 
1356,  1407,  1410, 1420,  1425,  1459, 1831. 

Charles,  311,  341,  590,  1849. 

Robert,  354. 

Lane,  William  C.,  158,  654,  1179. 
Liggett  &  Myers  Tobacco  Company,  1248. 
Low  water  in  Mississippi  River,  1003. 
Lewis  and  Clark's  expedition,  189,  216,  251. 
Laclede  Race-Track  Association,  162. 
Lot-owners,  141, 150. 
Lisa,  M.,  289. 
Levees,  198, 1000, 1067. 
Lumber,  195,  198,  1322. 

Lindell,  Peter,  162,  195,  197,  567,  1113,  1293, 
1401, 1414, 1443, 1831. 

Jesse,  195,  197,  566,  568,  1293,  1401,  1443, 

1831. 
Libraries,  886. 

Mercantile,  167,  394,  396,  553,  865,  887. 

Public  School,  891. 

Missouri  Historical  Society,  103,  165,  714, 
895. 

Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  898. 

St.  Louis  University,  900. 

Washington  University,  900. 

St.  Louis  Lyceum,  900. 

Academy  of  Visitation,  900. 

Ursuline  Academy,  90^'. 

Young  Men's  Sodality,  900. 

Christian  Brothers,  901. 

Coucordia  College,  901. 

Missouri  Medical  College,  901. 

St.  Louis  Medical  College,  901. 

St.  Louis  Turnverein,  901. 

Independent  Order  of  Odd-Fellows,  901. 

St.  Louis  Law  Library,  901. 

Private,  1615. 
Land  grants,  320. 

Leduc,  M.  P.,  192,  200,  324,  330,  661,  734, 1481. 
Lawless,  Luke  E.,  198,  201,  341,  589,  906,  1474, 

1852, 1825. 
Lead,  308, 1249. 
Lafayette,  Gen.,  1823. 
Ladies'  Union  Refugee  Aid  Society,  417,  426, 

547. 
Laflin,  S.  H.,  395,  438,  547,  554,  702,  1079,  1347, 

1349,  1429,  1443. 

Live-stock,  993,  1016, 1311, 1314. 
Leighton,  G.  E.,  410,  412,  414,  416,417,423,  431, 
435,  438,  460,  475,  476,  554,  590,  879,  898,  1014. 
Literature  and  culture  in  St.  Louis,  1018,  1559. 
Legislature,  558. 
Lackland,  R.  J.,  659,  1079,1244,1256,1345,1353, 

1355,  1401,1438. 
Linton,  M.  L.,  1530,  1597. 
Lutheran  Churches,  1735. 

Concordia  College,  1735. 

Dreinigkeits,  1736. 

Iminanuet's,  1736. 

I  Inly  Cross,  1736. 

St.  Trinity,  1737. 

/ion,  1737. 

St.  Paul's,  17:17. 

St.  John's,  1737. 

15-thania,  1737. 

St.  .Mark's,  1738. 

M. 

Marquette,  2,  27,  28,  34,  30,  41,  62,  1636. 
Mutual  Protection  Order,  1806. 
Merry,  S.,  1520. 

Marriages,  74,  76,  171, 177,  305,  309,  315. 
Mason,  Isaac  M.,  718,  1079, 1364. 
Mason,  Gen.  R.  B.,  528. 


Mount  Olive,  162. 

Missouri  Fur  Company,  189,  288. 

Mississippi  River,  47,  80,  252. 

navigation  of,  211,  228,  251,  416,  1003, 1037, 
1039,  1087,  1128. 

discovery  of,  ft  15,  26,  27,  30,  36, 41. 

various  names  of,  13. 

first  to  sail  down,  16,  27,  36. 

archaeological  aspects  of,  79. 

effect  of  earthquake,  89. 

floods  in,  129,  210,  672,  1039,  1060. 

Confederate  restrictions  on,  397,  1129. 

Guard,  441. 

gunboats  on,  536. 

low  water  in,  1003,  1038. 

improvements  of,  1004, 1043. 

tributaries,  1037. 

levee  system  of,  106. 
Marcheteaus,  168. 
McRee  City,  ]  62. 
Mississippi  Valley,  78. 

discovery  of,  2,  19. 

earthquake  in,  89. 

Sanitary  Fair,  549,  553. 
Moses,  S.  G.,  1531. 
Medical  journalism,  1557. 
Morrison,  J.  L.  D.,  1509. 
McEnnis,  M.,  1358, 1361. 
Merrell,  J.  S.,  1288. 
Meyer,  C.  F.  G.,  1290. 
Martin,  E.,  1307. 
Mermod,  Jaccard  &  Co.,  1320. 
Mechanics'  Exchange,  1364. 
Manufacturers'  Association,  1367. 
Mounds    and  mound-builders,  14,  78,  95,  98, 

132. 

McKendree,  W.,  1685. 
Merchants'  Exchange,  425,441, 1340, 1343. 
Mortality  in  St.  Louis,  1584. 
Medical  societies,  1541. 
Montesquieu  murder  trial,  1466. 
Morgan,  H.  H.,  1587, 1599, 1605. 
Municipal  departments,  726. 
Municipal  officers,  718. 
McDonough,  James,  488,500,  745. 
Meir,  A.,  1215. 

McLean,  James  H.,  641, 1353. 
Mayors  of  St.  Louis,  719. 
Marshall,  Dr.  A.,  IK 
Missionaries,  16,  19,  23,  25,  34,  48,  173,  859, 

1035. 

McDowell,  J.  N.,  1526. 
McClellan,  J.  G.,  1506. 
Medico-Chirurgical  Society,  1543. 
McCullagh,  J.  B.,  931. 
McKee,  William,  428,  453,  457,  554,  599,  670, 

927, 1079. 

Military  organizations,  1856. 
Martial  law,  399,  429. 
Medical  books,  1559. 
Mining  anil  Stock  Exchange,  1366. 
Mortgage,  first. 
Mis-uiiri  Hotel,  98,140. 
McNair,  A.,  193,  324,  335,  340,  559,  565,  737. 
Menendt1/,  1s. 
Mi.-ci*i-ippi  liulilile,  54. 
Monk's  Mound,  99. 
Margry,  M.  P.,  26,  28,  36,  64. 
Merchants,  early,  277,  311,  684,  1012. 
Manners  and  customs,  62, 112, 159,  268. 
Musouic  Hall,  1791. 
Mexican  war,  361,  382. 

Missouri  State  Board  of  Immigration,  1367. 
Masonic  order,  1774. 
Mills  and  milling,  76, 158, 198,  312, 1231. 
Music  and  musicians,  1028. 
Mercantile  Library,  167,  344,  396,  553,  865,  887. 


1940 


INDEX. 


Mobs  and  riots,  448,  461,  507,  522,  G87, 1835. 
Missouri  Historical  Society,  103, 165,  714,  895. 
Mullauphys,  188,  195,  198,  335,  362,  366,  380, 

3SG,  662,  1414,  1478. 
McLean  building,  129. 
Meier,  A.,  432. 
Markets,  134,  157,  198,  199,  200,  402,  651,  663, 

671,  G'J9,  747. 
Melrose,  1926. 

Manufactures,  1009, 1213, 1338. 
Mathew,  Father,  1835. 
McPheeters,  W.  M.,  1527, 1554. 
Morgan,  G.  H.,  1218, 1233,  1357, 1358. 
Mails,  1430. 

Mackay,  Capt.  James,  1880. 
Methodist  Churches,  353, 1683. 

Centenary,  130, 1692. 

St.  John's,  130. 

First,  202, 1690. 

Western  Book  Concern,  1684. 

Trinity,  1G87. 

Union,  1687. 

Central,  1688. 

St.  Luke's,  16S8. 

Water  Tower,  1689. 

Goode  Avenue,  1689. 

Goode  Avenue  Mission,  1689. 

Woman's  Missionary  Society,  1690. 

St.  John's,  1693. 

First  Church,  Carondelet,  1694. 

Chouteau  Avenue,  1695. 

Marvin  Mission,  1695. 

Page  Avenue,  1695. 

German  Methodist,  1695. 

First  German,  1696. 

Benton  Street,  1696. 

Eighth  Street,  1697. 

African  Methodist,  1697. 

Wesley  Chapel,  1697. 

St.  Peter's,  1697. 

St.  Paul's,  1697. 

Quinn  Chapel,  1697. 

Washington  Zion  Chapel,  1697. 

St.  Mark's  Branch,  1698. 
Marine  Hospital,  161,  542. 
McPheeters,  W.  M.,  423,  426. 
Mormons,  588. 

Medical  profession,  174,  176, 185,  366,  398,  418, 
425,  435,  542,  677,  699, 860, 899, 901, 1515, 1541, 
1542,  1835. 

Military,  185,  260,  341,  347,  361, 453, 1856. 
McDowell's  Medical  College,  398,  417,  425,  448. 
Monuments,  7 

Lyon,507,  761. 

Benton,  Tdi). 

Price,  702. 

Mount  Sinai  Cemetery,  1883. 
Meramec  Station,  1898. 

preaching  circuit,  1931. 
Manchester,  town  of,  1899. 

N. 

Newfoundland,  420. 

Negro  burned  at  the  stake,  1824. 

Napoleon,  Prince,  1833. 

Naval  operations  at  St.  Louis,  536. 

National  Americans,  1812. 

Nidelet,  J.  C.,  1540. 

New  Orleans  Anchor  Steamboat  Line,  1118. 

Normale,  J.  C.,  l.">ot. 

Noble,  Gen.  J.  W.,  619,  1496,  1849,  1818. 

Nicholson,  D.,  1241. 

New  Madrid,  Ii2,  f4,  327, 1027. 

Nicknames,  165. 

Necrology,  171. 

Nelson,  E.  M.,  1513, 1835. 


Newspapers,  401,404,  584,  695,  902,  959, 1037. 
suppression  of,  399. 
Printers'  Union,  959. 
Press  Club,  959. 

Globe-Democrat,  138,  141,  157,  924. 
Missouri  Republican,  902. 
Western  Journal,  919,  940. 
Herald,  920. 
Leader,  921. 
Times,  921. 
Journal,  922. 
Western  Examiner,  932. 
Anzeiger  des  Westens,  932. 
Tribune,  :i:;l. 
Post-Dispatch,  935. 
Missouri  Demokrat,  938. 
Antipfaff,  939. 
Die  Waage,  939. 
Der  Reformer,  939. 
Der  Freisiunige,  939. 
St.  Louis  Zeitung,939. 
Tages  Chronic,  939. 
Westland,  939. 
Price-Current,  939. 
Evening  News,  940. 
Westliche  Post,  941. 
Hornet,  943. 
Volks  Zeitung,  etc.,  943. 
Amerika,  943. 
Laterne,  943. 

Volkstimme  des  Westens,  944. 
Spectator,  944. 
Daily  News,  944. 
Evening  Chronicle,  944. 
Criterion,  945. 
Shepherd  of  the  Valley,  945. 
Herald  des  Glaubens,  945. 
Western  Watchman,  945. 
Baptist  publications,  945. 
Medical,  1557. 
Christian  Advocate,  946. 
Central  Christian  Advocate,  946. 
German  Evangelical  publications,  947. 
Christlicher  Bunder  Bote,  947. 
Protestantische  Familien  Blatt,  947. 
Presbyterian,  947. 
Observer,  947. 
Missouri  Presbyterian,  947. 
Evangelist,  948. 
The  Christian,  948. 
Church  News,  948. 
Jewish  Tribune,  948. 
Kellogg's  St.  Louis  Record,  948. 
Newspaper  Union,  948. 
HackstafTs  Monthly,  948. 
Illustrated  Magazine,  949. 
Ware's  Valley  Monthly,  949. 
Western  Educational  Review,  949. 
Kunkel's  Musical  Review,  949. 
Univers.  Hl'.i. 
Atlantis,  949. 
Vanguard,  94'J. 
Southern  Law  Review,  949. 
(Vntral  Law  Journal,  950. 
American  Journal  of  Education,  950. 
The  Teai-her,  9f>0. 
Masonic  Publication*,  950. 
Knights  of  Honor  Magazine,  950. 
Goldbeck's  Musical  Instructor,  950. 
J'oncti.:  Teacher,  950. 
Philatelist,  951. 
Practical  Photographer,  951. 
Ladies'  Magazine,  951. 
Colman's  Rural  World,  951. 
Journal  of  Agriculture  and  Farmer,  951. 
Midland  Farmer,  952. 
Overseer,  B 


Newspapers : 

Western  Live-Stock  Journal,  952. 

South  and  West,  952. 

Western  Sporting  Life,  952. 

St.  Louis  Spirit,  952. 

El  Commercio  del  Valle,  952. 

La  Patriote,  953. 

Revue  de  1'Ouest,  953. 

Hlas,  953. 

American   Trade  Journal  and  Grain  Be- 

view,953. 

Commercial  Gazette,  953. 
Miller,  953. 
Age  of  Steel,  953. 
Mines,  Metals,  and  Arts,  954. 
Merchants'  Manifest,  954. 
Hotel  News,  954. 
Hotel  Register,  954. 
Union,  954. 
Immigrant,  954. 
Imperial  State,  954. 
Insurance  Review,  954. 
Western  Trade  Journal,  954. 
Real  Estate  Bulletin,  954. 
Railway  Register,  954. 
Stove  and  Hardware  Reporter,  955. 
Daily  Market  Reporter,  955. 
Dry-Goods  and  Grocer,  955. 
Furniture  Manufacturer,  955. 
Western  Commercial  Traveler,  955. 
Grocer,  955. 

Mississippi  Valley  Grocer,  955. 
Druggist,  955. 
National  Tribune,  955. 
Gath  Rimmon,  955. 

Journal  of  Speculative  Philosophy,  1018. 
The  Platonist,  955. 
National  American,  955. 
The  Communist,  956. 
American  Nationalist,  956. 
Personal  Rights'  Advocate,  956. 
Greenback  Papers,  956. 
Humorist,  956. 
The  Truth,  95G. 
Drug  World,  95G. 
Medical  Gleaner,  956. 
Homoeopathic  News,  956. 
Clinical  Record,  956. 
Clinical  Review,  956. 
Eclectic  Medical  Journal,  957. 
American  Medical  Journal,  957. 
Art  and  Music.  957. 
Peter's  Musical,  957. 
Shattinger's  Musical  Review,  957. 
American  Prohibitionist,  957. 
The  Ci meter,  957. 
American  Celt,  '.157. 
Dramatic  Critic, 
American  Tribune,  '.157. 
Miscellaneous,  957. 

Mian,  1018. 
St.  Louis   Medical  and  Surgical  Journal, 

1558. 
Missouri    Medical   and   Surgical   Journal, 

1558. 

St.  Louis  Probe,  i 
Medical  Reporter,  1558. 
Humboldt  Medical  Archives,  1568. 
Clinical  Record.  1 
Courier  of  Medicine,  1559. 
Alienist  and  Neurologist,  1559. 
Clinical  Review,  1566. 
Missouri  Dental  Journal,  1570. 

O. 

Osage  Indians,  34,  54,  104-213. 
O'Fallon  Polytechnic  Institute,  856,  866. 


INDEX. 


1041 


Omnibus  lines,  1205. 

Oaths  of  allegiance,  428,  431,  438,  G73. 

Ohio  Company,  58. 

Overland  mail,  1433. 

O'Fallou,  Col.  J.,  102, 157, 161,  163,  191,306,313, 
315,  343,  356,  386,  392,  400,  428,  432,  433,  519, 
560,  566,  580,  585,  594,  676,  759,  760,  856,  879, 
1029,  1075,  1113,  1139,  1143,  1144,  1148,  1149, 
1170,  1173,  1180,  1283,  1293,  1377,  1425,  1691, 
1703-,  1751,  1813,  1825,  1827,  1828,  1830,  1831. 

O'Fallon,  Benjamin,  345. 

Obstetrical  and  Gynecological  Society,  153. 

Overstolz,  H.,  395,  709,  712,  763,  1403,  1619, 
1845. 

Odd-Fellows,  901,  1794. 

Oils,  1291. 

Orrville,  1928. 

P. 

Prices  current,  359, 1124. 

Pontiac,  77, 122.  . 

Pope  Pius  IX.  celebration,  1835. 

Printing,  early,  339. 

Pension  agent,  413. 

Population,  185,  198,  312,  991, 1012. 

New  Madrid,  84.  86. 

St.  Louis,  136,  141, 174,  278,  308,  309,  312, 

359,  769,  1013,  1014, 1021. 
Priests,  1655. 
Fallen,  M.  M.,  1530. 
Politics,  98,  !(>•>,  3:51,  339,  436,  556,  715. 
Pike,  Gen.  B.  M.,  1096. 
Printers'  Union,  959. 
Press  Club,  959. 
Preetorious,  Dr.  E.,  942,  1079. 
Public  School  Library,  891. 
Polytechnic  Institute,  856. 
Public  schools,  828,  1465. 
Peckham,  James,  958. 
Pirates,  210. 
Parks,  127,  129,  157,  674,  697,  750, 1008. 

Missouri,  159,  756. 

Tower  Grove,  162,  700,  753. 

Forest,  162,  750. 

O'Fallon,  162,  756. 

Shaw's  Garden,  129,  162,  755. 

Hyde,  162,  757. 

Lafayette,  400,  758. 

Carondelet,  756. 

Laclede,  756. 

Benton,  757. 

Lyon,  757. 

Gravois,  757. 

Lucas  place,  1031. 
Post,  Col.  Justus,  1929. 
Potteries,  103,  1280. 
Pa  pin  family,  131,  157,  176,  192,  193,  195,  200, 

305,  307,  665.  753,  759, 1654. 
Pratte,  B.,  135,  183,  192,  195,  198,  313,  337,  340, 

386,  526,  5(iU,  674,  737,  1143,  1831. 
Paul,  Rene,  136,  138,  158,  197,  661,  1301,  1342. 
Pettis  and  Spencer  duel,  1854. 
Paschal,  N.,  138,  428,  597,  670,  908,  910,  1373, 

1830,  1831. 

Patriotic  Sons  of  America,  1810. 
Parsons,  C.,  1397,  1398,  1414, 1444. 
Pope,  Dr.  0.  A.,  899,  1529. 
Pri/e-flght,  1832. 

Post-office,  165,  196,  312,  334,  1012,  1430. 
Protestant  Association,  1808. 
Pulitzer,  Jos.,  936. 
Price,  Sterling,  .71:  . 
Pettus,  W.  G.,  563,  652,  665,  1140,  1256,  1415, 

1831. 

Peters,  J.,  1328. 

Protest,  Southern  sympathizers',  422. 
Police,  195,  198,  665,  687,  705,  737. 
123 


Pratt,  Thomas,  1439. 

Pharmacy,  1288. 

Plant,  G.  P.,  1232. 

Paramore,  J.  W.,  1198,  1221. 

Phul,  H.  Von,  197, 198,  199,  357,  566,  580,  594, 

652,  U56,  759,  789,  102!),  1293,  1373,  1829. 
Peabody,  George,  1832. 
Painters,  195. 
Plasterers,  195. 
Provision  trade,  1308. 
Postmasters,  1437. 
Planters'  Hotel,  1441. 
Primm,  W.,  1488,  1597, 1640,  1830. 
Polk,  T.,  1487. 

Protestant  Episcopal  Orphans'  Home,  1554. 
Post,  T.  M.,  1608, 1744. 
Presbyterian  Churches,  198,  448, 1698. 

early  history,  1698. 

First,  130,  201,202,  1701. 

Second,  130,  1704. 

Grand  Avenue,  1705. 

Central,  1706. 

North,  1707.  ' 

Carondelet,  1708. 

Des  Peres,  1708,  1913. 

Providence,  1708. 

Washington  and  Compton  Avenues,  1709. 

Glasgow  Avenue,  1710. 

Westminster,  1716. 

South,  1710. 

Second  German,  1711. 

Lafayette  Park,  1711. 

First  German,  1711. 

Memorial,  1711. 

First  United,  1712. 

Cumberland  Presbyterians,  1712. 

Lucas  Avenue,  1713. 

First  German  Cumberland,  1713. 

Second  German  Cumberland,  1713. 

Reformed,  1713. 

Bonhomme,  1898. 

Penrose,  C.  B.,  135, 161,  164, 193, 199,  336,  354. 
Primm,  W.,  214,  284,  366,  897, 1827. 
Passes,  military,  403. 
Piggott's  Fort,  1863. 
Plant,  G.  P.,  554. 
Pattonville,  1896. 
Political  progress,  556. 

Q. 

Quinette,  162. 
Queensware,  1285. 
Qiiickenborne,  C.  V.,  1647. 

R. 

Recollects,  20,  22. 

Real  estate,  74,  104,  709,  1023, 1035,  1366. 

Exchange,  1366. 
Railroad  riot,  1841. 
Rector,  Thoniiis,  98. 
Robidoux,  Joseph,  .Vi.s. 
Religion,  62,  438,  l(i:!.r>. 
Royal  Arch  Masons,  1785, 1788. 
Red  Men,  Improved  Order,  1803. 
Religious  associations,  1752. 
Robertson,  C.  F.,  1717. 
Reavis,  J.  R.,  944. 
Richardson,  James,  892,  893. 
Record-books,  171,  192. 
Richardson,  J.  C.,  1494. 
Rozier,  Gen.  F.  A.,  187. 
Russell,  W.  H.  H.,  1504. 
Riley,  Gen.  B.,  3>!i. 
Rubelmann,  G.  A.,  1279. 
Racing,  162. 
Rice,  J.  L.,  1597. 
Raybuin,  French,  1260. 


Ride,  L.,  168. 
Rose  Hill,  162. 
Rock  Springs,  162,  104. 
Rinkelville,  164. 

Residence  of  Governor  Clark,  315. 
Ryan,  P.  J.  1045. 

Roe,  J.  J.,  437,  450,  599,  615,  1349,  1397. 
Royal  Templars  ,.f  Temperance,  1809. 
Railroads,  412,424,433,  629,992,998,1011,  1131, 
113!i,  1313.  1824. 

supplies,  1274. 

Missouri  Pacific.  159,  397,  509, 1139. 

street,  990, 1205,  1207, 1208. 

tunnel,  10S5,  1202. 

marine,  1113. 

Toledo,  Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis,  1202. 

East  St.  Louis  and  Carondelet,  1202. 

East  St.  Louis  and  Connecting,  1202. 

accident,  1160. 

Atlantic  and  Pacific,  1167. 

St.  Louis  and  San  Francisco,  1168. 

Hannibal  and  St.  Joseph,  1171. 

Laclede  and  Creve  Coeur  Lake,  1171, 1877. 

St.  Louis,  Iron   Mountain   and  Southern, 
1172. 

Texas  and  Pacific,  1176. 

Missouri,  Kansas  and  Texas,  1 179. 

International  and  Great  Northern,  1179. 

Ohio  and  Mississippi,  1179. 

Marietta  and  Cincinnati,  1184. 

Baltimore  and  Ohio,  1185. 

Wabash,  St.  Louis  and  Pacific,  1188. 

Vandalia  Line,  1192. 

Pennsylvania,  1194. 

Chicago  and  Alton,  1195. 

Chicago,  Burlington  and  Quincy,  1196. 

Texas  and  St.  Louis,  1197. 

Indianapolis  and  St.  Louis,  and  St.  Louis, 
Alton  and  Terre  Haute,  1200. 

Louisville  and  Nashville,  1201. 

St.  Louis  and  Cairo,  1201. 

Illinois  and  St.  Louis,  1202. 

St.  Louis  bridge,  1202. 

St.  Louis  coal,  1202. 

West  End  Narrow-Gauge,  1877. 

Union  Depot,  1203. 
Railroad  riot,  1841. 
Roster,  military,  453. 
Riots  and  mobs,  448,  507,  522,  687,  1835. 

S. 

St.  Louis,  61,  309. 

boundaries,  134,  650,  653,  664,  666,  7-10. 

incorporated,  1,  131,  134,  1C2,  647,  653,740. 

situation,  2. 

discovery,  2,  34. 

Marquette  first  visits  the  site,  30. 

Indians,  34,  104,  109,  118,  120. 

settlement  of,  55,  163,  185. 

founding  of,  62. 

named  after,  68. 

agriculture  of,  1870. 

nickname  of,  77, 126, 165. 

climatology,  geology,  and  archaeology,  78. 

flowers  and  fruits  of,  92. 

animated  nature  of,  92. 

mound-builders  of,  95, 132. 

first  murder  trial  in,  109,  120. 

attack  by  Indians,  119,  138,  202,  223. 

topography  of,  126,  132. 

springs,  127, 159,  162. 

directrix,  128. 

City  Hall,  128,  726. 

court-house,  129,  131,  156,  728. 

growth  of,  130,  157,  1014. 

transfer  to  United  States,  259. 


INDEX. 


St.  Louis: 

streets  of,  130,  131,  133,  134, 136, 157, 164, 
165,  184,  195,  198,  672. 

houses  of,  130,  132,  139,  141,  145,  148,  149, 
151,279,307. 

county  of,  134,  156,  162, 165,  271,  559,  566, 
585,  740,  858, 1870. 

new  county  of,  1872. 

county-seat  of,  1873,  1874. 

county  buildings  of,  1875. 

surveyed,  136. 

fortifications  of,  136,  138. 

stockades  of,  138. 

first  home  in,  139. 

lot-ownem,  141,  145,  151,  156,  157. 

additions  to,  131,  135,  136,  155,  157. 

separated  from  the  county,  162, 1872, 1874. 

common  fields,  163,  1*72. 

earliest  settlers  in,  167,  174,  185,  198,  308. 

first  birth  and  death  in,  171. 

first  street  commissioners,  184. 

tax-payers,  192. 

earlj-  manners  and  customs  of,  268. 

land  titles,  3 Hi,  1025. 

in  civil  war,  :','M. 

threatened  Confederate  attack.  441. 

gunboats  built  at.  536. 

municipal  government  of,  647. 

municipal  officers  of,  719. 

municipal  departments,  726. 

financial  condition  of,  763. 

sewerage  system  of,  772. 

fire  department,  788. 

education  in,  823. 

public  schools,  828. 

press  of,  902. 

territory  tributary  to,  991,  994. 

future  destiny  of,  1<K)5. 

manufactures  of,  1009. 

growth  and  population,  1014, 1021. 

Germans  in,  1017,  1018. 

harbor  of,  1 

bridge,  706,  1074. 

first  steamboat  at,  1096. 

river  commerce  of,  112:!. 

trade,   commerce,,    and    manufactures    of, 

ins. 

railroads  of,  113'.i. 

commercial  exchanges  of,  1340. 

financial  institutions  of,  1367. 

insurance  companies  of,  1414. 

telegraph  companies  «f,  1414. 

postal,  mail,  and  custom  service,  1414. 

gas  companies  of,  1414. 

hotels  of,  1414. 

bench  and  bar  of,  144'.!. 

medical  profession  of,  lf>l~>. 

hospitals,  1  ~>4s. 

health  of,  1.VT1. 

culture  and  literary  growth  in,  1587. 

art  and  artists  of,  1617. 

music  and  musicians,  1628. 

religion*  denomination!  of,  1635. 

secret,    religious,    benevolent,   charitable, 
social,  relief,  and  other  associating 
1762. 

military,  1856. 

military  roster  of,  1861. 

Agricultural  and  Mechanical  Association, 
1813. 

Jockey  Club,  1817. 

clubs  of,  1817. 

prominent  events  in,  1820. 

celebration  of  the  founding  of,  l.sjt.i. 
St.  Lawrence  River,  5,  20,  38. 
Schurz,  ('...  !i42. 
Soldiers'  Orphans'  Home,  54G. 


Sappit  gton,  John,  578. 

Scruggs,  B.  M.,  891. 

Ste.  Genevieve,  61,  01,  78,  103, 188,  216,  271. 

Sodality,  1656. 

Smith,  L.  A. ,716. 

Stifel,  Charles  G.,  461. 

Sunday  law,  691. 

Streets,  130, 157, 164,  165,  184,  195,  198,  650,  CliO, 

672. 

Scudder,  W.  II.,  13.VJ. 
Shot,  1252. 

Slavery,  54,  304, 402, 489,  585, 595,  648,  689. 
Scholten,  J.  A.,  1334. 
Sexton,  H.  C.,  802, 1079. 
Spices,  1245. 

Stoddard,  Capt.  A.,  264,  268,  329. 
Stokes,  William,  197. 
Saw-mills,  195,  312. 
Stone-cutters,  195. 
Scott,  John,  188,  31«,  560. 
Smith,  Col.  John,  187,341. 
St.  Francois,  170. 
Stone  tower,  131. 
Stockades,  138. 

Squares,  133, 157,  159,  162,  674,  689,  750. 
Schotten,  William,  1245. 
Schulenbnrg.  F.,  1173. 
Street  railways,  990. 
Snow,  M.  S.,  865,  869,  1606. 
Smith,  W.  U.,  876. 
Smith,  James,  877. 
Simmons,  E.  C.,  995, 1276,  1278. 
Sire,  Joseph  A.,  1250. 

St.  Louis  and  Vicksburg  Packet  Company,  1117. 
St.  Louis  and  Mississippi  Valley  Transportation 

Company,  1119. 
St.  Louis  and  New  Orleans  Packet  Company, 

1119. 

Sons  of  Herman,  1805. 
Spanish  explorers,  1,  6,  44. 

governors,  140. 
Studdiford,  Dr.  H.  Van,  1525. 
Stove-works,  600,  606, 1258. 
Scruggs,  R.  M.,  1299. 
Swon,  J.  C.,1101. 
Scudder,  John  A.,  416,  537,756,1118,1354,1361, 

1397. 

Scruggs,  Vandervoort  &  Barney,  1299. 
Salt,  124C. 

Sugar  trade,  129,  1241. 
Saddlery  trade,  1332. 
Smith,  E.  B.,  194,  1523. 
Shot-tower,  129,  312,  1867. 
St.  Auge,  174. 

Southern  Hotel,  129,  137,  138, 139,  371,  629. 
Stevens,  C.  W.,  1529. 
Simpson,  J.  E.,  1193. 
Spanish,  French,  and   American  intrigues   in 

the  West,  227. 
Singer  building,  129. 
Shaw's  Garden,  129,  162. 
Saugrain,  Dr.,  306,  657,  1517. 
Simpson,  !>r.  R.,  130,  295,  314,  1520. 
Sarpy,  John  B.,  130,  ir,2,  1-  1C,,  566, 

,  790,  1143,  1145,  1150,  1251,  1294, 
1373,  1434,  1830,  1827,  1857. 
Sire,  Joseph  A.,  183.  426,  6U.">,  1830. 
Schulenbiirg,  R.,  1:524. 
St.  Louis  University,  162,  444,  858, 1598. 
Schnaider,  Joseph,  13 ',:;. 
Shapleigh,  A.  F.,  1278,  1  :;4:.. 
Seal,  660. 
Spanish  dominion  and  affairs  of,  1730,  202. 

i,  C.,  144.'.. 
Samuel,  W.  M.,  659. 
Seven  Wise  Men. 
Senter,  W.  M.,  1358.  1H62,  1363,  1417. 


Southern  Hotel,  1446. 
Swede  n  borgians,  1741. 

New  Jerusalem,  1743. 
Schools,  164,  824,  879. 
lauds,  328,  828. 
Webster,  157,  841. 
public,  8-28. 
High,  852. 

(German  English,  851. 
graded,  s">2 
Kindergarten,  >"4. 
Deaf  Mutes',  855. 
Normal,  855. 
Christian  Brothers,  880. 
Sacred  Heart,  882. 

Convent  of  the  Nuns  of  the  Visitation,  882. 
St.  Joseph's  Convent  and  Academy,  883. 
Ursuline  Convent,  884. 
St.  Philouiena's,  884. 
Loretto  Academy,  884. 
City  University,  .>>  >>."). 
denominational,  86. 
parochial.  86. 
St.  Elizabeth's,  884. 
medical,  \~>\\. 
..  1621. 
of  Art,  1621. 

St.  Andrew's  (village),  1930. 
St.  Louis  Seminary. 
St.  Stanislaus'  Novitiate,  1892. 
Speer's  Pond,  1927. 
Steamboats,  199,  399,  424,  420,  441,  537,819,  821, 

1045,  1123,  1126,  1133, 1139,  1836. 
on  the  Missouri,  359,  1100. 
river  commerce,  I 
seized,  427. 

on  the  Mississippi,  lnss,  lo!)l. 
Merchants',  St.  Louis,  and  Arkansas  River 

Company,  1123. 
Ouachita  River  packets,  1123. 
racing,  1104,  1107. 
disasters,  1107,  1109. 
building,  lli:i. 
St.  Louis  and  St.  Paul  Packing  Company, 

1113. 

The  Diamond  Jo  Line,  1117. 
St.  Louis  ami  Vickshurg  Packet  Company, 

1117. 

New  Orleans  Anchor  Line,  1118. 
Merchant's  Southern  Line,  1121. 
St.  Louis  and  Mississippi  Valley  Transpor- 
tation Company,  1119. 

St.   Louis  and   New   Orleans  Packet  Com- 
pany. 1119. 

Kansas  City  Packet  Company,  1121. 
"K"  Line  of  Packets,  1122. 
St.   Louis   and  Omaha   Packet   Company, 

1122. 

Coulsin  Lin.  1122. 

Naples  Packet  Company,  1 122. 
St.  Louis  and  l'e»  iiipany,  1122. 

St.   Louis,    Cincinnati,    Huutington,    and 

Pittsburgh  ;   my,  1 122. 

C.artside  Coal  and  Towing  Company,  112".. 
Red  River  Pa.-ket  Company.  112;. 
Smith,  Sol'iuo: 

-VStelll,   77J. 

Sellew,  R..  ,s:,3. 

Shaw,  Henry,  353,  366,  568,  583,  697,  754,  890, 

897,  1143. 
Salvage  corps,  805. 
Sei/.n  res  by  military,  397,398,  422,  426,  433,  434, 

435,  447. 

Sons  of  Israel,  1806. 
Smet,  P.  de.  1648. 
Southern  Belief  Association,  452, 
Scottish  clans,  1808. 


INDEX. 


1943 


Stanard,  E.  0.,  630,  756,  1004,  1347,  1356  1403, 

1416. 

Sanitary  Fair,  439,  549. 
Social  Organizations,  1752. 
Sherman,  W.  T.,  450, 1407,  1834. 
Spalding,  J.,  663,  834. 

Soldiers  from  Missouri  in  the  civil  war,  453. 
Secret  societies,  1752. 
St.  Clair,  town  of,  1870. 
St.  Ferdinand,  city  of,  1886. 
Statistics : 

police  property,  746. 

markets,  750. 

parks  aii'l  squares,  759. 

sewerage  .system,  779. 

water-works,  7.S6,  787. 

fire  and  police  telegraph,  805. 

public  sellouts,  846. 

mortality,  1584. 
Societies,  1752. 

Religions,  1659,  1752. 

Medical,  1541. 

Homoeopathic,  1566. 

Art,  1621. 

Sketch  Club,  1621. 

Philharmonic,  1633. 

Musiker  Unterstuetzuugs  Verein,  1633. 

Orpheus,  1633. 

Liederkranz,  1633. 

Schweitzer  Maennerchor,  1634. 

West  St.  Louis  Liederkrauz,  1634. 

Choral,  1635. 

Musical  Union,  1035. 

Henry  Shaw  Musical,  1635. 

Bible  and  Tract,  1755. 

Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  1756. 

Woman's  Christian  Association,  1757. 

Colonization,  1757. 

Erin,  1758. 

French,  1758. 

St.  Andrew's,  1758. 

Mechanics',  175S. 

Sunday-School  Union,  1758. 

Prison  Discipline,  1758. 

Catholic  Orphan.  1759. 

St.  Vincent's  Seminary,  1759. 

Home  of  I  he  Friendless,  1760. 

Western  Female  Guardian  Society,  1760. 

Girls'  Industrial  Home,  1761. 

Working  Women's   Home,  1762. 

Worthy  Woman's  Aid,  1762. 

Methodist  Orphans'  Home,  1762. 

Miillanphy  Emigrant  Relief  Fund,  1762. 

Home  for  Aged  Israelites,  1765. 

German  Protestant  Orphans'  Association, 
1764. 

German  Emigrant  Aid  Society,  1764. 

Farmers' and  Mechanics'  Mutual  Aid,  1764. 

Mullaiiphy  Emigrant  Home,  1764. 

St.  Paul's  Benevolent,  1764. 

Ancient  Order  of  Hibernians,  1764. 

Helvetia  Huelfs  Gescllschaft,  1765. 

Marine  Engineers,  1765. 

Millwrights,  1765. 

United  Sons  of  Erin,  1705. 

Gruetli  Verein,  1765. 

Sons  of  Temperance,  1766. 

Catholic  Total  Abstinence,  1766. 

Good  Templars,  17G7. 

Temperance  and  Wisdom,  1768. 

Catholic  Knights,  1768. 

Band  of  Hope,  1768. 

Father  Mathew  Temperance,  1769. 

United  Hebrew,  1769. 

Knights  of  Father  Mathew,  1770. 

Spiritual  Association,  1770. 

Liberal  League,  1770. 


Societies: 

Turnveivin,  1770. 
Microscopical,  1773. 
Western  Rowing  Club,  1773. 
Institute  of  Architects,  1773. 
Missouri  Gymnastic,  1774. 
St.  Louis  Natatorium,  1774. 
Rifle  Association,  1774. 
Pedagogy,  1774. 

T. 

Tonti,  40. 

Temple  of  Honor,  1812. 
Transportation,  294,  437, 1002,  1094. 
Treu  Bund,  1811. 

!   Traders,  51,  62,  163,  273,  277,  700,  1335. 
Tucker,  N.  B.,  1470. 
Thompson,  W.  H  ,  1401,  1414. 
Taxation,  104,  192,  193,  359,  684,  700,  716,  763, 

769,  1028,  1035. 
Treaty  of  cession,  256. 
Treaty  of  Paris, .253. 
Trappist  monks,  99. 
Todd,  A.,  392,  395,  879,  1503. 
Type  foundries,  1321. 
Topography  of  St.  Louis,  126. 
Tin  and  copper  trade,  1335. 
Territorial  government,  329. 
Traveling,  295. 

Taverns,  140,  156,  198,  202,  311,  331,  337,  649. 
Tile-works,  1286. 
Tonnage,  999,  1011, 1094, 1128. 
Tailors,  195. 

Towers,  131, 132,  137,  138,  734. 
Tayon,  J.  M.,  171. 
Townships,  329. 

Carondelet,  134,  1880. 

Central,  1909. 

St.  Louis,  134. 

St.  Ferdinand,  134,  1884. 

Bonhomme,  134, 1897. 

Meramec,  134,  1917. 
Tornado,  1825,  1835. 
Theatres,  156,  959. 

Old  St.  Louis,  970. 

Bates,  977. 

Grand  Opera-House,  979. 

People's,  982. 

Academy  of  Music,  983. 

Olympic,  983. 

St.  Louis  Opera-House,  985. 

Pope's,  985. 

Deagle's  Varieties,  985. 

Pickwick,  987. 
Telegraph,  805,  1422. 
Trappers,  274,  289. 
Tobacco,  246,  291,  1246. 
Temperance  societies,  1766. 
Tunnel,  1085. 
Taylor,  G.  R.,  394,  396,  428,  441,  689,  762,  1345, 

1352. 

Talmage,  A.  A.,  1165. 
Territorial  Legislature,  558. 
Taylor,  D.  G.,  696,  727. 
Thomas,  James  S.,  698,  700. 
Trade  and  commerce,  990,  993, 1094,  1123,  1124, 

1127,1213,1335. 
Temperance,  1776. 

laws,  6<J1. 
Turners,  1770. 

Turnverein,  1770. 

South  St.  Louis,  1771. 

Socialer,  1771. 

Concordia,  1772. 

Carondelet,  1772. 

Vorwaerts,  1772. 


Turners: 

West  St.  Louis,  1772. 
North  St.  Louis,  1773. 

IT. 

United  States  property,  164. 
United  Workmen,  1802. 
Union  Merchants'  Exchange,  425. 
United  Foresters,  1809. 
Unitarian  Churches,  202, 1728. 

Messiah,  1728. 

Unity,  1730. 
Union  soldiers,  453. 
Underwriters'  Salvage  Corps,  805. 
United  States  Benevolent  Fraternity,  1809. 

V. 

Vauxhall  Gardens,  167. 

Vachard,  L.,  169. 

Veuve,  L.,169. 

Valles,  173,  526,  1173,  1268, 1345, 1830. 

Verein,  Uuterstuetzungs,  1812. 

Valleau.Dr.  J.  B.,  176,  185. 

Vogel,  J.  C.,  410,  443,  460,  700, 1417. 

Volunteer  fire  companies,  806. 

"W. 

Waterhouse,  Professor  S.,  62,  66,  132,  158,  202, 
824,  869,  871,  1090,  1092,  1600,  1601. 

Weather,  1833. 

Wolff,  M.  A.,  1036. 

Wharfage,  1132. 

Webster,  D..  580. 

Webster  school,  157,  841. 

Wide  Awakes,  457,  483,  488. 

Western  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  898. 

Wards,  740. 

Washburne,  E.  B.,  64,  331. 

Wages,  296,  308. 

Windmill,  76. 

Wills,  173,  306. 

Williams,  H.  W.,  316,  493, 1024, 1608. 

War  of  1812,  121,  341. 
Mexico,  361,  382. 

Woodward,  C.  M.,  869,  1074, 1079,  1606. 

Wilkinson,  Gen.  James,  137,  240,  313,  334. 

Wood-carts,  199. 

Water-works,  780. 

Water  tower,  129. 

Compton  Hill,  130. 

Webster  Groves,  1912. 

White  lead  and  oils,  1253. 

Westermann,  H.,  1285. 

Wood-  and  willow-ware,  1327. 

Wines,  1329. 

Walker,  G.  S.,  1562. 

Wise  balloon  ascension,  1832. 

Walsh,  E.,  386,  594,  76(1,  1144,  1162,  1231,  1244 
1377,  1415,  1434,  1831. 

Wells,  E.,  423,  629,  1205,  1356,  1397. 

Warden,  fire,  816. 

Western  Sanitary  Commission,  428,  541. 

Washington  University,  865. 

Wash,  R.,  1471. 

Wear,  Boogher  &  Co.,  1300. 

Woerner,  J.  G.,  432,  694. 

Whittaker,  F.,  450,  599,  614. 

Wiggins,  W.  C.,  1072. 

Wimer,  JT  M.,  689. 

Walsh,  Julius  S.,  1163, 1208. 

Y. 

Yeatman,  James  E.,  161,  392,  393,  395,  428,  542, 
549,  552,  554,  583,  658,  676,  879,  890,  1143, 
1149,  1377,  1554. 

Yosti,  192. 193,  331,  340,  357. 

Yards,  live-stock,  1811. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 

SAINT  LO 


025403061 


!  a :.•://:•:.:'•' 


